PROCEEDINGS OF THE WINTER MEETING. 29 



(&.) A succession of crops may be grown, and if the soil is in proper 

 condition it should be cropped to the fullest extent. My radishes are 

 mostly grown with other things, the seeds of which germinate more 

 slowly — as with onions and vegetable oysters. The early potatoes may be 

 followed by celery, turnips, or late cabbages; and the peas may be followed 

 by cabbages or tomatoes. My cabbage plants for late planting are 

 usually grown in rows of other things, and lettuce is sown on any vacant 

 spot during the whole season. 



(c.) Crops that remain over winter in the ground, as salsify and 

 parsnip, should be planted next to the permanent vegetables, like 

 asparagus, and at one side of the garden. 



(d.) I arrange as far as practicable to have the rows so planned that 

 in succeeding years I can easily make a change of sorts upon the same 

 ground. 



4. What culture should be given? The one-horse cultivator should go 

 through as often as once a week during the weed-growing season, and it 

 is well to observe the fact that weeds are killed the easiest and most 

 effectually destroyed just before they can be seen above the surface. To 

 supplement the cultivation I use a garden rake more generally than a hoe, 

 and have found that to young plants a raking of the surface will give an 

 impetus in growth quite wonderful to behold. 



5. Any special management, to be recommended for the different 

 vegetables? For this small area of potatoes I would use good tubers, cut 

 once in two lengthwise, planting one piece in the hill; should furrow the 

 row, plant my seed, cover with two inches of earth, and then fill the 

 furrow to the level with good stable manure. I should not pole my 

 Lima beans, but keep the runners well pinched back. I should tie my 

 tomatoes to stakes or frames so as to hold them well up from the ground. 

 I should aid in the fertilization of my squashes and melons, using a little 

 camel' s-hair brush for the purpose. I should plant my onion sets in the 

 fall if possible and cover with a mulch. I should put my peas in, for the 

 first crop, as early as possible in the spring, and plant three or four inches 

 in depth. 



How about insects? My first trial is with cut-worms, and these I man- 

 age to circumvent, first by early and continuous cultivation; second by 

 trapping with poisoned clover, and third by gathering in a harvest of them 

 with thumb and finger. Potato beetles cause me little trouble. I take 

 a garden sprinkler and go over the rows very rapidly with poisoned water. 

 Cucumber beetles I dust with sulphur or white hellebore diluted with sifted 

 coal ashes. Black squash bugs and tomato worms are gathered by hand. 



In addition to vegetables, the kitchen garden may very profitably con- 

 tain currants, strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, and blackberries. A 

 100 foot row of each of these fruits will furnish a large amount of deli- 

 cious fruit at a very light expense. These should be placed along one side 

 with asparagus and pie plant. 



The amount of living to be secured from a half acre of land thoroughly 

 tilled is marvelous. I doubt if any piece of ground upon a 

 farm if utilized to the fullest extent under the most 

 approved system of husbandry can be made so profitable to the 

 owner as the garden area. It is, however, the one piece of ground upon 

 many farms the most neglected. It takes its turn of cultivation last, and 

 is hoed nights and mornings and holidays, if hoed at all. 



