January, 1906 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



2G9 



Peppers planted on May 25th give a yield that 

 supplied the wants of the family and also left plenty 

 to give away to the neighbors 



tin fences, however, were left in place all 

 season, and we have no regrets for so doing, for 

 the cut-worm is not particular about youth in 

 the plants ; a number of vines in a neighbor's 

 garden were cut off right at the ground just 

 as they were beginning to yield good fruit. 

 My barrier was effective, for this worm, which 

 travels along the surface, could get neither 

 under nor over it. The four hills gave us 

 more than we could use. 



GREEN AND RED PEPPERS TO GIVE AWAY 



About May 25th I purchased one dozen 

 plants each of red and green peppers from a 

 farmer, and had peppers to give away. 

 They were planted in rows eighteen inches 

 apart, and twelve inches apart in the rows. 



BEETS AND PARSLEY MAKE NO TROUBLE 



One of the most enjoyable things in the 

 garden, and no trouble whatever. On 

 May 1 st these were planted in rows a foot 

 apart, and when the plants were four inches 

 high we thinned them so that they stood 

 about three inches apart. The young plants 

 (tops and all) stewed as spinach make a 

 vegetable fit for the gods — and insurance 

 kings. 



In one corner of the beet bed we planted a 

 row of parsley three feet long and had all we 

 wanted, even after considerable snow had 

 been on the ground. Soak parsley seeds 

 over night in tepid water before planting. 



THE ONIONS WERE NOT ENOUGH 



Here's where we erred in not planting 

 enough. On April 15th we planted two 

 rows of seeds for young onions, and had them 

 in September. The main thing to note, 

 however, is that April 15th is none too early 

 to plant onion seeds. Do not sow too 

 thickly, and thin to two inches apart. In 

 the first week of May we planted two rows 

 of onion sets about three inches apart in the 

 rows, and had just about half enough. 



Next year our onion bed will be about 

 doubled in size. Planting in rows about 

 eight inches apart gives plenty of room, if 

 you have an onion hoe to keep the ground 

 loose and hilled up a little. There is an 

 onion hoe on the market, long and narrow 

 but triangular in shape, that is most handy 

 for getting in narrow places in order to keep 

 down the weeds. Give onions rich soil. 



RADISHES THE EASIEST VEGETABLE TO GROW 



The most easily grown of all vegetables 

 do not require much room, as the rows do 

 not need to be more than eight inches apart. 

 Sow thinly, and when the plants are a 

 couple of inches high thin so as to leave 

 about two inches between the plants. For 

 a family of three, sow two and one-half or 

 three feet every ten days from May 1st to 

 June 20th, and then discontinue planting 

 till September 1st, for radishes do not thrive 

 in the very hot weather. Keep a little 



There is much satisfaction in growing an abun- 

 dance of beets. The young plants, tops and all, may 

 be served as spinach. The surplus roots are stored 

 in the celler for winter use and are most welcome 



chemical fertilizer on hand (fifteen pounds 

 costs about 25 cents), and as you use the 

 radishes drop a little of the fertilizer in the 

 opening just made and sow two or three 

 seeds. In three weeks you will have the 

 pleasure of again picking from the same 

 ground. What were left of the radishes by 

 the end of July were tough and pithy, so we 

 dug them up and, after giving the ground 

 a good dose of fertilizer, planted a single 

 row of yellow turnips, which proved well 

 worth while. When an inch or so high these 

 were thinned so as to leave four plants to the 

 foot, and were ready for use late in September. 



THE LETTUCE WAS STARTED LN THE CELLAR 



Was planted first in boxes in a southern 

 cellar window about April 1st, and on 

 April 15th a few more seeds were added. 

 As the plants came up they were thinned out 

 so as to leave about an inch between them. 

 In the first week of May the box was put 



outside and covered with burlap at night, 

 to keep off frost. After a few days, during 

 which the little seedlings became accustomed 

 to the open air, they were planted in the open 

 ground, the first two rows being given to the 

 two cellar plantings. They were set out about 

 six inches apart in the rows. The remaining 

 two rows were used for various sowing, from 

 May 15th to July 1st. On August 25th 

 what was left of the lettuce was torn up, the 

 ground turned and fertilized, and three rows 

 of white turnips were sown a foot apart. 

 These were thinned when they were about 

 two inches high so as to leave about three 

 inches between them, and kept hilled' up a 

 little. About October 20th nearly a bushel 

 were dug up and put into the cellar for future 

 use. 



MUSKMELONS ONLY A PARTIAL SUCCESS 



They were started in the cellar about April 

 15th in little paper pots, and transplanted 

 to the open ground, prepared as for cucum- 

 bers, about May 25th, when all danger of 

 frost was past. Four of them were planted 

 in each hill, and while all but three of the 

 transplanted seedlings seemed to thrive, 

 they yielded only nineteen melons during 

 August and September. 



I shall not plant them again, on account 

 of the amount of trouble in raising them in 

 the latitude of New York City and because 

 of the amount of space required. Our six 

 hills took up 7 x 10 feet. 



BUSH PEAS NEED TOO MUCH ROOM 



These peas are not worth while for so 

 small a space, so I shall not plant them until 

 I can spare about ten times as much. The 

 four 10-foot rows yielded only about three 

 quarts of peas in all. This patch was later 

 used for the Brussels sprouts transplanted 

 from their original patch. 



X\ 





Turnips from the home garden are a revelation 

 as to quality. A successful crop was gathered from 

 August sowing, after lettuce 



