Peppersrequire very much the same conditions as tomatoes and egg-plant, except that they may be planted somewhat closer together. The rows should be from eighteen inches to two feet apart, with the plants spaced from one to two feet apart in the rows.Bull NoseandChinese Giantare good examples of the mild, sweet kinds, withGolden Queento give color variation in the salad made from them.Long Red CayenneandRed Chilishould be chosen if the peppery varieties are desired.
Potato.—The largest crops of potatoes are produced in cool, moist, climates such as are found in Great Britain, parts of Europe, and, in the United States, in Maine and Michigan.
The soils best suited for potatoes are fertile, rather sandy loams which should be fairly retentive of moisture. A soil of this nature which has been heavily fertilized with barn-yard manure the preceding year may be considered ideal for potato culture. The use of barn-yard manure, particularly if it is fresh, is inadvisable if the soil contains a good proportion of humus and is in good physical condition. It is claimed that the practice of using barn-yard manure the current season causes the crop to be more susceptible to attacks of potato scab. Many of the largest growers of potatoes refrain from fertilizing directly with barn-yard manure, but rely instead on the use of commercial fertilizers. These may be applied broadcast over the field in the spring, after the soil has been plowed, and harrowed in. If only a small quantity of fertilizer is available, it is preferable to apply it by spreading it in the furrows, but thoroughly mixing it in the soil before the potatoes are planted. The fertilizer obtainable from most seedsmen under the name of “potato manure” can safely be used in the furrows at the rate of five pounds to a plot of four hundred square feet.
“Seed” potatoes should consist of medium-sized tubers, Northern grown, and free from disease. Although whole potatoes may be planted, the usual practice is to cut them into pieces, each piece containing two or three “eyes,” or buds. When cutting the potatoes for sets make each piece as “chunky” as possible so that there is a good-sized piece of potato for the “eyes” to draw upon for their food supply until they have formed a root system of their own.
There are two methods of planting potatoes—in hills and in furrows or rows. In the hill system of planting, the plants are spaced from two to three feet apart either way, the distance being dependent on the vigor of the variety. When planted in furrows the rows are spaced from two to three feet apart and the sets placed from twelve to eighteen inches apart in the rows. The early varieties may be planted about four inches deep, and the late varieties about six inches.
When the shoots appear above the ground the surface soil should be cultivated to conserve moisture and to keep down weeds. Later in the season when the tubers are being formed it is customary to hill them up with earth so as to cover the tubers and prevent “greening,” and also to assist in keeping the roots cool.
The potato is particularly susceptible to environmental conditions. A variety that may be an excellent cropper in one section may be an utter failure in another. It is thus difficult to recommend any particular variety. The best plan for those who are to attempt the cultivation of potatoes is to make inquiry in the neighborhood with a view to finding the variety that is most successful in that locality.
The following are standard varieties that are widely grown: early varieties—Irish Cobbler,Early Rose,Early Ohio; main-crop varieties—Carman No. 1,Green Mountain, andRural New-Yorker.
Pumpkinswill succeed under practically the same conditions as outlined for cucumber and melon. They are also subject to the same insect pests. This crop is frequently grown in the corn-patch, in hills about eight feet apart each way, planting five or six seeds to a hill.
Radishesare only palatable when they have been grown very quickly. If they are slow in coming to maturity the product is pithy and worthless.
A light, rich soil is most suited to the production of radishes. The seeds should be sown in rows nine inches or a foot apart and the seedlings thinned to about two inches. It does not pay to transplant radishes. Five or six feet of row is sufficient to plant at one time, securing a succession by planting other batches at intervals of about ten days. Radishes are usually not in great demand during the summer months, as the home grower has been surfeited by his spring crop. Those who are so fond of radishes that they want them throughout the whole season should plantWhite StrasburgorIcicleto mature during the hot weather, andCardinal Globe,Round Red Forcing, orFrench Breakfastfor an early crop.
Winter radishes, which form very large roots and may be stored by the same methods adopted for beets and carrots, are usually sown about the end of July or beginning of August. They need more space in which to mature—about eighteen inches between the rows and six inches in the rows.
Rutabaga.—SeeTurnip.
SalsifyorVegetable Oysteris a vegetable that is coming into more general use. Seeds are sown early in the spring on deeply broken ground in rows fifteen inches apart, and the plants thinned to three inches. The roots are dug in the fall and stored like beets, or they may be left in the ground and dug when required for use, if the weather permits.
