Gardening for young and old. The cultivation of garden vegetables in the farm garden

mw fork
Hatt Qfollege of Agriculture

Stljata. Sf. f.

Hibrarji

Cornell University Library
SB 321.H3
Gardening for young and old The cultrv^

Cornell University
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tine Cornell University Library.

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GARDENING

FOR

YOUNG AND OLD.

THE

CULTIVATION OF GARDEN VEGETABLES
IN THE FARM GARDEN.

JOSEPH HAERIS, M.S.,

A.TJTHOB OF " WAljKS AND TALKS ON THE FABM," '* HABBZS ON THB PIO,"
"TALKS ON MANUBEB," BTC.

ILLUSTBATES.

NEW TOKK:

OEANGE JUDD COMPANY,

751 BROADWAY.
1914

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1882, by the

ORANGE JUDD (JOMPASTY,

In the Office of tlie Librarian of CougresB, at Waeliington.

(^liSSb

Printed m U, s. A,

CONTENTS.

PAOE

Introduction 7

Ad Old and a New Garden 8

Gardening for Boys 9

How to Begin 10

Preparing the Soil 13

Killing the Weeds 13

About High Farming 15

Competition in Crops 17

The Manure Question 19

The Implements Needed 31

Starting Plants in the House, or in the Hot-hed 33

Making the Hot-bed 25

Cold Frames 26

Insects 26

The Use of Poisons 27

The Care of Poisons 30

The Cultivation of Vegetables in the Farm-garden 31

The Cultivation of Flowers 150

(3)

PREFACE.

I should like to see more seed-growers in the TJnited
States, and I hope some o| my young friends will devote
themselves to this industry. There are more seeds sown
in America, in proportion to population, than in any
other country. European seedsmen, notwithstanding a
duty of twenty per cent. , find the United States one of
the best markets in the world.

It seems to be a fact, that many seeds, when grown
here, produce much better crops than when grown in
Europe. Market gardeners give a decided preference to
American-grown seeds. American-grown cabbage seeds,
for instance, find a ready sale at double the price of im-
ported seed.

Cauliflower seed has hitherto rarely been grown in
this country successfully, but I understand that Cali-
fornia is now growing it of excellent quality. Dakota
is growing cabbage seed, and I feel confident that some-
where on this broad Continent, with its great diversity
of soil and climate, there is not a seed which the Ameri-
can gardener wants, that will not be grown to perfection.
The great point is to get what seed-growers call " stock
seed," to start with. As a rule, you can not buy it.
You must grow it yourself. Take Cucumber seed, for
example. Enormous quantities of Cucumber seed are
grown and sold in America, and yet it is exceedingly
difficult to get good seed, pure, and true to name. And
(5)

6 PRBFAOB.

SO of Watermelon seed. A gentleman in Barnwell, S.
C, wrote me a few days ago for Watermelon seed, for
his own use, suflacient to plant one hundred and fifty
acres. Such a man could afford to pay a high price for
seed, that was known to be good, rather than to accept
common seed as a gift. Seedsmen, as a rule, are hon-
orable men, and would cheerfully pay good prices to a
careful seed-grower, whose seeds always proved to be as
represented.

I would particularly urge some of my young friends
to turn their attention to seed-growing. They should
make it the business of their lives, and the earlier they
commence, the better. They need the best of education,
the highest moral character, a good stock of patience
and common sense, the best of land, and above all, a
hopeful disposition, that will enable them to persevere
amid manifold discouragements. I know of no industry
which promises greater success. None of us, however,
wish to see American Horticulture degenerate into a
money-making business. It is preeminently worthy of
attention for its refining and ennobling influence. I
have often thought of the words of Hooker, written
more than three hundred years ago: " The beauty of trees
when we behold them, delighteth the eye." The beauty
of flowers elevates the taste, and their cultivation gives
health and pleasure. J. H.

GARDENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

INTEODUCTION.

I first thought of calling this book " Gardening for
Young Folks," but I found that the young folks of my
intimate acquaintance, and who are as much interested in
the book as any one else is likely to be, very decidedly
objected to the title. And it was at their suggestion that
I decided to call it " Gardening for Young and Old" —
with a mental reservation that it should be principally
for the Young Folks.

The fact is, the children are right. It is not "Gar-
dening for Young Folks " alone that is required. The
young would do little without the advice and sympathy
and encouragement of their fathers and mothers, or
older friends. And some old folks I know are almost
as bad, or worse. They can do little or nothing in the
garden unless they have the young people to help them.
The fact is, the Old were made for the Young, and the
Young were made for the Old.

I know an old farmer who has given up the active
management of his farm, and who devotes his whole time
to the garden. It is a small garden, but it is a model of
neatness and thorough cultivation. Not a weed, or a
stone, or a stick, is to be found in it ; he has the earliest
of vegetables and the sweetest of flowers. But there is
not enough to it, his garden is simply a plaything, but
it has done one good thing. One of his grandchildren,
a bright active boy, has a decided taste for gardening.
(7)

8 GAEDENING POE YOUNG AKD OLD.

He sometimes visits me and takes a deep interest in all
that is going on. He is willing to learn, is not afraid of
work, and he is ready to adopt a new plan. If his father
would give him the chance, and the grandfather aid
him with his experience (as he will), this young man
will soon have a garden that is a garden ; in fact, he has
already commenced. He has enclosed about an acre of
land near the barn-yard, and adjoining the old garden.
It may not be big enough, but it will do to commence
with. This young man has been frequently in my mind
while writing this book.

AS OLD AND A NEW GAKDEN.

I want to introduce a new system of gardening. I do
not wish to do away with the old gardens, but I would
see new ones on every farm. Moreover, I want to see them
big enough to admit of the use of the plow, the harrow,
the roller, and above all, of the horse-hoe, for cultivating
between the rows of growing plants. I have myself just
such a garden, and I have also an old-fashioned garden,
full of trees, and walks, and bushes, and — weeds. There
are two or three beds of asparagus that do not amount to
much. In one corner there is a mass of horse-radish,
and along the fence there is a row of currant bushes.
There was formerly a score or more of English goose-
berries, but the mildew and the Saw-fly have been too
much for them. We have grapevines growing vigor-
ously, and here and there a bed of beautiful roses. There
are beds of thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley, and rhu-
barb. The latter produces an abundance of seed, but
only a few somewhat stringy stalks. This bed of rhu-
barb stands right across a strip of land where, but for it,
I could use a cultivator to great advantage. We have
peach trees, cherry trees, pear trees, raspberries, black-
berries, and strawberry beds. In short, it is a large, old-

INTRODUCTION. 9

fashioned garden. It is no worse than many others, and
better than some gardens. Trees that I planted with my
own hands are now fifty feet high. Rows of dwarf apple
trees, on each side of a twenty-foot walk, in spite of all
the pruning we could give them, interlock their branches.
I would not destroy the old garden. It has been a source
of much pleasure, and it is still not without its attractive
features. But there is not a crop in it that does not cost
more than it is worth. In spite of all the hoeing we can
give it, by the time we are through with the harvest the
garden is full of weeds.

I have another garden, several acres in extent, with
only a fence between it and the old garden, to which it
presents a decided contrast. I will not boast, but I think
there are more weeds on a square rod in many parts of
the old garden than could be found on a whole acre of
the new. This is simply because we have room enough
for all the modern tools for preparing the land, drilling
in the seed, and cultivating the crops. Wherever the
plow and the cultivator can be used, we get good crops,
and clean land, and if not, not.

GARDENING FOB BOYS.

I want to interest the boys in gardening. I would like
to have them start with new land and new methods.
Select the best piece of land you have. I do not care
how big it is. Three or four acres is none too much.
The amount of work required will depend on the kind
of crops to be raised ; you can raise an acre of sweet
corn, or an acre of early potatoes, or an acre of late
cabbages, with half the labor required to raise an acre of
onions. Let the garden be big enough, and if you fear
you can not command sufficient labor to grow the more
expensive crops, then devote the larger portion of the
ground to those crops which can be kept clean almost en-

10 GABDEN'ING FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

tirely by the use of the cultivator, and aim to have some
of the crops come in early, and some to mature late, so
that all the work of gathering the crops will not have to
be done at one time.

Even if you are sure of the labor, it is a good plan at
Qrst to grow crops with which you are most familiar, and
which do not require excessively rich land. It takes
some years to get land in the very best condition for
many of our best garden crops. Even such a common
crop as early cabbages will do better on land that has
been heavily manured two or three years, and occupied
each year with cabbages, than can be grown on new
land, no matter how heavily it may be manured. The
same is true of onions; old onion land, provided it is
well manured every year, is proverbially better for this
crop than new land.

I want the boys to engage in gardening, because they
are young and can afford to wait, but more especially be-
cause they will be more likely to adopt new processes,
and will be willing to bestow the necessary care and
labor in preparing the land. I can not insist too much
on the importance of this matter, not only at first, but
in the years to come.

HOW TO BEGIN.

If the land selected for a garden is not naturally well
drained, it must be under-drained. Without this, suc-
cess is impossible. Fall plowing is of great importance,
and I do not mean by this simply turning over the soil
with a plow, and letting the furrows lie undisturbed un-
til spring. If it is sod-land, it should be plowed deep
and well, as early as possible, and the surface afterwards
harrowed and rolled, cultivated and again rolled, and
harrowed again, until there are four or five inches of loose
mellow soil. If the plowing was done so early that the

INTRODUCTIOK. 11

sod is so rotted that it can be cross-plowed before winter
sets in, all the better. It can not be plowed too often in
the fall. All stones and rubbish must be removed.

ABOUT MA2(rUKES.

The application of manure is no doubt a very impor-
tant matter, but in many cases a still more important
one is, how to get the manure. We never have all we
could use to advantage. Unless we buy manure, we
must rob some other part of the farm in order to enrich
the garden. Mos!; farmers will be startled at this propo-
sition. In many cases, however, it is the true plan. A
farmer with a hundred acres of land could use all the
manure he makes on a ten-acre field devoted to garden
crops. He could use phosphates on the farm, and ma-
nure and phosphates in the garden. On the farm he
could enrich his land by summer-fallowing and plowing
under green crops. The more stock he keeps, and the
more grass, corn, oats, peas, mustard, rape, and millet
he grows and consumes on the farm, the more manure
he will make. In many cases he could with advantage
buy food to feed his stock.

My own plan is, to rot the manure by making it into
heaps five feet wide and about five feet high, and of any
desired length. It is piled in the barn-yard as fast as it
is made. In the winter we draw these piles into the field
where the manure is to be used, and make it into other
piles five feet wide and five feet high, as before, being
careful to carry the heaps up straight and square, so that
the top shall be as wide as the bottom. If you do not
insist on this being done, the teamsters will make the
heap like the roof of a house, and before spring the ma-
nui-e will be frozen solid. On the other hand, if the heap
is carefully made, the manure will decompose and keep
warm, and be in splendid condition for use early in the
spring.

12 GAEDENISG FOK YOUNG ANB OLD.

PEEPAEING THE SOIL.

In preparing land for a garden, as before said, we can
not plow it too much in the autumn. If the land can
not be got into good condition in the fall, it certainly can
not be done in the spring. This is true not only of new-
land, but of old garden land. Said an old gardener and
seed-grower tome the other day: "The longer I live,
the more am I convinced of the importance of fall plow-
ing. It makes the land cleaner, and you are ready to
commence work much earlier in the spring."

I know a farmer who wished to make a large field-
garden, who selected a good piece of land, and plowed it
up in the spring and sowed it to buckwheat, and when
the crop was in flower, he plowed it under and seeded it
again to buckwheat. He had an immense crop, but he
managed with a good plow and chain to turn it under.
He then, in August, or the first of September, sowed the
land to rye, and the next spring, about the middle of
May, he plowed under the rye. The land was wonder-
fully mellow and full of vegetable matter, and he had a
grand piece of land on which to commence gardening
operations. By the aid of a little phosphate it is easy
to grow good sweet corn, melons, cucumbers, beets, and
late cabbages on such land.

Gardeners who live near a city where land is high,
will think they can not afford to let their land lie idle.
They will prefer to buy manure rather than plow under
green crops. But in the country, where we wish to start
a field-garden, and can not buy manure, there can be lit-
tle doubt but that we can very cheaply enrich the land
by plowing under such crops as buckwheat, white mus-
tard, and rye. I do not say that we can make land very
rich m this way, but we can fill it full of vegetable
mould, and at the same time make the soil clean and
mellow. The system of gardening I wish to advocate in

INTRODUCTION. 13

the country is based on the idea of having a large gar-
den, only a part of which is necessarily occupied by
crops which require a maximum amount of manure. I
want the garden so large from the start, that the whole
of it may be very thoroughly plowed and subdued and
brought into good shape, and be ready at any time to re-
ceive such garden crops as we may wish to grow.

It will do a farmer good — it will certainly do his boys
good — to have such a piece of land or field, where the
very best system of cultivation is adopted. Very few
farmers know what really good cultivation means, I am
myself a farmer, and the son and grandson and great-
grandson of a farmer, and mean no disrespect to farmers
when I say that most of us have very little idea of how
much land can be improved by thorough cultivation and
high manuring.

KILLING THE WEEDS.

The first year I came upon the farm where I now live,
there was a field of ten acres of wheat. The field was
seeded to clover, but the clover was killed out, and the
■ wheat stubble was one mass of Quack-grass. I had had
considerable experience with this under-ground weed,
and I was determined to kill it, and I did kill it. The
field to-day is occupied with garden crops, and there is
not a spear of Quack in it. It so happened that at one
of the meetings of our Farmers' Club, the question un-
der discussion was. How to kill Quack-grass? It was
stated that land near Rochester, worth five hundred dol-
lars an acre, was so overrun with Quack as to be almost
worthless for cultivation, and some of the speakers
thought it would have to be abandoned. I was innocent
enough to get up and tell the method I had just used for
killing Quack on my own farm. " As soon as the wheat
crop was off," I said, "I plowed the land, and then har-
rowed it, and rolled it and harrowed it again until it

14 GAKDEIJ^ING FOB TOUSTG AND OLD.

presented quite a respectable appearance on the surface.
The Quack, after the autumn rams, began to grow, and
I cross-plowed the field with a steel plow. The grass was
so thick and matted that the plow did not make very
good work, but as the weather still continued dry, we
were able to work the surface into good shape by the
use of a thirty-two toothed harrow, which was the only
kind we then had. (A Smoothing Harrow, with ics
seventy-tWo slanting teeth, would have made far bet-
ter work, with half the labor.) We kept harrowing it
and cultivating it as opportunity oiiered, and about the
last of November we plowed the land again, and left it
rough for the winter."

As I talked, it was amusing to watch the expression on
the faces of the farmers present. They did not seem to
know whether to laugh or sneer, but I imagine they
thought it would be better to let the Quack retain pos-
session of the land, rather than to spend so much time
in plowing and working it. And I then said: "In the
following spring we plowed the field again, and then
harrowed and cultivated and harrowed and rolled until
the land was completely covered with the dry roots of
Quack, which we raked together in windrows and heaps,
and then set fire to them. Afterwards we plowed the land
once more, harrowed and rolled it, and drilled it in with
beans." At this point even the intelligent Secretary of
the Club, and an able agricultural writer, could not re-
strain a look of amazement, that any man could be so
destitute of all sense of propriety as to recommend , any
such a system. But after twenty years' experience, I am
prepared to say that the plan was a good one. I had a
noble crop of beans that summer, and a good crop of
wheat afterwards. Prom that day to this the field has
been the best on the farm, and will pay a higher interest
on five hundred dollars an acre than it would have paid
at that time on fifty dollars.

INTEODUCTION". 15

I do not say that the whole of this result has been
brought about by this extraordinary number of plowings
used to kill the Quack, but I feel quite certain that this
was the starting j^oint and basis of the improTement.
One boy may spend his winter evenings with idle com-
panions, and another at home reading a few good books.
The one is never heard of afterwards, the other is the
President of a University. I do not say that the books
he read that winter evening made him the useful and
distinguished man he is,. but it was the first of a series
of steps which led to honor and renown.

I have spent a great deal 'of labor on this piece of land,
but it has paid for itself from the start; and what I have
done myself, I urge others to do, even though the wise
men may shake their heads.

ABOUT HIGH FARMING.

We have now far better tools for cultivating land than
formerly. In fact, our tools are better than our agricul-
ture. And we may rest assured that so soon as we adopt
improved methods of farming and gardening, our inven-
tors and manufacturers will furnish all the tools, imple-
ments and machines necessary to do the work.

But will it pay to adopt high farming ? That depends
on what we mean by high farming. High farming, if
we confine ourselves to the production of hay, Indian
com, wheat, oats, and other ordinary farm crops, will
not pay in this country. And Sir John Bennett Lawes
once wrote a paper or gave a lecture before a Farmer's
Club in Scotland, in which he demonstrated that high
farming was no remedy for the low prices of agricultural
products in Great Britain and Ireland. I think, how-
ever, he would admit that thorough cultivation and
heavy manuring could be profitably used for the produc-
tion of what we usually term garden products.

Some years ago I was at an agricultural dinner in

16 GARDENIN^G FOK YOUNG AND OLD.

England, when the late J. J. Mechi, who had for many
years recommended high farming, ctated that, notwith-
Btanding the low price of agricultural products, he was
at that time picking seyeral acres of peas for the Lon-
don market, and he found the crop a very profitable one.
Dr. Gilbert, one of the ablest agricultural chemists of
the world, called out: "But, Mr. Mechi, this is not
farming, it is market gardening." Mr. Mechi, though
always ready, made no reply. He seemed to think that
the argument was unanswerable, and he let the case go
by default. But not so the coming generation of farm
boys — and I hope of English boys also. What does it
matter whether you harvest your peas dry or pick them
green ? AVhat does it matter whether you raise cab-
bages, corn or carrots, and other roots, to be fed out on
the farm to animals, or to be sold in market to our fellow
citizens, who can not grow them for themselves ?

The advocates of high farming make a mistake. Nei-
ther England nor New England will ever raise all the
wheat required by its population. Even the great State
of New York, I hope, mil not long continue to raise on
its own soil all the wheat it annually consumes. Com-
merce is the feature of the age, and wheat is carried ten
thousand miles to market. Cheap bread is what the
world wants, and what the world wants, the world will
get. Cheap wheat can never be furnished by high farm-
ing. It must and will be grown largely on land manured
only by nature. There may be places in which wheat
can be profitably grown, where many of the constituents
of the plant must be applied to the soil, just as there are
places where we can profitably use chemical processes for
the production of ice. As a rule, however, nature and
commerce will furnish ice cheaper than even modern
science can manufacture it. We shall have two kinds of
farming. One will consist largely in the production of
wheat, corn, oats, barley, cotton, sugar and rice. The

INTEODUCTIOIT. 17

other, while it will not entirely neglect these great pro-
ducts, will aim to produce crops which can not be kept
from year to year, or ordinarily be transpoi'ted long
distances.

The one system of farming will be carried on with lit-
tle labor, and little or no manure. And what manure is
used will be for the purpose of enabling the plant to ab-
stract as much food as possible from the soil. In other
words, our wheat growers may use superphosphate, be-
cause the application of phosphoric acid may enable the
wheat plant to get a larger quantity of potash, nitrogen,
and other constituents of plant food from the soil, and
thus to produce larger crops. This is the very reverse of
high farming, though it is often very profitable farming.
The other system of farming is the one which I want our
young men to adopt. The change will be gradual, but
it will surely come. It will be adopted in England, and
also here. It is absurd to suppose that the soil of Eng-
land, or of the New England or Middle States, can not
be profitably cultivated, owing to the low prices at which
the cheap land of the West and Northwest, aided by
cheap transportation, can furnish our people, and the
people of New England, with bread. Let the bread
come, and let tis provide good Jersey butter to eat with
it. The world as a world spends all it can get, and the
less it spends for bread the more it can pay for butter
and bonnets, and the bonwet-makers will buy our fruit
and vegetables.

COMPETITION IN CROPS.

One thing is certain, we can never get high average
prices for wheat, or for any other product which can be
grown in all parts of the world, and which will keep
from year to year. The farmers of America will never
realize extravagant profits from any crop, the value of
which is determined by the price it will bring in Eng-

18 GAEDEKIIfG FOK TOUSTG AND OLD.

land. Any crop which is entirely consumed at home
will be likely to bring a fair price, and very frequently
the price will be determined by the cost at which the
article can be brought to our markets from Europe.
This was so last year in the case of potatoes and cabbages.
Suppose some of my young friends had had a ten-acre
field-garden in high condition, filled with potatoes, cab-
bages, celery and cauliflowers, not to mention other gar-
den crops. In spite of the drouth and the Colorado-
beetle, such a field-garden, prepared, enriched and culti-
vated, as I have recommended, would have produced
three hundred bushels of potatoes per acre. The ex-
pense of planting, cultivating, hoeing and digging of
these would not exceed thirty dollars per acre, while it
would have been an easy matter to have sold the crop
for from three hundred to four hundred dollars per acre.
So with cabbages. It would not have been a difiScult mat-
ter to grow five thousand good heads of cabbage per acre,
which could readily have been sold at ten cents per head.
The planting, cultivating, harvesting, burying for the win-
ter and marketing would not cost over one cent per head,
thus affording a profit of four hundred and fifty dollars
per acre. This is five per cent interest on nine thousand
dollars per acre. We can afford to smile at those who
sneer at us for plowing our land four or five times to
destroy weeds and get it into good shape for starting a
good field-garden. Celery and onions would have afforded
still higher profits. Even a few acres of turnips would
have made no slight addition to our finances. What iias
been will be. It may be some years before potatoes and
cabbages are again imported into the United States from
Europe. It is not at all flattering to our vanity that this
vast continent, with its rich land, brilliant sunshine and
energetic people, should be obliged to send to the high-
priced land of Holland for its sauerkraut, or to Scotland
for its potatoes. But we need not fear that the products

INTRODUCTIOK. 19

of our field-gardens will not command profitable prices
for years to come. Our population is increasing faster
than we can get these field-gardens prepared for the pro-
duction of the choicer kinds of garden products. There
is scarcely a village in England or America which is sup-
plied with all the fresh fruits, flowers and vegetables
which the people would take, if they were furnished in
good condition and at moderate prices.

THE MANURE QUESTION.

As already said, the real difficulty in starting a field-
garden is to get enough manure. We must use all we
can scrape up on the farm, and buy all we can get from
towns and cities and slaughter-houses, at moderate prices.
In addition to this we must plow under a few acres of
green crops, and supplement them with liberal purchases
of superphosphate of lime and other artificial fertilizers.
After we get our field-garden fairly started, it will be a
comparatively easy matter to maintain and increase its
productiveness. I do not mean by this that we can ever
dispense with the use of a large amount of manure. We
shall never be able to do so. We may make it cheaper
than we do now, or we may be able to use artificial fer-
tilizers with great advantage and economy, but the nature
of plants does not change. Early cabbages can never be
grown early and of fine quality, except on land supplying
in available condition an abundant amount of plant food.
All we can hope for is to discover how this great store of
plant food can be turned to accoimt after we have grown
an early crop of cabbages. Our Experimental Stations
will, sooner or later, give us valuable information on this
point.

At present we know that it is absolutely necessary to
make our field-garden soil excessively rich. We can not
adopt high farming in the production of corn and wheat,

20 GAKDEirarG FOE YOUNG AKD OLD.

or oats and peas. Four-fifths of our land will be used as
it is now, to produce such crops as good tillage will af-
ford, aided by the use of moderate dressings of artificial
fertilizers. WhercTer profitable we shall increase the
use of lime, ashes and plaster, composted it may be with
muck from our swamps.

There is nothing new in all this, for farmers are doing
the same thing now. They make a little manure, and they
apply it first to one field and then to another. The change
I wish to make is to apply the manure to one field only,
year after year. I want to introduce the highest kind
of "high farming" on a small scale and for special crops.
I do not care what the crops are. Even tobacco may
be grown in this way, but I do not want to have anything
to do with the article. There are better crops to grow,
and crops which require as much skill and labor and brains,
and which will yield larger profits. As a rule, the crops
which require the most labor must have the best land
and the heaviest manuring. This is preeminently so in
this country, where labor is high and ordinary land cheap.
At first it will be well to devote the field-garden to crops
which require comparatively little labor and manure.
Sweet corn is such a crop, and so are tomatoes, potatoes,
beans and late cabbages. The latter crop requires good
rich land, but it can be grown in ordinary seasons, with
little more than good farm management. If you have
any fears that the land is not rich enough to produce a
good crop of late cabbages of the large varieties, plant
such varieties as the Winningstadt about the middle of
July.

Melons and cucumbers and squashes can be grown by
the use of a little manure in the hill, aided by a table-
spoonful of superphosphate.

Onions must have rich land, and it will be well not to
go into this crop too extensively the first year, but I
would, by all means, sow some in order to get acquainted

INTUODUCTION. 21

with the crop. And so of all other crops you ultimately
expect to grow. A little experience will soon enable one
to grow them successfully.

THE IMPLEMENTS NEEDED.

The expense of starting the field-garden will consist prin-
cipally m labor, manure, and seeds. The implements re-
quired are found on every well-managed farm, with the
exception of a very few.

We shall need a good plow, harrow, roller, cultivator,
marker, garden line, seed drill, rake, hoe, transplanting
dibble, watering can, potato hook, spade, and fork. These
are all necessary, but are already on hand. Amongst the
implements not so common, but which, in my own case, I
should hardly know how to dispense with, are the Acme
Harrow, a Smoothing Harrow, the Gang Plow, and a new
Revolving Harrow and Smoother, made by an extensive
onion grower in Connecticut. The latter is the best
new implement I have tried for many years. Like the
original Smoothing Harrow, it is a somewhat crude afEair,
but it contains the elements of an exceedingly useful
and valuable machine. I have had three Smoothing
Harrows, and each one is better than its predecessor.

23 GAEDENING FOR YOUNG AKD OLD.

STAKTING PLANTS IN" THE HOUSE OK
HOT-BED.

In the absence of a propagating house, much may be
done in the way of starting early plants in one's dwelling
or hot-bed. The principal impediment commonly experi-
enced is in the difficulty of obtaining, in the spring, the
proper kind of soil or compost to put in the boxes or hot-
bed. Professional gardeners prepare the soil with great
care the preyious year, but if winter is about to set in,
and you have nothing ready, excellent results may be ob-
tained by placing in the cellar a load or two of any
good light sandy loam; the lighter and richer the bet-
ter. In the spring, before using it, run it through a sieve,
so as to remove all stones and lumps and rubbish. If
you have it, mix a tablespoonful of superphosphate to
each half bushel of soil; then get some peat — moss, or
Sphagnum, such as nurserymen use for packing — dry it
thoroughly, and sift it fine, and to each peck of soil put
two or three quarts of this fine, dry sifted moss; mix
carefully, and you will have as good a material for start-
ing fine seeds as I have ever used.

Leaf-mould is a very fair substitute for moss. It
contains much plant food, is light and porous, and re-
tains considerable moisture. By leaf-mould, I do not
mean muck from the swamp, but the decomposed leaves
and sand scraped up in the woods. Leaf -mould, like muck,
varies considerably in composition and value. The best is
obtained from Beech, Maple and Oak woods. The leaf-
mould should be gathered the previous summer and kept
in the cellar until wanted. Before using, it should be
mixed with equal parts of sand and sifted. For merely
starting plants, rich soil is not essential. Seeds will ger-
minate in moss and sand as well as in the richest mould.
After the plants are started and begin to grow, a little

STARTING PLAKTS IN THE HOUSE OR HOT-BED. 33

plant food is necessary, and in this case leaf-mould is bet-
ter than moss. Equal parts of sods, sand and well-rotted
manure made into a compost and worked over, and
sifted until it is fine, is a favorite material for potting
plants.

Dried muck from the swamps is an exceedingly useful
material for the gardener. In many sections of this
country it can be obtained at little more than the cost of
cutting, drying, and carting it. No gardener ever has
too much of it. It has many excellent properties. It
will make heavy soil light. It will make dry soil moist.
It will make cold soil warm. It is an excellent absorb-
ent of water and gases. It is itself a manure, and can
be used to great advantage in our stables, cow-houses
and pig-pens, as well as for mixing with manure in our
compost heaps. The practical difficulty is in getting the
muck dry and keeping it dry. We want a place for stor-
ing it, and above all we want to form the habit of getting
muck and using it on our farms and gardens. . .No one
doubts its value, but we hardly know how to comjnence
its use. It is, however, a very simple matter. We usu-
ally throw up the muck in the summer and let it lie in
a heap until winter, when we have plenty of leisure to
draw it. Another plan is to throw it up in July, turn it
over a few weeks later to facilitate the drying, and early
in the fall, before heavy rains set in, draw it to a shed, or
cellar, or barn, where it can be kept dry and ready for
use at any time. The farmer who has a good supply of
dried muck on hand will find it of great use in many of
his gardening operations.

The boxes I have used for starting plants are two feet
and one half long, twelve inches wide, and three inches
deep, made of half-inch stuff. A screw at each end,
about an inch from the top on the outermost corners, is
wound round by a piece of wire two feet eight inches
long, the other end of the wire being twisted round to a

M

GAEDENIN'G FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

screw fastened to the casement of the window, as shown
in the illustration (fig. 1). These boxes are placed on the
sill of the window. The length of the box, of course,
being determined by the width of the window, it can be
made wide or narrow according as you have more or
less room in the house. There may be windows where
you could have them two feet wide without inconven-
ience; if so the plants will do just as well, and the
boxes, of course, will hold twice the number of plants.
I have had better success in starting plants in these boxes
in the house, than in a hot-bed as ordinarily managed.
The plants are in sight all the time, and are less liable to

Fig. 1,— wnroow-BOi.

be neglected. The children, especially, soon learn to take
an interest in these plant-boxes in the house. They require
a little assistance in sifting the soil and moss, and putting
it in the boxes, and in fastening the boxes in the window-
sills. But they can sow the seed and cover it with a lit-
tle sifted moss themselves. It is very desirable, how-
ever, to write the names of the seeds to be sown, with the
date of sowing, on some wooden labels to mark the rows
where the different seeds and different varieties are sown.
If this is neglected much of the interest will be lost.

8TABTING PLANTS IN THE HOUSE OR HOT-BED. 25
MAKING THE HOT-BED.

Whether plants are or are not started in boxes in the
house, a hot-bed will be found very useful. If possible
this should be placed where a hedge, a fence, or building
breaks the force of the wind, admitting at the same
time the full rays of the sun. A large quantity of
manure is not necessary.

The hot-bed should be covered with five or six inches
of light, well prepared soil, and moss or leaf-mould, or
dryed and sifted muck, or a compost of rotted sods, etc.,
as previously described. There are two methods of
making a hot-bed. One is to stack fermenting manure
on the surface, taking care to build it up regularly
and solidly, distributing the long and short manure
evenly. Add the manure in layers of about six inches,
beating each one down with the fork. The pile should
be two or two and a half feet high, with square solid
sides, and should be two feet wider and longer than the
frame of the hot-bed, as the center is hotter than the out-
side, which is exposed to the cold air. Another method,
and one economical of manure, is to dig a pit two feet
wider and longer than the fi'ame. The manure is care-
fully placed in this excavation, being trodden down even-
ly and solidly. The management of the hot-bed requires
some experience, especially in regard to ventilation and
the degree of heat needed by different classes of plants.
Cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, radishes and celery require
only a moderate degree of heat, while cucumbers, egg-
plant and peppers delight in a soil as warm as your
hand, and an atmosphere during the day warmer and
more moist then the hottest room. Tomatoes and such
flower seeds as phlox, petunia, verbena and aster need
a warmer soil than the cabbage, but not so hot as the cu-
cumber. Cucumbers and plants requiring the strongest
heat should be placed in the center of the bed, while the
2

36 GARDENIN^G FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

cabbage should be placed nearer the outside, either on the
top or bottom, where they can be more readily cooled off
by opening the sash. If the bed is very hot, more
water will be required, and the sash will have to be
open longer during the day. If the bed is too cold it is
well to surround the outside of the frame with warm
manure, and at night coyer the sash with a straw mat or
blankets; and use only water fully up to blood heat. If
the plants are drawn up — if they are tall and thin rather
than stout and stocky, it is a sign that the plants are
either too thick or the bed too warm. They want fresh
air and abundance of sunshine.

COLD FRAMES.

A cold frame is simply a frame and sash of a hot-bed
without any manure underneath. Cold frames are quite
useful for hardening off plants, but it costs very little
more to place a foot or two of manure underneath them,
and in our climate a little bottom heat is often very de-
sirable. We can harden off the plants sufficiently by
taking off the sash in whole or in part. A well sheltered
spot in the garden with a. warm sunny exposure is not a
bad substitute for a cold frame.

INSECTS.

I am not going to write about insects. I will leave
that to the professional Entomologist. We need to know
the habits of the various insects which injure or destroy
our crops. Last winter one of my neighbors, Col. B.,
during the busy part of my seed business volunteered to
help me by answering letters. He was not used to the
business and sometimes got out of patience. One man
wanted to know how much onion seed to sow per acre ?
another the proper time to sow mangels ? anothei

INSECTS. 27

whether it was necessary to sow celery in the hot-bed ?
these and many other similar questions the Colonel, with
a little prompting on my part, managed to answer to his
own satisfaction, and I hope to the satisfaction of my
correspondents. But one mao wanted to know the best
way to kill Cabbage-worms ! I was busy at the time and
the Colonel thought he would not bother me, and so he
wrote somewhat as follows : "Dear Sir — The best way
to kill Cabbage-worms is to shoot them. Eespectfully
yours, Joseph Harris, per B. "

I do not know who my correspondent was, and do
not know whether he applied the Colonel's remedy. No
one but a military man would have suggested it. The
real trouble is to know where to shoot. It is certainly
useless to attack in this way the worms themselves, but if
the Colonel meant to have a few days sport with a double
barrelled shot-gun, in shooting on the wing the white
butterflies which lay the eggs that produce the green
Cabbage-worm, the remedy might be popular with the
boys. Killing the butterflies, or catching them with
nets, is the true way to get rid of the Cabbage-worm.

