Copyright)^?. 
 
 COPVRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
THE 
 
 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 
 
 IN 
 
 GARDEN AND FIELD 
 
 A MANUAL OF PRACTICE, WITH AND WITHOUT IRRIGA- 
 TION, FOR SEMI-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 
 
 SECOND EDITION — REVISED AND EXTENDED 
 
 BY EDWARD J. WICKSON, A.M. 
 Dean and Pi'ofessor of Agriculture in the College of Agriculture 
 of the University of California; Director and Horticulturist 
 of the Agricultural Experiment Station; Author of "Cali- 
 fornia Fruits and How to Grow Them;" Editor of The Pacific 
 Rural Press; Member of the National Council of Horticul- 
 ture, etc. 
 
 Pacific Rural Press 
 
 san francisco 
 
 1910 
 
^^ 
 
 
 Copyright, 1910, 
 
 BY 
 
 EdWABU J. WiCKSON AND PACIFIC RUBAL PbESS. 
 
 ©CI.A273458 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In view of the very appreciative reception which the 
 public accorded to the first edition of this work and the 
 urgent demand for its reappearance, it is deeply regretted 
 by the writer that the present edition has been so long 
 delayed. It seemed, however, unavoidable. The revision 
 necessary to include later results of experience and obser- 
 vation and extension to fitly include the advancement of 
 certain vegetables in commercial volume and importance 
 and the methods of handling them, largely developed by 
 local study and experiment, have required much attention. 
 In fact, the revision of the work has required a repetition 
 of the same effort which was invoked in its initial prep- 
 aration, and for which the following claim was made in 
 the preface to the First Edition : 
 
 "There are very good reasons why the task of preparing 
 such a book has been so long delayed. The subject is 
 appalling in its intricacy. Conditions of soil and climate 
 in California are varied to the last degree, and practice 
 must vary with them. No matter how skilful and success- 
 ful a man may be in his particular locality, his experience 
 can only be a safe guide to those who happen to work 
 under similar conditions. For this reason, though there 
 have been admirable local writers on garden practice from 
 the beginning, their writings, no matter how diligently 
 collected and how well printed, would not constitute a 
 suggestive treatise unless the enquirer should analyze the 
 local conditions and practice and translate them into 
 terms of wide applicability. To do this it is necessary that 
 the principles underlying the successful practice should be 
 discerned and the significance of conditions be interpreted. 
 This task could only be discharged by one who has had 
 opportunity for wide collection of data, and for extended 
 personal observation as well, and one for whom labor 
 would be continually lightened by enthusiastic delight in 
 the siTbject itself. All these advantages the writer can 
 
frankly claim, but how well they have been employed in 
 this work it is for the reader to judge." 
 
 In a work of this kind, involving the experience and 
 observation of many individuals during a considerable 
 period of time, it is impossible to render a full account 
 of the writer's indebtedness. Whenever direct use has 
 been made of the experience and methods which others 
 have formulated, an attempt has been made to give defi- 
 nite credit to the source. When such accounts of experi- 
 ence are used without citation of publication credit is in 
 most cases due to the columns of the Pacific Rural Press, a 
 journal which has been the chief medium for publication 
 of information of this kind for the last forty years. 
 
 E. J. WiCKSON. 
 
 University of California, Berkeley, August, 1910. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 I. Vegetable Growing in California 9 
 
 II. Parmer's Gardens in California 19 
 
 III. California Climate as Related to Vegetable Growing. 28 
 
 IV. Vegetable Soils of California 37 
 
 V. Garden Irrigation 47 
 
 VI. Garden Drainage in California 74 
 
 VII. Cultivation 81 
 
 VIII. Fertilization 95 
 
 Villa. Garden Protection 106 
 
 VIII6. Weeds in California. 116 
 
 VIIIc. Seed Growing in California 120 
 
 IX. Garden Location and Arrangement 129 
 
 X. The Planting Season 138 
 
 XI. Propagation 155 
 
 XII. Artichokes 172 
 
 XIII. Asparagus 177 
 
 XIV. Beans 188 
 
 XV. Beet 206 
 
 XVI. Cabbage Family 221 
 
 XVII. Carrot, Parsnip, and Salsify 237 
 
 XVIII. Celery 244 
 
 XIX. Chicory 255 
 
 XX. Corn 259 
 
 XXI. Cucumber 266 
 
 XXII. Egg Plant 270 
 
 XXIII. Lettuce 272 
 
 XXIV. Melons 277 
 
 XXV. Onion Family 289 
 
 XXVI. Peas 304 
 
 XXVII. Peppers 311 
 
 XXVIII. Potatoes 316 
 
 XXIX. Radishes 328 
 
 XXX. Rhubarb 331 
 
 XXXI. Spinach 335 
 
 XXXII. Squashes 337 
 
 XXXIII. Tomato 342 
 
 XXXIV. Turnip 351 
 
 XXXV. Vegetable Sundries 353 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 VEGETABLE GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Though California enjoys world-wide fame for fruits it 
 is an interesting fact that the State first won horticultural 
 recognition by achievements in vegetable growing. Gar- 
 den seeds were more easily transported than trees and 
 formed a part of the scant baggage of many gold-seekers. 
 Seeds were also freely sent by home friends or quickly ob- 
 tained on orders to Eastern dealers as soon as the agri- 
 culturists among the argonauts saw their opportunity in 
 the fabulous rates which esculents commanded. Results 
 too were more quickly secured with garden seeds than 
 with fruit trees. Only a few weeks after their planting 
 the grower saw that he was dealing with forcing and de- 
 veloping agencies in climate and soil more effective than 
 any he had known in his old home and he was quite as sur- 
 priesd at his own achievements as his Eastern friends were 
 incredulous of his descriptions of them. They were ready 
 to believe anything about gold, because their conception 
 of a gold country involved its traditional right to be fa- 
 bulous, but such a concession was not to be made to com- 
 mon vegetables. Eastern people knew cabbages and beans 
 and to attribute to them colossal dimensions and to allege 
 that they grew from seed to succotash without a drop of 
 rain was simply coarse lying. It is easy to see why a 
 milder word would be considered inadequate, for the fol- 
 lowing was one of California's first horticultural procla- 
 mations : 
 
 "On land owned and cultivated by ]\Ir. James Williams, 
 of Santa Cruz, an onion grew to the enormous weight of 
 21 pounds, and a. turnip was grown which equaled exactly 
 in size the top of a flour barrel. On land owned and cul- 
 
10 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 tivated by Thomas Fallen, a cabbage grew which meas- 
 ured, while growing, 13 feet and 6 inches around its body. 
 The weight is not known. A beet grown by Mr. Isaac 
 Brannan, at San Jose, weighed 63 pounds; carrots three 
 feet in length, weighed 40 pounds. At Stockton, a turnip 
 weighed 100 pounds, and at a dinner for 12 persons, of a 
 single potato, larger than the size of an ordinary hat, all 
 partook, leaving at least the half untouched." — Rep. of 
 the Com. of Patents for 1851 : Part II, p. 4. 
 
 These statements are vouched for by 12 persons whose 
 names are given. To save the respect of their Eastern 
 friends and at the same time to loyally make known the 
 horticultural glory of the laud they had found, the early 
 vegetable growers had recourse to public exhibitions. The 
 first was held in the fall of 1851 in San Francisco. The ex- 
 hibits did not quite equal the verdict of the horticultural 
 jury cited above but they were notable, e. g. : a red beet 
 from San Jose, 28 inches in circumference, weight 47 
 pounds ; beets two months from seed in San Francisco, six 
 and seven pounds ; cabbage from Mission San Jose seven 
 feet in circumference, weight 56 pounds ; cucumbers 18 
 inches in length ; onions five, six and seven inches in dia- 
 meter from a product of nearly 70,000 pounds to the acre ; 
 potatoes from Santa Cruz, 125 pounds from the five vines 
 of a single hill and one potato from Santa Clara 13 inches 
 in length, weighing 7i/4 pounds ; pumpkins and squashes 
 from 100 to 140 pounds each. . 
 
 The demonstrations furnished by such public exhibi- 
 tions, of which there were several in the early years of 
 San Francisco, were accepted at the East, and even such 
 conservative experts as the late Dr. Warder, of Ohio, 
 were led to exclaim, as early as 1852: "truly this is a 
 wonderful country." To fully appreciate the significance 
 of the facts it must be remembered that the varieties were 
 those of nearly half a century ago and the culture was 
 wholly lacking in the intensive arts which are common 
 property of vegetable growers of the present day. The 
 
PIONEER VEGETABLES 11 
 
 immensity of the specimens and of the crop, wonderful to 
 the grower and incredible to the distant hearer, was 
 simply the exponent of the capacity of a virgin soil, in 
 which fertility had been accumulating for ages, and the 
 forcing power of a climate wholly new to Americans. In 
 later years California has surpassed even these early stan- 
 dards through the employment of higher horticultural 
 skill, as will be described presently, but it was upon the 
 achievements of the vegetable growers at the very begin- 
 ning of the American occupation that California's horti- 
 cultural reputation was established. 
 
 How the Pioneers Prospered by Vegetable Growing. — 
 It would be easy to collect quite a volume of interesting 
 instances of how success was attained in the early days, 
 but a single experience must suffice. It illustrates both 
 the resources of the pioneers and the country which they 
 found. G. G. Briggs left New York State in April, 1849, 
 and arrived in California in October of the same year, 
 driving an ox team and walking most of the way. He 
 says : 
 
 "When I arrived in California I saw at once that there 
 were other means of accumulating gold besides digging it 
 from the mines; that miners and all classes would need 
 turnips and cabbage and other products of the soil; that 
 even then many were suffering with scurvy and other dis- 
 eases for the want of fresh vegetable food. The large crops 
 of native grapes on the banks of the Sacramento were 
 proof of the productive capacity of the California soil and 
 climate. Reaching Sacramento, our party of four had no 
 money and no property but our wagon and three yoke of 
 oxen. I could find no work whatever. I got trusted by a 
 storekeeper for a sack of walnuts and sold them to passers 
 by the teacupful and in five days cleared $50. We sold our 
 oxen and with my part of the money I went to San Fran- 
 cisco to buy garden seeds with which to start vegetable 
 growing on a piece of land I had previously seen in the 
 bottom of the Yuba river, near the present site of Marys- 
 
12 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 ville. As it was too early in the season to plant, I bought 
 a whale-boat and began freighting goods; and by spring 
 I had accumulated about $3000. The last load freighted 
 by me included a ton of potatoes, which cost me 40c. a 
 pound. My seeds and potatoes were planted in IMarch, 
 1851, and everything was doing well until cut to the 
 ground by frost on April 19. My potatoes, however, came 
 up again and made a fair crop. I was not to be cheated 
 out of my vegetable crop, and started out again to buy 
 seeds, but could find none, either in Sacramento or in San 
 Francisco. Returning to Sacramento, I chanced upon 
 some watermelon seeds on the boat, and bought the lot for 
 $20. With these I planted five acres, and cleaned up 
 about $5000 dollars for one summer's work. The next 
 year I planted about 26 acres of watermelons, and in the 
 fall I found I had $20,000 for my summer's work." 
 
 With the money Mr. Briggs returned to New York for 
 his family and brought also, on his return, some fruit trees, 
 and laid the foundation of his subsequent brilliant rec- 
 ord as a pioneer fruit grower. Others followed about the 
 same course and thus vegetable growing became not only 
 the basis of California's horticultural reputation but ac- 
 tually furnished the capital for the ventures which dem- 
 onstrated the possibility of our great fruit industries. 
 
 Vegetables at the Missions and the Ranches. — The Am- 
 erican pioneers found little at the establishments of the old 
 regime that was instructive or even suggestive. In fact 
 the Spanish conception of the agricultural capacity and 
 adaptability of the country was not only inadequate ; it 
 was erroneous as well. Though the missions had gardens 
 they were almost destitute of gardening as we understand 
 the term and whether the Spanish and IMexican settlers 
 were deterred from vegetable growing by their distaste 
 for any physical exertion, away from the saddle, or by 
 their ignorance of the fitness of the country, is not a ques- 
 tion of much importance in this connection. Hittell says: 
 "Gardening was not attempted except on a very small 
 
VEGETABLES ON THE RANCHES 13 
 
 scale and only for such vegetables as could be produced 
 with very little labor. Potatoes and turnips were rare and 
 of garden vegetables in general it may be said that until 
 the advent of foreign settlers they were scarcely culti- 
 vated." Bryant, who visited California in 1846 and ex- 
 amined the Los Angeles gardens, saw only onions, pota- 
 toes, red peppers and beans and added that he beli(!ved 
 other vegetables would grow as well as they. 
 
 Illustrating the inability of the rancheros to understand 
 the wide applicability of the simple horticultural lessons 
 given at the missions, it is related that at the time of the 
 American settlement most of the Spanish families living 
 in different parts of Alameda and Contra Costa had their 
 garden patches near the Mission San Jose. They knew 
 fruit and vegetables would grow there, because they had 
 seen them in the mission gardens and they did not know 
 they would grow elsewhere and had not taken the trouble 
 to find out. Thus the Estudillos of San Leandro had their 
 garden patch at the Mission San Jose and transported 
 Iheir vegetables 15 or 20 miles while right outside the door 
 of their house at San Leandro was the finest garden soil 
 in the world, and they did not know it ! 
 
