214 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



the tip grows the same as a young plant. 



A third way of obtaining the second crop 

 is by means of new seedling plants. This is 

 the common method. Plants are started 

 from seeds two or three months beforehand, 

 and are transplanted two or three times 

 into pots. At the final shifting they are 

 taken from four or ttve-inch pots and placed 

 in permanent quarters. At this time they 

 should be from 18 inches to two feet high, 

 or ready for the first tying up. We find 

 that seedlings will bear about the same 

 time and to the same extent as sprouts 

 which are of egual length to begin with. 

 The preference must therefore be tor the 

 sprouts, as they avoid the previous labor of 

 sowing and handling; and 

 the seedlings take up 

 valuable room while 

 growing. 



Yields. In our experi- 

 ence we obtain from one 

 and one half pounds to 

 two pounds per stem {or 

 plant) in midwinter and 

 about twice as much in 

 spring, or an average of 

 three pounds or more for 

 the season. This amount 

 is produced on one and 

 one half square feet space. 



Varieties. We have 

 forced Dwarf Champion, 

 Lorillard, Ignotum, Itha- 

 ca, Golden Queen, Golden 

 Sunrise, Volunteer and 

 Beauty and we are now 

 growing Potato I^eaf. Of 

 these, the Dwarf Cham- 

 pion is least satisfactory. 

 It does not grow high or 

 free enough to allow of 

 convenient training, and 

 the fruit is small and 

 ripens slowly. Among 

 the others there is little 

 choice. Lorillard and Ig- 

 notum seem to hold the 

 first place among the var- 

 ieties which we have tried , 

 although Volunteer is 

 scarcely inferior. Golden 

 Queen is perhaps the 

 best yellow. Yellow Tomatoes are in little 

 demand, but a few plants may prove profit- 

 able from which to sell fruits to those who 

 desire to make table decorations. 



Marketing. The Tomatoes are usually 

 marketed in small .splint baskets holding 

 from four to ten pounds of fruit. Each 

 fruit is wrapped in tissue paper and if to be 

 shipped by rail the baskets should be lined 

 with rolled cotton. In midwinter our fruits 

 average from one and three-quarter ounces 

 to two ounces each, but in late March and 

 April the average will rise to three ounces 

 and more. In May well pollinated fruits 

 often weigh seven or eight ounces. The 

 weight of the best fruits is often increased 

 by cutting off the smallest and most irregu- 

 lar ones. 



Insects and Diseases. A white scale 

 {Alcyrodcs vtiporariorunt) is a common 

 pest here on Tomatoes. It can be kept in 

 check by fumigating with Tobacco smoke. 

 A much more serious pest is a small spotted 

 mite, scarcely larger than the red spider. 

 Barring the Rose chafer, it is the most 

 serious pest which I have ever encountered. 

 Lately we have found that Hughes' Firtree 

 oil is fatal to them, as also to all kinds of 

 lice and scales. For the mites, we use a 

 half pint of oil to two gallons of water, and 

 the material may be applied with a syringe 

 or knapsack pump. 



The root-gall, caused by a nematole worm 

 {Hetcrudcra riidiclcola), often does great 

 damage in Tomato houses. Remove the 

 soil from benches and wash the boards 



thoroughly with lye and thenadd new soil. 

 We have not had serious difficulty with 

 fungi. The rot of the fruit has been the 

 worst and this has appeared chiefly in 

 spring. Spraying with either ammoniacal 

 carbonate of copper or Bordeaux mixture 

 keeps the trouble in check. We prefer the 

 carbonate of copper because it is more 

 easily made and applied and it does not 

 discolor the plants and fruits so much as 

 the other. There are two or three good 

 recipes for preparing the carbonate of cop- 

 per. We dissolve'three ounces of carbon- 

 ate of copper in a quart of ammonia and 

 keep this as a stock solution. Two fluid 

 ounces (half a gill, four tablespoonfuls) is 



THE BLACK DEFIANCE STRAWBERRY. Scc Nvli 



added to a pail (two gallons) of water when 

 desired for use. 



Fruit Outlook in Central Missouri. 



SAMUEL MILLER, MONTGOMERY CO., MO. 



The Strawberry crop was a good one, but 

 much of it was lost owing to too much rain. 

 The same may be said about Cherries. We 

 lost half our crop of Napoleons in one day. 



