War Gardens: A Pocket Guide for Home Vegetable Growers

by Montague Free

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.