Newspapers / The Courier (Asheboro, N.C.) / April 21, 1910, edition 1 / Page 7
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HowtoPian A Home Garden f By C. V. GREGORY, Author of "Home Course In Agricul ture," "Making Money on the farm," Etc. GOOD vegetable garden is one of the best antidotes for the TA, high cost of living. At the v Illinois experiment station it as found thnt the net profits per !ear from a half acre vegetable gar en were, nearly $75. At the present ilgh prices and without counting the fork done in the garden by the mem bers of the family the profits will be bnslderably greater than this. A prop rly arranged garden can be counted n to furnish uenrly half the family's a AN F.MEIIGENCX HOT11ED. Hng during the summer "?-nths. It '111 also add 'a variety to the menu iat is no small Item. Vegetables pur biased at the store are never as fresh id never taste as good as those gat li ed from the garden. There are difficulties in the way of a successful vegetable garden, of course. On the farm the men folks are often too busy to "monUey" with the gar 3a4 In town space for a garden can Cot always be obtained, and it is some time difficult to get the garden plow ed and cultivated. A little planning Trill overcome all obstacles, however, and the results fully justify any trou tle that may be incurred. Planning the Garden, Success In home gardening depends tt considerable extent on having rything planned out beforehand. It t good plan to make a rough map the garden. Make lines where the are to be and write on each row i name of the vegetable to be own. If horse cultivation is to be d the rows will need to be about rve feet apart Where the garden is be cultivated by hand most garden -cpa can be planted as close as four 1 an, to eighteen Inches apart The irden should be planned for horse Jtlration. wherever possible, as the -tra space used tylll be more than iterbalanced by, the saving In la v In the case of town gardens it is i a" possible for several neighbors to ' 'i ... i arrangements' for a man with a tv I and cultivator one afternoon out ft ch week. In this way the cost for -t'i will be insignificant, and the gar Will be kept In shape.wlth a mln- of band work. .The same plan je followed In getting the gardens id and manured. - j)!annlng-the.-gardn early crops . often be followed by late ones, getting , double use of the land, cut shows a specimen plan for a in 75 by 125 feet The same gen ) principles will apply for a gar of any size: tragus. Hotbed. Cold frame. Rhubarb. z ei 03 3 a t 0 a a ai it !1 J '5 J e 1 M S c 101.0 x 5 o s o 9 25 not patronize a cheap seedsman, j few cents saved in the price of 1 will be more than counteracted by lessened value of the crop, he highly advertised novelties are uable more as curios than tor any ng else. If you can't resist the pptation to try' one or two of these. ,nt them In some obscure corner of i garden where their failure will 1 be notic eable. The old reliable va tles are always the best In the loug B. It Is well to plant a number of fereur varieties" in order to give va ity and succession. This plau will to give a comparison of varieties, lich will form u basis for Heed se ction next year, f - Preparing the Ground. In earlier and thriftier garden can J secured if the land was plowed in e fay. It fccalso better to have it ininrwl . it that time. If this was Raising a Few Veg etables One of the Best Antidotes For the Present High Cost of Living &' Almost Half of the Famiiy Living Dur ing the SuiTi.ner and Autumn Months May Tiius 3e Se cured a & 0 Coovritfnt; 0I' ny American Preis . (!'-:u well rotted manure can be -it j mi die plowing In-the spring i . i wi well. Where the ground i. w ii.wed u the fall the manure iii-.u.ii ih applied before plowing in i. if sn;,ii(.. There is no fertilizer so Hind ii.i i tu garden as well rotted sta tic .iui iii.r,'. The average livery sta Uie m.wiiiie should be avoided, how everts it is itstiuliy coarse and strawy uud full ol weed " seedK. Liberal quantifies should be used, as It is al rnoi t Impossible to make the gar:!eii too t'i. h, Where mr.nure cannot be nhtMltirt n commercial fertilizer with a ;rit:ir:in teed analysis of 10 per cent potiish. S per teut phosphoric uctvl aiu H pir tent uitroguu may be tiseil instead. One thousand pounds of this ml:;mre to the acre will be about rllit. It can be scattered over the garden after plowing and harrowed in. or the plan of hill fertilization may lie followed. In this plan the fertilizer is mixed with the dirt in the bottom of each bill or furrow. Where this is done it would be well to add a little nitrate of Soda for such plants as asparagus, rhubarb and lettuce, as nitrogen pro motes leaf growth. The garden should not be worked in the spring until the ground is thor oughly' dry, as otherwise it will be cloddy ail summer. The plowing, disk ing and harrowing should be thorough ly done, sohat by planting time the garden is in as fine a condition as it can be made. This thorough prepara tion will help warm the soil, and a warm 