On my own farm I do nothing to check the ravages of
the Cabbage-worm except to dust the plants while the
dew is on, with a mixture of plaster and superphosphate,
say two parts o'f plaster to one of superphosphate. I am
not sure that it lessens the number of worms, but at any
rate it stimulates the growth of the plant, especially if
you hoe the mixture into the ground around each plant.
The only practical remedy I have ever tried is heavy
manuring and thorough cultivation, and setting out
plants by the thousand, instead of by the hundred.

THE USB OF POISOKS.

With melons, cucumbers, and squashes, the Striped-
bug is a great pest. We all get angry enough at them

38 GARDENING FOR TOUNG AND OLD.

to shoot them, but Hellebore and Paris Green are more
effective implements of destruction than the rifle and
shot-gun. As soon as the plants appear, it is a good plan,
while the dew is on these, to dust them with White Helle-
bore powder. Paris Green is a more powerful remedy,
but needs to be applied, while the plants are young, in
very small doses. One of my men, this spring, when
we were applying Paris Green to the potatoes, took a
pailful of the water containing about a teaspoonful of the
Paris Green to the gallon, and applied it to the young
cucumber and melon vines in his garden. It killed many
of the plants, though it had no injurious effect whatever
on the potato vines. If Paris Green is used on melons,
cucumbers, squash, etc., I would put in a teaspoonful
of the poison to ten quarts of water, or say an ordinary
pailful, at the same time stirring into the water two
tablespoonfuls of White Hellebore powder. I have used
this mixture on young vines without injury. I do not
think it will kill all the bugs, but at any rate it greatly
lessens their numbers and gives the vines a chance to
grow. The real point is to apply the poisonous mix-
ture early enough. If you wait until the bugs appear,
they will be very apt to seriously injure the vines before
you notice them.

As the vines grow larger the leaves become tougher
and less succulent, and there is more strength and vital-
ity in the plant. A stronger mixture of Paris Green,
therefore, can be used about the time the vines begin to
run. So far as my observation goes, the Striped-bug
attacks squash and pumpkin vines several days earlier
than the Squash-bug. This is fortunate, for the Squash-
bug is much more voracious and destructive to squashes
than the Striped-bug. Paris Green applied with water,
say about a tablespoonful to ten quarts, is as good a
remedy as can be used. I would put on a weak mixture
of Paris Green and Hellebore, say a teaspoonful of the

INSECTS. 29

first and two tablespoonfuls of White Hellebore powder
to ten quarts of water, on young squash, cucumber and
melon plants. And for squashes, as soon as the Squash-
bugs make their appearance, I would put on Paris Green
alone at the rate of one tablespoonful to ten quarts of
water. We sprinkle the poison mixed with water on the
leaves of the plants with a wisp broom, being careful to
keep the water in the pail frequently stirred to prevent
the heavy poison from settling to the bottom. I think
the reason my man lost his cucumber and melon plants
was this : he had been applying Paris Green to the
potatoes and had some left at the bottom of the pail.
The poison had settled to the bottom, and conse-
quently the mixture he applied to the cucumbers and
melons was far stronger than that which he used on the
potatoes, and much stronger than is necessary.

Dusting cucumber, melon, and squash plants with
plaster early in the morning, when the dew is on, has
long been resorted to to check the ravages of the Striped-
bug. It is undoubtedly a good thing. A little Paris
Green, however, either applied in water or mixed with
the plaster, is a much more effective application.

For worms and caterpillars of all kinds which feed on
the leaves and stalks of plants, such as the Currant-worm,
the Army-worm, and Tent-caterpillar on fruit trees,
the caterpillar on celery and tomato plants, and the
Potato- worms are all easily destroyed with Paris Green.
Their great voracity leads to their destruction. It re-
quires but a single particle of the poison, swallowed
with the juice of the leaf to finish them.

London Purple may be better than Paris Green, and
there may be other poisons better still. But as we have
been using the latter for many years for the Potato-
bugs, and have become accustomed to it, we had better
continue to use it until something very decidedly better
is discovered.

30 GARDENING FOR TOUNG AND OLD.

White Hellebore is a far less dangerous poison, espec-
ially when applied in water, but it is generally suffi-
ciently powerful to kill all kinds of young worms and
caterpillars. Worms and caterpillars are much more
easily poisoned than their parent bugs or moths. In
other words, a weaker mixture of Paris Green will kill
the larvse or worms of the Potato-bug than is required to
kill the bugs or beetles themselves. The worms and cat-
erpillars which feed on the succulent leaves, are little
more than sacks of sap, and it ought not to require much
poison to wither them up. The Striped-bug, the Squash-
bug and the Potato-bug or Beetle, when full grown, are
not easily poisoned, and a little hand-picking before they
lay their eggs on the leaves can be practised with great
advantage, not by any means, however, neglecting to use
the poison for the destruction of the larvse, and young
bugs.

CAEB OF POISONS.

I need hardly say that too much care can not be exer-
cised in the use of poison. It is dangerous business, and
I hope and believe that some article will be discovered
which will kill insects and worms, but which will not in-
jure man or beast. In the meantime, I would, so far as
possible, limit myself to the use of only one or two poi-
sons, say Hellebore and Paris Green, and they should at
all times be kept under lock and key, and the pail or
other vessels employed in their use, should be locked
up and kept for the special parpose only. This is a mat-
ter of much importance, not only for our own safety and
that of our animals, but for the accomplishment of the
object for which we keep the poison. A prompt applica-
tion is often absolutely essential to its efficacy. We
should therefore, at all times, have every thing connected
with the use of the poison, not only in readiness, but
where we can easily lay our hands upon it.

CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES
IN THE FARM-GARDEN.

ASPAEAGUS.

Sow Asparagus seed in rich, mellow soil, early in the
spring, in rows about fifteen inches apart, dropping the
seed an inch apart in the rows and covering about one
inch deep. When the plants come up hoe the ground
between the rows, and pull out any weeds that are among
the plants and those that cannot be reached with the hoe.
Next spring, when the plants are a year old, set them
out in the bed where they are to stay for the rest of their
Htcs. The land should be free from stagnant water.
It cannot be too rich. But the real secret of success in
growing large asparagus is to give the plants plenty of
room and to keep out all the weeds.

If you have no asparagus bed, at least a year's time
may be saved by purchasing plants or roots. As a rule,
those on sale are two years old. If strong and well grown,
one-year-old plants are quite as good as those that are
older. In fact, I would rather have a good one-year-old
plant than a stunted, two-year-old one. It is never de-
sirable to set out plants that are more than two years' old.

The true plan, if you have no asparagus bed, is to buy
roots enough to set out a bed this spring, and at the same
time sow a few ounces of seed, as above directed, in an-
other part of the garden. A pound of good seed ought
to give at least ten thousand plants.

It would be well to sow the seed thicker than I have
(31)

33 GARDEliriNG POK YOUNG AND OLD.

recommended, and then thin out the plants wide enough
apart to admit the use of the hoe. In raising asparagus
plants, we must aim to keep the land clean by the free
use of the hoe rather than by hand-weeding.

The advantage of raising your own asparagus roots is
very great. If you take pains to sow on rich, mellow
land, and to keep the bed scrupulously free from weeds,
you will get stronger and better plants at one year old
than the average two-year-old roots generally ofiered for
sale. Then again, when you have your own roots, you
can let them remain undisturbed in the original bed un-
till you are ready to transplant them.

MAKING AN ASPARAGUS BED.

The old directions for planting an asparagus bed were
well calculated to deter any young gardener from making
the attempt. I can recollect very well the first asparagus
bed I ever planted. The labor and manure must have
cost at the rate of a thousand dollars an acre, and after
all was done, no better results were obtained than we now
secure at one-tenth the expense. In setting out a large
asparagus bed for market, I would make the rows not less
than four feet apart, and set out the plants in the rows
two and a half to three feet apart, or wide enough to ad-
mit the use of the horse-hoe both ways. In growing as-
paragus we not only want a good crop, but to get it early
in the season, and of the largest size. The size and earli-
ness, apart from rich, warm, dry soil, depend principally
upon the size and vigor of the roots the previous year.
A weak root throws up a weak shoot, while a strong root,
in which there is a considerable quantity of accumulated
nutriment, will throw up a large shoot early in the season.

It is for this reason that thin planting is so desirable.
Thin planting with clean culture, on any ordinarily en-
riched garden soil, will give us far larger and earlier

rOLE BJEANS. 33

asparagus shoots than can be obtained from the most
elaborately made, and most excessively manured bed, the
plants in which are too thick.

It is a popular notion that common salt is exceedingly
beneficial as a manure for asparagus. I do not know
that there is any positive proof of this, but at any rate,
the salt will do no harm, even if applied thick enough to
kill many of our common weeds. The salt is usually
sown broadcast on the asparagus bed early in the spring,
say at the rate of ten bushels per acre. It has been rec-
ommended to sow salt at the rate of two or three pounds
per square yard, or say at the rate of one hundred and
twenty bushels per acre. I mention this to show that
salt will not injure asparagus.

In setting oiit asparagus plants we mark off the rows
with a common corn-marker three feet and a half or four
feet one way and two feet and a half or three feet the
other way. Set out a single plant where the lines cross.
It is desirable to disentangle and spread out the asparagus
roots horizontally in every direction. On light sandy
soil the work can be done with the hand, but on heavier
soils it is better to remove the soil with a hoe, at the
same time working and loosening the soil underneath.
This will greatly facilitate the operation of setting out
the plants. I do not think it is necessary or advisable to
set out the plants as deep as is sometimes recommended.
Three or four inches is deep enough. Sometimes a shovel-
ful of manure is spread on the soil above each plant.

POLE BEANS.

The most delicious of all Beans is the Lima. Like all
good things, however, it is more work to grow them than
common field beans. They have to be provided with
something to cling to. Poles, seven or eight feet long.

o4 GARDENING FOK TOUNG AKD OLD.

are best for this purpose. Unless you liave poles from
the woods, a good plan is to get inch-square strips from
the saw mill or lumber yard. Such strips are handy in
a garlen for many purposes. Strips an inch and a quar-
ter tquaro are much stronger and better, but it is not
always to easy to get them. I said Lima-beans could not
be grown without some trouble, not only have you to
provide poles for them, but they are very tender; they
came from a warm climate, and do not like a cold soil.
In the tropics the Lima-bean is a perennial plant. It does
not need to be raised from seed every year, but the same
plant grows on year after year, so the books tell us, and
I presume it is true ; at any rate the Lima-bean here
seems as though it would grow the year round if the
weather was warm enough, as it is often growing when
the frosts of autumn strike it. We must do all we can
to make the soil warm in the spring and to push the
plants forward rapidly in summer. A light, sandy soil is
warmer and drier in the spring than the heavier and
stifEer soils, and Lima-beans can be planted earlier on
warm sandy land than on. the clay. But the best crop of
Lima-beans I ever raised, was on a soil about half way be-
tween a sand and a clay ; and the poorest crop I ever
raised was on very light sandy soil.

I am inclined to think the trouble in the latter case
was, that the beans were planted too thickly and were not
kept as clean as they should have been. You cannot
grow a crop of Lima-beans and a crop of weeds on the
same land at the same time ; and if you have three hills
of beans where there should be only two, one hill is a
weed. Lima-beans should not be planted until the soil
is warm, or the seed will rot in the ground. Here we
can rarely plant before the middle of May. "We make
hills about four feet apart, and plant six or seven good
beans in a hill ; four plants in a hill are enough, but you
know that something may happen to injure or kill some

POLE BEANS. 35

of them, and so it is better to put in more than you really
need, and thin out the weaker plants, leaving three or
four of the strongest and best in the hill. It is a good
plan to set the pole in the hill before planting the beans.
If the pole is not put in until the beans are growing, you
are apt to disturb the plants. Put the poles in at least a
foot deep, so that the wind will not blow them over when
covered with vines. We sometimes plant four or five
Lima-beans in a flower pot in the house or hot-bed, and
when the plants are well started and the soil is warm
enough, we set out the plants in the garden, being care-
ful not to disturb the roots any more than we can help.
I have had a very early crop of Lima-beans by adopting
this plan.

It is a pity that we cannot get a good dwarf variety of
Lima-bean. We have a great variety of excellent dwarf
or bush beans that are good for eating, pod and all, in the
green state, or good for shelling when green, like Lima-
beans and peas, or good for cooking when ripe. It is not
often, however, that the same variety of bean is equally
good for all these purposes. The Lima-bean is generally
used for but one thing. You could not eat the gi-een
pods, and they are not often cooked when dry and ripe,
though I am told they are very good. They are the most
delicious of all beans for shelling and cooking when
green.

OTHBE POLE BEAKS.

There are other varieties that are specially adapt-
ed for string beans, that is, for eating the pods while
green. I do not know that the pole varieties are any bet-
ter for this purpose than the dwarf or bush kinds. One
of the best varieties of pole beans, is the Speckled Cran-
berry or London Horticultural. It does not usually grow
over five or six feet high, and I have known a good crop

36 GAEDENING FOE YOUNG AITD OLD.

raised without poles, but this is a sloYenly method which
ought not to be tolerated in the garden. Another excel-
lent pole bean is the Scarlet Runner. It is a rampant
grower and is frequently used as a screen; the flowers are
beautiful and the pods, gathered when young, are de-
licious.

BUSH BEANS,

For string beans the best variety I have yet grown, is
the Black Wax or Butter-bean. The Golden Wax is a
larger bean and more productive, but I do not think the
pods are any better. The Early Valentine is a little
earlier than the Wax or Butter-bean, and on this account
deserves a place in every garden. The White Kidney is
a very valuable bean. It affords very fair string beans, and
the pods, which are not wanted for this purpose, can be
left on the vines to ripen, when they will prove very ac-
ceptable for boiling and baking.

The cultivation of bush beans is a simple matter. In
the field where they are to be cultivated with a horse-hoe,
they are planted in rows about thirty inches apart, and
five or six beans are dropped in a hill, or place, every
twelve or fifteen inches in the row. A larger yield proba-
bly could be obtained by drilling the beans continuously
in the row, say one bean to each inch ; but it is a little
more work to pull the beans when ripe, and some of our
farmers think it is more work to hoe them. In the garden
it is not necessary to plant the beans so far apart. In my
own garden, I make the rows fifteen inches apart, and
drop the beans about an inch apart in the row. The chil-
dren are very apt to sow them a good deal thicker than
this, and I have noticed that the first dish of beans always
comes from the children's garden. As a rule, thick seeding
favors early maturity ; at any rate tliis is so with peas,
beans, and the grain crops, such as wheat, barley, and

BEETS. 37

oats. Of course there is a limit. If you sow too thickly
you would not get any crop at all, and in any case the
premature ripening is obtained at the expense of the
yield. What I mean is, when you get a very early crop
it will usually be a small one. I should plant a row of
Early Valentine beans quite thickly, say two beans to
each inch of row, and then, a week later, sow a few more
rows of Black Wax or Golden Wax, three beans to each
two inches of row, and then when the ground is
thoroughly warm, about the first week in June, sow the
main crop not thicker than one bean to each inch of row.
The White Kidney may be sown in the same way and
about the same time. I need hardly say that the ground
must be kept hoed between the rows, and all the weeds
pulled out from between the plants. The Black Wax is
the best of all the string beans; a good deal depends,
howcTer, on obtaining a good succulent growth, and
gathering the pods before they become too old and tough.
For this reason it is better to plant at two or three dif-
ferent times in succession, and it is also desirable, in order
to favor luxuriant growth, to plant on warm, rich, sandy
land, and especially to keep it free from weeds.

BEETS.

The best of all Beets is supposed to be the Egyptian
Blood Turnip. The Editor of the American Ageicul-
TUEiST once said, that no one knew any thing about
beets until he had eaten the Egyptian. It certainly is
a delicious beet, but like many other good things it can
be spoiled by neglect or bad management. It should be
grown rapidly and not too thick in the row, and gathered
before it becomes too large and tough. The Bassano-
beet is very early and easily grown. It is larger than the
Egyptian, but the flesh is lighter colored, and on this ac-

38 GARDEKING FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

count not bo attractive. The flesh is soft, sweet, and well
flavored. Its earliness entitles it to a place in every
garden.

The Early Blood Turnip is more extensively cultivated
in all sections of the United States than any other variety.
It is excellent both for summer and winter use. For
winter use, however, it should not be sown before the
first or second week in June. I have raised an excellent
crop sown as late as the middle of July. As a winter
beet the Long Smooth Blood Bed is the best variety —
or perhaps I should say, it is the most popular variety.
For my own use I think the Blood Turnip is just as good
a winter beet, if sown late, as the Long Smooth Bed,
but it is not so productive.

The cultivation of beets is by no means difficult;
they will do well on a variety of soils. The great point
is to make the land rich and mellow. You can grow
beets or Mangel Wurzels on much heavier or more clayey
land than you can turnips. The only point is to manure
heavily and work the soil thoroughly. Eecolleot, how-
ever, it will not do to work such land while it is wet.
Kemember also, if you let such land remain unplowed
or unspaded until it is baked by our hot sun, you will
have a tough job on your hands. You must take it when
it is neither too wet nor too dry. Such land ought
always to be plowed or spaded in the autumn, and
again in the spring, as soon as it is dry enough to crum-
ble to pieces. This kind of heavy land is not easily
managed, but when got into good shape and properly
cultivated, it stands the drouth well and is immensely
productive.

For early beets, it is best to select a warm sandy soil,
and sow the seed in rows as soon as the frost is out of the
ground. A week and two later sow again. I sow mine in
rows fifteen inches apart. I say fifteen inches, not be-
cause fourteen inches would uot be as good, or sixteen

BEETS. 39

inches would not be better, but because I happen to have
a garden marker that makes rows fifteen inches apart, a
distance which suits most crops. It costs no more
to hoe a row fourteen or fifteen inches wide than one
which is only seven or eight inches wide. The boys
Avho cultivate corn, going twice in a row, will under-
stand why this is so. If your corn is three and a
half feet apart, is is no more work to cultivate it than
if it was two and a half or three feet apart, for the simple
reason that you and the horse have to go up and down
each row, no matter how wide or how narrow it may be,
and so it is with hoeing. If the hoe, when placed
by the side of the plants in the drill, will reach
the center of the row, it is no more work to hoe a
wide row than a narrow one. And there are many
reasons in favor of wide rows, especially in our dry,
hot climate. Vegetables and garden crops of nearly
all kinds need dry, rich laud, and an abundance of
moisture. The dry land we get by underdraining where
needed. The rich land we get by heavy manuring, and
the moisture we get by killing weeds and keeping our
cultivated plants a good distance apart. Plants evapor-
ate large quantities of water, and if you have three plants
on a spot of land containing only moisture enough for
two, the growth of these three plants will be checked
for want of the necessary moisture. As a rule we can
not profitably increase the supply of water, but we can
very easily reduce the number of plants.

Sow the beets in rows fifteen inches apart, and thin out
the plants in the rows to four or five inches apart; then,
as the plants grow, thm them out still more, as soon
as any of them are large enough to use, and you will
have an abundant supply of this healthful and delicious
vegetable.

In good beet seed there are two or three seeds together
in a sort of very rough bur. If the seed is sown with a

40 GARDENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

drill it is necessary to recollect that seed Taries greatly
in size. American-grown seed is much larger than that
which is imported. And Egyptian Blood Turnip is
nearly always a small inferior looking seed.

Our garden drills have a hole for sowing beet seed, but
this hole would either sow the Egyptian too thick or the
Bassano, or Dewing's Blood Turnip, or the Long Smooth
Red much too thin. If the seed is good, it is not neces-
sary to drop more than one seed to every inch of row. Of
course it is not- necessary to sow even so thick as this,
but it is better and safer to sow three or four times more
than you need, rather than to run the risk of having the
crops too thin.

MANGEL WUBZBL.

Mangel Wurzels are simply large beets grown for cattle,
sheep, aad swine. Any one who can raise beets in the
garden can raise Mangel "Wurzels in the field. All there
is to be done is to make the land as rich in the field and
keep it as clean and mellow as you do in the garden.
It would be a good thing, however, to sow a few Mangel
Wurzels in the garden until you became familiar with its
habit of growth. I once had a farmer's son hoeing
Mangels for me in the field, and I had the greatest diffi-
culty in persuading him to thin them out sufficiently.
The plants were very small and he wanted to leave tliem
about an inch apart in the row, while I wanted him to
leave only a single good plant to every foot of the row.
The land was rich and we had moist, growing weather,
and in less than a month the plants, though a foot apart
in the row, completely covered the ground. " I had no
idea that such little bits of things could grow so rapidly,"
he said. Had his father encouraged him to sow a few
Mangel Wurzels in the garden he would have known
better.

MANGEL WURZEL. 41

If you SOW Mangel Wurzels in the garden, mark ofE the
rows fifteen inches apart, and then run the same marker
across the rows and drop three or four seeds, where the
lines cross, and cover them about an inch deep, patting
the ground smooth with the back of the hoe, just as you
do when planting com in the field. When the Mangel
Wurzels are fairly up, hoe them and thin out the plants,
leaving only one good strong plant in each hill, SufEer
not a weed to grow, and if the land is rich enough you
will have a great crop of roots. Next year you may
wish to plant an acre or two in the field.

There are several varieties of Mangel Wurzel; in color
they are nearly all either red or yellow. The red, however,
is not by any means a deep bright red like the Blood
Turnip, or the Long Smooth Blood Beet. There is no
mistaking the one for the other.

In shape we have round, or globe Mangels, and the
long varieties, with an intermediate class, called ovoids.

This gives us six distinct kinds of Mangel Wurzel, and
in addition to these six, we have a great number of varie-
ties, or at any rate a great number of names. We have
Carter's Yellow Globe, and Sutton's Yellow Globe, and
Harris' Yellow Globe. All that is meant by it, or at any
rate all I mean by it is, that we have taken great pains
to select every year just such Mangels as come nearest to
our idea of what a good root should be, and we set out
these roots for seed. They are not distinct varieties,
bat merely good strains which we wish to propagate.

It would be a good thing for a farmer's son to get into
the habit of selecting some of the best Mangels and set-
ting them out for seed. I am not going to tell you which
IS the best variety of Mangel or the best strain to grow.
On my own farm we prefer the Yellow Globe.

They do not grow so deep in the ground as the long
kinds, and are much more easily harvested. We think
they are not so coarse as the Long Eed Mangel, and we

42 (JARDElflNG FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

have a fancy that the yellow Mangel makes yellower
butter than the red. Probably this is nothing but fancy.
I have weighed a big crop of Long Eed and Yellow
Globe Mangel, growing side by side in the same field, and
the scales indicated very little difference in the two crops.
The general impression, however, is that the Long Red
will produce a larger crop per acre than the Ovoid or
Globe varieties.

THE CABBAGES.

The Cabbage is well worth studying. Some people
have got in the habit of sneering at cabbage growers.
It is a fact, that a man who cannot read or write will
sometimes beat the best of us in growing cabbages. His
success, however, is not due to his ignorance. You will
find he has thoroughly studied the wants of the vegetable.
If he knows nothing else he knows how to grow cabbages.

Cabbages require preeminently rich land. It must be
preter naturally rich. People say that land which will
produce corn will produce cabbages. I doubt it. Land
may be rich enough for a good crop of corn that is not
rich enough to produce even a fair crop of cabbages. The
reason of this probability is, that corn is a natural crop,
while the cabbage is an artificial production. We do not
raise cabbages for seed as we do corn. We raise it for
the heads or tender leaves or sprouts. Naturally it runs
up to seed the first year, but this is not what we want.
We want a cabbage that will grow rapidly and produce a
large mass of leaves good for food. For this purpose we
require a well-trained, or cultivated variety, having this
artificial character thoroughly established. We also want,
and must have, very rich land.

Early cabbages require richer land than the late varie-
ties. But you can grow twice as many plants on an acre.
I know one gentleman who makes a great deal of money

THE CABBAGES. 43

from his crop of early cabbages. He plants about three
acres every year, some of it on land which had been in
other crops the previous year, and some of it on land
which has grown cabbages for several years. His crop
on the old land is earlier and better than that on the new
soil. No matter how heavily he manures the new land,
he cannot make it as productive the first year as the old
piece ; the reason is, that the manure can not be so thor-
oughly worked into the soil the first year. This is a
point of great importance in horticulture. We not only
need to manure our land heavily, but to thoroughly mix
the manure with the soil.

EAELT CABBAGE PLANTS.

Early cabbages bring a high price, and it will pay to
take extra pains with them. There are two ways of
raising early cabbages, one is by setting out plants which
were started the autumn previous and wintered over in
cold frames. The other plan is by sowing the seed in a
hot-bed or greenhouse early in the spring, and when
the plants are large enough and have been properly
hardened off, set them out in the field or garden. It
is possible to get the cabbages just as early from the
spring-sown plants as from those sown in autumn.
As to which is best depends very much on circumstances.
Eecent practice seems to be tending more and more to-
ward the use of spring-sown plants.

Where only a few plants are needed for home use, a
good plan is to sow a little seed in a box in the house.
After the plants are up you must give them as much sun
as possible, and be careful not to keep them in too warm
a room. During warm days the box may be placed out of
doors in the sun, in a spot sheltered from the prevailing
wind. Cabbages are hardy, and when raised in a hot-bed
or in the house they are much more likely to be kept too

44 GARDEKIKG FOB YOUNG AND OLD.

warm than too cool. The great point is to give them
plenty of sun and plenty of room ; if they are too thick
in the box they must be transplanted or pricked out into
another box. The oftener they are transplanted, and
the more room you give them, the stronger and healthier
they become. It is yery desirable to have strong, stocky
plants. As soon as the land is dry enough to work
properly, and the plants are large enough and strong
enough to set out, prepare the land by spading or plow-
ing, and harrow or rake until it is fine and mellow. Then
set your line and mark out the land in rows two and a
half feet apart, and with a dibble set the plants twenty
inches to two feet apart in the row.

The best and earliest variety for market is the true
Jersey "Wakefield, but for home use the Early York is
still preferred by many. In Western New York we get
the Jersey Wakefield large enough for market about the
first of July — sometimes a little earlier, and sometimes
a little later, according to the season.

SECOND EAKLT CABBAGES.

For second early cabbage we have several excellent
varieties. Henderson's Summer is a favorite variety with
market gardeners. It makes a large head and looks very
attractive. So far as my experience goes, however, it is not
nf the highest quality, and for my own use I should
prefer Winningstadt, or Fottler's Drumhead.

The method of cultivation of these second early cab-
bages is the same as for the early, except that the land
need not be quite so rich, and the plants should be set a
little farther apart. For late summer or early autumn
cabbages it is not necessary to raise the plants in a hot-bed.
Sow the seeds in a warm, sheltered spot in the garden, as
soon as the ground can be got into good condition. Drill
in the seed in rows fifteen inches apart, and drop about

THE CABBAGES. 45

four seeds to each inch of row. "We generally sow a lit-
tle thicker than this in hopes that the plants will have a
better chance of escaping the ravages of the little black
beetle which is almost certain to attack them. Freqiient
hoeing is particularly desirable, as it not only kills weeds
and favors the growth of the plants, but it has a ten-
dency to frighten away the black beetle. For late au-
tumn or winter cabbages we sow our cabbage seed from
the middle of May until the first week in June. The
larger and later the variety the earlier should the seed be
sown. The summer and early autumn varieties, such as
the Winningstadt, Henderson's Summer, Fottler's, Stone
Mason, and Harris' Short Stem Drumhead can be changed
into winter cabbages by sowing the seed from the last
week in May until the first week in June. I have had a
good crop of most of these varieties when the plants were
set out as late as the middle of June ; as a rule, how-
ever, it is better to plant earlier.

On my own farm, where we raise cabbage plants in
very large quantities, we driU the seed in rows twenty-one
inches apart, and keep the crop clean by the frequent
use of the horse-hoe. You need the cleanest, richest and
best land, and in addition to this, sow four hundred
pounds of superphosphate per acre. With good clean
land, a dressing of superphosphate and the frequent use
of the horse-hoe between the rows, it is a very easy mat-
ter to raise cabbage plants. You can grow from one
hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand
good cabbage plants to the acre. When much thicker
than this, the plants are not so stocky as they should be.
The price paid for good cabbage plants is from two dol-
lars to three dollars per thousand.

LATE CABBAGES.

For the main crop of winter cabbages, the large late
Flat Dutch or Premium Flat Dutch, or, if the land is

46

GARDENIN'G FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

ric'h enough, the Mammoth Marblehead are all excellent
varieties. I have said that late catbages do not require
such rich land as the early. This is true, and yet it seems
to be a fact that when you sow the early varieties late in
the season, for the purpose of using them for a late fall or
winter crop, these smaller and earlier varieties will do
better on moderately rich or comparatively poor soil,

Fig. 2. — SAVOT CABBAGE.

than the larger and later varieties. I know some experi-
enced cabbage growers who raise the Winningstadt for
the main crop, because they find that it is sure to head,
while, from want of plenty of manure, they can not grow
the larger and later varieties. When late cabbages are
raised as a field crop, a good plan is, to mark out the land
three feet apart each way, and set out a plant where the
lines cross. This gives four thousand eight hundred and

THE CAULIFLOWER. 47

forty plants to the acre. The advantage of the plan is,
that you can cultivate the ground both ways between the
plants with a horse-hoe, and the labor of tending the
crop is very slight.

SAYOT CABBAGES.

The Savoy Cabbages are so unlike ordinary cabbages
that some works place them under a separate head, as
Savoys. In the Savoys the leaves are strongly wrinkled,
or blistered, and the heads are never very solid. In tex-
ture and flavor they are more like a cauliflower than like
the ordinary winter cabbages, being very tender and mar-
row-like, and most delicious to those who like cabbages
at all. They are among the hardiest of cabbages, and
may be left out until the last. Their cultivation is the
same as that of other late varieties.

THE CAULIFLOWEE.

The cultivation of the Cauliflower is very similar to
that required for the cabbage. The method of raising the
plants is the same; the time and manner of setting
out is the same; the distance apart is the same, as is the
method of preparing and enriching the land. The only
difference is, that the cauliflower, being a little more del-
icate, every operation must be conducted with greater
care and thoroughness. The profits of the crop are very
large, and it will pay those who raise it to spare no pains
that will insure success.

There was a time when it was thought that the Ameri-
can climate was particularly unsuited to the growth of
the cauliflower; such, however, is not the case. We are
now satisfied that as good cauliflowers can be grown here
as in any other country. Our hot sun, which was sup-
posed to render the cultivation diflBcult, if not impossi-

48 GARDENING FOB YOUNG AND OLD.

ble, is, in point of fact, a great advantage ; but we must
make other things correspond. If the soil is dry, poor,
hard, cloddy and weedy, the hot sua may be an injury ;
it will wither up the cauliflowers and the careless culti-
vator will be very apt to blame the sun. But if your
land is well drained, moist, rich, mellow, deeply and
thoroughly cultivated and free from weeds ; if you have
good strong cauliflower plants of the right variety, and
set out at the right time ; if the roots have got firm hold
of the soil and have access to abundance of food and
water, let the sun shine, the leaves of the plant will
glory in the abundant sun ; and if they wilt a little dur-
ing the fierce heat of the day, the next morning will find
them bright and fresh and full of vigor.

I would advise no one to go extensively into the culti-
vation of cauliflowers before they have had some experi-
ence ; better raise a few in the garden and make special
efforts to grow them to perfection. When you have
learned the secret of success, extend their cultivation to
the field and market garden. The standard varieties of
cauliflower are Early Paris, Erfurt Earliest Dwarf, Large
Lenormand and Walcheren. The former two are early
varieties, and the last two are larger and later. What we
have said in regard to the planting of early and late vari-
eties of cabbage, is equally true in regard to the planting
of early and late varieties of cauliflower. To have early
cauliflowers, of course, you must sow early varieties, but
for a late crop, it is not absolutely necessary to have late
varieties. If late kinds are planted early and every thing
goes well, they will give you a larger, handsomer, and
more profitable crop; but it often happens, where the soil
and season are not propitious, that the early varieties
planted late will give the best results. In other words,
if you can grow a large crop of the late varieties do so.
But if you have any reason to anticipate a failure, you
had better be content with raising a crop of the early and

CARROTS. 49

smaller varieties planted late. You can sometimes grow
a good crop of Early Paris or Erfurt Earliest Dwarf,
when you can not get a single head of Large Lenormand
or Walcheren.

Except for the earliest crop, it is not necessary to raise
the plants in a hot-bed. Sow, out of doors, on the rich-
est, warmest, and mellowest soil you have, in rows fifteen
inches apart, as directed for cabbage seed. The late varie-
ties should be sown just as early as the ground is in good
working condition. The early varieties, when intended
for a late crop, need not be sown before the middle of
May, and they will often do well if not sown until the
first of June. Keep the plants well hoed. If too thick,
prick them out into a border of rich, moist land, in rows
a foot apart, and at two or three inches distant in the
row. Let them stay there until wanted, they will make
fine, strong, stocky plants, and well repay you for the
extra labor of pricking out.

CAEEOTS.

The Carrot is not a popular crop. Horses are very
fond of carrots, but then they never had to weed them.
If they had been obliged to get on their hands and knees,
so to speak, with the hot sun on their backs, and had to
weed and thin carrots, when Tom and Dick were gone a
fishing, they would have been satisfied with dry corn and
hay. Boys ought to know better. If we want a good
thing, we have got to work for it. The horse, I have no
doubt, would go without the carrots rather than per-
form the necessary work of raising them. But we want
horses to work for our pleasure, and a good horse that
behaves himself, and does cheerfully all that we ask of
him, is entitled to an occasional feed of fresh juicy car-
rots to mix with his dry hay and corn. But I am sure
3

50 GAEDElTIIira FOK YOUNG AND OLD.

our briglit American boys will soon learn to make the
horse do nine-tenths of the work of raising the carrots.
Just think of it ! When I was a boy, we used to make a
bed about five feet wide, trim it ofE at the edges with a
sharp spade, throw the soil on top from the alleys, rake
the bed, and then sow the carrot seed broadcast, and
make the bed smooth by patting it with the back of the
spade. These beds of carrots, onions, etc., looked very
neat and trim when first made, but oh ! the labor of
weeding them ! By and by we made a wonderful dis-
covery, we found that carrots, onions, etc., could be
sown in rows two or three inches apart, where we could
dig up the weeds with a knife or our fingers. Gradually
the rows were made wider apart, and now almost every
one drills in his carrots, onions, parsnips, etc., in rows
wide enough apart, to admit the use of a good American
hoe.

