PROGRESSIVE FARMER AND COTTON PLANT.
Thursday, February 14, 1 9 0
Rotate Garden Crops.
It .Will Not Do to Have Cabbage or Beats in the Same Spot Every
Year All Gardens, Too, Should Have a Cover Crop in Winter.
Messrs. Editors: We give too lit
tle attention to the rotation of vege
table crops. Because the vegetable
plot is small, or because a certain
piece of ground is particularly well
adapted to some crop, one kind of
vegetable is grown year after year on
the same piece of land. Eventually
something happens, and we find that
for some reason or other we cannot
grow that particular vegetable on
that plot or field any more. Diseases,
perhaps, creep in, at first unnoticed,
a little this year, a little more next,
gradually increasing in its ravages
until the whole crop is lost.. It may
be yellow sides or club root in vcab
bage, drop in lettuce, or mildew on
cucumbers. But whatever it may be,
one of the best plans for decreasing
the ravages of diseases among vege
tables is to grow them in a fresh,
clean seed-bed if they are to be trans
planted and put them on a new piece
of ground.
Rotate With Crops Not Allied to
Each Other.
In arranging a rotation of our
vegetables, we must not overlook the
fact that many vegetables are very
closely related, and generally speak
ing, a disease which attacks one crop
will also attack its near relatives.
Certain diseases, for instance, which
attack the tomato will also attack the
Irish potato and egg-plant, and if a
tomato crop has been killed out by
disease on a certain piece of land, it
would be folly to turn round and
plant the same ground in egg-plants.
Of course, many ' diseases may be
controlled by spraying, but there are
many on the other hand which work
on the roots) of the plants or gain en
trance to .t&em from the soil. Such
diseases cannot be controlled by
spraying.
Much that we have said about dis
eases will apply equally well to in
sects, and bearing in mind this ques
tion of diseases- and insects, we may
set down in certain groups the dif
ferent vegetables which are closely
related.
(1) Cabbage, cauliflower, collards,
brussels sprouts, turnips and rad
ishes. (2) Beans and peas.
(3) Celeryi carrot, parsnip, pars
ley. -
(4) Beets, spinach, chard.
(5) Tomato, egg-plant, potato,
pepper.
(6) Cucumber, cantaloupe, water
melon, squash.
(7) Lettuce, salsify.
Make One Crop Enrich the Soil for
Another.
There are other reasons, however,
why we should rotate our vegetables.
The crops differ in their food, or we
might say their fertilizer or leaf
parts require a great deal of am
monia, while the root crops draw
heavily on the potash in the soil. We
may also use our beans and garden
peas to enrich the land, just as we
use cowpeas and clover, because they
belong to the same group of plants
and will collect nitrogen from- the
air, this first being stored on the
nodules on the roots and later be
ing returned to the soil. Then if we
can arrange our crop of beans or
peas in the rotation in such a way as
to have them enrich the land for a
vyiU5 crop, so mucn the better.
We must not lose sight of the fact
also that our vegetables differ con
siderably in their root development
and in the depth to which they pene
trate. Some get their plant food al
most entirely from the surface soil
while others go much deeper and se
cure a part of it from below. Alter-
crops withXJiiallow
nate deep root
rooted ones.
Have Some Crop Growing All the
Time.
When a vegetable crop is not
growing on the ground a leguminous
crop of some kind can be planted to
good advantage. These crops are
beneficial in many ways, and it is
best to follow nature closely in this
matter and have some crop growing
on the land all the time. To grow
good vegetables the land must con
tain plenty of humus (partially de
cayed vegetable matter) and plant
food in abundance. In no way can
the necessary nitrogen be added so
cheaply as by growing crops of cow
peas, vetch, burr clover, red clover
or crimson clover on the land and
either turning them back into the
land or by growing these same crops,
converting them into hay, feeding
this to live stock and putting the sta
ble manure back on the land.
Cover Crop to Prevent Leaching.
Cowpeas fit in well in cold frames
after lettuce or cucumbers, and af
ter cantaloupes, watermelons, and
Irish potatoes in the open field. Even
if the crop cannot be allowed to make
its full growth because of having to
get the ground in shape for autumn
work, they should be planted. Their
roots penetrate deeply into the
ground, opening and loosening it up
(subsoiling it) and bringing up plant
fod from under layers of soil. In no
way can the ground be put in such ex
cellent mellow condition for a vegeta
ble crop as by sowing it in cowpeas or
some other legume. For winter cover
of lands not otherwise in use, crim
son clover, burr clover and vetch are
excellent and will not only enrich the
soil by the plant food and vegetable
matter which they add, but will pre
vent the leaching of much plant food
from the soil. Plant food is lost in
large quantities from all bur soils in
winter, particularly in the warmer
sections, by a simple process of leach
ing. A cover crop of some kind
should be used to hold and retain this
food.
By all manner of means bring these
crops into use to cover up our tem
porarily unoccupied vegetable lands.
H. HAROLD HUME.
GROWING LARGE ONIONS FROM
SEED.
The Right Kind of Seeds and Fer
tilizers How to Sow, Transplant
and Cultivate.
Messrs. Editors: There is no vP?ft.
table better suited, or more exten
sively grown in all localities Nnrth
and South, -than the onion. And nr
vegetable varies in amount grown per
acre as tne onion. It raneea frnm
a few bushels to as hieh as 9. nnn
Neither does any respond so well to
good, loose, moist soil and close at
tention in maintaining clean culture.
It will grow in winter if the tem
perature is only below freezi
in summer it-revels in the hottest
sunsnme, all above the eronnd
cept the large, long cluster of roots,
uiiiiKiiig me moisture from below
Withal it is a disinfectant, has medic
inal properties, and with some it is
relished as a diet. .
How to Sow and Prepare for Trans-
planting.
Now we will nraeePri tr,
11 Lm ine "tile black seeds.
Take Tsew Opal or Prizetaker seeds
(n0v?o n ounce tiosede3i
mot io feet scmarp qa v.;
difference) urider " Z. ?!'
or first half of February. When thP
plants are the size of a goose-qujll
transplant them to the open ground.
Any land well suited to other vege
tables will grow onions, but for best
results the land should be loose
moist, and rich, and also free from
grass and weed seeds. There is no
crop on which guano can be used
to perfection better than the onion,
as stable manure , has a tendency pto
introduce seeds of all kinds. Rows
should not be over two feet or hand
culture and not over three feet for
horse culture. These are made with
small shallow furrows and the fer
tilizer drilled in, preferably a Iweek
or ten days before we intend to set,
as the caustic potash has an imme
diate tendency to injure the tiny
rootlets. Two small furrows are now
run on each side making a slight ele
vation ; this is firmed down withl a
small hand-roller. The land is now
ready for the plants. j
Fertilize Highly and Cultivate Closely
" i I
We should bear in mind the vast
importance of a thorough prepara
tion before planting. The onion! also
requires a fertilizer rich in potash
and nitrate of soda. This can) best
be obtained by buying the chemicals
and mixing at home. j J
An application of 100 to! 150
pounds nitrate of soda as a top dress
ing when the bulbs are about half
grown is a decided benefit, and pays
wonderfully. Onion roots have a
close range and are sustained by
near-by food. The cultivation should
be shallow and frequent and the dirt
should never be thrown toward them.
The bulb will grow much faster! and
to a larger size on top of the ground
entirely. This method is best suited
foi growing large onions to sell dry,
but the sets are best suited for
growing the green bunch onions for
the early spring market.
The method of growing onions
from sets will be told In another ar
ticle! W. L. KIVETT.
Guilford Co., N. C.
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