1908 



VEGETABLE GARDENING 



VENIDIUM 



full satisfaction in California vegetable-growing, but a 

 small amount of water, if skilfully applied, will work 

 wonders. Irrigation will enable one to have something 

 crisp and delicious in the garden every day in the year 

 in the California valleys. It is true, however, that much 

 can be done without irrigation by beginning at the open- 

 ing of the rainy season in September, growing the har- 

 dier vegetables while moisture is ample even on the 

 drier lands during the late fall and winter, and keeping 

 the lower lauds well plowed and cultivated to prevent 

 evaporation until the tender vegetables can be trusted 

 in the open air, and continuing cultivation assiduously 

 afterwards so that moisture can be retained as long as 

 possible for them. That this is thoroughly practicable 

 is seen in the fact that the large Lima bean product is 

 grown almost entirely without irrigation from plantings 

 made as late as May and the whole growth of the plant 

 is achieved without a drop of water except that stored 

 in the soil. The same is true of the corn crop: perfect 

 corn can be grown without a drop of rain or irrigation 

 from planting to husking. In such cases, however, the 

 winter rains are retained in the soil by cultivation. If 

 winter growth is made by rainfall, summer growth can 

 be had on the same land by irrigation. In this way irri- 

 gation becomes eminently desirable in securing all-the- 

 year growth, which cannot be had by rainfall. With 

 good soil and abundant irrigation it is possible to secure 

 four crops in rotation during the year— the hardy plants 

 in the fall and winter months; the tender plants in the 

 spring and summer. Of course the adjustment of all 

 these means to desired ends requires good perception 

 and prompt action, and explains why those who have 

 been accustomed to plant at a fixed date and do 

 little but cut weeds afterwards may find it hard to get 

 the best results in California. And yet the Californian 

 grower has great advantages in his deep, rich soil, in 

 freedom from diseases which thrive in a humid atmos- 

 phere and in an exceedingly long growing season. 



Local adaptations for different vegetables are some- 

 times quite sharply drawn and selection of lands for 

 large specialty crops must be made with reference to 

 them. The result is that the earliest vegetables come 

 from a practically frostless valley near Los Angeles; 

 almost all the Lima beans are grown on a coast plain in 

 Ventura and Santa Barbara counties; the celery for 

 eastern shipment is nearly all grown on the peat lands 

 of Orange county; the cabbage comes largely from San 

 Mateo county; asparagus and tomatoes from Alameda 

 county and river islands of Sacramento and San Joa- 

 quin counties, etc. Smaller areas of these products and 

 others not mentioned are more widely scattered, but 

 everywhere the local soil, exposure and climate are 

 chief considerations. 



There is prospect of great increase in all the vege- 

 table products of California. Fresh and dried vegetables 

 enter largely into ocean traffic with distant Pacific ports. 

 Interstate trade is constantly increasing and canned 

 vegetables are contracted in advance to European dis- 

 tributors as well as to dealers in all the Americas. 



E. J. WlCKSON. 



VEGETABLE MARROW. See page 1713. 



VEGETABLE ORANGE is Cncumis MeJo, var. Chito. 

 V. Oyster. See Salfiifif. Vegetable Pomegranate is Cu- 



cuniis Mt'Io, var. flexxosus. Vegetable Sponge. See 



Luff a. 



VfilTCHIA (James Veitch, of Chelsea, famous Eng- 

 lish nurseryman). PalniiiceiP. About 4 species of pin- 

 nate palms native to the Fiji Islands and New Hebrides. 

 The genus belongs to that portion of the Areca tribe 

 characterized by a parietal ovule which is more or less 

 pendulous and fls. spirally disposed in the branches of 

 the spadix, and is distinguished from Hedyscepe and 

 allied genera by the following characters: sepals of the 

 male fls. chartaceous, connate at base: female fls. much 

 larger than the males. It is doubtful whether any spe- 

 cies is now in cultivation. T'. Joannia,!!. AVendl"., was 

 cult, in the early eighties. The leaf segments have a 

 wide and rather shallow notch at the apex or are ob- 

 liquely truncate. The sheath petiole and riu-liis are a 

 dark blood color and covered when young with a gray 

 tomentum interspersed with lanceolate, thin, dark red 



scales. Fr. 2% x \)^ in., ovoid-ellipsoid, orange, with a 

 red base. G.C 11.20:20.5. R.H. 1883, p. 2^. It has 

 been conjectured that Kentia Van Hoitftci advertised in 

 1895 by American dealers may be a species of Veitchia. 

