Class _Js_&AA
Book .T5 4
GopfyrightN .
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.
m
2r$S&£%?
Prize Gardenin
HOW TO DERIVE
PROFIT
PLEASURE
H EALTH
FROM THE GARDEN
Actual Experience
of the
Successful Prize Winners
in the
American
Agriculturist
Garden Contest
FULLY ILLUSTRATED FROM
ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS
AND DRAWINGS'
G.
Compiled by
BURNAP
FISKE
Author of
Part II, The New Rhubarb Culture.
Formerly agricultural editor of the Massachu-
setts Pioughman and assistant agricultural
editor of the American Agriculturist Weeklies.
New York
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
1901
■ ' , •
The library of
©ONGRESS,
Two Copies Received
NOV, 16 1901
Copyright entry
YWo. it -i lot
CLASS GLSXXc No,
S-- L ■ « ■ ■
copy a.
COPYRIGHTED I9OI
by
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY.
All Rights Reserved.
• •« • •
• . • • .«
A
CONTENTS
Introduction
CHAPTER I
STORY OF THE CONTEST
History, rules, entries, reports and results.
CHAPTER II
THE GRAND PRIZE GARDEN
Mr. Morse's story— Sketch of J. H. Morse— His methods for
special crops — Prize garden queries.
CHAPTER III
GARDENING FOR PROFIT
Good living from a garden — Five acres enough — A cucumber
experiment— Money in berries — Mr. Wright's vineyard —
Money in a Minnesota garden — A twenty-acre garden.
CHAPTER IV
GOOD FARM GARDENS
A luxuriant Iowa garden— Mr. Campbell's story— The Wood-
ruff prize garden — A business-like gardener — A busy
farmer's garden.
CHAPTER V
THE HOME ACRE
A quality garden— In the semi-arid district— A luxuriant home
garden — A farm garden patch — Small gardens.
CHAPTER VI
ON HIGH-PRICED LAND
A city man's garden— Good seeds and fertilizers— Careful
planning— Winner of the first prize — Mr. Higley's way.
VI CONTENTS
CHAPTER VII.
SUCCESS IN TOWN OR CITY
A profitable small garden — Movable hotbeds — One of the best
suburban gardens — Small town gardens — A squash crop
under difficulty.
CHAPTER VIII
FERTILIZER GARDENS
The prize fertilizer garden — Mr. Flagg's garden journal —
Prize vegetables — A prime garden on chemicals — Fer-
tilizer lavishly applied.
CHAPTER IX
PRIZE GARDENING FOR WOMEN
A smart woman's success — A woman's pastime — A good
home garden — Mrs. Ludwig's success — Mrs. Bale's
diary — A profitable small garden — A model account — A
nice income — Successful gardening — A productive south-
ern garden — Perseverance under difficulty.
CHAPTER X
YOUNG HORTICULTURISTS
Nature's school — One of the smaller gardens — An enterpris-
ing youth — A boy gardener.
CHAPTER XI
GARDEN IRRIGATION
Water saved the garden — In the lower San Gabriel valley — In
the mountain section— Taught by practice — A Kansas
garden — Three acres in Colorado.
CHAPTER XII
IRRIGATION IN THE EAST
Water, soluble fertilizers and irrigation — Watering a city lot —
Another Jersey water garden.
CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER XIII
EXPERIMENTAL GARDENING
Thorough methods— A melon garden— Testing the soil— Some
novel features — An interesting experiment — A beginner's
success — Selling produce to Indians — High feeding for
plants — Saving seeds — A born horticulturist.
CHAPTER XIV
METHODS UNDER GLASS
A cheap forcing house— The hotbed— A quick way— Mr. Kin-
ney's methods— Management of hotbeds— Useful details-
Forcing cucumbers and tomatoes— Forcing lettuce— Coal
the best heat — Small frames.
CHAPTER XV
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES
The potato field — Onions— Tomato culture— Melons— One
woman's way— Peas— Early cucumbers— Celery— Large,
well filled corn— Spring lettuce— Covering spinai .—Egg
plant— Ginseng. toS
CHAPTER XVI
PRIZE FLOWERS AND FRUIT
Growing sweet peas— Culture of begonias— Dahlias— The
water lily pond — Fruit in prize gardens.
CHAPTER XVII
LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS
Cost and value of the garden— Profits of small market gar-
dens—How to make the garden pay— What should a
garden contain — Growing and showing vegetables — Early
vegetables— Some good vegetables not generally grown— A
practical farm garden— Marketing.
CHAPTER XVIII
A GARDEN SYMPOSIUM
Replies from prize winners— Best size for garden— Causes of
failure— Best vegetables and flowers— Best implements—
Vlll CONTENTS
Insect killers — Second crops — Fighting weeds — Prize gar-
den experience.
CHAPTER XIX
PRIZE PICKINGS
Garden bookkeeping — Working the soil — Cultivation and weed-
ing — Special implements — Fighting insects — Garden de-
vices — Fertilizers — Solid comfort — The family garden.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Sweet Peas and "Rosebuds" in the Grand Prize Garden —
Frontispiece
Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Morse 6
Plowing in the Grand Prize Garden 8
Garden Plots and Home Grounds of the Grand Prize
Winner n
Plots in the Prize Garden 13
Some Produce of the Grand Prize Garden ... 15
Manure Spread After a March Snowstorm ... 24
The Early Hotbed 28
Mr. Wright's Five-Acre Market Garden . . 30
Cucumber Vines Dusted with Lime, and Box Frames . 32
A Thrifty Market Garden 38
Working a New York Truck Patch ..... 42
A York State Truck Patch in July . . 45
Garden of G. W. F. Campbell 53
Onions for Exhibit . . .' ■ 54
Some of Mr. Widmer's Vegetables 59
Mr. and Mrs. Dimock 64
L. E. Dimock's Garden Ready for Seed .... 66
Mr. Dimock's Garden in Midseason 68
Vegetable Exhibit from Mr. Dimock's Garden ... 70
A. T. Giauque's Good Garden ...... ^ 72
A Garden in Long Rows ....... 73
A Garden Site in the Minnesota Forest . ... 75
Mr. Tye's Currant Bushes and Late Turnips ... 76
Some of Mr. Tye's Crops and Tools 77
A Well-Arranged House Lot 79
How Mr. Hauck's Garden Is Arranged and Planted . 82
Some July Prize Vegetables 83
Garden Arrangement of a City Back Yard .... 85
Celery Boarded Ready for Bleaching 91
X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Grapevine with Bags on Fruit 92
Typical Landscape of Northern New Jersey ... 93
F. J. Bell's Garden Plot 96
Residence of F. J. Bell 99
Residence of R. L. Porter 101
Edward R. Flagg 104
On Culture and Chemicals 109
Farm and Garden of J. G. Lyman 113
Mrs. W. D. Goss 115
Mrs. Dole's Garden in August 122
Mrs. L. A. Ludwig . 127
Garden of Amelia C. Guild in July. Camden Mts. in
Background 133
Working Force of A. C. Guild's Garden, with July Produce 135
A New York Woman's Garden 137
Mrs. Calkins Picking Berries for Supper .... 139
Home of Mrs. J. W. Bryan 141
George Osborne's Home Market 144
Peppers Six Inches Long Grown by Oscar Roberts . . 146
A Large Exhibit by a Small Gardener .... 149
Walter R. Palmer 150
The Site of an Irrigated Garden 153
A Nebraska Garden Spot Before Irrigation . . . 154
Method of Irrigating Mr. Brickey's Garden . . . 156
Irrigating Egg Plants 161
Mr. Matteson's Ditch and Cross Furrows .... 164
Plot of S. W. Damon's Watered Garden .... 166
Fruit Trees in the Garden 170
Mr. Reynolds's Garden Plot 171
Irrigation Plan of J. B. Reynolds's Garden . . .172
Inside Plant for Garden Irrigation 177
Celery, Denim Hose Between Rows 179
Irrigating Celery 181
Ready for Business 187
A Woman's Luxuriant Garden 190
Mrs. Alice C. Strader 191
A Farmer's Greenhouse 196
Hotbeds and Cold Frames 203
Mr. G. J. Townsend, His Workshop and Cold Frames . 205
Harvesting Onions 215
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
XI
A New England Onion Crop
Prize Onions
Picking Tomatoes
Mr. Edge's Tomato Support
Flower Garden of R. N. Lewis, Brigntside
Peach Trees in an Arkansas Garden .
Prolific Currants .....
Ready for the Spring Campaign .
November Pickings from a Woman's Gar
Homestead of a New York State Winner
A Convenient Garden Summary .
Using a Horse Hoe as a Hand Cultivator i
A Homemade Marker .
Protection from Cutworms .
A Minnesota Gardener's Device .
A Handy Weeder ....
Stcne Boat and Vine Support
P.ant Boxes
Picking Peas for Dinner
Shady Lawn of a Prosperous Garden
Finis ......
L. C. and Fred P. Wright .
Mr. and Mrs. A. T. Giauque
Brainard S. Higley
den
naP
New York
arsnip Bed
216
217
219
222
238
243
244
270
272
274
279
284
286
286
287
288
290
292
296
298
300
301
302
303
INTRODUCTION
The collected and condensed experience of the win-
ners in the Garden Contest is believed to be of unique
value because of the skill and prominence of the narra-
tors and the completeness of description encouraged
by the nature of the contest. Full details of crop
methods are almost proverbially hard to get from
successful gardeners, who may often regard such
information as a kind of trade secreet. Here, on the
contrary, the hope of winning prominence and a large
money reward has brought out such a wealth of fact
and detail that the most rigorous condensation and
selection was needed, and only the most striking and
essential parts could be quoted or even summarized,
although it is believed that all points of practical and
permanent value have been retained.
The greater part of Chapters I, II and XVII, and
other descriptive articles, were originally prepared for
the American Agriculturist weeklies by Mr. E. C.
Powell, one of the judges of the contest.
The accounts as originally submitted have been
amplified and brought to date when necessary, by
further correspondence with prize winners.
There were five thousand entries, about five hun-
dred complete accounts and one hundred prize winners.
From the leading accounts, the aim is to present a total
of selected experience with gardens of all sizes, from
one thousand square feet to many acres in extent, in
different sections of the continent and under numerous
INTRODUCTION XIV
variations of soil, climate, altitude and method of
arrangement.
Although nearly all the prize winners were garden
experts, yet some excelled in special directions and
naturally emphasized their specialties in the accounts,
thus giving far more helpful treatment of the various
topics than could be accorded by any one expert.
Clearness, completeness and accuracy were the essen-
tial requirements, and contestants were encouraged to
relate all important details and to tell the whole story,
some keeping a daily memorandum as a basis for the
description and bookkeeping record. Many submitted
charts, photographs and drawings, making their narra-
tive still clearer. The intelligence and progressiveness
of the growers is apparent at first glance. Each man
has definite ideas of his own, and these ideas he is test-
ing by successful garden practice. The methods differ :
many men ; many minds. Each has studied out his own
problem in his own way. The very difference in the
conditions and methods constitutes the particular value
of the accounts, since readers everywhere will find that
some at least of the descriptions are particularly
adapted to their needs.
Most important of all, the accounts are every one
from actual experience ; not a line but is based on the
work of the season, and the result is a mine and
treasure-house of garden practice. In effect every
writer had his notebook strapped to his hoe-handle,
and the stories savor of the fresh-turned soil and the
laden produce baskets.
CHAPTER I
STORY OF THE CONTEST
Prizes aggregating two thousand five hundred
dollars were offered for the best garden accounts for
the season of 1899. This contest was inaugurated by
the American Agriculturist weeklies, Orange Judd
Farmer of Chicago for the west, American Agricul-
turst of New York for the middle and southern states,
The New England Homestead of Springfield, Massa-
chusetts, for the east.
These prizes were offered not for the story of
biggest profits or for fancy results, but, in the language
of the rules, " to the records and reports which show
most clearly and accurately the methods pursued, and
the receipts and expenses of the garden, irrespective
of whether it shows a profit or a loss."
The Orange Judd Company, publishers of the great
weeklies before mentioned, contributed two hundred
and fifty dollars in cash and defrayed all expenses of
the contest. Other prizes in cash and goods were the
donations of various dealers and producers of agricul-
tural supplies. Some were conditioned on the use of
the donors' seeds, fertilizers or implements, which fact
will account for their occasional mention in narratives
of contestants.
The rules allowed a garden of any size above one
thousand square feet, and plots varied from the lowest
limit up to twenty acres. There were few, however,
above four or five acres. The garden might be in one
piece or divided in several plots ; most of them were
in one field. Contestants were required to state exact
2 PRIZE GARDENING
area and to list and value all tools and supplies, all
accounts to be kept in a record book of convenient size.
The less important details were left to individual
judgment.
Every one of the five hundred contestants whose
reports were received had his or her own method of
keeping the record and making out the report. Some
were brief, giving only the barest summary of the work
done, methods employed, expenses, receipts and prod-
ucts, while others were very elaborate and covered two
or three hundred pages of manuscript or typewritten
copy and were fully illustrated with photographs,
sketches and drawings. Some were ornately bound.
Nearly all grasped the idea to give a report that would
bring out the actual product and returns from the
garden, receipts and expenses and methods pursued.
The ages of contestants ranged between ten and ninety
years. Some of the winners were women, and their
experience suggests anew the idea of the lighter out-
door pursuits for the weaker sex. Some of them did
all the work, light or heavy. Others secured help from
the men folk for such work as plowing and carting.
Increased health and strength were among the price-
less benefits secured, although women's gardens did
not compare unfavorably for general good results with
those worked by man power.
Close to five thousand people in all parts of the
country gave notice of their intention to compete, and
five hundred and fifteen actually sent in reports of the
season's work. Many who did not officially enter the
contest were encouraged to keep better gardens. Prob-
ably at least five thousand well-kept gardens in nearly
as many towns were due to this contest — each one an
object lesson to many other people. A good garden
in a neighborhood is like seed sown upon good ground
— it wakes up the neighbors to follow suit and try a
STORY OF THE CONTEST 3
garden for themselves. Thus the garden contest has
had a far-reaching influence and the good effect will
continue in ever-widening circles for years to come.
The number of entries and number of reports
received are shown in the annexed table. The unprec-
edented drouth of 1899 was so widespread and cut
short so many gardens that many owners became dis-
couraged and failed to continue the record throughout
the season and to send in their reports. The percent-
age of completed returns was, however, very large for
a contest of this kind, and testifies to an extraordinary
interest.
Reports No.
received ent'r'd
Reports No.
received ent'r'd
Maine 11
New Hampshire.... 13
Vermont 17
Massachusetts 75
Rhode Island 2
Connecticut 39
New York 81
New Jersey 11
Pennsylvania 17
Delaware 2
Maryland 3
Virginia 2
North Carolina 1
South Carolina 1
Georgia 3
Florida 2
Ohio 13
West Virginia 1
Kentucky 2
Tennessee 7
Mississippi 4
Alabama 1
Michigan 11
Indiana 6
Wisconsin 21
Illinois 25
Minnesota 23
Iowa 17
109 Missouri 9 85
131 Arkansas.... 2 21
165 Louisiana 2 14
728 North Dakota 1 5
19 South Dakota 1 12
387 Nebraska 19 172
819 Kansas 5 43
127 Oklahoma 2 18
174 Indian Territory.... 1 4
19 Texas 5 48
36 Montana 1 5
28 Wyoming 1 7
9 Colorado 23 226
14 New Mexico 1 9
27 Idaho o 2 18
22 Utah 2 10
148 Arizona 1 8
11 Washington 6 58
27 Oregon 4 41
86 Nevada 1 3
42 California 7 62
8 Ontario 2 21
106 Manitoba 3 34
51 British Columbia... 3 37
198 Nova Scotia 2 15
245
221 Total 515 4997
163
4 PRIZE GARDENING
One novel feature of the contest was the emphasis
placed upon the story of the work ; not upon the yield
or profit of the garden. The management wisely pre-
ferred to secure practical and helpful accounts clearly
and attractively presented, rather than to encourage
stories of great returns, with the accompanying possi-
bility of exaggeration, and results which at best are
not more helpful to the average grower than are the
monstrous and pampered specimens of fruit and vege-
tables so often awarded premiums at the agricultural
fairs ; the trouble and expense in such cases are out
of the question for the practical gardener. The
methods described in the prize accounts are for the
most part those which anybody can follow with profit
under similar conditions.
As might be expected, a majority of the best
accounts were evidently by the best gardeners ; men
and women of good general ability, having a thorough
understanding of the best methods and being able
therefore to present them clearly. Their work, both
on paper and on soil, showed to good advantage.
Some, evidently highly skilled and intelligent garden-
ers, were unfortunate in various ways, but in most
cases good accounts, good methods and good gardens
went together. Thus, although the prize accounts, if
sufficiently good, might have described gardens which
failed to pay, the fact was otherwise, as a general rule,
and despite a drouthy season, most of the winners
obtained large and valuable crops.
CHAPTER II
THE GRAND PRIZE GARDEN
The garden of J. E. Morse, who won the grand
prize, is located within the city limits of Detroit, Mich-
igan. The ground has been devoted to nursery pur-
poses for thirty years, and is so occupied that separate
plots were used for the garden. Plot No. i has a south-
ern slope with a light sandy soil. A heavy application
of manure was made in 1898 and five tons were applied
March 14. It was plowed April 18 and cultivated
with twelve-tooth cultivator and pulverizer attachment,
rolled and cultivated again and planted to crops as
shown by diagram on a later page. It was cultivated
April 28 with the double wheel hoe, again on May 13
and frequently thereafter throughout the season. The
tomato plants, which had previously been sown in the
hotbed, were transplanted May 4, seventeen of them
being set direct in the ground and the rest potted and
planted out three weeks later. The potted plants did
much better and received no check at the final trans-
planting to open ground. Gradus and Duke of Albany
peas rotted badly and were replanted May 5. This
shows the necessity of using the round, smooth varie-
ties for early sowing.
Lettuce had been sown in the hotbed April 1,
transplanted to cold frames the 18th and every alter-
nate row thinned and planted in open ground May 4,
to be followed by lima beans when the crop was har-
vested. Burpee's All Head Early cabbage was planted
out May 6. Salt was used to keep off green worms
6 PRIZE GARDENING
and was of assistance in heading- and hardening up
the cabbage. The first heads were ready for use July
9. Five rows of Sheffield sugar corn were planted
April 20 with sprouted seed. This insured planting
only good seed, avoided danger of rotting and hastened
maturity several days, so that the first picking was
made July 9, or in eighty-one days, and continued until
August 19. Some of the potatoes were placed in a
box in the house and sprouted and all were planted in
the ground May 4. The sprouted potatoes made a
MR. AND MRS. J. E. MORSE
decided gain and were ready for market from a week
to ten days earlier and brought fifteen to twenty cents
more per bushel.
Plot No. 2 has a westerly slope with soil varying
from light sand to heavy sandy loam. Four tons of
manure were applied, and on May 10 it was plowed
and worked in the same manner as the other plot and
again cultivated in sections as the various crops were
THE GRAND PRIZE GARDEN 7
planted. Two rows of bush beans were planted the
next day. The wheel hoe with plows set together was
run, making a shallow drill. The beans were dropped
three inches apart, the plows were then reversed and
set apart and run astride the row, turning the soil back
into the trench. The wheel hoe and cultivator was
used May 22 and 29 and June 12. For the rust the
vines were sprayed with saltpeter and water in the
proportion of one ounce to one gallon and with very
satisfactory results. Early beets had been sown in the
hotbed April 18 and were transplanted to open ground
April 15, the tops being clipped at the same time.
There was no need of thinning and the results of trans-
planting were satisfactory, as they were ready for the
table and bunching July 1.
In transplanting the tomatoes from the hotbed,
a mixture of soil and Jadoo fiber was used in the pots
and a fine root growth obtained. In setting out, holes
were made with a spade three by three feet apart for
the Fordhook Fancy and five by six feet for Pon-
derosa. The plants were removed from the pots, set
an inch or two below the surface and a dipper of water
was poured around each before drawing up the fresh
earth. Plants thus treated did not wilt any in the
hottest sun and continued growing without a check.
The following brief summary tells all about the tomato
crop and shows the method which was used in the
report with several other of the more important crops :
RECEIPTS
July — 28 qts at 5c $1.40
Aug— 21 bu at 55c. 11.55
Sept — 60 bu at 31c 18.60
Oct — 4 bu at 75c 3.00
$34-55
w
Q
<
o
w
N
Pi
-
Q
Pi
o
w
K
H
o
I— I
o
0<
THE GRAND PRIZE GARDEN 9
EXPENSES
Rent of land $ .50
Manure 80
Plowing and fitting 1.20
Plants 7-50
betting and resetting. 1.05
10 lbs nitrate of soaa at 3 i-2c 35
5 lbs Jadoo fiber at 3c 15
Cultivation and hoeing 75
Picking 3-00
Marketing 3-3Q
$19.20
Balance profit $15-35
Hubbard squashes were grown exclusively in
Plot No. 3, which is a sandy knoll with a southern
slope. The preparation of the ground was similar to
that of the other plots. On June 10 it was planted.
The hills were made six by six feet by mixing a shovel-
ful of manure with the soil and covering with earth
one inch deep.
Late cabbage was planted on Plot No. 4 (not
shown), which was four by ten rods, with an easterly
slope and heavy sandy soil. In previous years serious
trouble with club root had been experienced and a test
with litmus paper showed the soil to be very sour. Air
slaked lime, at the rate of one ton per acre, was sown
broadcast and harrowed in after applying four tons
of manure. Only five and five-tenths per cent of the
plants showed club root, while the previous crop grown
in 1896 was entirely abandoned on account of this
trouble.
Late in the fall some rhubarb roots were dug, left
on the ground to freeze and planted in a bed made on
the cellar floor January 18. They were screened off
with an old carpet curtain and a common lamp and
lantern with darkened chimneys used to give the
required heat. The bed was ready to cut February
10 PRIZE GARDENING
25 and remained in bearing some time. From ten
roots ten and one-third dozen bunches (thirty-six stalks
to the bunch) were cut, which were worth fifty cents
per dozen.
Burpee's seeds, in mostly five and ten-cent packets,
were used. A peck of Burpee's Extra Early potatoes
worth one dollar, one hundred and twenty cabbage
plants at sixty cents, five hundred tomato plants at
seven dollars and fifty cents and ten rhubarb roots at
one dollar, with the rest of the seeds, footed up to thir-
teen dollars and eighty-five cents. The accompanying
summaries explain themselves and show that this gar-
den of three-fourths of an acre returned a net profit of
ninety-two dollars and forty-six cents.
The Prize Winner and His Family. — Mr. Morse
was born near Pontiac, Michigan, of parentage well
tinctured with Revolutionary blood. He was the
youngest of a family of three, and when eleven years
old began to study the problem of self-support. At
the age of seventeen he went to the front as a private,
and was mustered out seven months later at the close
of the Civil war, leaving his regiment as acting orderly
sergeant. Returning home, rapidly changing circum-
stances soon drew him into music teaching and gospel
work, which extended over considerable portions of
Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, during
which time he married a woman whose girlhood was
passed upon a farm. They have two little girls,
Gladys and Helen, aged six and four years. Subse-
quently he took up the management of a newspaper,
which broke him down in health and pocket. His
early training in farming and fruit growing, supple-
mented by a careful study of methods, now came in
play, and in the spring of 1896 he took charge of an
old nursery, which offered a home, with fruit, flowers,
etc. He says :
s#/?t/&a£-/?X
1
12 PRIZE GARDENING
"We were empty-handed on taking- possession of
the place ; our entire assets consisted of a limited
amount of household furniture, one hoe, one shovel,
two forks, a buggy and horse with a chattel mortgage
blanket upon it, and two thousand dollars invested in
baby girl securities. With no tools but our hands the
work was laborious. Our seed was purchased on
short time and our first cash investment was a
year's subscription to an agricultural paper. Crops
soon gladdened our eyes. A Jersey cow was soon
purchased, then pigs and chickens, which also
proved a source of revenue. Fruit, flowers and vege-
tables were carefully prepared for market and sold
at fancy prices as soon as matured. Within five
months the last payment was made on the cow and
the chattel mortgage, and a goodly supply of fruit,
vegetables and potatoes stored away for winter's use.
During these years a willing and helpful wife has ren-
dered valuable aid in all ways. Tribute has been laid
on every help within our reach, on agricultural papers,
of which we have four weeklies and several monthlies,
books, bulletins, attendance upon farmers' institutes,
etc. Our work has been the breeding up and improve-
ment of different fruits, flowers and vegetables. Quite
a good deal of writing has been done for agricultural
papers by both of us. Our dark forcing experiments
are confined to the winter months and are opening up
new fields of profit."
In regard to the tools used, Mr. Morse says:
" Aside from the plowing and rolling of the ground,
no implements outside the Planet Jr family were used.
Even the hand hoe was almost unthought of and very
little needed. The double wheel hoe with all attach-
ments seems capable of more varied uses than any
other implement with which I am acquainted. The
multitude of uses for which so many of the implements
THE GRAND PRIZE GARDEN
J 3
can be utilized is their chief recommendation. With
the small plots we were compelled to use, horse culti-
vation was expensive, both as to time and plants
destroyed ; and working by hand would have eaten the
crops before harvested."
POTATO BJ.
S//frr/eLD co/p//
ZV/V>? &£-A/SS
CABBAGE.
/=T/M
TOMATOES
yen. ow js/0 /v/r/re ox/f&tffmm/.
PLOT NO. I IN DETAIL
FLOTS NOS. 2 AND 3 IN DETAIL
JOUAW
0/*G/7 OfTA //V
f*Jt FT J AV /
rt/fA/GFLf
/7UJ/T /VS/OMf
TOMATOES
0££TS
&fA//f.
PLOTS IN THE PRIZE GARDEN
14 PRIZE GARDENING
TOOLS USED IN PRIZE GARDEN
Plow $6.50
Planet Jr wheel hoe 6.00
Planet Jr hill and drill seeder 7.00
12-tooth cultivator 8.00
Roller 3.50
Wheelbarrow 1.00
Spade 75
Shovel 60
Hoe 40
Garden line. 15
Garden rake 35
Sprayer j 5.00
Horse and wagon 75-00
Hotbeds 10.40
350 flower pots 7.00
$131.65
FERTILIZER USED
14 tons barnyard manure $7.00
1 -4 ton lime 1 .45
12 lbs nitrate of soda 36
1 lb saltpeter 20
10 lbs Jadoo fiber 30
1 lb sulphur 10
1 lb tobacco dust 03
12 gals bordeaux mixture 18
$9.62
PROCEEDS FROM GARDEN
Mar — 10 1-3 doz rhubarb $5.17
Apr — 32 bchs radishes 64
May — 20 lbs lettuce 2.00
30 doz tomato plants 6.00
8 doz cabbage plants 1.20
120 cabbage plants 60
3 bu lettuce 1.50
June — 500 tomato plants 7.50
6 bu lettuce 2.25
4 lbs lettuce 20
1-2 bu peas 40
July — 1 bu peas 80
5 doz carrots 25
yy doz cabbages 3.85
60 doz sweet corn 4.80
2 1-4 bu green beans 1.80
7 bu potatoes 4.20
w
Q
O
N
i— i
P
<
w
u
o
w
o
l6 PRIZE GARDENING
July — i 1-2 bu beets $ .45
28 qts tomatoes 1 .40
4000 sweet peas 4.00
Aug — 42 1-2 bu sweet corn 2.97
9 bu potatoes 4.05
21 1-2 bu tomatoes 12.35
1 bu beets 30
8 3-4 doz melons 4.15
6500 sweet peas 6.50
30 bdls cornstalks 75
Sept — 3 1-8 bu lima beans 4.05
60 bu tomatoes 18.60
6 bu melons 2.40
12 bdls cornstalks 30
Oct — 3 1-2 doz squashes 3.50
4 bu tomatoes 3.00
Nov — 1590 cabbages 43-72
6 1-2 bu parsnips (on hand) 2.25
8 bu beets (on hand) 2.10
10 bu roots, sea kale 2.00
41 1-2 bu mangels (on hand) 6.22
1 bu onions (on hand) 50
5 bu carrots (on hand) 1.25
$169.97
EXPENSE OF GARDEN
Rent of land $3.60
Fertilizer 9.62
Labor 40.77
Seeds 4.75
Plants 8. 10
Roots 1 .00
Interest on capital invested at 6 per cent 7.90
Wear of garden tools at 1 1-2 per cent 1.77
$77.51
Proceeds from garden $169.97
Expense of garden 77- 5 1
Profit $92.46
LABOR
Jan — 4 hours male labor $ .60
Mar — 20 hours male labor 3.00
Apr — 12 hours male labor 1.80
22 1-2 hours female labor 1.80
May — 2 1-2 hours female labor 20
28 1-2 hours male labor 4.28
THE GRAND PRIZE GARDEN lj
June — 61 1-2 hours male labor $ 9.11
1 1-2 hours female labor 12
July — 8 hours female labor 64
26 1-2 hours male labor 4.18
Aug — 5 hours male labor 75
3 hours female labor 24
Nov — 5 hours male labor 1.05
$27.77
July — Marketing $ 2.00
Aug — Marketing 3.00
Sept — Marketing 3.00
Nov — Marketing 5.00
$40.77
Male labor, 162 1-2 hours, female labor, $7 1-2 hours.
Raising and Setting Tomato Plants. — Seed of
Fordhook's Fancy and Ponderosa was sown in the
hotbed April 1 and transplanted after the second set
of leaves appeared. Nitrate of soda was applied, one
ounce to the sash. The plants were left in the hotbed
until May 3. Potting soil was prepared by mixing
three-fourths leaf mold and one-fourth well-rotted
manure. Six-inch pots, with broken pieces of crocks
placed in the bottom for drainage, were filled one-
fourth full of soil. As the plants were put in the pots
a small handful of Jadoo fiber was placed under and
around the roots. Sufficient soil to hold the plants in
place was put in and well firmed around the roots. The
pots were then filled with the soil and placed in a tub
partially filled with water which had been exposed to
the sun, and after soaking were transferred to the cold
frame. With occasional watering and uncovering,
when weather permitted, they remained until May 26,
when they were set in the open ground.
In planting out, a line was drawn and holes were
made with a spade three feet each way for Fordhook's
Fancy and five by six feet for Ponderosa. A tub
l8 PRIZE GARDENING
partially filled with water was set near the cold frame.
The plants were set in and when thoroughly soaked
were wheeled out and placed along- the rows. In
planting out, the pot was turned bottom upward onto
the left hand and the contents loosened by inserting a
small, smooth stick in the hole at the bottom of the pot
and pushing against the broken pieces of crocks.
When loosened the pot was removed, and with the
right hand holding all intact, the plant was set in the
hole, which was deep enough to set the roots an inch
or two lower than in the pot, enabling it to better with-
stand the whipping of the wind. A dipper of water
was poured around the roots and the whole filled with
loose earth.
While this seems a laborious and an expensive
method, returns more than justified the extra labor and
expense. The Jadoo fiber, when properly fined by
working through a coarse screen, is an ideal prepara-
tion for potting purposes, and produces a wonderful
root growth, which is the object sought in the early
life of all plants.
Extra Early Potatoes. — In order to get some early
potatoes we sprouted the seed about the middle of
April. The potatoes were cut one eye to the piece and
placed in a tin pan, where sulphur was sprinkled over
them and thoroughly mixed with the seed. A box
five inches deep by twenty inches square was filled with
sand one and one-half inches deep, in which the pieces
were set. Sufficient sand to nearly cover them was
sifted in. The contents were sprinkled with tepid
water and placed in a nearly darkened room with a
temperature of about sixty-five degrees. They were
given an occasional sprinkling and left undisturbed for
three weeks. At this time the pieces had sprouts vary-
ing from just starting to three or four inches long, and
THE GRAND PRIZE GARDEN 19
care in removing from the box to the furrow was nec-
essary to leave the sprouts undisturbed.
The results of sprouting the seed were clearly
marked the entire season. In coming up, growth,
maturity and harvesting they were fully a week to ten
days in advance of those unsprouted, making a dif-
ference of fifteen to twenty cents per bushel in price
at time of marketing. Sprouting the seed is entirely
practicable for^larger areas, as the extra labor is a
mere trifle compared with the difference in market
values. The results of the sulphur as to scab preven-
tion were not all that could be desired, although to
some extent beneficial. The experiment seems to show
a marked benefit from the sulphur in prolonging the
vitality of the seed, the pieces in many instances
remaining intact the entire season through. The wire-
worms, also, caused very little damage, while on the
same plot only a few feet distant they were very
destructive to early cabbage plants.
Prise Garden Queries. — The published account of
Mr. Morse's grand prize garden excited general inter-
est and numerous inquiries were received. Replies by
Mr. Morse were as follows :
Potatoes : Bovee and Burpee's Extra Early for
white, and Acme and Early Six Weeks for flesh color
are our favorites for early. For very early planting,
while the ground is yet cold, do not plant deeper than
three inches ; for later planting, four to six inches is
not too deep.
The extra labor of sprouting is really very little,
and the plan is entirely practicable, even for quite large
areas. An inch or two of sand is placed in shallow
boxes of any size convenient. As the pieces are cut,
they are set in the sand, close together, with eyes up.
Sift in enough sand to nearly cover the pieces, leaving
them sticking up through the sand. Sprinkle with
2Q PRIZE GARDENING
warm water and set in a partially darkened room or
cellar where the temperature will be about sixty-five
degrees. No further care is necessary except to
sprinkle should they become too dry. This work may
be done a month previous to planting, with the advan-
tage that your crop is growing even while the ground
is still frozen outside. During this time the sprouts
will have grown two to six or eight inches in length,
and will require careful handling in planting to avoid
breaking off. They must be entirely covered, but will
be out of the ground within a very few days. By this
method no infertile seed is planted and the potatoes
will be up ahead of the weeds. The advantage of ten
days or two weeks in the early markets will many times
repay the little extra labor.
Sweet Corn : To sprout the seed, take shallow
tin or sheet-iron pans or anything in which one can
give bottom heat if required. Put in an inch or so
of sand and thoroughly moisten. Over this spread a
cloth. The corn is then spread on and covered with
another thickness of cloth. Sprinkle on a light cover-
ing of moist soil and set in a warm place. Five to
eight days before planting will be sufficiently early to
start the seed. By this plan no poor seed will be
planted and the seed may be put in much earlier with-
out the danger of rotting. The corn will be ready for
table or market use. much earlier than by the ordinary
method of planting.
Club Root: Many questions from widely differ-
ent sections indicate that the disease is more general
than might be supposed, and a brief summary is all
that can be attempted now. The disease is a fungous
growth. Wet, acid soil seems to be its natural home,
but it may be carried or spread in various ways ; as by
the overflow of surface water or tools used in
the cultivation of infected ground. The only reme-
THE GRAND PRIZE GARDEN 21
dies thus far known are the liberal use of lime, avoid-
ing the use of tools on other ground that have been
used in infected ground and burning or boiling all
affected roots. Never feed any diseased roots raw,
as the germs will be carried in the manure from stock
thus fed.
CHAPTER III
GARDENING FOR PROFIT
The best paying gardens were as a class those
whose owners made them a specialty. They were
depended upon for a living or as an important source
of income, and received the gardener's best thought
and care. They were not allowed to wait until the
rest of the farm had been planted and most of the
manure used for field crops. Neither were they left
to the care of the women folks, already over-busy. In
haying time the owner did not abandon them to the
mercy of bugs and weeds, or neglect to pick and sell
the produce because of a press of other duties. The
gardener for profit fertilized and cultivated to the best
of his knowledge. He worked early and late, placing
the garden first and other interests afterward. In
many instances he had done so for years and was a
market gardener by profession. Others were farmers
who made a specialty of their garden because it paid
them. The representative instances described show a
very small farm may be made to afford a livelihood.
A Good Living from a Garden. — A clear profit of
six hundred and ninety-four dollars and one cent from
five acres was made by B. S. Rembaugh of Pettis
county, Missouri, winner of S. L. Allen & Co.'s special
first prize of one hundred dollars for the most profitable
results where their implements were used. Mr. Rem-
baugh had a small market garden on a plot of less than
five acres on which to make a living. The land is
naturally poor and was in sod two years ago. Fer-
tilizer could not be purchased, owing to lack of capital,
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 23
but sixty loads of manure were obtained last year, and
this scant supply, with irrigation and elbow grease,
made possible a fair yield. A good local market in a
neighboring city of twenty thousand inhabitants took
most of the produce raised, although at times the mar-
ket was glutted and much had to be thrown away.
Mr. Rembaugh truthfully remarks : " There is noth-
ing like thorough cultivation and an abundant water
supply in case of dry weather for making a beautiful
garden. It is useless to garden for profit unless you
have a large supply of fertilizers and a sufficiently
large market to take your produce."
He began the gardening operations late in Jan-
uary by sowing tomato seed in shallow boxes in the
house. Early in March, two cold frames were sown
to radish, and others were planted March 25 with rad-
ish, beets and lettuce. A hotbed, six by sixteen feet,
was planted to cucumbers April 22, being filled with
sods cut five inches square. On each sod five seeds
were planted and covered with a little soil. Some
muskmelons were planted in the same manner.
The first planting in the open ground was April
15, when one bushel peas, three pounds spinach, five
pounds radish, one pound onion, one-half pound turnip
and one-half pound celery seed were sown. The first
tomato plants were set May 2 by digging a hole nine
inches deep and putting in the bottom a shovelful of
mixed soil and manure. Water was poured in the hole
before setting the plants. The ground for cucumbers
and melons was laid off in furrows nine inches deep
by going four times with the Planet Jr cultivator with
teeth set close together. A shovelful of compost was
put in the furrow every three and one-half feet and on
this a block of sod from the hotbed with the plants was
set. The melons were set six feet each way. The
manure and soil from a mushroom bed was well mixed
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 25
and spread in the bottom of furrows marked out for
potatoes. Rows for celery were laid off three and
one-half feet apart and six inches deep. In the bottom
was put a good dressing of composted manure before
setting the plants, which were set six inches apart.
The celery was a second crop after early vegetables,
and its production was a hard fight, owing to drouth.
The method of irrigating was to turn water into
trenches between the rows, which were banked across
at intervals by little dams of earth, thus holding back
the water and allowing it to soak into the rows. The
celery crop was stored in trenches fifteen inches wide,
eighteen inches deep and two hundred and seventy feet
long. The plants were dug, the earth knocked off the
roots, rusty outside leaves pulled off and the plants
packed closely in the trench, which were covered with
boards, with earth over all. The fifteen thousand stalks
at forty cents per dozen netted five hundred dollars.
Other important crops were salsify, one hundred and
twenty dollars ; tomatoes, sixty-seven bushels, eighty-
seven dollars ; muskmelons, three thousand one hun-
dred and three, one hundred and three dollars ; radishes,
fifty-seven dollars ; cucumbers, forty-four dollars.
Concludes this prominent contestant : " Long
hours and plenty of hard work ; endless quantities of
well-rotted horse manure ; the most thorough tillage of
the soil; first-class seed planted with good judgment —
and with ample moisture one cannot fail to reap a
good harvest."
A truly American career is that of Mr. Rem-
baugh; winning his own way, making and losing
money with great facility in several locations and occu-
pations. Of German-English descent, he was thrown
upon his own resources after eight years old; made
money as a sutler in the Federal army at the age of
26 PRIZE GARDENING
seventeen. After the war he moved from Pennsyl-
vania to Missouri, started a dairy route, married, went
to California for his health, managed a dairy farm
there, returned to Missouri and built a flouring mill,
saved about fifteen thousand dollars and lost heavily
by fire, bought a larger mill and did a large business,
made seventy-five thousand dollars, only to lose every-
thing through a bank failure, finally starting at mar-
ket gardening with very slight capital. But a man
who can make four and one-third acres pay him clear
profit of six hundred and ninety-four dollars will not
long be hampered for lack of capital. He states inci-
dentally that he is selling from two hundred to three
hundred loaves of bread per day. An unmistakable
hustler is Mr. Rembaugh, and the bread item suggests
a family of the same energetic breed. The younger
daughter, it is stated, sold the garden produce and the
elder one kept the accounts.
The story of the garden is at times quite dramatic,
with its accounts of drouth that lasted until the earth
gaped for water ; how the gardeners fought with irri-
gating trenches and a watering system devised for the
emergency, and how at last the situation is relieved
and the crops saved by sudden and copious showers.
There were lively fights, too, with insect foes and mys-
terious blights that carried off the melon vines, and
the list of purchases shows the kind of resistance
made.
And Mr. Rembaugh worked! Sometimes after
the list of a day's operations that would look large to
an easy-going gardener, the comment is noted : " A
poor day's work." At other times we have such entries
as the following : " Worked fifteen hours, temperature
ninety-two. Very tired." This is not the leisurely
way in which many persons of middle age pass the
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 2J
season of hot weather, but it is the way to make money
in gardening.
The bill of expense itemizes thirty-eight dollars
for seeds, two dollars and twenty-five cents for ma-
nures, forty-seven dollars and ten cents for miscella-
neous and two hundred and fifty-six dollars and fifty-
nine cents for labor. Total, three hundred and forty-
five dollars and thirteen cents, which is deducted from
sales amounting to one thousand two hundred and
thirty-nine dollars and fourteen cents. The small pay-
ment for manure is because most of it was obtained
for the hauling, while the cost of the portion bought
was only from ten to twenty-five cents per load. Labor
was charged at ten cents per hour for men and five
cents for women and boys. Actual cash paid for out-
side labor was eighty-seven dollars.
FIVE ACRES ENOUGH
A little farm well tilled will produce a larger
income than a large one half worked. Five acres
devoted to rasing vegetables has made a comfortable
living for L. C. Wright & Son of Oswego county, New
York, one of the leading prize winners. They were
able to do nearly all their own work of growing and
marketing the crops, raised much of their own seed
from selected plants, kept some hogs and hens to add
somewhat to the income and incidentally produce
most of the manure used, so that they paid out but a
very small portion of the gross receipts. The products
were marketed at wholesale in Oswego, three miles
away, and the delivery, therefore, was quickly done.
Only such crops as were in good demand were grown,
but enough of them to make variety and a constant
supply of something from early spring until late fall.
28
PRIZE GARDENING
The illustration on Page 30 shows clearly the
arrangement of the plot and the crops grown. Con-
siderable space was devoted to grapes, strawberries,
raspberries and asparagus, for which there was a good
demand at a fair price. The small, closely set, narrow
teeth were used almost entirely on the cultivation
instead of the two and one-half -inch teeth commonly
THE EARLY HOTBEDS
used. The methods employed in growing crops will
be described in the words of Mr. Wright.
Tomatoes. — Ground had been plowed, harrowed
and marked out with shovel plow in deep furrows, five
feet apart, and cross-marked in rows four feet, until
we found by counting up hills we would be short of
ground. So we cross-marked the balance about three
and one-half feet. With hoes we pulled the soil out
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 20,
of the furrows where they crossed. The hills were
about eight inches deep and fourteen inches wide.
Each hill received a manure fork full of well-rotted
horse manure. This was covered with soil, not mixed
with it, to the depth of six inches.
Our plants were ready to set June 2 ; after thor-
oughly watering them so the soil would stick to the
roots, took them up carefully, about fifty at a time,
placed them in our two-wheel garden cart and drew
them to the prepared hills. Placed a plant on each
hill. One man took a garden hoe with extra large
blade and the other man picked up the plant. The
hoe was driven into the hill by striking with edge of
the blade deep enough to strike the manure. The soil
was held up with the hoe while the plant was placed,
top facing east, with roots under the soil and into the
hill so that the soil held up by hoe when released
would cover roots and stalk of plant about eight inches.
The soil held up by hoe was then released and firmed
by pressing down with the foot on soil directly over
the roots of plant. This left plant when set lying
down. We set all tomato plants this way. Never
set them upright, as the wind is apt to break them off.
