142 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[August, 



lie Yegetilh (larilen. 



SEASONABLE HINTS, 



Manuring Graining Crops, especially those 

 which at the time of planting were manured 

 in the hills or drills, is of more benefit than 

 most cultivators are aware of. It is fre- 

 quently observed that crops which have 

 been growing vigorously come suddenly to a 

 stand-still, without any apparent cause. But, 

 when it is considered that the roots of these 

 plants which have been feeding within the 

 narrow circle of enriched soil, are now forced 

 to seek sustenance in comparatively sterile 

 ground, the cause may readily be accounted 

 for. In all such cases small applications of 

 guano, superphosphate of lime, or "com- 

 plete" or "universal" fertilizers, scattered 

 over the surface, and raked or harrowed 

 in, have generally a surprising and, if the 

 application is made just before a rain, al- 

 most immediate effect. 



Saving Seeds.— We have frequently pointed 

 out to our readers the importance of a care- 

 ful selection of seeds for sowing. Hundreds 

 of cases could be cited to show how impor- 

 tant and permanent improvement in varieties 

 have been produced by continued careful 

 selection. All the experiments made at the 

 New-York Agricultural Experiment Station 

 tend in this direction, and lead Director Stur- 

 tevant to the following statement : 



" There is no one factor which is of more 

 importance to the farmer in increasing his 

 crop than this one of the quality of the seed 

 used, and fortunately all the experience we 

 have indicates the great power that man 

 has, through a judicious selection, in chang- 

 ing for the better the properties of the seed 

 that he uses. As between a distinctively 

 good seed and a distinctively bad seed there 

 may be a difference of double the crop har- 

 vested, and in some classes of plants the 

 difference in the value of the crop harvested 

 may be manifold. A market gardener, to 

 whom perfection of form in his crops is of 

 the utmost importance, cannot afford to use 

 seed of unknown quality when seed of known 

 value can be purchased even at a quite high 

 price. The farmer who is careful to save the 

 best seed is thereby certainly obtaining crops 

 at a less cost than if he were entirely careless 

 in this direction. To save the best seed under 

 any carefully pursued system must be a gain 

 upon the use of no system at all, but unfor- 

 tunately at present we cannot say in all 

 cases just what system will give the best 

 results. The experience of Hallet with wheat 

 gives strong indication that selection from 

 the plant is very far superior in potency to 

 merely the selection of the plumpest kernels 

 by means of the screen. 



" The principles which now seem worthy 

 of recommendation in the improving of seed 

 are selection from the plant, prevention of 

 cross-fertilization or hybridization, and the 

 careful selection from the product thus ob- 

 tained." 



Lima Beans should be pinched off at about 

 six feet from the ground in order to produce 

 side shoots. Seed Beans should never be 

 allowed to grow on vines intended for late 

 bearing, as they diminish the productiveness 

 considerably. When seed is desired, it is a 

 better plan to set aside a few poles exclu- 

 sively for this purpose, and to select only 

 the first ripening pods for this purpose. 



SWEDES FOR THE GARDEN AND FARM. 



Old farmers may not recognize under the 

 name of Swedes a familiar friend which they 

 used to know as Rnta-bagas. The more 

 modern and improved vegetable is finer 

 grained,, smoother, and not so rank in the 



\ Turnip flavor as the old-time Ruta-baga. 

 Swedes are among the most productive 



j crops which can be grown on the farm, and 

 require less labor than any other root, flat 

 Turnips excepted. They contain several 

 per cent, more of nutritive matter than Tur- 

 nips, and on this account are more valuable 



j for feeding. Live stock will eat them greed- 



| ily when sliced in a root-cutting machine, 



; but will scarcely eat them at all if fed whole, 

 as they are too hard and solid for them to 

 break or sever with their teeth. The im- 

 proved Swedes may be fed to milk cows in 

 small quantities without tainting the milk 

 perceptibly, especially if they are fed to cows 

 before other food is given. For feeding stal-1- 



| fed animals in connection with meal, they 

 are exceedingly valuable. Breeding sows 

 have been wintered at " Kirby Homestead" 



j exclusively on Swedes sliced in a root-cutter, 

 at the rate of a bushel for six hogs at one 

 feeding, and they have done well. This is 



.' the cheapest food upon which hogs have ever 

 been wintered by me. Putting their value 

 at twenty-five cents a bushel, which is a fair 

 price, it will be seen that the cost of winter- 

 ing hogs may be reduced to a very small 

 sum. 



