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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY •

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PLACE ON THE SHELVES

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LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

AGRIC.
LIBRARY

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UNIVERSITY

OF

THE

CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES

IN

GARDEN AND FIELD

A MANUAL OF PRACTICE, WITH AND WITHOUT IRRIGA-
TION, FOR SEMI-TROPICAL COUNTRIES.

SECOND EDITION—REVISED AND EXTENDED

BY EDWARD J. WU'KSON, A.M.

Dean and Professor of Agriculture in the College of Agriculture
of the University of California; Director and Horticulturist
of the Agricultural Experiment Station; Author of "Cali-
fornia Fruits an'd How to Grow Them;" Editor of The Pacific
Rural Press; Member of the National Council of Horticul-
ture, etc.

PACIFIC RURAL PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO

1910

S

19(0

AGRIC.

UBRARY

< "\ "^ ,

m 8MA Hi

COPYRIGHT, 1910,

BY
EDWARD J. WICKSON AND PACIFIC RURAL PRESS.

.

In view of the very appreciative reception which the
public accorded to the first edition of this work and the
urgent demand for its reappearance, it is deeply regretted
by the writer that the present edition has been so long
delayed. It seemed, however, unavoidable. The revision
necessary to include later results of experience and obser-
vation and extension to fitly include the advancement of
certain vegetables in commercial volume and importance
and the methods of handling them, largely developed by
local study and experiment, have required much attention.
In fact, the revision of the work has required a repetition
of the same effort which was invoked in its initial prep-
aration, and for which the following claim was made in
the preface to the First Edition :

' ' There are very good reasons why the task of preparing
.such a book has been so long delayed. The subject is
appalling in its intricacy. Conditions of soil and climate
in California are varied to the last degree, and practice
must vary with them. No matter how skilful and success-
ful a man may be in his particular locality, his experience
can only be a safe guide to those who happen to work
under similar conditions. For this reason, though there
have been admirable local writers on garden practice from
the beginning, their writings, no matter how diligently
collected and how well printed, would not constitute a
suggestive treatise unless the enquirer should analyze the
local conditions and practice and translate them into
terms of wide applicability. To do this it is necessary that
the principles underlying the successful practice should be
discerned and the significance of conditions be interpreted.
This task could only be discharged by one who has had
opportunity for wide collection of data, and for extended
personal observation as well, and one for whom labor
would be continually lightened by enthusiastic delight in
the subject itself. All these advantages the writer can

211786

frankly claim, but how well they have been employed in
this work it is for the reader to judge."

In a work of this kind, involving the experience and
observation of many individuals during a considerable
period of time, it is impossible to render a full account
of the writer's indebtedness. Whenever direct use has
been made of the experience and methods which others
have formulated, an attempt has been made to give defi-
nite credit to the source. When such accounts of experi-
ence are used without citation of publication credit is in
most cases due to the columns of the Pacific Rural Press, a
journal which has been the chief medium for publication
of information of this kind for the last forty years.

E. J. WICKSON.
University of California, Berkeley, August, 1910.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Vegetable Growing in California 9

II. Farmer's Gardens in California 19

III. California Climate as Related to Vegetable Growing. 28

IV. Vegetable Soils of California 37

V. Garden Irrigation 47

VI. Garden Drainage in California 74

VII. Cultivation 81

VIII. Fertilization 95

Villa. Garden Protection 106

VIII6. Weeds in California 116

VIIIc. Seed Growing in California 120

IX. Garden Location and Arrangement 129

X. The Planting Season 138

XI. Propagation 155

XII. Artichokes 172

XIII. Asparagus 177

XIV. Beans 188

XV. Beet 206

XVI. Cabbage Family 221

XVII. Carrot, Parsnip, and Salsify 237

XVIII. Celery 244

XIX. Chicory 255

XX. Corn 259

XXI. Cucumber 266

XXII. Egg Plant 270

XXIII. Lettuce 272

XXIV. Melons 277

XXV. Onion Family 289

XXVI. Peas 304

XXVII. Peppers 311

-XXVIII. Potatoes 316

XXIX. Radishes 328

XXX. Rhubarb 331

XXXI. Spinach 335

XXXII. Squashes 337

XXXIII. Tomato 342

XXXIV. Turnip 351

XXXV. Vegetable Sundries .353

CHAPTER I.
VEGETABLE GROWING IN CALIFORNIA.

Though California enjoys world-wide fame for fruits it
is an interesting fact that the State first won horticultural
recognition by achievements in vegetable growing. Gar-
den seeds were more easily transported than trees and
formed a part of the scant baggage of many gold-seekers.
Seeds were also freely sent by home friends or quickly ob-
tained on orders to Eastern dealers as soon as the agri-
culturists among the argonauts saw their opportunity in
the fabulous rates which esculents commanded. Results
too were more quickly secured with garden seeds than
with fruit trees. Only a few weeks after their planting
the grower saw that he was dealing with forcing and de-
veloping agencies in climate and soil more effective than
any he had known in his old home and he was quite as sur-
priesd at his own achievements as his Eastern friends were
incredulous of his descriptions of them. They were ready
to believe anything about gold, because their conception
of a gold country involved its traditional right to be fa-
bulous, but such a concession was not to be made to com-
mon vegetables. Eastern people knew cabbages and beans
and to attribute to them colossal dimensions and to allege
that they grew from seed to succotash without a drop of
rain was simply coarse lying. It is easy to see why a
milder word would be considered inadequate, for the fol-
lowing was one of California's first horticultural procla-
mations :

"On land owned and cultivated by Mr. James Williams,
of Santa Cruz, an onion grew to the enormous weight of
21 pounds, and a turnip was grown which equaled exactly
in size the top of a flour barrel. On land owned and cul-

10 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

tivated by Thomas Fallen, a cabbage grew which meas-
ured, while growing, 13 feet and 6 inches around its body.
The weight is not known. A beet grown by Mr. Isaac
Brannan, at San Jose, weighed 63 pounds; carrots three
feet in length, weighed 40 pounds. At Stockton, a turnip
weighed 100 pounds, and at a dinner for 12 persons, of a
single potato, larger than the size of an ordinary hat, all
partook, leaving at least the half untouched." — Rep. of
the Com. of Patents for 1851 : Part II, p. 4.

These statements are vouched for by 12 persons whose
names are given. To save the respect of their Eastern
friends and at the same time to loyally make known the
horticultural glory of the land they had found, the early
vegetable growers had recourse to public exhibitions. The
first was held in the fall of 1851 in San Francisco. The ex-
hibits did not quite equal the verdict of the horticultural
jury cited above but they were notable, e. g. : a red beet
from San Jose, 28 inches in circumference, weight 47
pounds ; beets two months from seed in San Francisco, six
and seven pounds; cabbage from Mission San Jose seven
feet in circumference, weight 56 pounds; cucumbers 18
inches in length; onions five, six and seven inches in dia-
meter from a product of nearly 70,000 pounds to the acre ;
potatoes from Santa Cruz, 125 pounds from the five vines
of a single hill and one potato from Santa Clara 13 inches
in length, weighing 71/4 pounds ; pumpkins and squashes
from 100 to 140 pounds each.

The demonstrations furnished by such public exhibi-
tions, of which there were several in the early years of
San Francisco, were accepted at the East, and even such
conservative experts as the late Dr. Warder, of Ohio,
were led to exclaim, as early as 1852: "truly this is a
wonderful country." To fully appreciate the significance
of the facts it must be remembered that the varieties were
those of nearly half a century ago and the culture was
wholly lacking in the. intensive arts which are common
property of vegetable growers of the present day. The

PIONEER VEGETABLES 11

immensity of the specimens and of the crop, wonderful to
the grower and incredible to the distant hearer, was
simply the exponent of the capacity of a virgin soil, in
which fertility had been accumulating for ages, and the
forcing power of a climate wholly new to Americans. In
later years California has surpassed even these early stan-
dards through the employment of higher horticultural
skill, as will be described presently, but it was upon the
achievements of the vegetable growers at the very begin-
ning of the American occupation that California's horti-
cultural reputation was established.

How the Pioneers Prospered by Vegetable Growing. —
It would be easy to collect quite a volume of interesting
instances of how success was attained in the early days,
but a single experience must suffice. It illustrates both
the resources of the pioneers and the country which they
found. G. G. Briggs left New York State in April, 1849,
and arrived in California in October of the same year,
driving an ox team and walking most of the way. He
says:

"When I arrived in California I saw at once that there
were other means of accumulating gold besides digging it
from the mines ; that miners and all classes would need
turnips and cabbage and other products of the soil; that
even then many were suffering with scurvy and other dis-
eases for the want of fresh vegetable food. The large crops
of native grapes on the banks of the Sacramento were
proof of the productive capacity of the California soil and
climate. Reaching Sacramento, our party of four had no
money and no property but our wagon and three yoke of
oxen. I could find no work whatever. I got trusted by a
storekeeper for a sack of walnuts and sold them to passers
by the teacupful and in five days cleared $50. We sold our
oxen and with my part of the money I went to San Fran-
cisco to buy garden seeds with which to start vegetable
growing on a piece of land I had previously seen in the
bottom of the Yuba river, near the present site of Marys-

12 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

ville. As it was too early in the season to plant, I bought
a whale-boat and began freighting goods; and by spring
I had accumulated about $3000. The last load freighted
by me included a ton of potatoes, which cost me 40c. a
pound. My seeds and potatoes were planted in March,
1851, and everything was doing well until cut to the
ground by frost on April 19. My potatoes, however, came
up again and made a fair crop. I was not to be cheated
out of my vegetable crop, and started out again to buy
seeds, but could find none, either in Sacramento or in San
Francisco. Returning to Sacramento, I chanced upon
some watermelon seeds on the boat, and bought the lot for
$20. With these I planted five acres, and cleaned up
about $5000 dollars for one summer's work. The next
year I planted about 26 acres of watermelons, and in the
fall I found I had $20,000 for my summer's work."

With the money Mr. Briggs returned to New York for
his family and brought also, on his return, some fruit trees,
and laid the foundation of his subsequent brilliant rec-
ord as a pioneer fruit grower. Others followed about the
same course and thus vegetable growing became not only
the basis of California's horticultural reputation but ac-
tually furnished the capital for the ventures which dem-
onstrated the possibility of our great fruit industries; mflj

Vegetables at the Missions and the Ranches. — The Am-
erican pioneers found little at the establishments of the old
regime that was instructive or even suggestive. In fact
the Spanish conception of the agricultural capacity and
adaptability of the country was not only inadequate; it
was erroneous as well. Though the missions had gardens
they were almost destitute of gardening as we understand
the term and whether the Spanish and Mexican settlers
were deterred from vegetable growing by their distaste
for any physical exertion, away from the saddle, or by
their ignorance of the fitness of the country, is not a ques-
tion of much importance in this connection. Hittell says :
"Gardening was not attempted except on a very small

VEGETABLES ON THE RANCHES 13

scale and only for such vegetables as could be produced
with very little labor. Potatoes and turnips were rare and
of garden vegetables in general it may be said that until
the advent of foreign settlers they were scarcely culti-
vated." Bryant, who visited California in 1846 and ex-
amined the Los Angeles gardens, saw only onions, pota-
toes, red peppers and beans and added that he believed
other vegetables would grow as well as they.

Illustrating the inability of the rancheros to understand
the wide applicability of the simple horticultural lessons
given at the missions, it is related that at the time of the
American settlement most of the Spanish families living
in different parts of Alameda and Contra Costa had their
garden patches near the Mission San Jose. They knew
fruit and vegetables would grow there, because they had
seen them in the mission gardens and they did not know
they would grow elsewhere and had not taken the trouble
to find out. Thus the Estudillos of San Leandro had their
garden patch at the Mission San Jose and transported
their vegetables 15 or 20 miles while right outside the door
of their house at San Leandro was the finest garden soil
in the world, and they did not know it !

Neither the mission gardeners nor the rancheros had any
idea of the capacity of the country for summer crops with-
out irrigation and without any adequate conception of the
offices of cultivation they could hardly have attained it.
Hence, not having the irrigation facilities which were de-
veloped at the missions, and not being inclined to any
labor by which their own lands could be irrigated, they
would naturally go to the water rather than attempt to
bring the water to their land for anything more than stock
and domestic uses. Almost at sight the American pioneer
horticulturists discerned possibilities and adaptations in
the soil and climate which their predecessors had not dis-
covered during 75 years of occupation. The relations of
race to horticultural progress are very interesting.
Vicissitudes of Early Vegetable Growing. — Those who

14 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

first discerned the fact that it was easier to get gold with
the hoe than with the pick, realized market prices as sur-
prisingly great as the vegetables they grew. John M.
Horner, of Alameda county, is reported to have cleared
about $150,000 from his large venture of 800 acres in vege-
table growing in 1851, and others gained much more per
acre than he, with smaller operations which did not re-
quire so much high-priced labor. But the demonstration
of their success proved its destruction. Plantations were
made out of all proportion to requirements and disastrous
overproduction speedily ensued. The second year after
the exhibition in San Francisco, to which allusion has been
made, there was a collapse. The following account of po-
tato growing shows how sharp was the turn in affairs :

In 1852 Beard & Homer's potato crop at Alvarado av-
eraged 200 sacks (about 12 tons) to the acre, and sold for
upwards of $100,000. The following year everybody cul-
tivated them. In Pajaro valley 20,000 sacks were one day
bet on a horse race. Beard & Horner contracted theirs in
advance at 2%c. a pound to San Francisco merchants.
Garrison took 1,000,000 pounds, which were never re-
moved, but were allowed to rot on tlje ground. Saunders
& Co. purchased a large quantity, which they stowed away
in a hulk in the bay. As warm weather came on the pota-
toes commenced growing and threatened to burst the ves-
sel open. They commenced dumping the potatoes into the
bay, but the harbor master stopped it, and the owners had
to pay for their removal to another locality.

With the first disaster the charm and spirit of pioneer
vegetable growing passed away. There was, of course,
quick recovery in values and very profitable business dune,
but it was not the same grand affair and it did not accord
with the adventurous spirit of the day. Small growers
near the cities and the mining camps did well, but there
was not dash enough about market gardening for Ameri-
cans and it was soon given over to immigrants from the
south of Europe and China and has never been recovered.

FOREIGN COMPETITION. 15

Field growth of staple vegetables on a large scale has been
continued by Americans, but even in this line he has often
been obliged to withdraw from competition with Chinese,
Portuguese and Italians with their cheaper labor supply
and living expenses. Great enterprises in live stock,
wheat, wool and fruit afforded opportunities more to the
American taste than vegetable growing. The American
settler had incomparably more energy and industrial am-
bition than his predecessors, the Mexicans, but he shared
with them a liking for doing his work in the saddle or on
the seat of a riding plow, cultivator or harvester. Within
a decade from the date of the American demonstration of
the unique fitness of California for vegetable growing
there arose occasion for frequent exhortations to Califor-
nia farmers to restore the garden to its proper place in
farm plan and policy, and yet California farmers neglected
to supply their own tables and the proper adornment of
their house yards until the ranch home in this land of
beauty and grand horticultural opportunities became a by-
word for unthrift and desolation. Fortunately there has
been such wonderful improvement during the last decade
that these epithets no longer apply to California country
homes.

Competition with Foreigners. — One of the difficulties of
the present situation is that while the American-born Cali-
fornian has decried vegetable growing, the immigrants
from southern Europe and eastern Asia have strongly
entrenched themselves in it. Now the competition which
the American grower has to encounter is depressing and
discouraging. And yet the situation is not at all hope-
less. The foreigners are not, as a rule, progressive. They
are frugal and industrious to an extreme and they under-
take a great deal to please their customers with variety
as well as low prices. In some points the American com-
petitor can learn from them to advantage. But it is quite
easy to surpass them in quality by constant effort for im-
proved varieties, which they are slow to introduce, and
to cheapen production by the use of horse labor and im-

16 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

r * -inr

proved tools, while they plod along with hand methods
and appliances. If the California farmer should put forth
the same effort to adapt conditions to ends and to keep
himself at the very front in materials and arts of produc-
tion in the growing and selling of vegetables that he has
employed in the growing and selling of fruit, we should
hear far less of the superiority of the foreigner in the vege-
table garden.

Recent Achievements in Vegetable Growing, — Although
California horticulturists as a class are charged with ne-
glect of vegetable growing, and though it must be admit-
ted that the term horticulture and its derivatives are al-
most wholly used in California to signify fruit growing, it
is an important fact that we have vegetable growers who
hold the country's record for volumes and uniqueness of
special products. A new phase of the vegetable growing
industry of the State arose with the openings of the over-
land railways. The Eastern demand for some kind of
vegetables has led to their production of several import-
ant vegetable crops in very large volume and has thus
given us specialty farming in vegetables somewhat com-
parable with our great fruit specialties. Along this line
vegetable growing has seemed worthy of American effort
and our people have been proud to undertake production
by the carload or trainload of the very crops which they
would scorn to think of growing by the wagonload. The
features of this line of production will appear in connec-
tion with the discussion of the special kinds of vegetables
which are involved in it.

The statistics of vegetable shipment beyond State lines
as given by an expert authority for the years specified is
as follows :

Shipment of Fresh Vegetables by Rail and Sea. — (Car-
loads of 10 tons each): 1902, 6130; 1903, 7839; 1904,
4429; 1905, 5961; 1906, 8982; 1907, 4808; 1908, 9350; 1909,
8978.

The grower for shipment is a specialist; he grows but
few kinds, and often one kind only, and it becomes nee-

THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCT. 17

essary for him to study the particular kind he raises in all
its forms, not only as to selection of variety, but to ob-
tain the very best strain of that variety. He also has to
study very closely the most economical methods of plant-
ing, cultivation, harvesting, and marketing. Location in
many instances determines what he shall raise. The chief
point to consider is to raise that vegetable which succeeds
best at the right time for shipment and to select land and
location which favors that achievement.

Cajined Vegetables. — Another form in which our vege-
tables are reaching distant markets in considerable quan-
tities is the product of the canneries. The following is a
statement of the total pack of vegetables in the years
stated :

California Product of Canned Vegetables.
(cases of 24 cans).

1907. 1908. 1909.

Asparagus 174,435 238,420 410,965

Beans 74,040 39,765 12,435

Peas 51,565 88,510 104,010

Tomatoes 1,539,310 1,106,875 672,260

Other kinds 102,405 28,315 43,050

Drying vegetables has been pursued in a small way for
a number of years. The rapid extension of the mining in-
terest in remote parts of the Pacific Coast created a quick
demand for dried vegetables and it was thought that they
would constitute an important item in distant shipments,
but whenever transportation is established the superior
succulence of fresh and canned vegetables discounts the
dried product.

The volume of California vegetable products includes,
of course, dry beans, beet sugar, etc., which are mentioned
in the chapters relating thereto. -

Diversity in Garden Practice in Calif ornia.— It is hardly
too much to say that our garden practice is an epitome of
all ancient and modern cultural arts, for we have both
survival of very old methods and subterfuges and wider

18 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

demonstrations of the truth of advanced conceptions of
cultural efficacy than can probably be found in any other
State. This is not due to any purpose or design on the
part of our people. It is merely their notable resources of
adaptability and ingenuity brought to bear upon the wide
range of conditions involved in our combined winter and
summer gardening which concentrates in a single common-
wealth all the diversity one might encounter if he were
a peripatetic gardener with an itinerary extending from
Ireland to Algeria. Nor is this remark intended merely
as a reference to the natural diversity of the different
parts of the State, because success may require more or
less distinct methods in summer and in winter in the same
region. In short, the California gardener has to know arid-
land practice and humid-land practice and call them both
into requisition equally or incline toward one or the other
as his conditions demand.

It takes a man of some depth and breadth to do this,
and this is the reason why land owners who have brought
skilled horticultural practitioners from abroad to develop
their properties have experienced so many disappoint-
ments. It requires head as well as handicraft to master
the situation, as subsequent chapters will suggest.

CHAPTER II.
FARMER'S GARDENS IN CALIFORNIA.

It has already been admitted that there has been, ever
since the development of large farming enterprises was
seen to be possible in California, an indisposition on the
part of our farmers to engage in vegetable growing. Sev-
eral reasons are urged as explanatory of this very wide-
spread sentiment and some of them may be cited :

First : The proper conduct of a large specialty farm gives
no time for gardening — not even for the direction of work
upon it — and it is better to buy vegetables than incur the
worry of a garden patch.

Second: In small specialty farming on a limited acre-
age of especially fitted and high priced land, it is not prof-
itable to set apart land for vegetables when its yield in
the special product may pay several times the cost of
purchased vegetables.

Third: Success with vegetables in California is very
difficult to attain — especially so in certain parts of the
State — and a farmer is more apt to lose than to gain by
any venture he may make in that line.

Fourth : It is impossible to have a garden without irri-
gation water, even on lands which with ordinary rainfall
will yield cereals and carry productive deciduous fruit
trees if they are given good summer cultivation.

How Far Are the Objections Tenable?— It must be
granted that there is some force in the demurrer which the
California farmer often enters against his indictment for
lack of thrift and neglect of opportunities in not under-
taking to produce his home supply of fresh, crisp and
wholesome vegetables instead of depending upon the stale
and wilted goods of the itinerant vendors. It is perfectly

20 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

conceivable that, under certain conditions, the farmer had
better buy food supplies rather than produce them, con-
sequently the general denunciation of the unthrift of the
California farmer, which is often indulged in by those who
know little of the local situation and conditions, is really
unwarranted. California conditions, both in nature and
in farm policy, are so varied that criticisms and upbraid-
ings are often misplaced. And yet it is perfectly true that
vegetables should be grown on farms in California much
more generally and in far greater variety than they have
been hitherto. It is not the intention of the writer to urge
this improvement upon sentimental considerations nor to
claim, as many seem inclined to do, that it is possible to
compass it by the fiat method. Too many of our critics
seem to hold that all the farmer has to do is to declare that
there shall be a garden and one will spring up around his
footsteps with ideal succulence, richness and deliciousness.
It will be better to attempt to show that there is an oppor-
tunity, providing its requirements be duly met, and that
there are really fewer difficulties in the way and greater
rewards for prompt and intelligent effort than many of
our farmers imagine. And this can be shown without
elaborate argument. A more striking demonstration will
probably lie in showing to the many the success of the few,
in order that they may draw therefrom lessons and ex-
hortations for their own incitement and success. This ser-
vice will be constantly held in view as this work proceeds.

Essentials to Success in Gardening. — There are three re-
quisites to success in gardening and they may be arranged
in alliteration thus, Will, Water, Work. They also stand
in the order of their relative importance in California.
Without a strong impulse In the will it is vain to expect
work and water to do their best. If the will is born of
taste, liking, enthusiasm, the task will be delightful and
the results grand in every way. Unless one has some joy
in the rich, moist earth as it yields its fragrance to the
touch of his tools; unless he can glory in the quick, re-

ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS. 21

sponsive growth of the plant when his culture suits its
nature, and unless he finds pride and satisfaction in the
armful of delicious vegetables which he brings each day
to his helpmeet, with the dewdrops of the early morning
still sparkling upon their foliage, his gardening will never
be an easy task though it may be conscientiously and suc-
cessfully discharged.

But although it is possible to make a good and profitable
garden from a sense of duty and though work will reach
its due reward even though one can never bring himself to
see that the ''primal curse" of the race is really its op-
portunity, it is a fact that without work there can be no
successful gardening in California. Perhaps work is the
price of success everywhere ; perhaps the aggregate of
muscular effort proportional to the result is less in Cali-
fornia than elsewhere but let no one deceive himself that
the California garden will make itself. The item of work
may be reduced to a minimum by intelligent direction. In-
sight and observation will teach just when each act should
be performed to secure the richest co-operative response
from nature's forces, and to miss this advantage will en-
tail a vast amount of unnecessary effort, but the modicum
of incisive action must be bestowed. It will appear later,
in connection with the discussion of the planting season,
that timely work is a prime factor — in fact the pivot upon
which the effort may turn from delight to disappointment.
California conditions, though exceedingly generous are
equally exacting — probably more exacting than those of
humid climates. It is clear then that not only is work an
essential, but it must be work well directed and main-
tained. The third essential is water. By due understand-
ing and employment of the characters of the natural grow-
ing season and of the soil in each locality, it is possible to
produce a great wealth and variety of vegetables in most
parts of the State without irrigation. In some parts suc-
cession or rotation can be carried through the year by the
most intelligent cultivation to prevent evaporation or by

22 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

the use of land naturally and continuously moistened by
underflow. Still, the far greater area of the State will not
give satisfactory vegetable supply without additions to
rainfall and the irrigated garden should therefore be the
end in view in most of our farm planning. Fortunately
this is not nearly so difficult to attain as is commonly
thought, as will be shown in a later chapter, and if the
farm-architect have the will to work, he will not long lack
the water to insure the perfection of his desires in his
home garden.

Possible Exceptions. — These faint suggestions of the re-
quirements of success in gardening, even on the narrow,
farm plan, may intimate that broadside exhortations to
vegetable growing are not wise and shed some light upon
the reasonableness of those who claim that they can not
profitably or successfully undertake it. Our great specialty
farmers are apt to have their heads and hands too full to
think of personally mastering gardening practice in a pe-
culiar country. The attempts which have been made to
transform the ordinary farm hand into a gardener have
usually only yielded disappointment, and the professional
gardeners who are really worthy of the name find it too
easy to acquire enterprises of their own to warrant their
wage-earning on the farm basis. It might as well be con-
ceded at once that many large farmers will do better to
purchase their supplies from some man who has the knowl-
edge and the soil and water facilities for successful pro-
duction.

It is also true that in many cases the small scale specialty
farmer, working a small tract of high-priced land for a
high-value product, does well to plant his entire holding,
except his house site, to this product. But it is also true
that other men of this class will find the reservation of a
garden area a most profitable proceeding. What each
shall do depends upon his personal traits and tastes.

But though these exceptions exist and should be consid-
ered in any claims that are made in favor of a much wider

FARM GARDENS. 23

enlistment of California farmers in gardening for the pro-
duction, at least, of home supplies, the fact remains that
farm gardens should be multiplied and that, with proper
spirit and effort and appreciation of their value, they can
be more easily secured than the popular impression among
California farmers would indicate. There is a wealth of
experience to show that where good timely work is done,
under conditions either naturally favorable or rendered
favorable by moderate effort or investment, very gratify-
ing results have been attained on farms in all parts of
California.

Benefits of Farm Gardens. — It is trite to build arguments
on this theme, but. the points can hardly be sharpened by
comment. The dietetic benefit of vegetable food in variety
has been demonstrated both by individual experience and
by the food studies which are now being systematically
pursued both in this country and Europe. Working force,
thinking force, the quality of success in all lines of human
effort, are all promoted by a generous, well-balanced food
supply.

The hygienic benefit of food, including due amount of
the succulent, aromatic, tonic and assimilable characters
which are inherent in fresh and well- grown vegetables, is
universally recognized by authorities. The truth has par-
ticular force in a region of high temperatures like Cali-
fornia. The so-called cooling of the blood, the develop-
ment of resistance to malaria, the free and healthful op-
eration of the various functions of the body, are unques-
tionably promoted by vegetable food.

The economic benefit of home-grown esculents has been
most clearly discerned during the last few years and the
result is a gratifying increase of interest in farm garden-
ing. More vegetables have been grown recently on Cali-
fornia farms than ever before. The low market values of
some of our most important special products have given
an impetus to diversification of crops which a century of
exhortation could not have compassed. California farmers

24 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

have recognized as never before that sound farm policy
generally requires the home production of most food sup-
plies. Those who have endured with least hardship the
financial stress of beginning a farm enterprise are those
who have had least to buy and not those who had most to
sell. Many a farm has been saved from the mortgage by
the yield of subsidary products for home use and for ex-
change for essential home supplies. In this most import-
ant service the vegetable garden has done its full share
and has thus commended itself to the attention of many
who formerly looked upon the growth of "garden sass" as
a sort of ignoble pothering. The farm garden saves money
and makes money if it is given adequate thought and gen-
erous effort.

This exhortation can be given forceful concreteness by
the following actual instance which occurred in one of our
warmer coast valleys :

"My garden consists of one acre of good river bottom
land, and as a matter of course is under good tilth. Be-
sides what we used at home and gave away, we sold to our
neighbors as follows :

"Green onions, $16; cauliflower, $7; spinach, $4; early
cabbage, $12 ; squashes, $8 ; green corn, $10.50 ; lettuce,
$2.25 ; tomatoes, $18 ; beets, $3 ; turnips, $4. Total, $84.75.

"What can be more profitable? Any farmer can do as
well if he will only try. How did we do it? I will tell
you. Early in November we planted top onions on one-
half acre, and on the other half we planted spinach, beets,
lettuce, turnips and carrots. Our seed beds were made in
December, and as soon as the onions were ready to pull
we replaced them with cabbages, pulling our onions with
regard to such planting, also making room for a succes-
sion of early peas and snap beans, and finally cucumbers.
Of the last three articles we sold a good quantity, and the
product will raise the total amount produced for the sea-
son to over $100."

This is not an isolated instance. Any one can do it who

GARDEN IN MIXED FARMING. 25

can command the "essentials to success" previously con-
sidered, and almost any one can utterly fail of doing it
without them. A hint is given of the succession of crops
possible in the California garden. There will be much of
that hereafter.

The social benefit of the farm garden may enter the
realm of sentiment but it is none the less true, potent and
precious. The farm with a garden is an inexpressibly bet-
ter home than without it. The garden wins interest; it
dispenses content. It awakens home pride and strength-
ens home love. It has actual educational value in that it
directly imparts useful lessons in plant growth and re-
quirements which are applicable to all other farm opera-
tions. It has lessons also to quicken the love of the beau-
tiful which, in turn, leads in all phases of home improve-
ment and lifts the standard of rural manhood and woman-
hood.

Of Especial Application to California. — All these bene-
fits of the installation of a garden area on the farm should
be especially striven for in California because they can be
realized here in exceptional measure. The well-planned
California garden is evergreen. It admits of succession
and rotation within the year, so that a 12 month is the pro-
ducing equivalent of twice or thrice its duration in wintry
climates. Here the garden does not insist upon intruding
its claims just in the "rush of spring work" which is
known in lands of more marked seasonal transitions. It
is well content to be "ahead of the rush" the whole year
round, but it must be admitted that it stubbornly rebels
against being behind it. Not only is succession of tender
growths made possible by the long frostless term but more
than half of the common garden vegetables are so hardy
that they maintain growth even through our short frosty
season and, with irrigation on lands which need it, thrive
the whole year in the open air. Rich is the endowment
which a semi-tropical climate bestows upon the gardener.
He who does not avail himself of it for his own comfort
and profit, buries his talent in the earth.

26 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

The Garden in Mixed Farming. — During the last few
years, aside from the greater interest in vegetable grow-
ing on the part of the settlers, which has been noted, there
has been a decided gain through the efforts of newer resi-
dents to make their smaller holdings self-supplying and
income-yielding, as well, by due attention to vegetable
growing. All through the State the interest has quick-
ened and the accomplishment has shown that the old idea
that only special, narrow areas were suited to garden lo-
cations, was a misconception. Instances are ample to show
not only that proper practice brings ample success almost
everywhere, but such practice, coupled with intelligent
planning, yields such variety of delicious esculents as only
a semi-tropical climate allows. This is one of the distinc-
tive advantages of California and it favors the develop-
ment of small farms of mixed husbandry as well as those
devoted to specialties. Of course there are limitations
and locations should be selected with discrimination for
either mixed or special farming. The mixed farm in an
ever growing climate makes requirements it is true but it
also bestows compensations. As the forces ministering to
growth are continuously active, the full use of them be-
speaks corresponding activity on the part of man. There
must be a determination to make almost every moment tell
in some useful effort. There will be play for the sharpest
ingenuity in devising means and methods for time-saving
and ceaseless study to make the soil bear the burden of the
table to the fullest degree. Small farming requires genius,
devotion, and a spirit of content. Its work, when one ac-
quires or is born with a liking for it, is full of cheer and
enjoyment. Its varied nature is itself a charm. The trees,
vines, plants, and domestic animals will rise almost to the
plane of companionship. Man, wife and children will join
in the spirit of the enterprise they are carrying on with
united heart and hand, and love for home will grow and
blossom forth as it seldom does in mansions or on princely
estates. Thus the modest calling has its compensations.

THE HEN IN GARDENING 27

The influence of such homes upon the State is most salu-
tary. Sound ideas of economy become prevalent; honor
and honesty are qualities which win popular approval.
Thus, the State becomes really prosperous and sound at
the core. The crowning need of California agriculture
is to build up enterprises which will stand alone. We have
been leaning too long on the shoulders of bankers and
commission merchants and commanders of country stores.
Without them it is true much that has been done could
not have been accomplished, but it is also true that many
losing effort which have been vainly put forth would never
have been attempted, and those who have made' these
efforts would be the better for it. Who can tell how many
would have attained moderate and comfortable successes
if they had started without encumbrance on a modest
plan instead of wasting time with big schemes whose
whole returns have gone to feed hungry mortgages and
interest accounts, until failure has swept from them the
property which they proudly hoped to possess.

But why intrude this homily ? The garden is one of the
elements of success in mixed farming. Around it other
elements naturally gather. As gleaners and profitable
transformers of garden wastes and surpluses into home
supplies and garden restoratives, the cow, the pig, and the
hen await outside the garden fence. Be sure to keep
them there, and the garden will be a liberal contributor to
their vigor and productiveness.

•

'.TifJOK L

CHAPTER III.
f-w.il •/./ .

CALIFORNIA CLIMATE AS RELATED TO VEGE-
TABLE GROWING.

It is not necessary to attempt an elaborate exposition of
the characters of the California climate. Such characteri-
zation has been made by different authorities from various
points of view. It may be claimed in a general way that
our climates are as kindly disposed toward vegetable
growth as they«are towards the development of fruits
or the early maturity, thrift and comfort of animals. The
ordinary exemption from ground-freezing at any time of
the year; the absence or very rare and localized occur-
rence of soil-shifting winds or even of winds to prostrate
tall growths ; freedom from wide extremes in temperature ;
and only occasionally great changes in atmospheric hu-
midity; adequate heat for rapid growth with a dry, but
seldom desiccating air, which prevents much of the fun-
gous growth of hot, humid climates and consequently in-
sures a grand and healthy leaf-action to the plant ; abun-
dant sunshine, but seldom, and then only in few localities,
rising to leaf burning; ample moisture either by rainfall
or irrigation, or one supplementing the other — all these
characters and others like them, constitute a climate of
exceptional advantage to the vegetable grower. They
reduce provisions for protection to a minimum ; a cloud of
smoke or a lot of small fires for the frost ; a high fence or
a line of trees for the wind, a lath or slight brush cover-
ing or the neighborly shadow of a taller growth for the
most tender foliage; frequent cultivation to retain mois-
ture in the soil after rain or irrigation, and the garden will
go through the year with ample protection at its weakest

COAST VALLEYS. 29

points. And all these are not needed in the same locality ;
in fact some localities need none of them except the mois-
ture retention which is universal.

V
LOCAL VARIATIONS IN CLIMATE.

Although it is possible to grow almost all vegetables
everywhere in the State by intelligent selecting the proper
time of the year for each, as shown in other chapters, and
although few localities have climates so uniform and
equable that by providing proper moisture conditions
nearly all vegetables can be grown all the year, it is still
possible to define regions with somewhat distinctive cli-
matic characters bearing upon garden and field growth of
edible plants.

Coast Valleys — A considerable volume of vegetable
products of California is grown in the coast valleys. This
term includes both well-defined valleys of greater or less
breadth, and stretches of rather flat or gently sloping
land, open to ocean influences. It is a region extending
the whole length of the State and lying between the high-
est elevation of the Coast Range and the ocean. In the
upper half of the State it is composed chiefly of well-
defined valleys somewhat parallel to the coast, but pro-
tected by low ranges which modify and mollify ocean in-
fluences, insuring higher temperature and more gentle
winds than are found directly on the coast. In the south-
ern part of the State the region chiefly consists of broad
areas quite open to the ocean but needing no barriers from
it because, owing to the trend of the coast, the lower lati-
tude and the greater distance south from the source of
the prevailing air currents, the ocean influences are them-
selves modified before they reach the lands. In all this
vast region, then, similar conditions prevail, locally modi-
fied, however, enough to create some marked differences
in degree, which have been well utilized as the basis of
special production. The difference in degree may be speci-
fied in this way : Temperature rises and rainfall decreases

30 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

as you proceed southward. Take an instance of specializ-
ing production : Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma coun-
ties, coast side, low temperature and large rainfall, known
from the earliest times as a great potato country; San
Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, coast
side, higher temperatures and light rainfall, producing
a considerable part of all the beans grown in the State.
And yet though these differences thus notably localize
production, the whole coast region north and south has
this in common ; it has a more equable and lower tempera-
ture and a more generous rainfall than the interior valley
at its own latitude ; it also has lighter frosts, growing
lighter still toward the south until it incloses regions here
and there which favoring topography makes practically
frostless. Such situations favor all-the-year growth of the
tenderest vegetables, and perennial beans and tomato
trees are possible.

Interior Lowlands. — A region which has recently greatly
advanced in importance in vegetable production comprises
the lower lands of the interior valleys. They lie along
the two great rivers of the northern and central parts of
California — the Sacramento and San Joaquin, and their
tributaries. These rivers flow from nearly two hundred
miles, north and south of their confluence, where they
mingle their waters through numerous sloughs until the
joint streams pour through a gap in the coast range into
San Francisco bay. The same gap which lets out the
waters lets in the ocean current of moisture-laden wind
and moderates the heat of the entire interior valley, but
naturally dispenses most moisture and coolness over the
lowlands which lie just in its course as it rushes north-
ward and southward to displace the air which is rarified
by the sun heat on the interior plains of the great valley.
These interior lowlands along the lower stretches of the
rivers have then an interior climate modified by the in-
trusion from the coast, but this only acts in full measure
during June, July and August. It serves, therefore, as a

RIVER LAND VEGETABLES. 31

moderator of heat and drought during that period and
supplements the supply of aqueous vapor which rises by
evaporation from the immense acreage of tule swamps
and shallow lakes which surround the tillable lands of
the region. Climatic conditions in this large interior area
favor the growth of vegetables and its producing capa-
city is beyond any present commercial use which can be
made of it. But though it has a temporary coast modi-
fication, as has been stated it falls back into interior habits
when restraint is removed. It has intervals of hot, dry
winds which exclude the coast winds from access to the
valley and then intense dry heat calls for ample water
supply, which, fortunately, however, is easily applied,
because at such season the rivers and sloughs are running
full and if seepage is not enough, siphons or flood-gates
admit water from the high-running rivers or pumps yield
great volumes at little cost. But the interior lowlands
have another more grievous trait. As they lie low they
are the scenes of the latest spring and earliest autumn
frosts and their season for tender vegetables is shorter
than that of the coast, though with their higher heat and
copious moisture their mid-season product of these ten-
der crops may out-volume a slower, longer season on the
coast. But the earliest and the latest tender vegetables
do not come from the interior lowlands.

There are interior lowlands of wonderful producing
capacity at considerable distances from the confluence of
the two rivers just mentioned. For about three hundred
miles the river lands extend both northward and south-
ward, offering an area of moist or easily-irrigated land of
such fertility and extent that it suggests its own ability
to produce vegetables for the whole country. At present
hardly an appreciable fraction of one per cent of it is
employed in production for which it is best fitted. In the
future its lower levels will be the Holland and its upper
extensions the Nile valley of California. The farther these
lowlands lie from the mouths of the rivers the less they re-

32 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

ceive of coast influences. This gives the distant lowlands
a higher temperature and greater forcing power upon
vegetation. The nights are warm as well as the days.
Vegetables of prodigious size and acre-crops which tax
credulity, are the result of the favoring conditions. But
these lands are low and danger of frost makes it necessary
to select crops for hardiness during a part of the year.

Interior Plains and Foothills. — Above and away from the
lowlands of the rivers and their deltas the interior plains
stretch far as the eye can reach, and rise, both on the east
and west, into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and the
coast ranges. In southern California somewhat similar
regions occur as the lands rise from the coast flats to the
mesas and foothills of the high, incurved mountain range
which encloses the splendid coast region of southern Cali-
fornia. The great interior plains of southern California
irrigated from the Colorado river and adjacent valleys
irrigated from wells constitute a vast vegetable growing
district which has recently attained notable development.
There are similar climatic conditions prevailing through
these vast interior regions both north and south — except
that the extreme south has by its latitude and its escape
from ocean influence, a frost freedom and spring time
heat which enable it to produce the earliest vegetables in
the State. In the interior regions the rainfall is light as
compared with the coast until the mountain climate is
encountered at varying elevations, when it becomes even
greater than on the coast. The mean temperature is
higher and, except in certain localities, the frosts cover
a shorter period and are less severe. Winter growth of
vegetables is widely feasible and plants of less hardi-
hood than those of the lowlands are usually safe. But
the rains cease earlier in the spring and heat and drought
make irrigation essential long before it is required nearer
the coast. For summer growth of vegetables, except on
small areas moistened by underflow from mountain springs
or valley cienegas, irrigation must be provided. These

FOOTHILLS AND MOUNTAINS. 33

are the regions which were formerly most apt to be con-
demned as unfit for vegetable growing, and it is upon such
lands that most failures and disappointments occur. It is
true that local climatic conditions here need most radical
modification by art of man, but it is here also that prompt
and timely work and adequate irrigation, wind protection
and partial shade win their greatest victories. There is
really no reason why the energetic, enterprising man
should hesitate for a moment about undertaking prepara-
tion for his home supply of vegetables. Commercial un-
dertakings in vegetable growing may have to be confined
to fewer plants grown just at the right season and with
special methods, but even a small water supply with ample
will and work will give a full variety for the family table.

At certain elevations on the mesas and foothills of the
Sierra Nevada and Coast ranges, sheltered by local topog-
rophy, there are practically frostless regions with ample
winter rains where winter growth is so fostered that the
earliest vegetables as well as the earliest fruits are pro-
duced. Some tender vegetables may be ready for the
table on the higher location before it is safe to plant the
seed on the lower level. And the two situations may be
in full sight of each other. It is a fact that in small val-
leys of the foothills late and early frosts, sharp and de-
structive, may be more prevalent than on the lowlands
of the broad valley below, while on the slopes above
them tender plants may be safe.

Mountain Valleys. — Among the mountain peaks and
ridges from three thousand feet upward are slopes and
valleys which are very productive of vegetables. As ele-
vation decreases, wintry features become intensified and
range of winter growth less and less until in the true
"mountain valleys," which lie among the summits of the
Sierra Nevada, the winter is a closed season of snow and
ice and the garden becomes a summer affair as in the
Eastern States. Growth, however, during the open sea
son is very rapid and satisfactory, moisture is abundant

34 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

and irrigation facilities ample in the abundant supplies
of snow waters from above, which need however to be
moderated in temperature before distribution. In this
region gardening seasons and practices are more compar-
able with eastern policies and methods and are not charac-
teristically Californian as the term is usually understood.

GENERAL CHARACTERS OF CALIFORNIA CLIMATE.

The proper conclusion from the foregoing discussion
is that each California locality must be separately studied
to determine its climatic adaptations for vegetable grow-
ing and its season for the best discharge of the various
gardening duties. There are, however, some generaliza-
tions concerning leading climatic features as related to
vegetable growing which may be of assistance to distant
readers.

Relative Occurrences of Cloudiness and Sunshine in Cal-
ifornia Regions. — Due proportion of sunlight, warmth and
moisture is necessary to produce quick and healthy vege-
tation. Cloudiness is also an important element, since the
presence of clouds screens the earth and diminishes the
heat received by vegetation from the direct rays of the
sun. So also, acting as a screen, it prevents in a measure
the radiation of heat from the earth into space, and this
materially tends to modify and reduce the daily range
of temperature, so that growing vegetation is not subject
to as great cold as would otherwise obtain during the
night, nor on the other hand, does it receive the full
amount of solar heat by day.

It should be borne in mind that the weather condi-
tions most favorable for vegetable growing are in some
respects different from those which minister to the per-
gection of fruits. The fruit tree, with its roots deep
in a moist soil, welcomes high heat to mature its fruit.
The perfection of the esculent falls far short of the. ma-
turity of the plant and lies mainly in the measure and
tenderness of foliage, stem, immature fruit or fleshy root.

RAINFALL AND FROST. 35

These are usually best attained at a degree of heat less
than required for fruit ripening. Again edible plants as
compared with trees are shallow-rooting and suffer in a
very hot surface soil which a tree escapes by penetration
of the subsoil. The growth of winter vegetables is ad-
vanced by abundant sunshine during the rainy season;
the growth of summer vegetables is promoted by cloud-
screen from excessive sun heat, and it is clearly refreshed
by summer fog. Herein, in part at least, lies the explana-
tion why the earliest vegetables come from interior re-
gions and the main crop of midseason and late vegetables
is to be sought in regions whose climate is modified by
cool coast winds, which sometimes carry fogs and always
temper sun action by their content of insensible aqueous
vapor. Some plants are especially responsive to this ac-
tion of coast breezes. Lima beans on the Ventura coast
are sometimes rescued from failure through deficient rain-
fall, by days of cool, misty breezes from the adjacent
ocean. The same is true in varying degrees of all vege-
tation and the fact is often of very great economic im-
portance to California. v

Distribution of Rainfall. — The local rainfall throughout
the State has of course about the same relation to local
gardening as it has to other farm work, but it seems
hardly necessary to discuss it in this place, because it is
possible now to secure the data from different sources.
Local observers almost everywhere can furnish the facts.
It is, however, pertinent to present a general compilation
which fixes approximately the date at which effective
rains may be expected in each main division of the State
and thus impart a somewhat definite notion of when the
natural season of growth will begin. All should be in
readiness beforehand to seize upon this opportunity for
soil working, if one is to proceed without irrigation, and
for the planting of seeds of hardy vegetables which will
withstand the local winter temperature and give the
earliest readiness for use under the circumstances.

36 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

The Occurrence of Frosts in California. — The occurrence
of frost in California is, from one point of view, a purely
local question. As has already been stated, the frosty and
the frostless places are often in sight of each other on
the same landscape from the same point of view. It can
be even more closely drawn than that. It is sometimes
quite as plainly to be seen as the high-water line of a
river flood on a sloping meadow. This occurs of course in
what are termed the thermal belts and is determined by
elevation, air currents, outflow levels and several other
incidents of local topography. There are often wide va-
riations in these lines from year to year and yet there is
steadfastness enough about the phenomena to enable resi-
dents to agree among themselves as to what localities are
' ' in the frost ' ' and what are out of it. Upon this decision
depends the business risk in planting out beans, peppers,
tomatoes, etc., for winter growth, and it is upon such fields
that the frost, not always content with the local definition
of its limits, draws the dead line which the morning sun
brings into such fateful prominence. Of course the grower
is not necessarily content to accept such natural bounda-
ries of the thermal belt. He can materially change it all
by frost-fighting, but the discussion of that matter be-
longs to another chapter.

It is important to know as nearly as possible the be-
ginning and end of the frost free period in each locality,
and data to assist in determining this fact are given in
the chapter on The Planting Season.

CHAPTER IV.
VEGETABLE SOILS OF CALIFORNIA.

Soils which favor the most satisfactory growth of vege-
tables are those which are most easily maintained in a con-
dition of tilth to promote seed germination and rapid es-
tablishment of the seedling in sure-growing contact with
the soil-substance; soils which facilitate deep-root pene-
tration by the advancing plant so that moisture and plant
food shall be rapidly reached, and which have sufficient
retentive power and capillarity to maintain adequate mois-
ture within reach of the roots and such amount of plant
food that the plant may attain the greatest growth in the
least time. Soils with these characters have also the
most valuable incidental qualities of warmth, to foster
vegetative processes; porosity to facilitate the escape of
surplus water and the entrance of the air with its con-
stituents which promote root action and modification of
the soil substance and absorptive power to readily receive
and deeply distribute rainfall or irrigation. These are
high requirements, for it is an ideal soil which possesses
them all.

Ideal Soils Not Essential. — Fortunately gardening art is
amply able to supply natural deficiencies in nearly all
respects and, if he is working for high-priced products on
a comparatively small area, the vegetable grower can of-
ten profitably make considerable expenditure for soil im-
provement. Market gardeners need no exhortation in this
line, but the home gardener should be urged not to de-
spair because of any refractory character in the soil he
is obliged to utilize. If he study the subject by the aid
of most excellent treatises recently written on the soil and

38 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

its amelioration he can proceed rationally and accom-
plish marvels with Will, Work and Water upon almost
any soil, from a brick yard to a desert. City people have
grown their table supplies on housetops; no ruralist can
find a less productive subsoil.

Light Rather Than Heavy Soils. — The characters already
cited point clearly to what is commonly designated as a
Bather light soil as best for vegetable growing. The ex-
creme variations in soils are popularly known as heavy
adobe and light sandy soils. Neither are usually counted
suitable for garden purposes without treatment to over-
come their defects and yet as the terms are used in some
California regions, there are very good gardens on both
of them. The explanation is that in such localities one has
less sand and one less clay than the other. Both are
really loams or mixtures of sand and clay: one a clayey
loam, the other a loamy sand. Aside from this misappre-
hension of terms we have of course clays (locally called
"adobe") which are true enough to the type to bring
despair to the most patient gardener and we have washes
of pure sand on which a shallow-rooting plant could hardly
live with a stream of water running beside it. But our
shifting sands of the interior plains and our so-called
deserts are sandy loams which yield profusely when prop-
erly irrigated. For the improvement of defective soils for
the farm-garden, suggestions will be given later.

Soils Naturally Excellent. — For field growth of vegeta-
bles in California the grower is usually content to proceed
upon the natural texture and fertility of his soil. The
crop is chosen to suit the local soil and climate, conse-
quently we have districts becoming famous for special
vegetable products as demand for them in considerable
quantities is demonstrated. In such districts the soils
are rather light and yet ample in richness to endure for
some time the drain of continuous cropping in the same
line. We have areas of such soils considerably in excess
of their present profitable use. They constitute one of our

40 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

undeveloped resources and are a surety of future advance-
ment.

For the very gratifying amount of accurate knowledge of
California soils which is now available a debt of honor
is due to Dr. E. W. Hilgard, formerly Professor of Agri-
culture and Director of the Experiment Stations of the
University of California, who has given a lifetime to ad-
vanced investigations in soil physics and chemistry. It
is from his publications1 that we shall condense some ac-
count of the specific character of those soils which are
most nearly related to local production of vegetables, leav-
ing out of account the heavy adobe, which is little used
for these crops except by gardeners who radically change
its physical character.

Prevailing Character of California Soils. — In his inter-
esting contrast of the soils of arid and humid regions, Dr.
Hilgard makes some generalizations, which we collate to
serve our present purpose.

The character of the soils of the arid regions is predomi-
nantly sandy or silty, with but a small portion of clay un-
less derived directly or indirectly from pre-existing for-
mations of clay or clay shales.

The idea of inherent fertility has been associated so
generally with soils of a more or less clayey character,
that the newcomer will frequently be suspicious of the
productiveness and desirability of the sandy or silty soils
of the arid region that experience has shown to be of the
highest type in both respects.

Another point of great importance .is that the differ-
ence between soil and subsoil, which is so striking and
important in regions of abundant rainfall, is largely ob-
literated in arid climates. Very commonly hardly a per-
ceptible change of tint or texture is found for depths of

^'Soils: Their Formation, Properties, Composition and Relations
to Climate and Plant Growth"; also "Agriculture for Schools of
the Pacific Slope," by Hilgard and Osterhout. These works can
be furnished by the PACIFIC RURAL PRESS of San Francisco.-

CALIFORNIA SOILS RICH. 41

several feet and material from such depths, when thrown
on the surface, is nearly or quite as fertile as the original
surface soil. In the case of a cellar dug near Nevada
City, the red soil mass excavated from a depth of seven
to ten feet was spread over part of a vegetable garden near
by and tomatoes,, beans and watermelons were planted on
it. The growth was even better than on the parts of the
old surface not covered, which had apparently become
somewhat exhausted by years of use.

Examination has shown that the percentage of humus
or vegetable mold is less in the soils of the arid region,
but their humus contains more nitrogen. Thus, prob-
ably, on the average not only is the aggregate supply
of nitrogen in the soils of the arid region approximately
equal to that of humid soils, but its absorption by plants
is exceptionally favored by climatic conditions.

As to the minerals which constitute fertility, the soils
of the arid region contain nearly fifteen times as much
lime, five times as much magnesia, three times as much
potash and about the same amount of phosphoric acid as
the soils of the humid regions.

Significance of These facts. — These leading characteris-
tics of California's horticultural soils are of the highest
significance to the vegetable grower because they show
that California is rich in soils of ideal excellence for his
purposes. They are light soils and therefore easy of cul-
tivation and not disposed to bake on drying; they are
deep, consequently well drained and yet absorptive and
retentive enough : they are exceptionally rich, consequently
extremely productive and durable and they can often be
given a new fertile surface by deep turning from the' fer-
tility of the greater depths. This was the natural en-
dowment which enabled the pioneer vegetable growers to
disturb the horticulaural peace of the world in 1849-50.
It remains to foster the achievements of later years and it
will endure definitely into the future.

The distribution of these desirable soils gives all re-

42 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

gions a share in them. Either as residual loams resulting
from the decomposition of adjacent rocks, or as transported
loams which have been carried greater or less distances
by wind, glacial action or other moving force, or as allu-
vial or sediment soils, deposited by action of flowing
streams, every California county has its vegetable soils in
ample measure. Such is the diversity of soils within
narrow areas in California that it may not take a very
large farm to inclose several diverse types, and it is the
first duty of the settler to learn their special characters
and adaptations and plan his production accordingly.

Alluvial or Sediment Soils. — Though there is marked
difference in the origin of our soils which are suitable for
vegetable growing, when proper moisture conditions are
arranged, it is naturally the alluvial or sediment soils
which have hitherto been chiefly used. They have been
deposited by recent or ancient water courses and have
formelrly served as river banks or river and lake bottoms.
They have beneath them, generally quite far below, the
prevailing soil of the adjacent country. They consist of
fine alluvium with seldom any admixture of coarse mate-
rials. They are usually very deep and well drained. They
occur sometimes at a considerably higher level than ex-
isting streams and are sometimes designated as ''next to
river bottom, ' ' while the lower levels constitute the ' ' river
bottom." In some small valleys they have spread deeply
all over the original soil, having been washed in such quan-
tities from adjacent hills, and in larger valleys have
spread for considerable distances out upon the plain.
These are primarily the fruit lands, but they are also
largely used for such vegetables as thrive upon lighter and
drier soils. Below are the present river bottoms, usually
dark, rich and moist and not subject to baking or crack-
ing, which are, par excellence, vegetable lands.

Peat Lands. — Another class of alluvial soils is known as
peat soils, which consist of mixtures in various propor-
tions of silt and sediment with the debris of centuries'

IMPROVING HEAVY SOILS. 43

growth of swamp plants which the streams have currently
overflowed in flood times or over which they have risen
daily as the tide wall has held back their waters. This
organic matter from the aquatic plants is in various
stages of decomposition, but in the best of the lands has
been reduced to fineness by cultivation after the floods
and tides have been excluded by levees, or by natural
barriers interposed by stream or wave action, or by re-
cession of lake waters according as the situation is on the
coast or distant interior. This light but very deep and
rich soil especially suits some plants and is the basis
of some of our export vegetable business, as for instance,
celery growing. Such soils are of course used locally for
all esculent plants which thrive upon them and which
the market favors. Such lands are in vast area in many
parts of the State, from near the ocean to the margins
of interior rivers and lakes and waters of interior plateaux
as well. In the heat of the interior valley they dry
out very rapidly when seepage or overflow from streams
and sloughs is cut off by levees. They are non-retentive,
owing to the coarseness of their structure, but irrigation is
easily accomplished, as will be noted in the proper con-
nection.

IMPROVEMENT OF SOIL TEXTURE FOR
GARDENING.

Aside from such treatment of the soil as is designed to
increase its fertility, which will be considered in the
chapter on fertilizing, it seems fitting in this connection
to suggest measures by which the texture of the soil may
be improved when necessary. This is important in the
farm garden because there may not be anything approach-
ing an ideal garden soil inside the line fences. But this
fact should not discourage the home gardener, as has
already been intimated.

If one observes the operations of market gardeners or
reads any treatise on gardening written for the older

44 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

countries, he is apt to conclude that the Creator has done
little for the modern garden except to furnish a place
to put it, because the chief art of gardening seems to con-
sist in using as little of the natural soil as possible. This
state of affairs has not arisen in California yet, for the
reasons shown in the descriptions of our garden soils, and
yet we do not mean to suggest that the farm gardener
should in all cases expect to reach satisfactory results
without due effort for soil improvement on the small area
which he expects to yield so much.

Improvement of Adobe Soils. — Our adobes, especially
those of the darker hues, are rich and durable. In com-
mon with heavy clay soils everywhere, they are retentive
of moisture. In our arid summers, however, they lose
their moisture speedily by evaporation, if untilled, and
dry out to a greater depth than lighter soils. They are
refractory under tillage and unless caught at just the
right moment they are either wax or rock under the plow,
and the cultivator will either stick fast or ride over the
surface. And yet if one has nothing but adobe he is not
as badly off as he might be, because adobe is easily suscep-
tible of improvement. The points to attain are several,
but they are inter-related and effort for one measurably
helps toward all.

The free use of air-slaked lime applied about the time
of the first rains is the first and simplest effort toward
breaking up the tenacity of the soil. This should be done
no matter what greater efforts are to be undertaken later.

Deep and thorough tillage, taking the soil at just that
condition of moisture when it works well with plow and
harrow, will be found to progressively improve its tilla-
bility by mere action of air and implements. If this is
all that can be undertaken at first, do this thoroughly and
put in the cultivator after each heavy rain as soon as the
proper condition of soil arrives, so as to prevent baking
of the surface. For winter growth of vegetables in re-

IMPROVING HEAVY SOILS. 45

gions of ample rainfall, use the ridge system, which will be
described in a subsequent chapter.

But liming and persistent tillage are only temporizing
with adobe and do not accomplish permanent reform.
The first rational step is to resort to adequate drainage.
Tile drains two and a half or three feet deep and twenty
feet apart will do for garden plants. This leaves a clear
surface for working over, but, if the expense of tiling is
not desired, open ditches will answer, but they restrict
cultivation to one direction, waste land, and are expen-
sive in hand work in killing weeds in the ditches. Open
ditches are, however, better than no ditches at all. The
effect of drainage is to promote friability, to render the
soil tillable earlier and oftener, by the quick removal of
surplus water, and to promote seed germination and plant
growth.

The aeration of adobe by drainage and tillage accom-
plishes a considerable improvement but still more radi-
cal reform measures are desirable. The soil particles are
naturally too small. They must be separated by interposi-
tion of coarser grains. Plow into the soil as much coarse
material as possible.

Farm-yard manure, straw, sand, old plaster, coal
ashes, sawdust, almost anything coarse or gritty which
will break up the close adherence of the fine clay par-
ticles, release the surplus water and let in the air, will
produce a marked effect in reducing the hateful
baking and cracking, root-tearing and moisture-losing be-
havior of the adobe. Scrape the corrals, rake up the leaves
and fine litter of all kinds, make the adobe garden patch
the graveyard for all the rubbish which is susceptible of
decay. The farm will be neater and the garden will pay
the expense in its easier working and better growth. Do
this every year before the rains come, and you will rejoice
that you had an adobe foundation for the farm garden.

The Improvement of Light, Sindy Soils. — This effort is
in some cases more difficult than conquering adobe. It all

46 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

depends upon the coarseness of the sand and the subsoil
upon which it rests. If soil and subsoil are coarse sand
or gravel to a considerable depth, shallow rooting plants
will fail unless they can finish their growth during the
rainy season. Summer growth is impossible because water
will flow through their sieve-like structure and carry
away plant food with it. With moisture leaching away
below and flying away above, and with intense sun heat
burning the foliage by direct contact and reflection, such
wash soils are indescribably worse than adobe.

But sandy soils which are imposed upon clay or hard-
pan, providing the underlying stratum is not alkaline,
furnish very promising garden materials, even though
the layer be too shallow for the growth of trees. Many
fruit growers are struggling to maintain trees on such
spots in their orchards when they should forsake the ef-
wort and by adequate use of water and manure turn such
spots into family gardens. The holding of water near
the surface, which is fatal to tree roots, is the opportunity
for the growth of most vegetables. Depth of soil which
is so strongly insisted upon in treatises on gardening, con-
stitutes a storehouse of moisture and plant food, but it
has been abundantly demonstrated the world over that
depth is not essential provided the plant is otherwise fed
and watered. California gardens proceeding upon rain-
fall alone, need a deep, retentive soil; the irrigated gar-
den may thrive upon a soil too coarse to be retentive pro-
viding it has a tight bottom to hold moisture within reach
of shallow rooting plants. Therefore reclaim such sand
by providing a home water supply, if not in an irrigated
region, and use plenty of well-composted and decayed ma-
nure, which will not only feed the plants but will also
reform its texture and transform the coarse sand into
a rich garden soil, kind in cultivation and prodigious in its
yield of succulent vegetables, for sand is best of all ma-
terial for free and rapid root development.

CHAPTER V.
GARDEN IRRIGATION.

It has already been intimated that the irrigated garden
should be the aim of all who desire to attain the fullest
satisfaction in vegetable growing. But while it is true
that the California gardener must have irrigation to do
his best and to give him a solid year of rotations and
successions in his garden, due emphasis must be laid upon
the fact that in suitable locations the unirrigated garden
in California is a greater treasure than at the east. This
fact is due to the character of our winter climate, which,
as has been shown in a previous chapter, is actually a
growing season for all but the vegetables which will
endure no frost. By using to their fullest capacity our
six rainy months, by early cultivation and planting, which
will be fully explained later, midwinter and spring vege-
tables can be produced in great variety; and by proper
cultivation for the retention of moisture, tender vegeta-
bles, planted toward the end of the rainy season, will
find moisture enough stored in the soil to carry them to
perfection in midsummer and autumn, although not a
drop of rain may fall from the sowing of the seed to
the gathering of the crop. For this reason owners of
fairly deep and retentive soil in regions of ample rainfall
can attain splendid results without irrigation, if they will
only be alert for prompt work and persistent in summer
cultivation.

What can be done in California with the unirrigated
garden depends upon conditions existing in each locality.
Character and depth of soil, amount of rainfall, degree
of heat, and percentage of relative humidity in the air,

48 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

the lay of the land — all these are determining factors,
in addition to the dates of frost occurrence which fix the
opening and closing of the season for tender plants in
the open ground. Therefore let no man conclude that
he cannot grow vegetables until he completes his arrange-
ment for irrigation unless he is sure that his winter rain-
fall is too uncertain to grow even a crop of wheat, for
a rainfall that will carry the wheat plant to maturity
will also produce quite a variety of garden vegetables
with proper practice in early sowing and frequent cul-
tivation.

And from this low-water mark the unirrigated garden
proceeds upward with richer endowment of favoring local
conditions, insuring length of growing season and variety
of vegetables until it really becomes a question whether
irrigation is needed at all. It certainly is not for ample
yield of many, possibly all, of the staples of the garden,
but to insure a succession of salads and relishes, pot-
herbs and legumes — in short, to enjoy the fulness of the
California season, the irrigated garden is the thing to
be diligently striven for.

SOURCES OF IRRIGATION WATER.

Whence the garden shall receive its water supply is a
question for each to determine according to his environ-
ment. Water is now flowing over California gardens
from various sources as the result of all sorts of indi-
vidual, co-operative, and corporate efforts and invest-
ments. It would require volumes to describe them. Large
irrigation enterprises are the joint work of engineers and
capitalists. That gardener is fortunate who has only to
buy his water from a fair-dealing ditch company or draw
his share from a co-operative water company in which
he has an interest. Such a source is best of all because
causing least labor and expense in average cases. But
there will always remain opportunities, probably, where
farm gardens can command their own irrigation supplies

SOURCES OP WATER.

49

at a cost which will warrant the effort. It is in this line
that a few suggestions will be offered.

Surface Sources. — In the unirrigated regions of the
State there are countless opportunities for home supplies

'~~-a*G»'''

BOGGY LAND PRODUCED BY SEEPAGE.

RECLAIMED BY RESERVOIR BUILDING.

of irrigation water by the simple process of allowing it
to run down hill your way instead of that way which is
natural to it. Water which would be of great value in
the house and barn and farm garden is allowed to flow
by in its own deep channel when a very little use of the

50 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Level would show that a part of it could be taken out
into a ditch or pipe, higher up its course through the
farm, and brought along with less fail than it naturally
takes, until it reaches the buildings high up the slope
above the bank instead of in the deep bed it has cut in
the soil below. This is very simple and inexpensive, and
yet we have many hillside places in the central and north-
ern parts of the State where the water is carried up by
hand to the house, and the animals are driven down to
the water, and the garden is neglected because it is too
hard work to haul water up to it. Of course, there are
many cases where such an obvious resource of the farm
has been utilized, but there are many where it is neglected.

Many springs on the hillsides are allowed to be
trampled into mudholes by the stock, which need but
cleaning out and opening up to yield a water-flow beyond
any amount which the old outcropping would indicate.
A short pipe line would deliver water in the tops of the
buildings if desired and would generously irrigate all the
land needed for the family garden. And yet the hillsides
are full of unused springs.

Between the hills above the building sites there are
many intervales which are impassable in the rainy season
and covered with a growth of sedges and swamp grass
all summer. They are natural reservoirs of greater or
less capacity, holding the surface water and underflow
from the hillsides. In the dry season plowing and scrap-
ing will easily fashion a small reservoir at the lowest
point of the intervale and a pipe line will bring down
water at least for irrigation, if it is not suited for other
uses. Or if there be below a better site for a reservoir,
underdrainage of the swamp will turn it to the growth
of good grasses while the outflow from the drains can
be concerted into garden crops below.

Again even when the surface after the rainy season
shows no sign of moisture, it is often possible to keep a
good supply in sight by closing some small vale and dry

SOURCES OF WATER. 51

creek bed with a dam to hold for summer use in the
garden some part of the volumes of water which rush
down from the watershed during the winter rains.

Subterranean Water Sources. — There are few places
where water for a home garden cannot be had by well-
digging and there are many large districts where flowing
wells are secured by shallow boring. At the bases of hills
horizontal wells or tunnels are frequently satisfactory.
The capacity of these wells and tunnels is sometimes very
great. They often warrant long-ditch lines or figure in
the supply of towns and cities. Unquestionably the pres-
ent development of water by these means is only a frac-
tion of what is possible, and the owner of untried land
should undertake a reasonable amount of prospecting. It
is, of course, easy to waste money in this way, but if one
proceeds after as full study as he can make of the surface,
the outcroppings of rock, the experience of others in the
same region, he is pretty sure to realize upon reasonable
anticipations.

Excavation in dry creek beds of gravel and boulders
have often brought to light considerable underflow which
has been arrested and the water stored by cement dams
resting on the bedrock.

Flowing wells and wells which bring the water near to
the surface constitute the main source of subterranean
water employed in California. They have reclaimed large
districts which were formerly arid wastes and they are
largely used also for summer crops in the regions of ample
winter rains. Well borers equipped with good appliances
are to be found in all parts of the State.

