190 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1918 



season; (2) those that mature quickly and 

 are renewed from time to time. The times of 

 sowing the various vegetables will be discussed 

 elsewhere and in subsequent issues; our present 

 purpose being to consider them only in refer- 

 ence to the plan. 



Crops sown or planted but once are: Jeru- 

 salem artichoke, French Globe artichoke, lima 

 beans, running pole beans> bush limas, 

 brussels sprouts, cardoon, celeriac, chard, 

 chicory, egg plant, various herbs, kale, leek, 

 muskmelon, watermelon, okra, onions (seeds 

 and sets), oyster plant, parsley, parsnip, 

 pepper, potatoes (early and late), celery 

 (early and late), pumpkin, squash, ruta- 

 bagas, New Zealand spinach, squash, sweet 

 potatoes, tomatoes. 



Crops that require more than one sowing are: 

 bush beans (wax and green), beets, carrots, 

 chervil, cress, cucumbers, corn, endive, kohl 

 rabi, lettuce, peas, radish, broad leaved 

 spinach and turnip. A sub-division of this 

 class would be cabbage and cauliflower which 

 are handled as "companion crops" and two 

 distinct sowings are made — one in early spring 

 in the hotbed or greenhouse, and one in early 

 summer for maturing in fall. 



Selection of Types 



TF YOU suppose that all varieties of the 

 * different vegetables are alike in their 

 requirements or behavior you are mistaken. 

 There is as much difference in the flavor, 

 growth and productive value of different 

 varieties as there is between two different 

 breeds of cattle. We should know something 

 of these differences if we are to order our 

 seeds with any degree of intelligence. For 

 instance, if you want quantities of beans at 

 the minimum of effort — regardless of any other 

 factors — plant the running pole types, such as 

 McCaslan or Kentucky Wonder. They are 

 of reasonably good quality if picked when 

 small. Real quality in beans, however, is 

 found in the pole lima, it will also certainly 

 out-yield the bush type since the pods are 

 longer and contain more beans; but — and 

 here's the point — some folks can't get poles, 

 and must resort to the bush lima. The 

 dwarf green beans are undoubtedly the 

 easiest to grow and yielding wonderful fall 

 garden crops. The wax podded type of the 

 dwarf bush bean is on a parity with the 

 green bean except in color — but some few 

 people prefer the yellow pod. Shell beans 

 such as the white marrow or kidney, are also 

 of the dwarf type. Here are different types 

 of beans — which one do you need? 



The Variety a Personal Matter 



V^7TTH many vegetables it is simply a 

 ' » matter of selecting varieties that are 

 good yielding and of a quality that measures 

 up to your personal standards; there being 

 little, if any, difference in the treatment of 

 different varieties. Some may mature a few 

 days earlier than others, some are a little 

 better in flavor, others may yield more 

 heavily or are not so susceptible to natural 

 weaknesses of their family. But from a 

 planning viewpoint it makes little difference 

 whether you grow "Crosby's" or "Electric" 

 beets or "Rocky Ford" or "Emerald Gem" 

 melon. Groups of this class are beets, carrots, 

 corn, cucumber, egg plant, kohl rabi, leek, 

 muskmelon, okra, parsnip, ruta baga, chard, 

 and turnip. 



Pumpkins and squash are of two distinct 

 types, although both are sown at one 'and the 

 same time, viz. : (1) early maturing suitable for 

 summer use, (2) the hard skinned sorts that 



are grown only when wanted for winter as 

 they are better keepers. 



Potatoes offer early and late varieties; the 

 late types keeping better (not getting past 

 so early in winter as the early varieties.) 



Onions are started from seeds or sets, 

 "What's the difference?" The sets or young 

 bulbs mature much earlier, thus giving onions 

 from your garden long before the seedlings 

 will be ready— but bulbs grown from seed, 

 however, keep better. Therefore, plant just 

 enough sets to give a supply of early onions 

 and for the main crop start from seed. 



Tomatoes differ somewhat in type: there 

 are numerous small fruited varieties that can 

 be used in salads, etc. They are wonderful 

 producers, and, obviously, only a very few 

 plants of this type need be set out. Your 

 "profits" will accrue from the large fruiting 

 type. The same is to be said of peppers: 

 there are several of the small pickling "hot" 

 peppers of which one or two plants will 

 suffice, the main crop to consist of the larger 

 types, which have many uses in the home. 



There are two distinct types of "spinach": 

 New Zealand spinach (only so-called, for in 

 fact it is not a spinach at all) is started from 

 seed and will grow vigorously throughout the 

 whole summer, and can be cut several times 

 all the year; the other type or common 

 garden (true) spinach starts early in the 

 season, matures quickly and is soon gone by. 

 It is only useful in spring and fall as it will not 

 stand the hot weather and will run to seed 

 before it can be cut. 



