VEGETABLES SUITED TO FARM CULTURE IN SOME LOCATIONS.
In this portion of the book are grouped a number of vegetables not
adapted to every farm or location. The list includes celery, water
cress, cucumbers, egg plants, kale, lettuce, melons, mushrooms,
onions, peas, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, sweet potato, etc. Where
favored locations for their production exist on farms they may be
grown with profit, if markets are accessible.
CELERY.
On very many farms there are meadows with deep, rich soils that are
now lying under grass; or, worse, under tussocks and swamp weeds. Some
locations are subject to disastrous overflow during freshets, but
innumerable spots exist where such meadows could with safety be
converted into celery gardens, capable of easy irrigation, either
situated above the level of floods or susceptible of artificial
protection by means of cheap embankments. Such situations are entirely
too valuable to use for pasturage. They are the truck gardens of the
future.
=Perfect Celery.=--The object in celery-growing is to produce thick,
robust, tender, solid, crisp, sweet leaf stalks, free from rust or
insect attacks. The essentials are rich land and plenty of water, and
skill is required in the two points of bleaching and storing. But
there are no mysterious processes to be learned. The Kalamazoo growers
have, it is true, a rare advantage in their deep muck soil, with a
permanent water level only a few inches or feet below the surface, but
their success depends on accuracy of working detail almost as much as
on perfection of soil. It is not necessary to go to Michigan for good
celery ground.
=Fertilizers.=--The best known fertilizer for celery is thoroughly
rotted barnyard manure. Fresh manure is to be avoided for several
reasons. It is less available for plant food, more likely to produce
rust, and more liable to open the soil and render it too dry.
Commercial fertilizers are not infrequently used, but there is a
decided preference among many celery growers for the rotted stable
product. Shallow plowing (5 inches) is practiced, as celery roots do
not go deep.
=Planting.=--It requires from 20,000 to 35,000 celery plants to the
acre, according to their distances apart. In the intense culture at
the great celery centres two crops (and even three crops) of celery
are grown upon the land per year, by a system of planting between
rows, but in the operations of farm gardeners not more than one crop
per season is grown. This may follow an earlier market crop, such as
peas, beans, onions or sweet corn, though where the farmer is hard
pushed with other work, the celery may be grown without any other crop
preceding it, but not upon newly-turned sod land, as the earth should
be loose and mellow.
Seed for early celery must be started under glass, but the farmer will
find his best celery market in the autumn. April will, therefore, be
ample time for sowing the seed, which should be scattered thinly in
rows in finely-raked mellow soil in the open ground, and covered
lightly. The seed is very slow to germinate, and the bed should be
copiously watered until the plants are well started. In small
operations, it is well to transplant at least once. In large
operations, the plants are thinned out in the original rows, and
carried from thence direct to the field. The upper leaves and the tips
of the roots are cut off, and the plants are set firmly in the soil by
means of a dibber.
[Illustration: J. & S. Golder Self-Blanching Celery Prepared for
Market.]
=Dates and Distances.=--July is a proper time for setting out celery;
preferably after a rain or during dull weather. The rows may be from 3
to 5 feet apart, depending on the purpose of the planter, and the
plants 5 or 6 inches apart in the rows. If the celery is to be stored
for blanching, 3-feet rows may be used. If it is to be blanched in the
field, the distance between the rows should be greater, so that more
loose soil will be available for hilling.
One ounce of celery seed will furnish 2,500 to 3,000 plants. A half
pound is sufficient to furnish plants for an acre.
Even on good ground celery should not be set out later than August
15th (in the latitude of Philadelphia), and preferably earlier.
The system of level planting is practiced by large growers everywhere.
Trenching is still followed in some private gardens, but is too
expensive for commercial operations.
=Varieties.=--The so-called dwarf and half-dwarf varieties have pushed
the larger kinds out of the market almost entirely, though seed of the
giant sorts can still be obtained. The dwarf kinds are large enough
for all purposes, however, and are in best favor everywhere. They are
about 18 inches high, as compared to twice that height in the
old-fashioned giant types.
The favorites of late years for early celery are the self-blanching
sorts, such as White Plume and Golden Self-Blanching, which are the
result of the continued selection of individual plants or sports
showing a tendency to blanch easily. For winter keeping, the Perle Le
Grand, Winter Queen and Perfection Heartwell are the best. These
varieties are beautiful as well as highly palatable. There are also
red or pink sorts, of high table merit and good keeping qualities.
CELERY.--We recommend Golden Self-Blanching and White Plume for
early, Perle Le Grand for both early and late and Winter Queen
for late. The latter is the very best keeper. See "Johnson &
Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
=Cultivation.=--The proper culture of the celery has already been
suggested in the allusion to its need for water and its shallow
feeding habits. The surface soil should be highly enriched, the
stirring of the soil very shallow, and the water supply copious,
either by capillary attraction from below (as at Kalamazoo) or by
rainfall or artificial irrigation.
=Blanching.=--The first step in the process of blanching or bleaching
is what is known as handling. This operation consists in grasping all
the leaves of a celery plant in one hand, while with the other the
soil is drawn together and packed so as to hold the stalks in an
upright, compact position. This single operation will fit some of the
early-planted sorts for market in the course of two weeks; though a
second operation, called hilling, is usually considered desirable,
even with the self-blanching sorts. See photograph on first page.
The Kalamazoo growers depend on muck for field blanching, though they
also use boards. Muck is merely a dark soil, containing or consisting
mainly of vegetable matter. They first "handle," as just described,
and about five days later draw 6 inches more of the muck about the
celery stalks. Again, three days later, they draw an additional 2
inches about the stalks, and in two weeks from the start the celery is
ready for market.
