VEGETABLES SUITED TO FARM CULTURE EVERYWHERE.
[Illustration: Loading the Market Wagon.]
In this chapter are grouped a number of vegetables of easy culture. They
may be grown with success almost anywhere. Some of them are produced by
market gardeners, but by reason of the amount of ground which they
occupy they are more particularly adapted to horse culture by farmers.
The chapter will treat briefly of asparagus, beans, beets, cabbage,
carrots, sweet corn, horseradish, parsnip, potato, pumpkin and squash,
salsify, tomato, turnip, etc.
ASPARAGUS.
Asparagus demands a deep, rich, well-drained soil. Its culture is
profitable, and it yields ready cash at an early season of the year,
when other sales are limited. The cutting term covers six weeks,
beginning (at Philadelphia) in the middle or latter part of April.
Cutting must here cease in June, in order to give the roots ample time
to regain strength and make vigorous tops. The gross product per acre,
near Philadelphia, expressed in money, is, perhaps, $200 at this time.
[Illustration: Donald's Elmira.]
In selecting a situation for a bed, a warm spot should be chosen,
having a deep and mellow soil, and with good natural or artificial
drainage. A small area is better than a large one, as being more
likely to receive sufficient manure; and it is desirable that the land
should have been tilled for a year or two before the planting of the
roots, and a heavy coat of manure incorporated with the soil--the more
manure the better.
=Roots.=--The roots are set in early spring, in deep trenches, 5 or 6
feet apart, made with a plow. If the plow be run both ways and the
loose dirt shovelled out, it is quite easy to reach a depth of 15 or
more inches. It is not material whether strong one-year-old roots or
two-year-old roots be used.
=Varieties.=--As to varieties, it is almost as much a matter of
culture as of name; still, there are better and worse kinds. Asparagus
varies in color from purple to green, and even to white. There are
certain so-called mammoth sorts, whose shoots are larger, but less
numerous than the old-fashioned kinds. There is a slight difference in
flavor, also, but the preference of the local market must determine
the farmer in making a choice of roots. If a green "grass" be
preferred, that kind can be had from seedsmen; but, no matter how
carefully the roots may be grown, there will be some slight variations
in the color of the shoots, for asparagus does not always come true
from seed. Market gardeners usually sort their asparagus shoots at
bunching time; always for size, and sometimes for color, especially
when supplying a fancy trade.
As a rule, it is wise to select a variety that will produce a good
number of large-sized shoots, such as Donald's Elmira or Barr's Mammoth,
and trust to manure and culture for the best results. Quality of shoots
depends on quick growth, and size depends somewhat on distance of the
root under ground. The deeper the asparagus root under the surface, the
larger in diameter will be the shoot, provided the plants are not
crowded; a fact of which gardeners often take advantage by heaping soil
up over the crowns of the plants during the growing season.
ASPARAGUS.--Donald's Elmira is one of the best for the North.
Palmetto is the asparagus generally grown in the South. For
descriptions, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
=Setting out.=--The young roots should be set carefully, crowns up, at
intervals of 1-1/2 to 2 feet, in the deep furrows or trenches
heretofore mentioned. A few inches of manure can be put in the bottom,
covering slightly with soil and about 6 inches of soil put upon them.
The spaces between the rows may be cultivated during the first year,
and some quick crop grown there. The working of this crop will
gradually fill up the furrows about the stems of the young asparagus,
which, during the first year, is quite small and insignificant in
appearance. By fall, the furrows will be entirely filled and the
surface of the patch level. The asparagus slug, the larva of the
well-known beetle, may be kept down by occasionally dusting with
slacked lime containing Paris green. The following year the asparagus
will show up to some advantage, but should not be cut. The third year
(second after planting) will yield some marketable shoots; but cutting
should not continue more than two or three weeks. The fourth year the
bed may be said to be in full bearing.
=Treatment.=--The spring treatment of an asparagus bed in profit
begins with a light plowing parallel with the rows, great care being
observed to use a wheel on the plow so that not more than a few inches
of soil may be turned, lest the crowns be cut and injured. The bed
then lies until the cutting season is well advanced, when the plow may
be again used.
The first plowing was merely to break the surface of the ground and
turn under the winter coat of manure, leaving the land level. The
second plowing (if given) is to be toward the rows, for the purpose of
throwing them further under the surface, so as to get larger shoots as
warm weather advances.
Another plowing, very shallow, followed by harrow or cultivator,
should be given at the end of the cutting season, in June, to destroy
all weeds and to encourage summer growth of the asparagus.
The patch should be kept clear of weeds during the summer, and growth
encouraged by cultivation. In the late autumn the tops are mowed off and
burned, as there seems to be no economic way of composting them, for, if
moved to the compost heap or barnyard, they will seed the whole farm
with asparagus. There should be a good coat of manure for winter
protection, to be turned under in early spring, as already mentioned.
=Marketing.=--The preparation of the crop for market involves some
time and trouble. The shoots are cut every day. Some growers do the
work early in the morning, and carry the bunches to market the same
day. Others cut and bunch one day, put in water over night and carry
to market the following day. Circumstances must decide which is best.
[Illustration: Acme Asparagus Buncher, with Knife Guard.]
If asparagus is to be shipped long distances, it must either be packed
in open crates (like strawberry crates), or else thoroughly chilled
by ice before starting. Otherwise, it will heat and spoil. The usual
asparagus bunch is just about the size of a dry-measure quart in
diameter, and from 6 to 9 inches in length. In fact, a quart cup or
tin fruit can is frequently used in shaping the bunch. Home-made
wooden bunchers are also in common use. The Acme asparagus buncher is
the best, coming in two sizes. The asparagus is tied in two places
with raphia or soft string, and thus makes a neat and attractive
package. The butts are cut off square with a knife after the bunch is
finished, and in this shape asparagus will remain fresh for a long
time, if kept standing in shallow water.
In tying up the bunches the shoots are separated into two or three
sizes. The small shoots are quite as good for food as the larger ones,
but the latter always bring more money in market, which warrants the
additional trouble involved.
=Salt.=--Salt is frequently used on asparagus beds, but not always.
Salt is sometimes an indirect fertilizer, acting upon fertility
already in the soil, and having a distinct tendency to attract and
hold moisture, but it has no direct fertilizing influence. It has a
beneficial effect in helping to check the growth of weeds.
=Fertilizers.=--Kainit is an excellent thing for asparagus beds, as
it contains a considerable percentage of sulphate of potash, which is
a direct fertilizer. It also contains a fourth of its bulk of salt.
