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Page 56
We have now, as far as our space permits, treated of those
vegetables which should be planted in the home garden as early in
spring as possible. It is true the reader will think of other
sorts, as cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, etc. To the professional
gardener these are all-the-year-round vegetables. If the amateur
becomes so interested in his garden as to have cold-frames and
hot-beds, he will learn from more extended works how to manage
these. He will winter over the cabbage and kindred vegetables for
his earliest supply, having first sown the seed in September. I do
not take the trouble to do this, and others need not, unless it is
a source of enjoyment to them. As soon as the ground is fit to
work in spring, I merely write to some trust-worthy dealer in
plants and obtain twenty-five very early cabbage, and twenty-five
second early, also a hundred early cauliflower. They cost little,
and are set out in half an hour as soon as the ground is fit to
work in spring. I usually purchase my tomato, late cabbage, and
cauliflower, celery and egg-plants, from the same sources.
Cabbages and cauliflowers should be set out in RICH warm soils,
free from shade, as soon as the frost is out. After that they need
only frequent and clean culture and vigilant watchfulness, or else
many will fall victims to a dirty brown worm which usually cuts
the stem, and leaves the plant lying on the ground. The worm can
easily be found near the surface the moment it begins its ravages,
and the only remedy I know is to catch and kill it at once. In
this latitude winter cabbage is set out about the fourth of July.
I pinch off half the leaves before setting. Good seed, deep
plowing or spading, rich soil, and clean culture are usually the
only requisites for success. Experience and consultation of the
books and catalogues enable me to recommend the Jersey Wakefield
for first early, and Henderson's Summer Cabbage and Winningstadt
as second early. As a late root I ask for nothing better than
Premium Flat Dutch. The Savoy is the best flavored of the cabbage
tribe. Henderson recommends the Netted Savoy, which may be treated
like other late cabbage.
The cauliflower is ranked among the chief delicacies of the
garden, and requires and repays far more attention than cabbage.
Even the early sorts should have a richer, moister soil than is
required for very early cabbage. I advise two plantings in spring,
of first and second early; I also advise that late varieties be
set out on RICH ground the last of June. As with cabbage, set out
the plants from two and a half to three feet apart, according to
the size of the variety, from trial I recommend Early Snowball,
Half-early Paris, and Large Late Algiers.
Spinach thrives in a very rich, well-drained, fine, mellow soil. I
prefer a sunny slope; but this is not necessary. Sow the seed from
the first to the fifteenth of September, so as to give the plants
time to become half grown by winter. Cover the seeds--three to an
inch--two inches deep, and pack the ground well over them; let the
rows be three inches apart. When the plants are three inches high,
thin out to three inches apart, and keep the soil clean and mellow
about them. Just before hard freezing weather, scatter about three
inches of straw, old pea-vines, or some light litter over the
whole bed. As soon as the days begin to grow warm in spring, and
hard frost ceases, rake this off. The hardy vegetable begins to
grow at once, and should be cut for use so as to leave the plants
finally six inches apart, for as fast as space is given, the
plants fill it up. By those who are fond of spinach it may be sown
in spring as soon as the frost is out. It quickly runs to seed in
hot weather, and thinnings of young beets may take its place where
space is limited. The Round or Summer is good for fall or spring
planting.
Those who need much instruction in regard to bush-beans should
remain in the city and raise cats in their paved back yards. We
shall only warn against planting too early--not before the last of
April in our region. It does not take much frost to destroy the
plants, and if the soil is cold and wet, the beans decay instead
of coming up. If one has a warm, sheltered slope, he may begin
planting the middle of April. As a rule, however, bush-beans may
be planted from the first of May till the middle of July, in order
to keep up a succession. Cover the first seed planted one inch
deep; later plantings two inches deep. I think that earliest Red
Valentine, Black Wax or Butter, Golden Wax, and the late Refugee
are all the varieties needed for the garden.
The delicious pale Lima bean requires and deserves more attention.
I have always succeeded with it, and this has been my method: I
take a warm, rich, but not dry piece of ground, work it deeply
early in spring, again the first of May, so that the sun's rays
may penetrate and sweeten the ground. About the tenth of May I set
the poles firmly in the ground. Rough cedar-poles, with the stubs
of the branches extending a little, are the best. If smooth poles
are used, I take a hatchet, and beginning at the butt, I make
shallow, slanting cuts downward, so as to raise the bark a little.
These slight raisings of the bark or wood serve as supports to the
clambering vines. After the poles are in the ground I make a
broad, flat hill of loose soil and a little of the black powdery
fertilizer. I then allow the sun to warm and dry the hill a few
days, and if the weather is fine and warm, I plant the seed about
the fifteenth, merely pressing the eye of the bean downward one
inch. If planted lower than this depth, they usually decay. If it
is warm and early, the seed may be planted by the fifth of May.
After planting, examine the seed often. If the beans are decaying
instead of coming up, plant over again, and repeat this process
until there are three or four strong plants within three or four
inches of each pole. Let the hills be five feet apart each way,
hoe often, and do not tolerate a weed. The Long White Lima and
Dreer's Improved Lima are the only sorts needed.
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