Farm Gardening with Hints on Cheap Manuring Part 8

The enemy of the egg plant, in growth, is the potato bug, which must be hand-picked or poisoned. There is a rot which causes the fruit to drop from the stem before reaching maturity. This rot is a fungus, and the Bordeaux mixture is recommended for it. The blight which sometimes affects the foliage is in part at least caused by cold weather, and for this there is no remedy, except late planting.

Every healthy plant should produce from two to six or more full-sized fruits, and it is therefore easy to calculate that an acre's product under favorable circ.u.mstances may be very large.

EGG PLANT.--There is nothing equal to the New Jersey Improved Large Purple Smooth Stem for the use of farm gardeners. For description, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Johnson & Stokes' Imperial, or Long Standing Kale.]

KALE OR BORECOLE.

Kale, of which there are many varieties, is a headless cabbage, closely allied to such vegetables as Brussels sprouts, collards, etc.

It is one of the most hardy of vegetables, and in this lat.i.tude it will live over winter in the open ground, with only straw or litter as a protection. If cut for use when frozen it should be thawed out in cold water. The kales are among the most delicately flavored cabbages.

Some of them are of such ornamental shape as to be full worthy of cultivation for decorative purposes. The height varies from 1 to 2 feet, and the colors include both greens, dark purples and intermediate shades.

Kale demands a rich, deep soil. The seed should be sown in a border or seed-bed, and transplanted to the open field and set in rows, after the manner of cabbage. It is largely and profitably grown in the South for s.h.i.+pment to the great Northern markets. Where farmers are situated near centres of population where kale is in demand, its culture will be found profitable, as it requires even less labor than cabbage. It is planted both in spring and autumn. The former crop is for autumn consumption and the latter crop is carried over winter after the manner of spinach, protected by a light covering of some sort of litter.

KALE.--For the South, we recommend Extra Dwarf Green Curled Scotch; for the North, Johnson & Stokes' New Imperial. See our "Garden and Farm Manual" for descriptions.

LETTUCE.

In some sections, especially in the South, lettuce can be grown with profit by farm gardeners. Depending on the lat.i.tude, the seed may be planted from autumn until spring. The plants are usually sheltered and headed under gla.s.s, or under muslin-covered sash, and are sent North in ventilated barrels.

The lettuce is naturally a cool-weather plant, and its culture is easy. The seed is cheap and it germinates quickly. Well-grown lettuce always commands good prices. It is usual to start the seeds in a border or under a frame, and to p.r.i.c.k out the plants into more roomy quarters as soon as they are large enough to handle. In a few weeks after transplanting, in good growing weather, they are headed ready for market. Good soil, abundance of moisture and free ventilation are essentials in lettuce production.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

In some parts of the North lettuce culture would be found profitable by farmers in the summer season, for there are varieties well adapted to high temperature, provided good soil and sufficient water be furnished. There is not a month in the year when lettuce is not demanded for use in salads, and this demand is likely to increase.

LETTUCE.--For the South, we especially recommend Reichner's Early White b.u.t.ter, Big Boston and New Treasure; for the North, New Sensation, Mammoth Salamander and Hornberger's Dutch b.u.t.ter.

Please see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."

MELONS.

Melon culture belongs on the farm rather than in the small market garden, on account of the large s.p.a.ce occupied by the growing vines.

An acre of ground will accommodate only about 450 watermelon hills (at 10 feet each way) or about 1,200 muskmelon or cantaloupe hills (6 feet each way), and hence the necessity for large areas of ground for the cultivation of these crops.

The requirements of the various melons are quite similar. Broken sod ground or any green crop turned down favors their growth, and well-rotted stable manure in the hill is the best known stimulant. All the melons are tender, and are suited only to warm-weather growth, and this fact must be remembered in sowing the seed. Light alluvial soil near rivers or streams is adapted to melon growth, and many an old meadow now weedy and unprofitable might be used to advantage for one of these crops.

[Ill.u.s.tration: New Black-eyed Susan Watermelon.]

=The Watermelon.=--For cash-producing purposes the best watermelon is a large one, with a hard rind. It must have a dark pink or red centre and must be a good s.h.i.+pper. It should weigh thirty to forty pounds, and there should be 900 to 1,000 first-cla.s.s melons to the acre.

The best melon for family use or for a strictly retail trade is a medium-sized variety, which has a thin rind, pink or red flesh and extra sweetness, weighing from twenty to thirty pounds.

The preparation of the ground has already been suggested. Two shovels of manure should go into each hill. The planting date is May in this lat.i.tude; or as soon as the ground is thoroughly warm. Four pounds of seed per acre will be required. But one plant per hill is allowed to grow. The end of the main shoots should be pinched off, to encourage branching and flowering.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Cultivation should be thorough. Fungous diseases can be controlled by means of the Bordeaux mixture, except that it is difficult to reach the under side of the leaves. To prevent sunburn on melons, some growers sow buckwheat when the vines are in blossom, and thus secure a partial shade by the time the fruit is large enough to be injured by the sun. Generally, no protection is necessary.