Spinachis a cool-weather crop that requires a light soil heavily manured with decayed stable manure for best results. The seeds should be planted in very early spring or in September, in rows fifteen inches apart, and the plants thinned to stand four inches apart. Nitrate of soda as recommended for kohlrabi is good for this crop.
Spinach (New Zealand).—Although called spinach, this is an entirely different plant and belongs to another family. It luxuriates during hot weather and will supply the table plentifully with “greens” throughout the summer. Seeds should be planted during April or May in rows two feet apart, the plants later being thinned to one foot. When the plants attain a foot in height picking may begin, using the tender shoot-tips, or leaves, as required. The thinnings, of course, are also available for cooking.
Squash.—Cultivate the same as cucumber. The bush varieties should be planted four feet apart each way, and the vining kinds from six to eight feet.
There are several different types of squash. The summer kinds are represented by thePattypanandCrooknecktypes, and the winter varieties by theHubbard.
They are subject to much the same insect pests and diseases as the cucumber and muskmelon.
Sweet Potatoesare not very well adapted for Northern gardens, although they are grown to a considerable extent in parts of New Jersey.
They succeed best in a rich, sandy soil. The “sets” are usually planted on slightly raised, broad ridges about four feet apart. They are spaced from twelve to eighteen inches apart along the ridges.
The production of “sets” is usually effected by placing small potatoes in a hotbed and covering them with sand. This causes them to sprout, and when the shoots are six or eight inches in length they are pulled off with roots attached and planted as described.
Yellow Jerseyis a good variety for Northern planting.
Swiss Chard.—See underChard.
Tomato.—This plant adapts itself to a great variety of soils, and will succeed almost anywhere if it receives warmth and sunshine.
It is seldom worth while for any one without greenhouse facilities, unless he wishes to have the experience, to raise tomatoes from seed. Young plants can be obtained at a low cost at planting-time from seedsmen who have every convenience for raising them cheaply.
The distance apart between the plants when they are set out in the garden depends on the method of training adopted. The truck farmers and market gardeners seldom go to the trouble of staking their plants. They are simply set out in the field three or four feet apart each way and allowed to grow naturally. This results in the spoiling of some of the fruit through coming in contact with the soil.
The home gardener can usually afford the time and trouble required to stake his tomatoes, and receives his reward in the shape of more fruit of better quality.
One method of training is to set out the plants a foot apart in rows three feet apart. If this scheme is adopted each plant must be supplied with a stout stake to which it is tied, and the plant must be restricted to a single stem. This last is effected by pinching out the side shoots with thumb and finger as soon as they are formed. Avoid taking off the flowering shoots or you will have no fruit.
Another method is to set the plants three feet by two feet, and support them as described in Chapter X. In this case it is advisable to prune out the thin, spindly shoots which frequently congregate in the centers of the plants. This causes the vigor of the plant to be concentrated in the strong, fruiting shoots, admits light and air, resulting in better ripened tomatoes.
They can also be trained on the south side of the house, supporting them with tape or cloth passed around the shoots and fastened to the wall with tacks.
Favorite tomatoes areChalk’s Early Jewelfor an early crop,StoneandPonderosafor main crop. In small gardensDwarf Stonecan be used to advantage.
Turnipis a hardy crop well suited for early spring or late fall cultivation. For the early crop such varieties asSnowballorEarly White Milanshould be planted. The seed may be sown as soon as the ground is prepared in the spring, in rows a foot apart. When they are large enough the young plants must be thinned out to stand about four inches apart.
Yellow Globe,Golden Ball, or the white strap-leaf kinds may be sown for fall use. They are cultivated in the same way as the preceding except that the seeds are sown in July or August.
Rutabaga turnipsgrow much larger than the preceding, require more room, and a longer period for development. They can be sown in May or June in rows two feet apart, and the young plants thinned out to stand about ten inches apart in the rows. Treated in this way, they will form large roots suitable for winter storage.
Turnips succeed best in a loamy soil in which there has been incorporated a liberal supply of well-decayed stable manure.
Watermelon.—These plants succeed under much the same conditions, and need the same treatment as muskmelon. They are rampant growers and the hills should be spaced about eight feet apart each way. They are, therefore, not adapted for cultivation in very small gardens.
