2 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Tliis is a busy season in the garden, and, 

 unless we can work according to previously 

 matured plans, a considerable amount of 

 hurry, vexation, and disappointment can 

 hardly be avoided. There is so much to be 

 done in a short time that, without prepara- 

 tion, all cannot be done in a 

 thorough manner. 



In most cases there is not 

 much choice to be had in lo- 

 cating the kitchen-garden; a 

 certain plot of ground near the 

 house is the only convenient 

 place available, and this has to 

 be utilized to the best advan- 

 tage. 



Where a new garden is to be 

 made, and a piece of dry, mellow 

 land with a southerly or south- 

 easterly exposure can be select- 

 ed, such a location, other con- 

 ditions being equal, is the most 

 favorable. Yet it is surprising 

 how much thorough and re- 

 peated working of the soil and 

 liberal manuring can accom- 

 plish, even under naturally unfavorable con- 

 ditions. 



Where early vegetables are desired, dry, 

 light soil and a warm location, sheltered 

 from cold winds, are absolutely necessary. 

 Early vegetables cannot be raised in cold 

 and wet soil. No matter how choice the 

 varieties and how excellent the quality of 

 the seeds may be, unless they are placed 

 under the conditions necessary for germina- 

 tion, they cannot grow. 



The beginner in gardening cannot too 

 strongly be cautioned against undertaking 

 too much. The satisfaction and returns 

 derived from a well and constantly eared for 

 garden, however small, are infinitely greater 

 than from a larger one only half-tilled. 



As a rule, nothing is gained by sowing or 

 planting before the ground is dry and warm, 

 and in fit condition. The follow- 

 ing are the best varieties of vege- 

 tables which may be sown as soon 

 as the ground can be worked : 



Beets. — Early Egyptian, Long 

 Smooth. 



( 'a bbage.— Early Wakefield, 

 Winnigstadt, Early Savoy. 



( 'arrots. — Early Horn, Improved 

 Long Orange. 



Lettuce. — Early Curled Simpson, 

 Hanson, Tennis Ball, Butter. 



Onions. — Early Eed, New 

 Queen, Yellow Danvers. 



Peas. — American Wonder, Al- 

 pha, Little Gem, Impr. Daniel 

 O'Rourke, Champion of England. 



Radish. — Early Scarlet Turnip, 

 Olive-shaped, White-tipped. 



Spinach . — Round-leaved, Savoy-leaved. 



The tender varieties should not be sown 

 until the ground is thoroughly warmed and 

 all danger of frost is past. 



Potatoes. — For early planting, medium- 

 sized, whole tubers should be used, to pre- 

 vent rotting, which frequently takes place 

 when cut pieces are used very early in the 

 season. Alpha, Early Vermont, Beauty of 

 Hebron, and Triumph are the best. 



NEW VEGETABLES. 



We present herewith a few accurate illus- 

 trations of some of the novelties described 

 in our last issue. Although we do not advise 

 our readers to invest heavily in all new and 

 high-priced introductions, to us, one of the 

 greatest pleasures of the garden consists in 

 the anticipation and watchful curiosity in the 

 cultivation of novelties. Our expectations 

 are not always realized, but in this case there 

 is some satisfaction in disappointment, even. 



PERFECT GEM SQUASH. 



Day's Early Sunrise Tea, introduced from 

 England, where it is held in high esteem, not 

 only as one of the earliest, but as the largest 

 early white wrinkled marrow Pea ; it is said 

 to be very prolific, and of superb quality. 



Burpee's Netted Gent- Musi-Melon. — Small, 

 extra early, very prolific ; skin and flesh 

 green, pronounced to be of excellent quality. 



Extra Early Purple-top Munich Turnip. — 

 A remarkably handsome and very early Tur- 

 nip, with a bright purplish-red top and fine 

 mouse-tail root, said to be three weeks earlier 

 than any other variety. 



Bay View Musi-Melon. — To produce a Melon 

 better than those already in existence would 

 seem to be a hard task, yet this is what is 

 claimed for this new-comer: "The largest, 

 most prolific, and best flavored Cantaloupe." 



QUEEN WATER MELON. 



The Rural Corn Yield. — The actual 

 measurement of the Corn raised on the 

 "Rural Farm" exceeds our estimate as 

 given in our last number. The entire yield 

 was weighed and measured on December 

 5th, showing the enormous product of 134^ 

 bushels of shelled corn per acre. 



In reply to several readers, we state that 

 the fertilizers used were ' 1 Mapes's Corn " and 

 " Potato Manures." 



LETTUCE. 



Among the many vegetables which arct 

 usually found growing in any well-stocked 

 kitchen-garden, there are none that are more 

 highly prized than one, t wo, or three varieties 

 of Lettuce. This vegetable is always in 

 season, and always a welcome relish for those 

 who are fond of the choicer productions of 

 the vegetable garden. The wonder is that a 

 vegetable so easily' grown, and one that is so 

 highly valued, is not more generally seen in 

 the gai'dens of the many, instead 

 of the few, for this seems to be 

 the case. In large centers of 

 - population, the demand for Let- 



gpL - L tuce extends the year through, 

 and it is one of the leading crops 

 raised by market gardeners, in 

 the winter under glass, and in 

 the spring and summer as an 

 out-of-door crop. In former 

 years, the bulk of the winter 

 production of Lettuce was raised 

 in hot-beds and cold frames, for 

 the winter and early spring sup- 

 ply. But now a large part of the 

 winter supply i - grown in houses, 

 constructed and heated in the 

 same way that the ordinary 

 greenhouses are ; and this latter 

 plan is a great improvement on 

 the old-style method. In these houses there 

 are three crops of Lettuce raised between 

 the first of December and the first of May. 

 This plan enables large hotels and first-class 

 restaurants to have Lettuce on their bill of 

 fare at all times through the year. For family 

 use, an early spring supply can easily be raised 

 by planting in a hot-bed at any time that the 

 bed is ready, setting out sixty plants under 

 each sash of 3 x 0 — the usiial size — giving air 

 in mild weather, and frequent waterings with 

 tepid water. The market gardener always 

 sows the seed for the following year's crop in 

 September. In November, these young plants 

 are "pricked" out close together in an ordi- 

 nary cold frame, where they are kept until 

 planting time, in March or April. 



The plants for the crop of Early Cabbages 

 are set out in rows two feet apart, and a row 

 of Lettuce is set between each two 

 rows of Cabbages. The Lettuce 

 comes to maturity and is market- 

 ed before the Cabbages are half 

 grown, and, by economizing 

 ground, a large quantity of pro- 

 duce is raised from a compar- 

 atively small surface. When the 

 Lettuce plants have not been kept 

 over through the winter, then 

 sow a small quantity of seed in a 

 hot-bed at the time of sowing 

 Tomatoes, Egg-plants, and other 

 seeds wanted to stock the garden. 

 Seeds sown in this way may be 

 planted in the open ground, in 

 the latter part of April, and unless 

 checked by cold, frosty weather, 

 will grow rapidly, giving some 

 for table use in five weeks from the time 

 of planting. Cold-frame plants can be set 

 in the open ground three or four weeks 

 earlier than hot-bed plants ; and to gain 

 this advantage in time, and lengthen the 

 season, it is a good plan to buy two 

 or three hundred of plants from some 

 market gardener or seed-store. These can 

 be planted in the garden as soon as the 

 ground is fit to work, and. as. a matter of 



