all possible advantage can be taken of sunshine, and against a
building or fence that will protect it on the north from cold
winds. Some persons prefer to make an excavation a foot or more
in depth for the reception of the heating material, but this is
not a matter of much importance. As a general thing it will not be
possible to do this in a satisfactory manner while there is frost
in the ground, as there will be at the North until after the first
of March.
When the first stages of fermentation are over, set the hotbed
frame in place, and fill in with five or six inches of very fine,
rich soil. This is what your seed is to be planted in.
The young gardener will be surprised at the amount of heat
contained in an inclosure like the one described. It will be very
similar to the weather conditions of early or middle May out of
doors. In it plants will grow healthily and vigorously, provided
they are given plenty of fresh air. This is a matter of the
greatest importance. Unless your seedlings are aired daily, if
the weather is pleasant, they will make a rapid but weak growth,
and when the time comes to put them in the cold-frame or the open
ground--provided they are alive then--they will be so lacking in
vitality that the change will be pretty sure to put an end to them.
On every sunny or warm day the sash should be lifted an inch or
two, about ten o'clock, and left in that condition until about two.
Care must be taken, however, to see that the wind does not blow
from a quarter that will drive the cold air in upon the plants. The
admission of a cold blast will often be fatal to the tender plants.
Great caution must be exercised in regard to ventilation. The aim
should be, at all times, to admit pure, fresh air without allowing
cold to enter with it. This may seem a somewhat paradoxical
statement, for at first thought it will seem impossible for air
from without to come in without taking along with it the cold
air which is in circulation outside, but when one takes into
consideration the fact that the warm air inside the hotbed meets
the air from out of doors at the point of entrance it will be
understood that it repels or counteracts it to an extent that makes
it safe to open the sash slightly when the outside temperature is
nearly down to freezing-point. The hotbed-owner must study existing
conditions and be governed accordingly. It is impossible to lay
down any hard-and-fast rules to apply in this case.
On cold nights the hotbed sash should be covered with blankets or
old carpeting to prevent the formation of frost on the glass. If
you find, in the morning, that the glass is covered with moisture
on its under side, raise the sash a trifle and leave it so until
the moisture clears away.
If at any time you have reason to think that the warmth inside
the frame is decreasing too rapidly, bank up about it with fresh
fermenting material.
After constructing the hotbed and putting the frame and sash in
place, test the heat inside by an accurate thermometer before
venturing to sow any seed. When it registers 85° or 90° the bed is
ready for seeding.
In making the frame for a hotbed care should be taken to see that
all joints fit snugly. A great deal of cold can be admitted through
a very small crevice. A few cracks will let out the heat faster
than it is generated, therefore see to it that in constructing the
frame a good piece of work is done.
Some persons tell me that they always bank up a hotbed with earth.
This enables it to retain the heat better than it is possible for
it to do without banking.
A hotbed will be of no particular benefit unless supplemented by
a cold-frame. This is simply a snug inclosure of boards covered
with glass, into which plants from the hotbed are to be set for
the purpose of hardening them off before they are put into the
open ground. In other words, it is a hotbed without heat. The
temperature in it ought to register from 60° to 65°. Raise the sash
an inch or two on sunny days before the rays of the sun striking on
the glass raise the temperature inside to a degree too intense for
the good of your plants.
It will be readily understood from what I have said above that in
order to attain success in the management of a hotbed great care
will have to be exercised at all times and frequent attention
given. It is not a self-regulating thing by any means. You will
have to consider the weather, the time of day when ventilation
should be given, frequency of watering, and other matters which
cannot be touched on here because of a more or less local character.
Plants in the hotbed should be watered cautiously. An over-supply
will often cause the seedlings to "damp off," and a lack of
sufficient moisture at the roots will speedily result in injury, if
not death. Whenever water is applied, use a sprinkler that throws a
fine spray. If thrown on the soil in a stream the water will often
wash the smaller plants out of place. It may puzzle one to tell
when _just enough_ has been given. This is best determined by an
examination of the soil. If moderately moist there is plenty of
moisture below.