Ground bone, which contains nitrogen (ammonia) and phosphoric acid, is
also a good thing to use on asparagus. It is very lasting in its
action, and with the kainit makes a complete manure, especially in
connection with the winter coat of stable manure.
Asparagus is a gross feeder, and will take almost any amount of
fertilizer. Market gardeners, who raise the most and best asparagus,
depend mainly on enormous quantities of first-class stable manure; and
this is probably the best fertilizer of all for this succulent and
valuable vegetable.
=Tools.=--No special tools are demanded in asparagus culture, though
such tools are on the market. Any long knife will do for cutting the
shoots, although a very good knife is especially made of solid steel,
and can be bought for 25 cents. The cut should be made just below the
surface of the ground, care being taken not to injure other shoots just
coming up. Crooked shoots often make their appearance, resulting from
injury done by the cutting knife. Other causes, such as insects, hard
soil, etc., produce crooked or deformed shoots. Asparagus bunchers, made
of wood and metal, mentioned in the seed catalogues, are sometimes used,
the Acme, heretofore referred to, being the best and cheapest.
[Illustration: Solid Steel Asparagus Knife.]
Any light plow with a wheel will answer for the asparagus bed. A
light-weight harrow is also desirable. Where asparagus trenches are
laid out and dug by hand of course a garden line must be used, in
order to have them straight and uniform. The practice of digging deep
trenches for asparagus still prevails to some extent in private
gardens, but the farm gardener must use cheaper methods.
=Roots per Acre.=--With rows 5 feet apart and plants 2 feet apart in the
rows, it is evident that each plant represents just 10 square feet of
space. Hence, about 5,000 asparagus plants would be required for an acre
of land set at these distances; they are, however, often set closer than
this, sometimes at the rate of 7,000 roots and over per acre. An
asparagus bed containing 100 roots will supply an ordinary family.
BEANS.
Bean-growing in a small way is fully warranted in every garden, but on
a large scale it is a different question, being somewhat a matter of
soil and location.
=Food Value.=--The bean is one of the most excellent of human foods.
Its botanical kinship is close to the pea, and both are legumes. The
leguminous plants, it will be remembered, have the rare ability of
obtaining nitrogen through the tubercles on their roots, taking this
expensive element partly from the air, and not greatly impoverishing
the soil by their growth.
Something of the food value of the bean may be learned by comparing
its chemical analysis with that of beef. In 100 pounds of beans there
are 23 pounds of protein (nitrogenous matter), while in 100 pounds of
beef there are but about 15 to 20 pounds of protein. Peas are almost
as rich as beans in protein, which is the tissue-building element of
all foods, and, hence, it is easy to realize the fact that both beans
and peas are foods of the highest economic value. They are standard
foods of the world, entering into the diet of soldiers, laborers and
persons needing physical strength.
It is generally safe to grow beans for the retail market of any town
or centre of population, but to compete in the open wholesale market
demands experience and good equipment on the part of the grower to
insure profits.
[Illustration: Improved Round Green Pod Extra Early Valentine Bean.]
=Varieties and Types.=--The varieties of beans are well-nigh endless.
Some demand poles, while some are dwarf, being called bush beans. The
influence of man has developed the bean into a vast number of different
forms, which frequently show a disposition to revert or go back to some
ancestral type, no matter how carefully the seeds may be kept.
The pole beans, in general terms, yield larger crops and bear through
a longer season than the bush beans. The green-podded beans, as a
rule, are more prolific and more hardy than the yellow-podded or wax
beans. The climbers demand a whole season, and bear until frost. The
bush beans are mostly employed where two or more crops are demanded
per year from the ground.
The so-called cut-short or snap-short beans are those in which the
whole pod, in its green state, is used for food. They are of both
types, climbing and bush. The Lima forms include a number of distinct
beans, differing greatly in size and shape and also in habit of growth.
BUSH BEANS (green pod).--We recommend Improved Round Pod Extra
Early Valentine; also, New Giant Stringless Valentine.
BUSH BEANS (yellow pod).--Wardwell's Kidney Wax and Davis' White
Wax are largely grown in the South for shipment North. Valentine
Wax is recommended for the North. For descriptions, see "Johnson
& Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
WHITE FIELD OR SOUP BEANS.--We recommend Day's Leafless Medium
and New Snowflake Field. For descriptions of these and other
varieties, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
POLE LIMA BEANS.--We especially recommend Ford's Mammoth Podded
Lima and Siebert's Early Lima.
POLE SNAP BEANS.--Golden Andalusia Wax is one of the best
yellow-pod pole beans, and Lazy Wife's one of the best green-pod
sorts.
DWARF LIMA.--Dreer's, Burpee's and Henderson's represent three
distinct types.
For full descriptions of beans, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and
Farm Manual."
=Location.=--In choosing a spot for bean culture the farm gardener
should select good mellow soil that has been manured the previous
year. Fresh manure produces an excessive growth of vine at the expense
of pods.
=Making Ready.=--Much stable manure, which is rich in nitrogen, should
be avoided. In good ordinary soil, with some rotted manure from the
previous crop, the bean plant will do well. It will obtain nitrogen,
in great part, from the air, as already explained. Old manure is very
favorable as a starter, as it contains the minute organisms mentioned
in the preceding pages. Complete fertilizers or those containing
phosphoric acid and potash must be supplied. Only nitrogen is derived
from the air.
=Soil Inoculation.=--The soil of a new bean patch is sometimes
inoculated with soil from an old patch, to get quick action of the
bacteria (little organisms), which form the lumps or tubercles on the
roots. The scattering of a little soil over the surface is all that is
required.
Care should be taken to avoid the transfer of soil for this purpose
from a patch affected with rust or blight, as diseases are carried
from place to place with only too much ease.
=When to Plant.=--Beans may safely be planted when the apple is in
bloom, in May; not so early as peas, as beans are less hardy. The ground
should be dry and warm. Beans of all kinds demand shallow planting, as
the seeds must be lifted from the ground in the earliest process of
growth. The seed swells, bursts, sends a shoot (radicle) downward, and
the two parts of the seed, called the seed-leaves, are pushed up into
the daylight. Small round beans can take care of themselves, as they
turn easily in the soil, but lima beans often perish in the effort to
get above ground. This is why lima beans should always be planted eye
down, and less than an inch deep. A half inch is deep enough for most
beans. If lima beans are wanted extra early, they should be started on
small squares of inverted sod, under glass.
