THE COSTLIEST EARS OF CORN IN THE WORLDThe champion ten ears of corn shown in the illustration average ten and one-half inches in length and seven and three-quarters in circumference, each ear carrying twenty rows of kernels, the depth of the kernels being three fourths of an inch, and the average weight of each ear was twenty ounces. They were sold at the rate of $2,345 per bushel or $335 for the ten ears. The champion single ear of corn was sold at the Omaha National Corn Show for $85.
THE COSTLIEST EARS OF CORN IN THE WORLD
The champion ten ears of corn shown in the illustration average ten and one-half inches in length and seven and three-quarters in circumference, each ear carrying twenty rows of kernels, the depth of the kernels being three fourths of an inch, and the average weight of each ear was twenty ounces. They were sold at the rate of $2,345 per bushel or $335 for the ten ears. The champion single ear of corn was sold at the Omaha National Corn Show for $85.
Corn(Zea mays). Indian corn, or maize is a product native to America, an annual, and is the most important member of the grass family. It is America’s foremost cereal, with a wider adaptability than any other, and is grown in every state and territory. The temperate climate of the Central States is most favorable to it, and Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana, Kansas and Ohio are the leading states in its planting. The bulk of the world’s production of maize is grown in this country, although it is an important crop in Hungary, Italy, Egypt, South Africa, and other parts of the world.
Economic Uses.—Corn is of primary importance as a food for live stock, enormous quantities being used to fatten cattle and swine.
The manufacture of starch and other products from corn is an industry of increasing magnitude. The chief starch derivatives are dextrine and glucose or grape sugar (used in brewing beer and as a substitute for true sugar).
Corn oil may be called a by-product in starch manufacture, yet the annual value of corn oil is greater than that of cornstarch produced in the United States. It is used in soap and paints. Vulcanized by heating with sulphur, it forms a widely used adulterant and substitute for rubber.
Among the dozens of useful products made from corn are corn meal, corn grits, hominy, breakfast foods, beer, whisky, alcohol, cologne spirits, cornstarch, dextrine, glucose, grape sugar, corn sirup, corn oil, soap, rubber substitute and cattle foods.
A special variety of corn is raised to make cob pipes. Compressed corn pith is packed between the double hulls of warships. Corn husks are used in mattresses and paper is made in very limited amount from the leaves and stalks. Large amounts of popcorn, plain and candied, are eaten in the United States.
Methods of Cultivation.—Owing to its widespread growing, the methods of corn culture vary greatly, and no rigid rules can be laid down for all conditions. For maximum results the cornfield must be rich in humus, its soil finely pulverized, mellow and well drained. Many successful growers in the so-called corn states find these conditions best assured by plowing deeply in the fall, turning under liberal quantities of organic matter such as stable and barnyard manure and leaving the subsoil upturned to benefit from the action of the elements during winter, following with the disk harrow or other like implement in the spring. Planting is done when the soil is thoroughly warmed and when danger of frost is past.
There are two methods of planting commonly practiced, one by drilling or dropping the seed[126](three or four grains) in hills with a machine drawn by horses and completing two rows at once. The other is planting with an implement known as a lister, dropping and covering one grain in a place in the bottom of a furrow, at intervals of eight to twelve inches. The latter method is quite extensively followed in the more western of the corn states, such as Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. The lister is a plow and planter combined, with moldboards at once turning the soil to the right and left, opening a furrow, dropping and covering the seed at the same time, economizing labor, time and expense. Corn is planted about two inches deep, and if in hills or rows generally three and one-half feet apart each way. A bushel of fifty-six pounds of seed suffices for planting nearly eight acres. For soiling, forage or ensiling it is planted more thickly.
Cultivation, with horse-drawn cultivators, cleaning one row at a time, and by some implements two rows, repeated three or four times in a season, is given to kill weeds, aid in the retention of moisture, and aerate the soil. This begins in many instances before the plants appear, and often in the earlier stages is done with a harrow and later by using the cultivator, upon which the operator usually rides.
Harvesting, done after the grains have become hardened is by cutting the stalks from the hills where grown, by hand or machinery, and standing them in large shocks to be husked later, or, husking the ears directly from the stalks without cutting or shocking. No machine equal to human hands has yet been invented for husking corn. The yield ranges from twenty-five to one hundred bushels of sixty pounds, shelled, or seventy pounds unshelled, per acre. The stalks and husks, whether harvested or not are used as food for live stock, and somewhat in manufactures.
