1895. 



' GARDENING. 



41 



the end of the canes to two to four eyes 

 above the ground, and attach a stout 

 neat stake to each. The stake preserves 

 the layer from accident, as being pulled 

 up in mistake. No cutting at the elbow 

 joint is necessary. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



THE VEOETflBLB GARDEN. 



The protracted clroiitli has licen very 

 severe on all kinds of voj.;etal]lcs, and late 

 sowings will not amount to much. 



Artichokes, both globe and Jerusa- 

 lem, let them alone till next month. 



Asp.\K.\Gi'S, when it begins to turn 

 yellow, may be cut over close to the 

 ground, and the tops should be burned. 

 These tops look like something that 

 would answer firstrateas a winter cover- 

 ing for plants, but no, thej- are very poor 

 for that purpose, all the leaves falling oft' 

 quite early. If you want anj' roots for 

 early forcing strip the earth oft" from 

 their crowns now to let them get well 

 "cooled" off; they will force much easier 

 for it. 



LiM.\ Beans.— P2arly July sowings of 

 both Henderson's and Jackson Wonder 

 dwarf beans should now be in good bear- 

 ing, and if they had been covered with a 

 frame and sashes, and these covered in 

 cold weather and at night with mats or 

 straw enough to kec]) out frost we can 

 pick green lieans till November. The 

 same with 



String Be.\ns sown as late as the end 

 of August. But we have to soak the 

 ground with water from the hose to get 

 the teans to grow at all, for the ground 

 is very dry. We have the frames banked 

 around with rotted manure, when the 

 beans are past and the frames removed 

 the manure is spread broadcast on the 

 ground and dug in. 



Beets on account of the drouth have 

 had a hard struggle; our main crop will 

 depend on those soAvn the end of July; 

 August sowings will be pretty small. 

 North of New York they should be pulled 

 for storing about the end of this month, 

 but we can leave them out till the first of 

 November. When pulling never cut the 

 tops off, no matter what books or peri- 

 odicals tell you to do so, instead give 

 them a twist off at the neck with your 

 hand. The root shrivels less and keeps 

 better. After pulling and topping gather 

 them into piles of two or three bushels 

 and let them stay there for a few days 

 before pitting them, placing enough of 

 the tops over them to keep out frost. 



Brussels Sproits.— If they aren't 

 hearting up enough nip out the terminal 

 head, this will throw the energj' of the 

 plant into the sprouts. Open, flabby 

 sprouts, although good enough to the 

 taste when cooked, are never in demand, 

 we always want the hard-hearted ones. 

 Let them stay in the groucd till just 

 before there is danger of it freezing up. 



C.vbbage, including Savoys, we let 

 stay in the ground till November. The 

 green worms are (|uite bad this year, but 

 a pinch of fine, oven-dried salt dusted over 

 and into the heads destroys the insects. 

 I^ave 



Curled Kale in the ground as long as 

 you do Brussels sprouts. 



Carrots.— Treat as recommended for 

 beets. All sown before June are kept" 

 aside to feed to the cows and horses; the 

 later, preferably Jul\-. sowings are the 

 ones saved for culinary purposes. While 

 .1 little frost won't hurt them in the 



ground, the roots when out of the 

 ground are easily injured by frost, so 

 cover them up when you harvest them. 



Cauliflower. — If you have any that 

 has not headed big enough to use, or 

 only formed buttons, lift them, strip oft" 

 a few of the outer leaves, and set the 

 plants, close together, in a cold frame 

 that can be well covered up from frost. 

 They will head nicely between now and 

 New Years. 



Celery wants water and earthing up. 

 Using boards up against the sides of the 

 lows of celery rather than earth gives 

 cleaner and whiter hearts and it is quite 

 as brittle and well tasted. Cover it up 

 or earth it up to the top before sharp 

 frost comes. 



Cucumbers out of doors are over for a 

 season. But we can have them in hot 

 beds or in greenhouses. They need a 

 minimum of 60° at night. The short 

 stumpy varieties, as White Spine, are of 

 very little use for winter work, they are 

 so short-lived, use the long ones like 

 Telegraph. 



Endive should be gathered into round 

 heads and tied there with a piece of mat- 

 ting to blanch the inner leaves and make 

 them tender. It takes a long season to 

 mature. The main crop is usually sown 

 about the end of July, with a later sow- 

 ing early in August. 



Horseradisil — Before hard frost sets 

 in dig up enough good roots to last you 

 over winter. Novemberis generally soon 

 enough for this, though. 



I/EEKs may be let stay in the ground as 

 long as horseradish, for they are perfectly 

 hardy. 



