i.i,i,i,i,iir,-rir,i|i,i,r i,i,i,i,i|!,i,i, .i.i.iii.i.iPTTT^iiiiiiiii'-l I.,I«R,A.R,Y StmrA|ricBltiiral Collep. H! (.'lass JVi I \'St . (L Ili'l'I'I'lli'l'I'l'i'iU I Please handle this volume with care. The University of Connecticut Libraries, Storrs 635- BOOK 635.G863 c. 1 GREINER # HOW TO MAKE GARDEN PAY 3 T153 000EST7fl 0 yOV2 6190» b How to Make the Garden Pay By T. Greiner Second, Revised aud Enlarged Edition Published Ijy Wm. Henry Maule Philadelphia 1894 56 Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1890, by Wm. Henry Maule, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. Prefatory Remarks (To the First Edition) By the Publisher. A work on gardening, up to the times and fully explaining all modern methods, has long been needed. Several years ago I started the rough outline of a treatise on this subject, but owing to my time being so largely taken up with my varied business interests, I found it impossible to finish it ; and, to tell the truth, I did not feel competent to handle the subject as if deserved. At this stage of the proceedings my friend, Mr. T. Greiner, offered to take a hand, and for a year or more he has been busy writing the following pages, which I take pleasure in presenting to the public as the very best and most practical work ever written for the benefit of the American vegetable gardener. I am confident it will prove the stepping-stone to successful gardening for many thousands who are now unacquainted with this, the noblest calling on earth ; while I know it will give many profitable common-sense ideas to those who are even now high up in the profession. In this revised edition I have little to add to the above re- marks, further than that the unqualified endorsement and success of this work has far exceeded both Mr. Greiner's and my own highest expectations. Its cordial reception has encouraged us to make the second edition up to and abreast of these progressive times, and I can ask of my friends nothing more than this new revised edition of" How to Make the Garden Pay" shall receive as kind a reception as has been accorded the first edition of this work. Yours very truly, WM. HENRY MAULE. January i^, iSpj. INDEX. A Anise i8o Ants Ill Aphis Ill Aquaculture io8 Artichoke, Globe i8o Artichoke, Jerusalem .... iSi Asparagus 182 Asparagus Beetle 112 Asparagus Buncher 185 Asparagus Knife 186 Asparagus Marketing .... 185 Asparagus Planting 184 Asparagus, Varieties 186 Asterias, Butterfly 119 B Balm 186 Barrow Sprayer 121, 137 Basil, Sweet 187 Bean Anthracnose 138 Bean Blight, or Spot 138 Beans, Bush 187 Beans, Pole 190 Beans 187 Beans, Varieties of Bush . . . 188 Beans, Varieties of Pole . . . 192 Bean, Weevil 113 Beet Leaf Spot 139 Beet, Mangel and Sugar ... 196 Beet Rust 138 Beet, Varieties 195 Beets 194 Bichloride of Mercury .... 136 Birds as Helpers 132 Blister Beetles 127 Boll Worm 115 Borage 200 Boreal Ladybird 128 Borecole, or Kale 245 Bordeaux Mixture 135 Broccoli 200 Brussels Sprouts 201 Buhach 114 C Cabbage 201 Cabbage, Diseases 139 Cabbage, Late 203 Cabbage, Plusia 113 Cabbage, Varieties ..... 206 Cabbage, Wintering 202 Cabbage Worm 113 Cardoon 209 Caraway 210 Carrots 210 Catnip 213 Cauliflower 213 Celeriac 228 Celery 215 Celery, Blanching 219 Celery Bleachers 221 Celer}' Blights 139 Celery, Growing South . . . 224 Celery, New Culture .... 216 Celery Planting 218 Celery Soft Rot 140 Celery, Storing 221, 223 Celery, Varieties ....... 226 Celery Worm 115 Chervil, Turnip-rooted . . . 228 Chicory 229 Chives 229 Club Root 139 Cold Frames 57 Cold Vegetable Houses . 76, 77, 78 Cold Vegetable Houses, Crops in 79 Colewort 229 Collard 229 Colorado Potato Beetle ... 120 Composting Manure 37 Coriander 230 Corn Salad 230 Corn, Sweet 230 Com, Sweet Varieties .... 233 Corn Smut I45 Corn Worm 115 Cotton Seed Meal 44 Cress 234 Cucumber 235 Cucumber Beetle 115 Cucumber Blight 140 Cucumber Mildew . . • . . . 141 Cucumber, Varieties 237 Cutworms 116 D Damping OflF 144 Dandelion 238 Diabrotica, Twelve-spotted . . 128 Dibbers 49 Dill 238 Diseases of Plants 134 Drainage 95 Drainage by Board Troughs . 98 Drainage for Boiler Pit ... 88 Drainage, Surface 99 Draining Tools 96 Drill and Wheel Hoe 54 Drought, Means of Protection 166 E Egg Plant 239 Electric Light Influence . . . 317 Electro-Horticulture 317 Endive 240 F Farmers' Kitchen Garden . . 20 Fennel 241 Fertilizer Application .... 41 Fertilizers for Garden .... 39 Fetticus 230 Fire Hot-beds 71-73 Firming Board 66 Firming the Roots 163 Flats 68 Flats, Soil for 69 Flea Beetle 117 Flooding, Sub-earth 103 Index, — 5 Forcing Houses 82 Forcing Pit, Model 83 Forcing Vegetables in Cold Frames 60-62 Frames, Use of 59 Frost, Precautions Against . . 168 Fungicides 135 G Gardening for Local Markets . 29 Garlic 241 Germination, Principles of . 148 Gourds 242 Grading Vegetables, etc. ... 33 Greenhouses 82 Grasshoppers 128 Grub, White 118 Gypsine 131 H Hand Weeders 158 Harlequin Cabbage Bug ... 125 Harrows 48 Heating Forcing Pits .... 84 Hen Manure 43, 44 Hillside Forcing House ... 90 Hired Help 171 Home Gardening 12 Home Garden, Profits of . . . 13 Horehound 243 Horse Hoes 55 Horse Radish 243 Hose, Home-made 102 Hot-beds 64 Hyssop 245 Insect Enemies no Insect Powder 114 Insects, Friendly 133 Irrigated Field, Plan of . . . 103 Irrigating Celery by Tile . . 104 Irrigation 100 Irrigation, Surface loi K Kale, or Borecole 245 Kerosene, Attachment to Sprayer 131 6 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Kerosene Emulsion 112 Kerosene for Insects 130 Kitchen Garden Plan . 21, 23, 25 Knapsack Sprayer 137 Kohl-Rabi 246 Lavender 247 I-vCek 247 Lettuce 249 Lettuce in Electric Light . . 318 Lettuce, Mildew 141 Lettuce, Varieties 250 Lima Beans 190 Lima Beans, Trellis 191 List of Seeds for Home Garden 26 Liver of Sulphur 136 Location of Southern Truck Farm 28 M Manure, Composting .... 37 Manure for Hot-beds .... 64 Manures for Gardening ... 35 Marjoram, Sweet 251 Markers 49 Market Gardening 17 Marketing 32 Martynia 252 May Beetle 118 Melon Leaf Spot 144 Melon, Musk 252 Melon, Water 255 Mice 129 Mint 259 Moles 129 Monthly Memoranda .... 173 Mushroom 259 Mushroom, A Summer . . . 260 Mustard 261 N Nasturtium 261 Nitrate of Soda 43 Nitrates, Effect of 45 Novelties 153 O Okra 262 Onion 262 Onions for Bunching 264 Onion, Growing Sets .... 263 Onion Fly 118 Onion Smut 142 Onion Spot 142 Onion, The New Culture . . 268 Onion, Varieties 270 Onions for Market 264 Oyster Plant 294 Parsley 271 Parsley Worm 119 Parsnips . .' 272 Peanuts 273 Peas 274 Pea Weevil 120 Pennyroyal 279 Pepper 277 Peppergrass 234 Peppermint 279 Pit for Storing Roots .... 200 Plan of Home Garden . 21, 23, 25 Planet Jr. Garden Drill ... 52 Plant Box in Window .... 93 Plant Lice in Planting in Hard Soil .... 149 Plants for Home Garden ... 92 Plants, Starting Early .... 66 Plowing, Sample of Faulty . 47 Popcorn 234 Potash Seldom Needed .... 45 Potassium Sulphide 136 Potato Beetle 120 Potato Blights 142 Potato Scab 143 Potato Stalk Borer 128 Potato Stalk Weevil 127 Potato, Sweet 287 Potato, Varieties 286 Potatoes, Rotation 281 Potatoes, White 280 Powder Bellows 114 Preliminary Remarks by the Author 9 Prevention of Disease . . . 137 Protecting Plants, Devices for 169 Puddling 163 Pumpkin 289 Putty Bulb 58 Radish 289 Radish Fly and Maggot . . . 122 Rats 129 Reptiles as Friends 132 Rhubarb 293 Rhubarb Curculio 128 Rosemary 293 Rotation of Cropping .... 155 Rue 294 S Sage 294 Salsify 294 Savory, Summer 295 Savory, Winter 295 Sea Kale 295 Scorzonera 295 Seed Drills 51 Seed Sowing 147 Seeds, Vitality of 151 Shallot 296 Shutters for Frames 67 Skunks as Insect Eaters . . . 133 Snails 123 Soil Tester 107 Sorrel 296 Sparrow, English 132 Spinach 296 Spinach Anthracnose .... 144 Spinach, Mildew 144 Spindling Plants 165 Spraying for Diseases .... 135 Spraying Pumps 137 Squash 298 Squash Bug, Black 124 Squash Vine Borer 1 23 Squash, Varieties 299 Stable Manure, Value of . . . 36 Storing Roots 200 Strawberrj^ Insects and Diseases 314 Strawberry Growing 307 Strawberry Planting . . . 311,315 Strawberry Plants 309 Strawberry, Varieties . . . . 316 Strawberries, Forcing .... 315 index. — 7 Strawberries, Gathering ... 313 Strawberries, Manure for . . . 309 Strawberries in Home Garden 313 Strawberries, Winter Protec- tion for 313 Straw Mats 68 Subirrigated Bench 106 Subirrigation by Flower Pots 107 Subirrigatiou, Cole's .... 108 Subirrigation for Greenhouse 105 Sulphate of Ammonia .... 43 Sweet Potato Diseases .... 145 T Thinning 160 Thyme 300 Tile in Drains 97 Toad as Insect Eater 132 Tobacco as Insecticide . ... 112 Tobacco Worm 127 Tomatoes 301 Tomato Diseases 145 Tomato Worm 126 Tomato, Varieties 302 Transplanting 161 Transplanting Devices .... 165 Turnips 304 Turnips, Varieties 306 Tweezers for Killing Bugs 124 U Underdrainage, Advantages of 98 V Vegetable House 30 Vitality of Seeds 151 W Watering Cold Frames .... 62 Water Cress 234 Weeds, How to Fight .... 157 Wheel Hoes 53 Wintering Cabbage . . . 202, 204 Wire Worm 124 Z Zebra Caterpillar 125 PRELIMINARY REMARKS BY THE AUTHOR. HE considerations which guided me in writing up the first edition of this work, five years ago, are still potent to-day. Gardening, in the minds of many people, is still a dreadful combination in its requirements of skill and unceasing drudgery. There are yet persons, especially farmers, who doubt their ability to acquire the one without giving more time and thought than they can afford to devote to the garden, and fear the other. But our efforts in the direction of clearing up this only too common error, of convincing people in rural districts, and in the suburbs of cities, that gardening in reality is a very strong combination of pleasure, health and profit, and of pointing out the ways and means how to relieve the task of all semblance of drudgery, have not been without their desired effect. We are continuously making converts to our faith. The good home garden is not any more the rarity and curiosity that it once was. It is getting to be a very common institution. Wonderful, indeed, is the progress which we have made during the past five years not only in the practice of gardening, but also in garden practices. Methods of cultivation have mate- rially changed and are changing every day, decidedly in the direction and with the tendency of cheapening the cost of pro- duction, lessening hand labor, and making gardening more prof- itable and more pleasant. A new onion culture, a new celery culture, a new potato culture and other innovations have come to the front. On the other hand, the market gardener of to-day finds himself beset with difficulties of which he little dreamed years ago. Insect foes and plant diseases have multiplied in an alarm- ing degree, calling for increased vigilance, enlarged knowledge, and new modes of treatment and protection. At the same time the prices of garden products have materially fallen, and made old-style, clumsy and therefore expensive methods of production unremunerative. In short, every gardener in these days must keep well in- formed about every forward move made in horticulture. He will need a guide giving minute instructions in every department (9) 10 — How to Make the Garden Pay. of vegetable gardening — a guide which he can confidently con- sult in every emergency, and which will teach him, the servant of the soil, how to make himself Master of the Situation. The book, as it now lies before the reader, is intended to be a guide, safe and true in every respect. I have no reason to complain of the reception that was accorded to the first edition by the American public. It has been very favorably commented on, and my kind critics have overlooked or excused many of its shortcomings. I myself have perhaps been a more severe critic of my own work than the great mass of my readers who have been so universally and often undeservedly kind to me and my efforts. I could not blind my own eyes to the fact, however, that serious shortcomings did exist. Then there had been these changes in methods, so great, so violent, that the first edition, only these few years after publication, had already become out of date, and had to be radically amended in many respects. In short, a thorough revision was imperatively demanded, and the results of this revision are now before the reader. Let me say that I am proud of this work. There is no book on the same subject now in the world that can compare with it in completeness and freshness. Finally, I wish to advise the reader to try the newer ways that I point out; for gardening, like life, is what you yourself make of it — a paradise of pleasure or a veritable sheol of drudg- ery. You have the decision in your own hands; You may leisurely accompany your visitors through the well-kept grounds that are beaming with thrifty, sparkling vegetation, as your own countenance is beaming with pleasure and satisfaction, and that is as free from weeds as your face is from care ; or you may crawl through the beds on hands and knees, piling up stacks of weeds, with a face sour and distorted in hatred of yourself and the life you are leading. My instructions, if faithfully followed, will insure you the former conditions, and save you from the curse of the latter. It still remains to be said that the work v/as composed and revised on the suggestion of Mr. Wm. Henry Maule, of Phila- delphia, who has undertaken its publication, and if the reader receives any benefit from its perusal, he is indebted to him as well as to the author. T. GREINER. Autumn, 1894. Part I. Gardening in General. CHAPTER T. HOME GARDENING. GARDENING FOR PLEASURE, HEALTH, PROFIT AND MORALITY. " Man shall not live by bread alone." OW I pity the people who from choice or necessity are confirmed eaters of hog, and the murderous monotony of whose scrofulous diet is not broken or offset by the gratifying changes which the home garden affords. How I pity the sad-eyed house-wife with the daily questions on her mind "What shall I cook for breakfast, what for din- ner, and what for supper ? " with nothing but the pork barrel, the flour chest and the potato bin from which to draw material. How I pity the mother whose children are ciying for fruit and vegetables, and who is compelled to hand them — worse than a stone — a piece of salt meat. And above all, how I pity the children — the blessed children with their natural craving for the luscious fruits and the crisp vegetables of the garden, ever yearning for them as the deer is for salt, or the fam- ished traveler in the desert for water — but their desire never to be satisfied, unless they steal the articles that their nature urgently demands from the gardens of more fortunate neighbors. With the opportunities that the vast territory of the States, with its thirty acres of land, six of them arable, to each inhabi- tant, affords to its people, there is no need of many families depriving themselves of garden privileges, and there is not the slightest excuse for people in the rural districts to do without them. The physician, the lawyer, the preacher, the book-keeper, the bank clerk — in short all people whose life occupation confines them to study or ofifice for a large part of the day, and who for this reason are in danger of waxing tender and sensitive like hot- house plants — will find the gratification of the greatest need of their lives in a little garden of their own, namely, contact with nature, unadulterated air, relaxation and recreation, pleasure, health and ruggedness, not to speak of the more substantial and more immediate results : freshly-plucked berries (not the stale fruit of the market stands, in the first or more advanced stages of decay — in other words, half-rotten), crisp lettuce and radishes (12) Home Gardening. — 13 (not the wilted stuff of the dealer), peas and beans, with the morning dew still on them, and melons in all their perfection, freshness and lusciousness. With people of this class the question of profit may have little weight ; but the home-garden affords a combination of pleasure and health which nobody, and be he a millionaire, can well afford to. overlook or ignore. The greatest luxuries of the garden cannot be bought with mere money. For the hard-working mechanic, on the other hand, who passes so many hours daily in the dust-laden, gas-impregnated atmosphere of the shop, the point of profit enters more largely into this question, with that of recreation in open air, and plea- surable contact with nature still prominent. The garden need only be small, for much manual exercise in not often desirable, although as it comes in a different way from that of the shop, resting the muscles already tired, and giving exercise to those not called in operation by the regular shop work (thus serving to produce the natural balance of the life forces and muscles in the same way as garden work served to establish the equilibrium between the mental and physical functions of the office man), the work of the garden may only come as a pleasant change to the mechanic, and not at all appear tiresome. His good spouse, less occupied with household duties than the farmer's wife, will also find a needed change from indoor life and kitchen routine in the fragrant atmosphere of the home garden, and the manual labor for both should not be feared, for an abundant supply of superior vegetables can be produced on a small piece of ground, if proper tools and methods are used. With the farmer the question of raising vegetables is chiefly one of profit, although other points are not unimportant. Many farmers who till plenty of good land concentrate all their efforts upon the production of wheat, corn, oats, wool, cattle or other so-called " money crops," and pay little or no attention to the home garden.. So we have the astonishing and deplorable fact that a majority of American farmers have no garden worthy to be called a " family garden," unless so named because it is entirely given into the care of the already over-worked farmer's wife and other members of the family, especially of the half-grown boys, if they in true appreciation of the good things to be had in compensation, consent to spend an extra working hour now and then in hoeing and pulling weeds. Outraged nature, unappeased hunger for vegetable food often makes them submit without grumbling to the lesser outrage of imposing an extra amount of work on their young shoulders. Fried Pork, fried potatoes, poor bread from poorly ground flour, lardy pies, and rich cakes — these, with hardly a variation, are the chief articles of food for thousands of farmer families. 14 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Can you draw health from a pork barrel ? No more than you can gather grapes from a thorn bush. Many a farmer having sown a half acre or so of Black-Eye Marrowfat or Canadian Field peas, from which his family may have an abundant supply of green peas for a whole week, and given them the privilege to help themselves to all the roasting ears they may desire from the corn field (half a mile away) for another whole week, is self-satisfied with his generosity, and boasts that his full duty is done. According to statistics taken in Illinois in 1888, only seventeen per cent, of the farmers had the luxury of a strawberry patch. Think of this. Only one boy in every six knew what it was to pluck the luscious fruit from the vine, and eat to his heart's content! Without the stimulating, cooling and cheering effect of fruit and vegetable diet, what wonder that the blood of so many becomes sluggish and laden with impurities; what wonder the stomach revolts at the excess of grease, and becomes nauseated from want of change ; what wonder the race degenerates, dyspepsia, scrofula, and similar afflictions are becoming alarmingly frequent and general, while the concocters and venders of patent quack medi- cines are making fortunes ! What wonder the sons leave the farm, and rush to the city, and the daughters have no desire to sell themselves into new bondage and deprivations by marrying farmers! Boy nature (and girl nature either) will not long sub- mit to the daily farm routine of " All work and no play All pork and no pay," Even the dullest kind of a Jack will remonstrate against and resent this treatment. I have been a boy once, and I have learned the irresistible attraction that luscious strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, plums, pears, nuts, etc., have for young people — and old ones too, for that matter. Nature only claims her rights, and will not be outraged -with impunity. I have learned the charms hidden in crisp lettuce, radishes, green peas, and the like, in spring when the human internal machinery is clogged with a winter's excess of animal food. There is nothing in this wide world, that with just and fair treatment otherwise will keep the farmer's boys and girls content with rural life, and make them appreciate the great natural advantages of their situation as does a good home garden and a bountiful supply of good fruits, and nothing that will bring the bloom and happy smile on the good wife's face as the assistance she will receive from the same source in solving the problem how to provide the three daily meals to the satisfaction of all. I have already alluded to the moral side of the question. The half-starved, lean-faced street gamin standing in front of the Home Gardening. — 15 baker's show window, and longingly contemplating the loaves, pies, cakes and other dainties displayed in tempting array before his eyes, is not an uncommon sight, and it has often filled my inmost soul with pity. Imagine the youngster with an intense longing for fruit and vegetables peeking through the picket fence which divides his brute father's possessions from the garden of his neighbor whose fortunate children he can watch as they are gathering strawberries, or pulling crisp radishes in joy and glee. There is the luscious and coveted fruit almost within his reach, and temptingly displayed. Will you wonder if the boy, the first chance he gets to do so unobserved, removes a picket, and crawls into what to him is paradise beyond, and helps himself to what really is his due ? If the father refuses to grow these things in his garden, and has " no money to spare for such luxuries," the boy will have no scruples to take surreptitiously what is so temptingly put before him. Average human nature is not built that way, to be strong enough against such odds. You cannot extract purity from glittering temptation, or morality from undue restriction, no more than health from the pork barrel. The man who willfully and needlessly deprives his family of the privileges of a good vegetable garden fails in one of his fore- most duties. He cannot possibly be a good husband, nor a good father, and he certamly is not a good Christian / Neither does he deserve to be called a good manager ; for the question of profit also enters in this combination. Self- interest is a strong motive power. Here I wish I were able to convince every farmer in this glorious country of the great truth that an acre of vegetable or fruit garden, properly taken care of, will be the most profitable acre on the farm. While at present prices many of our farm products grown as " average crops " do not return the full equivalent for manure and labor expended on them, much effort and energy seems to be simply wasted, and might be turned to much better account for the production of the garden stuff which is now so sorely missed in the household, or might be sold at remunerative rates. The amount of " green stuff" that can be grown on a single acre, well tilled, in a single summer, is simply incredible — wagon loads upon wagon loads ; and there need not be a single meal from early spring until winter that is not made more cheerful, more pal- atable, more wholesome, and altogether more enjoyable by the presence of some good dishes from the garden, not to say anything about the canned tomatoes, sweet corn, berries and the crisp stalks of celery, etc., during the winter months. I and my family live largely on the products of garden and poultry yard during the entire summer, and we enjoy pretty good health generally. No meat bills to pay, no nausea caused by greasy food, no dyspepsia ! Think of sixty meals with big plates of strawberries, and sixty i6 — How to Make the Garden Pay. more with raspberries and blackberries ! Think of the wholesome dishes of asparagus, of the young onions, radishes, the various salads, the green peas and beans, the pickles and cucumbers, the tomatoes, squashes, melons, etc. ! And all this practically with- out expense, at least, without cash outlay. There is plenty of good manure in the barn-yard; horses stand in the stable more or less unused during the gardening season, and the needed labor can also be had in an emergency. At the same time few farmers will have difficulty to sell or trade off the surplus to advantage. The village blacksmith may take part if not all of his pay in good vegetables. The wagon maker, the carpenter, the storekeeper, the physician, the banker — all of them need vege- tables, and often are glad to take what good things you have to offer in exchange for money, goods, or services. If the working forces on the farm are insufficient, it will often be advisable to reduce the area of wheat or oats, and grow an acre of garden stuff instead; for the same work devoted to the garden will pay you 500 per cent, profit above that realized from grain culture. CHAPTER 11. MARKET GARDENING AND TRUCK FARMING. GARDENING FOR PROFIT ONLY. " To produce is one thing, to sell another." )ONEY — and money alone — is the object of the market gardener ; and the considerations of pleasure, health and morality are necessarily subordinate to that of profit. Business, not pleasure — that is gardening for the man who tries to support himself and family by growing vegetables for market. To be successful it often requires a rare combination of skill and experience, with a thorough understanding of the wants of his available market, and considerable tact, if not shrewdness, in the sale of articles produced. It is no business for the careless, the lazy, or the stupid. Neither is it a royal road to fortune, and I feel it my duty to dispel the cherished delusions of people who wish to engage in market gardening as an easy and sure way of making a comfort- able living. Before me is a letter received some time ago from a " preacher of the gospel," 35 years of age,who having been compelled to resign his position on account of throat affliction, has hit upon the idea of growing garden stuff for market. " Is it possible," he asks, "to make a living on three acres of ground, 115 miles from Philadelphia? Soil good, and in town, near railroad station. I am happiest when I am hard at work, and oh ! I love to work in the soil ! This alone gives me renewed vigor, and a degree of health. Yet I am not willing to become a market boy, and I cannot peddle out what I raise off the soil." Here, evidently, we have met with a wrong conception of market gardening; but it is a somewhat common one. I know of localities where three acres of good ground well-managed would afford quite a respectable living to a small family, with a market right at the door, and grocers in the near town willing to take almost any good garden produce brought them at fair prices. Advantage might often be taken of a local demand for certain productions, as berries, onions, celery, etc., and such articles grown on a larger scale, for sale to retailers, thus avoiding the " peddling " feature. But kid-glove and silk-hat gardening 2 (17) i8 — How to Make the Garden Pay. will under no consideration fit into successful market gardening or truck farming ; " barter and trade " is one of the essentials of the business anywhere, and the grower must be in readiness, if an emergency arises, to take hold and become merchant or peddler. This feature is an indispensable part of the business in most cases. Gardening for money requires unceasing attention, close and thorough management, considerable hard labor, and often more or less exposure to the vicissitudes and inclemencies of the seasons. Nevertheless it is true that the majority of the profes- sion make altogether too much work of it, especially by neglect- ing to make use of the newer improved implements of tillage. The hand hoe is yet left to play a by far too prominent part in garden culture, and the advantages of the wheel-hoe are not yet recognized and made use of as they deserve. There was a time when even the rudest methods combined with hard work insured to the market gardener near large cities a good income. But competition has grown with the demand, and with cheapened and increased production prices have gradually declined until now they are far below what only a fev/ years ago growers would have considered mere cost of production. It is not so many years since the main crop of strawberries sold at 25 cents per quart; and when the price first dropped down to 20 cents, the cry went forth that "Strawberry growing does not pay." Then thousands of growers abandoned the business in disgust. At present, strawberries are grown at 6 and 8 cents per quart in many localities, and people are satisfied with the profits. So with vegetables. We have learned to produce much cheaper than formerly, and we can afford to produce and sell at figures which did not cover first cost ten or twenty years ago, and yet realize a fair profit. Hence people who continue to grow garden crops in the old laborious and unsatisfactory ways, and with old- style implements, who produce inferior vegetables and fruits at old-time cost, cannot successfully meet the competition of their progressive brethren. This is simply a question of the " survival of the fittest ; " and the fittest is the man who by taking advan- tage of the latest labor-saving methods and devices manages to raise the best produce at the smallest cost, thus preserving or even widening the narrow margin of profit which at the present time characterizes all legitimate branches of business. The spade must give way to the plow ; the rake, and often cultivator also, to the harrow ; hand and fingers in sowing seeds to the drill ; the hand hoe to the wheel-hoe, etc. These changes are imperative and unavoidable, if the business is to be made profitable. The grower who has learned to produce most cheaply and can offer the earliest or best articles in his line, is the one who succeeds ; and efforts to excel must be made continuously to prevent Market Gardening and Truck Farming. — ig getting left in this race. This requires the exercise of thought, study — in short of brains as well as of muscle. Excellence will have its reward ; but he who neglects a single point, who allows himself to be excelled by others, is not likely to receive a prize. Special vegetable crops are often grown on a large scale in localities especially adapted to their cultivation, or having special market facilities for such crops. So we have the celery fields of Kalamazoo, Mich., the onion patches of Wethersfield, Conn., and Danvers, Mass., and other places, the cauliflower gardens of Long Island, the tomato fields of New Jersey, the melon patches of Virginia, etc. To produce is often much easier than to sell the product at a profit, and it is not safe to engage in a business of this kind on an extensive scale, or invest much money in it, unless a local demand is assured for the produced articles. Wagon and carloads of good vegetables are yearly thrown away for want of chance to sell them in time at an acceptable price. Where the enterprise is carried on in colonies, however, there is always a local market ; for the centre of production is also the centre of demand. CHAPTER III. FARMERS' KITCHEN GARDEN. SELECTION OF LOCALITY AND ARRANGEMENT OF BEDS. "Well begun — half done." HE home garden in a majority of cases is a fixed affair, and no choice is left as to the selection of site. While the condition of soil, its fertility, convenient lay and proper slope, are questions of no mean import, they are almost always second- ary to the point of nearness to the house. The garden may be filled with good things of the season, but if half a mile from the house, com- pelling the over-worked and hurried house-wife to tramp such a distance every time she wants a supply of vegetables fresh from the garden, the cheering presence of young onions, radishes, lettuce, tomatoes, egg plants, and other vegetables will be missed by the family at many a meal that might have been more palatable and more wholesome by the vegetable addition and by the change otherwise. What good are the choicest things in our possession if we cannot make ready use of them ? The condition of many a home garden seems sufficient excuse for hiding it from sight. The best location for the garden is in a prominent place where it will crowd itself upon constant observation from the house. If well kept, it is one of the greatest ornaments to the premises, and a source of everlasting admira- tion ; if neglected and left to grow up in weeds, it will be a shame to the owner, an ever present accuser — a sort of conscience — and loudly calling for attention. A good garden is a sort of summer resort, to which the owner can take his visitors, and show them about with excusable pride ; an inducement for an after-dinner or after-supper walk, affording opportunities for a few touches of improvement, for pulling up some stray weeds, or for the destruction of injurious insects, when thus encountered, for watching with pleasurable interest the growth and develop- ment of the things that are " new and curious." Nearness to the house means nearness to your thoughts and affections ; better care and closer attention ; more enjoyable and diversified meals ; increased pleasure, health and happiness for the whole family. Nearness to the house also increases the chances for convenient (20) CD a u I X I- o (0 Farmer's Kitchen Garden. WEST 21 =^g.?»ia7g3m-?a^feggm?!s^;^^g^^^ HEADLAND IN SOD O >s ^. c> (0 ou •/! ^ * i, \i/ m. ■J/ 4/ \1/ \U vL (■•■. -". Currants. and^Gooseberries aspb[erries PLAN OF ONE-QUARTER ACRE GARDEN. 26 — How to Make the Garden Pay. If the aim is simply to provide an abundance of vegetables and small fruits for an average-sized family, a quarter-acre gar- den, closely planted and well cropped, would be large enough. Usually we like to have the rows the long way, but local condi- tions differ and every plan must be fitted into its particular surroundings. On preceding page I give plan of a one-quarter home garden with rows running the short way. Perennial growths, like grape vines, currants, gooseberries, rhubarb, asparagus, herbs, etc., are planted at the further end. The wide-planted vegetables, to be also cultivated by horse power, come next, while the close- planted stuff, which is to be cultivated by hand machines, is planted nearest the entrance, /. e., nearest the kitchen. A list of the seeds required to plant this quarter-acre, and keep it planted and cropped as persistently as it should be, is about as follows : QUANTITY. ARTICLE. TIME OF SOWING. For New Jersey, Southern Penna., etc.* I qt. — Extra Early Smooth Peas, . . . Mar. 1-15 1 qt. — Early Dwarf Wrinkled Peas, . . . Mar. 8-25 2 qts. — Later Wrinkled Peas, .... Mar. 8-25 % lb. — Spinach Mar., Aug., Sept., Oct. 1 pkt. — Celery, for plants, ..... Mar. 1-8 2 ozs. — Barletta Onion, for pickling, . . . Mar. 1-25 2 ozs. — Yellow Dutch Onion, for sets, . . . Mar. 1-15 Small quantity to be started in box in window, Feb. i-i 5 2 qts. — Onion sets, ...... Mar. 1-15 I pkt. — Prizetaker Onion, started in box, . . . Feb. 1-15 I oz. — Danver's Onion, ..... Mar. 1-15 1 pkt. — Cabbage, Prize Wakefield, in box, . . Feb. i 2 pkts. — Cabbage, Late, June 1 I oz. — Early Beet, Eclipse, Mar. 15-25 I oz. — Blood Turnip Beet, .... April, May, June I pkt. — Carrot, Early Scarlet Horn, . . . Mar. 15-25 I pkt. — Carrot, Chantenay, .... April i-May I pkt. — Carrot, Danver's April I -June I pkt. — Pepper, Ruby King, in house, . . . Feb. i I pkt. — Egg Plant, New York Purple, in house, . . Feb. i I pkt. — Tomatoes, Earliest, in house, . . . Feb. i 1 pkt. — Tomatoes, Main Crop, in house, . . . Feb. i X lb.— Radish, Earliest Turnip, . . Mar., April, May 2 ozs. — Radish, Long Rooted, . . . June i- 15, etc. I pkt. — Radish, Winter, Aug.-Sept. 3 pkts. — Lettuce, Mar., May, June I pkt. — Cauliflower, Earliest, .... Mar. i-June I oz. — Sugar Beet, Imperial Sugar, . . . April 1-15 I pkt. — Cress, Extra Curled, April 1 I pkt. — Kohl Rabi, Large White, . . April 1-15 and May *From one to two weeks later further north. Farmer's Kitchen Garden — 27 QUANTITY. ARTICLE. TIME OF SOWING. I pt. — Beans, Green String, ..... May 1-15 I pt. — Beans, Wax String, ..... June, July I pt. — Beans, Henderson's Bush Lima, . . . May 15 I pt. — Sweet Corn, Extra Early Cory, .... May i I pt. — Sweet Corn, Medium, ..... May 8 1 pt. — Sweet Corn, Late, . . . May 8, June, July i 2 ozs. — Cucumbers, Long Green or Early White Spine, May to June I oz. — Musk Melon, Emerald Gem, . . . May 15 I pkt. — Water Melon, . . . . . . May 15 I pkt. — Squash, Summer Crookneck, . . . May 15 I pkt. — Squash, Hubbard, ..... May 15 I pkt. — Parsley, Double Curled, .... Mar. 15 I pkt. — Sage, ........ June I oz. — Ruta Baga, ....... July-Aug. I oz. — Turnip, Red Top .Strap Leaved, . , July-Aug. Yz bus. — Early Potatoes, ..... April 15 100 — Sweet Potato Plants, .... May 15 to June i 240 — Strawberry Plants, ...... April 1-15 50 — Asparagus Roots, 2 years old, .... April i 20 — Rhubarb Roots, ...... April i 1 2 — Currant Bushes, ....... April i 8 — Gooseberry Bushes, ...... April i 40 — Raspberries, Red and Black, .... April i 10 — Grape Vines, ....... April i This list may be varied more or less, according to taste or notion. Most gardeners will like to plant some novelties, and many have special favorites among the vegetables. It is but fair that all whims, in this line, should be humored. Let us add one more word of advice in regard to the pur- chase of seeds. I find it most economical, and surely most convenient, to purchase at least a double quantity of seed of all my staple varieties which can be depended upon to retain their vitality for a number of years, especially cabbage, cauliflower, beet, carrot, turnip, pepper, tomato, cucumber, melon, squash, radish, lettuce, etc. I can buy such seeds cheaper in quantity than by the packet or ounce. These seeds are always on hand when wanted, and of some of them we desire to sow little patches quite frequently during the summer. What is left one year comes handy next year, and after the first year we know exactly what kind of vegetables we will get from the once-tested seed. CHAPTER IV. REQUIREMENTS OF SUCCESS IN MARKET GARDENING. SELECTION OF SOIL AND LOCATION. " Look before you leap." iHILE the home gardener must take the cir- cumstances as he finds them, and try to make the most of opportunities ready-made for him, the prospective gardener " for profit only " cannot safely do so. He must select the most favorable conditions, or run the risk of seeing his proud business structure tumble down, and his high anticipations wrecked at the very start. It will not do for him to select a location most favorable to the production of perfect vegetables, if such loca- tion has no market for them. Of the two considerations, that of market opportunity stands first. Before locating anywhere with the intent of growing garden vegetables for money, the near markets need the closest study. The difficulty often encountered of putting stuff already produced on a paying market, and to turn it into cash, is the chief cause of failure with many other- wise good gardeners. Vast quantities of choice vegetables are left to spoil every season simply for want of a local demand for them. The great cities, as a rule, are well supplied with the pro- ducts of the garden by growers near by, and the competition there is large, often ruinous, at least to the extravagant hopes of the shipper ; hence the dependence on distant city markets to be reached through the instrumentality of express companies and railroads as carriers, is not often justified except in case of the early southern products, and of such vegetables as tomatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, melons and others that are grown in the farm garden (truck farm) on an extensive scale. The growers of vegetables for market may be divided into three classes, as follows, viz. : First. — The southern truck farmer who grows early stuff for northern markets. His location must be selected with especial regard to his railroad connections with the principal city markets, nearness to station, and the conditions favorable to earliness and (28) Requirements of Success in Market Gardening. — 29 perfect development of vegetables, such as rich and warm soil, southern exposure, etc. Second. — The market gardener near the large cities who raises garden stuff in day-time, and draws his products to the city, and city stable manure back to the farm, during the night, leading a life of unceasing toil, in perpetual fight with competi- tion, but receiving good pay for skillful management. Third. — The local gardener whose aim it is to fill a compara- tively small demand in his immediate neighborhood. Sometimes he gives his goods to grocers in near towns to sell on commis- sion ; or sells to them to retail to their customers ; or he loads up his wagon and peddles his crops directly to the consumer. He has the advantage of cheap land, cheap help, and few expenses generally, and if he is a good salesman as well as a good gardener, he may do well. Localities near summer resorts and watering places afford special chances. Many of the gardeners near such places, as for instance along the beach in New Jersey, in the vicinity of Long Branch, have what might be called a " soft snap " so far as mar- keting is concerned. The demand for choice vegetables here is reasonably large at any time, but reaches enormous proportions when city people have taken up their abode amongst them, and prices often rise to excessive figures just at a time when the season is naturally most favorable to the production of these articles. The established gardens in these sections have their regular customers, and little trouble in disposing of good pro- duce. The truckers or peddlers who run their vegetable wagons during the bathing season, supplying their regular customers (the cottagers, boarding houses and hotels), make their daily calls at the gardens, and load their wagons, paying high prices for produce for which in turn they charge excessive, often outrageous rates to the w-^althy, city-bred consumer. Here money is plenty, easily earned, and easily spent. Some of these people run gardens and truck wagons in combination ; they supply the con- sumer directly, charging for their own produce the high retail price of the truckers ; and their profit for two months often keeps them in easy circumstances for the whole year. Others sell both to the regular truckers and to the grocers in the near towns ; but there is seldom much difficulty encountered by the good sales- man to sell what once is produced. Here, as might be expected, land is high, often ^500 to ^1,000 per acre ; but considering the market advantages it is much cheaper at that figure than the $\o an acre clay lands of Virginia colonies, or the $}^o an acre white sand plains of Central or South Jersey. As nearness to the house or kitchen (in this case the centre of demand) is one of the first considerations in the location of the home garden, so is nearness to a market with good steady 30 — How to Make the Garden Pay. demand the chief point of importance for every market gardener. It makes considerable difference whether produce has to be hauled to market, and manure back to the farm, one mile or ten. Often a sudden scarcity of a certain article in the market, caused by delayed shipments, or by other chances, can at once be taken advantage of by the near grower who is enabled to rush the demanded article to market at short notice, and to benefit by the higher prices, while the gardener living at a greater distance cannot do as well. This advantage alone will outweigh even a considerable difference in price or rent of land. The next consideration, and one of scarcely less importance, is the suitability of the land. The soil should be a warm, sandy loam, level or slightly sloping to the south or south-east, free from obstruction, trees, etc., and in a good state of cultivation. CEULM*^ Vegetable House, Windmill and Hotbeds. Want of fertility can be remedied in time, and is not as grave a defect as faulty composition of soil would be. Nor should the soil be excessively weedy, although this defect can also be remedied hy perseverance and painstaking, and at some expense. Natural drainage is desirable, but if not perfect, should be made so by thorough underdraining. A piece of drained muck-land is generally a valuable addition to the upland property. Plenty of water is one of the chief needs of the market gardener, and the careful calculator will have an eye on the chance of supply when selecting his location. A running .stream, an artesian well, or a pond in close proximity to the beds and buildings, so situated that it can be readily utilized for the various purposes of watering, irrigating, washing vegetables, etc., is likely to be worth hundreds of dollars to the owner. If such a Requirements of Success in Market Gardening.— 3 ^ convenience is not in existence, the next best thing is a good large cistern near the vegetable house. This latter may be a cheaply constructed affair, of any desired or needed size, with frost-proof cellar for storing vegetables, a washing department above, with tank ; also a storage room for tools, seeds and other equipments. A good well is a necessary convenience, and will supply water when the cistern fails. The degree of success in gardening depends largely on the abundance and steadiness of the water supply; for the liquid element is needed in vast quantities, and must be furnished at just the time when the crops require it. Hand sprinklers and force pumps are yet the common means of distributing water over the often large area of the beds in many market gardens, but through the employment of a modern windmill, tanks and rubber hose in their capacities as forcing power, storage room, and carrier, respectively, this originally tedious job can be made comparatively pleasant and inexpensive. This chapter, in my estimation, would not be complete with- out an earnest word of warning to the new beginner. I only follow the plain path of duty when I point out the dangers of engaging in this (as in any other) business on a larger scale than experience and available capital will warrant. Profits are easily figured out on paper, and often allure the novice into a feeling of unjustified confidence and security. Debts are contracted, to be paid with the prospective profits ; but such profits do not often materialize. It is safe to commence on five acres of good land paid for, and with implements and conveniences also paid for. It is very risky to start in on twenty acres, mortgaged for half their value, and to work with tools obtained on credit. The former plan admits of a gradual increase of the business on a safe foundation, and as increasing experience and means warrant. The latter plan leads the gardener into the meshes of the usurer — the foolish fly into the spider's web — and to ultimate ruin. Step by step you will rise from the foot of the ladder to the height of lasting prosperity ; but the pretender who surreptitiously usurps a high position will come to a sudden, and perhaps deserved fall. CHAPTER V. HINTS IN MARKETING. SECRETS OF SUCCESS EXPOSED. " Doing the right thing at the right time." HE all-important secret might be told in a few words : " Cater to the demands of the market." Produce just such articles as the market calls for, and offer them for sale at just such times as people want to buy. The more favorable the combination of circumstances of your own selection — market, locality, soil, and methods — the brighter are the chances of success. Start in modestly to fill a want already existing. Try to have your vegetables in the market a few days, or even a few hours sooner than your competitor. Take to market only the choicest, and keep the poorer stuff out of your customer's sight, thus making a reputation for yourself and your wares, and your success will be at once assured and permanent. Study the pecu- liarities of your market, and try to hit the periodically appearing demands for certain articles. The best at the right time brings the profits. It is hardly ever advisable to attempt educating people's tastes. Give your customers exactly what they want ; and only after having gained a firm footing among them, or gained a reputation for yourself, would it be wise to begin, cautiously, the work of creating a demand for better things by exposing them in tempting display to people's attention. There is a rule of fashion in markets as well as in attire. When a certain kind of vegetable or fruit is popular in a certain market, it will sell quicker and at higher prices than even a better kind with which people are not acquainted. The process of educating people's taste is always an exceedingly slow one; and the gardener should not make the mistake of growing any thing new and superior, but as yet unknown to customers, in the vain hope of gaining an advantage over his competitors, unless the superiority lies in outside attractiveness — large size, fine color, perfect shape, etc. — and thus appeals to the sight. High quality alone, without " catchy " appearance, is at a discount in the open markets. Uniformity is one of the chief essentials in making produce attractive and salable. Particular pains should be taken to have (32) Hints in Marketing. — 33 all the vegetables in one bunch or package — the radishes, beets, turnips, celery, or whatever they may be — as near like each other as careful selection can make them. Have everything clean and attractive. If the articles to be marketed are of uneven size, grade them with greatest care, and put the larger ones in Radishes, Properly Graded. Radishes, Not Graded. one package, and the smaller ones in another. Careful sorting and packing is just as necessary as skillful growing. Regularity of supply is still another point of importance. No matter how good and how abundant your produce may be, Strawberries, Mixed and Graded. it will not be appreciated by your customers unless you furnish them regularly just what they want, and when they want it. This inspires confidence and reliance upon you, and insures permanent patronage even at higher prices than customers would be willing to give to the man who offers his wares spasmodically, at irregular intervals, or at rare occasions. It is well worth taking to heart what one of South Jersey's most successful market gardeners says on this subject: " If you are catering to the appetites of the town's people, and desire to extend your list of vegetables, plant but sparingly 34— How to Make the Garden Pay. of such varieties as have not yet come into general use, until the demand for them is created. " Even to-day there are hundreds of families in every large town, and thousands of farmers upon whose table spinach, kale, cauliflower, salsify, and a long list of other vegetables, both tooth- some and healthful, has never appeared. To encourage this trade takes time, patience, and no little outlay in labor and cash. " It has been, and always will be, that each market has its favorites who can sell more at the same price than other growers. If to dispose of your load to-day, you sacrifice the price you would be sure of to-morrow ; if to-morrow you find yourself compelled to make further concessions in order to sell your products, you may be sure the necessity for making concessions will continue from day to day, until the prices of all goods in your line are depressed below the line of profit to yourself and all other gardeners ; and you will have lost the esteem and good- will of your competitors without being better thought of by dealers and customers. " Retailers like to deal with producers whose word is as good as their bond. They desire to be sure that in every basket, box, or barrel the uniform goodness of the contents reaches clear to the bottom. They like men who, when taking orders to-day for to-morrow, can be depended upon to live up to their engage- ments ; whose vegetables are always washed clean, tied tightly, arranged neatly, and whose call can be counted upon with never- failing certainty every week-day, and under all conditions of weather," CHAPTER VI. MANURES FOR THE GARDEN. I. STABLE MANURE AND HOW TO MANAGE IT. " Of nothing, nothing comes." HE market gardener can produce in a single season enormous, almost incredible quantities of vege- tables on an acre of ground when systematically and continuously cropped. The quality of most of this produce depends on its succulence and tenderness, and its money value is greatly influ- enced by its size and earliness, all of which features are the result of rapid, thrifty growth, which in turn, is only made possible by the presence of an abundance of available plant food in the soil, especially of the nitrogenous element, which is the chief promoter of succulent growth, in bulbous root, leaf, and stalk. The prices which the gardener obtains for his products, compared with those realized by the farmer for