Emmer.SeeSpelt.
Johnson Grass(Sorghum halapense) is a coarse perennial, most extensively grown in the South or the Gulf States, for hay. It spreads so persistently and is so difficult to eradicate that its growing is frowned upon by most of the best authorities. One bushel of seed, or thirty-five pounds per acre is about the quantity sown. It is propagated by roots also. Never plant Johnson grass with the expectation of destroying it.
Millet(Panicum miliaceum) is a native of the East Indies, and is about three feet high; each panicle contains five to six hundred grains. Hungarian grass is one of the most common grown for hay and grain. In the United States they are principally grown for forage. It is a general rule to sow after corn planting has been done but they may be safely sown considerably later, as a catch crop when the regular hay crop is short or a probable failure. Millets are excellent for ensilage, and a succession of cuttings for that purpose or for soiling can be easily secured by sowing at intervals of two or three weeks from early May to late July. The seed is sown broadcast or with grain drills, mostly broadcast, at the rate of two to three pecks per acre, for hay and somewhat less for seed. The hay is harvested and handled after the manner of other hay crops, and the seed crop as that of other small grains. Well drained, rich, warm, loam soils are preferable for millet, and it does not prosper on thin or poor land. A crop of millet leaves the soil where it grew in a delightful condition of tilth. Its yield of seed is from twenty to forty bushels per acre.
Oats(Avena sativa) have a broad panicle; the individual ears are two-rowed, with and without beards. Another much-cultivated species are the bearded oats (A. orientalis). The greater portion of the oats crop of the United States is grown in the north central states, more than one-half in the six states of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Ohio, ranking in order named. Russia is also a large producer and it is cultivated throughout the temperate parts of the civilized world. The yield per acre ranges from twenty-five to one hundred bushels, weighing thirty-two pounds. Oats thrives best in cool weather with abundant moisture, and in the principal oats territory should be sown as early as possible in the spring—earlier than any other spring grain. The ground for oats should be plowed, but it is not uncommon to merely disk harrow the land before sowing. If the latter, about four bushels is sown to the acre, broadcast or drilled, but on well prepared ground ten to twelve pecks of clean, graded seed is sufficient. In the main the oats crop is harvested, stacked and threshed as other small grains.
Oats is used chiefly for horse feed, and in lesser amounts for making oatmeal and breakfast foods.
The manufacture of oatmeal is of relatively small importance since the more nourishing products of wheat are increasingly used.
Orchard Grass(Dactylis glomerata) is a hardy, nutritious perennial, growing two to five feet high, that does well in either shade or sunshine. It flourishes in nearly every state between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, and is profitably grown in all the states east of the Mississippi River lying between thirty-five degrees and forty-seven degrees north latitude, but is partial to a rich soil. Two to three bushels of seed are sown to the acre, from about the middle of March to the middle of April. It provides either hay or pasturage, and is prized for the latter, as “it comes early and stays late.”
Rape(Brassica napus) is a valuable farm crop, supplies an abundance of succulent green food in a short time, for soiling or pasture, especially for sheep and swine, being ready to use ordinarily six weeks after sowing, and is prized chiefly as a catch crop. Three pounds of seed per acre sown in rows thirty inches apart is customary, and the favorite is the Dwarf Essex.
Redtop, or Herd’s Grass (Agrostis alba) is a meadow grass and also one of the best pasture plants. It prospers on land where blue-grass, timothy and clover are not thrifty. It is most at home in a moist soil, flourishing in swampy places unfit for almost any other useful grass, and it also has ability to withstand severe drought. On thin soil it makes excellent pasture, but yields lightly of hay. It may be sown in the fall or spring, alone, or with a nurse crop. For meadow, it is best sown alone, using one bushel of seed in the chaff, or half as much if winnowed. A bushel of recleaned seed weighs thirty-five pounds.
Rice(Oryza sativa) is grown in nearly all the warmer countries of the earth, and forms the daily food of many millions of people. It is estimated that one-third of the people of the world live principally on rice.
There are two general varieties—the mountain rice and the marsh rice, the latter being the most cultivated. It is usually grown in swampy land or else on irrigated fields. In most countries rice is grown in the most primitive fashion. Immense irrigating plants and modern agricultural machinery make possible the large production in parts of the United States.
