THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



3 



be set on top. This is made of rough boards, 

 one in front and two in the rear, level on the 

 bottom and slanting on top, enough so, to cast 

 water easily when the sashes are put on. As 

 soon as the frame is in place another layer of 

 six or eight inches of manure may be put inside 

 of the frame and a wall of manure built up 

 around the outside of the board frame to pro- 

 tect against frost. The sashes may then be 

 set on, and at night covered with straw mats 

 or something else that will answer the same 

 purpose. In two or three days the bed will 

 be hot enough to put on the soil, which should 

 not be less than eight inches in depth all over 

 the bed. To heat this soil will take two or 

 three days' time. When this is accomplished, 

 the seed may be sown. To do this remove 

 the sash, turn the soil over and rake the sur- 

 face level. Then open shallow drills, running 

 from front to rear, and not more than four 

 inches apart. In these driUs, each sort of seed 

 may be sown, putting the Tomatoes, Egg- 

 plants and Peppers in the middle drills, for 

 they need more heat than the others. Cover 

 the seed lightly and label each kind at the 

 same time. The sashes may then be replaced, 

 and if the weather is very cold cover the sash- 

 es over at night to protect against frost. Dur- 

 ing the day time this covering should be re- 

 moved unless the weather is stormy. In a 

 very few days from the time of sowing, if the 

 seeds are fresh, they will germinate, and from 

 then on the main point is to give the plants 

 air freely, in the middle of the day, to prevent 

 them from growing spindling. As a matter of 

 course, care will have to be exercised in doing 

 this to keep the cold air from striking the 

 young and tender plants, and to avoid open- 

 ing the sashes too early in the morning. In 

 case the surface of the bed should get dry, an 

 occasional watering will be necessary. In do- 

 ing this use an ordinary watering pot, with a 

 fine nose, and always with tepid water. A 

 month from the time the seed was sown, un- 

 der ordinary circumstances, the plants will be 

 large enough to prick out in the second frame 

 or rather the second sash, for one of these 

 will give more plants than will supply a dozen 

 or more families. When planted in the sec- 

 ond bed, shade for a few days until they take 

 root. From then on give these plants plenty 

 of air every pleasant day, and they may need 

 watering once or twice a week until the fine 

 weather sets in. Instead of planting in the 

 ordinary way, the Egg-plants and Tomatoes 

 may be put in "thumb pot" and placed close 

 together under the second sash. If the latter 

 plan is followed the plants will need more 

 frequent watering until they are transplanted 

 in the open ground. It may be well to men- 

 tion the fact that the soil for the seed and 

 transplanting beds, as well as for the pots, 

 should be rich and of good quality and, if con- 

 venient, run through a coarse sieve before 

 used for the purposes named. 



Besides the purposes named a bed such as 

 described can be used to advantage, later in 

 the season, for starting Melons, Cucumbers 

 and Lima Beans. 



.4 Compost Heap should be a permanent in- 

 stitution in every garden, and it will be found 

 surprising how much fertilizing matter can be 

 accumulated during a year. Such a structure 

 need not present an unsightly or objectionable 

 appearance ; it may be built behind some 

 hedge or in a fence corner and protected from 

 sight by a few Evergreens. 



THE BIGGEST POTATO STORY, 



Under this heading there is, in several agri- 

 cultural papers, a good deal of animated dis- 

 cussion going on just now, to find out who 

 has grown the largest quantity of Potatoes 

 from one pound of seed. One of the rival 

 candidates has obtained 36 pounds from one 

 tuber, another (>!> pounds from one tuber, but 

 when 118 and 142 pounds were grown from 

 one pound of seed it was enough to cause con- 

 siderable stir in a quiet New England town. 

 These figures, however, seemed only ridicu- 

 lous begiunings to the man who raised 200 

 pounds from one, "and how it made him 

 laugh," but when another beats all this and digs 

 2 barrels (321) pounds) of Potatoes from one 

 pound of seed i>lanted — "and did not half try" 

 — he was considerate enough to advise his ri- 

 vals "not to cry" and challenge the world "to 

 beat this if it can." 



Where have all these gentlemen been during 

 the last half a dozen years ? Have they not 

 read agricultural papers, and have they not 

 heard of the "Bliss Potato Premiums," and 

 the immense yields against which theirs fade 

 into insignificance ? 



In 1873, the present publishers of the Ameri- 

 can Garden, desiring to test the productive 

 qualities of some new varieties, offered large 

 money premiums for the largest quantity of 

 Potatoes grown from one pound of seed. The 

 biggest yield obtained the first year was 607 

 pounds from one, and the growers then thought 

 that "they did not half try." But they did try 

 afterwards, and with all their might. From 

 year to year larger yields were produced, so 

 that finally but few crops of less than one thou- 

 sand pounds from one were entered for compe- 

 tition. The maximum yield was reached in 

 1876, when Mr. H. C. Pearson of Pitcairn. N. 

