May, 1910 



THE GAR I) E N M AGAZIN E 



245 



Planting Tomatoes for Late Crop 



THE tomato is very sensitive to cold, and yet it 

 is one of the few vegetables that may be 

 kept till almost midwinter without any elaborate 

 methods of storage. Tomatoes in one home garden 

 have yielded a sufficient supply so that the first can 

 was ordered from the grocer on November 25th. 

 Another season the last tomato was used on Decem- 

 ber 25th. A still better record was made by vines 

 in the cellar that supplied tomatoes from October 

 6th to January 6th. 



A patch in the garden must be purposely planted 

 for late bearing. Sow the seed in a coldframe the 

 middle of April. It is not necessary to plant thickly, 

 for if the young plants stand five inches high and far 

 enough apart to be easily transplanted when the 

 time comes, the results will be better than from 

 crowded and spindling specimens. At night the 

 frame is covered either with glass or other material 

 commonly used for forcing beds, but by day the 

 covering is taken off to make the plants stocky. 

 As the time approaches for transplanting, the frames 

 are opened day and night to harden the plants. 

 If they have overgrown the 5-inch limit, the root 

 may be placed a little deeper, when transplanting 

 to the open garden, leaving about five inches of 

 plant above the surface. After a rain is the best 

 time to transfer them from the frame to the garden. 



For a still later supply seed can be sown in the 

 open ground the first week in May. When a few 

 inches high, thin out so that the plants stand six 

 inches apart and later set a yard or more apart. 

 This will save the trouble of starting the seed in- 

 doors and the vines will begin bearing early in 

 September. 



To save future handling, it is well to grade the 

 tomatoes as they are brought in, all ripe and half- 

 ripe ones being placed where they can be easily 

 examined for soft spots. The finest and fairest of 

 the green ones might be individually wrapped for 

 better protection. Medium-sized ones will be 

 useful for frying; small and poorly shaped fruits 

 will make excellent pickle. 



There is a choice in varieties, as some are more 

 suitable for late bearing than others. Improved 

 Stone and Trucker's Favorite are good sorts for this 

 purpose. Ponderosa is one of the best keepers, 

 therefore an excellent kind to plant for storing. It 

 is not uncommon for this variety to yield fruits that 

 weigh a pound and a half. Ponderosa is # also a 

 good canning tomato. 



Another so-called member of the tomato family 

 is also an excellent keeper — the huski tomato or 

 strawberry tomato. This self-sows and gives little 

 trouble. If the husks are not removed the fruit 

 will keep till January in a cool place. Preserves 

 made from this variety are good eating; it is also 

 good for pies and dried to use in cake, like figs. 



New York. I. M. Angell. 



A Barberry Hedge from Cuttings 



LATE in the spring two years ago, my brother, 

 knowing how anxious I was to have a hedge 

 of Japanese barberry, sent me from Massachusetts 

 about two hundred trimmings taken from his hedge 

 just as it was coming out into leaf. These trim- 

 mings were about eight inches long. 



Mr. John Dunbar said in the October, 1906, 

 Garden Magazine: "None of the barberries, to 

 my knowledge, will strike from hardwood cuttings." 

 In the April, 1907, number of the magazine, H. T. 

 says he rooted barberry cuttings very successfully 



in a propagating house with a temperature of 54 

 degrees. But I had no greenhouse, so as an experi- 

 ment I dug a trench in the coolest, dampest spot in 

 the garden, against one side of which I put a layer 

 of cuttings as close together as possible, at an angle 

 of 45 degrees. I filled the trench half full of sand 

 and the remainder with original soil, making sure 

 to tread the cuttings in very firmly and to sufficiently 

 round up the soil so as to keep water from settling 

 on the surface. 



About three-fourths of the cuttings came out 

 strong, healthy plants. They were left just as they 

 were for one year, and the following spring were 

 transplanted to their permanent place in the garden. 

 Practically every transplanted one lived and we now 

 have a hedge which cost us nothing, and of which 

 we are justly proud. 



