OCR Text |
Show GARDEN m DRY FARM Small Area Will Give Varied and Healthful Diet. While Results on Montana Farm Were Not Wonderful, They Were Satisfactory Satis-factory and Furnished Abundance Abund-ance of Vegetables. The dry farmer should plant a liberal lib-eral garden. I believe from my experiences expe-riences that a kitchen garden of one and one-half to two acres will not only give a more varied and healthful diet, but actually cut down the living expenses ex-penses of the average family from U00 to $300. My garden of 1911 was broken from the virgin sod from six to nine inches deep, writes F. P. Parker of Custer, Mont., in the Dakota Farmer. It was situated next to the river and forty Inches above it, so you can readily see there was no chance for sub-irrl-gatlon; soli, sandy loam over a gumbo hardpan at a depth of about two feet. I planted two-thirds acre of potatoes pota-toes April 12, breaking the ground six inches deep and placing the potatoes pota-toes (cut to about two eyes) In each third furrow and next to the square side so the next furrow would just break over them. This insures even and uniform stand. Usually the early planted potatoes do the best here, the very best ones I have grown being planted March 2", although it Is very probable that In a season like 1911, later planting would have given equal If not better results. April 15 I began to plant small seeds such as onions, beets, carrots, falsify, parsnips, spinach, radish, rutabaga, ruta-baga, turnip, etc. Practically no precipitation pre-cipitation fell from the melting of the snow, March 1 to 10, until May 15, when we were favored by heavy rain. On May 24 I re worked half of the onion land and planted to popcorn. pop-corn. On May 26 I set two dozen each of cabbage and tomato plants. nd more cabbage later on. I planted i few bills of melon and squash May 15; also cucumbers. Had to replant part of these later, owing, I believe, to mice taking the Feed. Getting occasional occa-sional light rains from this time on, all the varieties grew and produced well, and while the results would not, perhaps, be called wonderful, they were very satisfactory, aud not only furnished an abundance of vegetables throughout the season, but also put In the cellar something like GO bushels of potatoes, 15 bushels of table beets, a sack of carrots, two each of turnips tur-nips and rutabagas, several of onions, some salsify and cabbage; also salted flown a keg of cucumbers for pickles. I had between 100 and 200 melons of each variety. Squashes, while they produced abuudantly, were a! worthless worth-less mixture. Beans were omitted from the seed order. From one pound of seed of the Golden Bantam sweet corn I had corn to use for six weeks (not small quan-tles quan-tles either) besides giving consider-sble consider-sble away. Also produced 12 quarts of select shelled seed in addition. Of onions the Southport Red Globe Is my favorite, and my experience would lead one to believe they could be profitably produced in a commer-;lal commer-;lal way upon the dry farm. There Is no patent on my way of growing onions; they were simply drilled into in-to a deeply-inverted sod which had been well worked down and afterwards after-wards kept clean, frequently going through them with a fine-tooth hand rake. Carrots seem the best adapted to ry-land conditions of th root crops, :hough I had rutabagas measuring 25 inches in circumference. Plant plenty 5f these and the old cow will willingly Help you dispose of the surplus next winter. |