THE GROWING OF THE VEGETABLE PLANTS
A vegetable garden is admittedly a part of any home place that has a
good rear area. A purchased vegetable is never the same as one taken
from a man’s own soil and representing his own effort and solicitude.
[Illustration: Fig. 291. Cultivating the backache.]
It is essential to any satisfaction in vegetable-growing that the soil
be rich and thoroughly subdued and fined. The plantation should also be
so arranged that the tilling can be done with wheel tools, and, where
the space will allow it, with horse tools. The old-time garden bed
(Fig. 291) consumes time and labor, wastes moisture, and is more
trouble and expense than it is worth.
[Illustration: Fig. 292. Tracy’s plan for a kitchen-garden.]
The rows of vegetables should be as long and continuous as possible, to
allow of tillage with wheel tools. If it is not desired to grow a full
row of any one vegetable, the line may be made up of several species,
one following the other, care being taken to place together such kinds
as have similar requirements; one long row, for example, might contain
all the parsnips, carrots, and salsify. One or two long rows containing
a dozen kinds of vegetables are usually preferable to a dozen short
rows, each with one kind of vegetable.
It is well to place the permanent vegetables, as rhubarb and asparagus,
at one side, where they will not interfere with the plowing or tilling.
The annual vegetables should be grown on different parts of the area in
succeeding years, thus practicing something like a rotation of crops.
If radish or cabbage maggots or club-root become thoroughly established
in the plantation, omit for a year or more the vegetables on which they
live.
[Illustration: Fig. 293. A garden fence arranged to allow of horse
work.]
A suggestive arrangement for a kitchen-garden is given in Fig. 292. In
Fig. 293 is a plan of a fenced garden, in which gates are provided at
the ends to allow the turning of a horse and cultivator (Webb Donnell,
in _American Gardening_). Figure 294 shows a garden with continuous
rows, but with two breaks running across the area, dividing the
plantation into blocks. The area is surrounded with a windbreak, and
the frames and permanent plants are at one side.
It is by no means necessary that the vegetable-garden contain only
kitchen-garden products. Flowers may be dropped in here and there
wherever a vacant corner occurs or a plant dies. Such informal and
mixed gardens usually have a personal character that adds greatly to
their interest, and, therefore, to their value. One is generally
impressed with this informal character of the home-gardens in many
European countries, a type of planting that arises from the necessity
of making the most of every inch of land. It was the writer’s pleasure
to look over the fence of a Bavarian peasant’s garden and to see, on a
space about 40 feet by 100 feet in area, a delightful medley of onions,
pole beans, peonies, celery, balsams, gooseberries, coleus, cabbages,
sunflowers, beets, poppies, cucumbers, morning-glories, kohl-rabi,
verbenas, bush beans, pinks, stocks, currants, wormwood, parsley,
carrots, kale, perennial phlox, nasturtiums, feverfew, lettuce, lilies!
_Vegetables for six_ (by C.E. Hunn).
A home vegetable-garden for a family of six would require, exclusive of
potatoes, a space not over 100 by 150 feet. Beginning at one side of
the garden and running the rows the short way (having each row 100 feet
long) sowings may be made, as soon as the ground is in condition to
work, of the following:
Fifty feet each of parsnips and salsify.
One hundred feet of onions, 25 feet of which may be potato or set
onions, the remainder black-seed for summer and fall use.
Fifty feet of early beets; 50 feet of lettuce, with which radish may be
sown to break the soil and be harvested before the lettuce needs the
room.
One hundred feet of early cabbage, the plants for which should be from
a frame or purchased. Set the plants 18 inches to 2 feet apart.
One hundred feet of early cauliflower; culture same as for cabbage.
Four hundred and fifty feet of peas, sown as follows:—
[Illustration: 294. A family kitchen-garden.]
100 feet of extra early.
100 feet of extra early, sown late.
100 feet of intermediate.
100 feet of late.
50 feet of dwarf varieties.
If trellis or brush is not to be used, frequent sowings of the dwarfs
will maintain a supply.
After the soil has become warm and all danger of frost has passed, the
tender vegetables be planted as follows:
Corn in five rows 3 feet apart, three rows to be early and intermediate
and two rows late.
One hundred feet of string beans, early to late varieties.
Vines as follows:—
10 hills of cucumbers, 6x6 feet.
6 hills of early squash, 6x6 feet.
20 hills of muskmelon, 6x6 feet.
10 hills of Hubbard, 6x6 feet.
One hundred feet of okra.
Twenty eggplants. One hundred feet (25 plants) tomatoes.
Six large clumps of rhubarb.
An asparagus bed 25 feet long and 3 feet wide.
Late cabbage, cauliflower, and celery are to occupy the space made
Vacant by removing early crops of early and intermediate peas and
string beans.
A border on one side or end will hold all herbs, such as parsley,
thyme, sage, hyssop, mints.
_The classes of vegetables_.
Before attempting to grow particular vegetables, it will help the
beginner to an understanding of the subject if he recognizes certain
cultural groups or classes, and what their main requirements are.
Root-crops—Beet, carrot, parsnip, salsify.
The root-crops are cool-weather plants; that is, they may be sown very
early, even before light frosts disappear; and the winter kinds grow
very late in the fall, or may be left in the ground till most other
crops are harvested. They are not often transplanted.
Loose and deep soil, free from clods, is required to grow straight and
well-developed roots. The land must also be perfectly drained, not only
to remove superfluous moisture, but to provide a deep and friable soil.
Subsoiling is useful in hard lands. A large admixture of sand is
generally desirable, provided the soil is not likely to overheat in
sunny weather.
To keep roots fresh in the cellar, pack them in barrels, boxes, or bins
of sand which is just naturally moist, allowing each root to come
wholly or partly in contact with the sand. The best material in which
to pack them is sphagnum moss, the same that nurserymen use in packing
trees for shipment, and which may be obtained in bogs in many parts of
the country. In either sand or sphagnum, the roots will not shrivel;
but if the cellar is warm, they may start to grow. Roots can also be
buried, after the manner of potatoes.
Alliaceous group—Onion, leek, garlic.
A group of very hardy cool-weather plants, demanding unusually careful
preparation of the surface soil to receive the seeds and to set the
young plants going. They withstand frost and cool weather, and may be
sown very early. Seeds are sown directly where the plants are to stand.
For early onions, however, the special practice has recently arisen of
transplanting from seedbeds.
Brassicaceous group—Cabbage, kale, cauliflower.
These are cool-weather crops, all of them withstanding considerable
frost. The cabbages and kales are often started in fall in the middle
and southern latitudes, and are harvested before hot weather arrives.
In the northern states, these plants will all do best when started
early in hotbed, frame, or greenhouse,—from the last of February to
April—and transplanted to the open ground May first to June first,
partly because their season of growth may be long and partly to enable
them to escape the heat of midsummer. Still, some persons are
successful in growing late cabbage, kale, and cauliflower, by sowing
the seeds in hills and in the open ground where the plants are to
mature. It is best to transplant the young plantlets twice, first from
the seed-bed to boxes, or frames, about the time the second set of true
leaves appears, placing the plants 24 inches apart each way, and
transplanting again to the open ground in rows 4 to 5 feet apart, with
plants 2 to 4 feet apart in the row. If the plants are started under
cover, they should be hardened off by exposure to light and air during
the warmer hours of several days preceding the final transplanting.
The most serious enemy of cabbage-like plants is the root-maggot. See
discussion of this insect on pp. 187, 201.
[Illustration: Fig. 295. The white butterfly that lays the eggs for the
cabbage-worm.]
The cabbage-worm (larva of the white butterfly shown in Fig. 295) can
be dispatched with pyrethrum or kerosene emulsion. It must be treated
very early, before the worm gets far into the head (p. 200).
The club-root or stump-root is a fungous disease for which there is no
good remedy. Use new land if the disease is present (p. 208).
Solanaceous group—Tomato, egg-plant, red pepper.
These are warm-weather plants, very impatient of frost. They are all
natives of southern zones, and have not yet become so far acclimatized
in the North as not to need the benefit of our longest seasons.
Plants should be started early, under glass. They should be “pricked
off,” when the second leaves appear, 3 or 4 inches apart, into flats or
boxes. These boxes should be kept in a coldframe, to which an abundance
of light and air is admitted on warm, sunny days, in order to harden
them off. After all danger of frost is past, and the garden soil is
well warmed, the plants may be finally transplanted.
If the ground is too rich, these plants are likely to grow too late in
the northern seasons.
Cucurbitaceous group—Cucumber, melon, squash, pumpkin.
All the members of this group are very tender to frost, and they must
not be planted till the season is thoroughly open and settled. The
plants are not transplanted, unless they are transferred from boxes or
pots.
Seeds must be planted somewhat shallow from early spring to midsummer.
For the earliest cucumbers and melons, seeds are planted in frames.
That is, each hill is inclosed by a portable box frame about 3 feet
square and usually having a movable sash cover. The cover is raised or
removed in warm days, and the frame bodily taken away when all danger
of frost is past. In field culture, seeds are planted an inch deep,
four to six in a hill, with hills 4 by 6 feet apart, these distances
being varied slightly, according to location and variety. Good
cucumbers are sometimes grown in hills surrounding a barrel in which
manure is placed to be leached out by successive waterings.
The omnipresent enemies of all the cucurbitaceous crops are the little
cucumber beetle and the large black “stink bug.” Ashes, lime, or
tobacco dust occasionally seem to show some efficiency in preventing
the ravages of these insects, but the only reasonably sure immunity is
in the use of covers over the hills (Fig. 229) and in hand-picking (p.
202). Covers may also be made by stretching mosquito netting over arcs
of barrel hoops or bent wires. If by some such means the plants are
kept insect-free till they outgrow the protection, they will usually
escape serious damage from insects thereafter. It is well to plant trap
or decoy hills of cucumbers, squashes, or melons in advance of the
regular planting, on which the bugs may be harvested.
Leguminous crops—Peas and beans.
Two cultural groups are included in the legumes,—the bean group
(including all field, garden, and kidney beans, and the cowpea)
comprising warm-weather plants; the pea group (including field and
garden pea, the Windsor or Broad bean) comprising cool-weather plants.