IMPEOTED CAKKOT GROVTING.

I want to do still better. I want the horse to do all of
the hoeing. I sow my carrots in rows twenty-one inches
apart, and cultivate them with a horse-hoe. If you have
a steady horse and a good cultivator, and will give your
mind to the work, you can run very close to the rows, and
leave very little to be done in the way of hand-weeding
or hoeing. In fact, if you will run the cultivator between
the rows once a week after the plants get fairly started,
they will grow so rapidly that they will smother out or
hold in check nearly all the weeds. I tell my boys that
cultivating between such narrow rows is an education.
It is good mental discipline, for they must keep their
mind constantly fixed on their work.

Much of the success of the plan, however, will depend
upon having the land not only rich, but in the best
mechanical condition. Fortunately our inventors and
manufacturers are fully abreast of the times. We have a

CARROTS. 51

good gang-plow, with bright steel mould-boards, that
will turn over three furrows at a time, and leave the
land almost smooth and level. Then we have a harrow
that will cut the clods to pieces, and still further smooth
and mellow the land. After that, we make use of a
smoothing harrow. This, with a roller passed over the
land two or three times, first the harrow and then the
roller, I formerly thought left the land in as good shape
as we could hope to get it by the use of horse-implements,
and that anything further in the way of fining or smooth-
ing the surface soil must be done with a steel rake. But
no, we have now a revolving harrow and leveler, that will
leave the land as smooth and fine as it can be made with
a steel rake, at one-tenth of the expense. With these
implements, a garden line, a marker, and a good drill,
field-gardening is a much more pleasant and profitable
business than ever before in the history of the world.
There is one thing which our drill makers need to do,
which is to give us a bright, steel coulter for depositing
the seed in the row. The various seed drills have rough
cast-iron coulters two inches wide, and are admirably
adapted for doing poor work. The coulter catches every
bit of straw, or root, or grass, or rubbish it comes in con-
tact with. The seeds are scattered in a wide row. In-
stead of this we want a narrow, bright steel coulter that
would run easily and smoothly through the soil, and de-
posit the seed in a row not over a quarter of an inch
wide. It would not only do better work, especially when
the land was damp and sticky, but as can be readily seen,
these narrow drills would leave very much less space for
hand weeding. In fact a skillful boy, with the right kind
of hoe, could run so close to this narrow row that he
would not leave one weed in a thousand that would have
to be pulled out with the fingers. Another thing in re-
gard to the culture of carrots which I think is important :
you know the time was, when onion growers thought it

52 GAEDBmNG BOB YOUNG AN'D OID.

was necessary to thin out the onions, leaving only one
plant every three or four inches ; but we have discovered
that the onion will bear crowding. If three or four
onions be left in a bunch, they will push each other up-
wards and downwards, lengthwise and sidewise, and you
will get three or four good sized onions instead of one
large overgrown one which no one wants. And so it is
with carrots. Such varieties as the Early Short Horn or
the Half Long will bear a good deal of crowding. I have
often left four or five carrots in a bunch and had them
all grow to good size. They push each other sidewise in
the loose, well cultivated soil. Leaving them thick in
this way not only saves the unpleasant labor of thinning
with the fingers, but this thick crop of carrots keeps
down the weeds in the row and saves much labor in
weeding.

The true plan is, to sow the carrots pretty thick, drop-
ping, say two or three seeds to each inch of row, and in-
stead of thinning them out by hand, as is usually done,
I would push or pull a narrow hoe through them and
thus leave a bunch of plants every five or six inches in
the row ; each bunch may have four or five carrots, which
will grow strong enough to keep down the weeds which
may be left in the bunch, and the entire work of weed-
ing can be done with a cultivator and hoe. The large
long varieties of carrots, like the Long Orange and
"White Belgian, can not be left so thick in the bunches,
and for this reason, I prefer to grow the Half Long vari-
ety ; it is more nutritious and is much more easily har-
vested.

CELEEY.

Celery is a crop which should be largely grown in the
field-garden. It is essentially a farm crop, just as much
80 as cabbage. I mean by this that it requires a good

CELERY. 53

deal of space, and should be grown on the farm where
land is coniparatiTely cheap, rather than in suburban
market gardens, where land is worth from five hundred
dollars to five thousand dollars an acre. Vegetables
which must be marketed fresh every morning, must be
grown near the market, but this is not necessarily the
case with Celery.

When I was a boy it was quite an afEair to grow cel-
ery. We dug trenches and heavily manured the bottom,
put three or four inches of soil on top of the manure,
and set a single row of plants six or eight inches apart in
the row. The work was done with a spade, and celery
was a costly luxury. Where land was high, we sometimes,
instead of planting a single row, made the trench four or
five feet wide, covered the bottom with manure, put on
the soil, and planted four or five rows eight or ten inches
apai't in this wide trench. I have seen a good crop
raised in this way, but it is a great deal of work and will
not pay. The truth is, that celery requires a great deal
of moisture ; it needs rich land too, but moisture will, to
a certain extent, take the place of manure. If you can
get land that is well drained and moist also, that is the
trae place for celery. If the land is not moist you must
set the plants farther apart in the rows. For early cel-
ery, of which comparatively little is required either for
home use or market, the seed must be sown in a hot-bed
or in a box in the house. You can sow the seed in rows
one inch apart and ten or twelve seeds to each inch of
row. When the plants begin to crowd one another, dig
them up and prick them out into a cold-frame or cooler
hot-bed, or into a larger box in the house. In two or
three weeks they will probably need to be transplanted
again into a cold-frame or warm border out of doors; set
them in rows wide enough apart to admit the use of a
hoe, keep clean, and let them remain until wanted to set
out.

54 GARDENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

For the main crop, the seed should be sown in a warm
sheltered spot as early in the spring as the soil is in
good working condition. The better plan is to prepare
the ground the previous autumn, and the more manure
you can work into it, the better. Do this as early in the
fall as the land can be spared ; this will give the weed
seeds in the manure and in the soil a chance to germi-
nate. Work the ground several times, for the more you
work it, the more weed seeds will germinate and be de-
stroyed ; this is very important, because celery seed is
slow to germinate in the cold soil in the spring, and if
the land is full of weed seeds, they will start long before
the seeds of the celery and cause a great deal of trouble
in hoeing and weeding. It is folly to endeavor to raise
celery plants unless the land is very rich, and is kept
scrupulously clean. If the land has been carefully pre-
pared in the autumn, I would not plow or spade it in the
spring, as that would bring up the cold soil to the surface.
As soon as the frost is out of the first three or four inches
of the surface soil, hoe the bed and rake it with a steel
rake, and make it fine and smooth. Then mark rows ten
inches apart, and sow the celery seed evenly in the rows,
depositing ten or twelve seeds to each inch of row, with a
radish seed every three or four inches apart in the row.
The radish seed will germinate quickly, and show you
where the rows are, and enable you to hoe lightly be-
tween them, long before the celery makes its appear-
ance. The great point is, to get strong, stocky plants
with an abundance of fine roots. For this purpose it
will be necessary, not only to keep the bed very clean,
but to thin out the plants where too thick. The plants
ought to be not less than an inch to two inches apart in
the row. When ready to transplant, the bed should be
saturated with water, and the right way to do this, is to
take a fork or spade and thrust it down deep into the soil
between the rows and below the roots of the celery, and

CELERY. 55

lifting up or breaking up in such a way as to leave the
bed full of cracks and holes. In this manner you can get
several barrels of water upon, or rather into, a small bed.
The next morning, if the bed has been thoroughly satu-
rated, the plants can be taken up with all their roots,
and more or less fine soil still adhering to them.

In raising celery plants on a large scale, I find it de-
sirable to sow the seed in rows twenty-one inches apart, or
far enough to admit the use of a horse-hoe. Th^s not only
saves much labor in hoeing, but the frequent use of the
horse-hoe keeps the land loose and mellow, and when
you wish to set out the plants, they can be taken up
much more easily and with a large mass of fine roots,
with soil adhering to them. Before commencing to fork
up the plants, we run a narrow cultivator several times
between the rows as deep as we can get it; set out the
plants with as little exposure of the roots to the air as
possible. It does not hurt a plant to wilt when the wilt-
ing is caused merely by the evaporation of water through
the leaves, but it is a serious injury to let the roots shrivel
up from exposure to our hot sun and drying winds.

SETTING OUT THE PLANTS.

Before transplanting, however, it is necessary to get
trenches ready. In point of fact, the trenches are not
trenches at all, according to the old meaning of the
term. The way I have done the work on my own farm
is to get the land ready by plowing and harrowing until
it is quite smooth and mellow. I then take a marker
with teeth four feet apart, set a line for the first row and
run the marker along the line. After the land is all
marked out into rows four feet apart, take a double
mould-board plow, with two horses, and run the plow
along the row made by the marker. If you have not a
double mould-board plow, the work can be done equally

56 aAKDENINQ FOE "EOUNG AND OLD.

well with an ordinary plow ; except that it is necessary
to go twice in a row, up and down, instead of once. Yoa
will see that this is simply making what are called dead
furi'ows, every four feet.

When the work is done, draw out some of the richest,
most thoroughly rotted manure you can find and spread
in the rows, or dead-furrows. Spread it evenly and knock
it to pieces thoroughly with a hoe or potato hook, mixing
more or less soil with it, getting it, at any rate, well
broken to pieces. Then with a plow throw the soil back
again into the furrow; then roll and hirrow and roll
again, until you have made the soil as fine as possible.
Then take your four-foot marker again, set the line exactly
where it was in the first place, and run the marker along
the line just over where the manure has been put. If
the work has been well done, you will have five or six
inches of good mellow soil in which to set out your cel-
ery plants. I set my plants a foot apart in the row ; as
the rows are four feet apart we get ten thousand eight
hundred and ninety plants to the acre.

Of course plants can be grown much closer than this.
The rows can be made three feet apart and the plants set
six inches apart in the row. This would give twenty-
nine thousand and forty plants to the acre, and if the land
is rich enough, moist enough and clean enough, and you
have the best plants, and give them the best of treatment,
and the season is every way favorable, you can get just as
good celery from the thicker planting as from the thin.
But my land is simply ordinary farm land and an acre or
two more or less, provided it will save labor, and insure a
crop in an unfavorable as well as a favorable season, does
not count. Certainly I would advise any farm boy, whose
father will furnish the land rent free, for a given num-
ber of celery plants, not to make the rows too near, or
set out the plants too close in the rows.

Some of the old market gardeners may criticise me for

OELEET. 57

recommending such thin planting, but I know what I
know. I know that their land, which has been in gar-
den culture for many years, is in a very different condi-
tion from our very best farm land, and it will be far bet-
ter the first year or two, when trying to raise garden
crops on farm land, not to plant too thickly.

In setting out the celery plants, select damp weather
if possible, but a damp or rainy day is not half so neces-
sary as a finely worked, mellow and moist soil. If the
ground is dry and cloddy, so that the dry lumps of earth
will tumble into the hole made by the dibble, you had
better let the plants stay where they are, and go to work
with a roller and harrow until you have made the soil
fine and mellow. I know that this can be done, and it is
sometimes necessary to go over the land half a dozen
times or more with a roller and harrow. I put one team
to the roller, and a three-hoj-se team to a Smoothing Har-
row. Having the boy ride on the harrow so as to press
it into the soil, let him go ahead and stir up the soil,
bringing the lumps to the surface. The roller follows and
crushes the surface; then go over it again, going round
and round the lumpy piece until every lump is broken up
fine. Even a very light shower will make such a well-
worked soil moist enough to allow the plants to be set
out, and if we do not have any shower, the moisture will
in time come up from the subsoil and make the ground
moist enough to insure the safety of the plants. A re-
cently transplanted row of celery often presents a sorry
appearance in our dry climate. But do not be discour-
aged. If the roots and the crowns of the plants are alive
they will in time start into growth. If the plants were
set out during a rain, and the surface of the soil after-
wards bakes or becomes hard, the crust should be bi-oken
up fine with a hoe. An inch or two of dry, loose earth
on the surface checks evaporation and keeps the soil
moist underneath where the roots are. Always remem-

58 GAEDENING POE YOUKG AND OLD.

ber this, as it is very important. A dry surface, if the
soil is loose and fine, is a good thing, provided there is
sufficient moisture in the soil below, around the roots.

As the celery grows, keep the ground well cultivated
and hoed; and this is all that need be done until the
plants have nearly attained their growth. The earth is
then drawn round the plants in order to blanch the
stalks. You will soon learn how to do this. It is neces-
sary to gather up the loose and straggling stalks, and
press the whole plant firmly together with the hand in
order to prevent the soil falling into the center or
" heart" of the plant between the stalks. Draw the soil
around the plant, fully up to the lower leaves, and if the
weather is fine and the plants continue to grow, earth
them up again.

STOEING SOE WIWTEE.

There are several plans for keeping celery during the
winter. My own method is to dig a trench in dry,
sandy land, a foot wide, and deep enough to hold the
plants; In this set the plants upright, just as they grew,
only putting them close together crosswise of the trench.
The more soil there is left adhering to the roots the bet-
ter. It is also desirable and certainly much more pleasant,
to do the work when the soil and plants are dry. But
as we wish to let the celery keep on growing as long as
the weather will allow, it is not always that we can
find a pleasant day so late in the season in which to se-
cure our celery crop. We have to do the best we can.
As before said, it is desirable to put up the plants when
dry, but if the work is not done until just before winter
is about to set in, there is not much danger that the
celery will mould, no matter how wet it is when put in
the trench.

My plan is, to plow the earth away from the rows of

CELERY. 59

celery m the field; for this we use a plow from which
the mould-board is removed, leaving only the point and
the land-side. By running this plow on the side of the
row, with the point below the roots, the soil is made so
loose that the plants can be pulled with great ease and
rapidity. We drive a stone-boat along the side of the
row, and place the plants upon this, and take them to
the trench where they are to be placed for the winter.
The stalks and leaves are straightened out, and the plants
are placed as thickly as they will stand in the trench,
and it will not in the least hurt the celery if there is a
little fine earth put between each layer of plants. I place
a strip of corn stalks or straight straw lengthwise along
the sides of the trench and draw the soil up to it. We
then plow two or three furrows on each side of the
trench, if necessary going round and round the trench
two or three times, until the soil on each side is broken
up very loose and fine to the depth of eighteen or twenty
inches, and three or four feet wide. Such a loose mellow
soil will stand the severest zero weather with little or no
freezing. And if a few leaves are plowed into the soil or
placed on top of the trench, there is no danger that the
celery will be injured by the frost. If the work is well
done, there will be little danger of the rain getting into
the trench; but to avoid all risk, we sometimes place a
board lengthwise of the trench, on top of the celery, and
cover it with leaves or straw, with three or four inches of
straw on top. The plowing round and round the trench
several times, until the ground is made very mellow and
deep, I regard as very essential, for it enables you to get
out the celery at any time when it is wanted during the
winter.

Another plan for preserving celery for winter use, is
to put it in a box in the cellar with layers of earth between
the plants, placing the celery in the box upright in the
same way we recommended placing it in the trench out

60 GAEDENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

doors. Another method recommended by Mr. Hender-
son in the American Agriculturist is, to set up
boards on edge in the cellai', nine inches wide and as
high as the plants are tall. A few inches of soil being
placed at the bottom, the celery is set in this board
trench the same as in that in the ground. At nine
inches from the first, other boards are set up in the same
manner, and so on.

In regard to varieties, I have had the best success with
the Dwarf White and the Dwarf Crimson. The Boston
Market has a more spreading habit and throws up nu-
merous side shoots or suckers, which, when well grown
and blanched, are very crisp and toothsome. There are
those who still prefer the larger varieties known by dif-
ferent names, such as Giant, Superb, Leviathan, etc.
Unquestionably in this climate the dwarf varieties, as a
rule, are more easily grown and more likely to give satis-
faction.

CELERIAC, OE TUENIP-EOOTED CELEEY.

Celeriac is a variety of celery, but much hardier, and
having a less erect growth, the plants forming a bul-
bous enlargement; hence the name Turnip-Eooted. Its
cultivation is extending in this country, and when well
grown it is certainly a delicious vegetable. We have
hardlv yet learned how to grow it to perfection. The
cultivaiion is in many respects similar to that required
for celery, but it is not necessary to have the rows so far
apart, as no earthing up is required. Set out the plants
in rows thirty inches apart, and a foot apart in the row.
The land can not be too rich or mellow, or the cultiva-
tion too thorough. The plants are inclined to throw up
suckers. These should be removed as soon as they start;
otherwise these suckers will check the tendency of the

COKN' — SWEET CORN-. 61

plant to form a bulb. This is perhaps the most impor-
tant point to be observed in the culture of celeriac. It
would not be desirable to go into the cultivation of cele-
riac on a large scale until one has had some experience,

Fig. 3.— CBLBEIAO.

but it is a crop which it would be well for every one to
raise on a small scale until he gets acquainted with its
merits and uses.

CORN— SWEET-COKK

Corn is so easy to grow that very few grow it to per-
fection. Seedsmen get more scoldings with reference to
their corn than about any other seed. Every one thiuks

62 GARDENING POE YOUNG AND OLD.

he can grow it, and when the crop fails, we naturally
blame the person who sells us the seed. One year I had
a very choice variety of oorn and distributed it freely
among my friends, but many wrote me that not a kernel
of it grew. I never felt quite sure whether they did not
know how to plant the corn, or whether I did not know
how to save the seed. The truth is, if you get a very
choice variety of tender, sweet and delicious corn to be
eaten green, it is a very dilBcult matter to preserve the
seed without weakening its germinative power; and even
if the seed is as good as we can hope to get it, sweet
corn, if is is really sweet and good, can not safely be
planted in as cold and damp a soil as common field corn.
We all wish to get sweet corn as early as possible, and
it is worth while running the risk of losing our first
planting, in order to occasionally secure a few dishes of
very early corn. It is simply the loss of a little seed, for
if it fails to grow, owing to the soil being too cold and
damp, or to the crop being destroyed by an early frost,
the soil can afterward be replanted with a later variety of
corn, or used for some other crop. But do not wait
until your first planting is lost before planting again.
Plant a few hills as soon as the ground can be got into
good working condition, and a few days later, especially
if the weather is warm and dry, plant a few more hills,
and a few days later still put in a larger quantity; in this
way, three years out of four, you will be pretty certain to
secure a good supply of this most delicious and popular
American vegetable.

The land for sweet corn should be prepared in the
autumn, and the surface soil, especially, should be heavily
manured. In the fall get the soil all ready for planting,
and in the spring do not plow or spade the land, but
make a few hills by drawing the surface soil together
with a hoe. For early corn in the garden, and with
dwarfish varieties, like the Early Minnesota, the rows

COEK — SWEET CORN. 63

need not be more than three feet apart, or the hills more
than eighteen or twenty inches apart in the row. Use
seed freely, for in the cold, damp soil, much of it may
fail to grow. I would plant eight or ten kernels in each
hill, and if they all grow, pinch off (not pull up,) all but
four of the best plants. If you undertake to pull up the
plants you will be apt to disturb or injure those which
are left in the hill. As the plants grow, draw a little
fresh earth up to them, and if you have reason to fear a
frost some night, it is worth while to take pieces of news-
paper, say a foot square, and lay them over the hills of
corn, putting a little soil on each corner to hold them
down. The next morning they can be turned back and
still kept by the side of the hill, weighted with a little
earth, ready for use the next night if necessary. It re-
quires but a very slight covering to protect plants from
frost, but it will not do to let the covering remain on all
the time, as they need exposure to the sun.

TAEIETIES.

The later varieties of corn, such as Crosby's Sugar,
Eussell's Prolific, and Moore's Early Concord, though far
sweeter and better, do not need so much care as we have
recommended when we wish to secure the earliest possi-
ble dish of corn. But even for the second early crop, it
will pay to take pains in the preparation of the soil,
planting, and cultivation. You can not grow good sweet
corn as easily as you can good field corn. For the main
crop, Stowell's Evergreen is one of the most popular vari-
eties; as ordinarily grown, however, it has ceased to be ev-
ergreen, it IS simply a good late variety of sweet corn.
It is the variety generally grown for the canning and
evaporating establishments, and the growers for -these
are particularly anxious to get a strain of Stowell's Ever-
green corn, which has ceased to be evergreen, and which

64 GAEDENING FOB TOUNG AND OLD.

is sure to mature in a good season. Those who wish so-
called " Evergreen " corn, must get seed of this variety
which has been grown several degrees farther south than
where it is intended to plant it.

The canning establishments engage farmers to raise
sweet corn for them. They furnish the seed and agree
to pay a certain price per ton for ears of corn in the green
state. In this neighborhood they have been paying
eight dollars per ton for ears with the husks on. Many
farmers think it does not pay to grow it for less than ten
dollars per ton. Of course much depends on the yield
per acre. On ordinary farm land with ordinary culture,
the yield is small, and the expense of gathering the crop
absorbs nearly all the profits; but with a good crop, the
profit at ten dollars per ton is entirely satisfactory,
especially if you take the value of the stalks into consid-
eration. It is a good crop to commence ■« ith in the field-
garden; it brings in a little ready money every few days
at a season when we are quite apt to need it.

POP-COEK

Pop-corn is a small variety grown exclusively for pop-
ping. It is rarely fed to animals; though I am not sure
that if we could invent some cheap and expeditious
method of popping it on a large scale, it would not pay
well in many cases to grow this corn and pop it for young
animals or those which are sick. A little pig takes very
kindly to pop-corn, after it is popped, and I have no
doubt it is good for him, and if any of the boys wish to
show their pigs at the fair, after they have given the pig
a good square meal, and after he has eaten all he will,
his pigship would enjoy a dessert of pop-corn, either
plain or sweetened with molasses.

The cultivation of pop-corn is as easy and simple as
that of ordinary field corn, but when they first come up.

COEN-SALAD. 65

the plants are smaller and weaker, and for this reason
it is desirable to plant pop-corn on a dry, warm, sandy
soil. The kernels are very small, and I have found that
in planting, one is apt to drop too many seeds in the
hill. Pop-corn may be planted in hills three feet apart
each way, and the land cultivated both ways with a
horse-hoe, or it may be planted in rows three feet apart,
and the seed drilled in, afterwards thinning out the
plants to six or eight inches apart in the row. Pop-corn
needs good soil and clean cultivation. I cut my crop
with a reaper and tie it into bundles like wheat; set the
bundles in a stook in the field until well cured, and if too
busy to husk it in the fall, draw in the bundles and put
them on an airy scaSold in the barn, and husk out the
corn at my leisure.

COEN-SALAD.

Some might think that Corn-salad was a variety of corn
grown for salad. In England wheat is called " corn," and
corn-salad is supposed to derive its name from the fact
that the plant grows among winter wheat. It is a very
hardy plant and will, if sown in the fall, usually stand
the winter and will start to grow in the spring, even
earlier than spinach. It is a substitute, to some extent,
for both lettuce and spinach. One of its popular names
is "Lamb's Lettuce." It is a very easily raised plant,
and is a favorite salad with those who like it. The cul-
tivation is very simple. For spring use, sow early in
September, in rows fifteen inches apart, dropping the
seeds an inch apart m the row. Protect the plants
in winter by lightly covering them with straw or
litter. When used as a substitute for spinach, the land
cannot be made too rich. For summer, sow in rows,
fifteen inches apart, as early as the ground can be put

6b-

GARDBXIXG FOK YOUKG AND OLD.

into good condition ; hoe, and thin out the plants to two
or three inches apart; gather when yonng and tender,

Vig. i. — OOKN-SAIAD.

and sow another bed a week or ten days later for succes-
sion. The seed is small, and should not be covered more
than half an inch deep.

OKESS, OR PBPPER-GEASS.

Cress is very nice if grown rapidly, and is gathered
before it runs to seed. It should have very rich land,
be sown in rows wide enough apart to admit the use of a
hoe, and about half an inch apart in the row. Sow as early
as the ground can be worked in the spring, and each
week afterwards for a succession.

WATER CRESS.

There are many places where Water Cress could be
grown as Ji wiarket crop with groat profit, The real point

CtrCUMBEBS. 67

is, to get low land which can be drained on the one hand,
and flooded on the other. Ditches may be dug from the
main stream, two or three feet wide, and deep enough to
allow the water to flow in to the depth of two to six inch-
es. In these ditches sow or plant the water cress. For your
own use, cress can be obtained in ample abundance by
sowing it in any shallow natural stream. A convenient
plan is to scatter a little cress seed on the surface of the
water, and let it float down stream. "When the stream is
once stocked nothing more is needed. It is a pity that
water cress is not better known and more generally used,
as it is one of the most healthful and delicious of salads,

CUCUMBEKS.

Cucumbers, when grown in a hot-bed, will stand a
good deal of heat, and their successful management re-
quires some experience. It is usual to plant one hill of
cucumbers to each sash, after using the hot-bed for start-
ing other seeds in boxes, which can be removed when the
cucumbers require more room. For out-door culture,
early plants can be started in the hot-bed or in the house;
six or eight seeds can be sown in some fine mould in a-
three-inch pot, and when the weather has become set-
tled, the plants can be carefully turned out of the pot
with all the soil adhering to the roots, and transferred to
a well-prepared hill in the garden. For a few days, the
plants should be covered with a frame or bottomless box
having a piece of cotton cloth tacked over the top.
Before the plants are turned out, the pots should be
placed in a vessel containing some blood-warm water,
two or three inches deep, and allowed to remain until the
ball of earth is thoroughly saturated; this is far better
than watering after they are transplanted.

Cucumbers delight in a warm, rich, mellow soil. For

68 GARDEKIiirG FOE TOUNG AND OLD.

field culture, a good plan is to mark ofE the ground into
rows, four feet apart each way, then run a double mould-
board plow along the mark, both ways. Put one or two
good forkfuls of well-rotted manure vhere these furrows
cross each other; then with a hoe, or potato hook, break
up the manure very line, and work it into the soil. Turn
the soil back agam on top of the manure with a plow,
going on both sides of the row lengthwise and crosswise;
follow the plow with a roller, going both ways of the
rows. By doing this, the hills will be four feet apart
each way, with manure underneath, and a bed of rich,
mellow soil for the seed. I find it desirable, after using
the roller, to go over the piece again with a four-foot
marker, both ways, as this insures straight rows. Drop
ten or twelve seeds in each hill, and after the plants are
well up, and have got pretty well out of the reach of the
Striped-bug, gradually thin them out, until in the end,
you leave only four of the strongest plants in each hill.
The after cultivation consists simply in working the soil
with a cultivator or one-horse plow, both ways between
the rows, removing all weeds from the hills with a hoe,
at the same time pulling up a little fresh soil around the
plants if necessary.

Another plan is, to mark off the land into rows four
or five feet apart, run the double mould-board plow along
the mark, spread the manure in the furrow, and cover it
up by running the plow on both sides of the row; then
roll, mark the land again, and drill in the seed in the
mark just over the manure. Some may think it unneces-
sary to go over the land the second time with the marker,
but it is very important to have the rows straight, as any
boy will find when he undertakes to run a cultivator
within an inch of the plants in the row. In drilling in
the seed, set the drill to drop a seed each two or three
inches, and to cover not over an inch deep. As the plants
grow, keep them well cultivated, and thin out until you

CtrOUMBEES.

69

have them from eight to ten inches apart in the row.
There will often be two or three plants close together in
the row, and if there are no others for fifteen or
eighteen inches on each side, I should let them all grow.
Another plan, and I think on the whole the best, is to
prepare the land just as thoroughly as you are able;
spread a quantity of manure on the surface, say fifteen or
twenty loads per acre; spread it evenly, and then go over
it two or three times with a smoothing harrow, and if it
pulls any of the manure into heaps, re-spread them and
continue harrowing and rolling until the whole surface
soil is as fine and mellow as a garden. In
fact it is a garden — at any rate we wish to
introduce garden culture on the
farm. Mark out the land into
rows four or five feet apart, and
then, with a two-horse plow,
throw up two furrows on each
side of the mark, and so con-
tinue until the work is all done.
In this way you will get a bed of
light, mellow, well-manured soil
in rows of four or five feet
apart; roll the land, mark it Fig. a— baelt
WHITE-SPINE, once more, and drill in the seed. '^""'^^ cldstek.
Cucumbers are sometimes grown on sod land. The
land is marked out in rows, four or five feet apart
both ways, and the seed planted in hills made with a
hoe. If the land is in good condition, or if two table-
spoonsfuls of superphosphate are scattered in each hill,
you will be likely to have a good crop, with very few
weeds to trouble you.

The leading varieties are Early Kussian, Early Green
Cluster, Early Frame, Early White Spine and Improved
Long Green. The latter two varieties are extensively
grown for the pickle factories, as well as for market and

Fiff. 5.

70

GAUDENIISTG FOR YOUNG AKD OLD.

home use. The pickle factories, as a rule, however, pre-
fer the White Spine. In this neighborhood, they pay
from one dollar to one dollar and a half per thousand for
the cucumbers, according to the size; a barrel of small
ones contains about five thousand, for which they pay
five dollars. Of the larger size, a barrel holds from one
thousand two hundred to one thousand six hundred,
for which they pay from one dollar and eighty cents to
two dollars and forty cents per barrel. Some of my
neighbors grow cucumbers for pickles on low, mucky
soil, which is usually too wet to plow before the middle
of June. They sometimes have good crops when they
plant as late as the middle of July. It would, of course,
be better to drain the land and plant earlier.

EGG PLANT.

Egg Plant, in this section, needs to be started in the
hot-bed or in a box in the house, and, as the plants re-

Fig. 7. — ^KEW TORK IMPROVED PCKPLE EQG PLANT.

quire a warm soil when set out in the garden, the seeds
should not be sown in the house or hot-bed until the first
or second week in April'. Select a warm, sunny spot Ir

ENDIVE— KOHL EABI. 71

the garden, and make the soil yery loose and mellow,
and moderately rich. Set the plants about thirty inches
apart, keep the ground clean, and as they grow, draw a
little fresh soil to them. Keep a sharp lookout for the
Colorado-beetle or Potato-bug, as this likes the Egg-plant
quite as well as it does potatoes, and if not destroyed
will ruin the crop. The best variety is the New York
Improved Purple.

ENDIVE.

Endive is a very hardy plant, easily grown, and when
properly blanched makes an excellent salad. It can be
sown at any time from March to August, but as it is
usually eaten late in the fall, it is commonly sown in
June or July, in rows twelve to fifteen inches apart, and
the plants thinned out to a foot distant in the row. The
blanching can be done in any way which excludes the
light. The usual method is by gathering the leaves
together and tying them at the top.

KOHL EABI.

Kohl Eabi is a variety of the cabbage, but it looks
more like a tuKnip. It has been called the Turnip-root-
ed Cabbage. It is grown as a sub-
stitute for cabbage. It will stand dry
weather better than turnips, yields
equally well, and is quite as nutri-
tious. It can be transplanted easily,
but it is usually sown, like the tur-
nip, where it is to remain. It can be
prontably grown as a field crop for
„ „ stock. Unlike the turnip it does not

impart an unpleasant flavor to the
milk when fed to cows. The preparation of the land,
cultivation and harvesting, are similar to that required

73

GAKDENIlirG FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

for ruta baga or Swedes. If any thing, the land should
be richer and the seeds sown a little earlier. The best
variety for stock or for table use, is the Large White or
Large G-reen. For table use these should be grown
quickly and used before they become stringy, which they
will be apt to be if allowed to get larger than a teacup.

LETTUCE.

Every body raises Lettuce. While no plant is more
easily grown, comparatively few people have it in per-
fection. The reason for this is three-fold. The soil is

Fig. 9.

"THE DEACON" LETTUCE.

Fig. 10.
COS LETTUCE.

not made rich enough, it is not thoroughly cultivated
and hoed, and the plants are left entirely too close
together. As an out-door crop, lettuce can be sown in
the spring as early as the weather will permit. I have
sown it in February, and though we had very severe
weather afterwards, the plants were not injured by the
frost. In the same field, however, the same variety,
" The Deacon," sown April 14th, was just as large by the
first of June as that sown in February. The best way
with this, as with otlier hardy crops, is to sow as early as

MELONS — MUSK. 73

the ground can be brought into good condition, but
not earlier.

My own plan in raising lettuce is, to make the land as
fine and mellow as possible, and drill in the seed in rows,
twenty-one inches apart. This is wide enough to admit
the use of the horse-hoe. As soon as the rows can be
traced, we go through with the cultivator, and in the
course of a few days go through again; the object being
to make the soil as loose and mellow as possible. I have
gone through the rows three or four times with a culti-
yator before the plants were large enough to be thinned
out with a hoe. This thinning out is the point necessary
for success. It seems a great waste of seeds, of plants,
and of land, to thin out the plants to eight or ten inches
apart, but it is the true plan. You must dash your hoe
through them boldly, cutting out the plants so that they
will stand the width of the hoe apart; then with the hoe
push out all the surplus ones. An ordinary hoe slants
too much forward to do the work properly; you should
heat the shank of the hoe, and bend it until the blade is
nearly at right angles with the handle. For thinning
out turnips, beets, mangels, etc., such a hoe will enable
you to do the work Avithout often resorting to thinning
out the plants with the fingers. If the land is in proper
condition, and you have a good variety, you will get a
splendid crop of the largest and finest heads of lettuce,
from the last of June to the middle of September.