'soil means an early garden. If the soil of the garden is heavy and not naturally well drained It should be thoroughly tiled. The Hotbed and Cold Frame. With many vegetables it is a great advantage to start the seed In a hot bed early in spring. Hotbeds are of many kinds. The simplest is a wooden frame of any convenient size with the back side about eight Inches higher than the front This can be covered with a storm window or even with a frame covered muslin. The heat is usuaHy-furnished by fermenting horse manure. This should contain enough straw so that it will be rather springy. bat not enough so that it will be too loose. The manure should be mols-UiJWt-wlth warm water and plied up In a conical pile afterbelar"tnixed thor oughly. After it has started to fer ment it should be mixed again. After fermentation starts the second time the manure can be spread out on the south side of some buiidimj .Jajviiia bdoux iwu ieei iiuck tuiu iwo or uiree feet larger each way than the hotbed frame. The frame should then be set on the manure and about six inches, of dirt placed in it A necessary adjunct to the hotbed la the cold frame. This is made the same as the hotbed, with the exception that no manure Is need and no beat provided. Plants grown in the hot bed are very tender and are likely to perish If removed immediately to the garden; consequently the plan of . "hardening off" Is followed. After the plants get a good start they are ac customed to outside conditions by leaving the cover up a longer time each. day. After a few days of this treatment they are transplanted to the cold frame. This protects them to some extent, especially at night, while they are gradually hardened by leav ing the cover off an much as possible. Planting. As soon as the garden is in shape for planting seeds of the hardier vegeta bles should be put in. In this class will come lettuce, radishes and early potatoes. A little later the early cab bage plants can be set out and the onion seeds planted. Then come the early peas and beans, carrots, parsnips, beets and other like crops. Crops that are sensitive to frost, such as melons, cucumbers, squashes, tomatoes and eggplants, should not be planted until all danger of frost is past. Late pota toes and sweet corn should be planted about the ame time. In order to ex tend the season of crops like peas and sweet corn fresh plantings should be made at Intervals of about a week and a half up to the latter part of June. To secure early vegetables early varie ties must be used for the first plant ings, but the bulk of the planting had better b done with late varieties, as they are better yielders and are usual ly of better quality.. . In planting the garden a string and a couple of stakes should be used to Insure straight rows. The aim should be to put the seeds In just deep enough to get them In contact with moist soil. Small seeds especially should not be planted deeply. Potatoes, which are not really seeds, should be planted deeply enough to make hilling unnec-i.-warj-. -.After the seeds are planted the soli above the rows should be compacted. A light garden roller If hnnrt.v for this purpose. A loose mulch should be provided to prevent evopo-. ration by going over the rows with rake or by giving the pardon a lipht harrowl":. TROUBLESOME GAP.DEN PESTS Hew to Rid the Hum Garden These Unwelcome Visitors. One of the most troublesome garden Insects is the utrlped cucumber beetle. Which so often plays havoc with cu cumbers, melons ttud squashes. Prob ably the must effective way of getting rid of beetles In i lie liouie garden is by the use of frames lovered with net ting. Light box liuuuer is uil right for these frames. They sliuuld be made about eight inches square and four Inches high. The top should be covered with screen or mosquito net ting. These frames should be placed over the plants us soon as they begin to appear through the ground and left until the plums have outgrown them. Then they can be put awuy and kept for the 'next year. , A simpler and cheaper remedy, but one that Is more work, is to go over the vines in the morning while' the dew is on und tap each one gently to knock the beetles off on the ground. Then with a common oil can tilled with kerosene apply a drop of oil to each beetle, lie very careful not to let any of the oil touch the plants. By going over the patch two or three times most of the beetles can be killed. Cabbage worms are very . trouble some at times. The parts green-bordeaux mixture is the standard remedy for these as well as all other biting insects. To make it dissolve one pound of copper sulphate in a wooden pail. Slake one and oue-bitlf' pound. of fresh lime, preferably with lint water. Add enough, water to the i: per sulphate solution to make tive g.; Ions and do the same to the II:. Now pour the two solutions togctliet and stir well. Stir one ounce of pari green to a thick paste with a litth cold water, udd It to the bordeaux solution and stir well. This mixture i. the standard remedy for both insects and fungous diseases. It