DIRECTIONS FOR THE FARM CULTURE
OF VEGETABLES AND FRUITS

This material originally appeared in the 1902 edition of How the Farm Pays and SFJ Spring 2000

BY PETER HENDERSON

Principal Market Garden Crops

It seems appropriate that a short chapter on the cultivation of vegetables and fruits should be introduced into this work, not only for the information of the farmer himself, for his own private use, but also for the advantage it may be to him in localities where he can dispose of such products at a much greater profit than he can dispose of ordinary farm produce. There are tens of thousands of farmers adjacent to the smaller towns and villages, hotels, watering places and summer boarding houses, where the want at the table, of fresh vegetables and small fruits, is most conspicuous. In many such places it is unquestionable that, if the farmer would devote a few acres to the cultivation of fruits or vegetables, or both, the chances are more than equal that they would be found much more profitable than ten times the amount of land cultivated in ordinary farm crops; for most land that will grow a good crop of corn or potatoes will, under proper tillage, yield a good crop of either fruits or vegetables. However, I will say, that whenever choice can be made, the land used for such purpose should be as level as possible, and be of the nature of what is known as sandy loam; that is, a dark colored, rather sandy soil, overlaying a sub-soil of sand or gravel. All soils that have adhesive clay for their sub-soils are not so well suited for vegetables, besides requiring at least double the amount of labor for cultivation. Above all things necessary for success in growing either vegetables or fruits, is manure. It may be laid down as a settled fact that, unless manure can be obtained in quantity sufficient, the work is not likely to be half as remunerative as where plenty of it can be had. The quantity of manure used per acre by market gardeners around our large cities is not less than 100 tons per acre each year, and if barn-yard manure is not accessible, concentrated manure, such as bone dust or superphosphates, should be harrowed in the land after plowing at the rate of not less than two tons per acre, if no other manure is used. For fuller instructions on this subject see chapter on "Manures, and their Modes of Application," in this work.

Such large quantities of manure per acre will, no doubt, be appalling to the average farmer, as it is no unusual thing for a farm of fifty acres to get no more than we market gardeners put on a single acre; but every one who has had experience in growing vegetables or fruits knows that the only true way to make the business profitable is to use manure to the extent here advised. It is safe to say that the average profits to the market gardener in the vicinity of our large cities, where he pays sometimes as high as $100 per acre annually for rent, is a least $300 per acre. The usual amount of ground cultivated by market gardeners is ten acres, and they think it is a poor year when their profits from that amount of land do not average $3,000, and that, too, when nearly all the products are sold at wholesale to middlemen, in large quantities, and which, before reaching the consumer, costs him at least double the original price paid. The farmer, in most cases, growing vegetables or fruits, has a great advantage in selling direct to the consumer, and the small amount of land necessary for growing these crops will cost him comparatively little, so that, with proper attention, I think there is every inducement for many farmers to add this profitable branch to their farm operations. A case in point, which has been communicated to me by a friend, is as follows: His farm adjoined a village of 2,000 inhabitants. He had one year a large surplus of strawberries and sweet corn, and had many applications for the fruit and the corn by the village people. He conceived the idea of employing a man with a cart to supply this unexpected demand in the village, and sold the whole of these products at such prices as paid a clear profit of $175 per acre, which was about five times as much as the average value of the farm crops. In addition, the sale of the strawberries created a large demand for cream, which was equally profitable. No doubt this example could be followed in the neighborhood of nearly every village in the country.

I will give in detail brief, and as clear directions, for the culture of the leading varieties of both vegetables and fruits, as an experience of nearly forty years in the business may enable me to do. Any one, however, who may desire a more lengthy and elaborate treatise on the subject, I would refer to my work, written especially for market gardeners, entitled "Gardening For Profit."

The following list of vegetables and fruits, whose culture we describe, are such only as are likely to be wanted for the purpose alluded to, supplying smaller towns and villages, hotels and summer boarding houses.

All references made to quantities of seeds, number of plants, or amount of profits, are by the acre. I simply do this as a matter of convenience, taking the acre as a standard, although cultivators will of course understand that in application any amount of land can be used in the same proportion.

