	Chapter	Page
	Preface	[vii]
I.	The Value of Back-yard and Vacant-lot Gardening	[1]
II.	How to Make a Start—Community Gardens	[5]
III.	Tools	[10]
IV.	The Site—The Soil and Its Preparation	[15]
V.	Fertilizers	[26]
VI.	The Kinds of Vegetables to Grow	[32]
VII.	Planning the Garden	[36]
VIII.	Seeds, Seed-sowing, and Transplanting	[40]
IX.	Hoeing and Thinning	[47]
X.	Staking and Tying	[51]
XI.	Insect Enemies	[53]
XII.	Plant Diseases	[64]
XIII.	The Culture of Vegetables in Detail	[69]
XIV.	Harvesting and Storing	[100]
	Appendix	[109]

PREFACE

The purpose of this book is to state simply and clearly the ways and means necessary to obtain the largest returns from small plots of land.

The conditions are anything but ideal in the case of many plots that will be used as “war gardens.” To tell how to overcome these adverse conditions, either by adapting the crop to soil and situation, or by modifying the soil to suit the crop, is one of the primary objects of this book.

In the writer’s varied experience with back-yard and vacant-lot gardens, questions relating to soils and fertilizers, insects and diseases, when and what to plant, etc., are continually cropping up. Answers to these questions are given here without theorizing or going into needless details.

This is essentially a practical book, designed to help those who desire to raise their own vegetables in a limited space.

M. F.

CONTENTS

PREFACE