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PRICE, 50 CENTS. 
 
 ^ ME AciE. 
 
 
HOW AND WHAT TO GROW 
 
 IN A 
 
 KITCHEN GAEDEISr 
 
 OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 DARLINGTON and MOLL. 
 
TH'E 
 
 HOW TO FURNISH AND MANAGE IT. 
 
 By W. ATLEE BURPEE. 
 
 Full descriptions and large illustrations given of the leading 
 varieties of Land and Water Fowls. It also contains chapters 
 on Poultry Houses, SELECxioisr and Mating of Stock, 
 What and How to Feed, Geneeal Management, Deess- 
 ING and Shipping Poultey, Eggs and Chickens, Dieec- 
 tions foe Caponizing, Diseases, How to Raise Good 
 TuEKEYS, ETC., ETC. Fully Illustrated. 
 
 The New Edition for 1888 contains, besides the above, 
 an illustrated chapter on the training and care of Scotch 
 Colly or Shepheed Dogs, also new improved plans of Poultry 
 Houses, with illustration. 
 
 Price, 50 Cts. in paper ; 75 Cts. bound in cloth. Sent, post- 
 paid, by mail, upon receipt of price by the Publishers, 
 
 W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA., 
 and at 13*3 Cannon St,, London, E, C, England, 
 
 B^^Buepee's Illusteated Catalogue of Thoeoughbeed 
 Live Stock and Fancy Poultey sent free, on application, to 
 all interested. 
 
HOW AND WHAT TO GROW 
 
 IN 
 
 KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 BY 
 
 E. D. DARLINGTON and L. :^^ MOLL. 
 
 > 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 W. ATLEE BUEPEE. 
 
 f 
 
 Ml 
 
 y^fSKy^ 
 
 
 «.m FEB 13 1888 7-, 
 
 / 
 
 1888. -• 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., 
 
 Nos. 475 AND 477 North Fifth Street, 
 
 Nos. 476 AND 478 York Avenue, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
Copyrighted, 1888, 
 
 BY 
 
 W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 In Burpee's Farm Annual for 1887 we offered 
 cash prizes for the two best essays, to be sent us by 
 October, 1887, upon the subject, " How and What 
 TO Grow in a Kitchen Garden of One Acre." 
 In its original form E. D. Darlington's essay cov- 
 ered more fully than any other the operations and 
 best methods to pursue in the management of the 
 garden, and was awarded the first prize. Being 
 desirous, however, of making this work not only 
 practical but thoroughly complete in all departments, 
 and from personal acquaintance with Mr. Darlington 
 and his gardening operations, together with the fact 
 that for some years he had tested numerous varieties 
 of vegetables for us, we arranged with him to entirely 
 revise and enlarge his essay. In compliance with 
 our request he has entered more into detail in the 
 directions for culture, and has added impartial 
 descriptions of the varieties that he has found best 
 adapted both to the Kitchen Garden and the table. 
 To make the treatise more complete, he prepared a 
 
vi editor's preface. 
 
 diagram of his own kitchen garden, which is one 
 acre in size, as laid out for a year's w^ork. Some 
 varieties grown are not marked in the diagram, as 
 they are worked in as parts of other rows, but this is 
 all fully explained in the body of his treatise. 
 
 To add to the value of the book as a plain and 
 practical guide for the novice in gardening, w^e have 
 had illustrations engraved showing the tw^o plans 
 of hotbeds, the methods of storing roots for w^inter 
 use, etc. We have also inserted engravings, mostly 
 drawn from nature, of the leading varieties of vege- 
 tables described in the text, that the gardener may 
 have an accurate idea of the form of the different 
 varieties and may be able to tell whether his pro- 
 ducts are of the right type. 
 
 We take pleasure, also, in publishing the essay of 
 Miss L. M. Moll, of Illinois, which was awarded the 
 second prize. We are glad to note that she has been 
 explicit in describing the culture of some of the less 
 generally grown varieties of salads and herbs which 
 are valuable adjuncts to the table, and upon which 
 My. Darlington has failed to treat. Some of the 
 methods described in this essay are, however, unne- 
 cessarily laborious. For instance, the wide bed of 
 perennials, as described, would require considerable 
 hand labor to keep the soil loose and free from weeds; 
 while, if planted in long rows, horse cultivation 
 
editor's preface. vii 
 
 would lessen this tedious work and would also loosen 
 the ground to a greater depth. The varieties recom- 
 mended by Miss Moll, while generally good, have in 
 some cases been surpassed by improved varieties of 
 more recent introduction. 
 
 As presented in the following pages, the two essays 
 will, we believe, make this book, for general use, the 
 most complete and practical treatise on gardening 
 published. Such has been our earnest endeavor, and 
 we are confident that it will be recognized as a 
 thoroughly trustworthy guide. With careful study 
 of its teachings, the novice should be able to plant 
 and successfully manage a Kitchen Garden, be it 
 one acre, more or less, while we trust that experi- 
 enced gardeners w411 find much to commend and 
 will be able to gain some new ideas. 
 
 W. Atlee Burpee. 
 
 Philadelphia, December 16th, 1887. 
 
HOW AND WHAT TO GROW 
 
 IN A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 OF ONE ACEE. 
 
 BY E. D. DAELINGTON. 
 
 In order to treat this subject in detail, I shall first 
 write on what the kitchen garden should be, where 
 it should be, and how to keep it in the best order to 
 produce the desired results, then take up " What to 
 grow " and "How to grow it." 
 
 SITUATION OF THE GARDEN. 
 
 The garden should be situated conveniently near 
 the farm buildings, as it should be visited frequently ; 
 a variety of tools are needed in its care, and each 
 should be put away as soon as done with, that it may 
 be preserved in the best order for use. It is often 
 necessary to carry water to help along young trans- 
 
 9 
 
10 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 planted stock that has been overtaken by a dry spell. 
 Where the distance has to be traversed so frequently, 
 it naturally follows that the shorter it is the greater 
 will be the saving in time and the less likely is the 
 garden to be neglected. 
 
 The garden should be as nearly level as possible, or, 
 if sloping, not so much so as to be in danger of being 
 washed by heavy rains. If sloping, the slope should 
 lie to the south, or as nearly south as possible. A plan- 
 tation or hedge of evergreens on the north side of the 
 garden will be found a w^onderful aid to the earliness 
 of the garden truck and to the hardiness of the small 
 fruit plants and roots which remain in the ground 
 all winter ; if a woods or high hill be directly on the 
 north and northwest of your garden, it will answer 
 nearly as well as the hedge of evergreens. The gar- 
 den should be so situated as to have good surface 
 drainage ; without this or expensive underdraining, 
 it will hardly be possible to raise early or fine vege- 
 tables at any profit. These I consider the most essen- 
 tial points in selecting the plot for the garden; of 
 course, a good, rich soil is to be desired, but the gar- 
 dener can, by the liberal use of manure and thorough 
 cultivation, remedy a deficiency of this kind in a 
 couple of years, while he cannot make a favorable 
 location for early vegetables on a north slope if he 
 should try a lifetime. By a careful study of the 
 varieties in cultivation, and by trials of their merits 
 in your garden and on your table, experience will be 
 gained which will enable you to grow as fine vegeta- 
 bles and fruits on heavy soil as on light, sandy loam, 
 and vice versa. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 11 
 
 THE SOIL OF THE GARDEN. 
 
 Ground that has been worked in some cultivated 
 farm crop, such as corn or potatoes, is more desir- 
 able for starting a garden than fresh sod land, as it is 
 more easily brought into fine condition in the early 
 spring ; while grass is one of the hardest weeds to 
 exterminate, especially among small hoed crops, such 
 as strawberries, onions, beets, etc. Sod land is also 
 often full of grubs, which work havoc among the 
 strawberry plants and young melon and squash 
 vines. In either new ground or in the old estab- 
 lished garden, it will be of great advantage to put 
 the long, coarse manure on the ground in the fall, 
 and plow it well under as soon as the ground can be 
 cleared of the summer crops. The soil should be 
 left just as it is plowed, without harrowing, leaving 
 the lumps and ridges to the action of the frost. This 
 will be found of especial benefit to heavy soils that 
 are late in drying in the spring; it also adds a great 
 deal to the appearance and cleanliness of the garden, 
 as the weeds, old stalks, etc., are all cut off and burnt 
 before plovv^ing, instead of being left to scatter their 
 seeds with every winter wind. 
 
 The gases arising from the decaying of the coarse 
 manure in the soil tend to lighten it, instead of being 
 wasted in the air, as is the case when the manure is 
 in heaps or in the barnyard. By plowing-time in 
 the spring the manure will have assimilated with the 
 soil and will be thoroughly worked through the cul- 
 tivated surface, thus affording food for the crops in 
 all stages. If such manure is applied in the spring, 
 it will make dry or thin soil still drier, and unless 
 
12 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 plowed well under, where it would take the roots a 
 long time to reach it, will burn the young plants 
 up if the season should happen to be a dry one. 
 The great value of compost in starting young plants 
 is that it affords rich food in proper form for the 
 tender young rootlets, enabling the young plants to 
 make a quick, tender growth, which is very essential 
 if vegetables of fine quality are desired. By fall 
 manuring and plowing the whole garden is com- 
 posted, while the action of the frost on the lumps and 
 ridges pulverizes them, leaving the soil in a fine, 
 friable condition. 
 
 LAYINa OUT THE GARDEN. , 
 
 It is most convenient to have the garden as nearly 
 square as possible, which in our garden of one acre 
 will be 208 x.208 feet. This makes the length of the 
 rows a very good measure of the quantity to be 
 grown, and affords as many rows to the ground as 
 can be profitably v/orked, for it is desirable that the 
 rows should be as nearly east and w^est as possible, 
 and they should be the long way of the plot (if not 
 a square), as it will result in great saving of time 
 in planting and cultivating. Moving the line and 
 drawing the cultivators out of one row and turning 
 into the next, takes nearly as much time as the work- 
 ing of the short row. 
 
 In plowing, a good, wide headland should be left 
 at each end of the garden ; it should be wide enough 
 to allow the horse and cultivator to come clear out 
 from between the rows and to turn into the next 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 13 
 
 row, without damaging the plants at the ends of 
 the rows by trampling and dragging the cultivator 
 over them. 
 
 In winter, while there is plenty of time before the 
 spring opens, the summer campaign should be 
 planned — what vegetables are to be raised and 
 what quantity of each will be needed, in what part 
 of the garden it will be best to plant each variety so 
 that the pollen from different members of the same 
 family, such as cucumbers and cantaloupes, will not 
 mix and spoil each other's fine flavor. If the soil is 
 of different quality in different parts of the garden, 
 it should be planned so that the heavy and the lighter 
 portions shall be occupied by such crops as will 
 succeed best in the respective soils. 
 
 Ease of cultivation and the rotation or succession 
 of crops should also be considered. The small-grow- 
 ing plants which require hand hoeing should be 
 together, and likewise those which are to be worked 
 with the horse cultivator. Where the ground is 
 to bear two crops — one planted after the other has 
 matured and been taken off — it will be of advantage 
 to have such crops together, thus making larger plots 
 for the replowing and a consequent saving of time 
 and work. 
 
 Beside these conditions in laying out a new gar- 
 den, when it comes to the second or succeeding sea- 
 sons, the crop or crops raised in the plot the year 
 before must be taken into account. The situation of 
 the crop of each particular vegetable should be 
 moved to another part, as each draws certain propor- 
 tions of the food elements from the soil, and those of 
 
14 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 a different character should occupy the ground in 
 rotation, that the soil may be kept in the richest 
 state. Thus the quality or size of the croj) will not 
 be lessened by being planted in a situation that it 
 has depleted, to some extent, of its own particular 
 food the year before. Reference should also be had 
 to the kind of food which the plant requires, as in 
 the case of strawberries and potatoes, which should 
 not succeed each other without special manures, as 
 they both exhaust, to a great extent, the potash in 
 the soil, so that the soil, haying borne a heavy crop 
 of one, would of necessity make but a poor return of 
 the other if planted in direct succession. If this can- 
 not be overcome by a change of location, the gar- 
 dener will know that the proper food elements have 
 been depleted by the previous crop, and must try 
 to supply them with special manure or commercial 
 fertilizers. 
 
 It is of great importance to rapid work and good 
 gardening that all this should be arranged and 
 settled in the gardener's mind, or better, plotted 
 out on paper, before the first plowing is done in the 
 spring. The plan being kept would be valuable in 
 laying out the garden the succeeding year, as it would 
 show just where each vegetable had been grown and 
 where the different kinds of manure had been 
 applied. If, in addition, the success of the various 
 crops and notes of their growth were marked upon 
 it, it would form a most valuable text-book for the 
 study of improved gardening, each garden being an 
 experimental station and each gardener a student 
 in pursuit of knowledge and advancement in his 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 15 
 
 work, feeding at the same time both physical and 
 intellectual needs. 
 
 DIAGRAM OF THE GARDEN. 
 
 The accompanying plan may be of use to the 
 novice in gardening on the scale suggested by our 
 subject, as it is planned to admit of a proportionate 
 quantity of such vegetables and fruits as are grown 
 in the ordinary garden, while directions for planting 
 and cultivating the various vegetables will be found 
 in the special descriptions of the several varieties. 
 (See p. 16.) 
 
 PROCURING THE SEEDS AND PLANTS. 
 
 Having the plan of work all- settled, the next thing 
 is to know what is to be grown, the varieties of each 
 that are best adapted to the situation and soil of the 
 garden, and where they can be procured of the best 
 quality. Under this head come the seeds needed for 
 the vegetables and the roots, tips and runners for the 
 plantings of small fruits. This should be done as 
 soon as convenient, as I have found by experience it 
 is a great saving to have the entire supply of seeds 
 on hand a week or two before it is possible to begin 
 planting. This is an important item, as I have some- 
 times lost my crop from planting inferior seed pur- 
 chased at the last moment from the commissioned 
 seeds that are sold in the country stores. It does not 
 pay to economize or try to garden with poor seeds ; 
 it is a waste of time and labor in planting, and a 
 waste of ground and manure, as the inferior vege- 
 
16 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
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 208 SCALE 'AlNCH ^ FLET 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 17 
 
 tables raised will hardly cover the original cost of the 
 seed. The gardener who sells his products, unless 
 his crops are of the best, will soon find his trade fall- 
 ing off, and will be compelled to seek new customers 
 each market day. Personally, I have found it more 
 satisfactory and productive of better results to buy 
 
 KEY TO DIAGRAM. 
 
 Row No. 1. 25 grape vines, planted about 7i feet apVrt. The first three years 
 these are trained to plain stakes or bean poles, the space in the rows 
 between the vines being planted with strawberries, peas, beans or some 
 other low-growing crop, to occupy the ground and insure good cultiva- 
 tion. When the vines have made strong canes and have reached the tops 
 of the poles, a post is set at each vine and a trellis made, as described 
 in the chapter on grapes. This row is six feet distant from the north 
 boundary line of the garden.. 
 
 Rows No. 2. These rows are twelve feet distant from each other and from 
 the row of grapes, and are planted with blackberry vines, at a distance 
 of three feet in the rows. Though this may seem like a good deal of 
 "elbow room," it is as close as they can be planted to keep them in good 
 order; if planted closer they will form an impenetrable jungle by the 
 end of the second season. 
 
 Rows No. 3. These two rows are planted with red and black raspberries, the 
 rows also twelve feet apart, but the plants set 2i feet apart in the rows. 
 
 Row No. 4. This is planted with rhubarb, sage and thyme, currants and 
 gooseberries, and is twelve feet distant from the rows on either side. 
 
 Row No. 5. Is twelve feet from row No. 4, and is planted with asparagus, 
 as described in tho special chapter on that vegetable. 
 
 Rows No.6. These two rows are to be planted with spring-set strawberries for 
 the next year's crop, and are four feet distant from the asparagus 
 and from each other. The strawberries are intended to be grown on 
 the matted row plan, and to be cultivated with the horse cultivator ; if 
 they are to be grown in stools, another row can be planted between 
 them, and the whole worked with the wheel or hand hoes. 
 
 Row No. 7. This row is for watermelons or cantaloupes, and the line of hills 
 is six feet distant from the row on either side. The space in the row 
 between the hills can be planted with egg plants, cabbage, lettuce or 
 such other plants as may be desired. 
 
 Row No. 8. This row is a space four feet wide, with room for the cultivator on 
 cither side ; this is raked fine and planted in four rows one foot apart, 
 the first row containing beets and carrots; the second, onions; the 
 2 
 
18 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 each season almost all the seeds needed from some 
 reliable seedsman, rather than to depend on those of 
 my own saving. For instance, such as peas, sweet 
 corn and other vegetables, where the earlier the crop 
 is ready to market the greater the profit; these ma- 
 ture much earlier if the seed is procured from reli- 
 
 third, lettuce, radishes, etc. ; the fourth, with a dozen plants of parsley, 
 and the balance of the row in endive and parsnips. When the two 
 middle rows have been cut out, the cultivator can be used to work the 
 beets, parsnips, etc., in the outside rows. 
 
 Row No. 9. This row is three feet distant from the parsnips, and is planted 
 with early cauliflower and early cabbage, with two plants of lettuce 
 between each of the other plants, which are set IJ feet apart. 
 
 Rows No. 10. These are four rows of peas, different plantings, two kinds, 
 early and medium, in each row, in equal quantities, rows three feet 
 apart. These are to be pulled out as soon as the crop is gathered, and 
 two rows of celery planted six feet apart. 
 
 Rows No. 11. Here are four rows of early sweet corn, in four plantings of 
 successive kinds, to be cleared off and followed by turnips, drilled in rows 
 one foot apart, and worked with the wheel hoe ; or the seed may be 
 broadcasted after a thorough cultivating, when the ears of corn are 
 well set, without clearing the ground. This is not nearly so satisfac- 
 tory a plan as to wait until the ground can be cleared and drilled. 
 The rows of corn should be four feet apart. 
 
 Rows No. 12. Two rows, 4i feet apart, of Lima beans, with the poles about 
 2i feet apart in the row. 
 
 Row No. 13. This row should have six feet clear on each side for the vines to 
 run, and is to be planted with cucumbers and squashes. The space 
 between the hills can be occupied with pepper plants or sweet corn. 
 
 Rows No. 14. Two rows of tomatoes, four feet apart. 
 
 Rows No. 15. Four rows of late sweet corn, four feet apart. 
 
 Rows No. 16. Two rows of sweet potatoes, five feet apart and five feet from 
 the corn and pole beans on either side. 
 
 Row No. 17. One row of pole snap beans. About three kinds should be 
 planted, that they may be had in succession. 
 
 Rows No. 18. Five rows early potatoes, three feet apart, plowed in when the 
 ground is plowed in the spring. When cultivated for the last time, 
 plant a row of late cabbage between each row of potatoes ; when the 
 latter are ripe, dig with a fork, clear the ground of vines and cultivate 
 the cabbage thoroughly. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 19 
 
 able seedsmen who have their supplies grown in the 
 North. Such northern grown seeds retain their 
 instinct to hurry up and mature in a short season, 
 while in one's own saving they begin even in the first 
 year to grow more leisurely and to accommodate 
 themselves to the longer season. In the case of peas, 
 those grown in Northern New York and Canada, such 
 as are sold by all our leading seedsmen, will mature 
 from one to two weeks earlier than those ssived in 
 our own neighborhood. The northern peas are also 
 generally free from the weevil or striped bug, w^hich 
 bores the large round hole in all the home-saved peas 
 and destroys their germinating power. So it is with 
 almost every known variety of vegetable ; each has 
 some special locality in which it reaches a higher 
 degree of perfection than in others less favorably 
 situated. While, of course, these facts are of interest 
 to the gardener, they are only learned after years of 
 experience, and it is the seedsman's business to know 
 the peculiarities of the different varieties, and to raise 
 or procure his stock from the best strains grown in 
 the most favorable localities. It is for the gardener to 
 purchase from a seedsman whom he knows to be thor- 
 oughly reliable, and whose interest it will be to serve 
 him with prompt shipments and carefully- selected 
 strains of the vegetables desired. All this is equally 
 
 Rows No, 19. Swoetcorn planted between the rows of berry bushes; a large 
 late variety will bo the best for this purpose. 
 
 Rows No. 20. Two rows of fruiting strawberries, to be plowed under and be 
 replaced by peas sown in August. This, of course, applies only to a 
 garden of at least a year's standing; and the fruiting plants of straw- 
 berries will come in a fresh place each year. The rows No. 6 being the 
 bearing plants next season. 
 
20 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 true of the nurseryman or small-fruit grower from 
 whom the supply of roots and plants is to be pur- 
 chased. On no part of the farm is ^^ Pedigree Stock " 
 of more importance than in the kitchen garden. I 
 will speak further on of the saving of seeds, and refer 
 now only to those which it is necessary to buy. First, 
 it is often a saving of several days to have the seed 
 on hand, as it is sometimes impossible to foretell just 
 when you will need the seed to plant a certain plot, 
 how soon the ground will be fit to work, or how soon 
 will come the opportunity, in the press of other work ; 
 if you have the seed at hand that part is always 
 ready, and this is quite an item where the garden fre- 
 quently has to be attended to in the intervals of farm 
 work. Next, it is a cash saving to order all your 
 seeds at one time. If, as is most frequently the case, 
 you have to send to some large city for your supply, 
 by procuring all that you need at one time, you have 
 but one freight or express charge to pay. In making 
 up your order, stick to the old varieties that you know 
 suit your soil and your market ; all the more if your 
 market is your own table, for the greatest pleasure in 
 gardening is in testing the merits of your fruits and 
 vegetables with the appetite engendered by their cul- 
 ture. Also take into consideration the preferences of 
 the household department as to the cooking merits 
 of the different varieties. Do not experiment with 
 your main crop of any vegetable, but do not neglect 
 to try such new varieties as seem to possess merit, for 
 the varieties are being continually improved by good 
 culture and selection, as well as by hybridization or 
 cross-breeding. To have a fine garden, the gardener 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 21 
 
 must know the merits of all new and old varieties, 
 and be as progressive as is the successful man in any- 
 other line of business. I know of nothing so inter- 
 esting as watching the growth and development of 
 some new and improved variety that has been recom- 
 mended to the gardening public in the most glowing 
 terms, and often in glowing colors on a beautiful col- 
 ored plate. Although I have been " taken in " fully 
 as often as the average gardener of my experience, I 
 have been many times repaid all trouble and outlay 
 by the numerous successes that I have met with and 
 the great improvement in some of the varieties 
 grown. Sometimes I have made quite a nice little 
 sum out of these novelties, when I have been able to 
 sell the selected seed of the new variety to some other 
 seedsman or to my neighbors. In these new varieties, 
 more than in any others, do you need to order early, 
 or, instead of the seed that you desire and which is 
 to make reputation and money for you, " being some- 
 thing superior to anything ever grown before," you 
 may get one of those provoking little slips stating 
 that the seedsman " regrets to inform you that, owing 
 to the great demand, the supply is exhausted for this 
 season, and hopes that the substituted kind will do 
 as well." 
 
 HOTBEDS AND COLD FRAMES. 
 
 With a garden of this size I would have hotbeds, 
 cold frames and rich seed beds of fine light soil ; 
 these I would not have in the garden itself unless 
 that be the most convenient place. Where there is 
 time to attend to them, they will be a measure of 
 
22 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 economy, it being much cheaper to raise than to 
 buy the plants, if you use more than a few dozens, 
 while, if 3"0U have the time and room, quite a business 
 can be done by supplying your neighbors who do 
 not garden on such an extensive scale. It is best to 
 locate the frames on the sunny side of a barnyard 
 wall, or against a building that will shield them from 
 the north wind and make a warm nook for them on 
 sunshiny days. They should be situated conveniently 
 near both to the manure pile and to a good supply of 
 water, where they will constantly be under the eye 
 in passing to and from the farm work and will not 
 suffer neglect from being forgotten or overlooked. It 
 is quite important that there should be good drainage 
 from these beds, as they are most needed at a rainy 
 time of the year; dampness is not only injurious to 
 the young plants, but it also takes up a great deal of 
 the heat which should go toward forwarding the 
 growth of the young plants. The sashes can be 
 bought, ready painted and glazed, at the planing 
 mills in most cities, and this is much the cheapest 
 way to procure them, as they can often be bought for 
 what the bare sash would cost in a small order at a 
 country shop. They come 3 J feet wide by 6 feet in 
 length, and are 1 J to 2 inches in thickness, and if 
 stored in the dry when not in use, and are treated to 
 an occasional coat of paint, will last a lifetime. 
 
 Three or four sash would be amply sufficient for a 
 garden of an acre if used in succession, sowing one 
 lot of seed as the preceding planting is set out in the 
 garden ; though, of course, more sash can be handled 
 without any great increase of labor, and the season 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 23 
 
 much advanced by growing radishes, lettuce, beets, 
 etc., to maturity under the glass. 
 
 In making the hotbed, dig a trench a few inches 
 short of six feet in width, or as wide as the sashes 
 will cover, about two feet in depth and as long as the 
 combined width of the number of sashes which you 
 wish to use. This is then to be boarded up with 
 rough boards, but they should bo neatly joined and 
 plastering laths or building paper tacked over the 
 
 Illustration showing the manner of making the hotbed when sunk below the 
 surface of the ground. 
 
 cracks, so as not to waste the heat. The back or north 
 side of this frame should be 6 or 8 inches higher 
 than, the front, so that the rain may run off the sashes. 
 The sashes held at an angle in this manner will also 
 receive more sunlight for the front part of the bed 
 than if front and back were level. The whole frame 
 of the bed should be banked round with the dirt 
 thrown out, or better with fresh stable manure, which 
 
24 
 
 A KITCHEN GAEDEN 
 
 will help to keep it warm and will make a bank to 
 drain away any surface water, which, being very cold 
 in the spring, would, if allowed to penetrate the bed, 
 tend to chill the heat of the fermenting manure, and 
 consequently check the growth of the young and 
 tender plants, even if it did not generate that great 
 enemy of all young plants, fungus or mildew, 
 causing them to rot or " damp off." 
 
 GROUND LEVEL 
 
 Illustrationshowing the manner of constructiDg a hotbed above the surface of 
 the ground. 
 
 Or, if there is plenty of fresh stable manure at 
 hand, it can be corded in a pile two feet high and 
 extending a foot wider than the sash frame on all 
 sides ; and when the frame has been put in position 
 on the heap, the manure should be carried up on the 
 outside nearly to the top of the boards, making a warm 
 jacket for the plants, within. A portable frame of 
 boards is made for the sash to rest on, twelve inches 
 
OF ONE ACEE. 25 
 
 high at the back and eight inches in front. This 
 style of bed does away with any digging and secures 
 good drainage for the bed. It would probably be the 
 most satisfactory way for the gardener, w^hb is also a 
 farmer, as the bed can easily be removed as soon as 
 it has served its purpose for the season, and the 
 manure, which has become well rotted by this time 
 will make an excellent compost for corn, melons, cel- 
 ery, etc. The frame and sash can also be set on a 
 good piece of ground in the fall and filled with young 
 lettuce plants in the early part of October, which wdll 
 furnish salad throughout the winter. 
 
 The manure and litter which are to produce the 
 heat for the bed should be thoroughly forked over 
 and heaped together a week or ten days before the 
 beds are to be started. While a large proportion of 
 the material should be fresh horse stable manure, 
 where a large quantity of heating material is needed, 
 it can be mixed with any litter obtainable, such as 
 straw, leaves from the woods, weeds, cut fodder, or 
 anything that will furnish bulk and that will decay 
 rapidly, and, by decaying, produce heat; when the 
 material has all been gathered and heaped solidly 
 together, a good sprinkling with water, hot, if possi- 
 ble, will aid in starting the fermentation. In about 
 a week or two, when the heat of the heap has gone 
 down to 95° or 100°, the manure should be placed 
 in the beds and w^ell trampled down ; it should come 
 up to within eight inches of the front of the frame 
 and should be covered with about three and a half 
 or four inches of fine, rich soil. It is a good plan to 
 
26 A J&ITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 sift the dirt through a coal sieve, as it then makes a 
 fine bed for the seeds and young plants. 
 
 Place the sashes on as soon as this is done ; hand- 
 ling the manure and repacking it will produce some 
 fresh heat and it will still be too warm to sow any 
 seed, but the heat will destroy such weed seeds as may 
 be in the soil, and the steam and gases arising from 
 the manure will tend to put the soil in the finest 
 possible condition for forwarding the growth of the 
 young plants. A thermometer should be placed in 
 the soil of the bed every day or two, to see if the 
 temperature has fallen sufficiently to admit of sow- 
 ing the seeds. As soon as the temperature has fallen 
 to about 75° ; or, if no thermometer is at hand, as 
 soon as the top sod is only perceptibly warm to the 
 palm of the hand, the bed should be sprinkled, and 
 as soon as this has dried off a little, rake it up thor- 
 oughly and sow the seed. The seed will produce 
 finer and stockier plants if sown in drills about six 
 inches apart, which will admit light and air to the 
 roots of the plants, and will j)ermit a weekly hoeing. 
 In planting seeds, the depth of their covering should 
 be about five times the diameter of the seed, and 
 this covering should be firmly packed around them, 
 after planting. The starting and planting of these 
 beds must be calculated, so as to have the plants 
 ready to set out as soon as the garden can be worked. 
 In this vicinity (Philadelphia) the first sowing of 
 cauliflowers, lettuce, beets and early cabbage should 
 be made about February 15th, or even earlier, 
 depending on the forwardness of the season or of 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 27 
 
 your own particular garden. The plants will then 
 be of a suitable size for transplanting by the time the 
 early part of the garden has been plowed. If the 
 sashes are covered with old carpets or straw on cold 
 nights, it w^ill be a great saving of the heating power 
 of the manure and w411 prevent the young plants 
 from being chilled. The young plants should be 
 treated to fresh air whenever the outside temperature 
 is not too cold, that they may not become " drawn," 
 or " spindle up " into long, slim stems. As planting- 
 out time approaches, the young plants should be left 
 uncovered as frequently as is safe, that they may 
 become sufficiently hardy not to miss the covering 
 when removed to the open ground. 
 
 Tomatoes, peppers and egg plants and a second 
 sowing of early cabbage should be sown in the same 
 manner about the middle of March. If a few extra 
 early plants are wanted, they can be transplanted 
 into the earliest beds when the cabbage and other 
 plants have been set out in the garden, and the sash 
 again put on. If some sweet potatoes are buried 
 about two inches deep in the dirt of one of the cab- 
 bage frames, and kept warm, they will produce a fine 
 lot of sprouts, or, as they are called, " sets," which 
 can be broken off and planted in the garden when 
 the weather has become sufficiently warm. If a 
 number are wanted, or there is danger of their grow- 
 ing too large, they can be taken off and " heeled in " 
 in another sash until planting time, and the potatoes 
 put back again, as they will produce two or three 
 crops of the sets. Or a hill of cucumbers can be 
 planted in the centre of each sash as a second crop, 
 
28 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 and by the time it would be warm enough to leave 
 them uncovered, these will have filled up the frame 
 with bearing vines, gaining at least a month on 
 those planted in the open ground. 
 
 While the cabbage, cauliflower, beets and lettuce 
 may be planted out as soon as all danger of frost is 
 over, the tomatoes, peppers, egg plants, etc., should 
 not be set out until the thermometer stands at over 
 60° all night, or until the oak leaves are as large as 
 a five-cent piece. In a small hotbed it is best to 
 have a partition between each sash and the one next 
 to it, so that such as are tender varieties may be kept 
 warm and the more hardy cabbage may have plenty 
 of fresh air, for if the latter should become " drawn," 
 all the advantages of an early start will be lost and 
 the plants may become entirely worthless. 
 
 Sowings of seeds for early plants may be made in 
 the same manner as above described for hotbeds, in 
 cold frames, which are the same without the arti- 
 ficial heat germinated by fermenting manure, depend- 
 ing solely on the heat of the sun and the protection 
 of the sash to forward the plants. They can be 
 planted about two weeks later than the dates given 
 for the respective vegetables in hotbeds, and the 
 plants will be ready for setting out about the same 
 length of time later than those raised with the arti- 
 ficial heat. These frames can also be used for win- 
 tering over a few fall-sown cabbage plants, which are 
 useful in a very early season and can be kept full of 
 parsley, lettuce, etc., making a pleasant variety of 
 greens for the table during the winter. 
 