X
SMALL GARDENS
Many persons who would like to grow flowers and vegetables do not
attempt to grow any because they do not consider that they have a
place large enough to justify them in doing so.
Here is where they make a mistake. A garden need not be a large one
to be enjoyable. A few plants are better than none. It is possible
to make a bit of garden more satisfactory than a large one because
it will be more likely to get more attention than would be given to
the larger one, and attention is one of the important features of
any successful garden.
There will, in the majority of cases, be little nooks and corners
here and there about the home grounds in which some plants can be
grown by those disposed to make the most of existing conditions.
These, if not improved, will be pretty sure to be given over
to weeds, or to the accumulation of rubbish of one kind or
another, and they will detract from the tidy and clean appearance
which should characterize the home everywhere. If the owners
of these bits of ground--these possibilities for adding to the
attractiveness of home--could be made to realize the amount of
pleasure they could be made to afford with very little exertion on
their part, the general work of civic improvement societies would
be most beneficial, and this would be done at the very place where
civic improvement ought to start--the home. There can be no real
and lasting improvement in civic undertaking unless the individual
home takes up the matter. The civic improvement society that starts
out with the idea of improving things generally, but does not begin
the good work _at the home_ is working on the idea of making clean
the outside of the cup and ignoring the condition inside it. Just
as the home is the foundation of society, so must it be made the
pivotal point at which any substantial and lasting improvement
finds its beginning.
Because the scattered places about the small home in which few
plants could be grown will not admit of bed-making, or the
"designs" which many persons seem to think indispensable in
gardening, is no good reason why we should not take advantage
of and make the most of them. If one lives in a community where
there are German families he will be surprised at the amount of
vegetables they grow in each home-lot. Not an inch of soil is
allowed to go to waste. A large amount of the food of the family is
grown in places which most Americans would overlook, simply because
of the prevailing idea that unless one can do things on a large
scale it is not worth while to attempt doing anything. The German
has been brought up to not "despise the day of small things," and
he profits by the advice. As we might, if we would, and, I am glad
to say, as more and more are profiting by year by year as they
become aware of the fact that much can be done where conditions are
limited.
I would not advise much mixing of varieties. On the contrary, I
would prefer to give over each little piece of ground to one plant.
Those of low habit I would have near the path, giving the places
back of them to taller-growing kinds. Of course, in the majority of
small homes, there is not much chance for exercising a choice in
the location of one's flowering or vegetable plants; still, it is
well to study the possibilities for general effect, and do all that
can be done to secure pleasing results. Where plants that grow to a
height of three feet are grown, the best place for them is at the
rear, or along the boundary of the lot, where they will serve as a
background for plants of lower habit.
Children should be encouraged to take an interest in the
cultivation of small gardens. They will do this if the parents are
willing to help them a little at the start. Show them how to spade
up the soil in spring, and how to work it over and over until it is
fine and mellow. They will make play of this part of garden work,
as it is as natural for a child to dig in the dirt as it is for a
pig to wallow in a mud-puddle. Add some kind of fertilizer to the
soil, and explain to the boys and girls that it is food for the
plants that are to be. Show them how to sow seed, and tell them all
you can about the processes of germination, and encourage them to
watch for the appearance of the seedlings. In a short time you will
have aroused in them such interest in the work they have undertaken
that it will be as fascinating to them as a story, and nature will
take delight in writing it out for them in daily instalments that
constantly increase in interest. The ability to know plants and
how to grow them ought to be a part of every child's education.
Don't let a bit of ground go to waste. Have flowers and vegetables,
even if there isn't room for more than half a dozen plants--or only
_one_ plant for that matter, for that one solitary plant will be a
great deal better than none at all.