ASPARAGUS

This is perhaps one of the most profitable vegetables that is cultivated. The reason for this is the fact that because it requires two or three years before it gives a full crop, cultivators are usually so impatient, or are compelled by necessity, that they will plant only such crops as give them a return the first season. That being the case, comparatively few plant asparagus, and hence the supply is rarely equal to the demand. It is a plant of the easiest culture, only requring, as nearly all vegetables do, a deep soil and liberal manuring. The usual method has been to transplant the asparagus into beds five feet wide, with three rows planted in each bed, one in the middle and one on each side, a foot distant, thus bringing the rows one foot apart, with alleys two feet wide between the beds; the plants being set in the rows nine inches apart. In planting, a line is set, and an opening made a little slanting to the depth of six or eight inches, according to the size of the plants. The plants are then laid against the side of this trench at a distance of nine or ten inches, care being taken to firm the roots well with the foot. The plants should be covered with about three inches of soil, and immediately after planting the beds should be touched over with a rake, or, if on a large scale, the brush harrow, which will destroy the weeds. This raking or harrowing should be continued at intervals of six or eight days until the plants start to grow, when the hoe or cultivator may be applied between the rows and alleys, but the weeds that come up close to the plants must of necessity be taken away with the hands. Another method, and which probably would be simpler for the farmer to pursue, is to line out just as for turnips or mangels, the lines being three feet apart, in which the asparagus seed should be sown about the first week in April by a seed drill, using at the rate of six pounds to the acre. This would be less expensive than the roots, both in labor and seed. In the beginning, in most cases it would probably not be well to plant more than one-fourth of an acre, but to be sure of getting a "stand", not less than two pounds of seed should be used for a quarter of an acre, the seed for which would cost about $1, while the plants for that amount of land would cost at least $10, and there is more labor in planting the roots. The advantage in using the plants, however, is that a year's time would probably be gained, as the plants are usually from one to two years old when planted. If the asparagus crop is to be grown from seed in this way it is all important that the ground should be kept clean.

It is no use putting in the crop unless provision is made for keeping down the weeds. Otherwise they would inevitably be destroyed, as it is a plant of comparatively feeble growth for a month or two. The seeds will come up thickly in the rows, and should then be hoed out to a distance of six inches between the plants. If the ground has been put in proper condition by plowing, harrowing and manuring a partial crop will be got the third year from the time of sowing, and a full crop the fourth year. After that, the asparagus bed, with a top dressing of two or three inches of manure every fall, will last for a lifetime. I have seen beds that have been in culture for over thirty years without abating an iota of their vigor. Asparagus, when old enought to give a full crop, in the vicinity of New York brings annually about $500 per acre, the labor costing, at the extreme figure, not over $100 per annum, so that a clear profit of $400 per acre can be made each year. The kind now grown is what is know as Colossal, which should be grown to the exclusion of all others. It is generally known that the part used of the asparagus is the young bud or shoot coming up, which is cut off when it is five or six inches above the ground. It varies in thickness from half an inch to an inch and a half, and is tied in bunches usually weighing about one pound each when sold in the market.

BEAN-BUSH, KIDNEY OR SNAP

This vegetable is so well known by every one who grows any vegetables at all, that but little instruction in its culture is necessary. It may be grown on poor soil, although it will always be more tender when quickly grown on rich or highly manured land. The bush bean is a tropical plant, and hence should not be sown until the ground becomes warm. A good rule is to sow it about the date of corn planting, in rows eighteen inches to two feet apart, the seed being dropped in the drills at about two inches apart and the soil drawn over them with the foot, as that is the best way to cover seeds of this size. Like all crops, after planting, they should not be allowed to remain over a week before the hoe or rake is applied to keep down the weeds. We cannot too often insist on the necessity of this for every crop, as the work of an hour with a rake five or six days after planting or sowing, so as to break the crust on the soil, and destroy the embryo weeds, will be more effective than ten hours' labor if this is neglected until three weeks after.

It will be understood, that this crop is used almost always in the pod in a green, unripe state, and is rarely ever used as a shell bean. To ensure a succession of bush beans throughout the season they should be sown at intervals of ten days from the first week in May (or time of corn planting) until the first week in August. They are a fairly profitable crop, but not so much so as some others, as their culture is so simple and easy. The best varieties for cultivation are the Early Valentine and the Golden Wax.

