DIFFICULTIES IN HOT-WEATHER GARDENING. 



be. They are superior to the collards so generally grown 

 here. Collards sown early in July are better than those 

 carried all through summer. If the collard-plants are 

 bent down where they grow, about Christmas, with the 

 heads toward the north, and the soil banked over the 

 stem and base of the head, leaving only the upper edges 

 of the leaves of the lower heads exposed on the shady 

 side, they will blanch perfectly. As grown here, the 

 coUard is no mean vegetable, but as commonly grown a 

 green collard is not delicate eating. 



We market tomatoes here from June 15 to July 31. 

 Melons and " roasting-ears " come into market about this 

 time. Spring-sown cabbage, like Fottler Brunswick or 

 Succession, sometimes pays well late in the month, but 

 is an uncertain crop here. Early sweet-potatoes begin to 

 come in, and would make more of an item with our 

 growers than they do, if sorts preferred at the north were 

 grown. Among Irish potatoes the Early Rose is a favor- 

 ite with our growers. Of salsify, the Sandwich Island 

 has superseded older sorts. For the winter crop of cab- 

 bage we use American-grown seed of Premium Flat 

 Dutch. Snap-beans are grown here in great variety. 

 The Valentine still leads among green-podded sorts. The 

 fungus which spots wax-beans is peculiarly troublesome 

 in Green Wax. We hope to circumvent it this season. 

 — W. F. Massey, Xor/h Carolina. 



LITTLE PLANTING DONE SO LATE IN VERMONT. 



Little planting can be done in July so far north as 

 Vermont. Even late cabbage and celery are rarely de- 

 layed longer than about July 4. We are, in fact, about 

 a month behind southern New England and New York in 

 all outdoor plantings and work. As for sales, we get into 

 market with the earliest peas rarely earlier than June 20, 

 and you can judge from that the seasons for other crops, 

 small fruits, etc. — T. H. Hoskins, Vermont. 



A CELERY specialist's SUGGESTIONS. 



Early in July we plant cabbage for fall and winter. 

 Late in July and early in August we set the main crop 

 of celery — varieties, White Plume, Silver Spray and Gol- 

 den Heart. During August we sow seed of Grand Rapids 

 lettuce for planting in frames to sell when wanted, and 

 also plant winter onions. 



To secure prompt germination of seed, we use a wheel- 

 barrow-like contrivance. The wheel is a cast-off belt- 

 wheel with four-inch face, obtained from some of the 

 mines; it weighs about 50 pounds. This contrivance is 

 wheeled over the track of seed-drill. This is our method 

 of planting celery : Trenches are opened three feet apart 

 and four inches deep, with a Planet Jr. cultivator and 

 the potato-furrowing attachment. About two inches of 

 manure is then thrown in the furrows from the wagon. 

 The bottom of the furrows is about a foot wide The 

 smallest teeth are then put on the cultivator, one in front 

 and two behind, and with a horse we go twice through a 

 row. The ground is now too soft for planting ; to over- 

 come this we harness two horses to the roller and go 

 across the rows. Then, if plants are taken from seed-bed 

 two days before wanted, the roots well puddled, plants 



stood loosely in boxes under an open shed till new root- 

 fibers start (which they usually do in 48 hours), and then 

 planted in the afternoon in suitable ground, there will be 

 no need of watering them. 



We usually begin marketing Wakefield cabbage July 4; 

 White Plume celery a month later. These are our pay- 

 ing crops, and occupy our time during the remainder of 

 the season. Our produce is sold at wholesale rates to 

 storekeepers and hucksters. Much of it is sold on the 

 grounds, which are on the main line of travel, and are 

 passed daily by hundreds of business-wagons. In addi- 

 tion, we keep two wagons on the road most of the time. 

 We aim to grow the best prdoucts, and sell them for what 

 they are, making every lot as nearly uniform as possible. 

 — M. Garrahan, Pennsylvania. 



A BOSTON market-gardener's METHODS, 



July is harvest-time for early cabbage, bunch beets, 

 bunch onions and dry onions from sets, and the first 

 stringbeans, and the latter part of the month, for early 

 tomatoes. These are all paying crops, but cabbage is the 

 most profitable. This is a busy month for the market- 

 gardener. The early crops harvested, preparations for 

 late ones must be made, and the dry weather incurs extra 

 labor to supply moisture in seeding and transplanting. 

 For cabbage, cauliflower and celery we frequently resort 

 to hand-watering. Seeds for the late crops are sown, 

 and the plants are set in rows left vacant among early 

 crops. We sow cucumbers for pickles until July 4, beets 

 until the 15th, fiat white turnips and beans for pickling 

 until the 20th, and lettuce until the 25th. Cabbage and 

 cauliflower are transplanted not later than July 20. All 

 these late crops are sown or planted on land that has 

 produced early crops. 



To make success more sure I plant or sow directly after 

 the plow, rolling the land before transplanting and after 

 the seeding. In sowing table-beets this after-rolling has 

 insured a perfect crop, where my neighbors, sowing at 

 the same time and not rolling, did not grow a crop worth 

 harvesting. In rolling after sowing, use a hand law^n- 

 roller drawn by two men, who walk between the newly- 

 seeded rows. In rolling soil for transplanting I use a 

 horse-roller before the plants are set 



General irrigation, to take the place of the natural 

 rainfall, has not proved successful except with a very few 

 kinds of vegetables. Our farms are usually piped, the 

 water-supply coming from steam-pumps, driving-wells, 

 etc., as we find water indispensable in greenhouse and 

 hotbed culture. We irrigate early cabbage by allowing 

 water to run along the rows. It is often the case that 

 just as the heads commence to form dry weather over- 

 takes the plants and checks their growth. In such case 

 the high prices realized for good heads compensate for 

 the labor in watering. Cauliflower and celery are other 

 crops that pay for watering. A dry season is most desir- 

 able for our market-gardeners, for then high prices are 

 realized. In gardens where stable-manure has been ap- 

 plied liberally year after year, the land is full of vegetable 

 matter and holds water like a sponge, enabling the grower 

 to produce good vegetables even in a drv season ; while 