 The genus is imperfectly known, and nothing further 

 can be said at present of Kentia ]'an Houttel. 



VELTHfilMIA (after the Count of Veltheim, 1741- 

 1801, Hanoverian promoter of botany ). LiliUcefp. Three 

 species of tender autumn-blooming bulbs from South 

 Africa with dense clusters of pendulous, tubular flow- 

 ers 1}4 in. long, resembling those of the Poker Plant 

 (Kniphofia), though not in color. The plants grow 

 about IK ft. high and bloom toward the end of October. 

 Two species are offered by Dutch bulb-growers. They 

 are not showy but are of easy culture. They are prac- 

 tically unknown in America. Generic characters: peri- 

 anth withering and persistent; tube long, cylindrical; 

 segments 6, very short, ovate; stamens inserted at the 

 middle of the tube; anthers dehisce introrsely: ovules 

 2, collateral, placed near the middle of the locules: 

 capsule large, membranous, top-shaped, acutely 3-cor- 

 nered, loculicidally 3-valved. These plants have a large 

 tunicated bulb 2-3 in. thick. The genus is monographed 

 in Flora Capensis, vol. G. For culture, see Sulbs. 



A. IjVS. green, SS in, broad. 

 viridifdlia, Jacq. Lvs. oblong-lorate, wavy-margined, 

 finally 1 ft. long: scape mottled with purple : raceme 

 very dense, 3-6 in. long, 2.5-30-fld. : fls. 1/i-lK in. long, 

 yellow or reddish, with greenish tips. L.B.C. 13:1245. 

 B.M. 501 [Aletris Capensis). 



AA. 1/VS. glaueo2ts, 1}4 in. broad. 

 gladca, Jacq. Lvs. oblanceolate-lorate, acute, glau- 

 cous: scape less stout: fls. "yellow or bright red," ac- 

 cording to Baker. B.M. 1091 {fls. white, dotted red to- 

 ward the tips) ; 3456 (fls, reddish purple, dotted yellow 

 above). y^_ m. 



VELVET BEAN. Mucuna pruriens, var. utiHs. 

 See also Bull. 104, Ala. Exp. Sta., by J. F. Duggar. 



VELVET PLANT. Gynura aurantiaca. 



VENETIAN or VENICE SUMACH. Bhus Cotinus. 



VENtDHTM ( name not explained by its author) . 

 Comp6sitcE. The plant listed in one of the largest 

 American catalogues of flower seeds as V. calendula- 

 cenm is so little known in America that the following 

 account of it as a garden plant is adapted from On. 21, 

 p. 405. It is a graceful single-flowered composite which 

 flourishes under the ordinary treatment accorded 

 half-hardy annuals, making a compact, rounded mass 

 2 ft. high and 3 ft. wide, and "covered for several 

 months consecutively with l)lack-eyed golden blossoms, 

 resembling those of the pot marigold, though much 

 brighter and more refined." "There is considerable 

 diversity in its seedlings both as regards habit and the 

 size, shape and shading of its blossoms, and careful 

 selection in seed-saving is needful in order to secure 

 the best forms. It is admirably adapted for cutting, 

 as the flowers open and shut as regularly as when 

 on the plant." This species has also been treated as a 

 greenhouse perennial, continuing to bloom until near 

 midwinter. The flower-heads are fully 2 in. across. 



Venidium is a genus of 18 species of South African 

 herbs, 7 of which are annual, the others perennial. Ge- 

 neric characters: rays female: receptacle honeycombed, 

 mostly nu<le: invohu'ral scales in several rows, the 

 outer narrower and herbaceous, inner scarious: akenes 

 glabrous, dorsally 3-5-winged or ri<lged, the lateral 

 ridges inflexed, the medial straight, narrower: no hairs 

 from the base of the ukene: pappus either none or of 4 

 very m^n^^te. unilateral scales. Monographed in Flora 

 Capensis, vol. 3 (1864-65). 



decurrens, Less. Diffuse, canescent perennial, 1-2 ft. 

 long: lvs. mostly lyrate, the terminal lobe ovate or 

 roundish, sinnate-lobed or repand, at first cobwebbed, 

 afterwards nude and punctate above, white-tomentose 

 beneath; petiole 2-2^2 in. long, amply eared at base, 

 the ear decurrent along the stem. 



