NOVEMBER 15, 1914 



917 



I(GM=PEE§§UEE (GAMDENMG 



TAKING CHANCES, ETC., IN GROWING GARDEN 

 STUFF. 



We have bad an unusual fall here in the 

 North, dear friends, and I fear that many 

 of us have not remembered to thank God for 

 nice growing- weather clear up to the 28th 

 day of October. Yes, we had nice beans 

 and tomatoes almost up to the first of 

 November. It is true there have been some 

 slight frosts, but none to hurt truck on high 

 ground like our own. When the early peas 

 and early potatoes began to go off and be 

 out of the way, I planted Bantam corn and 

 suggested to the children that I was going 

 to have Early Golden Bantam corn wher- 

 ever there was a vacant place. I kept on 

 so late that they laughed about my getting 

 roasting ears away up in October. Then I 

 got half a i^eck of white marrowfat beans; 

 and after I stopped planting corn I put in 

 beans for a coujjle of weeks later. Well, 

 the corn did all right and gave us the nicest 

 golden-yellow ears I think I ever ate; and 

 when we had more than we could use I 

 enjoyed the fun of carrying them around 

 to the neighbors. Well, most of them had 

 become tired of garden stuff along in Octo- 

 ber, so there was not much call for the big 

 white .shell beans; but just as the frost 

 threatened I went all over the garden with 

 a good stout man, and had him pull all the 



An Early Ohio potato weighing 2 ll:s. 2 oz., and 

 in length, grown under the irrii;ation syst 

 our issue for Oct. 1. 



beans he could find, with plump yelloAV 

 pods. They were piled on a wheelbarrow 

 and run under a shed; and as the tempera- 

 ture goes up and the sun comes out again, 

 we are going to spread them out to dry. 



and I shall have quite a crop of " home- 

 grown " white beans. 



Some of you may suggest that you have 

 no time to take risks; and, to tell the truth, 

 we had several rows of beans almost ripe 

 when the frost came, and you might say 

 that it is a waste of time and seed to take 

 such chances. Not so. You all know how 

 much it is worth to have a crop of clover 

 or vetch to turn under; or almost any other 

 legume. Well, now, a dense row of white 

 beans loaded with pods, even if they are 

 only fit for snap beans, will be worth as 

 much as a big dressing of stable manure. 

 You try it and see. I am going to put some 

 elioice crops next season where those green 

 beans were turned under. Our dasheens 

 made a splendid gi'owth clear up to the date 

 I have mentioned, and we got them in just 

 as the freeze came (for it was a freeze, and 

 not a frost). There was no frost visible, 

 but there was a skim of ice on the water- 

 trough next morning. Such a freeze does 

 not do nearly' as much damage as a frost. 



The sesame plant I have spoken about 

 several times did not matui'e any good seed 

 here in Ohio. Probably it will have to be 

 grown further south. The plants were cov- 

 ered with pods when the frost took them. 

 Our cantaloup melons also kept ripening 

 clear up to the date mentioned. We had 

 also beautiful egg- 

 plants that had to be 

 gathered just before 

 the freeze. One big 

 plant contained eight 

 good-sized eggs. 



The irrigation ap- 

 paratus I illustrated 

 and mentioned in our 

 Oct. 1st issue, of 

 course helped great- 

 ly. In fact, it kept 

 our Early Ohio pota- 

 toes growing briskly 

 clear up to the freeze. 

 When I first installed 

 the apparatus a part 

 of the vines had died 

 down ; but plenty of 

 water during a warm 

 period started the 

 rest, and they grew 

 amazingly. We give 

 a picture of one specimen. 



Of course, some of the stuff started up 

 with the water, made a second growth, and 

 the small potato that shows in the picture 

 was, I presume, the outcome of the irriga- 



mpasnring 9V2 inches 

 em illuistrated in 



