A ^M^^ ^P^- ^H^ ^L' ^'^tf'^ ^9.^1^ Samuel B. Green. Cornell IDlniveteit^ OF THE IRew IDorft State College of agriculture ^«. .. JJJ - !LiIj...^/a.S'.... __ _ Cornell University Library SB 321.G814 1908 Vegetable gardening :a manual on the gro 3 1924 000 299 440 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000299440 VEGETABLE GARDENING. A Manual on the Growing of Vegetables for Honie Use and Marketing. Prepared for the Classes of the School of Agriculture of the University of Minnesota, BY SAMUEL B. GREEN, Professor of Horticulture in the University of Minnesota. Au'hor of "Amateur Fruit Growing" and "Forestry in Minnesota" WITH 123 ILLUSTRATIONS. NINTH EDITION. REVISED. ST. PALL, WEBB PUBLISHING COMPANY. 1908. Copyrisht, 1901, 1905, 1908, By SAMUEL B. GREEN. PREFACE. This book was prepared primarily, for the School of Agri- culture of the University of Minnesota, where it has been used as a text book since it was first published. It is the result of the development of the system of teaching at this school and is intended for students of the high school grade. In this, the ninth edition, a few changes have been made to bring it up to date in the matter of methods of culture and varieties recom- mended. In previous editions I have taken pleasure, as I do now, in acknowledging the assistance which I have received in many ways in preparing the manuscript for the first edition of this book from Prof. Harry Snyder, the late Dr. Otto Lugger, the late Major A. G. Wilcox, and my former assistant. Prof. R. S. Mackin- tosh, now professor of horticulture at Aub'urn, Alabama. In pre- paring this edition, I have been helped by Mr. A. R. Kohler, as- sistant in horticulture. Figures numbered 52, 67, 69 and 121 are from D. Landreth & Sons; 26, 27; 31, 32 and 92 are from W. Atlee Burpee; Nos. 22, 23, 81 and 96 are reproduced from publications of the Depart- ment of Agriculture; No. 5 is from Bateman Manufacturing Co.; Nos. 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41 and 43 were loaned by Dr. Lugger; Nos. 58, 61, 65, 66, 106, 108, 112, 119, 120 and 122 from various sources. All other figures are original. SAMUEL B. GREEN. St. Anthony Park, Minn., January 2nd, 1908. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. The Vegetable Garden. — Location and soil for early crops. Location and soil for late crops. Irrigation. — Cultivation and irrigation. Humus an aid to irri- gation. Amount of water required for irrigating different crops. Pumping water for irrigation. Making reservoirs. Application of ■water. Rules for applying water. Sub-irrigation. Rotation of Crops. — Reasons for. CHAPTER n. ■ Manures. — Most valuable elements in manures. Direct and Indirect manures. Composition of vegetables. Manures and fer- tilizers. Animal Manures. — Horse manure. Hen manure. Cow and swine manure. Sheep manure. The manure pile. The compost heap. Commercial manures.- Tanka,ge. Ground blood. Ground bone. Nitrate of soda. Sulphate of ammonia. Superphosphate. Wood ashes. Kainite. Lime. Land plaster. Effect of manures on crops. Manures for early and late crops. Manures for legu- minous crops. Manuring the growing crops. Liquid manure. CHAPTER in. Garden Tillage.— Prevention and killing of weeds. Im- portance of not allowing weeds to go to seed. Weed seeds in manure for the garden. Plowing. Subsoil plowing. Ridging land. General cultivation of garden crops. Cultivation to de- velop plant food. Garden Implements. — Horse hoes and horse cultivators. Hand cultivators. Seed drills. Combination seed drills and cul- tivators. Markers. Scuffle attachment to hand garden cultiva- tors. Scuffle hoe. Plant drag. Potato diggers. Spray pumps. CHAPTER IV. Seed Sowing. — Depth to plant. Time for sowing. Sowing In stift clay soils. Sowing seed with machine. Sowing seed by- hand. Using the feet for firming the soil around seeds. Thin- ning. Protecting seeds against insects and birds. Transplant- ing. Avoid transplanting as much as possible. Conditions of suc- cess. Shortening the tops of plants. Firming the soil about the roots of plants. Tomato cans for flower pots. The Farmer's Kitchen Garden. — Arrangement of. CHAPTER V. Seeds and Seed Growing. — Good pedigrees in seeds. Test- ing seeds. Simple germinating apparatus. Curing and storing seeds. Changing seed. Stock seed. Seedsmen's specialties. Seedsmen's humbugs. Novelties. Development of varieties. — Rules for improving plants. Cross and self-pollination of plants. Mixing of varieties. Distance between varieties to prevent mix- ing. CHAPTER VI, Glass Structures. — Cold frames. Hotbeds. Hotbed manure. Fire hotbeds. A greenhouse hotbed. Greenhouses. — Cheap kinds of. Methods of heating. Sash for hotbeds and cold frames. Shutters. Mats. Ventilation and temperature. Watering. Soil. Boxes. Substitutes for glass. Shading the glass. Fifteen things to remember in connection with building glass strucures. CHAPTER VII. Insects Injurious to Vegetables. — Insecticides and methods of destroying Insects. Pyrethrum. Paris green. London purple. Tobacco. Kerosene emulsion with soap and with milk. Carbon bisulphide. Catching insects by light at night. Application of insecticides. Common Garden Insects and Methods of Destroying Them. — Colorado Potajo Beetle. Imported and Native Cabbage Worms, Cabbage Plusia. Wire Worms or Drill Worms. Cutworms. Striped Cucumber Beetle. White Grub or May Beetle. Maggots. Cabbage Flea Beetle. Leaf Lice or Aphis. Cabbage Lice or Aphis. Sweet Corn Moth or Tassel Worm. Parsley Worm or Celery Caterpillar. Chinch Bugs. Bean and Pea Weevil. Squash Vine Borer. Squash Bug. CHAPTER VIII. Classification of Vegetables. — Warm and cold climate vege- tables. Frost tender and frost hardy vegetables. Botanical classification. Characteristics and directions for the cultiva- tion of vegetables. Mushrooms. Corn. Asparagus. Onions. Leeks. Garlic. Rhubarb. v-Beets. Swiss Chard. Spinach. Cabbage. Cauliflower. Radishes. Rutabaga. Turnip. Brussels Sprouts. Kale. Kohlrabi. Jlorseradish. Cress. Water Cress. Beans. Peas. Okra. vParsnip. Parsley. ^Carrot. Celery. Cel- arlac. Sweet Potato. Tomato. Potato. Egg Plant. Peppers. Strawberry Tomato. Martynla. Cucumber. Squash. Musk- melon. Watermelon. Pumpkin. Gourds. Lettuce. .Salsify. Endive. Dandelion. Garden Herbs. — Balm. Catnip. Lavender. Peppermint. Sage. Sweet Basil. Sweet Marjoram. Spearmint. Summer Savory. Thyme. Winter Savory. Anise. Caraway. Coriander. Dill. Borage. Rue. Tables. — I. Weight of one quart of seeds and a number of seeds in one ounce. II. Longevity of garden seeds. III. Amount of seed required to sow one acre. IV. Average time required for garden seeds to germinate. V. Standards of Purity and Germina- tion of Agricultural Seeds. Monthly Calendar of Garden Operations. Vegetable Gardening* CHAPTER L THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Location and Soil. — The land for vegetable gardening should be free from stones and stumps, and easily cultivated. Wet land should be avoided unless it can be drained at a reasonable out- lay; if it cannot be drained it is of little worth as scarcely any- thing of value can be raised on it. All land for vegetable garden- ing should be well drained either naturally or artificially, since crops on well drained land, suffer less from drought as well as from excess of water. Drained land also gives best and most uniform returns from the manure applied to it. When drainage Is lacking in the land, the raising of plants on it is so very much a matter of chance that in the long run it will generally prove unprofitable. Most of the land in cultivation is sufficiently drained naturally, while some land that needs no drainage when used for grass or grain would be greatly improved by being under-drained when it is to be used for some garden crops. Land which has a gently rolling or undulating surface with a southern exposure Is the most desirable for gfeneral gardening operations, since it receives the full sunlight and allows the most perfect control of the water that falls upon it. When irrigation is to be practiced, such sloping surface aids very much in the distribution of the water. For a few crops, such as celery, cab- bage, etc., the slope makes very little difference, as flat and even very moist (not wet) land is best There is a very great difference in the value of northern and southern slopes for vari- ous crops. This difference will frequently amount to one crop a year where the soil is closely tilled The soil on a southern slope can be worked much earlier In the spring than that having a northern exposure, and often by proper management two crops may be grown in one year in such places, while on a northera 8 VEGETABLE GARDENING. slope perhaps only one crop could be raised. Then again, such crops as melons and tomatoes that require a long season and a warm location to mature could do so on a southern slope, while on a northern slope they might not ripen. Location and Soil for Early Crops. — When the object in vegetable gardening is to grow very early crops, it is important to have quick-acting land. Such a soil contains a large amount of sand in its composition. Soils of this class warm up very quickly, and decomposition goes on very rapidly in them. They also give the quickest returns from manures. If such land has a southern slope, and, in addition, is protected from the north and west winds, the situation will be an ideal one for the early vegetable garden and for tropical plants, such as tomatoes, beans, corn, etc. However, land and locations of this character suffer most from drought, therefore every precaution should be taken to protect them from it. Si,ndy soils are especially adapted to irrigation, and sometimes what were barren sands become very fertile when irrigated. Location and Soil for Late Crops. — ^When the intention is to raise cabbages, potatoes, turnips, beets, etc., for marketing in the autumn and for crops that require but a short time to mature or that prefer a cool location, a good clayey loam is generally the best, and if it has a northern exposure so much the better. If obliged to use a stiff clay soil, it will be found to give best results if subsoiled and drained. Such land should be fall-plowed and left in ridges. It will also be improved if coarse manure is worked into it, since this has a tendency to make the land open and more easily worked. A retentive clayey loam will be more difficult to work than a sandy soil, but will generally withstand drought much better, although a somewhat sandy loam with a retentive, porous clay sub-soil Is often considered more desirable on account of the greater ease with which it is worked, and it resists drought nearly as well as a clayey loam if proper precautions are used in Its management. IRRIGATION. Irrigation Is generally considered unnecessary, in this sec- tion, since we raise fair and even abundant crops ne9.rly every year without its aid, but In almost any season there are periods IRRIGATION AND ROTATION OF CROPS. 9 when If water could be applied to growing crops it would Im- prove them. It will seldom If ever pay to irrigate ordinary farm crops, if It is necessary to pump the water used. In order to have Irrigation practical tor farm crops the water should be carried and distributed on the land by the force of grav- ity. It may pay to pump water to irrigate some garden crops if the conditions are favorable and the work is done intelli- gently. In this section Irrigation should be used to supple- ment the rainfall which should ordinarily be kept from run- ning off the surface of the land by every possible precaution. Mulching the surface of the soil is practicable only around trees and in the case of a very few garden crops, such as strawberries and raspberries. The intelligent use of mulch on land in well known cases has caused the soil under it to hold an amount of water equal to thirty-three per cent more than was retained in soil near by not mulched, the amount in one case being equal- to an increase of over two quarts of water to every cubic foot of soil, or to an increase of over 680 barrels in the upper one foot of soil of one acre. If this amount of water had been applied at the critical stage in the growth of some crops suffering for mojsture, it might have made a success of what would otherwise have been a failure. Where practicable It is always desirable to have a good mulch on land that ia watered, since it retards evaporation and pi^vents the surtacn soil from baking. . Cultivation of the land prevents evaporatioii and so saves the moisture in it. In one instance the amount of increase of water in a good soil due to cultivation was equal to thirty- three per cent of what it contained when not cultivated. This increase, however, is somewhat more than was found in other trials, but in every instance there has been a marked increase in the drought resisting qualities of the soil due to continued cultivation. In some experiments made by Professor Levi Stock- bridge in 1878, it was clearly shown that on one occasion in eight days of very dry summer weather thorough "cultivation of .the land resulted in saving 256 barrels of water in an acre of heavy loam by preventing evaporation from its surface. These facts show the great value of cultivation as an aid in 10 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Irrigating operations. Cultivation, of the land or mulching should always go with irrigation. Humus is rotten organic matter. In the soil it increases its retentive qualities. On this account new land which con- tains much organic matter does not suffer as seriously from drought as that which has been cultivated for some time witll- out manure. Likewise, land, heavily manured with rotten ma- nure, which is largely humus, has its drought resisting quali- ties increased, while the application of undecayed manure to the land has a directly opposite result until it has been in the soil long enough to become thoroughly rotted. Amount of Water Required for Irrigating Different Crolss. — Sometimes a very small amount of water applied at the right time will make the difference between a good crop and a total failure, as, for instance, when dry weather comes on just as the strawberry crop is almost ripe, when it has happened that 60 small a quantity as 600 barrels of water per acre has been sufficient to ripen the crop. In western Kansas it is esti- mated that a storage capacity of 5,000 barrels per acre in ad- dition to the ordinary rain supply is needed to mature a crop In dry seasons. In this section a storage capacity of 1,500 barrels per acre would probably be enough to insure against serious injury from drought in any but very exceptionally dry years. Enough water to cover an acre one inch deep is termed an acre inch. About 900 barrels equal one acre inch. Pumping Water for Irrigation. — Where valuable crops are grown, it will sometimes pay to pump water for them. There are many localities in this section where a large amount of water may be controlled by lifting it less than thirty feet. In such places windmills may be successfully used for pumping the water, providing reservoirs of large capacity can be cheaply made into which water may be pumped the year around to be used as needed. Thresher engines, which are seldom used except in the late summer and fall, may sometimes be used to advantage for pumping water and often at very low cost. Gasoline engines are occasionally used in some irrigation works. They are very desirable, but at present the price is too high to warrant their general use. In putting in a pumping plant the pump should be put as near the water supply as possible. IRRIGATION AND ROTATION OF CROPS. 11 Reservoirs should te on some elevated point. They are easily made by digging out the earth and puddling the bottom and sides with thick clay, which should be at least one foot In thickness and well packed when wet. A good way to pack It is to drive horses over it. When clay cannot be obtained the bottom may be made tight with a thin coating of coal tar and sand, but clay is preferable, and what is known as blue clay is generally best. Cement is liable to crack badly from frost and is not adapted to this purpose. Made In this way, reser- voirs are very cheap and easily repaired. It is important to have them very large where the supply of water is limited; where the supply is large, the reservoir may be much smaller. Application of Water. — Sloping land is necessary for most successful irrigation, as it is very difficult to apply water to the surface of level land. The slope should be sufficient to permit the water to flow quickly along its surface and yet not enough to cause it to wash. For Irrigation purposes the rows should not be over 300 feet long. The best results are gener- ally obtained from soils having considerable sand in their com- position. Drifting sands may often be made to produce good crops by irrigating and manuring, and lands having some sand in their composition are much better adapted to irrigation than clay soils, sinee the latter often bake badly or become sticky BO that they cannot be cultivated immediately after applying water. Rules for Applying Water to Land. — Water should not be applied unless the crop is suffering for It, but the soil should be cultivated thoroughly and frequently, and thus waste by evapo- ration may be saved. Cultivate at once after irrigating, if the land will permit of it, so that the soil will not bake; evaporation will thus be prevented, and water will be saved in the soil. Do not apply more than enough water to nicely moisten the land and avoid getting it water-soaked. Do not think that irrigation will take the place of cultiva- tion, for it will not, since without cultivation irrigation is sel- dom successful. Water for irrigating purposes should be somewhat warm when applied. Cold springs do not afford a satisfactory supply 12 VEGETABLE GARI/ENING. for some crops unless fi/st pumped into a reservoir. A tem perature of 60 degrees is desirable, though not always necessarj for the best results. Aim to wet the roots of the plants and avoid getting watef on the leaves. Wooden troughs afford the cheapest conduits for water and Figure 1. — One method of irrigating crop planted in rows. should be used whenever practicable. Iron pipe is expensive and much more difficult to manage than wooden troughs. Sub-irrigation is a new term that refers to the application of water to the roots of plants by means of underground chan- nels, such as tile or other drains. It worlds best in sandy soils. In clayey soil the water runs too slowly through the sides of the tiles. Land tiles make as good channels as any for this purpose. They should be buried a few inches below or by the side of the plants to be watered, being laid level with open joints. Some experiments seem to show that it is a very waste- ful way of using water, while others have shown this system to be economical. As practiced for watering plants in green- house benches, especially for lettuce, it has given excellent results. IRRIGATION AND ROTATION OP CROPS. 13 ROTATION OF CROPS. By rotation is meant the special succession of crops grow- ing upon tlie land for a series of years. This is very desirable even on land in the highest state of cultivation, but it Is very difficult to lay down exact rules to be followed. Reasons for Rotating Crops. — ^We rotate crops for at least six reasons. (1) To avoid insect enemies, as in the case of onions and turnips, which are often liable to serious insect in- juries when grown more than one year on the same land. Tur- nips are especially liable to injury from insects when grown in the same place successively. (2) To avoid Injuries from fungous diseases, i. e., in case of potato and beet scab, onion and melon rust, corn smut, etc. (3) To Increase the amount of humus In the soil, and for this purpose we may seed down the land to grass or clover. (4) To deepen the soil and add nitro- gen to it as well as humus, as when clover is grown on the land. (5) To get rid of weed seeds in the soil. (6) To use the plant food in the landt to best advantage, since crops vary very much in the amount of the different elements which enter into their composition. Leguminous crops, like clover, peas, beans, etc.. Improve the land on which they grow, while most other crops exhaust the soil. Some plants excel others in their power to search for plant food, or to take plant food from the soil. Some plants feed near the surface largely, while others take their food mostly from a lower level. Root crops should not follow root crops, nor should vines follow vines for many years In suc- cession on the same land. QUESTIONS— CHAPTER I. . On Vegetable Gnrdeuing Adapted to Students and OtUers. 1. What location and soil is best for early crops? 2. What location and soil is best for late crops? 3. Under what conditions will it pay to irrigate? 4. When should the' land be mulched? 5. What is meant by cultivation? 6. What is humus and how does it affect the soil? 7. What is an acre inch of water and how many barrels does (i contain 7 8. When will it pay to pump water for irrigation? 9. How may a good, small, cheap reservoir be made? 10. What kind of land is best adapted to irrigation? 11. Give six rules for applying water to land. 12. What is meant by sub-irrigation? 13. What is meant by rotation of crops? 14. Give six reasons for rotating crops. 15. What crops improve the land on which they grow and whyT CHAPTER IL MANURES. Most Valuable Elements in Manures. — ^Whlle there are twelve or more elements tliat enter into the composition of our cultivated plants, yet only nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, and in a few cases lime, are lacking from our agricultural soils. These three elements enter largely into all our cultivated crops and are necessary for their growth. The other elements are usually present in abundance. Humus. — While humus in itself is not a plant food, it is of great importance in- the soil. It is formed by the decay of organic matter and is composed principally of carbon. It promotes chemical action by which plant food is set free in the soil, and it increases the power of the soil for holding the water and gases which it gives up slowly to the roots of plants. Rotten stable manure contains a large amount of humus- forming materials, which undoubtedly add very much to its value, and it is probably on this account that It often gives better returns than commercial fertilizers containing the same quantities of what are termed the essential elements. The Action of Manures in the Soil can be and generally Is both direct and indirect. They act directly when they con- tain actual available plant food or when by their decay they yield it to the plant; they act Indirectly when they start chem- ical action In the soil and thus set free soluble plant food in the soil Itself. Almost all manures act In this indirect way to some extent. A moderate application of stable manure by its decomposition (which is chemical action) in the soil has been known to increase the temperature of the soil by three degrees. Lime in itself is a plant food and is largely used by some crops. Most soils, however, contain it in great abundance, yet if quick lime be added to a soil already rich In common limestone It generally serves to increase growth. This is not due to the plant taking up more lime, but rather to the fact that the quick lime starts chemical action In the soil by which some MANURES. 15 of the locked-up stores of plant food are made available. The same may be said of unleached ashes, though it coatains much more valuable fertilizing material than lime. Common salt also acts to some extent indirectly as a fertilizer, while it is of very little value as a plant food. COMPOSITION OF VEGETABLES, MANURES AND FERTILIZ- ERS. In the following tables is shown the amount of fertilizing elements required by vegetables and the amount of these ma- terials which is contained in the various farm manures and com- mercial fertilizers. These figures are from eastern United States and European sources. The climatic conditions in these places are quite different from those in many sections of the Western states where the actual amount of ash ingredients in plants, especially in dry years, may greatly exceed the amounts here given. The relation of these tables to one another is worthy of special study, since they show what the plants need and what the fertilizing materials supply. TABLE I. -Composition of Vegetables.} Artichokes Asparagus stems Beans, Lima Beans, string Beets, red Cabbages Carrots Cauliflower Chorogi, tubers Chorogi, wliole plant Cucumbers Eggplant Horse-radlsli, root KoU-rabi Lettuce, leaves Lettuce, stems Lettuce, wliole plant Muskmelons, interior j ulce.. Muskmelons, pulp Muskmelons, pulp juice Muskmelons, rind Mustard, white Obra Onions Parsnips Peas, Canada field Peas, garden Peas, green 90. 78. E 96.E 92.£ 76.« 91.( Ash. Per ct. 0.99 0.67 1.69 0.78 1.04 1.40 1.02 0.81 1.09 1.02 0.46 0..50 1.87 1.27 1.71 1.18 1.61 1.01 1.49 0.56 0.68 2.25 0.74 0.57 1.03 2.36 3.11 0.78 Nitro- gen. Perct. 0.36 0.29 0.24 0.38 0.16 0.13 1.92 0.16 0.36 0.48 0.23 0.14 0.22 3.58 Phos- phoric acid. Perct. 0.17 0.08 *0.09 *D.ll 0.09 0.16 0.19 0.12 0.07 0.27 0.04 0.19 0.84 Potash Perct. 0.48 0.29 »0.44 *0.43 O.ol 0.36 0.64 0.24 1.16 0.43 *0.37 0.10 0.62 16 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Composition of \egetah\es.t—{.Continued,) Peas, small {Lathyrus sativus) whole plant Pumpkins, flesh. Pumpkins, rind Pumpkins, seeds and stringy matter Pumpkins, "whole fruit Rhubarb, roots ., Rhubarb, stems Rhubarb, stems and leaves Rutabagas ^........ Spinach. Squashes, flesh Squashes, rind Squashes, seeds and stringy matter Squashes, whole fruit Sweet corn, cobs Sweet corn, husks Sweet corn, kernels Sweet corn, stalks... Sweet potatoes, tubers Sweet potatoes, vines Tomatoes, frultt Tomatoes, roots ..; Tomatoes, vines Turnips Watermelons, juice Watermelons, pulp; Watermelons, rind 7.. Watermelons, seeds Water. Ash. Nitro- gen. Phos- phoric Acid. Potash Per ct. 5.80 93 39 Fer ct. 5.94 0.67 1.36 1.51 0.63 2.28 0.94 1.72 1.15 J:?i 1.21 1.39 0.41 ■ 0.59 n.56 0.56 1.25 1.00 5.79 0.47 11.72 3.00 0.80 0.20 0.33 1.24 1.34 Per ct. 2.50 Perct, 0.59 Perct. 1.99 86.23 76.86 92.27 74.35 92.67 *0.11 0.55 *0.16 0.06 *0.09 0.53 91.B7 88.61 92.42 88 09 0.13 0.19 0.49 0.02 0.12 0.16 6.36 0.49 0.27 82.00 74.03 94 88 80.10 86.19 82.14 80.86 71.26 41.65 0.21 0.18 0.46 0.28 *0.24 0.05 0.07 0.07 0.14 ♦0.08 0.22 0.22 0.24 0.41 *0.37 93.64 73.31 83.61 90.46 93.05 0.16 0.24 0.32. 0.18 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.10 0.27 0.29 0.50 0.39 91 87 89.97 48.37 «Wolfl. tSugar in fruit, 3.05 "per cent; acid (malic), 0.46 per cent. tCompiled by office of Experiment Station. TABLE II.— Composition of Farm W anures. Mois- ture. Nitro- gen. Pot- ash. Phos- phoric acid. Lime. Cattle excrement (solid, fresh) .* Perct: Perct. 0.29 0.58 1.10 0.44 1.55 1.00 0.60 3.20 0.80 Per ct. 0.10 0.49 0:56 0.35 1.50 0.25 0.20 1.00 0.30 Perct, 0.17 Perct. Cattle urine (fresh) 60.00 0.85 0.17 77.20 95.90 10.00 50.00 1.09 • 0.17 1.90 1.40 Poudrette (night soil) 80 MANURES. Composition of Farm Manures.— (Continued) 17 Mois- ture. Nitro- gen, Pot- ash. Phosphoric acid. Solu- ble. Re- verted. Total. liime. Sheep excrement (solid, fresh) Perct. Perct. O.ffi 1.95 0.50 0.60 0.43 O.iO Perct. 0.15 8.26 0.60 0.13 0.83 0.43 Perct. Perct. Perct. 0.31 o.or 0.30 0.41 0.07 0.32 Perct- Sheep urine (fresh) Stable manure (mixed) 73.27 Swine excrement (solid, fresh) Swineurine (fresh) Barnyard manure (average) 68.87 TABLB HI.— Composition of Commercial Fertilizing Material s. Apatite , 36.08 0.10 0.40 1.14 1.51 1.70 3.80 35.89 28.88 17.00 23.25 17.60 20.10 29.90 26.77 1.75 8:85 3.10 3.10 13.&5 1.91 8.2S Ashes (anthraicte coal) 0.10 0.40 1.20 1.27 6.25 1.31 Ashes (bituminous coal) Ashes (lime kiln). . Ashes (wood leached) Ashes (wood, un- leache^) 15.45 30.22 12.50 40.09 7.00 4.60 ■48.60 28.08 34.00 Bat guano 8.20 2.37 1.24 Bone ash 44 89 Bone black 15.40 0.40 1.30 7.60 Bone black (dis- solved) Bonemeal 7.50 4.05 2.60 6.20 1.70 Bone m'eal (dis- solved), .. . 13 53 Bone meal (free from fat).... Bone meal (from Carribean guano... Castor pomace 7.31 9.50 7.80 7.75 39.95 .5.50 1.10 22.75 1.80 1..50 Cotton-hull ashes... 1.25 6.50 9.60 Cotton-seed meal (decort) 7.10 4.30 1.67 10.52 7.25 Cotton-seed meal (undecort) . .. Cuba guano 24.27 12.50 12.75 22.28 10.17 3.20 4.83 Driedblood !.„.. Dried fish 0.55 2.60 43.66 Horn and hoof 13.25 '"i3.54" 8.42 1.83 Kalnit 1.15 Krugite 12.45 18 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Composition of Commercial Fertilizing nateriala,—(Contimied.) Mois- ture Nitro- •gen. Pot- ash. Phosphoric acid. Solu- ble. Re- verted. Total. Lime. Per ct. 12.09 13.32 60.00 60.00 2.00 7.60 1.93 1.40 8.54 61.50 14.81 2.25 Per ct. 10.44 0.76 1.10 0.40 Per ct. Per ct. Per ct. PercL 2.07 21.88 0.10 0.10 Perct. Mono Island Guano. 1.5S 37.49 Muck 0.15 0.36 51.48 0.90 Muriate of potash.. Navassa phosphate Nitrate of potash... Nitrate of soda 34.27 37.45 13.09 15.70 12.12 0.85 7.35 45.19 Oleomargarine re- 0.88 0.08 15.30 24.50 peat 0.18 2.65 Peruvian guano Phosphates from Florida 3.20 4.10 28.50 20.93 Sewage sludge (precipitated).. Soot 88.49 5.54 3.61 63.06 1,00 ^.75 2.54 10.00 6.18 10.00 0.05 0.05 1.83 2.04 3,25 O.IO 1.58 Spent tanbark 20.50 1.61 33.46 Sumac waste 1.14 Sulphate of am- Sulphate of potash 25.50 33.40 2.57 Sulphate of potash (high grade).... - Tankage 6.70 3.71 2.35 0.30 5.10 11.80 0.66 0.70 5.02 8.20 3.92 *1.20 2.22 Tobacco stems 4.20 Wool waste i.5.86 6.50 0.'35 0.11 *Sometimes as high as 5 per cent. tNova Scotia plaster contains 94 per cent pure grypsum and 4 per cent carbonate of lime; Onondaga and Cayuga, 65-75 per cent gypsum and 18-28 per cent carbonate of lime. Animal Manures. — Manure from the same animals may- vary greatly in quality according to the kind of food and the condition and age of the animals from which it comes. Fat animals fed on food rich in nitrogen (grains) produce the best manures. Young growing animals that are fed on poor food, such, as straw, swale hay, etc., produce very inferior manure. The manure from young growing animals or from milking cows is much inferior to that from fat steers, since, in the case of MANURES. 19 the young animals, a large amount of nitrogen and phosphoric acid is required to build up the animal body. In the case of the milking cow a large amount of nitrogen is reciuired for the production of the casein of the milk, while very little of the nitrogen in the food is retained in the body of the fatten- ing animal. The fats, oils and starchy material8~-which ani- mals use largely are of no value as manures. The nitrogen, potash and phosphorus are thrown off by the fat animal in the waste products. Manures rich in nitrogen ferment most rap- Idly, other things being equal. The urine is generally rich in nitrogen, and since all it contains is soluble it is of more value than the solid excrements of animals, and special effort should be made to save it. The Heating of Manures and other organic material is gen- erally due to the presence of ferments which are minute organ- isms that break down the composition of the materials in which they grow and produce chemical changes that result in the formation of heat. They are nearly allied to the yeast that ia used in bread-making. Fire fanged is a term applied to mar nure which has heated to a very high temperature without suf- ficient moisture and has dried out. It is generally white in color and has lost much of its texture, and parts of it may appear to have been burned to ashes. When in this condition manure is of little value, for it has lost much if not all of its nitrogen and all the ferments which it contained are destroyed. And it is probable that the ferments which are added to soils by manure are often of much importance to them. Horse Manure is loose and light, and ferments very quickly. On this account it is especially valuable for early spring crops, as It makes the soil loose, thus permitting the air to easily penetrate it, while by its rapid fermentation it warms the land. It is valuable to mix with cow and swine manure on account of its hastening fermentation. On account of its heating quali- ties it is used to warm hotbeds. Hen Manure is one of the richest manures formed by any of our domestic animals, for the reason that poultry live on highly concentrated foods and the liquid and solid excre- ments are voided together. It heats quite readily and vio-. lently and should be used very sparingly and with caution. 