The former are quickly susceptible to frost and should be planted only
after the weather is settled. The latter are among the earliest
vegetables to be planted. The leguminous crops are not transplanted,
the seed being placed where the plants are to grow.
Salad plants and pot-herbs (“greens”).
These plants are all grown for their, tender, fresh, succulent leaves,
and therefore every reasonable effort should be made to secure quick
and continuous foliage growth. It is manifestly expedient that they be
grown in warm, mellow ground, well cultivated and copiously watered.
Such small plants as cress, corn salad, and parsley may be grown in
small beds, or even in boxes or pots; but in a garden where space is
not too scant, they may be more conveniently managed in rows, like peas
or beets. Nearly all the salad plants may be sown in the spring, and
from time to time throughout the summer for succession. The group is
culturally not homogeneous, inasmuch as some of the plants need special
treatment; but most of them are cool-weather subjects.
Sweet-herbs.
The herb garden should find a place on all amateurs’ grounds.
Sweet-herbs may sometimes be made profitable by disposing of the
surplus to the green grocer and the druggist. The latter will often buy
all that the housewife wishes to dispose of, as the general supply of
medicinal herbs is grown by specialists, and goes into the hands of the
wholesaler and is often old when received by the local dealer.
The seedsmen’s catalogues mention upwards of forty different herbs,
medicinal and culinary. The majority of them are perennial, and will
grow for many years if well taken care of. However, it is better to
resow them every three or four years. Beds 4 feet square of each of the
herbs will supply an ordinary family.
The perennial sweet-herbs may be propagated by division, although they
are usually grown from seeds. The second year—and sometimes even the
first year—the plants are strong enough for cutting. The common
perennial sweet-herbs are: Sage, lavender, peppermint, spearmint,
hyssop, thyme, marjoram, balm, catnip, rosemary, horehound, fennel,
lovage, winter savory, tansy, wormwood, costmary.
The commoner annual species (or those that are treated as annuals) are:
Anise, sweet basil, summer savory, coriander, pennyroyal, caraway
(biennial), clary (biennial), dill (biennial), sweet marjoram
(biennial).
_The culture of the leading vegetables_.
Having now obtained a view of the layout of the vegetable-garden and a
good conception of the leading cultural groups, we may proceed with a
discussion of the different kinds of vegetables themselves. Good
experience is better than book advice; but the person who consults a
book is the one who lacks experience. Any printed directions are
necessarily imperfect, and they may not be adaptable to the particular
conditions under which the amateur works; but they ought to set him in
the right direction so that he may more easily find his way. Seedsmen’s
catalogues often contain much useful and reliable advice of this kind.
Asparagus.—The best of all early spring vegetables; a hardy herbaceous
perennial, grown for the soft edible shoots that spring from the crown.
The culture of asparagus has been simplified in the past few years, and
at present the knowledge required successfully to plant and grow a good
supply need not be that of a professional. The old method of excavating
to the depth of 3 feet or more, throwing in from 4 to 6 inches of
broken stone or bricks for drainage, then filling to within 16 to 18
inches of the surface with well-rotted manure, with 6 inches of soil
upon which to set the roots, has given place to the simple practice of
plowing or digging a trench from 14 to 16 inches deep, spreading
well-rotted manure in the bottom to the depth of 3 or 4 inches; when
well trodden down covering the manure with 3 or 4 inches of good garden
soil, then setting the plants, with the roots well spread out, covering
carefully with soil to the level of the garden, and firming the soil
with the feet. This will leave the crowns of the plants from 4 to 5
inches below the surface.
In stubborn, heavy soil the best method to pursue in making a permanent
bed is to throw out all the dirt from the trench and replace with good,
fibrous loam.
In setting, 1-year-old plants will prove more satisfactory than older
ones, being less liable to suffer from injury to the root system than
those that have made a larger growth. Two years after setting the crop
may be cut somewhat, but not sooner if a lasting bed is desired, as the
effort to replace the stalks has a tendency to weaken the plant unless
the roots are well established. The cutting should cease in June or
early July, or the roots may be much weakened. In cutting, care should
be taken to insert the knife vertically, so that adjoining crowns will
not be injured (Fig. 296).
[Illustration: Fig. 296. Good _A_ and poor _B_ modes of inserting the
knife to cut asparagus. Some careful growers pull or break the shoots
rather than cut them.]
The yearly treatment of an asparagus bed consists of cleaning off tops
and weeds in the fall and adding a dressing of well-rotted manure to
the depth of 3 or 4 inches, this manure to be lightly forked into the
bed the following spring; or the tops may be allowed to stand for
winter protection and the mulch left off. A top-dressing of nitrate of
soda, at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, is often beneficial as a
spring stimulant, particularly in the case of an old bed. Good results
will also follow an application of bone meal or superphosphate at the
rate of some 300 to 500 pounds per acre. The practice of sowing salt on
an asparagus bed is almost universal; yet beds that have never received
a pound of salt are found to be as productive as those having received
an annual dressing. Nevertheless, a salt dressing is recommended. Two
rows of asparagus 25 feet long and 3 feet apart should supply a large
family with an abundance throughout the season, and if well taken care
of, will last a number of years.
Conover Colossal is the variety most generally grown, and is perhaps
the most satisfactory sort. Palmetto, a variety originating at the
South, is also very popular.
Artichoke.—The artichoke of literature is a tall, coarse perennial of
the thistle tribe, producing edible flower-heads. Cardoon is a related
plant.
The fleshy scales of the head and the soft “bottom” of the head are the
parts used. The young suckers or shoots may also be tied together and
blanched, using them like asparagus or Swiss chard. But few of these
plants would be needed for a family, as they produce a number of
flower-heads to a plant and a quantity of suckers. The plants should be
set from 2 to 3 feet apart in the row, the rows being 3 feet apart.
This vegetable is not quite hardy in the North, but a covering of
leaves or barnyard litter to the depth of a foot will protect it well.
The plant is perennial, but the best yield comes from young plants. If
the heads are allowed to ripen, they reduce the vitality of the plant.
Artichokes have never become so popular in this country as to have
produced a long list of varieties. Large Green Globe is most commonly
offered by seedsmen. Edible heads should be secured the second year
from seed. Seedlings are likely to vary greatly, and if one is fond of
artichokes, he would do better to propagate by suckers from the best
plants.
These plants make no mean decorative subjects, either massed or in a
mixed border, and from the rarity of their culture are always objects
of interest.
Artichoke, Jerusalem, is a wholly different plant from the above,
although it is commonly known as “artichoke” in this country. It is a
species of sunflower that produces potato-like tubers. These tubers may
be used in lieu of potatoes. They are very palatable to hogs; and when
the plant becomes a weed,—as it often does,—it may be exterminated by
turning the hogs into the field. Hardy, and will grow anywhere.
Bean.—Every garden grows beans of one kind or another. Under this
general name, many kinds of plants are cultivated. They are all tender,
and the seeds, therefore, should not be planted until the weather is
thoroughly settled; and the soil should be warm and loose. They are all
annuals in northern countries, or treated as such.
The bean plants may be classified in various ways. In respect to
stature, they may be thrown into three general categories; viz. the
pole or climbing beans, the bush beans, and the strict-growing or
upright beans (as the Broad or Windsor bean).
In respect to their uses, beans again may be divided into three
categories; viz. those used as string or snap beans, the entire pod
being eaten; those that are used as shell beans, the full-size but
immature beans being shelled from the pod and cooked; dry beans, or
those eaten in their dry or winter condition. The same variety of bean
may be used for all of these three purposes at different stages of its
development; but as a matter of fact, there are varieties better for
one purpose than the other.
Again, beans may be classified in respect to their species. Those
species that are best known are as follows:
(1) Common bean, or _Phaseolus vulgaris_, of which there are both tall
and bush forms. All the common snap and string beans belong here, as
also the Speckled Cranberry types of pole beans, and the common field
beans.
(2) The Lima beans, or _Phaseolus lunatus_. The larger part of these
are pole beans, but lately dwarf or bush varieties have appeared.
(3) The Scarlet Runner, _Phaseolus multiflorus_, of which the Scarlet
Runner and White Dutch Runner are familiar examples. The Scarlet Runner
is usually grown as an ornamental vine, and it is perennial in warm
countries, but the seeds are edible as shelled beans. The White Dutch
Runner is oftener cultivated for food.
(4) The Yard-Long, or Asparagus bean, _Dolichos sesquipedalis_, which
produces long and weak vines and very long, slender pods. The green
pods are eaten, and also the shelled beans. The French Yard-Long is the
only variety of this type that is commonly known in this country. This
type of bean is popular in the Orient.
(5) The Broad beans, of which the Windsor is the common type. These are
much grown in the Old World for stock feed, and they are sometimes used
for human food. They grow to one strict, central, stiff stalk, to a
height of 2 to 4 or 5 feet, and they are very unlike other kinds of
beans in appearance. In this country, they are very little grown on
account of our hot and dry summers. In Canada they are somewhat raised,
and are sometimes used in the making of silage.
(6) The cowpea, which is really a bean (species of _Vigna_), much grown
in the South for hay and green-manuring, is also a very good table
vegetable and one that is destined to increase in popularity for
domestic use.
The culture of the bean, while of the easiest, often proves a failure
as far as the first crop is concerned, from planting the seed before
the ground has become warm and dry. No vegetable seed will decay
quicker than beans, and the delay caused by waiting for the soil to
become warm and free from excessive moisture will be more than made up
by the rapidity of growth when finally they are planted. Beans will
grow on most any land, but the best results may be secured by having
the soil well enriched and in good physical condition.
From the 5th to the 10th of May in the latitude of central New York, it
will be safe to plant beans for an early crop. The beans may be dropped
2 inches deep in shallow drills, the seeds to lie 3 inches apart. Cover
to the surface of the soil, and if the ground be dry, firm it with the
foot or the back of the hoe. For the bush varieties, allow 2 feet
between the drill-rows, but for the dwarf Limas 2-1/2 feet is better.
Pole Limas are usually planted in hills 2 to 3 feet apart in the rows.
Dwarf Limas may be sown thinly in drills.