Although the plant is set flat down, in five or six days
it will turn and stand up straight, but this gives the
plant time to toughen up, and any ordinary wind will
not break it. By covering stalk of plant in the hill it
will send out roots, make a stronger, better plant and
produce more fruit.
Experience and practice in former times has
taught us that tomato vines will produce more fruit
and ripen earlier if broken down. We break them
down as follows : Stand close to the plant, stoop half
over, bring hands together in front of you with arms
at full length in form of a letter V or wedge, with
hands still together, push through the center of the
CoiO fiMOTJ
3
ID
I
t
O /=> £~ /V
o /? *a / **
Q/v/ OA/J
Jo/yra caw
G&Af&.S
cc/?/?4//rj
G/?J/°£J
1
I?
i
/"/£ /*iA//r
W
P
<
o
H
a
Pi
*
H
Pi
u
>
I— I
h
h
X
o
rt/CAf/vjy:
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 3 1
plant. Now open your arms and hands, and with a
gentle side sweep press the vines as separated down
liat on all sides of the hill. Now press down on the
top of the vines as they lay down. Don't be afraid,
press them down so they will stay down. If this is
done at midday you will not break off one vine in a
hundred. Vines when broken down will show green
tomatoes three-fourths size of the first setting.
We do not make hotbeds. We have a set of boxes
twenty-four by eighteen inches, and one and one-half
inches deep, that we take to the greenhouse with our
seed. They are grown in these boxes and when they
are four inches high we take them home and transplant
into cold frames. This saves us a lot of expense and
labor, and we always have fine plants ready in time to
set in the open ground.
We have successfully grown tomatoes for years,
early and late, and are satisfied that in the frames is
where the early tomatoes are made. In our opinion
not one gardener in a hundred gives the plants enough
room in the frames. Our plants when set out often
have small tomatoes set and are large and stocky,
healthy plants, that when properly set out never wilt
down, but commence at once to grow.
A Cucumber Experiment. — W r e had been thinking
for some time about growing White Spine cucumbers
for slicing, under glass outdoors. This proved to be
one of the most profitable and interesting experiments
we have made in our experience of twenty years as
market gardeners.
We had on hand four sash eight by three and one-
half feet with no glass in. We purchased cotton cloth
and covered these frames. We also used five sash
with glass in three by three and one-half feet. We
plowed, harrowed and cultivated the plot to be used
and raked it level with a garden rake. We took one-
32
PRIZE GARDENING
inch hemlock boards twelve inches wide and made a
frame forty-seven feet long and three and one-half
feet wide, just the width and length of the cloth and
glass sashes combined, and put in the necessary cross-
pieces to slide the sash on. We had ready a compost
manure one-third each of horse, hog and hen manure.
This had been thoroughly worked over four or five
times. With hoes we made inside this frame twelve
holes eight inches deep and two feet in diameter. Put
CUCUMBER VINES DUSTED WITH LIME, AND BOX FRAMES
in two tile sixteen inches long and two inches in diam-
eter. In each hill we put a heaping shovelful of the
compost manure. We now added one-half the soil
thrown out of the holes to the manure and thoroughly
mixed it with a spreading fork. We then put on each
hill all the hardwood ashes we could take up in one
hand, then put back the balance of the soil thrown out
of the holes. Sowed five pounds of potash on top of
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 33
the twelve hills and raked it in with a garden rake.
The hills were now four inches above the level and
held the tile firm and upright. We now sowed four-
teen seed on top of each hill, put on three-fourths
inch fine soil, put on the sash frames, and our
cucumber experiment was started.
As soon as they were out of the ground, on warm
days, we would water lightly on the surface. On
cloudy days would not touch them ; they got all the
air they needed through the cloth-covered sashes. We
did not have to put extra covering over them only one
night. June 17 took off the sashes and hoed the plants
nicely. They then looked fine; just as nice under the
cloth sashes as under the glass.
We now commenced to water in the tile, and from
this time until the vines were pulled up, no matter how
tired we were, they were watered on the surface in
the morning and in the tile after the sun went down.
They grew rapidly, and on July 1 the vines had com-
pletely filled the frames and were up to the bottom of
the sashes. We now took the sash and frames away,
and there we had the finest hills of cucumbers we had
ever seen, growing in the same length of time. They
continued to grow, blossom and bear until the rows
were a solid mass of vines six feet wide.
It was a pleasure to tend them and watch them
grow and bear. Through the long-continued drouth
not a leaf turned yellow, all on account of having all
the water they wanted. On July 15 we picked the first
cucumber ; when we picked the last cucumber Septem-
ber 11, the vines were still green, but they had borne
out ; there was not a single blossom left.
We have a bath tub close to the well and eight
feet from where we grew this frame of cucumbers.
The water used was pumped into the bath tub every
morning. We have purchased another bath tub, also
34 PRIZE GARDENING
a tank that will hold four barrels, and shall try this
more extensively next summer. The cucumbers were
large when cut, weighing on an average ten pounds to
the dozen. Sales from the twelve hills, eight hundred
and thirty-five at from one to four cents each, fourteen
dollars and twenty-seven cents.
Early Potatoes. — The ground was plowed deep
with a heavy team, thoroughly harrowed and marked
with a horse marker in rows three feet apart. It was
then furrowed out with cultivator with double mold-
board plow attachment, going four times in each row
and making furrows seven inches deep and fifteen
inches wide. The soil was all dry, light and warm by
the time we were ready to cover the seed. We then
scattered finely pulverized hen manure in the rows.
As we were short of seed we planted whole small pota-
toes, dropping them on the manure in the furrow, one
potato in a place, about sixteen inches apart.
We put the side hillers on the cultivator and cov-
ered the potatoes by running between the rows. After
covering we rolled them with the garden roller, run-
ning it on top of the rows. In seventeen days they were
all up so we could see the rows. We then went over the
piece with a straight, square steel-tooth harrow closed
to three feet, and also cultivated between the rows with
the cultivator with the narrow teeth. On June 14 we
hilled them, using the hillers on the cultivator, and
although we had not used hand hoes, not a weed was
to be seen and there was not a missing hill.
Money in Berries. — Two men went ahead of the
horse and cultivator with common hand hay rakes
and raked the straw from between the rows up on the
rows, working one row at a time. We then went twice
through each row with cultivator, small teeth on, set
to run deep. This loosened up the soil between the
rows. The straw was then raked back into the rows
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 35
as fast as they were cultivated, leaving a light cover-
ing of straw on the plants, the idea being that the soil
would be stirred up and straw put back on it would act
as mulch and retain the moisture. In the long-con-
tinued drouth that followed it proved to be a good
thing and saved our crop. We think we got one-third
more fruit by the above method. Sales from the plot,
two hundred and twenty-eight by eighty-nine feet, were
one hundred and twenty-one dollars and seventy cents.
In our opinion the hill system as the way to grow
big berries and lots of them. Anyone who is short
of ground can keep a bed set in this way in full bearing
for three years. It has been done on this place.
The Palmetto Asparagus beds are five years old,
have always had good care and plenty of manure. On
April 19 we cultivated these beds with cultivator,
small teeth on. After cultivating and ridging up soil
on the rows, the beds were harrow r ed with the harrow
closed to three feet. We then plowed between and
forced the earth upon the rows over the plants. This
left a furrow between the plants about six inches deep
and twenty inches wide. Sowed in this furrow two
hundred pounds of coarse ground bone, which was
worked in with the cultivator, going over each row
twice. We then went over the beds crosswise with
the harrow closed. This was the finish, and the beds
were in fine shape, being mellow and free from weeds.
We use bone and stable manure in fall and we grow
fine asparagus.
Our Vineyard contains one hundred and seven
Worden vines, six years old. It w r as manured with
stable manure and cultivated in the fall of 1898. On
April 15 we pruned the vines, cutting back all new
wood to two eyes, and all old wood that would in any
way interfere with the growth of the clusters and the
free circulation of air and sunshine. After pruning
36 PRIZE GARDENING
we tied up the vines to the wires, being careful to keep
them well spread in fan shape. April 17 we culti-
vated the vineyard with Planet Jr cultivator with small
teeth on, going four times in each row. This left the
ground fine and mellow.
Weeds were kept in check by cultivating and hoe-
ing. The vines made a splendid growth and a won-
derful setting of fruit. The weight of new wood and
fruit was such as to threaten breaking down the trellis.
On August 11, with pruning shears, we cut back the
new wood to within ten inches of the last cluster. This
saved the vines, and how the clusters did grow ! In
twelve years' experience growing Worden grapes we
never saw vines carry such loads of fruit. Experts
estimated the crop on the vines at one and one-half
tons. A severe frost October 2 caught many of them
and we cut but two thousand four hundred and fifty-
five pounds.
The Value of Labor in caring for the crops of this
good garden was one hundred and forty-seven dollars
and thirty cents, for preparing the products for market
and marketing same eighty-five dollars, manure nine-
teen dollars and forty cents, plants and seeds ten dol-
lars and nine cents, picking two thousand one hundred
quarts strawberries thirty-one dollars and fifty cents,
picking currants and raspberries six dollars and two
cents, incidental expenses one dollar and five cents, or
a total of three hundred dollars and thirty-six cents.
There was sold up to the time the report closed four
hundred and forty dollars and forty-nine cents worth
of fruits and vegetables, used in familv twenty-seven
dollars and seventy-six cents, and on hand one hun-
dred and twenty-five dollars and seventy-three cents,
or a total of five hundred and ninety-three dollars and
ninety-eight cents, leaving a profit above cost of two
hundred and ninety-three dollars and sixty-two cents.
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 37
A Twenty-acre Garden. — One of the largest gar-
dens, or garden farms, was that of W. H. McMillen,
Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The whole place of twenty acres
was entered and the method with each important crop
is told in detail, receiving a ten-dollar prize. Income
was about one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars
and cost about five hundred and fifty. The expense
account is somewhat unusual, as it includes all house-
hold expenses as well as payments for business supplies
and hired help. But no allowance is made for the work
and time of the owner. Thus the seven hundred sur-
plus represents the cash sum which the owner receives
for his time and investment, having received also his
living expenses for the period, March to November.
The manure was mostly obtained for the hauling.
Among the expense items are noticed one hundred and
forty dollars for hired man eight months, ninety-seven
dollars and forty cents for picking berries, thirty-seven
dollars for hired girl, twenty dollars for wood and
twenty-two dollars for coal, twenty-eight dollars for
dry goods, other items being mostly for provisions and
farm supplies. Following is the cream of Mr. Mc-
Millen's very instructive account :
The first seed that are sown in the open ground
are peas. I sow on well enriched land and prefer
rather a heavy soil for peas. I plow the land in the
fall, then disk, lapping the disk one-half. This leaves
no ridges. Then drag the land, plank and drag, and
plank again. Then I have land as mellow as an ash
bed. I use a seed drill, hill dropper and fertilizer
combined. I have a two-foot marker instead of an
eighteen-inch, one that comes with the drill. I set my
marker two feet and sow peas very thick in rows. I sow
two rows about four inches apart and then two feet ;
this gives the vines a better chance to stand up. One
row supports the other. I find this a very profitable way
38
PRIZE GARDENING
to grow them. When two inches high I begin to cul-
tivate them. I use a twelve-tooth cultivator and aim
to cultivate twice a week until last cultivating. I then
use a larger shovel, throwing some dirt to the roots.
Next come the onions. I plow in the fall. Manure
well before plowing, and after I use well-rotted manure
for the dressing. Disk in, harrow, plank and harrow,
A THRIFTY MARKET GARDEN
and plank, and you will have your bed as fine and as
mellow as an ash bed. We sow our seeds middling
shallow and thick. If they should be too thick you
can thin them out. We sow them twenty inches
between rows ; we use a seed drill, and when the
onions are up so I can see the rows I go through them
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 39
with a wheel hoe, to which I attach a pair of rakes so
as to straddle the rows, and the rakes will loosen the
earth. Next we take off the rakes and attach the
scuffer hoe, which we run between the rows twice, and
when the onions are four inches high we weed them.
This is done with a hand weeder, and this is the time
to thin them should they be too thick. We usually
weed them twice on hands and knees. Next we use
the one-horse, fine-tooth cultivator. We sow a small
patch of carrots and beets for early use and treat them
the same as onions.
Next we planted early potatoes. I like a sandy
soil with clover turned under about September and
then in the spring apply a light coat of manure, and
disk, lapping one-half. This will cut nearly as deep
as if it were plowed. Drag and plank. Mark three
feet between rows ; furrow out ; drop seed twelve
inches apart, two to three eyes in a piece of potato,
then cover with a hoe lightly and when coming up
drag them. I use a lever drag, tipping the lever so
the teeth are quite slanting, dragging the same way
as planted. When three or four inches high we use
the fine-tooth cultivator. Next cultivating use the
large cultivator. We keep them cultivated as long as
the vines will permit, then we hill them. By planting
close we get a heavy growth of vines. They come
together and shade the roots and therefore keep mois-
ture in the land. We cultivate as long as we can before
hilling. We have good results from growing by this
method.
Next we set out strawberries. I like a fall plow-
ing with a heavy coat of manure turned under. I top-
dress the bed with a fine and well-rotted manure.
Disk, drag and plank. Mark four feet between rows.
Every other row I set with a fertilizing berry. I
never mark over three rows at a time before I set.
40 PRIZE GARDENING
I have a hand marker, making three rows at once. I
set two of them and use the third for a line to mark
back on. I use a trowel for setting. I never dig more
plants at one time than I can set in half a day, and I
keep them well sprinkled and covered with a blanket.
This is my method of setting strawberries, and I
always have a good stand of plants. In setting them
I allow eighteen inches apart in the rows.
Next I set my early cabbages. Manure heavy and
plow deep. Fall plowing I like best. I do not think
fall plowing is affected so much by drouth as spring
plowing. I like a top dressing. Disk and drag and
plank; mark three feet, set eighteen to twenty inches
apart in rows. I use the Charleston Wakefield for
early. When the plants have been set a week, culti-
vate with a fine-tooth cultivator, and then hoe.
If I am to set any raspberries I pick a piece of
light soil with a red clay bottom land that will grow
a good crop of corn. Plow deep, drag, plank and
mark seven feet one way and four feet the other, then
use the cultivator. I take all the shovels off but one
large one, furrow one way (deep) and drop the plants
in the four-foot mark. One drops the plants and one
covers. When I am selecting a quantity of plants I
dig the new plants which come up in the spring, put-
ting about four of them in one hill. This will give a
nice hill of new canes for the next season without wait-
ing for shoots to come up from the setting. Having
finished setting, I cultivate both ways, then I shall
have the furrows filled and the land level. I usually
plant two rows of corn between the rows first year.
Second year I plant a row of potatoes between. By
doing this I keep the bushes well cultivated and grow
a nice crop of potatoes. After the second year it is
useless to plant anything between them, but keep them
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 41
well cultivated. This rule applies for setting black
raspberries and blackberries.
Land that will grow a fair crop of corn will grow
tomatoes. I plow my land in the fall, and in the spring
disk, lapping one-half. Drag, plank, and drag and
plank again, then mark four and one-half feet each
way. Use a heavy one-horse marker. Mark as deep
as possible, and if the land is mellow dig the holes with
the hands. We set three and one-half acres this
spring. When we are ready to set we take one horse
and a stone boat and set the. plants on the boat, and
drive between the rows ; one man to drop them and
two men to set them. The plants are dropped on each
crossing, using our hands to dig the holes. Set the
plants in ; press the dirt firmly about the plants ; when
they have been set one week, fill in, if any are missing,
and cultivate each way. I give them all the cultivating
I can. We have a nice clean patch, plenty of fruit
and never had a hoe in them.
A Gardener's Calendar. — The routine of a good-
sized farm market garden is also related in a very help-
ful manner by a successful contestant, G. J. Townsend,
of Wayne county, New York, and his story is quoted
below for the five busy months beginning with :
April. — I plowed about nine or ten inches deep.
Potatoes I planted in drills about fourteen inches by
three feet, four or five inches deep. Onion seed I
sowed in drills fourteen inches apart. Beets and car-
rots I sowed in drills two feet apart. The above
ground I harrowed three or four times and rolled :
the last time I attached a plank behind the harrow to
leave it smooth. The rhubarb and asparagus beds I
dug up about three or four inches deep. Seed pota-
toes I cut two or three eyes in a piece. I raked off
about half the straw from the strawberry bed, leaving
the rest for mulching and to keep the berries clean.
42
PRIZE GARDENING
By leaving this straw on them a week or two longer
it will protect them from frost and prolong the season
for ripe berries. I put a small handful of fertilizer
on the hills of potatoes and worked it in with the
weeder. I soaked some of the seed potatoes in corro-
sive sublimate water for scabs before cutting. I take
about two ounces corrosive sublimate dissolved in a
little warm water, then put it into about sixteen gal-
lons of water in a barrel; stir it up well, put in pota-
WORKING A NEW YORK TRUCK PATCH
toes and let them soak about one and one-half hours.
This water is good for about four batches. Be care-
ful that stock do not eat any of the seed. Hotbeds
made the last of March and first of April I only put
about a foot of manure in.
May. — I set strawberry plants three and one-half
feet by twenty inches in rows, digging the hole with
a trowel and pressing the dirt firmly around the roots.
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 43
Corn I planted three by two feet, about four or five ker-
nels in a hill. Some of the onion, beet and carrot seeds
did not even come up on account of the wind blowing
the dirt off of them. I try to run the weeder over
potatoes once a week, and after every shower as soon
as they are dry enough, until they get to about eight
inches high, then run cultivator as long as I can get
through. By doing this I do not have much hoeing
and keep in the moisture. All the hilling they get is
with the wings on the cultivator. To burn worms'
nests out of trees I get a long pole and tie some waste
or cotton on the end with wire and put on some
kerosene.
About the first of May I leave the covering off of
the tomatoes in frames day and night to harden them,
if there is no danger of frost. Give the plants a good
watering before taking up. I take one plant up at a
time with a handful of dirt pressed together and put
them in crates. I set the Atlantic Prize three and
one-half by three feet, the Champion three and one-
half by two feet. Dig a hole with a fork, drop in a
small handful of fertilizer one side, put water in hole,
set plants, mix fertilizer with dirt, keeping it away from
the roots. For about two weeks after tomatoes are
set keep watch of the potato bugs and pick them off.
Putting cold water on plants to draw out the frost is
all right when it does not freeze. Better cover pota-
toes with dirt with a plow before a frost. All the blos-
soms on the new strawberry bed I keep picked off.
Putting wood ashes on onions after weeding will help
to keep the insects away. When through with the
hotbed sashes I put them under cover. I give them a
coat of paint every three or four years.
June. — I kept the runners out off the strawberry
plants until about the first of July. I cultivated the
potatoes shallow toward the last. Thinned out the
44 PRIZE GARDENING
beets to four or five inches apart and the carrots to two
or three inches apart. The best way is to pick the bugs
from the squashes every day. Carbolic acid diluted
with water will keep the bugs away for three or four
days. I paris green the potatoes with a spray pump.
It holds about a pint of water. Put in one teaspoon-
ful of paris green every time. The Early Michigan
tomato plants I set out four by four feet apart and the
cabbages two and one-half by two and one-half feet.
I pay one and one-half cents for picking strawberries,
one-fourth cent more than the regular price. I have
them assorted when they are picked, being careful not
to have them bruised. The two-year-old strawberry
bed on the east side was nearly a failure on account
of freezing and the drouth. I only covered the new
bed with straw. After picking a few quarts from this
old bed I plowed it and set it to tomatoes and cabbages.
I had six kinds of strawberries this year, the Wilson,
Buback, Jessie, Marshall, Sharpless and Van Deman.
The Buback, Jessie and Wilson have done the best for
me. The Van Deman is a good early berry. The;
Sharpless I have given up and shall give up the Mar-
shall next year. The celery plants I transplanted when
about two inches high into a well prepared bed, about
two inches apart.
July. — The early potato ground I sowed to tur-
nips in drills two feet apart. Cucumber seed I planted
in hills about six feet apart, twelve to fifteen seeds to
a hill, thinning out to about six vines in a hill. Pump-
kins I thinned to two or three vines in a hill. Renewed
the old strawberry bed by mowing them down after
fruiting and cultivating and hoeing them out. Set
out one row of strawberries between a row of potatoes.
Cauliflower I set two and one-half feet apart. For
celery I dug trenches about ten inches deep, worked in
GARDENING FOR PROFIT
45
some well-rotted manure, set plants about six inches
apart, watered well. The trenches I have about four
feet apart.
August. — I picked the onions up in crates and
drew them to the corn house to be topped some rainy
day. The Atlantic Prize tomato is the earliest, but
A YORK STATE TRUCK PATCH IN JULY
will not sell well when other kinds are in the market.
The Dwarf Champion is the best for general use. The
Early Michigan is a good tomato, but rotted some this
year. On my other ground the Stone proved to be
the best canning tomato.
Money from a Minnesota Garden. — Some of the
best market gardens were in the northwest, and the
returns usually show fair prices and brisk demand.
A profitable six acres is described by C. L. Hill,
46 PRIZE GARDENING
Minnesota, sixth Allen prize winner. Land being more
plenty than labor, the methods were directed toward
production of most returns for least labor. Nothing
was crowded. Even the onions and beets were in
rows three feet apart, so that they could be cultivated
by horse and wheel hoes. Onions were weeded twice
by hand, also some other crops.
The financial results are worked out clearly and
with care, showing total income of eight hundred and
twenty-five dollars and twenty-five cents and net profit
of five hundred and ninety dollars and ninety cents.
No manure or fertilizer seems to have been used, and
the main charge is two hundred and thirty-two dollars
and fifty-five cents for labor, most of which is for one
man, with an extra hand for three or four months. In
round sums the labor cost twenty-five dollars in May,
fifty dollars in June, fifty dollars in July, thirty-eight
dollars in August, forty-seven dollars in September and
twenty-three dollars in October, the account including
every stroke of labor done. Mr. Hill seems to have
solved the problem of making a living from six acres,
even in a season unfavorable to some crops. An inter-
esting feature of his account is the valuation of crops
expressed in rate per acre, which is as follows in even
dollars :
Beets, per acre, one hundred and twenty-five dol-
lars ; cabbage, one hundred and eleven dollars; car-
rots, one hundred and twenty-eight dollars ; cauli-
flower, one hundred and fifty-three dollars ; sweet corn,
ninety-two dollars ; cucumbers, one hundred and twen-
ty-nine dollars ; currants, sixty-seven dollars ; ground
cherries, two hundred and thirteen dollars ; gooseber-
ries, ninety-five dollars ; lettuce, one hundred and thirty
dollars ; muskmelons, one hundred and sixty-four dol-
lars ; onions, one hundred and forty-five dollars ; pars-
nips, two hundred and four dollars ; pepper eighty-six
GARDENING FOR PROFIT 47
dollars ; pie plant, one hundred and twenty-three dol-
lars ; early potatoes, one hundred and five dollars ; peas,
seventy-five dollars ; radishes, sixty-nine dollars ; rasp-
berries, two hundred and twenty-six dollars ; squashes,
eighty-eight dollars ; strawberries, two hundred and
forty dollars ; tomatoes, one hundred and twelve dol-
lars ; turnips, eighty-six dollars.
A Large and Profitable Market Garden was con-
ducted by A. Brackett, Excelsior, Minnesota, the fif-
teenth regular prize winner. There were four and one-
half acres, renting value five dollars per acre. Most of
the produce was sold at wholesale. Total proceeds, five
hundred and thirteen dollars and ninety-one cents ;
expense, two hundred and five dollars and eighty-two
cents ; net A three hundred and eight dollars and nine
cents. Writes Mr. Brackett : " Our estimate on ex-
pense was figured at one dollar and a half per day for
labor, but taking out all other expenses, we find that
we cleared four dollars and a quarter a day."
CHAPTER IV
GOOD FARM GARDENS
The claim has been made that the tillers of the soil
in the more thickly settled parts of the continent are no
longer strictly farmers, but gardeners, rather ; deriving
their incomes less from staple farm crops than from
vegetables, fruit and specialties. This is an extreme
statement of a growing tendency of farmers near good
markets to emphasize the production of crops, the value
of which depends largely upon being used while fresh,
thus assuring the cream of the market to nearby
growers. In growing staple crops, cheap and distant
lands may compete, but in producing the perishable
specialties a convenient location gives decided advan-
tage. The tendency to larger and better farm gardens
is, however, noticed also in sections comparatively new ;
a fact which shows the increasing prosperity of the
people and their ability to appreciate and pay for more
of the solid, wholesome luxuries. The gardens here
described are those of farmers who make more or less
of a specialty of fruit and vegetables.
A Luxuriant Iowa Garden of four acres is clearly
described by A. A. Atwood, Shenandoah, Iowa, winner
of sixth regular prize. He grew produce worth two
hundred and twenty-eight dollars and twenty-five cents
at a cost of ninety-four dollars and thirty-eight cents,
of which fourteen dollars was for rent, sixteen dollars
and forty cents for seeds, etc., and sixty-three dollars
and twenty-five cents for labor, reckoning teams at
two dollars per day and men one dollar. The total
GOOD FARM GARDENS 49
amount actually paid out was thirty-three dollars and
ninety cents and the crops actually sold were one hun-
dred and nineteen dollars and fifty-eight cents. No
manures seem to have been used.
The Henderson bush lima produced at the rate of
one hundred and forty bushels per acre in the pod, and
cost at rate of thirty-nine dollars and twelve cents per
acre. They shelled two and one-fourth quarts to the
peck. Planted May 8, they were ready to use August
5. Garden beets planted April 21 were ready for use
June 17 and June 26, according to earliness of location.
Yield was at rate of seven hundred bushels per acre.
Early cabbage, planted in cold frames April 13, was
transplanted May 17, was hoed and cultivated twice,
and was first used for table July 17. Variety, Burpee's
All Head. Crop at rate of four thousand five hundred
and ten per acre, worth one hundred and seventy-one
dollars and thirty-eight cents, at cost for seed and labor
of twenty-nine dollars and fifteen cents. Late cabbage
was transplanted June 17, was sprayed for cabbage
worm September 6 with one ounce insect powder to
three gallons water, mixing twenty-four hours before
wanted.
Early Shaker sweet corn, planted May 8, was
ready July 26 and yielded at the rate of seven thousand
one hundred and fifty ears and five and one-half bushels
seed per acre, worth forty-two dollars and sixteen dol-
lars, respectively, at a cost of sixteen dollars. White
Rice popcorn yielded at rate of sixty-six bushels at a
cost of fourteen dollars and fifty-five cents. Of sev-
eral kinds of pickling cucumbers, Early Frame proved
most profitable, being early, productive and easily
gathered. Spraying with one ounce sulphur to one
gallon water drove away the lice. | Thick planting pro-
vided plants enough to spare some for the striped
beetle, a plan found cheaper than liming or other reme-
50 PRIZE GARDENING
dies. Crop was at rate of one hundred and twenty-six
thousand five hundred per acre, worth two hundred
and fifty-three dollars and costing sixty-seven dollars
and sixty-five cents. Three pounds of seed were gath-
ered from five hundred grown specimens. Onions pro-
duced at the rate of three hundred and seventy bushels,
the Prizetaker variety proving the most productive.
White Portugal was smaller than Wethersfield or
Silver Skin. Peas gave about two hundred bushels
per acre. The produce of an acre of tomatoes sold at
five dollars per ton to the canners brought thirty-six
dollars and thirty-three cents. In regard to his potato
field of one acre, Mr. Atwood writes :
The ground planted to potatoes last year had been
in corn the year previous. The variety was Early
Ohio. The seed was somewhat scabby and small, aver-
aging about the size of a walnut with the shuck on,
the larger ones being cut into pieces with one or two
eyes. The seed was cut as the potatoes were sorted.
We finished planting April 25 and vised eight bushels
of seed. They were all up by May 15. They were
cultivated twice during the season, May 24 and June
1, with a two-horse cultivator, and harrowed the day
following the first cultivation for the purpose of
killing the scattering weeds and leveling the ground.
They were hoed after the first cultivation. At the last
cultivation the cultivator shovels were turned so as to
ridge up or throw the dirt along the row. On June
22 we went over the piece with a hoe and cut out what
scattering weeds remained.
We began using new potatoes June 30 and con-
sumed twelve bushels up to October 1, when the crop
was dug, the total yield being one hundred and fifty
bushels. The potatoes were dug or plowed out, using
the corn lister, it throwing a double furrow, one each
way, and being very convenient for that purpose. It
GOOD FARM GARDENS 51
took a man and team nine hours to plow out the pota-
toes and two men six hours each on three days to pick
them up. The cost was as follows : Preparing
ground, two dollars and fifteen cents; seed, eight
bushels at sixty cents, four dollars and eighty cents ;
cutting and planting, two dollars ; cultivating, three
dollars and sixty cents ; harvesting, four dollars and
twenty cents ; total, sixteen dollars and seventy-five
cents, or eleven and two-tenths cents per bushel. Writ-
ing since the contest Mr. Atwood says :
The experience gained from the prize garden
was so great and important that it would be hard to
tell which was the most so. One very essential part
was that it pays to keep an itemized account of the
work, kinds and amount of seed planted ; see which is
the most productive and give the garden proper care
and attention. By so doing a person can tell just what
benefit it is and which part pays best.
Having thoroughly investigated it I can honestly
say that every farmer should grow enough at least for
family use of such kinds or varieties of garden vege-
tables as they would most desire, the size of the garden
depending largely upon the size of the family using it.
Born in Whiteside county, Illinois, August 29,
1856, I received a common school education and lived
there until the year 1880, when I moved to Page county,
Iowa, where (with the exception of two years that I
lived in Omaha, Nebraska, most of the time conduct-
ing a hotel, and in Florida one season studying their
mode of gardening and fruit raising, and part of a
season on the Pacific coast for the same purpose), the
principal part of my time has been put in farming and
gardening. While living on the farm I filled several
small offices, including that of township justice of the
peace. In 1890 I took the United States census in a
part of Fremont county, Iowa, and in 1900 I took it
52 PRIZE GARDENING
in a part of Page county, Iowa. I have traveled around
a great deal, principally to look at the country; have
been in nearly every state south and west of and includ-
ing Ohio.
A Connecticut Valley Garden. — A concise, read-
able story is told by G. W. F. Campbell, Hampshire
county, Massachusetts, winner of second Woodruff
prize. His lot comprised eighteen-one hundredths of
an acre of sandy loam in the Connecticut river valley.
Tools and land were worth forty-six dollars ; seed, two
dollars and ten cents ; fertilizers, seven dollars and
thirty-five cents. A limited but well chosen list was
planted, including Egyptian beet, Valentine, Six Weeks
and bush lima beans, First of All corn, Bliss Everbear-
ing and Notts Excelsior peas, also radishes, lettuce
and onions. By limiting variety he was able to give
more space to each species, and to save cost by getting
seeds at quart and pound rates; labor at fifteen to
twenty-five cents per hour cost twelve dollars and nine
cents ; income was twenty-eight dollars and seventy-
one cents ; net gain, seven dollars and fifty-four cents,
or seventeen per cent on the invested value in land and
tools. Mr. Campbell writes the following account :
The spot was a garden and onion field last year.
Previous to that time it was an old orchard. In the fall
a coat of manure was put on and plowed in. This spring
the land was pulverized with a smoothing harrow.
Fertilizer was sown before putting on the smoothing
harrow. April 24, onion and lettuce seeds were sown
in drills. On the 26th, beets, spinach, peas, radishes
and beans were planted. The peas, with the excep-
tion of a few, were soaked in water twenty-four hours.
May 3 found the soaked peas up, while those planted
dry did not appear until two days later. Six rhubarb
plants, which were manured this spring, and also the
strawberry plants looked thrifty at this date. Between
GOOD FARM GARDENS
53
May 9 and 12 a smoothing- harrow was used on all
ground not yet planted, to keep down weeds and pre-
pare for seeding: Onions, spinach and beans were
cultivated with a wheel hoe May 12, with very satis-
factory results. When using the machine the dirt is
thrown from the row and not on the growing crops.
The machine does good work and runs easily, as was
proved in furrowing out to plant the second lot of peas
and beans.
^P?*-"V
—
. y
m< " ■*
Tr-
p
-(III I M
A
H^HT 1
'•*
" *» . .
•■ . ILi
Jlv . .••-.*
3SSS
m2|
*,
^
nn
*• "■!
.-..:..■
'
GARDEN OF G. W. F. CAMPBELL
Nearly all seeds have been sown and planted with-
out firming the ground. This prevents excessive
evaporation and assists the seeds to come up quickly.
Watering the garden with a rake is an effective method.
A layer of loose earth on top holds the moisture in the
ground and frequent rakings keep the surface from
crusting.
Lima beans planted with eyes down will appear
quickly and not rot as when planted the other way.
54
Frize Gardening
May 20 found the beans up and looking thrifty. On
June 5, radishes of the second planting were pulled.
The strawberry yield was in every way gratifying.
The berries were plenty and of good flavor and size.
From the small bed, nine hundred and twenty-four
square feet, six bushels were picked. These were
enjoyed by the family and distributed among the neigh-
bors and friends, as were the vegetables. Two strips
where the strawberries were last year were cultivated
ONIONS FOR EXHIBIT
so as to give the runners room. The best of the plants
that were torn up were used to set a small patch, thus
making a new bed for next year. This method would
not be advisable were the bed weedy. In order to
insure a continuous crop the land must be kept rich.
Late peas were planted where spinach formerly
grew and corn has taken the place of the first peas.
Corn was of good flavor and size. Occasional appear-
GOOD FARM GARDENS 55
ances of smut have been picked off, no better method
presenting itself.
Onions sold for a good price. One-half bushel
were selected and sent to the county fair at Greenfield.
A premium of two dollars was awarded them. Two
mammoth squashes, weighing seventy-five pounds
apiece, were in the garden September 30.
Having all the vegetables our family could eat,
selling some and giving away, my experience has
proven that with the best tools and fertilizers and a
careful method of cultivation, an enjoyable and profit-
able garden will be the result.
Most of the peas were soaked for twenty-four
hours before sowing and came up two days sooner
than those not soaked. The wheel cultivator was used
two weeks later, throwing the dirt from the rows.
The ground was not firmed after planting the
seed, as Mr. Campbell believes the loose soil prevents
excessive evaporation and assists the seeds to come
up quickly.
The Woodruff Prize Garden. — Some look upon
the home garden as merely a plot of ground in which
to grow vegetables to eat — a place that produces a few
good things through lots of backache, sore fingers and
weeds. Others see in the garden a place for study and
recreation, and the drudgery of planting, weeding and
hoeing becomes a pleasure. A man of the latter type
is Charles Pierson Augur of New Haven county, Con-
necticut, who won the first special prize for the best
report of a garden planted with Woodruff's seeds. His
garden comprised four-fifths of an acre and returned
eighty-nine dollars and seventy-one cents profit over
and above expenses.
The soil was a heavy loam underlaid with slate,
and the garden was divided into two plots, one lying
to the south and west on an incline and the other at
56 PRIZE GARDENING
the foot of the slope on nearly level ground. It was
in fair condition as to fertility, as each year previously
for five years some ten cords per acre of stable manure
had been applied, and on the greater portion there
had been used from six hundred to one thousand
pounds per acre of complete fertilizer. The usual
hand tools found on every farm were used and in addi-
tion a seed drill and wheel hoe. Not only were all the
commoner vegetables planted, but many of those not
usually found in farmers' gardens, such as egg plant,
cauliflower, kale, kohl-rabi, melons and salsify, and
everything in great abundance and variety. Such
extensive plantings were made for the sake of succes-
sion and for testing the different varieties. Brief notes
were kept of everything, so that the test notes are of
much value for reference and as a guide for future
planting.
No fancy business was attempted with this gar-
den. It was such as any farmer can have. It not only
returned a large amount of the best kind of food,
but a surplus for sale. From the time the first radishes
were ripe in early June there was never a day when
the garden did not give enough of something for a
meal for a large family. The work of caring for the
garden was done at odd spells, and it was done and not
neglected. An hour or two at morning or night with
the wheel hoe would cultivate a large space while the
weeds were small, and frequent cultivation kept the
ground clean and the crops growing in a season of
almost unprecedented drouth.
A Practical Success. — A decidedly business-like
and profitable farm garden of one and five-eighths
acres is described by W. K. Cole, Middlesex county,
Massachusetts, eighth Rawson prize winner. His
idea, as he states, was to show from actual experience
what may be done by an ordinary farmer with the
GOOD FARM GARDENS 57
usual tools under average conditions on a common
farm. The soil varied from dark, heavy loam to very
light gravel. Most of the crops were fertilized with
barn manure with some fertilizer added. There were
corn, peas, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, squash, pota-
toes, beets and tomatoes. The methods employed were
not unusual, but were liberal and thorough. His
account describes each crop.
Tomatoes on light soil, fairly manured, received
also two handfuls of fertilizer per hill at setting, also
one-fifth pound nitrate of soda after fruit was formed.
Sold thirty-five bushels for twenty dollars and sixty-
eight cents besides eight or ten bushels wasted for lack
of market. Cost of crop, fifteen dollars and eighty-
eight cents ; profit, four dollars and eighty cents.
One-fifth of an acre planted to Early Essex sweet
corn with four hundred pounds fertilizer appeared
to stand the drouth very well, although on dry run-out
land. A trace of the corn took a two-dollar prize at
the county fair, and the crop of forage was very heavy.
Corn and forage were valued at thirty -three dollars and
seventy-eight cents ; cost, sixteen dollars and thirty
cents ; profit, seventeen dollars and forty-eight cents.
Early Roberts potato, four square rods, proved
earliest of all varieties tried and yielded six bushels.
Rural Blush gave a light yield. Rural New Yorker
and Carmen No. 3 gave large yields of large, smooth,
late-keeping potatoes, but were outyielded by old
kinds like Clark's No. 1, Beauty of Hebron, Pearl of
Savoy. The potatoes won eight premiums at the Essex
county fair.
Writes Mr. Cole: I believe in liberal manuring,
deep planting, level cultivation, light seeding, prompt
application of bug juice and early digging. I cut the
seed one eye to the piece, drop in furrows six inches
deep and ten inches apart in the furrow and turn in
58 PRIZE GARDENING
soil enough to cover the seed, using the horse hoe, then
strew fertilizer in the furrow and fill up even with the
horse hoe. Go over the piece, if wet, with brush, har-
row if very dry ; use a roller or smoother, loaded, to
firm down the earth. This piece was manured at the
rate of six cords per acre plowed in. I used fertilizer
at the rate of about one thousand two hundred pounds
per acre.
Early cabbage, nine and one-half square rods, set
out May I, and given a handful of fertilizer, with
another handful hoed in later, yielded twenty barrels.
Income, twenty-five dollars and sixty cents ; cost, six-
teen dollars and seventy-five cents ; net, eight dollars
and eighty-five cents. Seventeen square rods of early
peas produced about fifty bushels at a cost of twenty-
eight dollars and seventy-eight cents and selling for
fifty dollars and seventy-five cents.
About one-sixth acre was planted to Mohawk,
Golden Eye Wax, Goddard and Imperial Horticultural
beans, the first planting of Mohawk April 26. They
were cultivated three times and hoed once. Shell beans
were more profitable than string. Horticultural were
five days earlier than other shell beans. The whole
crop, forty-eight bushels, brought forty-nine dollars
and eight cents at cost of twenty-nine dollars and
forty-five cents. Profit, nineteen dollars and sixty-
three cents.
Cabbages, one-ninth acre, with six dollars worth
manure and two dollars worth fertilizer, were set May
5, cultivated four times and hoed three times and gave
fifty-four barrels and an income of sixty-one dollars
and forty-two cents at cost of twenty-eight dollars and
ninety-five cents. Net, thirty-two dollars and forty-
seven cents. Red cabbage proved most profitable and
Savoy least profitable. A similar area of cauliflower
brought fifty-one dollars and seven cents at cost of
6o PRIZE GARDENING
thirty-seven dollars and seventy-three cents. With
both of the above crops nitrate of soda was hoed in
during cultivation. Winter squashes, planted June 20,
did fairly well for so late, being a second crop after
beans and peas.
Total income of the garden was four hundred and
eighty-seven dollars and fourteen cents ; manure,
eighty-four dollars and forty-four cents ; seed and
plants, fourteen dollars and eighty-five cents ; labor,
one hundred and ninety-two dollars and seventy-five
cents ; interest and taxes, two dollars and twenty-eight
cents ; total cost, two hundred and ninety-four dollars
and thirty-two cents ; net, one hundred and ninety-two
dollars and eighty-two cents.
A Busy Farmers Garden. — " A busy farmer can
have a good garden if he will only make the effort,"
says Oscar R. Widmer, one of the successful contest-
ants, whose kitchen garden plot, eighty-nine by one
hundred and twenty feet in size, produced thirty-two
dollars and twelve cents worth of vegetables at a cost
of sixteen dollars and ninety cents for labor, seed and
fertilizer. The garden was of a gravelly loam, lying
on an eastern slope, and prior to 1890 it was in grass.
Then for four years it was planted to corn and since
1894 has been used as a garden. The rows were
laid out the long w r ay of the plot so as to permit of
horse cultivation, and no hand work in consequence
was done.
Mr. Widmer adds : "As soon as possible after
planting, the cultivator is started to 'nip the weeds in
the bud' as it were. This does away with the tedious
hand weeding that must be done where the garden is
small and located in some out-of-the-way corner. The
work is mostly done in leisure moments and is a source
of great pleasure, irrespective of profit." At the begin-
ning of operations there were growing in the garden
GOOD FARM GARDENS 6l
four rows of strawberries, one and one-half rows of
currants and half a row of raspberries. The currants
gave ninety-six quarts, while the others were just com-
ing into bearing.
Instead of using brush or poultry netting for peas,
a trellis was made by driving heavy posts at each end
of the row and stretching No. 12 wire at top and bot-
tom. The end posts were well braced and lighter
posts put in every eight or ten feet. Common grocers'
twine was woven from the top to the bottom wire and
the vines clung to this. After plowing, the garden
was top-dressed with stable manure and thoroughly
harrowed to mix and fine the soil and manure. Then
the clod crusher was used to smooth and level the sur-
face, after which it was marked off in rows as straight
as possible, two feet four inches apart. The Planet
Jr seed drill was used for sowing and planting every-
thing but corn and potatoes, which were dropped by
hand and covered with a common hoe.
The first planting was done May 4, when onion
sets, peas and beans were put in, followed the next
day by plantings of lettuce, radish, beets, carrots, kohl-
rabi, turnips, rutabaga, sage and potatoes. There were
also raised cucumbers, squash, sweet corn, celery,
tomatoes, peppers and cabbage. The illustration gives
a good idea of the way vegetables will grow if they
receive a little work at the right time.
Hozv to Raise the Most Possible from a garden
patch forty by fifty feet was the problem before W. P.
Gray, Westchester county, New York, a five-dollar
prize winner. He tried to solve it by planting some
very late second crops, but concludes that another year
he would plant nothing after August 1, and thinks late
planted peas and beans do not pay. He used two loads
of manure and two hundred pounds fertilizer. The
garden was cultivated with a wheel hoe. The yield
62 PRIZE GARDENING
was five bushels beets, twenty-five quarts peas, two
and one-fourth bushels beans, twenty quarts turnips,
twenty-two quarts carrots and two dollars and ten
cents worth of lettuce and parsley, the total value being
fifteen dollars and ninety-eight cents. The crop was
produced at a loss of about eight dollars, largely
because of labor with unsuccessful second crops. The
labor bill alone amounted to eleven dollars and twenty-
one cents.
About One-third of an Acre in eastern Massachu-
setts, entered by L. E. Burnham, won a five-dollar
Rawson special. The surplus produce was sold to
summer cottagers, amounting to one-half the total
value. Income, sixty-one dollars and sixty-nine cents ;
cost, forty-three dollars and forty-seven cents; profit,
eighteen dollars and twenty-two cents. This is his
first garden, and he thinks he could do better by deep
plowing and more liberal manuring. The garden was
planted in straight rows with a good assortment and
constant succession of standard vegetables. The value
of labor at fifteen cents per hour amounted to twelve
dollars and twenty cents for eighty-one and one-fourth
hours, a sum only two-thirds the receipts for surplus
products. There was about two weeks' work in May,
one in June, one in July, two in August and two in
September. Not beginning to plant until May I, and
doing practically all the cultivating with a wheel hoe,
the very important item of labor was much reduced.