XI
LEFT-OVERS
There are more ways than one to secure fertilizers and fine soil
for the small garden. If sward is cut from the roadside, chopped
into small pieces, and stored away in some corner of the yard that
is convenient to get at, and the soapsuds from wash-day are poured
over it each week, it will, in a short time, if stirred frequently,
become a most excellent substitute for leaf-mold. The grassroots,
when decayed, will become a vegetable fertilizer which will be
found extremely valuable in the culture of such plants as require a
light, rich soil, especially when small.
* * * * *
Some quite artistic effects can be secured in the vegetable-garden
by the exercise of a little thought. The large-leaved beet has
foliage of a dark, rich crimson quite as ornamental as that of
many plants used by gardeners to produce the "tropical effects"
which many persons admire. When planted in the background, with
fine-foliaged plants like carrot or parsley in front of it, the
effect will be extremely pleasing because of the contrast of color,
and also of habit. The red pepper, planted where it can show its
brilliantly colored fruit against the green of some plant, will
give a bit of brightness that will not fail to be appreciated by
those who have a keen eye for color-harmony. It is well to plan for
these touches of the artistic, even in the vegetable garden.
* * * * *
Tomatoes are often grown on racks and trellises. Where this is done
there will be no danger of the fruit's decaying, as is often the
case when the plants are given no support and their branches come
in contact with the ground.
It is a good idea to scatter clean, dry straw under the plants
after they begin to set fruit.
* * * * *
It is also a good plan to pinch off the ends of some of the
tomato-vines after the first liberal setting of fruit. This throws
the strength of the plant into the development of the fruit that
has set, instead of into the production of new branches which are
not needed. It also hastens the maturity of it. If the tomato is
allowed to do so it will keep on growing and blooming and setting
fruit throughout the entire season, and as a natural consequence
much of it will be immature when frost comes. It is well to prevent
this wasting of the plant's forces by shortening the main branches
of it in August and September.
* * * * *
In the chapter devoted to the mention of the best varieties of
vegetables to plant, I neglected to say a good word for sage and
summer savory, both of which the housewife will find very useful in
seasoning soups, sausage, and other articles of food. If cut when
in their prime and hung in the shade to dry, all their flavor will
be retained. When perfectly dry, rub the leaves from the stalks,
pulverize them well, and store in paper bags to prevent the loss of
their flavor.
* * * * *
Dill and caraway seed are often used in cookery, and, as "variety
is the spice of life," it may be well for the housewife to grow a
few plants of each. The writer has a very vivid recollection of
grandmother's caraway cookies, and many of the present generation
declare a liking for pickles flavored with dill.
* * * * *
To add to the attractive appearance of the table in winter I would
advise growing a few plants of the red or purple cabbage to work up
in slaws and salads. Beets are capable of giving a bit of color to
the table that will be as pleasing to the eye as the taste of this
vegetable is delightful to the palate. A root of parsley, potted
in fall, will not only afford much material for the garnishing of
the various dishes to which the housewife likes to add a touch
of this kind, but it can be made the basis of a really beautiful
table decoration. A few bright flowers thrust in among its crinkly
foliage will be quite as effective as many more pretentious
decorative schemes.
* * * * *
The amateur gardener may begin work with the belief that one crop
in a season is all he can expect from his garden. He will soon
discover his mistake. The early radishes and the first crop of
lettuce will mature before midsummer, and the ground they occupied
can be planted to later varieties from which a fully developed
second crop can be expected. Or other vegetables, like beets and
onions, can be planted where they grew, to furnish material for
the pickling season. After the early potatoes have been dug the
ground they occupied should not be allowed to lie idle. Something
can be planted there for fall use. To make the garden the greatest
possible source of profit, not a foot of it should be suffered to
go to waste at any time during the growing season.
* * * * *
Radishes would be well worth growing for their beauty alone.
A plate of them, nested in their own green foliage gives the
breakfast-table a touch of bright color that adds the charm of
beauty to the food with which it is associated. The writer believes
in making the table as attractive in appearance as the food on it
is toothsome whenever it is possible to do so.
* * * * *
I notice that I have overlooked the pumpkin. The oversight was
unintentional, and I beg the pardon of the vegetable without which
the housewife would be "lost" along about Thanksgiving-time.
