The ground should be in as good condition for sowing as possible—neither too dry nor too wet. It should, and this is of much importance, be warm. The best of seed will not germinate2 if sown in wet, cold soil, especially is this true of peas and beans, failures with these being almost invariably due to too much haste in planting or unfavorable weather immediately following. It is no unusual thing in a cold, late spring for these37 legumes to require repeated replanting and with the enormously advanced price of all kinds of seeds it will not pay to take too long chances by undue3 haste in planting. Usually it is quite safe to plant nearly all of the garden truck by the tenth of May at the north but the weather for the recent seasons has been unusual and much loss was occasioned by adhering too closely to an established schedule; so, if the season promises to be in any way, except for earliness, abnormal, it is best to go slowly and not trust all one's seed to an initial planting but to hold a little in reserve to replant unfilled areas. Cutworms, too, have caused much devastation4 the past few seasons—usually these are troublesome to transplanted things, mainly cabbage, peppers and tomatoes, but last year they destroyed beans and other plants impartially5, causing much loss.
In planting a seed drill attached to a hand cultivator will be of great assistance as seed may be drilled in rows or dropped in hills at different distances apart so rapidly that the entire garden may be planted in little more time than it takes38 to do an hundred foot row by hand, and the drill will do it better, opening up the rows, sowing the seed and covering all in one operation. If, however, one is not possessed6 of this convenient implement7 one can do very well without by removing one hoe of the hand cultivator, or by reversing both hoes and bringing the points together and opening a drill to receive the seed and covering it with the hoe or rake, or it may even be opened with a trowel, which though laborious8, is a very effectual way.
The soil must always be firmed above the seed after sowing, either by means of a flat piece of board, with a handle on one surface or, in the case of large seeds by tramping the rows with the feet; this firming of the soil is most important, it brings the soil close about the seed so that the first little root—a very tiny, delicate little root, feeling its way about in search of nourishment9 can come at once into contact with the warm soil and obtain the food and moisture so critically needed at this juncture10 of its little life. The firming of the soil conserves11 the moisture, preventing39 the entrance of dry, hot air, and to obtain this further the ground after being tramped down should be gone over lightly with rake or trowel and a dust-mulch produced. In fact, all through one's gardening processes one must keep the dust-mulch in evidence for it means conservation of moisture and fertility and freedom from weeds.
Seeds of different sizes, hardness and germination12 qualities, require different treatment; fine seeds may be sown in shallow drills, scattering13 seeds whose germinary power is known to be low or questionable14 quite thickly in the drills; beets15 are usually sown quite freely, while radishes—nearly every seed of which may be trusted to grow—may be scattered16 at about the distance they are wanted to stand in the rows; beans, too, may be dropped at about the distance they will require—six inches or more apart for limas, and as these seeds are sensitive to cold and dampness it is a wise precaution to set them on edge, eye down, in the drills. Seeds that germinate slowly, like peas, are hastened considerably17 by40 being soaked over night in warm water, and many seeds that require considerable time to start are hastened if warm water be poured into the trenches18 before the soil is filled in; this is especially beneficial in very dry soil where germination might otherwise be delayed until after a rain.
Beds
An orderly arrangement of garden beds
It is not necessary that new seed be purchased every spring; if one has seed of his own saving so that its age is known one can use it with confidence. Seed purchased of the seedsman is more or less problematical, but is usually supposed to be of the previous season's crop, especially is this true of those seedsmen who produce their own seed on farms located in different sections of the country, and whose seeds are usually very reliable. However there are many seedsmen, or jobbers19, who purchase the bulk of their seeds in the open market and cannot guarantee the quality in any way. It is always a great mistake to purchase cheap seed; it is better to buy seed of a reputable seedsman who puts his name and reputation back of it, though the price may be considerably41 higher than one would pay for the same seed of the local store or seedsman.
Where one has sufficient old seed of different kinds it is a good idea to test them out during the late days of winter and so ascertain20 their fitness for use. The testing is a simple matter, warmth and moisture being all that is required. A long tray covered with an inch of sand kept moist may be marked off in squares and the seed it is desired to test scattered evenly over the surface, labeling or numbering each square, then a thick piece of flannel21 should be wet in warm water and placed snugly22 over all and the tray put in a warm place—back of the furnace, over a radiator23 or on the back of the kitchen reservoir if a fire is kept there all the time, until the seeds germinate; it will then be seen what proportion germinate and how freely one will need to sow in order to obtain a good stand of plants. If the supply of seed is large a germination test of seventy-five per cent. will justify24 its use but if there is only a limited supply it will be better to42 purchase fresh seed or at least sufficient to supplement the home supply. It is always worth while to save one's own seed if the vegetables have exceptionally good qualities; this insures trueness to name and often an improvement over the parent stock; it is not, however, desirable where a number of varieties of any vegetable is grown in the same garden as the seed is quite certain to be mixed and the good qualities of the parent stock to be lost.
In sowing seed in the open ground cultivation25 should begin as soon as the seed is sown and covered. In the case of large seed which is tramped down in the rows and covered an inch or more it is not always necessary to rake over the rows for a dust-mulch, rarely if it is likely to rain immediately. Under this condition the rows will be quite distinct and as soon as the rain is over and the ground slightly dried off the scuffle-hoe may be run along the rows restoring the dust-mulch, or creating one. Where the planting is shallow it is an excellent plan to drop radish seeds at intervals26 along the row as these will43 appear in from three to five days, thus marking the rows so that there will be no difficulty in following them. When this is done it will not be necessary to use ground especially for planting radishes so that there will be a saving in room that may be utilized28 to advantage for other vegetables. Lettuce29, too, may be grown to advantage by planting a short strip of seed at the end of rows of other vegetables, where full rows are not required, as this saves space in the garden and the lettuce if placed at the ends of the rows nearest the house is easily accessible and does away with the necessity of walking on the garden after it has been cultivated, a thing the careful gardener avoids.