The earliest bush beans yield marketable pods within forty to fifty days
from planting; the pole beans in from seventy to ninety days from
planting. There should be successional plantings made of the bush beans
from the first date to within fifty days of frost. The different types
of beans are fully and carefully described in the seed catalogues.
=Distances.=--Poles for beans should be set about 4 feet apart each
way; or, in single rows, about 3 feet apart. Not more than three or
four plants should be allowed to a hill. Wires stretched between
posts, with strings down to the ground, are sometimes used. The bush
beans are planted in rows 3 feet apart for horse culture, or half that
distance where a hoe or hand cultivator is to be used. The plants in
the rows should stand 3 or 4 inches apart for best yield.
[Illustration: Plant of the New Valentine Wax Bean. The Earliest Wax
or Yellow Podded Snap Short.]
=On a Large Scale.=--In large field operations, where the dried bean
is the object in view, a clover sod is a favorite location. The ground
is enriched by 400 or 500 pounds of complete fertilizer, and the beans
are planted with a grain drill, using every fourth tube. The culture
is by horse-power, and the vines are pulled by hand or by means of a
bean-harvester, and threshed with a flail or grain thresher. These
white grocery beans are sold everywhere in large quantities.
=Cultivation.=--All bean cultivation should be shallow. Nothing is
gained by cutting the feeding roots. The climbing sorts twine "against
the sun;" that is, in a contrary direction to the apparent motion of
the sun. The shoots must be tied up several times, to keep them on
their own poles.
=Diseases.=--The worst bean enemies are rust and blight. In new soil,
with good weather, these troubles seldom appear. During prolonged wet
weather there seems to be no help for them. Spraying with Bordeaux
mixture is a preventive. The spraying should be done in advance of
blossoming. The seed is sometimes soaked in Bordeaux mixture for an
hour where rust is anticipated. Prevention is better than cure, and
new soil and fresh seed are the best precautions. Diseased vines
should be burned.
=Insects.=--The weevil which attacks the bean is closely allied to the
pea weevil. Some practical people say there is no remedy known; others
recommend heating the beans to 145 deg. for an hour; others use bisulphide
of carbon in a closed vessel, along with the beans.
=Profits.=--By far the largest cash receipts per acre are obtained by
selling beans in their fresh state; preferably in the pods. The
production of bush beans (pods) may run up to 75 or 80 bushels per acre,
or even more. Lima beans are more profitably sold in the pods than
shelled, though some markets demand the shelled article. The consumer
gets a fresher and better article in the pods, and the producer is
saved much trouble, and this method should be encouraged. Beans should
be cooled, if possible, before shipment in bulk to distant markets, thus
avoiding danger from heating, moulding and spotting.
BEETS.
Beets are produced in enormous quantities by market gardeners near all
large cities, both under glass and in the open ground. They also have
a place in the farm garden, as they are of easy culture.
[Illustration: Crosby's Improved Egyptian, the Earliest Blood Turnip
Beet.]
Excellence in the table beet depends partly on variety, but mainly on
the quickness of growth. Sweetness and succulence result from high
culture in rich, mellow soil.
Mangels and sugar beets, of course, have a place on every farm, for
stock-feeding purposes, and table beets may also be grown, if good soil
is available, for market purposes. The winter-keeping sorts are
frequently in demand, and may be included among the farmer's cash crops.
No amount of stable manure is excessive in beet-growing. Partially
rotted manure is best. For horse culture the rows should be 3 feet
apart. Five to six pounds of seed will plant an acre.
PLANTING.--Planting may be done as soon as the ground can be worked in
the spring, as the beet is hardy, and not injured by a little frost;
and successional plantings may be made until June. The June sowing
will produce autumn beets, which can be stored for winter use or sale.
It is well to soak the seed in tepid water before planting; it should
be scattered thinly in the rows and lightly covered. In dry weather
the soil must be pressed firmly on the seed, to insure sufficient
moisture for germination. The plants in the rows should be thinned out
to 3 or 4 inches.
It is very important to remember that the more space each plant has
about it the sooner will it reach a marketable size. Beet plants
standing 5 inches apart in the row will be ready long before plants
standing only 2 inches apart.
Beets vary in shape very considerably. Some are round and some are
long, with intermediate grades. The turnip-shaped beets are the
earliest, while the half-longs and longs are the heaviest. For market
purposes, if sold in bunches, the round ones are the most profitable.
[Illustration: Ford's Perfected Half-long Beet. The Best Winter Keeper.]
The color of the foliage varies greatly; but the color of the leaf is
not always typical of the root. Some of the blood beets have green
leaves. There are many shades and colors of the roots, from deepest
blood red to white, with zones of pink. The beet is an excellent and
highly esteemed article of food, and is always in demand.
BEETS.--For earliest, we especially recommend Crosby's Improved
Egyptian and Surprise; for winter, Ford's Perfected Half-Long.
Please see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
=Marketing and Storing.=--A bunch contains five, six or seven beets,
with tops tied together and superfluous leaves cut off. The bunching
and topping may be done in the field, and the bunches afterward washed
in a tub of water, by means of a scrubbing brush. It always pays to
send roots to market in a clean and attractive condition.
Winter storage in cellars, under sand, is often practiced; or the beets
may be kept in pits in the open ground, covered with straw and earth.
=Enemies.=--The beet is remarkably free from enemies of any kind. The
root sometimes cracks, and is occasionally attacked by insects, but
the farmer or gardener has little to fear if soil be good and weather
be favorable. All farmers attending market should have a few beets to
help make up the weekly load for the wagon.
CABBAGE.
Early cabbage is not a farm gardener's crop at the North, though in
the Southern States the early varieties can be grown by farmers for
shipment to the great Northern markets. The Northern farmer, unless
provided with glass, usually finds more profit in the later and
larger sorts, which mature in autumn.
=Soil.=--Rich, loamy soil, containing much clay, is best for this
vegetable, which is a rank feeder. Large amounts of manure are
demanded. The manure is best applied in a partially rotted form, as
fresh manure of any kind (especially hog manure) is liable to produce
the disease or deformity known as club-root, the spores of the disease
apparently being in the fresh manure; though land too long cropped
with cabbage is likely to produce the same disease without the
application of fresh manure of any kind.
[Illustration: Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage.]
=Seed.=--It is of especial importance that good seed be planted, as
cabbage varies so much and shows such a disposition to go back to
undesirable types that great dissatisfaction and loss attend all
experiments with poorly-selected seed. The choice of seed not
infrequently determines the size and success of the crop. Expert
cabbage growers are well aware of this fact.
[Illustration: Johnson & Stokes 'Market Gardeners' No. 2, Valuable for
Early Summer or Winter Cabbage.]
