•

\

'

X r

,

,.

DEPT. OF

DlV. OF Auii'«-

Main Lib. ric. Dent-

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

Class

DEPT. OF APICULTURE

DiV. O*- AsJii A-

THE HOME GARDEN

Four Seasons in the Garden

By EBEN E. REXFORD

A BOOK on gardening for the home-maker by the
foremost amateur gardener of the United States. It
treats of all phases of the subject, from the simple
bed or two along the fence, in a city back yard, to the
most ambitious garden the happy suburbanite or country
dweller can manage without the services of a professional.
The growing of house plants and the use of plants for
household and table decoration are thoroughly described,
and a couple of chapters on rural and village improvement
carry the home gardening plan into the larger field of
community work.

Twenty-six illustrations in tint. Colored frontis-
piece. Decorated title-page and lining-papers,
izmo. doth, $1.50 net.

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA

THE
HOME GARDEN

A BOOK ON VEGETABLE AND SMALL-FRUIT

GROWING, FOR THE USE OF THE

AMATEUR GARDENER

BY

EBEN E. REXFORD

Author of " Four Seasons in the Garden," etc.

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF
S4LIFOR

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

PHILADELPHIA fcf LONDON

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

1909

COPYRIGHT, 1909

BY
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

Published February, 1909

Zlectrotjped and printed by J. B. Lippincott Company
The ffaihingttn Squart Prest, Philadelphia, U. S. A.

CONTENTS

PAGE

FOREWORD 9

I. LOCATION AND SOIL 21

II. THE PREPARATION OF THE GARDEN 28

III. PLANNING THE GARDEN 36

IV. PLANTING THE GARDEN 44

V. GARDEN IMPLEMENTS 51

VI. WEEDING AND TRANSPLANTING 60

VII. THE HOT-BED AND COLD-FRAME 67

VIII. INSECTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES 75

IX. WHAT TO GROW 81

X. WHAT TO GROW (Continued) 94

XI. WHAT TO GROW (Continued) 109

XII. " GREENS !! AND MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS 121

XIII. ASPARAGUS AND RHUBARB 127

XIV. STRAWBERRIES T34

XV. RASPBERRIES AND BLACKBERRIES 143

XVI. THE CURRANT AND THE GOOSEBERRY 155

XVII. THE GRAPE l61

THE GARDENER'S CALENDAR 167

201927

LIST of ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

A HOME GARDEN Frontispiece

A FINE GROUP FROM THE HOME GARDEN 14

AN ATTRACTIVE GARDEN SITE 22

SASH, MATS AND SHUTTERS FOR HOT-BEDS 72

CABBAGE, JERSEY WAKEFIELD 86

JUST GATHERED FROM THE STALKS 94

A THRIFTY MELON PATCH 100

A PROTECTED STRAWBERRY BED 135

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

FOREWORD

THE writer of this little book is a firm believer
in a vegetable garden for every family so situated
that it can have one. This for several reasons :

First. — A garden, well cared for, will furnish
half if not more of the living for a family of
ordinary size, provided, of course, it is made
up of persons who are fond of vegetables. Not
only is this possible through the summer, but
the year round, for many of our best vegetables
can be carried through the winter in fine con-
dition with but very little trouble. And it
need not be a large garden to do this. The old
theory — which was not a theory, after all, but
a fact— that "a little piece of land, well tilled"
is a source of revenue that the wise man cannot
afford to overlook, holds true in this case as
much as it does when the farm is considered.
I know of no other way in which such a goodly
share of the family living can be secured;
therefore I urge the making of a garden as a
means of support for the family.

9

Foreword

Second. — Persons who are fond of vegetables
frequently have reason to complain of the
lack of freshness and flavor of those bought.
It stands to reason that they cannot retain
their best qualities for several days, no matter
how carefully they may be kept. Because of
this drawback, those who would otherwise use
vegetables liberally in the household go with-
out them. Consequently, in order to get fine,
fresh ones, grow your own.

Third. — Often the appetite of the family
fails when confined to a narrow diet. "Things
don't taste good," they say. "Let's have a
change." If plenty of good vegetables were
used, there need be no complaint of this kind,
because they furnish that variety which pre-
vents the appetite from becoming jaded. Vege-
tables are to the daily bill of fare what the
soup and the salad are to the ordinary meal.
Use them freely, cook them in so many ways
that each time they seem like something new,
and there will be no complaint about monot-
ony of food. Especially will the woman of
the household appreciate a garden, because it
will enable her to so vary the daily bill of fare
that "the men-folks" will be perfectly satisfied

10

Foreword

with her management of this department of
household work.

Fourth. — The writer believes that a vege-
table diet is healthier than one in which meats
and other heavy foods predominate. There-
fore, on hygienic grounds, he would advise
everybody who can do so to have a garden.

I am well aware that most men do not seem
to look upon gardening with much favor. They
class it in with other "puttering" jobs, and
are glad to turn it over to the children and the
women-folk. Now women, as a general thing,
are too busy with their household work to find
time to plant, and hoe, and weed, and the boys
and girls can hardly be expected to do much
in the gardening line without some one to show
them what needs doing, and how to do it. This
being the case, the garden left wholly to the
care of women and children is generally a fail-
ure, and because it is so the men of the family
declare that "gardens don't pay." True, such
gardens do not pay. But a garden well cared
for — a garden treated as scientifically as the
average farmer treats his cornfield or his
meadow— will pay, and pay better than any
other part of the farm. And this with but

ii

Foreword

little work, for it does not require a great deal
of labor to make a garden and keep it clean. If
it is planned well and given regular attention,
such as is given other portions of the farm,
those who have pronounced gardening "a snare
and a delusion" will be obliged to admit that
they were mistaken. Raise the garden, there-
fore, to the dignity to which it is justly entitled,
and care for it as it ought to be cared for, and
you will soon discover wherein you made your
mistake when you declared that you "hadn't
any time to fool away on garden trash."

Men are so accustomed to the use of machin-
ery in ordinary farm- work that it is not to be
wondered at that they do not take kindly to
the manual labor involved in weeding the gar-
den after the old order of things. But there is
little necessity for this kind of work nowadays.
We have so many implements designed ex-
pressly for garden use — implements that do
their work rapidly and perfectly — that hand-
work is almost done away with. When this
fact is realized fully — and that will be after
one season's trial of our modern garden machin-
ery— not one man in ten will look upon work
in the garden with disfavor. He will realize

12

Foreword

that the menial drudgery of gardening opera-
tions is a thing of the past, and he will also
find that the boys and girls of the family will
be delighted to assume largely the responsibil-
ity of keeping the garden in proper condition,
because operating the machinery of it will
seem more like play than work to them. With
the modern cultivator equipped with a variety
of shovels and hoe-teeth, to suit all kinds of
vegetables, one can do more work in an hour,
and do it a great deal better, than could be
done all day with the ordinary hoe, and this
with but small expenditure of muscle. A
woman finds that a few minutes' work with
the garden cultivator rests her because of the
change it affords from housework. It fur-
nishes an exercise which brings half dormant
muscles into play, and it takes her out of doors
where she gets the tonic of fresh air and sun-
shine.

Let me urge every one, therefore, to have
a garden, if possible. Especially the man who
needs some kind of outdoor work to counteract
the debilitating effects of indoor occupation.
The clerk, the book-keeper, the minister, the
student, — any one whose occupation is more

13

Foreword

or less sedentary, — will get health and pleasure
and profit out of even a garden so small as to
seem hardly worth the name.

Those who know nothing of gardens are
quite likely to make the mistake of thinking
that it is not worth while to do anything in
this line unless one has considerable space to
devote to it. Of course the larger the garden
the more can be grown in it, but it does not
necessarily follow from this that a good deal
cannot be grown on a small piece of ground. I
have often been astonished to see how many
vegetables could be grown in the back yard of
a village or city home. Those who are familiar
with the garden literature of twenty or twenty-
five years ago, will no doubt remember a little
book by Charles Barnard, entitled "My Hand-
kerchief Garden," in which the author tells a
most entertaining story of what he succeeded
in growing on a tiny bit of ground. To the
inexperienced the book reads more like a fairy
tale than anything else, and those who "don't
take stock in gardens" have ridiculed it, de-
claring that it tells of a garden that existed
on paper only. But this I know to be untrue.
The garden written about actually existed, and

14

A FINE GROUP FROM THE HOME GARDEN

Foreword

the writer grew in it all the vegetables he men-
tions. He began the work because the state
of his health made it advisable for him to spend
some time out of doors every day, after having
done his regular literary work. It occurred
to him that it would be a good idea to keep a
record of his gardening operations, and in this
way the book came to be written. It is a record
of facts, not fancy. It set the people to think-
ing, for it opened their eyes to the truth that a
good deal can be grown in a small space, that
garden-work is pleasant when one enters into
the real spirit of it, therefore is valuable when
considered as a recreation simply, and that
health often comes back to the invalid from
coming into close contact with Mother Earth.
The little book was the advance courier of
much that has since been written about gar-
dening, and did most excellent work as a mis-
sionary in a field that had been sadly neglected.
Therefore, do not let the fact that you have
only a small piece of land that can be used for
gardening purposes prevent you from under-
taking to have a garden. Begin the work with
the intention of improving every foot of it,
and you will be surprised and delighted with

15

Foreword

the result, for it will prove to you that it is not
necessary to own an acre of ground in order to
have a garden. In fact, an acre-garden is too
large, at least by half, for the ordinary family,
for it will grow a great many more vegetables
than can be used. Of course the surplus can
be disposed of, generally to good pecuniary
advantage. But this little treatise is not
intended for market-gardeners. It is written
to encourage those who would do something to
help support the family by growing the vege-
tables they would otherwise have to buy, or go
without. I have tried to make everything in it
so plain that the amateur cannot fail to grasp
the idea I had in mind, and I think he will find
little difficulty in doing so. Scientific terms
and scientific methods have been ignored,
because I find that the average man has but
little use for them. In short, I have tried to
make everything in the book simple and prac-
tical, and I feel confident that any man who
has never had any experience in gardening
will, if he follows the instructions given, succeed
in growing vegetables that he will take pride in,
and that the family will enjoy far better than
those which come to them at second hand.

16

Foreword

If I could prevail upon the housewife who
spends most of her time in the kitchen to relax
by putting half an hour every day into work
in the garden, I would feel that I had done her
a favor which she would be very grateful for,
after a little. At first thought, it would no
doubt seem quite absurd to her for me to
advance the argument that garden-work would
prove a recreation. She would be likely to laugh
at my advice, and say that my prescription for
tired muscles and nerves was simply more
work, when it must be plain to every sensible
person that what she needed was less work.
But if she were to follow out my advice she
would soon discover that in the change of work
was to be found the very rest she needed. The
tonic of outdoor air, the healthy influence that
comes from contact with the soil, the delight-
ful companionship with nature, and the inter-
est that always grows upon us in watching
"the green things growing" — all these would
soon make the half -hour in the garden a pleas-
ure to look forward to with eagerness.

I have in mind a half-invalid woman who
gave up her housework for a season to a capa-
ble girl, and betook herself to the garden.

2 17

Foreword

Here she worked all day long, in a leisurely
fashion, it is true, at first, being wise enough
to proportion her efforts to her strength. Be-
fore a month had passed she declared that she
felt like a new woman. She had an appetite
that would have done credit to a farm-hand.
She could go to bed now and sleep all night
long, and her sleep was full of restfulness. Her
face was brown, but its color was the promise
of returning health. Before the season was
ended she declared herself perfectly well. She
had forgotten that she had "nerves." That
summer in a garden she counts as one of the
important epochs of her life, because it warded
off the nervous prostration that had threatened
her. She believes that it was the best kind of
an outing for her, and every season since then
she has spent part of every pleasant day in
work which most women think themselves
unequal to. The woman who sits down out
of doors with folded hands, imagining that in
this way she is going to gain a good deal of
benefit, is pretty sure to be disappointed. The
fact is muscles need exercise if you would make
them strong, and the body that is wearied with
one kind of work must gain strength by activ-

18

Foreword

ity of another sort. It is not idleness that is
needed, for idleness has no tonic in it. What
is necessary is change, — change of work, change
of conditions, change of thought. Therefore
to the overworked housewife I would prescribe
a season of gardening as better than all the
doctors' drugs. " Throw physic to the dogs,"
and arm yourself with a hoe and rake, and dig
for health among the garden beds. Nine times
out of ten those who seek for it there will find
it, I feel very sure.

THE HOME GARDEN

i.

LOCATION AND SOIL

MUCH more depends on the favorable loca-
tion of the garden than one who has not had
experience would suppose. The general im-
pression among amateurs seems to be that soil
is the all-important item. If the ground is
rich, there is nothing further to be desired.
This is all a mistake. Of course it is quite
necessary that the soil should be rich, but the
writer knows of many gardens exceptionally
good in this respect which are not good growers
of vegetables, simply because they slope away
from the sun.

The ideal garden slopes to the south, and
secures all possible benefit from the sun's rays
in early spring, when vegetables are getting
their start. But, unfortunately, ideal garden-
sites are the exception and not the rule. Per-

21

The Home Garden

haps nine out of ten are flat, or nearly so. We
must take things as we find them in choosing
our location, but, as far as possible, choose a
site which will receive the greatest amount of
benefit from the sun. Something can be gained
in a level garden by planting in rows running
north and south. This will allow the sun to
shine between them, while rows running east
and west would cast their shadows over each
other.

The first benefit derived from sunshine is
the extraction of undue moisture from the soil
in early spring. The soil that gets rid soonest
of the moisture from melting snows and early
rains is the one that can be put in shape at the
earliest possible date, because it can be made
mellow and friable several days sooner than
that which must wait for excessive moisture
to drain off. When drainage and sunshine act
together, this part of the work is hastened
greatly, and is done in the most satisfactory
manner. Therefore, press the sun into service
as much as you possibly can.

The second benefit which the soil derives
from the sun is the warmth which it absorbs
during the day. It drinks this in very much as

22

Location and Soil

a dry soil drinks in water, and the good work
goes on during the night, lightening, disinte-
grating, and vivifying. Sunshine is a tonic to
any garden, and we cannot have too much of it.

The third benefit derived is in its quickening
effect. A moderately rich soil, fully exposed to
sunshine, will grow earlier vegetables than a
very rich soil not fully supplied with sunshine.
One of the secrets of successful vegetable grow-
ing is in bringing the plants ahead as rapidly
as possible after they get a start. Vegetables
that grow slowly are always inferior in quality.
They lack tenderness and flavor. In order to
secure these qualities, one must have a quick,
rich soil, and sunshine enough to give it some-
thing of the nature of the hot-bed.

The best soil, all things considered, for the
successful production of vegetables, is one that
is rather light and sandy — perhaps what the
farmer would call a sandy loam. It falls apart
readily when turned up by the plow, and speed-
ily becomes mellow under the application of the
hoe or cultivator. A heavier soil may have
more strength in it, but it is not as desirable
for vegetable-growing, because it cannot be
worked as early in the season, and cannot so

23

The Home Garden

easily be put into satisfactory condition as the
lighter and more friable soil. What this soil
lacks in strength can readily be supplied by
the use of good fertilizers. I have seen gardens
made out of almost pure sand, heavily manured,
which grew excellent crops. Here the sand
was simply an agent by which the nutritive
qualities of the manure were rendered availa-
ble. But the vegetables grown in it lacked
the fine flavor of those grown in a better soil.
Some sand in a garden is a most excellent thing,
but good loam is the soil from which best
results can be expected.

As has been said regarding the location of
the garden, we must take things as they are,
and do what we can to make the most of them.
Heavy soil can be lightened wonderfully by
adding coarse, sharp sand as a top dressing,
and plowing it under. This can be done when
the ground is manured, and both can be worked
into the original soil at the same time. The
benefit of the sand may not be very apparent
the first season, as it will not be as thoroughly
incorporated with the native soil then as it
will be after repeated workings, but there will
be a decided improvement from the start. If

24

Location and Soil

sand is added several seasons in succession, a
soil of heavy clay may be made over into what
might almost be considered loam. Old mortar,
leaves, litter from the barn-yard, — almost any
kind of refuse that will decay, or assist in the
process of disintegration, — can be made use of
for lightening purposes.

If the spot chosen for the garden is not
naturally well drained, it ought to be made so
artificially. This is a matter of great impor-
tance. A soil that cannot be made to part
readily with excess moisture is not one in which
vegetables can be grown well. If the ground
slopes in any direction, water will run away
from force of gravity, but if it is nearly level
water will settle into it and remain there until
the soil becomes sour — that is if it is a soil that
is naturally heavy and therefore retentive of
moisture. A garden in such a location ought
to be underdrained. Tiling it will accomplish
the purpose very satisfactorily. If this can-
not be done for any reason, surface-draining
can be resorted to, by making ditches at
each side with laterals to conduct the water
to them from the centre of the garden. This
is probably the system most amateur gar-

25

The Home Garden

deners will employ, as it is the simplest and
easiest method and one that does not require
skilled labor.

The writer has seen some very good gardens
on flat, low lands where nothing could have
been grown if a system of ditches had not been
constructed to take the water out of the soil
several inches below its surface. A broad,
deep ditch was run entirely around the garden.
Cross-ditches connected with this. These were
shallow at the centre, deepening gradually as
they neared the main ditch. In this way a
fall was secured that would cause the water to
run off rapidly from the centre of the garden.
After a heavy rain the main ditch would be
half full of water for several hours perhaps,
but almost always the level of the water was
below the roots of the plants in the garden,
consequently they were not affected by it.
This may have been growing vegetables under
difficulties, but it proved the truth of the old
saying that where there 's a will there 's a way,
and no doubt the products of such gardens
were appreciated much more than they would
have been if they had been grown under
more favorable conditions. I think we always

26

Location and Soil

prize most that which is gained by a good
deal of effort.

Therefore let me say to any man who owns
or can secure control of a piece of ground, make
a garden on it, and do your very best to make
it bring forth liberally. You will be amply
repaid for your labor in more ways than one.

II.

THE PREPARATION OF THE GARDEN

GARDENS in which the soil is heavy can be
benefited by fall plowing. If the ground is
turned up and left in ridges as it comes from
the plow, in October or November, the action
of frost on it during the winter will have a
decidedly disintegrating effect, and it will be
found much more tractable in spring than it
would be if freshly plowed. Of course it will
need a spring plowing to reduce it to the
proper condition for working. This second
plowing will put it in very fair shape for imme-
diate use, while a few days' exposure to the
combined effects of sun, air, and possibly
warm showers, will make it mellower than
after two weeks of exposure with only one
plowing. This being the case, I would always
advise fall plowing for gardens of heavy soil.
Another benefit is derived from fall plowing. The
larvae of many worms will be destroyed by frost
in the upturned furrows. For this reason, if no

28

The Preparation of the Garden

other, fall plowing is advisable. But I would not
advise fall plowing for the garden whose soil is
light and porous. Not that plowing in fall would
injure it, but no particular benefit would accrue,
and it is just so much unnecessary work.

Do not make the mistake of applying manure
in fall, unless you have so much of it that you
can afford to waste the greater portion of the
fall application. Even if plowed under, much
of its beneficial effect will be lost during the
late fall rains, which will leach it away to such
an extent that next season's crops will get but
little good from it, and, later, by the evapora-
tion which takes place during winter under
the action of frost, unless the ground is well
covered with snow. The idea of evaporation
in winter may seem absurd to those who have
given the matter but little thought and have
not made it one of personal study and investi-
gation. But it is a fact, nevertheless, that a
large share of the nutritive properties of man-
ure applied in fall will be dissipated and lost
by freezing and thawing. Therefore, unless,
as has already been said, you have more manure
than you can use to advantage, hold the supply
in reserve for spring application.

29

The Home Garden

Before plowing, I would advise running a
harrow over the ground to collect the stalks
and debris of last season's crops, of which there
will doubtless be a goodly quantity unless
you have been gardener long enough to have
established the habit of thoroughly cleaning
up the garden in the fall — a habit to be heart-
ily encouraged for more reasons than one. If
the refuse is raked up and disposed of in the
fall, by burning, or by adding it to the compost
heap, many eggs of insects which prey upon
vegetables will be destroyed, and the spores
of fungoid diseases will be rendered compara-
tively inert. This is a sufficient reason for a
general fall cleaning up in the garden, for it is
the means of saving a great deal of hard work
which would have to be done next season, if eggs
and larvae were left to develop. The neat appear-
ance of a garden in which no refuse is left to
show itself above the ordinary covering of snow
is another argument in favor of fall cleaning.

It may seem to the amateur that the advice
to run a harrow over the ground before plow-
ing, if the garden was left uncared for in the
fall, is more the result of whim than anything
else, but it is not. Old stalks and roots of last

30

The Preparation of the Garden

year's vegetables will not be wholly plowed
under, in nine cases out of ten, and these will be
continually cropping up to clog the teeth of the
garden cultivator, and interfere with good work.
The cleaner the soil the better the quality of the
work you can do in it. Bear this in mind, and
never leave any refuse to be worked into it.

When you are ready for plowing, spread
your manure. Spread it evenly, and use it
liberally. The ideal manure for the vegetable
garden is that made up largely of cow-drop-
pings which have lain long enough to be well
decomposed. If black and friable, it is in the
best possible condition.' I know of no accurate
method of determining the precise quantity
to use. Much depends on the quality of the
soil, and more, perhaps, on the strength of the
manure you use. That which has been kept
under shelter will be rich in nutriment, while
that which has been left exposed after leaving
the barn will have parted with a large percent-
age of its goodness. There is not much danger
of making the garden too rich. The principal
danger from excessive use of barnyard-manure
is in making the soil so loose that it dries out
more readily than it otherwise would — more

31

The Home Garden

rapidly than is consistent with healthy veg-
etable growth.

