ISO 



[September, 



\Vm'l;iM.' |.jai'iicn. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



All vegetables intended for raising or win- 

 tering in cold frames should be sown during 

 this month. 



Cabbage and Cauliflower for early spring 

 planting should be sown in a rich, mellow 

 seed-bed, taking care that the young plants 

 are thinned out sufficiently not to become 

 spindling, else they will be of little or no 

 value for wintering. They should he kept 

 growing vigorously by keeping the ground 

 clean and giving water when needed, until 

 November, when the plants will be large 

 enough for transplanting to a cold frame. 



Lettuce maybe treated in the same manner; 

 and, if a part of the seed is sown early and 

 properly cared for in the frame, solid heads 

 may be had all winter. 



Pinchmg-m Melons and Squashes increases 

 fruitfulness and induces earliness. During 

 late summer especially, considerable benefit 

 may be derived from shortening the longest 

 branches, thereby directing the vital power 

 of the plants to the ripening of the fruits 

 already set, instead of to the production of 

 new ones which would be nipped by early 

 frost before they could reach maturity. 



Turnips have suffered severely throughout 

 the Eastern and Middle States, over a large 

 section of which rain has not fallen since 

 the sowing of the seed. Where the first 

 sowings failed, Turnips may still be sown 

 during the first week in September, and on 

 good, mellow ground, under favorahle con- 

 ditions, will produce a large crop of the best 

 quality, if not of the largest size. 



Corn Salad, or Fetticus, though little known 

 outside of the markets of our large cities, is 

 very desirable for a winter and early spring 

 salad. The seed should be sown early in 

 September, in shallow drills, covered half 

 an inch and packed firmly. Its cultivation 

 is quite similar to that of Spinach, with the 

 exception that, as the plants are smaller, 

 they need not be thinned out as severely. 

 It is used as a salad by itself, or as a dress- 

 ing with other salads. 



Celery for early use may be hilled up 

 lightly at the beginning of the month, to 

 be followed by higher banking up in ten 

 days or two weeks. Such early "handled" 

 Celery will not keep through winter, how- 

 ever ; only as much as is wanted during the 

 next month should be treated in this way. 



Egg Plants, if taken off before being- 

 touched by frost, may be preserved for sev- 

 eral weeks on a barn-floor or under a shed, 

 where they can be kept dry and sheltered 

 from frost. When severe cold sets in, the 

 soundest specimens should be placed on 

 shelves in a dry, cool cellar. We have kept 

 them in this way till Christmas. 



Digging Potatoes. — Where large quantities 

 • of Potatoes are raised, harvesting may be 

 considerably facilitated by using boxes, in- 

 stead of baskets and barrels, for picking and 

 carting them in. Boxes made of slats of 

 some light wood, the corners bound with 

 strap-iron, and of a size to hold just one 

 bushel, are easily handled, and are more 

 durable than barrels. Small lots of Potatoes 

 may be stored in them all winter and keep 

 well, and by placing them on the top of 

 each other occupy but little room. 



GREEN PEAS. 



In times gone by, a dish of Green Peas 

 on the Fourth of July was considered an 

 achievement in gardening, at least in the 

 three northern New England States. In the 

 current season, so abnormally late and cold, 

 it teas a triumph, and one not very common. 

 But in ordinary seasons we have them, even 

 in the extreme north, within sight of Canada, 

 on the 1 7th of June, with great regularity. 

 The old Dan O'Bonrhe, strong and produc- 

 tive, was our dependence when the Fourth 

 was the objective point. Subsequently, the 

 Philadelphia Extra Earlu made a gain over 

 Dan of about ten days. Then came Carter's 

 First Crop, a weak-growing Pea, on light 

 soils, but good for, at least five days earlier, 

 and much better in quality. 



Ten years ago the writer produced, by 

 crossing Carter with Dan, a Pea as vigorous 

 as Dan, with the plump pods of Carter, and 

 never failing, until the exceptionally back- 

 ward spring, to produce Peas for market 

 picking, liberally, by the 17th of June. 

 Many of the readers of the American Garden 

 have tried this Pea the present season, under 

 the name of "American Racer." While 

 they probably have not realized its actual 

 earliness, on account of the season, at least 

 in many places, I think they will agree with 

 me that in table quality it is in advance of 

 all the other yellow Peas. 