BEAN (LIMA)

This is the best known and the best of all the running or pole beans, although there are quite a number of kinds in cultivation. They are rather more tender than the bush beans, and a very common mistake is to plant them too early, in which case they are almost certain to rot. In the latitude of New York they should not be planted sooner than the middle of May, and will come just as quick into bearing if planted then, as ten days earlier, besides the chance of loss by the chilling of the seed. They should be planted in hills from three to four feet apart and five or six seeds in each hill. The seeds should be planted about two inches deep and are better placed edgewise, with the eye downwards. In each hill should be placed a pole seven or eight feet high, for the bean to climb on, as it is no use to grow it unless it has some such support. This variety is used in a green state, shelled just as peas are used, although they are occasionally dried and used in winter, or when good samples are dried they can be sold to the seed stores at well paying prices.

BEET

When grown for table use this root should be sown in drills about one foot apart, if to be worked by hoe or by hand cultivator. We always prefer to sow the seed by hand in drills about two or three inches deep, treading in the seed with the foot, as there is hardly any other seed so easily dried up and its growing properties destroyed as this. When sown by hand twenty pounds of seed to the acre is required; or, by seed drill, half that quantity. When grown for table use in the vicinity of our large cities, beets are usually a very profitable crop, generally yielding a clear profit of about $300 per acre. Upon the first introduction of Egyptian beet, a few years ago, the crop sold for $1500 per acre in the New York market, as it was ten days earlier than any other variety. After sowing and treading in the seed, the row is covered up and the ground again firmed by being beaten down with the back of a spade, or rolled. The first crop is usually sown about the middle of April, and about the first week in May the plants will have shown through the ground sufficiently to define the rows, and should then be cultivated between to stir the soil and keep down the weeds. After they have attained a height of three or four inches they should be thinned out, so that the plants are left four to five inches apart in the rows; these thinnings are often used as spinach, and usually will pay for all the labor of thinning. The earliest kind is that known as Egyptian, which is a round variety of a deep crimson color. The next in earliness is the Blood Turnip, which comes in some ten days later than the Egyptian. Another variety, known as Long Smooth, makes a root about three inches in diameter and eight or inine inches in length, is equally tender as the other two kinds, although not quite so early, and is the kind usually grown for winter use. For the best manner of keeping in winter, see chapter in this work on "Roots for Farm Stock."

CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER

As these are usually the most profitable of all vegetable crops, I give full extracts on their culture taken from my new essay on that subject, published in 1883:

Manure for the early cabbage crop should always be spread on broadcast, and in quantity not less than 100 cart loads or seventy-five tons to the acre, which will leave it, when spread, about two or three inches in thickness. It is quite rare that much choice can be made in stable manure, but when such is the case equal portions of cow and horse manure is preferable, not that there is much difference in value, weight for weight, but that it is advantageous to have the manure of the cow stable mixed with that of the horse so as to prevent the violent heating of the horse manure, which, if not repeatedly turned, will generate heat so as to cause it to "fire fang" or burn, which renders it comparatively useless. Always bear in mind that the more thoroughly rotted and disintegrated manure can be had, the better will be the results. When manure is thoroughly rotted and short, no matter for what crop, it may be turned in by the plow just as it is spread on the land; but if long, it is necessary to draw it into furrow ahead of the plow so that it is completely covered in. After plowing in the manure and before the ground is harrowed, our best growers in the vicinity of New York sow from 400 to 500 pounds of guano or bone dust, and harrow it in deeply, smooth over the back of the harrow, after which the bed is ready to receive the plants.

In the vicinity of New York, and, in fact, now wherever the business of market gardening is intelligently followed, the best

VARIETIES OF CABBAGE

for early crop are recognized to be the "Early Jersey Wakefield" and "Henderson's Early Summer" for general culture, and to describe others of the scores named would be only confusing. The "Jersey Wakefield" is the earliest and is a little the smallest, and is planted usually twenty-eight inches between the rows and sixteen inches between the plants, thus requiring from 10,000 to 12,000 plants per acre. The "Early Summer" grows a little larger, and should be planted thirty inches apart and eighteen inches between plants, requiring from 8,000 to 10,000 per acre. The reason for placing the rows so wide apart and the plants so close in the rows is to admit of a row of lettuce, spinach or radishes between the rows of cabbage. All of these vegetables mature quickly, and can be cut out before the cabbage grows enough to interfere with them, and it is necessary that this double crop should be taken off the land so as to help pay for the manure that is so lavishly used, but which is absolutely necessary to produce a good crop of cabbages. Where early cabbage is grown alone (and for the farmer, whose labor is scarce, they had better be grown alone), then it would be better to plant about two or two and a half feet each way, so that cross cultivation can be done; and also in cases where manure in sufficient quantities is not attainable, they are better thus planted when manure has to be applied in the hill. If applied in the hill, a good shovelful of stable manure should be used to each, mixing it well with the soil, but raising the "hill," so called, no higher than the general surface.