=Planting.=--The manure should be broadcasted, and an ample amount
used, with a high-grade fertilizer in the row. The young plants,
previously started in a seed-bed, should (at the North) be set out in
July. The seed for late cabbage is planted in May. A quarter pound of
seed will give enough plants for an acre.
The rows should be 4 feet apart, and the plants 2-1/2 feet apart in
the rows. These distances favor good cultivation and quick growth. In
some parts of New England the seed is sown in the open field, in rows
where the cabbage is to grow, but the practice of transplanting from
seedbeds is found most satisfactory.
The rainfall here usually insures a fair crop of cabbage, but any crop
which requires transplanting in midsummer is liable to delay or injury
in case of protracted dry weather. Hence, irrigation is desirable. At
the distances just recommended for planting (4 x 2-1/2 feet) there
would be 4,356 plants to the acre. In the case of such varieties as
Johnson & Stokes' Earliest and Jersey Wakefield cabbage, where the
number of plants per acre would be perhaps 10,000, the Michigan
Experiment Station obtained 5,000 more marketable heads per acre under
irrigation than where water was not used upon the growing crop. (This
fact is mentioned in a book on irrigation just issued by the
publishers of this book).
=Varieties.=--The earliest varieties of cabbage have small, conical
heads; the midsummer sorts mostly round heads; and the late or
drumhead sorts have large, flat heads. There are cabbages which never
head; as, for instance, the collards of the South; and there are
varieties of crinkled-leaf cabbages, known as the Savoy types. The
kales are closely related to the cabbages. Both cabbages and kales
have purple-colored forms, sometimes called red forms.
CABBAGE.--For early varieties for the South, we recommend Johnson
& Stokes' Earliest, Early Jersey Wakefield and Charleston
Wakefield; for both early and late in the North, Johnson &
Stokes' Market Gardeners' No. 2, Louderback's All the Year Round;
for late varieties for the North, New Rock Head Winter, Johnson &
Stokes' Matchless Flat Dutch, Danish Ball Head. The Johnson &
Stokes' Hard Heading Savoy Cabbage is of rare excellence. For
descriptions of the many varieties of cabbage, please see
"Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
=Cultivation.=--Thorough horse cultivation between the rows should be
supplemented by a hand-hoe between the plants in the rows. The
cultivation must be good and continuous until the heads begin to form.
=Diseases and Insects Enemies.=--Club root has been mentioned. It is a
fungous trouble. The best remedy is new ground. The black flea on very
young plants can be conquered with air-slacked lime or wood ashes. The
cut worm is troublesome only in spring; not with late cabbage. The
root maggot is sometimes very destructive, both with cabbage and
cauliflower. New ground is the most satisfactory remedy. Green aphides
or lice often follow lack of strength in the cabbage. Pyrethrum
powder, air-slacked lime, kerosene emulsion, etc., are used as
remedies for lice. The pyrethrum may be used dry or in water, at the
rate of a tablespoonful to two gallons. The green cabbage worm, one of
the worst of all enemies, can be pretty effectually checked by means
of air-slaked lime dusted over the leaves. Other caterpillars yield to
the same treatment.
=Bursting.=--Bursting of cabbage heads is caused by a second growth,
the result, perhaps, of continued wet weather, or warm weather
following cold weather. The best remedy is to cut part of the feeding
roots, either by close cultivation or with a hoe.
=Selling.=--Cabbage prices vary between extremes that are far
separated. Early cabbage usually sells at a good profit. Summer and
autumn prices may be low. Winter and spring prices are almost always
fair, and occasionally extra. Pennsylvania farmers sometimes ship to
wholesalers in the cities and sometimes sell at public sale in the
open field, in the autumn, just as the crop stands. The latter plan is
an excellent one, where auction prices warrant it. It avoids the cost
and risk of storage, as each buyer removes and stores his purchase.
=Storage.=--Cabbage will bear much freezing without injury. The art of
winter storage is to put it where it will have the fewest changes of
temperature, and where it will be cool and damp without being wet.
The most common practice is to cover two or three rows of inverted
heads, with roots attached, with from 6 to 12 inches of soil, making
provision for good drainage by ditches on both sides of the
wedge-shaped heap.
[Illustration: Cutting Johnson & Stokes' Earliest Cabbage for Market.
Photographed June 1st, in the Field of Messrs. Myers & Bowman, the
well-known Philadelphia Market Gardeners. This was the first
Home-grown Cabbage in Philadelphia Markets.]
This system may be modified so as to include six or more rows of
inverted cabbage, the heap being flat instead of wedge-shaped on top.
It does not turn water so well, but in practice is usually
satisfactory. A good plan is to use about 6 inches of soil, and to add
straw or litter as the cold increases.
Under a steady low temperature it is no trouble to keep cabbage
through the winter, but it is hard to provide against the many changes
of our variable climate.
[Illustration: Johnson & Stokes' Matchless Late Flat Dutch Cabbage.]
Where heads are to be carried over for seed, or where it is intended
to head up soft cabbages during the winter (a feasible thing) the
roots are set downward instead of upward. If care be taken to remove
the roots without much injury, they may be set in furrows or trenches,
and the earth heaped over the cabbages just as in the several ways
above mentioned, and they will make decided growth during their life
under ground. In fact, a cabbage with any sort of immature head in
November will, under proper management, be in good marketable
condition in March or April.
Solid freezing in the trenches is not necessarily destructive, but if
the temperature falls much below 15 deg. (at the point occupied by the
heads), there is danger that they will perish. They may be in good
edible condition after such severe freezing, but the chances are that
they will fail to grow if set out for seed. The cabbage decays with a
strong, offensive smell when its tissues finally break down after
repeated changes of temperature and moisture. A uniform temperature is
favored by the use of earth in storage, and though storage in
buildings and cellars is quite feasible, there is nothing better or
cheaper than the soil of the open field.
If the crop is not all to be marketed at one time, it is well to make
a number of separate trenches, so that each can be wholly cleared of
its contents at a single opening. These trenches and ridges must be
made upon dry ground, where there is no standing water.
=For Stock.=--Cabbages make good food for cows, but should be fed
after milking; and frozen cabbages should never be fed in any
considerable quantity, as they are liable to cause hoven or bloat.
CARROTS.
A sandy soil or light loam is best for carrots, but they will grow
anywhere under good culture. Enormous quantities are grown by the
market gardeners, both under glass and in the open ground, for use in
soups and for seasoning purposes. The short or half-long varieties are
demanded by this trade.