WATER-LIFTING DEVICES.

At this point it will be well to remark that any gardener
is fortunate who has water brought to the highest point
of his plantation by its own weight without a struggle on
his part against the force of gravity, and yet there are,
of course, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of instances of

52 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

satisfactory home gardening by simple water-lifting de-
vices.

Horizontal Windmills. — Devices based upon the over-
shot-wheel principle are used to some extent on this coast,
but the summer winds at the ground surface are usually
too light to operate them well. In its simplest form this
windmill consists of four boards, about seven feet long,
fastened to long arms projecting from an axle, which has
bearings on two strong posts or a framework. The wind
only strikes the upper part of the wheel, the lower part
being inclosed by a board fence. In a slight breeze the
mill revolves about 20 revolutions per minute, but in a
good, stiff gale it flies so fast that a sliding board must
be raised to shut off the wind. The wheel is connected
with the plunger of the pump by means of a crank at one
end of the axle.

Gasoline and Crude Oil Engines. — These devices have
been greatly improved during the last few years and are
now being largely employed for water lifting for irriga-
tion. There are several manufacturers in California, the
fuel is very cheap here, and this, in connection with the
ease with which the engines are managed, constitute them
most economical and satisfactory agencies for pumping.
The manufacturers give full information and can usually
cite engines in operation in different localities where their
performances can be personally ascertained.

Steam Engines. — Pumping plants of great capacity
operating by steam power are also in use for irrigation.
Large vegetable growing enterprises render considerable
investment in these lines profitable. Their construction
and operation are, however, rather beyond the scope of
this work. The advice of a mechanical engineer should
be secured in all large undertakings.

The Chinese Pump. — A water-lifting device which is
very effective for a short lift, as from a ditch gr stream
to adjoining lands, is the Chinese pump, which has long
been in use in California. It is a modified "Persian

LIFTING WATER. 53

wheel," and is so simple that it can be home-made with
old threshing machine gearing or other mechanical junk.
It consists of an endless belt working like the "elevator"
or "straw carrier" of a threshing machine. For instance,
take an old machine belt eight inches wide and twenty feet
long or sew together strong canvas to make one. Make
a box or trough about nine feet long, eight inches wide
and six inches deep inside measurement, with no ends
nor cover. Rig at each end of this box a wheel or pulley
over which the endless belt can run. Fasten to the belt,
a few inches apart, blocks scant eight inches long and
four inches wide, so that the belt will have a flat surface
on one side and the other crossed with the blocks. When
this is placed in the box and over the pulleys at each end
fasten the box securely in an inclined position with the
lower end in the water, turn the upper pulley by a hand
crank or a small belt from a source of power and the
blocks will elevate the water and shoot it out from the
top of the box in fine style. For a short lift this apparatus
discharges quite a large volume of water with compara-
tively little power.

DEVICES FOR SELF-LIFTING WATER SUPPLY.

Where running water is at hand in ample supply and
with adequate velocity, the water can be made to lift itself
to a distributing point, if not too high. The most capa-
cious agencies belong to a class of motors called current
wheels.

Current Wheels. — A current wheel is an arrangement
resembling the paddle wheel of a steamboat, with a cen-
tral shaft acting as a hub for spoke-like arms which carry
on their ends boxes or buckets. The wheel is hung by
the projecting ends of the shaft so that the buckets are
just covered under the surface of the water. The current
catches them and caused the wheel to revolve; the filled
buckets are carried up as empty ones descend in the water.
The filled buckets are emptied as the turning of the wheel

54 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

inverts them, and the water is caught in a box properly
placed and is then conducted by a flume to the point of
discharge. Current wheels are largely used for short lifts
from streams or irrigation ditches in which the water
flows with sufficient velocity to revolve them. The wheels
are usually home-made, and much ingenuity can be em-
ployed in constructing them of available materials.

Hydraulic Rams. — The hydraulic ram is wasteful in that
it can deliver at a higher level but a fraction of the water
furnished it and it requires a definite fall for its action.
Where conditions are favorable it does become an effective
agency because it acts incessantly and, with suitable stor-
age, considerable amounts of water become available for
irrigation. Manufacturers of hydraulic rams furnish full
accounts of their requirements and achievements.

A suggestive combination of current wheel and hy-
draulic ram, in operation in this State, is described as
follows :

"A. P. Osborn's residence and the best part of his land
are located on high grounds on the bank of the Tule river,
at Rural. To get water on this land without going several
miles up the river and bringing out a ditch, Mr. Osborn
has placed in the river a wheel twenty-five feet in diameter
and five feet wide. Surrounding this wheel on either side
are forty boxes, each holding four gallons of water, mak-
ing in all eighty boxes, with an entire lifting capacity of
three hundred and twenty gallons at each revolution of
the wheel, which is turned by the current of the river.
As the boxes reach an elevation of twenty-two feet, the
water in them is emptied into a flume, which conducts it
onward into an irrigation ditch. This elevating the water
twenty-two feet is only sufficient to place it on the flat
whereon is done the farming, and will not take it to the
knoll on which stands the residence. This is accomplished
by a hydraulic ram. A part of the water reaching the top
of the river bank is allowed to run bac'i down the steep

THE USE OF SIPHONS. 55

bank through a pipe, thus furnishing motive-power to run
the ram, which sends water up to the house."

Conveying Water by Siphon, — Conveying water over a
hill to a point of delivery on the other side which is lower
than the supply point is a simple operation and one which
might be more generally employed than it is. Siphons
are sometimes made of pipes of considerable diameter
where the supply is large. Such devices are vastly cheaper
than tunneling. It is even on record that a fruit grower
put in quite an expensive pumping plant to force water
over a hill to his orchard on the other side and was sur-
prised to find that the water ran when the pump was not
in motion. He had not figured that the delivery point
was lower than the supply point, but so it was. In the
case of conveying water from rivers to leveed lands below
the stream, the siphon is cheaper than a flood-gate and
safer, and has the advantage of being portable.

FARM AND GARDEN RESERVOIRS.
For the construction of a dam to restrain the water of
a creek it is always wisest for the man who has had no
experience in such work to secure the advice of an expert.
Fortunately such men are very abundant in California,
as dam building has been a profession of Californians ever
since early mining days. The making of water-tight dams
on a small scale is not necessarily a very expensive opera-
tion, but it is liable to become so if not done properly. An
experienced man can give suggestions as to the location
of the work in view of the natural conditions and the use
to be made of the water, the character of natural banks
or bottom which it is designed to use and the best mate-
rials at hand for building, as well as the proper form of
the construction for safety and efficiency in connection
with economical completion of the job. Expert advice is
especially necessary where dams are to be built for closing
natural waterways, for such efforts involve the handling
of volumes of storm water which a farmer may have little
conception of, though he may have grown up on the site.

56 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

The excavation of a small reservoir to collect water
from sources wholly apart from a natural watercourse is
a simpler proposition and can easily be done with farm
experience and appliances, and on this work some sug-
gestions may be offered.

First: Location is governed by local factors, but it
should be at sufficient elevation to deliver the water freely
at whatever point is involved in its use.

Second: Its area will depend upon the prospective
water supply. If this is ample, do not make the pond too
small. A circular reservoir with an average depth of four
feet through a circular space forty feet in diameter, will
hold water enough to cover about two-thirds of an acre
two inches deep. This will amount to a good soaking of
a good-sized farm garden, and is probably as small a dirt
reservoir as it will be worth while to make. For smaller
storage wooden or galvanized-iron tanks can well be used.

Third: In shape the circle is easiest to mark out and
construct symmetrically and incloses the greatest possible
area with the least length of bank, but on a small figure
it may be a little easier to handle teams and scrapers on
an oval.

Fourth: A fairly retentive loam free from rock and
rubbish, upon a clay subsoil, favors the easiest and cheap-
est construction of a dirt reservoir, because with careful
construction it can be made water-tight without using
other materials. Clay is disposed to leak through cracking
and sand will neither hold shape nor water. Clay and
sand mixed forms an ideal material.

Fifth : The earth surface under both the pond and the
banks must be thoroughly cleaned of all sods and trash
and the whole area plowed and harrowed well to make
it as fine as possible. The dirt should not be dumped on
the old surface to start the bank. When the whole is
plowed and harrowed the scraper can be started, moving
the dirt from the center to the banks, and each scraper
load should be spread and lumps broken with a shovel at

RESERVOIR BUILDING. 57

once, leveling and filling hoofprints so that all tramping
or pressure of the scraper in passing may tend toward
even packing of the soil. All spots not reached by the
team or tools should be tramped by the shoveler so that
no loose dirt may be covered. This work should be con-
tinued all through the building. The harrow should fol-
low the plow in the bottom before the scraper moves the
dirt to the bank.

Sixth : The outflow pipe should be put in early. A
wooden box is often used having an interior space of six
by six inches, but a four or six inch lap-welded steel or
cast-iron pipe is vastly better. It should have an elbow
turned up on the inside so that a plug with a long handle
can be used to open or close the exit. A valve is better
than a plug, but it costs more. The pipe should be bedded
in a mass of concrete so that it will not be loosened by
working the exit apparatus.

Seventh: The width of the embankment is governed
by its height. The slopes with the best of earth should
not be less than two feet horizontal to one foot vertical
on the inside; and if the material is light, three to one
on the outside will be none too much.

Eighth : The bottom and inside of the reservoir banks
should be well puddled. This is done by thorough plowing
and harrowing or cultivating to a depth of eight inches
and then admitting water slowly and keep the teams going
with the harrow. Begin at the center and work round
and round until the mud becomes as smooth as pancake
batter, working and reworking away from the center until
the puddle is carried well up the sloping bank. This
puddle layer, if the soil is fitted for it, will make the
pond hold water.

A Small Reservoir in Sandy Soil. — The foregoing con:
struction will not hold water if the materials are too coarse
in character. Where percolation is free a water-tight cov-
ering for the bottom and banks must be provided. This
can be done by hauling in clay for a puddle or the reser-

58 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

voir after shaping may be cemented. In parts of the State
where asphaltum is abundant this material is very satis-
factorily used, the asphaltum being melted, mixed with
sand and spread on hot and smoothed down well with hot
shovels and hoes.

Cement can be used in the form of a mortar made of
six parts sharp clean sand to one part Portland cement.
Apply two coats, and then brush over with a whitewash
of clear cement and water. It is not necessary to make
walls of brick or stone on which to cement. Cemented
directly on the earth, even if it be sand or gravel, answers
perfectly. As we have no earth-freezing such work is
safe. If there should be cracks, give a coat of clear cement
and water and it will close them up.

The use of clay puddle is also very satisfactory. The
following is the plan of construction followed by Mr. Ed-
ward Berwick, of Carmel valley, Monterey county, in
building a reservoir which has stood thirty years of con-
stant use :

"My reservoir is eightly feet in diameter and made on
land with a slope of say one in forty. I drove a peg in
for a center, took a forty-foot line and marked a circle.
I dug a trench eighteen inches in width, say three feet
deep where the land level was lowest and five feet where
it was highest, so that the ditch bottom was level. I filled
the ditch with puddled clay, well tamped, then excavated
a width of perhaps ten feet, just inside the clay ring, to
the level required for the reservoir bottom. I lined this
ten feet of floor with clay, being careful to unite the clay
of the ditch ring with this floor. Then began clearing out
the middle of the reservoir and banking up on this ten-
foot floor, and also on outside, at the same time adding
clay to the ditch ring as the embankment grew.

"When the required excavation was made, cleared up
well to the edge of the ten-foot wide floor, I put in the
clay for the rest of the bottom, uniting it, of course, with
the ten feet already laid, but now covered with the inner

RESERVOIR BUILDING. 59

embankment. A three-inch discharge pipe was laid at the
bottom, with necessary fittings.

"The reservoir is nearly seven feet deep when filled,
and forms an excellent bathing tank for the family in
addition to its irrigation service."

This is a very thorough style of construction. It would
be cheaper to excavate as described in the previous list
of suggestions and then trust to a clay layer evenly spread
over the bottom and sloping sides, but the use of the pud-
dle trench and flat floor is surer to hold water. The puddle
trench is carried to the top of the bank : clay layering on
the sloping bank will crack as the water is drawn down
and is apt to be leaky. Mr. Berwick has scraped out a
very rich deposit of mud and decayed leaves and water
weed once since he built the reservoir, thus obtaining a
considerable amount of fertilizer, and after scraping, the
bottom was given a new floor of clay. He has also raised
the sides of the reservoir one foot and put in exit pipes of
four and six inches to release water in different directions.

Stone or Brick Walls for Reservoirs. — Very shapely but
rather more expensive walls can of course be made of
stone or brick laid in cement, and in this way the water
contents of the same diameter can be increased. The bot-
tom can be puddled or clayed or cemented, according to
the character of the ground or the taste of the builder.

Subterranean Reservoirs. — Large shallow wells are often
the cheapest reservoirs, and with pumps of large outflow
sufficient head is secured for direct application to the dis-
tributing ditches. Tunnels are also subterranean reser-
voirs and are frequently used as such. Both these wells
and tunnels are economical of water, as evaporation is
very slight. The following is an instance :

"Mr. C. L. Durban says that the cheapest reservoir that
a man can build on his land for retaining water for irri-
gation purposes is a tunnel run into a hill. An open res-
ervoir in a canon or other suitable place, will lose one-third
of its water during the summer from evaporation, while

60 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

in a tunnel there is no loss. A small spring will supply
a tunnel with sufficient water for many purposes. He has
illustrated this in a practical manner. On his own land at
Mesilla valley, he ran a tunnel thirty-five feet long into
a hill, in so doing tapping a spring ; this tunnel he dammed
up, leaving a space thirty-five feet long and the size of
the tunnel, which is about five feet by six feet, to be filled
with water. The water he carried to his house in pipes,
and we observed that it supplied his dwelling, another
near by, his barn and drying-house for raisins, as well as
irrigated quite a space devoted to flowers for a garden.
He says that the tunnel is the cheapest and best form, and
that for each dollar expended one can obtain a space equal
to twenty-five cubic feet."

Another form of subterranean reservoir consists of
trenches filled up to the plow-depth with broken rock. It
is practiced to a limited extent only. It is prodigiously
expensive and seems only worthy of consideration in the
improvement of a hillside home place, where satisfaction
is not conditioned upon cost. A California instance of
the system is the following:

"The grounds have too great a slope for spraying,
and instead of supplying surface ditches, the owner con-
structed permanent trenches, which have no outlet except
by seepage. These trenches extend one hundred feet in
length along the face of the slope, each being eighteen
inches deep and thirty inches wide. The earth was scat-
tered on the upper side of each cut, and by a little care
in plowing the garden was terraced into slopes of less
grade, each one hundred feet long and twenty-eight feet
wide. As a driveway passes along each end of the ter-
races, nearly all the cultivation is done by a horse turning
on" the driveways. The trenches are designed as minia-
ture reservoirs, and are kept nearly full, when irrigation
is required, by a small stream flowing from one-half-inch
stand pipes at one end of each trench. This is also a form

RAISED AND LOWERED BEDS. 61

of sub-irrigation as well as storage, for the water reaches
the roots of the plants on the terrace by seepage."

THE APPLICATION OF WATER.

Many methods are followed in the distribution of water
in the garden. Which is the best method must be deter-
mined largely by the character of the soil, and to meet
this requirement one must sometimes sacrifice some of the
incidental advantages of other methods.

Checks and Depressed Beds.— Where the garden soil is
very light, open and leachy, the vegetables are often grown
in checks or divisions larger or smaller, according to the
slope of the land ; the checks being inclosed by little banks
or levees which hold the water from escape except as it
sinks vertically into the soil. This is the only way by
which a leachy soil can be uniformly moistened, except by
sprinkling, which is seldom economical and is seldom fol-
lowed in California except in village garden practice.
The banks of the checks serve as walks upon which one
can go dry-shod from place to place and regulate the dis-
tribution of water. The garden then, during irrigation,
shows the plants growing in shallow vats of water of
irregular shape and size, and when the water sinks away
they are seen to be in sunken beds. This system sadly
interferes with the use of the horse in cultivation unless
the ground is practically level and the checks can be made
very large. In small checks the cultivation must be done
by hand. Market gardeners do this faithfully, but the
amateur is apt to be careless about it and to trust to
frequently filling the checks instead of regularly stirring
the soil. This tends to cement the surface, exclude the
air and make the soil sodden. The plants lose their free,
healthy growth and show their distress.

Raised Beds. — These are just the reverse of the check
system, for the ground surface is raised a little by the
dirt thrown out in excavating narrow ditches about four
or five feet apart through which the water is allowed to

82 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

flow slowly if the ground is nearly level ; if slightly sloping
small dams are made at such distances apart as are neces-
sary to hold the water at about uniform depth below the
surfaces of the beds. In this system the distribution of
water is very largely accomplished by the capillarity of
the soil, though the market gardeners who affect this
method also shower the plants from time to time by throw-
ing the water up from the ditch with a scoop shovel or
a shallow pan. The narrow ditches serve as walks in
working around the beds and rubber boots are in request.
By this system ample water supplies are constantly had
within reach of the roots, and as the surface is never pud-
dled it is easy to keep it loose and open to the air. When
the crop is gathered the whole field is deeply broken up
with the plow and harrow and the whole system laid out
anew, as soon as, in the course of rotation, a crop requir-
ing such hydropathic treatment comes again to the ground.

Permanent Ditches. — The use of permanent ditches was
formerly very common in the irrigation of sloping garden
ground and is still somewhat observed. These ditches are
drawn very nearly on contour lines, only just enough fall
being given to move the water slowly. When the slope is
nearly uniform the ditches are almost parallel and they
are distanced according to what is known of the movement
of water by seepage down the slope in each particular
soil. The plantings are made on the ptan of each strip
securing its moisture from the ditch above, and water is
admitted occasionally or kept running almost continu-
ously according to the needs of the particular crop or
the leakiness of the ditch. The outflow from the ditch,
after traversing backward and forward its full length, is
carried to an alfalfa patch below and thus utilized. These
permanent ditches serve a good purpose in saving hill-
sides from washing as they catch the surface storm water
before it has a chance to acquire much headway and carry
it down gently. Where the soil favors such distribution
very good results are attained with these ditches, but

RAISED AND LOWERED BEDS.

63

the tendency is to use the ditches too long and allow
them to become cemented by action of water and deposit
of slime. Besides, they grow weeds and distribute seeds
if their banks are neglected. In most cases it is better
to employ less permanency — breaking up the ground and
locating new ditches at shorter intervals of time.

Lowland Irrigation by Seepage. — Another form of irri-
gation by means of permanent ditches is that practiced

DEPRESSED BEDS AND IRRIGATION SYSTEM.

RAISED BEDS OR RIDGES IRRIGATED BY CAPILLARITY.

on reclaimed lands along the interior rivers. When the
rivers are swollen from summer melting of snow in the
high Sierra, the water is brought to the land by flood-
gates in the levees. When the rivers are low very capa-
cious pumping plants are used — the same serving at other
times to drain the lands when they are too wet from the
rainfall or seepage. The soils of these reclaimed lands
are loose and prone to dry out because of their lack of
capillarity, so that at times irrigation is as necessary as

64 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

on uplands. The water is distributed by means of small,
rather deep, ditches from which moisture readily extends
as the water moves out over the clay bottom which
underlies most of these lands and makes it possible to
hold the water up within reach of the roots of the plants.
With rich land, high heat and ample moisture just below
the surface the growth is almost marvelous. On these
lowlands flooding the surface frequently seriously injures
the plants by sun scald.

Ridge System of Irrigating and Planting. — Another
plan of using seepage from permanent ditches is the ridge
system by which the water is run at a little elevation
above the surface, upright plants being placed beside
the water on the top of the rigdes and running plants
on the sides of the ridges with the lower ground between
the ridges for the extension of their growth. The gen-
eral significance of the arrangement lies in keeping the
water supply constant near the roots, and it is adapted
to rather open soils in which lateral percolation is defi-
cient. The elevation of the ditch thus helps to hold moist-
ure near the surface on which the plants are placed
without resorting to flooding as in the check system. It
is obviously well adapted to a region of very light rain-
fall and can be laid out in a way to drain the ridges
when surplus water has to be disposed of. It involves
a large amount of hard work. In a locality where both
summer and winter gardening must be largely dependent
upon irrigation it has striking advantages. The follow-
ing description is from a Kern county vegetable grower,
after several years' satisfactory experience with the
method :

"In preparing the ground make it as near level as pos-
sible, and cover the soil with about two inches of manure
(avoiding coarse straw or stalks), and plow this under
six to eight inches deep. Then harrow and cultivate until
the soil is smooth and fine. Use a wire or line to lay out
the ground; spread fine manure (well rotted is prefer-

METHODS WITH IRRIGATION. 65

able) two feet wide and one inch thick, on a line directly
from your windmill or tank across the plat of ground.
Take a plow and turn two furrows together directly over
the manure, making a high ridge. Smooth and firm the
soil with a rake or hoe, and directly on top and length-
wise of the ridge form a ditch or trough about five inches
wide and three inches deep, on a grade so the water will
run from one end of the ridge to the other, connecting
the ends so that the water will run the entire length of
all the ridges without any attention; or you can make
the ridges around the plat, which will enable you to dis-
tribute the water from the ridge to any point desired by
means of a small piece of pipe inserted in the edge of
the trough, always maintaining a uniformity of moisture,
which is absolutely necessary for the growth of certain
vegetables. Run the water through the ditch until it is
settled and well moistened, then plant the seed at the
base and either side of the ridge.

"Do not allow the water to rise up over the beds under
any circumstances. If the work is properly done the
water will run through the ditches in the high ridges
and from their termination will continue from from one
trench to another, till each bed in the plat is nicely moist-
ened, and after once thoroughly wet and settled it will
not require more than one-half of the water it does at
first, unless the soil is very sandy and loose. Remember
it is the small stream long drawn out that counts and
gives the best results. "

Practice With This System. — Concerning practice with
the different vegetables and the preparation of ridges
and beds for them, the following suggestions are given :

"Plant melons and winter squash seven feet apart on
each side of the ridge, which should be eight feet apart
for these varieties, and about five feet apart for corn,
beans, summer crook-neck squash, cucumbers, and toma-
toes. After preparing the ground and planting the seed
neither the ditch nor plants will require much attention

66 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

more than to keep the weeds out. For the growth of
other vegetables, such as peas, cauliflower, cabbage, car-
rots, parsnips, beets, radish, lettuce, asparagus, egg plant,
spinach, peppers, onions, garlic, rhubarb, and tomato
plants, prepare the ground by forming into beds fourteen
inches wide and two inches higher in the center than on
either ridge, with a small trench between them six inches
wide and three inches deep. They can be made wider
and deeper if a large amount of water is available. After
the beds are prepared run the water through them and
recrossing the beds that are defective, so the water will
rise to a uniform height on each, within about one inch
of the top. Make a depression on each side of the bed
two and one-half inches from the edge with a hoe and
one and one-half inches deep. Sow the seed not less than
one-half inch apart and be very careful not to cover the
seed more than one-half inch deep. Every good seed will
grow, and those which are to remain in the rows must
be properly thinned out. When tomato plants are from
three to five inches tall, transplant them on either side
of the high ridges, five feet apart in the row. Transplant
cabbage and egg plants when they are from two to three
inches tall, in vacant beds, the former eighteen inches
apart in the row for early and close heading varieties,
and twenty-eight inches apart for late and spreading
varieties, and egg plants twenty-four inches apart in the
row. A pint of fine manure from the cow-yard placed
six inches below the surface under each plant will insure
a cabbage from nearly every plant. Pepper plants should
be transplanted eighteen inches apart in the row."

Picturesque Irrigation. — A modification of the perma-
nent ditch plan is quite widely practiced on the sand
hills south of San Francisco. The water is lifted from
wells by windmills, the discharge from the pump being
taken at such elevation that it will flow in a small flume
supported by a trestle to the highest point of the land
to be irrigated. Hence the water is carried in small con-

WINDMILLS FOR IRRIGATION. 67

tour ditches hither and thither until every corner of the
very irregular slopes is reached. Short lines of vegeta-
bles are planted about at right angles to these small
permanent ditches and short spurs made with the hoe
so that the water is brought beside each individual plant.
As the slope is so broken and the soil so open, anything
like uniform seepage is out of the question. The appear-
ance of these gardens is exceedingly picturesque with
the little beds tucked in here and there, showing varying
shades of green o nminiature terraces and slopes and
flats irregularly intermingled often within the area of
an acre or two — the lines of the mill frame and flume
trestle so thin and long and intercrossed as to suggest
that a colossal spider had spun her weg upon the verdure.
All this is hand work and back work in cultivation and
irrigation, in carrying manure up and produce down,
and represents a fragment of the south of Europe cast
upon the map of California.

Small Furrow Distribution.— All the foregoing methods
of distribution may suggest something for the American
farm garden in California providing the soil and situation
are best served in such ways, but for the most part the
farm garden will be upon land of moderate slope with
loams which take water well and are fairly retentive of
it. Under such circumstances the distribution of water
in many small streams along furrows drawn by a small
plow, accomplishing complete moistening without flood-
ing of the surface, is the system to be adopted and con-
scientiously practiced. It is most economical of water
not only in the first application but by conservation of its
moisture by the thorough surface cultivation which must
follow each irrigation. Water is carried along the ridge
or ridges of the tract in a plank flume, of dimensions
proportional to the size of the area to be irrigated, and
with many openings, to be closed or opened at pleasure,
so that small streams of water can be brought out into
many small furrows and allowed to proceed slowly until

68 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

they reach the bottom where the surplus may be caught
in a cross-furrow and carried to other uses. By this
method the water can be evenly distributed with hardly
a stroke of hand-work, and the soil, with surface always
open to access of air, and never allowed to compact itself
around the plants, affords conditions perfectly adapted
to thrifty, quick growth of the plants. This method con-
forms best with the most economical laying off of the
farm garden, viz. : the planting in long rows with uni-
form interspaces so that horse-power and the best imple-
ments can be employed to their fullest extent in every
operation from the seed planting to the gathering of the
crop.

Furrow Irrigation on Hillsides. — It is often desirable
to make the farm garden on a hillside, and this can be
managed by horse-work without terracing more easily
than one might think at first. The plan must be to work
nearly on contour lines in laying out the rows of vegeta-
bles and in the subsequent cultivation and irrigation.
The following will be found suggestive in regard to the
distribution of water:

"The water is delivered from a flume laid down the
hillside, and fitted with cleats at each hole so as to throw
off enough water at the sides, or sometimes the flume is
laid in steps connected with a bit of covered flume from
step to step. The latter is best for very steep hills,
though, with care, the other may be used on a greater
slope than one would imagine. Another flume should be
laid at the end of the furrows to carry off the waste
water.

"The contours may be laid out by anyone with a car-
penter's common level. Fifty-five feet to the mile is
nearly right for a very fine stream on most soils. And~
this is about one foot in ninety-six, or two inches in six-
teen feet. Therefore, take a sixteen-foot plank and level
it to a slope of two inches in its whole length. Then
when the upper edge is level, the lower edge will repre-

FURROW IRRIGATION. 69

sent the required grade for your ditch. In this way the
work can be done very rapidly.

"The same thing is equally good for laying common
little flumes, cement ditches, etc. But in earth, one should
determine by trial the amount of slope the soil will stand
without cutting or filling up with sediment or refusing
to run fast enough in case the soil is very porous. A
mistake of a few inches in a hundred feet will generally
not be serious, but the more nearly exact you can get it
the better. Every approach to perfection in your first
arrangements diminishes your future work and annoy-
ance.

"All manner of stuff is now raised in this way in Cali-
fornia on hillsides that a few years ago, when covered
with brush, seemed too steep and rough even to plow.
When once made, the furrows, of course, are left in place,
but the water finds its way to the center between them
quite as well as on more level ground."

Irrigation by Sprinkling. — Systems of iron pipe laid
below reach of plow and spade and furnished with stand
pipes and revolving sprinklers, or other showering de-
vices, have been successfully used to a limited extent,
and some have strongly favored them in spite of the con-
siderable cost of the outfit. They are worthy of consid-
eration where water under adequate pressure is avail-
able. They are labor-saving, but they encourage neglect
of cultivation, and to that extent are undesirable, espe-
cially on soils which harden on drying.

Sub-irrigation by Tile or Pipes. — Californians have been
experimenting with subterranean distribution with tile
or specially constructed pipes and outlets for probably
more than forty years, and yet none of the proposed sys-
tems has ever come into use except under the eye of the
inventor. In early days, iron troughs inverted on red-
wood boards; small flumes or boxes of redwood boards;
bricks set on edge and covered with boards; drain tile
with and without perforations — all these were suggested,

70 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

given trial, and abandoned. All experiments proceeded
upon the plan of thus making permanent water conduits
below the point reached in spading or plowing, and they
all became inoperative. The failure was usually charged
to the filling of the pipes with plant roots, and in some
cases this was seen to be the reason. In other cases the
failure of the system was due to the fact that in light
soils lacking capillarity, the water rapidly sank away
from the pipes out of the reach of the roots, and shallow-
rooting platns failed, though there was moisture flowing
to waste through a pervious subsoil. About thirty years
ago Mr. E. M. Hamilton of East Los Angeles invented
a system of continuous cement pipes laid by a machine
operating in the trench which prevent access of roots
because it had openings only at intervals where the water
was discharged into air spaces, each of which could be
seen through a vertical pipe rising to the surface and
furnished with a cover. This worked well for many years
on Mr. Hamilton's place for the irrigation of trees or
other deep-rooting plants at considerable distances apart,
for which use it seems best suited. To fill the earth with
such pipes with openings near enough together to serve
for shallow-rooting vegetables, is appallingly expensive,
and the stand pipes encumber the surface so that nothing
but hand spading or cultivating could be done without
destruction of them.

At the East within a few years the use of the drain
tile laid along the rows of vegetables near the surface
has given the best results in an experimental way. By
this plan the tile are to be taken up and relaid for each
crop, which can be quickly done. Water thus adminis-
tered may serve well in soil not disposed to puddle down
or possibly may be more successful where the summer
air is less dry and soil baking less active than in Cali-
fornia, but in many of our garden soils the soil would
solidify, and even if moisture were adequate to prevent

WINTER IRRIGATION. 71

baking, the proper entrance of air would be largely pre-
vented.

The experience of Californians is against any such ar-
rangement of soil and water. Except in such soils as
have already been described as working well by seepage
systems, surface application of water followed by thor-
ough surface cultivation produces, as a rule, the best com-
bination of moisture, heat, aeration, and rapid root-exten-
sion, which pushes the plant to its utmost in rapid and
satisfactory growth.

WINTER IRRIGATION.

Winter irrigation is increasing in California as a surety
that the year's water supply will be above a certain
minimum. Deciduous trees and vines, on soil that is
fairly retentive, can be carried through a satisfactory
year's growth and fruiting, with good cultivation, by ar-
tificially soaking the soil in winter. In this way injury
to the trees or vines by a year of scant rainfall is avoided.
The practice has not the same value in garden practice,
because there still will remain the demand for summer
irrigation if succession of fresh vegetables is to be se-
cured. But for ample crops of staple field vegetables
which are usually grown without summer irrigation, the
winter-soaking method is of the same importance that it
is with fruit trees — it insures ample moisture every year.

Fall and winter irrigation are very important in gar-
dening in regions of uncertain rainfall, because they
bring the soil into condition for the early planting which
is often the secret of satisfaction and success. In south-
ern California, and the interior of the central regions of
the State as well, he who waits for rainfall to start his
gardening often loses half the season's producing capac-
ity. In these parts of the State the rain at its maximum
is seldom excessive, consequently one incurs no danger
but invites every benefit by wetting the soil well and
going to work at least with the hardier vegetables while
the autumn sunshine still imparts warmth to the soil.

72 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

•

The use of winter storm water often results in a con-
siderable contribution to the fertility of the soil in the
form of silt and other materials rich in plant food.

HOW MUCH IRRIGATION IS NEEDED?

It is impossible to answer this question exactly for any
crop, but it can be approximated more nearly for an or-
chard or vineyard or a field crop than for a garden, which
should be held up to its maximum of free water nearly
all the time. Evidently the requirement for gardening
is greater than for any other cropping. How much water
will be required to hold any piece of land up to its best
estate of moisture, depends upon the plant grown, the
soil and subsoil, the slope and exposure, the local heat
and dryness of the air, the rainfall, etc. The quantity
can, then, only be determined for each piece of ground
with the' data of its conditions and environment, and the
observing man will allow the plants to tell him by their
vigor and speed of growth how the supply suits them.

Ardquate Use of Water Essential. — Beyond any theo-
retical computation of the amount of water needed, it is
one of the plainest teachings of California experience
that good, thorough soaking of the ground is the secret
of satisfactory results. Surface sprinkling without pene-
tration is a delusion even in lawn growing. It gives the
impression of moisture when the roots of the plant may
be famishing in dry ground. Pouring on water from a
watering pot, though it be once every day, will make
a brick to inclose the plant stem and roots if the soil be
prone to bake. On larger scale work it has been fully
demonstrated that for productiveness a small piece of
ground thoroughly soaked with water and then as thor-
oughly cultivated on the surface to kill weeds and pre-
vent the waste of moisture into the air by evaporation,
is preferable to twice the surface only half watered. One
very thorough wetting, with good cultivation, will pro-
duce better results than several superficial waterings.

MUST BE MOISTURE ENOUGH. 73

And in this way the water can be used the most econom-
ically by accomplishing the most good with the least
labor.

Another very important point is to keep the moisture
supply always adequate. One who waits till the plants
show distress has lost his chance. One of our experienced
growers very pertinently says: "If we allow our ground
to get the least bit dry the vegetables are stunted in
growth, and then it takes several days to catch up again,
if it ever does. I hold that a stunted vegetable is as
bad as a stunted calf or pig. It is never as good as if it
was pushed right along from the beginning."

CHAPTER VI
GARDEN DRAINAGE IN CALIFORNIA.

It may be remarked, as a generalization based upon a
wide view of our two-season year, that the secret of
success in California vegetable growing consists in getting
plants "out of the wet" at one time and into it at an-
other. It would, perhaps, be more exact to say that
success lies in securing generous but not excessive moist-
ure at all times, and this is essential to the best growth
of the plant in any climate. And yet so strikingly antith-
etical are our moisture-extremes at the height of the
two seasons, and so characteristic, both in times and meth-
ods, are the policies and practices by which we modify
both to the best advantage, that the world-wide princi-
ples to which they conform are out of sight of the casual
observer. For it is not only that we have always to
guard against extremes of saturation and aridity and
keep the plant along the lines of sufficiency — that is the
universal proposition. In addition to this, California,
speaking generally, has to do special work against one
extreme at one time and against the other extreme at
another time ; hence the opening remark.

Regulation of moisture in California either involves
more considerations than are usually recognized in humid
climates or involves them in higher degree and imputes
to them increased significance. Choice of location and
soil; time and method of planting and cultivation; the
choice of the crop with reference to natural moisture
supply and the atmospheric conditions ; the employment
of irrigation ; and the desirability, or otherwise, of arti-
ficial drainage facilities — all these are factors which are
perhaps more sharply concerned in results here than in

BENEFITS OF DRAINAGE. 75

humid climates, because our extremes, in all except low
temperatures, are more exacting. Correct practice here
gives grand results, but ill-timed or illy adapted practice
does not give merely less satisfactory results: it invites
failure. Our drainage proposition must always be con-
ditioned upon proper conservation of moisture, and, as
will be seen as we proceed with the discussion, contem-
plated artificial drainage may have the power to make or
ruin a crop if its action is not intelligently employed, or
intelligently rejected, as the case may require.

Benefits of Drainage. — It may be admitted at the outset
that in regions of heavy rainfall or in locations subject
to much percolation from higher lands, underdrainage
may be necessary to satisfactory use of the land in win-
ter gardening unless the soil is deep and free enough to
readily dispose of the surplus water. As a matter of
fact, it is necessary in some cases, and gratifying results
follow in lowering the ground water, admitting air, warm-
ing the soil, making it hospitable to the plant, rendering
fertility available and lengthening the growing season
of the plant both by these services and by making the
soil sooner amenable to tillage and susceptible of better
tilth. All these are general drainage principles applicable
here as elsewhere and in some soils and situations the
same method of application is best, viz. : thorough under-
drainage preferably with tile but also attainable with
trenches partly filled with rock, or with regular runways
with placed stones or poles or boards or whatever may
be most available to the person at the time. In drainage
for garden purposes, however, it is not necessary that
the water table should be lowered as far as is essential
to the satisfactory growth of trees, nor is it desirable
generally that it should be. Tile laid two feet from the
surface will answer in most cases if the land lies well
for the outflow of the drainage.

Conserving Moisture.— The general purpose in Califor-
nia gardening must be to save moisture, not to facilitate

76 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

its escape. It is especially important in an arid country
that the lower strata of the soil should be a storage reser-
voir for the use of the plant in the dry season. This
fact underlies the recommendations for cultivation which
will be given in a later chapter, but it also has intimate
relations with the subject of drainage. Evidently, re-
course to drainage should not endanger the generously
adequate moisture supply which the plant needs, and
for this reason the almost universal exhortation in gar-^
dening treatises for humid climates: "first of all, deeply
drain your soil," either subject the trusting Calif ornian to
a useless expense, or, worse than that, makes his land less
suited to his purpose than it was before the expenditure
was made.

For it should be noted : first, that our light deep loams
which are chiefly used for garden purposes, can naturally
dispose of all the surplus water which the clouds afford
them; second, our heavier soils sometimes make a great
surface show of saturation when the lower layers have
really far less than their holding capacity, because per-
colation is slow, not only by nature of the soil but by the
lack of thorough tillage which would help to hold a large
precipitation until the soil could absorb it; third, our
soils dispose of moisture very rapidly during the dry in-
tervals of the rainy season, and this can be increased by
winter cultivation which should not aim to fine the sur-
face but to open it to the air; fourth, by their active
winter growth, the plants themselves pump from the sur-
face layer volumes of water, the escape of which opens
the way for capillarity to relieve lower layers of their
surplus, and thus the active roots help to prepare the
way for their own farther extension.

Really, then, what California soils need for winter gar-
den purposes is natural surface drainage, viz., downward
into thirsty lower layers: upward into the air by evap-
oration from earth-surfaces or plant-surfaces. Where
this is not adequate to the relief of surface saturation

WHEN TO DRAIN LANDS. 77

and consequent preparation for seed sowing, very simple
artificial surface drainage is usually effective. This can
be mainly accomplished with the plow, first by opening
drainage furrows at proper intervals, and this is often
all that is needed to dispose of surplus water; second,
by ridging with the plow which prepares long seed beds
a little above the general surface and at the same time
leaves channels for the escape of the water; third, by
opening deeper surface-drains to act directly or to re^
ceive and speed the departure of the outflow from the
open furrows. All of these forms of treatment, selected
according to the degree of the need of drainage, have
proved widely satisfactory and have facilitated magnifi-
cent winter growth of vegetables upon heavy adobe soils
in some of our regions of heaviest winter rains. The ac-
tion is quicker than underdraining because percolation is
notably slow in such soil. It removes the surplus from
the surface just at the time that its absence is most de-
sirable and it leaves the moisture stored below to rise
as the demand for it advances. On the other hand, under-
drainage, where it is not imperatively demanded by ex-
ceptional conditions, has clearly acted too slowly to bring
the surface speedily into satisfactory condition and has
acted too long in drawing away more water than is desira-
ble from below and has then continued as a very effec-
tive hot-air system for farther drying of soil-substance
which should have retained more moisture to supply the
plant and foster capillary action from still lower layers.
In the writer's own experience shallow-rooting plants
have dwindled over tile lines while those midway be-
tween the lines were growing rapidly.

Conditions Determining Recourse to Underdrainage, —
It may be well to specify a few of the conditions which
should determine whether underdrainage should be pro-
vided in land under consideration for vegetable growing.
Of course, the claim already alluded to, that any piece
of soil selected for gardening must be first underdrained,

78 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

is an exaggeration anywhere in the world probably, be-
cause there are areas of naturally well-drained soil every-
where. Enough has been said of California garden soils
to show that the most of them are of this character and
that no probable amount of rainfall would injure them.
The exception has also been sufficiently characterized in
the chapter on soils.

To reach assurance for or against underdrainage in par-
ticular cases one has to consider the soil, the rainfall,
the character of the root growth to be ministered to, the
growing season of the crop, and the practice of irrigation.

The mere amount of rainfall is so intimately related
to soil texture, depth, subsoil, slope, and exposure that,
considered alone, it affords no guide whatever to the
need of artificial drainage. There are many situations re-
ceiving an annual rainfall of forty to sixty inches which
not only do not need underdrainage but, on the other
hand, irrigation must be employed as early as May to
supply the requirements of shallow-rooting plants. There
are either coarse, leachy soils or else shallow loams lying
upon sloping and porous bedrock. Leaving these out of
consideration, it is doubtful whether any land, even of
quite retentive character, receiving a rainfall of not more
than twenty-five inches, distributed as California rainfall
usually is, needs underdrainage for garden purposes. Of
course, this claim clearly presupposes that the land in
question does not receive any considerable amount of
water by overflow or underflow by seepage from higher
land. Any such rainfall as noted can probably be con-
trolled by such surface use or surface release as have
already been described, or by such early and deep culti-
vation as the garden should receive, there can be stored
in the soil the moderate residuum remaining from the
amount of rainfall indicated, and under favorable circum-
stances a greater rainfall can be thus disposed of.

Deep-rooting plants like fruit trees will of course be
injured by saturation of the subsoil which would not in-

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE. 79

jure garden vegetables, therefore underdrainage of the
orchard is a different proposition from that of the garden.
It should be stated for the distant reader that the term
"garden" in California is not understood to include fruit
trees, except in villages or suburban places.

The growing season of the vegetable crop is also re-
lated to the matter of underdrainage. While the winter
garden on a retentive soil in a region of quite large rain-
fall, may be greatly improved by underdrainage, the sum-
mer growth of the same plants perhaps, and of field crops
of shallow-rooting vegetables, may be benefited by such
surface treatment during the winter as shall promote the
absorption and retention of the whole rainfall to the soil
and subsoil. This practice may insure the perfection of
a crop without irrigation which could not be grown on
a less retentive soil nor on one currently drained on its
surplus water.

The practice of irrigation may create a need for under-
drainage which may not exist on land used for rainfall-
gardening. If the soil is naturally well drained this need
will not, however, occur, unless the natural escape of sur-
plus water has been destroyed by rise of the bottom water
which has, in some large districts in California, followed
excessive irrigation, and the seepage of water from leaky
ditches. Especially unfortunate, too, has it been that this
rise of the ground water has brought within reach of cap-
illary action and surface evaporation alkaline salts which
are destructive to vegetation. But here again the growth
of vegetables can be successfully pursued on lands with
water too near the surface to favor fruit trees, providing
the rise of alkali does not occur. For the growth of vege-
tables, then, it is not generally imperative that the land
be underdrained, even if irrigation is practiced, though
there are cases of retentive soils in which this is desirable.
In irrigation in a humid climate where a heavy downfall
of rain may immediately follow a saturation by irrigation,

80 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

underdrainage is a safeguard. California, with a rainless
summer, is freed from this danger.

Too great emphasis, even to indulgence in repetition,
can hardly be placed upon the point of view held in this
work. We are dealing for the most part with plants which
are used before maturity and in which large free growth
of foliage stem and seed vessel are the points desired and
not mature seed. Most of these plants are also shallow-
rooted and are concerned in the lower layers of soil, not
as a place of root activity, but rather as a reservoir of
moisture and a storehouse of plant food which shall come
to them dissolved in the upward movement of abundant
water. Consequently, these plants do not require the
degree of soil dryness which best ministers to maturing
processes, nor do they need such deep penetration of air
as is needed to make subsoils hospitable for deep-rooting
plants. They are plants, too, which need the maximum
percentages of moisture within reach to secure the quick
growth and succulence which makes them delicious and
profitable. For all these reasons, the view of underdrain-
age here presented is somewhat at variance with orthodox
drainage tenets held in humid climates and is also widely
diverse from views which the writer holds with reference
to the drainage requirements of fruit trees.

CHAPTER VII.
CULTIVATION.

The timely and thorough performance of the several
acts which, in accordance with the prevailing local con-
ditions, constitute good tillage, are indispensable to suc-
cess in California vegetable growing. No matter how
favorable the natural conditions or how generous the
other provisions made by the grower, to be dilatory or
slack in cultivation is to seriously endanger, if not to
actually forfeit, the final reward.

The American pioneers were quick to see that the en-
ergetic use of the good tools to which they had been
trained in their old homes would bring marvelous produc-
tion from lands previously held at grazing value, and,
beginning with this assurance, they proceeded by lessons
of observation and experience until they learned proper
times and ways of working under the novel natural con-
ditions which surrounded them. They also accomplished
modifications in tools for tillage, which, from a local point
of view, are notable improvements, and they devised new
forms to meet special conditions or purposes. By this
empirical method they ministered to their own success
and incidentally demonstrated the truth of some advanced
theories of tillage which had won but slight recognition
from the conservative spirit of the older countries. It is
an interesting fact, also, that prevailing California prac-
tice, in some important regards, accords more closely with
principles deduced from elaborate experimentation by the
most acute and patient students of soil physics, than does
the common practice of older countries.

With tillage, as with other gardening duties to which
reference has been made, there are in California wider

82 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

extremes to be mastered, and methods are therefore strik-
ingly diverse. Tillage prepares the seed bed, facilitates
germination and root-extension, and fosters the benign
processes of soil warmth and aeration here as elsewhere.
It also holds the same relation to soil moisture here as
elsewhere, but its services in this particular are more con-
spicuous because the need is greater, as intimated in pre-
vious chapters.

The common California conception of the value of till-
age naturally seizes upon this aspect of the case and
asserts that the chief offices of soil working are first to
get as much moisture as possible into the soil and, second,
to keep it there. The efficacy of certain ways and times
of tillage to assist in the escape of surplus moisture is of
course known to those who have this work to do, but the
area in which such acts are called for is comparatively
small. It is quite important, however, that the vegetable
grower should have it in mind and it will be mentioned
later.

TILLAGE TO RECEIVE MOISTURE.

This involves both time and method. The importance
of early work in the garden has been incidentally men-
tioned and will be further urged hereafter. With the
rainfall-vegetable grower, early plowing of the land, or
early digging of the small garden, is the first of a series
of timely acts which are neglected at great peril.

Summer Fallow as Preparation for Vegetable Planting.
— The best way to be early with one season is to begin in
the previous one, if possible. A bare but frequently
stirred summer fallow is the best preparation for a gar-
den. A piece of stubble or new land deeply plowed and
subsoiled and left unharrowed in the fall or early winter,
cross-plowed in the spring, and" then worked with a cul-
tivator once a month during the dry season, is brought
to the opening of the rainfall-garden season in good con-
dition from at least three points of view : first, it has been
cleaned of many weeds; second, it has been improved in

TILLAGE FOR MOISTURE. 83

tilth and fertility ; and, third, it has a storage of moisture
from the previous season's rainfall. Such a piece of land
can be deeply plowed at the opening of the rainy season,
and can be at once planted with vegetables for winter use
which are hardy in the locality and will carry them along
well, even if there be very little rain during the late fall
months, with its content of stored moisture. Because of
its deeply stirred surface, freedom from hardpan from
previous cultivation, and moist subsoil, it is in its best
absorptive condition, and by subsequent shallow working
as each vegetable is disposed of, rotation or succession
can proceed on the same ground and with the advancing
winter and its added rainfall planting of less hardy vege-
tables can be made until the frost-free period arrives and
the garden will go out into the spring and summer growth
of the whole list of hardy and tender plants witli ample
moisture to carry them to perfection during the dry sea-
son.

Early Beginning for Work the Same Season. — But it is
not always possible to give the year of rest and cleaning
and moisture saving, desirable as it is. In that case the
plowing must be done as soon as the rains sufficiently
moisten the soil for deep plowing. Sub-soiling may also
be done with advantage if the rainfall of the region is
generous; if not, there is too great danger that much of
the moisture may go out of reach of the shallow-rooting
plant. It is usually not as safe to plant as early on newly
plowed land as upon replowed summer fallow, for unless
the fall rains are above the average the plants may be
less thrifty than those planted later when full moisture
is assured. This is, of course, a matter for local deter-
mination, as it is conditioned upon local rainfall.

Even if for any reason it is not thought desirable to
plant vegetables in the open air until February, and this
is a practice in localities where fall and early winter tem-
peratures are rather low, still the early plowing is neces-

84 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

sary to moisture-saving, and cross-plowing should follow
in preparation for planting.

Land designed for spring planting of tender vegetables
should also receive early and thorough fall plowing and
a subsequent winter plowing or spring plowing before
the weed growth becomes too heavy for turning under or
so coarse that plowing under will make a non-retentive
soil still more prone to drying out the following summer.

TILLAGE TO CONSERVE MOISTURE.

Tillage to receive moisture designs to open the soil and
to assist percolation with a view to prevent surface flow
and to absorb the rainfall. Tillage to save moisture aims
to reduce evaporation to a minimum. In a firm soil moist-
ure rises by capillary attraction and is rapidly removed
from the surface by evaporation. A light soil has less
capillarity than a heavy one. A sandy soil has less than
clay, but both lose water by surface evaporation until,
in an arid climate, plants will die of thrist unless they
be by nature drought-resisting. Garden vegetables are
not of that character; in fact, quite the reverse. Conse-
quently, some means must be adopted to prevent the
moisture which is rising in the soil from reaching contact
with the outer air. This can be done by placing a cover-
ing upon the compact portion of the soil so that the air
shall not have free access to it. Covering with a sufficient
amount of almost any coarse material, such as coarse
manure or rotten straw or sawdust or anything of that
sort, is troublesome and expensive and otherwise objec-
tionable, although it has an acknowledged place in garden
practice, as will be shown later.

The Earth Mulch. — California practice has made the
widest application of the truth that a finely pulverized
surface layer of sufficient depth is an effective mulch.
Pulverizing the soil widens the distance between its par-
ticles and consequently destroys its capillarity until by
the action of moisture, either in the form of liquid or

HOW MOISTURE IS CONSERVED. 85

vapor, it becomes again compacted to a degree which re-
stores its power to transmit moisture. The cultivator has
it, then, within his power to spread a mulch and check
evaporation simply by fine and frequent pulverization of
the surface layer by cultivation. It is this ability which
enables the California horticulturist to transform the
lower layers of his soil into a reservoir, and to profit by
the natural tendency of the moisture to rise in the com-
pact soil until it reaches the point where the pulverized
layer checks its advance. This practice makes possible an
achievement which seems almost incredible to workers in
humid climates, viz. : the growing of a succulent crop
from seeding to harvest without the use of a drop of
water either by rain or irrigation, and it is this practice,
coupled with the deeper rooting habit of plants which is
induced by it, which enables our trees and field crops to
grow thriftily and produce heavily during months of
drought, while a few weeks of drought bring distress to
plants in humid climates.

But the pulverized surface layer must do more than
arrest the capillary rise of moisture before it reaches the
surface : it must check it at a point out of reach of the free
entrance of air to the loose layer, consequently the de-
gree of pulverization and the depth of the loose layer are
factors to be carefully observed. It is not enough to grind
an inch or two of the surface to powder. The free move-
ment of air through this shallow layer at least in our sum-
mer air with its exceptional thrist, will proceed with evap-
oration from the too thinly covered compact portion and
the loss of moisture will be only a little less rapid and com-
plete than if the surface had not been disturbed at all.
The same thing will happen if the surface layer be only
coarsely broken to a still greater depth : the passage of
air through the clods will be free enough to draw off the
moisture and the soil will dry out to a degree which will
bring distress to plants which good cultivation would have
maintained in vigorous growth. It is plain then that

86

CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

IDEAL DEVELOPMENT OF BEET ROOT, SHOWING ADVAN-
TAGES OF DEEP CULTIVATION FOR ROOT CROPS.

the earth mulch must be fine enough and deep enough to
serve its intended purpose and for this no arbitrary rule
can be laid down except that the coarser the soil by nature
or the coarser the particles by cultivation, the deeper the

METHODS OF TILLAGE. 87

mulch must be. The practical test is easy : if the pulver-
ized layer becomes dry and if on brushing it aside with
the foot, the firm surface is hard and more or less dry also,
the mulch is not effective and its character must be im-
proved.

Steps by Which Conservation is Attained. — The foun-
dation for a satisfactory moisture-conserving tilth is laid
with the plow during the fall or winter preceding the
summer during which it is to be maintained. Though
plowing has been considered as a factor in opening the
soil to receive and store moisture it is also considered in
its conservation. To do this the plow must be used when
the soil is in the best condition not only for turning but
for disintegrating by the crushing action of the mold
board so that the soil particles shall lie closely upon the
firm portion and not form large air spaces which minister
to drying out. Plowing when the soil is unfit results in
clods, which are every way hateful in the garden, and in
air spaces, which are objectionable, as shown. Even when
the soil is in reasonably good condition, late plowing, if
left rough and open to dry winds, will form clods in all
except the loosest soils, consequently all late plowing
should be at once well harrowed.

The next step in the assurance of a good earth mulch
is the early use of the cultivator. It will not do to allow
the harrowed soil to crust by rains and then trust to some
later rain to loosen and rescue the young plants from its
embrace. Just as soon as the soil arrives in condition
after a rain, stir the surface well and the crust will not be
formed, and this must be done just as soon as crust-form-
ing conditions recur. In this way the soil surface is con-
stantly kept in good absorbing condition and is also car-
ried on its way to the best conserving condition as well.
Weed growth, which is moisture wasting, is also pre-
vented.

Then comes the summer cultivation to retain such an
earth-mulch as has been described. If it proceeds upon

88 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

previous good work in clod and crust preventing the vege-
table grower is fortunate. If not, he must have recourse
to whatever implements for clod-crushing, cutting, chop-
ping and grinding, work best in his soil, for, as there can
be no best plow for all soils, so also there can be no best
cultivator. The grower must learn to recognize the con-
dition which he wishes to attain and then experiment with
tools until he finds the best for his soil. Summer cultiva-
tion means cultivation all summer, or at least as long as
growths are still progressing. To reduce to good tilth in
the spring and then "lay by" the garden or else to count
upon later cultivation only in the case of later rains, is
not adequate cultivation for moisture conservation. The
earth mulch will have its capillarity restored by its own
absorption of moisture from below or from the air, and
it will lose its efficiency as a protecting cover even through
no rain falls. Therefore frequent stirring to the adequate
depth but without soil-turning must be maintained at in-
tervals both to restore the mulch and to destroy weeds
which may start late and pump moisture away from the
plants in almost incredible amount. Remember, though
no crust forms and no weeds start, the cultivator must fre-
quently restore the surface layer to its condition as an
efficient mulch if the greatest possible amount of moisture
is to be conserved.

CULTIVATION IN SMALL GARDENS.

Work with spading-fork, hoe and rake in the hand-
made garden is subject to exactly the same requirements
as those described for the horse-power garden or vege-
table field. Early and deep digging for moisture recep-
tion and storage, as well as to welcome root-penetration,
must be followed by coarse raking to maintain a surface
fit for absorption and not favorable to crusting while the
rainy season advances, and, after the rains have ceased,
there must be frequent deep hoeing and fine raking to
maintain the earth-mulch which has already been charac-
terized.

HOW TO HOE. 89

The Man with the Hoe. — The use of the hoe at different
seasons in the California garden and the contrast between
summer hoeing as practised in arid and humid climates
is so strikingly illustrative, of the sort of tillage which
gives in California rank summer growth without rain,
that a few comments will be indulged in.

The first and most obvious reflection which comes to
one who does summer hoeing in an arid land is that the
handling of the hoe which he practised in his boyhood
in eastern garden or cornfield is not the hoeing which
avails most now and here. The light, shallow stroke which
fell just below the root crown of the weed, stirred the
immediate surface a little and left the field clean, used to
be the touch for eastern hoeing, and a man could almost
do it at walking speed for hours upon hours. Except a
little extra deep work, which was called for when the oc-
casional short droughts threatened, this shallow weed-
cutting was sufficient to give the crop the upper hand in
the struggle with weeds, and the frequent showers kept
the surface moist enough to prevent baking.

It is to be inferred from recent reports that there is less
shallow hoeing done now than a generation ago at the
east, and deeper summer cultivation has been found profit-
able there. However this may be, it is clear that shallow
hoeing is a delusion and a snare in this country. Practice
it through the spring and as long as the weeds start, and
your garden surface will be dusty. Think then content-
edly about what you have heard of a mulch of dust-retain-
ing moisture. Can it be possible, instead of shooting up-
ward, the plant just holds its own and then goes backward,
wilting, yellowing its leaves, and all but dying in its dis-
tress? Surely there must be a worm at the root. The hoe
is seized and brought down upon the soil at an angle and
with a force it has not known all summer. How the dust
flies from the surface, and how the hoe flies from the
hard-pan just beneath the dust as though it had been
brought down upon a marble slab. Then there come to

90 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

mind thought on hoeing which never came before. Then
it becomes plain that the shallow weed-cutting stroke is
not the dash of the hoe which saves the plant.

One who goes through this experience once will know
better how to hoe next time. * He will see that by sharp,
deep strokes, often using the corners of the blade, he will
maintain a loose layer upon the surface which will be
thick enough to prevent direct evaporation from a hard-
pan layer and thus break the connection between capil-
lary action and the atmosphere. Such hoeing is harder
than light work with the blade nearly horizontal. It
takes muscle to give a strong vertical stroke which pene-
trates well, and one cannot waltz along the rows whistling
a lively tune, as is quite possible while weed-cutting in
moist soil in February.

There is little grace, we admit, in the attitude of the
Italian market gardener, as he straddles the row, arches
his back and grunts as he sends his heavy mattock its
full depth into the soil around the plants. The American
with his fine, new, full-width, bronze-shanked, green-la-
beled steel hoe, marching along the rows, touching the
soil with disdain as ill worth exertion on his part, is a
much handsomer picture. But the Italian's plants laugh
at drought. When irrigated the soil takes water like a
sponge and it goes plump down to the roots of the plant.
Irrigate the shallow-hoed plat; a pailful will run a rod
and the plant root gets but the gurgle of the water as it
flows along the surface of the hard pan just beneath the
dust.

Evidently, if one begins early in the season with deep
hoeing, the midsummer tussle with hard-pan will be ob-
viated. This is really the lesson to be learned.
CULTIVATION AND IRRIGATION.

All that has been said about the relations of tillage to
reception and conservation of moisture from rainfall is of
equal truth as related to moisture derived from irriga-
tion. Soils not readily absorptive must be opened by

THE AMERICAN AND THE ITALIAN. 91

proper tillage to receive the waterflow. Such is the ser-
vice rendered by the furrow system in addition to its fur-
nishing channels for the flow. Soils naturally open will
take water as well, and sometimes better, by other meth-
ods, as has already been explained. But by whatever
means water is brought to the soil the conservation of
the water depends largely upon the prevention of surface
evaporation which not only releases moisture but turns
the upper soil into a pavement which is fatal to shallow-
rooting plants. Therefore let the plow follow the irri-
gation, if it is fall or winter irrigation for the preparation
of a seed bed, and let the cultivator do its work finely
and to sufficient depth if it is summer irrigation for ad-
vanced plant growth. Do not let the irrigated land lie
until it yields clods to the cultivator. Seize it soon, as
good tilth waits on stirring; "and when 'tis done then
'twere well it were done quickly."

RIDGES, HILLS, RAISED BEDS AND LEVEL
CULTURE.

Though the considerations suggested by these words are
involved in irrigation and drainage, they are commonly
regarded as phases of cultivation. It is almost obvious
that all methods of lifting the plant bed above the com-
mon surface are equivalent to providing it with the fullest
facilities for surface drainage. Whenever, then, ridging
or hilling or raising whole garden beds is prastised with-
out connection with irrigation upon the elevated surface,
it affords exceptional means for the escape of surplus
water and relief to the plant from saturated soil. By this
act the winter growth of vegetables, hardly enough to
withstand the local climate, can be carried on in the most
retentive soil under a very heavy rainfall.

Ridging. — It matters not whether this ridging is done
very quickly with the plow by back furrowing or whether
a raised bed is made in the small garden with a retaining
border, the principle is the same and it is a very useful
one. It affords a ready answer to the requirement which

92 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

exists in many parts of California for facilitating winter
growth by drainage without at the same time endanger-
ing too great loss of water for summer cropping. The
back furrow gives the plants a greater depth of stirred
soil, which is especially valuable in the rainy season. Af-
ter the early crop of hardy vegetables is disposed of there
will still be time to plow down the ridges and put the
soil in receptive shape for the later winter or spring
rains, cultivating being done later to retain moisture until
the frost-free period arrives, when the same land will take
its summer crop of tender vegetables with or without
irrigation as the character of the soil, the proposed growth
and the local rainfall shall require.

Raised Beds. — A more elaborate application of the same
principles consists in the raised beds, which are very use-
ful for winter growth in the small garden and, in combina-
tion with irrigation by seepage, as already described in
the chapter on that subject, afford a means for applying
water or escaping from it as the conditions at any time
shall dictate.

Another form is the permanent, bordered, raised bed
of the kitchen garden, which is very serviceable either
in farm or village growth of home supplies by hand work,
both in cultivation and sprinkling. This is the method
by which Mr. Ira W. Adams, one of our most resourceful
vegetable growers, applies the principle on a small scale :

"I make my beds four feet wide and any length desired.
As my land is little on the adobe order, put on three or
four inches of fine creek sand and a very heavy dressing
of thoroughly decomposed mixture of cow, horse, pig, and
hen manure. My beds are twenty feet long and I confine
the soil in them by laying a round spruce pole on each
side, said pole being about six inches in diameter at one
end and five at the other ; a little larger or smaller will an-
swer. By driving a small stake at each end of these poles
and one in the middle, and fastening them to the pole by
a single nail in each stake, a great saving of space is

HILLS AND FLAT CULTURE. 93

made on the edges of the beds, as without some protec-
tion the heavy rains wash the edges of the beds very
badly.

11 A few days before sowing the seed, in September, I
water the bed very thoroughly until the soil is thoroughly
saturated to the depth of eight or ten inches. Leave it
until it is in just the right condition to work. Then in-
corporate the sand and manure into the bed in the best
posisble manner by vigorous use of a six-tined hoe fork
with round steel teeth about one-fourth of an inch in diam-
eter and eight inches long. This thorough work, with the
addition of the sand and manure, leaves my beds about
eight inches above the general level of the land, and be-
tween each bed I leave a walk fourteen inches wide.

1 ' Some may say it is a great deal of trouble to prepare
such beds. Granted; but when the beds are once care-
fully made they are fit for immediate use at all seasons
of the year, and for many years to come, not only for
onions, but for early lettuce, radishes, turnips, table beets,
dwarf peas, etc., that require a light, rich, and well-
drained soil. An application of a little liquid hen ma-
nure occasionally is very beneficial, and is all the fertil-
izing the beds will need for many years."

This shows small-scale, intensive work. With such
beds it is possible to have vegetables in edible condition,
before it would be wise to sow seeds of the same kinds
in open ground in the same locality.

Hilling. — Hilling of plants to afford soil-room for
growth started from shallow planting is another means
of attaining drainage and soil warmth during the winter
season. It is the ridge principle applied in spots and with
vastly greater labor. If one has a fancy for it he can in-
dulge in it in a hand-made winter garden, but otherwise
there is nothing to be said for it.

Flat Culture. — All references to systems which lift the
plant-bed above the common surface should be accompan-
ied by the clear declaration, that except as associated with

94 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

the distribution of irrigation water, they are a delusion
and a snare if carried into summer work. The very re-
lease of water which fits them for winter use unfits them
for the dry summer. Level culture is the broad basis
upon which summer conservation of moisture rests. The
plant root should neither be lifted into the air nor should
the soil be opened so that the air is allowed to freely de-
scend to the plant roots. Soil and air assume proper
relations when the culture is flat and fine and sufficiently
deep.

Tillage to Release Excessive Moisture. — The occasion
for this course, except in stated winter practice already
described, rarely occurs in California except on lowlands
in regions of ample rainfall, though sometimes a large
precipitation in a short time may too long delay planting
until the surplus is disposed of. Plowing with rather a
long slope of moldboard, which turns furrows without
crushing and laps them well, leaves air spaces at the bot-
tom of the furrow-slice and aids greatly in drying the
soil. Sub-soiling also allows water to percolate and air
to enter freely. These are, however, heroic treatments and
if employed late in the rainy season are apt to give the
lower layers of the soil opportunity to dry beyond desir-
able moisture retention. If only a slight surface drying
is necessary a narrow-toothed harrow or cutting discs with
slight lateral pressure will accomplish it.

CHAPTER VIII.
FERTILIZATION.

In the chapter on soils there has been given a glance at
the leading characteristics of California soils, including
their endowment of available plant food. This natural
fertility is the explanation of the fact that in this State
up to this time the question of fertilization has been of
minor importance. The securing and husbanding of ade-
quate moisture constitute the key by which native fertility
is unlocked and so long as this resource permits the gath-
ering of large crops of superior vegetable products with-
out expenditure for fertilizers it is obvious that we shall
have the art of fertilizing under our climatic conditions
still to learn. We are already undertaking large expendi-
ture for fertilizers for fruit trees, especially those of the
citrus family, and the world-wide problem of economical
plant-feeding will reach all our producers, sooner or
later, as each has the hungrier plants or the thinner soils.
The old conception of the pioneers that California cli-
mate and soil had some sort of beneficent inter-action
which insured perpetual fertility was merely a phase of
the perpetual motion vagary, as applied to agriculture.
It was a sort of reaction from the older view that Cali-
fornia soil would produce nothing but winter pasture.
Of course, all these early notions have passed away. It is
only a question of time when soil-building will be a regu-
lar California effort, but on some lands, and for some
crops, it may be a very long time before the problem will
be pressing.

And yet it would not be truthful to convey the impres-
sion that fertilization is not undertaken at the present
time. There has been great progress during recent years

96 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

in the utilization of natural manurial supplies which were
formerly allowed to go to waste. The demand from or-
chardists has induced systematic search and traffic, and
old accumulations from the stock farming of our first
thirty or forty years are being put to good use, together
with a considerable amount of artificial fertilizers. There
is also a constant demand for the wastes of our towns and
cities for gardening purposes. Our market gardeners
have zeal for collecting the cleanings of city stables and
our amateur gardeners, both in villages and on farms,
make, as a rule, good use of the animal wastes which are
available. They understand the advantage of intensive
work and of bringing small areas up to maximum produc-
tion, and they know that to raise large garden crops one
must apply manure without stint, but our field production
of staple vegetables is not intensive as yet, except as in-
tensity is included in natural fertility. This being the
case, the writer does not undertake prophecy. In a few
years the progressive work which is now under way, es-
pecially in southern California, in trial of artificial man-
ures for vegetable growing, will furnish object lessons
for general guidance. Present purposes will be best
served by offering suggestions as to the ways to turn natu-
ral supplies to best account.

