2i4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
March 21 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
What Varieties Shall We Plant? 
Part I. 
Paper read by E. D. Darlington, of 
Fordhook Farms, Doylestown, Pa., at a 
farmers’ institute held in Philadelphia last 
February: 
Thus far too little attention has been 
paid in the home garden to growing 
fresh salads, relishes and seasoning pot 
herbs, as well as ornamental garnishes, 
all of which can be easily grown in the 
smallest home garden, and are at their 
best when freshly gathered. They would 
be much more frequently used where 
the supply is close at home and readily 
available. A little calculation in com¬ 
paring the buying cost of these appetiz¬ 
ing additions to the ordinary table sup¬ 
plies shows that the cost fully equals 
that of the staples, such as potatoes and 
other vegetables which can be grown, 
stored and handled in large quantities, 
if indeed they do not cost more, so that 
in growing these minor crops the subur¬ 
ban gardener is practicing the best econ¬ 
omy, as well as providing himself or 
herself with the finest salads in their 
most appetizing condition, and at the 
same time gets the quickest possible re¬ 
turns from the labor. No garden is too 
small for crops of this character, even 
if only a yard square, as by successive 
small plantings a plot a yard square can 
be made to yield an ample supply of 
radishes or crisp lettuce throughout the 
season. 
The first essential is to get the soil in 
condition to promote rapid growth, and 
to enable it to produce several crops in 
succession throughout the season. This 
is most readily accomplished by a lib¬ 
eral use of stable manure. Coarse ma¬ 
nure can be dug under the soil in the 
Fall, but in the Spring it is better to use 
partly rotted or decayed manure, as it 
is more quickly available as plant food. 
In either case it should be turned under 
when digging the soil. In a new gar¬ 
den or one not already enriched I would 
advise strewing a liberal di’essing of the 
best commercial fertilizer obtainable 
after the digging, to be mixed with the 
surface soil with a sharp steel rake 
when making the surface fine for plant¬ 
ing. The second requisite is to secure 
the best grade of seeds; studying the 
seed catalogue and making a judicious 
selection for the season’s supply, rather 
than purchasing a packet or two as 
needed from the questionable supply on 
sale at the corner grocery store, or 
missing a planting at the proper time 
because the seed is not at hand. 
A third requisite is suitable tools. Not 
many are needed, as a digging fork, or 
spade, a sharp-tooth steel rake, and a 
light hoe are all that are really neces¬ 
sary, but these should be as carefully 
chosen as your golf clubs if you wish to 
secure the full enjoyment of your work. 
To many a hoe is simply a hoe, but by 
making a personal selection a nicely- 
balanced implement with a springy light 
handle can be easily obtained, which can 
be used with half the exertion required 
for a heavy blade and a thick clumsy 
handle. A sandpapering and a coat of 
oil on the handle will make the wood 
smooth and easier to use. The blade 
should always have a sharp cutting 
edge, and is readily kept sharp with a 
file or by a brief visit to the grindstone. 
A half hour’s work with properly-se¬ 
lected tools kept in good order is a 
pleasant recreation, and from my per¬ 
sonal experience I can state that it is a 
most enjoyable and healthful change 
after a day spent in office work, or as an 
appetizer before breakfast. No one who 
is gardening for pleasure should make 
hard work out of the garden; a little at 
a time and often is most beneficial for 
the garden and the gardener, while the 
pursuit is more tiresome if kept up to 
the point of exhaustion. Nothing will 
more quickly destroy the pleasure to be 
derived from the garden than making 
heavy labor of it. Thus, in the Spring 
I would advise only digging and plant¬ 
ing a small area or bed at a time, unless 
you can employ some one accustomed to 
the work to dig over the entire space 
for you, in which case the soil may be 
easily redug or worked up when needed 
for planting. Soil which is well enrich¬ 
ed with manure or rotted vegetable mat¬ 
ter can be more easily worked at all 
times than poor soil which is stiff and 
heavy, and heavy soils can be much 
more easily hoed early in the morning 
while slightly moist than later in the 
day. When the ground is loose and not 
packed by heavy rains it is not neces¬ 
sary to use the hoe, as the surface can 
be easily and quickly worked over with 
the sharp rake which, if used every few 
days, will prevent the weeds from start¬ 
ing and promote the growth of the 
plants as well as hoeing, if the soil is 
kept loose up to the growing plants, and 
in hoeing it is essential to keep the soil 
loosely worked up under the leaves of 
the plants as well as between the rows. 
Lettuce is the most popular and most 
largely used salad plant in this country, 
and broadly speaking there are four dis¬ 
tinct types; the loose head or cutting 
lettuce, such as the Black Seeded Simp¬ 
son, the butter-head, of which the Dea¬ 
con is probably the best all-round va¬ 
riety, the crisp head, desirable for mid¬ 
summer, as it best withstands the heat 
and drought and is the mildest in flavor 
even when grown under the hot sun, and 
of which tue Iceberg and Hanson are 
the most popular varieties, and the Cos, 
Celery, or Romaine lettuce, upright in 
growth, and of which the Dwarf White 
Heart is the quickest in growth and the 
most satisfactory in heading. In plant¬ 
ing lettuce sow only a few seeds at a 
time, the ordinary seedsman’s packet be¬ 
ing sufficient for three or four plantings, 
but make plantings every 10 days so as 
to have about a dozen good heads for 
use at all times. Many gardeners think 
they cannot grow head lettuce, but there 
is no trouble in this if the plants are 
thinned or transplanted when small to 
stand 10 inches apart and the soil kept 
loose and fine about the roots until they 
are well headed. 