grain, hay, potatoes, etc., are such that he can much better afford to use large quantities of manure, and especially pay out money for them, than the farmer with whom it is only too often the query whether he can profitably use any kind of manure which he has to buy. There is considerable doubt in my mind that wheat, oats, corn, and products of this sort can be raised at present market rates with profits worth speaking of when manure, whether yard or concentrated, has to be bought at the figures usually paid by the market gardener. The latter, as a rule, finds that the more and the better manure he uses, whether bought or home-made, from stable or factory, the larger will be his profits. Manure, good manure, and plenty of it — that is the corner-stone of successful market gardening. This assertion is not likely to be disputed. But there are economical or methodical ways of using it, and there are wasteful ones. It is not always easy to determine, in which shape, in what quantities, and to what crops manure can be applied so it will do the most good. The importance of the subject demands our earnest consideration, deep thought and study; but we should look at the question entirely dispassionate, without (35) 36 — How to Make the Garden Pay. preconceived preferences in favor of one manure, or prejudices against the other. There are gardeners who claim every thing for stable manure, and find no good in " fertilizers ; " and there are others who put their whole reliance in the latter. As in most other cases we will find the " golden mean " by far the safest course to pursue. Stable manure is yet the favorite article with the masses of gardeners. If reasonably free from weed-seeds and properly handled, it is a perfectly safe and reliable fertilizer, and when made from grain-fed animals, as most likely the case in city stables, well worth ^2,00 per ton, if it can be drawn without in- curring additional expense, or at a time when no other work is pressing. One ton of ordinary, mixed, fresh farm or stable ma- nure contains about 8 lbs. of nitrogen, 10 lbs. of potash and 4 lbs. of phosphoric acid. At current retail rates for these plant-foods, their chemical value would be about as follows, viz.: 8 lbs. nitrogen at 16 cents, $1 28 10 " potash at 5 cents, 50 4 " phosphoric acid at 5 cents, 20 Total, $1 98 When thoroughly rotted this manure contains a still larger percentage of the plant foods, hence is not only more valuable for that reason but also on account of its readiness for applica- tion, and immediate availability. When we further consider the mechanical effect of this manure, the opening and loosening of the soil, allowing air and warmth to enter it more freely — we will not be apt to underrate its value. A different thing it would be, if in addition to first cost, we were obliged to incur much extra expense in hauling it a consid- erable distance ; if we were to employ teams, and hire men. I think I would use good stable manure in moderate quantities if the aggregate cost amounted to ;^2.oo, and very sparingly at a higher figure. The manure account is a big item with the rank and file of gardeners near the cities who use from 50 to 100 tons of stable manure to the acre annually. As we shall see later on,, the application of even the smaller amount is excessive, and often a sinful and preventable waste. Composting Manure. — Raw manure is not in condition for the market gardener's purposes, except in rare cases. It may do for sweet corn, and comes in play for heating hot-beds, or raising mushrooms ; but for general garden crops it must be composted, and made as fine as possible. There need be no loss of fertilizing materials or elements if the compost heap is properly made as shown in illustration next page. Pile it up in a square heap with perpendicular sides and flat top, four or five feet high, and Manures for the Garden. — 37 as wide and long as may be required. Let it come to a heat, and fork the mass over from time to time until it is in the desired condition. It takes time and labor, adding to the origi- nal cost, and in deciding on the price he can afford to pay for raw manure originally, the gardener will have to take this feature in consideration. These heaps may be made during autumn and early winter right on the arable land, and the material will generally be ready to be spread upon the soil where wanted, when the time for planting it with spring crops has arrived. It is absolutely neces- sary that these heaps be of considerable depth, not less than four feet, in order to prevent the rain-water from leaching clear through, and washing away valuable food elements. Composting Stable Manure. It will be all the better if compost heaps of this kind can be made under shelter, and especially if liquids from the barnyard, or soapsuds from the wash house, or similar liquid wastes can be occasionally poured upon them. The compost heap, while in process of construction, is the most appropriate dumping place for vegetable rubbish of all sorts, the carcasses of animals (larger ones cut in pieces), house and kitchen slops, and other waste materials. Refuse matter of this kind often adds greatly to the value and effectiveness of the compost. What we should avoid most scrupulously, however, is the addition of any material containing live weed seeds, or of vege- table rubbish infected with plant diseases. The best way, indeed the only safe way of purifying old tomato and potato stalks, celery tops, etc., that had once been attacked, however slightly, by blights or other diseases, is to burn them to ashes, and this cannot be done too soon for the safety of succeeding crops. Even manure from animals fed on blighted or scabby vegetation, tubers, and the like, should be rejected for gardening purposes. In many of our inland villages and cities quantities of good manure from livery stables, from the premises of suburban 38 — How to Make the Garden Pay. owners of a family cow, poultry, and other animals, from black- smith shops, etc., can be had for the hauling, or at a mere nominal price. A dairyman, three miles from here, has great heaps of old cow manure which he is glad to sell for 30 cents a one-horse load (say a ton) or 50 cents a two-horse load (say two tons). Often the nearby gardener has quite a bonanza. The opportunities are too good to be missed. When work is slack, and roads good, the time cannot be put to better use than for hauling manure, day after day. Put it on thick ; it will pay. I usually buy my manure supply from the Buffalo Stockyards. I have to pay more for it than is asked by the dairyman already mentioned. But the station is only half a mile from the place. I find it too expensive to have to send three miles after a load when we have other work to do. CHAPTER VII. MANURES FOR THE GARDEN. II. COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS THEIR VALUE AND USE. " Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good." [OMMERCIAL fertilizers are coming more and more in general use with market gardeners, and are now quite extensively substituted for stable manure — and that not without good reason. If we examine a good high-grade commercial fer- tilizer, analyzing 5 per cent, available nitrogen, 8 per cent, phosphoric acid, and 8 per cent, potash, we will find that one ton of it contains, besides less valuable ingredients : 100 lbs. nitrogen, estimated at 16 cents, - $16 00 160 " phosphoric acid, at 6 cents, - - 9 60 160 " potash, at 5 cents, - - - - 8 00 Total, $33 60 Such a fertilizer probably retails at $^^ to $40 per ton, and is fully worth it. All this large amount of plant food, and per- haps one-half more, can be drawn in a single load, while it will take ten such loads of stable manure to supply the same amount of nitrogen (and that in a far less available condition), sixteen such loads to supply the same amount of potash, and forty to supply the same amount of phosphoric acid. On an average, therefore, the substitution of the commercial fertilizer for barn- yard manure will save 14-15 of the labor and expense in hauling and in application, besides all the additional trouble and labor of composting. In a further comparison of the two manures we come to the following results : A moderately liberal application of compost requires 50 tons to the acre. This means vhe application of 400 lbs. of nitrogen, 500 lbs. of potash, and 200 lbs. of phosphoric acid, at a costof^ 100 to ^125, not taking in consideration the large expense of handling and applying it. Men most liberal in the use of commercial fertilizers apply, and recommend to use, one ton per acre, at a cost of less than (39) 40 — How to Make the Garden Pay. $$0, expense of handling and application included. Many after having tried a one-half ton application find fault if the results do not give as good a showing as a ^150 application of compost. This is not common sense. Soils that have been utilized for the production of garden crops for many years, and are yet filled with humus from previous applications of compost, usually contain considerable potash and phosphoric acid, which elements of plant food, in these heavy dressings of yard manure, are always applied greatly in excess of the needs of crops, and permitted to accumulate in the soil. The nitrogen alone, however, is taken up by the plants, or leached out of the soil as fast as rendered available. When we consider that nitrogen is the chief generator of stalk and leaf, and promoter of rapid and succulent growth, and that the conversion of unavail- able forms of nitrogen into available nitrates (the so-called nitrification) is exceedingly slow in the early (cooler) part of spring, we have the explanation of the effectiveness of a manure application holding 400 lbs. of the most important substance of plant nutriment, and of the often comparatively meagre results obtained from a dressing of fertilizer having only one-quarter or less of that quantity of nitrogen. Bone meal, although rich in phosphoric acid, which is not superabundant in stable manure, and therefore frequently used in alternation with the former, gen- erally with excellent results, has the same scanty supply of nitrogen as the high-grade complete fertilizers. This nitrogen in commercial fertilizers, however, is generally in a more readily available form than that in yard manure ; and, all points taken in consideration, a rotation of the several manures should be adopted as it has proved far preferable to the exclusive or continued use of one or the other of them alone. The heavy tax that the demands of the crops impose upon the gardener can often be materially lightened in this way. Some of our best gardeners go much further. They use what stable manure is made on the place, and put all the money to be expended for manures in complete commercial fertilizers, and nitrates (spoken of in next chapter). I have grown excellent vegetables of all kinds on poor soil by this^system of feeding the crops ; but I miss the quickening and loosening effect upon the soil which is found in an occasional ration of compost. Hence I prefer the rotation system of manuring, and if for some reason it should become necessary or unavoidable to use commercial fertilizers uninterruptedly, I would at least grow and plow under an occasional green crop, such as clover, black peas or southern cow beans, peas, weeds, etc., merely for the purpose of adding decaying vegetable matter to the soil, and thus opening it to the ingress of air and moisture. Its state of concentration fits the commercial fertilizer especially for application to growing crops, Manures for the Garden. — 41 or to second and succeeding crops planted between rows of vegetables still standing. This question has still another aspect. Market gardeners obtain the bulk of their manure supply from city stables, and the demand for the article has raised its price to a figure forcing the shrewd gardener to consider whether he can afford to use the article or not. Here we have a case where supply is not influenced by demand. Nearly the same quantity of manure would be pro- duced in cities whether it is disposed of at $2.00, or at 10 cents a load, or whether the owner were compelled to pay some one ;^i.OOaload to take it off the premises. The competition of buyers makes the article too high-priced for their own welfare. Use more fertilizers, and less manure from the city stables, and let the decreased demand force down the excessive prices. Even distribution over the area to be enriched is the chief point of importance in the application of all concentrated manures. This can be attained in no easier and more perfect way than by the use of a good fertilizer drill, such as for instance is attached to the Empire grain drill. The box holds about one bag (200 lbs.) of fertilizer. Place the bags at convenient dis- tances, scatteringly, over the area to be fertilized, fill the recep- tacle of the drill, and commence operations, refilling as needed. In heavy applications it may be necessary to go over the area repeatedly, and preferably in different directions, either crosswise or diagonally across the preceding application. If such a drill is not at hand, as Very likely the case with the market gardener, the stuff may be sown after plowing, and a thorough harrowing be given afterwards. In sowing a ton to an acre, which is a pretty heavy application, the operator will have to make close bouts, scatter with full hand, and then probably be compelled to repeat the operation crosswise of the first sowing, in order to put on the full quantity. For convenience in sowing by hand it is always advisable to moisten the fertilizer before it is applied. Empty a bagful on a tight barn floor, or in a tight wagon box, spread the fertilizer out in an even layer, then sprinkle water over it ; next put on another layer of fertilizer, apply water as before, and finally shovel the whole mass over until it is thoroughly mixed, and uniformly damp. It can then be sowed without filling the air around the party whose hands scatter it, with the disagreeable dust. There is no reason to fear ill results from " too much " fer- tilizer, provided it is evenly distributed or thoroughly mixed through the soil. Stinginess in this item is poor economy. CHAPTER VIII. MANURES FOR THE GARDEN. III. NITRATES, WOOD ASHES, AND OTHER SPECIFIC FERTILIZERS. " Cheapest is what serves its purpose best." 'O other single manurial element gives to the progressive gardener the opportunities and possibilities that he finds in nitrates, especially in the form of nitrate of soda or Chili saltpeter, vast natural deposits of which exist in various districts of South America. The effect of this salt on many garden crops is often truly wonderful, and can generally be observed within a few days after its application in the darker foliage and remark- ably thrifty growth. It is readily soluble, and its nitrogen in the exact form best suited for immediate absorption by the roots of plants. The body of gardeners move but slowly, and adopt new things and means reluctantly. So while the merits and possibili- ties of nitrate of soda have often been pointed out in the columns of the agricultural press, the great public, fortunately for the progressive few, knows nothing about it, a circumstance which gives it into the hands of the shrewd manager to excel his slower competitor with ease, and to beat him in every market. The gardener who refuses to use nitrate of soda especially for his early crops, neglects to take advantage of one of his very best opportunities. We must bear in mind that the natural process of converting unavailable nitrogenous matter into soluble nitrates is very slow in early spring ; that, in order to furnish as much as early crops require at this time, we were compelled to apply the enormous quantities of stable compost with its excess of mineral elements of plant food; and that the deficiency cannot be supplied by the so-called complete concentrated fertilizers containing only lOO lbs. of nitrogen to the ton, except when applied in large quanti- ties. In nitrates we have just the element of plant- food needed, and by applying it in small quantities about as fast as the plants can utilize it, we have it in our power to stimulate a thrifty (42) Manures for the Garden. — 43 growth of foliage at comparatively slight expense, and at a time when the product will bring the most money in market. Nitrate of soda contains about 16 or 17 percent, of nitrogen, but this in a most soluble form, so that it would not be safe to use it in large quantities at a time, for what is not at once converted into plant structure, will gradually sink through the soil as it would through a sieve, and be lost. The most eco- nomical and most satisfactory method is the application of not over 100 lbs. to 150 lbs. per acre repeated at intervals of about two weeks. If lumpy, it should be pounded fine before applying it. Scatter it over the ground when the foliage of plants is perfectly dry, as it is apt to scorch the leaves otherwise, or still better, apply just before or during a rain, when it will be dissolved and carried into the soil at once. Sprinkling over the land in solution is a safe but generally less convenient mode of applica- tion. It costs from ^40 to ^50 per ton, and can be obtained from the large fertilizer manufacturers. Sulphate of ammonia, a by-product of gas works, contains about 20 per cent, of nitrogen ; but this is in a more stable form, as it has to undergo the transformation into nitrate before being readily available. Its effect is naturally slower, but more lasting, and it can be applied in larger quantities, or in single applications, without fear of loss. It may take the place of nitrate of soda during the warmer part of the season with gratifying results, and in combination with that salt at any time, the latter for immediate effect, the former as a more gradual source of supply. The price of sulphate of ammonia is a trifle higher than that of nitrate of soda. Undoubtedly we have in these two salts the cheapest forms of available nitrogen, and ready means to produce immediate and often astonishing results. I cannot refrain from repeating the statement, that the gardener who scorns the use of these nitrogen compounds will have a hard stand against the competition of growers who put on the market the crisp, succu- lent and early vegetables that can be so easily produced in all their perfection by the judicious application of nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia. Hen manure might have been mentioned in the chapter on stable compost. It is especially rich in nitrogen. A ton when fresh contains more than twice, and a ton of the dry article more than four times the quantity of nitrogen contained in a ton of common stable manure. This will give an idea of its value for the garden. I always compost it with loam, muck, coal ashes, leaves, etc., apply after plowing (broadcast) and stir it into the surface soil by means of harrow, cultivator and rake. My neigh- bors sometimes ask me what new variety of spinach, parsley, etc., I have in my family garden, and request me to procure some seed of it for them. Yet the " new " and wonderfully thrifty vegetable 44 — How to Make the Garden Pay. most likely is none other than one of the standard sorts they have in their own garden, the only difference being that my ground was manured with one ton per acre of high-grade complete fertilizer, and a good top dressing of composted hen manure, with frequent but very light applications of nitrate of soda, while my neighbors grounds were fed with extravagant quantities of stable compost. The same method of feeding crops has always enabled me to grow celery and other plants, and celery for the table also, in great perfection. Every year's experience has added strength to my conviction that in nitrate of soda and well-preserved poultry manure we have the most valuable because most quickening and most effective fertilizing substances within our reach. The former has an especially sure and wonderful stimulating effect on spinach, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, and more or less so on other crops, while poultry manure seems to benefit almost all vegetation more uniformly, but always to a remarkable degree. Let no gardener despise these two manures, or neglect to take advan- tage of every opportunity to procure them whenever they are procurable at a reasonable price. The exact amount which the gardener can afford to pay for them depends on their quality and state of preservation. Fresh hen manure, reasonably dry and from well-fed hens, contains in each ton about 32 lbs. nitrogen, estimated at 16 cents, $5 12 30 " phosphoric acid at 6 cents, i 80 16 " potash at 5 cents, 80 Total value, $'j 72 This is the value of the clear droppings. Usually there are foreign additions, such as dry soil, muck, sifted coal ashes, or other materials used as absorbents, which always justify a lower- ing of the valuation. If wet and leached, such manure may not be worth half of the figures given. We must take all circum- stances in consideration when attempting to estimate the commercial value of these domestic manures. I only wish to emphasize that poultry manure is worth saving in best condition. Don't use wood ashes or lime as absorbing materials under the perches and on the henhouse floor. They drive out ammonia. Dry muck is best, and an occasional sprinkling of kainit will tend to preserve the ammonia. The kainit also adds potash, with which this kind of manure is less abundantly supplied than with nitrogen and phosphoric acid. In cotton-seed meal we have another nitrogenous manure of special value for the market gardener, but as yet very little appreciated or used. A ton contains about 132 lbs. of nitrogen. Manures for the Garden. — 45 30 lbs. of phosphoric acid, and 20 lbs. of potash, and is worth fully ^20-00 as manure. When mixed and composted with stable manure it increases the comparative amount of nitro- gen of the latter, and therefore its effectiveness. Gardeners who keep stock should feed cotton-seed meal to the fullest extent that it is safe to do. It then gives double returns, namely, in increase of flesh, and improvement of manure. Where nitrate of soda, on account of distance from source of supply and consequent high cost, cannot be used advantageously, cotton-seed meal can often be had at a comparatively low price, and should then be used in place of the nitrogen compounds. Potash in any special form is hardly ever needed for the crops on common garden land, since stable compost and the average high-grade complete fertilizer supply an abundance, and often an excess of it, to the crops already. A different thing it Spinach Fed with Nitrates, etc., and as Usually Grown. is with peaty and mucky soils. These have already an abun- dance of the nitrogenous element, although mostly in fixed combinations, and hence in an unavailable form. On the other hand, the mineral elements are scantily supplied. Stable manure would add a comparatively large amount of nitrogen at great expense to the already vast store, and but small quantities of phosphoric acid and potash. Such lands, for that reason, can be made productive in the cheapest and quickest way by applications of phosphoric acid and potash, in the form of a plain superphos- phate, or bone meal, in combination with wood ashes. The alkaline nature of the latter neutralizes injurious acids, and helps to make nitrogen available. Unleached wood ashes can be applied at the rate of 100 bushels and more per acre with perfect safety, and leached ashes in much larger quantities. As means of protecting crops against the ill effects of a prolonged drought, however, wood ashes have no mean value on any soil. I will refer to this subject in a future chapter. The question is often referred to me : " Will it pay a renter to apply manures on land that he will or may have to vacate the next 46 — How to Make the Garden Pay. season ? " This can have but one answer. It stands between the use of manure and the unsatisfactory outcome of the business. No manure — no paying crop. But in case of pending removal, it will always be safest to use the quick-acting commercial fertilizers, and nitrate of soda in preference to the slower and more lasting stable manure. The nitrate of soda is all and entirely utilized for the next crop, or leached out of the soil, and of the commercial fertilizer only an inconsiderable part will be left to increase the successor's crops, if the soil is as thoroughly cropped all through the season as it should be. Stable manure is apt to donate only a part of its plant-foods for the production of the same year's crops, and much of the expensive material would probably be left for the benefit of the renter's successor. CHAPTER IX. GARDEN IMPLEMENTS AND HOW TO USE THEM. " Only the best is good enough." T is not many years since the spade was considered the first requisite in the garden. Now we know that a good two-horse plow does the work of turning the soil not only much faster, and with less labor to man than spade or spading fork, but much better at the same time. Good plows are now on sale at every hardware store, and used by all intelligent farmers. In fact there are more good plows than good plowers ; for simple as the operation seems to be, but few people know how to do it to best advantage. Straight lines and even furrows require much less work than crooked lines and irregular furrows. There is a knack about this natural to some people, but not easily acquired by the average " hired man," and the gardener, H he desires to have the work done well, must do it himself or g ^^^^-^m Sample of Faulty Plowing. instruct his men how to do it. Suppose we have a strip of land to plow of shape as here shown, and situated between strips of standing crops. Even a poor plowman will find little difficulty of striking out the furrow in centre, and to go on all right for awhile ; but as the plowing progresses, and the team naturally (47) 48: — How to Make the Garden Pay, Cutaway Harrow. crowds towards the plowed ground when nearing the end of long furrows on each side, the corners become rounded, and when the piece is all plowed clear to the sides, the four corners will still be left untouched, and must be finished with an immoderate amount of turning, and at last will be poorly done, or left partly unfin- ished. A good plowman will strike his last furrow exactly on the very edge of the piece. The market gardener also needs a good, light one-hbrse plow, to plow up smaller patches for second and third crops, in cultivating and hilling-up celery, and for various other uses. Every hardware dealer keeps them. Subsoiling is not absolutely necessary for warm loam with porous subsoil, but generally of considerable benefit for soils resting on a heavier and com- pact lower stratum. Such a plow following in the furrow made by the common plow, is intended to lift and break the layer next under the top soil. It is not often used in the home garden. Among modern har- rows we have some most excellent tools designed and suited for special purposes. The " Cutaway " is a deep cutting implement, and in many cases can almost take the place of the plow, but it is hardly necessary for the market gardener. The "Disk" is another good farmer's har- row, and doing thorough work, especially on freshly-turned, tough sod ; but an "Acme " will answer as well as any other for breaking up and fining the mellow lands in the garden. In an emergency almost any of the older-style, plain steel-tooth harrows may be used. The " Thomas* Smoothing" harrow, however, is so useful and effective in finishing off a piece of land for sowing seeds, in killing weeds in corn and potato fields early in the season, that neither farmer nor gardener can well afford to do without it. The diligent use of this implement will bring the soil in fine tilth, and often leave it in moderately good shape for sowing or planting, but it will always be advisable to apply the finishing touch with a Meeker Disk harrow, which does as good work as a steel-rake, and much faster and more conveniently. We also need a good spade; a spading fork ; sharp, light hoes; dibbers, etc. The latter are simply pieces of hardwood, with an iron Acme Harrow. Garden Implements — 49 Old-style Dibbers. point and a convenient handle. The new style of dibber, here illustrated, consisting of a flat steel blade with handle, is a great improvement on the old tool, and I hope will soon be put on sale generally. The home gardener, who generally sows seeds by hand, needs a marker, which may be a cheap, home-made affair, constructed from a piece of scantling 4 by 4, with three or four sharpened strips of inch board securely nailed on in front, or mortised in, so that the pointed ends are 15 or 16 inches apart. Two poles are adjusted for handles. The marker may be made reversible, with another set of teeth, but only 12 inches apart, pointing in the opposite direction. The market gardener will also need a tool of this kind for marking the rows where he wishes to plant onion sets, or to set lettuce plants, etc. The distance between the teeth must be regulated according to his purpose, A marker of this kind is here illustrated. It has the disadvantage, however, of compelling the operator to walk backwards, or at least sideways. If you want long rows as straight as is always desirable for neat work, it would be bet- ter to adjust a set of handles in the rear, a the by which one person Marker for Home Garden. can steer the imple- ment while another draws it along horse-fashion. This style of marker opens the furrows just about deep enough for sowing in them onion, beet, carrot, radish, New-style Dibber. lettuce, spinach and other ordi- nary garden seeds by hand. To mark out rows for plant ' setting, especially as required in the new onion culture (described under " Onion " in Chapter XXVIII.), we prefer a tool that will indicate the rows by light marks, not by deep furrows, and can be pushed ahead, enabling one person to make as straight rov/s as can only be made by garden marker. 4 Wheel Marker. two with the first-described A Roller and Marker. 50 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Some time ago I devised the. marker last shown on the pre- ceding page. If well made, it does good work. Take one-inch boards, cut to a circle and slightly bevel the edges. The wheels revolve on an iron rod, and are held at the desired distance by pieces of 4 x 4-inch scantling, through the centre of each, length- wise, is bored a hole of corresponding size. A handle fastened to the centrepiece and braced by iron rods completes the tool. Cut and description of another marker, which I find very convenient and serviceable for the same purpose, are taken from my " The New Onion Culture" (third edi- tion). " It is an ordinary wooden garden roller, such as any one can make out of a piece of chestnut or oak log three or four feet long, with iron pins driven in centre on each side, and a simple handle attached by means of two pieces of old wagon tire. " Bore holes into the face of the roller, one foot apart (three holes for a three-foot roller, or four for one four feet long), and put in pins. To use this tool as a marker, make each of these pins hold a small rope encircling the roller, by driving the pins into the holes beside the ends of the rope. More than one row of holes can be used to change distances if required for other vegetables. Strips may be tacked lengthwise of the roller to mark places in row for setting plants." Of the many other devices for furrowing and marking garden land I will only mention the one which I am now using almost to the exclusion of all others, and which is a contrivance as simple and convenient as we can ever hope to make it. It is simply an attachment to the Planet Jr. drill or wheel-hoe. The illustration shows the combined drill and wheel-hoe rigged as a furrower. If wanted as a marker for plant setting, we turn the narrow hoes backward. The crosspiece, to which the out- side hoes (marker teeth) are attached, may be made of iron or of hardwood, and is bolted to the plate as shown. This description may possibly induce the Planet Jr. manufacturers to offer these crossbars as an attachment to their hand drills and wheel-hoes. Indispensable in the market garden, and still more so in the farm garden, and convenient to have even in the home garden. Planet Jr. Combined Drill and Wheel-Hoe as Marker. Garden Implements. — 51 is a good seed drill. There are a number of good and service- able ones now in the trade. The Planet Jr. garden drill shown in illustration on next page, affords a safe, easy, and perfect method of sowing smaller seeds over large or small areas. The intelligent farmer who has learned to appreciate the mangels, and carrots and other root crops as winter food for cattle, sheep, hogs and horses, and makes it a practice to plant largely of them every year, is not unacquainted with the merits of the garden drills, and often would not consider his assort- ment of implements complete without a good garden seed sower. I am not greatly in favor of combined tools, but if the home grower is bound to have a seed sower and wheel-hoe combined, the Planet Jr. combined drill, wheel-hoe and cultivator will give him what he wants. Amongseparate gar- den seed sowing de- vices besides the one already named, we have Matthews' mar- ket gardener drill, the Model drill and others, A later addition to our seed sowing devices is the Planet Jr. hill dropping seed p^^^^^ ^.^^ j^ 5^^^ ^^.^^ drill. It places the hills as desired, 4, 6, 8 or 12 inches apart, but can be changed to a drill sower, and the reverse, in a moment. It has a complete marker, does not sow when going backward and can be thrown entirely out of gear in a moment. There is also an extra attachment for sowing onion seed for sets in a band four inches wide. Still another tool is the Planet Jr. hill dropping and fertilizer drill, which, as a drill, does exactly the same work as the hill dropping drill, and in addition gives us a chance to sow fertilizers in the drill, either under or above the seed. The fertilizer hopper holds one peck. This tool may be used to sow either seed or fertilizer alone, and will come handy in many instances. There are also larger fertilizer drills on the market. The possession of one of them will be a great convenience to every gardener or farmer who makes a practice of applying concen- trated fertilizers in the drills for potatoes, corn, peas, beets, etc. Some of these implements are also serviceable for drilling peas, corn, etc. 52 —How to Make the Garden Pay. But the tool of all tools, the modern weed-slayer, the great labor-saver, the greatest horticultural blessing of the age — that is the modern wheel-hoe. This above all others frees the gar- dener from undesirable work, cuts down the labor account one- half, and makes tillage, both in the home and market garden, light and pleasant. It is quite a number of years ago when it was first introduced, but fortunately for the progressive gardener for money, the slow moving majority has not yet recognized its value. The advantages connected with the possession of one of these tools cannot be over-stated, nor emphasized too strongly, Planet Jr. Garden Drill. nor told too frequently. Without the wheel-hoe's help the gar- dener of to-day cannot hope to hold out against his progressive competitors. It is the tool that more than anything else has cheapened the cost of production in garden stuff. The most perfect implement of this kind, at present, is the " Planet Jr. Double Wheel-Hoe," illustrated in next Fig., a cultivator, rake and plow combined, in fact an all purpose tool of tillage, and good to whatever use you put it. It can be made to hoe both sides of one row, or between rows, in level culture and in throw- ing the soil either to or from the row. This tool banishes the old hand hoe from the garden to a certain extent, and reduces Garden Implements — 53 the unpleasant task of weeding to a minimum. Let no gardener suppose that he can safely get along without a wheel-hoe. In the home garden this implement makes a pleasure of what Planet Jr. Double Wheel Hoe. otherwise is a job dreaded by all. Now the half-grown boy runs the wheel-hoe up and down the rows of vegetables " for fun " and recreation, and accomplishes in one-half hour what a man with a hand hoe could not per- form in a whole day. As a separate attachment to this we have the Onion Set Harvester, illustrated on next page. As its name indicates it is used in harvesting onion sets, also in cutting spinach for market. Similar cheaper tools have also been put on the market, such as the Planet Jr. Single Wheel-Hoe, Gem of the Garden Cultivator, Gregory's Finger Weeder, and others. They all answer their purpose very well, but the Planet Jr. Double Wheel-Hoe stands at the head, and I advise you to use no other. People who garden Planet Jr. Cultivating with Rakes. 54 — How to Make the Garden Pay, Hoeing Between Rows. on a modest scale are often tempted to purchase a combi- nation tool — drill and cultivator combined, such as Planet Jr. Combined Drill and Wheel-Hoe, seen at work hoeing both sides of the row below, and as a cultivator on next page. Such a combination has serious objections, how- ever. Its double purpose necessarily makes it com- plicated, and less efiective in either capacity, and whenever you use it you are wearing out two im- plements at the same time. If you think you can afford but one tool, by all means sow seeds by hand, and buy a separate double wheel- hoe. The home gardener may manage to get along without a garden drill ; the market gardener will find it decidedly inconvenient, and very likely unprof- itable to attempt it. A GOOD HORSE HOE can now be purchased at any hardware store. For cultivation be- tween the rows of cabbages, beans, corn, tomatoes, vines of all kinds, etc., we want a tool with five or more narrow (i 34^-inch) blades or hoes which will leave the soil level and as Omon Set Harvester smooth as a harrow. There are various styles of cultivator harrow which do excellent work. When I take every- thing in consideration, how- ever, I prefer the Planet Jr. horse-hoe to all others. It is a " general purpose " tool on our grounds. We attach the five I 54^-inch blades, and use it for hoeing purposes, or the furrower and marker, for marking corn and potato fields, or the side hoes and rear plow, for hilling, etc. The Planet Jr., always unsur- passed as a tool for general tillage purposes, is always the leader in improvements. As now made, it has a patent lever expanding frame which can be closed to five inches, or opened to twenty-four; Combined Dull and Wheel-Hoe. Garden Implements. — 55 a side adjustment for the handles by which they may be set from one side to another ; a lever wheel by which it may be changed to any depth in an instant, and such a variety of adjustable teeth that we are enabled to do just the kind of one-horse cultivation most desirable. Ordinarily we use the set of i^-inch blades, as they do the best work in stirring the soil. For many reasons an even surface of the soil is most desirable, and we want no ridges and furrows. Hilling is required only in rare cases, such as the last cultivation of potatoes, or in the celery field ; and the hilling blades can then be substituted for the two narrow outside blades. People who grow corn, potatoes, beans, peas, and similar crops on a more extensive scale, will find a great help in the Breed weeder, especially on loose and mellow soils. It is less Planet Jr. Horse-Hoe. suited to clay soils which are liable to bake after a heavy rain. The implement is a scarifier, and built somewhat on the principle of a modern hayrake. Its timely use prevents weed growth both in and between the rows, while the deeper rooted cultivated plants slip through the wire teeth unharmed. If I further emphasize the necessity of having the hand-hoes bright, clean, and sharp, and hung in the proper angle to a light, smooth handle ; of keeping the steel and cutting parts of all implements bright, and well oiled when not in use, and all tools in their places under cover, little else remains to be added on the subject of tools of tillage. Implements for special use, such as asparagus bunchers, spinach cutters, hand-weeders, etc., will be mentioned elsewhere. It is hardly necessary to speak of wagons, etc., as their selection depends on local fashions, and special purposes. A good manure-spreader may be a convenient 56 — How to Make the Garden Pay. implement ; but I question whether it can be considered indis- pensable in even a large market garden. With the use of many implements of tillage, such as the various styles of hoes, spades, shovels, forks, etc., the question of "best" is often dependent on the habit of the user. Some people after having once acquired the " knack " of handling a certain tool to advantage will do much better work with it than with a stiperior or more modern one. The employer must humor the whims of the hired help in such cases, and give them just the tool that they have learned to use with skill and to best advantage. The improvement of gardening implements, both large and small, is still going on at a rapid rate. The leader of to-day may be crowded into second or third rank to-morrow. This keeps the progressive gardener on the alert all the time to enable him to profit by any new device that may be of unusual merit, and to keep ahead of his competitors. On the other hand I can hardly advise the gardener of moderate means to invest in every new implement as soon as put on the market under high claims. Progressiveness in this respect may well and profitably be tem- pered with quite a considerable amount of conservatism. CHAPTER X. COLD FRAMES. THEIR CONSTRUCTION AND USE. " This is an art that mends nature." |OLD frames are simple affairs — box-like structures covered with sashes. The latter are the chief part, and involve the real expense in the construc- tion of such frames, but being a staple article of commerce, and manufactured with special machinery in special factories, can now be bought at (or ordered through) any supply store at mod- erate prices. They usually cost ^2.00 each, ready glazed and painted, and perhaps can be had cheaper in large quantities. The usual size is 6 feet in length by 3 feet in width, and the frames are made to correspond, namely 6 feet wide and 3 feet in length for every sash to be accommodated. The selection of site is important. The proper place for frames is in convenient proximity to the water supply, and also Arrangement of Cold Frames. m a position sheltered from the north and west, facing south or south-east. A close and tall hedge of evergreens affords a most excellent protection, but if such does not happen to be where it can be utilized for the purpose, a tight board fence, at least six feet high, must be built at the north side of the beds and 57 58 — How to Make the Garden Pay. extending their whole length. A building, hedge or board fence at the west is also desirable. In this comfortable situation con- struct your system of frames, making it as easily accessible as convenient for operation, and as snug generally as circumstances will permit. The frame is set on top of the ground, no excava- tion being required. The back is made of boards 12 inches wide, nailed to stakes driven in the ground at the ends and middle of each board ; the front consists of boards only 8 inches wide, and fastened to stakes in the same manner, at a uniform distance of 6 feet from the first. When the necessary end pieces are adjusted we have a close fitting box, 4 inches lower in front than at the back. Such a system of frames, in process of construction, is shown on preceding page. The number of sashes required by the market gardener depends on extent of business and area, and still more largely on the particular line of work in which he is engaged. For general market garden purposes it may take 20 to 25 sashes to each acre of ground, but when frames are extensively used for the produc- tion of vegetables, such as spinach, lettuce, carrots, beets, parsley and soup celery, or in the special line of growing plants for sale, the number of sashes required will be proportionately larger. Some gardeners devote their energies almost exclusively to cold- frame products. In some cases it is more convenient to buy the sash frames unglassed, and put the glass in them on the premises. In this emergency, as also in the work of repairing and patching old Improved Putty Bulb. sashes, the newer method of putting on putty in liquid form, and by means of a putty bulb, can be recommended as quite con- venient, and preferable to the old way. The mixture used for this is composed of one-third white lead, one-third common putty, and one-third boiled oil, all by measure not by weight. Mix oil and putty thoroughly, add the white lead, and strain. If too thick, as liable to be in cold weather, add a small quantity of benzine or turpentine. Paint the sash ; then fill the bulb with the liquid putty, run a little of it along the sash bars, then bed the glass on it, and run more of the liquid along the edges of the Cold Frames — 59 glass, next to the bars ; allow it to harden and you have a neat and tight joint. Use of Frames.— Let us suppose that the cold frames are available in the autumn for regular work. The first use to be made of them is in wintering cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce plants for the extra early crops. Some gardeners sow the seed directly into the frames in rows a few inches apart and thin afterwards. A better way, undoubtedly, is to sow the seed in open ground, about 15th of September, and transplant four weeks later to the frames. It is of greatest importance that each plant should have its just allowance of space. Cabbage and cauliflower plants should have 5 or 6 square inches each (plant in rows 3 inches apart and 2 inches apart in the row), and lettuce plants somewhat closer ( I J^ inches apart in the rows). The general tendency with gardeners is to plant too thickly — and this is a prolific cause of failure, or of poor plants. A good practice, also, is to make two sowings in open ground, about September 1 5th and 20th, to be sure of plants. If the first sown get too large, the others will be just right. Cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce plants are quite hardy, and can endure considerable cold weather without injury. The sashes must be put on by the time winter sets in, and the chief point of importance afterwards is unceasing and untiring attention to proper ventilation. We should bear in mind that the object is not, to grow plants during the winter, but to keep them on a perfect stand-still (dormant), and make them so hardy that they will at once start into lively growth when planted out in spring, even in rather cool weather, and be able to endure late severe freezes without check. For this reason a moderately low, not a warm temperature is required in the frames, and also a considerable amount of exposure. On cold but clear winter days, and when the temperature is not lower than within a few degrees of zero, the sashes should be partly raised, by tilting at back or front, or by partial removal, or in any other convenient way. This requires considerable attention and good judgment. During moderate weather the sashes had best be removed entirely. Constant watchfulness, and doing the right thing at the right time, will insure good plants. Only in a climate with severe winters are shutters or mats required for additional protection. What they are, and how made, is told in next chapter. Deep snow should not be left very many days upon the sashes, unless the ground in the beds was frozen at the time of its fall. Early removal is the safer treatment. With all the progress that we have made of late in horti- cultural art, and in spite of all the efforts put forth by good writers and publishers in behalf of the distribution of horticultural knowledge, it is a fact that the production of good plants is the exception, and that failure, wholly or in part, is the rule. Hence 6o— How to Make the Garden Pay. we often find the liveliest demand for well-grown wintered plants at paying figures, ^^4.00 to ^5.00 per i,ooo, being the usual price, which gives an average of $2.00 to ^2.50 for the plants covered by one sash. One of the most successful gardeners says : " I would pre- fer such wintered plants at $10 per thousand to spring (hot-bed) grown plants as a gift — not to speak of the worthless plants that are shipped every spring by the hundred thousand from the South, and palmed off on the public as cold-frame-wintered plants." If, on account of failure or neglect, the frames are not provided with plants, and these are needed for early use, the next best method of growing them is the following : pack a layer of fermenting horse manure all around the cold frames, and sow the seed in them in February; or still better, use hot-beds as directed under proper heading. Another, and a very important use of the cold frames is for the production of spinach, radishes, parsley, soup celery, carrots, beets, etc., for early market. Spinach may be sown in the autumn, and marketed during the winter, or as soon as the crop is large enough, and prices acceptable. The frames can then be replanted with the same or some other crop. Vegetables thus grown in cold frames often find ready sale and remunerative prices in April or May. The extent to which the gardener can engage in this work depends on local conditions, and these must be consulted. Make the soil in the frames very rich by mixing it freely with good compost. Watering the beds with weak solu- tions of nitrate of soda generally has marked results in pro- ducing quick growth, heavy development of foliage and excellent quality, especially crispness and tenderness. Always sow the seeds in rows across the beds. Early " marketableness " and the greatly desired uniformity can only be secured by attention to proper thinning, and this should be given just as soon as the young plants are large enough to show individual thrift and other qualities, so the most promising may be left, and the undesirable ones removed. Growing crops under glass is an expensive busi- ness on account of the glass and the attention it requires, and space is valuable. Hence, to attain satisfactory results, we must aim to cover the whole area under glass with vegetable growth, yet without undue crowding. Not a single square inch of the available area should be left unutilized, and yet not a single plant checked in its development for lack of space. This is a matter requiring considerable care and judgment, and without these failure is more certain than success. The results of a series of careful experiments made by observing and inquisitive growers of cold frame crops right in my immediate neighborhood seem to speak in favor of the distances Cold Frames — 6i named in the following table, as most profitable for this special purpose, viz. : Sow spinach in rows 8-9 inches apart, thin to 2 inches. " beets " 7 " " " 3 " carrots " 6 " " " 2 " radishes " 4 " " " 2 " " soup celery " 6 " " " parsley " 6 Under no circumstances would it be safe to make the rows still narrower, or leave the plants closer in the rows. If you vary from these distances, by all means make them larger. Instead of planting the radishes by themselves, however, it is generally preferable to sow one row between each two rows of any of the other vegetables. This makes the rows as close as three inches apart in some cases; but the radishes will be off in time for the other stuff to occupy the space when it is needed. The usual time for sowing these crops is about March ist for New Jersey, and correspondingly earlier or later further south or north; in other words, from two to four weeks sooner than the same vegetables could be sown in the open ground. This is late enough to insure safety from injury by the tail end of winter; it is also early enough to hit the time of brisk demand, and realize the best prices. The aim is to get these crops from one to four weeks ahead of the earliest out-door supply. The competition from the South is generally not very formidable, as their modes of cultivation, perhaps their soil and climate, and certainly the long shipment always lower the value of vegetables from there in the eyes of consumers and dealers. The near-by products often bring high prices when the southern supply goes a-begging. This also is the case with head lettuce, so-called. This, like the other crops, is grown in cold frames during the latter part of winter for marketing in early spring. Many gardeners make it a practice to have a number of spare frames without sash, but covered during winter with litter to keep the ground from freezing. When the time arrives that the cabbage and lettuce plants in the regular frames can get along without glass protection, perhaps by March 1st, the spare frames are made ready, planted with lettuce plants from the wintered supply, and these set six or seven inches apart each way. They are then covered with the sashes taken from the cold frames containing wintered plants, and tended in a similar way as the plant frames by giving ventilation when needed. Aim to stimulate early and full development of the crop in every way possible. Applications of nitrate of soda, either dry or in solution, or of liquid manure hardly ever fail to pay well. If it is thought risky to leave the wintered plants, from which the sashes were removed, entirely without protection, 62 — How to Make the Garden Pay. simple home-made frames covered with common muslin (or with the waterproof cloth now made for the purpose), might be sub- stituted for the glass sashes, and the plants kept thus protected during the night until danger is past. Watering the Beds. — It is not necessary to apply water at this time very frequently, except quite late in the season, and during clear weather ; but when done the application should be thorough — no mere sprinkling will do. The most convenient method is by means of force pump or pressure, and rubber hose. Later the rains of heaven should be called into service whenever they happen to occur at an opportune period. The careful manager, by speedy and entire removal of the sashes from the beds, can often save much labor otherwise required for watering the crops by artificial means. In many localities, especially where the seasons are com- paratively long, as in New Jersey, the cold frames after having done duty in the production of vegetables, may then be further used for growing late tomato plants, or for finishing and harden- ing off tomato plants raised in hot-beds. Market gardeners in districts where tomatoes are grown in field culture for the canning establishments, often have considerable call for plants up to July. It is true such plants must be sold low, often at no more than ;^i.50 per thousand ; but as they are grown as a second or third crop, and 600 to 800 of them may be grown under each sash, this feature adds quite considerably to the profits of running cold frames. Forcing cucumbers is another industry in which the cold frame is made to serve a good purpose. After the lettuce or crop of wintered plants is cleared off, a few cucumber seeds are planted in center of sash. When the vines are up, ventilation is given as needed, and the sashes removed entirely as soon as the season has pretty well advanced, and the vines begin to crowd the sashes. This crop, coming, as did the other, a few weeks in advance of the earliest out-door supply, generally brings remune- rative prices. Melons can be grown in a similar way. The exact dates of planting, what crops to grow, and to what extent for each — all these are questions of local bearing, depend- ing on climate, season, demand of the market, and usual price of products. In every one of these enterprises constant thought and study, earnest consideration of these questions in all their intricacy and various aspects and bearings, and pretty good judgment, are first requisites of success. On these the whole matter hinges, much more than on rules and instructions which at best can be only of a general rather than special character. Southern climate often permits the use of cold frames where hot-beds would be required at the north. Cold Frames. — 63 By taking advantage of the additional protection during the night that mats or shutters afford, tomato and even egg-plants can be grown without bottom heat. This question, however, must also be left largely to the judgment of the individual grower, who is acquainted with his local conditions. The use of cold frames in starting lima beans, cucumbers, melons, etc., by planting on squares of inserted sod, which are to be transferred to the open ground when the season has sufficiently advanced, will be referred to at another occasion. CHAPTER XL MANURE HOT-BEDS. THEIR CONSTRUCTION AND USE. " A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." and under or hedge, wide (for N outward appearance and arrangement hot-beds resem- ble the cold frames described in preceding chapter. In the cold frames no artificial heat was employed, while the hotbeds have what is called "bottom heat." The material most generally used by gardeners for producing this heat is fresh horse manure. The proper place for the hot-beds is in same plot with the cold frames, near the water supply, the shelter of a hill, building, or tight, tall fence Make an excavation a little more than six feet sash of common length), 24 inches deep, and as long as needed to accommodate the desired number of sashes, running east and west, or northeast and southwest. Set stakes half a board length apart on each side, and enclose the excavation tightly with boards clear from the bottom up, to hinder the intrusion of moles, rats and mice. The north side may be 12 or 18 inches high above the surface, the south side six inches lower, so as to give the sashes the needed slope to carry off rain and snow water, and the sun all the better chance to reach the soil, and stimulate plant life under the sashes. When the frame is in place, a strip of inch board, wide enough to serve as rest for the sash edges, and having a two inch upright in the centre, as shown in illustration, is then fastened across where each two sashes meet. The preparation of the manure, although quite a simple matter, is still a mysterious subject for many gardeners, and the knowledge of the simple principles involved in this question is 64 Cross-bar for hot -bed. Manure Hot-Beds. — 65 not general. Many growers fear the uncertainties connected with this method of heating beds. The yeast fungus, which is the cause of fermentation, if once introduced into a manure heap suitable to its growth, spreads quite rapidly, and soon has the whole mass in a state of heat. Horse manure is the best because richest or " hottest," for this purpose, and sheep manure comes next. The manure made from animals fed highly with grain, bran, oil meal, etc., is most suitable. It should contain plenty of urine-soaked litter; and the addition of half its bulk of dry forest leaves, especially after they have been used as absorbents in the stables, is always of advantage. The object in view is the pro- duction of uniform and immediate heat all through the bed, and for this reason the spores or seed of fermentation should be spread all through the manure heap, and the latter thus tempered — leavened, as it were. To do this, draw the manure to a convenient place near the hot-beds, and pile it up in a conical heap, leaving it there until fermentation has well started in. In very cold weather it may be necessary to cover the pile lightly with straw, hay, or other loose litter to prevent freezing from the outside before the heating has begun. Before fermen- tation becomes too lively, as indicated by escaping steam, the heap may be forked over again, and piled up as before for a few days to heat, or thrown immediately into the pit, taking pains to mix the fermenting part all through the whole mass, and to break up all lumps. If the manure is already very hot at this time, tread it down firmly; but if fermentation has only just set in lightly, leave the manure in the pit somewhat loose, and fill up clear to the top of frames. In settling, a depression is apt to form all along the middle of the bed, and right there the manure should be packed more solid than at the sides. Now put on the sashes, and leave until fermentation has again become quite active all through the bed; then tread down solid, even off where needed, and cover with soil about six inches deep. Soil, to be in best condition for this purpose, should have been prepared the fall previous, and be kept safe from freezing until wanted. It must be rich and fine, and consist of about one-third well-rotted compost, and two-thirds good loam, rotten turf, etc. The beds should now be left until the soil has become 5 Hot-bed cross section. 