;zQs=^ ^m DEPARTMfeNT OF H -S'^XS. i9. I ' University of Illinnig t «Bi,ok.s are not to be t^ln f^ the lS^I!^ a Success in Market Gardening, VEGETABLE GROWERS' MANUAL. By W. JV. Rajfsox, of Arlixgtox, Mass. ILLUSTRATED. BOSTON, MASS.: PrBLISHED BV THE AUTHOR. 1887. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S87, by W. W. RAWSON, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Eleciro'yf>ed and Printed by Cashman^ Keating h' Co., Sgj IVuihingtoH St., Boston. PREFACE. Ix view of the rapid changes and improvements in varieties and modes of culture which continually appear, it must be evident that the practical rules of Market Gardening need to be frequently revised and brought down to date. And any Manual on this subject, to be of practical value to the reader, must include many important directions not hitherto found in works of tliis class. No treatise within our knowl- edge has appeared during the last nine years that has aimed at covering the field with any approach to com- pleteness; and, moreover, so far as we are aware no book has ever been written that is fully adapted to the latitude of New England. \ I have been brought up in the business of Market Gardening- My father followed it before me, and, being led to it both by circumstances and inclination, I naturally took it up. I must have had a strong predilection for the work or I should not have followed it, as I have, continuously until now. I can now point iii •%^ \ iv Preface. back to a successful business experience of twenty-four years. So far as I am aware no market gardener in Massachusetts or New England employs a larger capital or sends to market a larger annual product. The extent of my establishment and operations at Arlington has attracted general public notice. Men who have already embarked in the business, and have themselves been more or less successful in it, will find in this book the means of comparing their own methods with mine. Young men who are about to choose their avocation, and who have heard of the increasing extent and importance of this business of Vegetable Growing, will find here facts collected from a long experience, which can hardly fail to be valuable to an attentive reader. A reasonable man will estimate the worth of this book by what it contains — not criticising it for the absence of matters which lie beyond its scope and purpose. In the introductory remarks with which it opens, I have endeavored to explain my object with sufficient precision, and throughout the preparation of the work I have aimed to outdo,- rather than come short of, the promise held forth in the opening chapter. w\ w. R. Arlington, Mass., /ttw/aryi 1S87. CONTENTS. PA RT I. On tJie Grcruiing of Crops in General. Page CHAPTER I. Introductory Remarks. Location- and Soil. Land Drainage. Irrigation ok Crops 9-28 CHAPTER IL Preparation- of thr Soil. Laying O'.tt for Crops. Rotatio.v of Crops. Manures. T.-ieir Applica- IIO'H CHAPTER \\\. Selection' of Seeds. Th«:ir Vitality. Sfed Growing. Sowing the Seed. Cultivation ok Crops. Harvesting or Gathering the Crops. Amount of Capi- tal AND Labor Required PA R T II. Directions and Descriptions in Detail. CHAPTER IV. Vegetables Raised for Market. Character- istics. Cultural Direction-. Ariichoke— Jerusal-m Ar.i- choke — As; )aragus— Dwarf or Bush Beans — Dwarf Varieties — Pole Beans— Pole Varieties — Scarlet Runner — Lima— Enalish or Bioad Beans — Borecole, or Kale — Varieties — Broccoli — Brussels Sprouts — Cabbages — Cojt of a Crop— Earlv \a.iciies — Young Piatits — Laier Varieties — Wintt r Kceiing — Carrots- Under Glass — Late Sons — Cauliflower — Culture — Varieties — Gele- riac — Ctlcry — Planting Out — Banking — Sioring — Arlington Celery — Uther Kinds — Chicoi y — Chives — H ow Used . . - . CHAPTER V. Vegetables, Etc.— C^«^w«^^. Field Com — Sweet Corn — Best Varieties — Corn Salad — ctc>s — Cucumbers — Un- der Glass — Transplanii >g— Best Varieties — Dandelion — Ho.v Sown — Egg Plant — Endive —Varieties of Er.dive — Herbs — Herbs, continued— Horseradish — Kohi-Rabi — Sale and Use — Leek — Lettuce — J he Green Fly — Prevention — Varieties of Lettuce — Continuous Cropping — Martyr ia — Culture — Mush- looms — MusKmelous and Cantaloupes — Culture — Mustard — Ndsturtiiun — UK.ra , 29-52 53-: 109 10- 146 CHAPTER VI. Vegetables, 'Eic — Conceded. The Onion — From Sets or .Seeds— Parbl y— Parsnips— Pta>— Eaily Varieties — Later Sors — Tall Kinds — Peppers — Potatoes — Cmnne Seed Potatoes — Radishes— Under Glass — Later Crops— Winter Vari- eties — Rhubarb — Salsify — Spinach — Squashes — Besi Keeping Varieties -- Tomatoes — 1 heir Culture — Rawson's Puritan — The Cardinal — Early Turnips — Laier Kincs — Waiermeloiis — Desirable Sorts — Ciiron Melon- Chinese Vam 147- iSi CHAPTER VI T. Farm Implemevts. The Plough- Special Forms — List of those Required — Harrows — Best Pilverizt-r — Smooih- ing Harrow— Roller — The Planet, Ir. ( uliivator- SnuTv Small Tools — SI de-hoe — Wheel-hoe— Seed Drill-— Field Marker — Hot-Bed Markers — Cabbage Carrier— Deane's Steam Pump. Re.mpdies oi; Preventives of Disease. Insecticides, Liquid and Dry — Injurious Insects — How Conlrclhd. Coxclision. 1S2 -20S ILLUSTRATIONS. Vignette — Summer Crookneck . Products of the Market Garden Green Gl>be Artichoke Jerusalem Artichoke . Asparagus, Bunched . tally Mohawk Bean . Pole Horticuhural Bean Improved Lima Bean Broad Windsor . . . Djvvins; Bet t ... Lhard'Ltaf-Beet . . Dwarf Purple Kale . Purple Cap Broccoli . Brussels Sprouts . . Early Summer Cabbage Early Ktampes Cabbage Early Jersey Wakefield - Globe Curled Savoy . Earlv Horn Carrot French Forcng Carrot Early Scarlet Horn . Danvers Half Long . Improved Long Orange CauHflower .... Celeriac Celery, Early Arlington Chicory Chives Held Corn, Tiaced Ears Sweet or Sugar Corn . Corn Salad (Feiiicus) Cress, or Peppersirass Group of Cucumbers . Dandelion .... Green Cuiled Endive Improved Purrlc Eeg PI Black Pekin Egg Plant Rosemary .... Summer Savory . . Sage Horseradish .... Kohl-Rabi .... London Flag Leek Lettuce, B'.ack-Seedcd T Green Fringed Lettuce White Paris Cos Lettuce Baih Cos Lettuce . . Martytiia Mu-hioom Beds . . Ariiiiptou Green Nutmeg Montreal Market Melon Bl.ick-Seeded Mu--tard . Okra . White Portugal Onicn . Page Title viii 72 74 j 74 77 80 I 82' 83 84 I 85! 87! 88 90 93 94 95 I 9'5 I 98 gSJ 99 99 Ion 101 ">3 104 loS 109 1 10 113 115 116 124 iz\ 124 127 w8 129 1 ,0 131 132 134 125 137 J38 13^ 140 142 143 144 146 148 Purt;li Top White Globe Tui;ii Red Too Snap-Leaved Turnip Danvers Thick Yellow . , Wethersfield Large Red Fine Curled Parsley . . . Parsnip American Wonder Dwarf Pea Tall Growi g Pea .... Group of Peppers .... Baauty of Hebron i'o:ato . Cutting to Une Eye . . . French Breakfast Radish . Scarbl I'u' nip Radish . . Long Scarlet Radish . . . Salsify, Bunched .... Spinach, Ailington . . . Spinich, Long Siandiug Bush Scallop Squash . . . Summer Crookneck Squa.h Hubbard Squash .... Cardinal Tomato .... Hoop Tiained Tomato . . Puritan Toinato ipW Stra Whie Top Stiap-LeavedTuni Kolb's Gem Waierm<-lon . Scaly Bark Wateimilon . . Ciiron M^lon Chinese Yarn Two- Horse LanHside Plough One- Horse Landside Plough Medium Two-Hors2 L S. Plo Sulky Plough ill Op ration . Two-Horse Swivel Plough . Sub- 0.1 Ploush .... Double Mould Boaid Plough (Jeddes Harrow .... La Dow Disk Harrow . . Miekf^r Smoothing Hariow Ki.ld Roller Planet, Jr. Cuhivator . . Spade Short Shovel Arlington Slide Hoe . . . Long Shovel SlusfShot Bellows . . . Little Gem Wheel Hoe . . Arlington Seed Drill . . . Little" Gem Drill .... Rawson's Field Maiker . . Hot- bed Markers • • ,• • Cabbage Carrier • • '• • Stt'am Pump and Boiler . . Spraying the Plants . . • tarmers' Favorite Duster . Pags 48 153 151- 159 l6£ 161 162 •f'5 163 16/ 167 16S 169 I/' 1/2 173 ^17 178 V) I So 182 184 184 185 iSb IS7 iSi 1 9 ni I;2 1 n 195 1 ,0 1)6 191 196 197 198 199 200 !00, 201 202 233 205 a 06 VI PART I. On the Growing of Crops in General. Success in Market Gardening. CHAPTER I. Introductory Remarks — Location* and Soils — Land Drainage — Irrigation of Crops. MARKET GARDENING as a business has some peculiar features in which it ditlers from other branches of agriculture. Many people have an impression that the growing of vegetables for market is like any ordinan- farming, and are disposed to believe that any person who can plough, hoe, and dig can grow one crop as well as another. Such people would find themselves sadly mistaken if they should undertake the business themselves and actually attempt to carry it on equipped with only a general knowledge of ordinary farm work. Market gardening is made up of details : and, while each separate step mav be easy of master}' by those who have a natural taste for the business, the whole art and a full comprehension of it can be acquired only by actual experience in the work and thorough practical acquaintance with all the minor points. Therefore we desire every one to understand at the outset that a book on the subject, no matter how complete, can be only a helper, and a partial guide lo Market Gardejiing. towards the desired knowledge. In other words, the rules that can be laid down on paper, however explicit they may be made, will never educate a man to be a successful gardener, unless he is himself naturally adapted to the business, and is willing to do his part by personally devoting himself to the work, in all its details, as it goes along. And so in writing the cultural directions for the different crops, I do not expect to be explicit enough to enable a mere novice', with no knowledge whatever of the subject, to achieve a success in gardening the first year. This would be impossible for me to do, were I to attempt it — which I do noL Even should I set down the most minute particulars and details, there would be very few cases where one could carry them out to the letter, as culture and treatment must neces- sarily vary according to soil and locality. But my aim is simply this : by writing out practical directions and descriptions, gathered from my own experience, to enable any one, already in some degree familiar with the work, to cultivate successfully the various crops enumerated ; provided his land and lo- cation are adapted to them. I propose to give my readers, as far as possible, the benefit of my own practical experience, and the methods of a success in business which has been gained only by years of close application and hard work. In the following pages, I shall discuss at more or less length all the different products of the market garden; and some of the coarser crops, belonging rather to the ''farm garden," or even to the farm, will Choice of a Location. 1 1 be incidentally treated of. In so doing, I shall go through the v\"hole series in alphabetical order, in order that the reader may the more readily turn to the infor- mation he is seeking. I propose to devote space most liberally to the most important crops. A chapter on Farm Implements and other supplementary matter will conclude the work. But there are certain conditions essential to all crops. Some of the most essential requirements of high cultivation, and even of the most ordinan,' soil- culture, are often misconceived or overlooked, to a serious extent. For which reason it seems best, before proceeding to particular directions for particular crops, to treat, as fully as space will permit, of these general and ven- essential matters. Location axd Soils. In seeking a good location for a market garden, of course the first point to be taken into consideration is the necessity of being near some good market. And, right here, we would say that the largest cities do not always offer the greatest inducements to begin- ners. There are hundreds of wide-awake towns all over the countrv which will furnish a 2;ood, thoup^h limited, market for men who are able to work up a trade. In these smaller towns, producers will often be enabled to realize better prices than in metropolitan markets, both from the fact that there is less competi- tion to meet, and also because the purchasers there found will be likely to look more to the quality, and less to the cheapness, of -the article offered, than those resorting to the city markets. 12 Tflarket Gardening. As we have mentioned, nearness to market is an important point, but the character of the soil and the lay of the land are of importance almost as vital as location. Of course, for a variety of crops, the land should be varied in character. But such variety cannot always be obtained, so that many are confined to one or two distinct kinds of soil, and in such cases find themselves limited to such few crops as are particularly adapted to their land and location. Rocky ground is of course and by all means to be avoided for garden crops, in view of the deep and uniform cultivation they need to receive. And low lands which require under-draining are adapted only to certain special crops, and involve heavy outlays to make them capable of profitable culture. Preferably to either, a sandy loam with a sandy or gravelly sub- soil should be selected. Such land is far better than soils resting on clay, not only because its nature is warmer, but because it is naturally well drained. A clay subsoil, at least until deep drains have been sunk and operated a considerable time, will render any land cold, as it retains the moisture. If one can have his choice as regards the lay of his land, gently rolling or undulating slopes with a general eastern or southern exposure should by all means be selected. This will make more difference than some might imagine ; as a northern or western slope is not nearly so soon affected by the genial spring influences as a more sunny location. The difference between a northern and a southern slope often amounts to one crop a year ; for on the Convc7ticiicc of Slopes, 1 3 sunnv side of a rise of land the soil can be worked in the spring so much earlier that, by right calculation, two crops a year can be grown, the first of which can be planted earlier — and the second can actually be harvested sooner — than the one crop raised on a northern slope. Sloping land has still another advantage, almost equally desirable with that derived from having the right exposure, consisting in the facility it ajffords for irrigation. If a water supply can be brought to and stored in a tank, constructed on a natural elevation within the area to be irrigated, the slopes of course furnish the most convenient means possible for its distribution to the crops. And if the location is fortunately near a large pond, or unfailing brook, the privilege of access to such a water supply would ver}' greatly increase the real value of the land for every sort of cultivation. It should be noticed that some ground which in its native condition is quite incapable of bearing good crops has yet a superior natural capacity^ that may be developed by skilful handling and liberal expenditure. This-is especially true of lands lying on a retentive subsoil, and such lands, after some years of thorough draining and deep tilth, will show admirable results. In treating of drainage, we shall endeavor to make it clear how such a course of culture operates to mellow and warm the cold, barren soils, and bring them into high condition. In fact — having a good exposure to begin with — by drainage, deep tilth, generous and judi- cious manuring, and irrigation as required, the most 14 Market Gardenhig. barren spot on earth can be made as highly productive as any other soil, even the richest. It is only a question of time and expense. Accordingly it has been said, not without some truth, that after all the chief matter in choosing a location is its convenience to markets of sale and supply ; because if the soil be never so unfavorable the owner can make it over to suit himself, while if he is remote from market he can do nothing to help himself as regards that difficulty. All these considerations have weight, and must be duly allowed for ; but the point I desire most to insist upon is the advantages possessed by the loams lying on sandy or gravelly subsoils, in their excellent natural drainage, and in being easy of cultivation. Land Drainage. Land, Soil, or Agricultural Drainage is a topic already touched upon, because inevitably presenting itself in connection with the choice of a proper location ; but it is quite too large a subject to be dismissed with a brief and merely casual mention. In selectins: a location for either market ^rardenino: or farming, it is preferable, as we have said, to secure land that is naturally well drained. By this description we designate a soil which, owing to inclination of sur- face, or from having a porous subsoil, lets the water pass off quickly after a heavy rainfall, and which there- fore stands in no need of artificial drainage. But it is not always possible to secure such a location, and in many cases artificial drainage is the only means by Coiistmctiou of Drams, which the best of farming land can be brought umjg^y?)^^, cultivation It would be impossible in a volume of this size, even if wholly devoted to the topic, to give a complete de- scription, with all details of methods and materials employed, for constructing the tile drains now in general use. We can only hope'to give a few detached sugges- tions on the subject, such as may be of beneht to our readers in improving waste land, and in rendering hea\y, soggy fields more tillable, and turning to account their natural fertility. Amongst all the \arious ways of constructing perma- nent drains — with stone, brush, square and sole tile, etc. — it has become the well established general opin- ion that well-bunied round tiles, with collars, if well laid, form the best. And in the long run they also prove the cheapest ; although at first more expensive than some other devices. Cobble-stone drains, such as in some localities are largely used in place of tile, are, when properly laid, actually more costly. And still more objectionable is the fact that, although in some instances they may last a long time and prove quite serviceable, they are always liable to be reached by surface water, which, by carry- ing silt into them, stops them up, and of course renders them useless. The general principles to be observed in laying a stone drain are quite well understood. But a mistake is often made by lack of diligence in securing proper covering, and especially by resorting to the use of turf, which is often dumped in upon the stones, and which, 1 6 Market Gardeninor, - ^^ For explanation of the beneficial influences of onii^O/S, ing. v.e must endeavor to realize some of the conditions^*" ■-■•*' of plant life. One of these is moisture at the roots. If dramage were attended by a complete withdrawal of all the permanent moisture of the soil, no one would be its advocate. Some imagine that wherever executed it is to the detriment of the land's capacity for production, though increasing its capacity for being cultivated. They say "more tillable is not more fertile. Tile drain- ing is a craze. Wholesale rules without discrimination are a curse. Drained lands are not invariably better than the same lands undrained," etc. But we maintain that in all soils not naturally well- drained (and so not requiring it) draining does as much good by promoting m.cisture during periods of drought, as by removal of the surplus water, which would other- wise destroy the productive capacity of the land. This is due to the fact that the deeper tilth and pulveriza- tion of the drained lands enable them to hold in saturation, as water is held in a sponge, valuable stores of water to be given off a little at a time, as needed, and also to draw up from below, by capillar}- attraction, similar timely supplies — while all excess and surplus is promptly gotten rid of. A recently published work by A. X. Cole contains suggestions of interest in this connection. We have suggested that the most perfect drainage does not aim at a complete withdrawal of all the moisture ; water is essential to plant life, but the land must not be drowned with water. Air and water both must be presented to the feeding roots. He savs, ''tilled land 20 Market Gardening. being porous, the air forces its way into the crevices, and the water (of rains) passes through it from above. We will suppose that the water comes to a stratum that is impervious to its onward course. What happens ? Simply this : it dams up slowly, inch by inch, forcing out the air as it rises. All motion and circulation is stopped. Fermentation and decomposition soon begin. The earth is drowned out — suffocated — dead for want of air. Water is good for the ground ? Yes ; but not in this way. The water must be moving constantly. There must be a current of air and water, and not too much or too little of the latter." The processes of pulverization, which will be de- scribed under the title " Preparation of Soil," are such as to provide for the admission of the air. We shall now consider, in the remainder of the present chapter, by what means we may supply the needful amount of the other indispensable element, water. By drainage we provide for the removal of a surplus, whether from rains or springs ; our next care must be for supply and distribution of a quantity adequate, in the longest and severest droughts, to the exacting needs of the grow- ing crops. This supply and distribution constitute what is intended by the term " Irrigation." Irrigation of Crops. Artificial watering, especially as now conducted, forms perhaps one of the most important subjects that we could write upon. All vegetables are composed largely of water, some containing more than 75 per cent. A single hill of cucumbers, as has been said, Kccesslfy of Watering, 21 will drink half a barrelful of water in three days' time, and, having done so, will begin languishing for lack of moisture, and die in a week. According to Dr. J. H. Gilbert, for every ton of dry substance grown, in an average crop, an amount of water equivalent to three inches of rain is exhaled in the process; which amounts to about two hundred times the weight of the vegeta- ble product. And Sir J. B. Lawes arrived at substan- tially the same result by his own researches, separately prosecuted. Hence it will be readily seen that, unless there is moisture enough when the crop requires it, there will be a shortage in the harvest. What is commonly called an '" impoverished soil," or one considered naturally unfertile, may be in fact good enough in itself, its only deficiency being in the matter of moisture. We often see a poor piece of land yielding a good crop in a wet season ; and artifi- cial watering on the grand scale has, in many well known instances in Colorado, California, and else- where, both at home and abroad, converted absolute deserts into productive grain farms and fruit and cattle ranches. Although the rainfall during each year averages about the same now as in former periods, the seasons are changing in this respect : that the rainfall is not so evenly divided, and we get longer and more protracted droughts; not relieved by the fact that the rainfalls, when they do come, are heavier. For this reason the subject of irrigation is constantly gaining in impor- tance. It involves questions, both in regard to the supply of water and the manner of applying it. Of 2 2 Market Gardening. course there are many cases where land is not located so as to be easily irrigated. Whatever the location is, no matter if quite favorable, it will require careful management in laying out the rows and planting the crops, to secure a plan which will allow of irrigating to the best advantage. The rows should always run up and down the slope of ground, and more or less obliquely if the ground is at all steep (instead of crossway), so as to allow of watering in the furrow ; which is the proper way, as the moisture is required to be applied to the roots and not the foliage. There are very few market gardeners at the present time who have adequate facilities for supplying them- selves with water for irrigation, and it can only be secured, ordinarily, at a great expense. Although many places are located near towns or cities which have a public water supply, they cannot be allowed to draw from the supply in such large quanti- ties as are required for purposes of irrigation ; as the need would come at a time when the water was the lowest in the reservoir, and was most in demand for other purposes. It is therefore necessary that the land to be irrigated should either be located near a pond, lake, or stream, or else supplied by an under current of water that may be reached by a driven well. After a sufficient supply of water is found, the method of raising it to a proper height for distribution is by the use either of steam-pumps or windmills, or both. A tank or reservoir of the largest attainable capacity must also be provided, for the purpose of storing the water so raised until it can be properly dis- Expense of Fitting Up. 23 tributed to the crops. Where windmills are used, for ob- vious reasons, the storage capacity must be greater than Avhere steam-pumps are employed. This may amount to a considerable addition to the first cost; but, on the other hand, the cost of steam-pump and boiler is some- what greater, and the running expenses considerably so. There are incidental advantages attending the use of steam which may be of great importance. The preference must depend upon the circumstances of one's situation. The expense of fitting up any such arrangement for irrigating a market garden is so great that most gar- deners think that they cannot afford it. Even for a small piece of a few acres, the cost would be at least from $2,000 to $3,000; on a larger place, a much greater amount. If one has not the means to pay for these facilities, and does not feel warranted in sroins: into debt for what he wants, of course he must do without them, and depend on transient waterings from summer showers. But it becomes more and more evi- dent every year that such a course will ruin the man who follows it. The ill effects of the increasing irreg- ularity of the rainfall are mitigated, it is true, by deeper ploughing and the construction of drainage works, but all crops (some more than others), in addi- tion to every other aid that can be given them, will need besides, at certain times, abundant watering. Even in the most favorable seasons, resort must be had to artificial watering, at intervals, to secure the growing and maturing of a crop such as to give satis- faction, and reward the gardener for his labor. 24 Market Gardening. For about nine months of the year a windmill would furnish all the water required by a market garden, but during the other three months a steam-pump would be required in addition in order to furnish a sufficient supply for all seasons. On a later page we shall present a cut of a compact and serviceable steam apparatus designed for pumping, under Deane's patent. It combines all the essential features needed for drawing water from the source of supply (well, spring, stream, pond, or tank), and forcing the water any distance and height to a point suitable for distributing it, by gravity, over the land to be irrigated ; or, as sometimes practised, forcing it through pipes to hydrants, where hose can be used for further distribution. In some cases the hose may run directly from the pump. It is much more easily under- stood and managed than might be supposed, owing to the simplicity and compact style of its construction. It is claimed to be the simplest arrangement of the kind on the market, and such that any one of ordinary intelligence can learn to operate it in half a day. The easiest and perhaps the best way of leading the water to various localities at will is by the use of rubber hose ; this is cheaper than pipe, which is heavy, and very awkward to handle. At the present time it is easy to obtain rejected steam fire-engine hose which, although not strong enough to stand the pressure of the steam fire-engines, is amply strong enough to use for irrigating. There is seldom more than thirty pounds' pressure, as the water is not forced, but is allowed to run through the open hose. The amount Cost of Each Watering, 25 of land that can be irrigated by the use of a steam- pump in a day of twelve hours is about three acres. The expense would be about $10.00 per day, in- cluding the wear and tear of the pump, hose, etc., as it would take one man to run the pump and another to tend the hose, which, with cost of coal and various minor items, would foot up about the amount stated. It will be seen by the above figures that the direct cost of irrigating an acre of land once would be about $3.50. This is exclusive of interest on the original outlav. A suitable pump will throw one hundred gallons per minute ; which, in a day of twelve hours, would be equivalent to covering three acres nearly one inch deep. This is much more than an average single rainfall; and certainly there is no acre of growing crops which, in a dry time, would not be benefited to an amount much more than S3. 