500 



DICTIONARY OF SEASONABLE GARDEN WORK. 



yet in vigorous growth. Sow for succession, spinage, 

 bush-beans, beets, radishes, turnips, etc. The idle 

 garden goes to weeds. Let no weeds go to seed to sow 

 trouble for years to come. 



General Orchard Manageynent . — Take care of the 

 orchard fruit. There will be but a light crop in the 

 east. Make the most of what you have. Mow the 

 grass, but leave it on the ground. Destroy the second 

 brood of the fall web-worm. 



Gooseberries. — Layering is the surest method of pro- 

 pagation. Bank up earth all around and well into the 

 parent plant. See also directions for currants. 



Grapery. — Give air freely to ripening fruit. Thin 

 crowded shoots to insure perfect ripening of wood for 

 next year's fruiting. In coldhouses thin the forming 

 clusters and remove all imperfect berries. 



Insects. — Use bubach or kerosene emulsion for the 

 cabbage-worm, and all leaf-eating caterpillars. Probe 

 out borers on fruit-trees. For flea-beetles and aphis 

 apply a spray of strong tobacco-tea. 



Letluce. — Pull up the plants going to seed. Poultry 

 are very fond of lettuce, and when in confinement will 

 eat large quantities of it. 



Mamirc. — It is not too early to look about for a new 

 supply for next season. Often you can get some good 

 city stable manure for the hauling at this time of the 

 year. Get all you can. 



Marketing. — Read the good advice given by practi- 

 cal growers elsewhere in this issue. If possible, use new- 

 crates and boxes, and sort and pack carefully. Don't 

 store crops for higher prices after a decent price is of- 

 fered. More money is lost in this way than in any other. 

 The chances are against any profit in waiting. 



Mushrooms. — People who make a business of growing 

 mushrooms for market usually find it profitable if well- 

 managed. A home supply can also be easily grown 

 at this time under the greenhouse-stages. A cellar 

 where an even temperature of from 50° to 60° can be 

 kept without much difficulty, is also suitable. Collect a 

 lot of fresh horse-manure, not too coarse. Spread it 

 out as it accumulates, to prevent heating, and fork it 

 over several times at intervals of a few days. A little 

 turfy loam may be added, although this is not absolutely 

 needed. Next make up a bed of about 18 inches deep 

 and two' or three feet wide, of any length desired, beating 

 the nianure down well. After the first violent heat has 

 .subsided, and the thermometer inserted in the manure 

 indicates 80° or 90°, the bed may be "spawned." Break 



the spawn in pieces the size of a small egg, and insert 

 them two inches deep and eight inches apart each way all 

 over the bed. In a week's time cover with two inches of 

 fine loam, and wait for results. 



Onions. — Harvest the crop when the tops begin to die 

 down. Let the bulbs lie on the ground until well cured, 

 and when perfectly dry draw them under shelter, on the 

 barn-floor or other suitable airy place. Market as soon 

 as possible. Prices this month are usually good. 



Potatoes. — Keep them well cultivated until the vines 

 cover the ground. Spray with Bordeaux mixture thor- 

 oughly and frequently to keep off blights. If bugs are 

 troublesome, add a pound of Paris green to each 200 

 gallons of the Bordeaux mixture. Dig early potatoes 

 and sell them if a fair price is offered. For home use 

 dig only as wanted, and for seed not until tops die down. 

 Growers south of Virginia may plant second crop this 

 month. 



Spinage. — Sow seed for late fall use. 



Squashes. — Continue to cultivate and hoe the vines 

 until they cover the ground. Treat melons and late cu- 

 cumbers the same way. 



SiL'eet-Potatoes. — Lift the vines off the ground occa- 

 sionally, to prevent them from rooting at the joints. 



Tomatoes. — To get them into market early, pick them 

 when just beginning to color, and spread in single layers 

 upon a layer of straw in an unused coldframe or hot- 

 bed, covering with sash. They will thus color up nicely 

 and quickly, and give the fruit left on the vines a better 

 chance to ripen. 



Vineyard. — Let grapes get ripe before you market 

 them. No Ives should be picked this month. If 

 diseases are troublesome continue to spray with the am- 

 moniacal solution of copper carbonate. 



Waste Unnecessary. — Do not allow any waste of 

 crops. One-fifth of all fruit, vegetables, and grain pro- 

 duce is wasted, without counting in the waste in cooking 

 and serving. At least two-fifths more are lost after har- 

 vesting ; but one-fifth before harvesting. Thus over 

 one-half the productive power of our soil is lost, which 

 means that we could easily feed more than twice as many 

 people as we do. Almost every year we see thousands 

 of bushels of rotten apples on the ground. Is it abso- 

 lutely necessary that they should be lost ? Good judg- 

 ment would not plant one-fiftieth as much summer and 

 fall fruit ; but if it be growing it can be turned into cider 

 and stored. Cider becomes vinegar, and vinegar keeps, 

 and reaches renumerative prices in off fruit-years. 



