Manual of Gardening Part 64

Alliaceous group--Onion, leek, garlic.

A group of very hardy cool-weather plants, demanding unusually careful preparation of the surface soil to receive the seeds and to set the young plants going. They withstand frost and cool weather, and may be sown very early. Seeds are sown directly where the plants are to stand.

For early onions, however, the special practice has recently arisen of transplanting from seedbeds.

Bra.s.sicaceous group--Cabbage, kale, cauliflower.

These are cool-weather crops, all of them withstanding considerable frost. The cabbages and kales are often started in fall in the middle and southern lat.i.tudes, and are harvested before hot weather arrives.

In the northern states, these plants will all do best when started early in hotbed, frame, or greenhouse,--from the last of February to April--and transplanted to the open ground May first to June first, partly because their season of growth may be long and partly to enable them to escape the heat of midsummer. Still, some persons are successful in growing late cabbage, kale, and cauliflower, by sowing the seeds in hills and in the open ground where the plants are to mature. It is best to transplant the young plantlets twice, first from the seed-bed to boxes, or frames, about the time the second set of true leaves appears, placing the plants 24 inches apart each way, and transplanting again to the open ground in rows 4 to 5 feet apart, with plants 2 to 4 feet apart in the row. If the plants are started under cover, they should be hardened off by exposure to light and air during the warmer hours of several days preceding the final transplanting.

The most serious enemy of cabbage-like plants is the root-maggot. See discussion of this insect on pp. 187, 201.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 295. The white b.u.t.terfly that lays the eggs for the cabbage-worm.]

The cabbage-worm (larva of the white b.u.t.terfly shown in Fig. 295) can be dispatched with pyrethrum or kerosene emulsion. It must be treated very early, before the worm gets far into the head (p. 200).

The club-root or stump-root is a fungous disease for which there is no good remedy. Use new land if the disease is present (p. 208).

Solanaceous group--Tomato, egg-plant, red pepper.

These are warm-weather plants, very impatient of frost. They are all natives of southern zones, and have not yet become so far acclimatized in the North as not to need the benefit of our longest seasons.

Plants should be started early, under gla.s.s. They should be "p.r.i.c.ked off," when the second leaves appear, 3 or 4 inches apart, into flats or boxes. These boxes should be kept in a coldframe, to which an abundance of light and air is admitted on warm, sunny days, in order to harden them off. After all danger of frost is past, and the garden soil is well warmed, the plants may be finally transplanted.

If the ground is too rich, these plants are likely to grow too late in the northern seasons.

Cucurbitaceous group--Cuc.u.mber, melon, squash, pumpkin.

All the members of this group are very tender to frost, and they must not be planted till the season is thoroughly open and settled. The plants are not transplanted, unless they are transferred from boxes or pots.

Seeds must be planted somewhat shallow from early spring to midsummer.

For the earliest cuc.u.mbers and melons, seeds are planted in frames. That is, each hill is inclosed by a portable box frame about 3 feet square and usually having a movable sash cover. The cover is raised or removed in warm days, and the frame bodily taken away when all danger of frost is past. In field culture, seeds are planted an inch deep, four to six in a hill, with hills 4 by 6 feet apart, these distances being varied slightly, according to location and variety. Good cuc.u.mbers are sometimes grown in hills surrounding a barrel in which manure is placed to be leached out by successive waterings.

The omnipresent enemies of all the cucurbitaceous crops are the little cuc.u.mber beetle and the large black "stink bug." Ashes, lime, or tobacco dust occasionally seem to show some efficiency in preventing the ravages of these insects, but the only reasonably sure immunity is in the use of covers over the hills (Fig. 229) and in hand-picking (p. 202). Covers may also be made by stretching mosquito netting over arcs of barrel hoops or bent wires. If by some such means the plants are kept insect-free till they outgrow the protection, they will usually escape serious damage from insects thereafter. It is well to plant trap or decoy hills of cuc.u.mbers, squashes, or melons in advance of the regular planting, on which the bugs may be harvested.

Leguminous crops--Peas and beans.

Two cultural groups are included in the legumes,--the bean group (including all field, garden, and kidney beans, and the cowpea) comprising warm-weather plants; the pea group (including field and garden pea, the Windsor or Broad bean) comprising cool-weather plants.

