Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1916-03-26
ORCHARD AND GARDEN CROPS
No. 5.-The Home Garden. By J. s. KnoX, Extension Horticultur- ist, University of Arkansas

By J. s. Knox, Extension Horticultur-
 ist, University of Arkansas
 No other area on the whole farm will compare in value with the home garden. If properly prepared, fertil' ized, planted and cultivated. one acre garden is easily worth $1Oo.0O to the farmer and, if he counts in the | garden truck at the same price he pays for it at the grocery store, he ] will find that $10O.00 is a low esti- l mate of the crop grown i'll the gar den. There are hundreds of homes l in the state of Arkansas where, ex- cepting possibly in early summer, there is nothing to be had from the l garden, and every year we are send l ing thousands of dollars to other | states to buy vegetables that should | be grown in our own gardens. We | do not need a better market for what | we can grow in a small garden than | that of supplying our own tables.
 Location.-1n selecting location l for the home garden the following | points should be considered: CD The Soil, In order to grow vegetables that are of the highest quality it is necessary to have deep, rich, loose and moisture-retaining soil. Vegeta- bles grown on a poor soil where growth is slow are very apt to be tough and stringy or unfit. for eating purposes. The, moisture-retaining S~ .J. .c pec1ally during the dry, hot days of summer. Unless the soil is loose it is very hard to get stand of the small seeded plants, because they do not possess the necessary vitality to push their way through a hard, crusty soil. Then, too, it is'very difficult to cultivate small plants when the soil is compact or crusty.
 CD Site.-The garden should, if possible, be located on a gentle south orx southeast slope. Such slopes are more exposed to the sun and will warm up some earlier in the spring of the year. If there is considerable
 slope and elevation it. will be all the
 better. 1 have noticed in several diff ferent instances that vegetabels locat-
 ed on a slope are not killed so early in the fall by frost as are those in
 the level lowlands. It quite often happens that we have killing frost early in the fall, and after that it i may be a month before we have an.
 other frost This was true this last
 fall, and the gardens on the sloping
 places could therefore be used to ad- | vantage some weeks later. (3) Near
 ness to water supply. If an abundant 1 supply of wtnter can be had, it is so l much the better Considerable water l may be needed in the transplanting
 of the different vegetables. (4) Near
 ness to home. This I consider very
 important factor, because gardens ! that are located long distance from 1 the home seldom receive the attention
 they deserve. The garden should, if
 possible, be located near the home, so
 that it will require only few steps for the housewife to gather the days
 supply of vegetables.
 1 Seed.-Too little stress is generally
 laid on the importance of good seed 1 for planting purposes. No matter how
 ideal the soil, climate, site, rainfall,
 etc, one cannot get best results when only half of the seed germinate. This
 can partly be overcome by sowing
 twice as many seed as are necessary,
 but the plants are also apt to lack in
 vitality. It is therefore a. good idea l to test garden seed before planting,
 or at least to get them from some re- l liable seed house. Any farmer can, within very short time. prepare a I seed tester at home. The following I kind is very satisfactory:
 Take an ordinary dinner plate and 4 place on the shelf. Now take piece
 of heavy cotton flannel and wet it
 thoroughly. put one end into the plate.
 and onto this count 100 seed of the kind which you desire to test. Now I fold the other end of the cloth over
 this and press firmly. so as to bring it
 in direct contact with the seed Next
 invert second dinner plate over this
 one and place the tester in fairly warm room, where the temperature does not fall below 65 or 70 degrees F. Keep the cloths moist for eight or ten days, then remove the top plate and the cloth cover and count the
 number of seed that have germinated
 (sprouted). The number that have
 germinated will be the per cent of germination. The above is very simple and inexpensive way of deter mining whether or not your garden < seed are worth planting, and as il {, can be done during the winter or be { fore the planting season is on, ii ahould always be done.