Garden seeds should always be sown in straight rows regardless of
where the planting is made. If a window box is employed for starting
early plants in a dwelling, the soil should be well firmed and then
laid off in straight rows about 2 inches apart. The same method holds
good for planting seeds in a hotbed, cold frame, or bed in the garden,
except that the rows should be farther apart than in the window box.
By planting in straight rows the seedlings will be more uniform in
size and shape, and thinning and cultivating will be more easily
accomplished. In all cases where the soil of the seed bed is not too
wet it should be well firmed or pressed down before laying off and
marking for sowing the seeds. After the seeds are sown and covered, the
surface should again be firmed by means of a smooth board.
No definite rule can be given for the depth to which seeds should be
planted, for the depth should vary with the kind of seed and with the
character and condition of the soil. In heavy clay and moist soils the
covering should be lighter than in sandy or dry soils. In all cases the
depth should be uniform, and when planting seeds in boxes or a bed the
grooves in which the seeds are planted should be made with the edge of
a thin lath.--(F. B. 255.)
_Planting._--The most distinctive feature of the garden on the farm
should be the reduction of hand labor to a minimum. In planting the
garden, therefore, it should be laid out in long rows, sufficiently
far apart to permit the use of a horse and cultivator in tending the
crops. Time and confusion will also be saved if the vegetables are
grouped according to their cultural requirements, and the number of
plantings made as small as is consistent with the demands of the
various crops. Each group of crops may then be planted and tended as
one crop, and the garden operations thus greatly simplified. When more
than one planting of a given crop is desired for the sake of securing
a succession, the second planting may be put in at the same time that
other crops are being planted, so that even in this case, the number of
plantings need not be multiplied. The use of two or more varieties of
the same vegetable, differing in their time of maturity, will also aid
in keeping down the number of different plantings.
The arrangement of the garden as to length of rows and time of
planting, is not the only labor saving feature that should characterize
the typical farmer's garden. Field methods should be practiced in
preparing the land for planting, and as much preliminary work done
in the fall as is possible, for the sake of both securing an early
garden and reducing the amount of labor in spring. After the land is
cleared of refuse from preceding crops, it should be heavily manured,
and plowed in the fall. The amount of manure to be applied will depend
somewhat upon the fertility of the land, but more largely upon the
trueness of the farmer's conception of the plant food requirements
of garden crops. The best gardens are possible only where plant is
supplied much more liberally than is considered ample for field crops.
Forty tons of manure per acre is a very moderate application for garden
crops, and this amount should be applied annually, even on soils
already rich, if maximum crops of vegetables are to be grown.
The plowing under of manure in the fall hastens the drying out of the
soil in the spring, so that planting may begin earlier than if the
manuring and plowing were deferred until spring. This is both because
the soil actually dries out earlier, and also because no time is lost
in manuring or plowing after the soil has reached workable condition.
It often happens that early in the spring when the cool season crops
should be planted, the soil remains in ideal condition for working only
a brief period, and then becomes so thoroughly wet by copious rains
that further garden work is precluded for two or three weeks. If the
manuring and plowing have been done in the fall, it is often possible
to plant the early vegetables in the brief period during which the soil
is fit to work, while otherwise this entire period might be expended in
making preparations, and the actual planting necessarily deferred until
the next time the soil was dry. Since the success of many of the early
crops depends upon early planting, the wisdom of fall preparation is
apparent.
If the land has been manured and plowed in the fall, and is worked
at the proper time in spring, very little labor is necessary in the
preparation of a seed-bed for the early planting. Soil containing
sufficient humus to grow vegetable crops advantageously, can be fitted
for planting without the use of hand tools, if the precaution is taken
to work it at the exact time it reaches the right degree of dryness. It
will then crumble readily, and a seed-bed can be prepared by the use of
a disk, harrow, and planker. The use of these tools saves an enormous
amount of labor, and is a vast improvement over the old method of using
a hoe and rake.
The actual planting of the garden is a simple matter, provided a
definite plan has previously been made, so that no time is lost in
deciding which vegetable to plant first, where to plant it, or how
much to plant. In the home garden, only a small amount of seed of each
kind is planted, so that a seed drill cannot be used to advantage,
and the planting is therefore almost invariably done by hand. For the
small vegetables, sown in drills, the planting involves four distinct
operations: (1) making the drills, (2) dropping the seed, (3) covering,
and (4) firming. The most rapid way of making the drills in a garden
to be planted in long rows is to use a marker that makes three or four
drills each time it is drawn across the area to be planted. With a
medium weight marker, and the soil in proper condition for planting,
the marks will be of the proper depth for planting seeds of any of the
smaller vegetables usually sown in drills. For peas or beans a deeper
drill may be made with the plow attachment of a wheel hoe. After the
seed is dropped, it is covered with a rake, or in the case of deep
planting, with a hoe, or a wheel hoe. The soil is firmed over the seed
by the use of the feet, the back of a hoe, or a garden roller. Whatever
the means employed, the firming must be thorough, especially in light
soil or dry weather; for unless the soil is brought in close contact
with the seeds, they will not germinate.--(U. Ill. B. 154.)
_Cultivation._--By the proper cultivation of the garden there is
accomplished three things: (1) The weeds are kept out so that they do
not shade or take away valuable plant food and moisture from the plants
which one desires to perfect. (2) The surface soil is brought into the
best condition to resist drouth; that is, into the best condition for
availing itself to the utmost of the stores of water in the subsoil and
to prevent the evaporation of this water from the surface soil. (3) The
stores of insoluble plant food are made soluble by the chemical action
and fermentation, which are increased by loosening the soil, thereby
letting in the air.