66 — How to Make the Garden Pay. warmed through, and the weed seeds near the surface have had time to germinate. Then remove the sashes, rake the surface thoroughly to kill the weeds, and make a smooth and fine seed-bed; and you are ready for planting or sowing seed. The illustration on preceding page represents a cross-section of bed. Sometimes the manure, especially if poor, /. e. from poorly- fed animals, refuses to come to a heat. Then all you have to do is to make it richer by mixing it with hen manure, bone dust or by throwing hot soapsuds, rank liquid manure, etc., upon it. This treatment will generally bring it to terms. One good load of manure is about sufficient for two sashes. The depth of the manure in hot-beds is variously given as 1 8, 24 and 30 inches. This is a question hinging on locality, season and plants to be grown. For general purposes in a climate like that of New Jersey or southern Pennsylvania, and late in February, or beginning of March, an 18-inch layer of fermenting manure may do ; but in a severer climate, earlier in the winter, or for the production of pepper and ^^g plants, or other plants requiring considerable heat, the manure should be 24 to 30 inches in depth, and the pit be dug deep enough to answer these condi- tions. The first use in the season made of the hot-beds is in grow- ing lettuce for early market. They are got in readiness and planted by middle of January. I Plant about 6 or 7 inches i square, cover the beds f with straw mats or light shutters during cold nights, and give ventila- tion in clear, warm days. Radishes are grown in same way. Watering, if not done by means of a stream forced through rubber hose, is facilitated by means of a long-spouted watering pot or sprinkler. When the crop is taken off, the beds may be used same as cold frames. Starting Early Plants. — The chief and most important use of hot-beds is for the production of ^g^ plants, tomato and pepper plants, also of cabbage plants for early planting when the needed supply of cold-frame-wintered plants is not at hand. For starting tomato, &%% and pepper plants, the beds are generally put in readiness in February or March, and the seed sown rather thickly (best in regular rows), lightly covered with fine soil, mold or pulverized moss, and firmed by lightly patting the soil with some convenient implement, as the back Firming Board. Manure Hot-Beds. — 67 of rake or hoe, or with a piece of board with handle, made especially for this purpose, of the shape shown in engraving. In watering, a fine rose sprinkler, or a coarse spray nozzle and tepid water should be used. It is not safe to let the soil get dry, or to neglect ventilation on warm clear days. During cold nights, especially at the extreme North, the beds will need additional protection by straw mats or board shutters. The liability of the weather to suprise us with sudden changes must keep the grower always on the alert. It is never wise to with- hold protection for the night because the evening is warm, or neglect the" bed for the day because the morning is cloudy. Sometimes in a dark day, when ventilation does not seem to be required, the sun will suddenly break through the clouds at mid- day, threatening to burn the plants if the sashes are not speedily removed or raised. In short, hot-beds require constant and careful watching. Shutters and Mats. — The shutters used for additional protection are made of half-inch stuff, and of size of sash. A stack of them piled up when not in use, is here illustrated. Stack of Shutters. The straw mats can also be made by the most unskilled person from long rye straw tied with tarred string. Their manufacture is a simple thing indeed. Make a frame 7 by 4 feet, as seen in engraving, and tightly stretch four or five parallel stout tarred strings, ten to twelve inches apart, from top to bottom. Have as many balls of lighter tarred string, and fasten one end to each upright string next the bottom, leaving the balls in front of the frame. Now lay a whisk of straw, cut sides out, in the junction of the strings at the bottom, and fasten it there by twisting each of the smaller strings once around the straw and the upright 68 — How to Make the Garden Pay. string. Next put on another whisk of straw, and continue until frame is full, and the mat finished. The whole expense connected with these handy conveniences and effective means of protecting early tender plants in frames is a quantity of nice, clean, bright rye straw and some tarred string. The labor required in making them does not count for much as the work can be done in a convenient outbuilding, or under a shed during rainy days at leisure. In the course of a season a large supply of such mats may be made, and as they can be rolled up, stored and handled conveniently, and besides give the very best ol protection against cold, they are greatly to be preferred to Frame for making Straw Mats. board shutters. Rye cut before the grain has formed makes the best material for mats, and the gardener in need of them will find it a good plan to have a piece of rye grown and cut at the period named for this very purpose. Flats, etc. — When the plants are large enough — perhaps in five or six weeks — they are transplanted in other newly-made hot-beds giving space enough for their full development, or 2 to 4 inches square. This is often done (and a superior way it is) by putting an inch or so of sand or soil upon the new manure, and placing upon this foundation, close together, shallow boxes called " flats " into which the plants are set at the proper distance. If plants are to be retailed by the dozen, it is well to make the Manure Hot-Beds. — 69 flats hold one dozen plants each, or of various sizes and contain- ing various quantities as may be desired by the purchaser. More and more ventilation is given as the season advances, and the plants must be perfectly hardened off by exposure, transfer to open cold frames or otherwise, before they can be safely placed into the open ground. This is a matter of greater importance than most people imagine. Millions of early started and well-grown plants are annually set out, that in transplanting before they have been properly accustomed to the hardships of outdoor life, receive a check from which they do not recover soon enough to prevent much later plants, or even natural seedlings, from getting ahead of them, and producing fruit much the earliest. The proper hardeningoff of plants is one of the secrets of success, and perhaps a leading one, in the production of early crops of garden fruits. Soil for Flats. — The most important item of annual expense connected with running manure hot-beds is the manure used for fuel. But, after all, this costs nothing in reality, since it loses very little fertilizing substance by the process of slow com- bustion in the hot-bed, and when dug out next fall, or in the spring following, is worth fully as much to the gardener as when first put in, if not more. It went into the pit — a raw and unreliable manure ; it comes out — a fine, rich compost that can be used with advantage for feeding any of our garden crops, or may be compounded with sand, muck, loam, etc., thus giving us the very best soil for forcing vegetables under glass. I must warn, however, against the only too common practice of making the soil for flats, in which vegetable plants are grown, excessively rich. Over-fertile soil encourages sappy, succulent, tender growth, which is not wanted, because little able to endure the hardships of transplanting and outdoor life. We prefer a nice fibrous loam of medium fertility, such as you can procure by piling up sods from a rich old pasture, or from fence corners, for a sufficient length of time to have them well rotted and thoroughly fined. It may take a year, and repeated turning and spading over, to get these sods in the desired shape, but the fibrous loam thus obtained is, for the purposes of plant raising, well worth all the trouble it causes to get it. If additional plant foods are thought to be necessary, 10 or 15 pounds of superphosphate (dissolved bone) and a few bucketfuls of unleached wood-ashes, or a larger quantity of leached ashes, may be added to each load of com- post without fear. Strong, stocky growth of plants is and must be our aim, and the sod loam will be sure to give it. In forcing succulent vegetables for the table, such as lettuce, radishes, onions, rhubarb, etc., we want the bed soil very rich. The mixture already spoken of comes handy. Early in the 70 — How to Make the Garden Pay. summer we always make a compost heap as follows : One load of muck, one load of sand, one load of old cow or horse manure. To this is added a quantity of old sods (from pasture or fence corners), old hot-bed manure, manure from spent mushroom beds, etc. All this material is worked over at least once a month with spade, shovel, spading fork or hoe, until reasonably fine and uniform all through. In late fall it is sifted and put upon the benches of the greenhouse, or if wanted for hot-beds and cold- frames in spring, into the cellar or any place where we can get at it at the proper time. If we neglect to make provisions for the needed supply in good season, we may find ourselves in sore straits to find just what is wanted in the winter with the ground frozen solid. It may then be necessary to look for a supply in the cellar, under barns, sheds, other outbuildings, or under the manure heap. Cart from any source at hand, mix and sift, through a coarse sieve first, and through finer ones as the stuff becomes drier and finer. While the item of expense alone is decidedly in favor of manure hot-beds, there are, on the other hand, serious inconveniences, and sometimes obstacles connected with it. The right kind of manure is not always to be easily obtained, or not in the required quantities ; the heat is only partially under the control of the gardener, and the whole thing connected with many uncertainties, especially for the less experienced manager. Then there is the annual digging, and composting, and refilling, and with all these inconveniences, your fuel will last only for a few weeks. For this reason I have always looked with some- what of disfavor upon manure as fuel for hot-beds, and have had an open eye for a more steady and controllable heating method. In some respects I consider the fire hot-bed a great improvement on the manure hot-bed. CHAPTER XII. FIRE HOT-BEDS AND THEIR CONSTRUCTION. " Nothing is denied to well-directed labor." HE cognizance of the weak points in the common manure hot-bed has led progressive people to try wood and coal heat in beds otherwise similarly constructed. The heat is generated in a simple furnace at the lower end of the bed, and distributed by an ordinary flue beneath the bed, running its entire length, and ending in a chimney at the opposite end. To promote the equal distribution of heat under the soil, the flue at a little distance from the furnace may be divided in two or three Fire Hot-Beds. parallel branches or pipes, uniting again before they enter the chimney. For reasons of better utilization of the heat, and convenience of management, it is preferable to make these beds intermediate between hot-bed and common greenhouse. For many years I have had such beds under my observation, and found that they (71) 72 — How to Make the Garden Pay. can be run very successfully and economically, and are now run so in many places for forcing lettuce, radishes, etc., followed by egg plant, tomato, pepper or sweet potato plants, A bed of this kind is shown in illustration on preceding page and consists of a double row of sashes forming a gable roof. The proper place for the structure is near the cold frames or regular hot-beds, and running in same direction of compass. A trench, see illustration, is excavated in centre of bed, slanting from the surface of the ground where it is nearly as wide as the bed, to the bottom where it need not be over half that width. The furnace end should be on lower end of bed and from three to four feet deep. From there the flue rises gradually, say one foot to every ten in length, until it enters the chimney at the end opposite the furnace. The fire-place may be constructed of fire-brick. Its height is about two feet, ten inches of which are the ash-pit below the grate ; its width about twelve inches, and the length of grate twenty-eight or thirty inches. The bottom of the flue immediately in the rear of the furnace ..--''' "■--,. must be somewhat above ...-■"" "■■■•-..... the level of the grate, say "^p^H . :.■."^:::;:;.^;::.:.::.^"..::.::.:..""■',:'^' " '^^^ 6 or 8 inches, to prevent ^' \j '/^^^^P^ ashes and cinders from fk I I / ^^^' getting into the flues. The ^^;^ y \l 1/ ^ "^ first 8 or lo feet of flue must be constructed of ^^^^ brick; the remainder may Trench for Fire Hot-Bed. consist of terra-cotta as used as a substitute for brick chimneys, or even of lo-inch tile drain. The chimney may be of brick or of terra-cotta, whatever the builder prefers. A pit immediately in front of the fire-place, to the depth of bottom of ash-pit, allows the operator to tend the fire, and when not in use, is kept covered by a slanting door. A solid frame-work, well supported underneath, holds a floor of plank or boards for the soil, and a frame for the sashes to rest upon. The most common mistake made in the erection of a fire hot-bed is right in this frame-work. Few people seem to bear in mind that this has to carry a considerable weight, and being exposed to the influence of constant dampness, is liable to decay and give out very soon, unless the timbers are strong, well-put up, and of a kind not easily affected by moisture. The whole arrangement of the bed is so simple that anybody of ordinary understanding should be able to put it up without difficulty. The gardener's common sense will dictate to him the details not mentioned. The greatest objection to a hot-bed of this kind — tendency towards dryness of atmosphere, and necessity of frequent Fire Hot-Beds. — 73 watering — may in a measure be overcome by placing shallow pans upon the flue under the floor of bed, and keeping them constantly supplied with water. The Michigan Agricultural College has recently built a fire hot-bed which comprises some very meritorious features, and the description given by C. S. Crandall in " Popular Gardening" well deserves a place here. " Our fire hot-bed," says Mr. Crandall, " was not alone a hot-bed, but combined a small forcing house where we could work under the glass, and a tool room twelve feet square. Depth ofexcavation, and position offurnace is indicated in illustration. The hot-bed, six feet by sixty feet,was excavated full width, one foot deep at the chimney end and three feet at the Length Section of Fire Hot-Bed. other, and was fitted with frame same as for an ordinary bed. Then narrowing the trench to two and one-half feet, it was continued twelve feet to the furnace, where it was lowered six feet from the surface, and continued on this level for furnace bottom and tool room floor. Seen from above, the excavation would appear as in next figure. " The dotted line indicates the outline of forcing house portion. This was 1 1 feet wide. The outer walls consist of pieces of two by four-inch scantling set into the ground, boarded on both sides, and the top capped with 2 by 6-inch scantling, on which the rafters and sashes rest. These walls project above ground about 18 inches, and are banked to the top on the outside with earth. Upright pieces of scantling placed against the sides of the Tool Room . 12 X 12 FT —■- Hot Bed 6x60 ft. Vj Ground Plan of Fire Hot-Bed. trench served as supports for the rafters. Five sashes are used on each side. The adjoining tool room wall formed one end, the other was double-boarded down to the hot-bed frame, with which it was connected. Jr4 — How to Make the Garden Pay. " The trench was boarded up as high as the ground level, and the bottom floored over, a few inches above the flue, thus forming a passage between the beds. The beds were covered with boards, and on these were placed our seed and plant boxes. In the hot-bed frame the floor made of inch-boards was laid level, being close down to the flue near the chimney end, and nearly two feet above it at the other end. The sides were ex- tended above the floor 14 inches in front and 18 inches at the back, giving slope sufficient to carry the water off the sashes. At intervals of six feet, and alternating from side to side, spaces were left between the floor and the sides for the passage of warm air to the plant space above. "On a portion of this floor earth was placed to the depth of eight inches, and some seeds sown here, but nearly all our plants were started in the forcing house in boxes, and as it be- came crowded, the boxes were transferred to the hot-beds, placing the tender sorts at the end nearest the furnace, but cabbage and similar plants near the chimney. " The tool room, used also for the storage of coal, potting soil, etc., was walled with brick and covered with a shingle roof. The furnace was built of brick. A frame with doors to fire box and ash pit formed the front, and was set even with the inner face of the tool room wall, and held in place by rods built into the furnace wall. The fire box, lined with fire brick, was 30 inches long, 15 inches wide, and 18 inches high in the centre. The ash pit, 8 inches deep below the grates, had same width and length as fire box. We used a single flue of 6-inch sewer pipe running straight from furnace to chimney. This was supported on brick, four inches from bottom of trench, and the joints were made tight with fire clay and mortar. " On starting the hot-bed we found a difficulty in the excessive radiation from the flue joints nearest the furnace. This was obviated by encasing the first twelve feet in an outer brick flue, which was allowed to open into the air chamber under the hot-bed. The dryness of heat obtained by this method of heating renders necessary the maintenance of pans of water over the furnace, and at intervals along the flue. The experience of the year proved so clearly the utility and convenience of our forcing house that we removed the hot-bed frame and converted the whole length into forcing house, excavating full width of eleven feet, and running two flues, one under each trench." " Plants can be successfully grown in fire hot-beds, and in many cases at less expense than in manure-heated beds. For a forcing house, such as I have spoken of, the same sashes, the same furnace and flues required for a hot-bed can be used. The only difference is in the additional lumber necessary for the frame, and the extra labor of construction. So I would suggest Fire Hot-Beds. — 75 to anyone contemplating a fire hot-bed, that they carefully calculate the cost of both hot-bed and forcing house, and then do not let a reasonable difference in cost prevent them from choosing to build the forcing house. Very many cheap houses of this character, varying somewhat in construction, according to the taste and means of the owner, are built every year. Their utility has been demonstrated, and their cost is within the means of gardeners who now depend entirely upon hot-beds." I have given this detailed description, not to advise the reader to build exactly in the same way, but to make him acquainted with the true principles underlying the construction and management of fire hot-beds and similar structures, general rules which he will be wise to follow pretty closely while the arrangement of minor details can be left to his individual taste and preferences. Fire hot-beds in some respects are undoubtedly a great improvement on the old-style manure hot-beds. Yet I believe there is still room for further improvement. Hot-water boiler and pipes may yet play a very important part in the make-up of the hot-bed of the future. As the old flue had to give way to hot water and steam pipes in green-house heating, so will the fire hot-bed have to make room for the hot-bed heated by hot water or steam. Flues will have to go ; but it looks to me that the hot-bed of the future may be a hot house or forcing pit, and not a hot-bed at all. But whether the one or the other, now that we have cheap iron furnaces, some of them self-feeders, for hot water heating, I can see no reason why the flue beds with their dry heat should be used. Hot water gives us an easily-controlled, uniform and altogether unobjectionable heat, and can be used with perfect safety, and for any purpose of forcing and plant- growing with far less attendance than afire hot-bed will demand. The hot-water heating system has the further advantage^that it dis- penses with deep trenches under the beds and with the frame work needed for fire hot-beds, which is so liable to give out in conse- quence of the supports rotting away. The only excavation worthy the name is that for the boiler or furnace, while the pipes can be imbedded one foot below the surface of the hot-bed soil, or other- wise arranged in the same way as will be described for the modern forcing house. In some instances the waste steam of factories has recently been utilized for heating hot-beds and pits. Wherever the gar- dener finds opportunities of this kind, he should try to make the most of them. CHAPTER XIII. COLD VEGETABLE HOUSES. HOW TO BUILD AND HOW TO MANAGE THEM. " Make the most of it." HE management of cold frames for forcing vegetables naturally involves considerable incon- venient outdoor work during the season of raw and chilly winds, cold rains and snows ; and progressive market gardeners have sought to relieve themselves of the unpleasant job, and at the same time of a part of the real hard back- aching work connected with it, by the substitution of plant houses for plant beds. Such structures which afford glass pro- tection not only to the crops but also to those who work among them, have recently come in use among Eastern market garden- ers, especially within marketing distance of the large cities near the Atlantic Coast, and generally give entire satisfaction to the owner, not only with respect to the personal convenience of doing the work in them, but also from a financial standpoint. Next figure presents a full view of a house of this kind — in reality nothing more nor less than a piece of ground covered and enclosed by a simple frame-work which supports a roof of common hot-bed sashes. The sun rays and the protection that the glass affords are the sole reliance of the grower for the heat needed to produce his crops. Such houses, of course, will do very well in a climate like that of the coast section from New York city southward ; but where the winters are much longer and severer, and clear days less the rule during the winter months, artificial heat will prob- ably be indispensable. The construction of the building is very simple. Each side of the roof consists of two tiers of common (3 by 6) hot-bed sashes, the peak being 8 feet high, making the building about 20 or 21 feet in width, and three feet for every four sashes in length. The sides are two feet high, and made of common rough boards (of double thickness with building paper between) nailed from the inside to short stakes driven into the ground at suitable intervals. Banking with earth nearly up to where the sashes begin, is a commendable practice. The end facing south or east is glass, while the opposite end is made of boards, preferably of Cold Vegetable Houses.— 77 3 o bo a 78 — How to Make the Garden Pay. double thickness, like the sides, and with a layer of building paper between. The door is tightly fitted in this end. A row of stakes or posts capped with 2 by 3 (or 3 by 3) scantling under the Frame of Cold Forcing House. junction of the two tiers of sashes on each side, and a similar support for the peak, give a solid foundation for the rafters and sashes, and a cap for the peak completes the structure. The frame appears as shown in illustration. The sashes are fastened to the rafters in such a way that they can easily be taken off to be stored away at the beginning of the warm season. Every other one of the lower tiers should be arranged so that it can be slid down, to give ventilation as required, and be held in place by a simple iron button, as illustrated. I need hardly say that it is of greatest importance to have the whole structure snug and tight, for success depends mostly on the effective retention and utilization of the heat accumulated. As little as possible of it should be allowed to escape. Cost of House. — One of my former neighbors in New Jersey has two such houses in successful operation, and he is still adding to his area under glass. They are forty sashes, or a little over 120 feet, in length each, covering at least 2.500 square feet of tillable ground. The 160 new sashes for each, ready for use, were bought for ^300. The lumber and the frames and glass for the south end cost about $ 100, and figuring the labor of putting up at another ^100 (in the present case there was no cash out- lay connected with it, as the owner and his help did all the work them- selves): we have an aggregate expense of ;$500 for each building, or ;$ioo for each 5 square feet of tillable ground. The cold-frame iRAFTER Cold Vegetable Houses. — 79 system, it is true, gives us about 7 square feet of glass-covered area for the same money, but considering the waste space (near the front side of frame for instance) and other disadvantages, the difference in cost of the working surface is hardly worth mentioning. The forcing house, on the other hand, gives us a comfortable place to work in, a chance to work to best advantage in a natural position, instead of lying over the beds on our stomachs, and to work on days when the weather would not permit keeping the beds exposed, or working outdoors without great inconvenience. Considering all the points — the chances for continuous cropping, the full utili- zation of all available space, the ease of management, and the convenient method of planting, sowing, weeding, etc., and the satisfaction generally which it affords — I do not hesitate to pro- nounce the house a model of cheapness and convenience. It may not economize the heat as well as if built lower, and in the shape of the heated forcing houses described in next chapter, yet its shape is preferable for many reasons. Comfort, conveni- ence, avoidance of backache, etc., are worth as much to the gardener as to people in other pursuits of life. The satisfaction which the possession of such a house affords is alone worth a good deal. There are people of means who would rather have a more costly and more elaborate affair. These when intending to build a forcing house, should consult agricultural architects, and the catalogues of manufacturers of greenhouses and green- house supplies. I have no advice for them. The house which I have described will also be suitable for localities with longer and colder winters, but it will need artificial heating, and this can easily be provided by putting in a furnace and a system of hot- water or steam pipes. Two one-inch steam, or two-inch hot- water pipes around the sides and south end will probably give all the heat required for the purpose of forcing hardy vegetables. Growing the Crops. — The cold house being put up and ready for use by the first of November or December, the whole tillable ground is made very rich by the free application of fine compost, thoroughly spaded or forked in, with perhaps an addi- tional top dressing of composted and thoroughly fined hen manure. If the soil is of a clayey nature, and the compost does not make it sufficiently porous, spread a few loads of sand over it, and mix the whole by spading or forking over. The gardener can afford to prepare the ground well, for his 2,500 square feet are calculated to give larger returns in cash than a hundred times that area,of farming land can be expected to do. The first crop to be grown, same as in cold-frame forcing, is spinach. The rows are marked ofi 8 or 9 inches apart crosswise of the house, and the seed sown in the usual way, leaving a path through the centre from door (at north end) to rear. Watering should be 8o — How to Make the Garden Pay. attended to when needed, and whenever done should be thorough, so as not to require over-frequent repetition. In theory the plants are to be thinned to 2 inches apart in the rows. In practice they are usually left to grow as they come up ; and with good seed, a thorougly prepared, almost perfect seed-bed, and the water supply under entire control, the gardener can sow thinly enough that the plants will not be unduly crowding each other, and yet cover the entire space — for this latter, as in cold frame management, must be the foremost aim. Stimulate the growth by all legitimate means, give ventilation when needed, and generally treat like plants in cold frames. Cut, barrel and market the stuff when the demand is brisk, and prices good. Towards the end of February, or early in March, every spot cleared from spinach is at once prepared for the next crop, which may be lettuce and radishes. These vegetables are planted, and generally handled and marketed same as if grown in cold frames, always bearing in mind that they should stand thick enough to cover and utilize every available inch of space, yet without undue crowding. On this point hinges the measure of success. And don't forget the early thinning of the radishes to two inches apart. Boston Market lettuce is yet a general favorite for glass culture. Of radishes, the early round varieties, especially Ear- liest Scarlet Erfurt, Round Dark Red, Maule's Earliest Scarlet, etc., can justly be recommended for this purpose. All these, under stimulating treatment, can be put in market in between four and six weeks from the time of sowing, so that the house, wholly or in part, will be ready for another crop early in April. This next crop may be cucumbers, egg plants, tomatoes, or what- ever promises to give best returns at the time of maturity. Cu- cumbers (Long Green or White Spine) are usually the crop selected. They are planted in hills five feet apart each way, leav- ing two or three plants per hill, soon cover the entire area with thrifty and generally healthy vines, and produce cucumbers a number of weeks in advance of the earliest grown in open air, hence at a time when they always bring a good price. When the vines begin to bloom, the sashes are removed, first partly during the day, then entirely both day and night, so that insects have all the chances needed to fertilize (pollenize) the fruit blossoms, and the gardener has no need of using artificial means for the transfer of the pollen to the embryo fruit. If tomatoes or egg plants are the crop selected, the aim must be the same as with a cucumber crop, namely, to get the fruit into a willing market a few weeks sooner than competition from outdoor growers begins, thus getting the benefit of consumers' sharpened appetites and readiness to pay a remunerative price for the product. Lorillard and Ignotum, and possibly many others, are suitable for glass culture. They can be planted Cold Vegetable Houses. — 8i reasonably close — say 2 feet each way — and should be trimmed to single stalk, and trained to stakes or strings. The removal of the sashes at the proper time, as with the other crop, will give the dry atmosphere needed for " fruit setting." Proceeds from season's work. — Some of my readers will desire to have some estimate of the money that can be realized from the various crops produced durmg one season in a building as described, and covering 2,500 square feet. The spinach crop, if well grown, should not be less than 30 barrels. I have seen 40 barrels taken off a cold house of this size, and am sure that 50 can be grown easily enough. To be on the safe side we call it 30 barrels. Late in February, or early in March, it usually brings from ;^2.oo to $3.50 at wholesale in the New York City market. If it nets the grower ;^3.oo the crop gives him ;^90.oo. Next comes the radish crop, consisting of at least 5,000 bunches, netting 2 cents each, or ;^ 100.00 in the aggregate. Lettuce, if grown instead of the radishes, wholly or in part, will bring approximately the same figure. The cucumber (or tomato) crop may add ^$75. 00 more to the net proceeds, which sum up as follows, viz. : Spinach, 30 barrels, at ;^3.00 $ 90 00 Radishes, 5,000 bunches, at 2 cents, 100 00 Cucumbers, 75 00 Total net proceeds, ;^265 00 Deducting from this sum the amount of interest on invest- ment, with ;^35.oo, and legitimate wear and tear, with ^30.00, or ;^65.oo in all, we have for our season's work in the one cold house the net amount of ;^200.oo. In most cases the proceeds will be larger, since I have purposely put the returns low enough, and the expenses high enough, in order to be on the safe side in either direction. I will only add that the cold forcing house as here described, is a contrivance which gives the gardener an opportunity for employment at very fair paying rates during a time of more or less enforced idleness, thus also enabling him to keep a good hired man, if he has such, permanently the year round, instead of discharging all hands at the beginning of winter, and beginning with an entirely new set of raw hands next spring. 3^70 CHAPTER XIV. FORCING HOUSES OR PITS. SIMPLE, SENSIBLE STRUCTURES, SUCCESSFULLY MANAGED. COST, CONSTRUCTION, ETC. " What you do, do with your might.'' 'OW that I have told the reader in one of the preceding chapters how to construct and manage hot-beds, I go a step further, and advise him not to build them. When any one wants hot-beds for use in commercial plant and vegetable growing, let him build the more convenient, more econom- ically managed, and more controllable hot-houses or rather forcing pits, which in reality are some- what intermediate between hot-bed and hot-house, and now in use by some of our leading market gardeners. Of elaborate, fancy, and therefore expensive structures, I shall not speak. Cheapness in construction of his buildings and in'their operation must always be a leading consideration with the average market gardener, but he can combine quite a large element of conven- ience and comfort with it. If he values convenience sufficiently to forego for its sake slight advantages of economy, the cold house, which I have previously described as " a model of cheap- ness and convenience," can easily be arranged for a forcing house as already suggested. When run as a regular hot-house, for forcing lettuce, strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc., during the winter, more heat and consequently more piping or greater boiler capacity will be required than if used merely as related for the cold house, but for the purposes of propagating and plant growing, it will certainly be preferable to have the whole system of heating pipes underground, in order to warm the soil somewhat in the congenial fashion of the manure hot- bed. In growing plants for sale, we consider the root the chief part, and for root development bottom heat is essential. With lettuce and spinach, and all the other forcing crops except rad- ishes, the grower wants top, and is not in the least concerned about the root, and in that case he will prefer to let the heat come upon his plants from above, in the natural way. It is a general principle that bottom heat favors root growth, heat from above top growth, and we must make our arrangements in accor- dance with the intended use of the forcing house, . (82) Forcing Houses or Pits. — 83 Economy and absolute safety will always be the weightiest considerations with market gardeners. I think the great merits or advantages of the hot-houses or forcing pits in use, for instance, by my friend, Mr. Theo. F. Baker, of Cumberland County, N. J., and of the similar structure erected by Mr. R. Bingham, of Cam- den, N. J., will be readily appreciated by every reader, and give many of them a clue to the satisfactory solution of the problem : How shall I build a hot-house ? The Model Forcing Pit. — A sectional view of the most sensible forcing pit yet constructed is here presented, the great- est difference in outward appearance between it and the cold- house shown on page 68, being in the arrangement of the sashes. In the cold-house, as described, the four tiers of sashes form a single roof and a single building, while the sash arrangement in Market Gardener's Forcing Pit — Sectional View. our forcing pit divides the house in two sections lengthwise, making, we might say, two parallel buildings of it, the roof of each being formed by two single tiers of sashes. In the former we had a pathway in the centre of house, and an opportunity to walk all over, and work upon the beds. The forcing pit, on the other hand, has two alleys or walks (AA), one under the centre of each roof, dug into the ground 18 inches wide, and 18 inches deep ; and standing in these the operator, reaching over to each side, in same way as in any green-house, manipulates the beds and plants. The sides of the alleys are either walled or boarded up. The beds or " benches," as in the cold-house, are even with the surface of the ground, but the glass is pretty close to them, as the peak of the roofs is only 41^ feet above the level of the ground, and consequently 6 feet from the bottom of the alleys. The sashes should be 7 or 7^ feet long, and of any convenient width, although the common size of hot-bed sash (3 by 6) might 84 — How to Make the Garden Pay. be made to answer. Large-sized glass is preferable, say 12 by 16 inches. The sides, consisting of boards nailed to stakes, double if possible and banked up, are only one foot from level of ground to eaves. The width of the whole double structure is 26 feet. In the centre, at B, where the two roof sections meet, the sashes rest on a plate or plank 2 inches thick and 12 inches wide, gathered out ^ by 8 inches to catch and carry off the water, and these centre planks, as shown in engraving, rest upon Centre Plank and Support. two rows of 2 by 3 inch posts, 2^ feet long and 12 inches above the beds. These posts in each row are 4 feet apart. Methods of Heating the Pit. — The old method of heating by means of a brick (or similar) flue has a slight saving in the expense of construction in its favor, but it requires a much greater running expense, especially in the items of fuel and attendance. Hot-water and steam heating give us superior advantages for the one single drawback of greater cost' of con- struction, to such an extent, indeed, that the gardener who lays the least claim to progressiveness, has only his choice between the hot-water and the steam system. While the battle between the advocates of hot water and those of steam is still raging, I can state it as a fact, that either method may be made use of with perfect success. Florists and gardeners who work on a very extensive scale, and can afford to employ a night watchman, generally favor the steam system, and claim that it Forcing Houses or Pits. — 85 not only saves fuel, but also gives the operator better control of the heat, since there is but very little of it stored up in the cir- culation ; but nearly everybody admits that hot water is prefer- able for small houses, especially on account of safety, the pipes distributing heat just as long as the water in the boiler is hot, whether actually boiling or not. My own preference is for hot water ; but the use of a large boiler with low pressure will render steam heating also perfectly safe and probably satisfactory; only be sure to have the boiler low enough, the chimney high enough, and the pipes at such gradual inclination from the boiler upwards, that the condensed water will freely return to the boiler and not accumulate in any part of the pipes. If the latter is the case, the trouble makes itself known by what is generally termed "hammering," which is a sound repeated at regular intervals somewhat like that made by striking a hard article against the pipe. The use of steam also involves a smaller outlay than that of hot water, since one- inch pipes will do, and are often preferred for the one system, while two-inch pipes are usually considered the smallest suitable for the other. The boilers used for steam heating are generally bought second-hand, of four or five-horse power, such as have faithfully served for high pressure, and are condemned for that purpose. Hot-water and steam furnaces and boilers of any desired size, from the simple self-feeding, base-burning water heater, to that for heating buildings covering many thousands of square feet, may be bought at reasonable figures from manufacturing firms who make a specialty of them, as Hitchings & Co., of New York City, and others. Mr. Baker's Method of Heating. — Mr. Baker's forcing pit is constructed on the plan given on page 83, 26 feet wide by 100 feet in length. The boiler is a second-hand four or five- horse power, and at an outside temperature of zero has to carry about 5 pounds of steam in order to maintain a temperature of 65 to 70 degrees inside. Two-inch pipes conduct the heat from the boiler, one line of pipe running up on each side of the house, and both returning through the centre back to the boiler. The furnace room is an excavation 10 feet by 12 feet, and 6 feet deep at the north or northwest end of the house, walled up or cemented, and covered with a roof Length of pipe required is 450 feet. The entire cost of a structure of these dimensions, boiler and pipes included, amounts to ;^450 for the material, to which the cost of steam-fitting by a plumber will have to be added. Any man of ordinary intelligence can do all the rest of the work on the house. 