should be up plied with a band spray pump. There Is sometimes difficulty In get ting a liquid spray to stick to the smooth leaves of the cabbage. In that BOMB GBOWH WATXBHXLOR. case parts green nsed at the rate ot one oooce. to eight pounds of air slaked lime may be Bprlnkled 6nte""pTantH5r4adows for a. few, hours. This will in the dry form while the dew Is on There Is little danger from the use of parts green In this ..way, a&.nQtraceo oz It will be left by the tune tne cab bages are mature. For plant lice and other sucking in sects kerosene emulsion Is the best remedy. To make it boil one-fourth pound of laundry soap in a quart of oft water until thoroughly dissolved. Add half a gallon of kerosene and churn forcibly by pumping through a spray pump and back Into the pail When thoroughly emulsified the mix ture will have a creamy appearance. Dilute with about nine parts of soft water before using. This mixture in to be applied as a spray to any plants affected with lice, Onion Culture. Where only a few onions are want ed the best plan is to buy a quart of onion seta and plant them three Inches apart in rows eighteen Inches opart. They should be covered about an Inch deep. Onions must be kept free fron weeds and hoed frequently. Whei. grown from seed they must be sown thickly and later thinned by hand Larger and better onions will be se cured by planting the seed early In tin hotbed. As soon as the weather be comes settled In the spring they car be "hardened off" and transplanted t the garden, setting them about tbrei inches apart. If the onions show a tendency t "go all to topa" a barrel may be rolled over the row to break the tops over This will cause the growth to be trans ferred to the bulbs. After the tops arc dead the bulbs should be pulled and spread out in thin layers In a shed or some other well ventilated place to dry. After they are well cured they can be sacked up and stored any place where there Is no danger of freezing. Treating Potatoes For Scab. If the seed potatoes are at all scabbj it, will pay to treat them and make sure of getting a clean crop. Scab Is ti fungous disease which is propagate;! by sp-jres. These spores, If not killed li: the seed potatoes, will get a foothold on the new potatoes soon after the.' are set, and a scabby crop will result. The best renledy Is to soak the seeO potatoes for an hour and a half lu i. solution of one pound of formalin ti forty gallons of water. The solutioi should be mixed lu a barrel and tin potatoes put n a gunny sack and low ered into it. After .being treated they should be spread out for a few hours to dry, when they are ready to becut and planted. STORING VEGETABLES. H ta. Koeo Them Freeh For Wintif and Early Spring Uie. The greatest share of garden vege tables are euten fresh as they come in eenson, but some of them can be stored and kept for winter use. Green rucu'itbers can be packed In brine and kept indefinitely. . Tomatoes, rhubarb an. I f r ' ;.il cherries can be canned. rot uiiist vegetables a dry cellar, one that can lie veuulutcd when neces sary, is the Men! storage place. Cab bi'.ges can be tinner from the celling by the roots or laid away in single layers on shelvps. Another way to keep cabbages through the winter is to puck them In trenches with the heads up and cover with a layer nt straw and two or three Inches of dirt. Freezing wili .not hurt cabbages If PUSirKIM WORTH STORING. they are not subjected to alternate freezing and thawing. The disadvan tage of this method Is that none of the calibages can be obtained for use until the ground thaws in the Bpring. The best way to store root crops, such as carrots, parsnips, beets, salsify or rutabagas, is to pack them in sand. This keeps them fresh throughout the winter. Parsnips have a better flavor if they are frozen before being put in the cellar. Potatoes may be piled In bins. They should be kept in a dark place to keep them from turning green or sprouting. They should be thoroughly dry before being put into the cellar. Potatoes can be stored In a pit out of doors, but they must, be covered deeply with straw and dirt so they will not freeze. Onions should be thoroughly dried as soon as they are pulled. Then they can be sacked up and stored in any dry place where there Is no danger of freezing. Squashes and pumpkins do not keep very well in storage. They should be laid on racks in a dry cellar. If they are put into the cellar without bruis ing they may be kept until the middle of the winter. . The cellar should be ventilated occasionally by opening the also keep It from getting too'wannr -Early-Potatoee. A-few extra early potatoes may be obtained by selecting some sound seed potatoes of a reliable variety, such as Early Ohio, laying them out on a shelf or Dencn wnere cnere is plenty ox ngnt and covering them' with a thin layer of moist sand. This should be dono ten days or two weeks before the soil will be fit for planting. By the time the soil In the garden is in shape the potatoes will have developed thrifty sprouts four or five inches