284 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



June, 1906 



Repeated irrigations kept the soil con- 

 tinually moist, but we saw to it that the 

 water did not wash the soil away from the 

 seeds or tender plants. When the radishes 

 were well started, they were watered once a 

 day. They were ready for use just one 

 month after planting. 



Although most of the days were warm 

 the nights were very cool. A few of the 

 Quickest Forcing radishes were ready in 

 less than thirty days, but this variety is too 

 tender to withstand our climate. Cool 

 weather, and a continual abundance of water 

 unite to produce radishes of exceeding 

 tenderness and sweetness. Those who 

 have never eaten radishes grown under 

 such conditions have no conception of the 

 excellence of this vegetable. 



On the day that we pulled the first rad- 

 ishes, seeds were planted between the rows, 

 to raise a second crop. The bed had been 

 purposely allowed to become dry enough to 

 be in good condition for the space between 

 the rows to be hoed and planted. After 

 this, however, the bed was kept very wet- 

 sometimes being watered at about sunset, 

 and again early the next morning. 



The second crop came up nicely in five 

 days, and three weeks after planting we 

 commenced to use them. There were about 

 five hundred radishes in the first crop, and 

 three hundred in the second. 



A TOMATO MYSTERY , 



The tomato is the one great crop that 

 we cannot have equally as good as in the 

 East. We cannot grow them at all for an 

 early crop, but after the middle of August 

 we get plenty of nice smooth fruits, though 

 never large. 



The difficulty is peculiar: Until the sea- 

 son is well advanced, the tomatoes will shed 

 their fruits as quickly as they are set. I do 

 not think the wind is wholly responsible. 

 From the earliest flowers a large percentage 

 of the fruit breaks off where it joins the 

 tiny stem. Perhaps the failure is due 

 to the presence of too much moisture in 

 the air. 



LETTUCE A BELATED CROP 



It seems that early lettuce cannot be 

 raised here. I believe the cool nights, owing 

 to the rather high altitude, retard the growth 

 while the lettuce is small. After it attains 

 some size, it develops rapidly, and after 

 the ist of June we had lettuce in abundance. 



A QUEER TOMATO SUPPORT 



Some lettuce was left to produce seed, and 

 their sturdy stems furnished some support 

 to the tomato plants, which were set in the 

 bed June ioth. Five days earlier, cabbage 

 plants were set between the second crop of 

 radishes. Irrigation was continued, and 

 the crop of both tomatoes and cabbages 

 was as good as if they had been planted in 

 ground that had not previously produced 

 that season, one or two crops. 



The beets were ready to use by the middle 

 of June. From that date until the middle 

 of July we had peas too. From July ist 

 until October ist we had beans. The 



cucumbers were ready for slicing on the ist 

 of July. We commenced to use cabbage on 

 July 15th, celery on September 20th, and 

 had plenty of both until spring. Other 

 crops for winter and spring use were onions, 

 beets, squashes, and parsnips. 



There were also cucumber pickles, canned 

 beans and tomatoes, Celestial peppers for 

 seasoning, and mangoes, made by filling the 

 Ruby King peppers. There were six bushels 

 of onions. 



BEETS WEIGHING IlJ POUNDS 



The first killing frost was on October 

 25th — after that we dug twelve bushels of 

 immense tender beets from the two rows, 

 each five rods in length. Two early Bassano 

 beets weighed nj pounds each. 



VEGETABLES THAT SUCCEED WITHOUT 

 IRRIGATION 



The following vegetables will usually 

 succeed here without irrigation, and it is 

 well to raise the main supply elsewhere than 

 in the irrigated garden, for not only is it 

 cheaper to raise these things without irriga- 

 tion, but by planting out in the field, one 

 saves the expense of fencing such a large 

 plot with poultry net. 



POTATOES 



The ground should be put in good con- 

 dition with plow and harrow as early as , 

 possible in the spring, and the potatoes should 

 be planted as early as the weather is fit — ■ 

 some seasons it is possible to plant them the 

 first of March. The potato patch must be 

 thoroughly cultivated, not alone that the soil 

 may be kept mellow about the roots, but 

 that the loose mulch of soil on the surface 

 may conserve the soil moisture. When 

 planted early, and given this care there is 

 usually a good yield of potatoes of fair size 

 and excellent quality. The potatoes may be 

 planted where chickens have a free range. 



SWEET POTATOES A SURE CROP 



These need to be given just the same good 

 care that one should give them anywhere 

 else, and they are almost certain to produce 

 tubers of fair table size and of superior 

 quality without irrigation. Chickens should 

 not have access to the sweet potatoes, for 

 they tear the ridges down. 



THE MELON, SQUASH, AND PUMPKIN 



Seeds should be planted on the first 

 breaking of sod. A good place to select is a 

 rather low spot in a field, where sorghum, or 

 some other tall growing crop will afford 

 shelter on one or more sides from the wind. 

 A similar place should be chosen for the 

 squashes and pumpkins. No one relishes 

 melons that are mixed with pumpkins or 

 squashes, so the melons must have a separate 

 patch. The mere planting of seeds is all the 

 work that is necessary, for melons, squashes, 

 and pumpkins do well on first breaking of 

 sod, without either hoeing' or cultivation. 

 These vegetables may be raised out in the 

 field or land not so new, but first sod 

 is preferred. 



An Old Palm Re-discovered 



"T^OR many years ( a score, perhaps ) 

 -1 students of the palms have marvelled 

 at the great diversity of growth in our weep- 

 ing palms (Washingtonias), without more 

 than a mere suspicion that we were growing 

 two distinct species as different types of one 

 ( Washinglonia filifera ) . 



That the identity of the other species, (W. 

 robusta) was not sooner discovered, is remark- 

 ably strange in view of the fact that careful 

 measurements of our oldest palms prove that 

 robusta grows just four times faster than 

 filifera. Grown under identically the same 

 conditions, W. robusta, at twenty years of age, 

 had made forty feet of solid (matured) trunk, 

 while the more common species had made but 

 ten. The deeper and more constant green of 

 the robusta palm is a strong point in its favor 

 as a decorative plant. Other points wherein 



The weeping palm (WashingionU filifera). A false 

 impression is current that it is not as hardy as W. 

 robusta. The reverse is true 



it differs from the more common species, ( W. 

 filifera) , are : its shorter petiole or leaf stem, 

 its more compact habit and the darker color 

 of all its parts. The base and edges of the 

 petiole are light brown in W. filifera, but 

 violet-black in W. robusta. The same dif- 

 ference of color is noticeable even in the 

 trunk, W. robusta being much the darker of 

 the two. , The seeds of robusta are only 

 about one half as large as those of filifera 

 and differ in shape. What difference there 



