WHAT TO GROW. (continued 3)

Sow Beet and Carrot seed as early in spring as possible. Sow in drills and thin beets to five inches and carrots to three inches apart in the drill. To have Beets early we sometimes sow seed of an extra early variety in the hotbed and transplant to the garden when plants are a few inches high. The same may be done with early carrots. Sow Early Scarlet Horn Carrot for early use and Long Red Coreless for fall and winter. Eclipse is one of the best early Beets and Long Blood Red is the very best late variety.

Sow late Cabbage seed in a seed bed, when danger from frost is over, and when plants are three inches high, plant them in rows three feet apart, with plants 2½ feet apart in the row. Late Flat Dutch, Burpee’s Surehead and Large Late Drumhead are reliable sorts.

Cucumber and Squash seeds should under no consideration be planted before the weather is settled and warm, as the young plants are extremely tender and sensitive to cold. Cucumber hills should be four feet apart each way, and squash hills should be six feet apart. Scatter about a dozen seeds in a hill, and when the second pair of leaves have formed, remove all but three of the strongest plants. No fruit should be permitted to ripen on cucumber vines, as this greatly weakens the plant and prevents it from further setting fruit. Pinching off the tips of winter squash vines when they are about three feet long increases their productiveness. Early Green Cluster, White Spine, and London Long Green are good varieties of cucumbers. The list of desirable squashes is long, but whoever grows the Pineapple and the Brazil Sugar Squash for early use, and the Essex Hybrid and Hubbard for winter use, will not be disappointed.

The term “hills,” as used here and elsewhere in this paper, does not imply heaped-up soil, but simply means that several seeds are to be planted together in one place, on a level with the rest of the ground. This I have found to be better than heaping up the ground to form hills, which soon dry out and are difficult to water.[24]

The only plant requiring hills or ridges is the Sweet Potato. Throw several furrows together with a plow and draw the soil up with a hoe, to form a tapering ridge; two feet high and three feet wide at the bottom. The plants, which are obtained by planting the tubers in a hotbed, are planted two feet apart on top of this ridge. Being of tropical origin, the sweet potato plants should never be planted till danger from frost is over. One hoeing is generally sufficient, as the vines soon cover the ridge, but these should not be allowed to take root, as that diminishes the productiveness of the plant. Late varieties are of better quality than the early ones.

PEPPERS, GUMBO AND LEEKS.

No garden is complete without at least a few plants of peppers, gumbo and leeks. To grow Peppers to perfection, the young plants should be grown in the hotbed and be transplanted to very rich soil, from twelve to eighteen inches apart, according to variety. When they commence blooming, a liberal quantity of hen manure should be strewn around each plant and be hoed in. This will increase the product wonderfully. Burpee’s Ruby King and Golden Dawn are two superb new varieties.

Gumbo, or Okra, is grown for its seed pods, which are used in soups and stews. Plant the seed eighteen inches apart, when the ground is warm, in spring, and use the pods while young and tender.

Sow Leek seed very early, in a seed bed, in a sheltered place, if possible. When plants are about six inches long, transplant them to trenches six inches deep, with very rich soil at the bottom. Fill up the trenches as the plants grow, and later draw soil up to them. As a result, you will have fine, large leeks, blanched a foot long, which may be kept all winter if dug up with the roots on, and stored in moist sand in the cellar. Aside from being valuable for soups and salads, blanched leek makes an excellent dish when sliced and cooked like green peas. This fact does not seem to be generally known, as well-grown leek is so seldom seen in kitchen gardens.[25]

We will now go back again to the ground adjoining the parsnips and salsify. The early vegetables will mature and be harvested one after the other, so that there will be enough vacant ground in time for—

CELERY, ENDIVE, TURNIPS, WINTER RADISHES, KALE, CORN SALAD, WINTER LETTUCE AND WINTER SPINACH.

Sow Celery seed in a hotbed or cold frame. When a few inches high, plant five inches apart, in a bed, in the open ground, which should be especially prepared for the purpose by extra heavy manuring. Let the plants remain in this bed, to grow strong and stocky. Never let the ground in this bed become dry; give thorough cultivation and cut off the tops of the plants once or twice, to make them grow stocky. When six or eight inches high, lift the plants carefully and set them six or eight inches apart, in trenches a foot wide and fourteen or more inches in depth. Several inches of rotted stable manure should be mixed with the soil at the bottom of the trench. When planting, firm the ground well around each plant. Supply enough water to keep the ground at the bottom of the trench very moist all the time. As the plants grow, press soil around the bottom of each plant and tie together at the top with string, to keep the stems straight and in an upright position. The blanching or earthing up is done by gradually filling up the trench with ground as the plants grow. Care should be taken not to get any ground into the hearts of the plants and never to earth up while they are wet. Sowing seed in the open ground and growing plants on the level surface may do for cool northern latitudes, but my experience is that it will not do here in southern Illinois. Boston Market and Crawford’s Half Dwarf are as good as any of the taller varieties, and are more easily blanched.[26]