[Illustration: Average Specimens of Rubicon Half-Long Carrots.]
Farm gardeners will do best with half-long and long kinds, unless a
special demand calls for the smaller carrots. The large half-long and
long ones are suited to both culinary and stock-feeding purposes.
It requires from three to four pounds of seed to the acre, depending
on the distance between the rows. The plants should be from 3 to 5
inches apart in the rows, and the rows as near together as is feasible
for horse work. Clean culture is demanded. The seed must be planted
shallow, and may go into the ground as early as it can be worked in
the spring, and from that time until the middle of June. The only
danger about late planting is the possibility of dry weather.
The carrot is quite free from insect or other enemies, as a rule, and
its culture is not difficult. It demands thinning and hoeing after the
plants are well above ground, but no extra attention of any kind.
The winter storage is the same as for beets or turnips, either to be
put away in earth-covered heaps or preserved in a cool, non-freezing
root cellar.
The so-called Belgian carrots (both yellow and white) are used only as
stock food; though the other sorts, such as Rubicon, Danvers and Long
Orange, if in excess of market demands, are equally good for stock. Cows
and horses are fond of them, and they are most wholesome. The farm
gardener should raise them, however, for their cash value in the produce
markets. The carrot is in high favor with good cooks everywhere.
The carrot does not demand excessively rich ground; in fact, too much
manure tends to stimulate the growth of the top at the expense of the
root, and fresh manure makes the root rough.
The smaller carrots are bunched and sold like radishes or early beets.
The larger kinds are sold by measure--about 60 cents or more per
basket at this time (January, 1898). This is at the rate of $1.50 per
barrel, or about $300 per acre. The crop is a good one, if near a
market where carrots are demanded.
CARROT.--We especially recommend Rubicon Half-Long for market or
stock. See "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
SWEET CORN.
There is no money crop more available to the farm gardener than sweet
corn. It will grow anywhere, and the young ears are always in demand.
Any sod land plowed shallow will yield a crop of sweet corn. It is
easy in this latitude to have an unbroken succession of marketable
ears from July 1st to October 1st, or even somewhat earlier and later.
Shallow plowing and the use of a little fertilizer or compost in the
hills will put the ground in order. A complete fertilizer is best. A
compost containing hen manure is excellent.
=Planting.=--Eight or ten quarts of seed are required to plant an acre
of corn in hills, allowing for replanting of what is injured by grubs or
other causes. The larger varieties should be planted 4 feet by 3; the
rows 4 feet apart and the hills 3 feet apart, with not more than three
stalks in a hill. The smaller varieties may be grown much closer--3 feet
by 2. Any method may be used in laying out a corn field that will give
each stalk (of the large kinds) the equivalent of 4 square feet of
ground space. The dwarf sweet corns demand about half that space.
=Varieties.=--The sweet corns require from sixty to eighty days to
produce ears fit for boiling. The earliest varieties are small, and
are lacking in sweetness as compared to the best intermediate types.
Still, the early prices are so much better than midsummer prices, that
the early varieties will always be grown for market. Indeed, the best
profits of the business are from the extra early and extra late sales.
Sweet corn should not be grown by shippers who are distant more than
twenty-four hours from market, as the ears lose quality and flavor
soon after being pulled from the stalks. Forty-eight hours from market
is an extreme distance, but is feasible if the ears can be chilled in
a cold storage house previous to shipment; otherwise, they will heat
and spoil. Even when designed for a near-by market a load of sweet
corn ears may heat and spoil during a single night. It is best to
scatter them upon the grass, if pulled during the afternoon for
shipment the following morning.
The most profit to the grower will be found in ears which are not too
large, as corn is often sold by the dozen, the large sorts being too
weighty.
The early kinds, though small, can be planted closely, and a large
number of ears secured; and they are out of the way so soon that the
ground can be used for celery or other late crop. Celery can be set
out between the rows of corn, and thus be shaded to some extent during
the critical period following transplanting.
The Evergreens, Early and Late, and the shoe-peg types, such as
Country Gentleman and Zig Zag Evergreen, are among the sweetest of
all. The grains are of irregular shape and arrangement, and the
appearance of the ears is not altogether prepossessing. When once
known, however, they are in demand by consumers.
The red-cob corns should be cooked by dropping into boiling water. If
cooked slowly, the red color of the cob affects the appearance of the
grains.
SWEET CORN.--For first early, we recommend Burlington Hybrid and
Mammoth White Cory. The former closely resembles a true sugar
corn in appearance. For second early, Early Champion and New
Early Evergreen; for late, original Stowell's Evergreen, Country
Gentleman, Zig Zag Evergreen. See "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and
Farm Manual" for descriptions of varieties.
=Cultivation, Enemies, etc.=--Shallow culture, frequently repeated, is
demanded by sweet corn. The growth at first is timid and slow;
afterward, if well cultivated, the stalks grow with great rapidity and
vigor.
[Illustration: New Early Evergreen Sweet Corn.]
To make the most of the stalks, they should be cut as soon as possible
after the last ears have gone to market and fed to stock. Sweet corn
stalks when dry make excellent fodder.
The main enemies of corn are the cut worm, which is only troublesome in
spring; a fungus which attacks the ears and which is always most
prevalent on the small, early sorts; and a worm which cuts and injures
the grain while the corn is in milk. Crows sometimes pull up the seeds,
but can be disposed of by scattering a little yellow corn on the surface
of the ground around the edges of the field. As the crow destroys many
cut worms, it is better to feed him with corn than to shoot him.
The prevalence of fungus-troubled or smutty corn is probably a symptom
of weakness, the result of planting too early, or of too much wet
weather. All plants that are weak are liable to fungus attacks, and it
is the early corn that suffers most. This corn is often planted
before the ground is sufficiently warm, and there is a consequent
weakness of growth. Indian corn, at Philadelphia, should not be
planted before May 10th, and yet it is not uncommon to see gardeners
planting sweet corn two weeks earlier. They say they are "going to
risk it." The result may be a good crop of corn, or it may be a crop
of worms and fungus. Of course, the high price of the first corn in
market is the excuse for the unseasonable date of planting. But it is
not quite fair to blame the seed or the variety of corn for what is
partly the result of the gardener's impatience. All traces of smut on
corn stalks should be burned, and not allowed to be fed to cattle.
=The Corn Worm.=--Far more destructive and disastrous than smut is the
corn worm (Heliothis armiger). This is the cotton worm of the South,
there called boll worm. It is also sometimes called the tomato worm.
It is the larva of a day-flying moth.