The striped cucumber-beetle is also partial to watermelon.
For planting in Northern gardens, quick-maturing varieties such asCole’s EarlyandFordhookshould be planted.
XIVHARVESTING AND STORING
Theflavor and tenderness of many vegetables depend in a large measure on their being harvested at the proper time. The picking of string-beans should be early, constant, and methodical, partly because old beans are stringy and unpalatable and partly because, if picking is neglected and the plants allowed to form seed, production ceases. Peas should always be picked just as soon as the pods are well filled, before the seeds commence to harden. Their flavor deteriorates if they are picked more than an hour or two before they are needed for the table. The same remarks apply to sweet corn. There is an old saying that “the pot should be boiling before the ears are picked from the plant.”
Great care should be taken in harvesting beets. If the roots are bruised or broken, or if the leaves are cut off too close to the root, the color of the beets, one of their greatest attractions, will be lost in cooking. The crispness of salad plants—celery, lettuce, radish, and onion—is enhanced if they are gathered early in the morning and stood in water in a shady, cool place until they are required for use. Such crops as Brussells sprouts, kale, celery, and parsnips are considered to be improved in flavor after they have been slightly frozen. The fruits of tomato, watermelon, and muskmelon should be allowed to ripen on the plants. Muskmelons are ripe when the fruit parts readily from the stem on being lifted in the hand.
Proper harvesting is a prime necessity if vegetables are to be successfully stored for winter use. Bruised, broken or diseased vegetables should always be rejected, as decay is almost certain to take place when they are stored, and this is likely to spread to the sound vegetables.
A cellar with an earthen floor, well ventilated and frost-proof, in which a temperature of from 40° to 45° Fahr. can be maintained, forms a splendid storage-place for potatoes, the majority of the root crops, and some of the leaf vegetables. If there is a furnace in the cellar which raises the temperature too much, the coolness required may be obtained by partitioning off part of the cellar, preferably in a corner containing a window, so that ventilation may be secured.
Quite a number of vegetables can be successfully stored in the open by burying them in pits or trenches and covering with straw, salt hay, and earth. Some of the disadvantages of this method are the inaccessibility of the vegetables when the weather is severe, and the difficulty of looking them over occasionally so that diseased and decayed specimens may be removed. When storing vegetables in this way it is important that the whole of the covering should not be put on at one time, as this endangers the whole pile of vegetables through the possibility of heating.
Artichoke (Jerusalem).—The tubers of this plant are unaffected by frost and may be allowed to remain in the ground all winter. In those sections where the frost penetrates the ground deeply a supply sufficient for use during the winter should be dug in the fall and stored in sand in a cool cellar.
Parsnip,Horseradish, andSalsifymay be treated in the same way as the preceding.
Beetsshould be carefully dug up after the first frost and handled gently to avoid breaking or bruising them. Cut off the leaves about an inch above the roots and pack them with moist sand or earth in boxes in a cool cellar. Covering the roots in this way maintains their freshness and prevents shriveling.
Carrots.—In the fall large numbers of fibrous roots are produced on the sides of the large tap-root. These roots spoil the symmetry of the carrots and impair their flavor. The crop should therefore be harvested before these fibrous roots form. Observation of the roots is the only way of determining the proper time to dig them up. In other respects they are stored the same as beets.
Potatoesfor winter use should be dug on a dry day as soon as possible after the tops have died down. Leave them lying on the surface of the ground for a few hours, so that they may dry properly. (It is inadvisable to allow them to be exposed to the light for too long a period, as it will cause the tubers to become green and unfit for use.) They can then be gathered up and placed in boxes or barrels in a cool, frost-proof cellar, but not exposed to the light. All diseased or injured tubers should be laid aside for immediate use, provided they are not too far gone, in which case they may be boiled and fed to pigs or chickens, or destroyed by burning, so as to avoid the possibility of spreading disease.
Potatoes may also be stored outdoors in sections where the winters are not too severe. A high-lying sandy piece of ground should be chosen on which to make the “pit.” Dig out the soil for a depth of about six inches and line the excavation with three inches of straw. Place the potatoes in a pile on this and cover with a similar thickness of straw or hay. Place over this a layer of earth three inches thick to prevent the straw from blowing away. Gradually increase the covering as the weather becomes more severe, until a thickness of a foot or eighteen inches is reached. A layer of manure over this is advisable in very cold climates. If the pile is a large one it is important that ventilation should be provided for. This may be accomplished by sticking a stovepipe into the center of the pile and allowing the top to project above the covering of earth, or by allowing a tuft of the straw that forms the first covering to extend in the same manner. This vent-hole must be covered with a board, a piece of oilcloth, or something similar to prevent rain from entering.