86 — How to Make the Garden Pay. For the purpose of vegetable forcing, the pipes are laid all above ground, as shown at E and B page ^-i^. If wanted for starting seedlings, and for general propagating purposes, how- ever, the pipe had better be placed from lo to 12 inches under the surface, encased in an ordinary 3-inch drain tile, as shown at D, or perhaps still better in the manner employed in Mr. Bingham's house, and shown on this page. Mr. Baker tells me that he has been most successful in growing lettuce, radishes and such vege- tables by tunning the pipes above the benches, fastened to the outside posts, and in the centre the same way, thus heating the air and letting it warm up the soil in Nature's own way, rather than drive out the moisture by bottom heat, which he thinks is the chief cause of " damping off" and of mildew, Mr. Bingham's Method of Heating. — The house here shown is constructed exactly like the one shown and described on page 83, but 124 feet in length. The paths or alleys A A are Mr. Bingham's Method of Heating. somewhat narrower so that the outside benches are 5 feet 8 inches in width. The boiler is second-handed, with upright flues and 19-inch grate, rated four-horse power. The direct heat from the furnace is perfectly utilized by means of an under ground terra-cotta flue C, 10 inch diameter, which runs from the boiler room to the smoke stack B at the north end. The steam pipes are placed from 18 inches to 6 inches under the centre of each bench, as shown \x\D D D D, resting on a concrete and covered with a 5-inch horse-shoe tile. The concrete is made of one part Portland cement and 5 parts gravel, laid two feet wide and two inches in thickness. Two lines of i- or i)^-inch pipe under each bench would be an improvement, but the heat radiation is good, and the surface of the benches warmed pretty uniformly, certainly much more so than by Mr. Baker's plan of simply encasing the 2-inch pipe with a 3-inch tile. With the hot-water system the distance of underground pipes from the surface should be more uniform, but a double line of pipes in this case is still more desirable. Forcing Houses or Pits. — 87 While theory and the opinion of expert growers give preference to heating from above ground for forcing purposes, Mr. Bingham has, practically, most excellent success with the underground system. " The ground is thoroughly warmed several inches deep," says Mr. B., "and retains the heat much better than the air, which comes in contact with the cold glass. By keeping our source of heat lower, we get a much larger per cent, of its value than by air-heating systems. Theoretically we claim to save 50 per cent, of heat which is wasted by other plans, and our trial has practically proved it." This is a matter yet open for investigation ; but in the meantime it will be advisable to place the pipes in the cheaper, handier and entirely safe way in use in Mr. Baker's forcing houses, when the house is intended chiefly or wholly for forcing vegetables. There is no objection, however, to introducing the underground system for one of the benches, as shown at D, page 83? mainly for plant growing and propagating purposes, as also to try forcing for the com- parison of results between the two systems. Provision has to be made for ventilation. The simplest method consists in hinging every alternate outside sash, so that it can be lifted, or in arranging it as explained for the cold plant house, allowing every alternate outside sash to slide down or be removed entirely. Mr. Bingham's house is also constructed in such a way that the caps, rafters and sashes can be entirely taken off during the warm season, and stored in a convenient place under shelter. At the approach of another forcing season, the benches can thus be enriched and otherwise prepared for cropping as easily and conveniently as beds in the open ground. I do not think that a simpler, cheaper, and safer forcing house could be conceived than one built on the same general principles here described. It combines the best features of the hot-bed and the greenhouse, and will tend to elevate the undertaking of growing vegetables and plants during the winter and early spring from drudgery to be dreaded to a pastime and pleasure. The cost of heating a house of this kind is inconsiderable — a few tons of coal go a great ways, and the management of the furnace is so simple that any boy can tend it. The vegetable crops are grown in the same way as described for the hot-beds. Lettuce is the first crop, and can be gotten ready for market from Christmas on. This is followed by radishes, or any other vegetable which the market may usually call for, or by straw- berries, and perhaps later on, by egg-plants, tomatoes, peppers, etc. Boston Market, a strain of Tennis Ball, is yet considered the safest lettuce variety for early winter forcing. Mildew and aphis (or green louse) are the two dreaded enemies of the crop, and must be fought with the means named in the chapter on " Insects and Plant Diseases," 88 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Drainage for Boiler Pit. — Sunken houses, like Baker's and Bingham's, are out of the question where an outlet lor drainage water cannot be secured at least six or eight feet below the ground surface. The boiler pit has to be dug deep enough for the top of boiler to be below the point where the flow pipe enters the greenhouse. On porous subsoil nothing need be feared, but if the soil does not allow the speedy absorption of surface water, either some sort of artificial drainage, below bottom of furnace or boiler pit, has to be provided, or the house must be elevated, and the walks put on top or above the ground rather than sunk into it. Beginner's Greenhouse. — The little greenhouse here illus- trated in perspective was intended solely for amateur purposes, and in this respect I consider it nearly perfect. But I find it fully large enough for a modest start in market gardening, and if a somewhat larger house should be preferred, a few feet might easily be added to its length, at little additional cost. It stands Small Double-Span Greenhouse. on the ground level, with furnace pit dug about four feet deep and good chances of drainage just below this. The building is heated by means of one of Hitchings & Co.'s base-burning water heaters (No. 22), and four lines of two-inch gas pipe, requiring a moderate amount of coal, and but little attention. The whole building, heating apparatus and all, was put up at a cost of about ;^250, and a little of my own work and supervision. Each span is ten feet wide and sixteen feet long. The wood- work, posts and boards excepted, consists of southern cypress, and was purchased, ready for putting together, from one of the firms advertising such lumber in the columns of horticultural journals. The structure is attached to permanent posts reaching below the frost line. The sides are double-board walls, with sawdust packing. The three thicknesses of board, two thick- nesses of building paper, and a four-inch layer of dry sawdust allow very little waste of heat. The walls are as high as the benches, and the side posts extend eighteen inches above the Forcing Houses or Pits. — 89 plates or wall caps, and support the side gutters. This eighteen- inch space, all along the sides of the building, is closed in by- means of hinged sashes. The gable ends, except the one at the northeast and which joins the furnace room, and is simply boarded up, have vertical bars {i}i by 1^ inches) resting on the gable plates and extending to the end rafter. In one of the gables, facing the dwelling house, is the large door with sash top. The middle gutter is supported by posts inside the house, and all three gutters have a slight deviation from the horizontal line in order to give rain and snow water a better chance to run off If desired, a house of this kind might be roofed with hot- bed sashes. I have used permanent sash bars, placing them four- teen inches apart, and the regular greenhouse glass of double thickness. The latter, both on the roof and at the gables, is *' butted, " that is, simply placed together edge to edge, not lapped. Care is taken to select panes that fit well together. When the glass is once carefully laid, )'ou have a roof that is as Cross-Section of Greenhouse. perfect as any glass roof can be made. The glass lies smoothly and evenly on the projection of the sash bar, and is held down firmly by the cap. We use a little soft putty in which to bed the glass, but none on top of the glass. Everything, of course, is made snug and tight. The top ventilators, of which there are four (each 14 by 16 inches) and the hinged side sashes should also be well and closely fitted in, so that there will be no leaks of heat during cold nights. All the ventilators are worked by iron lifting rods of simple construction. The heater stands in a pit north of the east span, the chim- ney is close to the heater and extends somewhat beyond the ridges of the house. We must be sure to have good draught and security from catching fire. One end of pit is partitioned off for a coal-bin. The location and arrangement of benches and pipes may be seen in the illustrations representing cross-section and ground plan. If you have no idea of the arrangement of pipes, and how to get them together, it will be advisable to employ a regular plumber. I always do such work myself. 90 — How to Make the Garden Pay. By the help of a plan drawn on the one-inch-to-the-foot scale, you or the party who is to furnish you the piping can get the correct length of every piece of pipe, and make a list of all *"+' SCALE OF FEET. 'Onions' //S,'/^ » ''^'^<%i?i>Zi^^^''0:'^. {Ximatois'- Ground Plan of Greenhouse. the fixings needed ; and when you have all that, it is easy enough to put the whole thing together. Other Houses. — Many other plans might be given. Those found in the preceding pages are merely samples on which I Section of Hillside House. have tried to demonstrate the leading principles. Some people may have a good location for a cheap lean-to placed directly against the south side of some building ; others for a hillside Forcing Houses or Pits. — 91 house, plan (cross-section) of which is here given. I do not think it necessary to go into all the details of construction, heat- ing, etc. Any person intending to build a greenhouse of any kin should not only study works on greenhouse construction, but also visit the greenhouses in his vicinity, and talk with the men who run them. Many good suggestions may be gathered by such a course. CHAPTER XV. EARLY PLANTS FOR THE HOME GARDEN. VARIOUS MEANS AND DEVICES FOR EVERYBODY. " A will — a way." lOR the average-sized kitchen garden only a comparatively very small number of early plants are needed, so few, indeed, that people often come to the conclusion it is cheaper to buy them than to raise them, especially when plants are to be had as cheap as they are now. Yet we cannot always, nor even often, get what we want. Professional plant-growers frequently are very careless about the seeds they sow. The plants are for sale, and a tomato plant will sell, if well grown, no matter what fruit it will produce afterwards. So in the purchase of plants we always run a risk, and at best have to deal with uncertainties. Then we may wish to try a new tomato, or pepper, or egg- plant, etc., and plants of high-priced novelties cannot often be purchased. Furthermore, while poor plants, grown in crowded hot-beds, and consisting of much stalk and little root, are abundant and cheap, really first-class, well-grown, well-rooted and well-hardened plants are generally rare, always dear, and often not on sale. Take it on the whole, therefore, I think every home gardener who takes the least interest in his garden, will of necessity have to dabble in the business of plant growing. He can go at it in a variety of ways. Where a sunny kitchen window is at disposal for the purpose, some tomato, pepper and egg-plants can easily be started in a box or in boxes placed in front of it, as shown in illustration. A common soap box, obtained from the nearest grocer will furnish material for two or three such boxes. Suitable soil is prepared by mixing one-third of well-rotted compost and two-thirds sandy loam or rich garden soil, and of course it should be got in readiness in the autumn before the ground freezes. The boxes are filled with this nearly to the top, and the seeds sowed thinly in shallow furrows. Each variety should be plainly labelled, or the name written on outside of box facing each row. Sift a little sandy loam, leaf mould or pulverized dried peat moss upon the seeds, pat it down gently to firm the seed, then water with 92 Early Plants for the Home Garden. — 93 hot water from a fine rose sprinkler, and as often afterwards with tepid water as the soil becomes dry, and needs it. Thus treated the young plants should make their appearance in about a week's time. A few cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce plants may be grown in a similar way, but the box should be set in a colder room, or in a less sunny exposure. It generally falls to the lot of the good housewife to care for such plant boxes, and in most cases she will enjoy the task. The chief aim must be to make the plants strong and stocky by giving each sufficient space, and thin out the surplus at an early stage of development. Tall, over-grown things are not desirable. Where there is sufficient window room, and if possible, any way, the plants should be transplanted once or twice, and more space given at each time. Nothing is more serviceable than empty tomato cans (with a hole punched in the bottom) for setting in tomato and egg plants, one in each, from there to be trans- planted to the open ground. The true lover of a good garden, and the man who has a large family to supply with vegetables, will sorely miss the convenience and aid of a hot-bed, and the best thing for him to do is to invest the amount of ^4.00 or $6.00 in sashes, and put up a little frame. The excavation may be made for only one-half or two- thirds of the bed, if this is three sashes in size, so that a part of it is managed as hot-bed, and the other as cold frame. Plants must be ranged according to their degree of tenderness, and begin- ning at the hot-bed end, as fol- lows : egg-plant, pepper, tomato, cauliflower, cabbage and lettuce; and ventilation given more freely and frequently on the cold frame side than on the other. For directions as to general management I can only refer the reader to Chapters X and XI. The well-to-do home gardener who can afford to spend a little time and money for the privilege of running a miniature green-house or forcing pit, which will not only give him an abundance of plants such as he may desire, but also a chance to raise a few nice, crisp vegetables in the winter months, may construct a building, answering one of the two sections of the forcing pit described in preceding chapter. Such structure is here shown, and will need no detailed explanation. Hot water Plant liox in Window. 94 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Amateur Green- House. will be found the proper method of heating, and a base-burning water heater that manufacturers furnish for from ;^25.oo upwards, will do good service. The people of Hammonton, New Jersey, use a boiler of this kind for heating the brooders in their chicken houses, and it may be arranged somewhat in the same man- ner, and as shown in next figure. When the house is all made snug and tight, and where winters are not ex- ceedingly severe, it seems that a single pipe for each bench, either in an air-chamber under it to provide bottom heat, or near the outside would be fully sufficient. To make the arrangement perfectly clear, I will say that the barrel B is used merely to give pressure to the water in the stove ; C '\s the faucet for drawing water from the barrel; D the faucet for emptying water out of stove, pipes and barrels. £ is a cock for letting out air from the pipes in order to prevent it from interfering with the water circulation. F and G are cocks by which the connection between stove and water pipes can be broken. If one of them is shut, the circulation stops, and the pipes will gradually cool off. If it should be desired to heat or boil the water in the barrel, it can be done by shutting off the two cocks, F and G^ and opening the one in the vertical pipe lead- ing from the upper heating pipe to the barrel, thus com- pleting the water circulation through boiler and barrel. Base-burning Water Heater and An arrangement of this Arrangement of Pipes. kind, simple and inexpen- sive as it is, sometimes may come handy, even if not entirely necessary for the regular purpose of green-house heating. CHAPTER XVI. DRAINAGE. WHERE NEEDED AND HOW DONE. " The ability to overcome obstacles is a certain guarantee of success.'' HE best garden soil — that adapted for the production of early vegetables, and composed of a dark, sandy loam resting on a porous subsoil — needs no artificial drainage. My experience with red sandy subsoil in New Jersey was highly satisfactory. The soil water moves freely up and down through subsoil of this character, and the air has a chance to warm it deeply and quickly. The possession of such land (without a single under- drain on it) gives advantages against which the proprietor of clayey loam underlaid with stiff blue clay will find it utterly impossible to compete successfully, no matter how much money he may expend for drainage. Whatever may be said in favor or greater fertility and the retentiveness of clayey loam, and the leachy character of " lighter " soil, the fact remains that vege- tables grown on the former will be days if not weeks later than on the latter. This only shows the importance of selecting a more or less sandy loam with porous subsoil for general garden- ing purposes, and of steering entirely clear of clay on clay foundation. Muck resting upon blue clay meets with the same objection. Still such cooler soils, when properly drained, can generally be utilized with advantage for certain crops, such as for instance, onions and celery. Ifa piece of such land belonging to the gardener is yet in an undrained condition, he should lose no time to make it available, and often exceedingly profitable by preparing a thorough system of drainage. In some cases an otherwise fine garden soil is underlaid with a fairly porous loam which, however, offers some obstruction to the free passage of surface water. Then drainage will improve it wonderfully, and perhaps render it equal to the best garden land in earliness and productiveness. The first concern is to find an outlet 2^ to 4 feet below the lowest part of the field, as a starting point for the main ditch that is to be carried right along the lowest line of the surface across the whole field, with a gradual rise of not less than 95 go — How to Make the Garden Pay. ^-inch (more is better) to the rod. The laterals begin from this main, are 2 or 2^ rods apart, and closer if it can be afforded or is thought necessary, 3 to 4 feet in depth, and also rise gradually at least ^-inch to the rod. As the only object is to places the tiles into the bottom, we have no need for wide ditches, and in order to save labor, aim to make them as narrow as possible. With the improved ditching tools now on sale in every hardware store, such drains can be cut quite conveniently to the depth of 4 feet with only one foot across on top and 6 inches at the bottom. The work is begun with common spade, shovel and if needed pick-axe, perhaps with the assistance of a common plow and subsoil plow; but the last 12 inches of depth are dug with the long narrow spade shown at the left in engraving, and the finishing touches given with the draining scoop shown in centre of same figure. This scoop, which is drawn towards the operator, only finishes the perfect cleaning out of the bottom, correcting faulty grade, etc. , and leaves a concave bed for the tile. Scoops of this kind are made in different sizes to fit the tile. Too much care cannot be be- stowed on the grading. To secure perfect working order, and durability of the drains, their every part should have a slight incline towards the out- let; and everything that might tend to obstruct the continuous flow of water in the tiles must be carefully guarded against. Common sense in the whole matter must dictate the details, and will be found a safe guide throughout. Size of Tiles. — The amount of water that runs off in an even and continuous stream, after the first rush from the newly ditched field, determines the size of tile. Two-inch tile are generally preferable for the lateral drains, while the main must have a size fully capable of carrying off the water that collects from the laterals above, at the time of greatest supply. The flow from a well-arranged system of underground drains, when in perfect working order, is pretty nearly unifoj-m through the whole year, only of greater volume in winter than in summer. For water containing iron larger sizes are necessary, as the deposits adhere, and are liable to fill up the tile after awhile. The extreme upper end of the main, for a short distance, may be arranged as a lateral, and laid with small tile, but it should then be made larger by using Set of Draining Tools. Drainage. — 97 3 or 4-inch tile, and for the lower half or one-third 6-inch and perhaps even larger sizes may be necessary. The number and length of laterals, and amount of water passing through them, determines this question. Laying the Tiles. — Next to perfect grading of the bottom, the effectiveness and permanency of the whole draining operation depends on the careful laying of the tiles. The work should never be entrusted to a raw hand, unless the latter is endowed with an unusual amount of common sense, skill and intelligence. It is much safer to employ a man used to such work, and pay him good wages by the day, not by the rod or job. It is not safe to run the least risk of having this important job slighted. Laying the tile should follow immediately upon the levelling (grading) of the bottom, and in order to perform this task without stepping into the ditch, a six foot pole with a y^ inch iron rod fastened to the end and bent in the form of an elbow, is used to handle section Tile on Soft Bottom. Tile on Clay Bottom. after section of tile, and placing it- in its proper place. The ends should be closely fitted together, and clay subsoil firmly packed around them to hold them in their place, until the ditches can be filled up again to the top. Fine surface soil or anything that will decay, should not be put immediately in contact with the tiles. It is also essential that the point of discharge in the laterals should be a few inches above the level of the main, to insure a good flow. It is obvious that the tile can be laid directly upon the bottom of the ditch when the subsoil is perfectly hard and solid, especially if of stiff clay. Soft muck or quicksand in the bottom of drains makes it necessary to rest the tiles upon a line of narrow (6 inch) boards placed in the drain, as here illustrated. In some instances tile cannot be readily obtained, at least not without paying heavy transportation expenses, and other means 7 98 — How to Make the Garden Pay. (Faulty Construction). of constructing the drain have to be found. I have used board troughs with excellent results. The poorest kind of lumber may be utilized for this purpose. Two boards are nailed together at right angles, and held firmly in place by strips nailed diagonally across. Usually such troughs are laid directly upon stiff clay bottom carefully graded, or upon a line of boards placed upon soft bot- tom, pointed side up, as here illustrated. This construction, however, is decidedly faulty. The water has a chance to spread out quite widely. Consequently it moves with very little force, and will continually de- positsediment, gradually filling up the trough. If he trough is inv^erted, as shown in the next illustration, so that the water runs in a narrow and deep little stream, it will have sufficient force to carry all the sediment along with it. Stones and pebbles, where plentiful, can be used to good advantage also ; but to get a properly constructed drain with such material, the inexperienced owner will always find it safest and cheapest to have the work done by somebody that under- stands it. Tile is always best, and clr?ins thus made will be of more lasting value. AH stone drains are quite liable to get choked up after awhile, since it is almost impossible to keep the soil from washing and work- ing among the stones, and finally fill up the throat. The Advantages of Un- DERDRAiNiNG. — As oue of the most beneficial results of good underdraining on many soils, the crops are given more root room. The roots of almost all our garden crops (and field crops also) thrive in moist soil, but not in that which is wet or water-logged, and they are stopped when they come to the soil water. Under- draining lowers the soil water level, allows the roots to go deeper, and therefore gives them more room to work in. Each plant needs a certain amount or weight of soil for its best development. Jf it can feed cleeper it will not require as much surface, and hence Board Trough (Proper Construction). Drainage. — 99 plants in well-drained soil can be planted closer than in undrained land. But good drainage gives still other benefits. It warms the soil by admitting air more freely, lengthens the season at both ends, and by promoting the circulation of air and moisture, furnishes chances for chemical action by which insoluble plant food is rendered available. But, after all, tile drains, if ever so well laid, cannot be expected to last forever, and often they give out quite unex- pectedly, making it necessary to take up parts of them for repairs In an emergency of this kind it is quite convenient to know the exact location of every drain, and to be able to find it without having to dig over a large area. A map showing the location of every tile drain put down, with distances marked in rods and feet, will be of great advantage, and a valuable assist- ance sooner or later. Surface Drainage. — An opportunity for the easy escape of surface water, especially during the winter, is a good thing for all soils, and urgently needed on tile-drained, level lands which otherwise are liable to be saturated at times to such an extent that the drains are unable to carry the surplus off as fast as it accumulates. Beds that were kept high and dry all winter by plowing during the fall in ridges allowing the surface water to run off at once in deep dead furrows, are always ready for plant- ing earlier in spring, and then usually give better crops than land just plowed level. Good surface drainage, in short, is an advan- tage not to be ignored, even on land supposedly well tile- drained. I would always advise to plow such land in the fall in narrow beds, giving the dead furrows a suitable outlet. It will pay. CHAPTER XVII. IRRIGATION. SURFACE-SOAKING AND SUB-EARTH FLOODING. " More powerful than art is Nature." RRIGATION, while a necessary and common practice under the rainless skies near the Pacific coast, is hardly ever thought of at the east. I have made a few trials on a somewhat limited scale, and the results fully convinced me that the chances are not rare where the eastern gardener might employ some system of irrigation with as telling effect. The first requisite, of course, is a sufficient water supply, one which can be controlled or made available without great expense. The amount of liquid needed for thorough work — and this alone gives satisfactory results — is so immensely large, that I have little respect for any source of supply of less "magnitude than a pond or small stream. I cannot do better than quote from a paper read before the American Horticultural Society, by Mr. J. M. Smith, Wisconsin's noted and successful gardener, and President of the Wisconsin State Horticultural Society: "A few things should be remembered by those who contemplate artificial watering. Suppose that you have one acre of cabbage that you wish to water. To do this fairly well requires at least 30,000 gallons of water, and this will need to be repeated at least once a week until rain comes. To make strawberries do their best in dry weather, requires considerably more than for cabbages, and to be put on oftener. To merely sprinkle the ground when it is very dry, is, in my opinion, a damage rather than a benefit. It has a tendency to form a thin, hard crust, both air- and water-tight. Neither the damp air nor the rains will pass through it, neither will a light shower. It requires a heavy rain to dissolve it. Thus you shut out the benefits to be derived from the cool, damp night air, the heavy dews that we often have, also the little sprinkles of rain that are almost sure to come occasionally. For a couple of years after my water-works were put up, I was at a loss to understand why our watering had so little effect. I had a piece of early cabbage that was suffering for want of rain. The men were told to put on water until the ground was thoroughly soaked for at least six inches deep. They (100) Irrigation. — loi did so, and I learned two things by it. One was that a thorough watering would make the plants grow; the other was that it took a great deal of water to make it thorough. " Hence if you water at all, do it well. No system of arti- ficial watering that I have ever tried is equal to rain from the clouds. I do not state these things to discourage any one, but because I believe them to be facts that should be known to those who contemplate some improvements of this kind. My water- works cost me nearly ;^i,ooo, and I have no doubt but that they have more than once paid for themselves in a single season." Surface Irrigation. — Where a pond or other body of water is available, so that a stream can be run directly to the highest line of the field, irrigation is a very simple matter. Make light fur- rows down the slope, 8 or lo feet apart, between the rows of plants, and let the water run down in one after another, long enough in each, to soak up the ground pretty thoroughly to the lower end, before turning off the flow into the next furrow. The application should not (or need not) be repeated until the ground becomes quite dry again, but it is absolutely necessary for best results, and lasting effects of the operation, to cultivate the ground thoroughly just as soon as the surface is again dry enough for such work. Always make the water channels in the higher places, as the lower ones are apt to take care of them- selves. In irrigating a ^ acre lot of celery one season, between 6,000 and 8,000 gallons of water were needed to give the ground one thorough soaking, but this had a most excellent effect on the plants. Very much, of course, depends on the nature of the soil. A loose, porous loam, resting on porous subsoil, will drink in rapidly almost unlimited quantities of water, and allow it to per- colate, from any point of discharge, over a wide area. Conse- quently the channels into which the water is turned and made to flow down the slope, gradually soaking in and away, maybe ten, twelve feet or a rod and more apart, even on considerable of a slope. On soils which do not allow the percolation of water quite so freely, the channels must be nearer together, and their course more nearly, or almost quite, on a level. In some cases water from a near supply (pond, stream, etc.) may be conducted to the highest part of the field in a box ditch, and from there distributed through holes bored into the side boards, opening and stopping them up as the case may require. A natural water supply, above the field, however, is not always at command. In that case, it may be advisable to secure it by letting a windmill or steam pump raise it from a pond, stream or well into large tanks, from which it is to be distributed over the field by means of hose, or by a combination of iron 102 — How to Make the Garden Pay. pipe and hose, or in other ways that may suggest themselves to the intelligent gardener. Home-made Hose. — A method of surface irrigation prac- ticed by Mr. H, A. March, a well-known gardener and grower of cauliflower seed, of Washington State, deserves more than a passing notice. The following are the details of his plant as described by himself: " On the south side of our farm, we have a never-failing spring of water that gives us about 45,000 gallons every 24 hours. It is situated about 20 feet higher than any of our tillable land. This water is brought down in open troughs to the tanks on the upper side of the field to be irrigated, holding 20,000 gal- lons each. We turn the water into the tanks in the heat of the day, and the sun warms it up to about 60°. '* To distribute the water, we use a hose made from 12-ounce duck. We take a piece 30 feet long, and cut it lengthwise into three pieces, which makes 90 feet of hose about 2^ inches in diameter. We fetch the edges together, double once over, and with a sewing-machine sew through the four thicknesses twice, which makes a hose that will stand a six or eight-foot pressure. To make it waterproof, we use five gallons of boiled linseed oil with half a gallon of pine tar, melted together. Place the hose in a washtub, turn on the oil hot (say 160°), and saturate the cloth v/ell with the mixture. Now, with a clothes-wringer run the hose through with the wringer screwed down rather tight, and it is ready to be hung up to dry. A little pains must be taken to blow through it to keep it from sticking together as it dries. I use an elder-sprout about a foot long with the pith punched out. Tie a string around one end of the hose and gather the other end around the tube and fill it with wind, then hang it on a line and it will, dry in a few days and be ready for use. It will last five or six years. "To join the ends, we use a tin tube 2^/^ inches in diameter by one foot long. It is kept tied to one end of the hose all the time. To connect them, draw the open end of the hose over the tube of the next joint and tie it securely. When ready to irri- gate our celery we take the hose in sections convenient to carry, lay it from our tanks to the third row from the outside and down this row to the end of the field. Then the water is turned on. " To connect the hose with the tank, we take a hardwood stick 15 inches long, bore a two-inch hole through it, and with a hot iron burn it out smooth on the inside, work one end down until it will fit into the end of the hose next the tank and tie it securely ; then work the other end down so that it will fit tightly into a 2j/-inch hole. With a 2}^-inch auger, bore a hole in the tank on the side next the field you wish to water, two inches up Irrigation. — 103 from the bottom — then no sediment or dirt will wash into your hose. Push the plug into the hole ; with a mallet give it a few gentle taps, and the work is done. We now have our water run- ning, and it can be carried to any part of the field for any crop that needs it." The crops most markedly benefited by irrigation, be this from the surface or from undergrouno, are cabbage, cauli- flower, celery, lettuce, radish, and perhaps strawberries and onions. There are many instances where the increase of a single crop, due to artificial watering, has more than paid the original cost of the whole irrigation plant. Sub-earth Flooding. — One of the simplest, cheapest, and most effective methods of subirrigation has been in use for years in some celery, cauliflower, and onion fields near Mount Morris, New York. This is a tract of deep, rich, sandy muck, 30 or 40 acres in extent, situated at the foot of a hill, and slightly Plan of Irrigated Field. sloping away from it. A little brook flowing down the hillside and passing by at one corner of the tract' furnishes a moderate and never-failing water supply, A deep ditch is dug all along the foot of the hill on a dead level, forming the head of the low- lands. Another ditch, parallel with the other, forms the bound- ary on the lower side, and the two ditches are connected by a number of parallel cross-ditches, as shown in illustration. All these ditches are provided with flood-gates to dam up the water when required. Ordinarily all the flood-gates, except the one at the head of the upper main, are kept closed, and the water flows along in its natural course unobstructed. When the soil begins to get dry, however, and shows the need of water, the mountain brook is turned into the head ditch, and the latter is allowed to fill up almost to overflowing. This alone will give the whole strip next to the head ditch, several rods in width, a pretty good soaking in a comparatively short time. Then by opening the 104 — How to Make the Garden Pay. flood-gates at the head of the cross-ditches the water is turned into the latter, allowed to rise to the top at the next set of flood- gates, and by overflow and soaking in, well distributed over another strip parallel with the head ditch. Then these flood- gates are raised and the water allowed to flow into the next sec- tion of the ditches, etc, until the whole tract of land has had a thorough soaking. Just as soon as the surface has become again dry enough for cultivation, horse cultivators and hand-wheel hoes are at once brought into action. There are other tracts of sandy muck or other porous soils in various parts of the country offering just or nearly as favor- able opportunities for a similar method of sub-earth flooding as this tract near Mount Morris, New York, and wherever found they can easily and with little expense be made to produce large crops of celery, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, and other garden crops. Such land, properly arranged, is easily worth, for these purposes, a clean ^i,ooo per acre. ^^ 3 mil .^ ., Celery Irrigated by Tile Line. SuBiRRiGATiON BY TiLE. — Another system often mentioned but rarely employed, is that of placing tiles in close, parallel, shallow ditches all through the field, so the tiles are just out of reach of the plow. The water introduced into these tiles, one line after another, from some source, soaks up the land from below the surface, otherwise in the same fashion as by surface irrigation. This method is especially suited to stiffer soils, on which surface soaking would be liable to do more harm than good, in consequence of leaving them, after drying, hard and baked as a brick. On such soils, however, the tile lines should be just about on a dead level. The water escaping at the joints soaks in rather slowly, and should be given all the chance re- quired to do so, otherwise the greater bulk would run off to the lower end of the tile line and leave only little for the upper end. The exercise of good judgment will be necessary in arranging each particular spot for this style of subirrigation. Irrigation. — 105 I have tried a tile line right along the centre of my patch of early celery, planted closely on the plan of the " New Celery Culture." A cross-section of bed is shown on preceding page. There is a box at the upper end into which the water is poured directly from a barrel on wheels. The barrel holds about 6o gallons, and is drawn by single horse. We get the water from the creek close by. Even with slight fall we have to turn the water into the box quite slowly, or else see it run to the lower end much faster than is desirable. On the whole we call this plan of irrigation a success. SuBiRRiGATiON FOR GREENHOUSE BENCHES. — Recently the principle of watering crops by means of underground tile lines has been applied to the greenhouse benches, for forced let- tuce and radishes, apparently with the best of success. The idea originated in the fertile brain of Prof W. J. Green, of the Ohio Experiment Station. The bench is made solid and water-tight, or nearly so, by the free use of white lead or cement, and lines of two-inch horse- shoe tile, with an elbow at one end, are laid two feet apart in the Iron Irrigation Pipe in Bottom of Bench, bottom of the bench, which is then filled with soil in the ordi- nary manner. The even distribution of water will be facilitated by having the tile lines across the bench, and therefore the runs of water short. If the lines are laid lengthwise, requiring long runs, a nice leveling and adjustment of bench and tile line will be necessary, so that the water will neither run too freely at first, nor be carried too fast to the further end. One of my benches has been arranged for subirrigation by means of a five-quarter-inch gas-pipe laid on the ordinary plank bottom in the manner shown in accompanying sketches. The two parallel pipe lines are two feet apart. Quarter-inch holes are drilled through the pipe four or five inches apart, alternately on opposite sides. The further end is closed, although not per- fectly tight; the other end is turned up and receives the water through a funnel, or directly from the hose. The bench bottom is not absolutely water-tight, being made of ordinary matched two-inch pine-plank. Neither lead, cement, nor paint has been used. This has saved work, time, and expense, and the ar- rangement seems to work well. io6 — How to Make the Garden Pay. I find the following advantages in the new method of water- appHcation : (i) Ease of application; (2) certainty of thorough- ness in watering ; (3) exemption of plants from disease. Over- head watering in amateur houses, when it has to be done by means of the ordinary garden-sprinkler, is a tedious task. In the new arrangement we simply pour a few bucketfuls of water into the funnel and the work is not only done, but done well. This method of application also enables us to use washing suds, manure-water, and similar liquids which we would not like to put on the plants from overhead, either from considerations of cleanliness or for fear of clogging the sprinkler. Watering beds with the sprinkler is rarely done thoroughly. A bucketful of water sprinkled on in the usual fashion will make a good-sized bed appear soaked, while, in fact, the application may not have reached beyond an inch deep, leaving the lower portions dust-dry. Such, indeed, is not an uncommon condition of many benches and flats in the glass-houses of amateurs. Sub- irrigation gives us reversed conditions. On a bench, which one bucketful of water applied by surface-sprinkling would render Subinigated Bench. apparently quite wet, you may turn two or three bucketfuls through underground pipes, without bringing moisture enough for a respectable show to the surface. The consequence is that 'almost everyone, without exception, would apply a greater quan- tity of water by subirrigation than by the old overhead sprinkling method. Herein, I believe, may be found one of the chief reasons for the greatly increased growth of certain crops observed as the result of subirrigation. It is only an experience similar to the one made in the application of fertilizing substances on pota- toes and other crops. Quantity of application is the deciding factor rather than the mode of application. Lettuce and onions are especially subject to this influence. On an ordinary bench, and in nicely prepared, porous soil, I can produce almost double the growth of these vegetables in a given time by doubling the ordinary overhead applications of water. It is surprising what large quantities of water lettuce will take and delight in. Amateurs seldom give it enough for be?*; effect. With a sub- irrigation arrangement this will be different. The application does not quickly show on the surface, and consequently it is naturally more abundant than under the old method. The roots Irrigation. — 107 of the plants are kept well supplied with moisture all the time, and the growth, therefore, is rapid and healthy. When watering beds by subirrigation, it will occasionally be desirable for the gardener to examine the soil at the bottom of bench, in order to be able, judging from its con- dition, to properly gauge the quantity of water to be turned on. A home-made soil-tester, like the one here shown, will come quite handy in such an emergency. It is simply a tin tube with a wooden pestle, built something on the principle of the boy's pop-gun. The tube is pressed down into the bench, then withdrawn with the core of soil remaining in it, and finally the core pushed out by means of the wooden pestle, ready to be examined. Another style of underground watering of greenhouse lettuce — the simplest and cheapest of all, and just as effective as any other — consists of turning water into four-inch flower-pots sunk into the bench in the centre between every four plants. Cross-section of bench thus arranged is here shown. A few dozen pots reach over quite a bench and may be sunk in their proper places at the time the plants are set. On account of its great simplicity, I prefer this method to the other for my uses. The principle of subirrigation is now also applied to water- ing seed flats or pans. Overhead water applications to small ^■1^ n. Subirrigation by Flower Pots. seeds or small plants in seed pans has always been objectionable and risky. Every objection is met and every risk avoided, how- ever, when we place the flat into the " water-bench," a shallow. io8 — How to Make the Garden Pay. water-tight box or pan containing about an inch of water, and letting it remain until thoroughly saturated from the bottom up, then taking out and replacing by others. The water application in this method is a thorough one, and yet it does not disturb the surface of the flat, damaging plants or washing out seeds, as overhead sprinkling often does. Aquaculture, or the New Agriculture. — Reports of wonderful crops produced on slopes of soil by no means rich, under a new system, called by the inventor (A. N. Cole) "aqua- culture " (water culture), or new agriculture, at one time at- tracted considerable attention ; but since this method is quite expensive, and possible only under certain conditions, namely, on a slope with impervious clay subsoil, it is not of general utility nor excessively meritorious. Mr. Cole gave the follow- ing description of it : "A ditch is opened on a water level along Slope Subirrigated after Cole's Method. the hillside or slope, say a yard wide, and from three to five feet deep. At the bottom of this ditch are loosely placed cobble and blocky stones, for a foot or two, then flat stones are laid over these, then a quantity of smaller stones ; these are covered over with weeds, briars, brambles, fine brush, straw, corn stalks, or other available material, to prevent the fine earth from falling among and filling the crevices between the stones. A heavy coating of manure may follow, and then the excavated soil is spread over it, and a terrace is graded if desired. Whatever course the trench may take, the surface of the hard pan at the bottom of the ditch must never vary from a water level. A series of such ditches, one above the other, are dug a rod or so apart and similarly filled, over as large a surface as is to be improved, each forming an elongated reservoir, which will be filled by the watercourses cut off, or by the melting snows and early rains; Irrigation, — 109 and if the subsoil is firm clay, or hard pan, it will be retained, and as the surface soil dries, absorbed by capillary action, and brought within reach of the roots of vegetation. " The connecting overflow trenches should be in the subsoil, and filled with .fine stone to the depth of a foot at least, and shingled with flat stones in the same manner as the reservoir trenches. This shingling should be of sufficient depth to escape the plough or the deepest spading. The head of the overflow trenches at the base of the slope should be at least twelve or eighteen inches above the bottom of the reservoir." Cross-section of slope thus subirrigated is presented in engraving. A is the surface soil ; B, the reservoir trenches ; C, the subsoil ; D, the connecting overflow trenches (which might be laid with tile where that can be had conveni- ently and cheaply), and E, the outlet of drainage trench. I have given this for information more than in the expectation that many readers will make practical use of it. CHAPTER XVIII. - INSECTS AND OTHER FOES. THEIR WAYS OF DOING MISCHIEF AND HOW TO KEEP THEM IN CHECK. " Eternal Vigilance — the Price.'* F all the obstacles to the successful production of choice garden vegetables, none has ever shown itself in a more serious aspect than the multiplication of injurious insects. The problem how to get rid of them often sorely puzzles the ingenuity of even the best gardener. Frequently our plants come up nicely, and we are pleased with their apparent health and thrift, and perhaps pride ourselves on our skill ; only to find, at our very next visit to the garden, soon after, that the whole plantation is badly damaged, if not already ruined beyond any chance of recovery, by an unexpected attack of insect foes. Occasionally we have to admit our utter defeat. The question how to deal with insects is a serious problem. The best of talent has been, and still is, engaged in the attempt to find a satisfactory solution. Columns upon columns on the subject have of late been published by the agricultural press. Lectures upon lectures on insect lore have been delivered by specialists, and bulletin upon bulletin touching upon this matter are issued by the Experiment Stations, and sent out by the thousand, and yet I am asked more questions on " insects and what to do for them," than on any other subject. So I will endeavor to give pretty plain and full instructions. As a general rule it may be stated that the most satisfactory, and often the only effective measures are those of a preventive character or tendency. The aim should be to keep our crops entirely out of reach or observation by their insect foes, and success in this can more generally and more easily be achieved by a judicious system of rotation ("wide" rotation, as I am tempted to call it), than by the application of drugs, etc. The gardener knows, or should know, the exact location of the breeding places of the various bugs and beetles. Where their food plants had been grown the year before, right there we may confidently expect to see the foes reappear this season. In last year's cabbage and radish patches the flea beetle will be found plentiful this year ; and where we had cucumber and squash yines then, we will find the yellow-striped squash beetle, the blacH (no) Insects and Other Foes.— m squash bug, etc. Wherever circumstances allow, therefore, each crop should be planted at considerable distance from any place where the same or a similar crop was grown the year before. This practice, although it may not prevent insect visits entirely, must at least put enough of the depredators off the track to materially moderate the amount of damage coming from that source. For the home garden, and for smaller operations generally, such a course cannot often be followed, and other means of protection have to be sought. Foremost among preventive measures stands the often employed practice of hiding the plants, in boxes or open frames, or under mosquito netting, or by surrounding them with other quicker-growing plants (buckwheat, beans, etc.), which not only serve as a screen, but also disguise their scent. Strong-smelling substances, such as carbolic acid, kerosene, turpentine, etc., are also quite frequently used to hide the natural scent of the exposed plants, thus removing one of the chief means by which insects are enabled to find their food plants. Another quite common preventive consists in covering the endangered plants with some substance (plaster, lime, etc.), that is distasteful to their enemies, and this, unless they come in excessive numbers, or are exceedingly hungry, is often effective in driving them off. Either hand-picking and mashing, or poisoning, must be resorted to where preventives cannot be employed, or have not proven effective. That all the natural enemies of our injurious insects — birds, toads, snakes, cannibal insects, such as the useful and pretty little ladybird, the colosoma (ground or tiger beetle), the soldier bug, etc. — should be encouraged and given shelter, need hardly be mentioned. A list of the most destructive and common insect enemies and the most improved ways of preventing their •nischief, will be found in the following : Ants {Formica). — Although not generally directly destruc- tive to garden vegetables, they are sometimes quite obnoxious in consequence of their manner of throwing up hills. Destroy their nests by pouring boiling water, or hot strong alum water over the hills. The ants can also be trapped very easily by placing a coarse sponge moistened with sweetened water near their haunts, thus attracting them in large numbers. When the sponge is black with the creatures, throw it into boiling water; then wash it out and reset the trap. Poisoned molasses placed near their haunts, will also soon make an end to their existence. Aphis or Plant Louse. — Of the hundreds of species of green, black, and blue aphis in existence, quite a number are trouble- some to the gardener. Fortunately the whole tribe is quite tender ; and lettuce, cabbages and cauliflowers seriously infested, perhaps almost wholly covered by these lice, are sometimes entirely cleared of them by a cold spell or a hard rain, etc., and 112— How to Make the Garden Pay. for this reason their injury to such crops in the open ground is less feared and serious than to those under glass, where they often become a real source of danger. In tobacco we have a simple preventive and remedy. Apply tobacco dust freely, both directly to the soil, as a means of prevention, and upon the infested plants as a cure. Strong tobacco tea, made by steeping tobacco stems in water, if sprinkled or sprayed on plants, will also quickly rid them of lice. Fumigation (burning dampened tobacco stems two or three times a week) is quite generally practiced, and universally successful as a preventive measure in greenhouse culture. A simple and effective remedy for this and other injurious insects is the kerosene emulsion, made by churning one quart of soft soap (or one quarter pound of whale-oil soap), one pint of kerosene oil, and two quarts of water, until a perfect union or emulsion is formed. The operation of churning can be per- formed in an easy and convenient manner by the use of a good force pump, forcing the liquid back into the vessel containing it. The emulsion should be diluted with two gallons of water, and applied with a force pump and spray nozzle over the infested plants. The fine spray makes the operation eco- nomical as well as safe, and if thrown with suffi- cient force, is more liable to touch all lice. It is sure to kill eggs as well as lice. Asparagus Beetle ( Creoccris asparagi) — . An Asparagus Beetle, Larva and Egg. asparagus branch infested with this comparatively new insect enemy in its different stages of development, natural size, with enlarged specimen of beetle and larva at the lower right hand corner, is here shown. This insect has a natural enemy in the cat-bird, which feeds on both beetles and larvae, and sometimes greatly reduces their number. Dusting the infested plants when wet with dew, with air-slacked lime on a quiet morning, is probably the simplest, and a reason- Insects and Other Foes.