Title: Beckert's '48 garden annual
Identifier: beckerts48garden1948beck (find matches)
Year: 1948 (1940s)
Authors: Beckert's Seed Store; Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection
Subjects: Nurseries (Horticulture) Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Catalogs; Nursery stock Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Catalogs; Flowers Seeds Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Catalogs; Bulbs (Plants) Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Catalogs; Grasses Seeds Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Catalogs
Publisher: Pittsburgh, Pa. : Beckert's Seed Store, Inc.
Contributing Library: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
Digitizing Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library

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HOW? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? Cut living costs! Grow your own food! Practical answers to every-day questions about home gardening Now, more than ever before, YOU NEED A GARDEN! With sky-high food prices, a garden is a better investment than ever! Back in the days when food prices were reasonable, a nation-wide survey showed that, for every dollar spent on home gardens, the average return in vegetables was more than ten dollars. Today, the ratio is far higher. Think of the prices you'll have to pay this year, if you buy fresh vegetables in the markets! It's not a very pleasant thought, is it? But you can beat these high prices—by growing your own! And what's more, you'll have fun doing it. There's no more pleasant and healthful occupation than gardening! So make your plans now for a thorough attack on high food prices! Let your own garden provide what you need! DON'T expect your garden to grow itself—advance planning will cut down the amount of work needed, will make it more productive and will provide a constant flow of all the fresh vegetables you can eat. How Much to Plant Figure exactly the number of feet of row to plant. Consult the chart on page 20. Decide how many times during the harvest season you want to eat a certain crop, how much of that crop you ordinarily serve to your family, and plant accordingly. Thus, if you like beans, and if you want to serve them twice a week, 1 pound at a serving, note that a 50 foot row will produce about 20 pounds. Since beans produce freely for about three weeks, a 30 foot row should give you all the snap beans your family cares to eat during that time. Why tend 50 feet of row when 30 will do? DO plan to make succession seedings. Work your garden full time by planting a good summer garden that will produce until frost. And DO make provision for canning, for freezing and for storing. Succession Seeding DON'T work more land than you need to. Conserve your energy by inter-cropping, catch cropping and succession cropping. In intercropping, short season crops are grown between slower growing plants (i.e., plant early lettuce between rows of tomato plants that won't need the space until after the lettuce is eaten). In catch cropping, plant an early crop before the main crop is planted. In succession cropping the main crop comes first (i.e., snap beans to be followed by late turnips). In this way you make better use of space, cut down the number of rows to tend, and make better use of water and fertilizers. In the smaller garden, concentrate on vegetables that lose quality most rapidly when shipped any distance—delicately flavored green beans, summer squash, early cabbage and leaf lettuce. Unless you have plenty of room, better leave late cabbage, dry onions, winter squash and potatoes to commercial gardeners. Poor Soil DON'T plant in water-logged or poorly-drained soil. If your garden doesn't drain readily, either find another plot or provide tile drainage. No soil will grow good root crops that dries out hard and compact. If the cost of conditioning such soil is too high, as in plots to be used only one year, omit carrots, beets, etc., and concentrate on leafy vegetables and those that produce above ground, such as tomatoes, peppers, etc. You can remake such soil by adding well-rotted organic matter. This may be old manure, spent mushroom manure, peat moss, rotted compost, etc. If coal ashes have weathered for at least a year, they will help break up clay also. So will an application of lime. On the other hand, light sands can also be improved by adding liberal amounts of organic matter.
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SQUASH, Table Queen

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