It would seem that any farmer might well spare eight
days to be thus repaid, both in cash and in garden food.
CHAPTER V
THE HOME ACRE
A good garden is a source of pride, delight and
money profit to many a person whom circumstance or
inclination does not impel to make gardening a leading
specialty. In many cases only a small area is planted
and the produce all used on the home table. Others
have a surplus for sale or gift. Many of these home
gardens entered in the contest were remarkable for
careful methods and for admirable results.
High Grade Gardening. — A garden conspicuous
for the high grade of its products and a winner at the
country fairs was managed by L. E. Dimock of Con-
necticut, and the account received fifth prize. The
soil was sandy loam, southeastern slope, had been six
years in grass. Farm manure of various kinds was
freely used. Deep, thorough tillage, frequent cultiva-
tion and the use of mulch were features of the system
followed. Seeds were usually soaked before planting.
Mulch was often used. Following are some of Mr.
Dimock's gardening principles :
Select a plot of ground that has been down in grass
for a number of years, as weeds "are less troublesome
than in a piece that has been under cultivation. The
soil should be preferably a sandy loam. It should
have a gradual slope to the south that the sun's rays
may strike it more direct and also be sheltered in a
measure from the cool north winds. The first plow-
ing should be done in September of the year previous,
and to the greatest depth possible, as deep-tilled land
suffers much less from drouth. Stable manure spread
64 PRIZE GARDENING
broadcast at the rate of twelve cords per acre and
thoroughly worked into the soil to its full depth causes
the plants to send their roots deep down and thereby
gather moisture and nourishment in a dry time.
Deep cross plowing and harrowing after the
manure has been spread thoroughly mixes the manure
and soil and gives better results than manuring in the
hill and saves a great amount of labor. The rows
should run north and south if the lay of the land will
warrant it. Hills near together and rows wide apart
let in the sun's rays and give a better opportunity for
MR. AND MRS. DIMOCK
horse cultivation. Frequent cultivation makes the
crops grow fast and in a dry season is good irrigation.
Cultivating and hoeing in the early morning when the
dew is on is far preferable to doing it in the heat of
the day.
All the common vegetables were grown, and
receipts comprise numerous items, of which the largest
are forty dollars for cabbages, seventeen dollars for
melons and thirteen dollars for beets. Total income
from the quarter acre, one hundred and seventy-six
dollars and twenty-one cents, of which eighty-five dol-
THE HOME ACRE 65
lars and ten cents was profit. The aid of Mrs. Dimock
was evidently of great value in the care of the garden.
Their photographs are shown herewith. As Mr.
Dimock writes, both are " fifty-five years of age and
enjoy good health." The vegetables received much
favorable comment through the press and otherwise
wherever exhibited.
The land was in old sod and was plowed deeply,
harrowed and rolled, and then cross plowed, harrowed
and rolled twice before planting. Three cords of
stable manure were put on and worked in and some
hen manure and fertilizer were used in the drill for
some crops. The rows were made wide apart and the
hills near together to allow of horse cultivation and
the sun to get in among the plants. Twenty-one kinds
and thirty-four varieties of vegetables were grown,
largely for home use, but a considerable surplus was
sold. As Mr. Dimock is quite extensively engaged in
poultry raising he grew a large number of cabbage
and sold nearly twelve thousand young plants.
The methods employed in growing some of the
crops were quite out of the usual line, but gave very
satisfactory returns. Thus, in growing melons, the
earth was excavated to a depth of two feet and three
feet in diameter and the hole filled with rotted cow
and horse manure and a liberal supply of hen manure
mixed thoroughly with the soil. Ten seeds, after
being soaked for thirty-six hours, were planted in each
hill and covered two inches deep. A box two feet
square and twelve inches deep, with top and bottom
removed, was placed over each hill and left until the
vines were ready to run. This protected the plants
from chilling winds and they grew very fast. Two
vines only were allowed in each hill and two melons
to each vine, the rest being picked off and the ends of
the vines pricked after the melons had set. Twelve
i '-' * i;; ^ **'- : " ■ -7-*— --' -• * *'. \ ' "iS
j$lm^m^m^m^m\
■
ml, '^T'
-
V
Ht fe ■-
B ,*t ;■■"■• ' ■ a w>*
Q
W
o
En
P
<
W
Pi
W
P
<
o
u:
o
c
2
8
THE HOME ACRE 67
hills gave forty-eight melons which weighed from
thirty to forty pounds each.
In planting potatoes Mr. Dimock proceeded as
follows : May 23, opened two drills with plow six
inches deep and three feet apart. Hen manure spread
in the drill. Drills spaced off eighteen inches apart
and three pieces of potato with two eyes on a piece
were placed four inches apart around the center of
each mark, eyes up. In cutting the potatoes nothing
but large ones were used. The potato was first cut
crosswise near the center ; the eye end is used for cook-
ing and the root end is cut in pieces of two eyes each.
The potatoes are cut ten days before planting and
spread on a floor in a light place. This causes the
cut to dry or sear over and the sprout will slowly start.
This method gives strong and healthy stalks,
and such stalks are the ones that produce first-class
potatoes. Experimenting with the seed and the root
end, with the same treatment the row planted from
the root end produced one-fourth more potatoes and of
much larger size. A preparation called " Bug Death "
is far superior to paris green for the potato bug. One
application when the dew is on is enough for the sea-
son, as it adheres tenaciously to the vine. One-half
peck of potatoes planted as above yielded five hundred
and fifty-two pounds at harvest.
The garden was a highly profitable one in many
ways. Mr. Dimock made a large exhibit of vegetables
at his local fair and captured first prize. The prod-
ucts from this quarter acre, sold and consumed, were
valued at one hundred and forty-six dollars and
twenty-one cents, while the cost for labor, seed and
fertilizer to produce them was sixty-one dollars and
eleven cents, leaving the handsome profit of eighty-
five dollars and ten cents. The home of Mr. and Mrs.
Dimock is a typical Connecticut homestead. There is
THE HOME ACRE 69
a large commodious house with ell, a barn forty by
seventy feet, with eighteen- foot posts and a nine-foot
basement, and a poultry house twelve by one hundred
and forty feet, divided in ten-foot sections. Each pen
contains twenty fowls and the house, which has an
alley at the back, is built in a unique manner. The
farm contains one hundred acres and is pleasantly
situated.
The Garden of a Hustler. — Accounts of gardens
in the semi-arid parts of the prairie states show that
a good supply of vegetables can be produced without
irrigation, although the drawbacks are considerable.
One of the best gardens under such conditions is
described by A. T. Giauque, Nebraska, third regular
prize winner. His plot of less than one-seventh acre
gave him produce worth about forty-two dollars, from
which his expenses, excluding such items as photo-
graphs, etc., pertaining exclusively to the contest, left
him a profit of twenty dollars and fifty-four cents.
The illustration shows the garden and homestead with
Mr. and Mrs. Giauque on duty among the vegetables.
Their several assistants are seen in the carriage and
the doorway of the house. Besides the garden, the
Giauque family managed two hundred and seventy-
seven acres of farm crops, with the help of a hired man.
The fresh prairie soil was so rich that manure was
not wanted. The plot was enclosed with woven slat
fencing at a cost of twenty dollars. Soil was made
very fine with harrow and rake. Cultivation was
thorough and frequent, much of the work being done
with wheel hoes. This thorough and frequent culture
seems to be the main difference between Mr. Giauque's
garden and the numerous unsuccessful gardens of
the dry regions.
Writing June 1, 1901, Mr. Giauque says: I
mulched strawberries, parsnips, grapevines and shrub-
THE HOME ACRE 7 1
bery with rye straw last winter, and I now have a
rank crop of rye to contend with. Corn fodder or
prairie hay would be better.
I have learned that wire netting for a garden
fence is a delusion and a snare.
I am convinced that a person, if the department
of agriculture persists in flooding him with free seeds,
would better burn than to plant them.
Planted in Long Rows. — A large and productive
home garden was described by Miss Edith Holton,
Vermont. One acre of a newly set orchard was
dressed with five cords manure and six dollars worth
of fertilizer. The soil was excellent for a dry season,
being strong, heavy and inclined to wetness in spots.
The garden and trees were hoed five times and culti-
vated three or four times. Value of produce was one
hundred and twenty-six dollars and fifty-three cents,
of which the largest items were thirty-three dollars
for fifty-five bushels early potatoes and forty dollars
for one hundred bushels turnips. The account
received a five-dollar award. Writes Miss Holton:
I would especially recommend the system of
planting everything in long rows so that garden and
field products can be cultivated at one time. Plants
of various kinds can be set between the garden rows
at the last cultivation, so that no space is lost. I like
also the plan of planting squashes among early pota-
toes, although they are somewhat in the way when
digging potatoes. Striped bugs and squash bugs do
not trouble so much and they get along out of the
way of early frost.
A Small Farm Garden entered by Dora Dietrick,
Pennsylvania, received one of the regular five-dollar
prizes. Receipts were ninety-five dollars and seventy-
two cents. Cost, twenty-two dollars and twenty-five
cents. The seed bed was somewhat unusual for a
JT '.J V*. W*
w
5
o
Q
O
O
o
CO
W
&
<
o
THE HOME ACRE 73
farm, being intermediate between a hotbed and cold
frame. The ground inside was shoveled out and four
or five inches well-rotted barnyard manure put in and
covered with three inches of rich soil. Sash were put
on two days before planting, to warm the soil. Plants
of cabbage, tomato, lettuce, pepper, cauliflower and
cucumber were started in this bed. The work of this
garden was done by women and the produce sold by
them to customers on their butter route. Area of gar-
den was about one-fourth acre.
iufuXH ">ULiaZj Aa~.:£*.
tAf"4- n/jp~*> /h** zL, /j^iAT
'L/^nsiji-ff
w&;m\$% .
-wJvY*r.:-:L:;:** r
/veto/vs
SQt/AJH
| S/yf£r for* roe f \
ror/troff
A WELL-ARRANGED HOUSE-LOT
customary with me for several years to use barnyard
manure and fertilizers alternately, so in November,
1898, after clearing the garden, a good layer of manure
and an application of lime were plowed under.
" Every inch of ground is utilized. As soon as one
crop disappears another one makes its appearance and
80 PRIZE GARDENING
takes its place. This enables me to always have some-
thing new for the table and plenty of it." Water was
supplied for irrigation during dry weather, by rigging
up an old rotary pump and hose and connecting with
the cistern. Bordeaux mixture was used for spraying
tomatoes, beans and other plants to prevent rust and
blight, and a little paris green was added to it for pota-
toes. Freedom from cutworms was attributed to the
use of lime and plowing in the fall, as an adjoining
garden was badly troubled. A row of old bean vines
were left as bait for green worms, and cabbage plants
planted near by escaped. Squash vine borers were
removed with a knife by cutting open the vine, length-
wise, where they appeared. The vine was then care-
fully bandaged with a wet rag and a fair yield obtained.
The bordeaux-paris green mixture used on potatoes
proved fatal to egg plants, but hellebore proved quite
satisfactory for keeping off the potato bugs.
One hotbed, three by six feet, was used in which
to start the seeds of early vegetables. Plantings were
made in the open ground as soon as the weather per-
mitted and were continued at intervals throughout the
season whenever there was a vacant spot in the garden.
The following varieties of vegetables, mostly in five
and ten-cent packets, were planted : Pole and wax
beans, beets, borecole, kale, cabbage, carrots, cauli-
flower, celery, celeriac, corn, cucumber, corn salad,
endive, egg plant, kohl-rabi, lettuce, muskmelon, onions,
peppers, peas, salsify, radish, spinach, squash, tomato,
turnip, rutabagas, escarole, chives, shallot, parsley,
sweet and Irish potatoes and nearly a dozen different
kinds of sweet herbs.
The garden was planted as shown by the cuts.
In the larger garden tomatoes followed peas, turnips
the wax beans, early lettuce for fall use took the place
of Refugee beans. Corn salad succeeded lettuce. The
ON HIGH-PRICED LAND 8l
spinach was followed by cabbage, while turnips, beets,
carrots, celery and spinach gave a second crop in the
plot occupied by Gradus peas and Emperor William
beans. Winter radishes came after Telephone peas,
Paris Golden celery was planted in between the hills
of Stowell's Evergreen corn, and gave a good crop for
home use without blanching. The plot of early corn
was sown to turnips. The hotbed was used during
the late fall and winter to store some of the hardy
vegetables and the latter part of October there were
placed in it some endive, escarole, celeriac, and the
remaining space was filled up by transplanting leeks,
chives and parsley.
The value of the garden and the cost of the same
are shown in the following table :
INCOME
Products for home use $54-24
Products sold 65.75
Products given away 11.36
Plants sold 3.75
Plants given away 3.45
Total $138.55
EXPENSES
Plowing and harrowing $300
Manure 2.00
Seeds 10.00
Insecticides 1.20
Labor , 42.00
Total $58.70
Profit 79-85
Mr. Hauck, who is retired, is an agricultural col-
lege graduate and makes his garden his hobby. Owing
to the effects of a sunstroke he is unable to do any
work during the heat of the day and so works from
daylight until sunrise, and from sunset until dark. He
says : " The amount of pleasure and comfort I derive
^ i
\ kifjr
i. /• y
$> /:'
'■/
§
1* si
*
v*
i-
v*
$ '
J:
s
< .
•;/jM
■■""
;:
1
i
f
flO/?Jf //AM//
I
i err ace
^
t
w
Q
<
O
in
u
<
&fLLG
■^^^^?TF*
ON HIGH-PRICED LAND
83
from my early rising- 1 never experienced before. The
bracing and invigorating air soon proved very bene-
ficial to my condition and I recovered and gained
health and strength almost as fast as the crops grew
in the gar-Jen."
The First Prize Garden. — The winner of the first
of the regular prizes, submitting an account hard to
excel for clearness and discriminating completeness,
gained his success under the severe handicaps of
mSSk
^S^S^s^
^>>>l?jtffv. JM W^
i 1 1 \\
SOME JULY PRIZE VEGETABLES
broken health and the failure of important crops. Mr.
B. S. Higley, Mahoning county, Ohio, is sixty-two
years old, and disabled from practice as a lawyer by
disease contracted in the civil war. Although able to
perform but little work, he finds outdoor life good for
his health. His garden is city building land of high
valuation. The garden that year showed no profit;
expenses of about one hundred and twenty dollars
being offset by crops of practically the same value,
but the lack of cash gain was not due to any lack of
84 PRIZE GARDENING
skill, intelligence and system on the owner's part. His
methods with various crops are well worth noting:
Starting Seeds. — I get wooden boxes about one
foot square and three inches deep and bore holes in
the bottom of each for drainage. I place a handful of
small broken stones over each auger hole and then
nearly fill the boxes with potting soil. Potting soil is
prepared as follows : Every spring before filling my
hotbeds with manure I place in the bottom of the
smaller one layers of sods, grass side down, to the
depth of ten to twelve inches. Over this I put fresh
manure. In the fall I fork this over several times,
then sift and barrel the entire contents and store in a
dry place. This soil mixed with one-third sifted sand
constitutes what I call potting soil. I use it for pot-
ting bulbs or plants and for starting seeds that are
not sown in the open ground.
After filling the boxes nearly full with the potting
soil, I firm and level the soil with a block or brick, so
that the boxes are two-thirds full. Upon this I drop
seed thinly in rows, each kind in a box by itself, tack-
ing the seed envelope stating the name of the variety
upon the edge of the box. Then I gently sift fine pot-
ting soil over the seed, covering aster seed one-thirtv-
second of an inch. Then I firm the soil again lightly.
For watering I employ one of three methods, which-
ever may be most convenient at the time. The first
is to place the box in water not quite deep enough to
run over the seed box. There the box remains until
the soil is saturated up to the seed, when it is taken out
and water drained off. The second way, after the soil
is firmed, and before planting the seed, sprinkle over
dry soil and do not firm at all. The third way, after
the seed is sown and the soil firmed, place a coarse
cloth over the box and sprinkle with water until the
soil is moist. I fancy the second method the best,
ON HIGH-PRICED LAND
85
since the first is likely to render the soil too wet, and
the latter not wet enough. The seeds being planted
and watered, the boxes are covered with panes of glass
and put in my cold frame. I do it as a convenient way
to protect the seeds and plants from any belated frosts.
I never permit the soil to become dry, until the plants
appear. Then I remove the glass, keep the boxes
J-*fr~
-/37- frr
GARDEN ARRANGEMENT OF A CITY BACK YARD
clear of weeds, water regularly, and the plants grow
like weeds.
The foregoing directions apply to all seeds which
one may desire to start in boxes, especially where one
has no hotbed, the only change being the deepness
of planting. The larger the seeds, the deeper they
should be covered.
86 PRIZE GARDENING
Next year I propose to harrow with a homemade
clod breaker drawn by horses. The implement will
resemble a five by six-foot section of a roof, only the
shingles will be two by ten-inch plank spiked upon
two by four scantling. In use the lap side of the
shingles is drawn against the clods, the driver riding
on the breaker. For smoothing and leveling hitch the
team on the other end. This will be done in the fore-
noon, and I will put force enough on in the afternoon
to finish any raking necessary thereafter. With the
peculiar soil I have, this will make my garden as mel-
low as a wood-ash heap. My experience is that such
a condition of ground at the outstart means mellow,
light soil the whole season, provided the soil gets
prompt, regular and thorough cultivation thereafter.
My land if left for twenty-four hours after harrowing
is sure to be full of small lumps, which can only be
broken by pounding.
I have concluded to try using only artificial fer-
tilizers on my garden in the future. I have to buy all
my manures anyway. Such stable manure as I can
get is not well rotted, and is so rich in tin cans, broken
glass, crockery, and all manner of rubbish, all of which
I must bury or hire hauled to the city dump, and is
also impregnated with grass and weed seeds, that I
am out of patience with the use of such manure. If I
find that artificial fertilizers are insufficient of them-
selves I will supplement them with crimson clover sown
early in the fall and plowed under in the spring.
The owner is the best laborer on garden or farm,
or at least ought to be. Hired help lacks interest.
I plant cabbage, cauliflower, peppers, egg plant,
etc., in this way : With a slightly sharpened stick, an
old broom handle for instance, I punch a hole six or
eight inches deep. I insert the plant a trifle deeper
than I propose to set it, then carefully fill the hole with
ON HIGH-PRICED LAND 8j
fine dry soil to within an inch of the surface. Then I
very gently raise the plant one-half inch to adjust the
tiny roots in the soil. I fill the hole with water, then
complete the filling of the hole with the fine, dry soil,
and firm hard. I never lose a plant from wilting;
indeed, the growth is hardly checked. The secret of
transplanting is a generous application of water to
moisten the roots and compact the soil around them,
and then to cover this wet soil with dry to hinder
evaporation.
I transplant tomatoes in this way : With a garden
trowel I dig a trench an inch deep next the stake,
and sloping from two to two and one-half inches at the
end away from the stake ; trenches from six inches to a
foot or more long, according to the size of the plants.
I pinch off close to the stem all the leaves of the plant
except those at the extreme end, lay the plant in the
trench, top toward the stake, fill the trench half full of
dry soil and pour in a half gill of water. As soon as
this settles away, I fill the trench with dry soil and firm
with my foot. Only three or four inches of the plant
remains above the ground, the root and naked stem
being buried. I prefer this way of planting because
roots will shoot out all along the buried stem and thus
give more root surface for the future support of the
plant. I do not care for specially large, stocky plants.
The plants set out to-day were not over eight
inches long.
I prefer to transplant late in the afternoon in very
dry weather. Pour water into the trenches as
described and covering with dry soil prevents evapo-
ration of water applied to the roots. My plants never
wilt and I never lose any from transplanting. My
plants are taken directly from the hotbed and planted
where they are to grow. I never transplant but once.
I do not care for short, stocky plants ; long, spindling
88 fRIZE GARDENING
plants such as grow in a hotbed too thickly sown,
answer my plan of planting better than short, stocky
plants. No one succeeds better in all my circle of
acquaintances in growing tomatoes than I do.
I always trim tomatoes to one stalk and tie to
stakes. The trimming consists in pinching or cutting
off all branches. These branches start from the main
stalk directly above the leaves. The fruit stems or
branches start from the main stalk about midway
between the leaves, and of course should not be cut
off. Any shoots starting from the roots or near the
ground must be removed. Grow strictly to one stalk.
It is necessary to trim and tie four or five times during
the season. Plants may grow five or six feet tall.
When they reach the top of the stakes, cut off
the end of the main stalk and permit no higher growth.
By proper care in the work, tomato vines can be twined
around the stakes and tied so as to keep every fruit
stem and the fruit entirely away from the stakes. This
is the best culture for tomatoes. They grow larger,
ripen earlier and better than when grown in any other
way. For poles I buy refuse oak strips from the
planing mill, one by two inches, saw them in six-foot
lengths, sharpen one end and drive the stakes solidly
into the ground before planting the tomatoes. In the
fall I pull up the stakes and store them away for the
next season. Thus treated the stakes will last for
several years.
I am too lazy to work with any but sharp, bright
tools. I never permit anyone besides myself to use
any of my wheel hoe implements. As soon as any
one of these is no longer in use, that particular imple-
ment is taken to the storeroom, wiped clean with a
rag and put in its place. This is done although that very
same tool is to be taken out and returned several times
in the same day. The same rule is invariably followed
ON HIGH-PRICED LAND 89
as to the use and care of every garden tool I own.
They are never left lying about, never permitted to
get wet and are wiped off carefully after each using
of them.
As no hired help can be trusted in this respect,
I never fail at the close of each day to examine my
collection of tools, hunting up any that are missing
and cleaning such as need it. I cleaned all my wheel
hoe implements thoroughly, greased the bright parts
with bacon rind and stored away the whole in a dry
place for the winter. I shall pursue exactly the same
course with all my other garden tools as soon as I am
through using them for the season. As a result I shall
find everything in fine order for work the next spring.
It is easier and cheaper to keep tools in good order in
this way than it is to put them in order by hours of
hard work when the tools are needed.
To work with rusty, foul, dull tools nearly doubles
the labor, besides hindering the progress of the job in
hand. Besides, the tools last longer. I consider this
matter one of great importance not only to the gar-
dener, but to the farmer. With the average farmer
the proper housing and caring for all his farming and
harvesting implements, or leaving them to the mercy
of the elements the livelong year, in the long run
means a profit or loss in his farming operations. These
things cost too much to be allowed to rust and rot
through gross neglect. I am giving this lecture regard-
less of the objections of the implement manufacturers.
They, doubtless, will say if all follow my example their
trade would fall off. Of course it would ; but you and
I are not working for the manufacturers, unless we
neglect our tools, in which case we serve them for
nothing and board ourselves as well.
CHAPTER VII
SUCCESS IN TOWN OR CITY
One of the most profitable small gardens was at
Darlington, Maryland, where a little patch of about
one-third of an acre yielded Alfred P. Edge produce
worth two hundred and seventy-one dollars and thirty-
nine cents at a cost of forty-five dollars and sixteen
cents, and secured him the second Allen prize, fifty
dollars in gold.
The summary of this wonderful little garden is
worth itemizing: Labor cost twenty-nine dollars and
thirty-eight cents ; manure, four dollars ; seeds, three
dollars and ninety cents ; rent of land and of tools,
seven dollars and eighty-eight cents ; total cost, forty-
five dollars and sixteen cents. The manure was mostly
that of sheep and obtained at one dollar per load.
Manuring was evidently not extreme and the value of
the crops seems owing to good management in various
directions, as will appear in the extracts following,
taken from Mr. Edge's very readable account. His
notes on garden irrigation, with illustrations, appear
in the chapter on that subject:
I always have piles of old leaves, weeds, chaff,
in fact anything I can find of this sort. I follow the
plow and fork this material into the furrow and when
the plow comes around again it is covered. This plan
followed up will change the worst clay soil into just
what is wanted.
Instead of permanent hotbeds, I dig a hole in the
most convenient place in my garden, fill it with manure
and pack it down, then set my box without any
SUCCESS IN TOWN OR CITY
91
bottom on the manure, put on some fine soil, bank up
the earth around the outside, put on the sash, and my
hotbed is ready. When I am through with it I take
up my box and sash and put them under cover until
next year. I have four such boxes about four feet
CELERY BOARDED READY FOR BLEACHING
square in which I start eg-g plant, lettuce, tomatoes,
cabbage, etc. In the center of one box I usually sow
a hill of cucumbers and when the glass and box are
no longer needed I take them away and my cucumbers
92
PRIZE GARDENING
cover the ground around and bear nearly all summer.
One great advantage of this bed is, when my plants
grow tall enough to touch the glass I simply raise the
box higher and bank up more earth outside.
When we lived in the city and wanted anything
for our next meal we left an order at the store and
there the matter ended. Here we must plan far ahead
GRAPEVINE WITH BAGS ON FRUIT
or go without. The garden is planned bearing in
mind the fact that there are in each year one thousand
and ninety-five meals to be provided for.
After tea I put bags on sixty bunches of grapes.
My custom has been for several years to bag most of
my grapes. I do not suppose it would pay to do it for
SUCCESS IN TOWN OR CITY
93
market, but it certainly does pay for home use, where
you want the best you can get. Bagged bunches are
much finer, as anyone can easily prove by taking two
bunches side by side, one bagged, the other not. The
bagged bunch will ripen more evenly, have more bloom
and be better every way, excepting it may possibly be
a few days later in ripening, neither do the birds and
wasps disturb it. Thin-skinned varieties like the Con-
TYPICAL LANDSCAPE OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY
cord are very much better. Anyone who tries bag-
ging I am sure will never give it up. I buy at the
store two-pound bags such as grocers use; these bags
last me two years and only cost a few cents per hun-
dred. A paper of pins are also required. One year
I tied the tops of the bags, but that takes too long. I
simply slip the bag over the bunch, make a double fold
94 PRIZE GARDENING
of the top, stick a pin through and there the bag
remains until the grapes are ripe. I intended to make
some muslin bags this year, but did not get it done in
time. The grapes should be bagged when they are
about the size of small shot, but later will do. The
larger they are the more trouble it is to bag them.
I never bank up my celery ; late in the season I
prop twelve-inch boards outside the whole bed. My
bed is one mass of plants, and if the ground is rich
and they are given enough water the celery is fine ;
but these two things are absolutely necessary. Whfci
freezing weather comes I dig up my plants, leaving
some earth around the roots, and take them to my
cellar, where I have a room closed off from the rest
of the cellar with a window opening under the porch.
This window I open or close, according to the weather,
and being under the porch it does not let in much light.
The plants I stand upon the floor and cover the roots
with about three inches of sand. The sand is kept in
place by pieces of scantling placed on the floor. I
make the beds about one and one-half feet wide with
a passageway between each bed. This sand I always
keep moist. It is important to moisten only the roots,
if water is poured on the stalks and leaves they will
rot. I have a pipe with a wide opening at the top like
a funnel, this I push down to the roots and pour water
through it. My celery is accessible all winter, in the
worst of weather, and it keeps on growing; of course
the room is dark and it bleaches nicely. I avoid all
heavy work of trucking and banking up, and raise
more than twice as much celery on the same ground,
so of course can afford to make the ground very rich.
I have trouble making my lima beans climbs up the
poles. One of my neighbors tells me I planted in the
wrong sign of the moon. All I can say is, I will get
them up the pole in spite of all the moons discovered
SUCCESS IN TOWN OR CITY 95
and undiscovered. Query? How do they ever get
beans planted on the planet Jupiter where there are so
many moons?
Most birds should be made welcome by every
gardener, especially the house wren. I have boxes
and cans up all around my garden and generally they
are all filled. The amount of insects these little fellows
destroy cannot be counted. A very simple way to pre-
vent the English sparrow from getting possession of
the box is to suspend the box by a short chain of about
two links so it will swing a little. If the box moves
an English sparrow will not light on it, not so the
wrens. Our bluebirds, thanks to the sparrows, are a
thing of the past.
One of the Best Suburban Gardens was that of
Frank J. Bell of New Jersey, whose report won the
third prize of fifty dollars. His report was beautifully
illustrated and a marvel of neatness and accuracy of
all the details incident to the work of planting and
harvesting the crops, etc. Brief excerpts from it, and
the accompanying diagram, will show that the space
was well utilized and that the methods employed were
such as to give the greatest returns for labor expended.
Like hundreds of city workers, Mr. Bell has a small
place which is sufficient to supply his family with an
abundance of fruit and vegetables. Mr. Bell writes
interestingly of his garden venture :
My business keeps me occupied at a desk in a
nearby city and away from home from eight until five,
so that most of my work was done of necessity between
four and seven in the morning. The plowing, spading
and some of the rougher work I have hired done,
but nearly all other work has been my personal labor,
which has given me great pleasure and satisfaction
and been of great benefit to my general health. It is
not new employment for me, for fifty years ago I
o
Oh
w
c
<
SUCCESS IN TOWN OR CITY CjJ
milked two cows and worked in my mother's garden.
My present garden was a neglected spot six years ago,
with only a few old apple and cherry trees scattered
here and there. The soil is a rich loam, with a gravelly
subsoil. The shape of the lot, containing something
over two acres, is shown in the sketch, while the garden
proper, which is L-shaped, contains thirty-two thou-
sand four hundred square feet. The pasture lot is
fenced with a woven wire picket fence four feet high,
placed on top of ten-inch boards, above which are two
strands of barbed wire. A heavy woven wire fence
separates the garden from the pasture and extends
around the eastern side of the barn to the pigeon cote.
In the passageway between the fences is a gate hung
fourteen inches from the ground, which allows the
poultry free range of the pasture lot. All the pea and
bean vines, the turnip and beet tops, cornstalks and
cabbage leaves and the various green trimmings are
consumed by the little Jersey cow. The poultry also
come in as scavengers and give valuable returns.
A pit for storing vegetables is a rectangular hole
in the ground, four feet wide, five and one-half feet
long and three feet deep. It is lined with rough
boards to keep the earth from falling in, and has a
covering also of rough straw to protect from frosts.
This pit is easy of access at all times during winter,
and celery and other vegetables stored in it keep
perfectly.
For Poisons and Fertilisers I have an oil barrel
with one head out, which I keep in a convenient place
and fill with water and cow droppings to make liquid
manure for flowers and vegetables. I also have a half
barrel in which is kept dissolved blue vitriol in the
proportion of five pounds to fifty gallons of water. In
a keg I keep slaked lime. A mixture of these two I
spray on grapevines, rose bushes, etc. White hellebore
98 PRIZE GARDENING
is used as seems most convenient. It is mixed with
ten parts of air-slaked lime and shaken on the plants
with a tin box with holes punched in the lid, or used
in water, a tablespoonful to two gallons, and sprinkled
on with a watering can. A knapsack sprayer has
entirely superseded the old hand and foot pump
sprayer.
Corn and lima beans are planted in a cold frame
as follows : Fruit cans are thrown on a bonrire until
the ends are melted out, when they are tied together
with twine. About four inches of earth is removed
from the cold frame, small pieces of board are laid in
the bottom, and the cans put on them close together.
The earth is then put back in, filling the cans and inter-
stices. Three seeds of corn and two of beans are
planted in each can. When danger of frost is past,
the plants are removed to the garden. A small hole is
dug, the twine cut, the can removed and the earth
drawn up to the plant. I frequently gain two or three
weeks' growth in this way.
Hoiv the Work Was Done. — The following ex-
cerpts from the daily register will show that the
methods learned in a business training were followed
in the garden: March 8, ordered seeds of Burpee &
Co. to the value of three dollars and fifty cents, mostly
in packets, ounce, pint and quart packages. March
13, the seeds arrived by mail; checked them off with
order and put away in seed box, which is an old tin
cracker box, mouse proof. March 20, set two barrels
with both heads out over rhubarb plants in the row,
banked manure around them and threw some old bags
over the tops to get a few extra early shoots. April
1, with a whitewash brush Lyman smeared all the
grapevines from the ground to the outer ends of the
stems with the blue vitriol solution with enough lime
in it to show quite white ; he also did the trunks of the
SUCCESS IN TOWN OR CITY
99
young trees, clearing away the soil slightly and extend-
ing up beyond the first crotch. April 10, planted three
dozen hills each of corn and lima beans in the cold
frame ; set out one quart white onion sets, sticking a
parsnip seed or two in each. April 26, hoed cabbage ;
found worms working on it and sprinkled them with a
little lime water in which was mixed a solution of blue
vitriol and a tablespoonful of carbolic acid to the gal-
lon. May 1, sowed one ounce rape seed under the
RESIDENCE OF F. J. BELL
apple tree where nothing else would grow. July 4,
picked seven quarts of large gooseberries of the fol-
lowing varieties from young bushes just beginning to
bear: Chautauqua, Oregon, Jumbo, Clayton, Red
jacket and Industry. October 17, Lyman and helper
gathered leaves and placed them along berry rows and
in the stable for bedding.
The expenses of this garden were forty-four dol-
lars and fifty-seven cents. This was all for labor
except three dollars and fifty cents for seeds and one
dollar and twenty-five cents for a barrel of lime.
L.ofC.
100 PRIZE GARDENING
Nearly all the products were consumed in the family
and stored for winter use.
From a Quarter Acre Garden on town lots in
Griggsville, Illinois, L. J. Eastman, winner of a five-
dollar regular prize, secured products worth fifty-four
dollars and ninety cents at a cash outlay of one dollar
and ninety-five cents for manure, two dollars and
seventy-six cents for seed and eight dollars and twenty-
three cents for work. Profit, forty-one dollars and
ninety-six cents. In addition he personally performed
five dollars and fifty-three cents worth of labor, which
he thinks was offset by the pleasure and health received.
This town garden, says Mr. Eastman, has furnished
the family, numbering from ten to two, with all the
fruit and vegetables required, except potatoes, in a bad
potato year, and of late years has placed considerable
produce on the local market. The time devoted to the
garden was one hundred and twelve hours man's w r ork
and nine hours boys' work.
A Productive Little Suburban Garden of two-
fifths of an acre was entered by A. W. Dickson, Massa-
chusetts, receiving a Rawson five-dollar prize. Soil
was good loam and was enriched with three cords of
stable manure and two hundred pounds fertilizer.
Celery, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes and peppers
were started in a cold frame. Space being valuable
it was saved whenever possible, following early crops
with cabbage, celery, turnips, winter spinach. Cab-
bages were set as late as August 12, but were much
inferior to those set in July. Some celery plants were
set a foot apart each way, but the extra labor of the
method more than offset the saving in space. Receipts
from this garden were sixty-three dollars and ninety-
five cents. Cost, not including labor of owner, thirty-
six dollars and seventy-five cents.
SUCCESS IN TOWN OR CITY
IOI
A City Garden Patch, two-thirds of an acre in a
Massachusetts city, was planted to one-half acre
onions and the rest turnips, celery, tomatoes, beets,
spinach, lettuce, etc., the produce being sold to con-
sumers. Manure was hauled from the city and some
fertilizer was used. Tools and team were valued at
two hundred and twenty dollars and land at one hun-
dred dollars. Mr. G. E. Belden, who was awarded a
RESIDENCE OF R. L. PORTER
Rawson five-dollar prize, estimates that the garden
patch paid fifteen cents per hour for labor of owner,
and a clear profit besides of one hundred and thirty-
seven dollars and eighty-three cents. Onion weeders
were paid fifty cents per day. Onions sold at forty
cents per bushel.
Fighting Borers and Witch Grass. — Located in a
fertile valley of western Massachusetts and employed
most of the time in an office, R. L. Porter found oppor-
102 PRIZE GARDENING
tunity to manage a prize garden and to make a suc-
cessful and instructive fight against well-known gar-
den foes. The illustration shows Mr. Porter's resi-
dence and the family which provided him an excellent
home market for much of his produce. The extracts
describe his early garden work and his method with
squashes and strawberries :
The first work done for the garden commences in
February as soon as seed catalogs arrive. I make a
rough plan where crops are to be grown, amount of
seed and fertilizer wanted and place orders for all
plants, trees and seeds. Nothing more is done until
the last week in March, when the hotbed is started.
I have a small one by myself. It is three by four feet,
two feet deep. Bought one-eighth cord horse manure
for generating the heat, making the depth of manure
one and one-half feet. Over this I placed four inches
soil that had been taken up with celery the fall before,
making soil fine and allowing to heat under cover of
the glass for a few days. When soil had got well
warmed I moistened it with lukewarm water, planted
radishes, lettuce, celery and covered with one-half inch
of sand, firming with a smooth board.
For Winter Squashes, I took the worst piece of
witch grass that the meadow possesses, marked out for
hills six feet each way by throwing out a forkful of
earth. The fertilizer was then put in, two parts of
wood ashes to one of bone meal, one quart to each hill.
Then I took a fork, mixing the fertilizer with the soil,
shaking out all the witch grass, smoothed over the hill,
dropped the seed and covered about an inch deep, then
pressed well with the hoe. The first leaf that showed
was given a sprinkling of paris green to kill the black
and yellow striped bug. I keep the cultivator, both
horse and Wheel hoe, going until the vines get to run-
ning and then they will keep the witch grass down.
CHAPTER VIII
FERTILIZER GARDENS
Offers of special prizes for gardens enriched with
commercial fertilizers led to their extensive use, espe-
cially by contestants in the eastern states. The season
being a very dry one was for that reason unfavorable to
chemical manures, since it is claimed that manure of
animals improves the drouth-resisting power of the
soil. The accounts showing best results from fer-
tilizers usually described gardens with soil full of
vegetable fiber ; very often it was fresh plowed sod
land, and the results give the impression that chemi-
cal fertilizers are most profitably used on light, loose,
rather moist soils that have been recently in sod.
In many gardens, fertilizer was lavishly used, one
of the offers requiring the application at the rate of
two tons per acre. The results often showed that the
quantity and quality of the crop justified such an out-
lay at the start, while in other cases it failed to pay.
From the representative accounts following may be
judged something of the various conditions and results
in the fertilized gardens :
The First Prise for fertilizer gardens was awarded
to E. R. Flagg, Worcester county, Massachusetts. This
garden was fresh-turned grass sod, a gravelly, yellow-
ish loam worth fifty dollars per acre. The plot con-
tained one thousand square feet. It received one hun-
dred and fifty pounds high grade fertilizer, besides
twenty- two pounds of lime to correct the sourness of
the soil. The garden was plowed deeply' May 5, and
the turned sod well worked with a horse cultivator
104
PRIZE GARDENING
four times ovtr, making a mellow surface three inches
deep without pulling up much of the sod. A smooth-
ing harrow finished the job.
Seed was planted deep on account of the dry sea-
son, and fertilizer applied in the drill and stirred in
with a small tree brush. Some of the garden was very
closely planted, early radish and spinach, for instance,
being planted between rows of potatoes. The between
crops were done about the middle of June. The pota-
H |
EDWARD R. FLAGG
toes were followed by peas and beans sown the last
part of July, but these did not thrive. Mr. Flagg
thinks very close planling not desirable on a dry year.
The drouth seemed more serious on the sod land than
upon old ground.
Cultivating the Garden. — May 30, used the garden
drill fitted with cultivator teeth or hoes through the
garden wherever crops were sufficiently above ground
to make it possible, considering the very close planting.
Nearly all the ground was stirred excepting a little
FERTILIZER GARDENS 105
close to the carrots, and narrow strips where the hills
of corn, pole beans and melons were planted.
Cultivated the garden June 3, working as close as
possible to the plants — potatoes, peas, beans, corn, tur-
nips and beets are well up so that cultivating is easily
done. Lack of suitable showers and ground getting
very dry. Thinned the turnips June 6, using those
removed for greens. Carefully stirred the earth
directly over the melon and squash seeds. They ger-
minate slowly on account of the dry weather. Placed
some low, small pea brush along the row of Extra
Early peas June 9. Put some water on the melon hills
to hasten germination and thinned the turnips still
more. Removed the last of the radishes June 19 and
perhaps a half dozen very dwarf spinach plants from
between the rows of potatoes. Spinach a complete
failure, owing doubtless to soil acidity, as no lime was
put on this part of the garden. Some of the radishes
were wormy and useless. Applied " Bug Death " to
the potato vines to kill potato beetles. Scattered fer-
tilizer between the rows of potatoes and worked it into
the soil thoroughly with the drill plow. Substituted
the hoes for the plow and worked out all the other
crops, removing all weeds from among the plants.
Made a second application July 4 of " Bug
Death " to the potato vines. July 14, thinned the
beets for greens. Dry weather has caused the beets
to grow very slowly. July 15, pulled up all pea vines
and stirred the earth about the melons and tomato
plants. July 18, used the wheel hoe to cultivate all
the garden wherever possible to get between the plants.
Pulled up the turnips for pig feed, as they are getting
wormy. July 24, dug the potatoes, fertilized the
ground and on the following day planted peas, beans
and turnips. August 2, used cultivator to stir the
earth between the rows of peas and beans on the potato
106 PRIZE GARDENING
ground. August 4, pulled out the row of bush beans,
which had ceased bearing, to give the bush limas more
room. August 16, cut up the first planting of corn,
using the fodder for the cows. August 19, stuck some
of the pea brush used earlier in the season along
the rows of Extra Early peas on the potato ground.
Used the cultivator between the rows of peas, beans
and turnips. September 25, cut up the last planting
of sweet corn. Had a very large barrow load of fodder
for the cows.
Spinach was sown with the radish seed be-
tween the rows of potatoes on the unlimed portion
of the garden as a sort of vegetable test for acidity in
the soil, and its utter failure to grow corroborated the
litmus paper test previously made. It was the inten-
tion to sow spinach for fall use on the limed portion of
the garden, but again the crowded condition of the
crops gave no opportunity for such sowing. Upon
that portion of the garden it would, without doubt,
have given a good crop.
In this locality of early fall frosts, that most deli-
cious of all green beans, the lima, is rarely grown. It
gave very moderate results in our garden, because
somewhat crowded and shaded by the rows of Potter's
Excelsior corn. The Dwarf lima is worthy of trial and
care in every garden. Planted as other beans are ordi-
narily planted, the lima has difficulty in getting its huge
bulk out of the soil in the process of germination. Care
in planting is therefore necessary. Fertilize well.
Ridge the drill a little above the level of the soil to
throw off surplus water and plant edgewise, eye down,
not too deep in the soil. The garden culture of this
bean should be encouraged.
Another vegetable quite unknown is the kohl-rabi,
a plant of the earliest culture, without enemies or dis-
eases, quick growing and as palatable as the turnip;
FERTILIZER GARDENS IO?
more acceptable to some. It should find a place in
every garden. Cultivate in every way like cabbage,
except that the plants may be set out twelve inches
apart in the drill. Cut for use when the bulb is about
three inches in diameter, tender and not " woody,"
cook and prepare for the table like turnip or with
cream like cauliflower.
The sweet corn was planted in single rows the
length of the. garden, and under those circumstances
the fertilization of the ears was less perfect than usual.
Sweet corn evidently requires considerable cross-
fertilization between individual plants, hence planting
a given number of hills in a compact mass is doubtless
much better practice than putting an equal number of
hills in a long single row.
The peas planted July 25 produced only one pick-
ing of nine quarts, and the vines were badly covered
with mildew. The beans planted at the same time
gave nothing, as they were killed by the frost of Sep-
tember 14-16 when the first bean pods were about one
inch in length. Neither could be called a success-
ful crop.