Peas are companion crops to the common 

 broad-leaved spinach. Successful gardeners 

 always sow a row of peas when they sow 

 spinach. The differences in peas are between 

 the dwarf and tall plants and the round and 

 wrinkled seeds or grains. How to use them? 

 Plant tall peas wherever possible as they are 

 better yielders, and it is easy to rig up some 

 means of supporting them, and remember the 

 wrinkled seeded peas are the only ones worth 

 growing in home gardens, because of their 

 quality and ease in shelling. The round seeded 

 peas are good yielders; are more hardy and 

 are, therefore, ofttimes used for first sowings, 

 but if you want quality plant only wrinkled 

 varieties. Radishes are also sown with the peas 

 and spinach as they are also a spring and fall 

 crop. Theyare successfully grown in summer 

 only when well irrigated and partially shaded. 



Lettuce is to be considered in four groups. 

 Use the large head type for spring and fall 

 sowings. These varieties are unquestionably 

 the best in quality. For summer sowing in 

 the garden use small head types because of 

 their heat resisting qualities — not running to 

 seed as quickly as the large head type. The 

 curled or non-heading type is also available 

 for summer and even though those varieties 

 lack some of the essentials of tip top quality 

 they are the best for summer, even ex- 

 celling the small head types. Romaine 

 is like a large type of lettuce, satisfactory 

 for spring and fall but will run to seed in 

 summer if not kept well watered and partially 

 shaded. 



Of celery we can have "early" or "late": 

 now this does not mean that the one actually 

 matures ahead of the other. The distinction 

 is based on character of growth — the '"early" 

 varieties will bleach during summer, whereas 

 the "late" varieties will not bleach until the 

 weather gets cool. For home gardens needing 

 only a small supply an early variety can be 

 grown exclusively as it will keep in winter 

 just the same as the winter or late varieties, 

 and serves two purposes. 



Productive Power 



COME of our little home gardens use 

 M enough seed to start a small farm. 

 This is wrong! It is wasteful; and ofttimes 

 causes crowding which leads to other troubles. 

 We should know to some extent the pro- 

 ductive power of our seeds. An ounce of 

 hard leaved spinach seed won't go very far 

 but an ounce of New Zealand spinach seed 

 would be enough for a truck farm! If we set 

 out 50 heads of cabbage and give them a 

 little attention we are almost sure to gather 

 50 heads; if we set out 50 seeds of corn we 

 should gather about 100 ears as the crop; a • 

 50 foot row of spinach should give six cuttings 

 for a family of six; a 50 foot row of peas 

 should give 12 pickings for a family of six; 

 whereas a half dozen egg plants would give a 

 family of six, that was really fond of that 

 vegetable, all the egg fruit they could 

 possibly use. These are points to study in 

 making our plan. It is a false economy to be 

 meagre with seeds, but there is a happy 

 medium between meanness and waste. 



How Much Seed Needed ? 



/^ABBAGE, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, 

 ^^ and kale are usually sown in a seed 

 bed and transplanted so there is little waste 

 and one ounce of seed should produce 3,000 

 plants. Celery which is handled in the same 

 manner should produce 5,000 plants from one 

 ounce of seed. 



Garden crops that are sown in rows and 

 thinned out to the required distance are best 

 seeded moderately thick to assure a good 

 stand. One ounce of seed will sow 100 feet of 

 drill of the following: carrots, chicory, 

 onions, leek, radish, turnip, ruta baga. 

 For beets and chard two ounces of seed are 

 needed for 100 feet of drill; while parsnip, 

 parsley and celeriac will only require one half 

 ounce. 



Peas, bush beans, bush limas, spinach and 

 onion sets are not thinned; they are sown or 

 planted in the rows in the proper quantities 

 to allow for maturity of the plants; one quart 

 of peas, one quart of onion sets, and one 

 ounce of spinach for 100 feet of drill; whereas 

 one pint of bush or lima beans will sow the 

 same distance of row. 



Garden crops sown in hills, should be well 

 seeded to safeguard against any blanks. It 

 is an easy matter to thin but hard to replace. 

 One ounce of pumpkin or squash will sow 25 

 hills; one ounce of cucumber, muskmelon or 

 watermelon will be sufficient for 50 hills, one 

 pint of pole limas or other pole beans will 

 sow 50 hills and one pint of corn will be 

 enough for 100 hills. 



Lettuce and endive are usually sown in 

 the seed bed and then transplanted, one ounce 

 of seed will produce 5,000 plants. Potatoes are 

 planted at the rate of one peck of seed to 100 

 hills or about three barrels per acre [but 

 next month The Garden Magazine will tell 

 how to reduce this considerably by using 

 skins or eyes]. 



Advance Planning 



ANIMAL manure is almost indispensable 

 for the vegetable garden and our 

 present plans must consider the supply for 

 the year. Stable manure improves with age, 

 so get it now, and by "turning" several times 

 it will be improved ten fold. A garden 

 50 x 50 should have at least two loads and 

 three would be better, fertilizers will be 

 required later in the season and should be 

 ordered now. 