These operations are frequently done by two men working together, one
holding the stalks and the other drawing the soil to them. The first
operation puts the stalks in an upright, compact position, so that
little or no soil can get into the heart of the plant. The second
draws about the plant all the soil that will conveniently remain
there. The third merely supplements the second, as the hill has had
time to become somewhat firm and has settled away a little from the
upper leaves.
Boards are used for summer blanching, as they are less heating than
soil. Ordinary lumber, free from knot holes, is employed. The boards
rest on their edges, one board on each side of the row, the tops being
drawn together until within 2-1/2 inches of each other, and the lower
edge of the board held in place either by stakes or by soil.
The work of handling or hilling must be done only when the celery is dry
and unfrozen. In fact, celery must never be handled when wet (except
when preparing it for market), or it will surely be rusted and spoiled.
The same practices of blanching celery as here mentioned in connection
with the Kalamazoo operations are in vogue near Philadelphia and other
Eastern cities, and are not new. The real reason that Kalamazoo is so
celebrated is her possession of that wonderful black muck soil,
underlaid with standing water. This has attracted the best celery
growers of the country; men who have small places of from one to three
acres, and who work out every detail to perfection, employing little
labor outside of their own families and concentrating their efforts on
the production of perfect celery crops. There are extensive celery
growers at Kalamazoo, with tracts of thirty or more acres devoted
exclusively to this vegetable, but the majority of the gardens there
are small, and much hand-work is done.
=Winter Storage.=--The art of the winter storage of celery, as practiced
by large growers, is not hard to learn. Both at Kalamazoo and here in
the Eastern States there are two methods in vogue. One is the use of
especially-built houses, and the other is the open-field plan.
[Illustration: Blanching Celery with Boards.]
[Illustration: Winter Queen, the Best Late Winter Keeping Celery.]
The celery house or "coop" is a low frame structure, half under
ground, generally 14 or 16 feet wide, and as long as may be desired.
There is a door in one end and a window in the other. The sides, ends
and roof are double and filled with sawdust. There are wooden chimneys
or ventilators at intervals of 12 feet along the peak of the roof, and
sometimes there are glass windows in the roof, provided with wooden
shutters. The celery stands upon the floor, which is of loose soil.
There is a narrow walk lengthwise in the middle of the building, and
boards extending from the central walk to the side walls separate the
packed celery into narrow sections. No earth is placed between the
celery stalks as they stand. They are, in fact, rooted in the soil of
the floor, and are thus able to make the slight growth demanded for
complete blanching. The various doors, windows and ventilators make it
possible to keep the air fresh and wholesome, and during cold weather
a stove may afford heat to the storage room. Artificial heat is not
commonly required.
Another method, cheaper and quite as satisfactory, especially on farms
or in market gardens, is to trench the celery in the open field. The
situation of the trench must be a dry one, where there will be no
standing water. The trench must be nearly or quite as deep as the
height of the celery, with perpendicular sides, and a foot or less in
width. The stalks are set upright in the trench, with all decayed or
worthless leaves removed, as closely as they will stand, without soil
between them. To keep them in that condition is purely a matter of
care. If they are buried deeply and the weather proves warm they will
rot. But if the covering be decreased in warm weather and increased in
cold weather, the celery can be kept in perfect condition. In private
gardens celery is often planted in double rows, a foot apart, and
wintered where it grows by covering deeply with soil.
An excellent plan is to make an A-shaped trough of two boards to turn
the rain, on top of which a greater or less amount of straw, leaves or
litter may be piled, if needed.
Mice sometimes do considerable damage to stored celery, but are more
easily controlled in short trenches than in long ones.
Small amounts of celery may be stored in cellars, in boxes a foot wide
and a foot deep, with damp sand in the bottom. No soil is needed
between the plants. The coolest and darkest part of the cellar is best
for storage.
=Diseases.=--Celery diseases are preventable and insect attacks are
few. For blight, kainit is recommended, both in the seed-bed and open
field. For rust, the Bordeaux mixture is advised. Hollow-stemmed or
pithy celery is the result of poor stock or improper soil, and can be
avoided by the use of more manure and more water.
=New Process.=--The method of growing celery in highly enriched soil,
with plants set 6 or 8 inches apart both ways, is quite feasible. The
plants stand so close as to blanch each other to some extent, but the
system has never attracted general favor. A great deal of water is
required. Cultivation is possible only when the plants are small.
=Profits.=--The use of celery is obviously on the increase, but the
demand is for a first-class article. The cash results may be set at
anywhere from $200 to $500 per acre. The actual net profits of
well-conducted operations are considerable.
WATER CRESS.
Water cress, a vegetable closely allied to several other edible
cresses, is used in very large quantities in all city restaurants. It
is a much-esteemed winter relish, and is mostly served with every one
of the thousands of beefsteak orders daily filled in the great eating
houses and lunch rooms. The demand for it seems to be on the increase.
[Illustration: Water Cress.]
Water cress is of the easiest culture. It can be grown in the soil of
a forcing house under glass, and is extensively produced in this way
by market gardeners.
The cheapest method is to grow it in running water, preferably near a
spring head; and many such situations are available to farmers. Flat
beds, made of loam, gravel, or sand, covered with 3 or 4 inches of
warm, spring water, will yield great quantities of water cress in
early spring; and the use of a few sash will keep the cress in growth
during the winter. The cress should be cut frequently, as the young
shoots are most succulent and tender.