It is the chief crop in southeastern Asia, from India through Indo-China, a great part of China, southern Japan and many islands of the Pacific. Rice of excellent quality is raised in Texas, Louisiana and South Carolina, and an amount about equal to the production of this country is imported from eastern Asia.
Economic Uses.—Rough rice or paddy (rice in the hull) is first hulled by machinery and then the grains are polished or whitened. The rice[127]polish, which consists of the powdered outer coats, is a very nourishing cattle food. Saké, the national drink of Japan, is a weak alcoholic liquor brewed from rice. Rice straw is of enormous use in Asia, being employed for hundreds of purposes, some of them as unexpected as the making of bags, ropes and sandals. Rough rice and clean rice are the common commercial articles.
Rye(Secale cereale) is cultivated in all northern countries. The stalk grows up to six feet, and the ears are double-rowed with a long beard. The grain is dark green and very mealy, and furnishes a good bread. It is cultivated in the cold climates of northern Europe, especially in Russia. Only small amounts are grown in the United States.
The leading rye states, in order of yields, are Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York and Minnesota, which together raised nearly two-thirds of the crop.
It is usually sown at the same time as winter wheat, or earlier, one and a half to two bushels of seed per acre, and its habits and treatment are essentially the same. Its yield per acre is from twenty to fifty bushels, weighing fifty-six pounds. It is noted for its ability to thrive and yield fairly on soils too poor for the more important cereals. Rye is used for breadmaking, live stock food, and in the manufacture of malt and alcoholic beverages. It is the chief breadstuff in parts of Russia, Scandinavia and Germany. It also furnishes valuable pasturage late in the fall and early spring, for which it is extensively sown where early tame grasses do not prosper. Its straw is in considerable demand for various uses, such as the making of paper, filling horse collars, for packing and otherwise.
Sugar-Cane(Saccharum officinarium), a tree-like grass, grows nine to fifteen feet high, and contains in its pith a sweet sap, from which our raw sugar is obtained. The sugar-cane is a native of the East Indies, but it is now grown in India, Cuba, Hawaii, Java, Brazil, Mauritius, Louisiana and other parts of the tropics and subtropics. India’s large production is consumed locally and enters little into export trade. Louisiana produces all made in the United States, except ten thousand to fifteen thousand tons, annually, from Texas. Cane for molasses and sirup is grown more or less in all of the Gulf Coast states.
Method of Cultivation.—It requires a fertile soil, rich in humus. Sandy and clay loams are both good, but alluvial soils are best. In preparing for sugar cane the soil is thrown up by plows in beds six to seven feet wide. In planting, furrows are opened, and in these the cane stalks, one, two or three are laid side by side, covering by plows. It is cultivated largely after the manner of corn, care being taken to leave the rows well ridged up by the last cultivation, to facilitate drainage. The quantity of cane required for planting an acre ranges from four to six tons. Two and sometimes three crops or cuttings are had from one planting. Yields of forty to forty-five tons of stripped cane per acre are not uncommon, although half those quantities are considered creditable averages for large plantations.
Manufacture.—After harvesting, sugar cane is carried (usually by rail) promptly to the mill, where the juice is pressed out. Modern mills have nine rollers, arranged in three sets. The trash, or bagasse, is almost dry when it leaves the last rollers and is used as fuel to run the mill. The juice is boiled down, generally in vacuum pans heated by steam, and the sugar crystals which form are separated from the molasses in centrifugals.
Products.—Raw cane sugar, brown to yellowish in color, produced by evaporation of the juice in open pans (muscovados), and crystals from vacuum pans are both important commercially. White sugar, granulated, loaf and pulverized, as commonly sold, is more nearly chemically pure than most other articles of commerce. Molasses, from cane juice boiled in open pans, is palatable for human food, and, like all cane molasses, is fermented and distilled to make rum.
Sorghumis a cultivated grass of many varieties (Panicum,Setaria,Andropogon, etc.) Guinea corn, kaffir corn, broom corn and other names are employed to distinguish the different kinds. They may, however, be divided into two classes: thesaccharineor sweet sorghums and thenon-saccharine. The sweet sorghums are grown for making sirup, but principally for forage and hay, and yield heavily, from five to fifteen tons per acre. The seed being somewhat bitter is not entirely relished by animals, but it finds a ready market for seeding purposes. For hay about a bushel of seed is sown to the acre, and for fodder and seed about ten pounds per acre is planted in rows and cultivated.