long. A shallow furrow should then be opened and the potatoes transferred to it, care EXTRA KABLY POTATOES. being taken not to Injure the sprouts Cover the potatoes Just deep enough so that the sprouts will reach the sur face of the ground. . They will begin growing at once, and you will have the satisfaction of having new pota toes a week earlier than your neigh bors. Celery Growing. Celery should be started in the cold frame some time during the spring It can follow -some early crop, such a lettuce, radishes cr early peas. Tb plants are usually set In . treuches. al though tills is not absolutely necessa ry. They ore - set about six incite apart in rows three feet, upart. Celerj needs a rich soil and plenty of shal low cultivation. .'After the plants are welj grown the stems should be drawn up tightly together and banked up with dirt in order to bleach the stalks arid make then tender. This banking up should be done gradually, adding e Uttie more dirt ach time. m llllISftHl EGGPLANTS. How to Prepare Theae Delicious Vege tables For Table. The 1 eggplant is one of the most delicious vegetables that can be grown in the home garden. The plants should be started In the hotbed or In the house the same as tomato plants. The subseqeunt transplanting to the cold frame and finally to the garden out side should be the same as for toma toes. They should not be set out lu the garden until settled warm weather, as the plants are very tender. About three feet each way Is the best dis tance for planting. The soil should bo kept well stirred and free from weeds. The potato bug sometimes attacks the eggplants, often with fa tal results to the young plants. The best remedy Is the parts green-bordeaux mixture. The domestic economy department of the Iowa State college gives the following recipes for cooking egg plants: Stuffed . Eggplant Cook eggplant fifteen minutes In boiling salted water. Cut a slice from the top with a spoon. Remove pulp, taking care not to work too close to the skin. Chop pulp and add one cup of soft, stale breadcrumbs. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter, add one tablespooiiful of finely chopped on ion and cook five minutes. Add this to the chopped pulp uud bread,- season with salt and pepper and if necessary moisten with a little water. Cook five minutes, cool slightly and add one beaten egg. Refill eggplant cover with buttered breadcrumbs and bake twenty-five minutes iu a hot oven. Eggplant Fried lu Butter. Cut the eggplant Into slices one-quarter of an inch thick after the skin has been removed. Sprinkle the slices with salt, pile them one upon another upon the back of the dish. Place on them a plate holding a weight and let stand one hour to express the juice. Then dredge with flour or dip lu egg und breadcrumbs. Put a pan over the fire with enough butter to cover the bottom to the depth of half an Inch when melted. When the butter Is smoking hot put In the eggplant, fry it brown on both sides and serve hot. Fried Eggplant. Pare an eggplant, cut in one-fourth inch slices and soak overnight in salted water. Drain, let stand in cold water one-half hour: drain again and dry between towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dip in batter or in flour, egg and crumbs and fry In deep fat. Eggplant Fried In Batter. Peel, slice and salt the eggplant as directed In the recipe for eggplant fried in but ter. Have ready the frying kettle half full of hot fat When ready to fry, dry slices of eggplant between towels, dip in batter and fry in the hot fat until brown. Drain them on brown paper and serve hot Winter Rhubarb. A good supply of winter rhubarb can be raised in the cellar. Dig up, half a dozen or more good sized roots In the-foil and leave them exposed where they will freeze until the middle of December. Then pack the roots in the cellar right side up. The roots should BHUBARB ' Gl'.Ott-N IN OELLAB DCKINO WINTER. be packed in moist sand or fine dirt The darker the cellar Is the better. A fine crop of delicious rhubarb will be secured after the roots have become well thawed out, usually along in Feb ruary. Cultivating the Garden. On the farm horse cultivation can be used In the garden to a considerable extent If the rows are long enough. A one horse adjustable cultivator is the best implement for garden cultivation For working up close to the rows am In gardens where horse cultivation 1 not practical the wheel hoe can b used. The garden should be cultivated often and well. The weeds should bt kept down, as no garden vegetable can successfully compete with weeds. Ap pearance counts for a great deal too. A clean, well kept garden adds 100 per cent to the looks of a place, while one full of weeds detracts about as much. Where a wheel hoe or horse culti vator la used the amount of band labor will be reduced to a mlnimumt All that is necessary is to hoe out or prill the-weeds In the rows. .Tho root crops, such as beets and parsnips, should 6e sown rather thickly and thinned to four to eight inches apart In the row. This can be done with a narrow blad ed hoe or by band. Cultivation should be kept up until well along toward fall, taking care m t to disturb the roots of suchvegetables as are In beat-ing. After all the vege tables have been gathered lu the fall all weeds and trash should be raked up and burned. This will destroy many weed seeds and Insects. 