MASSACHUSETTS
STATE COLLEGE

LIBRARY

SB

321

G742

•PEC1AL

:TI0H»

This book may be kept out

TWO WEEKS

only, and is subject to a fine of TWO
CENTS a day thereafter. It will be due
on the day indicated below.

c4*0

U "5 4. I

CAEEOTS,

MANGOLD WURTZELS

SUGAR BEETS.

HOW TO RAISE THEM, HOW TO KEEP THEM
AND HOW TO FEED THEM.

By JAMES J. H. GREGORY,

AUTHOR OF "ONION RAISING," "CABBAGE RAISING," ETC.

MARBLEHEAD, MASS

MESSENGER STEAM PRINTING HOUSE.
1882.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by

JAMES J. H. GREGORY,
At the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.

CONTEXTS

Page.

The Argument for the Raising of roots, - 3

THE CARROT - 5

The Location and Soil - 6

The Manure and its Application - 7

Preparing the Bed - 12

When to Plant - - - 13

The Seed and the Planting of it - 14

Quantity to the Acre - - 15

Varieties, and What Kinds to Grow - 1 7

Early Very Short Scarlet - - - 19

Early Short Scarlet Horn - 19

Short Horn - - 19

Danvers Carrot - - - 19

Long Orange, or Long Surry - 20

Altringham - -21

Large White Belgian - 2 1

The Cultivation, and the Implements needed - 22

Gathering and Storing the Crop - - 24

Raising Carrots with Onion.; - - - 27

Marketing and Feeding - 2S

THE MANGOLD WURTZELS - - 30

Varieties - - 32

The Long Varieties - - 32

The Round Varieties - - S3

The Ovoid Varieties - - 33

What Kinds to Grow - - 33

The Soil and its Preparation - - - 36

The Manure and its Application - - 37

Salt as an Auxiliary Manure - •• - 45

Planting the Seed and Tending the Crop - 46

Gathering and Storing the Crop - 49

Feeding the Crop - - - - 5 -

The Cost of the Crop - •• - 57

CABROTS.

THE ARGUMENT FOR THE RAISING OF ROOTS.

The fact that the most progressive and successful farmers
in the dairy districts, where the prices received for the pro-
ducts of the dairy stimulates to the highest enterprise, are
raisers of roots, (by which I now more especially refer to
Carrots or Mangold Wurtzel) in about the same degree as
they are pecuniarily successful, is in itself a great practical
argument for root culture.

In nutritious value roots compare with hay in about the
average proportion of one to three. If now we consider
that thirty-four tons of Swedes, nearly forty tons of Carrots
and seventy-four tons of Mangold roots have been raised in
Massachusetts, to the acre, and that to each of these crops
should be added at least 15 per cent, for the fodder value of
the yield of leaves, which were not included in these esti-
mates, we have a demonstration of how immensely more is
the nourishment that can be obtained from an acre of root ;
than from an acre in hay. Such an immense increase
in the nourishing products of the farm, if fed on the pre-
mises as it should be, unless the farmer is so located that
he can buy manure cheaper than he can make it, means a
great increase in the manure products, and consequently a

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

great increase in the crops, — so tnat it has been wisely said,
root culture lies at the basis of good husbandry.

Carrots and Mangolds are subject to but few diseases.
In discussing the nutritious value, chemists differ somewhat,
according as they measure this by the nitrogen they contain,
their per cent, of dry matter or sugar, but they agree
in ranking them much superior to the early varieties
of turnip and somewhat superior to the Ruta Baga or
Swede class, particularly when fed to full grown cattle. Prof.
Johnson ranks Carrots with Cabbage when fed to oxen, for
nourishment, and experiments appear to have proved that
when equal measures of each are fed, Mangolds will give a
greater increase of milk than potatoes, by about a third. For
some reason not fully understood, (perhaps the depth they
penetrate the soil has something to do with it ;) Onions will
do better after Carrots than after any other crop, the yield
being larger, the bulb handsomer, while the crop will bottom
down earlier and better. Unlike Turnips or Swedes, with
high manuring the crop can be profitably grown for years on
the same piece of land. Swine prefer Mangolds to any root
except the parsnip, and both in this country and in England
store hogs, weighing from 125 lbs. and upwards have been
carried through the winter in fine condition, when fed whol-
ly on raw Sugar Beets or Mangolds. Chemists rank Carrots,
when compared with oats, with reference to their fat and
flesh forming qualities as 1 to 5.

Xot only have roots a value in themselves as food, but
they have a special office, taking to a large degree the place
of grass and preventing tne constipation that dry feed some-
times causes. While practice proves that they should not
be relied upon to entirely supersede hay or grain, still they
increase the value of either of these to a large degree ; and
for slow working stock they may be fed with profit in place
of from a third to half the grain usually given. Carrots add

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 5

not only to the richness of the color, but also to the qual-
ity of the milk, while the flavor of the butter made from such
milk is improved. Carrots fed in moderate quantities to
horses give additional gloss to their hairy coats, and have not
only a medicinal value when given to such as have been
over-grained, but aid them in digesting grain, as may be seen
in the dung of horses fed on oats with Carrots, and that
of those fed on oats without Carrots.- When cooked they are
sometimes fed to poultry, and either cooked or raw to swine.
In the family economy they have their place, particularly
when young and fresh, while in Europe they enter largely
into the composition of the well-known vegetable soups of
the French.

THE CARROT.

"The Carrot," {Daucus Caroia) says Burr in his "Field
and Garden Vegetables of America," a book worthy a place
in every farmer's library, — "in its cultivated state is a half-
hardy biennial. It is indigenous to some parts of Great Brit-
ian, generally growing in chalky or sandy soil, and to some
extent has become naturalized in this country ; being found
in gravelly pastures and mowing fields, and occasionally by
roadsides, in loose places, where the surface has been dis-
turbed or removed. In its native state the root is small,
slender and fibrous or woody, of no value, and even of
questionable properties as an article of food."

The average result of several analyses of the Carrot as
given by Dr. Voelcker, is as follows : —
Water, - - - - -

Albuminous Compounds, -

rat, .-.-._

Pcctinc, - - -

I

6 CARROTS, MANGOLDS, AND SUGAR BEETS.

Cellular Fiber, - - - - - 3.5

Sugar, - - - - - - 6.5

Ash, -..--.. >9

THE LOCATION AND SOIL.

It is important in selecting a location for the Carrot bed
that the land should be nearly level, as otherwise the seed
will be liable to wash out after heavy showers, and the plants
while young be either washed out or covered with soil and
killed. The land should be clear of all large rocks, and as far
as possible of all stones up to the size of a hen's egg. The
presence of large rocks 'in place,' as the geologists say, would
interfere with the continuity of the rows, while the loose
stones are not only always in the way while raking and plant-
ing the bed, but are also in the way of the slide or wheel hoes
which are apt to knock them against the young plants to
their injury. It is important that the piece of ground select-
ed for a crop that will require so much manure and labor
should have every advantage possible in its favor ; it should
not only be level and comparatively free from stones, but it-
possible should have been previously under high cultivation,
that it may come to Carrots when in high condition.

The best soil, particularly for the Long Orange variety,
is a loam mellow to the depth of two feet or more. On such
soil the Carrot will perfect itself, growing straight and alto-
gether beautiful to look upon, as they stretch from side to
side of the bushel boxes. On some market gardens near
■critical markets, farmers find it for their interest to ascertain
by actual experiment on what part of their grounds the root
will grow longest and straightest, and when such plot is found
make it a permanent bed. If the soil does not naturally
grow a long carrot and they are desired, the end may be at-
tained by trenching deep and adding sand. The difference

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 7

in the shape of the Long Orange, when grown on a deep
mellow loam, and on a heavy soil with a compact sub-soil, is
so remarkable that it would be almost impossible to make an
inexperienced persqn believe each lot was from the same
seed, — those grown on the heavy soil, resting on a com-
pact sub-soil, oftentimes so closely resembling the- Inter-
mediate varieties as not to be distinguished from them.
Though the course is not on the whole to be advised, yet
Carrots can be raised on freshly turned sod. Such land will
be very free from weeds, and by making good use of the
wheel harrow, and applying manure in a very fine state,
should the season be a moist one, fair crOps may be raised.
Reclaimed meadows in a good state of cultivation, which
are well-drained to the depth of thirty inches, will oftentimes
grow crops, large in bulk, but the individual rodts are often-
times inclined to "sprangle," and unless such meadows
have been well drained, and liberally covered with sand or
gravelly loam, they are apt to be spongy and inferior. When
grown on land inclining to clay, they are apt to be small and
woody in structure ; still, such land, if made friable by good
underdraining and the application of sand may be made
fair carrot ground.

THE MANURE AND ITS APPLICATION.

All root crops delight in most liberal manuring and the
highest of cultivation. Carrots are no exception to this rule.
With every crop, other conditions being equal, it is tJie la <f
half of the manure gives the profits; and the more costly the
cultivation required the more important it is that this golden
fact be born^ in mind. Though chemical analysis shows dif-
ference in the composition of all roots, and that there is
therefore an office for special manures, yet their general
composition is so nearly alike, and animal manures, most of

8 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

which contain in greater or less proportion, all the elements
required, are so difficult to handle in just the proportions that
would be required from the chemical standpoint, particularly
when we consider that soils on which root crops are grown
are usually rich in manures, varying in their chemical constit-
uents, left over from former crops ; — for this reason I treat of
manure by the cord and with reference to its comparative
strength, bulk for bulk, rather than of its chemical elements.
Eight cords of good stable manure, nine cords of a com-
post made of one part night soil to two parts muck or loam ;
twelve cords of a compost made of one-third fish waste, by
which I mean the heads and back-bones of the fisheries, and
two-thirds soil ; eight cords of muscle mud ; six or eight
cords of rotten kelp — either of these applied to an acre of
land in good condition by previ dus high cultivation would
be sufficient lor a good crop of carrots. Other manures
might be mentioned, but these will serve as a pretty good
•measure of vakie for any kind accessible to farmers in gener-
al To produce a very large crop such as one would like to be
able to point to when premium crops are called for, add from
one quarter to one-half to the above quantities. The condi-
tion of the manure is a matter of importance ; the stable ma-
nure should be good ; not half bedding, not burnt, neither
too coarse nor too new ; the night soil should have been well
mixed with the soil in the compost heap, and have been pitched
over twice with sufficient intervals between to allow it to devel-
op some heat. The fish waste should be well decomposed,
so well that all but the bones should have disappeared, and if
these be very dark and brittle so much the better. The mus-
cle mud should be rich in dead muscles. In all farming it
is important that the manures applied should be in a fine con-
dition mechanically, and particularly is this true of root crops.
For the roots of all plants can take up only such parts of the

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. g

manure as are dissolved in water, and the finer the manure
is the more readily can water penetrate it.

A man who is unfortunately short of manures can mate-
rially increase the capacity of 'what he has by working it over
until it is very fine.

When short of a supply of animal manure, guano and
good phosphates, where the soil is already in good condition
can be used with success, provided the season does not prove
to be too dry a one. From eight hundred to a thousand
pounds of Peruvian guano and from ten to fifteen hundred
pounds of the best phosphates should be used. The fa-
mous fertilizer formulas of Prof. Stockbridge have generally
done so well I should be willing to try them on an acre of.
Carrots, were I short of other manures.

There is another matter concerning our manures which
requires attention ; if they are too fresh or crude they will be
apt, if applied to our long growing varieties, to drive the
growth too much into the top of the Carrot, to the loss of the
root, giving us tops to our knees with roots about the size of
anoe handle. It is important therefore, when used liber-
ally, that they should be somewhat decomposed — that the
mixtures should be composts, as far as the time will allow, and
not mere mixtures. To the shorter varieties the crude ma-
nure may be applied with a degree of safety. Here let me
note a fact that I think is of general application in farming,
viz. : — that a style of manuring that will drive tall growing
varieties of vegetable nearly all to tops or vine, with dwarf
varieties of the same kind will work admirably. The Pea is
a very good illustration ; to get a good crop of Dwarf Tom
Thumb, manure liberally, but the same quantity applied to
the taller sorts would drive them excessively into vine at
the expense of the crop.

Don't make your compost heap on the ground where
the crop is to grow, for the result will be no crop where the

lQ CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

heap stands. For the same reason it is bad policy to cart out
any strong manure to stand on the land in heaps, no matter
how small, over winter. There will be nothing lost by spread-
ing the manure over the surface before the ground is frozen.
In getting it into the soil, keep it as near the surface as possi-
ble without its interfering with the planting of the seed, bear-
ing in mind the nitrogen, that element in manures, about the
loss of which by evaporation there is much uncalled for anxi-
ety tends to work down into the soil. If the manure is coarse
it may be applied to the surface in the Fall and be deeply
ploughed in, and in the Spring again brought to the sur-
face by ploughing equally deep, having meanwhile received
the benefits of frost and moisture.

In applying guano or the phosphates, keep them near
the surface, scattering them broadcast and raking or harrow-
ing in. It is best not to apply either of these all at once, —
particularly is this true of guano. Apply about half at the
time of sowing, and the remainder when the crop is about
one-third grown — following it with the slide hoe, which will
tend to work it in just under the surface. In applying guano
and all similar fine manures in the Spring time, it is well to
do so early in the day, as winds are apt to rise as the day ad-
vances, which seriously interfere with the economical appli-
cation and even distribution. Both phosphates and guano
tend to hasten the maturity of the crops to which they are
applied. There is one condition that has a very important
bearing on the cost of Carrots and all roots, viz. : — that
both the ground and manure should be as free from all weed
seed as possible. For this reason ground recently from the
sod, the third year, provided it lias been kept under a high
state of cultivation, and such manures which from their very
nature must be comparatively free from the seed of weeds,
such as fish composts, night soil, or barn manure a year old,
are to be ^referred.

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. II

Dr. Voelcker gives the result of 10 analyses of the
ashes of the root and 2 of the ashes of the leaves of the
Carrot, ancj from these deduces the following as the num-
ber of pounds of mineral matter taken from an acre of land,
by 10 tons of roots and 4 tons of tops.

Potash, Soda, Lime, Phosphoric Acid,

1 16 lbs 86 lbs. 101 lbs. 31 lbs.

Sulphuric Acid, Chlorine,

34 lbs. 31 lbs.

To those who desire to experiment with mineral manures
this table will be interesting as showing the kinds and propor-
tion of each needed. The potash is found iif unleeched ashes,
at the rate of 4 or 5 pounds to the bushel ; or in the German
Potash salts ; the soda and chlorine in common salt, (chlo-
ride of sodium) ; lime in the common lime of the mason,
the Phosphoric acid in the phosphates offered in the markets,
and the Sulphuric acid in that directly or in common finely
ground plaster, known by chemists as Sulphate of Lime.

I shall have occasion to present some very valuable sug-
gestions of the learned Professor, under the head of "The
Manure" in my article on Mangolds, to which they more es-
pecially apply.

The greatest single item in the cost of any crop is
the manure, but this is an exceedingly varying element.
Farmers near cities, and particularly if they also reside
near the sea-coast, as an off-set for the greater cost of farm-
ing-land and expenses of living, have the advantages of a city
market and special facilities for collecting manures, at a cost
to them, much below the standard value of stable manure.
Night soil to- almost an unlimited extent, can be obtained for
the cost of collecting it, while the waste material of the fish-
eries, Kelp, Rock Weed, Muscle Mud, Glue Waste, Sugar
House Waste, and the products of the distilleries, these and

12 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS,

other rich fertilizers can be procured at so low a figure, in
proportion to their value, that root crops can be raised con-
siderably cheaper than in farming districts not so favored.
Many a man can be found in these favored districts who
thinks he is making a good business at farming, yet could he
but sell the manure he gathers so cheaply, at its market value,
barn manure being the standard, he would make money by
doing so and folding his arms the rest of the year. The fact is
he is really losing money at farming ; but through his crops
he is selling what cost him but a trifle, at a price, indeed,
below its real value, but still so far in advance of cost as to
leave a profit. Such a man does wisely in the course he
pursues though he makes a mistake in the debtor and cred-
itor side of the account, for it is most decidedly wiser to be
at work than idle, though the result makes no difference in
the dollars in a man's pocket.

PREPARING THE BED.

The great object here should be to get the soil thorough-
ly fine that the small, thread-like fibers, and the roots them-
selves, may waste the least possible vital power in permeating
the earth in search of food, or in pushing downwards. The
vitality wasted in this way is just so much taken from growth,
and may make the sole difference between a good crop and
a poor one. If it is necessary that the first ploughing should
be a very deep one, better apply the manure, (as previously
stated, the finer mechanical condition this is in the better)
afterwards. Should the manure be to any degree coarse after
spreading, run the brush or wheel harrow over it, one or
both. This will also break up the clods and fine up the soil
and incorporate the manure with it. If still at all lumpy, fol-
low with a plank drag. Next plow shallow a few furrows, and
Have men, with wooden-toothed hand rakes, rake at right an-

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 1 3

gles, pulling all coarse stones and lumps of earth and manure
into the last furrow made. In brief, proceed to make as fine
a seed bed as for onions.

If any one, depending on the apparent fineness of the
surface, concludes to dispense with the final raking and let
the work of the brush harrow answer, he will be apt to re-
pent it before the season closes ; should he try it let him be
sure to double the quantity of seed planted in that portion
of the land so treated. If the bed has its first ploughing
early in the season, much of the weed seed will germinate
before planting time and an occasional use of the cultivator
will destroy many of the pests,

WHEN TO PLANT.

Some of our best farmers advocate planting about the
middle of May, others equally successful in root culture
claim that the middle of June is the best time. There are
arguments for both early and. late planting. In New Eng-
land we usually have the weather sufficiently moist towards
the close of May to insure the germination of the seed and
protect the plants when they break ground, from "sun-scald."
Those planted as late as the middle of June are more liable
to be so affected by the dry weather usual at that period as
not to vegetate as well ; and should the heat be very great
just after they push through the ground, sometimes in a sin-
gle day nearly the entire crop will disappear by "sun-scald."
But on the other hand, by planting late we about get rid of
one weeding, assuming that the ground is stirred by the cul-
tivator occasionally, up to the time of planting. Again, this
brings the crop in full vigor in October, the month of all
others most favorable for the growth of the root, and the
Carrots being dug while the tops are in fair growing condi-
tion, keep better than when dug fully ripe. The argument

14 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

for late planting holds especially good for the Short Horn va-
rieties, as these require a shorter time to mature than the long
kinds. If the crop is planted too early, sometimes the roots
having matured, will attempt to push seed shoots ; when this
is so they will be found woody in their structure, with num-
berless thread-like roots while their quality and keeping pro-
perties are greatly injured. This crop on rich land is some-
times planted as late as the first week in July, and with great
success, should the Fall prove exceptionably mild, yet, as a
rule, I would not recommend planting later than the mid-
dle of June. If it so happens, from press of work, or the
dry weather, the farmer has to plant later than this, then by
all means let him confine himself to the earlier varieties.

THE SEED AND THE PLANTING OF IT.

To grow seed, medium-sized roots should be selected,
that are well-grown, straight and symmetrical, of a rich, dark
orange color, with a small, compact top. Plant in rows three
and a half feet apart and fifteen inches in the row, the
crowns being on a level with the surface. If the roots are
long they may be laid slanting in the furrows. The best seed
will be from the two first cuttings, which will come from the
center of the main stock and of each side shoot.

The seed grows with a covering of small, short, stiff hairs,
which makes them adhere together ; these must be very thor-
oughly removed Defore the seed can be relied upon to flow
freely from the machine. Much of foreign grown seed reache 3
this country not properly cleaned. To remove this furze,
either thrash the seed with the flail very thoroughly, when the
weather is quite cold and dry, or warm the seed slightly and
rub it with the hand against the wires of a sieve, of a right
degree of fineness to let the hairs fall through. Either win-
now, or sink in water, to remove all impurities. If sunk, be

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 1 5

careful to dry the seed at a very moderate temperature ; rub-
bing with plaster, charcoal or earth dust will absorb what mois-
ture may remain when nearly dry. As Carrot seed vegetates
somewhat slowly and the plants are quite small when they
first appear, weeds are apt to get the start of them before the
rows can be seen with sufficient distinctness to make it safe
to use the slide hoe. For this reason many farmers practice
soaking the seed in water and keeping it at a temperature
that will nearly develop the sprout, before planting. This
may be done by soaking the seed from 36 to 48 hours in
milk warm, rather strong manure water, then removing it to
where the air is of about the same temperature. Stir it slight-
ly for a few days, and finally dry it sufficiently to drop freely
from the machine by adding plaster, charcoal or dust. Cam-
phor has a wonderful effect in stimulating the vitality of seed,
and the addition of a small quantity of it to the manure
water would doubtless be of advantage. This process should
not be carried so far as to develop the sprout. Should the
surface of the ground be very dry when the seed is sown,
this soaking process may be fatal, for if the germ is once
started it will not live in a dormant state ; it must either
grow or die : whereas, seed that have not been soaked will
vegetate after rains wet the dry surface. Be sure that the
seed planter has a good roller attached to it, and not a
mere coverer, as this will help confine the moisture and thus
materially aid in developing the seed.

QUANTITY TO THE ACRE.

Tables vary greatly, some advising as high as four pounds
to the acre. If the design is to raise small-sized roots for
early marketing, possibly this might not be an excess of seed,
but to advise so heavy seeding for ordinary field crops, means
that much of the seed is poor trash, probably old and worth-
less, and put in as a make-weight.

1 6 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

Some years ago a party wrote me, offering a variety 0{
garden seed at a very low figure, and stated that it was of his
own raising. As it was a kind that I was in the habit of rais-
ing, I had the curiosity to write and ask how he could afford
to raise it at such a price. He replied that it was of his own
growing, but so old as to be good for nothing, and therefore
he sold it to seedsmen at a very low figure, to mix with their
good seed to help make weight! When four pounds of Carrot
seed are advised to the acre, for afield crop, I think that some
of this kind of seed must somehow have got into the mixture.
With everything favoring, and the farmer by experience having
his seed sower under perfect control, rather less than a pound
of seed will be sufficient for an acre. The great object to
aim at is, while having the plants thick enough, not to have
much of any thinning to do, as it costs about as much to thin
a crop as it does to weed it, with the drawback that the plants
left in the ground are more or less started, and so put back
by the thinning. As a general rule I would advise one and
one-half pounds of seed to the acre, and this the farmer can
reduce in proportion as he is favored by circumstances and
advances in experience.

Twelve inches is a sufficient distance between the rows
of the two small, early varieties, and fifteen between the rows
of all other sorts. With the greatest of care the seed will
not come up with mathematical precision. Some advocate
leaving a plant to about every inch of row ; others, to thin to
four inches apart. Carrots are somewhat like Onions in their
aptitude to grow to a good size when crowded, pushing out
either side of the rows, and at times crops will give great
bulk when the plants are nearer each other than four inches,
still, as a rule I advise thinning to near this distance, leaving
them thicker near vacant places.

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 1 7

VARIETIES, AND WHAT KINDS TO GROW.

Foreign catalogues give lists of about two dozen varie-
ties, which differ in earliness, size, color, form, termination of
root, characteristic of growing entirely under or partly above
ground, and in the size of the core or heart. In foreign cat-
alogues, what we call "Orange," are known as "Red" Car-
rots. From a test of these varieties I have thus far foun 1
nothing worthy of being added to the kinds already grown to
a greater or less extent in the United States. The yellow-
fleshed sorts are repudiated in New England by general con-
sent; yet the Yellow Belgian, on a limited trial has prove!
with me, to be an exceptionably good keeper- The Purple
or Blood-Red is of a deep purple color, a poor cropper and
by no means attractive to the eye. The remaining varieties
may be classed as follows : — Early, middling early and late.
The first class is made up of the Early Very Short Scarlet,
and the Early Scarlet Horn. The second class, of all the
half-long or short horn varieties, and the third, of the long
varieties, such as Long Orange, Belgian and Altringham
sorts.

In addition to about one-half of these foreign varieties,
cultivated more or less generally in this country, there are
several kinds catalogued by seedsmen, all of which are but
improved strains made by careful selections, through a series
of years, from what was originally imported stock. These
strains usually bear the name of some person. A brief dis-
cussion of the more valuable varieties will now be in order.
Here I will lay down three general facts, viz. : — ist, that of
the various orange colored varieties, the shorter growing kinds
are, as a rule, the darker colored and sweeter flavored. 2d,
that the proportion of dark, orange-colored roots in any
crop, while it will depend largely on the care that has been
used in the selection of seed stock for a series of years, does

iS

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

not turn wholly on this, but soil, season or manure, one or all
have some influence in this direction. 3d, that the fact that
more or less of the Carrots tend to push seed shoots the first
year, while with the long varieties it may prove that the seed
has been allowed to mix with the wild varieties, yet the prob-
ability, (marked cases excepted,) is decidedly the other
way ; while with the short horn varieties this tendency to
push seed shoots the first season, so as to make something
of a show when an acre is glanced over, is quite a common
characteristic with seed of the very purest strain.

EARLY VERY
SHORT SCAKLET.

EARLY SHOkT
SCARLET.

£KOKT HOk'.

_ONG OR.- >"GL.

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 1 9

Early Yery Short Scarlet, (see engraving.)

Early Short Scarlet Horn, (see engraving.) These
two varieties are the shortest grown and are raised at times
in forcing beds, for an early market, the former very gener-
ally so. They are of a very rich orange color, fine-grained,
sweet, and of excellent flavor, heading the list for quality.
Their rich color makes them valuable above all other kinds
for coloring butter. Though quite short, yet the Early Short
Scarlet Horn can be grown to yield a great bulk ot roots, from
the fact that from the smallness of their tops the roots can be
grown very thick, two or three abreast all along the rows.
When the small, handy size of this variety is considered in
connection with the superior quality, it stands foremost as a
table Carrot, and I therefore recommend it in preference to
all others for family use.

Short Horn. (See engraving.) This variety, interme-
diate between the Early Forcing and Long Orange, with but
slight variations in form, is shown under various names, as
Intermediate, Nantes, Half Long, James' Improved, Stump-
Rooted, &c. It is characterized by a darker color than the
average of the Long Orange, finer grain, and a sweeter and
richer flavor. In part from the more solid structure of the
Carrot, and in part from its better stowage, thirty-six meas-
ured bushels of this variety make a ton, while of the larger
varieties forty bushels are required. The best strain of this
variety is doubtless the kind known as the "Danvers" Carrot.

Danvers Carrot. In the town of Danvers, Mass.,
the raising of Carrots on an extensive scale, has for years
been quite a business — the farmers finding a large market
in the neighboring cities of Salem, Lynn and Boston. After
years of experimenting they settled upon a variety which orig-
inated among them (as did the Danvers Onion) known in
theii locality as the "Danvers Carrot." It is in form about

20

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

midway between the Long Orange and Short Horn class,
growing very generally with a stump root. The great problem
in Carrot growing is to get the greatest bulk with the smallest
length of root, and this is what the Danvers growers have
attained in their Carrot. Under their cultivation they raise
from twenty to forty tons to the acre. This Carrot is of a
rich, dark orange in color, very smooth and handsome, and
from its length, is easier to dig than the Long Orange. It is
a first-class Carrot for any soil.

Long Orange, or Long Surry. This is a standard
--ariety, and in its various strains is doubtless more generally
grown than any other kind. The chief objection to it is the
depth to which k penetrates the ground, and hence the extra

3r,~^'fe

DANVERS CARROT ALTRINGHAM. IMPROVED LONG ORANG-u

tARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

21

work of digging it ; while the end of the root which causes
the extra work is of inferior quality when compared with
-he body, differing in this respect from the shorter varieties,
which are of the same quality
throughout. The heart is larger in
proportion than in the shorter vari-
eties, which is considered an objec-
tion. The keeping properties are
excellent, and in this respect it is
superior to the earlier kinds. On
light soil the roots grow long, straight
and make a fine show in the market.

Altringham. This is a Carrot of

excellent quality for the table, the
flesh being of a rich orange color,
crisp and sweet, but as a cropper it
is inferior to the Intermediate or
Long Orange varieties, and hence is
but little cultivated.

Large White Belgian, This is
the largest of all varieties and will
yield at least a quarter more than
any other sort. The roots grow sev-
eral inches out of ground, and all
can be readily pulled by the hand.
Analysis shows that it is nearly as
sweet as the Mangold Wurtzel, rather
sweeter than the Swede Turnip, and
about two thirds as sweet as the Su-
gar Beet. The two objections to it
large white Belgian are its color and its keeping proper-
ties ; it being rather a poor keeper, while the color has
made it a carrot for horses rather than cows. If farmers
have but a small quantity of manure, the White Belgian is
?, good variety for them to raise for feeding early in the winter.

22 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

THE CULTIVATION, AND THE IMPLEMENTS
NEEDED.

Just as soon as the young plants can be detected break-
ing ground, the prudent farmer will push the slide hoe, and
have his boy weeders follow immediately after it on hands
and knees. Boys that have had a little experience, with their
nimble fingers can do more work than men, while their wages
are only about half as much. On the sea-coast we hire boys
who make a business of weeding, for from seventy-five cents
to a dollar a day. The one great danger in hiring boys, is that
careless ones are apt to break off the weeds instead of pull-
ing them up by the roots. To ascertain their comparative
faithfulness, it is well to quietly mark a few rows of the diff-
erent weeders, at their first weeding, and by the time for the
second weeding the difference between a good and a bad
boy will be very plainly visible.

Don't accept that theory of the shiftless man, that it is
well to have the weeds grow pretty tall before the first weed-
ing, that the plants may be protected from the sun. I have
noticed that oftentimes those who act on this theory give
over their weeding, and plough up the bed before they have
half finished it. Promptness in the first hoeing and weed-
ing is exceedingly important in the management of all root
crops, and it is where the great mistake is apt to be made in
their cultivation.

There are a few implements that are specially needed in
the cultiva-
tion of root

crops, and of *a=u^Ss^^^-/y

these every

wis- iarmer

will rret the slide hoe,

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

23

very best attainable. These implements are the Seed Sower,
the Hand Weeder, the Slide Hoe, the common Wheel Hoe,
and one for weeding both sides of a row at the same time. Of
these there are a great many varieties, each of which are more
or less popular among a class of growers. The engravings
illustrate such as are in use in my own section of country,
where root culture forms a very important part of the agri-
culture of farmers. Both the slide and the wheel hoe, for
rapid work, far surpass the common hand hoe, while they
cut up the
weeds equally
clear. The
wheel hoe is
used until the
tops of the
crops become
so large as to
be in the way, wheel kce

when the slide hoe takes its place. Each should be two
inches narrower than the space between the rows. A
slide hoe is an amazing handy implement about a farm for
many uses other than between the rows of root crops. A
new class of inplements lave been introduced within a few
years which, to a degree, supersede the use of the common

wheel or slide hoc.
though there is yet a
valuable sphere for
each of them ; I refer
to the weedcrs which
cut each Fide of the
Goodwin's wheel hoe. row at tb.c same time

I have tested every variety of these and have thus far found
none do such good, practical work as the homeliest look-
ing one of them all, viz. : the Goodwin wheel hoe. These

24

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

.^oe.) which take each side of the row at once cannot safely
be made to go over the ground as fast as those designed for
use between the rows, but working close home to the grow-
ing crop, they save a large portion of the cost of hard weed
fng. Of seed drills
there are a dozen or
more in the market,
several of which I have
used on my farms. I
prefer Matthew's over
all others. Among
other advantages it ^^
can be relied upon to Matthews seed sower.

drop almost any variety of small seed, while it is a good cov-
»jrer, and having a roller attached, it packs the earth over

the seed, which, as
every farmer knows,
tends to keep the
moisture in and thus
noyes' weeder hastens their germi-

nation. The hand weeder is an excellent little implement
to facilitate the laborious work of weeding, especially when
the surface is baked and therefore rather hard on the fingers.

GATHERING AND STORING THE CROP.

One of the greatest outlays attending the raising of Car-
rots is in the gathering and topping of the crop. The com-
mon process of digging with a fork and throwing into piles tc
be afterwards topped is laborious and costh*. The labor and
consequent cost may be greatly lessened by first cutting off
the tops by a sharp shovel, spade or common hoe, or a slide
hoe which has been weighted by a piece of lead pipe, or
some similar heavy article, slid down the handle and fastened
where that unites with the hoe. Should a slice be taken off

CARROTS, IVi^NGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 25

the tops of the roots it will do no harm, as Carrots differ in
this respect from other roots, in that, when the tops are cut
they are not apt to rot ; indeed, some practice cutting off
a slice of the root when topping, to keep them from sprout-
ing so readily when stored.

Let the crop remain out as late as it can be risked with-
out freezing ; and it they are in good growing condition
this will be well towards November, in the latitude of cen-
tral New England, and even into the first week of that
month in the milder temperature of the sea-coast. Roots
not fully matured will keep better than those fully ripe when
dug, on the principle that the varieties of apples we call "win-
ter" apples are simply those kinds that do not ripen on the
tree, — they are not winter apples, because they are Baldwins,
or Greenings, for these same kinds in the South where the
ripening season is longer, are Fall apples. If the carrots have
been planted too early they will ripen before digging and be
apt to prove poor keepers, besides losing the advantage of
October weather which is the carrot month, doing more for
the weight of the late planted crop than all the season be-
sides.

Rake the tops off the bed but do not waste them for
they are highly relished by animals, and if the carrots are
harvested when they ought to be, to keep well, that is, when
in good growing condition, there will be a great weight of
tops, sometimes as high as a quarter of the weight of roots ;
and this mass of green fodder, coming at a time when the
fields are usually bare of grasses, will prove very valuable and
acceptable food for the cows. The common way of gather-
ing the crop, by loosening with spades or forks and then
pulling out by the tops, throwing into heaps or scattering
over the ground and afterwards topping with a knife, is a
long and costly job. An improvement on digging is to run
a plough close to the row and then pull out as many as pos-

26 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

sible by hand and dig up the remainder. Still a better course
particularly when the Danvers variety is grown, is, beginning
in the middle of the piece, to run a subsoil plough close
home to the roots, when, if run sufficiently deep it will lift
the carrots a little out of the ground. Follow with forks or
hoes, and draw the roots inward on the ploughed portion, so
far as to give room for the horse to walk. Let the roots re-
main a few hours scattered over the surface, when in picking
up and tossing them into carts or baskets, any earth adhering
will be jarred off. In storing, one fact must be borne in
mind ; that carrots will heat, sprout and rot, under circum-
stances in which Mangolds would keep sound and uninjured.
I have several times lost quantities when buried in the ground
where Mangolds and common table Beets, under precisely
the same conditions, have kept perfectly sound. If the crop
is to be fed at once, they may be dumped into the cellar or
barn floor in the most expeditious way without reference to
the depth of the heap ; but if to be fed into the winter, then
all depth of the heap above two and a half to three feet
means a proportionate increase of danger of heating, sprout-
ing an,d rotting, and so much greater care to air the cellar in
cool, dry weather. I need hardly state that cellars for keep-
ing carrots and all roots should be free from standing water,
and as cool as possible without actually freezing. If the
bottom is damp, then put down a rough flooring. When the
roots are large they will keep sufficiently better to pay for the
extra trouble, if they are piled "heads and points" to the
height of two and a half feet, with a slight space for air be-
tween the piles. If there are not cellar conveniences for
storing the entire crop, with a good protection of hay under
and around them, a few tons may be stored, for early feeding,
in the barn, provided it is a warm one.

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 27

RAISING CARROTS WITH ONIONS.

I transfer from my Treatise on Onions, a paragraph rel-
ative to growing carrots with onions.

The plan of raising carrots with onions is considered a
great improvement by many who have adopted it, as the yield
of carrots is thought to be clear gain, diminishing but little or
none the yield of onions. Carrots are planted in two ways ;
one by sowing them in drills between every other row of
onions, and the other, which is considered an improvement,
called the Long Island plan, by planting the onions in hills
from seven to eight inches from center to center, dropping a
number of seed in each hill, and from the first to the twelfth
of June planting the carrot seed, usually by hand, between
these hills in two rows, then skipping one, and thus on
through the piece. The onions, as they are pulled are thrown
into every third row, the carrots being left to mature. By
this method from 'two to six hundred bushels of carrots are
raised per acre in addition to the usual crop of onions. More
manure is required ior the two crops than for the onions
alone.

The machine used for sowing in drills has two boxes at-
tached to the axle at equi-distance from the wheels ; there
are three or four holes in the axle that communicate with the
seed in the boxes, and as these holes pass under the boxes
they are filled with seed, and as they turn the seed are drop-
ped into the earth. Screws are sunk into the holes, which
can be sunk more or less at pleasure, and the quantity of seed
which the holes will contain is thus graded.

The machine should first be tested and so regulated that
on a barn floor it will drop from eleven to twelve seed from
each hole. When so regulated, on using in the field it will
drop but from seven to twelve, owing to the more uneven, mo-
tion.

2 8 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

MARKETING AND FEEDING.

In the cities there is a large market for carrots as feed
for horses, it being very generally accepted that a few given
daily or every other day, aids the digestion of grain-fed ani-
mals, adds to the gloss of the hair, and are of special medic-
inal value. The largest, smoothest and darkest orange col-
ored roots sell the best in the market. The price varies all
the way from ten to twenty dollars a ton of 2000 pounds, de-
pending in part on the value of hay. Where the quantity fed
daily is small a large knife or a shovel will answer to cut them
up in pieces of suitable size ; but if the quantity amounts to
several bushels daily, then a root-cutter will be needed.
There are two classes of these, one for sheep, and the other
for large stock, the essential difference being that those de-
signed to cut roots for sheep cut into smaller pieces. Of
those designed to cut roots for large stock, the Whittemore
machine is as good a machine as any, having a capacity to
cut up a bushel in about half a minute. Among farmers
there is much unnecessary fear about the danger of animals
choking while feeding on apples, potatoes and roots. For
the last ten years I have fed to my cows not far from three
hundred tons of squashes, potatoes and roots, ( mostly
squashes) and never yet lost an animal or had any very seri-
ous trouble from choking. My habit is to feed them while
quietly in their stalls, with a division board between the feed
of each. All cases of choking that have come to my notice
have occurred where '/he animal was suddenly disturbea
while eating. There is a great difference of opinion as to
how many roots can be fed to stock daily without injuring
them. The proportion will depend somewhat on the consti-
tutional peculiarities of individual cows, but when the bowels
are all right the appetite of the animal is probably the safest
guide. I have had a large and extended experience in feed-

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR LEETS. 29

ing squashes to milch cows, — the Boston Marrow, Hubbard
and other varieties ; beginning with half a bushel to each
animal, I increase the quantity until the daily consumption
has averaged a hundred pounds a day to each. Under
such heavy feeding, after a while their appetites clog some-
what, but I am inclined to the opinion that, beginning with a
moderate feed, they would soon readily eat seventy-five
pounds daily with a relish, for as long a period as they migl.t
last. When feeding Carrots or any roots, the most economi"
cal method is to give meadow or salt hay, with a small quan-
tity of flax-seed or cotton-seed meal. The effect of the roots
and these rich meals is to give to these inferior varieties
of hay, the nutritious value of the best upland English.

Is/LJ^JSTO-OTLJD -wtt^tzieXjS.

What is a Mangold Wurtzel? A number of years ago
I raised a piece of Early Turnip Beet seed in a very isolated
location ; there was not another piece of Beet seed growing
within half a mile, at the least. A good deal of the seed
wasted, as is usual when the seed is allowed to ripen well on
lhe stock before cutting. From this waste seed thousands of
young plants sprang up, many of which survived the winter,
by the help of the protection of chickweed and snow. They
had got so far along when ploughing time came, I left the
piece unploughed, thinning them out that they might pro*
duce early beets. As the season advanced a good many of
them pushed seed shoots and ripened a crop of seed. Some
of the seed I gathered and the next season planted it to see
what it would produce. The crop was "everything ;" all the
way from a nice, dark colored Early Turnip Beet, through
different sizes, colors and forms, up to a light-fleshed Man-
gold Wurtzel. As the original Beets were a very pure Turnip
Beet, and during several years of careful cultivation for seed
purposes had shown no admixture with any other variety, the
experiment proved either that the coarse variety of Stock
Beet, which we call Mangold Wurtzel are but sports from
our fine-grained table Beets, or that the Beet class are
sports from Mangolds, — most probably the former.

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 31

Mangold Wurtzels differ from table Beets in their gen-
eral coarseness of structure, and the larger size to which they
grow, the elements which enter into the composition of each
being the same in kind. I have grown an ordinary Turnip
Beet to weigh twenty-three pounds, and of the size of a half
bushel measure. At times, on rich, friable soil, the Long
Blood Beet will attain to large proportions, but when led by
such results to attempt to get equal weight with Mangolds,
under first-rate conditions, the experiment, with me, has uni-
formly failed. Still, when quality is wanted, in the fattening
of hogs for instance, I am not certain but that the food ob-
tained from an acre of the large variety of table Beets, may
not be more than that obtained from an equal acre in
Mangolds.

What is a Sugar Beet? The term "Sugar Eeet" is an un-
fortunate one, as the word "Sugar" had already been appro-
priated to express the sweet flavor of the varieties of Beets
raised for table use, while the word Beet is strictly a misno-
mer, the vegetable Sugar Beet being in reality a Mangold
Wurtzel. A generation ago our fathers used the term "Sugar"
as a familiar designation for any sweet variety of beet raised
for table use, and at the present by the great majority of the
public the term is still so used. As the new industry of man-
ufacturing sugar from the beet grew on the continent of Eu-
rope, seedsmen were called upon to supply for commerce
seed of the best variety for this purpose. It was necessary
that this variety should be as free as possible from all coloring
substance as this would, as a matter of course, give a stain to
the juice, and impose on the manufacturer the labor of puri-
fying it. The ones at first selected were the long, white
Mangold Wurtzels, and these were called the "Sugar" Beet
in commercial parlance. These white Mangolds were not
entirely white, the portion that grew above ground being us-
ually colored a light green by exposure to the sun's rays ; it

32

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

became therefore an object for the manufacturer to still im-
prove on them to the end that all the coloring should be
eliminated. The intelligence and enterprise of the seedsmen
of Europe responded to this want, and in the course of a
few years two prominent varieties were produced, that have
nearly completely satisfied it, — one of these was sent out by
the estimable house of Vilmorin Andrieux c\: Co., of Pari.,
and is named "Vilmorin's New Improved White," and the
other "White Imperial Extra," by the distinguished German
house of Ernest Benary.

These improved Sugar Beets of commerce grow nearly
entirely under ground, and when grown these beets define
themselves to be the Mangold variety, by the coarser struc-
ture of the root, the stouter ribs and the greater coarseness
of the leaves, which spring in larger masses directly from the
crown, than is the case with beets for the table.

The moral of all this for my farmer friends is, that if you
want a beet for table use do not order "Sugar Beet" or you
will be very likely to find a Mangold growing in your garden,
a return, but not a recompense for the sweat and toil of the
husbandman.

VARIETIES.

About twenty varieties are catalogued by seedsmen, many
of which are but strains of the same kind, bearing the name
of the grower, who by careful cultivation has endeavored to
improve it. Classified by form they come under three classes,
vjz> . — the long^ the round and the ovoid or intermediate
varieties. Classified by color we have the red or scarlet, the
pink, the yellow or orange, and the white varieties.