Kaffir Cornis by far the most valuable of the non-saccharine sorghums. Its grain, of which it yields from thirty to sixty bushels per acre, has a feeding value approximating that of Indian corn, and its forage after the seed heads have been removed is valuable feed for live stock.
Milois one of the non-saccharine sorghums especially adapted to dry regions, and the most successful summer grain crop for the southern half of the plains country. It does not rank with the sweet sorghums and Kaffir corn as forage, being principally valued for its seed, which makes a satisfactory substitute for Indian corn.
Jerusalem Cornis also a non-saccharine sorghum. It is cultivated mostly in the cooler climates of the dry regions. It will mature in a short season, and is quite productive of seed, but its fodder yield is light.
Broom-Corn, a non-saccharine sorghum, is grown only for its brush for making brooms. It is a hardy plant, withstanding dry weather well, and is grown chiefly in Oklahoma, Illinois and Kansas. There are two varieties—the Standard and Dwarf, the former growing taller and producing the longer brush.
In adaptability sorghums cover about as wide a range of soils and climate as corn, and are noted for their drought-resisting powers. Kaffir corn is especially adapted to hot, dry and semi-arid portions of the West, where corn is uncertain, and there it is regarded with increasing appreciation.
In some places the juice of sorghum is boiled down to make sirup or sugar. Common brooms are made of the tops of the Broom-corn.
Spelt(Triticum Spelta) is chiefly cultivated in south Germany, but is also grown in a small way in some of our northwestern states. It is sown in both fall and spring, dealt with the same as other wheats, and some authorities recommend it as a very hardy drought-resistant grain for semi-arid regions. About seven pecks of seed are sown to the acre, and the yield is from twenty-five to sixty bushels per acre. The small ears are arranged on a brittle stalk, and consist of three or four blooms, of which, as a rule, only two are fruitful. Spelt is, generally, not bearded. The corn furnishes a white bread. When unripe, it is manufactured into a soup, which is highly esteemed.
Timothy(Phleum pratense) is a popular and most widely used hay plant in America, and also extensively seeded with other grasses for pasture, prospering best in moist loams. It yields the year following its sowing, grows from one and a half to four feet high, and twelve to fifteen pounds of seed are sown per acre. The chief timothy region is the northern half of the United[128]States, east of the 100th meridian, where it is usually sown in the fall with winter wheat, or in the spring with oats. Forty-five pounds of seed make a bushel.
Wheat(Triticum vulgare), does not grow as high as the rye, but has a thicker stalk and thicker ears, which are composed of several small ears. In each little ear there are generally four seeds. There are, as a rule, no beards; but, on the other hand, there is often a short spur at the top of the ears. It grows in temperate climates, the largest crops being raised in United States (especially in Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Kansas); Central Europe (Russia, France, Austria-Hungary and Italy); India, Argentina, Canada and Australia. The area of wheat production is steadily increasing and wheat raising has become an important industry in newly developed countries, such as parts of British America, West Australia and Manchuria.
Cultivation.—The soil conditions in the Middle West are most favorable for giving quality. Its rich prairies contain large amounts of decaying vegetable matter, and because of the lime and alkaline substances in these soils, the elements of plant food are readily available, particularly the nitrogen in the soil, that contributes so largely to the glutinous character of the wheat.
Wheat is more than ordinarily adapted to machine farming and the invention of the successful reaper was largely responsible for the rapid increase of wheat acreage in America. In many parts of the wheat region immense plows drawn by traction engines and turning six to twelve and more furrows are employed. In other portions where operations are large many fields are plowed only once in two or three years. For various reasons, among which may be mentioned the control of weeds and the conserving of moisture in the soil, early plowing for winter wheat is preferable, and where the rainfall is scant very satisfactory conditions are obtained by stirring the surface soil with disc harrows only.
The average quantity of seed sown per acre is between four and five pecks, varying with the quality, the locality, method and time of seeding and the whim of the sower. The yield ranges from ten to sixty bushels per acre, the bushel weighing sixty pounds.
Wheat is mostly sown with drills, the old method of sowing broadcast having been mostly abandoned. By drilling a more even distribution and covering of the seed, and a better stand and yield of grain may be confidently expected.
