Anonymous

Loading the Market Wagon.

In this chapter are grouped a number of vegetables of easy culture. They may be grown with success almost anywhere. Some of them are produced by market gardeners, but by reason of the amount of ground which they occupy they are more particularly adapted to horse culture by farmers.

The chapter will treat briefly of asparagus, beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, sweet corn, horseradish, parsnip, potato, pumpkin and squash, salsify, tomato, turnip, etc.

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ASPARAGUS.

Asparagus demands a deep, rich, well-drained soil. Its culture is profitable, and it yields ready cash at an early season of the year, when other sales are limited. The cutting term covers six weeks, beginning (at Philadelphia) in the middle or latter part of April. Cutting must here cease in June, in order to give the roots ample time to regain strength and make vigorous tops. The gross product per acre, near Philadelphia, expressed in money, is, perhaps, $200 at this time.

Store on wheels

Donald's Elmira.

In selecting a situation for a bed, a warm spot should be chosen, having a deep and mellow soil, and with good natural or artificial drainage. A small area is better than a large one, as being more likely to receive sufficient manure; and it is desirable that the land should have been tilled for a year or two before the planting of the roots, and a heavy coat of manure incorporated with the soil—the more manure the better.

Roots.—The roots are set in early spring, in deep trenches, 5 or 6 feet apart, made with a plow. If the plow be run both ways and the loose dirt shovelled out, it is quite easy to reach a depth of 15 or more inches. It is not material whether strong one-year-old roots or two-year-old roots be used.

Varieties.—As to varieties, it is almost as much a matter of culture as of name; still, there are better and worse kinds. Asparagus varies in color from purple to green, and even to white. There are certain so-called mammoth sorts, whose shoots are larger, but less numerous than the old-fashioned kinds. There is a slight difference in flavor, also, but the preference of the local market must determine the farmer in making a choice of roots. If a green "grass" be preferred, that kind can be had from seedsmen; but, no matter how carefully the roots may be grown, there will be some slight variations in the color of the shoots, for asparagus does not always come true from seed. Market gardeners usually sort their asparagus shoots at bunching time; always for size, and sometimes for color, especially when supplying a fancy trade.

As a rule, it is wise to select a variety that will produce a good number of large-sized shoots, such as Donald's Elmira or Barr's Mammoth, and trust to manure and culture for the best results. Quality of shoots depends on quick growth, and size depends somewhat on distance of the root under ground. The deeper the asparagus root under the surface, the larger in diameter will be the shoot, provided the plants are not crowded; a fact of which gardeners often take advantage by heaping soil up over the crowns of the plants during the growing season.

Asparagus.—Donald's Elmira is one of the best for the North. Palmetto is the asparagus generally grown in the South. For descriptions, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."

Setting out.—The young roots should be set carefully, crowns up, at intervals of 1½ to 2 feet, in the deep furrows or trenches heretofore mentioned. A few inches of manure can be put in the bottom, covering slightly with soil and about 6 inches of soil put upon them. The spaces between the rows may be cultivated during the first year, and some quick crop grown there. The working of this crop will gradually fill up the furrows about the stems of the young asparagus, which, during the first year, is quite small and insignificant in appearance. By fall, the furrows will be entirely filled and the surface of the patch level. The asparagus slug, the larva of the well-known beetle, may be kept down by occasionally dusting with slacked lime containing Paris green. The following year the asparagus will show up to some advantage, but should not be cut. The third year (second after planting) will yield some marketable shoots; but cutting should not continue more than two or three weeks. The fourth year the bed may be said to be in full bearing. Treatment.—The spring treatment of an asparagus bed in profit begins with a light plowing parallel with the rows, great care being observed to use a wheel on the plow so that not more than a few inches of soil may be turned, lest the crowns be cut and injured. The bed then lies until the cutting season is well advanced, when the plow may be again used.

The first plowing was merely to break the surface of the ground and turn under the winter coat of manure, leaving the land level. The second plowing (if given) is to be toward the rows, for the purpose of throwing them further under the surface, so as to get larger shoots as warm weather advances.

Another plowing, very shallow, followed by harrow or cultivator, should be given at the end of the cutting season, in June, to destroy all weeds and to encourage summer growth of the asparagus.

The patch should be kept clear of weeds during the summer, and growth encouraged by cultivation. In the late autumn the tops are mowed off and burned, as there seems to be no economic way of composting them, for, if moved to the compost heap or barnyard, they will seed the whole farm with asparagus. There should be a good coat of manure for winter protection, to be turned under in early spring, as already mentioned.

Marketing.—The preparation of the crop for market involves some time and trouble. The shoots are cut every day. Some growers do the work early in the morning, and carry the bunches to market the same day. Others cut and bunch one day, put in water over night and carry to market the following day. Circumstances must decide which is best.

Asparagus Knife

Acme Asparagus Buncher, with Knife Guard.