The difficulty in dealing with it is that when in the corn ear it is
out of the reach of poisonous applications of any kind. Its
depredations are extensive, especially in early corn. It prefers corn
to all other foods, and cotton planters protect their crops by
planting early corn in the cotton fields and then destroying the corn
and the worms within the ears.
The best remedy at the North is to feed all wormy ears to pigs; and to
plow the corn land in autumn, when the insects are in the pupa or
chrysalis state. If turned up by the plow, it is believed that they
mostly perish. The worms are said to be cannibals, eating each other
to a great extent.
This worm is, perhaps, the greatest enemy with which the grower of
sweet corn has to contend. The plan of feeding wormy ears to pigs
offers the double advantage of destroying the enclosed pests, while at
the same time fattening the pigs.
=Successional Planting.=--The skillful farmer will arrange
successional plantings of corn, beginning (at Philadelphia) May 10th
and ending about July 10th. The first and last plantings should be of
the early sorts; the intermediate plantings of the full-sized varieties.
=Profits.=--Profits depend on location. The size of the crop should
approximate 1,000 dozens of ears per acre, and the gross receipts should
be $100 to $200 per acre, more or less, above the value of the fodder.
=Suckering.=--Time is often spent in pulling the suckers from the stalks
of sweet corn. Such time is wasted. If the suckers are let alone they
will not reduce the number or quality of the marketable ears.
HORSERADISH.
Farmers who have soil that is both rich and deep can find profit in
growing horseradish on a large scale, in connection with early peas,
beans or sweet corn. The sets are planted in May, in the rows between
crops, and after the crops are removed the horseradish makes its main
growth. It is perfectly hardy, and comes on rapidly during the late
summer and autumn months. Where the ground is not strong enough to
produce large roots the first year, the business will not prove very
remunerative.
=The Sets.=--Horseradish sets are made by cutting small roots (1/4 to
1/2 inch in thickness) into pieces 6 or 8 inches long. The upper end is
cut square off; the lower end with a slope. This is to get them right
end up at planting time. The small roots are available in quantities in
the autumn, when the large roots are trimmed for market. The sets are
kept in sand during the winter, or buried in the open ground, in a
carefully-marked spot, where they can be easily found in the spring.
If planted 2 feet apart in rows 3 feet apart, each plant will
represent 6 square feet of space, and, hence, about 7,300 sets will be
needed for an acre.
The method of planting is to strike out rows, and with a long dibber
or crowbar make holes 8 or 10 inches deep. A set is dropped into each
hole and the earth pressed about it.
[Illustration: Ideal Hollow Crown Parsnip.]
Shoots will soon appear above the surface, and when the early crop has
been removed from the land, the horseradish should be well cultivated
once or twice. Little further attention is needed.
The roots should be lifted the same year, in December, and stored in
an earth-covered heap or pit, or else in sand in a root cellar. The
small lateral roots should be saved for the next year's sets. There is
a good demand for horseradish, both wholesale and retail; but prices
should be ascertained before going into the business in a large way.
Good roots, after trimming and washing, should weigh half a pound or
more each.
PARSNIP.
The cultural requirements of the parsnip are quite similar to those of
the carrot. Any soil that is deep mellow and moderately rich may be
used for parsnips. Fresh manure is to be avoided, as it makes the
roots rough.
[Illustration: Mammoth Sandwich Island Salsify as Bunched for Market.]
The seed should be planted in early spring, while the ground is moist,
as it germinates very slowly. It should be covered to a depth of half
an inch, and the soil pressed down firmly. The plants must be thinned
out to stand 3 or 4 inches apart.
The parsnip is a vegetable of a perfectly hardy character. It may remain
in the ground, just where it grows, all winter. The flavor is said to be
improved by hard freezing, and no amount of freezing will hurt it.
It has a high value as human food, and is demanded in large quantities
in some markets. It also has a high value as a stock food, especially
for cows. It should be fed after milking, in quantities not sufficient
to taint the milk. The price is variable, but about the same as the
carrot.
PARSNIP.--We recommend Ideal Hollow Crown. For description, see
"Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
SALSIFY OR OYSTER PLANT.
Salsify, oyster plant or vegetable oyster is a root of easy culture
and of high food value. In shape it resembles the carrot and parsnip,
and is as perfectly hardy as the latter. The seed should be sown an
inch under the surface, in spring, in rows 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 feet apart,
and the plants thinned to stand 5 inches apart in the rows. The
culture is the same as for parsnips. Fresh manure must be avoided, as
it makes the roots ill-shaped. The roots, under good treatment, will
exceed an inch in diameter, and may attain a size of 2 inches or more.
They may remain in the ground over winter, to be taken up whenever the
frost permits or they may be taken up in late autumn and preserved in
sand in a cellar. Good salsify is in demand where its merits are known.
THE POTATO.
The cultivation of the potato is so well understood by every American
farmer and gardener that it seems unnecessary to discuss the details
of cutting the tubers, planting, cultivating, harvesting, etc. The
weak points of potato culture are most commonly the fertilizing and
the treatment of diseases. These will be briefly discussed. As to lack
of moisture, to be remedied by artificial watering, the reader is
referred to our new book, entitled, "Irrigation by Cheap Modern
Methods," in which a case is mentioned where water alone made a
difference of 129 bushels per acre in the crop.
POTATOES.--Best for the South, Bliss Triumph, Pride of the South,
Crown Jewel, Early Thoroughbred. General crop in the
North--Houlton Early Rose, Table King, Late Puritan, Rural
New-Yorker No. 2. For descriptions of these and other varieties,
see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
=Fertilizing.=--A ton of potatoes (33-1/3 bushels) contains 4.2 pounds
of nitrogen (equal to 5.1 pounds of ammonia), 1.5 pounds of phosphoric
acid and 10 pounds of potash. This shows that nitrogen and potash are
the elements mainly abstracted from the soil by a crop of potatoes. An
analysis is not an infallible index of what must be applied to any
soil, for that soil may be naturally rich in some one fertilizing
element and deficient in the others. Only experiment will determine
what is best. But a knowledge of the analysis of the crop is necessary
to intelligent experimentation. Nitrogen and potash will evidently be
demanded in most cases, yet the Ohio Station recently reports that
"phosphoric acid has been the controlling factor in the increase of
the potato yields" in the trials made there. This shows how greatly
soils vary in their requirements.
[Illustration: Harvesting Seed Potatoes near Houlton, Aroostook
County, Maine.]