50. or even double that amount, by such an application of water. Many claim that watering by artificial means does not pay; but certainly, where water is available so that it can be applied in such ample quantity at the price thus indicated, it must be plain to every one that it will pay, and in many cases will earn many times the amount it costs. Oftentimes such a watering will save a crop which otherwise would have been a failure. There is very seldom a season so wet that the steam- pump will not be required two or three weeks ; and in m.ost seasons it will be in use eight or ten weeks. When the weather is ver\- dry, and all the crops need abundant watering, the pump should be kept running night and day, by employing two sets of man. It will 26 Market Gardening, be economy to do this not only from the fact that a double supply is thus obtained, but because when the fire is allowed to go out at night it takes about an hour to get the pump to running again. By continuous running, time is saved at both ends of the day. In applying the water to a field of cabbage or cauli- flower, the rows being about three and a half feet apart, a plough is run between the rows, so as to make a furrow for the water to run in. It is a very easy matter to water a field where the land is on a slope, but where it is nearly level it is much more work ; as the hose has to be frequently transferred to different points in order to water evenly. In watering a field of celery a furrow is ploughed away from the plants, on each side of the row, at a distance of about one foot. The furrow is then filled with water; and as soon as this has soaked away the furrow is turned back again. An application of this kind once a week will prove sufficient even in the dryest time. The crops which require the most water, and those which therefore are most benefited by irrigation, are cabbage, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, beets, cucumbers, horse-radish, and, in some cases, squashes. The practice of irrigation in this manner has but lately been introduced, and on account of the great expense, the method described is used by only a very few, speaking comparatively. But too much cannot be said in favor of irrigation; and the use of windmills and steam-pumps is becoming more general. Their use will no doubt further increase as people learn more Examples in Actual Practice, 27 of their value, and come to see the advantage of hav- ing a constant supply of water at hand, and thus becoming independent of the freaks of the weather in this particular. In one instance, which was reported to the Massa- chusetts Horticultural Society, in a severe drought, a steam-pump was rigged, and the water of ^lystic River was poured for seven days and nights upon a parched field, averaging 75.000 gallons per day, or a quantity equal to three inches over the entire surface, at a cost, including all expenses, of perhaps ten cents per 1,000 gallons. Somewhat later, in 188^, the present writer had six acres planted with cauliflowers. This is a crop which does not show the effect of dry weather until about to head ; when, if there is danger of a check, the applica- tion of water will cause them to go right on. That year the need was urgent, and he devoted his steam- pump to the work of supply — running it continuously for four weeks, with two men by day and two to relie\-e them at night. From these six acres he sold $3,500 worth of cauliflowers. If he had not irrigated them he would not, probably, have realized over S 1,000 for his crop. It will be manifest, upon reflection, that continuous light waterings are not what is desired. Water cannot, of course, be applied without reducing the temperature of the soil verv materiallv, and thus occasionmo^, for the time, a condition unfavorable to the advance of the crop. This is a matter for serious considera- tion, in connection with many crops, especially in a 23 Market Gardenincf, climate like ours. In the case of light waterings, fre- quently repeated, a larger proportion disappears by immediate evaporation, thus wasting work, and, more- over, by this e::cessive evaporation, still further and needlessly reducing the temperature of the soil. Lib- eral supplies at proper intervals are rather to be given, transferring the delivery from one section of the grounds to another, on successive days, and so continuing till it is time to resume the round. The proper intervals, in a time of drought, may be taken to be about one week, on the average, — though this must vary with the crop, the soil, the temperature, and the judgment of the cultivator. The same variation may be expected in estimating the amount of water necessary for one thorough irrigation. No general estimate on these points can be given that will be at all satisfactory, except merely as a rough rule for plan- ning the scale of the works. In establishing such a system, no great nicety of calculation is likely to be of any value. The data already given, and the practical examples which have been cited, will enable any one, making due allowance for variations of circumstances, to arrive at a conclusion near enough for his purposes. CHAPTER 11. Preparation of the Soil — Laying Out of Land FOR the Different Crops — Rotation of Crops — ^L\NURES — Their Application. A PROPER PREPARATION of the soil, prior to sowing or planting, is one of the most im- portant conditions involved in the process of getting a crop. We shall not aim to discuss at length the principles on which it depends, but confine our- selves in the main to simple and practical directions as to the work to be done. Ploughing, subsoiling, harrowing, raking, and Tat some stage of the process) manuring, — these constitute the main operations by which the land, after being stripped of a crop, is put into condition to be planted with another. For all market-garden crops we recommend that the ground be ploughed once before an application of manure is made. In the case of all leaf crops, like celerv, cabbasfe, etc.. eiofht inches would be a sufilicient depth for this first ploughing, before the manure is applied. For the second ploughing, which is to turn the manure under, a depth of six inches would be suf- ficient, and preferable : so as to leave the manure as near the surface as possible, and still have it covered. Then, if the land is lumpy or hard, a wheel harrow or some implement for breaking up the lumps should be (29) 30 Market Gardaiing. put to service. Lumpy, untven ground, or coarse soil will never do to plant in : seeds will not catch uni- formly or grow well in it ; the plants will lack uniform- ity, and will not mature together. The importance of this matter is too generally underrated ; very few peo- ple have anything like an adequate idea of it. If the ground is to be devoted to raising greens, or some sowed crop where a drill is to be employed, a Meeker harrow will smooth the surface nicely, so that the seed-sower will do its work to satisfaction. A full description of its operation may be found in the chap- ter treating of Farming Implements, This harrow will prepare the surface sufficiently well for such crops as onions, cabbages, or beets, and for spinach and other sorts of greens ; but for such small fine seeds as those of lettuce, or dandelion, the hand rake must be brought into service. For root crops, at the first ploughing a depth of twelve inches would be none too much. In ploughing for deep-rooted crops, like parsnips, long carrots, or horseradish, the second ploughing should be of eight inches' depth ; and this should be followed by a " sub- soil," after which use the Meeker harrow or leveller, as already directed. After ploughing and harrowing, it is often advisable to pass the roller over the land. The horse roller is a very useful article, and is used very extensively. When the ground has been harrowed, and the lumps not yet broken are brought to the surface, the roller is put on to crush and smooth them out. It is also very bene- ficial on light land, in dry weather, to help the land to of Preparation. 31 retain a sufficient quantity of moisture. I have found the use of a good horse roller to be of great advan- tage, both in breaking up and pulverizing lumpy land, and in firming down soil that has been thrown up ver\- lightly during previous preparation. Such soil until again compacted, is prone to become excessively dry : a result which is obviated by use of the roller. The top should be perfectly dry before rolling, in order to obtain the desired effect. We have already alluded to subsoiling, and wish to remark here that the subsoil plough is a valuable, indeed, an indispensably necessary implement, and should be invariably put to use in the preparation of the ground for all root crops. The subsoil should fol- low after the land-side plough, in the same furrow, and go down to a depth of fifteen or eighteen inches. It usually takes two horses, as the larger sizes of ploughs do ; and it is even harder for the team than common ploughing. There are small subsoilers which can be used vrith one horse ; but if the land requires subsoiling at all, it is better economy to use the larger size and do the work more thoroughly. In the concluding chapter, relating to Farm Imple- ments, a sufficient description will be given of the dif- ferent ploughs that are likely to be required, both land- side and subsoil. At this point I wish to call attention to the great importance of keeping them always clean and bright. Never allow the ploughman to put his plough away with any dirt upon it. It is the sure mark of a poor ploughman, when his plough is covered with dirt, and goes through the land like a stick. 32 Market Gardening, In fact, there are but very few good ploughmen to be had, and any employer is fortunate if he gets one. Many men will call themselves good at ploughing; but the men who really understand it, and do it as it should be done, are very scarce. When such a man is found, he should be kept on the place, if possible. In ploughing land for the different crops, some plough about the same depth for everything ; but the 'depth ought to be varied so as to suit the crop. For instance : all root crops should be ploughed from ten to twelve inches ; while, for vine crops, six inches would be quite sufficient. Many take, in all cases, all they can to the furrow, making it, say, twelve or fourteen inches wide ; but where the land is ploughed twelve inches deep, and a coat of manure is turned under at the same time, eight inches is wide enough to turn the furrow. In a "first-time" ploughing, of six inches deep, with no manure to turn under, twelve or fourteen inches may be taken at each furrow. Always plough all the land once in the fall and twice in the spring, but never when it is wet. Soil that is worked when very wet, except sometimes a very sandy piece, will scarcely re- cover from it for a whole season. The purpose of the fall ploughing will be most com- pletely accomplished by leaving the land in clods and rough, loose ridges, for the frost to operate upon during the winter. The greater the su;face thus exposed to the influence of the atmosphere and changes of weather, the better for the soil and the coming season's crops. Moreover, late turning over the ground is an effectual means of killing off the larvae of the May beetle, the Importance of Pulverizing Findy. 33 pestilent white grub, and other larvae of insects. Being disturbed from their winter quarters, they are to a great extent destroyed by exposure to the cold and air. In the case of sod land to be prepared for tilled crops, there is a manifest advantage in turning it earlier in the season, so as to hasten the decay of the turf ; but with land already under cultivation the case is en- tirely different, and the later it can be done the better. It is, of course, assumed that everything necessary to a perfect drainage has been done prior to the pro- cess of preparation here described. Wherever the water has been extracted by drainage, it leaves a moderate moisture in the soil (until withdrawn by evaporation or taken up by the crop), which is exactly the condition most favorable to vegetation. The vari- ous processes of preparation, and later cultivation, are directed more especially to the maintenance of this condition. The ground should be finely pulverized both at and below the surface, encouraging the roots to strike downwards and below the immediate influence of the hot sun. The air entering through the fine interstices of the soil condenses its latent moisture upon the cooler portions beneath the surface ; thus contributing materially to the desired moisture, and also aiding the chemical changes attendant upon plant growth. Another very important result of thorough and deep pulverization is the capacity afforded to the soil of directly absorbing and holding rain-water which other- wise would flow off wastefuUy, if not destructively, on the surface. Any one can see for himself the contrast 34 Market Gardening. between a soil which has received this thorough tilth, and one which has not ; the latter looks well enough early in the season, but is burned up when the sum- mer heats begin ; while the deep-tilled land, on the contrary, holds the moisture like a damp sponge, down below the reach of the sun; and its presence there is plainly visible in the crop. Laying Out Land for Crops. A careful and definite plan, to be adhered to with as much strictness as the nature of the case will admit, is essentially necessar>' at the verj- outset of operations. If one is w^ell acquainted with the land he is cultivating, and knows what crops have been grown on each portion of it the previous season, of course he can make his plans accordingly. But if it be the first season of his occupation his arrangements must of necessity be guided by such information as he has. In that case, they will be partly experimental, and changes will be from time to time inevitably incurred ; but this disadvantage should be avoided as far as careful atten- lion to the subject will enable him. It is a good idea, when practicable, to have a plan of the garden on paper, and to have this made during the winter ; so that the intended arrangement of crops can be mapped out for the coming season. This will, of course, be a convenient guide in placing the manure for each crop at the point where it is to be used, in procuring supplies of seed, and also in many other details. In mapping out afield in this manner, a person must Systematic Rotation of Crops. 35 of course understand the rotation, or succession, of crops, in order to do the mapping intelligently ; and accordingly we shall proceed to consider this subject next in order. Rotation of Crops. The right succession of crops for enabling the cul- tivator to obtain paying results, both in the harvests to be gathered first and in condition of the soil for further culture, has always been a subject of much importance to every tiller of the soil; and is also inter- esting from a scientific point of view. The difference between the old style of summer fallowing and the present well understood plans of ro- tation is so considerable that the two ways are styled by some the "old" and '"new" agricultures. Under the old system, an occasional year of fallowing was relied upon to rest the ground and renew the plant food in the soil, so that in the succeeding year a larger yield could be obtained than if the land had been cropped continuously. Fallowing, although of benefit in some respects, is wasteful in two ways. The land of course is yielding no income in the idle year; here there is a loss of interest on capital. And then, too, as I am persuaded, there is always more or less waste and loss of plant food going on from any soil that is left exposed to the sun and rain during the summer months. At least two and often three crops in a year with constant tilth (including, with other benefits to the soil, the suppression of all weeds and wild growih) represent the "new" method. It is 36 Market Gardening, decidedly in contrast with the old at all points — and seems at all points to have the advantage of it. The correct theory of rotation proposes, while mak- ing immediate use of the plant food already in the soil, at the same time to prepare the soil for producing the other crops that are next to follow. In arranging for a system of rotation, we should aim to grow such crops and under such culture as will keep the soil well sup- plied with humus, or plant food. No exact rules can be laid down as to the order in which crops should be planted in rotation, but it should be remembered that some plants by nature feed near the surface (like com, for instance), while others, take clover for an example, draw the most of their nourishment from deep down in the soil. The object should be always to avoid following one deep-rooted crop by a similar one ; taking great care to alternate them with others as constantly as possible. It is well, when practicable, to follow a slow-growing crop with one of quick growth, or 7nce versa. No root crop should follow one of a similar character ; nor should vines follow vines. Alternation is always beneficial. Onions are very generally regarded as an exception to this general rule, and to some extent they doubtless are so; but I have not found it advisable to grow them on the same ground many consecutive years, as they are far more likely to become maggoty, and otherwise diseased, than when the ground is changed once in two or three seasons. There is considerable truth in the suggestion that a good rotation can only be had when conducted by Manures and Fertilizers. 37 competent management, as hinted in tlie following ex- tract from Wilmer Atkinson : '* The rotation that is wanted is the one that wil'l rotate most fertility into the farm and most cash into the pocket. Differing soils, differing advantages or disadvantages of mar- kets, differing degrees of knowledge and experience in the growing and handling of certain crops are among the many elements that enter into the question. In anv case, it must be the one that will vield the laref- est amount of sale product, with which to meet current expenses of business and living, and at the same time store increase of fertility in the land for future use." Just what this is appears to him a doubtful question, quite too intricate to be discussed, and on which it would be quite impracticable for one farmer to advise another. On the contrary, we hold that accumulated experience has settled many points in a way not likely to be reversed, and affords much valuable aid in pro- moting the objects on which all are agreed, viz. : immediate cash returns and future productiveness of the soil. The subject of the judicious succession of crops will be repeatedly reverted to, and illustrated bv manr practical examples, fully explained. These will be found in the cultural directions which accompany our descriptions of the different vegetables, hereafter given in this book. Manures and Fertilizers. The provision, preparation, and use of manures and fertilizers is one of the most important and diversified 38 Market Gardening, subjects in the whole business of market gardening; and to cover these points advantageously and econom- ically involves a very considerable amount both of thought and labor. In my own practice, the dressing that is usually supplied per acre for growing the two or three crops which it is customary to obtain each year from garden land consists of from twenty to twenty-five cords of well decomposed stable manure, put on broadcast. The manner of applying depends somewhat on the crop; and many special instructions will be given in the cultural directions which are furnished with our de- scriptions of various vegetables. In general, however, the manure is either spread in advance of the first ploughing, and then turned under, or is put on after the ground has been worked once, being then worked in with the second ploughing. The distribution of the manure is generally by the use of tip-carts, as there is no spreader now in use that will put on twenty cords 13er acre by once going over. During the summer, fall, and winter, manure for the succeeding season is hauled out from the city. The sources of supply are the large stables, from which the accumulations of manure must be removed at brief intervals all through the year. It is usually piled in some place near where it is to be used. However, during the summer, it is my usual practice to put it into my cellars, and there let the hogs work it over until fall. This manure, so prepared, is, in my judg- ment, the best I have, and is used for growing cabbages as well as other vegetables; although many people Ovcrhaiiling and Distributing Mamirc. 39 do not consider hog manure desirable for that crop. In the beginning of the winter this is teamed out upon the fields where it is to be used ; the cellar is then filled again, and its contents remain in it until spring. All the manure which is drawn from the city in the summer and fall is overhauled in the early wi;> ter, and is again worked over in the spring before applying it to the land. It will then be quite fine, and fitted for nourishing any kind of crop. In distributing the manure, to put on twenty-five cords to the acre, reckoning four tip-cart loads to the cord, requires one hundred loads ; making three piles to the load, we shall have piles twelve feet apart each way. In applying twenty cords to the acre, still reck- oning four tip-cart loads to the cord and three piles to the load, we shall have piles twelve by fifteen feet apart. In applying fifteen cords to the acre, with loads and piles as before, we shall have piles sixteen by fifteen feet apart. This last named amount is one which is seldom used in a market garden, except where one crop is to occupy the ground through the whole season. Where two crops are to be grown with one application of manure, the second amount is the one to be used : and where three are to be grown, us2 the first named amount. It is very wasteful to expose manure unnecessarily to sun and wind. Xever spread manure one day to be ploughed in the next. It may not be amiss to mention, lest its importance should be overlooked or under-estimated, the great advantage of taking care, in spreading the manure, to 40 Market Gardening. do it evenly, and so that the heaps shall not be made to overlap. One heap is then made to join up to an- other, and the whole ground fares alike as regards the supply of manure. This seems obvious enough, and practical works on farming already have sought to en- force this view. But as we read in one recently pub- lished, " there is more in this point than is generally supposed by farmers, who, in many cases, are careless and wasteful in this respect, giving too much in some places and too little in others. The consequence is uneven growth over the different parts of the field ; perhaps rank in some places, and in others a half- starved crop." The same writer suggests another important point in spreading, which is to break up the lumps and scatter the manure about in a fine state ; unless this is done the field cannot be evenly fertilized. There is work about this, and some hired men will neglect and avoid it if they are permitted, but it should not only be in- sisted upon, but looked after, and its faithful perform- ance insured. Solid manure should never be allowed to ferment, either out-doors or under a cover, without the presence of absorbent material to take up the gases evolved during the process. This is the basis upon which the whole theory of composts and management of the compost heaps is admitted to rest. As already implied, it is necessary for green manure to undergo fermentation, in order to make its constit- uent elements available as plant food. Some good gardeners insist that all manure should be thoroughly fined before it goes upon the land ; that none should Use of Commercial Fertilizers. 41 hz carried on that is not as fine as the soil upon which it is to be spread. It is undoubtedly advantageous to conform to this rule as far as is reasonably possible. However, green manure may be applied in the fall and covered in with the fall ploughing, in which case the fermentation, when it occurs, takes place within the soil, making it mellow and rich. At this stage, and until the warm weather of the following spring induces fermentation, there can be no waste of the manure by soakage of water, because it is still insol- uble. The case is different with fine compost, or with the ordinary pulverized commercial fertilizers, the benefit from which must be secured in a crop taken the same season or it may never be obtained. In case three crops are to be grown and the third crop is to be cabbage or celery, the application of about one half ton of some good commercial fertilizer to each acre would be very beneficial. It should be put on when the third crop has made about half its growth. In many snnilar cases, guano, superphosphate, bone- dust, and the like may be used in combination with the stable manure already in the soil, with excellent results. This use of commercial fertilizers in connection with stable manure has become quite common with market gardeners during the past few years. Some people even have an idea that, by the u^e of commercial fertilizers and without any other manuring, land can be kept in a proper state of fertility and condition to grow crops, year after year. Possibly this might at times be dons, on some soils, and where only one crop each year was 42 Matdct Gardening. to be produced ; but in the market gardens where are grown several crops in a single season,, maintaining a constant drain upon the nourishment afforded by the soil, such a plan would not be found to work well. One reason for this is, that where two or three crops are to be grown during the season, the particular kind of fertilizer which would be required by one crop might be of little or no value to the others. And moreover, it would be a very difficult matter to apply, from time to time, sufficient quantities of commercial fertilizers to carry all the crops to maturity. But stable manure answers well for all crops, and so, if desired (though not always necessary or convenient), enough can be applied at the time of ploughing, in the spring, to carry all the crops through the season. Green or composted stable manure, besides the in- creased store of plant food it directly provides for the growing crop, increasing its vigor, and enabling it to strike deeper, has no doubt a beneficial effect upon the mechanical condition or texture of the soil. This is not the case with the commercial fertilizers, which, if used without the stable manure as a corrective, in course of time make the land sodden and heavy. Thus it will be seen that, for vraious reasons, commercial fertilizers cannot wholly or even largely take the place of stable manure, while they are nevertheless much esteemed for use in combination with it. Siuce the use of commer- cial fertilizers has become general the price of stable manure has decreased ; and while the convenience of procuring the former makes them more particularly con- venient and valuable to the stock-feeding farmers (who Transportation of Xight-SoiL 43 are generally remote from the city), their introduction has also been of much benefit to the gardeners near the large cities, in thus reducing the cost of stable manure. The price would be even lower than it is, were it not for the fact that large quantities are now shipped by the car-load from the cities to distant points, while but a few years ago no instance of the kind had ever occurred. The old-fashioned privy-vault or cesspool is a source of supply once largely depended upon, but now only rarely met with ; as the general extension of water- works to all the more compact centres of population, and even to isolated country houses, has caused a discontinuance of the earlier practice of allowing night- soil to accumulate, and depending upon intermittent removal by carts. Still there is sometimes a case of this kind to be dealt with. The owner of the premises, if he has facilities, will generally prefer to compost his material on the spot, with a liberal proportion of light, dry loam, rendering it perfectly inoffensive. It is a highly stimulating fertilizer, and may be productive of excel- lent results if discreetly used. When the owner's object is simply to get rid of the contents of his vault, — although formerly this was accomplished by bailing into wagons specially built for the work (similar to the offal-wagons now used for collecting kitchen refuse) — it is found more convenient to use an ordinary (tight built) cart or wagon ; in this, earth, chopped straw, ashes, street sweepings, or any other convenient ab- sorbents are conveyed to the spot. With earth and 44 Market Gardening, ashes a basin-shaped receptacle is formed on the ground adjacent to the cesspool, keeping a reserve at hand of absorbent material to be added by degrees as the work progresses. The vault is then bailed out into the space so provided, and, its contents being mixed with a due proportion of absorbents, and, finally, the earth around the edges being worked in, the whole mass is then ready to be loaded and trans- ported. By this method the material is made convenient to handle, and as little disagreeable as ordinary manure from the barnyard. In England, and on the Continent, by the use of long straw, judiciously disposed during the loading, the mixed material above described is built up into a stack reaching two or three feet high, above the sides of the wagon or cart, and so great loads of it are carried many miles without loss. The straw is spread so that half of its length projects over the sides or ends of the load, and in layers— the inner ends of the straw being covered and held fast by the alternate layers of compost — and the outer ends are then bent upwards and backwards, and similarly con- fined. Racks for sides and ends are convenient but when the load is carefully put together may be dis- pensed with. Wood ashes, where they can be obtained, form one of the best of fertilizers, and when unleached are gen- erally richer in potash (which is one of the most im- portant elements) than most commercial fertilizers. From the fact that ashes are almost entirely lacking in nitrogen, it is not advisable to rely on them alone and Manuring in the Hill — Composts, 45 continuously, year after year; but if applied about once in three years, with stable manure put on in the meantime, they will be found of great value. For cabbage and onions, which require a very large amount of potash, ashes are especially suitable. For manuring in the hill, which is in many cases highly advantageous, it is ordinarily preferred to use guano, superphosphates, and the like, because of the facility with which they can be put in ; care being always taken to stir them m well, so that the sprouting seeds shall escape absolute contact with the unmixed fertil- izer — which would be destructive. Good, ripe, well-worked compost is also employed ; often made from materials specially purchased to mix up (like fish compost, made where tish-waste is readily procurable ), but also produced, under judicious man- agement, from every thing in the shape of decompos- able material thit can be gathered up about the place. And if due attention is given to collecting' together all waste material — litter, leaves, weeds, and the like — and stacking them in alternate layers with fresh loam, or road-scrapings, the result will Le a handsome lot of uniform, fine compost. It should always be built up in layers, each layer spread out so as to cover the pre- ceding layer uniformly; which will secure compost of even quality. It should be protected from washing or leaching by a rough covering of boards, so placed as to shed the rains. Occasional layers of fresh dung, doses of lime and ashes, and drenching the mass from time to time with liquid manure, will enable the proper fermentation. 