 As soon as it is warm enough to dig them and 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 29 
 
 bring them into fine order, seed beds should be made 
 in a sheltered spot of the garden, for the sowings of 
 late cabbage and celery, which will be spoken of in 
 detail under the special directions for growing these 
 vegetables. 
 
 TOOLS. 
 
 Although not positively necessary, it is of great 
 advantage to have a variety of tools for thoroughly 
 working the soil and to facilitate the labor of plant- 
 ing and harvesting the crops, and exterminating 
 weeds. If, however, the garden is as well cultivated 
 as it should be, there will be no chance for weeds to 
 start, as they will all be destroyed in their earliest 
 stages. 
 
 While there is a general assortment of tools on 
 every farm suitable for use in the garden, I will 
 give a short list of some especially adapted for use 
 in the kitchen garden and the modes and purposes 
 of using them. 
 
 First is the Plow. For the first plowing in the 
 spring, and for the general plowing in the fall, I use 
 a large two-horse plow, which takes a generous slice 
 and will put the manure down as may be wished 
 and return the enriched soil to the surface in the 
 spring, again turning in another coat of manure, if it 
 is to be had in sufficient quantities to do so. So long 
 as the fresh manure does not come in direct contact 
 with the young plants, I do not think it is possible 
 to put in too much, at least in the first three years 
 of the garden. In my soil, which is rather heavy, I 
 plow six to eight inches deep ; in light soil I would 
 
30 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 plow deeper, as the roots penetrate it much more rap- 
 idly. For working among the strawberries and per- 
 manent rows of small fruits, I use a light one-horse 
 plow, with a swingle tree just wide enough to permit 
 the horse to move freely ; this plow is also used in 
 plowing out the potatoes" and in preparing the 
 ground for a second crop. If the share is kept sharp, 
 as it always should be, it will be found very useful 
 in the cultivation of the berries, melons, etc., as with 
 a good plowman it will go deep or shallow, or will 
 slip around some point to be missed much easier 
 than the cultivator. 
 
 When these plows are not in use I give the mould- 
 board and all bright parts a coat of thick whitewash ; 
 this keeps them from rusting, so that plowing a 
 single round leaves them bright and shining. A coat 
 of this on all bright tools, spades, hoes, etc., in the 
 fall, will keep them in the best order through the 
 winter, so that no time will be lost getting them into 
 good working condition in the spring. 
 
 A good companion to the light plow is a one-horse 
 Harrow, of a V shape, with long, slender teeth. It is 
 a splendid tool for making a good, deep bed of fine 
 earth for seed sowing or setting out small plants. 
 Where more land has been plowed than is needed 
 for immediate planting, I run over it with this 
 implement when working the balance of the garden, 
 so keeping it clear of weeds and in fine condition for 
 planting. It is especially convenient to have the 
 ground in this shape for planting cabbage, celery, 
 tomatoes, etc., as you can take advantage of a good 
 shower to set them out while the ground is thoroughly 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 31 
 
 wet. My plan is to commence planting when the 
 rain begins, the fresh plants having the full benefit 
 of the shower. 
 
 The Roller and the Harrow generally go in suc- 
 cession, and a light one-horse roller will be found 
 very convenient, but the large farm roller will do 
 equally good work where one is at hand and there 
 is room for it to be used. A small hand roller, about 
 three feet in width, for rolling in small drilled seeds, 
 such as beets, onions, turnips, etc., and by which the 
 dirt can be settled over a row of peas or corn when 
 only a few rows are planted at once, will many times 
 repay the labor of making it. A piece of six- or 
 eight-inch drain pipe, with the bell knocked oflP, an 
 iron bar run through the centre for an axle, and the 
 whole inside filled with mortar or concrete and 
 allowed to get perfectly hard, will make as fine a 
 hand roller as need be, or one can very easily be 
 made from a smooth section of a tree trunk. This 
 implement would probably be much more useful 
 than the one-horse roller. It always pays to roll 
 ground every time it is plowed, and too much stress 
 cannot be laid on the value of firmly compacting 
 the soil around freshly sown seed. 
 
 The Cultivator is the most important and iaost 
 frequently used tool in the garden, and should be of 
 the best make obtainable. I consider the Iron Age 
 or Planet, Jr., the best, they having a light iron 
 frame w^hich is very strong without being clumsy ; 
 the spreading bars close inward, so that they do not 
 catch or interfere with the plants in narrow rows, 
 and admit of working rows not more than two feet 
 
32 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 apart, so that the ground can be cropped to its full 
 capacity. They have a variety of adjustable and 
 reversible teeth, including plow, shovel and cutting 
 teeth, which will throw the soil to or from the row, 
 or leave it loose and level ; in light soil this cultivator 
 will loosen and let in the air seven or eight inches 
 deep. These adjustable teeth are all sharpened at 
 each end so that they can be turned around, so sav- 
 ing the number of times that they will need grind- 
 ing, as both ends can be used and one grinding 
 suffice where it would take two in the ordinary style 
 of teeth. When worn out, the whole set can be taken 
 off and new ones purchased at a very moderate cost. 
 This part of the implement should be well watched 
 and the teeth kept in good cutting condition, as it 
 will not only kill the weeds a great deal more thor- 
 oughly when sharp, but will also be much lighter of 
 draft. 
 
 Next to the cultivator comes the Wheel Hoe or 
 hand cultivator. By the use of this implement, roots 
 and small growing vegetables, such as onions, beets, 
 parsnips, lettuce, radishes, parsley, etc., may be 
 planted and thoroughly worked in rows from six to 
 twenty-four inches apart ; thus more than doubling 
 the amount that can be raised by horse cultivation. 
 A good implement will not throw dirt over the small 
 plants as the larger cultivatior does, so that the rows 
 can be worked closely enough to avoid having to be 
 gone over with the hand hoe after the thinning out 
 has been done. In my experience, I have found that 
 a man can hoe more ground and do it twice as deep 
 and well in one hour with one of these implements 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 33 
 
 than he could do in a day with the old style hand 
 hoe. There are numerous styles of wheel hoes on 
 the market, but the only good one that I have ever 
 seen is " Lee's Wheel Hoe," which is made in Phila- 
 delphia under the patent of the inventor, who is 
 himself a prominent trucker. It is strong, light and 
 well built ; it has five sharp, finger-shaped teeth back 
 of the wdieel, which loosen and pulverize the soil, and 
 a broad hoe blade behind, which travels beneath the 
 surface, turning the soil over and cutting off under 
 ground any weeds which may be in its track. When 
 the soil is in good order, it leaves it as smooth and 
 fine as would a steel rake. To obtain the best results 
 with this tool or with the cultivator, you should go 
 through each row three or four times, so as to pul- 
 verize and work over the soil thoroughly. The hoe 
 blades are of different widths, for working rows of 
 different widths, a set of three going with each imple- 
 .ment. These hoes can easily be sharpened by any 
 blacksmith. Keep them well sharpened, and it will 
 be surprising to note how much less muscle it takes 
 to push them and how much better the work is done. 
 I have tried several different makes, as I work an 
 acre or more each year with one of these hoes and a 
 " Fire-fly " hand plow, which is run before the wheel 
 hoe when the ground is very hard, and Lee's is the 
 only one that works satisfactorily. When the ground 
 is in the best condition a man can hoe the acre in a 
 single day, so that it will readily be seen what a 
 labor saver it is. 
 
 The Fire-fly Hand Plow just spoken of is a very 
 convenient tool for making drills, and will plow out 
 3 
 
34 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 a furrow from one to four inches deep, for sowing 
 peas, corn, beans, etc., and coming back alongside of 
 the open furrow will cover them nicely, not taking 
 one-quarter of the time necessary to make the drill 
 with a hoe and cover with a rake, as it is ordinarily 
 done. It is also very handy to strike out a furrow 
 in this way when planting strawberries, cabbages, 
 tomatoes, etc., especially where two are employed on 
 the same work, as one can strike out the furrows, and 
 drop a plant where each one is to stand, while the 
 other, following, sets the plant with one hand and with 
 the other pulls in and places the loose covering dirt, 
 and finally tramps the soil firmly round the new-set 
 plants with his feet. These two last-mentioned tools 
 are very useful in the ordinary small garden ; they 
 enable the work to be done much more quickly and 
 very much more thoroughly than is often the case, 
 the spring spading being generally the only good 
 stirring the soil gets in the season. 
 
 A Seed DRiUi is a very handy tool, but it is quite 
 expensive. In the kitchen garden there is seldom 
 more than one or two rows across the garden to be 
 sown with any one kind of seed, and this can be done 
 almost in the time it would take to adjust the drill, 
 although the drill works a great deal more evenly 
 than the seed can be sown by hand. On a farm 
 where root crops are raised for soiling, the drill will 
 be a measure of economy, even for a single season, 
 and can readily be used in the garden. The combined 
 implements, with plowing and hoeing attachments, 
 are "a delusion and a snare;" if you want a tool 
 that will do good work, and will not get out of order 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 35 
 
 or break, do not have it " combined " Avith anything 
 else. 
 
 Of Hand-hoes, Steel Kakes, Trowels, Spades, 
 Shovels, etc., there should be enough to furnish each 
 man employed, as it is frequently desirable to have 
 all hands working on the same job. Of these, the 
 hoes, spades and trowels should have an intimate 
 and frequent calling acquaintance with the grind- 
 stone. It is much easier to work with a sharp hoe or 
 spade, and the work is much better when done. 
 
 There should be a good stout cotton Line, long 
 enough to reach across the garden, and a reel to keep 
 it on is a great convenience, as it takes such a short 
 time to wind it up that there is not the same tempta- 
 tion to leave it out all night. A good cotton line, 
 carefully housed, will last for years, and is one of the 
 most important requisites in the garden. Neatness 
 is one of the essentials of good gardening, and I have 
 never known a gardener successful who was " hit or 
 miss" in laying out his rows ; every plant must be 
 squarely in the row to admit of close working with 
 the cultivator. If it is necessary to keep a few inches 
 away from the row to avoid cutting the stragglers, 
 either the soil is not loosened around the plant as 
 it should be, or it has to be gone over with the 
 hand hoe, which consumes time in a large garden. 
 
 PLANTING THE GARDEN. 
 
 It is common in most gardens to plant black- 
 berries, raspberries, currants, etc., around the fences. 
 This is not only a waste of half the fruit, as it can 
 
36 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 only be borne on one side, but involves much need- 
 less labor in keeping the plants trimmed and worked, 
 and unless hoed frequently the plot becomes a harbor 
 for weeds. The only advantage in so planting is the 
 protection the fence affords in winter, as it catches the 
 flying leaves and weeds in the fall, and these with 
 the shade afforded by the fence and drifted snow make 
 a natural protection for the roots and canes. It is 
 not the scA^erity of the frost which determines the 
 hardiness of a plant, so much as its ability to with- 
 stand freezing and thawing in rapid succession. For 
 this reason I would have the small fruits planted at 
 the north side of the garden, especially if it be the 
 highest part, and if there is some kind of wind-break 
 or protection, as this will cause the snow to drift and 
 lie longer, making a natural covering, while the slope 
 will drain the surface water quickly away, so that it 
 does not form hard ice around the crowns. 
 
 If it were possible, I would prefer to have iio fence 
 around the garden, as it makes it much easier to keep 
 clean. A fence is always a nuisance and waste of 
 ground unless absolutely necessary ; but if a fence is 
 needed, have one that will not only keep out stock, 
 but also the gardener's most aggravating enemy, the 
 poultry. A scratching hen seems to have an instinct 
 which tells her as soon as the seed has been planted, 
 and which are the hills containing the choicest va- 
 rieties. 
 
 In plowing the ground in the early spring, I think 
 it is best not to plow more than is needed for the first 
 planting, and to plow the remainder somewhat later, 
 when it has become more dry and friable, as it will 
 
OF ONE ACRE. • 37 
 
 not then become packed and hard again by the heavy 
 spring rains. For the first planting the ground should 
 be plowed and planted as soon as it can be got in 
 order ; the hardier vegetables will even stand a light 
 frost, and while adapting their growth to the weather, 
 will be ready to take advantage of the first warm 
 spring days. I shall speak of the time of planting and 
 sowing in the chapters devoted to the separate treat- 
 ment of the different vegetables. 
 
 The following simple test will be of use to the 
 novice in determining not only when to plow, but also 
 when to cultivate and hoe the ground. Take a por- 
 tion of the soil in the hand and try to press it into a 
 ball ; if it makes a ball and sticks to the hand it is 
 too wet, while if it crushes hard it is too dry. In both 
 cases, if worked in this condition, it will be left in a 
 hard and lumpy state, that will take a long time to 
 bring into good order. To be in good working con- 
 dition the soil should crumble easily and finely in 
 the hand, and should leave no dirt adhering to the 
 fingers. It will not only give the best results when 
 worked in this state, but it can also be done in half 
 lithe time. Sometimes w^e cannot wait until the 
 I ground is in the very best order, as in a drought in 
 ! summer, w^hen it is needed for the second crop. In 
 I such a case it must be brought into as fine condition 
 as possible by repeated harrowing and rolling ; the 
 ' latter is an operation too frequently neglected in the 
 ordinary garden ; every farmer knows the value of 
 having the soil firmly compacted round the fresh- 
 sown grain, and it is of equal value in every variety 
 !of seed sown in the garden. Where there is not 
 
38 • A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 room for the roller to be used after sowing a row, 
 I always have it pressed in by the broad sole of the 
 gardener's boot, which nature usually provides shall 
 be of generous size. It is even more important 
 that the soil should be firmly pressed around the 
 roots of newly-set plants, as if this is not done the 
 first heavy rain uses the roots as water courses, and 
 deprived of contact with the soil, the roots rot off and 
 the plants are stunted or die. 
 
 Among the first things to be planted in the spring 
 are the small fruits, such as grapes, blackberries, rasp- 
 berries, currants, strawberries, etc. These should all 
 be in the kitchen garden, and with them the rhu- 
 barb and asparagus beds, where they can and will be 
 cultivated as well as the vegetables, the soil kept loose 
 and free from weeds, that they may devote their ener- 
 gies to making strong canes and bearing fine fruit, 
 instead of wasting their strength in a continuous 
 battle for life wdth grass and weeds, leaving Ihem an 
 easy prey to insects and disease. Those who have 
 never given them this thorough cultivation will be 
 surprised at the large crops and superior quality of 
 the fruit that can be raised under these favorable 
 circumstances. These fruits, when once planted, wdtli 
 the exception of strawberries, last for many years if 
 well manured, trimmed and cultivated. They should 
 all be at one side of the garden, where they will not 
 be in the way of working the garden wdth the large 
 plow in the spring and fall, but should have their own 
 plowing with the small plow, two to four inches in 
 de[)th, spring and fall. In the fall plowing the fur- 
 rows should be turned toward the row, which will 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 39 
 
 bank them up slightly and afford additional protec- 
 tion through the winter. In the spring this ridge 
 can be worked down level again with the plow and 
 cultivator, the dirt from around the crowns being 
 drawn away with an ordinary hand hoe. 
 
 In planting the rows in the spring, the width of 
 the cultivator and swingle tree must be taken into 
 account. If the ground has been heavily manured 
 the vegetables can be planted as closely as will admit 
 of working, and allowing a good supply of light and 
 air to the roots, excepting melons and other vines, 
 which should have plenty of room in which to spread 
 and sun themselves. Thus, peas, beets, bush beans, 
 etc., can be sowed as closely as two and one-half feet 
 apart, while corn, pole beans, etc., which grow as high 
 as the horse's sides and the cultivator handles, should 
 have the rows four or four and one-half feet apart, 
 not only to allow of working but to admit of the 
 sunshine and air penetrating to the roots. 
 
40 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 WHAT TO GROW, 
 
 ASPAKAGUS. 
 
 This is the earliest vegetable to be ready for use in 
 the spring, excepting those that have been forv^^arded 
 under glass. While it is quite hardy and withstands 
 much ill treatment, nothing will better repay careful 
 culture and generous feeding. One row across the 
 kitchen garden would make a liberal supply for an 
 average family. The seed should be sown where the 
 row is to stand, and the young plants thinned out 
 until they stand one foot apart in the row. This 
 should be done as soon as they are three or four 
 inches high and well started ; if left longer it will be 
 a very troublesome job. These young plants should 
 have every encouragement of manure and cultiva- 
 tion, to make as strong a growth as possible; the 
 stronger and faster they grow the better will be the 
 size and quality of the shoots when old enough to. 
 cut. No shoots should be cut until the third spring 
 after sowing, and then should not be cut too long the 
 first season. The fourth and succeeding seasons it 
 may be cut from the time the first shoots appear 
 until the first peas and lettuce are ready to take its 
 place on the table. Then it should be well worked 
 and allowed to attain its full growth, that strength 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 41 
 
 may be stored in the crowns to furnish tlie shoots for 
 the next season's cutting. As soon as the tops begin 
 to yellow, and the berries to ripen in the fall, it should 
 be mowed off close to the ground and the tops burnt, 
 taking care that all the seeds are consumed ; if left 
 on the plants all winter the seed becomes scattered, 
 and, owing to its capacity for sending up shoots, it is 
 a very difficult weed to exterminate. If you do not 
 wish the labor of sowing the seed and tending the 
 young plants, a year can be gained by purchasing the 
 plants. The one-year old plants are preferable unless 
 the older ones have been transplanted each year, as 
 they are gross feeders, and become stunted if allowed 
 to crowd each other while young. To produce the 
 large, fat shoots, it is necessary that the seed shall have 
 been saved from the strongest shoots obtainable, and 
 the plants fed constantly. The best way is to cover 
 the crowns, after the ground is frozen in the fall, with 
 as much manure as can be spared, and work it down 
 to the roots in the spring as soon as it can be forked 
 in; or, if there are several rows, the manure could be 
 placed on them thickly and the soil ridged over it for 
 the winter by throwing up a couple of shallow fur- 
 rows with the plow ; this to be v/orked down with a 
 sharp harrow in the spring. As soon as it is dry 
 enough in the spring, the soil and manure of the bed 
 should be lightly forked over with a manure fork 
 and the surface raked fine ; the reason for using the 
 stable fork is that the tines are slightly curved, and 
 if the handle is held in a nearly horizontal position 
 the bed can be dug down to the roots, and the fork 
 will, slide right over the tops of the crowns without 
 
42 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 injuring them. Where more than one row is de- 
 sired they should be j)lanted about three feet apart, 
 to admit of cultivation and free access to the beds 
 for cutting. An advantage in sowing the seed is 
 that the crowns are naturally established at a 
 proper depth. In planting the crowns obtained from 
 the nurseryman they should be set at a depth of 
 three or four inches at the most ; not one foot under 
 the surface, as is the common practice of truckers. 
 Market gardeners cut the shoots as soon as the tips 
 appear above the surface, so that their shoots are 
 blanched for their whole length; but they do this at 
 the expense of the table quality, as only the tips are 
 edible in this way, and even these taste very much 
 like old hay to any one who has been accustomed to 
 the richness and delicate flavor of shoots cut at the 
 surface when they are from three to four inches in 
 height ; this method has also the advantage of not 
 destroying the young shoots just coming up, as the 
 stalks are only cut an inch or so underground, and 
 the knife only reaches the one intended to be cut. 
 If the appearance of the blanched asparagus is de- 
 sired, it can be much better obtained (that is, with less 
 sacrifice of quality) by placing four or five inches of 
 hay, straw or other litter over the crowns, which can 
 be pushed away from the stalk when cutting and 
 easily replaced. There is another strong reason for 
 not following the deep planting, as usually practiced, 
 and that is, in having your crowns so much nearer 
 the surface they feel the warming and growing influ- 
 ence of the sun sooner in the season, and you are able 
 
OF O^'E ACRE. 43 
 
 to have your asparagus for cutting a full week earlier 
 than your neighbor who plants deep. 
 
 VARIETIES OF ASPARAGUS. 
 
 As mentioned above, this succulent is capable of 
 great improvement by careful selection of seed from 
 the best stalks. The old Purple Top variety is no 
 longer grown, its place having been taken by the 
 larger shoots and better quality of the variety known 
 as Conover's Colossal. This latter, however, has been 
 propagated so extensively and with so little care that 
 it is now almost impossible to obtain seed or plants 
 that will produce the splendid shoots of the original 
 stock. Of the new varieties Barr's Mammoth seems 
 to be the most promising, and as grown in some fields 
 in the vicinity of Philadelphia produces shoots which 
 will average nearly an inch in diameter. 
 
 BEANS. 
 
 The first planting of snaps or dwarf bush beans 
 can be made when the first planting of peas and 
 beets are sown, but will not do as well nor produce 
 beans of as fine quality as those planted about two 
 weeks later, when the weather has become warmer 
 and more settled. These yield very abundantly, and 
 a drill fifty feet long will produce as many as can be 
 used in a large family. While planting in a drill, 
 for the sake of convenience and quickness in plant- 
 ing, the seed should be -dropped in hills about ten 
 inches apart and five seeds to a hill. If the beans 
 are kept picked closely, the plants will continue longer 
 
44 A KITCHEN GAKDEN 
 
 in bearing, and they may be had throughout the 
 season if successive plantings are made, though the 
 pole snaps are to be preferred through the summer 
 and fall, for their greater bearing qualities and the 
 ease of gathering them. In both the bush and pole 
 snaps, care should be taken to secure varieties that are 
 entirely stringless, as they are not only much easier 
 to prepare for use, but are much more tender. The 
 different " Wax " varieties are very fine, but the bush 
 beans of this class have not done well in this locality 
 for the last three seasons, the pods being covered with 
 a species of black spot or rot that spoils fully two- 
 thirds of them.* 
 
 The pole beans should not be planted until the 
 ground is thoroughly warmed in the spring, or until 
 the thermometer stands over 60° all night. It is 
 quite common to plant these with poles 8 to 9 feet in 
 height. I think this is a mistake, as no ordinary 
 picker can reach higher than about six feet to advan- 
 tage, and as the vines grow to the tops of the poles 
 before commencing to fruit, both beans and time are 
 lost. The poles should be set in rows four and one- 
 half feet apart and two and one-half to three feet apart 
 in the rows. Two hundred poles of Limas will fur- 
 nish an ample supply throughout the season, and will . 
 ripen a bushel of dried beans for winter use as well. 
 Twenty-five poles will furnish an ample supply of 
 
 * Miss Moll says that this rusting can Joe prevented by only hoeing the 
 beans -when the soil is dry. Wc would also particularly recommend Bur- 
 pee a Pi.rfcction Wax, a lino new variety, that has so far proved free from 
 rust. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 45 
 
 snaps, though we allowed one row across the garden 
 in the diagram given, the surplus being allowed to 
 ripen for winter use. Where the saving of room is 
 an object and the ground has been well manured, 
 these pole snaps can be planted in the hills of corn, 
 and allowed to use the stalks as poles; they will 
 produce a good crop, but not nearly so many, nor are 
 they as easy to pick as when grown on the poles. 
 For this purpose they should be planted with some 
 strong growing variety of corn, such as Stowell's Ever- 
 green or other late variety. 
 
 The white soup bean, that is dried for winter use 
 in various ways, including the famous " Boston Baked 
 Beans," is generally grown by dropping one or two 
 hills between each hill of corn, and instead of pick- 
 ing them, the whole plant is pulled up in the fall, 
 and the beans thrashed out with a flail when dry. 
 For Limas and pole snaps, the poles should be set 
 by the aid of the garden line, and where any pole is 
 bowed or crooked it should be planted so as to bring 
 it in line with the row, lengthwise, as nearly as pos- 
 sible, that they may present an orderly appearance. 
 In setting the poles, make a hole from one to two feet 
 deep by driving the sharp end of a crowbar into the 
 ground, place the butt end of the pole in this hole 
 and ram it firmly in its place ; then put one or two 
 shovelfuls of compost around the base of the pole, 
 and with a sharp steel rake make a hill of fine dirt 
 over the compost. Five or six beans should be 
 planted to each hill, but if all grow should be thinned 
 out to two or three. If the young plants do not climb 
 the poles readily at the first start, they should be 
 
46 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 trained up and tied till they begin to take hold for 
 themselves. Be careful, in planting Lima beans, to 
 push them into the soil with the eye down, for, as the 
 first leaves are quite large and heavy, it assists them 
 materially in breaking through the soil to plant them 
 in this manner.* 
 
 The Limas may be brought into bearing somewhat 
 earlier in the season by placing pieces of sod, cut four 
 inches square and about three inches thick, grass side 
 down, in the hotbed, and planting four or five beans in 
 each piece ; if this is done in the latter part of March 
 they will be of good size by the time it is warm 
 enough to plant them out, which is done by plant- 
 ing the piece of sod at the base of the pole, in hills, 
 as prepared for the seed. If the end of the vine is 
 pinched off when it is about four or five feet up the 
 pole, it will assist the lateral shoots in blooming early, 
 and consequently produce beans earlier, though, like 
 all forcing methods, it will, to some extent, lessen the 
 vigor of the vine, and most likely, to some extent, 
 the amount of the crop. 
 
 Bush Beans— Golden Wax. — This is one of the 
 best bush beans; it matures early; the pods are 
 of very handsome appearance, brittle and entirely 
 stringless ; it is a good bearer and makes an excel- 
 lent shelled bean for winter use. 
 
 Best of All Dwarf Bean. — This is a green -podded 
 bean, and is probably the best for the first planting, 
 as it is not only very early but also very productive ; 
 
 * See the method of covering the seed of Lima beans described by 
 Miss L. M. Moll, and our note on the same. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 47 
 
 CHAMPION BUSH BEAN. 
 
48 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 the pods are six inches long, entirely stringless, very 
 fleshy and rich flavored.' 
 
 Champion Bush Bean. — This is a strong grower, at- 
 taining about fifteen to eighteen inches in height, and 
 an immense cropper. The beans can be used as string 
 beans in the green state, but its chief quality lies in 
 the superiority of the beans when dried, and the 
 large crops which it produces w^hen grown for winter 
 use. 
 
 Pole Beans, Snap Varieties — Golden Wax Flage- 
 olet. — This bean is of recent introduction, and is 
 worthy of all the praise that has been bestowed upon 
 it ; it is a tremendous bearer, and is almost as early 
 as the dwarf wax varieties, the pods are much larger, 
 being seven to eight inches long, round and very 
 fleshy; they are entirely free from strings and of the 
 finest quality. Unlike the other pole beans, it begins 
 to produce beans at the bottom of the pole as soon 
 as it starts to climb ; and if these are used as 
 they mature, it will continue in bearing the entire 
 season.* 
 
 Wiite Oreaseback, or Best of All. — These for early 
 and the Lazy Wife^s for late are the best of the green- 
 podded pole beans. The pods are about six inches 
 in length, thick fleshed, and of very fine qualit}^ 
 The Creaseback is very early and matures its crop 
 in a short time, thus making it a very profitable 
 
 * Wc would also particularly recommend Bnrjyee's White Zulu, a new- 
 variety of 1888. It is one of the earliest of pole beans, immensely pro- 
 ductive, and the broad, handsome, white pods, eight to ten inches long, 
 are of the choicest quality. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 49 
 
 LAZY WIPE'S POLE BEAN. 
 
50 A KITCHEN GAEDEN 
 
 variety for market. Both varieties are very pro- 
 ductive, entirely stringless, and of superior flavor. 
 
 LiMAS — Extra Early Lima. — This variety matures 
 very nearly as early as the Small Lima, while the 
 beans are more nearly the size of the late Lima ; the 
 quality is very fine and the quantity large, as it 
 bears the pods in clusters of four, with four to six 
 beans in a pod. 
 
 Dreer^s Improved Lima. — This variety is early and 
 very productive if measured in the green state ; the 
 pods are smaller than in the ordinary Lima, but the 
 beans are very plump, and are so close together in 
 the pods as to crowd against each other. As a green 
 bean it is very early, and shells out more quarts to 
 the basket of pods than the larger varieties ; but the 
 quality is not as fin^ and in the dry state the beans 
 shrivel up till they are only about the size of dry 
 bush beans, and are not nearly so good as the other 
 varieties. 
 
 King of the Garden. — This is a new variety, in 
 which the green beans are of unusual size and very 
 fine quality. I have seen half an acre planted with 
 this variety which I am sure had at that time more 
 than twice the quantity of beans that could be grown 
 on the same ground of the ordinary kinds; vines 
 were loaded with clusters of pods seven to eight 
 inches in length, and it was no rarity to see them 
 with five very large beans in a pod. From its great 
 productiveness and the fine quality of the beans, it 
 deserves the first place among the Limas. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 51 
 
 BEETS. 
 
 Seed of these should be sown when the first plant- 
 ing is done in the spring. They may be had still 
 earlier by planting the seed in a hotbed while the 
 ground is still frozen, and transplanting them to the 
 garden a week or so after the cabbage and lettuce 
 have been planted out. Care must be taken in trans- 
 planting the young beets, that the tap-root does not 
 get broken, or it wdll make a number of fibrous roots 
 instead of the large, smooth globe desired for the 
 table. When the seed is w^ell up, the plants should 
 be thinned out until they stand six or ten inches 
 apart, as the size of the variety demands. A second 
 sowing should be made about June 1st, and the main 
 sowing about the 15th of July or 1st of August, to 
 raise roots for winter use. These frequent sowings 
 are necessary to have the beets of fine quality ; as the 
 roots get older and larger they become " woody," or 
 hard and fibrous, and exceedingly tasteless. Where 
 the season is short, or there are prospects of a dry 
 fall, the second sowing should be large enough to 
 produce the winter crop, as the later one may fail 
 to mature in time. The beets maybe stored and the 
 flavor retained by the method described for pitting 
 turnips, and will keep in good order until spring. 
 
 The Bassano and other light beets are of quick 
 growth and are tender and palatable while young, 
 but are of coarse texture and not nearly so fine in 
 appearance when cooked as the blood beets. The 
 blood beets retain their deep, rich color, while all the 
 light-leaved or light-stemmed varieties are colorless, 
 or nearly so, when cooked. It certainly adds to the 
 
52 A KITCHEX GARDEN 
 
 attractiveness of a dish for the vegetable to have a 
 handsome appearance when cooked. 
 
 The seed should be sown in drills, from twelve to 
 eighteen inches apart, if to be worked with the wheel 
 hoe; if for horse culture, two and a half to three feet 
 will have to be allowed between the rows. The 
 ground should be raked clear of clods and made as 
 fine as possible. A drill is made by drawing the rake 
 or hoe handle along the line. The drill should be 
 about an inch in depth and the seed should be 
 dropped about two inches apart, thinning out to six 
 or eight inches apart when well started, and if it is 
 desired, the thinnings can be transplanted to another 
 row. If no small roller is at hand, the drill can be 
 covered and packed by the same operation, by remov- 
 ing the line and shuffling along the row with the 
 feet placed in a V, the forepart of the foot drawing in 
 the fine soil while the heels at the point cover and 
 press the dirt down upon the row ; the foot, of course, 
 is only moved a few inches at a time, but with a little 
 practice the rows can be covered in this manner 
 quite rapidly. 
 
 VARIETIES OP BEETS. 
 
 Eclipse. — This is a very early beet, of quick growth 
 and very fine quality. As the leaves of this variety 
 are small and the stems short, they can be grown 
 quite closely together. The roots are perfectly smooth, 
 regular, globe shape, blood-red skin and flesh, fine 
 grained and very sweet when cooked. 
 
 Edmand's Early Turnip. — This variety is turnip- 
 shaped, that is, tapering more gradually below the 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 63 
 
 bdmand's eakly turnip beet. 
 
 BUBPEE'S IMPKOVED BLOOD TURNIP BEET. 
 
54 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 shoulder than the Eclipse ; the foliage is short and 
 stocky, enabling a heavy crop to be grown, as they 
 can be grown as closely as six inches apart ; the flesh, 
 of a deep blood red, is of the finest quality. 
 