For market purposes the water cress is tied in bunches, and retailed at
from 3 to 10 cents per bunch, or packed in pint boxes, leaves uppermost,
and retailed for about 10 cents per box. These are winter and early
spring prices. Water cress culture is profitable in favored locations.
CUCUMBER.
The cucumber market is not easily over-supplied, but the pickling tub
should stand ready to receive all cucumbers not sold in a fresh
condition.
For field culture, good ground must be selected, and marked out with a
plow, 4 x 4 feet; or, a little wider, if the soil is strong. At least
one shovelful of well-rotted manure is dropped in every hill, and
mixed with the soil, and a dozen seeds planted, to be thinned out
finally to three or four plants. It is better to have extra plants, on
account of the attacks of the striped beetle.
The cucumber belongs to a botanic family which is naturally tender,
and the seeds should not be sown until the soil is quite warm. For
farm work, the planting season is the latter part of May and the whole
of June; and even July is a suitable month, if the soil can be
irrigated. It will require two pounds of seed for an acre.
The variety sown should depend on the purpose in view; but in all
commercial operations, well-known and thoroughly tested sorts should
be chosen. Shallow cultivation is recommended.
If an early market is to be supplied with cucumbers, the seeds may be
started under glass, on bits of inverted sod or in small boxes, and
set in the open ground on the arrival of settled warm weather; but the
farmer will usually find it most profitable to sow the seeds where the
plants are to remain.
The most serious enemy of the cucumber vine is the striped beetle,
which attacks the young plant and frequently ruins it. The remedy is
air-slaked lime, or soot, or sifted coal ashes, or wood ashes diluted
with dry road dust. The best preventive is salt or kainit, used in the
hills. The true plan is to have strong, vigorous plants, which, as a
rule, will resist and outgrow the striped beetle, and be not greatly
injured by its attacks. There is a blight which sometimes destroys the
cucumber vine, apparently the result of weakness following a prolonged
drouth.
The vine of the cucumber must be kept in vigorous growth, not only by
cultivation and a sufficient water-supply, but by care in removing all
the fruit as soon as formed, for, if the seeds be permitted to
mature, the vine will quickly perish. It is the purpose of the vine's
existence to produce ripe seeds, and it will make repeated and
long-continued efforts to accomplish this end. In gathering the
cucumbers, it is important to avoid injuring the vine. Some growers
use a knife; others break the stem by a dexterous twist, without
injuring the vine in the least.
[Illustration: Johnson & Stokes' Perfected Jersey Pickle Cucumber.]
It requires 300 cucumbers (more or less) of fair pickling size to make
a bushel, and it is estimated that an acre will produce from 100 to
200 bushels, or even more. When the pickles are pulled while quite
small, the number runs up to 125,000 per acre; and the pickle
factories in some cases make their estimates on a yield of 75,000 per
acre. The price is variable, but often quite profitable.
CUCUMBER.--For planting in the South to ship to Northern markets
use Improved Arlington White Spine. Giant of Pera is a fine table
sort. For pickling, plant Johnson & Stokes' Perfected Jersey
Pickle. For description see our "Garden and Farm Manual."
=Downy Mildew.=--A disease which lately threatened to destroy the
business of growing pickles in New Jersey and elsewhere, the downy
mildew of the cucumber, can be fully overcome by spraying the vines
with Bordeaux mixture. It requires six or seven applications, at
intervals of a week or ten days, to conquer this comparatively new
disease. Downy mildew is a fungous trouble affecting the leaves and
destroying the further usefulness of the vine. A recent New York
experiment showed a yield of $173 worth of pickles per acre under
spraying as against complete failure where the Bordeaux mixture was
not used. The cost of spraying was $9.50 per acre, leaving $163.50 per
acre as the value of the crop saved by the operation.
EGG PLANT.
The advisability of growing egg plants in farm gardening operations is
a question of location. On a suitable soil, near a good market, the
operation will be a profitable one, if rightly managed. The egg plant
is a tender vegetable, botanically allied to both the tomato and the
potato, but less hardy than either, especially when young. For this
reason it is best to delay sowing the seed, even in hot-beds, until
cold weather is past, for the tender seedlings never fully recover
from a chill or set-back. Indeed, for the farm gardener the month of
May is early enough to sow the seed under glass, for this plant grows
with great rapidity in a warm soil, and May-sown seed not infrequently
yields plants that outstrip those sown a full month earlier.
[Illustration: New Jersey Improved Large Purple Smooth Stem Egg Plant.]
The egg plant demands a richer soil than either the potato or tomato.
It also asks for more water. It is a rank feeder. A good stimulant, if
rotted manure cannot be had, is nitrate of soda at the rate of 400
pounds to the acre.
The farm gardener will do well to consider his market before engaging
in the production of the egg plant on an extensive scale, for it is a
perishable product. It bears shipment well, but its use is mainly
limited to consumption while fresh. It may command a very high price
at some seasons of the year and at other times be practically
unsalable at any price, owing to an over-supply.
If egg-plant seed be sown under glass in early May, and carefully
protected against cool weather (especially at night), the young plants
will be ready to transplant before the end of the month and large
enough for the open field in June. They should be set in rows 4 feet
apart, and about 3 feet apart in the row. Set at these distances, an
acre of ground would accommodate about 3,500 plants.
The enemy of the egg plant, in growth, is the potato bug, which must
be hand-picked or poisoned. There is a rot which causes the fruit to
drop from the stem before reaching maturity. This rot is a fungus, and
the Bordeaux mixture is recommended for it. The blight which sometimes
affects the foliage is in part at least caused by cold weather, and
for this there is no remedy, except late planting.
Every healthy plant should produce from two to six or more full-sized
fruits, and it is therefore easy to calculate that an acre's product
under favorable circumstances may be very large.
