74 



THE GARDEN MAGA1 



Septembeb, 1909 



Tomatoes as an Irrigated Crop 



THE vegetable which presents the greatest 

 problem under irrigation in this section 

 is the tomato. When tomatoes come to successful 

 maturity here, they are fine husky specimens. 

 But they are as uncertain as the stock exchange. 

 They have a habit of blighting from a cause so 

 far unknown. 



Experts at the state agricultural college and at 

 the federal stations have been experimenting to 

 discover the cause and cure, but so far without 

 definite results. If they turn out all right, tomatoes 

 are a paying crop, some ranchers raising them to a 

 profit of $500 an acre. 



One of "the successful tomato growers has an 

 ingenious way of defeating one of the tomato pests. 

 Along the side of his tomato rows, he plants petunias. 

 The flowers attract the moths and he and his wife 

 get up early in the morning, brush them off the 

 petunias and destroy them, thus keeping the tomatoes 

 free from the larvae. 



Washington. Lucy M. Ellis. 



How to Use up Tomatoes 



ALL surplus tomatoes, which may be still on 

 the vines at the end of the season, can be 

 easily canned if the following suggestions are 

 borne in mind: 



Use only fine-flavored sorts that are good keepers. 



Can before the fruits are too ripe, while they are 

 still a little green on the stem end, because they 

 are then sweeter in flavor and keep better. 



Can the same day they are gathered, for any that 

 become over-ripe and burst may sour and spoil the 

 whole supply. 



Cast out all cracked and imperfect fruits. They 

 may be well enough for Chili sauce, but not for 

 canning. 



Scald the tomatoes only long enough to peel easily; 

 then cut into thick slices and place a small amount 

 at a time in a granite or porcelain kettle. 



Boil only long enough for the mass to become boil- 

 ing hot throughout, then lift into the can and seal 

 as soon as it is full. Cooking too much makes the 

 tomatoes mushy and gives a bitter taste. 



Canned in this way they may be used in any dish 

 that calls for raw tomatoes. 



PICKLING GREEN TOMATOES 



If canning is too much trouble, an excellent 

 pickle is made of green tomatoes by using twice 

 as much chopped cabbage as there is chopped 

 tomato, with red peppers and onions chopped and 

 added; sugar to make slightly sweet and sufficient 

 salt to balance the flavor. Mustard seed and celery 

 seed are added, also whole cloves and whole allspice 

 in a little cheesecloth bag. Enough vinegar will 

 be needed so that the finished pickle when canned 

 will be just covered with the liquid. It is better 

 to make a small quantity at a time and have it come 

 to the boiling point quickly. Boil only twenty 

 minutes, otherwise the pickle will not be crisp. 



New York. I. M. Angell. 



Fall Work For the South 



SEPTEMBER is the beginning of the busy 

 harvest time with the Southern' farmers. 

 Cotton is usually ready for picking by the first 

 of the month, and should be gathered as rapidly 

 as possible. For seed purposes pick the largest 

 and earliest opened bolls from the healthiest and 

 most prolific stalks. 



Peanuts are generally ready for harvesting early 

 in the month. If allowed to remain in the soil 

 very long after they have matured, the seed begins to 

 germinate; therefore, as soon as ripe pull up and 

 spread in the sun. It is very important to have both 

 pods and vines thoroughly dry before they are stored 

 which should be a in cool, dry place. 



Select the most prolific bushes with the fewest 

 pops, and save the largest, longest and best-matured 

 pods from these bushes for seed if you wish to im- 

 prove the stock. Continue to select the seed for 

 several years, or else buy the improved seed. 



The madonna lily is one of the most beautiful 

 pure white lilies. The best time for planting the 

 bulbs is during the latter part of the month. They 



Improve the strain by selecting from the most 

 prolific bushes, only the largest, longest, and best 

 matured pods. By continuing this selection for 

 several years, great improvements may be made 



will begin flowering the first of May. Be sure to 

 get the largest bulbs and plant them in rich soil not 

 more than three inches deep. Give the plant 

 protection during freezing weather. 



Calla lilies, peonies and Bermuda and Japanese 

 lilies should also be planted during the last half 

 of the month for the best results. 



Georgia. Thomas J. Steed. 





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The most beautiful pure white lily is the ma- 

 donna lily. For flowers next spring, plant during 

 the latter part of September 



Early Fall Notes 



Here is a striking combination for a bed of hardy 

 flowers — larkspurs and Tartarian aster. The 

 latter is a purple flower of September and October 

 Larkspurs made a fine show of blue in July and 

 scattering flowers all the autumn. 



Several hardy flowers lose their foliage entirely 

 in summer after blooming, notably the Oriental 

 poppy, mertensia, and St. Bernard's lily (Anlhe- 

 ricum Liliago). The last-named, however, will 

 retain its foliage if grown in partial shade. Mer- 

 tensias are in danger of being hurt by the hoe in 

 summer; therefore, plant them among asters or 

 in a pocket among rocks. 



"Crimson Poppy mallow" would be an excel- 

 lent name for that exceedingly brilliant hardy 

 flower known as Callirhoe involucrata. Though 

 very strong, the color is refined, owing to the poppy- 

 like texture. It blooms all summer and fall on the 

 light, moist soil of southern New Jersey, on the 

 shores of the Delaware, and might, therefore 

 be used for bedding if one could keep it from being 

 seen in combination with other colors. We have 

 seen the same plants full of bloom on July 19th, 

 and September 12th of the same year. Flowers 

 two inches across. 



The best hardy white flower of September, with- 

 out doubt, is a white variety of the Japanese 

 anemone. White phlox may last through the first 

 half of September, but the anemone can be counted 

 on for a fine show during the latter half of the 

 month, when gardens begin to fail. We have seen 

 it begin to bloom as early as July 20th, at Phila- 

 delphia, and as late as October 16th near New 

 York, after several rather sharp frosts. 



If you like lupines you ought to know about 

 Baptisia australis, which has dark blue, lupine- 

 like flowers in spikes a foot long. One June we 

 saw two hundred large clumps of it in full bloom 

 at Elizabeth, N. J. The spikes are borne well 

 above the leaves, which are compound and of a 

 pleasing glaucous green. A good clump will have 

 a dozen stems and as many spikes, each averaging 

 fifteen flowers. It is rather robust for a flower 

 border, but try it in the shrubbery! It reallv belongs 

 there, and you can't name many blue flowers 

 among shrubs. 



If you wish to try bedding effects with hardy 

 plants try the Chinese leadwort, a blue flower that 

 will be showy all September and most of October, 

 with scattering flowers in November. The red 

 stems make a striking contrast. Nurserymen 

 call it Plumbago Larpenta; its correct name is 

 Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, which loses some 

 of its terror when you know that it means "a plant 

 with horned stigmas, that looks like a plumbago." 



Hundreds of attempts have been made to intro- 

 duce the butterfly weed (Asdepias tuberosa) into 

 gardens because it it one of the most gorgeous 

 American wild flowers, with its flat clusters of 

 orange blossoms in July. But no one knows how 

 to handle it. If you dig up old plants with woody 

 tap roots, they die; if you store the roots in a cellar 

 they get dry rot; if you buy store seed it will prob- 

 ably not germinate. Perhaps the best way is to 

 buy in the spring pot-grown plants freshly imported 

 from France. Or one could give an order to 

 professional collectors to gather some fresh seed in 

 August and sow it then. 