20 VEGETABLE aARDENINQ. since If put in contact with the roots or stems of plants It is very liable to burn them. It should be handled with great care and be kept dry. If wet it ferments and parts with its nitrogen In the form of ammonia gas, which is readily perceptible to the nose. For the same reason it should not be mixed with lime or wood ashes unless used at once. It acts very quickly and on this account is valuable for early crops or to apply during the growth of a crop when the available manure in the land appears to have been exhausted. It may be composted with dry peat or muck when it is more safely applied than if clear and there is less danger of loss from heating. Twenty to thirty bushels of hen manure is generally considered sufficient for one acre when used with stable manure. Cow and Swine Manures are rather slow in action, conse- quently they are not as desirable for early crops as horse manure, while they are excellent for late crops. For this latter purpose they are often better than horse manure. If they are mixed with horse manure they ferment very rapidly. Sheep Manure is a very concentrated manure which heats rapidly. It is one of the best farm manures. Mixing Manures. — It may often be a good plan to mix the different kinds of animal manures for general application, as In this way all seem to be improved. Hen manure is an ex- ception and, as a rule, should be applied separately. Lime, wood ashes or other material of an alkaline nature should never be mixed with stable manure of any kind unless a considerable amount of loam, peat or other material is added to absorb the ammonia, which is always liberated when nitrogenous and alka- line substances are thus mixed. It is a good plan to mix ground bone, tankage and other slow acting fertilizers with heating stable manure, as by so doing the plant food they contain is made more available and the stable manure is greatly improved in quality. The Manure Pile. — If early garden crops are to be grown. It is necessary to have fine, well rotted manure, and this makes the manure pile necessary. It should be placed so that as little waste as possible will occur from leaching by rains. When a manure pile is to remain in one place foi* a considerable time it should be made upon a bed of leaves, peat, loam, rotted sods MANURE^ 21 or other absorbent, about one foot In thickness, wbich will catch and i-etaln any fertilizing material that may leacji through the pile. If practicable, the pile should be made where it will be protected from the sun and drying winds. The height of the pile should depend somewhat on the kind of manure and the season of the year when it is made. Manure that will heat readily should be piled about six feet deep. When the pile la quite warm the manure should be turned over. This operation should be performed very thoroughly as often as the pile gets very hot. All the lumps should be broken up and the whole pile turned to the bottom of the bed on which It Is placed. The absorbents of the bed should be mixed evenly throughout the pile and the cold manure from the outside be put on the Inside of the pile so that it may heat the more rapidly. If the pile ap- pears dry on the inside water or, what is better, the urine from the stable should be added to assist fermentation, as this cannot take place satisfactorily In dry manure, and the lack of water may result In serious loss. The number of times a ma- nure pile should be turned over will depend on the crop to which it is to be applied and the kind and condition of the manure. This is a matter which must be left to the good judgment of the Individual manager, but some of the factors bearing on this will be found discussed farther on. The Compost Heap can be made a prolific source of homo made manure. Every farm and garden should have one of sufBciently large proportion to take care of all refuse organic material about the place. It should be made about as follows: Select a place handy to get at but where there is no standng water and put down first a bed one foot deep of old sods or muck and on this pile all the refuse material as It collects in various places. It may consist of old straw, leaves, an occa- sional load of heating manure, rotten vegetables, etc. This should be turned over occasionally, by hand if necessary, but' the best plan is to have the compost heap in a hog yard and to it haul manure as it collects near the stables. If manure is piled upon a good bed of rotten sod it will not lose much by leaching, nor will it lose anything by heating if a sufficient Dumber of hogs have the run of it to keep it well worked up. Commercial Manures. — By commercial manures is meant 22 VEGETABLE uARDENING. those manures which are commonly sold by the trade. When of a high' price they are generally of a guaranteed composition and they should be bought at a valuation based on the amount of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid which they contain in condition available to the roots of the plants. The most available the form in which these materials exist in the fertilizer, the more valuable it is generally considered. Most of tha older states require a guaranteed analysis to accompany the packages in which the fertilizers are sold and exercise some supervision over the business. Among the most common of this class of fertil- izers are the following: Tankage. — This is the refuse product from slaughtering -establishments, which after being relieved of its fat is brought to dryness and ground. It is very rich in nitrogen and phos- phoric acid, but contains very little potash. Most of the nitro- gen and phosphoric acid which it contains is available to the roots of plants. It is probably the cheapest source of nitrogen and phosphoric acid to be found in the western states. It varies considerably in composition, and this may sometimes be ac- counted for by the fact that in some establishments the blood is separated from the other offal, thus reducing the percentage of nitrogen in the tankage. It is rather a slow acting fertilizer. Tankage may be safely used in quantities of less than 1,000 pounds per acre if applied broadcast and worked into the soil. Pour hundred pounds per acre is generally considered a good application. It may be safely used in these quantities around growing plants of cabbage, corn, lettuce, etc., provided it is spread out evenly and does not come in contact with the roots of the plants. Ground Blood Is very rich in nitrogen and quite diflBcult to dry thoroughly. If it is at all moist it is likely to heat badly. It is a quick acting fertilizer, and is seldom used without being mixed with other materials. Ground Bones are always rich in phosphoric acid, but ground fresh bones are better than dry bones since in addition to phosphoric acid they have quite a large percentage of nitro- gen, which amount is very small in bones that are old and dry. I-t is always best to break or grind the bones that are to be used on the land and in many cases to then mix them with fer- VEGETABLE GARDENING. 23 menting stable manure. Ground bone is said to be a lasting fertilizer because its effect can be seen for several years. If bones are burnerl the nitrogen is wasted. If fresh bones are mixed with unleached wood ashes they will be made soft so they can be easily broken up. It is generally applied in much the same way and for the same purposes as tankage. Nitrate of Soda, called also Chili saltpeter, is imported from Chili. It looks like common salt and contains about 16 per cent of nitrogen that is perfectly soluble and in form most available for the plant. On this account only very small quan- tities should be applied at one time, because if not taken up by the plant it may be washed deep into the soil out of reach of the roots. It is especially desirable for early leaf crops such as early spinach, cabbage and lettuce, and to apply when a crop comes to a standstill. It acts with wonderful quickness — almost like magic. It may be applied several times to the growing crop at intervals of two weeks, using from 75 to 100 pounds per acre at each application. It may be sown near the hills if ap- plied to cabbage, but for spinach or similar crops it should be Fig'ure3.— Spiaach plants grown on land rich in rotten stable manure. The larger plant received in addition to the stable manure nitrate of soda at the rate of one hundred and fifty pounds per acre. 24 VEGETABLE GARDENING. sown broadcast ■when the plants are perfectly dry or during a hard rain. If it sticks to the leaves it Is liable to burn them. If sown during a hard rain it is quickly dissolved and washed to the roots of the plants without injury to the leaves. It is expensive and should never be used when a cheaper supply of nitrogenous manure will do just as well. It may occasionally be used to good advantage in water at the rate of one-half an ounce of nitrate of soda to one gallon of water. Such a solution will not injure the foliage and is of sufficient strength. The use of very large quantities of nitrate of soda on the land has been found to make it necessary to continue using it in large quantities, while if used at the rate given it is not followed by such consequences. The supposed reason for this is that so much nitric acid in the soil destroys the nitric acid- forming ferments, and these must "be slowly replenished before the soil is able to continue yielding its ordinary supply of nitrogen. Sulphate of Ammonia is a by-product from gas works and contains about 20 per cent of nitrogen. It does not act as quickly as nitrate of soda, but for late crops, to be applied dur- ing warm weather, it is one of the best sources of nitrogen. Superphosphate Is made by treating ground bone or nodu- lar phosphate with sulphuric acid to render the phosphates soluble. It is rich in phosphoric acid, and some kinds contain a considerable quantity of nitrogen. They vary much in quality. The better kinds are generally used at the rate of about 400 pounds per acre. Wood Ashes is rich in potash and a valuable fertilizer In many cases provided it has not been leached; if it has been leached it is practically worthless as a fertilizer. Ashes from hard wood is much more valuable than that from soft wood on account of its containing much more potash. Ashes is one of the best fertilizers for fruit trees and plants. About twenty bushels of unleached hard wood ashes is generally sufficient for one acre, but much more may be safely used. Kalnit. — Potash is also applied to the land In the form of German Potash salts, a grade of which, known as kainit, is very commonly used as a fertilizer. These salts are more or less mixed with common table salt and other impurities and form MANURES. 25 a cheap and very useful supply of potash. They are gener- ally sold On a valuation based on the percentage of actual potash they contain. Kainit contains 13 per cent of potash which is more than twice as much as there is in ordinary un- leached wood ashes. From 200 to 600 pounds of kainit is gen- erally applied per acre: Lime is found in abundance in most western soils, but burned limestone, whether as freshly slacked or as quick lime, may often be used to advantage in small quantities when large amounts of stable manure have been used upon the land for a number of years. It should not be used alone, because It ex- hausts the soil. Land Plaster is a sulphate of lime. It is not a direct fertilizer, and Its method of action is not exactly known. It may occasionally be used to advantage for leguminous crops, such as clover, beans, peas, etc., in applications of from 200 to 600 pounds per acre spread broadcast. There is Little Need for Commercial Fertilizers at present in most of the western states and they should never be used until the home sources of manure have been exhausted, and then they should be used to supplement rather than replace farm manures, and as. aids in close cultivation of gardens. They are generally expensive, and results from their use here have not been as satisfactory as in the eastern states. Only the more common kinds to be met with here have been mentioned. Those who use commercial fertilizers of the better kinds for the first time are very likely to use too much and seriously injure the crops to which they are applied. It is much better to use too little than too much, and to experiment along this line in a small and inexpensive way to begin with. Effect of Manure on Crops. — The proportion of the various plant foods used by dijUerent crops varies considerably, some using a larger amount of one element and some of another. Their visible effects when in excess are also quite different. Garden plants that are grown especially for their foliage use large quantities of nitrogen and require it in order to Ire per- fectly healthy, and seed .producing plants use large quantities of phosphoric acid and potash. Where nitrogen in a soluble form Is ver> abundant so as to be in excess in the soil it will be 26 VEGETABLE GARDENING. found that the plants growing on It are noted for their dark green color and rank leaf and stem growth, and for late ma- turity of fruit and seed. In the case of small grain, it may result in such a weak, soft, succulent growth that the stems cannot support themselves and they become "lodged," and such growth may be gained without an increase in the yield of grain. In the ease of lawns a soft, thick sod is made; in the case of spinach, cabbage and other leaf crops, vigorous, large plants result; while tree and bush fruits, under such conditions, make a soft, late-maturing growth that easily winter kills. On. the contrary, when soluble potash and phosphoric acid are in excess in the soil, the plants will have a tendency to pro- duce a large amount of seed and fruit in proportion to straw or wood and to mature early. This is a desirable condition for heaviest grain and seed crops. In the case of bush and tree fruits, it conduces to fruitfulness, early maturity of wood and hardiness. These qualities will he most evident if the nitrogea is under a normal quantity in the soil. It must not be understood from this that any of these ele- ments are hurtful, for they ai-e absolutely necessary in proper proportions to secure best results; but these effects follow when they are greatly in excess. Except in few instances, fresh manure in the soil' is not beneficial, and its presence prevents close cultivation and causes the land to dry out very quickly. Such manure does not afford plant food for some time, since it must first be thoroughly de- cayed before it is of any value to plants. Rotten manure has much of its plant food in an available condition. Manure for Early and Late Crops. — Much more manure and more thoroughly rotted manure is required for early than for late crops. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that early In the season fermentation goes on very slowly, and unless plant food is supplied in a quickly available form it is of no immedi- ate use to the plant. On account of the rapid fermentation which goes on in the. soil later in the season, crops that ma- ture later than the middle of the summer may be able to use the plant food that was locked up in fresh manure in the spring. For instance, the results from fresh cow manure may be almost nothing if applied in the spring to a crop of early MANURES. 27 cabbage or spinach, while for a late crop of cabbage or for corn it may answer very well. Where an abundance of well- rotted manure cannot be obtained in the spring and it becomes necessary to use partially rotted manure for an early crop, it Is a good plan to use nitrate of soda or some other quick acting fertilizer to afford plant food until the manure has rotted. Manures for Leguminous Crops. — Leguminous crops, such as peas, beans, clover, alfalfa, etc., do not need as much nitro- genous manure as most other crops that are so rich in nitro- gen, since their presence encourages the growth of nitric acid ferments in the soil. Such crops improve the land on which they grow by increasing the amount of nitrogen in it, and in this respect they are different from all other garden crops, and are sometimes referred to as nitrogen producers and other crops as nitrogen consumers. Animal Manure should generally be spread evenly on the land and then be thinly covered with the soil; yet for some crops it may sometimes be most desirable to apply the manure in the hill or furrow. The amount that should be applied per acre varies with the crop, soil and manure, so no exact rule can be given. For a midsummer or late maturing crop, probably eight cords of well rotted stable manure per acre would be suf- ficient in almost any case, and much less will sometimes be enough, while for an early crop twice as much rotted manure might be used to advantage. Well rotted manure should be covered with soil soon after it is applied to the land, or it may waste by drying. If it is put on frozen land it may waste by the soluble parts being washed away. But in the case of fresh animal manures th^re Is iiitle chance of loss in these ways. The effect of the application of animal manures to the land will remain apparent for several years. It is generally consid- ered safe to estimate that not more than one-third the full value of these manures is taken up by the crop growing on the land the year it is applied. Manure the Growing Crop. — Sometimes a crop comes to a standstill on account of having exhausted the available ferti- lizing material in the soil. In such cases it may be a good plan to fertilize the growing crop with hen manure, nitrate of soda or other quick acting fertilizer and cultivate the land at 28 VEGETABLE GARDENING. once. This may be done In many cases by applying such ma- terials to the crop during a hard rain or in a dry time by plowing a furrow near the crop and placing the fertilizer In the furrow. But in any case it should be cultivated into the soil so as to become well mixed through it, and much care must be taken to prevent the dry fertilizer from coming in contact with the roots of the plants. Rotating Manures. — It is a good plan to occasionally change the manures applied to land, i. e. when stable manure has been largely used for some years apply some commercial ferti- lizer, lime or land plaster, and when commercial fertilizers have been used for some time recourse should be had to stable manure. Liquid IVlanure. — Liquid manure Is sometimes used for en- couraging the growth of plants. It should never be maue from fresh manure, but from that which Is thoroughly rotted. Urine may be used as a liquid manure if well decomposed, but it should always be used with great caution and never applied to plants if fresh or undiluted. Cow and horse manure are gener- ally preferred for making liquid manure. The vessel in which it is to be made should be one-third full of manure and filled up with water. The whole should then be stirred and allowed to settle. The clear water is then used for watering plants. Liquid fertilizer Is also made by dissolving nitrate of soda In water as mentioned under that head. Ammonia is sometimes used in very small quantities in water applied to plants, espe- «ially to house plants, with good result*. QUESTIONS— CHAPTER II. 1. What elements are usually lacking in the soil? 2. What is the difference between direct and indirect fertilizers? 3. Why are manures from young, growing animals less valuable than from older animals? 4. What la the heating of manures due to? 5. To what extent are the different farm manures valuable for farm crops ? 6. What Is the result of mixing alkaline substances with manure? 7. What Is the result of mixing commercial fertilizers with manures ? 8. How should a manure pile be cared for? 9. What Is a compost heap and how made? 10. What are commercial fertilizers and In what way are they valuable? 11. What is tankage? Nitrate of soda? Kaunt? And what ele- ments do they contain"? 12. What part of the plant does each of the elements, nitrogen, potash and phosphorous affect when in excess in the soil? 13. What kind of manure should be used for early crops and why? 14. What kind of manure should be used for late crops and why? 15. How should commercial fertilizers be applied to the land? 16. How should animal manure be applied to the land? CHAPTER III. GARDEN TILLAGE. By the proper cultivation of the garden we accomplish three things: (1) The weeds are liept out so that they do not shade or talce away valuable plant food and moisture from the plants which we desire to perfect. (2) The surface soil is brought into best condition to resist drought, that is, into the best condition to avail itself to the utmost of the stores of water in the subsoil and to prevent the evaporation of this water from the surface soil. (3) The inert plant food in the soil is made soluble by cnemical action, which is increased by the cultivation of the soil. Prevention and Killing of Weeds. — The methods best adapted for keeping weeds out of the garden are many and varied. They depend much upon the condition and kind of soil in which the weeds grow, and upon the kin"d of crop and the habits of the weeds themselves. The most important step in making easy the prevention of weeds in the garden is the har- rowing or other thorough cultivation of the land just before the planting of the seed, to kill the young weeds. If this is done thoroughly the weeds do not have any better chance than, the crop. If this is not done the weeds will be ahead of the crop in growth, and if started ever so little when the crop is planted the result generally is that the crop is seriously over- grown by them before it is large enough to be cultivated. When garden seeds that require a long time to germinate are sown, it is an excellent plan to lightly rake over the land with an ordinary fine-toothed rake even before the crop appears above the ground, providing the work is so carefully done as not to dis- turb the seeds. This is an easy matter in ease of the larger garden seeds, while it would be impossible with the finer seeds, as they are invariably planted shallow. When the sped is sown with a drill the line of the row may be plainly seen even before the plants come up, thus making it easy to commence cul- 30 VEGETABLE GARDENING. tivating In advance of the weeds. In case of such crops as car- rots, onions, beets and parsnips, which are quite delicate when young, cultivation should begin with some hand garden culti- vator, even if it is Intended later on to cultivate it with a horse implement and the crop is planted with this purpose in view. Such close and careful work cannot be done with any horse im- plement now in use as with the best hand implements. Careful early cultivation is of the utmost importance, since if the weeds are removed when they are young the work of weeding is small. If allowed to remain until well rooted, their removal is often a very serious matter,- and frequently, if neglected at this early stage, the weeds become so firmly established as to make it a question whether to remove them or to plow under the whole crop; and often it is the part of wisdom to adopt the latter alternative. Aside from its effect in the prevention of weeds, early cultivation is of the greatest value in breaking up the crust that packs firmly around the tender growing stems of plants and which seriously interferes with their growth. Like all surface cultivation it is also an aid in the conservation of moisture in the soil. Importance of Not Allowing Weeds to go to Seed. — A com- mon source of weed infection is often found in the few weeds that are allowed to go to seed toward the end of the growing season in the maturing crop or after the crop has been gath- ered. To some persons it often seems a small matter to allow a few plants of pig-weed, purslane, tumble weed and weeds of other kinds to go to seed in the garden, but absolute cleanliness should be the rule In this particular, and it is by far the most economi- cal in practice in the long run. It requires but little labor and saves much useless expense if the weeds that are going to seed are destroyed. If the preventives for weeds here suggested are closely followed hand weeding will be reduced to a minimum and will often be unnecessary with any crop. Weed Seeds In Manure for the Garden. — While the dis- cussion of the subject of manures for the garden is not the special object of this chapter, yet some reference to the subject is quite necessary in considering the subject of weed eradica- tion. The people of this section have not yet learned the great value of barnyard manure and its proper preparation for best GARDEN TILLAGE. 31 results in the soil. This is a subject of vast importance and one that in the future will receive far more thought than at present. The manure applied to the garden is often coarse and contains many weed seeds and is a fruitful source of weed in- fection. If the manure intended for the garden contains the seeds of weeds it should be piled up and allowed to ferment until the whole mass is thoroughly rotted, which process will kill the weed seeds in it. It is seldom advisable to use fresh manure in the garden, and it should only be applied in this condition when free from weeds and then only for some late maturing crops, in which case there will be time for it to rot before the crops need It. Plowing. — In the western states, where the summers are often very dry, vegetable land should generally be plowed in the autumn so that the subsoil may become sufficiently com- pacted by spring to readily transmit the subsoil moisture to the surface. Such treatment, by forming a dust blanket, retards evaporation from the land during dry autumns and dry winters when there is no snow on the ground. Fall plowing also puts the land in the best shape for the action of the elements and the development of plant food, and may oe a means of killing very many cut worms, white grubs and otlier insects that winter over in the soil. If plowing is left until spring in this climate it shoul(} be done as early as practicable and not so deep as when done In the fall. Deep spring plowing leaves too much of the upper soil loose and not sufficiently compact to enable the subsoil water to easily reach the surface roots — but where irri- gation is practiced there is not much difference in this respect. The soil for the garden should ordinarily be plowed to a depth of about eight inches, yet in the case of some light soils half this depth may be preferable. Subsoil Plowing or Subsoiling, are terms applied to the loosening of the land just below where the plow- ordinarily goes. In doing this, the subsoil is not brought to the surface, but a special plow is used which follows an ordinary plow. This has no mold board, but has a good point and shoe, and these loosen the subsoil without raising it. This process may be hurtful or of no value to subsoils already so loose as to permit the roots of plants to readily push into them, and should not 32 VEGETABLE GARDENING. be applied to them, but for some of the very stiff subsoils of this section it is a great improvement, since it deepens the till- able land so that the roots of the plants can push more readily into it. This loosening of the stiff subsoil also puts it into just the right condition for receiving and holding water. It is thus sometimes a great help in carrying plants over droughty periods. Subsoiling gives best results when performed in the autumn. If done in the spring and the operation is followed by dry weather, the land is apt to be left too loose to hold moisture well that year and consequently will suffer from drought. It is seldom, even on stiff land, that subsoiling is needed more than Figure 3.— Root of onion plant with earth washed off. The roots went to the depth of eighteen inches in the earth. once in four or five years, for after being once loosened the roots of plants penetrate it and keep it open. The roots of our garden crops push deeper into the land than is generally known; even the onion, which is, perhaps, as shallow rooted as any gar- den crop grown, often pushes its roots to a depth of eighteen inches in good soil, while corn roots have been followed to a GARDEN TILLAGE. 33 depth ot four feet. It is probable that in good land almost anj of our garden crops will send their roots eighteen or more inches deep. Ridging the Land. — If the land is liable to be too wet for planting in early spring, it Is sometimes a good practice in plow- ing it to turn several furrows back to back and thus leave the land in ridges over winter. If these ridges or "lands" are made fifteen or twenty feet wide, they may be dragged and planted in the spring without further plowing. For some crops it is often best to open the furrows again in the spring and thus leave the land level. This method of treatment permits of working Figure 4-CrosB section of ridged land. the land much earlier in the spring than it otherwise could be worked if plowed flat. It also, 'eaves the soil in very good shape for the action of frost on its particles during the winter. For early crops on fiat or heavy soils it is a most desirable treat- ment. The objection to it is that if not turned back in the spring the dead furrows interfere with cultivation; if the land is thus turned back in the spring, it may be left too loose. But admitting these objections, even then there are often cases where this treatment would be very desirable. It should be borne in mind, too, in cultivating the garden that while the soil in it may be too loose, it cannot be too rich nor too deep, nor can the subsc'l, if not of too impervious a nature, be too compact, and yet it must be loose enough to permit of the roots entering it and the water percolating through it. General Cultivation of Garden Crops. — The methods to he pursued in the general cultivation of garden crops vary some- what according to the soil, season and crop. However, it is very important to remember that the destruction of weeds is but a small part of the work of cultivation. The most important part in this section Is to so fit the soil that it may best with- 34 VEGETABLE GARDENING. stand drought. This is accomplished by frequent shallow culti- vation during the period of drought. The first implements to use in the care of such crops as are generally cultivated by hand are those that work the soil to only a very slight depth close to the plants. Such implements may be used just as the seedlings are breaking ground. As soon as the plants have gained some little strength, implements should be used that will go deeper, until a depth of two or three inches can be easily worked with- out endangering the safety of the crop by covering the plants with dirt. It is doubtful if any of our garden crops should ever be cultivated more than three inches deep, and it is very certain that many crops are injured by cultivating deeply very close to the plants, in which case the roots are cut off near their upper ends and thus wholly destroyed. Cultivation in a period of drought results in forming a mulch or blanket of dry earth on the surface of the land, which prevents the moisture from pass- ing into the atmosphere, and a rather shallow dust blanket, say three inches deep, accomplishes this purpose. A compact sub- soil readily transmits the water upwards to the surface soil in Figfure 5. — Iron Ag^e liorse hoe. the same manner that a lamp wick carries the oil to the flame. At the surface the soil water is prevented from evaporating by the blanket of loose earth, and is thus saved in the upper sub- soil and lower and middle parts of the furrow slice for the roots of the crop. Loose surface soil is a good non-conductor of water. During the growth of a crop the surface soil should never be left long with a crust on it, but should be stirred after each rain or artificial watering. . GARDEN TILLAGE. 