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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUEIST 



May, 190J 



one foot to eighteen inches apart each 

 way, but, when it is possible, single 

 rows are to be preferred. For field cul- 

 ture, rows about four feet apart, and the 

 plants set about eighteen inches apart in 

 the row, is about right. 



One of the most important things in 

 the setting out of the plants is to have 

 the trench so that the roots may be 

 spread out flat, and the crown at least 

 six inches below the level of the groun.d 

 when firmed down as it was before it 

 was plowed. This will permit of man- 

 ure being plowed or dug under without 

 injury to the plants. By plowing and 

 harrowing every spring, is about the only 



way clover, couch grass, and so forth, 

 can be disposed of. It also leaves the 

 surface in the best condition for after cul- 

 tivation, the cutting of the crop, and is a 

 great help in holding the moisture in the 

 soil. 



After the field is planted, as above, it 

 should be given thorough cultivation 

 and manuring, for two years before 

 cutting is commenced. After that the 

 grower must use his judgment, and must 

 be careful not to weaken the bed. 

 In this locality, the first year, cutting 

 should cease about June 15th. 



We have a patch of asparagus, planted 

 in this way twenty years ago, which is 



still in full bearing. With plenty o 

 manure and thorough cultivation, any 

 one may have the same. 



In cutting for market, use a short 

 bladed sharp knife, cutting just unde 

 ground. Never allow the heads of th 

 stalks to open or become seedy-lookini. 

 as this spoils the appearance. In bunch 

 ing, keep the heads nice and even- 

 shorter ones in one bunch, longer ones i: 

 another, and slender stalks and cull 

 by themselves. Trim the butt of_ tl 

 bunch with a sharp knife, and stand i 

 shallow boxes or baskets. You will :> 

 ways find ready market for your good 

 if these directions are followed. 



The Manuring of Market Garden Crops 



Frank T. Shutt, M.A., Chemist, Dominion Experimental Farms. 



MARKET gardening is a special and 

 intensive form of agriculture in 

 which we seek to obtain a maxi- 

 mum of yield of first quality produce 

 from a limited area of land. Quality 

 ranks in importance with earliness and 

 is to be considered before quantity. It 

 is an essential. It is the factor that 

 largely determines the commercial value 

 of our product, though, I regret to say 

 that in this country, our people, the 

 purchasers and customers, are not as dis- 

 criminating in this matter as they might 

 be. Appearance and size are fairly good 

 indications of quality, but they are riot 

 always infallible. One ought to be able 

 to establish a reputation in vegetables, 

 as one can in butter, and milk and eggs. 

 Quality in vegetables implies succulen- 

 cy, crispness, good flavor, absence of 

 woody fibre or stringiness, pungency and 

 bitterness. Take, for instance, early 

 beets and turnips, to be palatable, there 

 must be no development of woody fibres ; 

 radishes must be crisp, and free from 

 pungency ; lettuce must not be tough and 

 bitter. How are we to obtain quality, 

 apart from that inherent to and govern- 

 ed by the variety? By a quick and unin- 

 terrupted growth — the development must 

 be rapid and continous. Herein lies the 

 success, as regards quality, and to a 

 large extent, earliness, an important 

 matter from the standpoint of profit. It 

 is thus evident that the first question we 

 have to answer is : What are the factors, 

 the conditions, that lead to this rapid 

 growth ? 



THE SOIL 



First of all, there is the soil. It must 

 not be too heavy, that is, sand, rather 

 than clay, must predominate, and it must 

 be rich in vegetable matter as derived 

 from liberal applications of farm man- 

 ures. It must be well drained and, in 

 this connection, it is desirable to have a 

 sub-soil of sand. We must aim at hav- 



ing a warm, moist, mellow, well aerated 

 soil, for such is needed to make a good 

 seed bed, and to allow, and promote 

 rapid extension and development of the 

 root system. 



NECESSITY FOR MANURE 



You will notice that I am laying great 

 stress upon having the soil an agreeable 

 "habitat" for our plants. In the care 

 of our animals, altogether apart from 

 having them properly and liberally fed, 

 we are careful that they should be warm- 

 ly and comfortably housed, in quarters' 

 that are well aerated, and lighted. Our 

 crops require equal and similar attention, 

 if they are to thrive and do their best. 

 Our soil, therefore, must be capable of 

 retaining moisture, of holding air, of 

 readily warming under the sun's rays, 

 and of being responsive to the applica- 

 tions of manures and fertilizers. Such a 

 loam, naturally light and mellow, can 

 only be maintained by being constantly 

 enriched by humus, or semi-decomposed 

 vegetable matter — and our one great 

 source of this material is stable manure. 



Stable manures have been, and prob- 

 ably always will be, the main stand-by 

 of the market gardener. It is impossible 

 to dispense with manure, not for the rea- 

 son that it is the only source of plant 

 food, for it is not, but because it has 

 all those qualities and properties which 

 make the soil a suitable growing place 

 for roots. It certainly supplies plant 

 food in available forms, but equally im- 

 portant is its function in furnishing much 

 humus-forming material, without which 

 no soil can be at its best. All things 

 considered, partially rotted "short" man- 

 ure, is better than fresh "long" man- 

 ure. If you have occasion to keep man- 

 ure for any length of time, the heap 

 should be kept compact and moist. 



The store of manure may be supple- 

 mented in the market garden by the use 

 of compost. The compost heap should 



prove a valuable asset. From the mai 

 urial standpoint, good compost rani 

 very high, and the large amount of veg 

 table refuse, otherwise useless anu was 

 ed, that must annually be produced 

 the market-garden, makes it a fertiliz 

 that practically costs nothing. It is w. 

 worth while, therefore, to look after t' 

 cabbage leaves, the lettuces gone to sec 

 and a hundred other forms of refuse, ai 

 see that they go into the compost hen 



COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 



Apart from favorable climatic luu' 

 tions, and an agreeable soil, the quii 

 growth which we seek, and which v 

 know, means quality and quantity in vci 

 etable growing, must be obtained by 

 super-abundance — a reasonable excess 

 of available plant food in the soil. Tl 

 brings us to the subject of fertilizer 

 which will be treated in the next and su 

 sequent issues of The Canadian HofJ 



TICULTURIST. 



The Tariff and Other Thin^| 



J. W. Rush, Humber Ba)r, Ont. 



There are a few things in respect 

 the tariff question that I would like 

 bring before the vegetable growers. 

 was in Sarnia last fall, where there a 

 a lot of good growers. I said to one 

 them, "Do you sell your cabbages aero 

 the river in Port Huron?" "No," 1 

 replied, "as we have three cents a he. 

 duty to pay." 



While our growers cannot ship pro! 

 ably to the other side, there have bee ; 

 about 100 carloads of cabbages shippe ; 

 from New York State to Toronto durir 

 the past season. They were fine, har 

 heads. I suppose that a proportion:', 

 amount has been shipped also to otli 

 Canadian towns and cities. These c:r 

 bages were bought by Canadian buyt 

 at $6.00 a ton on the cars at Buffal 

 The buyers pay twenty-five per ceni 



