Part 12

Every gardener should be provided with pruning-shears with which to prune whatever plants he or she may grow that require frequent attention of that kind. A jack-knife answers the purpose very well in the hands of a man, but up to the present time no woman is known to have made a success of its use.

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Currant-bushes grow readily from cuttings. Insert a piece of half-ripened wood five or six inches long into the ground and it will almost invariably take root. In order to keep this plant in healthy bearing condition it should be pruned rather severely each season. Cut away all weak wood, and encourage the production of strong new shoots, from which fruit will be borne next season. Remove a good share of the old branches after they have ripened the present season's crop. If this is not done the bush will after a little become crowded with branches, and as all branches, old and new, will attempt to bear, you will be pretty sure to have a production of very inferior fruit, since it will be impossible for the bush to perfect all the berries that set and have them come up to the standard of superiority that should govern the grower. Small currants are good, as far as they go, but the trouble is--they don't go far enough. Many of them will have to be discarded when the housewife makes her selection.

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If the amateur gardener desires to give some of his vegetables an early start, I would advise him to try what may be called the "sod-method" in preference to any other. Sod is cut from roadside or pasture in fall and stacked up in the cellar for use in early spring. When seed is to be sown, invert the piece of sod, and scatter the seed over the surface, which, it will be understood, was not the surface originally. In other words, what was the surface is now the bottom of the piece which receives the seed. When it comes time to put the seedlings out of doors the sod can be cut apart in such a manner that each has its bit of soil, and this can be transferred to the garden without interfering in any way with the roots of the young plant.

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While barn-yard manure--especially that which contains a good deal of cow manure--is one of the very best of all fertilizers, it is not always obtainable, and this makes it necessary to resort to some kind of commercial fertilizer. If one is not familiar with any of these fertilizers he ought not to select at random, as he may get a kind not at all adapted to his requirements. I would advise finding some one who understands the peculiarity of the soil in his locality, and who has had some experience in the use of commercial fertilizers, and being governed by his advice. Experimental knowledge is often expensive, and the use of a fertilizer that is not adapted to the soil in one's garden often ruins a season's crops.

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The ideal support for pea-vines is brush, but not every gardener is able to obtain it. Some persons substitute binder-twine stretched from stake to stake. This answers very well as long as the weather remains dry, but as soon as a rain-storm comes along the twine absorbs so much moisture that it relaxes its tension and sags in such a manner as to endanger the vines which have taken hold of it. Coarse-meshed wire netting will be found much more satisfactory, as it will not sag and cannot be blown down by winds. Care must be taken to see that it is coarse-meshed, as the fine-meshed sorts will not admit of the vine's working its way out and in among the meshes. If a supply of brush can be obtained, use it by all means, and at the end of the pea-season pull it up and store it away in a dry place. If this is done, it can be made to do duty for several seasons. If netting is used, do not allow it to remain out of doors in winter. By untacking it from the stakes which are set for its support, and rolling it up carefully, and storing it away from the storms of winter, it can be made to last a lifetime.

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Don't depend upon home-grown seed. Some of it may be just as good as that which can be bought from reliable seedsmen, but the probabilities are that it is not, because of the tendencies of most plants to "mix." Plants grown from seed saved from the home garden often--and generally--show some of the characteristics of several varieties of the same family, and frequently these characteristics are not the ones we would like to perpetuate. Seedlings from varieties pollenized by other varieties show a decided inclination to revert to original types, and these are in most instances the very characteristics we would like to get away from. It is always advisable to procure fresh seed each season, and to procure it from men who make seed-growing a specialty.

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The housewife who likes to make her table and the food she places upon it as attractive as possible, will do well to pot a few plants of parsley in early fall. Choose for this purpose the smaller plants. Three or four can be put into one pot if the latter is of good size. These can be kept in the kitchen window, where they will be quite as ornamental as most house plants, or they can be kept in the cellar window if frost is prevented from getting to them. From them one can always obtain material for the decoration of roasts and other dishes which require garnishment.

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Squashes and pumpkins will not keep well if stored in very warm places. A room that is just a little above the frost-point is the best place for them. It will be found far superior to a cellar, as the latter is generally more or less damp, and dampness is one of the worst enemies of these vegetables. A cool, dry atmosphere is what they need, and if it can be given them they can be kept in fine condition throughout the entire winter. Care should be taken, in gathering them, to not break their stems. If this is done they frequently decay at the place where stem and vegetable unite, and this condition spreads rapidly to all portions of them.

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The question is frequently asked:

Would you advise plowing or spading the garden in fall? If it could have but one season's attention, I would advise giving it in spring. But if the owner of a garden has ample time to devote to it, I would advise plowing or spading in both seasons. Turning up the soil in fall exposes to the elements that portion of it which is most likely to contain worms and insects which have burrowed away for the winter, and it is desirable to make way with as many of these as possible. Stirring the soil in spring will do them very little harm, as the weather will be in their favor. Fall stirring of the soil is also conducive to a greater degree of mellowness than is likely to result from one operation, and that in spring, as the clods of earth that are thrown up disintegrate under the influence of frost and will be in a condition to pulverize easily when spring comes.

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The average gardener doesn't seem to associate the growing of vegetables with an idea of beauty, but he will find, if he looks into the matter, that the vegetable-garden can be made really ornamental. A row of carrots with its feathery green foliage is quite as attractive as many of our decorative plants; and beets, with crimson foliage, are really tropical in their rich coloring. Parsley and lettuce make excellent and ornamental edgings for beds containing other vegetables. Tomatoes, trained to upright trellises, are quite as showy as many kinds of flowers, when their fruit begins to ripen. Peppers work in charmingly with the colorscheme of the vegetable-garden. A little study of garden possibilities will soon convince one that it is an easy matter to make the vegetable-garden as attractive, so far as color is concerned, as the flower-garden is. And while we are at work at gardening, why not make it as attractive as possible? The pleasing appearance of it will lend additional qualities to the fine flavor of its vegetables if we believe that beauty and practicality ought to work in harmony with each other.

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Sage, summer savory, and other garden-grown plants used for seasoning or medicinal purposes should be gathered when in their prime. If one waits until late in the season before cutting them, much of their virtue will have been expended in the ripening process which all plants undergo after they complete their growth. Cut them close to the ground, and tie them in loose bunches, and hang them in a shady place until their moisture has evaporated. Then put them in paper bags and hang away in a store-room or closet for the winter. Plants treated in this way will retain nearly all their original flavor, and be found far superior to the kinds you buy at the store.

Cucumbers that have grown to full size should be gathered if not wanted for use, as to allow them to remain on the vines after reaching maturity, and while ripening, materially affects the productiveness of the plants.

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Endive is the basis of one of our best and most wholesome fall and winter salads. When nearly full-grown it must be bleached, like celery. Gather the leaves together and tie them in such a manner as to exclude the light. Do this when they are perfectly dry. If wet or damp they are likely to rot.

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Some gardeners use what is called onion "sets" instead of seed. These "sets" are the result of sowing seed very thickly in spring the season before they are wanted for planting. As soon as their tops die off in summer--as they will if seed was sown thickly enough--store in a dry and airy place, and the following spring replant. By this method large onions are obtained very early in the season. Most market-gardeners depend on "sets" instead of seed.

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