MELONS— MUSK.

A few hills of Musk Melons can be started in the hot-
bed or in the house, as recommended for cucumbers, and
when the ground is warm, the plants can be set out in
the open ground and shaded for a few days, until they
get finally started. On a farm where land is abundant,
4

74

GAEDENIKG FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

the better plan is, to put in the melon seed in the open
ground as soon as the soil is in good working condition.
You may lose half your seed and be obliged to replant,
but in three years out of four,
you will get as good and as
^ early a crop as you would by

1 transplanting from the hot-bed.
g The mistake people mal"' is, in
g not using seed enough. You

2 ought to sow at least three
I times as many as you think you

will need, even of the best of
seed. Melons are not all of the
I ^ best quality, and if you hare
M < more than you need, you can
g S reject those which do not please
g you. We do not expect every
I apple on a tree to be perfect,
I and we need not expect every
E§ melon on the vine to be of the
1^ . choicest quality. The methods
H recommended for the cultiva-
tion of cucumbers are generally
adapted to the production of
g melons. If possible, the land
^ should be made even richer
for melons than for cucumbers.
a; I have never yet seen land too
s rich for them. Plant largely
g and sow thickly, so that if the
seed all grows, you can thin
out thQ weak plants as directed
for cucumbers. The best varieties are: the Early Chris-
tiana, the Nutmeg, Green Citron, White Japanese, and
Casaba. Of the first three. Nutmeg, Christiana, and
Citron, the best variety, in my judgment, is the one of

bi5

MELONS — WATER. 75

which yon happen to plant the most largely. If you
have a large crop you can select delicious melons from
either of these varieties.

MELONS— WATEE.

Watermelons can be grown as easily as pumpkins
or corn, but you can not grow corn and watermelons
together. The land must be entirely devoted to the mel-
ons, and the mistake that people make, is, they try to
grow melons and thistles on the same ground. The
thistles pump up a large quantity of water from the soil,
and when we have dry, hot weather, the melons are left
without suflBcient moisture. The weather can not be too
hot for this crop, provided it has sufficient moisture and
plant food. People are apt to think that if they keep
the soil clean immediately around the hills, the rest of
the land can be suffered to produce weeds. This is a
great mistake; the roots of the melons are at least as long
as the vines, and in our dry, hot climate, they need all
the moisture the land contains. The distance apart at
which it is best to plant watermelons depends on the
climate. In this section, they will do well planted in
hills or rows four or five feet apart, but as we go south,
we must increase the distance. One of my correspond-
ents in Texas, wrote me that his watermelons completely
covered the ground, even when they are planted fifteen
or twenty feet apart.

I have grown excellent watermelons on light, rich,
sandy soil, in rows five feet apart. We drilled in the
seed with an ordinary garden drill, using the hole made
for sowing corn. As the plants grow, thin out, leaving
them from eight to fifteen inches apart in the row. Just
as you happen to find them. If the plants are thin, and
you find two or three near together, leave them all to

70

GAEDENING FOR TOUNG AND OLD.

\

grow if necessary. If the land is rich enough, and you
keep it thoroughly cultivated and free from weeds, you
may expect a great crop of melons, and if you don't get

it, try again. When
the Tines commence
to run, the weeds also
begin to grow, and
% you may think that
I you can not get
B through the rows
with a cultivator;
but by going ahead
of the horse, you may
move the vines out of
the way, and leave
plenty of room for
the horse and culti-
vator. Make thor-
ough work, going
twice in the row, or
as often as is neces-
sary to kill every
weed, and break up
the hard, dry soil.
Work it until it is as
mellow as a garden,
and if there are any
weeds left which you
can not reach with a
jI \.^hA ' B^' I cultivator, cut them

•*» ^^ffiki. . -' j^ f out with a hoe, or

pull them by hand.

Watermelons may be planted in hills, and the land

prepared as recommended for cucumbers, except that it

IS necessary to make the hills wider apart. The method,

however, of plowing the land into ridges, or hills, both

MUSTARD. 77

ways, is just as applicable to watermelons and musk-
melons as to cucumbers. The best varieties are: the
Black Spanish, Ice Cream, and Mountain Sweet. They
can be planted a little earlier than muskmelons, but
there is nothing gained by doing it before the land can be
pu t into the finest condition. A common mistake in plant-
ing melons and cucumbers is, to cover the seed too deep;
half an inch is quite deep enough for both muskmelons
and cucumbers. Watermelons, the seed of which is
much larger, can be deeper, but much depends on the
nature and condition of the soil. Many a hill of melon
seed is literally smothered by being covered with an inch
of damp soil which bakes on the surf ace, while two inches
of dry, mellow sandy soil would do no harm.

CITROSr "WATERMELON.

This variety is grown exclusively for preserving. The
fruit is round, skin light, and dark-green, handsomely
striped and marbled; a few hills should be planted in
every garden. The cultivation is precisely the same as
for other melons. It is the smaller of the melons on
page 76.

MUSTARD.

For salad the cultivation of Mustard is the same as for
cress. Sow in rows wide enough
apart to admit the use of the hoe,
dropping two or three seeas to each
inch of row. For an early crop, se-
lect a warm, sandy soil, sow as early
as the soil is dry and mellow, cover

, J.T. i • 1 *!&• 13.— MtlSTAHD.

not more than one-quarter inch

deep. In a week or ten days, sow another bed, and

continue to do so at intervals for a succession. The

78 GARDENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

best Tariety for salad is the White Mustard. As
a field crop this deserves attention ; our climate is well
adapted to its cultivation. As a crop for plowing under
to enrich sandy soil, or to lighten and mellow a heavy
one. White Mustard could often be used with special
advantage. It can also be profitably grown for feeding
to sheep on the land, or for feeding green to cows, pigs,
and horses. A great crop can be grown for this purpose
on good, mellow land; but unless the land is mellow, it
is of no use to try it in our dry, hot climate. It may be
sown as late as the first of July, and still give a large crop
in September and October. It must be eaten before
frost. After a severe frost, it is only fit for plowing un-
der for a manure.

The better way is to sow about twenty pounds of seed
per acre, in rows twenty-one inches apart, or far enough
to admit the use of a horse-hoe. As soon as the plants
appear, run the cultivator between the rows, and con-
tinue to cultivate at intervals, until the plants are fairly
started. They grow slowly at first, but if the land is in
good condition, when they are once started, they grow
with great rapidity and will smother the weeds and leave
the land remarkably clean.

NASTURTIUM.— TROP^OLUM.

In our dry, hot climate, the Nasturtium or Indian
Cress, can be grown with great ease and certainty. As the
plants are very tender, the slightest frost injuring them,
they should have a warm, dry soil, moderately rich, and
kept free from weeds. There are two varieties usually
grown, one of which is a climber, and will run up on a
pole or trellis for eight or ten feet. The other is a dwarf
variety, growing from one to two feet high. The latter
may be allowed to trail on the ground, or be furnished

OKRA— OR GUMBO. 79

with a few short sticks. The nasturtium is grown for
both ornament and use. The flowers are very beautiful,
and the seed-pods are pickled and used as a substitute for
capers. A row of the dwarf kind, with a few short sticks
eighteen inches long, and stuck a foot apart, not on the
sides, but in the center of the i'ow, is a charming addition
to any garden.

It is desirable to get the plants as early as possible,
but they are very tender, and if we sow early, we run the
risk of having them destroyed by frost; but we can well
afford to take the risk. Sow two rows. The seed is cheap.
Sow one row at the same time you plant corn. The seed
is large and may be covered from one to two inches deep,
according to the nature of the soil. The earlier you
plant, and the heavier the soil the shallower should be
the seed. A good plan is, to make a double row, just as
we sometimes do for peas. The rows may be about four
inches apart, with one seed to each two inches of row.
The sticks can be placed between these narrow rows. If
more than one of these double rows is needed, the large
climbing nasturtium should be planted in rows five feet
apart, but the dwarf may be planted in rows thirty inches
apart. The second planting, which should never be
neglected, may be made about the time we plant beans.

OKKA— OE GUMBO.

At the North it is desirable to raise Okra plants in a
hot-bed, or in a box in the house, and transplant them
to the garden about the middle of May. If the seed is
sown out of doors, select a loose, warm soil, with a
southern exposure. There are two varieties, the Dwarf
and Tall; the former is the best. Plant the dwarf kind
in rows thirty inches apart, and from eight to tc.i iuclics
in the row, or sufficiently wiile to admit the free use of

80 GAEDEXIXG FOli YOIXG AXD OLD.

the hoe. The tall kind should be in rows three feet
apart, and the plants a foot in the row. After they are
well started, nothing is required except to keep the land
free from weeds. The princiiDal use of okra is in souiis.
The green pods are used for this purpose; they contain
much mucilage which thickens the soup, and imparts an
agreeable flavor. It is regarded as heathful and nu-
tritious. The ripe seeds roasted and ground have some-
times been used as a substitute for cofEee.

ONIONS.

Great improvements have been made in the cultivation
of Onions, and still greater improvements are yet to be
made, especially in our methods of drilling in the seed
and hoeing, and weeding the crop. I have for several
years sown my onion seed in rows, from twenty-one to
twenty-five inches apart, and cultivated with a horse-hoe.
It is a great saving of labor, but many will object to the
plan, because they think they can get a much heavier
yield per acre when the seed is sown in closer rows, say
a foot apart. Such is probably the case. It is a question
of land versus labor. The improvement I want to see
made is, in having a drill which will sow four rows at a
time. It would be better, probably, to have the two cen-
ter rows twenty inches apart, and the other rows a foot
apart. This would give plenty of room for a quiet horse
to walk between the center rows. We should have the
piece sown as follows: there would be one space twenty
inches wide, and then four rows a foot apart, each, and
then another wide space of twenty inches, and so on.
We must then have a cultivator or hoi'se-hoe that would
go between these rows. It must be the exact size of tlin
drill, and provided with a steerage attiichment which
would give us control of the hoes or cultivator teeth, 11

ONIONS. 81

the drill was rigid, if there was any deviation from a
straight line in any of the drills, there would be the same
deviation in all of them, and if we could avoid cutting
up the plants in one row, we should also avoid doing so
in the other three rows. Such a drill and cultivator
combined would be not only very useful for sowing and
cultivating onions, but for many other farm and garden
crops, such as turnips, beets, parsnips, carrots, etc.

Until we have such a machine, we must do the best
we can with the tools we now have. In fact, a farmer
who undertakes to raise onions for the first time as a field
crop, could hardly use such a machine as I have proposed,
he would require to have his land much cleaner and
smoother, and freer from stones than would likely to be
the case on any ordinary farm. Land for onions has to
be made to order. Onions do better on old onion land
than when they are raised on any ordinary soil for the
first time. Nearly all other crops do better in rotation,
than when grown year after year on the same land. It is
not clear why onions should be an exception. I think
chemistry and plant food have far less to do with it than
the mechanical state of the land. If a man or a boy would
bestow the necessary amount of labor in preparing and
enriching the land, I see no reason to doubt that he
could get just as good a crop the first year, as he could the
second, third, or tenth year; but no man will do it; per-
haps a boy may. There was some escuse for men in
years gone by — they had not the necessary tools. With
our modern implements we can place land in wonderfully
fine condition, at comparatively little expense, the first
year; but much of the work ought to be done m the
autumn. Suppose you try how rich, and mellow, you
can make an acre of land this fall. It does not make
very much difference how you do it. The first thing,
however, is to get off all the stones, and stumps, and
rubbish. If a harrow will do it any good, harrow it; if

82 GAEDENING FOR "XOUNG AI^^D OLD.

not, plow it, and then roll, and harrow, and roll again,
until eyery lump is broken that the harrow and roller
can reach; then plow again, and if you should turn under
twenty or thirty loads of well-rotted manure, so much the
better. A hundred loads to the acre will do no harm,
provided it is thoroughly mixed with the soil. In fact,
it is probably this intimate admixture of the manure with
the soil, that makes old onion land so much better than
new. Work in, therefore, all the manure you can; you
can not put on too much, and you can not, at all events
you certainly will not, work it in too thoroughly.

If the land is properly prepared in the autumn, it is
not necessary or desirable to plow it again in the spring;
it might be gone over with a gang-plow or cultivator, or
if the soil is light, a good harrow will be sufficient. It is
very essential to get in the seed as soon as the frost is out
of the ground. In fact, the onions may be sown to ad-
vantage as soon as the first two or three inches are thawed
out and moderately dry, even though the sub-soil is still
a mass of frozen earth. Onions are quite hardy, and will
stand an ordinary frost without injury.

In sowing onions with a drill, it is very desirable to
have the tube, or coulter, which makes the drill row in
which the seed is deposited, as narrow as possible. It
was thought at one time better to scatter the seed in a
wide drill mark, but there is nothing to be gained by it,
and the wider it is, the greater space is there which we
can not reach with the hoe, and which we must weed
with the fingers. Our drill makers do not seem to
understand this, or instead of the rough cast-iron shank,
which many of them have hitherto furnished, they would
make a bright, sharp, narrow steel coulter, which would
not clog or make too wide a drill mark.

As soon as the rows can be traced, go through with a
hoe. It will do the onions good , even if there are no weeds.
Some people recommend going over the land with a steel

ONION'S. 83

rake, but I have never yet had sufficient courage to rako
my crop of onions hard enough to kill the weeds. If you
do the work yourself, I think it is very likely that there
are times when a steel rake would destroy millions of
weeds without injuring the onions. On the whole, how-
ever, I think we had better depend on a sharp, bright
hoe, skillfully used on each side of the rows, pulling out
with the fingers any weeds that may be left in the row.
If you have a large crop, and there is danger that the
weeds may get the start of you, it is better not to stop to
pull out the weeds at the first hoeing; go through the
patch with a hoe, and then, when the whole piece is once
hoed, go over it again, hoeing and hand-weeding at the
same time. It is generally necessary to weed onions twice.
The only safe rule is, to hoe and weed as often as is
necessary to kill every weed, and even if there are no
weeds visible, it pays to run a cultivator or hoe between
the rows once a week until the onions are five or six inches
high. Success in raising onions depends largely on three
things: rich land, early sowing, and clean cultivation.

The best varieties are tlie Yellow Danvers, Early Eed
Globe, White Globe, and the Large Eed "Wethersfield.
The Early Eed Globe can be grown successfully where the
later varieties, like the Large Wethersfield, are apt to run
up to scallions. Scallions are the dread of the onion
grower. A scallion is an onion with a thick neck. In-
stead of forming a bulb early in the season, the top then
withering down, the onion keeps on growing, throwing
out a great mass of roots, forming a long, thick neck,
with a comparatively immature bulb. Sometimes scal-
lions are the result of poor seed. I do not mean seed that
will not grow, but that which is raised from late, imma-
ture onions, not good enough to send to market. But no
respectable seed- grower ever raises such seed, and we must
look for other causes to learn why onions so frequently
turn to scallions. Late sowing is the most frequent cause;

84 GAEDEKING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

neglecting to hoe and weed the crop when young, is an-
other cause, and possibly, poor land has something to do
with it. It is usual to sow five pounds of onion seed per
acre. But I am aware that this does not tell you how
thick you must sow the seed. I should set the drill to
drop about three seeds to each inch of row. It is far bet-
ter to have an onion crop too thick than too thin. In
hoeing and weeding, no matter how careful you may be,
more or less onions will be destroyed.

The market demand is not so much for large onions
as formerly. It is far better to have three moderate-
sized bulbs than one very large one, and the old practice
of thinning onions so as to leave only one bulb to each
three or four inches of row, is now abandoned by all ex-
perienced growers. Onions will grow in bunches, three,
four, or five in a bunch, and if the land is rich enough,
and the rows are sufficiently wide apart, a dozen, fifteen,
or even twenty onions can be grown on each foot of row.

The Onion-maggot is sometimes quite troublesome.
It rarely troubles me, but one of my neighbors, who
raises large crops of onions on what was formerly a
Black-Ash swamp, and which is even still only partially
drained, occasionally suffers much loss. He thinks an
application of four hundred pounds of salt per acre, sown
broadcast early in the spring, will kill the maggot; per-
haps so, perhaps not. The salt, however, will do no
harm, and may otherwise do good, even if it does not
always kill the maggot. I have known Peruvian guano
to be used for the same purpose with decided advantage;
and so with superphosphate of lime, or any other good
fertilizer. Any thing which will promote rapid growth,
will lesson the chances of injury from maggots or loss
from scallions.

Perhaps a word should be said in regard to the best
land for onions. In point of fact there is no best land
for them; you must make the land. Onions will grow

ONIONS. 85

on all kinds of soil, ranging from the most spongy muck
to the heaviest clay. Probably the most profitable onion
ground would be a mucky swamp, with a never failing
stream running through it, with suflQcient fall to afEord
good drainage three feet deep. If such a swamp were
thoroughly subdued, drain-tiles laid two and a half to
three feet deep, every three or four rods, and then a dam
built across tliis stream, with a gate which could be ele-
vated or lowered at pleasure, the most magnificent crops
of onions could be grown every year, with comparatively
little labor. In the spring, the gate of course would be
lifted, and the under-drains, even though they had to
discharge into the swollen stream, would remove the
stagnant water, and leave the surface dry and firm, and
the onions could be sown as soon as we had a few fine
days in spring. When dry weather set in, and the crop
needed more moisture, shut down the gate, and as the
water rose in the stream it would flow back into the un-
der drains, and the dry, porous, mucky soil would suck
it up like a sponge, and the dryer and hotter the weather
the more rapidly would the onions grow. We might
safely calculate on getting from such a soil an average
crop, year after year, of one thousand bushels per acre.
Onions will sell readily m the autumn, shipped direct
from the field, for seventy-five cents to one dollar per
bushel, and you can tell as well as I, whether it would
pay to make the improvement suggested. Onion land is
often rented on shares, the owner furnishing half the
seed, and half the manure, and the tenant doing all the-
work, and giving the landowner half the crop. On such
a piece of land as I have described, the net profit to the
owner would average at least three hundred and sixty
dollars an acre, which is six per cent, interest on six
thousand dollars.

86 GARDENING FOB YOUNG AND OLD.

ONION SETS.

Onion Sets, so called, are simply small onions. If a
small onion is set out in the fall or in the spring, it will
grow and produce either one very large onion, or two or
three good sized ones. In the Southern States, and in
many sections of the South-west, it is not easy to grow
onions direct from the seed, or "black seed" as the
growers often call it, to distinguish it from the sets.
There onions are grown from sets, and there is a large
demand for these small onions or sets, the price ranging
from five dollars to ten dollars per bushel. The smaller
the onions, provided the bulbs are mature and well
formed, the more valuable they are, because a given
number will not only plant more land, but there is less
likelihood of their running up to seed. Onion sets are
grown in the same way as ordinary onions, except that
they are sown very much thicker.

Many people have an idea that the way to raise onion
sets is to sow the seed late in the spring, and to select
rather poor, sandy land. This is a mistake; they need
good, warm, dry and rich soil, and the earlier the seeds
are sown the better. In this section, the crop should be
ripe not later than the first of August. It is a good plan
to prepare the ground in the fall, as recommended for
onions; then in the spring, mark off the land into rows,
thirty inches apart, taking pains to make the rows
straight, then drill in six rows of seed from an inch and
a half to two inches apart alongside of the mark; set the
drill to drop five or six seeds in each inch of row, in each
of the six rows. In other words, when the set of rows is
sown, you should have from thirty to thirty-six seeds in
each lineal inch. The advantage of the plan is, that
you can use the horse-hoe or cultivator between the wide
rows, and between the narrow rows a sharp pointed
onion-hoe can be used to break the crust, and kill the

ONIONS. 87

■weeds; -weeds whicli can not be reached with, the hoe
should be pulled out by hand. It is absolutely essential
to keep the crop clean. The object is, to stimulate
grovvth on the one hand, and to produce early maturity
on the other, with a tendency to produce bulbs. We
wish to raise dwarf onions. We can not do this unless
every condition for the growth of the plant, except root
pruning and excessive crowding, is favorable. It is not
easy to keep onion sets during the winter, and in fact
the better way is to plant the sets in the fall. They will
stand the winter without injury, and give a larger crop.
If, however, you wish to keep the sets through the win-
ter, do not put them in a damp cellar, but in a dry loft,
which can be kept as near the freezing point as possible,
so as to prevent them from starting to grow. Freezing
will not injure them, provided you can keep them from
thawing until they are wanted in the spring.

BAISING ONION SEED.

It is a very important matter to have good seed, and I
recommend my young friends to select a few of their
choicest and best onions and set them out every fall for
seed. Onions for seed can be set in spring or autumn,
but the latter is the best time. And here I would like
to tell the boys an important discovery which I think I
have made, and which I am almost tempted to keep for
my own use and profit, as I think there is money in it.
I have for the last eighteen years been growing seed of
the Yellow Danvers variety. I selected the very best
bulbs from a large crop each year, and I succeeded in get-
ting a strain of the choicest seed. It produced the finest
onions, but I could get scarcely any seed. When I raised
tlie seed it was very valuable; but there was so little of it,
that it has sometimes cost me one hundred dollars per
pound. The onions were so good that they would not

88 aARDENING FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

produce seed. The discovery that I think I have mad©
is this : sow the seed in the spring in the usual way, ex-
cept that you sow it very thickly; the object being to
get small bulbs. Set these small onions out in the tall,
and let them produce large onions, rejecting any that go
to seed at that time. The next fall, set out these large
onions for seed. The way we do this, is to make the
land very rich, thoroughly mixing the manure with the
soil and have it as clean and mellow as possible. Mark
off the land with a common corn-marker in rows forty-
two inches apart; set out the onions in these rows, four
or five inches apart, or so near that they will almost
touch each other in the row, press them down into the
mellow soil, and cover carefully with the hoe or plow.
If the plow is used, follow with a hoe so as to be sure
that every bulb is well covered to the depth of two or
three inches. The best time here to set out onions for
seed is about the first of October. Nothing more needs
to be done until spring, when the soil must be thoroughly
and repeatedly cultivated, and not a weed suffered to
grow. The seed is gathered by cutting off the heads into
baskets, and spreading them out on canvas to dry.
Thrash with a flail, and clean by running through a fan-
ning mill.

THE POTATO ONION.

The cultivation of Potato Onions is similar to that of
onion sets. The small potato onions are planted early in
spring, in rows fifteen inches apart, and four to five
inches distant in the row; keep the land clean, and that
is all there is to be done. Each small bulb will make a
large one. The next spring set out some of the larpe
biilbs that have been saved for the purpose, and each will
give a cluster of small ones to be planted the following
year. This is the usual routine, but generally a share of

PAKSLET. 89

those planted will split up into seyeral small ones in-
stead of making one large onion.

THE TOP, OR TREE ONIdiT.

When an ordinary onion is set out in autumn or in
spring, it throws up a stalk with a large head of flowers,
followed by seed. A Top-onion grows in precisely the
same manner, but it throws up a stalk, on the top of
which, instead of seed, we have a bunch or cluster of
small onions. When these small bulbs are set out in the
fall or spring, they give us a crop of very early green
onions. The objection to the top onion is, that when
ripe it does not keep well, and should be used in the fall.

PAESLEY.

Parsley seed is very slow in germinating, and it is de-
sirable to sow it as early in the spring as possible. The
soil should be prepared in the fall, and the seed sown as
soon as the frost is out of the ground. Sow in rows fif-
teen inches apart, dropping three or four seeds to each
inch of row ; keep the ground hoed and entirely free from
weeds. Thin out the plants to two inches apart in the
row. There is a rapidly increasing demand for parsley,
not only for garnishing, but for flavoring soups, etc. The
best variety for the garden is the Extra Double-Curled.
In Europe, parsley is often sown with a mixture of grasses
and clover, as a pasture for sheep; for this purpose, the
common straight-leaved variety is the best. The seed is
cheaper and the yield larger. Sheep are very fond of
parsley, and it is supposed to give an agreeable flavor to
the mutton. Parsley is biennial; if sown this spring it
makes only leaves, but the next year it runs up to seed.
During the winter and spring, previous to its going to

90 GAEDENINa FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

seed, a small bed would afford an abundance. But if you
have no parsley at all in the garden, and wish a supply
early in the summer, a good plan is, to sow the seed in a
box in the house, in February, and transplant it to the

Fig. 14. — PAESLBT.

open ground as soon as the weather is suitable. It is a
hardy, vigorous plant, and grows rapidly when fairly
started, but is slow until the plants get firm hold of the
soil.

PAESNIR

Taking one year with another, there are few crops
which the farm-gardener can raise to greater advantage
and profit, in proportion to the labor required, than the
Parsnip. It is hardier than the carrot, can be sown earlier,
requires less weeding, yields quite as many or more bush-
els to the acre, and the roots, if we wish, can be left in
the soil all winter without injury. If desired, parsnips
can be sown in the fall; the only precaution necessary
being to put in about twice as much seed as you would

PAESWIP. 91

in the spring, so that if any of the plants are killed by
the winter, there will be enough left. The usual time of
sowing parsnips, and probably the best time, is about
that for planting Indian corn. There is nothing to be
gained by sowing before the land can be brought into the
very best possible condition. On my own farm, we
usually sow about the first of June, in rows twenty-oue
inches apart, sowing about three seeds to each inch of
drill. It pays to sow thickly, as the plants come up better
and hold the weeds in check, and they can then be
thinned out with a sharp-pointed hoe to three inches
apart in the row, at the same time cutting out many of
the weeds. Keep the ground thoroughly cultivated and
hoed, and if the land is rich and well prepared, you can
hardly fail. of getting a large crop. As before stated,
parsnips can be left in the ground all winter, and those
not required before spring are better if left out. Those
needed for use in winter and early spring, must be dug
in the fall and kept in the cellar, mixed with sand, or
what is better still, pitted in the field, or on some sandy
knoll near the house.

It quite often happens that parsnips will bring a
very high price in early spring, before the frost is out of
the ground, and those who have them in pits can sell at
a large profit. Last spring, I was offered seventy-five
cents a bushel for my entire crop. It is not at all a dif-
ficult matter to raise from sis hundred to eight hundred
bushels to the acre. True, there are required good soil,
deeply and thoroughly worked, plenty of manure, early
sowing, good seed, and good cultivation. The best vari-
ety for deep, rich soils, is the Long "White Dutch, and
for a somewhat shallower soil, the Hollow Crown. It is
very important to get good fresh seed, as that which is
more than one year old will nearly always fail to grow._

93 GAKDEmNG FOR TOTING AKD OLD.

TO RAISE PARSNIP SEED.

Where the crop of Parsnip seed is not injured by the
caterpillar {^Depressaria cicutella), its production is easy
and profitable. But it is desirable to take more pains in
raising it than is sometimes given to the crop. The seed
should never be grown from plants which have been left
in the ground all winter, and suffered to throw up their
stalks where they stand, as it is impossible to tell which
are and which are not the best formed roots. The roots
should be taken up in autumn, and carefully selected,
rejecting all that show any disposition to fork or throw
out fangs. The smoothest, handsomest, and best formed
roots only, should be selected for seed. Prepare the land
the previous autumn, plowing it not less than ten inches
deep, and working in a good coat of well-rotted manure,
not less than twenty tons per acre. The more thoroughly
the land can be worked the better; then, as early in the
spring as the soil and season will admit, mark out the
land in rows, forty-two inches apart, and with a good
plow throw out a deep, straight furrow. Set out the pars-
nips six to eight inches apart in the furrow, and, if neces-
sary, use a crowbar to make holes for them; then turn
the furrow back again upon the parsnips, finishing the
work with a hoe, taking care to pull the soil well up to
the crowns. If the soil is loose and mellow, it may be
half an inch or so deep on top of the roots. Nothing
more is required, except to keep the land well cultivated
and hoed, as long as you can get between the rows with
a horse. If any weeds are left, they must be pulled out
by hand, or cut off with the hoe. If the caterpillars ap-
pear, there is nothing to be done but to give them a
gentle pressure with the finger and thumb. If they bury
themselves in the umbels, do not wait to ascertain
wiether the caterpillar is in the nest or not, give it the
benefit of the doubt. I have pinched many a nest with

PEAS. 93

a good deal of satisfaction, and with much profit to the
crop of seed.

PEAS.

The market gardener, and in fact all the gardeners,
take great pains to get Peas as early as possible. For-
tunately the seed is very hardy and will germinate at a
low temperature, except some of the late and large vari-
eties, such as the Veitch's Perfection. In three seasons
out of four, the seed of these is apt to rot in the ground,
but the moderately sized, early varieties, which, unfor-
tunately are not, and I fear never can be, so sweet as the
large and later kinds, can be planted the moment the
frost is out of the ground. Last year I planted my peas
in February, and I do not think one in a hundred failed
to germinate. For early peas, therefore, it is necessary
to prepare the soil the autumn previous, taking just as
much pains as if you were going to sow the crop at that
time. I would even mark out the rows where the seeds
are to be sown; then in the spring, open a row, or drill,
two or three inches wide with a hoe, about two inches
deep, and sow the peas, not more than half an inch apart,
or five or six peas to each lineal inch of this wide row.
Thick seeding is very desirable, not only for early peas,
but for nearly all early crops; the seeds in germinating
give out heat, and when thick in the row or bed, tlioy
help to keep each other warm.

Early peas should be sown on the warmest and drycst
land, it does not make much difference whether it is light
or heavy, provided it is dry and can be readily worked
in the spring without afterwards baking. A sandy loam,
and from that to a light sand, is best, but whatever the
character of the soil, a good crop of very early peas can
not be grown unless it is rich. For a second early crop,
it is not necessary to take so much pains; still, the better

94

GARDENING BOE YOUNG AND OLD.

the soil and the better the preparation, with a liberal
amount of manure, the more satisfactory will be the crop.

Sow as soon as the land
can be got in good
working condition; the
earlier the better. Peas,
as a rule, cannot be
sown too early. The
succession of crops
should be looked after,
by sowing varieties that
are early, second early,
medium and late, rath-
er than by the time of
sowing. In the garden
we usually sow all ex-
cept the dwarf yarieties
in rows, three to four
J [lllllllllll J feet apart, and stick

* I'lil ■ ' brush on each side of

the row for the peas to
climb upon. This is
done for the conven-
ience of picking, and
it may be that a larger
yield is obtained.

In raising them on a
large scale for picking
green for market, or for
the canning establish-
ments, peas are never
stuck or brushed. My
own plan is to drill in the seed in a double row
twenty-eight inches apart. We take a wheat drill
which has coulters or tubes, seven inches apart; the
two outside tubes we wire together, so that they are

GBBEN PEA PODS.

PEAS. 95

not more than two inches apart; the next three tubes
are drawn up and shut ofE so that they will not sow;
the next two tubes are wired together as before, and
allowed to sow, and the next three tubes are shut off, and
the next two outside tubes are wired together and
allowed to sow. We thus sow three double rows at a
time, and we have a space of fully two feet between the
rows, in which we can use the cultivator or horse-hoe.
The plan works admirably. I like to sow the peas
thickly, and we set the drill so that, if all the tubes were
running, we should sow four bushels per acre, but as
there are twelve tubes in the drill, and we only sow with
six, we use but two bushels per acre. This is thick
enough, but it is not a bit too thick; I should prefer to sow
thicker than this, rather than thinner. To succeed in rais-
ing green peas for market in this way, we must not expect
a large crop on average farm land, with average farm treat-
ment. We want the dryest and best of land. It should be
free from stones and sticks, and in the very best mechan-
ical condition, with a liberal supply of manure. The soil
should be made ready the autumn previous, using only a
gang-plow or cultivator in the spring. The roller and
harrow should be used again and again, if necessary,
until every clod is broken, and the surface soil is as loose
and mellow as a garden. In fact, it is a garden, and we
are proposing to grow a very important and profitable
crop.

The best varieties for market are: the Extra Early
Kent, for the earliest crop; Kentish Invicta, for the
second early, and the Champion of England, or the White
Marrowfat, for the last crop. In quality. Champion of
England is by far the best variety. In the garden, for
home use, we have many varieties of great merit. For
the earliest crop, I know of nothing better than a good
strain of Extra Early Kent. It has a dozen or more
different names; the value of the alleged varieties de-

96 GAEDEHriNG FOR TOTJNG AND OLD.

pends oil the care with which they are selected for seed.
They have a constant tendency to degenerate on the one
hand, or to improve on the other, and a skillful and ex-
perienced grower, by selecting the earliest peas and those
which are the most wrinkled, can very soon obtain a
strain of early peas which is certain to give satisfaction.
If, on the other hand, all the earliest pods are picked ofE
for your own table or for market, and those which are left
used for seed, you will soon have a strain of Early Kent
Peas that are no better than the Canada Creeper, or other
small, round, smooth, common field pea. Peas do not
mix, at any rate not readily or frequently, and a really
new variety is rarely found. Some valuable new kinds
have been obtained by artificial crossing.

Of late years, much attention has been paid to the in-
troduction of dwarf varieties of peas, such as Tom Thumb,
Little Gem, and the American Wonder. The advantages
of the dwarf kinds are, that they do not need sticks, and
two or three times as many rows can be sown on the land.

If, however, the only object of bushing is to lift up the
peas to a convenient hight for picking, we gain nothing
in this respect by sowing the dwarf kinds. It is quite as,
tiresome to pick pods from dwarf peas as it is from un-
bushed Early Kent, or Champion of England. Dwarf
peas should not be sown in rows less than fifteen inches
apart. The land should be rich, and kept well hoed and
entirely free from weeds. Dwarf peas, if sown in close
rows and the weeds allowed to grow, will not give satis-
faction. Green peas, to be tender and sweet, must be
grown rapidly, and for this they must have the richest of
land, and the best of cultivation. It is quite an object
to get a crop of peas late in the season, when the main
crop is all gone. For this purpose, late varieties, such as
Champion of England or Marrowfats are sown late in the
spring. In three years out of four, however, these late
sown, late varieties, are apt to mildew. The better way

PEPPER — CAPSICUM.

