1895. 



GARDENING. 



297 



The Vegetable Garden. 



THE VEOBTflBLE OflRDEN. 



Kvcrvtliinn; is in Inll nml \ i^'oroiis 

 <;r()wtl'i; wc-tds ami ii..|.^ nlikr .montlic 

 rush, and we in mil I 11. Ill i.i di^irov the 

 first and promote ihr ,l;i nu 1 li nl the last 

 have to hurry up too. There is no more 

 danger from spring frosts; heat and 

 drouth are what we now have to eon- 

 sider. 



Vkgetables in Use. — Young carrots 

 that were sown in hotbeds, aspara- 

 gus, spinach, cauliflower, lettuces, rad- 

 ishes, turnips, beets, rhubard, onions, 

 peas, chives, parsley, cucumbers from 

 frames and indoor tomatoes. 



Asi"AH.\Giis.— Stop cutting now from 

 beds under three years old, and about the 

 end of tlie month stop cutting from all 

 beds. .\s we have peas in plenty now, and 

 soon will have snap beans, we can afford 

 to let up on asparagus. 



Artichokes, Globe.— Cut off every 

 head that is big enough to use; the closer 

 we cut the longer the crop lasts. 



.\rtichokes, Jerusalem.— Confine the 

 plants to their respective hills and pluck 

 up everj- out of place straggler. Run the 

 cultivator pretty deep between the rows 

 to uidasten the ground that it may catch 

 and hold water when it rains. In a few 

 days the plants will be so tall we cannot 

 eultiv.ite among them. 



S.NAT Bkans.- Sow a row of green and 

 of wax brans at least once a fortnight up 

 till the middle or end of August. 



Lima Beans,.- It is time enough to sow 

 yet; indeed if sown now tliev will be in 

 good pod by the ISth or 20th of August. 

 Don't let those already up sprawl over the 

 groimd; give them a hitch on to the pole 

 and a tie with a string; they will then 

 take care of themselves. 



Beets.— Thin out young ones in the 

 rows to let those that are lelt bulb better 

 and quicker; and sowa few more rows for 

 succession. Our earliest sowings have 

 now roots some two inches through. 



Brussels Si'Rours.— We expect to get 

 our main crops planted out about the 

 middle of the month, but we would not 

 hesitate to plant anytime uptoaboutthe 

 4thor 10th of July. They take a long 

 season, however,and astheydon'fbolt" 

 or burst their heads by early planting as 

 a cabbage would, we like to plant them 

 early enough so that we can get good 

 sprouts in October, and have a steady 

 sup])lv from that time up into the follow- 

 ino April. 



Caiihac.k, Cauliflower.— We sowed 

 our stock of savoys, winter cabbage, a 

 full crop of cauliflower and some extra 

 Brussels sprouts, June 6, in rows 1.5 inches 

 a])art. This gives them plenty elbow 

 room if we are delayed in planting them. 

 If thick, thin them a little, and stir the 

 ground well among them. We will sow 

 more cauliflower about the first of July. 

 Set out the plants of former sowings 

 whenever you have the ground to spare. 

 The end of the month will be time enoUjg'h 

 to sow kale. 



Carrots.— Thin late sowings. If they 

 come up thick in the row and are left un- 

 thinned they make very poor roots. 

 .\bout or soon after the end of the month 

 when we get a good rain dig a piece of 

 ground and sow the main winter crop of 

 carrots. 



CoR.s. — Put in a sowing of two orthree 

 kinds once a fortnight till about the fourth 

 or twentieth of July accordingto locality. 



CicrMiiKRS. — Sow afewfreshhillseverv 

 fortnight till the end of July. As soon as 

 the ciaunibers come to fair using size 



pluck them off; the vines are all the better 

 for it and last in bearing condition longer. 



Celery.— We prepare some loiigbcdsin 

 the frame ground, and prick off the young 

 celery plants into them about 4 inches 

 apart each way. Byshadingthem a little 

 and watering them liberally we can let 

 them stay in these beds till the middle ol 

 July or later, and then have fine stocky 

 pl.-ints to set out. When it is a question 

 ofonlv a few hundreds, however, it would 

 be better to sow thin and then thin out 

 the plants a little. If the plants are thick 

 in the beds thin them a little, and keep 

 them thoroughly well watered. Just as 

 soon as the ground is ready for them have 

 them planted out. 



Egg Plants.— Don'tlet thepotatobugs 

 eat them up. Hand picking is the easiest 

 way of getting rid of the pests on egg 

 plants. Take a tin basin with a little watt r 

 and a little kerosene in it and shake off 

 the bugs, old and young, into it. The ker- 

 osene will destroy them. 



Endive should now be sown for fall use, 

 and in a week or ten days for winter use. 

 Otherwise treat as you would lettuces. 



Horse Radish.— Cut the flower stems 

 on the old plants down to theground.but 

 encourage a good leaf growth. 



Leeks should be transplanted into rows 

 as one would young onions in A])ril or 

 May. Draw a deep furrowed row as for 

 sowing beans in, then lift the young leeks 

 and shorten their tops and roots a little, 

 and dibble them into this row fouror five 

 inches apart. Big leeks are not as desir- 

 able as middle sized ones. 