Endive is grown in the same way for 
Fall use and the Green Moss-curled can 
be blanched by tying up the leaves, or 
the White Curled, which does not need 
blanching, can be used. Sorrel, dande¬ 
lion, chicory and some lettuce are sown 
thinly in rows and allowed to grow as 
they come up, the leaves being cut off 
when needed for use and the plants al¬ 
lowed to grow up again. The curled 
pepper grass is an excellent salad or 
relish when grown in this way early in 
the Spring, while young beet leaves and 
young radishes will make an excellent 
boiling green for use like spinach in the 
Spring. This utiiizes the thinnings 
where the seed has come up too thickly. 
SuccE.ss WITH Seeds and Seeding.—W. 
B. Cleves, Binghamton, N. Y.; 38 pages, 
price 10 cents. This is a most useful little 
book about grasses, grain and forage 
plants, written for the latitude of southern 
New York. There is much reliable infor¬ 
mation on the above and kindred subjects 
as well as a number of very useful tables. 
FREE! 
My new Illustrated Catalogue of shade, fruit and 
evergreen trees, flowering shrubs, etc., wholesale 
prices. Have agents’ commissions. Buy direct from 
the Nursery. I pay the freight. EUGENE O. 
PBTEKSON, Montrose Nurseries, Montrose, N. Y. 
EVERGREENS 
Btrdy lortt, NnrMry grown, for wind- 
breski, ornament and hedgei. Prepaid, tl 
to $10 per 100-60 Great Bargain! to select 
from. Write at once for free Catalogue 
and Bargain Sheet. Local AgeaU wanted. 
' 0. Hill,1st Dundee,III. 
Glenwood Nurseries 
Most complete assortment of choice 
Ornamental Trees, Shrubs and Vines. 
Bend for Descriptive Illnstrated Catalogue. 
THE WM. H. MOON CO., MORRI8VILLE, PA. 
60 miles from New York; 30 miles from Philadelphia. 
‘I?'', 
i 
i 
I 
% 
m 
d 
k 
S&mson 
Windmill 
Strong^ than 
The Storms 
WHEN YOU BUY A WINDMILL 
You buy it for a long time and your money entitles you to tlie best. No other 
piece of machinery has as much constant wear. The mill that stands tlie 
weather—fair and foal-^.365 days and nights in the year must be built right or go 
to pieces. Better buy right once tlian wrong many times. Our 
Samson Double Gear Windmill 
is the result of years of study and the expenditure of large sums of money, which have 
produced a perfect mill. The Numaon Is the very acme of windmill construction. All 
others are merely windmills; the Namaon is more than a windmill—it Is a wind machine 
built on scientific principles that place It far and away ahead of all others. 
Among its many stronif leatiires found on no other mill, stands most prominently 
Its double ireur. which in reality Is two sets of gears or two pinions and two spur gears 
engaging each other, and making two trains to transmit the power of the wheel to the 
pump. This feature is the most valuable one ever Incorporated In a windmill. With Its 
four bearings. In place of one, the strain of the load is distributed to four points, giving 
the very minimum of friction, resistance and wear, and the maximum of power and en¬ 
durance and doing away with all overhanging strain. This double gearing and Its bear¬ 
ings retain their rigidity and tightness under all conditions. The has five times 
the Btrengtli of any oilier windmill using a like amount of material and at the same time 
is the lightest running of any on the market. Other points of superiority are man.v, among 
them duratillit.v.liigli-grarle material,skilled workmanship on all parts, easiness’ of run¬ 
ning in sliglitest bree/.e, detachalile boxings, perfect brake and governor, doutile pump 
rod and guide, wick feed oilers, etc. You sliould know more about the Saiimoii. We tell 
the story in a beautifully llliist ruled booklet that lias cost us thousands of dollars to 
print. It is yours for (tie asking. Write today. Vou will be glad if you do. 
THE STOVER MANUFACTURING CO., - Dept. M, Freeport, III. 
lAllCT DC ?ni two-yr. old Asparagus 
lllUul UL uULU Routs, four best kinds; Rhu¬ 
barb and all otlier Vegetable Plants in season; Ear- 
liana Tomato: new T.^-day .Sweet I’otato. Write for 
what you want. 1. & J. L. LEONARD, Iona, N. J. 
TPCCO—One dollar's worth up at whole.sale prices; 
I iILLO secure variety now. Spring payment; 80- 
page catalogue. Q. C. STONE, Wholesale Nurseries, 
Dansvllle, N. Y. Established 85 years. 
H IINDP thousand 
|I|Mf*^peach trees. Bui trirutiu. 
»s many Apples, Plums, Cherry, 
Etc., cheap. Catalogue free. 