Of course the writer is well aware that cow-
manure is not always obtainable. Horse-
manure is more plentiful, except in the country.
While it is a great deal better than nothing, it
is far from being an excellent manure for vege-
tables. I would much prefer to use the fer-
tilizers kept on sale at agricultural stores.
These produce excellent results if one is careful
to fit the fertilizer to the soil. By that I mean
using just the kind adapted to the soil of your
garden. Soils vary greatly even in the same
neighborhood, and the fertilizer that answers
admirably in one locality may not be what is
needed in another. The only way to decide
this matter is to get the advice of some one
who understands the nature of the soil in your
garden, and knows what kind of fertilizer will
work best in it. He will be able to tell you what
quantity to use, and how to apply it in such a
manner as to secure the best results. The dealer
in your neighborhood ought to be able to tell you
these things. These commercial fertilizers have
one advantage over the best of cow-manure, and
that is, they never contain seeds of any weeds.

32

The Preparation of the Garden

Plow your garden early in the season, but
not until the ground is in what is called good
working condition. It is possible to plow it
as soon as the frost is out of the ground, but
it is not good policy to do so. Wait until most
of the water from snow and rain has had a
chance to drain away. If you turn up a fur-
row while the ground is wet and sticky, it will
drop from the plow in chunks, and probably
remain in that condition for a considerable
length of time. But if you wait until surplus
moisture is out of the ground, the soil will be
pretty likely to crumble apart readily espe-
cially after it has been exposed to sun and rain
for a short time. You gain nothing by too early
plowing, as most amateurs seem to think. In
fact, you lose time by it, for the later plowing
of a well-drained soil will put the garden in good
working condition a few days sooner that it will
be if plowed while wet and cold. Here is one of
the instances where haste makes waste — of time.

Always plow your garden in such a manner
as to get the longest possible furrow. The
fewer turns you have to make, the better will
the work be done. The amateur may not
understand the logic of this assertion until he

3 33

The Home Garden

begins gardening, but he will speedily do so
when he observes the effect of long and short
furrows. Deep or shallow plowing must be
determined largely by the nature of the soil.
If the surface is of loam, with a sub-soil of clay,
do not go deep enough to bring up much of the
latter. But if the loam is of considerable depth,
deep plowing is advisable, because it brings
fresh, strong soil to the surface.

After plowing, use the harrow to pulverize
and level the soil. It is a good plan to run this
implement both lengthwise and crosswise of
the garden, for by so doing the soil is more
evenly settled than it can be by going over it
in one direction only. The harrow should have
long, slender teeth which will go down into the
soil well and tear apart everything in the shape
of sod or masses of fine roots. Simply skimming
the soil is not of much benefit, except for the
purpose of levelling.

The foregoing advice on the preparation of
the garden is based on the supposition that
your plat of ground is large enough to warrant
the use of the plow. But perhaps the majority
of gardens are so small that a plow could not
be used to advantage in them. These will

34

The Preparation of the Garden

have to be prepared by spading. The labor
of getting them ready for the reception of seed
will be more than is demanded in the garden
where the plow can be made use of, but it will
not be found so excessive as most amateurs
may imagine. If you provide yourself with a
thin-bladed spade and keep it sharp, the work
can be done rapidly, and it will not be found as
exhaustive as you most likely thought would
be the case before you settled down to business.
One will be surprised to see how much ground
can be spaded up in an hour. A little time
devoted to this work each day for a week or so
will put the garden of the ordinary village lot
in proper shape for planting. I am not sure
but the spaded garden has some advantages
over the plowed one. The soil can be turned
up just where you want it, and as you want it,
by the use of the spade, while the plow works
alike throughout the garden, though the soil
may vary in depth and nature to a considerable
extent. A spaded garden always looks best
at the beginning, and looks count in gardening
as well as elsewhere. But the gardener who
has a liking for neatness will make his garden
look well, after a little, in spite of all obstacles.

35

III.

PLANNING THE GARDEN

THE arrangement of the garden is a matter
of more importance than one unfamiliar with
garden- work would naturally suppose. The
amateur is likely to think that it matters very
little how it is arranged, so long as seeds are
put into the ground and crops are harvested
from it. The item of labor is not taken into
consideration when this opinion is formulated.
It is possible to economize nearly if not quite
half the work by so planning the garden that
what is done in it can be done to the greatest
possible advantage.

Time was when the average garden was
made up of beds five or six feet across, and
varying in length according to the amount of
each kind of vegetable grown in them, a bed
being devoted to each. The rows generally
ran across these beds instead of lengthwise of
them, and to get at the centre of the bed in
weeding one was obliged to get down on hands

36

Planning the .Garden

and knees and reach out at arm's length. In
very small gardens this may be as good an
arrangement as any, because beds there will
be narrow and less difficult to get at, but in
gardens of ordinary size beds are no longer con-
sidered advisable, for more reasons than one.
They waste space, because paths must be left
between them; they give short rows, which
necessitate much more work in cultivating
than the long rows which do away with fre-
quent turns for the adjustment of the cultiva-
tor ; and they prevent the gardener from doing
as thorough work, because there is not the
same chance to do it in a five- or six-foot row
that there is in a long one where the action of
the cultivator is not constantly interrupted.
Of course beds can be kept as free from weeds
as long rows can, but the point is it will require
a good deal more work to do so, and what I am
aiming at in this little book, is to so encourage
the systematization of matters that work will
be reduced to the minimum, because I am well
aware that the less drudgery there is connected
with garden-work the more gardens there will
likely be.

Another argument for long-row planting is

37

The Home Garden

that such vegetables as require support, like
peas, lima beans, and tomatoes, can be trained
to much better advantage in the row than in
the bed. When grown in beds, vines are likely
to form a tangled network of branches, making
it impossible to get to all parts easily without
breaking them, while in rows it is an easy matter
to get to each side without any risk of injury.
This argument holds good in the matter of
weeding.

In planting in rows, uniform width ought
not to be planned, because vegetables vary so
much in size that some require but half the
space needed by others. Cucumbers and
squashes, for instance, will require a row two
or three times as wide as peas, beans, cabbages,
beets, salsify, and most vegetables of more or
less upright growth. Therefore, before making
the garden, plan where you are going to grow
the different kinds of vegetables, and locate
them with due regard to their habit of growth.
Corn is upright in habit, but it must have
plenty of room on all sides in order to do well.
Potatoes spread considerably and must also
have plenty of elbow-room. These will require
two or three feet of space in the row. But

38

Planning the Garden

salsify, parsnips, beets, early beans, and all
the kinds of vegetables used as "greens," are
of more or less compact habit, and can be
grown in rows a foot wide and have all the
room they need in which to fully develop. The
space between rows need not be more than a
foot wide, if the garden is a small one, though
a foot and a half would be more convenient.

It is an excellent plan for the amateur to
make a diagram of his proposed garden before
beginning work on it. Put it down on paper.
Decide, first of all, what vegetables are to be
grown, then decide where you will grow them.
Locate them on your diagram the same as
you propose to have them in your garden,
taking pains, as suggested, to group each class
of plants by themselves, as far as possible, —
the term " class," in this connection, having
reference solely to habit of growth rather than
family relationship.

If the rows of the garden must run east and
west, put tall-growing vegetables, like corn,
on the north rows. Next to them beans of
the pole or climbing varieties, then peas. This
is advised, because those of tallest growth will
get the benefit of the sun without shading

39

The Home Garden

those of lower growth, as they would if planted
on the sunward side. It is very necessary that
sunshine should be reckoned with as an impor-
tant factor in vegetable growing, and every
thing should be done with a view to getting
the greatest possible amount of benefit from it.
I would most earnestly advise the thorough
cultivation of every portion of the garden
enclosure. Most gardens are surrounded by
a border of grass or weeds, it being somewhat
difficult to run the plow close to the fence,
hedge, or whatever marks the boundary line.
This growth harbors worms and insects, and
is constantly encroaching upon the cultivated
soil. After the plow has done its work, take
the spade and turn under every bit of sward.
Turn it under deeply, that the grass may be
smothered, and you have no further trouble
from it. If you simply skim the surface, and
invert the sod, it will not be long before the
grass will grow up through it, and by the end
of the season, or sooner, you will have as much
sward as ever. Get rid of it, once for all, by
doing the work thoroughly. Keep in mind
the fact that a garden of the kind under con-
sideration is for the purpose of growing vege-

40

Planning the Garden

tables and vegetables only, and see that all
the strength of the soil goes into their produc-
tion, and not into the growth of weeds and
grass which are such aggressive things that
they will appropriate the lion's share of nutri-
ment, if allowed to do so.

If any portion of the garden is favored by
greater exposure to the sun than other parts
of it are, reserve this for such crops as radish,
spinach, and early onions, whose growth must
be as rapid as possible to be most satisfactory.
A slow development of any of these vegetables
means toughness and lack of flavor. You must
force them ahead as rapidly as possible in
order to secure best results, and in doing this
richness of soil and warmth have to be com-
bined. Of course the earliest crops of such
vegetables as the radish and lettuce will be
started, if not matured, in the hot-bed, but
there should always be a succession of sowings,
in order to secure a supply during the greater
part of summer, and these later sowings will
generally be made in the open ground, hence
the necessity of giving them the best places
in the garden. If the soil in which these vege-
tables are to be planted is not naturally light

41

The Home Garden

and loamy, it is a wise thing to add sand enough
to make it light and friable, and to make use
of such fertilizers as are quickest in effect. It
is the early vegetable which will be most highly
appreciated.

It is always well to plan for a rotation of
crops as far as possible. In words, give your
vegetables new locations each year if you can
conveniently do so. This is advisable because
most vegetables exhaust the soil in which they
grow of certain elements necessary to their
satisfactory development, and to plant them
in a soil which you know to be lacking in these
elements is poor practice. By shifting them
about, year after year, we can generally secure
favorable locations for them. If not ideal,
this plan will certainly be an improvement on
the short-sighted policy of confining vege-
tables to the same place in the garden season
after season. If vegetable-growing is studied
in a scientific way we can readily ascertain
what elements are extracted from the soil by
this, that, or the other vegetable, and the loss
can be made good, to a great extent, by the
use of fertilizers which can supply the soil
with the material from which to construct the

42

Planning the .Garden

elements that have been drawn upon most
heavily. In other words, we can give back to
the soil that which has been taken from it,
and fit it for the development of anything we
attempt to grow by the employment of proper
agents. In order to fully understand this
subject it will be necessary for the student-
gardener to inform himself as to the peculiari-
ties of the various fertilizers on the market, also
the peculiarities of the soil in his garden. But
if he does not care to do this, let him consult
with some person who has made a success of
vegetable-growing, and be governed by his
advice. This is, nine times out of ten, more
satisfactory than experimenting, unless one's
experiments can be carried on under the super-
vision of a practical man who has outgrown
the experimenting period.

IV.

PLANTING THE GARDEN

As has been said in another chapter, it is
unwise to begin work in the garden too early
in the season. The ground must be given
time to get rid of excessive moisture before
it is safe to do much with it. Vegetables for
the earlier crops must be started in the hot-bed
rather than in the open ground, therefore very
early work in the garden proper is not as neces-
sary as some amateurs seem to think, in order
to raise early crops. The hot-bed starts them,
the garden matures them, and thus the need for
very early planting in beds is done away with.

Plowing can generally be done to the best
advantage about the middle of April, at the
north. It will not be safe to plant tender
vegetables before the first of May, because of
frosts which are almost sure to occur, and in
some localities the middle of the month is
quite early enough. Each person will have to
familiarize himself with local conditions, and

44

Planting the Garden

be governed accordingly. Of course it is not
possible for anyone to tell positively what the
weather is going to be, but old residents will
be able to tell you what may reasonably be
expected in your locality, and it is safe to be
governed by the wisdom which has grown out
of years of observation on their part.

It must be borne in mind that earliest plant-
ings do not always give the earliest returns.
The thing to aim at is to get the seed in the
ground just as soon as the latter is in the right
condition for it, and not before. If seed is planted
before the soil is warm and while it is wet, the
chances are that it will fail to germinate. Even
if it does come up it will make a slow, poor
growth until such time as weather and soil
are favorable, and quite often, by that time,
seedlings from early planting will be in a dis-
eased condition which will prevent them from
doing themselves justice until the effects of
too early planting have been overcome. And
by that time, nine times out of ten, seedlings
from later plantings, when everything was
favorable to healthy, vigorous growth, will
have got ahead of them. It will therefore be
seen that the gardener who gets his seed into

45

or T.,,.:

I

The Home Garden

the ground first is not the one who is surest of
growing the earliest or the best crops.

The soil of the garden should be in a condi-
tion to pulverize readily before anything is
sown in it. Lumpy soil means the failure of
a good deal of seed to grow.

I have already spoken of the use of the har-
row, after plowing, to level the surface of the
ground. We will suppose that this has been
done, and that the soil is warm and dry enough
to warrant us in getting it ready for seed. The
first thing to do is to bring out our diagram and
lay out our garden. Provide yourself with a
line to stretch lengthwise of the rows, and
insure getting them perfectly straight. Never
plant "by guess." Of course vegetables grown
in crooked, straggling rows will be just as satis-
factory in quality as those grown in straight
ones, but they never look as well while grow-
ing, and the true gardener will take quite as
much pride in the appearance of his garden
as he does in what he grows in it.

Set a stake firmly at each end of the row,
draw your line tautly, and mark out the row
by it. Then go over each row marked out
with the cultivator, or, if you do not have one

46

Planting the Garden

of these implements, an iron rake, and work
the soil over and over until it is as fine as it
can possibly be made. The importance of
this may not be understood by the amateur
gardener, but a little consideration of the
matter will make the reason clear to him.
Small seeds will not germinate readily, or surely,
in coarse soil, nor will the tender, delicate
roots of seedlings get the support they need
from such a soil. This being the case, it is
always advisable to pulverize that part of the
row in which seed is to be sown to the last
degree of fineness. There is no danger of over-
doing this part of the work. Potatoes, corn,
beans, peas, and vegetables of that kind will
not require so fine a soil as those having small
seeds, but care should be taken to have all
soil free from lumps, no matter what kind of
seed you plant in it.

Until of late years, seed-sowing was a sort
of hit-or-miss performance. You might hit it
exactly right, and you might miss it altogether.
The method generally employed was to make
furrows in the ground by drawing a stick or
the hoe-handle along it, scatter the seed in
them, from the fingers, and cover with loose

47

The Home Garden

soil thrown out from the furrow. In some
places the seed would be too thick, in others
too thin, and the covering would vary all the
way from almost nothing to an inch or more.
The consequence would be that some seed
would come up, and some would fail to do so.
Happily the seed-sower of today has done
away with this uncertain method of planting.
This most useful implement can be so adjusted
that it will sow seed of any size, sow it as
thickly or as thinly as desired, or plant it in
hills, and cover everything evenly, and all is
done with going over the ground once. Thus
the work of putting in seed is not only greatly
simplified, but it is done much better than
where the old method is followed, and done in a
fraction of the time. Full directions for operating
the garden seed-sower accompany each machine,
and will be readily understood by the amateur.
If seed must be sown by hand, go about the
work carefully. For fine seed, do not make
the furrows more than an eighth of an inch in
depth. Cover very lightly. A better plan, in
my way of thinking, is to simply scatter the
seed on the ground, and press it down with a
smooth board. This makes the soil sufficiently

48

Planting the Garden

compact to retain moisture enough about the
seed to insure germination. The pressure of
the board imbeds it in the soil, and no cover-
ing will be needed.

In proportion as seed increases in size, use
more soil for covering. Most seedsmen now-
adays print quite full cultural directions on the
package. These should be carefully read and
followed. You will also find general directions
for planting and after-care in the catalogues.

Let me say something, right here, about the
kind of seed to use. Always get the best in
the market. But how can we tell which is the
best, may be asked. To which I answer: by
always buying of dealers of established reputa-
tion,— men who have dealt so fairly and so
honorably with their customers that they hold
them year after year, and, in some instances,
to my personal knowledge, generation after
generation. I buy all the seed I use of a firm
from which my grandfather bought his. Of
course the original members of the firm have
gone, but the same honorable methods which
characterized its beginning have been continued
to the present time, and we know that what-
ever this firm sells can be relied on as absolutely

4 49

The Home Garden

true to what is claimed for it. Of course there
are many new firms which no doubt deal quite
as honorably, but we do not know this, there-
fore we keep on patronizing the old one. It is
safe to patronize any of the long-established
seed houses, because the fact of their long con-
tinuance in the business argues that they give
entire satisfaction to their customers. Their
seeds may cost more than those offered by
new firms who are bidding for patronage, but
it pays to put a little more money into them
and be sure of what you are getting. You
cannot only depend on getting good quality,
but you will be sure to get the varieties you
order. Some firms are so unscrupulous in
their efforts to gain trade that they will send
you something labelled to fit your order, but
in many instances it proves untrue to name,
and you are very much disappointed thereby.
Investigate before ordering from a new firm, for
much of the satisfaction of having a garden
grows out of a selection of the best varieties.
You cannot afford to cultivate inferior sorts.

Special directions will be given under the
description of each vegetable adapted to the
amateur's garden.

so

V.

GARDEN IMPLEMENTS

EVERY person who becomes a gardener on a
large or small scale should provide himself
with the various implements which simplify
and expedite the work to be done. In this age
of machinery we cannot afford to do by hand
that which can be done to better advantage by
the use of tools which can be had for a reason-
able price, and which do the work required of
them rapidly and in a superior manner.

One of the most important and necessary of
all garden implements is the cultivator or wheel-
hoe. This tool makes weeding easy, enables
one to do it in the shortest possible time, does
away with the use of the ordinary hoe to a
great extent, and has the merit of being equally
useful in a large or small garden. In a half
hour one can accomplish more with a cultiva-
tor than he can all day by ordinary manual
labor, and he has the satisfaction of knowing
that while his work has been done expedi-

The Home Garden

tiously, it has been done in a thoroughly satis-
factory manner. There is no such thing as
doing it slightingly when this implement is
used. The ease of its operation adapts it
admirably to the use of women and children,
who can do just as good work with it as any
man. It is so adjustable that it can be made
to do its work in any manner required. In a
minute it can be regulated to go deep into the
soil, or simply scarify the surface. It can be
adjusted to rows of any width, — in a word, it
is a tool that can be made to do just what you
want it to do, and is so simple in its construc-
tion and management that anyone can operate
it with perfect success. No gardener can afford
to be without one.

In purchasing a cultivator, I would advise
getting the style having two wheels, as this
enables one to cultivate both sides of a row at
the same time. The single-wheel implement
obliges one to go along the row twice in order
to complete the cultivation of it. Both kinds
are fitted with a small plow attachment, hoes,
and wide and narrow teeth. These can be set
at any desired angle, and in such a manner as
to throw the soil from the row, or into it. There

52

Garden Implements

are many kinds of these cultivators on the
market, and of course I can specify no particu-
lar kind or make, but, before purchasing, look
about among the dealers and be sure to get a
machine that is simple, practical, and positive
in its operation, and by all means buy one that
is capable of a wide range of work. A good
cultivator will pay for itself in a single season,
and will last indefinitely if properly cared for.
It should be cleaned every time it is used, and
kept under shelter when not in use. Any tool
that is allowed to stand with soil adhering to
it, or exposed to the weather, will soon become
rusty, and then it will clog easily and work
hard until use scours it clean. House your
garden tools when they are not in use,
especially in winter, and they will last three
times as long as those which are neglected in
this respect.

Another useful implement in the garden is
the seed drill. This machine enables you to
drop the seed just where it is wanted, four,
six, eight, or twelve inches apart, or in a con-
tinuous row. This is operated after the fashion
of the cultivator, being similar in construction.
There is a hand-seeder on the market which the

53

The Home Garden

owner of a small garden will find admirably
adapted to his needs. It sows cabbage, carrot,
celery, lettuce, radish, and all such seeds with
perfect regularity, and does the work ten times
as rapidly as it can be done by hand, and far
more evenly. The quantity to be sown can be
regulated, also the depth. It will sow a packet
of seed, or a larger quantity, as desired. It is
simple, easily understood, and cannot get out
of order. While not absolutely necessary, it is
a most desirable thing for any garden, and I
would urge the use of it.

Every gardener ought to own a spade. The
kind to get is one having a rather narrow blade,
which should be thin, with a good cutting edge.
A heavy, clumsy spade is out of place in the
garden, and a ''cheap" spade, — cheap in qual-
ity as well as in manufacture, — is dear at any
price. Keep the edge of the spade well filed
and you will always be able to do good work
easily, but let it get dull and you will find it a
tiresome tool with which to work.

A long handled shovel will come in play
almost every day. The shovel with a broad,
square blade, turned up somewhat at the sides,
is a very useful implement in the garden.

54

Garden Implements

There should be a hoe in every garden.
There is a hoe called the Warren, — probably
so named because of its manufacturer, — which
has a V-shaped blade, with the handle inserted
in the centre. This gives a wide blade to use
as desired, with a point at the other extremity.
With this point it is possible to pick weeds
away from vegetable seedlings almost as surely
and safely as can be done with the fingers,
and far more easily. This cannot be done
with the ordinary wide-bladed hoe which has
to be used with great caution in working among
the weeds in the garden, and even then one is
likely to cut off many of the seedlings with the
weeds. With the V-shaped hoe, all can be
done that is possible with the ordinary hoe,
and it has a much wider range of usefulness
than that tool. So useful is this style that I
wonder why it is not universally employed.