Seed of Endive should not be sown early, as this plant is grown chiefly for late summer and autumn salad. In this latitude we sow at intervals from the middle of June to the 1st of August. Seed may be sown either broadcast or in drills, but the plants should be thinned so as to stand from six to nine inches apart. It may also be sown in a seed bed and be transplanted to the proper distance apart. When the plants are full grown, tie all the outside leaves together over the heart, to blanch the inner leaves, which will take about a week. To keep up a constant supply, some should be tied up every few days. Never tie up when the leaves are wet or they will soon decay. Green Curled and Batavian are both very good.[27]

Turnip and winter Radish seed may be sown from the latter part of July to the middle of August. If the ground is reasonably free from weed seeds it is advisable to sow broadcast, otherwise it is better to sow in drills. In either case, it is well to remember that the plants should be, like the first settlers, without a near neighbor. The size and quality of the turnips and radishes will depend, to a great extent, upon thin sowing of the seed, or, what is still better, a judicious thinning of the plants when young. The largest and sweetest turnips we have ever grown were of the Purple Top Strap-leaved variety, and were grown as a second crop after onions. The seed was sown broadcast, and no further attention given the plants except thinning while young. In the same manner and on similar soil we raised White and Black Spanish winter radishes of excellent quality, that weighed from four to seven pounds each. The Chinese Rose, though not so large, is the handsomest and one of the best winter radishes grown. The California Mammoth is a superb fall radish, but does not keep well in winter. The White Stuttgart is regarded as a summer radish, but I have had it, grown as a winter radish, to keep firm and solid till April.

Kale, or Borecole, is a valuable plant for spring greens. The variety called Dwarf German Greens is best for this purpose. Sow seed in drills about September 1st, and give thorough cultivation till the approach of cold weather. When winter sets in, give protection with a covering of straw or similar material, put on so as not to smother the plants. The most effective way of doing this is to place a layer of fine brush or cornstalks between the drills, to a height equal to or exceeding the height of the plants in the drills. Then cover all with a layer of clean straw, six inches deep. The object of putting the brush between the drills is to provide an air cavity between the plants and the covering.[28]

Corn Salad, or Vetticost, is a valuable little plant which is used for salad, the same as lettuce. For spring use, sow the seed any time during the month of September, and at the approach of cold weather cover the bed with a few inches of straw or hay. It should be used very early in spring, as it soon runs to seed when warm weather sets in. Although this plant will bear neglect, it will also repay good treatment.

Seed of winter Spinach and winter Lettuce should also be sown during the month of September, and the plants should be protected with a covering of straw, or similar material, during winter. Put on part of the covering when the ground begins to freeze, and as the cold increases, add covering till it reaches a depth of four or five inches. In regions where heavy snowfalls can be depended upon, it may not be necessary to protect any of the above-named plants, but here and elsewhere, where winters are severe and the snowfall light, it is of the utmost importance to provide protection, or no success need be expected. Hammersmith is the best winter lettuce, and Round Leaf and Prickly Winter are two good varieties of spinach for fall sowing.

The beds of kale, corn salad, winter lettuce and winter spinach should be arranged side by side, and alongside of the parsnips and salsify, so as not to interfere with the plowing of the ground in fall and in spring. As some of the parsnips and salsify will be left in the ground to be dug at leisure in spring, it is best to have all these vegetables side by side, so that when the parsnips and salsify[29] are dug, and the crop of kale, corn salad, etc., harvested, the whole ground can be plowed at once.

Before closing, a few words in regard to watering and transplanting may not prove amiss.

The best time for watering is in the evening. Though water may be given to the roots at any time, it should never be sprinkled on the foliage in the hot sun, as that causes brown spots or blisters where it comes in contact with the leaves. More injury than good results from beginning to water a plant, and then not keeping it up till the necessity ceases. As soon as the ground begins to get dry after watering, the soil should be stirred with the hoe. When you start to water a plant, do it thoroughly, so as to give the roots a soaking at every watering, or else do not water at all.

The main points to be regarded in transplanting, are handling the plant carefully, so as to injure the roots as little as possible, planting firmly and shading to prevent the sun from withering or scorching the leaves. It should be borne in mind, that it is not nature’s design that a plant should be transplanted, and we ought to show sympathy for a plant as well as for our fellow-creatures.

And now, having taken a walk with you through the kitchen garden, all I have further to say is, may you be favored with seasonable rain and sunshine, for, be it remembered, without the co-operation of the elements all our efforts are in vain.