97

is to sow the early varieties in June or July. In the
hands of a skillful and experienced gardener, peas are a
very profitable crop. The price varies considerably,
ranging from two dollars per bushel for the early, to fifty
cents per bushel later in the season. The latter price is
paid by the canning factories. It is a good plan to con-
tract with a canning establishment to take all the
peas after the price in market falls to seventy-five cents
per bushel. Taking the whole crop together, the returns
are quite satisfactory. It costs here fifteen cents per
bushel to pick the peas.

BUGGY PEAS.

The principal insect enemy of the pea is the Weevil
[Bruchus pisi). It is spreading very rapidly. Not long
ago, peas gi-own in the northern latitudes and in Canada,
were not injured by the Weevil. Now we get "buggy
peas " from many places formerly free from this pest.
There is nothing that we can do to
check or destroy the Wee^al after it
is introduced. What we should all
aim to do is, never to sow buggy
peas. In time this would help us.
Do not buy seed peas from any seeds-
man unless he will warrant them
entirely free from bugs.

PEPPER— CAPSICUM.

Pepper, or Capsicum, is a tender
plant. It does well in the Northern
States after the plants are fairly
started. Occasionally we can gi-ow Fig. 16.— pepper.-lakge

,, •' - . ,1 BELL OE BULL-XOSE.

them by sowing the seed m tlic

open ground, about the time we plant melons and

cucumbers; but, as a rule, it is better to start the plants

98 GARDEIfING FOB YOUNG AND OLD.

in a hot-bed, or in a box in the house. When the ground
is thoroughly warm, and all danger of frosty nights is
passed, set them out carefully in the warmest, lightest,
and best soil you have. Plant in rows twenty-four to
thirty inches apart, and from twelve to fifteen inches
apart in the rows. Keep the ground clean and mellow
by the frequent use of the cultivator and hoe. The best
variety is the Bell, or Bull-nosed. It is extensively used
for pickling and for seasoning. Cayenne pepper, a
smaller-fruited variety, is cultivated in the same way.

POTATOES.

As a garden crop, potatoes are seldom grown, except
for the early market or for home use in summer. The
later varieties are grown as a field crop. It often hap-
pens, however, that the gardener can plant potatoes on
land from which some early crop has been removed. A
very good crop can be grown here when planted as late
as from June 15th to July 4th; but for late plant-
ing, it is best to use the early varieties. For an early
crop, it will pay well to take considerable pains in pre-
paring and manuring the soil. The land should be
made ready the fall previous, and the moment the frost
is out of the ground, plant the potatoes in rows twenty-
four to thirty inches apart, and from ten to twelve inches
apart in the row. If the land is very rich, and you in-
tend to dig the potatoes as early as possible, thicker
planting will give a larger crop, say rows eighteen inches
apart, and the potatoes dropped eight inches apart in
the row.

I have been in the habit, every year, of planting pota-
toes the first moment the land could be worked, and it
has frequently happened that we had a very severe and
long-continued frost afterwards, but the potatoes were

PUMPKINS. 99

never injured in the ground ; they always came up
strong and healthy. Occasionally we have a frosty night
in the spring which cuts down our early potatoes, hut
those who plant moderately early are nearly as liable to
be caught as those who plant just as early as possible.

Potatoes can be readily transplanted, and we frequently
start a few hills in the hot-bed, and transplant them into
the open ground when the tops are four or five inches
high. By covering them with a hand-glass, or shading
them for a few days with a muslin-covered box, these
transplanted potatoes will give a very early crop. It
need hardly be said that potatoes should be well culti-
vated and kept entirely free from weeds. For the early
crops especially, the land must be very rich, and kept scru-
pu.lously clean and no bugs suffered to feed on the leaves.

The varieties are too numerous to mention, and every
year brings new candidates for popular favor. The best
early varieties that have been generally tried, are the
Early Eose, and Early Vermont, which is so much like the
Early Rose that it is diflBcult to tell them apart. The
Beauty of Hebron is one of the no^er varieties, early, pro-
ductive; it is of good quality, and promises to be very
desirable. Gardeners should stick to the well-tried sorts,
testing the newer varieties only on a small scale.

PUMPKINS.

The common field pumpkin is usually grown as a sec-
ondary or stolen crop among com. Careful farmers,
however, who wish to cultivate their corn thoroughly,
are getting out of the habit of planting pumpkins with
the corn. They think it better to devote a piece of land
entirely to the crop. A large yield can be produced in
this way, and the pumpkins will be larger, sweeter, and
better ripened. The better varieties of pumpkins can sel-
dom be advantageously grown among corn. They should

100

GAEDENING POE yOUNG AND OLD.

be planted alone, and the richer and the better the
soil, and the more thoroughly it is worked previous
to planting, the more profitable will be the crop. Plant
in rows from eight to ten feet apart, and three to four
feet apart in the rows, dropping eight or ten seeds in a

hill. Afterward pull out
all the weak plants, and
those injured by the
Striped-bug or Squash-
bug, leaving three or
four good strong plants
in a hill. Keep the
land clean by the fre-
quent use of the culti-
vator and hoe as long as
you can get between the
rows of plants. The best
variety for planting in
the corn field is what is
known as the Connecti-
cut Field Pumpkin. For growing on land entirely devoted
to the crop, the best varieties are the Connecticut Field,
the Large Cheese, and the New Jersey Sweet Pumpkin.
The Possum-nose Pumpkin is a new variety, which I ob-
tained from the Hon. Horace Ankenny, of Ohio. It is
best grown on land entirely devoted to it, though in Ohio
and farther South it is grown among corn. It is very
productive, a rampant grower, of good size, and is of
good quality, but its greatest merit is, that it will
keep the year round.

EADISHES,

rig. 17.— POSSUM-NOSE PUMPKIN.

My own plan of raising radishes is, to prepare the land
carefully in the fall, working in a good dressing of well-
rotted manure. A light sandy loam is the best, but any

EADISHES.

101

soil that is dry, mellow and rich, will produce good rad-
ishes iu a favorable season. New soil, full of leaf -mould,
is particularly suitable for the crop.

Soil which has been well prepared in the fall we do not
plow again in the spring. It is simply cultivated or gang-
plowed, four or five inches deep, and repeatedly harrowed
and rolled, until not a lump remains. AVe usually sow four
hundred pounds of superphosphate of lime, broadcast, per

Fig. 18.— EAKLT BADISHES.

1. Scarlet Turnip. 2. Rose Olive-Shaped. 8. French Breakfast. 4. Long White

Kaples. 5. Long Scarlet Short Top.

acre. Set a line for the first row, and sow the seed in
shallow drills, twenty-one inches apart, dropping about
three seeds to each inch of row. As the radishes come
up quickly, no weeding, and very little hoeing will be re-
quired on clean, well-prepared land, but we run the horse-
hoe repeatedly between the rows, commencing as soon as
they can be traced, and repeat the operation twice a week.
This thorough cultivation favors rapid growth, and with

102 GARDEITING FOE TOTJJS^G AND OLD.

the aid of superphosphate and rich soil, soon enables the
plant to get out of reach of the little Black-beetle.

It is very important to get good seed, raised from
selected plants, for it is indeed exceedingly rare to buy
seed that does not produce from ten to thirty per cent of
poor, worthless radishes. Not unfrequently the crop is
so poor that one is forced to believe that the seed-grower
had drawn out all the good radishes for market, and al-
lowed all the poor ones to run up for seed.

The method of raising radishes, above described, is not
often practised by market gardeners. They think their
land IS too valuable, and they aim to grow them as a sec-
ondary crop. They sometimes sow the radish seed care-
fully and evenly, broadcast, on the asparagus bed, and
sometimes they sow the seed, broadcast, on land drilled
in with beets, or between the rows of early cabbages, but
in the ordinary farm-garden it is best to devote the en-
tire land to the crop. Sow the radish seed in rows, cul-
tivate thoroughly, and by the middle of June the crop
will be marketed, and tiie land can be plowed and used
for other crops, such as Swedes turnips, beets, cabbages,
etc. The best varieties of radish for home use, are the
Eound Scarlet Turnip, New French Breakfast, and Kose
Olive-shaped, The White Turnip radish is similar to
the Bed Turnip, except in color. For market the Long
Scarlet Short Top is one of the best varieties.

KAISING EADISH SEED.

As a rule, nearly all our radish seed is imported from
Europe. It is easily grown, and as large quantities of it
are annually required, it would pay any young man won-
derfully well to grow radish seed, and take special pains
to grow it only from the most perfect roots. The seed
should be sown in rows, from twenty-one to twenty-five
inches apart. The ground should be rich and clean.

RADISHES. 103

Sow the best seed that can be obtained, early in the
spring, dropping two or three seeds to each inch of row.
Keep the ground thoroughly cultivated, and when the
plants grow large enough to show their character, thin
them, leaving only the handsomest and best roots. I know
this is easier said than done, but it is well worth all the
time and labor it will cost. It will be necessary to go
over the piece several times, as it is necessary to pull out
six or eight radishes for every one that is ultimately left.
If we leave two or three plants for every foot of row they
will bu quite thick enough. Nothing more is required,
except to kill the weeds, until the crop of seed is ready
to harvest.

When the pods begin to wither, the crop can be cut
with a sharp corn knife, or mown with a scythe, or better
still, it may be cut with a self -raking reaper, which throws
the stems into bundles from ten to fifteen feet apart. In
our dry, hot climate, the bundles can be allowed to cure on
the ground, where they are left by the reaper, turning
them occasionally to prevent their moulding underneath.
When thoroughly dry, draw them into the barn and stow
them away on a scaffold, where the air can circulate through
them, and let them remain until winter, thrashing them
with a flail or thrashing machine during frosty weather.

A thrashing machine, which tears the pods to pieces, is
better than a flail. The seed is easily cleaned with a fan-
ning mill and the necessary sieves. The seed-grower
should confine himself to two or three of the best varie-
ties, and it is best for him to raise only one variety at a
time. The seed retains its vitality for three years or
more, and it is better to raise three acres of one variety
every third year than to raise one acre each of three va-
rieties every year. He will have just as much land in
radish seed every year, but he can manage the three acre^s
of one variety m one piece, with far less labor than he
can raise an acre of each variety m three separate fields.

104

GARDENING FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

WINTER RADISHES.

Winter radishes are attracting considerable attention
of late. They are best sown in rows, twenty-one inches
apart, and cultivated with a horse-hoe. They are sown
from the middle of July to the first of September. Drop
the seed in the drill, three or four to each inch, and if
the weather is very dry, and the ground not in the very

Mg. 19. — WINTER KABISHES.

6. Mammoth White Winter. 7. Chinese White Winter. 8. Black Spanish Turnip.

9. Chinese Rose Winter.

best condition, I would sow five or six seeds to each inch
in hopes of securing a stand and escaping the ravages of
the Black-beetle. Cultivate as soon as the rows can be
distinguished, and hoe if necessary; when the plants be-
gin to crowd each other, thin out, so as to ultimately leave
them from three to four inches apart. The roots are pre-
served for winter use in barrels or boxes of sand m the
cellar, or they can be pitted in the garden, taking the

EHUBAEB. 105

precaution to scatter among them not less than a bushel
of sand or dry earth to each two or three bushels of rad-
ishes. Cover with nine inches of straw and about six
inches of soil, and just before winter sets in, put on an-
other layer of straw and cover with six inches more of
soil, or enough to completely hide and cover all the
straw.

The leading varieties of winter radishes are the Chi-
nese White, the Chinese Rose, Calif ornia Mammoth White,
and the Black Spanish. The latter is a very hardy ya-
riety, somewhat harsh to ordinary tastes, but seems to be
highly relished by those who like it. The California Mam-
moth White is a larger and somewhat milder variety, and
would suit ordinary tastes better than the Black Spanish.
The seed is grown by setting out some of the best selected
roots in the spring, in rows two feet apart, and six inches
distant in the row; harvest and thrash the same as direct-
ed for summer radish.

RHUBAEB.

When raised from seed. Rhubarb is sown as early in
the spring as the ground can be properly worked. Pre-
pare the soil as directed for raising celery plants. Any
one who can raise these well, can raise good rhubarb
plants. If convenient, the seed may be sown in a box in
the house, or in a moderately warm hot-bed, and the
plants set out in rows twenty-one inches apart, and two
to three inches apart in the row, as soon as the weather
and soil will permit. The land can not be too rich, and
if it is not intended to use the horse-hoe between the
rows, they may be from twelve to fifteen inches apart,
and kept clean by the frequent use of the hoe. When
sown in the open ground, the plants need not be trans-
planted, but should be thinned out to three inches apart

J.06 GAEDENING FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

ia the row. As in raising celery plants out of doors, it
is impossible to make the land too rich. I have worked
in well-rotted manure at the rate of one hundred two-
horse loads per acre, and it pays to do so. Few people
understand how much manure land will hold. An acre
*of soil, ten inches deep, weighs about two million pounds;
if you work in one hundred tons of manure per acre,
there will be only one pound of manure to ten pounds of
soil; and you can put one hundred loads of manure on an
acre and work it so thoroughly that one could not tell,
without careful examination, that the land had been ma-
nured at all. That is the way to prepare land for raising
celery and rhubarb plants. On such land, if sown as
early as possible in the spring, and the plants carefully
hoed and kept entirely free from weeds, the plants will
be large enough to set out in their permanent bed the fol-
lowing spring.

Khubarb is more generally propagated by a division
of the roots, than from the seeds. When propagated
from the roots, divide up the old root so as to leave one
bild or crown on each piece. The roots can be set out
in the permanent bed either in autumn or early in spring;
the fall perhaps is the preferable time, especially in the
Southern States. If the permanent bed is made from
plants raised from seed, the spring is the better time.
Whether made from roots or seedling plants, the perma-
nent bed cannot be made too rich. A hundred loads of
manure per acre, is none too much, and the soil should
be thoroughly worked to a depth not less than ten inches.
Set out the roots or plants in rows four feet apart each
way; this will require two thousand seven hundred and
twenty-one per acre. Make the rows straight, and set
out the roots so that the crown is two or three inches be-
low the surface. The first year no stalks should be
pulled, keeping the ground thoroughly cultivated and
free from weeds. A row of radishes might be sown between

SALSIFY. 107

the rows of rhubarb, or cabbage plants, or lettuce set there,
but it is better to let the rhubarb have the whole ground
the lirst year and certainly afterwards. Some varieties of
rhubarb have a disposition to throw up numerous seed
stalks; these should be cut off as they appear, as they ab-
sorb much of the sap which should be used for the
rapid growth of the edible stalks. The varieties of rhu-
barb generally grown in this country, are Linnaeus,
which is of good size, good quality, and early, the
"Victoria, which is larger and later, and of excellent qual-
ity. The Gaboon's SeedHng is a late and very large va-
riety, which was extensively sold some years ago, under
the deceptive name of "Wine Plant."

SALSIFY.

Salsify, often called Vegetable Oyster, is rarely grown
to perfection. When well grown and properly cooked,
it is a healthful and delicious vegetable, and deserves to be
much more generally and extensively cultivated. The cul-
tivation of salsify is precisely the same as for parsnips. It
is important to get good seed grown from carefully selected
roots. The seed can be sown as early in the spring as the
ground is in good working condition, and I have sown it as
late as the first week in June with excellent results. As a
rule, however, it is desirable to sow it early. The land
should be prepared in the autumn, and it can not be
made too deep, or too rich, and mellow. It will do well
on a great variety of soils. I have had a fine crop on a
well worked, heavily manured clay, but as a rule it is
better to sow it on a sandy loam, heavily manured the
fall previous or early in the spring. I sow in rows,
twenty inches apart. The seed is long and slim, and few
drills will sow it evenly without wasting the seed, and as
that is quite expensive, it is better to sow it by hand.

108 GARDENING FOB YOUNG AND OLD.

dropping about two seeds to an incli of row, and covering
half an inch deep; if the weather is dry, and the soil very
light, it may be covered an inch or an inch and a half,
and in dry weather it is desirable to roll the soil after
sowing. As soon as the plants appear, hoe lightly on
each side of the row, and a few days later, run the horse-
hoe or cultivator between the rows; suiler not a weed to
grow, and ultimately thin out the plants, leaving them
from four to six inches apart. As usually grown, the
roots are quite small, because the plants are left too thick
in the row. Grown as I have recommended, the crop
requires considerable land, but the roots will be so large
and fine, as to command an extra price, and much more
than pay the extra cost of the land. Salsify is a good
crop for the field-garden, where land is comparatively
cheap. The roots bring the highest price in spring.
Like parsnips, salsify can be left in the ground all winter;
but at least a portion should be dug in the fall, and kept
in pits or in the cellar, as recommended for parsnips.
The seed can be grown as recommended for parsnips,
though the roots may be left thicker in the row, as the
stalks do not grow more than three feet high. It is well
to have the rows forty-two inches apart for convenience
in gathering. The seeds do not all mature at the same
time, and it is usual to go over the piece two or three
times and cut ofE the heads of seed as soon as they turn
brown. There is but one variety of salsify. We must
look to careful selection of roots to give us a good strain.
There is an abundant opportunity for improvement in
this direction, and I hope some of the boys will give us
an improved salsify — not in name, but in reality. It can
easily be done, by continued selection of the very best
and handsomest roots for seed, rigorously rejecting all
that are not perfect.

SEA KALE. 109

SEA KALE.

Sea Kale is a most delicious vegetable, which sooner or
later will certainly be extensively cultivated in this coun-
try. It belongs to the same family as the cabbage. Its
shoots only are eaten, and that only after being forced or
blanched. It is a good deal of work to produce sea kale
in perfection, but when properly grown, it is as tender as
asparagus and as mild as cauliflower. Our climate is
well adapted for its production in abundance, and of the
choicest quality. When grown from seed, mark out the
bed into rows three feet apart, then run a fifteen or
eighteen-inch marker across the rows, and put a dozen
seeds where the lines cross, and cover half an inch deep.
When the plants appear, hoe, weed, and thin, leaving
three or four plants in each hill.

Sea Kale is a perennial plant, and when the bed is
once made, it will last for many years. It is propagated
from the roots as well as from seed, and where those can
be obtained, a year's time can be saved. When propa-
gated from the roots of old plants, it is usual to cut
these into lengths of two or three inches. In early
spring, place the pieces in a box in the house or in the
hot-bed, covering them very lightly with damp moss or
light mould. As soon as they start to grow, and the
weather is suitable, set out in a bed eighteen by thirty-
six inches apart. No crop will be produced the first
year, but the second year a few shoots can be removed
without weakening the plants; the third year they will
produce a full crop. The plant needs protection during
the winter. A good plan is, to cover the bed or plants
with leaves or manure or leaf -mould ; this will protect the
plants, and the shoots, as they push through this cover-
in?, will be blanched and be ready for use. If the
plaiihs are very vigorous, a greater depth of covering or
blanching material will be needed.

110 OAEDBNING FOR YOUNG ASD OLD.

SPINACH.

Spinach is an important crop in the garden, whether
grown for home use or for market. It is of most yalue
early in the spring, and for this purpose must be sown
the autumn previous, on the richest and best land. You
can not work the soil too thoroughly. The seed sliould
be sown in rows from twelve to twenty-one inches apart,
the latter distance if a horse-hoe is to be used in culti-
vating it. In this section we sow about the first of Sep-
tember, and as the ground is apt to be very dry, a good
deal of work is sometimes required to break up all the
clods and get the soil fine and mellow; but stick to it
until the object is accomplished. By bestowing labor
enough, you can get the soil into good condition. Do
not wait for a rain to help you. Rain will not do much
good on the hard, unbroken, or cloddy soil ; but break
up the land, crush the lumps, pulverize the soil, and
then even a slight shower will penetrate this fine soil,
and make it moist enough to start the seed. Sow the
seed pretty thick, say three seeds to each inch of row;
this is ten times as many as are necessary, but it is very
desirable to have plants enough. Certainly it is very un-
desirable and annoying to have any gaps in the row. As
soon as the plants appear, hoe or cultivate between the
rows — the more frequently, the better. When the plants
are fairly started, thin out, leaving them only four or
five inches apart in the row. If desired, the plants may
be thinned out with a sharp-pointed onion hoe from one
to two inches apart. When large enough, half the re-
maining plants may be cut out for use in the fall, or just
before winter sets in, at which time, and during the
winter, spinach often brings a high price.

N. B. — As I said before, you can not make the land
too rich for spinach. It is very desirable to woj'k into

SPINACH. Ill

the surface soil twenty or thirty loads of manure per
acre. I would work it into the soil not more than four
inches deep; but recollect it must be worked in and com-
pletely broken up, and so mixed with the soil that you
would hardly know, except from the loose, mellow ap-
pearance of the land, that any manure had been applied.

Many fail in their first efforts to grow spinach in the
autumn for use in spring. The reason is, they do not
take suflBcient pains in preparing and mellowing the
land; they do not work in sufficient
manure; they do not sow early
enough; they do not sow seed
enough; or, if the weather is dry,
they do not roll the soil, or press
it down hard enough after the seed
is sown. In this section, just be- ^'s- 20.-sitoach.
fore winter sets in, it is generally desirable to scatter
a thin layer of straw or horse litter over the plants,
say three inches thick, as a protection. It is not always
necessary, but will do no harm, and in some seasons
may prevent loss.

For summer use, spinach is sown in rows a foot apart,
early in the spring, and again every two weeks for a suc-
cession. In warm weather it soon runs up to seed, and
as we have, or may have, an abundance of other green
vegetables, it is not worth while to sow spinach largely
in the spring. Still, every garden should have a few
rows or a small bed of it. There are two varieties com-
monly cultivated, the Prickly-seeded or Winter, and the
Eound-seeded or Summer. One is just as good as the
other, either for spring or winter, and the Prickly or
Winter variety should be dropped. The Eound or Sum-
mer will stand the winter just as well as the Prickly, and
some prefer it, thinking it is more easily sown with the
drill. If sown as thickly as it ought to be sown, a good
drill will sow either kind evenly and well.

I'i3 GAEDENINfl FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

SQUii.SH.— SUMMEE.

For summer use, nearly all the varieties of Squash gen-
erally cultivated are of the bush or dwarf kind. I'hey
take up far less room in the garden than the running
varieties. The cultivation of the bush squash is exceed-
ingly simple; it requires good, but not excessively rich,
land, and the seed should not be sown until the soil is
quite warm and all danger of frost is passed.

In my own garden I drill in the Summer squash in
rows three feet apart, dropping a seed to each two or
three inches of row, and when the plants begin to crowd
each other, I thin out the weakest, and leave the strongest

Fig. 31. — BAKIiT CBOOKNBOK.

and those least riddled by the Striped-bug. One good
plant to each eight or ten inches of row is thick enough.
Generally, however, summer squashes are planted in hills
three feet one way and two feet apart in the row. Put a
dozen seeds in each hill, and ultimately leave only three
of the strongest plants in the hill. Keep the ground well
cultivated and hoed, pulling up a little fresh soil towards
the plants to smother any small weeds that can not be
reached with the hoe. A tablespoonful of superjilios-
phate, well mixed with the soil in each hill before plant-
ing the seed, stimulates the growth of the vines, and,
what is still more important, it favors the early maturity
of the fruit.

When grown extensivelyfor market in the field-garden,
prepare the land in the very best manner. A light, warm.

SQUASH— WIITTEK. 113

sandy soil is best, but the squash will do well on heavier
soil, provided it is dry and thoroughly worked until it is
fine and mellow. It is seldom that such soil is worked
sufficiently. Comparatively few farmers have learned
how important it is to reduce soil to the finest and mel-
lowest tilth. In the field, I would
mark, off the rows forty-two inches
apart, and drill in the seed. I
think this is better than planting
in hills, but would plant in hills
if more convenient. All that
needs to be done is, to keep the
land thoroughly cultivated with pie. 32.

a horse-hoe between the rows, eaklt bush scollop.
and thin out the plants in the row as previously directed.
The best varieties of summer squash are: the Early
Bush Crooknecked and the Early Bush Scollop.

SQUASH.— WINTEE.

Winter squashes have running vines, and require richer
land and more space than the bush varieties. They are
an important crop in the field-garden. The market gar-
deners on high-priced land, near large cities, can rarely
afford to raise winter squashes largely. They should be
grown on well-prepared farm land. The fruit has not to
be marketed from day to day, like summer squashes, but,
like cabbages, parsnips, carrots, and potatoes, can be sent
in large quantities at once to near or distant markets.

Many farmers who try to raise squashes fail to realize
their expectations, simply because they do not prepare
the land with sufficient care, or manure highly enough.
If the land is not in the very best condition, the plants
do not grow with the necessary vigor, and soon fall a
prey to the remorseless Squash-bug.

114 GARDENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

Light, sandy land is best for squashes, but it should be
manured either directly for the crop or for the one pre-
ceding it; in the latter ease, it is desirable to manure
again in the hill, thoroughly mixing the manure with the
soil where the hill is to be, for a space not less than two
or three square feet. Two tablespoonfuls of superphos-
phate to each hill, well mixed with the soil, in addition
to the manure, will prove very beneficial. Plant the

Fig. S3.— HtTBBAKD. Fig. 34.— MAEBT.EEEAD.

squashes in rows ten feet apart, and four feet apart in the
rows. Plant eight or ten seeds in each hill, and cover
from one to two inches deep, according to the nature of
the soil. If the weather is dry and the soil very light,
cover from two to three inches deep, and make the soil all
about the hill firm and smooth, with the back of the hoe.
As soon as the plants begin to crack the soil, dust a little
plaster over them, and in two or three days go over

SQUASH — WINTEE. 115

the piece again, early in the morning, while the dew is on,
and dust on more plaster, doing the work carefully and
thoroughly. The plaster is a good fertilizer for the
vines and helps to keep off the bugs.

All we have to do after this, is to fight the weeds and
the bugs. Not a weed should be suffered to grow. Ex-
amine the plants frequently and crush all the eggs you
see on the leaves, and, as the plants begin to crowd each
other, pinch off the weakest and those most injured by
the bugs. If you can ultimately secure two ^ood, strong,
vigorous plants in each hill, and the land is thoroughly,
cultivated and free from weeds, you are almost certain of
a large and profitable crop.

The best varieties for late fall and winter use are the
Marblehead and Hubbard. When well grown from true
seed, both are so good that it is not easy to tell which is
the better. The Marblehead is quite as large as the Hub-
bard, the shell is a little harder and smoother; the flesh
is a somewhat lighter colored, but equally dry, sweet,
and fine flavored. The Hubbard is the more popular
market vanety.

SAVING SQUASH SEED.

No one should attempt to grow Squashes for seed un-
less he can keep the variety completely isolated. Where
this can be done, the business is quite profitable — or at
any rate it would be, as soon as the seedsmen and squash-
growers became cognizant of the fact that your seed
can be depended on as true to name. The main point
is, to secure stock seed. I mean by this, seed that has
been carefully bred for several generations. A seedsman
who has such seed will not sell it, he will keep it for the
exclusive purpose of raising seed.

116 GAKDENING FOE ■JOUITG AND OLD.

SWEET POTATOES.

Sweet Potatoes are essentially a southern crop, and
their cultivation in the Southern States is an easy and
simple matter. At the North, good crops can be grown,
but it is necessary to raise the plants in a greenhouse or
hot-bed. Market gardeners, who grow the plants for
sale, as they do tomato plants, find the business quite
profitable, as there is a yearly increasing demand for the
■plants, which are often sent long distances by express.
The plants are easily grown in the hot-bed, the chief dif-
ficulty being to preserve the potatoes intended for seed
through the winter. They cannot be kept in a cool,
damp cellar, like common potatoes. They should be
kept in a dry room, where the thermometer never gets
below foi'ty degrees or above sixty. In this section we
place the potatoes in the hot-bed, from the middle to
the end of April — the cooler the bed the earlier we plant.
Cut the roots lengthwise and place the cut side on the
loose soil or sand in the hot-bed, and cover with sand or
mould, two inches thick. As the shoots grow, more
sand may be added, until it reaches the height of four or
five inches above the potatoes. The shoots or young
plants can be removed and set out in another hot-bed, as
the potatoes will continue to throw up new shoots. In
this way a large number of plants can be obtained from
each. Of course, it is necessary to attend to ventilating
and watering the hot-bed. The hotter the bed, and the
brighter the sun, the more water will be needed. In no
case must the bed be allowed to get dry. It is also neces-
sary to guard against chilling the plants by saturating the
bed with cold water. Sweet potato plants are set out in
the open ground from the first of June to the first of
July. A warm, sandy soil is best. It is not necessary to
have the land excessively rich, or the quality of the po-

TOMATOES. ] 17

tatoes may be injured. It is very important, however, to
make the ground as mallow and loose as possible, and to
keep the plants entirely free from weeds. Plant in rows
forty-two inches apart and twenty-four inches apart in
the row. Or plant in hills, three feet apart each way.
A tablespoonful of superphosphate to each hill, mixed
with the soil at the time the potato plants are set out, will
favor the ripening of the crop, and improve the quality,
The cultivation is similar to that required for the com-
mon, or as the southerners call it, the "Irish" potato.
In damp, growing weather, the vines lying on the ground
throw out roots, and it is best to check this tendency by
occasionally moving the vines. If you keep working
about the vines as much as is desirable with the hoe to
destroy weeds, and give the plants a little fresh soil,
nothing more will usually be required.

The variety generally cultivated at the North is the
Nansemond.

TOMATOES.

For home use people generally depend on buying To-
mato plants rather than to be at the trouble of raising
them themselves. So far as this single crop is con-
cerned, the plan is a good one, but there are plants
which are all the better for being started in a hot-
bed or in boxes in the house, and the more of these
things you have to attend to, the less likely will you be
to neglect them. I would, therefore, recommend all
young gardeners to raise their own tomato plants.
And all the more so because, should they fail, they
can readily buy plants. If they succeed in raising the
plants, all the better. If they fail, none the worse.
You can raise far better plants than are generally to be
found in the market.

118 GAEDENISTG FOB YOUNG AND OLD.

One box such as I have described, and which will fit
into the window, will start all the tomato plants likely to
be wanted for home use. Here we usually sow the seed
the last of March or the first of April. We sow them in
rows about an inch apart, and put three or four seeds to
an inch of row, cover a quarter of an inch deep with a
a mixture of sand and sifted moss, or moss alone. Keep
the soil moderately moist, but be careful not to get it
too wet. If, at the time of sowing, you saturate the soil
with warm water, as good a rule as any I can give in re-
gard to the amount of water afterwards required, is never
to let the surface soil get dry. If you keep the surface
soil or moss on top of the seed so moist that it will ad-
here together, that will be suflBcient. Until the plants
grow, very little water will be required, but that little
should be given every day. It should be milk warm, or
about as warm as your hand, and be sprinkled on with a
fine rose. If any weeds appear, pull them out. And as
soon as the plants begin to crowd, some of them should
be removed into another box. As soon as the plants
begin to crowd, transplant them again into a spent hot-
bed or cold frame, covered with glass or muslin. There
they can remain until the soil and weather will allow
of their being set out in the garden.

If you have pots it is a great advantage to set a to-
mato plant in a three or four-inch pot and plunge the
pots in the soil of a moderately warm hot-bed. If the
plants get too large before the ground is ready for
them in the garden, transfer them, soil and all, to a
pot of larger size, and throw fresh soil into the pot to fill
the space. Press the soil in firm, and put in enough to
fill the pot, the roots will soon fill it, and you will
have strong, healthy, stocky plants, each one of which is
worth a dozen of the lank, crowded plants sometimes
offered for sale.

The preparation of the soil in the garden for tomato

TOMATOES. 11!)

plants needs careful attention. It does not need to be
specially rich, but it must be made as fine and mellow as
the most thorough working with the plow or spade and
hoe and rake can secure. The soil should never be
worked when wet. The dryer it is the lighter you can
make it, and the lighter it is the warmer and better will
it be for tomatoes. In setting out the tomato plants be
very careful to press this dry, light soil firmly round
their roots. If the plants are in pots, transplanting is
a safe and easy matter, though an important one. Be-
fore transplanting saturate the soil in the pots with water,
nearly milk warm. The best way to do this is to place
the pots containing the tomatoes in a wash-tub or shallow
box, containing water enough to nearly cover them. Let
them remain in the water at least four or five minutes,
then remove them and let them drain for an hour or so,
or until you are ready to set them out.

Plant in rows four feet apart, and not less than two
feet apart in the rows. Set a line (and be sure you do
not forget this), as crooked rows should never be toler-
ated in the garden; make holes with a hoe where the plants
are to be set, and if you work into the soil about a table-
spoonful of superphosphate it will be very beneficial.
Then, every thing being ready, place your two fingers on
each side of the plant, reverse the pot so that the plant
will hang down and strike the edge of the pot on any
hard substance which happens to be handy, say the top
of a spade, or the side of the wheelbarrow, or the top of
the wooden pail containing the superphosphate. Set the
plant, with the ball of moist earth, undisturbed, into
the hole, so deep that the surface of the soil will be fully
up to the first leaves of the plant, pull the soil to, and
press it firmly around the roots of the plant with the
hands, and the work is done. And if well done, you
have every reason to expect a grand crop of tomatoes.
Do not waste your time in watering the plants, it is un-

120 GARDENING POK YOUSG AKD OLD.

necessary and useless; the moist soil which was around
the roots when taken cut of the pot, will furnish all the
moisture needed. In setting out tomato plants from a
box or hot-bed, the soil should be prepared as before di-
rected. The plants in the boxes or hot-bed should have
the soil thoroughly saturated with warm water. I mean
by that, you should put on as much water as the soil will
hold. And recollect that soil will hold a great deal more
water than most people would suppose. A good garden
soil will hold from fifty to seventy-five per cent, of its
weight of water. Such soil or mould as we use in the
hot-bed, or for potting plants, will hold its own weight
of water: in other words, if you have a pot containing
two pounds of saturated mould, one pound of it will be
water. I mention this to show that when you undertake
to water a sash full of tomato plants in the hot-bed be-
fore transplanting them, it will take a good deal of water,
and you will be very apt to get tired before you have put
on all that the soil will hold. There is no danger of put-
ting on too much, for after the earth is saturated it will
hold no more, but the excess will soak into the manure
below. The better way is, to do the work of watering
the night before you intend to set out the plants. While
the plants are growing, water should always be applied
through a rose, but now that you intend to remove them
from the hot-bed, this is not necessary; it will facilitate
the work if you will take a small garden fork and break
up the soil between the rows of plants; you can then take
oS the rose from the watering pot, and pour on the water
ai fast as the soil will absorb it. Next morning break up
the soil again with the fork, and take up each plant by
putting your fingers on both sides of it and squeezing a
ball of the loose, wet soil, around the roots. On no ac-
count pull up the plants, as this will break off many of
the fine roots. Set out the plants, with this ball of moist
earth around the roots, down to the first leaves, and

TOMATOES.