The Long Varieties. — Among the more prominent
of these are the Ox Horn, the common Long Red, Sutton's

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

33

m

Imperial, Norbiton Giant, Long Egyptian, Carter's Improved

the Long Yellow, and the Siles-
ian varieties of Sugar Beet. The
Ox Horn is a very crooked grow-
ing variety, as its name would
imply, with a small diameter in

proportion to its great length.
Growing almost wholly out of
ground it curves about so in
the row as to be decidedly in
the way, is apt to break when
pulled and in addition to these
defects, storing very badly, it is
not in any way desirable. The
Norbiton Giant, Carter's Mam-
moth Long Red, Sutton's Impe-
rial, and Long Elvethan are im-
provements over the common
Long Red in a greater uniform-
ity in their habit of growth, their
size, and a less liability to grow
hollow at the top at the ad-

I

Ik

vanced stage of growth.

TI13 Round Tarieties. — In

these are included the common
Red and Yellow Globe, with
some of the under-ground vari-
eties of the Sugar Beet.

Ovoid are either red or yel-
low in color and are intermediate
in form between the long and the round kinds.

What Kinds to Grow. — In this country the Long
Red are the most popular, particularly Ihe Norbiton Giant

LONG RED MANGOLD.

34

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

variety. While
travelling in Eng-
land, Ireland and
France, for inquiry
and observation, I
found that the
round and ovoid
varieties were more
generally cultivat-
ed than the long
sorts. In my ex-
perience the ovoid
varieties incline
to grow smooth-
er than the long
kinds and htnce
are likely to bring
up less earth with
them, which on
heavy soil is a
matter of so m e
moment. I think of the two kinds the yellow, under the
same circumstances, makes the larger root. The long va-
rieties pile better in the cellar, while the round or ovoids cut
up rather more readily, appear less inclined to rot at the top,
and are firmer fleshed. The globe and ovoid varieties ap-
pear to be best adapted to hard and shallow soils, and of
these the Yellow Globe and Ovoid are especially valuable,
as they are better keepers than most sorts and remain sound,
without sprouting, until late into the spring, and with special
care may be kept even into the summer season.

The long Silesian varieties of Sugar Beet vary from
each other only in the color of the part exposed above
ground. — being green, grey or red. The kind intro-

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

•5

■duced to the American public a few years ago, under
the name of Lane's Improved American Sugar Beet, is a
strain of the Long White Mangold. The improved varieties
of Germany and France yield about double the per centage
of sugar that is found in the common Mangold, in some
crops the proportion
being as high as thir-
teen per cent. This
would make the Sugar
Beets of double the
value of Mangolds for
stock, but unfortu-
nately, the roots ru-
der like conditions of
cultivation, average
"but half the weight of
Mangolds.

As this treatise is
about roots as food for
stock, the cultivation
of beet for the manu-
facture of sugar is not globe mangold.
within its sphere, yet I must express surprise that with the
experience of Germany and France to draw from and our
own inventive skill and enterprise to add to it, we have not
as yet made marked advance in this department of manu-
facturing industry. The average percentage of sugar found
in analysis of beets grown in this country is exceptional)!}'
high. Land free from alkalies, of unbounded fertility, readily
accessible, being attainable at almost nominal cost, it is a
standing puzzle why we do not follow the example of other
countries and raise our own sugar rather than import it. Per-
haps the conundrum will be solved yet by some associate
enterprise among our farmers, similar to that which gave

30 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

birth to our cheese factory system ; the inducement in this
case being the home market that the sugar factory would af-
ford for unlimited areas of beets, while the refuse pulp would
enable them to increase greatly the number of their neat
stock, to the advantage of the manure pile and enlargement
of their area of tillage.

THE SOIL AND ITS PREPARATION.

In the matter of soil, Mangold Wurtzels will accept a
greater latitude than any other root ; thriving on every va-
riety, all the way from light loam to muck, and from that to
as strong a clay as is sufficiently friable for tillage. Muck
(properly drained) and a strong loam are best suited to de-
velop pounds of crop. Though the crop grown in the light-
er soil is not so great, it is much sweeter than when grown
on heavy soil, and when extraordinary quantities of manure
have been applied, some of the heaviest crops on record have
been grown on light loam. The great crop of Mr. Fearing
< >f Hingham, of over sixty tons to the acre, was raised on a
sandy loam. Some years ago I took a purchaser into the
field where two lots of Mangolds were growing ; he selected
at once the large roots on the low land. I asked him to
taste a slice of those on the upland, when he at once changed
his preference. As a rule it will be found that those grown
on warm, upland soil are decidedly the sweeter and this fact
has an important bearing on the feeding value of the crop.

If the soil is in good heart for a foot in depth, plough it
to that depth before putting on the manure. After putting
on the manure, if coarse, it will be well to cut it up with
Randall's wheel -harrow before ploughing under. After cross
ploughing the manure four or five inches beneath the surface
the aim should be to make a good seed bed by getting the |

ce level and the soil li^ht and fine. On most soils this

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 37

can b~ accomplished by a liberal use of the wheel-harrow
followed by a fine-toothed, smoothing harrow and that by a
plank drag. An old barn door will sometimes answer for
this, but as it is an excellent implement on the farm it will be
well to have one. It should be about three feet wide and
six long, with one side about ten inches high, meeting the
bottom at an angle of forty-five degrees ; the planks had
better overlap slightly, as they will the better break the lumps
of earth. The team is to be hitched to ihe turned up side,
and the driver is to stand on the drag, driving it sideways
over the land. The effect of such a drag in breaking up
lumps and generally pulverizing the soil, will be found to be
much superior to that of any roller. Should the soil be ot
such a character or in such a condition that the harrow and
drag process will not make a good seed bed, there remains
no resource other than to prepare it as for onions, by raking
over the entire surface.

THE MANURE AND ITS APPLICATION.

The kind and quantities of food needed to grow any
vegetable is found by an analysis of that vegetable. Having
thus learned the kind and quantity needed for any crop, the
next step of the wise farmer will be to ascertain what ma-
nures contain the necessary constituents and which of these
contain them in the cheapest form. A little knowledge of
Chemistry, in its application to manures, is of incalculable val-
ue to the husbandman and no amount of experience and tra-
ditionary knowledge can serve as a substitute for it. I believe
that it is in this direction that the great advance in agricul-
ture will be made, and were there no other argument for
Agricultural colleges the fact that they are prepared to give
thorough instruction in this one department would be a suf-
ficient reason for their existence, and for their liberal patron-

3*

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR DEETS.

age by their several states. Prof. Yoelcker, an excellent aa
thority in everything that pertains to chemistry, in its appli
cation to agriculture, gives the following table as the average
composition of the ash of the principal root crops.

AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF THE ASH OF ROOTS.

a-3

IT.

Turnips.
Swedes.
Mangolds.

Carrots.
Parsnips.

38

49.8

7.3

n.7

,6

10.3

11. 8

1.2

7

3s-9

14.0

».8

o.3

i°-4

C3-7

1.9

12

18.4

5-9

4.8

c>.3

S-3

3-7

4.0

: '

10.4

'

9-5

1 .0

14.4

4-7

3.8

10

37-°

■' '•/

.0.9

1.0

11. 2

6.9

2.0

4

'■7

=■7

■w

6.0

i-3

i5-3

5-6

= •4

LEAF ASH.

37

27.6

5-i

33-2

2.6

-

3

21.9

12.3

30.2

3.2

M \N' iOLDS.

4

25.5

23-3

10.4

9-7

Si'(_,.\:<

7

21.9

16.6

19.5

18. 1

■ ITS.

7

17.6

18.2

32.1

3-9

,3

.,.

3-:.

6.4

4.3

5-4

7.2

3- 3

7-3

7-9

3-1

3-3

'

5.2

i7.8

5-7

' 3

rfhis table shows us that the Mangolds require the min-
eral ingredients of manure in the following order, when ar-
ranged with reference to their importance : — Potash, Soda,
Chlorine, Lime, Phosphoric Acid, Magnesia, Sulphuric Acid,
Silica. In addition to these minerals other substances enter
into the composition of Mangolds, the most important of
which is Nitrogen. Barn-yard manure contains a*bout all the
elements needed by vegetation, but not always in the right
proportion, therefore, when applying it, it is always profita-
ble to know the proportions of the minerals which enter into
crops that the deficiency may be supplied from other sou;
It is perhaps hardly necessary to say that unleached wood

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 39

ashes and the German Potash Salts, Sulphate and Muriate,
are the cheapest sources for Potash at present known, while
Soda and Chlorine are most cheaply obtained from the
waste salt of the fisheries. Of this I shall have more
to say presently when treating of salt as an auxiliary fertili-
zer. Lime is most cheaply obtained from the common Car-
bonate of Lime of the mason, either water or air slacked,
and this usually contains more or less of Magnesia. The
great source of Phosphoric Acid is the bones of animals or
coprolites, by which is meant the fossilized bones and dung
of extinct animals ; Sulphuric Acid is most cheaply obtained
from Plaster, which is Sulphate of Lime.

Some hold great benefit is derived by the crop
of the following year, from ploughing under the leases
as soon as the roots are topped; the value of this is just
what the analyses of our table shows. The large crops
reported as raised in this country, have been raised on soil
raimng from light to a friable clay loam and have receive 1
all the way from eight to fifteen cords of barn-yard manure
to the acre. In some instances this has been all ploughed
in ; in others half spread broadcast and ploughed in and th :
other half put in the furrows. When coarse and unferment-
ed I would advise a deep ploughing of it under, in the Fall
As with Carrots, other waste substances can be used as sub-
stitutes for barn-yard manure, care being taken, eithei that
such waste substances are specially rich in Potash, Soda and
Chlorine, or that these substances be added. The equiva-
lents given are roughly estimated under the article treating
of the manure for Carrots and will be suvrl :ient for practical
purposes; I therefore make no further allusions to these
cheap wastes as sources for manure, further than to mention
that sea manures are specially rich in potash and soda.

Of all roots Mangolds are the rankest feeders, removing
more plant iyi I from the soil than any oth :r root crop. Th :

4Q CARROT, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

crop of Mr. Albert Fearing, of Hingham, Mass., was sixty
tons of roots, and if the tops were in the usual proportion,
of about one-third, they weighed twenty tons more, giv-
ing the enormous yield of eighty tons of green food from
one acre of ground. The crop raised on Deer Island, in
Boston harbor, was about seventy tons to the acre ; with a
like proportion of tops the total yield must have been over
a hundred tons. In the sewage farms of England eighty
tons of roots have been raised on an acre of ground. Fear-
ing applied fifteen cords of manure to his acre of ground ; of
the quantity applied to the Deer Island crop I regret I have
not the data at hand.

If the mere bulk alone was to be aimed at in the crop,
the problem would be a very simple one, but there a:e three
points to be considered: first, how to get a crop that shah
be great in bulk and at the same time give us the second de-
sirable point, viz. : ripeness, and t ms insure the third desira-
ble point, viz. : the highest percentage of sugar it is possible
for the roots to acquire.

This matter of the value of Mangolds, for feeding pur-
poses, being in about the same proportion as the sugar pre-
sent, though appertaining to that part of this Treatise which
treats of "Feeding to Stock," yet has so direct a bearing on
the manuring of the crops that I will take it up at this place.
The recent researches of that distinguished chemist, Prof.
Voelcker of England, than whom there is no better authori-
ty, has thrown much light 0:1 the question of manure in its
application to this crop. The Professor takes the position
that the nutritious value of roots is in proportion to the
amount cf dry matter in them, and that the percentage of
sugar present coincides with that of dry matter, the propor-
tion of sugar rising or falling with the percentage of dry mat-
ter in the roots. That the feeding value does not depend
on the oroportion of nitrogen" they contain, i ; proved theoret-

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 41

ically, by the fact that the percentage is very much higher in
the early stages of growth, before the crop is matured, than
it is later in the season, while in the experiments of Mr.
Lawes in feeding sheep, the lot containing the most nitrogen
in the way of nutrition gave the poorest results.

Assuming with Prof. Voelcker that bulk should not be
sought at a disproportionate sacrifice of sugar in the crop,
and that certain soils and certain manures and certain
methods of cultivation are more favorable than others to the
d:velopment of this desirable proportion. I present extracts
from his valuable article on "Root Crops as affected by Soil
and Manures."

"Land highly manured with rich dung from the fattening
boxes or stables, induces luxurious and vigorous gro.vth in
root crops, and, as is well known, has a tendency to develop
over-luxuriance in the tops. This is the case more particu-
larly if the dung is derived from fattening beasts, liberally
supplied with oil-cake and artificial food, rich in nitrogen-
ous constituents. If the Autumn turns out fairly dry and
warm, the roots in highly manured land continue to grow
vigorously, the bulbs swell to a large dimension, and if the
weather in September and October continues warm and dry.
a heavy weight, and fairly ripe roots, result from the liberal
use of rich dung. But should the Autumn be cold and wet,
too liberal an application of good, well-rotten dung is apt to
maintain the luxuriant tops in a vigorous, active-growing
condition, at a period of the year when the crop has to be
taken up, and the result is an immature root crop, of a low
feeding value. Although the bulbs may be of a good size,
they turn out, when grown under such conditions, watery, de-
ficient in sugar, and not nearly as nutritious as they would
have been had a more moderate dressing of dung been put
upon the land. The main cause of the immature condition
and low-feeding quality of Mangolds grown with an excess-

42 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR UEETS.

ive quantity of rich dung is the comparatively large amount
of ammonial and nitrogenous constituents in the dung; for
numerous field experiments have shown that the peculiar ten-
dency of ammonia salts, and of readily available nitrogenous
substances is to induce luxuriant leaf-development and vig-
orous and prolonged growth, which results frequently in a
more or less immature condition of the roots. There is thus
danger of over-manuring crops ; and the desire to produce
heavy crops of Mangolds not unfrequently leads practical
men not to appreciate sufficiently this danger. It is quite
true Mangolds are very greedy feeders, and no doubt some
soils will swallow up almost any amount of dung ; but at the
same time it has to be borne in mind that all land is not
alike, and that there are many naturally rich clay loams con-
taining immense stores of plant food, which requires only to
be brought into play by good cultivation in order to become
available to plants. I am much inclined to think that it is a
mistake to manure soils of the latter description too liberally
with dung, even for Mangolds, and that in many cases a
more economical result, and certainly a Letter quality of
Mangolds, although not so heavy a crop, would be given, if,
instead of all the enormous dressings of dung which are
often applied to that crop, the land were manured in Autumn
with only half the quantity of dung, and the seed drilled in
with three to four cwt. of superphosphate or dissolved bones,
which manures, as we shall see presently have a tendency to
produce early maturity in roots. We frequently hear of
complaints that Mangolds scour, or do not keep well. Com-
plaints of this kind are only the expressions in other words
for the immature condition of the roots, and in many cases
the cause of this undesirable condition has to be sought in
the excessive amount of ammonial or nitrogenous constitu-
ents which are applied to the Mangolds in the shape of
heavy dressings of dung. The same remarks apply with

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

43

equal force to the exclusive and too abundant use of Peru
vian guano, sulphate of ammonia and nitrogenous manures
in general. The special effect of all ammonial and nitroge-
nous manures in general, as already stated, is to produce lux-
uriant leaf development, to induce prolonged and vigorous
growth, resulting in an immature and watery condition* of the
bulbs.

Large roots, generally speaking, are far less nutritious
than better matured roots of a moderate size. For illustra-
tion of this fact I quote the following comparative analyses :

2 5

j

v 2

M-5

ijj v

ti

*

8f

m 0

"O

<

fco

u

CU

U

Mangolds 9 lbs.

91.85

1-34

2.86

2.54

I.4I

71-2 lbs.

89.48

1.24

3-95

4-5 I

.82

4 lbs.

89.77

°-73

7.68

.89

•93

" 1 to 2 lbs.

86.90

0.61

10.51

I.07

.91

Small Mangolds approach Sugar Beets in composition,
whilst large Sugar Beets are hardly better than common
Mangolds, and monster beets are even less nutritious than
well-matured Mangolds of fair average size. Monster roots,
as is well known, are always very watery, poor in sugar, and
almost useless for feeding purposes.

Big Berkshire beets, — one weighing 16 pounds and the
other 12 1-4 pounds, — contained only 3.89 or 4 per cent, of
sugar respectively, and in round numbers as much as 91 1-2
per cent, of water. This high percentage of water is ac-
companied by a larger amount of albuminous compounds
and of mineral matter, than the proportions in roots, contain-
ing very much more solid feeding matter- A large amount
of albuminous matter and of ash, indeed indicates immatur-
ity and poverty in sugar, a characteristic of big. excessively
manured roots.

44 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND S'JGAR BEETS.

"Generally speaking, all nitrogenous manure, either
should not be used at all, or only sparingly, for roots, on stiff*
ish land, and all soils which contain a good deal of clay,
are naturally cold and unfavorable to a vigorous and rapid
growth. On the other hand, raw, or better still, dissolved
Peruvian guano is an excellent manure for root crops upon
light land, which, like most productive sandy soils and fria-
ble turnip loams, favors the quick and vigorous growth of
roots, and is conducive to early maturity.

"Nitrate of soda has the same general effect upon "root
crops as nitrogenous manures, but it appears to be more en-
ergetic in its action, and, on the whole, to be a useful addi-
tion to home manures, and to increase the produce in roots
more considerably than salts of ammonia. Its effect' is spec-
ially marked upon mangolds, and, to my knowledge, heavy
crops of mangolds have been produced upon rather light
land by i 1-2 per cent, of Nitrate of Soda, two cwt. of
common salt, sown broadcast, and four cwt. of dissolved
bones drilled in with the seed.

"Potash salts in some field experiments which I have
tried in different parts of the country, have shown that Pot-
ash has a decidedly beneficial effect upon root crops, on
poor, sand}' soils ; while on the majority of land, and nota-
bly upon clays or chy loams, or soils in a good agricultural
condition, Salts of Potash do not increase the produce. The
special effect of superphosphates, dissolved bones and simi-
lar phosphatic manures, is to produce early maturity ; and
hence phosphatic manures are employed in practice very
largely, and with much benefit, by root growers. In free-
growing, light soils, it is desirable either to use dissolved
bones in addition to half dressing of farm-yard manure, as a
manure for roots, or to spread broadcast 2 or 3 cwt. of salt,
or 2 cwt. of guano and 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda and 2 cwt. of
common salt, and to drill with the seed ^ to 4 cwt. of dis-

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

45

solved bones. On the heavier description of soils it is pref-
erable to use mineral superphosphate for roots, especially if
the land has been dressed in Autumn with a moderate quan-
tity of dung."

SALT AS AN AUXILIARY MANURE.

It will be seen by the table of analysis of roots, that th •
Mangold has in it a remarkably large percentage of Chlorine
and Soda, the roots yielding respectively 9.9 and 18.4, while
the tops give, 17.8 and 23.3. Salt being a combination of
Chlorine and Soda, known to chemists as Chloride of Sodi-
um, must therefore be a valuable auxiliary manure for Man-
golds, that is, one to be used in connection with other ma-
nures. Practice proves what chemistry indicates.. Prof-
Voelcker tells us that "salt tends to check over-luxuriance in
the tops, while it prolongs the period of active growth. In
consequence of this specific action it may be employed with
benefit as an auxiliary manure upon light land, in quantities
not greater than five bushels to the acre." Mr. Lewis, of
New York, believes that by scattering over the surface, when
the Mangolds develop the fourth leaf, four or five bushels of
the refuse of the Syracuse salt works, which is about equal
parts of salt and plaster, he has increased his crop ten tons
to the acre. Mr. Lewis finds that salt tends to prevent a dis-
ease which sometimes attacks the leaves, known as "rust.
He states that it can be obtained at the works for about $3.50
per ton. Prof. Voelcker believes it would be injurious rather
than beneficial on heavy land.

The quantity to be applied to the acre as given by prac-
tical growers, varies from four to twenty-live bushels. The
effect is not always the same ; one season the increase may
be very striking and the next, under the same application,
not be perceptible, the cause of which is not very clear.

46 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

though it appears to give better results in dry scaspns than in
wet. The most striking effect from the application of large
quantities, in my experience, has been on the borders of
meadow land. A number of years ago I manured in the
furrow with refuse herring bait, salt and all, just as taken from
the fish barrels. The crop of Mangolds grown from this ma-
nuring was one of the largest and smoothest I ever raised.
The next season the land was planted to Oats. In the Fall,
while laying a heap of this oat straw in the barn, I chanced
to use one as a tooth-pick. It tasted as though it had been
pickled ; thinking it was the result of some accident, I took
another ; that also was salt. This aroused my curiosity and
on examination I found farther, to my great surprise, that
all the straw tasted as though it had been dipped in pret-
ty strong brine. Certainly this tremendous salting, over
and above what the crop of Mangolds could use, to all ap-
pearance, had not lessened the bulk of roots. On meadow
land, Mr. Ware of this town, thinks that in a dry season he
doubled his crop by the application of refuse salt, at the rate
of twenty-five bushels to the acre. In purchasing waste salt
for this or any other agricultural crop, it is best to get the
dirtiost lot possible, for this dirt is the waste of the fish on
which it has been used, and consists mostly of fish scales*
which for manuring purposes is decidedly the most valuable
part of the fish. For this reason the waste from salted her-
ring is probably the most valuable of all. Under the open
platforms where fish are dried, in sea-port towns, and from
which there is always some dripping, the rankest of grass
grows. Salt lessens the proportion of sugar in the roots.

PLANTING THE SEED AND TENDING THE CROP.

Our ground being now ready the next step is to plant it.
How much seed shall we need and how far apart shall we
have the rows? From four to six pounds of seed is the us-

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 47

ual quantity, the higher figures evidently allowing for a con-
siderable waste, while with hand planting even the small-
er amount may be decreased. As to the proper distance
between the rows, practical growers will give various re-
plies; — 18, 20, 22, 24, 30 inches. The thirty inch men
are those who expect to depend on the cultivator to do
about all their weeding, and are willing to prepare and spare
more ground, with the object of having less weeding. ,That
the crop does not require so much room to yield the great-
est bulk, is shown by the experience of other cultivators,
who have raised from forty to over sixty tons to the acre,
with their rows from eighteen to twenty-two inches apart,
while the greatest crop on record, viz. : — of over eighty tons
to the acre, was raised with the rows twenty-four inches apart.
Planting on ridges is often advised, but as far as I have
observed, those who begin this way generally change to the
system of level culture as they advance in experience. The
only advantages I have found in the system of ridge cultiva-
tion have been that the Mangolds appear to grow with fewer
roots, and are rather more easily weeded. These advantages
in practice are more than off-set by the extra labor of mak-
ing the ridges and preparing them for planting. '> Mangold
seed is apt to come up badly. In France, where land is cut
up into small areas and labor is cheap, one would expect to
find as little waste as possible, but while traveling there I
noted in their fields that the Mangolds were quite scattering.
Mangold seed, like those of beets, are enclosed in a porous
shell which itself is usually called the seed. By cracking
these "seeds" the real seed will be found within, at the an-
gles, from one to four in number, and when broken, if fresh,
appear as white as flour. One reason why a portion of the
seed fails to vegetate, is, I infer, from the quantity of mois-
ture necessary to reach and swell the encased seed. For this
reason, if planted during dry srpells, care should be taken to

4$ CARROTS, MANGOLDS AXD SUGAR BEETS.

get them down to a good depth, say an inch and a half deep,
and then to pack the fine earth closely over them so that it
may hold the moisture. Any machine, therefore, that is used
for planting should have a good roller. To facilitate and
hasten the vegetation, some cultivators practice soaking the
seed, by pouring on water when almost at a scalding temper-
ature, and letting the seed remain in it from thirty-six to for-
ty-eight hours, being careful to keep it where the water will
not fall below blood heat, then rolling plaster or dry soil,
until it is sufficiently dry to drop readily from the machine.
Some prefer to plant by hand, believing that the greater
certainty of getting the seed up and the greater regularity of
the plants in the row is more than an off-set to the addition-
al labor. In doing this some growers will drop the seed on
the surface by the machine, and then follow and push them
under to the depth requisite, with the thumb and finger;
others use a strip of plank about four inches wide and three
feet in length, on the under side of which are inserted wood-
en pins, every seven inches, the pins being one and a quar-
ter inches in diameter and projecting two inches. The holes
having been made, the seed are dropped in, and covered by
the hand. In my own experience I rely on Mathew's seed
drill, and find but few blank places after the plants are up,
provided the weather is not too dry. Where blanks are found
they may be profitably filled by transplanting the young Man-
golds, care being taken to break off the tops of the larger
leaves, and also to loosen the ground a little when planting
them. If a time just after a shower is selected, the result
will be very satisfactory. The transplanted roots when gath-
ered in the Fall will usually be found with several small roots
in place of a single tap root.

) All root crops require prompt and thorough attention in
the matter of weeding, and to lessen this costly department
of labor they should not be raised on land abounding in the

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 49

seed of weeds. Mangolds will require two or three hand
weedings, besides as many slidings with the scuffle or wheel-
hoe. If too thick they should be thinned rather early in
their growth, for I have oftentimes noticed that if this is left
until the roots begin to develop, those left standing are
apt to be dwarfed. It is best to give two thinnings. The
plants should be left from ten to twelve inches apart ; the
crop of eighty tons was thinned to twelve inches apart, and
as the roots are more apt to grow coarse and prongy, and
with less sugar in them, when far apart, I am inclined to ten
or twelve inches as far enough. The object aimed at should
be, as Prof. Voelcker has shown, to get the weight in many
roots of medium size rather than in fewer roots of large size.

GATHERING AND STORING THE CROP.

Unlike other roots, the keeping qualities of Mangolds
are destroyed by a temperature low enough to but little more
than freeze the surface of the ground. In the late Fall when
the growth is about completed, these much exposed roots have
but few leaves to protect them and hence, where freezing
weather is feared, the provident farmer will always give them
the benefit of the doubt. If he is so unfortunate as to have
his crop injured, let him at once get the most he can out of
them, in the way of food, for though the injury at first may
appear to be but trivial, the part frozen will become first
corky and afterwards turn black, and ultimately rot. If but
slightly frozen the frost may be taken out by at once cover-
ing the roots temporarily with earth, but such roots must be
fed early or they will rot. Where the globe or ovoid varie-
ties are grown, on land where they pull hard they may be
lifted by running a subsoil plough with care. In pulling
these, or any roots that are to be topped on the field, don't
do, as is usually done, either scatter them on the surface,

50 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

without any system, or throw them into heaps, as in either
way the cost of removing the tops is increased. If thrown
in piles the tops become more or less intermingled, and the
small amount of extra labor thereby caused in topping each
individual root becomes great in the aggregate, when thous-
ands are handled. Still it oftentimes happens that the weath-
er takes a sudden, unexpected turn, threatening too low a
temperature for the safety of the crop ; under such circum-
stances the question is how to get it out of danger in the
most expeditious way possible. The quickest way is to pull
and throw into heaps, roots in, tops out, by which arrange-
ment, should there be considerable of a freeze up, the tops
would shield the roots. To protect them still more effectual-
ly earth may be shovelled over the heaps, so as barely to
cover them, and when protected in this way they may be al-
lowed to remain quite awhile awaiting the leisure of the far-
mer. Here let me say that this plan of protection will not
answer for all crops, as I have learnt with Cabbages, to my
sorrow, for when covered up this way, but for a few days,
when taken out they will be found to be almost cooked by
the great heat which they have developed.

In gathering all roots the great object is to have as few
handlings as possible, hence, if the tops are not twisted off
as the Mangolds are pulled, they should be laid in rows, tops
in and roots out, four or more rows being put in one. It will
be best to have two hands work together, and so make two
of these rows, leaving a small passage-way between them,
the roots being on the inside. Now let the topper follotv
with a large and sharp knife, and lop off the leaves to his
right and left as he goes being careful to so top the roots
that each individual leaf will fall separately, which means
that he is not to cut the top of the root itself, for unlike Car-
rots, Mangolds so cut are apt to decay when stored. For
economical work the knife should be a larire and somewhat

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 5 1

heavy one, the blade eight or nine inches in length. A small
grit stone for the use of each of the hands engaged in top-
ping any kind of roots is always a good investment ; it saves
running to the barn for an occasional touch on the grind-
stone.

If the roots are to be marketed they will need to be left
awhile to have the earth on them dry, that it may fall off
when loading, but if for use on the farm it will be rather of
an advantage, as it will help keep them from wilting. The
portion of the crop to be fed before Spring should be stored
as near to the place of feeding as possible. The great ob-
ject should be to keep them sufficiently covered and cool to
prevent wilting. As all the beet family are good keepers,
there need be but a small per cent, of loss. Store them in a
cool, rather moist cellar, provided it has no standing water.
The heap may be three or four feet in depth, and should be
covered with earth that is rather moist than otherwise, to
prevent evaporation. The long varieties may be piled cord-
wood fashion. Those to be fed after Spring opens can be
kept in a pit, dug in gravelly soil, on a hill-side, or where
there is no danger from standing water ; the pit may be
three or four feet in depth, and be filled to the surface. In
covering there are two methods : one, to throw the earth di-
rectly on the roots, and the other to first cover them with
cornstalks, or some dry, coarse litter before throwing on the
earth. In practice I find that when the litter is used the roots
in immediate contact with it are apt to mould, more or less,
and be affected with a dry rot, though it is an excellent plan
to throw over coarse litter up to severe freezing weather.
Which ever course is pursued it is best not to throw on more
at first than is sufficient to barely cover them, and to add
the remainder, making a covering of about two feet in
depth in all ; to which is to be added a foot of coarse
hay as the weather becomes cold. The urocess of

52 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

thatching with straw and so piling that there shall be
a roof-like slant to the heap, with furnace-like ventilators
opening from it at intervals, I have never found necessary
in actual practice, the elevation of the earth above the
bed being a sufficieut water shed, while the cold nature of
the root prevents heating. Rats are the great enemies of
root pits. I have had galleries cut by these vermin through
a bed of roots, utterly destroying them for seed purposes.
The best way of killing them in my experience, has been to
drop a little arsenic on buttered bread and put it convenient-
ly near their holes, but so far hidden that no neighbors dog
would be likely to suffer by it.

FEEDING THE CROP.

Besides arguments which are of weight for cultivation of
all kind of roots, there are special ones for the raising of
Mangolds. The vast bulk of yield exceeds that of any
annual crop, as high as eighty tons of roots having been
raised to the acre on the sewerage farms of England, and
when to this is added the weight of leaves that such a crop
would carry, it will be safe to say that a hundred tons have
been given to the acre. Taken as a whole the Mangold has
less enemies and is less apt to fail than any other root.
Compared with the Turnip family, it has several marked ad-
vantages, being more reliable in dry seasons and less liable
to disease ; and in flesh-forming, heat-giving and fat-produc-
ing elements it surpasses it. While the Turnip family cannot
be raised repeatedly on the same land, indeed on most soil
can be raised only at intervals of three or four years, Man-
golds can be. raised many years in succession, as Mr. Mechi,
the distinguished English agriculturist, has proved by raising
sixty tons per annum on the same tract of land of six acres
area, for six successive years. They will keep longer in good

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 53

condition than any other root, under favorable circumstances
even as late as July. Experiments in feeding steers made
with care, proved that while a ton of Mangolds increased
their weight sixty-five pounds, a ton of Swede increased their
weight but forty-eight pounds, equal quantities of hay having
been fed in each experiment. Other experiments have es-
tablished about the same proportionate value between these
two roots, though the general result was not as favorable.
Mangolds, like fruit, undergo a ripening change after they
are gathered, and until this is effected they are not in the
best condition for feeding. The ripening process for the
most part consists in a change of starch into sugar, and makes
the Mangolds both more healthful and more nutritious food.
Before this change is effected they are apt to scour stock
if fed to any degree liberally. The time when this chem-
ical change takes place will depend on the degree of ripe-
ness of the crop when stored ; and this, as has been clearly
shown is affected by both the soil on which they grew and the
manure "with which they were fed ; other conditions equal,
those grown on upland ripen earlier than those on lowland,
while rank manures tend to prolong the period of growth and
crops so grown, come into condition for feeding later in the
season. In England, a common piactice is to begin feeding
the Mangolds at Christmas, while in this country the middle
of January is considered early enough. Experiments careful-
ly made have proved that when fed to fattening animals they
should follow and not precede Turnips. It is a good rule in
feeding this as with other roots or tubers, to begin with a smal]
quantity and gradually increase the amount up to the limit
which the appetite of the cow, her general health and the tale
of the milk pail indicates. Every farmer who feeds a dairy
needs a root cutter. There are several of these in the market,
some designed for sheep only, which cut the roots into small
pieces., others for neat cattle, while some manufactured by

54

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR DEETS.

our Canada neighbors can be arranged to cut for either class
of stock. As good a one as I know of for stock purposes,
cheapness, durability and effectiveness combined, is one
sometimes known as the Whittemore machine, of which I
present an engraving. This machine is capable of cutting

about two bushels
a minute. Exper-
iments in England
have shown that 5 9
pounds of cooked
Mangolds are
equal to 70 of un-
cooked ; but that
meat made from
steamed food
wastes more when
boiled. Leaves of
Mangolds should
be fed with care
as they are more
apt to scour than
those of any other
whittemore cutter. root. The reason

of this is that they contain comparatively a large quantity of
■b poisonous acid, known by chemists as "oxalic" acid, the
same that is developed in Rhubarb leaves, when slightly wilt-
ed, and which sometimes causes death when such leaves are
eaten as "greens."

The practice sometimes followed in Europe, of feeding
the leaves of the growing crop, where labor is very cheap, is
thought to pay, as the leaves are gathered just as they begin
to drop from their upright position and when their usefulness
as nourishers of the root have ended. But with labor as
cheap as may be, there is no economy in this, for, aside from

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 5-

the deleterious effects to animals, when fed too liberally, by
actual experiment it has been found that the wear and tear
to the crop, incidental to the plucking of these leaves by an
average farm hand, injures it more than the value of the
leaves after they are gathered.

Were it not for the enormous bulk that an acre will pro-
duce in roots when compared with its yield in hay or grain,
there would be a serious argument against the growing of
them to any extent beyond what might be needed for medic-
inal purposes, in the fact that the manure made from them
is of so low a value ; and the practical weight of this argu-
ment would grow in proportion as farmers acquire a knowl-
edge of the most important department of farming. To
most farmers a cord or load of manure of cow or horse is a
cord or load of equal value ; now this is far, very far from
being the fact, as will be seen by the following table which I
take from the Scientific Farme?-, compiled by the celebrated
Mr. Lewis, who, by his careful experiments has laid the agri-
cultural world under lasting obligation. In this table a ton
of English hay is taken as the standard, and were all the ma-
nure saved, both solid and liquid, from a ton of each of these
varieties of food, the ingredients at the market value of the
Ammonia, Potash and Phosphoric Acid would be worth as
follows : —

Hay, - - - - $10.00

Clover Hay, - - 15.00

Oat Straw, - - - - - 4.50

Wheat Straw, - - - 4.16

Barley Straw, - - - - - 3.50

Decorticated Cotton Seed Cake, - - - 43-33

Linseed Cake, - - - 30.66

i Malt Dust, - .... 28.33

IMalt. - ■-,,•.. 10.50

56 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

Oats, - - - - - 11.50

Wheat, . - - - - 11.00

Indian Corn, - - - - 10.50

Barley, * - - 9.83

Potatoes, - - - - 2.33

Mangolds, - - - - - 1.66

Swedes, - - . - - - 1.41

Turnips, (common.) - - - 1.33

Carrots, - - - - - 1.33

This table is very suggestive in many ways : — by it we see.
that there are varieties of food, the manure from which is
worth more than the cost of the food itself. In its appli-
cation to the feeding of Mangolds, it at a glance suggests
the wisdom of feeding at the same time a portion of some-
thing richer and more concentrated. By so doing the qual-
ity of the manure is vastly improved and the crops will not
be slow to discover it. There is still another reason for
feeding these rich foods while using roots ; it enables the
armer to feed with profit Lis straw or inferior varieties of
hay. Says Prof. Stockhardt, "the full benefit to animals de-
rivable from feeding roots is secured only when the pro-
per proportion of substances rich in nitrogen are fed with
them ; accordingly, about two pounds of oil-cake should be
fed with each hundred pounds of beet root, or other foods
may be substituted in the same proportion as they are rich
in nitrogen."

Recent researches have determined a fact of great value
to agriculture ; that to get the most profitable results from
food the Albuminoid and Carbohydrate elements should
bear a certain proportion to each other, and that while a de-
crease in either of them from this proper proportion means
insufficient food, and a consequent loss of flesh, fat or milk,
an excess of either means money wasted. The proportion
for cows that are dry and oxen when not at work, is about,

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

57

one of Albuminoids to eight of Carbohydrates ; for oxen at
work and cows in milk, one of Albuminoids to from four to
six of Carbohydrates.

The following table taken from Prof. Johnson's excellent
work, "How Crops Grow," gives the proportion of the Albu-
minoids, Carbohydrates and other elements in roots and
tubers.

0 ^

"S i

rt £2

tC rt

<

-6
"0

E

Carbohy-
drates,

u

J

da
12

ROOTS AND TUBERS.

POTATO.

95-0

24.I

0.9

2

O

21

0

I.I

0

3

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE.

80

0

18

9

1.1 .

2

O

J5

6

J-3

0

5

KOHL-RABI.

83

0

IO

8

1 2

2

3

7

3

1.2

0

2

FIELD BEETS, (3 lbs. weight).

88

0

II

1

0.9

1

9

1

0.9

0

1

SUGAR BEETS. (1 to 2 lbs.)

81

5

J7

7

0.8

0

J5

4

1-3

0

1

RUTA BAGAS, (about 3 lbs.)

87

0

12

0

1.0

6

9

3

1.1

0

1

CARROT, (about 1-2 lb.)

85

0

J4

0

1.0

5

10

8

1-7

0

-

GIANT CARROT. (1 to 2 lbs.)

87

0

12

2

o.S

2

9

8

1.2

0

2

TURNIPS.

92

0

7

2

o.S

1

5

1

1.0

0

*

PARSNIP.

83

3

»

0

0.7

6

8

4

1.0

0

2

PUMPKIN.

94

5

4

5

1.0

3

2

8

1.0

0

1

To give the tables necessary to develop this interesting
subject to its full capacity, would be altogether beyond the
scope of my little treatise. I will refer my readers to the
appendix of that excellent work by Prof. Johnson, "How
Crops Grow."

THE COST OF THE CROP.

An average crop of Mangolds ma}- be set down at 22
tons. To grow this crop would cost the farmer who depends
on barn manure mainly, about as follows : —

58 CARROTS, MAXGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

DEBTOR.

Ploughing twice, harrowing and dragging,

Seed, — 4 lbs., -

Planting, - - - - - -

Sliding, weeding and thinning crop,
Gathering, topping and storing,
Manure, and handling of 7 cords,
Refuse salt, 16 bushels, at $1.25 per hogshead,
Interest, taxes and wear and tear of implements and
teams, -

Total cost, $114.50

CREDITOR.

By crop of 22 tons roots, at $8.50 per ton, - $187.00

" tops, — 4 tons, at $5.00, - - 20.00

" value of manure left in soil, - 14.00

£9

.00

3

.00

1

.00

16.

,00

12,

.00

56

.00

2,

■5°

*5

.00

221.00

114.50

Balance, $106.50

In the sibove estimate I have assumed most of the labor
to be by boys, who at hand weeding, if they are reliable,
can get over the ground faster than men. I have made no
allowance for the cost of cutting up the roots when feeding,
as this does not belong under this head. Should the land be
old the item of weeding would have to be increased one-half.
The salt I have priced at its cost along the sea-coast. I
have estimated the value of the crop at the average value of
several years past, while the manure charge is much higher
than it should be where farmers have access to the fertiliz-
ing wastes of great cities.

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 59

Now, if instead of being contented with a crop of 22 tons
to the acre, the farmer strives for double that quantity, he
will get it by additional expense in but two directions, viz. :
his manure bill and the cost of gathering and storing. If
we now double the cost of each of the latter, and credit the
results with double the crop, which every practical farmer
who has had experience in root culture will allow is but rea-
sonable, we shall have the following results : — >

Extra cost of crop of 44 tons over one of 22 :
Manure, — 7 cords, - $56.00

Gathering, topping and storing, - - 12.00

$68.00

Now adding the credit side we shall have for

Sxtra 22 tons roots, - $187.00

6 tons tops, --___ 30.00

Value of manure left in ground, - - 14.00

$231.00
Deduct extra cost, 68.00

Profits cleared, $163,00

In other words, by investing $68.00 for six months, we
clear $163.00, which, as any farmer boy can figure, is at the
rate of about five hundred per cent, a year. Mr. Fearing of
Hingham, with the same amount of manure raised over sixty
tons to the acre, and the instances are numerous where over
forty tons have been the crop when even a less quantity has
been used. Can any farmer who has accumulated a small sur-
plus of money do better than invest it in manure ? There is
altogether too much money, for the prosperity of their farm-
ing, invested by farmers in Savings Banks. These banks pay
from six to seven per cent, on money, but here is an instance
where an investment made in manure pays over four hundred

'6o CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS.

per cent. Merchants don't do so foolish a thing as to put
their earnings into Savings Banks. No ; they invest in their
business and so keep it and its money making capacity un-
der their own control ; when will farmers be as wise and be-
come their own bankers? Let me remark that the farmer
who is so wise as to attempt to get the most from his land
will do well to follow Prof. Voelcker's advice and drill in four
or five hundred weight of some good phosphate, to the acre,
in place of the same value in stable manure.

In the above estimates of the value of Mangolds we have
assumed that the farmer sold his crop. Now it is true of this
as of every other crop that the farmer can use on his prem-
ises, that it is of more value to him than the general market
price indicates.

Under this head an intelligent farmer of large experi-
ence writes : —

"From experiments made in feeding bee.ts, their practi-
cal value has been made to range from 13 to 20 cents per
bushel, with hay at twenty dollars per ton. An exact esti-
mate of the practical value of beets for cattle food, is a dif-
ficult matter, as it is now, and ever will be, hid from mortal
ken. The improved condition of the cow, (when fed to
cows during the winter,) her increased usefulness during the
entire season, her lessened liability to sickness and disease
which high feeding with any one of the different kinds of
grain induces, her lengthened lease of life, her evident satis-
faction and perfect contentment, which is so plainly mani-
fested while eating her daily ration of roots, are each and
every one legitimate items to be taken into the account in
estimating the practical, the actual value of beets as food for
dairy stock.

"After carefully looking at the subject in all its bear-
ings, so far as my experience has given me opportunity to
do so, I have come to the conclusion that beets for cattle

CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 6 1

food are well worth fully as many cents per bushel as good
hay is worth dollars per ton, without taking into considera-
tion the increase of the manure ; and that the average cost,
when stored in the cellar or put into pits, with every item of
expense included, need not exceed eight cents per bushel."
I will close my little treatise by remarking that while I
cannot expect to have exhausted so prolific a subject, yet I
hope and trust that it may prove of value as a guide and a
stimulus to some of my many friends in the great community
of farmers.

CABBAGES:

HO\Y TO GROW THEM

a rr.ACTicAr,

ftjXtutiBt an Cabbage €nltnxt,

GIVING FULL DETAIL^ OX EVERY POINT, INCLUDING
KEEPING AND MARKETING THE CROP.

JAMES J. H. GREGORY,

INTKODUX'EIt OK THE MAUBLEHEAD CABBAGES.

MARBLEHEAD :

MESSENGER STEAM PRINTING HOUSE.
I883.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, b;

JAMES J. IT. GREGORY,

At the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.

c o n t entb

Pa ye.

