June, 1915. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



153 



Cultural Hints on Vegetables 



J. H. Moore, Queen Victoria Park, Niagara Falls 



WHEN this article appears in 

 print, the ambitious amateur 

 gardener may have his garden 

 fully cropped. If so, so much the bet- 

 ter. His work does not necessarily 

 end here, however; he must concern 

 himself with the proper cultivation of 

 his soil. One of the best ways to culti- 

 vate and so conserve moisture in the 

 soil is to hoe or rake the surface. A 

 good dutch 'hoe, six inches or eight in- 

 ches wide, and a steel garden rake are 

 two of the best tools a person can use. 

 The former must not be mistaken for 

 the ordinary draw hoe, a mistake which 

 is quite common. The draw hoe is like 

 a rake with a solid blade in the place 

 of teeth; a dutch hoe is like a pitch- 

 fork with a flat blade on the end of the 

 prongs or tines. 



A dutch hoe is a good cultivator, is 

 easy to handle, it is a splendid weed 

 eradicator, and as it breaks the surface 

 quite evenly it prevents the moistur(; 

 from escaping, and so conserves it for 

 the use of the crop. In use, the dutch 

 hoe is so operated that a person walks 

 backward, thus the cultivated ground 

 is not tramped. With the draw toe, 

 the reverse is the case. Do not mis- 

 understand me, the draw hoe also has 

 its uses, namely, for making drills or 

 for hilling crops of various kinds ; but 

 as a cultivator it is only a good second. 



Even in the ease of a garden fully 

 cropped, the thought of a succession of 

 crops will occupy the mind of the 

 owner, aaid those who unfortunately 

 have as yet not cropped their lot will 



also ibe thin'king of what they shall 

 plant. Succession crops of peas, let- 

 tuce, radishes and spinach may be 

 sown. It is not too late for beans, corn, 

 beets, carrots and turnips. There is 

 still time for a late crop of potiatoes, 

 provided they are planted at once. Last 

 year the writer planted potatoes on the 

 first of July and harvested six bushels 

 from three square rods. Late cab- 

 bages and cauliflowers, also celery, 

 melons and cucumbers, may be planted. 

 Buy large plants of these as it is too 

 late to sow seed. 



The Cauliflower Bed. 



Last year perhaps you were dis- 

 couraged with your cauliflowers. Many 

 people fail with these because they do 

 not realize that very few plants re- 

 quire as much moisture for their de- 

 velopment. Its large leaves give out 

 enormous quantities of water vapor, 

 and if a sufficient supply is not given 

 at the root, gnarled and dwarfed plants 

 will result. Plant three feet apart and 

 three between rows, so as to ensure 

 free eultivation. Many of the large 

 kinds, like Carter's Autumn Giant, will 

 even touch each other at this distance. 

 Between the rows of cauliflowers a 

 little intensive eultivajtion may be prac- 

 tised, in that quick-growing crops, such 

 as lettuce and radishes, may be sown 

 and harvested ere they interfere with 

 the main crop. Cauliflowers do well 

 on a heavy soil made porus by gener- 

 ous applications of stable manure. 



Celery requires even more moisture 

 than the cauliflowers, therefore plant it 



Peonies and Iris Germanica in the garden of Mr. J. R. Thomp-son. Hamilton. Ont. 



in trenches in either single or double 

 rows. Make your trench two feet wide, 

 and at least nine inches deep. Care- 

 fully fork the bottom of the trench, at 

 the same time working in a barrow load 

 of well rotted stable manure to every 

 fifty feet. Plant the rows one foot 

 apart, and allow one foot between the 

 plants in the rows. If your row is 

 single, the trenielh should be only one 

 foot in width. As the plants develop, 

 gradually earth up with fine soil. This 

 will favor even blanching. Boards are 

 sometimes used for this purpose, but 

 soil itself is natiire's material, and has 

 for ages given unsurpassed results. Soil 

 will completely exclude light, and when 

 your plants are lifted they will be crisp 

 and toothsome. Celery loves a deep, 

 rich and moist soil. It is almost impos- 

 sible to kill it with stable manure. 

 Cultural Hints. 



A few cultural hints will now be 

 timely. Success in the cultivation of 

 carrots, parsnips and other tap-rooted 

 crops, depends greatly upon the aera- 

 tion of the soil. These crops will now 

 be ready for thinning. Thin parsnips 

 to five inches apart and carrote three to 

 four. Fork carefully between the rovys 

 to prevent undue hardening of the soil. 

 In this respect, try a little experiment. 

 Fork a certain area and compare its 

 produce with that of an unforked area 

 of the same size. Especially in the case 

 of the parsnip, thorough deep cultiva- 

 tion is worth while, and is a necessary 

 factor if large, well-shaped roots of 

 good quality are desired. Only through 

 its agency will air be admitted to the 

 lower soil strata to which the plant 

 reaches, and from whioh it takes its 

 mineral food. 



Use the hoe and rake freely among 

 all crops. If you desire your vegetable 

 plot to be a source of real pleasure and 

 profit, cultivate incessantly. Cultiva- 

 tion is better than watering, although 

 at times the latter is very necessary. A 

 good dutch hoe or small cultivator, and 

 a good garden hose with the necessary 

 water supply, make a very 'happy eom- 

 biniation. ^ 



Pithiness in Celery 



John Gall, Inglewood, Ont. 

 The pithiness in celery is not due to 

 a hot, dry season, wrong time for seed 

 sowing, to light soil, or similar causes as 

 many growers seem to think, but to the 

 use of a cheap, poorly grown seed. Pithi- 

 ness is a characteristic of some varieties 

 and strains of celery, just as much as 

 form and color, and like form and color, 

 is transmitted and reproduced generation 

 after generation. The seed from stalks 

 producing pithy plants will give pithi- 

 ness in the offspring, while the seed from 

 solid stalks will produce solid stalks re- 

 gardless of the land on which the plants 

 are grown. 