The young Swedes are more liable to lie 

 destroyed by the Turnip fly than other varie- 

 ties of Turnips. This fly seems to have a 

 part icular fondness for the young plants, and 

 to obviate their ravages, it is best to start 

 the crop early in the season, about the time 

 of planting corn or soon afterward, which in 



I this latitude is about the first of June.. They 

 may, however, be planted successfully as late 

 as the beginning of August. The finest crop 



; I ever raised was on a clover sod, after the 

 hay had been harvested. Experience teaches 

 that they must be planted either early in the 

 season, or late, to avoid the Turnip fly, which 

 is most abundant and destructive the latter 

 part of June and fore part of July. The late 

 planted are best for table use, as they are 

 usually smaller and more tender. 



Swedes should always be grown in drills, 

 as they will not mature when sown broad- 

 cast. They require to lie cultivated, or, in 



I other words, to have the ground stirred about 

 them and kept mellow to make good bottoms. 



| They must also be thinned in the rows, or else 

 they will grow all to tops and lie a failure. 



i They should stand at least a foot apart in 

 the rows to insure good size. The ground 



I should be well fertilized with finely rotted 

 manure, prepared by previously putting it in 



1 a heap and forking it over two or three times. 

 Coarse manure is not suitable for root cult- 

 ure, as it tends to make the roots grow ir- 

 regular in form and spreading. On this 

 account cow dung, free from litter, is best 

 adapted for their growth, and also because it 

 retains moisture better than that from the 

 horse stable. A small amount of phosphate 

 scattered in the furrow will give the Swedes 

 a good start and help their growth. The plan 

 of spreading the manure broadcast on the 

 ground and plowing it under is preferable to 

 making furrows and scattering it in them. 



My plan is to plow, the ground deeply, and 

 harrow it until it is reduced to a fine tilth; 

 then mark it out into straight rows with a 



corn marker, and sow the seeds with a drill 

 j in the bottom of these marks. By using a 

 cultivator with only one flange or wing on the 

 hind teeth, and the teeth turned inward, the 

 young Swedes may be cultivated as soon as 

 the rows can be seen. A cultivator should 

 be used often enough to destroy the weeds 

 I and keep the ground mellow. It is best to 

 use plenty of seed, making allowance for 

 plants which may be destroyed, as they can 

 be easily thinned out by striking the hoe 

 across the row and cutting them out for the 

 space desired. Two pounds of seed are 

 j abundant for an acre. Owing to the protee- 

 I tion of the tops, Swedes may be left in the 

 ground until the frosts become quite severe. 

 Like Turnips, they grow fastest when the 

 j weather is cool. 



Some farmers have been quite successful 

 ! in growing Swedes with their Corn, by sowing 

 i a few seeds in each hill. They will do well 

 in this way when the Corn is manured in the 

 hill or the ground is very rich, making most 

 of their growth after the Corn is cut up. 

 They will not succeed in this way, however, 

 unless the Corn is kept clean and well culti- 

 , vated. 



Swedes may be pitted iu the field, and will 

 ! come out fresh in the spring, and will e lso 

 keep in good condition until midsummer. 

 They are the best keeping roots the farmer 

 can grow, and can be produced at a cost of 

 less than six cents a bushel, and, when suc- 

 cessful, an acre will yield from fifteen to 

 t wenty tons. F. D. Curtis. 



TILL UP THE VACANT SPOTS, 



Most garden soils have been made rich 

 and strong, capable of producing two or 

 three crops of Lettuce, Radishes, etc., each 

 season. Yet it is very often the case that 

 after taking off this first light crop, the space 

 so used is allowed to remain idle, or, rather, 

 to grow a good crop of weeds, with a few 

 plants of the first crop going to seed. We 

 cannot well afford to lose the use of valuable 

 ground in this way, not to mention the extra 

 drain upon its fertility, caused by ripening 

 seeds. 



Such spaces should be tilled up with some 

 vegetables that will still have time to ma- 

 ture before cold weather sets in. Cabbage 

 intended for winter use may be set out even 



I as late as August, where such vacancies 

 occur. Early Peas and Lettuce may also be 



* sown, which will keep the table constantly 

 supplied and add greatly to the, value of the 



! garden. When the first early Potatoes have 



j been taken off. the patch thus made vacant 

 will be iu tine condition for Ruta-bagas or 

 Turnips. Turnips may also be sown between 

 the rows of Sweet Corn, after the last hoe- 

 ing, and as soon as the Corn has been picked 



I off, cut up the stalks and feed them out, in- 



, stead of leaving them to draw upon the soil, 

 when no beuelit can be realized by leaving 

 them longer. If you still have any vacant 



i space that you do not know what to do with, 

 sow some of the Onion seed left from last 

 spring's seeding thickly in drills, and leave 

 them over winter, so that you may have your 

 own "sets" in the ground all ready to grow- 

 when the snow goes off. Salsify, or Vege- 

 table Oyster, maybe grown in the same way. 



There is no other spot upon the whole farm 

 that -will yield so much toward the sustenance 

 of the family as the garden, when properly 

 managed. W. 1). BoYNTON. 



