WAR GARDENS [Illustration] WAR GARDENS _A Pocket Guide for_ _Home Vegetable Growers_ BY MONTAGUE FREE _Head Gardener_ _Brooklyn Botanic Garden_ [Illustration] HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON War Gardens * * * * * Copyright, 1918, by Harper & Brothers Printed in the United States of America Published May, 1918 CONTENTS Chapter Page Preface vii I. The Value of Back-yard and Vacant-lot 1 Gardening 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. WAR GARDENS