Lettuces.— Late August plantings are 

 still in good condition out of doors. But 

 September plantings should have been 

 made in cold frames; they are now lialf 

 grown or more. Keep them somewhat 

 warm to have them tender. It isn't a 

 case of how hardy a lettuce is, it is of how 

 tender, and we cannot have tender lettuces 

 if they are exposed to frost and sleet. For 

 December and Ja uary lettuces we sowed 

 in September and have them planted in 

 cold frames. 



Parsley. — Either in a cold frame, or 

 planted in a box to put into a warm 

 cellar, you should have a nice lot of 

 parsley for winter. But by covering up, 

 by mulching the ground, and then setting 

 an inverted box over the outdoor parsley 

 to save it from sharp fi ost one can have 

 it nice and fresh till into December. 



Parsnips.— We lift half when we lift our 

 beets and carrots, and store them in much 

 the same way: and let the other half stay 

 in the ground till towards spring. They 

 are quite hardy, but a mulching over 

 them in winter saves their crowns from 

 sudden changes in temperature, hence 

 susceptibility to rot. 



Peas.— On account of the extremely dry 

 weather our August sowings have been 

 very poor. 



Radishes are good in the open air yet. 

 From November on we must look to the 

 hot beds or greenhouse for them. 



Rhubarb.— If any is needed for forcing 

 the crowns should be raked oft" bare, and 

 before hard frost sets in a lot of them may 

 be dug up carefully, but left out in a some- 

 what shady place where the frost may 

 get at them without any restriction. If 

 not subjected to agood freezing first they 

 won't force kindly. 



Salsify and Scorzonera, treat like 

 parsnips. 



Spinach.— Keep that out of doors hoed 

 to have it sturdy and hardy. Don't cover 

 it up for a month or more yet, not before 

 a hard coating of frost comes. For winter 

 use it is well to have a lot in frames, but 



unless started before this it is too late 

 now. 

 Turnips, treat like carrots and beets. 



Mushrooms. 



MAGGOTS IN MUSHROOMS. 



C. F. G., Jersey City, writes: "1 am 

 trying to plant a sm 11 bed this fall, but 

 there is one point upon which I do not 

 seem to satisfy myself. I refer to maggots 

 in mushrooms. The question is do mag- 

 gots come in the manure or not? I have 

 noticed in manure, even though only a 

 day or two old, that little white worms 

 appear; these I supposed were the mag- 

 gots, and iftheyarelam afraid to use 

 the manure." 



The maggots vou refer to are not the 

 ones that infest the mushrooms at all. 

 Get your fresh manure together and start 

 it working, that is get it heated; it will 

 run up to a temperature of 130° or 135° 

 when hot, and that will kill any of the 

 maggots or white worms you see in the 

 fresh manure. Guard most carefully, 

 however, against overheating, or letting 

 the manure get white or "fire-fanged" as 

 we call it; and todo thisturn the manure 

 often, spreading it out to cool when it 

 gets very warm, then throw it together 

 again and tread t firm. 



OflT SPROUTS IN MUSHROOM BEDS. 



.\ Reader writes: "Three or four days 

 after my beds are made up there grow up 

 all over them small straws from the old 

 oat seeds in the manure; are these harm- 

 ful to the mycelium? My bed is made up 

 of loam and manure. Up to date I have 

 merely cut them off with a scissors." 



If the manure had been fresh and prop- 

 erly manipulated in the fermentation pro- 

 cess, the oat seeds would have been all 

 killed and couldn't grow. If thej' start 

 to grow before you mould over the beds, 

 and the mushroom house is kept dark 

 inside, when j'ou earth over the beds 

 don't you destroy all of these young 

 oats? No, in limited quantity they are 

 not hurtful to the spawn. You are right 

 in keeping them cut oft". 



Growing Mushrooms.— In answer to 

 W. L. F., Allegany, N. Y. Throw out the 

 bed you made up in July, it isn't worth 

 bothering with. The manure you are 

 now preparing under the shed and which 

 runs up to 146° and you have to turn 

 twice a day to keep it from burning, is in 

 too great bulk. Spread it out to cool and 

 reduce the quantity in the heaps very 

 much. Don't let it get over 1+0°. The 

 bunches of a fine mouldy substance on 

 your beds are not mushroom spawn at 

 all. The temperatu e manure should 

 show when ready to make up depends 

 entirely on the condition of the manure, 

 the preparation it has undergone and 

 your manner of putting it into beds. A 

 few years' practical knowledge will show 

 you how unanswerable this question is. 

 Olean, Bradford and Jamestown may be 

 good markets after they take to using 

 mushrooms, but you had better com- 

 municate with the produce agents in the 

 large cities to begin with. 



Herewith I hand you $4 to renew 

 both subscriptions (my own and garde - 

 er's) another year. T e paper is worth 

 more than the subscription price, and 1 

 do not desire anv reduction. 



New York Citv. W. H. S. W. 