Object of Treatise 3

The Origin of Cabbage 3

What a Cabbage is 4

Selecting the Soil 0

Preparing the Soil 7

The Manure 8

How to Apply the Manure 10

Making the Hills and Planting

the Seed 12

Care of the Young Plants 16

Protecting the Plants from their

Enemies 18

The Green Worm 21

Club or Stump Foot 22

Care of the Growing Crop 27

Marketing the Crop 28

Keeping Cabbages through the

Winter. 30

Having Cabbage Make Heads in

Winter 36

Varieties of Cabbage 38

Early York 40

Large York 40

Early Oxheart 41

Early Sugar Loaf 41

Early Winnigstadt 41

Red Dutch 42

Red Drumhead 42

The Little Pixie 43

Early Sehweinfurt, or

Schweinfurt Quintal 44

Early Wakefield 45

Early Wyman 45

Premium Flat Dutch 46

Early Low Dutch 47

Stone Mason 47

Large Late Drumhead ... 48

Marblehead Mammoth 49

American Green Glazed. ... 50

Pane..

Fot tier's Early Drumhead 50

Bergen Drumhead 51

Cannon Ball 51

Savoy Cabbage r 52

Drumhead Savoy '. 52

Pancalier • 53

' Early Ulm Savoy 53

Early Dwarf Savoy 54

Improved American Savoy 54

Golden Savoy 54

Norwegian Savoy 54

Victoria, Russian, Cape Savoys 55

Feather Stemmed Savoy 55

Large Brunswick Short Stem'd 55

Early Empress 55

Robinson's Champion Ox

Drumhead 55

English Winnigstadt 53

Blenheim 55

Shillings Queen 55

Carter's Superfine Early Dwarf 55

Enfield Market Improved 50

Kemp's Incomparable 56

Fielderkraut 56

Ramsay's Winter Drumhead. . 56

Pomeranian Cabbage 56

Alsacian Cabbage 56

Marbled Burgogne 56

Early Dutch Drumhead 56

Cabbage Greens 56

Cabbage for Stock 58

Raising Cabbage Seed 61

Cooking Cabbage, Sour Krout,

etc 62

Cabbage Under Glass 64

Cold Frame and Hot Bed 66

Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussels
Sprouts, Kale and Sea Kale. . 68

OBJECT OF THIS TREATISE.

As a general yet very thorough response to inquiries
from many of my customers about cabbage raising, I
have aimed in this treatise to tell them all about the
subject. The different inquiries made from time to time
have given me a pretty clear idea of the many heads
under which information is wanted ; and it has been my
aim to give this with the same thoroughness of detail
as in my little work on Squashes. I have endeavored
to talk in a very practical way, drawing from a large
observation and experience, and receiving, in describing
varieties, some valuable information from Mcintosh's
work, " The Book of the Garden."

THE ORIGIN OF CABBAGE.

Botanists tell us that all of the Cabbage family, which
includes not only every variety of cabbage, lied, White,
and Savoy, but all the cauliflower, broccoli, kale, and
brusscls sprouts, had their origin in the wild cabbage of
Europe, (Brassica oleracea,') a plant with green, wavy
leaves, much resembling charlock, found growing wild
at Dover in England, and other parts of Europe. This
plant, says Mcintosh, is mostly confined to the sea
shore, and grows only on chalky or calcareous soils.

Thus through the wrisdom of the Great Father of us
all, who occasionally in his great garden allows vegeta-
bles to sport into a higher form of life, and grants to
some of these sports sufficient strength of individuality
to enable them to perpetuate themselves, and at times to

4 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

blend their individuality with that of other sports, we
have the heading cabbage in its numerous varieties, the
creamy cauliflower, the feathery kale, the curled savoy.
On my own grounds from a strain of seed that had been
grown isolated for years, there recently came a plant that
in its structure closely resembled Brussels Sprouts, grow-
ing about two feet in height, with a small head under each
leaf. The cultivated cabbage was first introduced into
England by the Romans, and from there nearly all the
kinds cultivated in this country were originally brought.
Those which we consider as peculiarly American varie-
ties, have only been made so by years of careful improve-
ment on the original imported sorts. The characteristics
of these varieties will be given farther on.

WHAT A CABBAGE IS..

If we cut vertically through the middle of the head,
we shall find it made up of successive layers of leaves,
which grow smaller und smaller, almost ad infinitum.
Now if we take a fruit bud from an apple tree and make
a similar section of it, we shall find the same structure.
If we observe the development of the two, as Spring
advances, we shall find another similarity (the looser
the head the closer will be the resemblance), — the outer
leaves of each will unwrap and unfold, and a blossom
stem will push out from each. Hence we see that a
cabbage is a bud, a seed bud, as all fruit buds may be
termed, the production cf seed being the primary object
in nature, the fruit enclosing it playing but a secondary
part, the office of the leaves being to cover, protect, and
afterwards nourish the young seed shoot. The outer
leaves which surround the head appear to have the same
office as the leaves which surround the growing fruit
bud, and that office closes with the first year, as does

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 5

that of the leaves surrounding fruit buds, when each
die and drop off. In my locality the public must have
perceived more or less clearly the analogy between the
heads of cabbage and the buds of trees, for when they
speak of small heads they frequently call them " buds."
That the close wrapped leaves which make. the cabbage
head and surround the seed germ, situated just in the
middle of the head at the termination of the stump, are
necessary for its protection and nutrition when young,
is proved, I think, by the fact that those cabbages the
heads of which are much decayed, when set out for
seed, no matter how sound the seed germ may be at the
end of the stump, never make so large or healthy a seed
shoot as those do the heads of which arc sound ; as a
rule, after pushing a feeble growth, they die.

For this reason I believe that the office of the head is
similar to and as necessary as that of the leaves which
unwrap from around the blossom buds of our fruit trees.
It is true that the parallel cannot be fully maintained,
as the leaves which make up the cabbage head do not to
an equal degree unfold, (particularly is this true of
hard heads) ; yet they exhibit a vitality of their own,
which is seen in the deeper green color the outer leaves
soon attain, and the change from tenderness to tough-
ness in their structure ; I think, therefore, that the
degree of failure in the parallel may be measured by the
difference between a higher and a lower form of organic
life. •

Some advocate the economy of cutting off a large por-
tion of the heads when cabbages are set out for seed to
use as food for stock. There is certainly a great temp-
tation, standing amid acres of large, solid heads in the
early Spring months, when green food of all kinds is

6 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

scarce, to cut and use such an immense amount of rich
food, which, to the inexperienced eye, appears to be
utterly wasted if left to decay, dry, and fall to the
ground ; but, for the reason given above, I have never
done so. It is possible that large heads may bear trim-
ming to a degree without injury to the seed crop ; yet I
should consider this an experiment, and one to be tried
with a good deal of caution.

SELECTING THE SOIL.

In some of the best cabbage growing sections of the
country, until within a comparatively few years it was
the very general belief that cabbage would not do well
on upland. Accordingly the cabbage patch would be
found on the lowest tillage land of the farm. No doubt,
the lowest soil being the richer from a gradual accumu-
lation of the wash from the upland, when manure was
but sparingly used, cabbage would thrive better there
than elsewhere, — and not, as was generally held, because
that vegetable needed more moisture than any other
crop. Cabbage can be raised with success on any good
corn land, provided such land is well manured ; and
there is no more loss in seasons of drouth on such
land than there is in seasons of excessive moisture on
the lower tillage land of the farm. I wish I could preach
a very loud sermon to all my farmer friends on the
great value of liberal manuring to carry crops success-
fully through the effects of a severe drouth. Crops on
soil precisely alike, with but a wall to separate them,
will in a very dry season present a striking difference, —
the one being in fine vigor, and the other " suffering
from drouth," as the owner will tell you, but in reality
from want of food.

ETC.

The smaller varieties of cabbage will thrive well on
either light or strong soil, but the largest drumheads do
best on strong soil. For the Brassica family, including
cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, etc., there is no soil so
suitable as freshly turned sod, provided the surface is
well fined by the harrow, and it is well to have as stout
a crop of clover or grass, growing on this sod when
turned under as possible ; and I incline to the belief that
it would be a judicious investment to start a thick
growth of these by the application of guano to the sur-
face sufficiently long before turning the sod to allow
for its effects on the growth of the clover or grass. If
the soil be very sandy in character, I would advise that
the variety planted be the Winnigstadt, which in my
experience is unexcelled for making a hard head under
almost any conditions, however unpropitious. Should
the soil be naturally very wet it should be underdrained,
or stump foot will be very likely to appear, which is
death to all success.

PREPARING THE SOIL.

Should the soil be a heavy clay, a deep Fall ploughing
is best, that the frosts of Winter may disintegrate it ;
and should the plan be to raise an early crop, this end
will be promoted by Fall ploughing, on any soil, as the
land will thereby be made dryer in early Spring. In
New England the soil for cabbages should be ploughed
as deep as the subsoil, and the larger drumheads should
be planted only on the deepest soil. If the season
should prove a favorable one, a good crop of cabbage
may be grown on sod broken up immediately after a
crop of hay has been taken from it, provided plenty of
fine manure is harrowed in. One great risk here is

8 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

from the dry weather that usually prevails at that
season, preventing the prompt germination of the seed,
or rooting of the plants. It is prudent in such a case
to have a good stock of plants, that such as die may be
promptly replaced.

The manure may be spread on the surface of either
sod or stubble land and ploughed under, or be spread
on the surface after ploughing and thoroughly worked
into the soil by the gang plough or cultivator. On
ploughed sod I have found nothing so satisfactory as
the class of wheel harrows, which not only cut the ma-
nure up fine and work it well under, but by the same
operation can be made to cut and pulverize the turf until
the sod is left not over an inch in thickness. To do the
work thus thoroughly requires a yoke of oxen or a pair
of stout horses. All large stones and large pieces of
turf that are torn up and brought to the surface should
be carted off before making the hills.

THE MANURE.

Any manure but hog manure for cabbage, — barn ma-
nure, rotten kelp, night soil, guano, phosphates, wood
ashes, fish, salt, glue waste, hen manure, slaughter-house
manure. I have used all of these, and found them all
good when rightly applied. If pure hog manure is used
it is apt to produce that corpulent enlargement of the
roots known in different localities as " stump foot,"
" underground head," " finder and thumb." I have
found barn manure on which hogs have run, two hogs
to each animal, excellent. The cabbage is the rankest
of feeders, and to perfect the larger sort a most liberal
allowance of the richest composts is required. To grow
the smaller varieties either barn-yard manure, guano,

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 9

phosphates, or wood ashes, if the soil be in good condi-
tion, will answer ; though the richer and more abundant
the manure the larger are the cabbages, and the earlier
the crop will mature.

To perfect the large varieties of drumhead — by which
I mean to make them grow to the greatest size possible —
I want a strong compost of barn-yard manure, with
night soil and muck, and, if possible, rotten kelp. A
compost into which night soil enters as a component is
best made by first covering a plot of ground of easy
access, with soil or muck that has been exposed to a
winter's frost, to the depth of about eighteen inches,
and raising around this a rim about three feet in height,
and thickness. Into this the night soil is poured from
carts built for the purpose, until the receptacle is about
two-thirds full. Barn manure is now added, being-
dropped around and covering the outer rim, and if the
supply is sufficient, on the top of the heap also, on
which it can be carted after cold weather sets in. Early
in Spring the entire mass should be pitched over,
thoroughly broken up with the bar and pick where
frozen, and the frozen masses thrown on the surface.
In pitching over the mass work the rim in towards the
middle of the heap. After the frozen lumps have
thawed give the heap another pitching over, aiming to
mix all the materials thoroughly together, and make
the entire mass as line as possible. A covering of sand
thrown over the heap before the last pitching will help
fine it.

To produce a good crop of cabbages with a compost
of this quality, from live to twelve cords will be required
to the acre. If the land is in good heart by previous
high cultivation, or the soil is naturally very strong,

10 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

five cords will give a fair crop of the small varieties ;
while, with the same conditions, from nine to twelve
cords to the acre will be required to perfect the largest
variety grown, the Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead.

Of the other kinds of manure named above I will
treat farther under the head of

HOW TO APPLY THE MANURE.

The manure is sometimes applied wholly in the hill,
at other times partly broadcast and partly in the hill.
If the farmer desires to make the utmost use of his ma-
nure for that season, it will be best to put most of it into
the hill, particularly if his supply runs rather short ;
but if he desires to leave his land in good condition for
next year's crop, he had better use part of it broadcast.
My own practice is to use all my rich compost broadcast,
and depend on guano, phosphates, or hen manure in
the hill. Let all guano, if at all lumpy, like the Peru-
vian, be sifted, and let all the hard' lumps be reduced by
pounding, until the largest pieces shall not be larger
than half a pea, before it is brought upon the ground.
My land being ready, the compost worked under and
the rows marked out, I select three trusty hands who
can be relied upon to follow faithfully my directions in
applying so dangerous manure as guano is in careless or
ignorant hands ; one takes a bucket of it, and, if for
large cabbage, drops as much as he can readily close in
his hand, where each hill is to be ; if for small sorts,
then about half that quantity, spreading it over a circle
about a foot in diameter; the second man follows with
a pronged hoe, or better yet, a six-tined fork, with
which he works the guano well into the soil, first turning
it three or four inches under the surface, and then stir-

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 11

ring the soil very thoroughly with the hoe or fork. Unless
the guano (and this is also true of most phosphates), is
faithfully mixed up with the soil, the seed will not veg-
etate. Give the second man about an hour the start,
and then let the third man follow with the seed. Of
phosphates I use about half as much again as of guano
to each hill, and of hen manure a heaping handful, after
it has been finely broken up, and, if moist, slightly
mixed with dry earth. When salt is used, it should not
be depended on exclusively, but be used in connection
with other manures at the rate of from ten to fifteen
bushels to the acre, applied broadcast over the ground,
or thoroughly mixed with the manure before that is
applied ; if dissolved in the manure, better yet. Fish
and glue waste are exceedingly powerful manures, very
rich in ammonia, and if used the first season they should
be in compost. It is best to handle fish waste, such as
heads, entrails, backbones, and liver waste, precisely
like night soil. '; Porgy cheese," or " chum," the ref-
use after pressing out the oil from menhaden, and new
sold extensively for manure, is best prepared for use by
composting it with muck or loam, layer with layer, at
the rate of a barrel to every foot and a half, cord meas-
ure, of soil. As soon as it shows some heat turn it, and
repeat the process two or three times, until it is well
decomposed, when apply. Glue waste is a very coarse,
lumpy manure, and requires a great deal of severe ma-
nipulation if it is to be applied the first season. A
better way is to compost it with soil, layer witli layer,
having each layer about a foot in thickness, and so
allow it to remain over until the next season before
using. This will decompose most of the straw, and
break down the hard, tough lumps. In applying this

12 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

to the crop, most of it had better be used broadcast, as
it is apt at best to be rather too coarse and concentrated
to be used liberally directly in the hill. Slaughter-house
manure should be treated much like glue manure.

MAKING THE HILLS AS'D PLAXTIXG THE SEED.

The idea is quite prevalent that cabbages will not head
up well except the plants arc started in beds and the 1
transplanted into the hills where they are to mature.
This is an error, so far as it applies to the northern states;
— the largest and most experienced cultivators of cab-
bage in New England usually dropping the seed directly
where the plants are to stand, unless they are first
started under glass, or the piece of land to be planted
cannot be prepared in season to enable the farmer t)
put his seed directly in the hill and yet give the cabbage
time sufficient to mature. Where the climate is unpro-
pitious, or the quantity of manure applied is insufficient,
it is possible that transplanting may promote heading.
The advantages of planting directly in the hill are a
saving of time, avoiding the risks incidental to trans-
planting, and having all the piece start alike ; for when
transplanted many die and have to be replaced, while
some hesitate much longer than others before starting,
thus making a want of uniformity in the maturing of the
crop. There is also this advantage, there being several
plants in each hill, the cut-worm has to depredate pretty
severely before he really injures the piece ; again, should
the seed not vegetate in any of the hills, every farmer
will appreciate the advantage of having healthy plants
growing so near at hand that they can be transferred to
the vacant spaces witli their roots so undisturbed that
their growth is hardly checked. In addition to the labor

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 13

of transplanting saved by this plan, the great check that
plants always receive when so treated is prevented, and
also the extra risks that occur should a season of drouth
follow.

Some of our best farmers drill their seed in with a
sowing machine, such as is used for onions, carrots, and
Dther vegetable crops. This is a very expeditious way,
and lias the advantage of leaving the plants in rows
instead of bunches, as in the hill system, and thus
enables the hoe to do most of the work of thinning.
It has also this advantage, each plant being by itself
can be left much longer before thinning, and yet not
grow long in the stump, thus making it available for
transplanting, or for sale in the market, for a longer
period.

The usual way of preparing the hills is to strike out
furrows with a small, one-horse plough, as far apart as
the rows are to be. As it is very important that the
rows should be as straight as practicable, it is a good
plan to run back once in each furrow, particularly on
sod land where the plough will be apt to catch in the
turf and jump out of line. A manure team follows,
containing the dressing for the hills, which lias
previously been pitched over and beaten up until all the
ingredients are fine and well mixed. This team is so
driven, if possible, as to avoid running in the furrows.
Two or three hands follow with forks or shovels, pitching
the manure into the furrows at the distance apart that
has been determined on for the hills. The manure is
leveled with hoes, a little soil is drawn over it, and a
slight stamp with the back of the hoc is given to level
this soil and at the same time to mark the hill. The
planter follows with seed in a tin box, or any small ves-

14 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

sel having a broad bottom, and taking a small pinch be-
tween the thumb and fore finger he gives a slight scratch
with the remaining fingers of the same hand, and drop-
ping in about half a dozen seed covers them half an inch
deep with a sweep of the hand, and packs the earth by
a gentle pat with the open palm to keep the moisture in
.the ground and thus promote the vegetation of the seed.
With care a quarter of a pound of seed will plant an
acre, when dropped directly in the hills ; but half a
pound is the common allowance, as there is usually some
waste from spilling, while most laborers plant with a
free hand.

The soil over the hills being very light and porous,
careless hands are apt to drop the seed too deep. Care
should be taken not to drop the soed all in one spot, but
to scatter them over a surface of two or three inches
square, that each plant may have room to develop with-
out crowding its neighbors.

If the seed is to be drilled in, it will be necessary to
scatter the manure all along the furrows, then cover
with a plough, roughly leveling with a rake.

Should the compost applied to the hills be very con-
centrated, it will be apt to produce slump foot ; it will
therefore be safest in such cases to hollow out the middle
with the corner of the hoe, or draw the hoe through and
fill in with earth, that the roots of the young plants may
not come in direct contact with the compost as scon as
they begin to push.

When guano or phosphates are used in the hills it will
be well to mark out the rows with a plough, and then,
where each hill is to be, fill in the soil level to the sur-
face with a hoc, before applying them. I have in a pre-
vious paragraph given full instructions how to apply

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 15

these. Hen manure, if moist, should be broken up very
fine, and be mixed with some dry earth to prevent it
from again lumping together, and then applied in suf-
ficient quantity to make an equivalent of a heaping
handful of pure hen manure to each hill. Any liquid
manure is excellent for the cabbage crop ; but it should
be well diluted, or it will be likely to produce stump foot.

Cabbage seed of almost all varieties are nearly round
in form, but are not so spherical as turnip seed. I note,
however, that seed of the Improved American Savoy is
nearly oval. In color they are light brown when first
gathered, but gradually turn dark brown if not gathered
too early. An ounce contains nearly ten thousand seed,
but should not be relied upon for many over two thou-
sand good plants, and these are available for about as
many hills only when raised in beds and transplanted ;
when dropped directly in the hills it will take not far
from eight ounces of the larger sorts to plant an acre,
and of the smaller cabbage rather more than this.
Cabbage seed when well cured and kept in close bags
will retain their vitality four or five years ; old ;garden-
ers prefer seed of all the cabbage family two or three
years old. . . : . .

When the plan is to raise the young plants. in beds to
be transplanted, the ground selected for the beds, should
be of rich soil ; this should be very thoroughly dug., and
the surface worked and raked very fine, every stone and
lump of earth being removed. Now sprinkle the seedT
evenly over the bed and gently rake in just under the
surface, compacting the soil by pressure with a board.
As soon as the young plants appear, sprinkle them with
air-slaked lime. Transplant when three or, four inches
high, being very careful not to let the plant get tall and
weak.

I

16 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

For late cabbage, in the latitude of Boston, to have
cabbages ready for market about the first of November,
the Marblehead Mammoth should be planted the 20th
of May, other late drumheads from June 1st to June
12th, provided the plants are not to be transplanted ;
otherwise a week earlier. In those localities wherfc the
growing season is later, the seed should be planted
proportionally later.

CAKE OF THE YOUNG PLANTS.

In four or five days, if the weather is propitious, the
young plants will begin to break ground, presenting at
the surface two leaves, which together make nearly a
square, like the first leaves of turnips or radishes.
As soon as the third leaf is developed, go over the
piece, and boldly thin out the plants. Wherever they
arc very thick, pull a mass of them with the fingers and
thumb, being careful to fill up the hole made with fine
earth. After the fourth leaf is developed, go over the
piece again and thin still more ; you need specially to
guard against a slender, weak growth, which will hap-
pen when the plants are too crowded. In thinning,
leave the short-stumped plants, and leave them as far
apart in the hill as possible, that they may not shade
each other, or so interfere in growing as to make long
stumps. If there is any market for young plants, thou-
sands can be sold from an acre when the seed are
planted in the hill ; but in doing this bear in mind that
your principal object is to raise cabbages, and to succeed
in this the young plants must on no account be allowed
to stand so long together in the hills as to crowd each
other, making a tall, weak, slender growth, — getting
" long legged," as the farmers call it.

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. IT

If tho manure in any of the hills is too strong, the
fact will be known by its effects on the plants, which
will be checked in their growth, and be of a darker
green color than the healthy plants. Gently pull away
the earth from the roots of such with the fingers, and
draw around fresh earth ; or, what is as well or better,
transplant a healthy plant just on the edge of the hill.
When the plants arc finger high they are of a good size
to transplant into such hills as have missed, or to market.
When transplanting, select a rainy day, if possible, and
do not begin until sufficient rain has fallen to moisten
the earth around the roots, which will make it more
likely to adhere to them when taken up. Take up tho
young plants by running the finger or a trowel under
them ; put these into a flat basket or box, and in trans-
planting set them to the same depth they originally
grew, pressing the earth a little about the roots.

If it is necessary to do the transplanting in a dry
spell, as usually happens, select the latter part of the
afternoon, if practicable, and, making holes with a
dibble or any pointed stick an inch and a half in diam-
eter, fill these holes, a score or more at a time, with
water ; and as soon as the water is about soaked away,
beginning witli the hole first filled, set out your plants.
The evaporation of the moisture below the roots will
keep them moist until they get a hold. Cabbage plants
have great tenacity of life, and will rally and grow
when they appear to be dead ; the leaves may all die,
and dry up like hay, but if the stump stands erect and
the unfolded leaf at the top of tho stump is alive, the
plant will usually survive. Some advocate wilting tho
plants before transplanting ; others challenge their vigor
by making it a rule to do all transplanting under the
heat of mid-day. I think there is not much of reason
in cither course.

18 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

PROTECTING THE PLANTS FROM THEIR ENEMIES,

As soon as they have broken through the soil, an enemy
awaits them in the small black insect commonly known
as the cabbage or turnip fly, beetle, or flea. This insect,
though so small as to appear to the eye as a black dot
is very voracious and surprisingly active. He apparently
feeds on the juice of the young plant, perforating it with
small holes the size of a pin point. He is so active when
disturbed that his motions cannot be followed by the
eye, and his sense of danger is so keen that only by
cautiously approaching the plant can he be seen at all.
The delay of a single day in protecting the young plants
from his ravages will sometimes be the destruction of
nearly the entire piece. Wood ashes and air-slaked
lime, sprinkled upon the plants while the leaves are
moist from either rain or dew, afford almost complete
protection. The lime or ashes should be applied as
soon as the plant can be seen, for then, when they are
in their tenderest condition, the fly is most destructive.
I am not certain that the alkaline nature of these affords
the protection, or whether a mere covering by common
dust might not answer equally well. Should the covering
be washed off by rain, apply it anew immediately after
the rain has ceased, and so continue to keep the young-
plants covered until the third or fourth leaves appear,
when they will have become too tough to serve as food
for this insect enemy.

A new enemy much dreaded by all cabbage raisers will
begin to make his appearance at about the time the flea
disappears, known as the cut-worm. This worm is of
a dusky brown color, with a dark colored head, and
varies in size up to about two inches in length. He
burrows in the ground just below the surface, is slow of

19

motion, and does his mischievous work at night,
gnawing off the young plants close at the surface of the
ground. This enemy is hard to battle with.. If the
patch be small, these worms can be scratched out of
their hiding places by pulling the earth carefully away
the following morning for a few inches around the
stump of the plant destroyed, when the rascals will
usually be found half coiled together. Dropping a little
wood ashes around the plants close to the stumps is one
of the best of remedies ; its alkaline properties burning
his nose I presume. A tunnel of paper put around the
stump but not touching it, and sunk just below the sur-
face, is recommended as efficacious ; and from the hab-
its of the worm I should think it would prove so. Late
planted cabbage will suffer little or none from this pest,
as he disappears about the middle of June. Some sea-
sons they are remarkably numerous ; making it neces-
sary to replant portions of the cabbage patcli several-
times over. I have heard of as many as twenty being
dug at different times the same season out of one cab-
bage hill. The farmer who tilled that patch earned his
dollars. When the cabbage has a stump the size of a
pipe stem it is beyond the destructive ravages of the cut
worm, and should it escape stump foot has usually quite
a period of growth free from the attacks of enemies.
Should the season prove unpropitious and the plant be
checked in its growth, it will be apt to become " lousy,"
as the farmers term it, referring to its condition when
attacked by a small green insect known as aphidse,
which preys upon it in myriads ; when this is the case
the leaves lose their bright green, turn of a bluish cast,
the leaf stocks lose somewhat of their supporting pow-
ers, the leaves curl up into irregular shapes, and the

20

lower layer turns black and drops off, while the ground
under the plant appears covered with the casts or
bodies of the insects as with a white powder. When in
this condition the plants arc in a very bad way.

Considering the circumstances under which this in-
sect appears, usually in a very dry season, I hold that it
is rather the product than the cause of disease, as with
the bark louse on our apple trees ; as a remedy I advo-
cate sprinkling the plants with air-s'aked lime, watering
if possible, and a frequent and thorough stirring of the
soil with the cultivator and hoc. The better the oppor-
tunities the cabbage have to develop themselves through
high manuring, sufficient moisture, good drainage, and
thorough cultivation, the less liable they arc to be
" lousy." As the season advances there will sometimes
he found patches eaten out of the leaves, leaving nothing
hut the skeleton of leaf veins ; an examination will
show a band of caterpillars of a light green color at
work, who feed in a compact mass, oftentimes a square,
with as much regularity as though under the best of
military discipline. The readiest way to dispose of
them is to break off the leaf and crush them under foot.
The common large red caterpillar occasionally preys on
the plants, eating large holes in the leaves especially
about the head. When the cabbage plot is bordered by
grass land, in seasons when grasshoppers arc plenty,
they will frequently destroy the outer rows, puncturing
the leaves with small holes and feeding on them until
little besides their skeletons remain. In isolated loca-
tions rabbits and other vegetable feeders sometimes
commit depredations. The snare and the shot gun arc
the remedy for these.

Other insects that prey upon the cabbage tribe, in

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 21

their caterpillar state, are the cabbage moth, white-line,
brown-eyed moth, large white garden butterfly, white
and green veined butterfly. All of these produce cater-
pillars which can be destroyed either by application of
air-slaked lime, or by removing the leaves infested and
crushing the intruders under foot. The cabbage-fly,
father-long legs, the mellipedes, the blue cabbage fly,
brassy cabbage ilea, and two or three other insect ene-
mies are mentioned by Mcintosh as infesting the cab-
bage fields of England ; also three species of fungi
known as white rust, mildew, and cyUndrosjiorium con-
centricum ; these last are destroyed by the sprinkling of
air-slaked lime on the leaves. In this country, along
the sea coast of the northern section, in open ground
cultivation there is comparatively but little injury done
by these marauders, which are the cause of so much
annoyance and loss to our English cousins.

THE GREEN WORM.
A new and troublesome enemy to the cabbage tribe
has made its appearance within a few years, and spread
rapidly over a large section of country, in a green
worm. This pest infests the cabbage tribe at all stages
of its growth ; it is believed to have been recently in-
troduced into this country from Europe, by the way
of Canada, where it was brought in a lot of cabbage.
It is probably the caterpillar of a white butterfly with
black spots on its wings. In Europe, this butterfly is
preyed on by two or more parasites, which keep it some-
what in check; but its remarkably rapid increase in this
country, causing a wail of lamentation to rise in a single
season from the cabbage growers over areas of tens of
thousands of square miles, leads me to fear that it has
reached this country without its attendant parasites.

22 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

Besides this green worm, there are found in Europe
four varieties of caterpillar variously marked, all of
which make great havoc among the cabbage tribe.

The remedies given as successful, by writers and cor-
respondents, are sprinkling with clarified lime-water,
dusting with air-slaked lime, hellebore, or Scotch snuff.
An admixture of carbonate and carbolate of lime, dusted
on, has proved a protective in this country. Chickens
allowed to run freely among the growing plants, the hen
being confined in a movable coop, if once attracted to
them will fatten on them. This remedy might answer
very well for small plots. Water heated to the tempera-
ture of 160° and applied at once, being sprinkled over the
plants by a common brush broom, has proved a success ;
but at 180° it has injured the leaves. Large areas in
cabbage, in proportion to their size are, as a rule, far
less injured by insect enemies than small patches.

CLUB OK STSJMP FOOT.
.- The great dread of every cabbage grower is a disease
of the branching roots, producing a bunchy, .gland-like
enlargement, known in different localities under the
name of club foot, stump foot, underground head, finger
and thumb. The result is a check in the ascent of the
sap, which causes a defective vitality. There arc two
theories as to the origin of club foot ; one that it is a
disease caused by poor soil, bad cultivation, and unsuita-
ble manures ; the other that the injury is done by an
insect enemy, Curculio contractus. It is held by some
that the maggots at the root are the progeny of the cab-
bage ilea ; this I doubt. This insect, " piercing the
skin of the root, deposits its eggs in the holes, lives
during a time on the sap of the plant, and then escapes
and buries itself for a time i:i the soil."

23

If the wart or gland-like excrescence is seen while
transplanting, throw all such plants away unless your
supply is short ; in such case carefully trim off all the
diseased portions with a sharp knife. If the disease is
in the growing crop, it will be made evident by the
drooping of the leaves under the mid-day sun, leaves of
diseased plants drooping more than those of healthy
ones, while they will usually have a bluer cast. Should
this disease show itself, set the cultivator going immedi-
ately, and follow with the hoe, drawing up fresh earth
around the plants, which will encourage them to form
new fibrous roots ; should they do this freely the plants
will be saved, as the attacks of the insect are usually
confined to the coarse branching roots. Should the dis-
ease prevail as late as when the plants have reached
half their growth, the chances are decidedly against
raising a paying crop.

When the land planted is too wet, or the manure in
the hill is too strong, this dreaded disease is liable to be
found on any soil ; but it is most likely to manifest itself
on soils that have been previously cropped with cabbage,
turnip, or some other member of the Brassica family.

Farmers find that as a rule it is not safe to follow
cabbage, ruta baga, or any of the Brassica family, ivith
cabbage, unless three or four years have intervened be-
tween the crops ; and I have known an instance in
growing the Marblehead Mammoth, where, though five
years had intervened, that portion of the piece occupied
by the previous crop could be distinctly marked off by
the presence of club foot.

Singular as it may appear, old gardens are an excep-
tion to this rule. While it is next to impossible to raise
in old gardens a fair turnip free from club-foot, cab-
bages may be raised year after year on the same soil

24 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

with impunity, or at least with but trifling injury from
that disease. This seems to prove, contrary to English
authority, that club-foot in the turnip tribe is the effect
of a dLTcrcnt cause from the same disease in the cab-
bage family.

There is another position taken by Stephens in his
" Book of the Farm," which facts seem to disprove,
lie puts forth the theory that " all such diseases arise
from poverty of the soil, cither from want of manure
when the soil is naturally poor, or rendered effete by
over-cropping." There is a farm on a neck of land be-
longing to this town which lias peculiar advantages for
collecting sea kelp and sea moss, and these manures arc
there used most liberally, particularly for the cultivation
of cabbarc, from eight to twelve cords of rotton kelp,
which is stronger than barn manure and more suitable
food for cabbage, being used to tho acre. A few years
ago, on a change of tenants, the new incumbent heavily
manured a piece for cabbage and planted it -; but as the
season advanced stump foot developed in every cabbage
on one side of the piece, while all the remainder were
healthy. Upon inquiry he learned that by mistake he
had overlapped the cabbage plot of last season just so
far as the stump foot extended. In this instance it
could not have been that the cabbage suffered for want
of food, for not only was the piece heavily manured that
year and the year previous, but it had been liberally
manured through a scries of years, and to a large ex-
tent with the manure which of all others the cabbage
tribe delight in, rotten kelp and sea mosses. I have
known other instances where soil naturally quite strong
and kept heavily manured for a scries of years has
shown stump foot when cabbage were planted with inter-
vals of two and three years between. My theory is that

25

the mere presence of the cabbage causes stump foot on
succeeding crops grown on the same soil. This is
proved by the fact that where a piece of land in grass,
close adjoining a piece of growing cabbage, had been
used for stripping them for marked, when this was broken
-up the next season and planted to cabbage, stump foct
appeared only on that portion where the waste leaves
fell the year previous. I have another instance to the
same point, told me by an observing farmer, that on a
piece of sod land on which he run his cultivator the year
previous when turning his horse every time he had cul-
tivated a row, he had stump footed cabbage the next
season just as far as that cultivator went, dragging, of
course, a few leaves and a little earth from the cabbage
piece with it. Still, though the mere presence cf cab-
bage causes stump foot, it is a fact that under certain
conditions cabbage can be grown on the same piece of
land year after year successfully, with but very little
trouble from stump foot. In this town (Marblchcad)
though, as I have stated, we cannot on our farms follow
cabbage with cabbage, even with the highest of manur-
ing and cultivation, yet in the gardens of the town, on
the same kind of soil, (and our soil is green stone and
syenite, not naturally containing lime,) there arc in-
stances where cabbage have been successfully followed
by cabbage on the same spot for a quarter of a century
and more. In the garden of an aged citizen of this
town, cabbages have been raised on the same spotofland
for over half a century.

The cause of stump foot cannot therefore be found in
the poverty of the soil, cither from want of manure or
its having been rendered effete from over-cropping. It
is evident that by long cultivation soils gradually have
diffused through them something that proves inimical

26 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

to the disease that produces stump foot. I will suggest
as probable that the protection is afforded by the pres-
ence of some alkali that old gardens are constantly ac-
quiring through house waste which is always finding its
way there, particularly the slops from the sink, which
abound in potash. This is rendered further probable
from the fact given by Mr. Peter Henderson, that, on
soils in this vicinity, naturally abounding in lime, cab-
bage can be raised year following year with almost im-
munity from stump foot. He ascribes this to the effects
of lime in the soil derived from marine shells, and r©r
commends that lime from bones be used to secure the
same protection ; but the lime that enters into the com-
position of marine shells is for the most part carbonate
of lime, whereas the greater portion of that which enters
into the composition of bones is phosphate of lime.
Common air-slaked lime is almost pure carbonate of
lime, and hence comes nearer to the composition of
marine shells than lime from bones, and, being much
cheaper, would appear to be preferable.

An able farmer told me that by using wood ashes lib-
erally he could follow with cabbage the next season on
the same piece. An experiment of my own in this di-
rection did not prove successful, where ashes at the rate
of two hundred bushels to the acre were used ; and I
have an impression that I have read of a like want of
success after quite liberal applications of lime. Still,
it remains evident, I think, that nature prevents stump
foot by the diffusing of alkalies through the soil, and
I mistrust that the reason why we sometimes fail with
the same remedies is that we have them mixed, rather
than intimately combined, with the particles of soil.

As I have stated under another head, an attack of
club foot is almost sure to follow the use of pure hog

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 27

manure, whether it be used broadcast or in the hill.
About ten years ago I ventured to use hog manure
nearly pure, spread broadcast and ploughed in. Stump
foot soon showed itself. I cultivated and hoed the
cabbage thoroughly; then, as they still appeared sickly,
I had the entire piece thoroughly dug over with a
six-tined fork, pushing it as deep or deeper into the
soil than the plough had gone, to bring up the manure
to the surface ; but all was of no use ; I lost the entire
crop. Yet, on another occasion, stable manure on
which hogs had been kept, at the rate of two hogs to
each animal, gave me one of the finest lots of cabbage
I ever raised.

CARE OF THE GROWING CROP.

As soon as the young plants are large enough to be
seen with the naked eye, in with the cultivator and go
and return once in each row, being careful not to
have any lumps of earth cover the plants. Follow the
cultivator immediately with the hoe, loosening the soil
about the hills. The old rule with farmers is to culti-
vate and hoe cabbage three times during their growth,
and it is a rule that works very well where the crop is
in good growing condition; but if the manure is deficient,
the soil bakes, or the plants show signs of disease, then
cultivate and hoe once or twice extra. " Hoe cabbage
when wet," is another farmer's axiom.. In a small
garden patch the soil may be stirred among the plants
as often as may be convenient, it can do no harm ; cab-
bages relish tending ; though it is not necessary to do
this every day, as one enthusiastic cultivator evidently
thought, who declared that by hoeing his cabbages every
morning he had succeeded in raising capital heads.

Zb CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

If a season of drouth occurs when the cabbages have
begun to head, the heads will harden prematurely ; and
then should a heavy rain fall, they will start to make a
new growth, and the consequence will be many of them
will split. Split or bursted cabbage arc a source of
great loss to the farmer, and this should be carefully
guarded against by . going frequently over the piece
when the heads are setting, and starting every cabbage
that appears to be about mature. A stout pronged potato
hoc applied just under the leaves, and a pull given suffi-
cient to start the roots on one side, will accomplish what
is needed. If cabbage that have once been started seem
still inclined to burst, start the roots on the other side.
Instead of a hoc they may be pushed over with the foot,
or with the hand. Frequently, heads that arc thus start-
ed will grow to double the size they had attained when
about to burst.

MARKETING THE CROP.
When preparing for market cabbages that have been
kept over Winter, particularly if they are marketed late
in the season, the edges of the leaves of some of the
heads will be found to be more or less decayed ; do not
strip such leaves off, but with a sharp knife cut clean
off the decayed edges. The earlier the variety the
sooner it needs to be marketed, for as a rule cabbages
push their shoots in the Spring in the order of their
earliness. If they have not been sufficiently protected
from the cold, the stumps will often rot off close to the
head and sometimes the rot will include the part of the
stump that enters the head. If the watery looking por-
tion can be cut clean out, the head is salable ; otherwise
it will be apt to have an unpleasant flavor when cooked.

29

As a rule, cabbages for marketing should bo trimmed
into as compact a form as possible ; the heads should bo
cut off close to the stump, leaving two or three spare
leaves to protect them. They may be brought out of
the piece in bushel baskets, and be piled on the wagon
as high as a hay stack, being kept in place by a stout
canvas sheet tied closely down. In the markets of Bos-
ton, in the fall of the year they are usually sold at a
price agreed upon by the hundred head ; this will vary
not only wiih the size and quality of the cabbage, but
with the season, the crop, and the quality in market on
that particular day. Within a few years I have known
the range of price for the Stone Mason or Fottlcr cab-
bage equal in size and quality, to be from $3 to $17 per
hundred ; for the Marblchead Mammoth from $3 to $25
per hundred. Cabbages brought to market in the
Spring arc usually sold by weight or by the barrel, at
from $1 to $-1 per hundred pounds.

The earliest cabbages carried to market sometimes
bring extraordinary prices ; and this has created a keen
competition among market gardeners, each striving to
produce the earliest, a difference of a week in market-
ing oftentimes making a difference of one-half in the
profits of the crop. Capt. Wyman, who controlled the
Early Wyman cabbage for several years, sold some
seasons thirty thousand heads, if my memory serves
me, at pretty much his own price. As a rule, it is the
very early and the very late cabbages that sell most
profitably. Should the market for very late cabbages
prove a poor one, the farmer is not compelled to sell
them, no matter at what sacrifice, as would be the case
a month earlier ; he can pit them, and so keep them
over to the early Spring market which is almost always
a profitable one. In marketing in Spring it should be

30 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

the aim to make sale before the crops of Spring greens
become plenty, as these replace the cabbage on many
tables. By starting cabbage in hot beds a crop of celery
or squashes may follow them the same season.

KEEPING CABBAGES THROUGH THE WINTER.

In the comparatively mild climate of England, where
there are but few days in the Winter months that the
ground remains frozen to any depth, the hardy cabbage
grows all seasons of the year, and turnips left during
"Winter standing in the ground are fed to sheep by yard-
ing them over the different portions of the field. With
the same impunity, in the southern portion of our own*
country the cabbages are left unprotected during the
Winter months ; and, in the warmer portions of the
South they are principally a Winter crop. As we ad-
vance farther north, we find that the degree of protec-
tion needed is afforded by running the plough along
each side of the rows, turning the earth against them,
and dropping a little litter on top of the heads. As we
advance still farther northward, we find sufficient pro-
tection given by but little more than a rough roof of
boards thrown over the heads, after removing the cab-
bages to a sheltered spot and setting them in the ground
as near together as they will stand without being in
contact, with the tops of the heads just level with the
surface.

In the latitude of New England, cabbages are not
secure from injury from frost with less than a foot of
earth thrown over the heads. In mild Winters a cover-
ing of half that deptli will be sufficient ; but as we have
no prophets to foretell our mild Winters, a foot of earth
is safer than six inches. Where eel grass can be pro-

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETG. 31

cured along the sea coast, or there is straw or coarse hay
to spare, the better plan is to cover with about six inches
of earth, and when this is frozen sufficiently hard to
bear a man's weight, (which is usually about Thanks-
giving time) to scatter over it the eel grass, straw or
coarse hay, to the depth of another six inches. In keep-
ing cabbages through the Winter, three general facts
should be borne in mind, viz. : that repeated freezing
and thawing will cause them to rot ; that excessive
moisture or warmth will also cause rot ; while a dry air,
such as is found in most cellars, will abstract moisture
from the leaves, injure the flavor of the cabbage, and
cause some of the heads to wilt and the harder heads to
waste. In the Middle States we have mostly to fear the
wet of Winter, and the plan for keeping for that section
should therefore have particularly in view protection
from moisture, while in the northern States we have to
fear the cold of Winter, and consequently our plan
must there have specially in view protection from cold.
When storing for Winter, select a dry day, if possible
sufficiently long after rainy weather to have the leaves
free of water, — otherwise they will spout it on to you,
and make you the wettest and muddiest scarecrow ever
seen eff a farm, — then strip all the outer leaves from
the head but the two last rows, which arc needed to
protect it. This may be readily done by drawing in
these two rows towards the head with the left hand,
while a blow is struck against the remaining leaves
with the fist of the right hand. Next pull up the
cabbage, which, if they arc of the largest varieties,
maybe expeditiously clone by a potato hoc. If they
arc not intended for seed purposes, stand the heads
down and stumps up until the earth on the roots is

32 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

somewhat dry, when it can be mostly removed by sharp
blows against the stump given with a stout stick. In
loading do not bruise the heads. Select the place for
keeping them in a dry, level location, and if in the
North a southern exposure, where no water can stand
and there can be no wash. To make the pit, run the
plough along from two to four furrows, and throw out
the soil with the shovel to the requisite depth, which
may be from six to ten inches : now if the design is to
roof over the pit, the cabbages may be put in as thickly
as they will stand ; if the heads are solid they may be
either head up or stump up, and two layers deep ; but
if the heads arc soft, then heads up and one deep, and
not crowded very close that they may have room to
make heads during the Winter. Having excavated an
area twelve by six feet, set a couple of posts in the
ground midway at each end, projecting about five feet
above the surface ; connect the two by a joist secured
firmly to the top of each, and against this, extending to
the ground just outside the pit, lay slabs, boards or poles,
and cover the roof that will be thus formed with six
inches of straw or old hay, and if in the North throw
six or eight inches of earth over this. Leave one end
open for entrance and to air the pit, closing the other
end with straw or hay. In the North close both ends,
opening one of them occasionally in mild weather.

