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THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[April, 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



As gardens -are generally planted the same 

 kinds of vegetables occupy the same ground 

 for many years in succession. Seeds which ad- 

 mit of the earliest sowing, are sown on the 

 warmest and driest spot, followed at the second 

 sowing with less hardy varieties and so on, un- 

 til the whole garden is filled. Thus Early 

 Peas have been growing on the same spot year 

 after year, and Potatoes, Tomatoes, Cucumbers 

 and other vegetables, each in their respective 

 locations. For convenience sake and regularity 

 nothing better could be desired, but for the best 

 yield and quality no worse plan could be devised. 



Rotation of Crops is as necessary in the 

 garden as in the field. The different classes or 

 families of plants require different kinds of 

 food, which, although not so varying as with 

 animals, are distinct enough to make it evident 

 that some plants thrive in certain soils, in 

 which others would perish. Abundant manur- 

 ing will, in a measure, replace some of the 

 elements of plant food taken from the soil by 

 previous crops, but when the same or similar 

 kinds of plants have been growing on the same 

 grounds for a number of years, fertilizers alone 

 can but rarely restore all the elements neces- 

 sary for this crop and a change, a rotation of 

 crops becomes necessary. The order of plant- 

 ing should therefore be reversed and varied 

 every year, so that only vegetables of distant 

 botanical relationship come to follow each 

 other in the consecutive plantings. 



Rotation of Fertilizers is of not less impor- 

 tance. Barnyard manure is the completest of 

 all fertilizers, nevertheless land which has had a 

 plentiful supply of it during a series of years is 

 benefited by an occasional change to potash salts, 

 bone-meal, or superphosphates and vice versa. 



Forcing Potatoes. — As the old stock of Po- 

 tatoes is high priced and will probably be ex- 

 hausted before the new crop becomes market- 

 able, new Potatoes will, no doubt, be in great 

 demand. Several weeks time may be gained 

 by starting sets in the hotbed or house. An 

 easy and inexpensive method is to take shallow 

 boxes about three inches deep and of conven- 

 ient size, cover the bottom with about two inches 

 of mellow, rich soil, mixed with sand. On 

 this, place the Potato sets, cut to single eyes, 

 cut side down, so that they do not quite 

 touch each other, scatter some of the same soil 

 or compost over them, and fill the box. Wet 

 with tepid water and put in a warm place, not 

 necessarily a light one at first. When the soil 

 becomes dry give water, and" as soon as the 

 sprouts appear above ground, bring the box to 

 a sunny window. In about three weeks from 

 the time of starting, the young plants will be 

 large enough for transplanting to the open 

 ground. To facilitate the separating of the 

 roots, which have grown into a dense mass, 

 the soil should be allowed to become rather 

 dry. The young plants are then carefully 

 taken up, one by one, and transferred into pre- 

 viously dug or plowed furrows, where they are 

 placed about a foot apart and covered with 

 mellow soil pressed firmly around them. The 

 furrows are then filled in and leveled so that 

 only a few green leaves of the sprouts remain 

 visible. A light dressing of decomposed ma- 

 nure along the rows is beneficial, not only as a 

 fertilizer but also as a protection against frost. 



PLANT WHITE BEANS. 



Those who plant the different varieties of 

 garden Beans, both bush and running sorts, 

 liberally, as they should, since there is no bet- 

 ter or cheaper food for summer use, will usually 

 find, at the end of the season that they have a 

 considerable quantity of dry Beans on hand, ■ 

 more than are needed for seed. If these are 

 colored sorts very little use is made of them, 

 not because when cooked they do not taste 

 well, but because they do not look nicely. Of 

 the colored Beans many families never gather 

 any more than enough for seed on this ac- 

 count. Beans are not eaten by any domestic 

 animals except sheep and goats, so there is 

 no use for them in most cases if not desired for 

 the table. 



There is one use, indeed, for waste, or dam- 

 aged Beans, which many gardeners do not 

 think of. They are an excellent fertilizer, well 

 worth a dollar a bushel for that purpose, espe- 

 cially where a rich nitrogenous manure is 

 wanted to use in the hill for Cucumbers or 

 Melons, or broadcast on Onions. I have used 

 a great many bushels of waste Beans in this 

 way. I prefer to have them ground, but they 

 may be prepared as a fertilizer by composting 

 them with loam, shovelling them over occa- 

 sionally until well rotted. Such a compost, 

 made one-third of Beans and two-thirds of 

 loam, is as strong as good hen manure. 



But good Beans are worth more for food than 

 for manure. As those who do not keep sheep 

 or goats cannot utilize them for feeding to 

 stock, they will find it a good plan to grow 

 such as are useful and acceptable, when dry, 

 for the table. This can be accomplished by 

 planting only the white seeded varieties. Noth- 

 ing is sacrificed in quality by this selection. 

