BEANS
Being somewhat tender, should not be planted until the ground is warm in spring. Corn-planting time will do for the field and navy bean, but the white podded string bean and the lima bean should not go into the ground until all danger of frost is past and the ground is in growing condition. At the present advanced cost of seed—fifty-five cents a pound for the string and lima sorts with postage added by some dealers, it will not do to take any chances by being in too much of a hurry to get seed into the ground; neither will it pay to buy seed of any but reliable dealers. There has never been a time when so much importance attaches to choosing one's seed merchant wisely. Cheap seed never pays, for the time lost in replanting seed123 of poor germination, or, worse still, that comes untrue to name, giving one inferior or mongrel vegetables, offsets, many times, the amount saved in money.
String beans are the first form in which this favorite vegetable appears on the table and a very delicious and attractive dish they make when such white wax or golden wax as Wardwell's Kidney, Davis's Kidney Wax, Improved Golden Wax are selected; well grown plants of these varieties, well laden with their long, wax-like pods are a joy to the gardener; and if the pods are gathered as fast as they mature, and this may be done as soon as they whiten, up to the time they are fully grown, when they will still be sweet and tender, the bushes will continue to bear heavily until cut down by the frost; this should always be done whether the beans are wanted for use or not; they can be canned, sold, or given away or fed to the pig—anything rather than to check the vines' bearing. If one wishes to save seed for the next year's planting, and this is worth while when such high prices prevail, it will be well to set aside124 a row, or portion of a row, for seed, allowing the first pods to ripen as this establishes the early bearing characteristic of the plant.
In planting beans good soil should be chosen, but beans do not need rich soil as many other garden vegetables do. It is said that beans will grow on soil that will not grow anything else; this is rather an extreme statement, but it is a fact that they will thrive where more exacting plants will languish; this is accounted for by the fact that the bean is a legume and so empowered to draw an important part of its nourishment from the air in the form of nitrates, which it stores in little pockets or nodules on its roots and so has a larder of its own to draw on.
Open a drill a couple of inches deep and drop the beans at regular intervals two or three inches apart, or they may be planted three or four in hills, six inches apart; cover and tramp down the rows and draw the rake lightly over them. Except for the distance at which they are planted, all beans require practically the same treatment; they should never be cultivated when wet or gathered125 or handled in any way; the rule should be to give them a wide berth in wet weather; working among them when wet is the cause of the disfiguring rust that makes them unsalable and in bad cases uneatable. Wardwell's and Davis's Kidney Wax are as free from rust as any of the white podded varieties and are the best selections the amateur gardener can make.
For those who like a green podded bean the Stringless Green Pod is a fine variety and very popular with gardeners. Giant Stringless, Green Pod and Longfellow make up a trio of beans hard to beat.
Boston pea bean or navy bean is the best selection for baked beans; these should be allowed to ripen their pods until quite dry. The usual method of harvesting is to wait until all the beans are ripe in late summer and harvest by pulling the vines and piling in heaps until dry; this is not an economical way, however, nor specially adapted to the small home garden; a better way is to gather the pods as fast as they ripen, storing them in a dry, airy place until ready to shell126 easily; if this is done many more beans will be produced and there will be no loss from the earlier beans shelling out on the ground as they will when the vines are left for the entire crop to ripen. Usually it will be necessary to go over the vines about four times but the result will be a much greater quantity of beans and all in the finest possible condition; when left until all are ripe it will be found that there is a considerable amount of mouldy or injured beans.
Lima beans require somewhat different treatment from the string or navy bean; to begin with they require a much richer soil and the ground should be well manured and a supplementary dressing of hen manure, rabbit droppings or ashes about the plants when well established will be of much benefit; they require more room in the row than the string beans, not less than eight or nine inches with the rows two feet apart; the beans should be planted about two inches deep, setting the seed with the eyes downward and covering and tramping the rows. Rather late planting is advisable for limas than127 for string beans and for very early beans a few may be started in the hotbed and transplanted in the open ground about the twentieth of May at the north—add or subtract a week for each hundred miles north or south. The bean, having no tap root and a broad spread of lateral roots, is one of the easiest plants to transplant and by starting a hundred plants in the hotbed a much earlier crop will be obtained; that will be filling up the time while the open air planting is coming forward.