Comparative Value of Animal Manures. — The excre-
ments of different animals serve somewhat different pur-
poses in garden practice because they act more or less
quickly and are more or less stimulating to the plant.
There is also warrant in carrying with the word stimu-
lating the inference that in feeding plants, as in treating
animals, that which is most stimulating must be used
with the greatest caution. Both caution and economy
prescribe that the manure which has the highest content
of plant food should be used in less amount and more care-
fully distributed through the area of soil which the roots
of the plant are expected to traverse.

The excrements of animals depend in composition upon

COMPOSITION OF MANURES. 97

the abundance and richness of the food furnished them.
The following table is compiled from experiments and
analyses made at Cornell University, and there is no doubt
that the stock was well fed.

COMPOSITION AND VALUE OF FRESH MANURE
FROM DIFFERENT ANIMALS.
Phosphoric

Animals.

Nitrogen,
Per cent.

Potash,
Per cent.

Acid,
Per cent.

Value per
Ton.

Cows . .

. . 0.50

0.29

0.45

2.38

Horses .

. . 0.47

0.94

0.39

2.79

Sheep ..
Swine .

. . 1.00
. . 0.83

1.21
0.61

0.08
0.04

4.19
3.18

Hens . .

. 1.10

0.29

0.47

4.22

The value is figured at the price agreed upon by east-
ern chemists as fair value for the ingredients as used in
artificial fertilizers.

Value per ton is also conditioned upon the percentage
of water in the manure. Hen manure has much less water
even in a fresh state than that of cattle, and air-dried hen
manure, free from earth, etc., is sometimes worth as much
as $10 per ton, providing the hens are well fed. In this
State air-dried sheep manure in large corral deposits in
Fresno has been found by analyses at the University of
California to have this composition and value :

Per cent.

Nitrogen 2.32

Potash 2.90

Phosphoric Acid 2.88

The material had only twenty-eight per cent of water
and its value calculated at the agreed price of its ingre-
dients is $10.95 per ton. Even when calculated at the
same per cent of water, the California corral deposit has
much higher value than the eastern sheep manure.

Garden Use of Concentrated Manures. — Hen, sheep, and
hog manure are very much richer, as shown, than the

98 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

same bulk of cow or horse manure. The safest way to
use them is by composting with other materials, as will
be described presently, but if it is desirable to use them
alone, care should be taken in the distribution, as already
stated. This can be assured by thoroughly mixing these
manures with at least equal bulks of fine earth, when they
will soon be reduced into a fairly dry and powdery state
in which they may be readily spread broadcast on the
land, or be sown by the drill, and be found a useful gen-
eral manure for every kind of garden produce.

Deterioration of Manures. — There are two ways by
which animal manures lose valuable constituents : first, the
escape of nitrogen by fermentation which sets free this
element chiefly in the form of ammonia : second, the leach-
ing out of soluble matters by exposure of the mass to
copious rains. Both of these losses are practically pre-
vented by drying of the manure. The local demonstra-
tion of this general truth is seen in the analysis just given
of sheep manure which has passed through many years of
exposure to the weather in an arid interior valley of Cali-
fornia and still retains so much fertilizing value. Another
means by which fermentation is reduced and controlled
is by compacting the mass so that free access of air and
free passage of water are prevented. This compacting
is currently accomplished by the tread of the sheep con-
fined by night in large numbers in small inclosure. The
prevention of leaching in this case is also due to the fact
that the local rainfall never reaches in any short period
volume enough to accomplish percolation through a thick
layer of manure to the soil. We have then in the case
of a dry interior valley of California all the conditions
for the preservation of manure which the progressive
farmers of humid climates secure by means of covered
cattle yards, covered pits, manure sheds and other devices.

And yet manure will go to destruction in California as
fast as elsewhere unless the conditions mentioned are se-
cured, Loose piles of manure, except in the most arid

GARDEN COMPOST. 99

localities, have, or subsequently receive, moisture enough
to start active fermentation and will "fire-fang" and be-
come nearly worthless in a very short time during our
hot summer. Such loose piles thrown to the weather in
the rainy season will be largely leached of their soluble
matters wherever rainfall is considerable. Probably the
easiest way to preserve manure in California is to allow
it to lie in the corral during the summer, for there it is
free from leaching rain, usually from June to November,
and all its coarse straw, etc., dry and brittle, is reduced
almost to powder by the tramp of the animals. If then
this fine material is scraped up, spread and plowed in at
the beginning of the rainy season it will readily ferment
in the soil and all its value be retained, if the applica-
tion is made to a heavy soil under a good rainfall. The
winter-made manure should not be allowed to lie in the
corral to be leached by drenching rain. It should be gath-
ered frequently and applied fresh to the land so that the
leachings may be plowed in while there is still moisture
enough in the soil to make the process safe and efficacious.
This easiest way to handle animal manures in California
may do for ordinary farm crops, if the soil is heavy enough
and moist enough to receive unfermented manure without
danger to the crop from loss of moisture, but it is not the
best way to handle manure, either for field or for gardens.
Manure for garden use should be most carefully treated to
save all its richness and to render its coarse materials
more readily available in soil-forming processes. In short,
instead of preventing fermentation, manure for garden
purposes should be put through a carefully controlled fer-
mentation which is involved in composting.

Compost for Garden Purposes. — The term compost sig-
nifies a mixture of manurial substances and for garden
use there should be collection constantly made of the void-
ing of the animals, trimmings of vegetables, the refuse of
plants as the ground is cleared, the house wastes, and, in
fact, everything of an organic nature which will yield to

100 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

decay, and any available mineral wastes, like ashes, which
contains plant food. If all these are added to the animal
manure and treatment adopted which will promote the
proper fermentation in it, the manure will assist in re-
ducing the other materials to proper condition for garden
use.

The conditions for such fermentation are adequate mois-
ture accompanied with stirring and aeration enough to
distribute the action evenly throughout the mass and to
bring all the materials under its influence. There are nu-
merous ways of accomplishing this, and each operator will
probably have his own notions about their relative ease
and cheapness.

Manure Tanks. — These are cemented, water-tight, exca-
vations of various sizes. A Napa county farmer built one
a few years ago which cost him nearly two hundred dol-
lars, with all its appurtenances. It was thirteen by twenty
and one-half feet in size, about six feet deep and exceed-
ingly well built. The floor has a slant, inclining to a
well at one end, where, with the aid of a wooden pump,
the juices as they settle are raised to the top and poured
over the mass to again percolate through it. It is quite
a question whether it is worth while making such invest-
ment. Loss of liquid manure by leaching is prevented, but
on the other hand it is apt to accumulate in such quanti-
ties in the pit that, unless the pit is roofed, the addition
of the rainfall will result in the submergence of -all the
manure and this excludes the air and prevents the proper
fermentation. The result is that there is great cost in
excavating the water-logged material from the tank, a
large amount of heavy and disagreeable shoveling and the
manure not in the best condition after all.

Manure Pits. — Manure pits if excavated with one slop-
ing side so carts can be readily backed in for filling, are
cheaper than tanks and if they have a clay sub-soil for a
floor or can be puddled with clay on the concave bottom
they will hold most of the liquid, unless water flushing of

MANURE PITS AND TANKS. 101

the stable is indulged in. A large grower of beets and
other roots for stock-feeding in San Mateo county has
for a number of years used this arrangement with satisfac-
tion:

"I have a manure pit large enough to hold all the ma-
nure made in a year. A hole about three feet deep is dug
out of the side of a hill. A sloping platform, up which all
the manure is wheeled, raises it about four feet above
the ground on the upper side, which gives a drop for the
manure of about seven feet. When filled up to a level
with the end of the platform, loose planks are laid as re-
•quired on top of the manure. Thus by continually wheel-
ing each day's manure over the older manure, its solidity
is insured, and all the manure made on the farm has to
go up the said platform. After the cow barn is cleaned out,
the lightest of the manure from the horse stable, bull
stalls, etc., or any other absorbent, is put behind the cows,
taking up fluids, and thus insuring a regular quality
throughout the heap. Another important item added to
the general heap is the hen manure and ashes, the latter
being kept in a large tin, which, when full, is emptied
into the fowl-house, and all goes in the manure heap to-
gether."

This use of absorbents prevents accumulation of exces-
sive liquid and there is consequently little loss by leach-
ing. The compacting of the mass prevents too free access
of the air and fit conditions for slowly breaking down the
coarse manure are assured.

Composting in Piles. — The method usually followed by
market gardeners seems on the whole the most convenient
and best for this climate, where the winter rainfall is,
as a rule, not so heavy as to occasion much leaching, if
the pile is of several feet in depth. It involves some shov-
eling, but it facilitates rapid curing of the manure and
brings it into excellent condition for garden use. Stack
the fresh manure in a pile several feet high. Then give it
a thorough wetting from a hose and allow it to decompose

102 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

for a few weeks. Then chop it down, mix thoroughly and
stack it again; then wet it well once more, and after a
few weeks it will be ready to put upon the field. This
process of composting destroys all weed and other seeds,
prevents the manure from burning, as well as the escape
mixed when stacking it. Compost thus made is suitable
for the finest garden, at a moderate expense, and the work
necessary will pay a larger profit than any other farm
labor. Watching the moisture and using the hose, when
the rainfall is not adequate, and thorough stirring and
aeration of the mass, are the essentials of the process.

The manner in which Mr. Ira W. Adams handles ma-,
nures involves correct practice :

"Clean up all the manure on hand just before the fall
rains, putting the same on the land, and either cultivate
it in or plow it under. What manure accumulates during
the winter, pile in a snug heap some five or six feet in
depth, and throw it over some three or four times during
the winter to keep it from burning, as well as to thor-
oughly mix it and thereby hasten decomposition. Put
horse, cow, hog, chicken, and every other kind of manure
that can be had, all together.

"Never burn anything that will rot, but haul to the
pile, cornstalks, roots, and all squash, melon, tomato, and
potato vines, etc., as well as weeds of every description,
in fact, anything and everything that will decay and make
vegetable matter. Use fresh horse manure mostly to has-
ten the decomposition of said vines, weeds, etc., alternat-
ing as the heap is made. By so doing there will not
be a weed seed left with vitality enough to germinate.

"It is well to have manure piles under a roof to avoid
leaching during the longest and most excessive rains, but
so situated that the rain falling on the barn can be easily
conducted to the piles, giving them just the amount of
water necessary and no more. After the rains are over,
some water will have to be applied from time to time ; and
covering with very fine, dry earth will keep the pile from

LIQUID MANURE. 103

drying out during the long, hot summer, as well as cause it
to retain most of the ammonia, etc., that would otherwise
have evaporated and escaped. Late in the fall it will be
found entirely rotten, cutting like old cheese."

Liquid Manure. — Liquid extract of animal manures is
of great efficacy in vegetable growing if carefully used.
It is made by filling a barrel with manure, pouring water
on above and drawing it out below as it leaches through
the mass. Another way is to have a barrel with water in
a handy place and throw into it enough manure to make
an extract of the right strength. No matter how it is
done care must be taken not to have the extract too strong.
This can generally be told by the color, which should not
be darker than tea of medium strength. The quality to
apply in the hot-bed or the open ground must be learned
by experience. Enough to produce generous and still vig-
orous growth is the rule. With plants to bear fruit like
tomatoes much less stimulant can be used than with plants
for foliage, for the stimulant always acts away from fruit-
ing and toward leaf and stem extension.

Absorbents. — As has already been intimated, the free
use of absorbents is very desirable both for valuable li-
quids, likely to leach away, and for gases which are prone
to fly off. Probably the best absorbent for both purposes
is ground gypsum, which is now very cheaply furnished
from local sources in several parts of the State. It adds
value of its own in addition to its absorbent properties.
A very abundant material in an arid country is road dust.
It, too, will take up both liquids and gases. In village
gardens with paved streets and well-watered soil, sifted
coal ashes act well in the hen-house and on the manure
pile, and the cinders which are sifted out are a good foun-
dation for permanent garden walks. The free use of the
fine coal ashes for years kept the writer's fowls without
a case of swell-head, rid the hen-house of all odor, and fur-
nished many wagon loads of home-made fertilizer which
is perfectly safe to use freely as the hen manure is dif-

104 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

fused through quite a bulk of material. The effect of
large use of these sifted coal ashes on an adobe garden
has well-nigh taken the hatefulness out of it and made it
into a loam delightful to put tools into.

Manure as a Mulch. — Market gardeners operating with
heavy soils use immense quantities of barn-yard manure
both composted with garden wastes and as fresh manure.
The latter is largely used as a mulch or top dressing during
the rainy season to prevent heavy rain from compacting
the soil around the young plants and to get the richness
of the manure by leaching. They use it in summer also
to prevent surface evaporation and to prevent compacting
the surface when the water is hand-thrown with scoop or
pan from 'the ditches between the raised beds. This is
to help small plants with their rooting; afterwards they
take water by percolation from the ditch. The free sur-
face use of fresh coarse manure, to be afterwards forked
in, is safe on heavy clay, which the gardener is endeavor-
ing to lighten up, but if coarse manure is used as a mulch
on light sandy soil, it should be raked up and taken to
the compost heap, as only thoroughly decomposed manure
should be worked into such soil.

Wood Ashes. — Coal ashes have no estimable manurial
value; their effect is mechanical just as is the effect of
adding sand to clay, but wood ashes as well as plant ashes
of all kinds, is intrinsically an excellent fertilizer, since
it contains the soil ingredients required by all plants, even
though in different proportions. The value of ash varies
materially in accordance with the degree of heat to which
it has been subjected when made. In general, the hotter
the fire, the less active will be the ash as a fertilizer.

The chemical composition of ashes varies considerably,
according to the plants, or parts of plants, from which it
has been derived; the smaller the wood, or the more of
weeds or other herbaceous material there was in it, the
more valuable the ash; but taking a broad average, a
bushel (say forty-eight pounds) of wood ashes would, ac-

ASHES AND BONES. 105

cording to the ordinary valuation of the ingredients, be
worth about twenty-five cents — counting on an average of
five per cent of potash and two per cent of phosphoric acid.
In general, ashes should be spread broadcast over the sur-
face of the ground and allowed to be washed in by rains
or irrigation, and not placed too near the plant. If plowed
in shallow with stubble or weeds, the latter decompose
very quickly, and the effect of both is thus improved
and quickened.

It may be said in general terms, that the ashes of wood
and of land plants of every kind are of value for manure
on every kind of soil which has been reduced by crop-
ping; but the greatest benefit is shown upon sandy and
porous soils. On these "light soils" crops of every kind,
but especially root crops and corn, will be benefited by a
dressing of wood ashes. Thirty to fifty bushels to the acre
of fresh ashes will be a full dressing, and three or four
times that amount of leached ashes may be applied with
permanent benefit.

Bone Manures. — Bones as they commonly occur in na-
ture contain plant food worth about $30 per ton. The best
treatment for bones is to crush them if it can be handily
done, and then put them through the fermentation of the
compost heap, with fresh manure and wood ashes. It
takes from three to six months to reduce them. The bones
which do not break down under this treatment can best
be buried deeply in the orchard to await slow disintegra-
tion by the tree roots.

CHAPTER Villa.
GARDEN PROTECTION.

There are three main lines of protection to which the
vegetable grower may find himself compelled to give at-
tention, and he may sometimes be so beset by ills that he
will cry in despair that all forces of earth, air and sky
are arrayed against his enterprise. Fortunately, however,
there is nothing in the situation, usually, to appall one
who is energetic and prompt and eager for success, and an
effort will be made to suggest expedients and methods
which will assist in repelling various destroying agencies.
The three classes of intruders to which attention will be
called are these : unfavorable atmospheric conditions ; in-
jurious insects and fungi; injurious animals.

PROTECTION AGAINST WINDS AND FROST.

Protection against harsh winds has already been in-
cidentally mentioned from time to time. There are very
few places where a good windbreak will not be of decided
advantage, and if the garden ground cannot be selected
so as to enjoy the protection of trees and buildings already
in place, special planting or construction should be under-
taken. A good shelter belt of trees, preferably of ever-
green foliage so placed as to break the cold winds from
the direction prevailing in the locality, will be found of
immense advantage. Where such protection is not prac-
ticable, a high fence, even if not closely boarded, will af-
ford some protection to a much greater width of ground
than one might think at first.

Protection against frost, effective against a drop of
several degrees below the freezing point, is also possible
by the use of a smoke smudge. Most effective fires are

CLASSES OP INSECTS. 107

those which yield volumes of steam as well as smoke, so
that masses of wet straw or rubbish, placed over dry stuff
enough to maintain combustion, are the best material.
Running or standing water close to the plants will also
prevent frost effect, providing the temperature does not
sink very far below the freezing point, nor remain there
too long. Under such conditions, covers of paper, bur-
laps, etc., also serve a good temporary purpose. More ef-
fective protection is described in the chapter on propaga-
tion.

INJURIOUS INSECTS AND FUNGI.

It should be borne in mind that the attacks of these
evils are in many cases conditioned upon weakness and un-
thrift to the plant, and the danger from both insects and
blights is reduced by keeping the plants in most active and
vigorous growth. Lack of cultivation, lack of plant food
in the soil, and lock of moisture, are invitations to these
invaders. The natural resistance of the plant is broken
down, and it becomes a prey to its enemies. But the best
growing conditions do not render plants immune against
all pests. Some are so aggressive that the grower has to
fight to save his crop, and to fight hard sometimes.

Fortunately, warfare against insects has been greatly
simplified during recent years by the use of remedies of
comparatively recent application. There are two chief
divisions of insects : -first, biting insects, which are recog-
nized by the gardener by the fact that they make holes
in the foliage ; second, sucking insects, which make no holes
but pierce and extract the sap in such a way that the leaf
wilts, loses color and perhaps dies without losing any ap-
preciable part of its surface. Each of these classes has
its own remedy.

Remedies for Biting Insects. — Insects which consume the
leaf surface are destroyed by poison, and this can be
used in such minute quantities as not to destroy the fo-
liage nor render it dangerous for food purposes unless
the plant is nearly in condition for eating, and then, of

108 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

course, poison on the foliage is very dangerous if the fo-
liage is the edible part. If the edible part is the root or
tuber, poison on the foliage is not dangerous. The most
widely used poison is Paris green, either used as a powder
mixed with twenty times its bulk of flour, and dusted on
the plant, or applied as a spray or sprinkle, using one
ounce of Paris green to ten or twelve gallons of water.
For spraying to kill these pests, lead arsenate has recently
been largely substituted for Paris green. It is less de-
structive to foliage and can therefore be used in greater
strength. This will kill all forms of insects, large and
small, which make holes in leaves. It only becomes in-
effective when insects occur in such vast multitudes that
the plant is all consumed before all the insects are supplied
with the poison. Fortunately, this does not often occur
in garden practice.

For larvae which come from the ground and destroy the
plant by cutting the stem, the Paris green, either dust or
sprinkle, may be placed on tender leaves or sprigs of al-
falfa which are placed on the ground beside the plant to
be protected. The most injurious insects of this kind are
called "cutworms." It is also often satisfactory to use
the poison in this way: Take thirty pounds bran, two
pints molasses, one pound Paris green; put the molasses
into six quarts of hot water, add the bran and Paris
green, mixing thoroughly until the water is tinged with
green. Place a spoonful of this near the plants and wher-
ever the worms are, not getting it too near the stalk. If
a- new lot of worms hatch, the dose will have to be re-
peated.

The same preparation is also very effective for grasshop-
pers in vineyards, but there is little chance of coping with
grasshoppers or army worms in the garden by poisoning.
Unless they can be checked by walls of fire or streams of
running water around the garden, the gardener has little
to do but to replant as soon as they have passed on their
way.

INSECTICIDES. 109

When biting insects attack plants which it is not
thought safe to poison, the use of a powder of air-slaked
lime or of dry wood ashes is often effective in discouraging
their attacks. Another repellant which sometimes works
like a charm is kerosene powder, made by stirring a table-
spoonful of the oil to a quart of pulverized gypsum, or air-
slaked lime, or even fine road dust. Scatter it on and
around the plant.

Plants may also be often rendered unattractive to in-
sects by free sprinkling with tar water. Take a barrel
with a few gallons of gas tar in it, pour water on the tar,
and have it always ready when needed. When the insects
appear give them a liberal dose of the tar water from a
garden sprinkler or otherwise ; when the rain washes it
off the leaves, or the pests return repeat the dose.

There are other biting and boring insects which destroy
plants by their injuries to the roots. Wireworms are a
conspicuous group of these destroyers. All underground
pests are naturally difficult of treatment and often in field
practice they cannot be economically destroyed or discour-
aged. In garden practice, however, the use of soot or ni-
trate of soda, in very small quantities, or of tobacco dust,
the extract of which is carried down by water to the dis-
comfiture of the pest, is often effective and profitable.

Another group of biting pests though not strictly in-
sects, are slugs and snails. They can be poisoned by the
use of poisoned leaves laid on the ground, or they can be
trapped either with leaves or pieces of board or little piles
of wheat bran. Early in the morning the slugs will be
found in large numbers under the leaves or boards, or
collected in the bran, and can easily be gathered up for
breakfast in the poultry yard. Mother hens in portable
coops with the young chicks or ducks running among the
plants, are a very good solution of the slug question on a
small scale. Myriads of slugs in the garden are often due
to excessive irrigation. If the surface is finely worked up

110 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

and allowed to dry it is very discouraging to slugs and is
otherwise promotive of plant growth.

Remedies for Sucking Insects. — These are pests both
large and small which bring distress to plants without
visibly consuming their substance, as has already been de-
scribed. They are not affected by poison on the surface.
They must be killed by applications which destroy by con-
tact with the exterior of the insects. The universally
approved remedy for this large class of pests is kerosene
emulsion. If properly made and diluted, it is harmless
to the plant and deadly to the insect. The formula which
is most easily prepared and most available for garden
work, is that devised by Prof. A. J. Cook of Claremont,
Los Angeles county, as follows :

Common laundry soap ... % pound

Kerosene 3 pints

Water 4% gallons

Cut up and dissolve the soap in six quarts of boiling
water in a five-gallon oil can. Eemove from the fire and
add the kerosene, stirring vigorously for ten minutes.
This should make an emulsion from which the oil will
not separate when cool. It can be diluted with water
enough to fill the five-gallon can, and is then ready for
application with a garden syringe or spray-pump, and
it will kill all insects which are covered with a film of
it. A fine rose sprinkler can be used, but it is wasteful
and the application does not penetrate as wrell as from
a spray nozzle.

The kerosene emulsion will of course kill the insects
for which poison has been prescribed and is available
whenever the use of poison is thought to be undesirable.

Whenever insects do not yield to the treatments pro-
posed, or whenever the use of these remedies does not
seem to be practicable, it is well for the grower to apply
to the Agricultural Department, University of California,
Berkeley, sending a specimen of the insect and of its
work, if possible. An answer embodying the latest in-

MILDEWS, MOLDS AND BLIGHTS. Ill

formation on the subject will be made without cost to
the applicant. Useful descriptive publications can also
be sent in many cases, and as information is thus avail-
able, it is not necessary to attempt detailed discussion
in this connection.

INJURIOUS FUNGI.

Molds, mildews, and blights seem to be ever on the
alert to attack garden plants whenever suitable condi-
tions prevail. Fortunately, California is much less sub-
ject to these intrusions than countries with humid summer
heat, and some very destructive garden fungi either do
not occur here or occasion very little trouble. Still it is
well for the gardener to know that the arrest of fungous
invasion is a very much simpler proposition than it was^
a few years ago. This fact is due to the recent demon- \
stration of the efficacy of solutions of copper salts. The
most effective preparation is known as the Bordeaux
mixture, which is prepared as follows:

Dissolve one-half pound copper sulphate (bluestone) in
two and one-half gallons of water in a wooden pail, slake
one-half pound fresh lime in one-half gallon of hot water,
stirring and rubbing till completely slaked; when the
lime is cool put the bluestone solution into a five-gallon
oil can, and add the lime by allowing it to run through
a coarse cloth strained to remove lumps or dirt. Stir in
water enough to fill the can and it is ready for use. The
mixture should not stand in a metal vessel.

This makes a light-blue whitewash which will be effec-
tive as it slowly diffuses its components over the leaf sur-
face. In our dry summer it remains operative for a long
time. It does, however, make the plant unhandsome,
and where a fungicide is desired which does not discolor
the leaves, the following may be substituted for the Bor-
deaux mixture:

Dissolve three-fourths ounce of copper sulphate (blue-
stone,) in one quart of warm water, and one ounce of sal
soda (washing soda) in another quart of warm water.

112 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

When both are cool, mix them together and add five
ounces of washing ammonia. When the mixture is clear,
after standing long enough to accomplish that, add cold
water to make five gallons.

Some fungi are quite readily checked by the use of
dry sulphur, but when this is not effective, the copper
compounds will be found satisfactory.

In many cases the attacks of fungi may be avoided by
keeping the plants growing thriftily, or by choosing vari-
eties which are not affected by the diseases to which other
varieties succumb. Wherever this course is open to the
gardener, it will be found more satisfactory than the ap-
plication of remedies.

DESTRUCTIVE ANIMALS AND BIEDS.

Against the larger marauders from the forest, the field,
or the barnyard, the farm garden must be protected by
an adequate fence close enough to exclude fowls and jack-
rabbits. For the latter purpose, closely set strands of
barbed wire are the cheapest material. The bottom wire
must be set low enough to prevent entrance by scratch-
ing under. Even when a neater fence is made of wire
netting, strands of barbed wire above and below are
often very useful.

Squirrels. — Ground squirrels should be destroyed in the
adjoining fields as well as in the garden, or its protection
is almost a hopeless undertaking. When the ground is
wet, squirrels are very satisfactoirly destroyed with car-
bon bisulphide, and this material, with appliances and
instructions for its use, can be had in nearly all the coun-
try stores.

In dry soil the carbon bisulphide is not so effective,
and some of the many good squirrel poisons must be
used. The following has been shown to be very satisfac-
tory:

Strychnine, one ounce; cyanide of potassium, one and
one-half ounces; eggs, one dozen; honey, one pint; vine-
gar, one and one-half pints; wheat or barley, thirty

SQUIRRELS AND GOPHERS. 113

pounds. Dissolve the strychnine in the vinegar, pulver-
izing is in the vinegar, or it will gather in a lump. See
that it is all dissolved. Dissolve the cyanide of potassium
in a little water. Beat the eggs. Mix all the ingredients
together thoroughly before adding to the barley. Let it
stand twenty-four hours, mixing often. Spread to dry
before using, as it will mold if put away wet. In wheat
districts use wheat, and in barley districts use barley,
as they eat it better. Look out for the poultry and stock.

Gophers. — Some gardeners are very successful in gopher
trapping. It is an act which has to be learned by expe-
rience and patient observation. The following sugges-
tions are made by an expert and they may be helpful to
beginners :

Gophers come to the surface in the night and generally
close their holes in the morning soon after daybreak.
They frequently emerge again about noon, and a third
time late in the afternoon. It is best to set the trap in
an open hole, as the gopher will be sure to return to fill
it. Still the holes may be opened if the dirt is still fresh,
with a good prospect of the gopher's return. Therefore,
the trapper may make his rounds three times a day, as
above indicated.

In the second place, care should be exercised in pre-
paring the hole for the insertion of the trap. The trapper
should assure himself that he has found a straight hole
for a distance of at least ten inches, with no lateral
branches, otherwise the gopher in pushing out the dirt
will likely enough thrust the trap to one side, cover it
up or spring it without being exposed to its grasp.

In the third place, the trapper should be supplied with
at least two varieties of traps — one for the larger gophers
and the other for the smaller ones. The common iron
gopher trap, which springs downward, is excellent for
the former, and the small wire trap, which springs up-
ward, is generally successful with the latter. It is taken
for granted that the size of the hole is indicative of the

114 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

size of the gopher. Either trap should be inserted nearly
its full length into the hole, pressed down firmly, and a
little dirt piled at the outer end to prevent its being easily
pushed out. After the trap is set it is well to cover the
opening with some grass or weeds. Sometimes the holes
require a little enlarging, but care should be taken to
make the fit as close as possible, that the body of the
gopher may be kept near the center, and thus more ex-
posed to the prongs of the trap.

In the fourth place, the trapper should be supplied
with a small spade and a litle gouge-shaped implement
for trimming the hole.

Finally, the trapper should be supplied with traps as
numerous as the extent of the pest demands. He should
not be discouraged by lack of success at first. Persever-
ance is as essential in this work as in any other, and will
generally win. We have in mind the successful capture
of a big gopher after trapping for him a week, changing
the trap two or three times a day ; he had then destroyed
about fifty hills of corn. How much damage he and his
descendants might have done had not his career of devas-
tation been interrupted, can only be estimated by such
multiples as attach to the propagation of that particular
species.

Poisoning is an easier method of destroying gophers,
and it is very satisfactory if faithfully done. The poison
is strychnine in crystal form, which can be pulverized in
the small bottle in which it is bought by using the head
of a nail. Take out a very small amount on the tip of
a knife-blade and insert it into raisins, or pieces of carrot,
potato, alfalfa stems, or almost any succulent vegetable
substance which is handy at the time. Find where the
gopher has been at work last, and remove the loose earth
from the surface, to find where it has come from; then
dig down to find the main runway, generally from six
to twelve inches. The runway being found, clean out
any dirt that may have dropped into it, and place the

THE GARDEN MOLE. 115

»poison a little distance from the opening. Then seal up
the hole with a lump of earth or sod, being careful that
none drops in on the poison, and put the dirt back as
it was before. The gopher will soon return to his labor,
and will seldom fail to pick up the bait.

It is often useless to put poison in holes left open by
gophers when at work, as they shove the poison out with
the dirt, and it becomes lost. If a hole is opened and
poison placed therein, it should be closed up again, as
the gopher, seeing the light and feeling the air where
it was not intended, goes to work to remedy that evil
by shoving a load of dirt against the opening, thereby
covering up or throwing out the bait.

Sometimes the same poisoned grain used for squirrels
can be successfully used for gophers by placing it in the
runways as first described.

The Mole. — The mole is an insect-eater and as such is
beneficial, but he destroys so many plants while mining
for grubs and worms, that the gardener can well dispense
with his services. The best way to do this is to watch
for the rising soil and, striking in just behind the mole
with a spade or shovel, throw him out and finish him.
When he is working in the lawn or the ground is too
hard for this treatment, strike into the moving earth with
a hatchet. It generally arrives and we have killed more
moles in this way than in any other.

CHAPTER VII1&.
WEEDS IN CALIFORNIA.

For fear that a book on gardening without a chapter
on weeds might prove too great a shock to horticultural
propriety, this concession is made to conventionality. The
fact is that the California gardener gives himself less con-
cern about weeds than the distant reader can perhaps
realize. There are several reasons for this:

First: It is possible to get quite clean ground for
winter gardening by weed-killing cultivation before plant-
ing. This is one advantage of our long planting season.

Second: Winter gardening is free from many weeds
which only grow in high temperatures.

Third: Owing to the long spring season, it is possible
to clean with plow and cultivators the land which is to
be planted after frosts are over.

Fourth : Summer growth of weeds is largely prevented
by the dry surface layer of the soil, and those who do
start are destroyed by the persistent summer cultivation
which is essential to the preservation of moisture for the
crop. .

Fifth : Many of the worst weeds of humid climates can
not survive our dry summer in uncultivated soil and are
thus prevented from becoming serious pests here because
of their own natural limitations.

And yet we do have weeds, magnificent weeds, weeds
which reflect the growth-giving resources of our soil and
climate quite as strikingly as do our useful plants. Mus-
tard, turnip, and radish extend laterals for the birds of
the air to rest upon. Smartweed grows in some places
too high for a man to look over ; in other places morning-
glary, licorice, Bermuda and Johnson grasses have a grip

ASPARAGUS PACKING.

117

upon the soil which it is almost impossible to loosen. Jim-
son, dogfennel, and others, numerous beyond mention, are

found in varying amounts everywhere; but for the rea-
son stated above they do not give the gardener such
grievance against fate as their names might suggest.

118 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

On the other hand, Canada thistle and burdock are almost
unknown, while plaintain, pusley, and quack grass have
in some places assumed quite an air of respectability as
forage plants.

Naturally, weeds are worst in soils which are moist in
summer, such as the rich lowlands, and on such lands
the California vegetable grower has to fight for his crop.
Some winter-grown plants, like onions, are secured at the
cost of much weeding in some situations. Still it is true,
as remarked above, that weeds do not, taking the State
as a whole, call for such an amount of expensive effort
as they occasion in humid climates, and if the garden is
arranged, as it should be, for the free use of horse-power,
the burden of hand pulling and hoeing is reduced to a
minimum, and the exertion of a prolonged hand-to-hand
contest with weeds is seldom heard of in California.

For these reasons, perhaps, California has no special
contributions to make to the general knowledge of weed
killing. So far, however, as her experience goes, it is
most strenuously in favor of destroying weeds as rob-
bers of moisture which must be saved for useful plants.
The California garden must be clean and the surface must
be frequently stirred, whether weeds appear or not. It
may be fortunate, then, that we are not altogether free
from weeds, for their invitation to slaughter accomplishes
far more for the garden than their own destruction.

Recently weed killing by spraying with solutions of
sulphate of iron has been widely demonstrated to be suc-
cessful. Lawn intruders like dandelions and other broad-
leaved weeds can be killed by spraying with water in
which iron sulphate has been dissolved at the rate of two
pounds to the gallon, without permanent injury to the
grass, but most vegetables would also be destroyed by
this treatment. Garden walks can be kept clean of all
growth by sprinkling with this mixture: Dissolve one
pound of caustic soda in one gallon of water and in this
solution dissolve one and one-half pounds of white ar-

WEED KILLING. 119

senic. Add to this twenty gallons of water and it is
ready for use. But this has to be used circumspectly. If
the poison is carried to the roots of other plants or trees
by rain flow or irrigation, it will kill them also.

Eeally the best treatment of weeds is to destroy them
as soon as they appear by pulling, hoeing, or cultivating,
or by digging or plowing them into the soil when they
make taller growth, thus adding humus to the soil as a
product of their decay, as is discussed in the chapter on
garden fertilization.

CHAPTER VIIIc.
SEED GROWING IN CALIFORNIA.

The commercial production of garden seeds in Cali-
fornia was entered upon by the first American vegetable
growers as a branch of their business. The difficulty of
obtaining supplies from the East and the almost fabulous
prices which seeds commanded, acted as a strong incentive
to local production. The inventory of Mr. John M.
Horner's productions at Alvarado in 1851 included eleven
hundred pounds of garden seeds — onions, beets and cab-
bage. Mr. A. P. Smith, at Sacramento, had twenty acres
devoted to seed growing in 1857, and the following record
shows that he had been doing a good business for some
time before that date :

"To his vegetable seed department Mr. Smith turned
his attention at an early day, and has pursued it till now
he devotes to it twenty acres of ground and the time of
several laborers, and from it reaps a merited reward. His
crop of seeds for the last four years has reached from
three to four thousand pounds per annum, which up to
1858 averaged about three dollars per pound. They now
sell for less."— Rep. Cal. Agr. Society, 1858, p. 233.

Another pioneer seed grower was Mr. D. L. Perkins of
Alameda. The record states that he "served a thorough
apprenticeship in the business at the East and is quite at
home in all general operations connected with his busi-
ness." At the State fair in 1860, premiums for garden
seeds were awarded to A. P. Smith of Sacramento and to
D. L. Perkins of Alameda. The committee reported both
exhibits very meritorius and indulged in the prophecy
that "the time is at hand when our gardeners will be saved

SEED GROWING. 121

the time, trouble and expense of looking abroad for their
seeds."

It would seem that Mr. Perkins must be credited with a
broader conception of the opportunities of California in
seed growing than was known to the awarding committee.
With them the problem was local supply. Mr. Perkins
looked beyond that. In his statement submitted with a
claim for a gold medal at the State fair of 1867, he uses
these significant words:

"For the past ten years all my time has been given to
the raising of seeds * * * striving to get the best seeds
from all parts of the world. During the past three years
I have sent collections of seeds to be tested at the East,
and the results in size and quality over the same varieties
grown at the East have been so marked that several par-
ties have ordered from me, thus showing that California
can compete with the world for garden seeds. There is
no State in the Union so well adapted to the raising of
seeds as California. During five years past I have sent
samples of my product to Japan, China, Sandwich Islands,
Mexico, and to Europe. ' ' — Condensed from Rep. Cal. Agr.
Society, 1866-7, pp. 228 and 229.

Probably this statement of Mr. Perkins was the first
formal prophecy of the eminence which California would
ere long command in the seed markets of the world. It
found an echo in the words of Peter Henderson, the vet-
eran seedsman and florist, who wrote in 1882 : * ' California
will, I am certain, fifty years from now, grow seeds for
the world. It has all the conditions of soil and climate
for seed growing." The progress attained during the
last few years justifies Mr. Perkins' enthusiastic declara-
tion and indicates that Mr. Henderson's time limit was
certainly conservative and safe, for in certain lines surely
such a position has already been realized and in less than
a third of his period.

A New Start. — Mr. Perkins did not continue to the
demonstration of his problem. His attention was diverted

122 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

to other matters, and it remained for others to actually
work the mine of which he was only the prospector.
Theirs have been the labors and the burdens, and it is
gratifying to add that, through carrying them intelli-
gently and devotedly, they have attained reward and have,
in part at least, realized for the State the prominence
which was prophesied by the pioneers.

In 1875 Mr. R. W. Wilson, previously a seed grower at
Rochester, New York, began seed growing near Santa
Clara, and is regarded as the pioneer of the present era of
California seed growing. He began on about fifty acres
of land, growing principally onion, lettuce, carrot, and
beet seed. Two years later he was succeeded by Kellogg
& Morse, who continued together, increasing the dimen-
tions of their business until 1889, when Mr. Kellogg re-
tired and C. C. Morse & Co. became the successors to the
business. They have extended and developed their enter-
prise to dimensions which few Californians realize, and
now are not only leaders in seed growing, but in the seed
trade also. Aside from this large firm there are other
producers who have achieved most creditable results, both
in the general product and in the development of spe-
cialties which have given them wide reputation and con-
tributed to the fame of the State in advanced horticul-
ture.

What is usually meant by seed growing, as popularly
understood in California, is the production of lettuce,
onion, carrot, celery, etc. ; also sweet peas and other flower
seeds. While quite a large acreage is devoted to seed
beans and garden peas, the things peculiarly Californian
are the small vegetable and flower seeds, and the three
pre-eminent specialties are onions, lettuce and sweet peas.
We lead the world in the production of these three items,
and California annually sets the price for all the American
trade in them, and also largely influences the European
seed trade. California is also a large producer of other
vegetable seeds, and to give one some idea of about what

SEED GROWING. 123

area is devoted to seed growing, an estimate the total
acreage in the State of the usual California grown list of
seeds, is about 6500 acres, approximately divided as fol-
lows: Carrots, about 250 acres; celery, about 100 acres;
cucumbers, about 150 acres; endive, about 50 acres;
parsley, about 50 acres; parsnips, about 25 acres; radish,
about 500 acres; onions, about 3000 acres; lettuce, about
750 acres; salsify, about 50 acres; tomatoes, about 100
acres; spinach, about 100 acres. In flower seeds, sweet
peas, about 1250 acres; nasturtiums, about 25 acres, and
considerable breadths of asters, balsam, poppy, phlox,
sunflowers, mignonette, verbena, etc. The smaller seeds of
flowers are not grown extensively, and are still largely
imported.

The coast valleys of California afford conditions favor-
ing seed growing in a high degree. The only seed farms
of any considerable production are located in Los An-
geles, San Luis Obispo, San Benito, and Santa Clara coun-
ties, the latter claiming fully 75 per cent of the total
acreage.

It will be impossible to adequately describe California
seed growing in a single chapter. Only a few salient facts
can be mentioned.

Onion Seed. — This seed has held the leading place in
California seed growing from the very beginning — at first
for local use, afterward for distant sale. In spite of the
Eastern plaudits which Mr. Perkins won for his seed, as
already stated, it was a difficult undertaking to induce
Eastern dealers to use it largely at first. When Mr. Wil-
son offered his first crop of onion seed in the East, scarcely
any one would touch it, and some who did claimed after-
ward that the bulbs grown from it were soft, would not
keep and were inferior. The next year Mr. Wilson sent
quite a quantity of the seed to a dozen or more of the
leading dealers, who planted it beside Eastern seed. In
the fall Mr. Wilson went East and personally inspected
the crops, compared the bulbs and was able to show that

124 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

in every instance California seed produced as good onions
as they had been using before. From that time on Cali-
fornia onion seed has constantly grown in favor, and this
State has .become almost the only source of supplies,
though there are some Eastern States in which a consid-
erable amount is still grown. This popularity secured a
price which was quite profitable, and many grew onion
seed — -too many, in fact, for there is occasionally disas-
trous overproduction.

Lettuce. — Lettuce seed is a leading crop with California
seed growers. The climate of some parts of the coast val-
leys is admirably adapted to it. It requires careful, pains-
taking work to maintain choice varieties. Unfortunately,
the plant seeds most freely in a semi-wild condition, and
some of the less critical growers have allowed it to grow
in this way, thereby increasing yield and profit. The care-
ful grower proceeds with cultivation fitted to retain the
characters of the variety, thins out the plants so that each
will form a perfect head and be true to the type, and then
the heading or cabbage varieties must have the head cut
open with a knife to allow the seed stem to come through ;
otherwise the plant will rot without running to seed. This
method of growing is not conducive to a large seed pro-
duct, but it improves the strain, while the work of the
careless grower tends to reversion.

Other Plants. — Carrot, celery, leek, endive, kale, kohl-
rabi, parsnip, and parsley are all grown by California
seed growers, though their demand is limited, owing to
keen competition with European growers, who are usu-
ally able to contract these crops at less than the cost of
production here. Peas, beans (except Limas), corn, and
some other seeds are not profitable because of competition
with growers in the middle Western States. Egg plant, in
spite of the excellence of the vegetable as noted in a later
chapter, has disappointed the seed growers, and okra has
done likewise. Turnips and Brussels sprouts have not
prospered as seed crops, while cabbage does excellently.

126 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Cauliflower also seeds well some years, but in others it
completely fails, which renders its average below the profit
line. Lima beans for seed have failed, except in the
southern coast district described in the chapter on beans,
but in that district growers have enjoyed some very
profitable contracts with Eastern dealers.

Flower Seeds. — Various flowers have been grown for
seed, in fact, a great assortment of varieties, and, while
nearly all kinds flourish, there is so much hand work and
close application necessary, that we have not been able to
successfully compete with Europe on most things. Sweet
peas; nasturtiums, cosmos, verbenas, petunias, balsams,
poppies, sunflowers, phlox, mignonette and asters are quite
successfully grown, and the seed trade looks to California
for most of the sweet peas and a great many of the nas-
turtiums. Southern California has several very prominent
growers of fine double petunias and other plants.

The rapid advance of the California sweet pea seed in
popularity is most marvelous. A beginning was made in
this line in a moderate way about 1885, when there were
not over a dozen varieties listed. At first about a quarter
of an acre was grown ; now the total acreage is about
1250 acres, as stated. So important a factor have the
California sweet pea growers become to the seed trade
that some dealers come from the East annually to inspect
the growing crops and to hunt for novelties in the sweet
pea line. One will know California sweet pea wherever
grown by its wonderful vigor.

Sweet peas are planted in November and December to
secure the flowers at their very best about the middle of
May. They grow slowly throughout the winter, but just
as soon as the days lengthen and the weather grows warm,
they fairly spring into bloom, while later sown seed will
mature blossoms correspondingly late.

The careful grower devotes a great deal of time to
roguing his crops. In spite of the greatest care in selec-

SEED GROWING. 127

tion there will always be a few off plants, and these must
come out to keep the stock pure.

One Use of Machinery. — Improved cleaning machinery
has proved an important factor in the production of a
bright, fresh-looking sample of seed, and has improved the
vitality test by allowing a thorough separation of every-
thing spurious from the good seed. Hand mills are em-
ployed to some extent for small lots, but the main cleaning
is done with large Clipper Mills, operated by gasoline en-
gines, and sometimes the electric motor is used. This
gives a steadier power and a much larger capacity. It
was not until a few years ago that onion seed could be
successfully threshed and separated by one of the same
mills. After years of experimenting and great expense,
one was built that could successfully do this, and now
onion seed is threshed and cleaned by large mills run with
steam engines. It is, however, still necessary to sink the
seed in water to get it perfectly clean.

Hand Labor. — Nothing has been invented for threshing
lettuce, cabbage, parsnip, parsley, etc., which is any im-'
provement on the hand flail, .and gangs of men are em-
ployed in threshing these crops. The diversity of the
crops and the innumerable variety would make it natu-
rally unprofitable to attempt to employ machinery in the
field for these kinds of seed.

The seed grower must depend upon a great deal of hand
work. Everything must be harvested by hand; every
onion head must be cut by hand; every stalk of lettuce
and carrot must be dried, turned, threshed, cleaned and
recleaned. Carrot seed must not only be flailed to thresh
it, but it must also be run through a rubbing machine to
break the beards off and then cleaned in-doors.

All the planting and cultivating must be done very
carefully, and much of it is hand work. Every onion bulb
must be set right side up in the row, then carefully cov-
ered, or left for a time in the open drill af*:r setting if
there should be danger of soil saturation from heavy rains

128 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

which sometimes fall at the planting time in December.
Celery plants are twice transplanted before being finally
set out in the field. Carrots and all roots must be selected
and taken out to be transplanted, all which are defective
in shape and color being thrown out.

The careful seed grower always makes careful selections
of everything he has growing, which he plants seperately
for his own stock seed. There will always be some roots
or plants that are rather better in being nearer the true
type and color than the others, and it is from among these
that the careful grower makes his selections.

Climatic Advantages. — In addition to the advantages of
the California climate in growing the plants, there are
other advantages in handling the crop. The long, dry
summers afford a fine opportunity to thoroughly dry the
seed and permit a large part of the harvest work to be
done in the field. It is not necessary to build great barns
and drying sheds as they do in the East, although the
large California growers provide themselves with large
cleaning houses and storage warehouses into which to take
the seed as soon as it is sacked and ready for shipment.

The Future. — It has taken all these years to learn how
to grow seeds and to have trained a number of men who
also know how, and what to do, so that in the future even
greater and more interesting developments may be ex-
pected in all branches of seed growing. One hardly knows
what the possibilities are, but the past has clearly shown
that our soil and climate will be great aids to future ac-
complishment, and in our wide range of natural conditions
it is reasonable to expect that many things not now under-
taken, may find a favorable environment, and reward the
intelligent and painstaking grower.

CHAPTER IX.
GARDEN LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENT.

Several things should be considered in locating the
farm garden, for much depends upon selecting : first, the
best soil for the purpose the farm affords; second, situa-
tion with relation to protection, warmth and drainage;
third, nearness to water supply for irrigation ; fourth,
nearness to the home and protection from intrusion. It
may not be possible to combine all these points in a single
situation, and then it may be advisable to make two loca-
tions, or, in making one, to sacrifice convenience to the
more imperative conditions of exposure, soil and moisture.

Choice of Soil. — General considerations in connection
with soils may be found in other chapters. Of course, for
ease of work as well as for other considerations a rich loam
should be chosen — the best that the ranch affords. As to
grades of loam, the lighter should be chosen for the win-
ter garden because of the better natural drainage and
warmth and the short time in which such soils will take
tools and seeds well after heavy rains. The heavier and
more retentive soil will better suit the summer garden.
Sometimes these two soils may be found beside each other
in the same acre; sometimes the soil can be readily im-
proved in these lines, as may be seen in the chapter on
soils, or small pieces at a distance from each other may be
chosen if each has distinctive fitness.

Situation and Exposure. — Situation should be consid-
ered, for warmth and protection as well as drainage, as is
explained in other chapters. Though garden ground in
general is most conveniently worked if it has just enough
grade for the slow distribution of water, for winter and
early spring growth an elevation out of the frosts of the

130 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

low grounds and into the superior heat of the southerly
slopes will be found of advantage. In addition to the
ridge above, such protection from north and northwest
winds as a windbreak of trees or farm buildings or a high
fence will be valuable. There is great difference in the
safety and speed of winter vegetables on benches and hill-
sides, as compared with the lower lands at their feet only
a few rods away perhaps. Warm protected slopes are best
for winter and the worst for summer vegetables. Shallow
soil spread on porous rock is non-retentive and warm for
winter growth, but it may be impossible, even with irriga-
tion, to carry good succulent growth on it during the blis-
tering summer heat. Then the deep loams of the creek
borders and other level lands delight the gardener with
the largest returns for the least water.

Nearness to Water Supply. — The summer garden should
be near the water supply, if it be developed from home
sources, or the water should be piped to it, which is almost
equivalent to moving the reservoir to the garden site. Car-
riage of water in a flume entails losses by leakage and
evaporation and earth-ditches are distressingly wasteful
by evaporation and percolation. One often sees water
started on its wayfrom the homesite tanks toward a dis-
tant garden, making mud-holes and losing volume all the
way. In many cases another well-outfit for the sole use of
the garden would be a good investment.

Nearness to the Home. — If fairly good conditions exist
near the home site, by all means locate the garden there.
It will win the interest and profits by the attention of the
family, and will yield its supplies directly to their hands
in most cases. Besides, with the tools handy, spare hours
now and then will be given to its working when the leisure
is too short to warrant or incline one to walk to a distant
patch. The time thus saved may almost keep the garden
going in good shape. Then, a well-kept garden is an or-
nament and the ornamentation of our rural homes is often
rather scant.

Protection from Intrusion, — To be any comfort and

ARRANGEMENT FOR HORSE WORK. 131

gratification whatever the farm garden must be protected
from intruders. One of the chief objections to locating
vegetable patches here and there in the best situations for
special purposes lies in the trouble of excluding wild
marauders of all sizes from a jack-rabbit to a deer and the
whole range of domestic invaders from the pasture or
corral. This fact alone compels many to forego vegetable
planting except in the well-fenced house-yard. It is not
difficult to inclose a few square rods with wire netting or
with the woven stock fence of wire and driven posts — the
whole to be rolled up and stored or moved to another in-
closure as the progress of the season gives it new uses.

A home-grown fence is quite possible in California, us-
ing for pickets the southern cane or the Asiatic bamboos,
both of which grow readily on moist land in this State.
Posts may be set a rod apart. With an inexpensive machine
the canes may be woven into a web, using six No. 14 wires
for the chain. If the canes are cut three and one-half feet
long, and the fence posts are four feet above the ground,
along the top of them a barbed wire may be stretched, so
that when completed one has a chicken or rabbit fence as
well as a strong stock fence. This fence is very durable,
the cane becoming as hard as bone and never rotting ; rab-
bits can not gnaw it, and it will not ignite from burning
grass near it as common pine fencing or lath will ; stock
can see it and hence will not run against it. It can be
made of any height desired, the canes growing as high as
12 to 15 feet. It may be taken down, rolled up and moved
without injury and at slight expense.

ARRANGEMENT FOR HORSE WORK.

Although our foreign-born friends who do most of the
market garden work in California retain their native pre-
dilection for hand labor and plan their gardens accord-
ingly, it is advisable that farm vegetable growers should
arrange to use as much horse power as possible. Both for
this purpose and to facilitate furrow irrigation or seepage
ditch irrigating, if the slope suits it, the garden should be

132 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

somewhat brick-shaped, because of the greater work which
can be done with the same or fewer turnings of the horse
or team than on a square piece. At both ends there should
be a roadway left for turning the team. This shape is
equally adapted for flat or ridge cultivation.

In the horse-power farm garden there should, of course,
be no permanent walks. If walks are desired, leave spaces
lengthwise unplanted and uncultivated and smooth down
the surface with a roller. Such arrangements, however,
waste land and waste moisture, for the hard ground draws
water laterally. It is better economy therefore to evenly
cultivate the whole area. Lay out the plantings in straight
rows for ease of cultivation, and either plant full rows of
each vegetable or continue the row with another kind
which requires the same distance between rows. Proper
distances for each vegetable will be considered in subse-
quent chapters. It is convenient to make the distances
multiples of some unit. For instance two feet between the
rows is about the minimum distance for horse cultivation.
Some growers therefore plant at two, four, six, eight, etc.,
feet distances; others start with three feet and proceed
with six, nine, twelve, etc., — the latter for the largest run-
ning vines. This makes rows of the small, upright grow-
ers a yard apart, which is rather too great a distance
ordinarily.

It is often a great convenience to have permanent dis-
tance stakes set close to the fences on the ends of the plot
and placing them the accepted unit apart. It is easy to
regulate distances by slipping the planting line over two
opposite stakes which give the desired separation. If one
has a good horse and a good eye, he will, however, prob-
ably prefer to use a "marker" made with thills and plow
handles properly fastened to a cross-bar eight or ten feet
long and fitted with wooden teeth such distance apart as
he adopts as his unit of distance between the rows. Start-
ing then with a straight guide-line on the surface on one
side, three or four parallel lines can be clearly marked at
one driving over. Following: these marks with the garden

VEGETABLE GROWING IN YOUNG ORCHARD. 133

drill, or with the hoe planting, very straight lines of seed-
ing can be done in a fraction of the time needed to work
with a line. But whether line or marker be used, it is de-
sirable to rotate the plants year by year so that the narrow
and wide row plantings shall change places on the plot,
else one might be so supernaturally accurate that the rows
would come everlastingly on the same lines, which would
not be desirable even if the soil were somewhat displaced
laterally by cultivation.

It is great convenience in arranging for due succession
in the garden (which will be farther considered in the
chapter on planting) to give adjacent rows to vegetables
which mature at about the same time. By this arrange-
ment, say, half or a quarter of the garden lengthwise can
be cleaned up at the same time and the whole section be
at once replanted' or plowed up for later planting or irri-
gating as may be desirable. Of course if early plantings
for winter use are made in the same plot with plantings
which will go into the summer, each should be in its own
quarter of the garden.

In arranging the summer garden in the interior heat, it
is sometimes desirable to place low, tender-leaved plants
like lettuce between rows of tall vegetables which afford it
partial shade. Tall corn or pole beans may thus take the
place of artificial screens which might otherwise be nec-
essary.

VEGETABLE GROWING IN YOUNG ORCHARD AND
VINEYARD.

This subject is usually discussed from the point of view
of injury to the trees and rightly so because the trees rep-
resent the greater investments and the greater expectations,
but the lowly vegetables have a point of view also and
by their appearance they clearly declare that whether they
hurt the trees or not they would like a better place on their
own account. It is a fact that inter-culture of vegetables
in an orchard is soon abandoned because the vegetables do
not pay for the trouble and by the sight of them one is

134 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

not surprised that they do not pay. It would probably be
much better for trees, vegetables and owner if half an
acre, if for home use, and larger area, if for market, should
be kept free of trees and handled on a more intensive plan
for the production of fine vegetables. When fruit prices
were higher and orchard improvements the only avenue
to high acre-valuation, it is not surprising that people
tried to plant fruit trees everywhere on small tract pur-
chases— even to making clothes-line posts of them, but
now as other resources are receiving better proportional
esteem, a small, first-class garden spot, worked up to the
limits of its possibilities, should receive attention not only
for constant money-saving and money-making, but as one
of the most valuable improvements on the place.

There is no particular disadvantage or difficulty in grow-
ing vegetables in young orchards or vineyards providing
conditions are right for it. Fruits and vegetables have
been associated in gardens, probably, ever since Adam
failed through giving too much attention to fruit. But the
association of fruits and vegetables has been successful
upon the garden policy of enrichment, irrigation, and the
highest known culture. This is quite different from the
proposition as it has arisen in California which is to grow
vegetables upon the orchard policy of cultivation for con-
servation of moisture and trust to the natural fertility of
the land. It is not surprising that the soil often rebels at
the double burden as beyond its strength and dictates its
terms to the grower — by so much as you gain of one by so
much you shall lose of the other.

It may be seen, however, in the chapters on soils and
irrigation that California has natural soils and situations
which are quite comparable with the best conditions which
intensive culture can produce in the gardens of older lands
and, this being true, it is possible to draw upon their rich
resources in the same way. It is quite possible then to
grow good vegetables betAveen young fruit trees and for
a certain period it can be done without irreparable injury
to the trees, providing the local conditions warrant the

VEGETABLE GROWING IN YOUNG ORCHARD. 135

practice. These conditions may be thus summarized :

If the soil be of only average richness, the rainfall mod-
erate to meagre in amount, and no facilities for irrigation,
it would be unfortunate to place any other burden on the
land than the growth of the trees.

If the soil be not very rich and the rainfall heavy, but
the moisture easily lost by percolation or evaporation,
owing to non-retentiveness of the soil, and no irrigation
facilities, give the trees all the ground and the most per-
fect summer cultivation possible.

If the land be rich, the rainfall abundant and moisture
held well in the soil, or if irrigation can be made use of,
it is fair to think of an -inter-crop during the early years
of the orchard, providing the crop can be profitably dis-
posed of, its nature is such that no heavy draft is made
on fertility, and the financial condition of the planter re-
quires immediate return from the land, if possible.

It thus appears that an inter-crop is finally made to
hinge upon the grower's necessities, and the inference
would be that if the money is not needed immediately, it
would be wiser to hold the whole strength of the soil as an
investment on which returns are to be finally had in the
increased growth and fuller fruiting of the trees in later
years.

This views the matter from a commercial point of view
and therefore in its most aggravated form. If it is merely
a question of whether the home supply of vegetables shall
be taken from the young orchard or vineyard, it is less
serious and can be more freely commended.

In growing vegetables between the rows of trees or
vines, much depends of course upon the time and the way
it is done. If water can be applied between the rows late
in the summer in such a way that it will not prevent the
deciduous trees from going forward to their usual dor-
mancy, or if the grower waits until the fall rains wet the
ground sufficiently and then puts in his vegetables for late
fall and winter growth without carrying them too near
the trees, he can make his winter garden, enjoy its pro-

136 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

duce, and plow in the debris so early in the spring that
no appreciable injury will be done to the trees, unless he
is on that line of light rainfall where every possible effort
is demanded to receive and conserve all the water that
falls. If that be the case he has to cultivate to conserve
moisture both winter and summer and should not think
even of winter vegetables in the orchard.

Perhaps the chief objection to winter vegetable grow-
ing is due to the fact that the crop is usually planted too
late and is allowed to occupy the ground so late in the
spring that the soil can not be brought into fine tilth which
is necessary to save moisture. Instead of this the impacted
ground on which the vegetables stood is turned up in clods
which no amount of crushing will reduce to tilth and the
orchard loses by defective cultivation more moisture than
the vegetables consumed in their growth.

The summer growth of vegetables in the orchard is a
more dangerous operation and whether it should be under-
taken or not depends upon local conditions previously
outlined. Perhaps a specific instance may enforce the
point and show what may be taken as favored soil and
moisture conditions. In the lower lands of the Santa
Clara valley, near San Jose, there have been constant con-
tributions to fertility by overflows from mountain water
bringing leaf mold and other materials found in the de-
posits of * ' slum, ' ' which renew and keep up the fertility
of the soil. Much of this land has been under cultivation
50 years and upwards, and yet is known as garden soil.
Much of this land is adobe, naturally remarkably produc-
tive, aside from its benefits from overflow. Such soils have
proved able to produce, without apparent exhaustion, or-
chard trees and the crops that are grown among them.
There' is an abundance of artesian water for use when
needed. It has been a common custom in this artesian
belt, so noted for strawberries, to grow onions on the
ridges between the strawberry rows, and along the sides
of other berry bushes. Onions are thus grown during sev-
eral successive years until the ground is too crowded.

VEGETABLE GROWING IN YOUNG ORCHARD. 137

%

Beets, carrots, peas, and other vegetables are sometimes
grown among the berries. Crops of onion seed' have been
grown among the trees of young orchards without irriga-
tion and the trees have done quite as well as when they
had the ground all to themselves. Free use of the culti-
vator has kept the ground loose and moist, after one or
two plowings. By irrigating in the fall, the ground can
be plowed so as to start the onions before the rains, though
this is not usually done. Onions planted any time between
October and February may be considered best, though
much depends on the season. It should be understood
that, aside from the favoring soil and artesian wells, this
locality is in line with the summer breezes that come in
from the ocean through the Golden Gate, 40 miles away,
adding moisture to temper the otherwise heated atmos-
phere of the valley. Of course we have only used the
onion as an example of a hardy, winter growing vegetable
and what we have said of it applies to all other upright
winter growers which do not make much lateral extension
in their growth.

Such land will carry all growths that can find standing
room on it. Similar conditions are found on low, moist
valley lands in nearly all parts of the State, both in the
Coast and the interior valleys. The land has such wealth
of plant food and moisture that summer weed-killing,
which is not common in California, is quite a problem.
Where weeds will grow in spite of ordinary good summer
cultivation, the land will stand almost covering with use-
ful plants and it costs little more to grow them than to
keep down the wonderful weeds.

CHAPTER X.
THE PLANTING SEASON.

The chapter on California climates as related to vege-
table growing will show that there is really no closed
season in the State except in the mountain districts. It is
always time to plant something, if the moisture is avail-
able, for there is no degree of cold realized which en-
dangers the hardier vegetables. It is true that in Decem-
ber and January in the regions of heavy rainfall, there is
apt to be a cold, wet surface soil which does not give a
hospitable welcome either to seed or seedlings but even
this can be overcome by using lighter soil at a little higher
elevation or by the devices for raising plants in the seed-
bed unless one wishes to wait for February planting as is
commonly done in such places. The antithesis of the De-
cember and January cold is the July and August heat and
drought in the interior, but this too is conquerable by irri-
gation, with added shade for some tender-leafed plants, or
by choosing moist, low land, of which California valleys
both on the Coast and in the interior have great areas.
The conclusion of the whole matter is that California val-
leys and foot-hills are naturally fitted for almost endless
succession of sowings and gatherings and such temporary
unfitness as locally occurs is easily overcome by very
simple cultural arts and provisions. Still there are best
times for doing things for specific purposes and many of
these can only be learned by local experience. An attempt
will be made, however, to give hints to newcomers, or to
the many who have not essayed vegetable growing and
have thus neglected glorious opportunities, which will en-
able them to realize, it is hoped, some directions in which
promising efforts may be put forth.

Seasonable Work in the Garden. — In view of the fact

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

Of

THE PLANTING SEASON. i39

already emphasized that the planting season extends
throughout the year and is regulated by local conditions
and not by the calendar, it follows that other garden work
constantly recurs, and it would be a hopeless task to at-
tempt to specify certain times at which certain work
should be done. The vegetable grower must use his own
powers of observation and common sense, and not ex-
pect to find in print the injunction that on a certain day
he must do, a certain thing.

It may be possible to make such prescriptions in more
steady-going climates but in our diverse local climates,
which are either forcing or retarding, according to locali-
ties, and according to times of the year in the same lo-
cality, it is impossible to say just when a crop planted at
a certain time should be hoed or cultivated, trained up or
gathered, and the ground cleared up for other uses. All
such acts will be omitted from our California garden cal-
endar. Let it be understood rather that the grower must
be always on the alert to do certain things without sug-
gestion from any one, viz. :

First : Stir the ground as soon as it will take tools well
after the young plants have appeared above the surface,
and thin the plants in the row to allow proper space for
attaining good size.

Second: Continue stirring afterwards whenever the
soil works well, for weed killing if there be any ; if not,
stir the surface just the same.

Third : Continue stirring so long as the cultivator does
not seriously injure the plant by breaking its stems and
foliage, and then use the hoe carefully to prevent the
ground becoming compacted near the stem in places not
reached by the cultivator.

Fourth : Keep the condition of the plant constantly in
sight and thought, to train or trim its growth to attain
best results. Such treatment for each plant will naturally
be noted in the place devoted to its special consideration
later.

Fifth : Watch for the attainment of such degree of ma-

140' CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

turity as makes each plant most desirable for food pur-
poses. The slack gardener is apt to allow his vegetables
to become stale or over-ripe in the rows, and in that way
miss their best estate.

Sixth : Gather promptly and dispose of each, either by
eating or selling, when it reaches this condition and
quickly clear away the remains of the growth for stock
feed or for the compost heap. Do not allow the plants to
stand for the purpose of gathering seed from the culls
which are rejected at picking. Select the earliest and
best specimens for seed if any seed is to be saved. It is,
however, only in exceptional cases that the farm gardener
should save his own seed. It is better to buy up-to-date
varieties from those who make a business of selection and
improvement of garden varieties. Keep the garden al-
ways clean and ready for something else. It is a mistake
to let the garden lie neglected until the time for a spring
revolution and upheaval, like that which Eastern gard-
eners are forced to content themselves with. Of course,
the error of stirring the soil when too wet must be care-
fully guarded against, but there is much beside digging
involved in gardening.

Seventh : Irrigate, if necessary, and work the soil as
soon as it works aright. Do not lose moisture by allowing
the surface to become hard. No matter whether the
ground is to be used for an immediate succession or
whether it is to lie for some time, break up the surface
and make it fit to receive water or retain water, as the
case may be.

These timely and important acts will not appear in our
calendar for the reasons first stated. They are always in
order in California, and if a man has to be told more than
once to do them, there are serious doubts of his ever hav-
ing been called to be a vegetable grower.

CALIFORNIA GARDEN CALENDAR.

As appears in the chapter on climate, the timeliness of
certain operations in California is not regarded by geo-

CALIFORNIA GARDEN CALENDAR. 141

graphy nor latitude, but by topography and environment,
by moisture-conditions, either natural or acquired, and by
the beginning and ending of the frost-free period. The
broken country of the northwest quarter of the State, and
the mountain elevations everywhere which are liable to
snowfall, constitute regions which differ from the Coast
valley, interior valley and foothill regions both north and
south, and are, therefore, to a certain degree out of our
calculation, though an effort will be made to include some
recognition of their practice. The outline to be made of
timely work is intended to cover the State in all parts ex-
cept where wintry conditions in greater or less degree in-
trude.

Our seasons, shading into each other without striking
division lines, make it necessary to select a somewhat ar-
bitrary point of beginning for a garden calendar. The
point midway between the closing of one rainy season and
the beginning of another is, by virtue of its drought-and-
heat-effects on the rainfall garden, and its heat-effects
even on ground kept moist by irrigation or underflow, the
time when garden growth is about at its lowest point. It
is also a time when preparations are to be made for the
earliest sowing. The arrangement is somewhat arbitrary,
as confessed above, but it accords best with all matters
involved to look upon the month of July as the beginning
of the California year in vegetable growing.

JULY.

On ground moistened anew by underflow from rising
rivers or by percolation from irrigation ditches on higher
orchard slopes, or on land cleared of an earlier crop, irri-
gated and well worked, it is possible to plant vegetables in
July for late fall or winter use. String beans, carrots,
corn, parsnips, potatoes, salsify, squashes, turnips, etc.,
will all come on rapidly in the interior heat, if adequate
moisture is furnished and frosts are reasonably late. Mel-
ons are also successfully thus sown and with heat enough
will mature in September from July planting. Near the

142 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Coast or in the interior, with shade, cucumbers, lettuce,
radishes and other salads will thrive. Cabbage and cauli-
flower seed sown in proper beds or boxes, soon gives plants
for later setting which will mature for Christmas and on
through the early winter.

AUGUST.

Corn and potatoes planted in August may still have time
to reach satisfactory condition of maturity, except where
frosts are expected early. Cabbage and cauliflower seed
will give plants for proper winter succession ; turnips on
irrigated ground will also give winter crop. Onion seed
may be sown for sets. August is a sort of divide in gar-
den work. It is rather late to sow for fall use and rather
soon to sow for winter use, and still August planting is
practiced by many where local conditions take kindly to it.