WOODVIEW NURSERIES, MT. HOLLY SPRINGS, PA 
TSOjOOO-TpEES 
flpeclaltle!: Apple, 16c; Peach. I2c; Cherry, 15c. Small fruit planti, 
Boiea, Tiaes. 100-page catalogue free. 2 New Red Cross curraut, 
lOo. Beorets of Fruit Growing, 150 photoa, lUo. Copy 
Green'! Fruit Grower free. Good salary paid for work at home. 
GREEN’S NURSERY CO., Rochester, N.Y. 
)PAPU TDPPQ General assortment,$2 to $3 per 100. 
Lnun I iiLLO Also plum, pear and cherry trees. 
nnnRt/^n. Hnx A. St,nnklf»v. T>eL 
Circular free. R. 8. JOf 
Surplus Peach and .4pple Trees. 
Send for free Catalogue and .Surplus I.ist while it 
lasts. MARTIN WAUL, Dept. H, Rochester, N. Y. 
ON RENTED LAND 
800,000 ASI'AK.VGUS ROOTS Must Ite Solti. 
Get my low price. One and two-year roots. No rust. Pal¬ 
metto seed for sale. Catalogue of trees.plants.vine.s.free 
AbthubJ Collins, Burlington go., Moorestown,N. J. 
25,000 BARTLEH, KIEFFER 
ROGERS ON THE HILL, Dansvllle, N. Y. 
AND OTHER LEADING 
VARIETIES OF PEAR TREE.S. 
The Tree Breeder (Free) will 
tell you about them. 
THE TREE BREEDERS. 
150 ACRES OF TREES. 
All home growu 
and t rue to name. 
Apples, Peaches, 
Pears, Plums, Shade Trees, Vine.s, Shrubs, etc. Every approved .standard variety. Nothing equals 
the smooth, disease-free, well rooted Genesee Valley nursery stock. It never loses a patron. Write to-day for 
Illustrated catalogue. THE GEO. A. SWEET NURSERY CO., Box 1605, Dansvllle, N.Y. 
TREES 
1 PKAR, cherry and PEACH; healthy, true to name 
per lUvF and Fuuiigated. All kinds of trees and plants at low wholesale 
prices. Don’t buy until you get our catalogue, which is free, or send list of wants for 
special price. Address RELIANCE NURSERY, Box 1, Geneva, New York. 
Fruit Trees 
Good, Better, Best. 
Send for Catalogue and get proof. 
A practical talk on PEACH CUL¬ 
TURE free with Catalogue. 
H. S. WILEY, 
Cayuga Nurseries. Cayuga, N. Y. 
GRAPE VINES 
STARK GRAPE NURSERIES 
Portland, N. Y. are in the heart 
of the famous Fredonia-Chautau- 
qua Grape Belt, which produces 
the best vines of any locality in the U. S. An Immense Stock. 
BRIGHTON, large red, rich, sweet, best .. . 
CAMPBELL EARLY, early black. 
Catawba, large red; late, very good. 
CONCORD, well known “Old Stand-by”. 
DELAWARE, a most excellent red. 
DIAMOND, finest white; very early ... 
IVES, black; fair quality, hardy, healthy...'. 
MOORE EARLY, large black; very early. 
NIAGARA, famous large white; good. 
WORDEN, richest, finest black, early. 
CURRANT, Fay, needs best of care. 
“ LONDON MARKET, best. 
GOOSEBERRY. Houghton, Old Reliable...... 
“ Downing, large, good. 
“ Josselyn (Red Jacket) best new sort . 
A general assortment of Fruit Trees, including 250,000 Japan Plum and 1,000,000 Peach; 
Raspb’y, Blackb’y, Mulberry, 3 best varieties; Chestnut, WeiPs Maple; Root Grafts and an 
extra fine stock of Apple Seedlings. Send for Colored Plate and Descriptive Circular of 
STARK-STAR, best of all late grapes. We Pay Freight on $12 orders, box and pack free. 
CTAnir Dnn'C KlIlRSERacs/O Louisiana, mo. Portland, N. Y. Uansvllle, N. Y. 
OIDI\UO I *aMCHARDS\ff Atlantic, Iowa. Starkdale, Mo. Fayetteville, Ark. 
I-Yr 
No. 1 
2.Yr. 
No. 1 
100 
1000 
100 
1000 
$4.00 
$30.00 
$6.50 
$55.00 
8.50 
75.00 
11.00 
100.00 
4.00 
30.00 
6.00 
60.00 
3.50 
25.00 
4.50 
35.00 
4.50 
35.00 
6.50 
65.00 
4.00 
30.00 
6.00 
60.00 
3.50 
25.00 
4.50 
35.00 
4.00 
30.00 
5.50 
45.00 
4.00 
30.00 
6.50 
65.00 
4.00 
30.00 
5.00 
40.00 
4.00 
30.00 
5.00 
40.00 
4.50 
85.00 
6.00 
60.00 
5.00 
40.00 
6.00 
60.00 
5.00 
40.00 
6.00 
60.00 
6.00 
50.00 
8.00 
70.00 
