Garden steps; a manual for the amateur in vegetable gardening

Front matter

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New York State College of Agriculture

At Qornell University Dthaca, N. Y.

Introduction

THE food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the house which shelters us, are three great necessities of life. Of these three necessities, food is by far. the most important. The ordinary family plans to spend a large part of the daily wages for food. If times are bad, we can live in smaller houses and be very comfortable. We can wear the same clothes twice as long as we expected to, and still not suffer from the cold. But with food it is very different. We must constantly provide ourselves with a nourishing diet, or our strength fails, health gives way, and great suffering is the final result. For a useful and happy existence, nourishing food is of the first importance.

During the past few years we have heard more and more complaints about the hardships which millions of people in America have suffered because of the high cost of nourishing food. During the period when the country was young there was plenty of food. ‘The vast fields of the South and West were covered by the richest earth, which rewarded a small effort with a wonderful harvest. On the plains beyond the Mississippi, millions of cattle and sheep wandered and fed at will, providing us with the best of meat which cost little but the effort to bring it tomarket.

Gradually this has changed. The great cattle ranges are no more. Villages and farmhouses dot the prairies where, a few years ago, there was not even a fence. The

Vv fertile fields of the South and West no longer produce rich harvests almost unaided, as they did before. Now they must be fertilized and given careful culture.

At first one might suppose that this left a poor prospect for our future food supply. It does not; the prospect is as good as ever. It means that the whole plan of the family in regard to its food supply must be changed. What Mother Nature freely provided, almost of herself, she will continue to provide as bountifully as before, but now she must be helped in the work. Hereafter man must study the problem of his food supply and must stand ready to give the aid that Nature needs to insure an abundance of nutritious food.

Americans have just begun to understand the meaning of the high cost of food. For many years workmen hoped to relieve their condition by demanding higher wages. Step by step wages advanced, but the general food condition did not improve. The larger wages bought no more food than the small wages had. Indeed, frequently they did not buy so much.

The men on the farms had to feed the men in the factories and in the cities. As the farms became less easy to work, and harvests required greater labor, the number of those in the factories and cities who produced no food became greater. Food became scarcer andcost more. ‘Then the men in the factories said, ““We cannot live and buy food on the wages we get now. We must have more wages.”

They got more wages. Then the factory owners had to raise the price of the shoes and hats and clothing they made, to pay the higher wages. Soon the farmer found that he had to pay more for everything he bought, and the men he hired refused to work unless he paid them more, because their friends in the factory were getting higher wages.

There was just one thing for the farmer to do — pay his greater expenses and charge still more for the food he raised. It is perfectly clear that it makes no difference in this food question how many times the wages are raised. The farmer must meet the new expenses each time and get enough more for his food to pay the difference, or go out of business.

What can be done to relieve this situation? There is one way, and only one way, out. The number of those who grow food must be greatly increased. All must join hands and help solve the food problem. If this had been proposed ten years ago, the city people and the factory people would have declared that they had no chance to do this, that they had no gardens to work, and no opportunity to get any. But the terrible calamity which has fallen upon the world has proved all this untrue. City people and factory people can get gardens to work and must work them.

Even in our largest cities many acres of ground have been found available for gardens, and thousands, who formerly longed for something interesting to do through the idle hours of long summer days, have discovered the delight of planting seeds and sharing in the miracle of the growing and ripening crops. ‘They are also learning that health and vigor come through hours of happy labor in the garden. There is no pursuit which brings more blessings in its train,

Every man who makes two blades grow where one grew before helps reduce the high cost of food. There is no other sure way. In the small gardens, which we now realize are, after all, available to all who really want them, enough can be grown to swing the balance and bring the cost of food within the earning power of the ordinary working man. This will relieve the pressure on the farmer, who can produce special foods, not suitable to the small garden, at a profit to himself and at a price within the means of the people in the factories and cities.

The terrible conditions which have opened the eyes of all to the possibilities around them for gardens and food production will soon pass away, but the food problem will never pass away. Unless the more bulky and perishable varieties of food are produced near home the same hardships which have beset the American people will return in double measure, till at last they are forced to a full realization of the food problem and how it may be solved.

No one, unless he has been through the experience, knows half the perplexities which beset the amateur gardener. Bewildered by a mass of information in detached form, much of which seems to contradict itself, he finds too late that important steps have been omitted and that he must wait a year before he can try again, with the lessons drawn from his first failure as a guidepost on the new path.

