Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 March 1914 — PLAN THE GARDEN NOW FOR THE BEST RESULTS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PLAN THE GARDEN NOW FOR THE BEST RESULTS

By M. W. Richards, Department of Horticulture, Purdue University Experiment Station. Purdue University Agricultural Extension.

livery successful man plans his work. No farmer would think of Starting the season without a clean cut idea of the crop which is to occupy each particular field. As a general rule the farm work is so planned that different crops occupy different fields in a definite rotation. This Is good farming. What about the garden? Is the garden ever planned in advance? Is a definite system of rotation planned for the garden? Not as a usual thing. A midsummer drive through the most prosperous and best farmed sections of the middle west will show beautiful weed patches where the home gardens once were and still should be. A garden should be a continuous affair, not a thing of the spring months. It should furnish green and succulent food. the entire 12 months of the year. The garden 1b the farmer’s drug store and Its stock of medicines should never run out. A continuous supply of vegetables cap only, be secured from a definitely planned garden. Make the plan during the winter months when work Is slack. Draw it to scale on a piece of paper. Figure the size needed for your particular family and govern your selection of crops by the tastes and likings of that family.

Plan a succession of crops so that weeds will not gain possession just as soon as the early vegetables are harvested. Make the rows long and wide enough apart to permit of horso cultivation. Do not plant too much. Plan on the needs of your family and plant enough—no more. A garden 50x100 feet should furnish vegetables the entire year around for a family of six people. Occupy every available inch of space with vegetables by companion and succession cropping and the weeds have no chance to survive. Make the garden work easy by purchasing a few labor-saving tools such as the garderi drill, wheel-hoe, small hoes and hand weeders. Secure a seed catalogue now. Make your selection of seeds and send your order in early. Locate the space to be occupied by each crop on your plan. Place the perennial crops near the fence where they will not interfere with the plowing. Group the small crops together where the tows can be narrow. Figure on the companion and succession crops—secure early and late varieties, give the garden an hour a day labor and you will secure a thousand per cent, return on your investment in health and satisfaction.

Labor-Saving Devices Make Garden Work a Pleasure. Use Horse Labor Wherever Possible and the Wheel-H oe for the Small Crops.