210 
December, 1890. 
/ ORCHtVRD Ol\ RDEN \ 
Work for the Month. 
At the North the celery crop is now se- 
curely trenched and if not should be at- 
tended to at once. In this latitude celery 
should get its tinal covering by Christmas. 
The scarcity of Irish potatoes should 
make those who bare them doubly careful 
in keeping them. A totally dark cellar 
with good ventilation that can be kept 
down as near 35° as possible is the best 
place for them. A temperature of 32° oc- 
casionally will not hurt them. The chief 
thing is to avoid light and a high tempera- 
ture. They will be better if stored on wide 
slatted shelves, not over a foot in depth of 
bulk. Plenty of dry plaster scattered 
through them will materially aid iu check- 
ing rot. Air slaked lime is also good. Dig 
parsnips and salsify and heel them in close- 
ly in a furrow, so as to have them accessi- 
ble when the ground is frozen. Plough or 
dig roughly all vacant spaces in the garden 
if the soil is inclined to clay, so as to give 
the frost a chance to get in its work. You 
will find yourself well paid for the labor in 
the ease with which the soil will work in 
the spring. In the latitude of North Caro- 
lina the best way to keep winter cabbage 
is to bend the heads toward the north, and 
then cover the entire stem with soil, just 
where they grow without pulling them up. 
Ac the North tuck them close together, up- 
side down, and cover with soil. 
We would like to have some of our south- 
ern readers experiment with us in Irish po- 
tatoes, thus: Take seed of the late crop. 
Fertilize a piece of land thoroughly with 
plain acid phosphate and plant whole pota- 
toes in deep furrows in December. Cover 
with double furrow and leave a sharp ridge 
over the rows. Towards spring:, when 
growth is about to begin, harrow the ridges 
down flat, and apply down the row 300 
pounds per acre of nitrate of soda and then 
cultivate as usual. Just before the last 
working scatter ICO pounds more per acre 
of nitrate of soda alongside the rows. I 
am inclined to think this will be found to 
be a profitable plan for the early crop. Try 
it on a small scale and report. — W. F. 
Massey. 
» » 
Notes on Vegetables in 1890. 
SOUTHERN-GROWN LATE POTATOES. 
To-dav, Noveml>er 5, we are digging our 
late Irish potato crop, planted August 15th. 
The crop is fine, clean and sound*. A later 
lot planted in September on higher ground 
are stdl green, and the light frosts we 
have so far had have hardly checked them. 
We can hardly hope that they will get fully 
mature unless the remainder of the month 
is as mild as the same date last year, when 
the tops were not cut down until November 
28th. It seems probable that the middle of 
August is the safest time to plant this late 
crop. The failure of the potato crop North 
will give these late potatoes an unusual 
value, and southern growers who have 
planted largely will reap a rich harvest. In 
fact it is my opinion that southern truckers 
will find this late crop, through an average 
of years, to pay fully as well as the early 
one. Northern seed will be at extravagant 
prices this winter and we advise our grow- 
ers to hold a plenty of the late crop for 
seed. 
PEAS— EARLY AND LATE. 
Our pea experiments at the North Caro- 
lina Station the past season were not satis- 
factory. owing to the peculiar season. 
About 50 varieties were planted, the last 
week in January. All came up well and 
promised finely until the sudden and disas- 
trous freeze of March 3d. Some were then 
in bloom. All were killed without excep- 
tion. We replanted at once all the varie- 
ties of which we had seed, but some of the 
most promising were left out. Early peas, 
planted here in March, rarely do their best. 
In the first planting, Tate’s Nonpareil (Tate, 
Norfolk) was the first above ground and 
the first in bloom. In the second planting 
we had none of these. We found, as I have 
heretofore been satisfied, that the little 
early peas, known as Philadelphia Extra 
Early, and every Philadelphia and New 
York seedsman's Extra Early, are all the 
same, and are all Dan’l O’Rourke, some 
samples a little better “rogued” than oth- 
ers, but not enough difference in a dozen 
samples to warrant any name but Dan’l 
O'Rourke. The Extra Early peas sent out 
by Tate of Norfolk, are of a different strain. 