3S Cultivation to Develop Plant Food. — Nearly all land in this section contains immense quantities of plant food. Professor Snyder has shown that our average wheat-producing soils con- tain enough nitrogen to raise one hundred and twenty-five suc- cessive crops of wheat. But only, a very little of this material is ever at one time in a condition in which the plant can take it up; nearly all of it is insoluble. By chemical action and fermentation in the soil, plant food is set free. This is increased and made more complete by admitting air into the soil. Hence the reason for deep plowing in the fall, which allows the air and water to enter and thus develop plant food. This, also, is an important fact to be kept in mind in cultivating land. Where the soil can be kept moist through the summer deep spring plowing is an advantage as it opens the soil to the air; but on account of the liability to injury from droughts to soils thus worked the practice is generally a poor one for this section. Figure 6— Piatiet Jr. fine tooth cultivator. GARDEN IMPLEMENTS. Implements, such as plows, harrows, etc., used for prepar- fng the land for ordinary farm crops are also used in fitting tiie land for garden crops. In addition, however, there are a 36 VEGETABLE GARDENINS. number Of tools and implements which are not commonly used in growing the farm crops. These may be roughly classed as follows : Horse Hoes and Horse Cultivators are much alike in general construction, but each is adapted to special purposes, and both are very desirable. The horse hoes are for use when the land is very hard and weedy; they may also be used for ridging the land and drawing the earth from or harrowing it towards the plants. For this purpose they have various attachments. The cultivators are especially for the purpose of stirring the surface soil and ping a dust blanket; they do not remove weeds that are well established. They throw very little soil side- ways and on this account may be used for cultivating very close to small plants. Among the best of these are those known under the names of Planet Jr. and Iron Age. Figure 7.— Opeaiag' aad closing furrows witli hand g-arden cultivators. Hand Cultivators. — There are many good forms of hand cul- tivators on the market, and they are a necessity in every garden containing over a quarter of an acre. They are made so as to be adjusted to various widths between the rows, and kinds called "straddle cultivators" are made so as to cut on two sides of a row of plants at one time, which is often quite an advantage. They also have various attachments for special purposes. Among GARDEN TILLAGE. 37 the best of these are Jewel wheel hoe. New Universal wheel hoe, Gem garden cultivator and the several kinds manufactured by the Planet Jr. Co. Seed Drills. — These are necessary in every garden. There are many good kinds offered by dealers. Among the best are the New Model drill, Planet Jr. Hill-Dropping drill and Mat- thews drill. Combined Seed Drills and Cultivators. — These are very eco- nomical and useful implements for a small garden; for a large garden it Is important to have the seed drill and cultivator sep- Vi;^''«b^>*-' Figure 8.— Garden drills. (1) A. H. Mathews. (2) Planet Jr. combined drill. (2) Mathews combined drill. (4) New Model drill. (S) Planet Jr. Hill Dropping- drill. arate, but in a small garden these combined machines can be used to good advantage, and thereby make a saving in first cost. Among the best of these is the combination drill and cultivator made by the Ames Plow Co., of Boston, Mass., and the Planet Jr. combined drill and cultivator. Figure 9. — A simple garden marker. 38 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Marker. — The illustration shows a good form of a market for the garden. It is easily made by any one who is handy with tooiH and is usea for marking out rows. Figure 10. — Commoa wooden dibber. Fig-ure 11, — Improved fiat steel dibber. Dibbers are generally made from a crooked stick shod with iron and are very useful in transplanting (Pig. 10). A better form made of steel is shown in figure 11. Scuffle Attachments for Hand Garden Cultivators. — Fig, 11 shows two sets of implements designed to be attached to the ^r 1 Fiffure 12,— Home made attach- meats for garden caltiva*:ors. Fig-ure 13.— Scuffle hoe. ordinary wheel cultivators which will work close up to the young plants so as to cut off the weeds just under the surface of the soil, and will be found very useful in many places. They GARDEN TILLAGE. 39 should tie made out of tool steel and any good blacksmith can make them. The length of blades may be made to suit the work. The Scuffle Hoe, shown In Fig. 13, is an excellent old-fash- ioned implement for shallow cultivation, such as is needed in early spring in the garden. Besides, it is very cheap and simple and can be made by any handy blacksmith. It cannot be recom- mended to take the place of the improved wheel hoes for large gardens, but in small gardens it may be used for the work of shallow cultivation to good advantage. It does not work the soil deep enough for the best summer cultivation. Figure 14. — ^Plank drag- for smoothiny the surface of laad. Plank Drag or Smoothing Board. — The form of this is clear- ly shown in Pig. 14. It is used for crushing lumpy soil and smoothing off and levelling the land preparatory to seed sowing or planting and will be found very useful. It can be made by any one. The planks are two by ten. inches on the ends and eight feet long, lapped two inches and nailed. These are strengthened by two six-inch cleats securely bolted on. It is drawn by a chain fastened at the front corners. Potato Diggers. — Of the cheaper forms of potato diggers, probably the HallocK Improved is the most perfect. It does very good work, and where not over five acres of potatoes are to be dug it is probably all that is needed. Where the potato is raised on a large scale, however, it is generally desirable to use an elevating digger. Of these the Hoover and the Dowden are probably the best to be had. They both work on the same principle. Spray Pumps. — Almost every farmer and gardener needs a good spray pump for applying Paris green to . potatoes and vines and for spraying trees, vines, etc., with fungicides or in- secticides. For this purpose some form of the knapsack spray 40 VEGETABLE GARDENING. pump is most desirable where ttie worlc to be done is not very extensive. l- 31 z m 1/3 P _J + + u> + < z <: t- . Suable mj-t- ' -2' nnnunt ±. Figure 33. — Cross section of lean-to greenhouse. might be made of movable sash as recommended for the mode! forcing pit. One ventilator is" at the top of the roof and another is in the side wall. Two purlins extending the length of the house are supported by small gas pipe posts. The northerly bench is four feet wide, raised three feet above the alley and is filled with six inches of soil or it may be used for seed boxes. The center bench is sight feet wide and may be solid or raised. The southerly bench is shown filled with stable manure and is practically a hotbed. The same treatment may also be given the center bench. But where the plan is followed of making up a part of the benches with manure, it is well to have some or all of the roof glazed with movable sash, to facilitate the work ol GLASS STRUCTURES. 77 putting In and taking out the manure. The use of stable manure to supplement the Seating apparatus Is a practice that may be economically followed in locations where coal is high priced and stable manure abundant. The heating arrangement could be either steam or hot water with the flow pipes high up near the roof, as shown at A and B and the returns at C and D. Methods of Heating. — There are practically three methods of heating greenhouses, viz.: by smoke flue, by hot water and by steam. Heating by smoke flue is described under the head of flre hotbeds. It has the merit of being easily and cheaply con- structed by anyone having some little ingenuity. Even when made on the best principles it is probably mofe wasteful of fuel than a good steam or hot water apparatus, but where inferior fuel can be cheaply obtained a smoke flue may often be used to advantage. As for the relative merits of hot water and steam apparatus for heating, it is probably enough to say that each system nas its earnest advocates and that very often there is little advantage in favor of either. Where a very large heat- ing plant must be used, making a night watchman necessary, it is best to plan for steam heating at low pressure. For small •greenhouses perhaps a hot water plant is best. It costs more to put in the hot water apparatus because it requires more radi- ating surface since the pipes are not heated as hot as when steam is used. Some exclusive merits are perhaps justly claimed for a combination of hot water and steam, in which system hot water is used for heating in mild weather, while in severe weather the water is lowered in the boiler, a regulator is put on and the pipes are filled with steam. It is probable that an ordi- nary tubular steam boiler is the most practical kind to use either for a hot water or steam heating apparatus. The amount of radiating surface necessary for heating a greenhouse will depend on the temperature to be maintained and the location of the house. In a general way, one should figure that glass houses will require at least four times as much radi- ating surface as an ordinary dwelling house similarly situated and enclosing the same number of cubic feet of space. In estimating the amount of radiating surface necessary it is always advisable to consult some practical person acquainted with such problems. 78 VEGETABLE GARDENING. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE BUILDING AND CARE OF HOTBEDS AND GREENHOUSES. The Sash for Hotbeds or Cold Frames should lie about 3x6 feet or 4x4% feet in size; the glass free from blisters, of double strength and lapped not more than one-fourth of an inch. If lapped more than this water is liable to freeze the laps and crack the glass, and dirt Will collect largely between the glass. It should be bedded in putty and nailed in, not puttied in. Common window sash might be used for the purpose in a small way and temporarily, but It is not strong enough to last well and besides as the sash bars run both ways and project beyond the glass the rain water cannot run off, but soaks the wood and leaks through into the hotbed, making it too wet in places. Also, the cross bars in common window sash make a needless extra shadow that is objectionable. Regular hotbed sash is made with sash bars running only one way so that the water falling on it runs off easily and quickly. Hotbed sash can be bought of sash manufacturers or may be made at home by any person having a fair amount of mechanical ingenuity. Shutters are desirable for covering the glass of hotbeds and cold frames. They are generally made of second fencing, match- ed and dressed, and in size of the same width as the sash but about six inches lo;iger with a six-inch cleat on each end. The Mats are often made of straw, but cloth and burlap mats are sometimes used. Straw mats are probably as good as any kind and are easily made as follows Make a frame of 2x4 inch lumber the size of the mats desired; four feet wide and one foot longer than the sash is a convenient size. Stand this frame up against a wall anti tightly stretch four or five tarred strings eight to ten inches apart from top to bottom so as to evenly divide the four feet of width. Have as many balls of lighter tarred strings as there are strings fastened to the frame and fasten one to each upright string at the bottom. Commence at the lower end by laying a wisp of straw, cut ends out, on the string at the bottom and fasten It there by twisting each of the smaller strings once around the straw and the upright strings. Next put on another wisp of straw and so continue until the frame Is covered. Mats thus made are an admirable protection GLASS STRUCTURES. 79 against frost and far teaer than siuiters alone. The advantage of having shutters In addition to the mats Is that they keep the mats from getting wet, which makes tnem so heavy that they break easily in handling or they freeze solid and do not lie close or are clumsy to handle. Rye straw is best for mats and it is most tough and durable when cut partially green. It is often threshed by hand so that the straw can be kept straight, but it may be cleaned by a threshing machine by holding the bundle and only putting the heads into the machine. Ventilation and Temperature are subjects of greatest impor- tance in growing plants under glass. The various classes of plants require different degrees of heat to reach their best development. For instance, lettuce, radish, cress and similar plants grow best at a low temperature, say about 75 degrees in the day and 40 to 50 degrees at night, and may even be frozen without serious injury, while tomatoes, egg plants, cucumbers and melons grow best at the higher temperature of 85 to 90 de- grees in the day and 60 degrees at night. If the former plants are kept at a higher temperature than that given they are liable to become diseased and infested with insects. This is especially true of lettuce. On the other hand if the high temperature plants are kept much cooler they become sickly and weak, al- though tomato plants will grow in quite cool temperature. In ad- mitting air to glass structures care should be taken that the wind does not blow in on the plants. This is generally best ac- complished in hotbeds and frames by blocking up the sash at the ends or sides with notched pieces of wood. The temperature of any place, unless otherwise specified, is the temperature there of a thermometer in the shade. A ther- mometer with the full sunlight shining on it, will record about fifteen degrees higher than in the shade, which is a point always to be borne In mind in ventilating. In the weather of early spring when the sun is getting high the middle of the day& will be very warm and the nights still quite cool and frosty. It is then that a beginner often makes the mistake of leaving the sashes of his hotbeds open late in the afternoon, and the beds cool off more than is desirable. At this season of the year but little ventilation is necessary, and frames and greenhouses should be shut up quite early In the 80 VEGETABLE GARDENING. afternoon, and the covering put on to retain tlie heat as soon as the sun is low. In the warm weather of later spring, the sash of the hotbeds and frames may be removed in the day and kept on only at night. No exact rules can be laid down for ventilating, but It is quite a simple matter to learn, if one is observant and uses constant vigilance. Many persons just be- ginning to use greenhouses and hotbeds fail to get best results from them because they neglect the matter of ventilation. On cloudy mornings it may not be needed, but if the sun comes through the clouds it may warm the house or the beds In a very short t}me, so that when they are examined the whole crop has been injured by the heat. This is a most common cause of failure by amateurs in charge of greenhouses and hotbeds.- In nature the night temperature in which plants grow aver- ages from fifteen to twenty degrees below that of the day, and It has been found in practice that when this condition is reversed the plants do not do well. This, of course, can be easily avoided by a little forethought. It is a bad plan, generally speaking, to ventilate much in cold weather, when the leaves are wet. On this account it is best to water early in the day, so that the leaves may dry off before much ventilation is required. Watering. — Plants that are growing slowly do not need much water, while those that are growing vigorously need a great deal of it. Growing plants need water whenever they are dry. In bright warm weather a rapid growing crop in hotbed or cold frame will need watering every day while in cloudy moist weather perhaps no water will be needed for a week. In fact, watering in cloudy weather seems to encourage disease. When applying water see that the soil is wet as far down as the roots extend. It is only the beginner who just wets the surface soil and thinks the plants sufficiently watered. If plants are wilting for want of water in the soil give it to them no matter what time of day, but It is always a great advantage in such cases to shade as well as water them if the sun is shining. If a long continued spell of cloudy weather is followed by a period of bright sunshine it is not uncommon to see plants wilting that have plenty of water in the soil surrounding them. In such a case it may be desirable to shade them somewhat In the middle of the day until they get used to the sunlight. In cold weather GLASS STRUCTURES. . 81 It Is a poor plan to water most of our plants at night since the ■water will cool off the air and the plants may be checked in growth, but in hot weather the reverse is true and plants seem to get more benefit from a good soaking in the evening, when they can have all night to take the water in, than if it is applied in the morning and followed by a hot sun. In watering hotbeds in very cold weather use a fine rose sprinkler and if practicable tepid water. At other seasons good lake or cistern water is perfectly safe, and is generally used by commercial growers at all seasons of the year. Avoid getting the soil water-soaked. The leaves of lettuce and some other plants are liable to burn if watered when the sun Is shining brightly on them. The Soil should vary somewhat in texture for different plants, but all garden vegetables will flourish in much the same kind of soil. For use in glass structures a light, friable rich, sandy loam is best. This is easily obtained when one has been using hotbeds by mixing some of the old rotted manure which has been used for heating them the preceding year with any good sandy loam. If sandy loam cannot be had, clay loam may be used and sand added to the mixture. The manure from old hotbeds is especially good for this purpose and should form about one-third of the bulk of the soil. Boxes. — In the case of many plants having small seeds, it Is a good plan to start them in boxes instead of growing them in beds, on account of the better care that may thus be given them. When plants are to be marketed it is often best to grow them in the boxes in which they are to be sold. Frequently, too, where plants are started in the greenhouse and then moved to the open ground it is most convenient to have them in boxes. For this purpose boxes should be about four inches deep and the size of a soap or cracker box, which may be cut down for the purpose and thus make very cheap boxes. Of course where the market demands a certain number of plants in boxes, they will have to be made for the purpose. The lumber for these can bo obtained at any box factory and what would perhap"s be other- wise idle moments may be used in putting it together at trifling expense. Substitutes for Glass. — Frames of the same size as hotbed sash are sometimes covered with prepared cloth or paper sub- 82 VEGETABLE GARDENING. stltutes for glass. Such covering, however, will not allow the sun's rays to penetrate it easily nor is it so effective in prevent- ing radiation of the heat as glass, but under some circumstances it may be very desirable. Sash thus covered may often be used to advantage in the latter part of spring by alternating it on the frames and thus doubling the amount of sash at small ex- pense. Or, they may be used in the warm weather of spring when the sash needs to be removed entirely in the middle of the day. They are excellent for covering beds filled with recently transplanted crops, since the light is less intense and evapora- tion less under them than under glass. A convenient way of forming these sashes is to make frames without sash bars but with one or two wires stretched across them to support the cloth or paper covering. Unbleached heavy cotton cloth may be used for this purpose, and the material for dressing it should be made of three pints pale linseed oil, one ounce acetate of lead and four ounces white resin. Grind the acetate in a little .oil, then add the resin and the rest of the oil. Melt in an iron kettle over a gentle fire until well mixed and apply warm to the cloth. When paper is used it should be what is known as manilla wrapping paper. Paste this firmly and tightly on the frame with fresh flour paste. Dry in a warm place. Then wipe the whole of the paper with a damp sponge to cause it to stretch evenly. Dry it again, and apply boiled linseed oil to both sides of it and dry in a warm place. Use linseed oil that is free from cotton seed oil. Shading the Glass. — In the hot weather of late spring or sum- mer the sunlight is too warm for many plants in the greenhouse and it is customary to shade them. The amount of shade neces- sary will depend somewhat on circumstances. This shade may consist of lath screens laid on the roof, but more commonly it is given by sprinkling the glass on the outside, with a wash made of white lead and gasoline, put on with a spray pump or syringe. This is easily and cheaply done. It will generally come off by autumn or may be rubbed off with a coarse rag or brush. Whitewash is sometimes used for this purpose but It is too easily washed off by heavy rains to be desirable. GLASS STRUCTURES. 83 SOME THINGS TO REMEMBER IN CONNECTION WITH BUILDING GLASS HOUSES FOR PLANTS. (1) That all joints should be made tight and so far as pos- sible so placed that water will not lodge in them. (2) There should be just as much room in the beds and as little In the paths as possible. (3) The glass should be as close to the beds as it can be and allow room to manage the crops grown in them. It should be of larger size for greenhouses than for hotbeds and in size not smaller than 10x12 inches, laid on sash bars 11 inches apart. The larger the glass the better. There is not so much brealtage in large as in small glass. (4) A permanent water supply is very desirable. (5) The glass should be of good quality, free from blisters, bad waves or other imperfections and what is known as double strength glass. (6) The heating arrangements should be suflBcient to heat the house easily in coldest weather; in other words, it should be more than sufficient to maintain the proper temperature if crowded. (7) Having the heating plant insufficient and then crowd- ing it in severe weather, injures the heating plant and wastes fuel besides being a trial of patience, (8) The ventilators should >ie large and carefully fitted so they will close tightly. When in the roof they should be open at the top. If they open at the bottom the moisture that condenses on the glass forms an ice ridge on them in cold weather and prevents their shutting tight. (9) The smaller the Bash bars and framing material in the roof the more sunlight can reach the crop. (10) The greenhouse roof may be covered with movable sash, but it is generally found most desirable to use permanent sash bars. Where severe hail storms are frequent it might be well to use movable sa«h and take them off in the summer, but such places are rare exceptions. It requires a very severe hail- storm to break double strength glass, when at an angle, as in a roof, and practically there is little risk from this source. (11) In the framing of greenhouses, for instances for pur- 84 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Has and posts, gas pipe can be used to good advantage. It Is cheap and durable. (12) All joints should be painted beilore being put together; all wood and iron work should be kept well painted. (13) If putty is used in glazing the glass it should be bedded in it and nailed in, in this way: paint the sash bars, then run a thin coat of putty along them; bed the glass in it commencing at the bottom of the sash and lapping the glass ons- fourth of an inch, on the same plan that shingles are laid on a roof. Fasten the glass with round three-quarter inch brads, us- ing four to each glass; put more liquid putty along the glass next to the sash bars and smooth it off with a knife even with the glass. (14) Liquid putty is made by mixing one-third boiled lin- seed oil, one-third white lead and one-third common putty. If too thick, as may be the case in cold weather, add a little tur- pentine or benzine. It may be applied with a brush but the best way is to put it on with a bulb bought for the purpose; or a bulb may be made with leather, having a large quill through which to squeeze the putty. In the latter case there must be a hole in the side or end by which the bulb is filled and which may be drawn together' by a string. (15) Perhaps the most popular way of setting glass In greenhouses at present is by using square glass and butting the ends together. To do this to tsst advantage no nails' or putty are used and a special wooden cap is put on the sash bar which holds the glass in place. If desired to have the glass tight the abutting edges may be just touched with white lead before being put together. This makes a very satisfactory roof. QUESXrONS— CHAPTER V\. 1. Discuss the use and construction of a cold frame. 2. Discuss the use and construction of a hot-bed. 3. Discuss the use and construction of a fire hot-bed. 4. Discuss the use and construction of a green-house. 5. How should the ventilation and temperature be regulated for plants grown under glass? 6. How should plants be watered? 7. What liind of soil is best for plants growing under glass? 8. What Is a good method of starting plants in a green-house? 9. What may be substituted for glass on hot-bed sashes? 10. Name ten Important things to be remembered in building glass houses for plants. CHAPTER VII. •INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETABLES. In this chapter only the more common Insects infesting garden vegetables are referred to. There are many others that almost yearly cause some damage to our crops and which in occasional years cause serious loss. But to enumerate them would require more space than can he afforded here. In dealing with them it is well to remember that biting insects, such as potato beetles and blister beetles, are generally most surely de- stroyed by arsenical poisons such as Paris green and London purple; while sucking insects, such as plant lice and chinch bugs are not affected by them but are most readily destroyed by external applications such as tobacco water and kerosene emul- sion. We should also remember that in our war upon injurious insects we have the support of most of the birds and of the moles and shrews, and these should be protected as the friends of man rather than be destroyed as is too often the case among thoughtless or ignorant people. Moles and shrews are especially useful since they work under ground, and feed largely on various insects that are diiHcult to destroy on account of their living in the soil. It is perhaps no exaggeration to say that the shrew (often called mole) will eat its weight of insects each dS,y. In- sects are also liable to attacks of parasites or of fungus and other diseases, which destroy them in large numbers and often in a very short time. When insects appear in small numbers hand picking is often a Very efficient remedy, but when they become very abundant some other method of destroying them must be devised. INSECTICIDES AND METHODS OF DESTROYING INSECTS. Pyrethrum is the Insect powder of the stores. It is made by grinding the flowers of the pyrethrum plant which closely resembles the common oxeye daisy. It is not poisonous to higher organized animals although very destructive to many kinds ol insects. It Is frequently adulterated and can seldom be obtained 86 INJURIOUS INSECTS. of good quality. It also deteriorates very quickly ■when exposed to the air. On these accounts it is often very difficult to get sat- isfactory results from that obtained at the stores. When used it should be diluted with about five times its bylk of flour, witb which it should be kept in a tight vessel for at least twenty-four hours before using in order to get best results. When thus con- fined it takes up the poisonous principle of the pyrethrum. It should always be kept in an air-tight receptacle. Paris green is a refuse product composed of arsenious acid and copper and is probably as safe as any arsenic compound. It is only very slightly soluble in water, and is used with water at the rate of one pound to one hundred or more gallons o£ water; it is also used when mixed with dry substances, at the rate of one pound to fifty pounds of flour or one hundred pounds of land plaster, road dust or sifted coal ashes. In using it with water the addition of an equal amount of milk of lime often prevents injury to leaves. London purple is composed of arsenious acid and lime. It is often much cheaper than Paris green but varies more in its com- position. On account of its being lighter than Paris green it does not settle so quickly when put in water. It is used in the same manner as that substance. When used in water an equal amount of milk of lime should always be added to neutralize the free acid which it sometimes contains in injurious quantities, and which may burn the foliage of tender plants.. London purple adheres to the foliage of plants longer than Paris green. Tobacco 's very useful for destroying some kinds of insects In the garden and greenhouse. It is especially effective aginst plant lice and soft-skinned hairless caterpillars.- Where smoke from it can be confined around the plants, as in greenhouses and hotbeds, it is common to use It in a smudge, but when thus used It should be kept from blazing. It is also used in powdered form to keep off some insects. A more common and effective way of using it, is as a decoction in water at the rate of one pound of tobacco stems, leaves or dust to two gallons of water. The tobacco should be boiled in the water for twenty minutes. When cold the decoction should be used undiluted with a syringe, spray or otherwise. The decoction will not keep more th-an a few days INJURIOUS INSECTS. 