In harvesting small areas the self-binding reaping machine is popular. This cuts the standing grain and binds it in sheaves of convenient size which are stood in shocks of three or four dozen bundles each, whence it is either threshed direct or put in stacks for threshing at a more convenient season. On larger areas and especially where the wheat is quite ripe, the header is commonly and widely used. This clips off the heads of grain, and elevates them into large receptacles called barges, set on wagons, leaving the straw standing. Usually when headed the grain is put directly into stacks, and threshed at convenience.
Economic Products.—Its commercial varieties, hard, soft, red, white, etc., differ in percentage of starch and gluten.
The whole grain is ground into graham flour, made into breakfast foods and used in brewing.
From parts of the grain are prepared whole wheat flour, white flour, middlings, bran, wheat grits, wheat starch, macaroni, spaghetti, etc.
Wheatflour may be said to be the standard foodstuff of modern civilized man.
Macaroni is made from special varieties of hard, glutinous wheat.
Wheat straw is plaited into braids (Leghorn, etc.) for hat making, and is used like the straw from other grains for packing material and as bedding for animals.
Straw braids come largely from Italy, China and Japan.
The principal countries exporting wheat are United States, Russia, Argentina, Canada, Roumania, India and Australia.
Among the commercial products of the world, vegetables are a most important item, and their value as foodstuffs needs no emphasizing. The inhabitants of the world could subsist without animal-flesh, could scarcely subsist entirely on cereals, but they most certainly could not subsist without vegetables. Practically every nation, savage and civilized alike, cultivates a few plants for use as vegetables. The vegetables we know and prize most are one and all the result of long cultivation, the origin of most being lost in antiquity. The world has been ransacked, and for the vegetables cultivated in America nearly every country under the sun has been laid under contribution.
Asparagus(Asparagus officinalis). The common Asparagus is a native of Great Britain, Russia and Poland. It is one of the oldest as well as one of the most delicious of our garden vegetables. It was cultivated in the time of Cato the Elder, 200 B. C.; and Pliny mentions a sort that grew in his time near Ravenna, of which three heads would weigh a pound. As many of our best gardeners contend, adaptation of soil, together with thorough cultivation, alone explains the difference in this vegetable, as offered in our markets or seen in our gardens.
Bean(Phaseolus vulgaris) is cultivated in many countries for the sake of its seed and husks. By cultivation many varieties have been produced, of which the following are the best known:Broad Bean, an important article of food in Europe and western Asia, and valuable forage plant, grown in gardens and as a field crop. All species of the bean have a very high food value; are relatively cheap in price, but much less easily digested than cereals.Lima Bean, widely cultivated in tropical Africa, sparingly in temperate regions. Production in the United States most extensive in California.NavyorKidney Bean, extensively grown in the United States, over one hundred and fifty varieties of which are in cultivation as a garden vegetable, “string beans,” fodder and for food. The closely related “frijole” is universally grown in Mexico and Spanish American countries where it ranks next to maize as a staple food.Soy Bean, the common bean of China and Japan is grown in immense quantities. Various preparations form a part of the daily food. It is now grown in Europe and southern and southwestern United States as forage and soiling crop.
NEWEST VEGETABLES GROWN IN AMERICAN GARDENS
Brussels Sprouts, or Bud-bearing Cabbage (B. oleracea bullata minor) originated in Belgium, and has been cultivated around Brussels from time immemorial, although it is only within the last fifty years that it has become generally known in this country. It is so named on account of its peculiar habit, producing a bud-like cluster of leaves in the axil of each leaf from the base to the top of the stem. These buds or sprouts are the parts of the plant that are eaten, and are highly esteemed for their delicate flavor and wholesome quality. Brussels sprouts is one of the hardiest of green winter vegetables. As a rule, the shorter-stemmed strains have the largest and most compact sprouts, and are consequently the most favored. As regards cultivation, the plant, like all of the cabbage tribe, requires deep, rich soil to bring it to fullest perfection.
Cabbage(Brassica oleraceæ) is found in a wild state in various parts of Europe and in southern England, always on maritime cliffs. It is a biennial, with fleshy lobed leaves covered with a glaucous bloom; altogether so different in form and appearance from the cabbage of our gardens that few would believe it could possibly have been the parent of so varied a progeny as are comprised in the Savoy, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Broccoli and other numerous varieties. Over one hundred fifty varieties are enumerated. The common or cultivated cabbage is well known, and from a very early period has been a favorite culinary vegetable in almost daily use throughout the civilized world.