 Burpee's iMrRovED Blood Turnip. — This beet 
 attains quite a large size and is very smooth and regu- 
 lar in appearance ; the flesh is deep blood red and 
 of fine quality, whether eaten in summer or stored 
 for winter use ; it is one of the best varieties for the 
 latter purpose, and should be sown as described for 
 the winter crop. 
 
 CABBAGES. 
 
 Of this vegetable two distinct crops are raised in 
 every garden, while many gardeners, by successive 
 sowings and the use of several varieties, have them 
 fit for use constantly from early spring until fall, and 
 throughout the entire winter by storage. In the 
 ordinary garden the same result may be obtained by 
 planting larger quantities of the early and summer 
 varieties, and cutting them as wanted for use, as 
 most of them will stand the whole summer without 
 bursting or going to seed, and by early fall some of 
 the winter cabbage will be large enough for use. 
 
 Early or Summer Cabbages. — The seed for these 
 should be sown in a hotbed from the 1st to the 15th 
 of February. As soon as the plants are large enough 
 to set out they should be given plenty of air, and 
 should be gradually hardened off until they are able 
 to stand the cool nights without protection ; but they 
 should not be allowed to freeze. Treated in this way 
 they will be ready for planting out as soon as the 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 55 
 
 ground can be worked. In making this sowing I 
 would have it of two kinds — some of a small, hard- 
 heading, early variety, and about twice as many of 
 a larger-heading eummer kind. These latter are 
 described as second early in the seed catalogues. 
 
 These early cabbages need very little care except 
 to have frequent and thorough cultivation, as they 
 are comparatively free from insect pests as long as 
 they make a healthy growth. If attacked by the 
 black fly or green worm, they should be dusted with 
 land plaster or slug shot early in the morning, while 
 the dew is still on them. The soil around these and 
 all other crops that depend on quick growth for their 
 superior qualities, must not only be cultivated, to kill 
 the weeds, but must be kept loose and well stirred, to 
 admit the air to the roots of the plants ; it must not 
 be allowed to lie heavy and packed after dashing 
 rains, but should be stirred up as soon as dry enough. 
 The rows may be as close as can be worked with the 
 cultivator, say about three feet, and the plants about 
 one and a half feet apart in the row, or even closer, 
 if the variety grown makes but small heads. 
 
 Late or Winter Cabbage. — As soon as the 
 ground becomes warm in the spring, or early in 
 May, a seed bed should be made and sown with the 
 late varieties of cabbage and celery, or the seed may 
 be sown in drills in the garden ; the seed being sown 
 in very thinly, so as to produce plants standing about 
 half an inch apart in the row. Where it can be 
 done, it is best to sow the seed in a special bed or cold 
 frame, where they can be watered and nursed to a 
 good size by the time they are wanted for planting. 
 
56 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 The Flat Dutch and Drumhead types are the best for 
 this planting, though many prefer the Savoys, claim- 
 ing a superior delicacy of flavor, on account of their 
 having more leaf surface to the -number of ribs or 
 veins ; they are not, however, nearly such sure head- 
 ers, nor are they as good keepers when buried. 
 
 It is important to get the seed sown early, that 
 tlie plants may be had of good size by the middle of 
 June, though they will make a partial crop if planted 
 as late as the middle of August. As these varieties 
 make larger heads than the summer cabbages, they 
 cannot be planted so closely ; the rows should be 3 
 to 3J feet apart, and the plants 2 to 2J feet apart in 
 the rows. These can be planted and grown between 
 the rows of early peas, corn or potatoes ; but I would 
 prefer to wait until the first crop of corn be cleared 
 off the ground, as it can then be brought into much 
 better condition. It adds greatly to the labor of har- 
 vesting the first crop when the ground is so closely 
 planted, and the soil is apt to become hard and 
 packed before it can be cultivated again. 
 
 When possible, the young cabbage plants should be 
 set out directly before or after a good rain, but if there 
 is no prospect of rain, they should be planted in the 
 evening and a tincupful of water should be poured 
 in each hole before the plant is set in ; then draw the 
 dry earth up around the stem and pack firmly around 
 the plant; this will enable them to withstand at least 
 a week of dry weather. If the drought should con- 
 tinue longer, or they do not come up fresh in the 
 morning after a flagging day, they must be watered 
 in the cool of the evening, when the plant will have 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 57 
 
 the benefit of the water all night. It is waste of time 
 to water them while the hot sun is shining, unless 
 they can be shaded with papers, old pans, etc. 
 
 As soon as they become well established, the soil 
 around them must be carefully loosened and cultiva- 
 tion begun. To obtain the best results they must be 
 cultivated frequently and deeply. It is a common 
 sight in some gardens to see the cabbage with stems 
 two feet high . and a small bunch of wormy leaves 
 at the top ; a closer examination will show that the 
 soil is hard and trampled, and that the plants have 
 been left to grow as best they may, while in the well- 
 cultivated garden the stems are short and the heads 
 are large and solid. 
 
 The young plants of late cabbages are generally 
 infested, while in the seed bed, with a small black 
 fly, which greatly checks their growth, and sometimes 
 entirely destroys them. These can be gotten rid of, 
 or better, entirely avoided, by the application of dry 
 road dust, soot, slug shot, or land plaster, dusted on 
 the young leaves early in the morning, while the dew 
 is still on them ; this should be repeated every two 
 or three mornings until the fly is exterminated and 
 the plants have grown to good size. When the plants 
 have been set out and are nearly ready to head, the 
 green cabbage worm makes its appearance, and if 
 fine marketable heads are desired this pest must be 
 destroyed. Many remedies for this are given, most 
 of which are ineffectual. It is best to sprinkle well 
 with tar water or aliim water, taking care ' to get it 
 well down into the centre of the loose leaves, using 
 an ordinary watering pot for the purpose ; if a garden 
 
58 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 syringe is at hand, it can be thrown into the plant 
 much better than by sprinkHng. To make the tar 
 water, the tar is put in a barrel of water and well 
 stirred ; then, when it has been allowed to settle, the 
 water from the top is dipped off and used. It should 
 be strong enough to have quite a decided taste. The 
 alum may be dissolved in the watering pot, about one 
 tablespoonful to the gallon, and stirred till dissolved. 
 See that the solution gets well into the centre of the 
 loose leaves just below the head, as this is the favor- 
 ite place of attack by the worms. 
 
 The cabbage is quite hardy and will stand consid- 
 erable frost in the fall without damage, being rather 
 improved in quality by it. . By the third week in 
 November they should be put in pits or the vegetable 
 cellar; or, where these conveniences are not at hand, 
 they should be pulled up, root and all, the outside 
 leaves wrapped closely around the head and stood 
 side by side, on their heads, on a w^ell-drained piece 
 of ground ; they should be placed in a long row two 
 or three heads wide, and where a good many are to 
 be buried or gotten out at once, two additional rows 
 may be placed on top of these, as shown in the 
 illustration. 
 
 Dry soil is then thrown on these heads to the thick- 
 ness of five or six inches and the roots left sticking 
 out of the top ; this covering should be firmly packed, 
 to prevent the entrance of water, and a small gutter 
 should be dug round the heap to carry it off. If, 
 after the cold weather has set in and the ground is 
 slightly frozen, the heap is covered with three to four 
 inches of corn fodder or litter, it will prevent the cov- 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 59 
 
 ering from freezing so hard, and will greatly lessen the 
 work of getting out the heads when wanted for use. 
 When heads are wanted, one end of the bank is 
 opened ana as many taken out as are desired ; the 
 open end is then carefully covered over with soil. 
 Too many should not be taken out at once, as they 
 retain their flavor better when buried in this manner 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 Illustrations showing the manner of storing cabbage for winter use. Figure 1 
 showing three rows of heads and Figure 2, five rows. C. Heads of cabbage. 
 t>. ooil banked over the heads. D. Drainage ditches to carry off the water. 
 
 than when kept where they are exposed to the open 
 air. If it is desired to save some of the best heads for 
 seed, the roots of the plant must be buried as well as 
 the top ; they can then be replanted early in the spring 
 and a cross cut made in the top of the head to assist 
 the flower stalks in bursting through, as the heads 
 
GO 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 EXTRA EAKLY EXPRESS CABBAGE. 
 
 EARLY JERSEY WAKEFIELD CABBAGE. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 61 
 
 are sometimes so tight that they will rot before 
 bursting. 
 
 Early Varieties — Extra Early Etampes. — This 
 cabbage is the earliest heading variety that I have 
 ever grown. The heads are small but round and 
 very solid, and it is ready for use nearly two weeks 
 ahead of the other early varieties.* 
 
 Early Jersey Wakefield. — This has long been the 
 chief favorite for the general crop of early cabbage, 
 and is deservedly popular, as it is sure to head when 
 the seed is good ; the heads are of good size and 
 shape, and the quality is fine. 
 
 Early Summier. — This succeeds the Wakefield, and 
 has heads about twice the size of the latter; they are 
 round, very solid and slightly flattened on top; it 
 has few outside leaves and can be planted closely; 
 this variety matures about two weeks later than the 
 Wakefield, and a month after the Etampes.f 
 
 varieties of late cabbages. 
 
 At the head of these I would place Burpee's Sure- 
 head, which has done so well for me since I began 
 
 * The Extra Early Express, a new variety, just introduced from France, 
 and seed of which we distributed for trial this year, has proved eight to ten 
 days earlier than the Etampes. The heads do not average quite as large 
 as the Etampes, but are of equally as good quality and of the shape 
 shown in the illustration on page 60. — Ed. 
 
 f For years, Mr. Vandergaw, a large cabbage grower of Long Island, has 
 had a second-early cabbage fully as early as Early Summer and with much 
 larger heads. This is known as the Vandergaw Cabbage, and is only now 
 being generally introduced. The heads are very large and solid, of the 
 shape shown in the illustration on page 64; it is a good keeper, and 
 altogether a good variety, also, for winter use. — Ed. 
 
62 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 KAELY SUMMER CABBAGE. 
 
 BURPEE'S SUREHEAD CABBAGE. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 63 
 
 planting it, never failing a single season, that I now 
 plant my whole crop of it, instead of planting two or 
 three kinds as formerly, to guard against poor seed 
 or a bad season. It is an improved type of the Pre- 
 mium Flat Dutch, to which it is superior in the even- 
 ness and regularity of its heads and the " sureness " 
 of every plant to form a fine head. With me the 
 heads average larger than the Flat Dutch, are 
 rather more rounding in shape and are of the finest 
 quality. 
 
 BURPEE'S SHORT-STEM DRUMHEAD CABBAGE. 
 
 Short-Stem Drumhead. — This variety produces 
 on extra short stems, only a few inches in height, very 
 large solid heads, often twenty-five pounds in weight 
 It is from this kind that the very large heads seen at 
 the county fairs in the fall are grown, and where the 
 ground is heavily manured and well cultivated enor- 
 mous crops of this variety can be grown ; it is of fine 
 quality, very solid and an excellent keeper. 
 
 Danish Ball Head.— This variety has only been 
 
64 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 65 
 
 recently introduced, but bids fair to take a leading 
 place as a winter variety ; the heads are quite round 
 and very solid ; they are of medium size and very 
 handsome appearance, which make it a good market 
 variety, while the quality fully equals its good looks. 
 
 CAULIFLOWER. 
 
 The culture of this vegetable is the same as that 
 for cabbage, in most respects, but it is not a certain 
 crop in our changeable climate and hot, dry sum.mers. 
 It likes plenty of moisture, and if placed in a rather 
 wet location or in a bed where it can be frequently 
 watered, it will be much more certain to produce 
 fine heads. Its superior quality and the high price 
 that good heads command make it a most desirable 
 crop to grow wherever it will do well. I have 
 always found the short-stemmed, extra early varieties 
 the best ones to grow, and as in the ordinary season 
 but about half of them produce heads under ordi- 
 nary garden culture, the rest of them maturing 
 throughout the summer and fall, it is almost a con- 
 tinuous crop. The seed should be sown as early as 
 possible, in the hotbed, and great care should be 
 taken that the plants do not become either stunted 
 or drawn, as none but the strong, healthy plants will 
 produce good heads. It will greatly improve the 
 appearance of the heads if some of the broad outside 
 leaves are broken half through the stems and the 
 tops bent over the heads while forming. This will 
 blanch and keep them of that pure whiteness so attract- 
 ive in this vegetable as grown by the market garden- 
 
 5 
 
66 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 ers. The heads should be cut for use or sale as soon 
 as they have reached their full size and before the 
 buds begin to uncurl, as this spoils both the appear- 
 ance and quality of this, the finest and most deli- 
 cately flavored of the cabbage family. 
 
 VARIETIES OF CAULIFLOWER. 
 
 Extra Early Dwarf Erfurt. — This is the best 
 strain for general use ; there are usually two or more 
 grades of this offered in seed catalogues, but the best 
 
 ,'S BEST KARLY CAULIFLOWER. 
 
 should always be purchased, even if you can only 
 buy a single packet; by taking extra care of it you 
 can make every seed count. This A^ariety is quite 
 early, has short stems, and makes good-sized heads 
 of the best quality. 
 
 Early Snowball. — This variety is. quite early and 
 makes fine large heads, of handsome appearance. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 67 
 
 Burpee's Best Early. — I have only grown this 
 one season, but found it all that it was represented 
 in earliness and good heading quality. Owing to a 
 drouth early in the spring, the heads were not of large 
 size ; the quality was fine, and I think it bids fair to 
 be one of the leading varieties. 
 
 CARROTS. 
 
 These are ordinarily little used as table vegetables, 
 but will be found very palatable as an ingredient of 
 soups and stews. They are very easily grown, the 
 seed being planted in drills and the plants thinned 
 to six or eight inches apart. The seed should be sown 
 in April or May, and they will be ready for use early 
 in the summer. For winter use they should be stored 
 in the manner described for beets and turnips ; they 
 will retain their quality throughout the winter, and 
 form a pleasant variety in the winter supply of vege- 
 tables. The rich yellow and red-fleshed varieties are 
 the most popular, and retaining their bright colors 
 when cooked, lend an attractive appearance to the 
 dish of which they form a part. 
 
 VARIETIES OF CARROTS. 
 
 Danvers Half-long Orange. — This is claimed 
 to have the greatest bulk with the shortest length of 
 root, and is a remarkably heavy cropper. The root 
 is of a rich, dark orange color, and grows very smooth 
 and succeeds in all soils. It is quite a favorite mar- 
 ket sort. 
 
 Short Horn. — The flesh of this variety is very 
 
68 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 fine grained, of deep orange color and superior qual- 
 ity. The roots do not penetrate deeply, and the top 
 is small, which allows of their being planted quite 
 closely. 
 
 Early Very Short Horn, or Golden Ball. — The 
 earliest variety ; the roots are round, turnip shaped, 
 
 
 of small size, deep color, and the quality is of the 
 best. 
 
 Ox Heart. — This variety is of large size, the 
 roots being seven to eight inches in length and 
 three to four inches in diameter at the top ; it tapers 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 69 
 
 gradually down to one and one-half to two inches at 
 the bottom, making very little waste in preparing it 
 for the table. It is of fine quality, while its size will 
 render any surplus valuable for feeding to the stock. 
 Red Saint Vallery. — This is a large late variety 
 and makes a good kind to raise for winter use ; the' 
 roots grow ten to twelve inches in length and meas- 
 ure tw^o to two and one-half inches in diameter at 
 the top, tapering gradually to a point at the base. 
 It should have deep cultivation to produce the finest 
 roots. The color is a deep orange red and the qual- 
 ity is very fine. 
 
 cantaloupe, or musk melon. 
 
 These are universal favorites, and too frequently 
 are not grown by the kitchen gardener, who labors 
 under the idea that they must have a sandy soil 
 in some particularly favored section, and that they 
 require great skill to grow them. If a variety suited 
 to your soil is planted and given the same amount 
 of attention and careful cultivation as the rest of the 
 garden receives, melons may be had in abundance 
 from the first of August till frost comes in the fall, 
 though when the first cool nights come they lose 
 their fine flavor. If the garden has a southern slope, 
 that will be the place for the melons and other 
 warmth-loving vegetables ; but they will do almost as 
 well in the level field. The rows of hills should be 
 five feet apart and the hills at least four feet apart in 
 the row, to allow the vines plenty of room to run. It 
 is a good plan to make the hills break joint, as they 
 
70 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 will then cover the ground to better advantage. 
 When the line is set, a hole should be scraped with 
 the hoe or shovel where the hill is to stand ; this 
 should be six inches deep and about tv/elve inches 
 in diameter. Compost is then shoveled in, two rows 
 "being done at once ; two or three shovelsful are put 
 in each hill. The dirt thrown out in making the 
 hole is then carefully made into a hill over the com- 
 post by using a sharp steel rake, care being taken to 
 remove all stones and hard lumps of dirt. The seed 
 is then scattered on the top of the hill, general^ from 
 twenty to thirty seeds being planted in each hill, 
 that there may be an ample supply for the insects 
 and yet leave a good stand. They should be thinned 
 out gradually, extra ones being left in until they are 
 at least a foot in length, as the insect pests are both 
 numerous and destructive. 
 
 The hills should not be made until it is time to 
 plant the seed, or they will get packed and too hard 
 for the young roots to penetrate. When the seed has 
 been planted on the hill it should be covered with 
 about half an inch of fine soil, sifted and crumbled 
 on with the fingers, and the whole top patted down 
 with the palm of the hand. The seed should be 
 planted as soon as the ground is thoroughly warm 
 in the spring and when the temperature does not 
 fall below sixty degrees at night. The melons will 
 commence ripening about August 1st, and two rows 
 across the garden should yield from one half-bushel 
 to one bushel daily if the variety planted is of the 
 small Netted Gem or Jenny Lind type. These small, 
 round melons, of the size of a croquet ball, are very 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 71 
 
 prolific, and if carefully grown, the quality is very 
 fine. Some prefer the larger melons, which fill the 
 basket more quickly, but in my experience the small 
 ones have been so much more prolific that the yield 
 has been almost double in bulk on the same amount 
 of ground. The melon rows should be gone over 
 early every morning w^hile ripening, as they should 
 not he allowed to become yellow on the vines. The 
 quality deteriorates very rapidly when allowed to 
 ripen in the hot sun, so that they should be picked 
 while still green. The right stage for picking can 
 readily be told by examining the point where the 
 stem joins the melon ; as soon as the stem begins to 
 crack away from the melon slightly, or when the 
 little drops of red juice form round the base of the 
 stem, it is time to pick the melon. When picked, they 
 should be put in a cool cellar or spring house until 
 wanted for the table. 
 
 Seed may be saved from the largest and finest- 
 flavored melons; but if your garden is on heavy soil, 
 or if two or three varieties are grown near together, it 
 is best to procure fresh seed from some melon-growing 
 district every year. 
 
 The ground between the hills should be cultivated 
 frequently, as long as it can be done without interfer- 
 ing with the vine ; the soil in the hills should be 
 kept loose and drawn up around the vines with the 
 hoe. When the vines have grown too long to allow 
 the passage of the cultivator, the patch can be kept 
 clean by pulling out the large weeds by hand, which 
 can be done very quickly after a good rain. The 
 dense shade caused by the luxuriant vines will cause 
 
72 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 the small and low-growing weeds to rot off. While 
 the vines are still small, it will be necessary to dust 
 them every few mornings with road dust, soot, plas- 
 ter or slug shot, to destroy the flies and striped bugs 
 that infest them. When healthy 3'oung vines sud- 
 denly wilt and droop in the hot sun without appa- 
 rent cause, dig around the root of the plant with the 
 fingers or a stick imtil the grub is found which has 
 cut the plant off underground. He should be 
 searched for and "made an example of" as soon as 
 the first vine is discovered to be flagging, or he will 
 proceed to eat the whole hill. 
 
 VARIETIES OF MUSK MELONS. 
 
 Burpee's Netted Gem. — The finest as well as the 
 earliest of all the small-fruited varieties that I have 
 tried, and where a variety of melons is not particu- 
 larly desired, it will furnish a generous supply of fine- 
 flavored fruit from the first ripening until killed by 
 frost. It is a very good keeper, retaining its good 
 quality for nearly a week after picking, if kept in a 
 cool cellar. This is often a valuable characteristic 
 in the latter part of summer, as several warm days 
 furnish two or three baskets in the cellar, which keep 
 up the supply if the warm spell is followed by cool 
 or cloudy days, when the melons on the vines do 
 not ripen readily. This variety is thickly netted, 
 the meat is thick and solid, and they run as even in 
 shape and symmetry as a set of croquet balls, which 
 they also resemble in point of size. 
 
 Emerald Gem. — This variety has the small size 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 73 
 
 
 EMERALD GEM CANTALOUPE. 
 
 16K-ft> MONTREAL NUTMEG MELON-ENGKAVKD FROM A THOTOGRAPa. 
 
74 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 and prolific bearing qualities, with the handsome 
 salmon-colored flesh, that originated in the Surprise 
 Melon some years ago. Too much cannot be said of 
 the quality of this melon, as I do not think there is 
 another variety that approaches it in flavor. The 
 vines are strong and healthy in growth and well set 
 with melons near the hills, and the fruit is early in 
 ripening. The melon has a thin, green rind and 
 very small seed cavity, almost the entire body of the 
 fruit consisting of the rich and luscious meat. 
 
 Montreal Green Nutmeg. — A handsome variety, 
 in which large size, regular shape and fine appear- 
 ance are combined with thick flesh of the finest 
 flavor. In shape they are nearly round, slightly 
 flattened at the ends, very deeply ribbed and heavily 
 netted. These melons have been grown to over 
 thirty pounds in weight, and will average ten to 
 twelve pounds in ordinary culture. 
 
 CELEKV. 
 
 While one of the most troublesome vegetables to 
 bring to perfection in the ordinary garden, this is one 
 of the most desirable, as well as one of the most pro- 
 fitable, when well grown. The Michigan celery that 
 is being shipped to our eastern cities in such large 
 quantities does not seem to have lowered the price 
 materially, but has crowded all the inferior and less 
 finely-grown plants out of the markets, and the high 
 express charges still guarantee a good profit to the 
 near-by grower. When the ground has become fairly 
 warm in the spring, a bed should be made in some 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 75 
 
 shady corner for the seed ; if such situation is not 
 to be had, the seed can be sown in a spent liotbed, 
 cold frame or other convenient place, and can be 
 artificially shaded with fresh brush or lath shades 
 through the hottest part of the day. Celery is nat- 
 urally a swamp plant, and to make a rapid growth 
 should have the ground as rich as possible, and also 
 as much water as possible, without making the ground 
 heavy and sour. The soil should not be allowed to 
 become dry or baked, and the weeds should be pulled 
 out as soon as they appear. This bed, and, indeed, all 
 other seed beds, should be made very rich with well- 
 rotted manure ; not with horse-stable manure or phos- 
 phate, as both of them are dry and heating, and in 
 dry weather would stunt or entirely burn up the young 
 plants. The seed should be sown in drills about 
 six inches apart, to admit of working the soil with 
 a narrow hoe, as the continued watering will harden 
 the surface of the bed and check the growth of the 
 young plants. When the plants are well up they 
 should be thinned out so as to stand an inch apart 
 in the drills, and if the plants are ready some little 
 time before they are wanted for setting out, they can 
 be made more stocky and stronger by shearing off 
 about half of the tops. 
 
 When ready to set out, I run a double furrow where 
 the row is to be — that is, the plow is run both ways 
 in the same furrow, casting up a ridge of dirt on 
 either side of a shallow trench ; then in the bottom 
 of this trench fine compost or well-rotted manure is 
 placed to the depth of one to two inches, and some 
 of the fine soil from the sides is drawn down over 
 
76- A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 the manure with a fine rake until the manure is cov- 
 ered about three inches. This will still leave a depth 
 of about two inches below the surface, which will 
 serve to draw and retain the rain water, or, in a dry 
 time, can be flooded with a hydrant hose or irrigating 
 ditch. Where the ground has been heavily enriched 
 or the celery is planted as the first crop — that is, w^hen 
 no early vegetable precedes it on the same ground — 
 no manure is used in the trench or furrow, which is 
 plowed out in the same way, the additional depth 
 assisting in the labor of earthing up for blanching. 
 To obtain fine quality and appearance the plant 
 should be pushed to as rapid a growth as possible 
 from the time the seed is sown until the stalks are 
 ready for use; if allowed to become stunted, the stalks 
 will be knotty in appearance and bitter in taste. 
 
 For my own use and marketing I usually sow seed 
 of- two or three varieties, so that if one kind fails for 
 any reason, I may still have a crop sufficient for the 
 table from the other varieties, while if it is all good I 
 have no difficulty in disposing of the surplus ; this is 
 the more easily done, as it occupies ground that has 
 been cleared of early peas, corn, etc. Another point 
 in not confining your planting to the one variety is 
 that the handsome " Self-blanching " varieties are 
 not good keepers, and as the older kinds take a long 
 time to whiten, and a good deal of cold weather to 
 develop the fine flavor, they are about ready for use 
 when the early kinds are gone. 
 
 While celery is raised as a second crop and has 
 always been considered to require frost to develop the 
 fine nutty flavor, at least one row in the garden should 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 77 
 
 be planted with a " Self-blanching " variety as early 
 .in the spring as the plants can be procured. For 
 this it is a good plan to sow two or three drills of 
 celery in the hotbed at the same time with tomatoes, 
 peppers, etc., that they may be ready for planting out 
 early in the spring. These will grow quickly before 
 the very hot weather sets in, and in a favorable sea- 
 son w^ill be ready for use by the latter part of August ; 
 if kept earthed up they will be of as handsome 
 appearance and as crisp and fine flavored as are the 
 older varieties in December. 
 
 For the main crop the young plants should be ready 
 to set out by the 1st of July, though in a favorable 
 locality they can be planted as late as the middle of 
 August, as they spend the summer largely in making 
 roots and do not grow much until the cool weather. As 
 soon as the plants attain eight to ten inches in height, 
 or, rather, length of leaf stalk as they lie spread out, the 
 earthing up should begin on all kinds of celery, 
 although the seed catalogues will tell you that it is 
 unnecessary in self-bleaching kinds. These latter 
 may be bleached easily by tying the stalks together 
 with straw or soft twine, but the earthing-up process 
 is much more satisfactory both to produce a compact 
 bunch of stalks and an even whiteness in color; other- 
 wise, the outside stalks will remain green. 
 
 My plan in earthing for the first time, or " hand- 
 ling," as it is called, is to have the dirt loose and fine 
 on each side of the row, then to stand astride the 
 row, gather all the leaves up and hold them closely 
 in the left hand, and with a short-handled hoe draw 
 the loose dirt in and pack it firmly around the stalks, 
 
78 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 leaving about two inches of the tips stick out at the 
 top. It is important to hold the stalks closely, that the 
 dirt may not sift down among the stalks, which would 
 either rot the heart or cause the inner stalks to 
 become twisted and crooked. The second and suc- 
 ceeding bankings are done by a boy standing over 
 the row, clasping the stems in his hand closely, 
 while a man on each side banks up the loose dirt 
 with a shovel ; as they raise the bank the boy slides 
 his hand further up the stalks, until, as before, all but 
 tw^o inches of the tips are covered. The boy moves 
 along the row backw^ard, facing the two men who are 
 using the shovels ; as they finish one plant he grasps 
 and bunches another, always having a plant in each 
 hand. This method is a great time saver, and also 
 enables the work to be done more neatly than where 
 the plant has to be held while the dirt is drawn 
 from a distance with the hoe. This earthing up should 
 be repeated every two or three weeks until it is time 
 to store the celery for the winter. Immediately be- 
 fore banking, I run the light plow or the cultivator 
 on each side of the row, which furnishes plenty of 
 fine, loose dirt ready for use. The soil will pack bet- 
 ter and remain in the banked form better if it is moist 
 when handled, but must not be so wet as to be sticky, 
 for it would then "rust" or spot the stalk. The 
 plants should be set in rows five or six feet apart, so 
 that there may be plenty of soil for the earthing up 
 and room to pass between the rows when banked ; 
 the taller growing varieties will require full six feet 
 between the rows. 
 
 About the third week in November the celery 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 79 
 
 should be dug and stored ; for if it is left out longer, 
 there is danger of its being spoiled by hard freezing. 
 If it is to go in the cellar it should be stood upright 
 in barrels or in boxes, the sides of which are as high 
 as the stalks are tall, so as to keep them straight and 
 white; the roots are left on and packed in moist soil, 
 in order to keep the plants fresh and crisp ; but the 
 soil must not be allowed to come up among the stalks, 
 
 Illustration showing the manner of storing celery in the field for early use. 
 .C. Plants of celery. D. Banks of soil. S. Straw covering. E. Board laid on 
 top of the straw to keep it in place. 
 
 or it might cause them to rot. The root cellar must 
 be kept cool and have plenty of air whenever it can 
 be admitted without freezing the contents of the 
 cellar. 
 
 Another plan is to set the plants on a well-drained 
 plot, side by side in a long row, three or four plants 
 wide and as closely together as possible ; earth banks 
 are then raised on each side of the row about four to six 
 
80 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 inches thick at the top, and the ends closed in the same 
 manner. The roots are packed soHdly in the soil, and 
 the banks are carried up level with the longest tops ; 
 when the very cold weather sets in the whole top, 
 banks and leaves, is covered with straw, leaves or 
 corn fodder, to keep the frost out. I would not recom- 
 mend this method of storing unless it is expected to 
 have the supply all used or marketed by the 1st of 
 January. The best way to store celery is in a hotbed 
 or c(ild frame, which is built two or three feet deep in 
 the ground, as already described. The celery plants 
 are set side by side in this, as in the boxes or barrels, 
 and the roots tightly packed in moist soil ; then the 
 sash can be put on at nights and in the daytime can 
 be entirely removed or slightly raised to admit air, 
 according to the temperature. On very cold nights 
 the sash can have an extra covering of straw or old 
 carpet, and if there is a heavy fall of snow it can be 
 left on a few days, until the weather again becomes 
 warmer. Stored in this manner, it is no trouble to 
 get the celery when wanted ; it can be given plenty 
 of air, without which it will not keep, and the late 
 kinds, if packed closely together, mil complete their 
 bleaching. If the kinds which require blanching 
 are not kept earthed up as the growth advances, it 
 will be almost impossible to blanch them. 
 
 VARIETIES OF CELERY. 
 
 The dwarf and half-dwarf kinds are the best, as 
 they are superior both in quality and appearance 
 and are much easier grown. Of these the Dwarf 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 81 
 
 Golden Heart is one of the best varieties ; the stalks are 
 very thick and solid, fine flavored, and blanch to a 
 fine white, excepting the centre, which is of a fine 
 golden yellow. 
 
 NEW GOLDEN SELF-BLANCHING CELERY. 
 
 Golden Self-Blanching.— The handsomest and 
 most generally satisfactory kind that I have ever 
 6 
 
82 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 planted. I know of none that can equal it in appear- 
 ance or quality ; the stalks are large, straight, crisp and 
 very solid ; it is very vigorous in growth, attaining a 
 height of one to one and a half feet, and I have had 
 single plants of three inches in diameter. The leaves 
 of this variety are of a beautiful golden yellow after 
 the plant has been bleached, which adds greatly to 
 its handsome appearance when prepared for the table. 
 The young plants should be earthed up as soon as 
 they are large enough to handle, and in two weeks 
 the celery will be in the finest order for the table, 
 thus gaining from one to two months over the ordi- 
 nary kinds. The quality is the finest and the stalks 
 are crisp, brittle and delicious. 
 
 White Pi.ume. — This is also a self-blanching va- 
 riety, but not to the same extent as the preceding 
 kind. In this sort the inside stalks are naturally 
 white, and the leaves of these white stalks are varie- 
 gated in the most striking and beautiful manner, 
 which gives it the name and renders it the most 
 ornamental variety grown. To bleach the outer 
 stalks the plant should be kept earthed up, and it 
 will then be ready for use at any time. It is not, 
 however, so fine in the small state as the Golden 
 Self-Blanching, which is of fine eating quality even 
 when growing in the seed bed ; the stalks are not so 
 thick and meaty in the White Plume, but have a 
 strong " nutty " flavor. 
 