SEPTEMBER.

Planting must still proceed upon moisture by irrigation,
and planting for early winter use is still in order. Peas
started with irrigation and carried until rainfall is ade-
quate, will be ready for Christmas in regions where only
light frosts occur, for peas are quite hardy. Cabbage and
cauliflower should be sown in the seed-bed for succession
of plants — in some places they grow slowly and can be
taken out for planting until February. Beets and salsify
will start for early summer use, and potatoes for the holi-
days. Lettuce and onions can be sown in place or plants
may be grown in a seed-bed for planting out after the
rains come. In strictly frostless places, string beans, egg-
plant, and tomatoes are planted for very early crop.

OCTOBER.

It is still time to plant cabbage, spinach, onions, lettuce,
and turnips for mid-winter and spring use. Peas of early
variety will still make the Christmas table in a favorable
locality. Beans, egg-plant, and tomatoes are still sown for
early crop in frostless places.

CALIFORNIA GARDEN CALENDAR. 143

NOVEMBER.

Still plant for succession. Peas, lettuce, cabbage, onions,
beets, spinach, salsify, turnips. The Coast valleys are now
usually moist enough to carry all these hardy vegetables
without irrigation, for late winter and early spring use.
Asparagus roots are in shape for planting. Potatoes,
beans, egg-plant and tomatoes are planted in frostless
places for early crop.

DECEMBER.

The higher lands of the interior valley are usually ready
for the rainfall garden. Beets, cabbage, cauliflower, car-
rots, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes and turnips are hardy,
though some roots sown at this time will in some places
go to seed in the spring instead of enlarging. Potatoes
are planted on slopes, well out of hard frosts. In north-
erly coast valleys the soil is often too cold and wet to
make seed sowing wise. In such places the growth gets a
poor start. This depends greatly, however, upon the
character of the rainy season for that particular year.

JANUARY.

On warmer, drier valley lands in regions of light rain-
fall or on protected hillsides, plantings of beets, cabbage,
carrots, peas, turnips, lettuce and onions are usually wise.
In colder regions lettuce and onions and radishes are
hardy, and thrive if raised out of the wet, and cabbage,
cauliflower, pepper, celery, tomato seed should go into
seed-beds to grow plants for later planting out. It is the
first great potato planting month for regions of light
rainfall or on warm, well-drained slopes in regions of
heavier rains. But on low valley lands in wet regions,
January is often too stormy and cold for open-air work,
as has just been said of December.
FEBRUARY.

February is the great planting month, for everything
but the very tender plants, like beans, corn, tomatoes,
peppers, the squash family, etc., can now proceed with as-

144 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

surance of adequate heat and moisture. It is the month
for the dilatory man who has missed his earliest oppor-
tunities to fill the ground with seed, and it is the time
when plantings in small frosty and rainy valleys, which
have been deferred because the ground was too cold and
wet to start seeds and plants well, may be confidently
made. Successions and rotations are in order, as the fall-
planted vegetables are cleared away. Early small plant-
ings of string-beans, melons and cucumbers will often
carry through or can be easily replanted if the frost
catches them. Potatoes are widely planted and will sel-
dom be killed, though they may be cut back, except on
low ground, which should be planted later. Chicory is
sown, and sowing of sugar beets as a field crop for the
factory, begins in February, on the warmer, drier lands.

MARCH.

Later plantings of all sorts of hardy vegetables for suc-
cession is pursued. The venturesome on higher, warmer
lands try corn, melons, squashes, tomatoes, and continue
planting beans. Sugar beets are largely sown for factory
use. Sweet potatoes should go into the hot-bed for slip-
ping.

APRIL.

April is another month for succession planting of hardy
vegetables, but it is getting late except where moisture is
ample and late showers quite certain. Tender plants are
out of serious danger except in especially frosty places.
Beans can be confidently planted. Peppers, tomatoes, egg-
plant, sweet potatoes, and other growths can be brought
to the open ground. Corn, melons and squashes can be
s&fely planted as field crops. The season's race is well
along in its last quarter, the heat and drought have al-
ready made hay and are ripening the grain.

MAY.

Everything for which there can be assured ample mois-
ture can still be planted in the moderate heat of the Coast

CALIFORNIA GARDEN CALENDAR. 145

regions, but it is late for shallow-rooting plants to take
hold in the interior heat, even with irrigation. Heat-lov-
ing plants, like watermelons, corn, sweet potatoes, etc.,
will grow grandly with moisture enough. On the Coast,
Lima beans, sugar beets for late crop, corn and roots for
fall use will do well if well cultivated. All planting now
which is well taken care of will carry its verdure and its
crop to refresh the grower in the midst of the dry season.
It is a time to seek and use moist land or to count on soon
employing the fullest irrigation facilities the place affords.

JUNE.

June completes the garden year. It is the last chance
to plant, and it is useless to plant at all except on land
moist naturally or by irrigation. It is the last chance to
get a second crop on land which has given produce. In
the garden clear up all that has matured of the winter
plantings, irrigate well, plow and quickly fine the surface
and put in beans, beets, cabbage plants, corn, melons, po-
tatoes, squash, tomato plants, and a succession of small
truck, and be sure that they do not lack moisture, or their
courses will be short and unprofitable.

TABULAR SHOWINGS OF TIMES OF PLANTING.

To afford the reader a condensed view of the facts noted
in the foregoing suggestions for the months, tabular show-
ings are prepared. These are not made from theoretical
generalizations, but are prepared from records of actual
practice which the writer has been collecting for the last
30 years. It would be easy to add more data to the tables
as inferences from what is laid down, but readers can do
that for themselves. It is beyond question, for instance,
that a vegetable planted in May and July could also be
planted in June, and is no doubt planted in June in actual
practice. But to present tables which are actual and not
inferential, only affirmative and specific cases are given
place. The work of several hundred growers is condensed
into these tables.

Separate showings are made for southern California and

146 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

for the valley and foothill portions of the upper part of the
State. It will be seen that they strikingly agree. There
are practically frostless regions near the coast in southern
California which are not found elsewhere in the State,
although it is only with the tenderest growths that the
difference becomes apparent. Other vegetables take about
the same courses in early regions, both north and south.
Still it is well to reduce the fact to a set of records such as
these tables embody.

TIMES FOR PLANTING CERTAIN VEGETABLES IN VALLEY AND FOOTHILL
REGIONS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

,CJ

Beans

Beets

Cabbage

Carrots

Caulifl(

Celery

Corn * * '.. *3 *3 *

Cucumbers ..... . . *3 * *

Eggplant *- *2 *2 * *

Lettuce * * * * * * * * * *

Melons . . * •}.,'••?>*. *' *' *

Onions ......... .. * * * * * * * *

Peas 'i .'•.'.' * * * * * * * *

Potatoes

Potatoes, sweet ;C* ^Ur.^.;': *;.

Radishes * * * *

Salsify .. * *

Spinach ...... * * * *

Squash *

Tomatoes *2 *:

Turnips * *

'On irrigated land.

2Frostless situations near southern coast.

3Taking the chances of occasional frost and replanting in some
places.

rH

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rt.

H

w -Z ~ -b

3
1-5
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#2 #2

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* * *

THE FROST FACTOR. 147

TIMES FOB PLANTING CERTAIN VEGETABLES IN VALLEY AND FOOTHILL
REGIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

till I III III!

Beans * * * * *

Beets * * * * * * *

Cabbage * * * * *.. * * * * *..

Carrots * * * * * * *

Cauliflower ... * .. ..• * * * * * *

Celery ,.; v -*— »> -:,* * * * ••

Corn * .. >v .-•,«.; '.,»- .-*-v-'-i.*: -V..«: /..<;• V. • * *

Cucumbers .... * . . ......,,.' . . * * *

Eggplant • •"'•'• • • " '•' •"'••" •'•. ' •/• •.•

Lettuce * * * * * * * * * * * *

Melons * •<&. ; '.. ^.." .. .; \. 'i.-/.. * * *

Onions * * * * * * * * *

Peas * * * * * * * * * ..

Potatoes * .«• •• >'• *******..

Potatoes, sweet. . . ' ' '•> ; -•• •• •• '.VI ''..'.'.''* * * *

Radishes * * * * * * * * * * * *

Salsify * .. .. .; .. .w .. * * * .. ..

Spinach * * * .. .. ..

Squash * * * *

Tomatoes * * *

Turnips ..* *.. * *.. * * * * * *

4On irrigated or naturally moist low land.

THE FROST FACTOR.

The intrusion of the frost period is a local limitation of
the planting season. Each vegetable grower should keep
records of frost occurrence for his own guidance in future
operations and for the public benefit, for the government
weather service is very anxious to get local observations
on this point.

During the last decade the San Francisco office of the
U. S. Weather Bureau has given particular attention to
frost phenomena, including conditions of occurrence and
prevention, and the publications by the local officer in
charge, Prof. Alexander G. McAdie, comprise the best
knowledge on the subject.

The discussion in the chapter on California Climate as
Related to Vegetable Growing shows that weather condi-

148 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

tions are everywhere dependent to a degree on local to-
pography and environment, even though there are regional
characters which must be understood. In this place it is
fitting to emphasize especially the dates at which killing
frosts have occurred in a large number of localities, be-
cause such dates are seldom accurately remembered even
in the localities concerned. The table which we have com-
piled and arranged in our own way, according to districts,
from data kindly furnished by Prof. McAdie, should be
studied with the following points in view :

First. The dates represent the first and last dates of
killing frosts in each place during a decade. In most
cases probably the dates are not in the same year. We
wish to show the "worst ever" at each place.

Second. Obviously, then, frosts at such dates are not
to be often expected, and planters may usually take the
risk of planting somewhat earlier and having tender plants
mature somewhat later, as will be discussed in the next
chapter. At the same time large plantings for a main or
standard crop should be generally held back for the local
frost-free period which the dates in the tables supply for
each place.

Third. Always remember, however, that there may be
situations adjacent to the place where the record is made
in which frost may be earlier or later, or both, according
to the variations in local topography, exposure, etc., as
explained in the chapter on Climate. There are also a
few widely separated situations which may be considered
almost, if not quite, frostless.

Fourth. The tables give the elevation in feet above sea
level in each case. This factor does influence frost occur-
rence in a large way, but local frost phenomena are often
determined by the relative elevation of situations in the
same vicinity and by other conditions of topography
affecting the movement of cold air and counter currents,
perhaps, of warm air.

Fifth. Thus it should appear that after all the writer
can do to help the reader determine what his planting

THE FROST FACTOR.

149

practice should be with refenece to frost occurrence, it
still remains with the latter to do all that he can to under-
stand his immedate spot of land through the teaching of
his own observation and experience.

DATES OF SPRING AND FALL KILLING FROSTS, 1897 TO 1908.

Location and county. Elevation.

UPPER COAST REGION.

Crescent City, Del Norte 50

Eureka, Humboldt 64

Upper Mattole, Humboldt 244

Ukiah, Mendocino 620

Fort Bragg, Mendocino 74

Fort Ross, Sonoma 100

Cloverdale, Sonoma 340

Santa Rosa, Sonoma 181

Peachland, Sonoma 220

Sonoma, Sonoma 30

Calistoga, Napa 363

Napa, Napa 60

Upper Lake, Lake. . : 1350

SACRAMENTO VALLEY AND
FOOTHILLS.

Redding, Shasta 552

Red Bluff, Tehama 307

Rosewood, Tehama 865

Corning, Tehama 277

Chico, Butte 193

Durham, Butte 160

Biggs, Butte 98

Oroville, Butte 250

Palermo, Butte 213

Fruto, Glenn 624

Willows, Glenn 136

Dunnigan, Yolo 65

Guinda, Yolo 350

Woodland, Yolo 63

Davis, Yolo 51

Vacaville, Solano 175

Elmira, Solano 75

Suisun, Solano 20

Sacramento, Sacramento 35

Folsom, Sacramento 252

Wheatland, Yuba 84

Auburn, Placer 1360

Colfax, Placer 2421

Eldorado, Eldorado 1609

Placerville, Eldorado 1820

Georgetown, Eldorado 2650

Nevada City, Nevada 2580

North Bloomfield, Nevada 3200

Jackson, Amador 1900

Latest
spring.

June 19

May 1

Apr. 26

May 2

Mar. 18

Mar. 21

Mar. 25

May 10

Apr. 11

Apr. 12

May 1

Mar. 30

Apr. 23

Earliest
autumn.

Sept. 30

Nov. 7

Oct. 20

Oct. 16

Nov. 5

Dec. 18

Nov. 2

Oct. 29

Oct. 18

Dec. 2

Oct. 1

Nov. 7

Sept. 29

May

1

Oct.

17

Apr.

19

. Nov.

7

Apr.

12

Oct.

4

Mar.

26

Nov.

2

Apr.

10

Nov.

6

Apr.

4

Oct.

22

May

10

Nov.

23

Apr.

30

Nov.

23

Apr.

7

Nov.

14

Apr.

4

Nov.

23

Apr.

26

Nov.

28

Feb.

25

Nov.

24

May

1

Nov.

16

Apr.

26

Nov.

2G

Apr.

4

Oct.

22

Apr.

4

Nov.

24

Apr.

4

Oct.

26

Apr.

4

Nov.

13

Apr.

26

Oct.

17

Apr.

11

Nov.

24

Apr.

9

Nov.

7

May

2

Oct.

1.5

May

1

Dec.

5

Apr.

26

Dec.

20

Apr.

28

Nov.

28

May

1

Oct.

If)

May

30

Sept.

29

May

22

Oct.

1

Apr.

28

Oct.

14

150 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

CENTRAL COAST REGION.

San Francisco, San Francisco 207 Mar. 27 Dec. 18

Oakland, Alameda 36 Feb. 15 Dec. 15

Berkeley, Alameda 320 Feb. 19 Dec. 14

Niles, Alameda 87 Apr. 29 Oct. 17

San Leandro, Alameda 50 Mar. 28 Nov. 24

Livermore, Alameda 485 Apr. 12 Nov. 9

Menlo Park, San Mateo 64 Feb. 13 Dec. 18

San Jose, Santa Clara 95 Apr. 9 Oct. 22

Santa Clara, Santa Clara 90 Apr. 9 Nov. 24

Los Gatos, Santa Clara 600 Mar. 8 Dec. 9

Gilroy, Santa Clara 193 May 11 Nov. 6

Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz 20 Apr. 1 Nov. 23

Laurel, Santa Cruz 910 Mar. 12 Oct. 24

Aptos, Santa Cruz 102 Mar. 31 Oct. 31

Watsonville, Santa Cruz 23 Apr. 8 Sept. 22

Hollister, San Benito 284 Apr. 22 Oct. 17

Salinas, Monterey 40 Apr. 1 Nov. 21

Soledad, Monterey 183 Feb. 13 Nov. 30

San Ardo, Monterey 236 Apr. 10 Dec. 9

San Miguel, San Luis Obispo 616 Mar. 8 Oct. 22

Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo 800 Apr. 26 Oct. 30

San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo. 201 May 18 Oct. 18

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND
FOOTHILLS.

Antioch, Contra Costa 46 Feb. 1 Dec. 5

Lodi, San Joaquin 35 Apr. 9 Oct. 18

Tracy, San Joaquin 64 Mar. 14 Nov. 24

Milton, Calaveras 660 Apr. 7 Nov. 29

Mokelumne, Calaveras 1550 Apr. 28 Nov. 17

West Point, Calaveras 2326 June 15 Oct. 7

Jackson, Amador 1900 Apr. 28 Oct. 14

Merced, Merced 173 Mar. 28 Nov. 28

Fresno, Fresno 293 Mar. 31 Nov. 11

Selma, Fresno 311 Mar. 31 Oct. 20

Kingsburg, Fresno 301 Apr. 28 Dec. 23

Hanford, Kings 249 Apr. 29 Oct. 25

Visalia, Tulare 334 Apr. 11 Nov. 16

Lemon Cove, Tulare 600 Feb. 16 Dec. 9

Porterville, Tulare 461 Mar. 10 Nov. 26

Tulare, Tulare 274 Apr. 11 Oct. 20

Dinuba, Tulare 335 May 2 Nov. 27

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara 130 Mar. 18 Nov. 30

Santa Paula, Ventura .350 Feb. 16 Dec. 12

Los Angeles, Los Angeles 293 Mar. 9 Dec. 13

Anaheim, Orange 134 Apr. 17 Dec. 12

Riverside, Riverside 851 Apr. 2 Nov; 12

San Jacinto, Riverside 1550 Apr. 8 Nov. 25

Redlands, San Bernardino 1352 Apr. 9 Nov. 24

Escondido, San Diego 657 Mar. 18 Dec. 7

Poway, San Diego 460 Feb. 15 Nov. 18

El Cajon, San Diego 482 Mar. 14 Nov. 19

Campo, San Diego 2543 June 17 Sept. 17

THE FROST FACTOR. 151

MOUNTAIN REGIONS.

Sisson, Siskiyou 3555 July 6 Sept. 13

Cedarville, Modoc 4675 June 24 Aug. 30

Susanville, Lassen 4195 June 22 Sept. 8

Laporte, Plumas 5000 July 6 Sept. 6

Greenville, Plumas 3600 June 11 Aug. 20

Boca, Nevada 5531 May 1 Oct. 2

Summerdale, Mariposa 5270 June 15 Sept. 25

Lick Observatory, Santa Clara 4209 May 25 Oct. 2

Tehachapi, Kern 3964 Apr. 11 Nov. 20

Cuyamaca, San Diego 4543 July 11 Sept. 5

The general reader, after studying the foregoing data,
may conclude that in nearly all the valley districts of
California there is little difference in the length of the
absolute- frost-free period; also that elevation influences
temperature similarly in all parts of the State. At eleva-
tions below 1500 feet, which is the point at which foothills
begin to shade into mountains, there are about two-thirds
of the whole year in which even the tenderest vegetation
may be considered practically safe from injury from frost,
and particular situations in which the frost-free period
is even longer. On the other hand, there are mountain
valleys, with good soil and sunshine and ample total heat
for vegetables, in which tender plants must be always pro-
tected, because frost may occur every month in the year.

The Endurance of Different Vegetables. — The degree of
cold which plants will survive depends upon several con-
siderations and conditions, involving state of air, moisture
and of the plant itself, which makes it impossible to fix the
injury point of a plant definitely. There is. however, prac-
tical value in the following compilation made from reports
by Pacific Coast growers as to the effect of our style of
low temperatures, the temperatures being given as nearly
as possible those in contact with the plant itself :

TEMPERATURE AT WHICH CERTAIN PLANTS ARE LIABLE TO RECEIVE
INJURY FROM FROSTS.

Degrees Degrees

Plant. Fahr. Plant. Fahr.

Asparagus 29 Beans 31

Cantaloupes 32 Celery 28

Cucumbers 32 Onions 28

Potatoes 30 Sweet Potatoes 31

Spinach 21 Squash 31

Turnips 26 Watermelons . . 31

152 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

SUCCESSIONS AND ROTATIONS IN CALIFORNIA
GARDENS.

Naturally, an all-the-year growing season suggests con-
stant use of the ground and the possibility of turning the
soil over several times in the course of the year. This can
be done by quick revolution, like the following :

Where water is handy, two, three, or even four crops
can be grown on the same ground in the year. Start April
1 and sow the plot to lettuce, and with proper cultivation
it will mature in two months. Resow with turnip-radish,
which is a good summer variety. These will be fit to use
in three weeks, or by the first week of July, when the
ground will be ready for late cucumbers, which will occupy
the ground until the first frost, or till nights become too
cold for them to fruit. Now plant to carrots, beets, or
onion sets, and any of them will be ready for use in Febru-
ary or March. Here we have four crops within the twelve
months, and no two of them occupying the ground at the
same time. There are other combinations that would do
as well.

Though this rapid work is quite feasible, as shown, and
many plants can enter into such combinations, the two-
crop plan will probably be as fast movement as most farm
gardeners will keep up with, and that consists in fall sow-
ing of hardy vegetables for winter and spring use, fol-
lowed by spring planting of tender vegetables for summer
and fall use. Occasionally there will be intervals in this
rotation for a third or catch crop of lettuce, radish, etc.,
which takes a very short time. This will be a vast im-
provement on the present popular conception of garden-
ing possibilities, and if the hint of a fall crop of tender
vegetables like melons, beans, corn, etc., planted in July
to come on fast in the heat, followed by fall planting of
the hardy list for winter use, these two crops will be
gained before the outbreak of the usual * ' garden fever, ' '
which rallies all garden forces in February and March.
The agencies to demonstrate this broader conception of
our gardening possibilities are Will and Work and Water,

SUCCESSIONS AND ROTATIONS. 153

to which allusion is made in the chapter on Farmer's
Gardens in California.

Family Garden Programmes. — It will surprise anyone
who carries out rapid succession of plantings to see how
much desirable food can be secured from a very small
area. An enthusiastic farm gardener of Lakeside, San
Diego county, says that his garden of 50 feet square sup-
plies enough vegetables, excepting potatoes, for a large
family, and requires less than half a day's attention dur-
ing a week. He grows the following vegetables, planting
each month in the year as follows :

January — After the 20th, turnips, cabbage seed, carrots,
lettuce, peas.

February — Radishes, beets, salsify, spinach, onion seed
or sets.

March — Potatoes (in field), turnips, cabbage, lettuce,
peas, cabbage plants.

April — Cucumbers, watermelons, muskmelons, squashes,
tomato plants, radishes, beets, salsify, corn, beans, sweet
potatoes, cabbage seed.

May — Carrots, lettuce, peas, onion seed or sets.

June — Radishes, beets, beans, corn, salsify, cabbage
plants.

July — Carrots, lettuce, cabbage seed.

August — Potatoes (in field), corn, beans, radishes.

September — Cabbage plants, peas, turnips, salsify, and
carrots.

October — Beets, beans, onion sets, lettuce.

November — Turnips, spinach, salsify.

December — Winter radishes, peas, lettuce.

He has the advantage of a very short period of frosts,
and light ones at that. He plants in rows 18 inches apart,
irrigates his garden every 10 days in trenches and culti-
vates twice a week. In favorable seasons he has natural
moisture from November to April or May. If the rainfall
is light he cultivates twice a week.

Another arrangement for succession is that practiced by
a vineyardist in the Santa Cruz mountains, who grows

154 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

vegetables in his vineyard. He plows one furrow in the
center, between the vines, manured in the furrow and cov-
ered with a furrow plowed each side. The bed thus formed
is planted in November with a row, thickly sown, of Am-
erican Wonder peas, covered with the rake, making a
smooth place where, about four inches from the peas are
planted cabbage, Chinese Rose Winter radishes, onions,
lettuce and turnip seed, mixed. Other sowings, adding
carrots, beans, etc., are made, according to the weather,
until May. In February he gathers radishes and lettuce ;
in March, peas. He sells or gives away bushels of lettuce
and radishes, and has enough to supply a big family from
March 1 to July. As late as November he gathers beets,
carrots, turnips and string beans. He has the advantage
of a larger winter rainfall, and conserves moisture by cul-
tivating between the rows every week in dry weather.

CHAPTER XI.
PROPAGATION.

From what has been said of the favoring conditions in
California for open air work and freedom from low tem-
peratures, it may be rightly inferred that the higher arts
of propagation involving the use of acres of glass and the
most approved heating devices, are not to be found in
California. The forcing of vegetables which is now com-
manding such wide effort and investment at the East is
only undertaken to a limited extent and although it is in-
creasing with our advance in population and wealth, it
will always be menaced by the open air work, both in av-
erage situations and in frostless localities which are, at
present, only worked up to a fraction of their capacity.
Forcing is, however, accomplished with much less expen-
sive structures and heating arrangements than at the East,
because only slight drops in temperature are to be over-
come. We have also a decided advantage in the large per-
centage of winter sunshine. Forcing is, therefore, rela-
tively cheaper than in wintry regions and there may be,
ere long, an important industry. Of course the same gen-
eral conditions which favor forcing with us also makes
elaborate and expensive arrangements for growing plants
for subsequent planting out, unnecessary. Not only do
hot-beds of the scantiest construction and covering answer
local purposes, but even their heating materials have to be
toned down by more slowly fermenting intermixtures and
by freer entrance of air, lest the growths be over-forced.
Often, as will be described presently, a little bottom heat,
without close covering above, is all that conditions require
to bring forward and protect tender seedlings until it is
safe for them to take their chances under kind skies.

156 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

GROWTH FROM SEED IN OPEN GROUND.

Adequate heat and moisture are essential to germina-
tion and subsequent growth. The preceding chapter has
shown at what times these factors are present in California
soil, either by nature or artifice of the planter. Heat is
always adequate for the germination of the seed of com-
mon vegetables, in well-drained surface soil in the Cali-
fornia valley regions. Even in our frosty weather, the
day temperature of the soil is adequate for germination
except, perhaps, during the colder storms and seldom does
our rain have too low a temperature. Even in this it is
not so much the matter of germination as of conditions
inhospitable to the subsequent growrth of the germs. It
makes little practical difference, perhaps, whether the
seed is killed or the germ perishes after starting. But the
death of either seed or germ is more often due to moisture
lack or excess, than to temperature conditions. For this
reason a sowing may go for naught if seeding is done in
the fall without thorough moistening of the soil by irriga-
tion or rainfall, or the same disappointment may follow
sowing even seed of hardy plants in certain localities in
December and January in years of heavy rainfall. For
these reasons it is all-important that the vegetable grower
should carefully observe his local conditions of soil heat
and moisture and arrive at proper deductions from his
own experience as to what acts he should perform under
his ruling local conditions and the peculiar phases of the
weather of the particular year in which he is acting. And
then a vegetable grower, in garden practice, which in-
volves succession of small areas, must be enterprisingly
venturesome. He must take some chances of losing a sow-
ing or planting and of renewing it, and he should always
keep adequate supplies of seeds or seedlings at hand. It
is a great deal better to lose a sowing than to set up some
arbitrary dead-sure date for sowing; for with such a
policy he will never have anything early, and perhaps
never anything profitable. Field work for staple vege-

GROWTH FROM SEED IN OPEN GROUND. 157

tables is another proposition, but field work for shipment
of early stuff is always attended by some risk, for the
grower has to venture everything on doing the best he can
to be safe and early, but to be early at any rate.

Although this is true, it must always be remembered
that nothing is gained in working the soil or sowing the
seed when the soil is not in condition to work well. Some
results of this bad practice have been mentioned in other
connections and they are deplorable, especially in the
heavier soils. It is especially an error of judgment in seed
sowing to suppose that any time can be gained by sowing
early upon an unfit seed bed. Even if a fair stand should
be secured there will be handicaps upon the plants all
through their course, and a somewhat later planting with
the soil in good condition will probably surpass them both
in time and quality.

There is often advantage in soaking seed overnight in
tepid water. The lighter the soil and the later the sowing
the greater benefit will accrue from this method of hasten-
ing germination. When the wet seed is difficult to handle,
or when it is to be used with a seed-drill, sift some fine
ashes over the seed. This will take up the surface mois-
ture and allow them to run through the drill easily.

Arranging Moisture Conditions for Germination. — In
addition to the greater undertakings described in the
chapters on irrigation and drainage, there are little acts
which are of the utmost importance in securing moisture
conditions favorable to germination and growth.

First: Seed covering. Darkness is favorable to ger-
mination of most seeds, but covering is primarily for two
other purposes. One is to assist the seedling in its anchor-
age and root penetration, but the more important is to
insure it moisture. There can be no positive rule for depth
of sowing. Five times the diameter of the seed might do
at the best of the season in the best of garden soil, but this
depth would be too great for some seeds in some soils in
the rainy season and far too shallow for the same seed and
soil in the dry season. On all soils the rule must be shal-

158 , CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

low sowing, if large rainfall is characteristic of the region :
deep sowing if scant rainfall is to be expected: shallow
sowing early in the rainy season : deep sowing near its
close: shallow sowing on the heavier soils: deep sowing
on the lighter soils. Late in the season the surface layer
which is air dried in spite of stirring, does not count as
depth at all. It must be brushed aside and the seed sown
in the moist layer beneath whether the sowing is done by
hand or with a seed drill. Later cultivation will level the
soil back around the plant stem to assist in retaining mois-
ture below. Conforming to this condition, the larger sum-
mer-sown seeds should be sown in the light soil of the
interior valleys at four to six inches deep — twice or three
times the depth prescribed for the seed in humid climates
or in the humid side of our own climate. Seeds sown in
hills can stand deep planting better than when sown
singly, as they seem to join their strength in uplifting the
weight of soil above them.

Second: Soil firming. This is another act which aids
the seed in other ways, but is primarily for moisture furn-
ishing. A seed thrown into a loose surface layer may ger-
minate and perish for lack of moisture and soil-contact or
it may lie unquickened until a footstep or a shower com-
pacts the earth about it. It may thus lie half a year in
California. Many amateurs are much too }dnd in their
intent and too cruel in their method, by making the sur-
face as loose as possible and then gently placing the seed
in the loose layer. It is better to jump on it with both
feet. Whether it be done by direct tramping or by tramp-
ing a narrow board placed upon the sown row, or tramped
down with a block with a long handle, or by using the
garden or field roller, or by flat slaps with the back of the
planting hoe, it matters not; it is only essential that the
firming of the inclosing layer should be given unless im-
mediate water settling of the ground is anticipated. And
this firming is conditioned in degree upon soil and season
just as depth of covering is, viz. : light soil or late in
season, heaviest firming; heavier soil or early in season,

GROWTH FROM SEED IN OPEN GROUND. 159

lighter firming. The reason for firming is the restoration
of capillarity to the loose layer, consequently adequate
moisture supply to the germinating seed. But when this
capillarity has served its purpose and the root has pene-
trated the permanently moist layers below, this capillarity
must be destroyed by cultivation and the surface layer
again loosened so that it will not transmit moisture. There-
fore, as prescribed in the chapter on Cultivation, the hoe
or cultivator must be started as soon as the young plants
can be seen, and in some larger seeds where the firmed
layer has been crusted by a shower a light harrowing or
raking may be desirable to release the shoots from the too
compact covering which has come over them.

Third : Soil opening. The converse of firming the soil
about the seed is drying of the surface soil when unex-
pectedly heavy rains have come and the water does not
percolate rapidly enough to bring the surface layer into
good condition for growth. In such an event seed can
often be saved from rotting by the light raking or har-
rowing or cutting with a disc, to allow the air to assist
drainage in relieving the surface layer of its excess. The
wisdom of this course is always conditioned upon the
character of the soil. A sticky soil would be more harmed
than the seed would be helped by it.

Fourth : Mulching. The use of a light mulch of chaff
or corral-scrapings or rotten straw or other fine, loose
material is of value in garden practice of it does not occa-
sion too great cost or labor to procure or prepare it. The
larger the seed the thicker the layer may safely be, and
with the mulch, shallower planting, and probably quicker
germination, is possible. The mulch lessens evaporation
from the surface and thus gives the seed a surer supply;
it also prevents puddling of the soil surface by pelting
rain drops and keeps the particles both moist and loose
for the thrust of the shoot. A mulch also makes it much
safer to sprinkle the bed if rains delay. In garden prac-
tice it can hardly be too highly commended. On heavy

160 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

soils sawdust or sand can be used for this purpose if they
are the most available materials.

Fifth : Irrigation. Starting seeds by irrigation on soil
that has good capillarity and lateral percolation (or
"seeps well" as the common phase is) releases one from
several of the injunctions just laid down. The covering
should be shallow, as the moisture will rise to the surface ;
no firming needs to be done, for the water will settle the
soil, and when the moisture is ample, stopping the supply
will quickly allow the escape of the surplus. It may
sometimes be desirable to use a light mulch to protect the
surface from baking and give the seedlings a few days'
more growth before it is necessary to stir the surface.
Seed starting in this way with the raised beds and perma-
nent ditches and the ridge irrigation system, all of which
are described in the chapter on Irrigation, is very satis-
factory. The application of it to various vegetables will
be given in the treatment of each. Where the seeds are
to be started by the furrow system on land that will draw
water well laterally, the seed can be sown in shallow
trenches, leaving the seeds barely covered. Then irrigate
by turning water into shallow irrigation trenches made
some twelve or fifteen feet apart. Let the water soak
through and completely moisten the surface until it has
spread across all the seed trenches, and until the little
clods are broken down and dissolved. The seeds are thus
well covered and enabled to sprout and come up before
the soil is dried out. Subsequent cultivation levels the
ground, giving the seedlings sufficient depth of covering
and new furrows are plowed for later irrigations. This
is only one of many ways by which seeds can be started by
irrigation.

GROWTH FROM SEED UNDER COVER.

This broad title is used to include about all that is done
in California except under the sky cover. In the chapters
on the different vegetables, which will follow, there will
be mentioned special propagating methods employed with

GROWING SEEDS IN BOXES. 161

each, but in this place a few protecting and promoting
arrangements will be described for the benefit of begin-
ners in garden work.

Seed Boxes. — Seed boxes are the simplest arrangement
for starting seedlings for subsequent planting out and -in
most amateur gardening in this climate they will com-
prise about all that is necessary in the way of construc-
tion, because, as will be seen later, it is very easy to give
them a little bottom heat if the grower desires, but they
can be largely used without any. The chief advantages of
starting seedlings in boxes instead of the open ground are
the ease which the seed boxes can be carried under pro-
tection from cold, beating rains or frosts, or protected
from hot, drying winds or too intense sun heat, and the
convenience with which moisture conditions can be regu-
lated by covering and light sprinkling.

There are no particular dimensions to be observed in
making seed boxes, except that they should not be too
large to be easily lifted and carried with their contents. The
cases which inclose two five-gallon cans of coal oil, sawed
in two lengthwise so as to make two wide, shallow boxes,
serve an excellent purpose. It is more convenient to have
all the boxes of the same size than to use odd sizes, in case
it may be desired to group the boxes in a hot-bed or other-
wise for heat and covering. Be sure that the bottom has
ample openings for drainage — either cracks or bored holes.
The soil-layer in the boxes should not exceed three inches
in depth. In ordinary amateur practice a good soil for
these boxes can be made by taking good rich garden soil
as a basis. Add sand and, if possible, the light mold from
under an old straw stack, leaf mold, finely powdered
rotted manure, or something similar, until you have a rich,
friable soil. No definite rule can be given for mixing,
except that the prepared soil should hold moisture well,
have no tendency to cake, and never crack in the sun.

Fill the boxes, and, with a small board, press the soil
closely and evenly, so that it will retain moisture. The
seeds should then be sown quickly and evenly over the

162 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

surface or in lines, and pressed down by a smooth board
into the soil, so that the seed, be it large or small, will
form a level surface with the soil. This being done, the
same prepared soil should be sifted evenly over the top,
just enough to cover the seed. Again press this layer of
soil which has covered the seeds gently with the smooth
board.

It is a great help to the seed to have the surface again
covered with a light material that would hold moisture,
such as dry moss, or powdered vegetable matter of any
kind which is light and will hold moisture. This should
be rubbed through the sieve over the seed boxes, just
thick enough to cover the soil (not more than one-six-
teenth of an inch). It is very beneficial in the germina-
tion of the seed, as with such a top-dressing one watering
with a fine rose watering-pot will keep the soil moist
enough usually until the seeds come up. It is a great
mistake to be continually watering seeds after they have
been sown. The rule in all these things is never to water
until the surface indicates that the soil is dry.

A Cold Frame. — The arrangement which comes next to
the seed box in simplicity is the cold frame. It is simply
for the purpose of concentrating sun heat and protection
from low temperatures and heavy rain storms. It is a
convenient receptacle for the seed boxes already de-
scribed, or it may be put over seeds sown in the ground —
the soil being prepared to receive the seed in about the
same way already described for filling the boxes. The
frame is made of inch boards, the front board about
twelve inches wide, the back board or boards eighteen
inches wide and the sides sloping from eighteen to twelve
inches to meet the widths of the front and back boards.
The frame is usually made three feet from front to rear
(for convenience in working from the front, but can be
)f any length desired). This frame is covered with glazed
sash or cloth frames or lath frames or first one then
another, according to the amount of protection and heat
or of shade desirable. The arrangement is called a ' ' cold

. COLD FRAMES AND HOT BEDS. 163

frame" because no provision is made for bottom-heat.
There are many modifications of the cold frame ; lath or
slat houses or lath covers for beds with raised edging
boards, etc., are all on the cold frame principle, and in this
climate, where so little increment of heat is required and
where shade is often desirable, the arrangement serves an
excellent purpose.

The Hot-bed. — The hot-bed consists of a box like that
described for a cold frame placed above a mass of ferment-
ing manure which supplies bottom heat. The old regula-
tion style of hot-bed was made by digging out a pit the
size of the frame, throwing out the soil to a depth of
eighteen inches or two feet. Fill in the excavation with a
foot depth of fresh horse manure mixed with straw as
it comes from a stable where the animals are well bedded
with straw. Tread the manure down firmly; put on the
frame and cover the manure with eight to ten inches of
good light and rich sandy loam that will not bake or
crust over when sprinkled with water. Bank up the
outside of the frame with the same kind of manure used
inside, and cover with window sashes of the proper length
to reach across the bed and rest on the sides. The sashes
should not be too wide as it is desirable to uncover part
of the bed at a time. As soon as the manure begins to
ferment and heat the bed is ready for use. Sow seeds
in rows from front to back of the bed, and germination
will be very rapid. On warm days the cover should be
lifted a little or partially or wholly removed, according
to the heat of the day and the activity of the bottom heat
in the bed. Water freely with water from which the chill
has been removed.

This old style of hot-bed is contrived to freely employ
the heat 'of the fermenting manure and to push plants
during zero temperatures in the outer air. Of course^
where winter temperatures but rarely fall to the freezing
point, and where the winter day heat often runs at shirt
sleeves and sun-bonnet degrees, such a hot-bed is as ex-
cessive in the garden as a feather-bed is in the house. For

164 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

these reasons, the horse manure is made less active by
considerable admixture of chaff or dried leaves or
other mollients. This mixture is placed on the surface
of the ground in a place protected from cold winds, and
is properly mixed and packed down into a compact, flat
pile, somewhat larger than the frame, which is placed
upon the top of it and the same material is drawn up
around the outside of the ends and sides of the frame.
Inside the frame the soil is placed just as described for
the hot-bed with a pit. This raised, instead of depressed,
hot-bed is easier to make and it has other advantages for
this climate. It is not likely to have its pit flooded and
the heat choked off by rain water just at the time when
its action is desired. It is also easier to prevent excessive
heat because it allows better opportunities for radiation.
But even with this the plants have to be very carefully
watched and air freely given or they will become leggy
and weak from too great forcing-heat. These local condi-
tions have also given rise to other modifications of hot-bed
arrangements which are excellent for this climate.

A Horticultural Hot-box. — Mr. Ira W. Adams, a Cali-
fornia vegetable grower of great ingenuity and insight,
has devised a sort of automatic arrangement which
changes from a hot-bed to a cold frame about the time the
plants are ready to go from forcing to hardening off. He
gives this description of it :

"I take a dry-goods box, three or four feet long, two
feet wide, and two feet or more in depth. This is about as
small as it should be ; a much larger one can be used, if
necessary. Into this I put fresh horse manure, and straw
that has been used for bedding, and tramp it down occa-
sionally as solid as possible, until it is within four inches
from the top. Over this I scatter a little clean 'straw. I
then use small boxes, three inches deep, and fill them
nearly full with nicely-prepared soil, and, after sowing my
seed, place each box in the warm bed and cover each one
with a pane of glass, in order to retain moisture. It is
necessary to remove the glass occasionally, for the pur-

OTHER PROPAGATING APPLIANCES. 165

pose of admitting fresh air. The main bed will soon com-
mence to heat, as well as the earth in the box. Great care
must now be taken for a few days, otherwise the contests
of the boxes might become too warm, which would cause
the young plants to grow tall and spindling, thereby ren-
dering them almost worthless. This can be easily obvi-
ated by lifting the boxes and placing under them an inch
board, or a few bricks. On a cold night vary the boards
or bricks as occasion may require. In a few days your
plants will be up nicely, the heat of the bed will gradually
grow less, and the plants "will naturally favor themselves
to the change. You will soon have what is termed a 'cold
frame, ' and your plants will grow strong and stocky, pro-
viding care is taken to cover them during severe storms,
as well as in cold days and nights. When they are yet
small, and commence to crowd each other too much, trans-
plant them to an open, sheltered, raised bed, where they
can be cared for until ready to set out in permanent beds
or rows."

A Warm Heap. — Another of Mr. Adams ' arrangements
to give his seed boxes just as little heat as suits the pur-
pose, consists in simply throwing up a heap of fresh horse
manure, etc., under an old shed, and placing the seed-
boxes on top of the heap. Great care must be taken for
some days at least, as it becomes necesary to raise the
boxes sometimes by placing them on a piece of board or
bricks or to press them down a little into the heap, owing
altogether to the amount of heat generated. A little too
much is worse than not quite enough. After the plants
get a few inches high they can be transplanted into open
beds somewhat sheltered from the north winds, where
they can remain until spring weather fairly opens, when
they can be again removed to the garden.

Watering. — In growing plants with heat, moisture,
conditions must be especially regarded. Too great mois-
ture and "damping off" of seedlings is largely prevented
in common vegetable seedlings by adequate ventilation
which has already been emphasized in connection with

166 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

prevention of excessive heat. Too little moisture is almost
as dangerous as too much. There should be, then, ample
watering with a fine spray or sprinkle of water from
which the chill has been removed. Most of the time, water
standing in the sun for a day will be of satisfactory
warmth, but if not, a little boiling water from the kitchen
will temper quite a volume of cold water for use in the
beds and frames.

Covering for Beds and Frames. — California growers
largely substitute cloth for glass in covering hot-beds or
cold frames, because it gives afl the protection needed, is
also rather more of a safeguard against over-heating, and
furnishes shade from too intense sun heat, which is liable
to come on any winter day and do harm. This is an es-
pecially valuable feature in amateur growing, where one 's
attention is apt to be distracted by other affairs. Besides,
the cloth is of nominal cost. In the drier parts of the
State the "cloth is used without preparation. Where rains
are more frequent, water-proofing is desirable. Take
white cloth of a close texture, stretch it, and nail it on
frames of any size you wish, putting in cross-bars to sus-
tain the cloth if the frame is large. Mix two ounces of
lime water, four ounces of linseed oil, one ounce of white
of eggs separately, two ounces of yolk of eggs ; mix the
lime and oil with a very gentle heat ; beat the eggs sepa-
rately, and mix with the former. Spread the mixture with
a paint-brush on the cloth, allowing each coat to dry be-
fore applying another, until they become waterproof.

To make waterproof cloth with less labor if consider-
able quantity is wanted : Soften four and one-half ounces
of glue in eight and three-quarter pints of water, cold at
first; then dissolve in, say a wash-boiler full (six gallons)
of warm water, with two and one-half ounces or hard
soap ; put in the cloth and boil for an hour, wring and
dry ; then prepare a bath of a pound of alum and a pound
of salt, soak the prepared cloth in it for a couple of hours,
rinse with clear water and dry. One gallon of the glue
solution will soak about ten vards of cloth. This cloth has

HANDLING SEEDS. 167

been used in southern California for several years without
mildewing, and it will hold water by the pailful.

Handling of Seedlings. — As has been hinted already,
seedlings grown by artificial heat or protection should be
brought along by such adjustment of heat hoisture and
fresh air that they are of good healthy color and sturdy
growth. It is common practice to transplant the seedlings
when quite small to other boxes of rather rich soil, in
which they are more widely spaced, and to continue the
growth with the heat for a time and then move the box to
a cold frame, giving them progressively more air and less
protection until they acquire a hardiness for the open air.
In the farm garden these every-day coddling arts of the
plantsman are apt to be neglected, and it will answer very
well to thin out the plants enough in the original seed-
boxes, and to harden them by gradually increasing the
exposure in the declining heat of the hot-bed, and then
under slight shelter in the open air, until the time comes
for their removal to open ground. If, however, there is
likely to be some time before planting out, the trans-
planting from the seed-box to a protected bed in the open
air will allow the postponement of transplanting to gar-
den or field until a considerably later date. It is a mis-
take to hold to long in the hot-bed or frame with the idea
of gaining time by having large plants to transplant.
Good, sturdy plants, well used to fresh air and the lower
temperatures, will make the best records in the open.

The points to observe for planting out seedlings in the
open air are almost exactly the same as those already
given in this chapter for the arrangement of proper mois-
ture conditions for seed germination. Depth of planting
depends upon the same conditions; firming of the soil
about the rootlets is for the same reasons ; a loose surface
above and frequent cultivation afterward %re essential
because of considerations already described. The ju-
dicious use of water at transplanting is a very important
point in late work or in planting out. when the season is
rather dry, but the use of water must always be accompa-

168 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

an old caseknife, carefully put over the whole bed two
inches of rich compost, made of fine creek sand and de-
cayed sods a year or two old, mixed with fine sweepings
from the cow yard gathered in summer and protected
from winter rains. Tamp this prepared soil pretty firmly
with the back of a hoe, and plant the seeds an inch or so
in depth around each stick which serves to indicate the
middle of each sod. Plant six to eight seeds in a hill, leav-
ing finally three of the strongest plants. A box three by
two feet will hold twenty-four sods.

By this method Mr. Adams quickly gets a full family
outfit ready to transplant in hills from one hot-box. He
finds two hills of cucumbers, six of muskmelons, six of
watermelons, and ten hills of pole beans, or eight hills of
beans and two hills of summer squashes will furnish a fam-
ily of five all or more than they can possibly consume, and
some to sell or give away besides, if the plants are well
taken care of. The box for early plants should be placed
on the south side of a shed or barn in order to protect it
from strong north winds, heavy cold rains, as well as dan-
ger of frost, and water as needed with lukewarm water.
Transplant the sods when safe by- running a wide shingle
or spade on the floor under each sod. In planting out, the
sods must be well bedded in moist soil which is closely
firmed around them, and the surface kept loose.

Cuttings and Layers. — Many herbaceous stems of gar-
den vegetables root readily from cuttings. Higher heat
and greater moisture are as a rule requisite for such cut-
tings than for hardwood cuttings of fruiting and flower-
ing plants, but some, like the potato, sweet potato, globe
artichoke, etc., root quickly in open ground taken from
sprouts taken from parent stock, and others, like the to-
mato, grow from cuttings of aerial stems. In the open
ground the soil must be warm and moist and the air moist
also. These conditions usually occur in California at the
beginning or especially towards the end of the rainy sea-
son, or they can be produced in a hot-bed at any time.
The cuttings should not wilt, and shade is of advantage

TRANSPLANTING IN HILLS. 169

nied by stirring of the surface or other means of prevent-
ing evaporation, or else the plants will dwindle, and on
investigation the dead stem will be found to resemble a
match stuck in an unburned brick, if the soil is at all
heavy in its nature.

Planting Seedlings. — Seedlings to be planted in the
field for horse cultivation are distanced by the use of a
marker, as described in the chapter on laying off. In
small beds for hand work, the plants can be accurately
distanced both ways by using a "planting board." It is
made of width equal to the desired distance between the
rows, and of a length equal to the width of the bed, and is
carefully cut, by the use of a carpenter's square, so that
the ends are exactly at right angles to the sides. By
stretching a line along the length of the bed, and making
one end of the board true with that line, the sides of the
board will mark two parallel lines across the bed, and
notches cut at desired distances in the sides of the board
will show where the plants are to be set. If the board is
carefully used the bed may be quickly set with plants,
which will stand in straight lines both ways. Standing
on the board while planting prevents impacting the
ground surface and disfiguring it with foot-prints.

Plants Ready Grown in Hills for Transplanting. — All
seedlings which it is desirable to grow in groups or hills
are very neatly and safely handled by Mr. Adams by the
use of inverted sods in connection with his hot-box already
described. About the first of April, in Napa valley (it
may be done earlier in many parts of the State), he takes
sods of native growth six inches square and four inches
deep, or he grows in seed-boxes alfalfa sods, which will
form sufficiently in six weeks from sowing the seed. He
makes a temporary floor of old boards and places it on
top of the packed manure of his hot-box. The inverted
sods are then packed closely on this floor with the grass
gathered in nicely under each sod. Exactly in the middle
of each inverted sod thrust a small stick, and after scari-
fying each sod thoroughly an inch or two in depth with

170 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

when practicable, for cuttings made from aerial stems, as
they are more prone to collapse than sprouts from the
tuber or root crown.

Layering is often a handy way to multiply many vege-
tables with branching stems. Cover the stems with moist
earth and they usually root readily. In some cases a short
slit with a knife lengthwise of buried stem aids in rooting.
A Consideration of Cans. — It would not do to ignore
the can method of vegetable growing and deny this refuse
tinware its place in amateur gardening, for really some
very creditable things are done in cans. If one prepares
the right kind of soil, with such texture that it will form
neither a leach nor a brick, and then strives for correct
temperature and moisture conditions and makes drainage
holes enough, a plant will grow in a tin can as well as
in some more distinguished receptacle. Many housewives
grow very creditable tender plants for planting out by
using old tin cans and a sunny window shelf. Some de-
voted city gardeners make surprising successes on the old-
can foundation. In San Jose a few years ago there was
a back yard 12 by 25 feet, surrounded by high white-
washed fences and sheds, which cast a blinding glare in
the eye of the visitor. Gardening enthusiasm and tin cans
transformed the scene. Tomato vines ran above the eaves
of the shed, being trained to the wall like grapevines. Be-
tween the tomato plants were squash vines, from which
the laterals and leaves were cut as they grew toward the
roof, so that they were little more than a bare stem below
the eaves, but had a most luxuriant growth at the eaves
and on the roof of the shed and back porch and along the
top of fences. Large squashes ripened on the roof and
shelves at the eaves and on fence tops. String beans, pep-
pers, and mint grew below the running vines. Tomato
plants over six feet in height were severely pruned near
Cans of all sizes were used ; old, rusty five-gallon cans,
breezes, and a little direct but more reflected sunshine,
the ground to a bare stalk, giving free circulation to cats,
with the bottoms punched full of holes; small cans, one

CONSIDERATION OF CANS. 171

set over another and filled half full of fresh bones, and
poured into the cans, leached through the ashes, combin-
ing a complete fertilizer and system of sub-irrigation. The
cans were often artfully concealed from sight, but they
were there as the foundation of an enterprise. By their
use and the employment of vertical space for the plant
extension, this little mite of a city back yard was made into
a pretty greenery without interfering with its function as
a clothes-drying yard on Mondays. When one sees such
things he is led to wonder whether there is anything which
Will and Work and Water can not accomplish.

CHAPTER XII.
ARTICHOKES.

The Globe or Bur Artichoke. — Cynara Scolymus.

French, artichaut; German, artischoke ; Dutch, arisjok;
Danish, artiskok; Italian, articiocca, carciofo; Spanish,
alcachofa; Portuguese, alcachofra.

Edible part, portions of young flower buds.

The Jerusalem Artichoke. — Ilelianthus tuberosus.

French, topinambour ; German, erdapf el ; Flemish, aard-
peer; Danish, jordskokken ; Italian, girasole del Canada;
Spanish, namara; Portuguese, topinambor.

Edible part, the tuber.

San Francisco has the reputation of being the city of
the United States best supplied with the delicious young
over these several inches of fresh wood ashes. Water
flower buds of the globe artichoke. Although this is true,
it is also a fact that the plant is not used to even a small
fraction of its possibility in California. It is perfectly
hardy in our valley climates, in fact, it makes its chief
growth in the winter and yields its crop from March on-
ward, thus completely reversing its Eastern and north
European record, where it starts growth in the. spring
from roots which have been covered out of reach of freez-
ing all winter. For this reason it is not necessary to. lift
plants and carry them under cover nor to pluck bud-
stems and advance them to edibility away from the freez-
ing as may be necessary in wintry climates. In fact, in
places of little frost the plant forgets to become dormant,
or takes a very short rest, and the vegetable is to be found
in the San Francisco and Los Angeles markets nearly all
the year. The plant is, therefore, of especial value in Cali-

PROPAGATION. 173

fornia for use in late winter and early spring when garden
supplies are scantiest. It is a garden ornament also with
its height of four feet or more, its large, pinnatifid leaves,
light green above and whitish below, and its flowers in the
style of a colossal thistle head.

Soil. — The globe artichoke will thrive on any well-pre-
pared garden soil and does not refuse a pretty heavy
adobe if well cultivated to retain moisture. It delights in
manure and is benefited by it both in the tenderness of its
buds and the multiplication of bearing stems.

Propagation. — The plant grows readily from seed which
may be planted either in boxes or the open ground from
September to January, if irrigation is available : if not,
sow as soon as the ground is deeply moistened by rain.
The seedlings may be transplanted to permanent place
whenever the ground is suitable the same season.'

But there is much variation in plants from seed and
parts taken from old plants of good type are to be pre-
ferred. The plant grows readily from dividing the stool
or from suckers detached from the root crown. The latter
furnish an excellent means of multiplication and should
be secured by first uncovering the stool as soon as there
is a good growth of new shoots with well-developed leaves.
Remove the shoots carefully with a knife or sharp gouge
so as to take a small part of the parent root at the base of
the shoot. Many plants can thus be taken from a single
root-crown and a few of the best shoots left for growth.
Shorten the leaves somewhat to reduce evaporation until
new roots are formed. These sprouts can be planted at
once in permanent place if the ground is warm and moist
and will bear late in the same year. It is possible then by
starting new plants at intervals to have a long producing
period in each year. The old stools will continue bearing
for many years.

Distance. — So free is the growth in this State, it is bet-
ter to give a good distance : three feet apart in rows which
are four or five feet apart is not too much room for con-
venience. As the plant is high and rather dense the rows

174 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

should be placed in the background of the small garden
and its use as an ornamental hedge or screen is suggested,
providing the ground is kept rich and well cultivated.

Gathering. — The flower buds should be removed as soon
as they are well formed and before the scales open. In
this condition they are more tender and a larger portion
of the scale is edible. As the bud stands at the apex of
the shoot, the shoot should be cut to the ground. If this is
done the plant is induced to send up more shoots. As soon
as flowers are allowed to open, the growth of shoots from
below is checked or stopped. Hence prompt cutting as
soon as in condition insures a larger bearing season, but
as other vegetables come into condition, the plants should
be allowed to make free top growth for the reinforcement
of the roots for the next season.

Variety. — The variety chiefly grown in California is the
Large Green Paris, a vigorous grower yielding buds of
large size with scales very fleshy at the base and set in a
broad receptacle also fleshy. This variety grown for suc-
cession seems to leave little opportunity for the use of
other varieties.

THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE.

This plant which will be readily recognized as a tuber-
ous-rooted sunflower, is exceedingly prolific in California.
It is not largely used for human food, though it is usually
to be found in the San Francisco market. It somewhat
resembles a potato in flavor, and yet has its own distinc-
tive character, and is cooked in several ways. It may be
baked, or pared and cooked like salsify, or boiled for use
in soups and salads.

Soil, Culture and Yield. — The Jerusalem artichoke is
not Very particular about soil. It reaches better form in
rather a light soil, as does a potato, and it yields enor-
mously on a rich loam, but it will probably yield a greater
weight on a poor, dry soil than any other crop known. S.
J. Murdock, of Orange county, gives this account of the
plant :

SOIL CULTURE AND YIELD. 175

' ' The preparation of the ground and the subsequent cul-
tivation is the same as for potatoes ; the rows should not be
less than four feet apart, and three feet between plants.
Plant small tubers or the larger ones cut to two eyes, and
about four inches deep. Keep the ground stirred to pre-
vent weeds, till the plants shade the patch, and then they
will take care of themselves. They should yield from
seven to fifteen tons per acre, or even more, with a good
stand, good soil, and care. On a dry year a neighbor of
mine planted one acre to artichokes, but got but little over
half a stand on account of parts of his land being too dry.
Yet with his partial stand he raised ten tons of tubers. ' '

But Mr. Murdock and his neighbors operate on a peat
soil of great looseness and richness, which favors the
maximum size and multiplication of the tubers. His re-
sults are, therefore, not attainable everywhere, but still
the growth and productiveness of the plant are marvelous
in this climate.

Gathering. — In the garden the artichoke bed can be re-
garded as a permanent investment. Digging can begin in
the autumn at one end of the bed and proceed regularly
through it as the tubers are wanted until growth starts in
the spring. Selecting the large tubers for use and leaving
the small ones in the soil will harvest and replant the crop
at one operation. It is necessary to dig at intervals for
the tubers are prone to decay and cannot be stored as
potatoes are.

Before the rains are over, the bed should have a top
dressing of manure and then it is ready for another sea-
son, with no farther care except pulling weeds which start
early.

The Jerusalem artichoke has been commended for years
as a food for hogs — the animals to do their own harvesting.
Some growers are very enthusiastic over it, but why it has
not been more widely employed has never been fully ex-
plained. Some growers commend them highly as cow-
feed, and when boiled, fowls eat them readily — but the
cost of digging for such purposes is a serious drawback.

176 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Varieties. — Two varieties have been widely distributed
in California: the White French and the Red Brazilian.
The white kind is preferred for table use and the red is
chosen for field growth for stock, as it is believed to be
rather more vigorous and prolific. The red variety is,
however, frequently found in our vegetable markets and is
acceptable for table use.

CHAPTER XIII.
ASPARAGUS.

Asparagus. — Asparagus Officinalis.

French, asperge; German, spargel; Flemish and Dutch,
aspersie ; Danish, asparges ; Italian, sparagio ; Spanish,
esparrago ; Portuguese, espargo.

Asparagus is a leading winter vegetable in California
and is produced as a field crop for local sale, for canning,
and for Eastern shipment. It is not grown, however, as a
garden crop for home use as widely as it should be. This
is probably to be accounted for in part by the fact that in
nearly all towns it can be cheaply bought during the late
winter and spring : in part, also, to an exaggerated notion
of the difficulty of making and caring for an asparagus
bed. On the drier lands of the interior, even with irriga-
tion, it is apt to be stringy and tough, but on interior,
moist lowlands, it is grand and is largely grown on such
lands both for canning and shipment fresh. In almost all
parts of the State it is not difficult for the attentive gard-
ener to secure crop and quality which will amply repay
his effort. Regions open to Coast influences either directly
or through gaps in the Coast Range, or regions where at-
mospheric humidity is increased somewhat by evaporation
from moist soil or wide water surface, as is the case in
interior river bottoms, have superior conditions for the
growth of the plant which is maritime in its origin and
nature. On the peat lands of Orange county asparagus
established itself as an escape from cultivation and it is
stated that this demonstration of its choice of situation
suggested the larger plantings for distant shipment which
have been made.

Soil. — The low peat lands of Orange county just men-

178 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

tioned are composed of vegetable debris intermixed with
sand, and are very loose and penetrable in their mixture.
They are also underlaid by impervious strata at consid-
erable depth, which holds water within reach of the plant
roots. Similar soil and moisture conditions are found in
the reclaimed lands of the Sacramento and San Joaquin
deltas where the greatest production and the largest as-
paragus canneries are to be found. In both these regions,
though 500 miles distant from each other, the conditions
of soil, moisture, and heat are comparable and so are the
growers' results. But it is not essential that just these
conditions prevail. In the Santa Clara valley, in the Sac-
ramento valley, and elsewhere deep, alluvial soils without
any great amount of vegetable debris have for many years
furnished large quantities to the markets. Any deep,
rich sandy loam, moist enough to give a winter and spring
crop and a summer growth of foliage to reinforce the
roots, will grow good crops of asparagus for years with
proper cultivation, generous manuring, and occasional
salting. Soils which are too wet or too dry or too heavy
to allow free growth, yield inferior shoots, tough, stringy,
or bitter as the case may be. Of course a heavy soil may
be improved for a garden bed of asparagus by free use of
sand and manure well worked through it, but commercial
plantings should only be made on naturally fit soils.

Growing the Plants. — Asparagus grows readily from
seed and in this State well-grown yearling roots are used
for planting out in preference to older ones. The house
gardener can, therefore, save a year 's time by buying roots
from the seedsmen, but for the large plantation the
grower will usually grow his own plants. This can be
done in the open air ; adequate moisture and a light, fine
soil will insure success the first year if the seed is grown
early enough to get the benefit of a full season's growth.

A light, coarse soil which may be excellent for the after
growth of, the roots, is not so good for starting the seed-
lings because of danger of surface drying. A mixture of
fine sediment will improve a coarse soil for this purpose.

GROWING ASPARAGUS PLANTS. 179

A very good way to get quick germination and large root
growth is to start the seed bed in February or March, as
the soil becomes warm : get good, fresh seed ; take boxes,
say apple boxes, or any boxes of about that size ; get good,
clean sand, and mix sand and seed together, about 15 parts
of sand to one part of seed; fill the boxes with sand and
seed mixed as described; set away in a warm place and
pour on water, quite warm, two or three times during the
first two days.

In the meantime, prepare and richly pulverize a piece of
ground for a seed bed. Make rows about four feet apart
by raking all lumps and clods away, forming a kind of
ditch or depression about two or three inches below the
level of the land. Make these ditches about one foot wide,
and watch the seed closely, for if the seed is good in about
seven days nearly all the seeds will begin to sprout. Then
take the boxes of sand and seed to the prepared ground
and sprinkle it about a foot in width in the rows or ditches
quite freely, using judgment all the time not to get too
much or too little. Cover up with finely pulverized earth
about one and one-half inches deep, and if the ground is
moist, your plants will be up and growing in a few days, at
least before the weeds will make their appearance. Let
the plants stand there ; but take good care of them. They
are very quickly injured by drying out. The bed should be
kept clean and moist.

This method gives seedlings scattered through a space
one foot wide and though the cultivator may be used be-
tween these foot-strips, there must be hand-pulling of
weeds within the strips. For this reason some growers
prefer to start the plants in thin rows by sowing the seed
in a drill and afterwards spacing the plants in the row to
prevent crowding on the roots. In this practice the rows
are placed one to two feet apart according as hand or
horse cultivator is to be practiced. Whichever method is
followed it is important to start the seeds in a slight de-
pression so that subsequent cultivation may level the
ground and bring a deeper covering over the young root

180 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

crowns to guard them from excessive heat. The seed can,
however, in a light soil, be placed at a depth of two inches
and the moisture can be retained near the surface by care-
ful raking to prevent crusting over. A rake with thin
teeth can be used even after the seedlings have appeared,
to keep the soil loose about them.

Planting Out the Garden Bed<— Garden beds or rows can
be made by the old system of trenching, if it is desired,
although recent practice rather discards it. Trench about
18 or 20 inches deep, then fill up with well-rotted manure,
dig the next trench and throw the dirt over on the top of
the trench filled with manure, and so on until all is
trenched. Then begin and stir the last trench up with the
dirt, measure off the distance the asparagus plants are to
stand, say two feet if for hand hoeing, and then stick a
stake, set the plants, and then take the dirt off the next
trench to cover the plants, and so on until over the ground,
when all the plants will be set.

If the garden is small, the soil rich, and moisture ample,
some other use can be made of the bed the first year. The
stakes will show the location of the asparagus roots. Be-
tween these stakes set a cabbage plant and then in the
middle of the row set out lettuce plants, and sow radishes,
carrots, and early turnips. The carrots and radishes will
be disposed of before the cabbages are ready, and some
other quick growing vegetable can be put in, after irri-
gation. The second year give the whole ground to the
asparagus, and in the fall clean off the bed, cover with a
eoat of coarse manure to keep the ground from packing
with the heavy rains, and fork it all in early in the fol-
lowing spring, being careful not to injure the root crowns.
A small cutting can be made the second season, but it
will help future crops to cut very little.

Field Planting of Asparagus. — Roots can be moved from
the seed-bed to the field at any time from November to
April, according to condition of soil and activity of roots.
As with other plantings, however, early practice is better
when all is favorable. As to methods of planting in the

FIELD PLANTING OF ASPARAGUS. 181

field, the experience of two prominent large-scale growers
is given. First, the method of Mr. William Boots, one of
the old line asparagus growers on the alluvial lands of the
Santa Clara valley :

' ' Next March (for I think March the best month to plant
in, all else being equal) choose a good piece of land, the
very best is none too good, and plow just as deep as you
can. I plow with four good horses on a single plow, and
plow one foot deep, getting the land in as good condition
as possible. Take a good team and draw furrows where
the rows are wanted, going twice in the same place, just
as deep as we can get the plow to run, throwing the furrow
each way, making the distance six feet between rows.
Then carefully take up the plants, carefully separate them,
for if they have been very closely grown they will cling
together ; spread out the roots as you plant them, clearing
away all clods or anything that may hinder the growth.
Plant not closer than three feet between plants in the
rows. For field planting for the market, by all means do
not plant closer than seven feet between the rows, and
three feet apart in the rows; for if there is a plant that
delights in plenty of room and air it certainly is asparagus.
Cover the plants about two inches deep, and during the
summer cultivation the pulverized earth will drop into the
ditches, and by the time the season's cultivation is over
the ditches or furrows will be nearly full, which finishes
the first year in the field. ' '

Another method is that approved by S. J. Murdock, on
the peat lands of Orange county :

"The rows should be four feet apart and the plants
eighteen inches from each other in the rows, and even
more room would be better if the land is not too valuable.
After the ground is well plowed and finely harrowed, mark
out the rows the desired distance apart with a plow by
going twice in each row, throwing a furrow each way from
the center of the row, and from eight to twelve inches
deep ; then go one or more rounds in this with a cultivator,
closed up, so as to loosen up the soil well in the bottom of

182 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

the row. If you have any fine fertilizer put it in the row
where you want to set your plants ; mix well with the soil
and set your plants over it. Place the plants in the bottom
of the prepared furrow, spread out the roots and cover
crown and all about two or three inches — the lighter the
soil the deeper the plants should be placed — so as to secure
the proper moisture till they begin to strike root. After
the planting has been done, take a light steel garden rake,
or, if the rows are even enough, we would prefer the wheel
hoe with the rakes on, and stir the soil the whole length
of the rows. Then, when the shoots begin to grow and
show themselves three or four inches high*, the soil should
be gradually hoed or cultivated to the plants till the sur-
face is level. The ground should be kept moist, and in
most localities irrigation will be found necessary to secure
the best results. Do not neglect thorough cultivation, but
after the roots begin to fill the ground do not work too
deep, as there is danger of injuring them."

Giving the plant plenty of room favors its productive
longevity, while closer planting may secure larger acre-
yield at first. In the large commercial plantations on re-
claimed lands of the Sacramento and San Joaquin river
bottoms the plants are usually given much greater dis-
tances— say nine or ten feet between the rows and the
plants two feet apart in the row. Much greater depth of
covering is secured by ridging the light, peaty soil, so that
the shoots have to pierce about a foot of covering on their
way to- the light. This secures the great length of large
white shoots which are characteristic of California canned
asparagus. The ridges are made by the use of plows, disks
and crowders which cut deeply between the rows and
shift the soil over the root crowns, and the cutting is done
by plunging a long gouge into the side of the ridge as the
protrusion of a tip indicates the location of a good shoot.
These ridges are split with a plow or disk when the cut-
ting season is over, and the land leveled for the summer
growth. This is simply an enlargement of old practices,
as described below, as the light soil, largely made of partly

SUMMER TREATMENT OF ASPARAGUS. 183

decomposed vegetation, favors cheap shifting of great
bulks of it to serve different needs of the plants.