46 Market Gardening. There are innumerable ways of increasing the bulk and enhancing the qualit}^ of the compost heap, which can best be mastered by the study of any good manual on the subject ; and we do not aim here at supersed- ing any of theje treatises. Our object is mainly to call attention to this means of utilizing all manner of decomposable trash, and converting it into valuable plant food. There is an old saying, that " anything that grows in one summer will decay before the next ; " and this hint maybe profitable as a guide in collect- ing vegetable matter for the compost heap. The presence of the loam, or loamy mixtures, in the heap is quite important. It has been said that where sods, muck and weeds form a part of the mass, it is not alone the vegetable matter which has been brought in that constitutes a mater.'al addition ; perhaps it is not even the principal one. There is always consid- erable earth adhering. " Tne fermentation, induced by the dung and liquid man.ire and the action of the lime or ashes added, works upon the earth adhering to the roots and forming a considerable part both of sods and muck ; and develops an admirable quality of plant food." Hence this element of the compost heap, which is generally overlooked as unimportant, should never be wanting — instead of diluting, it in reality reinforces the other manurial elements. Liquid manure is seldom at hand in large quanthies, and not much advance has been made in using it directly upon the land under crop. When this is done, it should be in a very diluted state. Even if so much diluted that it seems to run perfectly clear, it may still Liquid Majiurcs — Comparative Values. 47 be found sufficiently strong ; if too strong its use would be injurious rather than helpful, and might often destroy a crop entirely. There is far more danger of jrettins: it too strong than of making it too weak. It may be doubted, indeed, whether the diluting element, v/ater, is not, at least, an equal cause of the fertility which sometimes attends its use, when directly applied. The result either of watering or liquid manuring will be less favorable in a cool season than in a hot one ; owing to the reduc'.ioa of temperature occasioned by wet applications to the soil. A way of procunng liquid manure — convenient when a small quantity only is required — is to leach solid stable manure as ashes are leached for obtaining Ive. For special results, solutions of specific commer- cial fertilizers are valuable, and are easily made. For instance, liquid nitrate of soda is obtained by dissolving one povmd of the nitrate in twelve gallons of water. It is beneficial to all garden crops, though particularly recommended for grass plats — but its chief value to the vegetable grower is as a destroyer of slugs and other garden pests. The most valuable liquid manure is, however, the urine of stabled animals, which when not allowed to run to waste is ordinarily taken up by absorbents kept under the animals, in the stalls or in the cellar beneath them. Sometimes, however, it is conducted by natural flow in gutters and pipes to a tank from which it may be pumped. It is very valuable, more so than the solid excrement from the same animals; and more effectual means of saving and applying it than those 48 Market Gardening. now generally practised will doubtless soon come into use. In applying it directly to the soil amongst grow- ing plants it requires, as already said, to be greatly diluted. Small amounts pumped at intervals over the - compost heap promote fermentation. In purchasing manure, preference should be given to that of grain-fed animals. The value of all animal excrement depends more on the character of the food consumed than on the kind of animal. But it is con- venient to know the average composition of the solid droppings of different animals, and the following data ^ have recently appeared in the Gardener's Monthly. The excrement standing highest in value is sheep dung (this not being obtainable in our vicinity, we give its analysis merely for comparison). It contains in 100 parts, of water, 68.71; azotized matter, 23.16; saline, 8.13. Horse manure consists of water, 75.31; geine, or organic matter, 20.67 ; salts, 4.02. (The geine is composed of — carbon, 9.56 ; hydrogen, 1.26; oxygen, 9.31 ; and nitrogen 0.54.) Cow manure contains, geine, 15.45 ; salts, 0.95 ; water, 83.60. Contrary to tne gen- eral idea, that of the horse outranks that of the cow. The list of materials available to the gardener and cultivator for enriching the soil comprises the fol- lowing principal items : the animal manures (like those whose analysis has been given), fish, bones of animals, lime, gypsum, wood ashes, common salt, soot, peat- earth, seaweeds, malt dust, rape-cake and linseed- cake, green succulent plants, and commercial fertilizers. Much has recently been added to the stock of gen- eral information on the nature and action of manures. Application of Mamircs. 49 All the more the subject is one which demands con- stant study and retiection on the part of the practical cultivator. In view of the ^reat variety of conditions presenting themselves, it often seems next to impossi- ble for him to select from the mass of available matter the points likely to be of assistance to him. Yet by diligent reading, and carefully discriminating what he reads, he will soon begin to feel the benefit of combin- ing the experience of others with that which he gair.s for himself, and will find that the former is by far the less costly of the two. On this general topic of manures, many well written works may be found in most libraries. We recommend for reading, once and again, till its contents become thoroughly familiar, Harris' " Talks on Manures," published six or eight years ago. Its stvle is varied and interesting, and the matter is highly instructive. Every farmer should use this, or some equivalent book, as a constant reference and guide in providing and applying manures ; and there is no other book that we know of which presents this subject so clearly and intelligibly, and at the same time in such an interesting manner — almost every page is as readable as a story. Application of Manures, Further general suggestions on this subject might seem to some almost unnecessary, but, nevertheless, this is an important part of market-garden work, and well worthy of attentive study. As garden crops, to be of marketable quality, require to be grown quickly, it is plainly requisite that the land be brought into the 50 . Market Gardening, best possible condition to begin with, and then that the artificial fertilizers or further manurings, whatever they may be, should be applied in such a way that the growing crops can readily reach and take up this sup- plementary nourishment. In what has been said on Preparation of the Soil, w^e have included many detailed directions for applying manures to the soil, and amongst them have recom- mended having the land ploughed once in advance of the first application of the manure. This gives a chance for the manure (especially if it is a little coarse) to be worked into the soil more thoroughly by the second ploughing than it otherwise would. How- ever, except in comparatively few instances, the pres- ence of coarse manure is a serious impediment and disadvantage in the process of cultivation. It should be in a fine state, reduced to tliis condition by slowly conducted previous fermentation, and should be very thoroughly intermixed with the soil. Of course, as already said, it is very important that market-garden crops be grown quickly, and right here 13 the reason why quick-growing crops require more manure than others that take a whole season to com- plete their growth : it is because the latter have more time in which to feel about and collect their necessary nourishment from the soil and atmosphere; but the former must have their food in abundance, and it must be placed within easy reach of th^ feeding roots,, or there will be a most decided shortage in the result. There are great differcncci in the requirements of the various crops^ and no set rule can be given that Fcrtiiizing Land ::udcr Crop. will be adapted for regulating the quantity of manure to be applied to all crops and on all soils. Some spe- cific instructions for special cases appear in the fol- lowing pages. Where but one crop per year is to be taken from land which is already in fairly good condition, ten or twelve cords per acre of well decomposed manure would be considered, ordinarily, as a sufficient supply ; but o\\ land to be double-cropped, twenty cords would be none too much. This should be ploughed in lightly, so as to be left lying near the surface. If the first ploughing should be done in the fall, the manure can be applied then, and remain lying out on the surface until spring, as it does not lose by so doing. During a dry season, unless the land can be properly irrigated or watered, a crop will manifestly be unable to draw the proper amount of nourishment from the soil, since all plant food of every description has to be not merely in a soluble form but actually in solu- tion before it can be taken up and assimilated by the plants. For this reason it is becoming necessan,-. in view of the continually recurring droughts, to provide effectual means of irrigation. Sometimes, however, a crop comes to a stand-still by reason of having exhausted all the fertilizing matter contained in the soil, of a sort available to its require- ments; and in such instances the trained eye of the practical gardener can usually detect what is lacking for the crop ; and he may supply the need by an appli- cation of some specific commercial fertilizer. It would be difficult to explain to a wholly unexperienced per- 52 Market Gai^dcning. son just how to detect the wants of the crops, but a little acquaintance with their normal habits of growth will speedily teach one what he needs to observe. It is imperative, even in an economical view, where a crop is checked in growth from want of fertilizing matter, that some quick-acting fertilizer be promptly applied, for upon the question of a few dollars' expend- iture at this crisis may depend all the difference be- tween a crop and no crop. Whenever the need of such an application occurs, it is better to sow the fertilizer broadcast than to place it directly on the hill and about the plant ; and the labor of applying it is less. Liquid manure may be applied by the process already described for irrigating, in a furrow opened about a foot from the row ; more or less, according to the growth the plants have made. CHAPTER III. Selection* of Seeds — Their Vitality — Seed-Grow- ing — Sowing the Seed^Cultivation of Crops — Construction and Care of Hot-beds — Gath- ering THE Crops — Capital and Labor In- volved. PERHAPS we might truthfully say that the most important of all points in gardening is the right selection of seeds ; for without good seed the care and expense devoted to selecting and fitting the land, or procuring and using implements, fertilizers, etc., is all bestowed in vain. By good seed, we not only mean such as will ger- minate properly, but such as is true to name, and of the very best selected strains. And it is proper in this connection to say that no one need expect to get seed such as we have spoken of at such absurdly low prices as much cheap stuff is sold for. Better to p^y twice the market price for an article that is firs.-cbss in every respect than have poor trash, even if to be had as a gift. Always look for quality first; and when satisfied in this respect pay the price, if it is anywise reasonable; for you must remember that these extra strains have cost an air.oMnt of labor and expense in f;;ro'Ainj t'lem 53 54 Market Gardening, largely beyond that required by common-grown £to:k. Of course, as we have already said, it is always im- portant, and in some degree ecssntial, that none but the best seed be used ; but with some crops this is most especially necessary, and a neglect will result in the most disastrous kind of a failure. Take, for instance, either cabbage, cauliflower, or celery. These are veg' etables with regard to which the greatest care has to be exercised', to procure the proper kind of seed stock. Also with onions, lettuce, and cucumbers this is no less important. It may be well to add, while on this point, that there is more than one advantage in purchasing your seed supply early in the season, and before the spring rush comes on. By so doing you are enabled to get the best that there is in stock, as the supplies have not then been greatly drawn upon ; and by attending to the matter before every one is driven with orders you have a better chance to make your selections, and of avoiding mistakes. It is quite important, unless you can rely absolutely upon the dealer from whom you purchase, to employ some means of testing the quality of seeds. Some have recommended as the speediest way, though not altogether a sure one, putting a few on top of a hot stove ; such as -are good will crack like corn in parch- ing ; the bad will burn without noise and with very lit- tle motion. A more reliable way is to place a little cotton-wool or moss in a tumbler containing water, and let it stand in a warm room while the experiment is in progress. Place the seeds to be tecled on the Vitality of Seeds, 55 wool or moss so arranged, and they will germinate sooner than they would in ordinary planting. The proportion ol bad seed — that is, of seed which has lost its vitality — will be recognized in this way ; but as regards the quality of the strain and whether they are true to name, there caxi be no proof or guarantee in advance of the crop they bring, except procuring them from a dealer who is recognized as reliable, and who knows, himself, what he is selling. ViTALtTV OF Seeds* As regards the period for which seeds may be kept without destroying or seriously impairing their vitality, this varies with different seeds. Opinion varies also as to the time which may be assigned as the limit in the case of each separate kind. It is ordinarily thought, and perhaps it is safest to hold as a general rule, that the seeds which mature in one season are the best for next year's planting. However, seeds of good original vitality may be expected to germinate freely, if properly cared for, at i^eriods after maturity not greater than shown in the table on the following page. We ha\e to remark here that the duration of the germinating power of seed^ depends very materially upon the circumstances under which they have been harvested and kept. Nothing has a greater tendency to destrov it than the influence of dampness and heat ; owing to which causes it often occurs that good seed, purchased from dealers in whom reliance can be placed, and kept not a great while on hand, fails to come up. Thus far no better method is known for keeping seeds 56 Market Gardeiiiiig. in good condition till wanted than putting them in linen bags and storing in a dry, moderately cool, and well ventilated place. Any seeds, of which the germinating power continues active for five years, on an average, do not entirely lose it after the lapse of ten years or more. In this class are included most of the seeds sown in the market garden — those which possess a less degree of vitality are Corn, Dandelion, Leek, Onion, Okra, Peas, Parsnip, Parsley, Radish, Salsify, and Spinach. LENGTHS OF TIME FOR WHICH DIFFERENT SEEDS RETAIN THEIR VITALITY. Artichoke 5 years. Kohl-rabi . . 7 years. Asparagus 4 " Leek . . . 2 '' Beans . . . 5 " Lettuce • • 5 " Beets . . . 5 " Melon • • 7 " Broccoli . . 5 " Onion . . 2 " Brussels Sprouts , 7 " Okra . . • 3 " Cabbage . . 7 '' Peas . . . 4 " Carrot . . . 5 " Parsnip . . I " Cauliflower . 7 " Pumpkin • • 7 " Celery . . . . 8 " Parsley • • 3 " Corn . . . 2 " Radish . . 3 " Cucumber . 12 " Salsify . . . 2 " Dandelion • 3 " Spinach . . 3 " Egg-plant . . • 7 " Squash • • 7 " Endive . . • 9 " Tomato • • 5 " Kale . . . 5 " Turnip . • • 5 •' The general rule above s uggested, g iving preference to last year's seed, has som e exceptior is. Plants such as melons, cucui nbers, and squashes (tl ^.ough they grow Seed Growing — Selection of the Best. 5 7 vines most vigorously from fresh seeds) are thought to set and mature their fruit better when grown from that which is older. Beans are included by some in the same category. Seed Growing. Every one who makes market gardening a business is obliged to raise at least a portion of the seed which he plants ; and in order to do this successfully, as re- gards its vigor and productiveness, and so as to obtain the choicest of each kind, great pains must be taken in the selection and care of the seed stocks. In selecting the stocks from which the seed is to be saved, the very best of the season should always be taken. Particular rows, or even individual plants in different parts of the held, must be marked and reserved for the purpose; and although this is very expensive and tedious it is the only safe and satisfac- tor)' way. By so doing the stock is constantly improv- ing year by year ; while, if the product of the whole field is saved for seed, as is done by many seed growers, there must be more or less deterioration. Owing to the differences in climate, some kinds of seeds can be grown to much better advantage in local- ises other than our own ; and, although most of the seeds which are planted in our market gardens can be grown successfully in America, there are a few among the-e which can be raised to far better advantage in foreign countries. No doubt, one reason for this is that these countries enjoy a climate much more equable than curii — a condi'.ion which is more favorable fcr 58 Market Gardening, all crops, and renders the results of cultivation much more reliable. The cauliflower, in particular, has a seed which can- not be grown with any certainty in this country ; while foreign growers are almost as certain of a crop as we are with cabbage. Although, in the case of many of the seeds which are produced by market gardeners, through careful selection, in the manner described, one could often purchase his supply from dealers for one-half what it costs him to produce it himself, the quality of his own selected stock ma\' be more than enough better to make up the difference in cost. I have raised vege- tables in such large quantities that I have been induced to grow my own seed, to a great extent, and, having often had a surplus, have supplied my neighbors ; and my trade in seeds, commencing in this way, has con- stantly increased from the beginning, until I have been finally obliged to open a seed store in the city, for the convenience of my many customers. Of course, I do not by any means profess to grow all the seeds I catalogue ; but there are several kinds which I can and do grow very succassfully, and which I have, by years of careful selection, greatly improved. Of these seeds I grow all that I sell ; and, in order to distinguish them from the common strains, I have designated them as " Arlington-grown " seeds. I do not profess to sell these seeds at any such low prices as seeds of the same varieties can often be bought for, elsewhere, from dealers who buy up their stock here ar.d there, cf any on2 from v/hom they can purchase So'wi7ig the Seed — Cei^taiii Reqitiremenls. 59 cheapest. Any one who will give the matter a mo- ment's thought will see that I cannot compete in price with these cheap grades of seeds. It is a false view of economy that leads any one to purchase cheap seed, — for a few dollars saved in the beginning may make a shortage of one^half, or more, in the crop. I have always made it a practice when pur- chasing seed for my own use (of such varieties as I do not raise, and so have been obliged to buy), to secure the best^ regardhss of cost, and have always found this to pay. Quality, not price, is the chief point to look to in purchasing seed. The same rule applies to the case of the seed- grower producing seeds either for his own use or for sale — the expense of the process must be disregarded, and the excellence of the product made the prims consideration. All seeds should be gathered as soon as they mature — for exposure to the weather is injuri- ous to their power of vegetating when planted. They should be dried in the shade, and in a warm place, but not where they will be affected by the direct heat of the fire. Sowing the Seed. In the preparatory stages 'of the work of raising a crop, all the points we have included above are of vital importance a d need close attention. The successful germination of the seed, no matter how carefully the sowing may be done, must depend largely upon the condition of the ground; But, on the other hand, it is no less true that, unless the seed is carefully and ju- diciously plrxed in the ground, and properly covered, 6o Market Gardcnmg. the crop cannot get a good start, no matter how well the land has been prepared or how good the seed is. It is far better, when possible, to put seed into fresh- ly prepared soil, as it is sure to get a better start than on land which has been turned over long enough to have become crusty and lumpy on the surface. Again, it is preferable, when possible, to sow seed immediately r.fter a rain rather than just before it comes ; since, in the case of the finer seeds, more especially, the crust which begins to form on all garden soils immediately after a lain will partly shut out the air and will tend to prevent free germination. Where one encounters the misfortune of a heavy fall of rain occurrhig just after the planting of a field or bed, it will be well to go over the ground wath rakes, and break the crust; and such treatment may make a difference of fifty per cent, in the stand obtained. With seed having a thick husk, like squash, cucum- ber, or melon, it is obviously of peculiar importance that the soil be in just the right condition — in order to be sure that sufficient moisture and air may reach the seed — much more than wiih thin-husked kinds that germinate quickly, like cabbage, turnip, and rad- ish ; but, still, even these finer seeds need the most vigilant attention and the utmost care that can be given in sowing them, to secure the best results. In sowing the seed of beets, squashes, and parsnips, and also peas, beans, and all similar seeds, it is neces- sary also to plant deeper thtm the finer seeds, from the fact that the husk is thicker, a!:d it requires more Cultivation Diivi:ig Growth. 6i Most of the finer seeds are sown by machine, at different distances apart, and likewise at different depths, varying, according to the kind, from one-fourth of an inch to one inch ; being governed partly by the size of the seed, and also by the season of the year. Seed put in during the hot, dr\- weather of summer must, for obvious reasons, be covered a little deeper than early in spring, when the ground is moist enough for their speedy germination, even if ver\' near the surface. Cultivation of Crops. After the seed that we have sown has come up, the frequent stirring of the soil will prove beneffcial. It is no^ generally necessary to caution any one against stirring the soil too frequently, still this may, not im- possiblv, be sometimes overdone, at least as regarded from a financial point of view. Following a rain, and after the land is dried suffi- ciently to be in good working condition, is the best possible time for giving the soil a thorough stirring ; for then it will be left in a fresh, lively condition, that will give the growing crop a surprising start. It may be well to note here that it is not profitable to stir the soil when it is too wet, or to hoe crops when they are dripping with water, as some people do ; even cabbages, celery, and turnips are not benefited, if indeed they escape serious injury, under such treat- ment. In cultivating crops of any description, in is neces- sar)- to bear in mind that, when they are young and 62 Market Gardening. growing rapicll}', it will be proper to cultivate deeper and nearer to the plants than at a later stage, when growth is not so rapid. At the later stage, such active cultivation would have a tendency to ripen off the crop, rather than promote its growth. During a dry season, or a period of extended drought, the more frequently the soil is stirred around a growing crop the better ; as the loosening up of the surface soil will draw the moisture from below upwards, within reach of the feeding roots of the plants, and thus en- able them to absorb it. In the case of any crop planted in rows, it is a good plan to stir the soil and cut down the weeds, im- mediately after the plants come up, in the following manner: Take an ordinary A harrow and remove the front tooth ; then drive along each row of plants, keep- ing it exactly between the horses and central to the harrow. This harrowing will not disturb them in the least, and just at this stage will promote their growth surprisingly. The weeds of course will not be exter- minated entirely, but their first early growth will be effectually destroyed, and they will more easily be kept under during the rest of the season. Parasitic insects and vegetable parasites (to which latter class belong smut, blight, mildew, etc.) cause heavy losses and disappointments to all cultivators of the land both on farms and in gardens. The more thrifty the habit and condition of the plants, the less will they be liable to such ravages. Thorough and constant cultivation disturbs and destroys the larvae, reinforces the plant, and enables it to withstand para- Hozv (o Build a Hotbed. 63 sitic attacks, botb animal and vesretable, to 2:ood ad- vantage. Further suggestions on this topic scarcely belong to this chapter, but will be given later in the work. Construction of Hot-beds. For a location, a spot facing the south, with a slope in that direction, is the most desirable. After the loca- tion has been selected, a fence should be erected six feet high, and of the length which the bed is to be, to serve as a protection from the wind, and as a support for mats and shutters. For convenience, the fence or wind-break should slant back a little from the bottom, — about one foot : it will then form a better support for mats and shutters when leaned against it, and will be much more convenient in working around the beds. The first plank should be set about three and a half feet from the base of the fence, and should be two inches thick by twelve inches. The front plank should be two inches narrower. Place the back plank two and a half inches above the ground, and hold in place by driving stakes at the end and middle. Continue the planking in this manner until the desired length is reached. The stakes should,, of course, be nailed to the planks. Place the front plank six feet from the first, and sink into the ground so that the upper edge will be five inches lower than the top of the first, which makes a slant of five inches to carry off the v^-ater. Continue this the same length as the first, and you will then have a bed six feet wide and of the desired length. Shovel out the loam sufficient to bank the 64 Market Gardeimig. planks on the outside about half the height, putting in spreaders to keep from crowding in. Let the ground freeze about three inches deep, then cover the banking with leaves or litter to keep out the frost. Supplying the Heat. If the bed is for lettuce, throw out the loam on the back side of the bed to the depth of twenty-four inches from the upper edge of the plank, and twenty-two inches in front, and of the length required, so as to make room for the manure. Prepare the required heat by selecting moderately coarse horse manure four or five days before using, turning it once or twice. A horse- cart load containing about thirty-six feet is sufficient for a bed six feet square, or for two sashes, the depth of the manure being one foot. This should be trodden down, and made smooth on top ; then put in the loam from under the next two sashes, cover to the depth of eight inches, and continue in this manner as far as required ; then bring the loam which was taken from the first two sashes, and put it under the last, which completes the bed. For heating material, various articles are sometimes used, such as hop waste from the breweries, cotton waste, etc. ; but where fresh horse manure can be ob- tained at anything like reasonable rates, it is far better, and, all things considered, is actually more economical ; as the manure can, of course, be used on the land after it has served its purpose in the beds ; and it is then, as ordinarily considered, worth half the original cost. Then, too, where manure is used the ammonia Furnishing and Regulating Heat, 65 which escapes during the heating process is of great benefit to the growing crops, while from other material there is no such benefit — substantially nothing but the heat is derived. Radishes require less heat than lettuce, just as a crop of young cauliflower or cabbage requires less heat than tomatoes, egg-plants, or others of a tropical nature. For radishes, a cart-load of manure, containing thirty- six feet, would be sufficient for nine feet of bed, or three sashes, and should be covered by one foot of loam. For forcing cucumbers more heat is required than for lettuce, according to the season. In any case, the bed should stand a day after it is prepared, to allow the soil to heat through ; it is then ready for seeds or plants. The quantity of heating material to be used will not however depend entirely upon the crop to be grown ; we must also take into account the season of the year when it is to be started. With lettuce, for instance : if the crop were to be planted in December, a foot of fresh manure would be necessary ; while in February or March one-half that quantity would be sufficient. But for such tropical-natured plants as tomatoes, cucum- bers, or egg-plants, a foot of heating material would be none too much at any season. A crop of radishes would not perhaps require quite as much heat as lettuce during the winter months ; still it would need about the quantity stated to keep the bed properly warm. If started in March, no strong bottom heat w^ould be required ; and they will succeed well on second heat, such as is in a bed from which a 66 Market Gardenmg, crop of lettuce or other vegetables has just been re- moved. In this case the crop will often do better than when sown in a freshly made bed, as in the latter the ammonia, which nevv^ heating material always throws out, would have a tendency to drive the crop too much to tops ; which is not what is wanted with root crops. The continuous care of hot-beds after the ciop has been started forms one of the most important branches of work in the market garden. The beds require to be covered and uncovered every day, and constant attendance and vigilance are necessary to maintain the proper temperature. The amount of heat to be .ainied at, as we have already said, depends upon the crop. Lettuce beds, during the winter months, should be be kept at a temperature ranging at from 50° to 70°. For radishes it may range from 40° to 60°; while for cucumbers and tomatoes it must range decidedly higher, say from 70° to 90°, or even 100°. In the spring of the year, it is quite a serious task for a man to take charge of say 1,000 sashes, with a half a dozen different crops under them. He must of course have a thorough understanding of their require- ments in respect to heat, moisture, and a variety of other conditions. He must be a person of consider- able experience or he cannot be qualihed to undertake the entire management of crops so cultivated. It will be found that much depends on their receiving the right care, and always just at the right time. If the first crop is started in November or Decem- ber, and the beds are properly handled, three and sometimes even four crops may be taken from the Gathermg the Crops. 