A large number of the varieties of both the green-podded and the
wax-podded beans are used almost exclusively as snap beans, to be eaten
with the pod while tender. The various strains of the Black Wax are the
most popular string beans. The pole or running beans are used either
green or dried, and the Limas, both tall and dwarf, are well known for
their superior flavor either as shelled or dry beans. The old-fashioned
Cranberry or Horticultural Lima type (a pole form of _Phaseolus
vulgaris_) is probably the best shell bean, but the trouble of poling
makes it unpopular. Dwarf Limas are much more desirable for small
gardens than the pole varieties, as they may be planted much closer,
the bother of procuring poles or twine is avoided, and the garden will
have a more sightly appearance. Both the dwarf Limas and pole Limas
require a longer season in which to mature than the bush beans, and
only one planting is usually made.
The ordinary bush beans may be planted at intervals of two weeks from
the first planting until the 10th of August. Each planting may be made
on ground previously occupied by some early-maturing crop. Thus, the
first to third plantings may be on ground from which has been harvested
a crop of spinach, early radish, or lettuce; after that, on ground
where early peas have been grown; and the later sowings where beets or
early potatoes have grown. String beans for canning are usually taken
from the last crop.
One quart of seed will plant 100 feet of drill of the bush beans; or 1
quart of Limas will plant 100 hills.
Limas are the richest of beans, but they often fail to mature in the
northern states. The land should not be very strong in nitrogen (or
stable manure), else the plants will run too much to vine and be too
late. Choose a fertile sandy or gravelly soil with warm exposure, use
some soluble commercial fertilizer to start them off, and give them the
best of culture. Aim to have the pods set before the droughts of
midsummer come. Good trellises for beans are made by wool twine
stretched between two horizontal wires, one of which is drawn a foot
above the ground and the other 6 or 7 feet high.
Bean plants are not troubled by insects to any extent, but they are
sometimes attacked by blight. When this occurs, do not plant the same
ground to beans again for a year or two.
Beet.—This vegetable is grown for its thick root, and for its herbage
(used as “greens”); and ornamental-leaved varieties are sometimes
planted in flower-gardens.
[Illustration: Fig. 297. Bastian turnip beet.]
Being one of the hardiest of spring vegetables, the seed may be sown as
early in the spring as the ground can be worked. A light, sandy soil is
the best on which to grow beets to perfection, but any well-tilled
garden land will raise satisfactory crops. On heavy ground the turnip
beet gives the best results, as the growth is nearly all at or above
the surface. The long varieties, having tapering roots running deep
into the soil, are liable to be misshapen unless the physical condition
of the soil is such that the roots meet with little obstruction. A
succession of sowings should be made, at intervals of two to three
weeks, until late summer, as the beets are much more desirable in their
young stage than when they have become old and woody. The mangel-wurzel
and the sugar-beet are usually grown as a field crop, and will not
enter into the calculations of the home garden.
In order to hasten the season of the extra-early crop of beets, the
seeds may be sown in boxes or in the soil of a hotbed in February or
March, transplanting the small plants to the open ground at the time
the first sowing of seed is made. As the flat or turnip-rooted
varieties grow at the surface of the ground, the seed may be sown
thickly, and as the more advanced roots are large enough to use they
may be pulled, leaving room for the later ones to develop, thus growing
a large quantity in a small area and having a long season of small
beets from one sowing.
For winter use the late July-sown seed will give the best roots,
growing through the cool months of the fall to a medium size and
remaining firm without being tough or stringy. These may be dug after
light frosts and before any severe cold weather, and stored in barrels
or boxes in the cellar, using enough dry dirt to fill spaces between
the roots and cover them to the depth of 6 inches. These roots, thus
packed in a cool cellar, will be fit to use through the entire winter
months. When it can be had, florists’ or sphagnum moss is an excellent
medium in which to pack roots for winter.
The early round or turnip varieties (Fig. 297) are best for early and
summer use. The long blood beets may be used for storing, but these
require a longer season of growth.
Broccoli—is almost identical with the cauliflower, except that it
usually requires a longer season and matures in the fall. It is grown
more generally in Europe than in this country. The special merit of
broccoli is its adaptability for late summer planting and its rapid
growth in the late season. It is said that a large proportion of
broccoli is used in the manufacture of pickles. The culture is the same
as for cauliflower,—deep, moist soil well enriched, cool weather, and
the destruction of the cabbage worm.
[Illustration: Fig. 298. Brussels sprouts.]
Brussels sprouts.—The plant is grown for the buttons or sprouts
(miniature cabbage heads) that grow thickly along the stem (Fig. 298).
It should be more generally known, as it is one of the choicest of the
cabbage family, and may be had at its best after the season for
cauliflower has passed. It is the better for being touched by the fall
frosts. The buttons should be cut off rather than broken. The very
small hard “sprouts” or buttons are the best. The culture is
essentially the same as for late cabbage or broccoli. One ounce will
sow 100 feet of drill, or make upward of 2000 plants. Set plants in
field 2 to 3 feet apart, or dwarf varieties closer. They require the
entire season in which to grow.
Cabbage.—The cabbage is now so extensively grown as a field crop, from
which the market is supplied, and the plants require so much room that
many home-gardeners incline to give up its culture; but the early
varieties, at least, should be grown at home.
For an early crop in the North, the plants must be started either in
February or early March, or the previous September and wintered over in
coldframes. This latter method was once a common practice by gardeners
near large cities, but the building of greenhouses to replace the many
hotbeds of the market-gardener has changed the practice in many
localities, and now most of the early cabbages in the North are grown
from seed sown in January, February, or March. The plants are hardened
off in March and early April and planted out as early as possible. The
private grower, or one with a small garden, may often procure his early
plants from the market-gardener much cheaper than he can grow them, as
usually only a limited number of early cabbage plants are wanted; but
for the midseason and main crop, the seed may be sown in May or June in
a seed-bed, setting the plants in July.
The seed-bed should be made mellow and rich. A good border will do. The
seed is sown preferably in rows, thus allowing thinning of the plants
and the pulling of any weeds that germinate. The young plants will well
repay attention to watering and thinning. The rows should be 3 or 4
inches apart. When the plants are large enough to transplant, they may
be planted where early vegetables have been grown. Set the plants from
18 to 24 inches apart in the row, the rows being 3 feet apart for the
medium-growing kinds. One ounce of seed will furnish about 2000 plants.
All cabbages require deep and rich soil, and one that holds moisture
well. Regular cultivation should be given so that moisture may be saved
and the growth be continuous.
For early planting, the number of varieties is limited to three or
four. For an intermediate crop the list is more extended, and the late
varieties are very numerous. The early list is headed by the Jersey
Wakefield, a variety that heads very quickly, and, although not one of
the solid kinds, is generally grown. The Early York and Winnigstadt are
good varieties to follow it. The latter especially is solid and of very
good quality. For the midseason, the Succession and All Season are of
the best, and for the winter supply the Drumhead, Danish Ball, and Flat
Dutch types are leaders. One of the best of the cabbages for table use
is seldom seen in the garden—the Savoy cabbage. It is a type with
netted leaves, making a large, low-growing head, the center of which is
very solid and of excellent flavor, especially late in the fall, when
the heads have had a slight touch of frost. Savoy should be grown in
every private garden.
The best remedy for the cabbage worm is to kill the first brood on the
very young plants with Paris green. After the plants begin to head,
pyrethrum, kerosene emulsion, or salt water may be used. On a small
area, hand-picking may be recommended (p. 200).
The maggot is the most serious cabbage pest. After studying the seventy
odd remedies proposed, Slingerland concludes that six are efficient and
practicable: growing the young plants in closely covered frames; tarred
paper cards placed snugly about the base of the plants to keep the fly
away; rubbing the eggs from the base of the plant; hand-picking of the
maggots; treating the plants with emulsion of carbolic acid; treating
them with carbon bisulfide. The insecticidal materials are injected or
poured into the soil about the base of the plant (pp. 187, 201).
[Illustration: Fig. 299. A method of storing cabbages.]
The club-root, which causes the roots to become greatly thickened and
distorted, is difficult to manage if cabbages or allied plants are
grown continuously on land in which diseased plants have been raised.
Changing the location of the cabbage or cauliflower patch is the best
procedure. If very different crops, as corn, potatoes, peas, tomatoes,
are grown on the land, the disease will be starved out in two or three
years (p. 208).
There are many ways of storing cabbages for winter and spring use, none
of which are uniformly successful. The general subject is discussed on
p. 158. On this point T. Greiner writes as follows: “I have heretofore
piled a lot of cabbages cut from the stump in a conical heap in the
field, and covered them with clusters of the outer leaves cut off with
a piece of the stump. The leaves are carefully placed over the heap in
shingle fashion, so as to shed water. Cabbages thus piled and covered
may be left out until real winter weather sets in. But I find that
slugs and earthworms frequently infest the cabbages thus stored, and do
a good deal of damage. It might be well to place a solid floor of lime
or salt upon the ground, and then pack the cabbages upon this. If to be
left out after severe freezing has set in, one should put additional
covering, such as straw, corn-stalks or marsh hay, over the whole
heap.” Mr. Burpee’s little book, ‘Cabbage and Cauliflower for Profit,’
written by J.M. Lupton, a prominent cabbage-grower, suggests the
following plan for early winter sales: “Take the cabbages up with the
roots on, and store in well-ventilated cellars, where they will keep
till mid-winter. Or stack them in some sheltered position about the
barn, placing one above the other in tiers, with the roots inside, and
covering deeply with seaweed; or if this cannot be obtained, something
like cornstalks may be used to keep them from the weather as much as
possible (Fig. 299). When thus stored, they may be obtained any time
during the winter when prices are favorable.”
[Illustration: Fig. 300. A half-long carrot.]
Carrot.—While essentially a farm crop in this country, the carrot is
nevertheless a most acceptable garden vegetable. It is hardy and easily
grown. The extra-early varieties may be forced in a hotbed, or seed may
be sown as soon as the ground is fit to work in the spring. The
stump-rooted, or half-long varieties (Fig. 300), are sown for the
general garden crop.