 Neither the mission gardeners nor the rancheros had any 
 idea of the capacity of the country for summer crops with- 
 out irrigation and without any adequate conception of the 
 offices of cultivation they could hardly have attained it. 
 Hence, not having the irrigation facilities which were de- 
 veloped at the missions, and not being inclined to any 
 labor by which their own lands could be irrigated, they 
 would naturally go to the water rather than attempt to 
 bring the water to their land for anything more than stock 
 and domestic uses. Almost at sight the American pioneer 
 horticulturists discerned possibilities and adaptations in 
 the soil and climate which their predecessors had not dis- 
 covered during 75 years of occupation. The relations of 
 race to horticultural progress are very interesting. 
 
 Vicissitudes of Early Vegetable Growing. — Those who 
 
14 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 first discerned the fact that it was easier to get gold with 
 the hoe than with the pick, realized market prices as sur- 
 prisingly great as the vegetables they grew. John M. 
 Horner, of Alameda county, is reported to have cleared 
 about $150,000 from his large venture of SOO acres in vege- 
 table growing in 1851, and others gained much more per 
 acre than he, with smaller operations which did not re- 
 quire so much high-priced labor. But the demonstration 
 of their success proved its destruction. Plantations were 
 made out of all proportion to requirements and disastrous 
 overproduction speedily ensued. The second year after 
 the exhibition in San Francisco, to which allusion has been 
 made, there was a collapse. The following account of po- 
 tato growing shows how sharp was the turn in affairs : 
 
 In 1852 Beard & Horner's potato crop at Alvarado av- 
 eraged 200 sacks (about 12 tons) to the acre, and sold for 
 upwards of $100,000. The following year everybody cul- 
 tivated them. In Pajaro valley 20,000 sacks were one day 
 bet on a horse race. Beard & Horner contracted theirs in 
 advance at 21/20- a pound to San Francisco merchants. 
 Garrison took 1,000,000 pounds, which were never re- 
 moved, but were allowed to rot on the ground. Saunders 
 & Co. purchased a large quantity, which ttiey stowed aAvay 
 in a hulk in the bay. As warm weather came on the pota- 
 toes commenced growing and threatened to burst the ves- 
 sel open. They commenced dumping the potatoes nito the 
 bay, but the harbor master stopped it, and the owners had 
 to pay for their removal to another locality. 
 
 With the first disaster the charm and spirit of pioneer 
 vegetable growing passed away. There was, of course, 
 quick recovery in values and very profitable business dune, 
 but it was not the same grand affair and it did not accord 
 with the adventurous spirit of the day. Snu\ll growers 
 near the cities and the mining camps did Avell, but there 
 was not dash enough about market gardening for Ameri- 
 cans and it was soon given over to immigrants from the 
 south of Europe and China and has never been recovered. 
 
FOREIGN COMPETITION. 15 
 
 Field growth of staple vegetables on a large scale has been 
 continued by Americans, but even in this line he has often 
 been obliged to withdraw from competition with Chinese, 
 Portuguese and Italians with their cheaper labor supply 
 and living expenses. Great enterprises in live stock, 
 wheat, wool and fruit afforded opportunities more to the 
 American taste than vegetable growing. The American 
 settler had incomparably more energy and industrial am- 
 bition than his predecessors, the Mexicans, but he shared 
 with them a liking for doing his work in the saddle or on 
 the seat of a riding plow, cultivator or harvester. Within 
 a decade from the date of the American demonstration of 
 the unique fitness of California for vegetable growing 
 there arose occasion for frequent exhortations to Califor- 
 nia farmers to restore the garden to its proper place in 
 farm plan and policy, and yet California farmers neglected 
 to supply their own tables and the proper adornment of 
 their house yards until the ranch lioQie in this land of 
 beauty and grand horticultural opportunities became a by- 
 word for unthrift and desolation. Fortunately there has 
 been such wonderful improvement during the last decade 
 that these epithets no longer apply to California country 
 homes. 
 
 Competition with Foreigners.^ — One of the difficulties of 
 the present situation is that while the American-born Cali- 
 fornian has decried vegetable growing, the immigrants 
 from southern Europe and eastern Asia have strongly 
 entrenched themselves in it. Now the competition which 
 the American grower has to encounter is depressing and 
 discouraging. And yet the situation is not at all hope- 
 less. The foreigners are not, as a rule, progressive. They 
 are frugal and industrious to an extreme and they under- 
 take a great deal to please their customers with variety 
 as well as low prices. In some points the American com- 
 petitor can learn from them to advantage. But it is quite 
 easy to surpass them in quality by constant effort for im- 
 proved varieties, which they are slow to introduce, and 
 to cheapen production b,y the use of horse labor and im- 
 
16 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 proved tools, while they plod along with hand methods 
 and appliances. If the California farmer should put forth 
 the same effort to adapt conditions to ends and to keep 
 himself at the very front in materials and arts of produc- 
 tion in the growing and selling of vegetables that he has 
 employed in the growing and selling of fruit, we should 
 hear far less of the superiority of the foreigner in the vege- 
 table garden. 
 
 Recent Achievements in Vegetable Growing. — Although 
 California horticulturists as a class are charged with ne- 
 glect of vegetable growing, and though it must be admit- 
 ted that the term horticulture and its derivatives are al- 
 most wholly used in California to signify fruit growing, it 
 is an important fact that we have vegetable growers who 
 hold the country's record for volumes and uniqueness of 
 special products. A new phase of the vegetable growing 
 industry of the State arose with the openings of the over- 
 land railways. The Eastern demand for some kind of 
 vegetables has led to their production of several import- 
 ant vegetable crops in very large volume and has thus 
 given us specialty farming in vegetables somewhat com- 
 parable with our great fruit specialties. Along this line 
 vegetable growing has seemed worthy of American effort 
 and our people have been proud to undertake production 
 by the carload or trainload of the very crops which they 
 would scorn to think of growing by the wagonload. The 
 features of this line of production will appear in connec- 
 tion with the discussion of the special kinds of vegetables 
 which are involved in it. 
 
 The statistics of vegetable shipment beyond State lines 
 as given by an expert authority for the years specified is 
 as follows : 
 
 Shipment of Fresh Vegetables by Rail and Sea. — (Car- 
 loads of 10 tons each): 1902, 6130; 1903, 7839; 1904, 
 4429 ; 1905, 5961 ; 1906, 8982 ; 1907, 4808 ; 1908, 9350 ; 1909, 
 8978. 
 
 The grower for shipment is a specialist; he grows but 
 few kinds, and often one kind only, and it becomes nee- 
 
THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCT. 17 
 
 essary for him to study the particular kind he raises in all 
 its forms, not only as to selection of variety, but to ob- 
 tain the very best strain of that variety. He also has to 
 study very closely the most economical methods of plant- 
 ing, cultivation, harvesting, and marketing. Location in 
 many instances determines what he shall raise. The chief 
 point to consider is to raise that vegetable which succeeds 
 best at the right time for shipment and to select land and 
 location which favors that achievement. 
 
 Canned Vegetables. — Another form in which our vege- 
 tables are reaching distant markets in considerable quan- 
 tities is the product of the canneries. The following is a 
 statement of the total pack of vegetables in the years 
 stated : 
 
 California Product of Canned Vegetables. 
 
 (cases of 24 cans). 
 
 1907. 1908. 1909. 
 
 Asparagus 174,435 238,420 410,965 
 
 Beans 74,040 39,765 12,435 
 
 Peas 51,565 88,510 104,010 
 
 Tomatoes 1,539,310 1,106,875 672,260 
 
 Other kinds 102,405 28,315 43,050 
 
 Drying vegetables has been pursued in a small way for 
 a number of years. The rapid extension of the mining in- 
 terest in remote parts of the Pacific Coast created a quick 
 demand for dried vegetables and it was thought that they 
 would constitute an important item in distant shipments, 
 but whenever transportation is established the superior 
 succulence of fresh and canned vegetables discounts the 
 dried product. 
 
 The volume of California vegetable products includes, 
 of course, dry beans, beet sugar, etc., which are mentioned 
 in the chapters relating thereto. 
 
 Diversity in Garden Practice in California. — It is hardly 
 too much to say that our garden practice is an epitome of 
 all ancient and modern cultural arts, for we have both 
 survival of very old methods and subterfuges and wider 
 
18 CATJFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 deiiioiislrations of the truth of advjmecd ('oiic('i)tions of 
 cultui-al efficacy than can probably be found in any other 
 State. This is not due to any purpose or design on the 
 part of our people. It is merely their notable resources of 
 adaptalnlity and ingeiniity brought to bear upon the wide 
 range of conditions involved in our combined winter and 
 summer gardening which concentrates in a single common- 
 wealth all the diversity one might encounter if he were 
 a peripatetic gardener with an itinerary extending from 
 Ireland to Algeria. Nor is this remark intended merely 
 as a reference to the natural diversity of the different 
 parts of the State, because success may require more or 
 less distinct methods in summer and in winter in the same 
 region. In short, the California gardener has to know arid- 
 land practice and humid-land practice and call them both 
 into requisition equally or incline toward one or the other 
 as his conditions demand. 
 
 It takes a man of some depth and breadth to do this, 
 and this is the reason why land owners who have brought 
 skilled horticultural practitioners from abroad to develop 
 their properties have experienced so many disappoint- 
 ments. It requires head as well as handicraft to master 
 the situation, as subsequent chapters will suggest. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 FARMER'S GARDENS IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 It has already been admitted that there has been, ever 
 since the development of large farming enterprises was 
 seen to be possible in California, an indisposition on the 
 part of our farmers to engage in vegetable growing. Sev- 
 eral reasons are urged as explanatory of this very wide- 
 spread sentiment and some of them may be cited : 
 
 First : The proper conduct of a large specialty farm gives 
 no time for gardening — not even for the direction of work 
 upon it — and it is better to buy vegetables than incur the 
 worry of a garden patch. 
 
 Second: In small specialty farming on a limited acre- 
 age of especially fitted and high priced land, it is not prof- 
 itable to set apart land for vegetables when its yield in 
 the special product may pay several times the cost of 
 purchased vegetables. 
 
 Third : Success with vegetables in California is very 
 difficult to attain- — especially so in certain parts of the 
 State — and a farmer is more apt to lose than to gain by 
 any venture he may make in that line. 
 
 Fourth : It is impossible to have a garden without irri- 
 gation water, even on lands which with ordinary rainfall 
 will yield cereals and carry productive deciduous fruit 
 trees if they are given good summer cultivation. 
 
 How Far Are the Objections Tenable? — It must be 
 granted that there is some force in the demurrer which the 
 California farmer often enters against his indictment for 
 lack of thrift and neglect of opportunities in not under- 
 taking to produce his home supply of fresh, crisp and 
 wholesome vegetables instead of depending upon the stale 
 and Avilted goods of the itinerant vendors. It is perfectly 
 
20 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 conceivable that, under certain conditions, the farmer had 
 better buy food supplies rather than produce them, con- 
 sequently the general denunciation of the unthrift of the 
 California farmer, which is often indulged in by those who 
 know little of the local situation and conditions, is really 
 unwarranted. California conditions, both in nature and 
 in farm policy, are so varied that criticisms and upbraid- 
 ings are often misplaced. And yet it is perfectly true that 
 vegetables "should be grown on farms in California much 
 more generally and in far greater variety than they have 
 been hitherto. It is not the intention of the writer to urge 
 this improvement upon sentimental considerations nor to 
 claim, as many seem inclined to do, that it is possible to 
 compass it by the fiat method. Too many of our critics 
 seem to hold that all the farmer has to do is to declare that 
 there shall be a garden and one will spring up around his 
 footsteps with ideal succulence, richness and deliciousness. 
 It will be better to attempt to show that there is an oppor- 
 tunity, providing its requirements be duly met, and that 
 there are really fewer difficulties in the way and greater 
 rewards for prompt and intelligent effort than many of 
 our farmers imagine. And this can be shown without 
 elaborate argument. A more striking demonstration will 
 probably lie in showing to the many the success of the few, 
 in order that they may draw therefrom lessons and ex- 
 hortations for their own incitement and success. This ser- 
 vice will be constantly held in view as this work proceeds. 
 
 Essentials to Success in Gardening. — There are three re- 
 quisites to success in gardening and they may be arranged 
 in alliteration thus, Will, Water, Work. They also stand 
 in the order of their relative importance in California. 
 Without a strong impulse In the will it is vain to expect 
 work and water to do their best. If the will is born of 
 taste, liking, enthusiasm, the task will be delightful and 
 the results grand in every way. Unless one has some joy 
 in the rich, moist earth as it yields its fragrance to the 
 touch of his tools; unless he can glory in the quick, re- 
 
ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS. 21 
 
 sponsive g'l'owth of the plant when his culture suits its 
 nature, and unless he finds pride and satisfaction in the 
 armful of delicious vegetables which he brings each day 
 to his helpmeet, with the dewdrops of the early morning 
 still sparkling upon their foliage, his gardening will never 
 be an easy task though it may be conscientiously and suc- 
 cessfully discharged. 
 