67 glass each season. In regard to the amount of prod- uce that can be taken oil, per sash, each season, of course much depends on skilful management ; but if the beds are properly attended to (where three crops are grown) the results might, ordinarily, be expected to be about as follows: say for the first crop, $2.50 ; for the second crop, $2.00; and the third, $1.50; mak- ing a total of $6.00 per sash. These figures are of course often exceeded, and even doubled ; but we are now giving estimates of a result as near an average as possible. The first crop embraced in the foregoing estimate would be lettuce, four dozen to each sash, at 62 ^wc. per dozen. The next, either lettuce or radishes ; the third, cucumbers, which would be put under the glass about the first of April and begin to bear June ist. The latter crop varies in price according to the season, some years averaging as high as three dollars per sash; but for a large quantity, a cash return amounting to a dollar and a half per sash would be considered by most growers as reasonably good- Harvesting or Gathering the Crops. In market gardening the term "harvest" cannot be applied as it was in olden times to the gathering of the grain and other crops in the fall of the year. Un- der modern usages there is no real season of harvest- ing, but, on the contrary, the ''seed-time and harvest " seasons, both of them, extend the whole year round. Much experience is required to enable one to know just when to harvest market-garden crops, and this 68 Market Gardeniiig, does- not always or solely depend on their stage of ma- turity. The market gardener of to-day would say that the time to harvest a crop is when it will bring the most money. Although of course there are some vege- tables that cannot be gathered until they are ripe, as otherwise they are practically worthless — such as mel- ons, celery, and cauliflower, which it would be folly to touch until they had reached maturity — yet also there are some, like beets, lettuce, spinach, etc., which, after reaching a certain early stage of growth, can be mar- keted readily, and to profit. In crops that are to be marketed when young and tender, it is plainly of vital importance to have expe- rienced hands for the work, as such articles are very easily injured, and rendered unsalable by careless handling and packing for transportation. The same considerations, though perhaps less ob- vious, are equally important in the case of vegetables that are to be stored for the winter. These also should be harvested and handled with care, and placed in storage only when dry or in just the right condition, for their keeping qualities must largely depend on their treatment at this time. The Amount of Capital and Labor Required. Among gardeners, opinions vary as to the area that an individual may wisely include in his plans. Many have an idea that five acres of land will be enough; others put it at ten ; while it is known that some culti- vate a hundred acres or more at a profit. The amount of capital required varies, to some extent, with the Capital Needed — Items of Expense. 69 amount of land cultivated, but not in a uniform pro- portion. While it might require about $3,000, with the labor of three men and two horses, to properly handle two acres, I estimate that there would be needed about $5,000, six men, and three horses for ten acres ; and that $20,000, forty men, and twenty horses would be sufficient for one hundred acres. One of the largest and most indispensable items of original outlay is in providing the sashes; these cost, with the requisite mats and shutters to go with them, about S4.00 each, of which about $2. 50 ^s paid for the sash, and the balance for mats and shutters to cor- respond. A very important item of annual outlay is the suppiv of stable manure. This will cost, at present prices, -delivered on the place, from 35.00 to 38. 00 per cord, according to distance from the cit}- and the facilities for obtaining and transporting it. The land cultivated may be the gardener's own, or may be worked under a lease. In the latter case, the annual rent per acre is, at an average, say $25.00 for highly cultivated land, while other land in the remoter suburbs, and not in as good condition, might be had for $10.00 per year. There may doubtless be found some tracts of land under cultivation where ordinary interest reckoned on the purchase money invested would amount to S200.00 or more annually, per acre ; but these are of course exceptional cases. With regard to the expense of labor, it may be stated 70 Market Garde^iing. that average men receive about $40.00 per month, or about $1.50 per day, during the summer season, and about $35.00 per month, or $1.35 per day, during the four months of winter. Of course skilled laborers might expect to receive more, but to obtain it they must be men of some experience and natural adaption to the \vor£. The business is one in which men of tact and experience are in demand, no less than in a manufacturing or mercantile establishment. The expense of keeping the work-horses, including all items, would amount to about $150.00 on each ani- mal per year. The tools are a less important item of expense, and yet the new and improved implements of the present date are quite costly, and the cultivation of even a limited amount of land requires quite a number of them. By looking over the foregoing it will be seen that the total annual expense of running two acres of land would be about $2,500. That of five acres would foot up about $5,000 ; of ten acres, about $8,000 ; while a hundred acres could be run for $25,000. Many peo- ple have a mistaken idea that they can run a garden of ten, fifteen, or twenty acres on a capital smaller than is really requisite to properly run three acres. If one's capital is limited, it is far better to proportionally reduce the amount of land than to spread over too much surface. PART II. Dll|_ECT10NS/ND DESCt|_lPT10NS IN DeT/L. CHAPTER IV. Vegetables Raised for Market — Characteris- tics — Cultural Directions. THE ARTICHOKE iCynara Scolymus) is used extensively in Europe, either raw as a salad or boiled and served after the manner of cabbage. It may also be blanched somewhat as we treat endive — that is, the side stalks — and it is then used as a salad. It may be propagated either from the seed or by root cuttings. The latter is the best and most con- venient plan; the offset suckers should be taken in the spring. When raised from seed, let them be sown early in the spring, say at the time of the tlowering of the peach, in drills a foot apart, and four inches apart in the drills. The next spring transplant to permanent beds, in hills three feet apart each way, with three plants to a hill. It requires a deep, rich loam, abound- ing in moisture. As the plant is perennial, one planting will answer for several years. No winter protection will be required except in the most northern States, and there a coat of straw or leaves will suffice to insure them against winter killing. The Green Globe and Common Green, which are (I) Jerusalem Artichoke. (2) Burch of Asparagus, 74 yertisalem Artichoke — Asparagus, 75 much alike, are the varieties we have had in mind in writing the above, but there is another variety, called the Jerusalem Artichoke {Helianthiis tubcrosns), which differs from these in the fact that it is cultivated for its tubers, which are pickled like cucumbers or eaten raw sliced as a salad. They are planted like potatoes, in hills or rov\'s, and will produce enormous crops. The tubers make excellent feed for all kinds of live stock, being the richest in fat-producing elements of any of our cultivated roots. Care must be taken at the time of harvesting to remove all the small roots, for if left in the ground they will come up the next spring, and may become a troublesome weed. Asparagus {A. officinalis) is a peculiar crop, and generally speaking is a reliable one. The fact that it takes two years from the setting if two-year-old plants are set, or four years if the seed is sown, pre- vents many from grov\-ing it. It is not generally grown in the immediate vicinity of Boston or other large cities, as the land is usually too valuable. The average proceeds per acre are moderate ; from $200 to S300, As compared with other crops, it is a good one to ship, and will stand up well for quite a length of time. Asparagus is a hardy, perennial, maritime plant. It may be grown from seed, or propagated by roots. One ounce of seed will sow about fifty feet of drill. It will thrive on almost any sandy soil, even if quite light, and the lighter the soil, other things being equal, the earlier the crop may be got off. A planting once prop- erly made will last for years. A fair crop may be expected the third year from the seed, or in one or 76 Market Gardening. two years from the roots, according to their age when planted, and, after that, full crops every year. The soil for this crop cannot be made too rich, and should be thoroughly trenched two feet or more in depth. The plants should be set six to eight inches deep, in rows three to four feet apart, and one foot apart in the rows. The roots should be set in the spring as soon as the ground is in good working order (they can be set in the fall, but the spring is the pref- erable time), say about the end of April. The crowns of the roots should be from four to six inches from the surface of the bed. A heavy application of manure must be made to an asparagus bed each fall — say eight or ten cords per acre. This should be lightly worked into the soil in the spring : a very light surface- ploughing will accomplish this well, if carefully done. Salt is an excellent thing to apply for a dressing, for, although it does not act as a manure, as some people think, it is a great help in keeping down the weeds. In cutting for market, the cut is made about two inches under the ground, and pains are taken to have the stalks about eight inches long. In preparing for market a buncher is used, so that all bunches are of exactly equal length and size. From twelve to twenty stalks are put in each bunch, according to the size of the stalks. They bring, on an average, about $1.50 per dozen bunches, still the price varies greatly with different seasons and depends largely on the supply of peas and greens that may be in the market. The season for cutting usually continues about five weeks, and the plants are then left to go to seed. In the fall Dwarf or Bush Beans, jj these seed stalks are mown down and the refuse is burned off. The varieties are numerous and differ considerably. Conover's Colossal is the most popular; and Moore's New Giant Cross-bred is now attracting much attention. Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris.) — Dwarf or Bush kinds. This familiar crop flourishes best in a rather light gravelly soil ; and it should never be planted in ver)' 4 ^^^-^. Early Mohawk. heavy land. The bush beans are rather more hardy than the pole varieties, but nevertheless should not be planted until settled weather; say, in this section, about the first week in May. Nothing is gained bv putting them in when the weather is cold, or the land damp and soggy, for they are a crop that never recovers from a set-back received early in the season. In manuring for the crop, we have found it works 78 Market Gardening. well to give the land a fair dressing of manure (lightly worked into the soil) and then give a light application of some good fertilizer, such as Sparrow's, or Eradlej's Phosphate, in the drill at the time of planting. This seems to give the crop a quicker and better start than it gets where manure is applied directly in the drill. The distance apart for the rows should be from three to three and a half feet, and the seed dropped from four to six inches apart in the drill (which should be from an inch to an inch and a half in depth). At this dis- tance apart about one bushel of seed would be re- quired per acre, where all the land is devoted to the crop ; but many prefer to plant every fourth row with squash, so as to double-crop the land. A fair average yield per acre v/ould be from three hundred to four hundred bushels ; and the crop ought to bring from seventy cents to one dollar per bushel. A good picker should pick two and a half barrels per day, or about eight bushels. After the crop is fairly up, the cultivator should be run through lightly ; and, at the second hoeing, a little earth should be drawn towards the plants to support them. They should never be hoed or worked amongst, if it can possibly be avoided, at times when they are wet, either by rain or dew, as there is much danger of rusting or blighting the crop. The list of varieties is numerous and contains many of real merit. The Early Long Yellow Six Weeks is the earliest good market variety, of first-rate quality and excellent in every respect. Its pods are green. The Early Mohawk is another good kind, closely re- Dwarf Varieties — Pole Beans. 79 sembling the Six Weeks iu habit. It is nearly or quite as early, and is also a green-podder. Dwarf Yellow Cranberry is another excellent green-podded variety, a triile later than the above, but of excellent quality, and is a favorite snap bean for the market. Golden Wax. — This superb variety is fast becoming a leadino^ sort, both for the market and home irarden. It is certainly the very best wax bean in cultivation. As its name implies, the pods are of a rich golden- yellow ; they are stringless and of fine flavor. It is very productive — not surpassed in this respect. Black Wax resembles the Golden, but is a trifle later. Pods are round instead of flattened. The Vriiite Wax is waxen-podded, very tender, and of good quality. This is a favorite with many for the home garden. The Early Valentine is undoubtedly an excellent variety, of a tender and succulent growth. It is not very much cultivated in this vicinity, but only because it happens to be less generally known here than in other parts of the country. The Dwarf Horticultural is the standard market va- riety, and is the leading dwarf Shell Bean. Pod very plump and large, streaked with bright red. The God- dard is a splendid variety, somewhat later than the above but of excellent quality, and very prolific. The pods are of a brighter red than the Horticultural, and the yield is heavier. The Pole or Running kinds are less hardy than the bush varieties, and will not bear planting quite as early. From about the middle of May to the flrst of June, according to the season, is about ri:iht with us. 8o Market Gardening. They should invariably be planted in hills which should be about three feet apart with rows four feet apart. From five to six seeds should be placed in each hill, with the eye downward ; and should be , covered to about the same depth as is directed for bush — or snap beans. A quart of seed will plant a hundred and f.fty hills ; the poles should be set at the time of planting. They succeed best in sandy loam, which should be liberally enriched with short manure in the hills. Three plants in a hill are as many as should be al- lowed to grow, and with the vigorous growing kinds on strong soil it is better to have only two. The thinning should be done when the plants have become well established. They bear transplanting well, and this affords a means of filling up around the poles wherever they miss or fail to come up. They can also be started in frames and transplanted to the open ground, so as to secure an ad- Pole Varieties — Scarlet Runner — Lima. 8i vanced stage of growth and earlier maturity; but this is not extensively practised. The maturity of some of the later sorts can be hast- ened by nipping off the tips of the runners when they have reached a height of four or five feet. Red Cranberry is an excellent variety, of good qual- ity, productive and stringless. The pods retain their tender and palatable quality until they are quite enough grown to shell beans. As a shell bean it is good while green ; but is not often used after ripening and drying. White Cranberry is very similar to the cbove variety, but not quite as productive. Some prefer it, however, on account of its being a white bean. Pole Horticultural has perhaps a greater combina- tion of good qualities than any other pole variety. It is excellent as a string bean, unsurpassed for shelling green, and, moreover, is one of the best varieties On the list for cooking in the dry state. Indian Chief. — This bean is remarkable for its tender, succulent, and richly colored pods, and is well worthy a place in every garden. It is a very productive sort. The pods remain tender and crisp a long time. The seeds are not often used in the dry state — in fact, as a rule, no black beans are used dry — but for a siring Pole Bean this variety has no superior. Scarlet Runner {P. multijloriis) is rather late, and should be planted as early as possible. In this country it is produced mostly as an ornamental climbing plant. Lima Beans (/l lunatus) are very tender, and should be planted after the ground is warm and mellow, say about the first of lune. Or thev mav be started earlier $5^s^^; -^z> - ■ ■?^^2^ Improved Lima Bean. 82 English or Broad Beans — Beets. ^t^ in hot-beds, like cucumbers and melons, and trans- planted to the open ground at about the time stated. Dreer's Improved Lima is a little earlier than the old Lima; very productive. The beans form very closely in the pod, and are of excellent quality and flavor. Sieva or Small Lima is smaller than the above but cannot be excelled in quality. English or Broad Beans i^Faba vulgaris) although not very popular in this countiy, are largely grown in Broad Windsor Bean. England. The Broad Windsor is the favorite variety. Mazagan is early and hardy, but is less productive. The Beet {^Beta vulgaris) is one of the most im- portant crops, and is of easy culture. Where possible, a rather light, sandy loam should be selected for this crop in preference to heavy soil. For the early crop 84 Market Gardening. the seed should be put in about the middle of April, or as soon as the ground is in suitable working con- dition. The rows should be planted by machine, at distances of from twelve to fourteen inches apart, and the drills should be one inch deep. After they have gained a foothold the plants should be thinned to eight or ten inches apart in the drill. Clean culture should of course be given. The above remarks apply to the crop when grown for early marketing. For winter use the seed should Dewing Beet. be sown about the first of July, in drills drawn at the same distances apart as above directed, but the plants should be left nearer together, say at intervals of from five to six inches. Of varieties there are a large number known and named, but few of really superior merit. The Early Early Varieties — Chard Leaf-Beet. 8; Bastian, for early cropping, and Dewing Blood Turnip, for a standard sort, are as popular and as good varieties as we could name. The Early Bastian is one of the very earliest, and is one of the best as regards quality. It is not a true blood beet, but is sweet and of very good quality at all times of the year. It is the most popular early variety grown in this section. Swiss Chard Beet. The Dark Red Egyptian is claimed to be the earliest variety in cultivation, but many believe the Bastian, and also the Eclipse, to be equally early. In shape it is much flattened ; color, deep crimson : top small. It is certainly very early : and very good when small, but when full grown it is woody and poor in quality. The Eclipse is a new comer for which much is claimed. It has been in the market only four or five years; it is a blood beet, very fine grnincd, of good 8 6 Ma rkct Ga rden ing. shape, and good at all seasons of the year. The Swiss Chard is a peculiar sort, cultivated principally for the leaf stalks, which are cooked and served like as- paragus. The early beets are nearly always bunched, instead of being sold by the bushel. They are pulled when grown to about the circumference of a silver dollar, and are tied four in a bunch. The bunches usually bring from four to five cents each, and are sold by the dozen or hundred. At this price a good crop of early beets would bring returns of from $400 to $500 per acre. The thinnings are saved and sold for greens, by the bushel, like spinach. Late beets are of course sold by the bushel. A fair average yield, per acre, would be about 300 bushels ; which ought to bring at least $150. In southern New England such early varieties as the Early Bastian, Eclipse, or Egyptian can be sown the second time on the same ground, each season, and two crops per year can be raised ; but with the late-r varieties, which require about two weeks longer to mature, the season would not be long enough. Beets of the early varieties also make a first-rate second crop to follow peas, early cabbage, or any other early crop that is off the ground so that the beets can be put in by the 20th of July. The amount of seed required, per acre, for the early crop (to be thinned for greens) is eight pounds. For the late crop six pounds is the proper quantity. Borecole, or Kale {Brassica oleracea acephali) is a name applied to the class of Cabbage which does not Borecole, or Kale — Varieties, Sj head, but is used as an esculent in its open growth. When used, the crown or centre of the plant is cut off so as to include the leaves, which usually do not exceed nine inches in length. It boils well, and is more tender, sweet, and delicate, provided it has been duly exposed to frost. To secure hea\y crops of this hardy, useful winter vegetable, a deep, rich soil is es- sential, and the ground should be trenched two feet deep and liberally manured. Sow about the middle of April, in well prepared soil covering the seeds thinly and evenly. Half an ounce will sow a bed of twenty square feet. Plant out in June, and cultivate as else- where recommended for cabbagfe. arf Pjrpie or Brown Kale. The Dwarf Purple, or Brown Kale, which is repre- sented in the cut here inserted, is a beautiful curled variety, with reddish-tinted leaves. Another is the Green Curled Scotch, which is very hardy, and, like the Savoys, is improved by a moderate frost. 8S Market Gardening. In cultivating the Improved Siberian variety — a strain of the kind known as German Greens, or " sprouts " — sow in September, in rows one foot apart, and treat the same as spinach. This is a very hardy kind, much grown by the New York gardeners. Broccoli {Brassica okracea Botryiis) is a variety of cabbage very closely resembling the cauliflower. There is scarcely any difference between the two beyond what would nat- urally be looked for between differ- ent varieties. It is hardy, and sure to head, but is inferior in flavor. /4fHiil))f3^**^^\ ■^^^ ^^^^ varieties of Broccoli re- M/i/tj^^^^.:^!^ quire a rich, deep soil ; and the urpe ap rocco i. ground should bc trenched to a depth of at least two feet, well incorporating, as the work proceeds, abundance of rich manure. Where the object is to obtain fine large heads, too much ma- nure can hardly be used. The seed should be sown in hot-beds, for early crops, in March or April ; for main crops, in the open ground in May, in beds of well-pulverized rich soil, making the surface flne, and then beating the seed gently into the ground, and covering it with fine earth. One ounce will sow a bed of forty square feet, and produce about 3,000 plants. When the plants are sufficiently strong, and before they are drawn by growing too closely together, transplant them into nursery beds or lines, allowing about four inches between the plants. This will insure strong, stocky plants, and will also induce the formation of an extra quantity of roots. Broccoli — Brussels Sproiils. 89 Plant in permanent situations as soon as the plants are sufficiently established, taking care not to injure the roots, in rows from two feet to two feet six inches apart, leaving about the same distance between the plants. Keep them well supplied with water until they get fairly established, especially the early varieties, and these must also be liberally watered in all stages of their o-rowth durins: drv hot weather. Keep the ground well stirred between the rows, and free from weeds. When they begin to llower, break the large leaves over the heads to protect them from the sun, and gather them before they commence run- ning up to seed. Broccoli thrives best in cool, moist, fall weather, — hot, dry summer weather not being suited to it. The heads are cooked the same as cauli- flower. English seedsmen catalogue an almost endless num- ber of varietiej, but there are only a very few of distinct and admitted merit. \\'alcheren is an excellent variety, with large white heads. Early Purple Cap is an excellent sort ; but many do not like the greenish- purple color of the heads. White Cap is, perhaps, our best variety; heads very white and solid, — a sure header. This vegetable is not raised extensively in any section of this country, except in California. Brussels Sprouts (Brassica o^eracca huILita). — This is yet another of the Cabbage family, and like Broccoli is little grown here, though its excellent qualities seem to be fully appreciated by our English cousins. The culture is simple, and very much the same as 90 Market Gardening. Brussels Sprouts. is adopted for cauli- flower or cabbage (ex- cept that it must be remembered that the Sprouts are a little less hardy). A similar quan- tity of seed is required. The seeds should be sown in March or April in the hot-bed, or in the open ground when the weather per- mits. When the plants are about three inches high they should be transplanted. The ear- ly ones will be ready for the table in Sep- tember ; the late ones, for winter use, should be harvested before cold weather, and stored the same as cabbages or cauliflowers. The small heads, which grow along the stem, are the eatable parts of this vegetable, and when boiled like cabbage, or stewed with cream, like cauliflower, are very tender and delicious. Where the winters are not very severe, they may remain in the ground, to be cut as needed ; in fact, the sprouts are much improved by a moderate frost. The leaves, which resemble the Savoy, should be broken down in the fall to give the little cabbages room to grow. Cabbages — Cost of a Crop. 91 Dwarf Improved is very tender and is distinguished for fine flavor ; it is the best kind for general use. Cabbage {Brassica oleracea capitata) is one of the most important and one of the best paying crops. Lettuce can be set between the cabbage rows, to be cut off before the growth of the main crop will inter- fere with it. In this manner three crops may be grown each season ; which will make the land pay as well as can be done by almost any other system of cropping. As cabbages require a large amount of lime, they should not be grown on the same ground oftener than once in three years, unless a special application of lime is made. This is often done, and especially in the vicinity of New York City ; but, where practicable, it is better to avoid devoting the ground continuously to crops of the cabbage family. And it is also better to avoid putting in cabbages to follow any shallow- feeding crop (like corn, for instance) as they collect the greater part of their nourishment near the surface, and are moreover rank feeders ; so that it is well to let them follow and be followed by some deep-rooted crop. On land already in good tillable condition, an appli- cation of twenty cords of manure per acre is about what will be required. We prefer well decomposed horse manure to any other. This manure may cost about $8.00 per cord, delivered on the place. The applying would cost about $6.00 ; ploughing, $2.00 ; marking, or furrowing, $2.00 ; setting, or trans- planting, $5.00 ; hoeing, $5.00 (which would include cultivating") ; plants (6.000 at $5.00 per thousand), 92 Market Gardeiiiiig. $30.00; rent, $25.00; marketing, $25.00; making a total of $260.00. If set at intervals of three and a half feet by two feet, the number of plants that can be grown per acre is six thousand. And it will be seen that they cannot be grown at less cost than four and a half- cents per head. The general average price is only six cents, which would indicate a profit of only $100 per acre; although, of course, if they should bring eight or ten cents, as they often do, the profit would be handsomely increased. It will be seen that we have charged all the twenty cords of manure to the cabbage, while in fact the cab- bages only take a share of it, and usually leave an abundance for the crop that follows. So it becomes a rather difficult matter to figure the exact cost by itself of o^rowins: a field of cabbacre ; but after the second crop is harvested it will be an easy affair to distribute the expenses between the two, and thus one may get at the matter very closely. If it is seen that the manure which has been applied is not sufficient to carry out the crop, a dressing should be given of half a ton of some good commercial fertil- izer that is rich in potash. Wood-ashes, when obtain- able, are excellent for this purpose. Although the list of varieties is large, market garden- ers have but few that they regard as reliable. The Jersey Wakefield is really the early market cabbage, and is undoubtedly cultivated to a greater extent than any other one variety for the first early crop. Although this sort is a few davs later than the very earliest; it iu Early Varieties — Raivso:is — EtampeG. 