Kansas State Horticultural Society.

O. F. WHITNEY, Secretary.

SOME FACTS ABOUT GARDENS.

TOPEKA, KANSAS.
DECEMBER, 1915.

P KANSAS STATE PRINTING PLANT,
W. R. SmitnH, State Printer,
TOPEKA. 1915.

6-1719

SB32\
28

SOME FACTS ABOUT GARDENS.

INTRODUCTION.

The contents of this little book have been collected and arranged for
the benefit of the beginner, and to remind others of the possibilities of a
“little garden well tilled.”

The home garden is a prominent factor in the problem of how to re-
duce the high cost of living.

For capital invested and the labor employed, a garden will give
better returns than any other enterprise that is open to.all the people.
The food furnished is wholesome, timely, and is produced at a minimum
cost.

A home garden utilizes labor that otherwise would be lost.

It brings our young people into direct contact with nature.

It teaches our boys and girls that a task completed is a victory gained.

The produce of the garden is exempt from transportation tax.

This is an industry where the producer is also the consumer. Garden-
ing develops the initiative and cultivates the habit of doing the right
thing at the right time and in the proper way.

There are some real things that you must have for successful
gardening:

First. Fertile soil.

Second. Sufficient water.
Third. Good seed.

Fourth. Proper cultivation.

The garden ground should be plowed or forked during the fall, so that
it may get the benefit of freezing, thawing, wetting and drying during
the dormant season. This puts the soil in splendid condition for early
working in the spring, with mellow, mealy and well-loosened ground.

Implements for the garden are an important factor, and the best are
none too good. The garden seed drill separate from the cultivator is a
great convenience and almost a necessity. It enables one to plant the
seed evenly, saving seed, saving labor in thinning, and planting at a
regular depth.

The equipment of a garden is not complete without a wheel hoe. The
simple, inexpensive ones on the market make it possible for every garden
to have one. The old-fashioned hoe has its place-and must be used. For
transplanting use a steel dibble.

Minor details of the garden have been omitted, as such information
is easily obtained from seed catalogues.

Only a few varieties are named, as locality and personal preference
have much to do in selection.

Careful selection must be practiced in buying seeds. The best seed
that we buy is none too good, and no one is wealthy enough to knowingly
buy poor seed. The best seed is always the cheapest.

De Of De
APR 21. 1916

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New varieties or novelties should always have some attention and be
experimented with by those who are progressive and looking for some
improvement along these lines. The standards for to-day at one time
were experiments that proved successful.

Some kinds of vegetables require cool weather in which to grow and
produce the best results. Among these are: Spinach, lettuce, onions,
carrots, peas, parsnips, beets, radishes, etc. ‘Some others must have
warm, and quite warm, weather for best results; these are tomato, sweet
potato, egg plant and beans.

VEGETABLES.

In the garden we have plants that live from year to year. Some of
these should be in every garden, but here we will speak of only two. The
first in rank, we will say, is rhubarb, which is always welcome as one of
the first “fruits” of spring. A dozen “eyes,” set thirty inches apart in
the row, will furnish an ordinary family, and the one next door, too, with
plenty of the most wholesome of our early spring vegetables. Do not
gather any of the stalks the first year. This plant is a great feeder and
must have plenty of fertility. Mulch in the fall with barnyard manure.
Linnezus is a good standard variety, and if the stalks are pulled with
care, so as not to destroy the crown, the roots will last five or six years,
and then may be renewed by splitting the hill and leaving one-half in
the ground and removing the other half, which may be separated into
eyes and used for more planting.

The second one is asparagus, which should have a place in all practical
gardens. A purple variety is the one most used in this locality. Roots
one year old are the best to plant. You buy these at a seed store or
nursery. Plant in a trench six or eight inches deep, cover lightly, and
as the shoots grow bring a little more soil around the stalk, and by fall
the ground should be level. Do not cut any of the new shoots the first
two years. The third year cut for a short time, fourteen to twenty days.
This plant furnishes a large yield of succulent food and must be well
eared for. Give good cultivation and plenty of fertilizers. Use barnyard
fertilizers. 'The seedsmen can supply a balanced commercial fertilizer
which is very convenient, and perhaps equally good, but, whichever is
used, be liberal in the application. Forty or fifty plants, set thirty
inches apart in the row, will furnish a family with an abundance of this
very excellent vegetable.