Another very important advantage in starting seed in the hotbed is the larger per cent. of plants obtained; if good seed is used every one may be depended upon to grow. The hotbed also affords protection from the enemies that destroy the lima, one of the most destructive being hens, and it will be wise to assure Biddy's absence from the garden until the beans are showing their first leaves as the succulent looking white seeds that first break through the ground have an irresistible attraction for her and she will walk along the rows, nipping off every pod as it appears;128 this seems to be due to curiosity as she does not eat, but drops them on the ground; I have seen whole plantings of lima beans destroyed in this way. English sparrows also are known to destroy the tops. String beans do not offer the temptation that the limas do so are seldom molested.
For the home garden the bush limas are to be preferred as they take less room and are easier to handle. The Improved Fordhook Bush Lima is one of the best varieties if not the best. The New Wonder Bush Lima is highly recommended. Beans may be planted every two weeks for succession up to August. Dry limas that remain on the vines in fall may be used for cooking in winter. Limas are not injured by light frosts as much as the other varieties of beans; the pods cuddling under the thick foliage are protected and one can frequently gather a mess after the frost has cut everything else in the garden; the thick pods, too, are a protection to the beans inside.
If it is desired to grow pole limas set the poles129 four feet apart each way and plant five or six beans to each hill and thin to three when the plants are up; when the plants have reached the top of the pole pinch out the top; add a spadeful of well-rotted manure to each hill before planting, mixing it thoroughly with the soil. Carpenteria is about the best of the pole limas and Early Leviathan Lima is another good sort. Wire netting may be used in place of poles and will be found more convenient and economical. Treating the beans with farmogerm, Mulford or other culture is advisable.
CABBAGE
For early cabbage sow seed in the hotbed or in flats in the house and transplant to the open ground in May. Cabbage are not injured by light frosts and can go into the ground earlier than most other garden stuff; usually the early sorts are selected for first planting but the late and winter sorts will, if started in heat, do about as well as the early; it is largely a matter of handling. The Late Flat Dutch is an excellent130 sort for the first planting as it is a very sure header, giving large, flat heads of the best quality. In twelve years' experience in growing this variety I have never found a diseased plant nor, except in a year of very exceptional weather, a soft head. They keep well over winter and are altogether a very satisfactory all round cabbage.
In transplanting the plants from the hotbed to the open ground all but the upper pair of leaves should be removed and these may have the upper half clipped; this gives the roots a chance to establish themselves before they are called upon to support top growth. Set the plants about two feet apart each way, or the rows two feet apart and the plants twenty inches; the nearer distance is tenable if one raises rabbits as the lower leaves may be removed and fed to them, thus giving the plants more room; they should close up the gaps between them when fully grown as this shades the ground and conserves moisture—an important feature in a dry season. The ground should be kept well cultivated and free from weeds as long as work can be carried on131 among them and when the cultivator can no longer be used the scuffle-hoe can be introduced under and between them without injury to the leaves. In hoeing or cultivating draw the earth up towards the plants.
When the heads are filled out and hard and it is not desired to gather them they may be kept from splitting by pulling the roots loose on one side and bending them over.
The principal enemy of the cabbage is the white butterfly and its offspring—the green caterpillar. There are many ways of combating this pest; the most effectual way, early in the season is dusting with Paris green mixed with flour. A convenient way to apply is to take a quart Mason jar, take the lid, remove the porcelain lining and punch the top full of holes, fill the can with flour mixed with one teaspoon of fresh Paris green and sift over the plants while wet with dew at the first appearance of the pest; this should not be used after the heads have formed; after this sprinkling with salt and working it in between the loose leaves of the head is132 often effectual. Dusting with dry earth sometimes has a deterrent effect on the worms.