Well-enriched, mellow loam, deeply dug or plowed, is best suited to the
requirements of carrots. The seed for the main crop may be sown as late
as July 1. Sow thickly, thinning to 3 to 4 inches in the row. The rows,
if in a garden that is hand-worked, may be 12 inches apart. If the
cultivation is performed with a horse, the rows should be from 2 to 3
feet apart. One ounce will sow 100 feet of drill.
Cauliflower.—This is the choicest of all vegetables of the cabbage
group, and its culture is much the most difficult. While the special
requirements are few, they must be fully met if good results are to be
expected.
The general culture of cauliflower is much like that of cabbage, except
that the cauliflower, being more tender, should be more thoroughly
hardened off before setting out, the heads must be protected from hot
suns, the plants must never suffer for moisture, and the greatest care
must be taken to secure only highly bred seeds.
[Illustration: Fig. 301. Cauliflower head with leaves trimmed off.]
It is essential that the plants be set out as early as possible, as the
warm weather of June causes them to make imperfect heads unless the
soil is filled with moisture. No garden crop will so well repay the
cost and time of thorough irrigation, either by running the water
between the rows or applying it directly to the plants. When it is
impossible to furnish water and there is danger of losing the soil
moisture, it is a good plan to mulch heavily with straw or some other
substance. This mulch, if put on just after a heavy rain, will hold the
moisture for a long time. Cauliflower prospers best in a cool climate.
When the heads begin to form, the outside leaves may be brought
together and tied above the head, excluding the direct sunshine and
keeping the head white and tender. Fig. 301 shows a good head.
No vegetable will respond more quickly to good culture and well-manured
soil than the cauliflower, and none will prove such an utter failure
when neglected. It is imperative that care be taken to destroy all the
cabbage worms before the leaves are tied in, as after that it will be
impossible to see or reach them. From 1000 to 1500 plants may be grown
from 1 ounce of seed. Good cauliflower seed is very expensive.
For winter crop, seeds may be started in June or July, as for late
cabbage.
Erfurt, Snowball, and Paris are popular early varieties. Nonpareil and
Algiers are good late kinds.
[Illustration: Fig. 302. Celeriac or turnip-rooted celery.] Celeriac.—A
form of the celery plant in which the tuberous root is the edible part
(Fig. 302). The tuber has the celery flavor in a pronounced degree, and
is used for flavoring soups and for celery salad. It may be served raw,
sliced in vinegar and oil, or boiled.
The culture is the same as given for celery, except that no earthing or
blanching is required. About an equal number of plants are obtained
from the same weight of seed as from celery seed. Celeriac is
extensively used abroad, but, unfortunately, little known in America.
Celery.—Although celery has now become a staple vegetable with all
classes of people, the home-gardener is likely not to attempt its
culture; yet it is not difficult to raise in small quantities in most
any good garden land. While the commercial celery is largely grown on
reclaimed swamp lands, such areas are not at all essential to its
cultivation.
The self-blanching varieties have simplified the culture of celery so
that the amateur, as well as the expert, may have a good supply at
least six months of the year. The so-called new culture, which consists
of setting the plants close together and causing them to shade each
other, can be recommended for the garden when a supply of well-rotted
manure is to had, and when any amount of water is available. This
method is as follows: Fork or spade into the soil a large quantity of
manure to the depth of 10 to 12 inches; pulverize the soil until the
ground for the depth of 4 to 6 inches is in very fine condition. Then
set the plants in rows 10 inches apart and the plants but 5 or 6 inches
apart in the rows. It will be seen that plants set as close as this
will soon fill the soil with a mass of roots and must have large
amounts of plant-food, as well as a large quantity of water; and the
making of such a bed can be recommended only to those who can supply
these needs.
The common practice in home gardens is to plow or dig a shallow trench,
setting the plants in the bottom and hoeing in the soil as the plants
grow. The distance apart of the rows and plants will depend on the
varieties. For the dwarf varieties, such as White Plume, Golden
Self-blanching, and others of this type, the rows may be as close as 3
feet and the plants 6 inches in the rows. For the large-growing
varieties, as Kalamazoo, Giant Pascal, and, in fact, most of the late
varieties, the rows may be 4 1/2 to 5 feet apart and the plants 7 or 8
inches in the row.
The seed for an early crop should be sown in February or early in March
in shallow boxes, which may be placed in a hotbed or sunny window, or
sown directly in the soil of a hotbed. Cover the seeds thinly and press
the soil firmly over them. When the seedling plants are about 1 inch
high, they should be transplanted to other boxes or hotbeds, setting
the plants 1 inch apart in rows 3 inches apart. At this transplanting,
as with the following ones, the tall leaves should be cut or pinched
off, leaving only the upright growth, as with the utmost care it is
almost impossible to prevent the outside leafstalks from wilting down
and dying. The roots should also be trimmed back at each transplanting
in order to increase the feeding roots. The plants should be set as
deep as possible, care being taken, however, not to allow the heart of
the plant to be covered up. The varieties usually grown for an early
crop are the so-called self-blanching varieties. They may be made fit
for the table with much less labor than the late crop, the shade
required to blanch the stalks being much less. When only a few short
rows are grown in a private garden, screens of lath may be made by
driving stakes on each side of the row and tacking lath on, leaving
spaces of an inch or more for the light to enter; or each head may be
wrapped in paper, or a tile drain pipe may be set over the plant. In
fact, any material that will exclude the light will render the stalks
white and brittle.
The seed for the main or fall crop should be sown in April or early May
in a seed-bed prepared by forking short well-rotted manure into a fine
soil, sowing the seed thinly in rows 8 or 10 inches apart, covering the
seed lightly and firming over the seed with the feet, hoe, or back of a
spade. This seed-bed should be kept moist at all times until the seed
germinates, either by close attention to watering or by a lath screen.
The use of a piece of cloth laid directly on the soil, and the bed wet
through the cloth, is often recommended, and if the cloth is always wet
and taken off the bed as soon as the seed sprouts, it may be used.
After the young plants have grown to the height of 1 or 2 inches they
must be thinned out, leaving the plants so that they do not touch each
other, and transplanting those thinned—if wanted—to other ground
prepared in the same manner as the seed-bed. All these plants may be
sheared or cut back to induce stockiness.
An ounce of seed will furnish about three thousand plants.
[Illustration: Fig. 303. Storing celery in a trench in the field.]
[Illustration: Fig. 304. A celery pit.]
If in a private garden, the ground on which the fall crop is usually
set will likely be that from which a crop of some early vegetable has
been taken. This land should be again well enriched with fine,
well-rotted manure, to which may be added a liberal quantity of wood
ashes. If the manure or ashes is not easily obtained, a small amount
may be used by plowing or digging out a furrow 8 or 12 inches deep,
scattering the manure and ashes in the bottom of the trench and filling
it up almost level with the surface. The plants should be set about the
middle of July, preferably just before a rain. The plant bed should
have a thorough soaking shortly before the plants are lifted, and each
plant be trimmed, both top and root, before setting. The plants should
be set from 5 to 6 inches apart in the rows and the earth well firmed
around each one.
The after-cultivation consists in thorough tillage until the time of
“handling” or earthing up the plants. This process of handling is
accomplished by drawing up the earth with one hand while holding the
plant with the other, packing the soil well around the stalks. This
process may be continued until only the leaves are to be seen. For the
private grower, it is much easier to blanch the celery with boards or
paper, or if the celery is not wanted until winter, the plants may be
dug up, packed closely in boxes, covering the roots with soil, and
placed in a dark, cool cellar, where the stalks will blanch themselves.
In this way celery may be stored in boxes in the house cellar. Put
earth in the bottom of a deep box, and plant the celery in it.
Celery is sometimes stored in trenches in the open (Fig. 303), the
roots being transplanted to such places in late fall. The plants are
set close together and the trenches are covered with boards. A wider
trench or pit may be made (Fig. 304) and covered with a shed roof.
Chard, or Swiss chard,—is a development of the beet species
characterized by large succulent leafstalks instead of enlarged roots.
(Fig. 305). The leaves are very tender and make “greens” much like
young beets. They are cultivated exactly like beets. Only one variety
is offered by most seedsmen in this country, though in France and
Germany several varieties are grown.
[Illustration: Fig. 305. Swiss chard.]
Chicory is grown for two purposes,—for the roots and for the herbage.
“Barbe de capucin” is a salad made from young shoots of chicory.
The Magdeburg chicory is the variety usually spoken of, it being the
one most extensively grown. The roots of this, after being ground and
roasted, are used either as a substitute or an adulterant for coffee.
The Witloof, a form of chicory, is used as a salad, or boiled and
served in the same manner as cauliflower. The plants should be thinned
to 6 inches. In the latter part of summer they should be banked up like
celery, and the leaves used after becoming white and tender. This and
the common wild chicory are often dug in the fall, the leaves cut off,
the roots packed in sand in a cellar and watered until a new growth of
leaves starts. These leaves grow rapidly and are very tender, making a
fine salad vegetable. One packet of seed of the Witloof will furnish
plants enough for a large family.
Chervil.—The chervil is grown in two forms,—for the leaves, and for the
tuberous roots.
The curled chervil is a good addition to the list of garnishing and
seasoning vegetables. Sow seeds and cultivate the same as parsley.
The tuberous chervil resembles a short carrot or parnsip. It is much
esteemed in France and Germany. The tubers have somewhat the flavor of
a sweet potato, perhaps a little sweeter. They are perfectly hardy,
and, like the parsnip, the better for frosts. The seed may be sown in
September or October, as it does not keep well; or as soon as the
ground is fit to work in the spring, it being slow to germinate after
the weather becomes hot and dry. One packet of seed will give all the
plants necessary for a family.
XXIV. Golden bantam sweet corn. XXIV. Golden bantam sweet corn.
Collards.—This is a name given to a kind of kale, used when young as
greens; also to young cabbages used in the same way.
The seed of any early cabbage may be sown thickly in rows 18 inches
apart, from early spring to late fall. The plants are cut off when 6 or
8 inches high and boiled as are other greens.
The kale, or Georgia collards, is grown in the South, where cabbages
fail to head. It grows to the height of 2 to 6 feet, furnishing a large
quantity of leaves. The young leaves and tufts that arise as the old
leaves are pulled off make excellent greens.
