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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



May, 1910 



The Secret of Sweet Corn 



KEEP right on sowing seeds this month. One 

 of the main crops for May sowing is sweet 

 corn. No vegetable is more affected by poor 

 ground. You have noticed poor scrawny looking 

 ears not filled to the ends and again others that 

 were all right in appearance, but lacking in quality. 

 The cause in each case is lack of proper nourish- 

 ment to the plant, and by that I mean manure. 

 Most folks use fertilizers instead, which is all wrong 

 for sweet corn. With field corn you use the dried 

 ear and you don't care whether it is milky or not, 

 but the case is reversed with sweet corn. It must 

 grow quickly and manure is necessary, especially 

 during dry summers. Give the ground a coating 

 about 4 to 6 inches thick and plough or dig it under, 

 it need not be deep, as corn is a rather shallow 

 rooter. I prefer to plant corn in rows because 

 all kinds do not grow the same size, and so do not 

 require the same spacing. This is easily regulated 

 by thinning when the corn is planted in rows. 

 Plant Golden Bantam for first crop; it is not 

 only a very early corn but one of the best flavored, 

 and don't forget Stowells Evergreen and Country 

 Gentleman, which are the best of the late corns. 



MELONS AND LIMA BEANS 



If melons have not been sown as suggested last 

 month, see to it at once and always put plenty of 

 seed in each hill, as it is very poor economy to be 

 saving of seed. Put at least 12 seeds in each hill, 

 as the plants are easily thinned out at the proper 

 time, when only. 3 plants should be left in hills if 

 8 feet apart; but if they are 10 or 12 feet apart 4 

 plants may be left. 



Sow lima beans if the weather seems settled and 

 there is a little warmth to the ground; you don't 

 gain anything by planting limas before. A few 

 cool nights after the plants are above ground will 

 cause them to turn yellow and the result is a season 

 of very slow stunted growth. May 10th is quite 

 early enough for this locality. 



If rain occurs within 48 hours of the time of 

 sowing, the seed will rot and the work must be 

 done over. In heavy soils, 96 hours is not too long 

 a limit to place. Examine your seeds after a rain- 

 fall and see if they are rotting or not. Making 

 a circle around the pole about two inches deep, 

 filling this with sand, and sowing the seeds in the 

 sand may save sowing the seeds a second time, as 

 the sand dries very quickly after a rain. 



Bush limas are best sown in rows, but as the seed 

 is smaller and considerably harder than the pole 

 kinds it is not often necessary to plant them in 

 sand. If you were troubled with poor germination, 

 howe/er, try it! 



About May 1st you can prepare hills for cucum- 

 bers, squash, pumpkins and water melons. Make 

 them moderately rich. Dig holes about 3 feet wide 

 and about 2 feet deep and add about one-half 

 wheelbarrow load of manure to each hill, and in 

 measuring the manure don't take the wheelbarrow 

 that your boy plays with around the garden. I 

 mean a regular sized garden barrow. 



All these vegetables are heat lovers and will 

 surely feel the effects of a late nor'wester, so about 

 the tenth of the month will be time enough for 

 sowing. Water melons can be sown earlier if you 

 have frames for them. Allow 10 feet between 

 the hills if you can. If you are short of space, 

 sow pumpkins, squash and water melons in the 

 early corn patch, and when the corn crop is finished 

 the stalks can be cut down to give the other vege- 

 tables a chance. 



New Zealand spinach is a continuous grower 

 from the sprouting of the seed until cut down by 

 frost, and is a welcome summer green. Some folks 

 dislike this vegetable simply because they never 

 gave it a fair opportunity. It is of a succulent 

 nature and demands plenty of manure. It must 

 have it to be sweet and tender; also remember to 

 cut it even if you can't use it all and have to feed 

 it to the chickens. 



Sow okra any time after the 10th of the month 

 in single rows, and thin the plants out to about 

 8 inches apart. This is also an all-seasons' crop and 

 demands good deep soil. I always make a second 

 sowing around the 20th of the month, later selecting 

 the better one and destroying the other. 



SOWING FOR SUCCESSION 



Sowing for succession must never be lost sight 

 of, because if the sowing is neglected the chain 

 is broken and the continuity of crops is lost. This 

 becomes more important as the season advances, 

 as the time of maturity of the crops is also lessening. 

 To illustrate: peas sown April 1st and 15th will 

 have an interval between maturity twice as long as 

 the time elapsing between two sowings made on 

 the 1 st and 15th of May. At the end of the year 

 the process works in the opposite way. 