 But although it is possible to make a good and profitable 
 garden from a sense of duty and though work will reach 
 its due reward even though one can never bring himself to 
 see that the "primal curse" of the race is really its op- 
 portunity, it is a fact that without work there can be no 
 successful gardening in California. Perhaps work is the 
 price of success everywhere ; perhaps the aggregate of 
 muscular effort proportional to the result is less in Cali- 
 fornia than elsewhere but let no one deceive himself that 
 the California garden will make itself. The item of work 
 may be reduced to a minimum by intelligent direction. In- 
 sight and observation will teach just when each act should 
 be performed to secure the richest co-operative response 
 from nature's forces, and to miss this advantage will en- 
 tail a vast amount of unnecessary effort, but the modicum 
 of incisive action must be bestowed. It will appear later, 
 in connection with the discussion of the planting season, 
 that timely work is a prime factor — in fact the pivot upon 
 which the effort may turn from delight to disappointment. 
 California conditions, though exceedingly generous are 
 equally exacting — probably more exacting than those of 
 humid climates. It is clear then that not only is work an 
 essential, but it must be work well directed and main- 
 tained. The third essential is water. By due understand- 
 ing and employment of the characters of the natural grow- 
 ing season and of the soil in each locality, it is possible to 
 produce a great wealth and variety of vegetables in most 
 parts of the State without irrigation. In some parts suc- 
 cession or rotation can be carried through the year by the 
 most intelligent cultivation to prevent evaporation or by 
 
22 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 the use of land naturally and continuously moistened by 
 underflow. Still, the far greater area of the State Avill not 
 give satisfactory vegetable supply without additions to 
 rainfall and the irrigated garden should therefore be the 
 end in view in most of our farm i)lanning. Fortunately 
 this is not nearly so difficult to attain as is commonly 
 thought, as Mnll be shown in a later chapter, and if the 
 farm-architect have the will to work, he will not long lack 
 the v/ater to insure the perfection of his desires in his 
 home garden. 
 
 Possible Exceptions. — These faint suggestions of the re- 
 quirements of success in gardening, even on the narrow, 
 farm plan, may intimate that broadside exhortations to 
 vegetable growing are not wise and shed some light upon 
 the reasonableness of those who claim that they can not 
 profitably or successfully undertake it. Our great specialty 
 farmers are apt to have their heads and hands too full to 
 think of personally mastering gardening practice in a pe- 
 culiar country. The attempts which have been made to 
 transform the ordinary farm hand into a gardener have 
 usually only yielded disappointment, and the professional 
 gardeners who are really worthy of the name find it too 
 easy to acquire enterprises of their own to warrant their 
 wage-earning on the farm basis. It might as well be con- 
 ceded at once that many large farmers will do better to 
 purchase their supplies from some man who has the knowl- 
 edge and the soil and water facilities for successful pro- 
 duction. 
 
 It is also true that in many cases the small scale specialty 
 farmer, working a small tract of high-priced land for a 
 high-value product, does well to plant his entire holding, 
 except his house site, to this product. But it is also true 
 that other men of this class will find the reservation of a 
 garden area a most profitable proceeding. What each 
 shall do depends upon his personal traits and tastes. 
 
 But though these exceptions exist and should be consid- 
 ered in any claims that are made in favor of a much wider 
 
FARM GARDENS. 23 
 
 enlistment of California farmers in gardening for the pro- 
 duction, at least, of home supplies, the fact remains that 
 farm gardens should be multiplied and that, with proper 
 spirit and effort and appreciation of their value, they can 
 be more easily secured than the popular impression among 
 California farmers would indicate. There is a wealth of 
 experience to show that where good timely work is done, 
 under conditions either naturally favorable or rendered 
 favorable by moderate effort or investment, very gratify- 
 ing results have been attained on farms in all parts of 
 California. 
 
 Benefits of Farm Gardens. — It is trite to build arguments 
 on this theme, but the points can hardly be sharpened by 
 comment. The dietetic benefit of vegetable food in variety 
 has been demonstrated both by individual experience and 
 by the food studies which are now being systematically 
 pursued both in this country and Europe. Working force, 
 thinking force, the quality of success in all lines of human 
 effort, are all promoted by a generous, well-balanced food 
 supply. 
 
 The hygienic benefit of food, including due amount of 
 the succulent, aromatic, tonic and assimilable characters 
 which are inherent in fresh and well-grown vegetables, is 
 universally recognized by authorities. The truth has par- 
 ticular force in a region of high temperatures like Cali- 
 lornia. The so-called cooling of the blood, the develop- 
 ment of resistance to malaria, the free and healthful op- 
 eration of the various functions of the body, are unques- 
 uionably promoted by vegetable food. 
 
 The economic benefit of home-grown esculents has been 
 most clearly discerned during the last few years and the 
 result is a gratifying increase of interest in farm garden- 
 ing. More vegetables have been grown recently on Cali- 
 fornia farms than ever before. The low market values of 
 some of our most important special products have given 
 an impetus to diversification of crops which a century of 
 exhortation could not have compassed. California farmers 
 
24 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 have recognized as never before that sound farm policy 
 generally requires the home production of most food sup- 
 plies. Those who have endured with least hardship the 
 financial stress of beginning a farm enterprise are those 
 who have had least to buy and not those who had most to 
 sell. Many a farm has been saved from the mortgage by 
 the yield of subsidary products for home use and for ex- 
 change for essential home supplies. In this most import- 
 ant service the vegetable garden has done its full share 
 and has thus commended itself to the attention of many 
 who formerly looked upon the growth of ''garden sass" as 
 a sort of ignoble pothering. The farm garden saves money 
 and makes money if it is given adequate thought and gen- 
 erous effort. 
 
 This exhortation can be given forceful concreteness by 
 the following actual instance which occurred in one of our 
 warmer coast valleys : 
 
 "My garden consists of one acre of good river bottom 
 land, and as a matter of course is under good tilth. Be- 
 sides what we used at home and gave away, we sold to our 
 neighbors as follows : 
 
 "Green onions, $16; cauliflower, $7; spinach, $4; early 
 cabbage, $12 ; squashes, $8 ; green corn, $10.50 ; lettuce, 
 $2.25 ; tomatoes, $18 ; beets, $3 ; turnips, $4. Total, $84.75. 
 
 "What can be more profitable? Any farmer can do as 
 well if he will only try. How did we do it? I will tell 
 you. Early in November we planted top onions on one- 
 half acre, and on the other half we planted spinach, beets, 
 lettuce, turnips and carrots. Our seed beds were made in 
 December, and as soon as the onions were ready to pull 
 we replaced them with cabbages, pulling our onions with 
 regard to such planting, also making room for a succes- 
 sion of early peas and snap beans, and finally cucumbers. 
 Of the last three articles we sold a good quantity, and the 
 product will raise the total amount produced for the sea- 
 son to over $100." 
 
 This is not an isolated instance. Any one can do it who 
 
GARDEN IN MIXED FARMING. 25 
 
 can command the "essentials to success" previously con- 
 sidered, and almost any one can utterly fail of doing it 
 without them. A hint is given of the succession of crops 
 possible in the California garden. There will be much of 
 that hereafter. 
 
 The social benefit of the farm garden may enter the 
 realm of sentiment but it is none the less true, potent and 
 precious. The farm with a garden is an inexpressibly bet- 
 ter home than without it. The garden wins interest; it 
 dispenses content. It awakens home pride and strength- 
 ens home love. It has actual educational value in that it 
 directly imparts useful lessons in plant growth and re- 
 quirements which are applicable to all other farm opera- 
 tions. It has lessons also to quicken the love of the beau- 
 tiful which, in turn, leads in all phases of home improve- 
 ment and lifts the standard of rural manhood and woman- 
 hood. 
 
 Of Especial Application to California. — All these bene- 
 fits of the installation of a garden area on the farm should 
 be especially striven for in California because they can be 
 realized here in exceptional measure. The well-planned 
 California garden is evergreen. It admits of succession 
 and rotation within the year, so that a 12 month is the pro- 
 ducing equivalent of twice or thrice its duration in wintry 
 climates. Here the garden does not insist upon intruding 
 its claims just in the "rush of spring work" which is 
 known in lands of more marked seasonal transitions. It 
 is well content to be "ahead of the rush" the whole year 
 round, but it must be admitted that it stubbornly rebels 
 against being behind it. Not only is succession of tender 
 growths made possible by the long frostless term but more 
 than half of the common garden vegetables are so hardy 
 that they maintain growth even through our short frosty 
 season and, wath irrigation on lands which need it, thrive 
 the whole year in the open air. Rich is the endowment 
 which a semi-tropical climate bestows upon the gardener. 
 He who does not avail himself of it for his own comfort 
 and profit, buries his talent in the earth. 
 
26 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 The Garden in Mixed Farming. — During the last few 
 years, aside from the greater interest in vegetable grow- 
 ing on the part of the settlers, which has been noted, there 
 has been a decided gain through the efforts of ncAver resi- 
 dents to make their smaller holdings self-supplying and 
 income-yielding, as well, by due attention to vegetable 
 growing. All through the State the interest has quick- 
 ened and the accomplishment has shown that the old idea 
 that only special, narrow areas were suited to garden lo- 
 cations, was a misconception. Instances are ample to show 
 not only that proper practice brings ample success almost 
 everywhere, but such practice, coupled with intelligent 
 planning, yields such variety of delicious esculents as only 
 a semi-tropical climate allows. This is one of the distinc- 
 tive advantages of California and it favors the develop- 
 ment of small farms of mixed husbandry as well as those 
 devoted to specialties. Of course there are limitations 
 and locations should be selected with discrimination for 
 either mixed or special farming. The mixed farm in an 
 ever growing climate makes requirements it is true but it 
 also bestows compensations. As the forces ministering to 
 growth are continuously active, the full use of them be- 
 speaks corresponding activity on the part of man. There 
 must be a determination to make almost every moment tell 
 in some useful effort. There will be play for the sharpest 
 ingenuity in devising means and methods for time-saving 
 and ceaseless study to make the soil bear the burden of the 
 table to the fullest degree. Small farming requires genius, 
 devotion, and a spirit of content. Its work, when one ac- 
 quires or is born with a liking for it, is full of cheer and 
 enjoyment. Its varied nature is itself a charm. The trees, 
 vines, plants, and domestic animals will rise almost to the 
 plane of companionship. Man, wife and children will join 
 in the spirit of the enterprise they are carrying on with 
 united heart and hand, and loye for home will grow and 
 blossom forth as it seldom does in mansions or on princely 
 estates. Thus the modest calling has its compensations. 
 
THE HEN IN GARDENING 27 
 
 The iufliience of such homes upon the State is most salu- 
 tary. Sound ideas of economy become prevalent; honor 
 and honesty are qualities which win popular approval. 
 Thus, the State becomes really prosperous and sound at 
 the core. The crowning need of California agriculture 
 is to build up enterprises which will stand alone. We have 
 been leaning too long on the shoulders of bankers and 
 commission merchants and commanders of country stores. 
 Without them it is true much that has been done could 
 not have been accomplished, but it is also true that many 
 losing effort which have been vainly put forth would never 
 have been attempted, and those who have made these 
 efforts would be the better for it. Who can tell how many 
 would have attained moderate and comfortable successes 
 if they had started without encumbrance on a modest 
 plan instead of wasting time with big schemes whose 
 whole returns have gone to feed hungry mortgages and 
 interest accounts, until failure has swept from them the 
 property which they proudly hoped to possess. 
 
 ■But why intrude this homily ? The garden is one of the 
 elements of success in mixed farming. Around it other 
 elements naturally gather. As gleaners and profitable 
 transformers of garden wastes and surpluses into home 
 supplies and garden restoratives, the cow, the pig, and the 
 hen await outside the garden fence. Be sure to keep 
 them there, and the garden will be a liberal contributor to 
 their vigor and productiveness. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 CALIFORNIA CLIMATE AS RELATED TO VEGE- 
 TABLE GROWING. 
 
 It is not necessary to attempt an elaborate exposition of 
 the characters of the California climate. Such characteri- 
 zation has been made by different authorities from various 
 points of view. It may be claimed in a general way that 
 our climates are as kindly disposed toward vegetable 
 growth as they are towards the development of fruits 
 or the early maturity, thrift and comfort of animals. The 
 ordinary exemption from ground-freezing at any time of 
 the year ; the absence or very rare and localized occur- 
 rence of soil-shifting winds or even of winds to prostrate 
 tall growths ; freedom from wide extremes in temperature ; 
 and only occasionally great changes in atmospheric hu- 
 midity ; adequate heat for rapid growth with a dry, but 
 seldom desiccating air, which prevents much of the fun- 
 gous growth of hot, humid climates and consequently in- 
 sures a grand and healthy leaf-action to the plant ; abun- 
 dant sunshine, but seldom, and then only in few localities, 
 rising to leaf burning; ample moisture either by rainfall 
 or irrigation, or one supplementing the other^ — all these 
 characters and others like them, constitute a climate of 
 exceptional advantage to the vegetable grower. They 
 reduce provisions for protection to a minimum ; a cloud of 
 smoke or a lot of small fires for the frost ; a high fence or 
 a line of trees for the wind, a lath or slight brush cover- 
 ing or the neighborly shadow of a taller growth for the 
 most tender foliage ; frequent cultivation to retain mois- 
 ture in the soil after rain or irrigation, and the garden will 
 go through the year- with ample protection at its weakest 
 
COAST VALLEYS. 29 
 
 points. And all these are not needed in the same locality ; 
 in fact some localities need none of them except the mois- 
 ture retention which is universal. 
 
 LOCAL VARIATIONS IN CLIMATE. 
 
 Although it is possible to grow almost all vegetables 
 everywhere in the State by intelligent selecting the proper 
 time of the year for each, as shown in other chapters, and 
 although few localities have climates so uniform and 
 equable that by providing proper moisture conditions 
 nearly all vegetables can be grown all the year, it is still 
 possible to define regions with somewhat distinctive cli- 
 matic characters bearing upon garden and field growth of 
 edible plants. 
 
