Part 6

This plant should be started in the hotbed if there is one. The seedlings should be transferred to the cold-frame before they have attained much size, and left there until the ground becomes warm. Very fine lettuce, however, can be grown from seed sown directly in the open ground about the first of May, if the soil is warm and rich. A fertile soil is quite important, as it is necessary to bring on a rapid growth in order to have the plant crisp and tender. Slow development gives a comparatively worthless article.

The All Heart variety is excellent for spring and early summer use. It forms a solid head, and is very crisp and tender, with that rich, buttery flavor that the lover of this plant insists on. Mammoth Salamander is one of the best late-season kinds.

Melons

These, like corn and cabbage, are not adapted to culture in the small garden because they require more room than it is possible to give them without giving up other vegetables which the housewife cannot well afford to go without. But in good-sized gardens I would advise their culture, because there is nothing else quite equal to them in delicacy of flavor and luscious sweetness. They require a light, rich soil. Plant when the ground is warm, and not before, in hills four feet apart. It is a good plan to put a generous quantity of manure from the henhouse in each hill, working it well into the soil before seed is planted. Put at least a dozen seed in each hill, for some of the seedlings will doubtless be destroyed by the beetle that works on cucumber- and squash-vines. Spray all over with Nicoticide infusion as soon as the first beetle is seen, also shower with dry road-dust. If a fungous disease attacks them spray with Bordeaux mixture.

Rocky Ford is the standard variety of muskmelon at present. It has a thick greenish-yellow flesh, is smooth-grained, is very sweet, has a most delicious flavor, and is so tender that it fairly seems to melt in the mouth. Netted Gem is another standard variety.

Among the watermelons Ice-Cream is a general favorite. Mammoth Ironclad grows to a very large size, is solid-meated, and has a peculiarly sweet and luscious flavor.

Onion

This should be sown in light, sandy soil, if possible, as it seldom does well in a heavy soil.

Yellow Danvers is the leading variety for the home garden. Silverskin has a mild flavor, and on that account it is a favorite with many. It is fine for pickling. It also keeps well in winter.

Parsley

Sow this plant thickly, in April, in rows of mellow soil. As the seed germinates very slowly, it is well to soak it in warm water before sowing. If you have a light cellar, plants can be potted in fall and stored there for winter use. The cellar window is a good place for them. Every housewife who prides herself on the attractive appearance of her roasts and other meat dishes and many kinds of salad will not be willing to be without this plant. Dwarf Perpetual is the standard variety for the home garden. Its leaves are charmingly crimped and curly, and of beautiful dark green that makes them very ornamental when used as a garnish for the table.

Parsnip

This vegetable is not grown as much as it ought to be. One does not care for it until winter sets in. Then it affords a much-appreciated change from other vegetables. It is an excellent keeper when stored in the cellar in winter. Or the roots can be left in the ground until spring, when they will be found delightfully fresh and tender. Sow in April or May, in deep, rich soil. Hollow Crown is the standard variety.

Pea

This vegetable is so extremely hardy that it can be planted with entire safety quite early in spring. There are varieties that come into bearing a few weeks after sowing, followed by medium early kinds, which give place, a little later, to such varieties as Champion of England and Telephone. Champion of England is the most delicious of all peas.

Unless the garden is a very small one, one should plan for a succession. If this is done it will be possible to enjoy this vegetable during the greater part of the season, with possibly the exception of the very hottest part of summer. Best results are secured by planting the seed two or three inches deep in furrows. The soil should be rich. If there is a little clay in it, all the better.

Low-growing varieties require no support, but the tall kinds must be bushed or trained on coarse-meshed wire netting. Bushes suit this plant better than anything else. If the vines are allowed to crinkle down and come in contact with the ground their pods will almost always decay, and the vines will mildew and become so diseased that an end will be put to their bearing.

American Wonder is one of the best very early kinds. Gradus is next in order. Advancer I consider the best medium variety. Telephone is a most excellent late variety, second only to Champion of England, which is everywhere conceded to be the ideal pea so far as productiveness, size, rich flavor, and sweetness are concerned.

Potato

Anybody can grow the potato, after a fashion. But in order to grow it well it must receive more attention than is generally given it. It must have a rich and mellow soil--a sandy one is preferable--and the best of cultivation.

This is one of the vegetables that require considerable room, therefore it is not adapted to small-garden culture. But when space will admit of it it should always be grown, because it is one of the garden products that can be used in so many ways that the housewife finds it one of the things she cannot well get along without.

Seed is obtained by cutting old potatoes in pieces, each piece having an "eye" or growing-point. The pieces should be planted in hills, four or five pieces to a hill, with hills two feet apart. Cover to a depth of four inches.

If plants are not watched while small, insects are likely to attack them. Spray with Nicoticide infusion. Later in the season the Colorado beetle will be quite likely to put in its appearance. Then use Paris green, either in infusion, or mixed with land-plaster, and applied in a dry state while the plants are moist from dew. If any fungous disease is discovered, spray with Bordeaux mixture. All these insecticides can be procured from druggists or dealers in agricultural goods, or they can be obtained from the dealer from whom you buy seed.

It is well to plant this vegetable for a succession. One of the best early varieties is Beauty of Hebron, which matures in eight to ten weeks from planting. Early Rose is everywhere a favorite, as is Early Ohio. Rural New-Yorker is a standard late variety. Burbank's Seedling is excellent as an intermediate sort. All the varieties named are of superior flavor, very productive, and sure to give complete satisfaction.

Radish

This most toothsome vegetable should be sown early, either in the hotbed or the open ground. If you have a light, warm soil and a location that is fully exposed to the sun you can raise almost as fine radishes outside of the hotbed as in it, though of course not as early in the season. A crop will develop in five or six weeks from sowing. Plant at intervals of two or three weeks for a succession. Cardinal Globe is the standard early variety. Crimson Giant is a little later. Both have that crisp, tender, and juicy quality which makes the radish so universal a favorite. Icicle is a long-growing white variety, very crisp and brittle. This has the merit of remaining in condition for use longer than any other variety.

Rhubarb

This plant likes a deep, rich, and rather moist soil. It should be planted in permanent beds, about three feet apart. I would not advise attempting to grow it from seed. Get roots one or two years old. Victoria is a standard variety.