When cabbages are pitted on a large scale this system
of roofing is too costly and too cumbersome. A few
thousand may be kept in a cool root cellar, by putting
one layer heads down, and standing another layer
heads up between these. The common practice in the
North, when many thousands are to be stored for Winter
and Spring sales, is to select a southern exposure hav-

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 33

ing the protection of a fence or wall if practicable, and
turning furrows with the plough throw out the earth
with shovels to the depth of about six inches ; the cab-
bages, stripped as before described, are then stored
closely together, and straw or coarse hay is thrown over
them to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches. Pro-
tected thus they arc accessible for market at any time
during the Winter. If the design is to keep them over
till Spring, the covering may be first six inches of earth,
to be followed as cold increases, with six inches of straw,
litter, or eel grass. This latter is my own practice,
with the addition of leaving a ridire of earth between
every three or four rows to act as a support and keep
the cabbages from falling over. I am also careful to
bring the cabbages to the pit as soon as pulled, with the
earth among the roots as little disturbed as possible, and
should the roots appear to be dry, to throw a little earth
over them after the cabbages are set in the trench. The
few loose leaves remaining will prevent the earth from
sifting down between the heads, and the air chambers
thus made answer a capital purpose in keeping out the
cold, as air is one of the best non-conductors of heat.
It is said that muck soil when avcII drained is an excel-
lent one to bury cabbage in, as its antiseptic properties
preserve them from decay. If the object is to preserve
the cabbage for market purposes only, the heads may be
buried in the same position in which they grew, or they
may be inverted, the stump having no value in itself;
but if for seed purposes, they must be buried head up,
as whatever injures the stump spoils the whole cabbage
for that object. I store between ten and fifty thousand
heads annually to raise seed from, and carry them
through till planting time with a degree of success

34 CABBAGES, HOW TO CROW THEM, ETC.

varying from a loss for seed purposes of from one-half
to thirty-three per cent, of the number buried ; but if
handled early in Spring, many that would be worthless
for seed purposes could be profitably marketed. A few
years since I buried a lot with a depth varying from one
to four feet, and found, on uncovering them in the
Spring, that all had kept and apparcntljr equally well.
In the Winter of 1868 excessively cold weather came
very early and unexpectedly, before my cabbage plot
had received its full covering of litter. The consequence
was the frost penetrated so deep that it froze through
the heads into the stumps, and when Spring came a
large portion of them came out spoilt for seed purposes,
though most of them sold readily in the market. A
cabbage is rendered worthless for seed when the frost
strikes through the stump where it-joins the head ; and
though to the unpracticed eye all may appear right, yet,
if the heart of the stump has a water-soaked appear-
ance on being cut into, it will almost uniformly decay
just below the head in the course of a few weeks after
having been planted out. If there is a probability that
the stumps have been frozen through, examine the plot
early, and, if it proves so, sell the cabbages for eating
purposes, no matter how sound and handsome the heads
look ; if you delay until time for planting out the cab-
bage for seed, meanwhile much waste will occur. I
once lost heavily in Marblehead Mammoth cabbage by
having them buried on a hill-side with a gentle slope.
In the course of the Winter they fell over on their sides,
which let down the soil from above, and, closing the
air chambers between them, brought the huge heads into
a mass, and the result was a large proportion of them
rotted badly. At another time I lost a whole plot by

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 35

burying them in soil between ledges of rock, which
kept the ground very wet when Spring opened ; the con-
sequence was every cabbage rotted. If the heads arc
frozen more than two or three leaves deep before they
are pitted, they will not come out so handsome in the
Spring; but cabbages are very hardy and they readily
rally from a little freezing either in the open ground or
after they are buried, though it is best when they arc
frozen in the open ground to let them remain there until
the frost comes out before removing them if it can be
done without too much risk of freezing still deeper, as
they handle better then, for being tougher the leaves are
not so easily broken. If the soil is frozen to any depth
before the cabbages are removed, the roots will be likely
to be injured in the pulling, a matter of no consequence
if the cabbages are intended for market, but of some
importance if they are for seed raising. Large cab-
bages are more easily pulled by giving them a little
twist ; if for seed purposes this should be avoided, as it
injures the stump. A small lot that are to be used with-
in a month can be kept hung up by the stump in the
cellar of a dwelling house ; they will keep in this way
until Spring, but the outer leaves will dry and turn yel-
low, the heads shrink some in size, and be apt to lose in
quality. Some practice putting clean chopped straw in
the bottom of a box or barrel, wetting it, and covering
witli heads trimmed ready for cooking, adding again
wet straw and a layer of heads, so alternating until the
barrel or box is filled, after which it is headed up and
kept in a cool place, at or a little below the freezing
point. No doubt this is an excellent way to preserve a
small lot, as it has the two essentials to success, keep-
ing them cool and moist.

36 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

Instead of burying them in an upright position, after
a deep farrow lias been made the cabbages are sometimes
laid on their sides two deep, with their roots at the bot-
tom of the furrow, and covered with earth in this posi-
tion. Where the Winter climate is so mild that a shal-
low covering will be sufficient protection, this method
saves much labor.

HAVING CABBAGE MAKE HEADS IX WINTER.

When a piece of drumhead has been planted very
late, (sometimes they are planted on ground broken up
after a crop of hay has been taken from it the same
season,) there will be a per cent, of the plants when the
growing season is over that have not headed. With care
almost all of these can be made to head during the
Winter. A few years ago I selected my seed heads
from a large piece and then sold the first "pick," of
what remained at ten cents a head, the second at eight
cents, and so down until all were taken for which pur-
chasers were willing to give one cent each. Of course,
after such a thorough selling out as this there was not
much in the shape of a head left. I now had what re-
mained pulled up and carted away, doubtful whether to
feed them to the cows or to set them out to head up
during Winter. As they were very healthy plants in
the full vigor of growth, having rudimentary heads just
gathering in, I determined to set them out. I had a pit
dug deep enough to bring the tops of the heads, when
the plants were stood upright as they grew, just above
the surface of the ground ; I then stood the cabbages
in without breaking off any of the leaves, keeping the
roots well covered with earth, having the plants far
enough apart not to crowd each other very much, though

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 37

so near as to press somewhat together the two outer
circles of leaves. They were allowed to remain in this
condition until it was cold enough to freeze the ground
an inch in thickness, when a covering of coarse hay was
thrown over them a couple of inches thick, and, as the
cold increased in intensity, this covering was increased
to ten or twelve inches in thickness, the additions being-
made at two or three intervals. In the Spring I uncov-
ered the lot, and found that nearly every plant had
headed up. I sold the heads for four cents a pound, and
these refuse cabbages averaged me about ten cents a
head, which was the price my best heads brought me in
the Fall. I have seen thousands of cabbages in 0'ie lot,
the refuse of several acres that had been planted on sod
land broken up the same season a crop of hay had been
taken from it, made to head by this course, and sold in
the Spring for $1.80 per barrel. When there is a large
lot of such cabbages the most economical way to plant
them will be in furrows made by the plough. Most of
the bedding used in covering them, if it be as coarse as
it ought to be to admit as much air as possible while it
should not mat down on the cabbages, will, with care in
drying, be again available for covering another season,
or remain suitable for bedding purposes. These " Win-
ter headed" cabbages, as they are called in the market,
are not so solid and have more shrinkage to them than
those headed in the open ground ; hence they will not
bear transportation as well, neither will they keep as
long when exposed to the air. The effect of wintering
cabbage by burying in the soil is to make them exceed-
ingly tender for table use.

38 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

VARIETIES OF CABBAGE.

If a piece of land is planted with seed grown from
two heads of cabbage the product will bear a striking
resemblance to the two parent cabbages, with a third
variety which will combine the characteristics of these
two, yet the resemblance will be somewhat modified at
times by a little more manure, a little higher culture, a
little better location, and the addition of an individual-
ity that particular vegetables occasionally take upon
themselves which we signify by the word " sport." The
" sports" when they occur are fixed and perpetuated
with remarkable readiness in the cabbage family, as is
proved by the great number of varieties in cultivation,
the numerous progeny of one ancestor. The catalogues
of the English and French seedsmen contain long lists
of varieties, many of which (and this is especially true
of the early kinds) are either the same variety under a
different name or are different "strains" of the same
variety produced by the careful selections of prominent
market gardeners through a series of years.

Four different seasons I have experimented with for-
eign and American varieties of cabbage to learn the
characteristics of the different kinds, their comparative
earliness, size, shape, and hardness of head, length of
stump, and such other facts as would prove of value to
market gardeners. There is one fact that every care-
ful experimenter soon learns, that one season will not
teach all that can be known relative to a variety, and
that a number of specimens of each kind must be raised
to enable one to make a fair comparison. It is amusing
to read the dicta which appear in the agricul ural press
from those who have made but a single experiment with
some vegetable ; they proclaim more after a single trial

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM ETC. 39

than a cautious experimenter would dare to declare after
years spent in careful observation. The year 1869 I
raised over sixty varieties of cabbage, importing nearly
complete suites of those advertised by the leading English
and French seed houses, and collecting the principal
kinds raised in this country. I do not propose describ-
ing all these in this treatise or their comparative merits ;
of some of them I have yet something to learn, but I
will endeavor to introduce with my description such
notes as I think will prove of value to my fellow farmers
and market gardeners.

I will here say in general of the class of early cab-
bages, that most of them have elongated heads between
ovoid and conical in form. They appear to lack in this
country the sweetness and tenderness that characterize
some varieties of our drumhead, and consequently in the
North when the drumhead enters the market there is
but a limited call for them.

It may be well here to note a fundamental distinction
between the drumhead cabbage of England and those of
this country. In England the drumhead class are
almost wholly raised to feed to stock ; I venture the
conjecture that this is owing in part, or principally, to
the fact that, being raised for cattle, European gardeners
have never had the motive and consequently have never
developed the full capacity of the drumhead as cxampled
by the fine varieties raised in this country. The secur-
ing of sorts reliable for heading being therefore a matter
of secondary consideration, seed is raised from stumps
or any refuse heads that may be standing when Spring
comes around. For this reason English drumhead cab-
bage seed is better suited to raise a mass of leaves than
heads, and always disappoints our American farmers
who buy it because it is cheap with the expectation of

40 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

raising cabbages for market. English grown drumhead
cabbage seed is utterly worthless for use in this country
except to raise greens or collards.

The following are foreign varieties that are accepted
in this country as standards, and for years have been
more or less extensively cultivated : Early York,
Large York, Early Oxheart, Large French Oxheart,
Early Sugar Loaf, Early Winnigstadt, Red Dutch,
Red Drumhead. Of these the Large French Oxheart,
Red Drumhead and Early Winnigstadt have had a some-
what recent introduction, the two latter having grown
rapidly in popularity. In my experience as a seed
dealer, the Sugar Loaf and Oxheart are losing ground
in the farming community, t'le Early Jersey Wakefield
having to a large extent replaced them.

Early York. Heads nearly ovoid, pretty hard for
an early sort, with few waste loaves surrounding them,
which are of a bright green cjlor. Reliable for heading.
Stump rather short. Plant two feet by eighteen inches.
This cabbage has been cultivated in England over a
hundred years. Little Pixte and Carter's Superfine
Early are with me each of them earlier than Early
York, are as reliable for heading, head much harder,
and are of better flavor ; the first does not grow as
large, but the second I think does, and is therefore much
preferable to it.

Larg3 York is about a fortnight later than Early
York ; heads larger, not so long, and more solid ; leaves
gather closer around the head ; stumps short. It is as-
serted that this variety is less affected by heat than sev-
eral other kinds, and hence is a good cabbage for the
South.

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

41

Early Oxheart. Heads nearly egg-shaped, small,
hard, few waste leaves, stumps short. A little later than
Early York. Have the rows two feet apart, and the
plants from sixteen to eighteen inches apart in the row.

Large French Oxheart closely resembles Early
Oxheart, but grows to double the size, and is about ten
days later ; quality usually good. An excellent kind for
large early, but, like all others of the oblong headed
cabbages, must in this country be marketed before the
drumhead class mature or the crop becomes unsalable.

Early Sugar Loaf. Heads shaped much like a
loaf of sugar standing on its smaller end, resembling,
as Burr well says, a head of Cos lettuce in its shape and
in the peculiar clasping of the leaves about the head.
Heads rather hard, medium size ; early, and tender. It
is said not to stand the heat as well as most sorts.
Plant, in rows two feet apart, and the plants from eigh-
teen to twenty inches in the row.

Early Winnigstadt. (A German cabbage.)

.am

Heads nearly conical in shape having usually a twist of

42 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

leaf at the top ; larger than Oxlieart, are harder than
any of the early oblong heading cabbages ; stumps mid-
dling short. Matures about ten days later than Early
York. The Winnigstadt is remarkably reliable for
heading, being not excelled in this respect when the
seed has been raised with care, by any cabbage grown.
It is a capital sort for Early Market outside our large
cities where the very early kinds are net so eagerly
craved. It is so reliable for heading that it will often
make fine heads where other sorts fail, and I would ad-
vise all who have not succeeded in their efforts to grow
cabbage to try this before giving up their attempts. It
is raised by some for Winter use, and where the drum
heads are not so successfully raised I would advise my
farmer friends to try the Winnigstadt, as the heads are
so hard that they keep without much waste. Have rows
two feet apart, and plant twenty inches to two feet apart
in the rows.

Red Dutch. Heads nearly conical, medium sized,
hard, of a very deep red ; outer leaves* numerous, and
not so red as the head, being somewhat mixed with
green ; stump rather long. This cabbage is usually
planted too late ; it requires nearly the whole season to
mature. It is used for pickling, or cut up fine as a sal-
ad served with vinegar and pepper. This is a very ten-
der cabbage, and were it not for its color would be an
excellent sort to boil ; to those who have a mind to eat
it with their eyes shut, this objection will not apply.

Red Drumhead. Like the preceding with the ex-
ception that the heads grow round or nearly so, are
harder, and of double the size. Care should be taken
not to run these cabbages too large, as they will, begin
to lose in color, which lessens their value for pickling

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 43

and salad uses. It is very difficult to raise seed from
this cabbage in this country. I am acquainted with five
trials made in as many different years, two of which I
made myself, and all were nearly utter failures, the
yield when the hardest heads were selected being at
about the rate of two great spoonfuls of seed from every
twenty cabbages. French seed growers are more suc-
cessful, otherwise this seed would have to sell at a far
higher figure in the market than any other sort.

The Little Pixie, a recent introduction, has much
to recommend
it in quality,
reliability for
heading, and
hardness o f
the head ; be-
ing earlier
than Early
York, though
somewhat
smaller, it is
to be lamented if it docs not ultimately sweep away
that variety.

Among those that deserve to be heartily welcomed
and grow in favor, are the Early Ulm Savoy (for en-
graving and description of which see under head of Sa-
voy,) Early Vanack, (a very early conical heading
sort,) Early Nonpareil, (another closely allied vari-
ety ?) — both these latter being among the earliest, — and
the St. Dennis Drumhead, a late, short-stumped sort,
setting a large, round, very solid head, as large but
harder than Premium Flat Dutch. The leaves arc of a
bluish green and thicker than those of most varieties of

44

CABBAGES.

drumhead. Our brethren in Canada think highly of
this cabbage, and if we want to try a new drumhead, I
will speak a good word for this one.

Early Schweinfurt or Schweinfurt Quintal
is a new but excellent early drumhead ; the heads range
in size from ten to eighteen inches in diaueter, varying

rtte^®Siltei

with the conditions of cultivation more than any other
cabbage I am acquainted with. The heads are flattish
round, weigh from three to nine pounds when well
grown, arc very symmetrical in shape, standing apart
from the surrounding leaves. They are not solid, though
they have the finished appearance that solidity gives ;
they are remarkably tender as though blanched, and of
very fine flavor. It is among the earliest of drumheads,
maturing at about the same time as the Early Winnig-
stadt. As an early drumhead for the family garden it
has no superior ; and where the market is near and
does not insist that a cabbage head must be haH to be
good, it has proved a very profitable market sort.

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 45

The following are the standard American varieties of
cabbage; Early Wakefield, Early Wyman, Crane's
Early, Cannon Ball, Early Low Dutch, Premium
Flat Dutch, Stone Mason, Large Late Drumhead,
Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead, American Green
Glazed, Fottler's Drumhead, Bergen Drumhead,
Drumhead Savoy, and American Green Globe Savoy.
All of these varieties as I have previously stated are but
improvements of foreign kinds ; but they are so far im-
proved through years of careful selection and cultivation,
that as a rule they appear quite distinct from the origi-
nal kinds when grown side by side with them, and this
distinction is more or less recognized in both English
and American catalogues by the adjective " American"
or " English" being added after varieties bearing the
same name.

Early Wakefield, sometimes called Early Jersey

Wakefield.-— ^r~v^^~-v -j^Mmzb

Heads mostly
nearly conical in
shape but some-
times nearly
round, of good
size for early,
very reliable for
heading; stumps
short. A very
popular early
cabbage in the markets of Boston and New York. Plant
two and a half feet by two feet.

Early Wyman. This cabbage is na^ed after Capt.
Wyman of Cambridge, the originator. Like Early

46

CABBAGES. HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

Wakefield the heads are usually somewhat conical, but
sometimes nearly round ; in structure they arc compact.
In earliness it ranks
about with the Early
Wakefield, and mak
ing heads of double
the size, it has a high
value as an early
cabbage. Captain
Wyman had entire
control of this cab-
bage until within
the past few years, and consequently has held Boston
Market in his own hands to the chagrin of his fellow mar-
ket gardeners, raising some seasons as many as thirty
thousand heads. Have the rows from two to two and a
half feet apart, and the plants from twenty to twenty-four
inches apart in the row. Crane's Early is a cross be-
tween the Wyman and Wakefield, intermediate in size
and earliness.

Premium Flat Dutch. A large, late variety; heads
either round or
fiat, on the top,
( v a r y i n g
with differ-
ent strains)
rather hard,
color bluish"
green, leaves
around heads
rather numcr
ous ; towards
the close of
the season,

4T

the edge of some of the exterior leaves and the
top of the heads assume a purple cast. The edges of
the exterior leaves and of the two or three that make
the outside of the head are quite ruffled so that when
grown side by side with Stone Mason, this distinction
between the habit of growth of the two varieties is no-
ticeable at quite a distance. Stumps short ; reliable for
heading. Have the rows three feet apart, and the
plants from two and a half to three feet apart- in the
rows. This cabbage is very widely cultivated, and in
many respects is an excellent sort to raise for late mar-
keting.

Early Low Dutch. Heads round, medium sized,
solid. Outside leaves few in number ; stalk thick and
short. Medium early, tender and of good quality. Plant
two and a half feet by two.

Stone Mason. An improvement on the Mason,
which cabbage was selected by Mr. John Mason of Mar-
blehead, from a number of
varieties of cabbage that came
from a lot of seed purchased
and planted as Savoys. Mr.
John Stone afterwards im-
proved upon the Mason cab-
bage, by increasing the size
of the heads. Different grow-
ers differ in their standard
of a Stone Mason cabbage, in earliness and lateness,
and in the size, form and hardness of the head. But
all these varieties agree in the characteristics of being
very reliable for heading, in having heads, which are
large, very hard, very tender, rich and sweet ; short

48 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

stumps, and few waste leaves. The color of the leaves.
varies from a bluish green to a pea green, and the struc-
ture from nearly smooth to much blistered. In their
color and blistering some specimens have almost a Savoy
cast. The beads, of the best varieties of Stone Mason
range in weight- from six to twenty -five pounds, the dif-
ference turning mostly on soil, manure and cultivation.

The Stone Mason is an earlier cabbage than Premium
Flat Dutch, has fewer waste leaves, and side by side
under high cultivation grows to an equal or larger size,
while it makes heads that arc decidedly harder and
sweeter. These cabbages are equally reliable for head-
ing. I am inclined to the opinion that under poor cul-
tivation the Premium Flat Dutch will do somewhat
better than the Stone Mason.

Until the introduction of Fottler s Drumhead it was
the standard drumhead cabbage in the markets of Bos-
ton and other large cities of the North. Recently this
fine cabbage has, in some localities, shown a tendency
to rot at the stump before maturing its head. I trust
that the trouble is but local and temporary. Have the
rows three feet apart, and the plants from two to three
feet apart in the row.

Large Late Drumhead. Heads large, round,
sometimes flattened at the top, close and firm; loose
leaves numerous ; stems short ; reliable for heading,
hardy, and a good keeper. The name " Large Late
Drumhead" includes varieties raised by Messrs. Collins
& Anderson, Buist, and several other seedsmen in this
country, all of which resemble each other in the above
characteristics, and differ in but minor points. Have
rows three feet apart, and plants from two and a half to
three feet apart in the row.

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 49

Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead. This is the
largest of the cabbage family, having sometimes been
grown to weigh over sixty pounds to the plant. It orig-

inated in Marblehead, Massachusetts, being produced
by Mr. Alley, probably from the Mason, by years of
high cultivation and careful selection of seed stock. I
introduced this cabbage and the Stone Mason to the
general public many years ago, and it has been pretty
thoroughly disseminated throughout the United States.
Heads varying in shape between hemispherical and
spherical, with but few waste leaves surrounding them;
size very large, varying from fifteen to twenty inches in
diameter, and in some specimens they have grown to
the extraordinary dimensions of twenty-four inches. In
good soil and with the highest culture this variety has
attained an average weight of thirty pounds by the acre.
Quality when well grown remarkably sweet and tender,
as would be inferred from the rapidity of its growth.
Cultivate in rows four feet apart, and allow four feet be-
tween the plants in the rows. Sixty tons of this variety
have been raised from a single acre.

50 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

American Green Glazed. Heads loose though
rather large, with a great body of waste leaves sur-
rounding them ; quality poor ; late ; stump long. This
cabbage was readily distinguished among all the varie-
ties in my experimental plot by the deep, rich green of
the leaves with their bright lustre as though varnished.
It is grown somewhat extensively in the South, as it is
believed not to be so liable to injury from insects as
other varieties. Plant two and a half feet apart each
way. I would advise my Southern friends to try the
merits of other kinds before adopting this poor affair. I
know, through my correspondence, that the Mammoth
has done well as far South as Louisiana and Cuba, and
the Fottler in many sections of the South has given
great satisfaction.

Fottler's Early Drumhead. Several years ago a
Boston Seedsman imported a lot of Cabbage seed from
Europe, under
the name of
Early Bruns-
wick Short
Stemmed. It
proved to be a
large heading
and very early
Drumhead.
The heads
were from
eight to eigh-
teen inches in
diameter, near-
ly flat, hard, sweet and tender in quality ; few waste
leaves ; stump short. In earliness it was about a fort-

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 51

night ahead of the Stone Mason. It was so much liked
by the Market gardeners that the next season he ordered
a larger quantity, but the second importation, though
ordered and sent under the same name, proved to be a
different and inferior kind, and the same result followed
one or two other importations. The two gardeners who
received seed of the first importation brought to market
a fine large Drumhead, ten days or a fortnight ahead of
their fellows. The seed of the true stock was- eagerly
bought up by the Boston market gardeners, most of it at
$5 an ounce. After an extensive trial on a large scale
by the market farmers around Boston, and by farmers
in various parts of the United States, Fottler's Cabbage
lias given great satisfaction, and has become a universal
favorite, and when once known is fast replacing some of
the old varieties of Drumhead. Mr. Tillinghast, in his
valuable little work on gardening, ranks it emphatically
at the head of all the drumhead family, and to those who
intend to grow but a single variety, I would heartily
recommend the Fottler. Very reliable for heading.

Bergen Drumhead. Heads round, rather flat on
the top, solid ; leaves stout, thick, and rather numerous ;
stump short. With me, under same cultivation, it is
later than Stone mason. It is tender and of good flavor.
A popular sort in many sections, particularly in the
markets of New York city. Have the plants three
feet apafc each way.

Cannon Ball. This cabbage came originally from
the Patent office, but as I have been unable to trace its
parentage to any foreign country in the course of my
experiments with varieties, I think we may as well class
it as American by default. The heads are usually
spherical, attaining to a diameter of from five to nine

52 • CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

inches, with the surrounding leaves gathered rather
closely around them ; in hardness and relative weight it
is not excelled, if equalled, by any other cabbage. Stump
short. It delights in the highest cultivation possible.
It is about a week later than Early York. In those
markets where cabbages are sold by weight, it will pay
to grow for market ; it is a good cabbage for the family
garden.

SAYOY CABBAGE.

The Savoys are the tenderest and richest flavored of
cabbages, though not always as sweet as a well grown
Stone Mason ; nor is a Savoy grown on poor soil or one
that has been pinched by drouth as tender as a Stone
Mason that has been grown under favoring circumstances;
yet it remains as a rule that the Savoy surpasses all
other cabbages in tenderness, and in a rich marrow-like
flavor. The Savoys are also the hardiest of the cabbage
tribe, enduring in the open field a temperature within
sixteen degrees of zero without serious injury ; and if
the heads are not very hard they will continue to with-
stand repeated changes from freezing to thawing for a
couple of months, as far north as the latitude of Boston.
A degree of freezing improves them, and it is common
in that latitude to let such as are intended for early
winter use in the family remain standing in the open
ground where they grew, cutting the heads as they are
wanted.

As a rule Savoys neither head as readily (the " Im-
proved American Savoy" an exception) nor do the
heads grow as large as the drumhead varieties ; indeed,
most of the kinds in cultivation are so unreliable in
these respects as to be utterly worthless for market pur-
poses, and nearly so for the kitchen garden.

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 53

The Drumhead Savoy sent out by Yilmorin, An-
dreiex & Co., of France, is not sufficiently distinct
from the Green Globe Savoy ; it is of a bluish green
cast, not so fine in structure, and attains about the same
size, but there is not enough of the drumhead in it to
make the variety worthy of the name " drumhead."
Folsom's American Drumhead Savoy, sometimes called
Cambridge Savoy, is much superior, growing to double
the size, while it has enough of the Savoy character in
it to mark it strongly both for the eye and the palate.
One variety in my experimental garden, which I received
as Tour's Savoy, (evidently a drumhead variety of the
Savoy.) proved to be much like Early Schweinfurt in
earlincss and style of heading ; the heads were very
large, but quite loose in structure ; I should think it
would prove valuable for family use.

It is a fact that does not appear to be generally known
that we have among the Savoys some remarkably early
sorts which rank with the earliest varieties of cabbage
grown. Pancalier and Early Ulm Savoy are earlier
than that old standard of earlincss, Early York ; Pan-
calier being somewhat earlier than Ulm.

Pancalier is characterized by very coarsely blistered
leaves of the darkest green color ; the heads usually
gather together, being the only exception I know of to
the rule that cabbage heads are made up of over-lapping
leaves, wrapped closely together. It has a short stump,
and with high cultivation is reliable for heading. The
leaves nearest the head, though not forming a part of it,
arc quite tender and may be cooked with the head.
Plant fifteen by thirty inches.

Early Ulm Savoy is a few days later than Panca-

54

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

and makes a larger head ; the leaves are of a light-

not so

lier

er green and
coarsely blistered ;
stump short; head round;
very reliable for head-
ing. It has a capital
characteristic in not be-
ing so liable as most va-
rieties to burst the head
and push the seed shoot
immediately after the
head is matured. For
first early I know no cabbages so desirable as these for
the kitchen garden.

The Early Dwarf Savoy is a desirable variety of
second early. The heads are rather flat in shape, and
grow to a fair size. Stumps short ; reliable for heading.

Improved American Savoy. Everything con-
sidered, this is the Savoy " par excellence" for the mar-
ket garden. It is a
true Savoy, the
heads grow to a
large size, from six
to ten inches in di-
ameter, varying, of
course, with soil,
manure and cultiva- 3=:
tion. In shape the "^pj-; _^_
heads are mostly ~~^~
globular, occasionally oblong, having but few waste
leaves, and grow very solid. Stump short. In relia-
bility for heading it is unsurpassed by any other cabbage.

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 55

Golden Savoy differs from other varieties in the
color of the head, which rises from the body of light
green leaves, of a singular pale yellow color, as though
blanched. The stumps are long, and the head rather
small, a portion of these growing pointed. It is very
late, not worth cultivating except as a curiosity.

Norwegian Savoy. This is a singular half cab-
bage, half kale— at least, so it has proved under my
cultivation. The leaves are long, narrow, tasselated,
and somewhat blistered. The whole appearance is very
singular and rather ornamental. I have tried this cab-
bage twice, but have never got beyond the possible
promise of a head.

Victoria Savoy, Russian Savoy and Cape
Savoy, tested in my experimental garden, did not
prove desirable either for family use or for market pur-
poses.

Feather Stemmed Savoy. This is a cross be-
tween the Savoy and brussels sprouts, having the habit
of growth of brussels sprouts.

I will add notes on a few other varieties in my ex-
perimental plot :

Large Brunswick Short-Stemmed. (English
seed.) Late, long stumped, wild, plenty of leaves, al-
most no head ; bears but a slight resemblance to Fot-
tler's Drumhead.

Early Empress. Cabbages well; heads conical ;
early.

Robinson's Champion Ox Drumhead. Stump
long ; heads soft and not very large ; wild.

English Winnigstadt. Long stumped ; irregular;
not to be compared with French stock.

56 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

Blenheim. Early ; heads mostly conical ; of good
size.

Shillings Queen. Early ; heads conical ; stumps
long.

Carter's Superfine Early Dwarf. Surpasses in
earliness and hardness of head all the early, long head-
ed sorts, Little Pixie, to which it is evidently closely
allied, perhaps excepted.

Enfield Market Improved. Most of the heads
were flat ; rather wild ; not to be compared with Fottler.

Kemp's Incomparable. Long headed ; heads
when mature do not appear to burst as readily as with
most of the conical class.

Fielderkraut. Closely resembles Winnigstadt, with

larger and longer heads and stunip ; requires more room
than Winnigstadt.

Ramsay's Winter Drumhead . Closely resem-
bles St. Dennis ; I think it is the same.

Pomeranian Cabbage. Heads very long ; quite
large for a conical heading sort ; very symmetrical and
hard ; color yellowish green. It handles well, and I
should think would prove a good keeper. Medium early.

Alsacian Drumhead. Stump long ; late : wild.

Marbled Bourgogne. Stump long ; heads small
and hard ; color a mixture of green and red.

CABBAGE GREENS.

In the vicinity of our large cities, the market garden-
ers sow large areas very thickly with cabbage seed, early
in the Spring, to raise young plants to be sold as greens.
The seed is sown broadcast at the rate of ten pounds
and upwards to the acre. Seed of the Savoy cabbage

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 57

is usually sown for this purpose, which may bo some-
times purchased at a discount, owing to some defect in
quality or purity that would render it worthless for
planting for a crop of heading cabbage.

The young plants arc cut off about even with the
ground, when four or five inches high, washed, and car-
ried to market in barrels or bushel boxes. The price
varies with the state of the market, from 12 cents to $3
a barrel, the average price in Boston market being about
a dollar. With the return of Spring most families have
some cabbage stumps remaining in the cellar ; these can
be planted about a foot apart in some handy spot along
the edge of the garden, where they will not interfere
with the general crop, setting them under ground from
a quarter to a half their length, depending on the length
of the stumps. They will soon be covered witli green
shoots, which should be used as greens before the blos-
som buds show themselves, as they then become too
strong to be agreeable. If the spot is rich and has been
well dug, the rapidity of growth is surprising ; and if
the shoots are frequently gathered, many nice messes of
greens can be grown from a few stumps. Farmers in
Northern Vermont tell me, that if they break off each
seed shoot as soon as it shows itself, close home to the
stump, nice little heads will push out on almost every
stump. In England, where the Winter climate is much
milder than that of New England, it is the practice to
raise a second crop of heads in this way. I have seen
an acre from which a crop of drumhead cabbage had
been cut off early in the season, every stump on which
had from three to six hard heads, varying from the size
of a hen's egg to that of a goose c^ ; but to get this
second growth of heads as much of the stump and leaves
should be left as possible, when cutting out the original

58 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

head. As in the cabbage districts of the North little or
no use is made of this prolific after growth, it is worse
than useless to suffer the ground to be exhausted by it ;
the stump should be pulled by the potatoe hoc as soon
as the heads arc marketed.

When cabbages arc planted out for seed, if for any
reason the seed shoot fails to push out, and at times
when it does push out, line sprouts for greens will start
below the head ; when the stock of these sprouts be-
comes too tough for use, the large leaves may be stripped
from them and cooked. I usually break off the tender
tops of large sprouts, and then strip off the tenderest of
the large leaves below.

CABBAGE FOR STOCK.
No vegetable raised in the temperate zone, Mangold
Wurtzel alone excepted, will produce as much food to the
acre, both for man and beast, as the cabbage. I have
seen acres of the Marblehead Mammoth drumhead which
would average thirty pounds to each cabbage, some spec-
imens weighing over sixty pounds. The plants were
four feet apart each way, which would give a product of
forty tons to the acre ; and I have tested a crop of Fot-
tler's that yielded thirty tons of green food to the half
acre. Other vegetables are at times raised for cattle feed,
such as potatoes, carrots, ruta bagas, mangold wurtzels ;
a crop of potatoes yielding four hundred bushels to
the acre at sixty pounds the bushel would weigh twelve
tons ; a crop of carrots yielding twelve hundred bush,
els to the acre would weigh thirty tons ; and ruta bagas
sometimes yield thirty tons, and mangolds as high as
seventy tons to the acre. I have set all these crops at a
high capacity for fodder purposes ; the same favoring
conditions of soil, manure, and cultivation that would
produce four hundred bushels of potatoes, twelve him-

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 59

dred bushels of carrots, and thirty-five tons of ruta baga
turnips, would give a crop of forty tons of the largest
variety of drumhead cabbage. If we now consider the
comparative merits of these crops for nutriment, we
find that the cabbage excels them all in this department
also. The potato abounds in starch, the mangold and
carrot are largely composed of water, while the cabbage
abounds in rich, nitrogenous food, ranking in nutriment
almost side by side with the flesh of animals.

When cabbage is kept for stock feed later than the
first severe frost, if the quantity is large there is con-
siderable waste even with the best of care. The loose
leaves should be fed first, and the heads kept on the
stump in a cool place, not more than two or three deep,
at as near the freezing point as possible. If it has been
necessary to cut the heads from the stumps, they may be
piled, after the weather has set in decidedly cold, con-
veniently near the barn, and kept covered with a foot of
straw or old litter. As long as a cabbage is kept frozen
there is no waste to it ; but if it be allowed to freeze
and thaw two or three times, it will soon rot with an
awful stench. On the other hand, if it is kept in too
warm and dry a place, the outer leaves will dry, turning
yellow, and the whole head lose in weight, — if it be not
very hard, shriveling, and if hard, shrinking. If they
are kept in too warm and wet a place, the heads will de-
cay fast, in a black, soft rot. The best way to preserve
cabbages for stock into the winter is to place them in
trenches a few inches below the surface, and there cover
with from a foot to two feet of coarse hay or straw, the
depth depending on the coldness of the locality. When
the ground has been frozen too hard to open with a
plough or spade, I have kept them until Spring by piling

60 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

them loosely, hay-stack shape, about four feet high, let-
ting the frost strike through them, and afterwards cov-
ering with a couple of feet of eel grass ; straw or coarse
hay would doubtless do as well.

I have treated of cabbage thus far when grown spec-
ially for stock ; in every piece of cabbage handled for
market purposes, there is a large proportion of waste
suitable for stock feed, which includes the outside leaves
and such heads as have not hardened-up sufficiently for
market. On walking over a piece of three or fcur acres
one Fall, just after my cabbages for seed stock had been
taken off, I noted that the refuse leaves that were strip-
ped from the heads before pulling were so abundant that
they nearly covered the ground. If leaves so stripped
remain exposed to frost, they soon spoil ; or, if earlier
in the season they are exposed to the sun, they soon be-
come yellow, dry, and of but little value. They can be
rapidly collected with a hay fork and carted, if there be
but a few, into the barn ; should there be a large quan-
tity, dump them within a convenient distance of the
barn or feeding ground, but not where the cattle can
trample them, and spread them so that they shall be
but a few inches in depth. If piled in heaps they will
quickly heat; but even then, if not too much decayed,
cattle will cat them with avidity.

If cabbage is fed to cows in milk without some care,
it will be apt to give the milk a strong cabbage flavor ;
all the feed for the day should be given early in the
morning. Beginning with a small quantity, and gradu-
ally increasing it, the dairyman will soon learn his lim-
its. The effect of a liberal feed to milk stock is to in-
crease the flow of milk, under some circumstances more
than two fold. Avoid feeding to any extent while the
leaves are frozen.

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. b'i

An English writer says ; " The cabbage comes into
use when other things begin to fail, and it is by far the
best succulent vegetable for milking cows — keeping up
the yield of milk, and preserving better than any other
food some portion of the quality which cheese loses
when the cows quit their natural pasturage. Cows fed
on cabbages are always quiet and satisfied, while on
turnips they often scour and are restless. When frosted
they are liable to produce hoven unless kept in a warm
shed to thaw before being used ; fifty-six pounds given,
at two meals, are as much as a large cow should have in
a day. Frequent cases of abortion are caused by an
over supply of green food. Cabbages are excellent for
young animals, keeping them in health, and preventing
' black leg.' A calf of seven months may have twenty
pounds a day."

RAISING CABBAGE SEED.

Cabbage seed in England, particularly of the drum-
head sorts is mostly raised from stumps, or from the
refuse that remains after all that is salable has been dis-
posed of. The agent of one of the largest English seed
houses, a few years since, laughed at my " wastefulness"
as he termed it, in raising seed from solid heads. In
this country cabbage seed is mostly raised from soft,
half-formed heads, which are grown as a late crop, few,
if any of them, being hard enough to be of any value in
the market. Seedsmen practice selecting a few fine
hard heads from which to raise their seed stock. It has
been my practice to grow seed from none but extra fine
heads, better than the average of those carried to mar-
ket. I do this on the, theory that no cabbage can be too
good for a seed head, if the design is to keep the stock
first class. Perhaps such strictness may not be necessa-

62 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

ry, but I bad rather err in setting out too good heads
than too poor ones ; besides, the great hardness obtained
by the heads of the Stone Mason makes it possible, at
least, that 1 am right. Cabbage raised from seed grown
from stumps are apt to be unreliable for heading and to
grow long-stumped, though under unfavorable conditions
long stumped and poor headed cabbage may grow from
the best of seed. To have the best of seed all shoots
that start below the head should be broken off. ^ The
shoots should be protected from the wind by being tied
to stakes, and scarecrows should be set up, or some like
precaution be taken to keep away the little seed birds
that begin to crack the pods as soon as they commence
to ripen. A plaster cat is a very good scarecrow to
frighten away birds from seed and small fruits, if its
location is changed every few days.

I find that the pods of cabbage seed grown South are
tough, and not brittle like those grown North, and hence
that they are injured but little, if any, by seed birds-
When the seed pods have passed what seedsmen call
their " red'^ stage, they begin to harden ; as soon as a
third of them are brown the entire stalk may be cut and
hung up in a dry, airy place, for a few days, when the
seed will be ready for rubbing or threshing out. Differ-
ent varieties should be raised far apart to insure purity ;
and cabbage seed had better not be raised in the vicinity
of turnip seed. There is some difference of opinion as
to the effect of growing these near each other ; where
the two vegetables blossom at the same time, I should
fear an admixture. When the care requisite to select
good seed stock and the trouble of keeping it over win-
ter, planting it in isolated locations, protecting it from
wind and weather, guarding it from injury from birds
and other enemies, gathering it, cleaning it, are all
considered, few men will find that they can afford to

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 63

raise their own seed, provided they can buy it from re-
liable seedsmen.

COOKING CABBAGE, SOUR KROUT, &e.

Cabbage when boiled with salt pork, as it is mostly
used, is the food for strong and healthy digestive powers;
but when eaten in its raw state served with vinegar and
pepper it is considered one of the most easily digested
articles of diet. In the process of cooking, even with
the greatest care, a large portion of the sweetness is
lost. The length of time required to cook cabbage by
boiling varies with the quality, those of the best quality
requiring about twenty minutes, while others require an
hour. In cooking put it into boiling water in which a
little salt or soda has been sprinkled which will tend to
preserve the natural green color. It will be well to
change the water once. The peculiar aroma given out
by cabbage when cooking is thought to depend some-
what on the manner in which it is grown ; those having
been raised with the least rank manure having the least.
I think this one of the whims of the community.

To Pickle, select hard heads, quarter them, soak in
salt and water four or five days, then drain and treat as
for other pickles, with vinegar spiced to suit.

For Cold Slaiv, select hard heads, halve and then
slice up these halves exceedingly fine. Lay these in a
deep dish, and pour over vinegar that has been raised
to the boiling point in which has been mixed a little
pepper and salt.

Sour Krout. Take large, hard headed drumheads,
halve and cut very fine, then pack in a clean, tight bar-
rel, beginning with a sprinkling of salt and following
with a layer of cabbage, and thus alternating until the

64 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

barrel is filled. Now compact the mass as much as
possible by pounding, after which put on a well fitting-
cover resting on the cabbage, and lay heavy weights or
a stone on this. When fermented it is ready for use.
To prepare for the table fry in butter or fat.

The outer green leaves of cabbages are sometimes
used to line a brass or copper kettle in which pickles are
made, in the belief that the vinegar extracts the color-
ing substance (chlorophyl) in the leaves, and the cucum-
bers absorbing this acquire a rich green color. Be not
deceived by this transparent cheat, 0 simple housewife !
the coloring matter comes almost wholly from the copper
or brass behind those leaves ; and, instead of an inno
cent vegetable pigment, your green cucumbers are dyed
with the poisonous carbonate of copper.

CABBAGES UNDER GLASS.

The very early cabbages usually bringing very high
prices, the enterprising market gardener either winters
young plants under glass or starts them there, planting
the seed under its protecting shelter long before the cold
of Winter is passed. When the design is to winter over
Fall grown plants, the seed are planted in the open
ground about the middle of September and at about the
last of October they arc ready to go into the cold frames,
as such are called that depend wholly on the sun for
heat. Select those having short stumps and transplant-
into the frames, about an inch and a half by two inches
apart, shading them with a straw mat or the like for a
few days, after which let them remain without any glass
over them until the frost is severe enough to begin to
freeze the ground, then place over the sashes, but bear in
mind that the object is not to promote growth, -but as
nearly as possible to keep them in a dormant state, to

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 65

keep them so cold that they will not grow, and just suf-
ficiently protected to prevent injury from freezing. With
this object in view the sashes must be raised whenever
the temperature is above freezing, and this process will
so harden the plants that they will receive no serious in-
jury though the ground under the sash should freeze two
inches deep ; cabbage plants will stand a temperature of
fifteen to twenty degrees below the freezing point. A
covering of snow on the sash will do no harm, if it does
not last longer than a week or ten days, in which case it
must be removed. There is some clanger to be feared
from ground mice, who, when everything else is locked
up by the frost will instinctively take to the sash, and
there cause much destruction among the plants unless
these are occasionally examined. "When March opens
remove the sash when the temperature will allow, re-
placing it when the weather is unseasonably cold, par-
ticularly at night. The plants may be brought still
farther forward by transferring them from the hot bed
when two or three inches high to cold frames, having
first somewhat hardened them. When so transferred
plant them about an inch apart, and shield from the sun
for two or three days. After this they may be treated
as in cold frames. The transfer tends to keep their
stock, increases the fibrous roots and makes the plants
hardier. As the month advances it may be left entirely
off, and about the first of April the plants may be set
out in the open field, pressing fine earth firmly about
the roots.

