November 



THB POMOLOGIST. 



151 



Ik^ legctirbU garbm. 



For the Western Pomologist. 

 Horticultural Operations on the Iowa 

 CoUege Farm. 



Thinking that the public might he sniuc- 

 what interested in what is going on at the 

 State Farm, I have conchided to give un out- 

 line of the principal op^Tations of the season 

 connected with the b.'ginning of the College 

 garden. 



The work began the lirst of March, as up 

 to that time nothing had been done to fit the 

 ground for the year's crop. Ten acres or 

 more, lying directly north of the College 

 Hall, were assigned to gardening purposes. 

 The ground is gently undulating, rising five 

 or si.\ feet in the first hundred yards, then 

 falling away seven or eight feet iu the west 

 one hundred and fifty yards, aud tlien again 

 ri.sing for some distance. The soil is a black 

 prairie loam, and is very uniform, being but 

 little more .saudi'' on the highest portion^ 

 than on the lowest. 



About the first thing done was to lay out 

 the ground, which was done as follows : The 

 whole was divided into blocks of equal size 

 and shape, each one being one hundred 

 aud sixty feet on the front (i. e , on the 

 south side), and two hundred and seventy- 

 two and a fourth feet in length, north and 

 south. This makes each block contain one 

 acre, and the shape gives exactly one square 

 rod for each foot of front, making the esti- 

 mate of crops easy and rapid. There are 

 nine of these blocks, all sejjarated by drives 

 fifteen feet in width. With this arrange- 

 ment, it is easy to go to any part of the gar- 

 den with a team, while at the same time the 

 rows of crops are sufficiently long so that 

 horse hoeing can be profitably emplayed. 



In the early part of the season, on account 

 of the press of work, the drainage could not 

 be done. It was consequently deferred, and 

 is now being done, so far as our limited sup- 

 ply of funds will admit. We are putting in 

 mains and sub-mains, running through the 

 lowest ground ; aud^in order to get the best 

 results, are putting two drains in each de- 

 pression, one on each side of tlii' lowest line' 

 at a distance of from two to three rods from 

 each other. We use the round tiles, and put 

 them down about three feet aud a half be- 

 ]ow tin; surface. When the drainage fund 

 runs out, we will have to stop work, and 

 will then have nearly all the mains and sub- 

 mains laid which will be needed for the final, 

 thorough drainage of the ground. It is 

 verj' desirable, of course, that the whole be 

 finished as soon as possible ; but with the 

 drains put In this season, wo will be able to 

 do (luite nicely until we get funds for finish- 

 ing the whole. 



In order to get iu the crops in time, the 

 ground was not subsoiled iu the spring, but 

 merely received as good plowing as we 

 could give it, after mar.uring quite heavily 

 those portions which were to be devoted to 

 the more important crops. This fall, as 

 soon as the crops are removed, the wliole 

 will be heavilj- maiuired again, and tlien 

 plowed and subsoiled. The plow we use for 

 subsoiling does not bring up the lower soil, 

 merely stirs aud breaks it up. 



But to leave what we are goinr/ to do, and 

 to go back to what we Jtave done. After we 

 had shortened our spring work by leaving 

 out the draining and subsoiling, we planted 

 in their time the ordinary garden vegetables. 

 For supplying the Boarding Hall with early 

 potatoes, we planted two varieties — jiarly 

 Goodrich aud Mountain Sprout. The re- 

 turn was only moderate, on account of the 

 drouth, which injured more or less every 

 crop on the garden. 



Early cabbage was started in the hot bed 

 from April 51h to 2oth, and transplanted fte 

 a sheltered bed in the first week of May. 

 They were then set in the open ground as 

 soon as the weather became mild enough. 