 Crimson or Red Celery. — The red celery is very 
 handsome and fine flavored when bleached, and after 
 the self-blanching varieties is the most desirable one 
 to grow. It grows tall and straight, is crisp and 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 83 
 
 brittle, and when well blanched is a beautiful golden 
 yellow, the ribs and ridges being tinged with 
 crimson. 
 
 SWEET CORN. 
 
 The first sweet corn should be planted early in 
 April, and should be of some small-growing, very 
 early variety, such as the Cory or Minnesota. This 
 corn will have to struggle with the frost and chilling 
 nights, but with the aid of the ever-present worm, 
 which inhabits each ear, will be ready for use long 
 before any of the really fine kinds can be had. There 
 is only one good thing that I have been able to 
 discover in the worm's favor in connection with his 
 labors in horticulture, and that is the way in which 
 he assists in ripening all the earliest specimens of the 
 different fruits. To be sure, his efforts in this line 
 are not always appreciated, but he is always there 
 when you find a fruit ripening before its regular 
 time. About the third week in April a second sow- 
 ing of this early corn should be made, and at the 
 same time should be planted some early large-eared 
 variety, such as Crosby's Twelve-roAved, and an equal 
 amount of a late variety, such as Stowell's Evergreen. 
 Thereafter a planting should be made^very ten days 
 or two weeks, of a favorite sort, which, Vv'ith me, 
 is Stowell's Evergreen, although I plant other kinds 
 throughout the season, for the sake of variety. These 
 plantings should be kept up until the 10th of July, 
 after which the late kinds will hardly mature; but if 
 the ground can be spared, I would keep on planting 
 until the 10th of August, as, if the fall should be late, 
 
84 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 it will come in very acceptably. Most gardeners 
 exhaust their supply about the middle of September, 
 as they do not continue to plant late enough. If 
 there is danger of heavy frost early in the fall, the 
 corn that has well-set ears that have not yet ripened 
 should be cut off at the ground and stacked against 
 the south side of a fence or building ; it should be 
 stood up nearly two feet in thickness, to prevent 
 freezing, but should not be thicker, as it will heat 
 too much and will be awkward to handle when sort- 
 ing over for the good ears. Treated in this way it 
 will provide ears for use well into November, but of 
 course they will not be of as fine a quality as those 
 matured in the ordinary way. 
 
 As the earliest varieties only grow about three feet 
 high and have the ears set close to the ground, the 
 best way of planting them is to drop the seed ten 
 inches to one foot apart, in drills. Sow plenty of 
 seed, and if it comes up too thickly it can easily be 
 thinned out when hoeing; all suckers should be 
 broken off at the same time, so as to throw the 
 strength of the plants into the ears. 
 
 If two rows are planted across the garden at each 
 planting they will furnish an ample supply for the 
 average family. If it is needed for canning or drying, 
 an extra large planting should be made early in May, 
 which will mature after the heavy harvest work is 
 over and before the fall fruit is ready to preserve. 
 
 If some fine compost is placed in the drills or hills, 
 it will help greatly to give the young plants a good 
 start until they can reach the manure with which 
 the garden has been dressed ; where this compost is 
 
OF ONE ACEE. 85 
 
 put in it should be covered with an inch of soil 
 before the seed is sown. 
 
 The climbing snap beans may be planted in the 
 hill with the tall-growing corn, or hills of pumpkins ; 
 squashes or cucumbers may be made in every fourth 
 hill and every third row, although the vines will be 
 very much in the way of continued cultivation if the 
 ground is inclined to be weedy. Sweet corn should 
 not be planted within one hundred yards of field or 
 pop-corn, as the pollen will be sure to mix and spoil 
 the quality of the table corn. It will sometimes mix 
 at greater distances, but this distance would be safe 
 in most cases. 
 
 VARIETIES OF SWEET CORN. 
 
 The Cory. — This is the earliest variety known, 
 and is at the same time superior in size and quality 
 to the varieties which have been grown as extra 
 early, before its introduction. It ripens nearly a 
 week in advance of any other variety, while the ears 
 
 A RIPENED EAR OF THE CORY CORN. 
 
 are much larger than either the Minnesota or Mar- 
 blehead. The grains are well formed to the tip of 
 the cob, making a much handsomer ear than the 
 other early varieties, while in sweetness and quality 
 it is also superior. 
 
86 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 Amber Cream. — This is a medium early variety ; 
 it is a strong, vigorous grower, reaching six to seven 
 feet in height; the ears are about ten inches in 
 length and the quality is rich and sugary. When 
 used on the table the grains are milky white ; the 
 " Amber " of its name coming from the ripe seed, 
 while the " Cream " is evidently an attempt to describe 
 its excellent quality. In planting and picking for 
 the table, the size of the ears of this variety and of 
 Sto well's Evergreen should be taken into account ; 
 a dozen ears being nearly equal to two dozen of some 
 of the smaller-eared kinds. 
 
 Crosby's Early Twelve-rowed does not grow 
 quite so tall as the Amber Cream, nor are the ears as 
 large ; although called " twelve-rowed," it frequently 
 has only ten rows. The great merit of this kind 
 is in its excellent quality, it being very sweet and 
 juicy, and fully equal to any variety that I have ever 
 eaten. It is one of the best sorts to plant after the 
 very early kinds. 
 
 Potter's Excelsior. — An excellent medium early 
 variety ; the ears are of good size, with twelve rows 
 of deep grains. It is remarkably sweet and juicy, 
 and quite productive, averaging two good ears to a 
 stalk. 
 
 Stowell's Evergreen. — This is, in my opinion, 
 the finest variety for late and general planting. It is 
 strong-growing and prolific, while the ears are of 
 large size and handsome appearance. The quality 
 is rich and sweet, while the grains are juicy and 
 luscious, when picked at the right stage. To have 
 the finest corn of any variety it should be picked in 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 87 
 
 just the right condition ; that is, when the skin of 
 the grain breaks at the slightest puncture, and plant- 
 ings should be made frequently enough always to 
 have a supply at this stage. The quality is inferior 
 if it is a few days too old or too young. 
 
 CUCUMBERS. 
 
 In raising cucumbers care should be taken to pro- 
 cure seed that is perfectly pure, as it mixes readily 
 with other varieties and deteriorates rapidly. The 
 seed should be planted in hills, prepared in the man- 
 ner described for cantaloupes, three feet apart in the 
 row, and the rows 4| to 5 feet apart. If there is not 
 enough compost at hand to manure them, as directed 
 in the manner of making them, the hills can be 
 raked up a few inches above the surface and the 
 young plants allowed to feed on the general dressing 
 which has been applied to the whole garden ; the 
 elevation serving to give the young plants a better 
 start than on the level surface. While the cucumber 
 is a lover of heat and moisture, it is apt to damp off 
 in its early stages if it should be cold and wet; the 
 hills tending to lift the young plants up into a drier 
 and warmer soil. A liberal quantity of seed should 
 be sown in each hill, say twenty to forty seeds, that 
 there may be enough 3^oung plants to survive the 
 depredations of the striped cucumber bug and of the 
 borers. The j^oung plants should be dusted every 
 few mornings with ashes, plaster or slug shot, to 
 destroy these pests, and as soon as the plants are suffi- 
 ciently large to take care of themselves they should 
 
88 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 be thinned out to only three or four plants in a hill. 
 The first planting should not be made before the 
 middle of May, for they will not stand cold. The 
 cucumbers should be picked as soon as they attain 
 sufficient size and before the seeds become developed 
 or hard ; this should be done every morning while it 
 is still cool, and the cucumbers placed in a cool cellar. 
 The very best way is to put them in the water in a 
 cool spring-house ; there is no place where melons, 
 squashes and cucumbers retain their freshness and 
 crisp, fine flavor so fully as in such a spring. If the 
 picking is carefully attended to and all the fruit 
 picked off as soon as large enough, the vines will 
 continue to grow and bear all summer, especially if 
 they are in a rather shady situation, such as among 
 the sweet corn. A few fine specimens may be allowed 
 to ripen for seed, but if many are left the vines will 
 dry up and die as soon as they have ripened a crop. 
 Where a quantity of small pickles are wanted, the 
 best way is to make a planting about the first week 
 in August or latter part of July. These will produce 
 large quantities if the ground is rich, and wdll con- 
 tinue to bear until killed by frost. Like the summer 
 crop, they should be picked every day or two, and as 
 soon as they are of the size desired, as they will bear 
 a great many more if not allowed to grow large ; also 
 the smaller the pickle the more attractive it is, and 
 the more readily it sells. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 89 
 
 VARIETIES OF CUCUMBERS. 
 
 Early Russian. — The earliest variety grown, and 
 is of very good quality for table use, but only grows 
 about three inches in length ; it is very solid and has 
 but few seeds. Its small size and earliness render it 
 a very good variety for pickles. 
 
 Early Green Prolific. — This is largely grown 
 for pickling, and is immensely productive. The 
 shape, quality and great bearing make it a very 
 valuable kind. 
 
 Improved Early White Spine. — This variety is 
 more generally grown than any other, and is de- 
 servedly popular for both table use and for pickling. 
 It is of medium length, and from 1 J to 2 inches in 
 diameter ; when not too old the flesh is very crisp 
 and fine flavored. 
 
 London Long Green. — Grows from twelve to six- 
 teen inches in length, is a very dark green in color, 
 and presents a fine appearance, while the flesh is firm 
 and crisp, and the quality excellent. 
 
 Burpee's Giant Pera Cucumber. — This wonder- 
 ful new variety diflers in almost every respect from 
 the cucumber as generally grown, and in size and 
 quality far surpasses the ordinary kinds. The vines 
 are very vigorous in growth, with dark green, luxu- 
 riant foliage, which enables it to bear large crops of 
 cucumbers of extraordinary size, as they are nearly 
 three inches in diameter and are from 15 to 22 inches 
 in length. The fruit is uniformly round, smooth 
 and straight, the skin being of a pale green and 
 entirely free from spines ; when ripe the skin is a 
 russet brown. The green cucumbers are fit to eat 
 
90 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 at any stage of their growth. The flesh is entirely 
 white, not tinged with green, as in the ordinary kinds, 
 
 EARLY RUSSIAN CUCUMBER. 
 
 EARLY GREEN PROLIFIC CUCUMBER, 
 
 IMPROVED WUITE SPINE CUCUMBER. 
 
 GIANT PERA CUCUMBER. 
 
 LONDON LONG GREEN CUCUMBER. 
 
j OF ONE ACRE. 91 
 
 and is crisp, tender and brittle. It has none of the 
 cucumber taste of the older kinds, and is not always 
 relished at first by those who are fond of the strong- 
 flavored varieties, but after becoming accustomed to 
 it for a short time, it is preferred to all others. In 
 its native home it forms one of the staple foods of the 
 inhabitants, being eaten in the natural state without 
 any dressing whatever, in the same manner that we 
 would eat an apple or a pear. It is certainly one of 
 the most remarkable vegetables of recent introduc- 
 tion. 
 
 EGG PLANT. 
 
 Since the advent of the potato bug in our Eastern 
 States the labor of raising this fine fruit is almost 
 trebled, the bug regarding it as a delicacy superior 
 even to the potato vines, and from its manner of 
 bearing the fruit it is dangerous to apply Paris green 
 or other poisons for their destruction. Where there 
 is time to attend to it I prefer to have the bugs 
 picked off by hand every day, but this is slow work, 
 as we frequently get as many as a pint from two 
 dozen of plants, and they do considerable damage by 
 eating the young shoots and buds, even between 
 such frequent pickings. The best way is to dust 
 with Paris green or other poison, until the plants are 
 of sufficient size to bear fruit, and then to keep the 
 bugs off as thoroughly as possible by hand picking. 
 In preference to Paris green or other strong poisons, 
 I use Hammond's Slug Shot, an insecticide that is sold 
 in all seed and implement stores, and which is said 
 not to be injurious to man or beast, though poison is 
 
92 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 present in the impalpable powder; it is also claimed 
 that it is an excellent fertilizer, as well as being sure 
 death to insects. Having used it three seasons, I have 
 found it very satisfactory for the preservation of all 
 small plants, excepting in one case of young seedlings 
 just coming through the soil, in which case a too 
 heavy application burned them up. 
 
 The egg plant is a strong, rank grower and a great 
 lover of rich soil and of heat. The seed should be 
 started in a warm hotbed or greenhouse about the 
 last of March/and the soil should be as rich and 
 light as possible. If the plants grow rapidly, they 
 will be improved by transplanting in the hotbeds, 
 as it will help them to form a good bunch of fibrous 
 roots, so that they will sustain no check when planted 
 out. They should not be set«out in the garden until 
 warm weather is assured, and then should be planted 
 in hills enriched as for melons. These hills need 
 not be higher than the surface of the garden, but if 
 strong growth and large fruits are desired, a hole 
 should be scraped out where each plant is to stand, 
 and two or three shovelsful of w^ell-rotted manure or 
 compost put in, and the soil leveled off again before 
 the plant is set. If the ground is dry when the 
 plants are set out, water should be poured in the 
 holes dug to receive them, and the dry soil drawn 
 up around the stems when the plant has been set. 
 The roots of the freshly set plants should not come 
 in contact with the manure, but should have two or 
 three inches of soil through which to seek it as they 
 become established. The fruit should be cut as 
 soon as it is of sufficient size and before the seeds 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 93 
 
 become hard, as it soon loses its fine quality when it 
 begins to ripen. The plants will also continue longer 
 in bearing if this course is pursued, as it takes greatly 
 from the strength of any plant to ripen its seed. 
 When there is danger of frost in the fall all the fruits 
 large enough to use, from the size of an egg up, 
 should be picked off and stored in the cellar, as they 
 will remain fresh and fit for use for over a month at 
 
 NEW YORK IMPROVED EGG PLANT. 
 
 this cool season of the year; by so doing I have 
 frequently enjoyed this fine fruit long after it has 
 disappeared from the tables of my neighbors. 
 
 The hills for the plants should be about two feet 
 apart in the row, and the rows 'four feet apart. 
 Three dozen plants, which will occupy hardly 
 a third of one of our kitchen garden rows, will 
 
94 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 furnish an ample supply for a large family. The 
 small early variety matures three or even four weeks 
 before the ordinary kinds, bilt as they are hardly 
 larger than a good-sized goose egg, it is not worth 
 while to bother with them unless you are especially 
 fond of the fruit and wish to have it as early as 
 possible. 
 
 VARIETIES OF EGG PLANT. 
 
 Extra Early Dwarf Round Purple. — This 
 variety is in every respect similar to the New York 
 Purple, excepting in size and time of ripening ; the 
 fully developed fruit being about two inches in length 
 and being ready for use a few weeks after planting 
 out in the garden. 
 
 . New York Improved Large Purple. — This is 
 the best and most popular variety. It is of large 
 size, very handsome color and appearance, and the 
 largest in diameter of any variety, yielding large 
 slices for frying. The quality is of the finest. 
 
 HORSE EADISH. 
 
 This pungent root is a great favorite as a relish 
 in the early spring, and is credited with tonic proper- 
 ties ; at any rate it is a very pleasant appetizer at a 
 season when we have been almost without fresh 
 vegetables for several months. It can be raised in 
 almost any soil, though preferring a moist situation, 
 and is most at home where it is constantly moist- 
 ened or occasionally overflowed by some stream. It 
 is raised from pieces of root, three or four inches in 
 length and from J to I inch in diameter. These slips 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 95 
 
 are made from the tails or rootlets cut off in trimming 
 the roots for grating, they should be cut off square 
 at the top and sloping at the bottom, that you may 
 readily know which end goes up when you plant 
 them. The slips should be kept in a box of moist 
 earth, in a cool cellar, after they have been trimmed, 
 until planting tiriie. The slips can be planted with 
 a long trowel ; but the best and quickest way is to 
 drive a spade, full depth, into the soil, flatways with 
 the garden line, move it slightly back and forward, 
 to widen the hole, and slip a piece of root down each 
 side of the cut made by the spade, which will make 
 them six or seven inches apart ; the spade should 
 then be driven in about one inch back of its previous 
 position and the handle pressed forward, which will 
 pack the dirt solidly against the planted roots, the 
 tops of which should be placed about one inch under 
 the surface. Where it is desired to increase the sup- 
 ply as fast as possible, and where the roots have been 
 used at home, the crowns or tops, with an inch or so 
 of root adhering, can be planted again, but they will 
 not make long, smooth roots, like the slips, but will 
 have a tendency to make several small roots. 
 
 HOPS. 
 
 At the end of one of the berry rows, or in some 
 corner where they will be out of the way of the plow, 
 there should be a few poles of hops. These are grown 
 from pieces of root, and after being once planted will 
 not need further attention except to be kept clear of 
 weeds and grass, to be supplied with a good top- 
 
96 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 dressing of manure in the fall, and suitable poles to 
 climb upon. These poles should be good strong ones, 
 at least 8 to 10 feet in height. About the last of August 
 or first of September the vines should be cut off near 
 the ground and the poles pulled up, so that the crop 
 may be gathered. There is an old saying that " the 
 September winds should never be allowed to blow 
 on the hops.'^ The hops should be. spread on sheets 
 and placed in some cool, airy garret or loft, to dry. 
 It will take five or six good poles to make a bushel 
 of hops. 
 
 LETTUCE. 
 
 This is generally known as salad, which is a mis- 
 nomer, as salad means anything that is served in a 
 green state; it may be onions, tomatoes, cabbage, 
 lettuce, or anything of that kind. By general usage 
 the word salad has been appropriated to the lettuce, 
 as the latter is the plant most frequently grown in 
 this country for salad. But call it whichever j^ou 
 like, it is one of the greatest additions to our tables, 
 and in our kitchen garden it should not be made a 
 side issue of a week or two in the spring, but should 
 be raised in the finest condition possible throughout 
 the season, and by using the hotbeds and cold frames 
 it is possible to have it the whole year round. 
 
 To raise head lettuce in perfection the greatest care 
 must be taken to reserve the very best and tightest 
 heads for seed, or if the seed is to be purchased select 
 the hardest-heading varieties. For the earliest plant- 
 ing the seed should be sown in the hotbed and have 
 the same treatment as its associate, the cabbage ; the 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 97 
 
 young plants should not be allowed to stand too 
 thickly ; they should be at least an inch apart in the 
 seed bed, or be transplanted to that distance when 
 half an inch high. When the cabbage is set out, one 
 or two lettuce plants may be set between each pair of 
 cabbages in the row, according to the distance the 
 cabbages are apart. There must be space enough be- 
 tween the plants to give the soil a good stirring with 
 the hoe around each plant, as thorough cultivation 
 is essential to the best development of both cabbage 
 and lettuce, A second lot of seed should be planted 
 when the tomatoes and eggplants are sown; these 
 can be set out in the garden as soon as they are large 
 enough to handle. The third sowing should be made 
 in the open garden when the first planting is done, 
 and the young seedlings should be transplanted as 
 soon as the plants 
 are large enough 
 and before they 
 begin to be crowded 
 in the row, as this 
 last sowing wdll not 
 form heads without 
 it receives the best 
 of care. These three 
 sowings are about 
 all that can be de- 
 pended upon to 
 make hard heads, 
 
 unless it can be planted in some rich, shady corner, 
 and carefully nursed with the watering pot. 
 
 About the first or middle of May a sowing should 
 7 
 
 PERPETUAL LETTTCE, 
 
y» A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 be made of the " Perpetual Lettuce," and the plants, 
 when large enough, should bo transplanted and 
 treated the same as the head lettuce ; it will not form 
 tight heads, but produces a fine bunch of broad, yel- 
 lowish-green leaves, which are very crisp and delicate, 
 not being strong and bitter, as most lettuces are in hot 
 weather. This lettuce will stand from four to six 
 weeks without running to seed, so that if plantings 
 are made about once a month it can be had in per- 
 fection throughout the balance of the season. If the 
 head lettuce is more particularly desired, a sowing 
 should be made about the first of August, and 
 another about the fifteenth ; the young plants should 
 be transplanted and treated in the same manner for 
 heading as is followed in the spring ; the first sowing 
 will not produce heads unless the latter pai-t of Au- 
 gust and the first part of September he cool and moist ; 
 but you are almost sure to have fine heads from the 
 second sowing. Personally, I prefer the Perpetual, 
 both for its fine qualities and the ease of growing 
 it 
 
 Another way, and the easiest, to have a constant 
 succession of lettuce for the table throughout the 
 season, is to sow the seed thickly in drills and to cut 
 the loose leaves close to the ground when it is three 
 or four inches high; this produces rather narrow 
 leaves, which are very tender and juicy, but which 
 have not the substance of those grown as separate 
 plants or heads, and are not so easily prepared for 
 the table. These sowings can be made every few 
 weeks, and a constant succession of young leaves be 
 had for use throughout the entire season. It should 
 
OP' ONE ACRE. 99 
 
 be the object in sowing lettuce to plant small lots 
 frequently, that it may always be had in the best 
 condition. 
 
 About the second w^eek in September a sowing of 
 some early hard-heading variety should be made, 
 and a succeeding one about the first of October; from 
 these two sowings the cold frames should be planted, 
 about one-third from the first and two-thirds from 
 the second ; the plants should be set about six inches 
 apart each way, which will allow about fifty plants to 
 each sash. When cold weather comes the sash should 
 be put on, and the outsides of the frames banked 
 around with long stable manure. The plants must 
 be treated to plenty of fresh air whenever the weather 
 will permit of it, and on very cold nights the sash 
 should be reinforced with a covering of straw, old 
 mats, or carpet. The lettuce grown in these frames 
 is apt to be infested wdth the small insect known as 
 the " Green Fly ;" to prevent or to get rid of the pres- 
 ence of this pest, tobacco refuse and sweepings from 
 a cigar-maker's shop should be strewn on the soil 
 under the leaves ; this will destroy the fly and act as 
 a fertilizer, but if too much is applied it will spoil the 
 delicate flavor of the lettuce. 
 
 If a few very early cabbages are desired, the seed 
 should be sown about the first of October and trans- 
 planted with the lettuce into the cold frames ; plant- 
 ing them about two inches apart each way ; if these 
 are in good condition and the spring favorable, they 
 can be planted out about the 15th of March, and will 
 produce heads one to two weeks earlier than those 
 raised in the hotbeds. 
 
100 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 buepee's hard-head lettuce. 
 
 VARIETIES OF LETTUCE. 
 
 Bukpee's Hard-Head. — This is the fastest grow- 
 ing and the best 
 heading kind that I 
 have ever grown. 
 With this variety 
 the ordinary gar- 
 dener is able to grow 
 as fine, large, solid 
 heads as those grown 
 by the professional 
 market gardener. 
 In shape it very 
 much resembles a 
 cabbage, as even the 
 outer leaves tend to curl in over the head, instead of 
 
 spreading outward, 
 as in most lettuces. 
 In appearance it is 
 quite novel and 
 striking, the edges 
 of the leaves being 
 tinged with a deep 
 brownish-red, while 
 in the centre of its 
 hard heads the 
 leaves are blanched 
 to a b e a u t i f u 1 
 creamy white. In 
 quality it' is re- 
 markably tender, rich, juicy, and never bitter. 
 Burpee's Tomhannock. — This is the finest of all 
 
 BUEPEE'S T03IHANN0CK LETTUCE. 
 
OF ONE ACTvE. 101 
 
 the cutting lettuces, as it is of large size, handsome 
 appearance, and the very choicest quaHty. It grows 
 very quickly, is soon ready to cut, and stands a long 
 time witliout running to seed, retaining throughout 
 the season its delicate and delicious flavor. The 
 growth is erect ; a fully developed plant is ten to 
 tw^elve inches in height, and nearly as great in 
 diameter across the top ; the outer edges of the 
 leaves curl outward. The outer leaves are shaded 
 with reddish-brown, while the inner leaves are 
 almost white. It is entirely free from any bitter 
 taste throughout the entire summer. 
 
 Stonehead Golden Yellow. — This is a now 
 variety, which 
 makes very 
 solid heads, of 
 handsome ap- 
 pearance and 
 the finest qual- 
 ity. Its earli- 
 ness, large, tight 
 heads and svi- 
 perior quality 
 
 ••- i. ./ GOLDEN STOKEHEAI) LETTUCE. 
 
 render it one of 
 
 the best kinds for forwarding under glass. 
 
 Burpee's Silver Ball. — This, next to the Hard 
 Head, is the best heading variety for general pur- 
 poses, and where the brown markings in the latter 
 kind are an objection, the gardener will find in 
 this kind all the good qualities that go to make a 
 desirable lettuce. It })roduces a beautiful head, very 
 firm and solid, with handsomely curled leaves. The 
 
102 
 
 A KITCHEN^ GARDEN 
 
 head is of a silvery white color, very rich and but- 
 tery in flavor, and stands for some time before run- 
 ning to seed. 
 Other excellent 
 varieties of cab- 
 bage lettuces are 
 Philadelphia 
 White Cabbage, 
 The Hanson and 
 The Deacon, 
 while The Tennis 
 Ball is a great 
 favorite with market gardeners for forcing. 
 
 BURPEb-'b SIL\J<.U liiLL LLTTUCb. 
 
 OKRA. 
 
 This plant, like the carrot, is too little grown, "as 
 its green pods impart a fine flavor and consistency 
 to soups and mixed stews ; besides being very pal- 
 atable when stewed and served as is a dish of aspara- 
 gus ; the pods can also be dried for winter use. The 
 seeds should be planted in drills, and if the dwarf 
 variety be used, which I think is preferable, as it 
 produces an abundance of pods and does not take 
 up nearly so much room, the plants may be allowed 
 to stand about one and a half feet apart in the row, 
 the rows being three feet apart, though a quarter or 
 half a row in the kitchen garden, as here described, 
 will furnish an ample supply, both for use and dry- 
 ing. For either purpose, they should be cut before 
 the pods attain their full size or they will bo hard 
 and woody. For drying, the best way is to string 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 103 
 
 them on a fine wire or thread and suspend them to 
 the raiters of a cool loft or garret until wanted for 
 use. The culture of this vegetable is very simple, as 
 
 the seeds are planted in drills about two inches deep, 
 and the after treatment is the same as for corn. 
 
 ONIONS. 
 
 In raising onions in quantities the practice of late 
 years has been to grow the crop from seed in one sea- 
 son, instead of the method formerly almost univer- 
 sally practiced in this section, of raising and keeping 
 over sets to form the next year's crop. This latter 
 
104 A KITCHEN GAKDEN 
 
 method is now only practiced to save labor in small 
 gardens and to bring a few onions in for use early in 
 the season. 
 
 To raise a satisfactory crop the ground must be 
 free from weed seeds ; it must be made as rich as 
 possible and have constant cultivation from the time 
 the seedlings break through the ground until the 
 bulbs begin to ripen. The soil must be plowed, 
 harrowed and raked, until it is in the finest possible 
 condition to receive the seed, and it is important to 
 select a plot for this purpose that has been kept free 
 from weeds the preceding season. Root crops are 
 the best to precede onions, as they not only leave the 
 ground free from litter, but also, if they have been 
 properly cultivated, leave the soil in fine tilth. 
 
 In our kitchen garden I would sow the seed in 
 drills, twelve to fourteen inches apart, and cultivate 
 with the wheel hoe ; in field culture, or raised more 
 extensively in the garden, plant in rows as closely as 
 they can be worked with the cultivator, which, if it 
 is provided with very narrow-bladed teeth, can be 
 run through any rows where the horse can walk. 
 For the kitchen garden, make the surface fine with a 
 sharp steel rake, and if no drill is at hand, take a 
 rake handle or blunt stick, and, drawing it along the 
 garden line, scratch a drill about an inch deep. Sow 
 the seed thinly, say an inch apart, but if there is 
 reason to doubt the freshness of the seed, sow it 
 thicker, so that a good stand may be assured. When 
 the onions are an inch high, they should have their 
 first working. Follow the wheel hoe or cultivator 
 with a narrow-bladed hoe, not wider than an inch 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 105 
 
 and a half at the cutting part of the blade ; it must 
 be sharp and lightly handled, just loosening the 
 ground and cutting off any stray weeds. If there 
 are no weeds the soil can be quickly loosened with a 
 sharp steel rake. They should bo worked every eight 
 or ten days from this point until they begin to ripen ; 
 if it is neglected for longer periods than these, the 
 gardener will rue it in days of back-breaking labor 
 on hands and knees. When the young onions have 
 made leaves two or three inches in height, they 
 should be thinned out to from four to six inches 
 apart in the rows, according to the size of the bulb 
 made by the particular variety planted. The seed 
 for onions grown in this way should be sown as early 
 in the spring as the soil can be gotten into the pro- 
 per fine condition, so that they may make as strong 
 a growth as possible before the hot summer weather 
 ripens them off. As they begin to ripen, all those 
 with thick necks should be pulled and used upon the 
 table, as they will not ripen properly, and if put away 
 with the good bulbs will start all to rotting. There 
 is a theory common with old gardeners that, by 
 bending the tops over when they begin to ripen, the 
 bulbs will be increased in size and will ripen more 
 quickly ; personally, I have tried it frequently, and 
 have never been able to observe any difference in 
 those bent and the ones left to ripen in the natural 
 way. As soon as the bulbs are well matured, take 
 them up at once, as a few rainy days might start 
 tliem to growing again if left in the ground ; pull off 
 all the tops and roots which adhere to the dry bulbs 
 and spread them thinly on the barn floor or on the 
 
106 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 floor of a cool loft. When it becomes too cold to let 
 them remain longer in this position without danger 
 of freezing, I put them in peach baskets, the stripped 
 sides of which allow a free circulation of air, and 
 store them in a cool, well-ventilated cellar, where we 
 try to keep the temperature just above freezing by 
 admitting air whenever j^ossible, as it takes but very 
 little warmth to start them to growing, and then they 
 soon become unfit for use. If the gardener saves his 
 own seed, the finest and best-shaped onions should 
 be laid aside for planting out in the spring, for this 
 purpose. 
 
 Where the crop is raised from sets it is not neces- 
 sary, though quite desirable, to have the soil made 
 as fine as for the seed bed. As the small onions are 
 set in, planting at the proper distances apart, almost 
 all the cultivation can be done with the narrow 
 onion hoe, and if it is regularly attended to at proper 
 intervals no hand work is necessary. The onion is 
 a hardy bulb, and the sets can be planted as soon in 
 the spring as the ground can be gotten into proper 
 condition ; this makes an important feature in the 
 earliness of the crop, as the sets have several weeks 
 the start over the onions raised from seed. For the 
 very earliest onions, or those used when the bulb 
 and neck are about of equal thickness early in the 
 spring, and which go by the name of scallions, the 
 sets are planted in October and allowed to remain in 
 the ground all winter, so that they are ready for use 
 almost as soon as the spring opens, two weeks' growth 
 sufficing to bring them to a proper size. Where the 
 main garden crop of these fragrant bulbs is raised 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 107 
 
 from seed, enough sets should be planted to make an 
 early supply for the table; if no sets are at hand in 
 the fall, to plant for the spring crop of scallions, they 
 could be grown by sowing the seed about a month 
 earlier than you would plant the sets for the same 
 purpose. 
 
 In sowing seeds for sets the same directions apply 
 as given for the crop of bulbs, excepting that the 
 seed is sown much more thickly, so that the bulbs 
 will touch each other and stand two or three wide in 
 the row. If they do not seem to be making the 
 proper growth as the season advances, they should 
 be thinned to the proper extent to enable them to 
 grow to the right size, one-half inch in diameter, 
 though my own trouble is that they usually grow 
 too large ; to remedy this when they are nearly the 
 proper size I allow them to become choked with 
 grass and weeds, which checks their growth, but 
 when this is done they must be watched that this 
 mass of stuff does not rot them off when ripe. I think 
 a better way would be to go along the row with a 
 straight-edged hoe or spade and cut off some of the 
 roots. The main object in having the sets of this 
 small size is that they shall not run to seed w^hen 
 planted out in the spring. Any sets which exceed 
 three-quarters of an inch in diameter should be used 
 for pickling or cooking. When the sets begin to 
 ripen it will sometimes facilitate the process to bend 
 all the green tops over close to the bulbs, as it helps 
 to dry and shrivel the tops more quickly. When 
 thoroughly ripe they should be gathered at once, the 
 tops and roots pulled off, and should be spread out 
 
108 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 and stored for winter in the same manner described 
 for the large onions. Any of the sets that persist 
 in growing and not drying properly, should be 
 thrown out, or they will spoil the whole crop. If a 
 suitable cellar or loft is not available for storing the 
 bulbs where they will be sure not to start into growth, 
 they may be wintered on the barn or loft floor, cov- 
 ering with hay as the cold weather advances. The 
 hay should be only two inches thick at first, but 
 should be increased to one foot in thickness as the 
 season advances, and in the spring should be 
 removed by the same graded process. 
 
