19G rRANSACTlONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



For instance, a cultivator of considerable experience believes that cucum- 

 bers, to be grown straight, must be planted on the first day of May ; 

 otherwise they will curl and twist until they become unfit for use ; and 

 another may recommend the planting of peas only when the cat's tail 

 curls to the right, as the only certain means of inducing them to cling to 

 the brush, or other support provided for them ; while another, with equally 

 as good foundation for his belief, might say set cabages only when the 

 "man in the moon " eats his soup with a butter ladle, and claim that it 

 would secure large and solid heads, and insure the plants from the attacks 

 of cut-worms. And yet there are many who do all their gardening " in 

 the moon;" and during the past season I have heard a number of the 

 latter class remark that in their opinion the profits of vegetable gardening 

 were all moonshine. 



My own belief is somewhat similar to that of Josh Billings in regard 

 to the setting hens : he says the best time to set a hen is when she is 

 ready and wants to set : and I believe that, with the exceptions of guard- 

 ing against the attacks of insects, as may be done to a certain extent in 

 some cases, the best time for sowing or planting garden seeds is when the 

 soil is ready to receive, and the cultivator ready to sow them. For 

 instance, as soon as the soil is dry in spring, even if this should occur in 

 February, sow peas, radishes, lettuce, spinach, onions, beets, cabbages, 

 parsnips and turnips, and plant potatoes for early use, without waiting 

 for the expected heavy frosts and snows, or for the moon to get a little 

 farther on its back, or hang a little more on its north or south corner. 

 The frosts and snows may come, but all these seeds will be perfectly safe ; 

 and when genial spring comes, your early, or as it appears to many, ill- 

 timed labors, will be rewarded by early results, that would tickle the palate 

 of the most fastidious epicure. If possible, the ground for this earl\ 

 planting should be prepared in the fall. First plow deeply, then manure 

 heavily with well rotted manure, which should be plowed under to the 

 depth of three or four inches, leaving the surface rough. Before sowing 

 in the spring, level the surface with just as little labor as possible. 



Peas should be covered with three inches of mellow earth, beets with 

 a half inch, and smaller seeds as lightly as possible. Later in the season, 

 as the ground becomes dry, all fine seeds should be rolled to insure ger- 

 mination. 



During the latter part of April it is usually safe to plant sweet corn, 

 beans, melons, squashes, cucumbers, etc. Cold and wet weather ma)' 

 cause them to rot in the ground, or frosts nip them after making their 

 appearance above ground, but the trouble and expense of planting is so 

 small that it may be repeated without causing a financial stringency, and 

 at no loss of time in securing a crop. 



Celery is one of the most delicious vegetables grown ; but its cultiva- 

 tion is attended with so much trouble and expense, and the results so very 

 uncertain, that it is found on but few tables in the land except as a luxury. 

 It requires a cool, moist atmosphere, and it cannot be successfully grown 

 during the scorching heat of summer. Where strong, healthy, well- 

 grown plants can be purchased at a dollar and a half per hundred, the 