By gathering into one section the necessary information regarding the culture of each important vegetable for the home garden and arranging it so that the amateur may take each necessary step in its proper turn, guided by clear, explicit directions, we have endeavored to improve the chances of his success greatly and to save him from much of the disappointment that is so frequently the lot of beginners in gardening.

Since this movement, like others of the same nature, must depend for its final success upon the children now in school, the needs of the classroom and school garden have been kept clearly in mind. Comparatively few children enjoy the privilege of expert guidance in plant culture and garden work. Consequently a text covering the subject thoroughly and written in simple language which the child can easily understand, will be found necessary to successful work.

Today almost every school is planning in some way to help solve the urgent question of the food supply. With Garden Steps in the hands of each pupil, the work may easily be made definite and successful. Instructions needed in the early spring, for planting, indoors and out, are fully given. During the summer months, when the pupil is not in touch with his instructor, the book will prove a sufficient guide in tending the growing plants. In the fall, when the crop matures, the young gardener will find in Garden Steps what he needs to know about gathering and storing away the ripened crop.

The author wishes to gratefully acknowledge his indebtedness to the following, for the use of illustrative material: Joseph Breck & Sons; the Bristol County Agricultural School; R. & J. Farquhar & Company; Fottler, Fiske, Rawson Company; the Extension Service of the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst; and Miss Clara Endicott Sears, organizer of the Canning and Drying Club of Harvard, Massachusetts.

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Succestep List oF SEED

Contents

Fatt aNnD WINTER PREPARATIONS GARDEN PLans FERTILIZERS : SPRAYS AND Poisons .

Toots

ASPARAGUS .

Chapter I Fall And Winter Preparations

SECRET OF SUCCESS IN GARDENING

Success in garden work is not a matter of a single year of study; it is a matter of long experience. Very few beginners ever get great results from the first season. If, after the first summer, with its struggles and disappointments, the amateur still looks forward eagerly to the next spring, determined to turn the mistakes of the past year into the successes of the next, he may be sure that he will not fail. This courage to return to the battle with fresh determination is the quality which marks the line between big men and little men.

So then, if the weather has been unfavorable, if bugs and blights have come unexpectedly, if weeds have crowded in, if sods have been heavy and the ground hard and lumpy, if the work has been a tax on muscles unaccustomed to labor, determine that instead of giving up, you will turn to use the experience thus gained, so that next year the crops

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shall be increased and improved. Remember that you are helping to solve one of the greatest problems of the race, the food supply. There is no better test of determination of character than the garden. In the long run, failure is impossible to those who apply the qualities needed in the task. Nature knows no favorites. The rain falls on all alike, but the hoe and the harrow shall say whether the rain waters weeds or fruit.

Fatt CARE OF THE SOIL

Many of the most important steps in gardening must be taken in the fall. This is the time to look over the land for next year and plan for its preparation. If you are to use land which is at present covered with sod, the fall is the time to plow it under. If possible, all the land should be plowed at this season. Fall plowing breaks open the nests of many injurious insects that are wintering in the soil, thus greatly reducing their numbers when spring comes. It also makes the ground more open and porous, saves it from washing in the winter rains, and gives it more capacity to hold water in case of a drought in the early summer.

An additional advantage may be gained at this time if a catch crop of rye or clover is sown, to be plowed under in the spring. When the ground is harrowed, scatter about a quart of rye or a half pint of clover seed to the twenty-foot square, and

FALL AND WINTER PREPARATIONS 3 then rake it in with a wooden rake. These growing plants hold the moisture and keep the soil in place during the winter and spring months, and when plowed under, add humus to the earth.

The gardener should also make every effort at this season to get dressing for the coming spring. In the fall, farmers frequently have dressing to spare, but it is often impossible to obtain it at planting time. Besides, if the dressing is secured in the spring, it will probably be lumpy, hard to work into the ground, and most unsatisfactory to handle.

Ideal soil is the result of patient toil. Market gardeners take the most minute pains in preparing the ground for their crops, and the beginner should take their practice for his own. The author once saw men in France digging up the soil from the garden into large carts. These men were moving to a new place, and, by the French law, they had a right to carry with them the top soil of their little farm. It represented years of patient improvement. Every stone was picked out, the rich, dark earth was soft and fine, in perfect condition. They could not afford to leave it behind.

It is a joy to work in soil like this, and of course one year or two years will not produce it. However, careful preparation in the fall will make the greatest difference the following spring, and much of the next year’s success depends on it.

