Apri l, 1909 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



153 



Parsnip. Sow April ist in rows one and 

 one-half feet apart, and when large enough 

 thin the plants to six inches apart, in the row. 

 Make the soil deep and rich. Parsnips 

 should have one big, long, smooth root, and 

 not three or four prongs. Best variety, 

 American Hollow Crown. 



Pepper. Treat same as egg-plant. For 

 salads, grow Sweet Salad or Sweet Spanish ; 

 for stuffing, Chinese Giant or Cardinal; and 

 for pickling, Cherry Red or Long Red 

 Cayenne. 



Peas. Sow April ist, and every two weeks 

 thereafter until June ist. Start sowing again 

 August ist for fall use, continuing until 

 September ist. The best variety in peas, 

 in my opinion, is Gradus (second early) ; my 

 next choice would be McLean's Little Gem 

 and Nott's Excelsior, early sorts; later 

 varieties are Advancer, Champion of Eng- 

 land, Juno, and Telephone. 



Pumpkins. Sow seed in hills about eight 

 feet apart May ist; or, to economize with 

 space, sow between early corn. Best 

 variety, Large Cheese. 



Potato. Plant a few rows April ist, 

 and the main crop May ist. Plant fifteen 

 inches apart in rows three feet apart. Do 

 not use manure except on very dry ground, 

 as it causes scab. Use fertilizers instead. 

 Keep the ground well cultivated, and when 

 the plants flower hill up well. Try a few 

 kidney potatoes. They are very early, 

 of good flavor, and are superior to any other 

 for salads. Bovee and Norton Beauty are 

 early white potatoes and wonderful croppers. 

 Carmen No. 3, Green Mountain, and Uncle 

 Sam, best late or main crop potatoes. 



Potato, sweet. Dig a trench one foot 

 wide and six inches deep, fill with manure, 

 mixing some soil with it, and mound it up. 

 Set the young plants in this. Buy the plants ; 



they are very cheap. Keep the vines from 

 rooting as they run, by pulling them up every 

 week or ten days. If vines are allowed to 

 root the crop, will be big, but the potatoes 

 very small. Best variety, Large Yellow. 



Rhubarb. It is cheaper to buy plants than 

 it is to raise them. Plant about three feet 

 apart, and to get a few early stalks in spring 

 cover one of the plants with a barrel. Best 

 varieties, Victoria and Linnaeus. 



Radish. Sow the seeds rather thin in 

 rows; but a better plan is to make a bed for 

 them two feet wide, using a small portion of 

 it each time. Sow broadcast a few seed at 

 a time and often. Do not thin. Grow an 

 assortment of varieties. Sow winter radishes 

 in spring and thin out in the rows to four 

 inches apart. They are ready for use after 

 the tops have frozen. 



Rutabaga. The best winter vegetable. 

 Sow all seed at one time July 15th; gather 

 after frost and store in trenches for winter use. 



Salsify or oyster plant. Handle like 

 parsnips, except to thin out about four inches 

 apart. Best variety, Mammoth Sand- 

 wich Island. The black oyster plant, or 

 scorzonera, is very similar; grown in the 

 same way. 



Spinach. Make the first sowing in rows 

 April ist, and every week after until June 

 ist. Start sowing again August 15th, and 

 continue until September ist. If the last 

 sowing does not get large enough to use, 

 cover it in fall with salt hay. Best varieties 

 Viroflay, Victoria, and Long Standing. For 

 summer use sow a little of the New Zealand 

 spinach May ist. When large enough cut it 

 and keep cutting, because it is a fast grower; 

 if it gets too large, cut some for the chickens. 



Squash. Treat the same as pumpkin. 

 Best of the bush type, White and Yellow 

 Scalloped, and White Vegetable Marrow. 



The secret of successful early cabbage is to sow in 

 lieat ready to plant out before hot 'weather comes 



Best runners, Delicate, Vegetable Marrow, 

 and Hubbard. 



Tomato. Sow in frames March ist and 

 plant out May 15th. They require very 

 little attention after planting, but the fruits 

 are improved by being grown on a trellis. 