There should also be an iron-toothed rake
in every garden. Don't get the very cheap
kind. Get one that has good material in it.
See that its teeth are regular in length, and
that that part facing the user has a slanting
rather than a flat surface. A wooden-toothed
rake is little better than nothing. One needs

55

The Home Garden

something heavy enough to break clods apart
when applied with force.

Every gardener should be the owner of a
weeding-hook. There are several styles on the
market, many of them being so much alike in
shape and method of operation that they are
practically the same thing, though given dif-
ferent names. Nearly all are provided with
metal fingers which penetrate the earth and
uproot weeds very rapidly, with very little
exertion on the part of the operator. With a
little practice this can be done without disturb-
ing the plants one is weeding among. The
teeth or fingers of these weeders do double
duty, as, in addition to pulling up the weeds,
they stir the soil to the depth of an inch or
two, thus helping to make it light and porous
and making the use of the hoe unnecessary for
this purpose. These hooks do away almost
entirely with the unpleasant work of pulling
weeds by hand, and enable one to do more in
ten minutes than could be done in an hour
with the fingers. Hand- weeding is slow, dis-
agreeable work, and has done more to make
gardening unpopular than all else combined.
Another style of weeder has a curving blade

56

Garden Implements

with a sharp cutting edge. This shaves off the
weeds instead of pulling them up. It will do
very effective work, but is not as desirable, all
things considered, as the hook.

There should be a wheelbarrow or hand-cart
in every garden. Perhaps, for general use, the
cart will be best, but for such heavy work
as hauling manure the wheelbarrow is most
satisfactory. Invest in both, if you can
afford to do so.

All gardeners ought to provide themselves
with a spraying apparatus, for, in these days
of bugs, insects, and diseases of a fungoid na-
ture, it is almost absolutely necessary to spray
the plants if one would grow perfect crops.

There is a spray-pump which is operated by
hand from a bucket of water, which does most
excellent work and is as useful for washing
windows, buggies, and putting out incipient
fires as it is in the garden. There is also a
device called an auto-sprayer, which is self-
operating. By pumping air into a tank partly
full of water, and opening a valve, a continu-
ous spray will be thrown off for some time.
This machine does very good work and is a
great labor-saver.

57

The Home Garden

Of course the reader understands that it is
not absolutely necessary to employ all these
implements in order to have a good garden.
In times when a spade and hoe constituted the
entire garden outfit, just as good vegetables
were grown as can be grown today, but it
required a good deal more labor to bring about
the desired result. The fact that the use of
labor-saving implements enables one to accom-
plish so much more in a short time, do it with
greater ease, and do it just as well if not better,
is the strong argument in their favor. And,
too, most men, and especially boys, like to use
machinery. Nine boys, I venture to say, can
be made to take an interest in the garden
where the implements I have mentioned are
used, where one could be induced to work in
it with simply a hoe and spade. Boys, like
men, have a horror of pulling weeds, and the
writer of this cannot say that he blames them
for it, for he can easily remember the time
when he would rather take a whipping than
weed the garden for an hour. He very much
doubts if he would have a garden now if ail
the work in it had to be done in the slow, hard,
old-fashioned way. But since he has found

58

Garden Implements

out that by the use of the various implements
calculated to make garden-work easy and
expeditious as much can be done in an hour
as could formerly be done in a day, and this
without breaking his back by bending over
beds and gripping weeds until his ringers are
sore and stiff, he has come to look upon garden-
ing operations as a recreation rather than
something to be dreaded. It is not the part of
wisdom to expend one's brawn and muscle on
what a machine can be made to do, and the
wise gardener, be he amateur or professional,
will see that his garden is stocked with all
kinds of labor-saving implements.

VI.

WEEDING AND TRANSPLANTING

VERY little can be done in the way of weed-
ing until the seedling vegetables are of a size
that will make it easy for the amateur to tell
"which is which" readily. As soon as this
can be done, weeding should begin. If this
part of garden-work is done thoroughly at the
start, it will be comparatively easy to keep
the weeds under during the remainder of the
season. As they are wonderfully aggressive
and extremely rapid in development, a little
neglect at the time when they should receive
careful attention will enable them to get a
start that will be greatly to the detriment
of the vegetable plants among which they
grow, and make the work of cleaning out
the beds not only difficult but dangerous,
for their roots will have become so inter-
woven with those of the other plants that it
will be almost impossible to pull up one
without uprooting the other. This is why

60

Weeding and Transplanting

weed-pulling ought to begin as early in the
season as possible.

Here is where the hand-weeder comes into
play. By inserting its claws or fingers into
the soil close to the seedling vegetables, and
drawing it towards you or away from the
plants, it is an easy matter to dispose of the
weeds without disturbing the other plants in the
least. Of course those weeds growing in the
row and among the vegetables will have to be
pulled out by hand, but this can be done very
rapidly and easily after the rest of the weeds
are cleared away. After the weeder has been
used on each side of the row, it may be neces-
sary to use the hoe and draw back the dis-
placed soil. It is always a good plan to keep
the earth well up about the base of the plants.

In weeding, make it a point, always, to
gather up all the weeds that have been pulled
and take them away from the garden. It is
a good idea to have a corner somewhere re-
served for a compost heap. Into this dump
your weeds and all refuse of a vegetable nature
that will decay readily, — leaves, turfy matter,
and the like, — and allow decomposition to
take place. Stir the heap frequently. Satu-

61

The Home Garden

rate it with the soapsuds of washing-day. At
the end of the season mix some rich earth and
sand with it, and next spring you will have
some good soil to use in the hot-bed. If weeds
are allowed to lie on the ground after they are
pulled, many of them will take root and grow
again, and it will be necessary to pull them a
second time. Moreover a pile of pulled-up
weeds is unsightly, so for that reason, if no
other, dispose of them promptly.

After having cleared away along the row, and
for a space of about three inches each side of it,
the garden cultivator can be brought into use.
Use it so frequently and so thoroughly that
not a weed can get a start. It is an easy matter
to keep the garden clean, if, as has been ad-
vised, you begin early in the season. But allow
weeds to get ahead of you, as they surely will
if you let them alone for a little while when
they are in the early stages of development,
and you will find that a good deal of hard
work is required to bring them into subjuga-
tion. The gardener who takes pride in his
garden and who aims to grow vegetables to
perfection recognizes the fact that there is a
constant warfare between the two kinds of

62

Weeding and Transplanting

plants, and that half-way measures will not
count. If you do not give the weeds to under-
stand that they will not be tolerated, they will
most surely get the start of you in the long
run, and every weed that is allowed to perfect
seed will stock the ground with its progeny
for the coming season. Get the garden clean
at the beginning of the season and keep it so,
and you will have done away with a good deal
of the work that would have to be done next
year, if you were to compromise with weeds
this year. Make it a rule to pull up or cut off
every weed as soon as discovered.

The use of the cultivator should be continued
throughout the greater part of the season, or
until the vegetables have begun to mature.
It is a scientific fact that vegetable growth is
greatly benefited by a free admission of air to
the roots. This is one of the good results of
keeping the soil light and porous. Another
and the most important is that in dry weather a
frequently stirred soil absorbs whatever moist-
ure there is in the air. It acts like a sponge.
But if the soil is allowed to crust over, under
the mistaken idea that stirring would permit
all the moisture in it to evaporate, crops will

63

The Home Garden

suffer greatly from lack of dampness at their
roots, in seasons of drought. The farmer who
keeps the cultivator going almost constantly
in his cornfield during a "dry spell" knows
what he is about, and is acting along scientific
lines. He is putting his soil in a condition that
will enable it to extract and absorb all the
moisture there is in the air, especially at night,
and a field so cared for will stand drought a
hundred per cent, better than one the crusted
surface of which repels all moisture. Therefore
be sure to see that the soil is always kept
light and porous.

It often happens that considerable trans-
planting has to be done. Seed may fail to
germinate here and there in the row. Frost
may nip some plants, and make it necessary
to fill their places with new ones. Seedlings
from the hot-bed will have to be set out.

Transplanting is easily and safely done if one
goes at it in the right way. The first thing to
do is to get the soil in readiness for the reception
of the plants. This is done by working it over
and over until it is fine and mellow. Choose
a cloudy day for the work, if possible. If the
weather is bright and hot, do it after sundown.

64

Weeding and Transplanting

Make little holes in the ground deep enough to
accommodate the roots wherever a plant is to
be placed, using for this purpose a stick having
a tapering point.

Remove your seedlings from row, hot-bed,
or cold-frame as carefully as possible. Aim to
lift them without breaking their delicate roots.
This can be done if you use a small trowel, or a
piece of smooth, flat wood, made thin and
sharp at the point. Never take hold of a plant
and attempt to pull it out of the soil until the
earth about it has been so loosened that there
will be no resistance to overcome. The right
way to lift a plant is by taking it up with
enough soil adhering to its roots to keep them
from coming in contact with the air. If this
cannot be done, lay them, as fast as lifted, on
a layer of damp moss, or a cloth that is well
saturated with water, and keep them shaded.
Get them into the ground as soon as you can.
If their roots are exposed to the air and become
dry, your plants are ruined. If the weather
is dry, apply water to the soil containing the
plants to be lifted, before you begin the work
of transplanting. Take the seedling carefully
between the thumb and finger of the left hand,
5 65

The Home Garden

drop its roots into the hole made to receive
them, — but not letting go of the plant, — and
press the soil lightly about it with the right
hand. Then water well to settle the soil firmly
about the roots and furnish moisture for the
plant until it can send out new feeding roots.

If the next day is hot and sunny, shade the
newly set plants in some way. I make a cone
of thick brown paper, six or eight inches across,
insert a stick a foot in length in one side of it
to hold the folds together, and put the other
end of the stick into the ground close to the
plant. This gives plenty of shade and allows
the air to circulate freely about the plant. It
is a good plan to cover the soil about the newly
set plants with dry earth or road dust. This
has a tendency to prevent the evaporation of
moisture, and generally makes it unnecessary
to water a second time, unless the season is an
excessively dry one.

If a young plant is handled carefully and
managed properly, it will very soon establish
itself in its new quarters, and quite often will
go on growing as if nothing had happened to
it. But bear in mind that much depends upon
the careful work of the gardener.

66

VII.

THE HOT-BED AND COLD-FRAME

ONE of the first things to be done in spring
in the line of gardening operations is the mak-
ing of a hot-bed in which to grow plants for
transplanting to the garden as soon as the
weather will permit. While I would not advise
anyone to depend on seedlings grown in the
hot-bed for a general crop of any vegetable, I
would advise starting a quantity of each kind
from which an early crop is desired. Those
who would like to grow vegetables for market
will find it very important to get them under
way early in the season, if they would reap
the benefit of good prices. A well-constructed
hot-bed, well cared for, will enable the gardener
to have vegetables of certain kinds nearly a
month earlier than he can hope to have if he
depends on the garden for them.

The location of the hot-bed is a matter of
considerable importance. It should be on a soil
that has good drainage, in a place well sheltered

67

The Home Garden

from wind, and fully exposed to the sun. It
should also be near the house, for convenience
in giving it frequent attention.

Let me say, right here, that the idea that
almost anything in the shape of a pile of man-
ure with a few boards about it and a covering
of sash will answer all the purposes of a hot-
bed, as well as a more carefully constructed
arrangement would, is wrong. To do good
work — and you want that or nothing — you
must construct your hot-bed as thoroughly
as you would your poultry-house, or your
stable. A make-shift affair is not one in which
you will be likely to grow good plants, but will
be a constant source of annoyance to you,
and will very likely be the cause of entire
failure in the growing of seedlings for early
planting out. Therefore build with a view to
substantial results.

Fresh manure from the horse stable, mixed
with litter from bedding, is the material most
generally made use of to furnish the heat
required in the hot-bed. A quantity of this
material is spread on the site selected for the
hot-bed, covering a space somewhat larger
than the bed itself is expected to be. Spread

68

The Hot-Bed and Cold-Frame

it in layers a few inches in depth, and tramp
down each layer before another is added.

When the pile is eighteen inches or two feet
in depth, finish off by rounding it over in such
a manner that it will shed rain, or cover it
with oil-cloth. Leave it in this condition for
a few days till fermentation sets in. This can
be told by a warm moisture which will be seen
rising from it. The mass should then be well
forked over, shaking out the long straw, as
this is done, and made into another compact
heap, as at first. In two or three days it will
give evidence of further heating. After this
it is likely to be in a condition for final dispo-
sition in the bed. As the manure is now thrown
into shape, pack it down well, making it as
uniformly compact as possible. It is quite
important that the foundation should have
considerable solidity, as you will soon discover
that a heap of loose litter amounts to next to
nothing for hot-bed purposes. There should
be not less than two feet of this material.

The frame, which the wise gardener will
have constructed in advance of the season,
should now be put in place, and fitted with
sash. Bank up well outside the frame with

69

The Home Garden

coarse manure, firmly packed down. Allow
the sash to remain in place until strong heat is
generated. When this begins to decrease and
the thermometer does not register more than
85° or 90°, cover the manure inside the frame
with about six inches of the finest and mellow-
est soil you can obtain. When this is done,
the bed is ready for use.

The making of a hot-bed frame is a simple
piece of carpentering. At the back it should
be about eighteen inches high. If it is six feet
wide there should be a slope of six or eight
inches towards the sun. This would make the
front ten or twelve inches deep, according to
the slope decided on. The slope is one of the
important things to consider, for the sash
should be of just the right angle to receive the
fullest possible benefit from the sun. If too
flat, or too abrupt, you fail to get the warmth
desired. Therefore satisfy yourself as to the
angle that would be most satisfactory, and
make other matters subordinate to it.

Bevel the back and front of the boards of
the frame, that the sash may hug closely and
fit snugly all around. Care should be taken,
in putting the frame together, to have every

70

The Hot-Bed and Cold-Frame

joint perfect, for poor joints and ill-fitting sash
will allow heat to escape more rapidly than it
is generated, thus making the hot-bed a failure.

If more than one sash is used to each frame
or section, a stout piece of wood should run
from front to back for the pieces of sash to
rest on, where they meet. If large pieces of
sash are used, they will be found quite heavy,
and the frame and its cross-strips should be
substantially made, or there may be a collapse
at a time when such a happening would be
disastrous in the extreme. It pays to do good
work, while you are about it. A good hot-bed
frame will do duty for several seasons, if well
constructed and properly cared for after it is
emptied of its seedlings.

It often happens that we have severe weather
after we get the hot-bed in operation. In such
cases we must cover the sash with something
that will prevent frost from forming on the
glass and radiating cold down upon the deli-
cate young plants. Strips of matting, old carpet,
or blankets, will answer as well as anything.

If the weather is bright and warm, it will
be necessary to admit a little air to hot-bed
seedlings during the middle of the day; but

71

The Home Garden

do not lift the sash very much, and be sure
that no cold wind can blow in upon the tender
plants. To facilitate this part of the work, it is
a good plan to have the sash hung with hinges,
at the back of the frame. If this is done, they
can be raised or lowered without slipping out of
place, as they will be quite likely to do if simply
placed over the frame without fastening.

In sowing seed in the hot-bed, cover lightly
with soil and press the latter down enough to
make it somewhat firm, but do not pack it
solidly. Water can be applied, as needed,
with a watering-pot having a spray nozzle.
Never use a stream when watering plants in
the hot-bed, as that will wash the soil away
from the roots of the plants. If the glass be-
comes covered with moisture, after watering or
from evaporation at any time during the day, lift
the sash a little to allow the surplus moisture to
pass off, and clear the glass so that the rays of the
sun will be enabled to get to the plants freely.

A cold-frame is almost as important as a
hot-bed. The two ought always to go together.
It is simply a frame of boards constructed like
that of the hot-bed, and set over a quantity
of rich soil into which the seedlings from

72

•

The Hot-Bed and Cold-Frame

the hot-bed are transplanted when they have
attained some size. This frame should also be
fitted with a covering of sash. This should be
lifted on all pleasant days, to give the plants
inside the benefit of fresh air, and thus -harden
them for the time when they must go into the
ground outside. At night and on all cold days
the sash must be closed to retain the necessary
degree of warmth. A little chilly weather will
often injure the plants quite as much as a touch
of frost would.

In sunny weather be sure to open the cold-
frame before the heat of the sun, by 'concen-
tration on the glass becomes too intense for
the young plants. The admission of fresh air
will counteract all danger from this source.

The temperature in the cold-frame ought
to range between 60° and 65° if one would
grow strong and healthy plants, and of course
one wants to grow nothing else.

It will readily be understood from what has
been said that both hot-bed and cold-frame
will require considerable attention. They can-
not be expected to take care of themselves
after being built. They must be regulated
according to the weather. Air must be ad-

73

The Home Garden

mitted whenever it is possible to do so without
injury to the plants, and cold draughts must be
avoided as one would avoid the plague. It
will be necessary to consult the thermometer
a good many times a day. That is what must
be depended on more than anything else in
the management of hot-bed and cold-frame.

In the north the first of March is quite early
enough to start a hot-bed for the growing of
very early vegetables, and a month later for
plants intended for general garden use.

It is not advisable to have plants remain in
either hot-bed or cold-frame so long that they
become weakened by too long-continued heat.
Injury of this kind can only be prevented by
the proper admission of fresh air, and the regula-
tion of the temperature as already advised. I
make mention of this again because it is some-
thing that no gardener can afford to ignore, and
I desire to fully impress the fact upon his mind.

Do not take the trouble to start any of the
ordinary vegetables, which mature during the
latter part of summer in the garden, in the
hot-bed. They will come ahead rapidly enough
if planted in the open ground, where they will
be much easier to care for.

74

VIII.

INSECTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES

THE gardener hardly expects, nowadays, to
mature a crop of vegetables or small fruits
without having to fight insects and diseases of
a fungoid character. So prevalent has the
practice become that he prepares for it at the
beginning of the season. Knowing that in all
probability insects will come and that fungus
will appear sooner or later, it behooves him to
act on the offensive, or, in other words, to get
the start of plant-enemies, for it is easier to
keep them away than it is to get rid of them
after they have taken possession of one's
plants. Don't wait for them to put in an
appearance. Take measures to prevent their
doing so by the occasional use of reliable insec-
ticides and fungicides about the time they may
be expected to arrive.

We have many formulae for the preparation
of these applications, some of them so elaborate
that not one person out of twenty-five would

75

The Home Garden

ever think of making them up. The very look
of the recipe is so formidable that the average
gardener thinks he will take his chances with
the insects rather than be to the trouble of
attempting work that seems fitted only to the
chemist. I have satisfied myself, from some
years of personal experience, that these elabo-
rate preparations are really no more effective
than the simpler ones. I shall therefore give
the formulae of a few standard preparations for
fighting plant foes, believing that the intelligent
use of these will be quite sufficient to meet the
necessities of most cases.

SOAP INFUSION, OR KEROSENE EMULSION

This insecticide kills by contact, doing most
excellent work among insects that sap the
vitality of a plant by sucking its juices. It
can be used with admirable results about the
roots of plants to destroy larvae in the soil and
the lice which sometimes do most destructive
work underground. While intended, primarily,
for the destruction of sucking insects, it is very
effective among leaf -eating sorts.

Kerosene i gallon

Ivory soap \ pound

Soft water J gallon

76

Insecticides and Fungicides

Shave the soap and put it into the water as
soon as the latter comes to a brisk boil. When
wholly dissolved, remove from the fire and add
the kerosene. Churn the mixture with force-
pump or syringe, until a creamy emulsion is
secured. If perfect union takes place you will
have a jelly-like substance which will readily
emulsify with water when the latter is added.
Much depends upon the force used in churning
the mixture. It must be agitated thoroughly,
rapidly, and until there is a complete union of
the several ingredients.

For scale, use one part of this emulsion to
nine parts water; for soft insects, like plant
lice, one part emulsion to twenty parts water;
for other insects, one part emulsion to fifteen
parts of water.

Apply with a sprayer, taking pains to have
the mixture reach all parts of the plants. If
you are fighting an enemy that hides on the
under side of the foliage, it is well to have some
one bend the plant over while you apply the
insecticide, as success depends to a great
extent on the thoroughness with which the
preparation is used.

77

The Home Garden

BORDEAUX MIXTURE

The following is the official formula for the
preparation of this standard fungicide, as sent
out by the United States Department of
Agriculture :

In a barrel that will hold forty-five gallons,
dissolve six pounds of copper sulphate, using
eight or ten gallons of water, or as much as
may be necessary for the purpose. Slake four
pounds of fresh lime in a tub by pouring water
over it until disintegrated. Then add enough
water to make it about the consistency of thick
cream. Stretch a coarse gunny sack over the
head of the barrel containing the copper sul-
phate, and strain the lime mixture through it.
Then fill the barrel with water. Stir thor-
oughly, and the preparation is ready for use.

Because the quantity seems large, the idea
may prevail that the cost must be considerable.
Such is not the case, however. The cost per
gallon of the mixture will not exceed one cent,
as copper sulphate can be bought for seven
cents a pound, and lime is about thirty cents a
bushel, which will make your four pounds
cost less than five cents.

In all cases it is desirable to use powdered
78

Insecticides and Fungicides

copper sulphate, as it dissolves much more
readily than that in the lump. It is of the
utmost importance that perfectly fresh lime
should be used. Air-slacked lime is worthless.

The above directions can be depended on as
absolutely reliable, for the Department of Agri-
culture recommends nothing that has not been
thoroughly tested.