The former are quickly susceptible to frost and should be planted only after the weather is settled. The latter are among the earliest vegetables to be planted. The leguminous crops are not transplanted, the seed being placed where the plants are to grow.

Salad plants and pot-herbs ("greens").

These plants are all grown for their, tender, fresh, succulent leaves, and therefore every reasonable effort should be made to secure quick and continuous foliage growth. It is manifestly expedient that they be grown in warm, mellow ground, well cultivated and copiously watered. Such small plants as cress, corn salad, and parsley may be grown in small beds, or even in boxes or pots; but in a garden where s.p.a.ce is not too scant, they may be more conveniently managed in rows, like peas or beets. Nearly all the salad plants may be sown in the spring, and from time to time throughout the summer for succession. The group is culturally not h.o.m.ogeneous, inasmuch as some of the plants need special treatment; but most of them are cool-weather subjects.

Sweet-herbs.

The herb garden should find a place on all amateurs' grounds.

Sweet-herbs may sometimes be made profitable by disposing of the surplus to the green grocer and the druggist. The latter will often buy all that the housewife wishes to dispose of, as the general supply of medicinal herbs is grown by specialists, and goes into the hands of the wholesaler and is often old when received by the local dealer.

The seedsmen's catalogues mention upwards of forty different herbs, medicinal and culinary. The majority of them are perennial, and will grow for many years if well taken care of. However, it is better to resow them every three or four years. Beds 4 feet square of each of the herbs will supply an ordinary family.

The perennial sweet-herbs may be propagated by division, although they are usually grown from seeds. The second year--and sometimes even the first year--the plants are strong enough for cutting. The common perennial sweet-herbs are: Sage, lavender, peppermint, spearmint, hyssop, thyme, marjoram, balm, catnip, rosemary, h.o.r.ehound, fennel, lovage, winter savory, tansy, wormwood, costmary.

The commoner annual species (or those that are treated as annuals) are: Anise, sweet basil, summer savory, coriander, pennyroyal, caraway (biennial), clary (biennial), dill (biennial), sweet marjoram (biennial).

_The culture of the leading vegetables._

Having now obtained a view of the layout of the vegetable-garden and a good conception of the leading cultural groups, we may proceed with a discussion of the different kinds of vegetables themselves. Good experience is better than book advice; but the person who consults a book is the one who lacks experience. Any printed directions are necessarily imperfect, and they may not be adaptable to the particular conditions under which the amateur works; but they ought to set him in the right direction so that he may more easily find his way. Seedsmen's catalogues often contain much useful and reliable advice of this kind.

ASPARAGUS.--The best of all early spring vegetables; a hardy herbaceous perennial, grown for the soft edible shoots that spring from the crown.

The culture of asparagus has been simplified in the past few years, and at present the knowledge required successfully to plant and grow a good supply need not be that of a professional. The old method of excavating to the depth of 3 feet or more, throwing in from 4 to 6 inches of broken stone or bricks for drainage, then filling to within 16 to 18 inches of the surface with well-rotted manure, with 6 inches of soil upon which to set the roots, has given place to the simple practice of plowing or digging a trench from 14 to 16 inches deep, spreading well-rotted manure in the bottom to the depth of 3 or 4 inches; when well trodden down covering the manure with 3 or 4 inches of good garden soil, then setting the plants, with the roots well spread out, covering carefully with soil to the level of the garden, and firming the soil with the feet. This will leave the crowns of the plants from 4 to 5 inches below the surface.

In stubborn, heavy soil the best method to pursue in making a permanent bed is to throw out all the dirt from the trench and replace with good, fibrous loam.

In setting, 1-year-old plants will prove more satisfactory than older ones, being less liable to suffer from injury to the root system than those that have made a larger growth. Two years after setting the crop may be cut somewhat, but not sooner if a lasting bed is desired, as the effort to replace the stalks has a tendency to weaken the plant unless the roots are well established. The cutting should cease in June or early July, or the roots may be much weakened. In cutting, care should be taken to insert the knife vertically, so that adjoining crowns will not be injured (Fig. 296).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 296. Good _(A)_ and poor _(B)_ modes of inserting the knife to cut asparagus. Some careful growers pull or break the shoots rather than cut them.]

