Part 4

VEGETABLE PLANTS IN THE HOUSE

Many persons would like to grow early vegetables. With a view to "getting the start of the season" and, incidentally, of their neighbors, they sow seed in pots and boxes in March and April and attempt to get an "early start" for plants that will form a basis of supply for family use while they are waiting for the development of the general crop from seed sown in the garden after the weather has become sufficiently warm to warrant outdoor gardening. In some instances comparative success has resulted from plants started into growth in the house, but nine times out of ten, it is safe to say, the result has been entire failure. The seedlings grow fairly well at first, but soon become weak and die. If, by chance, a few survive until conditions warrant putting them in the ground, they are so lacking in vitality that the change from indoors to outdoors is pretty sure to be the end of them.

I would never advise trying to grow plants from seed, in the house, unless the grower understands beforehand the drawbacks to plant-growth which prevail in the average dwelling, and is willing to do all he can to overcome them. Simply filling boxes or pots with earth, putting seed into them, and supplying water will not insure success.

One of the unfavorable conditions which seedling plants must struggle against is too much heat, if they are kept in the living-room. An undue amount of warmth forces them into abnormal development in the early stages of their growth, and a little later on there comes a reaction from the weakness thus brought about, and this reaction is almost invariably death to the tender plant.

Another unfavorable condition is the result of indiscriminate watering. The soil is either kept too wet or too dry. To grow good plants there must be an even supply of moisture.

A third unfortunate condition is the result of failure to give the plants a liberal supply of fresh air.

It is possible, however, to overcome these conditions and grow really good plants from seed in the living-room, but it cannot be done unless the amateur gardener is sufficiently interested in the undertaking to give his plants all the attention they need.

Instead of keeping them in the living-room--which in most instances will have a temperature of 79 or 80°--I would advise giving them place in a room opening off the sitting-room, where the temperature can be so regulated that it will not go above 65° at any time. There is far less danger of plants suffering from a low temperature than of their being injured by an excess of heat. If the room in which they are kept has snug windows, in most instances it will get all the warmth that is needed by leaving open at night the door which connects it with the living-room. If the weather is very cold, the plants can be removed, temporarily, to the living-room, or they can be covered with newspapers. Thick paper shades at the windows will do much to keep out cold and prevent draughts. Storm-sash will do this most effectively, but it interferes with giving the young plants the fresh air they need. Therefore I would prefer the shades, and depend upon removal to a warmer place on extra-cold nights.

Fresh air will be found a most important factor in the growth of seedling plants indoors. Unless it can be given it will be almost impossible to grow any plant well in the ordinary dwelling. It should be admitted to the room on every pleasant day by opening a window at the top, or a door at some distance from the plants. The fresh, cold air should be allowed to mix with the warm air in the room before it comes in contact with the plants, as a chill will often do about as much damage as a touch of frost.

Watering these plants is a matter of prime importance. Generally water is applied carelessly and irregularly--too much to-day, and none at all to-morrow. We saturate the soil with it while only enough is required to make it moist. An over-supply of water at the roots, combined with too much heat and lack of fresh air, will undermine the constitution of any plant, because such a combination excites unnatural development, and this means a lowering of the vital force to the danger-point.

I have devised a method by which I have succeeded in controlling the supply of moisture in the soil to my complete satisfaction. I use boxes about four inches deep to start my plants in. In the bottom of these boxes I put sphagnum moss. There should be at least an inch of it after it has been pressed down by the weight of the soil above. The bottom of the seed-box is bored full of small holes. Each box sets in a shallow pan of galvanized iron, on a layer of coarse gravel, which raises it enough to allow water to circulate freely under it. Water is poured into the iron pan, using enough to come up about half an inch above the bottom of the seed-box, or in contact with the moss in it, and it should be kept at this height at all times. The moss absorbs the moisture like a sponge, and the soil above constantly sucks up all that is needed to keep it in a sufficiently moist condition to meet the requirements of the plants growing in it. The absorbent qualities of the moss are such that an excessive amount of moisture is never communicated to the soil above. Thus I secure a steady and even supply, which does away entirely with the danger resulting from the application of water to the surface of the soil from watering-pot or basin.

If the temperature can be controlled in such a way that it will not vary much from 60 to 65°, if the soil can be kept moist but never wet, and fresh air can be given in generous quantity regularly, it will be found a comparatively easy matter to grow plants satisfactorily from seed in the house, and have them in such healthy condition by the time it is safe to put them out in the garden that they will average up well with the plants the professional gardener raises in hotbed and cold-frame. By the use of such plants, and such plants only, can we expect to grow early vegetables successfully.