Cives.—A small perennial of the onion family, used for flavoring.
It is propagated by division of the root. It may be planted in a
permanent place in the border, and, being completely hardy, will remain
for years. The leaves are the parts used, as the roots are very rank in
flavor. The leaves may be cut frequently, as they readily grow again.
Corn salad.—This is one of the earliest spring salad vegetables, coming
into condition with spinach, and needing the same culture.
Sown in the fall, and covered with straw or hay when cold weather sets
in, it will start into rapid growth when the covering is removed in
March or April. Or the seed may be sown in early spring, and plants
will be fit to use in six or eight weeks. One packet of seed will
suffice for a small family.
Corn, sweet or sugar.—This is the characteristic American table
vegetable, and one that every home-gardener expects to grow. Too often,
however, only one planting of one kind is made. The ears come to edible
maturity almost simultaneously, and a short season is the result.
The first planting of sweet corn should be made from May 1 to 10,
planting early, intermediate, and late varieties at the same time, then
at intervals of two weeks until the middle of July, when the late
varieties should be planted, thus having a succession from the first
crop until October.
The soil for corn should be fertile and “quick.” The coarser manure
left from the preparation of the ground for small crops may be used to
good advantage. Corn for the garden is better planted in drills, the
drills 3 feet apart, dropping the seed from 10 to 12 inches apart in
the drills. One quart of seed will plant 200 hills.
For extra early, Marblehead, Adams, Vermont, Minnesota, and Early Corey
are favorites. A most excellent extra early yellow sweet corn, with
kernels looking like small field corn, is Golden Bantam; the ears are
small and would probably not attract the market buyer, but for home use
the variety is unexcelled (Plate XXIV). For later crop, Crosby, Hickox,
Shoe Peg, and Stowell Evergreen are now popular.
Cress.—Two very unlike species of plants are grown under the name of
cress,—the upland-cress and the water-cress. There are still other
species, but not much known in this country.
The upland cress, or the true pepper grass, may be grown on any garden
soil. Sow early in the spring. It makes a rapid growth and can be cut
in from four to five weeks. Succession of sowings must be made, as it
runs quickly to seed. The curled variety is the one usually grown, as
the leaves may be used for garnishing as well as for salads. One packet
of seed will be sufficient for each sowing. Any good soil will do. Sow
thickly in drills 12 to 18 inches apart. In summer it runs to seed
quickly, so that it is usually grown in spring and fall.
The water-cress is more exacting in its culture, and can be
successfully grown only in moist places, such as edges of shallow
slow-running creeks, open drains, or beds excavated near such streams.
A few plants for private use may be grown in a frame, provided a
retentive soil is used and attention given to watering the bed often.
Watercress may be propagated from pieces of the stem, used as cuttings.
If one is fond of water-cress, it is well to colonize it in some clean
creek or pool. It will take care of itself year by year. Seeds may also
be used for propagating it.
Cucumber.—The custom of putting down cucumber pickles in the home
kitchen is probably passing out; but both the pickling and the slicing
cucumbers, especially the latter, are still an essential part of a good
home garden. A stale or wilted cucumber is a very poor article of food.
For early use, the cucumber is usually started in a hotbed or coldframe
by sowing the seed on pieces of sod 4 to 6 inches square, turned grass
side down. Three or four seeds are placed on or pushed into each piece
of sod and covered with 1 to 2 inches of fine soil. The soil should be
well watered and the glass or cloth placed over the frame. The roots
will run through the sod. When the plants are large enough to set out,
a flat trowel or a shingle may be slipped under the sod and the plants
moved to the hill without check. In place of sod, old quart berry-boxes
are good; after setting in the hill the roots may force their way
through the cracks in the baskets. The baskets also decay rapidly.
Flower-pots may be used. These plants from the frames may be set out
when danger of frost is over, usually by the 10th of May, and should
make a very rapid growth, yielding good-sized fruits in two months. The
hills should be made rich by forking in a quantity of well-rotted
manure, and given a slight elevation above the garden—not high enough
to allow the wind to dry the soil, but slightly raised so that water
will not stand around the roots.
The main crop is grown from seed planted directly in the open, and the
plants are grown under level culture.
One ounce of seed will plant fifty hills of cucumbers. The hills may be
4 to 5 feet apart each way.
The White Spine is the leading general-purpose variety. For very early
or pickling sorts, the Chicago, Russian, and other picklings are good.
The striped beetle is an inveterate pest on cucumbers and squashes (see
page 201).
[Illustration: Fig. 306. West Indian gherkin (_Cucumis Anguria_).]
The name gherkin is applied to small pickling cucumbers. The West India
gherkin is a wholly distinct species, but is grown like cucumbers.
(Fig. 306.)
Dandelion.—Under domestication the dandelion has been developed until
quite unrecognizable to the casual observer. The plants attain a large
size and the leaves are much more tender.
Sow in spring in well-manured soil, either in drills or in hills 1 foot
apart. A cutting of leaves may be had in September or October, and some
of the stools may stand until spring. The delicacy of the leaves may be
improved by blanching them, either by the use of boards or earth. One
trade packet of seed will supply a sufficient number for a family. The
whole plant is destroyed when the crop of leaves is taken.
The seed may be selected from the best field-grown plants, but it is
better to buy the French seed of the seedsmen.
Egg-plant.—The egg-plant or guinea squash has never become a popular
home-garden product in the North. In the South it is better known.
[Illustration: Fig. 307. Black Pekin egg-plant.]
Unless one has a greenhouse or a very warm hotbed, the growing of
egg-plants in the North should be left to the professional gardener, as
the young plants are very tender, and should be grown without a check.
The seed should be sown in the hotbed or the greenhouse about April 10,
keeping a temperature of 65° to 70°. When the seedlings have made three
rough leaves, they may be pricked out into shallow boxes, or, still
better, into 3-inch pots. The pots or boxes should be plunged to the
rim in soil in a hotbed or coldframe so situated that protection may be
given on chilly nights. The 10th of June is early enough to plant them
out in central New York.
The soil in which egg-plants are to grow cannot well be made too
“quick,” as they have only a short season in which to develop their
fruits. The plants are usually set 3 feet apart each way. A dozen
plants are sufficient for the needs of a large family, as each plant
should yield from two to six large fruits. The fruits are fit to eat at
all stages of growth, from those the size of a large egg to their
largest development. One ounce of seed will furnish 600 to 800 plants.
The New York Improved Purple is the standard variety. Black Pekin (Fig.
307) is good. For early, or for a short-season climate, the Early Dwarf
Purple is excellent.
Endive.—One of the best fall salad vegetables, being far superior to
lettuce at that time and as easily grown.
For fall use, the seed may be sown from June to August, and as the
plants become fit to eat about the same time from sowing as lettuce
does, a succession may be had until cold weather. The plants will need
protection from the severe fall frosts, and this may be given by
carefully lifting the plants and transplanting to a frame, where sash
or cloth may be used to cover them in freezing weather.
[Illustration: Fig. 308. Endive tied up.]
The leaves, which constitute practically the whole plant, are blanched
before being used, either by tying together with some soft material
(Fig. 308) or by standing boards on each side of the row, allowing the
top of the boards to meet over the center of the row. Tie the leaves
only when they are dry.
The rows should be 1-1/2 or 2 feet apart, the plants 1 foot apart in
the rows. One ounce of seed will sow 150 feet of drill.
Garlic.—An onion-like plant, the bulbs of which are used for flavoring.
Garlic is little known in this country except amongst those of foreign
birth. It is multiplied the same as multiplier onions—the bulb is
broken apart and each bulbule or “clove” makes a new compound bulb in a
few weeks. Hardy; plant in early spring, or in the South in the fall.
Plant 2 to 3 inches apart in the row.
[Illustration: Fig. 309. A good horseradish root.]
Horseradish.—Widely used as an appetizer, and now grown commercially.
As a kitchen-garden vegetable, this is usually planted in some
out-of-the-way spot and a piece of the root dug as often as needed, the
fragments of roots being left in the soil to grow for further use. This
method results in having nothing but tough, stringy roots, very unlike
the product of a properly planted and well-cared-for bed. A good
horseradish root should be straight and shapely (Fig. 309).
The best horseradish is secured from sets planted in the spring at the
time of setting early cabbage, and dug as late the same fall as the
weather will permit. It becomes, therefore, an annual crop. The roots
for planting are small pieces, from 4 to 6 inches long, obtained when
trimming the roots dug in the fall. These pieces may be packed in sand
and stored until wanted the following spring.
In planting, the roots should be set with the upper end 3 inches below
the surface of the ground, using a dibber or sharp-pointed stick in
making the holes. The crop may be planted between rows of early-sown
beets, lettuce, or other crop, and given full possession of the ground
when these crops are harvested. When the ground is inclined to be stiff
or the subsoil is near the surface, the roots may be set in a slanting
position. In fact, many gardeners practice this method of planting,
thinking that the roots make a better growth and are more uniform in
size.
Kale.—Under this name, a great variety of cabbage-tribe plants is
grown, some of them reaching a height of several feet. Usually,
however, the name is applied to a low-growing, spreading plant,
extensively used for winter and spring greens.
The culture given to late cabbage is suitable. At the approach of
severe freezing weather a slight protection is given in the North. The
leaves remain green through the winter and may be gathered from under
the snow at a time when material for greens is scarce. Some of the
kales are very ornamental because of their blue and purple curled
foliage. The Scotch Curled is the most popular variety. Let the plants
stand 18 to 30 inches apart. Young cabbage plants are sometimes used as
kale. Collards and borecole are kinds of kale. Sea-kale is a wholly
different vegetable (which see).
Kales are extensively grown at Norfolk, Va., and southward, and shipped
North in winter, the plants being started in late summer or in fall.
Kohlrabi is little known in the United States. It looks like a leafy
turnip growing above ground.
If used when small (2 to 3 inches in diameter), and not allowed to
become hard and tough, it is of superior quality. It should be more
generally grown. The culture is very simple. A succession of sowings
should be made from early spring until the middle of summer, in drills
18 inches to 2 feet apart, thinning the young plants to 6 or 8 inches
in the rows. It matures as quickly as turnips. One ounce of seed to 100
feet of drill.
