196 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



transplanting is when the weather is cloudy 

 or rainy. I prefer the evening. Fine 

 earth should be put closely round the roots, 

 and if the sun conies out hot they should be 

 shaded. I use large leaves, or paper held 

 in place by stones. Some clip off half the 

 leaves before planting. Cabbage require 

 rich land, well worked, and abundant light 

 and warmth. 



I once asked a gardener his method of 

 dealing with the root maggot. He said, 

 " I go out in the. morning early, and wher- 

 ever I sec a plant cut off I search for the 

 maggot and kill it. I have used black cur- 

 rant leaves to wrap the plant loosdy just 

 above the roots. For the cabbage worm 

 use kerosene emulsion. Hot water dropped 

 on the worm will kill it." 



As soon as the rain is over the atmosphere 

 is free of moisture and evaporation from the 

 soil sets in. If the tubes formed by the 

 pores are broken evaporation from the 

 ground is much lessened. This can be done 

 with a rake or other implement. It will also 



kill the weeds. In watering, the earth 

 should be thoroughly wet, so the moisture 

 will get to the lower and outer roots of the 

 plant. The surface should be broken as 

 soon as dry enough to work. If watering 

 is necessary always do it in the evening. 



A warm, light sandy soil, well supplied 

 with humus, is recommended for cucum- 

 bers. Some start them in hot beds on up- 

 turned pieces of sod, six inches square, cov- 

 ered with rich soil. I never make high 

 hills for cucumbers or anything else. I pre- 

 fer level ground. Hills might do if it were 

 very wet, but in dry weather they dry out, 

 and if there comes a rain it runs off. Deep 

 preparation and plenty of manure will make 

 good potatoes on almost any soil. They 

 require a temperature of about 60 degrees 

 and thorough cultivation. I always set them 

 deep in the ground so the roots w'ill not dry 

 out. I have had them so firmly set in the 

 ground that I found it needed a good pull 

 to get them out in the fall when the frost 

 came. 



THE CULTURE OF POTATOES* 



W. T. MACOUX, HORTICULTURIST, CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM, OTTAWA. 



IN order to obtain heavy yields, potatoes 

 should be kept in good condition at 

 planting time ; the more dormant the better. 

 Potatoes should be kept near the freezing 

 point. 



At the Experimental Farm at Ottawa ex- 

 periments were tried for a number of years 

 to determine what kind of sets were best. 

 Large whole potatoes, medium sized whole 

 potatoes, small potatoes, half potatoes, stem 

 ends, seed ends, sets with one eye, two eyes, 

 and three and more eyes w^ere tried, even 

 potato peelings being given a test. The 

 largest crop was obtained from large whole 

 potatoes, but the most economical kind of 

 set was found to be one with three or more 

 eyes and a good amount of flesh. Grow- 



* Continued from the January issue. 



ers lose many bushels of potatoes every year 

 from using too little seed. It is not an un- 

 common, thing to find fuilly 10 per cent, of 

 the hills in a field of potatoes missing, caused 

 by the failure of the seed to grow, the reason 

 usually being that either the seed has dried 

 up before or after planting, or that the single 

 eye, which is often all that there is to the 

 set, 'has not sprouted. 



Our practice is to make four sets of a 

 medium sized potato, cutting it lengthwise 

 and then across. The practice of using 

 small potatoes for seed should be discon- 

 tinued. Although fairly good crops are 

 obtained from small potatoes it stands to 

 reason that immature potatoes, as small 

 potatoes really are, will not give as good re- 