87 without spoiling. Tobacco is an excellent fertilizer as well as insecticide. Kerosene emulsion is a valuable insecticide. It kills by con- tact and is of greatest importance for destroying sucking insects such as lice, scale Insects and soft caterpillars, but also kills many biting insects. It is made as follows: Kerosene oil, 2 gallons, 67 per cent; common soap, or whale oil soap; % pound, 33 per cent. Two pounds of soft soap may be used in place of the soap recommended. Dissolve the soap over a brisk fire, remove and add the kero- sene while the water is hot. Churn the mixture or stir rapidly until a creamlike emulsion is secured. If well made the kero- sene will not separate but on cooling the emulsion will thicken Into a jelly-like paste that adheres without oillness to the sur- face of glass. Soft water will give far better results than hard water for making kerosene emulsion, and soap that is made with potash or soda lye, such as home made soap, is far better than most of the soap of the stores, as they do not emulsify easily. For plant lice, dilute the emulsion recommended with from twenty to twenty-five parts of cold water. The strength of the application will necessarily depend on the insects to which it is to be applied. For such insects as soft-skinned caterpillars the emulsion should be diluted with not more than ten parts of water. Kerosene and milk emulsion may be used as follows: Kerosene 2 gallons. Sour milk 1 gallon. These readily form ah emulsion when thoroughly churned together. It should be used the same as other soap and kerosene emulsion mentioned. Sweet milk does not emulsify readily but if a little sour or even if very sour, it unites easily with the kero- sene. This is the best emulsion where the water is very hard. Carbon bisulphide is a very inflammable material with a disagreeble odor and readily vaporizes. It should be handled with the same precaution as gasoline which resembles it in appearance. The fumes which it gives off are very heavy and are poisonous to animal life when confined with it. On account of these properties it is used for killing weevils in grain or peas. 88 VEGETABLE GARDENING. beans aad other seeds, and for killing gophers, mice or other creatures in their holes. The method o£ using it for grain weevils, is to fill a barrel or other tight receptacle nearly full of seed, then sprinkle on an ouAce of the liquid for each one hun- dred pounds of seed and cover the vessel tightly for several hours. It does not hurt the grain which is just as good and looks as nice as ever after being treated. The germinating qualities of the seed are not injured by this treatment. When used for killing moles, gophers and mice, the material should be put on cotton or other absorbent and placed in their holes closed with earth over the cotton. Catching Insects by Light at Night. — By suspending a lan- tern at night over a tub of water having its surface coated with kerosene many night flying insects can be destroyed. Among those that can be caught in this way are cut worm moths, the clicking beetle (which is the mature form of the wire worm), and the May beetle (which is the mature form of the white grub). When these insects become especially abundant this method of catching them is worthy of trial. The objections to It are: (1) tnat it is the larvae and not the flying form of these insects that do serious injury; (2) few persons are so far sighted that they can be persuaded to attack insect enemies until they are suffering from their ravages, and the benefits of this method will not be felt until perhaps the following year. (3) The obser- vations of Dr. Otto Lugger show that insects have generally laid their eggs before they fly much, and only the male insects of some species fly, and the females are nearly or quite wingless. It is obvious that in such cases catching the flying Insects will do little if any good. Applications of Insecticides. — In applying insecticides it is generally important to begin their use as soon as the insects appear and not wait until the plants have been weakened and set back by their attacks. There are many and various machines for distributing Insecticides. The machine best adapted to this purpose will depend much on the Insecticide used and the extent of the operations contemplated. For applying liquid compounds some ' of the many forms of spray pumps will be found best. For the small garden where there is a variety of crops grown. INJURIOUS INSECTS. 89 perhaps what is known as knapsack spray pump is as convenient as any general purpose ma- chine. Where potatoes are grown on a large scale some special spray pump that can be geared to the wheels of a wag- on may often be the best to use. Where insecticides are used in powder form it is a good plan to scatter them on tjie plants through a coarse lin- en bag or fine wire cloth. When such material needs to be eject- ed with force, a fan or bellows may be used. It is always best to use poisons in a liquid form when practicable since it is the most economical and effective method of applying them. No insecticide should ever be used in a large way, until it has been tried on a small scale to see what its effect will be on the crop to be treated, since plants may be more susceptible at one time than at another to applications of this nature. Figure tie 34. — Colorado potato bee- in all stages. COMMON GARDEN INSECTS AND METHODS OF DESTROYING THEM. The Colorado Potato Beetle (Doryphora decemlineata.) — The Colorado potato beetle is so common and so well known by every farmer and gardener, in this country that it needs no description here. It came originally from the Rocky Mountain region where it fed on the native sandbur (Solanuni rostratum) which is closely allied to the potato, but when this Insect cams to know the cultivated potato it preferred it to its original food and has since become a very dangerous pest to this vegetable. The orange i,olored eggs, varying in number from a dozen to fifty, are generally laid on the under side of the potato leaf. 90 VEGETABLE GARDENING. They hatch In about a week into sluggish larvae which feed upon the leaves, never leaving a plant until all the leaves are gone. They also feed to some extent upon tomato and egg plants. When fully developed the larvae descend to the ground where they pupate and emerge as perfect beetles. There are three broods each season. The beeUes winter over in potato lields. Remedies. — The number of these pests varies greatly from year to year. The chief remedies are arsenical poisons applied to the foilage. For this purpose Paris green and London purple are commonly used. The method of applying them varies much. It is a common practice to use one pound of Paris green to 150 gallons of water. This must be constantly agitated while in use or the poison wiil settle to the bottom of the vessel. London purple may also be applied in water, but as it varies somewhat in composition and is liable to contain a dangerous amount of free acid, it is safest to use with it an equal amount of milk of lime. It is also a good plan to use milk of lime with Paris green. Some experiments show that about one pound of lime, one pound London purple and about seventy gallons of water, is a safe and satisfactory formula to use for this crop. When thus applied the work may be done with a spraying machine, a water- ing pot or brush broom, but the spray pump is the most eco- nomical. On a large scale, some kind ol a spraying apparatus is necessary. These poisons may also be safely applied when mixed with one hundred times their bulk of flour, sifted ashes or road dust or mixed with one hundred pounds of land plaster. When thus used they are easily applied by means of a coarse linen bag. There are a number of proprietary insecticides for the potato beetle but they generally depend for their success on the arsenic they contain. But no matter what insecticide is applied, in order to do the most good it should be used as soon as the young larvae can be seen on the leaves. The Imported and Native Cabbage Worm (Pleris sp.). — The imported cabbage worm resembles our native species and both of them are very destructive to cabbage, turnip, cauliflower and similar vegetables and to such flowering plants as mignon- ette, stocks and nasturtiums. They feed on the leaves and will often destroy the cabbage crop unless preventive measures INJURIOUS INSECTS. 91 are taken. The worms of the imported species are green in color, while our native species are bluish with yellow stripes. The butterflies of both species are much alilie. They are gener- Tig, 15. ■ Imported Cabbage W6rm.- , fa) Lajrae. butterfly. (b) Chrysalis, ic) Male ally white with indefinite black marks above and yellow or green markings on the underside, and are commonly seen flit- ^ ^ ting over flelds of cabbage or of other of its food plants during the day time. The full grown caterpillar is about an inch and a half long. The winter is passed in the chrysalis stage hidden away in sheltered places and from these the adult butterfly emerges in the spring and lays her eggs on the under side of the leaves where they hatch in about one week. There are several broods in a season.. Remedies. — Pyrethrum powder, mixed with flve times itg bulk of flour and dusted into the cabbage just at nightfall is a good remedy. The flour should be mixed with the pyrethrum overnight. In a small way hand picking may be successfully resorted to. If the worms are troublesome where cabbage is grown on a large scale it is customary to use arsenical poison mixed with flour as recommended for the potato bug. The poison cannot be applied In water as it will not stick to the leaves. 92 VEGETABLE GARDENING. These, it is evident to anyone, can be safely applied before the plants commence to head, and recent careful trials and analy- ses of cabbage thus treated with Paris green, show there is very little danger in using it at any stage of the plants. It is the sim- plest of remedies and effective yet not dangerous. There are narasites that attack and kill the worms and chrysalides, and Dr. Lugger has shown clearly that they sometimes may be destroyed very rapidly by disease as well as insect parasites. It is not uncommon to have nearly all these worms die in the latter part of any season from one or both of these causes. Cabbage Plusia. (Plusia brassicae.) — The cabbage plusia eats irregular holes in the leaves, and burrows into the heads of the cabbage. The parent insect ,is a moth of a dark-gray color Figure 37. — Snapping beetle or wire worm with larvae. distinguished by a silver mark on each wing. The eggs are laid on the upper surface of the leaves singly or in clusters. They soon hatch into pale green translucent worms, marked with paler longitudinal stripes on the back and sides. When full grown these are about two inches long. They resemble span worms in their mode of locomotion, hence are easily distinguished from the cabbage worm. The full grown caterpillar spins a cocoon, generally on the under side of the cabbage leaf, In which it undergoes its changes. The insect winters over in the pupal state. The remedies for this pest are the same as those INJURIOUS INSECTS. 93 recommended for cabbage worms and it is also subject to dis- eases and parasites. Wire Worms or Drill Worms (Elator). — Wire worms, cause damage by boring into potatoes and some seeds in the ground. They are the larvae of a snapping or clicking beetle, so called from the ease with which, if laid on their backs, they spring into the air with a clicking noise. The larvae are slender wire- like worms having a glassy tough skin of a yellowish or brown- ish color. The larvae stage lasts for two and possibly five years; it is therefore no small job to clear a piece of land badly in- fested with the pest. Naturally, wire worms live in grass land where the harm they do is not apparent,' bjit^when such land is planted to corn or potatoes and the worals are thus depived of their natural food they may become very troublesome. Remedies. — Late fall plowing is desirable for land infested with wire worms since it exposes and thus kills all that are ready to pupate. By clean summer fallowing the land one season the worms are starved out, if no plants whatever are permitted to grow on it. Gut Worms (Agrotis sp.). — Cut worms often cause serious injury by eating vegetable plants. They are generally most in- ^ ^ ^ >\T\ Fig:ure 38. — Cut worm and moth. jurious while the plants are small, when they often bite off young cabbage, bean, corn or other plants close to or just under the ground and thus destroy them. Their work is most percep- tible in the spring on account of the small amount of growing vegetation at that time, yet they also work in the autumn. True cut worms are the larvae Qf several night flying moths which appear late in summer. The female deposits her eggs late in the summer. These soon hatch into worms which enter the 94 VEGETABLE GARDENING. ground and live near the surface on the tender riots of grasa and other plants until the approach of cold weather. They then descend deeper into the ground and remain torpid until spring, when they come to the surface and again commence their depre- dations. Cut worms when full grown, are from one and a quarter to one and three-quarter inches long and rather large in diameter as compared with the length. Their skin is of some dull color, srnooth, with often dull stripes and bands. Remedies. — Cut worms are most injurious in sod land or land on which weeds have been permitted to grow in autumn, or in land adjacent thereto. They are not liable to winj;er over on any land that is kept free Irom weeds and grass in autumn, since there is no food for them in such places. The worms feed almost entirely by night and hide during the day time under clods or just under the surface of the ground near where they have been working. In a small way they may be dug out and destroy- ed, but in fields and on a large scale this is impossible and a good remedy is to scatter baits of poisoned clover through the fields. This is easily prepared by dipping clover into Paris green or Lon- don purple and water. A dough made of bran and Paris green sprinkled about the plants will often be found very satisfactory in destroying cut worms, and sometimes will work even better than clover for this purpose. Where cut worms are abundant a larger amount than usual of seed should be planted that a good stand may be secured even if the worms do get some ol it. When plants such as cabbage, cauliflower and tomatoes are plant- ed out, it is a good plan to wrap the plants with pieces of stout paper extending about an inch below and three inches above the ground. When boxes or tomato cans are set around plants for shade, they afford a good protection from this pest. Protec- tion from cut worms to hills of melons, cucumbers and similar plants, may be given by pieces of pasteboard or tin. These should be cut about three inches wide and sufficiently long to encircle the hill. They should be set about an Inch deep in the ground. Spraying the plants with London purple or Paris green Is a good remedy. The moths of cut worms, as well as such insects as adult wire worms and grub worms may be killed at night by means of a lantern, suspended over a tub of water having a little kerosene on its surface. This should be done late in the summer when the moths of cut worms are abundant. INJURIOUS INSECTS. 95 Striped Cucumber Beetle. (Diabrotica vittata.) — This little beetle attacks squashes, cucumbers and melons when they are young. By eating the foliage and tender stems they may cause the death of the young plants. "When abundant It is a very difficult pest to combat. It appears in the spring ^c'fc''umbl7bleulf at just about the time the young squash plants are out of the ground, having wintered over in brush piles or other places affording protection. The beetle lays its eggs on the roots of corn where the young do considerable damage. These worms, are full grown- in about one month from hatching They then leave the roots, make a little cavity in the earth near by, and undergo their changes. The insects spend the winter in the beetle stage. The beetle is about a quarter of an inch long and is striped with yellow and black. It is very quick in its movements but does not fly much except in the middle of the day. Remedies. — An extra amount of seed should be sown so as to secure a good stand and still allow some for the beetles. Dusting the vines, stems and leaves when they are moist, with air slaked lime, road dust or similar material containing a little Paris green or other poison, is quite a protection, and if per- sistently followed up aft- er every rain will gen- erally prevent serious loss. But care should be taken to put the dust on the stems as well as the leaves. Paris green and water is also a good Figure 40— Cheese cloth screen for protecting- remedy and iS applied cncnmber, squashes and melon vines from jjjg game as for the the striped beetle when young. 96 VEGETABLE GARDENING, potato beetle. Tobacco dust is also an excellent preventative used in tbis way. Some gardeners having quite extensive plant- ings, and many who are working in a small way, prefer to cover each hill with a box or frame covered with cheese cloth. In this case, the edges of the box or frame should be sunk an inch or so in the ground to keep out the bugs. Frames for this purpose are readily made of barrel hoops cut in halves and fastened together or of three slender sticks forming a sort of tent. This method allows the light and air to circulate freely around the plants, while at the same time they are perfectly protected and at slight cost. White Grub or May Beetles (Lachnosterna fuse a. — The insect known as the white grub is the larval stage of the May beetle. It lives in the land where it feeds on the roots of „ , -^Bitj VKHL'i plants. The mature in- \ , (tC5 lti^ ^^Hk ^BSl ^^'^^ ^^ ^ dark brown La' ^--sKI ^^a iJSi beetle, often nearly ^ B.it;'^, '^ •^ I^^M ^^^B^pl^w^'^^'"^ ^k"^' '^rW Bj^^^^jr' '?1 ^^■■HeN^KSJ^fy^i^'y''.'' '!^ ^^^^9^''''' ■■■ '^ iH W^^M^'^'i H •- - * vv'XW ^KK^^^\i''.<f the asparagus is green. ASPARAGUS. 119 which Is the right condition for most markets. Some people prefer to have white sprouts and in such cases they should he cut four or five inches deep in the ground. In case white sprouts are wanted It is also a good plan to mound up around the hills or to cover them with fine manure to keep the sunlight away from the shoots. The time between the cuttings is largely de- pendent on the weather. In early spring, if the weather is rather cold, the plants may not give more than one cutting per week, but later in the season a good cutting will perhaps be secured once in two days. A severe frost will kill all the shoots above ground but will not injure subsequent cuttings. Asparagus is Figure 51. — ^Method of bunching asparagus, showing loose sprouts, boxes for tying up In and completed bunches. marketed by tying the sprouts in bunches, and the size of the bunches depends much upon the market and, in some places, on the season and whether the supply is plentiful or not. It is very desirable, however, to have all the bunches of one size. It is preferable to tie the sprouts when they are just a little wilted and then set them in water to swell and make the bands tight. The shoois will easily keep for a week if kept cold and moist. It is customary to stand the bunches on end in water in keeping them. Manuring. — If manure is applied to the asparagus bed In autumn or before the frost is out of the ground in the spring, it prevents the frost from coming out of the ground and sg keeps back the growth unless the manure applied is very fine 120 VEGETABLE GARDENING. and Is at once cultivated into the soil. Sometimes such treat- ment will l£eep the sprouts from starting for a week or more at a season when it is most relished and the market price Is the highest. On this account it is an excellent plan to manure asparagus in June at the close of the cutting season, as it can then be thoroughly cultivated into the soil and does not inter- fere in any way with the growth of the plants In the spring. Asparagus is a rank feeder and needs lots of manure for the best results. Salt may be applied to asparagus to such an extent as to kill all the weeds without injuring the plants and yet careful experiments seem to show that salt is of no special value as a manure for this crop. Asparagus seed is readily taken from the fruit In which it grows by macerating the fruit in water and then drying it. Forcing Asparagus for early use is being done to some ex- tent near large cities where it is often -a profitable' undertak- ing. For this purpose -the roots must be dug in the'fall and carefully stored in earth in a cellar. In March, make a good, slow hotbed and put the roots in it in good soil. It is im- portant to start the roots slowly or the shoots will be spind- ling and weak. The roots stored as recommended may also be forced into growth in a warm cellar, shed, greenhousee, or a part of a permanent bed may be enclosed In glass or cotton sheeting. i Varieties. — There are a number of varieties, and they are all desirable when given good cultivation. Among the best kinds, are Conover's Colossal, Moore's and Palmetto. ONIONS. (Allium Cepa.) Native of Centra! or Western Asia. — Biennial, sometimes perennial. The original home of the onion is not known. It has no true stem, but this is represented by the base of the bulb. The form, color and shape of onions vary greatly in dif- ferent varieties. The free portion of the leaves is elongated and swollen in the lower part. The flowers, which are white or Iliac in color, are borne in dense, round heads on long, slen- der, hollow stalks; sometimes, instead of flowers, a head of small bulbs is produced and no seed at all. This may occur oc- casionally In all kinds, but is the almost invariable characteria- ONIONS. 121 tic of the tree and top onions. The seeds are black, angular and flattish. Usually the plant after seeding dies and disap- pears entirely, but sometimes seed onions produce peouliar pointed bulbs, called cloves, as well as seeds. Such plants may be considered perennial as well as the potato onion jwhich never seeds and Is propagated by the division of Its bulbs. The onion has been cultivated from remote antiquity, and there are very many varieties that have been developed for different purposes. These are almost without exception grown for their bulbs, but In a few cases no bulbs are formed. The bulbs in color are white, red and yellow, with Intermediate shades. In the suc- cessful raising of the onion, good judgment and experience play an important part. Perhaps no vegetable crop Is more certain to pay the skillful grower for his time and labor and none more liable to cause trouble to the careless beginner, and yet Its cul- tivation is quite simple. The prices for onions vary greatly. They seldom are so cheap as to make the crop unprofitable; but occasionally they get down to fifteen cents per bushel, at which price they cannot be grown at a profit. There are few cnimals that eat onions, and if not sold they cannot be fed to stock on a large scale, as Is the case with most vegetables. As a money crop for careful growers in many sections they are among the most reliable, and if a reasonable amount of them is raised each year without regard to the price the preceding year, it is a crop that will generally average a good profit. Land. — Onions may be raised on any good retentive soil. Sandy land is too apt to dry out In summer for best results. On drained muck land, large crops may be easily raised; although onions grown on such soil are often a little looser In texture than those raised on drier land.' The land should be rich, fine and free from weeds and any strawy manure or other material that would interfere with close cultivation. Too much stress cannot be put on having the land free from weed seeds, since It is a crop that requires much hand weeding and the plants are quite delicate when young. The soil should be rather firm for onions and plowed In the fall rather than In the spring. Fall plowing leaves the soil firm and In excellent condition for the crop. Sometimes when the land Is rich It is desirable not to plow at all, especially It Is was in onions the preceding year, but Instead 122 VEGETABLE GARDENING. to make a seed bed by the use of a disk or other good harrow and plant at once; in fact, better results will generally be ob- tained from spring harrowing than from spring plowing of land to be used for onions. Of course, if the land is to be harrowed only to prepare it for the crop, it is very important, if manure is to be used, that this be very fine, so that the harrow will cover it Old land Is generally preferred for onions, and this crop la often successfully raised on the same land for many years. From the fact that onion land is always most carefully attended to and gets much manure and tillage. It is generally in better condition for onions than land used for almost any other crop. However, it is a good plan to occasionally change the land for onions, since on new land there is far less danger from disease and insect enemies than on old land. Lao/l that has grown any crop requiring high culture and heavf ianuring and Is free from weed seeds will generally grow i_jd onions. Sometimes onions are raised on newly cleared woodland or prairie sod with greatest success, simply by sowing the seed broadcast and har- rowing it in; but this is seldom attempted. Sowing the Seed. — Before sowing the seed the land should be made very smooth. It is very important to get the seed in the ground as early in the spring as possible. As soon as the land can be worked in the spring, the seed should be sown and the earlier it Is sown the better. The seed of some kinds can be sown in the autumn to advantage, but on land that is in- clined to "bake," it is a bad practice and is seldom attempted. There Is, however, a fair chance of a crop even if the seed is sown as late as the first of June, but a first-class crop from seed sown as late as this is almost out of the question. By the mid- dle of May, all onion land should have been sown. The distance between the rows will depend somewhat on the variety grown, but for ordinary purposes the seed should be sown in rows fif- teen inches apart and covered one inch deep. About eighteen good seed should be sown to each foot of row, which will make It necessary to use four or five pounds of seed per acre. If there is danger of much loss from the depredations of the onion maggot, more than this amount of seed should be used; where maggots are very troublesome some growers use as much as six ONIONS. 123 pounds per acre. The seed sower should be carefully tested on a floor or other smooth surface before using It in the field to see how it works. It Is very important to know the germinating qualities of the seed sown, since if it Is of low germination more must be used than if It is of best quality. Ninety per cent of good onion seed ought to germinate If the conditions are favor- able. It is important to closely study these matters, as it is de- sirable to have the land -well stocked with plants and yet not over stocked. It is better to fail of getting quite so much seed on the land as is desired than it is to get very much more than is wanted, for in the first case the onions, although somewhat scattering, will be of good size, while if the plants are too thick they must be thinned out, C the onions will be small and In- ferior. The work of thinning onions on a large scale is a very expensive operation, and every precaution should be taken to avoid having V do it. If the seed is sown only a little thicker than the plants ought to stand, it Is sometimes a good plan in- stead of thinning them out, to put on an extra dressing of some quick-acting, easily-applied manure, such as hen manure, which will probably make it possible for the land to mature the whole crop in good shape. Onions have the quality of crowding out to the sides of the rows and on top of one another, so that they may grow pretty thick and still be of good size, providing other conditions are favorable to their development. It is important to have the seed sown in straight rows. If the first row is laid off with a line or otherwise made straight, the subsequent rows are easily made parallel to it by means of the marker on the seed sower. If there are found to be some vacancies In the rows after the onions appear, these may be filled by sowing onion seed in them by hand; late in the season such vacancies may be sown with carrot seed. Cultivation. — As soon as the plants commence to break the surface soil, cultivation should be commenced with a hand cul- tivator that will work both sides of the row at one time and throw a little earth from the plant; hand weeding should fol- low at once. At the second hoeing, the plants being now -pretty strong, the soil should be cultivated somewhat deeper. This will enable a careful man to work the soil very close to the plants. Onions naturally grow In the surface of the land and 124 VEGETABLE GARDBNINQ. not below It and should never be hilled up. The onion crop should be hoed and weeded as often as the weeds appear or whenever the ground packs hard around the growing plants. The weeds should be destroyed when small. This means that until early summer the onions should be hoed about once every two weeks. When the plants get so large that they will no longer pass under the straddle cultivator without being bruised the work of cultivation must be continued between the rows until the bulbs commence to form, after which it is not a good plan to work much among them, since pushing the tops about tends to make them die down quicker than otherwise. When the onions are about the size of a half dollar and before the tops fall over, it is a good plan, if the land is not very rich, to apply some quick-acting fertilizer such as hen manure or a commer- cial fertilizer broadcast over the crop. This should be done just before or during a rain if possible. For this purpose dry, fine hen manure is good, but any rich, nitrogenous fertilizer will answer. If the plants are going to make good onions they will be- come weak in the neck just above the bulb when nearly grown and fall flat on the ground, where they should be allowed to He undisturbed until the tops and roots are entirely dried, then the bulbs can be easily pulled out of the ground with -a rake or onion puller. In the vicinity of St. Paul, this time will be in August or the early part of September. About four rows of bulbs should be thrown together, and they should be turned with a rake every few days until perfectly dry and then be put under cover to protect them from rain. If they are allowed to get wet several times after being pulled, the outer skins are liable to come off and thus make the bulbs unsightly. If not pulled for some little time after they are ripe, especially if the season is moist, new roots are very sure to start and the roots become grown so firmly into the soil that the work of pulling and dry- ing them, is increased. The work of cutting or twisting oS the tops, called topping, may be left until the onions are marketed, but they will be found to keep much better if "topped,"' sinte if the tops aro left on they prevent a free circulation of the air through the bulbs. "Scallions" or "Thick Necks." — Sometimes, too, the tops of ONIONS. X25 the plant do not die down as they should, hut remain green and continue to grow after the bulbs are well formed, and become what are called "scallions" or "thick necks." This Is genertilly due to the planting of poorly selected seed, but sometimes it is not to be accounted for. In such cases It is generally recom- mended to break the tops down, which certainly does no harm, but it is of doubtful value. A better way is to pull such plants as soon as they begin to grow vigorously after once hr.ving formed good bulbs, dry them as much as possible and remove the tops. However, such onions do not generally keep well and had better be used during autumn and early winter. Keeping Onions. — Onions should be kept in a dry, cool place. In a damp cellar they will sprout and grow no matter if the temperature there is near the freezing point. They will stand quite a little frost without much injury, but if frozen and thawed several times they become soft and do not keep well, but start to grow very quickly. The best way of keeping onions is in a cold, dry room in slatted bins or on shelves so arranged that the air can circulate through them. A very practical plan is to put them in barrels without heads, having holes in the bot- tom and sides and pile these on top of one another two tiers high, first putting down scantling or other material to allow the air to circulate under and around them. If our common onions are frozen solid in the autumn and kept so all winter, they will generally come out right in the spring. A good way to do this is to lay them eighteen inches thick on the floor of a loft and cover with a foot or so of hay. Thu.'i arranged they will not freeze until severe weather sets in and will remain frozen until spring. They may also be put in water-proof bins in the field where grown and treated in the same way. Thev should never be handled when frozen, as they are apt to bruise. Freezing and thawing several times seriously injures them, but if kept frozen and gradually thawed out they come out in very nice condition. After thawing out, they will not keep well, but quickly start to grow, and should be disposed of at once. They Prizetaker and similar kinds are an exception to this rule and are liable to be ruined if frozen. Onion Sets is a term applied to small onions which are planted out in the spring instead of seeds. If onions under 126 VEGETABLE GARDENING. three-fourths of an Inch in diameter are planted out in the spring, they do not go to seed as do larger onions, but form a new bulb, and form it much earlier than they are formed when grown from seed. Taking advantage of this fact, it has become a common practice to raise these small onions (sets) and plant them out for early summer use. It does not matter how small the set is, and one the size of a pea is as good as one much larger. The size generally preferred is about one-half an inch in diameter. Planting Onion Sets. — The method of planting sets is to have the land in the same condition as recommended for onion seed and plant the sets as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. In doing this mark off the land in drills twelve inches apart and push each set down firmly three inches deep into the mellow soil, leaving them three inches apart. This is done by hand, and each set is handled separately, so as to have them right side up. The drill is then closed in with the feet or rake, so that each set is entirely covered up. If the ground is dry, it is sometimes rolled to make it still more compact around the bulbs, but it is generally quite moist when the sets are planted in early spring. As soon as the rows can be seen, the wheel hoe is used, and the plants kept free from weeds and the soil well stirred. By this method we will have onions of good table size by the first of July, and some may be marketed in bunches in a green state in June. Onion sets seldom, if ever, fail to produce good crops and are well adapted for use in the home garden and by those who will not take the pains necessary to grow onions from seed. No matter how poor the soil or the cultivation where the sets are planted, they always increase in size and ripen early. There is no danger of their being injured by freez- ing after being planted. From six to ten bushels of sets are re- quired- per acre, depending on their size. The raising of onion sets is carried on to a large extent In some localities, and it is a crop that requires much skill in handling. Sandy soil of rather inferior quality but free from weeds and in fine tilth is best for this purpose. To keep the sets from growing too large. It is customary to plant from thirty to fifty pounds of seed per acre, and not plant it until the latter part of May. This treatment crowds the seedlings so ONIONS. 