— 113 ably sure remedy. Hand-picking is a rather tedious operation, and only practicable in a small patch. Cutting the affected tops, removing and burning them is often practiced with good effect. Dusting with tobacco dust, or spraying with the kerosene emul- sion, are also reasonably safe remedies. Bean Weevil {Bnichus obsolchis). — This insect has become a really more formidable foe to the grower of beans, peas, and other leguminous planis, than even its much larger relative, the pea weevil. It devours the seeds of nearly all plants of the pulse family with apparent equal relish, but is easily enough managed. Simply throw the beans or peas as soon as gathered and threshed for a few seconds into boiling water. This will kill the larvae of either weevil contained in them. Seed beans and peas should always be treated in this way to guard against injury to the next crop. Old seed is always free from bugs, and by its use all danger of carrying the pest to new fields in the seed is averted. It may be a good plan to tie up beans and peas intended for seed tightly and securely in stout paper bags, and to keep them over without opening the bags, until the second year. The bugs will then have died without living issue. The larvae can also be destroyed by exposing the seeds in a closed vessel, box or barrel, to the fumes of turpentine, or bisulphide of carbon, or by mixing with them a small quantity of fresh insect powder. The Ohio Experiment Station finds that the exposure of the infested seed for one hour to a temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit destroys the larvae without injuring the germinative quality of the seed. An ordinary gasoline stove oven, with a lighted kerosene lamp beneath it, was used in conducting the experiments. Only a very small flame is needed to produce the required amount of heat. To be of most benefit, this remedy must be applied as soon as possible after the beans or peas are fully ripe. Cabbage Plusia (sometimes called green lettuce worm). — It is the caterpillar of a pretty moth {Plusia Brassiccz), and sometimes does serious injury to cabbage, lettuce, celery, endive, sage and some flowers. It is a ravenous eater, and in cabbages and lettuce bores clear through to the hearts, and prefers to feed from the inside rather than the outside. For this reason it is not so easily reached with insecticides as the green cabbage worm. Try buhach and careful hand picking. Cabbage Maggot. — See Radish Fly. Cabbage Worm. — The larva of the cabbage butterfly [Picris raphes), shown on next page, has for many years been the most serious obstacle to the home production of cabbages, and yet few insect foes are so easily kept in check as this. The butterfly is double-brooded. The first brood is seen flitting about 8 114— How to Make the Garden Pay. the fields in May, the second in August, and the progeny of the latter causes the most trouble. The sovereign remedy for this pest is fresh Pyrethrum pow- der, generally called Persian or Dalmatian insect powder. The imported article, when in full strength, is perfectly reliable, but \ y^ when stale (and this is the usual condition of the powder on sale in drug stores) gives rather uncertain results. Buhach is a California product, the ground flower of PyrctJiriLin cincrariafoliuin, gen- erally fresh, and put up in tight tin cans, and in my experience has never failed to give entire satisfac- tion. While the imported article may be bought for less money, pound for pound, the California product, on account of greater strength and certain death-dealing effect, is by far the cheaper in the end, and every gardener should try to get buhach in preference to the common insect powder. The remedy can be applied in various ways. When to be used in liquid form, take a tablespoonful of the pure powder, and with a little water work it into a paste, then dilute with two gallons of water, and sprinkle it on the plants with a watering pot, or still better, apply in a fine spray with considerable force, so that every worm will be reached. A very convenient mode of application for the home garden is that in dry form, by means of a simple dusting apparatus or pocket rubber bellows, as for instance shown in illustration. This, Butterfly of the Cabbage Worm. Simple Powder Bellows. or a similar and just as effectual one, can undoubtedly be had of our friend, Wm. Henry Maule, of Philadelphia, Pa., or most other seedsmen, at a mere nominal price. During the summer months I generally carry one of the bellows charged with a mixture of one part of buhach, and four or five of flour or air-slacked lime in my pocket, and apply a few puffs here and there, wherever I notice the effects of cabbage or similar worms. That puts a sudden stop to their mischief The whole matter is so simple, inexpensive and certain, and requiring so little time or effort, that I would hardly give any man lo cents to insure me perfect immunity from worms for each lOO head of cabbages. Insects and Other Foes.— 115 When we have at hand a remedy so highly effective and satisfactory as buhach, there is absolutely no reason why we should search for other means, and I believe it is simply fooling away time to experiment with hot water, ice water, solutions of saltpetre or alum, or with pepper, road dust, or the many other remedies of like nature recommended. Mr. A. S. Fuller also reports that he has had the very best success in killing the worms by sprinkling the infested plants with tar water. Celery Worm. — The caterpillars found on celery, parsley, etc., which are the progeny of the asterias butterfly {Papilio asterias) can be got rid of by the remedies recommended for the cabbage worm ; but since they are hardly ever numerous, I have always disposed of them by hand-picking. Corn or Boll Worm {Hcliothis armigerd). — The moth of this, like the cabbage butterfly, is double-brooded ; the first brood generally attacking the very early varieties of sweet and other corn varieties, and the second brood doing considerable damage to the late varieties, so that the intermediate sorts usually escape altogether. The fruit of tomatoes, bean and pea pods, and vine fruits are also occasion- ally attacked. The only remedy that prom- ises relief, is to hand-pick the first brood of larvae, found on early sweet corn, and to destroy them, thereby rendering the attacks of the subsequent brood less serious. It is sometimes recommended to bait and catch (drown) the moths by means of a mixture of molasses and vinegar. Cucumber Beetle {Diabrotica vittata). — Of all the insects in the garden, the little creature that wears a yellow-striped suit, and troubles young cucumber, melon, squash and pumpkin plants is probably the worst, and diflEicult to deal with. Hiding away the whole patch so the beetles cannot easily find it, by changing location (the "wide rotation " spoken of) is yet one of the very best methods ; but this cannot well be prac- ticed in the home gar- den, and here we may often adopt the plan of hiding away individual plants or hills, either by placing a simple frame or bottomless box around them, as here illustrated, or by covering them with muslin-covered plant protectors, or with little pieces of muslin fastened down to the ground at the four Corn, Boll or Cotton Worm. Frame for Protecting Young Vines. ii6-How to Make the Garden Pay, corners, or by similar devices. A ring of buckwheat or beans sown around the vines when the latter are planted, is another expedient sometimes employed for the purpose of hiding the vines. The period of danger is only while the plants are young, especially in seed-leaf, and our first aim should be to push the plants by rich stimulating food, liquid manuring, if needed, past the stage when they are liable to ruinous attacks. The young plants are so tender and succulent, and there is so little of them, that the first visit of a number of striped beetles usually means little less than destruction to the victims. Treat- ment must positively be begun in advance of the insects' first appearance. The usual method, suited especially for larger plantations, but having considerable merit for the home garden also, consists in keeping the plants from the day they first begin to break ground until they are beyond the period of danger, well covered with plaster or bone dust The coating must be renewed promptly whenever washed off by rains or heavy dews. Air- slacked lime is sometimes used, but it is always risky, on account of its still caustic nature. In all cases where plaster is made to serve as insect repeller, I would prefer to have it flavored with carbolic acid, by mixing a pint of the crude article with a bushel of plaster. The acid can do no possible harm, and it always adds to the effectiveness of plaster or air-slacked lime. Another equally meritorious remedy is the following : Mix a tablespoonful of kerosene in two quarts of plaster, sifted wood ashes, or bone flour, rubbing it with the hands until the oil is well distributed, then sprinkle this over the vines, and repeat as often as required. It is also worth while to try this trick of repelling the marauders by placing little heaps of ashes, saturated with kerosene, turpentine, or carbolic acid, or pieces of corn-cobs, soaked in coal tar, among the vines to be protected. Should the insects find the vines in spite of all precautions, we yet have a remedy to apply, and this consists in spraying the vines with a weak solution of Paris green at the rate of 15 gallons of water to one ounce of poison. Apply in a fine spray, so that the poisonous liquid will reach the upper and lower surfaces of every leaf, and the stems also. If a spraying apparatus is not at hand, a small quantity of poison may be mixed with the plaster or bone dust, and applied dry. Cut Worms {Agrotis). — A large number of species of cut worms make themselves highly obnoxious to the gardener by the impudence with which they attack and cut down almost every kind of newly-set plants. They are mostly clumsy and greasy-looking caterpillars of some dull shade of color (grayish, brown, greenish), remain in their hiding places on bright days, and come to the surface at night or in cloudy weather, to seek Insects and Other Foes.— 117 what green stuff they can devour. The illustration presents both worm and moth of one of the species. Cut Worm — Moth and Larva. Fortunately these worms have many natural enemies, among them the robin, thrushes, quail, wren and other birds, toads, etc., which together keep their numbers down quite well. Fall plowing serves to bring many of the worms to the surface, and to expose them to " bird's-eye view " and perhaps to destruction by frost. The fresh effects of their night's work can best be noticed bright and early in the morning, and they can then be found near the place of mischief, hunted up and killed. Before a piece of plowed ground is planted, we can often dispose of the majority of the worms by placing pieces of sod, sprinkled with a poisonous solution, at regular intervals over the ground. The remedy is simple, and may be repeated, thus making the way clear for setting plants. Beans are sometimes planted for bait, and in advance of the real crop, whatever that may be. The field is looked over on several mornings after the beans are up and the worms hunted up where plants are seen cut off. The regular crop is planted after most of the worms are destroyed. A practice often resorted to, is to encircle each plant to be set out, with a piece of paper, which should reach down into the soil, as the worm cannot crawl under it, and extend several inches above the surface, so it cannot crawl over it. The picture shows how this is done, and how the plan works. I often use plant pro- tectors somewhat resembling bottomless flower pots, which I had made for the purpose, as a mechanical obstacle to the cut worm's progress. Flea Beetle [Ha/tica). In this we have another, and often a very troublesome enemy. On soil where cabbage, radishes or turnips were grown the year before, or in the vicinity thereof, these little jumping things appear often in such numbers, that it is difficult to make headway against them. Change of location is, therefore, to be recom- Cut Worm and Pro- tected Plant. ii8— How to Make the Garden Pay. mended as the chief preventive measure. Ordinarily we can succeed in preventing serious damage to our young plants of the Brassica family, by dusting them, when first appearing above ground, with plaster, air-slacked lime, sifted wood ashes, soot, tobacco dust, or in fact any dust-like material. When the beetles appear in very large numbers, and consequently are very hungry, mere grit will not repel them, and a little admixture of Paris green — one part to a hundred parts of plaster — to such appli- cations will be necessary. The insect is hardy and resistant enough not to appear to be inconvenienced by even the best of buhach in full strength, nor by strong vapors of naphtaline. Little chicks will catch these insects in great quantities, and so will toads when they happen to come across an infested patch. Of late these insects have appeared in vast numbers in our potato fields, and often entirely ruin the foliage, greatly reducing the crop of tubers. The only remedy that thus far has seemed to give relief, is spraying the vines freely with a strong decoction of tobacco stems or dust. Very likely, also, the free use of dry tobacco dust may drive these beetles away. Grubs — White. See May Beetle. Maggot — Cabbage, Onion, etc. See Onion Fly. May Beetle. {Lachnosterna) In the perfect or beetle state, this does not usually damage the gardener's crops very seriously; but its larva, the well known and much feared " white grub " is often very destructive to the roots of straw- berries, corn and other garden plants, especially when grown on sod land recently brought under cultivation. Both beetle and larva are shown in May Beetle and Grub. illustration. Fortunately these fat grubs have many natural enemies, especially brown thrushes, robins, crows, and a number of other birds; also moles, pigs, skunks, etc. Fall plow- ing and continued cultivation will soon rid the field of their undesirable presence. It is also recommended to make some artificial breeding place, by covering piles of fresh cow manure with fine earth during latter part of May or June. Many beetles will select these for a place to deposit their eggs, and the heaps may be turned over and spread out exposing the young larvae to sure destruction by frost, birds and other natural enemies. Onion Fly. {Anthomyia.) More generally known as radish or cabbage fly. In general appearance it resembles a small house fly. It is the parent of the maggot, which troubles the roots of cabbages, radishes, onions, turnips, etc., and makes itself Insects and Other Foes.— iig so exceedingly obnoxious to the gardener. Plenty of lime in the soil, or its free use about the plants, or ashes from the burnt rub- bish heap, tend to keep them away. Wood ashes moistened with kerosene oil and scattered around the plants are said to be especially effective in repelling the fly. Change of location is a reasonably safe and simple preventive, and although not an abso- lute one, should always be employed where practicable. In some years it is almost impossible to raise early radishes and cabbages free from the disgusting worms, and again the next season on same soil, and all over the whole vicinity, the trouble from this source will be so slight as not to be worth mentioning. The insect seems to prefer radishes to cabbages, and either of these to onions, so that the latter, if some cabbages or radishes are planted in the same field with them, will generally escape attack, as all the maggots will concentrate on the cabbage and radish plants. These must be pulled up and destroyed. Where onions are affected, as may be seen by their tops turning yellow, they should also be gathered and destroyed. During last spring it has been discovered that lime-water is a reasonably sure remedy, where plants are just beginning to suffer. Slack a peck of caustic lime in 20 gallons of water, pre- ferably diluted liquid manure, stir long and thoroughly, and apply to the plantation at the rate of a pint to each cabbage plant, or a quantity sufficient to soak the ground closely to the roots, so that every maggot there at work will be reached by the caustic liquid, the mere contact of which brings sure death to all soft-bodied worms. The occasional application of lime-water to plants in seed bed, and also to those in open field, at least during their earlier stages, deserves to be gener- ally adopted as a precautionary measure. Parsley Worm. — This is the larva of the Asterias butterfly {Papilio asterias), and feeds on the leaves of parsley, parsnip, celery, carrot, dill, and allied plants. It is a disagreeable fellow, with a most disgusting odor, and the best way to treat it is to pick off the leaf-stalk on which it is found, throw it on the ground, and put your foot heavily upon it. Butterfly, caterpillar and chrysalis are shown in accompanying illustration. Parsley Worm, Butterfly and Chrysalis. 120 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Pea Weevil. — This is the bean weevil's larger brother, and must be treated in same way. For directions see Bean Weevil. Potato Beetle. {Doryphora decemlineata) — This has become far too common to need description. Change of location for the patch can again be recommended as a means to mitigate if not entirely avert its fearful ravages. Paris green will have to be used in nearly every case, however, if serious damage is to be avoided. Hand-picking is seldom reliable, except where the beetles are not usually very numerous. The remedy can be applied either in dry or in liquid form. The beetles, hungry after a long fast, generally appear as soon as the potatoes are coming up, and the first application of poison — preferably in a dry form — should promptly be made, to dispose of this old stock, and pre- vent not only the destruction of the first tender foliage and con- sequent weakening of the plants, but also the propagation of the destructive pest. The preparation of the poison is quite simple. Pure Paris green is mixed with at least lOO times its weight of plaster, flour, or air-slacked lime — the first named preferred. Make the mixture thorough, and if convenient, prepare it a few days in advance. In the absence of better means of application, a simple tin-can, with handle and perforated bottom, will answer the purpose, especially when the plants are yet small. Give each plant, as soon as up, a dash of the dry poisonous mixture, and thus protect it from harm. Later on, when the first brood of eggs hatch, the young larvae or slugs concentrate in the tender centres of the stalks, and another dash of the poison should be applied without delay, for if neglected more than a few days, the slugs will scatter all over the plants, and make fighting them more inconvenient, necessitating the distribution of the poison- ous material over the entire surface of the plant. Repeat the dose as often as required. Various new devices for putting poison in dry form on potatoes, by hand or horse power, have now been introduced, and the grower must select those that suit his case. The recent improvements in spraying machines, spraying devices, and spraying materials have made the application of Paris green in liquid form safer, more convenient, and generally preferable to that in powder form. It saves us the inhalation of the poisonous dust. The liquid can be applied at any time, whether the vines are wet with dew or not. No scorching effects have to be feared, and the fungicide, if properly prepared, sticks to the foliage closer than a brother. An effective application could not well be made by the old method of using a garden- sprinkler, or any similar "sprinkling" device, without more or less injury to the foliage, in consequence of the uneven distribu- tion over the plant. The liquid would gather here and there in Insects and Other Foes. — lit drops, especially on the lower end of leaves, and evaporating, leave the poison often too concentrated for the good of the plants. We now avoid this danger by the application of the liquid in the form of a mere mist with our modern sprayers and modern spray nozzles, and by the addition of a little lime to the Paris green water. A good knapsack sprayer (now to be had for about ten dol- lars) fitted with a good, improved Vermorel spray nozzle, will answer for spraying smaller patches, up to a limited number of acres. For larger areas, and if it can be afforded even for an acre or two, I greatly prefer the barrow sprayer here illustrated. It is especially designed for spraying potatoes and similar crops, and works to perfection. When the soil is rough or stony, and the task of pushing the barrow and loaded tank rather above the strength of the operator at the handles, a horse or boy may Barrow Sprayer. be hitched on far enough ahead to be out of reach of the sprays, and with little effort will pull the machine along. Two rows are sprayed at a time, but if bugs are very plentiful, I would prefer to go between every two rows, and thus spray every row twice, in opposite directions, in order to make the job all the more thorough and effective. An automatic agitator, which, like the pump, is geared to the wheel, keeps the liquid in the tank con- stantly stirred and prevents the Paris green from settling to the bottom. Unfortunately, it must be said that the Paris green now on sale in general grocery and hardware stores, although put up and recommended for the very purpose of being used for the potato beetle pest, is by no means of uniform strength, and some of it decidedly weak. The proportions which we formerly used with telling effect, namely, one pound of Paris green to 122 — How to Make the Garden Pay. 150 gallons of water, now seem to give little inconvenience to beetles and slugs. I have been gradually increasing the propor- tion of the poison, and at present use one pound to only 50 gal- lons of water. But in order to make this entirely safe, and to head off every chance of injury to the foliage, I either combine the Bordeaux mixture (spoken of in next chapter) with the Paris green, thus fighting blights as well as insects by one application, or at least add milk of lime freshly made by slacking two or three pounds of burnt lime, to the 50 gallons of Paris green water. Always mix the Paris green with a little water to a paste before you add it to the spraying liquid. Potato beetles are very destructive to egg plants, especially when first set out, and then again late in the season, after pota- toes have matured, and the beetles find no more food except the egg plants, of which they are very fond. The young plants, when first set out, then still tender and checked in their growth, would fall easy victims to the beetles. They should be closely watched, and the beetles picked off by hand two or three times a day, un- til the supply seems to be exhausted or engaged elsewhere. Afterwards the larvae that may hatch from the few eggs de- posited on the plants notwithstanding all our efforts, can easily be kept off by Paris green application. A similar treatment is advisable for potato seedlings, or choice early potatoes of any kind. I have seen beetles come on in such numbers, after the potato season in New Jersey, that no matter how many might die from the effects of the poison put on egg plants, their places were at once filled by others, and it was impossible to save the plants from entire annihilation. Radish Fly and Maggot. — I might rest contented by simply referring to my remarks under the heading of Onion Fly. Let me say, how- ever, that entomologists classify the radish fly and maggot as antJwmyia brassiccs, and give us three species of onion fly or maggot, namely, the imported onion fly {an- thomyia ceparuni), the native onion fly {Ortalis arcuatd), and the black onion fly {Ortalis flexd). Cabbage and Onion Fly in Its The common cabbage Different Stages. and onion flies, A bras- siccE and A. ceparum, resemble one another very closely and the same means which will check or dispose of one, Insects and Other Foes. — 123 will also check or dispose of the other. The results of recent experiments seem to indicate that heavy dressings of kainit, muriate of potash, or possibly of nitrate of soda, and other fertilizers have a tendency to drive these pests from our fields, and possibly cut worms and other creeping and crawling things also. I usually make annual dressings of this kind to my garden soils, and I find that my crops suffer less every succeed- ing year from the attacks of maggots, cut worms, etc. I have yet to mention the collars of tarred paper devised for the protection of cabbage and cauliflower plants against maggot attacks. These collars may be round, square, or six-cornered. They should have a hole in the centre for the stem of the plant. A slit from outside to centre allows the collar to be easily slipped around the plant at the top of the ground. Good results in preventing maggot attacks have been reported as secured by the use of these collars. Snails. — One effective method of dealing with slugs and snails, where troublesome, especially in greenhouses and frames, is to set traps by scattering pieces of orange-peel over the ground. The snails are so fond of this delicacy that they will remain clinging to the peel rather than go back to their hiding places at break of day. Examine the traps every morning, and destroy the marauders. Sometmies these disgusting, slimy creatures appear in countless numbers, attacking peas, beans, corn, and other crops, and almost utterly denuding the lower parts of the foliage. They keep in hiding during the day, and begin their work of devasta- tion after sundown. I can get rid of them very easily. The knapsack sprayer is charged with water in which a handful or two of common salt, or of muriate of potash, or kainit is dis- solved. Lime-water will give the same results. Shortly after dusk I begin the dance, giving the attacked plants a thorough spraying. If necessary, this may be repeated in a day or two. Every slug touched by the spray will be dissolved, and nothing but " grease spots" will be left in the morning. Squash Vine Borer. {Algeria aicnrbitce?) — Our first aim should be to repel the moth, and prevent her from depositing her eggs on the plants. Perhaps this may be successfully ac- complished by placing corn-cobs smeared with coal tar, turpen- tine, kerosene, or carbolic acid near the roots of the plants. If we have not been successful in keeping the moth off, we should hunt up and destroy the larvae (borers) when they first begin to tunnel through the main stock near the surface of the soil. They give the preference to pumpkins, squashes, and similar members of the gourd family, but also attack melon and cucumber vines, riddling the stem near the ground, and often cutting off all com- 124 — How to Make the Garden Pay. munication between top and root. Discover their location and dig them out with the point of a sharp knife. With squash and other plants which readily strike root from the joints, it is the easiest thing in the world to practically prevent all injury. All you have to do is to cover the first joints firmly with fresh soil as soon as the vines begin to run. The be made entirely inde- Layered Squash Vine. then plants, as shown in picture, can pendent of their original roots. Squash Bug, Black. {Anasntristis) — In July the patches of dark brown eggs may be found on the underside of the leaves of pumpkins, squashes, etc., while the bugs are hidden under rubbish, clods of soil, stones, etc., near the plants. Few things seem to be repulsive enough for them to keep or drive them off the plants, but plaster flavored with kerosene or carbolic acid may be tried. It may at least tend to lessen their numbers. Trapping is yet the only sure remedy. Place pieces of shingles, small stones, or rubbish of some sort about the hills, and examine them for bugs every morning, dispatching them by shaking into a dish containing some kerosene, or mashing them with home-made tweezers consisting of a simple piece of band iron, Tweezers for killing bugs. and bent as here shown. The bug is repulsive and has a most disagreeable odor, but should be fought with persistency. Wire Worm. [Jttlns.) — These are the offsprings of various snapping beetles or elaters, hard, smooth-skinned, white or yel- lowish, worm-like creatures, feeding on potatoes, carrots, the roots of herbaceous plants, etc., and often doing considerable damage to these crops. As beetles, they live on the tender leaves of various plants. The name " wire-worm" is often wrongfully applied to the generally larger and darker-colored centipede or thousand-legged worm. Trapping or baiting is about the only method of fighting them which promises any success whatever. Sliced potatoes or other vegetables are buried beneath the ground here and there over the area to be freed from the pest, and each place marked with a stick, for convenience of examination. Look these baits over carefully every morning, and gather and destroy the worms. Insects and Other Foes. — 125 Zebra Caterpillar {Mamestra pictd). — The parent of this worm is the handsome moth shown at a in accompanying illus- tration. The spherical eggs are laid in clusters on cabbage, cauliflower, and other plants early in the summer. The larvae when young are blackish, but soon change to light green. The young worms cluster together upon the leaves and are then easily disposed of by hand-picking. If left undisturbed, they afterwards scatter over the plants, and the best way to destroy them at this stage is by spraying with kerosene emulsion, kero- sene and water in mechanical mixture, hot water, or by the other means recommended for the green cabbage worm. A full-grown larva is shown at b. It is marked by broad longitudinal vel- vety-black stripes on the back, and brilliant yellow stripes upon each side, connected by fine, transverse zebra-like lines. When disturbed the worm curls up and drops to the ground. Harlequin Cabbage Bug {Miirgantia histrionica). — This enemy is found only in the Southern States, from Texas along the seaboard as far north as Delaware. The full-grown insect, which is gaudily colored, chiefly in black and orange-yellow, lives through the winter hidden under leaves and rubbish. In the spring, just as soon as it finds any of its food plants, it begins to deposit eggs. The larvae hatch out in a few days, and at once begin to pierce the leaves and suck the life-sap from the plants, soon killing them. They are timid, and on anybody's approach try to hide. The illustration shows the insect in its various stages of development, in life-size. Clean culture and the de- struction of all rubbish by fire, during fall or winter, are impor- tant means of fighting this pest. Hand-picking into pans con- taining water and kerosene is often resorted to. Wild mustard 126 — How to Make the Garden Pay. is a favorite food- plant of the bugs, and may be sown in patches or between the rows to be planted with cabbages later. The bugs congregating on the mustard may then be destroyed by spraying with pure kerosene. Tomato Worm {Phlegethontius celeiis). — A beautiful sphinx moth is responsible for the existence of the large green worm so often found on tomato and potato plants. This worm, picture of which is shown at a, is a voracious feeder, and devours the leaves of the plants at a rapid rate. Whenever you see the leaves stripped, and notice the peculiar castings on the ground, you will find the worm close by. Pick off the leaf on which it is feeding, throw it on the ground,and put your foot heavily upon it, mashing the worm. When plowing, in fall or spring, we often find large pupse, such as shown at b. They represent the next stage in the development of this insect, and should also be destroyed. The worm or caterpillar is subject to the attacks of a parasite, a small four-winged black fly, which deposits its o.^^ within the worm. The maggots which hatch out of these eggs feed upon the juices of the body, and finally kill the worm. Cat- erpillars thus infested may be known by the little egg-shaped cocoons of white silk which the larvae spin upon the backs of their hosts, and should not be destroyed. If left undisturbed, the little flies will soon issue from the cocoons and continue the work of destroying Dur enemies. It is said that the moths maybe poisoned by smearing shingles or pieces of board with molasses, mixed with a little poisoned water and a small quantity of whisky or beer, and nailing them from one to two feet high to little stakes driven scatteringly over the potato and tomato patches. Insects and Other Foes. — 127 Tobacco Worm {Phlegethonthis Carolina). — This is a very- near relative of the tomato worm, and resembles it closely in ap- pearance and habits. The moth delights in sipping the sweet nectar from the flowers of the Jamestown weed {Datura sta- motiiuvi), and this weed is sometimes planted purposely in tobacco fields as a catch plant. A little sweetened whisky and water poisoned with arsenic is then introduced into the flowers that invite the visits of the sphinx moth. Blister Beetles. — Several species of beetles belonging to the same family as the " Spanish fly " so familiar to the drug trade, are known in various localities as "potato beetles," "old- fashioned potato beetles," etc., and frequently do considerable damage to potato fields. The most common among them are the ash-gray blister beetle {Lytta cinered), shown at a, the black blister beetles {Lytta miirina and Lytta atrata), shown at b; the striped blister beetle {Epicaiita vittata), shown at c, and the margined blister beetle {Lytta marginata), besides a number of others. Some or all of these species live in their larval stage exclusively or chiefly upon the eggs of grasshoppers, and are therefore of immense benefit to us on this account. Usually blister beetles appear in large numbers in the season following that of an abundance of grasshoppers. In consideration of their services as grasshopper-destroyers, we would prefer to deal leniently with them unless they do much damage by appearing in large numbers. Then men or boys may be sent through the field, who, working with the wind, drive the beetles before them by short flights into windrows of hay or straw previously pre- pared on the leeward side ot the field. These windrows are then set afire and the beetles destroyed with them. Potato Stalk Weevil {Trichobaris trinotatd). — This in- fests potato fields in various sections of the United States. The female beetle (a snout-beetle) places a single q^% in a slit about an eighth of an inch long, made in the stalk near the ground. The whitish grub, which sdon hatches out, tunnels into the heart of the stalk, usually in a downward direction, causing withering 128 — How to Make the Garden Pay. and premature death of the vine. The affected vines should be promptly pulled up and burned, and all vines of an infested field after harvest had better be gathered up and burned. Potato Stalk Borer {Gortyna nitela). — This is the larva of a brown moth, and attacks a number of plants, especially pota- toes, tomatoes, corn, dahlias, rhubarb, spinach, also the twigs of trees and bush fruits. Destroy the larvae wherever found. The insect is propagated largely upon weeds, and clean culture should be given to all crops subject to its attacks. Twelve-spotted Diabrotica, or Cucumber Beetle {Dia- brotica 12-punctatd) — The slender white larva of this insect at- tacks the roots of the corn plant in the more Southern States, and is there known as the Southern corn-root worm. The adult beetle feeds upon the leaves of melons, cucumbers, squashes, and a great number of other plants. Paris green, applied as for the potato beetle and brood, is probably the surest protection to such plants against the enemy. Boreal Ladybird {Epilachne borealis). — This seems to be the black sheep of the ladybird family, and the only one of its members which feeds on vegetable crops, especially on pumpkin and squash leaves. In some localities along the Atlantic coast it has already become a serious pest. I made its acquaintance in New Jersey years ago. The beetles average nearly three- eighths of an inch in length, are almost as broad as long, and nearly convex. In color they are bright yellow, or yellowish brown, with four black spots on the thorax and seven on each wing cover. The eggs are deposited in patches on the under- side of the leaf, and easily recognized by their bright yellow color. The larvae are yellow with black branching spines. The beetles are easily found eating in broad daylight on the upper leaf surface, and spraying with Paris green water can be recom- mended. Destroying the eggs and larvae early in the season should not be neglected. Rhubarb Curculio {Lixus concavus). — The parent beetle is of a dull, grayish-brown color, and usually covered with a yellowish powder. They often gnaw and tunnel holes in the stalks of rhubarb, doing much injury. Its young are raised chiefly on the stalks of yellow and other docks. Keep your fields clean of dock, also pick off the beetles by hand when found on rhubarb, and destroy them. Grasshoppers. — The three most destructive and most widely distributed species are the Rocky Mountain locust or Western grasshopper {Melanoplus spretus), the bird grasshopper or American locust (^Acridmin Americanuin), and the red-legged grasshopper {Melanoplus femur rubrmti). In some years the Insects and Other Foes. — 129 Rocky Mountain locust becomes a real plague in the West, stripping whole sections of every vestige of green in short order. Here at the East we sometimes suffer great annoyance by the hordes of the red-legged grasshopper, but seldom considerable real injury. Their natural enemies, especially blister beetles, birds, and various mammals, prevent their excessive multiplica- tion. In the garden we can keep them down pretty well by giving chickens, ducks, hens, and turkeys a chance to fatten on them. If this method is not practicable, or the grasshoppers are too plentiful for the poultry set at them, we may possibly reduce their numbers by driving them out in short flights. Several persons, each provided with a tree-branch or switch, foliage left on at the end, walk up and down through the garden, begin- ning at one side, and with swinging switches gradually scare and crowd the locusts towards the other side, and finally out and off some distance. This may be repeated several times a day until the period of danger seems to be past. Possibly a windrow or windrows of old straw or rakings might be placed along outside the garden, the grasshoppers driven in and unto them and burned. One ol the most practical methods of protecting crops from destruction by excessive numbers ot hoppers is by baiting them with poisoned bran. Make a mixture of 100 pounds of bran, three pounds of Paris green, two quarts ol old molasses, adding a little water to make the mass stick well together. The hoppers seem to prefer this mixture to green food. Put little heaps of the poisoned bran all over the area to be protected, or simply strew it between the rows of potatoes, corn, cabbage, beans, etc., etc. Cut worms may possibly be poisoned by the same means. Other Foes. — Moles, although living entirely on worms and insects, and never destroying crops directly by eating, often, par- ticularly in sandy and mucky soils, become a source of much annoyance to the gardener by tunneling under the plant beds, lifting out, and killing many young plants, indirectly by expo- sure and drying up. Good traps may now be had at very reason- able prices of almost every hardware dealer. When persistently kept set according to directions which accompany each of these traps, they will soon reduce the numbers of the burrowing pests. Rats, Mice, etc. — When troubling hot-beds, hot-houses, etc., are also easily enough trapped or poisoned. Cheese crumbs are a favorite bait for them ; but there is hardly anything that will more surely entice the rodents than Sunflower seed. If a steel trap is used to catch rats, a large piece of very thin muslin should be covered over the trap when set, strewn with cheese crumbs, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc., and perseveringly kept set. This will clear the premises of rats after awhile. Woodchucks are frequently very troublesome to beans, and occasionally 9 130 — Hov/ to Make the Garden Pay. to squash and pumpkin vines, corn, etc. One of the surest ways of getting rid of them, is to find the burrows, insert a one- quarter or one-half pound charge of dynamite with a long fuse, stop up every opening, then fire the end of the fuse outside, and leave the animal to its fate. A mixture of tar, sulphur and salt- petre, burned inside the burrow, with all the openings closed, will also hardly ever fail to produce the desired effect. ADDITIONAL REMARKS. Kerosene for Insects. — Once more I wish to call special attention to the virtues of kerosene as an insecticide. Its mere contact is sure death to most insects, among them to many which do not readily yield to other treatments. Almost all slugs, maggots, worms, lice on plants and animals, and many beetles and bugs and their eggs are readily killed if we can reach them with kerosene. All we have to do is to apply it in such form or dilution that it will do no direct damage to the plants or trees. The Division of Entomology, United States Department of Ag- riculture, recommends the following formula for emulsifying kerosene : Per cent. Kerosene oil 2 gallons. 67 Common soap or whale oil soap 2 pound. 1 Water I gallon, j ^^ Dissolve the soap over a brisk fire in boiling water, and when in solution remove from the fire and add the oil. Churn the mixture for a few minutes by means of a force-pump and spray nozzle, or if these are not at hand, beat with a paddle until a cream-like emulsion is obtained. Care must be taken that the oil is thoroughly emulsified. If free oil is present it will rise to the top of the liquid after dilution and injure the foliage. If well made, the emulsion thickens on cooling into a jelly-like mass, which adheres, without oiliness, to the surface of glass. In mak- ing kerosene emulsion use rain-water if possible, or, if the well- water is hard, add an ounce of lye or a little baking (bicarbonate of) soda to the water. For scale insects dilute one part of the emulsion with nine parts of cold water ; for many other insects, one part of emulsion to fifteen parts of water, and for soft insects, like plant-lice, from twenty to twenty-five parts of water may be used to one of the emulsion. Milk is considered even preferable to rain-water. Another method of applying kerosene is in a mechanical mix- ture with water. Professor E. S. Goff, of the Wisconsin Experi- ment Station, first hit upon this idea, and this has led to the con- struction of an attachment to knapsack sprayers by the Missis- sippi Station which does away with all the trouble of making an emulsion, at the same time with every danger of injury to plants Insects and Other Foes. — 131 connected with the application of an improperly prepared emulsion. The accompanying illustration shows sprayer with attachment. The latter consists of a separate tank filled with the kerosene and attached to the main tank, but readily detachable. Any pro- portion of kerosene and water can be pumped from the nozzle by simply turning the stopcocks. The kerosene and water are so thoroughly mixed in the act of pumping that the kerosene is as harmless to foliage as in an emulsion of the same strength. This attachment can also be used for many purposes other than the mechanical mixture of kerosene and water. In many cases it may be best to dilute fungicide only when applied to the foliage in the act of pumping. For this purpose the attachment will also prove useful. Of course when copper or other corrosive compounds are used in this manner, the small tank should be made of brass instead of tin. Pump with Kerosene Attachment. Gypsine. — The new insecticide gypsine, so called because first used for the gypsy moth in Massachusetts, is an arsenate of lead, and claimed to be fully as effective as Paris green, and su- perior to it in many respects. It has the advantage of being readily seen on the leaves, so that one can tell at a glance which leaves have and which have not been sprayed. Being lighter than Paris green it does not settle so quickly, and as a result can be distributed more evenly over the foliage. It does no harm to the foliage, even if used in much greater strength than the form- ula directs, so long as the right proportion of the two ingredi- ents is maintained. There should be an excess of acetate of lead. The insecticide is easily prepared by dissolving eleven ounces of acetate of lead and four ounces of arsenate of soda in 150 gal- lons of water. These substances quickly dissolve and form the arsenate of lead. The addition of two quarts of glucose or molasses will tend to glue the poison more firmly to the foliage. The cost of making this mixture is slight. Welcome Help — It cannot be denied that we have a great many good friends and helpers among the creatures that walk, creep, and fly. The average gardener, however, is often entirely unaware of how much of his exemption from insects or of his 132 — How to Make the Garden Pay. easy success in fighting them is due to the assistance of friendly creatures, and altogether he is often too thoughtless and unwise in their treatment. He strikes right and left, without mercy or discrimination. He shoots the birds because they eat a few cherries. He kills every snake or toad that comes in his way, either from inborn prejudice or because he supposes these crea- tures to be ugly, entirely forgetting that " handsome is that handsome does." He traps the skunk that hunts and feeds on grubs, etc., because he wants to sell his skin. He scares away or poisons grub-eating crows, traps and shoots owls and hawks that live mostly on mice and insects, and lets city sports hunt, drive away, and kill or maim the quail and partridges that keep his cornfields free from cut worms and root-borers. With equal eagerness he destroys injurious and beneficial insects. First of all, save and protect the birds. Almost all of them are insect-eaters, and many among them, even English sparrows, are at one time or other helping to clear the farmer's fields ana gardens of insects. The young of the English sparrow are raised almost entirely on insect food. So are the young of robin " Redbreast." Grown birds feast on grasshoppers, cicadas. May beetles, etc., whenever they have a chance, preferring this diet t& other food. Crows, owls, and many hawks usually do us more good than harm. Quails, like crows, are great grub-eaters. They need protection, not persecution. All reptiles, from the alligator down to the smallest lizard, toad, or snake, are the gardener's friends, tried and true, as they wage an unceasing war against his enemies. As the alligator keeps rabbits and coons in check, so the smaller reptiles prevent the over-rapid increase of many species of noxious insects. No reptile, however, can be of greater service to the gardener than the much-despised, homely toad. Place one or more specimens in a hotbed or cold frame, and see the insects disappear. Every crawling thing that comes within sight and reach of the toad, may its smell be ever so disgusting, its flavor ever so rank, its shell ever so hard, falls a prey to the toad's voracious appetite. The toad seems to be always ready for business. Don't kill the toad. Its value as an insect-eater is more generally recognized in England and France than here, for the homely animal has become a regular article of trade in the markets of London and Paris. The demand for the article by English gardeners, in fact, exceeds the home supply, and dealers have begun to look to this country for additional stock. In small gardens we might often employ toads as guards around hills of choice melons, squashes, etc., by providing them with a suitable guard house or hiding place, under a piece of board, a stone, or some rubbish right among the plants. Insects and Other Foes. — 133 Don't extirpate the skunk. Its perfume is not pleasant, and its skin is valuable. All true ; but a live skunk in a hop-field or garden is worth more, for its good work in hunting and devour- ing grubs, than two dead ones any day, even if they are coal black and their skin worth $2 apiece. Learn to know your friends among insects. The common lady, bug lives largely on plant lice, eggs of potato bugs, etc. The ferocious ground beetle hunts and devours canker worms, army worms, and especially cut worms. Four-winged dragon flies feed upon mosquitoes, etc. The soldier bug and the grand labia seem to consider the potato bug larva a dainty dish, and destroy great numbers of them. Species of spider, known famil- iarly as " grand-daddy-long-legs," also make themselves useful by feasting on noxious insects. Blister beetles serve to prevent excessive multiplication of grasshoppers, etc. All these useful insects deserve protection. CHAPTER XIX. FUNGOUS DISEASES OF GARDEN PLANTS. HOW TO PREVENT AND CURE THEM. " An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure." ECENT investigations have acquainted us pretty well with the true nature, modes of propagation, etc., of most of the fungi which attack and damage our garden crops, and cause the various rots, blights, and mildews. To find a sure cure or sure prevention has been the great prob- lem ; unfortunately it must be confessed that in this respect we as yet know far less than is de- sirable, or required to give us complete control over these diseases. The latter destroy the tissues ; and tissues once destroyed, cannot be rebuilt. A cut or burn on a person's flesh will heal up, and skin will grow again and spread over the burnt surface from a near starting point; but a leaf burnt up with scab, or a berry touched by rot, is a leaf or a berry gone beyond the possibility of recovery. The term "cure," therefore, has no application in the treatment of fungous diseases. But we may be able to kill the fungus spores, and thus prevent the spread of the diseases. All our efforts must be exerted in this direction. Here again, as in the case of insects, we must look to change of location — planting at the greatest possible distance from any ground where the same vegetable was grown before, as to the first feasible preventive measure to be adopted. Even this, as in the analogous case of insects, is not an absolute protection, and unfortunately our senses are not acute enough to tell us from what source to expect the infection, and when to expect the attacks. Heat and moisture favor the development and spread of most of these troublesome plant maladies. Consequently pru- dence would dictate the use of precautionary measures on hot days after warm rains, or during damp and sultry weather. We should be quick about it, too. While we have means to kill the germs and prevent their starting into life, nothing has as yet been found that will affect the growth of the thread-like mycelium (134) Fungous Diseases of Garden Plants. — 135 (as the roots of fungi are called) after it has once entered the tis- sues of the attacked leaf, stalk, or berry. In short, the only way of successfully fighting fungi which attack foliage, consists of covering the yet unattacked leaf or stalk with a coat which the germinating spore is powerless to penetrate, or which kills every spore which tries to get a foothold upon it. To provide such a coat of mail is the purpose of spraying with fungicides. The safety of the foliage is insured only so long as all its parts are thus protected. This also explains the need of repetitional treatments, especially immediately after heavy or long-continued rains, which are liable to wash the protective armor off, and leave the foliage more or less exposed. Young leaves, usually and fortunately, are less subject to the attacks of fungous diseases than older ones ; but in time the new growth of young leaves becomes old, and will also require treatment. Hence we must not only spray early, but also repeatedly, and the oftener, the more favorable the season appears to be to the development of plant diseases. Spore-Killing Mixtures. — A great number of different solutions and mixtures have been tried and recommended for their fungicidal (spore-killing) properties ; but there are only a very few deserving general consideration. Bordeaux Mixture. — For the purpose of supplying the protective covering spoken of, nothing has as yet been found superior or even equal to the copper and lime compound called "Bordeaux mixture," or "copper mixture ofGironde." The adhesive nature of the lime tends to glue the copper firmly to the foliage. Consequently the mixture will stick longer than any other fungicide yet suggested, and even through moderate rains. Professor Galloway, of the United States Department of Agricul- ture, recommends the following method of preparation : " In a barrel that will hold forty-five gallons, dissolve six pounds of copper sulphate (blue vitriol, bluestone), using eight or ten gal- lons of water, or as much as may be necessary for the purpose. In a tub or half barrel slake four pounds of fresh lime. When completely slaked, add enough water to make a creamy white- wash. Pour this slowly into the barrel containing the copper sulphate solution, using a coarse gunny sack stretched over the head of the barrel for a strainer. Finally fill the barrel with water, stir thoroughly, and the mixture is ready for use." I find it more convenient, however, to make the mixture in a slightly different manner. First get the required ingredients and receptacles, viz. : the copper sulphate (or bluestone) ; fresh lime ; a vial containing a solution of yellow prussiate of potash ; a barrel, vat or tank large enough to hold the required quantity of 136 — How to Make the Garden Pay. the mixture ; a tub or keg in which to slake the lime ; some pieces of coarse sacking, and finally a dipper. For every fifty gallons ofBordeaux mixture to be made, use six pounds of copper sul- phate. This may be in the ordinary form of coarse crystals, and will dissolve quite readily if you suspend it, in a basket or coarse sack, into the water with which the barrel or vat is partially filled. Slake a quantity of lime, and by adding water prepare a creamy whitewash. Then gradually strain this whitewash into the solution of copper sulphate. Occasionally stir the whole mass together, and test it by adding a drop of the yellow prus- siate of potash solution. So long as the latter causes a brownish stain in the bluish mixture, more lime must be added. When the proportions are right, no discoloration will be noticeable after the application of the test liquid. Then add the quantity of water required to give the right proportions, so that there will be fifty gallons of the mixture for every six pounds of copper sulphate. It is permissible to make a stock solution of copper sulphate, and perhaps also to slake at one time a large enough quantity ^ of lime to last for a number of sprayings ; but these materials should be always mixed freshly for every application. I prefer to prepare new solutions and mix them freshly every time when I want to spray with Bordeaux mixture. Always keep the liquid well stirred during the operation of spraying. Bordeaux Mixture with Arsenites. — The great advan- tage which Bordeaux mixture has over most other fungicides is that it can be safely combined with Paris green (or perhaps Lon- don purple), thus giving us a chance to kill two birds with one stone. In the garden, this compound mixture will be found especially useful in fighting diseases and insects which attack the potato. The proportions usually recommended are four ounces of Paris green to fifty gallons of Bordeaux mixture. I prefer to