The grey aphis is another most troublesome pest; this comes so insidiously that the plants are well infested before their presence is suspected. Spraying with kerosene emulsion is sometimes effectual if the heads are not too far advanced. Spraying with zenoleum—a tablespoonful to two quarts of water—will kill every louse it touches and by its odor discourage any intending arrivals, but this should not be used where the heads are at all advanced, though a hard rain would rid the plants of the odor of both zenoleum and kerosene. Soapsuds, especially whale oil and nicotine, are suggested and hand picking of worms is not without its value. Spraying with hot water 140° is effectual and safe and cleanses and stimulates the plants.
Cut worms are very destructive to cabbage when first set out; their depredations may be guarded against by enclosing the stem of the plant in a band of stiff paper when planting; this133 should go into the ground an inch and extend up the stem two or three inches. Strewing poisoned bait along the intended rows for a night or two is suggested but this is a dangerous practice where there is poultry at liberty; baiting after the plants are set is often successful, too, but the best safeguard is to have a good supply of surplus plants in the hotbed. The rows should be looked over the first thing in the morning after planting to discover what plants have been cut and wherever a plant is missing the worm should be looked for, and when found killed; this is really the most satisfactory way of eradicating the pest. The worm never goes more than two or three inches from the plant and will be found somewhere just below the surface of the ground, usually under some bit of roughage that makes a little hollow. If there is a piece of sod or clover-land near the garden the cut worms will usually begin their work from that side and if a planting of cabbage is made a few days in advance of other plants this will serve as a trap for the worms and134 hunting and killing them for a few days will make the planting safe for the tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers.
A little nitrate of soda sprinkled around the plants is a great incentive to growth.
For winter cabbage sow seed in the open ground in May and transplant into permanent rows as soon as large enough, giving the plants more room than early cabbage. Late Flat Dutch, Wakefield, Danish Roundhead and Dutch Winter or Hollander are all good sorts which will prove good keepers and sellers.
If in setting out plants of winter cabbage it is found that there are more plants than are needed, they may be allowed to remain where they are and given a little protection, such as boards, cornstalks or evergreens, and can be used for setting out the following spring.
CAULIFLOWER
Require the same general treatment as cabbage. They are set somewhat closer in the rows and cultivated the same as cabbage; however, for the best135 results it is desirable to transplant the cauliflower from the hotbed into cold frames as soon as they have their second pair of leaves, setting three inches apart each way and as soon as they resume growth giving a light application of nitrate of soda, then transplant when the weather is favorable. Cauliflower are quite hardy and not injured by early fall frosts, making steady growth until severe cold weather and many heads that have failed to fill during the fall will fill out finely in November.
As soon as the curd, or head, forms and has made a little size the leaves must be drawn over it and tied to exclude rain and light; this must be done when the plants are perfectly dry and the weather clear, a sunny day about noon is the best time for the work. If tied up when wet or damp the heads will rot. If not tied up growth will start in the heads, they will turn purple and green and be unfit for food. It is upon the successful tying up of the cauliflower that its successful culture depends; like the cabbage it requires a rich, well fertilized soil and136 applications of nitrate of soda once a week during the growing season will hasten the development of the head; wood ashes, too, are beneficial.
The insect enemies of the cauliflower are those of the cabbage, but they molest it in a somewhat lesser degree. The remedies to be employed are the same.
There are two important varieties of cauliflower—the Snowball and the Dry Weather. The former is a poor cropper in dry seasons unless artificial irrigation can be supplied. The Dry Weather Cauliflower, on the other hand, seems to be at its best in a dry season and will give fine heads when the other fails. As one can not forecast what the rainfall of any given season will be it is well to be provided against any contingency by planting both varieties of cauliflower; by this forethought one will be assured of a crop whatever the weather and the snowballs that failed to head during August and September may come on in October and November and give a late crop for pickling.
