84r 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[Ma-rch, 
well warmed, or at corn planting time, are : Beans 
—Snap and Pole, Cucumber, Corn, Melons, Okra, 
Pumpkin, Squash, Tomato, Watermelon. 
Asparagus. —Rake off the litter from the beds and 
carefully fork in the fine manure. 
Rhubarb. —Make new beds by dividing the old 
roots so that each portion has a bud. Set 3 or 4 ft. 
apart each way, manuring the hills very heavily. 
Early Sowing in drills 12 to 15 inches apart should 
be made of Beet, Carrot, Leek, Onion, Parsnip, 
Spinach, Radish and Turnip Radish seeds may be 
sown with Beets, as they will mature and come off 
before they are in the way. Early Potatoes should 
be planted and early Peas sown. 
What Kinds to Sow. —We have usually given, this 
month, our choice of varieties in these Notes ; we 
now r give in another place a full account of Mr. 
Henderson’s trials of new and old kinds w'hicb will 
be of great aid in making selections of varieties. 
Flower Warden and Lawn. 
Old Lawns will need a top-dressing and a sprink¬ 
ling of seed in places where the grass is poor. If 
manure is applied, let it be so thoroughly decom¬ 
posed that no weed-seeds remain alive. Ashes, 
guano, nitrate of soda and fine bone, are all good 
manures for lawns and bring in no weeds. 
New Lawns should be made as early as the ground 
is in good condition, to have the grass well estab¬ 
lished before hot weather. For light soils, Red 
top, for stony ones, Blue-grass, with perhaps a lit¬ 
tle White Clover, is in our experience preferable to 
mixed seeds. Four to six bushels to the acre are 
needed to make a good velvety turf. 
Turfing is best for small plots, and should bo laid 
on large lawns along the edges of roads and beds. 
Ornamental Trees. —Plant wheu the soil is in con¬ 
dition ; Evergreens may wait a month or more. 
Where old trees interfere, branches may be re¬ 
moved, but they never should be pruned in such a 
manner as to change their natural shape. 
Shrubs may be transplanted, and pruned, taking 
care to preserve their natural habit. 
Miscellaneous. —Repair roads and paths_TJncov- 
•er beds of bulbs... .Lift and divide large clumps of 
;perennials_Sow seeds of hardy flowers. 
•Wreenliouse and Window Plants. 
But little is to be added to the Notes of last 
month... .Insects will need more care... .Air may 
now be given more freely_Fuchsias may bestart- 
ed into growth_Where there is a demand for 
bedding plants, propagation should go on rapidly. 
.Seed3 0 f flowers for the borders should besowu. 
What to Plant in Gardens. 
BY PETER HENDERSOX, JERSEY CITY EIGHTS, N. J. 
-C-- 
’Vegetables New and Old—Trials of 1878. 
[Heretofore we have given nearly every year, as 
the season for gardening opens, a list of such vege¬ 
tables as our own experience has shown to be most 
desirable, including our opinion of the novelties 
•tested during the preceding year. There are many 
who arc indifferent to such matters, and thinking 
that a “ beet is a beet,” buy whatever seed is most 
readily obtainable. By a careful selection of 6eeds 
mot only is greater excellence secured, but in most 
•cases larger crops, both matters of importance, 
whether the produce is to be consumed or marketed. 
This year we give the results obtained by Mr. Peter 
Henderson in his extensive trials. For varieties of 
small fruits, see the several notes above.— Eds.] 
As usual, we last season subjected the seeds of 
every variety of vegetable that we could procure to 
a comparative test of their earliness and other qual¬ 
ities. These varieties, procured from all quarters, 
numbered over 600 kinds, many of them purporting 
to be new and improved varieties, though com¬ 
paratively few proved to be improvements on the 
standard sorts. The point of real value to your 
readers is to be told what are the best of their kinds, 
whether new or old, and we give below those that 
are, in our judgment, the most valuable. The sev¬ 
eral varieties of each class were sown or planted at 
the same time under exactly the same conditions 
and the results daily noted. The results thus ob¬ 
tained serve to indicate very fairly the value of the 
different varieties, at least for this latitude. The 
varieties are named in the order of their merit. 