_Keeping Out the Weeds._--The methods best adapted for keeping the
weeds out of the garden are many and varied, and depend much upon
the condition and kind of soil in which the weeds grow; upon the
kind of crop and upon the habits of the weeds themselves. The most
important step in making easy the prevention of weeds in the garden is
the harrowing or other thorough cultivation of the land just before
the planting of the seed, to kill the young weeds. If this is done
thoroughly, the weeds do not have a better chance than the crop. If
this is not done, the weeds will be ahead of the crop in growth, and
if started even ever so little when the crop is planted, the result
generally is that the crop is seriously overgrown by them before it
is large enough to be cultivated. _This is a common mistake, and is,
perhaps, responsible for more failures in the garden than any other
factor which enters into the consideration of this subject_; and it
is a very simple matter to prevent any trouble from this source if a
little foresight is exercised.
_Early Cultivation to Kill Weeds._--The next most important factor in
the prevention of weeds in the garden is early cultivation. In the case
of seeds that require a long time to germinate, it is an excellent
plan to lightly rake over the land with an ordinary fine-toothed rake,
even before the crop appears above the ground, providing the work is
so carefully done as not to disturb the seeds. When the seed is sown
with a drill, the line of the row may be plainly seen even before
the plants come up, thus making it easy to commence cultivating it
in advance of the weeds. In case of such crops as carrots, onions,
parsnips and beets, which are quite delicate when young, cultivation
should begin with some hand garden cultivator, even if it is intended
later on to cultivate with a horse, and the crop is planted with this
purpose in view. Such close and careful work cannot be done with any
horse implement now in use as with the best hand implements. With
proper tools, the work may be done nearly as quickly by hand as by
horse power, and far more perfectly when the plants are small. Careful
early cultivation is of the utmost importance, since, if the weeds
are removed when they are young, the work of weeding is very small.
If allowed to remain until well rooted, their removal is often a very
serious matter, and frequently, if neglected at this early stage, the
weeds become so firmly established as to make it a question whether to
remove them or plow under the whole crop; and often it is the part of
wisdom to adopt the latter alternative. Aside from its effect in the
prevention of weeds, early cultivation is of great value in breaking up
the crust that packs firmly around the tender growing stems of plants,
and that seriously interferes with their growth. It is also, like all
surface cultivation, of aid in the conservation of moisture in the soil.
_Importance of Not Allowing Weeds to Go to Seed._--A common source of
weed infection is often found in the few weeds that are allowed to go
to seed toward the end of the growing season in the maturing crop or
after the crop has been gathered. To some farmers it often seems a
small matter to allow a few plants of pig-weed, purslane, tumble weed
and weeds of other kinds to go to seed in the garden, but absolute
cleanliness should be the only rule in this particular, and it is by
far the most economical in practice in the long run. It requires but
little labor and saves much useless expense to destroy weeds that are
going to seed. If the preventives for weeds suggested are closely
followed hand weeding will be reduced to a minimum and will often be
unnecessary with any crop.
_Weed Seeds in Manure for the Garden._--The manure applied to the
garden is often coarse and contains many weed seeds, and is a fruitful
source of weed infection. The manure intended for the garden that
contains the seeds of weeds should be piled up and allowed to ferment
until the whole mass is thoroughly rotted. By this means the seeds in
it will be killed. But in order to rot manure to best advantage, it
should be forked over occasionally when well warmed up by fermentation,
and the whole turned over, with the outside of the pile thrown into the
center. If dry, it should be watered enough to enable fermentation to
continue, and to prevent "fire-fanging." It is seldom advisable to use
fresh manure in the garden, and manure should only be applied in this
condition when free from weeds, and then only for some late-maturing
crops, in which case there will be time for it to rot before the crops
need it. All early crops need well rotted manure, and require it in
much larger quantities than do the late-maturing crops.--(U. Minn. A.
E. S. 38.)
_General Cultivation._--The methods to be pursued in the general
cultivation of garden crops will vary somewhat, according to the soil,
season and crop. However, it is very important to remember that the
destruction of weeds is but a small part of the work of cultivation.
The most important part is to so fit the soil that it may best
withstand drouth. This is accomplished by frequent shallow cultivation
during the period of growth. The first implements to use in the care
of such crops as are generally cultivated by hand are those that work
the soil to only a very slight depth, close to the plants. Such
implements may be used just as the seedlings are breaking ground. As
soon as the plants have gained some little strength, implements should
be used that will go deeper, until a depth of two or three inches
can be easily worked without endangering the safety of the crop by
covering the plants with dirt. It is doubtful if any of our garden
crops should ever be cultivated more than three inches deep, and it is
very certain that many crops are injured by cultivating deeply very
close to the plants, in which case the roots are cut off near their
upper ends and thus wholly destroyed. Cultivation in a period of drouth
results in forming a mulch or blanket of dry earth on the surface of
the land, which prevents the moisture from passing into the atmosphere,
and a rather shallow blanket, say two inches deep, accomplishes this
purpose. A compact subsoil readily transmits the water upwards to the
surface soil, in the same manner that a lamp wick carries the oil to
the flame. At the surface the soil water is prevented from evaporating
by a blanket of loose earth, and is thus saved in the upper subsoil
and lower and middle parts of the furrow slice for the roots of the
crop; loose surface soil is a good non-conductor of water. During the
growth of a crop, the surface of the ground should never be left long
with a crust on it, but should be stirred after each rain or after
artificially watering.