102 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[June, 



The iVoHaMe (iarilen. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Peas and Corn. — We have for several 

 years adopted a plan of sowing Sweet Corn 

 in connection with Peas, which proves so 

 satisfactory that we cannot too highly recom- 

 mend it to our readers. At every sowing of 

 Peas, which in a well regulated garden 

 should occur every week or ten days, Sweet 

 Corn is dropped in the same drills with the 

 Peas, about four to six inches apart. In the 

 earliest sowings the Corn comes up slower 

 than the Peas, and thus receives from their 

 foliage some protection against cold ; while 

 Corn sown separately and not protected in 

 this manner will often freeze. When a few 

 inches high, the Corn is thinned out to twelve 

 inches apart, and as it docs not make its 

 main growth until the Peas have completed 

 theirs, it does not interfere with them in the 

 least, receiving its cultivation simultan- 

 eously, and producing a full crop without 

 additional ground or labor whatever. This 

 method is, of course, not practicable with 

 tall growing and late Peas, but with Ameri- 

 can Wonder or other dwarf varieties it works 

 to perfection. 



Tomatoes. — To have Tomatoes early is the 

 great aim of every ambitious gai - dener, and 

 to attain this desirable object many suppose 

 they must set out their plants as soon as the 

 ground is ready. This is in some respects 

 correct, but the ground is not ready or fit for 

 Tomatoes as early as for Cabbage and Let- 

 tuce. The latter are nearly hardy, while the 

 Tomato requires a tropical climate, which it 

 cannot find here much before the first of 

 June, and attempts to acclimatize the deli- 

 cate, tender hot-bed plants to our frosty 

 May winds result frequently in disaster. 

 Strong, healthy, potted or " pricked out " 

 plants, set out the first of June in well pre- 

 pared ground, will generally make more rapid, 

 uninterrupted growth and produce earlier 

 fruit than plants set out weeks before. If 

 the plants are "drawn up," that is, have 

 long, bare stems, they should be laid slant- 

 ing in a trench or furrow, and all but a few 

 inches of the top covered with soil. 



Cucumbers for pickling are planted in the 

 pickle growing regions of this vicinity from 

 the twentieth of June to the first of July, and 

 sometimes even later. In field culture they 

 are sown in hills about four by five feet 

 apart, and cultivated both ways until the 

 vines interfere ; in the garden they may be 

 grown in drills alongside of other vegetables. 

 Ground from which a crop of early Peas has 

 been removed furnishes a suitable place for 

 pickles. Plow a deep furrow, spread some 

 old decayed manure on the bottom, tramp 

 down, cover with two or three inches of soil ; 

 on this scatter the seeds two to three inches 

 apart, press down with a hoe and cover with 

 an inch of soil. After the plants are up and 

 the vines commence to run, thin out to a 

 foot apart, and keep the ground hoed and 

 free from weeds. To obtain the largest 

 yield of pickles, they have to be picked as 

 soon as they are of proper size, and none 

 should be allowed to go to seed. If seed is 

 to be saved, a few vines from which no 

 pickles are to be picked should be reserved 

 for this purpose. A single vine produces 

 only one or two Seed Cucumbers. 



THE PEA WEEVIL. 



How to raise Peas free from bugs is a 

 topic always foremost in the minds of those 

 who make seed growing a business, and my 

 experience in this connection, which proved 

 conclusively that the insects — at least, all of 

 them — do not remain in the Peas until 

 planting time, may be of interest to the 

 readers of The American Garden. 



My crop of Little Gem Peas, of which I 

 gave an account in a previous number, was 

 thrashed and winnowed on the 22d of 

 August, amounting to sixteen and a half 

 bushels, and stored in barrels. The weather 

 was very hot, and in less than a week I dis- 

 covered that the weevils were full grown, 

 and many had already eaten a hole through 

 their prison to enjoy their liberty. 



" Well," thought I, " the enemy means to 

 beat me this time. He means to hibernate 

 somewhere just as the Squash bugs do, and 

 come in swarms on my next year's crop ; I 

 must stop in the midst of this busy season 

 and attend to him, if I do not mean to sur- 

 render ignominiously." 



So I dropped everything and went for him. 

 I filled a tub -with strong brine, and beside it- 

 placed an open barrel full of fresh water. I 

 then procured a tin eolender, about a foot 

 deep, that would hold a peck or more. Put- 

 ting a few quarts of the dry Peas into it, I 

 let it stmd in the brine, which was not deep 

 enough to run over the top of it. This was 

 not exactly for the purpose of killing the 

 bugs, but to separate the buggy Peas from 

 the sound ones. The Peas containing bugs, 

 I thought, would naturally be specifically 

 lighter than the sound ones, and to my great 

 satisfaction this proved to be the case. I 

 immediately skimmed the floating ones into 

 a pail, and the good Peas that remained in 

 the bottom I lifted out, letting them drain a 

 little, then dipped in the fresh water to 

 wash off the salt, and spread on mats to 

 dry. 



