The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-02-02
THE HOME GARDEN
THE EARLY BIRD.

IHE EAItLN BIRD.
There are fifty-seven reasons why
everybody with a patch of ground at
ms command should grow a garden,
and chief of these is for the sake of
good health.
Throw away the spring tonic. You
won't need it if you take fresh vege-
tables i'm liberal doses and there will
be no druggist to take the various
profits that go with drugs, and they
are Dig ones The one sure way to
have this springtonic at hand in it's
most effective form is to grow it.
Vegetables furnish a large portion
Of the essentials for the proper M
keep and development of the human
system which are known to chemists
as the various salts, usually combina-
tions of various minerals Iron is
one of them and spinach has this
element in proper form to tone up the
system.
Three Tonic Tidbits.
Thre vegetables, the earliest to be
harvested, go a long way towards ton
ing up the human system. furnishing
it appetizing food which it Graves at
just the right moment. These are
spinach, already mentioned for the
iron and other element it contains:
J radishes and lettuce, the crops which
come on the quickest
There is great variety to choose
from in the seed catalogues and one
may please himself in the radish and
lettuce line. Spinach isn't so widely
diversified, but it is better to get the
new improved large leaved varieties
because OF the more bountiful crop
and the tenderer and better cooking
duality Of its more succulent leaves.
Radishes and spinach can be plant
ed In almost any haphazard manner
and yield crop, provided the ground
isn't swamp or a desert. They will
grow in one way or another, but if the
biggest and snappest radishes are
wanted they must have little at
tentfOn in the preparation Of the soil,
pulverizing it for the sed and sowing
thinly enough to give the little roots
time to swell out into the scarlet
globes which delight the palate.
Spinach can be thinned automati-
cally as it is pulled for crops, but too
thick sowing cuts down the crop as
| each little plant must have room if it
is to do it's best in developing it's
leaves. Sowing in rows is the best
plan in order to give a chance to hoe
the soil and for convenience in har-
vesting it for the table. Broadcast
sowing is lazy mans trick and
brings the lazy mans reward in de-
pleted output.
The planting season for radishes
ranges from January l to the middle
OF April, depending upon the portion
or zone of the south in which the
garden is located. Radishes do not
mind little frost, SO right row is a
good time to get them in tul the
earliest crop. Sin weeks will bring a
full harvest.
Don't Crowd the Seedlings.
In the colder portions of the south
radishes can be sown in cold frames
for extra early crops. For very best
results the seed should be Sown in
rows about a foot to Ii inches apart
and the young plants should have at
least an inch between them for prop
er development in the earliest time.
IT the roots are too crowded the
maturing is delayed. They can be
thinned easily enough if the seed has
been sOwn too thickly. 1t is a good
plan to sow parsley or carrot seed
mixed with the radishes, the seed be-
ing much slower to germinate and
the raishes breaking any crust which
may form and assisting the less ro-
bust seeds to come through. The
radishes will be gone in time not to
interfere with the companion crop.
Lettuce, cool weather plant, must
be sown as early as the soil can be
worked to get a crop, particularly OF
the head or cabbage varieties. These
should be started in boxes in the
house or in frames and transplanted
six inches apart for best results. The
Itransplanting strengthens the plant
makes it sturdier and surer to head.
Lettuce will grow in partial shade
but it must have at least four hours
sun and is better in full exposure in
the cooler months. There are many
varieties of head lettuce and any
scotsman can indicate a successful
variety. 1t is hard to go wrong in the
improved varieties, and it is only nee
essary to pick types desired in point