Carrot(Daucus) of which there are about twenty species are mostly natives of the Mediterranean countries. The common carrot is a biennial plant and is universally cultivated for the sake of its root. In all varieties of the wild plant this is slender, woody and of a very strong flavor; and that of the cultivated variety is much thicker and more fleshy, much milder in its flavor and qualities. Its color is generally red, but sometimes orange or yellowish white.
Cauliflower(B. oleracea botrytis cauliflora) is of great antiquity, but its origin is unknown, although it is usually ascribed to Italy. To the English and Dutch gardeners we are chiefly indebted for the perfection it has attained. Heads of immense size are now grown for the market. It is by no means uncommon to see a head perfectly sound and smooth, fully ten inches in diameter, and, contrary to the usual rule, size is not obtained at the expense of quality, the larger, if differing at all, being more tender and delicious. The varieties of the Cauliflower are numerous.
Celery(Apium graveolens). The plant is hardy, and is largely cultivated in the United States, Canada and Europe. In cultivation, however, abundant nutrition has greatly mollified its properties, and two principal forms have arisen. The first sort is the common celery, where the familiar long blanched succulent stalks are produced by transplanting the seedlings into richly manured trenches, which are filled up as the plants grow, and finally raised into ridges over which little more than the tops of the leaves appear; and a supply is thus insured throughout the whole winter. The other form is the turnip-rooted celery, or celeriac.
Cucumber(Cucumis sativus). The common cucumber is distinguished by heart-shaped leaves, which are rough with hairs approaching to bristles, and oblong fruit. It is a native of the middle and south of Asia, and has been cultivated from the earliest times. Its fruit forms an important article of food in its native regions, the south of Europe, etc., and an esteemed delicacy in colder countries, where it is produced by the aid of artificial heat. Many varieties are in cultivation, with fruit from four inches to two feet long, rough, smooth, etc.
Vegetable Marrow(Cucurbita ovifera) is closely allied to the cucumber, and is supposed to have been originally brought from Persia. Like the cucumber it is a tender annual, but succeeds out of doors in summer in this country.
Many other members of the cucumber family are cultivated as esculents, notably in the warmer parts of the world. Of these the chief are Pumpkins, Melon Pumpkin, Water Melon, Chocho, Bottle Gourd, Squash.
Egg-plant(Solanum melongena). The egg-like fruit known as egg-apple, etc., is a favorite article of food in the East Indies, and has thence been introduced to most warm countries. It varies in size from that of a hen’s egg to that of a swan’s egg, in color from white or yellow to violet. Egg-plants are much grown in the United States, where “Jew’s-apple” is one of the names for the fruit.
Kale, or Borecole (B. oleracea acephala) is distinguished by its leaves being beautifully cut and curled, of a green or purple color, or variegated with red, green, and yellow, never closing so as to form a heart, nor producing edible flower heads like a Cauliflower. Its leaves and tender shoots are not only edible but form one of the most useful green vegetables.
Lentils(Ervum Lens), a slender plant supposed to be native of Western Asia, Greece and Italy. The Lentil was introduced into Egypt as a cultivated plant at an early date, and from this center spread east and west. It is a weak, straggling plant, rarely exceeding eighteen inches high, often much more dwarfed, having pinnate leaves terminating in tendrils. The flowers are white, lilac, or pale blue, small and formed like those of a pea. There are three varieties of lentil recognized in the countries in which it is cultivated: the small brown, which is the lightest flavored and the best esteemed for soups and haricots; the yellow variety, which is slightly larger; and the lentil of Provence, France, which has seeds as large as a small pea, but is better appreciated as fodder for cattle than for food for man.
Lettuce(Lactuca sativa). The garden lettuce is supposed to be a native of the East Indies, but is not known to exist anywhere in a wild state, and from remote antiquity has been cultivated as an esculent and particularly as a salad. It has a leafy stem, oblong leaves, a spreading, flat-topped panicle, with yellow flowers, and a fruit without margin. It is now generally cultivated in all parts of the world where the climate admits of it.