If asparagus is to be shipped long distances, it must either be packed in open crates (like strawberry crates), or else thoroughly chilled by ice before starting. Otherwise, it will heat and spoil. The usual asparagus bunch is just about the size of a dry-measure quart in diameter, and from 6 to 9 inches in length. In fact, a quart cup or tin fruit can is frequently used in shaping the bunch. Home-made wooden bunchers are also in common use. The Acme asparagus buncher is the best, coming in two sizes. The asparagus is tied in two places with raphia or soft string, and thus makes a neat and attractive package. The butts are cut off square with a knife after the bunch is finished, and in this shape asparagus will remain fresh for a long time, if kept standing in shallow water.

In tying up the bunches the shoots are separated into two or three sizes. The small shoots are quite as good for food as the larger ones, but the latter always bring more money in market, which warrants the additional trouble involved.

Salt.—Salt is frequently used on asparagus beds, but not always. Salt is sometimes an indirect fertilizer, acting upon fertility already in the soil, and having a distinct tendency to attract and hold moisture, but it has no direct fertilizing influence. It has a beneficial effect in helping to check the growth of weeds.

Fertilizers.—Kainit is an excellent thing for asparagus beds, as it contains a considerable percentage of sulphate of potash, which is a direct fertilizer. It also contains a fourth of its bulk of salt. Ground bone, which contains nitrogen (ammonia) and phosphoric acid, is also a good thing to use on asparagus. It is very lasting in its action, and with the kainit makes a complete manure, especially in connection with the winter coat of stable manure.

Asparagus is a gross feeder, and will take almost any amount of fertilizer. Market gardeners, who raise the most and best asparagus, depend mainly on enormous quantities of first-class stable manure; and this is probably the best fertilizer of all for this succulent and valuable vegetable.

Tools.—No special tools are demanded in asparagus culture, though such tools are on the market. Any long knife will do for cutting the shoots, although a very good knife is especially made of solid steel, and can be bought for 25 cents. The cut should be made just below the surface of the ground, care being taken not to injure other shoots just coming up. Crooked shoots often make their appearance, resulting from injury done by the cutting knife. Other causes, such as insects, hard soil, etc., produce crooked or deformed shoots. Asparagus bunchers, made of wood and metal, mentioned in the seed catalogues, are sometimes used, the Acme, heretofore referred to, being the best and cheapest.

Solid Steel Asparagus Knife.

Any light plow with a wheel will answer for the asparagus bed. A light-weight harrow is also desirable. Where asparagus trenches are laid out and dug by hand of course a garden line must be used, in order to have them straight and uniform. The practice of digging deep trenches for asparagus still prevails to some extent in private gardens, but the farm gardener must use cheaper methods.

Roots per Acre.—With rows 5 feet apart and plants 2 feet apart in the rows, it is evident that each plant represents just 10 square feet of space. Hence, about 5,000 asparagus plants would be required for an acre of land set at these distances; they are, however, often set closer than this, sometimes at the rate of 7,000 roots and over per acre. An asparagus bed containing 100 roots will supply an ordinary family.

BEANS.

Bean-growing in a small way is fully warranted in every garden, but on a large scale it is a different question, being somewhat a matter of soil and location.

Food Value.—The bean is one of the most excellent of human foods. Its botanical kinship is close to the pea, and both are legumes. The leguminous plants, it will be remembered, have the rare ability of obtaining nitrogen through the tubercles on their roots, taking this expensive element partly from the air, and not greatly impoverishing the soil by their growth.

Something of the food value of the bean may be learned by comparing its chemical analysis with that of beef. In 100 pounds of beans there are 23 pounds of protein (nitrogenous matter), while in 100 pounds of beef there are but about 15 to 20 pounds of protein. Peas are almost as rich as beans in protein, which is the tissue-building element of all foods, and, hence, it is easy to realize the fact that both beans and peas are foods of the highest economic value. They are standard foods of the world, entering into the diet of soldiers, laborers and persons needing physical strength.

It is generally safe to grow beans for the retail market of any town or centre of population, but to compete in the open wholesale market demands experience and good equipment on the part of the grower to insure profits.

Varieties and Types.—The varieties of beans are well-nigh endless. Some demand poles, while some are dwarf, being called bush beans. The influence of man has developed the bean into a vast number of different forms, which frequently show a disposition to revert or go back to some ancestral type, no matter how carefully the seeds may be kept.

The pole beans, in general terms, yield larger crops and bear through a longer season than the bush beans. The green-podded beans, as a rule, are more prolific and more hardy than the yellow-podded or wax beans. The climbers demand a whole season, and bear until frost. The bush beans are mostly employed where two or more crops are demanded per year from the ground.

The so-called cut-short or snap-short beans are those in which the whole pod, in its green state, is used for food. They are of both types, climbing and bush. The Lima forms include a number of distinct beans, differing greatly in size and shape and also in habit of growth.

