8 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE SUPPLEMENT 
March. 1918 
tion by spring, they will produce 
seed of good quality. 
Plant in the spring about the 
depth the plant was when taken up 
in the autumn. It will not be 
long before the seed stalk will be 
thrown up. The seed does not all 
ripen at the same time but as seed 
will give good results even if har- 
vested a little on the green side, 
the heads should be cut before 
much of the earliest ripe seed 
drops. When, however, there is 
the crop of only one plant to har- 
vest, the seed can be gathered as 
it ripens. If the plant is cut be- 
fore the. seed is ripe it should be 
hung up to dry. Celery shells 
easily when the seed is ripe and 
as it is very valuable, loss should 
be avoided. 
Onions. — A few well-shaped, 
firm onions should be saved for 
seed purposes. They should be 
planted out early in the spring 
about 6 inches apart in the row. 
If the onions have sprouted, the 
sprout should be cut off when be- 
ing planted as straighter stalks 
will be thrown up if this is doin'. 
The upper side of the bulbs should 
be an inch or two below the sur- 
face of the ground after being 
planted. This will protect them 
from spring frosts. When the 
plants have grown sufficiently they 
should be banked up about G inches 
to help support the plants when 
Ihe tops become heavy with flowers 
and seed. When the seed stalks 
show yellow near the ground the 
seed balls are cut off with about 
two inches of the stalk attached. 
The heads or seed balls are then 
spread out to dry and later the 
seed is threshed out. It is im- 
portant. to dry onion seed as rap- 
idly as possible and to keep it dry. 
Parsnip. — The parsnip is Ireal- 
§d much irt the catTot and it j§ 
surprising to a beginner in grow- 
ing seeds to find how much seed 
can be produced from one root. In 
saving a parsnip for seed, select 
one that is the most free from side 
roots and one of the shortest and 
thickest available. There is a 
worm which is liable to eat the 
parsnip seed before it is ripe but 
the worms can be picked off by 
hand before they do much harm 
if one is on the lookout for them. 
Salsify.- — Save 
two 
or 
three 
plants of salsify 
for 
seed 
and 
plant and treat 
like 
the 
other 
roots. 
Turnip. — Select two of the best 
shaped, sound turnips and set 
aside for seed purposes. The 
roots are planted as the carrot, 
beet, onion and parsnip and seed 
harvested when the pods turn yel- 
lowish-brown. 
The Lengthening Days. 
Win. Toole, Sr. 
With the lengthening of the 
days and the approach of spring 
the thoughts of those who love 
the great outdoors and especially 
their home surroundings, will 
again center upon what and 
where to plant the different varie- 
ties of flowers, shrubs and vege- 
tables. 
In touching upon shrubs and 
perennials it might not be amiss 
to state that these are damaged 
most by the winter season during 
the month of March; it is the oc- 
casional thaw and warm spells 
that draw the frost out of the 
ground, especially on southern ex- 
posures and induce the plants to 
grow only to be severely checked 
when the thermometer again goes 
back below the freezing point. 
The object in mulching plants and 
shrubs for the winter season is to 
keep the frost in the ground un- 
til the growing season is at hand 
and not to keep it out as many 
may be inclined to think. There- 
fore it is not a good practice 
to cover too soon in the fall or un- 
cover too soon in the spring. 
So anybody who neglected to 
cover plants or shrubs last fall or 
winter can still do so, providing 
the ground is frozen, and thereby 
save a lot of damage ; to cover at 
this time it is not advisable to use 
fresh stable manure, any other 
thing will do providing it does not 
make an air tight job. 
By the time these notes appear 
in print or soon thereafter the 
time has come when one’s atten- 
tion can be turned to the hot bed 
While most people know how to 
make a hot bed, it might be said 
that while the seeds or plants get 
plenty of sun to warm up things 
by day it is necessary to have at 
least 18 inches of warm horse 
manure at the bottom and plenty 
packed around the outside to pre- 
vent the cold night air from low- 
ering the temperature of the soil 
inside. It is also highly neces- 
sary to ventilate the beds on 
bright days in order to keep the 
planls or seedlings from drawing 
up and damping off. About 5 
inches of soil on top of the ma- 
nure is sufficient in most cases. 
All early vegetables, and some of 
the early annuals can be seeded 
as soon as th soil in the hot bed is 
warm enough, which will be about, 
four to five days after the hot bed 
is done ; this is also one of the best 
places to start canna roots. 
In closing be sure to procure 
the best seed obtainable and then 
sow sparingly ; more harm is done 
by most amateurs by using too 
much seed than uot euough, 