Melon(Cucumis melo), a plant of the same genus with the cucumber, much cultivated for its fruit. The melon is an annual, with trailing or climbing stems, lateral tendrils, rounded, angular leaves, small, yellow flowers and large round or somewhat ovate fruit. The varieties in cultivation are very numerous, some of them distinguished by a thick and warty rind, some by a rind cracked in a net-like manner, some by ribs and furrows, some by a perfectly smooth and thin rind; they differ also in the color of the flesh of the fruit, which is green, red, yellow, etc.; and in the size of the fruit, which varies from three or four inches to a foot or more in diameter. They are widely cultivated in the United States, ranking fifth in acreage among vegetables. New Jersey leads in production, growing about one-seventh of entire crop. Cultivation under irrigation is highly developed in Colorado. They are often called cantaloupe in the markets.
Mushroom.SeeCryptogams.
Okraor Gumbo (Hibiscus esculentus) is a generally used food plant most commonly employed in soups in the East and West Indies and also in the southern United States. It was anciently grown in tropical Africa and Egypt, and is now[131]diffused in tropical countries and in the southern United States.
Onion(Allium Cepa) is extensively cultivated throughout the world, and is grown in every state in the United States, New York and Ohio leading in production. Bermuda and Spanish varieties are now grown in California. It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians; also by the Greeks and Romans. Many other important vegetables are allied to the onion, viz.: Leek, Shallot, Onion, Chives and Garlic. All of these are highly esteemed in cookery.
Parsnip(Pastinaca), an annual, biennial, or perennial herb, with carrot-like, often fleshy root and pinnate leaves. The parsnip has long been cultivated for the sake of its root, which in cultivation has greatly increased in size and become more fleshy. The flavor is disliked by some, as well as the too great sweetness, but highly relished by others; and the root of the parsnip is more nutritious than that of the carrot. The crop is also on many soils of larger quantity; and although the parsnip delights in a very open, rich soil, it will succeed in clayey soils far too stiff for the carrot.
Pea(Pisum sativum) has been cultivated from very remote times. The pea plant is covered with a delicate, glaucous bloom, and its white or pale violet flowers are familiar to all. The pods are pendulous, smooth, deep green and variable in size and may contain any number up to thirteen (rarely more) peas. The peas when ripe are also variable, some being white and round, others blue and wrinkled, and a few large, irregular, and dull green. They are cultivated in Europe, Asia and the United States. Chiefly used as green vegetable, but also for fodder. Ranks seventh in acreage among minor vegetables in the United States.
Peppersor Capsicums or Chillies (Capsicum annumandC. frutescens) are widely cultivated in the warmer parts of both hemispheres. The fruits vary considerably in shape and size, and when green are cooked and eaten as a vegetable.
Potato(Solanum tuberosum) is the greatest of vegetable gifts to man. Its cabbage-like stalks have a height of from eighteen to twenty inches; its leaves are solitary and pennate; its large pentagonal blossoms are white, reddish or violet; its fruit is a green berry. Attached to its underground runners are those bulbs which serve as food to many millions of people, and from which starch, sago, sugar of grapes and brandy are prepared.
The potato stands second only to corn as the most important contribution of America to the food plants of the world. Preëminently the most important vegetable grown in Europe and America. The world crop is enormous, exceeding five billion bushels; in bulk surpassing by about one-half the world crop of wheat, corn or oats. Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, the United States and Great Britain are the chief producers in order named. Germany grows one-third of the world crop, Russia one-fifth. In the United States they are grown in every state and territory; also in Hawaii and Alaska.
Their cultivation was even ancient in Peru. It was widely diffused from Chile to Colombia at time of Spanish discovery, but there were no evidences of culture in Mexico or by North American Indians. It was introduced into what is now North Carolina and Virginia late in the sixteenth century; taken to Europe first by the Spaniards early in the sixteenth century and to England by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585.Sweet Potatoesare the thickened roots ofIpomoea Batatas, a climbing plant. This plant is extensively cultivated in most tropical countries, although not known in a wild state. The root contains much starch and saccharine matter. They are second only to the potato in the United States, being widely grown in the South—Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee producing over half of the total crop, which in acreage and value is about one-fifth that of the potato.
Radish(Raphanus sativus) is a well-known plant, the root of which is a valuable salad; it has been cultivated from a remote period. It is now possible to have a supply the whole year round. Crisp, tender radishes with delicate flavor are only obtained by quick growth on rich, moist soil. The earliest crops are grown in frames on hotbeds, the crop being ready about five weeks from sowing. The earliest sowing outdoors can be made from December to February in sheltered sunny positions, the beds being covered with a thick layer of litter. There are round, oval and long-rooted varieties.
