Planting Seeds

Straight rows make the vegetable garden more attractive and easier to keep free of weeds. To have straight rows, tie a heavy string tightly between stakes at each end of the row. To band fertilizer beside the row, open furrows 2 or 3 inches on each side of the string, apply the right amount of fertilizer in the furrows, and cover with soil. Then make a shallow trench or furrow along the string with the hoe, hoe handle or other suitable tool. Make furrow at the right depth for the seed being planted. Sow seed uniformly and not too thickly by shaking out of seed packet or dropping with the fingers.

Most gardeners tend to plant too thickly. If such plantings are not thinned, plants grow tall and spindly and yield poorly.

Cover seed by raking soil into the furrow with the corner of the hoe or with a rake. Avoid pulling clods or lumps of soil into the furrow. Firm the soil over the seed furrow with the hoe or rake. Do not pack. Mark each row with a small garden stake g show- in what was planted.

Plant most vegetable seeds moderately shallow. Small seeded crops such as lettuce or carrots should be planted about a quarter inch deep. Larger seeds like beans or sweet corn should be about an inch deep, slightly y deeper in dry weather. A good rule to follow is: plant seeds at a depth two to four times the width of the seed. Beets, Swiss chard and New Zealand spinach are exceptions; plant these shallow. The ''seeds" as purchased are actually dry fruits containing several tiny true seed.

Spacing Seeds

Distances between rows and between plants in the row vary widely among vegetable crops. Planting distances are related to size of plants at maturity and to the type of cultivation to be used. Rows may be closer together for hand cultivation, wider if small tractors are to be used.

Use of seed tapes gives accurate spacing of seed within the row with no need for thinning. These are water-soluble tapes with seed of a given crop enclosed within the tape at appropriate spacings. To use these, open a furrow at the right depth, unroll the tape in the bottom of the furrow, and cover with soil. The tape disintegrates in the soil, leaving the seed accurately spaced. Seed cost is increased, but the hard work of thinning is avoided. For use in tapes, seed must have a very high germinability. Seed of several small seeded vegetables are available in seed tapes.

A child's garden is not always of verses. Here, two young ladies lend hand at transplanting time in family garden.