THE RAISING OF CABBAGE PLANTS

for the early crop is a very important point, though when small quantities are wanted they had better be bought from those who make a business of growing them. The great majority of plants for early crop are sown by the New York market gardeners between the 15th and 20th of September, that is, when the "Early Wakefield" is used; but the "Early Summer" should not be sown until the 25th to the 30th of September. Careful attention is given to have the sowings made as near as possible to these dates, for if earlier, many of the plants will go to seed--particularly the "Early Summer" variety. Again, if much later than the dates last given, the season will be too far advanced and the plants would not be strong enough to keep over winter in the cold frames.

A case occurred some years ago in Philadelphia where a market gardener sowed "Early York" cabbage on the 5th of September; nearly every plant ran to seed. The gardener sued the seedsman for damages, got nonsuited, as he deserved, as the seedsman had no difficulty in showing that other gardeners who had purchased this same seed, and who had sown it at the proper time (in that latitude, 20th September), had no such bad results.

In about thirty days from the time cabbage seed is sown in September, the plants are of the right size to "prick out," or transplant into the cold frames. The plant must be planted down to the first leaf, the root well firmed with the dibber--about 500 is the number allowed for a three by six feet sash. The cold frame, as most gardeners know, is simply two boards run parallel six feet apart, the back board being ten inches and the front one seven or eight inches. We generally have all our cabbage plants transplanted here from the seed-bed to the cold frames by 1st November, and it seldom happens that we have the weather cold enough to have the sashes put on before the end of November. We are repeatedly asked the question,

WHAT DEGREE OF FROST CABBAGE PLANTS WILL STAND

in the frames before being covered with the sash. Much depends on the condition of the plants; it sometimes happens that after the transplanting is finished in October (we usually begin the transplanting in the frames about the 15th) that we have a continuation of comparatively warm weather, which induces a quick and soft growth in the plants, which, of course, renders them very susceptible of injury from frost. When in that condition, we have seen them injured, when the thermometer only marked twenty-seven above zero or but five degrees of frost; while if gradually hardened by being exposed to chilly nights, they would receive no injury, even when the thermometer marks ten or twelve above zero. This will be well understood when we remember that in midwinter, when covered with sash alone, they sustain a cold often for days together of ten degrees below zero, but then of course they have been gradually inured to it. In sections of the country where the thermometer falls to fifteen or twenty degrees below zero, it will be necessary to use straw mats or shutters over the glass. At all times, from the time of putting sashes on in fall until taking them off in spring (which is usually from 15th March to April 1st), abundant ventilation should be given, so as to render them as hardy as possible. The sure indication that they are in the "frost proof" condition is when the leaves show a bluish color, which they get when they have been gradually hardened off. Although the most of the Jersey market gardeners still use the cold frames for growing the bulk of their early cabbage crop, yet of late years the system of spring sowing and transplanting, and sometimes even without transplanting, is also used to a considerable extent. This is usually done by sowing the seeds thickly (about one ounce to three sashes) in hot-bed or green-house about February 1st and transplanting into a slight hot-bed about March 1st, placing about 600 or 700 in a three by six feet sash. The hot-beds must, of course, be carefully protected by straw mats from frost, and with the proper attention to ventilation and watering, fine plants can be obtained by April 1st. We ourselves have grown nearly a quarter of a million plants each spring in this manner for years with most satisfactory results. Another plan is to sow the cabbage seed in cold frames from 15th February to March 1st, or even later for second early. By this method one ounce of seed is enough for five or six sashes, and it had better be sown in rows at six inches apart, as thus sown the air gets better around the plants, making them stronger. When the seed is sown in the cold frames in this, it is absolutely necessary that the frost should be excluded by covering the glass with straw mats and shutters, for, of course, unless kept above the point of freezing, the plants cannot grow. The cold frames to be used for this purpose should be placed in the warmest and most sheltered place possible, the soil should be light and well enriched with short manure, nicely dug, leveled and raked for the reception of the seed. If sown in drills, they should be about two inches deep; if sown broadcast, it is best to "chip" the ground all over with a steel rake so as to sink the seed to the depth of an inch or so, but in both cases do not omit to firm the soil by patting the surface over with the back of the spade. All these directions for spring sown plants are given for the latitude of New York, where operations of planting cabbage plants in the open ground is usually begun about 25th March and finished by the middle of April. For it must be always borne in mind that cabbage, being a hardy plant, when wanted for an early crop, its setting out in spring should be done in any section as soon as the land is dry enough to work. As a guide, we may say that whenever spring crops of rye, wheat or oats can be sown, cabbage may safely be planted in the open field, for if plants have been properly hardened they will not be injured after being planted out, even by eight or ten degrees of frost.