When cabbages are raised in hot beds the seed in the
latitude of Boston should be planted the first of March;
in that of New York about a fortnight earlier. When
two or three inches high, which will be in three or four

60 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

weeks, they should be thinned to about four or less to an
inch in the row. They should now be well hardened by
partly drawing off the sashes in the warm part of the
day, and covering at night ; as the season advances re-
move the sashes entirely by day, covering only at night.
By about the middle of April the plants will be ready
for the open ground.

When raised in cold frames in the Spring, the seed
should be planted about the first of April, mats being
used to retain by night the solar heat accumulated dur-
ing the day. As the season advances the same process
of hardening will be necessary as with those raised in
hot beds.

COLD FRAME AXD HOT BED.

To carry on hot beds on a large scale successfully is
almost an art in itself — and for fuller details I will refer
my readers to works on gardening. Early plants in a
small way may be raised in flower pots or boxes in a
warm kitchen window. It is best if practicable, to have
but one plant in each pot that they may grow short and
stocky. If the seed are not planted earlier than April
for out of door cultivation a cold frame will answer.

For a Cold Frame select the locality in the Fall;
choosing a warm location on a southern slope, protected
by a fence or building on the north and northwest. Set
posts in the ground, nail two boards to these parallel to
each other, one about a foot in height, and the other
towards the south about four inches narrower ; this will
give the sashes resting on them the right slope to shed
the rain and receive as much heat as possible from the
sun. Have these boards at a distance apart equal to
the length of the sash, which iday be any common win-
dow sash for a small bed, while three and a half feet is

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 67

the length of a common gardener's sash. If common
window sash is used cut channels in the cross bars to let
the water run off. Dig the ground thoroughly (it is best
to cover it in the Fall with litter to keep the frost out)
and rake out all stones or clods ; then slide in the sash
and let it remain closed three or four days that the soil
may be warmed by the sun's rays. The two end boards
and the bottom board should rise as high as the sash to
prevent the heat escaping, and the bottom board of a
small frame should have a strip nailed inside to rest the
sash on. Next rake in thoroughly guano or phosphate
or finely pulverized hen manure, and plant in rows four
to six inches apart. As the season advances raise the
sashes an inch or two in the middle of the day and wa-
ter freely at evening with water that is nearly of the
temperature of the earth in the frame. As the heat of
the season increases whitewash the glass and keep them
more and more open until just before the plants are set
in open ground, then allow the glass to remain entirely
off both day and night unless there should be a cold rain.
This will harden them so that they will not be apt to be
injured by the cabbage beetle, as well as chilled and put
back by the change. Should the plants be getting tco
large before the season for transplanting, they should be
checked by drawing a sharp knife within a couple of
inches of the stalk. If it is desirable to check their
growth or harden them, transplant into another cold
frame, allowing each plant double the distance it before
occupied.

The structure and management of a Hot Bed is much
the same as that of a Cold Frame, with the exception
that the sashes are usually longer and the back and
front somewhat higher ; being started earlier the requi-

68 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

site temperature lias to be kept up by artificial meaiss,
fermenting manure peing relied upon for the purpose,
and the loss of this heat has to be checked more care-
fully by straw matting, and in the far North by shutters
also. In constructing it horse manure with plenty of
litter and about a quarter its bulk in leaves, if attaina-
ble, all having been well mixed together, is thrown into
a pile, and left for a few days until steam escapes, when
the mass is again thrown over and left for two or three
days more, after which it is thrown into the pit (or it
may be placed directly on the surface) which is lined
with boards, from eighteen inches to two feet in depth,
when it is beaten down with a fork and trodden well to-
gether. The sashes are now put on and kept there until
heat is developed. The first intense heat must be al-
lowed to pass off, which will be in about three days after
the high temperature is reached. Now throw on six or
eight inches of fine soil in which mix well rotted ma-
nure free from all straw, or rake in thoroughly Super-
phosphate or Guano, at the rate of two thousand pounds
to the acre and plant the seed as in Cold Frame. Hard-
en the plants as directed in preceding paragraph.

CAULIFLOWER, BROCCOLI, BRUSSELS SPROUTS,
KALE, AXD SEA KALE.

My treatise on 'the cabbage would hardly be complete
without some allusion to such prominent members of
the Brassica family as the cauliflower, broccoli, brussels
sprouts, and kale. These in the selection and prepara-
tion of the soil, manure, and cultivation require for the
most part the same treatment as cabbage. In Europe
there has been far more progress made in the cultiva-
tion and use of these vegetables than with us in Ameri-

CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 69

ca ; and I am indebted to the work of Mcintosh for
maii)r of my ideas in this section. The Broccoli are
closely allied to the cauliflower, the white varieties bear-
ing so close a resemblance that one of them, the Wal-
cheren, is by some classed indiscriminately with each.
The chief distinction between the two is in hardiness,
the broccoli being much the hardier.

The Cauliflower require the same distance apart
in the rows and between the plants as cabbage, the early
and late varieties corresponding in this respect with the
early and late varieties of cabbage. To perfect them the
very highest cultivation possible is required ; give them
strong, deep soil, very thoroughly worked ; use liquid
manure freely and water abundantly. A fine caulinower
is the pet achievement of the market gardener. The
great aim is not to produce size only, " but the fine,
white, creamy color, compactness, and what is techni-
cally called curdy appearance, from its resemblance to
the curd of milk in its preparation for cheese. When
the flower begins to open, or when it is of a warty or
frost-like appearance, it is less esteemed. It should not
be cut in summer above a day before it is used." The
cauliflower is' served with milk and butter, or it may be-
come a component of soups, or be used as a pickle.
Many of. the varieties given in catalogues are but syno-
nyms of, and very closely resemble each other. Among
the most desirable for cultivation are Extra Early Er-
furt, Half Early Paris or Demi Dur, (this is the kind
usually sold in this country as Early Paris, the true va-
riety making so small a head as to be comparatively
worthless here) Walcherex, Large Asiatic,. Nonpa-

REIL, LeNORMAXD.

70 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

The leaves of the Extra Early Erfurt growing close
to the head permit its being planted nearer than any
other early sort. I have grown this variety with heads
fifteen inches in diameter.

Of Broccoli over forty varieties are named in foreign
catalogues, of which Walcheren is one of the very best.
Knight's Protecting is an exceedingly hardy dwarf
sort. As a rule the white varieties are preferred to the
purple kinds. Plant and treat as cauliflower.

Of Brussels Sprouts (or bud-bearing cabbage)
there are but two varieties, the dwarf and the tall ; the
tall kind produces more buds, while the dwarf is the
hardier. The " sprouts" form on the stalks, and are
miniature heads of cabbage from the size of a pea to
that of a pigeon's egg. They are raised to but a limited
extent in this country, but in Europe they are grown on
a large scale. The sprouts may be cooked^ and served
like cabbage, though oftentimes they are treated more
as a delicacy and served with butter or some rich sauce.
The Feather Stem Savoy and Dalmeny Sprouts are
considered as hybrids, the one between the brussels
sprouts and Savoy, the other between it and Drumhead
Savoy. The soil for brussels sprouts should not be so
rich as for cabbage, as the object is to grow them small
and solid. Give the same distance apart as for early
cabbage, and the same manner of cultivation. Break
off the leaves at the sides a few at a time when the
sprouts begin to form and when they are ready to use
cut them off with a sharp knife.

Kale. Sea kale or sea cabbage is a native of the sea
coast of England, growing in the sand and pebbles of
the sea shore. It is a perennial, perfectly hardy, with-

ETC. | I

standing the coldest winters of New England. The
blossoms, though bearing a general resemblance to those
of other members of the cabbage family, are yet quite
unique in appearance, and I think worthy of a place in
the flower garden. It is propagated both .by seed and
by cuttings of the roots, having the rows three feet
apart, and the plants three feet apart in the rows. It is
difficult to get the seeds to vegetate. Plant seed in
April and May. The ground should be richly manured
and deeply and thoroughly worked. It is blanched be-
fore using. In cooking it requires to be very thorough-
ly boiled, after which it is served up in melted butter
and toasted bread. The sea kale is highly prized in
England, but thus far its cultivation in this country has
been very limited.

The Borecole or common kale is of the cabbage
family, but is characterized by not heading like the cab-
bage or producing eatable flowers like the cauliflower
and broccoli. The varieties are very numerous, some
of them growing very large and coarse, suitable only as
food for stock ; others are exceedingly finely curled, and
excellent for table use ; while others in their color and
structure are highly ornamental. They are annual, bi-
ennial, and perennial. They do not require so strong a
soil or such high manuring as other varieties of the cab-
bage family.

The varieties are. almost endless : some of the best in
cultivation for table use are Dwarf Green (Hjrled or
German Greens. Tale Green Curled. Purple Bore-
cole, and the variegated kales. The crown of the plant
is used as greens, or as an ingredient in soups. The
kales are very liardy, and the dwarf varieties with but
little protection can be kept in the North well into the

VI CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, PTC.

Winter in the open ground. Plant and cultivate like
Savoy cabbage.

Tlic variegated sorts with their fine curled leaves of
a rich purple, green, red, white, or yellow color, are very
pleasing in their effects, and form a striking and attrac-
tive feature when planted in clumps in the flower garden-
particularly is this so because their extreme hardiness
leaves them in full vigor after the cold has destroyed
all other plants, — some of the richest colors are devel-
oped along the veins of the uppermost leaves after the
plant has nearly finished its growth for the season. The
Jersey Cow Kale grows to from three to six feet in
height and yields a great body of green food for stock ;
have the rows about three feet apart, and the plants two
to three feet distant in the rows. In several instances
my customers have written me that this kale raised for
stock feed lias given them great satisfaction.

The Thousand Headed Kale is a tali variety send
ing out numerous side shoots, whence the name.

ONION RAISING;

WHAT KINDS TO RAISE,

THE WAY TO RAISE THEM

EIGHTEENTH EDITION (REVISED).

JAMES J. H. GREGORY,

SEED GROWER, MARBLEHEAD, MASS.

MARBLEHEAD :

MESSENGER STEAM PRINTING-HOUSE.
l382.

Entered according i > act of Congress, in the year 1864,
By JAMES J. H. GREGORY,
llic Clerk's Office of the District Court, District of Massachusetts.

ONION RAISING

WHY I WRITE THIS TREATISE.

In common with my fellow-seedsmen I frequently receive
letters from my farmer friends, in different parts of the United
States, asking for information on Onion Raising. It is im-
possible in a letter sheet to give sufficient minuteness of de-
tail ; I therefore send out this little treatise, in which T have
endeavored to cover very minutely the whole ground of in-
quiry. I trust that it will prove acceptable.

SELECTING THE SOIL.

Onions are an exception to the general rule, — they thrive
best on old ground, with the exception of an increased liabil-
ity to injury from rust or smut. I recently examined an acre
of land which had been planted continuously with onions for
three generations without perceptible decrease in the quantity
or quality of the crop.

Onions are sometimes successfully raised by plowing up old
pasture land in September, thoroughly harrowing it before
frost sets in, and in the spring working in fine manure very
thoroughly with the harrow and cultivator. The result of
such planting is to get a crop very free from weeds, with
onions usually coarse, and more or less of scallions.

(3)

Onions can be raised on a variety of soils, but yield the
most satisfactory returns on a sandy loam, a gravelly soil, or,
to state a general rule, on those soils which are light in struc-
ture. As onions are brought on the heavier soils, the first ef-
fect will be a deterioration in their appearance, the outer skin
of the yellow varieties, losing its fine, clear, translucent yellow,
and becoming thicker, duller, and less attractive in appear-
ance. If planted on a wet or very heavy soil, the crop will
mature late, if it matures at all, giving a large proportion of
that dread of the onion grower, scallions, or "scullions" as
farmers term them, meaning those whose growth runs mostly
to the neck, forming little or no bulb or bottom. With plenty
of manure onions will thrive well on soil that is very gravelly.
1 have seen very large crops grown on Marblehead Neck, on
land so stony, that, after a rain, on an area of many square
yards not a particle of soil could be seen, nothing but small
angular fragments of porphyry, with thrifty onions springing
as it were out of the very rocks. Let it be understood, how-
ever, that this soil was not of a leachy nature, but rested on a
hard-pan bottom. The area of land selected should be free
of all large stones, as such interfere seriously with the straight-
ness of the rows, the planting, hoeing and general cultivation
of so small-sized a product. Ultimately, good cultivators
clear their onion grounds of large loose rocks by blasting or
sinking them ; obviously, the sooner this is done, the larger
are the returns received from such judicious investments. The
land should be laid out in as nearly a square as practicable.
as this facilitates estimates of manure, seed, and crops, gives
greater regularity to the work, and economizes in the cultiva-
tion of a crop which requires a great deal of passing over.
To protect the crop from the washing of heavy showers, the
land should be level or very nearly so, otherwise a rush of

water will bare the roots of some, and heap the earth around
the necks of others, to the injury of each.

PREPARING THE SOIL.

Don't plant a weedy soil to onions, or land which abounds
in witch, or couch grass ; if you do, you will repent it on
your hands and knees all summer long, for such soil will usu-
ally require two more weedings than that on which weeds
have not been allowed to ripen their seed. To have to keep
down witch grass with your fingers in an onion bed is a mis-
erable business, tearing up the onions and your patience at
the same time ; better delay a year, and meanwhile clear the
land thoroughly by a diligent use of the cultivator and hoe,
finishing in the fall by throwing the land into ridges that the
freezings and thawings of winter may act destructively on the
roots of the witch grass. Should any scattered shoot of this
grass show itself in the spring, let the roots be carefully re-
moved with a fork or spade before the land is plowed.

When onions are planted on land full of the seed of weeds
it is well, if the season is an early one, to give sufficient time
for the first crop of weed seed to start before planting the on-
ions.

In the Eastern States it is found, as a general rule, that suc-
cess with the first crop of onions is affected by the crop which
grew in the land the previous year, and that onions will follow
carrots better than any other crop ; next to carrots, corn and
potatoes are ranked as good preparers of the ground, while to
succeed well with onions where cabbage or beets were raised
the previous year is comparatively rare. Were there no other
reason, die clean tilth which carrots insure makes it an excel-
lent crop to precede onions. In the fertile lands of the west,
the method of procedure is briefly this : Land on which grows

the bush-hazel is selected, if accessible, the bushes cut down
and the turf surface but little more than pared in spring with
the plow. In this condition it is usually allowed to remain a
season, exposed to the drying effects of the sun, when it is
most thoroughly harrowed and raked, and all the numerous
roots and waste are burnt, the land plowed to a moderate
depth, and the seed sown either broadcast or in drills.
Should the early part of the season prove very wet, the crop
sowed broadcast is at times smothered under a rapid growth
of weeds, while with a favoring season as high as 800 bushels
to the acre have been harvested.

After the harvesting of the crop which is to precede onions,
let the land have a fall plowing, and be thrown up into ridges,
which will not only help destroy noxious weeds and witch
grass as above stated, but will leave the land light, in a con-
dition to be worked successfully early in the spring — a great
desideratum for a crop that usually requires the entire season
to mature it.

THE MANURE.

Onions require the very best of manure, in the most tempt-
ing condition, and plenty of it at that. Peruvian guano, fish
guano, pig manure, barn manure, night-soil, kelp, muscle
mud, superphosphate of lime, wood ashes, and muck are,
either alone or in compost, all excellent food for the onion.
( )ld ground, to maintain it in first-rate condition, should re-
reive from six to eight cords of manure to the acre; while
new onion ground, to get it in first-rate condition, should re-
reive from eight to ten cords of manure. When Peruvian
guano was held at about sixty dollars per ton, experienced
farmers believed that no purchased manure paid as well as
this on old beds, provided two applications were made, one

of about 500 lbs. to the acre, to be raked in at the time of
planting, and the other of like amount to be applied broad-
cast when the onions were about half grown. Those who
used but one application at the time of sowing were apt to
see surprising effects in a fine growth up to the period of half
maturity of the crop, and an equally surprisingly effect in but
little growth from this time through the remainder of the
season. Those who have used guano freely on their onion
lands in the vicinity of Philadelphia assert that one singular
result is, that, after applying it for three years in succession,
the seed onions for the most part fail to sprout in such soil,
and when seed is planted it makes but little growth after
vegetating. As far as I have observed, superphosphate of
lime used as a manure for a series of years is apt to give the
first of these results. Pig manure is held in high esteem by
many successful growers of onions in southern New England.
Fish guano applied at the rate of a ton to the acre has given
very fine crops.

In the vicinity of large towns, where night-soil can be
readily obtained, no more efficient manure can be applied
than a compost of this and muck that has been exposed
to a winter's frost, or good loam, in the proportion of
three parts muck or loam to one part night-soil. If with
this compost barn manure and sea manure are mixed, so
much the better ; for it is a rule for this as for other crops
that a combination of manures in an arithmetical ratio will
produce results approaching a geometrical ratio. To make a
compost of loam or muck and night-soil, select a spot very
near the piece to be planted, and cover the ground with
either to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches ; then raise a
bank of the same material surrounding this floor to the height
of three or four feet, with a thickness of from four to six feet.

8

The carts containing night-soil are backed up against this re-
ceptacle, and the door being unscrewed, the contents shoot
out. If barn manure is used, it usually forms part of the sides
of the receptacle. During the winter the frosts act on the
heap to the further sweetness and disintegrating of it, and to-
wards spring the mass is pitched most thoroughly over, being
mixed and made as fine as possible, — sand when obtainable
having been either previously, or being subsequently liberally
mixed with it, which so "cuts" or sq^arates it that it remains
light and fine. After an interval of about a fortnight, allow-
ing time for fermentation, the heap is again pitched over for
fining and mixing, and, occasionally, three mixings are made.
It would be well for tourists to avoid the onion districts at this
season of the year, as a little experience will amply satisfy
them.

These composts should not be made on the ground where
the onions are to be planted, for neither onions nor any oth-
er crop will grow on such spots the same season.

Where superphosphate of lime is used, it is best to make
two applications, as with guano. The results of the use of
superphosphates are not always satisfactory, but I have seen
eight hundred pounds applied to the acre produce as good
results as seven cords of rich compost applied side by side.

Muscle mud obtained from the sea-coast is rarely used
alone, though large crops are sometimes raised on old onion
ground by the application of this alone, at the rate of eight
cords to the acre. It appears to give the best results a few
miles inland. The strength and consequent value of this ma-
nure varies considerably ; and here let me add that the value
of all animal manures will be found to vary greatly ; other
things being equal, the higher feeding the animal receives, the
better the manure.

Wood ashes are generally used in connection with other ma-
nures at the rate of about 200 bushels to the acre. Wood
ashes should never be combined with other manures, as it will
set the ammonia free, and thus deteriorate their quality. Use
ashes either by scattering it on the surface at the time of plant-
ing, or when the crop is about half grown.

In the vicinity of large towns, of all manures obtained out-
side the barnyard, night-soil is the cheapest. The first farmer
who used it in this locality, comparatively but a few years
ago, was universally jeered at by his comrades, but now near-
ly all of our annual crop of 50,000 bushels is fed principally
on this manure.

The effect of kelp, (by this I mean the sea-manure which
is thrown up by the storms on very bold shores,) when used
as the principal manure, is to give a coarse onion, and a late
crop ; so late as oftentimes to be in quite a green state at the
close of the season, requiring extra labor and care to get it
in market condition. In seasons of great drought, however,
kelp serves an excellent end, in so retarding the crop that it
is not prematurely ripened. In the excessively dry season of
1864, crops along the sea-coast manured with kelp, in many
instances yielded double those manured with barnyard and
other manures.

The manure is managed most conveniently by dropping it
on the land in quite small heaps, at regular intervals, at con-
venient distance for spreading. I close this paragraph on ma-
nures by emphasizing the utility of a thorough fining of if.

PLOWING.

The farmer who brings up the sub-soil on his onion bed,
will find he has made a mistake. Onions do not require deep

TO

plowing ; four or five inches is sufficient depth to insure a
good crop. One of the finest pieces I ever saw was
managed by carting on the manure in the fall, and simply
giving it a thorough working into the soil with an ordinary
one-horse cultivator in the spring, after which the land was
raked and planted, no plow or any implement other than the
cultivator having been used. In this instance the soil was
naturally quite light. In the west, the ground having been
plowed in the fall, it frequently receives only a cultivating or
harrowing in the spring.

As the great object is to get the land in a thoroughly fine
condition, to facilitate the covering of the seed with fine earth,
to leave the soil light that there may be a vigorous growth of
the plants, and to leave the land in good working condition
for after culture, no labor should 1 e spared to attain this end.
On most soils the ground should 1 e plowed, cross-plowed, and
thoroughly cultivated. If, from the backwardness of tire
spring and the consequent wet state of the land, the soil should
still be lumpy, it should be thoroughly rolled before raking for
planting, and it may be well to brush-harrow it. As onions
grown from the seed usually require the whole season to
ripen, the onion grower breaks ground first of all in his onion
bed, springing to this as early in the season as is possible to
work the land into a light and fine condition.

THE SEED.

In some localities three pounds of seed was thought suffi-
cient to an acre ; afterward this was increased to three and a
half, and then to four ; and now, when raised for tracing, five
and six pounds are sometimes planted. As a general rule,
three and one-half pounds will be found sufficient for an acre ;
and when land is very heavily manured, four pounds may be

planted with profit. Land that is planted to onions the first
time requires more seed than old land. If it is designed to
pull the onions when small for bunching for the early market,
then seven or eight pounds of seed will be required for an acre.
If the intent is to raise the very smallonions known as "setts,"
which are stored over winter to be planted in the spring to
produce early onions, than a much larger quantity will be
required. On old beds where rust abounds, I have known
sixteen pounds of seed sown to the acre. Of course it is of
the first importance that the seed should be reliable.

Compared with the average return of the crop, the cost of
good seed for planting an acre of land to onions, even at the
highest prices, is not to be considered a moment beside the
acceptance of doubtful seed even as a gift; yet every onion-
growing community has had its stories to tell of cultivators
who have thrown away their time, labor and manure, by pur-
chasing doubtful seed at a little lower figure than that at
which reliable seed could be procured. New seed will some-
times fail to vegetate if planted a little too deep, or if snow
falls and remains on the ground after planting, or a rain falls
after raking and just before planting, though part of the same
piece planted but an hour before may come finely.

The usual test for good seed, that is, seed that will vege-
tate, is the sinking of it ; that which will sink being consid-
ered reliable, and that which floats being considered worth-
less. This will answer as a general rule, but it is not wholly
reliable. Seed that will sink will not always vegetate, while
seed that will float, under some circumstances, will vege-
tate. Any farmer who tests his seed by the sinking process
will find that some of that which floats will vegetate, while no
firmer is safe in planting seed that is two years old, though it
will sink. Some formers ascertained this latter fact to their

12

great loss during the spring of 1864. If the season is an av-
erage one, such seed as is two years old can be relied upon if
it has. weight sufficient to sink it ; but such a season as the
spring of 1 864, being unusually wet, much of the two-years
seed that was sown, though sown by farmers who had them-
selves raised it, failed to vegetate.

The lesson to be learned by such unfortunate result is, that
it is never perfectly safe to sow seed that is two years old, and
that the only way a prudent cultivator will use it will be when
mixed with a large proportion of fresh seed. There are two
special risks incidental to the sinking test ; first, the danger
that the seed will not be thoroughly dried, as onion seed when
containing sufficient moisture to cause it to sprout if stored in
bulk, appears dry to the eye ; again, the vitality of onion seed
is very apt to be hurt by the drying of it, particularly so, as it
is usually deferred until just previous to planting, when mat-
ters are greatly hurried, (as the risk of injury through this pro-
cess is considered too great to permit it to be sunk earlier in
the season,) and then it is likely to be exposed too near the
kitchen stove. Seed thoroughly winnowed by the wind, on a
large sheet spread on some open spot, free from all eddies
will be found to give a quality very nearly or quite as free
from light seed as the sinking process. As the objection just
presented does not lie against this process, it is decidedly pref-
erable. The only reliable test for the vitality of any variety
of seed is that which includes all the usual conditions of growth •
Testing by planting in a hot-house or in a box in a common
house, is not fully reliable, because the seed are not surround-
ed by the conditions of natural growth, — they then have a
temperature very mild, and very nearly constant, with no ex-
cess of moisture or dryness, — whereas the natural condition
of vegetation includes the very varying temperature of early

*3

spring, usually a great excess of moisture and a low degree of
heat, all of which causes, either single or combined in their
effects, draw largely on the vital power of the seed. Hence,
seed that under the favoring influences of the hot-house or
kitchen may vegetate, may not have sufficient vitality to over-
come the excessive cold or moisture of the garden. The re-
sult, therefore, of the usual experimental tests can be relied
upon as giving only an approximation to the truth.

Among these approximate tests is the simple one of par-
tially filling a tumbler with cotton-wool, pouring in a little water,
not sufficient to cover the cotton, then sprinkling a certain
number of seed on the cotton, covering it with a little addi-
tional cotton to keep the moisture in. Another simple test is
to sprinkle the seed to be tested on a moist woolen cloth, fold
the cloth together, and put it in a place moderately warm.
The proportion of seed that is good will be known by the
proportion that sprout. Experienced eyes can learn some-
thing by the appearance and feel of the seed. Old seed re-
quire several days longer to vegetate than new.

WHAT KIND OF ONIONS TO PLANT.

Foreign catalogues describe a score and more varieties of
onion which are raised in Europe, but as far as experiments
have been made with them in this country, it has been found
that European-grown onion seed cannot be relied upon to
give as good bulbs as American-grown of the same varieties ;
while many sorts are not adapted to our climate. A measure
of the dubious quality of this foreign seed is well indicated
by the lower price at which it is generally catalogued.

Of those grown from seed, the Large Red, Yellow, and
White are the three standard varieties in the United States.

14

The Large Red is commonly known as the Wethersfield

onion, it having been extensively cultivated in that locality at
an early day in onion culture. This is commonly divided
into four varieties, viz :

, kjjk|*||j|ji..v1

Late Large Red (see illustration) is a
very large, thick, late onion, attaining a
diameter of from three to six inches, and
on the fertile prairies of the west, not un-
<#$^ frequently eight inches.

Second Early, which differs only in size and time of ripen-
ing ; being rather flatter than the large sort, not so large, and
coming to maturity earlier.

The Early Fl.at Red is still flatter in form, smaller in size,
rather light-colored, and matures earliest of the three sorts ;
as early as the last of July.

There is also a fine Globe variety of Early Red onion
( see illustration) in cultivation, which
comes to maturity about a week earlier
than the Danvers Early, is of good size
and flavor, and in color usually of a very
bright, handsome red. The seed of this
variety is much sought after by onion-
growers, but it is difficult to procure in a pure state.

There is a very handsome late variety of onion known as
Southport Red Globe, which originated in Southport, Con-
necticut. It is quite late and therefore not safe to plant
north of Connecticut.

There are four varieties of the Yellow onion in cultivation,
of which the Yellow Flat, called also Yellow Dutch, and
Strasburg, and in the Eastern States the " Silverskin." is the

parent. These varieties are the Common Flat onion, the
Early Cracker onion, the Danvers onion, and the Interme-
diate onion.

The Common Flat (incorrectly called Silverskin in the
Eastern States, a name which properly belongs to the White
Portugal) is not so generally cultivated since the Early Dan-
vers was introduced, as formerly. It grows to a diameter of
about three inches, is compact in its structure, an 1 of good
flavor. It is a good keeper.

The Early Cracker onion (see illustra-
tion) is very thin, of a beautiful honey color,
quite compact, and oftentimes hollows a lit-
tle at the bulb around the neck. It ma-
tures about a week or ten days earlier than
the Early Danvers, and in fineness of structure and delicacy
of flavor is unsurpassed.

The great practical objection to the cultivation of this on-
ion 0:1 an extensive scale is the extreme care required in
handling it ; it needs care to prevent bruising and consequent
rotting. For using in the fall, this objection would not lie
against it with any great force ; this and the Early Flat Red
are excellent varieties for raising where the seasons are short.
It grows to a diameter of from two and a half to four inches.
The Early Round Danvers Yellow onion, was originat-
ed by Mr. Daniel Buxton and brother of South Danvers, by
careful selections of the roundest and earliest specimens from
the Yellow Flat onion. The Danvers is an early onion, ma-
turing within about a week or ten days of the Early Red and
Cracker onions. It is very prolific, and, like the Red Globe
onion, gives larger crops by about one-third than the flat va-
rieties. When each are seen just before pulling, the differ-
ence in the bulk of the crop is not very apparent, but when

i6

measured, the globular form of the Danvefs "tells." When
overgrown by too thin planting of seed this onion is at times
rather coarse in structure, but ordinarily it is very compact,
fine of structure, heavy, and a good keeper. When well rip-
ened, I find it keeps equally well under the same circumstances
as the common Flat onion. The earliness of the Danvers
onion is a great gain in short seasons, or very wet ones ; and
as this onion begins to form its bulb quite early in its growth,
("bottoms down" is the farmer's phrase,) it presents marked
advantages over the flat sorts for early marketing. In the
Boston market the Danvers sells for somewhat more a barrel
than the Red.

Having had considerable experience in selecting onions for
seed purposes, I find that I can obtain a much greater pro-
portion of handsome, well-developed seed onions from
onions that have been raised from seed stock that has been
carefally selected through a long series of years, and am led
to believe that there can be "pedigree" onions as well as
p-digree cattle, and that seed raised from them can be relied
on under the same conditions to give a handsomer onion
than can the average of seed.

WHITE PORTUGAL.

The cultivation of this early onion is mostly confined to
the raising and planting of what are known as ''Setts" or
Button onions, or onions for early family use, as it is a poor
keeper. It is a sweet, mild onion, of a good size for family
use, though averaging considerably smaller than the varieties
that have been described. Here let me say, that, for family
use, except for frying, the common onions of the market are
much too large to be economical, — the two outer layers of
an onion four inches and upwards in diameter, though mak-

!7

ing up about half the bulk of the onion, are usually coarse
and tough, and slough off when boiled. The sweetest, len-
derest, and most economical onions for this purpose of the
yellow sort are those that are from two to three inches in
diameter.

THE QUEEN.

Of the newer sorts, the "Queen," a white English variety
growing to from two to two and one-half inches in diameter,
is doubtless the earliest at present known ; so early that under
favorable circumstances it may grow to a market size about
as soon as those raised from Philadelphia setts.

SOUTHPORT WHITE GLOBE.

This is a large, globular, white variety, that is about as
round and, when cured in the shade, about as white as a
snow-ball, being the handsomest of all onions. It is too late
to be planted with safety in latitude north of southern Con-
necticut.

MARZAJOLE, MAMMOTH TRIPOLI, NASBEY'S
MAMMOTH AND GIANT ROCCA.

Are European varieties that grow to a mammoth size in
Southern Europe where for their mild flavor they are held in
high esteem. Grown in this country they are of a milder
flavor than our common sorts, but, though they grow larger, i
do not attain to the size they acquire in Europe, and though
excellent for use in a green state are not good as keepers.

There arc usually the distinctions I have here stated be-
tween the late and early varieties ; but some times drought
and other causes will almost destroy these distinctions, ripen-
ing the very early and medium early sorts at the same time.

WHAT ONIONS SHALL I RAISE?

Having described the standard varieties, a beginner may
query in his mind as to what variety would be most profitable
and most reliable for him to cultivate.

The Danvers onion is the handsomest shaped, yields as
much as any other sort, and more than any ot the flat varie-
ties, per acre. In the town of Marblehead, over nine
hundred bushels have been raised on one acre of land.
It is an onion very popular in the Eastern market and in
Eastern Massachusetts is raised to almost the exclusion of any
other variety. The Large Red onion is quite a favorite in
the west, and is considered by some dealers to be the best
variety for shipping purposes, though the Danvers is also
shipped largely. Those who live in the latitude where the
onion is difficult to mature from the seed in one year, affirm
that the Red onion will mature farther south than any other
variety.

After all, whatever suggestions may be offered, the local
demand will do most for settling this point. Aside from this,
I would recommend the Early Red Globe Danvers as, on the
whole, the most desirable sort. The Red Globe is somewhat
hardier than the Danvers.

ONION SETTS OR BUTTON ONION.

In that portion of the United States south of the vicinity of
New York City, onions from seed raised as far south as the
Middle States cannot be relied on to mature the first year,
owing to the extreme heat of the climate forcing the forma-
tion of the bulb and drying down the top quite early in the
seasou. But if the seed was grown in the Northern States
from carefully selected stock, it will mature onions the first
season when planted in the Southern States, as I learn from

*9

several of my correspondents, some of whom have grown
them of market size the first season as far south as Texas.
As a rule such onions are hardly as large as those grown far-
ther north, but yet amply large enough for market. To give
the rule concisely, if gardeners in the south wish to raise
onions from the black seed so that they will grow to market
size the first season, they should procure seed grown as far
north as possible; and vice versa, gardeners in the North
who wish to grow their own setts should procure southern
grown seed. If in these southern latitudes two years are
given to the maturing of the crop, the first year, the ground
is prepared as already directed, excepting that it is but lightly
manured ; broad, shallow drills, from one to two inches in
width, are made about ten inches apart, and these are sown
early in spring, very thickly, at the rate of about thirty pounds
to the acre, and the crop becomes mature in July, when it is
pulled and stored in cool, airy lofts, being spread very thinly
over the floor, — those raised from the White Portugal onion
to a depth of about two inches, and those from the yellow
sorts to a depth of about four inches. A gentle raking occa-
sionally is of advantage to promote dryness and to prevent
sprouting. The yellow variety is the best for keeping, and
hence will bear the confinement incident to transportation
with less injury ; but the clean, white appearance of the onion
raised from the white setts gives them the preference in the
market. Attempts are often made in the north by market-
gardeners to raise their own setts and thus save the large
outlay often required to purchase them, — for most of the early
onions now used in the northern cities are raised from the
setts. The attempts to raise them in the north were former-
ly for the most part a failure ; a large proportion of the setts
so raised pushing seed shoots and thus spoiling the onion for
market purposes, for the reason that northern grown seed

20

was used. The true sett is an onion that has been checked
in its annual growth and dried down before it has matured, —
hence it has an additional growth to make before its annual
growth is matured, and before this there can be no seed shoot
pushed, for the onion is a biennial plant and the seed shoot
belongs to the second year of its growth.

Setts are planted in rows about ten inches apart, and two
or three inches distant in the row. As the ground worms are
very apt to remove them when first planted, the bed should
be occasionally examined. Some roll them immediately after
planting, others hold to dropping them in shallow drills, not
covering them at all with earth.

Onion setts vary in size from a pea to a hazel-nut. The
smaller the size ot the setts, the greater the number of onions
contained in a given quantity ; but many find it for their
interest to purchase setts of a good size, as they yield larger
onions. Among the market-gardeners in the vicinity of the
large cities onion setts are very extensively planted, some
planting as high as one hundred and fifty bushels annually.
The quantity planted per acre varies with the size, from six
to ten bushels.

RARERIPES.

Rareripes are onions raised by planting out bulbs of the
growth of the previous season. The Rareripe oftentimes dif-
fers from the onion sett only in being a matured onion, as
frequently they are about as small as the setts. The method
of raising them is the same as that of raising early onions
from setts, with the difference of planting them at times at
greater distance apart in the row proportionate with their
greater size. The raising of Rareripes is a very profitable way
of disposing of such onions as are badly sprouted, are very

2 I

small, or in any way unprofitable for marketing. A seed shoot
may be uniformly expected from each onion ; but as this
greatly deteriorates the quality of the Rareripe, making it
tough and woody in structure, it should always be cut off. If
cut off before the swelled growth appears, (a striking charac-
teristic of the onion family and a proof of the skill of the
Divine Architect, in strengthening by so simple a process the
tall, thin stalk designed to support the heavy seed head,) it
will again shoot up ; wait, therefore, until this swelling begins
to show itself, and then cut below it, and no more trouble
from this source will ensue. The smaller the onions planted
as Rareripes, the handsomer will be the crop, — the very small
ones producing each one handsome round onion, while the
large ones produce two or more which are irregular in form.

POTATO ONIONS, TOP ONIONS AND SHALLOTS.

Potato onions, (see engraving,)
Top onions and Shallots are thought
by some to have originated from the
common onion. It is certain that
at times all three of these varieties
are sported by the common onion.
In a large field of seed onions, occasionally small onions will
be found, growing in place of seed, and these onions when
set out the ensuing spring will vegetate and develop readily,
but they will not always in turn yield the like, i. e., Top
onions.

Potato onions, or multiplying onions, as they are some-
times called, are a thick, hard-fleshed variety, very mild and
pleasant to the taste, and tender if eaten soon after gathering,
but they grow to be tough as the season advances. They
are poor keepers, unless spread very thinly in some dry

apartment. They are propagated by planting the bulbs in
drills, fourteen inches apart, the largest ones six, the smaller
four inches apart in the row, and the smallest ones two
inches. The small ones rapidly increase and make onions
from two to three inches in diameter, while the larger ones
divide and make from four to a dozen or even sixteen
(usually from five to eight) small, irregularly shaped onions.
It will be seen that the larger bulbs answer the same purpose
as the seed in the common onion ; hence to have onions for
sale and yet maintain the stock, it is necessary that both
sizes should be planted.

The Potato onion should be indulged for its best develop-
ment in a soil rather moister than the varieties from seed.
The advantage of the Potato onion is its earliness, and the
fact that it is not as liable to injury from the onion maggot,
when that abounds, as the common sort. I have seen an
instance where, on half an acre of each growing side by side,
the common onion (that raised from seed) was almost wholly
destroyed, while the Potato onion was nearly uninjured.

Shallots differ from Potato onions principally in their
characteristics of always multiplying ; a Shallot never grows
into a large round onion, but always multiplies itself, forming
bulbs that average more oblong and are usually smaller than
those of the Potato onion. I find them occasionally pushing
a seed shoot, which I have never seen in the Potato onion.
Their habit of growth is finer, making a longer and more
slender leaf than the Potato onion. They are mild of flavor,
and greatly excel every other variety of the onion family in
their keeping properties : with little care they may be kept
the year round. All seedsmen do not know the difference
between the Potato onion and the Shallot. Within a few
years I have twice had Shallots sent me under the name
"Potato onion."

*3

Top onions are propagated from little bulbs, which grow in
this variety where the seeds grow in the common sorts. They
grow to a large size, are pleasant, mild flavored, rather
coarsely and loosely made up, and have the reputation of
being poor keepers. Raised like the Potato onion.

SEED SOWING MACHINES.

There are a variety of machines in the market for sowing
onion and other seed, but most or all of them can be
arranged in four classes, viz; Brush Sowers, Snap Sowers,
Drop Sowers and Agitators.

Brush machines are those in which the seed is forced out
by a brush contained in the seed box. The characteristic
feature in this class of seed planters is of English origin, and
has passed through various modifications in this country.

The Brush machine,
an engraving of which
is here presented,
makes the drills, drops
the seed, covers and
rolls it ; it is adapted
for planting all the
common root crops.

The rows in this machine are marked out by a chain, two
of which hang near the handles and drag on the ground,
being used alternately. The wheel is pushed along the mark
made by the chain.

The principle on which the ''Snap'' machine is founded is
the securing the flow of seed through the aperture by a
jerking motion, which is usually effected by a spring which
makes a snapping noise when set free.

24

One of the machines built on this principle is known as the
Danvers Onion Sower. (See engraving.)

The struct-
ure is ex-
ceedingly

simple ; and
as it involves

but few parts, and hence is but little liable to get out of
order, and when out of order can readily be repaired by any
blacksmith, it was quite a favorite with onion-raisers, but im-
proved implements have to a large degree taken the place
of it.

The Danvers machine opens the furrows, drops the seed,
covers it, but does not roll it. Farmers usually attach an oM
horseshoe to the end of the seed coverer, which gives
sufficient weight to make it answer the purposes of a roller.

Matthews' Garden Seed Drill is a fine example of the seed
planters on the "agitator" principle. This agitator is a finger
of iron in the seed box which projects just over the orifice
from which the seed drops and by a motion given it by the
revolving of the wheel, keeps the seed continually stirred and
thus prevents its clogging, — a trouble to every gardener when
planting such seed as beet and parsnip. Were I called upon
to recommend a seed sower for general work it would be the
Matthews ; all in the market have more or less of good
qualities but I have found that the Matthews combines more
than any other one.

On light soil hand cultivators are useful. These are now

25

sold combined with seed
sowers, so that the same
implement may be used
for either purpose.

The Matthews' hand
Cultivator is a good il-
lustration of this class.
(See engraving.)

In these machines the seed falls through holes in little
slides of tin, different slides being substituted as the seed to
be sown is larger or smaller, or the quantity to be planted is
greater or less. Farmers will often find it for their interest to
enlarge or diminish the size of these holes. The holes in the
tin of the Danvers sower, to give a liberal sowing of about
four and a half pounds to the acre, should be large enough
to drop ten to fourteen onion seed to each snap. By putting
the hand under and counting the seed which falls in a dozen
snappings of the machine, a reliable average can be ascer-
tained. As the size of onion seed often varies, no particular
size of hole can be relied upon ; it must be tested for each
season. Another convenient test is to trundle the machine
over the barn floor, or a newspaper spread and secured in the
field, and observe how thickly the seed fall. For a beginner
the first test is the better one.

Of the sower which drops the seed in hills I will treat
presently under the head of "Onions with Carrots."

PLANTING THE SEED.

Having selected our seed sower and regulated it, the next
step is to plant the seed. It is exceedingly necessary that
the first row planted should be straight, as this becomes a
measure of strai^htness for all the others. A steady hand and

26

a straight eve are of great value here ; but with a little
practice a good degree of accuracy can be obtained by most
persons, though a few will always find it for their profit to
hire some experienced hand. Two or three sticks may serve
to mark out the first row, and by keeping these bearing on
each other as the machine is pushed along, the first line must
be a straight line. In some machines the chains which drag
from the handle, and in others the wheels, serve to mark

out the rows.
As the Scuffle
Hoes (see en-
graving) and
Wheel Hoes

(see engraving) to be used will be of a constant width it is

important that
the width of the
rows should be
kept constant,
particularly that
they should not
be brought
nearer together
than the dis-
tance fixed upon. The distance between the rows varies in
different sections from twelve to fourteen inches; when seed
are planted for setts, ten inches is the usual distance between
the drills.

The various hoes used in weeding are pushed before the
operator and again drawn quickly back, the operator taking
short steps, and making the hoe cut in both the forward and
backward slides. After the tops get so far grown as to bend
over into the rows, they ,:re apt to be caught between the

27

wheel and axle of the wheel hoe ; hence from thence forward
the scuffle hoe should be used.

Farmers sometimes make their own scuffle hoes out of a

piece of an old
saw, the teeth an-
swering a good
purpose in cutting
off the weeds.
The V-shaped hoe,
(see engraving,) called Howard's Patent, will do excellent
sen-ice if a weight of about two pounds be fastened around
the handle near the ground.

In Eastern Massachusetts fourteen inches is the usual
distance between the rows ; while in Southern New England!
and parts of the West, twelve inches is preferred.

