THE GENESEE FARMER. 



151 



HOETICULTUEAL NOTES FOE THE MONTH. 



The weatlier lias not proved as warm as we 

 were led to anticipate this time last month. Still, 

 on the whole, we have had an eai"ly and favorable 

 reason. The majority of crops in the garden will 

 be up by the time this number reaches our readers, 

 — at all events, the weeds will be up. It would 

 ^eem hardly necessary to say that weeds and culti- 

 vated crops cannot both thrive on the same soil ; 

 5Ut many persons appear to overlook the fact. As 

 'ar as possible, all crops should be sown in rows 

 iufficiently wide apart to admit the use of the hoe, 

 \nd as soon as the rows can be traced the soil 

 should be lightly hoed. A little timely attention 

 ;o this matter saves a great deal of after labor and 

 trouble. The weeds will be more effectually de- 

 stroyed, and the plants will be benefited by break- 

 ng the crust of the earth. The soil for all culinary 

 vegetables can rarely be made too rich, but we are 

 satisfied that in the majority of farmer's gardens 

 poor soil is not so general as poor cultivation. We 

 )uce visited the rich lands in the Sciota valley, in 

 company with a very intelligent Ohio gentleman ; 

 md on alluding to the astonishing luxuriance of 

 t'egetation, he remarked, "All we have to do here 

 ,3 to preve7it everything else from growing except 

 l-he one crop desired." It is so in most gardens, 

 [veep down the weeds, and the grateful soil will 

 'hrow up the cultivated plants in rich abundance. 

 Hoeing the soil is to some extent equivalent to 

 manuring it. The primary meaning of the word 

 tnanure is hand labor. 



What gardener has not sighed for a full supply 

 of water, and an easy method of distributing it to 

 Ins drooping plants? But how few seem aware 

 that on all but the sandiest soils, constant stirring 

 is the best means of rendering the ground moist? 

 We know an excellent farmer who entertains the 

 opinion — and acts upon it — that by the frequent 

 and judicious use of the horse hoe he could obtain 

 a good cr'ip of corn without a single shower of rain 

 from the time it was planted till it was harvested. 



On very light, warm soils, however, mulching is 



one of the best methods of keeping the soil moiel. 

 It checks evaporation, and smothers the weeds. 

 On such soils, recently transplanted trees should 

 always be mulched as soon as the warm weather 

 sets in. So of strawberries, raspberries, blackber- 

 ries, and gooseberries. 



Some people talk of mulching with turnii)s and 

 other broad-leaved plants, — forgetting that all 

 plants in growing pump up water from the soil 

 and evaporate it through their leaves. Nothing 

 can be more absurd than to suppose that growmg 

 plants keep the soil moist by shading it from the 

 sun. Every farmer knows that a summer fallow is 

 damper than a field of grain or grass. 



In many sections, much of the work alluded to 

 in the Farmer for April will have to be performed 

 this month. Lima and string beans can now be 

 planted as then recommended. Plants from the 

 hot-bed, such as cauliflower, celery, &c., can be 

 thinned out if too thick, and pricked out in a shel- 

 tered spot till sufficiently hardy for final trans- 

 planting. Tomatoes should be set out in warm soil 

 and a sunny situation as soon as the weather is 

 sufficiently settled. Transplant them carefully, so 

 as to disturb the roots as little as possible. Plants 

 which spring up from self-sown seed often produce 

 earlier fruit than those raised from seed sown in 

 the open ground in the spring. 



For cucumbers, dig holes six feet apart, two fe«t 

 in diameter, and about a foot or fifteen inches deep. 

 Fill with well rotted manure thoroughly mixed 

 with the soil which came out of the holes. Then 

 place a few inches of very fine, rich, sandy loam or 

 leaf mould on top, and plant six or eight seeds in 

 the centre of the hill. A small fcame, or an old, 

 bottomless cheese-box, placed on the hill, will be 

 very useful in keeping off cold winds and checking 

 the ravages of the bug. If they could be covered 

 with glass or thin gauze, they would be still more 

 advantageous. In this case it will be necessary to 

 ventilate a little each day, soon after the sun has 

 begun to shine upon the glass, and shut up about 

 four or five o'olock in the afternoon, before the sun 

 leaves the glass. The glass or frame should be 

 lifted on the opposite side from which the wind 

 blows. Water when dry with lukewarm water. 

 When the plants have made three rough leaves, 

 pinch the top out of each plant to make them 

 branch, and leave but three plants in a hill. If 

 not covered, examine the plants early in the morn- 

 ing, or in the cool of the evening, and kill the 

 bugs. 



For melons and squashes the hlUs may be made 

 in the same way as for cucumbers. They should 