The onion is one of the standard vegetables for the garden. We will
speak of only two ways to produce this much-abused and also much-
praised vegetable. Plant seed early in the spring, as soon as the ground
will permit, white, red or yellow, as you prefer. Globe shape is pref-
erable. This will give onions which may be used for green ones in June
and dry ones for the middle of July, or during the balance of the year if
properly stored. If planted early in a hotbed and transplanted to the
open they will produce earlier and larger onions than when planted in
the regular way. Try a few of the Giant Gibraltar. The other method

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is to plant bottom sets. These will produce green onions in May, and
soon after that time they will furnish dry onions, very similar to seed
onions, only earlier.

Peas are relished by all, and there are varieties to suit the tastes of
all. The dwarf or half dwarf are the ones mostly used. The smooth pea
is planted earlier than the wrinkled sort, as it grows better in cold, wet
ground than the other one. The wrinkled variety is the better one, and
is the main variety for a family garden. The pea is one of the very best
of our vegetables, and is healthful, palatable and nutritious. Plant peas.

For those who like “greens,” spinach is as useful as any. Plant early
in drills some long-standing variety. It is very apt to go to seed in warm
weather. Plant in the fall the round-leaved variety, and if not all used,
with a light mulch it will be fairly good and very early in the spring.
This crop is a very convenient one planted early, needs no weeding, and
is out of the way for summer crops. Planted in the fall, when but few
other plants will grow, it makes a very accommodating vegetable for
the garden.

Mustard is another one of the greens, and is well worth planting for
those who like it. :

The beet is one of the most common vegetables and is grown in nearly
every garden. The turnip-rooted ones are the kinds mostly planted for
table use, although some of the long-rooted varieties are of fine texture
and well worth planting. Plant early, with plenty of seed in the drill,
and then thin and use surplus for beet “greens.” This is a grand early
vegetable, and may also be gathered and stored for winter use. It
breaks the monotony of potatoes three times a day.

The carrot is a vegetable that deserves more recognition than the
American people give it, and is another vegetable that should be used
to relieve the most overworked vegetable in the United States—the Irish
potato. For table use the half-long is the kind to plant. The carrot is
mostly used in soups, but is worthy of a place on the table as a nutri-
tious, healthful vegetable. Try some.

The cabbage is another universal vegetable and is used as an article
of food in various ways. The cabbage has been long in use and dates
back to a very early time, and is used by all people that we have any
record of. This is an all-season vegetable and can be ready for use by
June, and frost often prevents some of the late varieties from heading.
For early use, plant seeds in boxes in February and transplant into the
field from the 1st to the 15th of April. Later varieties may be trans-
planted as late as the first of August. This is a very popular vegetable,
but not very nutritious. Its universal use is its greatest recommendation.

One of our very good vegetables is the parsnip. Plant very early, thin
to three or four inches, in rows eighteen to twenty-four inches apart.
The parsnip is best for use after being frosted in the ground. When dug
and properly stored it makes a very good vegetable for a change from
the potato. For compact size get the short variety.

Beans as an article of food have an important place in the markets of
the world. This is one of the vegetables of which the pod as well as the
green and dry bean is used as a food. There are many kinds and shapes

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—long beans, nearly round beans, and some that are decidedly flat in
shape. Some are quite small and some grow to a size that one individual
bean will make a small mouthful. There are bush and pole varieties.
Green-pod, yellow-pod and Lima beans are all that we need to consider
at this time. There is no very marked difference in the yellow and
green pods.

The Lima is the bean of excellence. There is a bush and a pole Lima.
For a home garden the bush Lima is preferred; this gives the green-
shelled Limas of which our market has never been supplied. Some trouble
to pick, rather tedious to shell, but it will pay to plant plenty of them,
' for a freshly shelled mess of Limas is fit for any table,-and with a little
effort any one may produce them. Pole Lima beans are also very good
and will produce more fruit to the amount of ground, but it is more diffi-
cult to handle.

Turnips form a nice change in the vegetable foods, although not con-
sidered to have much nutrition. They are used in soups extensively, also
as a boiled vegetable, and sometimes kraut is made from those grown in
the fall. Sown extra early, the flat varieties will make a bunching turnip
quicker than the globe. For all other purposes, whether of spring or fall
planting, the globe variety is preferable. The turnip has more food
value than it is generally given credit for. About eight weeks after sow-
ing they are large enough for table use. Plant some.