The conditions in the different Southern States are so varied that it is not easy to give directions. It may be taken, however, as a general rule, that in any section of the country, where the thermometer does not fall lower than fifteen above zero, cabbage plants should be sown about 1st October, left (without covering) in the seed-beds all winter, and transplanted to the open ground as soon as it is fit to work in spring, say February or March. In some section, where the fall weather continues fine into November, transplanting is done in that month where the crop is to mature. After planting in the field, no crop takes so kindly to

HOEING OR CULTIVATING

as cabbage. In ten days after the planting is finished, cultivation should begin. If the cabbages have been set two or two and a half feet apart each way, then the horse cultivator is the best pulverizer, but if a crop has been sown or planted between the rows of cabbage, then a hand or wheel hoe can only be used--we ourselves now use the wheel hoe exclusively and find it a saving of three-fourths in labor, with the work better done.

The price at which early cabbage is sold now varies so much at different dates, and in different parts of the country, that it is impossible to give anything like accurate figures, the range being all the way from $2 to $12 per 100. Perhaps $4 would be a fair average for "Wakefield" and $5 for "Early Summer," so that counting 11,000 as the average per acre of the former and 9,000 of the latter, we have respectively $440 per acre for "Wakefield" and $450 for "Early Summer." These are the wholesale prices for large markets, like New York. In smaller cities, where the product is sold direct to the consumer, one-third more would likely be obtained.

LATE CABBAGE

are such as mature during the months of September, October and November, the seed for which is sown in open ground in May or June. Perhaps the best date for sowing for general crop is about 1st of June. We always prefer to sow cabbage seed for this purpose in rows ten or twelve inches apart, treading in the seed with the feet after sowing and before covering; we then level with a rake lengthwise with the rows and roll or beat down with the back of a spade, so as to exclude the air from the soil and from the seed. Sown in this way cabbage seed will come strongly up in the driest weather, and is less likely to be injured by the black flea than if it made a feeble growth. As the ground used for late cabbage only yilds one crop, unless manure is cheap and abundant, it will not often pay to use it in the profusion required for the early cabbage, so that it is usual to manure in the hill, as is done for early crop, if with stable manure, but when that is not attainable, some concentrated fertilizer such as bone dust or guano should be used, using a good handful for each hill, but being careful of course to mix it well with the soil for about nine or ten inches deep and wide.

In this way about 300 pounds per acre will be needed, when 6,000 or 7,000 plants are set on an acre. In our practice, we find nothing better than pure bone dust and guano mixed together. For further information on this subject, see chapter on "Manures and Modes of Application," in this work.
In

