182 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[October, 



he ye|etaHe (|arileii. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



^Storing Potatoes. — At this season, nearly 

 every day's mail brings the inquiry, how 

 best to keep Potatoes ? Here, as in most 

 situations, circumstances alter cases. The 

 conditions for preserving Potatoes in good 

 condition are a uniform low temperature, 

 from thirty-four to forty degrees, as nearly as 

 can be maintained without falling below the 

 freezing point; a moderately dry atmos- 

 phere, and exclusion from light. Wherever 

 these can be best secured on the premises is 

 the proper place for keeping Potatoes. A 

 cellar, other conditions being equal, is al- 

 ways to be preferred, on account of its 

 accessibility at all seasons. The main ob- 

 jection to house cellars for storage of vege- 

 tables is that they are generally too warm. 

 Yet, if a cellar is dry, has facilities for good 

 ventilation, and the Potatoes are placed in 

 it in sound and dry condition, they keep 

 better in a comparatively warm temperature 

 than in a cooler cellar that is moist. 



Pit* for storing Potatoes and various roots 

 are only to be recommended when a suitable 

 cellar is not available, and those who have 

 not had experience in pitting should not 

 intrust their entire crop to outdoor storage, 

 but experiment with a part only the first 

 year. A dry location, secure against stand- 

 ing water, and sheltered from the severest 

 winds, should always be selected. Here, a 

 trench, five to six feet wide, and three to 

 four feet deep, is dug, the bottom leveled, 

 and the roots filled in to the level of the 

 ground. Every two or three feet a layer — 

 that is, a partition — of soil is placed cross- 

 wise up to the surface, thus dividing the pit 

 into several smaller sections. Soil is then 

 thrown on the top, so as to be about two feet 

 high in the center, sloping toward the sides, 

 aud extending two feet beyond, and well 

 packed with the back of a spade to carry off 

 rain. As cold weather increases, more soil 

 is added, sufficient to exclude any possible 

 degree of cold. This is a favorite plan with 

 market-gardeners who store a large bulk of 

 roots. For smaller quantities, narrower pits, 

 about three feet wide, may be used with 

 equally good results. In northern climates 

 it is best to place a thick layer of straw or 

 cornstalks over the mound of earth and to 

 cover this again with a coat of soil. 



Onion Sets may be planted in the fall, with 

 a favorable prospect of obtaining large 

 Onions earlier in spring than could be had 

 in any other way ; and considering the risk 

 in wintering sets, fall planting is perhaps 

 the safest plan. In this case it is absolutely 

 necessary that the ground should be in best 

 condition and perfectly drained. Onion sets 

 have a poor chance to survive in stagnant 

 water and ice. After the ground becomes 

 frozen hard, the beds should be covered 

 lightly to prevent frequent thawings. 



Cabbage Worms. — A reader of The Ameri- 

 can Garden has tried, and warrants effectual, 

 the following preventive against this pest. 

 When the Cabbage-heads begin to form, 

 open the leaves carefully and sprinkle in the 

 center a pinch of equal parts of Cayenne and 

 black Pepper mixed, and carefully close the 

 leaves again. Not one plant so treated was 

 affected with worms. 



ABOUT BEETS, 



Of nine varieties of Beets planted at the 

 New-York Experiment Station, April 1 9th. 

 the Dark Red Egyptian was the earliest, 

 being fit for use June 20th, and not sur- 

 passed in quality. With the exception of 

 the tap-root, which is very slender and 

 clearly defined, it grows above ground, and 

 where the plants were not thinned, the bulb- 

 shaped portion of the root was frequently 

 crowded upward to the height of two inches, 

 being connected with the soil only by the 

 elongated tap-root. It has been pronounced 

 i " not very productive," but experience would 

 indicate that on fertile soil, with the plants 

 allowed to grow thickly in the row, it would 

 hardly be surpassed in productiveness by 

 any of the garden Beets. The root cooks 

 very sweet and tender, is finely colored, and 

 continues edible until autumn. 



The Swiss Chard, or Silver Beet, belongs 

 to Beta Cicla, a different botanical species 

 from the other varieties, and is grown for 

 the leaves, which are used as greens, or the 

 stems and midribs are cooked and served 

 like Asparagus. These were fit for use after 

 June 20th throughout the summer, and were 

 pronounced quite superior as greens. 



Samples of several varieties of so-called 

 Ornamental Beets were also grown. Their 

 broad showy petioles and midribs, variously 

 aud often brilliantly colored, with beautifully 

 crimpled green or purple leaves, gave them 

 a unique appearance and attracted much 

 attention from visitors. The more showy 

 varieties might be grown with fine effect as 

 a remote border in the flower garden, but 

 the foliage is rather coarse for use in the 

 foreground. 