Make four sowings of peas in May about one 

 week apart. The three best varieties for May 

 sowing are Gradus, perhaps the best of all peas 



Corn sown in rows instead of in hills is easily spaced 



when you consider quality; Telephone, also a good 

 pea, and an excellent cropper; Champion of Eng- 

 land. I plant these two last alternately with Gradus; 

 they give heavier crops. 



Sow spinach and radish every week during May, 

 for at this season spinach runs quickly to seed 

 and radishes get very strong. If the former is 

 well watered, it will not run to seed so quickly. 

 Make two sowings of carrots and beets during the 

 month, and also sow turnips twice. 



Lettuce must be sown often during May, as the 

 crop will mature during the warm weather and no 

 matter how much care we use a certain percentage 

 is sure to run to seed; this can only be reduced to 

 a minimum by frequent sowings, say about one 

 week apart. 



I sow string beans about every three weeks for 

 succession. I usually sow in single rows, but I 

 don't see any great objection to the double row — 

 neither can I see any advantage. 



Plant corn about every two weeks. A good 

 plan is to sow your early variety first, say about 

 May 7th, then on the 14th sow one row of early, 

 and one row of a late variety; about the 28th sow 

 two rows of late. This method will certainly 

 insure one crop following the other very closely. 



A very simple yet convenient method for keeping 

 succession crops moving in the proper rotation is 

 to make a sowing when the previous one is just 

 above ground. 



TRANSPLANTING STARTED PLANTS 



If you haven't already done as advised in last 

 month's Garden Magazine in planting out from 

 the coldframe some of the more hardy of the vege- 

 table plants, such as cabbage, cauliflower and 

 Brussels sprouts, do it as soon as possible. If any 

 grow too large in the frame or get root-bound they 

 will be greatly damaged. 



After the 20th of the month it will be safe to set 

 out tomatoes. I always stake the young plants 

 when I set them out, as they are very tender and 

 liable to get broken by the wind. You can also 

 set out peppers and egg plants, but if there is any 

 indication of cool nights it will be wiser to wait a 

 day or two, as they suffer very quickly. 



Set out sweet potatoes the latter part of May. 

 Good sweet potatoes can be grown in this locality 

 by securing young plants from any seedsman. 

 Plant them in rows which have been slightly raised 

 and well fertilized, about one and one-half feet 

 apart and three feet between the rows. 



SOWING FOR FALL 



The latter part of May is the proper time to sow 

 fall crops of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, 

 also winter celery. Most people sow these vege- 

 tables in beds, then transplant later to rows in the 

 garden, which is all right when you are short of 

 space. It is also the proper method for celery. 

 But where the ground is available I urge the sowing 

 of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and kale right 

 in the drills where they are to remain. This is 

 by far the best method for the amateur, as the 

 planting out necessary by the other method is always 

 troublesome, and must be attended to just at the 

 proper time, and for this very reason is neglected. 

 Sow very thinly in rows three feet apart, and when 

 large enough thin out to the proper distance between 

 the plants. 



feeding strawberries 



Strawberries will grow fast and push forward 

 the fruiting crown. It is the critical moment, for 

 if fertilizers are lacking in the soil the crop will 

 be a disappointment. There is no use waiting 

 until the berries are well advanced to apply it. I 

 usually apply a good dose of nitrate of soda just 

 before the flowers open, followed by an application 

 of liquid manure and again with the soda at inter- 

 vals of a few days. 



the asparagus bed 



Give two applications of salt during May (I 

 use 500 lbs. on a plot 60x180 ft.); this will keep 

 down the growth of weeds and the asparagus is 

 benefited. Apply this just before or during a rain, 

 run the cultivator over the bed two or three times 

 during the month, and exercise a little caution in 

 cutting and your bed will keep a-going. In cutting 

 don't jab a knife through the crown, as that splits 

 it into small pieces and causes the shoots to become 

 smaller. 



If rhubarb is thin or stringy it needs attention. 

 Seed pods persistently appearing is also an equal 

 assurance that next fall the plants should be divided 

 and reset. Cut off the seed pods as soon as they 

 appear; but don't cut the shoots, or rather 

 leaves — pull them off with a downward jerk. 



TO HILL OR NOT TO HILL? 



There are several reasons for hilling vegetables. 

 In some cases to keep plants from blowing over; 

 it also tends to get the roots deeper, where they 

 are not so liable to be affected by dry weather; 

 with other vegetables it is done to blanch the 

 stalks, the better to fit them for table use. But 



Early celery set in rows. Note the depth at which 

 it is planted 