 Coast Valleys — A considerable volume of vegetable 
 products of California is grown in the coast valleys. This 
 term includes both well-defined valleys of greater or less 
 breadth, and stretches of rather flat or gently sloping 
 land, open to ocean influences. It is a region extending 
 the whole length of the State and lying between the high- 
 est elevation of the Coast Range and the ocean. In the 
 upper half of the State it is composed chiefly of well- 
 defined valleys somewhat parallel to the coast, but pro- 
 tected by low ranges which modify and mollify ocean in- 
 fluences, insuring higher temperature and more gentle 
 winds than are found directly on the coast. In the south- 
 ern part of the State the region chiefly consists of broad 
 areas quite open to the ocean but needing no barriers from 
 it because, owing to the trend of the coast, the lower lati- 
 tude and the greater distance south from the source of 
 the prevailing air currents, the ocean influences are them- 
 selves modified before they reach the lands. In all this 
 vast region, then, similar conditions prevail, locally modi- 
 fied, however, enough to create some marked differences 
 in degree, which have been well utilized as the basis of 
 special production. The difference in degree may be speci- 
 fied in this way : Temperature rises and rainfall decreases 
 
30 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 as you proceed southward. Take an instance of specializ- 
 ing production : Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma coun- 
 ties, coast side, low temperature and large rainfall, known 
 from the earliest times as a great potato country ; San 
 Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, coast 
 side, higher temperatures and light rainfall, producing 
 a considerable part of all the beans grown in the State. 
 And yet though these differences thus notably localize 
 production, the whole coast region north and south has 
 this in common ; it has a more equable and lower tempera- 
 ture and a more generous rainfall than the interior valley 
 at its own latitude ; it also has lighter frosts, growing 
 lighter still toward the south until it incloses regions here 
 and there which favoring topography makes practically 
 frostless. Such situations favor all-the-year growth of the 
 tenderest vegetables, and perennial beans and tomato 
 trees are possible. 
 
 Interior Lowlands. — A region which has recently greatly 
 advanced in importance in vegetable production comprises 
 the lower lands of the interior valleys. They lie along 
 the two great rivers of the northern and central parts of 
 California — the Sacramento and San Joaquin, and their 
 tributaries. These rivers flow from nearly two hundred 
 miles, north and south of their confluence, where they 
 mingle their waters through numerous sloughs until the 
 joint streams pour through a gap in the coast range into 
 San Francisco bay. The same gap which lets out the 
 waters lets in the ocean current of moisture-laden wind 
 and moderates the heat of the entire interior valley, but 
 naturally dispenses most moisture and coolness over the 
 lowlands which lie just in its course as it rushes north- 
 ward and southward to displace the air which is rarified 
 by the sun heat on the interior plains of the great valley. 
 These interior lowlands along the lower stretches of the 
 rivers have then an interior climate modified by the in- 
 trusion from the coast, but this onlj^ acts in full measure 
 during June, July and August. It serves, therefore, as a 
 
RIVER LAND VEGETABLES. 31 
 
 moderator of heat and drought during that period and 
 supplements the supply of aqueous vapor which rises by 
 evaporation from the immense acreage of tule swamps 
 and shallow lakes which surround the tillable lands of 
 the region. Climatic conditions in this large interior area 
 favor the growth of vegetables and its producing capa- 
 city is beyond any present commercial use which can be 
 made of it. But though it has a temporary coast modi- 
 fication, as has been stated it falls back into interior habits 
 when restraint is removed. It has intervals of hot, dry 
 winds which exclude the coast winds from access to the 
 valley and then intense dry heat calls for ample water 
 supply, which, fortunately, however, is easily applied, 
 because at such season the rivers and sloughs are running 
 full and if seepage is not enough, siphons or flood-gates 
 admit water from the high-running rivers or pumps yield 
 great volumes at little cost. But the interior lowlands 
 have another more grievous trait. As the.y lie low they 
 are the scenes of the latest spring and earliest autumn 
 frosts and their season for tender vegetables is shorter 
 than that of the coast, though with their higher heat and 
 copious moisture their mid-season product of these ten- 
 der crops may out-volume a slower, longer season on the 
 coast. But the earliest and the latest tender vegetables 
 do not come from the interior lowlands. 
 
 There are interior lowlands of wonderful producing 
 capacity at considerable distances from the confluence of 
 the two rivers just mentioned. For about three hundred 
 miles the river lands extend both northward and south- 
 ward, offering an area of moist or easily-irrigated land of 
 such fertility and extent that it suggests its own ability 
 to produce vegetables for the whole country. At present 
 hardly an appreciable fraction of one per cent of it is 
 employed in production for which it is best fitted. In the 
 future its lower levels will be the Holland and its upper 
 extensions the Nile valley of California. The farther these 
 lowlands lie from the mouths of the rivers the less they re- 
 
32 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 ceive of coast influences. This gives the distant lowlands 
 a higher temperature and greater forcing power upon 
 vegetation. The nights are warm as well as the days. 
 Vegetables of prodigious size and acre-crops which tax 
 credulity, are the result of the favoring conditions. But 
 these lands are low and danger of frost makes it necessary 
 to select crops for hardiness during a part of the year. 
 
 Interior Plains and Foothills. — Above and away from the 
 lowlands of the rivers and their deltas the interior plains 
 stretch far as the eye can reach, and rise, both on the east 
 and west, into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and the 
 coast ranges. In southern California somewhat similar 
 regions occur as the lands rise from the coast flats to the 
 mesas and foothills of the high, incurved mountain range 
 which encloses the splendid coast region of southern Cali- 
 fornia. The great interior plains of southern California 
 irrigated from the Colorado river and adjacent valleys 
 irrigated from wells constitute a vast vegetable growing 
 district which has recently attained notable development. 
 There are similar climatic conditions prevailing through 
 these vast interior regions both north and south — except 
 that the extreme south has by its latitude and its escape 
 from ocean influence, a frost freedom and spring time 
 heat which enable it to produce the earliest vegetables in 
 the State. In the interior regions the rainfall is light as 
 compared with the coast until the mountain climate is 
 encountered at varying elevations, when it becomes even 
 greater than on the coast. The mean temperature is 
 higher and, except in certain localities, the frosts cover 
 a shorter period and are less severe. Winter growth of 
 vegetables is widely feasible and plants of less hardi- 
 hood than those of the lowlands are usually safe. But 
 the rains cease earlier in the spring and heat and drought 
 make irrigation essential long before it is required nearer 
 the coast. For summer growth of vegetables, except on 
 small areas moistened by underflow from mountain springs 
 or valley cienegas, irrigation must be provided. These 
 
FOOTHILLS AND MOUNTAINS. 33 
 
 are the regions which were formerly most apt to be con- 
 demned as unfit for vegetable growing, and it is upon such 
 lands that most failures and disappointments occur. It is 
 true that local climatic conditions here need most radical 
 modification by art of man, but it is here also that prompt 
 and timely work and adequate irrigation, wind protection 
 and partial shade win their greatest victories. There is 
 really no reason why the energetic, enterprising man 
 should hesitate for a moment about undertaking prepara- 
 tion for his home supply of vegetables. Commercial un- 
 dertakings in vegetable growing may have to be confined 
 to fewer plants grown just at the right season and with 
 special methods, but even a small water supply with ample 
 will and work will give a full variety for the family table. 
 
 At certain elevations on the mesas and foothills of the 
 Sierra Nevada and Coast ranges, sheltered by local topog- 
 rophy, there are practically frostless regions with ample 
 winter rains where winter growth is so fostered that the 
 earliest vegetables as well as the earliest fruits are pro- 
 duced. Some tender vegetables may be ready for the 
 table on the higher location before it is safe to plant the 
 seed on the lower level. And the two situations may be 
 in full sight of each other. It is a fact that in small val- 
 leys of the foothills late and early frosts, sharp and de- 
 structive, may be more prevalent than on the lowlands 
 of the broad valley below, while on the slopes above 
 them tender plants may be safe. 
 
 Mountain Valleys. — Among the mountain peaks and 
 ridges from three thousand feet upward are slopes and 
 valleys which are very productive of vegetables. As ele- 
 vation decreases, wintry features become intensified and 
 range of winter growth less and less until in the true 
 "mountain valleys," which lie among the summits of the 
 Sierra Nevada, the winter is a closed season of snow and 
 ice and the garden becomes a summer affair as in the 
 Eastern States. Growth, however, during the open sea 
 son is very rapid and satisfactory, moisture is abundant 
 
34 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 and irrigation facilities ample in the abundant supplies 
 of snow waters from above, which need however to be 
 moderated in temperature before distribution. In this 
 region gardening seasons and practices are more compar- 
 able with eastern policies and methods and are not charac- 
 teristically Californian as the term is usually understood. 
 
 GENERAL CHARACTERS OP CALIFORNIA CLIMATE. 
 
 The proper conclusion from the foregoing discussion 
 is that each California locality must be separately studied 
 to determine its climatic adaptations for vegetable grow- 
 ing and its season for the best discharge of the various 
 gardening duties. There are, however, some generaliza- 
 tions concerning leading climatic features as related to 
 vegetable growing which may be of assistance to distant 
 readers. 
 
 Relative Occurrences of Cloudiness and Sunshine in Cal- 
 ifornia Regions. — Due proportion of sunlight, warmth and 
 moisture is necessary to produce quick and healthy vege- 
 tation. Cloudiness is also an important element, since the 
 presence of clouds screens the earth and diminishes the 
 heat received by vegetation from the direct rays of the 
 sun. So also, acting as a screen, it prevents in a measure 
 the radiation of heat from the earth into space, and this 
 materially tends to modify and reduce the daily range 
 of temperature, so that growing vegetation is not subject 
 to as great cold as would otherwise obtain during the 
 night, nor on the other hand, does it receive the full 
 amount of solar heat by day. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that the weather condi- 
 tions most favorable for vegetable growing are in some 
 respects different from those which minister to the per- 
 gection of fruits. The fruit tree, with its roots deep 
 in a moist -soil, welcomes high heat to mature its fruit. 
 The perfection of the esculent falls far short of the ma- 
 turity of the plant and lies mainly in the measure and 
 tenderness of foliage, stem, immature fruit or fleshy root. 
 
RAINFALL AND FROST. 35 
 
 These are usually best attained at a degree of heat less 
 than required for fruit ripening. Again edible plants as 
 compared with trees are shallow-rooting and suffer in a 
 very hot surface soil which a tree escapes by penetration 
 of the subsoil. The growth of winter vegetables is ad- 
 vanced by abundant sunshine during the rainy season ; 
 the growth of summer vegetables is promoted by cloud- 
 screen from excessive sun heat, and it is clearly refreshed 
 by summer fog. Herein, in part at least, lies the explana- 
 tion why the earliest vegetables come from interior re- 
 gions and the main crop of midseason and late vegetables 
 is to be sought in regions whose climate is modified by 
 cool coast winds, which sometimes carry fogs and always 
 temper sun action by their content of insensible aqueous 
 vapor. Some plants are especially responsive to this ac- 
 tion of coast breezes. Lima beans on the Ventura coast 
 are sometimes rescued from failure through deficient rain- 
 fall, by days of cool, misty breezes from the adjacent 
 ocean. The same is true in varying degrees of all vege- 
 tation and the fact is often of very great economic im- 
 portance to California. 
 
 Distribution of Rainfall. — The local ramfall throughout 
 the State has of course about the same relation to local 
 gardening as it has to other farm work, but it seems 
 hardly necessary to discuss it in this place, because it is 
 possible now to secure the data from different sources. 
 Local observers almost everywhere can furnish the facts. 
 It is, however, pertinent to present a general compilation 
 which fixes approximately the date at which effective 
 rains may be expected in each main division of the State 
 and thus impart a somewhat definite notion of when the 
 natural season of growth will begin. All should be in 
 readiness beforehand to seize upon this opportunity for 
 soil working, if one is to proceed without irrigation, and 
 for the planting of seeds of hardy vegetables which will 
 withstand the local winter temperature and give the 
 earliest readiness for use under the circumstances. 
 
36 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 The Occurrence of Frosts in California. — The occurrence 
 of frost in California is, from one point of view, a purely 
 local question. As has already been stated, the frosty and 
 the frostless places are often in sight of each other on 
 the same landscape from the same point of view. It can 
 be even more closely drawn than that. It is sometimes 
 quite as plainly to be seen as the high-water line of a 
 river flood on a sloping meadow. This occurs of course in 
 what are termed the thermal belts and is determined by 
 elevation, air currents, outflow levels and several other 
 incidents of local topography. There are often wide va- 
 riations in these lines from year to year and yet there is 
 steadfastness enough about the phenomena to enable resi- 
 dents to agree among themselves as to what localities are 
 "in the frost" and what are out of it. Upon this decision 
 depends the business risk in planting ont beans, peppers, 
 tomatoes, etc., for winter growth, and it is upon such fields 
 that the frost, not always content with the local definition 
 of its limits, draws the dead line which the morning sun 
 brings into such fateful prominence. Of course the grower 
 is not necessarily content to accept such natural bounda- 
 ries of the thermal belt. He can materially change it all 
 by frost-fighting, but the discussion of that matter be- 
 longs to another chapter. 
 
 It is important to know as nearly as possible the be- 
 ginning and end of the frost free period in each locality, 
 and data to assist in determining this fact are given in 
 the chapter on The Planting Season. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 VEGETABLE SOILS OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Soils which favor the most satisfactory growth of vege- 
 tables are those which are most easily maintained in a con- 
 dition of tilth to promote seed germination and rapid es- 
 tablishment of the seedling in sure-growing contact with 
 the soil-substance ; soils which facilitate deep-root pene- 
 tration by the advancing plant so that moisture and plant 
 food shall be rapidly reached, and which have sufficient 
 retentive power and capillarity to maintain adequate mois- 
 ture within reach of the roots and such amount of plant 
 food that the plant may attain the greatest growth in the 
 least time. Soils with these characters have also the 
 most valuable incidental qualities of warmth, to foster 
 vegetative processes ; porosity to facilitate the escape of 
 surplus water and the entrance of the air with its con- 
 stituents which promote root action and modification of 
 the soil substance and absorptive power to readily receive 
 and deeply distribute rainfall or irrigation. These are 
 high requirements, for it is an ideal soil which possesses 
 them all. 
 
