Part 12

GOLDEN GLOBE.--This variety is of very quick growth and fine quality, being ready for use in from four to six weeks after sowing the seed. In shape it is almost entirely round, the color quite bright, and the quality very sweet and crisp.

GIANT WHITE STUTTGART produces very large roots, frequently reaching the size of an ordinary turnip; it is very quick growing and resists the heat of summer well, being firm and brittle until it runs to seed. The skin and flesh are pure white, a good guarantee of its mild flavor.

LONG WHITE VIENNA, OR LADY FINGER RADISH.]

LONG WHITE VIENNA.--This is a very fine long, white radish, both skin and flesh being pure white; it is crisp and brittle and rapid in growth, and to my mind of a much more attractive shape than the large globe radishes, which, unless pulled young, are too large for any but the confirmed lover of radishes.

LARGE WHITE GLOBE.--A very large, round, summer turnip radish, with pure white skin and flesh, which is very crisp and brittle. It grows quickly and withstands heat well. It is similar to the Golden Globe, except in color.

WINTER VARIETIES.

CALIFORNIA MAMMOTH WHITE.--This is the largest of all radishes, the roots growing eight to ten inches long and two to three inches in diameter, while the flesh is solid, snow white and of excellent flavor.

CHINESE ROSE.--This is a bright, rose-colored variety, of very attractive appearance; it is of excellent quality, a good keeper, and one of the best varieties for winter use.

POTATOES.

A small planting, say two or three rows, of these should be made as early as possible in the spring, the amount planted depending on how soon they will be followed by the main crop. These may be planted in the furrow when the ground is plowed, but I prefer to plant the earliest ones in furrows struck out about three inches deep, after the ground has been thoroughly prepared, as they will come up more quickly. The rows should be dressed with phosphate, to give them a quick growing start, and the pieces of tuber placed about one foot apart; the ground may be run over with a sharp spike harrow when the potatoes are just coming through, or left a little longer and then worked with the cultivator. The soil must be kept well worked, and as close to the roots as it is possible to run. The bugs must be watched for and destroyed as soon as they appear, either by dusting with Paris green mixed with plaster, or with other insect poisons, or by picking them off and destroying them by hand, which is the easier way when the patch is small and potato plants are young. If these early bugs are destroyed before they can lay their eggs, the work of protecting the summer crop will be greatly lessened. Where the main crop of potatoes is to be raised in the garden, they should be planted about the first day of May, or the middle of April, that they may be harvested by the middle or last of August, and the ground used for a crop of turnips, peas, or other second-crop vegetables. As soon as the vines begin to die, and the skin of the potatoes is well set, so that it will not rub off with the fingers, the tubers should be dug or plowed up and stored, not only that the ground may be used again, but because, if they are left in the ground, they will either start to grow again or begin to rot. When dug, I pile them in small heaps of twenty bushels or so on the barn floor, dusting each pile as it is made with dry, air-slacked lime, about a quart to a heap; this helps to dry and preserve them, and prevents any tendency to rot. The barn doors are left open through the day, for a few days, and the potatoes dry gradually, until time for storing them, when it comes cold, though where there is a cool vegetable cellar it will save time to store them at once, and, of course, at this time of the year the ventilators of the cellar should be wide open. Where the cellar is too warm and the potatoes start to sprout, it is said that it may be prevented by turning them frequently, but I have never had an opportunity to try it. The first planting should be made of some very early ripening varieties, while the main crop should be of a kind selected for good size, heavy cropping, and the best cooking qualities.

SWEET POTATOES.

Like some other vegetables, these are generally supposed to require special soil and situation to do well, but with plenty of manure and good cultivation they can be raised of fine size and quality in any garden. As described in the chapter on hotbeds, the old potatoes are planted in a warm bed, about the first of April, and when the ground is prepared, these are taken up and the sprouts broken off close to the potato. The potatoes should be buried two or three inches deep in the bed, which will give each shoot a bunch of fine roots when it is broken off. When the nights are warm, and the trees well out in leaf, plow a double furrow where the row of sweet potatoes is to be; that is, run the plow each way in the same furrow; then fill in two or three inches of fine manure, and plow the furrows back again, forming a ridge over the manure. In the centre of this ridge plant the sets about one foot apart; they must be kept well cultivated, and the running vines must not be allowed to strike root into the soil, or they will form lots of small potatoes, and none large enough for use; some gardeners keep the vines coiled round the central plant, but the easier way is to throw the vines from two rows together, then cultivate the side left bare, and throw them back again, cultivating the other side; after the first time they need not be moved but once for each cultivation, as the blank side can be cultivated and the vines thrown over on it, leaving the other side free, which can be cultivated first the next time it is done, and the vines thrown back. Throwing the vines over can be done very quickly by running a rake handle or long light pole under them, and throwing its whole length of them over at once: they can be dug as soon as large enough for use, by scraping the dirt away from the side of the hill, the potatoes pulled off, and the vines left to form more. The whole crop should be dug as soon as the vines are blackened by the first frost, and spread out in a cool dry place, where there will be no danger of their freezing. On account of the vines taking so much room, the rows should be at least five feet apart.