93 enough larger to make up for the difference in time, and is usually more profitable than the .smaller varieties. Rawson's Early Summ.er, represented in the subjoined cut, is next in order; it excels both in size and earli- ness, and ranks as the best of the earlv Drumhead Rawson's Early Summer sorts. It is a trifle larger than the Wakefield, and conse- quently the setting should be a little farther apart. We would not advise setting any closer than three and a half feet for the rows, and plants at twenty inches, as this will Gfive them none too much room. And althou^fh 94 Market Gardening, they may be, and in some cases are, planted closer, it is not so desirable, especially in this market. The wider planting is better, even in places where cabbages are sold entirely by weight. We do not doubt that by setting at two feet apart each way just as many pounds per acre could be raised ; but the advantage in the wider style of planting is that less plants will be required per acre, and consequently there will be less work in cutting; and further, the cabbages will usually be harder and of better quality. The Early Etampes is about ten days earlier than any other cabbage. The heads are oblong, rounded ly Etampes. at the top, and of medium size ; they are very solid and firm, and of good quality. It is a new French sort. YoM 11 g Pla }i ts — La tcr l^a rieties. g 5 Fottlers Early Brunswick is a ver}- popular variety, about two weeks later than the Early Summer. Early Jersey Wakefieid. For the early varieties, which we have mentioned above, the seed is usually sown in hot-beds, from the 10th to the 20th of Februan'. They should be covered about half an inch deep. In about four weeks they are ready for transplanting, which is usually done in a bed from which a crop of lettuce has just been re- moved. They should be put in about three and a half inches apart, so as to give them plenty of room to grow stout and stocky. By this rule two hundred plants are put under each sash. After they have obtained a good start the sash should be removed gradually, to allow them to harden off ; and they may be given all the protection necessary in severe weather, by the use of shutters. They are usually transplanted to the 96 Market Gardening. open ground either the last week in April or the first in May, according to the season. The variety adapted to follow the Fottler's Bruns- wick (which we have classed among the early kinds) is an improved strain of the Stone Mason, and is catalogued by some seedsmen as the Warren. It is somewhat earlier than the ordinary strain, which is very largely cultivated in this section as a late variety. The Premium Flat Dutch is a very popular Drumhead variety, and the best strains of it are equalled by but very few other varieties. They are grown as a regular fall crop. Marblehead Mammoth is a very large sort, and the latest on the list of fall varieties ; it is also an excellent keeper. The Curled Savoy ranks among the Globe Curled Savoy. latest, and is grown mostly for winter use. The Drum- head Savoy differs from the curled, in being of larger size and less curled. As a Savoy it is less desirable than the former for eating, but is profitable to raise. Jl7/i/cr Keeping — Carrots. Late cabbages are usually grown as a second crop, following peas or something similar in culture ; or they may be set on newly turned land which has been in early grain or grass. It is not generally necessary to apply as much manure as for the early crop ; twelve cords is usually an abundant dressing, espe- cially where they follow some other crop which has been well manured the same season. To keep cabbage through the winter, commence by making a small bank, say about one and a half feet high, in some sheltered locality. Pull the cabbage, and place the heads against the bank in a row as close as they can stand ; then turn up the earth with the plow against the row. Be careful not to cover the head, but make the earth firm around the roots. Then with a shovel square down the bank thus made, and place another row: this will be about eight or ten inches from the first, and so continue until the whole are set out. Another wav is to place the cabbages head downwards on the ground, and cover the heads and stumps with dirt, then adding hay or something similar to keep out the frost. This protection should also be given in banking up by the other method. Put on enough to be sure that they will not freeze solid. If frozen about half through, they are not injured, and will keep quite well. Some have houses where they store the cabbages, placing them head down on the shelf, laying them as close as possible, and only one deep. The temperature is kept at about the freezing point. Carrot {Daiicus carota) is perhaps more properly to be called a farm crop • still, to some extent, it is grown by 98 Market Ga? ncniug-. market gardeners who chance to be located near large cities, and yet on land that is not too valuable. They require a very finely pulverized and porous sandy loam for their full development, and for large crops. It is impor- tant that the land should not be too rich, as then the crop will run too much to tops ; and still they should not be placed on poor, light soil with the expectation of a big crop. Land that is in fairly good condition, and has been manured the year previous for some other crop, is usually quite rich enough for the growing of carrots. When the short varieties (like Early Horn, Inter- mediate, etc.) are raised for bunching, they are usually put in as a second crop with spring spinach and radishes. They are tied in bunches, four in a bunch, like early beets; and usually bring, on an average, four cents per bunch. But there is only a limited demand for them. Early Horn Carrot. ^*..«. \Mien under glass, Frer^ch Early Forcing. they are usually raised as a third crop in the following manner : After a crop of lettuce has been removed from the bed, perhaps Under Glass — Late Sorts. 99 Early Danvet crop and about the first of February, the ground IS sown to radishes and carrots, putting the latter in ever}- third row, — so tha't there are two rows of radishes to one of carrots. About the last week in March the radishes are ready for pulling, which leaves the carrots in full possession of the beds. The Early French Forcing is the leading variety for hot-bed culture. The plants have but a very small top, / run very even in size, and are of good Scarlet Horn. appCaranCC. The sash, being usually removed some time between March 20th and April, can after that date be used for some other purpose, and, until warm weather, all the protection needed by the carrots may be given with shutters. They will be ready for pulling and bunching about the last week in May (taking for their growth about twice the time of the radishes). At this season they will usually bring on an averao;e Si. 00 per dozen bunches, five carrots being put in a bunch, and at this price the crop will bring about $1.50 per sash. For out-door culture the Early Scarlet Horn or Butter is the earliest varietv 3 Halt Long. IV ^ ' and can be sown either as a separate or with others. This is a stump root variety, is grown exclusivelv for bunchino-. lOO Market Gardcjiiiiz^ The Danvers Half Long Orange is the standard main crop variety ; being usually sold by the barrel, box, or bushel, for fall and winter use. It is a remarkably prolific variety, yielding frequently (and in some in- stances considerably) over forty tons per acre. It is withal an excellent keeper. The Thick Half Long Orange is an excellent strain of the ordinary Improved Long Orange, and is exten- sively grown in field culture ; but is not as desirable, ex- cept for stock feeding, as the Danvers. The Improved Long Orange is the standard stock carrot. The roots are laro^e and Ions:, and are of good quality for feeding. The Large White Belgian is used for stock only. As the crown of this carrot grows five or six inches out of ground, they are more easily dug than r.ny other sort; and are liked by many on this account. The Lons: Scarlet Antrins;- ham is a very iiTeguIar shaped red variety. It is less productive and is no better in any way than the Long Orange. Cauliflower i^Brassica aleracea Botrytis). The cul- ture of this crop involves much painstaking labor; Improved Long Orarvge Carrot. Cauliflown" — Ctilttire — Varieties, i o r nevertheless, in the vicinity of Boston, the acreage devoted to cauliflower has been largely increased during the past few }Tears. Many cultivators who for- merly raised but an acre or two now grow three or four acres; and fields even as large as eight or ten acres are not uncommon. When grown in large quantities, they are usually stored in the fall for winter marketing. It is naturally a fall crop and will not well bear early forcing. From the first of May until the first of July, according to the time the plants are wanted for setting, is the time to put in the seed. They are one of the various forms of the cabbage family, and require the same general conditions. Cauliflower. When they do well they usually pay better than early cabbage ; but there is much more risk in culti- vating them. As raised in this locality, about 6,000 e:-e grown per acre, and if maturing well, will bring in I02 Market Gardening, about $700.00. The price varies from $1.00 to $2.00 per dozen. They are usually grown, like late cabbage, for a second crop. Sometimes a piece of land is devoted solely to them through the season ; but when set early they do not usually head as well. There is no garden crop that is pinched more se- verely by a drought than the cauliflower ; and none, perhaps, which will pay better for irrigation. For the main crop, early variety, there is with us nothing so good as Rawson's Sea Foam, which derives its name from the pure white color of the heads. It is quite distinct and the surest header we know of. The Snowball, being a very sure header, is quite desir- able, although not equaling the Sea Foam with us. The Early Dwarf Erfurt is one of the standard varieties, and used both for early and late sowings. It is a very sure header, not large, but even in size. The Late Erfurt is a later strain of the preceding, and conse- quently requires a longer season to reach maturity. It is large in size. The Half Early Paris is also a late variety, but does not make as compact heads as the Erfurt. The Algiers is a splendid sort : the largest and latest of all. Celeriac, or Turnip- Rooted Celery {^Apium grave- olens rapaceuni), although but little used in this country, is quite popular in Europe, especially in Germany and France. It is rather peculiar in its manner of growth. It is started, and in its early stages should be treated, precisely like celery, except that, as it requires but a slight earthing up, the plants may be set much closer. Celeriac — Celery 103 Two feet apart for the rows, and eight inches fcr the ^.mmsM. Ceieriac. plants, will give abundance of room. For winter use, it mav be stored in trenches, like celery, or placed in sand in a cool cellar. The globe-shaped bulb, or root, is the edible part of the plant. The Erfurt is the favorite variety, and is about the only strain catalogued in this country. Q'Ei.^.RY {Apiu77i gf'avcolens). In selecting a place for starting the plants, choose, if possible, a cool and par- tially shaded spot. The soil should be put in good condition, and firmed down. After it is prepared in this respect, rake the surface lightly, and sow o;i the I04 Market Gardening. seed broadcast ; then place a hot-bed shutter, or a plank, on the surface, and have a man walk or jump upon son's Early Arlington Celery. it until the soil is again well compacted. After this, sift on soil ^ just enough to cover the seed lightly, not over a quarter of an inch at most. Then pat down moderately with the back of a spade, or shovel ; and the work ii done, except watering, until the plants are well up. The bed should be kept constantly moist, but not too wet. An ounce of seed should sow a space about six feet square, and should furnish fully six thous- and plants. When the celery is to follow cabbage, or other early P halting Out— Banking — Storing. 105 crops, the plants are usually twice transplanted. When lifted from the seed-bed, they are put out five or six inches apart. In this section, celery is invariably grown as a second or third crop. The soil best adapted to celery is a strong, deep, sandy loam, natur- ally moist; and it needs and must have plenty of moisture during droughts, or a shortage will be the result. Where celery is to follow early cabbage, it is the usual custom to plough the land before setting the plants. But no manure should be added to that already in the soil. The plants must be put in at just the right depth — just so deep as not to cover the crown — and the loosened soil must be brought to- gether firmly about the roots. Celery of all kinds should be planted on a level, and not in trenches. The first transplanting is to be done in June, the second in July. If the crop has been planted out early, it is well to commence banking it the first week in Septerriber, or about four weeks before it is wanted. Two bankings will suffice for the early crop, and they should be timed about ten days apart. For later use, say about Thanksgiving time, commence about the first of October ; repeat the banking about the tenth, and still a^ain about the twentieth. For winter use, bank about the fifteenth or twentieth, according to the season ; and if the celery is not very large, one bank- ing will be sufficient. When it is ready for storing, it should be taken up and placed in pits prepared for the purpose. The roots should be covered the same as if thev were standing: io6 Markel Gardenmg. in the ground; and should be placed about six inches apart, if they are to remain on hand long, so as to allow the air to circulate properly. To prepare a pit for storing celery make the sides of plank, 24 feet apart and about two feet high from the ground. The boards for covering should be thirteen feet long, the ends of two lengths meeting each other on the centre of the pit ; where it should have an interior height of six feet. Enough loam is thrown out from the inside, in forming the pit, to embank the sides and ends. In setting the celery, commence at one end of the pit : dig a trench about three inches deep, and set in the celery as closely as you can in the row. In taking up loam for covering the roots of one row, another trench is obtained for setting down the next. Be care- ful to make it stand up perfectly straight : and, either in the field or in the pit, the yellow leaves should all be removed before the packing in. The pit can be extended to any length desired, and partitions may be employed : so that portions of the stock can be kept cooler, and so held back ; or can be kept warmer and ripened off. The pit coverings of boards must be put on as fast as the celery is got in. Small ventilators, about one foot square, are constructed along the centre, about twenty feet apart. These are opened in clear and moderately cold weather; and thus the temperature is kept at about 35° to 40^ Fahrenheit, until a supply is wanted for market — when they can be kept closed, and the cehrv allowed to ripen. Arlmoton Celery — Other Kinds. \oi The best material with which to cover the celer}- for long keeping is salt hay ; but it can be ripened quick- est under seaweed, which packs ver\' closely when wet. One foot in thickness is sufficient for its protection if the outside thermometer does not go below zero. Some old mats or shutters may be put on for a short time when the weather is very cold. Thermometers should be provided, — one to be kept- near each end; and, if the pit is one hundred feet long, or more, one will be needed in the middle. The list of varieties is large : but still, as in the case of manv other vegetables, there are but few of really superior merit. Rawson's Early Arlington is fast be- coming the leading variety in the Boston market. It is first class in quality, and fully three weeks earlier than the old stand-by known as the Boston ]vlarket variety — grows larger, and yields more profit. Sandringham Dwarf White is an excellent dwarf variety, of an upright habit of growth. Carters Crimson is a very dwarf, solid variety, crisp and tender, — first class as a red variety. Henderson's Half Dwarf is somewhat similar to Crawford's ; when blanched, it is of a yellow tinge, crisp, and of an agree- able, though rather peculiar nutty flavor. The White Plume is a new dwarf \ariety, with a very marked peculiarity in the foliage. It is very white, and, being rather tender, is not an extra keeper. The Golden Heart celery is grown mostly by gar- deners in the celery region of Kalamazoo, and is set in rows four and one-half feet apart, and four inches apart in the row : but it takes from six to twelve of io8 Maj^kei Gardening, their roots to make one of ours. They get about one cent per root for their celery, and we sell ours for prices ranging from five to twenty-five cents per root. In preparing for market, every separate root has to be dug, trimmed, knifed, washed, and packed. It is usually packed in boxes of three dozen in each ; but the Arlington will almost always fill with two and one-half dozen. It cannot be grown (counting every root) for less than four cents per root, and leave any profit to the grower. It is sold by market-gardeners at w^hole- sale, by the box of two and one-half or three dozen, the price varying from one dollar to six dollars. Chicory {Chicoriiun Intyhus) is generally grown for the roots, which are used for adulterating coffee ; but sometimes the plants, when about a foot high, are tied together at the top, and then earthed up to bleach, like celery. When so treated they make a good salad. The seed should be sown early in the spring, in drills fifteen or eight- een inches apart, and half an inch deep. The plants when well up should be thinned to six or eight inches. It is a poor crop to intro- duce on a farm, or in a garden, for if allowed to go to seed, it will spread all over the place. Chives {Aiiiiun Schanoprasutn) are a small, bulbous- rooted vaiiety of the Onion family; entirely hardy in any part of the United States. Of late years they are Chicory. Chicory— Chives — How Used, 109 less grown than formerly. Then, no family garden was considered properly stocked without a few bunches of Chives. They require no culture beyond keeping the ground free from weeds, and can be continuously grown on almost any soil year after year without change Chives. of location. They are propagated by dividing the root, like Pie Plant, or Rhubarb, and the sets should be put in at ten or twelve inches apart. The leaves or stalks are the edible portion, and may be repeatedly cut off, as thev continuallv renew themselves durinr the crrow- ing season. Sometimes they are used in soups, for flavoring ; but more commonly in the rnw state, for garnishing. In old-time gardens, chives were often set out as borders for vegetable beds, as they needed no renewing, and their bright green color was quite orna- mental. '''■''i0'' ■'llliil.liffi Field Corn— Traced Ears. JIO CHAPTER V. Vegetable?, Etc. — Coxtixued. CORN {Zea Mays). The Commox Eield sort is not a market garden crop : yet we cannot leave wholly unmentioned this, the " king crop of the coun- try." The cheap and easily tilled lands of the great West, with the labor-saving machinery lately "brought into use, furnish this corn at such low prices that many farmers prefer to buy their supply rather than grow it. But, where there is suitable land that is not too valuable, it is, in our opinion, cheaper in the long run for the owner to grow his home supply. The soil best adapted to corn is what is generally called " warm " land ; that is, a rather light sandy or gravelly loam with a porous sub-soil, well enriched and thoroughly worked. There is no crop which will respond more quickly to careful and liberal treatment, as is proven by the fact that, within the last few years, so large a yield as 240 bushels of ears has been produced on a single acre ; and this was in the Eastern States, where — so our Western neighbors claim — we have no good land. This is, of course, onlv a sin^rle instance, and the larjre crop was obtained by exceptionally careful culture. Ill 112 Market Gardening, In the Middle States, or in southern localities, it is well to get northern grown seed ; which, if carefully se- lected, is sure to be earlier. Within the past few years some marked improvements have been made in varie- ties of lield corn, which will, no doubt, prove permanent acquisitions ; but farmers should not jDut too much confidence in novelties. Sweet Corn, also, — unless when grown expressly for extra early marketing, — is too little profitable for a garden crop, and in fact is very little grown by gardeners. The principal sort raised in this vicinity is the Extra Early Crosby, — that being the earliest of all. A strong, sandy loam is its favorite soil. It should be planted, for the early crop, about the first of May. Sow in rows four feet apart, and hills three or four feet apart in the row, according to the condition of the soil. It is usually manured in the hill (besides the broadcasting) with one or two shovelfuls of well- rotted manure. The corn is planted by hand ; and, in early planting, should be covered not over one inch deep. Later plantings should be put in deeper. At thinning time four plants should be left in each hill. Clean culture should be given, and the earth should be drawn slightly towards the hills so that water will not stand about the stalks. If the season should prove favorable, the early crop should be ready for marketing about July 15th. At this date there would be little corn in the market except that brought from the South, and the ears should bring from twenty-five to thirty cents per dozen. At this price the crop from an acre would Szccef Com — Best VaTicfics, II bring from $300 to $350. If the Extra Early Crosby is grown, the whole crop may be harvested at two pick- in2:s, and marketed before other sorts are brousrht in to any extent. As an additional advantage, the land is cleared in time for a second cropping. The true early variety does not grow more than three and a half or four feet high. The •• Early Crosby" (an older variety) is a favorite Sweet or Sugar Corn. with many grow'ers and private gardeners, as a medium early sort. The Con,' Corn is a variety recently intro- duced, and rapidly coming into favor as one of the best earlv sorts here cultivated. 114 Market Gaj^deiiino; cb The Early Marblehead by some is wrongly consid- ered the first and earliest variety, and is raised to some extent ; but the red color of the cob is a most decided objection to it in some markets. The same objection applies' to the Early Karragansett, which, before the introduction of the Marblehead, was thought by many to lead all in earliness. The Early Tom Thumb is a ver)- early, eight-rowed sort, of excellent quality, about a week earlier than the Early Minnesota. The last named sort is much es- teemed for the home garden, where a few days in earli- ness is of less importance than ears of good size and quality. The Moore's Concord is a twelve to sixteen rowed sort, not raised by market-gardeners, because it is so late that by the time it is ready for picking the market is flooded. No one can afford to raise it except farm- ers who have an abundance of land, and to whom the stover is of as much value as the ears. The quality of this variety is most excellent and the ears are large. Elack Mexican is an eight-rowed variety, having ears of medium size. For quality and real sugary^ flavor it is unexcelled by any variety in cultivation. Marble- head Mammoth is a first-rate large-eared variety, of vigorous growth and excellent quality. StowelFs Ever- green, the largest and latest of all, is the standard sort, very sweet and of good quality. Corn Salad ( Valerianella oUiaria), or Fetticus, is a peculiar vegetable, used entirely as a salad. In Eng- land it is largely grown. Some years ago it was very frequently raised among growing corn, but it is now Com Salad — Cress. 115 considered better to give the crop full possession of the land. It is but little grown for the Boston market, but in New York there is quite a demand for it. It should be sown as early in the spring as the ground can be worked, in rows twelve or fifteen inches apart. If the weather is favorable, it should be ready for use in aborft two months from the date of sowing. When Co n Salad, or Fetticus. an early spring supply is to be provided for, it may be sown about the middle of September. The plants should receive a covering of straw, or marsh hay, as soon as cold weather- comes. They start very early in the spring, and therefore the covering should be removed in March or early April. The funher treat- ment and marketing are the same as with spinach. Cress {Lcpidium sativufn), or Peppergrass, is in some respects like Corn Salad. The culture is very simple. ii6 Ma7^ket Garde^img, Sow in early spring, in rows twelve or fifteen inches apart. Make a sowing every ten or fifteen days, as it Cress, o' Peppergrass. runs very quickly to seed. The leaves, when young, have a pungent taste and are used as a salad, and also for garnishing. The Curled is the best for general use, although several other varieties are cultivated. Cucumber {Cuaunis sativus). While this is a very important out-door crop, it is also very extensively grown under glass, for the Boston market ; and culti- vated in this manner (as a forced crop) it is probably dealt in to a larger extent here than in any other market of the United States. Almost every market gardener in this section who has any glass runs it, either early or late, to cucumbers. As is well known, the plant is a very tender one when grown out doors, and when forced under glass is much more so. The seed for the first crop is generally sown about the middle of March. When the plants are sufficiently Cu c 2i m 5c rs — L ^udcr Gla ss. 117 grown they are transplanted, being set four in a hill ; and thirty-two hills being put under each 3x6 sash. They are left to grow in this manner until they are about four inches high Cwhich usually takes about four weeks from the time of sowing). They are then re- moved ; and each hill is placed under a 3 x 6 sash, and given good, steady heat, such as keeps the ground and roots thoroughly warm. The bed should be kept at an average temperature of about 70°, corresponding to ordinary midsummer weather. The requisite heat is afforded by the heating material that has been placed underneath, aided by the sun, and is retained at night by covering with mats and shutters. It is regulated by means of a thermom&ter, and ought not to run lower than 50° at night, or higher than 90° during the day. In case the thermometer rises higher than this, the beds should be cooled by raising the sash. The vines are sometimes grown in lettuce beds, after the lettuce has been removed, by putting in fresh heating material, but it is much better, when practicable, to make a fresh bed. The plants, after being established, should be reduced to three in a hill, as it is no ad- vantage, but a drawback, to have too much vine. They require the .same care under glass that they would re- ceive in field culture. Especially under glass they are a very quick growing crop, and will require picking as often as four times a week. The picking may ordina- rily be commenced about June ist ; and about this time the glass should be removed from the bed. Those gathered in the earliest pickings usually bring about ten cents each ; of course as the season advances Ii8 'Market Gardening, the price will decrease, but a hill started at the time stated should bring about $4.00 ; and later plantings less, according to the season and the supply. The early beds usually continue in bearing until about July 15th, or between six or seven weeks. There are very few that raise an acre of cucumbers under glass ; but where they do, their receipts ought to be, as a fair average result, not less than $3,000. The plan above described is that followed by most growers, as comparatively few have hot-houses ; but by the method of house-culture cucumbers may be grown at any time during the season. Where crops are to be grown for continuous supply during the win- ter, the first sowing is done early in September. Vines of this sowins: will come into bearin'2; about Christmas ; and at that season of the year cucumbers will usually bring from forty to fifty cents each. Although this is a large price, growing and selling them in this way is not very profitable ; it is attended with much risk and uncer- tainty, and the crops are always very light. The vines are left to bear as long as they continue doing well. Then the ground is cleared off, and another sowing is made, say in January, and its product is ready for picking in April. ' In the houses the vines are not allowed to rest on the ground, as they do in the beds, but are trained on trellises of various styles. Thus the cucumbers may be seen with all facility during growth, and taken when ready for picking. Where cucumbers are grown exclusively in the houses, only two crops can be raised each winter. For the first early out-docr crop the plants should Transplanting — Best Varieties. 