1908 



VEGETABLE GARDENING 



YFNIItlFM 



full satisfaction in California vegetable-growing, but a 

 small amount of water, it' skilfully applied, will work 

 wonders. Irrigation will enable one to have something 

 crisp and delicious in the garden every dav in the vear 

 in the California valleys. It is true, however, that niuch 

 can be done without irrigation by beginning at the open- 

 ing of the rainy season in September, growing the har- 

 dier vegetables while moisture is ample even on the 

 drier lands during the late fall and winter, and keeping 

 the lower lands well plowed and cultivated to prevent 

 evaporation until the tender vegetables can be trusted 



in tl pen air, and continuing cultivat assiduously 



afterwards so that moisture can be retained as long as 

 po ibl. for them. That this is thoroughly practicable 

 is seen in the fact that the large Lima bean product is 

 grown almost entirely without irrigation from plantings 

 made as late as .May and the whole growth of the plant 

 is achieved without a 'hup of water except that stored 

 in the soil. The same is true of the corn crop: perfect 

 corn can be grown without a drop of rain or irrigation 

 from planting to husking, in siu'h cases, however, tin- 

 winter rains are retained in the soil by cultivation. If 

 winter growth is made by rainfall, summer growth can 

 be had on the same land l.v irrigation. In this wa\ irri- 

 gation bei - eminenth desirable in uring ail-the- 



year growth, which cannot be had In rainfall. With 

 good soil and abundant irrigation it is possible to secure 

 four crops in rot at ion during the year— the hard} plants 

 in the fall and winter months; the tender plants in the 

 spring and summer. Of course the adjustment of all 



these means to desired ends requires it I perception 



and prompt action, and explains why those who have 

 been accustomed to plant at a fixed date and do 

 Little but cut weeds afterwards may find it loud to get 

 the best results in California. And yet the Californian 

 grower has great advantages in his deep, rich soil, in 

 freedom from diseases which thrive in a humid atmos- 

 phere and in an exceedingly long growing season. 



Local adaptations for different vegetables are some- 

 times quite sharply drawn and selecti f lands for 



large specialty crops must be made with reference to 

 them. The result is that the earliest vegetables come 

 from a practically frostless valley near Los Angeles; 

 almost all the Lima ln-ans are grown on a roast plain in 

 Ventura and Santa Barbara counties; the celen for 

 eastern shipment is nearly till grown on the peat lands 



of Orange county; the cabbage comes largely fr San 



.Matt untv; asparagus and tomatoes from Alameda 



county and river islands of Sacramento and San Joa- 

 quin counties, etc. Smaller areas of these products and 

 others not mentioned are more widely scattered, but 

 everywhere the local soil, exposure and climate are 

 chief considerations. 



There is prospect of great increase in all the vege- 

 table products of California. Fresh and dried vegetables 



enter largely int.. < an traffic with distant Pacific ports. 



Interstate trade is constantly increasing and canned 

 vegetables are contracted in advance to European dis- 

 tributors as well as to dealers in all the Americas. 



E. J. WlCKSON. 



VEGETABLE MARROW. See page 1713. 



VEGETABLE ORANGE is Cucumis Melo, var. Chito. 

 V. Oyster. See Salsify. Vegetable Pomegranate is ('»- 

 chwon Melo, var. fh ntosus. Vegetable Sponge. See 

 Lit f fa. 



VEITCHIA (.Tames Witch, of Chelsea, famous Eng- 

 lish nurseryman). PalmAcew. About 4 species of pin- 

 nate palms native to the Fiji Islands and New Hebrides. 

 The genus belongs to that portion of the Areca tribe 

 characterized by a parietal ovule which is more or less 

 pendulous and 'tis, spirally disposed m the branches of 

 the spadix, and is distinguished from Hedyseepe and 

 allied genera by the following characters: sepals of the 

 male lis. chartaceous, connate at base: female Us. much 

 larger than the males. It is doubtful whether any spe- 

 cies is now in cultivation. V. Joannis, II. Wendl., was 

 cult, in the early eighties. The leaf segments have a 

 wide and rather shallow notch at the apex or are ob- 

 liquely truncate. The sheath petiole and rachis tire a 



-lark I.I I color and covered when young with a gray 



tomeiitum interspersed with lanceolate, thin, dark red 



rale 



Fr. 'J 1 ;, x 1' 4 



.iil-ellipsoid, orange, with a 

 red t.ase. u.r. 11. L'n :'.'n,-,. K.ll. 1883, p. 344. It has 

 been conjectured that Keiltia I'm, Houttei advertised in 

 1895 by American dealers may he : , species of Veitchia. 