TRANSPLANTING CABBAGE

from the seed-bed to the open field in summer, the work is usually done in a dry and hot season--end of June or July--and here again we give our oft-repeated warning of the absolute necessity of having every plant properly firmed. If the planting is well done with the dibber, it may be enough, but it is often not well done, and as a measure of safety it is always best to turn back on the rows after planting and press alongside of each plant with the foot. This is quickly done, and it besides rests the planter, so that he can with greater vigor start on the next row. In some sections of the country, particularly in the New England States, six or eight cabbage seeds are planted in the hills, and when of the height of two or three inches are thinned out to one plant in each hill. This we think not only a slower method, but is otherwise objectionable, inasmuch as it compels the manure to be placed for three or four weeks in the ground before the plant can take it up, to say nothing of the three or four weeks' culture necessary to be done before the seedlings in the hill get to the size of the plants when set out. The cultivation of late cabbage is in all respects, similar to that of early, except as it is usually planted alone; the work is done entirely by the horse cultivator, the rows and plants in the rows, being according to the kind, from twenty-four to thirty inches apart. There are a great number of kinds offered in the different seed lists, but experienced cultivators confine themselves to but very few kinds. These we give in the order in which they are most approved: "Henderson's Selected Late Flat Dutch,""American Drumhead," and "Marblehead Mammoth." The late cabbage sell all the way from $2 to $10 per 100; but it is always a safe crop for the farmer, because if he is unable to sell the cabbage for table use, they will pay even at $2 per 100 as a food for sheep or cattle.

In addition to these the "American Drumhead Savoy" is grown to a considerable extent, and it is really surprising that it is not grown to the exclusion of nearly all other sorts, as it attains nearly as much weight of crop, and is much more tender and finer in flavor. The "Green Scotch" and "Brown German Kale" belong to the cabbage family, but do not form heads. The curled leaves of the whole plant can be used, and are, like the "Savoy," much finer in flavor than the plain head cabbages, particularly after having been subjected to the frost in fall. There are various methods of

KEEPING CABBAGES IN WINTER

It is best to leave them out as late as possible, so that they can be lifted before being frozen in. In this latitude, they can be safely left out until third week in November. They are then dug or pulled up, according to the nature of the soil, and turned upside down--the roots up, the heads down--just where they have been growing, and the heads placed closely together in beds, six or eight feet wide, with alleys of about same width between, care being taken to have the ground leveled so that the cabbages will set evenly together.

They can be left in this way for three or four weeks, or as long as the ground remains so that it can be dug in the alleys between the beds, the soil from which is thrown in on the beds of cabbage, so that when finished they have a covering of six or seven inches of soil, or sufficient to cover the roots completely up. Sometimes they are covered up immediately on being lifted, by plowing a furrow, shoveling it out wide enough to receive the heads, then plowing so as to cover up, and so on till beds six or eight feed wide are thus formed. This plan is the quickest, but it has the disadvantage, if the season proves mild, of having the cabbages covered up too soon by the soil, and hence more danger of decay. After the ground is frozen, stable litter, straw or leaves, to the depth of three or four inches, should be thrown over the cabbage beds, so as to prevent excessive freezing, and to facilitate the getting at the cabbages in hard weather.

INSECTS

The insects that attack the cabbage tribe are various, and for some of them we regret to say that we are almost helpless in arresting their ravages. Young cabbage plants in fall, or in hot-beds in spring, are often troubled with the aphis, or as it is popularly known, the "green fly" or "green louse". This is easily destroyed by having the plants dusted over once or twice with tobacco dust. This same insect, of a blue color, is often disastrous to the growing crop in the field, and on its first appearance, tobacco dust should be applied, as, of course, if the cabbage are headed up it could not be used. Another insect which attacks them in these stages, is a species of slug, or small caterpillar - a green, glutinous insect, about one-fourth or one-half inch in length. This is not quite so easily destroyed as the other, but will also succumb to a mixture of one part white hellebore to four parts lime dust, sprinkled on thick enough to slightly whiten the plants.

This same remedy we found to be the most efficacious in preventing the ravages of the black flies, or "jumping jack," that is often so destructive to cabbage plants sown or planted in open ground during May and June, but in this case its application may have to be repeated daily often for two weeks.

