Part 2

I have in mind a community organization a description of which will serve to illustrate what can be done by organized effort of this kind.

A piece of land about three acres in extent was available for cultivation in this case. It was fairly good land, but had served to some extent as a dumping-ground for cellar excavations, and had a considerable amount of rubbish of one kind and another deposited upon it. The principal of an adjacent school decided that this land ought not to remain idle, so he obtained permission from the owner to use it, and then, with some other energetic people of the community, got together and started to do things. The ground was first plowed and harrowed free of charge by the city park department and the largest of the stones removed. It was then decided that the plot should be fenced, in order to keep out cats, dogs, small boys, and other undesirables, and to insure that those who raised the crops should receive the benefit. Material, consisting of two-by-four-inch posts eight feet long, chicken netting five feet wide, and a strand of barbed wire to go around the top, was bought for this purpose at a cost of about $112. The fence was erected by volunteers in their spare time, and six padlocked gates provided, to which each plot-holder had a key. Water-pipe was laid all over the area so that the crops could be cared for in time of drought. The expense incurred for the purchase of pipe and installation, together with that of seeds, fertilizers, and the larger garden implements, was borne by the association. The area was divided into fifty plots each 100 × 23½ feet. Each plot-holder was asked to keep an account of his expenses, and also of the yields obtained. The results are interesting. The average cost of each plot, including expenses incurred for fencing, seeds, fertilizer, etc., was a little over $11; the value of the crops obtained was around $34; giving an average profit of between $22 and $23.

When one considers the smallness of these plots, it must be admitted that the results were worth while, and the whole adventure is very encouraging to those who contemplate a similar enterprise. Of course no allowance was made for the cost of labor involved in preparing and caring for these plots; but to offset this one should remember that the soil was not especially good, the workers not experienced, and then one must take into account the large initial expense of fencing the land, buying tools, etc. This year the expenses will be considerably less and the yields ought to be greatly increased because of the improvement of the soil through the cultivation of the preceding year.

Other advantages of community gardens that may be mentioned are these: there is not so much danger of a plot-holder becoming tired of gardening and quitting before he has harvested his crop; community gardening fosters a spirit of healthy competition, and each gardener tries to have his plot looking a little neater, and to produce larger and better crops, than his neighbor. Furthermore, in a body of men and women associated in this way there is almost always some one who has had a garden before and to whom the novices may turn for advice.

While community gardening is undoubtedly the most economical, and, in many ways, the most pleasurable method for the home gardener to produce his crops, one should not be deterred from the attempt to grow vegetables merely because there is no opportunity to link up with an organization. The man with a back yard can grow some vegetables, provided that his soil is fairly good and his plot is open to the sunshine. Even the apartment-dweller need not despair, because in most cities it is possible to obtain the use of a plot of vacant ground, through either the municipality or some organization formed for the purpose of dealing with such situations.

III TOOLS

It is unnecessary to spend much money on tools for use in a small garden. The writer did very well in his home garden with nothing but an ordinary round-pointed shovel for digging purposes, a rake to pulverize the soil and make drills for seed-sowing, a scuffle-hoe for cultivating, and a garden line made from two sticks and a piece of twine. Of course there are many tools on the market that greatly facilitate cultivation and make gardening work easier, but their purchase is inadvisable unless the size of the garden and the permanency of its cultivation warrant it.

Nothing will be said as to the various types of horse-drawn or motor-driven implements. This book is written for those who have to do their gardening with hand tools or those who are limited to the hiring of just what horse-drawn tools happen to be available.

For the preparation of the soil, probably the best implement is the spading-fork. It is easier to work with than a spade and in most cases is equally efficient. The spading-fork can be used for digging and, at a pinch, can be made to serve the purpose of fining the surface soil for seed-sowing. A spade is a handy tool to have, however, especially when any work is to be done in the way of making beds or forming walks.

For seed-sowing the absolute essentials are very few. A yard-stick or foot-rule for measuring the distance between the rows is useful. An even better way of accomplishing this is to divide a hoe or rake handle, whichever is used in seed-sowing, into feet and quarter-feet, preferably cutting in the marks with a knife. If one is limited to buying just one tool for making the drills the rake should be chosen, as it can also be used for fining the soil and for cultivating between the rows. A garden line can easily be improvised from two sticks, sharpened at one end, and a suitable length of strong twine.

When the soil is fairly loose and easily worked, a scuffle-hoe is a very satisfactory tool for cultivating the surface. On the other hand, if the ground is hard and stony the ordinary draw-hoe should be chosen. A small hand weeder, which can be obtained at a cost of from ten to fifty cents, is very useful for loosening the surface of the ground close to the rows of young seedlings. Look over the illustrations of these tools in a seedsman’s catalogue and pick out the one most suited to your needs. With a little ingenuity, tools suitable for stirring up the surface soil can be fashioned at home from old hoop iron or stout wire fastened on wooden handles. After a season’s work in the garden you will discover just what you need in this line, and will probably be able to make a tool that will give far greater satisfaction than anything you might buy.

A garden hose of sufficient length so that water can be applied all over the garden is an advantage, but not absolutely necessary. A good rubber hose costs, nowadays, about ten dollars for a length of fifty feet, and a few expenditures of this nature sadly eat into the profits of the garden. As an accessory to the hose a sprinkler throwing a fine spray, that can be left running for several hours, is very useful and desirable, especially if there is no meter attached to your water supply!