Later Treatment of the Asparagus Field. — There are
several points to gain in subsequent cultivation of the
asparagus field. One is early starting of the plants, and
for that purpose some growers plow first away from the
rows to open the ground better to the winter sunshine ;
another is to induce the growth of long, tender, white
shoots, and to retain moisture for prolonging the cutting
season, and to aid summer growth of foliage, and for these
ends the early spring plowing is to cover the rows with a
deep layer of loose soil. Mr. Boots' method is as follows :

"Now do not attempt to cut any asparagus until your
plants have grown two years, but cultivate thoroughly.
The second season's growth you will find quite strong,
and along in the fall, after the frost has killed the tops,
take a mowing machine or scythe and cut the tops close to
the ground, pile up and burn on the ground, as your plants
are too deep in the ground to be affected by the fire. Some
time in November or December, and not later than the
first of January, take two horses and plow, and go along
the rows close to the stubs that you cut off, throwing the
furrows from the rows, then follow along with sharp hoes
and cut the stubs way low down; also break down the
little ridge that will be left between the furrows.

* ' The sun and air will warm and start the roots to grow-
ing, sometimes as early as the first of January, and the first
plowing ought to be done before the sprouts begin to make
their appearance.

"Along in the early spring after the heavy rains are
over, and the plants have begun to push up nice healthy
sprouts, take two horses and plow, and reverse the opera-
tion by throwing the earth back onto the rows, leaving
the dead furrow in the center between the rows, covering
the plants up deeply, leaving the plants under the ridge.
Then take a fine, sharp-toothed harrow, and drag along
the rows the same way the plow went, which will cut up
and drag out all clods and lumps, and leave the earth in

184 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

fine condition for the sprouts to come up through, for
should the ground not be in good order, your 'grass' will
be crippled and crooked. It will also be tough, fibrous,
and bitter.

' * Continue thorough cultivation with plenty of manure,
no matter what kind or how rough. At the same time
finely rotted manure is profitable. There is one thing to
be borne in mind in the producing of asparagus ; you can 't
fertilize too much. The better cultivated and the more
fertilizers the greater will be the quantity and the better
will be the quality produced. We plow thoroughly about
three times a year, and harrow as often, and in the cut-
ting season keep the weeds out with hoes."

The method of alternately opening and covering the
rows is somewhat conditioned upon the local soil and rain-
fall. The looser the soil and the lighter the winter rain,
the less the need of such operation, because in such situa-
tions the heat readily penetrates and the roots answer
quickly without uncovering, which may too greatly facili-
tate evaporation and thus be dangerous in dry localities,
even in the rainy season. Where these conditions prevail,
thorough cleaning, plowing, and manuring will fit the field
for the winter. Mr. Murdock gives this advice :

''In the fall or early winter, when the tops have turned
brown, the ground should be cleaned and all rubbish
burned, for if delayed the seed will drop and get scattered,
which will come up and may prove eventually to be the
worst weed the grower will have to contend with, for if
allowed to grow after once started it will soon fill the
whole ground with a mass of roots, and very soon spoil
the patch. As soon as the ground is cleaned the whole
field should be well cultivated, and coarse manure spread
over the entire surface, so that the rains can dissolve and
carry down the soluble plant food to the roots. As the
period of rest here in our mild and warm winters is very
short, with this strong and persisting plant no delay
should be indulged in in furnishing the necessary plant
food."

HARVESTING ASPARAGUS. 185

Quite free use of common salt is desirable for asparagus,
providing the land is not naturally saline, as is the case in
some regions where it is largely grown. Cheap, refuse
salt answers well, and in garden practice the use of any
old brine from the pickle or pork barrel.

The surface application of all manures at the begin-
ning of the rainy season seems best to suit California con-
ditions.

Harvesting. — Growers agree in advising very little, if
any, cutting the second year in the field. The third season
should be very productive if the plants have been gener-
ously treated, and thence onward independently, if the
strength of the soil can be kept up. Mr. Murdock's sug-
gestion on policies in cutting are as follows:

"Cut all the shoots clean at each cutting during the
season, whether they are large enough to use or not, for
if parts of stalks are allowed ,to grow they will prevent
other buds from throwing up stalks, and make the season's
cutting short. Keep the ground well cleaned during the
harvesting period, and if you have been liberal with your
fertilizers and have kept your ground moist, your crop
will last as long as a profitable demand is likely to exist.
Yet, beware of prolonging the harveting period too late,
so as to weaken the next year's crop, as the nature of the
crop requires that, to reproduce annually its crop of
shoots, something must be left to grow so as to foster the
formation of new shoots and a new set of buds. If your
season commences early you should lay by the knife later
on to correspond; then let all the tops grow and do not
cull out the large shoots afterward. The time that should
elapse between cuttings varies in different soils, some
being warmer and consequently quicker than others ; then
again, much depends on the weather ; some years we will
have warm days in February, which will necessitate cut-
ting twice each week, and it may be followed by cold days
in March, when the cuttings will be meager once a week ;
and again in the warm days of May it may require three

186 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

cuttings per week to prevent the heads from bursting,
which spoils it for market. ' '

There is variation in the demand for color in the pro-
duct. The local demand calls for a certain amount of
green; the canning demand is for white. To produce
good, tender, white asparagus it is necessary to cover
deeply and blanch the shoots by continued growth through
a thicker layer of loose earth, as has been described.

Comparatively little asparagus is bunched in California,
the bulk of it being marketed in large boxes as loose stalks
which are both wholesaled and retailed by the pound.
For distance shipments the boxes are marked so that the
stems stand on their ends just as they grow, for they are
apt to bend out of shape if lying on the sides. For near
marketing in the height of the season the asparagus is
usually delivered in open boxes holding forty pounds or
more. Where bunching is Desirable, it can be neatly done
by putting the stalks point downward in a teacup, tying
the bunch, and then squaring off the butts with a sharp
knife.

The asparagus season in California extends from Janu-
ary until June ; although later cutting is sometimes prac-
ticed, it is not, as stated, for the good of the plants.

The Asparagus Rust. — The disease made a vigorous at-
tack upon California asparagus fields about five years ago.
A careful study of the disease and experimentation con-
ducted by Prof. R. E. Smith demonstrated that the trouble
can be controlled by proper use of sulphur for the pro-
tection of the top growth after the cutting season. Full
information can be had from the University Experiment
Station at Berkeley.

VARIETIES CHIEFLY GROWN IN CALIFORNIA.

Conover's Colossal: an old standard variety; large ten-
der stalks of good flavor. Largely grown for the can-
neries, which use it almost to the exclusion of other sorts.

Palmetto : widely grown in California ; claimed to be
earlier than Conover's, also more productive and uniform

VARIETIES OF ASPARAGUS. 187

in size ; quality fine ; especially favored for fresh shipments
from southern California.

Barr 's Mammoth : a famous Philadelphia variety ; very
large shoots of uniform thickness ; light color and -few
scales; crisp, early and fine. Very highly approved in
Orange county.

Columbian Mammoth ; largely used by market growers,
large, white, handsome, holding color well; very produc-
tive.

CHAPTER XIV.
BEANS.

The Broad Bean. — Vicia fdba.

French, feve; German, garten-bohnen ; Flemish, platte-
boon ; Dutch, tuin boonen ; Danish, valske bonner ; Italian,
fava; Spanish, haba; Portuguese, fava.

The Kidney Bean. — PJiaseolus vulgaris.

French, haricot ; German, bohne ; Flemish and Dutch,
boon; Danish, havebonnen; Italian, faginolo; Spanish,
frijole; Portuguese, feijao.

The Scarlet Runner Bean. — PJiaseolus multiflorus.

French, haricots d'Espagne; German, Arabische bohne;
Dutch, Tursche boon; Italian, fagiuolo di Spagna.

The Lima Bean. — PJiaseolus lunatus.

French, haricots de Lima; German, breitshottige Lima
bohne ; Italian, fagiuolo di Lima ; Spanish, judia de Lima.

The Black-eyed Bean. — Vigna sinensis.

A cow pea.

The Soy Bean. — Glycine Jiispida.

Of the vast numbers of bean varieties known to horti-
culture, California grows but very few. Market gardeners
of different nationalities, ministering to their compatriots
among our citizens, have brought to California many va-
rieties which they esteemed in their old homes and grow
them here in limited quantities, but the general markets
and the gardens and fields of Americans can show but few
sorts. This is due in part to the indisposition of the people
to try culinary experiments and in part to the fact that
some varieties have shown peculiar climatic adaptations
and are therefore better from a grower's point of view.
But though few varieties are grown, some of them are
grown on a very large scale — to such an extent, in fact,

FIELD CULTURE OF BEANS. 189

that five counties on our southern coast win for California
the distinction of being the greatest Lima bean producing
country of the world. The California bean product in
1909 was about two and one-half million sacks, of which
about one-half were Limas.

The capacity of California for production of beans is
apparently limited only by the extent to which the pro-
duce can be profitably sold. Whenever there is a falling
off in local production of the common varieties east of the
Rocky Mountains, California shipments are freely made,
and when, many years ago, there was a train-load sold for
Boston, California embraced not only the profit thereof,
but the proud satisfaction that she was really doing some-
thing worth while for the maintenance of the intellectual
standard of the country.

FIELD CULTURE OF BEANS IN CALIFORNIA.

Though California has great bean producing capacity,
the area well suited to the product is comparatively lim-
ited and only a fraction of that has conditions which favor
the Lima bean as a field crop. Making deductions from
years of local experience it may be stated that the summer
heat and drought of the interior plains are offensive to
most kinds of beans; that occasional frosts preclude the
winter growth of the crop over wide areas where ordinary
winter temperature and moisture would favor it ; that
summer heat and drought modified by exposure to ocean
influences, or by influences existing on interior river -bot-
tom lands, are acceptable to the plant and in such situa-
tions is the chief production. From a commercial point of
view it is also quite important that towards the end of the
season there should be a reduction of the amount of mois-
ture in the soil, so that the plant may cease its growth and
mature its seed before the fall rains make the harvesting
difficult and stain the beans. Favoring conditions are thus
seen to be quite exacting. During the growing period of
the plant there must be : first, no frost ; second, the least
possible duration of hot, dry winds, and a moderated at-

190 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

mospheric aridity generally ; third, adequate moisture both
in air and soil to maintain healthful vegetative verdure
followed by a dry-soil-ripening period just as soon as the
vines have filled pods enough for a paying crop.

Local Adaptations to Bean Growing. — These conditions
are prescribed for a bean crop of the dry seed. They are
all found in eminent degree on the coast sides of three
counties: San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura,
and these counties ten years ago produced perhaps nine-
tenths of the commercial bean crop of the State. Of course
extensions of the region in other counties both north and
south along the coast have similar conditions, and have
recently developed a large product. Favorable conditions,
however, disappear wit*h greater rapidity toward the in-
terior. Each of the three counties mentioned is disposed
on both sides of ridges of the Coast Range mountains. The
ocean-side lands produce the beans: the interior valleys
of the same counties, perhaps not over 15 miles away, are
beanless. The mountain ridges exclude the ocean breeze
and the occasional fogs and mists, and bean plants would
perish from dry heat before a crop could be made. On
the other hand, on the ocean side of the mountains, beans
are planted in May, after the rains are practically over,
and the ocean tempers heat and furnishes moisture to the
air, so that, by conservation of soil-water by good culti-
vation, the crop is often made without a drop of rain from
seed to harvest.

On the moist or irrigated lands of the interior where
heat and atmospheric aridity are tempered by evaporation
from large supplies of fresh water or moist soil, there are
also conditions which suit some varieties of beans very
well, and constantly increasing crops are made. On in-
terior lowlands, however, there is sometimes a summer
rising of moisture from rivers, bank-full from melting
mountain snows or other sources, which interferes with
proper ripening of the beans by pushing the vegetative
growth of the plants when they should be maturing a crop
already formed. If, then, early rains come, the bean

PLANTING BEANS. 191

grower is apt to be caught with his work unfinished and
his beans stained or sprouting. However, these troubles
are not serious enough to cause the forsaking of the crop,
and in an occasional year of drought, when the southern
coast counties do not get rainfall enough to make their full
crop, the grower on the interior lowlands records a good
profit.

The extension of the bean area of California during the
last decade and the relative production of the different
regions of the several leading commercial beans are seen
in the following, condensed from the bean report for 1909
of Mr. J. B. Meloche of San Francisco :

Sacramento San Joa- Central Southern

valley. <
Large White . . . 230,000
Small Whites... 15,000
Pink 145 Oftft

juin valley.
234,000

coast.
45,000
125,000
28,000

coast.
24,000
11,000
15,000

Totals.
533,000
151,000
370,000
86,000
190,000
1,200,000

182,000
26,000
78,000

Bayo ....

60,000

Blackeye,
Lima ....

etc... 40,000

22,000

50,000
1,200,000

Totals 490,000 520,000 220,000 1,300,000 2,530,200

The foregoing is the product in standard sacks of each
kind, the weight of the sacks in each case being as fol-
lows : Large White, 92 Ibs. ; Small White, 90 Ibs. ; Pink, 87
Ibs. ; Bayo, 85 Ibs. ; Blackeye, 80 Ibs ; Lima, 75 Ibs. The
total acreage in 1909 was estimated at 130,000 acres, which
would give an average acre-yield of about twenty sacks.

Soil for Beans. — A rich sandy soil, if it can be kept
moist enough, is best suited to the growth of beans, and
dry, hot, sandy soil is the worst, but even on sand near
the beach, fair crops are sometimes made by the help of
aerial moisture and coolness. The plant does not require
a very great amount of moisture, if heat and atmospheric
aridity are not too great, but insists upon a certain
amount. Crops have been lost by choosing land that was
too wet. But though a light soil seems to best suit the
plant, it can be successfully grown on any good garden
soil, providing good cultivation is given and the land
kept from baking and drying out. With adequate care in

THE
UNIVERSITY

192 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

this regard, very good garden crops are grown even in
adobe soil, but the commercial bean crops are grown on
light soils because there are obvious cultural advantages
in dealing with such soils.

Preparation of Land for Beans, — As our chief crops of
beans are grown without irrigation on light soils, in
regions of moderate rainfall, the preparation of the soil
should begin at the opening of the rainy season, so as to
prepare the land for receiving and retaining the maxi-
mum amount of the rain that falls. Growth of weeds after
harvesting the beans should be prevented by cultivation,
because weeds draw upon moisture and would produce
seed for more weeds. This cultivation also opens the sur-
face to absorb the early rains. When the soil is well
moistened by rain, usually not later than January, a good
plowing is given, and after that the chisel-toothed culti-
vator and the harrow or other tool fitted to break up all
compacting of the soil at or below the surface, are used at
short intervals through the winter to prevent evaporation,
and retain moisture near the surface. There is some varia-
tion in winter practice, as some plow deeply, some turn a
shallow furrow, and some rely wholly upon the chisel
cultivator, which works as deep as shallow plowing. In
all cases the end in view is the same, to bring the land to
planting time with moisture retained and mellow to re-
ceive the seed.

Time of Planting. — Hints of this consideration have al-
ready been given to illustrate other points. As a general
conclusion it may be added that California experience
clearly points to undesirability of early planting simply
to keep abreast of the calendar. The bush beans are
hardier than the climbers and can be safely planted earlier,
but there is nothing to be gained in planting either in ad-
vance of a good condition of warmth and moisture in the
soil. Rather than trust the seed to the soil which is too
cold or too wet, it is better to wait a little, kill the weeds
by a shallow working, place the seed deep enough to in-
sure its contact with moisture and then trust to the more

A LARGE BEAN FIELD. 193

rapid growth of the plant to make up for the delay. This
it will usually do, and will shoot ahead so that it will be
of good size for cultivation by the time the weeds need
another cutting. Just the time when the proper soil con-
ditions may be expected to arrive will differ in the differ-
ent localities, according to local rainfall and spring tem-
peratures, the beginning of the frost-free period, the na-
ture of the soil, etc. As a generalization, however, it may

TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-ACRE BEAN FIELD,
SALINAS VALLEY.

be put at May 1 to May 15 on the coast, with a range of
May 1 to June 1 for interior lowlands in the central and
northern parts of the State — chiefly to allow most lands
to come into planting condition.

As to condition of soil and weather at planting Lima
beans, it may be said that ample heat in connection with
soil moisture is necessary to start this variety, and plant-
ing is rushed during a warm spell to insure these condi-

194 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

tions. A rain after planting is counted a detriment, for
if the temperature of the soil falls too low the seed is apt
to rot. Besides a shower means more weeds, and some
large growers count it cheaper to plow up the field and
replant than to clean out the weeds in the rows. Small
growers, however, usually undertake the hoeing rather
than sacrifice the plant if the stand is a good one.

Manner of Planting. — All commercial crops of beans,
whether of bush or running varieties, are grown in rows.
The planting is done with machines of different makes
and sizes, though usually planting from two to four rows
at a time. Depth is determined by the character of the
soil and the season. The bean must be placed in moist
soil, and if the surface is light and prone to dry out
quickly, the greater depth is given, but the bean does not
endure as deep covering as some other large seed. In a
moist surface an inch will do, but in very light surfaces
two inches is better. In some cases even a little more is
desirable. It must be remembered that a few days'
moisture must be assured to the seed to allow it to take
hold of the soil.

In light soils liable to strong winds, the planter should
run at right angles to the course of the wind, for it has
been observed that the sand is more easily shifted when
the wind has the lengthwise course of the drills.

Distance is dependent upon the variety. Lima beans are
usually placed in rows about forty inches apart, with the
planter rigged- to drop seed at an average of about ten
inches apart, in the row. Small beans of various kinds are
given two to two and one-half feet between the rows, and
about four inches distance in the row.

Cultivation. — Frequent cultivation with knife-shaped
teeth is practiced in the best bean soils, to kill the weeds
and loosen the surface, until the running varieties cover
the space so that they are injured by cultivation. The
vines then cover the ground and check evaporition and the
crop is left to its own course. With bush varieties longer
and deeper cultivation is desirable, at least if the ground

THRESHING BEANS. 195

is apt to become compact, so that the earth-mulch de-
scribed in the chapter on cultivation is maintained.

Gathering. — Gathering the crop cannot usually wait un-
til all the beans have ripened, for fear of shelling out the
earlier maturing pods of some varieties, and for fear also
of the fall rains already mentioned. Cutting should begin
when the grower's judgment tells him he is about midway
between the two dangers. The date will of course vary
in different localities. The Lima bean has a longer grow-
ing season, and on the south coast is liable to encounter
serious hot spells in August or September after other
beans are matured beyond injury. The heat shrivels the
immature pods and lessens the crop.

Hand pulling or cutting of the vines, or plowing out, is
no longer practiced in large fields. A cutter operated by
horse power is now used. Two planks are hitched side to
side, about two feet apart. From each, on the outside,
projects a steel blade, some two feet, fastened to the bot-
tom of the so-called sled. Two or three horses are hitched
to the sled, which passes comfortably between two rows
of beans; the blades of steel running from one to two
inches under the surface, sloping backward, cut off the
vines beneath the surface or loosen them so that they are
readily gathered with pitchforks and are thrown into
heaps.

There are some local variations in the form of the har-
vester, and in some cases an iron-frame cutter constructed
on the model of a V-shaped cultivator with guiding wheel
is used.

The beans are allowed to be in the field in small piles for
two to four weeks, according to the curing quality of the
local climate, until the vines are well dried. This not only
facilitates the opening of the pods, but saves the beans
from staining by green leaves and the damp dust they
gather.

Threshing Floors. — The early method of threshing was
by use of the threshing floor, and it is still practiced or
held in view to prevent excessive charges by machine

196 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

owners. It is tedious work, requires many animals and
exposes the beans to greater injury by early rains. A
threshing floor is made by wetting down a circular piece
of ground about sixty or eighty feet across, tramp it with
horses and wagon until smooth and hard ; then cover the
floor with straw for a few days until it is dry, when it is
ready for the beans. The first flooring of beans is put on
deep, so the horses ' hoofs do not cut the floor. Care should
be taken all the time during the threshing not to cut the
floor. Two or three big wagon loads of beans are placed
in a ring on this floor during very dry; clear weather.
Formerly horses attached to light wagons were driven
over the beans (usually two or three teams at a time), till
they were all shelled from the pods. The vines are then
thrown off and more beans from the field brought on.
This process is continued until there are many tons of
beans on the floor under those that are being threshed out.
After this the whole mass of chaff and beans is run
through winnowing and screening machines and the beans
placed in sacks of seventy-five to eighty pounds each and
are ready for market. Of late years the teams on the floor
are attached to disc machines instead of wagons, which
greatly facilitates the work.

In suitable weather tramping is a less expensive method
than by machinery, but there is far greater danger from
sudden storms of rain, as beans on the tramping floor are
in the worst possible shape in wet weather. Beans in the
field can stand an inch or two of rain without much in-
jury, if allowed to thoroughly dry before threshing. But
beans wet on a tramping floor while mixed with pulverized
leaves are irreparably damaged, being stained and heated
before it is possible to clean them. Every farmer who
tramps out his beans should be provided with sheets of
canvas sufficient to cover all unwinnowed or sacked beans
liable to be left out during a shower. Tramping is a
tedious process, but it has some advantages. It is the
resource ever at hand to meet the exacting charges of
machine owners. And besides, during extremely dry

BEAN CLEANING. 197

weather beans can be tramped well, the pods being dry
and brittle, while the vines are still green and tough, a
condition in which a machine cannot work in them at all.
The energetic farmer can thus often secure a large por-
tion of his crop before a machine could thresh them even
if he could get it. So it will probably be many years be-
fore tramping is entirely abandoned.

Machine Threshing. — For many years attempts have
been made to use modified grain threshers for separating
beans. At first there was too great a percentage of
cracked beans, but recently machine work has become
more satisfactory. In the case of one grower farming
2300 acres to beans in Ventura county, the threshing ma-
chine used is a large "Minnesota Chief," which is
equipped with a good engine and thirty men. The beans
are gathered into header wagons, with beds ten feet wide
and sixteen feet long. One side of the bed is considerably
higher than the other, and a large and strong net is spread
over the entire bed, fastened on one side, and into which
the beans are forked. This is driven to the threshing ma-
chine, where a derrick lifts up the lower side of the net
and tumbles the contents onto a large platform, after
which the straw and beans are fed into the machine with
pitchforks. It requires eight header wagons to keep the
machine busy. Fifteen hundred sacks, averaging seventy
pounds each, or one hundred and fifty thousand pounds,
are considered a good day's work.

The machine-threshed beans have also to be recleaned
before they are marketed, and are broken so much that
they are never fit for the seed trade. Yet there is one
great advantage with the steam thresher. The rainy season
is approaching, and a shower is lable to fall in October
while the threshing process is in full blast, so that any
beans that are caught on the floors are ruined if they do
not manage to cover them in some way, while by the ma-
chine process all beans are sacked as they are threshed.

Bean Cleaning, — It is imperative now that beans should
be put into good marketable condition. When prices

198 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

were high the quality and condition of the beans did not
materially interfere with the sales, but in times of plenty,
the best is hardly good enough, and the most scrupulous
attention is given as to the quality. To insure the most
ready sale at best prices, every grower should have the
reputation of putting his beans in the sack for sale in
thoroughly sound and clean condition, even by hand-
picking if necessary. A dirty lot of beans from any
locality injures not the grower alone, but casts suspicion
on all the product of that place. In preventing this,
associated effort of growers has accomplished much.

Rotation of Crops. — It has been the experience of bean
growers hitherto that many crops of beans can be grown
successfully on the same soil without great difference in
the yield — that is, the land does not clearly show wear. On
the other hand, however, a bean crop improves barley,
potatoes or other succeeding crop. This might be expected
from what is now known of the power of the legumes to
fix atmospheric nitrogen by means of their roots. Our
best bean soils are so rich naturally that they are able to
endure a long cropping period and growers are apt to
look upon the soil as a constant factor and wish that the
weather could be placed in the same category.

VARIETY FOR FIELD CULTURE.

The Lima Bean. — The Lima is the great bean of Cali-
fornia so far as the outside world is concerned, because
though other beans are grown everywhere, five southern
coast counties seem especially adapted by favoring local
climate to the growth of this rather exacting variety, and
the product of Limas in this region is nearly one-half of
the total bean production of California. The variety
grown is the old "Large Lima," well known to the trade
and well adapted to the region, and however popular the
dwarf Limas may become as garden varieties they do not
promise to supplant the old sort in its stronghold. Though
the Lima is a running bean, no support is given it in field
culture. It is safe and comfortable reclining on the drv.

BEANS IN CALIFORNIA. 199

warm soil, with its verdure always freshened by the
breezes of the Pacific, which lies in plain sight of many
fields. Thousands of acres are thus disposed green and
level as a meadow to the distant viewer — the scene un-
marred by fence or other obstruction, for the fields are
usually subject to no unwelcome intrusion except hot
blasts of air which rarely beat back the ocean breeze and
harm the plant. In most years without a drop of summer
rain and held in heart by the insensible ocean vapor and
occasionally by fog and mist, the Lima bean yields the
grower an average of a ton to the acre of clear product,
and sometimes does more than fifty per cent better than
that.

During recent years the price of Lima beans has
been less than formerly, but there still remains a margin,
because production can be accomplished at less cost
through improved methods and machinery. There is also
an association of Lima bean growers which is assisting
producers to secure all that the market will warrant and
has exerted a wholesome influence. Lima bean straw is a
very important by-product, as it sells readily for stock
feeding at from $2 to $5 per ton, according to the demand
for it in different years.

The Small White Bean. — This is the accepted local name
for the variety which is called the Navy bean at the East.
The seed was brought from the State of New York as far
back as 1852. The Small White has a polished or var-
nished surface which prevents rapid absorption of mois-
ture. This not only especially fits it for shipping by sea
and gives it great keeping quality, but it enables the bean
to hold its form through cooking processes. Large quan-
tities are shipped to Boston, where they are used in pre-
paring "Boston canned beans," which are sold all over
the United States. The Small White bean is chiefly grown
in Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

The Pea Bean. — This is another small white bean which
was introduced into California early in the fifties. The
variety has a very thin transparent skin which admits

200 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

moisture readily and is apt to disintegrate in cooking. The
Pea bean is grown along the Sacramento river and in
Ventura county, but not in large amount.

The Large White Bean. — This variety is also known as
the Lady Washington. At the East it is rated in the trade
as a medium bean; it is a little larger than the Small
White. The seed was introduced from the East in early
times. The variety is chiefly grown in the Sacramento and
San Joaquin river counties and in less amounts in the
central coast counties.

The Bayo Bean. — There are two varieties — the Bayo
Grande and the Bayo Chico. The former is large, the lat-
ter small ; both are brown. The seed came from Chile in
1849. The Bayo is largely grown in the Sacramento and
San Joaquin river regions. There is also a dark red bean
which was brought from Chile, and usually named from
its color.

The Pink Bean. — This variety is sufficiently described
by its name. It has been in California so long that its
origin is unknown, and our best bean merchants have
never seen it from any other source than this State. It is
a first-class bean, and the citizens of Spanish descent pre-
fer it to all other varieties, and it is largely grown for their
use in San Luis Obispo county. It is chiefly grown in Sac-
ramento river lands and is, perhaps, the most successful
variety in the San Joaquin valley under conditions of heat
and drought which do not suit other varieties.

The Butter Bean. — This is the local name for what is
known as the "Flageolet" in France, whence the seed was
brought to this State. It is large, white and flattish. It is
going out of production here, as the seed is apparently
running out, the size being only half that of 35 or 40 years
ago.

The Black-eye Bean. — It is thought that this variety
came from Virginia. Its production is largely restricted
to the Sacramento and San Joaquin river sections and
Ventura county. This and others of the "cow pea" group

GARDEN BEANS. 201

are used to a certain extent to make a green growth for
plowing under in citrus orchards.

The Soy Bean. — This Asiatic species, which has many
varieties, is grown to a limited amount by Chinese and
Japanese on river bottom and reclaimed lands, both for
forage and food.

The Horse Bean. — A broad bean, chiefly grown by Por-
tuguese in the San Francisco Bay region : hardy and pro-
lific, making free winter growth where frosts are light;
sometimes in demand for the debasement of coffee.

GARDEN CULTURE OF BEANS.

Much that has been said about the field growth of beans
applies to the garden culture. Condition of soil and time
for planting are practically the same, and so are the char-
acters of the growing season, except that the gardener
cares little for the maturing of his crop, but prefers a
green succession. A condition of late summer moisture,
then, that would be a serious trouble in the field, is an ad-
vantage in the garden. For a product of beans as a green
vegetable, the drying out which promotes maturity is to
be prevented, and if this is successfully done, either upon
naturally moist or irrigated land, the bean plants will con-
tinue their yield of green pods until frost cuts them down.
As California has, as a rule, a very long frostless season,
the bearing season of green pluckings may cover several
months.

In frostless places, or in places of light frosts, where the
grower affords slight protective covering, the bean con-
tinues its growth and bearing into the winter and vines of
some varieties assert their perennial character. Even
where the frosts cut down the top, some of the phaseolus
varieties maintain their life and start again freely from
the old roots when the spring warmth invites activity.

The continued growth of the bean late in the fall, in the
absence of frost, cometimes affords a better late than early
crop, because certain insects which destroy the early
blossoms cease from their labors, or because too high heat

202 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

no longer blights the bloom. It is often the reward of the
amateur gardener, who promotes late growth of his bean
plants by continued irrigation, to gather ample supplies
of tender pods when less diligent growers have none. Mid-
summer bean planting on moist interior lands is also a
good practice, as it gives the plant a growing season in the
fall when the hot and dry summer conditions are relaxed.

The planting of beans in frostless situations in the fall
for a winter crop is, of course, a limited enterprise, and
attended by considerable risk, because never having a
frost, means hardly ever, and yet good returns are often
made in a few places already designated in the chapters
on climates and the planting season.

The winter preparation for field planting on the light
soils that are mainly used for that purpose will do for the
same soils and situations for garden growth, but where
beans have to go upon rather heavier soil in regions of
heavier rains, it is necessary to give more thorough
spring cultivation to overcome the compacting of the soil
by the rain, and make it suitably mellow for the crop. For
this purpose, spring plowing twice, the second shallower
than the first, and good harrowing following the second
plowing, are desirable. All this work should be done when
the soil works freely, and only then.

In rainfall garden practice, where moisture is short, the
land should lie in shape for taking in water all during the
earlier part of the rainy season, and not be cropped nor
left hard for the spring working, but where moisture is
ample, the land may carry first a fall-planted crop of
hardy vegetables for winter use, provided this crop is
cleared away by February and the land put into condi-
tion to store up the spring rains for the use of the beans.
This practice depends upon the likelihood of the late rains
being generous, and the soil being retentive enough.

Bush Beans. — Varieties of this class are hardier than
most climbing beans and are safely planted earlier — per-
haps from one to two weeks usually, but they should not
be planted until the soil becomes warm and loses its ex-

GARDEN BEAN VARIETIES. 203

cess of water. For hand-hoeing the rows can be 15 to 18
inches apart, and for horse cultivation two feet. About
four inches apart in the drill, and covered from one to two
inches, according to soil and season, is ordinary practice.
The plants can also be grown in hills. If the ground is in
good condition the seed can be planted before the lighter
frosts of spring are all over, and by slight covering they
can be carried through. The bush varieties will endure
more cold and more heat than the climbing sorts, but any
considerable planting should wait until the frost danger
for the locality is over. Later plantings should be made
at short intervals, for succession and irrigation must usu-
ally be resorted to quite early in the summer, except on
moist land or on the immediate coast.

Bush beans are usually divided into two groups : those
with green pods and those with waxen, or light yellow
pods. The following are favorites in this State :

Early Mohawk, hardy and early for early chop, large
flattish pods.

Dwarf Horticultural, vigorous grower, large leaves;
pods medium, curved ; beans, pale pink marked with red.

Burpee's Stringless, green pod, early, straight, roundish
pod, brittle and stringless.

Extra Early Valentine, said to be fit to gather in 35 to
40 days from planting, green pod, medium sized, fleshy,
keeps green longer than most kinds — a favorite in the
Sacramento valley and popular for canning.

Extra Early Refugee, popular with early vegetable ship-
pers, round pods, bright green, very productive, largely
grown in Vacaville and other early regions.

Long Yellow Six Weeks, pods long, early, very produc-
tive, excellent quality ; popular in southern California.

Golden Wax, early, strong grower, long pods, very brit-
tle and stringless, popular in the Sacramento valley, coast
valleys and southern California.

Davis White Wax, broad pods, clear light yellow, pro-
ductive, tender and delicate flavor.

Wardell's Kidney Wax, long, flat and showy tender

204 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

pods, strong grower, prolific : beans shapely, pure white,
with purple eye ; early.

Prolific Black Wax, long and large pods, golden color,
very productive, bearing early and through a long season.

Burpee's Bush Lima, reported by California growers as
the best of the dwarf Limas.

Broad Beans. — These beans are related to the so-called
horse bean, but by breeding have lost much of the strong
flavor of the horse bean, and have so increased in size of
the seed that they are several times larger than the horse
bean. In Europe they are esteemed as a highly nutritious
and palatable vegetable. The seeds only are eaten and are
prepared for table in much the same manner as Lima
beans. As Lima beans are more delicate in flavor and
nearly always available in California markets there is less
chance for broad beans than elsewhere, and yet the fact
that they are more easily grown gives them claim to at-
tention. The plants are productive and will flourish in
almost any locality. The seed should be planted -about
three inches deep in double rows, eight inches between the
rows forming the double line, four inches between the
plants in the rows, and three feet between the double
rows. The early formation of seed can be hastened by re-
moving the terminal bud of the plants when they have
reached the height of between four and five feet, and have
produced enough flowers to insure a good crop of pods.
The Green Windsor is the best known broad bean.

Climbing Beans. — Pole beans are usually more sus-
ceptible to heat and drought than the better bush varie-
ties, and they are disappointing in other ways. Near the
coast, however, they may be grown and trained in any
way the grower pleases, from a six-foot staff to a whole
wigwam of poles and strings. Catalogues of California
seedsmen give the amateur good collections to select from.

Transplanted Beans. — Beans may be easily grown early
in moist sand in a protected place and set out when sev-
eral inches high when the soil and air are fit to receive
them. The best way to get a good start in a family garden

GARDEN BEAN VARIETIES. 205

is the method of Mr. Adams, described in the chapter on
propagation by which a whole hill is moved from under
cover to open ground at one operation.

Growing Beans in the Irrigated Garden. — Beans may be
irrigated in any of the ways described for garden practice,
according to the character of the soil. They will stand
flooding of the ground, if it is done at sundown. They will
also grow well on the ridge systems, either with water
above or below, according to the soil. Shallow planting
should be done when the ground is to be kept moist by
irrigation.

CHAPTER XV.

THE BEET.

The Beet. — Beta vulgaris.

French, betterave ; German, runkelrube ; Dutch and
Flemish, betwortel ; Danish, rodbede ; Italian, barbabie-
tola; Spanish, remolacha; Portuguese, betarava.

The beet as a garden vegetable is taken from the ground
every day in the year in California. It can be sown at
almost any time, and at all stages of its growth is un-
injured by any temperature which is experienced in Cali-
fornia valleys. Moisture conditions do, however, affect its
growth. It is unwise to sow the seed in cold, wet ground,
but if the seedling has taken hold it can endure extremes
of saturation or drought for a long period, and it is not
injured for any purpose by standing where it has grown
for a considerable time after it has reached its first ma-
turity. The beet is counted, however, rather a coarse
vegetable, and would be consigned to rather a lowly place
did not its present achievements and its greater promise
as a source of sugar give it commanding importance.
Though our people are somewhat chary about putting the
boiled beet-root in their table china, they do not hesitate
to instal in cut glass or silver bowls the solid extract of
beet-root in the form of sugar cubes or granules. The in-
dustrial importance of the beet includes also its value and
availability as an auxiliary cattle food, and it is all the
more esteemed for that purpose because in our climate it
needs no root-cellar or even earth-covering, but is pulled
all days of the year, fresh and succulent, from the site in
which the seed was cast months before.

THE GARDEN BEET.
Though, as stated, the beet is hardy under all our con-

GARDEN BEETS. 207

ditions, it needs for the proper germination of its seed
moist, warm ground, and it makes rapid and tender
growth with the same soil conditions. In cold, wet soil or
in hot, dry land, it will grow slowly and will be tough and
of inferior flavor. Though it is true that beets will endure
much drought, growing slowly and rooting deeply on land
where grain and hay would fall and subsequently, with
the coming of the fall rains, assume more active growth
and reach large size for the winter feeding of stock, it is
not in that way that tender and sound-flavored table beets
can be produced. They should make rapid growth from
start to finish, and then they may remain in their places
for some time without notable loss of quality, unless the
ground is heavy, becomes saturated and retains water. In
fact, some growers on well-cultivated upland loams claim
that the beets improve in the soil and are sweetest and
tenderest just before sending up their seed stalks. In lo-
calities with excessive rains, it is often desirable to gather
beets and pack them away in dry sand, but in most places
open air winter conditions do not make this necessary.
On the other hand, as the seed may be almost continuously
planted if moisture conditions are arranged, small plant-
ing for several successions should be the rule in the family
or sale garden, if long use from one planting shows de-
terioration.

Garden Culture. — Beets may be grown in the hand-hoed
garden in rows 12 inches apart, or even nearer than that
if space is precious, but rows for horse work should be 18
inches or two feet, according as may be necessary to agree
with the unit of distance chosen to bring the rows of up-
right growers uniform distances apart for ease of culti-
vation. The small varieties popular in this State do not
need that distance, perhaps, but all sorts of spacing is
grievous in the use of horse tools.

The soil for beets should be well worked to allow natural
penetration, for the beet has a taproot of great importance
in its development. The seed may be soaked before plant-
ing if the ground is inclined to be dry, and should be cov-

208 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

ered from three-quarters of an inch to two inches, accord-
ing as the soil is heavy and moist or light and dry. In late
planting the seed must go down to moisture, and there is
then little danger of rain compacting the covering. As
for time of planting, it may be done any time when the
soil is moist and warm, but never when it is cold or wet.
Seed may be spaced an inch in the drill approximately, but
while still small the plants should be thinned to six or
eight inches. The sooner this is done after the plants have
reached a height of three or four inches the better. It is
quite a common practice to allow the rows to grow thickly
until the thinnings are large enough for greens. The prac-
tice injures the surviving beets, for they never reach quite
the development they would if they had never been
crowded, but with some the gain of the greens is a com-
pensation.

Varieties. — The garden beets popular in California for
table use are all of the round or flat shapes, and all of red
color.

The Eclipse, an old favorite, is still of wide popularity.
It is early and of good quality, and symmetrical, round
form.

The Extra Early Egyptian is of flat, turnip shape, very
deep color, early, tender and fine.

Morse's Improved Blood Turnip, especially selected for
style and quality, deep red, green tops.

Crosby's Egyptian, of flatter form than Early Egyptian,
good for early use, but maintains tenderness well as it gets
larger size, very bright clear red flesh.

Edmunds' Blood Turnip is another favorite market va-
riety, round and smooth, deep color and good quality.

Early Blood Turnip is also largely grown. It is round,
good form and quality.

Long Smooth Blood is an old standard variety for those
who like beets for slicing. It roots deeply and stands
drought well.

GROWING SUGAR BEETS. 209

THE SUGAR BEET IN CALIFORNIA.

All that has been said in preceding chapters on Cali-
fornia climates and soils has direct reference to the ex-
ceptional adaptation of the State to the growth of the
sugar beet and the manufacture of beet sugar. The vast
area of rich, deep, loamy and easily-worked soils, which
afford the plant deep rooting, free expansion and large
yield of rich beets; the equable climate, which insures
ample sun-action, freedom from low temperature, and an
almost continuous growing season through the year for a
hardy plant like the beet, and thus provides for sugar
factories a maximum working season without protection
of the rich, raw material from freezing — these are local
advantages for beet growing and sugar making, the im-
portance of which it is difficult to overestimate. There
are also many incidental advantages and benefits in
ground which does not freeze and in factories where the
absence of freezing temperature makes it unnecessary to
build for protection of men, materials and machinery, ex-
cept from heat and rain.

Nine California beet sugar factories produced, in 1908,
99,613 tons of sugar, a total value, at S1/^. per pound, of
$7,460,975. Two others were constructed in 1909, and the
aggregate producing capacity of the 11 will exceed 150,-
000 tons. Large as this quantity is, it is small compared
with the possible production in California, as it is esti-
mated that there are 750,000 acres well adapted to the
raising of sugar beets. Allowing for proper rotation of
crops, about 200,000 acres would be available each year —
capable of producing 2,500,000 tons of beets and 350,000
tons of sugar. The annual consumption of sugar in the
United States is about 3,500,000 tons. Comparative sta-
tistics show that the proportion of saccharine is greater in
the beets grown in California than in any other locality,
whether in Europe or America. The plant itself becomes
a more active worker and extracts more sugar from Cali-
fornia soil and sunshine than it does elsewhere.

210 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

California is second to Colorado in the production of
beet sugar, but the largest factory in the United States,
and one of the largest in the world, is the one at Spreckels,
CaL, which is able to slice 3000 tons of beets in a day, or
100 carloads of 30 tons each. The oldest successful factory
in the United States is at Alvarado, CaL, which was estab-
lished in 1879, and has made sugar every year but one
since its beginning.

Situations and Soils. — The large area noted as adapted
to sugar beet production is obtained by computation of
our valley acreage. For the most economical production
of uniformly good beets, fairly level fields are of great ad-
vantage. To get the largest profits there must be the use
of the most capacious planting, cultivating and harvesting
appliances, and all these are best suited to level or gently
sloping lands. As most of these lands, except in coast
valleys, lie in regions of moderate rainfall there is seldom
the need of underdrainage, but the problem is rather one
of moisture conservation, and that is in most cases easily
accomplished by cultivation, to the extent required by the
beet which roots deeply and draws its moisture from a
large soil volume. Where it may be necessary to concen-
trate the rainfall of two seasons for one crop, the method
of a constantly stirred summer fallow, which insures a
crop of grain in spite of low rainfall, will do the same for
a crop of beets, providing the relatively deeper cultiva-
tion required by the beet is given.

Though nearly all fertile soils will grow good sugar
beets if well tilled for moisture retention and for root
penetration and expansion, a rich, sandy loam, deeply
worked and with medium moisture conditions, is the ideal
for the purpose. Sandy soils, which dry out in spite of
cultivation, are available for beet growing by careful irri-
gation. Heavy, wet soils may be put into condition by
underdrainage and cultivation, but as there are such vast
areas of soils which will suit the beet without either irri-
gation or drainage, it is probable that improvements in
these lines will be left for the future.

212 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Tillage for Beets. — Land for beets should be taken in
hand early. If it has not been summer fallowed the pre-
vious summer, it may receive a shallow plowing early in
the fall, being left rough to receive the rainfall. As soon
as the heaviest and coldest rains of the season are over in
the locality a deep plowing should be given, so as to secure
a seed bed of ten or twelve inches depth of stirred soil.
This practice is best for coast valleys, where spring rains
after the plowing are likely to be sufficient to restore to
the soil a proper degree of compactness. In light, open
soils, with scant spring rains, the first plowing should be
deep and the second shallow for fear of leaving the lower
strata too open. It is often good practice to rely upon one
good plowing early in the winter, followed, by the use of
the chisel cultivator, harrow and clod-crusher, to bring
the surface into fine mellow condition to receive the seed.
Modification of methods must be made according to local
soil and rainfall, but the condition to be aimed at is deep
stirring, lower strata, moist but not wet, surface fine and
moisture near it, but not disposed to bake or crust with
rains, which may follow sowing.

Planting. — Sugar beets are grown in drills about 18 to
20 inches apart. Seeding is done with machines. Cover-
ing should be as shallow as will bring the seed into soil,
which will remain moist ; depth depends upon earliness of
sowing, character of soil, as already explained in other
connections. Sometimes it is desirable to cover as deeply
as two inches; sometimes, and usually, perhaps, one inch
or a little less. In late sowings, when the surface has be-
come quite dry, an attachment to the drill which pushes
aside part of the dry surface and brings the seed into moist
soil without running too deep, has been found valuable.
The greatest care should be taken to have the rows
straight. Possibly most beets are grown in crooked rows,
as it has long been said of corn, but the whole after course
of the field is improved by running the drill straight. It
is desirable to have a rain just after planting, unless the

GROWING SUGAR BEETS. 213

land is very light and dry. If crust forms it must be
broken by light harrowing or rolling.

Cultivation. — Weeds should never be allowed to get the
start of the young beets ; nor should the soil be allowed to
lock them in a hard surface. For this reason cultivation
should begin as soon as the rows can be seen. Very

SUGAR BEETS IRRIGATED FOUR TIMES IN FURROWS.

effective cultivators, or horse-hoes, have been designed by
California mechanics, which make is possible to work two
or four rows at once if the beets are in straight equi-dis-
tant rows. This cultivation beginning thus early, must be
continued at frequent intervals, for the reasons already
fully given in the chapter on cultivation. Cultivation is
absolutely essential to a good beet ; not only must moisture
be conserved, but the lower strata must be kept reason-

214 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

ably loose so that the soil may be displaced by the ex-
panding beet-root. This is done not by deep summer cul-
tivation, but by keeping a good surface mulch to prevent
evaporation, and the lower soil will keep itself in good
condition. All flattened, or knotty, or gnarly beets show
that there has fieen slackness, either in proper depth, in
preparation of the ground, or in lack of cultivation after-
ward, permitting deep drying out. Beets which show
signs of distress will be discarded or discounted at the
factory. The beet must be symmetrical, smooth and fine —
all of which are signs of thrift in a beet as they are in a
well-bred animal.

Thinning. — Excellence in beets is also dependent upon
each having adequate soil-room and plant food. It is im-
possible to get proper spacing by any scheme of seed drop-
ping. It is necessary to sow too thickly in order to get a
uniform stand; the spacing of the beets must be done
afterward. By using a narrow hoe crosswise to the rows,
the plants can be quickly thinned to clumps or groups,
from which all but the strongest plant are pulled by hand.
Thinning should be begun when the seedlings are small —
say from two to four leaves. It is easier to do it well at
this stage, and it is vastly better for the beets which are
to stand, for it does not displace the soil nor disturb their
rooting, as when it is done too late. Beets should stand
eight to ten inches apart in the row, according to the
soil. Where the soil is very rich and the beets likely to
overgrow the two-pound average, which is most accept-
able to the factory, they should be allowed to stand nearer
in the row. After thinning, the surface cultivation must
proceed for weed cutting and surface loosening until the
beet leaves cover the ground. The field is then laid by
until harvesting.

Harvesting. — As the outer leaves of the beet turn yel-
low and drop to the ground, maturity arrives. It is usual
for the factory to notify the grower when his crop is ready.
The beet can stand long in the soil without losing sugar
percentage, but the factory cannot use all the beets at the

THE BEET SEASON.

215

moment of their readiness, and therefore some growers
have to wait for delivery until the opening of the rainy
season, and that is not pleasant or profitable. It is de-
sirable, therefore, that seeding should be done at different
times, as each kind of land in the locality comes into con-
dition, and thus prolong both the harvesting season and
the factory season.

Beet harvesting is now done cheaply by means of imple-
ments and machines of California design and construction,

FURROW IRRIGATION OF SUGAR BEETS IN THE
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY.

which either loosen or completely dislodge the beet. Top-
ping, or removing the leaves and all the green part of the
root grown, is done with knives, though inventors have
made some promising progress in machines for this work.
The Beet Season. — As already said, the beet is an all
the year plant in California. Planting may be done when-
ever the local soil and moisture conditions warrant. Some
planting is done as early as February in regions of light
rains, and the sugar factory season opens in southern Cali-

216 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

fornia in July. In regions of heavier rains planting is
done in April and May. In all regions there is consider-
able length to the sowing season, so that succession in
ripening is possible, where there are lands of different
elevations and degree of moisture. It seems possible to
keep the factories in operation near the whole year with-
out great storage of beets, but this has not been 'done
so far.

Yield and Profit. — Taking into his calculation the figures
for a number of years, Dr. G. W. Shaw of the University
of California has shown that "on a total of 326,000 acres
there has been an average production of 9.8 tons of beets
per acre annually, giving an average return of over $44
per acre, or a net profit of about $14 per acre (after charg-
ing the value of the labor), which certainly compares
favorably with other field crops grown in the State. A
like number of acres devoted to wheat and most other
agricultural crops for the same period would have pro-
duced a decidedly less return per acre, if average price
and yield per acre be taken as the basis.

The figures cannot be taken as the entire value, for there
should be included the better condition in which the land
is left for the growth of other crops, provided the beet
crop is properly handled by returning the tops to the field
either by plowing under or feeding them and returning
the manure to the field. This, of course, is difficult to ex-
press in money value.

"To maintain California's high producing power atten-
tion must be given to the matter of irrigation ; it is the
only way in which the fickleness of climate can be over-
come. Given climate, and the farmer is largely inde-
pendent of the soil question when rational methods of cul-
ture are observed. When the season's returns per acre to
the farmer are considered, Utah, with $51.55, is the only
State which exceeds California with $49.94, but it has
probably cost Utah growers that much more to irrigate
their land; this extra cost, however, being well spent in
order to make sure of a crop, a condition which is de-

CALIFORNIA STOCK BEETS. 217

voutly to be wished for in California. Given a favorable
season, and there is probably not a State that can surpass
California (even if any can equal her) in the number of
tons of high-grade beets that can be produced per acre."

Beet Pulp for Stock Feed. — The use of beet pulp for
stock feeding has increased rapidly during the last few
years, and promises soon to be as popular here as in Eu-
rope. It is fed fresh and put down in silos. It is very
cheaply siloed, because it packs down readily and it seals
itself from contact with the air by the formation of a sur-
face crust. Special information on the use in California
of beet wastes for stock is found in recent publications.*

Varieties. — Thus far California has relied upon Euro-
pean beet seed. We have not yet brought into practice
here the exact methods of testing and selecting the
"mother beets" for seed production which are practiced
in Germany and France. By this means the sugar-contents
have been increased and shape, thrift and other characters
of the beet have been advanced. It is possible that Cali-
fornia will in due time develop local seed supplies of the
highest quality, but no notable progress has yet been made
in that line. Of the varieties chiefly used at the present
time by the California sugar factories the best information
can be had from the managers, who furnish to growers
the seed which in their experience yields the best results,
and their contracts are conditioned upon the use of the
seed they furnish,

BEETS AS FOOD FOR STOCK.

All that has been said about the fitness of California
soils and climates to the growth of the sugar beet is also
applicable to the growth of beets for stock food. Early
plantings of beets furnish succulent food when the pastures
yield but "dry feed," which is the local name for grasses
and clovers which make rich hay as they stand in the field.

*Pacific Rural Press, Aug. 21, and Sept. 11, 1909: Report No.
90, "Progress of the Beet Sugar Industry in the United States,"
by C. F. Saylor, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Washington, D. C., 1909.

218 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Though this food is very nutritious, it is better fitted for
fattening purposes than for maintaining the milk-flow, and
for this reason it should be supplemented by succulent
food. By later planting of beets good supplies can be pro-
vided for the deficiency of pasture growth early in the
winter, which occurs when the winter happens to be colder
or drier than usual. Thus, by planting from February
until June, or even later on moist bottom or irrigated land,
the stock feeder can have beets for his animals the year
round.

Preparation of the land is the same for stock beets as for
sugar beets. The plants must have wider spacing, both
for the rows and for individual plants, according to the
size of the variety grown. The long red mangel-wurzel,
which frequently reaches a weight of seventy pounds, and
should average half that or more, needs room. Three feet
between the rows and two feet between the plants in the
row is as little space as should be given.

Growers of stock beets often sprout the seed before
planting, and sow by hand, from five to eight pounds per
acre, in a shallow furrow, following a line set by a
" marker," and cover with a cultivator or harrow, finally
smoothing with a plank clod-crusher or "rubber." ,

Summer cultivation determines the character of the crop
as it does with sugar beets, and the best cultivators secure
almost incredible weights of beets from rich, moist soils.
The crop often reaches twice that of sugar beets, and
thorgh the stock beets are inferior in nutritive contents,
the greater crop and the greater ease with which large
beets, growing a good part of their bulk above ground,
are gathered and handled are held to compensate for their
less nutritive substance.

Varieties. — Of the many cattle beets of Europe three
have gained wide popularity in California : the Long Red
Mangel, the Yellow Globe Mangel, and the Golden
Tankard. ,

Long Red Mangel. — This variety is the largest and pro-
duces the heaviest crops, and is the best generally pre-

220 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

ferred by dairymen and for hog feed, but it requires deep,
strong soil to do well. A rich, sandy loam, a heavy black
adobe or a yellow clay, will produce great crops of Long
Red Mangels.

Yellow Globe Mangel. — This is medium in size, rutabaga
shaped, more solid and less watery, and is the best beet
for a light, shallow soil. All root crops, as stated already,
require a deep, moist soil, and the richer the better. But
Yellow Globe Mangels are recommended on a light or
gravelly soil, but in such case a liberal use should be made
of old and well-rotted barnyard manure, well worked into
the soil. .

Yellow Tankard Mangel. — This is also called "Golden
Tankard. " It is one of the most famous English varieties.
It is very neat and symmetrical in form — cylindrical, nar-
rowing abruptly at both ends. It has yellowish flesh
throughout. It reaches large size, but can be grown more
thickly than the Long Red.

These yellow Mangels have gained rapidly in popularity
during the last few years ; first in southern California, and
now in the north as well. They are better suited to cal-
careous soils, which are very prevalent in California, and
they endure drouth better than the Long Red.

CHAPTER XVI.
THE CABBAGE FAMILY.

Common Cabbage. — Brassica oleracea capitata.

French, chou cabus, chou pomme; German, kopf kohl,
kraut ; Dutch, slutkool ; Danish, hoved kaal ; Italian, cavolo
cappuccio; Spanish, col repollo; Portuguese, couve re-
polho.

Savoy Cabbage. — Brassica oleracea lullata.

French, chou de Milan; German, Savoyerkohl; Dutch,
savooikool; Italian, cavolo de Milano; Spanish, col de
Milan ; Portuguese, saboia.

Brussels Sprouts. — Idem.

French, chou de Bruxelles ; German, Brusseler sprossen-
wirsing; Dutch, spruitkool; Danish, rosenkaal; Italian,
cavolo a germoglio.

Cauliflower. — Brassica oleracea lotrytis.

French, chou-fleur ; German, blumenkohl ; Dutch, bloem-
kool ; Italian, cavol-flore ; Spanish, coliflor ; Portuguese,
couve-flor.

Broccoli. — Idem.

French, choux brocolis, chou-fleur d'hiver; German,
spargelkohl; Danish, asparges kaal; Italian, cavol broc-
colo ; Spanish, broculi.

Borecole or Kale. — Brassica oleracea acephala.

French, chox verts ; German, winterkohl ; Dutch, boeren-
kool ; Italian, cavolo verde ; Spanish, coles sin cogollo.

Collar ds. — Idem.

Jersey Kale, Thousand Headed Cabbage or Oregon Kale.

Other species of brassica, grown for fleshy stems or roots,
rather than for esculent foliage, will be classed as "tur-
nips" in a subsequent chapter.

California has vast capacity as a supply region for

222 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

esculents of the cabbage family. The climate favors pro-
duction and shipment at a time when the Eastern markets
have only stored cabbage, and California cauliflower is
harvested in splendid size and quality all through the win-
ter months, so that the crop is disposed of before the East-
ern grower can trust his small plants to the open air.
Some years when there have been low freight rates or a
partial failure in Eastern production, there have been very
large shipments in direct competition with the Eastern
grown cabbage in the early autumn, and money has been
made in selling California cabbage, not as an early vege-
table, but at prices which sauerkraut factories were willing
to pay. The Eastern production has, however, been more
intelligently carried on during recent years, and California
producers have less opportunity in the farther East. In
the great central region of the country, however, Cali-
fornia vegetable shippers find a large market, and growing
is done on a considerable scale, but the aggregate is only
a small fraction of what the State could easily produce.

The largest cabbage producing regions are the sandy
loam uplands bordering San Francisco on the south, the
lowlands of Santa Clara county, the reclaimed islands of
the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and the valleys
of southern California, both on the coast and in the in-
terior. The last named are the largest producing districts
for overland shipment, although the central parts of the
State often export largely. About a thousand carloads
went out of the State during the winter of 1908.

Cabbage is produced both in large areas wholly given to
the plant and by planting between young fruit trees, both
in rainfall and irrigated districts. As the cabbage is very
largely a winter crop in California, the water which it re-
quires comes free from the clouds or at low rates from the
irrigating ditches. The cliief objection to the crop is the
great fluctuation in value from year to year. It is hardly
worth while at $15 per ton, and very profitable at $30 to
$40 per ton, and the planting is large or small, according
to the preceding year's experience in selling, and this, of

CALIFORNIA CABBAGE GROWING. 223

course, largely influences the price of the new crop. An
average crop of cabbage would be, perhaps, four tons to
the acre and the average value $20 per ton or $80 gross
value per acre. The cost at current rates for labor would
be about $30 per acre.

The cabbage crop is grown for winter and spring gather-
ing. Interior southern situations produce heads ready for
shipping as early as February, and the shipment continues,
including the later coast regions in southern and central
California, until April or later. Thus California is able
to reach the markets at the East when the storage houses
of Eastern regions are emptied of cabbage and the sauer-
kraut barrels run low and to receive whatever high prices
may be available at that time of the year.

Although the State is so well suited to produce all the
plants of the cabbage family, the common cabbage is the
only one which is widely grown by small growers for home
supplies. It is the hardiest of the group under neglect or
drouth, it is true, but there is not so much difference as
some imagine. The cauliflower has, for instance, the repu-
tation of being hard to grow, but there is really no diffi-
culty about it if proper effort is made, as will be described
later.

THE CABBAGE.

The cabbage can be grown everywhere in Caifornia by
selecting that season of the year which furnishes the ade-
quate moisture and moderate temperature which best suits
its nature. These requirements adapt it well to winter
growth generally in California, except in the frostier
places, and give the plant a longer season and a greater at-
tainment in weight in regions of rich soils open to coast
influences. It does not resent fogs and cold winds, and
thrives directly upon the coast as well as in coast valleys.
In the interior it reaches its best estate on bottom lands,
but will succeed on plains and uplands with enough mois-
ture by irrigation to supplement the rainfall, but without
irrigation it may be often disappointing even though it be
started early enough.

224 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Soil. — The cabbage does well on heavy soil, and it does
not object to alkali — if it is not too strong. It delights in
copious treatment with stable manures. For quick fall
growth, for early winter maturity, such soil, if moist
enough by rainfall or irrigation, will bring it along rapidly
while the autumn heat is ample. For later fall planting to
reach early spring maturity, a warmer, lighter, well-drain-
ed soil or a raised bed will push full growth in a month or
six weeks less time than heavy soil in a rainy region, which
is likely to be cold and water-soaked. But the cabbage
sometimes repays great kindness by growth to bursting or
cracking of the head. Care should be had against over-
growth for this reason. Cracking can be prevented by giv-
ing heads which threaten it a pull, or a cut through the
roots with a spade, so as to lessen its riotous living by
partial arrest of its supplies.

The Time to Plant. — These points on soil condition also
suggest different times of planting in different localities,
according to what may be reasonably anticipated in the
way of heat and moisture. Even in the same locality there
will also be different dates of suitability, according to the
character of the current season. The best practice is to
have plants available in different seed beds and to plant
out in succession the thriftiest plants at hand at such times
as the season may show fitness. Planting by the calendar
is not usually intelligent practice in California, as has been
already stated.

Growing Plants. — It is wise in most parts of California
to start plants in a seed bed in August or September, irri-
gating the ground well to guard against drying out on
land not naturally moist. In the warmer coast regions
good plants can be grown at this time of the year in the
open ground in drills eight or ten inches apart for hand-
hoeing. In the interior, where temperature extremes are
liable to be greater, a cold-frame, or covered seed bed,
may be used to protect the young plants against hot, dry
winds. In small garden practice the use of the seed box
is often handier. Plants should be given space enough to

GROWING CABBAGE PLANTS. 225

/

grow thriftily and should be transplanted to the field when
conditions are right for planting out in the locality.

Plants started in September may be planted in the field
as soon as they are strong enough, when an early winter
crop is expected. Where this is not favored by the local
climate, it is still advisable to have early grown plants, and
in garden practice they can be several times transplanted
and thus kept small and stocky for planting out when soil
and weather are right for it. Where the early winter is
apt to have quite severe frosts, plants started in the fall
in the open air can be transplanted to cold frames until
this danger is past.

For late winter and spring planting, plants may be
started later, say in January, but then in some places the
hot-bed, or other form of gentle bottom heat described in
the chapter on propagation, is desirable. Care must, how-
ever, always be taken not to use too high heat with cab-
bage plants, and for usual California conditions a seed-
bed, with the soil made light enough for good drainage,
and with protection from cold winds as afforded by a
fence or buildings, is usually coddling enough for cab-
bages. If, however, the plants are grown with heat they
should be first transplanted to a cold frame, or a protected
bed, for hardening before they are taken to open ground.

Preparation of Cabbage Ground. — Aside from generous
manuring, for it is hard to make ground too rich for the
cabbage, a good, deep working of the soil will show itself
in the crop. For fall planting it is not desirable to give
the surface as fine a polish as is necessary for seed sowing,
because it will be all the more liable to puddle and crust
with the rains. If the plant is well firmed in fine soil, it
will take hold well and the interspaces will be more recep-
tive if left a little open. Subsequent cultivation will fine
it sufficiently.

Planting Out. — Cabbages are usually grown in the field
in rows two and a half to three feet apart, laid out with a
marker, the plants being distanced about 15 inches in the
rows. Planting is done with a dibble, and a man can plant

226 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

out four to eight thousand a day, according to his expert-
ness-, if he has a boy to drop plants for him. The earth
should be pressed firmly about the roots with the dibble.
Planting with a trowel can be very rapidly done in this
way. Get a new mason 's trowel about six inches wide and
12 inches long coming to a point. Cut off one or two in-
ches of the point making it round on the grindstone. Put
the trowel down in the soil the whole length, pull it over
toward you, put in the plant, take out the trowel, then
•step on the soil near the plant to make it firm.

If the seed-bed is sandy enough and is allowed to become
a little dry, the plants can be lifted readily without losing
roots. Large bunches of plants when taken to the field
should be protected from sun and wind by a wet sack, and
dropping should not go far ahead of the planting. If the
weather is rather dry the plant is helped to get a start in
a new place by removing the lower, larger, leaves when
transplanting to the field.

Early planting in anticipation of rains may be surer to
hold on if a little water is used in planting if the ground
is inclined to be dry. On irrigated ground, which is given
a good soaking before plowing for fall planting, this may
not be necessary, but subsequent irrigation must be given
in time if rains are delayed, for the plants must not be
allowed to stop growing.

Cultivation. — Cabbages must be kept well cultivated to
reach their best estate. Early cabbages will head in two
and a half to four months, according to weather and soil
conditions, and size will depend much upon cultivation in
connection with soil richness and adequate moisture.
Hardly any plant delights more in soil stirring. Rapid
growth during the winter also gives the plant the advant-
age over the lice or aphis, which sap the life of unthrifty
plants, and is worse on late-planted cabbages because of
the dry, hot weather they are likely to encounter.

Harvesting. — The cabbage field is usually cut over for a
winter shipment three times in about six weeks, and if
used for a winter crop the ground can be cleared up and

VARIETIES OF CABBAGE. 227

put in shape for a summer crop of corn, tomatoes,
melons or other frost-fearing vegetables, or of beets or
other roots which do not rebel at rather a late start.

Cabbage for Stock Feed.— In field growth of cabbage all
imperfect heads' are used for cow feed and if fed right
after milking and not in too large quantities, are said not
to taint the milk. They should be fed in connection with
some dry feed. Very often cabbage can be grown to ad-
vantage especially for cow feed. Planted out in February
or March they would be fit for use by the latter part of
June, just about the time that the grass gets dry and cows
want something juicy to keep up the flow of milk. In their
use, however, care must be taken to strip them of any de-
caying leaves, as nothing will impart a bad taste to milk
and butter quicker than the use of decaying vegetable
matter of any kind. On moist land late cabbages are con-
siderably grown for poultry and can be pulled for them
all through the dry season.

Varieties of the Cabbage. — Of the many varieties of cab-
bage only a few are largely grown in California.

Early Jersey Wakefield is the earliest cabbage and is
widely popular. It makes up in earliness for any lack in
size. Heads pyramidal in shape having a blunted or
rounded peak.

Early Spring : this is the local name of a variety grown
by market gardeners around San Francisco instead of Early
Jersey Wakefield, as it makes a little larger head which is
flat.

Early Winningstadt : follows Jersey Wakefield in ma-
turity; upright, pointed shape; short, thick leaf; head
compact, firm, and heavy. Very popular in southern Cali-
fornia for Eastern shipment heading uniformly in the hot-
test weather.

All-Head Early : the earliest of the large, flat varieties
and the largest, uniform growth and good for a long
season.

Mammoth Drumhead : head thick and broad, quite flat
on top ; a standard late variety reaching the largest size.

228 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Flat Dutch : very widely grown as a late cabbage ; head
large, round, and solid, flat on top ; very sure header and
good keeper.

Holland or Danish Ball-Head : very late, not large but
very firm and round head, stands in the field a long time ;
popular for Eastern shipment and for winter keeping.

Surehead : large, round, flattened heads of good texture ;
good for shipping; a long keeper, good for a standard
crop.

THE SAVOY CABBAGE.

The distinguished characteristic of the Savoy varieties
is their crimped leaves. They are held to be somewhat
milder in flavor than the common cabbage. Their culture
is precisely the same as of the common cabbage. They are
very little grown in California, but are desirable in giving
variety to the home garden supply. The Drumhead Savoy
is a good variety.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS.

Brussels sprouts require considerably longer to reach
maturity than the cabbage, as the little rosettes have to
develop at the bases of the leaves after the latter are
grown. The sprouts appear first at the lower part of the
stem and appear later above, thus giving many cuttings
from the same stems. The crown of leaves at the top
should not be removed until the stem has done its work.
In California the sprouts are taken from the stems in the
places where they grow, as our winter does not require
taking up the plants and storing them under protection
for the winter "sprouting. " This, of course, is a great ad-
vantage.

The plants are quite hardy, and in most parts of Cali-
fornia bring their crop in the winter from plants set out
in succession during the previous spring and summer.
They do best in the cool, summer climate of the coast.
Wherever grown they must have abundant moisture all
summer. The culture is the same as for cabbage, except

CAULIFLOWER IN CALIFORNIA. 229

as to their longer season of growth, which has been noted.
The "Improved Half Dwarf" is the variety mostly grown.

CAULIFLOWER.