 Among the dwarf sorts the Crystal White 

 Wax, the White Seeded Valentine and the 

 Large White Kidney rank with the first for 

 Snaps (String-Beans), while the last named 

 is one of the best for cooking green, either 

 alone or in succotash. All three of them are 

 first-rate for baking or for porridge. The 

 Crystal White Wax, especially, is in my 

 opinion the best flavored and most easily di- 

 gested of all Beans used for cooking in the 

 dry state. 



Among the Running Beans a similar selec- 

 tion is easily made. The Early Dutch Case- 

 Knife is an excellent Bean for use, green or 

 dry. The Extra-Early Lima, and the Small 

 Lima or " Sewee" Beans, and the Large Lima, 

 where the season is long enough, are all first- 

 rate for every use, green or dry. It will thus 

 be seen that families have no need to plant any 

 kind of Beans that are not useful and desira- 

 ble for the table under all circumstances. It 

 is quite a convenience, and a desirable item of 

 economy, to be able to gather from the garden 

 not only a summer, but also a winter supply of 

 this, the most nutritious and, to many, one of 

 the most acceptable of garden vegetables. 



Dr. T. H. Hoskins. 



Hot-Beds require at least as much attention 

 now as when first made. In many cases more 

 loss results from keeping hot-beds too warm 

 than too cold. Air should be given on every 

 warm and sunny day. A good rule to go by 

 is to move the sashes half an hour after the 

 sun strikes them in the morning, and to close 

 them an hour before it leaves them in the even- 

 ing. The plants should never be watered be- 

 fore the surface of the bed becomes quite dry, 

 and then sufficient water should be given to 

 soak the entire mass of soil, 



WATER CRESS. 



This peculiar plant has been a justly popular 

 vegetable for hundreds of years, and is prob- 

 ably to-day exactly the same as it was genera- 

 tions ago. Goldsmith refers to it in his im- 

 mortal "Deserted Village," where he says, in 

 describing 

 " The sad historian of the pensive plain- 

 She, wretched matron, forced in age, for bread, 

 To strip the brook, with mantling cresses spread." 



And so to this day many a farmer, though per- 

 haps not forced by want, gets many a dollar of 

 ready money from some cress-mantled stream 

 flowing through his meadows. 



Water Cress, though a native of Europe, has 

 become so thoroughly naturalized here that it 

 is found frequently growing wild along water 

 courses throughout the Eastern States, and it 

 is probably for this reason that it is not more 

 extensively cultivated. Yet near large cities, 

 where there is always considerable demand for 

 it, hardly any crop will yield as much per acre 

 as Water Cress ; besides, its quality becomes 

 much improved under cultivation, so that, where 

 once known, the cultivated Cress finds readier 

 sale and commands a higher price in market. 



The character of the stream in which they 

 grow also greatly affects the quality. Cresses 

 grown in sluggish streams with muddy bottoms 

 are inferior in color and crispness to those grown 

 in rapid water flowing over a pebbly course. 



A few hints as to the manner of planting 

 may be of use to those who cannot obtain it 

 from its natural habitat, or who desire a better 

 article than can be procured from that source. 

 An old stool or clump is broken up into pieces, 

 which are placed in the bed of a stream of from 

 four to eight inches in depth, where they 

 quickly strike root from each joint. Where 

 this depth cannot be had naturally, the stream 

 may be easily modified to obtain it. Deep 

 brooks can be lowered by widening, and shallow 

 ones raised by partial dams, — this is seldom 

 necessary, however, as the resistance of the 

 growing Cress will of itself materially deepen 

 the current. A small stone should be put on 

 each slip to keep it in place, as the current 

 would otherwise wash it away. 



Cresses grown in rows are more easily gath- 

 ered than where they are in patches ; they are 

 also generally cleaner, as the current readily 

 carries away any debris which may come down 

 the stream. Where old plants cannot be pro- 

 cured, the seed may be sown along the edge of 

 the water, but a more certain way is to sow the 

 seed where it can conveniently be kept moist 

 without danger of being washed away, and 

 when the plants are large enough transplant 

 in the brook. 



Cresses can be grown in common garden soil 

 if regularly watered, but unless all conditions 

 are favorable the fiber will be rather tough and 

 coarse. In gathering the crop it should be cut 

 and not broken off, as the plants will be dis- 

 turbed Jess and the product present a much 

 neater appearance. 



The principal market season lasts from Feb- 

 ruary until June, and small quantities may be 

 had at almost any time. The best prices are 

 obtained for that which comes earliest in 

 spring. Where the outlet of a warm spring 

 can be deepened and widened and utilized for 

 growing Water Cress, it might, under other- 

 wise favorable conditions, be had all the year 

 round, furnishing many an inviting dish of 

 crisp, bright green Cresses, a desirable and 

 wholesome addition to our mid-winter diet. 



C. R. HiXAMEK, 



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