The pumpkin is out of place in the small garden because of its
rampant growth, but a few plants of the New England Pie variety
should be grown wherever there is room for it, to supply material
for the delicious pumpkin pies most of us enjoy so much in winter.
Well-ripened specimens keep well when stored in cool, dry cellars,
if placed on racks or shelves that will prevent them from coming
in contact with the cold, damp cellar-bottom.
* * * * *
If frost nips the tomato-vines before all their fruit is fully
ripened, pull them up and hang them against a wall where the sun
can get at them. Hang blankets over them if the nights are cold.
Here they will ripen as perfectly as on the vines in the garden,
and one can enjoy fresh fruit from them until the coming of very
cold weather.
* * * * *
Before cold weather sets in go over the garden, be it large or
small, and gather up every bit of rubbish that can be found. Pull
up the dead plants and burn them. Store racks and trellises under
cover for use another season. If these are properly taken care of
they will last for several years, but if left exposed to the storms
of winter they will be short-lived.
* * * * *
Dig a quantity of parsnips and salsify to be stored in the cellar
for winter use. Cover the strawberry-bed with leaves or straw,
spreading lightly. Coarse litter from the barn-yard is often used
for this purpose, but it is objectionable because of its containing
so many weed-seeds.
* * * * *
Many experienced gardeners advocate plowing or spading the garden
in fall. This, they claim, helps to kill the larvæ which insects
have deposited in the soil, and it puts the ground in good working
condition earlier in spring. But it will have to be gone over in
spring to incorporate with it whatever fertilizer is made use of.
* * * * *
Fresh barn-yard manure should never be used. It ought to lie for at
least a season before applying it to the vegetable-garden. Give it
a chance to ferment and kill many of the seeds that are in it.
* * * * *
If the soil of the garden contains considerable clay, and is rather
stiff in consequence, the application of coarse sand, old mortar,
and coal-ashes will lighten and greatly improve it.
* * * * *
Do not allow grass or weeds to grow on any of the unused soil in or
about the garden, for insects will congregate there and make it the
base from which to make their raids upon the plants you set out to
grow.
* * * * *
We are often advised to apply a dressing of salt to the
asparagus-bed. I have never been able to see that the plants
received any direct benefit from it, but if it is scattered quite
thickly over the ground it will prevent weeds from growing, thus
benefiting the plants indirectly.
* * * * *
Asparagus is often attacked by a sporadic growth which causes the
foliage to look rusty, hence the term, asparagus-rust. As soon as
it is discovered, cut the tops and burn them. If allowed to remain
the plants will likely be attacked next season, as the spores are
not killed by cold.
* * * * *
If the bugs and beetles that attack young plants of cucumber,
squash, and melon do not yield promptly to the application of
dry road-dust, fine coal-ashes, or land-plaster, it may be
well to cover frames with fine wire netting, such as door- and
window-screens are made from, and put over the plants. Care should
be taken to see that these frames fit the ground snugly, or have
earth banked up about them, to prevent the enemy from crawling
under. After the plants have made their third or fourth leaves the
beetle will not be likely to injure them.
* * * * *
I am often asked why writers on gardening matters never advise
the use of home-grown seed. One answer to this query is this: In
the ordinary garden plants stand close to one another, and the
varieties we grow are almost sure to mix, by one variety being
pollenized by another. The seed from these plants will seldom
produce plants like either parent variety. Sometimes they may be
equal to them in most respects, but we cannot depend on their being
so. Therefore, if we desire to grow superior varieties that are of
pure blood, it becomes necessary for us to procure fresh seed each
season from dealers who take pains to see that there shall be no
"mixing" among their plants.