use a much larger proportion of Paris green, up to one pound to fifty gallons. Be sure that the compound mixture is kept well stirred during the application. Potassium Sulphide. — For some of the plant diseases I have occasionally used a simple solution of potassium sulphide (liver of sulphur). The proportions are one-half ounce dis- solved in one gallon of hot water. Allow it to get cold before spraying. This solution has been found to be especially valuable for checking gooseberry mildew. Bichloride of Mercury. — A simple solution of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate, a powerful poison, one part in one thousand parts of water), the well-known and famous disin- fectant, is of great service in the treatment of seed potatoes for Fungous Diseases of Garden Plants. — 137 the prevention of scab in the resulting crop. To prepare the solution, get at the druggist's two ounces of pulverized corrosive sublimate, empty this into two gallons of hot water, and let it stand until it is all dissolved. Into a barrel put thirteen gallons of water, and into this pour the two-gallon solution. After some hours, during which time it should be repeatedly and thoroughly stirred, it will be ready for use. Metallic vessels should not be used to hold the solution. SPRAYING PUMPS. The Knapsack Sprayer. — As a spraying device for gener- al garden purposes, the " knapsack " style has no equal. It is not only a great convenience, but in my estimation an absolute necessity for every gardener of some preten- sions. The illustration shows it in its general arrangement. The tank should be of copper. The kerosene attach- ment, spoken of in preceding chapter, will come handy, although it is not a strictly necessary requisite. As to nozzles, I prefer the improved Ver- morel to all others. Certain further improvements on the knapsack sprayer, as for instance in the location of the pump-handle, are yet desirable, and no doubt will come in time. Knapsack Sprayer. The Barrow Sprayer. — This has already been mentioned and illustrated in the chapter on " Insect Foes." It is just the implement for people who grow potatoes, egg-plants, and similar low-growing garden crops by the acre. Other Spraying Devices. — Many of the cheap hand and bucket pumps which you find advertised in the agricultural pa- pers, will answer in an emergency, but their operation is less convenient and less satisfactory every way. The knapsack is the garden sprayer par excellence. Preventive Treatments. — First of all, the prudent gardener will take precautionary measures against infection. Strict rota- tion stands foremost. He will remove his endangered crops to new fields, and as far remote as possible from infected ground. In some cases he may be able to kill the winter spores by direct applications of strong copperas solutions to dormant wood and surrounding soil (as in the instance of grapevines, etc.), by wa- tering the soil with weaker solutions, or by sowing powdered 138 — How to Make the Garden Pay. copperas or perhaps flour of sulphur upon ground supposed to be infected with disease germs. Keeping the premises free from weeds and rubbish, and burning wastes and refuse, such as pota- to tops, old tomato vines, dead weeds, leaves, etc., with all the spores that have found a lodging place on these materials, will close another avenue by which infection so frequently is given a chance to enter. Another important precautionary measure is the selection of resistant varieties, if any such are known, and the fortification of all plants against the attacks of diseases by good culture and judicious feeding. Strong growing plants are less subject to some diseases than are plants with weakened vitality. Young plants usually have greater power of resistance than older ones. The following notes may serve as a guide in the recognition and in the treatment of the special diseases : Diseases of the Bean. — Most common among these, and often very annoying and destructive, is the ^* pod spot," or anthracnose, which appears as small reddish-brown spots on young pods of snap-beans, especially of the wax varieties. The spots gradually increase in size, their centres become blackened, then changing to dirty gray or light brown. The affected pods, of course, are always worthless. The disease can be carried over from year to year by the seed. It also attacks cucurbitaceous plants. Beans and melons (or cucumbers, etc.) should be ex- cluded from direct rotation. Reject infected seed, or disinfect it carefully by washing in the corrosive sublimate solution, or in Bordeaux mixture. The young plants may also be sprayed a {q.w^ times with the latter mixture. The bean anthracnose has usually been known under the name " bean rust," but the true '^ bean rusf is a different disease, attacking both surfaces of the leaf, and appearing in small round dark-colored spots. Spray- ing repeatedly with the Bordeaux mixture may prevent its at- tacks. The *^ bean blight,''* which appears on all the above-ground parts of the plants in small pimples, often having a dull red border, and which apparently is a bacterial disease ; and the "lima bean w/Z/^/^zc/," which attacks and ruins the pods, resem- bling the downy mildew of the potato, do not seem to have as yet a general or even wide distribution. The preventive meas- ures suggested for the former are the burning of the diseased plants, the selection of healthy seed and crop rotation, while spraying with Bordeaux mixture or other fungicides is supposed to give good results for the other. Diseases of the Beet, — The "beet rust'" is little known outside of the sugar-beet fields of California. The attacked plants become dwarfed and discolored. The only treatment thus Fungous Diseases of Garden Plants. — 13^ far recommended is to spray the seed beets with some fungicide (Bordeaux mixture), and thus secure seed that is free from infec- tion. The '^ beet leaf-spot disease^' is more generally known, and attacks the leaves of all the ordinary varieties of cultivated beets, mangolds included, appearing in small pale-brown spots, which gradually increase in size and become darker in color. The disease runs its course somewhat similar to the bean an- thracnose. Spraying the young plants with the ordinary fungi- cides is suggested as a preventive. Rotation of crops and the destruction of waste leaves at gathering time, also seem de- sirable. Diseases of the Cabbage Family. — Our cultivated plants of the genus Brassica (cabbages, cauliflower, turnips, etc.) are, as a rule, robust and to a remarkable extent exempt from disease. Only a single one, so far as I am aware, the " club root" (club foot, clump foot), has often become a source of real annoyance and loss to the gardener. It attacks the roots of members of the cabbage family, causing swellings and malformations, and ending in the dwarfing or death of the attacked plants. Crops on limestone soil are usually safe from attacks, which fact sug- gests the free use of lime in seed-beds and cabbage fields. Ap- plications of muriate of potash, kainit, possibly of nitrate of soda and phosphatic fertilizers, to cabbage ground, I believe also counteract the tendency to club root. If we use uninfected plants, and grow any mem- ber of this tribe only once in three or four years on the same piece of ground, we will have nothing to fear from the disease. Diseases of Celery. — Celery is subject to quite a number of fungous dis- eases, among them two leaf-blights, which are not dissimilar, and quite com- mon and prevalent. The " celery blight',' sometimes erroneously called eel- _ , ^ n . ^ . ■> 11 t.i- 1.. ^ V , Celery Leaflet Attacked by Blight. ery rust, has become a ■' it, regular and much-dreaded visitor in our celery patches. A leaflet attacked by this disease is here illustrated. The presence of the blight may be first noticed in small, irregular, yellowish-green spots upon the leaves. These spots soon enlarge and become darker in color. Finally the whole leaf is covered with great blotches, and withers away. The self-blanching varieties seem to be 140 — How to Make the Garden Pay. especially subject to the attacks of this blight Hot and dry weather favor its development. By providing partial shade and plenty of water, I think we can do much more to keep it in check than by spraying with our common fungicides, although such treat- ment is recommended, and may be of use. The other form of '^celery leaf blight'^ attacks the leaf, the stalk, and even the seed. The accompanying illustration repre- sents an affected leaflet. The disease is easily recognized by the numerous small black dots which project slight- ly above the cuticle of the plant, and may be seen with the naked eye, or more plainly with a lens, in the brown spots and blotches on the leaf and other affected parts of the plant. These black dots are the spores of the fungus. The infection is probably carried over by them to the seed-bed. Safe precautions are the rejection of diseased seed, or its disinfection by washing in diluted Bor- Leaflet Attacked by Celery Leaf Blight. ^^^^^ mixture, in simple solution of copper-sulphate, permanganate of potash, or in similar germicides. Spray plants in the field with Bordeaux mixture. Less prevalent and less dangerous, even where it appears, is the "celery leaf spot" and the " celery rust.'' ThQ^ soft rot of celery" is a bacterial disease which espe- cially attacks plants when kept continually wet or damp, and which often causes serious damage. Plants that are kept either entirely dry or entirely under pure water will not be affected. The heart of the plants is most subject to attack, but the leaves are also affected by it. The illustration on next page shows a plant badly struck with this soft rot. Diseases of Cucurbits. — In recent years we have lost many of our melon, squash, and cucumber vines by a " bacterial blight." Suddenly in the heat of the day some of the plants, scatteringly all over the patch, show signs of wilting. At night, or during damp, cloudy weather, they stiffen up again and ap- pear all right, only to repeat the wilting, in an intensified degree, the next hot and dry day, going from bad to worse until the short run of the disease ends in the death of the plant. One Fungous Diseases of Garden Plants. — 141 vine after another falls a victim to this blight, and sometimes whole patches are entirely ruined. A specially devised rotation which excludes potatoes, tomatoes, egg-plants, and other crops subject to the attacks of the same disease, is recommended as the most feasible method of preventing infection. Fungi- cides do not seem to possess much virtue in this direction. The ^'cucumber jiiildew*' which attacks the leaves of cucumbers, melons, etc., much in the same manner as the downy mildew affects grape leaves, and the ''melon leaf spot]' which causes light-colored spots in the leaf, and finally holes and openings, and a rather ragged appearance of the foliage, may be fought probably with more success than the bac- terial blight by spraying with Bordeaux mixture or other strong fungicides. Diseases Affecting Lettuce. — "Mildezu " is often very troublesome and destructive on lettuce grown under glass. In the first place we should aim to surround the crop in greenhouse or hot-bed with the same conditions which nature pro- vides in early spring to outdoor lettuce. The temperature should not be much above 40 degrees at night, nor much Soft Rot of Celery, above 70 degrees during the day. Let- tuce needs plenty of moisture, but water from overhead should be withheld on cloudy days. Always water in the morning of bright days. A sure and easily applied remedy is the one suggested by the Massachusetts Experiment Station (Prof Maynard), and con- sists in keeping a kettle or basin of sulphur (brimstone) heated to nearly the boiling point, in the forcing house for three or four hours twice or three times a week. Enough sulphur must be evaporated to fill the room with vapor so that it will be visible, and give a perceptible odor of sulphur. Great caution in the use of sulphur is necessary to avoid its taking fire, for the fumes of burning sulphur will quickly destroy all plant life, and a few minutes of burning might result in the loss of the whole crop in the building. From the testimony of Prof Thos. B. Meehan we have no reason to doubt that a paint of sulphur and linseed oil, put on the hot water or steam pipes in the greenhouse, will effectively prevent the appearance of lettuce and other mildews. On the whole, however, there is no better or surer method 142 — How to Make the Garden Pay. of preventing not only mildew but also the " soft rot',' which so frequently attacks the hearts of forced lettuces when freely wat- ered from overhead, than the new scheme of applying water by subirrigation, as explained in Chapter XVII. Diseases of the Onion. — For the ''onion inildeui,'' -which appears upon the tops as a grayish mold, followed by more or less wilting of the affected leaves and the premature collapse of the plant, strict rotation, the destruction by fire of all refuse tops, and spraying with fungicides, where practicable, are recom- mended as precautionary measures. Hot and dry weather favors the development of the disease. By starting plants under glass in winter and transplanting them to the open ground early in spring, we can usually get the crop pretty much out of the way before the period of danger. The ^' onion .rwzw/," which has become quite destructive in some onion-growing sections of the East, lives in the soil, and from there is transmitted to young seedling plants. It is easily recognized by the appearance of the black, sooty powder (the spores of the fungus). Badly affected plants always die, either by drying up or rotting. Planting on new and as yet uninfected land is the surest method of avoiding injury by onion smut. The new onion culture also offers a way of escape. Healthy seedlings grown in soil free from smut are not liable to take the disease after being planted in open ground. It may be possible to kill the smut in infected soil by watering with weak solutions of copperas, permanganate of potash, or other fungicides, or to protect the seedlings from infection by mixing flour of sulphur and air-slaked lime in equal parts, and sowing with the seed. The *' onion spot" disease causes black specks and spots on white varieties of onions after they are housed, especially in a warm and moist room. Onions showing signs of this disease should at once be sprinkled with air-slaked lime, thoroughly cured, and when perfectly dry, stored in dry bins in a cool and dry store-room. Diseases of the Potato. — The most malignant of all dis- eases affecting the potato, is the '' dozvny mildew" also called "late blight." Fortunately it is not prevalent to any great ex- tent, except in. an occasional season when the atmospheric con- ditions seem to be especially favorable to its development. Usually it makes its appearance rather late in the season, conse- quently early varieties always escape. But its attacks are fre- quently sudden and fatal, the affected plants being killed right down to the ground within a few days. The affected tubers rot- producing the characteristic rank, rotten-potato smell. The dis- ease is easily recognized by the mildew-like growth on the lower Fungous Diseases of Garden Plants. — 143 leaf surface. All authorities are agreed that spraying repeatedly with Bordeaux mixture will prevent the disease, or at least greatly mitigate its attacks. Much more to be dreaded, because more regular in its visits, more prevalent, and apparently less understood, is the " /m/"- j/f?/" disease, ''early blightl' ox '' Macrosporinm disease." It at- tacks the leaf and stem, but never the tuber. The accompanying illus- tration will give an idea of its general appearance. The attacks may begin at any time after the plants are a few inches high, but usually the first signs of it are noticed at the ap- proach of real hot weather in July. Grayish-brown spots appear on the older leaves, and the affected parts soon become hard and brittle. The disease progresses quite slowly; the spots become gradually larger ; the edges of the leaflets curl up, and after a time the larger part of the leaf surface may be brown, with- ered, and brittle. In a month, more or less according to the weather, all the leaves may have succumbed, and the stalks alone stand — yellowish-green — leafless for awhile, to perish shortly after from starvation. The tubers are checked in growth, and remain un- dersized. Cool and wet weather usually puts a stop to the further progress of the disease. I have not been able to check it, in a perceptible degree, by even persistent spraying with fungicides. The " bacterial blight,'' which is characterized by the sudden wilting and the premature death of the affected plants, and causes the young tubers to decay or their flesh to become discolored, has already been mentioned as a disease of cucumber, melon, and other vines. It also attacks tomato and egg-plants. Its ravages have been more serious in Southern latitudes than at the North. Planting on new and uninfected land is the only precaution that can be recommended. The "potato scab," a disease w'ith which every grower is familiar, can be prevented by the use of clean seed and clean soil. The fungus lives in the humus of the soil, as well as on the tuber. Therefore land which has produced scabby potatoes in previous years, or has been fertilized with manure from stock fed with scabby potatoes, should not be used for potato-growing. The use of commercial (concentrated) fertilizers in place of stable manure can be recommended as a safe precaution. If the soil is free from the scab fungus, clean potatoes may be grown even Potato Leaf Spotted with Early Blight. 144 — How to Make the Garden Pay. from scabby seed by soaking the latter in a weak solution of corrosive sublimate. It is advisable to disinfect all seed pota- toes in this manner. Prepare the solution as already directed (page 136), wash the seed potatoes, then put as many as you may wish to treat at one time into a coarse sack or basket, and lower this into the solution until the potatoes are entirely submerged. Leave them thus ninety minutes, then take them out, dry, cut, and plant as usual. The same solution may be used over and over again. But the greatest care should be exercised in its use, for it is a powerful poison. All treated potatoes should be planted. Diseases Affecting Seedlings. — The disease known as " damping off" often causes much annoyance and loss to the gardener, as it destroys a large proportion of the young seed- lings in flats and beds under glass. The point of attack usually is the root near the surface of the ground. The trouble then extends to the stem ; the plant falls over and soon decays. Onion growers who practice the " new onion culture," often complain of serious loss of their seedlings, caused by this fun- gus. I believe that the soil can be disinfected, and the roots thus protected from attack. The most feasible plan is to water the soil with a solution of permanganate of potash, say an ounce to one hundred gallons of water, or of copper sulphate — say an ounce to fifteen gallons, or with diluted Bordeaux mix- ture, previous to sowing the seed, or if required perhaps after the plants are up. I believe in the thorough disinfection of all soils in which seedling plants are to be raised, and also in spraying the young plants freely and frequently with fungicides. It is also stated that soil may be disinfected by giving it the conditions (heat and moisture) favorable to the germination of the spores, and then, a few days later, ex- posing it thoroughly to a very dry, hot atmosphere so as to kill the sprouted spores. Baking soil in a hot oven will also be liable to free it from infection. Still another method of prevent- ing this damping off is to sprinkle flour of sulphur over the sur- face, and then cover it with an inch of hot sand. Possibly a small quantity of sulphur mixed with the soil may also have a good effect in preventing this disease. Diseases of Spinach. — The two maladies which attack the leaves of spinach and often destroy whole crops, are '^spinach mildew'' and ''spinach anthracnoseV Spraying is out of the question, for obvious reasons, and all that can be done is to try to prevent infection by proper modes of culture. The refuse leaves of every crop should be collected and burned, and the location or soil of the spinach bed changed every year. Raking a mixture of equal parts of air-slaked lime and sulphur into the Fungous Diseases of Garden Plants. — 145 soil, as suggested by Dr. Halsted, may be tried. A spinach leaf spotted with mildew, is shown in accompanying illustration (re- produced from Gardening). Other diseases of the crop, the leaf blight, white smut, etc., may be treated in same way. Diseases of Sweet Corn. — " Corn sjnut" is so widely dis- tributed, and so generally known to every soil tiller that a descrip- tion here will not be required. The fungus can live in the soil from year to year. Infection should be prevented by the early and complete destruction of all smutty plants, and the use of new and uninfected soil. There are still other diseases of the corn plant, but they seldom cause much anxiety or loss to the gardener. ^-m Spinach Leaf Spotted with Mildew. Diseases of the Sweet Potato. — Several kinds of rot attack the sweet potato. The ^' black rot'' has been found quite prevalent and destructive in the Atlantic coast States, frequently destroying twenty-five per cent, of the crop. Dark, somewhat greenish spots, varying from a quarter inch to four inches in diameter, develop on the tubers, sometimes covering the greater part of the surface, and extending some distance into the tissue. The injury takes place mostly after the potatoes are stored. To prevent it, use only perfectly healthy seed or plants, destroy all infected vines and refuse roots by burning, and practice strict rotation. Commercial fertilizers will be found safer for this crop, in this respect, than large quantities of stable manure. The proper treatment of the tubers in storage is as yet a matter for experiment. Diseases of the Tomato. — The ''tomato rot" is a common and often destructive disease. A small blackish spot appears at the blossom end of the half-grown fruit, increasing in size with the growing tomato, and rendering it entirely worthless. The older (less improved) varieties, like Trophy, the small cherry and plum sorts, etc., are seldom affected by this disease. Training the plants, thus exposing them to air and sun, and spraying with fungicides seem to lessen the tendency to rot. The '' winter blight" is a malady of greenhouse tomatoes. When first attacked, the leaves become dwarfed and somewhat faded, with indistinct yellowish spots on tlie surface. The spots 146 — How to Make the Garden Pay. grow larger ; the plants dwindle, and the stems become small and hard. Affected plants usually linger along, a constant source of disappointment. All affected plants should at once be destroyed, and the soil of the greenhouse changed every fall. The " bacterial tomato blight'' has already been spoken of as affecting cucurbits, potatoes, egg-plants, etc. See page 140. CHAPTER XX. SEEDS AND SEED SOWING. BY MACHINE AND BY HAND. " Good seed brings a glad harvest." OOD seed is one of the essential conditions of suc- cess in growing garden stuff, and to secure it is well worth considerable trouble and effort. Com- pared with the results, particularly with the great difference in the outcome of one kind of seed and of another, the greater expense of a reliable article is not worth taking into consideration. A few cents' difference in cost of seed may make many dollars* difference in the returns. When a whole crop and its quality is at stake, there is no wisdom in running the slightest risk for the sake of a small saving in the expense. Cheap seed is not necessarily poor ; but poor seed is always a costly invest- ment. The fact is that seed of really first-class quality cannot be grown profitably at very low figures, and the only judicious course to follow is to buy of a strictly reliable source, and be willing to pay a reasonable price. Would you take a medicine that happens to be on hand, merely for the sake of saving it ? It is a no more foolish proceeding than to use seeds because you happen to have them, or can get them at little or no expense. Never plant a seed of the superior character and quality of vhich you are not reasonably certain. Little difficulty will be exper- ienced ifany one ie anxious to purchase reliable garden seeds, since there are many firms of established reputation whose goods can be depended upon for quality and purity. All the larger repu- table houses send out no seed except that of the purity and reliability of which they are tolerably sure, and only after testing and approving of its vitality. I cannot warn too emphatically against putting reliance on the seeds sold on commission by grocers and hardware dealers. It is obvious that in buying such seeds you will have to pay for the services of the middleman, while a direct deal with the seedsman will probably insure some saving in the expense. But this is only a minor benefit derived from this direct deal. When only one-third of the packets contained in the commission boxes are sold, it is plain that the dealer cannot afford to throw the two-thirds left over away, but, as a matter of self-preservation, (147) 148 — How to Make the Garden Pay. must put the stale stuff on sale again and again until sold. Con- sequently, you are never sure whether the seeds you buy from such sources are one or five years old, and this also accounts for the frequency of the complaints about " seed that will not grow." While it is true that we run little risk of obtaining stale seeds when dealing directly with our reputable large firms, complaints about the lack of vitality in seeds are by no means uncommon; but I am quite sure that more generally the responsibility rests with the party who sows the seed, rather than with the seed itself, or the man who sold it. Principles of Germination. — Much stress has recently been laid upon the importance of using the feet in firming the soil over the newly-sown seed. I am inclined to deem the use of the head in seed sowing of still greater consequence. Any one who has a thorough understanding of the principles involved, and follows the dictates of common-sense in their practical application, will have no difficulty in getting live seed to ger- minate, whether he makes use of his feet in sowing the seed and firming the soil, or not. Yet in a large number of cases the practice is decidedly commendable, and will often insure success where the unskilled would otherwise fail. What are these principles? Moisture, a certain degree of heat (varying with different seeds), access of air, and absence of light — these are the chief requirements. How can we best supply them ? The warmth generated by the sun rays is our chief reliance for the needed high temperature in open-air culture, without artificial assistance; and only in culture under glass do we resort to various devices to save, augment or supplement this heat, either by the prevention of loss through radiation from the soil, by sash covering alone, or in combination with additional arti- ficial heat from fermenting manures, flues, or pipes. Constant but moderate supply of moisture is another chief point, and to insure it, the seed should be bedded in mellow soil, and this packed around it just firm enough to bring it in actual contact with it, and facilitate and make sure of capillary action. If left loose over and around the seed, the capillary movement of the soil water would here come to a stop, the pulverized soil dry out in a sunshiny day and, depriving the seed of the needed moisture, prevent its germination, or kill the sprout if this has already started into life. Excess of moisture should also be avoided. On the other hand, the soil must not be compact enough above the seed to hinder the upward passage of the young sprout. This is a prolific cause of failure with seeds. While having considerable force, yet the tiny plants only too often choke and die because unable to penetrate a hardened crust of soil. This Seeds and Seed Sowing. — 149 consideration makes it necessary that the ground be well pre- pared, and thoroughly mellowed before seed is sown, and that the latter be not placed deeper than would correspond with its vital force. Large seeds, of course, have greater life force, and for this reason can be planted deeper than small seeds, from which comparatively weakly sprouts are issuing. Seeds will not sprout in the absence of air, and if planted very deep, may remain dormant in the soil for years, but when brought nearer the surface, and thereby exposed to the oxidizing influence of the air, will at once start into life. This explains why only the weed seeds near the surface grow, while those lying deeper wait until plow or other implements bring them up within the life-giving influence of air and warmth. The rule usually given is to plant all seeds as deep as their own diameter, but it is a rule more or less deviated from. Most of the common garden seeds are planted about one inch deep, except such as celery, small herb seeds, etc., that are left very near the surface. Peas may be put from 2 to 4 inches deep, potatoes trom 3 to 4 inches, corn from 2 to 3 inches, etc. Planting in Hard Soil. — It is comparatively easy to make seeds germinate in sand, sandy loam, muck, or soil rich in vege- table mold. But when the ground is clayey, and it must be feared that it will pack so tight and close, or bake so hard, that the tiny plants will not be able to break through, the shrewd gardener can yet succeed by means of the more liberal use of seed. What a single plant is unable to accomplish, may be but play for the combined efforts of a number of them. The safest way when dealing with soil in this unfavorable condition, is to sow the seed very thickly ; and while this involves a greater expense for seed, it insures a full stand, and chances for a full crop without adding other disadvantages, as thinning is needed in either case and requires about the same amount of labor whether you have three plants to the inch or six. The dried out soil in and after mid-season sometimes proves quite an obstacle to the ready germination of seed sown at that time ; but the grower who takes the precaution to sow immedi- ately after the ground is prepared for it, to deposit the seed somewhat deeper than generally done in early spring sowing, and to firm the soil very carefully after sowing, will usually have no difficulty to make good seed come up speedily. Ahvays sow in freshly stirred ground — this is a most excellent rule, and deserves to be strictly followed in all cases, and for spring, summer, or autumn sowing. It will seldom fail to insure success, as long as there is life in the seed, and the least moisture in the soil. Sowing Seed with Garden Drill. — When the ground is prepared so thoroughly that the drill works to best advantage, it is usually also in best condition for the germination of seeds. Let 150 — How to Make the Garden Pay. the whole surface be mellow and even. This is easily accom- plished in a clean loam, sand or muck. Often the only tools required are plow and smoothing harrow. In most cases the roller can be used alternately with the harrow to good advantage, and the surface thus made perfect ; but on less friable soil, and if no Meeker disk harrow is at hand, the finishing touch must be given with a good steel rake. On clayey and very lumpy ground the preparation will require more labor, if not a greater variety of tools. The Disk or Cutaway harrow can be used to break up the lumps, and to bring the surface in proper shape for the smoothing harrow. This may be followed with a Meeker (small disk) harrow, and the latter, if properly used, leaves the ground as smooth as if raked over by hand. Straight rows make the garden attractive, hence it is always preferable to mark off the rows of the desired width, or at least make a perfectly straight mark, or draw a line for the first row, and then use the marker attached to the drill, always trying to correct any deviation from the straight line. The small roller back of the seed coverers firms the soil, when properly prepared, suffi- ciently to make the use of the feet for this purpose en- tirely superfluous. Sowing BY Hand. — For the home garden, and where only small quanti- ties of any one variety are planted, „ . ^ , , „ , „ . , t:.. . as in test plats for Sowine Seed by Hand, Covering and Firming. . , , , ^ r ^ J ' ^ *> mstance, the use of the drill is hardly desirable, and hand sowing is far preferable. A little practice will enable any one of average skill to make a clean job of it. The rows are marked out with the garden marker, and the operator, taking the seed paper in left hand, walks along the row and drops the seed evenly from the right hand held in the position shown in picture. The little finger and its neighbor form a sort of receptacle for a quantity of seed which gradually works down, and is evenly dropped by the Seeds and Seed Sowing. — 151 other three fingers, through a rubbing motion of the thumb against the next two fingers. A person can easily learn to sow in this way nearly as evenly and uniformly as is done by the use of the drill. The covering is done by simply drawing a steel rake length- wise over each row, and the firming either by the use of the feet, or by patting with the back of the rake. My favorite practice is to rake in the seed of the first row, then while plying the rake over the second row, to walk on the first row, thus firming it, next, while covering the third row, to walk on the second, etc. Covering and firming all at one time, can also be done without rake, and by the use of the feet alone. Some of the very fine seeds, like celery, need particularly careful handling. The drill marks are made very shallow, the seed sown rather thickly, and the soil merely firmed by the use of the feet, or back of rake. Special devices are sometimes used for very small seeds, such as covering the soil after seed is sown and lightly covered, with a pane of glass or piece of cloth, etc., and this left on until the young plants appear above ground. Vitality of Seeds. — In a general way I am by no means opposed to the use of old seeds, when such are at hand, and a thorough test proves that a large per cent, of them will grow readily. This latter is the chief point of importance. Much theoretical matter has recently been written upon the different behavior of plants from new and old seed, as for instance, that new seed tends to produce foliage, and old seed, fruit and seed, etc. This difference in practice, however, is too small to deserve more than passing notice. As a rule, new seeds germinate more promptly than old seeds do, and this is one advantage at least in favor of the former. I have not been able to discover that the new cab- bage seeds produce larger heads than seed of the same variety, grown by the same person the year before ; nor that old melon seed gives ripe melons a day in advance of new seed of the same variety. The different kinds of seed vary greatly in the time they retain their vitality, and much also depends on the condition in which they are gathered and stored. Onion seed, for instance, is not considered reliable the second season ; yet I have known a sample kept over until second season in a tight paper bag in the garret, to contain 85 per cent, live, vigorous seed. Properly ripened and gathered seed, preserved under average favorable conditions, will retain its vitality as follows : Anise 3 years. Borage 8 years. Artichoke, Globe 6 " Borecole or Kale 5 Asparagus 5 " Broccoli 5 Balm 4 " Brussels Sprouts 5 Basil 8 " Cabbage S Bean 6 " Caraway 3 Beet ... 6 " Cardoon 7 152 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Vitality of Seeds. — Continued. Carrot 4 to 5 years. Cauliflower 5 " Celery 8 " Chervil 2 to 3 " Chicory 8 " Coreander 6 " Corn 2 " Corn Salad 4 " Cresses 5 " Cucumbers 10 " Dandelion 2 " Dill 3 •• Egg Plant 6 " Endive 10 " Fennel 4 '' Hyssop 3 " Kohl Rabi 5 '• Lavender . . 5 '* Leek 3 " Lettuce 5 " Sweet Marjoram 3 " Martynia i to 2 " Melon 5 " Mustard 4 Nasturtium 5 Okra 5 Onion i to 2 Parsley 3 Parsnip i to 2 Peas 3 Peanut i Pepper 4 Radish 5 Rhubarb 3 Rosemary 4 Rue 2 Sage 3 Salsify 2 Summer Savory 3 Scorzonera 2 Sea Kale 1 Spinach 5 Squash 4 to 5 Thyme 3 Tomato 4 Turnip 5 years. Some of these seeds, like melon, pumpkin, etc., often grow readily even after having passed the stated limit of years ; but all are liable to fail much sooner if indifferently kept. Such seeds as onions, parsnips, &^^ plant, for instance, should always be regarded with suspicion except when strictly fresh. In the matter of quantity of seed to be required for a certain length of drill, it is usually safer to follow common sense than any of the directions found in books, papers and catalogues. The aim must be to insure a full stand in the drill. Fairly heavy seeding will be the means to this end ; but a sufficiency may mean more or less, according to conditions of soil and seed itself. The gardener's own good judgment should be the best safeguard against his going to either extreme. CHAPTER XXI. NOVELTIES, AND WHY WE TEST THEM. *' At our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old." •(AN'S mind was not intended to rest content with any thing short of perfection — hence his ardent and never-ceasing desire to better all his surroundings and conditions. Not idle curiosity merely, but the almost divine longing to do away with imperfections wherever we find them, is what makes us take such an interest in promising novelties, and look so kindly upon every effort toward the improvement of fruits and vegetables, and what renders the " testing of new things " so attractive and charming. It is true that the great majority of novelties introduced with high claims of superior merits develop such shortcomings, after thorough test, that they are quickly thrown aside again, and soon forgotten. But the acquisition of a single worthy new thing often pays a royal compensation for all the disappointments caused by a large number of novelties that prove without value. I will cite as one instance, that of the " Prizetaker " onion, introduced by Mr. Wm. Henry Maule, of Philadelphia, in 1888. The little package of seed I got then enabled me to raise about one-half bushel or more of the most beautiful bulbs that it had ever been my pleasure to see growing, and the satisfaction I got out of their possession, and out of the opportunities to show the growing crop to visitors, would have made up very largely for many failures. I think I would not have missed the chance of growing the Prizetaker in 1888, and of planting more largely in 1889, for a number of times the cost of all the novelties I planted that season. It was a similar thing with the Emerald Gem Melon, Dwarf Champion Tomato, etc. Some of these novelties mark more or less decided steps in advance. Let us look back upon the tomato varieties of 30 or even 25 years ago — small, poor, seedy, irregular, late. Then came novelty upon novelty in quick succession, each better than its predecessor — General Grant, Canada Victor, Trophy, Paragon, Acme, Perfection, Potato Leaf, Dwarf Champion, Lorillard, etc., until now we have reached a state of perfection in tomatoes that leaves room for distrust in our ability to originate anything better than we at present possess. (153) 154 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Verily there is pleasure in testing novelties, and the fact that some turn out good, and others not, only adds interest and spice to the undertaking. We have the satisfaction, also, to know that nobody has better things in vegetables than we have, and that we get the very best just as soon as anybody else has it. It gives us the proud consciousness of belonging to the better- situated and progressive minority. For the market gardener quite often there is money in test- ing novelties. If a new radish comes out that is a day or two earlier than any we had before, or a new spinach that will stand the summer heat a few days longer than the older sorts, he may by another season be enabled to turn such knowledge to best account financially. The home gardener, of course, gets only his satisfaction and pleasure for his pay, and the depth of his purse must determine to what extent he can afford to invest in novelties. People who find it extremely difficult to make both ends meet, and are forced to practice strictest economy, should not attempt to test novelties except on a small scale, and in a cautious manner. CHAPTER XXII. SYSTEM AND ROTATION OF CROPPING. " Gardener's, like woman's, work is never done." N various occasions in this work I have already- alluded to the necessity of maintaining a strict system of cropping, changing every year, if possible, or with some crops, like onions, at least at intervals of a reasonable number of years. Rota- tion is useful in the prevention of fungus diseases of plants, and in rendering it more difficult for insects to discover our patches of just the vegetables they live on, thus in a measure insuring the safety of our crops. For the latter reason we should not plant vegetables in succession which are subject to the attack of the same insect or insects, like radishes, turnips, cabbages, cauliflower, kohl-rabi and onions. All these are attacked both by the flea beetle and the maggot. Egg plants cannot be safely planted where potatoes were grown the year before, etc. Close Cropping. — A system of close cropping, advisable even in the home garden for the sake of keeping it in best order and most attractive all through the season, and the weeds in subjec- tion in a very convenient manner, is absolutely necessary for the market gardener who must make the most of his opportunities. High-priced lands cannot be left to lay idle even a small part of the season. The early peas, and lettuce, and radishes, and spinach, and early potatoes and other first early crops can be followed by cucumbers, melons, celery, spinach, summer and winter radishes, late cabbage, sweet corn, turnips, tomatoes, peppers, sweet pota- toes, or whatever crop having yet time to come to maturity may be thought to pay best. New Jersey gardeners often plant a late crop of common (Irish) potatoes after strawberries. In fact, the ground can, and should, be kept producing some useful crop from early spring until winter, and then it may be made to carry spinach or kale, further south, onions, lettuce, cabbages, etc., either in actual growing condition, or dormant until spring. A rotation of crops is also demanded in the interest of strictest economy in feeding them. Different crops need different propor- tions of the food elements, and the same crop grown to the exclusion of others is liable to exhaust the soil of just the (155) 156 — How to Make the Garden Pay. element which it prefers to others ; in other words, to disturb the proper balance of soil fertility. A judicious system of rota- tion prevents all this. The home gardener should also pay attention to this point, and change the location of each particular crop as far as the limited extent of the area will permit, or still better, use a new piece of ground for the garden, if practicable, every few years. The best scheme which I could devise or recommend, is to have a garden of double the size required, using one-half of it for vegetables, and the other half for clover, changing parts every second or third year. The frequent reference to strict rotation as one of the means of preventing fungous diseases (see .Chapter XIX) further emphasizes its importance. CHAPTER XXIII. WEEDS AND HOW TO MANAGE THEM. " A stroke in time saves nine." [LOSE cropping with thorough culture as practiced by every good market gardener, and worthy of imitation by every home gardener, gives very Httle chance to weed growth ; and where weed seeds are not carelessly scattered over the land, in manure or by other agencies, soon renders the originally tedious and disagreeable task of weed destruction mere child's play. The weeds grow less with every year of thorough cropping and cultivation. On the other hand, they increase in number, and become more and more troublesome with every year of neglectful culture, and with every year of using manures that are full of foul seeds. Such manure is a bad investment at any time, and for any crop, but almost ruinous to some crops, especially onions and strawberries. Rather than use weedy manures I would prefer to operate exclusively with concentrated fertilizers, supplemented by clover manuring, thus avoiding all this serious risk. The old and somewhat stale saying, " One year of seeding makes nine years of weeding," is in no way an exaggeration of the truth. Weed destruction is not the sole, nor even the principal object of cultivation ; but weed growth may often be considered almost a blessing to the more shiftless manager as it reminds him of the necessity to stir the surface, and imperatively demands, at the peril of the whole crop, that this be done. Where cultivation is given as it should be, namely, as a mere stimulant, not a destroyer of plant growth, and for the purpose of making the surface soil answer for a mulch, and admitting air freely to the roots of plants, this constant stirring will not allow any weed seeds to do more than just germinate and die. To kill all weeds at this early stage, really before any signs of them can be detected above ground except perhaps to an unsually sharp eye and close observer, is the " one stitch in time that saves nine." Some weeds I refuse to regard as a blessing under any cir- cumstances. One of them is the Canada thistle. This curse of the farmer of which it is next to impossible for him to rid his fields and farm crops, after a neighborhood has once become (157) 158 — How to Make the Garden Pay. infested, is easily eradicated in the garden by constant cultivation, and if necessary by the use of hoe and knife, preventing all growth of the weed above ground for a single season. No thistle root — nor any other perennial root — can live long without a chance to breathe. Deprive it of foliage (its lungs), and it must die from asphyxiation. Just for this reason, the larger biennials and perennials, the thistles, the docks, asclepias, etc., give the gardener much less trouble than a number of annuals. Among the latter, we have the purslane as one of the most troublesome ; and in July and August, the gardener frequently has hard work to make head- way against the immense power of recuperation and multiplication of these weeds. Sometimes there IS only one sure way — to gather up every plant in baskets or a wheel-barrow, and remove them from the garden, or dig holes here and there over the patch, fill up with the weeds, and cover with soil. Chickweed is another troublesome thing, and it should be treated in the same way. Wild mustard is abundant in some fields; but it can easily be eradicated by pulling up every plant for a few years, allowing not one to ripen and scatter its seed. It is a most fortunate thing for the gardener that weeds do not take an early start in spring. Any crop sown in the cool weather of March, April or early May has therefore a good chance to outgrow the weeds. This is one of the reasons, also, that speak in favor of very early sowing of onions, carrots, parsley, parsnips, celery and similar vegetables, which appear somewhat feeble at first. The wheel-hoe will take care of the weeds between the rows of all such crops, and it is only necessary to pull out the weeds in the rows by hand or slash them out Lang's Hand-weeder in use. Lang's Hand-weeder. Hazeltine's Hand-weeder. with a hand-weeder, such as Lang's, Hazeltine's or Noye's, or with tools similarly constructed. To learn to use any of them to best advantage requires a little practice, same as the proper use of almost any implement in garden or field. As a substitute for the patented concerns, I Weeds and How to Manage Them. — 159 have often used (or given to my weeders) common iron spoons, broken case knives properly ground to an edge on both sides and bent in the shape of a curve, etc. In fact, any small sharp-edged tool can be utilized as a hand-weeder, and in very mellow soil the fingers alone will do very well. The process of hand-weeding, of course, has to be repeated as often as weeds re-appear, and if the first weeding was thoroughly done, the subsequent ones do not require so very much time and pains-taking labor. But every weed must be removed ; they are no blessing in any sense, and only deprive the crop of moisture (which feature is their worst) and of food. Many of the annual weeds become very persistent in their efforts toward seed ripening in latter part of summer and early fall. They should not be allowed much rest ; for if you give them an inch they will be sure to take an ell. CHAPTER XXIV. THINNING AND TRANSPLANTING. "crowded — CRIPPLED ! " [HE liberal use of seed gives us the desirable full stand ; but also the less desirable feature of a great surplus of plants. Every plant, not required for making the crop, is practically a weed, as it deprives those that are to remain of moisture, food and room. To remove the superfluous, useless eaters and drinkers at an early period of development is just as essential as the early removal of weeds. Uniformity ofvegetables-radishes, beets, onions, etc., — and an even development cannot well be obtained except by giving each plant in the row a uniform and reasonably large amount of space. The annexed figures illustrate the contrast between a section of rows where the crop (onions) was thinned at an early stage of growth, and one where thinning is neglected. The market gardener whose aim is in the direction of an early crop — of beets, radishes, etc., which he can gather all at once, clearing the rows as \ he goes along, and thus having them ready for a successive crop — has no other way but thin early and thoroughly. The home gardener may do this work grad- ually with best results. So for instance in case of table beets. Instead of thinning all at once to the generally recom- mended distance of 4 to 6 inches apart, the plants may at first be left 2 or 3 inches apart ; and when the roots have grown of some size, and begin to crowd each other in the row, every other one be removed, giving the choicest young and tender table beets, greens, etc. A similar course can be adopted with lettuce, and (160) Onions properly thinned. Thinning and Transplanting. — i6i people who obtain their supply of vegetables in the open market have no idea what luxury the small and tender hearts of half-grown lettuce afford. Try it once by thinning drilled lettuce to three or four inches apart, and when they have nicely begun to head, pulling up every other plant, and preparing just the young hearts for the table. These are some of the pleasures in the garden that mere money cannot buy. In a general way I have yet to add that the proper distances among thinned plants, when these are yet very small, appear comparatively large ; and sometimes people have not the nerve to slash down and throw away thousands of nice plants which as yet, appear to have an abundance of room. But this has to be done. Whatever distance is decided upon as the best for the particular crop, and in any particular case, should be strictly adhered to, and no foolish sentimentality stand in the way of making the distances large enough. It is much safer to err in favor of giving too much space, than in favor of too little. Transplanting. — I am not a particular friend of transplanting, and avoid it wherever I can. In theory, transplanting, which is a sort of root pruning, induces early fruit production in tomatoes, t%g plants, etc., early headmg in lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage, and root development, such as is indispensable in good plants for setting outdoors. For this reason, gardeners practice, and writers advocate, repeated shifting, repotting or transplanting of all sorts of vegetable plants, in particular, also, of tomato, ^g^ plant, peppers, cabbage, celery, etc. In practice, transplanting, with its unavoidable root mutilation, is a stab at the plant's vitality, and acts as a more or less serious check to its growth, thus invariably dwarfing it in some measure. Sometimes, if the operation was done under favorable circumstances — in a moist atmosphere, and absence of direct sunlight — it is certainly followed by earlier fruit production or earlier heading. At the same time it also and invariably results in reduced size of plant or head, and reduced aggregate yield of fruit. Should less favorable conditions be ruling at the time of the transplanting operation, however, the atmosphere be dry and the sun bright, the plant will receive a set-back which cripples and retards it for a long time, so that the untransplanted plant will come even sooner to maturity. II Onions left unthinned. Celery plants thinned to two inches apart. 