Growing Vegetables in Town and City
Title
Growing Vegetables in Town and City
Subject
urban gardens
Excerpt
SO MUCH has been said and written in the past few years about "scientific/arming" and "scientific gardening" that there is danger of the uninformed person being led to believe that farming and gardening are sciences. While important advances have been made in plant and animal production through the work of scientists: farming and gardening are essentially arts, not sciences.
Success in gardening can be aided greatly by an under- standing of many facts brought to light by the researches of scientists all over the world, and our farms and gardens contain many new and improved varieties produced by scientists. However, even after one has read many books and bulletins, such as this one, gardening must be learned as other arts are learned — by practice and experience, preferably under the guidance of someone who has already acquired the necessary skills and judgment. It is desirable that gardeners obtain all possible scientific background for their garden work; such a background is highly valuable, but it cannot take the place of experience: it only supplements it and enables them to profit more from experience.
A city back-yard or vacant-lot garden often can supply an important proportion of the fresh vegetables a family needs. Sometimes it can furnish a surplus for storing, canning, or drying, depending on how much good land is available and how well the garden is managed. A well- handled home vegetable garden in a suitable place should consistently yield produce having a money value considerably greater than the cost of seeds, fertilizer, lime, manure, chemicals for insect and disease control, and tools needed for the garden. The health values of the produce and of the outdoor exercise are of particular interest. Furthermore, vegetables from one's own garden can be harvested at the right time and used promptly when they have the highest quality and food value. Millions of town dwellers grow vegetables as a hobby, whether or not they need to produce part of their home food supply.
They appreciate the superior quality of truly fresh vegetables and take particular pride in having grown the crops; but in most cases the profit motive is not overlooked.
Success in gardening can be aided greatly by an under- standing of many facts brought to light by the researches of scientists all over the world, and our farms and gardens contain many new and improved varieties produced by scientists. However, even after one has read many books and bulletins, such as this one, gardening must be learned as other arts are learned — by practice and experience, preferably under the guidance of someone who has already acquired the necessary skills and judgment. It is desirable that gardeners obtain all possible scientific background for their garden work; such a background is highly valuable, but it cannot take the place of experience: it only supplements it and enables them to profit more from experience.
A city back-yard or vacant-lot garden often can supply an important proportion of the fresh vegetables a family needs. Sometimes it can furnish a surplus for storing, canning, or drying, depending on how much good land is available and how well the garden is managed. A well- handled home vegetable garden in a suitable place should consistently yield produce having a money value considerably greater than the cost of seeds, fertilizer, lime, manure, chemicals for insect and disease control, and tools needed for the garden. The health values of the produce and of the outdoor exercise are of particular interest. Furthermore, vegetables from one's own garden can be harvested at the right time and used promptly when they have the highest quality and food value. Millions of town dwellers grow vegetables as a hobby, whether or not they need to produce part of their home food supply.
They appreciate the superior quality of truly fresh vegetables and take particular pride in having grown the crops; but in most cases the profit motive is not overlooked.
Creator
Boswell, Victor Rickman
Wester, Robert Emerson
Date
1944
Relation
Miscellaneous Publication Number 538
File(s)
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