Another most troublesome insect is the cabbage caterpillar, which attacks the crop often when just beginning to head. This is the larvae of a species of small white butterfly, which deposits its eggs on the crop in May or June. When fields of cabbage are isolated, or where neighbors can be found to act in unison, the best plan is to catch the butterflies with an insect-catching net as soon as they show themselves. This is the most effective and quickest way toget rid of them. However, if that has been neglected, the caterpillar can be destroyed by dusting white hellebore on the cabbages, but, of course, this cannot be done when the heads are matured enough to be ready to use, as the hellebore is to some extent poisonous, though used when the plants are about half grown it will do no harm, as the rains will have washed it sufficiently off by the time they head up. The insects here described are not, probably, all that afflict the cabbage crop. A letter just received from a gentleman in Montgomery, Ala., says that the young cabbage plants in that region are often swept in twenty-four hours by a small green worm - a species of slug or caterpillar, no doubt. The remedy for all such is white hellebore powder, which had better be dusted on the plants once a week as a preventive, before the insect makes its appearance. In fact, all remedies against insects are best used as preventives, or at least, on the very first appearance of the pest. But the insect enemies which attack the roots of the cabbage are not so easy to destroy. In fact, with the wire worm and cabbage maggot we are almost helpless, as far as my experience has gone. For the latter, which is the worst enemy, a remedy has recently been recommended to me, which, as yet, I have had no opportunity to test. It is to make a hole with the dibber, five or six inches deep, close to the root of each plant, and drop into it nine or ten drops of bi-sulphide of carbon, closing up the hole again. Last year the cabbage and cauliflower in our "trial grounds" were attacked by the cabbage maggot at the roots early in May. A small handful of Peruvian Guano was at once strewn around each plant and hoed in around the roots. This at once started an unusual vigor of growth, which sustained the plants until they matured excellent heads. Understand, the Guano did not injure the insect, it only enabled the cabbage to outgrow its attack. For the destruction of the insect which causes the excrescence know as "club root" in cabbage a heavy dressing of lime in fall and spring will check it to a great extent. In fact, on lands adjacent to the shores of New York Bay, where the soil is mixed with oyster shell, "club root" is rarely seen, cabbage having been grown on some fields successively for fifty years without a trace of it being seen, showing heat the insect that causes the "club root" cannot exist in contact with lime; for it is found on lands where there is no oyster shell deposit, a quarter of a mile distant, and cabbages cannot be grown two years in succession on the same land, unless heavily dressed with lime, and even then it is alwasy deemed safest never to plant cabbages two years in succession on the same ground; for while such crops as onions show but little benefit by rotation with other crops, cabbages, perhaps more than anything else, are benefited by such alternation; and when it can be done, nothing is better than to let the cabbage crop be alternated with grasses, such as German millet, timothy or clover, or a crop of oats or rye. This is the method pursued by many of the Long Island market gardeners, who grow for the New York market, where their lands are cheap enough to allow them to do so; but the gardeners of Hudson County, New Jersey, which is in sight of New York City, whose lands now are limited in area, and for which an average of $50 per acre rent is paid per annum, cannot well afford to let their lands lay thus comparatively idle, and in consequence do not now raise as fine crops as the lands thus "rested" by the grass or grain crops.

If the land for the cabbage crop is of a kind suitable to grow a good crop of corn or potatoes, and is tilled or fertilized in the manner advised, it is rare indeed that a crop will fail to head, if the plants are in good condition, and have been properly planted, unless they are attacked by the maggot or "club root". In our trial grounds, where over a hundred different stocks of cabbage are tested each year, we have found that every kind of cabbage tested, early or late, has produced solid heads, showing that when the conditions are right all kinds of cabbages will head up and produce a crop. A circumstance came under our notice, in the summer of 1882, which well illustrates the necessity for care in planting. We had sold, some time in February, a large lot of our "Early Summer" cabbage seed to two market gardeners in Rochester, NY. The orders were filled from the same bag of seed. Some time about the end of June one of the men wrote, saying that he had evidently got some spurious kind of cabbage from us, as his neighbor was marketing his crop, while in this field of ten acres he had not a head fit to cut, nor was there any appearance of their ever doing so, he thought. Investigation showed that no maggot, "club root" or other insect was affecting the roots; the land was nearly identical with that which had made a successful crop, and had been equally well manured and cultivated. So the only probable solution of the matter was that the plants in the case of failure had been loosely planted and had failed to make a prompt start, as in the other case, where the planting had been properly done, so that while the one lot advanced without a check, the growth of the other lot was arrested. This was undoubtedly the case, for there could be no cause for the diffference unless on some such hypothesis. But there was a fortunate sequel to the case. It luckily happened that a heavy rain storm occurred while the cabbages were yet in this unheaded condition. This started, as it were a second growth, which resulted in their forming splendid heads by August 1st, at a time when cabbages were scarce, which, luckily for the owner, brought a much higher price than had they matured at the proper season, in June or July. The result was fortunate for us, who had sold the seed, for had not rain come so opportunly, the crop might never have headed up, and it would then have been hard to have convinced the man that he had not been furnished with spurious seed. What has been advised for cabbage crops, either early or late, is exactly the culture necessary for a crop of Cauliflower.