Tomato is the real fruit of the garden. No other crop that we raise
has such a range of prices, as well as territory, as the tomato. In early
spring the shipped-in tomato sells as high as 15 cents per pound; later
in the season they retail as low as 25 cents per half-bushel basket, and
sometimes lower. This is the fruit for everybody. ‘‘Wholesome” is ap-
plied to this fruit without any limit. The dwarf, or early variety, is
mostly used for early use. To-day the Earliana, which is a large variety,
is the earliest and most prolific, but it is not a favorite with the trade.
Dwarf, Champion, Kansas Standard, Dwarf Stone, Bonny Best and
Chalk’s Early Jewel are all good early varieties. The stone is a good
late one. Seed is usually planted in the hotbed in early March, trans-
planted into cold frames, with or without paper wrapping for the roots,
and planted into the field safely about the first week in May. The
tomato requires a fertile soil, good cultivation and drainage. Arrange
to have plenty of this crop for immediate use and sufficient for canning.

Eggplant is not grown generally, but is well worthy of a place in any
garden. It is a very interesting plant to observe while producing its
fruit.. There are three varieties—black, purple and white. Either of the
dark ones may be planted in this locality. One very nice feature of this
vegetable is that it comes into fruiting at a time when we are looking
for a change of diet. This is cooked by frying, and is desirable as a sub-
stitute for the meats.

Lettuce is another universal product of the garden. It has been used
as an article of food since a very early date. There are several varieties;
we need to mention only two. Leaf lettuce will grow nearly anywhere,
but appreciates good soil as well as any other plant. It should be sown
early, in drills, but may be sown broadcast. Head lettuce should be

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planted under cover and then transplanted to the open field. Neither of
these will succeed in hot weather, so must be treated as an extra early or
a late crop.

The Irish potato is the vegetable of the world. It is planted in the
smallest of home gardens as well as in commercial fields having hun-
dreds of acres devoted to the production of this the most important of all
vegetables, and is produced by all the civilized people of the world. There
are records of 1000 bushels having been raised on an acre. Sometimes
the yield is as low as ten bushels per acre. The average for Kansas for
the last six years is fifty-eight bushels per.acre.

New varieties are constantly being introduced, and that which is the
leading variety to-day may be replaced by a better one to-morrow. Early
Ohio is the leader in this vicinity at the present time, with the Cobbler
contending for a place in the first rank.

The sweet potato is used extensively as an article of food, and ranks
with the Irish potato and the bean. Its range of practical growth is re-
stricted on account of the fact that it needs a light soil and hot weather
for the best results. Wherever it can be grown, it makes good returns
for the labor bestowed. In this locality the Yellow Jersey is the main
crop for table as well as for commercial purposes. Red Jersey is about
the same, both for yield and quality. This is a good, wholesome,
nutritious vegetable.

VINE Crops. Under this head we have much that interests the
human family—watermelon, muskmelon, squash, cucumber, pumpkins and
gourds. There is in this section no other crop that seems to be subject
to as many insect enemies as the cucumber, to which we look for some
food, much pleasure, and, when we succeed, a great amount of satisfac-
tion. We do not wish to discourage you before you get started; we only
wish to impress on your mind that activity, and continued activity, is the
price you will have to pay for the produce of the vines. In a small
garden it is difficult to handle this crop when some of the vines grow
to be.twenty or thirty feet in length.

Plant a few hills of watermelons and train the vines to grow along
the fence row or some other out-of-the-way place, and when the length
exceeds the length of the garden trim it to fit its confines. Muskmelons
are a delicious and very popular vegetable and are a rival of the peach
as a table dessert. There are so many varieties that one can hardly
afford to recommend any special one. Select some of the netted Gem
types and you will not miss it very far.

Plant some type of the White Spine cucumber. There are many varie-
ties, with advocates for each. This variety is used more than any other.

The early summer squash will produce fruit easier than any of the
other squashes, and is also the least valuable of any. Crookneck or
scallop, yellow or white, there is but little difference. The large yellow
crookneck is in good demand. Green-warted Hubbard is perhaps the
best squash that grows. It is good in the fall, and when properly handled
will keep for winter use. This squash is excellent for “pumpkin pie.”