In planting potatoes, fertilizer was first broad-
casted over the plot and worked into the soil, the small
stones being raked out before plowing. The furrows
were made with the garden drill with plow attach-
ment, the first one on the east side, nine inches from
the boundary line running north and south. Six
others were made parallel with the first and eighteen
inches apart. Extra Early potatoes had been exposed
to the light in a single layer in a moderately warm
room since March 30 and had developed buds about
one-half inch in length. The tubers were carefully
cut into one and two-eye pieces and immediately placed
in the bottom of the furrows, the sets being twelve
inches apart. Five pounds of potatoes planted the
108 PRIZE GARDENING
space. A little soil was placed over each set and the
furrows dusted with potato fertilizer. The covering
was quickly and neatly done with the garden plow.
The spaces between the potato drills were dusted with
fertilizer, and after working it into the soil a row of
Victoria Spanish and Burpee's Earliest radish seeds,
mixed, was sown with the seed drill in each space.
This planting was done May 5, following a heavy frost
the previous morning.
Seeds for this garden cost three dollars and twen-
ty-seven cents ; all supplies, five dollars and forty-six
cents ; labor, three dollars and six cents ; receipts were
twenty dollars, and profits seven dollars and eighty-
nine cents.
Gracing Premium Products. — Prize vegetables
were abundant on the quarter-acre garden cultivated
by W. H. Pillow, New York, winner of the second
Bowker special prize. His account includes a long
list of awards at the state fair and several county fairs,
besides special prizes offered by seedsmen. His aggre-
gate winnings were fifty-five dollars and seventy-five
cents, and amounted to over one-half of the whole
income, which was ninety-five dollars and seventeen
cents. Expenses were seventy-nine dollars and eigh-
teen cents, expenses of growing and exhibiting the
product being heavy. A good share of his success
appears to have been due to starting his vegetables
under glass, as elsewhere described. Writes Mr.
Pillow :
For sowing by hand I use the hand marker and
make drills sixteen inches apart. In every other row
I put beets, mangels and such things as stand all
summer and require room, while the intervening rows
were used for radishes, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, all
of which are out of the way by the time the permanent
crop requires the room- After sowing such seed as is
FERTILIZER GARDENS
109
sowed by hand I cover by brushing, lengthwise and
lightly, over the drill with the back of the hoe. This
covers the seed and presses the ground about it similar
to the action of a roller. With practice one can do
this as fast as one can walk. I use stakes for marking
divisions between the different kinds of seeds, made
ON CULTURE AND CHEMICALS
from sections of plastering laths a foot long and
marked with a number. A record of these is kept in
a book that I carry in my pocket, so that I can tell at
any time from the number on the stake what kind of
seed was planted.
Pricked outdoors May 5 from hotbed, cabbage
and lettuce plants that were between rows of beets to
110 PRIZE GARDENING
stand until large enough to transplant where they are
to mature, the lettuce to make heads for use. The
lettuce was placed six inches apart in the row, the
cabbage two inches apart. I used a pointed wooden
drill and transplanted as heretofore described.
A Prime Garden on Chemicals. — By pinning his
faith to commercial fertilizer in lavish quantity, E. N.
Foote of Massachusetts secured a good garden, not-
withstanding the drouth. The profit was one hundred
and twenty-seven per cent on cost, and his concise
account secured him the third special prize.
This was strictly a fertilizer garden, not a spoon-
ful of manure having been used on the land for the
past ten years, during which time the piece was in sod
until the year preceding the garden, when onions had
been grown there on fertilizer. The' area was about
one-sixth of an acre and the soil the porous, sandy
loam of the Connecticut river valley. It was plowed
and harrowed in fall and again in spring, followed by
rolling. Declares Mr. Foote : " My experience has
been that no labor pays better for a seed crop than to
thoroughly firm the ground, filling all the air spaces
and preventing the rapid evaporation of soil water."
High grade fertilizer was applied broadcast at rate
of two tons per acre and harrowed in. Cultivation of
the garden was thorough and frequent, a wheel hoe
being used. Of the seventeen vegetables grown, four-
teen showed a profit and three a small loss. The best
showing was with winter squash, which on one thou-
sand eight hundred and twenty square feet produced
sixteen dollars and eighty-four cents worth, at a cost
of four dollars and sixty-one cents. Small areas of
radishes, cabbages, beets, lettuce, cucumbers and toma-
toes proved very profitable. Sweet corn, although sold
at good prices, fifteen to twenty-five cents per dozen,
FERTILIZER GARDENS III
netted a loss of a few cents, the fertilizer alone costing
three-fifths of the crop returns. Pole beans also made
a bad showing, owing in part to cost of poles, setting
them and tying the vines. Onions were the third finan-
cial failure, owing to low prices for crop and amount
of labor required.
The garden gospel, according to Mr. Foote, may
be summed up in these four rules or requirements :
A plot of land free from all shade of trees or
buildings.
Good garden fertilizer applied at the rate of not
less than two tons to the acre.
The very best seed the market produces, regard-
less of cost.
Thorough cultivation from early spring until fall.
Drainage and Fertilizer. — A farm garden made
fit by deep drainage and dressed with commercial fer-
tilizer was entered by A. C. Abrams, Albany county,
New York, and received fourth prize. Soil was moist
clay loam. The plot contained about one-third acre,
and is enclosed with pickets painted with coal tar ; a
fencing which has lasted fifty years or more. Too
much moisture came in from a small lake on a higher
level, but by a drain twenty-five rods long with a rise
of one-half inch per thirteen feet the surplus water was
removed. This drain was finally extended to the lake,
draining away its contents and greatly improving the
adjoining land. The garden was fertilized at rate of
two tons per acre, but the dry season prevented the
full effect.
About one-third of the fertilizer was sown broad-
cast before plowing. The ground was then plowed
nicely about eight inches deep, then about one-third
more fertilizer sown broadcast and the ground thor-
oughly cultivated. The balance of the fertilizer was
112 PRIZE GARDENING
saved for use in hills and second crop, but it was soon
found the soil had quite as much fertilizer as the seed
and plants would bear, so Mr. Abrams used the balance
largely between the rows.
Labor was charged at twelve cents per hour by
hand and thirty cents by horse. Fertilizer cost four-
teen dollars and thirty-five cents and seeds three dol-
lars and three cents. Among the crops were lettuce,
radish, peas, tomatoes, cabbage, celery, cucumbers,
beets, beans, turnips, corn. The location proved excel-
lent for celery, yielding one thousand one hundred and
twenty plants, worth sixteen dollars and eighty cents.
Total receipts were seventy-four dollars and forty
cents ; cost, forty dollars and seventy-nine cents ; profit,
thirty-three dollars and sixty-one cents.
Feeding the Soil. — By using fertilizer at the rate
of two tons to the acre, R. E. Bartlett, New Hamp-
shire (Bowker five-dollar prize), managed to make
a tolerably good garden from a plot which had been
used as a yard for colts and in cleaning which all the
surface soil had been removed. The owner says : " The
land seemed dead and did not do so well as much other
land that I tilled." The fertilizer was mostly sowed
and then raked in. The plot contained only one thou-
sand three hundred square feet, valued at two dol-
lars. It produced a great variety of vegetables for
home use, worth ten dollars and fifty-seven cents, at
a cost of six dollars and twenty-nine cents. Profit,
four dollars and twenty-eight cents. Much of the fer-
tilizer would remain for the following year unless the
texture of the denuded soil being little better than sand
should allow leaching. A cover crop of rye plowed
under in the spring would help save the fertility and
tend to restore the soil.
A Fine Profit from one thousand square feet is
shown by S. L. Parker, Massachusetts. He cleared
FERTILIZER GARDENS 113
thirty dollars and fifty-four cents, of which nearly
twenty dollars was for premiums at fairs. For vege-
tables used in the family he charged four dollars and
forty-five cents and sold four dollars and twenty-two
cents worth, besides giving away two dollars and three
cents worth and having five dollars and twenty-six
FARM AND GARDEN OF J. G. LYMAN
cents worth on hand. Labor cost two dollars and
fifty-seven cents, seeds fifty-one cents, fertilizer one
dollar and twenty-five cents. The plan of laying all
crops in long straight rows evidently saved expense
in labor, and the wheel hoe was a great help in the same
direction. By planting for a late garden, Mr. Parker
succeeded in avoiding the drouth which proved so
114 PRIZE GARDENING
injurious to early vegetables. A gorgeous row of nas-
turtiums added to the garden's attractiveness. The
account well deserved the five-dollar prize awarded.
Quarter-acre Garden of Jere O'Keefe, Massachu-
setts, was fresh turned sod from a run-out mowing
field which had not been manured for ten years. Fer-
tilizer was sown broadcast and harrowed in at the rate
of two tons per acre, and nineteen kinds of seed were
planted. Beans, cucumbers, beets and potatoes did
well ; melons, carrots and onions failed. Other sorts
did fairly well. Income, forty-three dollars and fifty-
three cents ; cost, thirty-one dollars and seventy cents ;
profit, eleven dollars and eighty-three cents.
A Net Profit of Ninety-two Dollars and Forty-
three Cents is recorded from a little more than an acre
and three-quarters, by J. G. Lyman, Connecticut,
besides an amount nearly as large charged off for labor.
The account won a Rawson five-dollar prize. The
land was good loam, second year from sod, and was
given fertilizer at the rate of one thousand five hundred
pounds per acre at a cost of forty-two dollars and fif-
teen cents. Income was two hundred and sixty-three
dollars and fifteen cents. The produce came early and
brought good prices, but Mr. Lyman thinks his greatest
mistake was in not starting work early enough in
the spring.
A Very Highly Fertilized One-third Acre was de-
scribed by Bert A. Hall, Massachusetts. The plot re-
ceived one thousand five hundred pounds high grade
fertilizer, twenty bushels ashes and one and one-half
cords manure. The soil was rather thin and dry. Results
were disappointing, as the proceeds, sixty-four dollars
and forty-nine cents, were exceeded by the cost,
seventy-three dollars and ninety-six cents, by a loss of
nine dollars and forty-seven cents. The charge for
wear and tear of tools was, however, too great (thirteen
FERTILIZER GARDENS
115
dollars and thirteen cents) for the area in which they
were used, and it might fairly be said that the account
came out nearly even. The experience tends to show
that old, thin soil and a dry season combine unfavor-
able conditions for lavish use of fertilizer. The account
won a Rawson five-dollar prize.
A Good Family Garden of one thousand one hun-
dred and seventy-five square feet is reported by J.
Stark, Connecticut. With five hundred pounds fertilizer
MRS. w. D. GOSS
broadcast and harrowed in he raised crops worth forty-
three dollars and eighty-six cents at a cost of thirty
dollars and twenty-eight cents, leaving thirteen dollars
and fifty-eight cents profit.
Fertilizer at the rate of two tons to the acre made
an excellent little garden of two thousand square feet
of sod land owned by Mrs. W. D. Goss, Vermont.
Half the fertilizer was applied broadcast and the rest
in hill or drill. Fertilizer cost three dollars and fifty
Il6 PRIZE GARDENING
cents ; labor, six dollars and forty-five cents ; seeds,
two dollars. The vegetables were valued at twenty-
eight dollars and twenty-two cents ; leaving sixteen
dollars and twenty-seven cents profit. Potatoes,
squashes and cabbages were the largest items, and these
vegetables seem to thrive in most of the fertilizer gar-
dens on new land. The garden account received a
five-dollar Bowker prize.
CHAPTER IX
PRIZE GARDENING FOR WOMEN
Of the fortunate one hundred securing a prize, no
fewer than twenty-seven were women. Some of these
merely prepared the account, the actual gardening
having been done by male relatives, and such accounts
were nearly always attractive and complete. Other
women contestants did more or less of the work of the
garden. A few of them did everything, even to the
spading and carting of manure. Some of the best
gardens were planned, worked and managed by women.
In most cases the gardeners of the fair sex made
a reasonable cash profit, but it is a noteworthy fact
that nearly every one of them mentions increase of
health and pleasure as a leading advantage from the
experiment. Women living on farms do not stay in
the open air and sunlight so much as might be sup-
posed, and some of them note with evident surprise
the benefit obtained from a daily bit of outdoor work.
Light gardening seems to be the one form of useful
exercise that can be depended on for good results
for women.
One woman of seventy years took up the work
largely on account of her health and says the outdoor
exercise helped her more than all the doctors in the
land. Another says : " I have derived considerable
pleasure from my garden, a good deal of experience
and a little money. Of course I have made many mis-
takes, which another year I hope to avoid."
The absurdity of the attempt to dose and drug a
sickly body to permanent health has been recently
Il8 PRIZE GARDENING
declared with emphasis by certain lights of the medical
profession. Still worse to depend on the crude theo-
ries and medicated tipples of the advertising quacks.
Pushing a garden plow is better than pills, and plant-
ing the seeds a better tonic than any patent powders.
If some new type of philanthropist would donate
hospital sites to be divided into small garden plots to
be worked by ailing women, it is a question if the plan
would not finally avert more suffering than if the land
were covered with hospital buildings and sanitariums.
At any rate, for the average woman, a garden in the
back yard is better than an apothecary shop on the
next corner, and a dollar invested outdoors has saved
many a family another dollar in doctors' fees and ten
times its value in trouble and suffering. But there are
plenty of women who make gardening pay them also
in dollars and cents.
A Smart Woman's Success. — One of the most
successful gardeners in the contest was Miss Sadie A.
Dibble of Connecticut, who did nearly all the work of
planting and cultivating, and all the harvesting and
marketing in a fruit and vegetable garden of three-
fourths of an acre.
From this plot of ground she raised products worth
two hundred and twenty-three dollars and thirty-five
cents, besides giving away twenty-five dollars worth
and taking twenty-five dollars more in premiums at
the local fair, making the total income two hundred
and seventy-three dollars and thirty-five cents. The
expense for labor was forty-five dollars and twenty
cents ; fertilizer, twelve dollars ; seeds, four dollars and
seventy cents, and poisons twenty cents, or a total of
sixty-two dollars and fifteen cents, which left a profit
of two hundred and eleven dollars and twenty cents.
The products were valued at wholesale rates and
about one-third less than the returns actually received,
PRIZE GARDENING FOR WOMEN IIQ
so that her profits were considerably more than the
figures indicate.
The work in the prize garden began early in April
by trimming the berry bushes and sowing seed in boxes
and hotbeds the 12th. Hardy seeds, like onion, lettuce,
radish, peas and beets, were sown in the open ground
April 25. The principal vegetables grown were peas,
beans, sweet corn and cabbage, but considerable income
was also derived from cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes,
melons and squash. The fruit furnished by far the
larger part of the revenue.
Her gardening experience began fifteen years ago
with a piece of five hundred strawberry plants infested
with weeds. She eradicated the dock, dandelion and
other weeds, and got a yield of forty quarts a day
from the bed. She went to town one day to sell a crate-
ful, as her father was detained, and from this small
beginning she has worked up a nice trade, which goes
far toward making her independent. The farm pro-
duced at that time a succession of grapes, quinces, pears
and apples, and to these she added a stock of all the
desirable varieties of raspberries, some blackberries,
currants, plums and forty grapevines. Writes Miss
Dibble :
We had a fine crop of berries, picking about forty
quarts a day. We could not use them all and were
obliged to sell some. On the Fourth of July my father
said to me : "There are twenty-four quarts of straw-
berries and sixteen quarts of cherries engaged to go to
Stony Creek to-day. I cannot go with them myself,
but if you will go you can have the money." I nearly
turned pale and trembled at the idea. Me go? Why,
I was quite high-toned and had never done anything
of the kind in my life. My married sister was visiting
me and she encouraged me to go and said she would
go with me. We went. We found that by some mistake
120 PRIZE GARDENING
there had been put in the crate two quarts extra of
cherries. What was I to do with them? My sister
said : "Sell them. They are so beautiful, surely some-
one would be glad to buy them." So I stopped at a
cottage where some people were sitting on the veranda.
They were pleased with the cherries and bought them.
As soon as their neighbors saw us with 1*he crate they
rushed out with dishes all eager to buy fruit and dis-
appointed because we had none. I told them I would
bring some to-morrow.
This was the beginning of a fine trade in small
fruits. I had at that time a succession of pears, apples,
grapes and quinces. I added to my stock all desirable
varieties of raspberries, some blackberries, currants,
plums and forty grapevines. I bought novelties as
they appeared. I took care of the garden myself as
far as I was able. By and by one of my customers
asked if I would plant a vegetable garden for her.
"Why, yes, certainly." Soon there was another and
another, and I had more orders than I could fill. The
fruit and vegetables were picked fresh each morning
and put up in the neatest possible manner. I dressed
nicely and drove in a new carriage. My customers
were delighted with the fruit and very prowd of me.
I have kept steadily at the work all these years and
instead of being something degrading, as I at first
fancied it to be, my labor has proved to be a great
pleasure, and I have found many friends among edu-
cated and wealthy people. More than that, I found
what is best of all — good health.
Cabbage, lettuce and tomato seed were planted in
hotbeds. I cut the bottoms from pasteboard boxes
about six inches square and placed them on trays,
covers of cracker boxes being used. In these I put
earth and well-rotted manure, then planted melons,
cucumbers, summer squash and peppers and placed
PRIZE GARDENING FOR WOMEN 121
them in sunny windows. As soon as they were ready
to transplant, I slipped a trowel under them, it was
done easily and without disturbing their growth in
the least. I found it the best method I had ever tried
for starting tender plants.
For the Mammoth Whale squash I dug large holes,
filled them in with cow manure and after covering
with a little earth planted the seed. When the vines
had run about ten feet I pinched off the side shoots,
blossoms and all but one squash. I pinched the top
of the vine and placed it in a dish containing a pint
of sweet milk. Each morning or as often as practi-
cable I repeated the operation. In this way we have
grown squashes that weigh one hundred and fifty
pounds. This season the nights were so cold that they
did not average half that figure.
Potatoes were cut in pieces containing one eye,
laid on trays and carefully placed in furrows with the
eyes uppermost. People said I would not have any
potatoes, for I cut the seed in such small pieces. From
one-half bushel seed I raised twelve bushels of enor-
mous size. These took first premium at the local fair,
where there was lively competition.
I don't know that the garden contest made any
difference with me or my labor. I worked just as
hard before and I have done the same since. I have
always a genuine love for my fruit and flowers, and
ask no better bill of fare than a dinner of fresh vege-
tables. I like the outdoor life ; the health it gives me,
the oxygen I breathe. I have made little study of new
fruits or vegetables for the last two years, as so many
of my investments have proved worthless. It seems
that I already have as fine fruits as are known. Cer-
tainly they are greatly admired and eagerly sought for,
and I take many premiums at fairs; sometimes one
hundred at a single fair.
122
PRIZE GARDENING
My methods? I drive my work. I never let my
work drive me. I do all the work I can in the fall to
save work in the spring. I do all I can in the spring
to help along the work in the fall. I never stop to
think of the weather, if it is too hot, or too cold, if I
am tired or thirsty. I keep hustling right along. In
MRS. DOLE'S GARDEN IN AUGUST
the busy season I rise at four o'clock in the morning.
I work early, I work late, as seems necessary. I buy
the best implements possible and the best seeds the
markets afford. I use plenty of fertilizers. I read
agricultural papers. When I read a new suggestion I
follow it until I am satisfied that it is advantageous or
PRIZE GARDENING FOR WOMEN 12$
otherwise. Before all and above everything else is a
quiet determination to succeed in whatever I undertake.
A Woman's Pastime. — Our farm upon which the
garden is situated is a hill farm and in the center of
the state, writes Mrs. J. E. Dole of Vermont. The
garden spot is in the open field, which was a piece
of greensward, and is sixty by one hundred and thirty
feet, and the soil is a clayey loam. My youngest son
enlisted in the Spanish-American war and died from
fever, and to keep my mind and hands busy I entered
the garden contest. I knew I could not compete with
those who live where the season is longer and who do
not expect a frost every month. With a set of Planet
Jr implements, garden hoe and rake I felt well
equipped for the summer's work. The garden spot
was easy of access, quite level, but the soil was thin
in places, as it was underlaid with a granite ledge.
The weather was so cold that no work was done
until May I, when eight cords of manure were put on
and the garden plowed and harrowed. I sowed some
peas in double rows one foot apart and two feet
between every two rows, so that I could bush two rows
of peas with one set of brush. Made drills with my
hoe and put Bowker's phosphate in the bottom, cover-
ing with loose soil before sowing the peas. Planted
bush cranberry beans, onions, lettuce, beets, spinach,
parsley and sweet corn May 5-6. May 8 made three
flower beds twenty-four by two and one-half feet and
raked in phosphate sown broadcast before planting the
seed, which was aster, snapdragon, balsam, bachelor's
button, candytuft, cacalia, dianthus, gaillardia, lobelia,
marigold, mignonette, petunia, phlox, poppies, portu-
laca, sweet alyssum, verbenas and feverfew.
Planted some potatoes May 9, the next day cab-
bage, cauliflower, carrots, turnips and lettuce and the
day following okra, martynia, beet, radish and sweet
124 PRIZE GARDENING
corn. During the latter part of the month and early
June I planted sweet potatoes, pumpkins, beans, sweet
corn, broccoli, parsnips, salsify, squash, potatoes,
cucumbers, radish, popcorn and nasturtium. The
ground is full of trumpet vine and milkweed., and it
makes me discouraged to look across the garden and
see the weeds cropping up everywhere. Early in June
I transplanted egg plants, peppers, cabbage and cauli-
flower. The earliest plants from seed sown in the
house in February were killed by transplanting in soil
made too rich with hen manure. In setting out my
plants I dug a hole a foot or more across, set the plant
in the center, not disturbing the roots any more than
I could help, when I tore the paper box away from
them and drew some soil up around the plants, then
put on the well-rotted manure, half a shovelful in a hill,
and covered the fertilizer, leaving the ground a little
the lowest next to the plant.
There was no rain from May 30 to June 25, when
a heavy shower wet down about an inch. There will
not be many days now that we will not have something
from the garden to help fill out our bill of fare. Owing
to the extremely dry weather many seeds came up
unevenly. Some popcorn was a foot high and mar-
tynia in blossom, while other seeds were just breaking
through. For celery plants I put well-rotted manure
three or four inches deep in the bottom of the trench
and covered it with soil before setting the plants. I
used ashes freely on the onion bed and around all
the plants.
The garden cost, for fertilizer, nineteen dollars
and seventy cents ; seeds, three dollars and fifty cents ;
rent of land, two dollars ; labor, most of which I did
myself, twenty-eight dollars and forty-five cents ; or a
total of fifty-three dollars and sixty-five cents. At
wholesale prices the products were worth sixty-one
PRIZE GARDENING FOR WOMEN 1 25
dollars and seventy-eight cents. At our fair I took
first prize for best collection of vegetables and pre-
miums to the amount of eight dollars and forty cents,
making the total income from the garden seventy dol-
lars and eighteen cents, and the profit sixteen dollars
and fifty-three cents. Besides having plenty of fresh
vegetables, I found the work in the open air was of
great benefit to my health.
A Good Home Garden was operated by Estella
Arney of Illinois. The garden is seventy-four by one
hundred and two feet, with a path through the center
lengthwise and a row of currants and gooseberries on
either side. Along the outside boundaries are a row
of raspberries, twelve bunches of rhubarb, several of
horse-radish, twelve grapes, six bunches winter onions,
sage and a few stalks of flowers. The tools used were
a hoe, rake and spading fork. Four loads of stable
manure for fertilizer. During April four days' work
was done plowing the garden, planting sixty hills of
potatoes, four of cucumbers and sowing onion, cabbage
and lettuce seed. There were gathered nineteen
bunches of onions and five of horse-radish and eighty
cents spent for seeds.
In May, two and one-fifth days' labor was put in
planting beans, sweet corn and beets, transplanting
three hundred cabbages, fifty mango peppers, sixty
tomatoes and hoeing onions, while the products were
two bunches rhubarb, twelve beets, thirty bunches
onions, three messes radishes and six of lettuce. The
late table beets, butter beans and bunch beans and
lettuce were planted in June, two hundred and fifty late
cabbages set, celery transplanted and the garden hoed
several times, two and one-half days' work being given
in all. The products were forty bunches of onions,
three and one-quarter bushels lettuce, twenty-five cents
worth radishes, four and one-half gallons gooseberries,
126 PRIZE GARDENING
one gallon currants, three gallons raspberries, eleven
bunches rhubarb and two and one-half gallons of it
canned, and twenty cents worth of horse-radish.
During July the garden was well cultivated, the
onions (three bushels) gathered and the ground sowed
to turnips, while an abundance of early cabbages,
cucumbers, beets, lettuce and tomatoes were picked.
The last cultivation was given in August, when nearly
all the garden was hoed. A hose long enough to reach
nearly the entire garden was attached to the pump
and the cabbage irrigated. An abundance of products
were gathered, including one hundred and five pounds
grapes, seven dozen peppers, five dozen ears sweet corn,
one-half bushel dried beans, two bushels tomatoes and
twelve gallons kraut made.
More irrigation was done in September, and the
turnips thinned, while in October the cabbages were
pulled and buried or made into sauerkraut, the turnips
and remaining crops harvested. Fifty heads of cab-
bage were buried, fifteen gallons kraut made, five
bushels turnips and three pecks beets gathered. A
large bunch of celery, some cabbage, turnips and beets
were exhibited at the fair and awarded first premiums.
In figuring up the productions, Mrs. Arney finds
a valuation of thirty-six dollars and thirty-nine cents,
an expense of nineteen dollars and fifty-five cents for
labor, fertilizer, seeds and insect powder, and a profit
of sixteen dollars and eighty-four cents. This is at
the rate of two hundred and nine dollars and twenty-
three cents per acre for production and ninety-six dol-
lars and eighty-three cents profit. She did all the work
except plowing, earned fifteen dollars and twenty cents
for her labor, and remarks : " I am glad that I joined
the contest, for I am sure I have learned quite a good
deal. I have never thought about how much the gar-
den was really worth."
PRIZE GARDENING FOR WOMEN
127
The Winner of the Ninth Regular Prize was Mrs.
L. A. Ludwig, Holling, Kansas, her account standing
highest among the lady contestants in that list. Her
husband being disabled by rheumatism, this plucky
woman was thrown upon her own resources for the
time, yet she not only succeeded in planting and caring
for a good garden, with the help of her five young
children, but also prepared a model report in point of
neatness, compactness and clearness.
MRS. L. A. LUDWIG
Sales from the one and one-third acres were two
hundred and thirty-eight dollars and forty cents, with
cabbage, radish, onions and tomatoes heading the list
as money-makers. The good work done by the chil-
dren was shown in the sale of over sixty dollars worth
of onions weeded by them. The charge for labor was
ninety-one dollars and fifty-three cents. All expenses,
one hundred and seventy-two dollars and eleven cents,
leaving sixty-six dollars and twenty-nine cents profit.
Much labor was saved by the use of a wheel hoe. By
128 PRIZE GARDENING
sowing the quickly germinating onion seed, a little of
it in the drills with the onion seed, the rows became
visible in a few days, and cultivation could begin
at once.
Airs. Ludwig, being a farmer's daughter and
sickly in childhood, did not have the advantage of com-
pleting even a common school education, and being one
of a large family of children, began work away from
home at the age of fourteen. She was married at
twenty-two to F. M . Ludwig, sixteen years ago. Their
triumph came in 1900 in the shape of a little five-
acre home paid for and practically out of debt. The
family includes two boys and four girls, a happy rol-
licking set, every one natural horticulturists and stu-
dents of nature.
A Woman's Garden Diary. — An excellent under-
standing of the toils, perplexities and joys of the aver-
age amateur gardener may be gathered from the prize
winning record given below by Mrs. W. R. Bale of
New Jersey :
I commenced my garden by planting in boxes in
a sunny east window in the cellar a few lettuce and
cabbage seeds, and by putting tomato seeds in flower
pots in the kitchen windows. The mice ate the lettuce
and cabbage plants after they were nicely started. I
then sowed more the last of March in the house, put-
ting them out of doors when the weather was suitable.
These thrived apace and gave good plants for the gar-
den later.
The first real work done in the garden was pre-
paring the ground for sweet peas and celery. This
was late in March and during early April. As I
wished to raise celery plants for sale, I sowed two
ounces of seed, every one of which I think sprouted. I
made a level row six inches wide, over which I scat-
tered the seed thinly. This proved a good way, as the
PRIZE GARDENING FOR WOMEN I2U,
plants were not crowded, and grew stocky and strong.
They were sheared off" three times before time for
transplanting and made excellent plants. The space
where they were planted was about twelve by twenty-
four feet and held nearly ten thousand plants, of which
about eight thousand five hundred were set out, sold or
given away. io each neighbor or friend I gave fifty,
letting them buy as many more as they wanted. I sold
about seven thousand at thirty-five cents per hun-
dred, making the little patch very profitable, although
I spent much work upon it.
The next work was getting the berry bushes in
order, and I spent much time in trimming and thin-
ning them out and cutting out dead wood. When we
began planting the early seeds I put a radish seed every
two or three inches in all the rows of onions and pars-
nips, then firmed the soil by walking over the rows.
The radishes germinated in a few days, marking the
rows so that they could be worked before the other
plants showed above ground. The radishes grow
quickly and can be pulled and used before the other
plants are large enough to need the room.
We have had a great deal of trouble with the little
fleas that eat the radishes, tomatoes, etc., and used
plaster and soot freely. We had many fine cabbage
plants, but all the Savoy and some of the others had
club root so bad that they could not be used. Had
such dry weather that everything seemed likely to die.
Hoeing every day or evening after sundown was our
only resource, as to draw water and carry it from the
well was more than I could do, although I carried a
great many pailfuls for celery. We had much trouble
with the squash bugs in squashes, cucumbers and
melons. We planted radishes in the hills and used
cow manure mixed with water, sprinkled on the vines.
Many hills had to be planted over, but I guess we shall
I3O PRIZE GARDENING
have plenty of plants, for every vacant square foot in
the garden has a melon or squash vine coming up.
Uncle says "he likes to have plenty and they will do
no hurt."
July 12. — Gathered the first cucumbers. They are
selling here at three for ten cents. All vegetables are
very high ; lettuce five cents a head now at Newton,
beets nine cents a bunch, peas and beans five cents a
quart. The celery plants are going off well. All the
people who come for them exclaim in wonder over our
garden. "The finest garden I ever saw I" "Why !
You have everything in your garden." "What do you
expect to do with so much?" These and many more
admiring comments.
August i. — We have so many cucumbers that I
do not know what to do with them, and everybody else
has them also. Last year I supplied all the neighbors,
sometimes giving away three bushels at a time. Now
I can only feed them to the hogs. Have found the
thief which has been eating the parsnip tops. Going
quietly out just now I saw a ground hog run from the
parsnips down under the wire fence through the stones,
into his hole. Mr. B. says he will kill him with bisul-
phide of carbon. The Fordhook Early corn has given
us but two dozen ears fit to eat. They are either
unfilled or covered with smut, more of the latter. The
Country Gentleman is very fine and not very late. It
is planted very thick, but sets two or three good ears
to a stalk, so we shall have plenty. The tomatoes are
simply a wonder. They are now ripening at the rate
of a bushel or more a day and still in bloom. The
Gradus and Quality peas both began to bloom after the
first crop was picked and have given us several messes
for the table and seed for next year. I suppose the
dry weather early, and later so much rain, was the
cause of the unusual proceeding.
PRIZE GARDENING FOR WOMEN 131
September I. — There are many melons and they
are now ripening fast. We have many freaks this
year. Nearly every stump where we have cut a cab-
bage head has grown from three to thirty small heads,
from the size of a walnut to three or four inches in
diameter. One cauliflower, instead of making a single
head, branched from the stalk and gave six heads about
four inches across, each inclosed in its outer leaves. I
found several medium-sized ears of corn not covered
by any husk at the top of the stalks among the tassels.
The Australian Brown onion was very good and of
mild and pleasant flavor. The celery seems to be
blighting. The outside leaves turn brown at the tips
and slowly die down. Both varieties seem affected,
and some who bought plants have the same trouble.
Out of six hundred plants set not more than half that
number are good ones.
November 10— The garden is about all garnered
in. The celery is to bury and the vegetable oysters
and parsnips, both very fine, will be left in the ground
till spring, with the exception of a few packed in sand
for winter use.
One of the Most Profitable Small Gardens was
carried on by Mrs. L. M. A. Hall, Tolland county, Con-
necticut. Her income from about a quarter-acre was
two hundred and five dollars and sixty-four cents.
Expenses were sixty-three dollars and thirteen cents,
leaving one hundred and forty-two dollars and fifty-
one cents net. The produce was sold from a meat cart,
and brought fair prices. Earliness greatly helped the
cash returns. Some crops were started indoors, while
the outdoor crops were planted at the earliest possible
date, with the result that most of the produce was sold
before similar crops from other gardens had come into
the market. Beans and corn were considered the most
profitable garden crops, but all the common vegetables
I32 PRIZE GARDENING
were grown. Fertilizers cost ten dollars and seventy-
five cents, of which the largest item was five dollars
for five barrels ashes. Hen manure, stable manure and
phosphate were also used. Much of the work was done
by a ten-years-old son with a wheel hoe. Hoeing the
entire garden before the vegetables came up proved a
fine plan for killing weeds. This contestant received
a Rawson five-dollar award.
Writing in June, 1901, Mrs. Hall says: " I have
doubled the size of last year's garden and hired my son
by the month to till it. He is eleven years old, and I
give him three dollars a month, the money to be put
in bank. I believe an acre of garden the most remu-
nerative one on the farm if worked to its best. We
had squashes, beets and roots of all kinds till April this
year, which I think is the result of ripening early and
care in harvesting."
A Native of Germany, and inexperienced in writ-
ing English, Mrs. Clara Kuntze, Daggett, Michigan,
told the story of her half-acre garden in a manner suffi-
ciently clear and accurate to secure a Rawson five-
dollar prize. The garden was tended by two women
folk, and seems to have been a success. It included
such unusual vegetables as lintels, red cabbage, kohl-
rabi. Use was made of liquid manure and straw mulch.
Cabbage seed was planted in check rows and the plants
thinned out. Income was fifty-two dollars and fifty-
one cents, and expenses, twenty-one dollars and
forty-seven cents ; leaving thirty-one dollars and
four cents net.
A Model Account of a rather poor and unsatis-
factory garden was submitted by Amelia C. Guild, and,
according to the terms of the contest, received a special
Rawson twenty-five -dollar prize, although the cost of
the garden was four times the income.
w
<
o
H
Q
134 PRIZE GARDENING
The location was at a summer home at Thomas-
ton, Maine, which was being started for the benefit of
poor children irom the cities. Miss Guild had little
previous experience in gardening, the land was rocky
and intested with weeds and insect pests, so that many
of the crops failed to pay expenses. To cap the climax
of trouble, a neighbor's cow broke in several times and
completely spoiled some of the crops. The crops were
worth twenty-seven dollars and fifty-nine cents, at a
cost of one hundred and ten dollars and seventy-five
cents. But a portion of the loss is offset by tools and
material on hand and by improvement to land. The
two views show some of the difficulties and also the
beautiful scenery of the mountain range in the back-
ground, also some of the excellent but costly vege-
tables grown.
A Nice Little Income from one-tenth acre was
reported by Mrs. R. Kirk, Oskaloosa, Iowa, winner of
a five-dollar Woodruff award. The vegetables not
wanted for the table were sold to the lady's butter cus-
tomers, and the total income was fifty-five dollars and
ninety cents ; cost, thirteen dollars and thirty-five cents ;
net, forty-two dollars and fifty-five cents. The tomato
crop was very successful. Seed of Fordhook First
was started March 9 in soil from the potato bin, cov-
ered lightly with earth and a pint of wood ashes on top.
The box was then covered with a cloth and thoroughly
wetted with hot water, and set behind the stove three
days with the cloth still on. They came up quickly
and well and were moved to a cooler place. lk I think
the whole secret of raising nice plants is not to crowd
them and to keep them cool enough to prevent their
spindling," writes Mrs. Kirk. " In setting in the gar-
den, I level the ground and put plants two and one-
half feet apart each way, with about a pint of wood
ashes to each. The soil has already been manured.
w
u
P
P
o
Oh
!*
P
H
O
M
w
H
P
o
w
P
i— i
P
O
o
w
o
Oh
o
h
o
I— I
w
Pi
o
136
PRIZE GARDENING
When the plants are eight to twelve inches high, I drive
stakes to each one and keep off all suckers but one and
the main stem. When the vines get to the top of the
three-foot stakes, I cut the vine off."
With Plozv, Harrow, Wheelbarrow and Hoes as
the only tools, Emma C. Fisher, Walpole, Massachu-
setts, cared for a town garden of one thousand three
hundred and fifty square feet and secured one of the
ten-dollar prizes. Income netted a small sum above
cost. Tomato plants were set in vacant hills of corn.
Transplanting pumpkins was not a success. Early
cucumbers were obtained from vines transplanted from
hotbed. Potatoes yielded best from medium and large
seed tubers. Purple Top turnips grew faster than the
White Egg. A tabulated memorandum for each vege-
table will be useful for future reference and compari-
son. Below is a specimen from this contestant's diary :
Name
Beans
Wax
Beets
Egyptian
Planted
Dettii
Manure
Up
Hoed
Ripe
May 17
April 29
1 i x /2 in
1 in
1 shovel
per 3 ft
1 bushel
per 36 ft
May 29
May 8
June 8
June 19
May 13,
20, June
3.9. '7
July 14
July 15
Yield
4qts
4 doz
" Another year," writes Mrs. Fisher, " I should not
raise peas, potatoes nor squashes, because, while they
are doubtless profitable, they require too much land.
In a small garden there are other vegetables, such as
radishes, beets, beans, lettuce, melons and parsnips,
needed only in small quantities, which are more useful
than a few peas or potatoes. Early ones might be
desirable, but my garden is not early land."
A Successful Garden of over three acres is de-
scribed by Mrs. F. W. Fisk, Clayville, New York. The
mother of three small children, with no help in the
PRIZE GARDENING FOR WOMEN
137
housework, Mrs. Fisk found time to write a concise
story of the garden, securing a regular five-dollar prize.
She did much of the work of the garden and felt ''bene-
fited mentally, physically, spiritually and financially."
The value of the produce was seventy-six dollars and
forty-two cents, and the net profit, thirteen dollars and
A NEW YORK WOMAN'S GARDEN
fifty-seven cents. Having no hotbed, the plan of start-
ing plants indoors was followed with success. Toma-
toes were sowed in a pan of earth from the woods and
put on the stovepipe shelf. They were up in four days
and were transferred to a sunny window. Celery was
I38 PRIZE GARDENING
started in boxes April 3, sowing the seed, sprinkling a
little fine earth over it, wetting thoroughly and setting
under the stove with paper over the box to keep in the
moisture. Corn was started about the same time, plant-
ing hills in small rolls of oilcloth the size of a tomato
can, removing the roll when transferring to the field.
Melons and cucumbers were started in pans and trans-
planted to the field. By this plan good crops of the
tender vegetables were obtained before frost.
Won a Prize. — A one and one- fourth -acre farm
garden kept by Mrs. H. R. Calkins, Plattsburg, New
York, received an Allen prize of five dollars. The
account is condensed, but very clear and legible. Soil
was clay loam fertilized with manure and ashes. Hand
and wheel tools were used. Many of the seeds were
home-raised. Supplies were valued at twenty-one dol-
lars and sixty-five cents ; labor at twenty-eight dollars
and fifty-three cents ; while the products were worth
one hundred and eighty-six dollars and eighty-six
cents ; leaving a balance of fifty dollars and eighteen
cents. As appears from the account book, this lady
gardener was systematic in her work, never allowing it
to get ahead of her, and she seems to have had ■ - ' ■
V . - _ • r.
-'■ jr v •■•
ats* ,-•.; '■ - .^iF^fw
Hffii infTHfn
^^^^IhS^Hm^^Bp^I HJ£mL3^kE
IRRIGATING CELERY
in between the second and third rows, enclosing two
rows ; between these two rows I have a small channel
for water. The boards enclosing the two rows are one
foot apart at the bottom and slope nearer together at
the top. The celery leaves now reach a little above the
top of the boards. This is only for the two rows I
wish to bleach for immediate use ; the balance I simply
l%2 PRIZE GARDENING
enclose by a row of boards on all four sides. This
does away with all hard work of hilling up and enables
one to raise much more on the same ground, and of
course one can afford to fertilize heavily. This plan
may have some drawbacks, but if it has I have not
found them out. I also cover the tops of the two rows
with pieces of old carpet to more effectually shut off
the light. This weather celery requires air, so I gen-
erally throw off the carpet in the evening and replace
it in the morning.
Trees in the garden are a delusion and a snare.
They are always in the way and take up more room
than they are worth. If anyone should ask for advice
I should say never plant a tree in your garden. There
is only one thing I know of worse than a tree in a
garden — and that is two trees.
Everyone should have Japan wine berries ; they
come after raspberries and are very fine for anyone
who likes an acid berry. They are also excellent for
jellies.
I have raised two crops on nearly all my garden.
On part of the ground I have planted the third crop.
Where the celery bed was I first had early peas, fol-
lowed by celery, which gave place to my trial straw-
berry bed.
To shade the plants as I transplant them until
they get used to their new surroundings, I use four
strips of muslin twelve feet long and nine inches wide,
these I tack to small stakes, a stake at about every four
feet. I stick them up along the row of plants set out
and this shades them from the sun. The advantage of
such an arrangement is that they are easily handled,
and when not in use roll up into very small space and
are always ready. Each day I set out just as many
plants as I can protect.
CHAPTER XIII
EXPERIMENTAL GARDENING
Novel features were encouraged by quite a large
percentage of the contestants. In some cases the new
departure lightened the value of the account, while in
other cases the unfamiliarity of the gardener with new
circumstances greatly hampered his efforts. Some
tried new crops or new varieties, others chose unusual
locations, while still others tested untried methods and
conditions. Many of these are necessarily included in
other chapters.
Reclaiming a Waste. — The solid satisfaction of
changing a half barren, stony, untilled tract of one-
fourth acre into a good garden and incidentally win-
ning the third Rawson special prize, belongs to C. P.
Byington, Cairo, New York, whose little farm is
located at the base of the Catskills, ten miles from the
Hudson river. The description is from Mr. Bying-
ton's account :
Operations in the garden began when the owner
moved on the place in the spring of 1897, and con-
sisted mainly in the removal of dead cherry trees,
currant bushes and stones; and incidentally, the re-
moval of stones has formed the bulk of my operations
ever since. As an evidence of what has been accom-
plished along this line, there is a solid roadbed for a
distance of three hundred feet in the highway fronting
the property, composed wholly of the stones removed
from the garden; these stones, covered with coarse
gravel, forming one of the best bits of road in the
town. During the two years since April, 1897, the
I84 PRIZE GARDENING
garden had received just what fertilizer was produced
on the premises, viz., the product of one cow, one
hundred hens and twenty ducks, and has yielded
seventy bushels of mangels, carrots and turnips and
three hundred heads of cabbage, besides all the peas,
beans, sweet corn and other vegetables except potatoes
used in a family of five.
The soil is a shallow, sandy loam, containing a
large admixture of small, shaly stones, and resting on
a substratum of shale rock ; a light, porous, quick-
growing soil, at its best in a wet season, but lacking
those qualities and conditions favoring the conserva-
tion of moisture. Another extract shows the thorough-
ness with which this rather unpromising tract was
worked for results :
The entire plot was cultivated practically every
other day except Sunday with double wheel hoes, set-
ting the hoes quite close together and going astride
the rows, cultivating both sides at the same time. The
hoes not only cut every weed below the surface, but
also break up the moisture capillarity, maintaining a
fine loose mulch about an inch deep over the entire
surface of the plot. Cultivation in this manner was
begun as soon as the plants became visible, and con-
tinued regularly throughout the season, or until the
cultivator could no longer go through the rows without
injury to the plants. When the foliage of plants
became so large as to interfere with cultivation, the
leaf guards were added, thus raising the foliage out of
the way of injury, and enabling cultivation to be con-
tinued much longer than otherwise could be done.