Leek.—The leek is little grown in this country except by persons of
foreign extraction. The plant is one of the onion family, and is used
mostly as flavoring for soups. Well-grown leeks have a very agreeable
and not very strong onion flavor.
Leek is of the easiest culture, and is usually grown as a second crop,
to follow beets, early peas, and other early stuff. The seed should be
sown in a seed-bed in April or early May and the seedlings planted out
in the garden in July, in rows 2 feet apart, the plants being 6 inches
apart in the rows. The plants should be set deep if the neck or lower
part of the leaves is to be used in a blanched condition. The soil may
be drawn towards the plants in hoeing, to further the blanching. Being
very hardy, the plants may be dug in late fall, and stored the same as
celery, in trenches or in a cool root-cellar. One ounce of seed to 100
feet of drill.
Lettuce is the most extensively grown salad vegetable. It is now in
demand, and is procurable, every month in the year. The winter and
early spring crops are grown in forcing-houses and coldframes, but a
supply from the garden may be had from April to November, by the use of
a cheap frame in which to grow the first and last crops, relying on a
succession of sowings for the intermediate supply.
Seed for the first crop may be sown in a coldframe in March, growing
the crop thick and having many plants which are small and tender; or,
by thinning out to the distance of 3 inches and allowing the plants to
make a larger growth, the plants pulled up may be set in the open
ground for the next crop.
Sowings should be made in the garden from April to October, at short
intervals. A moist location should be chosen for the July and August
sowings. The early and late sowings should be of some loose-growing
variety, as they are in edible condition sooner than the cabbage or
heading varieties.
The cabbage varieties are far superior to the loose-growing kinds for
salads. To be grown to perfection, they should have very rich soil,
frequent cultivation, and an occasional stimulant, such as liquid
manure or nitrate of soda.
The cos lettuce is an upright-growing type much esteemed in Europe, but
less grown here. The leaves of the full-grown plants are tied together,
thus blanching the center, making it a desirable salad or garnishing
variety. It thrives best in summer.
One ounce of seed will grow 3000 plants or sow 100 feet of drill. In
the garden, plants may stand 6 inches apart in the rows, and the rows
may be as close together as the system of tillage will allow.
Mushroom.—Sooner or later, the novice wants to grow mushrooms. While it
is easy to describe the conditions under which they may be grown, it
does not follow that a crop may be predicted with any certainty.
Latterly, careful studies have been made of the growing of mushrooms
from spores and of the principles involved in the making of spawn, with
the hope of reducing the whole subject of mushroom growing to a
rational basis. A good idea of this work may be had by reading Duggar’s
contribution on the subject in Bulletin 85 of the Bureau of Plant
Industry, United States Department of Agriculture. In this place,
however, we may confine ourselves to the customary horticultural
practice.
The following paragraphs are from “Farmers’ Bulletin,” No. 53 (by
William Falconer), of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (March, 1897):—
Mushrooms are a winter crop, coming in from September till April or
May—that is, the work of preparing the manure begins in September and
ends in February, and the packing of the crop begins in October or
November and ends in May. Under extraordinary conditions the season may
begin earlier and last longer, and, in fact, it may continue all
summer.
Mushrooms can be grown almost anywhere out of doors, and also indoors
where there is a dry bottom in which to set the beds, where a uniform
and moderate temperature can be maintained, and where the beds can be
protected from wet overhead, and from winds, drought, and direct
sunshine. Among the most desirable places in which to grow mushrooms
are barns, cellars, closed tunnels, sheds, pits, greenhouses, and
regular mushroom houses. Total darkness is not imperative, for
mushrooms grow well in open light if shaded from sunshine. The
temperature and moisture are more apt to be equable in dark places than
in open, light ones, and it is largely for this reason that mushroom
houses are kept dark.
The best fertilizer for mushrooms, so far as the writer’s experience
goes, is fresh horse manure. Get together a lot of this material (short
and strawy) that has been well trampled and wetted in the stable. Throw
it into a heap, wet it well if it is at all dry, and let it heat. When
it begins to steam, turn it over, shake it well so as to mix thoroughly
and evenly, and then tramp it down solid. After this let it stand till
it again gets quite warm; then turn, shake, trample as before, and add
water freely if it is getting dry. Repeat this turning, moistening, and
trampling as often as it is needful to keep the manure from “burning.”
If it gets intensely hot, spread it out to cool, after which again
throw it together. After being turned in this way several times, and
the heat in it is not apt to rise above 130° F., it should be ready to
make up in the beds. By adding to the manure at the second or third
turning one-fourth or one-fifth of its bulk of loam, the tendency to
intense heating is lessened and its usefulness not at all impaired.
Some growers prefer short manure exclusively, that is, the horse
droppings, while others like a good deal of straw mixed in with this.
The writer’s experience, however, is that, if properly prepared, it
matters little which is used.
Ordinarily the beds are only 8 to 10 inches deep; that is, they are
faced with 10-inch-wide hemlock boards, and are only the depth of this
board. In such beds put a layer of fresh, moist, hot manure, and
trample it down firm until it constitutes half the depth of the bed;
then fill up with the prepared manure, which should be rather cool
(100° to 115°F.) when used, and pack all firmly. If desired, the beds
can be made up entirely of the prepared manure. Shelf beds are usually
9 inches deep; that is, the shelf is bottomed with 1-inch boards and
faced with 10-inch wide boards. This allows about 8 inches for manure,
and 1 inch rising to 2 inches of loam on top. In filling the shelf beds
the bottom half may be of fresh, moist or wettish, hot manure, packed
down solid, and the top half of rather cool prepared manure, or it may
be made up of all prepared manure. As the shelf beds cannot be trodden
and cannot be beaten very firm with the back of the fork, a brick is
used in addition to the fork.
The beds should be spawned after the heat in them has fallen below 100°
F. The writer considers 90° F. about the best temperature for spawning.
If the beds have been covered with hay, straw, litter, or mats, these
should be removed. Break each brick into twelve or fifteen pieces. The
rows should be, say, 1 foot apart, the first one being 6 inches from
the edge, and the pieces should be 9 inches apart in the row.
Commencing with the first row, lift up each piece, raise 2 to 3 inches
of the manure with the hand, and into this hole place the piece,
covering over tightly with the manure. When the entire bed is spawned,
pack the surface all over. It is well to cover the beds again with
straw, hay, or mats, to keep the surface equally moist. The flake spawn
is planted in the same way as the brick spawn, only not quite so deep.
At the end of eight or nine days the mulching should be removed and the
beds covered with a layer of good loam 2 inches thick, so that the
mushrooms can come up in and through it. This gives them a firm hold,
and to a large extent improves their quality and texture. Any fair loam
will do. That from an ordinary field, wayside, or garden is generally
used, and it answers admirably. There exists an idea that garden soil
surfeited with old manure is unfit for mushroom beds because it is apt
to produce spurious fungi. This, however, is not the case. In fact, it
is the earth most commonly used. For molding the beds the loam should
be rather fine, free, and mellow, so that it can be easily and evenly
spread and compacted firmly into the manure.
If an even atmospheric temperature of from 55° to 60° F. can be
maintained, and the house or cellar containing the mushroom beds is
kept close and free from drafts, the beds may be left uncovered, and
should be watered if they become dry. But no matter where the beds are
situated, it is well to lay some loose hay or straw or some old matting
or carpet over them to keep them moist. The covering, however, should
be removed just as soon as the young mushrooms begin to appear above
ground. If the atmosphere is dry, the pathways and walls should be
sprinkled with water. The mulching should also be sprinkled, but not
enough to cause the water to soak into the bed. However, if the bed
should get dry, do not hesitate to water it.
Mustard.—Almost all the mustards are good for greens, though white
mustard is usually best. Chinese mustard is also valuable.
Seed should be sown in drills, 3 to 3-1/2 feet apart, and covered with
a half inch of soil. The ease with which they may be grown, and the
abundance of herbage which they yield, mark their special utility. Sow
very early for spring greens, and in late summer or early September for
fall greens.
Muskmelon.—The most delicious of all garden vegetables eaten from the
hand, and of simple cultivation; but like many another plant that is
easy to grow it often fails completely. The season and soil must be
warm and the growth continuous.
The natural soil for melons is a light, sandy loam, well enriched with
rotted manure, although good crops may be grown on land naturally heavy
if the hills are specially prepared. When only heavy soil is available,
the earth where the seeds are to be planted should be thoroughly
pulverized and mixed with fine, well-rotted manure. A sprinkling of
leafmold or chip-dirt will help to lighten it. On this hill from ten to
fifteen seeds may be sown, thinning to four or five vines when danger
of insects is over.
The season may be advanced and the damage from insects lessened by
starting the plants in hotbeds. This may be done by using fresh sod,
cut into 6-inch pieces, placing them grass-side down in the hotbed,
sowing eight to ten seeds on each piece, and covering with 2 inches of
light soil. When all danger of frost is over, and the ground has become
warm, these sods may be carefully lifted and set in the prepared hills.
The plants usually grow without check, and fruit from two to four weeks
ahead of those from seed planted directly in the hill. Old quart
berry-boxes are excellent to plant seeds in, as, when they are set in
the ground, they very quickly decay, causing no restriction to the
roots.
Netted Gem, Hackensack, Emerald Gem, Montreal, Osage, and the Nutmeg
melon are popular varieties. One ounce of seed will plant about fifty
hills.
Okra.—A plant of the cotton family, from the green pods of which is
made the well-known gumbo soup of the South, where the plant is more
extensively grown than in the North. The pods are also used in their
green state for stews, and are dried and used in winter, when they are
nutritious, and form no little part of the diet in certain sections of
the country.
The seeds are very sensitive to cold and moisture, and should not be
sown until the ground has become warm—the last week in May or the first
of June being early enough in New York. The seed should be sown in a
drill 1 inch deep, the plants thinned to stand 12 inches in the row.
Give the same culture as for corn. One ounce will sow 40 feet of drill.
Dwarf varieties are best for the North. Green Density and Velvet are
leading varieties.
