280 



FARM GARDEN 



FARM GARDEN 



others, we may plant celery, turnips, spinach, and 

 the like. To secure a succession of such vegetables 

 as sweet corn and peas, early, medium and late 

 varieties are planted at one time, and some stan- 

 dard sort is put in 

 at intervals of a 

 week or ten days 

 afterwards. It is 

 well to provide 

 means, as boxes and 

 hotbeds, to start or 

 force plants ahead 

 of their season, if 

 the most interest- 

 ing and useful re- 



Fig. 388. A ' 'flat' ' or box in which 

 garden seeds are started. 



suits are to be secured. (See Figs. 388-390.) 



Success in growing vegetables depends on : (1) 

 the condition of the soil; (2) good seed ; (3) plant- 

 ing ; and (4) the after care and cultivation. 



TTie soil. — In no one place can we find a perfect 

 soil for all kinds of vegetables, but, as previously 

 urged, a rich soil will largely make up for de- 

 ficiency in variety. The question of the soil can, 

 not be discussed further here. 



The seed. — The modern methods of seed-testing 

 enable the dealer to offer seeds of good germinat- 

 ing qualities and the purchaser to know whether 

 the seeds are good before planting ; but, as to the 

 purity of the products, one must take the word of 

 the dealer, and he should buy only of reliable seeds- 

 men. (Consult Chapter VII.) 



A simple seed-tester can be made with two dinner- 

 plates, a little fine clean sand, and two sheets of 

 blotting-paper or cheese-cloth, (t^ig. 391.) Put the 

 sand in the plate, level it oif nearly full, and satu- 

 rate until water almost stands on the surface ; then 

 spread over the blotting-paper or cheese-cloth and 

 place on it the seeds, — ten, fifty or one hundred of 

 each. The larger the number the more accurate the 

 test. Over the seeds spread another sheet of blot- 

 ting-paper or cloth, and cover all with another 

 dinner-plate. 



Much of the success of this work depends on 

 the temperature at which the sand is kept. As 



to 60° during the day ; for com, beans, cucum- 

 bers, melons, squashes, tomatoes, peppers, egg- 

 plants, and the like, 50° to 60° at night and 60° to 

 70° during the day is desirable. 



Planting. — With a fine mellow seed-bed, seeds 

 should be covered according to their size and the 

 condition of the weather. Fine seeds should be 

 covered three or four times their thickness in dry 

 weather, and less deeply in wet weather. The soil 

 should be pressed firmly about the seed ; the drier 

 the soil the more firm should be the pressure. Very 

 fine seeds, like those of celery, are sown on the 

 surface, a little fine soil is sifted on them, and a 

 sheet of cheese-cloth is spread over and wet down. 

 This prevents washing of the soil and holds the 

 moisture in contact with the seeds. Pine sphagnum 

 moss sifted on answers the same purpose. As soon 

 as the seeds begin to germinate, the cloth must be 

 removed and the bed shaded until the plants become 

 well established. Pine seeds may be shaded with 



Fig. 389. 



Home garden coldframes and seed-boses. 

 (Garden of Luther Burbank.) 



nearly as possible this should be the same as would 

 be required for the best germination in the 

 open ground. The best temperature for radishes, 

 turnips, cabbage, lettuce, beets, celery, parsnips, 

 grasses, and the like, is 40° to 50° at night and 50° 



Fig. 390. Method of forcing rhubarb by means of half-barrels. 



a little fine hay or rowen to keep the surface of the 

 ground moist ; but if too much is put on it will 

 cause them to decay. 



Cultivation and protection. — No crop, either of 

 fruit or vegetables, will grow without some culti- 

 vation and care and protection from insects and 

 fungous pests. As suggested in Pig. 379, all crops 

 should be arranged in rows wide enough so that 

 the work of stirring the soil may be done with the 

 horse. With a fine-tooth cultivator this may be 

 done even with plants that grow from very fine 

 seeds, like celery, onions and carrots. To preserve 

 regular distances between the centers of rows, and 

 to occupy the land closely, onions, carrots or other 

 small-topped plants may be sown in double rows ; 

 that is, there may be two rows one foot apart, with 

 two and one-half or three feet clear space for cul- 

 tivation to the next two rows one foot apart. 



Harvesting the vegetable crop. — ^Early vegetables 

 are of little value if left in the ground long after 

 they have reached the size for table use. Radishes, 

 turnips, beets, kohlrabi and similar root crops 

 become fibrous and woody, while lettuce, spinach, 

 cabbage, cauliflower and the like run to seed. 

 Therefore, if there is any surplus of summer vege- 

 tables not needed by the family, it should be gath- 

 ered and disposed of so that plant-food may not 

 be taken from the ground. All winter vegetables 

 should be tender and succulent when gathered and 

 should be stored in a cool, slightly moist place, at a 

 temperature of between 32° and 33°. To keep beets, 

 parsnips and similar crops from wilting, they may 

 be packed in cool, slightly moist leaves. A good 

 time to gather these is in the morning after a 

 frost, or when there is a little snow on them. If 