SAGE.

A dozen roots or more of this herb should be planted in some part of the garden where it will not be disturbed by the plow, or if this cannot be done readily, the roots can be taken up when the plowing is done, divided and reset, which would probably raise a larger and finer crop of leaves than allowing them to stand in the same place year after year. The crop should be cut off a few inches above the ground, as soon as it has made its growth and before it begins to bloom. The shoots will again start to grow, and two or three crops can be cut in a season; the cut tops can be tied in bunches and hung to the rafters, or spread thinly on the floor of a cool loft or garret.

SPINACH.

This is a quick-growing green, and very hardy, making it valuable for early spring and late fall growing. It cannot be raised during summer, on account of its running immediately to seed without making many leaves. It can be sown as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring, and will be ready for use in a few weeks; about three sowings may be made, two weeks apart, or more, if the season is longer, though it will hardly be good if planted after the middle of May. The whole plant is cut off even with the ground, at any time before it starts to run to seed, the leaves and stems being used as boiled greens. Large sowings should be made in October, of the hardy variety, as it can be cut throughout the winter; a later sowing may be made the first of November, and lightly covered with litter when the ground has been frozen hard; this covering should be raked off early in the spring, and it will complete its growth before the first spring planting is ready for use.

VARIETIES OF SPINACH.

NEW THICK-LEAVED ROUND.--This variety produces large, thick, dark green leaves, somewhat crumpled. It possesses the valuable quality of standing for some time after attaining its growth, before running to seed.

THE NORFOLK SAVOY LEAVED.--The leaves of this kind are wrinkled like a Savoy cabbage. It makes a large bunch of succulent leaves, producing more weight of leaves than any other variety, and is more hardy than any of the other kinds.

NEW LONG STANDING.--This is one of the best varieties for spring sowing, as it stands longer than any other before running to seed. The leaves are thick, fleshy and crumpled like the Norfolk Savoy Leaved.

SQUASHES.

Hills should be made for the culture of these, in the same manner and at the same time as described for cucumbers, cantaloupes, etc. These hills should be at some distance from the vines above mentioned, as there is danger of the pollen mixing and spoiling the melons, etc. There are some localities where the winter squashes do not do well or are difficult of cultivation; but the small summer squashes are of easy culture in any locality, though of finer quality on a warm sunny slope than elsewhere. The only trouble in growing them is to protect them from the ravages of the Striped Squash Bug while young, for which purpose I use slug shot, dusted on the leaves early in the morning, while the dew is still on them.

The vines should be allowed plenty of room to run, at least four feet on every side. The vines soon cover the ground and prevent using the cultivator; but the large leaves so shade the soil that few weeds grow, and where they rear their heads above the vines they can be cut out with hand hoes or pulled out after a rain, by hand.

As we can hardly use the product of more than a dozen hills, I divide the long row across the garden into three parts, planting the squashes at one end, watermelons in the centre, while the other end is occupied by cucumbers, which prevents any mixing of pollen, and gives a sufficient quantity of each fruit without disturbing the symmetry of the garden. In gathering the squashes for table use, care must be taken that they are not too old, or they will be tough and stringy when cooked; the easiest way to judge them is to try them with the nail or small stick; if it does not cut the skin freely and easily they are too old; no push should be required to make the cut. This is also a good test when in doubt about the proper condition of sweet corn, and should be applied to grains near the base of the ear. No old squashes should be allowed to remain on the vines of the summer varieties, for if they are allowed to ripen, the vine, having fulfilled its natural purpose, will dry up and die, while if the fruits are picked off, it will continue to grow and produce fruit.

The winter squashes are raised in the same manner, but are more difficult to start, as the young plants are subject to a borer which eats them off under ground. Plenty of seed should be sown in each hill, and as soon as you see a plant wilting or cut off, dig around its roots with your fingers or a stick until you find and kill the borer, otherwise, he will continue his labors on the other plants in the hill. The plants should also have careful watching and dusting, to preserve them from the usual insects that prey on young vines. When the plants are about one foot in length they should be thinned out to two or three in a hill, though the danger from borers is hardly passed yet, but to allow them to stand too thickly after attaining this size would stunt them and lessen the crop. The squashes should be gathered before there is any hard frost and stored in a cool, well-aired cellar. Some of the winter varieties are equally good for summer use before they become too old and hard; if these are planted, the one planting will furnish fruit for both seasons.

SUMMER VARIETIES OF SQUASHES.

EARLY WHITE BUSH, OR PATTY-PAN.--This is the best known and most generally planted of the early squashes; when young the quality is very fine, the flesh is fine grained and of delicate flavor. It is a bush variety and the vine does not “run.”

GOLDEN SUMMER CROOKNECK.--A small crook-necked summer squash, the skin of which is a bright yellow color and is covered with warty excrescences. It is early, productive and of excellent flavor.