162— How to Make the Garden Pay. The great advantage that transplanted plants have over untransplanted ones, is the greater amount of space which people generally allow to the former. Seedlings are grown thickly in the row, and left thickly. In transplanting, the space is given to each plant that properly belongs to it. Let this be done with the seedlings, by early thinning I to the proper distance ; or, let the seed be planted in a pot or can large enough, leaving only a single plant to grow ; and we can thus produce plants with a well-developed root system, and fully the equal to transplanted plants in every respect. This comparison, of course, refers to plants started from seed at the same time. Much higher rates are always asked for " transplanted " cabbage and celery plants, than for common seedlings. The former, it is true, are usually fine plants, with large roots and stocky tops, and well worth their price. I obtain just as good plants by growing seedlings thinly in drills. All seems to depend chiefly on the amount of space given to each plant, as may be seen in illustrations of celery plants. Well grown, untrans- planted plants appear to be as hardy and as liable to take hold of the soil in their new quarters, as JOig those that have been transplanted once or oftener, and they cer- tainly can be grown much more cheaply and more conveniently. Strong, stocky seedling plants are good enough in any case, and prefer- able to poorly -grown transplanted plants. In determining the fruiting time of tomatoes, pep- pers, eg^ plants, etc., rapid growth of the seedling, favored by proper allowance of space, however, is not the only, and perhaps not even the chief factor. Age of the plant is certainly of equal, if not superior, influence. For this reason, the plants must be Celery plants irregularly thinned. Thinning and Transplanting. — 163 started early, and as the production of seedlings is more difficult, and requires so much longer time than that of cabbage plants, they must properly be started in " flats " or hot-bed, thickly together, and planted out at an early age, giving the space required for the production of good plants. Even in this opera- tion it is always safest to select the most favorable conditions — moist atmosphere and least root disturbance — and thus to limit the unavoidable check to plant growth to the smallest amount practicable. Conditions of Success in Transplanting. — In a wet season, or during a wet spell, setting out plants in the open ground is an easy enough operation, and anybody, no matter how unskilled, can succeed without effort. During a prolonged spell of heat and drought — and we are apt to have such at the season for setting celery and late cabbages — the gardener often finds his skill and experience put to a severe test by the task. A supply of first- class plants, i. e., such as were grown with proper allowance of space to each plant, and consequently possess a fully-developed root system and a short, stocky top, makes success reasonably certain even under otherwise unfavorable conditions, especially if bome soil be left adhering to the roots in lifting and shifting. The most essential requirement, however, in any case is that the soil be moist, not wet or sticky, but so that it will easily crumble between the hands. If the soil be dry, it must be freshened and moistened by artificial watering, or failure will be the sure result. Planting in dry soil is usually fatal, even if water be applied afterwards. Always plant in freshly-stirred soil ^ is as good a rule as the similar one relating to seed sowing. Puddling. — Simply dipping the roots of plants in water just before setting them, is fully as effective as the famous manipula- tion known as " puddling" (dipping in thin mud), and it is much cleaner, more convenient, and generally preferable. I, myself, have no use for " puddling," neither for vegetable, nor small fruit plants and trees ; but dipping the roots in clear water, just before setting the plants, is a precaution which I, or any other gardener, can not afford to neglect. Firming the Roots. — Another indispensable requisite in successful transplanting is the thorough firming of the soil around the roots. It should be packed so tightly and closely that parts of the plant would sooner tear off than allow the plant to be pulled up by them. It is advisable, however, to draw a little loose soil as a kind of protection and mulch up over the firmed soil and around the plant, and in very dry weather the latter may be well-nigh covered up with loose soil to prevent rapid evaporation. Shortening Tops and Roots. — Another sensible precaution in dry weather is the trimming or shortening in of the tops of cabbage, celery and other plants when getting them ready for 164 — How to Make the Garden Pay. setting out. It is done in the most convenient manner by taking a bundle of plants in the left hand, and removing about half of the tops by a twisting motion of the right hand. Celery plants with excessively long roots should have the tips cut off with a sharp knife. Plants treated in this way, after being planted out, appear as here illustrated. Cabbage. Beet. Plants properly trimmed. Celery. Time of Day. — Cloudy weather permits of setting out plants safely and with equally satisfactory success at any time of day or night ; but when the sun shines hot and bright, and the soil is somewhat dry, the proverbial " after 4 p. m." is the right and proper time, and better than earlier in the day. If a little shade can be provided for newly-set plants, it is certainly worth some trouble to do so — soiled and discarded berry boxes, broken pots, etc., answer a good purpose, and leaves of large weeds, burdock, for instance, will be much better than nothing. Good celery plants are quite Plant Protectors and Celery Bleachers. J"/,! '° survive the fiercest ' heat, on first bemg trans- planted, if shaded for some days with a line of boards resting upon blocks or little stakes, and held there a few inches above ground. Bottomless plant pots (5 inch) which I had made for the purpose of bleaching celery, make first-class plant pro- tectors, and plants thus covered for a few days, as appearing in picture, generally pass safely over the critical period. Tomatoes, Thinning and Transplanting. — 165 egg plants and sweet potatoes, all of which rather enjoy heat, and are somewhat indifferent to drought, require less care in the selection of cloudy weather, or moist soil when planting out, and may often be set safely when cabbage and celery plants could not be transferred to the open ground without suffering considerable loss. Spindling Plants. — Even the most ill-looking, spindling, almost rootless plants of tomatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers, etc., can be transplanted with entire success under average conditions of soil and season. All that is needed is to insert the plants into the ground up to their very hearts. Overgrown tomato plants may be laid down in slanting position, care being taken to bring the moist earth in firm contact with the soil where underground. Planting Spindling Cabbage Plants. Cabbages may be set either straight down or slanting, according to depth of surface soil and length of stalk. In either case roots will form all along the stems, and the heads will grow closely above the ground, instead of being held high up as if on stilts. Transplanting Devices. — A number of transplanting machines, both for hand use and for horse power, have recently been put on the market. The most elaborate of these are rather expensive, but are said to do the work well, and not only set the plants, but water them, and apply fertilizers at the same time. CHAPTER XXV. MEANS OF PROTECTION AGAINST DROUGHT AND FROST. SIMPLE AND PRACTICAL DEVICES. " Saving is Earning." N most localities of the United States the gardener rarely passes through a season without encountering one or more longer or shorter periods of dry weather. Sometimes these periods assume the aspects of a serious drought, and the average crops of vegetables and fruits are often greatly reduced by these period- ically repeated occurrences. Irrigation is the expedient most naturally thought of for meeting such emergencies; but as we have seen in the chapter treating on that subject, artificial applications of water — irrigation or sprink- ling, etc. — are useful only under rare conditions, and mere sprinkling can never supplant the rains from the skies, in fact, is often more hurtful than of benefit. But we are not left without means of passing safely over any period of drought of reasona- ble duration. Precautions against Drought. — During the colder part of the season, when the evaporation from the soil is slow, and the sup- ply of moisture from the clouds abundant, the movement of the soil water is chiefly downward, while during the summer evaporation is usually much faster than rainfall, and necessarily the soil water in the main moves upwards. In other words, the soil forms a sort of reservoir that is filled every winter, and gives off its sup- ply for the use of vegetation (and by evaporation) during the growing season. If this reservoir is shallow, as in case of soils resting upon an impervious clay stratum, the surplus is carried off by surface wash, or in the drains, and the supply is liable to give out when most needed ; but if deep, as in the case of a naturally porous subsoil, or one loosened by subsoiling, the available water supply is large, and not liable to become soon exhausted. It is true that capillary action is also going on in the clay hard-pan, but it is far too slow to satisfy the combined demands of surface evaporation, and absorption by plant roots in a dry time. Hence our first aim must be to secure depth of reservoir. It is essential (i66) Means of Protection against Drought and Frost. — 167 to supply the conditions which favor a free movement of the soil water up and down, and especially capillary action between surface soil and subsoil, namely, perfect drainage, and subsoiling wherever this action is stopped by an impervious character of the subsoil. Having once secured these conditions as a foundation, the task before us is rendered comparatively easy, and we can now pay attention to the mechanical structure of the surface layer. Some soils absorb more moisture, and part with it more reluc- tantly, than others. The following table will make this plain : Each 100 lbs. of clear Sand is able to absorb and retain 25 lbs. of water. Limestone and Sand " " " 29 " " Sandy Loam " " " 40 " " Clay and Limestone Soil " " " 45 '' " Clay Loam Soil " " " 50 " " Clear Clay Soil " " " 70 " " Rich Garden Soil " " " 85 " " Peat Soil " " " 175 " " Soils, therefore, suffer most from dry weather in the order given. Peat never suffers from an ordinary drought, but gorging itself with moisture, which fills all its pores, is much more liable to suffer for want of air. The addition of sand, limestone soil, and even clay, will correct it in this direction. The absorptive and retentive character of sand can be improved by the addition of clay, peat, or more naturally, as in the legitimate way of crop feeding, by the incorporation of coarse manure, or plowing under of green crops. The beneficial agent in the latter cases is vege- table mold. Soils filled with humus absorb and hold water well ; a rich soil consequently stands drought better than a poor one. Judicious selection of soil, or improvement of its composition by the addition of clay, manure, peat, etc., are among the most effective precautionary measures against drought. Applications of wood ashes, (carbonates of potash and lime) also serve to make soils more retentive, and to counteract the evil consequences of a prolonged drought. Some of our best garden- ers use them very largely, at the rate of lOO bushels or more per acre, as much w'th this object in view, as fox their fertilizing qualities. I believe that nitrate of soda, and the potash salts also, serve to attract moisture, and to retain it for the use of the crops. Suppose we have paid proper attention to all the points before mentioned. We then find ourselves in first-class shape at the beginning of the season. The subterranean reservoir is well filled, and all we will have to do, to defy even a protracted drought, is to use the supply economically, and prevent its undue waste. Our aim now is, and should be. to retard evaporation from the surface, and reduce it to the smallest possible amount. This might be done by a mulch of hay, straw or other litter; but the i68 — How to Make the Garden Pay. most convenient material at hand for the purpose is the soil itself. We simply pulverize the surface, for an inch or two in depth, by stirring it freely with cultivator, harrow, hoe, or what- ever implement of tillage we may find most convenient and most effective. This covering of pulverized soil we must try to keep on top all through the season. The capillary action from below stops when it meets this loose material with its large interstices; and moisture cannot pass through and beyond it except by the method of slow evaporation ; so that our supply is held for the use of plants below the stirred portion of the soil. Hard rains, of course, again pack the soil tightly, and when this happens, capillary action is at once resumed, and moisture brought up by it clear to the surface. Therefore it is of the greatest urgency that we begin work again with the cultivator and hoe, as soon after each rain as practicable, to replace the import- ant mulch of loose soil. When this point is properly attended to, and with the fundamental conditions spoken of in our favor, we will have little to fear from any drouth of average dura- tion ; and even an unusually severe one will not be likely to cripple us. Our yields may be reduced, but thoroughness and promptness in cultivation on judiciously selected and wisely managed land will not admit entire failure on account of drought. Precautions ag.'VINST Frost. — Quite frequently spring begins with a long mild spell, lulling .the gardener into a sense of security, and inducing him to plant all sorts of tender things in the open ground. Suddenly a cold rain sets in, and on clearing, is followed by a night frost or two that make a clean sweep among all unprotected tender vegetation. In an early warm spring the gardener must take some risk, for there is no gain without. So we may plant some sweet corn, and set a few tomato plants, but never more of the latter than we will be able to protect by covering, or replace, should a late frost occur. If the plants were well-grown and properly hardened, they will often pass through the ordeal of a cold spell or a very light frost without suffering injury, where plants not so hardened would succumb at once. The main crop of tender plants, however, should not be transferred to the open ground until the soil has become thoroughly warm, and all danger of late frost is past. This for the latitude of Philadelphia will be about May 15th, and further north not until June 1st. Tender plants up to that time are generally much better off in a protected place, frame or green^ house, where with proper allowance of space they continue to grow uninterruptedly, than when exposed to the comparative hardships of cool soil and occasional chilly days and nights of early spring, conditions which will not permit much growth, and more generally keep the plants at almost a perfect standstill, Means of Protection against Drought and Frost. — i6g retarding them to such a degree that the plants set at a more congenial time often overtake the coddled things set two or three weeks earlier. Should an unusually early and warm spring induce you to plant more largely before the usual time, one precaution must never be lost sight of, namely, to hold a supply of good plants in reserve for the very possible emergency of a mishap to those set out first. Here is just where so many growers come to grief annually, and almost every year we see people, after having lost their plants by a late frost, anxiously hunting the country over in June, for a new supply, and finally being compelled to take up with a poor lot of late-grown plants, or go without. Devices of Protection. — Some afternoon in early spring the weather reports announce the rapid approach of a cold wave, and all the indications point to a coming freeze. Then comes the anxious inquiry : How can we save our nice tomato plants, our sweet corn, potatoes and beans, all of which were growing so finely ? It will not do to stand by with folded arms, complain- ing of the weather, and bad luck. Our only safety lies in cover- ing the plants. This may be done by sheets of cloth or paper, litter, or by boxes, large flower pots, etc. The number of boxes and pots on hand in average gardens may not go very far, and I would advise to make use of common manilla paper bags (the two or three pound sacks of grocers) for placing over tomato, and egg plants, etc. Smaller sizes will answer for pepper and smaller plants generally. Round off the corners at the open end slightly, and fasten the bag to the ground by a little wooden pin thrust through each of the two flaps and into the ground, or by a small chunk of soil or a stone placed upon each flap, as may be seen in the accompanying figure. Devices of Protecting Plants. Another mode of giving protection to tomato plants in an emergency, and one which I have seen practised with excellent success on a larger scale, consists of covering the bent-over plant with earth. Sweet corn can also be treated in same way, although it is much less liable to suffer serious damage, even if left unpro- tected. The soil must be carefully removed next morning, 170 — How to Make the Garden Pay. and the plants again straightened up. Early potatoes can be protected by simply hilling up, entirely hiding the plants from sight. When you have marsh hay, or coarse litter of any kind on hand, a much better material for covering strawberry patches, and exposed vegetation of a tender nature generally, need not be looked for. Spread the litter thinly over the rows, and remove again next morning. It may be left as a mulch between the rows, or gathered up and drawn off for other uses if desired. Smoke has often been mentioned as a safeguard against frost, and writers often give the advice to burn rubbish heaps, or heaps of a mixture of coal tar and moist sawdust, placed at intervals over the area to be protected. But this is another case where theory is better than practice, and I do not recommend it either for spring or fall. Covering with hay, straw, paper, muslin, etc., is about the only feasible plan of protecting crops against the first early fall frosts. The home gardener can often save a few tomato and pepper plants, melon and cucumber vines, etc., by such means, and thus prolong his season of.fresh fruits of these tender garden plants for several weeks, for a warm spell usually follows closely upon the first, and (often only) early fall frost. A few tomato and pepper plants may also be lifted with all the soil that will adhere to the roots, and placed in tubs or boxes in the cellar, or under a shed ; or they may be simply pulled up and hung up somewhere out of the reach of frost. They will then ripen all the larger fruit that is on them, and give a full supply some time after all the plants left in the open ground arc killed by frost. The crops of winter squashes, late melons, and all others which even the slightest touch of frost would render worthless for keeping, should of course be gathered and stored in a safe place before such mishap can befall them. Full-grown green melons, if properly stored, may be kept for some time, and yet come to full maturity. CHAPTER XXVI. HIRED HELP. EMPLOYMENT AND TREATMENT OF LABOR. " The laborer is worthy of his hire." HE finer quality of garden work, with its many- somewhat deHcate operations, calls for greater mechanical skill, wider experience and riper intel- ligence than required for the performance of the simpler and more primitive manipulations of aver- age farm management. Really first-class help is scarce even on the farm. If we watch the average plowman in the field, or the hired man as he wields the hoe, we will soon find that there is a wonderful difference in the quality of such work, and that the man who does a perfect job, like a true friend, is a rara avis indeed. More than in any other respect is it a truism of the labor market, that the " best is always the cheapest." The simplest manipulations in the garden are more than doubled in value and lasting benefit when directed by a fair amount of intelligence. One thorough hoeing, for instance, will keep the ground in better condition and free from weed -growth for a longer time than two or three of the average kind of so-called hoeing. The former (thorough hoeing) may require more " elbow grease," but very little more time. The same with other operations. Years ago I had my onion-weeding done by young boys, picked up wherever they could be found willing to work for 50 cents a day. The poor quality of the work done by the great majority of them, the unceasing and close supervision and dis- cipline they required.the damage caused by the careless destruction of many of the finest plants, the general inclination to slight the work,and the frequency of hand-weeding rendered necessary thereby — all these drawbacks made boy-labor at 50 cents a day come pretty high. Grown persons might have been employed at the same time at ;$i.oo a day, and they would probably have done the work 25 per cent, faster and 50 per cent, better, and that without damage to the crop, consequently at a large saving of expense, of supervision and of considerable annoyance. Verily, the good laborer is worthy of his hire : but the poor one certainly is not. (171) X72 — How to Make the Garden Pay. The gardener everywhere has to face this difficulty of get- ting inteUigent labor — labor which alone is worth having, and worth paying for. It is well worth the trouble — perhaps an ab- solute necessity — for the market gardener to educate his work- hands, and then try to keep those permanently that suit his requirements. In the first place he must plan to have work all through the year, summer and winter, and to engage his men by the year, and year after year. We can better afford to give a good price to thoroughly skilled workmen, than to employ care- less and unintelligent raw hands at a one-third rate. To make our good hands still more contented to stay, and willing scholars, good books and treatises on gardening, and the better class of horticultural periodicals should be freely provided for them, and the employer should not neglect to acquaint them with his plans of operation, and the reasons for the adoption of the various courses in garden management. Everything, in short, must be done to make them feel as if it were their own work they are engaged in, and to make them do it with an object in view other than the mere passing away the time, and getting their pay for " time." If this latter is the only consideration for which their work is given, it will most surely be of inferior quality, and not worth its price. CHAPTER XXVIL MONTHLY MEMORANDA. A CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE YEAR's WORK. '• Doing the right thing at the right time — that is success." T would be a futile attempt to give specified chrono- logical directions strictly applicable to all the gardens over the different sections of the United States with their varied climatic and atmospheric conditions. In the following chronological schedule of garden opera- tions, the latitude and general climate of Philadelphia (Southern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, etc.), is taken as a basis. The growing season of the greater part of New York and the New England States, etc., is several weeks shorter at each end, with a month or two more of hot-house and cold frame management, comparative leisure and opportunity for planning, studying books, papers, catalogues, etc., during the winter. Gardeners must govern themselves accordingly, and make every effort to do the right thing just at the right time. JANUARY. Attend to cold frames, hot-beds and greenhouses, giving all the fresh air possible during pleasant hours of the day, closing again as a change of temperature occurs. Some days the sashes may have to be opened and closed severa 1 times. Cold-frame wintered plants need all the light that can be given, unless the plants are frozen, when they may remain covered with shutters or snow for two weeks without injury. Market celery or any other vegetable that you may have on hand from last year's crop. Draw manure to the compost heap, and compost to the fields. Order fertilizers. During a thaw secure soil for your beds, protecting well with litter or coarse manure, to have it ready for use in making hot-beds. Plan the season's work, aiming to have the ground occupied all the time, embracing crops that are most profitable, yet do not encroach upon each other. (•73) 174 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Order seed catalogues of leading dealers, and study them carefully; then make your selection of seeds, providing for all possible wants, and send in your order without unnecessary delay. Select and engage the required hired help. Now you have choice — later you will have to take what others have refused. FEBRUARY. Attend to frames, and greenhouses, as in January. Venti- late freely in fine weather. Test the vitality of seeds on hand, and order a new supply if necessary. Inspect all implements, harnesses, wagons. Repair where needed. First of month sow cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce in well protected cold frame or hot-bed for earliest planting, if no win- tered plants are on hand. Latter part of month sow tomatoes, egg-plant and pepper in a strong hot-bed, or in greenhouse. Continue drawing manure. Fork over the compost heaps. Last of month, if season is favorable, begin setting wintered plants of cabbage and lettuce in open ground. MARCH. Attend to frames, greenhouses, etc., as in February. Cart and spread manure on the fields to be planted. Plow, harrow. Sow seeds of radish, lettuce, onion, spinach, early beets, turnips, carrots, celery, hardy peas, parsley. Dig around the rhubarb plants, and apply fine compost, liquid manure, or nitrate of soda. Pulverize the asparagus patch, hilling up the rows. Apply nitrate of soda at the rate of 20J to 300 lbs. per acre. Continue setting cold frame plants of cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce. Plant onion sets and first early potatoes. Prick out tomato seedlings in flats or on greenhouse benches three or four inches apart each way. APRIL. First of month sow seed of all hardy vegetables — radishes beets, carrots, peas, spinach, celery ; the last of the month the first planting of the tender kinds, beans, sweet com, etc., can be made. Sow onion seed for sets. Thin all the drilled crops planted last month, Cultivate freely between rows. Monthly Memoranda. — 175 Continue "spotting" (transplanting) tomato seedlings. Apply nitrate of soda to the early crops. Sow peppers in hot-bed. Whitewash sashes of greenhouses, etc., to protect plants from excess of light and heat. Begin hardening off the earliest tomato plants. Market earliest crops — spinach, bunch, onions, radishes, lettuce. MAY. For succession sow radishes, beets, peas ; also cabbages and cauliflowers for late crop. By middle of month sow mangels for stock, carrots and salsify for main crop. After first week of month sow seed of beans, cucumbers, melons, corn and lima beans. After middle of month set tomatoes, peppers and sweet potatoes in open ground. Plant common potatoes. Mellow the soil around plants set last month, to keep them growing vigorously. Keep celery bed well cultivated and free from weeds. Market early crops — onions from sets, lettuce, radishes, spinach, beets, cabbages, earliest peas. JUNE. Plant peppers, tomatoes, egg-plants, sweet and white potatoes, winter beets, late cauliflowers and cabbages. Clear ground of early spring crops — onions, radishes, lettuce, spinach, etc. — and prepare it for second crops. Keep celery plants growing vigorously by frequent cultiva- tion. Thin plants as needed. Thin carrots, beets, onions from seed, parsnips, salsify. Stir the surface of soil frequently among all crops. Poison the potato beetles and slugs. Plant cucumbers for pickles. Set celery plants for early crop. Market radishes, lettuce, onions, celery, cabbage and other vegetable plants, peas, string-beans, cauliflower, etc JULY. Finish marketing early crops, clearing and preparing the land for succeeding crops. Plant out late cauliflowers, cabbages, peppers. Plant tomatoes on the discarded strawberry patch. Set celery for main and late crops. Sow seed of winter radish, early beet for winter, ruta-bagas, turnips ; last oi month kale, spinach. 176 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Harvest onion sets. Market early potatoes. Keep the ground among all crops well stirred to guard against drought. AUGUST. Early this month finish setting celery. Sow for late crop spinach, radish, turnip, kale. Keep ground well cultivated and hoed. Pull the late weeds before they mature and shed their seed. Hoe cabbages frequently, also apply pyrethrum (buhach) wherever worms are troublesome. Dig and market potatoes. Market cucumbers, melons, tomatoes, peppers, etc. SEPTEMBER. Stimulate growth of celery by cultivation, hoeing and appli- cations of nitrate of soda. Handle celery for early use. By middle of month sow seed of spinach, and kale for spring. By twentieth of month sow in drills, cabbage and cauliflower for plants to be wintered in cold frames. Harvest onions, and sell them at the earliest possible date. Clean up the hot-beds and cold frames, and get them ready for use. Watch turnips and drive off flea beetles by application of proper remedies. Market tomatoes, peppers, lima-beans, egg-plants, melons, cucumbers, pickles, etc. OCTOBER. Market the second crops planted in July : radishes, cabbages, endives, string-beans, beets, carrots, cauliflowers, sweet corn, celery. Handle late celery, earth up gradually. During middle of month sow lettuce for plants to go in cold frames. Before frost pick green and half-ripe tomatoes, peppers, etc. House squash. Harvest sweet potatoes before vines are injured by frost. Harvest root crops and store in cool, moist cellar, or pit. Set cabbage plants in cold frames, leaving beds open until hard freezing or snowy weather. Monthly Memoranda. — 177 NOVEMBER. Finish gathering and storing late crops. Set cabbage and cauliflower plants in cold frame, and harden them by exposure. Mulch spinach for spring lightly. Protect parsley from snow and extreme cold by a board cap or inverted trough. Celery not well protected is to be gathered early and trenched in, or stored in root cellar. Market the bleached celery. Harvest and store root crops. Gather salsify and leeks for winter use, and store like celery. Top dress rhubarb with manure, bone meal, muriate of potash. Clear up the garden generally, and get ready for spring crops. Draw manure to compost heap or to the field. DECEMBER. Look to frames and forcing houses. Keep cold frame plants dormant. Too much protection is worse than exposure. Mulch spinach. Draw soil lightly over the tops of salsify. Market celery, cabbage, onions, beets, hot-house lettuce. Draw material for the compost heaps from city or town. Look over the credits and debits of each crop. Figure which are the profitable and which are the unprofitable ones, and study the causes of failure wherever it occurred, to learn how to avoid it in future. Part II. Growing Special Crops. CHAPTER XXVIII. CULTQRAL DIRECTIONS. HOW THE VARIOUS CROPS OF OUR GARDENS ARE GROWN MOST EASILY AND PROFITABLY THEIR LEADING VARIETIES. " Care brings crops." N the following pages I have attempted to describe the best methods of growing the various vegetables, as practised by myself and good gardeners generally. Of varieties, I can only mention the leading or typi- cal ones, and of the newer sorts those that have passed examination creditably, or at least give promise of value. Concerning untried novelties, I must refer the reader to the annual catalogues of our progressive seedsmen. ANISE. Pimpinella Anistim. German, yi;^z>. French, -4 w.f. Spanish, A7iis. — Anise is one of the half-hardy " sweet herbs," and almost as easily grown as a weed. Sow seed in April or May where it is to remain, in warm and well drained soil, drills to be 12 or 15 inches apart. It is but little grown in American gardens. The seed has a delicate flavor and perfume, and is prized for its medical properties. Germans use it quite commonly for flavoring apple-sauce. . ARTICHOKE— GLOBE. Cynara Scolynms. German, Artichoke. French, Artichaut. Spanish, Alcacliofa. — The Globe Artichoke is propagated from seed, division of roots, or from suckers. In order to obtain a stock of plants, seed may be sown early in hot-beds, and plants transferred to open ground in May, setting in rows three feet apart, with two feet distance between plants. The rich black soil of river bottoms, moist but well-drained, answers the requirements of this crop best. A bed once established will remain in bearing for a number of years, but needs protection in (180) Cultural Directions. — i8i the northern states ; and for this reason leaves or coarse manure should be applied between the plants from three to six inches deep, according to the usual severity of the winters. The part used, generally in the raw state, is the base of the scales of the flower. Sometimes they are boiled and served as a salad. The term " Artichoke Salad," however, is more frequently applied to the side shoots, which are loosely tied and bleached somewhat after the fashion of endive. The vegetable is rarely found in American home gardens. European seedsmen catalogue a number of varieties. The Green, or Green Globe, is probably as good as any other, and the one offered by American seedsmen. Green Globe choke. Arti- ARTICHOKE— JERUSALEM. Helianihus Tuberosus. German, Erdapfel. French, Topin- anibour. Spanish, Namara. — The Jerusalem artichoke or Tuber- ous-rooted sunflower is easily grown from the tuber, and where the latter has once taken possession of a field, is hard to eradicate. Poor, gravelly soil, too dry for most any other crop, suits this artichoke very well, and will soon be filled with tubers. Plant in open ground in April or May, in rows three feet apart, placing the seed tubers 12 or 15 inches apart in the rows. They require no especial attention until dug, and are not affected by frost if left in the ground. The varieties only differ in the color of their tubers, and are' named accordingly, Red-skinned, White- skinned, etc. Uses. — The tubers, like potatoes, can serve as food for man or'beast. Sometimes they are eaten in the raw state, as pickles or salad; sometimes they are boiled like potatoes ; but however served, they can by no means be con- J^^JJ^^JER^^^ficMTKs' sidered a great delicacy for the average American taste. Flesh sweet and watery. Hogs are very fond of the tuber. I think that on a piece of land having little value otherwise, the crop would be quite a profitable one for turning into pork, especially since we can leave the job of harvesting entirely to the pigs themselves. Hog snouts are also the most convenient tool with which to rid a piece of land of the Jerusalem artichoke, when this becomes a nuisance, which it is liable to do. 1^2 — How to Make the Garden Pay. ASPARAGUS. Asparagus Officinalis. German, Spargel, French, Asperge. Spanish, Asparrago. — Asparagus not only gives us a most excellent, wholesome and palatable vegetable, but also a great quantity from a comparatively small area, and this at a time when other fresh succulent vegetables are scarce, and the average person's appetite sharp for just that kind of food after a long period of " much meat and little vegetable." No wonder the demand for the crop, in spite of heavy annual plantings, and a steadily increasing area, has until now been larger than the supply. Very little of it has thus far found its way to the canning establishments, and it seems that these would be glad to work up quantities of it, if a steady supply at reasonable rates were available. The crop, in short, is, and probably will continue to be, a paying one, both for the home gardener, whose little patch supplies his table bountifully from April or May to July, for eight or ten weeks, and for the market gardener near town or city whose crop nets him from ;^200 to ;^400 per acre, and under very favorable circumstances even more, and all this with comparatively little labor and expense, and year after year when a bed or patch has once been established, and reached bearing age. Yet many home growers, especially among the farmers, have not yet learned to appreciate this crop as they should for their own and their family's good, and thus far fail to grasp the opportunities that it offers. Growing the Plants. — In order to grow a supply of first- class plants, it is only necessary to sow seed thinly m drills one foot apart, giving to each plant about two or three inches space in the row. Of course, the soil should be well enriched, and thoroughly prepared, and after sowing, well stirred between the plants by means of hand wheel-hoe, hoe, rake, hand-weeder, etc. Weeds must not be tolerated. In this way on rich, moist, mucky or sandy soil I have often grown plants as large, and fully as good, as the average two-year-old plants purchased of nurserymen. A surplus of good plants can in most cases be disposed of to neighbors or towns-people at a good price, say from 40 to 100 cents per 100 plants. Starting the Bed. — The price depends largely on earliness and especially on size and general appearance. The earliest " grass " brings the highest price, and market quotations taper off gradually as the season advances. Large first-class stuff always brings almost double what is paid for an inferior article. These considerations should guide us in the selection of soil and site, manuring, planting, etc. No factor that might have a tendency to promote earliness, and size and quality of the " grass," can be Cultural Directions. — 183 safely ignored. On the other hand we give the cold shoulder to the old style of digging deep trenches, and filling the whole soil with manure to a considerable depth as formerly practiced — as a waste of labor and manure. Neither do we consider it necessary to apply a great deal of manure when first setting the plants in the permanent bed. In the selection of soil and site, however, we will be apt to exercise the greatest care. Our first choice will be a deep, warm, ^%^ Asparagus Grown Above Cruund. sandy loam, preferably slightly sloping to south or southeast, our next choice a light clay loam. Porous subsoil is almost a necessity, and the use of subsoil plow will be a great advantage where this condition is not perfect. Prepare the ground thorougly by plowing, harrowing, rolling. The two ways of growing the crop, both for market and home use, are illustrated in the accompanying figures. In the first, the plants are set shallow, perhaps three or four inches deep, and the stalks broken or cut off near the surface of ground, Asparagus Grown for City Markets. when six or eight inches high. This gives us green " grass," always tender, but of a somewhat pronounced flavor. It is a favorite way with the home grower, and in some particular markets. For most larger markets, especially that of New York city, the stalks are grown under ground, as above illustrated, and thus naturally blanched. It is true that the lower end of each stalk is apt to be somewhat tough, and need^ peeling and perhaps shortening, but the flavor is decidedly milder, and of a more refined character than that of the stronger-flavored green stalks. 184 — How to Make the Garden Pay. The market gardener, of course, has to comply with the demands of his available market ; the home grower may consult his own individual taste and preference. I will only add that the bleached " grass," when poorly grown in hard, starved soil, is poor indeed ; but under good culture, in warm, mellow soil, it is a superior article. The preparation of the ground, setting the plants, and after- culture, are much the same for both methods, except that the plants are placed only three or four inches deep in one case, against six or eight inches deep in the other. Distance of Plants. — The size and consequent market value of the stalks is influenced more by the amount of space allotted to each plant, than by any other single circumstance, and for this reason I consider wide planting the only sensible and safe course for the market grower. Some of our most successful gardeners make the rows six feet apart, with three or four feet distance between the plants. Even then the roots completely fill the soil, and interlock between the wide rows. Planting at this distance admits of cultivation both ways. The least distance that should be given in a bed expected to yield fine large stalks for many years is five feet by two, requiring between 4000 and 5000 plants to the acre ; and nothing can be gained by planting closer. Fifty plants thus set in good soil will furnish an abundant supply of " grass " for a large family. Planting. — Plow out furrows in well-prepared soil, at least five feet apart, and 10 or 12 inches deep, or if less, at least as deep as depth of surface soil will allow. Then scatter a few inches of rich, well-rotted ^-^ compost into the furrows, oPouNo.vmL ,t ,; ?^^^W fill in about as much soil, r'TMlW^v mixing this well with the manure, and set the plants, good, strong, one-year-old to be preferred, at least two feet apart, each upon a little mound of soil and Planting Asparagus in Furrow. with roots nicely and evenly spread, in the man- ner shown in picture, and at such a depth that the crowns will be about 7 inches below the ground level. Then cover with two inches of soil, and another dressing of fine rich compost. As the plants grow, and in the due process of cultivation by horse, the furrows are gradually filled up level with the surface. After Culture. — The bed should be kept well cultivated, and free from weeds. The first season same hoed crop, like potatoes, cabbages, radishes, turnips, etc., might be grown between the rows, but in that case the application of the fertilizer Cultural Directions. — 185 required to make up for the removed plant food must not be neglected. In the fall, and every fall afterwards, the tops are to be cut before they shed their seed, taken off the field, or piled up and burned. The young plants, that spring up from seed carelessly left to drop, are sometimes worse than weeds. Winter protection by covering with coarse litter or otherwise is not needed except at the extreme north. The stalks should all be left to grow the next (second) season, and same thorough cultivation and general treatment given as in the first. In the spring apply a top dressing of good compost. With careful planting in the way described, and strong plants to begin with, the bed will yield a fair crop the third season, and a full one every year afterwards. The wise grower will cut sparingly the first cropping season, and always and every season stop cutting at the first indication of weakness of the plants. Long-continued cutting is a great strain on the roots, and some rest is absolutely needed to keep them in health and strength. Some kind of manure is to be given every spring, according to the needs of the soil. Compost may be alternated with commercial fertilizers. A good practice followed by growers in New Jersey and elsewhere, is to open a furrow with a one-horse plow between each two rows, fill this with compost, and turn the soil back upon it. Excessive manuring will hardly ever be required. Salt may be beneficial in some cases, but generally has little or no effect. Being a salt-water plant, asparagus can stand almost any quantity of salt without injury, but it does not show any partiality for it. All manures should be applied in the spring, and an annual top-dressing of nitrate of soda, at the time that the first shoots begin to start (in March or April), and at the rate of 200 or 300 pounds per acre, is one of the surest- paying investments. When the time of cutting the stalks draws nigh, the rows are nicely rounded off, as was shown on page 143, and the crop is gathered every morning. Cutting has to be done with a careful hand in order to avoid injury to the tops of other stalks that have not yet reached the surface. Marketing. — Reject all the ill- shaped and under- sized stalks, and using one of the modern asparagus bunchers now on sale in every hardware store, make neat, firm bunches, which should Home-made Asparagus Buncher. i86 — How to Make the Garden Pay. be about eight or nine inches long, and four or five in diameter, holding two or three pounds of " grass ". Rubber bands are now coming in use in place of raffia or other tying materials ; they save time and make a neat, salable package. The butt ends of each bundle are squared by a smooth, clean cut. People who have only a comparatively small area in asparagus, may, if they prefer, bunch their stalks by means of a home-made buncher, such as, for instance, is illustrated on page 185. It needs no further description. If the product is to be shipped to market, the bunches, to insure their arrival in market in best condition, are packed in some soft material, and pressed firmly and tightly into the package to prevent injury by jarring or shaking about. Knives for cutting Asparagus Knife. the crop are kept on sale by hardware dealers, seedsmen, etc. One of the various shapes is illustrated above. In an emergency a common sharp kitchen knife will answer. Superior Method for Amateurs. — The home grower who is after extra quality, can well afford to take a little extra pains in the preparation of his bed. Instead of filling the furrows with soil simply, he may prepare a very light, very porous compost of fresh horse droppings, muck, wood, or chip dirt, chaff, fine sawdust, rotten forest leaves, etc. This material lies very loosely over the crowns of the plants, and is warmed through very easily by the sun rays, at the same time affording a good protec- tion from cold. Instead of cutting the stalks with a knife, the hand can be easily pushed down along them into the loose soil, and the stalks snapped off at the base with a pressure of the finger. Asparagus grown in this way is very superior, and it may even be profitable when thus grown on a larger scale for market. I have been well pleased with the results of one trial. VARIETIES. Conover's Colossal is the variety now generally grown by both market and home growers. Philadelphia Mammoth, recently introduced as an extra large and prolific sort. Palmetto, and a few other newer varieties, have not been generally tested. but deserve further trial. BALM. Melissa Officinalis. German, Citroncjt Melissc; French, Melisse Citronelle; Spanish, Toronjil Citronella. — Although a perennial, balm is usually cultivated as an annual. Sow seed in finely prepared soil, in April or May, having drills one foot apart, Cultural Directions. — 187 and thin or transplant to six or eight inches. It can also be grown by division of the root. In that case plant in spring one foot apart each way. All the green parts of the plant have a most agreeable aromatic odor, especially " when bruised. The leaves are used for seasoning. BASIL— SWEET. Ocymum Basiucitm. German, Basilietikraut; French, Basilic; Spanish, Albaca. — Select light, warm, rich soil, and sow in May, in drills one foot apart, thinning or transplanting to 6 or 8 inches apart. The leaves have an agreeable perfume and flavor and are used for seasoning. BEANS. Sweet Basil. Phascolus. German, Bohne ; French, Haricot; Spanish, Jiidia. — Horticulturally we divide the varieties of this important vegetable in two great sections — the Bush and the Pole varieties. In the former we include all those usually grown as a field crop for dry shelled beans, as also the various green-podded snaps, and the yellow-podded wax beans. A more practical classifica- tion could hardly be adopted, since the cultivation of all the varieties of each section is pretty m.uch the same. BUSH BEANS. The modest requirements of the crop are proverbial, and so it is nothing uncommon to hear farmers speak of land " too poor to raise white beans." Yet the fact which this suggests, is true only in a very limited sense. Their cultivation is decidedly easy and simple, and a crop can be grown on soils of most widely- differing character; but a crop worth growing cannot be produced on soils exhausted of available mineral elements of plant food, especially of potash. Wood ashes and other potash fertilizers are generally of especial benefit to this crop. All beans are somewhat tender, and should not be planted until danger of late spring frosts is past, or until the time farmers usually plant corn. For a field crop, on a large scale, seed is best sown with a one or two-horse drill ; but it can also be done with the garden drill. I prefer to lay off the land in furrows, three feet or so apart, made with a common field marker, and to follow with the drill in these marks. This deposits the seed just about right, two or three inches deep, and if any of the beans remain uncovered in the rows, I follow, cover and firm them with the feet. In the garden I simply open furrows, either with a hand plow, or with the hoe, or in any other convenient way, scatter the seed an inch or two apart in the furrow, and i88 — How to Make the Garden Pay. immediately cover the soil" in over the seed with the feet, firming the soil as I go, in one operation. For the first crop we may select land just cleared fi"om early radishes or spinach, and for successive crops, any ground as it becomes vacant, continuing the planting every two weeks until July or August. The width of rows may be varied between one and one-half and three feet, according to the gardener's convenience and the fertility of the soil. For it is a very general rule, applicable to all crops, that for best results we must plant the closer the poorer the ground, and the wider the richer it is. After-culture consists in simply keeping the ground well stirred, either with horse or hand cultivator, and free from weeds and in drawing up the soil slightly to the rows when the plants have attained some size. An old precept warns against hoeing or working among beans when the leaves are wet with rain or dew, as rendering them liable to become affected with rust under this treatment. The statement is periodically passed around in the agricultural press. Profes- sional writers, who are not always practical gardeners, love to repeat it. I am not afraid to hoe my bean vines any time that it is convenient for me to do so ; and I have never yet noticed the bad results prophesied. Harvesting Dry Shelled Beans. — The field varieties, or any of the garden sorts grown for seed on a large scale, are harvested as soon as ripe, best Round Pod Valentine. ^y means of one of the modern devices constructed for the purpose, and operated by one or two horses, or the plants are pulled up by hand, laid in rows on the ground, and when sufficiently cured, put in small stooks, or taken to the barn and in due time thrashed out and cleaned. Beans intended for market must be picked over by hand — a some- what tedious operation, which, however, can be performed during the winter and winter evenings at leisure, and by cheap labor. Along the coast, near the principal shipping places, from Vir- ginia to Florida, string or snap beans are quite extensively grown for northern markets ; and there they generally pay quite well. VARIETIES. Early Round Pod Valentine resembles the older Early Red Valentine in every way, but is somewhat earlier. In this we have probably the best variety for market garden purposes. Cultural Directions. — 189 Early Valentine. The pods are fleshy, tender, succulent, and remain on the vines in condition for table use longer than those of most other varieties. Seeds speckled. Yellow Six Weeks. — Very early, with straight flat pods. Early Mohawk. A hardy, early sort, and of old-established reputation. Color of seeds, a kind of drab, spotted with purple. Refugee. (Thousand-to-one.) — Somewhat later than the preceding two, but very productive; pods tender; seed speckled. Largely grown for pickling. Nonpareil Green Pod. — About the very last bean to mature ; a wonderfully vigorous grower ; vines being always full of numbers of long dark green pods. Best of All. A medium early, thritty and productive variety. Pods are long, stringless and of good quality. The leading sorts grown in field culture as dry shelled beans are White Marrowfat, Navy or Pea Bean, Prolific Tree Bean, Red and White Kidney Bean. The newly introduced Burlingame Mediums is claimed to be the earliest, hardiest and most productive field bean in America. The wax sorts, with their tender, delicate yellowish pods, are especially suited for culture in the home garden. The list of varieties has been swelled very largely by recent introductions. We may choose among a large ^^^^^^,^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ number and hardly make a miss. Black "Wax is one of the older standard sorts, with tender, waxy, yellow pods. Seed black. White Wax differs from the preceding chiefly in color of the seed, which is white. Yosemite. — No other dwarf bush bean approaches Yosemite in size; the pods being often eight to ten inches long, and as thick as a man's finger. The pods are nearly all solid meat, and stringless, always cooking tender and delicious. It is enormously