Location.—In choosing a spot for bean culture the farm gardener should select good mellow soil that has been manured the previous year. Fresh manure produces an excessive growth of vine at the expense of pods.

Making Ready.—Much stable manure, which is rich in nitrogen, should be avoided. In good ordinary soil, with some rotted manure from the previous crop, the bean plant will do well. It will obtain nitrogen, in great part, from the air, as already explained. Old manure is very favorable as a starter, as it contains the minute organisms mentioned in the preceding pages. Complete fertilizers or those containing phosphoric acid and potash must be supplied. Only nitrogen is derived from the air.

Soil Inoculation.—The soil of a new bean patch is sometimes inoculated with soil from an old patch, to get quick action of the bacteria (little organisms), which form the lumps or tubercles on the roots. The scattering of a little soil over the surface is all that is required.

Care should be taken to avoid the transfer of soil for this purpose from a patch affected with rust or blight, as diseases are carried from place to place with only too much ease.

When to Plant.—Beans may safely be planted when the apple is in bloom, in May; not so early as peas, as beans are less hardy. The ground should be dry and warm. Beans of all kinds demand shallow planting, as the seeds must be lifted from the ground in the earliest process of growth. The seed swells, bursts, sends a shoot (radicle) downward, and the two parts of the seed, called the seed-leaves, are pushed up into the daylight. Small round beans can take care of themselves, as they turn easily in the soil, but lima beans often perish in the effort to get above ground. This is why lima beans should always be planted eye down, and less than an inch deep. A half inch is deep enough for most beans. If lima beans are wanted extra early, they should be started on small squares of inverted sod, under glass.

The earliest bush beans yield marketable pods within forty to fifty days from planting; the pole beans in from seventy to ninety days from planting. There should be successional plantings made of the bush beans from the first date to within fifty days of frost. The different types of beans are fully and carefully described in the seed catalogues.

Distances.—Poles for beans should be set about 4 feet apart each way; or, in single rows, about 3 feet apart. Not more than three or four plants should be allowed to a hill. Wires stretched between posts, with strings down to the ground, are sometimes used. The bush beans are planted in rows 3 feet apart for horse culture, or half that distance where a hoe or hand cultivator is to be used. The plants in the rows should stand 3 or 4 inches apart for best yield.

On a Large Scale.—In large field operations, where the dried bean is the object in view, a clover sod is a favorite location. The ground is enriched by 400 or 500 pounds of complete fertilizer, and the beans are planted with a grain drill, using every fourth tube. The culture is by horse-power, and the vines are pulled by hand or by means of a bean-harvester, and threshed with a flail or grain thresher. These white grocery beans are sold everywhere in large quantities.

Cultivation.—All bean cultivation should be shallow. Nothing is gained by cutting the feeding roots. The climbing sorts twine "against the sun;" that is, in a contrary direction to the apparent motion of the sun. The shoots must be tied up several times, to keep them on their own poles.

Diseases.—The worst bean enemies are rust and blight. In new soil, with good weather, these troubles seldom appear. During prolonged wet weather there seems to be no help for them. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture is a preventive. The spraying should be done in advance of blossoming. The seed is sometimes soaked in Bordeaux mixture for an hour where rust is anticipated. Prevention is better than cure, and new soil and fresh seed are the best precautions. Diseased vines should be burned.

Insects.—The weevil which attacks the bean is closely allied to the pea weevil. Some practical people say there is no remedy known; others recommend heating the beans to 145° for an hour; others use bisulphide of carbon in a closed vessel, along with the beans.

Profits.—By far the largest cash receipts per acre are obtained by selling beans in their fresh state; preferably in the pods. The production of bush beans (pods) may run up to 75 or 80 bushels per acre, or even more. Lima beans are more profitably sold in the pods than shelled, though some markets demand the shelled article. The consumer gets a fresher and better article in the pods, and the producer is saved much trouble, and this method should be encouraged. Beans should be cooled, if possible, before shipment in bulk to distant markets, thus avoiding danger from heating, moulding and spotting.

BEETS.

Beets are produced in enormous quantities by market gardeners near all large cities, both under glass and in the open ground. They also have a place in the farm garden, as they are of easy culture.

Excellence in the table beet depends partly on variety, but mainly on the quickness of growth. Sweetness and succulence result from high culture in rich, mellow soil.

Mangels and sugar beets, of course, have a place on every farm, for stock-feeding purposes, and table beets may also be grown, if good soil is available, for market purposes. The winter-keeping sorts are frequently in demand, and may be included among the farmer's cash crops.

No amount of stable manure is excessive in beet-growing. Partially rotted manure is best. For horse culture the rows should be 3 feet apart. Five to six pounds of seed will plant an acre.

Planting.—Planting may be done as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring, as the beet is hardy, and not injured by a little frost; and successional plantings may be made until June. The June sowing will produce autumn beets, which can be stored for winter use or sale.