 Ideal Soils Not Essential. — Fortunately gardening art is 
 amply able to supply- natural deficiencies in nearly all 
 respects and, if he is working for high-priced products on 
 a comparatively small area, the vegetable grower can of- 
 ten profitably make considerable expenditure for soil im- 
 provement. Market gardeners need no exhortation in this 
 line, but the home gardener should be urged not to de- 
 spair because of any refractory character in the soil he 
 is obliged to utilize. If he study the subject by the aid 
 of most excellent treatises recently written on the soil and 
 
38 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 its amelioration he can proceed rationally and accom- 
 plish marvels with Will, Work and Water upon almost 
 any soil, from a brick yard to a desert. City people have 
 grown their table supplies on housetops ; no ruralist can 
 find a less productive subsoil. 
 
 Light Rather Than Heavy Soils. — The characters already 
 cited point clearly to what is commonly designated as a 
 ^ather light soil as best for vegetable growing. The ex- 
 creme variations in soils are popularly known as heavy 
 adobe and light sandy soils. Neither are usually counted 
 suitable for garden purposes without treatment to over- 
 come their defects and yet as the terms are used in some 
 California regions, there are very good gardens on both 
 of them. The explanation is that in such localities one has 
 less sand and one less clay than the other. Both are 
 really loams or mixtures of sand and clay : one a clayey 
 loam, the other a loamy sand. Aside from this misappre- 
 hension of terms we have of course clays (locally called 
 "adobe") which are true enough to the type to bring 
 despair to the most patient gardener and we have washes 
 of pure sand on which a shallow-rooting plant could hardly 
 live with a stream of water running beside it. But our 
 shifting sands of the interior plains and our so-called 
 deserts are sandy loams which yield profusely when prop- 
 erly irrigated. For the improvement of defective soils for 
 the farm-garden, suggestions will be given later. 
 
 Soils Naturally Excellent. — For field growth of vegeta- 
 bles in California the grower is usually content to proceed 
 upon the natural texture and fertility of his soil. The 
 crop is chosen to suit the local soil and climate, conse- 
 quently we have districts becoming famous for special 
 vegetable products as demand for them in considerable 
 quantities is demonstrated. In such districts the soils 
 are rather light and yet ample in richness to endure for 
 some time the drain of continuous cropping in the same 
 line. We have areas of such soils considerably in excess 
 of their present profitable use. They constitute one of our 
 
40 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 undeveloped resources and are a surety of future advance- 
 ment. 
 
 For the very gratifying amount of accurate knowledge of 
 California soils which is now available a debt of honor 
 is due to Dr. E. W. Hilgard, formerly Professor of Agri- 
 culture and Director of the Experiment Stations of the 
 University of California, who has given a lifetime to ad- 
 vanced investigations in soil physics and chemistry. It 
 is from his publications^ that we shall condense some ac- 
 count of the specific character of those soils which are 
 most nearly related to local production of vegetables, leav- 
 ing out of account the heavy adobe, which is little used 
 for these crops except by gardeners who radically change 
 its physical character. 
 
 Prevailing- Character of California Soils. — In his inter- 
 esting contrast of the soils of arid and humid regions, Dr. 
 Hilgard makes some generalizations, which we collate to 
 serve our present purpose. 
 
 The character of the soils of the arid regions is predomi- 
 nantly sandy or silty, with but a small portion of clay un- 
 less derived directly or indirectly from pre-existing for- 
 mations of clay or clay shales. 
 
 The idea of inherent fertility has been associated so 
 generally with soils of a more or less clayey character, 
 that the newcomer will frequently be suspicious of the 
 productiveness and desirability of the sandy or silty soils 
 of the arid region that experience has shown to be of the 
 highest type in both respects. 
 
 Another point of great importance is that the differ- 
 ence between soil and subsoil, which is so striking and 
 important in regions of abundant rainfall, is largely ob- 
 literated in arid climates. Very commonly hardly a per- 
 ceptible change of tint or texture is found for depths of 
 
 '"Soils: Their Formation, Properties, Composition and Relations 
 to Climate and Plant Growth"; also "Agriculture for Schools of 
 the Pacific Slope," by Hilgard and Osterhout. These works can 
 be furnished by the Pacific Rural Press of San Francisco. 
 
CALIFORNIA SOILS RICH. 41 
 
 several feet and material from such depths, when thrown 
 on the surface, is nearly or quite as fertile as the original 
 surface soil. In the case of a cellar dug near Nevada 
 City, the red soil mass excavated from a depth of seven 
 to ten feet was spread over part of a vegetable garden near 
 by and tomatoes, beans and watermelons were planted on 
 it. The growth was even better than on the parts of the 
 old surface not covered, which had apparently become 
 somewhat exhausted by years of use. 
 
 Examination has shown that the percentage of humus 
 or vegetable mold is less in the soils of the arid region, 
 but their humus contains more nitrogen. Thus, prob- 
 ably, on the average not only is the aggregate supply 
 of nitrogen in the soils of the arid region approximately 
 equal to that of humid soils, but its absorption by plants 
 is exceptionally favored bj^ climatic conditions. 
 
 As to the minerals which constitute fertility, the soils 
 of the arid region contain nearly fifteen times as much 
 lime, five times as much magnesia, three times as much 
 potash and about the same amount of phosphoric acid as 
 the soils of the humid regions. 
 
 Significance of These facts. — These leading characteris- 
 tics of California's horticultural soils are of the highest 
 significance to the vegetable grower because they show 
 that California is rich in soils of ideal excellence for his 
 purposes. They are light soils and therefore easy of cul- 
 tivation and not disposed to bake on drying; they are 
 deep, consequently well drained and yet absorptive and 
 retentive enough : they are exceptionally rich, consequently 
 extremely productive and durable and they can often be 
 given a new fertile surface by deep turning from the fer- 
 tility of the greater depths. This was the natural en- 
 dowment which enabled the pioneer vegetable growers to 
 disturb the hortieulaural peace of the world in 1849-50. 
 It remains to foster the achievements of later yeai-s aiul it 
 will endure definitely into the future. 
 
 The distribution of these desirable soils gives all re- 
 
42 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 gions a share in them. Either as residual loams resulting 
 from the decomposition of adjacent rocks, or as transported 
 loams which have been carried greater or less distances 
 by wind, glacial action or other moving^ force, or as allu- 
 vial or sediment soils, deposited by action of flowing 
 streams, every California county has its vegetable soils in 
 ample measure. Such is the diversity of soils within 
 narrow areas in California that it may not take a very 
 large farm to inclose several diverse types, and it is the 
 first duty of the settler to learn their special characters 
 and adaptations and plan his production accordingly. 
 
 Alluvial or Sediment Soils. — Though there is marked 
 diiference in the origin of our soils which are suitable for 
 v^egetable growing, when proper moisture conditions are 
 arranged, it is naturally the alluvial or sediment soils 
 which have hitherto been chiefly used. They have been 
 deposited by recent or ancient water courses and have 
 formelrly served as river banks or river and lake bottoms. 
 They have beneath them, generally quite far below, the 
 prevailing soil of the adjacent country. They consist of 
 fine alluvium with seldom any admixture of coarse mate- 
 rials. They are usually very deep and well drained. They 
 occur sometimes at a considerably higher level than ex- 
 isting streams and are sometimes designated as "next to 
 river bottom," while the lower levels constitute the "river 
 bottom." In some small valleys they have spread deeply 
 all over the original soil, having been washed in such quan- 
 tities from adjacent hills, and in larger valleys have 
 spread for considerable distances out upon the plain. 
 These are primarily the fruit lands, but they are also 
 largely used for such vegetables as thrive upon lighter and 
 drier soils. Below are the present river bottoms, usually 
 dark, rich and moist and not subject to baking or crack- 
 ing, which are, par excellence, vegetable lands. 
 
 Peat Lands. — Another class of alluvial soils is known as 
 peat soils, which consist of mixtures in various propor- 
 tions of silt and sediment with the debris of centuries' 
 
IMPROVING HEAVY SOILS. 43 
 
 growth of swamp plants which the streams have currently 
 overflowed in flood times or over which they have risen 
 daily as the tide wall has held back their waters. This 
 organic matter from the aquatic plants is in various 
 stages of decomposition, but in the best of the lands has 
 been reduced to fineness by cultivation after the floods 
 and tides have been excluded by levees, or by natural 
 barriers interposed by stream or wave action, or by re- 
 cession of lake waters according as the situation is on the 
 coast or distant interior. This light but very deep and 
 rich soil especially suits some plants and is the basis 
 of some of our export vegetable business, as for instance, 
 celery growing. Such soils are of course used locally for 
 all esculent plants which thrive upon them and which 
 the market favors. Such lands are in vast area in many 
 parts of the State, from near the ocean to the margins 
 of interior rivers and lakes and waters of interior plateaux 
 as well. In the heat of the interior valley they dry 
 out very rapidly when seepage or overflow from streams 
 and sloughs is cut off by levees. They are non-retentive, 
 owing to the coarseness of their structure, but irrigation is 
 easily accomplished, as will be noted in the proper con- 
 nection. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF SOIL TEXTURE FOR 
 GARDENING. 
 
 Aside from such treatment of the soil as is designed to 
 increase its fertility, which will be considered in the 
 chapter on fertilizing, it seems fitting in this connection 
 to suggest measures by which the texture of the soil may 
 be improved when necessary. This is important in the 
 farm garden because there may not be anything approach- 
 •ng an ideal garden soil inside the line fences. But this 
 fact should not discourage the home gardener, as has 
 already been intimated. 
 
 If one observes the operations of market gardeners or 
 reads any treatise on gardening written for the older 
 
44 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 countries, he is apt to conclude that the Creator has done 
 little for the modern garden except to furnish a place 
 to put it, because the chief art of gardening seems to con- 
 sist in using as little of the natural soil as possible. This 
 state of affairs has not arisen in California yet, for the 
 reasons shown in the descriptions of our garden soils, and 
 ,yet we do not mean to suggest that the farm gardener 
 should in all cases expect to reach satisfactory results 
 without due effort for soil improvement on the small area 
 which he expects to yield so much. 
 
 Improvement of Adobe Soils. — Our adobes, especially 
 those of the darker hues, are rich and durable. In com- 
 mon with heavy clay soils everywhere, they are retentive 
 of moisture. In our arid summers, however, they lose 
 their moisture speedily by evaporation, if untilled, and 
 dry out to a greater depth than lighter soils. They are 
 refractory under tillage and unless caught at just the 
 right moment they are either wax or rock under the plow, 
 and the cultivator will either stick fast or ride over the 
 surface. And yet if one has nothing but adobe he is not 
 as badly off as he might be, because adobe is easily suscep- 
 tible of improvement. The points to attain are several, 
 but they are inter-related and effort for one measurably 
 helps toward all. 
 
 The free use of air-slaked lime applied about the time 
 of the first rains is the first and simplest effort toward 
 breaking up the tenacity of the soil. This should be done 
 no matter what greater efforts are to be undertaken later. 
 
 Deep and thorough tillage, taking the soil at just that 
 condition of moisture when it works well with plow and 
 harrow, will be found to progressively improve its tilla- 
 bility by mere action of air and implements. If this is 
 all that can be undertaken at first, do this thoroughly and 
 put in the cultivator after each heavy rain as soon as the 
 proper condition of soil arrives, so as to prevent baking 
 of the surface. For winter growth of vegetables in re- 
 
IMPROVING HEAVY SOILS. 45 
 
 gions of ample rainfall, use the ridge system, which will be 
 described in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 But liming and persistent tillage are only temporizing 
 with adobe and do not accomplish permanent reform. 
 The first rational step is to resort to adequate drainage. 
 Tile drains two and a half or three feet deep and twenty 
 feet apart will do for garden plants. This leaves a clear 
 surface for working over, but, if the expense of tiling is 
 not desired, open ditches will answer, but they restrict 
 cultivation to one direction, waste land, and are expen- 
 sive in hand work in killing weeds in the ditches. Open 
 ditches are, however, better than no ditches at all. The 
 effect of drainage is to promote friability, to render the 
 soil tillable earlier and oftener, by the quick removal of 
 surplus water, and to promote seed germination and plant 
 growth. 
 
 The aeration of adobe by drainage and tillage accom- 
 plishes a considerable improvement but still more radi- 
 cal reform measures are desirable. The soil particles are 
 naturally too small. They must be separated by interposi- 
 tion of coarser grains. Plow into the soil as much coarse 
 material as possible. 
 
 Farm-yard manure, straw, sand, old plaster, coal 
 ashes, sawdust, almost anything coarse or gritty which 
 will break up the close adherence of the fine clay par- 
 ticles, release the surplus water and let iu the air, will 
 l)roduce a marked effect in reducing the hateful 
 baking and cracking, root-tearing and moisture-losing be- 
 havior of the adobe. Scrape the corrals, rake up the leaves 
 and fine litter of all kinds, make the adobe garden patch 
 the graveyard for all the rubbish which is susceptible of 
 decay. The farm will be neater and the garden will pay 
 the expense in its easier working and better growth. Do 
 this every year before the rains come, and you will rejoice 
 that you had an adobe foundation for the farm garden. 
 