 For early fruit remove some of the laterals 

 from a few plants. Best varieties, Freedom, 

 Acme, Earliana, Liberty, and Ponderosa. 

 Try some small varieties; they are very differ- 

 ent in form and flavor, and are valuable fof 

 garnishing salads. 



Turnip. A good spring and fall vegetable, 

 but very strong in flavor in summer. Sow in 

 rows on April ist and every two weeks after 

 until September ist. Thin plants out to six 

 inches apart. Best varieties, Red Top, Strap 

 Leaf, Purple Top Milan, and Yellow Stone. 



Watermelon. Handle like muskmelon, 

 but may be grown without frames. Best 

 varieties, Cole Early, Ice Cream, and The 

 Boss. To tell when a watermelon is ripe, 

 place the hands firmly on the top and press 

 down gently; if the melon gives a sharp 

 crack it is ready to be picked. 



II. MAKING THE FRUIT GARDEN TO FIT YOUR REAL NEEDS 



THE spring planting season for fruits lasts 

 until the end of April. An old timer 

 like myself ofttimes takes a chance by planting 

 much later, but I do not advise an amateur 

 to try. Observe these three "don'ts" 

 before and during the time of planting 

 your fruit garden: Don't put your planting 

 off until the last moment ; plant during 

 March and April, and your trees will have a 

 much better chance of starting than if you 

 delayed until May. Don't plant a con- 

 glomeration of all kinds of fruits just for 

 variety's sake; better to make up your mind 

 now as to what you really need. Don't fill 

 your garden with small fruits merely 

 because they come into bearing sooner than 

 apples or pears. 



Did it ever strike you seriously what returns 

 a half acre of fruit trees would give you, if 

 properly handled ? A small orchard of this 

 kind would give a good-sized family all the 

 fruit it could use. On a half acre of land 

 you could have a good assortment of fruits. 

 For instance: ten apples, seven pears, 

 eight peaches, eight apricots, eight plums, 

 six cherries, six quinces, thirty-five currants, 



thirty-five gooseberries, thirty-five rasp- 

 berries, thirty-five blackberries, and thirty- 

 five grapes. Just think of the returns — 

 fresh fruit the year around — from the cherries 

 in June until the last of the winter apples are 

 gone the following May — besides currant 

 jelly, raspberry jelly, or grape jam for 

 winter ! 



PREPARATION OF THE GROUND 



Most aspiring amateurs, I fancy, skip this 

 kind of paragraph to go on to something more 

 interesting, just as one does the descriptive 

 paragraphs in a story book; but although 

 you have been told over and over again until 

 it is probably getting monotonous, it is 

 nevertheless true that you must prepare the 

 ground, and the better you do it the better will 

 be the results. Oh, the failures that have been 

 brought about by sticking — not planting — 

 trees in poor, barren, unprepared soil. You 

 will never regret money spent on the prepara- 

 tion before planting. 



For small fruits or dwarf trees which are 

 to be planted close together, I strongly advise 

 "trenching" the soil — that is, digging it over 



by hand. Turn up the soil thoroughly and 

 deeply, adding plenty of manure. For 

 orchard trees such a course would be expen- 

 sive, so I advise plowing deep, turning in a 

 liberal dressing of manure and using a sub- 

 soil plow to break up the bottom. If you 

 can possibly afford it, dig holes where the 

 trees are to stand about three feet deep, and 

 put about a half barrow full of manure 

 in each hole, mixing it thoroughly with the 

 soil before planting. And remember, always 

 throw your top soil to the bottom. 



The whole problem in planting is to try 

 to put the tree -back into the ground as nearly 

 as possible to the way it was before it was 

 disturbed. Perfection is quite impossible. 

 No matter how carefully the tree is handled 

 the roots are torn and bruised. The best 

 we can do is to spread out the rootlets care- 

 fully, sprinkling the soil in between them, 

 never letting them he in a bunch, and firm- 

 ing the soil evenly all round. Never let 

 any fresh manure come in actual contact with 

 the roots ; but a 'handful of any good f ertilizer 

 thrown into each hole and mixed with the 

 soil will insure quick root action. 



