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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 1914 



Progressive Vegetable Culture^ 



PROGRESSIVE vegetable growers 

 are looking for new and improv- 

 ed ideas regarding the growing of 

 their products, and any method by which 

 they can realize increased returns from 

 their gardens interests them. The fol- 

 lowing methods and appliances are be- 

 ing adopted by vegetable men in parts 

 of the United States, and may prove of 

 interest and value to Ontario vegetable 

 growers. 



From the greenhouse vegetable grow- 

 ers' standpoint let me say that steriliza- 

 tion of soil is being extensively carried 

 on by practically all progressive growers. 

 In some cases steam boilers are pur- 

 chased for the sole purpose of treating 

 the soil. Some are using the inverted 

 pan method, others the spike method, 

 and one progressive grower in Grand 

 Rapids (Mr. Yonkers) has made a ster- 

 ilizing apparatus which amounts to put- 

 ting a modified skimmer irrigation line 

 under the soil to a depth of four to six 

 inches and forcing live steam through 

 the nozzles. He claims to have had 

 better success from this method than 

 from any other employed. Sterilization 

 will give results. This has been proved 

 by many growers on the other side, and 

 many make an annual practice of treat- 

 ing all soil in the greenhouse. 



Some growers make a point of grow- 

 ing only one or two crops and making 

 a specialty of those particular ones and 

 improving as they can. They select their 

 own seed and do their own cross-breed- 

 ing and aim to supply the market with 

 the best possible varieties of that par- 

 ticular vegetable that can be found. Some 

 make a specialty of cucumbers, others 

 tomatoes, and others lettuce, and dur- 

 ing their season the quality of the pro- 

 duce from these specialists can be seen 

 on the markets realizing ten and fifteen 

 per cent, more than that of their com- 

 petitors. Improved varieties are due 

 largely to selection of seed. These men 

 do not depend on seedsmen for their 

 seed, but at different times go through 

 the growing crops themselves and pick 

 out the best plants and select their speci- 

 mens from these. The progressive grow- 

 er knows what his market demands, and 

 the main point on his score card is pro- 

 bably his selection of specimens for seed. 



CUCUMBER CaOWING 



The large greenhouse plants around 



Toledo are devoted to extensive growing 



of cucumbers, and they have adopted a 



device for training their cucumbers on a 



stake one-half inch by one inch by seven 



feet in length. It is fitted with a simple 



nail lock, one naU being driven through, 



and another, somew hat longer, being 



• Extract from an addreas deliTored at the 

 laet annual convention of the Ontario Vete- 

 ta,ble Growers' Association. 



C. Johnston, B.S.A. 



driven through the stake and bent so 

 that it forms a lock with the small nail, 

 the bottom of the stake is either driven 

 into the ground beside the plant or is 

 fitted with a small resting shoe, and 

 stands on top of the ground beside the 

 plant. The tops are let into a piece of 

 ribbon wire which is permanently 

 stretched through the houses. This wire 

 holds the cucumbers solidly in place and 

 excellent results are given. 



Skinner irrigation cannot be spoken of 

 too much. Growers in all sections are 

 beginning to use this system on gardens 

 from an acre to forty acres in size with 

 remarkable results. Satisfied growers 

 are everywhere the best answer to any 

 question regarding Skinner irrigation. 



It is the custom of some vegetable 

 growers to hold their manure before ap- 

 plying it to the greenhouse. They have 

 told me that they find it worth consider- 

 ably more to them. Some of them have 

 built concrete manure pits. They pile 

 the manure to a depth of three or four 

 feet in these pits and turn the water on 

 to the manure at intervals to keep down 

 the fire fanging. Some turn the manure 

 at different times. These pits are built 

 with concrete walls about one foot thick 

 and eighteen inches to two feet high. As 

 a rule paving brick is laid in an inch or 

 so of concrete for the bottom. They are 

 higher at the ends than at the centre and 

 are made wide enough to permit hauling 

 manure right into them. 