127 that they cannot grow large. In sowing the seed, it is best to go over tne rows with the seed sower three or four times, sow- ing only a part of the seed each time. This spreads the seed out in wide drills and permits of more even work than would be possible were it attempted to sow all the seed by going over the rows once. If onion sets grow too large it is often almost impossiDle to use them for any purpose, since they are too small to sell well except for pickling, and the demand for this purpose is very limited. On this account, if it is feared the sets Fig'ure 52.— At the left: onion plants as dug. On the right: onion plants trim med and ready for transplanting. •will grow too lu,rge. they are pulled when of the proper size, even If still quite green. The further cultivation of plants for sets is the same as for a field crop of onions. The sets should be taken up in August, or as soon as ripe, with a rake or onion set puller. When dry they should be stored, tops and all, about four Inches deep, in a loft, where they should be covered with a foot of hay or straw on the approach of hard frost and left until wanted for planting in the spring. In other words, they should be kept 128 VEGETABLE GARDENING. frozen ail winter. Treated in this way they will require to be cleaned in the spring, and this is done hy rubbing them In the hands to loosen the dirt and tops and then running them through a fanning mill. After this they are run over a screen with a three-fourths inch mesh, and only those that go through it are saved for sets. This work of cleaning may be done in autumn before storing and the sets mixed with chaff to aid in keeping them over winter. Transplanting Onions. — Within a few years some market gardeners have adopted a plan of raising onions by sowing the seed in March in a hotbed and then transplanting the seedlings Figure S3.— Transplanting- Onions in the Fiela. to the open ground as soon as it works well. This system has the merit of doing -away with the first few weedmgs in the open ground, reduces the expense of seed to a minimum and makes it possible to raise some of the more deljcate foreign varieties of onions, which command the highest price in the market. It is, however, very doubtful if the common field onions can be raised at a profit under this method, but it is desirable if the ONIONS. 129 Spanish kinds are to be raised In this section. The selection and proparatlon of the land for this purpose Is the same as for a field crop. The seed Is sown In a hotbed In rows three Inches apart, or on a small scale a few plants may be raised In a box In the window of the living room. The soil for this purpose should be a somewhat sandy loam of only moderate quality, and that which has no manure in It is most certain to grow healthy plants. If very thick in the row, the plants must be thinned out so as not to crowd one another too much, but still they may be grown very thickly; as many as twelve to fifteen plants to the inch of row is about right, and to secure this amount about twice as many seeds will have to be sown to the inch. Too much Importance cannot be attached to the raising of strong plants, since those that are weak and spindling are very cer- tain to fail when moved. For a week or two previous to setting out the plants, they should have plenty of fresh air, and it is a good plan to remove the sashes entirely from over them except when there Is dan- ger of frost, so that the plants may become hardened off, as otherwise they are liable to serious injury by freezing when moved to the open ground, although they stand some freezing when hardened off. They do not transplant so well when soft and succulent as when properly hardened. The land and prep- aration required is the same as for a field crop of onions. The plants should be set two or three Inches apart in rows twelve inches apart. Before setting them out the tops should be most- ly cut off, and this is especially Important if they are weak and spindling, as they are then very sure to turn yellow and die. If the roots are excessively long, they may be shortened to facll- tate transplanting. The plants are generally set lii small fur- rows opened with a hand cultivator or with a marker. The lower part of the bulb should be about an Inch deep In the ground. Ine plants are easily moved, and If the soil is well firmed they are very sure to live. About 150,000 plants are re- quired for an acre, and it Is a big job to transplant them. For this purpose children can generally be employed at low wages and they will do the work very well If carefully looked after. The expense of transplanting Is variously estimated at from $25 J30 VEGETABLE GARDENING. to $50 per acre. Subsequent cultivation is the same as for a field crop of onions. Marketing. — In a general way the directions for marketing onions apply to any other crop. They should be sold as soon as a fair price can be obtained for them and not stored unless *.here is a good chance of a rise. In some localities there is a large demand for onions for bunching purposes before the bulbs are formed. In these places it will sometimes pay to pull and sell the crop before the^tops have died down, but generally it should be allowed to ripen. The foreign kinds, such as can only be raised here by the transplanting method, are generally high- est in price in early autumn and should then be sold. The tops should always be removed before the bulbs are marketed, and all small bulbs should be picked out and sol-d separately for pickling purposes. Most markets prefer onions of medium size, globular rather than flat in shape, and yellow or white in color rather than red. Very large onions of the common type are not so salable as those Of medium size; but of the foreign kinds, the larger the better, and good specimens sometimes weigh as much as two pounds. Figure 54.— Varieties of Onions. 1— Southport Yellow Globe. 3— Silver Skin. 3— Red Globe. 4— Prizetaker. 5— Yellow Danvers. Onions for the Home Garden should be raised partly from seed and partly from sets or transplanting. The small onions picked out from one season's crop may be used as sets the next ONIONS. 131 year, when they will give a much earlier crop than those grown from seed. Varieties. — For general field crops in this section varieties of the Globe type are now mostly grown. Among these may he mentioned the Red, Yellow and White Globe onions. The Yel- low Danvers, another of the Globe type, is probably the best yel- low kind. Red Wethersfield is the old standard, red, flat variety. The earliest maturing large kind is Extra Early Red. For rais- ing sets the Yellow Dutch, also called Yellow Strasburg, is best, but any variety will do. For growing in hotbeds, greenhouses, or window boxes, to be transplanted, the Prizetaker and Southport Yellow Globe are most in demand. Potato Onions and Sliailots are always grown from the bulbs, which increase in size -and also produce a cluster of bulbs (cloves) around the one that is planted. They are especially adapted to early marketing in the same way as onion sets. Egyptian, or Perennial Tree, Onion. — This kind is perfectly hardy and does not form bulbs, but the bleached stem is used in a green state. It produces no seed, but instead has a small clus- ter of bulblets where the seed cluster should be. These bulb- lets are planted in September In the same way as recommended for onion seta and are ready for use as bunch onions very early the following season. Top Onions is a name applied to a class of onions that pro- duce no seed, but where the seed should be have a cluster of small bulbs. These small bulbs when planted grow into large common onions and when these common onions are planted they produce a crop of sets. Onion Seed is raised bty planting out the bulbs in the spring in rows four feet apart, and for this purpose, bulbs of the great- est excellence are used. It is best to set the bulbs about six inches deep and six inches apart in each furrow, and to do this planting out very early in the spring. The seed stalks will attain a height of aljout three feet. The seed clusters ripen somewhat unevenly, but should be gathered before they are quite dry, or the seed will shell out and be lost. When gathered, they should be dried in airy chambers and afterwards threshed out and cleaned with a fanning mill or they may be cleaned by being thrown into watfer. The latter method secures the best seed. 132 VEGETABLE GARDENING. A.11 the seed that is full and plump will sink in water, and as the chafE and light- er seeds float they are readily separated from the good seed Some of the seed that floats will grow, hut it is not very desirable for planting. The same land that grows a crop, of onion seed is sometimes used for growing a crop of cu- cumbers or melons at the same time, since the onions do not shade the land or take much nourish- ment from it except early in the spring. Figure S5 — Onion plants in flower. COMMON GARLIC. (Allium sativum.) Native of southern Europe. — Perennial. — All parts of the plant have the well-known strong burning taste. The bulbs or beads are composed of about ten cloves enveloped Dy a very thin, white or rose-colored membranous skin. The plant hardly ever flowers and is grown by means of the cloves, for which purpose those on the outside of the cluster should be used. These should be planted in good rich soil in about the same way as onion sets. They should be gathered after the bulb clusters are well formed. This vegetable is scarcely used at the north, while in southern European countries it is quite common. It is said that it has a much stronger burning taste ONIONS. 133 when grown at the north than when grown in the south. What is known as common garlic is the kind most generally used. Figure S6.—1— French Shallots. 2— Top Onions (red). 3— Jersey Shallots. 4 — Garlic. 5 — Potato Onions. LEEKS. (Allium porrum.) Said to be a native of Switzer land. — Biennial. — The leek Is closely allied to the onion, which It resem- bles in flavor, color of seed and flowei, However, it does not form a bulb but a straight bunch of leaves, that are used almost entirely in a fresh or un- cooked condition. The leaves are flat instead of round and hollow, as Is the case with onions. As yet this vege- table is little grown in this country, except around the large cities. Cultivation. — Its requirements are Fig-ure 57— Leek. about the same, and it may be culti- vated in much the same way as the onion, but it is more J 34 VEGETABLE GARDENING. common to sow the seed early in spring and transplant In summer, settling plants very deep, as the market value de- pends on the blanched condition of the stem; and for the same reason in hoeing the soil is drawn up' over the stem. They transplant very easily when the soil is moist, but should have the tops trimmed off as recommended in transplanting onions. If they are not transplanted, especial cave siioaia ue takeu lo draw the soil towards the plants in hoeing. They may be stored in the same manner as celery, and are marketed In bunches the same as green onions. « Varieties. — There are several varieties which vary In form and color. Large Flag leek is a popular sort and, perhaps, more largely grown than any other. Scotch Flag or Musselburgh leek is longer than the above, but not quite so thick. CHIVES. (Allium schoenoprasum.) Native of Europe. — Perennial. — ^A hardy plant growing In thick tufts. Bulbs oval, scarcely as large as a hazelnut, forming compact masses; leaves very numerous, grass-like in appear- ance and hollow. Flower stems in terminal clusters of violet- red flowers and usually barren. The tops have an onion-like flavor and are used in seasoning. Culture. — Chives are propagated by dividing the tufts. They are not much used and are generally grown as edgings for beds In the garden. Of the easiest culture. THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. (Order Polygonaceae.) The buckwheat family includes herbs which alternate entire leaves and stipules in the form of sheaths above the swollen joints of the stem. Flowers mostly perfect with a one-celled ovary bearing two or three styles or stigmas. E^uit usually an achene either flattened or three or four-angled or winged. Some- times agreeably acid as in sorrel and sometimes cathartic as the roots of rhubarb. Only rhubarb is here discussed, but other familiar plants that belong to this order are Sorrel, Bitter Curled and other docks, Knotwood, Smartweed. Bindweed or Wild Buckwheat and Field Buckwheat. RHUBARB. 135 RHUBARB OR PIE PLANT. (Rheum rhaponticum.) The cultivated varieties of rhubarb are generally supposed to have come from Mongolia, though it is quite possible that some varieties may have sprung from a North American species. The plant is an herbaceous perennial whose leaf stalks are used for sauce, pies, etc. It sends up a flower stalk often four feet high, and produces a large amount of seed each year. It is perfectly hardy in gardens, even in very severe situations, and when once planted continues to yield abundant crops for many years. The seeds are large and triangular. Culture. — Rhubarb is readly increased from the seed, which germinates quickly. Seedlings vary considerably but not enough to prevent this method of propagation from being the one most commonly practiced. They attain good transplanting size in one year. It is customary to sow the seed in rows three feet apart early in the spring, and set out the plants when one year old where they are to grow; the plants may also be thinned out and a few al- lowed to remain where the seeds are sown. When it is desired to propagate the specially valuable qualitias of individual plants, it is done by dividing the roots, using care to take at least one good bud with each piece of root. This is the only sure way -of getting the best plants. It is preferable to set the plants out in the fall where they are to grow, but spring planting is often followed. They should be set in the richest of land four feet apart each way. The stalks should not be pulled up until the spring of the second year and then only to a small extent; the third year they should give a good crop. The only culture needed is to keep the ground Figure 58.— Rhubarb plant in flower. ^36 VEJGETABLE GARDENING, tree from weeds aad loose, and to use plenty of manure, la gathering rhubarb the stalks should be removed from the crown by a jerk downward and sideways, and care should be taken not to be so rough about it as to pull the buds from the crown at the same time. There is little danger of pulling more leaves than the plant can stand without injury, but in the case of a young plantation it would not be well to remove more than one- half of the leaves at any one time. The stalks are most in de- Figure SI)— Pieces of rhubarb rocts cut off for planting out. mand early in the spring, but there is more or less call foi them all summer. The seed stalks should be cut off as soon as they appear, so as to throw their strength into leaves and to prevent the formation of seed, if the largest amount of stalks is wanted. Forcing Rhubarb. — For winter and spring use rhubarb is often forced in greenhouses and cold frames. The roots of any age are taken up in autumn, crowded together under the benches in greenhouses or placed in boxes or barrels with a little soil be- tween them, and put in any convenient place in the greenhouse or a warm light room or cellar where they start into growth in February. They are also planted out in warm sheds. Still an- other way of forcing rhubarb is by putting a cold frame over the plants in the early spring where they are growing in the open BEETS. 137 ground. This method may be improved by heavily mulching the plants so as to keep out the frost in winter. The roots are some- times lifted in autumn, planted close together in a deep cold frame and covered with leaves to keep out frost. In March the leaves are removed and the sashes put on. This method has the advantage of using the sashes to the best advantage, but roots that are dug and then forced are worthless for further planting. In order to increase the length of the stalks it is a common practice where but a small amount is grown to put headless bar- rels over each plant in the spring when the leaves are starting into growth, and in striving to reach the light the leaf stalks naturally grow long and tender. An old sash laid over the bar- rel is an improvement on this method. , Varieties. — There are several varieties, but the following kinds are the most highly esteemed: Myatt's Linneus. — An early sort having deep green stalks and attaining to a large size. Myatt's Victoria. — ^A much later kind than the preceding. Stalks red, very thick and large. THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. (Order Chenopodlaceae.) The Goosefoot Family includes chiefly homely herbs, with in- « conspicuous greenish flowers. The ovary is one-celled and one- seeded; Leaves chiefly alternate. Besides the beet, mangel wurt- zel, Swiss chard and spinach, whose cultural directions are here given, it includes such weeds as Russian thistle, goosefoot and lamb's quarter or pigweed. BEET. (Beta Vulgaris.) Native of Europe. — Biennial. — This plant in the first year of Its growth forms a fleshy root, and goes to seed the second year. The seed stalk is about four feet high. What is usually sold and planted as beet seed is in reality a fruit and Is made up of several seeds imbedded in corn-like calyxes; the seed itself is very small and kidney-shaped, with a thin brown skin. The roots vary greatly in form and size and in color from a reddish white to a deep dark red. Some varieties have special quali- ties for table use, while othej-s are valuable for feeding stock or for sugar only. The garden beet Is easily grown and is a very reliable crop. 138 VEGETABLE GARDENING. It prefers a very rich, sandy, well-worked soil, but will grow in any land that is fit for corn. For early use some early-ma- turing kind should be selected and the seeds should be sown in rows sixteeji inches apart in the open ground as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. Ten seeds should be sown to each foot of row and covered one inch deep. The young plants will stand quite a severe frost without injury. As soon as the seedlings ap- pear they should be cultivat- ed with a wheel hoe, and the cultivation repeated at fre- quent intervals. When they are eight or ten inches high, thinning should be commenc- ed and continued until the plants are six inches apart in the rows. These thinnings make excellent greens. If sown as recommended, they will be large enough for table. use in June and will be good for use the rest of the seed should not be sown of June. For lute plant- put the rows two feet are nicely Stock and it' w m jAj^p K^Kf - r" ^^^^fe* ■ <\ 1 . 1 1 . Figure' 60. — Bunch of Eolipsa beets. the summer. For winter use, until the last of May or first ing some growers prefer to or mor.e apart so that when the plants started they can be cultivated by horse power, sugar beets should be sown in rows about thirty inches apart, to allow of easy cultivation. These should be sown from the middle to the last of May and covered somewhat deeper than is recommended for early table beets, perhaps one and one- half inches deep. The importance of very early and constant cultivation cannot be too strongly insisted on. Beet seed may be sown by a machine seed sower, but most of the sowers in use will need a little more careful watching when sowing this BEETS. 13* tban with most other seeds, as the rough seeds (fruit) are liable to clog the feed hole. There are a few beet seed sowing ma- chines adapted for horse power that it will probably pay one to use where a large amount of land is to be cultivated in beets. About six pounds of seed is required per acre, and It is always a good plan to sow an abundance of seed, as it does not start very uniformly. Forcing Beets. — Beets are easily forced by sowing the early maturing kinds in February or March in hotbeds, where they may be left to mature or may be transplanted when of proper size. It is, however, best to allow them to grow to table size without transplanting, as this always puts the plants back, and they recover from it slowly. Harvesting and Keeping Beets. — On the approach of severe weather — in this section about the middle of October — beets should be pulled and the tops cut or twisted off, but the top of the root should not be cut off. Light frosts do not hurt them much especially when they are protected with a heavy growth of foliage, but when the surface of the ground freezes hard there is danger of permanent injury to the roots. Beets are easily kept in a cold cellar. It is generally best to put them outside when dug and allow them to remain there until severe weather sets In. If the air of the cellar is very dry the beets should be covered with earth after being put in bins, or they will wilt and become corky. Beet seed is grown by planting out the roots about the middle of May, two feet apart in rows three feet apart. The seed ripens in the summer and Is generally threshed off as soon as ripe. Varieties. — There are many varieties of garden beets, and they vary considerably in size, form and color, time of matur- ing and other characteristics. Among the most valuable are the following: Eclipse. — A very early dark-red turnip-shaped beet of good quality. Valuable for early or late sowing. A favorite with market gardeners. Egyptian. — ^Valuable for early sowing. Bastian's Eariy Turnip Beet. — A valuable early sort, tender, sweet and good in every way; one of the best for early or late planting. 140 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Dewing's Improved Blood Turnip Beet. — A first-class beet In every respect; valuable for winter or summer use. Diseases of Beets. — The beet is subject to several diseases, and it is most healthy when grown on new land. Beet Scab is a disease which ruptures the skin of the beet in a manner similar to scab on potatoes. Recent investiga- tions show that this disease is the same as potato scab. On this account, beets should not follow potatoes on land that has grown a scabby crop unless there is an interval of several years between them. Beets are sometimes subject to a rust that in- jures the foliage, but seldom very seriously. Steele Beets (often called Mangel Wurzel). Stock beets are gross feeders and prefer rich soil. They require the same care as table beets, but the rows should be thirty inches apart, so as to allow of cultivating them with horse implements. The seed may be sown with any common garden seed drill after first laying off the rows with a marker, or it may be sown with a common grain drill by stopping the fiow of seed through a part of the holes. It is a very good plan to sow radish or rutabaga seed with the beet seed, as it starts quickly and the line of the row is thus easily seen, so that cultivation may be started early. Figure 6i.-Su8rar Beet. ^his is very important in land that is somewhat weedy. About six pounds of seed to the acre will give about twelve seeds (fruits) to a foot. There are many good varieties of stock beets. Among the best are Long Red, Yellow, or Golden Tankard, Yellow Globe and American Sugar. The latter is not a true sugar beet, but is much richer in sugar than the ordinary varieties of stock beets and, possibly, of better feeding value. Sugar Beets, from which is made a large amount of the sugar of commerce, are grown in a similar way to stock beets, but on a large scale require a rather different and special BEETS. 141 treatment. There is no trouble about raising them with a large percentage of sugar in any of the northern states, but the drawbacks to its becoming a more general industry are the very expensive machinery required to extract the sugar eco- nomically on a large scale, the small margin of profit and the low price the manufacturers have been willing to pay for the beets. Sugar beets grow entirely below ground, which makes them difficult to dig, and they do not grow to large size, seldom weighing more than four pounds. The part of a beet above ground does not contain much sugar. It is recommended to sow about 18 lbs. of seed of sugar beets per acre. LEAF BEET OR SWISS CHARD. Native of Southern Europe. — Biennial. — This appears to be exactly the same plant as the beet root, except that in its case cultivation has developed the leaves instead of the root. The botanical characteristics, es- pecially those of the fruit seed and flowers are precisely alike in both plants. The root is branched and not very fleshy, while the leaves are large and numerous, with the stalk and midrib fleshy and very large. The plants vary in color from deep red to nearly white. The fleshy leaf stalks are cooked and served like asparagus. Culture. — The plants are grown rigare62,-Swlss Chard. j^ (.j^g g^^g manner as the com- mon table beets. Among the best varieties is one known as the Silvery Swiss chard. SPINACH. (Spinacla oleracea.) Properly a native of Western Asia. — An annual plant cul- tivated for its leaves which form popular spring and early sum^ 142 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Q>a^^^ Figure 63. — Spinach. mer greens. It has a seed stalk about two feet high. The varieties are divided according to their seeds into round and priclily - seeded sorts. The latter have sharp, hard prickles on the seeds. This division is so pronounced that some botanists have treated these classes as distinct species. , The prickly-seeded sorts are considered the hardiest, while among the round- seeded kinds are per- haps the most desirable varieties for table use, but this difference is not always very clear. Culture. — The seed of spinach may be sown in hotbeds or cold frames very early in the spring or outdoors as soon as the ground can be worked. It is of the easiest culture. A supply may be had during the whole growing season by making a succession of sowings at Intervals of about two weeks. ■ Under good conditions it will be ready for table use in about six weeks from the time of sowing the seed. In planting it outdoors the rows should be about twelve inches apart. The seed should be covered about one inch deep and about forty seeds or more sown to the foot or row. It is welj to use plenty of seed and since it often starts poorly in dry weather extra precautions are taken when sowing it at that time. The plants may be thinned out when too thick, and, no matter hbw small they are they form a good vegetable. Spinach is often sown in the spring between early peas, cabbage, potatoes or other slow growing crops. For early spring use the seeds of the hardiest kinds should be sown in this section in the latter part of August. The plants should grow well and attain a good size during the cool weather of autumn, and on the approach of winter they should be covered with about two inches of straw, hay or similar material. When thus treated the crop generally comes through the winter in this SPINACH. 143 section without serious injury and after making a little growth in the spring is marketable. It is harvested by cutting the plants off at the top of the ground. For this purpose a short push hoe is run under the plants. Tliey are then freed from dead leaves, and after 'being washed are ready for marketing. Spinach requires a very rich soil and plenty of well-rotted manure. To secure the best results from early spring sowings, it will pay those raising it for market, to use nitrate of soda on the land in small quantities, say, two applications at the rate of seventy-five pounds per acre at intervals of two weeks after the crop has started. This material has a wonderful effect on early leaf crops. Where nitrate of soda is not used hen manure is very desirable. The effect of nitrate of soda on this crop is very marked and often results in more than doubling its size. Spinach generally is very free from insects and fungous diseases. Varieties. — There are a number of varieties of spinach dif- fering in earliness, hardiness and in the time they remain in edible condition, as well as in many minor matters'. Among the best are the following: Long Standing. — An excellent sort for spring and summer sowing, since it stands longer than any other sort before going to seed. Victoria.