121

press the soil firmly around the ball of moist earth. It
ought not to be necessary to water the plants after set-
ting out, but if the sun is very hot, a piece of newspaper,

a -i
" i

si's

S o

a foot
plant;
water
apt to

111'

or eighteen inches square, may be placed over each
this will shade them and clieck the evaporation of
from the leaves. The plants will in any case be
wilt a little, but this will not hurt them.
6

122 GARDENING FOK YOUNG AND OLD.

The after-cultivation of tomatoes is usually of the
simplest kind. I say usually, because sometimes, in the
garden, tomatoes are trained to a trellis two and one-
half or three feet high. By a little judicious training
and pruning, they are quite ornamental, and produce
very fine fruit. But in our dry climate, tomatoes are
seldom injured by allowing the vines to trail on the
ground; and after setting out the plants, all that the
tomato-grower need do is to keep the ground well stir-
red up and clean, by the frequent use of the cultivator
and hoe.

Tomatoes are now largely grown for the canning estab-
lishments. The profit of the crop, however, depends
on our ability to get early fruit and market it for con-
sumption, while it brings the highest price. Early in
the season you can generally get a dollar a basket for
the first tomatoes, while, as the season advances and the
crop becomes more abundant, the price falls to sixty, fifty,
or forty cents per bushel, and sometimes in September,
they are sold for ten cents per basket. A basket of to-
matoes weighs about thirty pounds, or sixty-six baskets to
the ton. The canning establishments pay from eight to
fifteen dollars per ton, or at the rate of from twelve and
one-half to twenty-three cents per basket. If the whole
crop was sold to the canning establishments, the profit
would be very moderate; but taken in connection with the
high price obtained for the early fruit, twenty cents per
basket does very well, and is more profitable than ordi-
nary farm crops. But in this, as in all other crops, a
great deal depends on securing a large yield per acre.
This depends on the length of the season and the power ,
of the sun to ripen the fruit. If the land is rich and
is kept well cultivated, and entirely free from weeds, a
hot, dry season is favorable. Sixteen tons per acre, or
one thousand baskets may be considered a maximum crop.

The best varieties for the general crop, are Hathaway'a

TOMATOES. 123

Excelsior, Acme, Trophy, and General Grant. The
earliest variety is the Hubbard Curled Leaf, but it should
be planted only to a limited extent, as it is small and not
of the best quality. It is only good until we can get
something better. In the cool summer of 1883, when
many of the later varieties failed to ripen, we had an
excellent crop from Hubbard Curled Leaf. I never
knew it do so well or produce such an abundant crop of
fine fruit before. The Early Smooth Eed is still a favor-
ite in many sections. Persian Yellow is a large tomato
of a creamy yellow color. The Eed Cherry is a small
variety grown for pickling and preserving.

TOMATOES FOE SEED.

It is not an easy matter to get really good, well-bred
tomato seed, and I would advise some of my young friends
to make a speciality of growing it. The entire crop
should be devoted to the one object of growing the
choicest and best seed, and that only. It will not do to
market or eat the earliest and best fruit, and then save
the seed from what is left. Every plant that does not
prove true to kind, should be remorselessly and promptly
pulled up and thrown away; by continuing this careful
selection for a few years, such a tomato-grower would
find a good demand for all the seed he could produce
at remunerative prices. At first it might not pay him,
as he might have to sell the seed for the same price as
common seed. Tomato seed retains its vitality six or
seven years, and it would be well for the seed-grower to
save the seed of only one variety each year.

To extract the seed, mash the tomatoes, throw them
into a barrel with water, and allow them to ferment; the
seed will fall to the bottom, and the scum rise to the top,
when it can be skimmed ofE. I generally throw the skim-
mings into another barrel and allow them to ferment

124 GAEDEKING FOE YOUNG ASTD OLD.

twenty-four or forty-eight hours longer; the seed can be
allowed to remain in the fermenting barrel for several days
without injury to its germinating powers, but it does not
look quite so bright as that first taken from the barrel
after it has been allowed to ferment thirty-six or forty-
eight hours. It is conTonient to have plenty of barrels
and an abundance of water. A little knowledge of chem-
istry, with some experience, will greatly facilitate the
labor of washing out and drying the seed. It will fa-
cilitate the drying process if you press out as much
water as possible, either by squeezing the seeds be-
tween the hands or putting them in a bag under a cheese
press, before putting them on the stretchers to dry. The
seed must be thoroughly dried before being bagged and
stowed away.

TURNIPS.

The cultivation of Turnips merely for home use, as a
table vegetable, will not require much thought or labor.
But when grown extensively either as a farm crop for
stock, or as a farm-garden crop for market, it will be
necessary to bestow considerable attention upon them. It
is often thought that our climate is not well adapted to
the growth of turnips. I am satisfied that this is a mis-
take. We can grow just as good turnips here, and as
large a crop per acre, as in any other country. The rea-
son probably why the English and Scotch farmers raise
turnips so extensively, is not that they can grow them so
much better or more easily than we can, but because
their winters are so much milder, that the roots can be
largely eaten off by sheep during the autumn, winter
and spring months on the land where they grow. If an
English farmer could sell his turnips at any thing like
the price the crop will bring in this country, no other
farm crop would be half so profitable. But, as I said be-

TURNIPS. 125

fore, this is not because the climate is any better than
our own for the production of the crop, but because long
experience has enabled British farmers to use the very
best methods in its cultivation. I have known an Eng-
lish farmer to spend fifty dollars an acre in preparing
his land for turnips. It should be understood that tur-
nips can not be grown with the preparation of the land
necessary for corn and potatoes.

Turnip seed is small, and it is useless to sow it among
clods and expect it to germinate. The land for turnips
must be in the very best possible condition. If it is neces-
sary to plow it twice, plow it twice; if three times are neces-
sary, then plow it three times. Either abandon the idea
of raising the crop, or work the land and keep working
it, until not a clod or hard spot remains. Superphosphate
of lime is confessedly the best of all artificial fertilizers
for turnips; and now that it is so easily obtained, and at
such a reasonable price, there is no reason why turnips
should not be more extensively grown. In the market
tiirnips usually bring very liberal prices, and the crop has
this advantage, if it can not be sold in market, it can be
fed out on the farm. Horses are very fond of ruta-ba-
gas, or sweet turnips. I do not say that they are a bet-
ter or cheaper food for them in this country than corn or
oats, but after your horse has had the usual allowance of
oats or corn, he will not be sorry when the price of ruta-
bagas falls so low in market that you will not begrudge
him three or four good-sized roots every day.

Euta-bagas or Swedes usually pay better than the early
white-fleshed varieties. But I should perhaps here say
that turnips may be divided into three classes. One class
is well represented by the common Strap-leaf variety; it is
sown late in the summer, and grows with the greatest
rapidity; but it is not a good keeper, which is true
of all of this class. These are grown very extensively
in England to be eaten on the land by sheep in October

136

GARDENING FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

and !N"ovember; they grow quickly, but contain compara-
tively little nutriment. I have known a large crop that
grew very rapidly to contain ninety-five per cent, of
water; in other words, one ton of the turnips contained
only one hundred pounds of real food. An animal eat-
ing such turnips, has therefore to take in nineteen
pounds of water to get one pound of real food; no wonder
such turnips can grow rapidly, and no wonder they will
not keep long.

The second class, of which the Yellow Aberdeen and
Yellowstone are good examples, requires to be sown
earlier. They will grow larger and keep later than those
of the first class.

Class third includes all the varieties known as Swede
turnips, or Euta-bagas, they are essentially winter varie-
ties. They must be sown earli-
er than the other classes, and
juire richer land; they are
• more nutritious than the
hers, and will keep late into
the following spring. I wish
this matter to be understood.
People often ask for the best
variety of turnips; they might
just as well ask for the best
variety of apples. If you ask
which is the best summer ap-
rig. 26. pie, the best early or late au-

iMFEEiAi, puKPLE TOP SWEDE, tumn applc. Or which is the
best winter apple, an experienced fruit-grower might be
able to answer the question. And so it is with turnips,
we have early and late autumn kinds, and winter or
eai-ly spring kinds; the latter class being Ruta-bagas or
Swede turnips.

The cultivation of such varieties as the Strap-leaf is
often no cultivation at all. The seed is scattered on any

TUENIPS. 127

vacant spot, from the middle of July to the first of Sep-
tember, aud we trust to chance for a crop. One year in five
we get a good crop; one year in three we get a fair crop,
on perhaps one-fourth of the land, while on three-fourths
of the field the turnips are not worth gathering. I do
not say that it does not pay to sow turnips in this way;
very little labor is required, the land would otherwise lie
idle, and one pound of seed is amply suflBcient to sow an
acre; in fact, if you can distribute it evenly, half a pound
is enough. It is quite a knack to sow turnip seed broad-
cast; all the seed required is what you can hold between
your thumb and the first two fingers; scatter the seed
over a width of about ten feet, then take two steps for-
ward and throw another similar pinch; throw it boldly,
and keep your hand all the time on a level with your
shoulder; most people let their hand fall as low as the
hip, but the other is far the better way; it insures a
much more even distribution of the seed. But I do not
want my yoang friends to be sowing turnips broadcast.
As a rule, what is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
And now that we have the best of implements to prepare
the land, good drills to sow the seed, and good hoes
to thin out the plants, I am very confident that, taking
one year with another, it is far more profitable to drill in
turnip seed, and cultivate between the rows with a horse-
hoe than it is to sow broadcast. It is not merely that
you get two or three, or four times as many bushels of
turnips per acre, but you are almost certain of a crop,
even in the most unfavorable season. When a good crop
is obtained from sowing broadcast, and leaving the plants
to take care of themselves, the niarket will be glutted
with turnips, and the price will be low; but in an ordi-
nary season, when you will not get more than half a crop
from the broadcast sowing, on half the land, turnips
will command a good price, and the farmer or gardener
who has a good crop, gets ample compensation for his

128 GAEDENIIfG FOR YOUNG AWD OLD,

enterprise and labor; while the very next year, the sea-
son may be so unfavorp.ble that the broadcast turnips are
almost a universal failure, and the good cultivator who
has a good crop, can sell turnips enough from an acre of
land to buy him a horse and buggy. Let us then aban-
don the idea of sowing turnips broadcast, except in rare
cases.

CULTIVATION OF EUTA-BAGAS.

Kuta-bagas, or Swede Turnips — or as it would be better
to call them. Winter Turnips, should be sown about corn-
planting time, or from that until about the time we usu-
ally plant beans. I have myself had a good crop sown as
late as July 4th, but from the last of May to the middle
of June is the better time in this section.

Land that will raise good corn will produce good tur-
nips, but ruta-bagas do better on a somewhat stiff loam
than on a light sandy one; they will do very well on
sandy soil provided you make it rich enough. On the
stiff soils, it is better to prepare the land the autumn pre-
vious. If the land has been in corn or potatoes, plow
it as soon as the crop is removed; the earlier the better;
harrow, roll, and pick up and draw off all stones large
enough to interfere with a cultivator. If the land is at
all weedy, plow or cultivate, and harrow and roll during
dry weather in autumn, until all the weeds are killed.
If the work has been well done, this thorough cultiva-
tion will start into growth millions of weed seeds. Be-
fore cold weather sets in, plow the land again, and leave
it rough for the winter. The frost will break up the
stiff lumps of clay, and the next spring they will readily
crumble to pieces, and produce the very best soil for ru-
ta-bagas. Do not plow the land in the spring until it
is quite dry; the surface may bake, but when you come
to plow it, you will find that the soil underneath will turn
up fine, mellow, and moist.

TURNIPS. 129

If barn-yard manure is to be used, there are two
methods of applying it ; one plan is to spread it broad-
cast all orer the land, and another, to make ridges or
furrows, thirty inches apart and put the manure in
these furrows, carefully knocking it to pieces with the
fork or hoe. Cover up the manure by splitting the ridges
with the plow. A double mould-board plow does the work
twice as fast as a common plow, and in skillful hands
does it far better. The turnip seed is then drilled m on
these ridges, immediately abc^e the manure. To do the
work expeditiously and well, not only a good double mould-
board plow is required, but a turnip drill with a roller
before and behind the coulter which deposits the seed.

Without these implements and more or less skill in
their use, a young turnip-grower had better apply his
manure broadcast, and after the land is thoroughly pre-
pared, drill in the seed on the flat surface. He need
not regret the necessity for adopting this method, for it
is not without some advantages over the other. In ridging
and applying the manure between the ridges, you must
make the furrows wide enough apart to allow the wheels
of the wagon or cart to go in them.

In other words you will have to make the ridges about
thirty inches apart, which is wider than it is necessary
to drill in the turnips. I find no difficulty, with a steady
horse, of running a cultivator between rows of turnips
or beets twenty-one inches apart, and if your land is rich
enough, you can grow a far larger crop in these close
rows than you can in wide ones. I think, however, it
will usually be better to have the rows two feet apart, and
to thin the turnips to ten or twelve inches in the rows.

If the rows are two feet apart, and the plants one
foot in the row, we have twenty-one thousand seven
hundred and eighty plants on an acre. If the rows are
thirty inches apart, and the plants a foot apart in the
rows, we have seventeen thousand four hundred and

130 GARDEl>riJS:G FOR TOUN^G AND OLD.

twenty-four plants on an acre. If the turnips average
four pounds each, the one crop on the ridges would give
us less than thirty-five tons per acre, while the crop on
the flat, in the narrow rows, would give us over forty-
three tons per acre, or reckoning the turnips at sixty
pounds per bushel, the crop on the narrow rows would
give us one thousand four hundred and fifty-two bushels
to the acre, while in the wider rows the crop would be
less than one thousand one hundred and ninety-two
bushels to the acre.

I am free to admit, that either crop would be a remark-
ably good one, but I am advocating good cultivation and
the liberal use of fertilizers. During the winter of 1881
— '83, it would have been a very easy matter to have dis-
posed of thousands of bushels of ruta-bagas at fifty cents
a bushel, and even one thousand bushels per acre would
have afforded a magnificent profit.

But before you can make a profit of five hundred dol-
lars an acre from a crop of turnips, you have something
to do. I speak of these prospective and possible profits
as an incentive to faith, hope, and labor. I want you to
have faith in good farming, and not be afraid to put
work and manure into the land. There are some draw-
backs and difficulties and many seeming discouragements;
there are drouths. Black-beetles, Turnip-lice and mildew,
but if there were none of these, turnips would never
bring fifty cents a bushel. The best remedies for all of
these is, the thorough preparation of the land, liberal
manuring and freqiaent cultivation between the rows
of plants, and careful thinning out and hoeing in the
rows.

If flat cultivation is adopted and the land is prepared
in the autumn, as previously recommended, the manure
may be spread on the land in the sprmg before plowing ;
though I think it is better to plow the land first. My
own plan is; to draw the roamirc to the field duj-ing the

TURNIPS. 131

winter and put it in large square heaps, about five feet
high ; in the spring, if necessary, turn over the heaps to
facilitate decomposition.

When the manure is in heaps in the field, it is an easy
matter to draw it about the lot, even if the land has been
plowed ; put it in rows about five yards apart, and make
the heaps at about the same distance in rows. This would
give one hundred and ninety-three heaps on an acre, and
if you put three bushels of manure in each heap, and each
bushel weighs seventy-five pounds, you would put on a little
over twenty tons to the acre. If the manure is good, and
you apply three or four hundred pounds of superphos-
phate per acre in addition, this amount will be amply
sufiicient to produce a grand crop of turnips.

Spread the manure evenly on the land, and then go
over it with a smoothing harrow lengthwise, and cross-
wise of the furrows two or three times, until the manure
is thoroughly broken up and mixed with the soil. Not
a single lump should remain visible. This is an impor-
tant matter, and you should do the work very thoroughly.
If you are inclined to shrink from the labor and expense,
think of a thousand bushels of turnips to the acre, and
what they are likely to be worth in market, and go over
the land once more with a harrow.

The next step depends on the nature of the soil. My
own soil varies greatly. I have in the same field a black
sand, with more or less muck in it, and a sandy knoll
with a stiff, tenacious loam between. It is not necessary
to plow the muck or the dry sand as much as the heavier
soil. And yet, as a matter of fact, the light soil is always
better plowed than the other, as the plow goes m deeper
than it does on the clay. I find it better to plow
the heavier soil by itself, even if it is necessary to turn
round every few rods. When thoroaglily reduced by good
and repeated plowing, the heavier soil gives the best crops,
hut if carelessly plowed, with a point good enough to go

133 GAKDENIKQ FOE TOUNQ AND OLD.

in on the sand, but which skims oyer the dry, hard clayey
spots, we should be pretty certain to get no crop worth
harvesting. As I cannot tell the kind of land on which
you are going to sow the turnips, I cannot tell you just
how to work it ; it is one of the advantages of agriculture
and horticulture, that each man must do his own think-
ing. All I can say is this : for turnips, the land must be
worked with a plow, the gang-plow, the cultivator, the
harrow and the roller, until not a lump remains on the
surface or within reach of the drill.

Before the last harrowing and rolling, or earlier, sow
on the superphosphate at the rate of three hundred pounds
per acre; be careful to distribute it evenly, and if the su-
perphosphate is not entirely free from lumps, run it
through a sieve and break them up fine; go over the
land once more with the smoothing harrow or roller; set
a line — do not forget this — and drill in the seed, in
rows two feet apart. The drill makes its own mark, but
if you find the rows are getting crooked, set the line
again, and in such a way that in no point it shall be less
than two feet from the last drill mark. If the soil is
moist, the shallower you can sow the seed the better, pro-
vided it is covered at all; but if the surface-soil is dry,
you may set the drill to deposit the seed half an inch
deep, or until it will reach the moist soil below. I would
sow at least two seeds to each inch of row, and if the soil
is dry, with little prospect of rain, I would sow three or
four seeds to each inch of row, or two pounds to the acre.
If the soil and weather are moist, and every thing is fa-
vorable, one pound is sufficient; but in average condi-
tions two pounds per acre is the rule. It is better to sow
three, four, or even five pounds per acre, than to run
any risk of losing your crop by the swarms of black bee-
tles which frequently attack the young plants. After
the turnip plants get into the rough leaf, the beetles do
them comparatively little harm. As soon, therefore, as the

TUENIPS. 183

plants get into the rough leaf, commence to hoe and thin
them out. Hoeing turnips and thinning them out, are
both done at the same time. You may think the remark
unnecessary, but I have known people to hoe on each
side of the row of turnips and afterwards go over the
piece and thin them out. The true plan is, to cultivate
the turnips between the rows with a horse-hoe, that will
pull a little soil away from the row. If the rows are
straight, a skillful boy will run his cultivator within an
inch of the plants; when through cultivating, the young
turnip plants will stand in straight rows two inches in
width, invitingly ready for the hoe.

Have the hoe ground sharp and bright, square at the
corners, with the shank bent at nearly right angles with
the handle; then dash your hoe boldly across the row of
turnips, pulling it towards you; then push it back slowly
in such a way as to leave only one plant in a place. The
work can nearly all be done with a hoe, but occasionally,
when the plants interlock,it will be necessary to stoop down
and remove all but one with the thumb and finger. For
this reason, if the plants are very thick in the row, you
must commence to single out as early as possible, and push
forward the work with energy. It will not do to loiter
or tell stories. If you do, the plants will assuredly get
the start of you, and then you have a tough job on hand.
If, in spite of all you can do, you find you can not get
through the whole piece before the plants are likely to be
injured by over crowding, the better way is, to go through
the whole piece and bunch out the plants. By this I
mean strike the hoe across the row, leaving bunches of
plants ten or twelve inches apart, and afterwards go
over them again and single them out.

Turnips will stand rougher treatment than beets or
mangels. If you cut too close to a beet plant, our hot
sun will kill it; while a turnip in the same circumstances
would revive during the next night. After the plants

134 GARDENIjq-G FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

are singled our for the first time, all that you have to do
is, to keep the cultivator frequently running between the
rows. As soon as any weeds appear among the turnips,
that can not be reached by the cultivator, go over the
piece again with the hoe, and cut out all the weeds, and
at the same time single out any plants that may have
been left double, and this is all that will be necessary un-
til the crop is ready to harvest.

GATHERING THE CKOP.

Kuta-bagas, or Winter Turnips, will stand quite a
sharp frost without injury, especially if at the time the
frost occurs, the roots are surmounted by an abundance
of green vigorous leaves. As long, therefore, as the
leaves of the turnips keep green, there is no particular
necessity for pulling up the crop; as the great diificulty
in keeping turnips in large piles or pits, during the win-
ter, is their tendency to heat — the colder the weather,
provided the roots are not actually frozen when the crop
is gathered, the better will the roots keep. If the crop
is in by Thanksgiving Day, it will be early enough three
seasons out of four. My own plan is, to pit the roots in
the field as we do potatoes and mangels. We plow out a
wide, deep, dead-furrow. We mark out the spot where
the pit is to be, of any desired length, and then measure
off six or eight feet on each side, and start the plow,
plowing up and down on both sides, until the center, or
dead-furrow is reached; then commence on the outside
again, and plow up and down as before. This will make
a still deeper and wider dead-furrow; then commence on
the outside again, and plow up and down again as before,
plowing deeper as you approach the center. These three
plowings will give a mass of deep, mellow earth, which
will afterwards be very convenient for covering the pit.

TUB SIPS. 135

It will also bid defiance to the severest frost. If neces-
sary, the bottom of this wide, deep, dead-furrow, may be
cleaned out and made flat, level, and square with the
spade or shovel; the pit is then ready for the roots. No
straw is needed at the bottom or sides. The days are
short, winter is approaching, and you must work lively
and make a short job of it.

My plan is, to set three teams with stone-boats to draw-
ing the untopped turnips to the pit; one man, with the
team and stone-boat, takes two rows at a time, and as
soon as he has put on all he can carry, he drives to the
pit, where a couple of men help him to top the turnips
and throw them into the pit. By the time this is done,
another load is at the pit, and the empty stone-boat goes
for another load, and by the time the second load is
topped, the third team is at the pit with a load waiting
to be topped. If all hands work sharp, a great lot of
turnips can be gathered, topped, and pitted in a day. On
my own farm, I generally find it best to have an extra
man to help the drivers to pull and load the turnips; if
both work well, this doubles the speed of the whole oper-
ation. In other words, we have two men pulling turnips
all the tinie, and two men ought to pull twice as many
as one man. In fact, I have sometimes thought that two
good sharp boys would pull more than twice as many
turnips as one man who spends one-third of his time in
stopping and starting the team. Two active boys, who
work during these short days with a will, can pull up two
rows of turnips and put them on the stone-boat almost as
fast as a slow team will walk. If they cannot top the
turnips fast enough at the pit, put on another man, or
what is better still, take hold and help yourself. As a
rule, however, the man or boy who has charge of the job,
should not undertake any part of the work that will oc-
cupy all his time; he had better undertake the general
supervision, and be ready to lend a helping hand where

136 GARDEiflKG FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

most needed. There is always plenty of work to be done
at the pit.

When the roots in the pit reach the level of the ground,
it will be necessary to take a little more pains in placing
them in it. And I would especially recommend you,
if possible, to throw a quantity of dry sand or earth on
the turnips in the pit. Those below the surface of the
ground do not need it so much, but the turnips in the
pit above the surface, and especially as they approach the
top, will keep far better and fresher, if dry earth or sand
is freely scattered among them. A bushel of sand to
each three or four bushels of turnips will be exceedingly
beneficial. I do not mean that you should draw sand
from a distance, but take that which has been plowed
out of the pit, giving preference to that which is driest.
Do not be afraid of using too much. The sand will not
only keep the turnips fresher, but it is quite a conven-
ience in enabling you to build up the sides of the pit
straighter and narrower. A wide pit is objectionable;
four feet wide at the surface of the ground, and gradually
tapering ujd to the top, to the height of three and a half
to four feet, is quite large enough. It is generally rec-
ommended to place chimneys every four or five feet in
the pit, for the purpose of carrying ofE the heat or steam.
Those chimneys can be made by placing a bunch of straw
a foot deep among the turnips, and letting it project
through the covering of earth on top. Drain tiles two
or three inches in diameter are equally efEective.

If the work is delayed until just before winter sets in,
and the turnips are very cold when put in the pit, and
above all, if plenty of dry sand has been mixed with the
roots, and a liberal coat of straw, say six or eight inches
thick, is placed on top of the roots from the surface to
the apex, there is very little danger that the turnips will
get too hot in the pit. As I have said before, this is the
real difficulty in keeping turnips. It is a very easy mat-

TURNIPS. 137

ter to keep out the frost. When the pit is finished, get
a load of dry straw and cover the pit evenly all over, si}£
or eight inches thick, and at the same time commence to
cover it with earth, working from the surface of the land
upwards. If, in doing this, you find any part where the
straw is too thin, add more straw. Just earth enough to
hide the straw should be put on. Make the surface of
the soil smooth, so that it will readily shed rain, and the
work is done for the present.

Later, however, it may be necessary to give the pit an-
other covering of straw and earth, and before it is left,
plow around it half a dozen times, to the width of five or
six feet on both sides of the pit, turning the furrows to-
wards the pit. • This is very important. You cannot plow
too much or too deeply, as loose earth is an excellent non-
conductor of heat, and the severest frost will do little
more in any single night than crust over the surface of
this repeatedly ploived land. When cold weather really
sets in, plow around the heap again, two or three times;
put on a thin layer of straw, say four or five inches
thick, and cover with the loose soil thrown up by the
plow. You will find that the plow, properly handled, will
save more than half the labor, and what is better still,
the work is likely to be more thoroughly done.

This last covering should be delayed until cold weather
sets in, and it is all the better if the first coat of earth
on the pit is frozen solid. I have more than once put on
this second covering during a severe storm, with the ther-
mometer almost down to zero. I once had to work with
every man and team on the farm to help until ten o'clock
at night to cover my pits, so suddenly and savagely came
on the storm. We had to keep the teams plowing rap-
idly around the pits to furnish loose unfrozen soil. There
was no let-up for many weeks. Had we not done this,
the loss would have been very great; as it was, not a root
or potato was injured. I do not advocate delaying the

138 GABDEKIKG FOS YOL'NG AND OLD.

work quite so late as this, but if you get caught, do not
hesitate to work during the storm. If you do the work
well, you can go to sleep afterwards, with a conscious-
ness that, no matter how the storm may rage, your root
crops are entirely safe.

The method of keeping turnips here recommended is
generally adapted to keeping beets, mangels, carrots,
parsnips, etc.

FALL, OK EARLY WINTER TDJRNIPS.

As a rule, this intermediate class of turnips has at-
tracted Tery little attention in this country. It would
not at present be advisable to raise them largely. I
should not raise them at all, unless I had land all ready
for the crop the first or second week in July, when it
was too late to be sure of getting a crop of ruta-bagas.
In a case like this, such varieties as the Yellow Aberdeen
can be sown from the middle of July to the first of Au-
gust with great advantage; you can get a large crop to the
acre; far greater than you can of the Strap-leaf, Plat
Dutch and other early varieties sown later. The Yellow
Aberdeen will keep in excellent condition from Decem-
ber to February, and be valuable for the table, when the
early varieties have become pithy and tasteless. When
better known, it will prove a profitable variety for the
market garden, as it has always been for the stock feeder.
The cultivation of the Yellow Aberdeen and similar va-
rieties, does not differ essentially from that of the ruta-
bagas; it does not need to be sown so early, and does not
require so rich land. A soil in good mechanical condi-
tion, that has been liberally manured for the previous
crop, will, by the aid of a dressing of three hundred
pounds per acre of superphosphate sown broadcast, pro-
duce a fine crop without any other manure; but if the
land has not been manured for the previous crop, it will

TTJBNIPS. 139

be better to give it a moderate dressing of manure, say-
eight tons per acre, and use the superphosphate in ad-
dition. Superphosphate cannot be applied to any crop
where it will do more good than to turnips.

The Aberdeen is a hardy variety and will stand con-
siderable frost, but it should be gathered before the ruta-
bagas. In other words, you can let ruta-bagas remain
later in the field than yon can the Yellow Aberdeens ;
they will not keep quite so well as the ruta-bagas, as
they contain more water and are more liable to get heated

Fig, 37. Fig. 28.

FUKPLE TOP STRAP-LEAP. WHITE PLAT DUTCH.

in the pit. It is better therefore to make the pit smaller
and to throw in more dry earth among the roots.

CULTITATIOlf OF AUTUMK TUESTIPS.

This class of turnips, of which the Purple Top Strap-
leaf is a popular variety, is usually grown with little or
no cultivation properly so called. In England, they are
often called Stubble Turnips, because they can be grown
after a crop of rye, wheat, or barley is harvested.

We can do the same thing here, but our climate is so
much hotter and dryer, that we shall have to take con-
siderable pains to get land from which a grain crop has
just been harvested, sufficiently moist and mellow to in-
sure the germination of turnip seed. There are times,

140 GABDENIKG FOR YOUNG AlfD OLD.

however, when it can be done, and done to great advan-
tage. Land should be plowed immediately after harvest,
and the roller should follow the plow. You cannot roll
it too much while dry ; follow the roller a few days later
with a smoothing harrow, weighted until it will cut
through the dry clods, follow with a roller, so as to break
up or crush the clods brought to the surface by the har-
row, continue to roll and harrow, until you have secured
a fine tilth. If the weather reporter would send us some
rain, if nothing more than a thunder shower, we should
at this time accept it as a favor ; this thoroughly worked,
but dusty soil would drink it in, and we could immedi-
ately start the drill, feeling confident that in two or three
days the turnips would be up.

Do not forget to sow superphosphate at the rate of
from two hundred to three hundred pounds per acre. If
the land is in good condition, and especially if it has been
manured for the previous crop, the superphosphate is all
that is necessary. It is better to sow the phosphate pre-
vious to rolling and harrowing, but it is not well, I think,
to plow it under. At this dry season of the year, it is
well to roll the land after drilling in the seed and to roll
it thoroughly.

I would drill in the turnips in rows not less than two
feet apart, and drop at least four seeds to each inch of row,
or, say from three to four pounds per acre ; if the land
is in good condition, this thick seeding is almost certain,
with the aid of superphosphate, to enable the plants to
escape the ravages of the heetle.

The cultivation is similar to that previou^sly recom-
mended for ruta-bagas, except that we leave the plants
a little thicker in the row — say seven inches apart. If
the plants are properly singled out to this distance and
the cultivator is used between the rows as often as is
necessary, nothing more will be required until the crop
is ready to be pulled.

SWEET HEEBS. 141

The sooner the crop is marketed, the better. At the
price usually obtained for them, these turnips are quite
profitable. It is not at all a difficult matter to grow
from four hundred to five hundred bushels per acre.

SWEET HEEBS.

Little need to be said in regard to the cultivation of
Sweet Herbs. With the exception of Sage and Thyme,
they are not very extensively grown for market.

SAGE.

Sage is grown more extensively for market than any
other sweet herb. It is called Sage because its use was
supposed to strengthen the memory and make people
sage, or wise.

It is used extensively for seasoning or flavoring sausages,
the stuffing of ducks, geese, etc., and occasionally for
flavoring cheese.

The plants can be propagated by cuttings, precisely as
we propagate currants, but the usual and better way is,
to grow it from seed. If you have good seed, it is an
easy matter to raise the plants. For some reason, how-
ever. Sage seed is often very poor and should be carefully
tested before sowing. There is no difficulty whatever in
growing good seed.

If you wish only a few plants for your own use, sow a
paper of seed in a box in the house, the middle of March,
in rows two inches apart and two seeds to each inch of
row. Transplant out of doors as soon as the weather is
warm and settled.

The seed, however, can be sown out of doors in the
spring, as soon as the soil is in good condition. It is best
to prepare the soil the fall previous. A light, warm,
sandy soil in a sheltered spot, with a sunny exposure is

142 GAKDENING FOK TOUNG AND OLD.

best. Sow the seed in rows wide enough apart to admit
the use of the hoe, putting in two seeds to each inch ;
cover the seed a quarter of an inch deep, and if the soil
is dry, pat it down with the back of the spade. As soon
as the plants appear, hoe lightly between the rows and
keep the bed free from weeds. This is all that need be
done until the plants are ready to set out where they ar j
to grow.

The land for Sage should be dry, loose, and very rich.
The plants are small and grow slowly at first. Before
taking them out of the seed-bed, the soil should be
deeply and carefully broken up with a fork, six or
eight inches deep, and the bed thoroughly watered until
all the soil to the depth of the sage roots is completely
saturated. It requires a good deal of water, but if the
work is well done, the young sage plants can be set out
even in the hottest weather, and on comparatively dry
soil, without the loss of a single plant.

It is, however, very desirabie to make the land very
fine and moist, by thorough cultivation. It will usually
be found better to plow the land just before setting out
the plants, as this will bring to the surface the moist
soil. After plowing, roll, harrow, and smooth off the
surface. Mark ofE the rows (if the horse-hoe is to be
used), twenty-one to twenty-four inches apart, and set
out the plants ten inches apart in the row.