Onion.—A few onions, of one kind or another, give character to every
good kitchen-garden. They are grown from seeds (“black seed”) for the
main crop. They are also grown from sets (which are very small onions,
arrested in their development); from “tops” (which are bulblets
produced in the place of flowers); and from multipliers or potato
onions, which are compound bulbs.
The extremely early crop of onions is grown from sets, and the late or
fall crop is grown from seed sown in April or early May. The sets may
be saved from the crop harvested the previous fall, saving no bulbs
measuring over three-fourths of an inch in diameter, or, better, they
may be purchased from the seedsman. These sets should be planted as
early as possible in the spring, preferably on land that has been
manured and trenched in the fall. Plant in rows 12 inches apart, the
sets being 2 or 3 inches in the row. Push the sets well down into the
ground and cover with soil, firming them with the feet or a roller. In
cultivating, the soil should be thrown towards the tops, as the white
stems are usually sought as an indication of mildness. The crop will be
in condition to use in three to four weeks, and may be made to last
until small seed onions are to be had. Tops or multipliers may also be
used for the early crop.
[Illustration: Fig. 310. Bunch onions, grown from seed.]
In growing onions from seed, it is only necessary to say that the seed
should be in the ground very early in order that the bulbs make their
growth before the extreme hot weather of August, when, for want of
moisture and because of the heat, the bulbs will ripen up while small.
Early in April, in New York, if the ground is in condition, the seed
should be sown thickly in drills from 12 to 16 inches apart, and the
ground above the seeds well firmed. Good cultivation and constant
weeding is the price of a good crop of onions. In cultivating and
hoeing, the soil should be kept away from the rows, not covering the
growing bulbs, but allowing them to spread over the surface of the
ground. When the crop is ready to be harvested, the bulbs may be pulled
or cultivated up, left to dry in double rows for several days, the tops
and roots taken off, and the bulbs stored in a dry place. Later in the
season they may be allowed to freeze, covering with chaff or straw to
hold them frozen, and kept until early spring; but this method is
usually unsafe with beginners, and always so in a changeable climate.
Onion seed should always be fresh when sown—preferably of the last
year’s crop. One ounce of onion seed will sow 100 feet of drill.
One of the recent methods of securing extra large and also early bulbs
from seed is to sow the seed in a hotbed in February or early March,
and transplant to the open ground in April. A bunch of onions, for
eating from hand, is shown in Fig. 310.
The Danvers, Prizetaker, Globe, and Wethersfield are favorite
varieties, with the addition of White Queen or Barletta for pickling.
Parsley.—This is the most universal of garnishes. It is used also as a
flavoring in soups.
The seed is slow to germinate, and often the second or third sowing is
made, thinking the first is a failure; but usually after what would
seem a long time the young plants will be seen. When sown in the open
ground, it should be thinned to stand 3 or 4 inches in the row, the
rows being 10 to 12 inches apart. A few plants in a border will give a
supply for a large family, and with a little protection will live over
winter.
Roots may be lifted in the fall, put into boxes or old cans, and grown
in a sunny window for winter use. The Curled parsley is the form
commonly used.
[Illustration: Fig. 311. The Student parsnip, a leading variety]
Parsnip.—A standard winter and spring vegetable, of the easiest culture
in deep soil (Fig. 311).
Parsnips are the better for the winter’s freeze, although they are of
good quality if taken up after the fall frosts and packed in soil,
sand, or moss in the cellar.
The seed, which must be not over one year old, should be sown as early
as possible in well-prepared soil, firmed with the feet or roller. As
the seed germinates rather slowly, the ground often becomes crusted or
baked over the seeds, in which case it should be broken and fined with
a garden rake. This operation often means the success of the crop.
Radish or cabbage seeds may be sown with the parsnip seed to mark the
row and break the crust. One ounce of seed will sow 200 feet of drill.
Thin to 6 inches apart in the row.
Pea.—Perhaps no vegetable is planted in greater expectancy than the
pea. It is one of the earliest seeds to go into the ground, and the
planting fever is impatient.
There is great difference in quality between the smooth and the
wrinkled peas. The first are a little the earliest to be planted and to
become fit for use, and on that account should be planted in a small
way; but the wrinkled sorts are much superior in quality.
The early crop of peas may be forwarded by sprouting the seeds indoors.
Soil may be made too rich or strong for peas.
For the kitchen-garden the dwarf and half-dwarf varieties are the best,
as the tall kinds will need brush or wire to support them, causing
considerable trouble and labor and not being as neat in appearance. The
dwarf varieties should be planted four rows in a block, each row being
only 6 or 8 inches apart. The peas on the two center rows may be picked
from the outside. Leave a space of 2 feet and plant the same.
The tall varieties yield a larger crop than the dwarfs, but as the rows
must be made from 3 to 5 feet apart, the dwarf ones, which are planted
only 6 to 8 inches apart, will give as large a yield on the same area.
Always plant double rows of the tall varieties; that is, two rows from
4 to 6 inches apart, with the brush or wire between, the double rows
being from 3 to 5 feet apart, according to varieties.
At the time of the first planting only the smooth varieties should be
sown, but by the middle of April in New York the ground will be warm
and dry enough for wrinkled sorts. Succession crops should be sown that
will come to maturity one after the other, extending the season six or
eight weeks. If a further supply is wanted, the early quick-maturing
varieties may be sown in August, usually giving a fair crop of peas in
September and early October. In the hot weather of midsummer they do
not thrive so well. One quart of seed will plant about 100 feet of
drill.
[Illustration: Fig. 312. One of the bell peppers.]
Pepper.—The garden pepper is not the pepper of commerce; it is more
properly known as red pepper (though the pods are not always red),
chilli, and capsicum. The pods are much used in the South, and most
Northern households now employ them to some extent.
Peppers are tender while young, although they will endure a heavy frost
in the fall. Their culture is that recommended for egg-plants. A small
seedsman’s packet of seed will be sufficient for a large number of
plants, say two hundred. The large bell peppers (Fig. 312) are the
mildest, and are used for making “stuffed peppers” and other dishes.
The small, hot peppers are used for seasoning and sauces.
Potato.—The potato is rather more a field crop than a home-garden
product; yet the home-gardener often desires to grow a small early lot.
The common practice of growing potatoes on elevated ridges or hills is
wrong, unless the soil is so wet that this practice is necessary to
insure proper drainage (but in this case the land is not adapted to the
growing of potatoes), or unless it is necessary, in a particular place,
to secure a very early crop. If the land is elevated into ridges or
hills, there is great loss of moisture by means of evaporation. During
the last cultivating the potatoes may be hilled up slightly in order to
cover the tubers; but the hills should not be made in the beginning for
the main crop if land and conditions are right.
Land for potatoes should be rather loamy in character, and ought to
have a liberal supply of potash, either naturally or supplied in the
drill, by means of an application of sulfate of potash. See that the
land is deeply plowed or spaded, so that the roots can penetrate
deeper. Plant the potatoes 3 or 4 inches below the natural surface of
the ground. It is ordinarily best to drop the pieces in drills. A
continuous drill or row may be made by dropping one piece every 6
inches, but it is usually thought best to drop two pieces about every
12 to 18 inches. The drills are far enough apart to allow good
cultivation. If horse cultivation is used, the drills should be at
least 3 feet apart.
Small potatoes are considered not to be so good as large ones for
planting. One reason is because too many sprouts arise from each one,
and these sprouts are likely to crowd each other. The same is true of
the tip end or seed end of the tuber. Even when the tip is cut off, the
eyes are so numerous that one secures many weak shoots rather than two
or three strong ones. It is ordinarily best to cut the potatoes to two
or three eyes, leaving as much tuber as possible with each piece. From
7 to 10 bushels of potatoes are required to plant an acre.
XXV. The garden radish, grown in fall of the usual spring sorts. XXV.
The garden radish, grown in fall of the usual spring sorts.
For a very early crop in the garden, tubers are sometimes sprouted in
the cellar. When the sprouts are 4 to 6 inches high, the tubers are
carefully planted. It is essential that the sprouts are not broken in
the handling. In this practice, also, the tubers are first cut into
large pieces, so that they will not dry out too much.
The staple remedy for the potato bug is Paris green, 2 pounds or more
of poison to 150 to 200 gallons of water, with a little lime. For the
blight, spray with bordeaux mixture, and spray thoroughly. Bordeaux
mixture will also keep away the flea beetle to a large extent.
Radish (Plate XXV).—In all parts of the country the radish is popular
as a side-dish, being used as an appetizer and for its decorative
character. It is a poor product, however, if misshapen, wormy, or
tough.
[Illustration: Fig. 313. French Breakfast and olive-shaped radishes.]
Radishes should be grown quickly in order to have them at their best.
They become tough and woody if grown slowly or allowed to stay in the
ground too long. A light soil, well enriched, will grow most of the
early varieties to table size in three to five weeks. To have a supply
through the early months, sowings should be made every two weeks. For
spring use, the French Breakfast is still a standard variety (Fig.
313).
For summer, the large white or gray varieties are best. The winter
varieties may be sown in September, harvested before severe frosts, and
stored in sand in a cool cellar. When they are to be used, if thrown
into cold water for a short time they will regain their crispness.
Sow radishes thickly in drills, 12 to 18 inches apart. Thin as needed.
Rhubarb, or Pie plant.—A strong perennial herb, to be grown in a bed or
row by itself at one end or side of the garden. It is a heavy feeder.
Rhubarb is usually propagated by division of the fleshy roots, small
pieces of which will grow if separated from the old established roots
and planted in rich mellow soil. Poor soil should be made rich by
spading out at least 3 feet of the surface, filling with well-rotted
manure to within 1 foot of the level, throwing in the top soil and
setting the roots with the crowns 4 inches below the surface, firming
them with the feet. The stalks should not be cut for use until the
second year. See that the plant does not want for water when it is
making its heavy leaf growth. In fall, coarse manure should be thrown
over the crowns, to be forked or spaded in lightly when spring opens.
In growing seedling rhubarb, the seed may be sown in a coldframe in
March or April, protected from freezing, and in two months the plants
will be ready to set in rows, 12 inches apart. Give the plants good
cultivation, and the following spring they may be set in a permanent
place. At this time the plants should be set in well-prepared ground,
at a distance each way of 4 to 5 feet, and treated as those set with
pieces of roots.