-:— An excellent variety for spring sowing. Has thick, dark, crumpled leaves, of good quality; stands fairly long .before going to seed. Prickly, or Winter. — A prickly seed variety that is very popular. It will withstand very severe weather without serious injury if lightly protected ky hay or straw and is probably the best sort for autumn planting in this section. THE CABBAGE FAIVIILY. (Order Cruciferae.) The cabbage family is made up of herbaceous plants having watery juice, a pungent (peppery) taste, and floral envelopes arranged on the plan of four, with" their petals generally spread out in -the form of a cross. Stamens six, two of which are short- er than the other four. Seed all embryo. This is a large family and Includes besides the cabbage, cauliflower, Brussel's sprouts, kale, kohl-rabi, horseradish, cress, water cress, whose cultural directions are given under this head, among common weeds, the mustard, French weed, false, flax, pepper cress, shepherd's purse 144 VEGETABLE GARDENING. and many garden flowers such as nasturtium, gillyflower, candy- tuft and alyssum. CABBAGE. (Brassica oleracea.) Native of Europe and Western Asia. — Biennial. — ^It grows naturally to the neight of three or four feet and scarcely resem- bles any of our cultivated kinds. The part eaten is termed the head and is simply a cluster of leaves enwrapping the top of the stem, or in other words, a large bud. It attains the height of three or four feet when it goes to seed. The flowers are gener- ally yellow in color and conspicuous, though uot large. There are three great groups of cabbages distinguished respectively by their (1) red leaves, (2) smooth leaves and (iS) wrinkled leaves. Red cabbages are chiefly esteemed for pickling. The varieties with smooth, light green leaves (common cabbage) are com- Figure 64 — Cross section of cabbage head, showing arrangement of stem and leaves and that it is simply a big terminal bud. monly cultivated, while the Savoy cabbage, which, has wrinkled leaves, and is of the best quality, is little grown because it does not produce so abundantly as the common kinds. The original species from which the cabbage has sprung is also the parent of the cauliflower, kale and Brussel's sprouts. The seed of the cab- bage Is dark brown In color, smooth and round. CABBAGE. 145 Soil. — The best soil for cabbage Is a rich alluvial or prairie loam, moist, yet well drained and in fine condition. While some varieties will mature on poor soil yet they all require the highest cultivation for the best development. This is especially true of early cabbage, which needs mucn richer soil than fhe late crop. It is a good plan to occasionally change the land used for cabbage; in some eastern sections it is necessary to do this each year on account of the prevalence of the disease called club- root, which is not yet found in this section. Manure. — The cabbage is a gross feeder and needs lots of rich manure. Most of our best growers apply manure broadcast, but when there is a necessity of economizing with the manure, it may be applied to better advantage in the hill, providing the land is in good condition. In growing early cabbage it is an ex- cellent plan to apply a handful or so of dry hen manure arounl the hills when the plants are half grown. This should not be put close to the plants, but scattered over a radius of a foot or more from the plants and then cultivated into the soil. Early Cabbage. — The methods of cultivating adapted to the growing of early cabbage are quite different from those followed in raising late cabbage, and the subject of cultivation naturally groups itself under these heads. The soil preferred for early cabbage is. a light, rich, sandy loam, well drained and sloping to the south, providing it is not too liable to injury from drouth. In milder sections of the country It is customary to sow the seed for early cabbage in September, and winter the plants over in cold frames. This method is impracticable in the extreme Northern states, and the best plan to follow in such sections is that of sowing the seed in greenhouses or hotbeds from the mid- dle to the last of February. As the plants need room they are transplanted so as not to be crowded. If they are kept growing freely they will be large enough to transplant to the open ground by the first of April. Setting the Plants. — Cabbage plants will grow at a low tem- perature, and it is a great advantage to plant them out early in the spring, although the weather may be damp and cold. At this season of the year they may not show any great Increase In leaf surface, but they form roots rapidly, and these are a great 146 VEGETABLE GARDENING. help In providing a vigorous growth later In the season. As a rule, early cabbage should be set out as soon as the frost U out in the spring and the ground nicely settled. It is imporlatit to set the plants deep in the ground at this season, and since the stem is the part most liable to injury from hard fro^t*, It should be set deep enough to bring the base of the leaves below the ground. This is very important and frequently mukcs the differ- ence between success and failure in growing the early crop. If severe weather is threatened after the plants are set out, it is a good plan to draw a hoe-ful of earth over each plant, for if frozen when they are covered with earth they will not be injured, and they can remain buried in the ground several days in cold weath- er without serious injurj'. However, the earth should be removed as soon as good weather is assured. The distance between the plants will depend somewhat on the varieties *o be culti- vated; under ordinary conditions the large, early kinds should be set out two feet apart in rows three feet apart. This arrange- ment permits of horse cultivation both ways when tho plants are young and one way when they are full grown. Cultivation should commence as soon as the rows can be clearly seen, and should be repeated after each rain or at least once a week until the crop is grown. For this purpcise a fine- tooth horse cultivator is the most desirable instrument, and if the work is carefully done there will be very little ne'ed of hand hoeing. It is a good plan to draw the earth slightly toward the plants when they are about half grown. Harvesting the Crop. — Treated in this way, under ordinary conditions they will be nicely "headed up" by the first of July and ready for marketing. The season for marketing, however, will depend largely on the kinds grown. If the land is at once plowed when the crop is harvested, it can be used for growing some late crop, as late beans, spinach or celery. By care in Bov/ing and the selection of varieties early cabbage may be con- tinued till late cabbage is in the market. Retarding the Heading of cabbages may be accomplished by fitarting the roots on one side of the head or by slightly pulling the plant so as to break som.e of the roots. This is very impor- tant some seasons, as it is not uncommon to find the market over- stocked with this vegetable jusi as the crop is full grown, and CABBAGE. 147 If the plants are allowed to remain growing when once a hard head is formed they are very sure to burst and be spoiled. By starting the roots a little, the growth is checked and heads may be kept from spoiling for a week or more. Late Cabbage is a term generally given to cabbage grown from seed sown in the open ground. It may be ready for use in September or in the late autumn and be kept all winter. Soil. — Any land that will produce a good crop of corn is in good condition for late cabbage, but the richer the land the bet- ter the chances of success. Less manure is required for late than for early cabbage. Late cabbage is generally raised by sow- ing the seed in the hills, or by sowing it in a seed bed and set- ting the planls in the field when of sufficient size. Each of these methods has its advantages and will be referred to separately further on. Sowing Cabbage Seed. — Late cabbage may be raised by sow- ing the seed in a seedbed, in rows twelve inches apart, in the spring, and when the plants are large enough transplanting them to the field where they are to be grown. This is the com- mon way of growing cabbage. Its advantages are that the plants may be set out on land that has grown some early crop, as peas, or on sod land after cutting the hay. It also ensures having the plants all together In a small space, where they can be easily cultivated and guarded when they are youn^ and most liable to serious Injury from cut worms, fiea beetles and other insects and from dry weather. It has the disadvantage of requiring the plants to be moved during the dry weather of early summer, when they are very liable to fail from lack of water in the soil Sowing the seed of cabbage in the field where the plants are to mature and then thinning out to one plant to a hill, has the advantage of not requiring the transplanting of the plants during dry weather, and as the plants are not set back by transplant- ing they mature in a shorter time than transplanted plants. This makes it practicable to sow the seed later than when the plants are to be removed and is sometimes an advantage. It has the disadvantage, however, of having the plants scattered over a large area when they are small and are liable to serious In- sect enemies, and they are more difficult to cultivate than when 148 VEGETABLE GARDENING. In a seed bed. The thinnings from the land where seed is sown Sn the hill may be set elsewhere. Raising Cabbage by Transplanting. — If the plants are to be raised in a seedbed and then transplanted to the open ground the seed of such varieties as Late Flat Dutch should be sowu about the 10th of May; but if Potler's Improved Brunswick or other second early kind is to be grown, the seed should not be sown until at least ten days later; and such large, early heading varieties as Early Summer may be successfully raised for winter use when its seed is sown as late as the first of June. In any case the plants should be ready to set out by the last of June, when they should be carefully transplanted. The land should be thoroughly pulverized and marked out three feet apart each way, unless it is to be manured in the hills, when it should be furrowed out one way and marked the other way. The plants should be set at the intersections of the marks, but it is not a good plan to sei them on top of the manure, but rather to put them a little to one side of it. This is especially important if the manure is not well rotted. The cultivation and after treatment are the same for late as for early oabbage. Cabbage from Seed Sown in the Hill. — If the seed is to be sown in the hills, the land should be treated as recommended when the plants are to be transplanted. It is generally neces- sary for success to have the soil moist wr.en the seed is sown. After the land is marked out, seven or eight seeds should be sown at each intersection covered with about half an inch of soil and pressed down with the sole of the foot. The plants gen- erally come up inside of a week and should be hand-hoed at once, and when large enough cultivated with a horse implement. When big enough to stand alone take out all but one plant from each hill and treat as directed for those that have been trans- planted. Harvesting Late Cabbage may be done by selling directly from the field or by storing for marketing during the winter. If the heads are nearly ready to burst they cannot be kept long and should be disposed of at once. There is generally a good demand in the late autumn for this vegetable for general mar- keting and also by the pickling factories for making sauer kraut. Cabbages will stand ten degrees or more of frost, but severe CABBAGE. 149 .i-eezing is very injurious; they are seldom injured by frost un- less tlie stump is frozen solid. If there is danger of severe freez- ing before the crop can be marketed or stored, it is a good plan to pull the plants and put them into piles, with the stumps in- side, and cover the whole with straw litter. Piled and covered this way, they may be left in the field until severe freezing weather and will generally be safe in such a condition in this section until the first of December. At harvesting there may be some heads that are quite too loose for marketing, and such cab- bag^ will often improve very much if stored as recommended for seed cabbage. Storing Cabbage. — In order to have cabbage keep well fai into the winter, they must not be headed very, solid when gath Figure 65.— Cabbage pitted for winter. . ered bui should be a trifle soft, but there is quite a difference in the keeping qualities of the different varieties. If late varie- ties are sown too early, they will not keep well and if early va- rieties are sown late so as to be in good keeping condition when harvested they often keep very well. In order to store cabbages successfully, they must be kept cold and moist but never allowed to get warm or wet. Providing the cabbage is in good condition for storing it will generally keep until spring if the heads are set together with the roots up, in a trench and covered with from six inches to a foot of soil and mulch enough to prevent hard freezing. If they are frozen while buried and thawed out in the ground they are seldom seriously injured. In this sec- tion, however, a better plan is to keep them in a cold, damp cel- lar, stored in bins about four feet wide so as to allow a circula- tion of air through them. For commercial purposes, it is a good 150 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Dlan to build store houses, half in and half out of the ground; in a small way, they may be kept by burying the heads in sand in a cellar, or a few cabbages for home use, may be heeled in by ihe roots in the cellar — but it should be borne in mind that de- caying cabbage is dangerous material to have under a dwelling house, and it should not be permitted under any circumstances. In storing cabbage the loose outside leaves should be removed and the stumps always left on, except when they are to be stored in '*ns Cabbage Seed is a somewhat difficult crop to raise in this section, the trouble being in keeping the plants over winter. However, it may be done if care is used. For this purpose heads should not be permitted to get very hard; they should be gath- ered before the stumps have been frozen and be set close to- gether, heads up, in a trench and covered with abo at a foot of »oi' and mulching enough to prevent severe freeL.iig. Cabbage , m Figure 66. — Seed cabbages pitted for winter. seed may be raised from the stumps after the heads are cut off, and this is a very simple matter as the stumps can be buried like turnips or even kept in bins, providing they are covered with earth and kept cold, but such seed is not desirable, as the evi- dence seems to show that there is a tendency to increase the length of the stump at the expense of the head under such treat- ment. It is generally agreed among our best seed growers that cabbage seed should be saved from the terminal buds of the stem which are in the cabbage head. Providing the seed cab- bage are successfully wintered over, they should then be planted about the 1st of May in deep furrows about three feet apart, in CABBAGE. 151 rows four feet apart. I'ig. 60. — Premium flat Dutch cabbage, V'igure 67. — Part of cabbage seed stalk showine seed pods. (After Landreth.) Sometimes the seed stalk cannot burst through the head leaves, and it is a good plan where the outer leaves are very thick and tough to cut through the outside leaves on the top of the head a little so as to allow it to push through. The seed is gathered branch by branch as the pods be- gin to turn yellow, and it generally takes several cuttings to harvest the seed pods. These are dried in buildings having tight floors and the seed is then threshed out. Varieties. — For early use the Extra Early Jersey Wakeiield is perhaps the most popular variety, but J the head is quite small. £j For second early, Early Summer is one of the best and is generally more prof- itable than other early kinds since the head is of good size. All Seasons is another excellent second early variety. It produces large, well-formed, solid heads which will stand some time before bursting. Flat Dutch and Stone Mason are desirable winter sorts, and are good keep- ers. For winter storage however, strains of the Hoi- Figure 68. — Early Winning-stadt cabbage. land Ball-head type are now taking precedence over the Flat Dutch 152 VEGETABLE GARDENING. or drumhead type. They produce rather small but extremely sol- id, heavy heads, round in shape and of superior keeping qualities. The Savoys are of better quality than the drumhead types, but do not produce so heavily. They are desirable for home use, The best of this class is Drum- head Savoy. Ironhead Savoy is also excellent. The best red cabbage is perhaps the Mam- moth Red Rock. Insects. — The insects injuri- Fig. 69.— Premium flat Dutch ous to.-the cabbage are the flea ^^^' beetle, cabbage worms, cut worms and flea, for treatment of which see chapter on insects. Diseases. — There are very few diseases that seriously Injure the cabbage. The most common is club-root, also called clubv foot. The life history of this disease is not known. It attacks • the roots of cabbage, cauliflower, turnips and other plants of the same family, causing them to form large irregular swell- ings. The plant is checked in growth and often dies from the effects of the disease. This is not yet a common disease in this section, but in some of the Eastern and Middle states it is very common. The best way of avoiding it Is to not use the same land for cabbage or similar crop without at least three years interven- ing, during which time it is preferable to have the land in grass or clover. This disease is also transmitted by Pepper Cress, Shepherd's Purse, Candytuft and similar plants. This disease may also be distributed in manure from animals fed on diseased plants. Black Rot of Cabbage is a disease that has not attracted much attention until the last few years but has during that time caused much damage to cabbage and cauliflower. The first indication of this disease is upon the outer leaves of the plant which turn yellow and die in spots usually near the margins. Such leaves are also liable to wilt and careful exami- nation will show that the veins in and near the dead areas are blackened. These spots enlarge and gradually involve the whole leaf, from which it. passes to the stem and to the rest of the CABBAGE. 163 plant, causing It to rot. The dark colored veins In the freshly cut stem and leaves are the best indications of this disease and are Its characteristic marks. Cabbage that Is even slightly affected will not keep, for this -ot spreads rapidly In stored cabbage, and In selecting cabbage for storage, the stems and outer leaves should be examined for the blackened vein so characteristic of this disease. The germs ot the disease may pass the winter in the soil and reinfect abbage, cauliflower, turnips or similar crops anr" even such nearly allied weeds as Pepper Cress and Shepherd's Purse the following season. If diseased cabbage is fed to stock the disease may be distributed by the manure. Remedial Measures. — In view of the ubove facts, it seems reasonable to take the following precautions: (1) Do not plant cabbage a second year on land where the disease is observed without several years intervening, during which no nearly allied crop has been grown on it. The seed bed should also be made ip new soil each year ?3 the plants may become diseased whei. vary young. (2) D iiot use manure for cabbage crop^ from animals that have 'been fed uncooked diseased cabbage. (3V Since the disease may be spread by insects which fly from onb plant to another, they should be kept in check as much as possi' ble. (4) When the disease ap- pears the field should be gone over systematically and all dis- eased leaves removed and de- stroyed as soon as they appear. If the disease has entered the stem the whole plant should be destroyed This destruction should consist of burning or deep burial. (5) Since this disease may be continued on Wild Mustard, Pepper Cress, Shepherd's Purse and other allied plants, they should be carefully kept out of land that has been once infested if it is intended for cabbage. Figure 70. — Brussells Sprouts. 154 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Sauer Kraut. — The following recipe for sauer kraut is a very excellent one: Slice cabbage fine in a slaw cutter; line the bottom and sides of an oaken barrel or keg with cabbage leaves, put in a layer of the sliced cabbage about six inches in depth, sprinkle lightly with salt, and pound with a wooden beetle until the cabbage is a compact mass; add another layer of cabbage, etc., repeating the operation, pounding well each layer until the barrel is full to within six inches of the top; cover with leaves, then a cloth, next a board cut to fit loosely on the inside of the barrel, kept well down with a heavy weight. If the brine has not raised within two days, add enough water with just salt enough to taste to cover the cabbage; examine every two days and add water as before, until brine rises and scum forms, then lift off the cloth carefully so the scum may adhere, wash well In several cold waters, wring dry and replace, repeating this opera- tion as the scum arises, at first every other day, and then once a week, until the acetous fermentation ceases, which will take three to six weeks. Up to this time keep warm in the kitchen, then remove to a diy, good ceilar unless made early in the fall, when It may be at once set ia the pantry or cellar. One pint of salt to a full barrel of cabbage is a good proportion; some also sprinkle in whole black pepper. Or, to keep until summer: In April squeeze out of brine and pack tightly with the hands In a stone jar, with the bottom lightly sprinkled with salt; make brine enough to well cover the kraut in the proportion of a table- spoon of salt to a quart of water; boil, skim, cool and pour over; cover with cloth, then a plate, weight and another cloth tied closely down; keep in a cool place, and it will be good as late as June. Neither pound nor salt the cabbage too much, watch closely and keep clear from scum for good sauer kraut. — Buck- eye Cook Book. BRUSSELS SPROUTS. (Brasslca oleracea.) Native of Europe. — Biennial. — This is one of the many varia- tions which the cabbage has taken on under cultivation. In this case where the head of the cabbage is ordinarily found there are loose green leaves and seldom a head. The stem is generally two feet or more high, vdth leaves, and at the base of each leaf is a small cabbage which seldom attains a diameter of over two Inches. These little cabbages are the parts eaten; they are CAULIFLOWER. 155 much more delicate than the common cabhage and highly es- teemed by many. The plant requires the same treatment as cab- bage except the plants can be grown nearer together. While easily grown It is doubtful about its becoming a popular vegeta- ble, since in most of our markets very little attention is paid to quality, and the common cabbage will probably continue to take the place of this vegetable on most tables. The variety most esteemed is known as Dwarf Brussels Sprouts. CAULIFLOWER. (Brassica oleracea.) Native of Europe. — Biennial. — Cauliflower is a form of cab- bage in which the inflorescence becomes fleshy and distorted. Figure 71 — Snowball cauliflower. It is, however, considered much more delicate than cabbage and brings a higher price. It is grown in much the same manner as cabbage; the plants, however, are not so hardy in resisting cold weather as cabbage, are more sensitive to adverse condi' tions and should have more manure in the soil. As soon as the head commences to form, the outside leaves of the plant should be drawn together over the head so as to keep the sunlight away from it. Treated in this way the heads will be nearly snow 156 VEGETABLE GARDENING. white, while if not protected they become brown in color and are not as salable. The crop ripens somewhat irregu- larly When danger of hard frost is appar- ent the immature heads should be pulled with roots aiQd leaves and be planted out in a cold cellar or cold frame, where many of them will form good salable heads. The insect ene- mies are the same as those of the cabbage. Varieties. — There are many varieties, but per- haps, the most desir- able are the Snowball Figure 72.— Cauliflower plant with leaves and the Early Dwarf tied together to keep the sunlight ofE Tri_f,,^4. the head. This should be done as -E^nuri. soon as the head can be seen, and the leaves should remain tied until the head is cut out. KALE, or BORECOLE. (Brassica oleracea var.) Native of Europe and Asia. — Annual or biennial. — The seed Is like that of the cabbage or kohl-rabi. Under this head is grouped a number of vegetables closely re- lated to the cabbage and icohl-rabi that are used for greens. None of them are sufficiently hardy in the extreme north to stand out over winter. They are here cul- tivated in the same manner as turnips. In sections where the winters are mild, some of them are esteemed for planting in autumn for early spring use. Figure 73. — ^Dwarf Purple Kale. KOHLRABI. 157 KOHL-RABI. (Brassica oleracea var.) Koiil-rabl has been derived from a plant nearly allied to the cabbage, and its seed resembles cabbage seed. Its peculiarity is its~ swollen stem just above the ground, which is used for the same purpose and grown in the same general way as the turnip. It is more highly es- teemed than turnips for early summer use where well known. Like turnips it should be sown where it is to mature and used when young and ten- der. It may be stored in winter like tur- nips. Varietiesj — There are small tender va- rieties especially de- signed for table use and others that grow to large size and are valuable for feeding stock. Two of the best for table use are the White and Figure 74.— Kohl-Rabi. Purple Vienna. TURNIP (Brassica napus) and RUTABAGA, or SWEDISH TUR- NIP (Brassica campestris.) Native of Europe or Asia. — Biennial. — Cultivated for theii swollen, fleshy roots. The varieties of turnip and rutabaga vary much in form, size and color of the skin, and the flesh is white or yellow, pungent or slightly acid. There is more difference in the varieties of the turnip than of the rutabaga. The flower stalks are produced the second year and bear a large number of yellow flowers. The seeds are smooth and round like the seed of the cabbage and cauliflower and in similar shaped pods. 158 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Turnip.— The turnip is essentially a cold weather plant and (Joes best when most of its growth is made during the autumn. It is grown to some extent in the spring, but there is very little call for it until cool weather. Figure 75. — White Strap Leaved Turnip. Culture. — The turnip needs to be grown very rapidly to have the best quality. The best soil for it is a friable, rich, sandy loam, free from fresh manure; sorl land that has been recently broken up is excellent for this purpose, but on old land, i. e., that which has been cultivated for several years, or where there is fresh manure, the roots are often wormy. When grown for early use some quick maturing kinds should be planted as early in the spring as the soil can be worked in rows fifteen inches apart. The seed should be sown rather thickly and the seedlings thinned out two or three inches apart after all danger from the flea beetle has passed. (This insect is the same as that which attacks the cabbage.) Turnips grown for late use generally come in as a second crop after grain, strawberries, early pota- toes, cabbage or other crop that is off the land by the first of August, since after this time a good crop of many varieties of late turnips will mature before winter, though some of the large kinds need to be sown earlier ii the season. The seed is some- times sown broadcast just before a shower or else it is harrowed TURNIP AND RUTABAGA. 159 In. It is also grown In rows about two feet apart and cultivated by a horse cultivator, or the rows may be put nearer together and a hand cultivator used. Varieties. — Some of the best varieties of turnips are: Early Flat and Extra Early Milan for early use; Red Top Strap Leaf and White Egg or White Globe for autumn use. Rutabagas, (also called Swedish Turnips), are grown In the same manner as the common turnips, but require about four weeks longer to attain edible size, and, on this account, should be planted by the mid- dle of June or first of July. They are grown in rows thir- ty inches apart and culti- vated with a horse hoe. Ruta- bagas are sometimes grown in beds and transplanted, but this is seldom, if ever, done with turnips. The seed of both turnips and rutabagas is so smooth and fine that it is generally sown too thick. Mixing the seed with flour is a good way to prevent its running too rapidly through the seed sower. The crop should be allowed to stay in the ground until the approach of severe cold weather. They will stand some little freezing without injury, but will not live in the land over winter. They should be stored in frost proof pits or cellars. In dry cellars they should be covered with a few inches of sand or other ma- terial to prevent wilting. (See directions for keeping carrots.) Varieties. — Improved Purple Top Swede, and White Rock, are both excellent varieties of rutabagas. HORSERADISH. (Nasturtium armoracla.) Native of Europe. — Perennial. — Flowers white and small, in Fignre 76— Rutabaga. 160 VEGETABLE GARDENING. long clusters; seed vessels small, rounded and almost always barren. Propagated by cuttings of the roots. Cultivation. — This plant delights in deep, moist soil, but will grow in almost any situation and is very hardy. For home use it is customary to let it remain in some neglected corner, where It kills out everything else, and though treated in this way it yields sufficient roots for home use; yet the roots are so crowded that they are scarcely salable. When grown as a market crop it is planted anew each year. Straight pieces of roots six or eight inches long, called "sets" are planted about twelve inches apart, in rows two feet apart early in the spring. The roots must be set right end uppermost or they will not grow smooth or straight An iron bar is the most convenient tool for planting the "sets." The top of the sets should be about two inches below the surface. It is customary to grow horseradish as a sec- ond crop after peas or cabbage, by setting the roots between the rows of the first crop and cultivating the soil without re- gard to them until the first crop is harvested. It does not seem to hurt horseradish "sets" much if they are cut off a few times in cultivating early in the season. When the first crop is gath- ered the land is thoroughly cultivated, and the horseradish plants given good care. This plant makes its greatest growth In autumn a"d is dug on the approach of winter or can be left until spring. It must never be left two years on the same land, or else great labor will be required to get rid of it, and the roots will be 30 crooked as to be almost unsalable. Horseradish is used almost entirely after grinding or grating the roots and mix- ing with vinegar. It will keep for any length of time when thus prepared and kept in air-tight packages. It is also ground and dried, and the young leaves are sometimes used for greens. The demand is limited, though considerable quantities are sold each year. Under some conditions it is a paying crop, but the busi- ness is very apt to be overdone. There are no varieties. WATER CRESS. (Nasturtium officinale.) Native of Europe. — Perennial. — An aquatic plant with long stems, which readily take root in moist soil or water. It is es- teemed for use as a salad on account of its pleasant pungent flavor. Leaves are compound, with roundish divisions; flowers WATER CRESS. 