Taking into consideration the unprecedented
drouth and the shallow, porous nature of the soil in my
garden, I have every reason to be satisfied with the
results obtained. That my garden was a success is
attested by the fact that I exhibited eighteen varieties
EXPERIMENTAL GARDENING 185
of vegetables (all of them available for table use when
exhibited) at the county fair held August 22, 23 and
24, winning the first prize awarded for the best exhi-
bition of vegetables.
The results obtained have confirmed my judgment
in making conservation of moisture the principal con-
sideration throughout all my garden operations from
the very beginning, and unquestionably, to my mind,
the one factor which contributed more to that end than
all else was the regular daily cultivation of one-half
the garden, going completely over the entire garden
every other day. This I would in no wise have been
able to accomplish without my hand cultivators, one
and a half to two hours each day sufficing for a boy
to do what, by ordinary methods, would require a man
nearly all the time to do less satisfactorily. By this
means a fine loose mulch was maintained over the
entire garden, in which the moisture capillarity was
constantly broken up, and the moisture in the soil pre-
vented from reaching the surface to be dissipated by
the sun and air.
Total value of products, fifty-one dollars and
ninety-six cents ; fertilizer, twelve dollars and twenty-
five cents ; seed, five dollars and eighty-five cents ; plow-
ing and planting, three dollars and fifty cents ; cultiva-
tion by man at one dollar per day, seven dollars and
sixty-one cents ; work by boy at fifty cents per day,
four dollars and sixty cents ; interest on garden and
tools, twelve dollars and sixty-six cents ; net profit,
five dollars and forty-nine cents.
A Melon Garden. — An interesting story was con-
tributed by W. D. Hinds, Worcester county, Massa-
chusetts, who is one of the best known peach growers
in New England. He selected a half -acre patch which
two years before was rough, rocky pasture, cleared off
part of the rocks and set it to peaches. As a garden
1 86 PRIZE GARDENING
crop he chose muskmelons, as they would not injure
the trees. A row of melons was carried between every
two rows of peaches, also a hill between the trees in
the rows. Spring tooth harrows and cultivators were
found best for working such rocky land. Five loads
of manure were used and one hundred pounds fertilizer.
The plants were started in a cold frame from seed
planted April 27. " Another year," writes Mr. Hinds,
" I should start my seeds two weeks earlier, say April
12, so as to get the melons all ripened by the middle of
September. When the first cold days come, people
stop buying, and there is no fun or profit in peddling
fruit when people don't want it. I should also use
more chemical fertilizer another time."
Cutworms were poisoned with a little paris green
and molasses mixed with eight quarts bran. The crop
was peddled out, but was accounted at wholesale prices,
and the total was one hundred and forty dollars and
eighty-four cents. Charge was made for care of trees
and credit allowed for their improvement The net
profit was thirty-seven dollars and four cents.
Testing the Soil. — A large handful of soil was
taken from each of three places in the garden of E. R.
Flagg of Massachusetts, and a test for acidity made
with blue litmus paper. For this purpose a tiny book-
let containing twenty-four slips of blue litmus paper,
each about two and one-half inches long and one-half
inch wide, was procured from a wholesale druggist for
five cents. A little of the earth was placed in a cup
and made into a thick paste by the addition of water.
Then one end of a strip of litmus paper was pushed
into the mud in the cup with the handle of a spoon,
care being taken not to touch the paper with the moist
fingers lest the color be changed thereby. The paper
was allowed to remain in the mud for three minutes,
when it was removed, the adhering mud rinsed off with
EXPERIMENTAL GARDENING
I8 7
a very little water and the paper was pinned to the
window to dry. The result showed the blue color of
the litmus paper changed to a slate color with a reddish
tinge, indicating a very moderate degree of acidity.
Another sample of the soil was placed in a cup with
sufficient ammonia to thoroughly wet and slightly cover
it, and allowed to stand for twenty-four hours, when
the liquid was found to be about as black as ink, indi-
cating the presence of some organic acids.
READY FOR BUSINESS
Several Novel Features are included in the story
of G. W. Everson, Montgomery county, New York, a
Rawson prize winner. He gives the receipts of his
one-thirteenth-acre garden by months : May, twenty-
five cents ; June, three dollars and thirty-three cents ;
July, five dollars and ninety-three cents ; August, four
dollars and fifty-four cents; September ninety-seven
cents; October, four dollars and fifty-two cents;
l88 PRIZE GARDENING
November, two dollars and eighteen cents; total,
twenty-one dollars and seventy-two cents. The labor
for the seven months beginning with April was, respec-
tively, four hours, five and one-quarter hours, nineteen
hours, ten and one-sixth hours, two hours, five and
three-fourths hours, three and one-fourth hours ; total,
sixty-eight hours, worth at fifteen cents, ten dollars
and twenty cents. The owner thinks labor was much
less because hand wheel implements were used. Poul-
try got into the garden and the damage was placed at
one dollar, mostly to turnips and cabbages. Lettuce
was grown between the rows of onions with some
saving of space. Mr. Everson mentions a wet spot in
his garden where the soil was lumpy and did not work
up well. The cause was a snowbank which did not
melt till late. If the snowbank had been scattered he
thinks the trouble might have been prevented. " To
work a garden early in the spring," continues Mr.
Everson, " the garden should be plowed in ridges in
the fall." The wheel rake proved a labor-saver in clear-
ing off small stones. The wheel hoe with cultivator
teeth was just the thing for hoeing peas. Sulphur
proved a remedy for black cabbage fleas.
An Interesting Experiment with old, rough pas-
ture land was tried by E. H. Boutelle of Worcester
county, Massachusetts. The object was to make the
crops pay for themselves and to take the profit in im-
provement of the land. The first item of expense was
clearing off the bush growth at a cost of over nine
dollars. The vegetables were sold on a milk route.
Hen manure was bought at fifty cents per bushel and
barnyard manure at four dollars per cord. The best
paying crops proved to be squashes, string beans and
tomatoes. The net gain was nineteen dollars and sixty-
seven cents, also improvement of land, reckoned at
thirty-eight dollars for the one and one-twentieth acres.
EXPERIMENTAL GARDENING 189
A Beginner's Success. — Having left a city home
and a mercantile business to take up an abandoned
farm in Worcester county, Massachusetts, neither his
inexperience nor unpreparedness dampened the zeal of
F. R. Trask. His success shows that his confidence and
courage were not unrewarded, the garden showing a
net profit of forty-four dollars and fifty-eight cents
from one and one-fourth acres, and his account secur-
ing the seventh Rawson prize. Mr. Trask is evidently
one of those men who bring from city to country an
amount of vim and enterprise largely to offset their
want of practice, and which enables them quickly to fit
into the new conditions. His summary of lessons from
his garden shows that he is taking time to think as well
as to work :
Have ground planted and manured if possible in
fall before. Use fertilizer freely. Plant rows apart so
as to use horse cultivator, and use it freely. Use a
horse weeder, and keep using it. It kills weeds. It
irrigates. Plant the largest variety possible in sufficient
quantities for home use, and if intending to market,
plant such crops as are sure in large quantities. Plant
some of everything as early as possible, and then plant
at frequent intervals as late as profitable. I was
frightened by some cautious friend crying, "Frost;
wait ! " Had I done as I wished and no frost came
(as it does not at least half of the time) I would have
been rewarded with early vegetables. On the other
hand, had frost come, would not have lost much, for
the second or third planting would have been safe.
Sell all surplus products. If the family cannot use
them, do not let them waste, when many families in a
neighboring village or city will gladly take all and pay
retail price. To such customers smaller quantities of
more varieties may be sold than to the wholesale trade.
190
PRIZE GARDENING
A year ago "how to dispose of produce" was a serious
problem, but the year's experience has solved it for me,
although a stranger in a strange land. It is no longer a
question of market, but how to produce and carry it
to market.
Finally, read. Read agricultural papers, and read
experiment station bulletins. Then think of what you
read and what experience has taught, and after think-
ing, be prompt to act along the lines of an educated
intelligence.
A WOMAN'S LUXURIANT GARDEN
Sold Produce to Indians. — A two-acre garden at
Hominy, Oklahoma, under the skillful management of
Mrs. Lizzie Snyder, yielded about two hundred and
seven dollars, at a round profit of one hundred and
fifty dollars. Soil was sandy loam, second year from
the virgin sod, and part of a tract rented from the
Indians at one dollar and a half per acre. Expenses
were low on account of cheapness of manure and labor,
twenty-five loads manure costing only three dollars,
and all labor by man, woman and team about
EXPERIMENTAL GARDENING 191
twenty-eight dollars. Customers were mostly the
neighboring Osage Indians, who seem to have paid
prices fully equal to the average in other sections. The
account received one of the regular prizes.
Saz'cd Her Own Seeds. — Seeds for her garden
cost Mrs. Alice C. Strader, Columbia county, Wiscon-
sin, only ten cents, since she has for years made a
practice of saving many kinds of vegetable and flower
seeds from specimens of her own growing. Free
seeds from the United States department of agricul-
ture also helped out at planting time. The seed item
in this garden shows a balance on the credit side, since
the value of those saved far exceeds those planted.
MRS. ALICE C. STRADER
The one-third acre yielded thirty-three dollars and
twenty cents, of which the largest item was seven dol-
lars for fourteen bushels of tomatoes. Labor cost
eight dollars and twenty-five cents, and manure one
dollar and sixty-five cents at twenty-five cents per load.
Net profit, twenty-two dollars and eighty cents.
High Feeding for Plants. — Interesting experi-
ments have been carried on in plant feeding by G. M.
Sherman of Hampden county, Massachusetts. His
plan in brief is to supply liquid fertilizers by means
of a porous jar buried a foot or more beneath the
surface and filled from time to time through a tube
projecting above the ground.
I92 PRIZE GARDENING
The roots of the plant or tree collect around the
porous jar and absorb the fertilizers. Patent has been
applied for. Mr. Sherman's experiments have been
mostly confined to rose bushes, which in many cases
appear to have made enormous growth, shoots extend-
ing several inches per day in some cases. The inventor
expects the principle to prove of great value in cultiva-
tion of all kinds of fruit and shrubs and will attempt
to have the theory thoroughly tested at the state
experiment station.
A Born Horticulturist is Una E. Knight, Niagara
county, New York. Her story is told in great detail,
and evidently with keen delight in working amid the
beauties of nature and among the plants and flowers
of her garden. A great deal of work was put into
this garden with no direct return ; much attention
having been given to various experiments which
proved more or less indecisive because of the drouth,
and from neglect caused by illness of several members
of the family. Expenses for the one-tenth acre were
nineteen dollars and three cents, of which two-thirds
was for labor charged at low rates. Receipts were
twenty-two dollars and eighty-six cents. A novel
celery bed is described :
"Near the lower wall was built up a heap of
manure a foot or more deep on which was placed
four or five inches of fine earth, and all was enclosed
in a box-like structure five feet high on three sides,
and less on the north side, so I could get in. Here I
transplanted my celery plants four inches apart. I
watered them copiously from the well every day, or
as often as I thought was needful. My plants grew
into stocky clumps, some of them eighteen inches
high ; a red variety, and they blanched well without
trouble. All I had to do was to weed and water."
EXPERIMENTAL GARDENING 193
This garden account received a regular award of
ten dollars.
A Plucky Bay State Woman, Abbie E. C.
Lathrop, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, not being
strong and well enough to swing a hoe, did much of
the weeding in her garden of one thousand seven hun-
dred square feet with an old butcher knife, and the
weeds were well conquered, greatly to the benefit of the
gardener's health. She says : "The work of planting,
tending and gathering was done entirely by myself,
demonstrating that a woman, though not strong, may
tend a garden, if she will but take the work leisurely.
It is more healthful than bicycling. The keeping of
accounts proved very interesting." The account was
one of the best of those not winning a prize.
A Successful Garden was cultivated on the site
of an abandoned brickyard by Jere Bradley of Berk-
shire county, Massachusetts, twenty-second regular
prize winner. Soil was sandy loam with heavy clay
subsoil ; area about one-twelfth acre. The work was
all done mornings, evenings and holidays, the owner
being employed in a grain store. The system was to
cultivate with wheel hoe in the spring, then mulch
heavily, the result being a garden free from weeds.
Hand wheel garden tools were used. Chicken netting
was used instead of pea brush. Cabbage and lettuce
were grown in a hotbed, melons were planted between
rows of peas. Cultivation ceased July 4 and the
ground was mulched.
The.management shows skill in keeping a constant
succession of market crops, giving something to sell
almost every day to November 1. Drouth was fought
successfully by frequently stirring the soil with garden
implements.
Frost Every Month proved a serious drawback in
the case of A. C. Butcher, Whitman countv, Washing-
194 PRIZE GARDENING
ton, winner of a regular prize of five dollars. However,
the patch of a fraction over two acres netted him thirty
dollars and six cents. The season proved too short
for potatoes, cucumbers and other tender vegetables,
but he thinks he might succeed next time by planting
everything of the very earliest varieties. Corn filled
poorly and only the early kinds would mature. Cab-
bages thrive, but early and medium varieties were best.
CHAPTER XIV
METHODS UNDER GLASS
For starting all early vegetables, a hotbed or
greenhouse is absolutely necessary. The hotbed may
be simply a frame of boards set over a pile of manure
and covered with a glass or muslin sash, or it may be
an expensive structure made by excavating a pit and
building a masonry wall of bricks and mortar. This is
the best sort of hotbed, and when once built will last
for many years, and give better satisfaction than any
other style. But the expense is something which the
majority of farmers and gardeners cannot afford, so
that a pit lined with two-inch plank is the next best
substitute. But where gardening is carried on on a
large scale a small forcing house or hotbed heated by a
small stove will be found much more economical and
satisfactory.- The forcing house contains a larger
amount of air and can be run at a more uniform tem-
perature.
A CHEAP FORCING HOUSE
The ordinary style of forcing house, heated with
steam or hot water pipes under the benches, is, of
course, the best, but one in which bottom heat is given
by a flue made by extending the pipe from the stove
under the benches is quite satisfactory. Very good
results have been obtained by John Frazer of Wash-
ington county, New York, one of the garden contest
prize winners, by using a house which was heated with
three stoves, one at each end and one in the middle.
*
METHODS UNDER GLASS I97
The house was seventy by twenty feet, divided
into a center bed nine and one-half by sixty-two feet,
and two outside beds next to the wall, each three and
one-half feet wide. All seed was sown in rows four
inches apart. One outside bed was planted early in
March to radish and celery plants in alternate rows,
the radishes being harvested before the celery plants
needed the room. The other beds were planted to
lettuce, cauliflower, pepper, tomato, Prizetaker onion,
beet and cabbage seeds. About one hundred thousand
celery plants were grown on the one bed. Toward the
last of April, sods were inverted on the benches, on
which were planted cucumber and melon seeds. These
were set in the open ground about June 1.
The hotbed should be placed on land always free
from flooding, and with good subsoil drainage, pro-
tected from the north and west winds and facing south
or southeast. The manure must be well handled, so
that the fermentation may be prolonged. Rich, fresh
horse manure gives a quick, fierce heat and soon sub-
sides. Mix it with leaves or half-rotten straw, put in
a pile and turn over two or three times at intervals of
two or three days to get it well heated throughout.
Put in the pit, tramp down firmly and evenly and put
on the sash. After the heat has subsided to ninety
degrees, put on four to six inches of soil, and when this
is well warmed up sow the seed in rows four to six
inches apart. Water with a fine hose and tepid water
as needed. Give air on pleasant days, and protect
during cold nights with a covering of salt hay, straw
mats or old carpets.
A Farmer's Hotbed. — A hotbed such as is used
by a large number of gardeners and farmers is thus
described by J. E. Morse of Michigan, who won the
grand garden prize of seven hundred and fifty dollars.
The bed was six by twelve feet, sunk two feet
I98 PRIZE GARDENING
below the surface of the ground. In making the
framework, hemlock lumber one inch thick was used
and posts two by four inches at each corner and mid-
way between. At the north side, the framework
extended one foot above ground ; at the south, it
extended six inches above, giving a six-inch slope to the
sash. The glass used in fitting sashes was eight by ten.
Horse manure, which had been cured under shelter,
freed from coarse litter and forked over a number of
times, was solidly tramped down in the bed to a depth
of eighteen inches. The sashes were then put on, and
left for four days before adding the soil. After cover-
ing with soil, the bed was let stand for four days. This
allowed the soil to warm up and weed seed to ger-
minate. It was then raked over fine and even, and the
soil firmed lightly with a wide board before sowing
the seed.
A quick way of making up hotbeds is followed by
W. H. McMillen, a large Wisconsin market gardener.
He says : " I haul three good loads of coarse manure
for each frame, pile it up and let stand for five or six
days, then fork it over into another pile, when it will
begin to heat, and then pile it over again, and when it
is steaming well I pace off the size of the frames,
spreading the manure evenly, fifteen inches larger each
way than the frames, and tramp it down firm. I then
place the frames, bank them up well and put on the
sash, and leave it for seven or eight days. Then if the
manure is heated evenly, put on about four inches of
good earth and let down a sash at each end about six
inches to allow the rank heat to escape. After the third
day I sow the seeds. Great care must be taken that the
earth is warm all through. When the plants are about
four inches high, transplant to a cold frame, which is
made on the same plan as the hotbed, except with a
covering of cloth instead of glass."
METHODS UNDER GLASS 1 99
Mr. Kinney's Plan. — The ground in the bed
should be forked up as fine as possible and left soft
and loose, according to the advice of F. L. Kinney, a
prominent gardener of Worcester county, Massachu-
setts. Forest leaves are perhaps the best thing to put
in to keep the frost out, and if there is danger of mice,
it might be well to let the ground freeze a little before
putting the leaves in, and it would be a good thing to
put in a little corn and smaller seeds that have been
sprinkled with poison while wet, so that the mice,
should they find their way in, would not flourish. The
bed is now ready to close up with the sash and shutters,
and when the sash are all on, put in the last end piece.
This work should be done before winter and the bed
can be filled with the horse manure at any time.
Put in plenty of manure and cover with eight
inches or so of loam. Lettuce is the one great crop
that is grown under glass in winter and early spring,
and to grow this to perfection it is very desirable, and
it is often almost necessary, to have a loose, sandy soil.
My soil is heavy and I have tried a great many things
to put it in good condition for this crop, but have never
been able to get perfectly satisfactory results. Fleavy
manuring and stirring the soil help considerably. Tur-
nip radishes will grow on most any soil, but long ones
need a loose, mellow soil and do not need so much
bottom heat as lettuce or turnip radishes.
During March and April many of the sash in Mr.
Kinney's place are used for starting plants. Cabbage,
cauliflower, lettuce and early celery should be sown
about the first of March for the first early crop. It is
possible to raise fairly good plants by sowing thinly.
We prefer sowing in drills and giving the young plants
plenty of air, and when they have three or four true
leaves, set them in a bed, about two hundred to the sash.
200 PRIZE GARDENING
Items of Care. — In writing of the management of
hotbeds, W. I. Anderson advises not to sow seed in
them before the first week in March. Then sow cab-
bage, lettuce, radishes, beets and tomatoes. Use Early
Jersey Wakefield cabbage, Grand Rapid lettuce, Egyp-
tian beets, Dwarf Champion tomatoes, Early Scarlet
Turnip radish, and it would be well to use Wood's
Long Early Frame radish, too, so as to prolong
the crop.
Be sure the heat is not too strong when you plant,
as much seed is ruined because of this. Remember it
gets hot quickly under glass when the sun shines on it,
and small, tender plants will soon perish unless they
get fresh air. But a ulast of cold wind will kill them
almost as quickly as the san. Open the sash in such a
way that the wind cannot hit them. In plants raised
for transplanting, let your object be to get them stocky
instead of spindling, hardy instead of tender, and
healthy with a deep, rich green, instead of pale and
sickly. Abundance of fresh air and sufficient moisture
will do it. Keep as even temperature as you can. Do
not hurry the plants. Good ones are better than quick
ones. Water heavily rather than often. Stir the soil
and keep it loose at all times. Give air as soon as the
sun strikes the glass in the morning, but close up early
in the evening. Let the plants have all the sunlight
possible.
Some plants, asserts Mr. Anderson, such as onions,
cabbage, lettuce, etc., will stand more cold than toma-
toes, peppers, egg plant and the like. The proper tem-
perature for these two classes differs almost twenty
degrees. When possible, grow them under different
sashes, where you can regulate the heat if you will
remember what I said about constructing the hotbed.
About April I the radishes ought to be ready to use.
METHODS UNDER GDASS 201
As soon as removed sow in their place celery, peppers,
egg plants and a second seeding of tomatoes.
' Take the cabbage, lettuce and beets out of the hot-
bed some days before you plant and give them all the
air and cold that they will stand so as to harden them.
Then transplant cabbage four inches apart, lettuce five,
beets in rows ten inches apart. This can be done in the
open ground, as these things will stand freezing. Mr.
Anderson has had cabbage plants in open ground when
it was twenty-two degrees below freezing and they
made good heads. But it will be much better, he thinks,
if a frame can be around them over which coverings
can be placed in freezing weather. As soon as the
tomatoes are large enough, transplant them in the
hotbed in the space before occupied by the boxes. They
should be four to six inches apart and should remain
there until they bloom.
Useful Details.— W. H. Pillon, Ontario county,
New York, a leading special prize winner, gives details
for forcing several kinds of tender plants, as follows :
I sowed tgg plant, tomato and pepper seed, March 30,
in a small box in the house. Good garden soil was put
in the bottom of the box with one-fourth fine rotted
manure, filling within an inch of the top, then one-
half inch of woods mold. I made little drills three
inches apart and one-half inch deep, with a pointed
stick. I sowed the seed in these drills and covered
lightly, using a case knife and pressing the soil upon
the seed with the knife. I used small plant labels,
numbered, between each variety of seed. I also kept
a record in my diary so that I could tell where each
variety was when I wanted to place them in the hotbed.
After sowing, I watered the soil and covered it
with a cloth. In three days I watered it again, drop-
ping the water upon the cloth, and after that whenever
the soil seemed too dry. The box was kept on a small
202 PRIZE GARDENING
table close to a south window, in a room where a coal
fire was kept night and day. At night the box was
moved near the stove. Tomato seeds came up finely in
seven days, egg plant and peppers fairly well in four-
teen days. As the seeds came up the cloth was
removed and the box turned each day so as to have the
opposite side placed next to the window, as the plants
will lean toward the light.
I made a hotbed, April 10, using three sash frames
I have had five years. I took out last year's dirt and
manure, and in the bottom put two loads of horse
manure. One man threw in the manure while another
kept it evenly spread and trodden down ; not very hard,
but so as to keep it from settling. Then four inches of
last year's dirt was thrown in, and about an inch of
fresh black garden mold spread over it. With a gar-
den rake I drew out all the coarse lumps, leaving the
soil fine. The sash was then put on and kept closed
night and day, until I sowed some seed. I banked up
with dirt outside the frame to within one or two inches
of the top of the frame, the bank of last year having
been allowed to remain in place the whole year.
Sowed in the hotbed, April 13, cabbage twelve
varieties, broccoli one, cauliflower two, lettuce one,
asters six, mignonette one, pansies one, verbena two.
I made drills four inches apart, one-half inch in depth,
with a pointed stick. I sowed the seed in the drills and
covered them by brushing a garden hoe lightly over
them lengthwise, which also pressed the soil sufficiently
close to the seed. I kept a record of the sowing and
marked the different varieties with a numbered plant
label between each two kinds. The soil was watered
with a fine-nosed watering pot and covered with a
cloth. After this the bed was watered every two or
three days as seemed necessary. When plants came up
the cloth was removed. The sashes were kept closed
METHODS UNDER GLASS
203
most of the time after sowing the seed, occasionally
some air was given by raising the sashes an inch.
After the plants were up, some air was given every day
and a good deal of it when the sun shone brightly, to
prevent the stems rotting off close to the ground,
thereby losing the plants. 1 find cabbage more sus-
ceptible to this disease than tomatoes, although any
plant will suffer if not properly aired.
I pricked out tomato plants, April 20, from the
box, and placed them in the hotbed four inches apart
HOTBEDS AND COLD FRAMES
each way. The plants were taken from the box by
thrusting a case knife below them, holding the plants
by the top with one hand while raising the knife with
the other, thus avoiding breaking the roots. A hole
was made for the plants with a wooden drill. The
plants were placed in the hole and the dirt pressed
firmly up to them, then some loose soil was drawn up
to them on the top of the ground. After being set they
204 PRIZE GARDENING
were watered, and while the sun shone, from 9 a. m. to
4 p. m., the sash over the plants was covered with a
cloth for two days. They were watered and aired as
required, and the ground stirred about them with a
dung fork about once a week until they were ready to
set out of doors.
A Very Practical Gardener and contestant, G. J.
Townsend of Wayne county, New York, describes
his successful hotbeds and cold frames as follows : My
hotbeds are eighteen feet long and five feet wide.
Used two-inch plank twelve inches wide. The most of
the sashes are three by five feet. Some are three by six
feet, but the three by five feet are the most convenient
size. I dug out about two feet deep, filled with good
fresh horse manure that had commenced to heat.
Tramped well, then put on about four or five inches of
dirt that had been worked well the year before, and
middling dry. I put on the sashes about three or four
weeks before making. Work over the dirt some and
the sun will dry it out ; then shovel it out one side, and
take out old manure and put in fresh. The best dirt
is a good sandy loam. Put on dirt and sashes, let
stand for a week or so until rank heat passes off. Give
air in the daytime. Put a thermometer in.
I worked the dirt fine on a sunny March day in the
hotbeds and sowed the seed one-half or three-fourths
inch deep in drills three inches apart. I sowed and
covered by hand, then watered them. Gave some air on
sunny days. When tomatoes are up keep watch of the
thermometer that it does not get below forty-two or
above eighty long. Let air in on sunny days from nine
or ten o'clock to about three or four, and a little on
cloudy days if not too cold. To let off dampness
when tomatoes come up until second leaves appear,
water very little, but keep the ground just moist. If
they commence to damp off I loosen the ground
METHODS UNDER GLASS
205
between the rows with Hazeltine hand weeder. Water
toward evening - , taking - the chill off in cold weather. On
cold nights I cover the sashes with canvas or blankets ;
if very cold with fine hay or horse manure. When
tomatoes are about three inches high I transplant them
to cold frame.
In April I make cold frames same as hotbeds,
except use no manure. Set tomatoes in cold frame
' - vm
.1
Ul
* 3 ...•
MR. G. J. TOWNSEND, HIS WORKSHOP AND COLD FRAMES
about three inches apart. Take a strip about three
inches wide and four or five feet long to mark out with.
Have the ground mellow. Make hole with right fore-
finger. In this way I can set three or four thousand a
day. If boxes are used they should be made in the
winter time. I buy boxes for about five cents apiece at
the grocery store that will make from two to twelve
dozen plant boxes. I use glass for the cold frames the
206 PRIZE GARDENING
first half of April, and five or six-cent cotton cloth the
last half. Cold frames need covering every night the
first half of April with canvas or blankets. I lost three
hundred tomato plants in cold frame by frost by not
doing it. Water just enough to keep them growing.
About a week after they are set out stir the dirt with a
hand weeder.
Massachusetts Methods. — Writing along similar
lines, a prominent and successful contestant, E. R.
Flagg, Worcester county, Massachusetts, thus de-
scribes his methods : April 29 a cold frame was pre-
pared by placing four boards, each about a foot wide,
together like a box without top or bottom, so as to
enclose a space six feet square. On top of this frame
were placed two hotbed sash, each three feet wide and
six feet long. The north side of the frame was raised
enough to give the sash a pitch of about four inches
toward the south. Eighteen inches in thickness of
stable manure was banked about the outside and up to
the top of the frame.
May 1, the glass was removed and the rich soil
enclosed by the frame was spaded up, thoroughly fined,
and sufficient soil added to bring the surface, when
leveled, about six inches from the glass. A wheelbar-
row load of well-rotted stable manure, two quarts of
unleached wood ashes and eight quarts of sifted hen
manure were evenly spread over the surface within the
frame and thoroughly mixed with the soil. The sur-
face was then well raked, all lumps removed, the earth
well pressed against the sides of the frame with the
head of the rake, and a final raking left the surface of
the soil everywhere equally distant from the top of the
frame and the glass.
The pressing of the soil against the inner side of the
frame is important in order to prevent uneven settling
of the earth after the seed is sown. An uneven surface
METHODS UNDER GLASS 207
makes the even and proper watering of tiny plants
impossible. After the soil was prepared the seed was
sown.
The radish seeds were sown in rows where they
could mature, and the other seeds in squares of one
foot or less. All seeds were covered by sifting on a
thin layer of rich earth and fine sand, equal parts, well
mixed. The depth of covering, as a general rule,
should not exceed twice the diameter of the seed
covered.
The different varieties were marked by small
strips of shingle on which the name of the variety was
written in pencil. Care was taken in sowing, to sepa-
rate varieties of the same kind of seed, as All-head and
Sun-head cabbage, by some other seed, as tomato or
onion. In this way there was no difficulty in identify-
ing all the varieties.
The seeds above named occupied about two-thirds
of the area of the frame, and a few flower and other
seeds were sown in the spare corner. The earth was
gently firmed over the seed by moderate pressure on a
bit of board, and a pail of water, moderately warm,
was applied with a watering pot having a fine nose.
The sash was then placed on the frame and closed
down. During sunny days the upper end of the sash
was raised an inch or more for ventilation, and luke-
warm water was applied when the soil appeared to
require moisture.
The seeds were sown May I, and on May 4,
radish, lettuce and cabbage plants were breaking the
ground, followed two or three days by the other varie-
ties, excepting parsley, which requires more time for
germination. The frame was covered nights with two
old blankets, as the nights were cool and frost occurred
on May 4, 13, 15 and 22.
208 PRIZE GARDENING
As the plants grew larger and the weather became
warmer, more ventilation was given by raising the sash
at the top and bottom. Warm water was still used, but
care was taken to apply only so much as the plants re-
quired for thrifty growth. Too liberal watering and
too little ventilation induce the rotting of the stems
of the plants, known among greenhouse men as
damping-ofr. May 18, the radishes were forming
bulbous roots, and lettuce, cauliflower and cabbage
plants were of sufficient size to transplant into the
unoccupied space in the frame. May 20, the radishes
were large enough for use and some were pulled for
the table. As the weather grew warmer the ventilation
was increased until the sashes were removed altogether
and the frame was covered with netting ; two-inch mesh
was placed over the cold frame to exclude chickens.
No future care, except occasional watering, was
required while the plants remained in the cold frame.
Forcing Cucumbers and Tomatoes. — Some of the
essentials are described by G. C. Stone, a Massachusetts
expert : Cucumbers, he asserts, require a temperature
from sixty-five to eighty-five degrees. They are not
especially sensitive to mechanical conditions of the soil,
neither do they respond very quickly to fertilizer. A
good soil for cucumbers is one made of rotten sod and
horse manure. This makes a light, pliable soil.
They require all the light possible under glass,
especially November and March, a matter which is too
little understood by those growing cucumbers. Some
of the so-called diseases can be traced directly to the
lack of light in the house. This is especially true where
growers have resorted to the practice of using two
layers of glass in their houses. The plants under such
conditions become yellow ; they cannot assimilate the
carbon dioxide from the air properly, as the light is
METHODS UNDER GLASS 209
largely excluded by the two layers of glass and the
usmal two accompanying layers of dirt.
There are ten fungous diseases peculiar to the
cucumber. The wilt is peculiar to outdoor cucumbers.
This is caused by bacteria which plug up the vessels,
thus interfering with the water supply. This has not
been seen on outdoor cucumbers in Massachusetts.
The powdery mildew is more or less common and
can be controlled by attention to moisture conditions
and light. It is seldom found on vigorous plants of
good texture.
The damping fungus is troublesome to young
cucumbers and can be prevented by sterilizing the soil.
The anthracnose would seem to be caused by too
great a difference between the day and night tempera-
ture. On this account it is far more common in the
spring in greenhouses when the fires go out.
Besides fungous diseases there are two or three
troublesome pests which belong to the animal kingdom,
known as aphis and thrip, both of which are controlled
by tobacco, and nematodes, which give rise to galls on
the roots and can be controlled by the application of
heat or by thorough drying of the soil.
Tomatoes require similar temperature and mois-
ture conditions to those of the cucumber. There are
some twelve fungous diseases recorded for tomatoes,
but the fruit rot and mildew are the most troublesome
diseases of these parts. These can be controlled by
spraying. They also, like the cucumbers, are subject
to nematodes and the same method of treatment applies
t , both.
Forcing Lettuce. — The ideal soil for lettuce,
according to C. E. Hunn of New York, would be
a well-drained gravelly or sandy loam, but with care
in watering, a soil of heavy texture may be made to
produce excellent crops of the loose, open varieties.
2IO PRIZE GARDENING
The heading or cabbage lettuce is more exacting if a
fine quality is desired. The first crop of lettuce from
the houses should be ready to use by the middle of
November.
For this crop, seed should be sown in September,
allowing on an average from six to eight weeks for the
crop to mature. A temperature of fifty-five to sixty
degrees through the day, with a drop to forty-five at
night, will suit all varieties, but in the case of the
heading varieties a rise of five to ten degrees at the time
of heading will finish off the crop more uniformly.
According to Hunn, the construction of a house
for forcing winter vegetables is not a matter of first
importance. The three-quarter span house perhaps
furnishes as nearly as possible the best condition for
forced crops. However, an even-span or shed-roof
house grows many crops to a high degree o^ perfection.
As for the inside arrangement of the house, the crops
to be grown will have much to do in the matter.
Cool-house crops, as lettuce, radish and the like,
are well grown in solid beds, while heat-loving plants,
as tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, etc., should be planted
on benches built over the pipes. This means that the
cost of building a greenhouse depends very much on
what crop one expects to grow. The saving in benches
and heat in houses devoted to cold crops is considerable,
while the ease with which such crops may be grown
recommends them to the beginner.
A Minnesota Competitor made a cold frame, April
14, for tomatoes and early cabbage, taking two boards
five fcet k -ig and one foot wide for the sides, and two
boards three feet long and one foot wide for the ends,
and made a box with no bottom to it. He set the box
in the ground about two inches ; dug up the ground on
the inside and sowed the seeds. Then he took one of
METHODS UNDER GLASS 211
the storm windows from the house and placed it on top
of the box, and the cold frame was complete.
Coal the Best Heat.— Every farmer should have a
house garden for winter vegetables, either under a
glass roof on the dwelling on the south side, or near.
Instead of burning manure to start plants for the farm,
they should be started with wood or coal heat. The
coal heat is easier to regulate and those who have used
both think it the cheaper. We have grown two hun-
dred dollars worth of lettuce in a winter when we had
five to seven cents for ten radishes, and six dollars to
seven dollars and fifty cents a barrel for lettuce.— [R.
Bingam, New Jersey.
Small Frames were made by a New York gar-
dener, the sides being of two pieces of seven-inch board,
each eleven inches long, and two pieces of six-inch
board, eight inches long, for ends. No top or bottom,
Nail them flush at the bottom, so as to make a frame
eleven inches long by ten inches wide outside, and nine
inches long by eight inches wide inside, with the top
edges of the side boards rising an inch above the end
boards. Now lay an eight by ten-inch glass between
the projecting sides, one-half inch resting on each
board. Secure it from slipping by a big-headed tack
at each end. Then set it over the freshly planted
cucumber or melon hill. It protects from frost, serves
as a forcing frame, and keeps off insects while the vines
are small. Made on rainy days, of waste boards, they
cost nothing but the glass.
CHAPTER XV
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES
While the prize gardens usually contained a full
assortment of vegetables, and often of fruit and flowers
also, the description in many cases showed that the
gardener was more or less of a specialist with some
one or two crops. He had grown these leading crops
with distinct success and was thoroughly at home
in relating the details of their management. Many
of these special descriptions are included in the general
garden accounts in other chapters, the others are
grouped together here under the various crop headings.
Potatoes in Nezv Jersey. — In northern and central
New Jersey white potatoes are a staple crop, and the
methods are labor-saving and businesslike. They are
well described by A. Engle Haines, a Burlington
county grower. A rotation followed brings potatoes on
same ground once in five years, corn being the preced-
ing crop. After husking in November, New York
horse manure of best quality is spread on rye, which
is sown to plow down, at the rate of twelve tons per
acre. Plowing is commenced about April I.
The seed is purchased in Aroostook county,
Maine. Fertilizer is applied at the rate of one thousand
pounds per acre, in rows two feet nine inches apart.
Rows of this width are desirable on account of vines
covering ground entirely before hot weather. Ferti-
lizer should not have less than ten per cent potash.
The seed is cut, as far as possible, to one eye, and
plaster put on immediately. Cutting should be done
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 213
four days before planting, so as to heal. Planting is
deep enough so ground may be harrowed across the
rows, thus disposing of first crop of weeds.
The weeder is used every three days in the after-
noon, and never in the morning, until after sprouts are
large enough to be cultivated, which is done alternately
with a one-horse peg-tooth and a two-horse riding
cultivator.
The one-horse arrangement pulls the dirt away,
while the two-horse tends to ridge, and by using both
the soil is kept perfectly level, which is very important,
especially in time of drouth. The weeder follows every
cultivation until plants are twelve inches high, making
the ground fine and breaking crust around the stems.
The ground should be stirred at least every week and
oftener if it rains oftener.
During the season of 1900 there was a very severe
local drouth, no soaking rain falling during growing
season. We succeeded in harvesting a crop of potatoes
that year with only six per cent culls. The variety
depends on kind of ground, location, etc.
Late Planted Crop was produced with success by
R. Bingam of New Jersey, who writes : We are try-
ing to improve farm practice by earlier planting in the
south side of ridges thrown up in furrowing to get
more sun heat and protection from north winds, and by
covering with dry weeds, leaves or hay to protect from
frost in early spring or late fall. I have potatoes still
green November 21, by covering three times, and on
an adjoining farm those planted August 9 were killed
October 2. Ours were planted September 7, and are
fair size for planting. We make our rows closer and
have put one plant in a place, getting more plants per
acre and giving each more room to feed in. Instead
of placing the food below the roots, where it obstructs
the rise of moisture in time of drouth,' we place it on the
214 PRIZE GARDENING
surface, where it conserves moisture, and rains carry it
to the roots instead of to the rivers, as is the case when
placed below in our leachy sand. We use rakes for
close work among plant roots instead of hoes.
The Potato Field. — Potatoes are first plowed out,
then picked up and carried to the cellar. The ground
is then harrowed and gleanings picked up. The field
is then plowed deeper and harrowed again. By plow-
ing deeper the deep-growing potatoes are thrown out.
— [Enos Elton, Douglas county, Nebraska.
I do not believe in planting potatoes early. By
watching other people's patches, I have decided that
it does not increase the yield to freeze off the tops.
— [J. L., Tompkins county, New York.
People that use small potatoes for planting with
the idea of saving, lose bushels to save pecks. Large
seed potatoes at three dollars per bushel are preferable
to small ones as a gift. The potato bug must have
attention. Paris green is generally used ; a prepara-
tion called Bug Death is far superior. One application
when the dew is on is sufficient for the season. It
adheres tenaciously to the vines. — [L. E. Dimock, Tol-
land county, Connecticut.
The New Onion Culture is described by E. W.
Godfrey, Illinois, as follows : I planted two plots, one
of Yellow Danvers, sowing the seed, and the other of
Prizetaker, the seed being sown in hotbeds and trans-
planted. To begin with, I bought Greiner's book, The
New Onion Culture, and followed his instructions as
carefully as possible. In everything except labor, I
found his statements very conservative. He puts the
labor cost of weeding and hoeing at thirty dollars for
seed onions and twenty dollars for transplanted. I put
it at one hundred dollars per acre in any good growing
season.
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES
215
One cannot insist too strongly on the necessity of
fertilizing. When the labor investment is so heavy,
it is the worst of folly to economize on manures. Poor
land will hardly pay for seed. Average good land will
not more than repay labor and expenses, while rich
land, with good cultivation, will return a satisfactory
profit. I believe in the transplanting method, provided
ESfiPil
■ - ■'
;$£
; m.'%. -«rl
•
Jffll
HARVESTING ONIONS
the seed can be sown in hotbeds early enough, say from
February 15 to March i, in this latitude of forty
degrees, so the plants can be set out in the ground
about the middle of April.
In this way, six weeks of good growing weather
is gained. By using large varieties, the returns will
2l6
PRIZE GARDENING
amply repay the extra expense of transplanting. But,
if for any reason, there is much delay in getting the
hotbed started, I would give it up and put the seed into
the open ground as early as possible, using plenty of
good seed to get a full stand.
The cost of transplanting I have found to be
about fifty dollars per acre, that is one man and five
boys at three dollars and fifty cents per day ought to
A NEW ENGLAND ONION CROP
pull and transplant twelve thousand sets a day. Labor
is of course variable and experts might do more, but
with common labor one picking up two thousand sets
is a fair day's work. Hence, to repay for transplanting
one must get one hundred bushels extra per acre, and
this can only be done by using the big varieties and
with the six weeks of extra growth. With both these
points I think the crop ought to be doubled and yield
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 2lJ
four hundred to six hundred bushels extra per acre
on rich ground.
The arguments advanced that transplanting saves
seed and weeding I regard as of no value. It is penny-
wise and pound-foolish to try and save seed. If it
saved weeding, it would be a strong argument, but I
fail to see that it helps. There are just so many weeds
to be pulled. It is of course easier to the worker to
have the onions a uniform distance in the row, but
my experience shows that the average workman will
1
4S
Hik : ' 1
«|
'•
*w
jSYy • ^ WL
BpjIk f ^shHHhkkYmBKl
1
f
1
-T-X.
5s
* *
PRIZE ONIONS
cover no more ground per day. As to long-handled
hoeing to save stooping, I do not think it can be done
between the onions. The onion worker must make up
his mind to put in the season on his knees. By using
padded knee cushions, it is easier.
In Weeding Onions, observes a New York woman
gardener, I always find it the best way to use my
fingers. To be successful with them you must not allow
the dirt to come up over them. When I speak of using
2l8 TRIZE GARDENING
my fingers, I mean where the ground is soft. Run the
ringer down into the dirt close to the onion and work up
carefully and loosen and take away some of the earth,
and as they get larger thin them well and take away
more earth. They should be, when full grown, stand-
ing entirely out of the ground, just the roots only in
the earth. I had a little plot in my garden, seventeen by
thirty feet, and gathered eight and three-fourths
bushels of marketable onions from it.
The Onion Harvest, — The onions, according to
the methods of E. Elton, Douglas county, Nebraska,
are pulled, throwing five rows into one, and let dry for
a couple of days. They are then picked up and sold or
put into a building until it freezes through the build-
ing. They are then taken out and sold, or kept near
freezing point till selling price is better.
Tomatoes were very popular as a prize garden
crop. They were quite generally successful, and their
profuse yield sometimes saved the day, so far as con-
cerned profit from the season's operations. One of
the most complete of the numerous tomato reports
comes from A. A. Atwood of Iowa.
His tomato seed was planted in a bed made by
driving down stakes and nailing up wide boards and
covering it nights and cold days. It was planted April
15, in rows five to six inches apart, and covered one-
half inch deep. The plants came up slowly, but grew
well, and Air. Atwood raised about eight thousand
from one-fourth pound of seed. The variety was
Stone. The ground was plowed seven or eight inches
deep, harrowed, cross-harrowed and marked in rows
three and one-half feet apart. He set just an acre,
beginning to transplant May 24 and finishing June 7,
setting the plants three feet apart and using four
thousand one hundred and thirty-six. A few plants
had to be reset, principally on account of cutworms.
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES
219
The young- plants were hoed June 12, and the weeds
were cut out with a hoe on June 19, 24 and July 1 1.
They were cultivated June 14 and 22. The tomato
worms were not bad, but he went over the patch and
killed one hundred.
