1 886 . _^ 
MULCHING 
Of r„, 
that attention or practieal exi.ori„u.,n‘"fT*' 
vostigiitlon it deserves. '|’i,o^ I*,)!,,; 
has ...any foes to contend “viti; ;:/;''””: 
above frost and insects, l.e smiers M,oro^? 
„a..ciul loss from tile heat a.ul drem. ,t ? 
our suininers. 
The Potato requires a moist soil and a cool 
season. Mulch.ng would eertainlv tend h 
jjivo both. I am pretty well eonvineod tin 
planting deep or hoein- up the hills is bene 
fleiai, siniply beeause it inis somewhat the 
clVcet of a .milch—keeping the Potatoes in 
cooler, molstcr soil. Mqierc the soil is moist 
a.id the climate cool, Hat culture does best- 
this shows that because dee|) idantino-'m- 
hiiling does best where the ground is diy or 
the weather hot, is simply because it is in 
ellects not dissimiiar to a muloh. I have 
noticed that Potatoes did better upon a still 
sod than upon a soil fully as rich but not 
soddy; and I think it is bee.ause the sods 
lying on top of tlic ground act as a mulch. 
We all know that for Potatoes clay soil is 
better than sandy soil. Why? Bee.ause it 
is colder and damper, lilulching would 
make the sandy soil colder and damiier. 
T.he cost is not great. Straw or vines are 
cheap. Most of us can get the materials for 
a mere pittance. Then the straw or vines 
are not lost by any means for they will m.a- 
nure the ground. IMulching saves hoeing. 
That is quite an item when you arc com¬ 
pelled to pay for the labor, and a bigger 
item when you have to do it yourself. The 
man or boy never w.as, that liked to hoe Po¬ 
tatoes, especially on new laud. 
Among the experiments conducted at the 
Missouri Agricultural College by Prof. J. 
W. Sanborn, was one to determine wliat ef¬ 
fect mulching would have upon Potatoes. 
The season was peculiarly unfavorable to an 
exhibition of the benefits of mulching. The 
experiments were con¬ 
ducted carefully. Plats of 
land lying side by side 
were marked off, and each 
alternate plat mulched. 
The others were culti¬ 
vated in the usual man- 
acf. A mistake was made 
•u mulching too heavily, 
so that quite a percentage 
of the plants failed to 
come through. Yet nob- 
'vithstanding all the un¬ 
favorable circumstances 
*■*10 results were most 
gratifying to the advo- 
oates of mulching. 
'The total yield of Bur- 
“‘ink Potatoes, mulched, 
^as 50 per cent more than 
ose not mulched; and 
J lie of the former the 
^•■oportlon of table Pota- 
®®8 to those too small 
Go I lege 
.....InX'lLl'IS, *''' 
'“rtto tote. Xi'if" 
long standing spinach. 
1-43 
than 
any 
veg- 
LONG-STANDING SPINACH. 
Other, that this excellent vui; 
etable is not found in every private garden. 
'I'hc Long .Standing Spinaeli, a variety of 
leeent introduction, is a decided improve¬ 
ment in this direction. In general appear¬ 
ance and quality it resembles tlie Hound 
Leaved variety, but its great merit consists 
in not nmning to seed as rapicUy as this, or, 
in fact, any other kind. In a trial on our 
grounds it was fully three weeks Later in 
forming seed stalks than the Savoy, Leaved 
ORNAMENTAL-LEAVED BEETS. 
Beets as ornamental foli.age plants are 
among the later years’ novelties, and, in 
reality, few outdoor plants surpass the ricli, 
deep crimson color of even some of our com¬ 
mon garden Beets. 
One of tlie best ornamental kinds is the 
Victoria Beet, or Heta horCensis tnelallica, 
represented in our illustration. It is of very ro¬ 
bust growth, and of a rich, deep metallic criin- 
A GARDEN MAmrBU. 
A vm-y convenient marker for the garden 
can be made readily of a piece of plank 
tlirce feet five inches long, and about six 
indies wide by one thick. ' On one side I put 
four runners 12 inches apart ; tlibse should 
bo at least two inches wide, six inches long, 
and one arid a half Inches thick, rohnded .at 
tbefrontco/-her iikesled runners, and wedge- 
shaped on the bottom. On the other side T 
pl.'Ujed'the runners 18 inche.s apart, which is 
about the best distance for most garden crops. 
A good broom-handle will make a tongue 
to pull it by. With’this'three or four drills 
can be made at once, and one' stretching of 
the line will answer for all. 
Planting everything in the garden in'drills 
is much the best plan, or even when a seeder 
is Used, the marker is of suIBcient aid to pay 
for the trouble of using. I shnply nailed 
mine together and was not over a half an 
hour making it, whiie it will save that much 
time in a day’s gai-dening. 
f use a hand-seeder in sowing the greater 
proiiortion of garden crops, arid by marking 
oil the drills with a marker, I find I can 
do better work than by attempting to follow 
a line each time; and having the rows 
straight aids considerably in using the gar¬ 
den plows and cultivators, as they can there¬ 
by be run very close to the rows of plants, 
saving considerable work in weeding and 
hoeing. In any tolerably good garden soil 
a' marker of this kind will make the drills 
plenty deep enough for sowdng nearly all 
Ivinds of garden crops. 
, N. J. Shepherd. 
for 
Pc 
to 
the pi'O- 
use was as eleven to two, —- - 
Portion among the latter was onlynsfou’' 
! The test upon Peachblows showed 
difference in favor of the mulched lota- 
es of 126 per cent on the total yiekl , ihk 
. proportion of table to sm.al - 
it i-o uue among the mu e le , 
n,, duly as three to two among the uu 
If bed. If one swallow made a summer, 
the one experiment at tW® 
THE VICTORIA' beet. 
son hue. Its cultivation is the same as th.at 
of ordinary Beets,- but when required es- 
imciaily for orn.amental punioses, it is re^ 
0 ,molded to start it in frames, and tr.aiis- 
nlaiit to its permanent location, so as to pi 
plant to Its p division rows 
fdifferent parts of the garden, or 
betweemt d . 
o-ood success with it as hedges. 
BEST AGE OF SEED PEAS. 
It is well-known that sound Peas, If kept 
in a dry place, wiU retain their vitality for 
five or six years, but recent experiments 
m.ade by Ma.]. H. E. Alvord, at Houghton 
Farm, showed even more than this. They 
gave the' interesting re¬ 
sult that seed Peas two 
.and three years old pro¬ 
duced larger crops th.an 
those of the preinous sea- ' 
son. ’Snth Melons, Cu¬ 
cumbers, and other cu- 
curbitaceous plants, it is 
generally accepted that 
seed a few years old is 
more productive than new 
seed, but with Peas the 
contrary has been sup¬ 
posed to be the case. The 
care and aecm-acy with 
which these expei-iments 
have been made, entitle 
them to special consider¬ 
ation, and it is to be hoped 
that this series of experi¬ 
ments will be continued 
long enough to unmis¬ 
takably establish the 
facts in question. Major ' 
Alvofd’s article on this subject in The Amer¬ 
ican Garden for May merits careful study. 
FRESH SPROUTS. 
Covering growing Qnions lightly -witli soil 
is said to diminish their pungency, while it 
decreases the yield but little. 
Taking all considerations together, no la¬ 
bor on the farm pays so weU as that be¬ 
stowed upon the family garden. 