In the first place, plow lightly, especially the sod land that is to be planted the next year. Next, plan to dig or plow in a liberal amount of dairy or stable dressing before frost comes. In the spring, when this ground is worked over, the dressing will be well decayed and will make light and fine soil, which would be lumpy and heavy if the work were done in the spring with fresh manure.

Sort FoR Earty SEEDS

While putting in the dressing, remember the cold frame and the window boxes. Save out a couple of barrow-loads and mix it about half and half with fine soil, leaving it where it will not be washed too n ES a

TomatTors, Hanson LETTUCE, aNvD FreNcH Breakrist RapisH IN CoLtD FRAME

The lettuce provided plants for setting out, and enough for eating during part of May and all of June. Cold frame is seven feet long by four feet wide. The back board is one foot high, the front board is six inches, and the side boards are one foot high. Pepper plants, which do not show, were also planted here,

FALL AND WINTER PREPARATIONS 5 much by the rains and surface water. When needed, this will be suitable for intensive planting. If the ground is likely to be frozen when soil is wanted for the window boxes, some of this earth should be put in a barrel in the cellar, where it will be available at any time. Do not let this soil get too dry. Water it enough to keep it moist.

ORDERING GARDEN SUPPLIES

Besides the dressing, estimate how much of other fertilizers, such as nitrate of soda, lime, and commercial fertilizers, will be needed, and order them now. Fertilizer dealers try to estimate what the demand will be each year and do not mean to keep on hand any surplus. If the supply is exhausted in the spring, those who waited till then will have to wait longer still.

The same rule applies to tools and all supplies to be ordered from a distance. One does not mind waiting for a harrow a month overdue if that month is November; but in April, it is very different. Spring always catches some people unprepared ; don’t be one of them. .

As the winter months come on, the garden plans should be laid out, and the necessary seeds listed and ordered. It is disappointing in the spring to order seeds which one is anxious to try, only to find them sold out.

Window boxes, markers for garden rows, stakes for supports, bean poles, all the little accessories needed in the garden, should be made during the cold weather. The manual training room at school is an ideal place in which to construct these things. They have a vital interest for the pupils and most of them are very easy to make. When the garden rush is on, there is little time for making these supplies, and one is glad enough to have them ready.

As soon as the plans for the coming spring are complete, it will be time to begin starting seeds in the windows again. The year for garden work really has no beginning and no end.

INsPECTING SCHOOL GARDENS

Chapter II Garden Plans

THE right arrangement of the various plants in the garden, and the soil provided for each, will have much to do with the final success of the little farm. In some gardens the soil is the same throughout, and the only difference between one spot and another is the smoothness of the soil or the presence of water. In most gardens, however, there are some spots richer in humus and more suitable for cultivation than others.

A SamMpLe GARDEN

In the author’s garden, which is square and covers about an acre, there are several kinds and conditions of soil. In the southwest corner there is a piece about fifty feet square, where the loam is deep, full of humus, and fairly free from stones. The soil here was formerly acid and heavy. A dressing of lime, together with wood ashes from the fireplace, has greatly improved it, however. This is now used as the “ kitchen garden,” which will be described a little later.

North of this square there is a streak of gravel. This was the crown of a slight rise in the ground, from which the top soil has been washed off because of careless cultivation. This piece would be useless for most plants, but tomatoes, corn, or beans do well there. With plenty of dairy dressing beneath

TURNING OVER THE GROUND WITH A WHEEL PLOW

The plow turns weed roots up to the sun, which kills them. It also saves humus from washing out.

the hills, squashes also thrive on this gravel streak. The task now is to treat this piece with lime and humus, giving it a very shallow plowing each year, till a top soil is formed again. By fall plowing and by planting cover crops, it can be kept from washing away.

The rest of the westerly side is a light loam, not more than a foot deep, on a gravel subsoil. With

GARDEN PLANS “9 level cultivation and a soft surface, potatoes thrive well here.

In the center of the garden, running north and south, is the rhubarb bed, rich from good care during several years.

East of the rhubarb bed is a large piece of sandy loam, which is two feet deep in places. It is all on a gravel subsoil and needs a light dressing of lime each year to enable it to retain water. Here the asparagus bed is laid out. Beans, cucumbers, and the main corn crop thrive here; the soil is also perfectly suited to berries and small fruits.

