SPECIAL GARDEN, FRUIT and FLOWER EDITION
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Vol. XX.
OKLAHOMA FARMER, Ma
H 15, 1911.
No. 26.
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By PROF. J. YV. LLOYD,
°oPal OCll
University of Illinois.
i The home garden should be planned
with a view to furnishing a large as-
sortment and continuous supply of
vegetables through the entire season.
Its size will depend primarily upon
the amount of land available. On
V the farm where any amount of land
the owner desires can be reserved for
a garden, vegetables
to be stored for win-
tor, as well as the
summer s u p pi y
should be grown. On
the village lot, space
may be insufftceit to
grow more than the
summer's supply.
end it may also be
necessary to leave
out certain vegeta-
bles that require a
large amoulnt of
space. On a city lot,
the space available
for vegetable grow-
Ing is necessarily
email, and plantings
must usually be con-
fined to those veg-
etables whic'i pro-
duce a large nount
uf edible product for
the space occupied.
Whether the gar-
den is on the farm,
in the village back
yard, or on the city
lot, the principles
governing the plant-
ing and care are the
same, although the
distances of plant-
ing, methods of til-
I lage, and intensity
^ of cropping may dif-
fer widely. On the
farm, the saving of
labor is more im-
portant than the
saving of space; ev-
en the small vegeta-
bles are planted In
long rows wide apart
rather than in beds;
and the horse power
is substituted' for
hand power wher-
ever possible. In the
village and the city,
the vegetables must
usually be planted as
closely as the nature
*-of their growth will
permit, and hand til-
lage employed al-
most exel u s i v e 1 y.
Double-cropping may
also be practiced so
that two or three
_ ^ crops are produced
on the same land in
one season. The
most intensive
methods, of cropping
ca be employed in
city gardens where
8*."i i Hcia.1 watering
can be practiced,
and the vegetables
are never allowed to
suffer from lack of
moisture.
Much loss of time in the planting of a
garden can be avoided by making a def-
inite plan of the garden several weeks
or even months before the planting
is to begin. After measuring the
area that is to be used for the gar-
din, the next step is to decide what
vegetables are to be grown. If space
is ample, this will be determined pri-
marily by the personal tastes of the
gardener and his family. However,
if only a limited amount of time and
attention can be given the garden, it
may be wise not to undertake the
growing of some of the more exacting
crops, such as egg plant, cauliflower
limited areas in the c ,nere may be
room for only a small bed of lettuce
and radishes, to be followed by string
beans, or a few tomato plants. What-
ever the space available, the crops to
be grown should be decided upon long
before the time for planting.
The next thing to decide is the
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amount of space which is to be de-
voted to each of tliH crops which are
to be grown. This will depend part-
ly upon the nature of growth and
productiveness of tli crop, and partly
upon the fondness the family for
the given product. A very small area
will supply all the lettu<re the family
and celery, even though space is un-
lm> f 2d. If, on the other hand, the
spa o is limited, it may be necessary
to leave out a part or all of the
vegetables requiring a largo amount
of room, such a potatoes, sweet corn,
lima beam, cucumbers, squashes, mel-
ons and sweet potatoes. In extremely
can use, while the same space de-
voted to sweet corn would be merely
an aggravation.
In planning the garden it is well to
arrange the vegetables in the order in
which they are to be planted. This
facilitates the preparation of the land
for planting, and makes it possible to
maintain the un-
planted portion in
good friable condi-
tion with the least
expenditure of labor.
In order that the
vegetables may be
so arranged, it is
necessary to know
the proper time for
planting each crop.
Failures often re-
sult from planting
some crops too early
and others too late.
Each crop has its
own peculiarities as
to temperature and
moisture require-
ments and planting
should be timed ac-
cordingly.
Vegetables should
be roughly divided
into two classes-
cool and warm sea-
son crops. The form-
er are quite hardy
and will stand light
frosts without in-
jury. They can us-
ually be planted as
early in spring as
the ground is in fit
condition to work.
To this class belong
onions, lettuce, spin-
ach. radishes, beets,
parsnips, carrots
parsley and peas.
The normal season
for planting these
crops is when the
farmer is sowing his
oats, though some of
these vegetables will
stand earlier plant-
ing than others, and
in many cases later
plantings may be
made for securing a
succession.
The warm season
crops are subject to
injury by frost, and
cannot safely be
planted until the
weather is compar-
atively warm. The
different crops In
this group, however,
differ in respect to
the intensity of heat
they require. Thus,
sweet corn and
string beans are u3-
ually planted early
in May; lima beans,
tomatoes, cucura-
bers, melons and
squashes are plant-
ed from one to two
weeks later; while
sweet potatoes and
egg plants should be kept in the hot-
bed until the first week in June.
Of the crops that are to be planted
at the same time, those that are simi-
lar in character of growth and cul-
tural requirements, or that occupy
the land the same length of time
(Continued on page 16.)