If Paris green is added to this mixture we
have a combined insecticide and fungicide,
which can be relied on to do most excellent
work. As insects and fungi usually exist
together to a considerable extent, it is well to
make use of the combination for general appli-
cations.

When used on peaches, plums, and other
stone fruit, two ounces of Paris green to forty-
five gallons of the mixture, or in that propor-
tion, will be sufficient.

For other fruits, berries, and the like, four
ounces of Paris green to the same quantity of
mixture may be used, or in that proportion.

The writer is well aware that many persons
hesitate about using Paris green on vegetables
and fruits. The following from Farmers' Bul-
letin No. 7, United States Department of Agri-

79

The Home Garden

culture, shows how harmless the article is when
used properly:

"Paris green and London purple have been
used extensively in this country, for many
years, for insecticidal purposes, and not one
instance of fatal poisoning from their use has
been subtantiated. The only danger lies in
keeping them about, in bulk. Keep them
where they belong, — and that is out of the
way of children and meddlesome persons, —
and there is nothing to fear."

In the department of this book in which the
various kinds of vegetables are treated indi-
vidually, I shall indicate such special applica-
tions as may be necessary to successfully
combat the peculiar enemies of the plant under
consideration.

IX.

WHAT TO GROW

IN this and the following chapters I propose
to make mention of some of the standard varie-
ties of the various kinds of vegetables adapted
to amateur culture, and to give, in connection
with the descriptions of them, such suggestions
as may seem necessary to enable one to grow
them well.

If the reader consults the catalogues of the
seedsmen in making his selection of seeds for
his garden, he will find many kinds described
therein of which no mention will be made by
me. Many of these are good. Some of them
may possibly be superior to those I shall refer
to, but most of the kinds sent out each year
as "desirable new sorts," "great improve-
ments on old varieties," and the like, prove
on trial, to be inferior. They may have some
points of merit, but these are not sufficient to
overcome the lack of general merit which a new
kind must have in order to be classed among
6 81

The Home Garden

the standard varieties. Most of these "novel-
ties'* drop out of the catalogues after a little,
and the seed-buying public comes to the con-
clusion that it is wisdom to stand by the old,
well-tried sorts which have become standard
because of their many good qualities. While
it is quite true that improvement is being
made constantly among garden vegetables, it
is quite as true that only a small percentage of
those advertised as "great improvements on
the original" are worth growing. Here the
old adage of " prove all things and hold fast
to that which is good" is of very pertinent
application.

A consultation of the catalogues of all the
prominent seedsmen of the country will show
that among all the vegetables described therein
there are certain varieties in general cultiva-
tion, and these are the kinds for the amateur
to make use of. They stand at the very head
of the list because they are what they are —
the representatives of their class upon which
the public has set the seal of its approval after
years of culture — and I believe it will be diffi-
cult to improve on them.

What to Grow

BEANS

We have bush beans and pole beans. The
former are of low, compact growth, and need
no support, and on this account most amateur
gardeners will be likely to choose them. But
the limas or climbing sorts have so superior a
flavor that the owner of even a small garden
can hardly afford to be without a few hills of
them. They have a rich, buttery quality which
is seldom found among the bush beans. They
are very productive, and will be found superior
to any others in the concoction of succotash.

Among the bush beans especial mention
should be made of the following varieties:

Refugee. Of compact growth, extremely
prolific, pods light green, very solid and tender.

Stringless Green Pod. A very early sort
that remains tender and crisp a long time after
maturity. Of fine flavor.

Golden Wax. Pods long, thick, tender, fine
flavored, and absolutely stringless. A most
excellent variety.

Among the limas, Leviathan may be placed
at the head of the list, being a great bearer,
rich in flavor, and remaining eatable through-
out the season.

83

The Home Garden

General Cultural Directions. Plant in hills
about a foot and a half apart. Do not plant
until danger of frost is over, unless you arrange
for their protection on cold nights. It is a
common belief that the bean will grow in almost
any soil, but the fact is we have no vegetable
that appreciates good treatment more keenly.
In a rich soil it will make vigorous growth,
yield bountifully, and have a flavor that is
never found in crops produced from poor soil.
Plant at intervals, for a succession.

BEETS

The beet is a general favorite, and it well
deserves its popularity, for it has delicious
flavor, is a most attractive looking vegetable
when ready for the table, and can be cooked
in so many ways that the housewife considers
it one of the "stand-bys."

Among the very early sorts Electric is a
general favorite, because of its fine-grained
flesh and sugary flavor.

Early Eclipse is of rapid growth, very super-
ior in quality, and extremely rich in color. It
ranks high in flavor with the housewife who
takes pride in carrying out a decorative color

84

What to Grow

scheme in which vegetables play an important
part.

Crimson Globe is unsurpassed for a second early
and main crop. It does not attain to great size,
which is a merit rather than a drawback, as large
beets are as a general thing stringy, tough, and
flavorless. It is of great tenderness in all stages
of growth, never becoming tough like the old
long-rooted sorts, which are not much grown
nowadays except for feeding stock.

Early Bassano has rose-colored flesh. It is
sweet and well flavored, but lacks the richness
of the dark-colored varieties. The housewife
will find it useful in the decoration of the
table, however.

Blood Turnip is an excellent sort for a gen-
eral crop and for winter use. It has fine-grained
flesh, is rich in color and superior in flavor.

General Cultural Directions. Sow in rows,
about the middle of May. Give a rich, deeply-
worked soil. Allow no weeds to grow among
the plants.

If sown thickly, the young plants can be
thinned out early in the season and used as
greens. While young, the leaves are very
tender and delicious.

85

The Home Garden

CABBAGE

For first crop of this vegetable, there is no
variety superior to the old Early Wakefield,
which has held its own against newer candi-
dates for favor for the last twenty years or
more. It cannot be excelled.

For a second crop, the Early Summer con-
tinues to hold the popular favor. It is a flat-
headed cabbage, of excellent flavor, very
tender, and fine-grained. The very early
cabbages are lacking in the good qualities of
the later sorts, and are mainly valuable because
they supply the craving for something in the
vegetable line early in the season. But such
varieties as Early Summer have all the merits
of the later sorts, and will be found invaluable
in every collection.

Perhaps the very best late cabbage, and the
ideal one for winter use, is the Late Drum-
head. It is so compact that a small head will
weigh several pounds, and, when cut apart,
its leaves will be found so closely folded upon
each other that they form a solid mass of tender
crispness, juicy, and of superior quality, cook-
ing without a suggestion of stringiness. As a
keeper it is unexcelled.

86

What to Grow

Another favorite sort is the old Marblehead
Mammoth, still one of the best in the market.
The chief objection to be urged against it is
its great size. An ordinary head could not
be used in several days in the average family,
and cabbage is a vegetable that soon parts
with a good deal of its finest flavor after cut-
ting. Therefore, for the ordinary family, a
smaller kind will be found more satisfactory.

The housewife who has an eye for the attrac-
tions of the table will want a quantity of the
purple cabbage to work up in salads and slaws.
Its rich color makes it almost as attractive as
flowers.

Set cabbage about two feet apart in the row.

Early cabbage can be started in the hot-
bed, but for a later crop I would advise plant-
ing the seed in the open ground.

If the flea-beetle attacks your cabbage plants
when small, dust them, while damp, with
tobacco powder, wood ashes, or air-slacked
lime. If the aphis comes, use the kerosene
emulsion spoken of in the chapter on Insecti-
cides and Fungicides. For the worms which
sometimes eat the leaves during the latter part
of the season, this emulsion is one of the most

The Home Garden

valuable remedies. If what is called cabbage
rust — but which is really a fungus trouble —
attacks the plants, use the Bordeaux mixture.
General Culture Directions. For very early
use, start in the hot-bed and transplant to
cold-frame as soon as the plants have made
a second set of leaves. Put into open ground
as soon as danger from frost is over. The soil
should be well manured and deeply worked.
For late use sow seed in May.

CARROTS

This vegetable is not appreciated as it ought
to be, because it does not appeal to the appetite
at first eating, as many vegetables do. But
after a little a liking for it develops, and one
soon becomes fond of it. Carrot is especially
useful in soups and other combinations of
vegetables.

A small space will grow enough to supply
the requirements of a large family. To grow
well, it should be given a deep, rich soil — one
of sandy loam preferable — and receive good cul-
tivation. This vegetable keeps well in winter,
retaining its peculiar flavor to perfection, and
remaining crisp and fresh until late in spring.

88

What to Grow

Probably the best early variety is Short
Horn, fine-grained and rich in flavor.

Danver's Orange is the best variety for
winter use — sweet, crisp, and tender.

CAULIFLOWER

This plant, which is a member of the cabbage
family, requires precisely the same care and
culture advised for cabbage.

For early use, Extra Early Dwarf Erfurt is
as good a sort as any.

It is hardly worth while to attempt growing
a summer variety, as the plant almost always
fails to head well in hot weather, but a late
crop can be grown to advantage. If plants
have not headed by the time the ground
freezes, take them up with a large quantity of
soil adhering to their roots, pack them solidly
into boxes, and put them in the cellar or cold-
frame if the latter can be kept warm enough
to permit growth. Much warmth is not needed,
but frost should be kept out. The cellar is, all
things considered, the safest place for them.
Here they will form small heads of delicious
tenderness during the winter.

The Home Garden

CELERY

The following abridgment from the direc-
tions given by Professor Graves in his recent
work on "Celery Growing for Profit" sums up
the culture of this popular plant in a few words
and a practical way:

In the latter part of February fill a shallow
box with clean, mellow loam. Press it down
well before putting any seed into it. Apply
water enough to make the soil evenly moist
all through. Then make little rows in it, and
sow the seed rather thickly. Draw the soil
thrown up in making the rows over the seed,
and press it down firmly. Cover the box with
light paper or cloth, to keep the soil dark and
moist, and set the box in a place having an
even, moderate temperature. The seed will
germinate in about ten days. Remove the
covering as soon as the young plants appear.
Never allow the soil to become dry, but be
careful about using too much water, as undue
moisture will cause the plants to damp off.

When the young plants have made their
second leaves, transplant them into other
boxes or flats, setting them an inch apart in
the row, and making the rows about two inches

90

What to Grow

apart. From these boxes the seedlings can be
put into the open ground any time after the
middle of May.

Seed may also be sown in the open ground
early in the season. Let the soil be rich and
worked over until it is very fine. Firm it down
well before sowing the seed. For some reason,
celery often fails to start well in a loose soil.
Sow the seed in rows a foot apart. Cover with
about an inch of soil. Thin the plants out until
they stand about an inch apart. Cut the tops
back once or twice, to encourage a stocky
growth. In June or July, transplant. Set in
rows three feet apart. Let there be at least
six inches between the plants. When this
transplanting is done, it should be according
to the trench system, which is setting the
plants in trenches at least six inches in depth.
Cut off the leaves, or rather, the upper half of
them, and shorten the roots about one-third
when transplanting. Water well. In about
six weeks begin to earth up about the plants.
Here is where great care is necessary. Gather
the leaves together in the left hand, and with
the right hand draw the soil in about them
packing it so firmly that the leaves, when you

91

The Home Garden

relax your hold on them, will not throw it out
of place. Allow no soil to work itself in among
the stalks, when you are "earthing up." In a
few days draw in more soil, and keep on doing
this from time to time, until the plants are
covered nearly to their tips. This part of the
process is called blanching, and this it is which
makes the plant crisp and tender, and takes
away the strong taste which characterizes the
plant when not so treated.

There are self -blanching sorts, so called,
offered by many of the leading firms of seeds-
men, but I have never grown any that did not
require a treatment similar to the above to
make it satisfactory.

Some growers blanch their crop by setting
up wide boards on each side of the row in such
a manner as to exclude all light from the plants,
except at the very top. This plan answers
very well, but it does not give the stalks that
brittleness which the lover of good celery
demands.

White Plume is one of the earliest sorts.
There is a Pink Plume, and a Golden Plume,
very similar to White Plume except in color.
These varieties are extremely ornamental,

92

What to Grow

and the housewife will always be glad to have
some of them grown in the family garden for
decorative use on the family table. These sorts
are not as good keepers as such varieties as
Giant Pascal, which is one of our best winter
varieties.

Well-blanched celery can be kept through
the greater part of winter if it is stored in a
place where the temperature is low, and the
atmosphere is dry enough not to bring on
decay. The plants should be lifted and packed
closely together, and their roots should be kept
moist. In a low temperature they will not
make growth, but simply "hold their own."
In a warm place decay is likely to set in early
in the season, and in a short time the entire
stock will be ruined. Therefore, keep the
temperature down, if you would have your
celery winter well.

X.

WHAT TO GROW (Continue^

SWEET CORN

THIS delicious vegetable should be grown in
every garden large enough to give it room. Just
gathered from the stalk, it has a delicacy of
flavor which the corn obtained in the market
never has, unless bought fresh from the grower.

Sweet corn does best in a soil of sandy loam,
highly manured. Work it deeply, that the
roots may have a chance to penetrate with
ease to a considerable depth.

Plant in hills three feet apart for the small-
growing early sorts, and four feet apart for
the tall, strong-growing kinds like Sto well's
Evergreen.

At the north, corn can be planted with
safety about the middle of May, but not earlier.
In cold, backward seasons, it may be well to
defer planting until the twentieth of the month,
or even later, as the seed often fails to germi-
nate in a cold, wet soil.

94

What to Grow

Begin to cultivate it as soon as the plant has
made four or five leaves. Keep up this treat-
ment until ears begin to form. One secret of
success in the culture of this plant is in keeping
the soil always light and open. Air must be
admitted to its roots freely, and they must
have a chance to spread without difficulty, as
they could not in a soil not worked enough to
make it friable and mellow.

Plant for a succession of crops, at intervals
of ten days or two weeks. By a wise selection
of varieties, this delicious vegetable can be
enjoyed for several weeks, or up to the coming
of frosty weather.

Probably the best very early variety, is
Cory, sweet, tender, and productive.

Early Minnesota is a general favorite be-
cause of its many excellent qualities.

Dreer's First of All is another early sort
that deserves especial mention for its quick
development and exceedingly delicious flavor.

A variety of recent introduction that prom-
ises to become a standard is Stabler's Early.
This is considerably larger than other early
kinds, and has a peculiarly rich, sweet flavor
and is remarkably tender.

95

The Home Garden

A standard late variety is Country Gentle-
man. It is equal in quality to Sto well's Ever-
green, but does not remain in condition for
table use for so long a time as that variety
does. Because of this peculiarity, Stowell's
Evergreen is probably the most popular vari-
ety of corn ever grown. For flavor, tenderness,
and sugary sweetness it cannot be excelled,
and when we add to these merits its long-keep-
ing quality we have in it the ideal corn for
table use. If one can grow but one variety,
by all means let this be the one.

Stowell's Evergreen is an excellent variety
for drying. When dried by exposure to the
sun, whose warmth seems to condense the
sweetness rather than dissipate it, this corn
retains much of the delightful flavor which
characterizes it when fresh, and will be found
far superior to much canned corn.

CUCUMBER

This vegetable can be started in the hot-
bed to good advantage. I would advise mak-
ing little pots for it out of thick paper, about
the size of the ordinary teacup. Fill with rich,
light soil. Put four or five seeds in each pot.

96

What to Grow

When the ground is warm, and not before,
these pots can be set directly into the soil,
where they will soon decay. In this way the
tender roots of the plants will escape disturb-
ance, a matter of considerable importance.
When it is safe to plant them out — after all
danger from frost is over — set in hills four feet
apart each way. Be sure that the soil is very
rich. An early and vigorous growth must be
encouraged.

Plant for a succession.

If the cucumber beetle attacks the plants,
sprinkle with land plaster, or fine road-dust,
into which tobacco powder has been thoroughly
mixed.

Early White Spine is one of the best very
early sorts. It has a delicious flavor, and is
very tender and productive.

For late use, and for pickling, Emerald
deserves a place near the head of the list. This
variety is exceedingly productive, its fruit is
very attractive in appearance, being long,
dark green, and perfectly smooth, and its
quality is exceptionally fine because of solidity,
tenderness, and superior flavor.

97

The Home Garden

LETTUCE

One of the standbys of the garden. Very early
crops are secured by sowing in the hot- bed where
it speedily matures, but plants so grown lack
the delicacy and flavor of garden-grown ones.

To grow lettuce satisfactorily, the soil must
be rich and quick. If it makes slow develop-
ment, it will be tough and lacking in fine flavor.

Seedlings can be transplanted from the hot-
bed, if sowings can be made in the open ground.
Sow at intervals of ten days or two weeks for
a succession of crops. By a judicious selection
of varieties and proper culture this vegetable
can be enjoyed throughout the season.

White Cos is excellent for an extra early
sort. Big Boston is one of the best for a gen-
eral crop, being crisp, sweet, and tender, with
that peculiar buttery flavor which makes this
vegetable so enjoyable when grown to perfec-
tion. It retains its good qualities throughout
the season, and is, I think, the best all-around
variety for use at the north.

MELONS

These grow best in a soil of light loam, made
very rich. If possible, secure a location fully

98

What to Grow

exposed to the sun. It should be well worked
to the depth of a foot at least.

Plant in hills five feet apart, each way. Do
not be in too great a hurry to get the seed into
the ground, as the seedling plants are very ten-
der and a slight frost — even a chill — often proves
the death of them. About the middle of May is
quite early enough to plant them at the north.
Previous to planting it is well to mix a shovelful
of good manure with the soil in each hill. Work
it over until it becomes part of the original soil.
When the plants are about a foot long, pinch
off the tips to make them branch. See that they
never suffer for water. If you can conveniently
do so, apply liquid manure occasionally.

A few plants for early fruiting can be started
in the hot-bed in paper pots, as advised for
cucumbers, but great care will have to be
taken to prevent them from damping off.
Give ventilation in pleasant weather by raising
the sash slightly. This will allow the moisture
in the air to pass off while admitting fresh air.
Be very careful not to allow cold winds to
strike the young plants. If the sun is strong
enough to wilt them, cover the glass with
cheesecloth during the middle of the day.

99

The Home Garden

If the beetle attacks the plants treat as
advised for cucumber. It is a good plan to
prevent the beetle from getting at them by
placing boxes covered with netting about the
young plants, when first set out.

It is an open question as to which kind of
melon is most popular. Perhaps one enjoys
as much popularity as the other. The rich,
aromatic sweetness of the muskmelon appeals
to one, while his neighbor declares the sugary,
juicy, melting tenderness of the watermelon
to be the perfection of all that is desirable in
fruit. It is simply a question of taste — in the
gastronomic sense of the term. Every garden
ought to contain both kinds.

Perhaps the most popular variety of musk-
melon at present is Rocky Ford. This sort is
of the netted type, medium in size, with a
flavor unsurpassed in sweetness and rich qual-
ity, its flesh firm and fine-grained, but with a
delicious, melting tenderness which reminds
one of a perfectly ripe peach.

Defender is another superior variety. This

has the same meritorious qualities of Rocky

Ford in a great degree, but its flesh is a

rich yellow while that of the other is a light

100

. BBHHBi

THRIFTY MELON PATCH

What to Grow

green. On this account it is more attractive
for table use.

Nutmeg was not so long ago our most popular
variety of this, class of the melon family. It de-
serves cultivation today, because of its rich fla-
vor and remarkable sweetness and the ease with
which it is grown. It is also very productive.

Among the watermelons, Mountain Sweet
deserves prominent mention. It grows to
large size, and is very solid as to flesh, with a
most delicious flavor. It melts in one's mouth.

Sweetheart is vigorous and productive, flesh
bright red, crisp and sugary, and of that pecu-
liar melting quality which makes this class of
melon so popular.

Ice Cream is a well-known sort whose merits
have made it a standard variety. Its flesh is
very firm, juicy, and sweet.

Of the yellow-hearted sorts, Yellow Ice
Cream is the only one I care to recommend.
Most other yellow-meated kinds are coarse
and lacking in flavor.

MUSHROOMS

It is generally supposed by the amateur
gardener that there is some "knack" about

101

The Home Garden

mushroom-growing that only the skilful and
experienced gardener can attain. In this he is
mistaken. Anyone can grow this delicious
vegetable in shed or cellar, provided the tem-
perature can be kept at from 55° to 65°.

Horse-manure is used in making the beds
for the reception of spawn. Work it over at
intervals of three or four days, until it is evenly
mixed. Never use it just as it comes from the
stable. Get the straw from bedding out of it as
well as you can, leaving nothing but the clear
manure. Never allow it to get wet. This is
important.

Make the bed about ten inches deep. Pack
the manure down well. Insert a thermometer
and when it registers 80° or 90°, put in the
spawn. Break the spawn into pieces about
the size of a silver quarter, and put a piece in
holes four or five inches deep, and about ten
inches apart. Cover evenly, and wait for
about ten days, then examine. If the spawn
was good and fresh, and has done its work
properly by sending out its thread-like fila-
ments through the soil in all directions, cover
the bed with fresh earth of a loamy nature
and press it down well. Put on this soil to

102

What to Grow

about the depth of two inches. Keep the
temperature as even as possible. Avoid fre-
quent and abrupt changes from heat to cold.

Follow these directions carefully, and it
will not be long before you have a bountiful
crop of this most enjoyable vegetable.

Great care should be taken in getting the best
spawn possible. Buy only of reliable dealers.

ONION

This vegetable grows in almost any soil
that is well worked and thoroughly manured.
Sow as soon as the weather seems to be settled.
Sow in rows, and thin out, if too thick. At
least three inches should be allowed between
the plants. Cultivate frequently, and keep
down all weeds if you want a good crop.

There are just three varieties I would advise
for general culture — Weathersfield Red, Yel-
low Danvers, and Silverskin.

