PEPPER — POTATO — PUMPKIN. 



211 



PEPPER, or CAPSICUM, {Capsicum annuum.) 



The Pepper is sown and cultivated in all respects the 

 same as the Egg-Plant, which may be referred to. The 

 varieties are the Bull-Nose, or Bell, and the Cayenne. 



POTATO, (Solarium tuberosum.) 



Potatoes are grown by planting the tubers, either cut 

 or whole, it makes but little difference which ; if large, 

 cut them ; if small, leave them uncut. They are usually 

 planted in drills three feet apart, and four or five inches 

 deep. The ground should be prepared by first spreading 

 in the drills a good coat of stable manure, say two inches 

 deep, upon which are planted the tubers or sets, at dis- 

 tances of eight or ten inches apart. In a warm exposure 

 planting may be begun early in April, and the crop will 

 be fit for use in June. Some of the small-leaved varieties 

 such as the Ash-leaved Kidney, were formerly grown un- 

 der hand glasses, or in frames, to forward them, but now 

 this is hardly worth the trouble, as our supplies from 

 southern latitudes are so early that it is no longer desir- 

 able to force the crop. The generally favorite variety for 

 early crops is still the Early Eose ; and for general crop, 

 Peach-Blows; but there are scores of other varieties, 

 which have a special or local reputation. 



PUMPKIN, (CucurUta Pepo.) 



Pumpkins are still grown in many gardens with a te- 

 nacity that is astonishing, when it should long ago have 

 been known that they have no business there, as their 

 first cousins, the squashes, are eminently superior for 

 every culinary purpose whatever. The Pumpkin is a val- 

 uable product for the farm, as a food for cattle, but for 

 nothing else. If people will waste valuable land in rais- 

 ing pumpkins, they may plant them the same as directed 

 for squashes. 