EGG PLANT.--There is nothing equal to the New Jersey Improved
Large Purple Smooth Stem for the use of farm gardeners. For
description, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
[Illustration: Johnson & Stokes' Imperial, or Long Standing Kale.]
KALE OR BORECOLE.
Kale, of which there are many varieties, is a headless cabbage,
closely allied to such vegetables as Brussels sprouts, collards, etc.
It is one of the most hardy of vegetables, and in this latitude it
will live over winter in the open ground, with only straw or litter as
a protection. If cut for use when frozen it should be thawed out in
cold water. The kales are among the most delicately flavored cabbages.
Some of them are of such ornamental shape as to be full worthy of
cultivation for decorative purposes. The height varies from 1 to 2
feet, and the colors include both greens, dark purples and
intermediate shades.
Kale demands a rich, deep soil. The seed should be sown in a border or
seed-bed, and transplanted to the open field and set in rows, after the
manner of cabbage. It is largely and profitably grown in the South for
shipment to the great Northern markets. Where farmers are situated near
centres of population where kale is in demand, its culture will be found
profitable, as it requires even less labor than cabbage. It is planted
both in spring and autumn. The former crop is for autumn consumption and
the latter crop is carried over winter after the manner of spinach,
protected by a light covering of some sort of litter.
KALE.--For the South, we recommend Extra Dwarf Green Curled
Scotch; for the North, Johnson & Stokes' New Imperial. See our
"Garden and Farm Manual" for descriptions.
LETTUCE.
In some sections, especially in the South, lettuce can be grown with
profit by farm gardeners. Depending on the latitude, the seed may be
planted from autumn until spring. The plants are usually sheltered and
headed under glass, or under muslin-covered sash, and are sent North
in ventilated barrels.
The lettuce is naturally a cool-weather plant, and its culture is
easy. The seed is cheap and it germinates quickly. Well-grown lettuce
always commands good prices. It is usual to start the seeds in a
border or under a frame, and to prick out the plants into more roomy
quarters as soon as they are large enough to handle. In a few weeks
after transplanting, in good growing weather, they are headed ready
for market. Good soil, abundance of moisture and free ventilation are
essentials in lettuce production.
[Illustration]
In some parts of the North lettuce culture would be found profitable
by farmers in the summer season, for there are varieties well adapted
to high temperature, provided good soil and sufficient water be
furnished. There is not a month in the year when lettuce is not
demanded for use in salads, and this demand is likely to increase.
LETTUCE.--For the South, we especially recommend Reichner's Early
White Butter, Big Boston and New Treasure; for the North, New
Sensation, Mammoth Salamander and Hornberger's Dutch Butter.
Please see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
MELONS.
Melon culture belongs on the farm rather than in the small market
garden, on account of the large space occupied by the growing vines.
An acre of ground will accommodate only about 450 watermelon hills (at
10 feet each way) or about 1,200 muskmelon or cantaloupe hills (6 feet
each way), and hence the necessity for large areas of ground for the
cultivation of these crops.
The requirements of the various melons are quite similar. Broken sod
ground or any green crop turned down favors their growth, and
well-rotted stable manure in the hill is the best known stimulant. All
the melons are tender, and are suited only to warm-weather growth, and
this fact must be remembered in sowing the seed. Light alluvial soil
near rivers or streams is adapted to melon growth, and many an old
meadow now weedy and unprofitable might be used to advantage for one
of these crops.
[Illustration: New Black-eyed Susan Watermelon.]
=The Watermelon.=--For cash-producing purposes the best watermelon is
a large one, with a hard rind. It must have a dark pink or red centre
and must be a good shipper. It should weigh thirty to forty pounds,
and there should be 900 to 1,000 first-class melons to the acre.
The best melon for family use or for a strictly retail trade is a
medium-sized variety, which has a thin rind, pink or red flesh and
extra sweetness, weighing from twenty to thirty pounds.
The preparation of the ground has already been suggested. Two shovels
of manure should go into each hill. The planting date is May in this
latitude; or as soon as the ground is thoroughly warm. Four pounds of
seed per acre will be required. But one plant per hill is allowed to
grow. The end of the main shoots should be pinched off, to encourage
branching and flowering.
[Illustration]
Cultivation should be thorough. Fungous diseases can be controlled by
means of the Bordeaux mixture, except that it is difficult to reach
the under side of the leaves. To prevent sunburn on melons, some
growers sow buckwheat when the vines are in blossom, and thus secure a
partial shade by the time the fruit is large enough to be injured by
the sun. Generally, no protection is necessary.
At $10 or $15 per hundred, the average wholesale price at Philadelphia,
watermelon culture is profitable. Early prices are higher.
WATER MELONS.--For shipping--Johnson's Dixie, Blue Gem, Duke
Jones, Sweet Heart. For home market--Black-Eyed Susan, Florida
Favorite, Kentucky Wonder, McIver's Wonderful Sugar. For
descriptions, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
=Citron.=--This small round melon is cultivated in all respects as the
watermelon, but being smaller the hills may be closer. It is used in
making preserves. The name citron is frequently applied to certain of
the cantaloupes.
=Cantaloupes or Muskmelons.=--It is a matter of choice whether the
green-fleshed or red-fleshed sorts are grown; or whether the variety
be large or small. The sorts covered with strongly webbed or netted
markings are in high favor for shipping to distant points, as they
carry well. Flavor is in part at least a matter of temperature and
sunshine. Cantaloupes may be nicely ripened by removing them from the
vines and storing in dry, warm rooms.