The two first-named sorts are excellent
keepers. The Silverskin is best for late summer
and fall use. It has a white, tender, juicy
flesh, very mild in flavor, therefore better
liked by most persons than the stronger kinds.
For pickling purposes, this variety is exten-

103

The Home Garden

sively grown by sowing it thickly, and gather-
ing it when about half grown.

PARSLEY

This vegetable is much used in seasoning
soups, and for garnishing roasts, fish, and
other meat dishes. Sow in May, in rows a foot
apart. Cover the seed with about half an inch
of soil. Being rather slow to germinate, it is a
good plan to soak the seed in warm water for a
few hours before sowing it.

Parsley can easily be carried over winter,
in pots, in the window-garden. For this pur-
pose, make a late sowing, and set half a dozen
seedlings in a seven or eight inch pot. The
housewife who takes pride in the attractive
appearance of the table will highly appreciate
it in winter, when it is difficult to find material
for the garnishing of roasts and fish courses on
sale. A pot of parsley is more attractive than
many of the plants used for window decoration,
therefore it may be made to do double duty.

Summer Green is a strong grower, admirably
adapted to summer use. Its foliage is large,
finely curled, and of a rich green color which
makes it very attractive.

104

What to Grow

Curled Perpetual has very tender, crisp
leaves, much crimped and curled. This is the
best variety for winter use.

PARSNIP

This is another of the vegetables which
would be more highly prized if persons would
only allow themselves to become familiar
with its good qualities. As it is, this vegetable
is quite extensively grown and finds a ready
sale in the city markets, but many home gar-
dens are without it.

The parsnip does well in almost any soil, if
it has been spaded up to the depth of a foot
and a half. Unlike most vegetables, it does
not develop its finest flavor in a soil of extreme
richness. It requires one of moderate richness
only, and is best when only of medium size.
Plants forced by rich soil to large and rapid
growth are lacking in sweetness, and soon
become tough and stringy.

Sow the seed in the open ground as early in
the spring as it can be worked well. Sow in
rows, and thin out to about four inches apart.

This plant is improved by our fall frosts.
Late in the season — just before the ground is

105

The Home Garden

likely to freeze and stay frozen — dig the roots,
and let them lie exposed to sunshine for two
or three days before you store them away
Then pack in boxes of dry sand, and put in a
cool place.

The best variety is the Hollow Crown.

PEAS

If the writer of the book could have but one
vegetable, the pea would be his choice. It is
so rich in flavor, so easily grown, so prolific,
and so adapted to all gardens, that it deserves
a place at the head of the list of desirable
plants for garden culture.

Sow as early in the season as the ground can
be worked. It is a plant that likes to make a
good growth of roots before hot weather comes.
Sow in rows, and sow deeply. It is a good
plan to make trenches six inches deep, and sow
the seed in them, covering, at first, with about
an inch of soil. As the plants reach up, draw
in more soil about them, and continue to do
this until all the soil thrown out from the trench
has been returned to it. In this way, the
plants get their roots down deep in the soil
where it will be moist in hot weather.
106

What to Grow

Keep the plants well cultivated.

The tall-growing sorts must have some kind
of support. They take more kindly to brush
than anything else, but as this is not always
obtainable, a good substitute can be made of
coarse-meshed wire netting. At first it may
be necessary to train the young plants out and
in among the meshes, to encourage them to
take hold, but after a little they will develop
tendrils which will twine themselves about
the wires, and no further training will be
necessary.

First among the very early peas I would
place Nott's Excelsior. It is very productive,
and has a flavor much superior to the ordinary
early pea.

Gradus, or Prosperity, is also very produc-
tive, and of excellent quality.

Thomas Laxton is a comparatively new
sort whose merits we are just becoming familiar
with. It is a wrinkled pea, and, like all the
wrinkled varieties, it' has a sweetness not found
among the smooth kinds.

For a medium variety, Advancer is as good
as any kind I have any knowledge of. It is pro-
lific, has large pods, and its flavor is delicious.

107

The Home Garden

For late crops, I would recommend but two
varieties, Telephone and Champion of England.
I would confine my choice to these two sorts
simply because they combine all the good
qualities of the other varieties described in the
catalogues in a wonderful degree. They have
that rich, sugary, delicious flavor which makes
this vegetable so universal a favorite; they are
exceedingly productive, and they are adapted
to almost all localities. If there are any better
sorts I do not know what they are.

XL

WHAT TO GROW (Continued)

PEPPER

THIS vegetable is considered by the house-
wife as one of the most important of all garden
vegetables, because of its usefulness in season-
ing soups and salads, and as a basis for pickles,
chow-chow, piccalilli, and various other appe-
tizing condiments which the good cook takes
delight in making.

The larger sorts are mainly used for pick-
ling, because of their thicker flesh and milder
flavor. The smaller kinds are favorites for
flavoring soups and sauces.

Ruby Giant is a large-growing sort much
used in making mangoes and for pickling.

Long Red Cayenne has a very pungent
flavor, and is the standard variety used in
soups and sauces.

Other desirable sorts are Golden Dawn, for
mango-making and chow-chow, and Sweet
Spanish, for use in salads.
109

The Home Garden

This plant can be started in the hot-bed,
or seed can be sown in the open ground in
May. Set the plants about eighteen inches
apart, in rich, light soil.

POTATO

The soil best suited for the production of a
potato of the best quality is one of rich, light,
sandy loam, although the vegetable can be
grown very satisfactorily in almost any soil.
But on land heavy with clay, and not well
drained, it never attains the size, flavor, and
general excellence which characterizes it when
grown in a soil better suited to its requirements.
In such a soil it is often rough and scabby,
therefore not very attractive to the eye, though
it may be fairly well flavored and mealy when
cooked.

It pays to make a special effort to give the
potato a soil to its liking, if one cares to grow
it to perfection. By mixing sand, old mortar,
muck, — anything that has a tendency to
lighten and make porous, — with a heavy soil,
much can be done to improve the productive-
ness and quality of this vegetable. Good culti-
vation is also an important factor in the case.

no

What to Grow

Being a gross feeder, manure should be used
liberally. If barnyard fertilizer is used, it
should be old and thoroughly rotted, and well
mixed with the soil. Never dump it into the
hill, as I have seen some persons use it, without
pulverizing, and without an effort to work it
into the soil so perfectly and evenly that no
clear manure can come in contact with the
tubers. Fresh manure should never be used.

The best commercial fertilizers for the potato
are plaster, lime, superphospate of lime, and
bone meal. The dealer of whom one purchases
his fertilizers should be consulted as to the
quantity to be used on the space devoted to
this vegetable, and his advice should be strictly
followed. No general directions as to the
amount to be used can be given because fertil-
izers vary in strength.

Plant as early in spring as the ground can
be worked to advantage, in rows three feet
apart, and a foot apart in the row. Cover
with about three inches of soil. Cultivate
thoroughly, drawing the soil about the plants
as they increase in size.

The Colorado beetle will be pretty sure to
attack the plants early in the season. Often

in

The Home Garden

it will be found on sprouts just peering through
the soil, therefore one must be on the watch
for this destructive enemy from the very begin-
ning. If allowed to do its deadly work without
prompt interference, the tender young plants
will soon be ruined. Paris green is the standard
remedy. A tablespoonful to a pailful of water
is about the right proportion to use. Apply it
with a sprayer. See that it gets to all parts
of the plant.

It is a good plan to go among the vines dur-
ing the day and rap them with a stick, causing
many of the larger beetles to fall to the ground
where they can be crushed with the hoe, or
trampled under foot. This pest multiplies
with astonishing rapidity, and reaches develop-
ment in so short a time that the importance
of preventing the young beetles from maturing
will be readily understood after a little experi-
ence with them.

Many growers of the potato combine Bor-
deaux mixture with Paris green in spraying,
as spoken of in the chapter on Insecticides
and Fungicides. The copper sulphate has a
tendency to prevent blight and scab, they
claim. If the soil on which your potatoes

112

What to Grow

are planted is low, or heavy, it may be well
to try this method.

Perhaps the best early sort, all things con-
sidered, is Early Rose. This is the leading
variety in almost all sections of the country.
It is productive and of superior quality.

Beauty of Hebron is an old-time favorite,
maturing early. It is of good size, fine quality,
and very productive.

Early Ohio is another standard sort. The
tubers of this variety are edible before they
ripen.

Burbank's Seedling is a medium early sort,
with a fine-grained, white flesh, of fine flavor.
With many growers this is considered as the
best of all potatoes for general use. It brings
the highest price in market.

Rural New Yorker No. 2 stands at the head
of the list of late varieties because of its excel-
lent keeping qualities. It is large, smooth, of
extra quality, and extremely productive.

PUMPKIN

Probably few amateur gardeners will attempt
the culture of this vegetable because of its
rampant habit of growth. In the average
8 113

The Home Garden

small garden it will occupy room which might
better be given over to other plants. But if
economy of space does not have to be con-
sidered, it is well to have a few hills of it to
furnish material for the good old pumpkin pie
which always seems to have a finer flavor if
made from pumpkins of one's own growing.

Give it a rich, light soil — one of sandy loam,
if possible. Plant in May, after the ground
has become warm, in hills at least eight feet
apart, having two or three plants to a hill.

The young plants must be protected from
frost and the squash beetle. Dusting them
with land plaster or road dust will drive away
this enemy, or they may be covered with net-
ting. A cone of paper placed over the plants
on a cold night will prevent injury from frost.

After some fruit has set, cut off the end of
the vines to prevent further production, thus
throwing the strength of the plant into the
development of the fruit already set.

The best sort for garden culture is the Sugar
or New England Pie Pumpkin. This is small,
with a firm, fine-grained flesh of great sweet-
ness. It makes excellent pies. It is a good
keeper if gathered before frost touches it, and

114

What to Grow

stored in a rather cool, dry place. The cellar
is generally too damp for it. An airy, frost-
proof loft is a better place in which to keep it.

RADISH

Not much space will be required for growing
this favorite vegetable, as large quantities can
be grown in small space. As it soon matures,
it will be out of the way early in the season,
and the ground originally given up to it can
be planted with other vegetables.

A light, sandy soil is the ideal one for the
radish. Quickness of growth is very important.
It must be hurried ahead as rapidly as pos-
sible, and this is best done by making the soil
very rich, and choosing a location fully ex-
posed to the sun. Use old, well-decomposed
manure, and work it thoroughly into the soil,
which should be turned over and over until
it is as fine as it can possibly be made. Sow
the seed in rows four inches apart. Cover
lightly. In order to have a succession, continue
to sow seed at intervals of a week or ten days.

For a very early crop, sow in hot-bed, where
the plants can be allowed to remain until they
mature.

"5

The Home Garden

Best varieties, Scarlet Turnip, White Globe,
and Early Red.

Radishes can be grown for winter use by
sowing in September or October. They can
be kept for some time by packing in sand, and
storing away from reach of frost. They should
not be placed in a warm cellar, as a high tem-
perature will cause them to wilt, and, after a
little, to start into growth. Under either of
these conditions, they will be worthless. A
root cellar, in which the temperature is but
little above the frost-point is the best place
for them.

SALSIFY

One of the most delicious of vegetables for
late fall and winter use is salsify, more com-
monly known as vegetable oyster, because it
has a flavor somewhat similar to that of the
bivalve.

It can be kept as long and as satisfactorily
as the parsnip by digging it in November,
just before the ground is likely to freeze for
the winter, packing it in sand, and storing in
the cellar. A quantity should always be left
in the ground for use in spring.

116

What to Grow

Grow in light soil, well manured, and deeply
worked. It can be sown any time after the
ground is in working condition. Sow in rows,
leaving about four inches between the plants.
There are but few varieties, of which Sandwich
Island Mammoth is the best for general culture.

SQUASH

This favorite vegetable is easily grown if
given a rich and mellow soil.

There are summer squashes, and fall or
winter ones. The summer varieties are edible
only when full-grown, but unripe. They last
but a short time. The late sorts must be well
ripened to be palatable. They will keep
through the winter in excellent condition if
stored in a dry place which is cool, but not
enough so to admit frost in cold weather. The
cellar is not the place for them, being too damp,
as a general thing. They are almost sure to
rot there. The air of the place in which they
are kept must be dry.

The best summer sorts are the Crookneck and
Long Island Bush. The standard variety for
winter use is the good old Hubbard, which has
not been improved on in the last twenty-five

117

The Home Garden

years. This is very rich in quality, tender, sweet,
and thick meated. It is fine for pie making.
Give the culture advised for melons.

TOMATO

This vegetable cannot be omitted from any
garden without leaving one open to the charge
of not living up to his privilege. Perhaps no
other is so generally useful. It can be prepared
in so many ways that the housewife who has
a generous supply of it will feel herself equal
to almost any emergency along culinary lines.

To secure an early crop, start the plants off
in the hot-bed. This is quite necessary at the
north, if one would get the full benefit of the
plant, as many sorts, grown from planting in
the open ground, will not mature their crop
before frost comes.

Do not set the seedlings from the hot-bed
out in the ground until there is no longer any
danger of frosty weather, as they are very
tender. It may be necessary to cover them
on cold nights, after they are set out, even if
the temperature does not go low enough for
frost, as a chill will injure them almost as
much as an actual freeze, so delicate are they.
118

What to Grow

Have the soil fine and rich. Set the plants
about two feet apart. I have grown my best
crops by training the plants on trellises. This
keeps the fruit off the ground, thus preventing
rot, and it enables the sun to get at it, thus
hastening ripening. It will be necessary to tie
the branches firmly, and with a stout string,
as, when well set with fruit, they will be much
too heavy to support themselves. In the case
of late sorts, I find it advisable to cut off the
ends of the branches after they have set con-
siderable fruit. This stops the further produc-
tion of fruit, and throws the strength of the
plant to the development of the early setting,
and greatly expedites matters. A plant allowed
to have its own way will go on blooming and
setting fruit until frost comes, and, as a natural
consequence, it will be so late in perfecting
its crops that quite likely none of it will ripen
fully before cold weather comes.

If, at the coming of cold weather, your
plants are well set with fully grown but only
partially ripened fruit, pull them up by the
roots, hang them on the sunny side of a build-
ing, and let the warmth and sunshine of pleas-
ant days finish the ripening process as it will,

119

The Home Garden

very satisfactorily. Hang a blanket or some-
thing similar over the vines at night.

Tomatoes can be kept until Christmas in a
cool, dry room, by spreading them on racks or
shelves, so they will not touch each other.

The standard variety is Ponderosa, a large,
solid-fleshed, tender and finely-flavored kind
which bears enormous crops. Early Freedom
is a quick-maturing sort which ripens several
weeks ahead of Ponderosa.

TURNIP

This plant can be grown as a by-crop by
sowing it among the corn or potatoes. Simply
scatter the seed over the ground, and rake it
in. Sow at intervals of two weeks for a suc-
cession. The white turnip is edible only when
full grown. After that it soon becomes pithy
and stringy. But the Rutabaga, or yellow
turnip, is quite unlike its relative in this respect.
It keeps sweet and tender until late in the
winter. It will be found much more satis-
factory for table use than the white kind. It
keeps best in cool cellars or pits.

The crop intended for late fall and winter
use should be grown from seed sown in August.

120

XII.

"GREENS" AND MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS

MOST persons like greens, especially in spring
when the system seems to demand a change
from the somewhat heavy and restricted diet
of winter. We gather dandelions from road-
side and pasture, but they are so small that it
takes a bushel basketful to make a "mess,"
so many have to be discarded as worthless, and
a great deal of work is involved in " looking
them over," and preparing them for cooking.

Now this plant can be grown to perfection
by cultivating it in the garden. By treating
it as well as other plants are treated, it grows
to good size, each crown forming a thick mass
of foliage, and one plant will furnish ten times
the amount of material for cooking that you
get from a wild plant.

It can be had very early in spring by invert-
ing a box over it, as soon as the frost is out of
the ground. Leave the box in place for several
days. The exclusion from light will blanch

121

The Home Garden

the newly formed leaves, and make them far
tenderer than those of the wild plant. It will
also extract some of the bitter quality which
seems to be, to some extent at least, the result
of exposure to sunshine. No lover of greens
who has a garden can afford to depend upon the
highway or pasture for a supply of this health-
ful and really delicious vegetable.

Gather seed as soon as it ripens, and gets
into the fluffy stage, and sow it in drills, cover-
ing very lightly. Thin out the plants so that
each one left will have ample space in which
to develop. It will be necessary to grow new
plants each year, as, in gathering them for the
table, the crown of the old plant will have to
be cut away, thus putting an end to its life.
Those who simply pluck away the foliage
from about the crown make a great mistake.
The most delicious part of the plant is the
crown itself, with its mass of tender, unfolded
foliage, and blossom-buds. This portion, when
well blanched, makes a most appetizing salad.

Seedling beet plants make a very tender,
delicate green. They are most pleasing when
cooked with salt pork, as that gives them a
flavor which they lack when cooked alone.

122

"Greens" and Miscellaneous Plants

However, the use of horseradish, freshly grated,
pepper, mustard, or vinegar, supplies the lack,
and makes the dish very satisfactory to most
appetites.

The plants can be used until their roots
have grown to be an inch or more across, roots
and tops being cooked together.

Lettuce is often cooked for greens, but, like
the beet, it calls for some condiment with
decided flavor to make it entirely satisfactory.

Mustard, if gathered while young and tender,
is highly prized as greens, because it has so
pungent a flavor of its own. If cooked with
beets or lettuce it adds a piquancy which will
be greatly appreciated by most persons.

Spinach is perhaps the most extensively
grown plant we have in the " green" line. It
is tender, well flavored, early, and easily grown.
Sow at intervals of ten days or two weeks in
order to secure a succession.

Most housewives will be glad to have on
hand a supply of what the seedsmen call "pot
herbs," for flavoring soups, roasts, stews,
and sausage.

Sage and summer savory are used more
than all other kinds. Both are easily grown,

123

The Home Garden

and a few plants will be sufficient to supply
the wants of a large family. Cut them when
they are in bud. Hang them in a shady place
until dry. Then crumble the leaves from the
stalk, pulverize them finely, and put the pow-
der into bottles and cork tightly. Prepared
in this way, they will retain their strength
much better than when kept in paper bags, as
is the usual custom.

If pepper plants are cut off close to the
ground, when their fruit is partially ripened,
and hung in a dry place where the sun can get
at them, they will ripen nearly all their pods.
In this way they can be kept fresh throughout
the greater part of winter. Of course the
fruit will shrivel somewhat, but by putting it
into warm water for a few minutes it will
freshen up wonderfully, and become almost as
plump as when gathered from the garden.
This puts the pod in good shape for use in
soups, salads, and the various kinds of "pic-
calillies" which women can prepare during
the winter season from odds and ends of vege-
tables at their disposal.

Endive is widely grown for salad use. To
make it edible, the leaves of half-matured
124

"Greens" and Miscellaneous Plants

plants should be folded over each other com-
pactly and tied. This causes them to blanch,
and become very tender. It is well to cover
the plants thus treated with a roofing of boards,
oil-cloth, or something that will exclude rain,
as water getting among the foliage will be sure
to cause rot. This plant is also good for greens.

Every garden should have a few roots of
horseradish for spring use. It can be planted
in out-of-the-way corners, where it will not
interfere with other plants, and there it will
take care of itself if weeds and grass are kept
down. It grows from a division of old roots.
Simply a piece of root having a growing point,
or eye, under the ground, will speedily develop
into a strong plant. Let the soil be rich and
light. Young leaves of this plant make excel-
lent greens, as they have something of the
pungency peculiar to the grated root.

Those who grow and prepare their own
horseradish will have an article far superior,
in every respect, to the article to be bought of
grocers. To have it in perfection it must be
freshly dug and grated at once. It loses the
tang which makes it so delightful an excitant
of the appetite after standing for a short time

125

The Home Garden

in vinegar. Therefore it is advisable to pre-
pare it in small quantities, using freshly dug
root each time.

Swiss Chard is a variety of beet having very
large leaves. These, being tender and well
flavored, are much prized for greens. The
large midribs of the leaves are often cut out and
served like asparagus. Give the same culture
as advised for the beet.

Sweet marjoram is used as a seasoning for
soups and roasts by many, but most persons
prefer summer savory, which is somewhat
similar in flavor.

Dill is used to give a flavor to pickles, and
sometimes in soups and sauces.

Sweet Basil is valued as a flavoring for
highly seasoned soups and stews, and some-
times in salads.

XIII.

ASPARAGUS AND RHUBARB.

ASPARAGUS, one of the most delicious of all
vegetables, is doubly prized because it can be
had so early in the season. From old, well-
established plantings, it can be cut for at least
two months, or until other vegetables come
in to take its place.

It is a plant anyone can grow, and it will
grow almost anywhere. But it does not follow
from this that asparagus is a plant that will
take care of itself. True, it will live on and on,
and I do not know that it would ever die out,
though utterly neglected, but, in order to get
a fine article, it is very necessary that the plant
should be given care and cultivation. There
is no vegetable that we grow that will better
repay good treatment.

This vegetable seems to do best in rather
sandy soils, but, as has been said, it will grow
in all gardens, and do well if thoroughly ma-
nured, without much regard to the nature of
127

The Home Garden

the soil. Heavy soils will be greatly benefited
by working sand into them, until they take on
a friable quality. Plenty of food is the secret
of successful culture, with the amateur.

Asparagus can be grown from seed, or from
roots, which seedsmen furnish in one, two, and
three-year-old sizes. I would advise planting
roots, as you will get plants of cutting size a
year or two sooner than you will from seedlings,
and they will require less attention. Two-
year-old roots are best.