 VARIETIES OF ONIONS. 
 
 Yellow Globe Danvers. — This is a splendid 
 variety, and is the most popular and profitable kind 
 
 YELT.OW GIOBE DANVERS ONION. 
 
 to grow for market. It is similar to the Yellow Dan- 
 vers as ordinarily grown, excepting in shape, which 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 109 
 
 is mucli finer, in my opinion, ^o one can fail to be 
 pleased with this fine variety when well grown. It 
 is quite earl}^, and is one of the very best keeping 
 kinds. 
 
 Laege Red Wethersfield. — A strong grower 
 and produces immense crops of large, fine bulbs. It 
 is ratlier flat in form, deep purplish red on the out- 
 
 LARGE RED WETHERSFIELD ONION. 
 
 side and a much lighter shade inside. It has a strong 
 flavor, and is very solid, making an excellent keep- 
 ing and shipping sort. 
 
 AYhite Globe. — One of the handsomest onions 
 grown, beautiful in shape and color, having a clear, 
 white skin ; the flesh is fine grained, of mild flavor, 
 and the bulbs are of good keeping quality. 
 
 White Silverskin, or White Portugal.— This 
 is an old and favorite variety, being very desirable 
 
no 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 for planting in the family garden ; the flavor is the 
 mildest of the American varieties ; the small onions 
 are very fine for pickling. I think this variety 
 
 SILVERSKIN, OR WHITE PORTUGAL ONIOX. 
 
 should be marketed as early as possible, as with me 
 it is not a good keeper.* 
 
 ITALIAN VARIETIES OF ONIONS. 
 
 Giant Red Rocca. — These onions are of large 
 size, handsome appearance and mild, delicate flavor. 
 In this variety we have an onion which attains a 
 weight of from one to two pounds under ordinarily 
 good culture, and of most handsome shape and ap- 
 pearance, the outer skin being always bright red, 
 while the flesh is white, mild and pleasant. 
 
 * Other distinct and good varieties of American onions are Southport 
 Yellow Globe and Large Red Globe, Yelloio Strasburrj or Dutch, and the 
 Extra Early lied. For more complete information, invaluable to all who 
 propose growing onions on a large scale for market, see the new book, 
 "How TO Grow Oxioxs, avith Notes on Varieties," an exhaustive 
 treatise written by T. Greiner, of New Jersey, Col. A. H. Arlie, of Oregon, 
 and W. Atlee Burpee.— Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Earliest White Queen. — This variety does not 
 grow to the large size of the other Italian kinds, more 
 resembling our American Silverskin in. size and 
 appearance, but has the great advantage over the 
 latter variety (which takes two seasons to attain the 
 same size), of remarkably quick growth, while the 
 flavor is equally, if not more, delicate. The bulbs 
 are flat, pure white and about two inches in diame- 
 
 GIANT RKD KOCCA ONTON. 
 
 AViriTE QUEE>J ONION. 
 
 ter. It is the finest A^ariety for pickling grown. Sown 
 in February, they will produce onions early in the 
 summer, wdiile if sown in July, they will be ready to 
 harvest in the fall, and will then keep in splendid 
 condition throughout the winter. 
 
 Giant Yellow Rocca. — -This variety is similar 
 to the Giant Eed Rocca described above, except in 
 color, which is a clear golden yellow. It is this vari- 
 
112 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 ety which is the real " Spanish Onion" so generally 
 sold at the fruit stands in the cities. 
 
 Burpee's Mammoth Silver King. — This I believe 
 to be the handsomest variety of onion grown, as I 
 think the white-skinned varieties the most attractive. 
 The bulbs are slightly flattened, but are very thick 
 through, averaging five to six inches in diameter, 
 and have been grown to the enormous weight of over 
 four pounds to the single bulb, while two-pound 
 bulbs are frequently produced under fair culture. 
 The skin is a beautiful silvery white ; the flesh is 
 even whiter, while the flavor is very mild and pleas- 
 ant, the Italians eating them as w^e do apples. 
 
 PAESLEY. 
 
 This should be grown by every gardener on account 
 of its usefulness, both for seasoning and garnishing. 
 As it seeds in the second season, fresh plantings 
 should be made every spring. The seed, being very 
 slow to germinate, should be soaked in tepid water 
 for twenty -four hours before planting. The best way 
 is to sow in the hotbed or cold frame and transplant 
 to the garden, but it can be sown in drills where 
 wanted and thinned out to the proper distance apart. 
 I always try to have a bed of it near the kitchen door, 
 as it saves much running ; if such a bed cannot be 
 conveniently placed, some should be cut and brought 
 in with the other vegetables, as it will keep fresh 
 some days if kept in cold water. In the fall some 
 of the best roots should be taken up and planted in 
 the cold frame, or put in pots and boxes in the sunny 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 113 
 
 windows of the house, for a winter supply. The 
 leaves and tops from trimming the celery are also 
 very fine for flavoring. 
 
 EXTRA CURLED DWARF PARSLEY. 
 
 The Extra Curled Dwarf is so much finer and 
 handsomer than the other kinds that it should be the 
 only one grown. 
 
 PARSNIPS. 
 
 This is a winter vegetable, needing hard freezing 
 to refine and bring out its best quality; the roots 
 should be left to stand where grown until they can 
 be dug in the spring or through the winter as wanted, 
 though some may be dug and stored in heaps for 
 use when the ground is frozen too solidly to admit of 
 digging them. If there is more than are wanted for 
 table use, there should be no delay in getting them 
 dug and marketed as early in the spring as possible, 
 8 
 
114 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 ■|i 
 
 for when they begin to sprout and grow, they very 
 soon become woody and unfit to eat. A row should 
 be sown in the garden at the 
 same time as the onions, beets, 
 etc., are planted. It is best to 
 sow the seed quite thickly ; by 
 thickly I mean one seed every 
 inch or so ; when the young 
 plants are about three inches 
 high they should be thinned 
 out to six inches apart in the 
 row, care being taken to leave 
 only one plant in a place, as, if 
 two are left, they will spoil the 
 symmetrical shape of the roots 
 by growing against each other. 
 In planting the seed I always 
 try to run it in between two 
 rows of beets, onions, lettuce, or 
 other early crop, thus w^orking 
 it with the wheel hoe while 
 small, and when the other crops have been taken off 
 there is room to work it with the cultivator, which 
 is run as close to the rows and as deeply as possible, 
 so that the roots may attain the largest size. In 
 digging the roots when the ground is frozen hard 
 and is impenetrable to the spade, I use a long iron 
 post digger with a steel blade. 
 
 IMPROVKD GUERNSEY 
 PARSNIP. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 115 
 
 VARIETIES OF PARSNIPS. 
 
 For the last three seasons I have grown the Im- 
 proved Guernsey, and have found it so much 
 superior in size and quality to the Long Smooth, 
 as to be above comparison. The roots are smooth, 
 fine shaped, and free from small roots, while the 
 quality is very superior. 
 
 PEAS. 
 
 The first planting should be made in the spring, 
 as soon as the ground can be prepared. It is my prac- 
 tice to sow three varieties at the first planting, and 
 two varieties at each subsequent one, kinds being 
 sown which will mature in succession, one being 
 ready to pick about the time the preceding one is 
 past. The same result may be obtained by making 
 plantings of the same sort a week apart. I think 
 my way the easier, and besides, relish the variety. 
 A drill of fifty feet would probably be sufficient for 
 an ordinary family to have in bearing, but as my 
 own family is large and very fond of this vegetable, 
 and insist upon having them upon the table every day 
 in the season when it is possible to grow them, I find 
 a full row across the garden none too many to have 
 in bearing at one time. 
 
 For several years past I have given up raising the 
 tall growing peas requiring brush or sticks for their 
 support, as it is not easy to procure sufficient brush 
 for a garden of this size, unless you have a con- 
 venient woods upon which to draw, and even then it 
 takes a great deal of labor to get the brush and stick 
 
IIG A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 the peas ; while it takes more than twice as long to 
 clear the ground for the succeeding crop, and the 
 rows must be planted at a greater distance apart, to 
 admit of cultivation. 
 
 The quality of the dwarf kinds is fully as good as 
 of the tall growing ones, and in many kinds the 
 crop borne is fully as prolific ; the only strong point 
 that I know of in favor of the brushed peas, is that 
 the pickers do not growl half so much at picking 
 them as they do over the lower growing ones, and 
 .that some of the varieties can be had later in the 
 summer, as their height serves to shade the ground 
 between the rows and thus keeps it cool. As for the 
 growls of the picker, the short vines admit of no loaf- 
 ing place, and no true gardener or lover of his craft 
 ever seems to be aware that he has such a thing as 
 a spine (except on his cucumbers) till he tries to 
 straighten up at the end of the day's work. 
 
 For sowing the seed, plow a drill as deeply as pos- 
 sible with the hand plow ; sow the seed thickly, say 
 a quart to 200 feet of drill, and cover by plowing 
 the dirt back again; when the hand-plow is not 
 among the assortment of tools, scrape a drill three 
 inches deep and as broad as the blade of the hoe, 
 scatter the seed the whole breadth of the drill, using 
 about one-third more seed than above directed, and 
 then press them into the bottom of the drill with the 
 sole of the boot, covering the fine dirt in afterward 
 with a steel rake ; this takes longer to do, but is a 
 much better way to plant them when the time can be 
 spared ; the row being broader it gives the plants 
 more room, and the seed being planted more deeply 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 117 
 
 will better withstand the hot weather. For the very 
 earliest planting the seed should only be covered 
 about an inch deep, and more soil can be drawn 
 around them when well started. The successive 
 plantings of peas should be kept up until the middle 
 of June; those planted later than this will mildew, 
 and not fill out the pods, unless in a cool and shady 
 situation. The plantings should be resumed about 
 the first week in August, and three successive plant- 
 ings, about ten days apart, should be made. The 
 vines and pods of these peas wdll most likely mildew, 
 but the peas that you w^ill get in the cool days of the 
 fall will be the finest in quality, of the whole season. 
 In selecting the sorts to plant, the wrinkled varieties 
 will be found of better quality than the smooth kinds, 
 the latter requiring to be picked while quite young, 
 as they become hard, while the wrinkled ones remain 
 longer in good condition. 
 
 VARIETIES OF PEAS. 
 
 Burpee's Extra Early. — This is a remarkably 
 early selection of the well-known Philadelphia Early. 
 It is the first variety to ripen, ripens nearly all its 
 
 BURPEE'S EXTRA EARLY PEA. 
 
 pods at one time, and is very sweet and tender when 
 cooked ; the vines grow about two feet in height, but 
 can easily be supported by driving stakes every few 
 
318 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 feet and confining tlie vines with twine running from 
 one stake to another.* 
 
 American Wonder. — This little fellow is really a 
 wonder, as it grows only eight to ten inches in height 
 and is literally covered with pods. It is remarkably 
 
 AMERICAN WONDER PEAS. 
 
 early, ripening in from thirty-five to forty days, and 
 in succulent sweetness cannot be surpassed. 
 
 Extra Early Premium Gem.— This variety is 
 about ten days later than the American Wonder, and 
 grows from twelve to fourteen inches in height. The 
 peas are remarkably fine in quality, and I have 
 planted it for several years as my main variety. 
 
 Pride of the Market. — A new pea that I have 
 grown the past two seasons, and find Of very superior 
 merit. The price of the seed has been too high to 
 admit of extensive planting, but with these three 
 dwarf kinds, the only ones planted for the table this 
 last season, I can say that I have never been better 
 supplied, or with finer peas. This variety grows about 
 
 * Equally as early is Laxton's Earliest of All, which is a blue-seeded 
 variety, of very fine quality and handsome appearance. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 119 
 
 a foot and a half in height and bears a very heavy 
 crop of pods, which latter 
 and the peas that they 
 contain are of unusual 
 size and substance.* 
 
 Laxton's Evolution. 
 — This variety is a nov- 
 elty in the way of peas; 
 in the other varieties the 
 object having been of late 
 years to have the pods all 
 mature as nearly as pos- 
 sible at the same time; 
 this object has been 
 sought for the benefit of 
 the market gardeners, 
 while in this new variety 
 we have a kind which 
 will, from its everbearing 
 habits, be a great boon 
 to the family gardener. 
 The vines grow about 
 three feet high, and bear 
 continuously, for a space 
 of nearly three months, 
 an abundance of hand- 
 some, large pods, each of 
 which contains eight to 
 ten wrinkled peas, the 
 pods being borne in clus- 
 
 * The Stratagem is also a remarkably fine pea, of the same type as Pride 
 of the Market, except that the large, handsome peas are wrinkled. — Ed. 
 
 LAXTON'S EVOLUTION PEA. 
 
120 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 ters of two, which facilitates the picking. Like all 
 wrinkled varieties, the quality of this remarkable 
 pea is most excellent. 
 
 Champion of England. 
 — This is a large growing 
 late sort, and is very pro- 
 ductive, with peas of deli- 
 cious flavor. The vines 
 grow to four or ^\e feet 
 in height, and this past 
 summer I ate them in 
 perfection fully a month 
 after the other varieties 
 had disappeared from the 
 table 
 
 BURPEE'S QUANTITY. 
 
 * Mr. Darlington's remarks on the varieties of peas would be incomplete 
 without reference to two remarkable new peas, obtained by crosses made 
 some years since, but only now (1888) being introduced. These peas have 
 been called Burpee's Quantity (which is illustrated above), and Burpee's 
 Quality, — the former because it is the most productive of all, as many as 
 ninety pods having been counted upon a single vine — the latter, because, 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 121 
 
 PEPPERS. 
 
 The seed should be sown about the middle of 
 March, in the hotbed, if wanted for summer use, 
 and as soon as the nights are warm they should be 
 planted out. They can be sown in the open ground 
 if the fruit is not wanted for use before fall. As 
 they are used in preparing various kinds of pickles, 
 etc., it would probably be the better plan to plant 
 some at both times. When about six inches high, 
 they should be transplanted to the rows whore they 
 are to fruit, and should be set about two feet apart in 
 the row. AVhere room is scarce, I usually set two 
 pepper plants between each hill of cantaloupes, as 
 they grow well above the vines and are not at all in 
 the way, while having the ground shaded from the 
 hot sun by the vines of the melons, the surface being 
 kept cool and moist by their broad leaves, is of great 
 advantage to the peppers. In choosing varieties, 
 
 while also very productive, it excels othervarieties in its peculiarly rich, 
 sugary flavor. Both varieties grow two and a half feet high, but will well 
 repay brushing, and both are main-crop peas, — Burpee's Quantity being 
 ready for the table in about two months, and Burpee's Quality in seven 
 weeks from planting. 
 
 Probably no one in America is better posted as to the relative value in the 
 garden of the different peas than Mr. William Falconer, Glen Cove, N. Y., 
 the well-known writer on garden topics. A few peas of Burpee's Quantity 
 (then known as No. 75) were sent to Mr. Falconer for trial. On Oct. 28th, 
 1887, he writes, "The pea, No. 75, I had from you this year has given me 
 much satisfaction ; indeed, so well pleased am I with it that I wish to grow 
 it next year as a main crop. Season medium to late, grows two and a 
 half feet, and in the way of Abundance ; peas large, closely packed together 
 in tight pods, and, when cooked, of capital quality. Without any exception, 
 the heaviest cropper among all my peas this year" — Ed. 
 
122 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 those kinds having the mildest flavor and handsom- 
 est appearance should be selected. 
 
 VAEIETIES OF PEPPERS. 
 
 Burpee's Ruby King. — This variety produces the 
 handsomest, and at the same time the largest and 
 mildest peppers that I have ever grown ; one speci- 
 men this season being six inches long and over ten 
 
 inches in round circumference. When ripe the fruit 
 is a beautiful, bright, ruby-red color, and the flavor is 
 mild and pleasant, being much milder than in any 
 other variety of red pepper. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 123 
 
 Burpee's Golden Upright. — In this variety the 
 fruit grows in a different manner from any- other 
 large pepper that I have ever seen ; it grows upright 
 on the fruit stems, instead of pendulous. The fruits 
 are large and handsome, being about four to five 
 
 BURPEE'S GOLDEN UPRIGHT PEPPER. 
 
 inches in length, and are of rich golden yellow 
 tinged with red. In taste it is as mild as the Ruby 
 King — the two making a very fine contrast when 
 used together. 
 
 Bull Nose and Golden Dawn are the finest of 
 the older kinds, but do not compare with the two 
 above given, either for size or mildness of flavor. 
 
 Red Cluster. — This is one of the finest varieties 
 that I have ever grown; it is low and bushy in 
 
124 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 growth, and is covered with a profusion of thin, 
 round peppers, about three inches in length and one- 
 quarter inch in diameter at the base, tapering to a 
 long, sharp point. When ripe, the fruit is a brilliant 
 coral red, and a plant covered with fruit looks like 
 
 RED CLUSTER PEPPER. 
 
 some brilliant-foliaged plant that has escaped from 
 the flower garden. It is very hot and pungent in 
 flavor, and an idea of the productiveness can be had 
 from the fact that over twelve hundred were counted 
 on a single plant this last summer.* 
 
 * A very distinct and novel variety has just been introduced from China, 
 under the name of Celestial Pepper. The small, nearly heart-shaped 
 fruits are produced in great abundance, growing upright, and are of a 
 beautiful creamy yellow color until fully ripe, when they turn coral red: 
 the plant is handsome enough for the flower garden. Among the largest 
 of the sweet, mild red peppers are Spanish Monstrous and Procopp's Giant, 
 while among the hottest of all peppers is the Long Narroio Cayenne. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 125 
 
 PUMPKINS. 
 
 These take up so much room that they properly 
 belong in the corn field, or in a patch of their own, 
 in one of the cultivated fields. If there is no place 
 for them outside the kitchen garden, and they can be 
 kept far enough away from the squashes and canta- 
 loupes, they can be planted about every twenty feet, 
 in every fourth row of potatoes or sweet corn. They 
 should not be planted until the corn or potatoes 
 
 SMALL SUGAR PUMPKIN. 
 
 NEW GOLDEN MARROW PUMPKIN. 
 
 have grown three or four inches high, or they will be 
 in the way of cultivating these crops. If one row of 
 the corn were left out, and a row of pumpkins 
 planted, it would probably be the most satisfactory 
 way to grow them, as the tall growing corn, of which 
 there should be at least five rows between them and 
 any other vines, would prevent the pollen from mix- 
 ing, and as the hills need only be four or five feet 
 apart, a great many could be raised in a row. The 
 
126 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 pumpkins must all be gathered in and stored before 
 any heavy frosts, as it will spoil and start them to 
 rotting. 
 
 VARIETIES OF PUMPKINS. 
 
 Small Sugar. — This is very handsome and pro- 
 lific, of small size, the pumpkins averaging about ten 
 inches in diameter ; the skin is a deep orange yellow. 
 It is very fine grained in flesh, sweet in taste, and an 
 excellent keeper. 
 
 Golden Marrow. — Of round shape, slightly ribbed 
 and flattened at the ends ; the skin is a rich golden 
 orange color ; the flesh is of extra quality, and very 
 soft and tender when cooked. It is a splendid keeper, 
 vigorous grower, and keeps well throughout the 
 winter.* 
 
 radishes. 
 
 These should be sown as soon as the ground can be 
 worked in the spring, and successive sowings should be 
 made every two or three weeks, as recommended with 
 peas, lettuce, etc. Do not sow too many at one time, 
 but sow frequently, that they may be had fresh and 
 crisp ; they soon become either hollow, or hard and 
 woody, if allowed to stand long after they are of suffi- 
 cient size for use. Where there is glass enough to 
 
 * While both of the varieties named are excellent for pumpkin pies, a 
 new variety from Washington County, New York, is of superlatively f.no 
 quality. It is known as The Quaker Pie Pumpkin, as it had been kept for 
 many years in a family of " Quakers/' or Friends, whose pumpkin pies 
 became famous throughout the neighborhood. 
 
 The Saint George or Old Nerjro pumpkin cf New England is also a great 
 favorite, from the choice quality of its fine-grained flesh. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 127 
 
 spare, it is an excellent plan to sow two or three rows 
 in the hotbed at each planting of seeds, which will 
 furnish them for use several weeks before they can be 
 had from the garden. 
 
 There is a general impression that radishes do not 
 do well except in very light soil, while my experience 
 is that it is mainly a matter of manure and cultiva- 
 tion, and that good radishes can be raised early in the 
 season on the heaviest of soils, though later in the 
 season they will not succeed unless the soil be favor- 
 able. Where " Night Soil" can be obtained and com- 
 posted with ashes, it will make the finest kind of 
 manure for the radish bed ; but it should be applied 
 with judgment, as it will burn up any crop if applied 
 too heavily. This manure can hardly be so readily 
 applied in a special location in the garden worked 
 by horse power, and I strongly disapprove of making 
 " beds" in such a garden; it should be kept as level 
 as possible, that all the cultivation may be done with 
 the wheel and horse hoes ; while " beds " mean lots of 
 slow hand work, and hard beaten ground in the paths 
 and edges, that are perpetual sources of weeds; 
 while in the level garden the location of rows and 
 crops can be continually shifted, every portion of the 
 ground being used, and none escaping cultivation. 
 
 For the earliest plantings, the small, very early 
 kinds should be used, and these will grow the finest 
 radishes of the season, fresh, crisp, and slightly pun- 
 gent. For summer use, the large summer kinds, of 
 very mild flavor, should be selected. These latter 
 should be planted from the first of June until the 
 first of August, after which I begin to sow the small 
 
128 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 early kinds again, having found that I can grow 
 them as line and palatable as in the spring. In sow- 
 ing these in the kitclien garden I sow a part of a row 
 at a time, in the portion worked with the wheel hoe, 
 where the rows are about one foot apart; the seed 
 is sown thinly in the drills, and if it comes up too 
 thickly, should be thinned out to one inch apart for 
 the small kinds and two inches for the larger ones. 
 The seed should be sown from one-half inch to one 
 inch in depth, according as it is early or late in 
 the season or in heavy or light soils. The radishes 
 should be pulled early in the morning and kept in 
 fresh water in a cool cellar until used, so as to have 
 them fresh, brittle and crisp. The large winter varie- 
 ties are not much raised, except by the Germans, 
 being rather too pungent for the American taste.* 
 The seed is generally mixed with the turnip seed 
 and broad-casted or drilled in together, but if I were 
 planting them, I would think it much better to sow 
 them in drills and cultivate separately. 
 
 VARIETIES OF RADISHES. 
 
 Burpee's Earliest [Scarlet Button). — I have grown 
 this new radish for two seasons and consider it the 
 earliest and finest radish that I have ever grown. 
 It is the earliest, about one inch in diameter, hand- 
 some, crisp and brittle. The color is the deepest 
 
 *We must differ with Mr. Darlington as to the usefulness of the winter 
 radishes. Their fresh, j3ungent taste is very refreshing in winter, when 
 there is such a scarcity of vegetables. The most popular varieties are the 
 California Mammoth White Winter, Chinese Rose Winter and the Round 
 Black Spanish Winter Radish. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACHE. 
 
 129 
 
 scarlet. It lias very small leaves, and a great many 
 can be grown in a small space, rendering it very valu- 
 able for forcing. Last winter I sowed seed between 
 the rose bushes in my forcing houses and kept my 
 table supplied, and had largo quantities to sell. 
 
 EmhiMl- 
 
 BURPEE'S EARLIEST (.SCARLET BUTTON") RADISHES. 
 Katural size, ivhen readi/for use. 
 
 Early Long Scarlet Short Top. — This is a fine 
 selection of the long, slender scarlet radishes so 
 generally seen in the spring, and is preferred by 
 some to the round or turnip radishes. It is very 
 early," tender, crisp and fine flavored ; the roots 
 averaging half an inch in diameter at the top and 
 9 
 
130 
 
 A KITCHEN GAKDEN 
 
 tapering from that throughout their length of four 
 or five inches. 
 
 Earliest Carmine, Olive-Shaped. — A very early 
 radish, of a rich carmine color, and while not so early 
 as Burpee's Earliest, attains fully twice the size ; the 
 roots are of an even, regular olive shape and very 
 fine quality. It is an excellent radish for forcing, on 
 
 LONG SCARLET RADISH. 
 
 KAKLIEST CARMINE, OLIVE RADISH. 
 
 account of its size and appearance and the small 
 growth of top which it makes, enabling many to be 
 grown in a small space.* 
 
 *"For forcing, Wood's Early Frame is preferred to the Long Scarlet; it is 
 of same shape, but not so long, and has less foliage. Other good early 
 radishes besides those named are Early Round Dark Red, Half Long 
 Scarlet, Early Oval Dark Red, Early White Turnip, French Breakfast 
 and the White Tipped Turnip Radishes. A variety of these handsome 
 little radishes on the table is both attractive and appetizing. — Ed. 
 
OF OXE ACRE. 
 
 131 
 
 SUMMER VARIETIES OF RADISHES. 
 
 Golden Globe. — This variety is of very quick 
 growth and fine quality, being ready for use in from 
 four to six weeks after sowing the seed. In shape it 
 is almost entirely round, the color quite bright, and 
 the quality very sweet and crisp. 
 
 Giant White Stuttgart produces very large roots, 
 frequently reaching the size of an ordinary turnip ; it 
 
 GOLDEN GLOBE RADISH. 
 
 GIANT WHITE STUTTGART 
 RADISH. 
 
 LONG WHITE 
 OR LADY 
 RADISH. 
 
 is very quick growing and resists the heat of summer 
 well, being firm and brittle until it runs to seed. The 
 skin and flesh are pure white, a good guarantee of 
 its mild flavor. 
 
 Long White Vienna. — This is a very fine long, 
 white radish, both skin and flesh being pure white ; 
 it is crisp and brittle and rapid in growth, and to my 
 
132 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 mind of a much more attractive shape than the 
 large globe radishes, which, unless pulled young, are 
 too large for any but the confirmed lover of radishes. 
 Large White Globe. — A very large, round, sum- 
 mer turnip radish, with pure white skin and flesh, 
 which is very crisp and brittle. It grows quickly 
 and withstands heat well. It is similar to the 
 Golden Globe, except in color.* 
 
 LARGE WHITE GLOBE RADISH. 
 
 CALIFORNIA MAMMOTH. 
 
 WINTER VARIETIES. 
 
 California Mammoth White. — This is the 
 largest of all radishes, the roots growing eight to ten 
 inches long and two to three inches in diameter, 
 
 *In addition to the varieties named, the White Strasburg, Burpee's 
 Surprise and Chartiers or Shepherd radishes are particularly valuable for 
 summer use. The latter is very handsome, of large shape, clear rose color, 
 shading oif into pure white; it is also remarkable from the fact that it 
 retains its line quality, even when grown to an extraordinary size. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 133 
 
 while the flesh is solid, snow white and of excellent 
 flavor. 
 
 Chinese Eose. — This is a bright, rose-colored 
 variety, of very attractive appearance; it is of ex- 
 cellent quality, a good keeper, and one of the best 
 varieties for winter use. 
 
 POTATOES. 
 
 A small jDlanting, say two or three rows, of these 
 should be made as early as possible in the spring, the 
 amount planted depending on how soon they will be 
 followed by the main crop. These may be planted 
 in the furrow when the ground is plowed, but I prefer 
 to plant the earliest ones in furrows struck out about 
 three inches deep, after the ground has been thor- 
 oughly prepared, as they will come up more quickly. 
 The rows should be dressed with phosphate, to give 
 them a quick growing start, and the pieces of tuber 
 placed about one foot apart ; the ground may be run 
 over wdth a sharp spike harrow when the potatoes are 
 just coming through, or left a little longer and then 
 worked with the cultivator. The soil must be kept 
 well worked, and as close to the roots as it is possible 
 to run. The bugs must be watched for and destroyed 
 as soon as they appear, either by dusting with Paris 
 green mixed with plaster, or with other insect 
 poisons, or by picking them off and destroying them 
 by hand, which is the easier way when the patch is 
 small and potato plants are young. If these early 
 bugs are destroyed before they can lay their eggs, the 
 work of protecting the summer crop will be greatly 
 
134 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 1 
 
 lessened. Where the main crop of potatoes is to be 
 raised in the garden, they should be planted about 
 the first day of May, or the middle of April, that 
 they may be harvested by the middle or last of 
 August, and the ground used for a crop of turnips, 
 peas, or other second-crop vegetables. As soon as 
 the vines begin to die, and the skin of the potatoes 
 is well set, so that it will not rub off with the fingers, 
 the tubers should be dug or plowed up and stored, 
 not only that the ground may be used again, but 
 because, if they are left in the ground, they wall either 
 start to grow again or begin to rot. When dug, I 
 pile them in small heaps of twenty bushels or so on 
 the barn floor, dusting each pile as it is made with 
 dry, air-slacked lime, about a quart to a heap; this 
 helps to dry and preserve them, and prevents any 
 tendency to rot. The barn doors are left open through 
 the day, for a few days, and the potatoes dry gradually, 
 until time for storing them, when it comes cold, 
 though where there is a cool vegetable cellar it will 
 save time to store them at once, and, of course, at this 
 time of the year the ventilators of the cellar should 
 be wide open. Where the cellar is too warm and the 
 potatoes start to sprout, it is said that it may be pre- 
 vented by turning them frequently, but I have never 
 had an opportunity to try it. The first planting 
 should be made of some very early ripening varieties, 
 while the main crop should be of a kind selected for 
 good size, heavy cropping, and the best cooking quali- 
 ties. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 135 
 
 SWEET POTATOES. 
 
 Like some other vegetables, these are generally sup- 
 posed lo require special soil and situation to do well, 
 but with plenty of manure and good cultivation they 
 can be raised of fine size and quality in any garden. 
 As described in the chapter on hotbeds, the old pota- 
 toes are planted in a warm bed, about the first of 
 April, and when the ground is prepared, these are 
 taken up and the sprouts broken off close to the 
 potato. The potatoes should be buried two or three 
 inches deep in the bed, which will give each shoot a 
 bunch of fine roots when it is broken off. When the 
 nights are warm, and the trees well out in leaf, plow 
 a double furrow where the row of sweet potatoes is to 
 be ; that is, run the plow each way in the same fur- 
 row ; then fill in two or three inches of fine manure, 
 and plow the furrows back again, forming a ridge 
 over the manure. In the centre of this ridge plant the 
 sets about one foot apart ; they must be kept well cul- 
 tivated, and the running vines must not be allowed 
 to strike root into the soil, or they will form lots of 
 small potatoes, and none large enough for use ; some 
 gardeners keep the vines coiled round the central 
 plant, but the easier way is to throw the vines from 
 two rows together, then cultivate the side left bare, 
 and throw them back again, cultivating the other 
 side ; after the first time they need not be moved but 
 once for each cultivation, as the blank side can be 
 cultivated and the vines thrown over on it, leaving the 
 other side free, which can be cultivated first the next 
 time it is done, and the vines thrown back. Throw- 
 ing the vines over can be done very quickly by run- 
 
136 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 ning a rake handle or long light pole under them, and 
 throwing its whole length of them over at once : they 
 can be dug as soon as large enough for use, by 
 scraping the dirt aw^ay from the side of the hill, the 
 potatoes pulled off, and the vines left to form more. 
 The whole crop should be dug as soon as the vines 
 are blackened by the first frost, and spread out in a 
 cool dry place, where there will be no danger of their 
 freezing. On account of the vines taking so much 
 room, the rows should be at least five feet apart. 
 
 SAGE. 
 