VII

STANDARD VARIETIES OF VEGETABLES

The amateur gardener will find it extremely perplexing work to make a satisfactory selection of varieties of vegetables to grow in his garden. He knows quite well, as a general thing, what kinds he wants to grow, but when he comes to a consultation of the seedsmen's catalogues he discovers that of each kind of vegetable listed therein there are so many varieties mentioned that he is bewildered. Most of them are described as being so desirable that he cannot help getting the impression that if he rules out this or that one he is likely to deprive himself of the very thing from which he would obtain the highest degree of satisfaction. Nine times out of ten he finds, after going through the catalogues and marking the kinds and varieties that appeal to him most forcibly, that he has a list which would furnish enough seed to supply an average-sized market-garden.

I would advise the amateur gardener to attempt the culture of only a few of the many varieties described in the catalogues, and these of the very best. But what constitutes "the very best" is a hard matter for him to decide where all are described by adjectives in the superlative degree. He will find, by comparing the catalogues of the various seed firms, that there are described in most of them certain varieties of each kind of vegetable that seem common to all, along with many other varieties whose names differ greatly, though the descriptions of them indicate that there is not much difference in quality, or in other general respects. If he confines his selection to such varieties of each kind as the various dealers list under the same names in their catalogues he will be making no mistake, for the fact that all leading dealers carry these varieties in stock is sufficient proof that they are standard varieties, and of such superior merit that no up-to-date dealer can afford to exclude them from his list.

Take, for instance, Stowell's Evergreen sweet-corn, and Champion of England pea. All dealers handle these, because they are standard, and always in demand because their superior qualities have made them universal favorites wherever grown. But they have other varieties of the same vegetable of which each makes a specialty, under names which will be found in no catalogue but their own. Many of these are doubtless possessors of all the good qualities claimed for them, but this we cannot be sure about. But the sorts which are common to all are those of whose merit there can be no two opinions. These are the varieties the inexperienced gardener can select with the assurance that he is getting the best thing of its kind on the market.

In this chapter I propose to make mention of only such kinds of vegetables as I have grown in my own garden. I do this because so many beginners in gardening prefer to depend on the advice of some one who has familiarized himself with the merits of the various vegetables adapted to ordinary gardening. And I propose to give with each such brief cultural directions as seem of most importance, thus making it possible for the amateur to avoid some of the mistakes that might be made if he were wholly ignorant of the requirements of his plants. After having experimented with many kinds I have pinned my faith to the kinds I shall make mention of, and I have no hesitancy in recommending them to the attention of all gardeners, feeling confident that a trial of them will bear me out in the statement that no better list can be made. There may be others of equal or superior merit, but if there are I have still to find out what they are.

Asparagus

Taking the list alphabetically, the first vegetable to consider is asparagus. Conover's Colossal seems to combine all the merits of the several varieties on the market in such a degree as to give it a place at the head of the list of desirable kinds for ordinary garden culture. It is tender, fine-flavored, and very productive. A dozen plants, after becoming well established, will furnish all that will be required by a family of four or five persons.

In order to secure good crops of this delicious vegetable it will be necessary to dig up the soil in which it is to be planted to the depth of two or three feet, and fill the bottom of the excavation with strong manure. Pack this down firmly, and then return to the trench the soil thrown out from it, fertilizing this well as you do so. While asparagus will grow in a soil that is not at all rich, and will live on indefinitely under all kinds of neglect and abuse, it must be given plenty of strong food and good care in order to enable it to do itself justice. I would not advise attempting to grow it from seed, as it takes a long time for seedling plants to reach maturity. I would get two- or three-year-old plants. Set them about eighteen inches apart and at least four inches below the surface. Keep weeds and grass away from them. Give the asparagus-bed a place in the garden by itself, preferably along a fence or in some location where it will not interfere with other plants which call for the frequent use of the garden-cultivator. On no account plant it in that part of the garden where it will be necessary to use a plow, for it is a plant that must be left undisturbed if you would have it do its best. Cover the beds with coarse manure in the fall, and work this into the soil about the plants in spring.

Beans

Mammoth Stringless Green Pod matures early, and is very tender, fine-flavored, and productive. It is a general favorite for the home garden.

Golden Wax is later than the green-podded variety mentioned above. It is valuable as a string-bean, and for shelling.

Beans are quite tender, therefore they should not be planted until the weather becomes warm and settled. Plant in rows two feet apart, and about four inches apart in the row, or in hills of three or four plants each. Cultivate frequently during the early part of summer, throwing the soil toward the plants. Do not work among them while they are wet from dew or rain.

If a pole-bean is wanted, Improved Lima will be found extremely satisfactory because of its productiveness and its fine, buttery flavor. This class supplies the table with shelled beans only, its pods being too tough to use as a string-bean. Plant in hills of six or eight, setting a pole six or seven feet tall in the center of each hill for the plants to climb by.

Beet

I would advise two varieties of this vegetable where the garden is large enough to warrant the use of more than one. Crosby's Egyptian stands at the head of the list as an early variety. It is remarkably tender, and has a sugary flavor that is most delicious. As a second variety I would advise Crimson Globe. This is very sweet and fine-flavored, and comes to perfection during the latter part of summer. It is a good keeper, and a quantity of it should be stored in the cellar for winter use.