prolific. New Prolific German \Vax. — A decided improvement on the old German Butter Wax, and more than twice as prolific. The very handsome, golden yellow pods, entirely stringless, are borne in immense quantities on every plant. Golden Wax, one of the newer introductions, is early, prolific, and altogether reliable both for market and home use. Maule's Butter Wax. — A very early wax bean of superior quality ; full of solid meat, as a pithy or hollow pod can seldom be found igo — How to Make the Garden Pay. Perfection or Flageolet W^ax resembles the preceding, but is characterized by remarkable vigor of plant and productiveness. Ivory Pod Wax. A moderate grower only, but producing tender, exquisitely delicate, white, waxy pods in great profusion, and during a longer period than most other bush sorts. Especially valuable for the home garden. POLE OR RUNNING BEANS. The running or pole varieties are still tenderer than the bush sorts, and should not be planted until the weather has become thoroughly settled, and the ground warm in spring. Seed, when planted in cold, wet ground, is much more liable to rot than to germinate. All, especially that king of beans, the Lima, need high culture, and succeed best in rich, sandy loam, but can be grown in any rich, warm soil. The Limas are one of those crops that find ready sale in almost any larger market, and in suitable localities are grown with fair profit. The usual way of proceeding is to set poles four feet apart each way. These poles, as used by most growers, are from eight to ten feet high, which I think is from two to four feet more than is really necessary, or even of advantage. The height of pole should correspond with the length of the season in any given locality, five or six feet being fully sufficient, and better than more, for the short northern season. At the south they might be a foot or two longer, as this will have a tendency to lengthen the bearing period. The hills, previous to setting the poles, should be made rich and porous, by mixing a shovelful or two of well-rotted compost with the soil. Five or six seeds are then to be planted in a circle around each pole. Press each one firmly into the soil, nearly or fully two inches deep. All our old precepts agree in recommending to place the seed eye downward. Prof Halstead, upsetting this old theory, proves that the seeds should always be planted flat on their side. In practice, however, it seems to make little, if any difference, and in drill planting I simply scatter the seed in the furrow and cover them up with feet or hoe. Thorough cultivation and frequent hoeing will make the young plants grow rapidly and vigorously, and soon the vines will require tying to the poles. The pods are gathered as the seeds in them get large, and shelled for market or the table. In some localities the beans are sold in the pod. The ripe beans also find a willing market at from ;^4.oo upwards per bushel, and the crop is generally a profitable one in either case. In my own practice I prefer to grow the Limas and other running sorts on a trellis instead of poles. The illustration on next page shows a small section of what Cultural Directions. — igi I am tempted to call a model trellis for this purpose. Heavy posts are set firmly and deeply into the ground at the ends of each row, and smaller or stout stakes at intervals of 1 8 or 20 feet between them. The upper end of posts and stakes is sawed off square at a height of five feet, and in line, so that a perfectly straight wire (10 or 12 size) can be run from end to end over the tops, where it is held by simple wire staples, but firmly fastened to the end posts, which, for safety's sake, should be firmly braced. A lighter wire or twine is run from post to post at a height of about 6 inches from the ground, and common white cotton yarn wound zig-zag around the two wires (or the wire and twine). Usually I have a row of Limas, etc., in this shape on one side of my kitchen garden, running its entire length, and fully four feet away from other vegetables, in order to give a fair chance for thorough horse work. I also aim to set the posts straight and uniform, to stretch the wires reasonably tight, and to adjust the yarn regularly; and I can assure you that this trellis is not only useful, but when vine-clad, also quite an Trellis for Lima Beans. ornament to the garden. With such a trellis the vines require very little attention in the way of fastening to the strings. The latter are so temptingly near, that the runners take hold without much coaxing. One of the most important advantages of this trellis style over the pole method, I find is the opportunity which it affords us to plant the Limas in a continuous row. Here I use plenty of seed, for I am anxious to secure a full stand, and prefer pulling up plants rather than have vacant spots that spoil the looks of the whole, and materially diminish the yield. Should a bare space occur after all, it is easy enough to fill it with plants taken up from where they stand pretty thickly. Lima beans transplant quite readily, especially if lifted after a rain. Care- fully take up a clump of soil with a few plants on it, on a spade or trowel, and set where needed to fill a gap. The royal Lima requires a pretty long season. Many gardeners pinch the ends of the runners after they have made five or six feet of growth, for the purpose of hastening the crop. This treatment is not needed, especially with short poles or the 192 — How to Make the Garden Pay, five-foot trellis, since the forced downward course of the vines, after they have reached the highest point of the comparatively low support, gives us practically the same effect as pinching back. The great fault of the Limas in the northern states is their lateness. We often only get a small part of the crop to reach table size, not to mention the difficulty of getting them to mature on the vines. To make the crop earlier by a week or two, the seed can be planted in a cold frame or hot-bed, either in pots or on pieces of inverted sod, about two or three weeks before it could be safely planted in the open ground. At the proper time, the sods, or the plants turned out of the pots, are then set 4 feet each way for poles, or 2 feet in the row if for trellis. Three or four good plants are left to grow in each hill in the former case, and two plants only in the latter. When seed is planted in drills, as described for my trellis method, the plants, of course have to be properly thinned, one to every 9 or 12 inches. VARIETIES. I have tested about a dozen different varieties of the Lima bean, but found next to no difference in time of giving earliest picking. Large Lima — This is the old standard sort, reliable and productive. Salem Improved is introduced as a selected and superior strain of this. Extra Early, Early Jersey, or Extra Early Jersey. — Proves to be slightly earlier than the Large Lima, and is claimed to be the earliest of this class. Pods are quite long, and well filled. I have picked pods containing seven and eight seeds each in New Jersey. Dreer's Lima gives quite short, but closely-filled pods. The seeds are rounder and plumper than those of any other Lima, and of superior quality. A fine variety for the home grower, and profitable for the market gardener who sells the shelled bean, or for the consumer who buys in the pod. King of the Garden. — Pods of enormous size, beans large. The reverse of Dreer's — profitable to sell in the pod, and to buy shelled. Red and Speckled Lima are newer introductions of strong and vigorous growth, about as early as the earliest, and decidedly prolific. Seed of fine, rich flavor, but objectionable in color, and consequently not wanted for market. Small Lima or Sieva. — I cannot see that this makes up in earliness for what it lacks in size, productiveness and flavor. So I have no use for it in my garden. Henderson's Bush Lima might be included in this list. It appears to be a dwarf sport of the Small Lima or Sieva, resembling it in every respect except habit of growth. Its bush Cultural Directions, — 193 form, great product- iveness and extreme earliness are its chief points of merits. The Large Lima is now also reduced to bush form in Burpee's Large Bush Lima, and Dreer's Lima in the Kumerle Lima. Of other pole vari- eties, I will mention White Creaseback, a green-podded pole string bean, claimed to be the earliest of that class. German Wax, Golden Wax and Golden Cluster are yellovz-podded running sorts for both string and shell beans. 13 Lazy Wives. 194 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Lazy Wives. — Pods are wonderfully broad, thick, fleshy, and above all entirely stringless, retaining their stringless and tender qualities until they are almost ripe. The vines cling remarkably well to the poles. Pods are rather flattish, oval shape, and when fully grown are from four to six inches long. Horticultural, Speckled Cranberry or Quail Track, much esteemed for the home garden. Seeds oval, speckled. Improved Dutch Runner has many of the characteristics of the Lima in growth, and is very- productive. Beans clear white and of largest size. Next to the Lima, the best for market. Scarlet Runner. — A strong grower; flowers of beautiful scarlet, and produced in great abundance. Probably more ornamental, than useful for the table. BEETS. Beta Vulgaris. German, Rothe R'iibe ; French, Betterave. Beets for early bunching are a leading crop of the market garden, and generally quite a profitable one. I have already in a former chapter alluded to their cultivation under glass, in cold frames, and cold houses. In open air they are grown in a similar way, only more space is usually given, and no radishes are grown between them as a secondary crop. Rich warm soil (sandy loam) is the chief requisite. It is well- manured with rotted compost, and prepared as for other small vegetables, that is to say, plowed well, harrowed well, and made thor- oughly smooth, if necessary with steel rake. In early spring when soil conditions and weather will permit, the seed is sown in drills from 12 to 1 8 inches apart, and clean and thorough cultivation given from the start. The crop is especially grateful for one or more applications of nitrate of soda, and can be largely increased or made earlier by this means. The market gardener's aim is to get a uniform lot of roots, bunch them for market while small (two to three inches in diameter), clear the land at the earliest possible date, and replant to some other crop. From this stand- point he must thin to a uniform distance of three or four inches soon after the plants have made a few leaves ; and since he does not intend to let the plants grow to large size in the bed, he can make the rows as close as he may desire, I2 inches distance between them being ample. In the kitchen garden we usually have the rows 1 5 or Cultural Directions. — 195 18 inches apart, since we prefer to use up the crop gradually, perhaps thinning at first for greens, then beginning to pull the roots when yet small, and continue using them as we desire for the table, thinning all the time, and perhaps leaving the last of the crop to attain quite a res- =!^ pectablesize. For a succession, seed can be sown every two ^J weeks until midsummer, if desired. A supply for winter use may be stored in boxes, barrels or heaps in the cellar, but should always be kept cov- ered with sand, soil, sods, etc., to prevent evaporation, and consequent wilting, and shriv- elling of the roots. The pitting method, as hereafter described for mangel wurzels, can hardly be improved upon for keeping beets fresh, crisp, and in best table condi- tion generally, until spring. VARIETIES. Extra Early Egyptian, Early Egyptian or Egyptian Turnip. — This and the Eclipse are now almost the only kinds grown for early market in many localities. Tops small. Roots of a uniform deep T^„^„ . TJi^ ^ -r blood color, and of rapid growth. Improved Blood Turnip. r^ ^ c r ■ r fc> ^ Best for forcmg. Eclipse.^This is now preferred to the Egyptian by many gardeners. Flesh much lighter in color. About as early, and decidedly a good variety. Bastian's Early Turnip, Philadelphia Lentz Early Turnip, Blood Turnip, Improved Blood Turnip, 196 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Early Bassano, Edmand's Turnip, etc. All these belong to the class of " Blood Turnip Beets," and are good early or intermediate sorts for the home garden every- where, and for market in many places. All are so reliable, it would not be easy to choose the best among them. New Market Gardeners, is very symmetrical, with small tap-root, and but few fibrous roots. One sowing only is necessary to produce early beets for market and main crop for winter use. Color outside is deep red ; inside layers of blood red and light red alternately. Half Long Blood is in shape what the name indicates. Good for second early, late fall or winter. (Long or) Improved Long Blood still remains a standard late and winter variety, excellent for the kitchen garden. Color of root a dark crimson. Swiss Chard forms no edible root, and is cultivated mainly for its leaves, which make very fair greens, like spinach. The coarse midribs of the leaves are some- times served like asparagus, and by some pronounced a good sub- stitute for it. There are also varieties having variegated and quite ornamental foliage, and we sometimes meet them in flower gardens and borders. BEET.— Mangel-Wurzel and Sugar. Root crops for stock (horses, cattle, sheep, swine), chief among them the mangels, sugar beets and carrots, are not yet appreciated as a farm crop by our people as they deserve to be. I have grown such crops for many years, to a greater or smaller extent, and can assure my friends that they are exceedingly profitable. Such immense amounts of succulent food for winter and spring feeding, in the shape of mangels, can be produced on comparatively small areas, when well managed, that I am con- vinced any farmer who keeps stock, but makes no use of the silo method, will never again omit planting mangels, carrots or both, after having once made a thorough trial in the right way. This latter is the important point; for if mismanaged, the first trial is apt to result in utter disgust. Begin cautiously ; plant a small area, and never more than you are sure you can give Cultural Directions. — 1^7 prompt attention when needed. This will show the novice how to proceed, and insure his success, even on an enlarged scale. Planting Mangels. — The safest way, especially for the beginner or when cultivating a somewhat large area, is to plant wide enough for easy cultivation by horse power — say in drills three feet apart. Select any piece of good, clean farm land, but giving a young clover sod the prefer- ence. Cart on plenty of good fine manure ; 40 loads to the acre is not too much, and even more will pay. This is plowed in ; or composted poultry manure, in smaller quantity, may be applied after plowing, and harrowed in. Get the land in good condition for sowing the seed, by the use of roller, smoothing harrow, or, if you have it, of the small disk (Meeker) harrow. The surface should be smooth and fine. A good way of sowing seed is with a grain drill, with part of the discharge tubes thrown out of gear, so that those in operation will leave the drills somewhere near three feet apart. Or the field may be marked off in shallow furrows, of distance mentioned, with a common field marker, and seed sown with the garden drill, following in the marks and sowing about four pounds of seed to the acre. If you have no drill, you can simply drop a pinch of seed (three or four) every 12 inches apart in furrows made same as for planting corn, preferably one and a half inches deep. Then cover with the hoe or foot, and firm by stepping upon it, or pressing soil upon it with the igS — How to Make the Garden Pay. back of hoe. A few radish seeds might also be scattered along the rows with the beet seed. The radishes will better indicate the rows, so that we can begin to cultivate a few days after sow- ing. The radishes may be pulled up when of table or market- able size. Cultivation. — Prompt action is the all important point. Weeds should never be allowed to crowd. Cultivate with a narrow-bladed horse-hoe or cultivator;" hoe as often as needed, and while the plants are young, run the hand wheel-hoS astraddle the rows, to keep them as near as possible free from weeds with- out much hand hoeing or hand weeding. Thinning should be attended to before the plants begin to crowd one another. Most of this work can be done with a hoe, and since we desire but one good plant to lo or 12 inches of drill, we can easily strike out the plants and weeds growing on the spaces between. Of course there may be a num- ber of plants left on each clump near the plant we wish to save, especially where the seed was sowed like corn (in pinches). We then have to pull up the surplus plants by hand. Gathering and Storing. — Thorough cultivation and timely attention on good and well- manured land is pretty apt to bring a crop that will astonish the novice, as a yield of 40, 60, and even more tons to the acre is not uncommon under favor- able circumstances. Before frost, in autumn, the beets are pulled by hand and thrown in heaps to be topped (/. e., foliage cut off with a sickle or corn cutter) and drawn to the cellar or pit. The best storage place, undoubtedly, is a reg- ular root cellar in the basement of the barn. A separate root or potato cellar, such as a dug-out in a hill-side, or the root cellar described for the winter storage of celery, also makes a very good place for beets, carrots, etc., to be fed out during winter and spring. If we have neither of these conveniences, we must store what we want to use during winter in the cellar we have at our command, although it is not a wise nor safe practice to store many vegetables and fruits under the rooms in which we live, and rear a family. Cultural Directions. — 199 No difificulty will be experienced in carrying root crops over until spring in pits outdoors, in same way as farmers frequently winter apples and potatoes. Select a dry spot or one for which drainage can easily be provided, and dig an excavation about a foot or 18 inches deep, 6 feet wide, and of the length required to hold the quantity of roots to be wintered over. They are placed in a conical heap, as shown in illustration on page 160, covered with six, eight, ten or twelve inches of straw, according to the severity of the winters in the particular locality, and with a foot of soil upon the straw. A whisk of straw or a sec- tion of common tile drain, reaching from the straw covering through the soil to the outside, should be adjusted in the centre of every eight or ten foot section to provide the required ventilation. If such a pit is opened before the cold weather has entirely passed, the roots remaining in it need careful covering to guard against freezing. )l VARIETIES. Liong Red. — This with its various strains and improvements, Prize Long Red, Jumbo, etc., is the variety for rich, deep soil, where it grows to enormous size. Yellow Tankard, Golden Tankard. — A beautiful, solid and prolific variety. Flesh rich, deep yellow all through. Yellow Globe and its various strains, Champion Yellow Globe, Kinver Globe, etc., are preferable for shallower soil, and reliable for all. Roundish in shape, beautiful, solid, and altogether desirable. When young they make very fine table beets; by many people even preferred to the Blood varieties. Giant Yellov/ Intermediate. — This new variety has a magnificent root, which is easily lifted from the ground. Produces very large crops, and has proven itself to be a most excellent keeper. Has a fine neck, large leaves with green stems, and very smooth skin ; flesh firm and sweet. Gatepost. — One of the very finest mangels. The roots are heavy, handsome and clean, with single tap-root. Very rich and nutritious. With good cultivation crops at the rate of 2 500 bushels per acre have been grown. 200 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Imperial Sugar, like all other sugar beet varieties, does not yield quite as handsomely as the mangels, but makes up in richness what it lacks in yield. Especially profitable for cows. Pit fur Wintering Potatoes, Rooc Crops, etc. BORECOLE (See Kale). BORAGE. B or ago Officinalis. German, Borrelsc/i ; French, Bow^rac/ie ; Spanish, Boraja. — This annual, whicfi is of free-flowering habit and grows to a .height of a foot or i8 inches, is rarely found in American gardens. It can be grown as easily as a weed, by sowing the seed in any corner or waste place in spring or summer. Some uses, not known to me, are made of it in cookery, and also in medical science. BROCCOLI. Brassica Olcracea {Botrytis). — German, Spar-gel Kohl ; French, Chou-fleiir d'Hivcr; S^dimsh, Br oaili.— In broccoli we have little more than a cauliflower under another name. It thrives under the same conditions of culture, namely, moist, fertile soil and cool atmosphere, and is always grown for fall and winter use. Seed is sown in seed bed in May, or later further south ; and plants may be set in July (August or September in southern latitudes) in well- manured and well-prepared soil, 23^ to 3 feet hy 1)4 feet apart. Cultivate and hoe fre- quently. Heat and drought are the great enemies of the crop, and often prove fatal. A good crop, like that of the cauliflower, however, hardly ever fails to be very profitable. Broccoli. Cultural Directions. — 201 VARIETIES. White Cape and Purple Cape are the varieties generally grown in America. More than forty different forms or varieties of broccoli are known to English gardeners. BRUSSELS SPROUTS. Brassica Oleracca. — German, By'ussdcr Sprosscn Kohl ; French, Chou dc Brtixcllcs. — The '' head" of this cabbage variety consists of a few loose, crumpled leaves borne on a tall stalk, and no culinary use is made of it. The stalk itself, however, is surrounded and often completely covered by the " sprouts," which are miniature cabbage heads, seldom much larger than a walnut, and of choicest quality, not inferior to cauli- flower. While it is as easily grown as a cabbage, it is seldom found in American gardens. There seems to be a good demand for it in city markets, and the crop can be made as remunerative as cauliflower. Sow seed in April or May, and in July set the plants about two feet apart in soil prepared as for late cabbages, giving about the same cultivation. The sprouts will be ready for use in autumn, and until severe freezing. Where, as in the south, the plants endure the winters Brussels in open ground uninjured, a supply of sprouts can be Sprouts, had until spring. In gathering, they should not be broken off, but cut off the stems with a sharp knife, leaving as much of the spur as possibl-e, in order to induce the formation of successive sprouts. ^ VARIETIES Dwarf Brussels Sprouts. — This is the variety generally catalogued by American seedsmen. It is of low, compact growth, and produces the little heads closely all around the stalk. Tall Improved. — The stem of this is much taller, and the heads grow more scatteringly around it. CABBAGE. Brassica Olcracea. German, Kopfkohl ; French, Chou; Spanish, Col Rcpollo. Growing for Early Market. — Early cabbages are one of the foremost crops of the market garden, and usually yield a fair profit. The plants are started in September, and wintered over as directed in chapter on " cold frames," or grown in hot-houses or hot-beds during the second half of winter. When grown in the latter way, great pains should be taken to have the plants thoroughly hardened off, for they are to be set as soon as the ground can be put in working order, and in all probability will have to endure considerable cold and uncomfortable weather. 202 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Selection of soil for the crop is also of utmost importance. Nothing can be better than a rich calcareous or sandy loam, naturally drained, and manured with at least 40 tons of good com- post to the acre, or in the place of it a proportionate quantity of wood ashes (a most excellent fertilizer for cabbages, by the way), complete concentrated (commercial) fertilizers, etc. Fall plowing, throwing up the soil in ridges to better expose it to freezing and thawing, always tends to improve the mechanical condition of the soil, and to get it in planting condition much earlier in spring than could be expected otherwise. Mark off rows from 2 to 2^ feet apart, and set the plants 16 or 18 inches apart in the rows, and down into the ground to the heart. Cultivate and hoe frequently to keep the ground mellow, moist, and free from weeds. Occasional dressings of nitrate of soda, at the rate of 250 to 300 pounds in the aggregate, will sel- dom fail to pay exceedingly well. It is not necessary, either, as is often recommended, that these applications should be made dur- ing or just before a rain. When the ground is reasonably moist, the effect is sure, and all the more lasting ; even if it should not rain Look out for the maggot, Wintering Cabbages. for a week or longer after applying it and if necessary resort to the remedies found in the chapter on " insects." This is the market gardener's method. The home gardener is less anxious to get cabbages for the table in May or June. If he is content to wait until nearly July for a really superior article, he may adopt my method of sowing early in the spring (March or April) in open ground, in drills 2 or 2 5^ feet apart, and thinning to 15 or 18 inches in the drills, leaving the best plants. For a second early crop the market gardener can also sow seed in April, and transplant in May to the permanent patch, or thin to the proper distance apart. Cultural Directions. — 203 Late Cabbages. — These are much more a farm than a market garden crop, and as a farm crop are often quite profitable. A •possible surplus, as well as the waste and all the unmarketable part of the crop can generally be put to good use in the cattle yard. Sow seed during May in seed bed, and transplant during June in well-prepared and liberally-manured soil, making rows Wintering Cabbages in Pit. three feet apart, and plants from i^ to 3 feet apart in the row, according to vigor of variety, and strength of ground ; or sow thinly during June in drills three feet apart, and afterwards thin to the proper distance. In either case thorough cultivation and frequent hoeing are conditions of best success. The inter- mediate varieties, such as Winningstadt, Fottler's, etc., will often give good heads for winter, at least in a moist season, even if sown as late as July, A handful of good fertilizer, bone- dust, potash, etc., (according to the needs of the soil) or a some- what larger quantity of wood-ashes or composted hen manure, scattered around the plant after it has become well established after transplanting, as also light dressings of nitrate of soda, are always a great help. All of our hard- heading cabbages, when they are approaching maturity, and are not soon gathered, are liable to burst open or crack, which spoils them for market if not for use. Heads show- Express, ing this inclination may be pushed or pulled over to one side. This breaks or loosens part of their roots, and for some reason appears to counteract the undesirable tendency. I still have to add that cabbages should not be grown soon after cabbages on the same land. Club-root — a disease which attacks the root, and hinders the full development of the plants — is the usual penalty of a violation of this rule. 204 — How to Make the Garden Pay. Methods of Wintering. — There are numerous ways in which cabbages can be kept successfully for home use, or the often good market during latter part of winter or early spring. A general rule is applicable to all methods. It is this, to pull the crop on a dry day, and pack it only when per- fectly dry. Also put off the final covering, or storing in buildings, cel- lars, etc., as long in the fall as can be safely done. One of the most com- monly practised methods is to wrap the outer leaves of each plant firmly around the head, and stand root side up closely together, either in single line or in a close double row, with Early Wakefield. ^^ without another layer on top; then plow a furrow from each side to the ridge of cabbages thus formed, and finish covering up with soil, using shovel or spade, leaving only the extremities of the roots sticking out. The illustration on page 162 represents a cross section of each of the three arrangements. Another good way to store cabbages is to put them in pits, like root crops. The excavation is made 6 or 8 inches deep, 4 feet wide, and as long as needed to make room for the quantity of cabbages desired to store. Here the heads are packed in a conical heap, roots inward, and covered with 8 or 10 inches of soil, packed firmly. In case we should want to use all or part of them during the winter, it will be a good precaution to cover the south side of pit with straw or other dry litter deep enough to keep the soil from freezing, and thus secure easy access to the cabbages whenever wanted. An improvement on this method was recently published in the Rzirai New Yorker. Boards or slabs are placed on bottom of pit. The cabbages, well trimmed Etampes. Cultural Directions. — 205 and dr>', are packed in, as was illustrated on page 163. Tri- angular frames of 2 b}- 4 scantling are then set upright into the pit, one at each end only if pit is less than 8 or 9 feet long, one additional in the centre for a pit of from 9 to 15 feet in length ; and common fence boards are nailed to them, thus forming something like a large three-cornered crate around the cabbages. This is lightly covered with straw, and 4 to 6 inches of soil upon that. The ends need only be stuffed with dry straw, which will give free access to the contents of pit at any time. I know of no simpler or better method than this. For wintering a few dozen heads only, a barrel may be sunk into the ground to the brim, filled with trimmed heads, covered with dry forest leaves, chaff, etc., and a simple roof to exclude Midsummer. rain and snow. The cellar under the dwelling house is, for sani^ tary reasons, hardly a place for storing cabbages ; but a very few after removal of the coarse outside leaves, may each be wrapped in several thicknesses of common newspaper, so that only the 2o6 — How to Make the Garden Pay. roots are showing outside, and hung up in a convenient place in the cellar. Farmers might put a load of cabbages in some corner of the barn, on the floor, hay-mow, etc., and keep them lightly covered with loose straw, and thus have them ready for use at any time during the winter that they may desire them. The regular root cellar is also a good storing place for cabbages. VARIETIES. Of these we have an endless number, and among them quite a good many that are very good. In fact, we have so much choice that the selection often puzzles us. Of many varieties again, we have almost as many strains or selections as we have leading seedsmen. Often the difference between many of these strains and the original type are decidedly "strained," and too nice for us clumsy observers ; again, they are often so strikingly distinct that they give us the difference between very indifferent and quite complete success, and this, I repeat, merely from different selections — strains — of one and the same variety. A serious fault of many of the cabbage seeds that I have bought of various sources during recent years, is their somewhat " mixed " condition. We often get too many sorts in one and the same lot, and the consequence is a mixture of all sorts. The evil seems to be on the increase, too. In justice to the publisher of my work — Mr. Maule — I have to say that I have been much pleased with both the high quality, and the purity of all the cabbage seeds I have had of him. I cannot agree with him and Cultural Directions. — 207 other leading seedsmen, however, in regard to the wisdom and propriety of their nomenclature, especially their methods of multiplying names by adding their own for the sake of distin- guishing strains. EARLY VARIETIES. Early Wakefield. In this we have j^et the leading early market variety, making solid, conical heads, with few loose outer leaves. For both home and market garden it has no superior as an early sort. Seed of this is grown quite extensively on Long Island, and I have always had excellent success with it. Earliest Etampes Much spoken of as a good market variety, earlier than the preced- ing, while it is decidedly reliable. I have never been able to discover Surehead. Flat Dutch. more than a slight difference in earliness between the two kinds (in favor of the Etampes), nor other points of merit above those of the best strains of Wakefield. Early Express. Another early variety of the Wakefield type, intro- duced as considerably earlier than that variety, and profitable for early market. Said to produce heads in 70 to 75 days from time of sowing seed. Early York, and Early French Oxheart, being extremely early, were formerly the leading sorts for market ; but since their heads are little more than loose bunches of leaves, they have deservedly lost favor with the growers. INTERMEDIATE VARIETIES. Early Winningstadt should be planted by all who have usually but indifferent success with other varieties. As a sure header, even under adverse circumstances, it has no peer ; and in spite of its earliness, it forms large cone-shaped heads, which are of good quality. It is emphatically the home grower's and the Cj^Drui 208— How to Make the Garden Pay. novice's sort, and can be planted tor early, intermediate and late, by planting at different times, sometimes as late as July, even at the north. Earl> Summer comes a week or two after Wakefield, is much larger with round, flat heads, of excellent quality, and altogether one ol the best and most reliable second early market sorts, and desirable in the home garden also. Midsummer. — Very nearly as early as the Early Summer, and at the same time producing very much larger heads, which for solidity and compactness cannot be surpassed. It is a remarkably sure header and for a market crop is one of the most profitable varieties. Fottler's Improved, or Improved Brunswick. — This large, hard-heading and reliable sort can be grown alike for « , , ^ When this time has come, ^"""^ "^ Strawberry Plants. and the field is all in readiness, trim off about one-third of the roots with a slanting cut, using a sharp knife, and remove all partly-decayed leaves ; next dip the roots in water, and let a boy scatter the plants along the rows, one plant to every twelve or fifteen inches, and follow (or let your man follow) on hands and knees, taking up each plant in its turn, spreading the roots carefully, and plant it in the bottom of the furrow, on a little mound of soil, filling in mellow earth around it, so the crown will be the veriest trifle below the surface of the ground, but not covered. This is done because the crown-growth has an upward tendency, and the plants gradually rise higher out of the ground as the seasons go by. The annexed illustration shows a fine sample plant, well planted. As always in setting plants or other growths, the most important point, and the one making success reasonably sure in any case, is the thorough firming of the soil around the roots, A Good Plant Well Planted. 312 — How to Make the Garden Pay. not merely around the crown. It need hardly be said, that the soil, when moist, but yet crumbly, is in exactly the right con- dition for the operation of setting plants. Where only shallow marks, no deep furrows are made to indicate the rows, the planting may be facilitated by the use of a gardener's trowel, or one of the improved dibbers illustrated on page 43. Treatment After Planting. — Now comes the tug-of-war. Weed growth must be prevented all through the season, and to do this the cultivator should be started soon after planting, and used at short intervals pretty much during the entire season. Weeds appearing in the rows are to be pulled up by hand, or cut out with the hoe. Spring-set plants should not be allowed to fruit, as this would be a great strain on them so soon after the check received by the rough treatment of transplanting. The little labor required in picking off every fruit-stalk as soon as noticed, and the exercise of a little patience on the part of the grower, will always be well repaid in increase of crop the year following. The whole vital force of the plant is thus thrown into vigorous growth of the plant itself, and the production of runners. The amateur frequently, and the market grower rarely, practices what is known as the " stool " or hill method, which consists in growing large individual plants or " stools," and pre- venting the full development and rooting of runners by their early and careful removal. This method requires much atten- tion, but gives fine plants, and very large and perfect fruit, but not so much of it as can be produced by the so-called matted- row system. This is the one commonly practiced by market growers, and the more popular everywhere. The runners are allowed to strike root on a strip from one to two feet wide. As the season advances the cultivator has to be gradually narrowed down until, at last, we have a strip of cultivated ground only about two feet in width. The cultivator should also be run in one and the same direction, not back and forth between each two rows, so that the runners will not be disturbed or torn out more than necessary. This frequent stirring of the soil by means of hoe and cultivator serves another good purpose, and performs a most important office. The strawberry succeeds best when the soil is moist. In rare cases only can irrigation be made use of. Usually we have to depend on moisture already stored up in the soil, and supplied by rains. The underground-reservoir is always well filled during winter, and all we have to do during the growing season is to prevent waste by over-rapid evapora- tion. Of the means at our command to retard this evaporation, mulching with a few inches of mellow soil is probably the simplest and most inexpensive, and, I believe, also the most efficient. We Strawberry Culture. — 313 might accomplish this same object by mulching with litter — straw, hay, saw-dust, tan-bark, etc. — but it always involves more expense and is usually less convenient. It also affords undesir- able hiding places for vermin, prevents the needed airing of the soil, and favors the propagation of fungi. Altogether, the loose soil mulch, which is the result of good tillage, is usually the most satisfactory. A clean straw or hay mulch, however, comes very acceptable during the picking season. It then protects the berries from contact with the soil, and keeps them bright and clean. Winter Protection. — Strawberry plants are quite hardy, yet liable to heave out by the freezes and thaws of winter, and for this reason should be given a winter overcoat. Without protection of some kind, say by a mulch of litter or snow, best results ought not to be expected, as great loss of plants, and damage to fruit buds and roots will be unavoidable. If you have a nice strawberry bed, whatever you may do with it, don't neglect to provide a winter mulch. It is not enough to apply fine compost to the patch in the fall. Coarse, strawy manure will do very well, and should be put on all over the ground (not only over the rows) as soon as the ground is frozen hard enough to hold a wagon. Evergreen boughs are often quite serviceable ; but nothing in the shape of winter mulch can be superior to salt or marsh hay. This is to be had quite cheaply in many localities. Evenly spread over the ground it will afford a perfect protection, and the grower may feel at ease concerning his strawberry bed when thus covered, in the most trying kind of winter weather. Gathering the Fruit. — At the approach of spring the winter mulch should be removed, or rolled aside until the patch can be given a thorough stirring up with cultivator and hoe. Whatever weeds start up, are pulled up by hand or killed with the hoe. Afterwards the clean mulch may be put carefully around the plants on each side of the rows to keep the fruit clean. The berries, when ripe, are picked in clean quart baskets, level full, and if for market, only nice, clean, sound, good-sized and well-colored berries are wanted in the baskets. Leave the imperfect fruit on the vines, or throw them away. Neither is there any place in the baskets for leaves and rubbish. Straw- berries are perishable, and do not improve in any respect after being taken off the vines. The sooner they are used or disposed of, the better. Strawberries in Home Garden. — Farmers and towns- people who grow only their own home supply, usually plant a little patch in their garden, and here the plants are set quite close, perhaps fifteen inches each way, and all tended with the hand hoe. Here the ground is almost always very rich, and a 314 — How to Make the Garden Pay. large crop can be grown on a small area. In all other ways the plants should be treated as already directed for general culture. This plan, although well enough suited to the narrow limits of the average village garden, is not the one which I would advise the farmer to adopt. The size of his kitchen garden is (or should be) in correspondence with the greater opportunities in regard to area, manure supply, and available labor which the farm affords, and with the greater demands of the farmer's large household for vegetables and fruits. One acre — rather more than less — is just about the proper area, and it should be arranged somewhat similar as shown in the diagrams on pages 20 and 22. This will give him the largest possible results with the least possible demands for hand labor. By all means let the farmer plant his strawberries, and his other small fruits in same plot also, in long rows, as advised for the market grower, and cultivate by horse power, early, often, and thoroughly, to save hand labor. Rotation. — Many growers, especially market gardeners, take off only a single crop, plow up the patch after the fruiting season, and plant it to potatoes, turnips, celery, or other crops. But if to be kept for another year, the matted rows after fruiting should be narrowed down again, using a one-horse plow, a sharp- cutting cultivator, or wheel-hoe, and left not over 6 inches in width. New runners are now allowed to occupy the whole space of the original matted row, thus renewing the plantation. Guard against weeds. I do not believe in fruiting a patch more than two years, or three at most, and new beds should be planted every other year to take the place of the old ones. Insects and Diseases. — The larvae of the sawfly is some- times and in some sections very destructive to the foliage. For a remedy try a solution of hellebore, one ounce to two gallons of water, and sprinkle or spray it on the plants. The strawberry leaf-roller is another destructive foe, the larvae of a moth which is two-brooded. The presence of this worm is easily detected by the rolled-up leaves. The simplest remedy is to mow the field after fruiting, and when the stuff is dry enough, set fire to it. For the crown-borer, troublesome in the west and far north, and the strawberry root-borer, a small caterpillar, I know no remedy except plowing up the whole patch and starting a new plantation elsewhere. The white grub has been already mentioned. The larvae of the goldsmith beetle resembles it in appearance and life habits, and should be managed in the same way. The tarnished plant-bug, and the dusky plant-bug are very unwelcome visitors to many strawberry plantations, and little can be done to keep them off. Spraying with the kerosene emulsion, or solution of buhach may do some good. Strawberry Culture. — 315 These and all other insect foes can most easily be kept in check by a frequent renewal of the plantations (wide crop rota- tion), and by mowing and burning the foliage after fruiting. This treatment will also tend to prevent the strawberry diseases, such as scald, rust, etc. Another Method of Planting. — For loamy soils that are free from stones, I prefer setting the plants with a spade. I think it is by far the most convenient and most expeditious method. Let one person take a common sharp spade, and another (a boy will do) take a bundle of plants made ready for going into the ground. The field has been marked out four feet apart, or the plants are set by line. Thrust the spade into the ground where you want the first plant, and slightly turn or pull the handle tow- ard you, thus making an opening two or three inches wide on top at the back of the spade. The boy takes a plant, spreads the roots with a quick, jerky motion, and inserts them, as deeply as needed, into the opening. At the same time withdraw the spade and press the soil against the newly-set plant with the foot. Then repeat the operation where you want the next plant. One man and boy can plant an acre in a day in this manner with ease. Forcing Strawberries. — Sometimes this crop can be grown under glass with profit. In July young thrifty plants are started in pots for next winter's crop. Fill three-inch pots with good soil, and sink them to the rim along the rows of the stock plants. The earlier this is done after the layers start the better. The layers will need directing to the pots, and can be kept in place by means of a peg, stone or clod of earth. By keeping the plants well watered they will be rooted in about three weeks. Then place them in the shade until the pots are full of roots, and after that shift into six-inch pots. Pot rather firmly into good fibrous earth, standing the pots in an open, airy place, preferably in coal ashes, and giving them all the water they need. Before freezing weather, plunge the pots into cold frames and water sparingly. Any time after this, according to the exact time that you want the ripe fruit, the plants may be started up. Place them in the greenhouse, beginning with a temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit, gradually increasing until it reaches 60 degrees. Also increase the water supply gradually as the season advances. Plants for later use must be protected from severe freezing. Don't allow the plants to set too much fruit, else the berries will be small. A moderate number of good-sized berries will be more satisfactory than a large number of small ones. When enough have set, clip off the remaining flowers, and later on pick off the smallest berries also. Syringe freely to keep down red spider. Water moderately at the roots. Give liquid 3i6 — How to Make the Garden Pay. manure at times until the fruit shows indications of ripening, when it should be withheld, and the fruit exposed to heat and light as much as possible. In the mean time, of course, plants may have been started up for successional crops. VARIETIES. The following is a list of the leading sorts : I. PERFECT FLOWERING. Beder Wood. Captain Jack. Chas. Downing. Cumberland Triumph. Kentucky. May King. Michel's Early (Mitchel's). Miner's (Prolific). Neunan's (Prolific). Old Ironclad (or Phelp's Seedling). Parry. Sharpless. Wilson (Albany). 2. IMPERFECT FLOWERING. Must have one or more of the preceding list planted with them. Bubach (No. 5). Champion (or Windsor Chief) Crescent. Gandy. Greenville. Haverland. Manchester. Warfield. The most popular and most reliable of the list are the fol- lowing : May King. Haverland. Neunan's Prolific. (For the South). Beder Wood. Greenville. Sharpless. Wilson. Bubach. Crescent. Manchester. Warfield. APPENDIX. ELECTRO - HORTICULTURE. INFLUENCE OF SOIL ELECTRIFICATION AND OF ELECTRIC LIGHT UPON PLANT-GROWTH. '' Light is Lifer ECENT development of electrical science has wrought wonderful changes in all our industrial and social conditions, changes so wonderful in number and character, indeed, that we now are constantly in expectation of the discovery of new manifestations and new uses of this wonder- ful natural force. It was a very natural idea to direct electrical energies upon the soil and plant growth in the hope of finding marked influences. Direct Electrification. — At the agricultural college at Amherst, Mass., and at several places in Europe, wires have been stretched across fields and gardens and passed through the soil, and then charged with electricity. In many cases certain crops were largely increased by these influences ; while other crops seemed to be injured rather than benefited. That a powerful in- fluence of the artificial use of electricity, either in the air or in the soil, about plants, does exist, seems hardly open to dis- pute. Yet it is my conviction that this discovery will remain of little practical value to the average soil tiller. At any rate, it is not of practical use now, and before it could possibly become so, a great deal more of accurate knowledge about this yet mys- terious force will have to be developed. Electric Light Influence. — More marked upon plant growth perhaps than the effects of this direct electrification, have been those of the electric light. Yet there is no telling, at pres- ent, to what extent the new factor will ever be employed in vegetable growing. The home gardener will scarcely feel justi- fied in incurring much expense for electric lights when these are wanted solely for the purpose of stimulating plant growth in his small garden or greenhouse; and he cannot be expected to re- ceive any benefit whatever from the stimulative effect of electric (317) 3i8 — How to Make the Garden Pay. light except in the rare instance, when his garden or greenhouse happens to be placed where an electric street lamp of the town or city sheds its light directly upon his plants. The results of experiments conducted recently by Prof. L. H. Bailey, at the Cornell Experiment Station, seem to endorse those of the earlier experiments by C. W. Siemens, in England, and P. P. Deherain, in France, and show beyond doubt, that periods of darkness (or rest) are not necessary to the growth and development of plants, and that the electric light can be profit- ably used in forcing the growth or maturity of at least certain kinds of plants. The injurious influences upon plants near the naked light can be prevented by the interposition of a transparent glass (opal globe) between light and plants. Different kinds of plants seem to be differently affected by the electric light. While some crops are markedly benefited, Bench of Lettuce in Ordinary Greenhouse. others seem to be injured, and still others show no effects either way. The best results have been observed on lettuce, and next to it, on radishes. Indeed, I believe that the electric light as a promoter of plant growth will be of practical value chiefly or only to the extensive grower of greenhouse lettuce and green- house radishes. The material difference in the rate of growth made by let- tuce plants in an ordinary and a lighted greenhouse, may be seen plainly in the annexed illustrations, which represent parts of the houses at the Cornell Experiment Station (from photographs taken in 1891 ; reduced from station bulletin). Prof Bailey's re- port was as follows : " Three weeks after transplanting both varieties in the light house were fully 50 per cent, in advance of those in the dark house in size, and the color and other characters of the plants were fully as good. The plants had received at this time 703^ Appendix. — 319 hours of electric light. Just a month later the first heads were sold from the light house, but it was six weeks later when the first heads were sold from the dark house. In other words, the electric light plants were two weeks ahead of the others. This gain had been purchased by 161^^ hours of electric light, worth at current prices of street lighting about $y ; this will give an idea as to economic values. The electric light plants were in every way as good in quality as those grown in the dark house ; in fact, the two could not be told apart except for their different sizes. The illustrations show representative portions of the crops as they appeared five weeks after being transplanted to permanent quarters. The electric light plants were upon the benches 44 days before the first heads were sold. During this time there were 20 nights in which the light did not run, and there had been but 84 hours of electric light, worth about ;^3.50. The lamp exerted this influence throughout a house 20x30, and s ^ ,'- l"^-*; ;.*-t'>''*»¥"^r'^A-5-^ Bench of Lettuce in House with Electric Light. the results were as well marked in the most remote part as they were near the lamp. If the same results can be obtained by hanging the lamp over the house, instead of inside of it, by that means several houses might be lighted at once." Mr. W. W. Rawson, the famous market gardener of Arling- ton, near Boston, Mass., was probably the first to use the electric light for commercial lettuce forcing. The street lamps which hung near his houses, and their beneficial effects, pointed the way to the successful employment of electric light for this pur- pose. He estimates the gain of time in the production of a lettuce crop at about 10 per cent, over the time required for the production of an equal crop in a dark house, and says that the gain produced upon one crop pays for running the lamps for the entire winter. The plants seem to head up better under the light and the quality to be superior. The effect of the light is marked at a distance of 100 feet from the lamp. ?' /v