 A dozen roots or more of this herb should be planted 
 in some part of the garden where it will not be dis- 
 turbed by the plow, or if this cannot be done readily, 
 the roots can be taken up when the plowing is done, 
 divided and reset, which would probably raise a 
 larger and finer crop of leaves than allowing them to 
 stand in the same place year after year. The crop 
 should be cut off a few inches above the ground, as 
 soon as it has made its growth and before it begins 
 to bloom. The shoots will again start to grow, and 
 two or three crops can be cut in a season ; the cut 
 tops can be tied in bunches and hung to the rafters, 
 or spread thinly on the floor of a cool loft or garret. 
 
 SPINACH. 
 
 This is a quick-growing green, and very hardy, 
 making it valuable for early spring and late fall 
 growing. It cannot be raised during summer, on 
 account of its running immediately to seed w^ithout 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 137 
 
 making many leaves. It can be sown as soon as the 
 ground can be worked in the spring, and will be 
 ready for use in a few weeks ; about three sowings 
 may be made, two weeks apart, or more, if the sea- 
 son is longer, though it will hardly be good if planted 
 after the middle of May. The whole plant is cut off 
 even with the ground, at any time before it starts to 
 run to seed, the leaves and stems being used as boiled 
 greens. Large sowings should be made in October, 
 of the hardy variety, as it can be cut throughout the 
 winter; a later sowing may be made the first of 
 November, and lightly covered w^ith litter when the 
 ground has been frozen hard ; this covering should be 
 raked off early in the spring, and it will complete its 
 growth l^efore the first spring planting is ready for 
 use. 
 
 VARIETIES OF SPINACH. 
 
 New Thick-leaved Eound. — This variety produces 
 large, thick, dark green leaves, somewhat crumpled. 
 It possesses the valuable quality of standing for some 
 time .after' attain- 
 ing its growth, 
 before running to 
 seed. 
 
 The Norfolk 
 Savoy Leaved. — 
 The leaves of this 
 kind are wrinkled 
 like a Savoy cab- 
 bage. It makes a ^^^ long-standing spinach. 
 
 large bunch of succulent leaves, producing more 
 
138 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 weight of leaves than any other variety, and is more 
 hardy than any of the other kinds. 
 
 New Long Standing. — This is one of the best 
 varieties for spring sowing, as it stands longer than 
 any other before running to seed. The leaves are 
 thick, fleshy and crumpled like the Norfolk Savoy 
 Leaved. 
 
 SQUASHES. 
 
 Hills should be made for the culture of these, in 
 the same manner and at the same time as described 
 for cucumbers, cantaloupes, etc. These hills should 
 be at some distance from the vines above mentioned, 
 as there is danger of the pollen mixing and spoiling 
 the melons, etc. There are some localities where the 
 winter squashes do not do well or are difficult of cul- 
 tivation ; but the small summer squashes are of easy 
 culture in any locality, though of finer quality on a 
 warm sunny slope than elsewhere. The only trouble 
 in growing them is to protect them from the rav- 
 ages of the Striped Squash Bug while young, for 
 which purpose I use slug shot, dusted on the leaves 
 early in the morning, while the dew is still on 
 them. 
 
 The vines should be allowed plenty of room to 
 run, at least four feet on every side. The vines soon 
 cover the ground and prevent using the cultivator ; 
 but the large leaves so shade the soil that few weeds 
 grow, and where they rear their heads above the 
 vines they can be cut out with hand hoes or pulled 
 out after a rain, by hand. 
 
 As we can hardly use the product of more than a 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 139 
 
 dozen hills, I divide the long row across the garden 
 into three parts, planting the squashes at one end, 
 watermelons in the centre, while the other end is 
 occupied by cucumbers, which prevents any mixing 
 of pollen, and gives a sufficient quantity of each 
 fruit without disturbing the symmetry of the garden. 
 In gathering the squashes for table use, care must be 
 taken that they are not too old, or they will be tough 
 and stringy when cooked; the easiest way to judge 
 them is to try them with the nail or small stick ; if it 
 does not cut the skin freely and easily they are too 
 old; no push should be required to make the cut. 
 This is also a good test when in doubt about the 
 proper condition of sweet corn, and should be applied 
 to grains near the base of the ear. No old squashes 
 should be allowed to remain on the vines of the 
 summer varieties, for if they are allowed to ripen, the 
 vine, having fulfilled its natural purpose, will dry up 
 and die, while if the fruits are picked off, it will con- 
 tinue to grow and produce fruit. 
 
 The winter squashes are raised in the same man- 
 ner, but are more difficult to start, as the young plants 
 are subject to a borer which eats them off under 
 ground. Plenty of seed should be sown in each hill, 
 and as soon as you see a plant wilting or cut off, dig 
 around its roots with your fingers or a stick until you 
 find and kill the borer, otherwise, he will continue 
 his labors on the other plants in the hill. The plants 
 should also have careful watching and dusting, to pre- 
 serve them from the usual insects that prey on young 
 vines. When the plants are about one foot in length 
 they should be thinned out to two or three in a hill, 
 
140 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 though the danger from borers is hardly passed yet, 
 but to allow them to stand too thickly after attaining 
 this size would stunt them and lessen the crop. The 
 squashes should be gathered before there is any hard 
 frost and stored in a cool, well-aired cellar. Some of 
 the winter varieties are equally good for summer use 
 before they become too old and hard ; if these are 
 planted, the one planting will furnish fruit for both 
 seasons. 
 
 SUMMER VARIETIES OF SQUASHES. 
 
 Early White Bush, or Patty-Pan. — This is the 
 best known and most generally planted of the early 
 
 EARLY WHITE BUSH SQUASH. GOLDEN SUMMER CROOKKECK SQUASH. 
 
 squashes; when young the quality is very fine, the 
 flesh is fine grained and of delicate flavor. It is a 
 bush variety and the vine does not " run." 
 
 Golden Summer Crookneck. — A small crook- 
 necked summer squash, the skin of which is a bright 
 yellow color and is covered with warty excrescences. 
 It is early, productive and of excellent flavor. 
 
 White Pineapple, or White Turban. — This 
 variety produces a very handsome fruit, though of 
 peculiar shape, as will be seen from the accompany- 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 141 
 
 ing illustration. The blossom end of the squash is 
 smooth and round, while from the stem end start ribs 
 or ears, which attain their largest breadth and end 
 near the middle of the squash ; these ears usually 
 grow in pairs. This variety is of excellent quality, 
 and can be used at any stage of its growth, and the 
 full-grown fruits can be preserved for early wdnter 
 use. The skin and flesh are both of a pure creamy 
 w^hite tint ; the flesh being very thick, wdiile the seed 
 cavity is quite small. The flesh is fine grained and 
 of the best qualit}^, possessing a rich cocoanut 
 flavor. 
 
 WHITE PINEAPPLE SQUASH. 
 
 ESSEX HYBKID SQUASH. 
 
 WINTER VARIETIES OF SQUASHES. 
 
 Essex Hybrid. — A very productive squash of the 
 finest quality and an excellent keeper, specimens 
 having been kept until June, as sound and good as 
 when gathered. It is one of the richest flavored, 
 finest grained and sweetest of all squashes, while at 
 
142 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 the same time it is one of the largest and most pro- 
 ductive, growing close together on the vines and 
 averaging from eight to twelve pounds in weight. It 
 is of early, quick growth, and can be raised very suc- 
 cessfully as a second crop, following early potatoes, 
 peas, etc. 
 
 I 
 
 HUBBARD SQUASH. 
 
 Hubbard. — This is a standard and well-known 
 winter squash, and is of most excellent quality for 
 winter use, but is not so well adapted to all soils and 
 localities as the preceding varieties, nor of such easy 
 culture. 
 
 tomatoes. 
 
 These rank with the standard vegetables, such as 
 corn, potatoes, etc., and yet it is not many years since 
 they were grow^n in flower gardens only, the brilliant 
 color of their fruit being then considered quite a 
 pleasing novelty. Now, by the introduction of the 
 canning industry, there is not a day in the year 
 when they are absent from our table. Their culture 
 is of the simplest, being largely a matter of soil and 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 143 
 
 manure and good early plants, to be set out as soon 
 as the weather will permit in the spring. The seed 
 is sown in hotbeds, from the middle of March to the 
 middle of April ; if possible, they should be trans- 
 planted, when about two inches high, to another sash, 
 where they may stand three or four inches apart. 
 When there is not room for this, the seed should be 
 sown thinly in drills four inches apart, and when 
 well started, should be thinned out to two inches 
 apart in the row. The hotbeds should be given 
 plenty of air on warm days that the plants may be 
 stocky and thrifty when planting-time comes. They 
 should not be set out until the temperature is over 
 G0° at night, or until the oak trees are well out in 
 leaf. They should have plenty of room, at least 
 three feet in the row and four feet between the rows, 
 and for an ordinary family at least four rows should 
 be planted. Two rows should be of the earliest and 
 two with plants sown a month later, for in some 
 varieties there is a tendency to die off after raising 
 one crop, though constant picking as fast as they 
 ripen, and not allowing surplus ones to remain on 
 the vines, will greatly prolong the bearing period ; 
 so much so, that in most years I make but one plant- 
 ing. The earliest hotbed plants will begin to ripen 
 fruit the last week in July or the first in August, 
 while, if you make a hill, as for corn, about May 10th, 
 and put in a dozen or so seed where you want the 
 plant to stand, pulling all out but the strongest one 
 when they get a good start, you can have this second 
 lot in bearing about the last of August, without the 
 use of glass or the labor of transplanting. 
 
144 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 The young plants must be thoroughly cultivated 
 and hoed ; when hoeing, the dirt should be loosened 
 right up to the plant, and when it has been worked 
 loose and made fine should be drawn up to the stem, 
 two or three inches in height. It frequently hap- 
 pens, when the- season is late, that the plants have 
 grown a foot, or even two feet, in height or length. 
 This is no disadvantage, but rather a help, if treated 
 in the following manner: A gutter two or three 
 inches in depth and nearly the length of the plant, 
 is scraped under the planting line with the hoe, and 
 the plants laid lengthwise in this and covered over, 
 all but about five or six inches of the top, which is 
 bent straight upward and afterward treated as though 
 it were a plant of that size ; the long stem under- 
 ground immediately forms roots and assists in feed- 
 ing the growth of the plant. 
 
 The ground should be well manured, but if the 
 soil is light it can be overdone, as the plant will run 
 too much to vine and be late in producing fruit. I 
 have found that, though there is a general impression 
 that tomatoes do best on a light, sandy soil, the best 
 tomatoes I have ever raised have been on my poorest 
 and heaviest ground. On a plot of ground where 
 the plow turned up the yellow clay at a depth of five 
 or six inches, I have had the ground covered ; cov- 
 ered so that you could hardly put your foot down • 
 anywhere in the patch without treading on a tomato, 
 and not a cracked or rotten one among them. At 
 another time I planted all the plants there were at I 
 that time of the now famous Turner Hybrid, in a ■ 
 patch of clay soil where young nursery trees had been 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 145 
 
 grown for five years, and you can ask any nursery- 
 man how much that leaves in the soil. Yet this 
 patch produced tomatoes which astonished all 
 beholders and led to its being placed at once upon 
 the market ; and right here I would say that the 
 flavor and appearance of this variety have been so fine 
 with me that I have obtained double price for m}'- 
 tomatoes since I have been growing it. In the last 
 ten 3^ears I have had the handling of the first stock 
 of three new tomatoes, each one of which has seemed 
 near perfection when originated, yet each has been 
 much superior to its predecessor. I mention this 
 only to show how the craft of " assisting nature," or 
 gardening, is always progressing and gaining new 
 interest in the mind of the gardener. There is a 
 constant charm about it, that, once it takes possession 
 of you, never lets go. 
 
 If the full-sized, green and partly ripe tomatoes 
 are picked off when there is danger of frost, and 
 placed under the sash of the cold frame, or on the 
 floor of the cellar, they will ripen gradually, and 
 though not of very fine quality, may be had fresh 
 almost until Christmas ; they must, of course, be 
 entirely green when picked, to consume so much time 
 in ripening. 
 
 If some plants of the golden or yellow varieties are 
 planted, they will add greatly to the attractiveness 
 of the dish when mingled with the red ones, served 
 sliced in the ordinary manner. If you save your 
 own seed, the earliest ripened specimens should be 
 saved for that purpose, and should be of perfect 
 shape and evenly ripened, with no core, crack or rot 
 
 10 
 
146 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 about them. The easiest way to clean this seed is, 
 take a small box, knock the top and bottom off, and 
 nail some wire fly screening over the bottom ; take 
 the fresh tomatoes, not rotten ones, as are frequently 
 used, and squeeze the seeds into this sieve, throwing 
 the pulp and flesh away ; the seed can be w^ashed 
 free and clean by running clean water upon them, 
 keep them constantly stirred and pick out the bits 
 of pulp as they become free and float upon the top 
 of the water, while the water and finer particles will 
 pass off through the screening. When clean allow 
 all the water to drain off and spread the seeds thinly 
 on a smooth board or cloth in the sun ; they should 
 be stirred frequently, to prevent their adhering to 
 each other when dry. If seeds are washed out in 
 this manner and carefully dried, you can depend on 
 every one growing, wdiile from those saved in the 
 ordinary manner, from tomatoes that have been 
 allowed to heat and rot, sometimes not one seed in a 
 hundred will germinate. 
 
 VARIETIES OF TOMATOES. 
 
 Extra Early Advance. — This variety is said to 
 be the earliest in cultivation ; at any rate, it is cer- 
 tainly a very early variety, and at the same time its 
 fruits are of large size, of handsome, bright, red color 
 and good quality ; the solid flesh is free from the 
 hard, green core present in the old varieties. 
 
 Burpee's Cardinal.— I had the pleasure of grow- 
 ing this variety before it was introduced, having been 
 presented with a small packet of seed by the origina- 
 tor, who requested me to make a trial of its merits, 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 147 
 
 and though it was an unfavorable season, and, as I 
 wished to keep it separate, I could not plant it in my 
 best tomato ground, its fine qualities exceeded all 
 
 EXTRA EARLY ADVANCE TOMATO. 
 
 BURPEE'S CARDINAL TOMATO. 
 
148 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 that he claimed for it. It is of beautiful appearance, 
 every fruit being a brilliant cardinal red, uniform in 
 shape, and without blemish or cracks. The flesh is 
 of the same bright color, is firm and free from any 
 rot or core, and is of superior flavor. The vine is 
 very heavy bearing, and one of the best for all pur- 
 poses that I know. 
 
 Burpee's Climax. — This variety resembles some- 
 
 ESSEX EARLY HYBRID TOMATO. 
 
 what the preceding kind, excepting that the fruits 
 are a light crimson in color and do not average so 
 large as does the Cardinal. The fruit matures early, 
 ripens evenly, without core or cracks. The flesh is 
 fine-flavored, solid, and produces but few seeds ; it is 
 a good kind for all purposes. 
 
 Essex Early Hybrid. — Very early, solid, rich 
 flavored and handsome. It is of large size and 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 149 
 
 grows perfectly smooth ; the color is a bright pink, 
 ripening evenly all over. It is very early, a great 
 bearer, and, being solid, is a most excellent variety 
 for shipping purposes. 
 
 Golden Queen. — This is the best yellow tomato 
 that I have ever grown. The fruit is of good size, 
 handsome color, smooth, round shape, and superior 
 quality. They should be in every garden, for the 
 
 GOLDEN QUEEN TOMATO. 
 
 sake of the pleasing contrast they make when served 
 with the red varieties. 
 
 Turner Hybrid. — This variety I consider the 
 tomato above all others, not only for its large size, 
 handsome appearance and heavy cropping, but most 
 of all for its superior quality, which far surpasses that 
 of any other tomato that I have ever eaten ; and if 
 there is one crop more than another that I pride 
 
150 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 myself upon, it is my tomatoes. Mr. Burpee, of 
 AV. Atlee Burpee & Co., gave me, in 1884, the small 
 paper of seed sent them by a customer, and I planted it, 
 as stated in the general chapter on tomatoes, and was 
 so much pleased with it that since that time I have 
 planted it altogether for my own use, with the single 
 exception of a few plants of the Golden Queen. It 
 is a rank, strong grower, with peculiar foliage, the 
 
 TLUiNKK HYBRID TOMATO. 
 
 vines strongly resembling potato tops. The fruit is 
 very large and remarkably early for the size of the 
 tomatoes ; the average weight of the fruit is from 
 twelve to eighteen ounces, so it will readily be seen 
 that the size is very large, while, as above stated, I 
 do not think it is possible to recommend the quality 
 too highly.* 
 
 Mr. Darlington ha.' only named some of the best of the Jarjre varieties 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 151 
 
 TURNIPS. 
 
 With our hot, dry summers, turnips can only be 
 raised satisfactorily as a fall crop. They can be 
 grown as a second crop, after early sweet corn, pota- 
 toes or peas, and should be sown as soon as possible 
 after the first of August. The ground should be 
 plowed or run over two or three times with the culti- 
 vator, and then harrowed till it is as fine as it is pos- 
 sible to make it. If the seed is sown broadcast, some 
 winter radish seed should be mixed and sown with 
 it. The ground should be rolled after sowing, not only 
 to compact the soil round the seeds, which is essential 
 t5 good germination, but also to prevent washing b}^ 
 the September rains, if the ground is at all sloping. 
 But where the finest turnips and a sure crop are de- 
 sired, it is much better to sow our garden turnips in 
 drills, one foot apart if you have a wheel hoe, or as 
 narrow as you can cultivate, if you have not. This 
 will tend to having the roots of even size, and the 
 finest appearance, as they can be frequently worked. 
 When about three inches high, or Avhen beginning to 
 form bulbs, they should be thinned out to four or five 
 inches apart in the rows, with the narrow hoe, leav- 
 ing each bulb to stand by itself. It will be found 
 that by this method, with careful culture, a larger as 
 well as a much finer crop can be raised on the same 
 ground than if they were sow^n broadcast, and that 
 not half as much seed need be used, as it is carefully 
 planted just where it is to grow. 
 
 of tomatoes. The very small tomatoes, such as Victoria^ Red Cherry, 
 Pear-shaped Yellow and White Ap])le, will be found useful and orna- 
 mental for preserving. — Ed. 
 
152 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 About the third week in November, or before there 
 is danger of the ground becoming hard, the turnips 
 should be pulled and the tops cut off; take enough 
 in the cellar for immediate use, and store the rest in 
 heaps. Select a well-drained piece of ground, as 
 directed for burying cabbages ; it will be most conve- 
 nient to have them near together ; spread about two 
 inches of straw on the ground, and heap the turnips 
 upon it in the shape of a cone, not more than ten or 
 fifteen bushels in a heap ; cover this with straw, an 
 
 Illustration showing manner of storing turnips, beets, carrots, etc., in the gar- 
 den for winter use. S, straw covering and ventilating chimney ; D, covering 
 of soil over the straw. 
 
 inch or two thick, and bind it together at the top, and 
 let it stick up a foot or so above the top of the cone ; 
 then cover the heap with four to six inches of soil, all 
 but the straw top to the cone, which acts as a chimney 
 or ventilator ; the roots can thus be kept in good 
 order throughout the winter. The surplus beets and 
 carrots can be put in with the turnips, and the whole 
 can be gotten at, any day when the temperature is 
 above freezing, by making a hole in one side of the 
 heap, taking out what you want, and carefully clos- 
 
OF ONE ACRE, 
 
 153 
 
 ing the opening again. The straw bottom and sides 
 are not absolutely necessary, but are a great improve- 
 ment and convenience, and will preserve the roots in 
 a much cleaner and finer condition ; the straw not 
 only helping to keep out the frost, but at the same 
 time providing ventilation for the heap. 
 
 VARIETIES OF TURNIPS. 
 
 Early Red, or Purple Top Strap-Leaved. — The 
 best known and most generally planted variety. It 
 
 PURPLE TOP STRAP-LEAVED. 
 
 EARLY WHITE FLAT DUTCH TURNIP. 
 
 is a quick grower, and the flesh is very fine grained 
 and flavored. The red top of the bulb, which ex- 
 tends dow^i to where it rests in the soil, adds very 
 much to the appearance of this popular variety. 
 
 Early White Flat Dutch. — This is a quick 
 growing and very early variety. The skin and flesh 
 are a clear white, and the flesh is solid, very sweet 
 and juicy, and of mild flavor. 
 
154 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 Extra Early Purple Top Milan. — This kind is 
 said to be the earUest of all turnips, maturing two 
 weeks earlier than the Early Red. The bulb is very 
 flat, of medium size, quite smooth, with a bright pur- 
 ple top ; leaves grow very short, 
 making a small, neat top. The 
 pure white flesh is solid, fine 
 grained, and of superior quality, 
 even in the largest specimens. 
 It is an excellent keeper, re- 
 taining its good quality through- 
 out the winter. 
 
 White Egg. — As its name 
 implies, this is a pure white 
 turnip, of egg-shaped growth. 
 It grows very quickly; has a 
 thin w^hite skin, and very solid, 
 fine-grained white flesh. It is 
 very sweet and juicy, of mild 
 flavor and grows to a good size. 
 It is a good variety for either early or late planting. 
 
 WHITE EGG TURNIP 
 
 WATERMELONS. 
 
 These are also supposed to require special location 
 and soil, but can easily be raised in any garden where 
 the climate is warm enough for cantaloupes, tomatoes, 
 etc. What they most need is plenty of encourage- 
 ment, in the shape of thorough cultivation and lib- 
 eral feeding with well-rotted manure. The hills are 
 })repared in the same manner as for cantaloupes, 
 4^ excepting that where the manure or compost can be 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 155 
 
 obtained, a good-sized hole should be dug, and well- 
 rotted manure or compost put in as liberally as the 
 supply will admit of, even half a barrel to the hill. 
 If this kind of hills can be m.ade, you can plant w^ith 
 seed of some of the large growing varieties, and be 
 sure of success, unless your season is very short. If 
 the season is too short, or if you have not the manure 
 for large hills, I would recommend some of the 
 
 smaller fruiting varieties, as they are fully as fine in 
 quality, ripen early, and set more melons than the 
 larger kinds. From ten to a dozen seeds should be 
 sown in each hill about the last of May, or when the 
 temperature d^s not go below G0° at night. When 
 they have got a good start, thin out to two or three 
 plants in a hill. 
 
 If your melons are of the tough-rind variety, as 
 
156 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 for instance the " Ironclad," you can pick them off 
 at the approach of frost, and by storing them in a 
 cool, frost-proof cellar, have them in good condition 
 till Christmas. Though my own opinion is that they 
 lose their attractiveness when the hot weather is 
 gone, still, it is always one of the main aims, in 
 gardening, to have things out of season as well as 
 at their regular period of ripening. 
 
 VARIETIES OF WATERMELONS. 
 
 Hungarian Honey. — This melon is one of the 
 best for the small garden. Though not large, aver- 
 aging eight to ten inches in diameter, it is per- 
 fectly round, so that there is a great deal of eating in 
 one of them, while the quality is not equaled in any 
 other variety. The melons ripen early, and the vines 
 are vigorous in growth and very productive. As its 
 name, '^ Honey Melon," implies, it is sweet and lus- 
 cious, and of a rich honey flavor, melting completely 
 and leaving no stringy fibre in the mouth. The dark 
 green skin, and intense brilliant red of the flesh, 
 make a very striking appearance when cut. 
 
 Burpee's Mammoth Ironclad. — A large melon, 
 of superior quality, and where there is room to grow 
 them, will be found a profitable crop for market. 
 Under ordinary culture, it frequently attains a weight 
 of sixty to seventy pounds. They take their name 
 of Ironclad from the exceeding toughness of the 
 thin rind. Cutting into one is almost like cutting 
 into sheet iron, though the flesh inside is fresh, crisp 
 and melting. So strong is this rind, that "I have 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 157 
 
 stood on one of the smaller melons with a companion, 
 our united weight of over 340 pounds not cracking 
 the ripe flesh within in the slightest degree ; and I 
 have seen a wagon load of melons driven over one in 
 the field without damaging it in the slightest. While 
 it does not produce many melons to the vine, it more 
 than makes up in size and weight what it lacks 
 in quantity, being a heavy cropper when this is taken 
 into account. The flesh is very beautiful, of a dainty 
 
 red color and rich, sugary flavor. The flesh is never 
 meal}^, but always firm and solid. In shape this 
 melon is oblong, its length often being two and a half 
 times greater than its diameter. 
 
 Icing, or Ice Rind. — This is a dark, green-skinned 
 melon, of nearly round shape. It is a favorite 
 variety, on account of the solidity of its flesh, thin 
 rind, and rich, luscious, sugary flavor. 
 
158 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 Cuban Queen. — The melons of this variety are 
 very handsome and attractive in appearance ; the 
 skin being striped, dark, and light green, in a pleas- 
 ing manner. The vines are strong and vigorous in 
 growth, and bear enormous crops when well manured. 
 The melons are large, very heavy, and of the finest 
 quality. The rind is very thin, being scarcely more 
 than half an inch in thickness on a large melon ; the 
 flesh is bright red, very solid, rich, and sugary. This 
 
 #tl<#-^ 
 
 Ul-ft CUBAN QUEEN WATERMELON. 
 
 is one of the very best varieties for general culture 
 in all sections. The shape of this variety is oblong, 
 being about twice its diameter in length. 
 
 Kolb's Gem. — The skin of this melon is striped, 
 as in the Cuban Queen, but is not so handsome, as 
 there is not the same amount of contrast between 
 the two shades; the shape is much shorter, being 
 nearly round. The flesh is bright red, and of good 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 159 
 
 flavor; and owing to its tough rind is a very good 
 shipping and keeping variety.* 
 
 RHUBARB, CURRANTS AND GOOSEBERRIES. 
 
 These three T would plant in the same row, in the 
 small fruit plot or permanent part of the garden, 
 mainly because a third of a row of each wdll afford 
 an ample supply for a good-sized family, and all re- 
 quire nearly the same treatment. The plants of each 
 are all set together, each in its own third of the row, 
 not interspersed. The plants should be set as early 
 in the spring as possible, or can be planted in the fall 
 and well mulched with manure. The crowns of the 
 rhubarb should be set an inch or two under the sur- 
 face, and no stalks pulled until the second or third 
 season ; in the fall, when the ground is frozen hard, 
 the old leaves should be pulled off and the row well 
 mulched with long manure ; in the spring this should 
 be worked down to the roots, when the ground is fit 
 to work, and the soil kept loose and free from weeds 
 while the rhubarb is making its growth. The stalks 
 can be pulled as soon as they are large enough for 
 use, and can be pulled until they become so small as 
 to be unfit for use; then dig in some fine manure or 
 compost, and let it grow at will until fall, when the 
 stalks will again be fit for use, though this second 
 crop is generally allowed to go to waste, mainly, I 
 think, through ignorance of the fact that it is just as 
 
 * In addition to the varieties named, we would recommend PMnney's 
 Early, as probably the best early melon of good size ; also the Ice Cream 
 and Jordan's Gray Monarch, as very choice melons of oblong shape. — Ed. 
 
160 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 palatable as in the spring, and that it can easily be 
 canned for winter use. Like asparagus, it must be 
 liberally and continually fed, to have it in fine condi- 
 tion and of good size. 
 
 The currants and gooseberries are subject to the 
 ravages of the currant worm, which cleans up every 
 leaf and berry on the bushes just as they are about 
 to ripen. To prevent this, the bushes should be dusted 
 with white hellebore when the first worm makes his 
 appearance ; as this is a very strong poison many 
 are afraid to use it ; and, indeed, great care must be 
 taken in using the fruit;, still, the worms usually 
 appear about the time the bushes are in bloom, and 
 if promptly welcomed will have disappeared, and the 
 poison be washed off the bushes before the fruit has 
 formed. Any one who does not like to use the helle- 
 bore can dust the bushes with road dust or dry wood 
 ashes every morning while the dew is still on the 
 leaves ; care should be taken that the under side of 
 the leaves should receive a good portion of whatever 
 is used. There is still another way of getting rid of 
 these pests, and that is by hand-picking them; but 
 any one wdio has tried it will agree with me that it 
 is a somewhat tedious process when done every morn- 
 ing for a couple of weeks. 
 
 When the fall comes these bushes should be well 
 mulched, and in the spring, before the growth starts, 
 the old wood should be cut out of them, care being 
 taken not to trim them too severely ; never take out 
 more than a third of the wood, or you will trim away 
 your crop of fruit for the season. When the spring 
 opens, dig in the mulch and keep the ground well 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 161 
 
 worked and free from weed^, as in the asparagus and 
 rhubarb. 
 
 BLACKBEREIES, BLACK CAP RASPBEEEIES AND RED 
 RASPBERRIES. 
 
 The culture is the same for all these, and they 
 should be planted in liberal quantities, so that there 
 may be plenty to preserve, as well as a full supply for 
 the table. In my own kitchen garden I have two 
 rows of Wilson's Early Blackberry, one row Gregg 
 Black Cap, and one row each of Philadelphia and 
 Cuthbert Raspberries, and still the family cry for 
 more, so I shall add about two rows of Wilson, Jr.^ 
 Blackberries, and one of Lucretia Dewberry, in the 
 spring. The dewberry will ripen before the black- 
 berries, and thus prolong the season, as is already 
 done with the two varieties of red raspberries. 
 
 The plants should be planted as early in the spring 
 as the ground can be gotten into suitable condition, 
 and if purchasing from a nursery, select those plants 
 which are grown from root-cuttings, for they will 
 not " sucker " so much, and where the garden is con- 
 stantly well fed and cultivated this will save much 
 in working, and the plants being carefully trimmed 
 will last for years without replacing. The rows 
 should be ten or twelve feet apart, so as to admit of 
 free passage in cultivating and picking. As they do 
 not grow so wildly until after the fruit has been 
 picked, a couple of rows of peas or a row of early corn 
 can be grown between each row. I have tried plant- 
 ing at closer distances, with the invariable result that 
 by fall the berry patch was an impassable jungle. 
 11 
 
162 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 I 
 
 For manuring the berries coarse manure should 
 be applied in the fall, or short, well-rotted manure 
 in the spring ; in either case plowing it under as 
 applied; if plowed in the fall the furrows should 
 all be thrown toward the rows, thus partly banking 
 them over for the winter. 
 
 In the first warm days in the spring these bushes 
 should have their trimming ; all the old wood that 
 has borne fruit will be dead and should be cut out at 
 the ground. Three or four good healthy young shoots 
 should be selected to each plant, cut off at three and 
 a half or four feet in height, and the side shoots cut 
 back to three or four inches ; cut off all the rest of 
 the suckers. This is important, for if too many are 
 left there will be but a small crop of inferior fruit. 
 When the whole patch has been trimmed and cleared 
 up it should be staked ; or each plant may be staked 
 as trimmed, but the trimming will have to be left 
 until a week or so later, as the stakes cannot be 
 driven in the frozen ground. For this purpose I use 
 old fence rails, sawing them in the middle and then 
 splitting each piece into two or three stakes, or the 
 large limbs, say one to two inches thick, left from trim- 
 ming brush, can be used ; the fence-rail stakes, how- 
 ever, last longer than the fresh cut poles, and are much 
 more easily driven. 
 
 It will be a great help in picking-time if the row 
 is gone over with a large pair of hedge shears, and 
 the longest of the young shoots shortened in, so as 
 to allow easy access to the row. Where it is more 
 convenient, the bearing wood may be cut out as soon 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 163 
 
 as the crop is gathered, thus throwing all the strength 
 of the plant into the young shoots. 
 
 Where there is not plenty of manure, bone dust or 
 phosphate can be sown on after the plowing in the 
 spring and worked down with the harrow or culti- 
 vator. It, of course, takes a good deal of rope to tie 
 all these and a good patch of grape vines up every 
 spring, so I go to a printing office and buy the old 
 Sisal rope which comes on the bundles of paper; this 
 is strong, and can be bought very cheaply, as it is all 
 in short lengths, in fact, most offices would be glad to 
 oblige a good subscriber by giving it to him. The 
 bushes should be planted eight feet apart in the 
 row. 
 
 GRAPES. 
 