Where land is valuable, and the crop is to be hand-
hoed, the rows need not be more than twelve inches
apart. In fact, the better way is, to mark ofE the land
both ways twelve inches apart, and set the plants where
the lines cross. If the weather is dry, you must be very
careful to press the soil firmly about the roots. Set out
the plants so that the lower leaves are just above the sur-
face. As soon as the plants get over the effects of trans-
planting, go throuffh with a hoe to break the crust and
kill the weeds; repeat the operation q,s often as necessary.

SWEET HERBS. 143

As soon as the plants are in full flower, you can begin to
cut and market the crop. Where the rows are only a foot
apart, the best way is to cut out every other row. Tie
tiie sage in bunches and market it, leaving the other
rows to grow larger. If the land is rich, the plants
which are left will continue to grow late into the fall, and
completely cover the land. After cutting out every other
row, run the cultivator between the remaining rows and
hoe out the weeds. Where the plants are set out in rows,
twenty-one inches to two feet apart, and the land kept
clean and mellow by the frequent use of the horse-hoe,
the total money return is not so great as that from the
double crop, but it is far less labor, and in the field-gar-
den will be the better plan. If the sage can not be sold
green in the market, tie it up into bunches and let it dry;
it can then be safely shipped to any distance.

THYME.

The cultivation of Thyme is similar to that of Sage.
The seeds are smaller and the plants
not quite so vigorous. The soil where
the seed is sown should be made even
richer and finer than for Sage, and
the seed must not be covered more
than an eighth of an inch deep, and
the bed well patted with the back of
the spade. In all other respects
Thyme may be treated precisely as
Sage. If preferred, the seed may be
sown where the plants are intended
to remain. Sow in rows twenty-one
inolies apart, and drill in the peed as ^'^- ^Q.-thmb.
shallow as possible, droppincr three or four seetls to each
mr^'i of row. It will be npcessarv to mix the peed wilh
three or four times its bulk of fine dry sand, or the drill

144 GARDENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

will SOW it too thick. Cultivate and hoe, and as the
plants begin to crowd, thin them out. These young
plants can be drawn out by the roots, and put in bunches
for home use, or for market. Tnis thinning out can be
continued at diiierent times until the plants are left from
eight to ten inches apart in the row.

In England, it is thought that thyme must be grown
on the poorest of poor land, else it will lack the desired
flavor. In our dry, hot climate, however, thyme will
stand rich land and good cultivation. There are two
kinds; one is what the European seed catalogues call
"Hardy Winter," or "Evergreen." The leaves are
lemon-scented, and by some it is preferred to the com-
mon, or Broad-leaved kind. Both can be grown from
seed, or propagated by division of the roots, but better
plants are obtained from seed. The seeds are exceed-
ingly small, and must be sown on the best prepared and
finest land. They come up slowly, and it is desirable to
sow them thickly. It will do no harm if you have to
thin out fifty plants to one that is ultimately left. One
pound of seed to the acre will be amply sufficient.

Thyme is put up in bunches and marketed like sage,
or it may be dried and shipped to any distance. Any
one who has an evaporator for drying fruit, could easily
devise a plan for drying bunches of sweet herbs, and
make the business highly profitable.

SUMMER SAVORY.

There are two kinds of Savory; a Winter, or perennial,
and the Summer, or annual sort; the latter is the best.
The seed may be sown in March, in a box in the house,
and the plants set out in the garden as soon as the
weather will permit. This is not necessary, however,
as the plants will do well if the seed is sown in any good
garden soil early in the spring, or as soon as the ground

SWEET HERBS. 145

and weather are warm. If it is intended to transplant
the plants, sow the seed in rows, wide enough apart to
admit the use of a narrow hoe, or, if the plants are to
remain where the seed is sown, sow in rows fifteen inches
apart, and thin out the plants enough to admit the use of
a hoe. The seed should not be
covered more than a quarter of an
inch deep, and if the ground ia
moist, the shallower the better.
Drop five or six seeds to the inch
of row, as the thicker you sow, the
easier it is to hoe between the
rows of plants just before they are
cracking the ground, and to keep
the bed free from weeds. Four
pounds of seed will be amply suf-
ficient for an acre. If grown by
the acre, I would sow in rows, ^'S- 30.-straMBE savory.

from twenty-one to twenty-four inches apart, and cul-
tivate with a horse-hoe, and thin out the plants as recom-
mended for thyme.

SWEET MARJORAM.

The cultivation of Sweet Marjoram is precisely similar
to that of Summer Savory, except, perhaps, that the
plants do not bear transplantation so well, and conse-
quently it is better to sow the seed where they are intend-
ed to remain, in rows fifteen inches apart. Sow a plenty
of seed, say four or five seeds to each inch of row, and
ultimately thin out the plants to ten inches apart ; or,
the rows may be sown twenty-one to twenty-four inches
apart, and iu this case, the plants may be left thicker in
the row, or just wide enough apart to admit the use of
a narrow hoe. If too thick, every second plant may be
drawn out for early use.
H

146 GAEDEKIN^G FOE TOUHG AUD OLD.

BOKAGE.

Borage is not extensively grown in this country, and
there is little or no demand for
it in market. The seeds are
large and can be sown in the
open ground in rows, fifteen
inches apart, dropping one to
each inch of row.

Borage can be profitably grown
for plowing under as a green
crop. The leaves are so rich in
nitrate of potash or saltpetre,
that when dry they will burn
like touch-paper. Borage is used

principally for flavoring cooling beverages, like lemonade.

BOSEMAKT.

Kosemary should be sown in rows about fifteen inches
apart each way. The better plan is,
to drop five or six seeds in each hill,
thinning out to a single plant before
the plants begin to crowd each other.
Cover the seed about a quarter of an
inch deep,

COBIAKBEE.

The young tender leaves of Coriander
are used in salads and for flavoring
soups. The plant is easily cultivated.
The seeds are round and nearly as I'^K- 33--Rosbmabt.
large as a Sweet Pea. Sow in rows fifteen inches apart,
dropping the seeds about an inch apart in the row, cover-

SWEET HBEBS. 147

ing half an inch deep. Light sandy soil is best for this
crop ; thin out the plants for use before they begin to
crowd each other, ultimately leaving them seven or eight
inches apart in the row. The plants soon run up to
seed, and it is best to sow at intervals of three or four
weeks for succession.

FENNEL.

This plant is closely related to, and can be grown as
directed for Coriander.

LAVENDER.

Lavender is grown solely for its perfume. For home
use, the long stems, five or six inches in length, are cut
from the bushes when in flower, tied in small bunches
and dried. The flowers and stems are placed in drawers,
or closets among table-linen, clothing, etc. The plants
are easily grown from seed, or they may be propagated
by dividing the roots of old plants. It is better to grow
them from seed.

Sow the seed in a box in the house about the middle
of March, in rows one inch apart, dropping two or three
seeds to each inch of row. If the plants begin to crowd
each other before it is time to set them out in the open
ground, transplant into a larger box, pricking them out
to two or three inches apart each way. These strong,
stocky plants, after hardening ofE, should be set out on
loose, warm, sandy soil, in the garden, from fifteen to
twenty inches apart each way. The younger and weaker
plants, if the weather is warm, might be set out in a bed
in the garden in rows ten inches apart and two or three
inches apart in the row. In this bed they may be allowed
to remain until the following spring, when they can be
taken up with a good ball of earth and set out wherever

148 GAEDEIsriNG FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

there is room for them in the flower beds, or in rows two
feet apart and from fifteen to twenty inches apart in the
row. Lavender will in time be extensiyely grown in this
country.

CARAWAY.

The seeds of Caraway are sometimes introduced into
cheese and mixed with bread, cake, cookies, etc. The
leaves, when young, are sometimes used for flavoring
soups and salads. The plants are easily grown, and may
be treated as recommended for Coriander.

WGEMWOOD.

Wormwood is perhaps not entitled to be called a sweet
herb, but it is certainly a very useful plant, and should
be grown in every farmer's garden. For sprains, worm-
wood and vinegar is a time-honored remedy. The leaves
are chopped up with Eue and Cress, and mixed with
the food of young turkies. An infusion of Wormwood
seeds with Chamomile flowers, is often taken as a tonic.
Wormwood can be sown in a warm border early in April,
in rows fifteen inches apart, and thinned to ten inches
apart in the row. Next year every second plant may be
dug up for ti'ansplanting, and still leave those on the
original bed thick enough. If the plants are dug up
with a good ball of earth their growth will not be
checked.

EUE.

This very old-fashioned medicinal plant can be grown
in the same way as Wormwood.

ANISE.

Anise does not transplant readily, and the seed should
be sown where it is intended that the plants shall re-

SWEET HERBS. 149

main, in drills fifteen inches apart, dropping two seeds to
each inch of row, and covering half an inch deep. The
plants may be thinned out to five or six inches apart in
the row.

BASIL.

start the seeds in a box in the house, or if this is not
conven^'ent, sow in a warm border in rows twelve inches
a])art, dropping two or three seeds to each inch of row.
The plants can be used when two or three inches high.
Tliin out for use until the plants are left seven or eight
inches apart in the row. The leaves have a strong clove-
like odor, and are used in soups and salads.

DILL.

This can be grown in the way recommended for Ba-
sil. It delights in a warm, dry, sandy soil.

CULTIVATION OF FLOWERS.

Some people think, or rather they say, that it does not
pay to cultivate flowers. "Whatever they may say, I do
not believe that they really think so. If they do, they
are certainly mistaken. It pays wonderfully well — ^just
as it pays to be clean and neat, kind and polite. It is
not necessary to argue the question. I feel sure that my
young friends love flowers, and my business is to teU how
to grow them with the least trouble and expense, in the
greatest perfection and profusion. For my own part, I
would rather see them in profusion than in perfection.
I do not care how perfect they are, but I want a good
many of them; this is especially true of annual flowers, or
flowers grown every year from seeds. We will talk about
them in alphabetical order.

ALYSSUM.

Sweet Alyssum, as it is usually called, is a very hardy
plant, growing about six inches high
with clusters of small white flowers,
decidedly fragrant and very pretty.
Sow the seeds of this plant as soon as
the frost is out of the ground in the
spring, in rows wide enough apart to
admit the use of a
hoe. Drop three or
four seeds to each
inch of row, and
after the plants
T<. o„ are fairly started.

Fig. 33.— SWEET ALYSSUM. . •' '

thm out to one or
two inches apart. Keep the ground well hoed and free
(150)

AQEBATUM — ASPEEULA. 151

from weeds, the plant is so hardy that it is not necessary
to sow the seed in the hot-bed.

AGEEATUM.

This is a useful flower for bouquets, and very robust,
some of the varieties growing two feet high, and pro-
ducing a great abundance of white or lavender-colored
flowers. Sow a few seeds in a box in the house, and set
out the plants fifteen to twenty inches apart as soon
as the weather will permit.

ABEONIA.

A ironia umbellata, the species most cultivated, is a Cal-
ifornian plant, trailing along on the ground, and some-
what resembling the Verbena. It has fragrant lilac and
rose-colored flowers, which are very abundant, and con-
tinue in bloom until cut down by frost. Sow the seed
in a hot-bed or in a box in the house, and set out the
plants fifteen inches apart, as recommended elsewhere
for Drummond's Phlox.

AGEOSTEMMA.

The annual Agrostemmas are sometimes called, I do
not know why, "The Eose of H«aven." The roses of
earth are much more beautiful. Still the annual Agros-
temma is a hardy, free blooming plant, with pretty flow-
ers, somewhat resembling our old-fashioned pinks. Cul-
tivation similar to Phlox.

ASPEEULA.

This is a hardy annual, growing about ten inches high;
a profuse bloomer, with fragrant, and pretty lavender-
colored flowers, in clusters. Cultivate the same as Sweet
Alyssum.

152 GARDEKIifQ FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

ASTEES— CHINA.

We have now China Asters as large and handsome, as
double, and as perfect as the Dahlia. I know of no an-
nual flower that has been so wonderfully improved as
this, during the past twenty-five years. No garden
should be without its bed of Asters. You can not have too
many of them; they are in full bloom in autumn, when
most other flowers have disappeared, and they continue in
perfection until cut down by frost. The cultivation of
^^jp^ssg. Asters presents no dif-

ficulties that may not be
readily overcome by the
exorcise of a little par
tience and skill. Asters
can be transplantedread-
ily, and, if convenient,
can be sown in a box in
thehouse,in rows aninch
and a half or two inches
apart, and two or three
seeds to each inch of
row; cover very lightly
with fine soil, or sifted
dry moss. "When the
plants begin to crowd,
prick them out into

other boxes, or into a

Fie. 34. — ASTEE — p^ont-flowerei). u j? „ • • ii,

^ cold frame, givmg them

more room. The oftener they are transplanted, and the
more room you give them, the more stocky and better will
be the plants. As soon as the weather becomes settled, and
the soil is warm and in fine condition, set out in the bed
or border, watering the plants before taking them up, un-
til the soil is thoroughly saturated. Do not pull up the
plants, but +-5;ke them up with a hand-fork or trowel, and

CHINA ASTEKS. 153

with the fingers pressing the moist earth into a ball
around the roots, set them in the ground up to the lower
leaves, and if the weather is dry, press the soil firmly
around the roots. If the soil is moist, it must not be
pressed so firmly around the roots. The proper distance
apart depends on the variety; I usually plant the large

Fig. 35. — ASTER PLOTVER.

kinds fifteen inches apart each way; the smaller, or dwarf
varieties, should be planted in rows fifteen inches apart,
and every seven and a half inches in the row. Keep the
ground entirely free from weeds by the constant use of
the hoe or rake. During a severe drouth, the ground
may be mulched with the clippings of the lawn. Wa-
tering with a solution of superphosphate, say one table-
spoonful to a gallon of water, will prove beneficial.

The varieties of Asters are numerous, and can be raised
true from seed. The lamented Darwin states that he
procured packets of twenty-five named varieties of com-

154 GAEBENIKG FOK TOUN'G AlfD OLD.

mon and quilled Asters, and raised one hundred and
twenty-four plants, of which all except ten were true;
many of the sub-varieties, however, so closely resemble
each other, that it is not worth while trying to keep them
distinct. Asters may be divided into three classes : the
tall-growing kinds, of which Truifaut's Pasony-flowercd
Perfection, and New Eose, are well known, and excellent
varieties. The plants of these grow about two feet in

Fig. 36. — DWAKF BOUQUET ASTEB.

height, and it is desirable to tie them to stakes, as they
are liable to be broken during a high wind. There is a
medium class, growing about fifteen inches high; one
of the best of these is New Chrysanthemum-flowered
Dwarf. The third class is a dwarf kind, consisting of a
pyramidal mass of flowers with a few leaves at the base
near the ground. Some think they are very beautiful.
They range from five to ten inches in height, and go by
the name of " Dwarf Bouquet Asters."

BALSAMS.

BALSAMS.

155

Like the Aster, the Balsam has been greatly improTed.
It was formerly called Lady's Slipjier, from the shape
of the flower; the plant was large and coarse, and had
litble to recommend it, except the green, healthy appear-
ance of the foliage, and the vigor of its growth. "When

Fig. 37.— BAL3AM8— FLAJSTS AND FLOWERS.

you wish to improve a plant, or animal, nati re vigor, or
healthy growth, is one of the essential points to start
with. If you wished to whittle a doll out of a piece of
pine wood, the original stick ought to he a good deal
larger than the doll, so that there may be an opportunity
to make it into the desired form, by cutting away the

156 GAEDESriKG FOE yOUNG AND OLD.

superfluous parts. So it is in improving a plant; we make
it smaller and more beautiful by breeding o£E what we do
not want, and encouraging the development and growth of
those parts which we desire. The Balsam of to-day has
branches and leaves so much smaller and finer than those
of the old-fashioned Lady's Slipper, that our great-grand-
mothers would hardly recognize the plant, the flowers of
which are much larger and more handsome than formerly.
The Balsam still retains much of its native vigor; it is a
liealthy, hardy, clean-looking annual; it is transplanted
easily, and is a good plant of which to sow a few seeds,
[selecting, of course, the choicest varieties,] in abox in the
house, and treat the plants as recommended for Asters.
With Balsams, as with Asters, it is desirable to get good,
stocky plants, and the oftener we transplant them when
young, and the more room we give them, the more satis-
faction will they give us when set out in the garden. The
seed can be sown in the open ground where the plants are
to remain, or it may be sown in a warm border, in rows
wide enough apart to admit the use of a narrow hoe.
Drop two or three seeds to each inch of row, and cover
as lightly as possible, if the ground is moist. If the soil
is di-y, press down the soil after the seed is sown, by pat-
ting the whole surface of the bed with the back of the
spade. As soon as the plants appear, hoe lightly between
the rows, pulling out all the weeds, and if any of the
plants are too thick in some parts of the row, transplant
t'lom, either into a new row, or to the first row when
tiicre are not enough plants. It is very desirable not to
have them too thick, for, as already said, strong, stocky
plants are wanted there, and you cannot have such unless
they have plenty of room in which to grow. It is not
necessary to plant Balsams in a bed by themselves; they
look quite as well when set out separately, as when massed
together. If there is any part of the flower garden where
jou do not know what else to set out, put in a Balsam.

BAETONIA. 157

The Balsam is a hardy, Tigorous plant, and will do well
if sown in the open ground, where it is intended to re-
main, but you will get much finer flowers by sowing early
and transplanting frequently. Frequent transplanting
checks the yigorous growth of the branches and favors
the development of the flowers. The branches may be
pinched off, and the plant trained to sticks, or to a trellis
in any desired form, as shown in the illustrations on
page 155. If planted in a bed by themselves. Balsams
should be set out in rows, fifteen to eighteen inches
apart, and from ten to eighteen inches apart in the
row. My own plan is, to set them fifteen inches apart
each way. There are many varieties of Balsams, but, ex-
cept for the prof essional florist, the three following varie-
ties are most likely to give general satisfaction: Camellia-
flowered, in mixed colors; Eose-flowered, double, in
mixed colors; Extra-double-dwarf, mixed colors.

BAETONIA.

The Bartonia aurea, or Golden Bartonia, is a native of
California. The plant is about eighteen inches high, the
numerous large and showy bright yellow flowers having a
metallic lustre. The seed should be sown in the open
ground, in rich soil that has been heavily manured and
thoroughly prepared the autumn previous. Sow as early
in the spring as the ground is in good condition, in rows
fifteen inches apart, dropping a seed every two or three
inches in the row. The plants are not transplanted
readily, and it is best to sow where they are intended to
remain. Hoe lightly and frequently, between the rows,
and keep the bed entirely free from weeds. In a severe
drouth, it would be well to mulch the soil, between the
rows, with the clippings of the lawn.

158 GAEDEimirG roK toustg aj^td old.

BEACH Y COME.

The Brachycome {B.iieridifoUa) is an Australian plant,
found on the banks of Swan Eiver, and popularly called
the "Swan Eiver Daisy." It grows about eight inches
high, and produces an abundance of flowers. For the
first eight years after its introduction there was no yari-
ation in the color or character of its flowers ; but we
have now two distinct varieties, one pure white and the
other rose-colored. This is a useful edging plant to sow
around the borders of a bed, leaving the plants four or
five inches apart. It deserves far more attention than it
has yet received.

CANDYTUFT.

Candytuft can be sown either in spring or in autumn.
It is a very hardy plant, easily grown, and a general favor-
ite. 1 like to see a large bed of it sown early in spring in

Fig. 38.— OAHDTTUTT.

rows one foot apart, and the seeds sown quite thickly in
the row — say three or four spf^ds to the inch. By the
middle of June, the flowers will begin to show themselves,

CAK DYTUFT. 159

and will continue to flower for several weeks. This is
a very easy and a very common method of growing Candy-
tuft. Finer plants and larger flowers can be grown by giv-
ing the plants more room, and they will continue much
longer in bloom. Candytuft can be readily transplanted,
and a good plan is, to set them out in rows nine inches
apart each Avay ; the land should be rich and kept entirely
free from wesds. Candytuft is not only very pretty but
it is very sweet; you cannot have too much of it in the
house, and for the good of the plants you cannot cut ofE
the flowers too frequently. If you allow it to go to seed
the plant is soon exhausted, and the way to prevent this
is to cut the flowers as fast as they appear.

I have heard people say that they raised flowers not
for bouquets, or for use in the house, but because they
wanted to see them in the garden. I have a dim recol-
lection of making some such remark myself, when I was
a boy, and did not know any better, Now, I like to see
flowers in the house ; in the parlor, in the library, or on
the dining-room table, anywhere and everywhere. But
if one prefers to have them in the garden, if he does not
care about cutting them, but would rather let them
grow, there is no objection. In this case, Candytuft
should be sown m succession, say as early as possible in
spring, and then at intervals of two weeks, until the first
of July. Again m August and September, sow a bed in
a sheltered portion of the garden, where the plants can
remain all the winter.

There are numerous varieties ; the Pure White being
the most popular. It is fragrant and a profuse bloomer.
Carminia is a new variety which bids fair to be a decided
acquisition. These, with the Sweet-scented Pure White,
from carefully grown seed, are all that will be needed,
except by the professional florist.

160 GAKDBNINa FOE TOUSTG AND OLD.

CALENDULA, OE POT-MAEIGOLD.

The Pot-Marigolds are well-known and popular flow-
ers. They have been greatly improyed, and some of the
new varieties are decidedly superior to the old kind.
Cultivation similar to that of Phlox Drummondii.

COREOPSIS, OE CALLIOPSIS.

The Coreopsis is a hardy, easily grown and very showy
flower. It is best to sow the seeds in a bed by them-
selves, in rows fifteen inches apart, and thin the plants to
three or four inches apart in the rows. The flowers are
on slender foot-stalks over two feet high. The soil can
not be made too rich, or kept too clean, as much of the
beauty of the bed will depend on having the plants strong
and vigorous. A weedy, poverty-stricken bed of Coreop-
sis presents a sorry appearance, but if the plants are well
grown the bed will be very showy and attractive.

CANNA— INDIAN" SHOT.

The Cannas are now attracting much attention ; being
large, vigorous growing plants. Some of the varieties
attain the height of five or six feet, or even more, with
broad, long leaves, which look fresh and beautiful in our
hot and dusty weather. A fine bed of well-grown Can-
nas is very pleasant to the eye, and even a single plant is
very attractive.

The Canna can be grown from seed the first year, but
to get fine, large plants the first season, it is necessary to
sow the seed in a hot-bed or in a box in the house in
March, and transplant into larger boxes, as soon as they
begin to crowd ; if the plants do well, tlicy will soon
need transplanting a second time, and by far the better
way is, to pot them and place the pots in a hot-bed, not

CALLIRRHOE. — CATCHFLT. 161

forgetting to plunge them well into the soil. Cannas
will stand considerable heat, but ventilation and watering
must not neglected.

The soil selected for Cannas in the garden should be
made very fine and mellow, with a large quantity of leaf-
mould, or manure, thoroughly worked into it. If the
plants are doing well in the hot-bed do not be in a hurry
to remove them. Set out the plants from eighteen inches
to two feet apart, each way. They should have plenty of
room, and the ground be kept carefully hoed and free
from weeds, and it will be well to mulch the surface
with litter, or the clippings of the lawn. In autumn
take up the roots, and pack them away in dry sand for
the winter. Set them out again in the spring and they
will produce very fine plants,

CALLIRRHOE.

The cultivation of the annual Callirrhoe (C. pedata) is
similar to that of Drummond's Phlox ; it may be sown in
the open ground where it is intended to remain, or the
plants may be started in the house and set out fifteen
inches apart. A large bed of them, if the soil is rich
and the plants vigorous and healthy, is very showy. The
plants commence to bloom early and continue to produce
their purple flowers until cut down by frost.

CATCHFLY.

The cultivation of the Catchfly is very similar to that
recommended for Candytuft. It is a hardy plant, grow-
ing about a foot high, a free bloomer ; a well-grown bed
of it is very attractive. The plants require rich land and
clean culture.

163 GAEDBNISQ FOE T0T7NG AND OLD.

COCKSCOMB— CELOSIA.

The Celosia, or Cockscomb, is a very interesting and
attractive, though not particularly beautiful plant. The
flower-stem, instead of growing erect, assumes the form
of a cock's comb, and in the hands of skillful gardeners,
with the aid of high manuring, this fasciated compound
flower-stem attains an enormous size. One was exliib-
ited in London eighteen inches in breadth. To attain
any thing like this size, the plants should be started early
and set out in the richest of soil. The plants may be
grown as recommended for Asters; except that when set
out in the garden, they should be allowed more room to
spread themselves. If the object is to grow as large flow-
ers as possible, the more room you give the plants the
better. Ordinarily the plants may be set out from two
and one half to three feet apart.

CONVOLVULUS, OE MOENING GLOKY.

We have two kinds of Morning Glory; one is a climb-
ing plant, growing with great rapidity, and throwing out
a constant succession of flowers. The other is a dwarf

Fig. 39. — DWABF OONVOLVni.0S, FLOWER AUD PLANT.

plant. If we were speaking of beans, we should call
one the pole kind, and the other the bush kind. The
botanist has called one Ipomma purpurea, and the other
Convolvulus tricolor. The first named is a very rapid-

DIANTHUS. 163

growing climber, and can often be advantageously used
to hide some unsightly spot or building. The trellis,
poles, or strings, should be provided as soon as the plants
commence to run, so that they may cling to them from
the start. The soil can hardly be made too rich. If
the soil is rich enough, and the surface of the land for
several feet around is kept free from weeds, you may have
three or four plants to each foot of trellis. During the
heat of the day, the flowers are closed, but early in the
morning they are out m full bloom, and are seen in all
their glory.

Convolvulus tricolor, is a dwarf or bush Convolvulus ;
a bed of it, when well grown, is very showy and attrac-
tive. It is a good plan to plant the seed in hills fifteen
inches apart, putting four seeds in each hill. It is gen-
erally recommended to plant them much farther apart,
but I like to see the bed fully occupied.

DIANTHUS.

The genus Dianthus includes several of our most pop-
ular flowers, such as the Sweet William, the Carnation,
the Picotee, and the common garden Pink. The kinds
most easily grown from seed, and which are at the same
time desirable in every garden, are the Dianthus Gliinensis,
and Dianthus Heddewigii, or Japanese Pinks; both can be
easily grown from seed; but if not sown until May or
June, in the open ground, the plants wiU give but few
flowers the first summer. Indeed, it is better in this case
not to let them fiower at all, but to aim to grow strong
plants for flowering the second season. They will stand
the winter well, especially if protected with branches of
evergreens or a light covering of horse litter.

For flowering the first summer, the plants should be
grown in the hot-bed or in a box in the house. Sow the
seed as recommended for Asters, and when the plants are

164 GARDENING FOB YOUNG AND OLD.

strong and the ■weather warm, transplant them into a
very rich, well-prepared border, from ten to fifteen inches
apart. If you have dwarf varieties, they may be set
seven or eight inches apart, or nearly wide enough apart
to admit the use of a narrow hoe. I mention this, be-
cause it is exceedingly important to keep the soil well
stirred and entirely free from weeds. The plants will
flower all summer, and it is absolutely necessary to have
the soil very rich, or this profuse production of flowers
will weaken the young plants. If the plants do not grow
vigorously, pinch off the flower-buds, and water the bed
with water containing an ounce, or about a tablespoonful
of superphosphate to a gallon, applying a gallon of this
solution to a dozen plants. The dose may be repeat-
ed in two weeks; more than this will not be necessary,
though another dose will do no harm.

DELPHINIUM, OR LAEKSPUE.

The Eocket Larkspur is a well-known and popular flow-
er, easily grown from seed. But as it is not transplant-
ed very readily, and has to be sown in the open ground,
where the plants are to remain, it does not make as large
a growth as it would if it could be started in a hot-bed.
Sow the seed in a well-prepared border as early in the
spring as the ground can begot into good condition. Sow
in rows a foot apart, and thin out the plants to four or five
inches apart in the row. Keep the ground clean, and
water with a little superphosphate water, as directed for
the Pinks. Or what will perhaps be just as well in
this case, sow from one to two ounces, or one to two
tablespoonfuls, of superphosphate to each square yard of
bed at the time of sowing the seed, or at any time after-
wards, when there is a prospect of a good soaking rain.

The Branching Larkspur requires more room than the
Rocket Larkspur, and the plants should be set from

DIGITALIS, OR FOXGLOVE. — DOLICHOS, ETC. 165

twelve to fifteen inches apart. All the Larkspurs require
a deep, rich, moist soil. They do better on the north
side of a slope, where they are shaded, rather than in the
full blaze of our hot sun.

DIGITALIS, OR FOXGLOVE.

The Digitalis, or Foxglove, is not an annual, but is
easily grown from seed, and deserves to be more generally
cultivated than it now is. The plant throws up several
flower-stems, two or three feet in height, each stem be-
ing covered at its upper portion with a dozen or more
large, well-shaped flowers.

The seeds may be sown in a hot-bed, or in a box in
the house, or in the open ground, but in the latter case
no flowers will be obtained the first year, or, if the plants
throw up any flower-stalks they should be cut off; the
next year the plants will be strong, and produce a great
profusion of flowers. In the following autumn, or spring,
the roots of the plant may be divided, and in this way
you will soon have all the Foxgloves you require. The
plants may be set out the first year, from twelve to fif-
teen inches apart, but the second year they will be thick
enough if they stand two to three feet apart.

DOLICHOS, OR HYACINTH-BEAN.

The cultivation of this beautiful climber is similar to
that recommended for the Lima-bean. The plant grows
even taller than the Scarlet Runner, but it is not so hardy;
it delights in our hot sun, and should be planted in the
warmest and driest soil. Like all rapid-growing plants,
it requires an abundance of food, and the soil cannot be
too liberally manured.

166 GAEDElflNQ FOE YOUNG AKD OLD.

GILIA TEICOLOK AND OTHERS.

The children will all like the Gilias, if for no other
reason than because they come so soon into flower. The
seed may be sown in a box in the house, by the middle of
March, and the plants transplanted as soon as the weather
will permit; they do not bear transplanting readily, ex-
cept when young. Sometimes a few of the plants will
flower in the box before you are ready to set them out.

Perhaps the better way is, to sow the seeds in rings
in the garden. If you take a common two-tined fork
you can make a circle, in the circumference of which sow
the Gilia seeds, dropping them from an inch and a half
to two inches apart, m the mark made by the fork. If
you use a three-tined fork you can make two rings. Sow
the seed in both rings, two or three inches apart.

HELIANTHUS, OR SUNFLOWER.

My young friends must not fail to sow a few Sunflower
seeds. They come up so soon, and grow so rapidly, that
the plants become objects of interest from the start. Sow
three or four seeds in a hill, as you would corn, say three
feet apart, and thin out to two plants in a hill. Or plant
a hill in any vacant spot or corner. You may plant a
row along the fence, being careful, however, to leave
space enough between the Sunflowers and the fence to
admit of the use of the cultivator, or the hoe; thin out
the plants to a foot apart. The Sunflower delights in a
rich soil and an abundance of sunshine. It is a coarse
plant, but is not without its attractions. The single
varieties are more vigorous and, of course, produce much
more seed than the double sorts. The seed is much rel-
ished by poultry. It is usually sown about the time we
plant corn, but it may be put m at any time in the spring,
as it is not injured by frost. See Sunflower, Double.

KAULFUSSIA. — LUPINES. — MALOPE. 167

KAULFUSSIA

An attractive little plant, coming very early into flower,
but not lasting long. It is hardy. Sow a few circles of
them, as recommended for Gilia.

LUPINES.

The Lupines are a well-known and very hardy genus
of plants, belonging to the Pea family. Some of the
species are grown as food for stock, and also for plowing
under to enrich the land. I suppose it is called Lupine,
or Wolf, because of its power to live on poor, hungry
soils. Some of the Lupines are not a foot in height,
while others grow on rich soil, from five to six feet high.
There is a great variety of colors. The Lupine has a long
tap-root, and gets its food from the sub-soil. It does not
transplant easily, and should be sown where it is intended
to remain. The Dwarf varieties can be sown in rings,
like Gilias; the larger sorts should be sown in rows, fif-
teen inches to two feet apart, dropping three or four seeds
in each hill, and thin out to single plants, after they are
fairly established.

MALOPE.

The Mdlope grandiflora has a very large, showy flower;
the plant is hardy, and vigorous, growing about three
feet high. The seed may be sown in a box in the house,
and the plants set out as soon as the weather is suitable,
in the open ground, fifteen inches to two feet apart.
The seed can be sown in the open ground, and make
equally good plants, but not so early.

168

GAKDEH'IKG FOE TOUKG AND OLD.

MIGNONETTE.

The children should get half a dozen packets of Mig-
nonette seed with which to experiment. Let them sow a
little seed when they like, where they like, and how
they like. Wherever there is a little soil, two or three
inches in depth, they can grow Mignonette. It will not
grow in the oven or on top of the stove, because it is too
hot; it will not grow in a dark cellar, because it requires
light; it will not grow in the refrigerator, because it is
too cold; it will not grow in the ash-pit, because it is too
dry. But wherever there is a little fine,
mellow soil, and it can be kept moist,
in a moderately warm place, with more
or less sunshine, especially more, there
you can grow Mignonette. It does not
matter whether the soil is
in a beautiful flowerpot,
or in an old tin can with a
hole in the bottom. But of
course while Mignonette
will grow under adverse con-
Fig. 40.— MIGNONETTE. dltlous, it is better to have
everything connected with flowers neat and orderly; the
more simple, the better. A good plan is, to fill a box, a foot
wide, three inches deep, and just long enough to go upon
a window-sill, fasten it with wire at the southern or east-
ern window, in the kitchen, or in some room where it
never freezes. Fill the box with fine mould, or the finest
and lightest soil you can get; water the soil with warm
water, and sow the Mignonette seed, in rows two inches
apart, and two or three seeds to each inch, sift on a little
fine soil or pulverized moss, just sufficient to cover the
seed. Nothing more will be necessary until the plants
begin to grow. It will then be necessary to water the

MIGNOSrETTE, 169

plants occasionally, with warm water; the hotter the room
and the brighter the sun, the more rapidly the plants
grow, and the oftener \.ill they need to be watered. Be-
fore the plants begin to crowd each other, pinch a few
of them off, so as to give those left room to grow.