The cauliflower is one of the grandest vegetables in Cali-
fornia. It attains large size and superb quality, but it is
not universally grown, as is the cabbage, because it is
rather more tender and exacting and more rebellious under
neglect or deprivation. While it is perfectly simple and
easy for a person with any joy and zeal in gardening to
grow a grand cauliflower, the lack of these qualities will
yield distressing failures. He may busy himself with a fair
sort of cabbages, but his cauliflowers will point with gaunt
fingers at him instead of nestling down in tight masses of
snowy curds, as if to shame him for his ill-treatment of
them. For this reason cabbages are seen everywhere and
cauliflowers seldom, except in the market gardens or in
the fields where grown for distant shipment, which is about
half as large of cauliflowers as of cabbages.

The growth of the cauliflower is in the main the same
as the cabbage, except that a little higher heat and greater
protection are needed for the young plants and a little
more diligent cultivation and faithful attention to mosture
supply for the later growth. The writer's observation is
that most cases of failure with cauliflower are attributable
to delay in starting the plants and planting out too late,
and to insufficient or intermitten moisture supply. Sum-
mer heading of cauliflower is difficult unless the plants are
started in the seed beds in the winter and planted out
early in the spring — for a. spring start from the seed is
apt to amount to little. Winter heading is surer if the
plants are in the seed beds by June and in the ground,
properly irrigated and worked, in August. Besides the
error of starting at wrong times many plantings go wrong
toward the end of their course, through lack of work and
water on the home stretch. In the milder regions it is
possible to start so early that less attention, perhaps, has
to be given to -watering, but where the local climate re-

230 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

quires spring planting the reason for failure is generally
to be seen in the hard, dry ground on which the plants
strive in vain to answer the grower 's expectations.

Soil. — Like the cabbage, the cauliflower likes good, rich
soil and plenty of water; coarse, long manure answers the
purpose of a fertilizer very well if the soil is heavy; if
applied on the surface, either on light or heavy soil, it
keeps the ground loose and the water soaks through, and
thus the soil is always moist.

Situation. — The cauliflower is less hardy than the cab-
bage, and where there is a choice of situations in the gar-
den, it should be given, for winter growing, the one which
is warmer and more protected. It also resents heat which
a cabbage will endure, and for summer growing will be
benefited by partial shade.

Growing Plants. — There is a wide difference in practice
in different regions. On irrigated ground in the foothills
seed is sown in the open ground in June or July, by making
the soil as fine as possible ; sow the seeds and cover with
a slight coat of well-rotted manure ; keep well wet down.
This prevents drying out and hardening of the ground and
the plants come along finely. Similar practice is followed
in regions of little frost in other parts of the State at dif-
ferent times from July to September, for winter cutting.
As Eastern shipments of cauliflower continue from De-
cember through the winter, early growth of plants is
necessary, and the fall weather is so warm that the seed-
bed only needs a little sunshading and ample moisture.

In colder parts of the. State, as for example in small val-
leys liable to sharp frosts, some seasons favor fall-grown
plants, others do not, and though it is always advisable
to have them for small plantings by those who delight in
taking the chances on early things, January or February
planting in a hot-bed for spring and summer growth must
be the main practice. Hot-bed plants should be grown at
rather a low temperature and transplanted to a cold-frame
or other place under some cover to harden before plant-
ing out. Young plants must not be so wet as to "damp

GARDEN GROWNTH OF CAULIFLOWER. 231

off," and they should not be huddled together as closely
as cabbages may be.

After-treatment. — Field growth of cauliflower is like
that of cabbage, though for winter growth one must be
sure of a little milder exposure. Planting out during the
winter must be done with due regard to the fact that the
cauliflower is a more tender plant, and extra care must be
had to plant when the soil is in proper condition of warmth
and moisture. Fall planting requires due moisture and the
assurance of it to push the plant along rapidly.

Garden Practice. — Amateurs who have become discour-
aged over growing cauliflower are advised to try the
method of Mr. Ira W. Adams, of Potter valley, being sure
they are 'faithful in all points before they conclude that
this vegetable must be bought, not grown. Mr. Adams'
experience was in a small valley where frosts are rather
sharp and where fall planting is seldom satisfactory.

About the middle of February throw into a snug heap
a lot of fresh horse manure mixed with short straw and
leaves. After standing a few days to heat, throw it over
and let it remain a day or two ; then make it into a com-
pact heap (on the south side of the barn), some three or
four feet in depth and about twice the surface required
for the seed bed. Tread it dow well. On this, place three
or four inches of good soil made light and rich with fine,
well-rotted manure ; some leaf mold, sand, and a very little
ashes is a very valuable addition. Do not sift the dirt nor
have it too fine. This seed bed must be protected from
frost and cold rain, as well as cold days and nights, by a
cover of glass or muslin ; muslin answers every purpose,
is cheaper, easier handled, and does not draw the plants
up weak and spindling, as glass often does.

From time to time, if the weather continues cold, throw
around the seed bed fresh horse manure sometimes to the
depth of four feet or more, leaving only the front side ex-
posed to the sun. The heat generated and escaping from
this manure serves to keep the temperature around the bed
several degrees higher than it would have otherwise been.

232 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

When the plants are two or three inches high, transplant
to another rich bed without any bottom heat, set the
plants three inches apart and keep covered as little as
possible in order to harden them. Be sure to keep both
seed beds always well moistened (not wet), with luke-
warm water. A little weak manure water occasionally is
very beneficial.

When the plants are six or seven inches high, transplant
to open ground, on a cloudy day if possible, or just at
night, giving each plant a cup of water. The ground
should be prepared in the best possible manner and made
very rich with manure thoroughly decomposed. Horse,
cow, hog, and chicken manure mixed is good as any. Put
the plants three feet (or nearly so) apart, to give plenty
of room for cultivation, which should be done once a week
at least, twice is better, and hoe them often — the more the
better, especially early in the morning when the ground
is wet with dew. Cauliflower must never stop growing or
the ground get dry; they must have an abundance of
moisture. Run the water down the rows every night if
the weather is pretty hot; however, cauliflower succeeds
best if fully matured before hot weather sets in, which
generally comes early in June.

When they commence to head, gather the leaves to-
gether and tie loosely over the heads; this greatly facili-
tates blanching, and protects them from getting brown
and bitter from the effects of the hot sun. They should be
examined often, and cut while the head is close and com-
pact, as, after the head opens, it separates into branches,
gets coarse, tough, fibrous, strong flavored, and conse-
quently almost if not wholly worthless.

A cauliflower would be an ungrateful thing if it did not
grow with Mr. Adams' treatment. But it will grow and
grow immensely. Fortunately, it is not necessary in all
places to do quite so much work, or field growth for ex-
port would languish. If the reader will discern the con-
ditions which Mr. Adams secures he will be profited, for
they underlie the success of the plant in all situations.

VARIETIES OF CAULIFLOWER. 233

Inter-Culture with Cauliflower. — Either with cabbage or
cauliflower some inter-cropping could be done in the irri-
gated garden if the fullest use of the space must be made.
In early spring planting, lettuce plants grown in a seed
bed can be set between cauliflowers at the same time of
setting out the plants. As soon as the lettuce is ready
to cut, plant some variety of early beans close to the let-
tuce, and by the time the lettuce is cut the beans are up ;
and by this time the cauliflower is ready to cut. Pull the
stumps as the cauliflower is cut and this gives the ground
to the coming crop of beans. Thus three crops can be
raised on the same ground the same season. This crop-
ping can only be done on a summer crop of cauliflower.
For winter cauliflower, set Hanson's lettuce between each
plant, and in this way have early lettuce when lettuce is
scarce. Other combinations and successions will readily
suggest themselves.

Varieties of Cauliflower. — Several varieties are popular
in this State :

Early Snowball : early and a sure header ; large, white,
and fine ; robust, counted the best all-round early variety.

California Wonder: this variety originated with C. C.
Morse & Co., of San Francisco ; it comes into market soon
after the Early Snowball, producing much larger heads,
and of the finest quality. It has been extensively grown
for the Eastern market.

California Pearl of Aggeler & Musser Seed Co. of Los
Angeles: held to be specially suited to semi-tropical cli-
mates and for shipment because of full leaf cover of head.

Germain's Dry Weather of Germain Seed & Plant Co.
of Los Angeles, enduring heat and drouth better than
other varieties: heads large as Snowball and almost as
early ; held to be specially suited to arid regions.

California Mammoth : of local origin, exceedingly large ;
commended for local use only.

Extra Early Paris: head medium size; compact, stem
short ; a hardy kind and rather easy to grow.

234 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Extra Early Erfurt : very early, small leaves ; solid, fine
quality.

Autumn Giant : late ; large, white, firm and solid ; keeps
condition well.

Large Algiers : fine for a late variety ; especially popular
in southern California.

Lenormand's Short Stemmed: large, fine and compact;
stocky growth; heads late and protects itself well with
foliage.

Nonpareil or Half-Early Paris : a mid-season variety of
good standing.

BROCCOLI.

This is another variety of the same botanical species as
the cauliflower. It is hardier and of slower growth, but is
smaller in the head than cauliflower and counted less de-
sirable otherwise. It is grown to a very slight extent, and
cuts very little figure in California. It is grown in the
same ways as the cauliflower but it takes longer to reach
maturity. People who fail with cauliflower might make
a trial of its poor relation which is less exacting. Two va-
rieties are commonly grown, the white and the purple.

Mr. Albert F. Etter of Briceland, Humboldt county,
exalts broccoli as not only equal to cauliflower, but better
adapted to conditions in many places in California. It is
slower in heading, but some early varieties of broccoli
come in near to the late cauliflowers. Broccoli should not
be sown too early nor should it be forced along until the
moist air of autumn comes with the rains. Then it will
advance splendidly, and good full heads can be had from
Christmas until February. A temperature as low as 17°
will not hurt them much, and not at all if the leaves are
tied up over the developing head. Broccoli will make a
good fall and winter growth on land which is rather poor,
if a moderate amount of manure is spread around the
plants at the beginning of the rainy season.

BORECOLE OR KALE.
This term covers the non-heading cabbages, with a won-

KALES AND COLLARDS. 235

derful variety of form and foliage, and a record divided
between use and ornament. There is a host of varieties,
some of which are grown for the tender shoots : others for
the foliage. The edible sorts are very little grown in
California: those used for garnishment are frequently
seen. The two varieties most known are the Tall Green
Curled or Scotch and the Dwarf Curled or German Greens.
The plants are very hardy and are winter-grown.

TALL GROWING COLLARDS.

The Jersey Kale or Tree Cabbage is quite widely dis-
tributed and has won high favor as food for cows and
poultry. It is perennial in the coast regions of the central
and southern parts of the State, and endures defoliating
very well. It is less thrifty in the interior heat and
drought.

The Oregon Kale is an old European collard, sometimes
called Thousand Headed Cabbage. It belongs to the same
class as Jersey Kale, but has thinner stems and is, there-
fore, more easily handled with mowing or corn-cutting
machinery. It was introduced in the Willamette Valley,
Oregon, more than a third of a century ago, but only re-
cently has its value been recognized as a winter feed for
stock and largely grown. It endures local freezing and is
hauled from the fields as needed for feeding. The plants
are grown in field drills and transplanted in May to the
land to be covered with it, the plants being set in every
third furrow as the field is plowed and covered in with
the next furrow, the ground being afterwards rolled to
compact the dirt around the roots. Planting with a ma-
chine on land previously plowed and harrowed is also
practiced. Kale may also be grown in the way already
described for field growth of cabbage except that the
plants should be given rather more room. In California
the plant is likely to be of value for stock feeding by fall
planting and winter growth as well as by summer growth
to stand for winter use as in Oregon. In fact, winter
growth for summer feeding may also be practicable in

236 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

California, especially near the coast. As with other mem-
bers of the cabbage family, dairy cows should be fed kale
just after milking to avoid risk of tainting the milk.

CHAPTER XVII.
THE CARROT, PARSNIP AND SALSIFY.

Carrot. — Daucus carota.

French, carotte ; German, mohre, gelbriibe ; Dutch, wor-
tel; Italian, carota; Spanish, zanahoria; Portuguese,
cenoura.

Parsnip. — Pastinaca saliva.

French, panais; German, pastinake; Dutch, pastinaak;
Danish, pastinak; Italian, pastinaca; Spanish, chirivia;
Portuguese, pastinaga.

Salsify. — Tragopogong porrifolius.

French, salsifis; German, haferworzel; Flemish, haver-
wortel; Danish, havrerod; Italian, barba di becco; Span-
ish, salsifi bianco ; Portuguese, cercifi.

The carrot is a very popular root in California, and is
grown in all parts of the State, both for the table and for
stock feeding. It is perfectly hardy in all temperatures
which come to California valleys and foothills. It is
patient during drought and proceeds quickly with its
growth with renewed moisture, which is a very valuable
characteristic in growing the carrot for stock feeding, but
table carrots should not be subjected to this ordeal, but
should be pushed with adequate moisture quickly from
the seed to size to secure the desired tenderness and mild
flavor. To attain the coveted weight for stock feeding,
however, it is quite an advantage to have the rain beyond
the dry season, as well as before it, because early sowing
in cold, wet ground does not suit the plant and late sow-
ing does not give the plant time enough except on irri-
gated land, to do its best in size before the dry season
checks its growth. By proper practice, then, it is pos-
sible to produce great crops of carrots in the drier parts
of the State, as well as in the moister lands and regions.

238 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Soil and Tillage. — The requirements of the carrot so
closely resemble that of the beet that the reader is re-
ferred to the suggestions for culture already given for the
beet. The carrot has the same liking for a light, warm
soil, and the same reasons exist for a deep and thorough
preparation of the soil ; for, though the carrot, if the seed
is sown after the chill and surplus water have gone out of
a heavy soil, will do very well if well cultivated, it pro-
duces the largest and most shapely roots when it can
deeply penetrate and easily displace the soil in its ex-
pansion. Carrot ground should, then, receive early work-
ing to receive the rains, and be plowed again and well
loosened up and fined before the seed is sown.

Sowing Carrot Seed. — It is very necessary that the soil
should be in good condition. Sowing in the fall on irri-
gated ground is practicable, and so is sowing immediately
after the early fall rains have moistened the 'soil suffici-
ently to prevent drying out, but if the place is quite frosty
and the soil apt to be water-soaked, later planting is bet-
ter. For this reason, as already stated, some prefer to
bridge the dry season, sowing in March or even in April,
so that the young plant may have the best conditions at
the start. As it gets age it becomes hardier and can be
taken from the ground in good condition and maximum
size all during the following winter. Late sowing is also
advocated because of the opportunity to kill weeds by
plowing in the winter growth before seeding. This prac-
tice is generally approved in the coast regions of the
northern part of the State. On the other hand, in south-
ern Califoria, and in most parts of the San Joaquin and
Sacramento valleys, on the lighter soils especially, a start
from the seed in December or January, when weather and
soil favor it, gives the plant a chance to root weir before
the dry season and then it is in much better condition to
stand heat and drought than if younger. Both practices
are rational and each is adapted to its own set of condi-
tions.

Carrot seed must be fresh. It is small, rather difficult

GROWING CARROTS. 239

to handle evenly, and requires a shallow covering of earth.
It is more difficult to get a good stand of carrots than of
beets, but care will insure it with good seed. Distribution
is facilitated by mixing the seed thoroughly with a cer-
tain amount of moist sand, and if the mixture is kept warm
and moist the seed may be allowed to sprout slightly be-
fore sowing, but not too far. The seed must be placed in
moist ground, and half an inch is covering enough except
in light soils likely to dry down. The seed should be
pressed down well or the soil firmly about it, and then
lightly covered and the covering pressed slightly.

Cultivation. — Carrots in field culture are usually grown
in rows two to three feet apart according to the notion of
the growrer. Thinning in the row is seldom done though
the advantage of it would be shown in better roots just as
with beets. Growers shrink, however, from the expense
and prefer to trust to frequent cultivation between the
rows.

Ridge Culture of Carrots. — Where it is desired to get
an early start in a locality with a heavy rainfall the ridge
system gives good results. Choose rich soil, plow after
the first rain, and then in January or February when the
ground gets warm (according to the season and locality)
cross-plow and harrow until the ground is thoroughly
pulverized. Then ridge some two or three and a half feet
apart, rake off the combs of the furrows, making them
level on top and free from lumps. Put in the seed by hand
or with a seed drill covering lightly, cultivate and thin
out for cow-feed during the summer and the crop will be
of good uniform size for horse-feed during the following
winter and spring. Though this practice is still followed
by some it has been widely superseded in field work by
later sowing and flat culture. For an early start in the
farm garden it has, however, some advantages.

Harvesting. — This is done by pulling, after loosening
with the plow. The time, as already stated, is usually dur-
ing the winter, but feeding often commences in the fall
and continues for several months — just as with mangels.

240 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Field Varieties. — Several large, yellow and white va-
rieties are used for stock purposes. The richer color and
more convenient size of the yellow varieties, like the Long
Orange, hold them in favor as a marketable stock carrot,
but the large size and greater crop of the Large White
Belgian makes it a favorite where the crop is to be fed
at home. This variety is grown in all California dairy
regions. It sometimes reaches a weight of 16 pounds or
more and a yield of over 40 tons to the acre on rich, deep
land, though half these figures would better suit average
conditions. Half-long Giant White has the advantage of
bulk without great depth.

Garden Carrots. — As already stated garden carrots
should be grown quickly with acceptable heat and mois-
ture. Simple forcing conditions, like a bed of five or six
inches of good loam over a foot or more of tamped man-
ure and a slight protective covering will give very sweet
and tender roots to the short varieties in our coldest
weather. But so much can be done with the ridge system
or with raised beds described in a previous chapter and
with other simple modifications of open air conditions that
very little forcing is done.

Country gardeners, as a rule, do not know much about
the best table carrots. They supply their tables and their
stock too often from the same sowing when much sweeter
and tenderer roots should be grown in the garden by small
sowings of the improved table varieties. Those which are
most grown in California are the following:

Early French forcing carrot: very early, small, globu-
lar form, and fine flavor.

Ox-heart or Guerande : very short, almost cup-shaped,
very rapid grower, early and excellent. Considerably im-
proved recently by selection.

Half Long Danvers : a popular market variety, strong
grower and succeeding on a wide range of soils ; rich color
and good flavor.

Improved Long Orange : smoother and more uniform
than the old sort; also better flavor and color.

THE PARSNIP. 241

Chantenay: short and sturdy, bright orange-scarlet,
early.

Improved Short White: best of the whites, short and
cylindrical.

Red St. Valery : one of the best of the medium long va-
rieties.

Early Scarlet or Short Horn : largely grown and of
good quality.

Champion Scarlet Horn: an English variety, rather
large but rich in flavor and tender throughout, deep red
color, commended for quality.

THE PARSNIP.

Parsnips are not largely grown in California. Two con-
siderations may be involved in an explanation of this fact :
one is that our winter supply of fresher vegetables re-
lieves us from dependence upon root-boiling, which is the
staple resource of so many dwellers in cold climates ; an-
other is, that the parsnip, if sown early, is not always con-
tent to remain dormant and crisp for months as it does
beneath the snow. It quickly responds to our winter
warmth and moisture and starts second growth, which
renders the root woody and flavorless. It is quite possible
for parsnip lovers in warm, moist regions to overcome this
by mid-summer sowing or it can be prevented in other
places by digging the roots and storing them in boxes or
barrels of sand in a dry, cool place, and it really should be
urged that this be done more widely, because those who
are not fitted by location or inclination to start fall growth
of vegetables for winter eating, should have a good sup-
ply of parsnips, which are, to most tastes, delicious. It is
not to be expected in this climate that the parsnip will be
called upon to render the important service that it does
in the East whenever the snow uncovers the ground in
the winter or spring, because at that very time we have
abundance of fresh vegetables hardy in our climate.

Soil and Culture. — The excellence of the parsnip is
vested in a well-developed root, and to secure this, rich,

242 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

deep, and permeable soil and adequate moisture are re-
quired. Deep cultivation and manuring will secure these
qualities even in rather a heavy soil, but the use of ma-
nure the previous year for another crop to be followed by
parsnips is the proper course, for roots on freshly man-
ured land are apt to be misshapen. Parsnip seed is light
and should receive a shallow covering but it is necessary
that it should be well firmed in moist soil ta secure ger-
mination. As soon as the plants are two or three inches
high the rows should be cle aned of weeds, the plants
spaced, and frequent use of the cultivator begun, to con-
tinue all summer. The suggestions made for the prepara-
tion of soil and cultivation of the beet and the carrot have
direct application to the growth of the parsnip, and the
reader is referred to them. In garden culture good roots
can be grown in rows about 15 inches apart, and the plants
thinned to half that distance in the rows to leave room for
development.

In the rainy parts of the State it is customary to sow
parsnips as soon as the ground is in good condition in
February, as the plant is quite hardy. From this date on-
ward the seed can be successfully sown as long as the soil
has moisture enough, and in moist interior lands seed can
be sown in July, or even later, and the plants will make a
good fall growth and be ready for winter use from the
ground, as late sowing in a warm region with moisture
assured, carries the plant along without danger of a check
and a second growth.

Varieties.— Varieties of parsnips which prevail in this
State are as follows :

Hollow Crown or Student : long, large, smooth roots in
deep soils ; tender, sweet, and fine flavored when well
grown. This is the chiefly grown variety.

Improved Guernsey : half -long, shorter and thicker than
the foregoing.

Devonshire : another short variety popular with market
gardeners in southern California.

SALSIFY. 243

Round or Turnip Rooted: better suited for shallow
soils, owing to shape ; develops faster than the long type.

SALSIFY OR VEGETABLE OYSTER.

This delicious root stands subject to the same conditions
which have limited the growth of parsnips in this State,
but its popularity has increased greatly during the last
few years. The requirements of the plant in soil, culture,
and season correspond very closely to the parsnip. The
seed is a little more difficult to start, and pretty generous
seeding in soil sure to retain fair moisture, and a slightly
deeper covering than with parsnip seed are desirable.
Thinning is essential but the root is slimmer and does not
require so much room. One variety comprises the chief
local interest, the Mammoth Sandwich Island. It is large
and otherwise better than the older kinds although the
Long White is still grown.

CHAPTER XVIII.
CELERY.

Celery. — Apium graveolens.

French, celeri; German, sellerie; Danish, seller!; Italian,
sedano apio ; Spanish, apio.

Celeriac. — Idem.

French, celeri-rave; German, knoll-sellerie ; Dutch,
knoll-selderij ; Danish, knold-selleri ; Italian, sedano-rapa ;
Spanish, apio-nabo.

California celery taken from the field during the winter
months and delivered in the Eastern markets by frost-
proof cars has, during the last few years, made decided
progress in competition with the Eastern product taken
from frost-proof storage in pits, or specially-constructed
celery houses. On certain well-suited soils in regions sub-
ject to coast influences, and, therefore, with moderated
summer temperature, the celery plant makes a grand sum-
mer growth, with or without irrigation, according to the
natural moisture of the soil, and encounters no fall or
winter temperature which injures it in the open field. In
fact, in these special localities and soils, which will be de-
scribed presently, the plant finds naturally provided those
conditions for splendid development which, in less favored
regions, can only be secured by considerable artifice and
investment. For these reasons commercial celery grow-
ing for distant markets is a rapidly advancing industry,
and has given great value to lands suited to its uses. It
is estimated that not less than 6000 acres have been plant-
ed in a single year in Orange county, and that the aver-
age value of the product on board cars at the nearest sta-
tion is from $250 to $400 per acre, according to price and
product — except, of course, when disease causes losses as
will be mentioned later. There is also a considerable pro-

LOCATIONS FOR CELERY. 245

duct for shipment grown on moist lowlands near Stock-
ton and Sacramento, and large plantings have been made
in some years, near Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo
county.

In many parts of the State, especially on low, moist
lands which are frequently of saline character, wild celery
grows thriftily, and its growth has served as an incentive
to commercial planting. This wild celery is, however, not
a native plant. It is merely the garden celery which has
escaped from cultivation and the escape must have been
at an early date, for the occurrence was noted by botanists
at least 40 years ago. It is now widely distributed.

Locations for Celery. — Celery thrives best in an equable,
cool temperature, but it accepts conditions in the "cool-
night" region of the interior valley. It does not well en-
dure high heat ; it is hardy against California valley frosts,
and it demands adequate moisture. It may, therefore, be
successfully grown in the fall and winter in regions where
summer heat is too high for it and in the equable coast
climate it can be enjoyed all the year, providing ample
soil moisture can be assured. Commercially, it is summer
grown for winter shipment because it is then best re-
ceived in the Eastern markets.

Soils. — Aside from abundant moisture the chief require-
ment of the plant is large amounts of decomposed vege-
table matter in the soil. This is provided in ordinary
garden soils by the free use of well-rotted manure, mixing
it thoroughly with the soil by deep digging in or trench-
ing, and for home supplies this should be undertaken, but
those who can, may avail themselves of the conclusions of
a grower at Castroville, near the coast in Monterey county,
who, after trying for a number of years, almost in vain,
to raise good celery on an ordinary dry garden soil, finally
borrowed the use of a little patch of reclaimed swamp
land — deep, black muck, well drained but moist — and
grew on it very fine celery with but little labor. In un-
dertaking production on a commercial scale this advan-
tage of specially suited soil is imperative. An instance of

246 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

such soil-fitness is found in the peat lands where celery
growing has reached the importance above noted. The
soil consists very largely of decomposed vegetable matter
and becoming on cultivation, fine and homogeneous. It is
different from the partially-decomposed and coarse ma-
terial of the tule swamps. It occurs in deposits of vary-
ing thickness and sandwiched with layers of sediment or
clay, the peat layers being, however, connected through
the dense layers by openings through which the water
rises in springs and sub-irrigates the surface layer. This
surface is sometimes treacherous. Much of it will only
support horses when shod with plank and some can not
be traversed with animals and is worked by drawing tools
back and forth with cables from firm headlands on each
side. Still it is so productive of celery that even such
bottomless land has been rented as high as $20 per acre
per year.

The improvement of peat lands for celery has involved
problems of reclamation. First open ditches were resorted
to, but as the area of celery culture extended, under-drain-
age by tiles was undertaken. By this system the water
is absolutely under the control of the growers. When the
drains are opened the lands drain until the water is three
or four feet below the surface. When drains are closed
the water soon rises to the surface, giving a most effective
mode of irrigation for which water is pumped into the
tile ditches from shallow wells.

Although these peat lands are very rich at the begin-
ning, they soon invite fertilization. A special fertilizer
for celery on peat soils is suggested as follows : nitrogen,
2% ; potash, 10% ; available phosphoric acid, 5%. About
a ton of this mixture can be used to the acre.

Garden Culture. — Celery plants are grown in a seed-
bed for transplanting to permanent place. The seed is
very small and very slow of germination, and success de-
pends upon maintaining even moisture at the surface. For
starting plants in winter a hot-bed may be used, but high
heat is neither necessary nor desirable. A cold frame

A CALIFORNIA CELERY FIELD.

247

with cloth cover would be better. But it is quite feasible
in coast valley situations to grow the plants in the open
air early enough in the spring to get the crop for the table
from November onward. Simple and correct suggestions

for garden culture are given by Mr. S. J. Murdock, of Or-
ange county, as follows :

It requires from three to four months from time of sow-
the seed till the plants are large enough to plant out. The

248 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

warmer the weather the quicker the plants will grow, and
the warmer and drier the atmosphere is, the more water
the seed-bed will need. Select rich, friable soil and sow
the seed evenly and only moderately thick. Cover the seed
but lightly, as they are very small, and firm the soil well.
Keep the soil or bed moist, not soaking wet, but never
dry, and have patience as they are slow to germinate.
Keep free from weeds and thin if too thick ; one plant to
the square inch is about right. When the plants get about
three inches high, clip the tops off, not too close, but
about half way, and continue to keep the bed moist, and
when about four inches high clip again, and they will be
ready to plant.

In about a week or ten days lift the plants with a shovel
or garden trowel so as not to disturb the fine roots more
than is necessary. Trim the main or taproot to two or
three inches and keep the roots moist until planted. Se-
lect a good, rich plat where water is handy, as the ground
should be as moist as possible to work, and draw shallow
furrows, say about four inches below the level, and put
the plants six inches apart in the row. I would prefer a
single row of sufficient length to two or more shorter ones.

Take a hard-wood peg, about one and a quarter inches
in diameter and six inches long ; sharpen one end to make
the holes for the plants. Put the roots straight, and be
sure and firm the soil well around each plant.

Stir the ground around the plants and keep the soil
away instead of up to them till the plants get 12 or 14 in-
ches high, then work the soil to the plants (but only when
they are dry) , and keep the roots moist. If in the interior
valleys, it is better to blanch it with boards than by bank-
ing with earth. Blanch by setting 12-in. boards on edge
on each side of the row and secure them with stakes stuck
in the ground and tied at the top, or some dirt thrown
against the bottom of the boards and the tops held to-
gether with notched strips. It requires from two to three
weeks to blanch the White Plume and longer for the green
sorts. One set of boards will blanch two or three lengths,

FIELD CULTURE FOR CELERY. 249

as they can be moved along the row as the celery is used.
Never bank or board it when wet, and be sure to have both
bank and boards close enough at the top so that the leaves
will shed the rain to the outside.

Bleaching may be done in garden culture by the use of
drain tiles or by wrapping the plants in pieces of sack-
ing, or by boards on each side of the row of plants. Any
arrangement which excludes light and water from the
stems will accomplish the desired results.

Celery and Potatoes. — Sometimes an alternation of po-
tato and celery rows is favored. The potatoes are planted
in the winter months and they shade the young celery
plants when they are first planted, and when the celery
rows are split the operation banks the potatoes. This is
for moist land where banking of potatoes is desirable.

FIELD CULTURE.

Field culture of celery on the very friable peat lands
of Orange county has developed appliances and processes
which are very effective and satisfactory, and cheapen
production to an extent not attainable except on very
friable soils. Still the practices inculcate the ends to be
attained in all cases, though the means may differ. Mr. S.
J. Murdock has given a very explicit description of the
methods he has found most satisfactory in his experience,
from which the following is largely compiled.

The Seed-bed. — A seed-bed which is naturally moist or
which can be sub-irrigated is preferable, although the
raised bed with irrigation by seepage, or other arrange-
ment for maintaining moisture may be used. The soil
must be light and free from baking. The seed-bed should
be plowed by the middle of December and left rough for
the action of frosts and rain, and about two weeks before
sowing, harrow down and thoroughly hand rake. Let it
lie till seed-time, which is from March to June, as to sea-
son or as early or late planting is desired. The early-sown
seed requires longer time to make plants large enough for
planting, but if planted moderately thick and well cared

250 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

for, makes strong, sturdy plants. At planting rake the
surface thoroughly again with a sharp, close-toothed rake
and either drill or sow seed broadcast. The drill is pre-
ferable but if broadcast lightly rake the seed in and either
roll or firm the soil thoroughly, as there is much seed lost
by neglecting this part. The seed-beds are generally made
from four to six feet wide, leaving room between each
bed to weed and clip them, which constitutes the after
care except to keep them moist. Keep as free from weeds
as possible, and when the plants get about three inches
high, clip the tops about half way down, and when they
get three or four inches high, if not ready to plant, clip
again, as the keeping of tops back makes the roots strong.

Planting in the Field. — The land should be thoroughly
cleaned of trash and given early and thorough prepara-
tion as will be described in the chapter on corn. In
Orange county planting in the early part of June brings
the crop for Thanksgiving and in July for the holidays
and later in the winter. Laying off for planting is done
by taking off all but the three inside discs of a disc har-
row, attaching a shovel plow in the middle and close be-
hind the harrow, and following this with a 5 or 6-foot
roller with a raised belt around the center, which runs in
the plow furrow and forms a compact trench about 6
inches deep. Four feet is the usual distance between the
trenches, and the plants are set 6 inches apart in the bot-
tom of the trench.

A full crew of planters is ten men ; one to lay out the
furrows, one spacer or marker, who has an implement
which makes from four to twelve holes at a time, depend-
ing on size of tool used. There are also four planters and
four plant pullers. It is the duty of the first man to draw
the furrows as straight and as near equi-distant as possi-
ble, give general supervision of the planting and see that
the pullers use judgment in preparing the plants. Unless
the plants have been recently clipped in the bed, both tops
and roots need clipping when pulled, so as to leave the
main or taproot about two and one-half or three inches

HARVESTING CELERY.

251

long, and the tops clipped of the surplus leaves. They
are usually put in large-sized milk pans, the roots kept
wet and delivered to the planters in the pans. The spacer

makes the holes for the plants just ahead of the planter.
Both the furrows and holes for plants should be freshly
made so as to have no dry dirt to hinder the planters, who

252 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

should be careful and painstaking, as the plants need to
be put in the proper depth, the roots straight and the
soil well firmed around each plant and no unfilled space
beneath the plant to dry out. A crew should plant from
an acre to an acre and a half per day, according to the
condition of the land and the proper oversight of the
force. This mode of planting leaves the plants from four
to six inches below the general level. There are about
20,000 plants to the acre, of which perhaps one-tenth do
not reach maturity even under favorable conditions.

Crowding. — The next operation is called crowding,
which is done by a tool made as follows : Take a common
iron or steel cultivator, take the standards and shovels
off, then take two pieces of steel one-fourth of an inch
thick, six inches wide and four feet long. Sharpen one
edge of each piece and bolt to the outside frames of the
cultivator so that the tops of the steel bars are about even
with the top of the frame and on top of the rear half of
each, add eight or ten inches of heavy sheet iron. The
Front of these blades should be from five to six inches
apart and the rear about 30 inches. In a week or ten days
after planting, hitch two steady horses to this tool and
crowd the dirt away from each side of the rows. This
kills the new weeds just starting and covers up all in the
middle of the rows and leaves a ridge of loose soil. Fol-
low this by going over each row and filling in all the
missing plants with strong, vigorous ones and uncover any
plants covered by clods or loose dirt; then take a light,
narrow hoe and draw between each plant. When plants
get larger, work the soil back to them to prevent spread-
ing. Keep well tilled, and soil moist by irrigation if
necessary. ,

Bleaching. — There is some bleaching with boards set on
edge on each side of the rows secured by stakes made of
lath, stuck in the ground and tied together at the top, but
it is done mostly by banking the light, loose peat soil up
to the plants. This is done by a machine made the re-
verse of the crowded described for first use, and much

MARKETING CELERY. 253

larger and heavier. It is used with wide end forward,
which draws and crowds the earth up to the plants. From
16 to 20 days will generally bleach the variety grown, the
White Plume, which is grown almost exclusively, not that
it is the best, but trade demands it and it is the easiest to
raise, as it requires less labor and is more easily bleached
than other sorts.

Harvesting. — The harvesting is done with a U-shaped
cutter attached to a suitable frame, drawn on each side
and under the rows of banked celery, cutting off the roots
and raising them in the loose soil. This is followed by
the trimmers, who lift the plants, trim off the outer stalk
and square the roots. It is now ready to tie in bunches
or crate.

Marketing. — Celery is shipped in crates, 22x24 in. base,
which holds six to eight dozen of celery, according to size.
An average crate will weigh about 145 pounds, and 160
crates make an average carload. Some eastern dealers
prefer the celery shipped in bulk or on decks built in the
car. This is a much cheaper way to ship, and is claimed
by some to be just as safe. In shipping in this way, three
decks are built in the car, and the celery is tied in bunches
of one dozen each and stood upright with roots resting on
the decks. By this method three or four hundred dozen
more celery can be packed in a car. Celery is shipped to
all the principal cities of the United States and Canada,
and carries successfully. The marketing of the crop is
largely done by associations of growers.

Celery Blight. — Occasionally atmospheric conditions fa-
vor the growth of a leaf fungus known as celery blight,
and great losses have resulted in some years. Recent ex-
perience shows that the blight is subject to control by
spraying the plants with the Bordeaux mixture as soon
as signs of the incroachment of the disease appear, or
when weather conditions indicate the danger to be immi-
nent. Special publications on this subject can be had
from the University Experiment Station at Berkeley.

Varieties. — As already stated, the White Plume is the

254 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

chief variety grown for shipment, and enterprising sales-
men have secured improved sub-varieties by selection.
Self-blanching is grown, and it is highly esteemed by
local gardeners. It will be well for home growers to try
also some of the higher quality varieties offered by the
seedsmen when they are ready to take particular pains
to grow them well.

CELERAIC.

The turnip-rooted celery is very desirable for cooking
and salad purposes. It is grown in nearly the same way
as ordinary celery, except that it is allowed to make free
top growth without blanching, as the root is the edible
part.

CHAPTER XIX.
CHICORY.

Large Rooted Chicory. — Cichorium Intylus.

French, chicoree sauvage; German, cichorie; Danish,
sichorie; Italian, cicoria; Spanish, achicoria; Portuguese,
chicoria.

The Endive. — Chicoria endivia.

French, chicoree endive; German, endivien; Dutch, an-
dijvie ; Danish, endivien ; Italian, indivia ; Spanish, en-
divia.

The chicory plant cuts a very small figure at present in
the general gardening of Californians. The use of the
blanched leaves, forced in the dark from mature roots
bedded in sand, is confined to a few foreigners who know
the larbe-de-capucin of the French or the witloof of the
Germans. It is a delicious vegetable, either raw, boiled,
or as a salad. Nor are the leaves in their natural state
much used here for salad. Both of these uses of the plant
should be more widely known in California, for the culti-
vated growth of the roots in this State is very fine, and
for running wild, as an escape from flower garden culture,
it might be denounced as a vile weed were not its large
blue flowers so beautiful upon the yellow of our dry sum-
mer fields and roadsides.

Viewing the plant as, yielding a root rather than a foli-
age crop, it is of much importance in this State. The root,
sliced, dried, roasted and coarsely ground, is the "chic-
ory" of commerce — the adulterant of coffee which nearly
every one denounces in theory and enjoys in practice ; for
the occurrence of absolutely pure coffee is so restricted
that it often, at first, offends the palate of the unaccustom-

256 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

ed drinker. California chicory growers have for years
contested the American markets with German chicory,
and a very capacious factory has been in operation near
Stockton for the last 35 years, and formerly there was
another near Sacramento. The vicissitudes of tariff legis-
lation during this period have made the business uncer-
tain, sometimes very profitable, sometimes not, according
as the German product entered free or paid duty. If the
tariff would maintain a favorable attitude, California
could furnish cheap coffee for the whole country and beet-
sugar for its sweetening besides. During the last few
years, however, the business has been reduced in Califor-
nia by the overflow of the lands used but may be expected
to reassert itself. For the home-grower of coffee counter-
feits, the chicory plant offers a better material than the
"coffee bean" and other substitutes which are offered.
The growth of the plant and its preparation for the break-
fast table are quite simple.

Chicory grows to perfection on light sedimentary soils
which afford the root opportunity for expansion, and re-
tain moisture enough for its thrift during the long, dry
summer. The plant is hardy and the seed is usually sown
in February. The preparation of the soil, sowing, thin-
ning, weeding and cultivation, are identical with the same
operations for the sugar beet already described. The ex-
pense with chicory is, at present at least, considerably
greater than with the beet, because the moist land which
is used gives more persistent weed growth and occasions
an amount of hard work which is appalling to an observer.
The crop partly compensates for this outlay, because the
value per ton is twice as great as the sugar beet, and the
crop is not enough less in weight tp equalize things. The
average crop on Roberts island, near Stockton, in favor-
able years is about ten tons to the acre, though some years
the average will go to 12 and the best crops to 15 tons per
acre. The factory price for the fresh root has usually been
$10 per ton. The cost of growing, including rent, ranges
from $50 to $80 per acre. The soil^on Roberts island is a

THE ENDIVE. 257

mixture of sediment and peat — deep, rich, light and moist ;
most admirably adapted to the root.

Harvesting and Curing. — From seed sown in February,
harvesting continues from the middle of August to the
middle of October. Early gathering is necessary, as sun-
dried chicory is better than that cured by artificial heat.
When ready for gathering a plow is run along each side
of the plants with subsoil cutter and lifter attached, which
loosens the roots so that they can be easily lifted from the
soil by the hand clean and ready for the cutting machine.
This operation is like the gathering of sugar beets, and
the topping or removal of the leaves is the same.

When they reach the factory the roots are placed in the
machine, which cuts them into cubic blocks three-fourths
of an inch in size. The drying platform comes in use next,
and when the chicory has been dried as far as sun power
will dry it, it is placed in the roasters, each holding two
barrels, where it is roasted as coffee is before being ground.
From the roasters it goes to the mill, where it is ground
put in barrels, and thus becomes the chicory of commerce.

The preparation of chicory for home use is a very simple
operation and can be done with ordinary kitchen appli-
ances.

The variety grown is the " large-rooted Magdeburg,"
with leaves entire and upright.

THE ENDIVE.

Though botanically a chicory, the endive in its uses is
closely allied with lettuce and is chiefly useful during the
frosty period of the year, for then its flavor is likely to
be better than that of lettuce, because it is able to grow
more rapidly with low temperatures. As, however, there
is so much of California which does favor rapid winter
growth of lettuce the endive is correspondingly restricted.
Still in localities with heavy rainfall and long stretches of
chilly winter weather, the endive will give good supplies
of salad material and should be better known. It is also
valuable as a boiled vegetable possessing a distinctive

258 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

flavor which is generally acceptable and used in this lat-
ter form it is quite a valuable addition to such plants as
Swiss Chard and Spinach.

As a salad plant the value of endive depends largely
upon its being properly grown and thoroughly well
blanched. Blanching induces delicacy and tenderness of
eating and can probably be best effected by bunching up
the leaves and tying with string or raffia, or by spreading
hay or straw thickly over the plants. Some care must be
given to the proper blanching of the plants, for unless this
is successfully accomplished endive is not likely to be
appreciated.

The plant is easy of culture, the methods being essenti-
ally those described for lettuce, but chiefly sown in sum-
mer and early fall for use in the rainy season. The follow-
ing varieties most largely used in California :

Green curled: very curly, midrib whitish, leaves finely
divided.

White curled: yellowish green, very curly and attrac-
tive looking.

Escarole or Batavian: leaves wider and thicker, dull
green, a good variety for boiling.

Staghorn : strong-growing, leaves curly but less finely
divided and thicker, also good for cooking.

CHAPTER XX.
CORN.

Sweet Corn. — Zea mays.

French, mais sucre; German, mais; Dutch, Turksche
tarwe; Italian, grano turco; Spanish, maiz; Portuguese,
milho.

California cannot claim to be a large producer of corn,
though it does grow large corn and has a long green corn
season. Of the summer grains corn is produced in least
amount, because the others can make winter growth and
corn cannot, and they mature at about the time when corn
can be safely planted. They pass the dry season in the
sack while corn has to endure it in the field and does not
take kindly to it. Dry heat puts it in distress which irri-
gation does not wholly relieve. In the place of corn on the
interior plains improved varieties of sorghum are now
largely grown both for the grain and the forage.

But while this is true there are regions in which mag-
nificent corn is grown. These are usually moist lowlands
from the valleys north of the bay of San Francisco south-
ward to San Diego; near enough to the coast to catch
something of atmospheric humidity from the ocean, and
still with summer heat enough to suit this warmth-loving
plant. There are also great corn lands in the river bot-
toms of the interior valley, where the drought is less than
on the plains, and in the low moist lands of the foot-hill
and mountain valleys as well. In all these places and
where similar conditions are produced by irrigation, corn
reaches great dimensions.

Of course, corn as a vegetable is somewhat different
from corn as a grain. So also is corn as a green forage
plant. For "roasting ears" and for green forage, ripen-

260 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

ing conditions are not essential, and for these purposes the
plant can be carried nearer to the coast than for a grain
crop, and in the warmer regions it can be planted late for
a longer succession than for grain if moisture enough is
provided. It is not uncommon, therefore, in the interior
to have good roasting ears at Thanksgiving or even in De-
cember at elevations or in other places where early frosts
are seldom known. Thus corn as a vegetable in California
is a greater affair than corn as a grain. It would have
even a greater value as a garden plant were it not for the
ravages of the ear-worm, which so far defies insecticides
and which takes its full share of the crop at the times
when its appetite is good. It is usually the early corn
which suffers most from this pest.

Soil. — The requirements of Indian corn are so widely
known that it will hardly be necessary to enter minutely
into them. The soil should be preferably a rich, sandy
loam, sufficiently retentive of moisture and yet easy to
keep in fine tilth. Satisfactory results can, however, be
secured on quite a variety of soils if warmth and moisture
can be assured. In the heavier soils there is much advant-
age in plowing under the disintegrated roots of previous
growths of weeds or crop-plants and the best corn often
comes here as elsewhere on newly-broken land.

Preparation for Corn. — As the corn plants resent drouth
so strenuously it is very important that preparation of
the land should include efforts for thorough moistening
of the land by rainfall or irrigation, followed by surface
treatment to prevent evaporation. All that has been
urged in these directions in the chapter on cultivation has
especial pertinence in preparation for the corn crop. It
is vain to expect to succeed by shallow cultivation except
where the land is natirually sub-irrigated, and even on
such land there must be deep working enough to place the
seed below the dry surface layer. Slack preparation on
lands which naturally dry out in the summer assures
failure and disappointment.

Planting. — Corn is a very tender plant and must be

METHODS OF GROWING CORN.

261

planted not only after frosts are over, but after the soil has
become well warmed and warmth may be expected to con-
tinue. The date of planting must be determined by the

local attainment of these conditions. From this time on-
ward through the summer, planting may be done if
moisture enough can be retained in the soil. For this

262 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

reason, on moist or irrigated land, corn is planted after
winter-growing crops are cleared away, and large yields
are secured. Near the coast where the corn plant is con-
stantly refreshed by ocean moisture in the air, it will
make good green growth with what remains from winter
rainfall on land from which a crop of beets or carrots,
sown the previous season, has been cleared away. In such
rotation the land should be plowed as early as possible
after the roots have been taken off, to keep down the
growth of grass and weeds and retain moisture till the
proper time for planting corn, which will depend a good
deal on the wetness or dryness of the season. The earli-
ness of the first planting will depend mainly on the fitness
of the land and the situation, but for early use, some early
variety of sweet corn should be planted as soon as circum-
stances are favorable for doing so, to be followed by sev-
eral successive planting, say, through May and June, and
even into July.

Growers differ as to the advantages of growing in hills
or in rows. Hills give opportunity to cultivate in two
directions with the horse. Rows have a tendency to check
the draft of dry winds when the rows run at right angles
to their anticipated direction. The general course of dry,
hot summer winds is from north to south (except where
given a different trend by local topography), consequently
east and west rows oppose them ancl in some measure
shade the soil and the plant better from sun heat. But
when prevailing practice shows that the ground in the row
usually goes untouched by tools and consequently becomes
hard and dry, it is quite a question whether the separa-
tion of the plants into hills for free cultivation both ways
is not on the whole much the better method. But choice
may be governed by local conditions.

Distance in corn planting depends upon the habit of
growth of the variety. Small early kinds may be planted
in hills three feet apart each way or in rows three feet
apart, but larger kinds may need wider spacing, even up
to five feet. Seed should always be planted in excess;

GARDEN CORN. 263

five or six kernels in the hill, to be thinned to the three
or four strongest plants, four inches apart in the row, to
be thinned to eight or ten inches, according to size and
variety.

For laying off hills in straight lines after plowing and
harrowing, a marker should be used both ways and the
corn planted at the intersections of the lines either with
the hoe or the hand corn planter. For planting in rows
the drill attachment or hand dropping in the furrow is
used, followed by the harrow.

Depth of planting depends upon the soil and the situa-
tion for the reasons given in the chapter on propagation.
On very light soils in a dry region very deep covering is
admissible because the few inches at the surface count for
nothing, but on heavier soils in good moisture, and espe-
cially early in the season, shallow covering is preferable.

For succession there should be planting done in the
garden every two weeks during the local season.

Cultivation. — If deep working of the soil is the founda-
tion of a corn crop, as stated, frequent summer cultivation
is the building itself. If the ground is well laid off, the
cultivator can be used to advantage even before the corn
shows up to destroy weeds and loosen the surface. After-
ward the cultivator should be run at very short intervals,
for the hot dry season is always right at the heels of the
corn planter and should never be allowed to catch up
with it. Some of the finest corn we ever saw was grown
in Orange county in this way : The land was plowed four
times, irrigated twice, hoed twice, and cultivated and
worked in a most thorough manner. In the whole process
of raising the corn the grower went over the land no less
than sixteen times. It is hardly to be expected that such
diligence will be general* but it has to be recognized as
the price of the best results.

Garden Corn. — Every one wants early corn, and the
early varieties are about the only kinds that can be grown
on some uplands without irrigation. They are small in
growth, rapid in ear and best wherever the season is

264 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

shortened either by lack of moisture or heat. Some later
varieties are sweeter, however, and larger in the ear, and
should be grown wherever possible.

Adam's Early: hardy and very early, but not a "sweet
corn."

Early Cory: very early, good-sized ear, small cob well
filled.

Crosby's Early Sugar: very early, short ear, sweet and
productive.

Early Minnesota: very early, good ear, white cob, ex-
cellent quality.

Early Mammoth: medium early, largest ears of the
early verieties, cob white, large and well filled, productive
and of good flavor. The kind chiefly grown in California.

Perry's Hybrid: another early variety, ears large and
full, grain white, cob red, plant rather tall.

Black Mexican: ears rather short, cook white, very
sweet, ripe kernel black.

Country Gentleman: large ears, very sweet, tall, very
productive.

Stowell's Evergreen: a standard late variety, com-
mended by all, large ears, deep grain, tender and sweet, a
strong grower and productive.

Sweet corn is constantly increasing in popularity over
common field corn both for green and cured forage for
cows. Late Mammonth and Stowell's Every green are
largely used for this purpose. In farm garden practice
more attention should usually be paid to the forage value
of the stalk. If cut and cured as each stalk is robbed of
its ears, it is more nutritious than if allowed to bleach i?
the sun until the whole field is cleaned up.

Field and Ensilage Corn. — During the last decade siloef
have multiplied in various parts of the State and a much
greater acreage of field corn has been grown than for-
merly. It is chiefly grown in rows and somewhat less
carefully than corn for grain, because the plant is not re-
quired to meet the strenuous requirements of grain ripen-
ing. Still the better the growing the better the crop. A

FIELD AND ENSILAGE CORN. 265

hardy, vigorous, tall growth is important for silo filling.
Varieties chiefly grown are the Learning, which well meets
these points and is the most popular of the yellow varie-
ties in California, and Sanford White Flint, which holds
about the same place among white sorts. The Red Cob
Ensilage is a strong growing, short jointed and leafy
variety especially selected for silo purposes.

CHAPTER XXI
THE CUCUMBER.

Cucumber. — Cucumis sativus.

French, concombre ; German, gurke ; Dutch, komkom-
mer; Danish, agurken; Italian, cetriolo; Spanish, cohom-
bro ; Portuguese, pepino.

The cucumber is rather an exacting plant and seldom
yields anything but disappointment to the grower who
does not give it the most watchful care and generous sup-
plies of food and drink. It is very sensitive to frosts, nor
does it thrive in low temperatures even if free from frost.
It rejoices in heat, but it abhors drouth. It is not con-
tent, like some members of its botanical family, to thrive
in dry heat if it can find moisture below; the heat re-
flected from a dry surface and interior sunshine beaming
through dry air brings distress to its foliage. For these
reasons it usually resents location on interior plains un-
less it can have abundant moisture and some protection
from heat — such at least as locally may come from modi-
fying the air immediately around it, by evaporation from
water standing near. Modified interior conditions such as
are found on river-side land or moist lowlands often yield
fine growth and productiveness, but even there it is often
necessary to keep the moisture close to the plant by irri-
gation. In coast valleys where heat and moisture are well
balanced and on soil rich and moist by cultivation the
plant may be productive enough without irrigation,
but as a rule even in parts of coast valleys where the heat
runs high, as ocean influences are reduced, not only is
occasional irrigation needed but constant supplies are the
price of thrift in the plant. For these reasons the placing
of cucumbers along the main ditches where water fre-

CUCUMBER CONDITIONS. 267

quently or always flows, or the use of a raised bed with
water flowing on the ridge, is the surest way to make the
plants satisfactory and prolific where the heat runs high.
And 3^et, as stated, there are considerable areas in differ-
ent parts of the State where conditions are so favorable
that field growth of cucumbers for the market and for
the pickle factories, is feasible without irrigation. There
are moist lowlands, rich and warm, where the foliage does
not show burnt edges and where the free growth of vine
is marvelous to one who has tried to push the plant in
places too trying for it. It is also possible in frostless
regions where heat comes early in the spring, to find con-
ditions for an early crop which is disposed of before try-
ing summer conditions come on. Early spring conditions
in California are widely favorable to the plant did not
the frost factor intrude. Autumn growing is also practi-
cable where moisture is adequate, for then heat and
drouth are modified. Cucumbers from the open ground at
Thanksgiving or later are common in some regions.

Soil. — Cucumbers require a rich soil, and it must be re-
tentive of moisture, for the reasons stated, unless water
is to be constantly supplied. A rather light soil which
warms up early is preferable, but heavy soil can be
readily adapted to cucumbers on a small scale by free use
of well-rotted manure thoroughly mixed. A free loam,
not disposed to bake, is the best soil.

Preparation of Soil. — Land from which a well cultivated
root crop has been removed for winter use can be easily
put into condition for cucumbers by good deep spring
plowing and harrowing, to retain moisture. New land
should receive such fall and winter treatment as has been
prescribed for bean planting, so as to secure in spring as
good tilth and moisture retention as possible.

Planting and Cultivation. — Cucumbers are usually
grown in hills, from four to six feet apart each way.
Planting should not be done until the soil becomes warm
and frost injury is over ; then planting five or six seeds in
a hill, covering as lightly as can be trusted to retain

268 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

moisture until the plants take hold. As soon as the plants
appear, cultivation must begin, using the horse between
the rows and the hoe around the plants. The surface
must be kept mellow and free from weeds. If the plants
all grow, select the best two or three and pull out the
others. Continue cultivation as long as it is possible to
stir the soil without injuring the vines.

Gathering. — Frequent gathering of the cucumbers as
they reach satisfactory size is essential to the long bear-
ing of the vines. None should be allowed to ripen except
on vines planted for that purpose, and all imperfect speci-
mens should be taken off as soon as seen.

Cucumbers Under Cover. — Very little is done in Cali-
fornia in house-growing of cucumbers, although this in-
terest is increasing. A little forcing is done by market
gardeners, but the business is risky because of the slight
demand and the fact that open-air cucumbers from early
regions come so soon after the late crop from frostless
places is disposed of. It is quite common to start plants
under cover, and plant out early even at risk of replant-
ing. Growers usually keep a stock of plants ready for this
purpose.

Garden Culture of Cucumbers. — In the garden very
elaborate arrangements may be made to secure early
cucumbers. Growing the plants on inverted sod and
planting out as a whole hill, as described in the chapter
on propagation, is satisfactory. Planting on the sides of
ditches has already been mentioned. Growing hills or
single plants in tin cans or other receptacles and pro-
tecting them until safe to plant out is also an easy way to
get an earlier crop than otherwise. Some use is made
of deep holes partly filled with tramped horse manure
and then with earth, and growing plants on top of the hill
thus formed, protected with glass or cloth. With such
arrangements double care must be had to supply enough
water. The south side of a fence or building is a good
place for fast spring growth. In short, moderate heat,
copious watering and rich soil are the secrets of good

VARIETIES OP CUCUMBERS. 269

cucumbers, and there is much chance for ingenuity in
securing these conditions.

For Pickling. — Cucumbers for pickling are largely
grown in the early autumn for midsummer planting. As
stated before, where irrigation can be had, autumn tem-
peratures are often very favorable for the plant.

Varieties. — Although our fairs and local produce ex-
hibits may be counted upon to bring to view almost every
shape and length of cucumber which amateurs delight in,
very few kinds constitute the crop grown for use and sale.

Arlington White Spine : good size, straight and sym-
metrical, holds green color well, very productive and
early ; used both for market and pickling.

Long White Spine : a standard mid-season variety, large,
dark green, tender, white crisp flesh.

Klondike: similar to Long White Spine, specially fa-
vored by southern California market growers.

Long Green : an old standard late variety ; dark green ;
firm and crisp ; good form ; a favorite for pickling.

Green Prolific or Boston Pickling : early and productive ;
small size ; crisp and tender ; popular for pickling.

Pera: long, smooth skin, good green color, and flesh
white and crisp ; flavor excellent ; seed cavity small ; rather
late.

Cumberland: hardy, vigorous and prolific; very de-
sirable for pickling because very good in all sizes.

Chicago Pickling: medium long, dark green, rounded
ends ; a popular pickling variety.

Cool and Crisp ; especially favored as a garden variety ;
green but ripening white.

CHAPTER XXII.
EGG PLANT. %

Egg Plant. — Solanum melongena.

French, aubergine ; German, eierpflanze ; Flemish, eier-
plant; Italian, petonciano; Spanish, berengena; Portu-
guese, bringela.

Egg plant is one of the great vegetables in California ;
it is great in the size and quality, which are easily at-
tained, and great in its popularity. It is doubtful whether
any part of the world makes such free use of the plant,
and enjoys it through so long a season. Although the
plant is properly classed as tender, and is somewhat ex-
acting in the starting of the seed and in transplanting, it
grows riotously when well established in a favorable loca-
tion and soil, fruits freely and continuously, and it is not
unusual to find at California fairs specimens of six pounds
weight, while fruit of two and three pounds constitute
common stock with the vegetable peddlers.

Location and Soil. — Egg plant can be successfully grown
almost everywhere in California, but there will naturally
be much variation in its season, according to the local
occurrence of the frost-free period. In the frostless belts,
described in previous chapters, it is feasible to start the
plants in the autumn and secure a very early crop; in
most places, however, the plants can best be grown with
bottom heat in the winter, and fruiting secured all
through the summer and fall, if the nights are rather
warm and the heat not too fitful.

As the plant will endure very high heat if well supplied
with moisture, and as it resists drought, when well estab-
lished, it is well adapted to interior conditions. It suc-
ceeds admirably in the interior bottom lands if water is

GROWING EGG PLANTS. 271

not excessive, and is perfectly at home as well in the coast
regions, both valley and uplands, if adequately watered.
It is not very exacting in soil character, and can be safely
undertaken on any good garden land if well cultivated
and manured, for the plant is a strong feeder and should
grow fast and regularly.

Growing the Plants. — Egg plants can be easily grown
from seed by the use of seed boxes, with bottom heat or
in an ordinary hot-bed, all of which are described in the
chapter on propagation. The seed should be covered
about half an inch. Extra regard must be had for main-
taining a uniform and rather high temperature for the
starting and early growth of the seedlings, as the seed
germinates slowly and needs encouraging conditions.
Transplanting the seedlings twice before planting out
renders them more stocky. Planting out should only be
done when the soil is warm and in good condition, for it is
necessary that the seedlings should quickly take hold and
proceed vigorously afterwards. Plants may be grown
from two and a half to three feet apart each way.

After Treatment. — The best of cultivation must be given
to prevent any check or setback in the growth of the
plants. Irrigation must be used as necessary to advance
this result. It is desirable that the plant should be pre-
vented from setting too many fruits and pinching off the
terminals to prevent too great running out is often ad-
visable.

Varieties. — The New York Improved Purple is the fa-
vorite variety and is chiefly grown. Black Beauty, a deep
purple, a little earlier but usually not quite so large is also
popular. Other sorts, though much less popular, are the
Early Long Purple and the Black Pekin. The White Pearl
is the best of the whites which are, however, in less de-
mand. The Tree Egg Plant is hardy, upright and escapes
some ills of lower growing varieties in bad weather.

CHAPTER XXIII.
LETTUCE.

Cabbage Lettuce. — Lactuca capitata.

French, laitues pommees; German, kopfsalat; Dutch,
kropsalad; Italian, lattuga a cappucio; Spanish, lechuga
acogollada ; Portuguese, alface repolhada.

Cos Lettuce. — Idem.

French, laitues romaines; German, bind-salat; Dutch,
roomsche latouw; Italian, lattuga romana; Spanish, lech-
uga romana; Portuguese, alface romana.

Lettuce is emphatically a satisfactory garden plant in
California. It is unaffected by the ordinary winter tem-
peratures of our valleys and foothills, and it endures the
heat, if moisture is adequate, with only slight protection
from the burning sun. It withers and dies or it becomes
tough and worthless, in the face of drought, it is true, but
any gardener who does not arrange better for its growth
does not deserve to enjoy its refreshing crispness. Who-
ever will provide the simplest arrangement to relieve its
roots from cold, standing water in winter, or who will keep
its roots moist and afford slight shade for its tender leaves
from the interior heat in summer, need never miss a day
of lettuce-gathering. And even these slight aids from the
grower are not needed everywhere. In regions naturally
moderate, both in moisture and heat, and with a few weeks
of watering in midsummer, succession of lettuce is un-
broken throughout the year on any good garden soil which
is well cultivated. There is little lettuce forcing in Cali-
fornia, and, of course, with such natural conditions, there
is small need of any, and yet during recent years, owing
to the constant demand for lettuce all the year, because of
the increased importance of salads in the menu, there has

LETTUCE ALL THE YEAR. 273

arisen new opportunity for forcing and shipment of let-
tuce considerable distances by rail has advanced notably
during the last decade. In central California cities dur-
ing the season of heaviest rains it is hard to get bright,
clean lettuces from local market gardens and much is
brought from the Los Angeles district where there is less
rain and more winter sunshine. It is to be expected that
as population increases there will be a better opportunity
for local forcing enterprises which can be conducted with
slight structures and a minimum of artificial heat.

Culture. — Lettuce can be sown on moist ground the year
round. It is exceedingly rapid in development, and can be
grown as a catch crop among slower growing vegetables
at all times of the year. It starts readily from the seed,
and the most common practice is to sow a thin drill of it
here or there, as interspace is to be for a short time un-
occupied, thinning the plants at the first weeding and al-
lowing them to head in the thinned row. This is the
simplest practice, and will be most generally followed in
the farm garden. And yet it is so easy to imitate the mar-
ket gardeners and put in transplanted lettuces here and
there, wherever an unoccupied corner appears, that this
practice must be urged even for the simplest gardening —
provided that the plants are not tucked in in such a way
that hand-work is required where the horse should do it.

Wherever a winter or early spring vegetable is cleared
away a due share of lettuce should go in. Wherever a
summer vegetable yields the ground, the soil should be
well soaked and cultivated and the lettuce should not be
overlooked. As soon as the fall rains sufficiently wet the
ground, lettuce should be among the first sowings. And
before the winter comes on, with its heavy rains, a warm
ridge or raised bed should have its lettuce covering under-
way so that midwinter shall not lack its supply of salad.
And in February, as the ground is again suited for flat
culture, new sowings of lettuce should be among the first
things done. Thus it is seen that lettuce is to be sown all
the year and plucked all the year in California.

274 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

It is not necessary, perhaps, to sow lettuce so often if
seed beds are prepared so that they will readily drain,
away winter water and have slight protection from cold
winds in the winter and burning sun in summer. From
these beds plants can be taken at different times as land
is available for planting out, just as cabbages are trans-
planted, and even though the plants have attained con-
siderable size in the seed-bed, the long roots can be shork
ened a little and they can still be transplanted to good
moist soil, and will go on with the heading all the better
for the freer space. It may be quicker to get lettuce with
the loose-leaved plants, but the heads are more delicious,
and all should learn to keep the plants in good thrift un-
til they become full and solid with their crisp and delici-
ous contents. Seed-beds should not have much heating
material in this climate. It is better for the plants to grow
slowly at first, and after the rains a raised bed with enough
fibrous material and well-spent manure will furnish a long
succession for transplanting. But whether the ordinary
grower will undertake this work or not, let him have let-
tuce anyway — even if he will only scatter seed at frequent
intervals on moist ground and then give the plants good
hoeing. To get crisp, tender lettuce the plants must be
pushed along with rich soil and good cultivation whatever
method of growing is pursued.

In -the hot parts of the State, where the summer tries
the plants, lettuce should be planted on the shady side of
tall growing vegetables, and then, with moisture enough,
they will do well. Lath screens or other devices are, of
course, serviceable if one prefers them. But do not be
content with a little lettuce in the spring and go without
the rest of the year. It only requires a little ingenuity
and energy and water to have crisp, cooling salad all sum-
mer, when it is most delicious and wholesome.

Varieties. — There is almost illimitable variety in lettuce,
and inextricable confusion in the nomenclature resulting
from re-naming by seedsmen and others. As with other
plants, however, a few varieties constitute the bulk of the

UNIVERSITY

OF

VARIETIES OP LETTUCE. 275

California lettuce product. It is customary to arrange
lettuce varieties in two groups; one has roundish heads
and includes the "cabbage" varieties; the other has tall,
elongated heads and includes the "cos" varieties. There
is, of course, much difference in the density of the heads,
and some are quite loose and open, properly called "bunch-
ing," but the close-heading varieties are better and the
more suitable for market handling. In California the cab-
bage varieties vary largely preponderate over the cos
varieties, and the non-heading "or "cutting lettuces," or
curled varieties, are not widely grown, though they may
be found useful in getting the quickest foliage from the
seed sowing. It should be noted that compared with the
cabbage type, the cos lettuce is hardier and less suscep-
tible to frost; it also shows more ability to withstand
drought and is also less liable to sunburn, the last two
features making it better adapted to hot and dry locali-
ties, while the first is one which especially recommends its
use as a late kind.

Large Passion: medium sized, round head, fine, large,
solid, and white, crisp, tender, and of fine flavor; not as
fine in appearance as some others, but it stands handling
better, and is very good for shipping.

Royal Summer : known in the East as California Cream
butter, large, solid, round heads, light green outside,
creamy yellow within; stands heat well, particularly
popular for autumn and winter use.

Maximum or Immensity : very much larger than the fore-
going which it resembles ; good for fall and winter growth
and a heavy, durable shipping variety.

Big Boston: a light green cabbage variety with light
brown tinge to the leaves ; largely grown in the south for
northern shipments; forms a fine head, endures tempera-
ture changes well.

May King : a very early, quick heading variety, colored
like Big Boston ; good for spring and summer use.

White Paris Cos : upright grower, with long head ; needs

276 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

tying up for blanching; tender and crisp, a favorite with
foreign residents.

Improved Hanson: heads round, very solid and large,
green outside and white within; flavor fine; stands heat
well ; very popular for house gardens.

Prize Head : an early variety with large, loose bunch, re-
mains tender and crisp through long season; flavor ex-
cellent; very easily grown.

Denver Market: early, tight, conical head; light green,
leaves curled and crimped; crisp and tender; very slow
to go to seed.

New York Head: immense round head; outer leaves
dark ; head white, crisp, and good flavor ; popular in south-
ern California.

Black-seeded Simpson : a non-heading variety, leaves al-
most white and very large ; stands heat well.

Of these varieties the first two named have been the
main dependence of San Francisco market gardeners for
years. The Hanson and Prize Head are more used by
home gardeners. New York Head has become widely
popular as "Los Angeles Lettuce," and is a favorite in
the trade.

CHAPTER XXIV.
MELONS,

The Cantaloup or Muskmelon. — Cucumis melo,

French, melon ; German, melone ; Dutch, meloeri ; Italian,
popone; Spanish, melon; Portuguese, melao.

The Watermelon. — Citrullus vulgaris.

French, melon d'eau; German, wasser-melone ; Italian,
cocomero ; Spanish, sandia ; Portuguese, melamia.