161 6m?ll, white, in terminal spikes; seeds, usually few, very fine, In slightly curved pods. Culture. — It can only be cultivated successfully in moist slt» uations and generally does best along the edges of streams, where It grows partially in the water. It may, however, be grown successfully in any moist soil, even in a greenhouse. It Is very hardy, but for best results should be covered with water during winter. Most of the supply for our markets comes from along the courses of natural streams. In Europe, trenches from 16 to 20 feet wide for growing water cress are often excavated, into which running water may be turned at pleasure. In the bottom of these trenches, the roots of the cress are planted. The ■water is then let in, and the plants are not interfered with until they have grown strong enough to yield a crop of leaves. It Is often practicable to make narrow beds about springs or slow running streams for this purpose. CRESS, or PEPPER GRASS. (Lepidium sativum.) Native of Persia. — Annual. — ^An early spring vegetable, used as a salad and for garnishing, and of the easiest culture. It should be sown very early in the spring in the hotbed or out- doors in rows one foot or less apart. As it quickly runs to seed, a succession of sowings should be made every eight or ten days. It is only in demand in the early spring or in winter. It can easily be grown in a window box in a dwelling house. Flowers white and small; seeds comparatively large. RADISHES. (Raphanus sativus.) Probably a native of Asia. — Annual or, in the case of the winter radish, biennial. — The flower stalks are branched, about three feet high and have white or lilac-colored flowers, but never yellow. The seed is roundish or oval, but somewhat flattened and much larger than cabbage or turnip seed and much more variable in size. Some recent experiments show that the large radish seeds germJnate better and produce marketable roots sooner and more uniform in shape than small seed. Culture. — The radish is a vegetable of very easy culture. The roots of some kinds reach edible size in three weeks when grown in best conditions and are a favorite vegetable of early 162 VEGETABLE GARDENING. spring. It is a common practice to sow the seed of early kinds in hotbeds between rows of lettuce and outdoors between, or in the rows of beets, carrots, parsnips, etc. They will grow in al- most any soil, but new land is best for them. The seed may be sown as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring, and if sowings are made once every two weeks thereafter a succession of tender roots may be had. "W-'inter radishes are grown and stored in the same manner and fully as easily as turnips. The seed is sown in June or July. and the roots gath- ered in autumn and stored in cellars or pitted outdoors. They keep very well. Win- ter radishes closely ^ resemble the er.rly kinds in quality, but are firmer in texture. The cabbage flea bee- tle affects the young radish plants in the late spring and sum- mer. (See - chapter on insects for reme- dies.) The roots are sometimes infested with maggots, but these are seldom troublesome except where fresh manure Figure 77.-White Strasburg Radish. jg ^gg^^ ^^ j^ j^^^ where radishes have been grown for several years. It Is best not to manure the land for radishes but use rich soil that has been put in good order by some previous crop. Varieties. — There are many kinds, differing from each other in color, form, size time of maturity and taste. They are gen- erally divided into early or forcing varieties, summer and au- RADISHES. 163 tumn varieties and winter liinds. A few of each are here men- tioned: French Breakfast. — One of the best very early radishes for the market, but small. It remains in good condition for only a short time, consequently is not desirable for the home garden. Early White Tipped Scarlet Turnip Shaped.— A handsome, round, early, popular radish, maturing very quickly. Early Deep Scarlet. — Very early, round and of deep scarlet color. Long Scarlet Short Top. — A well known de- sirable early kind hav- ing long scarlet roots. White Strasburg. — One of the finest half long kinds for summer use. Grows to good size; white and tender. Rose. — The most popular of the winter sorts. Skin pink. Black Spanish. — Skin very black, flesh white, firm, tender but very pungent. A good winter sort. THE CLOVER FAMILY. (Order Leguminosae.) The Clover family is made up. of trees, shrubs or herbs which with few exceptions have a butterfiy-shaped corolla, 10 stamens, 9 of which are generally grown together. The fruit is known as a legume and is a pod that opens like the pea or bean pods. The leaves are alternate, chiefly compound, and have stipules. Besides the beans and peas, whose cultural di- rections are here given, the following are members of this fam- ily: Clovers, Vetch, Alfalfa and Lupine among farm crops, and the Common Lociist, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Honey Locust and Yellow Wood among trees. Figure 78.— French Breakfast Radish. 164 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Annual. The common beans in this country are natives of the warmer parts of South America. They are sometimes re- ferred to as kidney or French beans (P. vulgaris). Besides these, the Lima beans (P. lunatus) are culti- vated to a limited ex- tent. The common broad bean of Europe is an entirely different vege- table from the kinds generally grown here and is not sufficiently prolific in this section to make it worthy of cultivation. There are many varieties of beans, and the varieties of each species readily cross together, the flowers being especially adapt- ed to crossing. They vary from one another in many particulars; some are low, bushy and erect, while others are twining and have stems that grow ten or more feet in a season. There are many gradations between these extremes, as well as in size, color and shape of seed and plant. The twining stem kinds always twine from right to left around any support they can lay hold of. Horticulturally, beans are divided into the bush and pole varieties. Under the first class are included all the field varieties that are grown to be used as shelled beans and some snap and string beans. They have stout, erect or slightly running stems. Under pole beans are classed all the kinds that have twining stems and which are benefited by having sup- port of some kind. There are, however, dwarf bunch beans hav- . ing the same 'general features as the pole kinds except the tall stem. While this division is by no means distinct, yet the methods of cultivation adapted to each growth ar'e different. All Figure 79. — Bush Bean. BEANS. 16S beans are quite tender and should not be planted untiil the soil is warm and all danger of frost is over. They are sown for early use about the time for general corn planting. For the main crop they should be planted about the first of June. Bush Beans. — These are very easily grown and are adapted to a great variety of purposes. For a field crop on a large scale, the seed i^ generally sown with a horse drill or with a hand garden drill, in rows three feet apart. It is sometimes best to mark out the land first and then follow with the drill in the marks. Seed should be sown two or three inches deep. On a smaller scale, the land may be furrowed out with a one-horse plow or with a wheel hoe and the seed sowed by hand. After culture consists in keeping the land well cultivated with a horse hoe and free from weeds. Varieties of dwarf beans for use in a green state, such as string or snap beans, may be sown at any time from the middle of May to the first of August and with good prospects of a good crop of green pods even at the latter date. Some kinds have edible pods in less than six weeks from the time the seed is sown. Harvesting Beans. — For use in a green state, the pods of some kinds of beans are picked as soon as large enough to use and when they are tender and fresh; in other cases the beans are used when still fresh, but not until they are large enough to shell from the pods. Field beans are harvested by being pulled by hand or gathered with a bean gatherer when they are ripe, laid in rows until dry enough for threshing, then threshed at once or stored for threshing later on. Great care should be taken In storing the pods to prevent molding of the beans, and in threshing no*^ to break the beans. -In a small way beans may be threshed out by hand, but on a large scale any common threshing machine may be used, providing suitable changes are made in it so it will not break the beans. Varieties of Bush Beans, — There are many varieties of bush beans having desirable qualities, but only a few of the most valuable are mentioned h^re: Field Beans. — White Marrow, Burlingame Medium, Navy and Snowflake. 166 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Waxen Podded Beans. — Dwarf Golden Wax and Dwarf Black Wax. Shell and String Beans.— Yellow Six Weeks, Early Mohawk, Cranberry and Dwarf Horticultural. Japanese, Soy or Soja Beans. — These are easily grown, but on account of their inferior quality are not much used here. * Dwarf Lima Beans are highly esteemed by those who know them and, although smaller in size than the pole Limas, are supplanting them in this section and coming into quite gen- eral use, on account of their being more certain to mature well and requiring less labor in cul- tivation. They require' the same methods of cultivation as other dwarf beans but should not be planted until the land is thor- oughly > warmed. The best va- rieties are known as Hender- son's Dwarf, Durpee's Dwarf, Jacksvni Wonder (black spotted) and Kumerle Dwarf Lima. The common dwarf shell beans are early, productive and good, but not so rich in quality as these. Pole Beans. — The twiningva- rieties of beans are little grown in this section, as the improved dwarf kinds take their place to a great extent. However, tall Lima beans are highly esteemed by many and the dwarf Varieties of this class are not so desirable as the pole kinds. There is also a demand for such shell beans as the pole Horticultural, Cranberry and Caseknife varieties. Pole beans require stronger land than do the dwarf kinds. The ordinary way of growing pole beans is to set poles six feet long in hills four feet apart es,ch way. It is customary to put a shovel- ful of good compost or rotted manure in each hill if the land Is poor. Seed should not be planted till the ground is quite warm — the pole varieties are more particular in this respect than the dwarf kinds. About six seeds should be planted two or three Figure 80— Dwarf Lima beans. BEANS. 167 inches deep around each pole. In the case of Lima beans the general belief is that the beans should be planted edgeways with the eye downwards, but good results are often obtained by sowing the seeds without regard to this matter. This latter method is customary in sowing the dwarf Lima, and some who sow the large Lima beans in furrows and train them to trellises pay no regard to the position of the seed in the soil, but sow an abundance of seed so as to be sure of a good stand. Lima beans are generally shelled by hand when fresh but full grown and are sold by the quart. In warm, climates they are sold in large quantities after being dried. The Cranberry and Horticultural kinds are generally sold in the pod. As soon as the seedlings commence to "run," it is customary to assist them in getting started, and some seasons it is necessary to tie the Lima beans to the poles until they are well started. Lima beans require an extra warm -'ocatiijn and soil.. Beans may be Transplanted if removed with much care when the soil is moist. Some very successful gardeners find that it pays them to start their pole Lima beans on pieces of sod or in pots or boxes in hotbeds and in this way they advance the period of ripening two weeks or more. This is a v,ery desirable practice with pole Lima beans in this climate, since the short season often fails to mature much of the crop when the seed is planted in the open ground. The varieties of pole Lima beans best adapted to this section are probably the Large Lima and Dreer's Lima; both of these are of fine quality and productive. The small Lima or Sieva bean is „. „, » ^i. , ,^.,„ earlier than those mentioned but Figare 81— Anthracnose of t>ean pod. 3f inferior quality. Preserving Beans in Salt. — String beans are easily preserved 168 VEGETABLE GARDENING. in salt for winter use, using about seven pounds to the bushel of pods. In doing this the fresh tender pods are put at once into the brine as they come from the field. When wanted for use, they should be freshened out and cooked in the ordinary way. They are very good, and are nearly as desirable as the best canned beans. Diseases and Insects. — Beans are quite free from the attacks of any injurious insects or diseases. An- thracnose of the bean (Gloeospori- um lindemuthianum) shows Itself by black spots on the stems or pods or both. It is sometimes very in- jurious in moist weather, but only in occasional years have wo any- thing to fear from it. It is not gen- erally considered profitable to ise any of the fungicides, such as Bor- deaux mixture, which would read- ily prevent it. Beans grown in lo- cations where there is a good cir- culation of air are less liable to Figure 83— Nott's Excelsior pea. injury than those protected from a good circulation of air. PEAS. (Pisum sutivum.) The pea is an annual plant of uncertain origin, but probably a native of central Europe. The flowers are either white or violet colored, but the most desirable garden kinds, almost with- out exception, bear white flowers. Varieties of peas are divided into three classes, those having wrinkled seed, those having round, small seed, and those having edible pods. Wrinkled seeded varieties do not germinate as well as the smooth skinned or round sorts, nor do their germinat- ing powers last so long, nor are they so hardy in resisting the adverse conditions of early spring. On account of the latter reason, gardeners plant the round seed first in the spring, and PEAS. 169 do nbt plant the wrinkled kinds until the soil Is In best condi- tion and somewhat warm. The wrinkled kinds are better in quality than the round and smooth varieties. Peas having edible pods are not popular in this country, probably because of the ease with which string beans are grown. Culture. — Peas may be grown successfully in almost any good soil; they even do well on rather poor soil. The kinds hav- ing smooth seeds should be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring — even a hard freeze does not hurt the plants as they are coming out of the ground, and they will stand considerable frost when well up The distance between the rows and the seeds in the row depend somewhat on the kinds grown. Some kinds branch out far more than others and, con- sequently, need more room in the row. They also vary in length of stem from a few inches to six or seven feet. The tall kinds require the rows to be five or six feet apart, while dwarf varieties are generally planted in rows thirty inches to three feet apart. The growing of tall kinds is mostly confined to private gardens, where it is customary to use brush or other material in the rows for support. Formerly, among tall varieties, were those far excelling in quality any- thing found among those of a dwarf habit, but recent introduc- tions of the latter kinds have shown a great improvement in quality, until now the dwarf sorts are generally grown, even by the most fastidious. In common practice, the seed is sown about four inches deep, in rows three feet apart, putting about ten seeds to each foot of row. It is best to sow plenty of seed in order to secure a good" stand. The land should be well cultivated between the rows. Unleached wood ashes or some other fertilizer rich in potash and phosphoric acid is most bene- ficial for this crop. As it belongs to the leguminous section of plants, it is a nitrogen producer and, consequently, does not need much nitrogen in the soil. Early peas as generally grown are out of the way in time to allow the land to be used for late cabbage or string beans. When it is desired to extend the season of table peas, successive showings should be made at intervals of two weeks, up to the tenth of June. During the summer the vines are too liable to mildew to make late spring planting successful. The pea is distinctively a cool weather plant and on this account 170 VEGETABLE GARDENING. it will often do well when sown in the latter part of summer for use in autumn. The Canning of Peas is an important industry in some sec- tions and could be more generally introduced into this section to advantage. In sowing peas for canneries it is the practice in some sections to sow them with a common grain drill, leaving a path between each strip for the pickers. Varieties. — Of the many varieties only a few of the best are referred to here. For very early use, almost every seedman has a strain of smooth, round peas, which he sends out under his own peculiar name. The early sorts are generally derived from the old Daniel O'Rourke, and among them are varieties known as the First and Best, Earliest of All and Improved Extra Early. As a rule, these should be used for first planting only, to be followed by plantings of the wrinkled sorts. American Wonder is a very dwarf early pea of unsur- passed quality and very hardy for a wrinkled sort. A rich soil and extra cultivation are required to get the best results from it. If only one variety is to be grown, this is perhaps the best to plant. Nott's Excelsior. — A very produc- tive early dwarf variety that has at- tained some popularity and is in some sections preferred to American Won- der. Gradus. — An early, large-podded wrinkled pea of excellent quality and a good'yielder. Stratagem. — Very productive and justly popular, having remarkably large pods filled with rich, sweet peas. It does better on light than on heavy soils. Marrowfat. — Among the most popular of the old varieties. CInampion of England. — A tall growing popular sort of best quality, that does best when sup- ported by brush or wire netting. Late. Figure 83. — Dwarf Okra. OKRA. 171 Dwarf Champion. — A dwarf form of the above. Telephone. — Of excellent quality. Pods and seeds large. One of the most productive and consequently very popular. Late. THE MALLOW FAMILY. (Order Malvaceae.) The mallow family is known by its numerous stamens which have their filaments grown together and are attached to the base of the petals. The petals are twisted together in' the bud. Seeds kidney-shaped. Herbs or shrubs mucilaginous with very tough fibrous bark, none of them poisonous. Okra is the only plant of this family which is frequently grown in gardens, but the common cotton plant also belongs here as well as the abutilon mallow, hibiscus, althaea and hollyhock of our gardens. OKRA. (Hibiscus esculentus.) Native of South America. — Annual. — The seed is round and of medium size. It is cultivated for its green seed pods, which are highly esteemed for soup. Little grown except at the south. It is of the easiest culture. The seed should be sown about two inches apart in rows two feet apart and in rich, warm soil, at about the time for planting beans. The pods are produced abun- dantly but are perhaps not as tender when grown in our dry atmosphere as they are in the south. The flowers are large, yel- low and very pretty. The varieties known as Dwarf Green and Long Green are best for our climate. THE PARSNIP FAMILY. (Order umbelliferae.) The parsnip family is made up of herbaceous plants some of which are aromatic and others that are acid-narcotic poisons. 172 VEGETABLE GARDENING. The flowers are small and generally arranged in compound um bels; no calyx, but in place often have five minute teech, five .petals, five stamens and two pistils. The dry fruit usually splits into two parts and the seed of most species has oil tubes. The leaves are alternate and more commonly compound or decompound. Besides the parsnips, parsley, car- rot, celery, whose cultural directions are here given, dill, anise, caraway, cori- ander and fennel will be found under the head of garden herbs. PARSNIPS. (Pastinaca sativa.) Native of Europe. — Bien- nial. — Cultivated for its long, tender root. Seeds light brown in color, flat and marked with five rais- ed lines or ridges. Seed stalks three to five feet high with large umbels of greenish flowers. Culture. — The parsnip is grown in the same manner as the carrot, but is rather more particular about the soil on which it grows. Then, too, in manuring the land for this crop, it is important to use only manure which is well rotted, as the ap- plication of fresh manure seems to encourage the formation of side roots. Also on hard land, there is often a tendency for the roots to form side roots, and, as what is desired is a rather thick tap root, side roots p,re to be avoided. It Is important *~ Figure -Parsnip plant in flower. PARSNIPS. 173 BOW the seed early and quite thick and then to thin out in order to be sure of having a good stand of plants. The seed germinates rather slow- ly. It is a very hardy crop and may be left in the ground until late autumn or even over winter. In fact, many believe that freezing parsnips in the ground im- proves their quality. They may be safely pitted outdoors by putting them in heaps, covering with a few inches of hay or straw and then a foot of earth. Treated in this way, they can be taken out at any time during the winter or early spring. It is not advisable to leave the crop in the ground over winter, since it cannot then be dug out until the frost Is out of the ground in the spring, by which time the demand for parsnips will have consid- erably lessened. If kept in an ordinary cellar, they should be covered with earth or sand to prevent wilting. In marketing the parsnip, it is often customary after trimming off all side shoots, to sell them by the basket without washing. A far bet- ter and more equitable plan is to sell them by weight. In some of the best markets, the roots, after being carefully washed and trimmed, are packed evenly in boxes, sixteen inches square and eight inches deep, which hold just a bushel. Packed in this way, they present a very neat appearance. The Hollow Crown or Student Parsnip is the best kind to grow for table use. Turnip Rooted Parsnip, which is short and round. Is used to some extent. It is a good form on. light soils, but for rich land the Hollow Crown is to be preferred. PARSLEY. (Carum petroselinum.) Native of Sardinia — Biennial. — The leaves of some varieties of this plant are used in a fresh state for garnishing and sea- soning, and in the case of a few kinds the fleshy roots are used. In Figure 85— Hollow Crown Parsnip, J 74 VEGETABLE GARDENING. habit of growth parsley resembles the parsnip, to which it is closely related. The leaves, however, are variously cut and di- vided. A few varieties are grown for their fleshy roots. Culture. — Parsley is grown in much the same manner as the parsnip, and, like, it, its seed germinates rather slowly. The seed is often sown for winter and early spring use in green- houses and hotbeds. The leaves may be used as soon as big enough. The roots may be taken up in autumn and grown in a greenhouse or in a box in a sunny window for a winter supply. The demand is quite limited. It is sold in small bunches and may be found in the larger markets at any season of the Figrure86.— Fide curled parsley. year. It seldom comes through our winters safely when left exposed outdoors but sometimes does so when well protected. The Varieties commonly grown are the Double Curled and Fine Leaved, either of which makes a border that is pretty enough for a flower garden, and it is often used as an edging for small kitchen gardens. CARROTS. (Daucus carota.) Native of Europe. — Biennial. — In the wild state this root is valueless, being slendT and woody, and the plant is a bad weed. Under cultivation it exhibits the widest difference in shape, size and color. Some kinds have < roots that are broader than long and extend not over two or three inches in the ground, while others attain a length of two feet, and still others may be found having the various intermediate forms between these extremes. There are also varieties having red, white and yellow flesh. The leaves are very much divided and deeply cut. The flowers are white and crowded together in compound umbels on stalks two to five feet high. The roots of the cultivated kind will stand con- CARROT. 175 siderable frost, but not severe freezing. Two seeds are pro- duced by each flower; they are flat on one side and convex on the other, and are partly covered jy minute bristles. When sold, the bristles have generally been removed. Carrots are used to some extent as a table vegetable, but they are especially valuable as a food for horses and other stock. Cultivation. — The carrot is of the easiest culture. It re- quires a fine mellow, rich, uplanC soil. On moist land the roots are apt to branch and are much liable to dis- ease. The seedlings are quite delicate when they first come up and every precaution should be taken to have the land clean, so that the small seedlings will not be overrun with weeds; the surface soil should be kept loose and mel- low throughout the sea- son. It is a good plan to sow a few radish seeds with the carrot seed so that cultivation may be commenced early, as the latter start slowly. If the seed of the small kinds are sown very early in spring they will pro- duce roots big enough for table use by early summer; but for the main crop the seed should be sown about the middle of May in rows fourteen inches apart. A fair crop may be ex- pected even if the seed is not sown until the middle of June, although the dry weather which generally prevails at that time of the year is liable to prevent or retard the germination of the seed or to burn up the seedlings just as they are pushing out Figrnre 87— Carrot plant in flower. 176 VEGETABLE GARDENING. of the ground. The crop is sometimes sown in rows two feet apart and cultivated with a horse implement. It the seed is good, two pounds per acre, or about fourteen seeds to the foot of row, is plenty to sow. Very thick seeding is not desirable, as the cost of thinning in such a case is considerable. It is best for the experienced grower to have all the conditions just right and then to sow the seed so that little, if any, thinning will be neces- sary. However, the beginner will very likely find it safest to sow a large amount of seed, perhaps three. pounds per acre, and thin out so that the plants will stand three inches apart in the row. The richer the soil the more room the roots require in the row; if small roots are wanted they may be left an inch apart in the row. Gathering, — One of the greatest outlays in raising carrots is in gathering and topping the crop. The topping may be done Figure 88.— Harvesting long carrots and parsnips by plowing the eartii away on one side, and then pulling the roots by hand. by hand, after being plowed out, but hand labor is very costly. Some growers go over the rows and cut the tops off with a sharp hand hoe. If the tops of the roots are cut off a little no harm is done, as it does not increase the liability to rot as is the case with beets. The roots are, perhaps, most easily dug by plowing close to each row and then pulling them out by hand. For this purpose a subsoil plow is best, but any good plow will answer the purpose fairly well. If a short rooted variety is grown and CARROT. 177 the land is mellow, the plow may often be run so as to turn the roots out on top of the furrow slice. Storings — Carrots are easily kept over winter in cellars, Figure 89. — Varieties of Carrots. 1 — White Belgian. 2 — Long Orange. 3 — Orange Danvers. 4 — Ox-Heart. 5 — Pointed-Rooted. 6 — Blunt- Rooted Horn. 7 — Extra Early Forcing. {.After Landreth.) providing they are in a temperature near the freezing point and are not too ripe when dug. If the seed has been planted too early, the roots will ripen up early in the fall and will cease to grow, and many of the leaves will turn yellow. Such roots do not keep well, but are liable to sprout badly long before spring, 178 VEGETABLE GARDENING. even It kept cold. To have the roots keep best they should he growing rapidly when dug. In dry cellars, It may be necessary to cover with loam or cand to prevent those on top of the bin or pile from wilting. If they are to be fed early in the winter, they may perhaps be piled in the barn and covered with chaff and straw sufficient to keep out the frost until used. Carrot seed is raised by planting out the roots in the spring, about two feet apart, in rows four feet apart. The seed heads ripen irregularly and are gathered as they ripen and threshed when dry. The seed is generally rubbed against a sieve having a fine mesh to take the bristles off, otherwise it would be a difficult matter to sow it in a machine. The torctng of carrots is carried on to a limited extent, for which purpose they may be sown between rows of radishes In " the hotbed or greenhouse. Varieties. — For very early table use the Short Scarlet is best. For general use in summer and for winter use, perhaps thera is no better variety than the Danvers. The Guerande Half Long, or Oxheart, Is a variety that is very thick and short and yields nearly as much as the Danvers. It has the advantage, moreover, of being easily pulled by hand without any digging. The White Belgian is a large cropper, but only of value as food for stock. Thirty tons of carrots are sometimes raised on one acre, but in ordinary practice seldom more than half that amount is raised. CELERY. (Apium graveolens.) Native of Europe. — Biennial. — The plants are grown for the fleshy leaf stalks, which are very tender when blanched; one form is also grown for the large fleshy roots. The whole plant has a pleasant aromatic flavor. The seed stalks are branching and grow from two to three feet high, and have very small yel- lowish or greenish flowers in compound umbels. The seed is small, triangle and flve-ribbed, having the characteristic aro- matic flavor of the plant. Celery is a crop that is very liable to suffer from the want of rich, nitrogenous manures and from a superabundance of or a lack of moisture in the soil. On this account it should be CELERY. 17» grown on retentive, yet well drained, rich land. Well drained bog land with the water about eighteen inches from the surface is often excellent for this purpose. Early Celery. — The seed for early celery is generally sown Figure 90. — Celery plants. Those on left have been transplanted and show in consequence an improved root system for planting out. Those on right were only grown in seed bed without transplanting and have not as good roots for planting out. The plants with tops trimmed are ready for planting out. the latter part of February or early in March in boxes in a green- 180 VEGETABLE GARDENING. house. As soon as the plants are of sufficient size to handle well, they are pricked out into other boxes or into hotbeds, where they remain until large enough for planting out, which is some- time in May. The tops of the plants should be sheared off once before they are pricked out and again before f^y are planted to the open ground, as this makes them stocky and helps them to recover from transplanting. If the leaves are all left on the plants when they are set out, they generally dry up an in so doing take away much moisture from the roots. The plants should be hardened off before being set out. Early celery should be bleached by being covered with boards or with boards and straw, since the ordinary way of bleaching it by banking with earth is liable to bring on disease in warm weather. Late Celery. — The greatest demand for celery is during the autumn and winter months, and very little is marketed during the sum- mer. The seed for au- tumn and winter celery is generally sown in April in the open ground, al- though some of our best gro'ofers sow the seed in hotbeds or cold frames April, before the land outdoors can be all. If the seed is sown outside, a piece land is generally selected. The seed is drills about nine inc^v's apart and one- deep, and the soil is well firmed over it ing. Some growi'rs do not cover eel- all, except by rollirg or patting it the back of a spade. If there is dan- seed drying.; out, some growers shade the bed with Fig. 91.