Asparagus —“ Colossal ” still holds the front rank: 
indeed but little else is now grown. Mr. A. Smalley, 
Bound Brook, N. J., claims to have originated a new 
variety, which he names “Defiance.” I examined 
it last season, with Mr. Van Sicklen, of Jamaica, 
L. I., one of the best authorities on asparagus. It 
was late, however, and we were unable to deter¬ 
mine whether or not it w T as superior to the “ Colos¬ 
sal.” Mr. Smalley has kindly sent me a quantity of 
the roots, and 1 hope to report on it next season. 
Beet —“Egyptian Turnip,” the earliest of all the 
Round Beets, deep in color and finely formed. 
“ Dewings ” is second in earliness, while the “ Long 
Smooth Red ” is best for winter. 
Beet, Sugar, and Mangel-Wurzel —For stock, “Nor- 
bitan Giant,” long red, “ Kiuver Yellow Globe,” 
“Lane’s Imperial Sugar Beet.” 
Beans, Pole— Large Lima best for general use. As 
“string” beans grown on poles, the “German 
Wax” and “ Giant Wax” are excellent. 
Beans, Bush —“Early Mohawk” and “Early Val¬ 
entine ” we find rather the earliest, though the new 
“ Golden Wax ” is but little behind it and is a de¬ 
cided acquisition, being a most profuse bearer and 
very tender ; it is stringless ; “ Black” and “White 
Wax” are also stringless, excellent bearers, and of 
fine flavor; “ Refugee ” is the best late variety and 
is the kind mostly used for pickling. [In our opin¬ 
ion the “Wax” beans should rank as a distinct 
class, as they differ as much in flavor as they do in 
other characters from the ordinary beans. It is al¬ 
lowed to differ in matters of taste ; we regard the 
wax-beans so inferior to the others that we have 
ceased to cultivate them.—E ds.] 
Cabbage. —For our trial test we sow all cabbages, 
cauliflowers, and lettuce in liot-bed about March 1, 
and set the plants in open ground early in April. 
We receive at least half a dozen new sorts of cab¬ 
bages every season, but still find nothing so satis¬ 
factory in this section as the “ Jersey Wakefield,” 
which has now been cultivated in the vicinity of 
New York for nearly forty years, and is still the 
variety exclusively grown as first early, either for 
market or private use. Next is “ Early Summer,” 
10 days later, but fully one-third heavier. Though 
the “ Wakefield ” is still the favorite in the vicinity 
of New York ; the “ Early Summer," is rapidly sup¬ 
planting it in the South and West. “Early Flat 
Dutch,” though a little larger, is not so profitable, 
as its larger outer leaves require it to be planted j 
farther apart; for example : we plant 12,000 of : 
“ Wakefield ” or “ Early Summer ” on an acre, while i 
9,000 only of the “ Early Flat Dutch,” “ Fottler,” 
“ Brunswick,” or others of the large-leaved kinds 
could be profitably planted on an acre. For late 
cabbages we sow the seeds in May, and stiil prefer 
“ Premium Flat Dutch,” as the best. For pickling, 
the “Blood-red Erfurt” is best. 
Savoy Cabbages are now more used than formerly. 
Why they are not almost exclusively grown is a 
wonder to all who know their superiority to the 
smooth-leaved cabbages. There are but few varie¬ 
ties, and they are usually grown as a fall or w'inter 
crop, though they can be grown equally well as an 
early or summer crop. The “ American Drumhead 
Savoy ” we find best. 
Cauliflower. —Last season we requested over one 
hundred market gardeners to report how the new 
variety, the “Snow-ball” had done with them; 
three out of four of the replies were favorable, 
which is an excellent endorsement of a crop so un¬ 
certain as the cauliflower. Our own experience was ! 
eveu more satisfactory than the year before, prov¬ 
ing to us beyond all question that this new sort is 
by far the best for the early crop. Two of my 
neighbors who are market gardeners, John Hudson 
and William Frost, grew it largely for the New York 
market; it averaged fifteen cents per head, or about 
$1,509 per acre. It must be borne in mind that the 
season has much to do with the cauliflower crop, 
and it is too much to expect such success every 
year, with this or any other variety. Thirty varieties 
of cauliflower were tried, but this, for early, and the 
“Half-Early Paris’’and “Algiers” for late, were 
decidedly the best; fully three-fourths of the thirty 
kinds tried were entirely worthless for our climate. 