Some of the tomatoes were in bloom July 6, and
the first were ripe August 12. Picking began for the
canning factory September 1, and until September 28,
PICKING TOMATOES
when there was a severe freeze, were sold fourteen
thousand five hundred and thirty pounds at five
dollars per ton, eighteen bushels to the neighbors at
twenty-five cents per bushel, and eight bushels were
used at home. At the time of the freeze there were
three thousand pounds of tomatoes on the vines.
Besides the above there were sold one thousand six
hundred plants at ten cents per hundred, making a
total of forty-four dollars and forty-three cents
220 PRIZE GARDENING
received. The picking cost two cents per crate or
seven cents per ton. The cost was as follows: Pre-
paring ground and planting seed two dollars and
twenty-five cents, seed thirty cents, transplanting and
resetting three dollars and five cents, cultivating
five dollars and fifty cents, harvesting and market-
ing twelve dollars and ninety-five cents ; total
twenty-four dollars and five cents, and profits twenty
dollars and thirty-eight cents.
Southern Tomato Culture, as described by A.
Klenke, Palo Pinto county, Texas, presents several
points of difference : My way is to plow the ground a
foot deep in the fall of the year, manure richly with
barnyard manure and some wood ashes, then plow the
ground several times during the winter to prevent it
from becoming compact.
I set the plants three feet each way. I find frames
not profitable, but plant close enough so that one plant
will in a measure support another. I put small brush
under the plants to prevent fruit from touching the
ground. A few times gathering will make regular
places for the feet to stand, and the same places should
be used every time when gathering tomatoes. I give
deep culture as often as possible until crowding plants
prevent plowing.
In transplanting during a dry time, I have had
good success in the following way : First of all, I have
holes ready to receive the plants before taking them
out of the seed bed. I then pinch off all shoots except
the very top leaves, and set them so as only to expose
the top of the plants. I give plenty of water, rake
some drv dirt over the wet, and when carefullv done
no shading is required, and in a few days the plants
will be several inches above the ground. When trans-
planting in the usual way I shade plants for two days
by placing old boards or shingles around them to keep
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 221
off the sun. By using the above method I need not
wait for a rainy spell to transplant tomato plants.
Plants in Boxes. — I started my tomatoes in the
kitchen window and let them grow there until May 2,
when I planted them out, each plant in a strawberry
box, and placed them in the cold frame with my cucum-
bers. My one hundred tomatoes and twenty-five pep-
pers I set out after I got the water on the hill, June 19.
They were good strong plants, all in bloom, and the
boxes were full of good roots. I like this way of rais-
ing, for it gives plenty of room and makes stocky
plants. It does not disturb the roots as when all are set
in one box. In setting I cut the corners, placed the
box in the hill, then slipped out the box, put the soil
around, pressed well, using water the same as for
cucumbers. Not a plant wilted, although the sun was
very hot. I do not trellis, although I think it would
pay. — [A. E. Ross, Strafford county, New Hampshire.
Good Tomatoes. — The first thing to do is to buy
a package of Fordhook Fancy tomato seed. Quick
germination and steady growth are essential to a good
yield. Sow the seed in rich soil from March 1 to 20
and keep warm and moist. When plants are two inches
high, transplant in fresh soil four inches apart, keep
in good light with less water; transplant the second
time, and when the weather is warm and fine, plant in
the open field. The dwarf varieties need richer soil
than the taller kinds. I raise the Fordhook in this way
with the very best results. I sell large quantities of
these plants, put in boxes six by eight, twelve plants
in each box. This variety gives best satisfaction in
this section, as the plants look well when young and
need no support; the fruit is beautiful. — [Alfred
Fuller, Cattaraugus county, New York.
Once Transplanted is Enough according to F. R.
Trask, Worcester county, Massachusetts. May 9, set
222
PRIZE GARDENING
out fifteen small Spot Cash tomato plants in open
ground direct from seed boxes sown April 10. Other
plants were transplanted to larger boxes, according to
usual custom, where they remained until May 30, when
they were set in open ground. These plants were at
this time larger and better looking than those set in
garden May 9, but while they were recovering from
the shock of the second transplanting the first quite
caught up with them and in the end were the better
plants. Would also note experiment with an early
tomato sowed in open ground May 23, not transplanted
at all, nor very well cared for, but it bore abundantly
and ripened fruit in October. I have concluded that
v -tJIIW
MR. EDGE'S TOMATO SUPPORT
except for very earliest use, it is best to transplant toma-
toes but once, direct from seed box to open ground,
and for late crop the seed box may be dispensed with,
sowing in hills in open ground any time in May, and
thinning to one plant as with cabbages, etc.
A Cheap Tomato Frame is described by Alfred P.
Edge, Harford county, Maryland. Each frame con-
sists of four pieces of three by four scantling fastened
together at the top with a wooden pin so that they will
open and close. On each side are nailed three strips of
shingle lath about fifteen feet long. The frames stand
about four feet high when open, and by stooping one
can walk the whole way underneath. The frames are
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 223
set between two rows so that plants from each side are
trained up and over them. After the plants are nicely
started, Mr. Edge ties them to the lower strip, but after
that they are held by the slant of the frame. In the fall
he closes the frames and leans them against the fence
out of the way until wanted another year.
Good Melons.— A grower of prime melons was
L. E. Dimock, Connecticut, whose luscious products
won much glory at county fairs. Six hills were planted,
May 17, to Iron Clad Melons, and six to Santiago.
The earth was excavated to the depth of two feet, three
feet in diameter, and filled with decomposed cow and
horse manure, with a liberal supply of hen manure,
the whole being mixed thoroughly with the soil. The
seeds after being soaked in water for thirty-six hours
were planted in each hill and covered two inches deep.
A box two feet square, twelve inches deep, with the
top and bottom taken off, was placed over each hill
and there remained, except when hoeing, until the
plants were ready to send out vines, then it was
removed. This protects the plants from chilling winds
and the vines grow much faster than otherwise. Water-
melons are an uncertain crop to those who have no
experience in raising them. The soil must be of a
sandy loam and if the proper surface can be utilized,
and a southeast slope can be had, it is one great factor
in melon raising. Two vines only are allowed in each
hill and all but two melons are picked off each vine.
The ends of the vines are pinched off after the melons
have set. On this space forty-eight melons weighed
from thirty to thirty-five or forty pounds, and were a
beautiful sight.
C. P. Byington's Melon Crop was a grand success ;
early, abundant and of fine quality. Holes were made
in the soil where each hill was to be, eight inches deep
and two and one-half feet in diameter. Coarse
224 PRIZE GARDENING
barnyard manure was spread evenly over the bottom
of each hole to a depth of three inches and covered
with an inch of fine soil, on top of which was placed
two shovelfuls of compost; and this in turn covered
with three inches of fine sifted soil, thus raising the
hill level with the surface. The seeds were then
planted by hand to a depth of one and one-half to
two inches, fifteen or twenty seeds to the hill, placed
germ end down, and covered with the hand. Each
hill was then sown with a few radish seeds, lightly
covered, and the soil compacted. The hills were
made eight feet apart for watermelons, and six feet
apart for muskmelons.
Cultivation was begun as soon as the plants were
up, and continued every other day until August i,
working as close to the hills as the vines would
admit, maintaining a fine mulch on the surface to save
moisture. As soon as the vines reached a length of
three feet, the ends were pinched off to promote the
growth of laterals and fruit close to the hills. The
object of sowing radish seed on each hill was for the
twofold purpose of furnishing a succession of radishes
and to protect the young plants from the ravages of
insects. As soon as the plants were out of the way of
insects, the radishes which had not already been
removed for table use were pulled, and the plants
thinned out, leaving three of the most thrifty plants to
a hill. These above methods apply equally well to
squashes and cucumbers.
" Whether the presence of the radishes in the
hills had any protective influence, I cannot say ; certain
it is, however, that none of my melons, squashes or
cucumbers were troubled in the least with insects, and
the plan is not without value as it furnishes a succession
of radishes without utilizing extra ground. The vines
made a good growth, withstanding the severe drouth
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 225
remarkably well, and fruiting abundantly, both water-
melons and muskmelons being available for the table
and for exhibition at the county fair the latter part of
August, and they were constantly available thereafter
until October 2, when an impending frost led me to
pick the few which remained, and by keeping them in a
cool cellar, these were available until used up."
Squashes and Cucumbers. — Methods as described
for these were much the same as for melons. In regard
to the summer squash, Dr. W. Y. Fox, Bristol county,
Massachusetts, writes : Two plantings of Golden
Summer Crookneck were made, one on May 5, and the
other July 3. The hills were filled with stable manure
and irrigated several times. The striped beetle was
kept down by free use of air-slaked lime. The first
squashes were cut July 17, and the last October I. In
all we had two hundred squashes, and we appreciate
this vegetable as much as any we raise, for it is impos-
sible to buy them in the market that are fit to eat.
We want them cut while tender, almost as soon as
the blossom falls off the end, while the truckmen do
not cut them till the outer skin is as hard as Pharaoh's
heart and we must cut them up with an ax. They are
also much better when just picked than after knock-
ing around for three or four days.
Early Cukes. — We had cucumbers July 3^ notes
Mrs. D. F. M., Suffolk county, New York, the preced-
ing year we did not have them till the last week in July.
I think that starting them in hotbeds makes a differ-
ence of nearly three weeks.
A. E. Ross, Strafford county, New Hampshire,
gives further particulars about the early cucumber
crop : I planted them in plum boxes eight inches
square and four inches deep. I filled them about two-
thirds full of good garden soil, then put in the seed. I
placed them in a cold frame, made by nailing boards
226 PRIZE GARDENING
together like a box without top or bottom. I took off
my double windows April 18, and placed them on top,
thus making a very nice place to grow them. After
they were up in good shape I thinned to four good
strong plants. After the third leaf was well grown I
filled the boxes full of rich soil, thus having the roots
deep, and at the same time the plants were well sup-
ported. June 19, I set them in open ground. It was
so dry I could not set them before. I put in a ram and
got water on the hill, June 16, so I had enough to keep
them well watered. I dug large, deep holes, six feet
apart, put in two large forkfuls of manure, and filled
with top soil. I then opened the hill enough to admit
the box. I cut the corners, flattened it out and left it
there. I took a pail of water, poured it around the hill,
then filled it up and pressed the soil. By this method
I did not lose a plant, although some had vines
eighteen inches long and all in bloom.
Celery Was a Favorite Crop, both for first and
second planting. An excellent account is given by
C. P. Byington, Greene county, New York. The seed
of Golden Self-Blanching was sown June 1, and trans-
planted twice before being transferred to the garden,
July 15; the first time, when the first leaves were well
out, about three-fourths of an inch apart, and the
second time, when about two inches high, to larger
boxes and farther apart. When transferred to the
garden the plants were about four inches high. About
one-third of the top and roots were cut off with the
shears, to insure a compact, stocky growth. A trench
was dug nine inches deep and fifteen inches wide, into
which was put equal parts of compost and soil, five
inches deep, and the plants were set five inches apart.
By this method the plants are started several
inches below the surface, thereby obviating the neces-
sity of ridging so high, combining the advantages of a
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 22^
partial trench system and avoiding, in a measure, the
danger of severe drouth. Cultivation was carried on
both sides of the trench merely to keep down the weeds
and save moisture, working -just enough soil in the
trenches to gradually fill them as the plants grew.
The cultivator was continued every other day until
September i, when the first ridging was done by going
astride the row with Planet Jr plows, one being set
each side the row to turn in. This operation was
repeated September 15, and on October 2, boards were
set up edgewise, about one foot distant from the rows
on each side, to hold the bank while soil was shoveled
against the plants. The tops of the plants were held
together during this operation until banked up to the
top leaves.
Notwithstanding the care taken it seemed certain
the crop would be a failure from lack of moisture.
Owing to the long-continued drouth the water supply
was barely sufficient for actual needs. The expedient
was hit upon of saving all the wash water and slops
from the house in barrels. Mr. Byington was thus
enabled to water the plants thoroughly two or three
times a week, always after sundown. While entailing
a little extra labor, it was paid for in the quality and
quantity of the product. The crop was gathered No-
vember 2, and packed in boxes one foot deep, by
placing the bunches close together one way, and one
foot apart the other, covering the roots well with dry
soil from the garden. The boxes were then put away
in a cool, well-ventilated cellar.
Banking and Bleaching is thus described by Fred
W. Kilbourne of New Jersey: The Golden Self-
Blanching celery grows upright arid we didn't touch it
with our hands in banking. We first loosened the soil
with the plow, threw the dirt as high as possible, then
a few days later finished with a shovel. We banked
228 PRIZE GARDENING
three rows at a time, then a week later three more, and
thus had a succession. It needs to be sold as soon as
bleached, or it will rust and decay. We commenced
selling about October ii, and sold about one row a
week. On November 10 and n, put all the celery left
unsold into the cellar, packing the bleached in a wide
bed as close together as it could be packed.
The unbleached we packed in beds about three
feet wide and eighteen feet long, with a little sand on
the roots. We used ten-inch hemlock boards for the
sides. This celery will need watering about twice,
for which I have a funnel made with a mouth about a
foot wide, and a long spout, so that the water can be
poured in and carried to the roots without wetting the
foliage. We keep the cellar open night and day as
long as it is safe, only closing at the approach of severe
weather. 1 expect to have all celery sold, or in condi-
tion to sell, by New Year's.
A Northwestern Celery Grozver of experience, A.
Brackett, Hennepin county, Minnesota, detailed fully
his very successful methods : Celery seed was planted
in drills eighteen inches apart, on moist, rich soil, on
lake margin. The seedbed should be made very
rich and the celery planted as soon as the ground can
be worked in the spring. It should be kept thoroughly
hoed and free from weeds. The plants should be large
enough to plant any time between June 20 and July 10.
The more compact the ground the more compact will
be the celery. Celery grown on loose ground is apt to
be pithy and spongy.
The field in which we planted celery was plowed
early in the spring, and kept thoroughly cultivated
until the time of planting. With a marker we marked
off rows five feet apart and ran a celery hiller through
the rows, throwing the dirt each way, and leaving the
rows about six inches deep. One load of completely
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 229
rotted cow or sheep manure was scattered in about
four hundred feet of row. With a narrow-toothed cul-
tivator we worked the soil and manure together. Just
before planting we took the plants up, trimmed off the
tops and roots^ leaving a stub of about three inches.
We planted with a dibber, and, the field being on
the lake shore, watered all the rows before planting,
as the weather was very dry. We kept all the weeds
hoed out, and when the plants were well rooted we
cultivated at least once a week. We commenced
crowding up earth to the celery September i, and then
only to keep the plants upright. We have found that
celery banked in hot weather is subject to rust. We
commenced banking about September 20, continuing
the operation every few days until the celery was hilled
to the top.
It is safe to leave celery in the field in this latitude
until November 1, when it should be taken up and put
in trenches.
We hold our celery in the trenches for the holi-
day trade. We select a central position in the field
where the celery is raised, take up and lay over a few
rows, and with the large string plow work as deep as
possible, a strip of ground eight feet wide and any
length desirable. With a spade we dig a ditch in the
center of the eight-foot strip, deep enough to allow the
tops of the celery to come even with the surface. Have
the celery piled along the trench within reach of the
man who is to place in the trench, two stalks side by
side, pressing enough dirt around the roots to hold in
position. Leave a space of eight inches, digging a new
trench, using the earth removed to fill up around the
celery in the first row, and so on until the strip is filled.
Let it stand in this shape until there is danger of freez-
ing. Then cover with six inches of dirt and allow this
layer to freeze nearly through to the celery, then cover
23O PRIZE GARDENING
with strawy manure, which will prevent frost working
any farther.
Celery buried in this manner is sure to keep
until spring. Thirty-six square rods, planted according
to the above, cost in labor and rent of ground, fifty
dollars and ninety-five cents. Proceeds of sales were
ninety-five dollars, leaving a profit of forty-five dollars
and five cents.
Blanching Celery with Leaf Mold. — C. Gross,
Morgan county, Missouri, took two boards the length
of the row and one foot wide, and placed them six
inches distant from the plants, one on each side of the
row, keeping them in place by small stakes. He next
fitted a small board at each end, which was also held in
place by stakes, or they might be lightly nailed together,
forming a box. He now filled the space between the
boards around the celery with leaf mold, straightening
up the celery leaves while filling in. Water was then
applied until the leaf mold was all moistened through.
As it settled down more was put in and watered until
the box was full of moist leaf mold. The celery Mr.
Gross found to be perfectly and quickly blanched in
this manner.
Celery in Cellar. — November 8, W. McDermott,
Saratoga county, New York, gathered his celery,
placed it right side up as carefully as possible, in a box
in the cellar, and kept the tops sprinkled with water
say once in two weeks. He keeps celery crisp and
tender nearly all winter in this way.
Peas. — A good crop was grown in a dry, hot
season, by the thorough methods which C. P. Byington
describes. With wheel plows, furrows were made
three and one-half feet apart and five to six inches
deep, by plowing twice in the same furrow. The peas
were then drilled in by hand, using one quart of seed
to one hundred and fifty feet of drill, and covered by
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 23 1
reversing plows to turn in, running through each
furrow and covering the peas two to three inches,
walking on the covered rows behind the plow to firm
and compact the soil about the seed, and to retain
moisture. The rows were made three and one-half feet
apart, that early sweet corn might be planted between
every other two rows of peas, leaving a clear space
between each two rows of peas to facilitate picking.
After the peas were planted and covered, the rows
appeared as a shallow trench, about eight inches wide
and three inches deep, which as the peas grew, was
gradually filled level by cultivation. By this method
the peas were started at a depth not so prone to be
affected by surface conditions, and the better enabled
thereby to resist drouth.
Cultivation was begun as soon as the peas were
up, by going through the rows with cultivators, follow-
ing the cultivators with the rake attachments at the
first cultivation, and subsequently once a week there-
after, or after every third cultivation. The crop was
cultivated three times a week until in full bloom,
keeping the soil constantly stirred to a sufficient depth,
smooth and free from weeds.
The climatic conditions which prevailed were not
conducive to the best results, but the grower had peas
to eat while neighbors with larger area planted and
better soil, reported an almost complete failure, having
been obliged, many of them, to buy peas for family use,
the severe drouth from early in spring lasting through-
out the entire growing and bearing period of the crop.
The first crop, planted April 15, while the ground
was cool, and not so susceptible to dry weather,
obtained a good start and was not so perceptibly affected
by the drouth, giving a fair yield, twice as much for
the area planted as the later plantings.
232 PRIZE GARDENING
Larze, Well-Filled Com. — L. E. Dimock of Con-
nccticut tells how his premium corn was grown, as
follows: May 29, he prepared two rows three feet
apart, with spaces eighteen inches apart, and placed six
kernels around the center, six inches apart. The seed
was soaked in warm water thirty-six hours, and rolled
in coal tar and then in land plaster. The tar prevented
the crows and blackbirds from pulling it up. The
plaster prevented the corn adhering together. This
method was far superior to the old-fashioned scare-
crow. When crows got one mouthful it proved a great
plenty for the whole season. Many fields have been
ruined by crows that gave the scarecrows no attention.
The plants at intervals are thinned to four in a hill.
Deep planting gave an opportunity for level culture,
and hen manure spread broadcast with stable manure
deep down in the earth caused the roots to run deep
and no ill effect was experienced from dry weather.
The suckers were taken off the same as in tobacco
raising, which caused the whole strength to enter the
ears, and much larger and well-filled ears were the
result.
Field corn matured much better to cut the stalks
near the ear when the corn is in the milk. This method
gave excellent fodder and much better ears. By the
common way of cutting up and setting in stacks, much
of the corn becomes moldy and damaged in a wet
season. By this method Mr. Dimock found no injury
occurred to fodder or ears.
Make Several Plantings. — We are very fond of
sugar corn, observes E. G. Packard, Kent county,
Delaware, and by using several varieties and successive
plantings a few days apart, I secured a steady and
abundant supply from July 14 to October 1, and of
tomatoes from June 28 to October 10. Also of lima
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 233
beans from July 21 to October 2, when our first killing
frost occurred.
Second Growth Cabbage. — Growers are advised by
Mrs. McDonald, Suffolk county, New York, to cut the
cabbage head, leaving the stalk without any large
leaves, and cabbage cut during July and August would
have four small heads on each stalk in September and
October. These were nice cooked, but were especially
good for hens.
L. E. Dimock's Cabbage. — The seeds were soaked
in warm water thirty-six hours. A coating of hen
manure was spread broadcast and a thin mulch of
swale grass was spread over the surface. By this
treatment in five days the plants began to push through
the earth, the mulch was removed. Often stirring the
soil and thinning to an inch apart, gave hardy stock
plants that, when transplanted, lost no time in develop-
ing. When taking up plants for transplanting, a
manure fork is used. As much earth as possible is
taken up with the plants and placed in a shallow box,
after which they are given a thorough wetting.
This causes the earth to cling to the roots, and
plants thus treated can be transplanted in the
heat of the day and take no hurt. Plants trans-
planted July 8, in just four weeks measured across
the leaves three by four inches ; four thousand of
these kind of plants were set in the field July 6, and
gave a field of cabbages much to be admired. Cabbage
sown in beds broadcast, when transplanted are weak,
puny things, often not having strength to stand alone,
and may yield to the elements and leave their place
vacant. Cabbage are vigorous growers when rightly
treated. Mr. Dimock's method is to use new sward
ground and thus no weeds nor club root. To destroy
the little green worm that eats the heads, salt, with a
little saltpeter, mixed together and sprinkled on the
234 PRIZE GARDENING
heads, caused the worms to depart and the cabbage to
head solid.
Spinach wants very little covering - , according to
F. W. Kilbourne, New Jersey. The seed is large in
proportion to the sprout that has to push it up. If it is
planted deep and the ground crusts, it has trouble in
getting through.
"On November 20, the plants on my piece
averaged about five inches across. With the beginning
of winter I top-dress my spinach with short horse
manure, about ten tons to the acre. It cuts at the rate of
five hundred bushels to the acre. We begin cutting
early in the spring, cutting out the biggest and then
cultivating. The cultivating and the nitrate of soda,
four hundred pounds to the acre, forces it."
Egg Plc-ts. — Potato bugs destroyed all. the egg
plants grown around Mr. Kilbourne's place. "But I
saved mine," he says, "by giving them a heavy dose
of bordeaux mixture. I noticed one time when using it
for blight that the bugs did not admire the taste, and
so I sprayed with a small sprayer that I use in the
greenhouse, and it was pleasant to watch them march
off the plants. Six plants that I left unprotected as
an object lesson were completely destroyed. Antici-
pating a frost, we had cut all the large egg plants,
covered each fruit with a sheet of newspaper to
keep them from the air and to prevent bruising, and
stowed them away in the barn. We gathered in this
way seven hundred fruit that sold at five cents apiece.
The day after the frost we cut three hundred smaller
ones, but they did not keep as well."
C. P. Byington's Egg Plant. — Seed was sown in
shallow boxes in the house, March 7, and germination
and growth encouraged by keeping the soil well
moistened with lukewarm water, and the box in a
warm, sunny window. The method of transplanting
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 235
and transferring to the garden was the same as for
tomatoes. Cultivation was done regularly every other
day, and maintained as long as possible without injury
to the plants. When in blossom, early in June, a few
potato bugs found them. These were picked off, and
subsequently for a week the plants were looked over
carefully every day and every bug destroyed ; the under
side of the leaves was likewise examined for eggs
and these also destroyed. No more trouble was
experienced until the latter part of August, when, cul-
tivation having been discontinued, the plants were
neglected somewhat, and they were discovered to be
literally covered with newly hatched bugs. These were
at once brushed off into a pan and boiling water thrown
over them. This operation was repeated every morn-
ing for a week, when they were again free of both bugs
and eggs. The first fruit was available for table use
August 12, and constantly thereafter until October 2,
when the few remaining fruits of good quality were
picked off and kept in a cool place till used.
One Woman's Way. — I have used pans green
for cucumber bugs, writes Myra O. Peck, Ontario
county, New York, but I like creosote better. To keep
them bearing it is necessary to be careful in picking,
and not step on the vines, neither break a curl. I did
not put water on mine this year to keep them bearing,
I hoed the dirt up so deep around them it is a wonder
they lived at all, for we had no rain until too late to
benefit the garden any.
My method in raising parsnips is to keep the soil
soft and hoed very deep. I thin them to about six
inches apart. I also keep close watch for caraway
worms; my only remedy is to pick them off and kill
them. They also bother celery.
In growing peppers, I set the plants about eigh-
teen inches apart. After they get a good start, I go to
2^6 PRIZE GARDENING
the hencoop, get some compost, and hoe a little around
each plant. I hoe very deep but not too close to them.
I draw the dirt up around them, as they like deep soft
earth. I have had some very large fruit of very
fine quality.
For beets and turnips, I follow the same method as
in raising onions, beets are rather small owing to
extreme dry weather. Some turnips weighed from
four to five pounds.
Spring Lettuce. — Seed was planted by A.
Brackett, Hennepin county, Minnesota, the first week
in March, in the greenhouse, and transplanted in rows
three or four inches apart and one inch apart in the
rows, then three weeks later transplanted again six
inches apart each way. If watered and kept at the
proper temperature, they will be ready for market
in three or four weeks. Price there runs from twenty-
five to thirty cents per dozen. His proceeds were
forty-three dollars and eighty-three cents. Expenses,
ten dollars and ten cents.
Grozving Lettuce. — Three varieties of lettuce were
planted by C. P. Byington, Greene county, New York.
Iceberg was sown April 21, Cream Butter May 1, and
Tyrol May 25. The seed was sown quite thickly in
drills one foot apart, thinning out young plants to two
or three inches apart. In a week or two these made
nice, bunchy plants which were thinned as needed for
the table, to about one foot apart, and left to head. The
first tender leaves were available for the table twenty-
eight days from seed, and the crop continued until
the middle of July. Elegant heads of Iceberg were
ready for the table the last of June. They were crisp,
brittle and tender, and this is a fine variety in all stages.
The other two varieties were tender when young, but
did not head nicely or stand the drouth as well as
Iceberg.
SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 237
Plan for a Few Herbs. — Every gardener, as
advised by George Osborne of Illinois, should have a
plot for herbs, such as sage, dill, etc. As these are
mostly perennials they should be planted where they
will not interfere with the plowing of the garden.
Starting Ginseng. — This unusual specialty, which
is attracting increased attention because of the high
prices quoted for the prepared roots, is briefly alluded
to by John Frazer, Washington county, New York.
Early in September three plots were chosen for
planting ginseng. The plots were plowed and all stones
and other obstructions forked out to the depth of one
foot. Three barrels of fine, well-rotted manure were
applied to each square rod of ground, well raked and
mixed in to a depth of three inches. The ground was
made very mellow and in fine condition. Each plot was
divided in beds five, feet wide, by placing six-inch
boards on edge, held in place by stakes driven into
the ground. A walk of fifteen inches was between
the beds.
CHAPTER XVI
PRIZE FLOWERS AND FRUIT
The flower bed was an important annex to many
family gardens in the contest, yet the floral portion of
the garden received comparatively little attention in
the majority of accounts. Although many expressed
admiration and appreciation of flower products, the
majority were contented with the simplest methods of
growing them, as described in the various accounts in
other chapters.
Those who took special pride in the aesthetic side
of gardening and with the same care and skill that they
would employ with the money crops, prepared and
cultivated their plots of seedlings, using choice seed,
forcing with hotbeds and high culture, produced results
which caused many a country estate to resemble a
choice section of the garden of Eden. The grounds
of a New York state gardener, R. N. Lewis, were at
first comparatively bare and unattractive, but when
the skillfully managed flower beds were in full bloom, a
scene of beauty appeared of which a faint idea may be
obtained from the accompanying picture.
One of the few who made anything like a specialty
of flowering plants was B. S. Higley of Ohio, the first
regular prize winner. His very thorough and success-
ful methods for sweet peas, begonias and dahlias are
given nearly in full :
Sweet Peas. — When the peas are ready to climb,
I prepare a trellis in this way: The end posts were
well braced when set. I nail to each post, crosswise of
the rows, three pieces of two by four-inch pine, twelve
24O PRIZE GARDENING
inches long, one about eight inches from the ground,
one midway of the post, and one at the top. By the
use of nails and staples stretch three wires on each side
as taut as possible and fasten them to the ends of the
crosspieces. Thus I have three wires on each side of
the row, about ten inches apart horizontally, and three
feet up and down. I buy white binding twine, rather
coarse, by the dozen balls. Begin at one end of the
row and tie the twine to the top wire close to the post,
then go down to the second wire on the same side, wind
the twine twice around and knot at a distance of nine
inches from the post. Then go down to the bottom wire
and fasten the twine eighteen inches from the post.
Come up to the middle wire and tie at a distance of
twenty-seven inches from the post, and to the top wire
at a distance of three feet. Thus I continue slanting
forward down and up to the end of the row, when I
return in precisely the same way, except that I tie the
twine midway between the knots on the top and bottom
wires and cross at the knots on the middle wire, tying
there exactly over the former knot. This makes a
cheap but very serviceable trellis.
Buy good galvanized iron, not steel, wire, store it
away in the fall and it will last for years. This trellis
is easily cleaned away in the autumn, in which respect
it differs totally from poultry netting. It is only
necessary to run a sharp knife along the wires and cut
the twine, when all the dead vines can be pulled off and
carried to the refuse pile.
Tuberous Begonias. — Early in March the tubers
are potted in four-inch pots, with potting soil made of
one-third sharp sand and two-thirds well-rotted sods
and manure. Care must be taken to plant the bulbs
right side up. I generally cover them about one-fourth
of an inch and firm the soil around them compactly.
The top of the soil should be nearly an inch below the
PRIZE FLOWERS AND FRUIT 24 1
top of the pot. As soon as planted, they are thoroughly
watered and placed on a plant frame in a room where a
fire is kept up night and day, the stand being in the
darkest part of the room. About twice a week water is
poured in so as nearly to fill the pots. In about a
month the shoots appear, and in six weeks the pots are
removed to another room, where the temperature is
kept about fifty degrees. The pots are so placed that
they will get the morning sun. Here they remain until
the time for planting out. They are watered as before,
and turned from time to time, since the plants will lean
toward the sun. Starting in pots assures strong plants
and early bloom.
A few bulbs generally fail to start, so I buy half a
dozen each year. About the middle of May the plants
will range in hight from one and one-half to eight
inches. I then plant them in rows eighteen inches apart
and one foot in a row. The pots are given a thorough
watering a few hours previous to transplanting. With
a garden trowel a hole is dug six inches in diameter
and six to eight inches deep. The plants are removed
carefully from the pots and set at the same depth as
before. Fill the hole nearly full with soil, water liber-
ally, cover the wet soil with dry earth and firm
compactly.
Dahlias. — Last fall my dahlias, after the frost had
killed the tops, had their stalks cut ofT about five inches
above the ground. I cut the soil all around the plant
with a spade, to the depth of a foot or more, taking
care to keep not less than a foot away from the center
of the plants. Then using the spade still, the plants
were carefully lifted, taking care not to break off any
of the attached tubers. I took considerable soil with the
clump and removed carefully to a storeroom where they
would not freeze, and permitted them to dry out for
several days, when they were removed to a frost-proof
242 PRIZE GARDENING
cellar and stored side by side in shoe boxes. I never
cover them at all, unless unusually cold, when I throw
old bags over them. If the cellar is very dry it would
be necessary to fill the boxes with dry sand to preserve
the vitality of the tubers. When the time comes to
plant, which is corn-planting time, handle the roots
with extreme care so as to break off no tubers. Dig
holes large enoug to hold the whole clump, plant
and cover.
The Water Lily Pond. — The artificial water lily
pond is found to-day hidden under spreading boughs
or in some shaded nook, silently nestling in a remote
corner of many of our city lawns ; thriving equally as
well, and perhaps better than at the country homes,
where facilities for water and drainage are not so
complete. The pond may be made about ten feet
long by six feet wide, sunk into the greensward in
a spot overhung with trees. The excavation, varying
fom five to eight inches deep (so as not to be quite
level), is well cemented and piped into the drain,
enough soil being allowed to cover the roots of the
plants. The water pipe is so arranged that fresh water
can be used when required.
Plenty of animal life keeps the plants healthy and
the water from becoming stagnant. Numerous tad-
poles, frogs, toads, a few goldfish and perch are useful
inhabitants of the picturesque pond. The tall cat-tails
vie with the Japanese iris, reflecting its own purple,
yellow and white radiance in the watery mirror beneath.
At the extreme end of the pond may be planted the
root of an Egyptian water lily (Nymphaca lotus),
the rose and favorite flower of ancient Egypt. It
thrives in stagnant or slowly running water, and as
each day it grows in beauty and ornamentation, it
reveals but little of the life-sustaining properties imbed-
ded in its roots, which are meat and substance to the
PRIZE FLOWERS AND FRUIT
243
people in the Menzaleh lake district and to many living
along the Nile and on the shores of the adjacent
rivulets.
Kissing the sunbeams at the feet of the iris and
cat-tails are the floating leaves of the water lilies,
spreading their broad, flat surface on the quiet water
with a scrupulous regard of ownership in this lily pond.
Between the leaves here and there peeps a bud, as if
/ 2
'Wft
HHR^SHb&i iivJ?"^ f r%M hf
>B9^^^bfl^9^v&
■ . \
'''bjmgfch^ .
3jPVK|
'■■ -«•
PEACH TREES IN AN ARKANSAS GARDEN
ashamed of its own boldness, which by to-morrow will
gain courage and unfold its beautiful wax-like petals
to be nursed into full bloom beneath the sheltered rays
of the warm sunlight. The lily pond, a fresh and
cooling oasis, even in a garden of rare flowers, will give
the most satisfaction for the least amount of labor of
any gardening that can be undertaken. In the fall a
244
PRIZE GARDENING
thick coverlet of leaves keeps the plants and animal life
intact until called from their dormant state by the first
songs of spring.
Fruit trees in the garden often added materially
to the profit side of the account. In other cases, how-
PROLIFIC CURRANTS
ever, they were considered a decided drawback to the
general success of the garden. Several contestants
insist that a highly successful garden must be wholly
free from shade of any kind. In the irrigated gardens
where the vast amount of water taken up by the tree
PRIZE FLOWERS AND FRUIT 245
roots can be artificially replaced, trees and vegetables
seem to get along better together than under ordinary
conditions. The illustration shows the thrifty growth
of peach trees in an Arkansas garden.
Small fruits, especially strawberries and currants,
were frequently a part of the prize gardens, and the
description has been given with the rest of the account.
A Minnesota Grower. — Five years ago, writes
John Tye of Minnesota, I trfed an experiment of laying
down my blackberry and raspberry canes by bending
them over and covering them with straw or coarse
litter, but when spring came the mice had killed all
the canes, by eating the bark off around the bottom.
In August I cut out all the old canes, thin out the
small, weak canes, and cut off the tops from those left,
about four feet from the ground. After that they grow
thick and stocky, mature the wood, and I think stand
the cold winter much. better than when they are left to
thicken and are not cut back. My blackberries make a
hedge two and one-half feet thick by four feet high,
and any cane that grows outside of that limit is cut off.
Thus it is easy for the girls to pick the berries without
much trouble, the canes grow so stocky they never need
any tying up, and the bearing canes are strong enough
in the spring to hold up the new canes as they grow up
through them.
The currant branch in the hand of the little girl
is a branch that was cut back to about five buds of
the new wood. That is all new growth grown during
the spring which is above the fruit.
CHAPTER XVII
LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS .
After a study of these hundreds of garden
accounts, an impression is received of candor and out-
spoken truthfulness. There is scarcely an instance
where inspection or outside investigation shows the
least sign of intention to conceal and mislead. Facts
were stated with the greatest completeness, including
some cases of almost humiliating loss and failure. It
would be difficult to pick out several hundred persons
of any other business or profession who would describe
the operations of a year with such frank completeness,
generously passing along to others the gains of their
experience and thought.
The substance of the accounts brings out strikingly
the fact that any reasonably successful garden may be
expected to pay for itself, including fair wages for all
work, and leave something for net profit. The showing
of the garden in the line of profits was evidently a
surprise to many contestants who had never figured
up the produce at wholesale price, nor noticed how
few full days' work were needed, especially with
modern implements ana methods.
Cost and Value of a Garden. — The figures which
are here presented are based upon the reports of five
hundred and fifteen gardens located in nearly every
state and territory, Canada and the provinces, so they
may be considered as accurate and reliable. Covering
such a vast territory, local conditions, which might give
different figures, are avoided and the summary becomes
LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS 247
a reliable basis of estimate and is the only thing of the
kind ever published.
EXPENSE AND PROFIT OF THE GARDEN
Farm Village
Size, square feet 24,372 14,866
Value of garden $48.81 $568.34
Value of tools 18.61 16.93
Interest and taxes 3- 21 22.73
Use of tools 1.27 1-70
Labor 26.34 ig.59
Seed 4-32 8.68
Fertilizer 775 7-12
Incidental expenses 78 -50
Total cost 43-67 60.32
Value of products used 54-04 54-50
Value of products sold 30.96 7-00
Total value of products 85.00 61.50
Profit 41.33 1-28
Gardens have been separated into two classes
—those on farms and those planted by village residents,
and an interesting comparison can be made between the
two, as shown in the accompanying table. Size and
value are the two most noticeable differences. The
farmer who wants a garden either takes the little
fenced-in spot that has served for this purpose for so
many years, or goes out in the field and lays off a piece
of half an acre, or as much as needed. The village
and city resident is confined to the back yard or the
vacant lot. Thus his plot is necessarily smaller and
being valuable for building purposes is worth more
than" the country garden. The figures for value are
the average of fifty-six village gardens, which range
from twenty-five dollars to one thousand eight hundred
and seventy-five dollars in value, and at the rate of
from one hundred dollars to over four thousand dollars
per acre. The range of value per acre of farm gardens
is not quite as great, being as low as five dollars per
acre for unimproved prairie land, to three hundred
dollars for small California farms with irrigation
248 PRIZE GARDENING
rights. The average value of nearly fifty dollars for
a garden of a trifle over half an acre is a conservative
figure. While it is probably double the value of the
farm land, the increase is due to the permanent improve-
ment of fruit trees, plants and vines, asparagus and
rhubarb beds, hotbeds, etc.
The value of tools is a trifle higher for the farm
gardens, as would be expected; for horse cultivators,
plows and harrows which are also used on the farm
are often figured in. For this reason we estimate seven
per cent for the use of tools here and ten per cent for
those used in village gardens, where they are employed
for no other purpose.
Interest and Taxes are difficult items to figure,
for the conditions are so dissimilar. In the case of
farm gardens we have the case of highly improved
property used principally for the production of garden
vegetables and fruits. On the other hand, village gar-
dens are largely vacant lots or back yards whose chief
value is for building purposes. As vacant lots they are
unimproved property, and held often for speculative
purposes, but as back yards they form a part of the
home grounds and a figure proportionate to the value
of the entire lot is given them by the owners.
The summaries show that seven and six-tenths per
cent was allowed for interest and taxes on the value
of farm gardens and four per cent on that of village
gardens. With one per cent of the latter for taxes,
which would approach two per cent of the assessed
valuation, we have three per cent left as interest, which
is as much as should be charged up against the land
for gardening purposes. Taking out the interest and
taxes from the total cost of the garden we have thirty-
seven dollars and fifty-nine cents as the actual cost
of producing the vegetables which grew in village gar-
dens, and forty dollars and forty-six cents on the farm.
LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS 249
Labor Cost is the most important item. It may be
said that the cost of a good garden is eternal vigilance.
It is not so much the total amount of labor required
as that it be employed at the proper time. One hour
a day throughout the season will, with the use of suit-
able tools, take care of a garden of less than half an
acre. The village gardens have been worked with the
most economical expenditure of labor. This is because
hand cultivators have been used to do most of the
work, and, secondly they have been kept freer of weeds
for several years. Many farm gardens are foul with
weeds, being utterly neglected during the latter part
of the season, and the hoe and hand work still play
too prominent a part in the cultivation. Gardens laid
out in long, narrow pieces to allow of horse cultivation
have been worked with the greatest economy of labor.
In the matter of seed the difference is quite sur-
prising. In this item have been included cabbage,
tomato and other plants which have been bought for
transplanting. Most village gardeners have had to
purchase these, while hotbeds are more numerous upon
the farm in which these plants are raised. Then, too,
villagers buy more of the novelties and new, high-
priced varieties of vegetables and spend considerably
more for flowers, bulbs and plants.
Manures and Fertilizers. — The expense for fer-
tilizers and manure is in favor of the farm, where
stable manure, upon which a nominal price is fixed,
is largely used. Besides this, one hundred and ninety-
five gardeners used no manure r ~ fertilizer or failed to
make report of any. Stable manure leads all other
forms of plant food in popularity. In two hundred
and twelve reports it was used exclusively, f orty-thr :e
used commercial fertilizer or chemicals and sixty-five
used both manure and fertilizers or chemicals. Fresh
manure is apt to contain many weed and grass seeds,
25O PRIZE GARDENING
but all gardeners have a liking for the use of well-
rotted manure, which is not understood by users of
commercial fertilizer. The reason is simple. Land
which is cropped continually with hoed crops grows
heavy from the lack of humus. This is supplied by
the manure, the liberal use of which enables the gar-
dener to keep his ground loose and friable.
The most remarkable comparison is probably
between the value and amount of produce consumed
by the families of the two classes. It is practically the
same. The greater consumption of standard sorts of
vegetables by farmers' families is offset by a freer use
of the rarer sorts, and of flowers, by village people.
From the amount sold one must not judge that farmers
sell the best and eat the rest. In all cases they have
consumed all that were wanted and the kinds sold
were very largely a surplus of onions, cabbage, squash,
beets and carrots.
From the farm gardens thirty-six per cent of the
produce was sold, which paid seventy-one per cent of
the total cost of the garden, while less than twelve per
cent of the cost of the village garden was paid by the
eleven per cent of produce sold. The farm garden
paid a profit of ninety-four per cent on total cost as
against two per cent for the village garden. Leaving
out the item of interest and taxes, the farm garden
returned one hundred and thirteen per cent profit on
cost and the village garden sixty-three per cent.
Profits of Small Market Gardens. — The average
size of farm gardens was found to be a trifle over half
an acre and of village gardens one-third of an acre,
the latter being of ample size to produce enough vege-
tables for an ordinary family. The farm garden
proved a source of revenue, thirty-six per cent of the
total produce being sold.
LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS 25 1
The value of produce was eighty-five dollars per
garden, or at the rate of one hundred and seventy dol-
lars per acre, and the net profit was forty-one dollars
and thirty-three cents, or at the rate of eighty-two
dollars and sixty-six cents per acre. This is more
than any farm crop can approach. Now if these gar-
dens can be extended to four times the size or greater,
they will become quite an important source of the
farmer's income. On the majority of farms the lack
of a good nearby market will prevent the attempt at
gardening on a commercial scale, except in favored
localities specially adapted to certain crops. But where
one is located within five miles of a good-sized village
or city, a small market garden may be made a consid-
erable source of revenue.
There are two lines of gardening which may be
followed. First, general gardening, in which most of
the common kinds of vegetables are planted and mar-
keted at wholesale at stores and butcher shops, or
at retail by peddling from house to house.
Second, special gardening, in which only a few
kinds are grown, such as may be raised with the least
amount of labor, those which are in greatest demand,
or those for which a certain plot of ground is particu-
larly well adapted.
Local conditions and circumstances must govern
which kind of gardening each should attempt. If one
takes up market gardening as the main part of his
work, the most profit will be found in growing a full
line of vegetables and selling at retail, unless he pro-
duces them in such large quantities that this method
is impractical. But where the work is taken up in
connection with running a farm, and partly as a side
issue, it will be found more profitable generally to raise
only a few kinds of such sorts as can be harvested and
2$2 PRIZE GARDENING
marketed in large quantities, such, for instance, as
onions, squash, turnips, carrots and sweet corn.