The usual planting distance is from 4-1/2 to 6 feet, in hills
containing rotted manure. Compost, made of hen manure, is sometimes
used in the hill, well mixed with the soil. Good cantaloupes are
always in active demand.
MUSK MELONS.--Early sorts for shipping--McCleary's Improved Jenny
Lind, Netted Beauty, The Captain, Champion Market, Improved
Netted Gem, Anne Arundel. Late sorts--The Princess, Johnson &
Stokes' Superb, etc. See "Garden and Farm Manual" for
descriptions.
[Illustration: McCleary's Improved Early Jenny Lind Muskmelon.]
=Enemies.=--In addition to the fungous diseases of the watermelon and
cantaloupe, which are best treated with Bordeaux mixture, all melons
are sometimes badly troubled with an aphis called the melon louse. The
remedy is whale-oil soap--a pound in six gallons of water; or kerosene
emulsion. The latter is made by dissolving half a pound of soft soap
in one gallon of water; then adding two gallons of kerosene, churning
violently; then diluting with ten or twelve gallons of water. This
emulsion is put upon the melon vines in the form of a spray, and is
one of the best insecticides known. It is to be used on all sucking
insects, like lice and squash bugs. Biting insects are easily killed
with Paris green--one pound in 100 pounds of flour or plaster, or in
150 gallons of water.
[Illustration: Improved Early Netted Gem Muskmelon (Rose Gem Strain).]
Where the land is suited to melon culture, in any part of the country,
the farm gardener will find no more satisfactory or remunerative crop.
MUSHROOMS.
Under certain favored circumstances the mushroom may be grown as a farm
gardener's crop. The requisites are horse manure and a dark cellar, cave
or vault. If the manure be available and a suitable apartment at hand,
the growing of mushrooms may be taken up for winter work.
[Illustration: A Bed of Mushrooms from English Milltrack Spawn.]
There are many ways of growing mushrooms, and they can be produced in
any situation where a steady temperature of 60 deg. can be maintained. A
simple method is to prepare a bed consisting of horse manure and loam,
three parts by measure of the former and one of the latter, the manure
having been somewhat fermented and sweetened by allowing it to heat
and turning it several times. A compact bed a foot deep is made. This
bed will first heat and then cool. As it cools, when at 80 deg. or 85 deg. an
inch below the surface, bits of brick spawn the size of a hen's egg
are inserted about 9 inches apart.
The bed must not be immediately covered, or the temperature will rise
sufficiently to kill the spawn. In ten days, more or less, as shown by
a thermometer, this danger will be past, and the bed should receive a
coating of good loam an inch deep. No water is to be applied until
after the bed is in full bearing.
It is assumed that the temperature of the room or cellar has been
uniformly 60 deg., day and night; that the bed has not been made where it
could become water-soaked; that it is sufficiently moist, yet not wet;
and that no draft of air has passed over the surface in a way either
to reduce the temperature of the bed itself or to dry the soil upon
the surface. If these conditions cannot be maintained, either by a
specially favorable place or by means of covering the bed with litter,
it is better to let mushrooms alone.
The crop should appear in six or eight weeks, and should last two
months, the total product being from one-half to one pound per square
foot. The cash price is from 50 to 75 cents per pound in the large
cities; and the crop is sufficiently profitable to warrant the losses
which beginners so commonly experience. These losses are the result of
carelessness or ignorance in the matter of details.
The usual sources of failure are poorly prepared beds, the medium
being either too wet or too dry; frequent changes of temperature;
improper use of water; and, lastly, poor or stale spawn.
Mushrooms are packed in small baskets lined with paper, and carefully
covered to prevent evaporation. A five-pound package is a favorite
shipping size.
ONIONS.
The onion is a national crop; as widely though not quite as
extensively grown as the potato. It is available as a money crop for
the farm gardener.
=Choice of Soil.=--Heavy, stiff clay land is to be avoided. Sand and
gravel dry out too quickly. Stony land renders good culture difficult.
The best soil for onions is a deep, rich, mellow loam. Soils which
afford natural advantages for irrigation should not be overlooked, as
the rainfall is often lacking when greatly needed.
=Fertilizers.=--Onion culture demands high manuring. No amount of
rotted stable manure is likely to be excessive. A ton per acre of
high-grade, complete fertilizer is not too much, if moisture can be
supplied. Hen manure is a good top dressing for onion-beds, furnishing
the needed nitrogen. Nitrate of soda is a good source of nitrogen, if
nitrogen must be purchased. The clovers and other leguminous crops
yield the cheapest nitrogen. Wood ashes, kainit, etc., furnish potash.
Either ground bone or acid phosphate will give the needed phosphoric
acid. An analysis of the onion shows that it carries away fertility in
just about the proportions furnished by stable manure.
It is a singular fact that onions can be grown year after year on the
same ground, if well manured. Rotation is necessary only in case of the
occurrence of disease or insect attack. The onion loves cool weather.
=Planting.=--To grow onion sets, the seed is sown in close rows, at
the rate of from fifty to sixty pounds per acre. To grow large onions
direct from seed, five pounds of seed per acre will be required. To
plant a field with onion sets will require twelve to fifteen bushels
per acre, according to size of the set.
[Illustration: A List of the most Popular American Onions.]
An onion set is merely an immature bulb. Sets vary from the size of a
large pea up to that of a walnut. When the seed is sown thickly the
bulbs have no chance to grow, and the summer weather quickly ripens
the tops, completely suspending the growth of the bulb. In some parts
of the country onion sets cannot be grown with profit, as the tops
refuse to die and the bulbs or sets do not ripen properly.