Before planting the seed it should be carefully examined,
to see that it is perfectly clean from small stones, or any
substance that can possibly clog the hole of exit. Let it be
remembered, when regulating the machine, that the seed will
not be likely to fall so fast from a full hopper as they will
when it is nearly empty. The seed should be sown from half
an inch to large an inch under the surface. The lighter the
soil, the deeper the seed may be sown. It is thought that
deep sowing has the advantage of getting the plants so
deeply rooted that they will bear having the earth slightly
pulled away from them in the first weeding, without so much
injury as sometimes results when they are planted shallow.
While planting, as well as when using the hoe, our farmers
will find the advantage of having a finely pulverized surface
to work on, free of all clods, sticks and stones, as such will
continually vary the straightness of the rows, interfere with
the planting and covering of the seed, and, when the hoe is

used, glance it out of its course in among the tender plants.

HOEING AND WEEDING.

In from two to three weeks, if the weather is an average
for the season, the young plants by a close examination may
be seen pushing their green arches above the surface, bearing
a close resemblance to a curve of grass. As soon as suffi-
ciently up to enable a sharp eye to determine the course of
the rows, without delaying a day or an hour, it the weather
permits, the prudent cultivator will slide through his Scuffle
Hoe, as at this season of the year the weather is very uncer-
tain, and the land may become too wet to be worked soon
after the young plants appear, and yet not too wet to hinder
a rapid growth of weeds. Sowing a few radish with the
onion seed is sometimes practised. As the radish seed veg-
etates in a few days the rows are thereby marked out and the
wheel hoe can be used earlier. Care need be taken that the
radish seed are not larger than the onion and so clog the
hole. To obtain very choice cabbage plants, which grow fine
and stocky, farmers drop a few seed into the hopper with the
onion seed. On so rich a seed bed, prompt action is very
necessary, or a miserably discouraging tangle will soon be
the result of negligence. In their comparative freedom from
weeds the cultivators in the West, on their new land, have a
great advantage over their brethren in the East. By selecting
pasture land and avoiding the use of barn manure, the work
of weeding may be greatly reduced. I have raised a crop
on such land, when the entire expense from after the crop
was planted until it was gathered and got into the barn was
but $35.00 to the acre. It was so free of weeds that one
man slid through, hand weeded and partly thinned an acre
and a quarter inside of a day. In about a week after the hoe
has passed through them, the young plants will need their

20

first weeding with the fingers. This is hand-and-knee work
and, pursued as it has to be in this position at intervals through-
out the heat of summer, it is to many the most wearying work
of the farm. Boys being more nimble fingered than men,
besides working for lower wages, there is a great saving in
employing themr provided they can be relied 0:1 to pull up the
roots of the weeds. When several are at work it will be wise
to have a man with them.

To protect the knees from sharp stones, ''pads" are used,
which consist of squares of about eight inches, of several
thicknesses of woolen usually covered with leather, strapped
to the knees. In ordinary seasons onions require three or
four hand-and-knee weedings, and from four to six slidings.
with the hoe. A man's judgment must be his guide. As onions
shade the ground but slightly, weeds grow rapidly in onion
beds ; and if they are once allowed to get the start, the labor
of cultivation is immensely increased. Some cultivators prac-
tice scratching the soil away from the onions when weeding,
with an old knife curved at a right angle near the point, or by
a piece of iron hoop curved, the end being nailed to a small
piece of wood conveniently held in the hand. Others prac-
tice throwing the soil slightly around the young onions with a
scuffle hoe made with reference to this use, with a view of
smothering the small weeds. Noyes' hand weeder will be found
a very handy little implement for removing weeds, particularly

when the surface of
the ground is some-
what hard. When the
onions have begun to
"bottom down," i. c. form their bulbs, it is the general prac-
tice to remove as far as practicable any surplus earth that has
accumulated around them. In weeding, two or three rows are

3°

taken together, the weeds being dropped between the rows.
Just before the crop ripens down, larger weeds will show them-
selves here and there over the beds ; these are generally gath-
ered in baskets and dropped at the end of the rows. If the
seed of such weeds get ripe before they are pulled, the weeds
should be carefully deposited in a pile in some by-place, where
they can be burned when dry. Growers who practice throw-
ing such weeds to their hogs because they are large and suc-
culent, make an annual seeding of their beds with weeds.
Particularly is this true of Purslane, one of the greatest pla-
gues in the heat of the season. The habit of this plant is to
ripen the seed, well down on the stock, while the main body
of the plant is in its full vigor ; hence it usually happens that
much seed drops into the land some time before it is pulled,
while the farmer never mistrusts it has ripened. I have seen
Purslane completely eradicated from garden plots where it
formerly was a pest, by a little care in this matter of letting it go
to seed. The same remarks apply to the weed known as
chickweed. When blank spots occur from poor seed, poor
planting, or the ravages of the onion maggot, bush beans, cab-
bages or tomatoes may be planted.

When the plants are too thick, over one to two inches, they
should be thinned ; but the beginner had better pull with a
sparing hand, for, if the ground has been manured very liber-
ally, the crop will do well when the plants are very thickly
together, and they will oftentimes grow as large when very
thick as they will with three times the room. Onion-growers
like to see their onions piled two or three deep as they grow,
the upper layer being entirely out of the ground with the ex-
ception of the roots. When the tops begin to fall over, the
onion is rapidly maturing, and the bulbs will now grow very
fast. Farmers will tell you that "the top is going down into

3T

the Dottom." The Flat onions begin to bottom late in the
season, while the Danvers makes a very encouraging show of
bulb quite early. Should the land have been but poorly ma-
nured in seasons of drought, the crop will be apt to be ripen-
ed prematurely, forming a small sized onion, while (divided
it may be by merely a wall) those that have been more liber-
ally manured stand the drought, and keep green sufficiently
long to receive advantage from the later rains ; an investment
of twenty dollars in manure thus making a difference some-
times of a hundred dollars in the crop. If the crop is quite
backward, late in the season the necks of the onions are
sometimes bent over to hasten the formation of the bulb.
This is done by hand, or by rolling a barrel over two rows at
a time.

STORING THE CROP.

When the necks have fallen over, and the great proportion
of them are dry, the crop should be pulled by hand and be
laid in winrows, about three rows being put in one. At this
time all weeds remaining should be pulled and piled, prepar-
atory to the final clearing of the bed. The pulling of the
crop should not be delayed after the tops are well dry ; for if
rain should now fall, the onions will be apt to re-root to their
injury. Should the backwardness of the season make it ne-
cessary to pull the crop in rather a green state, it will be well
to allow it to remain untouched, after pulling, for about a week,
before turning or stirring, which will tend to hasten the decay
of the greener tops ; otherwise they should be carefully stirred
every pleasant day with a wooden-toothed rake. This should
be very carefully done, as the onions are very easily injured,
especially at this stage, and when injured are almost as likely
to rot as a bruised apple. See that they are not injured by

32

the raking or treading of a careless hand. When the crop is
thoroughly dried, the onions feeling hard to the handling, it
will be ready for topping for market. They are carefully
collected in baskets, rejecting all stones, scallions and rotten
onions, and taken in wagon loads to the barn, when the tops
are cut off clean to the onion with a sharp knife, or if the
necks are small and quite dry they may be pulled off by the
thumb and finger. This is usually done by boys or females
from two to four cents a bushel. While collecting, look
sharply on the bottom of the onions to detect rotten ones.
Some growers prefer to leave such of the crop as they design
to keep for a late market untopped. If it is intended to
market the crop immediately, the onions may be piled to a
depth of three or four feet ; otherwise they should not be
over two feet in depth. Leave the barn doors and windows
all open every pleasant day. As the crop is topped, those of
the size of a hazel-nut and smaller are classed as pickle
onions, these being marketed principally for that purpose, and
usually bringing about half the price of the full grown ones.

TRACING, OR ROPING ONIONS.

When the crop has ripened down but poorly, the greener
onions are at times traced. This is done by cutting off the
neck within about two inches of the bulb, and binding it to a
handful of straw ; beginning at the butt end of the straw, lay
the neck against the straw, give two or three firm turns with
the twine (net or wrapping twine), add another onion, and
thus proceed till the straw is covered, the larger onions being
tied to the bottom and gradually decreasing in size to the top
Onions so slowly ripened that they would soon spoil if stored
in a mass, will keep well when traced, and oftentimes bring
a greater profit than the best of the crop. Rareripes,

33

and such of the earlier onions as are to be sent long dis-
tances, or be kept awhile before marketing, are sometimes
traced. Traced onions keep in good condition a long while
in a dry, cool place. Within a few years tracing has almost
ceased in this vicinity.

MARKETING THE CROP.

The Sett onions, Potato onions, Top onions and Rare-
ripes, in some sections, are for the most part sent to market
in a green state in bunches. The Potato onions are brought
from the South, dry, in large quantities to supply the North-
ern markets, soon after the arrival of the Bermuda onions,
just before the ripening of the Northern crop. i\fter the
Potato onions follows the earliest variety of the Red, and
immediately after, the Danvers, and finally, the large Red
completes the season. The sales in the Northern markets
early in the season are made mostly for the supply of the
local immediate demand, the great bulk of the crop not being
sent in before the call for shipping purposes has commenced.
For this reason, farmers find it to be for their interest to do
but little more than feel the market until about the middle of
October, as large purchases made previous to this period are
mostly as an investment by speculators, with the exception
of such lots as go to supply the markets of large towns and
cities of the extreme North beyond the limits of the onion-
growing region.

The price of onions varies greatly ; they have sold as low
as seventy-five cents a barrel, while the early crop of 1864
sold as high as sixteen dollars a barrel, by the five hundred
barrels. From September to March, in the same season, the
fluctuation is sometimes between two dollars and six dollars.
Crops have at times been sold to be delivered in the course

34

of two months, and in that time have more than doubled in
price. The general truth is, that those brought latest to
u.diket, being kept till near spring, bring the best prices.
The great facilities afforded for onion raising by the fertile
soil and favoring climate of the West, will doubtless in a few
years tell powerfully on the Eastern market.

PRESERVING THE CROP.

If it is the design to keep the crop for a winter market, it
should be stored in a cool, dry place, out of danger from
severe frosts, in bulk, but not over two feet in depth. Onions
will bear a temperature of 28 degrees without injury, or any
degree of cold if kept frozen till the final thawing when in
bulk. It is a good plan to let them rest in a lattice work of
slats on the sides and bottom of the building, that the air
may circulate through them. If kept in barrels, these should
not be headed, and should have two or three openings made
with a hatchet or large auger in the sides near the bottom.
If it is designed to keep the onions till spring, the cheapest
and best way is to freeze them. To do this, select the north-
west portion of some out building under which the air does
not circulate, spread the onions about one and a half feet in
depth, leaving a vacant space of about two feet from the side
of the building, let them get thoroughly frozen, then cover
them closely with an old sail, or any cloth, to keep the hay
from mixing with them, and spread the hay two feet or more
in depth above the covering ; also pack fine hay closely
between the heap and the sides of the building. Here let
them remain untouched until the frost is entirely out, when
they should be spread at once, well aired, and turned care-
fully and often until thoroughly dried.

If the onions in the fall are not well ripened, or if a larger

35

proportion than usual are rotten, which is apt to be the case
after a very wet season or when the onion maggot has given
much trouble, to store largely for winter sales is attended with
great risk. I have known one enterprising cultivator to sink
several thousand dollars in a single season by storing heavily
under such circumstances.

SMUT, RUST AND MAGGOT.

The 'onion crop is sometimes severely injured by a disease
resembling mildew. The tops of the leaves die, and the
whole plant is more or less covered by this white blast.
From the effects of it the onions almost cease their growth,
and the crop finally obtained is small in size. This disease
in some sections is known by the name of "rust." It is
more frequent in extraordinary wet seasons, and is more com-
mon on old beds than new. The best remedy yet known for
old beds is to carefully remove from the bed and destroy at
the close of the season all diseased bulbs, as they will be
likely to spread the disease by giving it a lodgment in the
soil, then ru» the plow a little deeper, and thus mix in a little
new soil.

The onion maggot is hatched from the eggs of a fly, which
are deposited in the plant (not the seed) very near the sur-
face of the ground. Its presence may be detected in the
crop when very young by the sudden turning yellow and fall-
ing over of the plant, when, if the attempt is made to pull, it
will usually break off near the surface, and on squeezing sev-
eral small maggots will present themselves. Some writers
state that the fly deposits its eggs only at an early period in
the growth of the plant. It is true that some seasons the in-
jury is most marked previous to the bottoming of the onion,
but I have seen beds injured at every stage of their growth,

36

and in one season about half of the crop was destroyed by
the maggot at the close of the season after the onions had
been pulled. Various remedies have been proposed, but of
these it may be said that they, are not practical on a large
scale. The idea on which most of these is based is that of
producing a scent so disagreeable as to drive away the fly ;
but old experimenters recall the capacity of the Canker-worm
moth and the Squash beetle to ignore the most repulsive
obstructions of this kind when stimulated by their instinct to
deposit their eggs. Pine sawdust, either clear, soaked in the
urine of cattle, or in the ammoniacal liquor from gasworks,
scattered over the bed just before the appearance of the
plants, at the rate of a bushel to ten square rods, guano
sprinkled along the rows and on the plants, twice during the
season, unleached ashes used in the same manner, — these have
given satisfactory results to some growers. Scalding water
poured from a common watering-pot through a hole the size
of a pipe stem, along the drills near the roots of the plants,
and repeated three or four times during a season, is said to
be efficacious. It is obvious that the practical value of such
a remedy must be confined to a very small area of land.

In New England the maggot has been slowly making his
way North, adding greatly to the uncertainty of the crop,
until his ravages have extended to Southern Massachusetts.
Very light soils appear to be most affected by his ravages. In
some seasons the injury done is insignificant, and on the
whole the area planted in Massachusetts has not been mate-
rially reduced.

He will one year confine his ravages mostly to one portion
of a township, and the next season reverse matters ; while
some tracts are almost never injured, on others he appears to
settle down as a permanent resident.

37
RAISING ONION SEED.

What does all this investment of money, time, labor and
watchfulness, amount to if the seed is worthless, has no vital-
ity, is not true to name, or was grown from worthless trash?
Onion seed should be raised from the very best onions of the
very best crop grown in the vicinity. The best type should
be first selected, which should be a medium sized onion, very
hard and compact in structure, with a close, thin, fine skin,
and a very small neck. Those selected for seed should be
the earliest ripened of the crop, provided such are fully ripen-
ed and not blighted. To select the earliest onions, the
seed grower should visit the field before the crop is pulled.

Onion seed is sometimes (I fear too often) grown from the
entire crop, be it good, bad or indifferent. A great step of
improvement on this is to purchase outright as good a crop
as can be found ; but the only way to secure and keep the
best and most reliable seed is that first given. Poor onion
seed is always very dear indeed, as a present, while first-class
seed at the highest price yet paid is worth a long and careful
seeking.

Seed onions should be kept in a cool, dry place, spread to
about a foot in depth ; if kept in barrel, (old lime casks are
best) these should be left unheaded, and two or three pieces
should be chopped off near the bottom to admit a circulation
of air. As early in the spring as the ground can be worked,
they should be set out in trenches, (the onion when covered
in trenches will stand a heavy frost without injury,) which
should be from three to four feet apart and about four inches
below the surface, the land having first been heavily manured.
Some good seed growers apply their manure directly in the
trench, while others spread it broadcast and plow in. I Dre-

3«

fer to plow in a liberal quantity, and then use ashes, super-
phosphate of lime or guano, in the rows, applying it just
before covering onions. If the onions are much sprouted,
the sprout may be cut off quite home to the onion, which
will insure a straighter and healthier growth. Care should be
taken to plant right end up, for, odd as it sounds, in the
spring it sometimes requires a little care to determine which
is the right end. As soon as the onion is well rooted, the
earth should be drawn up to it ; and this should be done
three times during the season, until the earth is heaped around
them eight or ten inches above the surface of the ground.
The first hoeing should be given them very soon after the
sprout starts, to fully cover the onion, as when exposed it is
very apt to decay. With this support, on land that is not too
moist, I find that no further precaution is necessary to keep
the seed tops from the ground, though it is the practice
of many growers to support with light strips of wood, or a
line drawn along about two feet from the ground. After the
last hoeing, (and very clean culture should be given then),
they should be gone among as little as possible.

The seed tops may be safely cut (leaving about six inches
of the stem on) when the seed vessels begin to crack ; or
what is a better guide yet (for after the seed vessels begin to
crack much seed is apt to be lost, especially by heavy storms,)
after the turning yellow, near the ground, of the seed stalk ;
when this occurs, the top may be removed immediately, even
though it should appear quite green above.

Seed tops will be often found in which the seed in the
shortest-stemmed receptacles is ripened, and the receptacles
themselves are cracked, while a fresh growth of seed vessels
in a green state almost conceal them ; in such cases I would
advise the cutting of the top. The tops when cut should be

39

spread to a depth of six inches or less, in a warm place
where heat and air abound, and be turned two or three times
daily, until thoroughly dried, when the seed is ready to be
threshed out ; or it may be stored in barrels in a dry loft, and
threshed as wanted. If the seed is plump and has been well
ripened, the frequent turning of the stalks will have shaken
out by far the larger proportion of it, — in some seasons more
than five-sixths.

As the seed stalks make but little shade, the ground be-
tween the rows can be cultivated to spinach, lettuce,
radishes, turnips, or some early vegetables, then this will make
the hilling of the seed more costly, and when these are har-
vested, be planted to cucumbers for pickles. The planting
between the rows should be confined to the middle, and in
trenches an inch or so below the surface, unless it be made
after the onions have received their final hoeing ; otherwise
the drawing of the earth around the seed stalks will seriously
interfere with these crops.

Strange as it may seem to those who have not tried it, such
rampant growers such as squashes can be raised among seed
onions and generally with no material injury to the seed. I
have known five tons of Hubbard Squashes grown on about
half an acre of ground planted to seed onions. The squash
should be planted towards the close of May, after the onions
have received their final hilling, two or three seeds being
planted close to every other row, and about nine feet apart in
the row ; allow but one plant ta grow in a hill. The vines,
thus having plenty of room between the rows to spread about,
do not incline much to climbing on the seed stock. Care
should be exercised to break off at once the tendrils of such
as attempt to climb. The one plant to a hill system will be

40

found to yield as liberal a crop and finer squashes than the
old system of three or four to the hill.

The yield of onion seed to the barrel of seed onions varies
greatly; indeed, no investments near the seaboard prove
more speculative. The maggot sometimes proves very de-
structive, so much so that the crop will not average half a
pound to the barrel, while under very favoring circumstances
crops have been raised which average eighteen pounds to the
barrel.

When the seed is fully dry, (and seed that has been sunk
should have a long exposure to the air and frequent stirrings ;
I have known large lots spoilt from want of care in this), it
should be so stored as to be safe from all injury from cats and
other animals, who are apt to resort to it, to the utter de-
struction of its vitality.

RAISING CARROTS WITH ONIONS.

The plan of raising carrots with onions is considered a great
improvement by many who have adopted it, as the yield of
carrots is thought to be a clear gain, diminishing but little or
none the yield of onions. Carrots are planted in two ways ;
one by sowing them in drills between every other row of
onions, and the other, which is considered an improvement,
called the Long Island plan, by planting the onions in hills
from seven to eight inches from center to center, dropping
a number of seed in each hill, and from the first to the
twelfth of June planting the carrot seed, usually by hand,
between these hills in two rows, then skipping one, and thus
on through the piece. The onions as they are pulled are
thrown into every third row, the carrots being left to mature.
By this method from two hundred to six hundred bushels of
carrots are raised per acre in addition to the usual crop of

4*

onions. More manure is required for the two crops than for
the onions alone.

The Machine used for sowing in drills has two boxes
attached to the axle at equidistance from the wheels ; there
are three or four holes in the axle that communicate with the
seed in the boxes, and as these holes pass under the boxes
they are filled with seed, and as they turn the seed are
dropped into the earth. Screws are sunk into the holes,
which can be sunk more or less at pleasure, and the quantity
of seed which the holes will contain is thus graded.

The machine should first be tested and so regulated that
on a barn floor it will drop from eleven to twelve seed from
each hole. When so regulated, on using in the field it will
drop but from seven to twelve, owing to the more uneven
motion.

This, like all sowing machines, and the same may be said
of the scuffle hoe and wheel hoe, is pushed along before the
operator.

My farmer-friends, I have now given you the result of my
own experience in the raising of onions, Potato onions, Top
onions, Shallots, and onion Setts, combined with the experi-
ence in onion growing of a neighborhood where a hundred
thousand bushels are raised annually, with the results of per-
sonal observation in other localities, and with facts that I have
collected by corresponding with different sections of the
United States.

I hope this contribution will prove acceptable.

JAMES J. H. GREGORY.

Marblehead, Mass.

42

ANALYSIS OF THE ONIONS.

A recent analysis, under the direction of Prof. Goessmar
of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, gives the following
as the principal constituents of the onion :

Air dry onions without leaves were found to consist of:

Water (at ioo° to no° G.)

1 )rv vegetable matter
and contained the following amounts of

Nitrogen ....

Sulphur . . .

Ash

The percentages of the principal constituents of the ash
were :

Potassium oxide

Sodium oxide

Calcium oxide

Magnesium oxide .

Sesquioxide of iron

Silicic acid

Phosphoric acid

Sulphuric acid not determined
In the above table Potassium oxide, Sodium oxide, Cal-
cium oxide and Magnesium oxide, mean practically pure
Potash, Soda, Lime and Magnesia.

I infer from the table that of the three grand essentials in
manure, Nitrogen, Potash and Phosphoric acid, the onion
requires about equal quantities o/ the two former and half as
much of the latter.

I trust this contribution will prove acceptable.

TAMES J. H. GREGORY.

89.20 per cent.
10.80

0.212 percent.
0.048 "
0.436

38.51 per cent.
1.90
8.20

3.65
0.58

3-33
15.80

Marblehead. Mass.

SQUASHES,

HOW TO GBOW THEM.

A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON SQUASH CULTURE, GIVING FULL DETAILS
ON EVERY POINT, INCLUDING KEEPING AND MARKETING THE CROP.

BY

JAMES J. H. GREGORY,

MARBLEHEAD, MASS.

NEW-YORK:

ORANGE JTJDD & COMPANY,

41 PARK ROW.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by

ORANGE JUDD & CO.

At the Clerk's Office of the District Conrt of the United States for the
Southern District of New-York.

Lovbjoy & Son,

Electrotypebs xsd Stekeotyperb.

15 Vandewater street N. Y.

INTRODUCTION.

The recent great increase in interest in squash cultiva-
tion, which has been promoted by the introduction of new
varieties, has seemed to me to demand a more thorough
and exhaustive treatment of the subject than is to be
found in our present standard works on horticulture or
agriculture. I am sustained in this position by the great
number of questions propounded to me annually in the
course of an extensive correspondence. To answer these
questions, and to bring so delicious a vegetable as the
squash into a more general and more successful cultiva-
tion, is the object of this treatise. The Squash family ( Cu-
curbitacece) have their habitat in the tropics and warmer
portions of the temperate zones; hence they require our
hottest seasons to develop them in perfection. With the
exception of the Vegetable Marrow, the squash family is
almost unknown to our English cousins, as likewise is true
of our corn and beans, for though the average temperature
of the year is higher with them than with us, yet the ex-
treme hot weather, which these vegetables require, is
there wanting.

The introduction of the squash is a matter of the past
half century ; until within that time, with the exception of
the Crookneck, the pumpkins, yellow and black, or " nig-
ger," were the only varieties cultivated. Though the ap-
petite for squash appears to be in a considerable degree a
matter of education, yet it is becoming more and more
popular in the vicinity of the large cities of the North,
where among vegetables, it now ranks next to the potato.
3

4 SQUASHES, HOW TO GKOW THEM, ETC.

WHAT IS A SQUASH?

In many parts of the South and West, where the fall
and winter squashes are not much cultivated, the term
" Pumpkin " is used for all the running varieties of the
squash or pumpkin family, with the exception of the
" Cushaw " class, which includes varieties that are closely
allied to the Crookneck. To clearly define what is meant by
the word squash in contradistinction from the word pump-
kin, as used among market-men, is no very easy matter, as all
the varieties, with the exception of the Crooknecks, easily
intercross with each other, and in the recently introduced
Yokohama, I have reason to believe we have found the
connecting link between the Crooknecks and other squashes,
thus destroying the reputation which the Crooknecks had
hitherto enjoyed of being the squashes of the squash fam-
ily. Grouping all the running varieties together, we ex-
press the marketman's idea of a squash, as distinguished
from a pumpkin, when we say that all varieties having
soft or fleshy stems, either with or without a shell, and all
varieties having a hard, woody stem, and without a shell,
are squashes ; while all having a hard stem and a shell
the flesh of which is not bitter, are pumpkins ; and all of
this latter class, the flesh of which contains a bitter prin-
ciple, are gourds. In a more general classification, all va-
rieties having a hard shell, are gourds, and those without
a shell, are squashes. I had an amusing instance under this
system of classification in a lot of seed, ordered from France
as " gourds ;" on examining them, I found that several of
the kinds were varieties of our table squashes. Making a
separate classification of the summer varieties, I define
such to be squashes, in contradistinction from gourds, as
are eatable at any period of their growth. It will be seen
that the distinctions I make are more commercial than
strictly scientific. What I aim at, is, to so define squashes,
pumpkins, and gourds, that experienced market-men, seed-

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 5

men, and new beginners, may meet on common ground,
and clearly understand each, other when using these terms.
In passing, I remark, that gourds are far more prolific
than either squashes or pumpkins ; in some instances more
than two score having been grown on a single vine.

SELECTING THE SOIL.

All of the family thrive best, other things equal, in a
warm soil, which is a soil through which the roots can
easily find their way. The Hubbard squash appears to
attain to its highest development in regard to both yield
and quality in a soil, that, in addition to being warm, is
also a strong soil. I would not advise planting in a clay
soil, unless it be possible by thorough draining and high
manuring, (for this purpose, long manure is better than
fermented,) to make such soil light and porous. A drained
meadow will often yield enormous squashes, if well ma-
nured, but they are apt to be very porous in their structure,
of poor quality, and poor keepers.

Some years since I planted a piece of rich, black
meadow to Hubbards, after manuring liberally in the hills.
The result wras a tremendous growth of vine, some of
the leaves measuring twenty inches in diameter, while the
ends of the runners, in their great vigor, lifted themselves
by thousands two and three feet above the surface, and
with their blunt, arched extremities, looked like a myriad
of huge-winged serpents running a race. The squashes
were of a light green color, very large and showy, but,
when gathered, proved light in the handling, very porous
in structure, cutting like punk, were very poor keepers,
and coarse and watery in quality. Though such meadows
are thoroughly underdrained, the squashes grown on them
are light in proportion to their size, (which always insures
poor quality and poor keeping,) unless the meadows have
had abundance of sand and loam worked into them, thus

6 SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC.

adding the proper proportion of silica to the vegetable
humus. Some years ago, when the Marrow squash was a
novelty, bringing about $4.00 a hundred pounds, one of
my townsmen raised some acres on a piece of drained
meadow. Only a portion of the meadow had received a
good dressing of sand ; here the squashes were of about
the ordinary size, while on the remainder they grew " as
big as barrels." He traded a part of the crop with a
peddler for a lot of swine. When the peddler called for the
squashes, agreeable to instructions, the father being absent
from town, his son showed him the smaller sized lot, say-
ing that he had received directions to deliver them, as
they were the best of the crop. But the peddler declared
that, as he had supplied good pigs, he was entitled to good
squashes, and would be put off with no trash. He there-
fore loaded his wagons with the " big as a barrel " lot, and
left for home. Before many days a friend called, and,
with a laugh, asked if he had heard of the result of the
squash investment. " There was'nt enough substance in
them to hold together until he got home'; they were car-
ried to market in a few days, and two tons out of five
were rotten." If the soil be wet and cold, the growth of
the vine is much retarded, and not only is the crop much
lessened in size and weight, but at times this singular re-
sult is seen — the squash loses its normal form. I have
seen a crop of Hubbards grown under such circumstances,
all of which were nearly flat at each end, instead of hav-
ing the elongations that belong to the normal form.

When two soils of equal natural strength, but one of
them being more gravelly in its structure, are heavily and
equally manured, I have noticed, in several instances, that
the more gravelly piece will give more squashes and less
vine than the others.

Unlike some varieties of melons and cucumbers, squashes
will do finely on freshly broken sod, which has the ad-
vantage (a great one in many localities) of being less in-

SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC. 7

fested with bugs, than old tillage soil. The practice of
digging holes a foot or two in diameter in patches of turf
in waste places, around hedges, or in corners of fields,
which, after filling with manure, are planted to squashes, is
but a waste of time ; the result is, a growth of vine of a
few feet in length, the setting of squashes, and then both
squash and vine become checked in their growth, as the
roots of the vine make vain efforts to penetrate a dense
mass of hungry grass roots in search of food, the leaves
gradually turn yellow, and before you know it, have
entirely disappeared. By pulling on a dead vine, you
drag out a half grown squash hidden among the grass.

If the sod abounds in the pest known by various names,
as witch, twitch, or quack grass, there is some danger that
the grass will overrun the vines. If the grass has not
been quite thoroughly torn up by the cultivator before
the vines begin to run, better plow up at once, as the crop
will be nearly ~a failure. Hoeing up and hand pulling the
grass will practically amount to nothing under such cir-
cumstances, as I once learned to my sorrow. If the sod
is not very badly run to twitch, there is but little clanger,
provided the cultivator is faithfully used from the time
the vines appear above ground until the runners begin
to push.

THE MANURE.

The squash vine is a rank feeder. Night soil, barn ma-
nure, wood ashes, guano, muscle mud, hen manure, super-
phosphate of lime, pig manure, sheep manure, fish guano,
fish waste — either of these alone, or in compost, is greedily
devoured by this miscellaneous feeder. The great error
in the cultivating of the squash is to starve it. By many
cultivators, when every other crop has had its share, and
the manure heap has been used up, a piece of sod is broken
for the squash patch, about the only food depended on

8 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

for the crop being what it can gather from the decay of
the fresh turned sod. Under such treatment, the cnyp is
small, the squashes small, and the general result unsatis-
factory. Another error of the opposite extreme is one
often committed by market gardeners, who have learned
that no paying crop can be grown without liberal feeding
— who give all the food necessary, but do not allow suf-
ficient room for the extra growth of vines under such cul-
ture. Of this latter error I propose to treat under the
head of "Planting the Seed."

Night soil should be used, mixed with muck and other
manures, in the form of a compost. It may, however, be
applied fresh, directly to the hill, if sufficient care is taken
to mix it thoroughly with the soil. Some years ago, I
broke up a piece of land in the spring of the year for
squashes, and the location being difficult of access, I used
night soil from a vault on the premises, pouring about two
bushels into each hill. After we had finished manuring, I
sent my hired man, stout Jim Lane, around with his hoe
to mix it thoroughly with the soil in the hills. When
Jim came back, saying the thing had been thoroughly
done, I send him around a second time, to give it another
mixing up, and, on his return, sent him around the third
time, though the old fellow assured me that it couldn't be
improved on, and I had no doubt he had done his work
well each time, but, with two bushels of fresh night soil
in each, I knew that all the danger lay in one direction.
The result was, the vines came up a rich, dark-green, and
took right hold of their food.

With the exception of barn manure, it is necessary that
each of the manures mentioned above should be well
mixed in the soil when used in the hill. When wood
ashes are used, they should not be mixed with other manure,
until just as it is applied, as this would injure the value of
the manure, by setting free the ammonia. When I have
used ashes in connection with Peruvian guano, I have

SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC. 9

been in the habit of putting layer with layer in a wheel-
barrow, hurrying it to the hills, and then covering it im-
mediately with soil. Even with all possible hurrying of
matters, the strong, pungent smell of the escaping am-
monia could be readily detected.

Wood ashes, mixed with fresh night soil in the hill,
is considerably worse than nothing. Some years ago,
aiming to grow some extra large specimens, I selected a
favorable location, opened several large hills, and poured
into each about a couple of bushels of night soil. Into
this I stirred a liberal quantity of wood ashes, acting on
the theory that its alkaline properties would serve as a
corrective of the rank crudeness of the night soil. I pull-
ed the earth over the hills, and planted my seed. The
seed vegetated, but the young plants soon came to a stand
still. I applied a little fresh soil to the roots, thinking the
manure below might be too strong for the young rootlets
to absorb. Still, there was no growth ; soon the leaves
turned yellow, and the plants died. I opened one hill to
find the cause, and there I found cause enough in the
presence of a mass having about the size and appearance
of an ordinary grindstone ; the ashes and night soil in
combination had made a hard cement, and the entire con-
tents of each hill could be rolled out in one cake.

HOW MUCH MANURE?

Those who, under the stimulus of a city market, follow
market gardening, soon learn one truth that may be set
down as an axiom for successful gardening, viz. : that
other things equal, it is the'last cord of manure that gives
the profits. There is but very little danger of giving too
much manure to your squash ground, provided the hills
are made at a proper distance apart, and the vines are not
too numerous.

No prudent man will plant squashes with less than four
1*

10 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

cords of barn manure, or its equivalent, to the acre ; this
is the minimum — when squashes are raised as a profitable
crop, from six to twenty cords of good manure per acre
are used.

Twenty cords to the acre will, I doubt not, sound like
a large story to many readers, and it is a large quantity,
even for the high culture required for successful market
gardening, but I have seen that quantity applied, and
once, in my own practice, applied thirty-five cords to a
little over two acres of squash land, where the soil had
been over-cropped, (or rather under-fed,) for many years
before I came into possession of it. Let us look a moment
into that axiom — "the profits come out of the last cord
of manure." With four cords of good barn manure to
the acre, on good soil, the average yield would be about
four tons of Hubbard squashes ; with six cords of manure,
the average yield would be about six tons ; with eight
cords, the yield would be from seven to eight tons. These
are real results, that I have had in my own experience.
Here it will be seen that we gain about a ton of
squashes with each extra cord of manure ; in other words,
by investing eight or ten dollars, we treble or quadruple
our money in six month's time — quite a profitable bank
of deposit is the manure heap ! Not only is the crop
heavier, but the squashes are larger, and, therefore, far
more marketable and, usually, at a higher figure, often
readily bringing $5 or $10 a ton advance in the market.
ISTor is this all; the virtues of the manure are not ex-
hausted the first season ; but the ground is left in higher
condition for the crops of the next season. Again, let it
be noted that the cost of cultivation of a poor crop is just
as great as the cultivation of a large one, while the promise
of a large crop is a great cheer amid the labor of caring
for it. The strongest argument for the liberal manur-
ing of this and all other crops is, that a certain portion
of the crop but pays for the cost of producing it, and

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 11

that the profits can only come after the cost of production
is paid.

The cost of producing an acre of squashes, independent
of the cost of the manure, will be :

Plowing ... .$ 6.00

Distributing Manure 5.00

Cultivating in Manure 3.00

Seed 4.00

Mixing Manure in Hills 2.00

Planting Seed 1.00

Three Cultivatings in course of season 5.25

Two Hoeings. . 3.00

Lime and Liming 1.50

Hand-weeding of large, scattered Weeds, after Kunners have

started off 1.00

Gathering of Crop into Heaps ready for Carting 2.00

Interest on Land * 9.00

Wear and Tear, and Incidentals 2.00

Total, exclusive of Manure $44.75

Add cost of four Cords of Manure, at $8.00, landed in Field 32.00

Cost of Guano, or some equivalent, to mix in Hills 5.00

Total cost of Crop whenfour Cords of Manure are used per Acre. .$81.75

Now, as we stated above, the average yield of Hubbard
squashes, under such manuring, would be about four tons.
The average price of Hubbard squashes in the Boston
markets, for the past four years, of such a size as four
cords of manure to the acre would produce, has been about
$25 per ton. At this rate, the returns (not deducting
the cost of marketing) per acre would be $100, from which
deducting the cost of production, $81.75, we have $18.25
as the profits on the acre.

If, now, by adding two cords more of manure, or $16.00,
to the cost of production, we obtain two tons more
squashes, then the income is increased $50, (this supposes
that we get but the same price per ton, but, in fact, I get
from |5 to £10 more per ton for such squashes,) and we
have a profit of $52.25. The two cords of manure extra
have nearly trebled the profits ; in other words, by ad-

12 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

ding about one-six to the cost of production, Ave treble
the profits. Or, again, to give a commercial look to the
matter, for every dollar invested in manure in May, in
October, or five months, we receive a return of three dol-
lars and an eighth. The returns have proved in the same
proportion up to eight cords, and at times up to ten cords,
to the acre. These statements are not visionary ; they
are drawn directly from practical experience^ and can be
corroborated by any farmer who has tried liberal manur-
ing. Catch a farmer of that class going backwards, and
putting less and less manure on his grounds, what a
phenomenon he would be ! No ; the progress of all enter-
prising farmers is in one direction. By extra manuring the
probabilities of receiving paying returns, are far greater in
agricultural than in commercial life, as figures will readily
show, though the popular belief is directly the contrary.

PREPARING AND APPLYING THE MANURE.

As a general rule in farming, the value of manures that
are good for any crop, is increased by mixing them to-
gether, making what is called a compost. Ashes and
common lime are an exception to this rule ; each of them
sets free the ammonia, (the most valuable portion of any
manure,) and, being volatile, it escapes into the atmos-
phere. In preparing a compost for squashes, the bottom
of the heap may be made of muck that has been acted up-
on by the frost, sun, and rain of a year, if practicable ; if
this can not be done, let it at least be got out the fall
previous, that it may be disintegrated, and, in a measure,
sweetened by the winter's frost. In the course of the
winter, manure from the barn-yard may be hauled upon it.
If this has been well worked by hogs, the better. Toward
spring, if night-soil can be poured into it, the richness of
the heap will be much increased. Sharp sand can now be
thrown over the heap, and about as soon as frost breaks

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 13

ground, the entire mass should be thrown over with forks,*
and thoroughly commingled, all coarse lumps broken
up, and all frozen lumps brought to the outside of the
pile. As soon as the mass begins to heat, the process
should be repeated once or twice, until it is made as
fine and as thoroughly mixed together, as time will allow.
The sand will be found to be excellent to keep the manure
finely divided and light, or to " cut " it, as farmers say.

In applying the manure for this or other crops, many
formers use all the manure in the hill ; some, because hav-
ing but little to use, they wish to get it as near the plants
as possible, while others seem to hold the theory, that a
circle of three or four feet in diameter is a sufficient area
for the roots of squash vines to travel over in search of
food. Where all the manure is used in the hill, the squash
vines push over the ground rapidly, until just after the
setting of the squashes, when they lose vigor, the squashes
develop but slowly, and in the end there is a small crop of
undersized squashes, for the roots, having meanwhile
pushed beyond the hills, can not find food sufficient to
sustain the growth of the vines. The roots of squash
vines increase faster than is generally supposed. There
is a theory that the roots grow to the same length as
the vines, keeping pace with them in their growth.
Whether the roots grow as long, or longer, than the vines,
I can not say, but when the runner of a vine had pushed
out but eighteen inches, I found the root over three feet
in length, thus proving that at one period of growth, the
root increases faster than the vine. This spreading of the
roots through the soil is one of the marvels of vegetable
life. I remember once lifting a small pile of litter that
was about six inches deep, some dozen feet distant from
a squash hill, when I saw what appeared to be a fine
mist at the surface of the ground, but upon examination
myriads of fine rootlets were seen, that were doubtless
feeding on the decaying vegetable matter. Any person

14 SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC.

who will examine a squash vine of the running sorts, after
it has set its fruit, will find roots pushed down into the
earth at each joint ; and though these may be in part de-
signed by the Creator to steady the vine, there can be but
little doubt but that they are designed also to feed the
long runners. And this is proved by the fact, that if the
connection of the vine with the main root be severed,
while these subordinate roots remain uninjured, it will still
maintain a degree of vigor. Such facts as these sweep
all theories of hill-manuring by the board, for if the roots
travel beyond the hill in search of food, there a wise cul-
tivator will put food for them. My usual practice is this :
to distribute all the manure from my compost heap over
the field, after the first plowing, and before cultivating or
harrowing. This is thoroughly worked under (and but
just under), by a small one-horse plow, driven at right
angles with the furrows, after which I follow with the culti-
vator, aiming to have everything as thoroughly fined up as
possible. If time presses, I dispense with the small plowT, and
depend wholly on the cultivator and harrow to get my ma-
nure under the surface. After the manure is well worked
under, the hills or drills are marked off by dragging a chain
.over the surface, the first line being made straight by set-
ting up two poles ahead, and keeping them in line while
walking; afterward the lines can be kept conveniently
straight by carrying a pole of the same length as the dis-
tance desired between the hills, and using it occasionally
as a guide. After the field is thus chained out in one
direction, it is crossed in the opposite direction. The hills
are marked out by the crossing of the lines made by the
chain. If the surface is free from large rocks, the hills can
be marked out by running two sets of furrows, the hills
being made where they cross each other at right angles.

In the hills I work in my manure, avoiding all stable
dung, or any animal manure, as this is liable to contain
seed, and to one who raises squashes for seed purposes,

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 15

this is quite a serious objection, for, in fact, I have found
it almost impossible to keep squashes pure, where animal
manure is used in the hill. I manure in the hill, or drill,
with the most highly concentrated manures to be pro-
cured, such as guano, superphosphate of lime, or fish gu-
ano. The reason for using highly stimulating manure in
the hill is, to. give the plants a quick start when young,
that they may grow beyond injury from the ravages of
the striped bug.

There is danger in using highly concentrated manures in
the hill, that the roots of the young plants be destroyed
— " burned " is the farmer's phrase ; to prevent this, they
should be most thoroughly stirred in with the soil. My
practice is, to take such manure in a wooden bucket, and
passing from hill to hill, scatter, if phosphates, as much as
I can take up in a half closed hand ; if Peruvian guano,
about half as much, over a circle of about two feet in di-
ameter. A man follows immediately after with a six-tined
fork; he is directed to turn it just under the surface, and
then draw his fork across the hill three times, and again
three times at right angles with the first direction, ending
with planting the fork in the middle of the hill, and giving
it a twist around. I am thus particular in my directions,
because day laborers seldom realize the corrosive effects
of these highly concentrated fertilizers. After my man,
a boy follows to plant the seed ; he sweeps a circle with
his finger around each hill, as he finishes planting.

After the vines have got so far along as to show their
runners, I top dress the surface with hen manure, or some
of the special manures above mentioned, and immediately
follow with the cultivator.

It will be perceived that my system of manuring is
based upon the theory that vines pi-efer their food near
the surface of the ground. I draw this inference from the
fact, that vines are great lovers of heat, being quite sen-
sitive to changes of temperature, and also from tracing

16 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

roots, and finding under the old system of deep manuring,
that they would, at first starting, run but an inch or two
below the surface of the earth, when they would spread
out horizontally, and stretch on for some feet at a very
uniform distance below the surface. Again, I find my
crops very satisfactory under this system of manuring,
and for the past four years have cultivated all my crop
(four to seven acres annually), on this plan. My friends
will note that I reduce my manure very fine, and mix it
very thoroughly with the soil. My soil is a strong loam.

PREPARING THE HILLS.