The small market gardens of those contestants
who sent in reports gave a net profit of one hundred
and seventeen dollars and two cents per acre. They
averaged two and one-half acres in size, were valued
at three hundred and twenty-two dollars and twenty-
two cents, or one hundred and forty-three dol-
lars and twenty cents per acre, and produced four
hundred and forty-seven dollars and seventy-three
cents worth of products, or at the rate of one
hundred and ninety-nine dollars per acre, at a
cost of one hundred and eighty-seven dollars and
twenty-seven cents, or eighty-one dollars and ninety
cents per acre. The value of tools used was fifty-
five dollars and fifty-seven cents. The labor cost
one hundred and eleven dollars and sixty-one cents,
seed fifteen dollars and fifty cents, fertilizers twenty-
two dollars and twenty-five cents, interest and taxes
twenty-four dollars and seventeen cents, use of tools
three dollars and eighty-nine cents, and incidental
expenses six dollars and eighty-five cents. These lat-
ter included barrels, boxes and baskets, twine, poles,
insect poisons, etc.
The family consumed fifteen per cent of the total
productions, or sixty-seven dollars and fifteen cents
worth, which is considerably more than the amount
used from the farm and village gardens. This is
partly accounted for by the fact that the sweet corn
fodder, poor cabbage and many of the beets, turnips
and carrots were fed to the stock, and figured in with
the amount consumed. It is highly probable that the
actual average consumption per family was also
greater, owing to there being a greater abundance of
vegetables on hand at all seasons.
Reducing the figures to a basis of an acre, we find
LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS 253
the cost of labor to be forty-nine dollars and sixty cents,
seed six dollars and eighty-eight cents and fertilizer
nine dollars and eighty-eight cents. The figures for
seed and fertilizer seem somewhat low, particularly for
the latter. This would buy but one-fourth ton of a
high-grade commercial fertilizer, while one thousand
five hundred pounds would not be an excessive amount,
and many gardens use much more.
How to Make the Garden Pay. — The first work to
be done to make the garden pay is to put the soil in
condition for planting.
No matter what the character of the soil, it should
never be stirred when so wet that the particles will not
separate freely when the spade or the plow and the
harrow are used. It must always be made as fine as
it is possible to make it. If the plot is sma.l, the spad-
ing fork, if properly used, will leave the soil in fit
condition for planting; excepting for very fine seeds,
when it will be necessary to use a fine rake, as not a
particle of earth should be as large as the seed that is
to be put in it.
The manure used should have been provided sev-
eral months ago, so that it can be pulverized as finely
as the soil. Then it should be so thoroughly and
evenly incorporated that the one could scarcely be dis-
tinguished from the other. When commercial fer-
tilizers are used, as they always should be, in equal pro-
portions, when the soil is continually worked, let them
be evenly distributed.
No matter what the size of the plot may be, not
more than one-fourth — one-sixth would be better —
should be used in the first planting. For profit, as well
as for pleasure, plantings should be made at frequent
intervals, because there are but few vegetables that are
in the best condition for use longer than a few days.
As soon as the first planting is made, preparation for
254 PRIZE GARDENING
the second should commence, and so on to the end of
the season. The moment the first planting has been
gathered, clear the ground as quickly as possible and
prepare for a second planting, and follow up this plan
the entire season. The preparation of the soil, so far
as the application of manure is concerned, and making
it fine, must be as thorough for each subsequent crop
as for the first. Do not think that once working and
once feeding is sufficient 'for the season; it is not.
No more manure should be used at one time than
a given crop will require. A surplus is nearly as fatal
to the production of a crop as a deficit. Plants to be
productive must needs have just as much nourishment
as they can assimilate ; but not be stimulated to excess,
which is fatal to productiveness.
For success, every foot of the soil should be con-
stantly at work producing something. Nature will
not tolerate idleness; if the gardener does not plant,
she will. There is no reason why, in ordinary seasons,
the garden cannot be as green and productive in
August as in June. To that end, intensive cultivation
is a necessity. The surface must at all times be cov-
ered with a growing crop, and so thickly as to, in a
great measure, prevent evaporation. But by no means
plant so thickly that each plant cannot have all the room
for growth and air required.
Room for a horse to walk between the rows is the
poorest economy possible, besides it is not necessary.
For instance, when we set our cabbage or cauliflower
plants, which require the greater part of the season to
mature, make an intermediate row of some quick-
growing vegetable.
Imitate our up-to-date market gardeners near all
large cities. When they set their early cabbage plants,
they are in rows thirty inches apart, the plants fifteen
inches apart in the row. Between these plants they
LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS 255
put a plant of lettuce, and between each row of cabbage
a row of lettuce ; then between the rows of cabbage
and lettuce they sow a row of radishes, which gives but
about seven inches to a row of vegetables. — [C. L.
Allen, New York.
What Should a Garden Contain? — This will
depend largely upon the size and tastes of the family.
It must contain what we might call the standbys, such
as sweet corn, potatoes, beans, peas, cabbages, toma-
toes and beets. In addition, I would add a large
asparagus bed of some mammoth variety, a good straw-
berry bed of the best sorts, currants, gooseberries,
blackberries and other small fruits, with a good-sized
bed of rhubarb.
I have tested many varieties of small fruits and
vegetables and have discarded the greater part. No
one can tell their value by the testimony of seedsmen
and peddlers. A test is the only certain way. In
Illinois, I used to raise many bushels of raspberries,
but here it is difficult to get them to grow. Besides
the vegetables and fruit mentioned above, I would add
salsify, carrots, radishes and parsnips. Of course the
likes and dislikes of every family must govern the
plan to a large extent.
In raising tomatoes, I put but one plant in a place.
Set the plants in rows four feet apart and the plants
four feet apart in the row. Get only the best kinds
and those that you know are valuable. Of most vege-
tables, secure very early and late varieties, so that you
will have them throughout the season. A good garden
must be well plowed and spaded and then harrowed
or raked, so as to make fine the seed bed. Then the
seed must be well planted, not too deep nor too shal-
low. After the plants are up, give thorough cultiva-
tion, keeping the ground well stirred and clear of
weeds. The wheel hoe must be used freely in a well-
256 PRIZE GARDENING
kept garden. One man can do more with it in two
hours than he can in a whole day with the old-
fashioned kind. — [E. S. Phelps.
Growing and Showing Vegetables. — There can be
no general rule regarding the proper size of vegetables
or fruits for exhibition, but the present custom of
exhibiting vegetables of a smaller size than formerly
is a great improvement. This applies particularly to
such vegetables as potatoes, beets, carrots and parsnips,
as the tendency of these is to grow too large ; but with
such as salsify and horse-radish, the larger they are
(providing they are fairly smooth) the better. To
have any of these roots in good condition to exhibit,
they should be matured, or nearly so, and to get the
plumpness and color which is desirable they should
have an abundance of potash.
The tendency to give prizes to extra large speci-
mens of potatoes is not encouraged at this time, and,
as the exhibitors are after prizes, if the judges rec-
ognize only medium-sized, smooth specimens, those
will soon be the kind exhibited. I have raised potatoes
of fair quality and smoothness on very heavily manured
market garden land, but they are not a crop that
responds to heavy manuring.
To grow the best and handsomest potatoes pos-
sible, I would use no manure the year the potatoes are
planted, but from one thousand to two thousand pounds
good fertilizer per acre, about one-half broadcast and
one-half in the drill, thoroughly mixed, using large
seed cut to two-eye pieces, and planted early in May
in drills eighteen to twenty-two inches by thirty to
forty-two inches apart, the latter distances for the late
varieties. Give thorough cultivation and plenty of
paris green and bordeaux mixture, and you should
have potatoes of the best quality.
LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS 257
Perhaps there is no vegetable that is more often
exhibited and wrongly judged than celery. Celery, to
be good for the table or market, should have a head
as much as lettuce or cabbage, and to get this head it
is necessary to sacrifice the older leaves ; in fact, as you
bring the head to perfection you lose all of the outer
leaves, but the same is true of lettuce or cabbage.
Bunches of what I call " celery leaves " may occasion-
ally be picked from among heads of good celery, but
the methods of growing the two are entirely different.
To grow the bunch of celery leaves, the plants
must have considerable room and a long season of
growth. They may grow quite rapidly at first, but
should continue growing less and less as they near
maturity, because a sudden start will cause the heart
to develop, the outer leaves to soften, and a head will
then begin to form. I have seen them and have raised
some, but do not try to grow them now, as they are
not wanted in the markets. In growing the heads of
celery, the method early in the season makes but little
difference except in regard to the size of the head. If
you would have a shouldered head of nice proportions,
and not too tall, the plants must be set ten or more
inches apart; but if you want nice celery for family
use or market, from four to six inches should give a
more satisfactory crop. To get celery of the best qual-
ity it must be grown rapdly, and it is quite important
that it should take an extra start when we begin to
blanch it.
Celery that is banked with earth gets this start
from the cutting of the roots and the chance that those
roots which are left get to work up into the soft earth
of the bank. Perhaps the best way to start golden
celery that is to be boarded is to give a good watering
and work the ground about the time the boards are set
up. This gives celery of fair quality, but no method
258 PRIZE GARDENING
will give as good celery in the early fall as can be pro-
duced later when the weather becomes cooler. Celery
grown in this way will not keep so well as that of
poorer quality. — [H. R. Kinney, Massachusetts.
For Early Garden Vegetables. — The ground
should be plowed deep and w< manured to insure the
quick growth of all vegetables. I find the addition
of a little lime does well in our soil, though it might
not on all soils. It does not pay to plant seeds in the
open ground until it has become warm. They will
not germinate readily, and many of them will be lost.
When very early cucumbers are wanted, I have
found it an excellent way to place pieces of sod six
inches square on boards and plant the seeds in them.
I keep the sods by the kitchen stove until the plants
are up, then I remove to a south window upstairs near
the stovepipe or chimney, where they get heat from
below as well as the warm sun most of the day. As
soon as danger of frost is past I plant my sods out
and thus I have cucumbers at least four weeks earlier
than I otherwise would. The same course can be pur-
sued with melons, and when one raises melons for
market it is quite an item to have a dozen hills bearing a
month before any of the other growers.
Sweet corn can also be grown in the same way
and when one has the variety known as Six Weeks,
it does not take long after setting out to have early
corn. Of course the window must be kept open when
there is no danger of frost, so that the plants may all
be hardy, and not notice the difference in climate when
set out.
I always start my tomatoes and cabbages in the
house and have learned that young tomatoes take root
very easily and that it is an advantage rather than
otherwise to transplant them.
Peas should be planted as soon as the ground is
LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS 259
warm enough for them to germinate. They require
an abundance of manure mixed with deeply broken
soil, and should be planted at least two inches deep.
I always start my early celery in the house and set it
out as soon as I do my cabbages and tomatoes.
Lettuce can be grown large enough for use in a
sunny window. I have grown it that way and we
have had it to eat from the first of March all through
the season. — [Geneva March, Iowa.
Some Good Vegetables Not Generally Grown. —
Some of the most desirable garden vegetables are neg-
lected by most farmers and many village gardeners.
Spinach should be planted either in the fall or the first
thing in the spring, then it will come in when other
greens are scarce. If this is once tried you will never
be without it. Prepare a small bed in some sunny
part of the garden as soon as the frost is out. Sow
the seed and nature will do the rest.
Cauliflower is another neglected vegetable. It is
almost as easily grown as cabbage. It requires about
the same treatment and in many respects is even more
desirable. The only difficulty I find in growing good
cauliflower is to get good seed, and if ordered from
some reliable house there will be no trouble. Get Hen-
derson's Snowball or Burpee's Early. Another vege-
table not common and which requires no great skill is
kohl-rabi. This should be sown early for spring and
summer use and then later in the summer sow for
winter. It is given the same treatment as the turnip
and possesses some of the characteristics of both the
turnip and cabbage.
No garden is complete without a good supply of
celery. Sow a few seeds in a hotbed or in boxes in
the house, then in July transplant to rows in the gar-
den, These should be about one foot apart in the row
and the rows four or five feet apart. This can be set
260 PRIZE* GARDENING
between rows of early peas or beans and the ground
thus made to produce two crops in one season. As
soon as the first crop is removed, give thorough
cultivation. For blanching, the soil may be thrown up
about the plants, or if you have a few old tiles these
can be slipped over the bunches of celery and they will
whiten nicely. The dwarf varieties, such as Boston
Market and White Plume, are generally the earliest
and best for amateurs.
A few plants of Brussels sprouts will be found
quite an addition, and as these are a kind of cabbage,
the treatment is the same as for cabbage or cauliflower.
The plants grow from two and one-half to four feet
high and bear small heads, which are tender and crisp.
They should be cooked or served about the same as
cabbage. If your family is fond of soups, sow a short
row of okra. The seed should be placed a few inches
apart, then later thinned so that the plants will be
one and one-half feet apart. This crop grows very
easily and the long, tender seed pods will be found an
excellent addition to any soup. The pods can also be
gathered and dried and kept for winter use.
One of the very best and least known garden
plants is salsify, or vegetable oyster. This is very
hardy and is as easily grown as parsnips. Sow early
in the spring in rows twelve or fourteen inches apart.
When the crop is wanted for winter, take up late in
the fall and spread in boxes and cover with soil. The
roots will keep nicely until spring. They will prob-
ably shrivel somewhat, but when placed in water will
regain their natural appearance. Properly cooked,
some people prefer this to the genuine oyster. Prob-
ably the best varieties are Mammoth Sandwich Island
and Bond's Mammoth. — [F. B. Van Orman, Iowa.
A Practical Farm Gardener. — I do not think it
advisable to use the same piece of ground for a long
LESSONS FROM THE WINNERS 26l
term of years ; and so have this year set apart a spot
never worked as a garden before. As it was very
rich I have not plowed under any manure. When
ready to plant in the spring I shall plow again and
use some commercial fertilizer for certain crops. I
find that no part of my farm yields more toward the
support of my family than my garden, and so 1 am not
very caretul to limit the extent of its bounds.
I find that it does not pay to begin work in
the garden too soon in the spring, especially if
the soil be clay. I have seen some gardens spoiled
for the entire season by plowing when too wet.
The soil was heavy at plowing and made more
so by the heavy rains of spring and the sun-
shine. Of all discouraging places to work, a hard-
baked garden is the most so. But when the earth is
fairly dry and warm, I plow and thoroughly harrow
my garden. If the ground be old, a liberal supply of
commercial fertilizer should be harrowed in. We used
to plant some kind of vegetables, such as onions, rad-
ishes and beets, in square or oblong beds ; but we some
time ago learned that too much labor was required to
keep the weeds subdued, and have since put everything
into rows, so that the horse and cultivator may do the
work formerly done by hand.
The preliminaries arranged, what shall we put in
our garden? With us, this plan prevails. Peas and
onions go in first. We aim to have new peas by the
latter part of June or the Fourth of July at the latest.
Then come early potatoes. Our favorites are Early
Vermont and Early Market. At first a couple of rows
are planted lengthwise of the garden, to be followed
in a week or two by another two rows. These furnish
new potatoes to go with the peas for the Fourth, and
our table supply all summer long comes from these
few rows in the garden. .
262 PRIZE GARDENING
Radishes quickly follow, and as soon as the 1st
to the 10th of May we begin to put in sweet corn. Of
this we make two and often three plantings. We are
very fond of this delicacy and manage to have it early
and late in the season. Crosby's Early and Perry's
Hybrid are favorites for early planting, and for later
use Stowell's Evergreen. Beans, cucumbers, squashes
and beets may come now at any time. Tomato, celery,
turnip and cabbage plants are started in the house
early and set out at intervals in June. We like toma-
toes very much and usually put out about twenty-five
plants for our own use. A row of rhubarb plants
along one side of the garden furnishes material for
sauce and pies early in the season. At one end of our
garden we also have a few raspberries and grapevines.
Strawberries we have in another field. Just as soon
as the potatoes begin to peep out we start the culti-
vator, and from that time on we keep the horse and
plow busy subduing weeds. What cannot be done in
that way we finish with the hand hoe.
All that remains from the summer's using is care-
fully harvested in the fall. Celery we bank in October
and take in a month later, packing it with plenty of
dirt in a deep box in the cellar and covering it with old
sacks. Here it bleaches nicely and keeps till far into
the winter. Giant Paschal we hold to be the finest.
It is very tender and remains fresh until February.
Our garden is no longer a source of pleasure and
profit ; it has come to be an absolute necessity. Very
few of us realize how much help a good garden is in
maintaining the family. Such a garden as I have
described is in every way practical upon every farm. —
[Edgar L. Vincent, New York.
Marketing. — In all sections of the country, prices
for garden stuff seem to rule comparatively high. In
the corn and wheat belts, where staple farm produce
LESSSONS FROM THE WINNERS 263
is low in price, vegetables are in some towns scarce and
high, and in the drier sections of the prairie states a
good garden appears almost an object of curiosity,
while prices are correspondingly high. Pacific coast
gardeners complain that Chinese competition keeps
prices down, yet some assert that Chinese gardeners
cannot compete with a garden worked with improved
implements. Highest prices were reported by garden-
ers located near mining settlements. Even in small
farming towns, where it might be supposed that most
people would have good gardens of their own, prize
gardeners often found a demand far in excess of what
they had to sell.
Where no market was convenient, enterprising
gardeners brought one to the farm; in other words,
they took summer boarders. Some who did not care
to take boarders sold vegetables to those who did. Still
another says : " I sold my garden truck mostly to
summer cottagers that were staying here, and so saved
all expense of teaming. It was a great pleasure to
them, as they rould watch the garden from start to
finish." These " cottagers " are people who come to
the country to live in camp style for the summer and
are willing to pay city prices for the best vegetables
and fruit.
In some cases produce was sold to peddlers who
came to the farm or garden and paid wholesale prices,
gathering the produce themselves. The surplus of
small city gardens was often eagerly bought by neigh-
bors glad of a chance to secure produce fresh from
the soil. But by far the most common method of dis-
posal was to team the truck to the nearest town or city,
either selling it to storekeepers or peddling from house
to house. Those who had retail routes of this kind
usually found them very profitable. In computing the
wholesale price, they charged off from ten to thirty
264 PRIZE GARDENING
per cent for retailing, but it was several times stated
that dealers sometimes sold produce at an advance of
forty or fifty or even one hundred per cent above the
price they had paid the grower.
retailing it is of advantage in many ways to
make regular trips and to take orders in advance. One
gardener advertised in the local papers for customers
to leave orders at a certain store. These orders were
filled on the following day. Others took their own
orders direct as they made regular trips. Writes A. E.
Ross : " My marketing was all done in the shortest
possible time. My method was as follows : I take
my load over; it is all sold before I start. That is, I
go to my customers, the same as this morning, take
their orders for the next morning. I come home, get
my load ready over night, and start at six o'clock the
next morning. I go directly and deliver and take my
orders for the next morning. In this way I have no
running around, but get home to do a day's work. I
never take an order that I cannot fill."
Tact in choosing crops often played an important
part in creating a market where none seemed to exist.
Such excellent vegetables as celery, cauliflower, egg
plant, muskmelon, etc., are often very scarce in markets
otherwise well supplied. Early cabbages, tomatoes,
potatoes, turnips, etc., often sold well in places where
the late crop of the same vegetable was a glut. The
superior produce of irrigated gardens sometimes had
great advantage.
Observes W. T. Brickey : " Whatever is grown
for market should be ready at the time when people
are hungry for that sort of thing, for the human appe-
tite is as changeable as the moon." The gardener who
can thus master the market needs no other receipt for
money making.
CHAPTER XVIII
A GARDEN SYMPOSIUM
To shed further light upon the results of the con-
test, a list of several questions was sent to the twenty-
five leading winners, asking their advice on subjects
considered of direct practical interest, and upon which
the experience of the contestants would especially qual-
ify them to express an opinion.
Size of Garden. — The majority of replies suggest
that a small garden is sufficient for the average farm.
One-eighth acre is the size most often mentioned ;
many advise one-fourth acre or one-half acre and most
of the remaining replies range between one-fourth and
one acre. A few think large acreage desirable. A
great many advise a rectangular piece and planting in
long rows, allowing the use of horse implements in
cultivation ; rows to be the greatest length that the field
will permit.
A good-sized, well-arranged garden is advised by
A. T. Giauque, who writes : " As the average farmer
is engaged with about all the field crops he can handle,
one-half acre is considered sufficient, one-half of which
is devoted to garden vegetables for family use, the
other half to shrubbery or small fruits. If, however,
it is desired to raise all the sweet corn for table use,
early potatoes, melons and cucumbers within the garden
enclosed, then I would say one acre is none too much.
My garden has been enlarged to one-half acre to pro-
vide room for the shrubbery awarded in the late garden
contest, and has two by twenty rods devoted to garden
vegetables proper, one by twenty rods planted to
266 PRIZE GARDENING
strawberries, the remaining rod of width being divided
to blackberries, raspberries, currants and gooseberries,
with young peach trees set out next the fence on the
north side twenty rods in length, grapevines along the
south fence, with rhubarb, horse-radish and sage along
one end fence. I should have stated that off this allot-
ment to shrubbery that the end nearest the house is a
block about a rod square allotted to flowers."
Mrs. L. A. Ludwig advises from a dozen square
rods to an acre for a family of five or six. C. P.
Augur recommends not less than one-half acre for a
family of from five to six persons. B. S. Higley thinks
that if potatoes are relegated to field culture, one-
eighth acre is sufficient for the garden. Mrs. W. D.
Goss considers one hundred by forty feet a convenient
size. R. J. Clark and others think at least one-fourth
acre desirable if berries and fruit are to be included.
Causes of Failure. — " Want of care" is the cause of
failure mentioned by the greatest number of replies.
The same idea is expressed by the terms "neglect,"
"poor cultivation," etc. C. P. Augur says: "Any gar-
den will thrive to some extent if looked after with
intelligent interest and tilled with cheerful persistence.
Fertility is not nearly so necessary as faithful effort."
Several replies emphasize the need of frequently
stirring the soil. Others mention the need of general
thoroughness. Says A. P. Edge: "Farmers too often
start early in the season, but let it care for itself later
and wonder why the drouth is so hard on their garden."
L. E. Dimock mentions poor seed and lack of proper
care in planting. C. E. Belden thinks gardeners try
to do too much with insufficient help. "Farmers,"
writes W. P. Gray, "consider the garden but a small
part of the farm, and bringing in no cash, and they
put it down as a last consideration."
A GARDEN SYMPOSIUM 267
"Disinclination for personal labor" is the way R. J.
Clark sums up his reasons for poor gardens. "When
I commenced to make a garden," writes P. H. Sher-
idan, "I put everything in too close, and had to do too
much hand work, and the vegetables were small, and
I would get discouraged and think it was cheaper to
buy them than to raise vegetables."
Another common cause, according to John Tye,
is that the garden is left entirely for the farmer's wife
to look after, "and although farmers' wives on an aver-
age make good gardeners and raise splendid vege-
tables, the farmer himself fails to put up a suitable
fence around the garden, and some morning when the
good wife goes to the garden to pull some lettuce or
radish for breakfast, she finds cows, hogs or sheep
have been there before her, and have eaten or de-
stroyed nearly all the vegetables."
The main trouble, according to A. T. Giauque,
arises from getting so much absorbed in the field work
as to forget to cultivate it until the weeds have hidden
beyond discovery all the delicate plants that are strug-
gling for standing room, or from "planting doubtful
seeds in uncertain rows, then turning the garden over
to the women for tending, and to Providence for the
fruits."
Other reasons advanced are : "Lack of nitrogen in
the soil," "want of manure," "loose planting of the seed
and at improper depth," "inexperience," "lack of nat-
ural liking for gardening."
Fighting Insects. — Prize winners were requested to
describe the most effective remedy for insects, accord-
ing to their experience. Paris green received the most
votes, its use being recommended for potato bugs in
the majority of instances. Several preferred to com-
bine bordeaux mixture with the green, thus destroying,
or rather preventing, blights, etc. In using these two
268 PRIZE GARDENING
remedies together, they are commonly applied in liquid
form. When green alone is used, several recommend
applying it clear with a poison gun, others mix with
plaster or flour. One contestant urges that paris
green must be used with great caution in the family
garden. Another recommends paris green solution in
very fine spray for cucumber beetles.
A few prefer london. purple to the green. C. P.
Augur prefers as a general insect remedy an emulsion
of quassia chip tea, soft soap and kerosene. For pota-
toes and vines E. R. Flagg prefers Bug Death
sprinkled on when vines are damp. Liquid manure is
spoken of by B. S. Higley as a sovereign remedy for
cucumber bugs. Others use for these and squash bugs
air-slaked lime, coal ashes or dust, sprinkled on the
vines when wet. C. E. Brookhart humorously recom-
mends "two small wooden paddles ; get your bug on
one, whack it with the other."
Complains Mr. Sheridan of Colorado : "There is
a little insect that eats the leaves of my radishes when
they first come up. I dust them with paris green.
There is also a kind of scale that looks like flakes of
bran that destroys tomatoes. I spray with coal oil
emulsion with satisfactory results, also spray canta-
loupe vines with the same for a green louse that attacks
them."
A believer in prevention is Mrs. L. M. A. Hall,
who says : "I am never troubled much with insects, as
I burn all litter and garden rubbish early in the fall,
thereby killing a great many eggs. On every trip to
the garden I destroy every bug and tgg, and two large
broods of chickens do the rest."
One gardener uses for cabbage worms an appli-
cation of water in which tar has been kept over night.
G. W. Hoover finds kerosene emulsion effective; one
quart oil to thirty gallons of water, applied every two
A GARDEN SYMPOSIUM 269
weeks for cabbage lice and similar insects. Hellebore
is usually preferred for currant worms, but some use
paris green. Slug Shot is mentioned by several. A
number speak of wood ashes for onion maggot and to
sprinkle on young plants as a preventive.
Worst Weeds. — Purslane is the weed of tenest men-
tioned, and the only remedy offered is thorough culti-
vation. A. P. Edge half seriously suggests that gar-
deners encourage the use of the weed for greens. A
close second in unpopularity is witch grass, also called
couch grass, etc. When it becomes once established
in a garden no remedy is considered effective except
cultivation of a crop which requires frequent hoeing
and occupies the ground the whole season. In a small
garden it is practicable to root it out and carry it away,
and this method is frequently recommended, using a
harrow to loosen the roots and then raking them off
the piece. All agree that persistent cultivation
throughout the season will kill it. Several have tried
spraying weeds with copper mixtures, but nobody
appears to consider this method more economical than
the common methods.
Other weeds and remedies mentioned are: Wild
lettuce, for which prevention is declared better than
cure ; Canada thistle, to be dug, dried and burned ; knot
grass, clean culture ; ground ivy, rooting out ; smart-
weed, killed by frequent cultivation ; sorrel, driven out
by clean culture and by liming the soil.
The Best Six Implements mentioned are plow, cul-
tivator, hoe, steel rake, harrow and seed drill; that is,
the six above named were mentioned in the greatest
number of replies. Here is C. P. Augur's list : Chilled
steel reversible plow, smoothing harrow, seed drill,
horse cultivator, spike-tooth cultivator and compressed
air sprayer. Mrs. L. A. Ludwig prefers a spade, steel
rake, ten-inch plow, whether to be drawn by one or
A GARDEN SYMPOSIUM 2JI
more horses, hand cart, sprinkling can, combined seed
drill and wheel hoe. "But better than all, a set of nim-
ble fingers backed by a willing, honest heart and mind."
The list of B. A. Higley comprises single wheel hoe,
double wheel hoe, spade, shovel, hoe, rake. C. E.
Brookhart of Tennessee recommends two-horse steel
turning plow, horse hoe and cultivator, steel rake, com-
mon hoe, pointed onion hoe, combined twelve-tooth
cultivator and harrow. B. S. Rembaugh would choose
seed sower/ double wheel hoe, twelve-tooth harrow and
cultivator, Breed's weeder, Cyclone pulverizer, disk and
spike harrow, and a first-class plow.
Most Useful Vegetables. — The six vegetables re-
ceiving most general approval for the family garden are
given below, with the varieties of each most frequently
mentioned : Beans : Bush Lima, Golden Wax and
Black Wax. Peas : Nott's Excelsior, Little Gem and
Gradus. Tomato : Livingston Perfection, Ponderosa,
Dwarf Champion. Cabbage : Early Winningstadt and
Sure Head. Corn : Country Gentleman and Ever-
green. Onions : Yellow Danvers.
"The choice of vegetables is a matter of taste,"
thinks A. P. Edge of New Jersey, but he mentions
corn, peas, asparagus, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage,
string beans, lima beans, onions, celery and tgg plant,
without naming varieties.
For a southwestern list is quoted C. E. Brook-
hart's choice of White Silver-skin onion, Long-stand-
ing spinach, Nott's Excelsior pea, Burpee's Green Pod
bean, Early Bassano beet, Ponderosa tomato Win-
ningstadt cabbage, Early Summer Crookneck squash,
Hollow Crown parsnip, Chartier radish.
"I believe, if I should be limited to only ten varie-
ties," remarks John Tye of Minnesota, "I would prefer
onions, beets, carrots, peas, cabbage, beans, tomatoes,
cucumbers, lettuce and radish, although turnips, celery
o
-
C/3
O
y.
u
M
-
w
DP
>
A GARDEN SYMPOSIUM 273
and a few early potatoes should be in every farmer's
garden."
In his superb Missouri garden, B. S. Rembaugh
found this list desirable: Egyptian beet, Valentine
beans, Nott's Excelsior peas, Chartier's radish, White
Plum celery, Jersey Wakefield cabbage, Maule's Suc-
cess tomato, White Spine cucumber, Country Gentle-
man sweet corn, Early Ohio potato, Tip-top musk-
melon.
Southern gardeners will note the list of Mrs. J. W.
Bryan of Georgia: Asparagus, Conover's Colossal;
beans, Kentucky Wonder; cauliflower, Early Snow-
ball; burr artichoke, Green Globe; celery, White
Plume ; okra, White Velvet ; parsnip, Improved Guern-
sey; green pea, American Wonder; salsify, Mammoth
Sandwich ; tomato, Paragon.
A state of Washington competitor, A. C. Butcher,
advises Early Rose potato, Yellow Danvers onion, Rust
Proof Golden Wax bean, Fordhook sweet corn, Sure
Head cabbage, Bliss Everbearing pea, Hubbard squash,
Hollow Crown parsnip, Denver Market lettuce and
Purple-top Strap-leaf turnip.
A good New England list comes from F. R. Trask
of Massachusetts : Red Valentine, Goddard, Worces-
ter Pole beans ; Clipper, Gradus, Pride of Market peas ;
Corey, Crosby, Country Gentleman, Stowell corn;
Puritan tomato, Hubbard squash, Columbia beet,
Early Milan turnip, Victoria spinach, Hanson lettuce.
This list is from New Jersey: Hanson lettuce,
Early Turnip and Long Red radish, Eclipse beet, Ne
Plus Ultra and Country Gentleman sweet corn, Win-
ningstadt and Burpee's Sure Head cabbage, Little Gem,
Gradus and Telephone peas, Flageolet Wax and Bur-
pee's Dwarf Lima bean, Snowball cauliflower, Danvers
onion.
274
PRIZE GARDENING
A few winners mention a variety of vegetable or
fruit which they consider the most promising. Among
those mentioned are Ponderosa, Quarter Century,
Success tomato, Gradus pea, Iceberg lettuce, Yellow
Transparent apple, Black Jack squash, Self-blanching
celery, Scipio bean, Kleckley Sweet and Santiago
HOMESTEAD OF A NEW YORK STATE WINNER
melons, the Idaho coffee pea, Bismarck apple, White
blackberry, Rocky Ford muskmelon. "I can name
hundreds that were promising before I tried them,"
observes one gardener, and the unwillingness of prom-
inent winners to praise doubtful novelties is in refresh-
A GARDEN SYMPOSIUM 275
ing contrast to the extravagant talk of interested
seedsmen.
Most Desirable Flowers. — Sweet peas lead in the
replies, then come asters, pansies, pinks, dahlias and
petunias. Nearly all replies mention sweet peas. R.
J. Clark of Massachusetts prefers gladiolus, dahlia,
perennial phlox, sweet pea, petunia, morning glory.
"Roses in variety first, last and all the time," urges
Mrs. L. A, Ludwig of Kansas, ''peonies, gladiolus,
perennial phlox, sweet pea, pinks, pansies — but it is
hard to stop when there are so many that are best."
Mrs. L. M. A. Hall of Connecticut prefers roses, pinks,
hollyhocks, petunias, verbenas, morning glory, gladio-
lus, asters, phlox, sweet william. Mrs. Bale of New
Jersey chooses sweet peas, nasturtiums, phlox, chrys-
anthemums, roses, asters. B. S. Higley of Ohio, first
regular prize winner, and an expert on floriculture,
mentions asters, dahlias, gladioli, nicotina, stock (ten
weeks) and sweet peas.
Second Crops. — A contest garden making a rather
poor showing all the first part of the season was fre-
quently changed to a very profitable enterprise upon
adding the value of the second crops. The big returns
from some of the best gardens were to an important
extent the result of making the land do double
duty. Where the garden was irrigated, second crops
were usually grown to especial advantage, being largely
independent of the midsummer drouth. Celery after
a great variety of early crops proved an effective money
maker, and is most favorably mentioned in the replies.
Next come cabbages and turnips, both profitable crops
for market or stock.
Writes Mrs. L. M. A. Hall : "After each crop is
harvested, I sow turnips with rye. The best of the
turnips are pulled, then the cows and hens have the
rest. The rve roots keep the soil from washing in win-
276 PRIZE GARDENING
ter, and after a good growth in the spring it is plowed
in." The above plan is hard to excel for a farm garden
in the north. Many gardeners farther south speak of
crimson clover to be sown in late summer and plowed
under the next spring. Several find winter radishes
the bestrpaying crop to follow early peas. A Massa-
chusetts grower succeeds in getting a profitable crop
of squashes after peas. Another succeeds with late
sweet corn. Mr. Hoover of Colorado finds second
crop spinach or dandelions profitable.
Prize Bits of Experience. — To the request to state
the most important bits of experience gained from the
prize gardens, a large number mentioned the training
gained by keeping an accurate account. Others valued
most highly an increase in their ability to appreciate
a good garden. Many spoke of the value of thorough-
ness, which their work on the prize gardens had
emphasized. "Painstaking attention to details and
to keeping accounts" is the way Mrs. L. A. Ludwig
sums it up.
Declares C. P. Augur : "The most valuable infor-
mation obtained was the knowledge of how valuable a
garden was." "To be patient, work earnestly, fast and
hard when the right time comes," was the lesson taught
E. R. Flagg. B. S. Higley concluded that "a garden
is more important as giving fresh and desirable vegeta-
bles than as a source of profit." Asserts A. P. Edge :
"I am now satisfied that the garden is the most valuable
piece on the farm in dollars and cents."
The value of good seed and thorough cultivation
was strongly impressed upon L. E. Dimock. A great
source of surprise to C. E. Brookhart was the large per
cent of the daily fare of the family that can be obtained
from a garden. It was noted by W. P. Gray that a
surprisingly large amount of vegetables could be
A GARDEN SYMPOSIUM 277
raised on a small plot by doing a little planning so as to
get two crops from the same land.
"No more should be planted," observes Mrs. L. M.
A. Hall, "than one has room to allow to grow to its
largest size of perfection, and time to cultivate prop-
erly. It does not pay to grow an ill-fed, stunted,
crowded, ill-cared-for plant, any more than it does such
a child." Another contestant was taught that "how-
ever well one may do, there is always somebody who
can do better." B. S. Rembaugh brought away the
idea that "it is wise to always do everything the very
best I know how, regardless of circumstances."
"We learned that the strongest plants only should
be set, and the weaklings thrown away," says G. W.
Hoover. Declares A. C. Abrams: "We have ever
prided ourselves on having a good garden, and neigh-
bors and friends have often acknowledged the fact that
we were leaders in the van. But the garden contest
proved its merits in a financial point of view, thereby
stimulating us to a more thorough management of the
whole thing in detail. Our experience has proven con-
clusively, not only for a ten days' trial, but for a whole
year, that vegetables and fruit for diet are much more
healthful and palatable, say nothing about the econ-
omy, than so much of the strong meat and the king's
wine."
"Perhaps the most important lesson learned from
my experience in the prize garden contest," concludes
W. K. Cole, "was the necessity for attention to details ;
the small things that are so apt to be overlooked — often
the difference between failure and loss. Success and
profit depend upon these little things and immediate
attention. The man or woman, boy or girl, who can
and does do the right thing at the right time is an
assured success."
CHAPTER XIX
PRIZE PICKINGS
Garden Bookkeeping. — Some of the account books,
while excellent as prize efforts, contain too much work
for use every year. The best practical books are those
which are simple, yet enable the gardener to know just
what he is doing. There should be a place for each
crop by itself as well as an account for the garden as a
whole. All dates, costs and varieties should be re-
corded, as well as all receipts. It is a convenience to
have all crops worked out in acre terms. There should
be plenty of room for jottings, a simple pen map or
chart of the garden and an index to pages. Books
consisting of detachable sheets allow spoiled sheets to
be removed and permit also of the use of a typewriter.
A page from an account of this kind is shown on Page
279, reduced to one-third. It is from the book of H. B.
McAfee of Missouri, a model piece of bookkeeping,
ahhough for other reasons not a prize winner. Both
in their accounts and in letters written since, very many
contestants speak of the great value of a good garden
account, as a guide for the following year.
It is likewise of interest to note that although most
of the contestants were practical farmers or their wives,
the per cent of well-kept and systematic bookkeeping
is quite a high one. The contest was not one of book-
keeping, yet a large proportion of the best gardeners
know thoroughly the art of keeping accounts in ship-
shape manner.
Working the Soil and Crops. — In planting and cul-
tivating my garden, I have depended very largely on
PRIZE PICKINGS
279
my single wheel hoe, cultivator, rake and plow. Such
crops as peas, beans, etc., I plant in very quick time
in the following way: After the ground has been spaded
and raked smooth, I make a furrow with my plow,
drop in my seed, run the plow back the other way on
the ridge and my seed is nicelv covered. I then firm
E e a a s
S It U A R If .
Cost
Recei*pt3.
6»io
$11.47
$32.62
$21.16
10.14
19.31
9.17
C a c c a g e
6.45
20.75
14.30
lettuce
2.85
29.80
16.95
a i o a s
11.47
55.77
44.30
13.76
13.40
R a 3 I s b
2.09
12.92
10.83
S p i n a g e
'8.53
15.10
6.57
•I a t e s fISLD 1) 5.75
" 2) 4.98
12.49
39.76
C.74-
34.78
T q r o i p s
5.23_
total 5482.72
15.48
267.40
A CONVENIENT GARDEN SUMMARY
10.25
$175.40
the earth down with a hand hoe and my feet. I could
save time here if I had a roller. I can plant in this way
in one-third the time it takes me with hand tools, and
do better work, too. In cultivating and weeding I
depend entirely on my wheel hoe, and know, by actual
test, that I can do four times the work in an hour that
280 PRIZE GARDENING
I can do with old-fashioned methods. One does not
have to stoop at all, but can stand erect, while using
these tools.
After every rain I went over the whole garden
with the wheel hoe, and two or three days later with
the cultivator or rake, so as to keep the top of the
ground loose. During the dry weather I went over
the garden about once a week. I found I could easily
cover my whole garden in about two hours, and by
doing it as often as I did never had any weeds of any
size to contend with.
Visitors almost always commented on this lack of
weeds, and thought I must have spent lots of time
weeding, while I did not consider that I had done any
weeding at all. I was simply keeping the ground in
proper condition to retain moisture, and in doing so
really spent very little time. As all the work in this
garden was done by myself in my spare time, the
ability to do a good deal of work in a short time is
quite important, and the wheel hoe has proved invalu-
able as a time saver in the two years that I have used
it. — [Dr. W. Y. Fox, Massachusetts.
Take time to thoroughly prepare the ground
before planting, so that it will be well pulverized, free
from stone or rubbish that can clog the sower or
weeder. Begin cultivation early and cultivate often.
If this is done with the improved tools, but very little
hand work will be necessary. Have a supply of cab-
bage, cauliflower and celery plants on hand, so that if
any crop fails the land will not lie idle. Keep tools
bright and sharp. Do not plant too thick, but give
plants room to grow. Plan to have a succession of
fruit and vegetables and work your plan. — [Andrew
Kingsbury, Connecticut.
I manure early, usually on the March snow, and
freely. My rule is to cover the snow out of sight, then
PRIZE PICKINGS 28l
scatter on a load or two more to fill possible bare spots.
I plow the first day 1 find the ground thawed, and plow
deep, running twice over each furrow, the second time
in the bottom of the first furrow. I plant everything
a little earlier than the neighbors think safe, and replant
if killed by frost. The first day I can see the rows I
begin hoeing and weeding, and keep it up until haying
calls for all my time. I endeavor to walk over the
garden so as to see everything in it every day, until the
plants are well started and can take care of themselves.
— [A. P. Hitchcock, New York.
In planting my garden, I put everything in rows
far enough apart to admit of the horse cultivator; the
rows all run the long way of the garden. As soon as
any variety was planted, I at once marked it with a
stake bearing the name of the variety and date of
planting, using painted plant labels tacked to pine
stakes. The writing was done with lead pencil and
remained perfectly legible for months. The planting
of all small seeds was done with a combined hill and
drill seeder and cultivator. This same implement with
hoes substituted for the seed drilling parts was used
for cultivating next to the rows when plants first
appeared.
The soil can hardly be made too rich for a suc-
cessful garden. I want to keep my plants on the jump
from the time they first appear until the crop is ready
to gather. Good seeds and a rich soil, kept free from
weeds and mellow by frequent workings, are conditions
which render a good garden a certainty if blessed with
seasonable weather and rainfall. — [E. G. Packard,
Delaware.
I never allow any weeds or rubbish in my garden,
to harbor mice or vermin, but keep it well cultivated
and clean, and I think that is the way to success, not
only in the garden but on the farm. I always manure
282 PRIZE GARDENING
and plow my garden in the fall. I think it is much
better here, as one is apt to plow it when it is too wet
if left until spring, and this makes it bake hard and
work up lumpy all summer. We can plant vegetables
quite a little earlier, too, and this alone is a sufficient
reason for plowing it in the fall. — [John Tye,
Minnesota.
I have gardened fifteen years, but never had a
garden so good as the one I had this year. By putting
in the seed with a drill, I got all the seed in the ground
and covered properly; every row straight and just as I
wanted it. I can cultivate with a wheel hoe just as
fast as I can walk over the ground. — [Mrs. Lizzie
Snyder, Oklahoma.
I make a point of going over it with either hoe or
rake after every shower, otherwise it forms a crust and
dries fast. July 22 it is absolutely free from weeds, I
believe not one on the plot. Perhaps it would be better
if there were more, then I should have to hoe it oftener.
— [W. S. Newcomb, Vermont.
My garden has been the freest of weeds of any field
I ever cultivated in the twenty-five years I have farmed
it here, proving to my mind that our weed seeds are
grown and sown every year. To test this point still
further, on September 9 I took a basket, went in and
pulled up every weed and bit of grass I could find and
carried them outside the field. I put in five hours and
was surprised to find so many varieties in such a small
bulk of weeds. I noted the name of every one I knew
and found thirty-four varieties. Who can tell us how
many kinds of weeds can be counted on an ordinary
farm? — [W. D. Hinds, Massachusetts.
In summing up I would say, and urge the im-
portance of it, keep the garden free from weeds. Do
not try to do too much. The greatest mistake I have
made in my gardening has been in trying to do too
PRIZE PICKINGS 283
much. Had I planted less and tended it better, my
success would have been greater. A small garden
well tilled is far better than a large one overgrown with
weeds. My fruit and vegetable garden has been kept
clean, but the onion and beet patch were badly
neglected. — [N. C. Kneeland, Minnesota.