Currants and Gooseberries are a fair crop, 

 also Raspberries. Let me ask why the 

 Seneca is not mentioned anymore? I still 

 keep a few stools for memory's sake, and 

 there is not a finer flavored or more produc- 

 tive Blackcap on my place. 



The Centennial is again the earliest with 

 me, and has taken the place of Souhegan 

 entirely. My Shaeffer's Collosal are bend- 

 ing to the ground under their load of fruit. 

 Plums will be but a slim crop. Wild Goose 

 has only a few specimens. Golden Beauty, 

 De Soto and Richland are the only ones bear- 

 ing a full crop. They escaped the late frost. 



Of Peaches, there is the largest crop I ever 

 saw, and in many instances I take off eight- 

 tenths of the fruit. 



Pears a slim show, but a tremendous crop 

 of blight; so much so, that if it continues as 

 bad a few years more will have none left. 



The Apple crop will be a very moderate 

 one here. Say about one-fourth the crop 

 that there was last season. 



There are no large commercial orchards 

 nearer than eight miles from here, but the 

 general report indicates a rather poor out- 

 look for Apples this year. 



Turnips as a Catch-Penny Crop. 



Many of the garden crops, like Onions, 

 early Sweet Com, early Potatoes, etc., are 

 now harvested, leaving the ground in shape 

 for a succeding crop. Why should this 

 opportunity to add a little to the income 

 from the garden be neglected as is only 

 too often done? 



Turnips, for instance, while they may not 

 have a great money value, are easily grown 

 on moderately rich soil even after this time, 

 and possess many advantages for a cron so 

 cheaply produced. In the first place they 

 put the land to a good and profitable use, 

 instead of having it grow up in weeds, and 

 re-stocked with foul seeds to double the 

 following year's labor in 

 cultivation. Then they 

 shade and protect the 

 soil during the heat of 

 late summer and early 

 autumn even better than 

 weeds would, while per- 

 haps not drawing any 

 more than weeds on the 

 fertility of the soil. 



Often the crop is readily 

 salable, bringing four 

 times and over what it 

 costs to produce it. In 

 that case Turnips will be 

 found to catch not only 

 pennies but dollars. But 

 stippose you cannot sell 

 them, even then the crop 

 is profitable, for it has 

 various uses in domestic 

 economy. Some you can 

 eat. Then all kinds of 

 stock like them. They 

 are excellent for sheep, 

 and may be given to them 

 as a regular daily ration 

 from autumn until spring. 

 Hogs also are fond of 

 them, and so are cattle. 

 An occasional ration of 

 the finely chopped roots 

 will come very acceptable 

 to poultry during winter. 

 Turnips, in fact, might 

 be relied on almost ex- 

 clusively for the "green," 

 succulent food needed by poultry during 

 the time that they have to do withont 

 pasture, although a change to Carrots, 

 Apples, etc., all tine chopped, is preferable. 

 I n case you have a larger patch of Turnips 

 than you desire to harvest and store for 

 winter, such patch can be pastured to ad- 

 vantage by hogs, cows and sheep. If not 

 utilized in that way, or if partially wasted, 

 the crop is yet a valuable one as green 

 manure, and will put the land in better 

 shape for next year's cropping. 



With all these advantages of this crop, it 

 would be folly to neglect it. Every available 

 space in the garden not otherwise occupied, 

 or desired for other fall crops, and even Corn 

 fields, should be made use of for Turnips. 

 Seed is cheap, and a pound of it goes a great 

 ways. For garden culture sow with seed 

 drill in rows eighteen or twenty inches 

 apart, at the I'ate of a pound of seed to the 

 acre. Deep preparation of the soil will not 

 be needed. Seed may also be scattered 

 thinly among standing Corn. The crop will 

 make its chief growth after the Corn is cut 

 in September or October, and will come 

 especially acceptable for fall pasture. By 

 all means sow plenty of Turnips, ai\d better 

 do it at once. 



Proper Grading of Fruits. 

 A mere look at the California fruit in our 

 fruit stores must convince the eastern fruit 

 grower that in the matter of sorting and 

 packing fruits his Californian competitor is 

 setting him an example that he will do well 



"'jiMiiaiiiiyfeiiikiiiiiBiif 



)iular Oardeniny OrouniJs, p. 211. 