From the manner in which they are eaten melons should
be classed with fruits ; from the manner in which they are
grown they are more closely related to vegetables. Their
nearest botanical relatives, also, are of the vegetable class.
They evidently cannot be excluded from this work be-
cause of their aspiration to rank with the fruits.

California is characteristically great for melons; not
only for their great size and excellence, but for the long
season during which they are available for table use.
Their delight in interior heat, their tolerance of drought,
their immense size, when both heat and moisture combine
for their advancement, constitute exceptional adaptations
for semi-tropical climates, in which they have been famous
from the earliest times. California answers their needs to
the fullest degree, and they have naturally attained great
local esteem and popularity. Recently the California can-
taloup has figured largely in the overland trade.

THE MUSKMELON.

In the United States the terms "muskmelon" and "can-
taloup" are interchangeable, and in California cantaloup
is given the preference. Of the many types of cantaloups
which have been defined by students of melon classifica-
tion a single one, known as the Rocky Ford, from the
place of its large commercial development in Colorado,

278 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

dominates all others, commanding nearly all the acreage
and constituting almost exclusively the commercial pro-
duction except that which is especially grown for local
markets.

The muskmelon has a very wide range in California. It
has greater taste for dry heat than its relative, the cucum-
ber, but in this respect it is no rival of the watermelon, for
it will perish utterly under drought which the watermelon
will survive. Where the muskmelon has both heat and
moisture, it grown riotously, for a weight of 72 pounds
has been reported from Fresno. But the muskmelon will
not brook frost, nor will it thrive with low temperatures
even if they are considerably above freezing. California
has, however, such a long frost-free period and as degrees
of favoring heat arrive in different months in different
parts of the State, there is wide divergence in dates of
planting and of ripening of the crop. The earliest canta-
loup district is the Coachella and Imperial valleys in the
extreme southeast corner of the State. Planting is done
in February and the crop shipment begins in May and
reaches the Eastern markets in advance of the product of
Colorado and other interior States. In the San Joaquin
valley planting may be in April and the product follows
the Rocky Ford shipments for the later summer trade of
the Atlantic cities. Just what can be profitably done at
different dates in the East is not fully determined, but the
advantage of the very early cantaloup from California
seems unquestioned. It is clear, however, that by choos-
ing different parts of the State and different varieties of
cantaloups, including the "winter melon" class, Cali-
fornia can furnish the fruit from May to December in any
quantities the available prices make profitable.

Garden Culture. — The soil requirements of the musk-
melon are quite like those already described for the cu-
cumber. Most of the commercial crop is produced on
deep, rich, warm loams, but heavier soils with good cul-
ture may be used. Some varieties seem to enjoy a heavy
soil better than others. Preparation of the soil is the same

280 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

as for cucumbers, and the same methods for starting
plants for planting out as well as for furnishing warmth
and richness in the hill may be used in garden practice. In
the interior, on the naturally rich loams, not only is the
culture devoid of all forcing devices, but on moist river
bank or bottom soils the early crop is sometimes grown
without irrigation. For summer planting and the con-
tinuation of the muskmelon supply late in the fall, ample
moisture is necessary, and a modification of interior heat
by intrusion of coast breezes is desirable. The late sum-
mer product is most easily grown in the coast valleys,
somewhat protected from ocean winds.

Field Culture. — There are so many ways of handling the
soil to secure fine tillage and aeration and adequate mois-
ture without the evil of surface flooding that it can be
hardly claimed that any one routine is best. As involv-
ing tillage, irrigation by percolation and fertilization,
which the plant enjoys under proper conditions, the fol-
lowing outline, condensed from the writings of Dr. R. H.
Forbes, of the Arizona Station, is very suggestive for Cali-
fornia interior valley conditions. The writer has made
some additions from his own observations: Cantaloups
are grown to excellent advantage on light warm loams
properly fertilized by the addition of the organic matter
and nitrogen in which our desert soils are usually defici-
ent. Heavy soils may also be used for cantaloup culture,
but are less easily prepared and tilled during the progress
of the crop. Old alfalfa ground is most excellent for can-
taloup culture, and well rotted barnyard manure is effec-
tive. Bermuda sod plowed up and exposed to the sun
without irrigation the preceding summer makes excellent
cantaloup ground, the intensive cultivation necessary serv-
ing both to benefit the crop and to restrain this formidable
weed. Trash from sod-turning can be reduced by the use
of a disk.

Alkaline lands should be avoided, since soluble salts in
excess, even though insufficient to kill the plants, are com-

IRRIGATING CANTALOUPS. 281

monly believed to be detrimental to the quality of the
melons.

The land should be so laid out that the rows may be irri-
gated without submerging the vines and the fruit. One
good way to accomplish this, and also to fertilize the soil,
is as follows : The field is first irrigated, plowed and har-
rowed to a condition of fine tilth. With a 12-inch plow, at
intervals of six feet, double furrows are then broken out,
going and returning along the same lines. In the deep,
wide furrows thus formed well rotted barnyard manure is
distributed to a depth of three or four inches, then plowed
in and the field again harrowed level. By then plowing
toward the middle of the spaces between the fertilized
furrows, the soil is finally left in oval ridges separated by
back furrows for irrigation. The rough furrows and
ridges are then finished with a harrow and the newly pre-
pared ground irrigated to establish the water line for
guidance in planting.

Seed should be most carefully selected with reference to
flavor and appearance of the fruit ; to good shipping char-
acters, including small cavities and heavy netting ; and to
a tendency to produce melons of standard size. About
one pound of seed is required for an acre. Cantaloup seed
improves to some extent with time, and is stated by ex-
perienced growers to give more satisfaction at two years
of age than at one.

With irrigating furrows six feet apart, rows may be
planted one on each side of each furrow. The hills should
be ten feet apart in the rows, " breaking spaces" between
rows. On this plan the ground will be quite uniformly
occupied, with a distance of about six feet between ad-
jacent hills. Where winds are strong and prevalently in
one direction it is sometimes desirable to lay off the lands
at right angles to the course of the wind and plant all the
hills on the windward side of each strip so that the vines
are trained by the wind away from the ditch and not half
of them blown into it.

With a hoe each hill is planted by making a small fur-

282

CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

row a foot long just above the water line, made by the pre-
ceding irrigation which places the hill where it will not
be flooded by later irrigation. About ten seeds are dropped

in this furrow, covered an inch deep, and the soil pressed
down lightly with the blade of the hoe. After early plant-
ings, when frosts are feared, a second set of hills may be
planted alongside the first, ten days or two weeks later.

VARIETIES OF CANTALOUPS. 283

When danger from frost is past, while the plants are still
small they are thinned to one or two of the strongest to
each hill. Care must be taken not to overcrowd the ground
with vines, as a high percentage of small melons will fol-
low. Under Arizona conditions the six-foot spacing of
hills recommended above, with not more than two plants
in the hill, gives best results.

A dependable supply of irrigating water is essential to
successful cantaloup culture in regions of little rain. Early
in the season when the plants are small and the irrigating
supply is cold, water should be applied sparingly. But be-
tween the setting of the crop and the ripening of the first
fruits, when both vines and melons are developing rapidly
and when the weather is usually hot and dry, frequent
and copious irrigation is necessary, for if water is stinted
at this time a large percentage of small or pony melons is
likely to follow. During the picking season water should
again be sparingly applied — just enough to prevent the
vines from wilting. This also gives quality and solidity to
the melons.

As long as the vines will permit, the middles should
be kept free of weeds by means of a one-horse cultivator,
and the furrows run through with a small plow after each
irrigation. The^oung plants should also be hoed by hand
two or three times. When the ground is once well covered
with vines weeds will make but little headway, even Ber-
muda grass being effectually checked by the dense cover.

Varieties. — The wonderful advancement of the canta-
loup as a commercial product during the last decade has
quickened effort for new varieties and given new incen-
tive to sharp selection to secure characters likely to facili-
tate long shipment or to increase the demand. Relatively
small size, symmetrical form, thickness of flesh and reduc-
tion of the seed-cavity, durability, flavor and color of
flesh are among the improvements which have been dili-
gently sought. Each year brings forward something new
and worthy of trial to determine local behavior and suit-
ability. Obviously a book which aims to be useful for a

284 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

number of years after its publication cannot satisfactorily
serve as a guide to choice of varieties which are constantly
changing. Annual catalogues of California seedsmen
should be carefully consulted and every grower should
try all promising novelties on a small scale.

Rocky Ford : The variety upon which the Colorado can-
taloup industry is established and it sustains the same re-
lation to the commercial product of California ; developed
by selection from the old "Netted Gem"; slightly oval,
finely netted, average weight 1% pounds; flesh green,
thick and very sweet. Continued selection is being prac-
ticed upon this variety and "Netted Bock" has been fa-
vored in this State on the claim of heavy bearing and
greater average production of standard melons.

Burrell's Gem: Larger than Rocky Ford; flesh reddish
and of different flavor ; an improved Paul Rose, which it
has largely displaced.

Hoodoo : slightly flatter than Rocky Ford but otherwise
similar; flesh reddish.

Large Yellow: an old variety, large oblong, slightly
ribbed and coarsely netted; flesh light, yellowish green;
quality excellent ; still popular though very different from
modern commercial types.

California Large Nutmeg: an old variety still popular
in local markets and good for shipping ; large, rough, net-
ted skin ; flesh thick, solid, dark green ; flavor delicate.

Montreal Improved Green Nutmeg : large, slightly flat-
tened at the poles, densely netted skin, flesh thick and of
good flavor.

Early Hackensack : large size, productive, excellent
flavor.

Large Hackensack : large size, roundish, very prolific,
thick, juicy flesh, rich in flavor.

Cassaba, or Pineapple: fine, large, late variety, rich,
cream-colored flesh ; keeps well into the winter.

The small, early varieties, like Jenny Lind, are not
largely grown, as the trade prefers the large nutmeg va-

THE WATERMELON. 285

rieties. The small varieties are, however, very desirable
for home use.

The Winter Melons. — One of the most interesting and
promising phases of melon growing in California is the ad-
vancement of the "winter melon," comprising several
types, of which the first to reach California was the Cas-
saba or pineapple melon which was introduced in two va-
rieties : one by the late General Bidwell, of Chico, in 1869,
and another by the late Dr. J. D. B. Stillman in 1878. Of
these the latter has secured the greater popularity. Later
introductions and selections and probably hybridizations
also, have brought half a dozen quite distinct varieties into
notice and a considerable product has been secured both
for local sale and distant shipment during the late autumn
and early winter. Which varieties will survive cannot be
told and in this line California seedsmen 's catalogues must
be consulted each year. On irrigated lands these melons
can be sown in mid-summer and find ample autumn heat
and freedom from frost to reach perfection. The ripe
fruit remains in good condition for months without cold
storage.

THE WATERMELON.

The watermelon is more strictly a warm region plant
than the muskmelon. It reaches great size and sweetness
in interior regions of highest heat, coming nearer to the
coast in southern California than in the upper part of the
State. The heat is, however, high enough in some of the
coast valleys and foothills, which are in some part sepa-
rated from the coast by high ranges, -to produce a very
good watermelon.

The gratefulness of the interior climate of California to
the watermelon is seen in the way the plants volunteer
wherever on cultivated land a melon may have gone to
decay. In cultivated orchard they may almost be called
weeds, though sometimes the volunteer crop is turned to
account. A case is cited where watermelons were planted
between the trees in a young orchard. After the melons

286 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

were harvested, and before the volunteer crop appeared
the following year, the ground was plowed twice, har-
rowed twice, and cultivated four times in the regular
course of orchard work. Notwithstanding all this dis-
turbance of the soil, the seeds, which remained in the
ground during the warm rains of winter and spring, did
not sprout until June — considerably later than seed sown
that year, and produced as good a crop as the latter. Be-
ing, probably, deeply covered they awaited the penetra-
tion of the warmth, which came first to the seed sown near
the surface. The soil was a light loam, naturally well
drained, and the seed abided its time in good condition.

Soils. — Soils which best suit the watermelon are warm
alluvial soils, and the plant thrives on a lighter, drier soil
than suits the muskmelon. It does well on a light soil
with a retentive sub-soil, which acts as a reservoir of mois-
ture. In such a case the surface soil may be coarse or
even gravelly. Good specimens have been shown which
have been grown without irrigation on recent deposits of
mining detritus; on the other hand, good melons are
grown on rather stiff clay loam. On heavy land much is
gained by plowing under a winter-grown sod or green
crop, or a covering of manure, which renders the soil more
permeable as well as enriches it. The plant seems to tol-
erate many conditions, but neither cold nor wet agrees
with it.

Culture. — The preparation of land for watermelons is
like that for sugar beets, already described. In regions of
heavy rainfall the fall plowing should be done with enough
dead furrows to remove surplus water so that the spring
plowing may not be delayed by wetness. Two spring
plowings and pulverizations are desirable on the heavier
soils.

The land is laid off with a marker in six or eight feet
squares, and planted, after danger from frost is over and
the ground is warm, with 10 or 12 seeds in a place to cover
accidents and insects. These are reduced at the first hoe-
ing to one or two plants in a place. The cultivator should

VARIETIES OF WATERMELON. 287

be used as soon as possible to prevent crusting of the soil,
and cultivation should be kept up until it interferes too
much with the growth of the vines. During the first two
months of their growth the cultivator is almost constantly
running in the melon fields.

Time of planting is, of course, dependent upon the frost
record of the locality. To get the earliest melons, grow-
ers often take the chance of replanting by planting in
March if it is an early spring and the soil is in good con-
dition. In light interior soils the most of the planting is
done in April, and in frosty situations early in May. For
succession, planting can proceed on moist or irrigated land
until July, and in frostless locations July planting will
give ripe melons as late as New Year's.

Harvesting. — When early sowings succeed, melons can
be had in June in the interior, but the weight of the crop
comes in July or August. An average yield in field cul-
ture is one carload, or one hundred dozen melons to the
acre. Sizes run from a common merchantable size of 20
pounds up to a monster of 131% pounds, grown in Los
Angeles county many years ago. Melons of 90 to 100
pounds have been reported from all regions which make
any pretentions to greatness in this line.

Varieties. — Everything offered by seedsmen in the form
of an improved watermelon is quickly put into California
soil. The result is that in the State as a whole very many
varieties are grown, probably as many as of any single
garden plant. Still a few varieties are easily leading in
popularity. The most famous variety in the central part
for the last quarter of a century has been the "Lodi," a
variety believed to be of local origin, taking its name from
the locality where largely grown, in San Joaquin county,
but the Lodi is now yielding even in its own region to
other varieties, and its decadence is probably in part due
to lack of proper selection in seed sowing on the part of
the growers, and the superiority of newer sorts.

Florida Favorite: large, oblong, deep green, mottled;
good flavor and a good early variety and a good shipper.

288 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Fordhook Early: very early, medium size, globular,
tough deep mottled green rind, red flesh; good for early
shipping.

Dixie: large and handsome, dark green, beautifully
striped, hardy and productive, sweet, juicy, and tender,
scarlet flesh. A good shipping variety.

Cuban Queen: large, symmetrical, solid, rind thin and
strong, striped with dark and light green, flesh red, tender,
and very sweet, vine very strong in growth and produc-
tive. Melons keep well and ship well.

Mammoth Ironclad: resembles Cuban Queen in mark-
ings ; melons uniformly large, with hard, tough rind, flesh
very red and solid, productive, and a good shipper.

Kolb Gem : round, dark green, with light green stripes,
which are narrow and of dull color, fair size, flesh bright
red and good flavor, tough rind and a good shipper.

Iceberg: like Kolb Gem, but darker green and flesh
deep red; a good shipper.

Southern Rattlesnake : oblong, light green, beautifully
striped, thin rind, flesh scarlet, solid, and very sweet.

Lodi: large, solid, light green, flesh deep red, rich and
delicious, and extending to within half an inch of the rind.
For many years this variety almost controlled California
markets and is still largely grown.

Mountain Sweet : large, long, flesh red, firm and sweet ;
good for home garden.

Peerless : nearly round, pale green, thin rind, red flesh,
very sweet.

Chilian : oblong, deep green, mottled and striped, flesh
bright red, sweet and high quality; good for home use
because of thin, brittle rind.

Kleckley Sweet: medium sized, oval, dark green, flesh
bright red, high quality, largely grown in central Cali-
fornia for home use and shipping.

Ice Cream: very large, long, solid deep green, flesh
deep pink.

CHAPTER XXV.
THE ONION FAMILY.

Onion. — Allium cepa.

French, ognon ; German, zwiebel ; Dutch, uijen ; Danish,
voglog; Italian, cipolla; Spanish, cebolla; Portuguese,
cebola.

Leek. — Allium porrum.

French, poireau; German, lauch; Dutch, prei; Danish,
porre; Italian, porro; Spanish, puerro; Portuguese, alho
porro.

Garlic. — Allium sativum.

French, ail; German, knoblauch; Dutch, knoflook;
Danish, hvidlog; Italian, aglio; Spanish, ajo; Portuguese,
alho.

Chives. — Allium sclwenoprasum.

French, ciboulette, civette ; German^ schnittlauch ;
Dutch, bieslook; Italian, cipollina; Spanish, cebollino.

Ciboule. — Allium fistulosum.

French, ciboule ; German, schnitt-zwiebel ; Dutch, bies-
look ; Danish, purlog ; Italian, cipolleta ; Spanish, cebol-
leta; Portuguese, cebolinah.

Shallot. — Allium ascalonicum.

French, echalote; German, schalotte ; Dutch, sjalot;
Danish, skalottelog ; Italian, scalogno ; Spanish, chalote ;
Portuguese, echalota.

The onion is another of the great vegetables in Califor-
nia— great in the size of the tubers and in the crop, great
also in the ease with which a constant supply of fresh
onions can be secured throughout the year in the open air ;
greater still, perhaps, in the fact that the superb local
conditions for onion-seed growing have given California
the power to set prices for the onion-seed trade of the

290 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

United States, and we have sometimes produced more seed
than could be sold with profit to the growers. Though
the local consumption of onions, in proportion to the popu-
lation, is large, and though there is an export trade in all
directions, there is now and then an over-production and a
reaction even to scarcity, so that the market price is sub-
ject to wide fluctuations. A more trustworthy demand
would develop a producing capacity which has thus far
hardly been entered upon although during recent years
distant shipment of onions has notably increased. The
California onion product sometimes exceeds 300,000 sacks
per year.

Though local conditions are favorable, and almost in-
credible returns are sometimes secured, onion growing is
exacting in its requirements in California, as everywhere,
and the crop is one which no one should undertake with-
out adequate resources of energy, patience, promptness
and elasticity — either in his back or in his pocketbook.
No matter how well suited his soil, or how good his stand
of young plants upon it, a few days' neglect may put
them out of sight in a forest of weeds, from which they
cannot be profitably rescued. Still, to the diligent grower
who can command suitable soil and the labor needed at a
certain time, and is prompt and persistent in the use of it,
there is always the promise of as fair a crop as man needs
to see, for the climate not only favors growth, maturing
and harvesting, but it gives the plant freedom from many
pests and diseases, which are grievous in other countries.

Situations and Soils. — The onion is profited by a long
growing season. It grows most luxuriantly and its bulb
expands most freely in a moderate temperature and with
a good moisture supply. It endures heat well, if moisture
is ample ; it is easily forced into maturity by drought, and
though it is fortunate, in some respects, that the bulb has
the power to renew its growth and reach full size with the
renewal of moisture, this is little consolation to the grower
who aimed at a crop of marketable onions, not of onion
sets. It is important, then, that the growth of the plant

SOILS FOR THE ONION. 291

be not arrested in this way, and, to assure this, moisture
must be adequate until satisfactory size is attained. Land
naturally moist, or in which a good supply may be re-
tained by cultivation, or for which irrigation is available
to counteract natural tendency to dryness, is necessary
for the full success of the onion as a mature crop. In the
winter, if rains are up to the average, very good growth
of green onions can be had on land which is too dry in
summer to carry the bulb to full-sized maturity. For
satisfactory summer finishing of the crop, soils which are
prone to dry out must be avoided, unless irrigation is
available. How this matter is affected by methods of
propagation will appear presently.

If the needed moisture can be afforded, onions can be
well grown on a variety of soils. Quite heavy adobe can
be made to do, but it will be at the cost of most thorough
cultivation, producing tilth which is difficult and expen-
sive to attain on such soil. Every addition of sand or silt
to the adobe improves it in this respect, and the ideal soil
for the onion is one which is retentive enough under culti-
vation to keep the plant roots from a touch of drought,
and friable enough to be easy in cultivation and easy also
for the expanding bulb to displace as it grows. The bulb
should expand on the ground surface, not under it, and it
is very difficult to secure this on a clay without baking
of the surface, which dries the roots and results in pre-
maturity and small size in the bulb. On the other hand,
sandy soil is usable only at a cost of frequent irrigation,
for it also loses surface moisture in spite of stirring. Be-
sides suitable mechanical condition of the soil, it is essen-
tial that it shall be rich in plant food. Onions resent a
poor soil. Fortunately California has large areas of loam,
of mixed peat and sediment, and of alluvial soils, which
are so rich that many onion crops can be grown without
fertilizing, but in garden work the free use of manure is
the secret of quick, tender and large size, both in the
green and mature onion. But the use of fresh manure
just before planting is not desirable and even well rotted

292 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

manure should be applied several months in advance of
planting that it may become thoroughly incorporated
with the soil.

The great onion regions of the State are the lower
stretches of the rich coast valleys and the moist river
lands in the interior. Fine onions for local use are grown
on upland loams, with or without irrigation, according to
local climatic conditions. All these classes of lands are
distributed throughout the State.

Propagation of the Onion. — The onion is grown here, as
elsewhere, by three main lines of propagation : from seed
sown in the field; from transplanted seedlings and from
sets. The last is by far the least important in California,
and the choice between the other two depends upon the
special end in view, as will appear in the discussion of
them.

The Crop from Seed. — In this case the growth is to be
pushed continuously on the same ground from seed to
sack. The main crop is grown in this way, and for this
method California has manifest advantage in its long
growing season. Field-sowing can be done as early as
February, and on retentive soils moisture can be held by
summer cultivation, or on coarser soils by irrigation and
cultivation, until the bulbs reach as large a size as is de-
sirable for marketing.

For seed-sowing the land should be as deeply and
thoroughly prepared as has already been prescribed for
sugar beets. The work should begin with fall plowing to
open the surface for absorption of rainfall, to be followed
later by a deep cross-plowing to fully turn in the crop of
weeds and grass which will come with moisture. After
that a shallow plowing or cultivation may be given to
kill later growth of weeds and to contribute to surface
pulverization. The seed should be sown when the advance
of the season warms the soil. The precise date depends
upon two considerations : first, the local rainfall, and,
second, the local weed growth. Where spring rains are
usually light, earlier sowing is best; where spring rains

GROWING ONIONS FROM SEED. 293

are usually generous and where weed growth Js great, it
is often wise to defer sowing and use the cultivator for
weed-killing, so that the ground may be as clean as pos-
sible before the seed is sown. Weeding onions is one of
the most expensive and tiresome of all field practices, and
it is good policy, where moisture is ample, to sow much
later in the spring for the advantage of securing cleaner
land, as well as to prevent the growth of "thick-necks"
or scallions which though edible are not good keepers nor
good marketable tubers. Each locality has its own policy
in this respect, which can be learned by conference with
experienced growers.

When the sowing time comes be sure the land is fined
well. Use nothing but the freshest seed from responsible
dealers; mark out a straight line for beginning and sow
the seed with a seeder with a guide so that the straight-
ness of the first row may be followed in the others. If the
rows begin to vary from this, strike another straight line
and proceed again from this. Distance between the rows
depends upon the method of cultivation to be adopted;
some are grown with two feet distance and horse cultiva-
tion is used, but most growers choose a distance of 12 to
16 inches and use hand cultivation. The hand hoes, or
cultivators with wheels, work very easily and rapidly in
light soils. Care must be taken to work them deeply
enough to produce a good soil mulch.

Depth of covering the seed depends upon season, mois-
ture and character of soil, as explained on page 157.
With onions the depth would vary from one-half an inch
on heavy soil to one inch on light, or slightly more on
light soil in a dry locality, is about the range. The seeder
should be set to drop the seeds about three-quarters of an
inch apart in the drill, which will use from four to five
pounds to the acre. After sowing, the ground can be
firmed in any of the ways mentioned on page 158. A light
roller is most expeditious and satisfactory if the soil is in
the right condition of moisture.

Onion seed is sometimes rather slow in starting and the

294 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

cultivation should not wait until the plants appear. Mr.
S. J. Murdock, of Orange county, shows how skillfully
the hand wheel hoe can be used in the onion field.

"After seeding, thorough, shallow cultivation is essen-
tial. Do not wait until the plants are up before begin-
ning ; from four to eight days will be proper, or when the
seed begins to show signs of germinating, which can be
ascertained by carefully brushing the soil from the drill
row. I put the curved hoes on my wheel hoe, with the
straight ends of the hoes pointing inwards and lapping
about two inches and hoe right over the rows but not
deep enough to disturb the seed. It saves a great amount
of hand-weeding by killing the weeds just starting to
grow in the rows. As soon as the onions are up suffici-
ently to follow the rows, I reverse my hoes, with the
curved ends next to the rows, just far enough apart so
as to hoe as close as possible without cutting the young
plants by running the hoes astride the rows. This op-
eration hoes both sides of the row at one trip of the ma-
chine. Follow this by hand-weeding; this operation is
best performed by the crawling process, that is, by get-
ting down on hands and knees astride of a row and pull-
ing every weed in sight, and loosening the soil around
and between the plants. Repeat this as often as any
weeds are to be found, and under no circumstances allow
the weeds to grow above the onions ; at the same time
keep the wheel hoe at work between the rows and as
close as possible."

As previously said, the bulb of the onion should be at
the ground surface, and the dirt should not be thrown to
any extent on the onions by cultivation. The roots should
be well covered, but not the bulb.

Transplanted Onions. — Next to growth from the seed,
the transplanting of small seedlings from the seed-bed to
the field, is most practiced in California. This method has
recently been proclaimed in the Eastern and Southern
States as a "new onion culture," but it is really an old
practice in the south of Europe, and has been followed in

TRANSPLANTING ONIONS. 295

California for a third of a century or more in preference
to starting from onion sets. It is a fact that transplant-
ing produces more uniformly large onions than growth
from the seed in place, and the crop also reaches maturity
sooner, as the transplanting does not sacrifice the time
gained by the earlier start in the seed-bed. Employing
these two points of advantage in a region suitable to quick
winter growth, a very early crop of mature onions is se-
cured, which sometimes strikes a bare market and is very
profitable, while the regular crop, coming in later, may be
worth much less.

Seedlings for transplanting are grown in California in
the open air, according to the conditions for germination
described on pages 156 to 160. Where there is likelihood
of heavy rains the raised bed described in the chapter on
cultivation is a safeguard, but where the soil naturally
drains well, or where rain is light, such arrangement is
not necessary. Nor is it necessary that the culture should
be very deep. The seed is started in the fall, when the
rate of evaporation is reduced. Shallow culture promotes
early growth and, if the soil has been previously deeply
moistened, there is no need of such deep work as would
be desirable if the plant was to pursue its full course in
that place.

Some growers use a little bottom heat by covering in
fresh horse manure with the plow and shallow working
the surface into fine tilth. This practice is not essential.
It is best suited to heavy soil and ample moisture ; it has
an element of danger on light soil with scant moisture.
The seed is sown at different times in different localities
from September to November — the early date in northern
California, for the rains come earlier, the weather is cooler
and the plants of slower growth, in the south a later
start agrees better with the rainfall, and more rapid
growth brings the seedling to planting-size in less time.

The seed is usually thickly sown broadcast, lightly cov-
ered and rolled or pressed down. The surface is protected
fom drying and from packing by heavy rain, with a light

296 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

mulch of fine manure, covered with boards until the
shoots appear, or covered with a single thickness of old
sacking until the shoots begin to pierce it. Any device
which keeps the surface moist and loose is applicable.
The plants usually reach a height of six or eight inches at
time of transplanting.

Transplanting. — Transplanted onions are usually grown
on lighter soils than those from seed because the crop is to
mature earlier and is not so dependent upon moisture re-
tention. Again the lighter, warmer soils give the most
rapid winter growth, as already stated. Preparation of
the land is the same as for seed sowing and the transplant-
ing is done at about the same time of the year — from
February onward, according to local climate and soil con-
ditions. The plants are pulled, if the seed-bed is sandy,
and they lift easily, or lifted with a shovel and separated.
The top and roots are shortened about half the length of
each, and the plants, dropped along the rows by boys, are
set, with the finger or dibble, three inches apart in rows
12 inches distant, pressing the soil firmly around the plant.
Planting can be done by line or with a roller encircled by
rope at proper distance or by marking out shallow fur-
rows with the hand wheel hoe, etc. The lines must be
straight for ease and efficiency of subsequent cultivation,
which must be clean and thorough.

The cost of growing seedlings and transplanting is more
than field seed-sowing, but the weeding, and cultivation
of the former is less. If there is no particular rush about
earliness, transplanting can be done after the most of the
season's weed-starting is over. Some growers count this
quite a gain.

Growing from Sets. — There are at least three kinds of
onion sets: "top setif" or buttons which form on the seed
stem in the place of the seed, according to variety; "bot-
tom sets, ' ' which are either small bulbs from thickly sown
seed, prematurely ripened, or small bulbs which form be-
side the old bulbs in some varieties. In California the
varieties which habitually produce top or bottom sets in

GROWING FROM SETS. 297

connection with stem or bulb (the so-called "tree onion"
and "potato onion"), are not grown to any extent. They
are inferior to other varieties which are satisfactory in
this climate. All onion sets have the habit of proceeding
with their enlargement when placed in moist ground, but
some growers find the bottom sets from seed are more
likely to run to seed than top sets from the seed stem. Mr.
Adams, of Calistoga, is in the habit of growing his own
top sets in this way :

"Plant the onions of the variety which produces top sets
in the place of seed, eight or ten inches apart, with rows
two feet apart; cultivate well and gather the sets when
the seed-stalks are ripe or perfectly yellow. Let the sets
get well dried, then store in a cool, dry place six or eight
inches deep on a board floor and cover with clean, dry
straw. Never put them in sacks, boxes or barrels, as they
will most surely mold.

' ' In growing onions from these top sets, I plant them as
early in February as the ground is suitable, on the rich-
est of my land ; make the rows perfectly straight by using
a strong garden line ; make rows one foot apart; press the
sets firmly into the mellow soil nearly or quite out of
sight, placing them an inch or so apart. When they are
nicely up, a good top dressing of fine, dry, decomposed
Jien manure sown broadcast and well hoed in, is most ex-
cellent, especially just before a warm rain. A few weeks
later a light dressing of ground bone, or unleached ashes,
will forward them wonderfully, and in a short time you
will have onions fit for an epicure. Thin out as wanted
for use, or for the purpose of raising top sets for another
year."

The foregoing is obviously for garden, not for field
practice. In fact, for field work, sets of any kind are not
used to any extent in California.

Bottom sets from seed are grown by sowing the seed
thickly, allowing the plants to grow without thinning, and
to mature by the drying of the ground, when about the
size of marbles. These are then pulled, dried thoroughly

298 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

on the surface of the ground and are then stored in a cool,
dry place until planted. Recently considerable quantities
of sets are fall grown in southern California for shipment
to Texas to be there grown to maturity by early spring
planting.

Irrigation of Onions. — Though our onion crops are
largely grown without irrigation, it is often desirable to
use water to carry the summer growth to satisfactory size
on coarse soils prone to dry out. Water can be applied
by any of the methods described in the chapter on irriga-
tion. Enough water should be used to secure thrifty, but
not excessive, growth, and stirring of the ground after
irrigation should only be delayed long enough to bring
the soil into proper working condition.

Sometimes transplanting is done in connection with ir-
rigation. The plants are properly trimmed and placed in
the trenches alongside the irrigating furrows, on a slant
to keep the tops from the wet ground (made so by apply-
ing the water). They will readily take root, when they
may be straightened up by the hoe. Sometimes the water
may be passed through the trenches, when the plants may
be put in place by hand.

Harvesting Onions. — In the maturing of the crop and
the harvesting California has great advantage in a warm,
dry summer and early fall. Mr. Murdock, of Orange
county, gives these suggestions on harvesting :

"When the tops have turned yellow and dried or shriv-
eled up near the bulbs, and the majority have fallen over,
the crop is ripe and ready to harvest. If on moist land
they should be harvested at once, for if left long in the
ground the moisture from below and heavy fogs of the
coast region will soon cause them to start new roots, also
a new growtk of top, which would soon spoil the whole
crop. On dry land, however, the summer crops can re-
main quite a while without injury.

"Harvesting is done by pulling two or more rows; lay
the onions next to the standing rows, and when across
the plot, turn round and pull a like number of rows and

GARDEN ONIONS. 299

lay with the ones previously pulled. This leaves them
in a continuous pile across the field for topping, which is
generally done with a sharp knife after the onions have
laid a few days to more fully mature. While topping,
the bulbs* are usually thrown in heaps ready for market
or to store away, as the grower may determine. It is best
to sack or haul from the fields while the sun shines, as
the onions should be perfectly dry in either case."

Yield. — Ten tons per acre is a fair yield on good soil,
well handled, but this amount is frequently exceeded and
even 30 tons has been secured, according to credible testi-
mony.

Garden Culture of Onions. — Garden culture proceeds
upon about the same lines as field work, and by methods
already described. Due regard should be had for suc-
cession, and by proper use of water in summer and of
ridge or raised bed in early winter, it is practicable to
have crisp, young onions all the year, and mature ones
with but a very short season of storage. Onions have been
matured from seed sown every month of the year, but the
ripening was not reached every month because progress
is slower at one time than at another.

In the garden onions should have most generous treat-
ment, for delicate flavor and crispness depend upon quick
growth. The use of fertilizers in preparation of the soil,
and of liquid manure during growth, are strong helps to-
ward this. The onion accepts gratefully the richest man-
ures if well decomposed and well mixed with the soil.

The first top-onions in the fall can be grown by using
bottom sets planted closely in the row just as soon as the
ground is well moistened by early rains. The succession
can be had by sowing seed at intervals, beginning at the
same time the sets are put in and continued when the
ground is in good condition until spring.

The following method of growing sets for garden use
is approved by the experience of Mr. F. Austin, of San
Diego county, who grows fine vegetables for the love of
it : Sow the seed in the spring, say March, not later than

300 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

April, then as the plants develop in the drills which have
been sown not too thick, and begin to assume size and
form of bulb, at both sides of the row begin to remove the
earth with the hoe, the object being to retard the growth
of top and form a "set" below. This is repeated, going
along each side of the growing onions, removing the dirt
and even cutting some of the roots a second time. The
tops begin to wither but the bulb increases in size until
finally you run the hoe entirely under the roots severing
them and leaving the now new formed i l sets ' ' to dry for a
few days, when you take them by the handful from the
row and shake off the dirt and put them away under cover
from sun in a cool place until, say, October. Then plant
these "sets" and they will grow to onions fast and in
advance of anything you can get from seed and give you
large juicy onions.

Rotation, — The advantage of clean land for onions has
been mentioned. This is often best secured by allowing
onions to follow carrots or potatoes or corn. The cultiva-
tion of these vegetables sprouts and kills many weeds,
which are more easily handled in connection with those
crops than with the onions. The cultivation also renders
the soil more friable, which is a prime requisite to the
growth of onions.

Intercropping. — Large quantities of onions are grown
in strawberry regions, being irrigated incidentally in con-
nection with the berries. The strawberry plants are on
ridges in rows 18 or 20 inches apart; the onion row be-
tween the strawberry rows parallel thereto in the center
of the ridge, the ridges being also 18 to 20 inches apart, so
that the water runs down between the ridges. Onions
are also grown between the trees in young orchard on rich,
deep, moist, or irrigated land. This cannot be long con-
tinued to advantage, as onions do not take kindly to shade,
but delight in full sunshine.

Varieties. — Out of the multitude of varieties a few have
proved most serviceable and satisfactory for California

VARIETIES OF ONIONS. 301

conditions, and California seedsmen are constantly secur-
ing improved types by selection :

Barletta: very early, small, pure white, smooth and
handsome; largely grown for pickling also for early top
onions in garden culture.

California Early Red: very early, large size, flattish,
mild flavor ; not a good keeper. Chiefly grown by Italian
market gardeners and the variety probably was introduced
from Italy.

New Queen or Pearl: small, early white, fine flavor.
Chiefly grown for pickling and for top onions; especially
popular in southern California.

Silver Skin or White Portugal: silvery white, medium
size, excellent flavor and esteemed for table use. Small
bulbs largely used for pickling.

White Italian Tripoli: very large, flat, white, rapid
grower and productive, ships well, approved in southern
California as an early variety.

Prize-Taker or Spanish King : very large and beautiful,
rich straw color, flesh white, sweet and tender ; productive
and keeps well.

Australian Brown : flat, light brown, a long keeper and
good shipper; very productive on rich, sandy soil with
ample moisture.

Australian Brown Globe : popular in southern Califor-
nia ; globular, light brown, heavy and ships well ; quick to
maturity but a long keeper.

White Bermuda: yellowish white, flat, very early,
chiefly grown in southern California for early shipment.

Red Bermuda: resembles White Bermuda, except in
color.

Flat Danvers: very early, yellow, considerably grown.

Yellow Globe Danvers: large, round, yields well and
keeps well; solid and of good flavor. One of the main
varieties in all parts of California.

Red Wethersfield : large, round, slightly flattened, deep
red with white flesh, strongly flavored, well adapted for

302 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

low,- moist soils, hardy. This and Danvers Globe consti-
tute a main part of the California product.

Tree-onion: a variety which produces top-sets instead
of seed at the head of the seed stem. Used in garden cul-
ture as already described. It serves a good purpose under
certain conditions, but is very little used in this State.

THE LEEK.

California produces large quantities of leek seed for dis-
tant sale, but the leek itself is but little grown in Cali-
fornia, except by market gardeners, and its use is chiefly
by citizens of foreign birth. The edible part is the
blanched lower leaves of the plant. The culture is at first
practically the same as that described for transplanted
onions, except that the young leek plant is deeply set in
a depression in friable soil, and as it grows the earth is
drawn about the leaves, which are tightly sheathed to-
gether so as to blanch them into the appearance of a thick
white stem. Thus the later cultivation of the plant re-
sembles that of celery. It is handiest in the garden to sow
the seed in drills one foot apart, at intervals from fall to
spring, so as to have a succession, and plant the seedlings
when about the diameter of a goose quill, in the bottom
of a drill or furrow several inches deep. The plants need
wide spacing, say six to ten inches, for they reach con-
siderable thickness and make large display of leaves. Cul-
tivation gradually levels the ground. Leeks need ample
moisture and good cultivation to attain fine size and ten-
derness. If the blanching is not particularly cared for,
the plants may be grown at the surface just as onions are,
except for the greater distance the plant requires to de-
velop. The leeks chiefly grown in California are the Large
American Flag, of good, uniform size, and strong growth ;
the Musselburgh, short, thick stem and large, broad leaves ;
the Large Rouen, a large, strong variety, and the Mon-
strous Caratan, with dark-colored foliage.

GARLIC.
What is said of the restricted local use of the leek ap-

SEVERAL NEAR ONIONS. 303

plies also to the garlic. It is grown with about the same
cultivation as the onion, and the planting season is of the
same duration. The method is by planting the bulblets,
or * ' cloves, ' ' taken out of the silvery skin which covers the
bunch, and planted like onion sets about six inches apart
in rows one foot distant from each other. It may also be
grown by planting whole cases of sets one foot apart in
the rows. The planting should be rather shallow and the
soil should be light and well cultivated to allow the free
expansion of the bulb.

CHIVES.

These are small plants, whose leaves have the onion
flavor desired in cookery. They are grown from the small
bulbs, and from thick clumps or an edging for permanent
garden beds. The leaves are shorn off whenever desired,
and are most excellent for giving a mild onion flavor to
salads and soups.

CIBOULE.

Another plant used like chives, but of taller growth, is
the Welch onion, or ciboule. It makes no bulb, but seeds
freely, and the plant develops rapidly to cutting condi-
tion. The cultivation is the same as of onions grown from
seed.

SHALLOT.

Both the bulbs and leaves of this plant are used to give
the onion flavor in cookery. Propagation is the same as
that of chives, by means of the small bulbs, and the cul-
ture is the same as of onions grown from sets.

CHAPTER XXVI.
PEAS.

The Garden Pea. — Pisum sativum.

French, pois a ecosser; German, schal-erbsen ; Dutch,
doperwten ; Danish, skaloerte ; Italian, piselli da sgranare ;
Spanish, guisantes para desgranar; Portuguese, ervilhas
de grao.

The Lentil. — Lens esculenta.

French, lentille; German, linse; Dutch, linze; Danish,
lindse; Italian, lente; Spanish, lenteja; Portuguese, len-
tilha.

The Garbanzo or Chick Pea. — Cicer arietinum.

French, pois chiche ; German, kieher-erbse ; Italian, cece ;
Spanish, garbanzos; Portuguese, chicaro.

Dry heat is offensive to the pea, and its occurrence im-
poses the chief limitation to the success of this vegetable
in California. The escape from this limitation consists in
winter growth, as far as practicable, and in recourse to
the coast region where atmospheric humidity is greatest
and summer heat least. The pea is very hardy against
frost, and this advantage goes far to compensate for its
susceptibility to drought, because it enables it to thrive in
the winter in the very places where it perishes in summer.
The obvious deduction is that in regions dependent upon
rainfall the garden planting of the pea must be as early in
the fall as adequate moisture has reached the soil, and in
regions where irrigation is available, it is desirable that
the start should be made in advance of rainfall for the
earliest product, and that other plantings follow for a suc-
cession, until it is ascertained what is the latest date of
sowing which will reach satisfactory maturity. If prac-
tice proceed upon this basis, the pea will be seen to have

CONDITIONS FOR PEA GROWING. 305

a much longer season than in wintry climates, although,
in some places, midsummer growth is impracticable. Most
failures to realize this satisfaction with the pea are due
to late planting and failure to recognize that, in many
parts of the State, the pea is a winter and not a summer
plant.

In the growth of peas in the field most disappointments
have followed the same misapprehension, and the interior
has conceded a monopoly of pea conditions to the coast
when the former can grow large amounts of forage, at
least, by taking a different time of the year for it. For-
tunately, this fact is coming to be better understood, and
large fields of peas are now grown as winter feed for
dairy cows and in the orchard to be plowed under early
in the spring for green manuring, where only recently the
pea was supposed to be unsuited to the climate. These
remarks apply to the true pea, not to the so-called "cow-
pea, ' ' which really belongs to the bean family and is very
susceptible to frost injury.

Soils and Situations for the Pea. — The pea succeeds on
a wide variety of soils — a good, rich loam of sufficient re-
tentiveness being the ideal. Where it is winter-grown,
with moderate heat and ample moisture, lighter soils can
be successfully used, because they are warmer and dispose
of the surplus water more readily. Though the pea with-
stands much frost, it needs warmth for rapid advance-
ment, and for this reason the earliest peas, as, for ex-
ample, peas for Christmas from September sowing, are
grown where there is little frost, and hillsides are often
used to escape the heavier frosts of the valley below. In
moist bottom lands in the interior, and on uplands near the
coast, peas naturally thrive much later in the season than
on the interior plains and hillsides, and the latest green
peas are grown in the moist lands of the coast valleys,
moisture being retained by cultivation or supplied by ir-
rigation, according to local conditions. By using these
different situations green peas are available for city trade
nearly the entire year.

306 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Culture. — From what has been said it may be inferred
that the pea at different times of the year is to be handled
with all the arts for releasing or retaining moisture, which
are described in the chapters on the planting season, drain-
age and cultivation. The reader should study these, and
choose the methods adapted to the soil and time of the
year with which he expects to operate. Depth of plant-
ing is also governed by these factors, as described in the
chapter on propagation. The pea will thrive with deep
covering, according to the soil and moisture — even to
covering the seed in a plow furrow in a light soil — but
in a heavier soil, with assurance of moisture, a single inch
of depth may best favor its growth. Deep working of the
soil is also, as a rule, acceptable to the pea and where the
crop is to come late and to endure a measure of heat and
drought, deep working in preparation and fine surface
cultivation, as late as feasible without injury to the vines,
is necessary. But, on the other hand, for fall and winter
growth in some situations and soils, such thorough work
may not be called for. For winter, too, it is not desirable
that the surface should be worked to a fine mulch ; surplus
water is relieved by evaporation and the surface is pre-
vented from crusting, if a coarser condition is retained.
The pea plant gives every possible advantage "to the
grower ; it is strong growing and hardy, and it has a large
seed which makes a vigorous shoot. If the grower can
give it escape from dry heat it will serve him well both in
garden and field.

It should be remembered, however, that the pea needs
a certain amount of heat, though it be small, and there is
nothing gained by sowing in cold, wet ground. In small,
frosty valleys with heavy rainfall, sowing should often
be delayed until the ground is warmed in February,
though on slopes above such valleys much earlier work
can often be done satisfactorily. The fitness of certain
varieties for seasonal conditions will be considered pres-
ently.

For the Earliest Peas. — The earliest peas, counting the

EARLY AND LATE PEAS. 307

first of July as the beginning of the California season, are
in picking condition in December, from seed sown in Aug-
ust and September. Irrigate the land thoroughly, plow
well, harrow, and sow the seed with a drill as nearly as
practicable an inch apart in rows two and a half feet dis-
tant. Another way is to open a shallow furrow with a
single plow, scatter the seed in the furrow, and cover with
a cultivator, covering the seed and stirring the space be-
tween the rows. In growing peas on hillsides for very
early market, the foreigners, who are the chief growers,
depend much upon hand work and bring the rows nearer
together. Irrigation must be used from time to time to
keep the soil from drying until the rains come and subse-
quently if the rains are light. The plants must be pushed
to bring well-filled pods and continual moisture is essen-
tial. Cultivation, to keep the soil clean and mellow, is
necessary. A light harrow can be safely used with peas
even after the plants appear. After this the free use of
the cultivator will be found profitable.

Later Sowing. — Whether it will be profitable to arrange
for a succession of peas in the early winter depends upon
the local soil and climate. On light soils and in regions
of moderate rainfall and frost it is quite feasible, but in
most regions December and January bring the lowest
temperatures and the longest rainstorms of the year, and
the ground is out of condition. The advent of February
changes things enough to meet the requirements of the
pea, and then the sowing for the spring and summer suc-
cession may begin. At the first ridge or raised bed
method will give safety against excessive water, but later
sowings should be made for flat culture on soil most thor-
oughly prepared and well cultivated afterward.

Field Growth. — Where peas are sown for forage or for
a crop of dry peas, sowing can be done broadcast on land
which has been previously plowed and harrowed, and
then the seed is covered with a shallow cross-plowing of
the whole field. If the soil is friable and a good condi-
tion of moisture, this leaves the surface well loosened and

308 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

able to receive considerable rain without baking. This
method answers well on light soils in the interior early
winter, and the moist condition of the upper coast valleys
is also satisfactory. In the upper coast valleys peas can
be safely sown as late as May for summer crop and forage.
Wherever heat or drouth and hard ground are likely to
be encountered before the vines cover the ground, drill
culture and cultivation are better.

Peas in the Orchard.— It has already been mentioned
that the winter growth of peas in the orchard for plowing
under for green manure, is gaining popularity in this
State. The pea has the power of appropriating atmos-
pheric nitrogen and its growth in the winter in the
warmer parts of the State may be effected with little loss
of moisture to the trees. Growing the pea crop in the
orchard to be" gathered green for canners' use has also
been successfully done in this State, where the trees are
small. The pea is probably one of the least injurious of
the inter-cultures, and under certain conditions may be
of actual benefit to the trees. For this purpose the crop
should be gathered and the green vine plowed in as early
as possible.

No Support for Peas. — Peas are chiefly grown as a pros-
trate crop in California, both in garden and field. The
preference is for the dwarf or medium high kinds and
they are allowed to stand or mat down as they see fit. It
better suits a climate where reclining on the ground very
rarely induces mildew and where the covering of the
ground assists in maintaining the coolness and moisture
of soil which delights the pea.

Varieties. — Of the two main divisions of pea varieties,
the smooth and the wrinkled skins, the smooth are the
more hardy and can be safely grown early. The smooth
pea may resist decay and grow where the wrinkled seed
will perish. And yet the wrinkled pea is so popular that
wrinkled varieties have almost excluded the smooth kinds.

Alaska : tall growing, small smooth pea ; pod short, well
filled ; very early.

VARIETIES OF PEAS. 309

American Wonder: dwarf, wrinkled, very compact
growth, productive and early, fine quality, very sweet ; the
leading early pea in California.

McLean 's Little Gem : dwarf, wrinkled, very early, pro-
ductive, rich and sweet.

Nott's Excelsior: resembles American Wonder; larger
growing and more productive; fine quality, long bearing
period, excellent home garden pea.

Premium Gem : an improved Little Gem with larger
pods.

Yorkshire Hero (also called Alameda Sweet) : later than
dwarf varieties ; most popular in all parts of the State for
main crop ; strong grower, with branching habit ; large
pods well filled with large, wrinkled peas ; keeps in con-
dition on vine longer than other varieties.

Pride of Cahuenga (renamed in southern California,
where it has been grown for 20 years) : branches freely
and very productive and pods large ; peas large and finely
flavored.

Stratagem: strong grower, semi dwarf, with large,
showy pods ; peas large and of good flavor ; very popular
with growers and the trade ; a late variety.

Champion of England : well-known late variety, largely
used by canners; rich, high quality.

Telephone : late, very productive, large pods ; peas
sugary ; largely grown both for market and home use.

Edible Pod or Sugar Peas. — Although California inter-
est is almost wholly centered in the shelling varieties of
peas, there has recently been some attention paid in home
gardens to the edible pod varieties which are used in the
kitchen as are string or snap beans. They are available
because of their hardiness at times of the year when string
beans can only be had from frostless regions if at all.
Their culture is the same as for other kinds of peas.

LENTILS AND CHICK PEAS.

Though of another botanical genus, lentils are best
classed with peas. They are quite hardy and make a good

310 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

winter growth. They may be used green as peas are, but
are hardly as desirable. The dry seeds are used in soups,
stews, etc. Lentils are rarely seen in California, probably
because peas are preferred, not only because of flavor, but
because of more easy handling. The lentil bears but two
seeds in a pod. Owing to their early winter growth they
may come into use here for cattle food as in Europe.

Another two-seeded pod bearer is the garbanzo or chick
pea, which is a hairy plant of the vetch family. Its uses
are like those of lentils, but it has also served widely as a
coffee substitute. Its culture is easy, like the pea in
method, but the product is always used dry or mature.
The plant is more hardy against drouth than the peas. Its
production in California is small, but seems to be in-
creasing.

CHAPTER XXVII.
PEPPERS.

Chile Pepper. — Capsicum annuum.

French, piment; German, pfeffer; Dutch, Spaansche,
peper ; Italian, peperone ; Spanish, pimiento ; Portuguese,
pimento.

The settlement of California by people of Spanish birth
or descent naturally brought the pepper into early promi-
nence in this State, and the considerable fraction of our
population which now traces to south of Europe nations
serves to hold the plant in popularity. American citizens
have also wide liking for the pepper in some of its uses,
and the result is large local demand for the capsules both
in green and mature states. There is this main division
in the demand — the northern races prefer the large, green,
mild varieties; the southern races chiefly use that which is
ripe, red, and fiery in flavor. But of course this distinction
is not to be pushed too far. Each kind has its uses which
are observed by all consumers. In the California markets
the two kinds or conditions stand side by side in such
quantities as to make them conspicuous.

Though the pepper is usually an annual, it carries its
profitable productive life into the second year in the
thermal regions of the State. The stem has a tendency
to become woody and after a period of partial dormancy,
it sends out new shoots and bears its second crop. This
cannot, however, be expected in a frosty location.

Garden Culture. — Peppers are usually grown from
plants started early by artificial heat in the same manner
indicated for egg-plant. Planting out should be done
after danger of frost is over and the soil is well warmed
by the sun. Later plants may be grown by planting the

312 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

seed in drills in the open ground, thinning the plants
afterward to suitable distance. Moisture should be
evenly maintained by cultivation or irrigation as needed,
but excessive water is undesirable at all times from the
seed sowing onward. The plants will endure heat and
drouth, but the fruiting is deficient in size and quantity,
and for the best success, especially with the large varie-
ties, rich, light soil, well cultivated and adequately moist,
is a requisite. The distance between the plants depends
upon method of cultivation, nl the hand-worked garden,
the plants may be set a foot apart in rows, eighteen inches
distant from each other, but usually greater distance is
better, and for horse work the rows should be two or three
feet apart.

Field Culture. — Field culture for canning and for the
trade in dried peppers is pursued on a large scale in
southern California, especially in Orange county, on the
deep loams of the gentle slope oceanward. An outline of
methods is prepared from data furnished by Mr. Allan
Knapp of Anaheim, who is widely acquainted with local
experience in the pepper district.

Seed. — It is exceedingly important to have a good type
of plant, and this can be secured by selecting pods in the
field, to furnish seed for the following year, from low
bushy vines full of pods of medium length. A tall bush
will not produce as many pods and is more liable to be
broken by strong winds when loaded with fruit. Besides
the end of the pods from a low plant will rest on the
ground, and in that position they will prop up the
branches, providing you keep crowding a little earth to
the row at each cultivation, as will be described later.

When these seed pods are gathered put them on a string
and hang up to dry against the south end of a building.
Do not put them into the evaporator when hotter than
110 to 115°. They may stand more heat, but perhaps only
50% of the seed may germinate quickly, and the other half
may delay a week longer than those dried in the sun;
neither will it make so strong a plant.

PLANTING OF PEPPERS. 313

Growing Seedlings. — Select a location for the seed bed
where good drainage may be had. Sandy soil is best, but
not so poor that it contains no plant food to nourish the
young plant. Plow and level the plot, harrowing or raking
with a hand rake, as only a small piece of land is used;
sow seed about March 15 in rows three inches apart, cover-
ing one-quarter of an inch. On this spread one-quarter
inch with sand. Start your seed beside a large tree, if
you have one, and you will have fair success. The tree
will drain your land. If the young plants begin to die by
"damping off," take a trowel and dig out the affected
spots and throw them away. The plants should have five
or six leaves on before transplanting commences. Wet
the soil of the seed bed thoroughly before lifting the
plants, as the roots are damaged less.

Field Planting. — Plow the field deeply early in the win-
ter and keep down weeds by shallow cultivation until
planting time, when danger of frost is passed. The chile
plant is very sensitive to cold'. May 1 is a good time for
planting. Mark fields off in rows 4% feet apart and set
2% feet apart in rows. Should the weather be dry and
irrigation necessary plow a furrow beside each mark and
run water in these furrows before and after planting, and
if the weather be very hot two or three irrigations may
be necessary to start plants. Always allow 24 hours after
irrigating before plants are set, unless soil is very sandy.
Then work may commence sooner.

When through with the irrigation furrows, plow back
and cultivate the land until level as before. Keep soil in
good growing condition always. When plants are 12 to
15 inches high use a ridger (such as is used in raising
levees for irrigation checks) with plenty of space open
behind and straddle each row, thus drawing the earth to
each side of plant and giving it support. Water may be
run down these rows at this time. As plants grow make
the ridge wider with a crowder run in between each row.
This ridge will keep plants from breaking down so readily
when laden with fruit, and when fruit strikes the ground

314 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

it will not decay so readily because the ridge will be dry.
Do not make your first ridging too high, and do not do
the work too late; if so, the first setting will be greatly
injured by pushing the earth against the fruit, thus leav-
ing no room for it to grow, and many pods will be curly
and eaten by bugs.

Gathering and Curing. — During September the fruit will
begin to ripen, the time of ripening depending upon the
soil and the care of the crop. In sandy soil the fruit will
ripen quicker than in deep sediment. If the plants lack
moisture they will ripen much faster, which looks well,
but they should be kept green as long as possible. It
pays better in the end.

The crop should be picked as each setting ripens; go
over the field three or four times. A pod should be left
on the vine until of a dark red and it has lost its hardness,
being somewhat pliable. Have the crop gathered in large
baskets, but they should be hauled in boxes rather than
sacks, as they are less liable to be bruised, and a bruised
pod is liable to decay unless dried at once. If peppers
are to be dried on strings, have them dumped on a table
or on the ground, as you prefer. Allow 24 to 48 hours for
stems to wilt after gathering before they are put on the
string. This work is done by running a twine through
the stem of each chile, the twine to be 10% to 11 feet, and
same may be hung on a scaffold to dry or put into espe-
cially made evaporators. Some growers report favorably
on drying their crop on trays instead of on twine. During
recent years most of the drying has been done in evapor-
ators, which js accomplished by artificial heat in six or
eight days.

Soils for the Commercial Crop. — Although peppers can
be successfully grown in any good garden soil, it is im-
portant for the field crop to choose deep, rich, sandy loam,
or sediment soil, which will not bake very rapidly. The
young plants must be set in damp soil and if land should
easily bake it will become hard and will dry out more
readily about the young plant and the growth will be very

VARIETIES OF PEPPERS. 315

slow. It is not wise to grow more than two crops of pep-
pers on even the best of soils without fertilizing very
liberally. Cover crops plowed under are found very
profitable.

Varieties. — The varieties chiefly grown for home use and
marketing green are Large Bell or Bull-nose, an early
variety of mild flavor, fruit large, slightly tapering and
generally terminating in four obtuse, cone-like points. It
is a favorite sort, both for pickling and for table use.
Sweet mountain is another popular variety similar to the
foregoing, but larger and milder in flavor, and Chinese
Giant is an immense pepper, often twice as large as Large
Bell.

The standard for hot pepper and for the dried crop is
the Mexican chile, long, narrow pods on a low-growing,
narrow-leaved plant. One type is a very dark, thick-
meated, cone-shaped chile, growing from 4 to 6 inches
long, which is gaining ground ; while the Long Red, or
Anaheim Chile, having pods from 6 to 10 inches long, is
the best known. The plant is strong and holds its fruit
up well and is very productive. There is also a longer
variety with pods up to fourteen inches in length which,
however, is claimed to be less productive and light when
dried, though the flesh is quite thick when green.

CHAPTER XXVITI.
POTATOES.

The Potato. — Solanum tuberosum.

French, pomme de terre; German, kartoffel; Dutch,
aardappel; Danish, jordepeeren; Italian, patata; Spanish
and Portuguese, patatas.

The Sweet Potato. — Convolvulus batatas.

French, patate douce ; Italian, patata ; Spanish and
Portuguese, batata.

Potatoes may be grown everywhere in California with-
out irrigation, except on strictly arid plains and deserts,
and it needs but slight watering to enable the light but
rich soils of the arid regions to surpass the naturally moist
lands both in the size and quality of their produce. Some
of the grandest potatoes every grown in the State have
been taken from light, warm soils whose natural growth
was sagebrush and other desert flora. The superiority of
the higher, lighter lands, either with adequate rainfall or
irrigation, to the moist lowlands of the interior river bot-
toms or the coast valleys, has been clearly recognized
during recent years. In the earlier days, the coast and
the interior river bottoms were supposed to be par ex-
cellence the potato regions, and their products were trans-
ported great distances to interior uplands which were
thought to be unfit for the plant. Now the choicest po-
tatoes are grown in these places and the production in
the older regions has decreased, though the potato still
constitutes an important crop. The present situation is
that the potato may be seen everywhere from the skirts
of the cliffs which look down upon the ocean, along the
bottoms and sides of the coast valleys, on the reclaimed
lands and benches of the great interior rivers, up the

REQUIREMENTS OF POTATOES. 317

slopes of the foothills and in the mountain valleys of the
Sierra Nevada and out beyond, upon the stretches of sage-
brush, wherever water can be had to turn the desert into
a garden. California has capacity for a potato produc-
tion beyond the ability of any available market to handle,
and though a few years ago it seemed likely that our cli-
matic advantages in early production would give us com-
mand of distant consumption at certain times of the year,
it has since been shown that much less can be profitably
done in this direction than was anticipated. There have
been in some years very large shipments at reduced freight
rates when the Eastern production was deficient, but the
potato is ordinarily too cheap an article to endure the cost
of long transportation. The California potato product
sometimes exceeds 3,000,000 sacks per year.

Situations. — Though, as has been stated, the potato
grows wherever adequate moisture is assured, there is
much difference in the times of the year at which maturity
is attained. Though the potato is a tender plant it will
endure light frosts, nor does it always yield its life when
the frost blights the foliage. Dormant buds lower on the
stem develop into a new top growth. It is, therefore, pos-
sible to secure fall and even winter growth in places where
a strictly tender plant like the bean would perish. Where
only light frosts occur and where irrigation is provided to
supplement rainfall, it is possible to have new potatoes all
the year and to bring to edible condition three crops suc-
cessively on the same ground withing a twelve month,
though it is, of 'course, better to let the potato take its
place in a rotation.

New Potatoes. — The first new potatoes from a California
point of view, would be the crop that comes in the autumn
with the first green peas — counting July 1 as the begin-
ning of the garden year. In fact the first potatoes and
peas come from the same localities. They make their
growth in the fall from planting on ground well soaked by
irrigation in July and August. The regions for this work
are those in which fall frosts are light or do not occur at

318 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

all — the thermal belts at different elevations on the hill-
sides both on the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada, also
on the warm interior plains, but not usually on the river
bottoms nor on the low places in small valleys. Owing,
however, to the partial resistance to frost of the potato,
there are very wide areas both on the coast and in the in-
terior of central and southern California, where the fall
growth of potatoes is safe and worth wider attention than
is given to it by home gardeners. Where irrigation may
be had to start the seed well the fall rains usually carry on
the growth.

Planting for what may be called the second run of new
potatoes requires stricter attention to thermal conditions.
This crop must be growing in December and January,
which are our months of heaviest frosts and rainfall usu-
ally. Strictly thermal belts, to be found at different ele-
vations on hillsides, generally within the reach of ocean
influences in the south half of the California coast line,
but also here and there on the hillsides of the interior,
favor the growth of the potato all through the winter, if
the soil be light and kept warm by free escape of surplus
water and abundant winter sunshine.

The third run of new potatoes is secured by the plant-
ing of the early varieties as soon as possible after the
heaviest frosts of the locality are over, and the soil be-
comes warm enough to push growth. This is the main po-
tato planting season of California, and covers a wide range
of dates, beginning with January on light, well-drained
soils at the south to get the earliest new potatoes for East-
ern shipment in May ; proceeding in February, not only in
the south, but on warm uplands all through the central
portion of the State, and continuing with planting all
through March, April, and May, as favoring soil condi-
tions come successively to the upper coast valleys and the
mountain regions, or as the river lowlands and reclaimed
islands are drained of their surplus water. In fact on in-
terior river lands planting may be done as late as June and
July and the crop comes on rapidly with ample heat and

ALWAYS PLANTING POTATOES. 319

moisture producing the first new potatoes of the California
garden year, as previously stated. Thus it appears that
potato planting covers the entire year, and that while
some parts of the State are digging their main crop, other
parts are making their first planting. To bring the matter
nearer to a point it may be said that a man in the central
coast region may be eating new potatoes from his hillside
while he is planting his main crop on his lowlands. And
yet one is frequently asked to answer categorically the
question : ' ' When do you plant potatoes in California ? ' '
Obviously it is a local question, to be learned by experi-
ence, observation, and inquiry, in accordance with the
general conditions outlined in the chapter on the planting
season in California.

In connection, however, with this wide liberty in plant-
ing, taking the State as a whole, it must be borne in mind
that local requirements are sometimes very sharp and that
planting on the interior plains or in other parts of the
State where there is high heat and drought, or the soil be-
comes dry even with moderate heat, planting must be un-
dertaken early enough to allow a large part of the de-
velopment of the plant before such stress comes. Local
failures with potatoes may, therefore, be often attributed
to neglect of planting as soon as moisture and temperature
conditions favor growth in each locality.

Soils. — Light, rich loams are best for potatoes as they
favor root extension and expansion of tubers and they are
retentive enough to hold the moderate amount of moisture
which ministers to the highest quality. Very near the
coast well-cultivated, light uplands receive atmospheric
moisture. enough to sustain the deep verdure of the potato
fields, while the pastures are sere and yellow. Summer
growth on interior plains and foothill slopes and mountain
plateaus is sustained by less irrigation than many other
crops require, and winter growth, whenever feasible, is
best on light, free soils. The sediment and peat of the
river lands are also, in their season, light and warm. But
the potato insists upon adequate moisture, though its claim

1 -

320 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

is moderate. It cannot give satisfaction unless its mois-
ture requirements are met.

Heavy soils in garden culture can be greatly improved
as described in the chapter on Vegetable Soils of Califor-
nia. Early and deep working of the soil and the plowing
in of rotten straw and compost and thorough mixture of
these materials through the soil will have marked effect,
but heavy land potatoes seldom have the beauty and flavor
of the product of the light, rich loams.

Culture. — Deep working of the soil is essential in pre-
paration for potatoes as has already been urged for beets
and other root crops. The soil must be made mellow to a
good depth by at least two plowings and kept mellow by
subsequent cultivation.

Unless the seed potatoes are old and show active eyes,
they should be exposed to sunlight for several weeks to
advance germination. This is especially the case when the
tubers of an early crop are used for later planting the
same season.

All proposed methods of seed-cutting have been tried in
California, and each has its advocates. When the soil and
season favor, excellent crops are grown from small po-
tatoes used as seed, but generally the selected fair-sized,
merchantable potatoes, cut into quarters lengthwise, pro-
duce best results. Cutting should not be done too long
before planting, to guard against too great drying of the
seed. Recently machines for seed potato cutting have
been used with satisfactory results by large planters. Dis-
tance between pieces in the furrow depends upon the ten-
dency of the potatoes to grow too large. This is often
corrected by dropping more thickly. The range is from
12 to 20 inches usually.

In the field much planting is done with the plow by
dropping the ' ' seed ' ' in every third or fourth furrow, so as
to bring the roots about three feet apart, and covering
with the following furrow. Depth of planting depends
upon season and soil as described on page 158, the same
principles governing as in the planting of seed. After the

POTATO GROWING. 321

seed is plowed in- to a depth of four to eight inches, ac-
cording to season and soil, a thorough cross-harrowing
should leave the field in good shape. On light soils dis-
posed to be dry, a light rolling may be beneficial. As soon
as the plants appear harrowing with the rows mellows the
surface, kills small weeds, and does not hurt the potatoes.
Cultivation between the rows should follow when the
plants are up about three inches, and the surface should
be kept loose until the plants are quite high. Good, clean
culture is the rule with potatoes. In some soils, not dis-
posed to dry out too rapidly nor to crust, crops are often
made with little cultivation after weeds stop growing,
especially where the plant has the benefit of coast influ-
ences, but cultivation for moisture retention, where needed,
must be more thorough.

On lands subject to excess of moisture, winter growth of
potatoes can be facilitated by the ridge planting described
in the chapter on Cultivation, but where this is not likely
to occur, flat culture is best, both in winter and summer.
Where potatoes are to be irrigated a slight moving of the
soil toward the row, so as to make the interspace a little
hollow to carry water, is admissable, but "hilling up" is
unnecessary and dangerous. It usually uncovers the firm
soil and exposes the roots to too great heat and drought.
It is also likely to bring the tubers within reach of the
moth from whose eggs come the potato worms. During
the latter part of the growth the tuber should be well cov-
ered with soil.

