Vegetable Cultures for Victory Gardeners 
The growing of vegetables borders on being a ‘‘Fine Art,” 
because little refinements on basic cultures can affect earli- 
ness of bearing, size and quality, sweetness, tenderness so 
that when you have learned all of them, you may to a degree 
become an artist. 
You do need a starting point and that is what I am trying 
Asparagus 
Asparagus is one of the most delicious vegetables on 
the entire list. Those who have to depend upon what 
they buy find it quite a luxury and we doubt if they 
really know how tender and nice asparagus, freshly 
cut, can be. 
FROM SEED. Plant asparagus seed as early in the 
spring as the soil can be worked without being sticky— 
in rows 1% to 2 feet apart and cover the seed an inch 
deep. As the seeds are hard it is best to soak them for 
twenty-four hours in warm water before planting. After 
the plants are well up thin them out to stand 3 or 4 
inches apart. Cultivate well thru the summer and if 
possible work in some well rotted manure. As the results 
for a good many years depend on the strength and vigor 
of the roots you grow that first year, it pays to do 
everything to promote development. 
One ounce of seed will produce about 200 plants. 
FROM ROOTS. If you are growing your own roots 
from seed as described above, you will want to trans- 
plant them to the permanent bed the following spring. 
Many gardeners prefer to save time, and buy either one 
or two year roots from their seedsmen. 
At any rate the soil where the roots are to be set 
should be deeply worked beforehand, and if you can 
put on liberal applications of manure, so much the 
better for after crops. An asparagus bed should yield 
well for ten or twelve years, and we have known them 
to produce for twenty-five years. 
As early in the spring as the soil can be worked nicely 
make trenches about eight inches deep—three feet 
apart—and as long as you wish the rows to be. The 
trenches should be wide enough to receive the roots 
spread out without crowding and leave the center a 
little higher than the sides, so that the crown will set up 
above the roots. 
Place a root every foot along the trench and then 
cover with two or three inches of soil. Fill the trench up 
even with the surface as the shoots climb up. 
Cultivate to keep out weeds and save moisture all 
summer until fall frosts. At that time cover the entire 
plot with coarse manure whick will be worked into the 
soil between the rows the following spring. Do not cut 
any shoots the first year and only a few the second. 
In later years cut the shoots six or eight weeks and 
then let the tops grow. The ey ie done with along 
blade knife, made especially for this purpose, just as 
the shoots appear above the surface of the soil. 
It is best to cut the tops down, late in the summer 
before they go to seed, and burn them. This checks 
disease and conserves the strength of the plants. 
If the Asparagus beetles begin to strip the branches 
as the tops grow up, dust on some poison powder or let 
chickens in the patch. By shaking the plants in the 
middle of the day you will send most of the larvae to 
the ground and the sun will kill them, 
Garden Beets 
Beets like best a deeply worked, well limed, friable 
soil in which the roots can expand quickly, but prac- 
tically every garden soil will grow at least a fair crop 
of roots. 
The seed may be planted early for first crop as soon 
as the garden plot is prepared. Make the rows 1% to 2 
foot apart and scatter the seed every inch covering 
about 1 inch deep. When the plants are 2 to 3 inches 
high thin out to stand every 2 to 4 inches. The plants, 
pulled up very easily, may be set out elsewhere or the 
leaves used for greens. Young beet greens are delicious. 
Frequent cultivation keeps the roots growing and 
they will be more tender and sweet than when growth 
is slow. The earliest varieties usually get large enough 
to eat or sell in 50 to 60 days from planting, so they 
may be planted as late as August 15th in our section. 
Be sure to plant plenty for canning and also have 
some to store for the winter. We show how easily root 
crops may be stored for the winter on page 4 of this 
catalog. 
The Crosby’s Egyptian is a fine variety for earliest 
spring planting. Detroit is popular for canning because 
of its very dark red color—while both Detroit and 
Early Wonder are suitable for late planting and storing 
One ounce will sow a 50-foot row, 
Manéels - 
Mangels are grown the same as beets—but they need 
more space in the row and the rows should be at least 
2 ft. apart. Mangels grow very large and the root rises 
up out of the ground so that when fully developed they 
seem almost to rest on the surface. This makes the crop 
very easy to harvest. 
If you have cows, even one or two, be sure to grow 
some mangels for them. One way to keep chickens in 
good healthy condition is to hang a mangel up where 
they can peck at it. 
Garden Beans 
The garden Bean is one of the easiest vegetables to 
grow and one of the most popular. If a soil ‘‘won't grow 
beans’’ it is pretty poor soil indeed and probably will 
not grow anything. A great many delicious and whole- 
some beans will be forthcoming if you plant even a 
small patch of green pod and wax pod beans. 
DWARF OR BUSH VARIETIES. Make your first 
planting just as soon as the soil is warmed up and there 
is no further danger of hard frosts, in our section early 
in May. Let the rows be 2 to 2% feet apart, dropping 
the seeds 3 or 4 inches apart, 2 inches deep. Cultivate 
frequently after the plants appear, but do not cultivate 
when the plants are wet. 
For a continuous supply on your table, plant more 
beans every two weeks until August and keep the pods 
picked as soon as they reach edible condition. This 
induces the growth of more and better pods. In gather- 
ing the beans do not jerk the pods off—but cut them 
with scissors, knife or fingernail. 
The earliest varieties start giving edible pods in about 
forty days after planting. 
One pound will plant a 100-foot row. 
BUSH LIMA BEANS. Lima beans, although they 
require a longer season, will mature green or even dry 
shell beans in most sections. The very early Henderson 
Bush Lima is especially valuable for northern states. 