The pumpkin is such a rank grower that it does not fit into the garden.
It is an important field crop in some localities.

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Those who have planted the seeds for a vine crop must be prepared to
propect the plants as soon as the first two leaves show above the ground.
The first insect to appear, and the most persistent, is the cucumber beetle
—that little striped fellow. You should “bug” each hill twice daily.
Destroy all the bugs you can and scatter air-slacked or hydrated lime
or tobacco dust about the hill, and perhaps this will scare the beetles so
that some of them will not bother that hill any more. This plan must
be followed until the plant has a strong vine. The plant louse, or aphis,
is another pest which must be controlled by a spray that will get to the
underside of the leaf. The spray may be a coal-oil emulsion, or the Black
Leaf Forty. ;

Later will come a large squash bug. Fine ashes or air-slacked lime
sprinkled on this pest will drive it away. The remedies are simple and
easily applied. The pests are quickly recognized. You must act promptly
and persistently; then you may reasonably expect to have your efforts
rewarded with some fruit. The above remedies apply to all vines of
which we have spoken.

Corn is another field crop that has a place in the home garden. All of
the corn that is produced is good, and some of it is better. Extra Early
Adam and Early Adam are the first to plant. These are not sweet. The
main thing is earliness. Select a succession of the sweet corns. The last
planting may be Early Adam. With the proper selection of your succes-
sion of varieties, the table should be supplied with this table variety of
corn from the latter part of June to the time when frost comes, covering
a period of about one hundred days.

The radish is one of the fixtures of all gardens. There is the long,
the short, and the winter radish. The turnip-rooted type is the one
generally used in the home garden. The long ones are good and much
preferred by many. Plant early, a few feet of a row at a time, for soon
they get pithy, and a radish that is not crisp is of little value. The
radish grows best in cool weather. The winter radish has never met
with popular favor in this locality, but is considered good by some who
have tried it.

FRUIT.

Fruit is as necessary to the human family as is the vegetable. The
apple is king of fruits, but it is not always adapted to the confines of a
home garden, and requires from eight to twelve years to produce fruit.

Nature has provided us with vine and bush fruits that may bear one
year from transplanting. There is one fruit that is more universal than
any other; that is the strawberry. First to plant. One of our eniment
men said: “The Lord could make a better fruit than the strawberry, but
he never did.”

It will grow nearly everywhere, under all conditions The strawberry
must have a place in every garden if the owner is just to himself. ye
square yard will produce some fruit, more square yards will produce more

ARY OF CONGRESS

—

fruit. Even though you can give only a ws space ob ee give it to
the strawberry.

The varieties are more numerous than those of any other fruit. They
are divided into the early-, medium-, late- and autumn-bearing varieties.
The varieties are constantly being improved, and the one which is con-
sidered the best to-day may only be a memory in a short time. Ask your
local nurseryman for the variety that does best in your locality.

Do not allow too many plants to form in the strawberry bed. A plant
should have a three-inch space, and four inches will be better.

A raspberry is also a proper fruit for the garden. The Cumberland
is a good one among the blacks. Nearly any one of the reds will do to
try. They require more care and give best results where winter protec-
tion is given. The St. Regis, an ever-bearing, is a red variety that has
numerous friends. The purple ones, in the right place and with proper
handling, give a fruit that is excellent for family use. The quality is fine,
but it is not as regular in producing fruit in this locality as it should be.

The blackberry is a profitable fruit, a wholesome fruit, and if there is
room in the garden, plant them. It is quite a sure bearer. Kenoyer and
Early Harvest are good for early and Mersereau for late. Avoid too
many fruit stalks among all berry plants.

The grape is a good fruit, easily grown, and proves its worth every
year by an increased acreage. One- or two-year-old vines to set out will
give good satisfaction. The Concord is a very hardy variety and a
standard for home or commercial vineyard. Moore’s Early is the best
early variety for this locality. Either one of these varieties will do well
for an arbor, which for a small area is a good way to use the space.
Where no other space can be used, train the vines to grow on the fence.
Do nct allow too much vine, or the grapes will be small. Prune while
the vines are dormant, from November to March. You will not regret
having planted some grapevines.

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