1 1 9 be started under glass about five weeks before ihey are wonted for transplanting. Thirty-two hills are started under each 3x6 sash ; and when the fourth leaf is well out the hills are transplanted to the field. The roots can be saved from disturbance by using a piece cf stove-pipe eight inches in diameter and six high, to cut down around each hill; the shovel being then thrust under, and the plants thus enclosed and sup- ported during removal. Where sods can be obtained to, plant in they are often used, for convenience in handling ; but the supply is apt to be deficient. The rows should be six feet apart; hills four feet apart in the row, and slighth' elevated so that water cannot settle on them. At first a close watch should be kept for bugs : plaster or other dust will be effectual in repelling them. Cultivate as for any out-door crop. In the bearing season the cucumbers will generally bring from one to two cents a piece ; and the entire crop of an acre, at this price, will amount to $400 or $500. On high-priced land the entire crop should be marketed for the table, as growing for the pickle factories cannot be made to pay. For pickles, the seed may be put in at any time from the middle of June to the 20th of July. They may be planted as close as four feet apart, each way. The pickles are sold by the thousand, at prices which vary greatly. Among varieties the White Spine is the leading table sort grown for this market, both out doors and under glass. Rawsons's Improved is the best strain on the market, and this I use exclusively, in forcing and in out-door culture, for table use. It grows very even in I20 Market Gardening. size — crisp and good. The Early Cluster is a very pop- ular early variety, which produces cucumbers in clus- ters. The Green Prolihc, a pickling variety, favored by many, has a similar habit of growth. The Boston Pickling is considered the leading pickling variety, and (I) Early Cluster. (2) Long Green. (3) Early Frame. (4) Early Rus-.ian. (5) White Spine. (6) Telegraph. is a heavy yielder. The Long Green is grown here to some extent for family use — more largely in England. The Extra Early Russian is an odd -looking, netted variety, very early. Dandelion {LcontoJon Taraxacum) is almost ex- Da n del ion — Hoiu Sozuii . 121 clusively a Boston market crop. In this vicinity, the demand is such that it is grown by the acre ; and, al- though there is no demand for it at present in other large markets (yet as the consumption here is steadily increasing) it may be safely inferred that its use, like that of celery, is likely to become more general. It, in some respects, resembles endive, and certainly is one of the most healthful of all spring greens. Dandelion. It should be sown in drills as early in the spring as the ground can be worked. Although it is a very hardy plant, the seed must have very careful treatment, in order to obtain a good stand, and should be covered not over one fourth of an inch deep. The ground 122 Market Gardcninc^. should then be made firm, so as to retain the moisture. In this section they succeed best on a rather I'ght, sandy soil. It does not need to be very rich, or heavily manured. For field culture, the rows should be put one foot apart. The dandelions, when they first come up, are so dark colored as to be almost invisible. A little lettuce seed, say one ounce per acre, mixed and sown with the dandelion, will come up quickly and show the rows plainly. When sown in beds, to be forced, the rows should be six inches apart. Roots may be removed from the field to a hot-bed, and forced ; but in any case it takes somewhat over a year from the time of sowing to grow the crop. It is mar- keted precisely as spinach — thirteen pounds weight is considered a bushel. The price varies greatly. On the forced crop from $r.oo to $2.00 is about the range of price. On the out-door crop, $1.00 is considered high, the usual average benig lower, and prices some- times very low. At fifty cents per bushel, the crop is a paying one. When prices run high the proceeds per acre often reach as high as $i,ooo. There happens a failure sometimes in starting a crop. The sowing may be renewed any time before the first of August, and provided it comes up well, and escapes scorching by the sun, the crop will be just as early as one sown in April. Women and boys are usually employed to gather and trim the plants, and remove a portion of the roots before sending to market, at a cost of about 10 cts. per bushel. The roots are often dried, and in this condition are an article of commerce, being used quite extensively for Da n del ion — Egg Pla nt — En dive. 1 2 3 medicinal purposes, and in the manufacture of beer ; and also as a substitute for cojfifee. The Improved French Thick-Leaved is a great im- provement over the common variety ; and this is now grown almost exclusively. It is a very vigorous grower, and affords a heavy yield of broad, thick leaves. Egg Plaxt (Sola?tu??i Mtiongena). The seed should be sown about March 15th, either in hot-bed or hot- house, the temperature being kept between 60° and 80°. After the plants have reached a height of three or four inches, they should be transplanted to four inches apart ; and after they have made a stocky growth, to such size as to cover the ground, they should be again trans- planted to eight inches apart. Then they may stand, and be gradually hardened oif until it is time for set- ting in the open ground. The ground should be thoroughly prepared, and well enriched, as they are rank feeders : they also require a good deal of moisture. They should be set in rows four feet apart, — plants three feet apart in the row. The Xew York Purple is the principal variety grown. Black Pekin is earlier and hardier, but not quite so large or fine-looking. Early Long Purple is an oblong- fruited, early variety, of good quality. The fruit varies somewhat in color, from a ver}- dark purple to a lighter shade streaked with yellow. ExDivE {Cichorium Endivid) is quite a rarity here ; but it may soon become quite a popular salad. In Xew York and Philadelphia there is quite a demand for it. Endive requires a good supply of moisture, and should be sown where .it will be least exposed to heat (1) Green Curled Endive. (2) Improved Purple Egg Plant. (3j Black Pekin E-g Plant, [24 T ^a ricties of Eu diz 'c — Herbs. 1 2 5 and drought. As it is used principally during the fall months, the main sowings are usually made in June or July, in properly prepared beds, and the plants, after they have reached the proper height, are transplanted to rows two feet apart, with plants at intervals of six inches in the row. They have to be blanched by gathering up the leaves and tying them together at the top with bass matting, and in a month or six weeks' time (var}-ing according to the season), the plants will be ready for use. The Green Curled is ver\' hardy, and blanched easily. It is also largely used for garnishing. The Moss Curled is a newer variety, and somewhat larger. It makes a most excellent salad, and is also very ornamental. The Broad-Leaved Batavian is used to some extent, principally for soups, but is not nearlv as good as the curled varieties. Herbs (Culi?m-\\ Sweet, or Medicinal) constitute a class of garden products, of which some mention should be made here. It may be remarked that Herbs in general love a mellow and free soil ; also, that care should be taken to harvest them properly, and without exposure to wet. Selecting a suitable day, cut them when lacking a little of being in full blossom, and dry them quickly in the shade in a secure place ; after which pack them close in dr\' boxes or vessels, and keep them entirely excluded from the air. So treated, they can be kept on hand without deterioration until they can be sold to advantage. Still, only a few are raised, though the list is a long one. ^^'e select for description a few of the more prominent kinds. 126 Market Gardeiiing. Anise {Pimpinella anisiuii) is a native of Asia Minor Greece, and Egypt. The seeds are used in medicine, also in the manufacture of liquors, and in some parts of Europe as a spice for cooking purposes. Sow in April or May in a warm, rich soil, in a permanent location. Balm {Melissa officmalis). This plant is a native of Southern Europe. It is used for seasoning, and in the manufacture of certain perfumes. Sow in a warm loca- tion, preferably in a deep, sandy loam ; though the plant will succeed almost anywhere. Basil, Sweet i^Ocymiim basilicwri) is a native of India. The leaves are used for seasoning, and, to a 'limited extent, for medicinal purposes. Sow in hot- bed, or green-house, if practicable, in March or April, and transplant to open ground after the weather is settled. A sandy soil is almost essential. Caraway {Caruin carvi). A native of Europe, pro- duces the " caraway seed " which is so universally used for flavoring. The plant is of the easiest possible cul- ture, no care being necessary, but simply to scatter the seed where the growth is wanted. Lavender {Lavendula vera) is a native of Southern Europe ; known everywhere, and largely grown in cer- tain parts of Europe for the oil, which is distilled from the flowers, and is used in perfumes. The plant is also quite ornamental and is worthy of cultivation on this account alone. Choose, if possible, a deep, mellow soil. Marjoram, Sweet (^Origamim marjoraiii). This plant is probably a native of Portugal, though found in Herbs — Con tin 21 cd. 12 other countries of Southern Europe, It is grown en- tirely for seasoning or flavoring purposes; the leaves and the ends of the shoots being the parts used. Sow early in the spring in any good garden soil. Roseman- {Rosemariniis oJic'maHs) is a native of Southern Europe. Its leaves, when dried, are used for Rosemary. seasoning. The plants may be grown from seed, but the easier mode of .propogation is by division of the roots. A warm location should be chosen. Summer Savor}' {Sahtreja hortensis). Native of Eu- rope. This is one of the most common of cultivated herbs. The leaves and tender leaf-stalks are used for flavoring, and especially when cooked with beans im.- part a ver}' pleasant flavor. The seed may be sown in open ground in early spring; or, if desired, the plants 128 Market Gardening. may be started under glass. A light, rich soil should be selected. Summer Savory, Sage, Common {^Salvia officinalis), is also a native of Southern Europe. The uses to which this herb is put are numerous, and too well known to be enumerated. Sow in spring wherever desired, and thin to six or eight inches apart in the row. A well-drained soil is essential. Give clean culture. Thyme {Thymus vulgaris) is a native of Southern Europe. The leaves and young shoots are used for seasoning. The plants may be propogated either from seeds or cuttings, the former being preferable. Sow in early spring, and in midsummer transplant to five or six inches apart in the row or border, \ Horseradish. 129 Sage. Horseradish {Cochharia Armoracid) is raised from sets saved during preparation for market of the pre- vious crop. These are put into the ground as early as the soil can be prepared. Plough four furrows together, and thus form a ridge : along the middle of this ridge the sets are planted by hand, eighteen inches apart, and covered two inches deep. A series of ridges thus formed will bring the rows about three and one-half feet apart. A row of spinach is sown on one side of this ridge, and a row of beets on the other side, leaving the centre occupied by the horseradish, which is very slow in staranr. so that the others will not interfere I30 Ma rket Ga 7'den iiig. with it at all. The spinach is cut off early ; and \h& beets, after they have made a proper growth, are thinned for greens, while those that are left to grow are soon gathered and bunched for early marketing. By this time the horseradish will have reached a height of five or six inches, and can now be hoed and cultivated. Before being marketed for grating, it is washed by put- ting it in tubs of water and stirring and brushing with a broom. It it then usually packed in barrels. For bunching, more pains must be taken, and the wash- ing must be a more thorough one; after which it is tied up in bundles of five or six ■ pounds each, and in this way brings a little extra price. By the barrel it usually brings from 5 to 6 cents per pound ; each barrel weighing about one hundred pounds. At the foregoing price, an acre of horseradish, if it succeeded well, would bring a return of about $350. Adding the spinach and beets, the total product should amount to about $600 per acre for the year. Kohl Rabi — Sale and Use. Kohl Rabi {Brassica caulo-rapd) in some respects resembles turnip, but is actually a variety of the cabbage ; the bulb is really an enlarged stem, of a fleshy, pulpy consistency. Its shape is that of an almost regular ball; in some varieties about as large as an averaiie sized orange, while in others it is nearly as large as a man's head. . In flavor it closely re- sembles the turnip, and partly also the cabbage, blending the two. It is highly appreciated in New York, especially amongst the Germans. It is in its best condition for use before it becomes fully grown, even while quite small : and is prepared for the table in the sime man- ner as turnips. The seed-bed should be made in May or June. Transplant to rows three feet apart, fifteen inches apart in the row. The crop is fitted for market by bunching when green and tender ; three bulbs being put in a bunch. The price obtained varies from seventy-tive cents to one dollar per dozen bunches. Any ihat are left unsold may be used for stock feeding. They are often grown ex- pressly for that object. They may be kept as easily as turnips, and the method of storing is the same. The Early V/hite Vienna is the leading variety. It is in the best condition for the table when as large as an ordinary cocoanut. It is then tender and of fine flavor, but later on becomes tough, stringy, and unpalatable. Mai'kct Gai^dcning. Early Purple Vienna closely resembles the preceding, except that the color of the bulb is deep purple instead of greenish white. There is but little choice between the two. The Giant White is larger and coarser, and the Goliath is truly a mammoth kind ; these are raised only for stock. Leek {AU'mm porrwn) is a hardy biennial plant, London Flag Leek. producing an oblong bulb, or stalk, which has the flavor of an onion, and is used principally for flavoring soups Leek — 'Lettuee. 1 33 and stews. It is useless to attempt its cultivation on light, poor land. Sow the seed early in May, in a well prepared bed, and transplant in July to rows three feet apart, putting two plants to each foot of row, on land from which a crop of cabbage or lettuce has been removed. Set them rather deep, and in cultivating draw up the earth, so as to bleach them slightly and keep them tender. The Leek is used principally during the winter months, and may be stored in trenches, in the same manner as celerv : or i:: may be placed in a cool cellar, with the roots resting on a layer of soil. In this way, if standing thickly together, they will take root slightly, and keep very fresh and green until late the follow- ing spring. The Musselburgh is the principal miirket variety, although the London Flag closely resembles it and is just as good. The Giant Carentan is a newer sort, large and of good quality, and will, no doubt, prove quite popular. Lettlxe i^Lactucci sativa). This is one of the lead- ing crops, and is perhaps the most profitable one raised by market gardeners. It is the only vegetable that is continuously grown throughout the year, being pro- duced under glass in hot-houses, or hot-beds, in winter, End in the open ground ia the summer. For forcing in hot-houses, seed is sown for plants of the first setting about the first of September, in the cpen ground; these are afterwards transplanted into Ihe houses. The resulting crop is ready for marketing about the middle of November. Sowings are made 134 Market Gardening. about ten days apart, from time to time, throughout the season, so as to give a continuous supply of plants. Lettuce seed is very small, and when sown under glass requires but little covering. One ounce of good seed lack Seeded Tennis-Bail. is sufficient for four sashes of the ordinary size, three feet by six. The culture of Lettuce, as an out-door crop, is com- paratively easy ; but when grown under glass it is a much more difficult crop to raise, as through the winter season, when the days are short and there is much cloudy weather, the crop is likely to be affected with mildew and the green-fly. This green fly, or louse, is a most difficult insect to manage, especially when the plants have gained a considerable size. The only way to keep rid of them is to fumigate the houses thoroughly with the smoke of tobacco stems. This should be done three nights in succession. In order to make sure of accomplishing the work, in a week or ten days after the third smoking The Green Fly — Prevention. 135 the operation should be repeated ; and by this pro- cess, if carefully and thoroughly carried out at the proper times, a crop already attacked may be saved; but it requires thorough treatment. The tobacco stems should be moistened before being used, or the heat will be too much for the lettuce. Some skill and discretion are necessary to determine just how much to moisten them, and how to do the smoking in the proper manner. On these points a practical experience is the very best possible teacher ; and although some- what costly at times, it affords one the most instruc- tive lessons. After the first of February there is but very little trouble with this insect. After the plants have been treated in this manner they will be ready for transplanting into beds or Green-Fringed Lettuce. wherever required ; while if this treatment had not been oriven them, quite likelv thev would have been spoiled. Occasionally, it is true, these insects do not trouble a crop at all ; but it is much the best policy to be on the safe side and use every precaution. 1^6 Market Garde^mig. Through damp and cloudy weather the plants are liable to mildew, both in the houses and in frames. Although not as troublesome as insects, mildew often destroys a crop. This can be avoided by keeping up as high a temperature as possible, while still giving plenty of air. In transplanting lettuce, the plants should at first be put four inches apart ; and when they have covered the ground should be moved to eight inches apart in the houses. In hot-beds, 50 plants are put under each 3x6 sash, which makes the distances separating the plants about seven and a half inches each way. The price for lettuce, through the winter, averages about four cents per single head, or fifty cents per dozen. Three crops can be grown in the hot-houses during the winter. Three can be taken from the hot- beds also, if the plants are started in the houses and grown there until the last transplanting. The temperature in the houses should be kept be- tween 40° and 45° in the night time, and at from 60° to 70"* during the day. That of the hot-beds also should be regulated in a similar manner. In this vicinity the White Seeded Tennis-ball is almost exclusively the variety raised for forcing ; and the Black Seeded is selected for out-door culture, the latter being very much larger than the former. As we have remarked, the first sowing of White Seeded Tennis-ball is made about the first of Septem- ber. The Black Seeded is first sown in February, in the houses, and then transplanted to hot-beds. After being hardened off, it is set in the open ground about Varictiis — Contijiuous Cropping. 137 the last of April or the first of May, and will be fit for cutting about the first of June. The price for this let- tuce is about the same as for that grown in the houses. This is either set in the field, about one foot apart, or is set among cabbage, or in the onion field, where space has been left for a later growth of celer}'. As soon as the ground can be worked in the spring, a sow- ing of the Black Seeded variety is made in the open ground ; the rows being spaced one foot apart, and White Paris Cos. every other row being left out so that celery may be set in later. When the plants are large enough, they are thinned so as to stand one foot apart in the row. Sowings are made in this way every ten days until about the twentieth of Auooist. These sowinsrs, taken with those made under glass, as described, give con- tinuously maturing crops of lettuce the year round. 138 Alarket Gardening. We have described the White and Black Seeded Tennis-ball; next in order comes the Boston Fine Curled ; which may either be forced under glass or grown in out-door culture. Early Curled Simpson is another excellent curled variety, pale green in color. It does not form very compact heads. Early Curled Silesia is a very early curled sort, used Bath Cos Lettuce. extensively for first early out-door crops. Hanson is one of the leading " head " lettuces for out-door culture, and is extensively raised in the home gardens. White Paris Cos is the best of the Cos varieties. It is a quick grower, and has been rapidly gaining in pop- Marty Ilia — Ciiltur '€. ov ularity for the past few years. The Bath Cos is crisp and fine flavored, and extremely large. The Green Curled is an exceedingly ornamental, fringed variety, and is rapidly gaining in favor in family gardens. There is an almost endless list of varieties, but none are more desirable than those above mentioned. Martvxia {Martynia). The young seed pods of this plant are used to some extent for pickling. It is of very easy culture, and will succeed in almost any garden soil. The seed may be sown in the hot-bed, — the plants being afterwards transplanted, — or may be sown in April in the open ground, and transplanted later. Thev should be spaced to three feet apart each way, as the plants are veiy spreading in habit. Martynia. On good soil the pods are produced in great abund- ance, and should be ready for use in July or August. I40 Ma rkct Ga rdai iizg. Mushrooms {Agaricus Campcstris). This is a very peculiar crop, and one tliat is found in many respects quite difficult to grow. The best plan is as follows : Take fresh horse manure and shake out all the straw and coarse part, using; nothing but the fine portion of it. Mix this with fresh loam, one part loam to two parts manure, and turn the pile every day to keep it from burning, until the fiery heat is nearly all out of it. Construct the bed about four feet wide and as long as required, putting in the prepared material about eight inches deep, and making it very solid as it is put Mushroom Beds. in. Let it remain in this condition, until the tempera- ture has become reduced to 90°; then make holes two or three inches deep, at a distance of twelve inches apart each way, into which put the spawn in pieces about as large as a hen's egg. Cover the spawn and let it remain undisturbed for eight or ten days ; then Mushrooms — Muskmelons, 1 4 1 cover the whole bed with fine loam, to the depth of two inches, making it firm with the back of a shovel or spade. Apply water only when the soil is very dry. The bed must be in a covered situation, and in a dark place, with the temperature at about 50°, and the prepared soil must be kept dr)- from the commence- ment. If everything favors, the mushrooms will ap- pear in six or eight weeks, and will continue over two months. By careful applications of water at the tem- perature of about 70^ the season may be prolonged. MusKMELON {Cucumis Mclo). The Muskmelon will succeed best in soil naturally strong and rich, and on a recently turned sod. The best way is to turn the land over at the proper time and apply about five cords of manure broadcast, using a spreader where one can be had. Af:er harrowing thoroughly, the ground should be marked off for hills, six feet apart each way. A shovelful of fine manure should be applied in the hills, which should be slightly raised, so that water wi'.l not stand around the plants. Seven or eight seeds should be put in a hill so as to make due allo.vancc for insects. After the plants have got their fourth leaf well out, and have obtained a good start, they should be thinned to three in a hill. Cultivate both ways thoroughly, the same as a crop of squash or other vines would be treated. They should never be hoed or worked around when the leaves are wet with rain or dew. In picking for market, it is an easy matter to tell when the fruit is fit to be taken, as the under side of the melon will be lightly streaked with yellow. If 142 Mai^ket Gardcnincr. picked then and exposed to the sun for a couple of days, they will be ready for the table of the consumer. They are rather an uncertain crop, and are cultivated but very little by market gardeners in this section. The melons of this class are all yellow fleshed. There are several varieties; but the Arlington Long Yellow is ahnost exclusively the one here raised for market. In shape it is oblong, with a skin thickly netted, flesh thick and of fine flavor. Cantaloupe is our name for round kinds. These are usually started about I\Iay ist, under glass, to be transplanted, about y^O June I oth, to the open ^ ^ ^^ field. The bed is usually placed near the centre of the field where they are to be grown, cind the seed started on sods i^^ inch by 9 inch, so tha!: thirty -two hills are started under each 3x6 sash. The Arlington Nutmeg is the leading first early variety, and is followed by the Hackensall, which is one of the most popular sorts for the main crop. The latter is of good size and of excellent quality. The Casaba is a large, late variety, and in the Northern States always requires to be started under glass in order to give it time to ripen its fruit before frost. The Surprise is a variety of quite recent introduc- tion and of considerable merit for the home garden, but it is not larire enouirh for market. Melon. Ca u ta lo upe Melons — Cu Ifii re. i ^ White Japan is quite a popular sort, of most excel- lent quality. It is of medium size, with skin pale yellow in color, while the flesh is golden. Montreal Market is the largest melon of its class in cultivation, and derives its name from being originated and largely grow.i in the vicinity of Montreal. This is started under glass, earlier than the others, and is grown almost entirely in the beds until the time of picking. It is a very thick-meated. green-fleshed sort. Montreal Market Melon. and is considered the best sort, for table use, in exist- ence. Good specimens of its fruit, well grown and ripened, often bring as high as $i.oo each, at whole- sale. As they produce more vines than the other varieties thev must be cfiven more room. Where one 144 Alai'kct Garacuiug. rdch hill is planted under a sash the beds should be set so that the hills will be twelve feet apart the other way. One plant per hill, at this distance, is sufficient. In picking for market, it has to be noted that the fruit is never ripe until the stem will part readily from it. Mustard {Sinapis alba and nigra). Used to some extent for greens, early in the spring, but more espe- Black Seeded Mustard. cially as a salad. It may be sown in the open ground (almost any time after the soil can be properly prepared) in rows twelve inches apart : also may be forced in the hot-bed, or hot-house, and thus may be had at all seasons of the year. White Mustard is the variety best liked as a salad ; and the seed, which is of a very bright yellow color, affords, when ground, the mustard which we use on our tables. Filack seeded is much like tlie preceding. Mustard — Nastii rtinni — Okra. 145 except that the seed is very dark in color and the leaves are a trifle more pungent. It is used both as a salad and for manufacturing into table mustard. Nasturtium {Tropceolum viajus) is but little grown, either in the market or home garden ; but the shoots and flower buds make an excellent salad, and the seeds of the Dwarf variety {T. invius) when pickled in vinegar can hardly be distinguished from caper sauce. It can be easily grown in any garden soil, and ^vill twine around brush, or any other support that may be near. It is sown in drills, in early spring, being cov- ered about one inch deep, A large number of varieties may be found catalogued in the published flower-seed lists ; but the Tall and Dwarf are the only kinds grown in the vegetable garden. The former grows to a height of eight or nine feet ; and is a first-rate ornamental plant to set for climbing over rock work or on a trellis. The Dwarf never grows above three or three and a half feet in height ; and this, when sown in drills, should be bushed like early peas. Okra ( Hibiscus esculent us) is grown for its seed pods, which, when young and tender, are used in soups and stews. It is of very easy culture, as it succeeds on almost any soil, and after the plants are once up and growing is quite hardy. But the seeds should not be put in till the weather is warm and fairly settled, — say about the loth of May, — as they are liable to rot if placed in the soil when it is cold and soggy. In this one respect they are very tender, and are found difficult to start ex- 146 Market Gai'dejimcr, cept under favorable conditions. There are but two varieties on the list; these are the Tall and Dwarf kinds. In the culture of either, the planting should be in drills, and the covering two inches deep. If the dwarf variety is planted at eighteen inches betw^een the drills, it will have space enough ; but in cultivating the larger variety, three or three ani a half feet will be none too much room to leave between the rows. Okra. This plant is one w^hich requires nearly the whole season to complete its growth ; but, if desired, a few seeds may be started in the hot-bed or hot-house about four weeks before they are wanted for setting out of doors, and in this way they may be hurried forward. When used in soups,, okra imparts a \iscous or gummy consistency, and a peculiar flavor which^ to most people, is quite agreeable. CHAPTER VI. Vegetables, Etc. — Continued. THE ONION {AlHum ccpa) as a paying field crop, ranks next to cabbage. For the early supply, grown for bunching, onion sets are used. These should be planted in rich soil, using from six to ten bushels per acre, according to the size of the sets. Seed is also sown at the same time for plants to follow, and maintain the supply. Six pounds of seed are required for an acre. For raising sets, twenty-five pounds of seed are required, which should be grown on rather poor land, so that they may not run to tops or grow too large. The White sets r.re put out in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked, three inches apart, in rows one foot apart, reserving every sixth row for celery. This work is usually done by boys, and the sets are covered in with a rake by a man who follows, walking in the vacant row. Only two wecdin^s will be required ; but when seed is sown three are necessar}', and the plants are thinnea to three inches. The sets will be large enough for pulling about the middle of June. They are bunched for market, five in 147 (I) White Portugal. (2) Danvers Thick Yellow. 