Lima beans are very high in food value replacing meats 
and eggs. 
For Lima beans choose a rather light, sandy soil that 
warms up early. Plant Limas in the middle of May, 
rows two and half to three feet apart with the seed two 
inches deep every four inches in the row. For best 
results plant with eye down. Otherwise grow like other 
dwarf garden beans. 
One pound will plant a 100-foot row. 
POLE BEANS. Pole beans are preferred by many 
gardeners because they yield more heavily and for a 
longer season. The earliest varieties start bearing in 
75 to 80 days and the Pole Limas in about 90 days. 
After warm, settled weather set poles 6 to 8 feet long 
in rows four feet apart, the poles being 3 feet apart in 
the row. Around each pole plant from 5 to 8 beans, two 
inches deep. When well started thin to four plants. 
Vines should be tied as soon as they start to climb. 
Vines usually turn to the left and should be tied in that 
way. 
Another method of vine support is to set heavy stakes 
or posts from 6 to 8 feet apart and stretching a strong 
wire, from post to post at both top and bottom. Weave 
heavy cord between wires for the vines to climb on. 
A third method is to take five or six 8 foot stakes, 
setting them up in the form of a tepee, securely wiring 
stakes at top and setting each stake a few inches in the 
ground. Plant 4 to 6 beans around each stake. 
One pound will plant 50 hills. 
EDIBLE SOY BEANS. The Soybean should be 
grown in every garden and used in every home, as it 
is a source of abundant, rich food supply and also high 
in Vitamin content. The Chinese have used this bean 
for thousands of years, while we in America are just 
beginning to learn something of its high food value and 
many ways in which it can be used for food. 
The soybean is easily grown. It will grow in almost 
any soil but best results are obtained when soil is well 
prepared as in planting the regular bush bean. Plant in 
rows thirty to thirty-six inches apart, using 8 to 10 
seeds to the foot row. The plants will grow to the 
height of twenty-four inches without support, so need 
plenty of space between rows. Harvesting, threshing 
and storing are similar to that of shell beans. The. 
soybean can be used either green or dry. 
to provide in these five pages of Vegetable Cultures for Victory 
Gardeners. If hard and fast rules could be reduced to a formu- 
la like the multiplication table, gardening would not be half 
the engrossing project that it is. 
Floyd Bradley. 
Brussels Sprouts 
It is nice to have unusual vegetables in your garden, 
especially such an attractive addition as Brussels 
Sprouts. 
If convenient start the seed inside early and trans- 
plant outdoors like early cabbage. Or you may start 
the seed directly outdoors and treat the crop like late 
cabbage—though, of course, you will have to wait 
longer for the delicious little sprouts. The plants are 
very hardy to frost and even as far north as Cleveland 
you may plant seed in June and expect to gather sprouts 
even after the ground is frozen. 
Make your rows 3 foot apart with the plants 2 foot 
apart in the rows. They grow like cabbage and will 
demand the same good treatment. 
Instead of one large head, however, each plant forms 
tiny little heads along the stalk in the axils of the 
leaves. In the fall break the outer leaves off to give the 
heads full chance to develop. 
One ounce will produce about 2000 plants. 
Due to the War we are unable to 
offer seeds for Brussels Sprouts. 
Cabbage 
THE EARLY CROP. Here is one place where the 
hot-bed comes in handy—though by no means neglect 
to grow some early cabbage for salads and cold slaw 
during the hot summer days, even if you are not the 
possessor of a hot bed. 
Cabbage plants will stand cold weather and even 
light frosts so the seed should be started inside in the 
latitude of Cleveland late in February or early in March. 
Then the plants will be ready to set out about the mid- 
dle of April. 
The earliest varieties of cabbage do not grow very 
wide spreading and they may be set out in rows 3 foot 
apart letting the plants stand 2 or 2% foot apart in the 
rows. If your plants are tall and spindling when ready 
to set out, cut off the upper 1-3 or 4 of the leaves. 
Cabbage likes a cool, moist, rich soil. Loose dark loam 
or muck soil will grow good cabbage. 
Under favorable conditions the early varieties like 
Early Jersey Wakefield and Copenhagen form edible 
heads in 80 to 90 days from the time the seed is planted. 
These early heads are for use in the summer and 
early fall. They will burst open when left in the field 
after reaching full growth and do not store well. 
There is a way of stopping the growth of Early 
Cabbage so that it will not burst in the field if left to 
stand there. Take hold of the head and give it a sharp 
twist and bend it to one side. This breaks most of the 
roots thereby stopping growth. 
The Late Cabbage 
For the late crop plant varieties that form very solid, 
hard heads such as Late Flat Dutch or Danish Ballhead. 
They like the same kind of soil as the early varieties, 
but the seed may be planted directly outdoors as late as 
May or even June Ist. 
Scatter the seed in a bed when the soil has been made 
very fine and cover about 14 in. Thin the plants as they 
grow giving them plenty of place to develop stocky 
instead of tall and spindling. The thinnings may be 
transplanted and an extra transplanting is really 
beneficial. When the plants are 6 or 8 inches high and 
the soil in the permanent plot is prepared, set the plants 
where they are to stand. Give them more space than 
early cabbage setting them 214 to 3 foot apart in rows. 
3% to 4 foot apart. 
- The late cabbage crop is ready early in the fall and it 
is easy to store the heads for winter use. If you wish to 
keep them some time, pull the heads, roots and all. 
One ounce of Cabbage seed will produce about 2500 
plants. 
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