In nearly all parts of the United States onions can be grown direct
from the seed the first year; especially from seed grown around
Philadelphia, which is earlier than Western-grown. It is quite
customary in the South to sow onion seed in late summer or autumn; in
August or September. This will give early spring onions of marketable
size. In the North, within quite recent years, it has become the
practice to sow onion seed in frames, in fall or early spring, and
transplant the young onions to the open ground. This is sometimes
spoken of as the new onion culture.
Onion sets or young plants should be placed 3 or 4 inches apart, in
rows a foot apart, if to be cultivated by hand; the rows farther apart
if for horse work.
The onion is hardy. Many varieties will live in the open ground over
winter, if covered (at the North) with light litter. It is in this way
that shoots for bunching are obtained early in the spring.
The seed should be sown for sets when the apple is in bloom. Sets may
be put into the ground earlier; in fact, as soon as the ground can be
worked. The set should not produce seed the first year, though it
often does so. It should, on the contrary, grow to the size of say 3
inches, and then ripen for winter storage. Excessively large onions
are not desirable. To hasten maturity, the tops may be broken down or
the roots may be cut by running a knife or sharp plow or cultivator
along one side of the row.
The onion, under favorable circumstances, will produce a crop of 800
bushels (fifty-six pounds to the bushel) per acre; though 500 bushels
is nearer the average product.
[Illustration: Weeding a Field of Onion Sets on our Bucks County Seed
Farm near Philadelphia.]
=Storage.=--The storage of onions and onion sets is simple. The bulbs
should first be ripened on the ground, by a brief exposure to wind and
sun. This completes the wilting of the tops. They should then be spread
out on ventilated trays or racks, or a few inches in depth on a floor,
in a dry, shady place, where the air is good, preferably a loft; not a
damp cellar. Freezing will not injure them, but they must not be handled
when they begin to thaw, or they will rot. They must not be bruised
during the operation of gathering or during the process of storage.
A popular and excellent method of wintering onions in cold climates is
to spread straw to the depth of 18 inches on a dry floor or scaffold,
and put on a layer of onions from 6 inches to a foot deep, and cover
with 2 feet of straw. This will not always prevent freezing, but it
checks all sudden changes.
Onions not fully cured should never be kept in barrels, but spread out
so as to be perfectly ventilated. Onion sets shrink greatly in
storage; sometimes as much as one-half between fall and spring.
=Varieties.=--There are many varieties of onions, some of American and
some of foreign origin. The former are better keepers, but the latter
are of milder flavor. The American sorts (Danvers, Southport Globe
varieties, Wethersfield, Extra Early Red, Silver Skin, Strasburg,
etc.) are usually considered to be the most profitable; but the
foreign kinds (Prize Taker, Prize Winner, Pearl, Bermuda, Giant Rocca,
Victoria, etc.) are profitable in those parts of the country where
soil and climate warrant their growth from seed in a single season.
The so-called tree onion is a perennial, of American origin, living
out over winter. It is sometimes called Egyptian or top onion. It
produces bulbs or sets at the top of the seed-stalk.
The potato or multiplier onion divides its large bulb into numerous
small ones, which in turn produce large onions the next year.
ONIONS.--For farm gardeners' purposes, we especially recommend
Philadelphia Yellow Globe Danvers, Mammoth Yellow Prizetaker,
White Prize Winner. Earliest Onions are--Extra Early Red Globe
Danvers, American Extra Early White Pearl, Rhode Island Yellow
Cracker. The best for sets--Extra Early Red, Philadelphia Yellow
Dutch and White Silver Skin. For descriptions of varieties, see
"Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
=Diseases and Enemies.=--To prevent maggot, the use of kainit is
recommended; 600 pounds per acre. For onion smut, which may in part be
cured by the kainit, the best known remedy is a change of soil. Thrip,
which causes the cuticle of the leaves to become covered with whitish
or yellowish spots, is best treated by means of kerosene emulsion,
used as a spray. The onion fly may, in part, at least, be abated by
the use of equal parts of wood ashes and land plaster dusted very
thoroughly on the young plants. Stiff-necked onions, often called
stags, are the result either of improper growth or poor stock. They
are sometimes planted in autumn for use as scallions (scullions) the
following spring.
=Marketing.=--Onions are sometimes sold in the open field; a good plan
when a fair price can be secured. After curing, as already described,
they are usually sold by the bushel or barrel. They are always in
demand, as the onion is a standard article of human food.
In the green state they are sold either by measure, by the bunch, or
by the rope. The latter method consists in tying the onions along
wisps of straw.
=Scallions.=--No small amount of money is expended by housekeepers in
the early spring markets for scallions (scullions), or bunched onion
shoots. These tender shoots are washed, tied and sold for 3 to 5 cents
per bunch, retail, or half those figures wholesale. Scallions are
produced from either sets or large onions planted the preceding
autumn, and sheltered either by frames or litter, so as to encourage
early spring growth.
PEAS.
It will require one and one-half to two bushels of peas to seed an acre,
and no crop finds a more ready sale than fresh peas in the summer and
autumn markets. Farmers who are near centres of population, or who enjoy
good shipping facilities, will find peas a quick money crop.
Any good soil will produce a crop of this excellent vegetable, but it
must not be assumed because the pea is a legume, with
nitrogen-collecting roots, that it will not well repay the application
of manure to the soil. Peas and beans need less assistance than some
other things, but they give good returns for the application of rotted
manure or artificial fertilizer.
The seed should be put into the ground in early spring, as soon as the
soil is dry enough to receive it, beginning with the smooth,
extra-early sorts, which are more hardy than the wrinkled varieties. A
little subsequent frost will do no harm.