Conover's Colossal is one of the standard
varieties for planting at the north. The Mam-
moth is very fine flavored, tender, and prolific.
There are several other kinds listed in the cata-
logues, but there is very little difference be-
tween them. Most kinds are good. There is
not so much difference in quality as in size.
As a general thing, the larger sorts are coarser
than those of medium habit, but good cultiva-
tion will make almost any kind tender and fine
flavored.

Plant the roots in rows four feet apart, and
two and a half feet apart in the row.

The crowns of the plants should be at least
six inches below the surface. In order to get

128

Asparagus and Rhubarb

them deep enough, dig trenches to receive
them, making due allowance for the extra
depth required for the roots. Shallow planting
is never satisfactory.

Make the soil very rich by working into it
liberal quantities of well-decomposed manure.
Cow-manure is better than anything else, in
the line of fertilizers. Keep the ground free
from weeds. Cover the rows with coarse ma-
nure in fall. In spring, fork this covering into
the soil well, and add more manure. Keep the
ground about the plants well cultivated
throughout the season.

If the growth is strong, some may be cut
the second season. But do not cut close, or
later than the first fortnight.

Many advise a top-dressing of salt, each spring,
believing that the flavor of the plant is improved
thereby. I have never been able to see that any-
thing was gained by this application, except in
the way of keeping down weeds, and these will
be effectually disposed of without salt if you
cultivate the ground well. As I have said, more
depends on high feeding than anything else.

The asparagus beetle often does consid-
erable injury to the plants. An application
9 129

The Home Garden

of one part pyrethrum powder to five parts
flour is advised, dusting it lightly over the
plants.

Of late years, much harm has been done by
what is generally known as "rust." The
trouble really comes from a fungus which
attacks the plants and spreads rapidly from
spores. The best remedy I have any knowl-
edge of is the Bordeaux mixture spoken of in
the chapter on Insecticides and Fungicides.
Spray it all over the plants, as soon as the
presence of the fungus is discovered. If this
is not done promptly the entire plant will soon
take on a rusty, red look. Then the thing to
do is to cut the plants off close to the ground,
and burn the tops to make sure that no spores
are left to vegetate next season. But this
method should only be resorted to when other
means of checking the difficulty fail, as the top
is needed to complete the annual development
of the plant.

A bed of asparagus will be found one of the
most appreciable features of the home garden,
and, well made, it is good for a life time, grow-
ing better with age if the soil is thoroughly
enriched each year, and weeds and grass are
130

Asparagus and Rhubarb

prevented from crowding it. Whatever manure
is used should be well worked into the soil on
each side of the row — not simply spread on
the surface. Get it down where the roots can

get at it.

RHUBARB

Another of the vegetables no well-regulated
family can afford to go without is rhubarb. A
pie made from tender stalks of it in early spring
has all the deliciousness of an apple pie, and
a flavor that the latter seldom has without the
addition of spices. The housewife can make
use of it in so many ways that she will not
willingly be without it after having found out
what can be done with it. She will consider it
one of the garden standbys.

Rhubarb will, like asparagus, grow almost
anywhere, and under all conditions, but, to
get best results it must be given a deep, rich,
mellow soil, and the soil must be kept rich,
year after year.

Set in rows about four feet apart, and two
feet or more apart in the row. Three feet
would be better, if one does not have to econ-
omize space, as old plants make a very strong
growth, and cover a large amount of surface.

131

The Home Garden

Rhubarb is a gross feeder,' and speedily
exhausts the soil in which it is planted, there-
fore manure must be used in very liberal quan-
tities, or there will soon be a falling off in the
size and quality of the plant. To be tender
and delicate in flavor, it must make a rapid
growth in spring.

Cover the roots with coarse litter in fall, and
work this into the soil in spring, adding a gen-
erous amount of well-rotted manure from the
barnyard, at the same time. Do this as soon
as the frost is out of the ground.

Be sure to keep all flowering stalks cut
off. If it is allowed to develop seed, the
plant will throw all its energies into this per-
formance, and next season you will be likely
to have a greatly weakened plant as a natural
consequence.

You can have rhubarb very early in the
season by setting a headless barrel over a plant
as soon as the frost is out of the ground, and
banking up about it with horse-manure. The
young stalks, , from such forcing, will be ex-
tremely delicate in texture, and of the finest
flavor, and will lack the acidity which charac-
terizes the later growth.

132

Asparagus and Rhubarb

Large clumps of roots may be taken up in
fall, packed in boxes, and stored away in sheds
where they will remain dormant for a time.
Then take them to the cellar, give them a
place where they will get some light and a
moderate amount of warmth, and in a little
while they will begin to grow, and from them
you will get material for pies that will be highly
enjoyable in midwinter.

XIV.

STRAWBERRIES

PERHAPS no fruit has been more written
about than the strawberry. Its popularity
increases constantly, because those who have
gardens find on trial that they can grow it
very satisfactorily, if not to perfection.

Nearly every amateur who begins straw-
berry cultivation feels in duty bound to "read
up" about it before making a start, and so
voluminous is our literature along this line
that after he has read several "Books on the
Strawberry" he is more at a loss as to what to
do than he was before he began his investiga-
tions, because almost every author advises
his own particular method as the method par
excellence, and the beginner does not consider
himself competent to decide between those
who set themselves up as authority. This is
not to be wondered at, for growers and writers
differ greatly about some features of straw-
berry growing. This difference, I am inclined

134

m

Strawberries

to think, is largely the results of a difference in
location and soil, which fact the writers have
ignored to a considerable extent, laying stress
on method more than anything else.

The fact is, the strawberry is a plant that
will do comparatively well under almost any
culture, provided it really is culture. Simply
setting out plants and letting them take care
of themselves after that is not culture. Culture
means care and attention, and if the straw-
berry is given even a small amount of either
it will do better than almost anything else
that can be grown in the home garden. This
I have satisfied myself of from several years
of personal experience and observation.

So elaborate are the instructions given by
some writers on this fruit that the amateur
cannot be expected to follow them, because
he cannot give all his time to one phase of gar-
dening, as he would be obliged to do if he were
to set out to grow strawberries according to
some of the so-called scientific methods. The
writer of this book once attempted to do that,
but he soon came to the conclusion that a
common-sense method was preferable, and he
has been very well satisfied with the result.

135

The Home Garden

The instructions which follow tell -how he has
grown this delicious fruit for a good many
years in his own garden. They do not claim to
be scientific in any sense of the term — just sen-
sible, from the standpoint of the home gardener.

I would advise making the strawberry bed
in spring, because the plants will have all the
season to grow in and will attain a fine condi-
tion for giving a full crop the following season.
If set out in fall — as they can be, to good ad-
vantage, if the work cannot be done in spring —
they will give a partial crop the next season,
but not a full crop until the following year.

In getting the ground ready for the reception
of plants, plow or spade it well, and work the
soil over until it is fine and mellow, incorpo-
rating with it a generous amount of well-rotted
barnyard-manure, or, in case you cannot obtain
this, such fertilizers as those who are familiar
with the soil in your locality think are needed.
It is necessary that the soil be quite, rich if you
want a strong development of plants, and a
good crop of fruit depends largely on this. On
no account make use of fresh manure.

Lay the plantation off into rows at least
three feet apart. Four would be better, if
136

Strawberries

you can spare the ground. Set the plants at
least eighteen inches apart in the row. A good
many persons advise a foot, but I have found
that plants set as closely as that are pretty
sure to crowd each other, if they make a strong
growth, and this is something to guard against
while they are making their first season's
development. Plant farther apart and you
will get more and finer fruit from a less number
of plants than you would from a larger number
closely set.

In setting the plants be very careful to do
good work, as much depends on the start they
get early in the season, and, if carelessly planted,
they will be a long time in getting thoroughly
established. It does not take long to set them
out in a haphazard way, but the plants will
lose a thousand-fold more time by that method
of planting than you will gain. Well-set plants
will begin to grow right away, and as they
will have none of the difficulties of poor plant-
ing to overcome their development will be rapid
from the start. Spread out their roots as evenly
and naturally as possible, and make the soil
firm about them by pressing it down with the
foot. Cut away all bruised and diseased leaves
137

The Home Garden

at the time of planting, and, if the plants have
been long out of the ground, shorten their roots
somewhat. This can be rapidly and easily
done by gathering them together in the left
hand, holding them in a compact bunch, and
clipping off their tips squarely with a sharp
knife or the pruning-shears. If this is done,
the shortened roots will soon send out feeders
from their tips, and the plants will get a much
stronger and speedier start than they would if
planted with the old more or less mutilated
roots left in the condition in which they were
sent out by the grower. This is true of almost
all plants grown from a division of the roots.

If the plants are quite dry when received,
place them in a pan of water for a short time
before planting.

If you procure your plants from a friend
and must carry them some distance, either pud-
dle their roots by dipping them in a mixture of
clay and water of the consistency of cream, or
pack them in damp moss. Care should always
be taken to keep the roots of strawberry plants
moist from lifting to planting time.

Early in the season the plants will begin to
throw out runners. Go along the rows, at

138

Strawberries

least once a week, and with a sharp spade cut
off every runner that reaches over a foot from
the plant into the row. Those in the row need
not be interfered with.

After cutting the runners away from the
plants, go between the rows with the garden
cultivator and uproot every plant that has
begun to establish itself there. Keep the
ground well stirred and wholly free from weeds.
This is easily done if the cultivator is kept
going throughout the season.

Clipping off the ends of the runners will
throw the strength of the plant into the devel-
opment of itself, and the result will be strong,
sturdy specimens at the close of the season,
from which a good crop of fruit can reasonably
be expected the next summer.

The above gives the treatment I would
advise for the first year.

The second year, after the crop has been
gathered, I would allow runners to reach out
between the rows and take root there. It is
highly important that the ground between the
rows be well fertilized, frequently cultivated,
and kept entirely free from weeds, in order to
give these runners a chance to secure a good

139

The Home Garden

foothold. After they have begun to throw out
Toots from their joints, the use of the cultivator
can be dispensed with in their immediate
locality.

After a sufficient number of plants have
gotten started between the rows to furnish as
many as you think are needed, cut them loose
from the old plants, and then go through the
old row with the cultivator, uprooting every
plant, or, if you choose to do so, turn them
under with the spade. By this method you
get a fresh set of roots for fruiting each season
and crop them but once, and by allowing them
to plant themselves by runner-propagation,
you are saved the trouble of preparing new beds.
Another advantage gained is that each year
the plants are shifted to soil that has not been
exhausted by a crop of fruit, but has been
made rich for the reception of new plants.

I have grown strawberries in this way, in
the same bed for several years in succession.
Shifting the rows each year, as described, has
kept the plants as strong and healthy as they
would have been if set out in entirely new beds.
And why should they not be, since they renew
themselves each season?

140

Strawberries

The work of growing strawberries is greatly
simplified by this method, and any amateur
can understand it perfectly and see the advan-
tages of it readily.

In fall, cover the plants with coarse hay or
straw, but do not use too much or you may
smother them. It should not be more than
three inches deep. Some advise leaving this
on the ground, in spring, to prevent the berries
from coming in contact with the soil, but I
would prefer taking the chances of their keep-
ing clean without it, as it interferes greatly
with the use of the cultivator, and you cannot
afford to let the ground go unworked about
your plants.

In spring, a liberal amount of good manure
should be applied. This should go into the
soil close to the roots of the plants.

Some varieties are staminate, some pistillate.
Pistillate varieties must have perfect-flowered
plants every eight or nine feet in the row, to
pollenize them.

There are so many fine sorts on the market
that it is not an easy matter to decide which
are best. Indeed, it is not possible to decide this
matter except in a general way, because some

141

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

The Home Garden

kinds do well in one soil and poorly in another.
Before deciding on what kind to plant, ascer-
tain from growers in your neighborhood what
sorts they have succeeded with, and be gov-
erned largely by their advice.

Among the most popular varieties in general
cultivation today are Bederwood, large, early,
and a great bearer, Haverland, early and won-
derfully productive; Sample, late, large, pro-
ductive and fine-flavored; Sharpless, large,
rich, and a great mid-season bearer, and Gandy,
very late (a comparatively new candidate for
popular favor that everyone who has grown it
speaks well of). In order to prolong the season,
I would advise planting both early and late
sorts.

XV.

RASPBERRIES AND BLACKBERRIES

THE home garden is not complete unless it
contains such small fruits as the raspberry and
blackberry. They are second only to the straw-
berry in general flavor, and both would be
much more extensively grown than they are
at present if persons understood how easily
they can be managed, and what generous
returns they make for the comparatively small
amount of care they require.

The raspberry is much more widely culti-
vated than the blackberry, for several reasons :

1. It is considered hardier.

2. It yields more bountifully.

3. It is supposed to require less care.

The first reason I consider of little account,
because both plants must be given some pro-
tection in winter, at the north, in order to bring
them through safely. And it is just as easy to
protect one as the other.

While it may be true that one gets more
143

The Home Garden

fruit from the raspberry than from the black-
berry, it is not the equal of the latter in quality,
therefore where quality is considered of more
importance than quantity one cannot afford to
overlook the latter plant. I would not be
understood, from this, as meaning to convey
the impression that the raspberry is an inferior
fruit. It is really a most excellent one. But
the peculiar flavor and wine-like juiciness of
the blackberry, combined with its delightful
acidity, makes it a general favorite wherever
it is grown to perfection. In short, while the
raspberry is good — very good indeed — the
blackberry is a little better.

The prevalent impression that the black-
berry requires more care than the raspberry
is not well founded. In fact, it can be grown
quite as easily. Both plants are grown from
root-cuttings, as a general thing. That is,
nurserymen procure their stock from that
manner of propagation, and it is the best
method for the amateur to follow if he sets out
to grow his own plants, because it is likely to
give stronger plants than any other. Old
plants are dug up, and their roots are cut apart
in such a manner that each piece reserved for

144

Raspberries and Blackberries

planting has a growing point. These pieces,
taken in fall, are put into boxes of sand, and
buried in the ground and left there over winter.
A callus forms on each piece during the winter,
from which roots will be emitted later on, when
the pieces are planted in the open ground, in
spring. The nature of this callus is not very
clearly understood, as yet, but it is supposed
that it in some way supports the root-cutting
until such a time as roots are formed for that
purpose. These cuttings should be planted in
rows in fine soil, and left there until they have
made considerable growth. Then they should
be transplanted to the place in the garden
where they are expected to bear fruit.

Let me say, right here, that all kinds of small
fruit should be planted at one side of the vege-
table garden, or somewhere where they will
not interfere with the plowing and cultivating
of the latter. Give them a place of their own,
and make it a permanent one.

Most amateur gardeners will prefer to pur-
chase their plants of the nurseryman. Indeed,
this is the most satisfactory thing to do, unless
one chooses from motives of economy to prop-
agate his own stock from old roots which he
10 145

The Home Garden

can procure from a neighbor who has plants to
give away.

The plants sent out from the dealers will be
one-year-old ones. That is, they will have had
one season's growth from root-cuttings. Set
them out in rows five feet apart, and at least
four feet apart in the row. Five, or even six,
will be better, if you have plenty of garden
space at your disposal, as that will give you
more room to work among them. They will
be likely to about half cover the ground the
first season, if you give them a rich soil and
keep them going steadily ahead, as you should
if you expect a good crop of fruit from them
next year.

Keep the cultivator going among them most
of the season. If they do not seem to be mak-
ing as strong a growth as you think necessary
apply more manure, and work it well about the
roots of the plants.

After the first year, when the plants have
become thoroughly established, they will make
so strong a growth that they will meet in the
rows, and it will be a difficult matter to use the
cultivator between them. Here the hoe will
come in play.

146

Raspberries and Blackberries

My method of training is this: I set stakes
about eight feet apart, on each side of the row,
about a foot away from the plants. These
stakes should be at least four feet tall, and
stout enough to stand the strain of two wires
run along them from one end of the row to the
other, one about two feet from the ground, and
the other at the top. To these wires, in spring,
I tie the canes of last year's growth, — the fruit-
ing stalks of the plants, — dividing them as
evenly as possible between the two sides of the
row.

This answers a two-fold purpose. It supports
the canes in such a manner that they are easily
gotten at, at picking time, and their fruit is
kept away from the dirt into which some of
them would be likely to fall, under their own
weight, if no support were given. And it allows
the new growth of the season to be thrown up
in the middle of the row where it will not inter-
fere in the least with the fruit-bearing portions
of the plants.

After the old canes have ripened their crop
of fruit, cut them off. They have completed
their work, and the sooner they are out of the
way the better. Next year the growth of this

The Home Garden

season should be spread out and tied to the
wires in the same manner, and the plants
allowed to renew themselves by sending up a
growth of canes, as described above. This
process goes on year after year. The old roots
remain, but we get an entirely new growth of
fruiting stalks each season.

This method will be found very satisfactory,
as it keeps the growth of each season apart,
and makes it easy to remove the old wood. It
is not an easy matter to do this if the growth
of each season is allowed to mix with each
other. It is largely because of this difficulty
that so many plantations of these plants are
neglected. One cannot handle the plants with-
out serious injury to the hands, therefore they
are let alone, and after a year or two of neglect
they fail to give good crops and it is decided
that the raspberries "have run out," and the
plants are torn up and raspberry growing is
abandoned as a failure. The failure is not
with the plants. It is in the method of
caring for them.

At the time of cutting away the old canes, I
remove the stakes and wires because they will
be in the way when the time comes to give the

Raspberries and Blackberries

plants winter protection, and they also inter-
fere with the use of the cultivator, which
should be run along the rows frequently after
the seasons' crop of fruit has been gathered, to
keep grass and weeds from getting established
among the plants, and to prevent the soil from
becoming hard.

Many ''scientific" growers of these plants
advocate a system of pruning for the young
growth of each season which is so complex in
its details that I do not believe one amateur
in a thousand ever attempts to follow it. I
am frank to admit that I never have, because
I could never see the necessity of it, for one
thing, and I did not have the time to devote
to such elaborate treatment, for another. My
system of pruning is so simple that there is
really hardly enough about it to be called a
system. It consists in nipping off the top of
the young canes, when they are about three
feet high. This encourages the production of
laterals, and gives as much bearing surface as
the plants can do justice to. This is all the
pruning my plants get, except in the cutting
away of the old growth, after fruiting, and the
occasional thinning out of young canes if there

149

The Home Garden

seems to be more than are necessary. If a
cane is pinched back when about three feet
tall, it will not make more than a foot more of
growth, that season, and this will make it just
about the right height to tie to your upper
wire in spring.

The ground should be well manured each
season. Work whatever fertilizer you use into
the soil about the roots, that the plants may
get the full benefit of it early in the season,
when fruit is setting. By keeping the soil
highly manured, you increase the size of the
fruit and you secure a strong growth of canes
for fruiting next season. A little considera-
tion of the matter will show you the necessity
of using manure liberally. Do not lose sight
of the fact that the plants have a double
work to do — fruiting and self-perpetuation —
and that they must be liberally fed in order
to be able to do this work well. Indeed, if
neglected for a single season, they will show
signs of deterioration, and it will take some
time to bring them back to the vigor they
should never have been allowed to lose.

If given proper care, a plantation of these
fruits will remain in healthy condition for

150

Raspberries and Blackberries

years. There is no reason why they should
not if they are encouraged to fully renew them-
selves annually.

Both raspberries and blackberries should
have protection in winter, at the north. My
method of caring for them is this: I begin at
the end of the row, and gather all the canes in
a hill into a bunch, and bend them down to the
ground as flatly as possible, working slowly
and carefully, to avoid breaking or cracking
the stalks at their junction with the roots. It
is well to have an assistant when this work is
done. One cannot do it very well alone. Let
one person bend the plants over and hold them
down, while the other puts a spadeful of soil
on them to keep them in place. Then take
the next hill, bend it down so that its top
overlaps the crown of the hill first treated, and
so continue until all the plants in a row are
flat, and in a line from one end of it to the
other. Then go along the rows, a man on each
side, and with a spade throw soil up against the
plants. After having done this, I put on a
covering of coarse litter from the barnyard.
Straw or hay will answer the same purpose.
This is given to shade such parts of the plants
151

The Home Garden

as are left exposed, not to keep out frost, as
some might suppose. It is not frost which
injures a tender plant. It is exposure to sun-
shine, which extracts frost. At night, the
plant freezes again, and the frequent alterna-
tions of freezing and thawing results in a rup-
ture of plant-cells. The covering of mulch
keeps out the sun, and the canes remain frozen,
which is precisely what we want.

In spring, after the frost is out of the ground,
remove the covering of mulch, and go along
the rows with a pitchfork, inserting its tines
under the canes and lifting them carefully out
of the soil that was thrown over them in fall.
At first they will have anything but an upright
look, but as the sap begins to circulate in them
they will resume their old position, and they
can then be tied to the wires which should not
be put in place until after the bushes have
received their spring manuring, and the soil has
been levelled down about them. Barnyard
manure is best of all, but if it cannot be
obtained, bone meal and other commercial
fertilizers will give excellent results.

The following varieties are suited to general
culture :

152

Raspberries and Blackberries

BLACK RASPBERRIES. — Gregg. Large, pro-
ductive, and fine flavored. One of the standard
black-cap sorts.

Miami Black Cap. Sweet, juicy, and very
productive.

Ohio Everbearing. Large, sweet, and very
productive. This variety gives a fall crop
from the canes of the current season's
growth.

Seneca. Large and fine flavored. A variety
that always sells well.

PURPLE SORTS. — Philadelphia. Good size,
very hardy, wonderfully prolific.