At $10 or $15 per hundred, the average wholesale price at Philadelphia, watermelon culture is profitable. Early prices are higher.

WATER MELONS.--For s.h.i.+pping--Johnson's Dixie, Blue Gem, Duke Jones, Sweet Heart. For home market--Black-Eyed Susan, Florida Favorite, Kentucky Wonder, McIver's Wonderful Sugar. For descriptions, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."

=Citron.=--This small round melon is cultivated in all respects as the watermelon, but being smaller the hills may be closer. It is used in making preserves. The name citron is frequently applied to certain of the cantaloupes.

=Cantaloupes or Muskmelons.=--It is a matter of choice whether the green-fleshed or red-fleshed sorts are grown; or whether the variety be large or small. The sorts covered with strongly webbed or netted markings are in high favor for s.h.i.+pping to distant points, as they carry well. Flavor is in part at least a matter of temperature and suns.h.i.+ne. Cantaloupes may be nicely ripened by removing them from the vines and storing in dry, warm rooms.

The usual planting distance is from 4-1/2 to 6 feet, in hills containing rotted manure. Compost, made of hen manure, is sometimes used in the hill, well mixed with the soil. Good cantaloupes are always in active demand.

MUSK MELONS.--Early sorts for s.h.i.+pping--McCleary's Improved Jenny Lind, Netted Beauty, The Captain, Champion Market, Improved Netted Gem, Anne Arundel. Late sorts--The Princess, Johnson & Stokes' Superb, etc. See "Garden and Farm Manual" for descriptions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: McCleary's Improved Early Jenny Lind Muskmelon.]

=Enemies.=--In addition to the fungous diseases of the watermelon and cantaloupe, which are best treated with Bordeaux mixture, all melons are sometimes badly troubled with an aphis called the melon louse. The remedy is whale-oil soap--a pound in six gallons of water; or kerosene emulsion. The latter is made by dissolving half a pound of soft soap in one gallon of water; then adding two gallons of kerosene, churning violently; then diluting with ten or twelve gallons of water. This emulsion is put upon the melon vines in the form of a spray, and is one of the best insecticides known. It is to be used on all sucking insects, like lice and squash bugs. Biting insects are easily killed with Paris green--one pound in 100 pounds of flour or plaster, or in 150 gallons of water.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Improved Early Netted Gem Muskmelon (Rose Gem Strain).]

Where the land is suited to melon culture, in any part of the country, the farm gardener will find no more satisfactory or remunerative crop.

MUSHROOMS.

Under certain favored circ.u.mstances the mushroom may be grown as a farm gardener's crop. The requisites are horse manure and a dark cellar, cave or vault. If the manure be available and a suitable apartment at hand, the growing of mushrooms may be taken up for winter work.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Bed of Mushrooms from English Milltrack Sp.a.w.n.]

There are many ways of growing mushrooms, and they can be produced in any situation where a steady temperature of 60 can be maintained. A simple method is to prepare a bed consisting of horse manure and loam, three parts by measure of the former and one of the latter, the manure having been somewhat fermented and sweetened by allowing it to heat and turning it several times. A compact bed a foot deep is made. This bed will first heat and then cool. As it cools, when at 80 or 85 an inch below the surface, bits of brick sp.a.w.n the size of a hen's egg are inserted about 9 inches apart.

The bed must not be immediately covered, or the temperature will rise sufficiently to kill the sp.a.w.n. In ten days, more or less, as shown by a thermometer, this danger will be past, and the bed should receive a coating of good loam an inch deep. No water is to be applied until after the bed is in full bearing.

It is a.s.sumed that the temperature of the room or cellar has been uniformly 60, day and night; that the bed has not been made where it could become water-soaked; that it is sufficiently moist, yet not wet; and that no draft of air has pa.s.sed over the surface in a way either to reduce the temperature of the bed itself or to dry the soil upon the surface. If these conditions cannot be maintained, either by a specially favorable place or by means of covering the bed with litter, it is better to let mushrooms alone.

The crop should appear in six or eight weeks, and should last two months, the total product being from one-half to one pound per square foot. The cash price is from 50 to 75 cents per pound in the large cities; and the crop is sufficiently profitable to warrant the losses which beginners so commonly experience. These losses are the result of carelessness or ignorance in the matter of details.

The usual sources of failure are poorly prepared beds, the medium being either too wet or too dry; frequent changes of temperature; improper use of water; and, lastly, poor or stale sp.a.w.n.

Mushrooms are packed in small baskets lined with paper, and carefully covered to prevent evaporation. A five-pound package is a favorite s.h.i.+pping size.

ONIONS.

The onion is a national crop; as widely though not quite as extensively grown as the potato. It is available as a money crop for the farm gardener.

=Choice of Soil.=--Heavy, stiff clay land is to be avoided. Sand and gravel dry out too quickly. Stony land renders good culture difficult.

The best soil for onions is a deep, rich, mellow loam. Soils which afford natural advantages for irrigation should not be overlooked, as the rainfall is often lacking when greatly needed.