Other vegetables that may be stored in this way arebeets, carrots, turnips, salsify, andparsnips.
RutabagasandTurnipsrequire to be dug up before severe frost. They can be stored the same way as potatoes.
Sweet Potatoesare very difficult to store over the winter. The loss through decay in storage is enormous every year, even though proper facilities are obtainable. They need a warm, dry room and a constant temperature. The less they are handled after being stored the better. The best advice for those who have raised a crop of this vegetable is to avoid loss by eating them as quickly as possible.
Onionsshould be properly “cured” before they are stored. This is accomplished by harvesting them during dry, settled weather, and allowing them to lie in windrows two or three days before bringing them indoors. They should then be placed in a cool, airy room in slatted crates, so that air has free access to them. If wet weather is prevalent at harvesting-time they may be “cured” by placing them in a single layer under cover until they are thoroughly dry. The dead leaves and loose scales should be pulled off before storing them.
Cabbagescan be stored by digging them up with some soil attached to the roots, and packing them close together on the floor of a cool cellar. Treated in this way, they are a rather “smelly” vegetable, and, unless the cellar is tightly shut off from the rest of the house, likely to cause some unpleasantness. They can be stored outside in the way recommended for potatoes by placing them head downward in a trench or pit.
Cauliflower.—It is possible to preserve cauliflower, for a short time only, by digging them with roots attached and suspending them head downward in a cool, moist cellar.
Celerycan be dug in the fall and packed closely in boxes in an upright position in a cool cellar. The more roots and soil adhering to the plants the better the chance of success. When the soil dries out it must be watered, but be very careful not to get any water on the leaves or leaf-stalks. Another way of caring for celery is to dig a trench deep enough to accommodate the plants when they are placed upright. Pack them as tightly as possible in this and cover with boards to keep out rain. In severe weather it will be necessary to put on an additional covering of straw and earth.
Parsley.—In sections where the winter is not too severe parsley may be kept green through the greater part of the winter by covering the patch with a bottomless box, with a pane of glass for covering the top. The box should be banked with manure or leaves, and the glass covered with straw in very cold weather. Parsley can also be dug up, placed in plant-pots, making the soil firm about the roots, and kept in a cool, sunny room.
Beans.—Dry-shell beans should be allowed to stay on the plants until the pods dry up and become yellow. They may then be gathered, and shelled when convenient. If they are infested with weevils they should be dry baked in a temperature of about 145° Fahr. Care must be taken not to allow the temperature to rise above this figure, or the beans will be roasted and spoiled. Fumigating with carbon disulphide is also an efficacious expedient, but somewhat dangerous because of the explosive properties of the fumigant.
PumpkinandWinter Squashcan be stored in a warm, dry room. It is advisable to turn over the fruits selected for storing two weeks or so before they are harvested, so that the side that has been lying on the ground may have its rind hardened by exposure to sun and air.
Although concerned primarily with “war gardens,” the methods advocated can be used by all vegetable growers who practise intensive cultivation. The fundamental principles of soil management also apply equally to flower-gardens.
The writer has found in his experience that good crops can be raised, on what would be usually considered poor soil, by men and women who know little of horticultural practices. Larger crops could have been produced had they known more of the art of growing vegetables. It is to help such people that this book has been written, from information gained during twenty years of professional experience.
It is the earnest hope of the author that the crops raised by “war gardeners” will be of such a size as to cause this last chapter to be the one that is most consulted.
APPENDIX
Approximate quantities of vegetables obtainable from a row fifty feet long. This table is based on actual yields obtained from a plot of moderate fertility by using standard varieties of vegetables.
Approximate number of days from seed-sowing to first picking of crops. Variation is caused by temperature and character of variety—early, midseason, or late.
[5]Continue to bear until frost.
[5]
Continue to bear until frost.
Showing the correct depth to plant seeds and the amount of space required by the plants in and between rows.
Quantity of seeds required to plant a row one hundred feet long, and time of planting.