— White cott-jii- cloth or with a lath screen rais- ed about Pi"™s Celery, ^j^g jq^^ from the ground and so made as to keep off about one-halt the sunlight. Another plan is to cover the bed with burlap after sowing tho seed and water the seed through it; in this latter case, however, it is very im- early in worked at of fine rich sown in quarter inch after cover- ery seed at down with ger of the CELERY. 181 portant to watch carefully and remove the cloth covering as soon as the plants appear. The seed germinates slowly. The seed- lings are quite weak and should receive almost constant cultiva- tion. The tops should be sheared off once or twice, as recom- mended for early celery, to make the plants stocky; they should also be thinned out so that there will not be over twenty or thirty plants to the foot of row. When sufficiently large, they should be moved to the field where they are to grow. Treated in this way, the plants will be strong and stocky; if left to crowd one another, they probably will be weak and poor. Some successful growers prefer to transplant once to narrow rows before setting in the field where the crop is to mature. This makes the final transplanting most certain by increasing the fibrous roots, but is not generally necessary, although a good plan under unfavorable conditions. In the growing of celery plants it will often be a good plan at the first transplanting to make up a special bed for them. This should be done as follows: A place four feet wide and of any length should be selected, the top soil to the depth of about three inches thrown off, and then rotten manure such as that which comes from spent hotbeds or similar material put In to the depth of about three inches. The top soil should then be returned and the plants set out in it. Treated in this way the young plants will develop a compact root system in the manure, and ma-y be transplanted with a ball of roots almost as well as if they had been grown in pots. Plants grown In this way are especially desirable when transplanting must be done in a dry time, but seedbeds require much water. Planting. — Having good plants, the next thing is to set them so as to get a good crop. It is quite a common practice in some sections to grow celery as a second crop after early peas, lettuce, cabbage or beets. In such a case the plants, perhaps, had better not be set out until the first crop has been gathered ; but where only one crop is to be grown the plants may be set as soon as big enough. This will generally be from the middle to the latter part of June and for latest use the latter part of July. The land should be thoroughly plowed, harrowed and smoothed off. Fur- rows six inches deep should then be made where the plants are 182 VEGETABLE GARDENING. to go, and In these about tliree inches of fine, well-rotted ma- nure or compost should be placed. This manure should be thor- oughly mixed with the soil, and the furrow nearly filled. For mixing the manure and soil perhaps there is no better imple- ment than a one horse cultivator with th^ teeth set close to- gether. If the land Is unusually rich in plant food, there is no need of going to this trouble, but the plants may be set right after the marker. In any case the rows should be four or five (eet apart for the common kinds that have to be bleached by banking up with earth, but the self-bleaching and dwarf kinds can be managed in rows three feet apart. The plants should be about six inches apart in the rows. Before the plants are dug from the seedbed. It should be thoroughly soaked with water; the plants should have the tops out off, trimmed, and the roots dipped in water. If the roots are very long they should be shortened so they may be easily han- dled. The place where they are to be planted should be moist, and every precaution taken to prevent the plants drying out when they are being moved. Special attention should be given to planting on freshly plowed land and to firming the soil around the roots. If the land is dry it must be watered before it is safe CO set out celery plants, and if the weather is very hot and dry the plants must also be shaded from the sun. The ground should be kept clean and mellow between the plants with a horse culti- vator throughout the season. If, while the crop is growing, it Is thought the plants re- quire more food, it may be supplied by plowing a shallow fur- row away from them on one side and putting in fine well-rotted stable manure, hen manure or compost and covering it with soil. This treatment supplies the food directly to the roots and Is very effective. Nitrate of soda or other nitrogenous fertilizer may also be used to advantage rn this way. Celery and Onions Together. — In some sections celery is grown as a second crop with onions. In this case every fourth or fifth row is left vacant when the onion seed is sown, and this space is set out to late celery plants at the proper time. If the onion seed is sown by the 20th of April, almost any of the well- kno'wn commercial sorts like Yellow Danvers or Red Wethers- CELERY. 183 field will be ripe by the middle of August, when they can be harvested; and then the celery can occupy all the land during the cool weather of autumn, when it makes its most rapid growth. Ficuro No 92. — Celeo' plants which have been transplanted from the seed box into moist soii that is rich in rotted manure. Thus treat- ed, the celery forms a close, compact root system, to which the soil adheres in lumps when taken up, and on this account the plants are very sure to start well when set out permanently in the field. Handling. — As celery grows naturally it spreads on the sur- face of the ground, like the carrot. The term handling refers to the process by which the leaf stalks of each plant are drawn together and some earth pressed firmly around them by the hands, to hold them in an upright position. After this is done more earth is drawn towards the plants with a hoe, until there is enough to prevent their spreading open. All celery plants ■hould have this upright form before being stored, and it is all 184 VEGETABLE GARDENING. the bleaching treatment necessary for the self-blanching kinds. The land should be thoroughly cultivated and a furrow turned towards the plants on each side of the row before the handling process is begun, so there may be plenty of loose earth to work with. Bleaching with Earth or "Banking." — If the celery is in- tended for marketing previous to the first of December, it should be banked up or otherwise bleached in the field. Banking up is done immediately after "handling." It consists in plowing earth against the celery to begin with and then finishing it oft with a shovel or wide hoe until the earth is banked up to the full height of the celery. This had better be done in several operations as the plants grow and need it. Figure 93— Celery banked up for bleaching. Bleaching with Boards.— Celery that is to be marketed early should be bleached with boards, because if "banked" with earth it is more liable to become diseased. Boards ten inches wide are the best but narrower boards may be used nearly as well, providing the earth is first drawn towards the plants for them to rest on. The plants are generally handled before the boards are put on, but this is not absolutely necessary, although desira- ble. A board should be put upon each side of the row quite close to the plants and be held in place with d. peg. If for any reason there are vacancies, in the row or the plants are not close enough to exclude light from the stalks when the boards are put up, the vacancies may be filled with hay or straw. For CELERY. 185 late autumn use It is probably best to bleach the plants with earth, as it also protects from frost and is much cheaper than bleaching with boards when the first cost of the boards and the handling of them is considered. In fact, almost all growers use earth to bleach their late celery. Planting in Beds. — Some growers prefer to plant celery in beds four feet wide and to have the plants set ten inches apart each way in the beds; in which case a four foot path is left ^ Figure 94 — Celery grown in "beds and earthed up to bleach. between the beds for convenience in cultivation and weeding. In this way a very large amount of celery can be grown on a very small piece of land. By putting boards up on both sides of the paths, the plants will take on the upright form, so that handling will be unnecessary. For late use the plants may be taken directly from the bed to the cellar without banking, but it will generally be found a good plan late in the fall to pack the spaces between the plants with hay or fill them with earth from the paths, as they will then be protected from frosts. If the celery is to be blanched in the bed, this, of course, would be necessary. To grow plants so close together successfully requires the utmost care in the preparation of the land. It should ^be covered with fine rich manure, preferably in the spring; the plants also require to be frequently and heavily watered, since the land will be free of roots. 186 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Digging Ceiery. — Celery will stand many light frosts, but hard freezing is liable" to injure it, and it should never be han- dled when frozen. It is seldom sate to allow it to remain un- protected in the ground in this section after the middle of Octo- ber, but by covering the plants with straw or other material they may often be safely left in the field until the middle of Novem- ber if well banked up. The plants are generally lifted with a spade after a furrow has been plowed away from the row on one side. Most of the soil should be shaken off the roots and the old outside leaves removed before storing. In this section, to keep well, celery should be stored in a cold, moist cellar or frost- proof shed. If it does not whiten quickly enough the plants may be watered and kept warm and thus started into growth, which results in forming the tender white shoots very quickly. Storing Celery. — For home use a good way to keep celery is to pack the plants closely together, upright, in boxes twelve to eighteen inches wide, with the bottom covered with several inches of moist sand, a little of which should be worked in among the roots. There Is no need of having sand between the plants. These boxes, when packed, should be kept in a cold, damp cellar. In storing for market use, where there is plenty of storage room, the plants. are sometimes "heeled in" in sand on the floor; the cheapest practicable way, however, is to pack them between boards about nine inches apart. To do this, place the first board on one side of the cellar or shed nine inches from the wall, with its upper edge at a height from the floor a little less than the length of the cellar. The boards may be supported by stakes and should not rest on the ground. In this narrow di- vision the celery should be packed upright, as described for pack- ing in boxes. As soon as the first tier Is filled, erect another board division at nine inches from the first, and so continue until the whole surface Is covered. No soil or sand Is packed among the stalks of celery, but three or four inches of either is placed on the floor, into which the roots are bedded. The temper- ature of the celery should be kept very low, and even a little frost In the cellar will not hurt it. If dry, it must be watered, but water must not be put upon the leaves, as it may bring on rot. If celery Is wanted for immediate use, it may be stored in CELERY. 187 barrels or troughs containing an inch or two of water. This is also a very good way of hastening the bleaching process. The green stalks of celery do not become white, and the term "bleaching" is a misnomer. The "bleaching" of celery is simply the result of the plant making growth in the dark. Bleached celery will keep but a short time and should be used as soon as white. Celery for use in the latter part of winter should be quite green in color when put into winter storage; for early winter use it should be partly bleached when stored. For winter use celery should be left out as late as is safe in the fall, so that the cellar or pit wiiere it is to be stored may be thoroughly cooled off before It is put in. The Time Required for Bleaching Celery in the field will de-- pend upon whether it is growing rapidly or not. During the first part of September, when it is making a rapid growth, it will probably be fit to use in three weeks from the time it is banked up; while later on, when the weather is cool and the celery is growing slowly, four weeks will be found necessary. The same conditions affect the bleaching pr.ocess after storing. In an ordinary frost proof cellar, it may easily be bleached in three weeks by watering it and then raising the temperature to fifty degrees. Celery Seed is raised by wintering the roots and planting them out in the spring, in much the same way that seed of the carrot and other biennial plants is grown. Diseases. — There are two diseases, rust and leaf blight, that sometimes seriously injure celery, but they are not commonly very troublesome. As a rule, celery growers do not attempt to fight them, but select the healthiest varieties and trust to good cultivation to enable the plants to resist them. The diseases re- ferred to are described as follows: Leaf Blight. (Septoria Petroselini var. apii.) All parts of ^he celery plant except the roots are liable to the attacks of this /ungous disease. Watery spots appear on the stems and leaves, vhich soon show small, black dots. This disease may be spread t)y the seeds, which are likely to become infected. Treatment. — The first precaution Is to plant clean seed. That which Is spotted or speckled with the black spots of disease 188 VEGETABLE GARDENING. should be avoided. In addition it would be a good plan to spray the young plants with Bordeaux mixture on the first pppear- ance of the disease. Celery Blight, Rust or Sun-Scald. (Cercospora apll. — [Fries.]) The first indication of this disease is the ap- pearance of yellowish spots on the leaves. These finally run to- gether and turn the en- tire leaves yellow and then brown. Treatment. — Secure as healthful conditions as possible. Where the plants are somewhat shaded, they are less lia- ble to the disease than if in the full sunlight. This disease is especial- ly bad in very dry loca- tions. It is reported that the Bordeaux mixture and other standard fungicides will entirely prevent it. Varieties of Celery. — The dwarf kinds are the best to grow; the red varieties are of excellent quality but do not take well on the markets. For early marketing the White Plume is highly esteemed and probably the most profitable variety for general marketing. It is, however, somewhat subject to blight. Its stalks and leaves are white without going through the bleaching process, but are not of as good flavor as when bleached. Golden Self-Blanching Is a similar variety and is considered, by sonie growers, superior to White Plume. Winter Queen is one of the most extensively grown varieties for winter storage. Other good late varieties are Giant Pascal and Boston Market. Celerlac, or Turnip-Rooted Celery, is a form of celery culti- vated for its roots, which are eaten either cooked or raw. Tlie stalks are generally hollow and quite worthless. The plants are raised by the same method as that for celery but may be planted FiguT"e 95. — Turnip-rooted celery or ceieriac. SWEET POTATOES. 189 In rows not over twelve inclies apart. The roots are generally kept by storing them In moist sand the same as carrots. Marketing. — Celery Is marketed when well blanched. In preparing it for market most o£ the roots are trimmed otC and the green and decaying leaves are removed. About a dozen roots are generally tied together for a bunch, although the size of the bunch varies in different markets. Celery can be easily shipped long distances when trimmed and packed in tight boxes. Much of that which is supplied to the markets of this section comes from Kalamazoo, Michigan, where it is raised on drained swamp land. THE MORNING GLORY FAMILY. (Order convolvulaceae.) The Morning Giory Family includes mostly twining, trailing or rarely erect plants (some tropical species are shrubs or trees, ours are herbs.) Commonly with some milky juice, alternate' leaves, no stipules, regular gamopetalous flowers; fruit a 2-4- valved capsule. The Sweet Potato is the only vegetable that occurs in this group which is here mentioned. This family also includes the Morning Glory, Bindweed and Man of the Earth. SWEET POTATO. (Ipomea batatas.) Native of South America. — Perennial, but cultivated as an annual. — It Is a near relative of the morning glory and scarcely resembles the common potato in any particular. It probably can- not be profitably raised in the extreme northern states, but may be grown in a small way in warm, sandy soil as far north as Minnesota and will produce even there very large tubers. The plant never flowers at the North and is never cultivated from seed. Culture. — The sweet potato is raised from sprouts, which are produced abundantly if the tubers are planted in a hotbed In the early spring. The sprouts are carefully pulled from the tubers and are planted out after the soil has become W8.rm. They should be set two feet apart in rows four feet apart. They need considerable care until started, after which they require good cultivation only and are easily grown. The vines spread on the ground and have a tendency to root at the joints, which should be discouraged by moving them at every hoeing. They are very susceptible to cold weather and should be pulled as soon 190 VEGETABLE GARDENING. as the tops are frosted. There are many cultivated varieties in the South. For the northern states, Early Carolina is perhaps the best. THE POTATO FAMILY. (Order Solanaceae.) The Potato Family is made up of mostly herbaceous plants with rank-scented Herbage (this and the fruit more commonly narcotic-poisonous J, colorless Juice, alternate leaves, regular flowers with the parts usually in fives. There are many poison- ous plants in this group, which fact led to the tomato being re- garded with much sus- picion for many years and the tops of pota- toes and even tubers that have become green by exposure to sunlight contain a poisonous principle. Besides the potato, tomato, egg plant, pepper and strawberry tomato, whose cultural direc- tions are here given, the Tobacco, Petunia, Nightshade, Datura, Salpiglossis, Jerusalem Cherry and Nierem- bergia of the gardens, belong to this family. Fig. 96 — Sweet potatoes and piece of vine. POTATO. (Solanum tuberosum.) Native of the high mountain regions of South America.— Grown as an annual, but truly a perennial through its tubers. Its stems are more or less four angled. The flowers vary ir color from white to purplish. Many kinds do not flower, and most varieties seldom if ever produce fruit. The fruit is a round- ish or slightly oval berry, of a green color or tinged with violet brown and averaging about an inch in diameter. The puip Ie POTATO. 191 green and very acrid. The seeds are white, kidney-shaped and flat. The seed is never sown except for producing new varie- ties. Seedlings vary greatly and often do not obtain full size until three years old. The tubers are com- monly referred to as "seed," but they should be regarded as cuttings or sets; they are only sv/oUen underground branches filled with starchy matter. They vary much in size and shape and in color of skin, from' white to al- most black, including yellow, red and blue. There are a thousand or more of named va- rieties, but many of tx-em are scarcely dis- tinguishable from oth- er named kinds. Fiiftire 97— Potato plant showing- tubers and roots Origin of the Modern Potato. — Fifty years ago potato rot ran over western Europe and the United States to such an extent as to bring starvation in regions where potatoes were the princi- pal article of diet; no one knows where the potato came from that was cultivated previous to that time. Rev. Chauncey Good- rich, of Utica, N. Y., urged before agricultural societies and the agricultural committees of the New York legislature that potato rot resulted from lowered vitality of the potato plant, due to its being grown under high cultivation and in climate.; and soils not wholly congenial to a sub-tropical plant, native to a small section only of the earth's suriace; and he claimed that the way to restorp its vigor would be to get varieties from the part of South America that was the home of the potato. His theories were laughed at by scientific men, and the legislative committee told him he knew more about theology than about plant diseases. 192 VEGETABLE GARDENING. Being thus repulsed, he attempted on his own account what he felt should be undertalien by the state. Mr. Goodrich commenced his experiments about 1848 and at various times tor many years imported potatoes from South America, and from these and their progeny he raised many seedlings. Among eight kinds received at one importation (probably from Chili) was a variety that he called the Rough Purple Chili. It ripened late in the season and was generally hollow, but it had flesh of fine texture and was free from rot. From seed saved from this he raised the Garnet Chili, which was a popular variety for many years in New York state. The Garnet Chili was parent of the Early Rose and of Brazee's Prolific and other Brazee seedlings and, indeed, of nearly all of the desirable varieties of Europe and America which have been prized for half a century. Although from some of his other importations he also raised a few very good sorts, yet the progeny of the Rough Purple Chili gave him the most valuable kinds. Ampng Goodrich's other seedlings were Gleason, Calico, Harrison and Early Goodrich. The latter was the parent of tha Chicago Market. Mr. Goodrich is said to have. raised about sixteen thousand seedling potatoes from 1848 to 1864. Out of this large number he found only about one in a thousand that he thought enough better than the old sorts to make it appear probable that they would be desirable for cultivation. The work that he did in this line has been of great value to Europe and America. Soil and Manure. — Potatoes can be grown on soil of almost any composition provided it is well drained, but a light, sandy soil is best. It produces potates of better table quality than those grown on rather low, wet, or heavy clayey soils. New soil is most desirable. If old soil must be used, it is best to precede the potatoes with a crop of clover. Clover adds nitrogenous plant food and humus to the soil and makes it more porous. If potatoes are planted on sod land the "seed" should always be under the sod, otherwise the crop is liable to suffer from drought. Fresh manure should, preferably, be applied the year before the crop is to be grown. Where clover precedes potatoes, a good time to apply the manure is after the first crop has been cut, or during the previous winter or spring. This gives the man'uie time tor decomposition preparatory to its. incorporation with the POTATO. 193 soil. Soil on which a scabby ag« late 147 storing 149 diseases 152 harvesting 146 hill sowing 14S ' insects 152 manure for 145 pitting 149 retarding heading of 146 rot 153 sauer kraut 152 seed raising 150 seed sowing 147 setting plants 145 soil 145 varieties 143 Cabbage Family 1 05-143 Calendar, monthly 238 Caraway 232 Carbon bisulphide 87 Carrot 174 cultivation 175 forcing 178 gathering 176 seed 178 storing 177 varieties 178 Catnip 230 Cauliflower 155 varieties 156 Celariac 188 Celery 178 bleaching with boards 184 bleaching with earth. .... .184 bleaching, time req lired for 18? digging 186 diseases 187 early 179 handhng 18S late ISt marketing igg 248 INDEX. Celery— Cimt'd. Page onions with 182 planting 181 storing 186 seed 187 varieties 188 Citron melon 219 Chenopodiaceae 137 Chives 134 culture 134 Classification of Vegetables. .104 Clover Family 105-163 Cold Climate Vegetables 104 Cold frames (see greenhouses) 65 Cold frames, for early spring use 66 sash for 78 Commercial fertilizers 21 Compositae 223 Compost heap 21 Convolvulaceae 189 Corn 109 classes of 109 cultivation 110 curing seed 112 cutting oflC tassels 113 diseases 101 insects 113 marketing Ill pop 112 preserving 113 smut 113 varieties run out 112 Coriander 233 varieties Ill Corrosive for Potato Scab.... 201 Cress 161 water 160 Crucifereae 143 Cucumber 219 cultivation 219 gathering the crop 220 insects 222 salting 221 seed 222 starting In cold frames. .. .221 varieties 222 Cocurbitaceae 210 Page Cultivation, general 29-33-35 Dandelion 227 Dill 233 Diseases — anthracnose of bean 168 beet scab 140 blight or rust of celery 188 club root of cabbage 152 leaf blight of celery 187 lettuce mildew 226 potato blight 202 potato scab 200 smut of corn 113 Egg plant 203 Endive i.227 Fennel 230 Formaline for Potato Scab . . . 202 Frost Hardy Vegetables 105 Frost Tender Vegetables 104 Fungi 106 Garden herbs 229 Garlic, common 132 Glass structures 65 Germinating apparatus 56 Germination, conditions for successful 42 Gourd 211 Gourd Family 105-210 Goosefoot Family 105-137 Gramlneae 109 Grass Family 105-109 Greenhouse hotbed 71 Greenhouses 74 boxes HI glass 83 glazing 84 heating 77 lean-to 73 mats 78 miscellaneous notes on 78 radiating surface 77 sash ", 78 shading S2 shutters 78 soli 81 substitutes for glass 81 temperature , , 75 INDEX. 249 Greenhouues — Cont'd. Page ventilation TO watering "0 Ground cherry • 208 Hardening ofC of plants 50 Herbs 229 HorseradlBh 159 Hotbeds (see also greenhouses) 66 Hotbeds 66 manure for 67 early spring use 67 fire 69 gash for 78 shutters for 78 mats for 78 Bumns 10-14 Implements • 35 combined drills and cultiva- tors 87 dibbers 38 band 36 horse 36 marker 38 plank drag 39 potato diggers 39 potato hoe 39 scuffle hoe 39 seed drills 37 spray pumps 39 Insecticides 85 application of 88 carbon bisulphide 87 kerosene emulsion 87 London purple 86 Paris green 86 pyrethrum 85 tobacco 86 Insects 85 aphis 99 bean weevil 101 cabbage flea beetle 98 cabbage lice 100 cabbage worms 90 catching 88 celery caterpillar 100 chinch bug 101 encumber beetle 95 cut worms 93 Insects — Cont'd. Page com moth , . 100 leaf lice 99 maggots 97 May beetle 96 parsley worm ....100 potato beetle 89 pea weevil 101 squash bug 103 squash vine borer 102 tassel worm 100 white grub 96 wire worms 93 Irrigation 8 acre Inch of water 10 amount of water needed .... 10 application of water 11 cultivation as an aid to.... 9 humus, an aid to 10 pumping water for 10 reservoirs 11 rules for 11 storage capacity for 10 Bub-irrlgatlon 12 temperature of water 11 Kale 156 Kerosene emulsion 87 Kitchen garden 53 Kohl-rabl 157 varieties 157 Lablatae 229 Lavender 230 Leeks 133 cultivation 133 varieties ' 134 Lugumlnosae 163 Lettuce 223 cultivation 223 mildew 226 varieties 225 Lllaceae 114 Lily Family 105-114 Lima beans 166 London purple 86 Malvaceae 171 Manure pile ZO Manure, 'hotbed 67 Manures 14 250 INDEX. Uajiures — Cont'd. Page action of 14 animal 18 eoQiinercIal 21 effect 25 composition of 17 composition of farm 10 compost heap 21 cow 20 for early and late crops . . 26 for leguminous crops 27 ground blood 22 ground bones 22 heating of ' 19 hen 19 horse «.... 19 humus 14 Kainlt 24 land plaster 25 lime 25 llQuid 28 mixing 20 most valuable element In . . . 14 nitrate of soda 23 salt 15-24 sheep 20 sulphate of ammonia ...... 24 superphosphates 24 swine 20 tankage 22 use of fresh 26 wood ashes 24 Mallow Family 105-171 Manuring growing crops 27 Martynlaceae 210 Martynia , 210 culture ....... 210 Martynia Family 105-210 Melon, musk 216 culture 216 Tarietles 217 Melon, preserving 217 Melon, water 218 culture 219 varieties 219 Mint , 229 Mint Family 105-229 Mixing varieties 63 PWTB Morning Glory Family. . .105-18B Monthly calendar 238 Mulching u Mushrooms , 106 native species of 107 Novelties 58 Okra 171 varieties 171 Ohions for home garden 130 Onions .120 cultivation 123 keeping 125 land for 121 marketing 131 perennial 131 potato 131 Bcallions„ 124 sets 125 seed 131 sowing seed 122 storing ...125 top 131 transplanting 128 varieties isi Oyster plant ; . . 226 Parsnip Family 105-171 Parsley 173 culture 174 varieties 174 Parsnip 172 culture 172 varieties 173 Paris green 86 Peas 168 culture .....169 canning of 170 varieties 170 Peppers 209 culture 209 varieties 209 Peppermint 231 Pieplant 135 Plowing 81 subsoil 31 Pollenlzing flowers 61 Polygonaceae 134 INDEX. 251 Page Potato Family 105-190 Potatoes 190 blight 202 digging 185 diseases 200 early planting 194 Insects 199 main crop 194 manuring 192 origin 191 pitting 196 propagation, notes on .... 199 "running out" of 193 saving seed 193 scab 200 sets or "seeds" 193 ■oil 192 starch 198 use for seed of scabby 201 varieties 198 Protection to newly planted seeds against Insects .... 46 against crows and gophers. 46 Pumnkins 215 Pyrethrum 85 Radishes 161 culture 161 varieties 162 Rhubarb 135 culture 135 forcing 136 varieties 137 Ridging land 83 Rotating of manures 28 Rotation of crops 13 reasons for 13 Rue 233 Rue Family 106-233 Rutaceae 233 Rutabagas 157 Sage 231 Sauer kraut 152 Savory, winter 232 Shallots 133 Seed 55 Seeds — Cont'd. Page curing > , . . . 57 germinating apparatus .... 66 germinating standards ....237 stock 68 storing ...,' 67 testing 65 Seed sowing 42 depth 42 time 43 firming by feet 45 In stiff soils 43 with machine 44 by band 45 ' Seedmen'3 humbugs 68 Seedmen's specialties E8 Seed tables 234-237 amount for acre 236 longevity 235 purity standards 237 number of seeds In an ounce.234 time to germinate 236 weight of seeds 234 Seeds, pedigrees of 55 novelties 68 Solanaceae .190 Soils 8 for early crops 8 for late crops 8 elements necessary 14 elements lacking In 14 Spearmint 232 Spinach ...141 culture 142 varieties 143 Squash 211 cultivation 212 harvesting ...213 pollenlzing flowers , .211 storing 213 varieties 214 Sunflower Family 105-243 Strawberry tomato 208 culture 209 Sub-Irrigation , 12 Subsolllng 81 Summer savory ,,,. 232 Sweet basil 231 Bweet marjoram ,SS3 INDEX. Page Sweet Potato 189 Swiss chard 141 Thinning plants 46 Thyme 232 Tillage, garden 29 general 33 Tomato, prolonging season.. 207 Tomato 204 cultivation 204 I diseases 207 insects 207 In severe locations 206 land for 204 propagation 204 pruning 205 saving seed 207 training 205 transplanting 205 varieties 207 Tobacco 85 Transplanting 47 avoiding . . . . ; 47 conditions of success 47 ' Transplanting — Cont'd. Page shortening the tops in 48 digging plants for 48 firming the soil In 49 with tomato cans 51 Turnip 157 culture 158 rutabaga 159 varieties 159 Umbellifereae 171-232 Varieties, development of. . . 58 mixing of 63 distance between 63 Vegetable oyster (see sal- sify) 226 Vitality of seeds 235 Vegetables, composition of. . 16 Warm Climate Vegetables. ..104 Weeds 30 cultivation to kill 29 killing of 29 prevention of 29 seeds in manure 30 Winter Savory 232 Weights of seeds 234 n