GROWING GARDEN CROPS. 165 



prevent us from bringing certain vegetables to maturity and at the same 

 time have quality. 



Appearance and quailty are what goes in the market. It has often 

 been demonstrated in my work that a stoppage of growth injures the 

 quality. This may be caused by a dry spell during the hot days with a 

 temperature of 110 degrees. If at such times we could move our vegeta- 

 bles under some shade tree with plenty of water and keep the hot wind 

 off, lettuce would not taste bitter, radishes would not have that sharp 

 taste, table beets would not be stringy, and turnips would not have that 

 unpleasant flavor. 



In the season just past, late potatoes came to a standstill during the 

 dry weather. Then rain came and started them, again making a second 

 growth. We heard of some good yielding plats, but quality was never 

 mentioned. Some of the potatoes grown under those conditions may be 

 boiled all day, and you may fix them up any way you can, and they are 

 not as good as if they had had continuous growth; the starch is not there. 



Unfavorable conditions of growth seem to be the greatest cause of 

 poor quality in vegetables, and very often the most practical men have 

 no control over these conditions. Yet many of the problems have been 

 solved in the past, and many more will be solved in the future if we will 

 put our heads into the game. 



We learn greater lessons in unfavorable seasons than in favorable 

 ones. In favorable seasons the thing that more than anything else con- 

 trols quality and yield is the plant food in the soil. In a favorable season 

 we almost believe Nebraska is a second paradise. Yet great losses are 

 going on every year in the vegetable and home gardens of Nebraska. 

 Much of the loss is caused by insects and plant disease. In dry seasons, 

 like the last two years, insects of all kinds are particularly abundant. In 

 extreme w^et seasons we find plant diseases abundant. In the average 

 season both insects and plant diseases are at work. 



Rotation is one of the best safeguards to control these pests. All 

 kinds of sprayers are advertised, but my choice is the dust sprayer. Dust 

 sprays will adhere where wet sprays will not. Dust sprays not only con- 

 tain a poison to kill insects, but help to close the pores through which 

 the insects breathe, applied when plants are dry. 



Each family of vegetables has its peculiar enemy, but by constant 

 changing of the soil the grower can control them to a large extent. That 

 is why I don't like a fenced garden whose location can never be changed. 

 A change to clover or alfalfa would help to improve many home gardens, 

 or a crop of cowpeas would answer the same purpose. 



Too many gardens are planted in the spring and neglected throughout 



the remainder of the season. It seems that the gardens always need to 



be weeded when a ball game is going on in town; they need weeding 

 on Saturday afternoon. Fourth of July or some holiday. Certain work 



has to be done in the garden before the boy or girl can go to the circus. 



Oftentimes the boy gets there after the parade, and just about the time 



the last elephant enters the tent. Boys treated that way have no use for 



a garden, and more than one has left the farm. 



