88 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



1 



Floral Edition 



Starting Vegetables Outdoors 



C. B. Alden, Toronto 



IN most parts of Canada, the first of 

 May is early enough for planting 

 vegetables outdoors. Plants started 

 at that time usually will reach maturity 

 as quickly as those started earlier. The 

 variable weather of April of most sea- 

 sons is apt to interfere with growth. It 

 is always better to wait a few days and 

 thus employ good weather as an aid. 

 Important points in garden planning 

 are: 



(1) Make every foot of land work 

 all the time. When one crop is 

 harvested another should take its place 

 if there is room for its proper growth. 

 Practically all of the garden should 

 grow two crops and part of it ought to 

 produce three. • Warm season crops, 

 such as beans and tomatoes, and late 

 seeded. crops like turnips may follow 

 early, cool season crops such as iettuce, 

 spinach, radishes and onion sets. 



(2) Vegetables which .can be stored 

 for winter use should be given prefer- 

 ence in the plan because they will be 

 more appreciated when the supply is 

 low and the price high. 



(3) First plan for the long season 

 crops; the short season ones will take 

 care of themselves. Grow short season 

 crops (lettuce, radishes, spinach) be- 

 tween the rows of Icftg season crops. 

 Globe radishes may be grown in the 

 rows of carrots, "parsnips and beets or 

 between young cabbage and tomato 

 plants or between hills of corn. 



(4) Crops requiring a large amount 

 of space, such as potatoes, corn and vine 

 crops, should usually be left out of the 

 very small garden. If these are grown, 

 however, smaller, quick-growing croi)s 

 should occupy the space until the larger 

 crop needs it. 



(5) Foliage crops, such as lettuce 

 and spinach, usually grow better in 

 partial shade than do the fruit crops, 

 such as tomatoes and beans. Every 

 crop, however, needs to have light at 

 least part of the day. 



(6) Do not plant high-growing 

 plants (corn, or tomatoes to be staked) 

 where they will shade sun-loving plants. 

 Shading can be decreased by having the 

 rows run north and south. 



(7) Crops such as cauliflower, pep- 

 pers and egg-plant often fail because 

 of weather conditions or slight errors 

 in culture. Give their space to more 

 certain crops or limit the area given 

 them unless you are experienced. 



(8) In a small garden there is plenty 

 of "up and down" space, but it is 

 limited sidewise. Tomatoes should be . 

 trained to trellises or stakes. Tall-grow- 

 ing peas, trellised and planted between 

 rows of smaller vegetables, take no 

 more space than do dwarf varieties and 



can usually be grown on a trellis in the 

 small garden. 



(9) Provide for as wide a variety of 

 vegetables as practicable. 



(10) Leave enough space between 

 rows to make good tillage pos.sible. 

 Slightly more space than is needed is 

 better than too little, especially for the 

 beginner. 



(11) The suburban gardener should 

 plan to use the horse cultivator. The 

 long rows are better when the horse 

 cultivator is used as it lessens the 

 amount of turning necessary. When 

 one does not want an entire row of a 

 particular vegetable, two or more vege- 

 tables that require about the same 

 space and time for their growth may 

 be planted with advantage in the same 

 row. 



Varieties of Vegetables 



TASTES differ greatly in choosing 

 varieties of vegetables. In many 

 classes there are a dozen or more 

 well-known varieties that are reliable 

 and well worth having in any garden. 

 There are many new varieties also that 

 seem to be as good as some of the «ld, 

 but it is always safest for the home 

 gardener to select the standard sorts. 

 The following list comprises some of the 

 best for table use : 



Asparagus.— Argenteuil, Palmetto. 



Bean. — Bush: Stringless Green Pod, 

 Early Golden Wax, Ward well's Kidney 

 Wax, Valentine, Bush Lima. Pole: 

 Caseknife, Kentucky Wonder. 



Beet. — Egyptian, Edmand's Early, 

 Detroit Dark Bed. 