Barnyard manure would answer all purposes and would be an ideal potato
fertilizer, except for the fact that it so often carries with it the
spores of such diseases as blight, scab and rot. Still, barnyard manure
in a partly rotted condition is very widely used by potato growers.
Clover sod is an excellent source of nitrogen, as heretofore
explained. The clover is, perhaps, the best of the leguminous crops
for green manuring purposes. Many successful potato farmers depend
largely upon clover, supplementing it with a small amount of
high-grade complete fertilizer in the rows.
Where phosphoric acid is necessary, it can be had in the form of
ground bone or acidulated rock, and potash can be had in the form of
sulphate or as kainit. Where the scab is prevalent, it may prove
better to use kainit, on account of the salt which it contains, as
will be presently explained.
=Planting.=--It requires from seven to ten bushels of tubers to plant
an acre. Some growers use as much as fifteen bushels. The date of
planting, depth, distance between rows, etc., are details for
individual determination. Flat culture is better than ridge culture,
so far as conservation of moisture is concerned. It is important that
good Northern-grown seed be planted; tubers which have not lost their
strength by excessive sprouting. Storage in a cool, dark, dry place is
best for potatoes. Whether planted early or late, or at successional
dates, must be determined by the market requirements of the grower.
=Varieties.=--The varieties of potatoes are many, and while it is wise
to experiment in a small way on new kinds, it is best to depend for
business purposes on standard sorts that have been fully tested.
=Irrigation.=--After the farmer has exhausted his best efforts in the
preparation and fertilization of the soil, and after good seed has
been planted and the best possible culture given, there may come a
season of prolonged drouth that will defeat his purpose of securing a
large crop. This result is not common, but neither is it rare; and
where farmers are looking toward the high culture of certain special
crops, it would be well for them to consider the matter of
artificially watering their potato fields.
[Illustration: An Average Tuber of Table King, One of the Best All
Around Potatoes.]
=Diseases and Enemies.=--Not counting dry weather, which sometimes
robs the farmer of two-thirds of his crop, there are four diseases
which exert a disastrous influence on the potato, and which are liable
to occur any season. Two of these diseases are of the leaf and stem
and two of the tubers.
The two leaf troubles are respectively known as blight or downy mildew
and the Macrosporium disease. The two tuber troubles are scab and rot.
=Leaf Blights.=--No attempt will be made here to separately describe
the two leaf diseases. Both destroy the foliage and check the further
growth of both vine and tuber. The leaves turn brown or black, and the
stem quickly wilts and falls. There can be no growth of tuber without
vigorous health of vine. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture, in advance of
the occurrence of any disease, is recommended.
Bordeaux mixture for this purpose is made by using six pounds of
copper sulphate and four pounds of quick lime, dissolved in separate
wooden vessels, and the lime water poured into the dissolved blue
stone. This should be diluted with water sufficient to fill a
forty-five gallon barrel. Paris green to the amount of from
one-quarter to three-quarters of a pound to the barrel should be
added, to destroy beetles and other insects.
The vines should be sprayed five or six times, beginning when they are
6 inches high, at intervals of ten days or two weeks. During rainy
weather the spraying should be more frequent than during clear
weather. The object is to prolong the life and vigor of the vines. The
cost of the five or six sprayings, including labor at $1.50 per day,
is put at not above $6 per acre, while the crop at stake may be
affected to the extent of scores of bushels.
=Scab and Rot.=--The evidence about scab and rot is still contradictory,
but it is likely that these diseases will presently be under control.
At the New Jersey Station, Professor Halsted completely conquered scab
with an application of 300 pounds of flowers of sulphur per acre
scattered in the rows, while the same treatment at the Ohio Station
was less successful. At the latter station benefit was found in the
use of salt, kainit, sulphate of potash, etc.
The various experiments and observations on potato scab and rot seem
to indicate that scab flourishes best on a soil inclined to be
alkaline, while rot is most prevalent on a soil inclined to be acid.
The use of lime increases scab, while the use of kainit diminishes it.
The best practice, therefore, under present knowledge, would be to use
clean seed on new ground, avoiding fresh stable manure. Clean seed can
be had by treating tubers with corrosive sublimate. This substance is
dissolved to the amount of 2-1/4 ounces, in two gallons of hot water,
and (after standing a day) diluted with water so as to make fifteen
gallons. In this solution the uncut seed potatoes should be soaked for
an hour and a half. All unplanted seed potatoes should be destroyed,
as the corrosive sublimate is highly poisonous.
The use of sulphur, as recommended by Professor Halsted, will prove
entirely satisfactory in some soils. In others, the use of kainit or
sulphate of potash or acid phosphate would no doubt be found preferable.
Where soil is badly affected with disease germs, it is unquestionably
better to seek a new field than to attempt to disinfect the old one. A
rotation of crops will probably restore diseased land to health more
cheaply and more thoroughly than any other process.
=Profits.=--Of potato profits it is not necessary to speak, except to
remark that it costs but little more to produce 300 bushels to the
acre than 100 bushels. There can be no doubt whatever that it pays
handsomely to spray potato vines with the Bordeaux mixture.
PUMPKINS AND SQUASHES.
[Illustration: Mammoth Golden Cashaw Pumpkin, One of the Best for
Market or Stock Feeding.]
There is no clear dividing line between pumpkins and squashes, as they
belong to the same botanic family--the Cucurbita. Some members of the
group are clearly pumpkins, and others just as clearly squashes, but
when an attempt is made to draw a sharp line between them, we get into
difficulty. In general terms the pumpkin has a soft rind or shell and
the squash a hard rind. But even this thumbnail test is not infallible.
These vegetables belong on the farm, on account of the large ground
space occupied by the vines. Pumpkins may be economically grown in
corn fields, the seeds being planted along with the corn--one pumpkin
seed to every fourth hill. No special care is needed besides the
cultivation given the corn.
Farmers should give far more attention to growing squashes, as they
are much superior to pumpkins in food quality, both for the table and
for stock.
There are numbers of excellent squashes now catalogued by the seedsmen
which many farmers have never tried, but which are worthy of
cultivation for market purposes. When a farmer by experiment has found
a high-quality squash adapted to his soil, he has put himself in
possession of a product of permanent market value.
PUMPKIN.--We especially recommend Mammoth Golden Cashaw and
Winter Luxury. For descriptions, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden
and Farm Manual."
SQUASH.--Early varieties--Mammoth White Bush Scalloped, Giant
Summer Crookneck. Winter-keeping varieties--Sweet Nut, Faxon,
Chicago Warted, Hubbard, Early Prolific Orange Marrow. For
descriptions, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
TOMATOES.