But it must be acknowledged that the 

 interest of amateur gardeners in all long- 

 vined Peas has greatly abated since the 

 advent of the much more convenient and 

 cheaply grown dwarfs. The old Tom Thumb 

 was a poor thing, and no further success 

 seems to have been reached, if attempted, 

 in that way, with yellow Peas. But among 

 the green wrinkled sorts the gain in dwarfing 

 and earliness has been immense. The tedious 

 waiting for the maturing of the old Champion 

 of England and its congeners is all done 

 away with. Delay and mildew, together, 

 wearied and disappointed growers of these 

 large and late sorts, and the cost and trouble 

 of bushing them was a strong additional 

 impediment to their culture. But suddenly 

 burst upon us, some dozen years ago, the 

 triumph of the Englishman, McLean, in his 

 Little Gem and Advancer. The latter has not 

 become very popular in America, namely, I 

 think, on account of its imperfect fertiliza- 

 tion ; for, though the flowers seem perfect, 

 the pods are rarely well filled. But the 

 Little Gem is grown everywhere, and every- 

 where approved as to quality and produc- 

 tiveness. In my opinion, it is the most 

 productive wrinkled Pea, on light soils, of 

 any sort now grown, and the most profitable 

 to grow for market or seed. Since its culti- 

 vation in America it has varied greatly, and 

 seed from different parts of the country pro- 

 duce very different Peas. Some growers 

 have improved them, and some have deterio- 

 rated them greatly. By successive plantings 

 a continuous supply can be kept up through 

 the season with the Little Gem, more suc- 

 cessfully than with any other Pea. I prefer 

 this to planting the second early and later 

 varieties of this class of Peas. 



But, perhaps, the greatest of all triumphs 

 in the production of new Peas has been 

 Bliss's American Wonder, which has given us 

 the great achievement, — a really extra early 

 Pea of the green wrinkled class. For family 

 use this variety will go far toward wiping 



from the list all yellow varieties. With me, 

 the American Wonder is not more than four 

 or five days later than the American Racer, 

 and fully as early as any other sort what- 

 ever. Under favorable circumstances, in a 

 strong soil, not too dry, and in not too hot a 

 season, the Wonder is almost as productive 

 i as the Little Gem, while almost two weeks 

 earlier. In converse circumstances it is not 

 always satisfactory, the dwarfness being 

 extreme and the pods not well filled. But 

 this is nothing against the Pea itself, which 

 is unique, and indispensable to the amateur 

 cultivator. Those who understand the prin- 

 ciples upon which dwarfing is produced 

 know that the best results can only he had 

 with dwarfs by careful and intelligent cult- 

 ure, in suitable soils and proper locations. 



A word about culture, to close with. Peas 

 need a soil in perfectly good heart, but not 

 too rich in nitrogen. For an early crop 

 they should be got in as soon as the 

 land can be properly prepared. If the 

 ground has been plowed late in the fall, 

 spring plowing is not necessary for Early 

 Peas. Peas for an early crop should not be 

 planted more than two or three inches deep, 

 and a plot inclining a little to the south 

 should be selected. The ground should be 

 well cultivated, and kept clean, in the rows 

 as well as between them. The distance 

 between rows should be graduated to the 

 height of the variety. The lower-growing 

 of the vining sorts, planted two and a half 

 feet asunder, may be easily thrown together 

 and made to support themselves without 

 bushing. This throwing two rows together, 

 at the time they begin to fall over, leaves a 

 path between each pair of rows. For later 

 crops deeper planting (to six inches) and a 

 cooler exposure are desirable. Don't plant 

 buggy seed, if you can get any other. 



Dr. T. H. Hoskins. 



THE GREEN-CORN WORM. 



( Hcliothus armigera.) 



Great damage is done to the Sweet-Corn 

 crop in some localities by the Corn worm. 

 The parent of the " worm " is a moth of a 

 clayey yellowish color, with olive and brown- 

 ish markings. It is the same insect that has 

 done so much damage to the Cotton crop in 

 the Southern States, where it is known as 

 the Boll-Worm. The caterpillar is generally 

 of a pale green color, marked with Mack 

 longitudinal lines, with several scattered, 

 dark spots from which hairs arise. When 

 full grown, the " worm " is about an inch and 

 a half in length. It does not seem to be at all 

 particular as to its diet, eating with voracity 

 Tomatoes and even young Pumpkins, but it 

 does its most destructive work in the Cotton 

 I and the Corn fields. 



The female moth deposits her eggs upon 

 the Corn-silk and the young caterpillars soon 

 work their way down under the husks to the 

 tender, sweet kernels and there riot in fine 

 living. In some fields nearly every ear of 

 Corn will be infested with from one to three 

 " worms," and upon stripping down the husks, 

 one or more rows of Corn, as shells, mark 

 the path of the destroyer. Sometimes the 

 husks are perforated on the side, whether 

 for ventilation or entrance or exit is not 

 well known. 



When the caterpillar has attained its full 

 size it descends into the earth and spins a 



