Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1920-03-26
THRIFT GARDEN
CUTS THE COST
Of EATING
Uncle Sans Gardens To Cut
The H. c. L. When Garden
Space Is Limited. Small Area
Should Be Cultivated For The
Family
COUNTY AGENT TELLS
HOW TO PLANT

Make a thrift garden and cut the
cost of eating is Uncle Sans ultima
tum TO the fellow who is constantly
growing about the high cost of living,
When you come to think about it il
is not such hard task either and
then the joy and exultation of har-
vesting your first crop even il il is
a mere handful OF lettuce and few
radishes.
Well what should be planted in the
garden is the first question. The
crops that will be planted will de-
pend on the size of the garden, the
size of the family and the size of the
family's appetite. Where the garden
space is extremely limited only those
crops that will produce considerable
quantity of food on a small area
should be included
AS rule the home gardner, especi-
ally the beginners, devote too much
space TO lettuce and radishes and too
little to beets, carrots, beans, onions
and tomatoes Where the family is
small it is easy TO over plant most of
the garden crops. The surplus of GER
tain vegetables can be saved by can
ming and drying. others like lettuce
and radishes are a loss, unless some
kind neighbor will use them.
Children eat almost as many fresh
vegetables as grown ups and should be
counted as full hands on estimating
the amount of space TO devote to any
vegetable The size of the family APP
petite is liable to expand considerably
when the vegetables are brought fresh
, from the garden, and il is, always safe
to have plenty more of the staple vege-
tables. Corn and Irish potatoes, occu-
by too much space for planting in the
/ very small garden. Tomatoes should
| find a place in every garden, as should
spinach, chard and other kinds of
greens.
Good seeds are essential for good
garden growth. 1t is poor economy TO
use the seeds left over from last year
for the garden They may look al
right, but if the seeds are put through
termination test they will. in most
instances, be proven worthless. OF
course, if you had a garden last year
and saved your own seed, this is com
mendable, but very few home garden
| ers do this Seeds should not be saved
by the amateur gardner as his space is
usually too limited and his surplus
should be canned for winter use.
A study of the seed catalog will
serve as a stimulator to your memory
and will call especial attention to the
things that are being offered. A list of
the needed seeds should be made up
and the order placed at once as seed
men at this time of the year are usu-
ally we'll rushed and sometimes give
out of the most popular varieties. So
it behooyes, the home gardener to get
in his list early. Don't order more
seeds than are necessary, but be sure
those purchased are the best the mar
ket affords Soil and seeds are the
/ first ESSENTIALS to a garden. Have them
both right, before you make your
paintings.
OF course, the ideal garden soil is a
rich. warm loan, but if we do not
have this in our back yard the next
best thing is to make this soil as near
like the ideal as, possible. A good
spade in the hands of a husky man
will do wonders in turning under the
trash. Do not burn off the grass or
dead plants, but turn them under, as
they tend to tighten the soil and serve
as a carrier for eater and plant foods,
and provide for that much needed
humus. A little tip that often saves
lot of blisters and back aches is to
have your spade bright. Last year
when you put 1t away there was per-
haps a crust of soil clingihg to it and
the edge somewhat dulled Get out
the spade, scrape of the mud, soak in
coal oil for several hours mad get OFF
as much of the rust as You can, then
with file make the edge as sharp as
you can. File one way only. This
makes the work lighter and easier.
When the tool is put away, if it is
cleaned thoroughly and rubbed with
rag dipped in oil it will stay bright
The same rule applies to the hoe. Too
many of us make hard job of h0eing
because we do not take care OF the
tools with which we work. File the
edge of your hoe and see how quickly
the weeds disappear. After your soil
is well spaded. cut up the clods with
a hoe or inattox. then rake II finely
with fourteen inch rake. Lay of the
rows you are going to plant at once
and have your rows run the long way
of the garden Do not lay off the gar
den in little plots. This merely mul-
tiplies the work and eventually dis
gusts the home gardner. If wagon
load of good well rottea stable manure
has been spadded under. half the job
of fertilizing is overcome. A small
bag of bone meal, FIVE or ten pounds
of Sulfate of Ammonia and twenty
pounds of % per cent Potash will
make your garden hump" These fer
tilizers to be used for top dressing.
very few foolS are reouired for