170 



GARDENING. 



Feb. 15, 



with an axe, and spread these thickly 

 between the rows of lettuces; sprinkle 

 them with water, and the fumes from 

 them will dislodge the aphis. Remove 

 the old and replace with more fresh stems 

 every 3 or 4 davs till you are rid of the 

 aphis. 



7. Will lettuces head in a 4inch pot? 

 Ans. Yes, well enough, and it is not all 



an uncommon thing to head white seeded 

 Tennis Ball in this way in winter when 

 only a small quantity for private use is 

 needed; but for market it would never 

 pay, being far too laborious and expen- 

 sive. 



8. Treat a seed bed in the greenhouse.-' 

 We have had trouble with ours. 



Ans. For a limited quantity sovv in 

 flats and prick out the seedlings into 

 other flats or into a bed of fine soil near 

 the glass in a not very bright light. Reg- 

 ular market men have a side bench alto- 

 gether used as a seed bed; of course the 

 bed has to be shaded a little till the seed- 

 lings appears. Be sure you sow fresh 

 seed. 



CflBBflOE. 



About the 10th or 15th of February I 

 sow cabbage seed in a gentle hotbed. 

 When the plants are up I give plenty of 

 air and keep them as dry as they will 

 bear in order to harden them. When 

 they have made a couple of leaves I trans- 

 plant them into a cold frame about two 

 inches apart, and keep them close for a 

 few days until they make new roots, and 

 after that give them plenty of air. If the 

 plants have been properly hardened they 

 will be able to stand any frost likely to 

 come aftertheyareset in the field. If the 

 ground be fairly rich and if there is plenty 

 of manure it may be spread broadcast 

 and plowed in and the harrow run ever 

 the ground a couple of times. If manure 

 be somewhat scarce open good deep drills 

 2 feet apart for the early varieties and 21/2 

 feet for Flat Dutch or other large kinds. 

 Spread the available manure along in the 

 drills and cover it. If the drills are 

 straight a line stretched along them will 

 be over the manure and the plants can be 

 set along the line. Plant the early vari- 

 eties IG or 18 inches apart and the larger 

 sorts 2 feet. When the lines have been 

 stretched and before planting it will pay 

 to give the rows a liberal sprinkling of 

 superphosphate with a little nitrate of 

 soda added. As the plants grow keep 

 the plow and hoe busy. P. F. 



Market gardener, Westchester Co. ,N.Y. 



Clematis Paniculata, 



(See illustration first page this paper). 



Beautiful Hardy Climber, fragrant and 

 exceedingly floriferous 



FINE STHONG TLANTS, 3S ets. Each; $3.00 Per Dozen. 



ELLWANGER & BARRY. 



Mount Hope Nurseries, Rochester, N. V. 



fl LIST OF VEGETABLES. 



W. T. E., writing from Central New 

 York, asks for "a selected list of the Iiest 

 varieties of garden seeds (vegetables and 

 fruit) for my home grounds, this list to 

 reflect your experience in vegetables, and 

 melons of the best quality and flavor " 



A list of vegetables depends on circum- 

 stances. Some varieties do well in one 

 place that are only second rate in others, 

 for instance Concord corn is one of our 

 best at Dosoris and poor enough in other 

 places that we know. Some folks grow 

 and like Black Mexican corn, while others 

 wouldn't touch it no matter how sweet 

 it might be. At one time Salamander 

 lettuce was the best we had; to-day we 

 don't depend on it because the variety 

 has "run down." One year we lost 3,000 

 heads of Perfection Heartwell celery be- 

 cause the strain of seed— good enough 

 from the same firm the year before— was 

 bad, producing loose flabby head?. We 

 have never bought this variety from that 

 seed firm since. Many tomatoes have 

 lost their identity, and wild on the dung 



i.-%<jtii -ve;.a.i«. 



hill we can pick maybe better and finer 

 tomatoes than from the choicest varieties 

 cultivated in the garden. Convenience 

 makes a difference too. Many don't want 

 Champion of England pea (the best qual- 

 ity of all peas) because it grows so tall 

 and needs netting or brushing, but would 

 grow Premium Gem and Stratagem in- 

 stead, and soon. But we will do our best. 

 Asparagus.— Colossal. Fit to cut third 

 season after sowing. 



Artichoke.— French Globe. Bear a 

 good crop second summer. 



Beans, green-fleshed snap— Valentine 

 and Refugee. Wax— Improved Black Wax. 

 Limas— Dreer's or Challenger. Dwarf— 

 A few of Henderson's for first early, then 

 either Burpee's or Dreer's for main crop. 

 Beets.— Eclipse as a turnip beet for all 

 summer and a few of Long Smooth Blood 

 added for winter. 



Brussels Sprouts.— Improved half 

 dwarf. 