Irrigation. — The potato should be kept growing thriftily
from start to finish. If growth is arrested by drought, a
new growth of small potatoes is apt to start upon renewal
of moisture, to the detriment of the crop. The aim should
be, then, to keep the soil adequately moist by constant cul-
tivation or by irrigation until maturity approaches. Irri-
gation is best done by running small streams between the
rows, the planting having been arranged for this distribu-
tion. As already stated, excessive irrigation is decidedly
detrimental to the quality of the crop, and extra effort

322 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

must be made for even distribution of the water. To allow
low places to fill up with water is injurious and to allow
the water to come in contact with the plant stems is also
dangerous. A good, thorough, and uniform wetting of the
soil is often enough to finish the crop and it is seldom de-
sirable to irrigate after the bloom appears. Thorough sur-
face cultivation should quickly follow the irrigation, for
the reasons stated in the chapter on that subject.

Mulching. — For the last 35 years the practice of grow-
ing potatoes on the interior plains by the help of a straw
mulch has been followed to some extent. It has recently
been proposed at the east as a new method, but it is really
quite old. The seed is plowed in with a shallow furrow
so as to cover about three or four inches, then cover the
whole surface with partly decayed straw from an old
stack or with coarse manure. The mulch will retain
moisture enough to mature a crop. There need be no plow-
ing, hoeing, nor weeding, and it is held by those who ad-
vocate the method, that the labor of putting on straw is
compensated for the saving of hoeing and weeding. It is
also a safe way to grow early potatoes in frosty places be-
cause the mulch protects the dormant buds at the base of
the stems and new foliage quickly grows if the old is
nipped by frost.

Harvesting. — Potato diggers or plows are used to some
extent in California, but the common method of gathering
is by means of a long-handled shovel which is dexterously
pushed beneath the plant so that all the tubers are thrown
out at one operation. The yield of potatoes varies from
five to nine tons per acre on good soil, properly cultivated.

Storing. — As the summer and fall climate of California
is almost rainless and the frosts seldom severe enough to
freeze a potato in a sack, the tubers are generally sacked
and piled in the field for weeks and months. This advan-
tage is turned by careless growers into a disadvantage, be-
cause the potatoes are often seriously injured by heat and
light and shriveled by dry, hot winds, or the moth places
her eggs upon them and wormy and worthless potatoes is

POTATO VARIETIES. 323

the result of her work. Potatoes should be stored in a
dark, dry place and protected from heat. If left in the
field for a time the piles should be covered with boards,
straw or canvass.

Varieties. — As with other vegetables, California has
tried many kinds of potatoes and grows very few on a
commercial scale. The first notable varieties were brought
from Chili and Peru in very early days, and are still
grown in a small way though the main crop is now made
of newer kinds because in some localities the old varieties
ran out and showed great susceptibility to blight. The
blight, which in some years is a serious menace to potato
growing, has been partially escaped by the introduction of
new varieties which were thrifty, while the old varieties
on adjacent ground perished. For this reason new varie-
ties should be tested in all localities.

The potato which constitutes most of the market crop is
the Burbank and some variations of it are locally popular.
For mid-season and late potatoes nothing compares with
the Burbank. For early potatoes the old Early Rose still
prevails widely though others are encroaching upon it.
Triumph is a little earlier and is gaining ground. Early
White Rose, Early Clark and Early Ohio are chiefly popu-
lar in southern California. American Wonder, and Snow-
flake and Pearl are advancing as shipping varieties and
Peerless still retains favor in some localities.

Although there are local adaptations of different va-
rieties, the character of the potato depends more upon
local conditions of soil and climate than upon the variety
and the same variety from different localities commands
widely different prices in the market.

SWEET POTATOES.

The sweet potato is grown in nearly all parts of Cali-
fornia where rich, sandy loam, suitably moist, can be
found. Adequate heat is essential to quality and the upper
coast region has localities which are deficient in this re-
spect, but protection from coast influences renders the pro-
duct satisfactory, even though distance from the ocean be

324 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

not great. As a rule, however, the crop in the upper half
of the State is grown in the interior valleys, while at the
south, both the coast slopes and the interior valleys yield
a fine product. Where the soil is rich, warm, and free and
the moisture sufficient, the sweet potato attains immense
size and rightly ranks among the great things of Cali-
fornia.

The sweet potato is a strictly tender plant and a heat-
lover as well, consequently there is no winter planting,
though in drier parts of the State, free from frost, there
may be fall plantings which carry their crop well into the
winter and for more than half the year fresh potatoes may
be taken from the ground, and by proper storing the vege-
table may be enjoyed throughout the year.

Preparation of the Ground. — Planting is done at the be-
ginning of the frost-free period and the date depends upon
the locality. Usually it comes about the first of May, but
preparation of the ground should begin earlier to secure
good culture and moisture retention as described for other
root crops. In regions of good rainfall moisture enough
can thus be retained to make the crop, or at least start it
well. On dry plains it may be necessary to thoroughly
irrigate in the spring before the deep plowing with which
the planting is to be made. On loose, lowland soils or in
irrigated regions there is often abundant moisture within
reach of the plant to serve its purposes and then sweet
potatoes may follow a hay or grain crop just as in the
practice with common potatoes. Lands which receive
moisture from below, and yet are not wet and cold, pro-
duce the crop with least labor and expense, though it is
quite feasible to proceed with direct irrigation both for
planting and after growth. The sweet potato sends its
roots to great distances to find moisture.

Growing the Plants. — The sweet potato grows readily
by cuttings from the growing vine planted out directly in
the field if the ground is moist and warm. This method is
followed to rapidly multiply a rare variety. The usual
method is to plant the crop by using sprouts from potatoes

SWEET POTATOES. 325

on which growth is quickly started with bottom heat. Any
of the hot-bed appliances described in the chapter on
propagation may be used for this purpose on a small scale,
but in the warmer parts of the State it can be done on a
large scale for field planting without expense of glass or
cloth covering. There is, however, often advantage in an
early start with sweet potatoes, and for this the plants
must be started when air and soil are too cold. Hot water
circulation is being used for bottom heat. If artificial heat
is used, care must be taken against overheating.

To grow plants in the open air, dig a trench four or five
feet wide and about two feet deep ; the length according to
the number of plants desired. The trench should be dug
in light, well-drained soil, in a place protected from cold
winds, such as the south side of a building. Put in fresh
horse manure and tramp down until about a foot and a
half of thickness is secured. Wet it well, 'but not enough
to drain, and immediately cover with three or four inches
of moist soil. Upon this place the sweet potatoes just as
close as they can be put down without touching each other.
When done, sift in fine sand between the potatoes and
finally cover with three inches of very sandy loam, or even
with sand. Keep this bed moist but not wet. Moisture
and heat may be retained by covering the bed with two
inches of loose straw to be removed as the shoots appear.
The plants are ready for use in about eight weeks from
the bedding of the tubers, when they show a few green
leaves; they can be detached by pulling and will bring
their outfit of small roots with them as they are pulled
out of the sand. The tubers will then send up other shoots
which can be used for later plantings.

Some prefer to uncover the potatoes, beginning at one
end of the bed, removing the shoots and replacing the cov-
ering. This lessens the danger of breaking the shoots.
Others split the potatoes lengthwise and plant with the
cut side down so that all the shoots come from the upper
surface, and are thus less liable to break in pulling.

Planting. — Most sweet potatoes are grown on ridges to

326 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

secure greater heat in the soil and to facilitate irrigation,
but flat culture is also practiced, and in some regions is
decidedly better. After the land is well prepared and
harrowed down smooth, mark off the rows three feet apart
and set the plants eighteen inches apart in the row. When
the ground is thoroughly warmed by the advance of the
season, say in April or May, take the shoots as described
above. They must, of course, be kept from drying out,
the young roots being very tender. In taking them to
the field they must, therefore, be kept in a bucket with
water, or in a wet sack, the former being the best. Plant
out the shoots eighteen inches apart in the rows, one in a
place, settling them down in the soil deep enough to find
permanent moisture.

Sometimes when the object is to get unusually large
potatoes, instead of pulling off and setting out the slips,
the potato is lifted out, and with every slip a small piece
of the potato is cut out and planted with the slip. This
method will bring the earliest potatoes, but the number
of sets are many less than though the potato be allowed to
remain in bed for their continued production.

Recently planting out with a machine has come into use,
such as the transplanting machine, which digs a trench on
the top of the ridge and drops water at whatever intervals
are desired. Two boys place the plants, holding them
until the machine draws the dirt securely around them.

Cultivation. — Cultivation for the purpose of weed kill-
ing and surface stirring is continued until the vines inter-
fere, and after that the vines cover the ground with a
thick mat and discourage weed growth.

Harvesting and Storage. — Use of the sweet potatoes may
begin when they attain suitable size, but for keeping they
must attain a good degree of maturity.

Some find the keeping of sweet potatoes somewhat diffi-
cult. Many pack the potatoes in dry sand and keep them
in the house. This is expensive and is not a sure way.
Many will rot, and sometimes only one-third of them will
keep till spring. Storage in the open air with due pro-

KEEPING SWEET POTATOES. 327

tection against too great temperature changes and
moisture is better. This method has been approved in
Fresno county -

Take stout stakes, say five to six feet long, and drive
them into the ground in a row and five feet apart, in some
dry place that is not sheltered by trees. Dig the potatoes
and throw them up around the stakes to the height of four
feet. For a large field a great many such rows may be
necessary ; for a small patch perhaps one single stake will
suffice. When all dug, put four inches of straw as cover-
ing.

After a week or ten days, according to the weather,
the potatoes will have undergone a sweating process.
They first cover themselves with moisture, as if they had
been dipped in water. This moisture gradually begins to
disappear, and as soon as it does so it is time to throw off
the straw. This should be done when the wind is blowing ;
the potato hills should be left open for three or four hours,
or until the potatoes appear entirely dry. If the straw
covering is taken off in the morning, the potatoes will be
dry at noon. Then cover them again with three or four
inches of fresh, dry straw, and on the top of the straw put
three or four inches of soil to keep out the cold. On the
top of this must be placed a roof, which is easily made of
shakes nailed to strips of two by three and made in the
shape of panels, to allow of easy handling and of repeated
use year after year. Potatoes kept in this way will pre-
serve perfectly until next spring. Very few, if any, will
be found decayed.

Varieties. — Probably all the improved varieties have
been introduced in California. The California demand is
for a variety which is rather dry and mealy when cooked,
although the softer, sweeter sorts have some advocates.
The most common variety is called the Californian, but it
is a Chinese sort introduced in early days. The Southern
Queen and the Nansemonds are also popular and the
Jersey Red is grown to some extent in southern California.

CHAPTER XXIX.
RADISHES.

The Radish. — Raphanus sativus.

French, radis; German, radies; Dutch, radijs; Danish,
haverdoedike ; Italian, ravanello; Spanish, rabanito; Por-
tuguese, rabao.

Horse-radish. — Coclilearia Armor acia.

French, raifort sauvage; German, meerettig; Dutch,
peperwortel; Danish, peberrod; Italian, rafano; Spanish,
taramago ; Portuguese, rabao de cavalho.

The radish is a relish which can be had continuously
throughout the year in most parts of California, if proper
soil and moisture conditions can be arranged. It is almost
a hopeless task to undertake to secure a crisp, delicately
flavored radish unless heat and moisture are favorable to
quick growth of the plant. It takes some gardening skill,
therefore, to produce good radishes in winter localities
with sharp frosts and heavy rainfall, while in regions of
light frost and light rainfall, winter heat is usually ade-
quate to satisfactory growth.

The best soil for radishes is a rich, sandy loam, though
any good garden soil will grow them if a small piece is
improved for the purpose as described in the chapter on
Vegetables Soils of California.

Preparation of the soil is essentially the same as that
already described for other root-crops, and sowing, as
already intimated, can be done whenever the soil is in
good condition, if irrigation is available for use in the dry
season, and there is free drainage in the winter. Tempera-
ture is, however, of more moment to the radish than to
some other hardy garden plants, and during the colder
months, the raised bed, as previously described, located

GROWING RADISHES. 329

on the sunny side of a wind-break, will afford heat enough
usually. In other places where cold and rain are greater
the "warm heap" described elsewhere may be used. By
thus adapting the method to local conditions winter
growth can be had anywhere in the valley and foothill re-
gions of the State. Summer growth is mainly a question
of soil-moisture which can be regulated by irrigation and
cultivation.

As the radish is naturally of quick growth and as crisp-
ness and mild flavor are largely conditioned on pushing it
to the utmost of its speed, it can be grown to advantage
as a catch crop here and there in the garden on ground
that is temporarily out of use for a few weeks, or between
the rows of more slowly growing vegetables. The gardener
should always be ready to scatter good radish seed when
he has a little stretch of light, rich, moist soil at command.
A little attention and ingenuity will in this way secure a
constant supply.

Varieties. — Popular favor runs in the direction of the
turnip-shaped varieties, of which there are very many
The long radishes are, however, often chosen for home use.
The Early Scarlet Turnip is most largely grown and there
are several strains of it varying in earliness and color.
The French Breakfast, oval, tipped with white, stands
next to the Scarlet Turnip sorts, and the White and Scar-
let globes are widely grown. The Italian market garden-
ers-grow what is known as the " Half-Long," a variety
of Rose Olive-Shaped and the Black Spanish, very desir-
able for winter growth. The White Turnip, similar to
Scarlet Turnip except in color, is popular with German
gardeners, and the Chartier has some popularity as a large
scarlet variety, shading to pink and thence to white at
the root-tip. The Crimson Giant turnip is very large and
yet generally solid and crisp. The Mammoth Chinese dis-
tances all others for size. It is pure white, mild-flavored
and crisp, even though it may grow 18 inches in length
and three inches in diameter in six weeks, with interior
heat on light soil, abundantly moist.

330 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

HORSE-RADISH.

Horse-radish is a popular relish in California and is
bottled on quite a large scale. The plant is easily grown
and should be found in every farm garden. A start is
most conveniently made by planting root sets. Mr. Ira
W. Adams advises planting the roots or sets in rows two
feet apart with the sets one foot apart in the rows, and
three or four inches under the surface. On rich, moist
soil, with the best of cultivation, one can raise roots that
will weigh from one-half to three-quarters of a pound.
When the roots are dug in winter for use, break off all the
small rootlets from one-quarter to one-half inch in diam-
eter, cut into pieces from three to five inches long, leaving
the top end square, and the bottom end slanting, so there
will be no mistake in planting them upside down. Tie in
small bunches and put into moist sand that has perfect
drainage and is exposed to the weather. In very cold,
long, heavy rains it is well to cover with shakes, or short
pieces of boards. A cool cellar is a good place to store
them, but be careful that the sand is never allowed to get
dry, as the sets will not root nicely without continual
moisture. Early in the spring there will be nicely rooted
sets ready for transplanting, as before described.

CHAPTER XXX.
RHUBARB.

Rhubarb or Pie Plant. — Rheum sp.

French, rhubarbe; German and Danish, rhabarber;
Dutch, rabarber; Italian, rabarbaro; Spanish and Por-
tuguese, ruibarbo.

Rhubarb attains grand size and quality in California if
due attention is paid to the requirements of the plant, and
it should have a place in every house garden. It enjoys
very rich soil and will thrive on a great variety of soils,
even from heavy clay to light peat, providing ample mois-
ture is afforded it. On heavy, retentive soils it must have
good cultivation or thick mulching to prevent loss of
moisture and surface baking : on light, coarse soils either
ample irrigation or natural sub-irrigation will keep the
plant thrifty and vigorous. It does not enjoy high heat
and drought, and the old varieties reach best estate and
are chiefly commercially produced in the coast valleys or
on the river bottom lands of the interior, but can be very
satisfactorily grown for home use on interior plains and
mesas providing constant moisture is supplied; partial
shade is also grateful to the foilage in the interior, but is
not necessary on the coast. Since the wide introduction
of winter growing rhubarb, which defies the frost and en-
joys the ample moisture of the rainy season, the range of
the plant has vastly increased in California and its com-
mercial importance has greatly advanced.

Culture. — Rhubarb is grown from seed or propagated
by division of the roots: the latter insures reproduction
of the identical characters of the parent, while from seed
there is always a chance of variation.

Rhubarb plants may be grown from seed by preparing

332 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

the ground in the same way already described for aspara-
gus, and the same care of the seedling as there indicated
will bring good, strong rhubarb roots for planting out as
yearlings. Mr. Ira W. Adams gives the following special
advice for rhubarb seedlings :

Prepare the bed the same as for asparagus. Sow the
seed in rows one foot apart, and one inch apart in the row
in a little furrow one inch deep ; tamp down lightly with
the back of a steel rake and cover with the finest of soil,
as the seeds are small and light. When the plants are an
inch or two high, they can be transplanted into rows 12
inches apart, and four inches between the plants. By fall
they will be fine, strong plants, and can be planted out the
next spring in permanent rows.

Root sets are made by dividing the roots of the older
plants so that each piece shall have a bud or eye. The most
vigorous plants, producing the largest leaves and thickest
leaf-stems, should be selected for this purpose.

Planting. — Before planting either in field or garden the
soil should be heavily manured and deeply turned in the
fall so as to get the full benefit of the winter rains. Trans-
planting of the old varieties should be done when the
plant is dormant, the soil in good working condition and
warmth enough for growth anticipated. The date will,
of course, vary in different localities, but February will
usually be satisfactory for the summer growing varieties.
The soil must not be too wet at transplanting or the roots
may rot: good warmth and moisture are favorable. The
introduction of winter growing varieties has modified
transplanting practice. They are practically evergreen
and active except for a short dormancy in the late sum-
mer, and, though capable of transplanting by cutting back
the leaves all through the rainy season, are usually moved
the best advantage from April to June, the latter period
being available on irrigated land.

There are different ways of planting out, each with its
own advocates. Boots set four feet apart each way give
good opportunity for cultivation both ways : but some

GROWING RHUBARB. 333

give more room by laying off in six feet rows with the
plants three or four feet apart in the row. Others plant
in the garden, placing the plants two feet apart, if only
one row is planted, and in four feet rows with the plants
three feet apart if there are to be several rows. On good,
strong, deep soils, it is well to give plenty of room, for
large growth of leaves is desired to impart vigor to the
roots. Distance depends somewhat upon the variety, but
nearly all growers aim at very large leaf stems, and these
require ample space.

Treatment. — Plants of summer growing varieties should
be allowed to retain all their leaves the first year after
planting out, and there must be abundant moisture for
summer growth if there is to be a heavy crop the second
3'ear. Frequent summer cultivation is desirable unless
mulching is employed, and if it is, the grower must be
sure that his mulching is heavy enough to retain moisture.
It is probably better to trust to cultivation and irrigation
in most situations. With the fall rains the surface should
be liberally dressed with manure and covered in as deeply
as possible without injury to the roots. Shallow cultiva-
tion should follow before the weeds advance too far, to be
repeated as necessary to keep the field clean.

Winter growing varieties, planted out in the spring and
summer, irrigated, establish themselves so strong^ the
first summer that some pulling can be done upon them the
following winter. Even without irrigation, spring set
plants will receive a new impulse with the first rain, grow
riotously with the autumn heat and give large leaf stems
by the holidays in the warmer parts of the State.

Manuring and cultivation should be followed year after
year to keep the soil rich and in good tilth. Some soils
are, however, so rich naturally that such liberal manuring
may not be necessary. The plant should not be too fully
stripped of its leaves nor should the pulling be continued
too late in the summer. The following crop depends upon
adequate leaf action — consequently the plant must have
foliage and summer moisture to maintain it.

334 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Varieties. — The Monarch is largely grown. It has a very
wide, flat stem. The Victoria has red, long stems, rather
sharp acid, but a very productive sort and popular. Lin-
naeus is early, large, thick stems, of excellent flavor and
less acid.

The Crimson Winter, introduced from Australia by Lu-
ther Burbank about 1895, and sold by him to the trade in
1900, has revolutionized rhubarb growing in California by
completely reversing the market season. This variety and
its improvements by Mr. Burbank and by others who have
practiced selection since he sold it out, has multiplied the
rhubarb acreage of the State and vastly increased the ser-
viceability and commercial suitability of the plant. It has
precluded forcing in California and promises to render
forcing unprofitable even in the wintry parts of the coun-
try because of the large supplies of open air rhubarb which
are available for shipment from this State at all times of
the year when the summer varieties grown in wintry cli-
mates are unproductive.

CHAPTER XXXI.
SPINACH.

Common Spinach. — Spinacia oleracea and spinosa.

French, epinard ; German, spinat ; Dutch, spinazie ;
Danish, spinat ; Italian, spinaccio ; Spanish, espinaca ; Por-
tuguese, espinafre.

New Zealand Spinach. — Tetragonia expansa.

Spinach is an all-the-year- plant in California, and the
house-gardener need never fail to have tender foliage for
boiling if he arranges for successive sowings and knows
the varieties and species which befit the changing seasons,
for he can choose for fall sowing that which is perfectly
hardy and thrifty in the California winter, and for spring
sowing that which will furnish succulent pluckings even
through the heat and drought of the interior summer. But
though this is so, it is chiefly as affording winter greens
that spinach is grown for the market. The summer fur-
nishes so large a variety of table vegetables that it is
chiefly in winter that the housewife turns her attention to
pot-herbs.

Culture. — The varieties of common spinach (spinacia)
dislike heat and drought and enjoy moist, rich soil and
moderate temperature. These conditions are afforded by
all California gardens in the winter, providing the grower
will heed the suggestions for ridge-culture, etc., given in
previous chapters, for escaping surplus water and secur-
ing suitable growing-temperature in the winter garden.
With these provisions it is easy to secure winter spinach
by following the suggestions given for the winter growth
of lettuce, peas or other hardy vegetables. What has been
said of fall sowing of these, applies also to spinach. The
plant makes best growth from seed sown in place, and if

336 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

the seed is good it may be thinly sown, for the plants
should not be allowed to crowd each other. They should
have from six to nine inches space in the row and should
be kept free from encroachment of weeds. To keep the
soil from packing by rains, and to push the plants as well,
a top dressing of fine manure may be placed to be leached
out by the rains. In a garden with permanent walks,
spinach may be sown as a border plant, which brings it
within easy reach for the frequent plucking of leaves. The
plants will endure this, and by means of new growth on
old plants and successive sowings, it is feasible, as above
stated, to have spinach always ready. The variety chiefly
used is the ''Large Prickly," although the "Long Stand-
ing" is also esteemed because of its long leaf growth be-
fore sending up seed stems. The Round or Summer is also
considerably used.

For greens in the hot and dry summer and dry autumn,
the New Zealand spinach is making a fine record in Cali-
fornia. It has been widely distributed by the State Uni-
versity. Even in interior situations it grows on dry ground
all summer, and maintains rich green color until frost kills
the top growth. The stems and foliage are very sensitive
to frost, but the root is more hardy and gives new growth
and is useful in the spring. The plant sends out shoots of
considerable length which may be cut off for cooking. Its
tenderness and flavor are vouched for by many growers.
Early summer cutting may be had by starting plants with
bottom heat and planting out like egg plants, but in our
long summer, sowing in the spring after frost danger is
over, gives abundant foliage in late summer and autumn.

CHAPTER XXXII.
SQUASHES.

Mammoth Squashes or Pumpkins. — Cucurbita maxima.

French, potirons; German, melonen-kurbiss ; Danish,
centner-groeskar ; Italian, zucca; Spanish, calabaza to-
tanera.

Marrows and Scollops. — Cucurbita pepo.

The species moschata also contributes same horticultural
varieties.

The California-grown squashes are all noted for pro-
digious size and the acre-product is also immense. Squashes
have been used from the early days as exponents of size
in California vegetables, at all distant and local exhibi-
tions, and the statistics thereof would fill a volume.
Weights of single specimens have been attained in excess
of 300 pounds, and field crops above 30 tons to the acre.
To avoid exaggeration and at the same time present the
truth about the California squash in a picturesque man-
ner, a single record is presented from the writer's collec-
tion of cucurbitous literature. Philander Kellogg, of Go-
leta, Santa Barbara county, who is personally known to
the writer as a man of truth and probity, furnishes this
statement :

I planted my squashes in May, and harvested them in
October. Finding that they were unusually large, I
weighed 10 of the largest and found that their aggregate
weight was one ton and 50 odd pounds, the largest one
weighing 225 pounds. This squash was exhibited at the
county fair and received the first prize. On the 15th of
November, which was my boy's sixteenth birthday, I cut
open one of the other squashes, that weighed 210 pounds,
and took out the seeds ; my boy then got into it and I put

338 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

the piece together and completely closed him in, the parts
coming tight together. I then persuaded my eighteen-
year-old daughter to get into it and I closed her in, in the
same manner. My daughter's weight was 110 pounds. I
then put two seven-year-old boys in at once. I then put
my three little girls in at once ; they were aged respec-
tively six, four and two years, their united weight being
116 pounds. I placed the largest child in the bottom and
the little one on the top and then put on the lid; the
squash was cut so that the top could be easily put on or
removed. The squash was three feet four or five inches
in length.

The growth and productiveness of the plant in specially
favorable places are proportional to the size of the fruit :
vine growth of 50 feet and from 30 to 42 good sized fruits
to the single vine are recorded — a good wagon load to the
vine.

Localities and Soils. — The greatest specimens and the
heaviest crops are produced on rich, retentive loams.
These are rather heavy soils and are usually the lowlands
of either coast or interior valleys. But great squashes are
not confined to such soils. Lighter soils, if abundantly
rich and adequately moist, are also very satisfactory, and
in fact any good soil deeply plowed and properly culti-
vated, until the vines cover the ground, may be expected
to give good return. For this reason the dairy farmer who
has suitable land, grows squash in large quantity for fall
and early winter feeding ; the mixed farmer enters squash
as a stated item in his list of crops, and the fruit farmer
is quite apt to grow squash between the trees in his young
orchard, to contribute to his family milk supply.

The squash is somewhat exacting in its moisture supply,
and does not respond well on light, dry soils unless irri-
gated. With enough moisture the plant endures the high-
est interior heat and records large production. Excessive
irrigation is, however, to be avoided, for it is apt to di-
minish the fruiting.

340 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Culture. — The squash plant is very tender: it is de-
stroyed by frost, and the seed is apt to fail in cold ground.
The proper practice is to have the soil previously well cul-
tivated, but to delay planting seed or transplanting seed-
lings from the covered bed until the time is frost-free and
the soil warm. The culture of the squash is therefore like
that already prescribed for the cucumber and for melons,
in the chapters devoted to those subjects, to which the
reader is referred. The bush varieties of squashes follow
the cucumber in distances, and the running varieties fol-
low watermelon distances. There is, however, some dif-
ference in the practice of growers of the running varieties :
some advocate rather close planting, as six by six or eight
by eight feet in squares, and others plant at wider dis-
tances, even to setting two plants in a place at intervals
of 14 feet apart. It is impossible to state any specific dis-
tance at best : it is to be determined locally according to
the growth which the local soil and climate produce. One
is apt to err on the side of crowding than otherwise.

Care must be had not to cover the seed too deeply. It
must be firmly placed in moist soil and covered enough to
avoid quick drying. The suggestions in the chapter on
propagation are as definite as they can be made, accord-
ing to the character of the soils employed.

Cultivation must be begun as soon as possible after
planting, to save moisture from loss either by weeds or
evaporation, and must be frequent for the same reason.
Nothing looks more distressful than squash vines perish-
ing on baked clay or dry sandy soil which, if properly
cultivated from the start, would have sustained a splendid
growth.

Garden Culture. — In addition to injunctions for
thorough working of the soil and adequate irrigation,
there is the opportunity in garden culture to produce
grand results by special fertilization. Careful use of the
compost or liquid manure, described in the chapter on fer-
tilization, produces marvelous results.

SQUASH GROWING. 341

Varieties. — We have in California probably all kinds of
squash known to horticulture. Some amateurs take special
interest in such collections, and scores of varieties repre-
senting the whole gourd family have been shown in State
fair exhibits. And yet the bulk of the product is made of
very few varieties.

Of the bush forms which are relied upon for summer
squash, the scollops comprise most of the crop, both the
early white and yellow being grown — the former pre-
ferred. The yellow crook-neck is also grown to some ex-
tent. The Italian and Boston marrows have a few warm
advocates.

Of the winter squash for table use, the Hubbard and the
Red or Golden Hubbard, which is a little earlier, are chiefly
grown. The field squash crop is made of several varieties.
The California Marrowfat, a splendid, orange-colored
squash, takes the lead, while associated with it in the same
field may be found the Mammoth Chile, which is usually
the sort, more or less pure, which yields the largest speci-
mens. There is also a very large winter crookneck, very
prolific and rather more hardy in trying situations, but not
so good in keeping quality as the preceding. Here and
there may be found a field of the old-fashioned New Eng-
land pumpkin, and fair exhibits usually bring to light both
the Etampes and Tours pumpkins, but the large orange
and light olive fruits are named squashes in the California
vernacular, and are preferred. There is much confusion
both in the terms "squash" and "pumpkin," and there
are many chance hybrids which await analysis by some
cucurbitous specialist. O

CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE TOMATO.

Tomato or Love Apple. — Lycopersicum esculentum.

French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese, tomate;
Dutch, tomaat; Italian, porno d'oro.

The tomato is one of the most popular, prolific, and
profitable of California vegetables. It is grown every-
where during the local occurrences of the frost-free period,
and in our thermal situations the fruit can be gathered all
the year. The earliest fruit in our local markets and the
earliest shipments to the East are gathered from vines
which have continued growth from the previous summer
and autumn, and, encountering no killing frost, are able
to fruit through the winter months. Favorable places
near the coast in southern California are best known for
this winter crop. The winter-grown fruit is, of course, in-
ferior to the summer and fall crop, though it is excellent
enough to command high prices for table use until the
earliest yield from spring plantings is to be had. When
this new crop comes in, the fruit from the hold-over plants
becomes cheaper, but is still marketed until the new crop
becomes abundant. In this way one year's plants in
southern thermal situations lap over upon the yield of the
following year in the earliest interior sections at the north,
and the tomato supply from open air plants is continuous
through out the year, though the supply regions are hun-
dreds of miles distant from each other. The fact that the
north produces earlier spring tomatoes from new plants
than in the south is difficult for distant students to realize.
It is conditioned upon ocean influences and local topog-
raphy, which at the south prevent frosts which winter-kill
the old plants at the north, and at the same time postpone

CONDITIONS FOR TOMATOES. 343

spring heat at the south, which is attained earlier in shel-
tered places in the interior at the north from which ocean
influences are excluded. There are places in the interior
at the south, east of the high mountain range, which are
furnishing tomatoes earlier than either the southern coast
or the northern interior. Still, in the all-the-year demand
for the tomato, it is necessary to bring some fruit from
Mexico and from the forcing houses of the Southern States,
and it is probable that more forcing of tomatoes will be
undertaken in this State in the fuutre. No vegetable has
advanced so rapidly in public esteem during the last
decade as the tomato.

Requirements of the Tomato. — For early tomatoes which
can attain their chief growth before the close of the rainy
season, somewhat elevated situations, above the lowland
frosts, and with light, warm soils and free drainage, should
be selected. Sometimes frosts will occasion replanting, for
which a stock of thrifty plants should always be in readi-
ness. It is idle to attempt the growth of early tomatoes
on a commercial scale except on situations naturally fitted
for them. In the family garden, however, slight covering
from frost can be successfully undertaken.

For the main crop of tomatoes, rich, lower lands, either
naturally retentive of moisture or supplied therewith by
irrigation, are usually employed. Even heavy valley soils
are profitably used by thorough preparation before plant-
ing and cultivation afterward. Late planting can be prac-
ticed and immense yields are secured for harvesting in
September and October, when the fruit is of superior
solidity and the canneries are clear of their summer fruit
work and can turn their full capacity to this most popular
canned vegetable. In some parts of the State, November
and December tomatoes are very profitable when autumn
frosts and rains are light.

The moisture requirements of the tomato are moderate,
but they must be adequately met. Stunted vines and
small, inferior fruit are the results of drouth. High heat
can be endured and favors growth, provided ample

344 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

moisture is available. The more moderate heat of the coast
regions and the interior river bottoms is, however, ade-
quate for full development of the plant, and it is attained
with much less moisture than on the higher lands of the
interior. For this reason splendid crops are secured with-
out irrigation on retentive soils in valleys of sufficient
rainfall, even if the plants are not set until the opening
of the dry season — provided suitable winter and spring
working is given to prevent evaporation and to hold
moisture near the surface. On lands moistened by under-
flow splendid tomatoes can be grown without irrigation
all through the local frost-free period.

Plants for the Garden. — Tomatoes are readily grown
from seed and the best plants are those produced with
moderate heat. They need simple protection from cold
rather than forcing heat, as our day temperatures from
February onward are almost always adequate. For
earlier starting of plants some bottom heat is desirable
and can be profitably used if care is taken for free ad-
mission of air and subsequent hardening of the plants by
later growth under protection but at lower temperatures.
The considerations, urged in the chapter on propagation
for the handling of seeds and seedlings have special ap-
plicability to the growth of tomato plants. For the home
garden in the central and northern valley regions there is
perhaps no better way of growing plants than that of
Ira W. Adams, as follows :

''Plant the seed about the middle of February in a small
box two inches in depth, and keep in the house by a south
window in a moderately warm room. ,0n warm, sunny
days, put them outdoors, and let them remain out day and
night whenever the weather is warm enough ; in this way
they will make stocky plants and be much hardier than if
raised altogether in the house. The soil should be rich
and mellow, and always kept a little moist. When the
plants appear, thin out to an inch apart. As soon as the
plants begin to crowd each other, transplant to another
box about four inches in depth and give them a space of

TOMATO SEED BEDS. 345

four inches. By the time they crowd each other again
they can be transplanted outdoors on the south side of the
house or barn into a good-sized bed of rich soil. Here
they can remain until they get to be large, strong, hardy
plants, with very large, fibrous roots. When all danger
of frost is over, take a sharp spade and cut out a square
of dirt with each plant, put into rows six feet apart, with

BEDS FOR GROWING TOMATO PLANTS IN IMPERIAL
VALLEY.

the plants the same distance in the row. Plants can be
transplanted in this way when over a foot high and in
blossom. By transplanting them just at night, or on a
cloudy day, they will hardly ever show a wilted leaf."

Another way to secure large plants for garden planting
is to start them in a seed box, in the house, or with bottom
heat as described in the chapter on propagation, and then
transplant, when small, into growing cases made of dis-
carded fruit cans. Select those of similar size, throw
them on a burning brush pile for a few minutes, when the

346 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

tops and bottoms will drop out, and the seams on the sides
will open, leaving a smooth tin shell. Tie a string around
each to keep it from spreading. Set them in a box or
frame made of four boards. Fill the cans and the spaces
between them with good friable soil, set a small plant in
the center of each shell, sprinkle well and keep moist.
When the plants are well grown they may be transplanted
in the garden. Take the cans carefully out of the frames,
grasping the cans firmly to prevent the plants and soil
slipping out ; set them in a box or wheelbarrow and move
them where wanted. Prepare the soil by working in a
shovelful of well-rotted manure where a plant is to stand,
but this is not required if the soil is rich. Dig a hole deep
enough to set the upper rim of the can level with the
ground, cut the string and fill up and press the soil firmly
around the can, then by spreading the top of the can a
trifle, it can be drawn out over the plants without disturb-
ing the roots. If the weather is dry and warm, water may
be used at transplanting — drawing loose soil around the
plants after the water soaks away.

Plants for the Field. — The above methods will produce
plants of great size and vigor to delight the amateur. For
a field crop it is hardly practicable to grow and handle
plants in such an expensive way, and satisfactory results
can be attained with much less labor. For late planting
they may be grown in quantity in a cold frame with cloth
cover or in a raised bed with slight protection from frost
and sheltered from cold winds, or even on the open ground
in frostless places. It is best to sow the seeds in drills,
using the spaces between for cultivation and irrigation if
needed, but many plants are often grown from the seed by
simply thinning the seedlings as they stand, though the
transplanted seedlings are always more thrifty and stocky.
They have a much better root-system, and grow more
thriftily after transplanting. Take the seedlings when
they have come in the rough leaf, and with a small hard-
wood stick, made pointed at one end, take up the young

PLANTING TOMATOES. 347

plants and dibble them in clear down to the seed leaf.
Place them about three inches apart each way, water them
well, and in a few days they will begin to grow, and in
this way fine, stocky plants can be grown almost ready to
blossom when they are set out in the open ground where
they are to remain. There is nothing gained by setting
out tomatoes in the open ground when they are too small ;
if anything, time is lost by doing so, while a large, stocky
plant has plenty of fine fibrous roots, and is rapidly estab-
lished in its new place.

Tomato plants may also be grown from stem cuttings,
as described in the chapter on propagation.

Planting Out Tomatoes. — In addition to suggestions al-
ready made for planting out, it should be remarked that
for late planting especially, and in light soils, it is de-
sirable to set the plants quite deeply in the soil. If the
plants are slim and "leggy" they should be shortened,
pruning off the laterals and most of the leaves to escape
wilting, from which it is hard for the plant to recover.
The rule with some growers is to set the plant half the
length of the stem deeper than it stood in the seed bed,
and in light, dry interior soils the stem has been entirely
buried with good results. Depth of planting depends upon
the character of the soil and its content of moisture.
Where moisture is to be abundant it is better to have the
roots nearer the surface.

Preparation of land for tomatoes should begin early in
the rainy season, as for beans, corn or melons, to render
the soil absorptive of moisture and to secure good deep
tilth. Re-working in the spring, and cultivation until it is
safe to plant out the tomatoes, keeps the soil in fine con-
dition, saves moisture and insures a crop at minimum cost.
Crops are often grown on spring plowing alone, but it is
an uphill task, and attended by great risk of failure, if
spring rains are scant, as they often are.

Field planting is generally done by hand, sometimes at
the intersection of cross-markings, but often with less

348 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

care, by placing the plants firmly on the side of a fur-
row and covering with another furrow. Some large grow-
ers use the transplanting machine mentioned for sweet
potatoes, and it works well when the soil is in good con-
dition.

Distance depends upon variety. The usual distance is
six feet apart each way, for the standard growers, but
some plant more widely, even to seven and eight feet each
way, and dwarf varieties are set at intervals of four feet.

Summer Treatment. — Very seldom is any effort made
even in garden culture to support the plant above the
earth surface. As the crop is almost wholly grown with-
out irrigation or with sub-irrigation by seepage from
ditches, the earth surface is always warm and dry, and
rot is almost unknown. The soil should be cultivated as
long as it can be done without injury to the prostrate
plants. Well-grown plants on rich soils almost cover the
surface even when given the widest distances.

It is commonly believed that excessive growth of foliage
retards ripening and reduces fruitage. Whenever this oc-
curs, as on very rich and moist interior soils, free cutting
back of the plants with a scythe, is practiced with good
results. Summer pruning of over-rank garden plants is
also desirable, and may cause the fruit to set rather than
drop in the blossom.

Irrigation. — As already stated, the tomato abhors dry
soil, and in some situations irrigation is essential. Care
must be had against over-irrigation, especially in the coast
region, where proper planting and cultivation will give
satisfactory results with the natural moisture. Not only
does excessive watering promote foilage at the expense of
fruit which drops in the bloom, but it is apt to give a
tomato which slices up into cart-wheels instead of firm
and solid discs of flesh. Most growers cultivate too slackly,
especially when irrigation water is used.

Irrigation by flooding is sometimes successfully prac-

TOMATO VARIETIES. 349

ticed, but application of water which does not wet the sur-
face under the plants is preferred.

Picking Tomatoes. — Tomatoes for shipping should al-
ways be picked right. For such purpose the fruit should
be picked when slightly blushed, not by squeezing or
pulling. Encircle it with all the fingers and twist care-
fully, leaving the stem on the vine, or rub it afterward,
if it parts from the vine. Do not leave the stem end on
the fruit. Pick in shallow boxes, not in deep pails or bas-
kets, and use two receivers ; one for perfect fruit, the other
for culls. Do not handle the fruit roughly, even if it
seems very firm.

Yield. — With all conditions favorable, tomatoes make a
very large return. Twelve and a half to fifteen tons of
marketable tomatoes have been gathered as an average
per acre from large tracts in Alameda county. The largest
specimen of which the writer has record was grown in Cal-
averas county, with the following dimensions: circumfer-
ence, twenty-two and one-half inches ; diameter at widest
place, eight inches; weight, four and one-half pounds.
Mr. Ira W. Adams reports that he grew one year one hun-
dred and thirty-six pounds of ripe tomatoes from one vine,
and when the frost came picked thirty-four pounds of
green ones. This vine covered a space of nearly eight feet
square ; it grew on the edge of a ditch used for running
water to blackberry vines. It was an instance of ample
irrigation by seepage.

Varieties. — California grows all the many improved to-
matoes with which American seedsmen have enriched our
vegetable list, and new varieties should always be looked
for in California seedsmen's catalogues. They always
offer choice yellow varieties for preserving. Varieties,
which include those commercially most prominent, are as
follows :

Sparks Earliana : very early, tall growing; fruit large,
smooth, scarlet ; flesh deep red, solid.

Chalk's Early Jewel: nearly as early; fruit large.

350 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

smooth, regular in form and ripening evenly ; bright scar-
let ; continuous bearing.

Dwarf Champion : low growing, upright ; fruit medium,
pink to purplish red, according to locality ; popular in the
interior heat, especially at the south and in the foothills
of central California.

Stone : tall and fruitful ; fruit large, smooth, uniform,
bright red, solid; widely popular in southern California
for market and shipping. A Dwarf Stone, resembling
Dwarf Champion in growth is also a good shipping variety
at the south.

Boulder: resembling Stone, but much larger fruit:
popular in the coast district of southern California.

Ponderosa: a strong growing vine; fruit very large,
somewhat irregular and variable in color, usually light
red ; flesh thick but not always firm ; chiefly grown in So-
noma county for canning and market.

Trophy : vigorous and productive ; fruit deep red, some-
what irregular, solid and firm in the true' type, with ring-
mark at apex; chiefly grown for canning in Alameda
county, displacing Stone.

There is an opinion current among California growers
that even the best of the Eastern improved tomatoes are
still farther improved by California growing conditions if
constant selection is practiced to preserve the best types.
For instance the "Trophy" is very largely grown as a
late tomato for canners' use, and planters insist upon se-
curing California grown seed, but careless seed saving has
given us Trophies widely different from the true type and
very inferior.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
TURNIPS.

Turnip. — Brassica napus.

French, navet ; German, herbst-riibe ; Dutch, raap ;
Danish, roe; Italian, navone; Spanish and Portuguese,
nabo.

Kohl-Rabi. — Brassica caulo-rapa.

French, choux-raves ; German, knollkohl ; Flemish, raap-
kool; Italian, cavolo-rapa.

Rutabaga. — Idem.

French, choux-navets ; German, kohlriibe ; Dutch, kool-
raapen onder den grond ; Italian, cavolo navone.

These members of the cabbage family are somewhat
arbitrarily classed as turnips for convenience and in ac-
cordance with local popular usage. Kohl-rabi has swollen
stem, clearly above ground; rutabaga has a swollen root
partly above ground, partly below; the turnip proper is
another species of brassica, which has a swollen root and a
manner of growth like rutabaga. In California all these
vegetables take a much lower rank in popularity and use-
fulness than the cabbage group of the same genus dis-
cussed in a previous chapter ; judged as root crops they are
inferior in use and esteem to the other esculent roots al-
ready considered. They have no local standing whatever
for stock purposes, for two reasons at least : they do not
endure well our summer heat and drought, but become a
prey to fungus and unthrift ; they will not rest and start
again for larger root-expansion, as do the beet and the
carrot. Such being their weakness and perversity, the
stock feeder abandons them, which he can readily afford
to do in view of the fact that he has many other more ser-
viceable crops. He can have any quantity of immense

352 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

beets and carrots which are making their re-enlargement
from the previous spring sowing, to feed in the winter ; he
can have for late summer use, corn and squashes, which
grow riotously in summer heat which distresses the turnip.
He does well enough without the turnip, in view of its be-
havior and his own supplies from other sources.

The vegetables, then, which we group in this chapter,
must be estimated alone upon their table value, and here,
too, they are afflicted by an ill-disposition. They are not
good keepers in this climate, and, though they can be
packed away in sand for use during our warm, rainy win-
ter, the people have other supplies of fresher character in
the winter, and do not find either turnips or parsnips as
desirable as they are in wintry countries.

Turnips and rutabagas are then reduced to claim popu-
larity upon their excellence as quickly grown for immedi-
ate use when mature, and under this restriction they cer-
tainly enjoy a fair measure of popularity. Kohl-rabi is
very little used and its narrow fame is chiefly confined to
citizens of French and German descent.

Culture. — The growth of all these plants is simple and
can be undertaken anywhere in .Calif ornia, providing their
dislike of summer heat and dry air is borne in mind. The
culture methods prescribed for the beet and carrot befit
the turnip in the direction of preparation of soil, sowing
the seed and cultivation. The plants are hardy against
frost and can be successfully produced all through our val-
ley winters. Sowing for winter use may begin early in the
fall on irrigated ground or as soon as the rains fall. Sow-
ing for spring and early summer can be done at any time
during the winter when the soil is sufficiently dry and
warm for germination and growth of the seedling. In
valleys of heavy rainfall and frosts, February sowing may
be best for spring use, but in warmer, drier parts earlier
sowing is desirable. The plant needs adequate moisture
and a moderate temperature, and its growth is a matter of
conditions not of the calendar. It is plain, then, that tur-

VARIETIES OF TURNIPS. 353

nips are well adapted to winter gardening in California,
and, if pushed to maturity rapidly, they will be found very
tender and delicious. Sowing for succession will give tur-
nips fresh from the soil in all their excellence through
many months in our warmer valleys.

Both the flat turnips and the rutabagas or Swedish tur-
nips are grown in the same way, and both reach edible size
very quickly under favorable conditions. Culture is like
that advised for the radish except that they need wider
spacing. Rutabagas are better keepers and more service-
able for winter storage than flat turnips, though both are
mainly used fresh from the ground in this State.

Rutabagas are sometimes transplanted from a seed bed,
as space becomes available here and there in the garden
for them. They are handled just as cabbage plants are.

Kohl-rabi is grown in the same way as common cabbage,
both in starting plants and planting out.

Varieties. — The flat turnips chiefly grown are Early
White Dutch and Purple Top Milan — the latter being pre-
ferred by market gardeners. The Purple Top Flat Dutch
or Strap Leaf and Purple Top White Globe are also in
good favor.

Rutabagas are so little grown that there is doubt which
has the preference of several good kinds listed by our
seedsmen ; the Purple Top Yellow or Long Island seem,
however, to be most popular.

Of kohl-rabi the White Vienna is usually grown.

CHAPTER XXXV.
VEGETABLE SUNDRIES.

It is not intended to make this volume a complete treat-
ise upon the esculent plants which may be grown in Cali-
fornia, nor to claim that it contains a complete enumera-
tion of those which are actually grown at the present time.
Such a task would be appalling in view of the wide adapt-
ability of the climate and the fact that our population in-
cludes natives of every country under the sun who have
brought hither the plants which have delighted them in
their old homes. Conspicuous among such contributions to
our cultivated flora are the acquisitions from China and
Japan, which alone would require much time to identify
and characterize. Our acquisitions of minor vegetables
from Europe are hardly less interesting. It must be left
for some future student to properly arrange all these for
public information. In the present work it has been rather
the intention of the writer to treat the more conspicuous
and widely useful vegetables, because in that line the
present demand for information lies. An attempt will,
however, be made in this chapter to briefly mention a few
plants concerning which inquiry may arise in the minds of
readers, and to offer suggestions on their culture.

Capers. — Capparis spinosa.

The production of ''capers" on a commercial scale has
frequently been mooted in California, and so far as the
local adoption of the plant goes, anticipations of success
seem to be well placed. The plant thrives with moderate
moisture — enough could be conserved by cultivation on
any fairly retentive soil. It has been growing thriftily for
years on adobe soil in the University garden in Berkeley,

CARDOON AND CHERVAL. 355

and has produced prolifically the flower-buds which are
used in pickling. The labor of frequently hand-picking
the buds must, however, be considered in connection with
any projected enterprise. A few plants for the home gar-
den can be strongly commended. They can be grown in
corners or in borders and are decidedly handsome in leaf
and blossom. Plants may be easily grown from seed in a
seed-box or can be multiplied by stem cuttings in a sand
box over mild bottom heat.

Cardoon. — Cynara cardunculus.

The cardoon is closely related to the globe artichoke,
and resembles it in growth except that it attains larger
size. Its edible part is, however, the stem and midrib of
the leaf, and not the flower bud as in the artichoke. It is
propagated from seed and not from sprouts, and to pro-
duce satisfactory quality, the seedling must be pushed to
quick growth by ample manure and moisture. The car-
doon is hardy in the coast region, and can be grown for
autumn or spring use, or for succession at nearly all times.
The plant is ready for use in about six months from sow-
ing. During the last three weeks the leaves are gathered
up, covered and blanched, and both leaves and root make
a delicate table vegetable when carefully boiled.

Chervil. — Scandix carefolium and CliaeropJiyllum lulbosum.

There are two edible plants known as chervil, the first
furnishes fragrant leaves which are used as seasoning and
in salad, the second an edible root for boiling. The first is
a hardy annual, and can be grown from seed, as lettuce is
— sowing whenever moisture is adequate. It does not
thrive in high heat but can be helped by shading where
necessary. The turnip-rooted chervil resembles a carrot in
form, and may be grown as carrots are. The seed soon
loses its germinating power and must be fresh.

Corn Salads. — Valerianella olitoria and eriocarpa.

Corn salads are popular winter growing salad plants,
and are of easy culture. The seed is sown whenever mois-
ture is present in the fall, and a succession of foliage can

356 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

be had all through the rainy season. The culture is the
same as for lettuce. The plant also resembles lettuce ; we
have some varieties of open growth and some which are
disposed to form somewhat compact heads of foliage. In
this State both the French and Italian improved kinds are
hardy in California valley winters.

Cress. — Lepidium sativum, and Water Cress. — Nastur-
tium officinale.

Garden cress is easily grown all the year in the coast
region if the ground is kept moist. The seed should be
sown at short intervals, as the leaves come on very quickly.
In the interior it is chiefly a winter plant, as summer heat
checks leaf growth and carries the plant to seed. Water
cress has grown freely in California ponds and pools, and
was found in such places by our earlier botanists. In Cali-
fornia it makes very rank growth, producing stems five
and six feet high and proportionate luxuriance of leaf
growth. It usually volunteers freely wherever water
stands, filling road-side ditches and similar places. All that
is needed is to prepare a place suitable for its growth.

Dandelion. — Leontodon taraxacum.

This plant has been widely introduced on the moister
lands throughout the State, and is used for salad and for
boiling, as it appears in abundance after the fall rains.
The plant is also grown to a limited extent by foreign-born
market gardeners, and some of the improved garden va-
rieties have been introduced for their. use. It can be grown
as lettuce is, whenever the soil carries moisture enough.

Gherkin. — Cucumis anguria.

This plant is different from the small pickling cucum-
bers which are often called gherkins. It is a creeping,
branching plant, making a dense mat of stems well laden
with small, oval fruit covered with spine-like protuber-
ances. It endures heat and drought well, and is very pro-
lific even in interior situations in California.

MUSHROOMS AND MUSTARD. 357

Kitchen Herbs.

It is hardly desirable to enumerate a list of culinary
herbs. Each housewife has her own information and pre-
ference and beyond that her cook-book is an encyclopedia.
Suffice it to say that nearly the whole collection of plants
grown in northern climates for fragrant leaves or seeds is
hardy in the California winter, and most of them do best
with early sowing — as soon as the soil is well moistened by
the fall rains. Most failures with them are traceable to
sowing too late, which comes from following Eastern prac-
tice. Where the winter is quite frosty, fall sowing is less
desirable, but with February warmth the seed should be
in the ground. Early sowing enables the plants to secure
good rooting, and with that, growth can be carried later
in the dry season. Late sowing causes many a plant to
dwindle in the summer heat even if irrigation is afforded.
It must also be remembered that many plants must be dili-
gently cultivated during our dry season which thrive with-
out it in the humid summer of other countries.

Mushrooms.

Field growth of mushrooms is abundant during the
rainy season in California — especially do the fall rains
bring to view such great quantities of them that they can
be easily gathered by bushels. The list of edible mush-
rooms in California includes many species which afford a
fine field of mycological epicures. Recently there has
arisen quite a producing interest in the line of cellar cul-
ture of mushrooms chiefly by foreigners, and their methods
are essentially the same that are practised elsewhere, de-
scriptions of which are readily available. Publications on
the subject may be had free on application to the Secre-
tary of Agriculture at Washington which will give the
inquirer a good outline of arrangement and methods.

Mustard. — Sinapis sp.

Mustard is a grievous weed in California, especially on
rich soils with moisture. It is also sometimes very profit-

358 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

able as grown for a seed crop. The young plant is sought
in the fields as a salad and improved varieties are culti-
vated to some extent. Both the white and the large cab-
bage-leaved Chinese kind are grown. The culture is most
easy and simple, the treatment being the same as that of
lettuce.

Nasturtium. — Tropaeolum.

Nasturtiums are largely grown as ornamental plants, but
the desirability of the flowers for the garnishing of salads
and the use of the flower buds and green seed for pickling
and as a substitute for capers gives the plants place in the
vegetable garden. They thrive almost without care or
watering in a corner of the garden, though better growth
will show their appreciation of better treatment. They
volunteer freely in California from self-sown seed and con-
tinue growth all through the frost-free season. They can
be trained on fence or trellis or allowed free range as pros-
trate plants if space permits; or dwarf varieties may be
chosen, as they bloom and fruit freely with less extension.
They require little more from the grower than the cover-
ing of the seed in soil moist enough for germination.

Okra or Gumbo. — Hibiscus esculentus.

This popular vegetable of the south is not largely grown
in California but can usually be had from market garden-
ers. It requires generous moisture supply to thrive and
does not take at all kindly to dry heat. Plants may be
started in the winter in the ways described for the tomato,
and the planting out and treatment is like that of egg
plants; or seed may be sown for later crop in the open
ground in drills, the plants being subsequently thinned to
about a foot apart. The plants should be well cultivated
and kept well supplied with water. The Long Green and
the White Velvet are the varieties chiefly grown.

Parsley. — Apium petroselinum.

Parsley can be readily grown in California by the use of
a raised bed for fall sowing for winter use and by sowing

ROSELLE. 359

in the early spring for flat culture for summer use. The
culture is like that for lettuce except that the plants need
wider spacing and extra care has to be taken to protect
the seed from drying out, as it is long in germinating and
can not be deeply covered. Good firming .of the ground
after previous deep culture is desirable, and a light mulch
will help to retain moisture and facilitate watering with-
out crusting the ground.

Roselle. — Hibiscus subdariffa.

This interesting plant, resembling in its growth okra or
gumbo, is a native of tropical Asia and Africa, and has
been widely distributed through semi-tropical countries,
where it has been found to possess considerable resistance
to drought and to yield very acceptable food products. It
has recently been introduced in California — the seed hav-
ing been distributed by the State University. The plant is
very ornamental, the dark red stems and pods showing
through the rather scant dark green foliage. The flowers
are of a yellowish white with a dark red center, two in-
ches across and lasting only an hour or so during fair
weather. The juice extracted from the fleshy calyces or
husks is used with water to make an acidulous cooling
drink, but is of most value in jelly-making. The muci-
laginous properties of the juice render the "setting" of the
jelly certain, with a reasonable amount of cooking. The
dark sherry color of the jelly and the sprightly acid make
it nearly if not equal to currant jelly. Irrigated plants
produce a more highly colored fruit, but come into bearnig
later. Unirrigated plants put their strength into fruit, but
the irrigated plants start lateral branches, which ulti-
mately produce several pods, while the unirrigated plants
have but one pod. As the plant will endure quite heated
and arid situations, it promises to be of much value for
jelly-making where currants do not thrive. The plant
should be given ordinary garden culture, sowing the seed
when danger of frost is over. Enough of the pods should
be allowed to ripen to yield seed for the following year.

360 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Sea Kale. — Crambe maritima.

This plant is but little grown in California, and then only
by professional gardeners. It requires long use of the
ground and considerable attention in provision for blanch-
ing. Plants may be grown from seed, if it is fresh, as to-
mato plants are grown, and planted out at about three feet
apart each way. Plants can also be grown from root cut-
tings as described for horse-radish, placing them about
three feet apart each way. Plants from root cuttings
should be allowed free growth for at least one year, and
seedlings twice as long. Preparation for use consists in
covering the plant with an inverted pot or box as the
shoots appear and allowing it to make its growth in the
dark, thus producing blanched and tender midribs. In
cutting, the knife should go below the root crown, as new
shoots come readily from below. Old roots are productive
for many years if allowed to grow freely but not to form
seed after the early growth is cut for use.

Soy Bean. — -Soja liispida.

This plant has been tried and discarded by a number of
growers as unthrifty in our dry summer, but good crops
are grown on low, moist lands especially by the Oriental
element of our population.

Square-pod Pea. — Lotus tetragonolobus.

This plant has recently acquired some little popularity
in California as a table vegetable. It will make a good win-
ter growth in some regions of the State, though a little
spring heat is more pleasing to it. Its culture is like that
of garden peas, and, if sown during the rainy season, will
bear an abundance of edible pods for early spring use. The
pods should be gathered When young and tender and are
cooked like string beans.

Chinese Yam. — Dioscoria batatas.

This climbing plant grows thriftily in California and
sends its fleshy roots, which are the edible part, so deep
that it seems to contemplate return to its native country.

A FOLIAGE BEET. 361

To get the roots one has to dig a well several feet deep, be-
cause they are so brittle that they will stand no pulling
whatever. With present prices of labor in this country it
is not profitable to go into deep mining to get starchy food,
and the plant is grown only as a curiosity.

Chard. — Beta vulgaris.

This plant is a beet grown for its foliage and not for its
root which is small and branching. Its cultivation is, how-
ever, exactly like that of the beet root, except that its root-
ing habit allows of shallower tillage but it enjoys good
conditions in the soil and manifests its delight by grander
foliage which is very desirable and is used as spinach is.
It is not largely grown in California, because conditions
are so favorable for continual supplies of spinach, which is
preferred.

INDEX

Adobe, improvement of 44

April, work for 144

Artichokes 172

gathering 174

globe 172

growing seedlings 173

Jerusalem 174, 176

planting out 173

soils for 173

varieties 174, 176

Ashes, value of 104

Asparagus 177

canning 186

field culture 180

garden planting 178, 180

growing plants 178

harvesting 183, 185

localities for 178

rust 186

season 185

soils for 176

varieties 186

August, work for 142

Beans
bush

,188

thinning 214

tillage for 212

varieties 208, 217, 218

yield 216

Birds, killing 112

Bordeaux mixture Ill

Borecole 234

Broccoli 234

Brussels sprouts 220, 228

abbage 221

field culture 222, 226

growing plants 224

harvesting 226

planting 224, 225

soil 224

stock 227

varieties 227

California climate 28

garden calendar 140

garden, satisfaction in 26

soils, excellent 38

Cans for plant growing 170

Cantaloups 277

canning 17

climbing 204 Carrot

drying, storing 195

field culture 189, 194

garden culture 201

harvesting 195

irrigating 205

localities for 190

planting 192, 194

product 191

soils for 191, 210

threshing

transplanting 204

varieties for field 198

Beds, raised 92

Beets 206

garden culture 206

stock 217

sugar 39, 209

cultivation 212

harvesting 214

planting 212

202 Capers 354

Cardoon , 355

237

field culture 238

ridge culture 239

soils 238

varieties 240

Cauliflower 221, 229

garden culture 231

growing plants 230

planting 231

varieties 233

Celeriac 254

Celery 244

bleaching 252

field culture 249

garden culture 246

growing plants 249

growing plants 249

harvesting 253

locations 245

soils 245

varieties . 253

pulp 217 Chard 361

season 215 Chervil 355

soils and situations 210 Chick pea 309

364

INDEX.

Chicory

culture

drying and roasting

harvesting and curing

soil

yield and value

Chives

Ciboule

Climate of California 28,

coast valleys

early regions

frostless places

interior lowlands

mountain valleys

plains and foothills

thermal belts 30;

Cloth for covering beds, etc. .

Cloudiness and sunshine

Cold frame, the

Collards 221,

Corn

culture

ensilage

locations

planting

soil

varieties

Corn salad

Cress

Cucumbers

culture

locations for

varieties

Cultivation (see tillage)

flat

garden

summer 87, 136,

Cuttings and layers

Dandelion

December, work for. . . .

Ditches, irrigation

Drainage in California .

benefits of

conditions demanding

not always necessary.

surface

under drainage

with irrigation

Drying vegetables

Earliest regions

Egg plant

culture

locations for ,
varieties .

255
256
257
256
256
256
303
303
128
29
32
36
30
33
32
32
166
34
162
235
259
263
264
259
260
260
264
355
356
266
267
266
269
82
. 93
. 88
138
,168

,356
,143

, 68
, 74
, 75
, 77
. 76
, 76
, 77
79
. 17

, 36
270
,271
270
,271

Endive 257

Engines, gasoline 52

steam 52

Farm gardens 20

benefits of 23

economics of 23

profitable 24

programmes 153

social advantages of 25

February, work for 143

Fences 131

Fertilizers in California 96

Forcing in California 155

Frostless places 36

Frost, effects on vegetables...

36, 151

occurrences of 147

protection 107

Fungi, remedies for Ill

Furrow irrigation 67

Garden, arrangement 129

calendar 140

drainage 74

essentials to success in .... 20

horse work in 131

insects 107

location of 129

place in mixed farming. ... 26

practice, diversity in 17

protection 104

succession and rotation. . . .

. 133, 140, 152

unirrigated 47

weeds 116

winds and frosts 106

work seasonable 138

arlic 302

Germination, conditions for.. 157

Gherkin 356

ophers 113

Gumbo 358

Hilling 93

Hillside irrigation 68

Hills, transplanting 169

Hoe in California 89

Horse radisn —

Horse work, arrangement for.131

Hot-bed, the 163

Hot box, the 164

Hydraulic rams 54

[nsects, remedies for 107

Irrigation, garden 47

advantages of 47

INDEX.

365

and drainage

check system

current wheels

furrow system

hillside

how much

hydraulic rams

money value of

must be adequate

permanent ditch system...

picturesque

pumps

raised beds

reservoirs

ridge system

seepage

siphons

sprinkling

sources of 48,

79 May, work for 144

61 Melons 277

53 cantaloups 277

67 culture 278, 280

67 muskmelon 277

72 varieties 283

54 watermelon 277, 285

50 culture 286

72 locations for 285

62 harvesting 287

66 varieties 287

52 Mole 115

92 Mulch, earth 84

55 Mulching 159

65 Mushrooms 357

65 Muskmelons 277

54jMustard 357

69!

^Nasturtium . ..358

sub-irngatio^ 69 g^SKT^* 'for: ! I '. '. '. '. '. '.UZ

Will it; I r~f i JL

January, work for 143

Jersey kale 221

July, work for 141

June, work for 145

Kale or borecole 221

Jersey 221

Oregon 235

sea 360

Kerosene emulsion 110

Kitchen herbs 357

Kohl-rabi . ..353

Leek

Lentil 309

Lettuce 272 Parsley

culture 273

seed growing 126

varieties 275

Lime, uses of 44

Manures, absorbents of...... 103

animal '. . . 96

as mulch 104

bone 105

composting 100, 101

deterioration of 98

liquid 103

tanks for 100 Peppers

March, work for 144

Moisture, absorption of 84

conditions of 84

conservation of 85, 87

must be adequate 72 Plow, use of.

October, work for 142

Okra 358

Onions 289

culture 290, 299

irrigation 298

harvesting 298

localities 290

seed growing 123

seed planting 292

sets 296

soils 290

transplanting 294

varieties 300

Orchard, vegetables in 133

.358

Parsnip 237, 241

soils and culture 241

varieties 242

Peas 304

culture 306

early 306

field culture 307

soils and situations 305

sugar peas 309

varieties 308

squarepod 360

Peat soils for vegetables 42

311

culture 312

varieties 315

Planting season 138

Planting time, tables 145

83

366

INDEX.

Potatoes 316

culture 320

harvesting 322

irrigation 321

mulching 322

season 318

situations 317

soils 319

storing 322

sweet 323

varieties 323

Propagation 155

cold frame 162

covering beds 166

cuttings and layers... 168

from seed 166

hills for transplanting 169

hot-bed 163

hot box 164

seed-boxes 141

seedlings, handling 167

warm heap 165

watering in 165

Pumpkins 337

Pumps, Chinese 52

service of 52

Radishes 328

culture 328

varieties 329

Rainfall, occurrence of 35

Raised beds 92

Reservoir construction ... .49, 55

subterranean 51, 56

Rhubarb 331

culture 331

planting 332

seedlings 332

treatment : 332

varieties 334

Ridge culture 65, 91

Roselle 359

Rutabaga 351

Salsify 237, 243

culture 243

varieties 243

Sandy soil, improvement of . . 46

Sea kale 360

Seed-boxes 161

covering 157

firming soil for 158

mulching 159

planting conditions of 158

Seed growing in California. .120

lettuce 124

onion 123

other seed 123, 126

preparation for market 127

Seedlings, planting 168

September, work for 142

Shallot 303

Soils, adobe 44

alluvial 42

deep not essential 46

vegetable of California 37

desirable characters of.. 38, 40

improvement of 44, 45, 46

light soils preferred 38

peat 42

sediment 42

Soy bean 360

Spinach 335

culture 335

New Zealand 336

varieties 336

Square pod pea 360

Squashes 337

culture 340

large 337

varieties 341

Squirrels 112

Sub-irrigation 69

Summer fallow 82

Sweet potatoes 323

culture 324

harvesting 326

growing plants 324

planting 325

storing 326

varieties . 327

Trench irrigation 70

Tillage, early 87

flat 93

for absorption 82

for retention 84

to release moisture 94

with irrigation 90

Tomato 343

canning 17

culture 344, 347

growing plants 344

irrigation 348

localities 343

planting out 347

requirements 343

varieties 349

yield 349

INDEX.

367

Turnip 351

culture 352

varieties 353

Under drainage 77

Vegetables, canning and dry-
ing 17

at missions 13

by foreigners 15

chance for Americans 15

cheaper bought 19, 22

climatic requirements 34

forcing 155

furnish capital for fruit... 11

growing in California 9

in your orchard 133, 308

pioneer 9

shipping 16

soils for 37

weights and sizes 10

Water, importance of 20

application of 61

lifting devices 51

requirements of soils 72

supply, sources of 48, 51

Watermelon 277

Waterproof cloth 166

Weeds in California 116

Wells, artesian 51

Will, water, work 20

Windbreaks 106

Windmills, service of 52, 65

Winter gardening 35

irrigation 71

Wheels, current 53

Work, importance of 20

for the months 140

seasonable . . . 138

Yam

,360

Vegetable sundries 354 i Year, division of garden 141

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