Tue KircHen GarDEN

The farmer, who has his broad acres to cultivate, usually picks out some spot near the house where the earth is rich and fine, for a kitchen garden. Here he plants the vegetables for the home table which need special care and nice cultivation. The amateur, with his much smaller piece of ground, should follow the same practice.

There are some plants that need a great deal of room to grow in; fortunately, with good cultivation, these do well if left to themselves. Corn, tomatoes, squashes, and beans all push on cheerfully through long periods of dry weather and hot sun if they are started well. These are the vegetables which may be planted where it is most convenient.

GARDEN PLANS II

Plants Requiring Special Care. — There are other plants, however, which will do little if they are not nursed along and tended frequently. Such plants as lettuce, celery, beets, radishes, and cauliflower need the finest earth, and water at all times, to keep their growth up to the best. Where it is possible to have a hose that will reach every part of the entire garden, the problem is easily solved. Very few gardens, however, can boast the luxury of a hose. It is best, then, to select a special plot of ground large enough for these plants, and to call that the kitchen garden.

Root Habits and Water. — If we could watch a root as it works its way through the soil, we should see it turn towards the nearest supply of water. In digging out old wells, roots of trees have frequently been found, which have come more than a hundred feet to feed in the moist earth near the well. The tiny roots of the garden plants do the same thing on a smaller scale. They go toward the nearest water, wherever that may be. Their natural tendency is to go down into the earth, to seek water in the moist soil below them.

Result of Frequent Watering from Above. — Applications of water from. a watering pot seldom moisten more than the top of the ground. When the rows are watered in the evening in this way, the roots detect the moist earth above them and turn in that direction. The next day, when the hot sun falls on the plants, the roots are near the surface and soon feel the heat. The water quickly evaporates, and it is probable that the plants would be better off if they had not had any water at all, for the roots would then be well below the surface, seeking what moisture they could find.

Another bad result of frequent watering is the crust formed on the surface of the soil each time the ground is watered. This crust enables the sun to draw the water rapidly from the earth below. The only way to prevent this evaporation is to break up this crust thoroughly by cultivation. Of course, frequent water means frequent cultivation and an unnecessary increase in labor. So it is clear that if we use a waterpot or a hose at all, it is better to put on enough water to soak the soil thoroughly, well below the plants, once or twice a week.

Simple Irrigation Plans. — There are very satisfactory ways of applying water to a small area like the kitchen garden, without using the watering pot or hose. One can irrigate with empty cans, old water pipe, or tiling.

Empty cans, such as tomato cans or oil cans, holding a quart or more, may be sunk in the rows every few feet. Perforate the bottoms and sides, so that the water may leak through freely. Do not sink them between the rows, as they will interfere with cultivation. Fill these cans with water once a-day. It takes but a moment to water a small patch by this method, andthe water is admitted,

‘GARDEN’ PLANS B3 below the plants without forming any surface crust. :

Water pipe, which has been used but is still strong, may be obtained in almost every town at a very low: price. This makes an excellent medium for irrigation. Prepare the pipe you intend to use by

IRRIGATION PIPES -

A pail of water poured into these pipes is worth three sprinkled on the piams. It takes not one tenth the time and labor.

— holes every foot, about one fourth of an inch in diameter. In one eiid of the pipe drive a plug. At:the other end put an: nag and an MpUEht a foot or.two long. :

«The upright pipe-in the aieeans is a little: too high; but no cutting tool was handy, so it was left. The only objection to the height is that it causes an unnecessary pressure of water as it leaves the holes, where it might wash away the dirt somewhat.

The pipe required to water an ordinary kitchen garden need not be very long. The pipe in the illustration is twenty feet, two lengths, five feet apart. This supplies plenty of water to those plants that need it most. For a larger space more pipe could be laid, connected in one system, with a single tub as a reservoir.

When the ground is ready to plant, open a trench about a foot deep. Lay in the pipe with the holes down, so that the upright piece stands erect. Then fill in the earth again.

The paint kegs, used as shown in the picture, make excellent reservoirs. For the inch pipe, a hole measuring a trifle less than an inch was bored in the bottom of the keg, which was then screwed snugly on to the inch pipe.

If two or three pails of water are poured into these pipes every night during hot, dry weather, the plants will be well supplied with moisture.

