1040 Rural School Leaflet 



In order to produce crisp, choice lettuce, there must be continuous rapid 

 or forced growth. This means plenty of water and cultivation. 



In harvesting cut the plant with a knife just below the place where 

 the first leaves branch or start from the stem. Wash off the soil by 

 placing in a tub of water, stem end first — never the other way. Place 

 in baskets or boxes stem up. 



Lettuce is a good crop to use for companion or succession cropping. 



Onions. — See page 999. 



Parsnips. — See page 999. 



Peppers. — A good loamy soil, well manured, will produce good peppers. 

 Plant the seed in a hotbed or cold-frame. Later transplant the seedlings 

 to the field in rows eighteen inches apart, with fifteen inches between the 

 plants in the row. For best results give clean culture and soil mulch. 



Peppers are easily raised but are relatively slow growers. They thrive 

 in warm weather and a long growing season. 



Uniform green peppers should be chosen for exhibition. 



Pumpkin. — This plant has been found to grow in almost every soil ; 

 but a good loamy soil that has had a generous coating of manure mixed 

 with it and a forkful placed under each hill will surely produce good 

 pumpkins. Pumpkins can be grown successfully in a field of sweet corn. 



Plant four or five seeds in a hill. The hills should be ten feet apart 

 in the row and the rows eight feet apart. Later, thin to two or three 

 plants for each hill. Allow only one pumpkin to a plant for the produc- 

 tion of the largest size. A pailful of water poured around the hill now 

 and then will help, especially if the weather is not rainy. 



Squash bugs may become pests. If so, place shingles on the ground 

 near the plants; early in the morning the bugs will be found under them 

 and can be destroyed. 



Radishes. — A loose, rich soil, such as a sandy loam full of rotted manure, 

 is the kind that radishes require. If they grow slowly they will have 

 a sharp flavor and be tough and woody. 



For a constant supply, plant radishes every two weeks. Plant them 

 in rows twelve inches apart, and thin the plants to stand one inch apart 

 or a little more. 



Radishes can be grown between slower-growing plants, thereby obtain- 

 ing two crops from the same land in the same year. 



Clean culture must be given. 



For all-season growth, producing a very large radish, try the Japanese 

 Sakurajima, the Black Winter, or the White Giant Stuttgart. These 

 varieties should be thinned so that the plants stand four inches apart. 



For exhibition the well-washed red or white roots, with the green leaves, 

 are attractive. 



