150 
August, 1890. 
Garden Notes Tor August. 
The fall crop of turnips is now one of the 
most important to attend to at once. For 
the Strap-leaf varieties a month later will 
answer here in North Carolina, hut north- 
ward no time should be lost in gifting th ' 
crop sown. Always sow in drills if good 
turnips are wanted. Put the ground in 
good order, than mark out furrows with a 
light plow, and sow a good dressing of 
superphosphate in the furrow. Then turn 
a furrow from each side over the first, 
making a sharp ridge. Now run a roller 
down the ridges making them nearly flat 
and sow the seed on the flattened ridge 
with a drill. Tliis will put t lie young plants 
in a better position for cultivation when 
small than if sown on the flat surface and 
puts the fertilizer right under them. For 
killiug the Hullica or flea beetle, which 
sometimes devours the whole crop in a 
young state. I formerly used air-slaked 
lime, but have of late found a mixture of 
tobacco dust and acid phosphate, with cne 
per cent, of Paris green, the surest pre- 
ventive and insecticide. 1 have also used 
with success a mixture called here “ Taba- 
cosa," which a Raleigh firm proposes to put 
on the maiket another season in a cheap 
form. Whatever application is used must 
lie applied as soon as the plants appear, for 
it takes but a few hours to destroy them 
all if the beetles are plentiful. The same 
insect is troublesome on late sown cabbage 
plants. 
* * 
* 
In northern sections the planting of the 
main crop of celery should be finished by 
this time, and if not done no time should 
be lost. In North Carolina the last week in 
the month is better. I hope a fair trial will 
be made of the bed system described last 
month. The earlier planted celery should 
be kept clean, and if possible irrigated in 
dry weather. L)o not work nor handle it 
when wet from dew or rain, as it will cause 
it to rust. 
* * 
* 
About the middle of the month our 
southern friends should get the late crop of 
Irish potatoes planted. Whole potatoes 
from the early crop should he used. Many 
of our growers find it best about the first of 
August to take the seed potatoes and spread 
them out in a single layer on the surface of 
the soil and cover lightly with earth. By 
the middle of the month the immature ones 
will have dried up or decayed and on all 
the others the eyes will have started. 
These are then planted, and covered not 
more than two inches deep and the soil rolled 
compactly. A good stand will then be 
certain. This late crop is getting to be of 
the utmost importance to our southern 
growers. I knew of one grower in North 
Carolina who last winter, as soon as the 
tops were dead, covered the rows with pine 
straw to protect them, dug them during the 
winter and shipped them north. He re- 
alized the same price that Bermuda potatoes 
were selling for at the time, about $8.00 per 
barrel. These late grown potatoes keep un- 
sprouted until late in spring, and a good 
trade will spring up for them after old 
potatoes at the North are all sprouted. We 
dug a fine crop last December from potatoes 
that did not appear above ground until 
after the middle of September. 
* * 
* 
About the middle of the month is a good 
time to prepare for the crop of kale and 
spinach for cutting during winter and 
spring. September will suit as well here. 
Kale we usually sow broadcast, but spinach 
should be sown in drills like turnips. Green 
Curled Scotch kale is the best here, but the 
Dwarf German Greens is better and hardier 
northward. In latitudes where the cold is 
intense a covering of rough manure in win- 
ter is needed. We use here the Norfolk 
Savoy spinach or the ordinary smooth 
see led sort for fall sowing. Prickly seeded 
spinach is best for spring sowing. 
* * 
* 
Keep the growing crop of cabbage well 
worked find do not stop for “ dog days,’’ as 
some advise. It is not too late to set plants 
of Flat Dutch or Winningstadt. In the 
latitude of North Carolina the main crop of 
winter cabbage and collards should be set 
out about the middle of August. 
* * 
* 
The last of August is a good time to sow 
a crop of fall peas. Sow the Premium Gem 
in rather deep furrows and cover lightly, 
drawing more earth to them as they grow, 
until they stand quite deeply in the ground. 
The crop is rather uncertain on account of 
a tendency to mildew, but a dish of peas in 
autumn is quite acceptable. In this latitude 
a month later will be better for the sowing. 
* * 
* 
Those who are fond of a succession of 
radishes should sow the Rose Colored Chi- 
nese Winter radish about last of the month 
and have a second sowing a month later. 
The last sown crop in this latitude will keep 
in good condition in winter left where they 
grow. If the autumn is long and warm 
another sowing, October 1st to 15th, will be 
better. 
* * 
* 
Cucumbers for pickles will do better at 
the South if planted early this month than 
if planted in July. Canteloupe melons for 
mangoes can also be planted. 
* * 
* 
Bush beans may still be planted. Few 
persons know how easily these may be 
kept for winter use by packing them down 
in brine as soon as ready for i he table. They 
make a very acceptable dish in winter if 
taken out and soaked in fresh water over 
night. — W. F. Massey. 
* Tlie ICattleunaUe Watermelon. 
The figure of the Rattlesnake Watermelon 
in a recent number of Orchard & Garden 
reminds me of the great quantities of it 
shipped to the North in 1881. When I was at 
theEast that September. the season had been 
very dry, and in the eastern half of Penn- 
sylvania melons were scarce. Carloads of 
this melon could be seen stacked up in any 
good sized city, but of the many that I was 
invited to help eat, and those which I bought 
myself not one was what I considered fit to 
eat. Whether this melon is good when ripe 
is a question with me, as I have not grown it 
myself with any success. It has always a 
thick rind, which is al>out its greatest re- 
commendation as it can be shipped a thous- 
and miles and handled like cord wood. 
But is there any use in growing such a thing 
when there are so many superior? Among 
■’ll the new melons, few will equal the 
Peerless, Orange or the old Mountain Sweet 
when it can be got pure, which is seldom. 
When I get an extra fine one of pure cast I 
put seed away marked for each suc- 
ceeding year for three years ahead. Hun- 
garian Honey and Green and Gold that 
were so highly puffed, are no great affairs 
with me. — Samuel Miller. 
[Our friend admits never having eaten 
the Rattlesnake when ripened on the vine; 
we can assure him that when well grown 
and fully ripe it is a very good melon. — 
Ed. O. & G.] _ 
The Benefit* of Thorough Cnltiialfon. 
We find it too often the case that farm- 
ers and gardeners plant a good crop of 
garden vegetables at the start, hut as the 
crops mature and are taken off, the land is 
left to grow up in weeds and grass. This, 
besides giving the garden a slovenly T appear- 
ance, absorbs the plant food that is left in 
the soil and it is thus wasted. But this is not 
all. The crop of weeds and grass will ma- 
ture seeds enough to seed the ground for 
several years, making the future crops more 
difficult to cultivate. I know this from sad 
experience, being often scarce of help and 
not going to the expense of hiring more, 
which I have found to be a great mistake. 
A garden at this season of the year will 
show the skill and good management of its 
owner plainer that at any other time. It 
would seem wonderful to those who have 
never tried it, how much a small piece of 
land can be made to produce with clean 
cull ure. and how much easier it is todestroy 
weeds in their nascent state than after they 
have taken possession of the entire ground. 
I have tried both ways and know whereof 
I speak. 
The object of cultivation is not only the 
killing of weeds and grass but also the loose- 
ning of the soil. which forms the best possi- 
ble mulch and safeguard against drought. 
A careful cultivator rarely fii^ds any weeds 
or grass to kill, but he knows that by so 
doing be benefits his crops. 
There may generally be found a brisk de- 
mand for peas, beans, radishes and sweet 
corn in late summer and fall. These crops 
when planted in summer require richer soil 
