ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



a moderate degree of frost, and Indeed 

 its quality is improved by freezing 

 slightly. In the coast regions it can, 

 therefore, be left outdoors the entire win- 

 ter and cut as needed. In very cold 

 weather, a foot or more of snow is a pro- 

 tecting blanket to the plants. 



"Treat kale exactly like cauliflower. 

 The dwarf curled varieties are to be pre- 

 ferred. The tall coarser varieties can be 

 grown for cattle feed, the only objec- 

 tion to this being that they will flavor 

 the milk as do turnips, cabbage, and all 

 other Cruciferse. 



"Dwarf Scotch, Green Curled and Sibe- 

 rian kale were sown in the open field 

 May 27 and were ready for use September 

 15 and 20, respectively, 96 and 94 per 

 cent of the plants being marketable. 

 Brussels sprouts sown March 27, trans- 

 planted to cold frames April 18 and to 

 the open field May 27, was mature Octo- 

 ber 27, 90 per cent of the plants form- 

 ing marketable heads. 



Brussels Spronts 



"This is a vegetable that deserves to 

 be more generally cultivated than is the 

 case. It is really a variety of kale and 

 is cultivated in exactly the same manner 

 as kale and cauliflower, but the stalks 

 grow taller than kale, and in the axil 

 of each leaf is formed a small head, 

 which is the portion used. These little 

 heads properly cooked are most delicious. 

 They are better flavored than either cab- 

 bage or kale. In the coast region the 

 plants can be left outdoors until mod- 

 erately cold weather sets in. They are 

 not quite as hardy as kale. But one 

 variety was grown here the past season. 

 It is listed above with the kale. 



Turnips 



"Eight varieties of turnips were grown 

 here, each in a 50-foot row, with yields 

 as follows: Petrowski. 150 pounds; 

 White Milan, 140 pounds: No. 33682, 133 

 pounds: No. 33684, 127 pounds: No. 

 336S3, 97 pounds; No. 33687, 46 pounds; 

 No. 33685, 31 pounds; No. 33686, 18 

 pounds. 



"The seed of those sorts designated by 

 numbers were obtained from the Seed Di- 



vision of the Department of Agriculture. 

 None of them appear to have any great 

 merit. 



"The Petrowski is undoubtedly the best 

 variety so far found for Alaska. It has 

 not as yet been offered by seedsmen in 

 this country. The seed which has been 

 grown at the experiment stations and 

 which has been distributed to all the cor- 

 respondents of this office has been im- 

 ported from Finland. It is a yellow, 

 smooth, uniformly shaped turnip of de- 

 licious quality. It grows well everywhere 

 and as noted below it is not greatly sub- 

 ject to the attacks of root maggots. About 

 2,000 packages of this seed have been dis- 

 tributed to settlers in Alaska, and all who 

 have reported, speak in the highest terms 

 of this variety. It is earnestly urged that 

 all who have grown good turnips should 

 save the best, wintering them free from 

 frost with a view to planting them out 

 for seed the following spring. Plant 

 them early in rows three feet apart and 

 two or three feet apart in the row. When 

 the stems grow up they should each be 

 tied to a stake. Gather the seed as soon 

 as it matures. This variety is worthy 

 of perpetuation. 



Root maggots. — These pests are quite 

 prevalent in Alaska, and complaints of 

 their ravages come to this ofiBce from 

 all parts of the territory. 



They attack turnips, cabbage, cauli- 

 flower, kale, and in fact all members of 

 the Cruciferse and other plants. 



The maggots are the larvfe of small 

 flies somewhat resembling the house fl.v, 

 which lay their eggs on the leaves near 

 the base of the plant. When the eggs 

 hatch, the maggots wriggle into the 

 ground and begin to feed on the roots 

 near the surface. They grow rapidly and 

 when numerous they soon suck the juice 

 from the plant, causing decay to set in 

 and the plant dies. Some varieties of 

 plant are more susceptible to the ravages 

 of this pest than others. The Petrowski 

 turnip, for instance, is almost exempt, 

 while other varieties of turnips grown 

 alongside suffer badly. The reason for 

 this fact is not fully known, and may 

 be due to the habit of the plant, which 