It is well to soak the seed in tepid water before planting; it should be scattered thinly in the rows and lightly covered. In dry weather the soil must be pressed firmly on the seed, to insure sufficient moisture for germination. The plants in the rows should be thinned out to 3 or 4 inches.

It is very important to remember that the more space each plant has about it the sooner will it reach a marketable size. Beet plants standing 5 inches apart in the row will be ready long before plants standing only 2 inches apart.

Beets vary in shape very considerably. Some are round and some are long, with intermediate grades. The turnip-shaped beets are the earliest, while the half-longs and longs are the heaviest. For market purposes, if sold in bunches, the round ones are the most profitable.

The color of the foliage varies greatly; but the color of the leaf is not always typical of the root. Some of the blood beets have green leaves. There are many shades and colors of the roots, from deepest blood red to white, with zones of pink. The beet is an excellent and highly esteemed article of food, and is always in demand.

Marketing and Storing.—A bunch contains five, six or seven beets, with tops tied together and superfluous leaves cut off. The bunching and topping may be done in the field, and the bunches afterward washed in a tub of water, by means of a scrubbing brush. It always pays to send roots to market in a clean and attractive condition.

Winter storage in cellars, under sand, is often practiced; or the beets may be kept in pits in the open ground, covered with straw and earth.

Enemies.—The beet is remarkably free from enemies of any kind. The root sometimes cracks, and is occasionally attacked by insects, but the farmer or gardener has little to fear if soil be good and weather be favorable. All farmers attending market should have a few beets to help make up the weekly load for the wagon.

CABBAGE.

Early cabbage is not a farm gardener's crop at the North, though in the Southern States the early varieties can be grown by farmers for shipment to the great Northern markets. The Northern farmer, unless provided with glass, usually finds more profit in the later and larger sorts, which mature in autumn.

Soil.—Rich, loamy soil, containing much clay, is best for this vegetable, which is a rank feeder. Large amounts of manure are demanded. The manure is best applied in a partially rotted form, as fresh manure of any kind (especially hog manure) is liable to produce the disease or deformity known as club-root, the spores of the disease apparently being in the fresh manure; though land too long cropped with cabbage is likely to produce the same disease without the application of fresh manure of any kind.

Seed.—It is of especial importance that good seed be planted, as cabbage varies so much and shows such a disposition to go back to undesirable types that great dissatisfaction and loss attend all experiments with poorly-selected seed. The choice of seed not infrequently determines the size and success of the crop. Expert cabbage growers are well aware of this fact.

Planting.—The manure should be broadcasted, and an ample amount used, with a high-grade fertilizer in the row. The young plants, previously started in a seed-bed, should (at the North) be set out in July. The seed for late cabbage is planted in May. A quarter pound of seed will give enough plants for an acre. The rows should be 4 feet apart, and the plants 2½ feet apart in the rows. These distances favor good cultivation and quick growth. In some parts of New England the seed is sown in the open field, in rows where the cabbage is to grow, but the practice of transplanting from seedbeds is found most satisfactory.

The rainfall here usually insures a fair crop of cabbage, but any crop which requires transplanting in midsummer is liable to delay or injury in case of protracted dry weather. Hence, irrigation is desirable. At the distances just recommended for planting (4 × 2½ feet) there would be 4,356 plants to the acre. In the case of such varieties as Johnson & Stokes' Earliest and Jersey Wakefield cabbage, where the number of plants per acre would be perhaps 10,000, the Michigan Experiment Station obtained 5,000 more marketable heads per acre under irrigation than where water was not used upon the growing crop. (This fact is mentioned in a book on irrigation just issued by the publishers of this book).

Varieties.—The earliest varieties of cabbage have small, conical heads; the midsummer sorts mostly round heads; and the late or drumhead sorts have large, flat heads. There are cabbages which never head; as, for instance, the collards of the South; and there are varieties of crinkled-leaf cabbages, known as the Savoy types. The kales are closely related to the cabbages. Both cabbages and kales have purple-colored forms, sometimes called red forms.

Cultivation.—Thorough horse cultivation between the rows should be supplemented by a hand-hoe between the plants in the rows. The cultivation must be good and continuous until the heads begin to form.

Diseases and Insects Enemies.—Club root has been mentioned. It is a fungous trouble. The best remedy is new ground. The black flea on very young plants can be conquered with air-slacked lime or wood ashes. The cut worm is troublesome only in spring; not with late cabbage. The root maggot is sometimes very destructive, both with cabbage and cauliflower. New ground is the most satisfactory remedy. Green aphides or lice often follow lack of strength in the cabbage. Pyrethrum powder, air-slacked lime, kerosene emulsion, etc., are used as remedies for lice. The pyrethrum may be used dry or in water, at the rate of a tablespoonful to two gallons. The green cabbage worm, one of the worst of all enemies, can be pretty effectually checked by means of air-slaked lime dusted over the leaves. Other caterpillars yield to the same treatment.