If given good care and well manured, the plants will live for years and
yield abundantly. Two dozen good roots will supply a large family.
[Illustration: Fig. 314. Salsify, or oyster plant.]
Salsify, or Vegetable oyster (Fig. 314).—Salsify is one of the best of
winter and early spring vegetables, and should be grown in every
garden. It may be cooked in several different ways, to bring out the
oyster flavor.
The seed should be sown as early in the spring as possible. Handle the
same as parsnips in every way. The roots, like parsnips, are the better
for the winter freeze, but part of the crop should be dug in the fall,
and stored in soil or moss in a cellar for winter use.
Sea-kale is a strong-rooted perennial, the shoots of which are very
highly prized as a delicacy when blanched.
Seed should be sown in a hotbed early in the spring, plants
transplanted to the garden when from 2 to 3 inches high, and given good
cultivation through the season, being covered with litter on the
approach of winter. The young stalks are blanched early the following
spring by covering with large pots or boxes, or by banking with sand or
other clean material. The Dwarf Green Scotch, Dwarf Brown, and Siberian
are among the leading varieties. Sea-kale is eaten much as asparagus
is. It is highly prized by those who know it.
Sea-kale is also propagated by cuttings of the roots 4 or 5 inches
long, planted directly in the soil in spring. The plant being
perennial, the early shoots may be bleached year after year.
Sorrel of the European garden sorts may be sown in spring, in drills 16
inches apart in beds, or 3 to 3-1/2 feet apart in rows. After the
plants are well established they should be thinned to 10 to 12 inches
apart in the rows. They are perennial, and may be kept growing in the
same place for several years. Broad-leaved French is the most popular
variety.
Spearmint is prized by many persons as a seasoning, particularly for
the Thanksgiving and holiday cookery.
It is a perennial and perfectly hardy, and will live in the open garden
year after year. If a supply of the fresh herbage is wanted in winter,
remove sods of it to the house six weeks before wanted. Place the sods
in boxes, and treat as for house plants. The plants should have been
frosted and become perfectly dormant before removal.
Spinach.—The most extensively grown of all “greens,” being in season in
earliest spring, and in fall and winter.
The earliest spinach that finds its way to market is produced from seed
sown in September or October, often protected by frames or other means
through the severe winter, and cut soon after growth starts in early
spring. Even as far north as New York spinach may stand over winter
without protection.
Spinach is forced by placing sash over the frames in February and
March, protecting the young leaves from severe freezing by mats or
straw thrown over the frames.
Seed may be sown in early spring for a succession; later in the season
seed of the New Zealand summer spinach may be sown, and this will grow
through the heat of the summer and yield a fine quality of leaves. The
seed of this kind, being very hard, should be scalded and allowed to
soak a few hours before sowing. This seed is usually sown in hills
about 3 feet apart, sowing four to six seed in each hill.
The spring and winter spinach should be sown in drills 12 to 14 inches
apart, one ounce being sufficient for 100 feet of drill. Remember that
common spinach is a cool-weather (fall and spring) crop.
Squash.—The summer squashes rarely fail of a crop if they once escape
the scourge of the striped beetle. The late varieties are not so
certain; they must secure a strong start, and be on “quick” fertile
warm land in order to make a crop before the cool nights of fall (Fig.
315).
[Illustration: Fig. 315. One of the so-called Japanese type of squash
(_Cucurbita moschata_).]
The time of planting, method of preparing the hills, and after-culture
are the same as for cucumbers and melons, except that for the early
bush varieties the hills should be 4 or 5 feet apart, and for the later
running varieties from 6 to 8 feet apart. From eight to ten seeds
should be planted in each hill, thinning to four plants after danger
from bugs is over. Of the early squashes, one ounce of seed will plant
fifty hills; of the later varieties, one ounce will plant but eighteen
to twenty hills. For winter use, varieties of the Hubbard type are
best. For summer use, the Crooknecks and Scallop squashes are popular.
In growing winter squashes in a Northern climate, it is essential that
the plants start off quickly and vigorously: a little chemical
fertilizer will help.
Pumpkins are grown the same as squashes.
Sweet-potato is rarely grown north of Philadelphia; in the South it is
a universal garden crop.
Sweet-potatoes are grown from sprouts planted on ridges or hills, not
by planting the tubers, as with the common or Irish potato. The method
of obtaining these sprouts is as follows: In April, tubers of
sweet-potatoes are planted in a partially spent hotbed by using the
whole tuber (or if a large one, by cutting it in two through the long
way), covering the tubers with 2 inches of light, well-firmed soil. The
sash should be put on the frames and only enough ventilation given to
keep the potatoes from decaying. In ten or twelve days the young
sprouts should begin to appear, and the bed should be watered if dry.
The sprouts when pulled from the tuber will be found to have rootlets
at the lower end and along the stems. These sprouts should be about 3
to 5 inches long by the time the ground is warm enough to plant them
out on their ridges.
The ridges or hills should be prepared by plowing out a furrow 4 to 6
inches deep. Scatter manure in the furrow and plow back the soil so as
to raise the center at least 6 inches above the level of the soil. On
this ridge the plants are set, placing the plants well in to the leaves
and about 12 to 18 inches apart in the rows, the rows being from 3 to 4
feet apart.
The after-cultivation consists in stirring the soil between the ridges;
and as the vines begin to run they should be lifted frequently to
prevent rooting at the joints. When the tips of the vines have been
touched by frost the crop may be harvested, the tubers left to dry a
few days, and stored in a dry, warm place.
To keep sweet potatoes, store in layers in barrels or boxes in dry
sand, and keep them in a dry room See that all bruised or chilled
potatoes are thrown out.
[Illustration: 316. A good form or type of tomato.]
Tomato.—The tomato is an inhabitant of practically every home garden,
and everybody understands its culture (Fig. 316).
The early fruits are very easily grown by starting the plants in a
greenhouse, hotbed, or in shallow boxes placed in windows. A pinch of
seed sown in March will give all the early plants a large family can
use. When the plants have reached the height of 2 or 3 inches, they
should be transplanted into 3-inch flower-pots, old berry boxes, or
other receptacles, and allowed to grow slowly and stocky until time to
set them out, which is from May 15 on (in New York). They should be set
in rows 4 or 5 feet apart, the plants being the same distance in the
rows.
[Illustration: 317. A tomato trellis.]
Some support should be given to keep the fruits off the ground and to
hasten the ripening. A trellis of chicken-wire makes an excellent
support, as does the light lath fencing that may be bought or made at
home. Stout stakes, with wire strung the length of the rows, afford an
excellent support. A very showy method is that of a frame made like an
inverted V, which allows the fruits to hang free; with a little
attention to trimming, the light reaches the fruits and ripens them
perfectly (Fig. 317). This support is made by leaning together two lath
frames.
The late fruits may be picked green and ripened on a shelf in the sun;
or they will ripen if placed in a drawer.
One ounce of seed will be enough for from twelve to fifteen hundred
plants. A little fertilizer in the hill will start the plants off
quickly. The rot is less serious when the vines are kept off the ground
and the rampant suckers are cut out. Varieties pass out and new ones
come into notice, so that a list is of small permanent value.
Turnips and Rutabagas are little grown in home gardens; and yet a finer
quality of vegetable than most persons know could be secured if these
plants were raised on one’s own soil and brought fresh to the table.
They are usually a fall crop, from seed sown in July and early August,
although some kitchen-gardens have them from spring-sown The culture is
easy.
Turnips should be grown in drills, like beets, for the early crop. The
young plants will stand light frosts. Choose a rainy day for planting,
if practicable. Cover the seed very lightly. Thin the young plants to 5
to 7 inches in the row. Sow every two weeks if a constant supply is
desired, as turnips rapidly become hard and woody in warm summer
weather. For the fall and winter crop in the North,
“On the fourteenth day of July,
Sow your turnips, wet or dry.”
In many parts of the northern and middle states tradition fixes the
25th of July as the proper time for sowing flat turnips for winter use.
In the middle states, turnips are sometimes sown as late as the end of
August. Prepare a piece of very mellow ground, and sow the seed thinly
and evenly broadcast. In spite of the old rhyme, a gentle shower will
then be acceptable. These turnips are pulled after frost, the tops
removed, and the roots stored in cellars or pits.
For the early crop, Purple-top Strap-leaf, Early White Flat Dutch, and
Early Purple-top Milan are the favorite varieties. Yellow-fleshed sorts
like Golden Ball are very fine for early table use, when well grown,
but most eaters prefer white turnips in spring, although they
occasionally patronize the yellow varieties in the fall. Yellow Globe
is the favorite yellow fall turnip, though some persons grow yellow
rutabagas and call them turnips. For late crop of white turnips, the
same varieties chosen for spring sowing are also desirable.
Rutabagas are distinguished from turnips by their smooth, bluish
foliage, long root, and yellow flesh. They are richer than turnips;
they require the same treatment, except that the season of growth is
longer. Fall-sown or summer-sown bagas should have a month the start of
flat turnips.
Except the maggot (see cabbage maggot), there are no serious insects or
diseases peculiar to turnips and bagas.
Watermelon.—The watermelon is shipped everywhere in such enormous
quantities, and it covers so much space in the garden, that
home-gardeners in the North seldom grow it. When one has room, it
should be added to the kitchen-garden.
The culture is essentially that for muskmelons (which see), except that
most varieties require a warmer place and longer period of growth. Give
the hills a distance of 6 to 10 feet apart. Choose a warm, “quick” soil
and sunny exposure. It is essential, in the North, that the plants grow
rapidly and come into bloom early. One ounce of seed will plant thirty
hills.
There are several white or yellow-fleshed varieties, but aside from
their oddity of appearance they have little value. A good watermelon
has a solid, bright red flesh, preferably with black seeds, and a
strong protecting rind. Kolb Gem, Jones, Boss, Cuban Queen, and Dixie
are among the best varieties. There are early varieties that will ripen
in the Northern season, and make a much better melon than those secured
on the market.
The so-called “citron,” with hard white flesh, used in making
preserves, is a form of watermelon.