44 
House & Garden 
IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN THIS MONTH 
Success in the Summer Garden In Not Merely a Question of Planting and Allowing to 
Grow—Here Are Ways to Get Full Value from the Maturing Crops 
WILLIAM C. McCOLLOM 
Celery which is set out now in the trench should be 
kept well watered until the plants gain a roothold 
T HERE are very few gardens that 
realize their proper dividends. The 
fault usually lies wilh the owner of the 
garden. One of the causes of failure is 
that the crops are not gathered at the 
proper time and lose their food value, or 
in some cases are wasted entirely. 
Take Swiss chard, for example; if it is 
kept cut, the young, succulent shoots are 
tender and of high food value, but when 
allowed to become tough and old, are 
coarse and almost worthless. The secret, 
if there is any, is in frequent cutting. 
Give it away if you cannot make better 
use of it, but do not waste it. New Zea¬ 
land spinach also requires cutting fre¬ 
quently, in order to insure the best quality. 
This is also the time to gather onions. 
The large ones should be stored away for 
winter use and the small ones pickled, 
preserved, or made use of in some similar 
manner. 
Lima beans should be used only when 
young. The older beans, those that have 
passed their best stage, should lie allowed 
to ripen on the vine, to be used in the 
winter as dried beans. 
Gather your crops at the proper time. 
This is one of the secrets of a successful 
garden. It is nice to see things growing, 
but from an economical point of view it 
is far nicer to see them really produce, so 
the habit of the good gardener should be 
to gather vegetables daily. Success can 
only be measured by the size of your 
market basket. 
What to Can Now 
Canning offers large possibilities to the own¬ 
er of a garden. It saves waste and is the sal¬ 
vation of over-production in crops. Of course, 
it is not advisable to wait until the vegetables 
are passe before they are canned. However, 
this is frequently done, and the practice must 
be severely condemned. It is just as necessary 
that vegetables should be fresh in cans as 
otherwise. Vegetables canned at the proper 
time have a much better color and keep better 
than old, tough vege¬ 
tables, which require 
extra cooking. Toma¬ 
toes should be gathered 
frequently and canned; 
the method used must, 
of course, be decided 
by each individual, but 
the purpose of canning 
is to prevent waste and 
whenever enough fruit 
for a few cans is avail¬ 
able, the preserving 
kettle should be brought 
forth and made to do 
its work. 
Com should be rip¬ 
ening fast at this time 
and as this crop is the 
best of the year, it is 
well to can as much as 
possible now. Lima 
beans for canning, too, 
are at their best at this period; this also applies 
to string beans. These should be gathered be¬ 
fore any strings have developed, in which case 
it simply means pinching the ends before 
placing them in cans. 
Swiss chard, New Zealand spinach and vari¬ 
ous other crops are also ready for canning now. 
With fair growing conditions, fall sowings of 
peas are successful now. Several sowings can 
be made during this month, using the round 
type of pea such as New York Market, Alaska 
and First of All. At the same time make 
a sowing of spinach. It is always a good 
practice to sow these crops together as they 
make excellent combination crops. Rad¬ 
ishes, lettuce and endive may also be sown 
now. Lack of moisture at this time of the 
year, coupled with the intense heat, will 
soon destroy the germinating qualities of 
the seeds. It is advisable, if there is no 
irrigation or other means of watering the 
ground, thoroughly to soak the drills be¬ 
fore sowing. This is preferred to soak¬ 
ing the seeds as is sometimes done, there¬ 
by encouraging germination so that the 
roots are pushed forth into a very dry soil. 
Setting Out Strawberries 
Strawberry beds set out at this time of 
the year will bear a full crop of fruit next 
season, provided, of course, potted plants 
are used. Strawberries, like other garden 
crops, will pay fully for any particular 
attention that is given to the soil. Use 
plenty of manure and a liberal quantity 
of bone meal. As a result of this care, 
the plants will build up sufficient crown 
between now and the fall to insure gather¬ 
ing a good crop of fruit next year. The 
plants should be set 2' between the rows 
and 1' apart in the row. Keep all run¬ 
ners removed. It is advisable to use both 
the staminate and pistilate types of flowers, 
to insure proper fertilization, which in the 
end means fruit. 
For the home garden always select va¬ 
rieties for their quality, disregarding en¬ 
tirely the commercial types that are valu¬ 
able for their shipping qualities. A larger and 
softer berry is preferred for home use and is of 
much better quality and flavor. 
After cane fruits have finished fruiting the 
canes should be gone over very carefully, re¬ 
moving all the dead wood. This should be 
done immediately, as they are easy to remove 
now. Remove the old shoots at the ground 
line by means of a pruning knife or scissors. 
Cord should be used to tie the new shoots in 
position. When the new shoots have reached 
a considerable size, 
growth should be 
stopped by pinching. 
This will cause numer¬ 
ous side shoots to de¬ 
velop, which will bear 
fruit next season. It 
must be kept in mind 
that it is at this season 
of the year that this 
class of plant is devel¬ 
oping growth which de¬ 
termines the quality of 
next season’s crop, and 
it is well to keep them 
mulched in case the 
ground is dry. Like 
most plants of woody 
growth, raspberries, 
blackberries, etc., are 
subject to numerous in¬ 
sect pests, and the 
plants should be kept 
Pea brush which has served its purpose ought to be pulled up and burned, after the vines 
have been removed. The ground occupied by the peas should be planted with other crops 
