4o8 



DIFFICULTIES IN HOT-WEATHER GARDENING. 



gooseberry, currant, persimmon, etc., which are covered 

 with pulp, germinate much easier if the fruits are 

 crushed, and the pulp allowed to stand two or three 

 days before washing. When the pulp rots free from the 

 seeds they are either washed clean and planted at once, 

 or carefully dried in the shade — never in the direct sun. 

 They are then put up in packages, along with a few 

 "moth-balls" (camphor-balls saturated in carbolic acid) 

 to prevent insect depredations, and kept in a cool, dry 

 place until needed for planting. Some seeds, such as 

 grape, blackberry, strawberry, asparagus, etc , are very 

 slow to germinate. These should be scalded for a 

 moment in boiling water, but be careful not to cook 

 their germs. Put the seeds into sacks, and then im- 

 merse them in the water for one or more seconds, accord- 

 ing to size of seed. Roll and knead the mass, that the 

 hot water may penetrate it thoroughly, then take it out 

 and plunge it into cold water. Mix the seeds with dry 

 sand so that they will separate readily in sowing, plant 

 them at once in warm soil, covering very lightly, and see 

 to it that they never dry out or get water-soaked. 



To insure prompt growth of roots transplanted in dry 

 weather the bed of earth in which they are set must be 

 deeply and finely pulverized, sufficiently moist to sustain 

 growth, and the moisture must reach down to permanent 

 moisture. They will often require artificial watering 

 After setting, shade them with a broad shingle stuck 

 slantingly over the plant on the south side ; this can be 

 removed when wilting ceases. We do not water arti- 

 ficially, except when transplanting or growing seedlings 

 as above stated. Little good is accomplished in dry hot 

 weather by watering unless you haye enough of the ele- 

 ment to irrigate fully. 



Here, in July and August, melons, tomatoes, sweet- 

 potatoes and sweet-corn are the chief marketable vege- 

 tables, as nearly all others have matured and been sold. 

 The cantaloup and watermelon crops are then in most 

 demand, and bring most money. This is a great melon 

 country. My advice about melons and cantaloups 

 would be to plant only one variety of each. The best 

 strain of Netted Gem cantaloup, and finest strain of 

 Kolb Gem watermelon will bring money — if any will — 

 in local markets or when shipped. Use an abundance 

 of melon-seed, and plant them in only one kind of soil — 

 well-drained sandy loam made rich with stable manure — 

 at, or a little after, corn-planting time. Cover the seed 

 not more than an inch deep. Market only prime melons. 

 T. V. MUNSON, Texas. 



GARDENING IN GEORGI.\, 



Rutabaga and English turnips, the last crops of snap- 

 beans and bush butter-beans, tomatoes, cabbages, and 

 corn, are sown and planted here during July and August ; 

 and in the latter month we sow kale. 



To insure prompt germination of seeds, land is plowed 

 and bedded. After a rainfall, as soon as we can go 

 over the ground, seed is sown and rolled into the soil. 

 In setting out plants we grout them and set them out as 

 soon as a rain wets the soil, giving frequent cultivation 



afterward. Artificial watering is rarely resorted to ex- 

 cept when setting cabbage and sweet-potato plants. 



Tomatoes, green corn, beans, egg-plant, salsify, and 

 sometimes cabbage, sell best in our markets at this time 

 of year. — S. A. Cook, Georgia. 



PLANTING AND MARKETING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 



We keep up our successive crops of sweet-corn, for 

 table use, all through July in North Carolina. In fact, 

 better crops of sweet-corn can be grown here from July 

 plantings than from early plantings, for all our corn that 

 gets fit for table use in June is seriously damaged by the 

 boll-worm, which the later corn generally escapes. About 

 July I we set tomato-plants, from seed sown in June, for 

 use in late fall. This is our main crop for home canning, 

 and is usually larger than the early crop. July 30 or 

 August I we sow seed for winter cabbage that will head 

 about Christmas. Salsify-seed sown here in July will 

 give a better crop than if sown in spring, as the early 

 plants are liable to have their growth checked and run to 

 seed in hot weather. 



Snap-beans, for succession, we sow until September. 

 In this section (Raleigh) of North Carolina we try to de- 

 fer planting sweet-potatoes for the late crop until August, 

 but if the weather is damp, the seed may sprout so that 

 it must be planted earlier. We take the potatoes of the 

 early crop as soon as the first lot is dug for market, spread 

 them out in a single layer, and cover them with an inch 

 or more of sandy soil Here they remain until their eyes 

 are well started, usually in August. Then those that are 

 started (and no others) are planted whole, in deep fur- 

 rows, and covered only about an inch deep. As growth 

 proceeds the soil is worked in about them, and the culti- 

 vation is flat. These potatoes are ready to dig late in 

 November. This late crop is getting to be of great im- 

 portance in the south, particularly for seed to plant the 

 early crop the following year. Our growers find it to 

 be much more productive than northern -grown s^ed, 

 and it withstands the changes of our treacherous spring 

 weather better. Southern truckers plant no other seed 

 of sweet-potatoes in spring, unless they run short of the 

 home-grown. For table use in winter these potatoes are 

 also of superior quality, for if kept cool they do not start 

 an eye until May, and are therefore of better quality than 

 those long dug and sprouted. In dry soil they can be 

 left over winter where they grew, and their rows covered 

 with straw ; here they remain until March, when they 

 must be dug to prevent sprouting. A Florida grower in- 

 forms me that he planted part of his crop this spring with 

 home-grown and part with northern-grown seed. The 

 freeze in March killed the northern potatoes outright, 

 but only cut the tops of those home-grown, and they 

 made a good crop. July, in northern localities, is the 

 time for planting the main crop of celery, but here it is 

 better to defer this until September, then use plants from 

 seed sown in June. 



Brussels sprouts sown early in July will give, in this 

 climate, a great abundance of their little heads all winter. 

 They are not so much grown in the south as they should 