The yearly treatment of an asparagus bed consists of cleaning off tops and weeds in the fall and adding a dressing of well-rotted manure to the depth of 3 or 4 inches, this manure to be lightly forked into the bed the following spring; or the tops may be allowed to stand for winter protection and the mulch left off. A top-dressing of nitrate of soda, at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, is often beneficial as a spring stimulant, particularly in the case of an old bed. Good results will also follow an application of bone meal or superphosphate at the rate of some 300 to 500 pounds per acre. The practice of sowing salt on an asparagus bed is almost universal; yet beds that have never received a pound of salt are found to be as productive as those having received an annual dressing. Nevertheless, a salt dressing is recommended. Two rows of asparagus 25 feet long and 3 feet apart should supply a large family with an abundance throughout the season, and if well taken care of, will last a number of years.

Conover Colossal is the variety most generally grown, and is perhaps the most satisfactory sort. Palmetto, a variety originating at the South, is also very popular.

ARTICHOKE.--The artichoke of literature is a tall, coa.r.s.e perennial of the thistle tribe, producing edible flower-heads. Cardoon is a related plant.

The fleshy scales of the head and the soft "bottom" of the head are the parts used. The young suckers or shoots may also be tied together and blanched, using them like asparagus or Swiss chard. But few of these plants would be needed for a family, as they produce a number of flower-heads to a plant and a quant.i.ty of suckers. The plants should be set from 2 to 3 feet apart in the row, the rows being 3 feet apart. This vegetable is not quite hardy in the North, but a covering of leaves or barnyard litter to the depth of a foot will protect it well. The plant is perennial, but the best yield comes from young plants. If the heads are allowed to ripen, they reduce the vitality of the plant.

Artichokes have never become so popular in this country as to have produced a long list of varieties. Large Green Globe is most commonly offered by seedsmen. Edible heads should be secured the second year from seed. Seedlings are likely to vary greatly, and if one is fond of artichokes, he would do better to propagate by suckers from the best plants.

These plants make no mean decorative subjects, either ma.s.sed or in a mixed border, and from the rarity of their culture are always objects of interest.

ARTICHOKE, JERUSALEM, is a wholly different plant from the above, although it is commonly known as "artichoke" in this country. It is a species of sunflower that produces potato-like tubers. These tubers may be used in lieu of potatoes. They are very palatable to hogs; and when the plant becomes a weed,--as it often does,--it may be exterminated by turning the hogs into the field. Hardy, and will grow anywhere.

BEAN.--Every garden grows beans of one kind or another. Under this general name, many kinds of plants are cultivated. They are all tender, and the seeds, therefore, should not be planted until the weather is thoroughly settled; and the soil should be warm and loose. They are all annuals in northern countries, or treated as such.

The bean plants may be cla.s.sified in various ways. In respect to stature, they may be thrown into three general categories; viz. the pole or climbing beans, the bush beans, and the strict-growing or upright beans (as the Broad or Windsor bean).

In respect to their uses, beans again may be divided into three categories; viz. those used as string or snap beans, the entire pod being eaten; those that are used as sh.e.l.l beans, the full-size but immature beans being sh.e.l.led from the pod and cooked; dry beans, or those eaten in their dry or winter condition. The same variety of bean may be used for all of these three purposes at different stages of its development; but as a matter of fact, there are varieties better for one purpose than the other.

Again, beans may be cla.s.sified in respect to their species. Those species that are best known are as follows:

(1) Common bean, or _Phaseolus vulgaris,_ of which there are both tall and bush forms. All the common snap and string beans belong here, as also the Speckled Cranberry types of pole beans, and the common field beans.

(2) The Lima beans, or _Phaseolus lunatus._ The larger part of these are pole beans, but lately dwarf or bush varieties have appeared.

(3) The Scarlet Runner, _Phaseolus multiflorus,_ of which the Scarlet Runner and White Dutch Runner are familiar examples. The Scarlet Runner is usually grown as an ornamental vine, and it is perennial in warm countries, but the seeds are edible as sh.e.l.led beans. The White Dutch Runner is oftener cultivated for food.

(4) The Yard-Long, or Asparagus bean, _Dolichos sesquipedalis,_ which produces long and weak vines and very long, slender pods. The green pods are eaten, and also the sh.e.l.led beans. The French Yard-Long is the only variety of this type that is commonly known in this country. This type of bean is popular in the Orient.