 The genus is imperfectly known, and nothing further 

 can he said at present of Kentin lee Houtti i . 



VELTHfilMIA (after the Count of Veltheim, 1741- 

 1801, Hanoverian promoter of botany). Liliaeete. Three 

 specie, of tender autumn-blooming bulbs from South 

 Africa with dens,- clusters of pendulous, tubular dow- 

 ers p. in. long, resembling those of the Poker Plant 

 lKniphoii.il, though not in color. The plants grow 

 about 1\. ft. high and bloom toward the end of I ictober. 

 Two species are offered by Dutch bulb-growers. They 

 are not showy but are of easy culture. They are prac- 

 tically unknown in America. Generic characters : peri- 

 anth withering and persistent; tube long, cylindrical; 

 segments 6, very short, ovate; stamens inserted at the 

 middle of the tube; anthers dehisce introrsely: ovules 

 J. collateral, placed near the middle of the locules: 

 capsule large, membranous, top-shaped, acutely 3-cor- 

 liere.l. loculicidally 3-valved. These plants have a large 

 tunicated bulb 2-3 in. thick. The cretins is monographed 

 in Flora Capensis, vol. i;. For culture, see Bulbs. 



a. Lvs. green, 2-8 in. broad. 

 viridifolia, Jacq. Lvs. oblong-lorate, wavy-margined, 

 finally 1 ft. long: -cape mottled with purple ; raceme 

 very dense. 3-6 in. long, 25-30-fld.: lis. 1' 4 -I'... in. long, 

 yellow or reddish, with greenish tips. L.B.C. 13:1245. 

 B.M. 501 (Aletris Capensis). 



aa. Lvs. glaucous, i', in. broad. 

 glafica, Jacq. Lvs. oblanceolate-lorate, acute, glau- 

 cous: -.ape less stout: rls. "yellow or bright red," ac- 

 cording to Faker. P.M. 1091 (fls. white, dotted red to- 

 ward the tips i ; 3456 ( fls. reddish purple, dotted yellow 

 above). yy. jj. 



VELVET BEAN. Uucuna prurient, var. utilis. 

 See also Bull. 104, Ala. Exp. Sta., by J. F. Duggar. 



VELVET PLANT. Gynura aurantiaca. 



VENETIAN or VENICE SUMACH. Ehus Cotinus. 



VENlDIUM (name not explained by its author). 

 Compdsita;. The plant listed in one of the largest 

 American catalogues of dower seeds as F. calendula- 

 ceum is so little known in America that the following 

 account of it as a garden plant is adapted from tin. 21, 

 p. 405. It is a graceful single-flowered composite which 

 nourishes under tin- ordinary treatment accorded 

 half -har.lv annuals, making a compact, rounded mass 

 ■1 ft. high and :t ft. wide, and "covered for several 



months isecutively with black-eved golden blossoms, 



resembling those of the pot marigold, though much 

 brighter and more refined." "There is considerable 

 diversity in its seedlings both as regards habit ami the 

 size, shape ami shading of its blossoms, and careful 

 selection in seed-saving is needful in order to secure 

 the host forms. It is admirably adapted for cutting, 

 as the flowers ..pen ami shut as regularly as when 

 on the plant." This species lias also been treated as a 

 greenhouse perennial, continuing P. bloom until near 

 midwinter. The llow.T-hea.ls are fully '_' in. across. 



Venidium is a genus of 18 species of Smith African 

 herbs, 7 of which are annual, tin- others perennial. Ge- 

 neric characters : rays female: receptacle honeycombed, 

 mostly nu.le. involueral scales in several rows, the 

 ...iter narrower and h< rbaceous, inner scarious: akenes 

 glabrous, dorsally 3-5-winged or ridged, the lateral 

 ridges inflexed, tin- medial straight, narrower: no hairs 

 from the base of the akene: pappus either none or of 4 

 very minute, unilateral scales. Monographed in Flora 

 Capensis, vol. :: 1 1864-65). 



decurrens, Less. Diffuse, canescent perennial, 1-2 ft. 

 long: lvs. mostly lyrate, the terminal lobe ovate or 

 roundish, sinuate-lobed or repand, at first, cobwebbed, 

 afterwards nu.le ami punctate above, white-tomentose 

 beneath: petiole 2-2% in. long, amply eared at base, 

 the ear .1. current, along the stem. 