Bursting.—Bursting of cabbage heads is caused by a second growth, the result, perhaps, of continued wet weather, or warm weather following cold weather. The best remedy is to cut part of the feeding roots, either by close cultivation or with a hoe.

Selling.—Cabbage prices vary between extremes that are far separated. Early cabbage usually sells at a good profit. Summer and autumn prices may be low. Winter and spring prices are almost always fair, and occasionally extra. Pennsylvania farmers sometimes ship to wholesalers in the cities and sometimes sell at public sale in the open field, in the autumn, just as the crop stands. The latter plan is an excellent one, where auction prices warrant it. It avoids the cost and risk of storage, as each buyer removes and stores his purchase.

Storage.—Cabbage will bear much freezing without injury. The art of winter storage is to put it where it will have the fewest changes of temperature, and where it will be cool and damp without being wet.

The most common practice is to cover two or three rows of inverted heads, with roots attached, with from 6 to 12 inches of soil, making provision for good drainage by ditches on both sides of the wedge-shaped heap.

This system may be modified so as to include six or more rows of inverted cabbage, the heap being flat instead of wedge-shaped on top. It does not turn water so well, but in practice is usually satisfactory. A good plan is to use about 6 inches of soil, and to add straw or litter as the cold increases.

Under a steady low temperature it is no trouble to keep cabbage through the winter, but it is hard to provide against the many changes of our variable climate.

Where heads are to be carried over for seed, or where it is intended to head up soft cabbages during the winter (a feasible thing) the roots are set downward instead of upward. If care be taken to remove the roots without much injury, they may be set in furrows or trenches, and the earth heaped over the cabbages just as in the several ways above mentioned, and they will make decided growth during their life under ground. In fact, a cabbage with any sort of immature head in November will, under proper management, be in good marketable condition in March or April.

Solid freezing in the trenches is not necessarily destructive, but if the temperature falls much below 15° (at the point occupied by the heads), there is danger that they will perish. They may be in good edible condition after such severe freezing, but the chances are that they will fail to grow if set out for seed. The cabbage decays with a strong, offensive smell when its tissues finally break down after repeated changes of temperature and moisture. A uniform temperature is favored by the use of earth in storage, and though storage in buildings and cellars is quite feasible, there is nothing better or cheaper than the soil of the open field.

If the crop is not all to be marketed at one time, it is well to make a number of separate trenches, so that each can be wholly cleared of its contents at a single opening. These trenches and ridges must be made upon dry ground, where there is no standing water.

For Stock.—Cabbages make good food for cows, but should be fed after milking; and frozen cabbages should never be fed in any considerable quantity, as they are liable to cause hoven or bloat.

CARROTS.

A sandy soil or light loam is best for carrots, but they will grow anywhere under good culture. Enormous quantities are grown by the market gardeners, both under glass and in the open ground, for use in soups and for seasoning purposes. The short or half-long varieties are demanded by this trade.

Farm gardeners will do best with half-long and long kinds, unless a special demand calls for the smaller carrots. The large half-long and long ones are suited to both culinary and stock-feeding purposes.

It requires from three to four pounds of seed to the acre, depending on the distance between the rows. The plants should be from 3 to 5 inches apart in the rows, and the rows as near together as is feasible for horse work. Clean culture is demanded. The seed must be planted shallow, and may go into the ground as early as it can be worked in the spring, and from that time until the middle of June. The only danger about late planting is the possibility of dry weather.

The carrot is quite free from insect or other enemies, as a rule, and its culture is not difficult. It demands thinning and hoeing after the plants are well above ground, but no extra attention of any kind.

The winter storage is the same as for beets or turnips, either to be put away in earth-covered heaps or preserved in a cool, non-freezing root cellar.

The so-called Belgian carrots (both yellow and white) are used only as stock food; though the other sorts, such as Rubicon, Danvers and Long Orange, if in excess of market demands, are equally good for stock. Cows and horses are fond of them, and they are most wholesome. The farm gardener should raise them, however, for their cash value in the produce markets. The carrot is in high favor with good cooks everywhere.

The carrot does not demand excessively rich ground; in fact, too much manure tends to stimulate the growth of the top at the expense of the root, and fresh manure makes the root rough.

The smaller carrots are bunched and sold like radishes or early beets. The larger kinds are sold by measure—about 60 cents or more per basket at this time (January, 1898). This is at the rate of $1.50 per barrel, or about $300 per acre. The crop is a good one, if near a market where carrots are demanded.

SWEET CORN.

There is no money crop more available to the farm gardener than sweet corn. It will grow anywhere, and the young ears are always in demand. Any sod land plowed shallow will yield a crop of sweet corn. It is easy in this latitude to have an unbroken succession of marketable ears from July 1st to October 1st, or even somewhat earlier and later.