In the majority of gardens cauliflowers are137 grown exclusively for pickling; this is a mistake for there is no vegetable more delicate and toothsome than this; it outclasses cabbage and when fried in batter or breaded with egg and cracker crumbs, it affords a most excellent substitute for meat, indeed, it is really more acceptable when no meat dish accompanies it; for this reason—its desirability as a table vegetable—special pains should be taken to produce early heads, by starting in hotbeds, transplanting into cold frames, fertilizing with nitrate and giving special attention to thorough cultivation throughout its growing period. If water can be supplied, a thorough drenching of the roots once or twice a week, followed by a cultivation the following morning to restore the dust-mulch, will be of much benefit.
The green cabbage worm is sometimes very troublesome on the heads and leaves of cauliflowers and one should watch for the presence of the white cabbage butterfly as this will indicate whether one may expect an attack of caterpillars. If once the worms have become established spraying with hot water of from 130° to 140° will exterminate138 all with which it comes in contact, as worms are far more sensitive to hot water than are the plants which they infect.
CORN
Is one of the most profitable of the garden's offerings; there is, practically, no loss connected with it; a delicious vegetable for the table in its green state, fresh from the stalk; it is equally welcome when it appears sweet and toothsome from the can in winter or, conserved in a dried state, is soaked and cooked the same as fresh corn. There is no waste in the unused corn that remains ungathered on the stalks for it may be saved for seed another year or fed to the poultry, while the stalks, cut and cured, make excellent feed for cow, horse or rabbits. Cut while green and made into ensilage it is the best substitute for green feed in winter for any animal that eats green food. Much green feed for stock may be secured from the corn patch in summer by removing all the side shoots that do not bear ears and feeding them to the pigs or rabbits. This139 is of benefit to the corn as it allows all the strength of the plant to go into the ears instead of being wasted in growing useless foliage.
Corn is a gross feeder and requires a deep, mellow, fertile soil, well enriched with barnyard manure. Clover sod well manured and ploughed will give the maximum amount of corn, but any good soil if fertilized will produce good corn.
Corn is somewhat tender and should not be planted until the ground is warm, but in the small home garden where a small amount of seed is required a little risk may be run by planting early in May and replanting if an early frost catches the crop. It is not, as a general thing, the spring frost that does the most damage, especially with field corn, it is the late frost that catches the corn still in the milk that does the damage, so that anything that pushes the crop along to maturity before danger of fall frost is of moment. This is one reason why heavy fertilizing is so important,—it speeds up the maturing of the corn and gets it beyond the danger line in time.
Sweet corn may be planted in drills or in hills,140 but I prefer the hill method. Even in a small patch that can be worked but one way with a horse or cultivator—there is always a hoe to take care of the space between the hills.
The rows should be three feet apart and the corn in hills three feet apart, or if planted in rows make the rows four feet apart and the corn twelve inches apart. drop several kernels in each hill and thin to three plants to a hill when the corn is up and danger of frost is passed. One pound of seed will plant a hundred hills or from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet of row. If hard frost threatens just as the corn is coming through the ground, throwing earth over it with a hoe will often afford sufficient protection to save it.
In a small garden patch it is not much work to stick a mark of some kind in the center of each hill and if this is done cultivation can commence at once and a hard crust be prevented from forming; this will hasten the germination of the seed and insure the elimination of weeds at the start.
There are many varieties of sweet corn advertised,141 each seedsman having his own favorite specialty, but there are really but two that one need take into consideration—the old, reliable Stowell's Evergreen and the new Bantam Evergreen—a cross between that exceptionally sweet corn, the Golden Bantam, and Stowell's Evergreen, and combining the great qualities of both parents, the delicious sweetness and tenderness and earliness of Bantam with the more generous size and more tender skin of the Evergreen. Plant these two varieties and have the best to be obtained in sweet corn. One planting of Evergreen will give big generous ears of late corn, while for succession the Bantam may be planted every two weeks up to July.