148 From Sets or Seeds. 149 a bunch at first, and four when they are larger. The pulling continues tnrough July. The price obtained for those first marketed is about sixty cents per dozen bunches, and the average of the whole crop may be from thirty-five to forty cents. The proceeds of an acre should be from S600 to 3800, and $300 should cover cost of growing. Wethersfield Large Red. Yellow sets do not differ as to culture from the white, but are not used for bunching. Soon after the tops drop over (about July ist), the onions are pulled up and left to d/y on the ground. When they are thoroughly dry the tops are cut off, and the onions are boxed or barreled for sale. The average yield (leaving out the sixth row for celeryj is about 500 bushels per I50 Market Gardening, acre, and they will bring a price between $i.oo and $1.50 per bushel. In raising late crops for storing, seed is used exclusively, and the plants are thinned to one inch instead of three. These crops are allowed to dry thoroughly in the ground before harvesting. They should be stored in bins or boxes where a steady, cool temperature can be kept up. For fall onions the price obtained is usually about $2.50 per barrel. The Yellow Danvers, and the White Portugal or Silver Skin, are the kinds grown almost exclusively for this market, from sets and from seeds. In some local- ities, where red onions are in favor, the Red Wethers- field is highly esteemed. It is a very productive, large sort. Parsley {Apimn petroscUnum) is kept at all seasons Fine Curled Parsley in continuous growth, either under glass or in the open ground. The plants for forcing are kept cut down dur- Pa rsle v — Pa rsn ips. 151 ing the summer, and in the fall are placed under at three inches apart, in rows about six inches apart. The pickings may be repealed often during the season, after which the roots are worthless. The Fine Curled is the vari- ety chiefly grown, and is in fact the most desirable. The Moss Curled, though similar, is a little more crimped, Fern- Leaved is an ornamental va- riety. Plain Parsley is the smooth - leaved sort, used mainly for flavoring. It is hardier, and its leaves are larger and of a deeper green than those of the other sorts named. The average returns, per sash 3x6, from forced parsley would be from $3.00 to $4.00. Parsnip ( Pastinaca sa tiva ) requires careful attention to secure proper germination. Thorough preparation of soil and early sowing will promote that result. Sow in rows fif- teen inches apart. At this width, an early crop of spinach or radishes mav be sown in jlass, Parsnip. 152 Marked Gardening, rows between. These will be out of the way before the parsnips will crowd them. Make the covering not over half an inch deep, and thin to four inches apart. Any convenient part of the crop may be left to stand in the ground over winter (as they are improved by frost), and may be dug for marketing any lime alter the frost is out. Parsnips will do better (and especially in case they are to remain in the ground over winter) if sown on ridges formed by lapping two furrows together, each ridge planted with two rows. The ridges should be thirty inches apart. Peas {Pisum sativu7n\ which have been in past years highly profitable, now yield fluctuating and uncertain returns, owing to the shipments of Southern growers. Where cabbage is to follow, the early upright growing sorts are usually sown i:i three and a half feet rows. Three feet apart does well for American Wonder. When squashes are to follow, two double rows are put in three and a half feet apart, and then a space is re- served about live feet wide for planting squashes, before the peas are ready to be removed. When a suiticient quantity of manure is available, it is always best to manure the peas broadcast before sowing. When manure is applied in this way, the peas will get as much of it as they need, and the bal- ance will remain for the later crop. When it is in- tended to cultivate in this manner, the early varieties are always sown, as the late ones would not get off soon enough. Sowings should be begun as soon as the ground is fit to work, and continue at intervals of a week or ten days until the first of May. 'cas Ea rl; ' Va r idles. 153 Rawson's Clipper, a new variety first offered in the spring of 1886, has proved in our trial grounds to be the earliest in cultivation. It is of fine quality ; very productive, can all be gathered in two pickings, and is a valuable market variety. The Daniel O'Rourke is the standard extra early kind, and is the favorite with market gardeners, as the crop may be gathered mainly at one picking. It grows to the height of two and a half feet. The fol- A.T-3ricar\ Wonder, Dwarf. lowing extra early varieties (as is perhaps generally known) are merely selected stock of the Daniel Tall Growing Pea. J 54 Later Sorts — Tall Kinds. 155 O'Rourke : First and Best, Maud S , Early Dexter, Carter's First Crop, and many others which are named according to the fancy of the dealer offering them. The Kentish Invicta is almost as early, and a heavy yielder. Among the early wrinkled varieties the American Wonder stands at the head of the list. It is very dwarf, averaging eight to ten inches in height, accord- ing to the nature of the soil, of the ver}- best quality, and for the home garden at least has no superior for an extra early table pea. Until the introduction of the Wonder, the " Little Gem "' was the leading dwarf wrinkled variety, and even now is quite popular. It grows a trifle taller than the American Wonder. Mc- Lean's Advancer is one of the leading varieties grown for market and home use, and i:s great productiveness makes it a favorite with market gardeners. It grows to a height of two feet. Champion of England is the standard late variety. It is a ver\^ heavy cropper, and of best quality. Grows about four feet high. The Black-Eyed Marrowfat is the well known old variety, and grows about the same he'ght and ripens about the same time as the Cham- pion of England. The "Stratagem"' is a new medium- late variety, which is rapidly gaining in favor. It yields abundantly, and in quality is excellent. It seems des- tined to take a front rank as a market sort, being of large size, a heavy yielder, and having the advantage over other varieties of being much easier to pick. The number of bushels of pods raised from a bushel of seed varies from one hundred to one hundred and fifty, and the price usually averages about one dollar per bushel. (I) Sweet Spinach. (2) Sweet Mountain. (3) Squash or Tomr.to-Shaped. (4) Monstrous. (C) Lon^ Cayenne. (6) Cherry. (7) Chili. 156 Peppers — Pot a toes, 1 5 7 Peppers iCap.icum) are usually sown under glass about April ist, and should not be transplanted to the open ground until the weather is warm and settled, — say about June ist, in this locality. The pickle fac- tories use large quantities, which are grown very cheap on contracts ; but our market gardeners raise them in ver}- small lots ; merely enough to supply the retail trade. The Bell, or Bull-Nose, is a large and mild-flavored variety, and is one of the most popular. The Sweet Mountain, or Mammoth, resembles the Bell in some respects, and is, perhaps, just as desirable. The Squash, or Tomato-Shaped, variety is chiefly grown for the pickle factories. It is very productive, and of good size. Long Cayenne is the strong, pungent variety with which every one is acquainted. It is quite late, and the pods while still young and green are frequently used for pickling. The Potato {Solamtm tuberosiini) prefers soils of a sandy or gravelly nature ; although it will succeed, to some extent, on all soils ranging between a light loam and a stiff clay, provided there is just the right, amount of moisture. But it is worse than folly to attempt to grow^ potatoes on land that is waterlogged, or not well and thoroughly drained, either by natural or artificial means. A newly turned sod, other things being favor- able, forms the best potato land. In our own experi- ence (especially on land that has been heavily manured for previous crops), the use of stable manure, or of wood ashes, somewhat promotes the " scab " ; com- 158 Alarket Gai^de7iing. mercial fertilizers have given us much the smoothest crop. Whatever manuring is applied should, as a rule, be put on broadcast. On some lands, exceptionally light and dry, level culture may prove the best ; but we have succeeded better by a moderate hilling up. This seems to keep the land light and friable. Make the cultivator and shovel-plough do all the hilling, and most of the hoeinsr. Beauty of Hebron. The selection and cutting of seed are important points. We recommend medium sized tubers, cut to one eye. The tuber itself is not a seed, but merely an enlargement of the underground stem, and in plant- ing tubers, either entire or cut, we are putting in (not seeds but) slips or cuttings, in which size is not essen- tial ; but probably it is better, as a rule, to use good- shaped medium sized ones. In a potato tuber held stem end down, it may be seen that the eyes are arranged in regular ascending rotation. for advantageously dividing it to single Cutli}ig Seed Potatoes, 59 eyes (^as is more especially necessan- to those who buy new and valuable varieties), an excellent method is delineated in the cut here introduced. An indentation will be found in each tuber, clearly indicating the stem end. The cuts, to be made with a thin-bladed knife, Cutting to One Eye are all sloped towards it ; each cut removes one eye, proceeding, in succession, from the lowest to the i6o Market Gardenincr. Two or three times, before the crop comes up, a smoothing harrow should be run over the piece, de- stroying the young weeds as soon as they start. The Colorado beetles, or potato-bugs, formerly so much dreaded, are now disposed of very easily by the use of slug shot, or Paris green : either is sure death to the bugs. For digging the crop, there is at present no sure and satisfactory implement but the four-tined digging- fork. There is a fortune awaiting the man who invents a completely successful machine-digger. Varieties are so numerous, and many are so little distinct, that to mention even a quarter of them would be confusing. The Early Rose has an almost endless number of closely related kinds, such as Early Sunrise, Early Gem, Chicago Market, Early Vermont, and others. Present favorites are the early and late vari- eties of Beauty of Hebron. The Snow Flake is of the highest table quality, but not a great yielder, ex- cept in the best land. Whatever variety is most popular should be chosen to plant for market; and soil and cultivation are of far more importance than choice of a kind. Radish {Raphanus sativus). Until wdthin the past few years the culture of radishes has been confined to the open ground ; but now the growing of this crop under glass has assumed quite important proportions. For growing in hot-houses the French Breakfast is almost the sole variety used, as it has a short top, is a quick grower, and of good quality. The seed is sown at any time during the cold season, from October to Radishes — Under Glci ss. 161 French Breakfast. April. The crop is usually ready for pulling about eight weeks from the sowing of the seed. The temper- ature should be kept rather low, say from 45° to 60°, Grown in this manner it will be seen that three crops may be grown under the same glass each season. The soil required 10 grow them to perfection is a loose, sandy loam ; and it should be well worked, with a liberal quantity of well rotted manure thoroughly mixed in. The seed is sown in rows about four inches apart; and the plants are thinned to about two inches apart in the row. When about three- fourths of an inch in diameter, they are pulled and bunched, ten in a bunch. The price varies from fifty cents to one dollar per dozen bunches ; but, even at the smaller price they are considered a profitable crop. When grown in hot -beds, the Short Top Long Scarlet is preferable to any other. It is usually grown following a crop of lettuce ; as, when the lettuce has been grown the heat is then nearly spent, and the loam is in l62 Market Gardening, just about the right condition for growing a crop of radishes. It is more suitable tlian a fresh bed ; which would be likely to stimulate an excessive growth of the tops. They are grown in rows four inches apart, and thinned to three inches in the row : as this variety (being, when pulled, about the size of clothes-pins) will not so well bear crowd- ing as the French Breakfast. Sometimes a crop of carrots is grown with them ; and, when this is done, every third row is left out for the carrots. After the radishes are taken off, the carrots will occupy the ground to [advantage. The glass can Long scartet Radish. \^^ taken from thc bed early in the spring and used for some other crop. In some sections the turnip variety is grown, similar methods of culture being employed ; but, for the Boston market, those previously mentioned are raised almost exclusively. For out-door culture the long-rooted variety is the one chiefly selected. This also succeeds best on a sandy loam, worked very fine and light. It is usually grown in connection with some other crop. The land beiuji; L a tcr Crops — I i ^in tcr Va rictics. 1 6 ^ made up into beds about six feet wide, each ridge or bed is sown with about ten rows of radishes and four rows of beets, parsnips, or carrots. In order to have a succession for constant pv.ll'ng, it is necessary to make sowings every week or ten days, from the first of April to the middle of June. The radishes must be thinned to four or six inches apart. When pulled, they are put ten in a bunch, and usually bring three cents per bunch, or $3.00 per hundred bunches (as usually sold). At this price the proceeds per acre would be about S500. The other crop is not touched until the radishes are removed, but after that it may be culti- vated. Besides the varieties which we have mentioned, the follow- ing are grown to some extent in home gardens and for special consumption, viz. : Early Scar- let Olive-shaped (a very good forcing variety, good also for out-door culture), and Wood's Early Frame, which is somewhat similar to the Lons: Scarlet, though shorter, and is an early and quite a popular sort. The winter varieties are but little grown. The Black Spanish and Chinese Rose Winter are the leading ones, Chinese Rose Winter. 164 Market Gaj'dcning. and when grown for winter use should be stored in sand, in order to keep them fresh. Rhubarb (^Rhemn hybridu7n) is now quite extensively Rhubarb, grown, both In field culture and forced under glass. A few days' time lost or saved in getting into market often makes a difference of one half in price. The first pulling of the out-door crop is usually made the last of April or the first of May, and the plants continue to furnish a supply until about the first of July. It is put up in bundles which vary in weight between 15 and 40 Rh u barb — Sa Isify. i6s pounds, according to the advance of the season, and is sold entirely by weight, the average price being from one to ten cents per pound, and average returns S300 to $400 per acre. The crop is forced either by setting thickly in hot- beds or hot-houses, or by leav- ing roots about three feet apart in the ground where they have grown, and setting cold-frames over them. The glass is put on about the ist of Febniar}-. The price on the forced crop varies e\en more than that of out-door growth ; but $5 is a fair estimate of returns from each 3x6 sash. The two vari- eties mostly grown here are the LinncEus and Victoria — the for- mer is the better kind, though both are good. S A LS I F V ( Tragopogon porri- foUus). The culture of this vegetable, although limited, is increasing. The crop will suc- ceed best on a light, sandy loam, well enriched and thorou^hlv worked before sowing. The after culture is much the same as for carrots or parsnips. The spring supply may, if desired, be left in the ground over winter, as the roots are not injured at all by freezins:. In marketing;, the roots are tied in bunches i66 Market Gardcnino', of twelve each, none but good shaped ones being used. There is but one variety, akhough there is much room for improvement in size and smoothness of root. Spinach {Spinacea oleracea) is fast becoming one of the leading crops of our market gardens, being sold Arlington Pointed Leaf. and used during the whole of the year. For winter use it is usually brought from the South. The crop that comes early in the spring is usually sown about the hrst of September, and at the beginning of winter is protected with a covering of hay or boughs. This crop generally lasts until about June ist, when that which has been sown in the spring will be ready for marketing. It is sold by the bushel. The receipts of an acre when the yield was generally large would be about $200, while if the crop was scarce it might reach as high as $i,oco. In spring culture frequent sowings are usually made to furnish a continuous supply. Squashes — Spinach. 167 The crop will bear a liberal amount of manure and for the fall-sown crop a dressing of about seven hun- dred pounds Sulphate of Ammonia is usually given in the spring. For the first spring sowing the round, thick-leaved is used, and for later use the Lon:^ Standing. In sowing Long Standing £pinacn. for spring cutting the Arlington is the favorite as it is choice and hardy. The Savoy-Leaved is a curled sort of good quality, and ver\- ornamental in appearance. Squash {Cucurbit a melo-pcpo) is ver}- largely culti- vated for all markets. As it is a tropical plant, in Xorthern latitudes the season is too short for maturing the later varieties. There are two quire distinct iinds — Early Bush and Running; the last-named being later. The Summer Crookneck and the Bush Scallop belong to the former. The cultivation of both these varieties is the same. Plant in rows six feet Bush Scallop. i6S Market Gardening. apart, with hills four feet apart in the row. If the weather at transplanting favors, a week's time may be saved by starting under glass. They mature with us about the 4th of July. In some localities the Bush .Scallop is preferred, but in the Boston market the Crookneck is more sou2;ht for. Sunr.mer Crookneck Squash. The Early Marrow is planted about the same time, and matures about four weeks later. The hills are put nine feet apart each way; with a liberal amount of seed in each hill, as the plants are just coming on in the height of the bug season. Cover the seed about one inch deep. Manure with about six cords of stable manure per acre, mainly spread on broadcast, but put one shovelful in each hill, and with the latter mix one shovelful of coal ashes, to protect them from the Best Keeping Varieties. 169 borers, When planted with spring greens on ground manured with twenty cords per acre, the dressi.^g in the hill may be omitted. The dark, oblong-shaped Marrow is a very salable sort, on account of the color ; but its keeping qualities are very poor. The true Bos- Ion Marrow is light-colored and quite round, and when planted late will keep almost as well as the Hubbard. Xext in order comes the Turban, ^vhich is followed by the Essex Hybrid. The two are nearly alike in ap- pearance, the only difference being that the Hybrid has a hard shell. The Hybrid is much the best keeper, and is also of better quality. As these varieties make more vine than the Marrows, they should be planted as much as eleven feet apart each way. They are often put in with a crop of beans or peas, two rows of peas or beans being cultivated in each in- terval between the squash rows: and these can be har- Hubbard Squash. , vested and out of the way before the vines crowd upon them. These two varieties reach maturity about the last of August, and continue bearing through Septem- ber and October, or until frost. The Turban must be 170 Market Gardening. marketed soon after picking ; but the Hybrid may be kept well into the winter. The three latest varieties are the Hubbard, Buttman, and Marblehead ; of which the first is almost univers- ally preferred. When picking for storing great care should be taken not to bruise them or break off the stems. They are brought from the field in w^agons and put in piles, to remain until quite dry, and then stored in an even temperature as near 50° as possible. Squashes are sold by weight, with exception of the summer varieties. These are sold by the dozen. The price obl:ain2d is very variable. None of the varieties are accounted a paying crop unless they bring at least fifteen dollars per ton. The Tomato {^So!aniim lycoperskuni) is now very extensiv^ely grown, and of late there has been a great improvement in varieties, not so much in respect of earliness, perhaps, as in size and quality. And cer- tainly there can be nothing much more perfect and handsome than the well-ripened fruit of some of our leading varieties. In order to induce a stocky growth, the young plants are twice transplanted. The second transplanting should be made before the plants com- mence to crowd and grow spindling, and this time they should be put eight inches apart. This last transplant- ing is always made in hot-beds, but the first is usually made in the house; the plants being put four inches apart. About the 25th of May the plants sown the middle of February may generally be set in the open ground ; and should be planted in rows six feet apart, with plants Tomatoes — Their Cn Itii re. 171 five feet 1:1 the row. The tomatoes usually follow a crop of spinach: and but little additional manure is applied except in the hill ; five cr ^ix cords per acre Cardinal Tomato. are usually put on where the crop does not follow sphi- ach ; but merely for hills about two cords will be suf- ficient, and will push the crop alon^ wonderfully. 172 Market Gardening, Hoop Trained Tomato. The illustration shows what is called " hoop-train- ing." Of course, market gardeners who cultivate tomatoes by the acre will have no time for this sort of thin^ ; but we speak of it with reference particulLirly to the ki'xhen garden, where space is som.etimes quite an object. A glance at the illustration will show how it is done, — drive three stakes and fasten barrel-hoops to these. It not only keeps the vines in shape, but also prevents the tomatoes from lying on the ground. RaiL'sojfs Puritan — The Cardinal. 173 In this locality the first picking is often made by the middle of July, and at that early date usually brings a good price, sometimes as high as ten dollars per bushel ; but the market soon declines, and often falls below paying prices. The average product of an acre may be reckoned at about S400. Puritan Tomato. The varieties are numerous, but there are fev,- of real merit. Rawson's Puritan has been grown by us for several vears as a leading earlv varietv, and has not 174 Market Gardening. only proved to be one of the earliest, but one of the most profitable as a market variety. The Cardinal is a promising new sort, early, of large size, very smooth, and in every way desirable. The Acme was for a time a leading sort, and although it rots badly is very desirable where it can be grown. The Mayflower is highly recommended as a very early, smooth sort, equally desirable for market or home use. Living- stone's Favorite and Perfection are two most excellent sorts, and are both good shippers and not liable to rot or crack. The Emery is the first early market variety, of good size and quality; — but of course the very early sorts cannot be expected to be as solid as the later ones. Only leading varieties are here mentioned. Turnips {Brassica rapd). This crop is not very extensively grown in the market garden, as the demand is quite limited. The flat varieties are the only ones cultivated for early marketing. The soil best adapted to the crop is a sandy or gravelly loam, well enriched and thoroughly worked. The seed should be sown as early in the spring as the ground can be worked, in drills about fourteen inches apart. After the plants have reached the proper size, thin to six or eight inches apart in the drill. By the last of June, in ordinary seasons, they will have reached the size of an ordinary "Boston cracker" and are then ready for bunching. They are tied five in a bunch and marketed in the same manner as early beets. The Early Milan Purple Top and the Early Purple Top Munich, which closely resemble each other in most particulars, are the princi- Early Turnips — Later Kinds. 175 pal sorts raised for early bunching, and are certainly as good as any. The proceeds per acre of a good piece of turnips is about the same as of beets, and tiie cost ot raising is about the same, but on the whole they are not as sure a crop as beets, as they are quite liable to become rough, scabby, and wormy, and consequently worthless. For fall use, the seed may be sown any time from July I St to August 20th, and they are often sown with grass seed, using about half a pound per acre broadcast with the grass. Grown in this way, their leaves serve as a protection and a help to the grass plants as soon as they commence to start. ( Purple Top White Globe. Red Top Strap-Leaved. The fall crop is marketed by the bushel, either in the fall or during the winter as wanted, and may be stored either in cellars or pits. For this crop, the Purple Top \\'hite Globe, the White lop Strap-Leaved and the Red Top Strap-Leaved are quite desirable varieties. The Ruta Bagas are almost wholly grown c,s a farm 176 Mai'kct Gardening. crop, as they are not sufficiently profitable for the mar- ket garden. These may be sown any time during July, and are often used to follow after a crop of cabbage or peas. Sow in drills eighteen inches apart, and thin to one foot apart in the row. There are no better Ruta Bagas than the best strains of White Sweet German, which are almost universally used both for marketing and home use. The White French, or Rock, is a long, oval turnip, very mild and sweet; the flesh is solid and white, like the German. The London Extra Yellow Swede, and the Shamrock Yellow Swede, and Carter's Imperial, are the leading yellow-fleshed sorts, and are quite similar to each other in appearance. White Top Strap -Leaved. Water:melons {Cuciirhita ciinillus) are but little grown except as a farm crop, and where land is cheap. They can be readily handled and bear shipping well. Watermelons — Desirable Sorts. 