The Nonpareil, Hancock and some others 
seem to be more of the Kentish Invicta 
type. While our imperfect test cannot de- 
cide, we are inclined to believe that this 
type of peas promises better, for southern 
growers at least, than the Dan’l O’Rourke 
type. Of the Dan'l O’Rourke's. Hender- 
son’s First of All was the most uniform 
type and best “rogued out.” Of the later 
sorts Horsford’s Market Garden was the 
most productive with Yorkshire Hero close 
behind. American Champion was a disap- 
pointment both in yield and quality. Prem- 
ium Gem will probably hold its own as tbe 
best eai Iv pea immediately following the 
little Extra Earlies. Alpha is slightly ear- 
lier but was not so satisfactory. 
PROMISING POTATOES. 
In early Irish potatoes there is little 
choice as to earliness, the great claims of 
introducers of new varieties in this regard 
are rarely found correct. The advance in 
earliness over the old Early Rose is too 
trifling to notice. Iu our tests this year 
Rural New Yorker No. 2 is early and more 
productive than most others. The tubers 
are particularly smooth and handsome. 
Clark’s No. 1 and Early Ohio fully sustain 
their reputation. Early Rose is losing in 
productiveness. Beauty of Hebron makes 
fewer small potatoes than most others, and 
is a good market sort. We regard this and 
Rural New Yorker No. 2, Early Ohio and 
Puritan as promising market sorts. In fact 
we are not sure that we ought noi to place 
Puritan ahead of Early Ohio. It is a very 
handsome white pota'to and quite produc- 
tive for an early sort. Of later sorts we 
tested only Pride of the West and Bill Nye. 
The first named is an enormous yielder of 
large potatoes somewhat after the Peach 
Blow type. The last is along and remarka 
bly smooth potato and will probably sell let- 
ter than the first. Both made large yields, 
but the Pride of the West made much lar- 
ger tubers under the same circumstances. 
TESTING TOMATOES. 
Our early tomato test was cut shcrl bv 
the intensely hot dry weather the last of 
June, and the quality of the various sorts 
was better shown by a set of later grown 
plants. The first set were treat d just as 
we would have done had we been working 
for an early crop for market. Early Ruby 
gave the first ripe fruit, but was overtaken 
and passed in a few days by the Dwarf 
Champion. Tate’s Extra Early was about 
as early, but is too inferior iu quality, being 
lacking in solidity. Mikado was the earli- 
est large tomato, but its irregular form will 
condemn it for market. This is a promis- 
ing sort for careful selection and im- 
provement. If itcould begotten to grow uni- 
formly smooth it would be a grand market 
sort, because of its productiveness and fine 
quality of the fruit. Mayflower is nearly as 
early and smoother, but not so productive. 
Of the newer sorts there seems to be a de- 
cided advance over older sorts. These 
were Atlantic Prize, Brandywine and Table 
Queen. The first two came from Messrs. 
Johnson & Stokes, of Philadelphia, and the 
last from Henderson & Co. Atlantic Prize 
is very similar in color (dark purplish red; 
and form to Table Queen but with us is 
earlier and smaller. Both are of fine qual- 
ity, very solid and without hard core. 
While not quite perhaps as early as some 
others, we think Atlantic Prize will make 
a good sort for the early market. Brandy- 
wine is what we would call a perfected 
Trophy. For those who prefer a scarlet 
tomato it seems very near perfection, being 
large, smooth and solid and ripening to the 
stem without a crack. For general family 
use Table Queen and Brandywine seem 
very near perfect. Ignotum is also fine, 
but less productive and one test wfill not do 
it full justice. Lorillard is one of the most 
productive and smooth sorts tried. Its most 
notable characteristic seems to be its capac- 
ity to resist unfavorable weather and to 
keep on bearing all summer. Very promis- 
ing as a market sort. Some of the older 
sorts seem to be deteriorating and the 
Acme, Gen. Grant, and Canada Victor are 
not the same sorts they were. For canning 
purposes the Queen and Optimus seem to 
be peculiarly adapted, from their uniform 
smoothness, uniform medium size and 
bright color. Of yellow sorts the Shah 
would be superb if it had not in a w orse de- 
gree the fault which condemns Mikado, a 
very irregular shape. The best large smooth 
yellows are Golden Queen or Sunrise (both 
the same) and Golden Rod. Of small sorts 