Purple Cane. Medium size, sweet, and high
flavored, strong in habit, and very productive.
Excellent for home use, but too soft for
marketing.

RED RASPBERRIES. — Cuthbert. Bright red,
large, firm fleshed, but juicy. Very prolific.

Antwerp. Large, sweet, and with a pecu-
liarly sprightly flavor. The standard market
sort at the east.

BLACKBERRIES. — Snyder. Very hardy. Not
as large as some other kinds, but desirable
because of its ability to stand a northern winter
better than most sorts.

153

The Home Garden

Western Triumph. Very large, sweet, and
juicy. Too soft for market purposes, but
excellent for home use.

Wilson's Early. Large, firm, sweet, and fine
flavored. Very early, ripening at least two
weeks sooner than ordinary varieties.

Ancient Briton. A small-berried kind from
Wisconsin. Sweet, juicy, and of superior
flavor. Very productive, valuable because it
succeeds on soils where other kinds are failures.

XVI.

THE CURRANT AND THE GOOSEBERRY

THE currant is one of the best of all small
fruits for general cultivation for several reasons :
It seldom fails to bear a good crop. It is very
hardy, requiring no protection in winter, even
at the extreme north. It is of such easy culture
that anyone can grow it who is willing to give
it a little attention. It is one of the most
healthful of all garden fruits. And it is one of
the housewife's standbys, being unsurpassed
for jellies, jams, preserving, pickling, and spic-
ing, its delightful and sprightly acidity making
it an almost necessary accompaniment of many
meat dishes, with which a relish having a
piquant flavor is demanded. For eating while
fresh it is one of the pleasantest of all fruits
with those who like something tart and juicy.
The writer of this book much prefers it to
the cherry.

Every garden should have a dozen or more
bushes of it. With good cultivation this num-

The Home Garden

her of bushes will yield so generously that few
families will need more.

The currant likes a rather heavy soil. One
containing considerable clay suits it better than
a light loam, but it will do very well in the
latter. One thing it insists on, however, if you
would have it bear good crops of fine, large
fruit, and that is, plenty of manure. It is a
gross feeder, and no one need be afraid of
using too much fertilizer in the currant patch.

Plants are easily grown from cuttings. Take
half -ripened wood for this purpose. Cut it in
six-inch lengths, and insert all but about two
inches in the ground. In a short time roots
will form. Set the plants thus secured in rows,
in early fall, about a foot apart. Let them
grow there until next season. They will be good,
strong plants by fall. As soon as their foliage
begins to show signs of ripening, set them in
the rows where they are to fruit. There should
be about four feet between the plants, and the
rows should be six feet apart. Take up the
young plants carefully, and make sure that
the earth is packed firmly about their roots.
Though there will be no more growth of top
this season, they will be establishing themselves

156

The Currant and the Gooseberry

during the interval between transplanting and
the coming of cold weather, and next year a
fair crop of fruit can reasonably be expected
from them. But a full crop cannot be expected
until the bushes have attained greater size. It
takes a currant about four years from the
cutting to reach its prime.

Some advise training the plant as a standard
— that is, allowing no shoots to grow from the
base, but keeping it to one stalk. I prefer the
bush form. I believe we get a much larger
crop of fruit from it, and, in case of accident,
the whole plant is not likely to be destroyed,
as would be the case if it were trained to a
single stalk.

I would advise letting at least half a dozen
stalks grow from the base of each plant. After
this number get a good start, I would rub off
all other shoots that appear and allow no more
to grow until next season. Then I would allow
another half dozen to develop, with a view to
removing the older ones, by and by, thus
renewing the plant from time to time and keep-
ing it strong and vigorous.

Each season I would go over each bush and
cut out all weak wood, and thin it, if thick, so

157

The Home Garden

that air can circulate freely. This, with the
removal from time to time of the older growth,
is about all the pruning I consider necessary.
At any rate, it is about all that my bushes get,
and I am well satisfied with my yearly currant
crop. I get large, perfect fruit in abundance,
but it is the result of high feeding, rather than
of any other treatment. Manure your currants
well and pruning is a matter of secondary impor-
tance, except, as has been said, for the removal
of weak wood and the purpose of occasional
renewal. You cannot make any system of train-
ing and pruning take the place of manuring.

The ground about the bushes should be well
worked and kept free from weeds and grass.
This is a matter of very great importance. If
the season happens to be a dry, hot one, it is a
good plan to cover the soil with mulch. Mois-
ture and coolness at the root are necessary to
the development of a fine crop of fruit.

The currant- worm often destroys the season's
crop in a few days if let alone. As soon as its
presence is discovered, dust powdered helle-
bore over the entire plant. Care should be
taken to get the fresh article. Old powder is
generally worthless. Put it on the plants

158

The Currant and the Gooseberry

while they are wet with dew. Use it promptly
and thoroughly, and repeat the operation
daily, until not a worm is to be seen.

Sometimes the currant-borer does a good
deal of damage. If you find a shoot that seems
lacking in vigor, and whose leaves have begun
to turn yellow early in the season, examine
its stalks closely, and in most instances you
will discover the hole through which it has
made entrance to the stalk. Cut away every
such shoot. There is no application that will
prove effective, as it will not reach the place
where the borer is hidden away.

Below I give a list of some of the best varie-
ties for the amateur:

Cherry. Very large, wonderfully productive.

Red Dutch. Large, rich, and fine flavored.
Great bearer. One of the standard kinds.

White Grape. Considered the best white
kind. Large, juicy, rich and sweet.

White Dutch. A very fine sort. Large, rich
in flavor, and sweeter than any other kind.

Black Naples. Enormous berry. Sweet,
with a peculiar musky flavor which some
persons dislike, but which most persons will
appreciate after a little, if they do not at first.

159

The Home Garden

The gooseberry requires very nearly the
same treatment as the currant. Care must
be taken, however, to thin out the bush so
that there will be a free circulation of air. If
this is not done mildew will most likely result
from dampness, and the crop will be a failure.
The only effective remedy for mildew, so far
as my experience goes, is flower of sulphur
dusted over the entire plant while its leaves
are damp. The open-head system of pruning
is, however, in my opinion, the best preventive
of this disease. That, and high feeding, which
makes the bush so strong that it overcomes the
disease by its own vigor. I would advise plant-
ing the gooseberry in airy locations, fully
exposed to sunshine, but sheltered from cold
winds and draughts, and keeping the ground
cool by the liberal use of mulch.

Perhaps the best varieties are Downing, and
Houghton's Seedling.

XVII.

THE GRAPE

THE fact that so much has been written
about the grape and its culture goes to prove
its popularity. But this fact also acts as a
discouraging factor with the amateur who is
inclined to attempt its cultivation, for, as soon
as he begins to "read up'* on grape culture, he
finds himself facing so many theories that he
soon gets sorely bewildered, and the result
generally is that he abandons his plan because
he feels himself incompetent to decide which
of the many theories advocated he would be
justified in following. In this connection I
quote a paragraph from a recent article by
E. P. Snell which I consider very pertinent to
the subject in hand, and in which the writer
fully expresses my opinion:

"So much has been written and said on the
question of pruning that people have come to
think it a matter almost beyond ordinary com-
prehension. The many different methods advo-
ii 161

The Home Garden

cated are simply the opinions of many different
persons, all aiming at the one object, but differ-
ing in methods and correspondingly in results.
The one object of pruning is to keep the vine
in a thrifty, healthy condition from year to
year, by removing all of the superfluous growth
of wood. The true method, and the one I try
to follow, may be described as an ounce of good
judgment combined with all the experience one
may have at command. A vine, to be profit-
able, must be so pruned as to be able to
mature and ripen perfectly the greatest amount
of fruit possible without injury to itself from
overloading. And to determine the capacity
of the vine, we must take into consideration
conditions resulting from last year's growth.
If the wood is short, the canes spindling, and
they have not matured more than three feet
of their growth before frost, we may be
sure that the vine was overloaded, and next
season at least a third less fruit buds should
be left. So, also, if the vine has made an
abundant growth of wood, we may know that
a greater number of fruit buds may be left
on for the following season, for it is reas-
onable that a strong and healthy crop of

162

The Grape

wood indicates the vine's ability to produce
a larger crop of fruit."

All of which means, when you come to sum
it up, that an overloaded vine will make but
poor growth of wood each season, and that the
appearance of a vine at the end of the season
will tell you whether you have asked too much
or too little of it.

This simplifies matters very much for the
amateur, for it gives him something definite to
base an opinion on. Let him discard theories,
and plant his grape-vines, treat them in what
he considers a common-sense way, and wait
for results, watching them carefully, and he
will soon gain the facts from his experience
which will enable him to make a success of his
undertaking. Anybody can grow this delicious
fruit who sets about it, and grow it well, too,
and that without being a "scientific" grape-
culturist.

My advice as to pruning is this: Watch the
vines carefully as they make their annual
growth, and rub off all but three or four of the
strongest canes that start. Allow no others
to grow during the season. This throws the
strength of the plant into a few branches. In

163

The Home Garden

fall, when the vines are laid down for winter,
cut away all but three or four feet of this
growth. Or, if you choose to do so, you can
nip off the ends of these vines after they have
made four or five feet of growth, during the
growing season. The only objection to this
plan is, that if done quite early side branches
are sometimes set out, and this is not desirable.
Some prefer to let pruning wait until spring.
I do not think it makes much difference when
it is done. The object is to shorten the branch,
and it is well to do this at a time when it will
bleed least. In spring, when fruit buds appear,
rub off at least half that start. Apply the ad-
vice given above by Mr. Snell as to the number
you leave, basing your action on the general
appearance of the vine. These things you must
determine largely for yourself, for no advice
can be given which will fit all cases fully.

"In pruning, remember that it is the new
wood which bears the fruit. Remember, also,
that the root can support only about so much
stalk, and the less wood you have the larger
the bunches of fruit. Little wood means full
bunches. Long, straggling canes mean clusters
bearing only a few berries each." That is what

164

The Grape

Green's " Fruit-Grower " has to say on this
subject, and it strikes me as putting the whole
matter in a nutshell.

The grape does very well in most soils, but
it seems to have more of a liking for a gravelly
loam than for a heavier soil. It likes liberal
applications of manure yearly, but my experi-
ence goes to show that it does not care to have
it worked very deeply into the soil. Spread
manure on the surface, cover it with a mulch,
and let the plants get the benefit from rains
which will extract its nutriment and carry it
down into the earth about their roots. I am
inclined to think that anything which disturbs
the roots of a grape interferes with its vigor,
temporarily at least, and that deep working of
the soil is not advisable. But this will not pre-
vent you from keeping the ground clean about
the plants. Allow not a weed to grow there.

Train your plants on a wire trellis, spreading
the canes out horizontally, and tying them
well as soon as they are lifted from the ground
in spring.

In fall, just before cold weather seems likely
to set in, cut the vines loose from their trellis,
and lay them flat on the ground, and cover

165

The Home Garden

with five or six inches of earth. Do not be in
too great a hurry to uncover them in spring.
Wait until the weather is warm enough to
encourage growth.

The best general purpose grape for culture
at the north is the Concord. This- succeeds
everywhere and under almost any conditions.

Delaware is a red grape, sweet, and delici-
ously flavored.

If you have a dealer in small-fruit plants in
your locality, it might be well to consult him
before setting out grape-vines. He will doubt-
less be able to tell you what kinds do best
there.

I have advised covering grape-vines in fall.
In many sections of the north, this is not neces-
sary. In many localities, however, this must
be done, if one would have his vines come
through the winter in good condition. The
practice which prevails in different sections of
the country will enable the reader to decide
this matter for himself.

THE GARDENER'S CALENDAR

SUGGESTIONS AND REMINDERS OF WORK APPROPRIATE
TO EACH MONTH

JANUARY

THERE will not be much doing in strictly
gardening operations this month, but one can
be getting ready for the actual work of
spring.

Material for hot-beds and cold-frames can
be got ready now. Everything can be done
except putting them together. It is an excellent
plan to paint them outside and in. If this is
done, they will last for years, if it is not done,
they will soon begin to decay from the effect of
heat and moisture.

I would advise putting the frames together
with screws. This will admit of your taking
them apart easily, after their use for the season
is over, without breaking or otherwise injuring
them, and they can be piled away in small
space until wanted again. If not taken apart,
they will be quite sure to be broken, as, from

167

The Home Garden

their bulkiness, they will always be in the way
no matter where you put them.

You can save something by buying your
sash unglazed and putting in the glass at home.
For this purpose use the prepared putty sold
under the name of Mastica. It is soft and
easily applied, but soon hardens, and will last
much longer than ordinary putty, which is
generally adulterated with whiting. Paint
the sash well before glazing. If you do not,
the putty will not adhere to it.

It will be found wise economy to use double-
strength glass, for hot-bed and cold-frame sash.
Look each pane over carefully when you pur-
chase it, and reject those having spots and
air-bubbles in them. These will act on the
principle of a burning-glass, and focus the rays
of the sun in such a manner that they will
burn the plants beneath them.

Get manure together for spring use. It can
be piled in little heaps about the garden. Cover
it to protect from rain. Order your fertilizers
now, if you propose to make use of any.

It is a good plan to order seeds early in the
season. If you put off doing this until the
season of gardening operations is opening, you

168

The Gardener's Calendar

may be disappointed in getting them when
wanted, and you take the chances of getting
a poorer quality.

Don't let the pages of the catalogues devoted
to "novelties" tempt you into investing in
new things. Not one "novelty" in a hundred
is worth growing. Hold fast to the varieties
whose merit has been amply proved.

Go over the garden tools and make what-
ever repairs may be needed. It is a most
vexatious thing to find that a garden tool,
when you need it, is out of repair, and you
must stop and put it in proper shape.

It is a good plan to give all woodwork about
garden tools a coat or two of paint. They will
last enough longer to make it richly worth
while.

Racks and trellises can be made now. Posts
for stringing wires on to support grape-vines,
raspberries, and the like can be got ready now.
Racks for tomatoes should be very substantially
made, as they will have to sustain considerable
weight.

Think out the work that will be upon you
with a rush a little later, and do all of it that
can be done in advance.

169

The Home Garden

FEBRUARY

Hot-beds for very early plants can be made
this month. See chapter on Hot-beds and
Cold-Frames for directions.

Mushrooms can be grown at this season as
well as any other if the proper degree of tem-
perature can be maintained.

If the cellar supply of salsify and parsnip
has run short, plants can be dug from the open
ground with but little difficulty, if the snow is
not deep. Chop down about the roots with an
old axe, cutting the frozen earth away as if it
were wood. The roots will generally come out
whole and uninjured, if you work carefully.

If potatoes, cabbages, and other vegetables
have been stored in pits, they can be got at
safely, on pleasant days, if care is taken to
bank up the opening well afterward. Vege-
tables kept in this way will be found to have
a most delicious flavor after having eaten
cellar-stored ones for several months.

Pruning of all kinds of fruit-trees is now in
order. Let your knife be sharp, that it may
make a smooth cut. It is well to go over the
cut surface with a coat of good paint, immedi-
ately after pruning.

170

The Gardener's Calendar

Look over the vegetables in the cellar and
remove all that show the least indication of
decay. This will be for the benefit of the
remaining vegetables, as well as for the health
of the family.

This is a good time of the year in which to
draw up your garden plans. Don't be satisfied
with the first plan. Look it over sharply and
see if it cannot be improved. Plan for economy
of space as well as labor. Too many gardens
are simply jumbled together. No attention is
given to orderly arrangement. The result is
unsatisfactory from all points of view. Study
up on the habits of the plants you intend to
grow, and locate them in such a manner that
there will be no interference between them,
as they develop. This can easily be done if you
give the matter a little careful consideration.

MARCH

Hot-bed making will now be in order. Do
the work carefully, if you want good results.

Get the cold-frames ready for the reception
of plants from the hot-bed as soon as they are
in a condition to make the change. The longer
a plant is left in the hot-bed after it is ready

171

The Home Garden

for the cold-frame, the less strength it will
have.

Give the hot-bed close attention after seed
is sown in it. After the plants are up, open
the sash just a little, in pleasant weather, to
let moisture escape which has gathered on the
glass. But do not keep it open for more than
a minute or two at a time, and never open it
when the wind blows from a quarter that will
let it strike on the plants, unless you can shield
them from the draught.

If water is to be given, apply it from a pot
having a fine-spray nozzle, and let it be of the
temperature of the air inside the hot-bed. Use
as little as possible. Aim to keep the soil
moist, not wet.

If the snow has gone, boxes and barrels can
be placed about clumps of rhubarb to encourage
an early growth. Bank up about them with
horse-manure. Cover the barrels or boxes at
night. In fact, keep them covered, day and
night, until the plants begin to grow.

If you cannot have a hot-bed, plants can be

started in boxes in the living-room. They will

not do as well as in the hot-bed, but, with

careful management, they can be forced to

172

The Gardener's Calendar

make a fairly healthy growth. Care must be
taken to give only enough water to keep the
soil moist, but, on no account, must it be
allowed to get dry, for that would mean the
loss of your seedlings. Apply water with a
fine sprayer. A stream would be likely to wash
some of the plants out of the ground. Aim to
keep the temperature as even as possible,
ranging from 65° to 70° by day, and about 10°
lower at night. Do not fail to admit fresh air
to the room daily. This can be done safely,
on cold days, by opening a door or window at
some distance from the plants, and letting the
outdoor air become warm before it reaches
them, by mixing with the air of the room.
Expose the plants to all the sunshine possible.
The principal danger in growing seedlings in
the living-room comes from excessive heat,
too much moisture in the soil, and too little
in the air of the room. Keep basins of water
constantly evaporating on the stove. Sprinkle
about the plants, but do not throw any water
on them.

It is well to keep these plants in a room
adjoining that in which there is fire heat, after
the second or third week, as they will do better

173

The Home Garden

there than in a warmer place. The aim is to
give them a good start-off without forcing
them. A forced growth is always an unhealthy
one, remember. In too hot a room they grow
up weak and spindling, and are generally so
lacking in vital force that plants grown from
seed sown in the Open ground a month or six
weeks later are almost sure to get ahead of
them before they have recovered from the
check of transplanting.

It is a most excellent plan to put these plants
out of doors on warm, sunshiny days, for two
or three hours during the middle of the day,
if they can be given a place sheltered from the
wind. Be sure to bring them in before the
temperature begins to fall, as it will about
three o'clock, or perhaps earlier.

Cabbages which have been wintered in pits
can be taken out now, their outside leaves cut
away, and the heads stored in the cellar for
immediate use. It is not safe to leave them
where the water from the upper soil will get

to them.

APRIL

If currants and gooseberries were not
trimmed in fall, go over the bushes now and
174

The Gardener's Calendar

cut out all weak wood. If it is thick, thin it
considerably. Manure liberally.

All kinds of small fruit can be set out as soon
as the ground is in good working condition.
But do not be in too great a hurry, and
plant it in mud.

Unleached wood-ashes and bone meal, mixed,
make an excellent manure for garden crops
and small fruit. Do not fail to make use of it
if you are short on barn-yard fertilizer. Apply
a top dressing of it to grapes, currants and
gooseberries early in the season.

Peas should be sown after the middle of the
month, if the soil is in a condition to warrant.

The hardier kinds of garden vegetables can
be put into the ground the latter part of the
month, along the central and southern portion
of the northern states, if the season has not
been cold and backward. If it has, it is better
to wait a little. Nothing is gained by being
in too much of a hurry. Often all is lost and
all has to be done over.

Remove the winter mulching from the straw-
berry bed. Make new beds, if you did not set
out plants last year. Work the ground over
thoroughly, and use only strong, vigorous

175

The Home Garden

plants. It pays to buy your plants from the
dealer, rather than to pick them up all over
the neighborhood. You have to buy them, if
you want to be sure of what you are planting.

Seedlings can be transplanted from hot-bed
to cold-frame. Remove the sashes daily from
the latter, to harden off the plants in them.

Plow the garden, or spade it, as soon as the
ground is rid of surplus moisture.

MAY

The cultivator will have to be used exten-
sively this month, for weeds start early in the
season, and we must get (and keep) ahead.

Sow dandelion for future use, as soon as its
seed ripens.

Insects must be watched carefully now. It
is a good plan to sift dry wood-ashes over such
plants as cabbage, radish, potato, cucumber
and squash, to prevent the flea-beetle from
establishing himself there. The Colorado beetle
is often found on potato plants as soon as they
appear above the ground.

Never loose sight of the fact that a little
work done now will save a good deal of hard
work later on.

176

The Gardener's Calendar

Stake and tie up all vines that require such
attention before much growth has been made.

Go over newly-set strawberry beds and pick
off every fruit-stalk. Force the strength of
the plant into the development of itself, rather
than that of fruit, which it is not in a condition
to mature satisfactorily.

Begin the use of the wheel-hoe as soon as
the plants in the row are large enough to enable
you to tell them from weeds. This implement
and the cultivator must be kept going daily,
even if there are few weeds to get rid of. Stir-
ring the soil is a matter of almost as great
importance as keeping the weeds down.

JUNE

Do not cut asparagus much after this month.
Apply fertilizer, and keep the ground clean
and open. Be on the lookout for "rust." If
you see any indication of it, apply Bordeaux
mixture at once.

Look out for worms among currants. A
little neglect may result in the loss of the entire
crop.

Set out celery for the main crop.

Use Bordeaux mixture on the grapes. Thin

12 I77

The Home Garden

out the fruit, leaving not more than half that
sets. Rub off all but the branches you intend
for next year's fruiting. Keep the ground
about the vines well stirred.