With the intensive gardening practised on the small plot where the vegetables are planted in close rows from a foot to two feet apart, the ground should be at all times in a fine tilth, free from unworked strips and trodden paths. It is of little value to cut off the weeds with the hoe or cultivator if they are to be trodden back in the ground and so given a new lease of life. The44 scuffle-hoe is a real boon30 to the gardener in obviating31 this difficulty as in using it one walks backwards32, pushing the hoe from one instead of drawing it towards one as is done with the common garden hoe; this leaves a beautiful, clean tilth, absolutely free from trampled33 areas and nothing cut off by the hoe will take on a new lease of life over night. More real work can be accomplished34 by the use of the scuffle than with any other tool in the garden; it does not supplant35 altogether the wheel cultivator but does its work when used alternately with it; the cultivator breaking up the soil to a greater depth, and more rapidly than the scuffle, but the latter destroys far more thoroughly36 all weeds and reaches closer to the plants, slipping underneath37 the leaves and close to the stems and routing out any and all weeds lurking38 there. The cultivator leaves the ground in ridges39 and aerates40 it, the scuffle levels it again and produces a fine dust-mulch which will preserve the moisture until another rain calls for the use of the cultivator.
Unless the season is a very rainy one, one good45 cultivation a week, either with scuffle or cultivator, will keep the garden in excellent shape, but every rain MUST be followed by cultivation of some sort, for there is great loss of moisture if this is not done and weeds follow quickly after rain.
The various weeds with which the garden is afflicted41 come at separate intervals—not all together, and when one has eradicated42 one set of weeds there is usually a brief interval27 before the appearance of the next detachment. But one must have them continually in mind and keep a sharp lookout43 for the first tiny seedlings44 and destroy them before they have made even one pair of true leaves. Working around individual plants with a trowel or hand weeder has this advantage that it spies out the enemy before it would attract attention if the rows were worked with hoe or cultivator. The severe thinning that such plants as beets, carrots, endive, salsify, onions and the like require clears the rows of weeds and helps materially in general cultivation. This thinning out should always be done prior to cultivating46 between the rows, then the paths are left clear and untrodden and the garden is a delight to look upon. A basket should be carried along the rows to drop the plants removed so that they may be out of the way when ready to run the cultivator. Nearly all plants which require thinning may be used in setting out fresh rows of vegetables and where there are vacant places in the rows the spaces may be filled up with plants removed from too crowded areas.
The first weeds to appear in the spring are the chickweed and the malice2 that has remained over from the previous year, being a perennial46 and a very hardy47 and persistent48 one; these two are ploughed under and give little or no trouble if the work has been well done. The new crop does not appear until late in the season—usually in July. Purslaine comes along in June and soon after appears that particular pest of the garden—red root. All these are very easily eradicated when small but the red root is an exceedingly47 hard weed to pull once it has got a grip on the ground and it must be taken out root and all or it will come up again with not one but several stout49 stalks, and a more tenacious50 hold than ever on the soil; it is one of the weeds which are constantly eluding51 detection until they have gained several inches in height when they defy the hoe and cultivator and call for strenuous52 hand work!
Many of the garden weeds may be utilized for feeding stock. Belgian hares are fond of the fresh green leaves of malice45 and pigs enjoy both that and the purslaine and as the former comes at a time when there is little green feed available for the hares it may be pulled and fed rather than turned under. Ragweed is relished53 by horses and they will frequently go into a patch of it and eat it in preference to good clover growing near by.
2 Common name "malice" from its bad reputation; properly, mallow (malva rotundifolia).
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1
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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germinate
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| v.发芽；发生；发展 | |
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undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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devastation
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| n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤 | |
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impartially
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| adv.公平地，无私地 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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9
nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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conserves
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| n.（含有大块或整块水果的）果酱，蜜饯( conserve的名词复数 )v.保护，保藏，保存( conserve的第三人称单数 ) | |
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12
germination
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| n.萌芽，发生；萌发；生芽；催芽 | |
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13
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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14
questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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beets
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| 甜菜( beet的名词复数 )； 甜菜根； （因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而）脸红 | |
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16
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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18
trenches
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| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
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jobbers
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| n.做零活的人( jobber的名词复数 )；营私舞弊者；股票经纪人；证券交易商 | |
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20
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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21
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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snugly
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| adv.紧贴地；贴身地；暖和舒适地；安适地 | |
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23
radiator
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| n.暖气片，散热器 | |
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24
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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26
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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28
utilized
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| v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
lettuce
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| n.莴苣；生菜 | |
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30
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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31
obviating
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| v.避免，消除（贫困、不方便等）( obviate的现在分词 ) | |
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32
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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33
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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34
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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35
supplant
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| vt.排挤；取代 | |
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36
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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38
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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39
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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40
aerates
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| v.使暴露于空气中，使充满气体( aerate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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41
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
eradicated
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| 画着根的 | |
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43
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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44
seedlings
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| n.刚出芽的幼苗( seedling的名词复数 ) | |
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45
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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46
perennial
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| adj.终年的；长久的 | |
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47
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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48
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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50
tenacious
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| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
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51
eluding
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的现在分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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52
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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53
relished
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| v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望 | |
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