Any of these may be
sown in April, in drills (with the exception of potatoes) twelve
to eighteen inches apart. The soil must be rich and finely
worked, in order that the roots will be even and smooth--in poor
or ill-prepared soil they are likely to be misshapen, or "sprangling."
They must be thinned out to the proper distances, which should
be done if possible on a cloudy day, hand-weeded as often as may
be required, and given clean and frequent cultivation. All, with
the exception of leeks and potatoes, are given level culture.
All will be greatly benefited, when about one-third grown, by a
top dressing of nitrate of soda.
Leaf
Crops
Under leaf crops are considered also those of which the stalk or
the flower heads form the edible portion, such as celery and
cauliflower.
The quality of all
these will depend largely upon growing them rapidly and without
check from the seed-bed to the table. They are all great
nitrogen-consumers and therefore take kindly to liberal supplies
of yard manure, which is high in nitrogen. For celery the manure
is best applied to some preceding crop, such as early cabbage.
The others will take it "straight." Most of these plants are
best started under glass or in the seed-bed and transplanted
later to permanent positions. They will all be helped greatly by
a top-dressing of nitrate of soda, worked into the soil as soon
as they have become established. This, if it fails to produce
the dark green healthy growth characteristic of its presence,
should be followed by a second application after two or three
weeks.
Another method of growing good cabbages and similar plants,
where the ground is not sufficiently rich to carry the crop
through, is to "manure in the hill," either yard or some
concentrated manure being used. If yard manure, incorporate a
good forkful with the soil where each plant is to go. (If any
considerable number are being set, it will of course be covered
in a furrow--first being trampled down, with the plow). Another
way, sure of producing results, and not inconvenient for a few
hundred plants, is to mark out the piece, dig out with a spade
or hoe a hole some five inches deep at each mark, dilute poultry
manure in an old pail until about the consistency of thick mud,
and put a little less than half a trowelful in each hole. Mix
with the soil and cover, marking the spot with the back of the
hoe, and then set the plants. By this method, followed by a
top-dressing of nitrate of soda, I have repeatedly grown fine
cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce and sprouts. Cotton-seed meal is
also very valuable for manuring in the hill--about a handful to
a plant, as it is rich in nitrogen and rapidly decomposes.
The cabbage group is sometimes hilled up, but if set well down
and frequently cultivated, on most soils this will not be
necessary. They all do best in very deep, moderately heavy soil,
heavily manured and rather moist. An application of lime some
time before planting will be a beneficial precaution. With this
group rotation also is almost imperative.
The most troublesome enemies attacking these plants are: the
flea-beetle, the cabbage-worm, the cabbage-maggot (root) and
"club-root"; directions for fighting all of which will be found
in the following chapter.
Fruit Crops
Under this heading are included:
Most of these
vegetables differ from both the preceding groups in two
important ways. First of all, the soil should not be made too
rich, especially in nitrogenous manures, such as strong fresh
yard-manure; although light dressings of nitrate of soda are
often of great help in giving them a quick start--as when
setting out in the field. Second, they are warm-weather loving
plants, and nothing is gained by attempting to sow or set out
the plants until all danger from late frosts is over, and the
ground is well warmed up. (Peas, of course, are an exception to
this rule, and to some extent the early beans.) Third, they
require much more room and are grown for the most part in hills.
Light, warm, "quick," sandy to gravelly soils, and old, fine,
well rotted manure--applied generally in the hill besides that
plowed under, make the best combination for results. Such
special hills are prepared by marking off, digging out the soil
to the depth of eight to ten inches, and eighteen inches to two
feet square, and incorporating several forkfuls of the compost.
A little guano, or better still cottonseed meal, say 1/2 to 1
gill of the former, or a gill of the latter, mixed with the
compost when putting into the hill, will also be very good.
Hills to be planted early should be raised an inch or two above
the surface, unless they are upon sloping ground.
The greatest difficulty in raising all the vine fruits--melons,
etc.--is in successfully combating their insect enemies--the
striped beetle, the borer and the flat, black "stink-bug," being
the worst of these. Remedies will be suggested in the next
chapter. But for the home garden, where only a few hills of each
will be required, by far the easiest and the only sure way of
fighting them will be by protecting with bottomless boxes, large
enough to cover the hills, and covered with mosquito netting, or
better, "plant-protecting cloth," which has the additional merit
of giving the hills an early start. These boxes may be easily
made of one-half by eight-inch boards, or from ordinary
cracker-boxes, such as used for making flats. Plants so
protected in the earlier stages of growth will usually either
not be attacked, or will, with the assistance of the remedies
described in the following chapter, be able to withstand the
insect's visits.
Garden-Notes
