1883.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



163 



PEPPERS. 



The Pepper is a tender annual, much 

 esteemed for its seasoning qualities, and is 

 extensively used for flavoring soups and 

 meats, as well as for pickling, for which 

 purpose it is highly prized. It is also much 

 valued for feeding to fowls during the win- 



SWEET MOUNTAIN PEPPER. 



ter season, chopped up fine and mixed with 

 their feed in small quantities. 



As the Pepper is a plant of tropical origin, 

 it requires to be started in heat in order to 

 enable it to mature and properly ripen its 

 fruit. The seeds should be sown in a strong 

 hot-bed about the first of April, and as soon 

 as the plants become strong enough to hand- 

 le they should be trans- 

 planted into shallow box- 

 es about three inches 

 apart. These young 

 plants have to be kept 

 close and moist until 

 well established, when 

 they should be gradually 

 exposed to the open air ; 

 and when the weather 

 has become warm and 

 settled, and all danger 

 from frost is over, planted 

 out in rows two or three 

 feet apart, the plants 

 standing two feet apart 

 in the row, the ground 

 being well manured pre- 

 viously. As soon as the 

 plants commence to blos- 

 som, a good dressing of 

 guano, or hen manure, 

 should be given and well 

 worked in with the hoe. 

 All the care they require 

 after this is to keep them 

 well hoed and free from 

 weeds at all times, as the 

 Pepper delights in a rich 

 soil, and requires to be 

 well cultivated. The fol- Gi 

 lowing are the most de- 

 sirable varieties : 



Sweet Mountain, or Mammoth, is a very 

 large Pepper, much used for pickling. The 

 skin is much thicker than in most other 

 sorts. 



Sweet Spanish has fruit of an obtusely 

 conical shape and large size, often five 

 inches long and three inches in diameter, 

 and of a rich scarlet color when properly 

 ripe. The fruit is sweet, mild, and pleasant, 



and on this account much esteemed by 

 those who object to the more pungent 

 varieties. 



Spanish Monstrous, or Grossum, is a new 

 variety, lately introduced, with very large 

 but irregular shaped fruit, which is much 

 used for Mangoes. The flavor is mild and 

 pleasant, and with good cultivation the fruit 

 often attains a length of six inches. 



Squash, or Tomato-shaped. — The fruit of 

 this variety has a flattened shape, and is 

 more or less ribbed. It is two or three 

 inches in diameter, and two inches in length. 

 The fruit is exceedingly hot, and of a brill- 

 iant coral red color when ripe. 



Lonij Bed Cayenne. — The conical fruit of 

 this variety is quite small, and of a bright 

 coral-red color when ripe. It is intensely 

 acrid, and furnishes the Cayenne Pepper of 

 commerce. Both ripe and green fruit are 

 used as Pickles, as well as for making Pep- 

 per Sauce. The Long Yellow Cayenne is a 

 variety of this, differing from it in color 

 only. 



Cherry Bed is a small, smooth, round 

 variety of dwarf growth. The fruit at ma- 

 turity is of a deep rich scarlet color, and is 

 remarkable for its intense piquancy. On 

 this account it is much used for seasoning 

 and pickling. When well grown, this Pep- 

 per is a very ornamental plant, the glossy 

 coral-red fruit presenting a fine contrast 

 with the rich deep-green foliage with which 

 they are surrounded. 



Chili. — The pods of this variety are of a 

 pendent habit and a sharply conical shape, 

 and about two inches in length. They are 



THE SWEET-CORN BEETLE. 



There is a beetle which has done con- 

 siderable damage to the Sweet-Corn crop in 

 some localities. It is about a half an inch 

 long, of yellowish brown color, with irregular 

 black spots, changeable metallic luster and 

 very hairy, especially below. This beetle 

 ( Cetonia Inda) usually feeds upon the sweets 



SWEET SPANISH PEPPER. 



of flowers, though sometimes making sad 

 havoc with ripening Peaches. Its fondness 

 fo* sweets has doubtless attracted it to the 

 Sweet-Corn, where it finds an abundance, and 

 at the same time becomes a pest to the 

 growers of this table crop. 

 This beetle can without doubt be trapped 

 by some sweet bait, and 

 plates of molasses set 

 for them would very 

 likely attract a profit- 

 able " catch." 



| very piquant, and on this account much 

 prized by some for making pepper sauce. 



Golden Dawn is a recently introduced 

 variety of bright yellow color and obtuse 

 conical shape. The plant is of dwarf habit 

 and astonishing productiveness when proper 



care is given. This is claimed to be the I the Beans do better, 

 mildest flavored and least pungent of all the 

 Pepper varieties in cultivation. 



Chas. E. Parnell. 



BRUSHING LIMA BEANS. 



N. J. Shepherd, who 

 formerly had always 

 planted Lima Beans in 

 the usual way, in rows 

 four feet apart, and the 

 hills two feet apart in 

 the rows, setting a stake 

 and then planting four 

 or five Beans around it, 

 has experimented with 

 a different and, as he 

 thinks, preferable meth- 

 ich he reports to 

 Farm and Garden as fol- 



" I run a deep furrow 

 with a plow, then put in 

 a liberal supply of ma- 

 nure and work the soil 

 back into the furrow, 

 mixing as thoroughly as 

 possible with the ma- 

 nure. I then plant my 

 Beans about four inches apart in the row, 

 and the rows three and a half feet apart. 

 When they are up well, I brush them the 

 same as Peas, only using longer and heav- 

 ier brush. When the vines reach the top of 

 these, I pinch off the running shoots, and find 

 In this way I can raise 

 more Beans on the same amount of ground 

 and have less surface to hoe. Hereafter I 

 shall plant my whole crop in this manner." 