Lettuces.— .\ little and often is how we 

 have to sow and plant out these now, 

 and the coolest and moistest ground on 

 the place has to be chosen for them. Be- 

 fore sowing or planting soak the ground 

 well with water some hours ahead, then 

 fork it over, level it and line it off, and 

 ])lant. For the next six week it would be 

 well to sow thinly in rows, and then thin 

 out the plants six or eight inches apart 

 and let them stay there to head. 



Melons — Between cut worms under 

 ground and cucumber bugs above melons 

 have a hard time, but by keeping a con- 

 stant watch on them we manage to save 

 enough. Keep them dusted overhead 

 with slug shot, and a little bran mixed 

 with arsenic and sugar, say half a tea- 

 spoonful in each hill, is a bait for the cut 

 worms. But we don't trust altogether to 

 this; whenever we find a plant cut over 

 we search for the worm and kill it; it 

 alwaj'S stays close by a little under the 

 surface of the ground. Hoe the ground 

 about the plantsandencouragethe plants 

 in growth. 



Okra. — Sow a few more seeds at inter- 

 vals of about three weeks. 



Onions — Pick the seed heads out of sets 

 onions. The maggot was so bad among 

 our spring .sown onions that we lifted a lot 

 of plants and transplanted them. They 

 look weak. Those transplanted from the 

 greenhouse are not nearly so maggoty as 

 those sown out of doors. The season of 

 the maggots will soon be over now. 

 though. 



Parsley.- Keep the flower stems cut 

 out of the old plants. As soon as the 

 spring sowing is large enough for use, dig 

 up the old roots and throw them away. 

 Any time this or next month a frame may 

 be prepared and parsley sown in it for 

 next winter. 



Parsnips, Salsify and Scorzonera.— 

 Thin out the seedlings in the rows to a 

 few inches apart, the parsnips more so 

 than the others. 



Spinach, like lettuce, is a hard crop to 

 manage in midsummer, but by sowing a 

 little and often in the coolest "and moist- 



est ground we have we manage to haveit. 



Peas.— We gathered our first peas op 

 the 6th inst. They were First of All and 

 sown March 25. Alpha sown the same 

 day, both on warm dry land, was fit for 

 picking on the 'Jth. We continue to sow 

 peas for succession up till the middle or 

 20th of June, but on account of mildew it 

 is useless after that, for we seldom pick 

 peas after July 20 or 25. Henderson's 

 dwarf lima comes in then to take their 

 place. In August we begin again to sow 

 peas for picking in September and Octo- 

 ber. Only early peas are sown in August, 

 and about the most certain are the round 

 O'Rourkes. 



New Zealand Spinach.— See page 286. 



SjjUASH for winter if not already sown 

 should be put in now; bush squash, both 

 crookneck and custard, we sow from the 

 middle of May till the first of July, say in 

 two or three sowings. 



Rhuharb.- Cut away all flower heads. 



Radish. — Sow a little and often in cool 

 moist ground. 



Tomatoes.— It is nowamatterof train- 

 ing. The average farmer lets the plants 

 spread flat on the ground, and he gets lots 

 of fruit; some train them over a low trel- 

 lis to keep them oft" the ground; others tie 

 them up as single stemmed plants to 

 stakes, and limit their bearing to five or 

 six bunches. But no matter how wetreat 

 them they aie apt to fruit abundantly. 



Turnips. — Keep putting in a row or 

 two once a fortnight till August, when we 

 should sow a full crop for winter. 



Preparing the ("tround for Sowing — 

 In hot, dry summer weather sowing veg- 

 etable seeds is a precarious job; we may 

 put the seed in the ground, but it won't 

 b; likely to germinate till after rain comes, 

 in fact it sometimes gels so much scorched 

 in the ground as to have its vitality killed. 

 Those of us who must keep up a continu- 

 ous supply of fresh vegetables havegotto 

 find means of starting our seeds and set- 

 ting out our young plants no matter how 

 hot or dry the weather may be. We do 

 it in this way: First clean off theground 

 and ruffle the surface enough to get it to 

 hold water, then give it a thoroughsoak- 

 ing of water, not only enough to pene- 

 trate the surface, but to soak down a 

 spade deep. Let it alone over night, then 

 fork it over next morning and rake it level. 

 Now mark it off, sow the seed and shade 

 the rows with tilted-up boards, spruce 

 branches or some excelsior, till it is time 

 for the seedlings to appear. For hills of 

 com, melons, cucumbers, instead of soak- 

 ing all the ground, we mark out the hills, 

 then throw a good forkful of dirt out of 

 each, and fill the hole full with water. A 

 few hours after it soaks in, the ground is 

 mellow enough to work, and the hills may 

 then be forked up and sown, and an old 

 shingle laid over each one, but tilted up a 

 little to shade it until the seedlings ap- 

 pear. 



Preparing the Ground for Trans- 

 planting is much the same as for so wing. 

 Take cabbage for instance: In a field it 

 would be impracticable to water the 

 whole field broadcast before plowingitas 

 we would a small garden patch before 

 digging it; we would plow it and harrow 

 it off level, then mark it, and with a hoe 

 chop out a hole where each plant was 

 going to be set, then fill this hole full of 

 water. In the afternoon, say after 4. 

 o'clock, we would plant the cabbages in 

 the soaked holes, and after planting give 

 another good watering too. The first 

 thing in the morning we would pull a 

 little dry dirt over the wetted hole with 

 Our hoe to prevent baking and cracking 

 of the soil and hasty evaporation of the 