Not half of the bugs had opened the doors 

 of their cells yet, but they could not escape 

 from this final judgment. They were 

 weighed in the inexorable balance of specific 

 gravity, and found wanting, and their judg- 

 ment consisted in death by scalding water. 

 In this way I separated three bushels of 

 buggy Peas from my sixteen and a half 

 bushels, and the remaining ones were as 

 nice and clean as any one would care to look 

 upon ; and the thought has occurred to me 

 that this process, thoroughly applied at the 

 proper season, might bring again into fashion 

 Pea soup as an article of diet. 



Although this is probably as easy and 

 effectual a way of cleaning Peas as any, 

 sound seed does not insure a sound crop if 

 bugs have been bred in the neighborhood 

 the year previous. Last season I sowed a 

 bushel of American Wonder Peas which were 

 remarkably free from bugs, nevertheless 

 nearly one-third of the crop raised from them 

 was buggy. The cause of this was easily 

 accounted for, by the fact that the previous 

 year several bushels of very buggy Laxton's 

 Alphas were raised on the place, and that 

 the bugs bred in these hibernated on the 

 premises, and were promptly on hand to 

 attack the American Wonder. 



Another circumstance which also shows 

 that Pea weevils will not travel far, if they 

 can find their natural food near their birth- 

 place, tends to prove this theory. Two 

 quarts of this bushel of American Wonder 



Peas I had sold to a friend whose garden is 

 not over five hundred rods from mine, with 

 trees and buildings intervening. His crop 

 had not over six per cent, of buggy Peas, 

 while mine had thirty-two per cent., but he 

 didn't raise bugs the year before. 



Now all this seems to demonstrate plainly 

 that a thorough destruction of the bugs one 

 season will give entire exemption the follow- 

 ing, provided there are no near neighbors 

 that furnish the seed bugs ; and also that by 

 combined and concerted action of the inhab- 

 itants of a locality, this pest can be entirely 

 banished from our gardens. 



H. J. Seymour. 



DWARF BEANS. 



When well cultivated and properly cared 

 for, Beans are one of the most profitable 

 early crops. But to gain the greatest return, 

 they must be planted early enough for the 

 first demand. Not only do they then bring 

 higher prices and sell more readily than 

 later, but considerable time is saved in the 

 marketing, which is an important item in 

 market gardening economy. 



The best soil for Beans is a light 

 loam, deeply worked over until it becomes 

 thoroughly mellow, for upon the condition 

 of the ground the success of the crop greatly 

 depends. Mark the ground off in furrows 

 two and a half feet apart, and about four 

 inches deep ; fill half full with well rotted 

 stable manure, and plant the Beans two 

 inches apart in the row, covering about the 

 same depth. As a fertilizer, nothing exceeds 

 in value well rotted manure from the stable. 



The time of planting depends much upon 

 the condition of the season ; in the Middle 

 j States about the first of April will be found 

 I advantageous. There is, however, yet danger 

 from frost, but in case of mishap it is easy 

 to sow again, the loss of the seed being 

 insignificant in comparison to the extra 

 price which a successful crop may bring. 



In about four days after planting, plow 

 between the rows, taking care not to cover 

 them; this will make the Beans come up 

 quicker and grow more rapidly. Then go 

 over the ground every three days with a cult- 

 ivator, or as soon after as the weather per- 

 mits ; but never cultivate while the ground 

 and the plants are wet. When the seed has 

 been sown at such distances as directed, 

 crowding of the plants will hardly take place, 

 I and thinning out will not become necessary. 



To obtain a full crop, the vines must be 

 closely picked, and in picking it will be 

 found a great convenience to use quart 

 baskets, which, when filled, can be placed 

 between the rows and afterward gathered 

 and placed in crates. These being light, 

 compact, and easily handled, are also more 

 convenient in the market, especially for the 

 retail trade, than when shipped in larger 

 bulk. 



Thomas D. Baird. 



BAGGING TOMATOES. 



Mr. E. S. Carman of the Rural New Yorlcer 

 experimented last season with bagging To- 

 matoes, and found that those so treated were 

 the most brilliantly colored, and when cooked 

 the least acid Tomatoes he had ever seen or 

 eaten. It was also observed that the bagged 

 Tomatoes ripened more evenly, and about the 

 stem as well as elsewhere. Against the rot, 

 however, bagging afforded no protection. 