Tomatoor Love-apple (Lycopersicum esculentum). The fruit of this plant is fleshy, usually red or yellow, divided into two, three or more cells containing numerous seeds imbedded in pulp. The tomato is one of a genus of several species, all natives of South America, chiefly on the Peruvian side. In the warmer countries of the United States, Europe and other countries in which the summer is warm and prolonged, it has long been cultivated for the excellent qualities of the fruit as an article of diet. The tomato is extensively grown as a field crop for canneries in the United States, and in the North is one of the chief winter-forcing crops. It is exceeded in acreage only by the watermelon and sweet corn among the minor vegetables. In the United States the crop exceeds thirty million bushels, nearly half of which is grown in Maryland and New Jersey.
Turnip(Brassica rapa). Although the turnip is of great value for feeding stock, it is not very nutritious, no less than nine to ninety-six parts of its weight actually consisting of water. One of the best early varieties is purple top strap leaf. Early flat Dutch is also good. The Swedish turnip, orruta baga, which was introduced into cultivation from the north of Europe more recently than the common turnip, and has proved of very great value to the farmer, is regarded by some botanists as a variety of the same species, and by some as a variety ofB. napus, but more generally as a variety ofB. campestris, a species common in cornfields and sides of ditches in Britain and the north of Europe.
Watermelon(Citrullus vulgaris). The most popular melon in cultivation, is extensively grown in warm climates throughout the world, but most abundantly in southern Russia and the southern United States. It leads all minor vegetables in acreage, being surpassed only by the major vegetables, potato and sweet potato. Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and Missouri are the chief growers in the order named. Very anciently it was cultivated by Egyptians.
Yam(Dioscorea alata). Yams, the tubers of various species ofDioscorea, are cultivated in nearly all tropical countries. Yam tubers abound in farinaceous matter and often reach a large size. They resemble but are inferior to the sweet potato.
PLANTING TABLE FOR GARDEN VEGETABLES
Time given is for latitude of New York. Each one hundred miles north or south will make a difference of from five to seven days in the season. The distances given here indicate the distance apart the plants should stand after thinning. The seed should be sown much nearer together.ClassA. These plants may be started early (in the greenhouse or hotbed, in early spring, or outdoors in the seedbed later), and afterwards transplanted to their permanent location.ClassB. These crops usually occupy the ground for the entire season.ClassC. These are quick maturing crops which, for a constant supply, should be planted at several different times in “succession”—a week or two weeks apart.ClassD. These are crops which often may be cleared off in time to permit planting another quickly maturing crop, usually of some early variety.ClassE. These crops are supplementary to those in Class D and may be used to obtain a second crop out of the ground from which early crops have been cleared.
PLANTING TABLE FOR GARDEN VEGETABLES—ContinuedEspecially Adapted to Southern United States
The fruit trees are cultivated for the sake of their fruit. They bear either kernel fruit, when their seed kernels are enclosed in cores of parchment-like formation; or stone fruit, when the seed kernel is enclosed in a hard shell, which is in its turn enclosed in some succulent pulp; or shell fruit, when the fleshy interior is enclosed in a hard shell.
Almond, a small tree belonging to the rose family, native to northwest Africa. The flowers are solitary and generally pink, and appear before the lance-shaped leaves. The fruit is egg-shaped, downy externally, with a tough, fibrous covering and a wrinkled stone. It has long been widely cultivated, and many varieties exist, differing in the hardness of the stone and in the flavor of the seed.Sweet Almondsinclude the large thin-shelled Jordan (from the Frenchjardin), the Valencia almond, imported as a dessert fruit from Malaga, the smaller Barbary and Italian forms, and the California product. TheBitter Almondyields an essential oil, employed in confectionery, but dangerous from sometimes containing prussic acid.
Apple(Pyrus Malus), grows wild in forests, but it is found artificially improved everywhere in gardens and orchards. Its bark is generally smooth; its wood somewhat soft; its leaves oval-shaped and about double the length of their stalks; its blossoms are white with reddish margins. Fruit horticulture has produced many species of apples in the course of time, and they are now the most important fruit of the temperate zone, area of production, consumption, and variety of product being considered, ranking with the grape, olive, orange, lemon and banana, among the six leading fruits of the world. North America is preëminently the leading apple growing region. In the United States, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio produce about one-third of the total crop.
The cultivation of the apple is prehistoric. Abundantly used by Lake Dwellers of the Stone Age in Italy and Switzerland.