The system almost universally advised and pursued in
preparing the hills for planting, is to throw out the earth
from within a circle of from two and a half to four feet in
diameter, and from six inches to a foot in depth, oftentimes
quarrying out rocks and digging into the hard-pan to get
the standard depth. Then fill in with manure, and cover this
with earth, raising a low mound in the form of a trun-
cated cone about six inches above the surface. On this
mound the seed are planted. Where the land is freshly
turned sod, the hills are usually made by cutting a hole
of the usual diameter in the sod with a sharp spade or
axe. In my own practice, I have given up this method for
years. The plan of excavating a hole, and putting in it
all, or about all, the manure for the crop, appears to
be founded on the theory that the roots will confine them-
selves to the area — an idea entirely erroneous, as we have
already shown. Quarrying into the hard-pan and putting
manure down to such cold depths, is inviting the vine to
violate its instinctive love of heat. Again, this system
involves a great deal of labor, particularly when sod land
is planted, and on these latter the pieces of sod taken out
of the hills remain nuisances over the surface of the field,
either clogging the cultivator, or being knocked against

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 17

the young vines. Let any farmer try the plan of prepar-
ing his hills as I have detailed above, and I will guaran-
tee that he will not again return to the present system.
If bam manure is to be used in the hills, let them be
made saucer shape, broad and shallow. In preparing
freshly broken sod, I find Share's harrow an excellent
implement, as it will pare down the sod to an inch in
thickness, and make the soil as easy to be worked as old
ground.

HOW FAR APART SHOULD WE HAVE THE HULLS, AM)
HOW MANY VINES SHALL WE LEAVE IN THE HILL?

The great error among farmers is to make these hills
too near together, and leave too many vines in each hill.
A very common distance for Marrow squashes is six feet
apart each way, three or four vines being left in each hill.

A little figuring will show the bad policy of the prac-
tice. When a Marrow squash vine grows alone — and it
oftentimes happens that one comes up among other crops
on the farm — it will mature as many as three squashes, and
at times half a dozen or more. Squashes so grown are
almost always fine types of the particular variety. Now,
on the contrary, when the hills are six feet apart, with
three or four vines to a hill, the vines will not average
one squash to each. I have been amused to receive the
estimates of farmers of the number of squashes to the
vine on the heaviest crop of Marrows they ever saw. As
often as not the reply would be "three to the vine."
Now an acre of ground planted 6x6 will have about
1200 hills to the acre ; four vines to the hill would be
4800 vines to the acre. The present variety of Autumnal
Marrow squashes as now grown, will average above seven
pounds to the squash ; if the vines produced on an aver-
age one squash apiece, we should then have 33,600 lbs., or
over seventeen tons to the acre ! Whereas the largest crop
on record, as fin- as I am aware, of this variety of Marrow
is less than eleven tons to the acre. From such figures

18 SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC.

the conclusion stands out with emphasis, that a system
that taking the average of crops, does not give over one
squash to two vines, is unnatural, unfarmer-like, and un-
profitable.

The shortest distance, where the hill system of planting
is pursued, should not he less than 8 feet each way for
Boston Marrow squash and other running varieties,
with the exception of the Hubbard, Turban, and Yoko-
hama, which are ranker growers, and should not be
planted nearer than nine or ten feet each way. The hills
for the Mammoth varieties should be twelve or more feet
apart each way. At these distances apart, two plants m
each hill, (the vines being thinned down to that number
when the runners begin to start), will be found sufficient
to well cover the ground. Were it not for danger from
the borer, I would never leave more than one vine to a
hill,— putting the hills in each case proportionally nearer.
One of the finest crops of Turban squashes I ever raised,
a crop that took the county premium for yield that year,
was raised with but one vine to the hill, and the crop that
took our county premium the year previous was grown
with two vines to the hill. This brings us to the discus-
sion of the Drill versus Hill system of planting. On the
supposition that the great error in growing squashes has
been to crowd the roots too much together below ground,
while the vines were crowded too much together above
-round, I have advocated, and to some extent practised,
the Drill system of planting— having each vine entirely
by itself, and distributing them evenly over the ground.
Assuming that 10 x 10 or 100 square feet is sufficient room
for the plant, on the Drill system, I allow 7x7 or about
50 feet for one plant. In planting on this system, the field
is marked out as if for hills, the lines crossing each otner
every seven feet. In planting in drills I put three seeds
alono- in the line, and when the plants begin to show run-
ners^thin to one plant. By the drill system, in addition

SQUAsnES, now to grow them, etc. 19

to the advantages above claimed, I think that the crop is
more uniform in size, and the squashes are better propor-
tioned in their forms than under the hill system. The
vines being in a row, instead of a circle, the cultivator can
be carried nearer to them. Most of my land is very un-
even, otherwise I should always plant in drills in preference
to hills.

PLANTING THE SEED.

The quantity of seed per acre for the Marrow and Hub-
bard varieties is set by practical farmers at two and a
half pounds. This allows for liberal planting with a good
surplus for after use, should cold or wet weather rot the
seed, or insects destroy the plants that first appear. Four
seeds in the hill and three in the drill is sufficient. The
seed should not be put in, in the latitude of Boston, earlier
than the 10th of May, and may be safely sown in ordinary
seasons as late as the first of June, and success is some-
times attained with seed planted on rich, warm land as
late as the twentieth of June. A part and sometimes all
of the seed planted as early as the 10th of May will
rot in the ground ; yet to get the vines along early, and
thus enable them to survive the attacks of the squash
bugs, farmers oftentimes take this risk. If, after a cold,
wet spell, the planter mistrusts the seed have rotted in
the ground, let him scratch away the earth carefully witli
his fingers (it is infinitely easier to put a seed under than
to find it again ! ), and if the seed is rotten, it will readily
show it when pressed between the thumb and finger.

Seed may be planted either by using the hoe, (dropping
the seed, and covering with the hoe,) or each one may be
thrust into the ground with the thumb and finger. If the
attempt is made to push the seed under by the finger
alone, it is frequently left too near the surface, as the
finger is very apt to slip by it unawares. If squir-

20 SQUASHES, HOW TO GKOW THE1T, ETC.

rels or field mice abound, it will "be found safer to plant
with the hoe, as the little rascals appear to have a rare
faculty for smelling out the very spot where the seeds lie
when thrust under by the finger. I have knowm them to
begin at one end of a field and pass from hill to hill in a
straight line across the field, digging out every seed with
unerring accuracy. Seed opened with a knife and rubbed
with arsenic or strichnine and scattered in the paths will
generally check them. Two inches is ample depth in any
soil, and early in the spring, or in a rather wet or heavy
soil, the seed had better not be planted more than from
an inch to an inch and a half in depth.

Seed planted on upturned sod will vegetate sooner and
come up with larger rudimentary leaves than that planted
in rich, old ground ; I presume that this is because sod
land lies lighter and is better drained and, consequently,
warmer than old ground. If, when the rudimentary
leaves appear, the seed shell adheres to either leaf, it
will do no harm, but if it confines both leaves together,
it should be removed, if it can be done without injury.
If a seed pushes but a single rudimentary leaf above the
surface, the plant rarely, if ever, comes to anything. If
these rudimentary leaves continue to increase in size, but
no leaf shows itself springing from between them, the
plant wall come to nothing. If the young plants come
wTith a yellow color, it proves that the season is too cold
for them ; if, on the other hand, they assume a very dark,
dull green color, it is usually because the manure with
which the young rootlets are in contact is too strong for
them; it is good policy, when the manure proves too
strong, to carefully remove some of the earth around the
plants with the finger, and with the finger stir in a little
fresh earth.

If, as at times will happen, some hills are entirely desti-
tute of plants, it is far better to plant them with seed
than to transplant surplus vines from other hills ; true,

SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC. 21

such vines sometimes root at once, but if checked in their
growth by transplanting, they rarely amount to anything
in the end.

This is one of the great conditions of success in squash
culture, to have the vines start well and make a rapid
growth without a check. Experience has frequently
proved that late planted vines will oftentimes ripen their
crops as early, and usually bear heavier crops, than those
planted two or three weeks sooner.

% -
HILL CULTURE AND LEVEL CULTURE.

After the plants appear, it is customary to draw earth
around them ; this is a good practice as far as it tends to
keep them from being broken off by the winds. It is
also an almost universal custom to draw up the earth into
a mound of two or three feet in diameter, gradually in-
creasing the height of it with each hoeing until it is six
inches or more above the level of the field. I consider
the labor entirely useless, to say the least, and have con-
fined my own practice for several years past to level cul-
ture, making no hills, and drawing just earth enough
home to each plant to keep it from being swayed, and
thus injured by the wind.

HOEING AND CULTIVATING.

About as soon as the plants show themselves above the
surface, the Cultivator should be set running. If the
hills have been made equi-distant each way, the surface
can be cultivated close home to them on every side, leav-
ing but little work for the hoe. In no department of
farming is the superiority of the Cultivator over the com-
mon hand-hoe brought out in stronger contrast, than in
working the large open areas between squash hills. I

22 SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC.

would rather have the work done by a one-horse Culti-
vator with a boy to direct the horse and a man to hold
the implement, than have the services of twenty men
with hand hoes ; for not only would the surface be gone
over in equal time, but the ground be more deeply and
more thoroughly stirred, and the weeds be better shaken up
and turned under than would be possible with hoe cul-
ture. The cultivator should be used as often as the
weeds start, and whenever the surface appears hard, the
object being two-fold, to eradicate weeds and keep the
surface light and mellow. If witch grass abounds, the
Cultivator must be freely used, particularly when the
surface is hot and dry, that the vitality of the freshly
torn roots may be destroyed. It is not well to leave
the soil unstirred until weeds have attained to some
size, as such are very apt to re-root. If the Cultivator
is used while the weeds are small, it can be spread
open to its utmost capacity. It is always well to have
one course of the Cultivator half overlap the preceding

course.

The last, and one of the most critical, periods when
the Cultivator is needed, is just previous to the push-
ing out of the runners over the surface of the field.
The vines are then growing rapidly, (I have found that
the large varieties, by actual measurement, grow as
much as fourteen inches in forty-eight hours), and if spec-
ial care is not exercised, the runners will push so far
as to prevent the final use of the Cultivator. The re-
sult will be a very weedy field the remainder of the
season. I have sometimes practised, when caught in
this way, breaking the hold of the tendrils and turning
aside with the hand such runners as had got so far
from the hills as to be in the way of the Cultivator;
but I have observed that where the tendrils are broken
from whatever they have naturally clung to, as often as
not the vines are injured so much by the wind that

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 23

they yield little or nothing; they are so twisted that
they are often completely inverted; and though the
leaf stalks are true to their instincts, and bring them-
selves perpendicular to the surface, yet in doing so, the
curve they make, passing under the vine, lifts it a little
above the surface, too far for the joint r#ots to strike
into the earth to hold the plant in place and nourish
it. It is a bad plan ever to break the hold of the ten-
drils, and as a general rule better allow the large weeds
that appear towards the close of the season to remain,
than to pull them up and tear them out from among
the vines. If the weeds are to be removed, better cut
them off close to the surface and leave them. A
squash crop will foul the land at the very best, and let no
one plant to squashes with the idea that the frequent
cultivation allowed early in the season will tend to im-
prove a piece of ground already foul with weeds ; for
young weeds will spring up as soon as the spread of the
vines prevents the farther use of the Cultivator, and
when the leaves begin to thin out, at the close of the sea-
son, under the stimulant of the sun and air, these soon be-
come mammoths in the rich soil. When we consider that
climbing appears to be natural to the squash vine, the in-
jury caused by breaking the hold of the tendrils, and by
the moving about among the thick net work of vines to
do this, in connection with the fact that at best it is next
to impossible to keep the ground in clean condition, I
question whether, as a general rule, it is not better to
allow these late and large weeds to remain untouched, and
leave the clearing of the ground to the crop of the next year.
When the area of ground is small, and very clean cul-
ture is desirable, I would advise the driving of a few
stakes among the vines to give the runners a hold when
they first push out. It is not necessary that these stakes
should protrude more than one or two inches above the
surface.

24 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW TnEM, ETC.

Many old farmers lay down the rule that no one shall
set foot on the squash patch after the vines meet between
the rows. This is a good general rule, for most men
tread among vines as ruthlessly as though passing among
wire cables, crushing them under foot with perfect impu-
nity. I donH think I ever saw a farmer pass among even
his own vines with what I should call proper care. If
necessary to pass among vines, carry a short stick in one
hand to lift the leaves to see where the foot is to rest be-
fore planting it.

SQUASHES WITH OTHER CROPS.

In the vicinity of large cities, where land, manure, and
labor are costly— and much of the market gardening in
the vicinity of Boston, New York and Philadelphia is
on land worth from $500 to $1,000 an acre— farmers
usually grow their squashes in connection with other
crops. These are oftentimes Peas and early Cabbages.
If early Peas or Cabbages are planted in rows three feet
apart, by omitting every third row, and planting this
to squashes at the usual time, the crops will not inter-
fere with each other, as the squashes do not push their
runners till July, after the pea crop has been marketed.
With Cabbage, the third row may be omitted, or every
third plant in the third row; this will give the squashes
9x9. It will be seen that squashes can be raised only
with the earliest varieties of Cabbage, such as Early
Wakefield, Early Oxheart, Early York, Little Pixie,
Burnels, King of Dwarfs, that have been started in a hot
bed. The plan practised occasionally of growing
squashes among corn, I consider a bad one. It is very
common in the country to plant at the second hoeing a
couple of seed of the Yellow Field Pumpkins in every
third or fourth hill, and the yield is usually satisfactory
to the farmer ; though if a field was divided in two, and

SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEJI, ETC. 25

an accurate account kept of the income from each half, I
am inclined to believe that it would be found that what
was gained in pumpkin was more than lost in corn.
Squashes are more delicate in their habits than the hardy,
rough vined pumpkin, and the result of attempting to
grow them with corn is usually a small crop of inferior
specimens.

SETTING OF THE FRUIT.

Soon after the runners have put forth, blossom buds
will begin to appear at the junction of the leaf-stalks with
the vine. As the buds develop, the stems will develop
also, until the latter grow a foot or more long, a little
longer than the leaf-stalks. The blossom now opens,'
and we have a large yellow flower, several inches in di-
ameter, with a powerful and rich fragrance, very similar
to that of a magnolia. This flower has at the center a
yellow cylinder, about an inch, in length, covered with fine
yellow pollen. I find that many persons look for their
squashes from this class of flowers. Squash vines have
the sexes distinct in each flower, being what botanists call
monoecious. These are the male flowers, and from their
structure ''can never produce squashes; their office is
wholly to supply pollen to fertilize the pistillate or female
flowers. The first pistillate or female blossom rarely ap-
pears nearer the root than the seventeenth leaf, or farther
than the twenty-third. Instead of having a long stem to
support it, this flower opens close down to the juncture of
the leaf-stalk with the vine. It has a small globular for-
mation beneath it, which is the embryo of the future
squash. If the structure of the center of the blossom is
examined, it will be found to differ from the tall, male
flower, in having the central cylinder divided at the top
into several parts, usually four, sometimes six in number.
These are what botanists call the pistils, aud it is necessary
2

26 SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC.

that the fine yellow dust of the male flower should touch
these, to fertilize them, that seed may be produced, and
consequently a squash grow — for the primary reason why
a squash grows, is, to protect and afford nutriment to the
seed, the use of it as food being a secondary matter. This
may be proved by so confining a blossom, that no pollen
can get access to it, when the blossom will usually wilt,
and the embryo squash turn yellow and decay. If the fe-
male flower be broken off from the embryo squash before
the flower has come to full maturity, the squash will de-
cay. These female blossoms are so covered and hidden by
the tall leaves, that it is evident that the fertilizing pollen
must be conveyed to them by the bees, to whom the
squash field appears to be a rich harvest field. All of the
crossing or mixing of squashes is caused by the pollen
from the male flowers of one variety being carried by the
bees to the female flowers of another variety. Squashes

ARE CROSSED OR MIXED IN THEIR SEED, AND NOT IN THE

fruit. Many cultivators are in error on this point ; they
have the very common illustration of the crossing of dif-
ferent varieties of corn in their mind, where the mixture
of the varieties is at once apparent to the eye, and infer
from this, that the mixture between different varieties of
squashes should make itself visible to the eye the same sea-
son it occurs. A moment's reflection will correct this ;
the crossing of the first season is always in the seed, and
for this reason we see it in the corn the first season, as the
seed is immediately visible to the eye, while the various
colors of the different varieties also aid us in the matter.
With squashes the crossing is likewise in the seed, and
hence can not be seen in them, until the seeds are
planted, when the yield will show the impurity of their
blood. But, though the crossing can not be seen in the
squashes themselves the first season, yet, if one of the va-
rieties planted near each other, has seed having the pecu-
liar, thick, salmon-colored coating, so characteristic of

SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC. 27

some of the South American varieties, this indication of
admixture may be detected "by the eye the first season.
The parallelism between the crossing of squashes and corn
may be carried further, for it is oftentimes true with corn
as with squashes, that there is a mixing of varieties, of
which no indication can be detected in the seed by the eye
the first season, which a second season will develop — what
was before an eight-rowed variety, into a ten or twelve-
rowed sort, or dark kernels may be replaced with white
ones, and by numerous similar freaks, bring to light an
admixture of varieties.

It is of considerable practical importance, that the law
of admixture should be clearly understood, that the risk,
incidental to planting seed from squashes that look pure,
should be generally known ; for it will be seen from what
I have written, that seed taken from squashes that ex-
ternally are perfect types of their kinds, may yield a
patch, where every one may show marks of impurity.
Again, no matter how many varieties are planted together,
no crossing from the result of that planting will be seen
in the external shape, color, or appearance of the crop the
san'ie season.

To have squash seed pure, the squashes from which they
are taken, must have been grown isolated, and this not
only one season, but for a succession of seasons. Should
several varieties of squashes be grown together, and it be
desirable to keep one variety pure, it can be done by pre-
venting any male flowers of the other varieties from ma
taring — no easy job, as those who have tried it know. The
product of any particular blossom may be kept pure under
such circumstances by covering with fine muslin, remov-
ing it only to fertilize with pollen from a male flower of
its own vine.

The location of the female blossom, in a measure cover-
ed by the leaves, and low down, but little affected by the
wind, would render it probable that it depends for fertili-

28 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEil, ETC.

zation on the bees, rather than on the wind; and the fact
(as a friend who has tested it, informs me) that if only a
high fence intervenes between two varieties, the admixture
between them is comparatively small, corroborates this
theory. To preserve the degree of purity that is neces-
sary in raising different varieties, requires planting at dis-
tances apart varying with the natural aspect of the coun-
try ; a level tract requires longer distances than would
be necessary in an undulating country, and a space inter-
vening abounding in flowers is a better protection
than an equal distance where flowers are less numerous.
The object is to get the pollen removed from the thighs
or bodies of the bees, or have it covered by the pollen of
other flowers, before they can pass from a field of one va-
riety of squash to that of another. My own practice is, to
secure the planting of one continuous district of country
with the same variety of squash, by giving to farmers,
whose lands are near my own, my stock seed for their own -
planting. Even with this precaution matters will have to
be looked after, lest after all promise to the contrary, greed
can not master moral courage sufficiently, to induce theni^
to pull up the transient vines that spring up from the ma-
nure among cabbages or potatoes. Old farmers w7ill pro-
fess, from the appearance of the calyx end, to classify
squashes as male or female ; this is all nonsense, for, as
will be inferred from what has been stated, every seed
from every squash contains the two sexes in itself, in its
capacity to produce both male and female flowers.

Squash fields usually make about three settings of fruit.
I do not mean by this that each vine makes three settings,
but that this is usually true of a field as a whole. It often
happens, that most of one of their settings, usually the
second, turn yellow and rot, after many of the squashes
reach the size of goose egg^. This is very apt to take
place, should there be a cold, wet spell just after they
have set. Sometimes all three of the settings will grow,

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THElf, ETC. 29

and. then stories of great crops will be heard of in the
squash districts. When a young Hubbard squash is mak-
ing a fine growth, it will have a shining green appearance,
as though just varnished, If the appearance of the squash
changes to a dull green color, the days of that squash are
numbered ; it will soon shrivel and decay.

PINCHING VINES.

I have seen a vine perfect the growth of a squash 20 lbs.
in weight, though the vine was cut off within a foot of
the squash when it had reached the size of an orange, and
another squash of about the same size was also matured
on the same vine, about four feet nearer the root. The
vine was highly manured, and grew on very deep and
rather moist muck and loam. I can not yet determine the
laws which govern the art of pruning vines. I have had
some, the young squashes of which appeared to do finely
after the extremities of the runners were nipped at near
the close of the season, and others, where the young
squashes turned yellow and died, under, seemingly, pre-
cisely the same circumstance. I am inclined to think,
that it is not well to pinch off the ends of the vines be-
fore the young squashes have attained to the size of a
large orange. How far a crop of squashes might be in-
creased by the nipping of the vines, or a pruning of the
roots, is a problem yet to be settled. The use of the
cultivator just before the vines spread, must do much
in the way of root-pruning the vines.

THE RIPENING AND GATHERING OF THE
CROP.

In seasons, in which the early part of summer is cold,
farmers sometimes get almost discouraged with the small
number of squashes that set, and the slow growth of such

80 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

as do form, but a few hot weeks entirely change the
aspect of affairs.

When we have good corn weather, it takes but a few
weeks to mature a squash. I have known instances when
the first fruit set was completely destroyed by a hail storm,
which occurred late in September, and yet a fine crop of
squashes was gathered from the vines. When June and
July are colder than usual, farmers will often come out
from an examination of their squash patch with a signifi-
cant shake of the head, yet I have never known a season, in
which cold or wet prevented the growing of a fair crop
of squashes on land selected with judgment, well ma-
nured, and taken care of. The degree of ripening to
which the crop attains, will be affected by a cold and wet
season, but the chances of a crop are equally good 'with a
season wetter and consequently colder than usual, as with
a season hotter and dryer than ordinary, for, in addition
to the check to their development caused by a drought,
the borer and bugs are more numerous and more active
in a very dry season than during a very wet one.

Ripening is indicated in the soft or fleshy stemmed
squashes, such as the Hubbard, Marrow, and Turban, by
the drying of the stem, and a dead, punk-like appearance
which they assume. The leaves near the root gradually
turn yellow and dry up, and the squashes themselves
change color ; the Hubbard assuming a duller, more rus-
set color, and the Marrow and Turban sorts a deeper
orange. The skin of the Marrow and Turban wi]l now
offer more resistance to the thumb-nail, while the Hubbard
will begin to put on a shell, which will be first detected
near the stem end. It is a singular fact, that the shell of
the Hubbard squash usually begins to form on the under
side — the part towards the ground. When this stage is
reached, squashes can be safely cut for storage.

At some seasons, a large portion of the crop, and, at
most seasons, a small portion of the crop, just before

SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC. 31

ripening, are affected by a blight, which turns the leaves
black near the bills, when they die down, and all the signs
of early maturity are presented to the inexperienced eye.
When the process of ripening goes on naturally, the ex-
posure to the sun's rays, after the leaves have died, does
no harm, but promotes the full, maturing bf the squash ;
but when squashes become exposed before the natural
time, by the blighting of the leaves, they are, particularly
if of the Hubbard variety, apt to be " sun scalt," as the
term is, by which is meant a bleaching, or whitening of
the part most exposed to the sun. Such squashes rarely
form shells, and, if badly scalded, are apt to rot at the part
affected. In cutting squashes from the vines, a large and
sharp knife is needed. There are two ways to cut squashes
from the vines ; one is, to cut the vine, leaving a small
piece attached to the stem. By so doing, the stem does
not dry up so readily, and as large stems, when green, will
weigh as much as a quarter of a pound, if squashes are to
be sold soon after gathering, this will give quite an addi-
tion to their weight. Narrow, selfish men sometimes cut
their squashes this way.

The usual way^s, to cut the stem from the vine. When
first cut, more or less sap will run out in a stream from
the hollow stem, though the squash may be fully ripe.

A CRITICAL PERIOD.

What shall be done with the squashes after they are cut
from the vines ? The stems need a little exposure to the sun
to scar them, and the earth, which adheres to those grown
on low land, needs to be dried, that it may be rubbed off
before the squashes are stored. A good way to accomplish
this, is, to let the squash remain where it is cut, provided
the leaves do not shade it, care being taken to give it a
turn, to bring the under side up to the sun.

If there is danger from frost, it is better to gather them

32 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC,

together at convenient distances, that they may be more
readily protected. The interval between the cutting of
squashes and the storing of them is a critical period, ns
oftentimes the keeping of the crop depends upon the
course then taken. There is a pernicious practice, quite
prevalent, of placing them -in piles as high as can be made,
without their rolling off. Should frost threaten, this, of
course, is necessary in order that the mass may be the
more readily covered with vines to protect them; but
when so piled, as soon as danger from frost is over, they
should at once be taken down, so that all may be exposed as
much as possible to the sun and air. Farmers, in handling
squashes at this period, are apt to lose sight of one im-
portant fact, viz. : that when a squash is cut from the vine,
its vitality is impaired, and it has no longer such power to
resist the effects of atmospheric changes as it had' previous
to the separation. I say its vitality is "impaired," for
the fact that the seed continues to fill out for a month or
two after the squashes are gathered and stored, proves
that there is a degree of vitality, however feeble, yet
remaining in the squash after separation from the vine.
The fact that sap exudes and gradually thickens into
tears, or, at times, runs in a stream from the stems
when cut, no matter how ripe a soft stemmed squash
may appear to be, seems to prove that some vital function
of the sap vessels has been disturbed ; while the greater
readiness with which such squashes decay, carries us be-
yond theory to the fact of a diminished vitality. I have
known the lower layer of a lot of Marrow squashes in the
field, to be found rotten through and through on removal —

7 O O

and this when there had been no frost to injure them — the
result being due wholly to the dampness of the ground, dur-
ing a rainy interval, acting on a diminished vitality.

I have known instances in which lots of Marrow squashes
that had never been touched by frost, and were perfectly
sound when stored, were suddenly covered with spots of

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 33

black rot, soon after they were put into a dry apartment.
These lots had been exposed in the field in piles during
a series of days of cold rain. The practical lesson to be
drawn from such facts is, that squashes should never be
left in the fields exposed to cold rains after cutting.

After the stems have had the sun a couple of days to
dry and sear them, and even before, if cold, wet storms
threaten, the squashes should be piled with great care on
spring wagons, and taken from the field. The rule should
be laid down as invariable, that no squash shall be drop-
ped in any stage of its progress, from the field to the
market; they should always be laid down. •

THE STORING OF THE CROP.

Squashes are usually at their lowest price in the fall of
the year, after the crop has been gathered, and before the
first severe frosts. The crop being bulky, and requiring
dry storage, farmers are intent on getting it to market be-
fore cold weather sets in. After the first severe freezing
weather, the crop is usually held at a higher figure, as the
surplus not intended for storage has been disposed of. In
the immediate vicinity of the large cities of the North, a
large proportion of the crop is stored in buildings known
as " squash-houses," to be marketed during the winter and
spring months. These buildings are oftentimes old dwelling-
houses, school-houses, or ware-houses, removed from their
original locations to the farm, and then put to this second-
ary use. I present a vertical section of my own squash-
house, by which the general features of all of them can
be seen at a glance.

In dimensions, the building is about 24 x 35 feet, with a
height of 10 feet to the plates. It is divided into three
rows of bins, which are separated from each other and
the sides of the building by aisles, (A, A, A,) about 26
inches in width, a distance which admits of the easy handling

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW TIIEir, ETC.

of a bushel basket, or barrel. The bins, (J5, _Z?, _Z>,) are
about 5 feet wide, 26 inches high, and 5|- feet long. The
uprights, which support the series of bins, are small joists,
2><4 inches, with cross-ties of inch or inch and a quarter
board sunk into them, on which the several "platforms arc
laid. These uprights are the length of the bins apart,
viz. : 5^ feet. At the edges of the bins, boards, 6 inches

.

-:T" . :- — "■

"

iv/orn &s rr:

SECTION OF SQUASH-HOUSE.

wide, are laid, to prevent the squashes from rolling out.
These boards should be planed on the inner, upper edge,
that they may not cut into the squashes that lean upon
them. The series of floors are made of strips of board,
from four to six inches wide, nailed about half an inch
apart, to allow a circulation of air. It is well to have
the lower floor a sufficient distance from the floor of the
squash-house, to permit a cat to go under. The cellar wall
should be carried close up to the floor, by filling in front
of the timbers with brick, or small stones and mortar ;
this will prevent rats from working through. As the
building is designed to support much weight, it should be
strongly braced by timbers crossing from plate timber to
plate timber, to prevent spreading, while the cross-timbers,
in the cellar, require props of masonry, or joist. To eco-

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 35

nomize in fuel, on the two coldest sides, my squash-house
is double plastered, aud has double windows all around ;
some have inner wooden shutters to each window, which
are kept up during cold weather, both day and night, only
as much light being admitted, at times, as may be neces-
sary, while attending to work. The roof has five sliding
windows, which assist in ventilation and give light to the
upper part of the building, that otherwise would be quite
dark when filled with squashes. The stove is at one of
the coldest corners, with a funnel passing across to a
chimney at the opposite corner. A building of the above
proportions will hold about one ton of Hubbard squashes
to two bins, and by careful and close stowage in all avail-
able room, it can be made to hold about sixty tons.

There is an advantage in having a low, wide building
rather than a high and narrow one, as a greater portion of
it is accessible from the floor, it is less exposed to cold
winds, and the heat is more evenly distributed. In a high
building, the heat in the upper portion is apt to be excessive.

The squashes should be brought to the squash-house in a
dry condition, and be stored before dew falls. The stems
being yet green, the squashes should be so piled as to
bring these to the outside as much as possible. In placing
the squashes on the shelves, put the largest ones on the bot-
tom, giving them all a slant in one direction ; they will
thus pack better, and the uniformity will be agreeable to
the eye. From the beginning of the storing, every win-
dow and door should be kept open during fair weather,
and a fire at the same time will help in the drying of the
stems. Should there come a damp time of one day or
more, by all means start the fire. The stems will be apt to
mould some, and the air of the building have a disagree-
able smell if they decay, though a little moulding may
always be expected. In about three weeks from the time
of storing, the stems will be dry. In handling the squashes,
I need hardly reiterate the caution of care. My practice

3G SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW TIIEtt, ETC.

is to form a string of boys, from the wagon to the
shelves, and the squashes are tossed from one to another,
with the caution to handle them like eggs. Boys well
trained will not drop more than one squash to the ton, and
I have known my boys to pass several tons without drop-
ping a single squash.

CARE DURING THE WIXTER.

If the squash-house has been built with reference to
warmth, when once filled with squashes, it is surprising
with what little fire' frost can be kept out. The mass of
squashes are, in themselves, a great store-house of heat,
and with inside shutters for the coldest weather, the
building is frost proof, with a small outlay of fuel.

In my own building, capable of storing sixty tons or
more, I have a salamander stove of capacity sufficient to
hold two hods of coal. In ordinary winter weather two
hods of fresh, and a hod of sifted coal for night use, will last
about twenty-four hours. To keep the fire over night, I
leave the cover off about half an inch, and, if very windy,
also put up the door in front within half an inch of closed.
When I first attempted to keep squashes during the winter
in very cold weather, I frequently sat up till midnight, and
then retired with much anxiety, lest Jack Frost should
steal a march on me before morning ; but from experience
I find that a salamander can be as well regulated and as
readily controlled as a Magee stove, while the greater
length of funnel that can be used with them, by reason
of their superior draft, is a decided advantage.

No one can keep squashes to the best advantage, until
he has fully learned to so control his fire as to keep the
temperature near the freezing point, and yet not endanger
the squashes. From a want of this knowledge, almost all
squash-houses are kept at too high a temperature, and, as
a consequence, the squashes lose in weight and quality,
and, if they are Hubbards, in appearance also, losing their

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 8?

fine dark green color, and becoming of a reddish, rusty hue.
The best temperature is as low as forty degrees. After
squashes are stored, the great desiderata are a low tem-
perature and a dry air. Should the weather be mild in the
course of the winter, never be tempted to open the win-
dows unless the air is dry, — a very rare thing in winter,
as, on most mild winter days, the air is loaded with moist-
ure. If it is desirable to air the squash-house, select a dry
day when not very cold, start up the fire and open the
windows at the roof. Squashes that were grown in a wet
sea-son, will rot most in winter, and vice versa. Other
things equal, the keeping of squashes depends greatly on
the hygrometric state of the air — in other words, the
dryer the air the better they will keep. This is the reason
squashes keep better in a squash-house than in a cellar — ■
the house is no warmer than a cellar, but the air is dryer.
In dry, sandy cellars, by the aid of a fire, they can be kept
about as well as in a squash-house. Squashes in dry
cellars will usually keep very well until January, and some-
times to the first of February, particularly if the damp,
external air can be kept from them. Several years ago I
lost not far*from twenty-five tons of squashes in about ten
days, as I now believe, from having admitted the warm,
damp air of a January thaw into the cellar. After squashes
are stored, the less they can be handled the better; and
in cellars, it is oftentimes better to let a few rot than to
overhaul squashes late in the season with reference to
culling out the rotten ones, for, after such overhauling,
they usually decay fast^: than before. Cellar-kept
squashes have some advantages over these kept in a squash-
house ; they keep their original rich green color, lose but
little or none in weight, and are of better quality. They
have the two disadvantages of not keeping as long, and
perishing very soon when sent late to market. This latter
fact is now generally known to dealers, and they hesitate
to purchase cellar-kept squashes late in winter. The win-

88 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

ter of 186G-7 will be a memorable one among the squash
men of Massachusetts. Squashes being remarkably plenty
and cheap in the fall, every squash-house in the vicinity of
Boston was filled to overflowing. As the season advanced,
squashes began to show a remarkable tendency to rot, and
the result was that, in many cases, as large a proportion
as four-filths of the crop rotted before spring opened. The
summer previous had been unusually wet and cold.

If apples, squashes, or any other fruits are gathered
ripe, the next step is to decay ; but if they are not fully
ripe, they have this intermediate step to take before de-
caying. Heat is an agent in promoting progress in each
of these steps ; hence, the less heat above a freezing temper-
ature in which squashes can be kept, other conditions
being equal, the longer they will keep.

The very small squashes which are usually given to stock
as soon as gathered, are among the very best for keeping,
provided they are stored in the warmest part of the build-
ing. Late in spring they are salable at a high figure for
cooking purposes. Out of about five hundred pounds of
such squashes stored so near my salamander that the
outer tier cooked with the heat, I found but about ten
pounds of defective squash when I overhauled them
for the first time, near April. Squashes planted about the
first of June will usually keep better than those planted
earlier, on the same principle that the Roxbury Russet,
and Baldwin, keep better than the Porter, or Sweet Bough
apple, the former not being ripe when gathered from the
tree. The order in nature is that fruit should ripen before
it decays.

MARKETING THE CROP.

Squashes are sold by the piece, by the pound, and by
the barrel. Sales by the piece are unknown in the Eastern
States, as far as my knowledge extends. In the markets
of New England, after the summer squashes, of which

SQUASHES, HOW TO GKOW THEM, ETC. 30

there is but a limited demand, the Marrow and Turban are
brought to market, and, before frosty weather sets in,
they are sold mostly by the ton to large dealers. Late in
the fall the Hubbards begin to come to market, for if
sold just after gathering, they are rather forced on the
market, the Marrow and Turban being usually recognized
as the squashes for fall use. During the winter, the sup-
ply from the squash-houses around Boston is mostly
brought to market in barrels, and sold by the barrel with-
out weighing. This is poor practice, as there is often a
number of pounds difference made by the thickness of
the squash, its size, the packing, and the size of the barrel.
Such a system of marketing is apt to tempt to petty trick-
ery.

A greater or less proportion of stored squashes will
decay under the most favorable circumstances. It is the
policy of the squash grower to lose as little as possible in
this way, and the custom of the markets of Boston usually
allows a little latitude in this matter. Hence, particularly
as the season advances, one or more squashes that have
small rotten spots on them, are often packed in a barrel.
The Hubbard is a very deceiving squash ; it may be en-
tirely rotten inside, and yet, to inexperienced eyes, appear
perfectly sound without. If the outside has white mould
spots, looking like some of the concentric mosses, the
squash is usually sound underneath the shell; but if these
mould spots are greenish or yellow, it is usually soft rotten
in a spot just beneath them. If the shell at either end,
(and the Hubbard usually begins to decay at the ends),
has a watery look outside, the squash is usually consider-
ably decayed underneath. If the Hubbard is very light,
it has usually the dry rot inside ; if remarkably heavy, it
is usually water-soaken and worthless within. If a squash,
on being cut, proves to be water-soaken, a close exami-
nation will usually show some small opening, where, during
some stage of its growth, the external air found entrance.

40 SQUASHES, HOW TO GKOW THEM, ETC

FROST-BITTEN SQUASHES.

With the utmost care, squashes will at times get frost-
bitten. The -Marrows and Turbans show this by turning
a darker orange color on the part frozen. If as much as
one-half of the squash has been frozen, it is frozen through
its thickness, and will very certainly soon decay, and the
best disposition to make of it is, to keep it at about freez-
ing point in an ice-house, until fed to stock. If less than
half has been frozen, before the sun shines on it turn the
frozen surface under, and keep out the light as much as
possible ; this will take out the frost and save it, if any
remedy will, though a frozen squash is always unreliable
property. Some years since, I had a load of Marrow
squashes brought me, which had been stored in a barn
during a cold spell, and the outer tiers had been frost-
bitten. I separated the badly frost-bitten ones, putting
them, frozen side down, in a dark cellar on the damp
earth, and stored such as showed no signs of injury on
the shelves. In a few days, no sign of frost could be seen
on those stored in the cellar, and they kept apparently as
well as though they had never been injured, while those
stored on the shelves soon rotted badly. The Hubbard
squash is not as much injured by frost as are the Marrow
and Turban ; if it has a shell on it, the result will usually
be the production of a dry rot under the shell as far as
the frost extended, and no further. I have cut squashes
in February that had been frozen in November, over an
area of about five inches square, and found all the injury
done limited to this space.

MARKET PRICES OF SQUASHES.

Within the past six years, Marrow squashes have varied
in price in the markets of New England from $10 to $40
per ton ; these variations are caused, for the most part, by
the quantity brought to market, for, though equal areas

SQtJASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 41

may be planted, there may be all this difference, owing to
the greater prevalence of insects one season over another.
The average price of Marrow squashes for the past six
years has been about twenty-five dollars a ton.

The extremes of prices of the Turban and Hubbard
during the same period have been from $20 to $50 ; the
average having been nearly thirty-four dollars.

Previous to the war, the Marrow ruled in the market at
from $15 to $20 per ton, and the Hubbard at from $20 to
$25. These prices are the market rates just after the crop
is gathered. As the season advances, prices rise to 50,
60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 dollars per ton, and occasional lots
kept late into the spring, and sold by the barrel, have
brought as high as $140 per ton. The last four tons I
sold the past season brought me $400 ; yet so remarkably
poorly did the crop keep the past winter, that the profit
would have been equally as great, had I sold at $25 per
ton in the fall.

The markets of New York and of the large Southern
cities are, as yet, but poorly supplied with the Hubbard
squash during the winter season. I can think of no in-
vestment in agricultural products that would pay better
than the judicious handling of a couple of hundred tons
of Hubbard squashes in New York or Philadelphia dur-
ing the winter months.

Squash farming, on lands pushed well out into the ocean,
have some advantages over inland farming. Neither the
cabbage, or turnip fly, the pea bug, squash bug, or other
destructive insect is nearly as prevalent in such sections
as just back from the coast, while the temperature is
three or four degrees higher late in the fall, which usually
carries the crop safely through the first severe frost, and
gives them the advantage of two or three weeks good
ripening weather, that usually precedes the severe frosts
that usher in winter. I have known years when the mag-
gots and bugs proved so destructive to the crop a few

42 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

miles from the coast, as to bring squashes up to 40 and
50 dollars the ton, when at the sea side the crop was as
large as usual, having received but little or no injury.

SQUASHES FOR STOCK.

When a large quantity of squashes is stored, there
will always be more or less of waste. If in a large town,
many of the spotted squashes can be most profitably
handled by cutting out the decayed portion, and market-
ing the squash at a reduced price. It has been my practice
for years to dispose of many of my defective squashes in
this way, and I would state, as a very fair index of the
comparative popularity of the Autumnal Marrow, Turban,
and Hubbard squashes, in a community where they have
all been grown for years, and are well known, that the
sales of my market-man would average, late in the fall
and in early winter, ten pounds of Hubbard and Turban
to one pound of the Marrow, though he offered the Mar-
row at one-third the price of the Hubbard and Turban.
After many trials I have found it next to impossible to
dispose of the Marrow, while having a stock of Hubbard
and Turban, hence have adopted the plan of feeding the
former to my stock.

I have fed principally to horned cattle and pigs. The
squashes should first have the seed removed, as these tend
to dry uj:> milch-cows, or, if fed to pigs, to cause them to
urinate very freely. The Marrow should be fed to horned
stock either in quite large pieces, or in pieces about three
inches square, to prevent choking — for, if made much
smaller, the cattle are more liable to choke. The Hub-
bard should always be cut into pieces three inches square,
as the shell and curve of large pieces combined, are too
much for the cattle to manage.

If squashes are plenty, they may be fed very liberally,
a bushel and more a day for each head ; the only danger

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC 43

to be guarded against being lest they relax the animals
too much. In value for milk purposes, they appear to
combine the good qualities of the Mangold Wurtzel, and
the Carrot, both increasing the flow of milk and improv-
ing its quality. This is more particularly true of the
Hubbard and Turban varieties. For fattening purposes,
the Hubbard is excellent, as might be anticipated from
the large proportion of sugar which is developed in it at
the approach of winter. I have known a cow to be fatted
for the butcher on the Hubbard squash, used in connection
with good English hay.

In feeding to pigs, it can be fed. raw, or be boiled up
with meal, or meal and scraps. My usual practice has
been, to boil the squash in a Mott's boiler, about a barrel
and a half at a time, adding a peck of beef or pork scraps,
broken into small pieces, and stirring in meal, sufficient to
thicken it. When cooked, it should be cooled as soon as
possible, as the squash is very apt to sour, and make the
mass thin and somewhat unpalatable to the animals. I
have known a sow, with young, to be kept wholly on raw
Hubbard squashes, and on her coming in to be in better
condition than was desirable.

Squashes might be raised for cattle among corn as pump-
kins are, (they are better food for animals than pump-
kins,) though I have doubts of the profitableness of this
double crop, where each makes its growth and matures
at about the same time.

No doubt an improvement on this is, to omit every
third row of corn, and give the vacant space to the squash
hills. Among seed onions, I grow squashes with little or
no apparent detriment to the crop, but in this case the
crops are planted and mature with more than a month's
difference between them at each end of the season. Be-
sides horned cattle and hogs, many horses, goats, poultry,
and rabbits will eat squashes with avidity.

As to their comparative value as food for stock, each

44

grower must strike the balance for himself — the facts be-
ing, that the yield is from one-fourth to one-third as great
as carrots, and from one-fourth to one-fifth as great as
mangolds, while they require but a fraction of the care in
cultivation and gathering, that either of these crops do.
t

VARIETIES OF SQUASHES.

Owing to the great tendency in the varieties of the
Cucurbitaceous Family to cross with each other, hybids are
very common. Seed planted tjie first season after the cross-
ing has been made, will usually produce a greater crop than
either of the parent kinds, and individual squashes will be
superior in quality to either of the parents ; yet, as a rule,
hybridization is not desirable, for, after the first season,
there is a deterioration in the quality, below the average
of the parent kinds, while the mixed varieties are not so
marketable as the pure kinds.