When combating insects and diseases in a small garden, a sprayer of the atomizer type holding about a quart of insecticide and costing between one and two dollars is very valuable. In a garden of considerable extent, or in a community garden, insecticides and fungicides can be economically and efficiently applied by means of a compressed-air spray-pump holding three or four gallons and costing between six and eight dollars. If a large potato-patch is cultivated, a powder-distributing bellows, costing about one dollar, is useful for distributing Paris green in powder form. A powder-distributer for use in a small garden can be improvised by making a small cheese-cloth bag in which the powder is placed and distributed by shaking the bag over the plants.

Wheel-hoes varying in price from five to fifteen dollars—the price depending on the size and number of attachments—are available for expediting the work in large gardens. Some of these implements have attachments so that they may be used for marking the rows, sowing seeds in drills or hills, for raking, cultivating, and shallow plowing. These, however, are for use on large areas by professional gardeners, or to delight the connoisseur of tools.

To sum up—the tools that it is advisable for a beginner, with a garden of moderate size, to buy are: a spading-fork, an iron rake, a six-inch hoe (of either the scuffle or the ordinary variety), a one-quart atomizer for applying spray fluids, and a watering-can. The cost of these should not exceed three or four dollars.

Start out with a few essential tools and add others if you find that you absolutely need them.

IV THE SITE—THE SOIL AND ITS PREPARATION

Practically all of the vegetable crops require sunshine, and plenty of it, in order to attain their full development. Therefore, in selecting the location of your vegetable-garden (if it is possible to have any choice) choose one open to sunshine and not hemmed in by tall buildings which shut out the air. A location near big trees should be avoided, for the trees not only shade the crops, but their wide-spreading roots also rob the ground of food and moisture which the vegetables need. The ideal location for a vegetable-garden is one open to the south and sheltered from the north and west winds, but always with this provision—the soil must be of a suitable nature.

This brings us to a consideration of one of the most important factors in successful vegetable culture—that of the soil.

Soils vary a great deal in their physical characters and also in their chemical composition.

Sandy soils quickly dry out and warm up in the spring, and in consequence it is possible to prepare them for planting and produce crops much earlier than is the case with heavier soils. For this reason sandy soils are usually preferred by market gardeners, whose object is to get their crops on the market as soon as possible. One great objection to sandy soils is the rapidity with which they lose their moisture by drainage and evaporation. They are frequently not naturally fertile and it is necessary to apply large quantities of manure to make them profitable. They are also subject to loss of fertility by leaching. The way in which these disadvantages can be corrected will be told later.

At the other end of the scale, almost exactly opposite in every particular, are those soils in which clay predominates. Soils of this type are cold, they dry out very slowly, and as a result it is late before they can be fitted for planting. In dry seasons, because of their water-holding capacity, they are greatly to be preferred, and plants growing on them are less liable to suffer from drought. Clay soils, because of their stickiness, are very difficult to work, and although they may be well supplied with plant food, it is sometimes unavailable because of the sticky, tenacious character of the clay which does not provide a good medium in which the roots may ramify in search of food.

Peat soils and muck lands are made up largely of decayed organic matter. They are usually deficient in minerals, but by correct management can be made to produce good crops of certain kinds of vegetables. Enormous quantities of celery and onions are successfully grown on muck soils.

The kind of soil most desired by the gardener is the happy medium that is called loam. This consists of a mixture of clay and sand in nearly equal proportions, combined with a considerable quantity of decayed organic matter. Such soils are fertile, easy to work, retentive of moisture, but sufficiently porous so that the moisture is not retained in excess. Air can penetrate such soils, a prime necessity for healthy root growth, and also necessary for the existence of bacteria which do so much in making inert plant foods soluble and available for the use of plants.

The extreme types of soil previously mentioned can be greatly improved by judicious treatment. It will be remembered that one of the great drawbacks to sandy soils was the readiness with which they lose their moisture. The proper treatment for this type is to add organic matter. This decays and forms humus, which binds the coarse particles together to a certain extent and increases the absorbtive and retentive properties of the soil. This organic matter is best applied in the form of decayed, or partially decayed, barn-yard or stable manure. If manure is not available a good substitute can be found in leaves. These may be gathered in the fall and piled in a heap to decay. Very little decomposition will take place during the winter months in the Northern states, and for this reason leaves that have been piled in heaps for twelve months or more are to be preferred. Decay may be hastened by forking over the leaves two or three times during the summer. Although decayed leaves are better than fresh ones for mixing in with the soil, fresh leaves are better than none at all.

The owners of city gardens frequently neglect an opportunity of adding humus to their soil when they allow the leaves of street trees to be burned or carted away. The city street-cleaning department is usually only too glad to be relieved of this duty.

When it is impossible to add humus to the soil through the medium of organic manures, as is often the case in city back yards, recourse may be had to one of the many brands of prepared humus obtainable from seedsmen.

Liming is also considered to be good for sandy soils, as the lime exercises a binding influence on the coarse particles. Of course when clay is available it is good to add it, and mix thoroughly with the sand, but it is seldom that clay is present in near enough proximity to make this practice a paying proposition. Compacting sandy soils, by means of a roller on large areas, or by means of the feet in the case of small plots, is good horticultural practice.