CAULIFLOWER

Cauliflower being a plant of more delicate constitution than cabbage, it requires to be more carefully handled; for instance, where the cabbage plants in the cold frames will keep safely over winter in this latitude, with no covering but the glass sash, cauliflower plants require the use of straw mats over the sashes, as the plant is much more easily hurt by frost. In fact, it is better never to keep the plants through the winter; those sown in February, and transplanted into cold frames in March, and planted in the open ground in April, as recommended for spring sown early cabbage, being better. The plants, however, must be started early enough so that they can be set out not later than middle of April, for if not rooted well before warm weather sets in, they will either "button"--that is, form small, stunted flowers--or else fail entirely to head up. Cauliflower delights in a cool atmosphere, and never does well when the season is hot and dry, unless complete irrigation can be given when the plant is about half grown. If this can be done the crop is certain. We have grown in this manner nearly an acre for many years, the crop selling for an average of $1,200 per acre annually, and that was before we had introduced the now famous variety known as "Henderson's Early Snowball," which is ahead of all other kinds in its certainty to make a crop. The next in succession to this is the "Early Erfurt," which is again succeeded by the "Early Paris," but neither of these in any respect is equal to the "Snowball." For late crop the varieties known as "Algiers, and Erfurt," are the kinds usually grown. The plants are obtained by sowing at the same dates as for late cabbages. It is planted three feet each way and cultivated exactly as late cabbages, and often sells as high as $25 per 100 in November and December. We are of the opinion, however, that the "Snowball," of which twice the number can be grown per acre, will prove a more profitable crop even for late than the "Algiers," as it is always more certain to form heads. It is not once in twenty years that a variety of vegetables or fruit makes such an advance in earliness and quality as this "Snowball" cauliflower, and we have much satisfaction in the knowledge that we were the first to bring it into cultivation, about five years ago. It is now grown to almost the entire exclusion of all other early kinds of cauliflower in this country, and hundreds have succeeded both North and South in raising a crop from this variety, who had previously completely failed with all other kinds. In cauliflowers, as in cabbages, it is folly to attempt the experiment of many kinds. Long experience has taught us that two or three of each, for early and second early, is all-sufficient. Although our seed catalogues enumerate scores of kinds, gardeners, who know what they are about, fight shy of all except those whose merit has been proved beyond any questions of a doubt. For this reason, we only give the names of such as we know to be the best.


CARROT

The cultivation of this vegetable is almost identical with that given for the beet, excepting that the crop may be thinned out a little closer; that is, carrots may be allowed to stand at a distance of three or four inches apart, while the beet requires five or six inches. This is a particularly safe crop for the farmer, and he can never go far wrong in growing plenty of it, as it is a hardier root than beet, and can be left until late in the fall and dug at leisure times, but always before there is danger of its being frozen in; and will always sell at a fair price even as feed for horses and cattle, rarely bringing in our markets less than $1.00 per barrel. The average crop on suitable soils is about 300 barrels to the acre. The carrot crop has one advantage over many others--if the ground is fairly good, it may be grown without manure, particularly on lands that have been broken for potatoes or corn the year previous. I might say here that the seed of the carrot, being very small, is easily affected by drought, and great care should be taken to firm it in the soil well, and I would ask the reader, if he has not already been thoroughly imbued with the importance of firming seeds, to read the chapter given in this work on the "Use of the Feet in Sowing and Planting." The kind used for table purposes is the Early Horn, a short, beautifully colored, dark orange variety. For a second crop the Half Long is grown. That used for farm culture is known as Long Orange, or the Danvers. The quantity of seed required, if sown by drill, is four to six pounds per acre; if sown by hand, eight to twelve pounds per acre. When sold at retail for table use it is equally profitable as beets, but comparatively few carrots are wanted in the summer months.

For Part 2 of this article, see SFJ Summer 2000 pages 80-85

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Lynn R. Miller is the editor/publisher/founder of SFJ and FR&a. He is the author of over 12 books which cover the subjects of small farming and/or animal powered agriculture.