 The Improvement of Light, S::ndy Soils. — This effort is 
 in some cases more difficult than conquering adobe. It all 
 
46 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 depends upon the coarseness of the sand and the subsoil 
 upon which it rests. If soil and su))soil are coarse sand 
 or gravel to a considerable depth, shallow rooting plants 
 will fail unless they can finish their growth during the 
 rainy season. Summer growth is impossible because water 
 will flow through their sieve-like structure and carry 
 away plant food with it. With moisture leaching away 
 below and flying away above, and with intense sun heat 
 burning the foliage by direct contact and reflection, such 
 wash soils are indescribably worse than adobe. 
 
 But sandy soils which are imposed upon clay or hard- 
 pan, providing the underlying stratum is not alkaline, 
 furnish very promising garden materials, even though 
 the layer be too shallow for the growth of trees. Many 
 fruit growers are struggling to maintain trees on such 
 spots in their orchards when they should forsake the ef- 
 wort and by adequate use of water and manure turn such 
 spots into family gardens. The holding of water near 
 the surface, which is fatal to tree roots, is the opportunity 
 for the growth of most vegetables. Depth of soil which 
 is so strongly insisted upon in treatises on gardening, con- 
 stitutes a storehouse of moisture and plant food, but it 
 has been abundantly demonstrated the world over that 
 depth is not essential provided the plant is otherwise fed 
 and watered. California gardens proceeding upon rain- 
 fall alone, need a deep, retentive soil; the irrigated gar- 
 den may thrive upon a soil too coarse to be retentive pro- 
 viding it has a tight bottom to hold moisture within reach 
 of shallow rooting plants. Therefore reclaim such sand 
 by providing a home water supply, if not in an irrigated 
 region, and use plenty of well-composted and decayed ma- 
 nure, which will not only feed the plants but will also 
 reform its texture and transform the coarse sand into 
 a rich garden soil, kind in cultivation and prodigious in its 
 yield of succulent vegetables, for sand is best of all ma- 
 terial for free and rapid root development. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 GARDEN IRRIGATION. 
 
 It has already been intimated that the irrigated garden 
 should be the aim of all who desire to attain the fullest 
 satisfaction in vegetable growing. But while it is true 
 that the California gardener must have irrigation to do 
 his best and to give him a solid year of rotations and 
 successions in his garden, due emphasis must be laid upon 
 the fact that in suitable locations the unirrigated garden 
 in California is a greater treasure than at the east. This 
 fact is due to the character of our winter climate, which, 
 as has been shown in a previous chapter, is actually a 
 growing season for all but the vegetables which will 
 endure no frost. By using to their fullest capacity our 
 six rainy months, by early cultivation and planting, which 
 will be fully explained later, midwinter and spring vege- 
 tables can be produced in great variety ; and by proper 
 cultivation for the retention of moisture, tender vegeta- 
 bles, planted toward the end of the rainy season, will 
 find moisture enough stored in the soil to carry them to 
 perfection in midsummer and autumn, although not a 
 drop of rain may fall from the sowing of the seed to 
 the gathering of the crop. For this reason owners of 
 fairly deep and retentive soil in regions of ample rainfall 
 can attain splendid results without irrigation, if they will 
 only be alert for prompt work and persistent in summer 
 cultivation. 
 
 What can be done in California with the unirrigated 
 garden depends upon conditions existing in each locality. 
 Character and depth of soil, amount of rainfall, degree 
 of heat, and percentage of relative humidity in the air, 
 
48 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 the lay of the land — all these are determining factors, 
 in addition to the dates of frost occurrence which fix the 
 opening and closing of the season for tender plants in 
 the open ground. Therefore let no man conclude that 
 he cannot grow vegetables until he completes his arrange- 
 ment for irrigation unless he is sure that his winter rain- 
 fall is too uncertain to grow even a crop of wheat, for 
 a rainfall that will carry the wheat plant to maturity 
 will also produce quite a variety of garden vegetables 
 with proper practice in early sowing and frequent cul- 
 tivation. 
 
 And from this low-water mark the unirrigated garden 
 proceeds upward with richer endowment of favoring local 
 conditions, insuring length of growing season and variety 
 of vegetables until it really becomes a question whether 
 irrigation is needed at all. It certainly is not for ample 
 yield of many, possibly all, of the staples of the garden, 
 but to insure a succession of salads and relishes, pot- 
 herbs and legumes — in short, to enjoy the fulness of the 
 California season, the irrigated garden is the thing to 
 be diligently striven for. 
 
 SOURCES OF IRRIGATION WATER. 
 
 Whence the garden shall receive its water supply is a 
 question for each to determine according to his environ- 
 ment. Water is now flowing over California gardens 
 from various sources as the result of all sorts of indi- 
 vidual, co-operative, and corporate efforts and invest- 
 ments. It would require volumes to clescribe them. Large 
 irrigation enterprises are the joint work of engineers and 
 capitalists. That gardener is fortunate who has only to 
 buy his water from a fair-dealing ditch company or draw 
 his share from a co-operative water company in which 
 he has an interest. Such a source is best of all because 
 causing least labor and expense in average cases. But 
 there will always remain opportunities, probably, where 
 farm gardens can command their own irrigation supplies 
 
SOURCES OP WATER. 
 
 49 
 
 at a cost which will warrant the effort. It is in this line 
 that a few suggestions will be offered. 
 
 Surface Sources. — In the unirrigated regions of the 
 State there are countless opportunities for home supplies 
 
 .„^''* 
 
 
 
 
 ■ tkM< 
 
 u^s^.- 
 
 *^l 
 
 W:-V 
 
 BOGGY LAND PRODUCED BY SEEPAGE. 
 
 
 
 j>7v,A«i-''V- 
 
 RECLAIMED BY RESERVOIR BUILDING. 
 
 of irrigation water by the simple process of allowing it 
 to run down hill your way instead of that way which is 
 natural to it. Water which would be of great value in 
 the house and barn and farm garden is allowed to flow 
 by in its own deep channel when a very little use of the 
 
50 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 level would show that a part of it could be taken out 
 into a ditch or pipe, higher up its course through the 
 farm, and brought along with less fall than it naturally 
 takes, until it reaches the buildings high up the slope 
 above the bank instead of in the deep bed it has cut in 
 the soil below. This is very simple and inexpensive, and 
 yet we have many hillside places in the central and north- 
 ern parts of the State where the water is carried up by 
 hand to the house, and the animals are driven down to 
 the water, and the garden is neglected because it is too 
 hard work to haul water up to it. Of course, there are 
 many eases where such an obvious resource of the farm 
 has been utilized, but there are many where it is neglected. 
 
 Many springs on the hillsides are allowed to be 
 trampled into mudholes by the stock, which need but 
 cleaning out and opening up to yield a water-flow beyond 
 any amount which the old outcropping would indicate. 
 A short pipe line would deliver water in the tops of the 
 buildings if desired and would generously irrigate all the 
 land needed for the family garden. And yet the hillsides 
 are full of unused springs. 
 
 Between the hills above the building sites there are 
 many intervales which are impassable in the rainy season 
 and covered with a growth of sedges and swamp grass 
 all summer. They are natural reservoirs of greater or 
 less capacity, holding the surface water and underflow 
 from the hillsides. In the dry season plowing and scrap- 
 ing will easily fashion a small reservoir at the lowest 
 point of the intervale and a pipe line will bring down 
 water at least for irrigation, if it is not suited for other 
 uses. Or if there be below a better site for a reservoir, 
 underdrainage of the swamp will turn it to the growth 
 of good grasses while the outflow from the drains can 
 be concerted into garden crops below. 
 
 Again even when the surface after the rainy season 
 shows no sign of moisture, it is often possible to keep a 
 good supply in sight by closing some small vale and dry 
 
SOURCES OF WATER. 51 
 
 creek bed with a dam to hold for summer use in the 
 garden some part of the volumes of water which rush 
 down from the watershed during the winter rains. 
 
 Subterranean Water Sources. — There are few places 
 where water for a home garden cannot be had by well- 
 digging and there are many large districts where flowing 
 wells are secured by shallow boring. At the bases of hills 
 horizontal wells or tunnels are frequently satisfactory. 
 The capacity of these wells and tunnels is sometimes very 
 great. They often warrant long-ditch lines or figure in 
 the supply of towns and cities. Unquestionably the pres- 
 ent development of water by these means is only a frac- 
 tion of what is possible, and the owner of untried land 
 should undertake a reasonable amount of prospecting. It 
 is, of course, easy to waste money in this way, but if one 
 proceeds after as full study as he can make of the surface, 
 the outcroppings of rock, the experience of others in the 
 same region, he is pretty sure to realize upon reasonable 
 anticipations. 
 
 Excavation in dry creek beds of gravel and boulders 
 have often brought to light considerable underflow which 
 has been arrested and the water stored by cement dams 
 resting on the bedrock. 
 
 Flowing wells and wells which bring the water near to 
 the surface constitute the main source of subterranean 
 water employed in California. They have reclaimed large 
 districts which were formerly arid wastes and they are 
 largely used also for summer crops in the regions of ample 
 winter rains. Well borers equipped with good appliances 
 are to be found in all parts of the State. 
 
 WATER-LIFTING DEVICES. 
 
 At this point it will be well to remark that any gardener 
 is fortunate who has water brought to the highest point 
 of his plantation by its own weight without a struggle on 
 his part against the force of gravity, and yet there are, 
 of course, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of instances of 
 
52 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 satisfactory home gardening by simple water-lifting de- 
 vices. 
 
 Horizontal Windmills. — Devices based upon the over- 
 shot-wheel principle are used to some extent on this coast, 
 but the summer winds at the ground surface are usually 
 too light to operate them well. In its simplest form this 
 windmill consists of four boards, about seven feet long, 
 fastened to long arms projecting from an axle, which has 
 bearings on two strong posts or a framework. The wind 
 only strikes the upper part of the wheel, the lower part 
 being inclosed by a board fence. In a slight breeze the 
 mill revolves about 20 revolutions per minute, but in a 
 good, stiff gale it flies so fast that a sliding board must 
 be raised to shut off the wind. The wheel is connected 
 with the plunger of the pump by means of a crank at one 
 end of the axle. 
 
 Gasoline and Crude Oil Engines. — These devices have 
 been greatly improved during the last few years and are 
 now being largely employed for water lifting for irriga- 
 tion. There are several manufacturers in California, the 
 fuel is very cheap here, and this, in connection with the 
 ease with which the engines are managed, constitute them 
 most economical and satisfactory agencies for pumping. 
 The manufacturers give full information and can usually 
 cite engines in operation in different localities where their 
 performances can be personally ascertained. 
 
 Steam Engines. — Pumping plants of great capacity 
 operating by steam power are also in use for irrigation. 
 Large vegetable growing enterprises render considerable 
 investment in these lines profitable. Their construction 
 and operation are, however, rather beyond the scope of 
 this work. The advice of a mechanical engineer should 
 be secured in all large undertakings. 
 
 The Chinese Pump. — A water-lifting device which is 
 very effective for a short lift, as from a ditch or stream 
 to adjoining lands, is the Chinese pump, which has long 
 been in use in California. It is a modified "Persian 
 
LIFTING WATER. 53 
 
 wheel," and is so simple that it can be home-made with 
 old threshing machine gearing or other mechanical junk. 
 It consists of an endless belt working like the "elevator" 
 or "straw carrier" of a threshing machine. For instance, 
 take an old machine belt eight inches wide and twenty feet 
 long or sew together strong canvas to make one. Make 
 a box or trough about nine feet long, eight inches wide 
 and six inches deep inside measurement, with no ends 
 nor cover. Rig at each end of this box a wheel or pulley 
 over which the endless belt can run. Fasten to the belt, 
 a few inches apart, blocks scant eight inches long and 
 four inches wide, so that the belt will have a flat surface 
 on one side and the other crossed with the blocks. When 
 this is placed in the box and over the pulleys at each end 
 fasten the box securely in an inclined position with the 
 lower end in the water, turn the upper pulley by a hand 
 crank or a small belt from a source of power and the 
 blocks will elevate the water and shoot it out from the 
 top of the box in fine style. For a short lift this apparatus 
 discharges quite a large volume of water with compara- 
 tively little power. 
 
 DEVICES FOR SELF-LIFTING WATER SUPPLY. 
 
 Where running water is at hand in ample supply and 
 with adequate velocity, the water can be made to lift itself 
 to a distributing point, if not too high. The most capa- 
 cious agencies belong to a class of motors called current 
 wheels. 
 
 Current Wheels. — A current wheel is an arrangement 
 resembling the paddle wheel of a steamboat, with a cen- 
 tral shaft acting as a hub for spoke-like arms which carry 
 on their ends boxes or buckets. The wheel is hung by 
 the projecting ends of the shaft so that the buckets are 
 just covered under the surface of the water. The current 
 catches them and caused the wheel to revolve ; the filled 
 buckets are carried up as empty ones descend in the water. 
 The filled buckets are emptied as the turning of the wheel 
 
54 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 inverts them, and the water is caught in a box properly 
 placed and is then conducted by a flume to the point of 
 discharge. Current wheels are largely used for short lifts 
 from streams or irrigation ditches in which the water 
 flows with sufficient velocity to revolve them. The wheels 
 are usually home-made, and much ingenuity can be em- 
 ployed in constructing them of available materials. 
 
 Hydraidic Rams. — The hydraulic ram is wasteful in that 
 it can deliver at a higher level but a fraction of the water 
 furnished it and it requires a definite fall for its action. 
 Where conditions are favorable it does become an effective 
 agency because it acts incessantly and, with suitable stor- 
 age, considerable amounts of water become available for 
 irrigation. Manufacturers of hydraulic rams furnish full 
 accounts of their requirements and achievements. 
 