Using the W heel Implements. — The value of these
new garden implements, the improved wheel hoes,
drills, markers, coverers, cultivators, etc., was empha-
sized throughout the accounts, particularly by those
who tried them for the first time, and the conclusion is
evident that a garden without good wheel implements
cannot begin to compete in the economy of operation
with one properly equipped. Only a few are quoted
from scores of opinions to this effect:
The Anti-clog weeder does splendid work, kills
nearly all weeds and leaves the soil fine and in excellent
condition to retain moisture. — [A. L. Coffin, Maine.
Lacking a wheel hand hoeing machine, I put the
broad sweeps on my horse hoe and tried the experi-
ment of pushing it by hand, while the plants were
small. With judicious setting of the wheel and patience
in learning the proper way to hold the handles, I found
I could clean out the weeds between the rows two feet
apart or less to within an inch of the plants, do it as
easily as with a hoe, and about seven times as fast. I
don't suppose it was so handy as a special garden tool,
but it worked. — [A. P. Hitchcock, New York.
It's only fun to garden with the wheel garden
tools. No more backaches and bad tempers. — [Mrs.
Hattie Ferguson, Maine.
If the garden is properly laid out and planned,
little hand work is required. I lay out the rows far
enough apart to work a horse cultivator between them,
using a twelve-tooth cultivator. I can run it so close
to the rows that but little hoeing is needed. Of course
PRIZE PICKINGS 285
everything has to be thinned out later in the season,
and the weeds have to be cut out or pulled where you
cannot run the cultivator. — [C. L. Russell, Vermont.
I think the wheel hoe alone a more serviceable tool
in the garden than the combined drill and hoe, in that
the wheels are larger and the connecting arm higher.
The boys are sure they can do more work with it and
do it easier. — [Charles Prerson Augur, Connecticut.
We first run the double wheel hoe, allowing the
wheels to straddle the row, thus taking out all the
weeds in the row between the rows and leaving only
about two inches in the row, which we finish by hand.
— [E. Elton, Nebraska.
I believe the crop would have been almost a total
failure, like some of our neighbors', had we not used
a weeder, which stirred the surface of the soil, forming
a mulch and arresting evaporation and conserving
moisture for the plants. We also owe much to this
valuable tool in most all parts of the garden. I con-
sider the wheel hoe to a hand hoe what the
mowing machine is to a scythe. — [L. E. Burnham,
Massachusetts.
My time spent in work must have been far more
were it not for the wheel hoe used before the weeds
had a chance to start. — [Mrs. L. M. A. Hall,
Connecticut.
I used an old gate to drag over the top of potato
rows as the potatoes were coming up. It killed the
weeds without much harm to the potatoes. — [H. E.
Hale, New Jersey.
Garden Conveniences. — I use a homemade marker
when I want to sow only a few seeds or, to set out
plants. It is made from one and one-half by three-inch
stuff, four feet long. In this a pole from the woods is
firmly fixed for a handle by boring a one and one-half-
inch hole at the center through the scantling. The end
286
PRIZE GARDENING
of the pole is sharpened enough to go through the hole
and then wedged behind to keep it from drawing out.
It is also braced with a piece of lath from each end of
the scantling. Pieces of lath one foot long are sharp-
ened and nailed firmly to the back of the scantling, so
that one side makes drills one foot apart and the other
side sixteen inches. — [W. H. Pillow, New York.
Protection from Cutworms. — Fold old newspapers
and cut into sheets, say nine by twelve inches. Paint
with cheap, quick-drying black paint or waterproof
varnish. Sticky paper covered with rosin and sweet
oil will answer for one season. Cut the sheets from
edge to center. The plant being set, slip a paper
around it and place a clod or stone on the lapped edges
of the slit near the plant and otherwise secure it against
winds. This will flare the edges, cast water to the
center, let air under to prevent mold and yet is dark
and retains moisture. The grub prefers the ground on
PRIZE PICKINGS
287
which to travel and will not attempt to crawl onto the
paper. The papers if properly cared for will last for
a number of years, and can be safely taken away from
the plant in a week or ten days. — [Dr. M. W. Strealy,
Pennsylvania.
Most vegetable growers and also those who raise
flowers are often greatly annoyed by the cutworm at
transplanting time. An entire garden set with young
plants may be practically devastated in a few nights
by this worm. Being a hidden enemy, it is all the
more difficult to control. A Minnesota gardener writes :
I have found the device shown at a in the illustra-
tion very successful in keeping cutworms from injuring
my garden. The pest cuts off the young plants just
above the ground during the night. To prevent this,
take any kind of paper, preferably a stiff wrapping
paper used at grocery stores, cut a strip about three
inches wide and as long as is required to wrap two or
three times around the stem of the plant, leaving
enough space for development. Make the hole in the
ground, put in the plant and then enough soil to cover
the fibrous roots. Wrap the paper around the stem
and fill in with soil both inside and out so that one-
half the paper will be below the surface and half above,
288 PRIZE GARDENING
as shown in the illustration. The plant will then not
be injured by the cutworm. I have treated cabbage
and tomato plants in this way and have not lost one.
I do not know how successful this would be in the
market garden, but in my own private plot it has
worked to perfection.
I have been informed that by planting a few castor
beans here and there in the garden the cutworms will
be destroyed. A lady friend planted a few of these
on the south side of her pansy bed as a protection from
the sun, and she found that she had accomplished more
than she had intended, for in the morning when she
went to look at her flowers she found numbers of cut-
worms dead on the top of the ground. It is thought
that the worms eat the roots of the castor bean and find
them fatal. The great objection to this plan is that
— // -
the bean grows so rank and casts so much shade that
it is injurious to other plants.
The Little Point Hoe is an implement made espe-
cially for us women to use by my uncle, who took a
common hoe which had one side of the blade broken
off, and cut the other side off, leaving a blade about
two inches wide. This has been worn by constant use
till only the midrib of the hoe is left, which is worn to
a point. In the hands of an energetic woman it is a
most efficient tool for destroying weeds, loosening soil
and working close to any plant desired. — [Una
Eugenie Knight, New York.
A Handy Tool. — The cut above shows a weeder
made from inch hoop iron, described by R. J. Clark of
Massachusetts, who has a pair of them that he has used
PRIZE PICKINGS 289
several seasons. Use one in each hand. They are
cheap and effective.
A Long-handled Wccdcr. — I have used a long-
handled, diamond-shaped weeder in my work in the
garden. The handle is about three and one-half feet
long, or long enough so that I can stand upright and
use the weeder, which I find very satisfactory for the
work given over to it. The weeder part is made
diamond-shaped out of a piece of thin steel, and firmly
fixed to the handle. It is the best hand weeder I ever
used. This is the testimony of John Costello of Coos
county, New Hampshire, who has had much practical
experience in garden work.
Markers. — I mark rows either sixteen, twenty-
four or thirty-six inches apart. For the latter class
the corn marker serves; for the others I simply nail
three or four small stovewood sticks on a piece of old
scantling, rounding the marking ends a bit, and two
bean poles nailed to the top make thills to draw it by.
It takes ten minutes to make one, and I find it simpler
to make a new one each year, use it and knock it to
pieces, than to preserve it.
Lime Sifter. — To sprinkle air-slaked lime on vines,
etc., I put a peck or so in a coarse burlap bran sack.
Two or three jerks over a hill covers it with the fine
dust. — [A. P. Hitchcock, New York.
A Roller Remodeled. — I had a hand roller, or in
other words a man-killer, twenty inches in diameter
and thirty-six inches long. I came to the conclusion
that if properly fitted up it would be better adapted to
animal power than human. So out of some lumber I
had, I made a frame and shafts combined. Sawed one
of the two-by-fours in the center, making two pieces
two by two, twelve feet long. The other two-by-four
I sawed into four pieces. Three pieces 1 used for
crossbars; the fourth piece of two-by-four I sawed in
290
PRIZE GARDENING
the center, making two pieces eighteen inches long.
Made journal boxes out of these and fastened them
firmly to the lower side of shaft frame. The three
two-by-four pieces I used for crossbars, cutting a
tenon on the end of each an inch deep, two and three-
fourths inches long; then I bored six three-eighths-
inch holes through same pieces, also through shafts,
bolting them firmly together. Then nailed short pieces
across the shafts in diagonal position about a foot long,
making them very rigid. The rod that ran through
the center of rollers was too short for the shafts. Had
STONE BOAT AND VINE SUPPORT
a blacksmith weld three inches on the same. When this
was done, connected shafts and rollers, which worked
admirably. Fixed a seat on same and then went to
work. — [B. S. Rembaugh, Missouri.
Stone Boat and Vine Support. — A New York state
gardener sends drawing of a stone boat, which proved
handy when the land was to be cleared off after plow-
ing and harrowing. It is as simple as possible, the
runners being made of sticks with a natural bend. A
PRIZE PICKINGS 29I
sketch of a rough and ready support for vines comes
from the same source. The stakes are from tree brush,
to which is fastened a single wire.
Best Time to Work the Garden. — Cultivating and
hoeing in the early morning when the dew is on the
earth is far preferable to doing it in the heat of the day.
I arise at four o'clock and breakfast at six in the sum-
mer season. In the meantime I devote from one-half to
two hours in the garden, hoeing, weeding, cultivating
and gathering cool, crisp radishes, lettuce, cucumbers,
peas, beans, squash, beets, etc., for the morning and
noontime meals. Vegetables gathered when the dew
is on them are of the finest quality. Early to bed, early
to rise, gives a good appetite for breakfast, and adds
days to our lives. — [L. E. Dimock, Connecticut.
Hand Weeder. — I have a patent device which
makes the work a little harder and slower than without
it. So I broke a foot off the point of an old scythe,
bent two inches of the top at right angles, sideways,
hammered the edge of the rest down, wrapped it in a
rag for a handle, and found it very useful in some cases.
But thumbs and fingers must do most of the fine work.
— [A. P. Hitchcock, New York.
Clean Digging. — We have found that for a small
acreage, a fork is the most economical instrument with
which to dig potatoes, because the plow or potato
digger covers a great many which can never be found.
Do not put potatoes in the cellar until seasoned. — [A.
Brackett, Minnesota.
The potatoes were dug by turning a light furrow
from either side of the row, and then raking over the
center with the potato hook. This method is used here
more than any other. As yet no potato digger has
been found that does its work satisfactorily. — [Charles
P. Augur, Connecticut.
292
PRIZE GARDENING
Scaring the Birds. — As the garden was at a little
distance from the house, scarecrows became necessary
when the corn began to appear above the surface of
the ground. Those used were made from a potato
stuck full of the wing and tail feathers removed from
poultry strangled for market or home use. A stout
string about three feet long was tied around the potato
and it was then suspended from the end of a bean pole
or fishing rod stuck in the ground among the corn. It
takes less time to prepare one of these "potato birds"
than to shoot a crow, and when suspended in the field
they appear to serve an equally good purpose. — [E. R.
Flagg, Massachusetts.
Plant Boxes. — Gardening operations require a
great number of boxes. These may be without top or
bottom, to be used with mosquito netting as protectors
for squash, melon and cucumber plants, or with bot-
toms for use in starting plants early in the season.
To make such boxes or protectors, by wholesale, follow
the plan shown in the cut. Take four wide boards and
nail them firmly together as shown. Then saw off the
boxes as is also suggested. They are now in shape for
protectors. If boxes are needed, nail on bottom
boards.— [W. D.
Tomato vines were allowed to climb an upright
trellis of wire netting. They needed but little tying
and yielded better than those on poles or tied to
stakes or trailing on the ground. — [A. E. Lathrop,
Massachusetts.
PRIZE PICKINGS 293
Making Plants Live) — If the season is a dry one, it
is a good plan to insert near the newly-set plant an old
fruit can with several small holes punched in the
bottom, and keep it full of water. — W. McDermott,
New York.
Points on Potash. — Last season I did not know
exactly how to use ashes, and proceeded to experiment
with various garden crops on a sandy soil, clay bottom,
southeast slope. On one strip I spread broadcast
unleached hardwood ashes at the rate of about five
pecks per square rod, or some two hundred bushels
per acre, and on another strip half that amount. Above
and below these strips I put none at all. In this field
in rows north and south and crosswise the strips, I
planted potatoes, sweet corn, sugar beets, watermelons,
muskmelons, tomatoes and sunflowers. Each strip
was treated in exactly the same way in every respect
except for the ashes, which were put on early in May.
The corn, potatoes and melons were all much
better where the ashes were applied, but not much dif-
ference was noted between results of the large and the
small amounts. The sugar beets grew the same size
on both strips of ashes, but where none was put on the
beets were only half as large, although richer in sugar.
With tomatoes best results were obtained on the
strip where the smaller amount of ashes was applied.
Too much was worse than none, as it caused an exces-
sive growth of vine and a vast number of worthless
small tomatoes. I should now use two pecks to the
rod. The sunflowers did not show a clear enough dif-
ference to report, but I think the ashes helped them.
In another place I had a patch of onions and these were
very much improved by one hundred bushels ashes per
acre, the difference being at the rate of about three to
two in favor of the ashes.
294 PRIZE GARDENING
Summing up, I found that nearly everything I
tried the ashes on was benefited by the application,
but that the smaller amount was as good and in some
cases better than the larger. As ashes draw moisture
and tend to bind the particles of sandy soil together,
they serve to help resist drouth under good cultivation.
— [R. M. Dunlap.
In a large box I first placed two inches of leached
wood ashes. Over this I spread a layer of wheat bran,
packing it down with a maul. I continued until the
box was full. The box was allowed to stand for two
months, when the contents were stirred up and applied
to a field. It proved as valuable a fertilizer as barn-
yard manure or commercial fertilizer. It can be made
at a cost of forty to fifty cents per one hundred pounds.
It can be drilled in or applied by hand. For wheat it
has no equal. — [W. A. Kimble.
In my experience, all valley land or land subject
to waste lacks potash. — [J. L., New York.
Two teaspoonfuls potash to one and one-half
gallons water will kill the pea aphis without injury
to the plants. — [C. P. Augur, Connecticut.
Special Remedies. — With my tomatoes there were
some that seemed to be dying, and on examination I
found a small mite or scale on the under side of the
leaf that looked very much like a flake of bran. I
pulled up the worst ones and carried them away to
burn, then I sprayed the rest with coal oil emulsion,
at a strength of one gallon of oil to forty-five gallons
of water and one pound of Russian soap. It seemed
to kill nearly all the scales. I had to turn the plants
over so I could get at the under side of the leaves. —
[P. H. Sheridan, Colorado.
Here hangs my knapsack sprayer, which with me
has entirely superseded my old hand and foot force
pump sprayer. This little rubber bulb spray throws
PRIZE PICKINGS 295
the material eight or ten feet high, so that the tops of
all my grapes and gooseberries are easily reached.
With a whitewash brush we smeared all the
grapevines from the ground to the outer ends of the
stems with the blue vitriol solution, with enough lime
in it to show quite white. We also did the trunks of
all the young trees, clearing away the soil slightly and
extending up beyond the first crotch. — [F. J. Bell,
New Jersey.
Poles and Brush. — I cut my bean poles when get-
ting wood in the winter, and sharpen them, leaving
them handy to the garden. I bring down my pea
brush also on top of the wood, sharpen and trim them
and put them in small heaps with a weight on them,
so they will flatten out and be in shape to set better in
the rows. Much time and hurry is saved by doing
this work in winter and having everything ready when
the plants require it. — [C. E. K., Connecticut.
Experience has taught us that pinching back the
vines causes them to bear twice the amount of melons.
— [L. C. Wright, New York.
Mistakes. — The season seems too short for brush
lima beans. We shall not plant potatoes between rhu-
barb rows, as they receive too much shade. We should
have provided the tomatoes with a trellis. — [Miss Bar-
bara Brown, Indiana.
The Struggle That Wins. — This bit of biography
by a New Hampshire prize winner, A. E. Ross, shows
of what stuff successful contestants are made : "I
remained at home till I was twenty-one and then went
to work for one of my neighbors, and continued to
work out until 1889. When in search of a place
where I could get more money, I came to Somersworth
and entered the Great Falls Manufacturing company.
I went into the dress room, where I soon learned, and
by steady habits I soon secured one of the best jobs
296
PRIZE GARDENING
there, which paid ten dollars a week. About this
time I married a lady who worked in the card room.
It was our aim from the first to get us a home. We
commenced by saving every cent that we could. When
PICKING PEAS FOR DINNER
we had one thousand dollars we went to Taunton,
Massachusetts, and looked at several places, but saw
nothing that we wanted. We came back and went to
work. Soon we saw the advertisement of the place we
now call home. We found it would take two thousand
• PRIZE PICKINGS 297
dollars to buy it. We paid one thousand dollars
down and gave our notes for two hundred dollars a
year, with the privilege of paying up as fast as we
could. The mortgage was at the rate of five per cent.
At the end of three and one-half years we had paid
the balance, bought teams and furniture. Still we kept
at work in the mill until we had enough to buy all the
tools and do all the repairing necessary. My wife
has worked in the shop until now and has quite a neat
bank account to her name."
Solid Comfort. — I consider my garden has been
a paying investment because of the pleasure in caring
for it and the luxury of vegetables on our table, even
without any other profit. — [L. E. Burnham, Massa-
chusetts.
If enjoying anything is of any account, the gar-
den has paid beyond expectation. It could be made
more pleasurable another year by having greater
variety of products. — [Charles Cooledge, New York.
There are some things that do not pay so far as
money goes, but which give returns that money cannot
buy, and one of these things is the pleasure of seeing
things grow and mature their fruit, and knowing that
your work brought it to pass. — [R. L. Porter,
Massachusetts.
Our garden has been a source of pleasure as well
as wonder to us and our friends, that so much could be
grown on such a tiny little spot. A row of Caprice
nasturtiums fifty feet long in their gorgeous beauty for
a fence on one side, and a row of squash vines,
trimmed back, with their wealth of fruit on the other,
and the rows of cabbage and Brussels sprouts separated
by rows of scarlet peppers and tomatoes, with the dark
red foliage of the beets and the feathery carrots made
a beautiful fall picture. We counted at one time fifteen
distinct colorings and markings, from pale yellow to
PRIZE PICKINGS 299
the darkest crimson blossoms, on our nasturtium vines,
while the foliage was a combination of light and dark,
making the plants very attractive. Just the variety for
the window box or for anyone who has little space. —
[S. L. Parker, Massachusetts.
If I had bought the produce at wholesale prices,
the time spent to go after it would more than equal the
time spent in my garden. — [G. V. Dewey, Tennessee.
I place more value on the garden than the figures
show. Vegetables should be on every farmer's table,
fresh and sweet. — [C. E. Deets, Iowa.
We have not been without flowers for our table
and sitting room from July to November 1. They have
been given to friends and used for church decoration.
It adds to the pleasures of a garden to have also all
small fruits suited to the climate, and herbs, pie plant
and all vegetables. — [Marcia H. Howlett, Wisconsin.
We aimed to keep as accurate account of time
spent as possible, and have been surprised that the
number of days of ten hours each have been so few. —
[Miss Mary Gilman, New York.
The Family Garden. — A good gardener and true
lover of country life and work is not repaid in dollars
and cents alone. Writes L. E. Dimock of Connecticut:
Dry figures can never reveal the hopes, the fears, the
pleasure and the trials, that make the family garden
indispensable to the perfect enjoyment of farm life.
I say our garden, because, while nearly all the labor in
it was performed by myself, yet for the whole family
the garden is always a place of absorbing interest. The
madam likes to stroll there in the twilight hours; the
married daughter, with a home and a garden of her
own, delights in wandering through its green mazes
frequently and make comparisons with the garden at
her own home. The son, deep in the knotty problems
of Coke or Blackstone, has visions of the home garden
300 PRIZE GARDENING
rise before him, and straightway he makes a pilgrimage
to its cool shade and its sunny avenues, and forgets the
law in eager comparison of varieties of lettuce, or in
noting the swelling of incipient melons. The children
love it from the burying of seed in the warm earth to
the gathering of the harvest. Their eager feet are ever
treading its pathways and their eager hands are ever
ready to assist in its care. There are other partners.
The birds and the bees are there, bless them. Even
the chickens feel they are entitled to help.
Garden work was recreating and was performed
at odd moments, when resting from the regular routine
of farm work. Who can have the sordidness to claim
that the crisp, tender, toothsome dainties furnished for
the home table, or sent as a present to a friend, can be
adequately represented by a few pence set down in a
dailv account?
finis
PRIZE WINNERS
Lester C. Wright
was born in Oswego, New York, December i, 1849.
He attended the public schools of that city and the
Oswego high school, and then studied law, intending to
be admitted to the bar. When his hearing began to fail
him he gave up law, and for the past twenty years had
L. C. AND FRED P. WRIGHT
been engaged in market gardening at Oswego Center,
about three miles from Oswego City. Mr. Wright
had the reputation of being one of the foremost
gardeners in Oswego county. He was the originator of
the Early Leader tomato, introduced some years ago.
Many people from Oswego visited his garden each
year, and it was always a pleasure with him to explain
his plans and methods of culture.
302
PRIZE GARDENING
His death, which occurred on June 4, 1900, was
mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances,
as he was taken sick while at work in the garden and
died after a short illness of six days.
Fred P. Wright
was born in Oswego, New York, in 1880, and has worked
at market gardening for the past seven years. Under
the able instruction of the senior member of the firm,
L. C. Wright, he has become one of the leading young
gardeners of this vicinity. During the past seasons of
1900 and 1 90 1, he successfully carried on the market
gardening business as before his father's death.
MR. AND MRS. A. T. GIAUQUE
A native of Ohio, Mr. Giauque has been twenty-
seven years a resident of southeastern Iowa, and has
been actively identified with affairs about him. He
was twenty years a resident of Nebraska. For forty
years he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and was a soldier for the Union during the
PRIZE WINNERS
303
Civil war. He is in his fifty-eighth year, having been
a farmer since he was sixteen years of age, when his
father moved to a farm, leaving it mainly to the care of
himself and a brother two years younger. Possessed
of an exuberant enthusiasm, Mr. Giauque always
enters heartily into any scheme for securing better
methods and higher standards in the calling of his
choice. Ambitious always to have a good garden, he
has usually had one, when it has been possible in that
dry climate.
Brainard S. Higley
was born on a farm in Windham, Portage county,
Ohio, of New England ancestors, September 1, 1837,
B. S. HIGLEY
and has always resided in Ohio. Nearly his whole life
has been passed in that part of Ohio known as the Con-
necticut Western Reserve. Until he was twelve years
of age he attended country schools — most of the time
at one held in a log cabin. At the age of twelve his
parents moved to a nearby village, where he prepared
304 PRIZE GARDENING
for college in a select school. In 1855 he entered West-
ern Reserve College, from which he graduated in 1859
with the third honor in his class. He studied law in
Cleveland, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in July,
i860. He was married to Miss Isabella R. Stevens
(who still survives), January 1, 1861.
Mr. Higley, born and reared on a farm, always
took great interest in agriculture, and since marriage
always had a garden. Part of his life his professional
and business duties were so engrossing that he could
give his garden little personal attention ; but the garden
was invariably the most charming place for him when
he could be in it. Beginning April, 1, 1898, he has de-
voted his entire time to his lawns and garden, and a
neater, better kept and more attractive garden will be
hard to find anywhere. He keeps a close record of his
doings and the results, whereby from year to year he
can see and recall his mistakes, successes and the out-
come of all his experiments and work.
INDEX
PAGE
Ashes for the Garden 293
Asparagus 35
Atwood A. A., Sketch of 51
Tomatoes of 218
Avery Estella, Home Garden of. 125
Bale Mrs. W. R, Diary of 128
Bean Poles 295
Beans 53, 96
in Grand Prize Gardening ... 7
Lima 106, 146
Beginner, Methods of a 189
Begonias 240
Belding G. E., Profitable Gar-
den of 101
Bell, T. J., Methods of 93
Berries, Marketing 119
Birds, To Scare Away 292
Blackberries, Care of 245
Boarders, Vegetables for 263
Bookkeeping, Garden 278
Bordeaux Mixture for Potato
Bugs 174
Boxes for Plants 292
Brickyard Gardening 193
Brussels Sprouts 260
Brickey W. T., Profits of 158
Burnham L. E., Garden of 62
Byington C. P., Expense Ac-
count of 185
Cabbage in Grand Prize Garden-
ing 9
Worms, Remedy for 268
Cabbages 40, 175
L. E. Dimock's 233
Second Growth 233
Calendar, A Garden . . .96, 105, 261
A Gardener's 41
of Garden Irrigation 158
Calkins Mrs. H. R., Account of. 138
Cauliflower 259
Celery, Banking and Bleaching. 227
Boarding Up 92
Branching with Leaf Mold ...230
Culture 138, 175, 181, 259
Bed, A Novel 192
in Cellar 232
in the Northwest 228
in Trenches 226
Prize 257
Chickens in Garden 177
City Man's Garden 78
Clover, Crimson, in the Garden 177
Coal, The Best Heat 211
PAGE
Cold Frame, A Minnesota 210
Care of 205, 206
Preparing 206
Cole W. K., Garden of 56
Comfort from the Garden 297
Contestants, Number of 2
Corn Culture 57, 107, 232
Early 96
in Grand Prize Gardening ... 20
Cucumber Culture 131, 225
Bugs 235
Diseases 209
Experiments with 31
Extra Early 225
Forcing 208
Watering 33
Cultivating Garden 104
Currants 245
Currant Worms 269
Crops, Best Second 275
Cutworms 186
Protection from 286
Dahlias 241
Denslow L. A. and E. S., Gar-
den of 14 1
Diary, A Woman's Garden 128
Dibble Miss S. A., Sketch of.. 118
Digging, Clean 291
Dimock L. E., Methods of 64
Dole Mrs. J. E., Calendar of... 123
Earliness to Secure Vegetables. 258
Eastman L. J., Expense Ac-
count of 100
Edge A. P., Expense Account of 90
Irrigation Methods of 180
Exhibition, Vegetables for 256
Expense and Profits of Gardens 247
Expenses of Grand Prize Gar-
dening 14
Experience, Prize 276
Failure, Causes of 266
Farm Garden Patch 77
Feeding the Soil 112
Fertilizer, Application of 95
Cost of 249
in Prize Gardening 14
on Sod Land 112
Soluble 173
Use of .^ 86
First Prize Gardening 83
Fisher E. C, Diary of 136
Five Acres Enough 27
$o6
INDEX
PAGE
Fiagg E. R., Fertilizer Garden
of 103
Flowers, Most Desirable 275
Foot E. N., Principles of 1 1 1
Expense Account of 112
Forcing House, A Profitable ...211
A Small 211
Frazer John, Forcing House of.. 195
Fruit and Vegetables of John
Tye 74
Fruit Trees in Garden 244
Garden, Advantages of a 91
A Busy Farmer's 60
A Connecticut Valley 52
A Good Family 115
A Half- Acre 142
A Home Farm 75
A, in San Gabriel Valley ....159
A Large 47
A Late 113
A Little Suburban 100
A Luxuriant Home 73
A Luxurious 48
A Natural 76
A Productive Southern 140
A Quarter-Acre 100, 114
A Small Farm 71
A Suburban 93
A Successful 136
A Twenty- Acre 37
Comparison of 247
Conveniences 285
Cost and Value of a 246
Crops, Choosing 264
Land Taxes on 248
Mr. Hall's Fertilizer 114
of a Hustler 69
of Mrs. G. H. McCluer 74
on Chemicals, A no
One-Third Acre 62
Patch, A City 101
Produce, Value of 251
Size of 265
Small Market 250, 252
The Family 299
Vegetables, List of 80
Work, Methods of 41
Gardener, A Boy 150
A Zealous 143
Gardening, Benefits of 121
for Elderly Women 117
General and Special 251
Grand Prize „ 5
Instructions for 252, 255
in Washington 194
Practical 260
Giauque A. T., Methods of .... 69
Ginseng, Starting 237
Grapes 35
Bagging 91
Gray W. P., Small Garden of . . 61
Guild Amelia, Account of 134
Hall Mrs. L. M. A., Profitable
Garden of 131
Hand Garden Roller 289
PAGE
Hauck J; B., Account of 81
House Lot of 79
Herbs, Garden 237
High Feeding for Plants 191
High Grade Gardening 63
Higley B. S., Sketch of ....83, 303
Hill C. L., Account of Garden
of 46
Hired Help 86
Hitchcock, A. B., Profits of ... 75
Hoe, A Novel 288
Holton Edith, Methods of 71
Hotbeds 80, 109, 197
Making up 198
Management of 200, 201
Substitute for 31, 90
Horticulturist, A Born 192
Hunn's Forcing House 210
Implements, Best Six 269
\\ heel, Use of 283
Indians, Selling Produce to ....190
Insecticides, Use of ...95,105, 129
Insects, Fighting 267
Remedies for 80
Interest Accounts 248
Irrigation and Fertilizers .165, 173
by Windmill 176
Details of 161
from a Well 165
Garden 80, 126, 152
Hose for 180
in Mining Districts ..167
in Mountain Sections 162
on Three Acres 167
Plant, A Cheap 1 78
Preparation for 157, 172
Process of 157
System of 155
Kinney F. L., Forcing Methods
of 199
Kirk Mrs. R., Income of 134
Knife, Gardening with a 193
Kohl-Rabi 106
Labor, Cost of 249
in Grand Prize Gardening. .5, 16
Value of 36
Lettuce, Growing 236
Spring, Forcing 208
Lord C. E., Success of 76
Ludwig, Mrs. L. A., Story of... 127
Lyman J. G., Profits of 114
Manures, Cost of 249
Spread on Snow 280
Market Garden 289
Small Garden 262
Melon Crop, A Successful 223
Garden, A 185
Vines, Pinching 295
Melons 144
Good 223
Mistakes, Garden 295
Model Account, A 132
Moles and Irrigation 172
Money from a Minnesota Gar-
den 45
INDEX
307.
PAGE
Morse J. E., Sketch of 10
Muskmelons 186
Novel Features 183
Onions 38, 65
Harvesting 218
Maggot, Remedy for 269
The Culture of 214
Two Methods with 216
Weeding 217
Paris Green, Use of 268
Parker S. L., Profit of 112
Parsnips 235
Pasture Land, Reclaiming 188
Peas 54, 107, 258
in Dry Weather 231
Sweet 239
Peppers . . .235
Perseverance Under Difficulties 140
Pillow W. H., Winnings of ...108
Pit for Forcing 195
Storing Vegetables 95
Plants in Boxes 221
Starting 129, 197, 293
Planting, Wide Rows 281
Pleasures of Gardening 299
Poison, Receptacle for 95
Porter R. L., Methods of 101
Potash, Points on 293
Potato Bugs, Poison for 214
Potatoes, Culture of 34, 39, 57, 107
as a Late Crop 213
Early Planting of 214
Field, The ...214
for Seed 214
in Grand Prize Gardening ... 14
in New Jersey 212
Prize 256
Weeding 213
Practical Success, A 56
Prize Fertilizer Gardens 103
Prize Winners, Sketches of 301
Products, Surplus 189
Profits, How to Secure 253.
Profits of Small Market Gardens 250
Pumpkins, Growing Large 167
Queries of Grand Prize Garden-
ing , 19
Radishes 129
and Melons 224
Raspberries 40
Care of 245
Reclaiming a Waste 183
Rembaugh B. S., Expense Ac-
count of 2J
Sketch of 25
Remedies, Special 294
Reports of States 3
Reynolds J. B., Irrigation Meth-
ods of 170
Rhubarb in Grand Prize Garden-
ing 9
PAGB
Roberts Oscar, Methods of ....145
Rules 1
Satisfy 260
Seeds, Saving 191
Starting 84, 120, 207
Shade for Plants 182
Sherman G. M., Experiments of 191
Sketches of Prize Winners ....301
Soil Culture 86
Testing the 186
Working the 273
Solid Comfort 297
Southern Vegetables 273
Space, Saving 100
Spinach, Winter 234
Squashes, Culture of.. 102, 121, 225
in Grand Prize Gardening. ... 9
Strawberries 34, 39, 54
Irrigation of 1 74
Prize 73
Struggle That Wins, The 295
Summary, A Garden 279
Third Crops 182
Tomatoes 7, 28, 57, 88, 134, 218, 255
Ashes for 293
Culture, Southern 220
Diseases of 209
Forcing 208
Frame, A Cheap 222
Good 22 1
Plants in Grand Prize Gar-
dening 17
Profits of _ 219
Transplanting 86, 221
Tools, Care of _ 89
in Grand Prize Gardening .. 14
List of 269
Sharp 88
Townsend G. J., Forcing Meth-
ods of 204
Trellis for Tomatoes 292
Vegetables, Early 258
for Exhibit 256
for New England 275
Neglected 259
New . . . 274
Varieties, Promising 274
Waterlily, Culture of 242
Weeder, A Hand 291
A Long-Handle 289
A Novel 288
Weeds, Worst 269
Wet Land, Reclaiming 188
Widmer O. R., Methods of .... 60
Wineberries 182
Woodruff Prize Garden 55
Work, Best Time to 291
Wright L. C. and F. P., Sketch
of 301
Wright L G, Account of 27
Yield of Vegetables 49
STAND ABD BOOKS.
Commended toy the Greatest Educators of Germany, England and the TPaittd
States. Endorsed by Officials, and adopted in many Schools
new methods in education
Art, Real Manual Training, Nature Study. Explaining Processes
"Whereby Hand, Eye and Mind are Educated by Means that Conserve VitaJ
ity and Develop a Union of Thought and Action
By 3. Liberty CacW
Director of the Public School of Industrial Art, of Manual Training ana Art m the
R. C. High School, and in several Night Schools, Member of the Art Club, Sketch
Club, and Educational Club, and of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
BASED on twenty-two years' experience with thousands of
children and hundreds of teachers. "A method reasonable,
feasible and without great cost, adapted to all grades,
from child to adult ; a plan that can be applied without friction
to every kind of educational institution or to the family, and
limited only by the capacity of the individual ; a method covered
by natural law, working with the absolute precision of nature it-
self ; a process that unfolds the capacities of children as unfold
the leaves and flowers ; a system that teaches the pupils that they
are in the plan and part of life, and enables them to work out
their own salvation on the true lines of design and work as illus-
trated in every natural thing."
H Wealth of Illustration— 47$ Pictures and 44 full-Page Plates
showing children and teachers practicing these new methods or
their work. A revelation to all interested in de veloping the won-
derful capabilities of young or old. The pictures instantly
fascinate every child, imbuing it with a desire to do likewise.
Teachers and parents at once become enthusiastic and delighted
Over the Tadri methods which this book enables them to put into
practice Not a hackneyed thought nor a stale picture. Fresh,
new. practical, scientific, inspiring
AMONG THOSE WHO ENDORSE THE WORK ARE
HERBERT SPENCER DR. W. W. KEENE, PRESIDENT HUEY— Of the Phlla.
delphia board of education.
SECRETARY GOTZE— Of the leading pedagogical society of Germany (by which
the book is being translated into German for publication at Berlin).
CHARLES H. THURBER— Professor of P-dasrogy, University of Chicago.
TALCOT T WILLIAMS-Editor Philadelphia Press, Book News, etc.
R. H, WEBSTER— Superintendent of Schools, San Francisco.
DR. A. K. WINSHIP— EdUoi Journal of Education.
W. F. SLOCUM— President Colorado College.
FREDERICK WINSOR— Head master The Country School for Boys of Baltimore
City, under the auspices of Johns Hopkins University.
G. B. MORRISON— Principal Manual Training High School, Kansas City.
DR. EDWARD KIRK-Dean University of Penn.
G. E. DAWSQN-(Clark University), Professor of Psychology, Bible Normal
College.
ROMAN STEINER— Baltimore.
SPECIFICATIONS : Size, l%x\\}% inches, almost a quarto; 456 pages, fine plate
piper, beautifully bound in cloth and boards, cover illuminated in gold; weight,
4)£ lbs. Boxed, price $3.00 net, postpaid to any part of the world.
Orange 3ud4 Company
How ToriCt XV* Y., 52-54 Lafayette Place. Sprinef ield, Mass., Homestead B&
Chicago* Hi*. Marooiettfe Building.
J SENT FREE ON APPLICATION jjj
v* ^^^^^^^^^_^_™_,_^_.. *
0/ ' *S
I Prescriptive i
* S
jjj Containing 100 8vo. pages, /^"^\ 1"V ^J f\/\, ■ -Y Jt
T profusely illustrated, and / — j \ ll*
y|j giving full descriptions of I (' J ■m- «^ ^— ^ ^-^ w r s^ (|j
Catalog of... |
RURAL
Vfe the best works on the fol- V 13 C\ f\ YS ^1
\it lowing subjects : V I 3\_j\_P JX. \^J W
a •
* *
tti ■■„. fl*
I
itt i^i Farm and Garden
| jgj Fruits, Flowers, Etc.
jb i^j Cattle, Sheep and Swine jjj
ili i^j Dogs, Horses, Riding, Etc. j»
jjj A^ !$; Poultry, Pigeons and Bees JJ
jjj ^J^k jjjjj Angling and Fishing *
tf ^^p i£; Boating, Canoeing and Sailing W
jjj ^^^^1^; Field Sports and Natural History jjj
^ ^^"iS! Hunting, Shooting, Etc. jjj
ijjj! Architecture ?nd Building (f»
;®| Landscape Gardening ^
* :^- Household and Miscellaneous J
Viif : $ : "*
^ j.»: (f\
* s
jjj Publishers and Importers ji
I Orange Judd Company 1
jjj 52 and 54 Lafayette Place £
jjj NEW YORK jjj
il> g
\il ■ .: ».. 9}
tti W
* BOOKS WILL BE FORWARDED, POSTPAID, ON jjj
J RECEIPT OF PRICE ,[>
STANDARD BOOKS.
Turkeys and How to Grow Them.
Edited by Herbert Myrick. A treatise on the natural his-
tory and origin of the name of turkeys; the various
breeds, the best methods to insure success in the business
of turkey growing'. With essays from practical turkey
growers in different parts of the United States and Can-
ada. Copiously illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. . . $L00
Profits r Poultry.
Usetu/ and ornamental breeds and their profitable man-
agement. This excellent work contains the combined
experience of a number of practical men in all depart-
ments of poultry raising. It is profusely illustrated and
forms a unique and important addition to our poultry
literature. Cloth, 12m o $1.00
How Crops Grow.
By Prof. Samuel W. Johnson of Yale College. New and
revised edition. A treatise on the chemical composition,
structure and life of the plant. This book is a guide to
the knowledge of agricultural plants, their composition,
their structure and modes of development and growth;
of the complex organization of plants, and the use of
the parts; the germination of seeds, and the food of
plants obtained both from the air and the soil. The
book is indispensable to all real students of agriculture.
With numerous illustrations and tables of analysis. Cloth,
12mo. $1.50
Coburn's Swine Husbandry.
By F. D. Coburn. New, revised and enlarged edition. The
breeding, rearing, and management of swine, and the
prevention and treatment of their diseases. It is the full-
est and freshest compendium relating to swine breeding
yet offered. Cloth, 12mo $1.50
Stewart's Shepherd's Manual.
By Henry Stewart. A valuable practical treatise on the
sheep for American farmers and sheep growers. It is
so plain that a farmer or a farmer's son who has never
kept a sheep, may learn from its pages how to manage
a flock successfully, and yet so complete that even the
experienced shepherd may gather many suggestions from
it. The results of personal experience of some years
with the characters of the various modern breeds of
sheep, and the sheep raising capabilities of many por-
tions of our extensive territory and that of Canada — and
the careful study of the diseases to which our sheep
are chiefly subject, with those by which they may even-
tually be afflicted through unforeseen accidents — as well
as the methods of management called for under our
circumstances, are carefully described. Illustrated. Cloth,
12mo. .. $1.00
STANDARD BUORS.
Greenhouse construction.
By Prof. L. R. Taft. A complete treatise on greenhouse
structures and arrangements of the various forms and
styles of plant houses for professional florists as well
as amateurs. All the best and most approved structures
are so fully and clearly described that anyone who desire?
to build a greenhouse will have no difficulty in deter-
mining the kind best suited to his purpose. The modern
and most successful methods of heating and ventilating
are fully treated upon. Special chapters are devoted
to houses used for the growing of one kind of plants
exclusively. The construction of hotbeds and frames
receives appropriate attention. Over one hundred excel-
lent illustrations, specially engraved for this work, make
every point clear to the reader and add considerably to
the artistic appearance of the book. Cloth, 12mo. $1.50
Greenhouse Management.
By L. R. Taft. This book forms an almost indispensa-
ble companion volume to Greenhouse Construction. In
it the author gives the results of his many years' expe-
rience, together with that of the most successful florists
and gardeners, in the management of growing plants
under glass. So minute and practical are the various
systems and methods of growing and forcing roses, vio-
lets, carnations, and all the most important florists'
plants, as well as fruits and vegetables described, that
by a careful study of this work and the following of its
teachings, failure is almost impossible. Illustrated.
Cloth, 12mo $1.50
Bulbs and Tuberous-Rooted Plants.
By C. L. Allen. A complete treatise on the history,
description, methods of propagation and fuJI directions
for the successful culture of bulbs in the garden, dwel-
ling and greenhouse. As generally treated, bulbs are an
expensive luxury, while when properly managed, they
afford the greatest amount of pleasure at the least cost.
The author of this book has for many years made bulb
growing a specialty, and is a recognized authority on
their cultivation and management. The illustrations
which embellish this work have been drawn from nature,
and have been engraved especially for this book. The
cultural directions are plainly stated, practical and to
the point. Cloth, 12mo $1.50
Irrigation Farming.
By Lute Wilcox. A handbook for the practical applica-
tion of water in the production of crops. A complete
treatise on water supply, canal construction, reservoirs
and ponds, pipes for irrigation purposes, flumes and
their structure, methods of applying water, irrigation of
field crops, the garden, the orchard and vineyard; wind-
mills and pumps, appliances and contrivances. Profuse-
ly, handsomely illustrated. Cloth. 12ruo. • • $1.50
STANDARD BOOKS.
Landscape Gardening.
By F. A. Waugh, professor of horticulture, University of
Vermont. A treatise on the general principles governing
outdoor art; with sundry suggestions for their application
in the commoner problems of gardening. Every para-
graph is short, terse and to the point, giving perfect
clearness to the discussions at all points. In spite of
the natural difficulty of presenting abstract principles
the whole matter is made entirely plain even to the
inexperienced reader. Illustrated, 12mo. Cloth. . $ .50
Fungi and Fungicides.
By Prof. Clarence M. Weed. A practical manual con-
cerning the fungous diseases of cultivated plants and
the means of preventing their ravages. The author has
endeavored to give such a concise account of the most
important facts relating to these as will enable the
cultivator to combat them intelligently. 222 pp., 90 ill.,
12mo. Paper, 50 cents; cloth $1.00
Talks on Manure.
By Joseph Harris, M. S. A series of familiar and prac-
tical talks between the author and the deacon, the doctor,
and other neighbors, on the whole subject of manures
and fertilizers; including a chapter especially written for
it by Sir John Bennet Lawes of Rothamsted, England.
Cloth, 12mo. ... $1.50
Insects and Insecticides.
By Clarence M. Weed, D. Sc, Prof, of entomology and
zoology, New Hampshire college of agriculture. A prac-
tical manual concerning noxious insects, and methods of
preventing their injuries. 334 pages, with many illus-
trations. Cloth, 12mo $1.50
Mushrooms. How to Grow Them.
By Wm. Falconer. This is the most practical work on
the subject ever written, and the only book on growing
mushrooms published in America. The author describes
how he grows mushrooms, and how they are grown for
profit by the leading market gardeners, and for home
use by the most successful private growers. Engravings
drawn from nature expressly for this work. Cloth. $1.00
Handbook of Plants and General Horticulture.
By Peter Henderson. This new edition comprises about
50 per cent, more genera than the former one, and em-
braces the botanical name, derivation, natural order,
etc., together with a short history of the different genera,
concise instructions for their propagation and culture,
and all the leading local or common English names,
together with a comprehensive glossary »f botanical an