Celery. —In celery we have several improvements. 
The “ Golden Dwarf,” a selection from our “ Half 
Dwarf,” has the same stout, short growth as that 
variety, but with fuller hearts, and a decided yel¬ 
low tinge -when blanched. The past season it has 
been grown almost exclusively here, and has brought 
about 10 per cent more than any other kind in our 
markets. Another new kind, “ London Red,” has 
the solid and dwarf habit of the “Golden Dwarf,” 
but with a bright crimson tint, making it not only 
beautiful for the table, but, like all red celeries, the 
flavor excelling all the white varieties. 
Carrot .—For forciug under glass, “ Scarlet Horn ” 
is the best. For early market, sown outside, “ Half 
Long Red” or “Stump-rooted” is the earliest; 
for the general crop, “Improved Long Orange.” 
“ Danvers,” a scarlet intermediate, is a new and 
very promising kind, half long, fine color and flavor, 
giving great weight of crop. For field culture, the 
“Yellow” and “White Belgian” are generally 
used, as they give nearly double the weight of the 
“ Long Orange,” but they are far less nutritious 
than that, which is really the most profitable, 
particularly when grown for horses. 
Sweet Com. —“Crosby’s Early” is the sweetest 
early ; “ Narragansett ” and “ Minnesota ” are 
rather earlier but not so good. The new “Egyp¬ 
tian ” sent out last season, is a large variety, and to 
most tastes excels all others in flavor. It is very 
prolific, but like all other large kinds is not early. 
The “Egyptian” is likely, to a great extent, to 
take the place of “ Stowell’s Evergreen,” here¬ 
tofore the standard kind for late main crop. 
Cucumber.—“ Early White Spine” and “Extra 
Long White Spine,” prove best for general use; 
“Green Prolific ” is the best pickling sort; “ Long 
Green,” is a very handsome sort of excellent flavor. 
Egg Plant .—“New York Improved,” for earliest 
and general crop; “Black Pekin” and “Long 
White ” are the best in quality. 
Endive. —“Green Curled,” best for market. 
“ Moss Curled ” is distinct and beautiful. 
Leelc. —“American Flag,” best for general crop ; 
“Carenton,” a new sort, of great weight. 
Lettvee. —We have given great attention to this 
important crop and tested over 50 kinds. The best 
plain-leaved for early out-door crop, is, we think, 
“ All the Year Round ” ; the best curled-leaved, 
“ Curled Simpson,” or “ Silesia,” which are nearly j 
alike. Of the new kinds of merit we found the 
“Green-Fringed” useful as well as ornamental. 
The “Black Seeded Simpson,” of the new sorts, 
forms an immense head, of a rich, light-yellow 
shade, curled like “Simpson,” and stands the 
hot sun equal to any we have ever tried. For forc¬ 
ing in frames or greenhouses, the “Boston Mar¬ 
ket ” is almost exclusively used now in this vicinity; 
it resembles the old “Tennis Ball,” forming a 
hard head, but it is larger and better in all respects. 
Melon, Nutmeg. — The “ Hackensack,” is the 
favorite for the market of New York. It is 
round, large-sized, green-fleshed, having the rind 
well netted, an unfailing indication of good 
flavor. “Jenny Lind,” a smaller kind, is excel¬ 
lent. “Cassaba,” a large, long, yellow-fleshed 
melon, a most prolific bearer and of first quality. 
Melon, Water. —“ Phinney’s Early,” is of medium 
size, very prolific and excellent. “ Gipsey,” is the 
large striped kind grown so largely at the South for 
our northern markets. 
Okra .—Improved “Dwarf Green.” 
Onion.— Of Reds, we name “Red Globe,” and 
“ Red Wethersfield; ” of Whites, “ White Globe,” 
and “White Portugal,” and of Yellows, the time 
“Yellow Danvers.” The Italian varieties are dis¬ 
tinct and well adapted for the South. The varieties 
of these are : “New Queen,” the earliest. “Giant 
Rocca,” “White” and “Red Italian,” and “Tripoli.” 
Parsley. —“ Moss Curled,” and the comparatively 
new “Fern-Leaved” are the best and moct desirable. 