 A suggestive combination of current wheel and hy- 
 draulic ram, in operation in this State, is described as 
 follows : 
 
 "A. P. Osborn's residence and the best part of his land 
 are located on high grounds on the bank of the Tule river, 
 at Rural. To get water on this land without going several 
 miles up the river and bringing out a ditch, Mr. Osborn 
 has placed in the river a wheel twenty-five feet in diameter 
 and five feet wide. Surrounding this wheel on either side 
 are forty boxes, each holding four gallons of water, mak- 
 ing in all eighty boxes, with an entire lifting capacity of 
 three hundred and twenty gallons at each revolution of 
 the wheel, which is turned by the current of the river. 
 As the boxes reach an elevation of tAveuty-two feet, the 
 water in them is emptied into a flume, which conducts it 
 onward into an irrigation ditch. This elevating the water 
 twenty-two feet is only sufficient to place it on the flat 
 whereon is done the farming, and will not take it to the 
 knol] on which stands the residence. This is accomplished 
 by a hydraulic ram. A part of the water reaching the top 
 of the river bank is allowed to run l)<ie': down the steep 
 
THE USE OF SIPHONS. 55 
 
 bank through a pipe, thus furnishing motive-power to run 
 the ram, which sends water up to the house." 
 
 Conveying Water by Siphon. — Conveying water over a 
 hill to a point of delivery on the other side which is lower 
 than the supply point is a simple operation and one which 
 might be more generally employed than it is. Siphons 
 are sometimes made of pipes of considerable diameter 
 where the supply is large. Such devices are vastly cheaper 
 than tunneling. It is even on record that a fruit grower 
 put in quite an expensive pumping plant to force water 
 over a hill to his orchard on the other side and was sur- 
 prised to find that the water ran when the pump was not 
 in motion. He had not figured that the delivery point 
 was lower than the supply point, but so it was. In the 
 case of conveying water from rivers to leveed lands below 
 the stream, the siphon is cheaper than a flood-gate and 
 safer, and has the advantage of being portable. 
 
 FARM AND GARDEN RESERVOIRS. 
 For the construction of a dam to restrain the water of 
 a creek it is always wisest for the man who has had no 
 experience in such work to secure the advice of an expert. 
 Fortunately such men are very abundant in California, 
 as dam building has been a profession of Californians ever 
 since early mining days. The making of water-tight dams 
 on a small scale is not necessarily a very expensive opera- 
 tion, but it is liable to become so if not done properly. An 
 experienced man can give suggestions as to the location 
 of the work in view of the natural conditions and the use 
 to be made of the water, the character of natural banks 
 or bottom which it is designed to use and the best mate- 
 rials at hand for building, as well as the proper form of 
 the construction for safety and efficiency in connection 
 with economical completion of the job. Expert advice is 
 especially necessary where dams are to be built for closing 
 natural waterways, for such efforts involve the handling 
 of volumes of storm water which a farmer may have little 
 conception of, though he may have grown up on the site. 
 
56 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 The excavation of a small reservoir to collect water 
 from sources wholly apart from a natural watercourse is 
 a simpler proposition and can easily be done with farm 
 experience and appliances, and on this work some sug- 
 gestions may be offered. 
 
 First: Location is governed by local factors, but it 
 should be at sufficient elevation to deliver the water freely 
 at whatever point is involved in its use. 
 
 Second : Its area will depend upon the prospective 
 water supply. If this is ample, do not make the pond too 
 small. A circular reservoir with an average depth of four 
 feet through a circular space forty feet in diameter, will 
 hold water enough to cover about two-thirds of an acre 
 two inches deep. This will amount to a good soaking of 
 a good-sized farm garden, and is probably as small a dirt 
 reservoir as it will be worth while to make. For smaller 
 storage wooden or galvanized-iron tanks can well be used. 
 
 Third: In shape the circle is easiest to mark out and 
 construct symmetrically and incloses the greatest possible 
 area with the least length of bank, but on a small figure 
 it may be a little easier to handle teams and scrapers on 
 an oval. 
 
 Fourth : A fairly retentive loam free from rock and 
 rubbish, upon a clay subsoil, favors the easiest and cheap- 
 est construction of a dirt reservoir, because with careful 
 construction it can be made water-tight without using 
 other materials. Clay is disposed to leak through cracking 
 and sand will neither hold shape nor water. Clay and 
 sand mixed forms an ideal material. 
 
 Fifth : The earth surface under both the pond and the 
 banks must be thoroughly cleaned of all sods and trash 
 and the whole area plowed and harrowed well to make 
 it as fine as possible. The dirt should not be dumped on 
 the old surface to start the bank. When the whole is 
 plowed and harrowed the scraper can be started, moving 
 the dirt from the center to the banks, and each scraper 
 load should be spread and lumps broken with a shovel at 
 
RESERVOIR BUILDING. 57 
 
 once, leveling and filling hoofprints so that all tramping 
 or pressure of the scraper in passing may tend toward 
 even packing of the soil. All spots not reached by the 
 team or tools should be tramped by the shoveler so that 
 no loose dirt may be covered. This work should be con- 
 tinued all through the building. The harrow should fol- 
 low the plow in the bottom before the scraper moves the 
 dirt to the bank. 
 
 Sixth : The outflow pipe should be put in early. A 
 wooden box is often used having an interior space of six 
 by six inches, but a four or six inch lap-welded steel or 
 cast-iron pipe is vastly better. It should have an elbow 
 turned up on the inside so that a plug with a long handle 
 can be used to open or close the exit. A valve is better 
 than a plug, but it costs more. The pipe should be bedded 
 in a mass of concrete so that it will not be loosened by 
 working the exit apparatus. 
 
 Seventh : The width of the embankment is governed 
 by its height. The slopes with the best of earth should 
 not be less than two feet horizontal to one foot vertical 
 on the inside ; and if the material is light, three to one 
 on the outside will be none too much. 
 
 Eighth : The bottom and inside of the reservoir banks 
 should be well puddled. This is done by thorough plowing 
 and harrowing or cultivating to a depth of eight inches 
 and then admitting water slowly and keep the teams going 
 with the harrow. Begin at the center and work round 
 and round until the mud becomes as smooth as pancake 
 batter, working and reworking away from the center until 
 the puddle is carried well up the sloping bank. This 
 puddle layer, if the soil is fitted for it, will make the 
 pond hold water. 
 
 A Small Reservoir in Sandy Soil. — The foregoing con- 
 struction will not hold water if the materials are too coarse 
 in character. Where percolation is free a water-tight cov- 
 ering for the bottom and banks must be provided. This 
 can be done by hauling in clay for a puddle or the reser- 
 
58 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 voir after shaping may be cemented. In parts of the State 
 where asphaltum is abundant this material is very satis- 
 factorily used, the asphaltum being melted, mixed with 
 sand and spread on hot and smoothed down well with hot 
 shovels and hoes. 
 
 Cement can be used in the form of a mortar made of 
 six parts sharp clean sand to one part Portland cement. 
 Apply two coats, and then brush over with a whitewash 
 of clear cement and water. It is not necessary to make 
 walls of brick or stone on which to cement. Cemented 
 directly on the earth, even if it be sand or gravel, answers 
 perfectly. As we have no earth-freezing such work is 
 safe. If there should be cracks, give a coat of clear cement 
 and water and it will close them up. 
 
 The use of clay puddle is also very satisfactory. The 
 following is the plan of construction followed by Mr. Ed- 
 ward Berwick, of Carmel valley, Monterey county, in 
 building a reservoir which has stood thirty years of con- 
 stant use : 
 
 "My reservoir is eightly feet in diameter and made on 
 land with a slope of say one in forty. I drove a peg in 
 for a center, took a forty-foot line and marked a circle. 
 I dug a trench eighteen inches in width, sa}' three feet 
 deep where the land level was lowest and five feet where 
 it was highest, so that the ditch bottom was level. I filled 
 the ditch with puddled clay, well tamped, then excavated 
 a width of perhaps ten feet, just inside the clay ring, to 
 the level required for the reservoir bottom. I lined this 
 ten feet of floor with clay, being careful to unite the clay 
 of the ditch ring with this floor. Then began clearing out 
 the middle of the reservoir and banking up on this ten- 
 foot floor, and also on outside, at the same time adding 
 clay to the ditch ring as the embankment grew. 
 
 "When the required excavation was made, cleared up 
 well to the edge of the ten-foot wide floor, I put in the 
 clay for the rest of the bottom, uniting it, of course, with 
 the teii feet already laid, but now covered with the inner 
 
RESERVOIR BUILDING. 59 
 
 embankment. A three-inch discharge pipe was laid at the 
 bottom, with necessary fittings. 
 
 "The reservoir is nearly seven feet deep when filled, 
 and forms an excellent bathing tank for the family in 
 addition to its irrigation service." 
 
 This is a very thorough style of construction. It would 
 be cheaper to excavate as described in the previous list 
 of suggestions and then trust to a clay layer evenly spread 
 over the bottom and sloping sides, but the use of the pud- 
 dle trench and flat floor is surer to hold water. The puddle 
 trench is carried to the top of the bank : clay layering on 
 the sloping bank will crack as the water is drawn down 
 and is apt to be leaky. Mr. Berwick has scraped out a 
 very rich deposit of mud and decayed leaves and water 
 weed once since he built the reservoir, thus obtaining a 
 considerable amount of fertilizer, and after scraping, the 
 bottom was given a new floor of clay. He has also raised 
 the sides of the reservoir one foot and put in exit pipes of 
 four and six inches to release water in difi^erent directions. 
 
 Stone or Brick Walls for Reservoirs. — Very shapely but 
 rather more expensive walls can of course be made of 
 stone or brick laid in cement, and in this way the water 
 contents of the same diameter can be increased. The bot- 
 tom can be puddled or clayed or cemented, according to 
 the character of the ground or the taste of the builder. 
 
 Subterranean Reservoirs. — Large shallow wells are often 
 the cheapest reservoirs, and with pumps of large outflow 
 sufficient head is secured for direct application to the dis- 
 tributing ditches. Tunnels are also subterranean reser- 
 voirs and are frequently used as such. Both these wells 
 and tunnels are economical of water, as evaporation is 
 very slight. The following is an instance : 
 
 "Mr. C. L. Durban saj's that the cheapest reservoir that 
 a man can build on his land for retaining water for irri- 
 gation purposes is a tunnel run into a hill. An open res- 
 ervoir in a caiion or other suitable place, will lose one-third 
 of its water during the summer from evaporation, while 
 
60 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 in a tunnel there is no loss. A small spring will supply 
 a tunnel with sufficient water for many purposes. He has 
 illustrated this in a practical manner. On his own land at 
 Mesilla valley, he ran a tunnel thirty-five feet long into 
 a hill, in so doing tapping a spring ; this tunnel he dammed 
 up, leaving a space thirty-five feet long and the size of 
 the tunnel, which is about five feet by six feet, to be filled 
 with water. The water he carried to his house in pipes, 
 and we observed that it supplied his dwelling, another 
 near by, his barn and drying-house for raisins, as well as 
 irrigated quite a space devoted to flowers for a garden. 
 He says that the tunnel is the cheapest and best form, and 
 that for each dollar expended one can obtain a space equal 
 to twenty-five cubic feet." 
 
 Another form of subterranean reservoir consists of 
 trenches filled up to the plow-depth with broken rock. It 
 is practiced to a limited extent only. It is prodigiously 
 expensive and seems only worthy of consideration in the 
 improvement of a hillside home place, where satisfaction 
 is not conditioned upon cost. A California instance of 
 the system is the following: 
 
 "The grounds have too great a slope for spraying, 
 and instead of supplying surface ditches, the owner con- 
 structed permanent trenches, which have no outlet except 
 by seepage. These trenches extend one hundred feet in 
 length along the face of the slope, each being eighteen 
 inches deep and thirty inches wide. The earth was scat- 
 tered on the upper side of each cut, and by a little care 
 in plowing the garden was terraced into slopes of less 
 grade, each one hundred feet long and twenty-eight feet 
 wide. As a driveway passes along each end of the ter- 
 races, nearly all the cultivation is done by a horse turning 
 on the driveways. The trenches are designed as minia- 
 ture reservoirs, and are kept nearly full, when irrigation 
 is required, by a small stream flowing from one-half-inch 
 stand pipes at one end of each trench. This is also a form 
 
RAISED AND LOWERED BEDS. 61 
 
 of sub-irrigation as well as storage, for the water reaches 
 the roots of the plants on the terrace by seepage." 
 
 THE APPLICATION OF WATER. 
 
 Many methods are followed in the distribution of water 
 in the garden. Which is the best method must be deter- 
 mined largely by the character of the soil, and to meet 
 this requirement one must sometimes sacrifice some of the 
 incidental advantages of other methods. 
 
 Checks and Depressed Beds.— Where the garden soil is 
 very light, open and leachy, the vegetables are often grown 
 in checks or divisions larger or smaller, according to the 
 slope of the land ; the checks being inclosed by little banks 
 or levees which hold the water from escape except as it 
 sinks vertically into the soil. This is the only way by 
 which a leachy soil can be uniformly moistened, except by 
 sprinkling, which is seldom economical and is seldom fol- 
 lowed in California except in village garden practice. 
 The banks of the checks serve as walks upon which one 
 can go dry-shod from place to place and regulate the dis- 
 tribution of water. The garden then, during irrigation, 
 shows the plants growing in shallow vats of water of 
 irregular shape and size, and when the water sinks away 
 they are seen to be in sunken beds. This system sadly 
 interferes with the use of the horse in cultivation unless 
 the ground is practically level and the checks can be made 
 very large. In small checks the cultivation must be done 
 by hand. Market gardeners do this faithfully, but the 
 amateur is apt to be careless about it and to trust to 
 frequently filling the checks instead of regularly stirring 
 the soil. This tends to cement the surface, exclude the 
 air and make the soil sodden. The plants lose their free, 
 healthy growth and show their distress. 
 
