112 Southern Gardener^ s Practical Manual 



rows four feet apart and the plants should be three feet 

 apart in the row. Planted in this way, the plants branch 

 near the ground and commence to bloom within eight or 

 ten inches of the ground. The mistake of gathering the 

 pods too small is very common. The mucilaginous prop- 

 erties are not well developed until the seeds are formed. 

 The pods should be gathered every day as they reach the 

 proper size, to encourage production. Select, as early as 

 the plants develop, two or three of the most promising 

 plants to produce seed. The most prolific, branching 

 plants should be selected for this purpose and no pods 

 allowed to ripen on the other plants. Do not use a knife 

 in gathering, but break the stem of the pods with the 

 hand. This is easily done if the White Velvet variety is 

 grown, since it has no spines on the pods. If a knife is 

 used, there is danger of cutting off the stalk and of stop- 

 ping its fruiting. While gathering the edible pods, slip 

 the dead flowers from the small pods. If these are left, 

 they contract around the young pod and either destroy or 

 dwarf it. If sufficient room is given the individual plants, 

 the limbs will produce as much as the center stalk. The 

 central stalk should produce a pod for every two inches 

 of the stalk, and the limbs every three inches. Seed 

 should be saved only from stalks that produce in this 

 way. Well-bred and well-fed and cultivated okra will 

 furnish a dish for the family table every day from the 

 first of June until frost. There is no other plant which 

 will do this, unless it be the tomato. 



I have tried all varieties worthy of cultivation, 

 and recommend the White Velvet as the only variety I 

 would cultivate if I had to gather the pods. I have 