* * * * *
Every season some enterprising seedsman comes out with an
announcement that he has developed or discovered a remarkable new
variety of some standard vegetable so far superior to any other
variety on the market that, as soon as its merits become fully
known, it will drive all competitors out of the field. Of course
this new candidate for favor is offered at a fancy price, "because
the supply is limited, and the demand for it is increasing to such
an extent that the entire stock will soon be sold out. Order at
once, to avoid disappointment." Don't be in a hurry to take this
advice. Wait until next season. The chances are that you will hear
nothing more about it. We have so many very excellent varieties
now that there is no reason why we should ask for anything better.
If the "novelty" is the possessor of real merit you will be sure
to hear about it later, but it is hardly likely to prove an
improvement on what we already have, for it is hard to imagine
anything superior to the standard varieties of vegetables that we
have at present.
* * * * *
I would not advise purchasing seed at the general store. Some of
this may be reliable, but so much of it is inferior that one cannot
afford to run the risk of experimenting with it. It is the part
of wisdom to purchase where you can feel sure of getting just the
variety you want.
* * * * *
We are likely to have a few frosty nights along about the middle
of September. Tender vegetables may be injured if not protected.
But if covered with blankets or papers the danger may be tided
over, and during the long period of pleasant weather that generally
follows these early frosts we can get as much pleasure out of the
garden as it afforded during the early fall. It pays to protect.
* * * * *
The housewife will take a great deal of delight in the preparation
of piccalilli, chow-chow, and the various other condiments which
have such a stimulating effect on the appetite in early spring,
when "that tired feeling" is likely to make a good deal of the food
that is placed before us unattractive. In the making of these good
things unripe tomatoes and peppers will play an important part. So
will onions that are too small to store away for winter use. She
will find use for all of these things which a man would consider
worthless. Really, there is but little chance for waste of garden
productions if there is an appreciative and prudent woman in the
kitchen.
* * * * *
A few roots of horseradish should find a place in all gardens,
preferably in some out-of-the-way corner where it can be allowed
to spread without interfering with other plants. Spread it will,
every little piece of root that is broken off in the ground in
digging the large roots becoming an independent plant as soon
as thrown upon its own resources. Because of this tendency to
"take possession of the land" many persons who have undertaken
its culture refuse to give it a place in their gardens. But it
is really an easy matter to keep it within the limits assigned
it by promptly uprooting any plant that may make its appearance
outside the space given over to it. Those who are fond of something
pungent and peppery to eat with meats, either hot or cold, will
not consent to be without it. It is at its best as soon as the
frost is out of the ground sufficiently to admit of its being dug.
It should be used as soon as possible after digging, as it loses
much of its piquant quality if left exposed to the air for a short
time. Roots can be dug in late fall for winter use, and packed in
boxes of soil, which should be stored in the cellar or some other
place where they can be kept as cool as possible without actually
freezing. But in order to have it in perfection roots freshly dug
in spring must be depended on.
* * * * *
Leaves of horseradish make excellent greens if used when green and
tender. A few of them cooked with young beets will give the latter
a flavor that will make their sweetness all the more appreciable.
* * * * *
Speaking of greens reminds me to say that the dandelion can be
cultivated to advantage in the home garden. Under cultivation
it improves in size, and becomes a plant quite unlike the tiny,
hundred-leaved specimens we dig from the roadside in spring, of
which a bushel will be required in order to secure a good "mess"
for a greens-loving family, as most of such a picking will have
to be discarded when it is "looked over" preparatory to cooking.
In order to prevent the garden-grown dandelion from becoming a
nuisance it must not be allowed to bloom and develop seed.
* * * * *
A most delightful salad can be made from the new growth of the
dandelion, in spring, if properly bleached. This can be done by
covering the plants with dry leaves as soon as they begin to grow,
thus excluding light and inducing rapid development. Or, if most
convenient, flower-pots can be inverted over the plants. The small
amount of light that comes to them through the drainage-hole in the
bottom of the pot will materially assist in hastening the growth of
the leaves in such a manner as to give them a crisp tenderness and
deprive them of that bitter tang which characterizes the foliage
when fully grown under exposure to the light and air. Just enough
of this spicy quality to make the salad delightfully appetizing
will be found in them when grown in this way.
* * * * *