New Jersey. Fred Gardner. 



[Editor's Note. — Notwithstanding Mr. Gard- 

 ner's success, and the ease with which it was 

 achieved, raising from seed is undoubtedly the 

 most convenient method of propagation. The Jap- 

 anese barberry is very easily grown from seed, and 

 germinates practically 100 per cent.] 



Professor Sargent's Azalea Show 



THE accompanying picture gives some idea of 

 the glories of the informal azalea show which 

 Professor Sargent gives every spring for the pleas- 

 ure of his friends on the terrace of his home at 

 Brookline, Mass. The tent protects the flowers 

 from dashing rains and other inclement weather. 



The picture shows an almost solid mass of flowers. 

 These must be arranged with great skill for the 

 azalea has a wide range of colors and those border- 

 ing on magenta make trouble unless they are kept 

 by themselves and at a distance from reds or yellows. 



Hardy azaleas are very accommodating plants. 

 You can have a fine show of them under the windows 

 of your house every spring, without the trouble 

 and expense of potting them, by the following plan: 

 In some retired part of the grounds prepare a good 

 nursery bed for them. In early spring move them 

 to a bed in front of the house, or wherever you 

 wish a blaze of color. This can be done without 

 sacrificing either quantity of bloom or brilliancy 

 of color. After the azalea show is over the bushes 

 go back to their nursery, while the show place may 

 be filled with summer bedding plants or other ma- 

 terial of a decorative character. This process can 

 be repeated for many years. 



Connecticut. Henry Maxwell. 



Planting for June Peas 



MOST persons admit that fresh green peas 

 are the choicest of the early vegetables, but 

 will not try to raise them in their own small gar- 

 dens on account of the space required. Yet by a 

 little planning peas can be arranged for with some 

 economy of space. And more often than not a poor 

 crop is due to too late planting, and with late varie- 

 ties to their not being buried deep enough. 



In my experience there are always some warm 

 days about the last part of March, and I have every- 

 thing in readiness so as to take advantage of this 

 time; the sunniest part of the garden dug up and 

 well manured. The extra early peas are soon 

 planted. One year I finished my work in a sleet 

 storm with no bad results. 



Cover the peas with about two inches of soii, 

 more earth being drawn up around the plants as 

 they grow. 



If the weather is favorable, put in an early variety 

 like Nott's Excelsior about a week later, and cover 

 to the same depth. A week or ten days later, a 

 medium early and a late, tall kind should be planted 

 the same day. The late varieties take enough 

 longer to mature to make up the difference in time 

 between the usual week apart sowings. 



Lastly, by the end of April or the first days of May, 

 put in the Telephone pea. Cover these three kinds 

 with about four inches of soil. A trench six inches 

 deep, with the last two inches filled in after the 

 plants show, is best for late peas. The hot weather 

 of July around New York dries up the vines very 

 quickly if they have been sowed too near the surface. 



Space in a small garden may be economized by 

 planting double rows (six inches between them) 

 twenty inches apart, care being taken to alternate 

 early and late sorts. With such close arrangement, 

 however, support must be furnished the vines be- 

 tween the double rows, even to the dwarf kinds. 

 Chicken wire from one to three feet in width is best. 

 If staked neatly, and carefully stored when not in 

 use, it will last for several years. The scheme 

 of alternating the different varieties allows time 

 for the early ones to bear and be removed before the 

 late ones commence to yield. 



I have had the best results from growing Bridg- 

 man's Extra Early, Nott's Excelsior, McClean's 

 Advancer, English Champion or Marrowfat and 

 Telephone. One pint of each kind suffices to plant 

 a double row thirty-eight feet in length. Peas 

 sowed in March begin to bear from June 8th to 1 2th, 

 according to the weather. 



New Jersey. Laura B. Carpenter. 



An azalea show is given every year on the grounds oi Prof. Sargent's home in Broolrline, Mass. A tent 

 is erected to protect the flowers from inclement weather 