The smooth, early sorts should be sown in rows, about 3 feet apart,
the intermediate or half-dwarf sorts in rows 4 feet apart, and the
tall, late varieties, in rows 5 feet apart.
In field operations no sticks are used, and large pickings are taken
even from the tall-growing vines while sprawling upon the ground; and
the labor is vastly less where no sticks are employed.
The early peas should stand closer in the rows than the later and
larger sorts. The Extra Early kinds mature in fifty to fifty-five days
from germination; the intermediate kinds in sixty-five to seventy
days, and the tall and late kinds in seventy-five to eighty days. For
autumn planting, the extra early varieties are used, and are planted
until sixty days before frost.
[Illustration: Plant of New Giant Podded Marrow Pea.]
Mildew is a field enemy of the pea, resulting from unfavorable
weather. The weevil often attacks the seed, but does not injure it for
market purposes.
The canning of green peas is now an industry of enormous extent in
America. The peas are shelled and sorted by machinery, and thousands
of bushels are annually disposed of in this manner.
The wholesale market price of peas in the pod varies from 50 cents to
$3 per bushel at Philadelphia. The latter price is for the early
product. The usual retail price is 15 to 25 cents per half peck. The
crop of green pods per acre may be rated at 100 bushels, more or less.
PEAS.--Earliest for the South--Johnson & Stokes' New Record Extra
Early, Alaska; second early--Johnson & Stokes' Second Early
Market Garden; late--Giant Podded Marrow, Improved Stratagem,
Crown Prince, Sugar Marrow. For descriptions, see "Johnson &
Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
RHUBARB.
In some parts of the United States rhubarb or pie plant is grown in
very considerable quantities for market purposes, and with profit. Its
culture is extremely simple. It is merely necessary to plant seed or
roots, and to have the plants about 4 feet apart each way in a
permanent bed. The plant is a perennial, lasting for many years. It is
a rank feeder, and the more manure given it, the larger and more
succulent will be the young shoots. The roots should be divided every
five years, as they finally become too large. The demand for rhubarb
continues through the spring and into summer, and large quantities are
canned for pie-making. Five leaf stalks make a large bunch. It is
worth $2 to $3 per 100 bunches, wholesale.
RADISH.
Farmers who retail their produce should raise radishes. Rich ground
and abundant moisture are the requisites for quick growth, and upon
quick growth depends good quality. Slow-growing radishes are hot and
pithy. The early sorts are best for spring, but the so-called summer
radishes are best for warm weather, as they are not so liable as the
early kinds to become pithy. Enormous quantities of winter radishes
are grown in autumn, for use and sale during the winter months. They
are kept in sand, like other roots.
[Illustration: Johnson & Stokes' Olive Scarlet, the Earliest Radish.]
The early kinds mature in twenty to twenty-five days from sowing.
Nitrate of soda in small quantities is one of the best known
stimulants. Rotted stable manure is good, but hog manure and night
soil are not in favor among radish growers, tending to produce insect
attacks. The free use of lime, salt or kainit is recommended as a
preventive against insects. Sometimes it is necessary to avoid manure
of any kind, on account of maggots, depending wholly on artificial
fertilizers. As a last resort the radish-bed must be removed to new
ground, as the maggot renders radishes wholly unsalable.
[Illustration: China Rose Winter Radish.]
The green seed pods of radishes are sometimes used for pickling. The
plant is closely related to the mustard.
It is wrong to wait for radishes to grow large (except the winter
sorts), as they are sweetest and most succulent when comparatively
small. Crisp, sweet radishes always command ready money.
RADISH.--Early, for the South--Scarlet Turnip White Tipped,
Johnson & Stokes' Olive Scarlet, Philadelphia Gardeners' Long
Scarlet. Summer radishes--Red and White Chartier, White
Strasburg, Improved Yellow Summer Turnip. All seasons, radishes
which are equally good for summer or winter--New Celestial, New
Round Scarlet China. For winter use only--China Rose. For
descriptions, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
SPINACH.
Spinach (or spinage) is grown for its leaves, which are cooked in
winter and spring for use as "greens." The leaf is sweet and palatable
even when raw, but it is always stewed for table purposes. It is a
cool weather plant, almost perfectly hardy. It may be sown in spring,
for immediate use, or in the autumn for fall cutting, or for carrying
over winter.
[Illustration: Plants and Roots of Parisian Long Standing Spinach.]
It is of the easiest culture, requiring ten or twelve pounds of seed
per acre, either broadcasted or sown in rows. In small gardens it is
usually grown in rows, but in open field culture it is more commonly
broadcasted. Patches of many acres in extent are seen near the large
cities. It is also grown quite extensively in some parts of the South
for shipment to Northern markets during January and February.
To prepare it for market the leaves are cut before the seed stalk
appears, and after washing are barrelled or crated for shipment.
Growers receive from $1.50 to $2.50 per barrel in Philadelphia and New
York in the winter and spring. Where accessible to market, spinach is
a profitable crop.
Blight is the main enemy. The remedy is removal to another soil.
Of spinach there are many types; some smooth and some with savoy or
wrinkled leaves. The property of standing a long time before going to
seed is desirable, especially when sown in the spring, as it increases
the length of the cutting season.
At the North a slight protection of litter or straw is necessary in
winter. South of latitude of Washington no protection is needed.
Spinach is cut even when frozen; in fact, at any time when there is no
snow on the ground. By throwing it into cold water it quickly thaws,
and affords a palatable and healthful food in midwinter. The dead or
yellow leaves should be removed before sending it to market, and if
carefully prepared it has an attractive green appearance during cold
weather when other vegetables are scarce. The winter crop is larger
than any other, but much is also grown for spring sales. It is
admirably adapted to farm culture.
