May, 1912 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



123 



I 



A Bed of Ciinseng a> Grown in Ontario 



Three-quarters of an acre of Ginseng plants, as grown In the eardens of Orr and Niokols, of Mono 

 Mills, Ont. are here shown as photographed May 24, 1911. These growers have another half 

 acre of Ginseng growing in the woods. The bed here shown was started in the year 1900, 

 and proved a suocess from the start. Notice the lattice shade which is a necessity 

 in the suocesefnl cultivation of this crop. 



Growing Seed Potatoes* 



I BEGIN this .short article by making 

 reference to the .soil, for I am con- 

 vinced that the kindly .soil of Mus- 

 koka has Iaro;ely contributed to my suc- 

 cess as a grower of seed potatoes. My 

 farm is slightly rolling, with natural 

 drainage, exposed to south and east, and 

 sheltered from the north-west by a gran- 

 ite ridge. The .soil, being a rich, warm, 

 sandy loam, quickly responds to good 

 culture, and being underlaid by a com- 

 pact subsoil, commonly called hardpan, it 

 retains moisture, even in the driest sea- 

 sons, such as 191 1. 



As potatoes require abundant humus 

 in the soil, I prefer to grow in rotation 

 following peas, which has been sod the 

 previous year. Legumes are credited 

 with drawing lightly on the manurial con- 

 stituents of the soil and the vines, acting 

 as a mulch, tend to smother weed growth 

 and leave a clean, mellow seed bed for 

 the following crop. I also grow on sod 

 land, breaking pasture land the first week 

 in .August, disking and harrowing at once 

 to hasten decomposition of the sod and 

 prevent grass from growing. This is re- 

 peated as often as required until snow- 

 fall. When sleighing comes, and before 

 the snow gets deep, I haul and spread 

 twenty loads of barnyard manure to the 

 acre. In the spring, early in May, as 

 .soon as the land is dry, I run a disk over 

 it. I then plough manure under and 

 harrow to a level surface. With a com- 

 mon single plough, with marker attached, 

 I then begin on one side of the field, 



throwing out planting furrows, right and 

 left alternately, four inches deep, plant- 

 ing by hand, distance apart depending 

 upon habit of variety, and covering by a 

 simple device drawn by one horse, resem- 

 ling a snow plough, which covers two 

 rows at a time and does the work satis- 

 factorily. I run a short toothed, steel 

 harrow lengthways of the rows, three 

 times at intervals, finishing just as the 

 plants appear above the ground. I then 

 run the cultivator, getting close up to the 

 plants thus making as little hand hoeing 

 as possible. No implement yet invented 

 can take the place of the hoe, and I use it 

 every year so as to insure clean culture. 



I cultivate four times, hilling only 

 slightly by running the cultivator deep 

 and narrow, thus making the ridges in- 

 cline towards the plants, which ensures 

 them getting the full benefit of the rain- 

 fall. I generally finish cultivating about 

 July tenth, just as the plants are begin- 

 ning to blossom. I never allow beetles 

 to make havoc with the leaves, as pota- 

 toes never recover from a check at this 

 stage of their growth. I use land plaster 

 and paris green — thirty pounds of plas- 

 ter to one pound of paris green, applied 

 dry, when leaves are damp with dew. 

 Two applications are generally sufficient 

 but should a third aplication be required 

 I think it is time well spent. This is the 

 time to reduce the pest — it saves worry 

 the next spring. 



Early Work With Celery* 



In case the grower adopts the plan of 

 transplanting, the seedlings will be ready 

 for the first handling in from four to six 

 weeks from the time the seed is sown. 

 The seedlings may be transplanted in 

 trays or to beds in the open ground. 



This transplanting answers two pur- 

 poses: First, the seedling plant of cel- 

 ery has a straight root or tap root which 

 is broken in transplanting, causing a 

 large mass of fibrous roots to be formed. 

 In the case of a plant allowed to remain 

 in the seed bed until planting out time 

 this tap root has gone far down into the 

 soil and the plant has formed very few 

 side roots, consequently it suffers a great 

 shock in the process of planting in the 

 field, and a large number of plants will 

 need to he replaced. 



Secondly, when transplanting plants 

 twice is practised there is no necessity 

 for thinning and a more uniform lot of 

 plants is obtained. 



When the seed bed is prepared, the 

 soil of which it is composed should con- 

 tain as much moisture as possible, and 

 yet be in good condition to handle. After 

 sowing and covering the seed, the bed 

 should be sprinkled lightly. During the 

 oeriod between seeding and the appear- 

 ance of the plants the bed should be wat- 

 ered only as often as it shows indica- 

 tions of dryness ; however, the surface 

 should never become dry. During the 

 first few days a moist cloth may be 

 snread over the surface in order to con- 

 serve the moisture, but this should be 

 removed before the seedlings begin to 

 ■lopear. After the plants are up care 

 should be taken not to water too heavily, 

 as they are liable to damp off, but the 

 ground should never become so dry as to 

 check their growth. 



If possible, the planting should be done 

 when the soil is rather moist and the at- 

 mospheric conditions suitable to the sub- 

 sistence of the plants until the roots can 

 again furnish sufficient moisture to sup- 

 ply them. The bed should be thorough- 

 ly watered a few hours before the plants 

 are removed and a knife or trowel should 

 be run between the plants so that they 

 may be lifted with a clump of earth and 

 with most of their roots attached. 



Mark off the rows with a wheel hoe or 

 cultivator. Place the plants in a shallow 

 tray and set in the ground from the tray. 

 When the plants are set and the .soil 

 well pressed down around them, they 

 should be just a little below the general 

 level of the soil, but not low enough to 

 become covered by heavy rains. 



•A paper read at the Ontario Winter Fair. 

 Guelph, December 191".. 



As soon as the ground can be worked 

 plant hardy vegetables, such as garden 

 peas, onions, radishes, lettuce, parsley, 

 spinach, carrots, beets and leeks. 



Get the cold frame ready for plants 

 ns soon as they are sufficiently advanced 

 to move from the hot beds. 



*GTtraot from a bulletin of the TTnited States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