1 CANNING VEGETABLES. How to Treat Them So They Will Keep Their Freshness. The glasa jars that are to be used for canning should be set In a boiler yt cold water, placed on the stove and boiled for from ten to fifteen minutes. This completely sterilizes them, de stroying the bacteria that cause fer mentation. The jars should be left in tho boiling water until tj moment they are to be used. The rings und covers should be sterilized In tho same way. Rhubarb can be easily canned and kept for winter use, when it makes an acceptable substitute for expensive canned fruit. Rhubarb for canning should be cut when it Is young and tender, washed well and cut Into pieces about two inches long. Pack these pieces tightly Into tho jais and fill with cold water. After ab6fit ten minutes pour off the water and fill again, to overflowing this time. ' Seal the cans tightly and the rhubarb will keep until you are ready to use It. When the tomatoes do well there Is usually an abundance of fruit much more than can be used while it Is fresh. It takes care to can tomatoes so tbatl they will keep, but with a little pra i tlce it can be doue. The tomatoe J should first be washed thoroughly and then boiled for about six minutes. Aft er ' this preliminary treatment they 6hould be peeled and sliced. Then put them in a kettle and heat slowly, stir ring frequently. Boll for half an hour and then put Into the jars and seal tightly. These are about the only vegetables that are available for canning unless it Is ground cherries, which make de licious pieserves. If the family l!!:es horseradish an extra amount of it "in be prepared iu the spring, when it is plentiful, and kept for use later in the season. Raising Early Melons. Melons bought in the market never have the flavor of thoso grown in the home garden. Commercial growers select varieties because of their ship ping qualities rather than for their fla vor. Melons are not the easiest vege- FINS BOKK GROWN lTCSKKKXiON. table raised, but a little time and ef fort spent in .getting a successful crop will be well repaid. The best wa, to get early melons is to plant the seed in berry boxes in a hotbed or in the house about six weeks before, the .usual,, date for planting them outdoors. The soil should be rich and fine. About ten seeds should be planted in each box. After the plants are well up all but three of the strong est can be destroyed. When tho weather becomes warmer the boxes can be transferred to the cold frame and the plants gradually hardened. When all danger of frost Is past and the soil outside has be-, come warm the melon plants can be set out in the garden. Six feet apart each way is the best distance for muskmelons and eight or ten feet for watermelons. A fire shovelful of poul try manure mixed with the soil of each hill will greatly hasten the growth of the melons. In transplanting make a hole about the size of the berry box. Strip off the sides of the box carefully so as not to disturb the roots, place the cube of dirt In the hole and pack fresh dirt around it. The future care will consist mainly of thorough cultivation and protection from striped beetles. Tomato Growing. Tomatoes must be started In the hot bed or in the house" early In March, es pecially in the northern states, If satis factory results are expected. They should be transplanted to the cold frame about two weeks before they are set out in the garden in order to harden them. Frequent transplanting also makes the plants more stocky and develops the root system. As soon as danger of frost Is past the plants may be set out in the gar den. If early tomatoes are wanted the best plan Is to pinch off all side shoots, leaving only the main stem. This should be tied to a strong slake four or five feet high to hold it erect When trained in this way the plants can be set out in rows three und a half feet apart and about two feet apart in the row. Another plan is to make a four sided rack about a foot square at the bot tom by a foot and a half at the top. It should be about four feet high, with two or throe slats ou each side. One of these is placed over every hill and the vines trained up over it. They ripen much better when handled iu this way than where they are allowed to spread out ou the ground, and thara is not nearly so much lo?s from rot ting. -Where this -method is used the plants will have to be set out about three and a half feet apart each way. In case there is danger of a frost Just as the fruit Is beginning to rlpen a little straw may be' put over the vines nights and removed during the day. . fir i .
The Courier (Asheboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 21, 1910, edition 1
7
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