 Y., produced li)82 pounds from one and 1707 

 from another pound of seed, justly entitling 

 him to the champion belt. Some doubting 

 Thomases, who may consider this as a good 

 joke, can be referred to the gentlemen whose 

 names and addresses we give below, who have 

 nearly as big stories to tell and have been 

 among the successful competitors. From one 

 pound of seed were grown : 



1694 and 1665 pounds by J. I. Salter,St.Cloud,Minn. 

 1666 pounds by J. L. Perkins, Little Sioux, Iowa. 

 1576 pounds by Alf red Kose, Pen Yan, N. Y. 

 1571 and 1511 pounds by P. C. Wood, Hillsboro, 111 

 1535 pounds by L. G.Clute, Manchester, Iowa. 

 1534 pounds by PeterRobertson,Jedboro,Scotland. 



Incredible as these statements may sound, 

 they have been verified by hundreds of per- 

 sons, and there is not a shadow of doubt about 

 their correctness. It is not impossible that 

 even this "'can be beat." but so far we are not 

 aware of a larger yield on record. 



LARGE YIELD OF CORN, 

 During a recent visit to the " Bural Farm," 

 on Long Island, in company with several well 

 known agriculturists, our attention was drawn 

 to an unusually fine looking field of " Blount's 

 Prolific Corn," just ready for husking, and 

 upon being informed by Mr. E. S. Carman, the 

 proprietor, that from a trial of a few stooks. 

 the yield promised to be over one hundred 

 bushels of shelled corn per acre, our curiosity 

 became aroused ; for although we have often 

 heard of one hundred bushel yields we had nev- 

 er before seen an acre producing this amount. 

 We selected five average-sized stooks from 

 different parts of the field, husked and shelled 

 the Corn on the spot, weighed and measured 



the product and by multiplying the average 

 weight, of fifty-six pounds to the bushel, with 

 the number of stooks contained on one acre, 

 found the entire product to be one hundred 

 and twenty-two bushels, and adding the four 

 bushels which had previously been removed 

 from the field, for seed, we arrived at the 

 grand total of one hundred and twenty-six bush- 

 els of shelled Com per acre. The entire meas- 

 urement, to which we look forward with inter- 

 est, can vary but little from the above figures. 



The most important feature about this ex- 

 traordinary crop is that it was not the result of 

 extraordinary cultivation aud extravagant ex- 

 penditure for fertilizers. The soil does not 

 differ from thousands of acres around it. The 

 " Corn and Potato Fertilizers" used did not 

 cost over $10 per acre, and the cultivation 

 was not better than every Corn field ought to 

 receive. Whether it was the peculiarity of 

 the soil, the variety of corn, the fertilizer, the 

 careful cultivation, or all combined, that caused 

 this enormous yield, who shall decide ? 



NEW VEGETABLES, 



Perfect Gem Squaxh, said, by the originator, 

 to be unlike anything before offered, excellent 

 both as a Summer and Winter Squash. It is 

 a very vigorous grower aud wonderfully pro- 

 ductive. The Squashes are from 4 to 6 inches 

 in diameter, flattened, of a creamy white color, 

 slightly ribbed, and have a thin, smooth skin. 

 The flesh is fine grained, cooks dry and is of 

 excellent quality and flavor. 



New Improved Dwarf Okm. — Grows but 14 

 inches high, has long slender pods, and is very 

 productive. 



Early Snowball Cauliflower. — A valuable ad- 

 dition : perfectly solid, pure white and spe- 

 cially well adapted for forcing. 



Livingston's Perfection Tomato. — Very early, 

 blood red, medium to large, perfectly smooth, 

 has few seeds and ripens evenly, especially 

 recommended for shipping and canning. 



Sdja Bean. (Soja lrispida. ) Resembles some- 

 what a Bean, the stems are stiff and the pods 

 are produced in numerous bunches of from 

 2 to si and contain 4 smooth nankeen colored 

 seeds. An essential ingredient of the celebra- 

 ted Soja sauce. 



Cuban Queen Water Melon, claimed to be the 

 largest and best Water Melon in the world. 

 Skin beautifully striped, flesh bright, remark- 

 ably solid, crisp, sugary and luscious. 



NEW POTATOES. 



Queen of the Valley. — A very large, long, 

 flattened variety, deep pink at the seed end, 

 shading to nearly white at the base. The im- 

 mense yield of this variety, of nearly all large 

 sized tubers, must secure a large demand for it. 



Extra Early Peaehblow. — Very early, round, 

 white with pink eyes, similar in appearance, 

 but smoother and not as deep eyed, as the 

 Peaehblow, which it resembles in all its good 

 qualities, with the additional advantage of ex- 

 treme earliness. 



White Elephant. — Late, long, cylindrical, 

 with depressed eyes, skin white and smooth. 

 Flesh fine grained, white and of good quality. 

 A productive and valuable winter variety. 



Adirondack. -Late, round, dark coppery red. 

 In general character similar to the old Peach- 

 blow, but hardier and more prolific. Said to 

 suffer less from drouth than other varieties. 



White Star. — A cross between Excelsior and 

 Peaehblow. Medium late, cylindrical, of good 

 uniform size, white, of excellent quality, keeps 

 well and yields profusely. 