Shallow plowing and the use of a little fertilizer or compost in the hills will put the ground in order. A complete fertilizer is best. A compost containing hen manure is excellent.

Planting.—Eight or ten quarts of seed are required to plant an acre of corn in hills, allowing for replanting of what is injured by grubs or other causes. The larger varieties should be planted 4 feet by 3; the rows 4 feet apart and the hills 3 feet apart, with not more than three stalks in a hill. The smaller varieties may be grown much closer—3 feet by 2. Any method may be used in laying out a corn field that will give each stalk (of the large kinds) the equivalent of 4 square feet of ground space. The dwarf sweet corns demand about half that space.

Varieties.—The sweet corns require from sixty to eighty days to produce ears fit for boiling. The earliest varieties are small, and are lacking in sweetness as compared to the best intermediate types. Still, the early prices are so much better than midsummer prices, that the early varieties will always be grown for market. Indeed, the best profits of the business are from the extra early and extra late sales.

Sweet corn should not be grown by shippers who are distant more than twenty-four hours from market, as the ears lose quality and flavor soon after being pulled from the stalks. Forty-eight hours from market is an extreme distance, but is feasible if the ears can be chilled in a cold storage house previous to shipment; otherwise, they will heat and spoil. Even when designed for a near-by market a load of sweet corn ears may heat and spoil during a single night. It is best to scatter them upon the grass, if pulled during the afternoon for shipment the following morning.

The most profit to the grower will be found in ears which are not too large, as corn is often sold by the dozen, the large sorts being too weighty.

The early kinds, though small, can be planted closely, and a large number of ears secured; and they are out of the way so soon that the ground can be used for celery or other late crop. Celery can be set out between the rows of corn, and thus be shaded to some extent during the critical period following transplanting.

The Evergreens, Early and Late, and the shoe-peg types, such as Country Gentleman and Zig Zag Evergreen, are among the sweetest of all. The grains are of irregular shape and arrangement, and the appearance of the ears is not altogether prepossessing. When once known, however, they are in demand by consumers.

The red-cob corns should be cooked by dropping into boiling water. If cooked slowly, the red color of the cob affects the appearance of the grains.

Cultivation, Enemies, etc.—Shallow culture, frequently repeated, is demanded by sweet corn. The growth at first is timid and slow; afterward, if well cultivated, the stalks grow with great rapidity and vigor.

To make the most of the stalks, they should be cut as soon as possible after the last ears have gone to market and fed to stock. Sweet corn stalks when dry make excellent fodder.

The main enemies of corn are the cut worm, which is only troublesome in spring; a fungus which attacks the ears and which is always most prevalent on the small, early sorts; and a worm which cuts and injures the grain while the corn is in milk. Crows sometimes pull up the seeds, but can be disposed of by scattering a little yellow corn on the surface of the ground around the edges of the field. As the crow destroys many cut worms, it is better to feed him with corn than to shoot him.

The prevalence of fungus-troubled or smutty corn is probably a symptom of weakness, the result of planting too early, or of too much wet weather. All plants that are weak are liable to fungus attacks, and it is the early corn that suffers most. This corn is often planted before the ground is sufficiently warm, and there is a consequent weakness of growth. Indian corn, at Philadelphia, should not be planted before May 10th, and yet it is not uncommon to see gardeners planting sweet corn two weeks earlier. They say they are "going to risk it." The result may be a good crop of corn, or it may be a crop of worms and fungus. Of course, the high price of the first corn in market is the excuse for the unseasonable date of planting. But it is not quite fair to blame the seed or the variety of corn for what is partly the result of the gardener's impatience. All traces of smut on corn stalks should be burned, and not allowed to be fed to cattle.

The Corn Worm.—Far more destructive and disastrous than smut is the corn worm (Heliothis armiger). This is the cotton worm of the South, there called boll worm. It is also sometimes called the tomato worm. It is the larva of a day-flying moth.

The difficulty in dealing with it is that when in the corn ear it is out of the reach of poisonous applications of any kind. Its depredations are extensive, especially in early corn. It prefers corn to all other foods, and cotton planters protect their crops by planting early corn in the cotton fields and then destroying the corn and the worms within the ears.

The best remedy at the North is to feed all wormy ears to pigs; and to plow the corn land in autumn, when the insects are in the pupa or chrysalis state. If turned up by the plow, it is believed that they mostly perish. The worms are said to be cannibals, eating each other to a great extent.

This worm is, perhaps, the greatest enemy with which the grower of sweet corn has to contend. The plan of feeding wormy ears to pigs offers the double advantage of destroying the enclosed pests, while at the same time fattening the pigs.

Successional Planting.—The skillful farmer will arrange successional plantings of corn, beginning (at Philadelphia) May 10th and ending about July 10th. The first and last plantings should be of the early sorts; the intermediate plantings of the full-sized varieties.