Hubbard Squasho — I have traced the history of this
squash back about sixty years, when the first specimen

HUBBARD SQUASH.

was brought into Marblehead by a market-man named
Green, who lived in the vicinity of Boston. The person
who, when a girl, ate of the first specimen, is now living, an

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 45

old lady of over four score years, and recalls the original
form, which is much like that of the present type — turned
up " like a Chinese shoe." It is now above twenty years
since the variety was first brought to our notice by our
old washerwoman named Hubbard ; and to distinguish it
from a blue variety that we were then raising, we called
it "Ma'am Hubbard's Squash" ; and when the seed became
a commercial article, and it became necessary to give it a
fixed name, I called it the Hubbard squash. If I had been
able at the time to forecast its present fame, and have fore-
seen that it would become the established winter variety,
throughout the squash growing region, I might have be-
stowed some more ambitions name ; and a^ain I misrht
not, for the old lady was faithful in her narrow sphere in
her day and generation, a good, humble soul, and it pleases
me to think that the name of such an one has become, with-
out any intent of hers, famous.

The form of the Hubbard is spherical at the middle,
gradually receding to a neck at the stem end, and to a
point usually curved at the calyx end, where it terminates
in a kind of button or an acorn. In color it is dark green,
excepting where it rests on the earth, where it is of an or-
ange color. It usually has streaks of dirty wThite begin-
ning at the calyx end, where the ribs meet, and extend-
ing half or two-thirds way up the squash. After the squash
ripens, the surface exposed to the sun turns to a dirty
brown color. The surface is often quite rough, and presents
quite a knotty appearance. When the Hubbard is ripe it
has a shell varying in thickness from that of a cent to that
of a Spanish dollar.

For a year or two after we began to cultivate the Hub-
bard, we cultivated also a blue colored squash, called, at
the time, the Middleton Blue. In a few years this squash
became so thoroughly incorporated with the Hubbard, by
repeated crossings,'that it appeared to share the character-
istics of a new variety • hence we called it the blue Hub-

46 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, .ETC.

bard, and for some years I spoke of two varieties of the
Hubbard, a green and a blue kind. On testing the blue
variety by itself, I found it had the characteristic of all
hybrids, a tendency to sport. For this reason, of late
years I have endeavored to throw it entirely out of cul-
tivation in my seed stock.

After the Hubbard squash became somewhat noted, a
communication occasionally appeared in the Press claiming
that it was but an old variety revived. After giving all
these claims, including those made to me personally by
private correspondence, a fair examination, I am persuaded
that the Hubbard is not an old variety revived, and that
until it was sent out from Marblehead, with the exception
of such cases as could be traced to seed distributed occa-
sionally by me during the course of few years previous, it
it was unkown in the United States. In my endeavors to
trace its origin, the nearest I have come to it was in a
variety of squash procured from one of the West India
Islands, which had many characteristics in common with
the Hubbard, though the shells of the squash were uni-
formly blue in color, and its quality was somewhat inferior.

Several claimed that it was but the Sweet Potato squash
revived. I have raised a squash called by that name my-
self, and have seen two or more other lots that were raised
by friends, from seed procured in different sections of the
United States, and never saw one yet that resembled the
green Hubbard.

The apparent connection between the Sweet Potato and
Hubbard squash, I am convinced, has been made through
the blue variety, which, when without a shell, has a close
resemblance to some of those kinds that go under the
name of "Sweet Potato" squash.

American Turban Squash.— I have given the prefix
American Turban Squash, to distinguish it from the French
Turban, with which many seedsmen have confounded it.
The French Turban is the most beautiful in color, and the

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEil, ETC. 47

most worthless in quality of all the varieties of squash
that have come to my notice. Nearly flat in shape, grow-
ing to weigh ten to twenty pounds, it has a large promi-
nence at the calyx, and shaped
like a flattened acorn ; this is
elegantly quartered, with a
button in the middle, and is
most beautifully striped with
white and a bright grass green,
while a setting of bead work
surrounds it. The body of
the squash is of the richest
orange color. In quality the

AMERICAN TURBAN SQUASH. T7V™ „\. rp , n

.trench 1 urban is coarse,
watery, and insipid.

The American Turban is, without doubt, a combination
of the Hubbard, Autumnal Marrow, Acorn, and French
Turban, and the finest achievement that has as yet been ob-
tained by hybridization. Like all hybrids it tends to sport,
and varies somewhat in quality, so that while most of the
squashes are of first quality, some will be found that are
inferior; yet, with such parents as the Hubbard, Acorn,
and the Autumnal Marrow (when we recall its early excel-
lence), we might expect to find a superior squash, and in
the average quality of the Turban we shall not be disap-
pointed, for in dryness, fineness of grain, sweetness, deli-
cacy of flavor, and richness of color, when fully ripened,
it cannot be surpassed. Like the Hubbard, it is edible before
it is fully ripe, either of these varieties, particularly the
Hubbard, being superior for table use when unripe to any of
the varieties of summer squashes. The form of the body of
the squash is nearly cylindrical, the two diameters being
usually in the proportion of three to five, while it is more
or less flat at both the stem and calyx ends. At the calyx
end there is usually more or less prominent an acorn.
This may be very clearly defined, standing out very

48 SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THE3f, ETC.

prominently from the body of the squash, or it may be
very much flattened and sunk within the body, with the
acorn barely traceable. In degree of prominence the
acorn sports greatly, for on squashes growing on the same
Tine, I have found in one specimen the acorn projecting
yery prominently, and very fully developed, while on a
second specimen it could only be traced in a rudimentary
form. It is not desirable that the acorn should be promi-
nent, as the seed extends into it at the calyx end of the
squash where the meat is very thin, and if the acorn is
very prominent, a slight bruise will injure it and cause
the squash to rot. For this reason I have selected seed
squashes for the last two or three years from those in
which the acorn was not very prominently displayed, en-
deavoring to produce a type in which it should be little
more than rudimentary.

Some writers on vegetables treat the American Turban
squash as but an improved form of the French Turban,
whereas it is a distinct variety. It is indebted to the
French Turban for nothing more than the principal fea-
tures of its form, getting its quality, keeping properties,
color and fineness of grain from'its other parent. As the
American Turban is the result of hybridization, there is
more or less of variety in the shape and color of the crop,
and this will continue to be so unless by long and close
cultivation of a particular type, sufficient individuality
shall be acquired by this one type to stamp the entire crop.
Though it may be a very pleasing thing to the eye to see
every specimen alike, yet I consider it too great a risk to
cultivate a hybrid squash for this end ; for who knows
what characteristics each parent has contributed or how
much these are affected by each other in combination ?
Until these points are determined, there is danger, lest in
continued selections of a given type some good traits
should be eliminated.

We know that in some way the original excellence of

SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOT7 THEM, ETC. 49

the Autumnal Marrow squash has been lost, and no one
can, for a certainty, tell when or how this disappeared, and
though originally an admixture of other sorts was doubt-
less the first step towards this deterioration, yet we are
inclined to believe that a tendency to give prominency
and individuality to the original admixture, has gradually
borne under the good traits of the original Marrow.

Autumnal Marrow Squash. — This is also known as the
Boston Marrow, or Marrow, it having been a very promi-
nent squash in the markets of Boston for a series of years.
A mongrel early variety of it is also known as the " Cam-
bridge Marrow." This squash was introduced to the
public by Mr. J. M. Ives, in the years 1831-2. When in-

AUTUMNAL MARROW SQUASH.

troduced, it was a small sized squash, weighing five or six
pounds, fine grained and dry, with an excellent flavor.
Marketmen found that by crossing with the African and
South American varieties, they could increase the size of
the original Marrow; they did this without troubling
themselves about any risk of deteriorating the quality,
and I doubt not that much of the present inferior quality
of the Marrow squash is due to this vicious crossing. In
form the Marrow is much like the Hubbard, but with less
distinctive prominence in the neck and calyx. In color,
the Marrow is between a lemon yellow and a rich orange ;
3

50 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

the skin is covered with fine indentations, giving it a pock-
marked aj^pearance. The body of the squash is divided
into sections by slight depressions in its longest di-
ameter. Under the thin outer skin, or epidermis, is a
thicker skin of a dark orange color. The flesh is orange
colored. The seeds are somewhat larger and thicker than
in the Hubbard, and considerably larger but not so thick
as in the Turban. In quality the Marrow of to-day varies
much ; sometimes we find specimens that are all that can
be desired, particularly as we get near to the original
type, (this has been kept more nearly correct in Marble-
head than elsewhere), but in its general character the
Autumnal Marrow is watery, not sweet, and oftentimes
deficient in flavor and fineness of texture. From its
great productiveness, it is a favorite squash with market-
men, and its rich orange color and handsome form render
it popular with those who have not become acquainted
with the more recently introduced and finer varieties.
There are two varieties grown extensively for Boston mar-
ket known as the Cambridge Marrow. One of these is
quite large in size, usually having the green color at the
calyx, indicating a mongrel variety ; the other is of me-
dium size, and is characterized by a brilliant orange
color, that makes it very attractive to the eye. Both of
them mature a little earlier than the purer sort.

These three varieties of fleshy stemmed squashes, the
Hubbard, American Turban, and Autumnal Marrow, in-
clude most of those raised for market purposes. There is
a large number of other varieties, such as the Valparaiso,
African, Honolulu, Cocoa-nut, Sweet Potato, etc., some of
which have quite distinct characteristics, that are more
or less raised in the family garden, but several'of them
are of inferior quality, some are hybrid, and though one
or two may be desirable for the garden, yet none of them,
as far as I have made acquaintance with them, have char-
acteristics which would invite their general cultivation.

SQUASHES, HOW TO GKOW THEM, ETC. 51

In that excellent work by my friend, Fearing Burr,
" The Field and Garden Vegetables of America," will be
found quite a list of summer, fall and winter varieties. I
am often in receipt of varieties of high local repute in dif-
ferent sections of the country, and it is possible that some
of them when tested may prove worthy of general culti-
vation.

Passing to the hard or woody stemmed varieties, we
find included among them the Winter Crookneck, the
Canada Crookneck, Yokohama, and Para.

The Crooknecks had their day and generation before the
introduction of the soft-stemmed varieties. They were then
the standard sorts, and the kitchens of thrifty farmers were
adorned with choice specimens hanging suspended around
the walls by strips of list, to be used during the winter,
in the course of the spring, and even well into the sum-
mer months. The Crooknecks are characterized by long,
usually curved necks, terminating in a bulb-like prominence
at the calyx end, which contains the seed. The vines are
covered with rough spines, and in the shortness of their
leaf-stalks, the smaller size and different color of the leaves,
are readily distinguished from the soft-stemmed sorts.
They vary much in color at the time of the gathering, and
there is a general tendency in all of them to change to a
yellow hue in *the course of the winter. In quality, the
Large Winter Crookneck is coarse grained and watery,
while the Canada Crookneck is finer grained, and at times
quite dry and sweet. The Winter Crookneck weighs
from ten to twenty-five pounds and upwards, and the true
Canada Crookneck, which is rarely found pure, averages
from four to six pounds. In keeping properties, the
Crooknecks excel, frequently keeping in dry, warm apart-
ments the year round, and, in a few instances, two years.
When kept into the summer the seeds are at times found
to have sprouted within the squash.

The Crooknecks are subject to a kind of dry rot, par-

52 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

ticularly in spring, which gives them a peculiar appear-
ance when cut, the tissue between the cells having a dull,
white color, though the fibres
of flesh still retain their bright
yellow color. Worthless for table

use. The true measure of the "ss^l

length of time a squash keeps,
is how long it keeps its quality ,
and not its mere structure.

The Yokohama is compara-
tively a new visitor from Japan,
it having been received in this

• .1 -,^«~ -. •»«- CROOKNECK SQUASH.

country m the year I860, by Mr.

James Hogg, from his brother then residing at Yokohama
in Japan. The vine is a very free grower and a good
yielder, though from the comparatively small size of the
squash, the weight of the crop is not large when compared
with the Hubbard, Turban, or Marrow. It is quite flat in
shape, with somewhat of a depression at each end. The
diameters are to each other about as one to three or
four. It is deeply ribbed, and the flesh, which is of a
lemon color, is remarkably thick, making it the heaviest
of all squashes in proportion to its size. The flesh is very
fine grained, smooth to the taste, and has a flavor resem-
bling the Crookneck. With those who like the taste of
the Crookneck, the Yokohama will likely be very popular.

In external color, before ripening, it is of an intensely
dark green, covered with blisters, like a toad's back ; as
it ripens, it begins to turn of a light brown color at both
the stem and blossom ends, and, after storing, it soon be-
comes entirely of a copper-like color, and is covered with
a slight bloom. It may be well to start this squash under
glass, on squares of turf, though, after an experience of
three seasons, I am pursuaded that it is becoming ac-
climated ; indeed, my crop of last season ripened with the

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW TIIEM, ETC. 53

Hubbard and Turban. The cultivation of the Yokohama
is mostly confined, as yet, to private gardens.

Para, or Polk Squash. — This is a half-bush squash.
In the first stages of its growth, it has a bush habit, and
sets its first fruit like a bush squash, but later it pushes
out runners eight or ten feet in length, and bears fruit
along them. The squash was brought to this country
from Para, in South America. In shape it is oblong;

PARA, OR POLK SQUASH.

it is ribbed, of a tea-green color, excepting the portion
which rests on the ground, which is of a rich orange
color. The squashes weigh about three pounds each.
They require the whole season to mature, and when
in good condition, the flesh is dry and of a rich flavor.
Like the Yokohama, I apprehend they will be very popular
with a class, rather than with the community at large.
Both the Yokohama and the Para can be kept well into
the winter. I have kept a Yokohama, crossed on the
Turban, fourteen months, and Hubbards, in two instances,
twelve months.

THE SUMMER SQUASHES.

The remarks made relative to the cultivation of the fall
and winter varieties, will apply to the cultivation of the
summer squashes, with the exception of the distance be-
tween the hills; this, as they are of a bushy habit, should
be about five feet. In quality, the summer squashes have
but little to recommend them ; it is principally their fresh,
new taste that makes them acceptable for the table. South
of New York, the cultivation of squashes is confined al-

54

most wholly to the bush varieties. Until recently, the
New York market for fall and winter squashes has been
supplied largely by the growers around Boston.

I find that there is a strong belief among prominent
seedsmen in the Middle States, that the running varieties
of squashes will not succeed in their section — they will
not form the thick, fleshy root, they say. We, in the
North, have always looked upon the squash as* a half
tropical fruit, and anticipated finding greater and greater
success in its cultivation, the farther South it was planted.
It has all the characteristics of a semi-tropical plant, like
the tomato and melon, and should it be true that there is
such a climacteric limitation, it would be a marked excep-
tion to a general law. I presume a canvass of my cor-
respondence would settle the question, and regret that I
have not time to do this ; yet I have but little doubt that,
under proper culture in the South, our running varieties .
would do as well, or better, than they do North. It oc-
curs to me, at this moment, that Dr. Phillips, the enter-
prising editor of the Southern Farmer, stated to me, in
the course of correspondence, that he had raised them by
the acre in Mississippi with complete success.

The standard summer varieties are the Yellow and

White Bush Scollop, often
called Pattypan or Cym-
bals, and the Summer
Crookneck. Of these the
Summer Crookneck is the
best. All of these form a
shell as they ripen, and are
then unfit for the table.
They should not be cooked

-\YHITE-BUSII SCOLLOPED SQUASII. „ ,, in i r 1jL i

alter the shell can be felt by
the thumb-nail. The Green Striped Bergen is an early
variety, quite popular in the markets of New York. A
small squash, about twice the^ize of a large orange, some-

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 55

what fluted, called Sweet Potato Squash, is highly prized
by souie who are of high repute among squash fanciers.
Several of the varieties that are grown as gourds, for
ornamental purposes, are edible, a large proportion of
them, indeed, as I have found on testing the largest of my
specimens before feeding to the pigs. As a general rule,
all that are not bitter to the taste are edible.

The Vegetable Marrow is about the only variety of the
squash family cultivated by our English cousins. With
them, it is brought to the table in the same style as our
own varieties, or so cooked as to form part of a soup.

A friend, who resided some years in England, informed
me that one of the greatest novelties to an English eye
was an Autumnal Marrow Squash, which he kept as a
center piece on his marble table for a month or more.

The Custard Squash, one of the hard stemmed sorts, of
a yellowish cream color, oblong in shape, deeply ribbed,
weighing from twelve to twenty pounds, is quite a favorite.

» ENEMIES OF THE VINE.

The insect enemies are the striped bug (Galeruca
vittata), or pumpkin bug (Coreus tristis), and the insect
that produces the squash maggot. The striped bug ap-
pears about the first of June, and several broods being
hatched in the course of the summer, they continue their
depredations throughout the season. After the vines
have pushed their runners two or three feet, their vigor
is such that the after depredations of this little iiioect is
of no practical importance — with the exception of injury
occasionally done to immature squashes, the upper sur-
face of which are sometimes found covered with them, and
hundreds of little cell like holes are eaten out. The injury
done by the striped bug is mostly confined to the period
in the growth of the vine between its first appearance
above the ground and the formation of the fifth leaf. They

56 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

feed on both the upper and under surface of the leaf, and,
sucking its juices, soon reduce it to a dry, dead net- work.
The eating of the seed leaves of the plant, the two leaves
which first appear, is not always fatal, provided the leaf
that starts from between them is uninjured ; if this, how-
ever, is eaten out, for all practical purposes the plant is de-
stroyed, and should be pulled up and thrown away, no
matter if the seed leaves are wholly uninjured. In those lo-
calities where the striped bug is not very prevalent, the
greatest harm of its ravages is sometimes prevented by
planting the seed about the tenth of May, should the
weather permit, which will enable the vines to get so far
along as usually to be beyond the reach of serious in-
jury. The preventives to the ravages of this little insect,
which attacks the whole vine family, including cucumbers
and melons, are numerous. They may nearly all be
brought under two classes : those which act mechanically,
by covering the leaves so as to make them inaccessible to
its punctures, and those which repel the insect by their
disagreeable odors or pungent flavor. The best protectors
of the first class are hand glasses, little frame-works
covered with millinet or some very coarse cotton cloth,
or, as this insect usually flies but a few inches above the
surface of the earth, any box, circular or square,
from which the bottom has been removed, having
sides about ten inches in height. The remedies of
the second class are those which are principally relied
on where squashes are cultivated on a large scale. These
should be applied early in the morning when the dew is
on, or directly after a rain, when the leaves are wet, that
they may adhere. In using them a small fine sieve will
be found very convenient. The best of these remedies I
name in the order of their popularity in great squash-
growing districts. Ground plaster, oyster-shell lime, air
slaked lime, ashes, soot, charcoal dust, and common dust.
Plaster and oyster-shell lime I consider of equal value, and

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 57

the use of protectors in my own grounds is confined to
one or the other of these. Against air slaked lime, which
is very commonly used, there is this serious objection.

However thoroughly it may be air-slaked, it still re-
mains sufficiently caustic in its nature to seriously in-
jure the leaves, causing more harm by its burning prop-
erties than good, by preventing the ravages of the
bug. I have seen an acre of thrifty vines entirely de-
stroyed, through the caustic properties developed in the
lime by a gentle shower that fell just after its appli-
cation ; the leaves were so burned that they rubbed to -dust
in the finger. Charcoal dust and soot not only protect
the vines, but serve also to draw the heat of the sun, often-
times very grateful to the young vines in the early season
of the year ; while soot and ashes in all localities, and
plaster and lime in some localities, as they are washed
from the leaves by the rain, serve as a stimulating manure
to the young plants. The advantages of plaster and oyster-
shell lime are, that being very finely powdered, they can be
easily dusted over the vine, while their white color has the
advantage that it can be seen at a glance whether the leaves
are fully covered. Common dust sounds cheap as a pro-
tector, but the trouble of collecting and separating from
stones that might otherwise injure the leaves, is more
than an onset to the cost of other articles. These pro-
tectors should be applied as soon as the young plant breaks
ground, before it has fairly shaken off the shell of the seed,
as the insect is often at work then, and the application
should be renewed after every shower, the object being to
keep every leaf entirely covered as far as practicable until
the fifth leaf is developed, when the plants are usually be-
yond reach of injury from this little enemy, provided the
hills have been supplied with rich, stimulating manure, suf-
ficient to give them a rapid growth. Among this class of
remedies, watering the plants with a decoction of tobacco,
a little kerosene oil, stirred in water while being applied,
3*

58 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC.

(the proper proportion of this had better be tested by experi-
ment), applying water in which hen manure or guano has
been dissolved, sprinkling the leaves with a mixture of
wheaten flour and red pepper, or snuff, or sulphur, etc.,
etc., have been found efficacious by various persons. Dr.
Harris states that these insects fly by night as well as by
day, and are attracted by the light of burning splinters of
pine knots, or of staves of tar barrels. As insects breathe
through pores in their bodies, such strong ammoniacal odors
as are given off from a liquid in which hen manure,
guano, or kerosene have been mixed, must tend to suffo-
cate and so repel them.

As new land is much less infested with bugs than old
land, in sections where these insects are very troublesome,
it will be better to break up sward.

In fighting these pests, where but few hills are cultiva-
ted, pieces of board or shingle laid around the young
plants, just abo\e the surface of the ground, will collect
many on their undersides over-night, and by examining
them early in the morning, many can be brushed off into hot
water. I don't think much of the plan of killing them
about the vines ; the old saying that " when one is killed
fifty will come to his funeral" appears to have a savor of
truth in it, for I have noted that where I have killed them
about the vines, there seems to be no end to the business ;
with constant attention, still the bugs appear to be about
as plenty as at first. I think that the odor from the dead
ones attracts others.

The large black bug I consider rather a pumpkin than
a squash bug, as in this section, and in others, as far as my
knowledge extends, where the cultivation of the pump-
kin has been given up for a number of years, it has al-
most entirely disappeared. Occasionally a leaf of a vine
will be seen pretty well covered with the rascals late in the
season, but so scarce are they that for several years past
I have not seen, on an average, more than one a season

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THE^r, ETC. 59

on my vines, and I cultivate several acres annually. "When
the plants are young, they are likely to be found, if at all,
below the elementary leaves, sucking out the juices from
the vine itself. For these fellows there is nothing like fin-
ger work. I have known an instance in the interior where
they were so numerous on Pumpkin vines planted among
com, that the mere smell of them acted as an emetic to
three separate sets of hands that attempted to hoe the
corn patch.

The squash maggot is hatched from the egg of an insect
bearing a close resemblance to the lady-bug, but of a size
considerably larger. The eggs are usually deposited near
the root of the vine, within an inch or two of the ground ;
and in seasons when this insect abounds, eggs are depos-
ited at the junction of the leaf stalks with the vine along
some six or eight feet of vine. As soon as the egg is
hatched, the maggot begins to eat his way through the
center of the vine, and his boring will be seen outside his
hole, like those of an apple-tree borer. The vines thus at-
tacked will wither under a mid-day sun, and the injured
ones are thus readily detected. Squashes on such vines
usually make but little growth, and the vines ultimately
die. If the presence of the borer 'is early detected, he can
sometimes be killed by thrusting a wire, or stout straw
into his hole ; sometimes the vine is slit open and the in-
truder found and killed, but vines thus treated do not
always recover. If the slit portion is covered with earth
and pegged down, sometimes but little injury is done. I
have taken thirteen borers from a single vine, some of the
largest being an eighth of an inch in diameter and an inch
in length.

It happens, at times, after the vines have made a vigorous
growth of several feet, they suddenly wilt and die with-
out any perceptible cause; no insects are to be found on
the leaves, there are no borers in the vines, and on exam-
ining the roots, everything to be seen by the naked eye

GO SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW TIIE3I, ETC.

appears sound and healthy. I am at a loss to explain the
cause of this, unless it be that the vine has been poisoned
by something that it has taken into its circulation. I have
picked half-grown plums from a tree that tasted as salt as
brine. The tree had received a heavy manuring with salt,
and ultimately died, proving that there is such a thing in
the vegetable world as a tree poisoning itself by feeding
to excess on one variety of food ; and what is true of a
tree may be true of a vine.

WOODCHUCKS AND MUSKRATS.

On low land, near water courses, Muskrats will some-
times make sad havoc with the growing fruit ; while on
uplands, the Woodchuck is sometimes exceedingly destruc-
tive. If the portion troubled by muskrats is of small area,
the squashes can be protected by taking boxes of sufficient
size, cutting a narrow slit in their sides, and setting the
squashes in them, having the vines enter and go out of
the narrow slits. When muskrats begin on a squash, as
far as I have observed, they make a finish of it before in-
juring others.

Woodchucks are exceedingly destructive ; they rarely
entirely devour a squash, but gnaw more or less all in the
vicinity of their burrows. If these burrows are not con-
veniently near the squash patch, they will leave the old
and make new ones close by, or even in the midst of the
squash field. The wounds made by their broad teeth soon
heal, if the squashes have not reached their growth, and
the gnawing has not been through the squash, but the
crop is much injured for market purposes, and the squashes
are apt to rot at the gnawed places after they are stored.
I have had a ton injured in this way one season by a sin-
gle woodchuck. A tbousand-and-one ways are given to
catch and destroy the woodchucks ; traps set a little way
down in their holes, and carefully hidden with earth, and

SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC. 61

apples containing arsenic, rolled into their burrows, are
among those that have proved successful. It is worth
while to offer five dollars for the skin of a woodcliuck that
has commenced depredations in a squash field.

SAVING SEED.

In selecting squashes for stock seed, take, while the
squashes are in the field, or immediately after they are
gathered, neither the largest nor the smallest specimens.
The largest specimens are very tempting, particularly so
if they have the true form, appear to be well ripened, and,
if Hubbards, have a hard shell; but experience has proved
that these, as a class, are most likely to be of impure
blood. About a year ago two of my neighbors, who had
become famous for their large Hubbard squashes, cnme to
me to get a new stock of seed to start from ; they stated
that within a few years a large proportion of their squashes
grew soft-shelled. Now, as they had made it a rule to se-
lect the largest specimens for seed, I have no doubt but
that the admixture that was evident, from the loss of the
hard shell characteristic of the true Hubbard, had crept in
that way. Every old squash grower is aware of the great
change that has come over the Autumnal Marrow squash.
When introduced, it was of small size, weighing about five
or six pounds, exceedingly dry, fine grained, and rich
flavored. Now its quality is uncertain, for the most part
greatly deteriorated below the original standard, but it
groins to double the average size of the original squash. I
have not the slightest doubt but this deterioration is due
to the vicious practice of saving seed stock from the largest
specimens grown, these specimens having got their extra
size from larger and coarser varieties of the African or
South American type. If any one has doubts of this theory,
he can easily satisfy himself by examining the calyx end of
a crop of the largest sized variety of Marrow squashes,

62 SQUASHES, HOW TO GKOW THEM, ETC.

when he will find a proportion of them with the green
color stolen from the African or South American family.

Having decided on medium sized specimens for seed
stock, select those that are most strongly marked exter-
nally with the characteristics of the variety. If a Hub-
bard, it should be very thick and hard shelled, of a dark
green color, and the rougher and more nubbed the better.
Let it have a good neck and calyx end, and be as heavy
in proportion to its size as possible. The stem of both
this and the Marrow squash should stand at quite an
angle with the squash, and have a depression where it
joins, as this indicates an early ripened specimen. The
flesh should be hard, fine grained and thick, and not
stringy on the inside. See to it that the squash swells
out to a fair degree in the middle, and has an average
proportion of seed. Having selected such specimens
as these, bring them to the final test of the dinner table,
and reject every one that does not there show all the char-
acteristics of dryness, flavor, and fineness, that belong to a
first-rate specimen.

I know that the injunction to select specimens that
swell out to a fair degree in the middle, is contrary to the
course pursued by most farmers ; yet I advise it on the
ground that such squashes, having a good quantity of seed,
have superior vitality and individuality, and are nearer na-
ture's ideal of perfection in the animal and vegetable king-
dom, being better able to maintain the species.

I have seen the working of this law most conspicuously
in the Crookneck family of squashes. The cultivator's
type of a fine market squash is one with as large a neck
and as small a seed end as possible. Following out this
idea, they select for seed, specimens with a small seed end,
and the result, as far as I have observed, has been that the
squash, in the course of a few years, has deteriorated and
become worthless.

SQUASHES, HOW TO GKOW THEM, ETC. 63

When to Take Out the Seed.— We have advised
that the specimens for seed purposes be selected early
in the season, because later, particularly when they
have been exposed to a high degree of heat, the color
becomes so changed that the work of selection becomes
far more difficult. The next question to discuss is,
when shall we seed them? Contrary to the generally
received opinion, the seed is not ripe when the squash is — in
other words, after the squash has completed its growth,
the vines dying naturally and the stem being dead and
hardened, still the seeds are not fully matured till some-
time after the squash is stored. The length of time will
vary with the season, it being longer in a wet season and
shorter in a dry one, the two extremes being from one to
three months. If seeds are taken out as soon as the squash
is gathered, though at the time they present a very plump
appearance, yet if they are examined after they are dry, a
large proportion will be found to be plump only on one
side, most of them to be twisted, and not a few of them
entirely wanting in meat. When seeding large lots for
market, I have found the percentage of loss in the weight
of the seed quite an important matter, it being as high as
one-fifth. After the squash is gathered, the process of
ripening the seed goes on until the entrails are absorbed,
or eaten up by the seed, and the seed continue to increase
in plumpness and weight until their entrails are so far con-
sumed that only so much remains as is necessary to hold
together the seed structure. This final ripeness is indicated
by the seed compartments in the squash becoming dis-
tinct, and the attachments peeling off like the skin from
an orange. If, when the squash is opened, the seed are em-
bedded in a hard, dense mass of growth within, that
does not readily separate from the squash, they will be
twice as hard to clean, and will weigh full twenty per
cent, short of the weight of well ripened seed when cleaned.
The seed is cleaned from the intestines by being either

CJ: SQUASHES, HOW TO GEOW THEM, ETC.

squeezed out or washed out. If squeezed out, it will dry
sooner, and when rubbed and winnowed when dry will
have a more velvety look than when washed. Where a
large quantity is to be handled, it is cleaned more quickly
by washing than by rubbing, but it requires to be dried
upon a comparatively clean surface ; whereas rubbed seed
can be dried upon any surface, no matter how dirty, as
the refuse squash that remains adhering to it effectually
protects it from all injury. Washed seed should not be
spread over one deep, and squeezed seed not over one and
a half deep ; each should be stirred after the second day.
If washed seed is stirred earlier, it is apt to be injured by
the tearing of the epidermis, which, for the first day or
two, adheres strongly to the surface it is spread on. The
temperature for drying seed should not be over about one
hundred degress, and better less than higher. Never dry
seed in an oven, or very near a stove. The upper shelf
of a kitchen closet, or a plate on the mantle piece, not too
near the stove funnel, are each of them handy, though
housewives will sometimes say they are not suitable
places — if mice are apt to gnaw the seed in the closet,
or children to see them on the mantle, for a certainty I will
not dispute them. When the quantity to be cleaned is
small, the sooner it is attended to, after the entrails have
been removed from the squash, the brighter the seed will
look ; but if the quantity is large, by letting the mass stand
one or two days, until fermentation begins and the entrails
are partly decayed, the seed can be cleaned with far greater
expedition. Much care and some experience is requisite
to determine how far fermentation can be allowed to ad-
vance. As a general rule, if, on thrusting the hand into
the middle of the mass, it feels milk warm, it should be at
once mixed well together, and the whole be washed out
within six hours. The great danger in permitting fer-
mentation to advance too far is losing the white, ivory-like
epidermis of the seed, thus destroying much of their beauty,

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 65

and lowering their value for market purposes. In washing
the seed, the water used may be made about milk warm, and
so soon as they have been squeezed out of the entrails,
skim them off the surface, dropping them into a sieve
about as coarse as a common coal sieve ; when this is nearly
full, dash over them a couple of buckets of water, giving
them immediately a quick shaking, which will tend to
work out through the meshes fragments of the entrails that
were taken out with them. If the hand is thrust into a
mass of freshly washed seed, it will collect a good many
pieces of the entrails. After pouring the water on the
seed, incline the sieve at a sharp angle, in order to drain
off the water. After they are well drained, pour them
out on a large piece of soft cotton cloth, and rub and
roll them well to absorb as much of the moisture as possi-
ble. Now spread as above directed. Two good hands,
with seed in the right state, will sometimes wash out not
far from one hundred pounds of seed in a day.

When are Squash Seed Sufficiently Dry 1— It took me a
couple of years to learn a very simple rule by which this
can be infallibly determined ; meanwhile I suffered a great
deal of anxiety, took a great deal of extra care, (I got out
twenty-six hundred pounds of squash seed one season,) and
yet after all had a feeling of uncertainty in the premises.
The ordinary way is to call squash seed dry when the en-
veloping skin has sejmrated from the seed, and the seed
itself is much contracted and has a dry look. If the tem-
perature to which it has been exposed is quite low,
this is a pretty safe guide, but if it has been dried at a
somewhat high temperature — though the seeds may rustle
with quite a dry sound when handled, yet appearance
is a very deceitful guide — and if such seed are packed
in barrels, they will be very likely to sweat, and when
turned out, come out in caked masses, and if left together,
will soon become musty. Squash seed, to be really dry,

66 SQUASHES, HOW TO GKOW THEItf, ETC.

must be so in the meat as well as in the shell, and this
can be in a moment determined by endeavoring to bend
them. If they are pliable, they are not yet sufficiently
dry ; if they snap instead of bending, they can be safely
stored for future nse.

How long will Squash Seed keep their Vitality ?— Squash
seed, like all other seed, are best kept in a cool place,
where the air is dry and the temperature is as even as pos-
sible. I have found that of the same lot of seed, those which
were kept in an open bag did not retain their vitality as
long by a year as those which were kept in the same bag,
but put up in paper packages.

I have known squash seed to be fairly good at six years
old, and again to be worthless when but three years old,
and with no perceptible difference in the getting out and
method of keeping of the two lots. I would lay down
the rule to always test squash seed before planting, if it
be over two years old. This can be easily done by putting
a few in a cup, with water sufficient to swell them, covering
them with some cotton wool, to prevent evaporation, and
placing the cup where the heat is gentle, near the stove
or on the upper shelf of a closet. ,

If the oil that enters into the composition of the meat
of the squash seed has become rancid, the vegetative power
of the seed is destroyed. This is easily determined by
breaking the seed, when the meat will be of a dark color,
and have a rancid taste. Under such circumstances, the
shell of the spoiled seed will be usually darker colored than
that of good seed. In a lot of seed saved at the same time,
a portion will be spoiled, while the remainder will readily
vegetate, and some that to the eye and taste appear to be
perfectly sound, will prove to be utterly worthless. The
cause of the difference in either case I do not know.

The proportion of seed and entrails of squashes to their
entire weight is less than is generally supposed. By tests,

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 67

applied towards the close of February, a few years ago, I
found that the weight of seed and entrails to the entire
squash, in the Turban, was as 65 to 1000 ; and, in the Hub-
bard, as 55 to 1000. At that date the entrails had less
weight than they would have shown earlier in the season.

INSTINCTS AND HABITS OF SQUASH YINES.

It seems hardly fitting to close this treatise without
alluding to something higher than the mere pecuniary or
culinary value of the squash family. In common with all
the vegetable world, it has instincts which are both,
curious and wonderful. How singular it is that roots have
power to push through the soil directly to the spot where
the best food is found, descending, if necessary, below the
plane of growth, or ascending above it to the very surface
and developing a perfect mist of rootlets to catch up the
decaying particles found under a small heap of rubbish !
Still more wonderful are some of the instincts of the vine
itself. Each tendril stretches out to catch hold of, and fasten
to something by which it can support the vine, and rarely,
if ever, will it ma^ke the mistake of catching hold of any
but the best supporter within reach. Yet more and higher
even than this is the instinct they develop. They not only
reach out for a support, and make selection of the object to
which to cling, but they will vary the direction of their
growth through quite a number of degrees in pursuit of
the particular object they have selected. To see this
wonderful phenomenon in its most striking aspect, select a
vine of some one of the mammoth varieties, under cir-
cumstances in which its most vigorous growth will be
developed. Let every stick, weed, or the like, be removed
from the vicinity of the main runner, and then thrust firmly
into the ground a slip of shingle, not "over half an inch
wide, on one side of the vine, a few inches beyond the out-
stretched tendril that is always found near the extremity,

68 SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM ETC.

noting with care at the same time the direction in
which the extremity of the vine points. Within twenty-
four hours it will be found that the vine has turned
from its former course, towards the side on which the
shingle is placed, while the tendril has turned towards the
shingle and perhaps found and grasped it! In proof that
this is no mere chance event, let the slip of shingle be now
removed, and placed in the same relation to the vine as
before, but on the opposite side. "Within twenty-four
hours the vine will be found to have turned from its former
course and to be inclined towards the side on which the
shingle is placed, while the tendril on that side has shown
a corresponding instinct. Then study the tendril. It is
most admirably adapted for its office ; it is usually a com-
pound spiral, one-half of it winding to the right and the
other half of it to the left, thus combining the greatest
strength with the greatest possible elasticity. As another
illustration of its wonderful instincts, I have seen a squash
vine run about ten feet along the surface of the ground,
keeping its extremity within a few inches of the surface,
until it passed under the projecting limb of a pear tree,
which was about four feet above the surface of the earth ;
here it stretched up almost vertically towards the tree,
until it had almost reached it, when, not having suf-
ficient stamina to support it to a further effort, it fell
over towards the ground, forming an arch. It imme-
diately turned up with a second effort to reach the tree,
made a second failure and formed a second arch, and with
still another failure a third arch, by which time the ex-
tremity had passed out from under the tree, when it kept
on its horizontal growth the same as before it had reached
the tree! Such instincts are wonderful. How did the vine
know the tree was above it, or that the slip of shingle was
at either the right or left of it ?

During the best growing weather the growth of the
vine is very rapid. I have found, by actual measurement,

SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 69

that a vine of the mammoth variety grew above fourteen
inches in twenty-four hours. Sometimes, during a season
of drouth, a surprising tenacity of life is displayed. I well
remember one piece of vines growing on a shallow spot
above a ledge, where, during a season of severe drouth, I
could find nothing but earth as dry as dust, close down to
the ledge ; yet these vines, for more than a week, would
wilt and apparently dry up .each day, to renew themselves
with the dews over night. I have very rarely (and I have
often examined them for this,) found the tendrils of the
squash vine seizing on the Apple of Peru, (Stramonium,) a
large weed quite common near the sea shore, of disagree-
able odor and poisonous in its nature, wThen taken inter-
nally. Now, the Apple of Peru is very common in our
squash fields, and presents the most stable support of all the
weeds of the field. Then why this apparent antipathy ?

I have endeavored to make my little treatise as complete
a manual as possible. If, from the directions given, so de-
licious a vegetable as the squash shall be more generally
and more successfully cultivated, I shall be well pleased.

THE

SMALL FRUIT CULTURIST.

BY

ANDREW S. FULLER.

A

Beautifully Illustrated.

We have heretofore had no work especially devoted to small
fruits, and certainly no treatises anywhere that give the information
contained in this. It is to the advantage of special works that the
author can say all that he has to say on any subject, and not be
restricted as to space, as he must be in those works that cover the
culture of all fruits — great and small.

This book covers the whole ground of Propagating Small Fruits,
their Culture, Varieties, Packing for Market, etc. While very full on
the other fruits, the Currants and Raspberries have been more care-
fully elaborated than ever before, and in this important part of his
book, the author has had the invaluable counsel of Charles Downing.
The chapter on gathering and packing the fruit is a valuable one,
and in it are figured all the baskets and boxes now in common use.
The book is very finely and thoroughly illustrated, and makes an
admirable companion to the Grape Culturist, by the same author.

CONTENTS:

Chap. I. Barberry. Chap. VII. Gooseberry.

Chap. II. Strawberry. Chap. VIII. Cornelian Cherry.

Chap. III. Raspberry. Chap. IX. Cranberry.

Chap. IV. Blackberry. Chap. X. Huckleberry.

Chap. V. Dwarf Cherry. Chap. XI. Sheperdia.

Chap. VI. Currant. Chap. XII. Preparation fop.

GATHERING FRUIT.

Sent post-paid. Price $1.50.

ORANGE JUDD & CO., 41 PARK ROW.

AMERICAN POMOLOGY.
APPLES.

DBy 33oct. JOHN A. WAJRDEri,

PRESIDENT OHIO POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY; VICE-PRESIDENT AMERICAN" P0M0L0GICAL
SOCIETY.

293 ILLUSTRATIONS.

This volume has about 750 pages, the first 875 of which are de-
voted to the discussion of the general subjects of propagation, nur-
sery culture, selection and planting, cultivation of orchards, care of
fruit, insects, and the like ; the remainder is occupied with descrip-
tions of apples. "With the richness of material at hand, the trouble
was to decide what to leave out. It will be found that while the
old and standard varieties are not neglected, the new and promising
sorts, especially those of the South and West, have prominence,
A list of selections for different localities by eminent orchardists is
a valuable portion of the volume, while the Analytical Index or
Catalogue Raisonne, as the French would say, is the most extended
American fruit list ever published, and gives evidence of a fearful
amount of labor.

CONTENTS.

Chapter I— INTRODUCTORY.

Chapter II HISTORY OP THE APPLE.

Chapter III— PROPAGATION.

Buds and Cuttings— Grafting— Budding— The Nursery.

Chapter IV DWARFING.

Chapter V DISEASES.

Chapter VI THE SITE FOR AN ORCHARD.

Chapter VII PREPARATION OF SOIL FOR AN ORCHARD.

Chapter VIII.— SELECTION AND PLANTING.

Chapter IX CULTURE, Etc.

Chapter X— PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING.

Chapter XL— THINNING.

Chapter XIL— RIPENING AND PRESERVING FRUITS.

Chapter XIII and XIV.— INSECTS.

Chapter XV.— CHARACTERS OF FRUITS AND THEIR
VALUE— TERMS USED.

Chapter XVI.— CLASSIFICATION.

Necessity for— Basis of— Characters— Shape— Its Regu-
larity—Flavor— Color— Their several Values, etc., De-
scription of Apples.

Chapter XVII.— FRUIT LISTS — CATALOGUE AND INDEX OF
FRUITS.

Sent Post-Paid. Price $3.00.

ORANGE JUDD & CO., 41 PARK ROW, NEW-YORK.

GARDENING FOR PROFIT,

In the Market and. Family Grarden,
By Peter Hekdekson.

nmELfSr ILLUSTRATED.

This is the first work on Market Gardening ever published in this
country. Its author is well known as a market gardener of eighteen
years' successful experience. In this work he has recorded this
experience, and given, without reservation, the methods necessary
to the profitable culture of the commercial or

IMLA^HKET GARDEN.

It is a work for which there has long been a demand, and one
which will commend itself, not only to those who grow vegetables
for sale, but to the cultivator of the

FAMILY GAKLEff,

to whom it presents methods quite different from the old ones gen-
erally practiced. It is an original and purely American work, and
not made up, as books on gardening too often are, by quotations
from foreign authors.

Every thing is made perfectly plain, and the subject treated in all
its details, from the selection of the soil to preparing the products
for market.

CONTENTS.

Men fitted for the Business of Gardening.

The Amount of Capital Required, and

Working Force per Acre.

Profits of Market Gardening.

Location, Situation, and Laying Out.

Soils, Drainage, and Preparation.

Manures, Implements.

Uses and Management of Cold Frames.

Formation and Management of Hot-beds.

Forcing Pits or Green-houses.

Seeds and Seed Kaising.

How, When, and Where to Sow Seeds;

Transplanting, Insects.

Packing of Vegetables for Shipping.

Preservation of Vegetables in Winter.

Vegetables, their Varieties and Cultivation.

In the last chapter, the most valuable kinds are described, and
the culture proper to each is given in detail.

Sent post-paid, price $1.50.

ORANGE JUDD & CO., 4i Park Row, New-York.

$0