SPINACH.--For spring planting, we recommend Parisian Long
Standing; for autumn, American Savoy or Bloomsdale. See "Johnson
& Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."
THE SWEET POTATO.
The cultivation of the sweet potato affords profitable employment to
thousands of American farmers. It is pre-eminently a farmer's crop, on
account of the ground space occupied. It demands a light or sandy
soil, well drained and well manured. It has wonderful drouth-resisting
qualities; though, on the other hand, it is quite unable to withstand
continued cold, wet weather. Its territorial range may be said to
include nearly the whole of the United States, where the soil is
suited to its growth, and it is even cultivated in Canada. It will in
all probability increase in favor as it is better known and the manner
of preserving or storing it is better understood.
SWEET POTATO.--We recommend and endorse the Hardy Bush or
Vineless Sweet Potato. For description, see "Johnson & Stokes'
Garden and Farm Manual."
=Fertilizers.=--There is wide diversity of practice in the matter of
enriching the land for sweet potatoes, and most of the standard
manures are used, either in one place or another. There seems to be an
almost universal endorsement of well-rotted stable manure, and next in
favor is wood ashes. High-grade fertilizer of any kind, thoroughly
incorporated with the soil, may be used.
=Young Plants.=--Sweet potatoes are propagated by sprouts obtained by
laying tubers on their sides, not touching each other, covered with
soil, in specially prepared heated beds. These sprouts produce
abundant rootlets while still attached to the parent tuber, and by
pulling them with care, great numbers of young plants can be obtained.
A second and even a third crop of young plants may be pulled from the
same tubers. In the South no artificial heat is needed.
=Growing the Slips or Sprouts as Practised in New Jersey.=--The
fire-bed, so-called, is quite generally used in Southern New Jersey
for obtaining slips or sprouts for spring planting. It is necessary to
have bottom heat and a uniform temperature of about 70 deg..
[Illustration: Plant of New Hardy Bush or Vineless Sweet Potato.]
The fire-bed consists essentially of a pit about 15 by 50 feet in
size. It is floored with boards laid upon cross pieces. Beneath the
boards there is an air chamber. On top of the boards the bed is made.
At one end is a furnace, with flues running out into the air space
beneath the bed, but not reaching the chimney or smoke-pipe at the
opposite end of the bed. At the hottest end of the bed the soil is
over 6 inches deep. At the cool end a depth of 6 inches is quite
sufficient. The whole bed is covered either with canvas muslin or with
glass sashes, there being a ridge pole above the bed, running
lengthwise with it, thus giving a double pitch to muslin or to glass.
After the soil has been heated somewhat, the tubers are laid on the
bed, about an inch apart, and covered with about 3 inches of good
soil, and the soil, in turn, covered with leaves or hay, to increase
the warmth of the bed. In a week, more or less, the sprouts will show
above the surface of the soil, when the leaves or hay must be removed.
The object in not connecting the flues from the furnace with the chimney
is to economize heat. The air chamber under the entire bed becomes
evenly heated, and the smoke escapes finally by the chimney. This
chimney may be made of wood, and a height of 8 or 10 feet will afford
ample draft. Either wood or coal may be burned, but preferably wood.
The planting distance in the field is about 3 feet by 2, the young
plants being set upon ridges. It requires about 9,000 plants to the
acre. The work must not be done until the ground is warm. The crop is
ready in from sixty to ninety days.
=Cultivation.=--Shallow cultivation is all that is required. The vines
at the North are not permitted to take root along their length, but in
the South they are sometimes allowed to do so, and additional tubers
thus secured. At the North the vines are lifted and turned, to clear
the way for the cultivator and to prevent rooting.
=Enemies.=--Black rot is one of the worst of sweet potato diseases.
Stem rot is another serious enemy. The best treatment for these and
other fungous troubles is prevention, and the best prevention is a
healthy soil. It is, therefore, best to go to new land occasionally.
=Harvesting.=--The common practice is to plow the sweet potatoes out
of the ground just after the first frost has touched the vines. The
tubers must be exposed to the air for a time, and partially dried.
They are prepared for market, if wanted immediately, by rubbing off
the soil and sorting into two sizes.
=Storage.=--At the South one of the several methods of winter storage
is to build a light wooden flue of lattice work, and pack about it a
conical-shaped heap containing about forty or fifty bushels of sweet
potatoes. Straw is used as a covering, with earth upon the straw, the
earth to be increased as the weather becomes colder. Over the entire
heap a rough shed is erected to turn the rain. The top of the flue or
ventilator is closed with straw in really cold weather. The spot must
be a dry one.
The New Jersey sweet potato house is a stone building, say 16 x 18
feet on the inside, with walls 10 feet high, and a good roof. The
building is half under ground, and the earth is banked up around it.
There is a passage way through the centre, and the bins for the sweet
potatoes are 6 to 8 feet square and 8 to 10 feet deep. There is a door
on the south side, with window above, and a stove is placed inside the
building, for use when required. The walls are plastered, and the
under side of the roof is also covered with lath and plaster, and the
place is thoroughly weather-proof. A house of this kind will afford
storage room for 3,000 or more bushels of sweet potatoes, and will
keep them in excellent condition, if all details receive proper
attention. The requirements for successful storage are that the tubers
shall not be too hot, nor too cold, nor too wet, and that sudden
changes of temperature shall be avoided. The sweet potato crop may be
said to vary from 100 to 150 bushels per acre, under ordinary
management, with higher results under good conditions.