When the corn is a couple of feet high it will be well to go through the patch and remove all suckers or barren stalks so as to conserve all the food and moisture for the production of ears.
In addition to barnyard manure, wood ashes is an important fertilizer for corn, supplying the potash so essential to its growth; this may be put in the hill at the time the corn is planted or may142 be scattered about the plants after they are up and hoed into the soil; it should not be applied in connection with manure as it has a tendency to release the ammonia content of the manure, but should be applied independently. Droppings from the poultry house may be used in the growing of the corn crop, placing about a teacupful in a hill, but not in contact with the seed. Several barrels of dry droppings should be saved during the winter for just this extra fertilizing in the kitchen garden.3
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Corn is very easily transplanted so that where there is a failure of the corn to germinate in some hills and an over supply in others, the extra plants may be lifted carefully with the spade or trowel and slipped into holes prepared for them where wanted. Last season I had an interesting experience transplanting an entire row of corn, over a foot high. A row of okra had been planted across the garden but failed to appear on schedule time and was finally given up and corn planted in its place; the corn came up and had made several inches of top when to my surprise the okra appeared. It was evident that the two robust plants could not occupy successfully the same ground and I did not wish to sacrifice either, so an equal number of hills were prepared in another part of the garden, fertilized with poultry droppings and ashes and the hills of corn, then over a foot high, lifted, one hill at a time, on a spade and carried and slipped into their holes, and not a plant seemed aware that anything had happened to it; certainly there was no check to the growth, but, by144 lifting on the spade with plenty of soil adhering, the roots were not disturbed in the least.
Corn has so few enemies that it is scarcely worth while to consider them, the principal one being earworm—a small worm that eats out the tip of the ear; they can be poisoned by dropping Paris green in the axils of the leaves when the plants are young.
CUCUMBERS
For slicing for the table should be planted as soon as the ground is warm or a few seed may be planted on pieces of inverted sod, or in pots or paper bands in the hotbed and transplanted into the open ground about corn-planting time or when the danger of frost is past; this will give several weeks' start on outdoor planting and will also make the plants practically immune from attacks of the striped beetle. Beetles will of course appear, but by the time of their arrival the plants will have attained sufficient size to withstand their attacks, particularly will this be the case if protected with dry earth, sifted over the145 leaves to roughen them or the application of tobacco tea or tobacco stems or leaves about the plants.
Pieces of sod, about four inches square, should be cut and placed earth-side up close together in the warmest part of the hotbed and several seeds planted on each piece and the whole covered with a fourth of an inch of earth. When ready to transplant lift the pieces on to a flat board or carrier and slip into a hole prepared for them with as little disturbance as possible and press the soil firmly about them so that the air will not get underneath and dry the roots.
There is not too much room for vine vegetables of any sort in the small kitchen garden and if desired the early cucumbers for table use may be grown on netting. The Japanese cucumber is a climbing sort especially addicted to this manner of growth, bears fine, large fruit of most excellent quality and the position on the wire, away from the soil and damp ground, produces a most attractive fruit, free from the yellow blanching that is present on the cucumbers grown on the146 ground. Last year among a number of these Japanese plants there occurred one or two plants of a snow white cucumber that I found very superior in crispness and flavor to the green fruit. Owing to early frost I was not able to secure seed of this interloper. Mr. Burbank's cucumber seed did not produce a single white seed. This is not, however, a climbing sort, but all vines which have tendrils can be grown on netting. Squash even will grow, bear and seem to enjoy the experience.
Cucumbers when grown for the table should be gathered as soon as of slicing size, whether wanted or not, as allowing the fruit to ripen on the vine stops production; this is especially imperative in the case of pickles which must be removed as soon as of sufficient size to use. The small pickles of an inch and a quarter or less should be gathered first and larger pickles left until the latter part of the season as gath............