Tomatoes may justly be rated among the leading crops available to farm
gardeners. There is always a brisk market for selected,
carefully-washed tomatoes, packed in new baskets. Such produce is
seldom offered in excessive quantities.
Any good corn land will produce good tomatoes. Excessive manuring is
likely to stimulate the vines at the expense of the fruit. A little
complete fertilizer or compost in the hills is desirable.
Tomato seed of early varieties should be started under glass. The seed
is sown on heat and the plants once or twice transplanted, and put in
the open ground as soon as danger of frost is over. Little is gained
by setting out too early, when the ground is cool. The tomato is of
tropical origin, and makes rapid growth only at a temperature of 65 deg.
or upward. Indeed, it is suspected that one of the worst diseases to
which the tomato is liable, the blight, is encouraged, if not wholly
caused by too early planting in the open ground.
=Varieties and Planting.=--At 4 feet apart each way, it will require
about 2,700 tomato plants for an acre of land. In open field culture
the tomato is always allowed to lie upon the ground. In garden
culture, it is often tied to stakes or supported on trellises. Three
ounces of seed will raise sufficient plants for an acre.
There are many varieties of tomatoes, including the early and late
market sorts, the yellow kinds, and the little pear-shaped and
plum-shaped tomatoes, both red and yellow, used in pickling. The ideal
market tomato is one of medium size and smooth shape. It must have
firmness and depth, and the quality of ripening evenly all over. There
should be neither greenness nor wrinkles around the calyx, nor should
the fruit be of irregular shape. As to color, it is a matter of taste
and neighborhood preference. Some markets demand red and some purple
fruit.
TOMATO.--We recommend, for earliest, Atlantic Prize and Money
Maker; for second early and main crop, Brinton's Best, New
Fortune; for late, Brandywine, Cumberland Red, Stone. For
descriptions, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
=Successional Planting.=--If the first tomato plants be set in the
open ground (at Philadelphia) May 15th to 20th, there should be at
least one and preferably two later crops, because young, vigorous
plants yield the most and best fruit. It is good practice to sow
tomato seed in the open ground, say about middle of May, and again
somewhat later. These out-of-door plants will come forward very
rapidly, and will be ready to produce late summer and autumn crops.
[Illustration: Atlantic Prize Tomatoes, as they Appear for Sale on
Fruit Stands, etc., during the Spring Months.]
=Cultivation.=--The tomato is of the easiest cultivation, and will
grow even under neglect, but it so abundantly repays attention, that
no farmer can afford to be careless about the matter. The nights of
May are cool in the North, and the newly-set plant at first makes
little growth. Cultivator and hand-hoe should both be kept in motion
during this period, and in June also. In the latter month the tomato
will make a sudden leap toward maturity, and will yield ripe fruit in
July. The out-of-doors cropping season lasts for three full months.
The tomato is now grown under glass almost everywhere, and is to be
had in the market during all the months of the year.
[Illustration: The Great B. B. (Brinton's Best) Tomato, Best for Main
Crop.]
The out-of-doors season is profitably prolonged by picking all the
mature or nearly mature fruit when the first frost comes, in October,
and placing these unripe tomatoes on straw in a cold frame. Covered
with straw and with the sash to keep out frost, the fruit ripens in a
satisfactory manner for several weeks. Such a frame must be well
ventilated or the tomatoes will rot rather than ripen.
[Illustration: New Fortune, one of the Best Second Early Tomatoes.]
=Diseases and Enemies.=--Tomato diseases, fortunately, are not
numerous. Blight sometimes sweeps off a whole field of early-set
tomato plants, on farms where later plantings are quite healthy. This
favors the theory that blight results from weakness caused by early
planting in cold ground. It is a fungous disease, and may sometimes be
prevented by the use of Bordeaux mixture. The same remedy is the best
known preventive of black rot.
Potato bugs may be either hand-picked or poisoned with Paris green.
The tobacco worm sometimes causes much damage to the tomato. All
diseased or blighted tomato vines should be promptly burned, and the
crop carried to new soil the following year.
=Marketing, Profits, etc.=--As already stated, choice tomatoes in
clean baskets are always in demand, and a new basket will usually pay
for itself on a single sale. The sum of $150 per acre may be quoted as
the average gross receipts from tomatoes at present prices. This
estimate is based on the low yield of a half-peck of fruit to each
vine at 25 cents per basket. If sold retail, the tomatoes would
command more money, while if sold in bulk to a canning factory the
gross receipts might be larger or smaller, depending on the size of
the general crop and other circumstances.
TURNIPS AND RUTA BAGAS.
Turnips and ruta bagas are closely related. The latter are turnips in
fact, and are frequently called Swedes. The common method on many
farms is to sow turnips broadcast, but it is a far better practice to
sow both these and the ruta bagas in drills, so that they can be kept
clear of weeds and worked by horse-power. Not only are these
advantages secured, but the row system makes it possible to take out
the superfluous plants, and secure roots of uniform size and shape.
Turnips and ruta bagas have high economic value as foods, both for
humanity and for live stock.
=Turnips.=--Turnips are grown for market purposes both in spring and
in fall. In the spring the seed should be sown early, in mellow soil.
For the fall crop the seed may be sown either in July or August. The
rows in garden or field may be as close as can be conveniently worked.
TURNIP.--For earliest, we recommend Purple Top and White Milan.
For fall crop, Mammoth Purple Top Globe and Golden Ball. For
descriptions, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
[Illustration: Budlong or Breadstone Turnip.]
=Ruta Bagas or Swedes.=--The seed of ruta baga or Swedish turnip
should be sown (in the latitude of Philadelphia) in July, a little
earlier than the seed of the common turnip. The ground should be well
enriched with rotted manure, the rows 2-1/2 to 3 feet apart, the seed
covered to the depth of half an inch, and the plants afterward thinned
out so as to stand 6 or 8 inches apart in the row. The crop is almost
always large and satisfactory.
RUTA BAGA.--We recommend Myer's Purple Top Beauty and Budlong.
For descriptions, see our "Garden and Farm Manual."
[Illustration: Myer's Purple Top Beauty Ruta Baga.]
=Storage.=--Turnips of all kinds sell well in the winter markets, to
say nothing of their high value as stock foods. They are easily
preserved in root cellars, covered with sand, or in pits in dry soil,
covered with straw and earth to prevent freezing.
[Illustration: Distribution of Water through Home-made Hose Pipe. An
Illustration from our New Book--"Irrigation by Cheap Modern Methods."
No Gardener should miss Reading this Work. See page 125.]