Profits.—Profits depend on location. The size of the crop should approximate 1,000 dozens of ears per acre, and the gross receipts should be $100 to $200 per acre, more or less, above the value of the fodder.

Suckering.—Time is often spent in pulling the suckers from the stalks of sweet corn. Such time is wasted. If the suckers are let alone they will not reduce the number or quality of the marketable ears.

HORSERADISH.

Farmers who have soil that is both rich and deep can find profit in growing horseradish on a large scale, in connection with early peas, beans or sweet corn. The sets are planted in May, in the rows between crops, and after the crops are removed the horseradish makes its main growth. It is perfectly hardy, and comes on rapidly during the late summer and autumn months. Where the ground is not strong enough to produce large roots the first year, the business will not prove very remunerative.

The Sets.—Horseradish sets are made by cutting small roots (¼ to ½ inch in thickness) into pieces 6 or 8 inches long. The upper end is cut square off; the lower end with a slope. This is to get them right end up at planting time. The small roots are available in quantities in the autumn, when the large roots are trimmed for market. The sets are kept in sand during the winter, or buried in the open ground, in a carefully-marked spot, where they can be easily found in the spring.

If planted 2 feet apart in rows 3 feet apart, each plant will represent 6 square feet of space, and, hence, about 7,300 sets will be needed for an acre. The method of planting is to strike out rows, and with a long dibber or crowbar make holes 8 or 10 inches deep. A set is dropped into each hole and the earth pressed about it.

Shoots will soon appear above the surface, and when the early crop has been removed from the land, the horseradish should be well cultivated once or twice. Little further attention is needed.

The roots should be lifted the same year, in December, and stored in an earth-covered heap or pit, or else in sand in a root cellar. The small lateral roots should be saved for the next year's sets. There is a good demand for horseradish, both wholesale and retail; but prices should be ascertained before going into the business in a large way.

Good roots, after trimming and washing, should weigh half a pound or more each.

PARSNIP.

The cultural requirements of the parsnip are quite similar to those of the carrot. Any soil that is deep mellow and moderately rich may be used for parsnips. Fresh manure is to be avoided, as it makes the roots rough.

The seed should be planted in early spring, while the ground is moist, as it germinates very slowly. It should be covered to a depth of half an inch, and the soil pressed down firmly. The plants must be thinned out to stand 3 or 4 inches apart.

The parsnip is a vegetable of a perfectly hardy character. It may remain in the ground, just where it grows, all winter. The flavor is said to be improved by hard freezing, and no amount of freezing will hurt it.

It has a high value as human food, and is demanded in large quantities in some markets. It also has a high value as a stock food, especially for cows. It should be fed after milking, in quantities not sufficient to taint the milk. The price is variable, but about the same as the carrot.

SALSIFY OR OYSTER PLANT.

Salsify, oyster plant or vegetable oyster is a root of easy culture and of high food value. In shape it resembles the carrot and parsnip, and is as perfectly hardy as the latter. The seed should be sown an inch under the surface, in spring, in rows 2½ to 3½ feet apart, and the plants thinned to stand 5 inches apart in the rows. The culture is the same as for parsnips. Fresh manure must be avoided, as it makes the roots ill-shaped. The roots, under good treatment, will exceed an inch in diameter, and may attain a size of 2 inches or more. They may remain in the ground over winter, to be taken up whenever the frost permits or they may be taken up in late autumn and preserved in sand in a cellar. Good salsify is in demand where its merits are known.

THE POTATO.

The cultivation of the potato is so well understood by every American farmer and gardener that it seems unnecessary to discuss the details of cutting the tubers, planting, cultivating, harvesting, etc. The weak points of potato culture are most commonly the fertilizing and the treatment of diseases. These will be briefly discussed. As to lack of moisture, to be remedied by artificial watering, the reader is referred to our new book, entitled, "Irrigation by Cheap Modern Methods," in which a case is mentioned where water alone made a difference of 129 bushels per acre in the crop.

Fertilizing.—A ton of potatoes (33-1/3 bushels) contains 4·2 pounds of nitrogen (equal to 5·1 pounds of ammonia), 1·5 pounds of phosphoric acid and 10 pounds of potash. This shows that nitrogen and potash are the elements mainly abstracted from the soil by a crop of potatoes. An analysis is not an infallible index of what must be applied to any soil, for that soil may be naturally rich in some one fertilizing element and deficient in the others. Only experiment will [Pg 60]
[Pg 61] determine what is best. But a knowledge of the analysis of the crop is necessary to intelligent experimentation. Nitrogen and potash will evidently be demanded in most cases, yet the Ohio Station recently reports that "phosphoric acid has been the controlling factor in the increase of the potato yields" in the trials made there. This shows how greatly soils vary in their requirements.

