POT-HERB CROPS.
Pot-herb crops are “greens,” grown for their leaves. Unless the growth
be quick and continuous, the leaves will not be crisp and tender. Quick
and continuous growth can be secured only by having the soil in good
condition and giving the crop careful tillage. Furthermore, greens are
mostly surface feeders, so that the surface soil must be in excellent
tilth, and contain much plant food. They demand cool weather and are
usually grown as succession- or companion-crops, because they do not
require the whole season to mature.
SPINACH.
Spinach is a spring crop and a fall crop, because spring and fall give
the cool, moist temperature it needs to come to perfection. Spinach
belongs to the pigweed family and is a cousin to the beet. There are
two varieties, the prickly seeded and the round seeded. The prickly
seeded is the hardiest, and is most commonly used for fall sowing.
Farmers in the North used to grow spinach extensively under glass, but
of late years the large out-door crops grown around Norfolk, Va.,
have spoiled the profit in that, and the Southern product takes its
place. The spinach for early spring is sown in the field or garden in
September and should be thoroughly established before winter, with a
spread of leaves at least three or four inches.
As far north as New York State it is left out uncovered all winter and
does not suffer unless the frost causes the ground to “heave.” If straw
or litter can be had without trouble or expense, the spinach can be
covered lightly as that often prevents “heaving.” If all goes well, the
plants resume growth early in the spring, and may even continue growing
during the winter if the season is mild. It is ready for market in
April or May and should be off the ground in June to make room for the
main crop. Southern spinach is marketed from late November until April
or May.
Although spinach is a comparatively easy crop to grow, it needs certain
conditions for perfection. The land must be rich and well drained, and
liquid fertilizer must be applied after the crop gets started. Some put
manure on the plot in the fall, and, as it leaches during the winter,
it fertilizes the plants and starts them growing in the spring. Hen
manure may be used. But the best way is to apply nitrate of soda or
sulphate of ammonia in a weak solution so that 50 to 75 pounds will be
sufficient for an acre. This is generally used in a sprinkler and is
applied two or three times at intervals of a week or ten days, using
each time, 50 to 75 pounds of fertilizer.
Spinach is sometimes sown in the spring in the place where it is to
grow. But in that case, the position chosen must be a warm one, and
even then, although a better stand is often obtained, the crop does
not mature quickly. It is still occasionally started under glass and
transplanted to the garden, and sometimes it is grown in frames all
the way through to maturity. Gardeners who want to hasten their crop
frequently cover it with glass during February and March, and it
responds well to this treatment.
A variety known as New Zealand spinach, which is hardly a true spinach,
thrives in summer, but as greens are not greatly in demand in summer,
it has not become very popular in this country.
An ounce of spinach seed will sow 150 feet of drill, or 10 to 12 pounds
to the acre. It is so necessary to have excellent drainage for spinach,
that the land is usually plowed into low ridges or beds six to nine
feet wide. The spinach is sown lengthwise of the beds 12 to 18 inches
apart, according to the sort of tillage to be used.
CHARD.
One of the best of the pot-herbs, though not so generally known, is the
chard or leaf-beet, which usually requires the whole season to mature,
although it will give a succession of leaves from early summer until
fall. The leaf-blades and midribs of the chard are very broad, and are
usually white or slightly tinted, instead of green. Gardeners often
blanch them further by tying the leaves together while growing. The
seeds are sown in the spring as thickly as the ordinary beet is sown,
and the plants are thinned until they stand six to twelve inches apart
in the row.
MUSTARD.
Mustard is cultivated more extensively in the South than in the North,
as it will grow where the climate is too hot for other greens. In the
North it is usually grown only in home gardens for family use; the
plants run to seed in midsummer, so seed must be sown very early in
the spring. They are ready for use in May or June. Some of the new
improved varieties of curly-leaved mustard are among the best of
pot-herbs. In the South, the Southern Giant Curled Mustard is much
used, taking the place that lettuce and spinach fill in the northerly
sections. The Chinese Broad Leaved is a vigorous variety which gives
a large amount of foliage. It is easy to grow, and even in the North,
if the soil is warm and sandy, seed may be sown in the fall and the
plants will be ready for use early in the spring, even though the
seeds do not start sprouting in the fall. The seed escapes easily and
sows itself in unoccupied areas and spreads rapidly. So, if it is not
carefully watched to prevent too general seeding, it can readily become
a troublesome weed.
DANDELION.
Everybody knows the wild dandelion, and almost everybody likes it as a
pot-herb, but only those who have eaten the improved garden varieties,
know its real possibilities. Although the dandelion is perennial, it
is treated as an annual for the best results in cultivation, and the
seed is sown in early spring and the crop either harvested that fall
or allowed to remain in the ground until the next spring. It will
grow anywhere, and often persists in growing in its wild type where
you don’t want it; but if you want plants with large, cut or frilled
leaves, you will see that the soil is rich and deep, and that the
plants have good tillage all the season through. The leaves of these
varieties are not only good to eat, but they are extensively used for
garnishing. If they have been properly cared for, the plants will
often measure 12 to 20 inches across, with a crown or rosette of dense
foliage.
Dandelion seeds are usually sown where the plants are to stand,
although occasionally they are sown in seed-beds and transplanted. As
soon as they have made a fair growth they are thinned to about one
foot apart: the distance between the rows will depend upon the sort of
cultivation the plants are to receive. Hand tools require less space
than horse tools, and hand-hoeing less than wheel-hoeing, with more
labor and less returns. If the plants are allowed to stand through the
winter, they are ready for the market very early in the spring when the
demand is briskest and the prices best. In harvesting, the plant is cut
off just below the rosette and the roots must then be plowed out so
that there is no danger of the herb becoming a weed. It is not worth
while to try to sell the small plants, but they should be cut off,
to prevent them going to seed and becoming a nuisance. Some growers
take the roots up and put them in forcing house or hot-bed for growing
greens; or, they may be forced in the dark, which gives white or
blanched leaves. This same effect may be obtained in the field by tying
up the leaves, thus securing a blanched crown just as is done with
endive. We owe much of the improvement of the dandelion to the French.
PURSLANE.
Purslane, or, as it is more generally called, “pusley,” is another herb
that the French growers have greatly improved. The common pusley weed
is a weak, trailing plant, but the French, cultivated variety stands
up stiff with large leaves and juicy stems. It grows easily in any
good garden soil, matures quickly and is not hurt by warm weather. The
seeds are sown early in the spring and there is little danger of the
cultivated sort sowing itself and becoming a pest.
There are some other varieties of greens; but this book aims only to
treat of those which are generally grown and for which there is a sure
market each year.