A more expensive, but more desirable, way to irrigate is by means of porous drainpipe. This should be laid in trenches about a foot under the surface, and, if necessary, will provide not only for irrigation but for drainage. Clay pipe is used extensively in draining fields, as the water soaks into

GARDEN PLANS 15 the pipe and runs away from the land. When used for irrigating purposes, the water is poured into the pipe; it then soaks out of the pipe into the soil about it. On the other hand, your garden may have a clay subsoil, and, while needing water in dry weather, may have too much in wet weather. Under such conditions you can lay the pipe so that it drains to the outlet. Make a plug for the lower end. In wet weather open the outlet and allow the surplus water to run off. Close the outlet and fill the pipe in dry weather to keep moisture about the plants.

ARRANGEMENT OF Crops

Let us look over the garden land, then, and see just what we have. If part of it is full of gravel, that may be set off for plants which will succeed there. If water stands on certain parts of the land an hour or two after rains, such places should be drained. The best and most convenient part should be used for the kitchen garden. A sheltered place, on the south side of a fence or building, will be right for a cold frame. Fertilizer and lime can be provided according to the needs of the land. No work is more interesting than surveying your land and planning for its improvement.

SUCCESSION OF CROPS

In many states the early crops are completed in time for another to be started and ripened during the same season. Early peas, potatoes, and other crops that ripen by the middle of July, may be followed by beans, late cabbages, cauliflower, late corn, celery, and other plants, especially those that can be set out. Sweet corn does not ripen well in

CoLtp FRAME, WITH COVER RaIsED, TO AIR AND HARDEN PLANTS TO BE SET OUT

The top of this cold frame is made of three double window sashes. It does them no harm if they are laid putty side up.

the temperate belt if planted later than the fourth of July. In the south, the season is much longer, and three crops can often be planted on the same land. After each crop, a dressing of commercial fertilizer is the best preparation for the next.

RoTATION oF Crops

A good deal has been said of rotation of crops. This: changing the location of crops from year: to

GARDEN- PLANS 17 year is:‘much more important on-the large farm than in the garden. One five-acre piece, planted: to corn this year, can be planted to advantage with potatoes next year. Crops thus exchanged drain the soil less and keep more free from disease and pests.

The garden, however, offers a very different problem. There may be parts of the garden well suited to certain crops. In this case itis more important to have suitable soil for the plants than a change of location. One can afford to feed the plants well on the small space and give them all the nourishment they need. The kitchen garden cannot well be moved, and this is not necessary if it is properly cared for.

Beans and peas should not be moved when a spot is found where they flourish. Such plants, known as legumes, seem to require the presence of certain bacteria in the soil. Wherever these bacteria are present, legumes flourish and will do better there than in new locations.

There are some crops, however, which may wisely be changed about. Corn and potatoes are easily moved in most gardens, and the soil is improved by doing so. Cabbages should also be changed from year to year, to avoid root maggots.

CLEANING UP THE LAND

It always distresses a good gardener to see a garden that is untidy. Stumps and roots cause many extra steps each time the land is worked. Remember that every stone on the land draws out the moisture from the soil, spoils the dust mulch which should be kept on the surface by cultivating, and helps to keep the soil hard and lumpy.

Not THREE YET, BUT HE Is as Goop as Any OnE ELsE FOR PICKING UP STONES

Chapter III Fertilizers

In the growth of plants, four constituents are needed, which are likely to become exhausted in the soil. These must be supplied to most gardens after brief use and to all gardens after continued cultivation. They are nitrogen, lime, phosphates, and potash. When the needs of the crop expected are understood, the farmer can, by supplying these essential constituents, prepare most soils to produce good results.

A few years ago a man bought a large tract of land at a low price, on the northern end of the island of Newport, Rhode Island. Those familiar with the soil laughed when they heard that he planned to grow peaches there. They declared that the soil was so poor it would not even grow grass, which was true.

** All I want of the soil is to hold up the trees,” he replied. ‘ I'll feed them.”

He did, and today a most profitable peach orchard flourishes on that barren strip. Being surrounded by the warm water of the bay, it is free from frost — the dread of peach growers.

NeEps oF PLant GRrowTH

Garden plants may be given fertilizers exactly suited to their particular needs. The study required in order to. do this for each plant, however, is extensive, and not necessary for home gardening. Two general divisions may be made among garden plants. - One division includes those plants wanted for their leaves and stalks, such as spinach, chard, cabbage, cauliflower, and lettuce. Into the other division go those plants grown for their seeds, like corn and peas and beans, or for their fruits, such as tomatoes and melons, or for their roots, like potatoes and other root crops.