The Nevada County picayune., 1916-07-13
No. 7. Garden Management.
By J. s. Knox, Extension Horticultur. ist, University of Arkansas and
 U. s. Dept. of Agriculture.

PosslDly there Is no other qIestiCn
 that is of equal importance to the gardener as is that of garden manage
 ment And 1t is here that hundreds of our farmers fall in their garden operations. It makes no difference
 how favorable location we may have.
 how ideal the soil or how abundant the rainfall, one cannot hope to meet
 With the greatest success In his gar
 den work unless he manages it in
 the best possible way. II property
 managed half acre plot of good soil
 Is sufficiently large to supply a good sized family with all the fresh vege-
 tables they will need throughout the
 year. However, if the plot Is managed
 in the way most of the home gardens of the state are at the present time,
 1t will require two acres to grow
 similar amount of vegetables.
 Planting. The question of when and how to plant the different vege.
 tables may be of interest to many gardeners over the state One of the
 first things to determine is whether
 the vegetables are frost tender or frost hardy; that is, are they killed by frost or will they withstand such with. out injury. Vegetables belonging to
 the frost hardy group are such as peas (garden). beets, lettuce. radishes and onions. These can be planted
 very early in the spring without dan ger of being killed by ordinary frost. The lrost tender vegetables such as
 tomatoes, peppers, egg plant, beans. | corn, etc, cannot be planted in the open until danger of frost Is about
 past. However, it Is good idea 70 start some of these in the hot bed
 early so that the plants will be large
 enough to set out Ny the time the
 weather becomes sufficiently warm. The depth to plant the different | vegetable seed depends largely upon the size of the seed. The small seed like celery should not be covered more than one-eighth of an inch while for large seed like beans or peas two
 to three inches deep will not be 100 great. The fine seed also require that the soil be placed in the finest possi- ble condition
 Cultivation. Cultivation in the gar. den should be frequent, but shallow It is not considered advisable to cuI- tivate more than two or three inches deep, but the whole garden should be gone over at least once every ten days. This will keep down all weed growth and at the same time prevent the es- cape of moisture from the soil. There are many kinds of implements on the
 market that are suitable for garden
 work Generally speaking, an imple ment that pulverizes the soil thor oughly and at the same time throws very little dirt, and leaves the ground in a level condition is the best type to use, Cultivate as soon as possible after each rain, but do not blow the l ground when it Is too wet Hand i'm i plements are necessary to keep me
 weeds out of the row Do not cultivate
 the garden while the plants are wet
 with dew. as it is a good way to 1 spread diseases.
 1 Soil. The ideal garden soil is one ! that is of a sandy loam nature and containing an abundant supply of or. | ganic matter. This type of soil is of | ten not found in nature. In fact, there are many sections where a first class garden soil does not exist, Fortunate | ly. however. we can take a very poor
 soil that has a good subsoil and build 1 it up so that it will produce excellent crops of vegetables, There is no fer l tilizer that is better suited for this
 purpose than the stable manure, a small supply of which is generally found on almost every farm. The ma
 nure should be applied broadcast over 1 the ground and this turned under
 some time before the planting is to be done. This will give it time to rot | before the plants are to occupy the l ground Most of our gardens need to be broken deeper, thus giving a 1 greater capacity for water and lessen 1 ing the danger of drought during the
 summer. When planting time comes on a supply of well routed manure ! should be on hand SO that we can
 apply some in the row before plant
 i.lg. It is necessary to have the soil
 made as fertile as possible because this induces a rapid succulent growth
 and hence produces vegetables of the { highest possible quality A vegetable growr on poor soil Is almost invaria- bly, tough and stringy. while those grown on tho fertile soils are tender ' crisp. and palatable. No other part of the farm is equal in importance to the home garden Let us make t pro- duCe more.
 We know that Arkansas can and does produce some of as high quality
 vegetables as are grown in any sec
 ton of tho Tinted States This is
 proved by the .seJ that here aal ,hare over ehe state We find farc rs