If a shiny black and green bug threatens to
injure your melons, cucumbers, and squashes,
make a sort of box of fine wire netting and
place it over the plants. Bank up soil about
it to prevent the enemy from working its way
under.

Transplanted seedlings will need shading
until they became established in their new
quarters. I make a protection against the sun
by cutting circular pieces of thick brown paper,
a foot across. This I double over on one side,
in such a manner as to give the paper a sort of
funnel shape. Through the doubled-over por-
tion I run a stick or wire, about a foot in length.
This holds the cone in place, and the lower end
of the stick or wire can be thrust into the
ground, close to the plant needing protection
Thus I get all the shade required without
shutting off a free circulation of air.

Go over the strawberry beds and nip off all
the early runners. Allow none to grow until
after the season's crop of fruit has ripened.
178

The Gardener's Calendar

Cultivate, cultivate, cultivate.

Be constantly on the outlook for all kinds
of worms and insects, and wage relentless war-
fare against them, for now is the time when
they do most damage to the garden.

Thin out the seedlings in the garden-rows,
leaving only as many plants there as you think
can be matured properly. Do not neglect to
do this, at once, as you cannot afford to have
the nutriment of the soil wasted on plants you
have no use for.

JULY

July work will be largely a continuance of
the work of June. Special suggestions will
hardly be needed for it. The careful gardener
will keep his eyes open and see what needs
doing, and do it promptly, and thus be always
abreast of his work if not ahead of it.

If the season should be a dry and hot one,
mulching will be advisable. Grass-clippings
from the lawn can be used to good advantage
about all garden vegetables.

I would not advise one to begin watering
the garden, unless there is a system of water-
works that can be pressed into use. Not much
can be done in the ordinary garden by watering
179

The Home Garden

from the well. You would have to give up all
your time to it if you were to attempt this.
Generally more harm than good results. You
will apply only water enough to wet the surface
of the soil, and it is the roots down deep in the
ground that need moisture. Surf ace- watering
encourages the production of surface roots,
and you do not want that kind of growth. I
would prefer to let the plants take their chances
without such watering. But mulching is
practicable and profitable.

Old straw or hay make a very satisfactory
mulch. It should be put on quite thick — thick
enough to thoroughly shade the ground and
prevent the escape of moisture from the soil
below.

But the use of the cultivator should be de-
pended on to counteract the effects of drought,
more than anything else. Stir the soil so
frequently that it does not have a chance to
crust over. Keep it in a condition to absorb
every least little bit of moisture that may be
in the air. If this is done, most plants will
stand a dry spell without injury.

As soon as the radishes are out of the way,
sow the ground they occupied to spinach or

180

The Gardener's Calendar

something that can be made use of as greens.
Never let any portion of the garden go to
waste.

AUGUST

Asparagus plants are now storing up material
for next season's crop. Feed them well by
giving a liberal top-dressing of fine manure,
or some reliable commercial fertilizer. See
that no weeds are allowed to grow among the
plants.

Right here I want to say that the average
gardener seems to lose a good deal of interest
in a plant as soon as the crop of the season has
been secured from it. This is all wrong. If it
is a plant that lasts over the season, like aspara-
gus or rhubarb, treat it with a view to the
future. Have next season's crop in mind, and
so care for the plants that they will be getting
ready for it. This they cannot do satisfactorily
if care is not given them throughout the season,
year after year.

If you think it advisable to grow your own
seed, save some of the earliest of each kind for
this particular purpose. It is a good plan to
hold a plant in reserve for seed-bearing, and

181

The Home Garden

give it the very best of treatment. Do not let
it exhaust itself by overbearing. Pick off all
the seed that forms after the first crop, and
throw the entire strength of the plant into the
perfecting of that. This is the only way in
which extra fine seed can be grown by the
home gardener. Too many amateurs seem to
think that seed is seed, and it does not matter
much how you come by it. But they will find,
if they continue in the gardening business long,
that plants from seed which has not been
grown with a view to making it the best of its
kind will soon "run out," and give most un-
satisfactory results.

Now is the time to pinch off the ends of the
blackberry canes, and induce the production
of side branches.

The earlier varieties of cabbage should be
disposed of as soon as they are thoroughly
matured, and the ground on which they grew
given up to some other crop.

Set out celery for a late crop.

As soon as the earlier plantings of celery
begin to make upward growth, begin prepara-
tions for blanching, either by earthing up about
the plants, or by setting boards up each side
182

The Gardener's Calendar

the row. Some do this by wrapping the plants
with thick brown paper. Others set a piece of
drain-tile over the plants. This is an excellent
plan, if one has plenty of tile at disposal.

Keep the late crops of celery going rapidly
ahead by thorough cultivation. The more
rapid its growth the more likely you will be
to secure a fine article. Slow-growing celery
is a poor investment.

If you want your cucumbers to keep on
bearing late in the season it will be necessary
to see that no fruit is allowed to ripen. All
the energy of the plant will be used up in
the development of seed, if you allow it to
have its own way. But interfere with it by
preventing it from perfecting seed and it will
at once set about making another effort to
carry out Nature's plan of perpetuation, and,
in doing this, it will keep on setting new fruit
until frost comes.

Now is a good time to make currant cuttings.

Keep endive plants growing thriftily by the
liberal use of manure and good cultivation.

Lettuce can be sown for a late crop.

Gooseberries can be grown from cuttings,
but layering will be found the safest and surest

183

The Home Garden

method of propagation. Select shoots which
start from near the base of the old plants.
Bend them down so that they will form a
curve whose centre can be covered with earth,
and at the lowest part of this curve make a
half-way cut through each shoot, from below.
Then cover to the depth of two or three inches.
Fasten the shoots firmly in place, so that they
cannot be shifted about by winds. This can
be done by pinning them to the soil, or a small
stone can be placed on the earth with which
they are covered. The extremity of the shoot
should be trained into upright position by tying
it to a small stake. Do not sever the layer
from the parent plant until next season.

Harvest the onions which have begun to
ripen off. You can tell this by the dying of
their tops. Let the bulbs lie on the ground,
exposed to full sunshine, for several days
before storing them away. Put in a cool, dry,
airy place.

Sow spinach for a late crop.

Look to the tomatoes. Make sure they are

not setting more fruit than they can mature

well. If you think they are, cut off the ends

of each vine. This will force them to expend

184

The Gardener's Calendar

all the strength of the plant on the fruit already
set, and the result will be vastly more satis-
factory than a crop of inferior fruit. In this
way we grow very large specimens, of finest
possible quality. If no racks have been pro-
vided for your plants, set some stakes along
the row, and nail strips to them about a foot
and a half from the ground, and put the vines
over them. This will allow a freer circulation
of air and have a tendency to prevent rot from
setting in, as it almost always will late in the
season, if the vines of this plant are allowed to
spread over the ground, shutting the sunshine
away from the partially grown fruit and keep-
ing it moist.

If there are lice on your cabbages, make
prompt use of the kerosene emulsion. You
need not be afraid of its injuring the plants in
any way, and no poisoning can possibly result
from it. Worms on cabbages can be controlled
by dusting the plants with air-slaked lime.

If your celery does not seem to be making a
satisfactory growth, it is possible that the
manure you have applied was not to its liking.
A little nitrate of soda worked into the soil
along the row will make a great difference in

185

The Home Garden

its appearance, in a short time, in a good many
soils. It is well worth your while to try it,
and harm cannot come of it if no benefit
results. Keep all experiments of this kind in
mind for future repetition in case they turn
out successfully.

If "rust'* has struck your asparagus plants,
cut and burn them at once. Very likely none
would have developed if you had made use
of Bordeaux mixture as soon as the plants
began to look yellow. When any plant takes
on a yellow look before it is time for it to ripen,
you may be sure there is something wrong,
somewhere. Search for the cause of trouble,
and see if something cannot be done to remedy
matters.

It is not too late to spray potatoes for blight
and rot. These troubles are likely to set in at
any time during the season. It is the late
blight which does the most damage.

Strawberry plants can be set out this month.
Mulch the beds as soon as possible after plant-
ing. Give the plants a chance to do well,
from the start, and you may reasonably expect
a good crop from them next season.

1 86

The Gardener's Calendar

SEPTEMBER

This is the month in which the amateur
gardener will be most likely to get the
greatest amount of pleasure from his garden.
This because there are so many substantial
results in the way of vegetables and fruit,
showing what can be accomplished with but
little trouble if one goes to work in the
right way.

In this connection I want to quote a para-
graph from the ''National Fruit-Grower : "
"What a pitiful sight it is to see a woman so
hungry for a little fruit that she will drag
herself through briars and bushes all day to
gather a few quarts of blackberries, or wild
gooseberries, when, for a few cents and a little
use of spare time, her husband could have
provided plenty of both at home, of a quality
so much superior to the small flavorless fruit
she tires herself out looking for that she would
hardly recognize the two specimens as belong-
ing to the same family. Frankly, we haven't
much of an opinion of a man who is too blind
to his own interests, and the interests of his
family, to not have a garden and all the small
fruits his family can make use of."

187

The Home Garden

September will prove to any man who is
open to conviction that a good garden, and a
small-fruit plantation, are among the best of
all investments it is possible for him to make.
He can live on the fat of the land now. Every-
thing of the best and freshest in the vegetable
line is at his disposal, and if he grows his own
grapes, blackberries and other fruits, he is an
independent man, and he has reason to be
proud of his riches. He has no need to envy
the man who has a great bank account. His
garden is his bank — not on a very large scale,
perhaps, but one that is not likely to fail, and
from which he will realize compound interest
on his investments in it. I wish every amateur
gardener, at this time of the year, would think
the matter over, and "take stock" of his
wealth in garden stuff.

The tops of asparagus can be mowed off,
to prevent the scattering of seed, which will
produce a set of plants that you will have no
use for. New beds can be made now.

Do not cultivate among blackberries and
other small fruit after this month. Continued
cultivation encourages continued growth. Late
growth of branches is very undesirable.
188

The Gardener's Calendar

Sow cress, for fall use in salads. Its pungent
flavor is delightful. Make the soil rich, to
insure a speedy growth.

Continue to give careful attention to the
late-crop celery. Save the "suds" of washing-
day, and use along the rows. In blanching
with boards, see that they are set close to the
plants, and make sure that they are wide
enough to reach to the tops of the plants, when
the latter have reached full development.
Anything narrower than that will result in
half-way blanching, for unless light is excluded
from all but the tips of the plants they will be
tough and strong-flavored.

Continue the fight with the weeds. It will
be well to make a special search for them. Let
none perfect seed. If this policy is adhered to,
throughout the season, next year there will
be few weeds to fight.

Gather seed of such vegetables as you have
grown for this particular purpose.

Harvest your peppers before the frost gets
a chance at them.

Be sure to protect the squashes from frost if
you want them to keep well. If they do not
seem to have thoroughly ripened, cover them
189

The Home Garden

at night with blankets, or old newspapers.
When they have every appearance of being ripe,
gather them, and store in a warm, dry place.
Handle them with extreme care, for every bruise
means decay, later on. Do not cut away the
stalks which attaches them to the vine. Save
this with them, if you want them to keep well.

Gather in the onion crop as soon as the tops
turn brown and crinkle down. Pull them,
leave them on the beds, in the sun, for two or
three days, and then "top" them, and store
away in a cool and airy place.

This is a good time of the year to think about
making a compost-bed. Most gardeners allow
a great deal of good material to go to waste
simply because they have no place to keep it
in. You will be surprised to find what an
amount of excellent fertilizer is thrown away,
after you have had a compost-bed for a year
or two. Make a pen in a corner of the garden,
and throw into it everything of a vegetable
nature that will decay readily. Rake up the
leaves from the lawn and add to it. If you get
a little extra manure, at any time, dump it in.
Stir frequently, with a fork, and thoroughly
saturate it, on every washing-day, with soap-
190

The Gardener's Calendar

suds. When you clear up the garden in fall,
put all the stalks and other refuse into the
compost-heap. In this way you will soon have
a lot of good, rich soil without its costing you
anything but a little labor. It is a good plan
to add sand to it, muck, old sods, from time
to time, — anything that will become fine and
mellow after being worked over with other
material. The compost-heap will give you just
the kind of soil you need for early seed-sowing,
and hot-bed use.

Sweet potatoes should be dug as soon as the
frost has killed their tops. Dry off well in the
sun, for two or three days, and store in a warm
place, or pack in dry sand. Be sure that it is
very dry, if you would have the tubers keep
well. Home-grown ones that have thoroughly
ripened will be found to be of much finer flavor
than those which were dug while partially
green, and have come a long distance to market.

OCTOBER

Potatoes should be dug this month. Reject
any tuber which is not perfectly healthy. It is
a good plan to grade them, as you gather them,
that is, throw out all not large enough for

191

The Home Garden

the centre, it is not likely that water will work
through, but one cannot be too sure that it
will not, and water in a pit means disaster.

Cabbages can be wintered to perfection by
the trench system. Dig a trench a foot or a
foot and a half in depth, in the dryest part of
the garden. Let it be a little wider than the
heads you propose to bury there. Select for
this purpose the soundest heads you have. Do
not trim them. Simply fold the outside leaves
as firmly as possible over the head. Put six
or eight inches of straw in the bottom of the
trench and set the cabbages on it, head down-
ward. Then put more straw about them, and
throw back the soil from the trench. If there
is not enough to cover the roots of the plants,
it will not matter. You are not covering them
to keep out the frost. Nail two boards to-
gether to make a sort of roof, and put these
over the trench to shed rain. You will find
that cabbages kept in this manner will come
out in spring in fine condition. If frozen when
removed from the trench, put them in a cool
place where the frost will leave them gradually,
or, if for immediate use, immerse the head in
cold water. If you put them where it is warm
194

The Gardener's Calendar

immediately after removal from the pit, they
will wilt, and if there is a poorer vegetable
than a wilted cabbage I don't know what it is.

Parsnips, salsify, and turnips can be wintered
safely in pits.

Prepare cold-frames for late celery. Let
them be deep enough to accommodate the
plant without bending down its top. Bank
up about them with earth. Get sashes ready
for them. About the last of the month take
up the plants from the garden, and pack them
away snugly inside the frame. Crowd them
together, in fact. Then water well. Do not
put on the sash right away, unless the weather
is very cold. You can throw a blanket over
the frame at night to prevent freezing. Some
celery can be stored in the cellar, in sand. Keep
the roots moist, and the top dry.

Go over the blackberries and raspberries,
and make sure that all old wood has been
removed before you lay your plants down for
the winter. Choose a pleasant day for laying
your plants down. If the weather is cold and
raw, the probabilities are that you will not do
a very thorough job. But never lose sight of
the fact that it pays to be thorough.

195

The Home Garden

the centre, it is not likely that water will work
through, but one cannot be too sure that it
will not, and water in a pit means disaster.

Cabbages can be wintered to perfection by
the trench system. Dig a trench a foot or a
foot and a half in depth, in the dryest part of
the garden. Let it be a little wider than the
heads you propose to bury there. Select for
this purpose the soundest heads you have. Do
not trim them. Simply fold the outside leaves
as firmly as possible over the head. Put six
or eight inches of straw in the bottom of the
trench and set the cabbages on it, head down-
ward. Then put more straw about them, and
throw back the soil from the trench. If there
is not enough to cover the roots of the plants,
it will not matter. You are not covering them
to keep out the frost. Nail two boards to-
gether to make a sort of roof, and put these
over the trench to shed rain. You will find
that cabbages kept in this manner will come
out in spring in fine condition. If frozen when
removed from the trench, put them in a cool
place where the frost will leave them gradually,
or, if for immediate use, immerse the head in
cold water. If you put them where it is warm
194

The Gardener's Calendar

immediately after removal from the pit, they
will wilt, and if there is a poorer vegetable
than a wilted cabbage I don't know what it is.

Parsnips, salsify, and turnips can be wintered
safely in pits.

Prepare cold-frames for late celery. Let
them be deep enough to accommodate the
plant without bending down its top. Bank
up about them with earth. Get sashes ready
for them. About the last of the month take
up the plants from the garden, and pack them
away snugly inside the frame. Crowd them
together, in fact. Then water well. Do not
put on the sash right away, unless the weather
is very cold. You can throw a blanket over
the frame at night to prevent freezing. Some
celery can be stored in the cellar, in sand. Keep
the roots moist, and the top dry.

Go over the blackberries and raspberries,
and make sure that all old wood has been
removed before you lay your plants down for
the winter. Choose a pleasant day for laying
your plants down. If the weather is cold and
raw, the probabilities are that you will not do
a very thorough job. But never lose sight of
the fact that it pays to be thorough.

195

The Home Garden

Spinach can be kept until Christmas if given
a light protection of leaves or litter.

Lettuce in cold-frames will need plenty of
air. The temperature ought to be about 55°.
More harm is done by keeping the plants too
warm than too cold. On cold nights, cover
the sash with mats or shutters. Air daily.

Do not forget that mushrooms can be grown
at any season of the year, if you can control
temperature.

Dig salsify and parsnips and store those
wanted for early use in the cellar. The main
crop I would advise storing in pits. Some can
be left in the ground, for spring use.

I do not know whether anyone but myself
has ever tried wintering the parsnip in such a
manner that it will wilt, without really drying
up, but I am of the opinion that it is greatly
improved. The juices of the plant seem to
be condensed, and thereby gain a sweetness
which a perfectly fresh, plump root does not
have. I found this out accidentally, but ever
since we have stored away a portion of our
parsnips on racks where they will wither a
trifle, but not become really dry, and every
one in the family declares them far better than
196

The Gardener's Calendar

those taken right from the ground or pit. Try
this plan, and see what you think of it.

The garden may be plowed now. Do not
attempt to level the ground. Leave it in
ridges, so that frost can get at it easily.

Give rhubarb and asparagus a good top dress-
ing of fine manure, and then cover with coarse
litter. Take up a few plants and put them in
a box, for winter forcing. Or, if there is room
for them, give them a place in the cold-frame.
The cellar, however, will be the best place for
them, if you can give them light.

DECEMBER

There will be little to do this month in con-
nection with the garden, if everything was
given the attention it deserved last month. It
may be well to go over it again, and make a
final clearing-up, however, to make sure that
nothing was left undone.

Let me caution the reader as to the care of
the cellar in which vegetables are stored. See
that it is so well banked that frost cannot
penetrate it. But make ample provision for
ventilation. Have a pipe or wooden tube con-
nected with one of the windows in such a man-

197

The Home Garden

ner that the air will be drawn from the cellar
through it. This will not only help to keep
the vegetables in good condition, but will
possibly prevent sickness in the family, if the
cellar happens to be under the living-rooms.
Decaying vegetable matter often gives rise to
fevers and other dangerous diseases. If an
outlet for foul gases is provided, this source of
danger will be removed.

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

>R!

A BOOK FOR THE HOME-MAKER

The Small Country Place

By SAMUEL T. MAYNARD

Author of "Landscape Gardening as Applied to Home
Decoration" etc.

T

Seventy-five illustrations from photographs, and nu-
merous line drawings, lamo. Cloth, 1 1. 50 net.

HIS BOOK, which was written by a man who

great value to those who live upon
country places, especially those whose work in the city
allows them but a few hours each day to spend about
the home.

The author discusses the growing of farm and garden
crops, the care of the horse, the cow, poultry, and bees,
and similar subjects.

It is a work that should be in the hands of every one
who owns or rents a bit of land in the country or
suburbs, and the large farmer will even find in it many
suggestions that will be of material aid to him.

There are a great many illustrations showing plans of
orchards, vegetable and flower gardens, lawns, roads,
walks, etc.

'A vadt mecum for the small farmer."

— World To-Day, Chicago.

"An excellent manual of sound and sensible advice,
founded upon actual experience." — New York Herald.

" It is crowded full of accurate suggestion in informa-
tion which will be a godsend indeed to multitudes of
people who want to have their small country place attrac-
tive, comfortable, and in general livable."

Edward Everett Hale, LL.D.

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

Publishers Philadelphia

A BOOK FOR THE HOME GARDENER

Four Seasons in the
Garden

By EBEN E. REXFORD

Author of "The Home Garden "

Twenty-seven illustrations in tint. Colored frontispiece. Deco-
rated title-page and lining-papers, izmo. Cloth, $1.50 net.

%

A BOOK on gardening for the home-maker by the
foremost amateur gardener of the United States.
It treats of all phases of the subject, from the
simple bed or two along the fence, in a city back
yard, to the most ambitious garden the happy subur-
banite or country dweller can manage without the ser-
vices of a professional.

The growing of house plants and the use of plants for
household and table decoration are thoroughly de-
scribed, and a couple of chapters on rural and village
improvement carry the home-gardening plan into the
larger field of community work.

'It contains clear and definite instruction."

— The Outlook, New York.

"One of the most really helpful of recent garden books."
— House Beautiful, Chicago.

"The author's language is simple, his style is popular,
and he gives facts and instruction in an easily understood
form."— The Dial, Chicago.

"A gathering into one unusually attractive volume, from
the standpoint of the maker of books, of all the knowledge
which has been coming piecemeal from this prolific writer
on the gentle subject through many years."

— New York Times.

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

Publishers Philadelphia

RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT

TO—* 202 Main Library

LOAN PERIOD 1
HOME USE

2

3

4

5

6

ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS

RENEWALS AND RECHARGES MAY T3E MADE * DAYS PRIOR TO DUE DATE.
LOAN PERIODS ARC l-MON! H S-MONTHS. AND 1-YEAR.
RENEWALS: CALL (415) 642-3405

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
FORM NO. DD6, 60m, 1 783 BERKELEY, CA 94720

•