 For late cabbage, the the seeds were sowuiu 

 place, putting in enough seeds so that the 

 bugs, beetles, and other pests would have all 

 they wanted, besides leaving us a good sup- 

 ply. For a time the}'' all grew marvelously 

 well, and promised a large yield ; but alas ! 

 when the plants were about half grown, the 

 enemy came in the shape of a larviie of a 

 small lepidopterous insect, and for a time 

 threatened the entire ruin of the whole 

 crop. As it was, this pest did not stop its 

 ravages until the beginning of our fall rains, 

 since which the strongest plants are pushing 

 out new leaves and forming good heads. 



One acre and one-third of sweet corn was 

 planted, of the varieties " Stowell's Ever- 

 green" and "Forty Day," both of which 

 did well, though the first mentioned seems 

 to be rather the most desirable for general 

 use. 



Peas, beans, beets, carrots, parsnips, onions, 

 etc., were planted iu their time. Returns 

 from some of these moderate, while from 

 others very good. 



Tomatoes received the same treatment in 

 their younger stages of growth as the cab- 

 bages. They were started in the hot bed in 

 April, were transplanted to a [protected 

 place aSout the middle of May, and ab(mt a 

 week or so later were transplanted to the 

 open ground. In transplanting, great care 

 was taken not to unnecessarily expose the 

 roots to -the wind and sun, and when a plant 

 was set, and a little earth put about its roots, 

 water was added, which carried down the 

 soil and fitted it closely around every root- 

 let. In this way, we transplanted over thir- 

 teen hundred plants in the hottest of the 



spring weather, when the ground was verj'- 

 dry, and still lost but few plants. 



Wishing to test the comparative merits of 

 the several varieties of cabbages, potatoes, 

 and tomatoes, a set of experiments were in- 

 stituted for that purpose. The drouth has 

 modified the results so considerably that for 

 ordinary seasons they cannot be looked upon 

 as perfectly reliable; still some things con- 

 nected with them have some value. Thus, 

 for example, among the sixteen varieties of 

 cabba3:e tried, the "Early Sugar-Loaf" suf- 

 fered the most from the drouth, .scarcely 

 heading at all, while the "Early York," and 

 " Early Oxheart," formed quite good heads, 

 in spite of the lack of rain. Among toma- 

 toes, also, while " Cook's Favorite," after a 

 splendid proniiso of earliness aud produc- 

 tiveness, failed to prove itself even third 

 rate. "Extra Early Red" soon took and 

 held the first rank for both mentioned qual- 

 ities. "Gen. Grant" aud "Tilden" were 

 tried together, and proved themselves to be 

 of about equal value, aud well worthy the 

 .attention of those who like smooth toma- 

 ^es. The whole results from available data 

 ii#this tomato experiment have not yet 

 been summed up. Over forty well marked 

 varieties were tried. 



For testing eighty varieties of potatoes, 

 choice was made of a plat of land having as 

 little variation in the soil as possible. — 

 Equal quantities of ( ach variety were then 

 planted, all receiving exactly the same 

 treatment throughout. As they have not 

 yet been dug, no results can be given at 

 present. 



A beginning has thus been made, and to 

 this year's work we hope to constantly add. 

 What we hope to accomplish is to reach the 

 highest culture of the soil, with the best 

 varieties of every kind of garden vegetables 

 which can bo grown in Central Iowa, and at 

 the same time to make our experiments 

 more and more comprehensive, with a cor- 

 responding increase in their value to the 

 practical horticulturist. 



Chas. E. Besset. 



Iowa Agricultural College, Oct. 5th, 1870. 



Pickled Sweet Apples. — Wash the 

 apples aud put them, unparcd, into a steamer 

 over a kettle of boiling water, covering 

 tightly. Put them in not more tliau two 

 deep, and let them steam until you can stick 

 a fork into them easilj''. While they are 

 doing, I boil a quart of good vinegar, not too 

 sharp, with two cups of sugar or good 

 sorghum syruj). AV'hen it boils, put iu the 

 apples from the steamer and let them boil 

 ten or fifteen minutes. Take them up in a 

 pitcher or a .stoue jar, and pour the vinegar 

 hot over them. They are good as soon as 

 cold, but will keep well and make a nice 

 relish for any meal. So says an exchange, 

 nd we believe it's m. 