 I grow grapes between the rows of berry bushes, 
 half way from each row, which are twelve feet apart. 
 The vines are eight feet apart in the row ; at every 
 vine is planted an old fence rail, the ends squared 
 off, and the bottom coated with coal tar before plant- 
 ing ; these stand six feet above the surface, and from 
 top to top runs a light pole or single strand of wire. 
 The vines are tied up to the posts and out along the 
 rail ; this gives a clear space underneath for keeping 
 the ground worked, and it bears the crop in the most 
 convenient position for gathering. The vines should 
 be trimmed early in February, that the wounds may 
 contract and harden before the sap flows. The vines 
 should be tied up with fresh rope ; do not depend on 
 any old ties, as, though they may look strong, the 
 birds will pick them to pieces to make nests of. Trim 
 
164 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 the vines to long canes, two to four to each post, and 
 divide them at the top, carrying half out the top pole 
 or wire in each direction ; cut the side shoots back to 
 two eyes each, as these are the spurs that will furnish 
 the fruit branches. If fruit is desired in finest con- 
 dition a two-pound paper bag should be tied round 
 the neck, to the stem of each bunch, placing the 
 bunch inside, when the berries are about half grown ; 
 this preserves the grapes from mildew and, what is 
 more destructive, the ravages of bees and birds. 
 
 STRAWBEREIES. 
 
 There should be one or two rows of strawberries 
 across the garden ; the rows four feet apart. It will 
 be found a great deal easier to keep them free from 
 weeds and to gather the fruit when grown in this 
 way. The varieties, one early and one late, or both 
 rows of a continuous bearing kind, should be of the 
 perfect flowering character, as there are plenty of varie- 
 ties of this character which are as good and prolific 
 as any pistillate sort grown, and they are not so much 
 trouble to grow, or as uncertain a crop. The plants 
 should be set early in the spring, in well-manured 
 ground, twelve inches apart in the row, and should 
 be hoed and cultivated as frequently as possible. As 
 the runners start lay them lengthways of the row and 
 let them root in, keeping the soil loose and fine, so 
 that they can easily take hold. 
 
 The blossoms should be kept picked off the season 
 of planting, or they will take the strength of the 
 young plant so that it will make but a feeble growth 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 165 
 
 and no runners. In growing the plants in this way 
 the runners should not be allowed to form a row 
 more than one and a half feet wide, as this will be 
 fully two feet in the second season, and as much as 
 a picker can manage. The grass particularly should 
 be kept out of the rows of young plants, or it will 
 take a start in the spring and entirely crowd out the 
 strawberries. 
 
 These rows should be set out every spring, taking 
 the plants from the outside of the rows planted the 
 preceding year, as it is almost impossible to keep 
 them free from weeds after the first season, besides 
 which they do not bear more than half so many, nor 
 nearly such large berries, the second season. Unless 
 the ground is very rich where the young plants are 
 set, it is a good plan to sow a heavy coat of phos- 
 phate, bone, or, best of all, wood ashes, just before 
 they are worked with the cultivator for the first time 
 in the spring. The young plants should not be 
 planted in land that has just been in sod, as it is full 
 of white grubs, which will eat the plants off under- 
 ground, and care should also be taken that the ma- 
 nure for the strawberry plot is not infested with them. 
 These rows should be lightly covered with long ma- 
 nure, old hay or other litter, in the fall, after the 
 ground has become frozen hard, so that they may be 
 protected from rapid freezing and thawing ; and if 
 the covering is not too heavy, it can be left on in the 
 spring and the plants will shoot up through it, leav- 
 ing it as a mulch and serving to keep the berries 
 clean, by saving them from contact with the ground, 
 
1G6 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 as does the straw mulching, from which the berry is 
 generally supposed to take its name. 
 
 In selecting varieties choose those which are 
 recommended as suitable for your soil, heavy or light, 
 or such as have proved good in your immediate 
 neighborhood, as some of the finest kinds are worth- 
 less in a different soil from that to which they are 
 adapted. If especially fine, large berries are desired, 
 the plants should be set in rows three feet apart, the 
 plants twelve inches, as before, and all the runners 
 kept cut off as fast as they appear. In this case 
 heavy mulching is imperative, or the stools will be 
 thrown out of the ground in the spring freezing and 
 thawing. When the spring opens, the mulching 
 should be cleared away from the crown of the plant, 
 but should be allowed to remain on the ground sur- 
 rounding the plant, as the weeds can easily be kept 
 from such a patch, and fresh fertilizer applied. The 
 patch may be continued in bearing for two or three 
 seasons, but it will be found a great deal easier if a 
 fresh patch is planted in new ground each year. 
 
 COMPOST. 
 
 This should be prepared in the early spring for use 
 in the hills, and if it can be stacked in the fall and 
 allowed to rot through the winter, it will be all the 
 better. It can be composed of barnyard scrapings, 
 well-rotted manure, chicken manure, night soil, or 
 other strong fertilizer, mixed with at least an equal 
 bulk of soil or ashes. This should be wet enough 
 to rot thoroughly, but should not be allowed to lie 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 167 
 
 exposed to the weather where its strength will leach 
 away. When thoroughly mixed, I place it in old 
 barrels under a shed and pour water on top of each 
 barrel occasionally, to keep it rotting. 
 
 MANUEE. 
 A good supply of manure should be either made 
 or bought, as the garden should have a good dressing 
 at least two years out of three ; the third year I usu- 
 ally use a phosphate, but would use the manure 
 if I could spare it, using also a good dressing of air- 
 slaked lime every two or three years. The manner 
 of applying the lime and phosphate is the same, but 
 they must not be used the same season, as the lime 
 will destroy the effect of the phosphate. They are 
 sown on in the spring, after the ground has been 
 plowed, and before harrowing, the harrow thoroughly 
 mixing them with the soil. The supply of manure 
 may be largely increased by pulling up the early 
 peas, corn, cabbage stalks, etc., as fast as the crops 
 are gathered, and adding them to the manure heap ; 
 this should be so located that all slops and waste 
 from the house can be thrown upon it, so as to assist 
 in keeping it constantly rotting; where corn stalks, 
 tall weeds, etc., are put on the manure heap they 
 should be cut into short lengths, with a corn cutter 
 or other implement, to facilitate rotting and hand- 
 ling when the manure is drawn out. 
 
 SAVING SEEDS. 
 
 The gardener will consult his judgment and his 
 pocketbook in buying seeds, as there are many varie- 
 
168 A KITCHEN GARDEN OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 ties of which, if he has a good strain, he can save as 
 good seed as he can buy ; but the greatest care should 
 be used in doing so, as the quality and quantity will 
 both rapidly deteriorate if inferior specimens are 
 selected from which to save seed. Thus it will not 
 do to take off all the best ears of corn, or the tightest 
 heads of lettuce, using the nubbins and runts for 
 seed, or the next year the nubbins w^ill predominate 
 and the lettuce will go to seed without taking the 
 trouble to form a head at all. 
 
 The best plan is to set apart a section of the row 
 of each variety for seed, and not gather any for use 
 from that part ; here all the nubbins and inferior 
 specimens could be pulled off, throwing the full 
 strength of the plant into the finest fruits; and the 
 same way with the vines ; one or more hills, as 
 desired, could be kept for the purpose of bearing seed 
 only. 
 
 All seeds should be thoroughly cleaned and dried, 
 and each package should be carefully marked with 
 name and date before storing. The seed chest 
 should be in some cool place where there is no dan- 
 ger of frost or very warm heat, and, most of all, no 
 danger from dampness. It is important to have the 
 date of saving the seed marked, so that when all is 
 not used it may be kept, as frequently a crop fails 
 from a bad season or other causes, and a new lot of 
 equal merit cannot be obtained, the date serving to 
 tell how good the seed is ; seed of some vegetables 
 retaining vitality for only two years, and others as 
 long as ten years. 
 
HOW AND WHAT TO GROW 
 
 IN A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 OF ONE ACEE. 
 
 THE SECOND PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 BY MISS L. M. MOLL. 
 
 To insure success in horticulture, the first requisite 
 is a deep, rich, well-drained soil. For a garden, 
 nothing can be more important than good drainage. 
 Soil properly drained is warmer, dries faster, and can 
 be worked earlier in the spring ; it is easier to work 
 in a wet season, and more open and moist in a dry 
 season. Taking for granted, then, that the ground 
 has perfect drainage, it should be plowed deeply in 
 the fall, so as to allow the frost to penetrate and 
 sweeten the soil. In addition to this, the frost will 
 be out sooner in the spring, and the superfluous 
 moisture drained off more quickly, thus leaving 
 
 169 
 
170 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 the land in a workable condition at least a week 
 earlier.* 
 
 Putting manure on the ground in the fall, or dur- 
 ing winter, is a practice I would not recommend, be- 
 cause some of its most valuable portions are sure to 
 be washed into the drains by the melting snow and 
 spring rains, leaving the plants rather a meagre 
 supply of nourishment to draw from when they come 
 to need it most. The proper way to do is to give the 
 ground a liberal spreading of thoroughly decomposed 
 barnyard manure in spring, as soon as the land is in 
 a workable condition. f 
 
 This should immediately be plowed in, and be 
 followed with a sharp, weighted harrow, to thoroughly 
 pulverize and mix the soil. This is important, as 
 the surface of the soil is not so liable to harden or 
 bake afterwards, if the ground is well worked in the 
 spring. The soil is also permeated to a greater depth 
 by the sun and air, causing healthier and quicker 
 growth, consequently better and earlier vegetables. 
 The form of our one-acre patch should, by all means, 
 be a rectangle, made longer than wide, with the rows 
 running lengthwise, and all perfectly straight, and 
 everything else so arrajjged that as much of the 
 
 * While, as stated, a well-drained soil is most desirable for the garden, 
 and its value is not to be underrated, yet success in gardening can be had 
 on almost any soil. The more unfavorable the circumstances, the greater 
 credit is due the gardener, and many cannot afford expensive under- 
 draining. — Ed. 
 
 f The suggestion as to applying manure in the spring is good, as far as 
 the well-drained land is concerned ; where the land is not well-drained, 
 however, more of the good properties of the manure are retained by 
 applying the coarse manure in the fall, as it then fills the soil with decom- 
 posing vegetable matter. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 171 
 
 cultivation can be done by horse power as possible. 
 But let me say right here, that no one should under- 
 take the cultivation of a kitchen garden without 
 being willing to do a reasonable portion of the work 
 by hand. This part of the work can, however, be 
 greatly lessened by using the various labor-saving 
 garden implements, to be purchased at reasonable 
 rates, of most seed firms. 
 
 If " variety is the spice of life," it can certainly 
 nowhere be more desirable than in the kitchen 
 garden, which is to supply our table with its yearly 
 demand for choice vegetables ; I say choice, since every 
 one having the care of a garden should strive to grow 
 everything of the very best, and that, too, in great 
 abundance and variety. 
 
 The most convenient mode of arranging the 
 different kinds of vegetables is to ; 1st, place the 
 perennial plants in one bed, running the entire 
 length of the ground ; 2d, Plant the vegetables side 
 by side which are to remain out all winter, so as not 
 to interfere with next spring's plowing ; 3d, Arrange 
 side by side those varieties which require the whole 
 season to mature; and, 4th, put beside each other 
 the quickly maturing kinds, which may be succeeded 
 by other varieties, in order that the ground to be 
 occupied by a second crop may be all in one piece. 
 
 The preliminaries being arranged, we are now 
 ready to go into details, and to this end we shall first 
 take under consideration the permanent bed, so called 
 from the fact that it is to contain such perennials as 
 asparagus, rhubarb, horse radish, artichoke, and 
 
172 
 
 A KITCHEN GARDEN- 
 NOETH. 
 
 TURNING EOW. 
 
 •Avoa ONiKani 
 
OF ONE ACRE. ' 173 
 
 chives ; also parsley, and a collection of herbs, with- 
 out which no garden is complete. 
 
 The herbs are placed here because they require a soil 
 especially prepared for them, by the addition of either 
 fine sand or sifted coal ashes, to make it mellow and 
 dry. 
 
 ASPARAGUS. 
 
 Asparagus, one of the best and earliest of spring 
 vegetables, would be in universal use, but for the 
 prevalent though erroneous idea that it is difficult 
 to grow. Being a gross feeder, the soil can scarcely 
 be too rich. Although the process of deep trenching 
 is now being discarded, yet, to attain the best result 
 it is necessary that a large quantity of rotted manure 
 be worked into the bed, to a depth of at least 18 inches. 
 Instead of losing two years' time by raising plants 
 from seed, send and get strong two-year old plants 
 early in spring. Set these in the prepared bed, 18 
 inches apart each way, and about six inches deep. 
 Give frequent and thorough cultivation, and as soon 
 as the tops are ripe in fall, cut off and burn them, to 
 prevent the nuisance of seedling asparagus about 
 the garden. Next spring, and for at least fifteen 
 years after, the bed should give a full crop, and 
 should have a heavy dressing of manure put on each 
 fall, which should be spaded in before the shoots 
 appear in spring, together with a sprinkling of three 
 pints of salt per square rod. 
 
 To facilitate gathering, make the bed of such a 
 width as that the centre can be reached from both 
 
174 A KITCHEN GAEDEN . 
 
 sides. Cut all shoots as soon as they appear, till the 
 time for the final cutting, which will vary from the 
 middle of May to the middle of June, according to 
 latitude and your fondness for this most delicious 
 plant. 
 
 RHUBAEB. 
 
 Rhubarb, known familiarly as Pie Plant, succeeds 
 best in deep, somewhat retentive soil. Coming, as it 
 does, before berries or fruit, its acid leafstalks form an 
 admirable substitute. It may be raised from seed, 
 but to get the quickest returns procure strong roots 
 in spring, and plant them three feet apart each way, 
 the ground having first been fertilized and dug to a 
 considerable depth. Never permit a plant to exhaust 
 itself by seed-bearing ; stir the soil often, cover 
 with coarse litter in fall, fork it over in the following 
 spring, and you may rely upon a good supply of pie 
 plant for many years to come. 
 
 HORSE RADISH. 
 
 The best is grown by planting 8-inch lengths of 
 root grown the previous year. These young roots 
 planted in spring, small end down, with the top two 
 inches below the surface, in rich, well-cultivated soil, 
 will form radish of large size and superior quality, in 
 one season's growth. After having several weeks' 
 growth rub off the young side roots from the newly- 
 planted roots, to increase the size and insure a 
 smooth, well-shaped root. See to it that no roots are 
 scattered about the garden, as every piece of root, 
 however small it may be, will, in a short time, become 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 175 
 
 a strong plant, difficult to eradicate, and thus prove 
 how annoying a good thing is in the wrong place. 
 
 GLOBE AETICHOKE. 
 
 The Globe Artichoke is cultivated for its flower 
 heads, which are cooked like asparagus, in an unde- 
 veloped state. On account of its hardiness, easy cul- 
 ture and perennial nature, this plant should be more 
 generally grown. Plants raised from seed sown the 
 previous year, set in any good garden soil two feet 
 apart, with slight covering in winter, will remain in 
 bearing a long time, 
 
 JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 
 
 The Jerusalem Artichoke needs only to be planted 
 in order to thrive. Its tubers can be made into quite 
 palatable pickles, and I have seen instances where, 
 in the absence of cucumber pickles, the artichoke 
 tuber was prepared the same way and used as a 
 substitute. 
 
 CHIVES. 
 
 Chives are perfectly hardy perennial little members 
 of the onion tribe, and are grown exclusively for their 
 tops, which are used wherever the flavor of onion is 
 required. Planted in small clumps in any common 
 garden soil, they will grow readily, and in time increase 
 so as to render a division necessary. The tops appear 
 very early in spring, and can be shorn throughout 
 the season, hence this valuable little plant should 
 have a place in every garden. 
 
176 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 PARSLEY. 
 
 As parsley seed is so obstinate about germinating 
 in spring, it does better if sown in autumn, as soon 
 as ripe. Where that is not possible, the seed may 
 be sown in spring, but " don't look for the plants 
 till you see them coming," since parsley seed just 
 comes up when it feels like coming up, and not 
 before. The plants should be given a moist, rich 
 soil and a partly-shaded situation. The curled sorts 
 are ornamental, but the plain-leaved is best for gen- 
 eral use in cookery. When once established, a supply 
 can easily be kept up from self-sown seed.* 
 
 AROMATIC HERBS. 
 
 Aromatic or Sweet Herbs are worthy of more atten- 
 tion than they generally receive. If cooks used them 
 more freely, doctors would have less occasion for 
 prescribing them. The soil of the herb bed should 
 be mellow and warm, but not over-rich. Deep, fertile 
 soil produces an increase in size and foliage at the 
 expense of fragrance, strength and flavor. The seeds 
 should be sown as early in spring as the ground can 
 be prepared. 
 
 Sweet Basil, Summer Savory, Sweet Marjoram, Sage 
 and Thyme are grown for their foliage, which is used 
 for seasoning, while Sweet Fennel, Dill, Coriander, Anise 
 and Caraway are chiefly prized on account of their 
 
 ••••The parsley seed will germinate quickly if soaked in tepid water for 
 twenty-four hours before planting. We must also take exception to the 
 statement that the plain-leaved sorts are superior to the curled varie- 
 ties for seasoning purposes. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 177 
 
 aromatic seeds. Aside from being useful for culinary 
 purposes, most of the above-named plants possess 
 valuable properties. 
 
 This completes the permanent bed. 
 
 Before proceeding any further I wish to have it 
 understood that hereafter, in the course of this paper, 
 all seeds advised to be sown broadcast are to be 
 sown in long, narrow beds, with narrow walks be- 
 tween the beds, for convenience in gathering the crop 
 and to protect the plants from being trodden upon. 
 
 Where sowing in drills is advised, it is likewise to 
 be understood that all drills are to be not less than 
 eighteen inches apart, and the cultivation between 
 them to be done with a hand cultivator or wheel hoe, 
 followed by hand hoeing between the plants if 
 necessary. 
 
 Where planting in rows is recommended, it is 
 intended that all rows, unless otherwise mentioned, 
 should be not less than two and a half feet apart, to 
 admit of the cultivation with a one-horse plow or 
 cultivator, followed also by hand hoeing around the 
 plants or hills. 
 
 Concerning the distance plants should be apart in 
 the rows or otherwise, it may be safely said that each 
 plant should stand so that when fully matured its 
 outside leaves will just touch those of its nearest 
 neighbor. This rule does not apply to onions and 
 root crops, which may stand closer. 
 
 Concerning the best varieties of the different kinds 
 of vegetables the reader is referred to the catalogues of 
 reliable seedsmen. I shall recommend such varieties 
 as I know to be good from personal experience. 
 
 12 
 
178 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 PAESNIPS AND SALSIFY. 
 
 Alongside of the permanent bed^plant parsnips and 
 salsify. ParsnijD seed germinates slowly and quickly 
 deteriorates by age, therefore early sowing and seed 
 of unquestionable freshness are of primary import- 
 ance. The subsoil should by all means be thoroughly 
 loosened by the subsoil plow, unless it is naturally 
 of a loose, friable texture. When it is borne in mind 
 that parsnip roots grow wholly under ground, and 
 when w^ell grown measure over eighteen inches in 
 length, the necessity for this will be seen at once. 
 Sow in drills and thin to five inches apart. Parsnips 
 may safely be left in the ground all winter, as frost 
 greatly improves them in saccharine quality. 
 
 Salsify or oyster plant, as the name implies, pos- 
 sesses the flavor of the oyster to a marked degree, 
 and is highly esteemed by many on this account. It 
 should have the same treatment in every respect as 
 directed for the parsnip, and like it, too, is improved 
 by frost. In the ground adjoining the pai^nips and 
 salsify, plant such vegetables as lettuce, spinach, 
 radish, peas, bush beans, onions, kohl rabi, early cab- 
 bage, cauliflower, early potatoes and sweet corn. 
 These mature nearly in the order named, and in time 
 enough to bo succeeded by other vegetables which 
 will be mentioned hereafter. 
 
 LETTUCE, SPINACH AND RADISH. 
 
 Seed of lettuce, spinach and radish should be 
 sown broadcast and as early as possible, with later 
 sowings at intervals of about two weeks for a succes- 
 
 i 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 179 
 
 sive supply. Soil for lettuce and spinach should be 
 of more than ordinary richness, and should contain 
 sufficient moisture to insure rapid continuous growth. 
 The best lettuce heads are raised by sowing seed in 
 a hotbed and transplanting to the open ground when 
 plants are two inches high. Cabbage varieties should 
 be selected for this purpose. In this way I have 
 grown heads of the New York Lettuce to weigh two 
 pounds each, under ordinary treatment. Hanson, 
 Burpee^ s Golden Heart and Perpetual Lettuce are all 
 good sorts. The Cos varieties do best if tied up a few 
 days before using, to blanch all the inner leaves. 
 
 The Radish will thrive in any good garden soil, 
 but a light sandy loam is better than heavily ma- 
 nured ground. In order to be crisp and tender, the 
 growth should be rapid and unchecked. I can re- 
 commend French Breakfast, Golden Globe, White Stutt- 
 gart an^l Chartiers. The latter is of unusual merit. 
 
 PEAS. 
 As we all want green peas as early as possible, the 
 seed should be planted early — the earlier the better. 
 Peas will bear a great deal of cold without the slightest 
 injury, either in the ground or after they are up. Sow 
 in drills at the rate of one pint of seed to thirty-five feet 
 of drill. To keep up a succession make a sowing of an 
 early, medium, and a late variety at the same time. 
 In about two weeks make another sowing as before. 
 Soil for early varieties should be warm and very rich. 
 Late varieties should be planted deeper than early 
 sorts, but the soil should not be so rich, as late varie- 
 ties are more productive on moist, cool ground, not 
 
180 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 over rich. Philadelphia Extra Early, American Won- 
 der and Telephone can be relied upon. After trying 
 various methods for training pea vines I am satisfied 
 that brush is the most effective support. Place a 
 few short twigs or sticks on each side of dwarf peas, 
 to prevent them from leaning over and decaying on 
 the ground, as is often the case in a wet season. 
 
 DWARF OR BUSH BEANS. 
 
 Dwarf or bush beans should not be planted be- 
 fore danger from frost is over. Being very tender, 
 nothing is gained by planting earlier. They may be 
 planted in hills one foot apart, with four plants to 
 the hill, but the better way, I think, is to plant in 
 drills, with plants three inches apart in the drill. 
 
 Seed should be covered lightly with mellow soil. 
 Beans often fail to come up, from being coa- ered too 
 deeply, especially if there is much- rain after plant- 
 ing. Two plantings of both early and late varieties, 
 at intervals of two weeks, will give a supply until 
 pole beans come in season. Beans should never be 
 hoed while the foliage is w^et, as that produces rust. 
 Black Wax, Early Valentine and Golden Wax are stand- 
 ard sorts. 
 
 ONIONS. 
 
 Onions may be raised successfully either from seed 
 or from sets. If to be grown from seed no time should 
 be lost in getting it sown in the spring. Sow in drills " 
 and thin the plants when about the size of quills, 
 disturbing the remaining plants as little as possible. 
 For southern latitudes and for an early supply it is 
 

 OF ONE ACRE. 181 
 
 better to grow onions from sets planted three inches 
 apart, in drills. Sets are small onions grown the pre- 
 vious year, from seed sown quite thickly. Sets may 
 be planted very early, as they will not be injured 
 even if the ground should freeze after they are planted. 
 Wethersfield and Danvers are good varieties. For extra 
 large specimens, select Italian varieties. 
 
 KOHL EABI, EARLY CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER. 
 
 Seed of kohl rabi, early cabbage and cauliflower 
 should be sown in a hotbed, and the plants trans- 
 planted to the open ground when four inches high. 
 
 Kohl rabi is grown for its turnip-shaped bulb, 
 which is formed above ground, by the expansion of 
 the stem. The bulb should be used while young 
 aiid tender, as age detracts from its good quality. Set 
 the plants eight inches apart in the row. For later 
 use sow seed in drills and thin to the proper distance 
 apart. When well grown and properly prepared for 
 the table, the kohl rabi is one of the most desirable 
 of vegetables, and should be in every garden. Early 
 WJiite Vienna is the best variety. 
 
 Plant early cabbage in rows, with plants eighteen 
 inches apart in the row\ After trying several dif- 
 ferent sorts I have decided upon Early Jersey Wake- 
 field, Early Flat Dutch, and Fottler^s Brunsiuick, as the 
 best varieties for this latitude, and, as the cabbage 
 worm has made late cabbage an uncertain crop for 
 several years past here, in southern Illinois, we have 
 planted largely of the Early Flat Dutch cabbage and 
 had it picked and put up before the cabbage worm 
 
182 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 I 
 
 made its appearance. This I know, from experience, 
 to be better than the use of all the insect powders 
 combined.* 
 
 To grow cauliflower to perfection, the ground needs 
 extra heavy manuring, and the plants must be sup- 
 plied with an abundance of water as soon as heads 
 begin to form. Plants should stand the same distance 
 apart as early cabbage. The outside leaves should 
 be pinned together over the centre, to shield the head 
 from the direct rays of the sun, which often cause it 
 to turn green, thus rendering it inferior in quality 
 or entirely unfit for use. - Early Snowball and Erfurt 
 are both good and reliable. Nowhere does success 
 depend more on the quality of the seed than in the 
 cauliflower. 
 
 SWEET CORN. 
 
 Sweet corn should be planted as soon as the ground 
 is reasonably warm, in hills, three feet apart, three 
 plants to a hill. The season for sweet corn can be 
 greatly prolonged by planting early and late sorts, at 
 intervals of a few weeks. There are many good early 
 kinds, but I think the best late variety is StowelVs 
 Evergreen, which produces ears of the largest size, 
 that remain in a condition fit for the table longer 
 than those of any other variety of sweet corn. 
 
 * The reason here presented for not growing late cabbage, because the 
 worms might damage some of them, is quite original, and about equal 
 to not planting any potatoes, because the bugs might eat the tops. 
 We can hardly conceive of a garden, however small, without late cabbage. 
 For the prevention of the ravages of this pest we would suggest the use of 
 alum water, as being sure, easily applied and entirely harmless to the 
 user. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 183 
 
 rOTATOES. 
 
 If you wish to enjoy new potatoes early in the season, 
 your seed potatoes must be planted as early in the 
 spring as the ground can be prepared. Plant them one 
 foot apart in the row and cover with the corn plow. I 
 would advise the planting of medium-sized potatoes 
 in preference to large ones cut to pieces. If large 
 ones must be used cut them a few days beforehand, 
 so that the newly cut surface may dry before planting, 
 otherwise, there is danger of the pieces rotting in the 
 ground, especially if there is much rain immediately 
 after planting. The Early Ohio gave us excellent 
 returns for several years in succession. 
 
 We will next take under consideration that portion 
 of the garden devoted to the vegetables requiring 
 the greater part of the season to mature. The most 
 important of these are : — 
 
 EGG PLANTS, TOMATOES, POLE BEANS, BEETS, CARROTS, 
 
 LATE CABBAGE, CUCUMBERS, SQUASHES AND 
 
 SWEET POTATOES. 
 
 Sow Egg Plant and Tomato seed in a hotbed and 
 remove the young plants to a cold frame when three 
 inches high, from whence do not remove them till 
 the w^eather is settled and warm. 
 
 Egg Plant will repay the extra care it requires, 
 and should be in every garden. Handle the plants 
 very carefully in transplanting, and never remove 
 them to the open ground before the nights are 
 w^arm. At the North plants may be grown in flower 
 pots plunged in a cold frame till the weather is suffi- 
 ciently warm. Plants should stand 2 J feet apart in 
 
184 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 the row, and the soil should be very rich and warm. 
 New York Purple is the leading variety, but those 
 who succeed with the Black Pekin cannot fail to be 
 pleased with its large, glossy fruits. 
 
 When all danger from frost is over, carefully 
 transplant the Tomato plants from the cold frame to 
 the open ground, to stand two feet apart in the roAV. 
 As they grow tie them up on a trellis and remove 
 all superfluous branches, so as to give the growing 
 fruit the benefit of full sunshine, without which it 
 will be of inferior quality and scarcely w^orth the 
 having.* Nothing can be worse than allowing 
 tomato plants to grow along the ground at will 
 without any support. Better it would be not to grow 
 any at all than to degrade them in that manner. 
 Make a small trellis, four feet high, by nailing a few 
 pieces of lath across small stakes driven into the 
 ground. I regard Livingston's Perfection as an 
 excellent variety, and have grown extra large speci- 
 mens of the Mikado, which, by the way, seems to have 
 
 *It is the extreme richness of the soil, which is claimed by Miss Moll 
 to be requisite to the growth of the Tomato, that, in her case, renders the 
 use of the trellis and pruning necessary, as it induces too rank a growth 
 of vine, covering the ground so that the sun and air cannot penetrate 
 unless the vines are tied up. We can hardly see any clogradation in allow- 
 ing the plant liberty to grow in the manner intended by nature. More 
 than this, as seedsmen, we pride ourselves on the new and improved 
 varieties of Tomatoes that we have introduced, and the finest we have ever 
 grown — finest alike for size, color, quality and productiveness — have been 
 grown on poor clay soil, that looked fairly yellow when at all di-y, and we 
 have never been able to equal them on either rich heavy loam, or on light 
 soils. Wo would not undervalue the tying up of a few plants for early 
 use, but claim that it is unnecessary for the general crop. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 185 
 
 been cast in the same mold as tlie Tamer Hybrid* 
 Be this as it may, I can heartily recommend either 
 variety to all wishing to grow fine, solid, enormous- 
 sized tomatoes. 
 
 Pole Beans, as the name implies, require poles 
 or some other support for the vines to twine upon. 
 The poles must be set firmly, to prevent being blown 
 over by the wind. Where poles are not procurable, 
 the vines may be trained upon strings stretched up 
 and down along two wires, which are stretched and 
 firmly fastened to posts or stakes, one wire above and 
 the other below. Pole Bean trellis, seven feet high, can 
 be purchased, and will answer the purpose for which 
 they are intended. The best pole bean of its kind is 
 the Large White Lima. Being very tender, it should 
 not be planted before the ground is warm. The beans 
 will come up sooner if the eye in the seed is placed 
 downward. The seed should be lightly covered with 
 mellow soil, as this bean, considering its size, has less 
 penetrating power in coming up than any other 
 kind. In rainy seasons I have covered the seed with 
 cofiee grounds, which never became compact or hard 
 
 * As stated, these Tomatoes were undoubtedly originated from the same 
 stock. We received the Turner Hybrid in the spring of 1884, a small 
 packet of seed being sent us by one of our customers — Mr. J. W. Turner, 
 of Iowa. This seed wo had planted, an 1 were surprised at the wonderful 
 growth, size and quality of the variety, but unfortunately there were two 
 distinct colors : some were a rich deep red and some a pale pink, of a not 
 very attractive shade. So we grew it carefully for another season before 
 sending out, that we might have them all of the best color. This, we believe, 
 is Kjt the case with the Mikado, as in our trial the two colors were 
 present, a,:though they both are evidently of the same origin. — Ed. 
 
186 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 from tliG beating rains, and nearly every bean came 
 up nicely, while those covered with earth were almost 
 a total failure.* The Large White Lima is generally 
 considered difficult to grow, but I cannot say so, as 
 I have grown it without much difficulty, and had 
 beans to perfection by the pailful throughout the 
 summer. Mine were planted in very rich soil and 
 the rows were about four feet apart, three plants to a 
 hill, and the hills two feet apart. If supported by a 
 trellis, beans should be placed one foot apart in the 
 row. The above applies to all pole beans, whether 
 Limas or string beans. Of the latter class of beans 
 I have found White Creasehach a variety of great 
 merit. Southern Prolific and Dutch Case Knife are also 
 good. At the North, where the seasons are too short 
 for the Large Lima, the Small Lima or Sieva, as it is 
 also called, should be planted. 
 