In the open ground the bed for Mignonette should be
prepared in the autumn; it should be carefully spaded,
and well manured, and worked over with a hoe and rake,
until it is quite fine and mellow. In the spring sow the
seed on this bed, as soon as the soil is dry and the weather
is warm. Unless the soil is a very light and sandy one,
you must be careful not to work it when it is wet. But
so soon as the soil is dry, hoe it three or four inches deep,
and rake it very fine, taking off all the stones and rub-
bish, or dig a hole in the bed, and with a rake pull the
stones and rubbish into the hole, and cover them up
with fine soil. Mark the bed both ways, with a marker
nine or ten inches wide, and drop three or four seeds
where the lines cross each other, cover them, and if the
soil IS dry, pat it with the back of the spade. The seed
IS small, and must not be covered more than a quarter of
an inch deep; if the ground is moist enough, the less
covering the better. A tablespoonful of superphosphate
to each square yard of bed, scattered broadcast on the
surface, either before the seed is sown or afterwards, wiU
be very beneficial.

As soon as the plants appear, hoe lightly between the
rows, and all around the plants; this will leave very lit-
tle weeding to be done. I recommend sowing three or
four or more seeds in a hill, because the plants will come
up better, and because we do not want any gaps. We do
not need, however, more than one good plant in a place,
and these should be far enough apart to admit the use of
a hoe. If preferred, the seed can be sown in drills from
eight to twelve inches apart, dropping two or three seeds
to each inch of row, afterwards thinning out the plants
8

170 GARDENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

to two or three inches apart. But the other plan will
give finer plants and there is less afterwork.

Another bed should be sown a week or two later; and
if the early sown bed is on warm, dry soil, facing the
south, and the other bed on deep, rich soil, sloping to
the north, or the north-west or north-east, you will have
a longer succession of Mignonette in full flower and fra-
grance. The more flowers you gather, the more you will
have. If you do not cut the flowers, they will go to seed
and this weakens the plant; but the better way is to sow
large beds at different times. Mignonette can be trans-
planted, but the work has to be done skillfully, and it is
better to sow the seed where the plants are intended to
remain. A bed of Mignonette should be sown in the au-
tumn; this will give early flowers next spring. You can
not have too many beds of Mignonette, nor can they be
too large.

MIMOSA, OE SENSITIVE PLANT.

The species known as Mimosa pudica, or Sensitive
Plant, is exceedingly interesting ; it is very pretty, but
its chief charm, especially to the children, lies in the
fact that when you touch it, all the leaves instantly curl
up, and the branch falls down.

The seed should be sown early in the spring in the hot-
bed or in a box in the house. When the plants begin to
crowd, if the soil outside is not thoroughly warm, prick
them out into a larger box, or into pots, and about the
middle of June, set them out carefully in a well-prepared
border. It is well to leave a few plants in four or five-
inch pots. Plunge the pots in the soil so that the rims
shall be even with the surface, next autumn, and before
frost, remove these pots to the house. The plants will
be interesting objects all winter.

MTOSOTIS. — MIRABILIS. — THJi PANSY. 171

MYOSOTIS, OR FORGET-ME-NOT.

The Forget-me-not requires a deep, rich, moist and
mellow soil. It is best to start the plants in a hot-bed,
or box in the house, though the seed may be sown in the
open ground. The plants do better on a northern slope,
or in a moist and somewhat shady place. The plant is
perennial.

MIRABILIS, OR MARVEL OF PERU.

Make the ground very rich and mellow, sow the seeds
in a row where you can hoe on each side of it, at least a
foot in width. Drop a seed in each two or three inches
of row, and cover by patting the soil with the back of the
hoe. The plants should be thinned out to a foot apart.
The plants are about two feet high, and if they have
plenty of room, will throw out numerous branches. The
flowers are large and fragrant, and quite showy.

THE PANSY.

The Pansy, or Heart's-ease, is not only one of the most
popular, but one of the most beautiful of flowers. The
improvement which has been made in the size and colors
of the flowers is most marvellous. How this has been
effected it is not necessaiy to inquire. "We know this,
however, that the plants, or rather the flowers, will rapidly,
degenerate and decrease in size and brilliancy, when
grown on poor soil, and their cultivation neglected.

If you would have the best of Pansies you must not
only get seed from the best sources, but careful atten-
tion must be given to every condition of growth.

It is a very easy matter to grow really good Pansies.
Pansy seed, sown last spring in a box in the house, the
last of March, gave us strong plants, which, on June 25th,

172

GAEDENISTG FOE TOUNG AKD OLD.

were flowering out of doors. Our season last year was
frona two to three weeks later than usual. I mention
this to show that the children can, and do very readily,
raise good Pansies without much weary waiting. And
the beauty of it is, that these Pansies will continue to
produce more and more flowers during the whole summer.
The plants I speak of were transplanted two or three
times, before the soil in the garden was warm enough to

set them out. Early
sowing, and frequent
transplanting, so as to
produce strong, stocky
plants, is a great advan-
tage. The Pansies are
supposed to require a
' great deal of water.
Perhaps so, perhaps
not. At any rate, one of
the most common mis-
takes, when raising

THE PANSY.

plants in the hot-bed, or in the boxes in the house, is to
give them too much water. What the plants really need is,
the richest of rich soils. If you want to make good
coffee, you must put a good deal of coffee in the pot,
and very little water. You would not get much coffee,
but what you do get will be good. For my part, I would
rather have half a cup of good coffee than two cups of
poor. And I fancy that Pansies, to produce the largest

THE PANST. 173

flowers, require the richest of plant food. In other words,
you must not put too much water in their coffee. The
sap of the soil on which they live, should be as rich and as
concentrated as you can make it. Such a soil would ap-
pear to be very moist, while in point of fact it may hold
comparatively little water. It will simply hold more
water during dry weather than a soil that has not been
so heavily manured. The probabilities are, that this
effect is produced by the formation of nitrates, by the
oxidation of the nitrogenous matter in the heavily man-
ured soil.

If this is the true explanation, what we want to pro-
duce the largest and best pansies is, first, a soil thoroughly
underdrained, at least three feet deep ; secondly, a soil
that is carefully spaded two feet deep and a good wheel-
barrowful of manure to each square yard of ground,
thoroughly worked into the soil, a foot or fifteen inches
deep. Then work into the surface soil all the rich, well-
rotted manure, say from an old hot-bed, you can make it
hold. Few people know how much manure they can
work into the soil until they set about the work in
earnest. Mark you, the manure must be well incor-
porated with the soil with a potato hook or hoe, as you
would a heap of mortar ; work it and keep working it
until there is not a lump of soil, or manure left bigger
than a grain of mustard seed.

On such a soil sow the seed, or set out the plants as
soon as the weather is warm and settled in the spring,
but it is best not to be in too great a hurry. The plants
may be set out in rows nine inches apart each way. Or
if preferred, plant in rows fifteen inches apart, leaving
one plant every five or six inches in the row. If seed is
sown in such a bed as I have described, I would sow in
rows a foot apart, and drop the seeds one to two inches
in tlie row. The drill mark should not be over half an
inch deep. Cover the seed by patting the surface of the

174 GAEDEKIKfi POK YOUNG AND OLD.

bed with the back of the spade or hoe. The varieties of
Pansy are very numerous. I think my young friends will
do well, at first, to sow only the choicest and best seed of
mixed varieties. They may obtain plants of some of the
newer varieties from the professional florists.

SWEET-PEAS.

The Sweet-pea, one of the most fragrant and beautiful
of flowers, is grown precisely like other peas; it is exceed-
ingly hardy, and grows well in a great variety of soils.
To have Sweet Peas in perfection, however, three things
are essential; rich land, early sowing, and the cleanest
and best of culture. Perhaps it may be well to say in
addition, that the plants should have plenty of room be-
tween the rows, say not less than three feet, and at the
same time it is desirable to sow the peas quite thickly in
the row. When thus sown, the peas come up earlier and
better, and check the growth of the small weeds in the
row; if you have only one row, be sure to have plenty of
room on each side of the row for the use of the hoe or
cultivator. I have seen Sweet-peas sown along a fence,
but never knew them to do really well, because the plants
were so close to the fence that they could not be hoed on
both sides of the row. The peas must be provided with
sticks or strings, or a trellis to cling to. I said "must
be," because this is the neatest and best way, and not
because the supports are absolutely necessary. In rais-
ing Sweet-peas in large quantities for seed, we do not
stick them, but sow them in rows two and a half feet
apart, precisely as we do common peas when growing
them for market. If the ground is very rich and clean,
and the soil well cultivated between the rows, you will
have a finer growth and a mass of the sweetest and most
beautiful flowers.

The land for Sweet-peas should be dug and heavily

PETUNIA.

175

manured the previous autumn, and the moment the frost
is out of the ground in the spring, sow the peas, putting
at least two seeds to each inch of row. An ordinary-
sized packet, as sent out by the seedsmen, would be
about sufficient for a couple of circles some nine inches
in diameter, and if this is all you intend to sow, perhaps
sowing them in a circle is as good a plan as any; place a
stick about three feet high, with a few branches on it, in
the center of the circle for the peas to climb upon.

PETUNIA.

The Petunia has been greatly improved during the last
few years, and is now one of our most popular flowers.

It is easily grown, and every
garden should have a large
bed of it. If a few plants
only are grown, to be set out
singly, it is desirable to have
the finest double varieties;
but when massed together in
' a large bed, the small-flow-
ered kinds, with more or less
double ones amongst them,
are exceedingly showy and
pleasing. A good plan is, to
prepare the bed the au-
tumn previous, by spading
and manuring ; in the
spring, as soon as the soil
is dry and warm, hoe and
rake the beds; mark off
into rows a foot apart
and drop four or five seeds where the lines cross. The
seeds are exceedingly small, and you must be careful not
to cover them too deep; if patted down with the back of

Fig. 43.— PETTOOA..

176 GAEDENING FOB TOUNG AND OLD.

the spade, that will be sufBcient covering. When the
plants appear, hoe carefully between the rows and as
close to the plants as you can, pulling out any weeds that
may be left. As the plants grow, thin them out, and
ultimately leave only one good plant in a place.

DRUMMOND'S PHLOX.

Of all annual flowers. Phlox Drummondii is my fa-
vorite. Although it is a native of Texas, it is admirably
adapted to our climate, and every garden should have a
large bed of it — the larger the better. It can be grown
as easily as onions or carrots, in fact with less labor, as
the plants are farther apart and nearly all the weeds can
be removed with the hoe. On my farm I grow this Phlox
in the field, sowing it with a garden drill, in rows twenty-
one inches apart, precisely as turnips are sown. I mention
this to show how easily this plant can be grown. It requires
rich, clean, dry land; a sandy loam is better than either
a very light sandy soil or one that approximates to a clay.
For Phlox, as for many other garden crops, the true plan
is to prepare the land in the autumn, making it as rich,
deep, clean, and mellow as possible. The more manure
you work into it, the larger and more brilliant will be
the flowers, and this is especially the case if we have a
dry, hot summer.

The seed should be sown as early as possible in the
spring. As I said before, you ought to have a large bed
of it. Single plants set out in beds with other flowers,
are very pretty, but to bring out the real beauty and ef-
fectiveness of the Phlox, you should see it in large
masses. If the bed has been well prepared in the au-
tumn, as soon as it is dry and in good working condition
in the spring, hoe the whole surface of the bed three or
four inches deep, and work it with a potato-hook and
steel rake until not a lump remains; then mark the bed

dbummond's phlox.

177

into rows twelve or fifteen inches apart, and sow the seed
in the rows, putting one seed to each two inches of row.
This is one way; another, and I think a better plan, is,
to mark the bed both ways in rows twelve or fifteen
inches apart, and drop three or four seeds in each place

Fig. 43. — GBOUP OF THE NEWER VAMETIES OF DRUMMONU's PHLOX.

where the lines cross, covering not more than a quarter of
an inch deep. If the soil is dry, pat it down with the
back of the spade or hoe. In this case you do not need
to put any soil on top of the seeds— the patting will cover
them deep enough.

Only one plant is needed in a place. I recommend
sowing three or four seeds, because they will come up

178 GARDENING FOB YOUNG AND OLD.

better and quicker, and you are better able to see the
plants, and hoe around them, before the weeds begin to
be troublesome. Hoe frequently, and suffer not a weed
to grow, and when the plants are fairly established, take
out all but one in a place. Nothing more will be required,
except to keep the bed entirely free from weeds.

Drummond's Phlox is so easily grown in this way that
I hardly like to suggest any other method of cultivation,
and before doing so, I should like to exact a promise from
all my young friends, that they will sow a large bed in
the way just mentioned, whether they do or do not adopt
the plan I am now about to describe. The truth is, no
one ever raised half enough of Drummond's Phlox, and
the following plan will give you a fine lot of early plants,
which you can raise to excellent purpose, while the bed
grown from seed sown out of doors, will give you a glori-
ous display of beautiful flowers, from the middle of July
until cut down by frost.

This Phlox can be transplanted as easily as a cabbage,
and nothing is easier than to raise a fine lot of plants in
the house or hot-bed.

About the middle of March sow a box of Phlox seed
In rows, one inch apart, dropping two or three seeds to
each inch of row; cover the seed about a quarter of an
inch deep with sifted dry moss, or less than half that depth
with sifted sand, or mould. Before sowing the seed, the
mould in the box should be thoroughly watered with
blood-warm water. Until the plants appear, all that will
be necessary to do is, to sprinkle on a little warm water
to keep the surface moist; when the plants appear, especi-
ally if the room is warm, and the weather bright and
sunny, they will require a little water every day. Be
careful not to give too much water. Before the plants
begin to crowd each other, transplant them into a larger
box, or boxes, in rows two inches apart, and the plants
an inch apart in the row. The soil should be thoroughly

deummond's phlox. 179

watered with ■warm water before setting out the plants.
The box from which the plants are removed should also
be saturated with warm water. Do not try to thin out
the plants, but take them all up out of the box, as in
this way comparatiyely few roots will be broken off. Of
course the box from which the plants are taken can also
be filled with transplanted Phlox plants.

After the plants are pricked out sift a little pulverized
moss on the soil, say an eighth of an inch deep; this will
check evaporation, and in a day or two the plants will be
growing as vigorously as ever.

The great point after this is, to give the plants as
much sunshine as possible. If kept in the shade they
will be apt to grow up tall and spmdlmg; what we
want is large, stocky plants, hence they must have
plenty of room. It may be necessary to transplant
them once more into larger boxes, or you may remove
every other row of plants, and set them out into a warm
border, leaving the others to grow a little larger in the
box in the house. It is necessary, in any case, to harden
the plants before setting them out in the garden; this
can be done by putting the boxes out of doors on a bench,
on the south side of the house. At first, they should
not be allowed to remain outside for more than an hour or
so, during the heat of the day, gradually extending the
time as the plants become stronger and more stocky.

These plants can be set out either in a large bed, in
rows twelve to fifteen inches apart each way, or they may
be set out singly amongst other flowers. Wherever there
is room for them.

The handsomest bed of Drummond's Phlox I ever
saw, was on a wide outside border of a large cold
grapery, sloping towards the south-west; the border had
been prepared with the greatest care, and enriched for
three or four feet deep with horn-piths and rich manure.
From this it is evident that the Phlox, and more especi-

180 GAEDElfIl«rG FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

ally the choicest varieties, will stand high manuring; true,
you can grow it on any ordinary garden soil, but it will
repay all the labor bestowed in enriching and mellowing
the land. The mistake most people make, is in planting
too thick. On good land, twelve to fifteen inches apart
each way is close enough.

The varieties are so numerous that it is hard to say
which are the best. For my part, I want one pure
white and one brilliant scarlet. Por anything more
than this I should be willing to trust to good seed of
mixed varieties, from some trustworthy seed-grower.

THE POPPY.

The old-fashioned Poppy, extensively grown for the
production of opium, is a hardy, vigorous-growing an-
nual, with a white, single flower. We have, however, a
number of beautiful varieties, with double flowers of all
shades of color. "We have also dwarf and tall varieties.

The Poppy is not transplanted readily, and it must
be sown in the garden where it is intended to remain.
Select the warmest and driest soil, make it fine and mel-
low, and sow the seed as early in the spring as the
weather will permit, or about the time you plant corn.

The large Paony-flowered Poppy has double flowers of
great size and beauty. Thin out the plants to at least
a foot apart. The small double Kanunculus-flowered
varieties may be sown in rows about a foot apart, and
thinned out to seven inches apart in the row.

If you wish to experiment in growing flowers for opium,
sow in rows not less than fifteen inches apart, and thin
out the plants to a sufficient distance to admit of the use
of the hoe. For this purpose, the best variety is the
single Papaver somniferum, or Opium Poppy. The time
may come when the Poppy ^vill be very extensively grown
here for opium.

POETULACA.

POKTULACA.

181

Kg. 44.— POKTULACA-
FLOWER.

The Portulaca is own brother to the Purslane or

"Pussley," one of the worst weeds we have on light

sandy, garden soils. Both are hardy, both thrive best

in sandy soils, but here the comparison ends. The

Purslane is a miserable weed, the Portulaca a beautiful
flower. 1 have heard it said
that it is just as easy to raise a
good thiQg as a bad one. Not
so. The Portulaca must be
cultivated with care, and the
better the variety, the richer
must be the soil. The double
varieties of Portulaca should be
sown m a box in the house about
the middle of March, in rows

one inch apart and two or three seeds to each inch of

row. When the plants begin to

crowd each other, take out every

other row and set them out m an-
other box. They are transplanted (

readily, and it is an easy matter to

get good strong plants to set out in

the garden as soon as the weather

will permit.

It is of course not necessary to

start the plants in the house, the

seeds may be sown in the open

ground. Select the warmest and

lightest soil, make it as good as

possible. Bake it smooth and pat

it down firm with the back of the

spade, then make shallow drills afoot

apart and sow the seeds about an

inch apart in the drill ; cover not more than a quarter

Fig. 45. — PORTtTLACA—

PLANT AND DOUBLE

FLOWER.

182 GAKDBNING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

of an inch deep. If you pat the rows with the back of
the spade, this will cover the seed deep enough. If
the weather is dry it will be well to water the bed
occasionally until the plants are fairly started. Hoe
lightly between the rows and suffer not a weed to
grow. This is very important, especially when the
plants are young. Thin out the plants in the row
. to three or four inches apart; those that are remoyed
may be used to fill vacancies, or to make another bed.

The plants started in the house can be set out in rows
a foot apart each way, and if the soil is rich enough, they
will soon cover the whole bed. The great point in
growing Portulaca is to get the plants fairly started ;
when the roots get firm hold of the soil, the hottest sun
will not hurt them.

EICINUS— CASTOErOIL BEAN.

The Ricinus, or Castor Oil-Bean, is extensively grown
in some parts of this country for making castor oil- The
plants grow with wonderful vigor, often attaining the
height of ten feet. The leaves are large and beautiful,
and the flowers of many of the varieties are brilliant and
attractive. The cultivation is as simple as that of the
Sun-fiower or Indian Corn. Set out a plant in the centre
of a bed. The Castor Oil-bean cam also be used to great
advantage as an ornamental screen.

SALPIGLOSSIS.

The Salpiglossis delights in a warm, sandy soil. The
plants may be started in the house and set out in rows, a
foot apart and five or six inches from one another in the
row. The plants make a fine edging ; for this purpose,
make a drill around the bed nine inches from the margin,
sow the seeds about r.n rich apart, cover lightly, hoe

STOCKS — TEN WEEKS. 183

carefully, and thin out the plants to three or four inches
apart. The dwarf variety is best for this purpose. It
grows about a foot high, while the ordinary varieties are
about two feet high. The flowers of both are large and
showy, and are well worthy a place in every garden.

STOCKS— TEN WEEKS.

Those who have had no experience in starting flower
seeds in a box in the house, would find Ten Weeks Stock
a good plant to experiment with. Sow the seeds in
rows an inch apart, and two or three seeds to an inch of
row. Cover with a little pulverized moss, a quarter of
an inch deep, or with one-eighth of an inch of sand, or
mould. Give the soil in the box a thorough watering
with warm water before sowing the seed; until the plants
appear nothing more is required, except to sprinkle on
enough water every day to keep the surface moist.

The plants of Stock can be transplanted as easily as
cabbage plants, and as it is always very important to get
strong, compact plants, you can not transplant them too
often. As soon as the plants are an inch high, take out
every other row, and prick them out into another box,
and as soon as those that are left in the first box begin to
crowd, if the weather is not warm enough to set them
out of doors, transplant into another box in the house.
If the seed is sown the middle of March, you will have
strong, stocky plants, three inches high, by the middle
of May. The boxes should then be placed out of doors
in the sun for a few hours every day, to harden the
plants.

Ten Weeks stocks are so hardy and vigorous that they
will do well on any good garden soil. Set them out just
as you would a cabbage plant. Put them in the ground
just deep enough for the lower leaves to reach the surface

184 GAEDEJ^IKJ FOE YOUNG AND OLD.

of the soil. Set them a foot apart, hoe frequently, and
keep the bed entirely free from weeds.

The Ten Weeks Stock delights in a moist soil and plenty
of rain. But as we can not always toe sure of having
plenty of moisture, we should make the soil as rich as
possible. This is particularly important if we expect to
raise double flowers. I do not mean by this, that if we
expect to grow seed that will produce double flowers, we
should make the land rich. In point of fact, the seed
that will produce double flowers is from plants that have
toeen starved or dwarfed, the plants being grown with as
little food and water as possible, and the seed taken from
the lower half of the pod, the secondary branches of
the plant only being allowed to bear seed. What I
mean is, that when you have seeds grown for the special
purpose of producing plants that will bear double flowers,
you can not make the soil too rich for them.

SUNFLO WEE— DOUBLE.

Every one knows the tall-growing, large-flowered,
single Sunflower. (See page 166.) Its appearance is gen-
erally associated with unhinged gates, windows stuffed
with old hats, and other marks of poverty. Nevertheless,
even the common Sunflower may be so grouped as to
present a striking appearance, and there is a dwarf double
one that is not out of place in any garden. This has been
in cultivation for many years, but no one seems to know
how it originated. It has been called the "Many-flow-
ered," the " California Double," the "Hollow Globe,"
and by other names. It produces small, nearly globular
flowers, of a regular shape, and of a bright golden yel-
low color; they are without the coarseness of the single
sunflower, and quite as handsome as a Dahlia. This
variety is an annual.

VERBENA.

185

VEEBENA.

It is not at all difficult to raise good Verbena plants
from seed. Sow the seeds in a box in the house, the
first or second weelc in March. The soil can not be too
rich, and it is very desirable to mix with it about one-
quarter its bulk of dried and sifted moss. Before sowing
the seeds, water the soil in the box with warm, or hot
water, the hotter the better, provided you do not sow the
seeds until two or three hours after applying the water.
Sow in rows an inch apart, placing the seeds about half
an inch apart on the top of moist soil, cover by scattering

Fig. 46. — DOUBLE ANNUAI. SUNT'LOWEK.

on dry, sifted moss, a quarter of an inch deep. Keep
the box in a warm room. Very little water will be re-
quired. More plants are lost by excessive watering than
from all other causes combined. As soon as the plants

186 GAKDBNING FOK YOUNG AND OLD.

appear, place them in a sunny window; they grow
slowly at first, and will require very little water — the
warmer the room, and the brighter the sun, the more wa-
ter will they need. When the plants are well out of the
seed leaf, or at any rate before they begin to crowd, or to
run up too tall, transplant them into a larger box, placing
them at least an inch apart. The plants should not be
set out in the garden until the weather is quite warm,
and all danger of frost is past. If they should get too
large in the boxes, it is a good plan to set them out in
two-inch flower pots. Plunge the pots in a box of moist
earth, or of moss, and after they have got over the check
from transplanting, place them in a sunny window.
Water moderately, and always with warm water, say
about as warm as new milk. For a week before setting
out in the open ground, the plants should be gradually
hardened by placing the boxes on the south side of a
building for an hour or two, during the middle of the day,
and gradually extending the time until they can be left
out all night with safety.

The bed for Verbenas should be alight, dry, warm soil,
thoroughly enriched, and quite mellow; water the plants
thoroughly with warm water before removing them from
the boxes, or pots; disturb the roots as little as possible,
and set them about fifteen inches apart, and just deep
enough to bring the lower leaves level with the surface.
Press the soil firmly around the roots, and if need be,
shade the plants for a few hours during the heat of the
day, until the plants recover from the effects of trans-
planting. Keep the bed well hoed, and free from weeds,
and it will be a source of great interest and pleasure.
You never know just what you will get, and it is inter-
esting to watch the plants as they come into flower. You
will be sure to have a great variety of all shades of color,
and if the seeds are good, you will be certain of an ample
reward for all your labor.

ZIKNIA. 1S7

ZINNIA.

The Zinnia is destined to be a Tery popular flower. The
plant is large and vigorous. The flowers are large, pro-
fuse, and brilliant. They have been wonderfully im-
proved during the last few years, and the improvement is
certain to continue year after year.

The plants can he grown in a box in the house, as they
transplant with perfect safety; the oftener they are trans-
planted the better, as it gives us more and larger flowers
in proportion to the size of the plant. Set out the plants
fifteen inches to two feet apart.

If preferred, the seeds can be sown out of doors, where
they are intended to remain. But a better plan is, to
sow a row of them, dropping the seeds about an inch
apart in the row; cover about an eighth of an inch deep,
and when the plants are well out of the seed leaf, set
them out in any part of the garden, where you have
room for a strong, vigorous-growing plant, two feet high
and two or three feet across. If the seed is good, the
first flowers may not be so large or so double as those
produced by the same plant later in the season.

INDEX,

Abronia 151

Ageratum 151

AgroBtemma 151

Alyssuiu, Sweet 150

Anise 148

Asparagus 31

Asperula 151

Asters, China 152

Dwarf Bouquet 154

Chrysanthemum-flowered 154

New Rose 15J

Pffiony-flowered. 154

Balsam 155

Bartonia 157

BasU 149

Bean, Castor-Oil 182

Bean-Hyacinth 165

Beans, Bush 36

Pole 83

Black Wax 36

Butter 36

Early Valentine SB

Golden Wax 37

Lima 33

London Horticultural 35

Speckled Cranberry 36

Scarlet Eunner 36

Wax 36

White Kidney 37

Beets 37

Bassano 37-40

Dewing's Blood Turnip 40

Early Blood Turnip 38

Egyptian Blood Turnip 37

Long Smooth Red 38

Borage 146

Boxes, Window 22

Brachycome 168

Cabbages 42

Early 43

Early York 44

Plat Dutch 45

Fottler's Drumhead 44

Harris' Short-stem Drumhead. 45
Henderson's Summer 44

Cabbages— Jersey Wakefield 44

Late 45

Marblehcad Mammoth 45

Premium Flat Dutch 45

Savoy 47

Second Early 44

Stone-Mason- 45

Winningstadt 44

Calendula 160

Calliopsis 160

Callirrhoi 161

Candytuft 158

Carmiiiia 159

Pure White 159

Sweet-scented White 159

Canna 160

Capsicum 97

Caraway 148

Carrots 49

Early Short Horn 52

Half Long 52

Long Orange 52

White Belgian 52

Castor-Oil Bean 182

Catchfly 161

Cauliflower 47

Early Paris 48

Erfurt Earliest Dwarf 48

Lenormand 48

Walcheren 48

Celeriac 60

Celery 53

Boston Market 60

Dwarf Crimson 60

Dwarf White 60

Setting out the Plants 55

Sowing the Seed 53

Storing for Winter 68

Turnip-rooted 60

Celosia 162

China Asters 152

Cockscomb 162

Cold Frames 26

Competition in Crops 17

Convolvulus 162

(188)

ISTDBX.

189

Convolvulus, Tricolor 162

Coreopsis 160

Coriander 146

Corn, Pop 64

Corn Salad 65

Corn, Sweet 61

Crosby's Sugar 68

Moore's Early Concord 63

Russell's Prolific 63

Stowell's Evergreen 63

Cress— Peppergrass 66

Water .' 66

Crops, Competition in 17

Cucumbers 69

Early Frame 69

Green Cluster 69

Improved Long Green 69

Eusslan 69

White Spine 69

Daisy, Swan Elver 168

Delphinium 16+

Dianthus 163

Chinensis 163

Hoddewigii 163

Digitalis 165

Dill 148

Dolichos 165

Drummond's Phlox 176

Egg Plant 70

Endive 71

Fennel 147

Flowers, Cultivation of 150

Forget-Me-Not 171

Foxglove 165

Garden, an Old and a New 8

Gardening for Boys 9

Gardening, How to Begin 10

Gilia tricolor 166

Golden Bartonia 157

Green Manures 12

Gumbo 79

Heart's-ease 171

Helianthus 166

High Farming 15

Hot-bed, to make a 25

Hyacinth Bean 165

Implements 21

Acme Harrow 21

Gang-Plow 21

Harrow, Acme 21

Harrow, Eevolving 21

Harrow, Smoothing 21

Indian Cress 78

Indian Shot 166

lUBectB 26

Army-worm 29

Cabbage-worm 27

Currant-worm 29

Paris Green for 28

Potato-bug 29

Squash-bug 30

Striped-bug 27

White Hellebore for , 28

Ipomoea purpurea 162

Japan Pink 163

Kaulfussia 167

Kohl Eabi 71

■' Lady's Slipper," 165

Lamb's Lettuce 65

Larkspur 164

Branching 164

Eocket 164

Lavender 147

Leaf Mould 22

Lettuce 72

Cos 72

The Deacon 72

London Purple 29

Lupine 167

Malope 169

Mangel Wnrzel 40

Carter's Tallow Globe 41

Harris' T (SUow Globe 41

Long Eed 41

Sutton's Yellow Globe 41

Yellow Globe 41

Manures 19

How to Treat 11

Green 12

Marigold Pot 160

Marjoram, Sweet 145

Marvel of Peru 171

Melon, Musk 73

Cassaba 74

Early Christiana 74

Green Citron 74

Japanese 74

Nutmeg 74

Melon, Water 75

Black Spanish 77

Citron 77

Ice Cream 77

Mountain Sweet 77

Mignonette 168

Mimosa 170

Mirabilis , , 171

190

IITDEX.

Morning Glory 162

Dwarf 163

Tall 162

Moss for Seeds 22

Muck, Dried 23

Mustard 77

Myosotis 171

Nasturtium 78

Okra 79

Onions 80

Early Red Globe 83

Large Red Wetiiersfield 83

White Globe 83

Yellow Danvers 83

Onion, Potato 88

Seed 87

Sets 86

Top 89

Tree 89

Oyster Plant 107

Pansy 171

Paris Green, To Use , , . . £8

Parsley fg

Parsnip 90

Hollow Crown 91

Long White Dutch 91

Seed 92

Peas 98

Buggy 97

Dwarf 96

Dwarf, American Wonder 96

Dwarf, Little Gem 96

Dwarf, Tom Thumb 96

Champion "of England 95

Extra Early Kent S5

Kentish Invicta 95

Sweet 174

White Marrowfat 95

Pepper 97

Bell 97

BuUNose 97

Pepper-Grass 66

Petunia 175

Phlox, Dnimmond's 176

Pinks, Japan 163

Poisons— London Purple 27

for Insects 27

The Care of 30

Pop Corn 64

Poppy 180

Opium 180

PEeony-flowered 180

Eanunculus-flowered 180

Potatoes 98

Beauty of Hebron 98

Early Rose 98

Early Vermont 98

Portulaca 181

Pot Marigold 160

Pumpkins 99

Coimecticut Field 100

Large Clieese 100

New Jersey Sweet 100

Possum-Nose ICO

Purslane ISl

" Pussley," 181

Quack-Grass, To Kill 13

Radishes— Summer 100

French Breakfast 102

Rose, Olive-shaped 102

Scarlet Turnip 102

White Turnip 102

Radishes — Winter 104

Black Spanish 105

California Mammoth White. . . 105

Chinese Eose-colored 105

Chinese White 105

Radish Seed 102

Rhubarb 105

Cahoon's Seedling 107

Linnseus 107

Victoria 107

RicinuB 182

Rosemary 146

Rue 148

Sage 141

Salpiglossis 182

Salsify 107

Savory, Summer 144

Winter 144

Scallions 83

Sea Kale 109

Sensitive Plant 170

Soil for Seed Boxes 22

Soil, Preparation of 12

Spinach 110

Prickly-seeded Ill

Round-seeded. HI

Squash — Summer 112

Early Bush Crookneck 113

Early Bush Scollop 113

Squash— Winter 113

Hubbard 114

Marblehead 114

Seed 115

Starting Plants 28

IKDEX.

191

Stocks, Ten Weeks' 183

Sammer Savory 144

Sunflower 166-184

California Double 184

Double 184

HoUowGlobe 184

Many-flowered 184

Single 106

Swan Eiver Daisy 158

Sweet Alyssum 150

Sweet Corn 61

Sweet Herbs 141

Sweet Marjoram 145

Sweet Peas 174

Sweet Potatoes 116

Nansemond 117

Ten Weeks' Stocks 183

Thyme 143

Broad-leaved 144

Evergreen 144

Hardy Winter 144

Tomatoes 117

Acme 123

General Grant 123

Tomatoes, Hathaway' s Excelsior. 123

Hubbard's Curled-leaf 123

Trophy 123

Raising Seed 123

Tropseolum 73

Turnips 124

Autumn 125-139

Early Winter 126-338

Purple Top Strap-leaf 139

EutaBaga 120.

Swedes 126

Swedes, Gathering 134

Tellow Aberdeen 126-188

Turnip-rooted Celery 60

Vegetable Oyster 107

Verbena 185

Watermelons 75

Weeds — Quack-Grass 13

To Kill 13

White Hellebore, To Use 28

Window Boxes 52

Wormwood 148

Zinnia 187