Several growers are now making an 

 annual practice of holding their manure 

 four or five months in this way. They 

 advocate this method especially for the 

 manure that is to go into the greenhouse. 

 The liquid manure is soaked up by the 

 coarse manure and its full benefit is thus 

 gained. Some growers make pits for 

 this manure only and build it entirely of 

 concrete and do not drive in them, sim- 

 ply throwing the manure into a pile in 

 them and watering as they see fit. 



A New York firm has a patented celery 

 bleacher which is being tried out by 

 several growers. It consists of a strip of 

 material very similar to some of the com- 

 mon ready roofings, twelve inches wide, 

 and in rolls of one hundred feet in 

 length. This is placed around the celery 

 instead of boards or paper, and is held 

 together by means of I 1 shaped wire 



holders, which fit over both sides of the 

 pajDer. This method is not more than a 

 year or so old and it has been tried with 

 some degree of success by some growers. 



8T.AKING OF TOMATOES 



Possibly the staking of tomatoes is 

 being tried out more than any other 

 method by progressive vegetable grow- 

 ers. Fully fifty per cent, of the growers 

 visited last summer were either experi- 



menting with it or were beyond that 

 stage and carrying it on as part of their 

 yearly work. There are different meth- 

 ods of staking employed and as yet it is 

 mainly the early varieties that are being 

 staked and in quantities ranging from a 

 few plants to one and a half to two acres. 

 The commonest method is to drive a 

 stake into the ground beside the plant and 

 tie the plant to it with either twine or 

 raffia. The stakes are of one and one and 

 a half inch material, and are made from 

 five to seven feet in length. The plants 

 are set eighteen to twenty inches apart in 

 the rows and three to four feet between 

 the rows. The vines are trimmed to one 

 stem. Growers claim that they get earl- 

 ier fruit by nearly a week, and that the 

 quality of the fruit is improved. The es- 

 timated cost of staking plants is between 

 five and ten cents a plant. 



Sowing Vegetable Seeds 



Mr<. Dell Gnttaa, Port Atthor, Ont. 



THE time for sowing vegetable seeds 

 out of doors varies greatly. Firsi 

 of all have the ground well pre- 

 pared and enriched. Before starting to 

 sow, remove all stones and rubbish and 

 pulverize the soil thoroughly. Be neat 

 in all you do. 



Onions, peas, spinach, carrots, par- 

 snips and other hardy vegetables may be 

 planted as soon as the ground is fit. 

 Leave cucumber, squash and corn until 

 danger of frost is passed. Sow the seeds 

 in moist or freshly stirred soil. Do not 

 plant too deeply. Sow radish in good 

 rich soil in order to have quick growth. 

 For a succession, sow every two weeks. 

 Cauliflower seed is very expensive, so 

 when I do not plant in the hot bed but 

 out in the open garden I always put in 

 with it about a cupful of turnip seed, mix 

 them and sow. The turnip plants may be 

 removed before they smother the cauli- 

 flower plants. Early Snowball or Dwarf 

 Erfurt are fine for the garden. A great 

 many sow cauliflower and cabbage in 

 the hot bed. It is all right to plant a 

 few seeds so as to have early ones to 

 use, but as a rule the better plan is to 

 sow them directly in rows in the garden 

 as soon as the weather will permit. Mix 

 cabbage seed with turnip seed the same 

 as with cauliflower. This saves time, 

 and I have had good heads just as quick- 

 ly from plants grown from the start out 

 in the open, although it is hardly consid- 

 ered possible by some. Try both ways. 



Cabbage is a gross feeder, and needs 

 lots of rich manure. Most of the best 

 growers apply manure broadcast. In 

 growing early cabbage it is an excellent 

 plan to apply a little dry hen manure 

 around the hills when the plants are 

 half grown. This should be put close 

 to the plants, but scattered over a radius 

 of a foot or more from the plants and 

 then cultivated into the .soil. The Early 