 Sow Beet and Carrot seed as early in spring as 
 possible. Sow in drills and thin beets to five inches 
 and carrots to three inches apart in the drill. To 
 have Beets early we sometimes sow seed of an extra 
 early variety in the hotbed and transplant to the 
 garden when plants are a few inches high. The same 
 may be done with early carrots. Sow Early Scarlet 
 Horn Carrot for early use and Long Bed Coreless for 
 
 * This idea of a mulch of light material to cover the freshly planted beans 
 in a wet season is a very good one; but we would think tliat saving and 
 applying Coffee Grounds for a bean patch of the size it should be in a 
 garden of one acre, would bo a good deal like " emptying a hogshead of 
 water with a teaspoon." Wo would suggest the use of sand, sifted coal 
 ashes, chaff or buckwheat hulls, as answering the purpose equally well, and 
 a3 being much more- readily obtained. — Ed. 
 
OF ONK ACRE. 187 
 
 fall and winter. Eclipse is one of the best early Beets 
 and Long Blood Bed is the very best late variety. 
 
 Sow late Cabbage seed in a seed bed, when danger 
 from frost is over, and when plants are three inches 
 high, plant them in rows three feet apart, with plants 
 2J feet apart in the row. Late Flat Dutch, Burpee's 
 Surehead and Large Late Drumhead are reliable 
 sorts. 
 
 Cucumber and Squash seeds should under no 
 consideration be planted before the weather is settled 
 and w^arm, as the young plants are extremely tender 
 and sensitive to cold. Cucumber hills should be four 
 feet apart each way, and squash hills should be six feet 
 apart. Scatter about a dozen seeds in a hill, and when 
 the second pair of leaves have formed, remove all 
 but three of the strongest plants. No fruit should be 
 permitted to ripen on cucumber vines, as this greatly 
 weakens the plant and prevents it from further 
 setting fruit. Pinching off the tips of winter squash 
 vines when they are about three feet long increases 
 their productiveness. Ea^rly Green Cluster, White Spine, 
 and London Long Green are good varieties of cucum- 
 bers. The list of desirable squashes is long, but 
 whoever growls the Pineapple and the Brazil Sugar 
 Squash for early use, and the Essex Hybrid and Hub- 
 bard for winter use, will not be disappointed. 
 
 The term " hills," as used here and elsewhere in 
 this paper, does not imply heaped-up soil, but simply 
 means that several seeds are to be planted together 
 in one place, on a level with the rest of the ground. 
 This I have found to be better than heaping up the 
 
188 .A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 ground to form hills, which soon dry out and are 
 difficult to water.* 
 
 The only plant requiring hills or ridges is the 
 Sweet Potato. Throw several furrows together with 
 a plow and draw the soil up with a hoe, to form a 
 tapering ridge, two feet high and three feet wide at 
 the bottom. The plants, which are obtained by 
 planting the tubers in a hotbed, are planted two feet 
 apart on top of this ridge. Being of tropical origin, 
 the sweet potato plants should never be planted till 
 danger from frost is over. One hoeing is generally 
 sufficient, as the vines soon cover the ridge, but these 
 should not be allowed to take root, as that diminishes 
 the productiveness of the plant. Late varieties are 
 of better quality than the early ones. 
 
 PEPPERS, GUMBO AND LEEKS. 
 
 No garden is complete without at least a few plants 
 of peppers, gumbo and leeks. To grow Peppers to 
 perfection, the young plants should be grown in the 
 hotbed and be transplanted to very rich soil, from 
 twelve to eighteen inches apart, according to variety. 
 When they commence blooming, a liberal quantity 
 of hen manure should be strewn around each plant 
 and be hoed in. This will increase the product 
 
 ■" We think that the melons, cucumbers, etc., get a better start (and wc 
 would include the pole beans) when the hill for seed is raised slightly 
 above the surface, as it greatly lessens the danger of the young seedlings 
 "damping ofT," and instead of the watering, which is here claimed to be 
 necessary, wc would suggest a thorough loosening of the soil around the 
 roots. — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACEE. • 189 
 
 wonderfully. Burpee's Ruby King and Golden Dawn 
 are two superb new varieties. 
 
 Gumbo, or Okea, is grown for its seed pods,- which 
 are used in soups and stews. Plant the seed eighteen 
 inches apart, when the ground is warm, in spring, 
 and use the pods while young and tender. 
 
 Sow Leek seed very early, in a seed bed, in a shel- 
 tered place, if possible. When plants are about six 
 inches long, transplant them to trenches six inches 
 deep, with very rich soil at the bottom. Fill up the 
 trenches as the plants grow, and later draw soil up 
 to them. As a result, you will have fine, large leeks, 
 blanched a foot long, which may be kept all winter 
 if dug up with the roots on, and stored in moist sand 
 in the cellar. Aside from being valuable for soups 
 and salads, blanched leek makes an excellent dish 
 when sliced and cooked like green peas. This fact 
 does not seem to be generally known, as well-grown 
 leek is so seldom seen in kitchen gardens.* 
 
 We will now go back again to the ground adjoin- 
 ing the parsnips and salsify. The early vegetables 
 will mature and be harvested one after the other, so 
 that there will be enough vacant ground in time for — 
 
 CELERY, ENDIVEj TURNIPS, WINTER RADISHES, KALE, 
 
 CORN SALAD, WINTER LETTUCE AND WINTER 
 
 SPINACH. 
 
 Sow Celery seed in a hotbed or cold frame. When 
 a few inches high, plant five inches apart, in a bed, in 
 
 «- Leek is both wholesome and palatable. We heartily endorse the words 
 of recommendation, and trust that many readers will include it in their 
 gardens. Kohl Eabi is another vegetable but little known in America, and 
 which Miss Moll is also fully warranted in recommending. — Ed. 
 
190 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 the open ground, which should be especially pre- 
 pared for the purpose by extra heavy manuring. Let 
 tlie plants remain in this bed, to grow strong and 
 stocky. Never let the ground in this bed become 
 dry ; give thorough cultivation and cut off the tops of 
 the plants once or twice, to make them grow stocky. 
 When six or eight inches high, lift the 23lants care- 
 fully and set them six or eight inches apart, in 
 trenches a foot wide and fourteen or more inches 
 in depth. Several inches of rotted stable manure 
 should be mixed with the soil at the bottom of the 
 trench. When planting, firm the ground well around 
 each plant Supply enough water to keep the ground 
 at the bottom of the trench very moist all the time. 
 As the plants grow, press soil around the bottom of 
 each plant and tie together at the top with string, to 
 keep the stems straight and in an upright position. 
 The blanching or earthing up is done by gradually 
 filling up the trench with ground as the plants grow. 
 Care should be taken not to get any ground into the 
 hearts of the plants and never to earth up while they 
 are wet. Sowing seed in the open ground and grow- 
 ing plants on the level surface may do for cool 
 northern latitudes, but my experience is that it will 
 not do here in southern Illinois. Boston Market and 
 Ormvford's Half Dwarf are as good as any of the 
 taller varieties, and are more easily blanched.* 
 
 * The plan here described involves much unnecessary labor. It takes con- 
 siderable time to dig the trenches, and, unless the soil of the garden were 
 unusually deep, this depth of trench, fourteen inches, would bring up and 
 mix with the surface a great deal of very poor subsoil. As rich soil cannot 
 be found at this depth, a liberal supply of manure must be put down, for 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 191 
 
 Seed of Endive should not be sown early, as this 
 plant is grown chiefly for late summer and autumn 
 salad. In this latitude we sow at intervals from the 
 middle of June to the 1st of August. Seed may be 
 sown either broadcast or in drills, but the plants 
 should be thinned so as to stand from six to nine 
 inches apart. It may also be sown in a seed bed 
 and be transplanted to the proper distance apart. 
 When the plants are full grown, tie all the outside 
 leaves together over the heart, to blanch the inner 
 leaves, which will take about a week. To keep up a 
 constant supply, some should be tied up every few 
 days. Never tie up when the leaves are wet or they 
 will soon decay. Green Curled and Batavian are both 
 very good.* 
 
 Turnip and winter Radish seed may be sown 
 from the latter part of July to the middle of August. 
 If the ground is reasonably free from weed seeds it is 
 advisable to sow broadcast, otherwise it is better to 
 sow in drills. In either case, it is well to remember 
 that the plants should be, like the first settlers, with- 
 out a near neighbor. The size and quality of the 
 turnips and radishes will dej^end, to a great extent, 
 upon thin sowing of the seed, or, what is still better, 
 
 the roots to feed upon, where it -will not bo available for any future crop, 
 unless the trenches were located in exactly the same spot each year. The 
 increase in the labor of digging for storage would be considerable over the 
 plan of surface culture as recommended in Mr. Darlington's treatise. Miss 
 Moll gives as a reason the greater heat in her locality, to overcome which 
 we would suggest planting between rows of tall-growing sweet corn, and 
 also recommend the use of some of the self-blanching varieties of celery . — Ed. 
 * Endive, commonly known in restaurants as Chicoree,is one of the most 
 attractive and refreshing of salads. It is particularly appetizing when 
 served mixed with lettuce, with plain French dressing. — Ed. 
 
192 A KITCHEN GARDEN 
 
 a judicious thinning of the plants when young. The 
 hirgest and sweetest turnips we have ever grown 
 were of the Purple Top Strap-leaved variety, and were 
 grown as a second crop after onions. The seed was 
 sown broadcast, and no further attention given the 
 plants except thinning while young. In the same 
 manner and on similar soil we raised White and 
 Blach Spofnish winter radishes of excellent quality, 
 that weighed from four to seven pounds each. The 
 Chinese Rose, though not so large, is the handsomest 
 and one of the best winter radishes grown. The 
 California Mammoth is a superb fall radish, but does 
 not keep well in winter. The White Stuttgart is re- 
 garded as a summer radish, but I have had it, grown 
 as a winter radish, to kee^D firm and solid till April. 
 
 Kale, or Borecole, is a valuable plant for spring 
 greens. The variety called Dwarf German Greens is 
 best for this purpose. Sow seed in drills about Sep- 
 tember 1st, and give thorough cultivation till the 
 approach of cold weather. When winter sets in, 
 give protection w^ith a covering of straw or similar 
 material, put on so as not to smother the plants. The 
 most effective way of doing this is to place a layer of 
 fine brush or cornstalks between the drills, to a height 
 equal to or exceeding the height of the plants in the 
 drills. Then cover all with a layer of clean straw, 
 six inches deep. The object of putting the brush 
 between the drills is to provide an air cavity between 
 the plants and the covering.* 
 
 Corn Salad, or Vetticost, is a valuable little plant 
 
 * This is also sown at tho same time as late cabbage, and grown in the 
 same manner, being used as a fall and winter supply of greens, and we 
 think is most palatable in this way, — Ed. 
 
OF ONE ACRE. 193 
 
 which is used for salad, the same as lettuce. For 
 spring use, sow the seed any time during the month 
 of September, and at the approach of cold weather 
 cover the bed with a few inches of straw or hay. It 
 should be used very early in spring, as it soon runs to 
 seed when warm weather sets in. Altliough this plant 
 will bear neglect, it will also repay good treatment. 
 
 Seed of winter Spinach and winter Lettuce should 
 also be sown during the month of September, and 
 the plants should be protected with a covering of 
 straw, or similar material, during winter. Put on part 
 of the covering when the ground begins to freeze, 
 and as the cold increases, add covering till it reaches 
 a depth of four or five inches. In regions where 
 heavy snowfalls can be depended upon, it may not 
 be necessary to protect any of the above-named plants, 
 but here and elsewhere, where winters are severe and 
 the snowfall light, it is of the utmost importance to 
 provide protection, or no success need be expected. 
 Hammersmith is the best winter lettuce, and Round 
 Leaf and Priddy Winter are two good varieties of 
 spinach for fall sowing. 
 
 The beds of kale, corn salad, winter lettuce and 
 winter spinach should be arranged side by side, and 
 alongside of the parsnips and salsify, so as not to in- 
 terfere with the plowing of the ground in fall and 
 in spring. As some of the parsnips and salsify will 
 be left in the ground to be dug at leisure in spring, 
 it is best to have all these vegetables side by side, so 
 that when the parsnips and salsify* are dug, and the 
 
 ■ «- In this locality (Philadelphia), parsnips and salsify will start into 
 13 
 
194 A KITCHEN GARDEN OF ONE ACRE. 
 
 crop of kale, corn salad, etc., harvested, the whole 
 ground can be plowed at once. 
 
 Before closing, a few w^ords in regard to watering 
 and transplanting may not prove amiss. 
 
 The best time for watering is in the evening. 
 Though water may be given to the roots at any time, 
 it should never be sprinkled on the foliage in the hot 
 sun, as that causes brown spots or blisters where it 
 comes in contact with the leaves. More injury than 
 good results from beginning to water a plant, and 
 then not keeping it up till the necessity ceases. As 
 soon as the ground begins to get dry after watering, the 
 ^oil should be stirred with the hoe. When you start to 
 water a plant, do it thoroughly, so as to give the roots 
 a soaking at every watering, or else do not water at all. 
 
 The main points to be regarded in transplant- 
 ing, are handling the plant carefully, so as to injure 
 the roots as little as possible, planting firmly and 
 shading to prevent the sun from withering or 
 scorching the leaves. It should be borne in mind, 
 that it is not nature's design that a plant should be 
 transplanted, and we ought to show sympathy for a 
 plant as well as for our fellow-creatures. 
 
 And now, having taken a walk with you through 
 the kitchen garden, all I have further to say is, may 
 you be favored with seasonable rain and sunshine, for, 
 be it remembered, without the co-operation of the 
 elements all our efforts are in vain. 
 
 growth, and become worthless for the table if left in the ground after it 
 has become possible to work it in the spring. For a late supply, the roots 
 should be dug and stored in a very cool cellar. This method docs not 
 interfere with the garden being all thoroughly plowed in the spring. — Ed, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Aromatic herbs, 17R. 
 Artichoke, Globe, 175. 
 
 Jerusalem, 175, 
 
 Asparagus, 40, 173. 
 
 varieties of, 43. 
 
 Barr's Mammoth, 43. 
 Conover's Colossal, 43. 
 Purple Top, 43. 
 
 Beans, 43. 
 
 Bush Beans, 46, 180. 
 
 Best of All Dwarf Bean, 40. 
 Black Wax, 180. 
 Burpee's Perfection Wax, 44. 
 Champion Bush Bean, 48. 
 Early Valentine, 180. 
 Golden Wax, 46, 180. 
 Limas, 60. 
 
 Dreer's Improved Lima, 50. 
 Extra Early Lima, 50. 
 King of the Garden, 50. 
 Pole Beans, Snap Varieties, 48, 
 185. 
 Burpee's White Zulu, 48. 
 Dutch Case Knife, 186. 
 Golden Wax Flageolet, 48. 
 Large White Lima, 185. 
 Lazy Wife's, 48. 
 Southern Prolific, 186. 
 White Creaseback, or Best of 
 All, 48, 186. 
 Beets, 51. 
 
 varieties of, 52. 
 
 Burpee's Imjjroved Blood Tur- 
 nip, 54. 
 Eclipse, 52, 187. 
 Edmand's Early Turnip, 52. 
 Long Blood Red, 187. 
 Blackberries, 161. 
 
 Gregg Black Cap, 161. 
 Wilson, Jr., 161. 
 Wilson's Early, 161. 
 Borecole, 192. 
 
 Cabbages, 54. 
 
 Eai-ly or Summer, 54, 181. 
 Early varieties of, 01. 
 
 Early Flat Dutch, 181. 
 
 Early Jersey Wakefield, 61,181. 
 
 Early Summer, 61. 
 
 Extra Early Etampes, 61. 
 
 Extra Early Express, 01. 
 
 Fottler's Brunswick, 181. 
 
 Vandergaw, 61. 
 Late or Winter, 55. 
 Late varieties of, 61. 
 
 Burpee's Surehead, 61, 187. 
 
 Danish Ball Head, 63. 
 
 Large Late Drumhead, 187. 
 
 Late Flat Dutch, 187. 
 
 Short-stem Drumhead, 63. 
 Cantaloupe, or Musk Melon, 69. 
 varieties of, 72. 
 
 Burpee's Netted Gem, 72. 
 
 Emerald Gem, 72. 
 
 Montreal Green Nutmeg, 74. 
 Carrots, 07. 
 
 varieties of, 67. 
 
 Danvcrs Half-long Orange, 67. 
 
 Early Very Short Horn, or 
 Golden Ball, 68. 
 
 Ox Heart, 68. 
 
 Red Saint Vallery, 69. 
 
 Short Horn, 67. 
 Cauliflower, 65, 181. 
 varieties of, 00. 
 
 Burpee's Best Early, 07. 
 
 Early Snowball, 06, 182. 
 
 Extra Early Dwarf Erfurt, 00, 
 182 
 Celery, 74, 189. 
 varieties of, 80. 
 
 Boston Market, 190. 
 
 Crawford's Half Dwarf, 190. 
 
 Crimson or Red Celery, 82. 
 
 Dwarf Golden Heart, 81. 
 
 Golden Self-blanching, 81. 
 
 195 
 
196 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Celery, AVhite Plume, 82. 
 Chicorec, 191. 
 Chives, 175. 
 
 Cold frames and hotbeds, 21. 
 Compost, 166. 
 Corn Salad, 192. 
 Corn, Sweet, 83, 182. 
 varieties of, 85. 
 
 Amber Cream, 86. 
 
 Crosby's Early Twelve-rowed, 
 86. 
 
 Potter's Excelsior, 86. , 
 
 Stowell's Evergreen, 86, 182. 
 
 The Cory, 85. 
 Cucumbers, 87. 
 varieties of, 89. 
 
 Burpee's Giant Pera, 89. 
 
 Early Green Prolific, 89, 187. 
 
 Early Russian, 89. 
 
 Improved Early White Spine, 
 89, 187. 
 
 London Long Green, 89, 187. 
 Currants, 159. 
 
 Dewberry, Lucretia, 161. 
 Diagram of the garden, 15, 16, 172. 
 
 Key to the, 17. 
 Dwarf or Bush Beans, ISO. 
 
 Early or Summer Cabbages, 54. 
 Egg Plant, 91, 183. 
 varieties of, 94. 
 Black Pekin, 184. 
 Extra Early Dwarf Round Pur- 
 ple, 94. 
 New York Improved Large 
 Purple, 94, 184. 
 Endive, 191. 
 Batavian, 191. 
 Green Curled, 191. 
 
 Garden, diagram of the, 15, 16. 
 
 laying out the, 12. 
 
 planting the, 35. 
 
 situation of the, 9. 
 
 soil of the, 11. 
 Globe Artichoke, 175. 
 Gooseberries, 159. 
 Grapes, 163. 
 Gumbo, 188. 
 
 Hammond's Slug Shot, 91. 
 Hops, 95. 
 
 Horse Radish, 94, 174. 
 Hotbeds and cold frames, 21. 
 
 Jerusalem Artichoke, 1 75, 
 
 Kale, or Borecole, 192. 
 
 Dwarf German Giecns, 192. 
 Key to diagram, 17. 
 Kohl Rabi, 181, 189. 
 
 Early White Vienna, 181. 
 
 Late or Winter Cabbages, 55. 
 Laying out the garden, 12. 
 Leeks, 188, 189. 
 Lettuce, 96, 178, 193. 
 varieties of, 100. 
 
 Burpee's Golden Heart, 179. 
 
 Burpee's Hard-Head, 100. 
 
 Burpee's Silver Ball, 101. 
 
 Burpee's Tomhannock, 100. 
 
 Cos, 179. 
 
 Hammersmith, 193. 
 
 New York, 179. 
 
 Perpetual, 179. 
 
 Philadelphia White Cabbage, 
 102. 
 
 Stoneher.l Golden Yellow, 101. 
 
 The Deacon, 102. 
 
 The Hanson, 102, 179. 
 
 The Tennis Ball, 102. 
 Lucretia Dewberry, 161. 
 
 Manure, 167. 
 Musk Melon, 69. 
 
 Okra, 102, 189. 
 Onions, 103, 180. 
 varieties of, 108. 
 
 Lai-ge Red Wethersfield, 109, 
 
 181. 
 White Globe, 109. 
 White Silverskin, or White Por- 
 tugal, 109. 
 Yellow Globe Danvers, 108,181. 
 Italian varieties of, 110, 181. 
 Burpee's Mammoth Silver 
 
 King, 112. 
 Earliest White Green, 111. 
 Giant Red Rocca, 110. 
 Giant Yellow Rocca, 111. 
 
 Parsley, 112, 176. 
 
 Extra Curled Dwarf, 113. 
 Parsnips, 113, 178. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 197 
 
 Parsnips, varieties of, 115. 
 
 Improved Guernsey, 115. 
 Peas, 115, 179. 
 varieties of, 117. 
 
 American Wonder, 118, 180. 
 
 Burpee's Extra Early, 117. 
 
 Burpee's Quality, 120. 
 
 Burpee's Quantity, 120. 
 
 Champion of England, 120, 
 
 Extra Early Premium Gem, 
 118. 
 
 Laxton's Earliest of All, 118. 
 
 Laxton's Evolution, 119. 
 
 Philadelphia Extra Early, 180. 
 
 Pride of the Market, 118. 
 
 Telephone, 180. 
 
 The Stratagem, 119. 
 Peppers, 121, 188. 
 varieties of, 122. 
 
 Bull Nose and Golden Dawn, 
 123, 189. 
 
 Burpee's Golden Upright, 123. 
 
 Burpee's Ruby King, i22, 189. 
 
 Celestial Pepper, 124. 
 
 Long Narrow Cayenne, 121. 
 
 Procopp's Giant, 124. 
 
 Red Cluster, 123. 
 
 Spanish Monstrous, 124:. 
 Pie Plant, 174. 
 Planting the garden, 35. 
 Pole Beans, 185. 
 Potatoes, 133, 183. 
 Early Ohio, 183. 
 Sweet, 135, 188. 
 Procuring the seeds and plants, 15. 
 Pumpkins, 125. 
 varieties of, 126. 
 
 Golden Marrow, 126. 
 
 Quaker Pie, 126. 
 
 Saint George or Old Negro, 126. 
 
 Small Sugar, 126. 
 
 Radishes, 126, 178, 191. 
 varieties of, 128. 
 
 Burpee's Earliest, 128. 
 California Mammoth White 
 
 Winter, 128, 192. 
 Chinese Rose Winter, 128, 192. 
 Earliest Carmine. Olive-shaped, 
 
 130. 
 Early Long Scarlet Short Top, 
 
 'l29. 
 Early Oval Dark Red, 130. 
 Early Round Dark Red, 130. 
 
 Radishes, Earlj"^ White Turijip, 130. 
 French Breakftist, 130, 179. 
 Half Long Scarlet, 130. 
 Round Black Spanish Winter, 
 
 128, 192. 
 White-tipped Turnip, 130. 
 Wood's Early Frame, 130. 
 Summer varieties of, 131. 
 Burpee's Surprise, 132. 
 Chartiers or Shepherd, 132, 
 
 179. 
 Giant White Stuttgart, 131, 
 
 179, 192. 
 Golden Globe, 131, 179. 
 Long White Globe, 132. 
 Long White Vienna, 131. 
 White Strasburg, 132. 
 Winter varieties of, 132. 
 
 California Mammoth White, 
 
 132, 192. 
 Chinese Rose, 133. 
 White Spanish, 192. 
 Raspberries, Black Cap and Red, 
 161. 
 Philadelphia and Cuthbert, 161. 
 Rhubarb, 159, 174. 
 
 Sage, 136, 176. 
 
 Salad, Corn, 193. 
 
 Salsify, 178. 
 
 Saving seeds, 167. 
 
 Seeds and plants, procuring the, 
 
 15. 
 Situation of the garden, 9. 
 Slug Shot, Hammond's, 91. 
 Small Lima, or Sieva Bean, 186. 
 Soil of the garden, 11. 
 Spinach, 136, 178, 193. 
 varieties of, 137. 
 
 New Long Standing, 138. 
 New Thick-leaved Round, 137, 
 
 193. 
 Norfolk Savoy-leaved, 137. 
 Prickly Winter, 193. 
 Squashes, 138. 
 
 Summer varieties of, 140. 
 Brazil Sugar, 187. 
 Early White Bush, or Patty- 
 Pan, 140. 
 Golden Summer Crookneck, 
 
 140. 
 White Pineapple, or White 
 Turban, 140, 187. 
 Winter varieties of, 141. 
 
198 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sqviashes, Essex Hybrid, 141, 187. 
 
 Hubbard, 142, 187. 
 Strawberries, 164. 
 Summer Cabbages, 54. 
 Sweet Corn, 83, 182. 
 Sweet Herbs, 176. 
 
 Anise, 176. 
 
 Caraway, 176. 
 
 Coriander, 176. 
 
 Dill, 176. 
 
 Sage, 176. 
 
 Summer Savory, 1 76. 
 
 Sweet Basil, 176. 
 
 Sweet Fennel, 176. 
 
 Sweet Marjoram, 176. 
 
 Thyme, 176. 
 Sweet Potato, 135, 188. 
 
 Tomatoes, 142, 183. 
 varieties of, 146. 
 
 Burpee's Cardinal, 146. 
 Burpee's Climax, 148. 
 Essex Early Hybrid, 148. 
 Extra Early Advance, 146. 
 Golden Queen, 149. 
 Livingston's Perfection, 184. 
 Mikado, 184, 185. 
 Pear-shaped Yellow, 151. 
 Red Cherry, 157. 
 Turner Hybrid, 149, 185. 
 Victoria, 151. 
 
 White Apple, 151. 
 Tools, 29. 
 
 Cultivator, 31. 
 
 Tools— Fire-fly hand plow, 33. 
 Hand hoes, 35. 
 Harrow, 30. 
 Plow, 29. 
 Roller, 31. 
 Seed drill, 34. 
 Shovels, 35. 
 Spades, 35. 
 Steel rakes, 35. 
 Trowels, 35. 
 Wheel hoe, 32. 
 Turnips, 151, 191. 
 varieties of, 153. 
 
 Early Red, or Purple Top 
 
 Strap-leaved, 153, 192. 
 Early White Flnt Dutch, 153. 
 Extra Early Purple Top Milan, 
 • 154. 
 White Egg, 154. 
 
 Vetticost, 192. 
 
 Watermelons, 154. 
 varieties of, 156. 
 
 Burpee's Mammoth Ironclad, 
 156. 
 
 Cuban Queen, 158. 
 
 Hungarian Honey, 156. 
 
 Ice Cream, 159. 
 
 Icing, or Ice Rind, 157. 
 
 Jordan's Gray Monarch, 159. 
 
 Kolb's Gem, 158. 
 
 Phinney's Early, 159. 
 Winter Cabbages, 55. 
 
BURPEE'S 
 
 "HOW TO GROW 
 
 PRIZE ESSAYS. 
 
 How to Grow Melons for Market. 
 
 Illustrated. Price 30 Cents, postpaid, by mail. 
 
 Our cash prizes for best essays on this subject were won by 
 Mr. J. E. Eue, Jr., of Littleton, N. C; Mr. J. T. Rosa, of 
 Waverly Mills, S. C, and special prize for merit by Wm. 
 Bailey, Esq., of Zanes^dlle, Ohio. In order to present the 
 subject to our readers in the most comprehensive and concise 
 manner, we have compiled from these essays and our own ex- 
 perience a treatise that we think will be of value to every 
 melon grower. It treats of both Musk Melons and Water- 
 melons, with full information on the selection of soil, use and 
 application of manures, selection of suitable and profitable 
 varieties, planting the seed, destruction of insects, copious notes 
 on cultivation of the crop, how to grow extra large melons, how 
 and when to gather for market, and how to preserve for late use. 
 
 May be had of the Publishers of the Leading Agricultural 
 Papers, or will be sent, postpaid by mail, upon receipt of price, by 
 
 W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO, 
 
 Nos. 475 and 477 North Fifth Street, 
 Nos. 476 and 478 York Avenue, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
POW JO GPOW 
 OJIIOJIS, 
 
 WITH NOTES ON VARIETIES. 
 
 An exhaustive treatise, giving in full the prize essay, with 
 the above title, by Mr. T. Greiner, of Monmouth County, 
 N. J., also Onion Growing by Irrigation, by Col. O. 
 H. Arlie, of Lake View, Oregon — carefully edited, with 
 additional notes, including an article on the Growing of Sets, 
 by W. Atlee Buepee. Besides other matter, it gives com- 
 plete instructions on all the following subjects : — 
 
 Kinds of Soil — Preparation of the Soil — Manures : How, 
 When and What Kinds to Apply — Seed — Sowing the Seed — 
 Rolling — Cultivation — Hand Weeding — The Most Useful Im- 
 plements — Thinning — Injurious Insects — Harvesting the Crop 
 — How to M^irket — Storing for Winter — American Varieties of 
 Onions — Italian Varieties — How to Grow, Handle and Store 
 Onion Sets — Onion Growing by Irrigation — General Remarks. 
 
 Each subject connected with growing Onions is treated in a 
 plain and practical manner, so that Farmers who have never 
 before raised Onions for market can succeed, while even ex- 
 perienced growers may find facts of interest. ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 PRICE, 30 CENTS. Sent by mail, postpaid, to any 
 address, upon receipt of price. Address 
 
 W, ATU^^ 3\}R?tt & CO., 
 
 Seed Growers, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
HOW TO GROW 
 
 Gabbages and Eauliflowers 
 
 MOST PROFITABLY. 
 
 Illustrated, Price 30 cents, postpaid, by mail. 
 
 It is not too mucli to say that this book gives the most com- 
 plete information on the successful growing of these important 
 crops that has ever been published. The prize essays, carefully 
 edited, are published in full, and are written by growers of 
 long experience — Capt. G. H. Howard, of Suffolk County, 
 L. I., well known as one of the most successful and largest 
 growers of Cauliflower and Cabbage in America, and by Mr. J. 
 Pedeesen (Bjergaard), of Denmark, a well-known writer 
 and grower. To these is added an appendix that will interest 
 our lady friends, giving, as it does, the recipes for cooking these 
 vegetables, furnished for this book by Mr. S. J. Soyer, Chief 
 Cook to His Majesty, the King of Denmark. The book treats 
 fully on : — 
 
 How to succeed with CABBAGES— The Best Soils— The Cabbage a 
 Greedy Feeder — Manures — Planting and Cultivation— Insects — Early Cabbages — 
 Late Cabbages— Cutting and Marketing. — ^^■^———^ 
 
 CAULIFLOWER —Selection of Land— Making Seed Bed and Sowing 
 Seed— Cultivation— The Earliest Forcing of Cauliilowers— Cauliflowers in the 
 Open Ground— For the Family Garden— Enemies of the Cauliflower— Varieties 
 
 Tying and Bleaching — Cutting — Trimming — Packing for Market — How to 
 
 Keep for Winter Use — Numerous Recipes for Cooking Cabbage and Cauliflower. 
 
 Few, if any, crops that can be grown on the farm yield larger 
 returns than Cabbage and Cauliflower, and with this "How 
 to Grow " Treatise success is reasonably assured. 
 
 To be had of Houses handling Agricultural Books, or will be 
 sent, postpaid, by mail, upon receipt of price by the Publishers, 
 
 W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA., AND LONDON, ENGLAND. 
 
ROOT CROPS 
 
 FOR 
 
 STOCK FEEDING, 
 
 AND HOW TO GROW THEM. 
 
 Illustrated. Price 30 Cents, by mail, postpaid. 
 
 This treatise has been carefully compiled from the prize 
 essays, with copious additions from our own experience in 
 growing these crops. It treats fully not only on How to 
 Grow, but also How to Store and How to Feed, with notes 
 on the relative value for stock feeding of the different A'arieties 
 of Beets, Mangels, Carrots, Parsnips, Turnips and Ruta Bagas. 
 In these days of low prices for cereals and high valuation of 
 land, Root Crops for Stock Feeding is a subject of the 
 greatest importance to every progressive farmer desirous of 
 making the farm pay a profit. 
 
 Sent by mail, postpaid, upon receipt of price. 
 
 BURPEE'S FARM ANNUAL. 
 
 A handsomely illustrated catalogue of the Best Garden, Farm 
 and Flower Seeds, Bulbs and Plants is published by January 
 1st of each year and mailed gratis to all intending purchasers of 
 seeds. Address , / 
 
 W.ATLEE BURPEE & 00., 
 
 ^^ Seed Gi^owei^s, 
 
 PD61 a PHILADELPHIA, pa. 
 
^^ 
 
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