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Show GARDEN ON DRY FARM Small Area Will Give Varied and Healthful Diet. While Results on Montana Farm Were Not Wonderful, They Were Satis-factory Satis-factory and Furnished Abundance Abund-ance of Vegetables. The dry farmer should plant liberal lib-eral garden. 1 believe from my experiences expe-riences that a kitchen garden of one and one half to two acres w ill not only give a more varied and healthful diet, but actually cut down the living el-pen el-pen He of the average family from $mo to $:soo. My garden of 1911 was broken from the virgin sod from elx 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-irrigation; soli, sandy loam over a gumbo bardpan at a depth of about two feet I planted twothlrds 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 27. 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 seedH such as onions, beets, carrots, salsify, 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 reworked half of the onion land and planted to popcorn. pop-corn. On May 26 I set two dozen each of cabbage and tomato plants, and more cabbage later on. I planted a few bills of melon and squash May 15; also cucumbers. Had to replant part of these later, owing, I believe, to mice taking the seed. 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, and not only furnished an abundance of vegetables throughout the season, but also put In the cellar something like 60 bushels Df potatoes, 15 bushels of table beets, a sack of carrots, two each of turnips tur-nips and rutabagas, several of onions. ome salsify and cebbage; also salted down a keg of cucumbers for pickles. I had Wtween 100 and 200 melons of each variety. Squashes," wlille they produced abundantly, were a worthless worth-less mixture. Henna were omitted from the seed order, so had none. If I except the Syrian peas, which are ( great producers here. , From one pound of seed of the , Oolden Hantatn sweet corn I had corn ( to use for six weeks (not small quan- ties either) besides giving consider- , able away. AIbo produced 12 quarts of select shelled seed in addition. , Of onions the Houthport Ked Globe , Is my favorite, and my experience , would lead one to believe they could be profitably produced In a coromer- i clal way upon the dry farm. There is , no patent on my way of growing ( onions; they were simply drilled In- ( to a deeply Inverted sod which had , been well worked down and after- wards kept clean, frequently going j through them with a One-tooth band ( rake. , Carrots soem the best adapted to dry-land conditions of the root crops. , though I had rutabagas measuring 75 , Inches In circumference. Plant plenty ( of these and the old cow will willingly , help you dlxpuse of the surplus next t winter. , |
