The Brinkley argus., 1916-04-07
ORCHARD.AND GARDEN CROPS
No. 5.-The Home Garden. By J. s. Knox, Extension Horticultur. ist, University of Arkansas.

NO. o.-Ihe Home Garden.
 By J. s. Knox, Extension Horticultur-
 ist, University of Arkansas.
 No other area on the whole farm garden. If properly prepared, fertil- ized, planted and cultivated, a one acre garden is easily worth $100.00 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- mate of the crop grown in the gar den. There are hundreds of homes in the state of Arkansas where, ex- cepting possibly in early summer, there is nothing to be had from the garden, and every year we are send ing thousands of dollars to other states to buy vegetables that should be grown in our own gardens. We we can grow in a small garden than that of supplying our own tables.
 Location.-In selecting location 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 misunderstanding soil. Vegeta- bles grown on poor soil where growth is slow are very apt to be tough and stringy or unfit for eating purposes The moisture-retaining property is also a desirable one, es- pecially 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 hard, crusty soil Then, too, it Is very difficult to cultivate small plants when the soil is compact or crusty.
 (2) Site.-The garden should, If possible, be located on a gentle south or 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 1t will be all the better. I 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 a killing frost early in the fall, and after that it may be 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 supply of water can be had, it is so much the better Considerable water may be needed in the transplanting of the different vegetables. (4 Near ness to home. This 1 consider very important factor, because gardens that are located long distance from the home seldom receive the attention they deserve. The garden should, if possible, be located near the home, so that 1t will require only few steps for the housewife to gather the day $ supply of vegetables.
 l Seed.-Too little stress is generally laid on the importance of good seed 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 1 but the plants are also apt to lack in vitality. It is therefore good idea to test garden seed before planting or at least to get them from some re liable seed house. Any farmer can within very short time, prepare a seed tester at home. The following kind is very satisfactory:
 Take an ordinary dinner plate and place on the shelf Now take a piece of heavy cotton flannel and wet il thoroughly, put one end into the plate and onto this count 100 seed of the kind which you desire to test. Now fold the other end of the cloth over this and press firmly, so as to bring il in direct contact with the seed Next invert second dinner plate over this one and place the tester in a 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 germinatec l (sprouted). The number that have germinated will be the per cent ot examination. The above is a very simple and inexpensive way of deter mining whether or not your garden seed are worth planting, and as ii can be done during the winter or be fore the planting season is on, il should always be done.
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