The immense mechanical force exerted by 

 the growing roots of firm wood is made evi- 

 dent by the frequent displacement of flagging 

 stones, and the injury often done to pave- 

 ments by the roots of shade trees. In the 

 experiments by President Clark upon the 

 Squash, this fruit in growing was able to 

 raise 4120 pounds, and carried for ten days 

 5000 pounds without injury. The power 

 exercised by an annual root is also exceed- 

 ingly great, as shown in the case of a Long 

 Blood Beet planted at the Station, in an inch 

 drain tile set upon end and buried in the 

 soil. This drain tile was split lengthwise 

 with the greatest ease as the root outgrew its 

 accommodation. 



WINTERING SWEET POTATOES. 



Growers differ in their opinions whether it 

 is more profitable to sell directly from the 

 field or to store for winter and spring ; yet 

 it is generally accepted that if the crop is 

 well forward, it is best to dig early and 

 market directly. If not, the tubers should 

 be allowed to grow until frost kills the 

 vines, when they should be dug and stored 

 at once. 



Mr. A. P. Arnold, of southern New Jersey, 

 who grows Sweet Potatoes on a large scale, 

 and whose extensive experience entitles his 

 opinions to special consideration, has for- 

 merly stored his crop in large bins, holding 

 200 to 400 bushels each ; but not finding 

 this plan advantageous, has adopted smaller 

 receptacles. 



Not that we cannot keep the Potatoes in 

 bins, said Mr. Arnold before the State Board 

 of Agriculture, but the pouring or dumping 

 them out of baskets or trays marks, scabs, 



and bruises them so as to lessen their value. 

 I like to see a Potato clean, smooth, and bright 

 when shipped to market ; such stock put up 

 in nice, clean barrels will bring twenty-five 

 to fifty cents more per barrel than that which 

 is scabbed and bruised by too much handling. 

 I am using trays that hold a bushel each ; 

 the Potatoes are carefully sorted into these, 

 and then set away till wanted to be packed 

 for market. Free from bruises or marks, and 

 carefully packed, they present an inviting 

 appearance to the buyer. 



Some old growers may think this too much 

 work, but I claim that it is less. Sweet 

 Potatoes are a heavy, bulky crop, and the 

 less they are handled and lifted about the 

 better. These trays cost about ten cents 

 each for material, are very compact, and can 

 be piled on top of each other. I have the 

 best success by keeping the temperature of 

 the cellar about sixty-five degrees, and by 

 giving plenty of air at digging time till the 

 tubers have sweated off. 



LETTUCE FOE THE SOUTH. 



It is not in the nature of the Lettuce plant 

 to produce as solid heads during our hot, 

 dry summers as it does in spring, and if we 

 must have Lettuce at that season, we have 

 to content ourselves, with as much grace as 

 we may, with the crisp, curly, open-head 

 varieties which may be grown to perfection 

 even in the Southern States. In regard to 

 this, our correspondent, W. M. Bowron, of 

 Tennessee, within two miles of Alabama and 

 Georgia, writes : 



"I sowed the seed of 'Perpetual' on a 

 good piece of ground, and after the plants 

 had made four leaves we had a long drought, 

 and they wilted badly ; but when rains came, 

 recovered, and were for six weeks our only- 

 available Lettuce. 



" In this hot climate, however, all green 

 Lettuce speedily becomes bitter, in marked 

 contrast to the 'Red Dutch.' I measured a 

 head of the latter only a trifle larger than 

 the average ; it was fourteen inches high 

 and twenty -four inches across, and was cool 

 and buttery in flavor, and was grown with- 

 out special attention or hand- watering during 

 the drought above mentioned. I have grown 

 this variety for several years, and am inclined 

 to believe that it does not receive the praise 

 it is entitled to as an early Lettuce in hot 

 j localities." 



COAL-ASHES FOR HEAVY SOILS, 



For the purpose of making stiff soil friable, 

 sifted coal-ashes, where they can be readily 

 had, are better than sand. They are more 

 easily disseminated through the mass, and 

 contain a small proportion of mineral salts 

 likewise, though their merit is principally 

 mechanical. I had a patch of clay over trap- 

 rock that, after a rain, took on the consist- 

 ence of putty. I could do nothing with it. 

 Vegetable manure it scorned, and the spade 

 cut in it as though it was skim-milk cheese. 

 The place was made the receptacle of the 

 winter's ashes. Two years after, it was dug 

 up through a mistaken order in the fall. 

 Next spring I manured it, and had it dug 

 over. Then I planted it, of all things in the 

 world, with Melons. They were a striking 

 success. More than that, the friability of 

 the soil remained permanent. 



T. D. E. 



