THE RURAIv NEW-YORKER 
1219 
The Home Acre 
Okra and Its Culture. 
Will you tell me what okra is? There 
does not seem to be anything known 
about it around this part of the country. 
How is it used? Where can the seed be 
bought, when is it time to plant it? 
What kind of soil does it require? I 
have seen it in The It. N.-Y. before, but 
did not pay any great attention to it. 
I would like to try some if it will grow 
in this section of the country. a. p. 
Mulliea Hill, N. ,7. 
Okra is a member of the genus Hibis¬ 
cus and is known botanically as-Hibiscus 
esculentus, also as Abelmoschus eseulen- 
tus. Its long pods, when young and ten¬ 
der, are used in soups, stews and for 
salad, they may also be pickled in the 
same manner as capers. They are said 
to be very nutritious. This vegetable is 
of very easy culture, and will thrive well 
in almost all sections of the country. It 
should be sown at the time other tender 
vegetables are sown, which would be 
about May 35 in the latitude of New 
York, and should be given good soil, such 
as is found in our best market gardens. 
The dwarf sorts may be sown in shallow 
drills about 30 inches apart, and thinned 
to stand 15 to 18 inches apart in the 
row, the tall sorts should be given nearly 
double as much room, both between and 
in the rows. If given good soil and cul¬ 
tivation, this growth will he quite free 
and the crop very abundant. It is al¬ 
ways used while young and tender. K. 
Notes from a Maryland Garden. 
Gladiolus Bulbs. —These are now 
ready to lift and store, but the heat takes 
all the energy out of one. The China 
asters are now ready to gather for seed, 
but I have not courage to turn my back 
to the sun. The hedges need a final clip¬ 
ping. but that is warm work, too, and 
so the garden goes on in the sear and 
yellow leaf. The late tomatoes have been 
doing splendidly, and I have Maule’s Suc¬ 
cess, Magnificent and Matchless, and 
spinach and kale are growing where the 
early tomatoes were- 
Peonies and Sweet Peas. —I am 
about lifting my peonies and setting them 
on the north side of the buildings in hope 
that they may bloom there. If they do 
not I shall abandon peonies for this soil, 
for it does not pay to grow half a hundred 
plants and get hut half a dozen flowers. 
Sweet peas, too, are little used here. In 
the richest soil I never get them to climb 
two feet hardly, and make a few flowers 
before they dry up. I am still cutting 
the kudzu vine out of the way. It has 
densely covered a lattice by my side porch 
and has run out on the ground about 50 
feet each way. I believe that if this one 
vine had been planted out and let ramble 
it would have made nearly a wagonload 
of forage by frequent cuttings. What it 
is worth as forage for feeding I do not 
know, but if there is anything grown that 
will make more I have never seen it. 
This plant is now two years old from 
planting the root, and it seems to differ 
from the kudzu I had in North Carolina, 
for that plant twined and climbed well, 
while this one does not twine at all, and 
I have had to train it up to cover the lat¬ 
tice and then have had to cut out quanti¬ 
ties of it to enable me to get by it. 
IIardy Privet. —I do not know that 
the Amoor River privet is more hardy 
than the ordinary California variety, but 
it keeps its leaves here in Winter while 
the California is leafless. But I do not 
recommend any hedge as a garden en¬ 
closure, for nothing thrives within 10 or 
12 feet of it. The greedy hedge roots sap 
the ground of moisture and fertility. I 
have grubbed out part of mine and in¬ 
tend to take out all except that along the 
lawn and next the street. 
The .Tack Bean. —Some one in the 
South sent me seed of the climbing va¬ 
riety of the Jack bean, Canavalia ensifor- 
mis. It has pink beans instead of the 
white of the dwarf form, but makes the 
same immense pods, and is useful as a 
climber for a wire fence or some place 
where a rank climber is needed. Whether 
the great pods a foot or more long will 
ripen here is rather doubtful- The beans, 
like the white variety, are perfectly worth¬ 
less though as large as a large Lima bean. 
Flowers are white. I had a variety sent 
me a few years ago with the same pink 
beans, but which made red flowers. But 
of all the climbers for covering my wire 
fences and making a big show- the moon- 
flower is the best. On a fence 50 feet 
long I have had nearly 300 of the big 
white flowers open in an evening. And 
the moon vine ripened seed here, but not 
much farther north. I do not know of any 
annual climber that is better. 
Castor Beans. —As a Summer screen 
I use the bronze-leaved Ricinus Cambo- 
giensis. It grows as fast as any of the 
castor bean family, and the dark foliage is 
very large and soon makes an effective 
screen. Then, too, I find that the old 
opinion that castor beans prevented moles 
is true, for I planted some in the garden 
to screen an unsightly board fence built 
for the protection of the cold frames, and 
in the plots where their roots run I have 
found no moles, while a little way off they 
run all about the ground. They do seem 
to avoid the Ricinus roots. 
Now with the coming of mid-September 
the sowing of seed for the Spring cab¬ 
bages is the next thing. I sow- about the 
middle of the month and again the last of 
the month, for in a late growing season 
the first sowing may get too large, and 
plants that get too large in the Fall are 
apt to run to seed in Spring, and we sim¬ 
ply want good-sized plants for setting in 
November in open furrows as a Winter 
protection with lettuce plants between the 
cabbages in the rows. w. F. massey. 
Storing Endive for Winter. 
Will you give full instructions in de¬ 
tail on storing endive for Winter use? 
Osborn, Ohio. E. D. 
Endive may be stored for Winter use 
in frost-proof frames, vegetable cellar or 
house cellar if not heated. In either case 
the endive is lifted with as much soil as 
will adhere to the roots and transplanted 
in the frame or cellar in almost any kind 
of soil, and far enough apart so that the 
leaves of adjoining plants will not over¬ 
lap each other. Water well at the time 
of transplanting so that the earth may 
become settled closely around the roots, 
being particular not to wet the crown of 
the plant. Give as much air as possible 
at all times that there is no danger of 
freezing, and keep the plants from the 
light as much as possible, as deep shad¬ 
ing is necessary to the blanching pro¬ 
cess. If the plants should require more 
watering during the Winter, the water 
must be applied only to the roots, as 
much dampness to the crowns will soon 
cause decay. Endive may be kept in the 
field with reasonable safety until well 
into December by the following method. 
Take a board 12 inches wide, and to each 
edge nail a strip three inches wide. 
Place this over the row of plants with 
the strips down ; at first the board may 
possibly rest on the plants, hut in a few 
days the plants will flatten enough to 
allow the edges of the strips to rest on 
the ground, this covering will both blanch 
and protect the plants from injury in 
case of light freezing and when there is 
danger of freezing through the board cov¬ 
ering, additional protection can be given 
by a covering of hay or straw on top of 
the boards. In mild open Winters, en¬ 
dive may be kept in the open ground in 
this way until well on toward Christmas. 
K. 
Fall Spinach. 
Will you give the name of the Fall 
spinach you plant, and how late in the 
Fall should it be sown? l. m. 
Far Hills, N. J. 
In the latitude of New York, the Fall- 
sown spinach is put in from the fifth to 
the middle of September, farther south 
it may be sown later according to the 
latitude. Any of the round-leaved varie¬ 
ties are quite hardy and are adapted for 
Fall sowing, but the variety most largely 
sown is the Savoy-leaved, it is a heavy 
yielder and is perhaps the hardiest of 
all varieties of spinach. This variety is 
not as suitable for Spring sowing as 
some others, as it has a tendency to run 
to seed when still quite young. k. 
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Jones: “Well, you see, it’s so difficult 
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Stray Stories. 
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