 Carrot. — Half-Long stump rooted. 

 Cabbage —Jersey Wakefield as an early, 

 and All Seasons for late summer and fall. 

 Drumhead Savoy for winter. 



Cauliflower. — Snowball for all the 

 time. 



Celerv,— Perfection Heartwell and 

 Giant Pascal. You may like a little White 

 Plume or Golden Self Blanching for early, 

 but remember thej^ are no good for late. 

 Corn.— Cory, or Ford's Early forearly. 

 Potter Excelsior or Moore's Concord 

 next, then Stowell's Evergreen for later. 

 Although Country Gentleman is a deli- 

 cious com lots of people don't like the look 

 of it, it is so uneven on the cob. Hickox 

 is a fine corn. 

 Cucumbers. — Improved White Spine. 

 Egg Plant.— N. Y. Improved. 

 Endive. — Green Curled. 

 Kale.— Curled Dwarf Green Scotch for 

 fall and winter. 

 Leek.— Large Flag. 

 Lettuce.— Boston Market for winter. 

 Big Boston and Grand Rapids for frames 

 or outdoors in spring. Improved Hanson 

 and Salamander (selected strain) for 

 summer. 



Musk Melons.— Long Island Beauty, 

 green fleshed; Skillman's Netted, green; 

 Surprise and Emerald Gem, orange. 

 With us these are about as good as any, 

 but often the best are poor enough. 

 Would that we could get northern grown 

 seed from selected fruit for cultivation in 

 the north. 



Water Melons are most as bad as 

 musk melons. But we manage to get 

 some nice Cuban Queen, with sometimes 

 Phinney and Ice Cream. 



Onions.— Large Red Wethersficld, Yel- 

 low Danvers and Southport White Globe. 

 Okra.— Dwarf Prolific. 

 Parsley.— Moss Curled. 

 Parsnip.— Hollow Crown. 

 Peas.— For first crop an Extra Early, 

 but don't sow it again till August for 

 a fall crop. Then sow Premium Gem and 



Hei-oine for summer crops. For quality, 

 however. Champion of England is the 

 best, but it grows 5 or 6 feet high, and 

 more sometimes. 



Pepper. — Ruby King. 



Radish. — French Breakfast as a turnip 

 radish, and Chartier's as a long one. For 

 quality the Chartier is the best. 



Salsify.— Sandwich Islands. 



Spinach.— Viroflay or Thick-leaf. 



Squash. — White or Yellow Custard, or 

 Summer Crookneck for summer, which 

 ever you like best, and Boston Marrow 

 or Hubbard for winter. 



Tomato.— Table Oueen or Perfection. 

 As regards quality Ponderosa is an excel- 

 lent tomato, but it is very large. 



Turnips.— White Egg and Yellow Globe. 



Blanching Celery.— F. C. C, Bath, 

 Maine, asks: "When j'ou use boards or 

 straw for blanching celery do you trench?" 

 Ans. When we grow it in wide apart 

 rows we throw out a trench about four 

 inches deep in the row, this is more for 

 convenience in holding the water there in 

 summer than for earthing up. By early 

 fall this trench is almost level with the 

 ground. We stand the boards on edge, 

 one on each side of the row, held apart if 

 need be by a little block of wood at top, 

 and draw some earth against the outside 

 of the boards to steady them in place. In 

 using straw (we use salt meadow hay 

 instead) we prefer the bed system and for 

 early celery. Mark off the rows eight or 

 nine inches apart, according to the good- 

 ness of your soil, drawing the lines as 

 deep as for sowing peas or beans in, plant 

 five rows with celery, leave two empty, 

 levelling them for a path, then plant other 

 five with celery, and so on with as many 

 beds as you want. Down the outside of 

 each bed close by the outside row set the 

 boards on edge, and with stakes driven 

 into the ground fix them steady and in 

 place. This helps to draw up the celery, 

 but when it gets up a little some salt hay 

 worked in between the plants keeps the 

 leaves close in and upright, assists in 

 bl inching, and by mulching conserves the 

 moisture in the ground. But with this 

 bed system you must be prepared to give 

 the celery lots of water, far more than in 

 the case "of single rows. Use the hay six, 

 eight or more inches deep if need be. 



Greenhouse Lettuces Rotting.— C. 

 H. R., Delight, Md., writes: "1. When 

 the lettuce heads and is about ready to 

 cut it begins to rot at the head. Why? 

 2. What quick heading lettuce would 

 you recommend for forcing in hothouse?" 

 Ans. 1. Some local cause as a too close 

 or moist atmosphere, a wet surface of the 

 soil, too much .>hade, hot sunshine on the 

 heads while they are wet, watering over- 

 head so late in the day that the plants 

 don't get dry before night, and so on. 2. 

 Boston Market, Rawson's Hothouse and 

 Denver Market. 