Barnyard manure would answer all purposes and would be an ideal potato fertilizer, except for the fact that it so often carries with it the spores of such diseases as blight, scab and rot. Still, barnyard manure in a partly rotted condition is very widely used by potato growers.

Clover sod is an excellent source of nitrogen, as heretofore explained. The clover is, perhaps, the best of the leguminous crops for green manuring purposes. Many successful potato farmers depend largely upon clover, supplementing it with a small amount of high-grade complete fertilizer in the rows.

Where phosphoric acid is necessary, it can be had in the form of ground bone or acidulated rock, and potash can be had in the form of sulphate or as kainit. Where the scab is prevalent, it may prove better to use kainit, on account of the salt which it contains, as will be presently explained.

Planting.—It requires from seven to ten bushels of tubers to plant an acre. Some growers use as much as fifteen bushels. The date of planting, depth, distance between rows, etc., are details for individual determination. Flat culture is better than ridge culture, so far as conservation of moisture is concerned. It is important that good Northern-grown seed be planted; tubers which have not lost their strength by excessive sprouting. Storage in a cool, dark, dry place is best for potatoes. Whether planted early or late, or at successional dates, must be determined by the market requirements of the grower. Varieties.—The varieties of potatoes are many, and while it is wise to experiment in a small way on new kinds, it is best to depend for business purposes on standard sorts that have been fully tested.

Irrigation.—After the farmer has exhausted his best efforts in the preparation and fertilization of the soil, and after good seed has been planted and the best possible culture given, there may come a season of prolonged drouth that will defeat his purpose of securing a large crop. This result is not common, but neither is it rare; and where farmers are looking toward the high culture of certain special crops, it would be well for them to consider the matter of artificially watering their potato fields.

Diseases and Enemies.—Not counting dry weather, which sometimes robs the farmer of two-thirds of his crop, there are four diseases which exert a disastrous influence on the potato, and which are liable to occur any season. Two of these diseases are of the leaf and stem and two of the tubers.

The two leaf troubles are respectively known as blight or downy mildew and the Macrosporium disease. The two tuber troubles are scab and rot.

Leaf Blights.—No attempt will be made here to separately describe the two leaf diseases. Both destroy the foliage and check the further growth of both vine and tuber. The leaves turn brown or black, and the stem quickly wilts and falls. There can be no growth of tuber without vigorous health of vine. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture, in advance of the occurrence of any disease, is recommended.

Bordeaux mixture for this purpose is made by using six pounds of copper sulphate and four pounds of quick lime, dissolved in separate wooden vessels, and the lime water poured into the dissolved blue stone. This should be diluted with water sufficient to fill a forty-five gallon barrel. Paris green to the amount of from one-quarter to three-quarters of a pound to the barrel should be added, to destroy beetles and other insects.

The vines should be sprayed five or six times, beginning when they are 6 inches high, at intervals of ten days or two weeks. During rainy weather the spraying should be more frequent than during clear weather. The object is to prolong the life and vigor of the vines. The cost of the five or six sprayings, including labor at $1.50 per day, is put at not above $6 per acre, while the crop at stake may be affected to the extent of scores of bushels.

Scab and Rot.—The evidence about scab and rot is still contradictory, but it is likely that these diseases will presently be under control. At the New Jersey Station, Professor Halsted completely conquered scab with an application of 300 pounds of flowers of sulphur per acre scattered in the rows, while the same treatment at the Ohio Station was less successful. At the latter station benefit was found in the use of salt, kainit, sulphate of potash, etc.

The various experiments and observations on potato scab and rot seem to indicate that scab flourishes best on a soil inclined to be alkaline, while rot is most prevalent on a soil inclined to be acid. The use of lime increases scab, while the use of kainit diminishes it.

The best practice, therefore, under present knowledge, would be to use clean seed on new ground, avoiding fresh stable manure. Clean seed can be had by treating tubers with corrosive sublimate. This substance is dissolved to the amount of 2¼ ounces, in two gallons of hot water, and (after standing a day) diluted with water so as to make fifteen gallons. In this solution the uncut seed potatoes should be soaked for an hour and a half. All unplanted seed potatoes should be destroyed, as the corrosive sublimate is highly poisonous.

The use of sulphur, as recommended by Professor Halsted, will prove entirely satisfactory in some soils. In others, the use of kainit or sulphate of potash or acid phosphate would no doubt be found preferable.

Where soil is badly affected with disease germs, it is unquestionably better to seek a new field than to attempt to disinfect the old one. A rotation of crops will probably restore diseased land to health more cheaply and more thoroughly than any other process.

Profits.—Of potato profits it is not necessary to speak, except to remark that it costs but little more to produce 300 bushels to the acre than 100 bushels. There can be no doubt whatever that it pays handsomely to spray potato vines with the Bordeaux mixture.

PUMPKINS AND
SQUASHES.

Mammoth Golden Cashaw Pumpkin, One of the Best for Market or Stock Feeding.