The Home Vegetable Garden 
27 
PEPPER 
Pepper requires about the same conditions as the tomato. The 
seed are slow to germinate and should be started in the green¬ 
house or hotbed in March in order to have good-sized plants for 
setting out when danger of frost is past. The young plants should 
be transplanted once before they are finally moved into the field. 
The distances for setting the plants outside are 15 to 18 inches 
apart in rows which are 2 to 2^ feet apart. The subsequent cul¬ 
tivation of the crop consists in keeping down weeds and stirring 
the soil from time to time. 
Bull Nose, Ruby King and Neapolitan are three popular va¬ 
rieties. 
PUMPKIN 
Pumpkins are very often grown as a companion crop with 
corn in the Northern and New England States. They are also 
grown as a separate crop, being handled the same as winter 
squashes. The seed are planted in hills 8 feet apart each way, five 
to ten seeds in a hill when there is no longer any danger from 
frost. The pumpkins should be harvested with a portion of the 
stem adhering before frost kills the vines in the fall. They can 
be kept for some time in warm, dry storage. 
Two varieties are Small Sugar and Big Tom (Large Field). 
RADISHES 
The radish is one of the most popular spring vegetables on 
account of its hardiness, quick return and agreeable crispness and 
flavor. 
For early radishes, the seed should be planted in rows 15 to 
18 inches apart. About 30 or 40 seed planted to a foot of drill 
and these are covered three-fourths of an inch deep and the soil 
compacted over them. It has been found that it pays to use only 
the largest seed. A much better and earlier crop results when 
large-sized seed are planted than when smaller ones are used. 
In addition to being planted in the above manner, radishes are 
very often grown as a companion crop with lettuce or as a catch 
crop between cabbage, beans, and potatoes. Radishes require only 
a short time for maturity, and when planted between the rows of 
these crops they reach maturity and are out of the way before the 
ground is needed by the other crop. 
This vegetable is often forced in hotbeds or cold frames. Seed 
are usually planted in the hotbed or cold frame very early in the 
spring in rows about 6 inches apart with 30 or 40 seed to the foot. 
Grown in this manner, the crop will reach maturity in three to five 
weeks. Radishes are comparatively hardy plants and naturally 