Brussells Sprouts.— Dalkeith, Long 

 Island Improved. 



Cabbage.— Early : Jersey Wakefield, 

 Winningstadt. Mid-season: All Sea- 

 sons, Succession. Late: Danish Ball 

 Head, Late Flat Dutch. Red: Mam- 

 moth Rock. Savoy: Chester. 



Carrot.— Early Scarlet Horn, Chan- 

 tenay, Danvers. 



Cauliflower. — Snowball, Dry 

 Weather. 



Celery.— Early : Golden Self-Blanch- 

 ing White Plume. Late : Giant Pascel. 



Corn, Sweet.— Golden Bantam, Early 

 Cory, Bantam Evergreen, Stowell's 

 Evergreen. 



Cucumber.— Early White Spine, Im- 

 proved. Long Green, Boston Pickling. 



Eggplant.— Black Beauty, New York 

 Improved. 



Kohl-Rabi.— White Vienna. 



Lettuce. — Leaf: Black-sfeeded Simp- 

 son, Grand Rapids. Head: Iceberg, 

 Salamander, Big Boston. 



Muskmelon. — Emerald Gem, Paul 

 Rose, Osage. 



Onion.— Sets: White or Yellov 

 Seed : Danvers, Southport White Globe, 

 Red Weathersfield, Prizetaker, White 

 Queen (for pickling). 



Parsley. — Moss Curled. 



Parsnip. — Hollow Crown, Guernsi 



Peas. — Early: Excelsior, Thos La 

 ton, American Wonder. Late: Gradi 

 Strategem. These are all bush varie- 

 ties. Among tall sorts are Telephone 

 and Champion of England. 



Pepper — Sweet: Ruby King, Neapoli- 

 tan, Chinese Giant. Hot : Red Cay em 



Potatoes.— Early Eureka, Early Oh; ., 

 Irish Cobbler. 



Pumpkin.— Sugar, Quaker Pie, Large 

 Cheese. 



Radish. — Scarlet Globe Turnips, 

 French Breakfast, Chartier, White 

 Icicle. Winter: Black Spanish, Rose 

 China. 



Rhubarb. — Linnaeus, Victoria. 



Salsify. — Sandwich Island. 



Spinach. — Victoria. A type 

 spinach, known as New Zealand, Avill 

 furnish greens throughout the summer 

 months. 



Squash. — Bush: White Scallop, 

 Crookneck. Vine : Essex Hybrid, Deli- 

 cious, various Hubbards. 



Swiss Chard. — Lucullu.s. 



Tomato. — Earliana, Bonny Best. 

 Chalk's Jewel, John Baer, Stone. 



Turnip, garden.— Milan, Snowball, 

 White Globe. Swede : Hazard's Swede, 

 American Purple Top. 



Watermelon. — Cole's Early, Ice 

 Cream, Kleckley's Sweet. 



Spading Garden Land 



SMALL garden plots cannot be 

 plowed. They mu«t be spaded. 

 There are a few wrinkles that make 

 the work more easily done and most 

 effective. A considerable area can be 

 spaded if the work is done a little at a 

 time, so that it does not become tire- 

 some. 



The land should never be turned 

 when it is extremely wet. The plow- 

 man's test is to squeeze together a hand- 

 ful of freshly turned earth, and, if it 

 sticks together in a ball with the im- 

 print of the hand upon it, it is too wet 

 for plowing or spading; but if it 

 crumbles when the pressure is released, 

 the soil may be considered dry enough 

 to spade or plow. 



Do not turn the land up in large 

 spadefuls. Begin at one side of the plot 

 and work back and forth across the 

 plot, maintaining a sti-aight line, cut- 

 ting the soil in thin spadefuls and turn- 

 ing completely over. If the soil does 

 not crumble readily, use the edge of the 

 spade and break up each spadeful im- 

 mediately after it is turned. For this 

 work the ordinary square-pointed spade 

 is considered the most desirable. 



On loose soils and on land that was 