177 What is known as "warm land" is to be preferred for this crop. The soil should be of a sandy or gravelly nature, and it is not important that it should be very Kolb's Gerr.. rich. Plant as soon as the weather becomes settled ; ordinarily about the middle of May. Cover about half an inch deep and press the soil down firmly so as to hold the moisture. Two shovelfuls of manure should be put in each hill, or one in the hill with a light dress- ing on top. The intervals should be eight feet each way. Five seeds are put in each hill, and the plants, after being well started, should be thinned out so as to reduce the number to three. They require the same cultivation as squash or any other field crop. Black Spanish is an old reliable variety, very hardy and productive, and excellent for cultivation. The 178 Market Girdeiiing. popular Mountain Sweet is a very large oval variety, with striped skin and thin rind. Phinney's Early is a very extra earh', medium sized sort ; excellent for the home garden. The Vick's Early is very similar to it, but perhaps not quite as large. ^The Gypsy or Rattle- snake, a favorite market variety, is oblong in shape, color light green, beautifully striped and mottled. Kolb's Gem, or American Champion, a variety of recent introduction, is also highly esteemed as a market variety. It carries well, and is of extra firm quality. The Iron Clad is a favorite market variety in many localities. It grows very large and is a good keeper. Scaly Bark. — This variety is distinguished by its Scaly Bark. rough skin. The rind is unusually thin, but very tough, and it bears transportation to a great distance without Citron Melon — Chinese Yam, i 79 injur}-. The well-known Citron Melon is raised entirelv for preserving and is wholly valueless otherwise. Citron Melon. Yam. Chinese iDioscorea Batatas'). Although this vegetable has been cultivated in this country for several years, it has not been extensively advertised, and for that reason has not obtained the popularity which it merits. It is really one of the most valuable esculents in cultivation. The plant when growing unsupported is of a creeping habit, similar to the sweet potato, but it makes a ver}' pretty climber for screens and trellises. The vine will grow to a length of from ten to twenty feet, according to soil and location. The leaves are ver)- dark in color, and heart shaped ; the flowers are small, white, and grow in clusters. The root is of pale russet color, oblong, regularly rounded, club shaped, larT:est at the lower end. i8o Alarket Gardenincr. Chinese Yam. The roots, cut in pieces an inch long, or bulblets, should be planted at eight inches apart. A deep, light Characteristics — Propagation. 1 8 1 soil, moist and well-enriched, is best adapted to the plant. A well-grown root, two years from the bulblet, should measure two feet in length. They may be cooked either by steaming or roasting ; and the flesh will be found ver\' white and of most agreeable flavor. It would be impossible to find a plant of easier culture, as the roots are perfectly hardy, and can be kept grow- ing year after year in the same location if desired. There is no insect that troubles either the vine or luber, and no vine can exceed it in vigor of growth. They increase naturally from the small tubers, or bulb- lets, which form along the vine just above the leaf joints. These should be gathered in the fall, and pro- tected against freezing during the winter. They may le planted any time during the spring, after danger of severe freezing is past. The flowers have a pecu- liar cinnamon-like fragrance: hence the name '• Cinna- r/.on Vine," under which some dealers have sent it out. When grown in the garden, and merely for the tubers, the vines may be allowed to nm on the ground ; but if bulblets are desired, these will be produced in greater abundance when poles or other supports are employed to keep the vines up from the soil. l82 CHAPTER VII. Farm Implements — Remedies or Preventives of Disease — Conclusion. MATERIAL improvements have been made with- in the past few years in agricultural implements, and many of the tools which are now used in the mar- ket garden and on the farm are either of recent inven- tion, or entirely different in style and quality from those which were in use only eight or ten years ago ; although some of the more common ones, such as are required and in use by ever}- farmer and gardener — hoes, rakes, forks, spades, etc. — have but little changed. There is a considerable opportunity for choice, even amongst small tools of almost the same pattern and make. No good shoveler is quite satisfied unless he can have his own shovel to work with — it fits his hand better than any other. Hoes and forks have their peculiar merits and demerits, such as can hardly be accounted for upon a cursory examination, but in long continued use become apparent. All these, however, involve but little outlay, and their possible peculiarities are, therefore, of less importance to be discussed ; but of course the clumsy ones should be avoided, or dis- carded as soon as convenient ; and better ones should '§3 1 84 Market Gardening. be watched for, and secured as soon as obtainable. All agree in advising use of the best tools. Good tools make cultivation easier, and crops better in amount and quality. There should be a tool-house, which should also have an outfit for making small re- pairs. Tools after use should be immediately returned to place. They should always be cleaned off before being left ; iron and steel parts should be wiped and oiled, or treated with some more thorough dressing, according to their liability to rust, and the length of time they are likely to remain unused. (I) One-Horse Landside (2) Medium Two-Horse Landstde. We have seen that the first requisite in preparing for a crop is to pulverize the soil ; and since the Plough is very efficient for this service (and in fact quite indis- pensable), it is manifestly one of the most important of agricultural implements. Amongst so many varying Ploughs for Special Uses. 185 styles, and different manufacturers competing for pref- erence, it is a natural question to ask which is the best. There is no complete answer that can be given to this inquiry-. Nearly all of the leading st\-les are of prac- tical use, and each has its own peculiar and individual S^ '-.y P;ou£h ir, Oper merits. In cenain soils and for certain purposes, one kind of a plough will often be found to do the work and answer the purpose in view better than another, while, under different conditions, the latter might be decidedly the more ser\'iceabie of the two. All the different makes now in favor are good, and some are known to be specially adapted to certain kinds of work. For example, a mould board that lifts and turns the slice ver}- gradually will operate easily, and turn the bottom-side uppermost with the least pos- sible disturbance of the earth : — a shorter mould board 1 86 Market Gardening: with a quicker twist will stir and pulverize the soil. No one need have any difficulty in finding one which will serve his purpose when he knows what he wants. Sulky-ploughs, and sulkies attached to ordinary ploughs, are well adapted for use on level land, when a large amount of work is to be done. (See cut p. 185.) The two-horse land-side plough (two sizes of which are shown amongst the last preceding illustrations) is Two-Horse Swivel. the one most used. Even in this class, different makers have different styles, and each claims for his own that it is the best; but every cultivator should judge for himself which is the best adapted to his needs, and endeavor to confirm his judgment by actual trial, before purchasing. ]\Iuch use also is made of the swivel plough. The large-sized pattern here shown is chiefly designed for breaking up sod land. It would rarely be needed for this use by market gardeners, but is occasionally required for various other services. A small, or one-horse swivel plough, is often found very Various Patterns Required, 1S7 convenient, especially in ploughing ciose to fences. Wherever the land needs to be thrown all one way the swivel pattern comes into requisition. The different patterns of ploughs which should be provided include one ver}- large and one of medium (I) Sub-Soil Plough. (2) Double Mould Board size (both land side), and also a sub-soiler, of which the form and operation may be understood from the cut here inserted. Each of these is to be worked with two horses. As already said, where much ploughing is to be done, a sulky is ver\' useful. Provide also one (side- hill or) swivel plough for one horse, two single (or one- 1 88 Market Gardeiiing. horse) land-side ploughs, and a very small one with double mould board, suitable for going between narrow rows — one which will throw up the dirt but very little. Geddes Harrov/. Next, perhaps, in importance to the plough comes the Harrow. Of harrows, there are almost as many styles as of ploughs. The cheapness and solid construction of the primitive A harrow are about all it has to recom- mend it, although it can be used as a " scarifier " now and then, as well as anything else ; and at the first com- ing up of crops planted in rows (as explained on page 62), it can be adapted by a little ingenuity to a very useful purpose. It is evident, on referring to the cut here presented of the Geddes or jointed harrow, that it will do the Ha rroi^ 's — Bes/ P u hcrizcr. 89 same work as done by the A pattern ; and much more expeditiously, and thoroughly; requiring, it is true, more power from the team, but not in full proportion to the increased work accomplished. Its jointed or hinged construction is favorable to its use on uneven ground, but is not especially advantageous in any service the market gardener is likely to require. For pulverizing the soil following the ploughing the La Dow disk or wheel harrow is by far the best. Its merits have been recognized in reports published by the United States Commissioners of Agriculture; and there are said to be many thousands of this form of harrow now in use in this country and abroad. The inventor furnishes the following description : The disk gangs, being united by a series of universal joint boxes, allow each part to ac- commodate itself to uneven surfaces. Working in a holow or dead furrow, or over ridges and obstructions, the disks adjust themselves to the surface over which they pass, cutting an uniform depth, and drawing more easily than if the gangs were rigidly connected. The inner disks of each gang are brought near to a cutting edge with each other, throwing the loosened earth in opposite directions outward, thus escaping the ridge in the centre, which has been a great objection heretofore. La Dow Disk Harrow. 190 Market Gardening. Both gangs of disks stand at a relative angle to each other, thus overcoming any tendency to work sidewise to the line of draft. The driver can, without leaving his seat, change the angle of both gangs at once, by means of the hand lever, and instantly fasten them at any desired ang^e. The journals are protected from dirt and provided with self-feeding oil cups, and the whole harrow being of iron (except the pole and seat- standard) will bear exposure to the weather without injury. The construction is such as admits of any part being easily removed or replaced ; and, in connection with the system of bracing employed, renders this the lightest, easiest handled, and stronojest Disk Harrow on the market. This harrow is certainly one of the best in use at the present time. It is very strong and durable, and does the work in the best of shape. It pulverizes the land and works it to a depth of about six inches, which is nearly the maximum depth that we plough for putting in crops. For breaking up the lumps on ground that has been trodden hard it has no equal. But where smoothing the surface is the object mainly in view, a " smoothing harrow " should be used. The Meeker Smoothing Harrow is employed either for leveling the surface of land, that it may be ploughed evenly, or after the ploughing to prepare it for the seed sower. The frame is square — six feet eight inches by six feet one inch — with four sets of rollers, having on them fifty-eight disks of eight inches diameter. On the two forward rollers, the disks are six inches apart, and on the two rear rollers, three inches apart. The Smoothing Har^row — Roller. igi disks on each set of rollers work between those of the other. The board in the centre is set at an ansfle, is Meeker Smoothing Harrow. adjusted up and down, and acts as a leveller. The disks grind all lumps so fine that seed must come up. It mashes small stones below the surface better than any field roller ; and levels the ground at the same time, which a field roller does not do. When the object is to prepare for the seed-sower, the smoother should be driven first across the piece to make it level, and then len2:thwise, conforminsr to the direction in which the rows are to be planted. It does its work rapidly and well, and saves time and labor in the use of hand-rakes. For ccnipleting the preparation of the soil, prior to planting, the Roller next claims our attention. The nature of the service it performs has already been treated of in our preceding chapter on soil-preparation. The cut on the following page exhibits the style and construction of a good Roller. The revolving portion is formed in sections, so that it turns without dragging ; and the frame carries a box which may be loaded with stones at discretion, to increase the weight whenever required. We desire to insist strongly upon the need of making more use than is ordinarily made of this very important implement. 192 The Planet, Jr. Cultivator. 193 Next in order of usefulness comes the Cultivator, After the land has been ploughed, subsoiled, harrowed, rolled, and planted, this serviceable implement is called into requisition. It executes with thoroughness, dis- patch, and economy a large amount of work that used to be laboriously performed with hand-hoes. Many varieties are offered to choose from, and the choice I recommend may not accord with everyone's individual opinion, but I consider the Planet, Jr. (see cut p. 194) on the whole the best I have ever seen; principally be- cause it can be put into so many different shapes, by varying the combination of its parts, and thus so many different kinds of work can be done with it. It stirs and pulverizes the ground, destroying weeds, giving aeration, and promoting moisture about the roots of the growing plants ; it will throw the earth to or from the rows as may be desired; i: does pretty much all that can be done with a hand-hoe in cultivat- ing the crop. Many who are using this implement to-day do not hoe their crops at all by hand work. It requires discretion and skill to obtain such effective results from its use, but there is no question that, in the hands of one who thoroughly understands its capabili- ties, it can be made to do, at a greatly reduced cost, a lar^e amount of hoein-r formerlv done with the hand- hoes. Besides being economical on the score of expense, it is also highly advantageous in enabling the far more rapid execution of the work. Crops often suffer for want of a timely stirring of the soil, especially in times of drought ; weeds must be cut down as soon as they 194 Market Gardening. show themselves ; even when neither weeds nor drought threaten the crops it is beneficial to the soil, and thus to the growing plants, that it should be turned or stirred as frequently as may be, to give it life. Hand labor is manifestly unequal to carrying out work of this descrip- tion : it costs too much, and goes over too little ground in a day. The implement shown in our illustration, under the nam.e of Planet, Jr. Cultivator and Coverer Combined, meets the exigencies we have described in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. No farmer or market-gardener Pl-net. Jr. can afford to dispense with this or some equivalent form of cultivator. It combines in a single machine, the Horse-hoe, Cultivator, Plough, and Coverer. The side- hoes or plates are reversible, thus giving double wear ; and the standards have adjustments that allow more or less hilling, and also regulate the depth, in conformity with the object or purpose for which it is to be used. This adjustability is a most important feature, in suiting Sundry Sma/l Tools. 195 its use to various soils or crops, or to various stages of growth. That position of the standards or hoes which is shown in the illustration, is the one which casts the earth toward the rows; but whenever the opposite result is aimed at, it can be arranged for by merely changing their positions, putting each on the opposite side, the work of a few moments only. Al- though the present is an age of improvements, and predictions are always rash, I consider it next to impos- sible that this implement will be superseded or very much improved upon. \w— . - -— Spade. The Hand-hoe most used by market-gardeners is one rather wide and thin, say ten inches by four inches for the blade ;-and on light sandy land, such as they qui:e generally have in cultivation, one of this description will be found very much to be preferred. The Shovels used are of two kinds, one with short handle and squara blade, the other with a long handle and round point. The former is always employed for putting the heating material into hot-beds, the square part being convenient for making the bottom of the bed sniooth and even. The long one serves best for banking celer)- and oro.i- nary work around the fences and buildings. The Spade 196 Slide -Hoe — Wheel-Hoe. 97 is a tool that is little used except to dig horse-radish and roots, and occasionally for digging celery when it is large and cannot be thrown over with the plough. The Six-tined and Five-tined forks are the ones most used for pitching manure, digging in hot-beds, and all the work done with a fork. The Slide-Hoe is used mostly between the rows of beets, lettuce, spinach, onions, dandelions, parsley, celery, and all the crops sown by machine. This tool is made in different widths so as to fit the varying in- tervals between the rows for which it is intended. The smallest are four inches wide, and they are made to range upwards to twelve inches. They are used by sliding them in a direction parallel with and along the row, and the knives enter the soil to a depth of about one inch, making the land loose and light on the top, and destrovins: the weeds. Little Gem Wheel-hoe. The Little Gem Wheel-Hoe is a hand implement, 198 Market Gardening, combining some of the characteristics of the horse hoe, or cukivator, and the slide hoe ; thus producing a very serviceable tool. It is well-proportioned, as regards size, to the work to be done ; built light and strong : all iron and steel, except handles ; well made, and handsomely finished, and adjustable in every way. It is made with single wheel, for use between the rows ; and also with double wheel, for use astride the rows. Arlington Seed Drill. The Seed-Sower or Drill, is one of the most useful and labor-saving implements in the entire outfit of the market garden. It is used to sow nearly all kinds of seed. Even peas and beans are ordinarily sown by this machine. The quantity of seed sown is regulated by small tins, with holes affording passage for the seeds to the exact amount required, and the distance between rows is regulated or marked by a chain which is made to drag from an adjustable arm. While one row is being sown, the next one is marked by the chain. The adjustable arm is a stick pierced with little holes, and placed across the handles of the machine. The depth of the sowing is regulated by raising or lowering Seed Drills — Field Marker. 199 the tooth which ploughs a little furrow for the seed to drop in. The seed may be sown from one-fourth of an inch to three inches deep, and is covered by two little blocks, so arranged as to draw the dirt over upon the seed. This is followed by a roller, which is regulated by a spring so as to roll heavy or light as may be de- sirable. The machine represented in the illustration is called the Arlington seed drill. It is altogether the best one ever seen by me, and ever}' one who has it in use approves it highly. The Little Gem drill is small but efficient. It was devised in response to a general desire among small gardeners for an inexpensive drill which will do perfect work; and it satisfies this demand completely. e Gem Dril". Rawsox's Field Marker is a ver\^ useful tool. It will work either ten, twelve, twenty or twenty-four inch intervals by simply changing the pins in the wheel, which are put in with a nut. It requires no line, unless you are very particular, and it ulll mark as fast as a man can walk. It is found especially useful in 200 Market Gardening, setting out cabbage, cauliflower, celer}', lettuce, etc. Rawson's Field Maiker. After once using this implement, no farmer will be willing to be without one. The two Markers intended for lettuce, and shown in the next cut, are used in marking the beds for let- tuce to be grown under glass. One marks five rows — one under each row, or light of glass, when there are five li":hts wide in each sash of six inches each. The other is then used to mark ten places for plants in each row, thus making fifty plants under each sash. The Hoi -Bed Mai^kcrs — Cabbage-Carrier. 201 bed is prepared with the sash off, and when the sash is to be put in place over the bed, each space is marked by the two men putting on the glass — the one on the lower, or front side, using the one with the handle, and the man on the back side using the other marker. The marker with ten teeth, next represented, is for sowing radishes or cabbage or ' ntuce seed. Mark Nine Row Marker. the rows by drawing the teeth from the back side of the bed towards the front, bearing down so as to make the furrows deep, if required: and always making the first tooth of the marker follow for a guide the row just made by the last tooth, thus making nine rows under each sash four inches apart. The Cabba;2:e Carrier is ven; useful. It is liiiht and 202 Market Garde. nuig. durable, and can easily be carried between the rows of cabbages. It is made of such size as to hold all that two men will want to carry. Cabbage Carrier, In transporting produce to market, a very substantial wagon is used. As regards construction, it corresponds in some points to those ordinarily used in the city for moving heavy furniture, or for heavy express service ; but is rather more strongly built than most of these, and is mounted on four strong elliptic steel springs instead of three. Heat Radiators. — In the glass-roofed winter mar- ket-gardens now carried on, extensive use is made of hot water or steam radiating pipes, as well as of steam for pumping. On my place there are three steam pumps, and I have five boilers. At some times the latter are all in service together, mainly for heating. No attempt will be made here to enter into an ac- count of the methods in use for this purpose. It is a very extensive and intricate subject — one which should Steam Pump — Plant Diseases, 203 be long and carefully studied before you attempt to do anything involving outlays. The only safe rule is to go slow — and make sure you fully understand everything vou undertake. Deane Boiier ar.d Pl The PrMPixG Apparatus illustrated by the fore- goin;^ cut is the one alluded to in Part I, on page 24, in connection with the subject of " Irrigation." Remedies and Preventives of Disease in Plants. Amongst the various forms of disease in plants, we re- cognize two distinct classes ; one due to the presence of animal parasites, — insects and their larvae, — the other including smut, mildew, blight, rust, and similar fungoid, or vegetable parasitic growths. It is not always certain to which of these two classes the trouble belon-^s. Some believe it is an insect 204 Market Gardening. which causes the "blight" in celery; but I do not agree with that view. I know an insect does appear on the leaves when they begin to decay; but on almost every different kind of decaying vegetation some one insect peculiar to it is apt to appear — being invited by the decay, but not the occasion of it. And often when the insects have made their appear- ance and the leaves are already yellow, if there is a sufficient application of water, either by the occurrence of a heavy rain or artificially supplied by irrigation, the insects will disappear, the yellow leaves will drop away, and the plants will grow healthy again, with a good crop as the result. The renewed vitality of the plant enables it to cast off the parasitic enemies which would otherwise have joined forces and eaten it up. This view points us to the main remedy or preven- tive of all disease, — and more particularly the chief pre- ventive against every form of vegetable parasite, viz. : clean and nourishing culture. In the outset this is the means, and the only means, to be relied upon. This is the first requirement ; of course there are others. Hurt- ful conditions may be noted and avoided. Mismanage- ment of heat (or moisture) on forced crops frequently entails a blight. Some harmful element in the soil or fertilizer may cause the plants to languish for a time, and so allow the fungus spores to get a foothold. It is good policy, alike as against the fungi and the insect pests, to put all the vigor v/e can into the growing plants. We should also remember the great impor- tance of prompt treatment when disease "is apparent. Fumigation has already been spoken of [see p. 124.] rfisecticides — Liquid and Dry. 205 Insecticides in liquid solution are used by spray- ing or syringing the foliage. Either Syringes, Force spraying the Plants. Pumps, or Garden Engines may be brought into service according to the scale on which the operation is to be carried out. But there are drawbacks and difficulties in the use of liquid solutions : one is that the poison does not actually dissolve in the water, which has to be con- stantly agitated to maintain a mixture. Another is the great weight of the quantity required to be used. Dry mixtures are therefore employed, being dusted over the plants. They should be put on preferably when the foliage is still damp after a rain or dew. A capital implement for applying dry mixtures to field crops is that shown in the following illustration. It is called the "Farmer's Favorite Duster.'' In oper- atinoj this device, the left hand is held firm while the 206 Market Gardening, right hand rotates the reservoir of poison and diffuses it effectively. Farmer's Favorite, The well-known Slug Shot is applied with a bellows such as is shown in the cut on p. 196. Neighbors should combine ; and unitedly pursue such measures as are known to be efficient. Due inquiry and better knowledge of facts might do much towards limiting, if not wholly exterminating, each and every kind of parasitic pest. Take for instance the Pea weevil. If all the farmers of the country should unitedly forbear to raise peas for a single year, it would die off completely. But meanv/hile it has been gravely maintained (and Injurious LiscctSs 207 is not very fur from the truth) that the whole business of crop raising has come to consist mainly in a contest against insect depredators. These are not discouraged when they find a healthy and vigorous plant growth wailing for them to feed on. Sometimes, indeed, they will sweep o.T every plant in an early stage of growth ; or they may delny their coming till just before harvest and then consume the entire crop. The Wavy-striped Flea-beetle (Haltica Striolata) is ver\' destructive to young Cabbages and Turnips. As soon as the young cabbages appear above the ground it attacks them by eating off the seed leaves ; later, when the second leaves appear, the danger lies in another quarter, and it will often be noticed that the plant wilts and changes color. The grub has eaten away the roots. The same insects that attack young Cabbage plants, and the Turnips, also infest the Radish. In some local- ities it is almost impossible to grow radishes of a size fit for the table before they are practicilly destroyed by a small maggot. This maggot appears to be the larva of a fly, closely related to those so destructive to the Onion. The Imported Onion Fly lays her eg^s on the leaves of the young and small onioti plants, near the ground. They soon hatch,_and the maggots at once attack the bulb. In about two w^eeks after this a second brood of tiies appears, to be followed by more maggots. The remedy consists in removing every infested bulb. These may be known by the leave3 turning yellow. They can- not be pulled up by the tops without risk of letting the maggot escape from the decayed bulb. They must be 2o3 Market Gai^dcnincr. lifted by a trowel, or an old knife, so as to be sure to bring up the maggot. The bulbs so removed, and the maggots, must be burned. ' The Squash and Pumpkin, the Cucumber, and the Melon all belong to the Cucurbitacc<£, or Gourd Family. Hence, naturally, the same insects infest all these re- lated plants. The Squash Bug is one of the worst and most disagreeable. When handled or disturbed, it gives OiTf a very repulsive odor. The insects are quiet during the day, but at night lay their eggs in little patches, of a brownish yellow color, and glued to the leaves. They are quite easily kept under control by handpicking. Conclusion. — In concluding this Market Gardening Manual, I wish to repeat and enforce what I said in the beginning : Success in market gardening demands intelligence, diligence, and natural aptitude. Personal diligence and natural aptitude are matters outside the scope of any manual ; but an Intelligent Cul ivation of the various crops under all the varying conditions of the business can, of course, be promoted greatly by re- ferring to the experience acquired by those who have succeeded in it. I therefore submit this book to the public with the conviction that it meets a real demand, and will answer a useful purpose. ..i:^p^^f^^1lj?^f?^ UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 3 0112 051869425