 Raised Beds,— These are just the reverse of the check 
 system, for the ground surface is raised a little by the 
 dirt thrown out in excavating narrow ditches about four 
 or five feet apart through which the water is allowed to 
 
62 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 flow slowly if the ground is nearly level ; if slightly sloping 
 small dams are made at such distances apart as are neces- 
 sary to hold the water at about uniform depth below the 
 surfaces of the beds. In this system the distribution of 
 water is very largely accomplished by the capillarity of 
 the soil, though the market gardeners who affect this 
 method also shower the plants from time to time by throw- 
 ing the water up from the ditch with a scoop shovel or 
 a shallow pan. The narrow ditches serve as walks in 
 working around the beds and rubber boots are in request. 
 By this system ample water supplies are constantly had 
 within reach of the roots, and as the surface is never pud- 
 dled it is easy to keep it loose and open to the air. When 
 the crop is gathered the whole field is deeply broken up 
 wnth the plow and harrow and the whole system laid out 
 anew, as soon as, in the course of rotation, a crop requir- 
 ing such hydropathic treatment comes again to the ground. 
 
 Permanent Ditches. — The use of permanent ditches was 
 formerly very common in the irrigation of sloping garden 
 ground and is still somewhat observed. These ditches are 
 drawn very nearly on contour lines, only just enough fall 
 being given to move the water slowly. When the slope is 
 nearly uniform the ditches are almost parallel and they 
 are distanced according to what is known of the movement 
 of water by seepage down the slope in each particular 
 soil. The plantings are made on the plan of each strip 
 securing its moisture from the ditch above, and water is 
 admitted occasionally or kept running almost continu- 
 ously according to the needs of the particular crop or 
 the leakiness of the ditch. The outflow from the ditch, 
 after traversing backward and forward its full length, is 
 carried to an alfalfa patch below and thus utilized. These 
 permanent ditches serve a good purpose in saving hill- 
 sides from washing as they catch the surface storm water 
 before it has a chance to acquire much headway and carry 
 it down gently. Where the soil favors such distribution 
 very good results are attained with these ditches, but 
 
RAISED AND LOWERED BEDS. 
 
 63 
 
 the tendency is to use the ditches too long and allow 
 them to become cemented by action of water and deposit 
 of slime. Besides, they grow weeds and distribute seeds 
 if their banks are neglected. In most cases it is better 
 to employ less permanency — breaking up the ground and 
 locating new ditches at shorter intervals of time. 
 
 Lowland Irrigation by Seepage. — Another form of irri- 
 gation by means of permanent ditches is that practiced 
 
 nw- 
 
 T 
 
 ,^ '^^'S^i^*' "f"":^^^- 
 
 DEPRESSED BEDS AND IRRIGATION SYSTEM. 
 
 -0^m^0^: 
 
 
 RAISED BEDS OR RIDGES IRRIGATED BY CAPILLARITY. 
 
 on reclaimed lands along the interior rivers. When the 
 rivers are swollen from summer melting of snow in the 
 high Sierra, the water is brought to the land by flood- 
 gates in the levees. When the rivers are low very capa- 
 cious pumping plants are used — the same serving at other 
 times to drain the lands when they are too wet from the 
 rainfall or seepage. The soils of these reclaimed lands 
 are loose and prone to dry out because of their lack of 
 capillarity, so that at times irrigation is as necessary as 
 
64 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 on uplands. The water is distributed by means of small, 
 rather deep, ditches from which moisture readily extends 
 as the water moves out over the clay bottom which 
 underlies most of these lands and makes it possible to 
 hold the water up within reach of the roots of the plants. 
 With rich land, high heat and ample moisture just below 
 the surface the growth is almost marvelous. On these 
 lowlands flooding the surface frequently seriously injures 
 the plants by sun scald. 
 
 Ridge System of Irrig-ating and. Planting. — Another 
 plan of using seepage from permanent ditches is the ridge 
 system by which the water is run at a little elevation 
 above the surface, upright plants being placed beside 
 the water on the top of the rigdes and running plants 
 on the sides of the ridges with the lower ground between 
 the ridges for the extension of their growth. The gen- 
 eral significance of the arrangement lies in keeping the 
 water supply constant near the roots, and it is adapted 
 to rather open soils in which lateral percolation is defi- 
 cient. The elevation of the ditch thus helps to hold moist- 
 ure near the surface on which the plants are placed 
 without resorting to flooding as in the check system. It 
 is obviously well adapted to a region of very light rain- 
 fall and can be laid out in a way to drain the ridges 
 when surplus water has to be disposed of. It involves 
 a large amount of hard work. In a locality where both 
 summer and winter gardening must be largely dependent 
 upon irrigation it has striking advantages. The follow- 
 ing description is from a Kern county vegetable grower, 
 after several years' satisfactory experience with the 
 method : 
 
 "In preparing the ground make it as near level as pos- 
 sible, and cover the soil with about two inches of manure 
 (avoiding coarse straw or stalks), and plow this under 
 six to eight inches deep. Then harrow and cultivate until 
 the soil is smooth and fine. Use a wire or line to lay out 
 the ground; spread fine manure (well rotted is prefer- 
 
METHODS WITH IRRIGATION. 65 
 
 able) two feet wide and one inch thick, on a line directly 
 from your windmill or tank across the plat of ground. 
 Take a plow and turn two furrows together directly over 
 the manure, making a high ridge. Smooth and firm the 
 soil with a rake or hoe, and directly on top and length- 
 wise of the ridge form a ditch or trough about five inches 
 wide and three inches deep, on a grade so the water will 
 run from one end of the ridge to the other, connecting 
 the ends so that the water will run the entire length of 
 all the ridges without any attention; or you can make 
 the ridges around the plat, which will enable you to dis- 
 tribute the water from the ridge to any point desired by 
 means of a small piece of pipe inserted in the edge of 
 the trough, always maintaining a uniformity of moisture, 
 which is absolutely necessary for the growth of certain 
 vegetables. Run the water through the ditch until it is 
 settled and well moistened, then plant the seed at the 
 base and either side of the ridge. 
 
 "Do not allow the water to rise up over the beds under 
 any circumstances. If the work is properly done the 
 water will run through the ditches in the high ridges 
 and from their termination will continue from from one 
 trench to another, till each bed in the plat is nicely moist- 
 ened, and after once thoroughly wet and settled it will 
 not require more than one-half of the water it does at 
 first, unless the soil is very sandy and loose. Remember 
 it is the small stream long drawn out that counts and 
 gives the best results." 
 
 Practice With This System. — Concerning practice with 
 the different vegetables and the preparation of ridges 
 and beds for them, the following suggestions are given : 
 
 "Plant melons and winter squash seven feet apart on 
 each side of the ridge, which should be eight feet apart 
 for these varieties, and about five feet apart for corn, 
 beans, summer crook-neck squash, cucumbers, and toma- 
 toes. After preparing the ground and planting the seed 
 neither the ditch nor plants will require much attention 
 
66 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 more than to keep the weeds out. For the growth of 
 other vegetables, such as peas, cauliflower, cabbage, car- 
 rots, parsnips, beets, radish, lettuce, asparagus, egg plant, 
 spinach, peppers, onions, garlic, rhubarb, and tomato 
 plants, prepare the ground by forming into beds fourteen 
 inches wide and two inches higher in the center than on 
 either ridge, with a small trench between them six inches 
 wide and three inches deep. They can be made wider 
 and deeper if a large amount of water is available. After 
 the beds are prepared run the water through them and 
 recrossing the beds that are defective, so the water will 
 rise to a uniform height on each, within about one inch 
 of the top. Make a depression on each side of the bed 
 two and one-half inches from the edge with a hoe and 
 one and one-half inches deep. Sow the seed not less than 
 one-half inch apart and be very careful not to cover the 
 seed more than one-half inch deep. Every good seed will 
 grow, and those which are to remain in the rows must 
 be properly thinned out. When tomato plants are from 
 three to five inches tall, transplant them on either side 
 of the high ridges, five feet apart in the row. Transplant 
 cabbage and egg plants when they are from two to three 
 inches tall, in vacant beds, the former eighteen inches 
 apart in the row for early and close heading varieties, 
 and twenty-eight inches apart for late and spreading 
 varieties, and egg plants twenty-four inches apart in the 
 row. A pint of fine manure from the cow-yard placed 
 six inches below the surface under each plant will insure 
 a cabbage from nearly every plant. Pepper plants should 
 be transplanted eighteen inches apart in the row." 
 
 Picturesque Irrig-ation. — A modification of the perma- 
 nent ditch plan is quite widely practiced on the sand 
 hills south of San Francisco. The water is lifted from 
 wells by windmills, the discharge from the pump being 
 taken at such elevation that it will flow in a small flume 
 supported by a trestle to the highest point of the land 
 to be irrigated. Hence the water is carried in small con- 
 
WINDMILLS FOR IRRIGATION. 67 
 
 tour ditches hither and thither until every corner of the 
 very irregular slopes is reached. Short lines of vegeta- 
 bles are planted about at right angles to these small 
 permanent ditches and short spurs made with the hoe 
 so that the water is brought beside each individual plant. 
 As the slope is so broken and the soil so open, anything 
 like uniform seepage is out of the question. The appear- 
 ance of these gardens is exceedingly picturesque with 
 the little beds tucked in here and there, showing varying 
 shades of green o nminiature terraces and slopes and 
 flats irregularly intermingled often within the area of 
 an acre or two — the lines of the mill frame and flume 
 trestle so thin and long and intercrossed as to suggest 
 that a colossal spider had spun her weg upon the verdure. 
 All this is hand Avork and back work in cultivation and 
 irrigation, in carrying manure up and produce down, 
 and represents a fragment of the south of Europe east 
 upon the map of California. 
 
 Small Furrow Distribution. — All the foregoing methods 
 of distribution may suggest something for the American 
 farm garden in California providing the soil and situation 
 are best served in such ways, but for the most part the 
 farm garden will be upon land of moderate slope with 
 loams which take water well and are fairly retentive of 
 it. Under such circumstances the distribution of water 
 in many small streams along furrows drawn by a small 
 plow, accomplishing complete moistening without flood- 
 ing of the surface, is the system to be adopted and con- 
 scientiously practiced. It is most economical of water 
 not only, in the first application but by conservation of its 
 moisture by the thorough surface cultivation which must 
 follow each irrigation. Water is carried along the ridge 
 or ridges of the tract in a plank flume, of dimensions 
 proportional to the size of the area to be irrigated, and 
 with many openings, to be closed or opened at pleasure, 
 so that small streams of water can be brought out into 
 many small furrows and allowed to proceed slowly until 
 
68 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 they reach the bottom where the surplus may be caught 
 in a cross-furrow and carried to other uses. By this 
 method the water can be evenly distributed with hardly 
 a stroke of hand-work, and the soil, with surface always 
 open to access of air, and never allowed to compact itself 
 around the plants, affords conditions perfectly adapted 
 to thrifty, quick growth of the plants. This method con- 
 forms best with the most economical laying off of the 
 farm garden, viz. : the planting in long rows with uni- 
 form interspaces so that horse-power and the best imple- 
 ments can be employed to their fullest extent in every 
 operation from the seed planting to the gathering of the 
 crop. 
 
 Furrow Irrig-ation on Hillsides. — It is often desirable 
 to make the farm garden on a hillside, and this can be 
 managed by horse-work without terracing more easily 
 than one might think at first. The plan must be to work 
 nearly on contour lines in laying out the rows of vegeta- 
 bles and in the subsequent cultivation and irrigation. 
 The following will be found suggestive in regard to the 
 distribution of water : 
 
 "The water is delivered from a flume laid down the 
 hillside, and fitted with cleats at each hole so as to throw 
 off enough water at the sides, or sometimes the flume is 
 laid in steps connected with a bit of covered flume from 
 step to step. The latter is best for very steep hills, 
 though, with care, the other may be used on a greater 
 slope than one would imagine. Another flume should be 
 laid at the end of the furrows to carry off the waste 
 water. 
 
 "The contours may be laid out by anyone with a car- 
 penter's common level. Fifty-five feet to the mile is 
 nearly right for a very fine stream on most soils. And 
 this is about one foot in ninety-six, or two inches in six- 
 teen feet. Therefore, take a sixteen-foot plank and level 
 it to a slope of two inches in its whole length. Then 
 when the upper edge is level, the lower edge will repre- 
 
FURROW IRRIGATION. 69 
 
 sent the required grade for ,yoiir ditch. In this way the 
 work can be done very rapidly. 
 
 ''The same thing is equally good for laying common 
 little flumes, cement ditches, etc. But in earth, one should 
 determine by trial the amount of slope the soil will stand 
 without cutting or filling up with sediment or refusing 
 to run fast enough in case the soil is very porous. A 
 mistake of a few inches in a hundred feet will generally 
 not be serious, but the more nearly exact you can get it 
 the better. Every approach to perfection in your first 
 arrangements diminishes your future work and annoy- 
 ance. 
 
 "All manner of stuff is now raised in this way in Cali- 
 fornia on hillsides that a few years ago, when covered 
 with brush, seemed too steep and rough even to plow. 
 When once made, the furrows, of course, are left in place, 
 but the water finds its way to the center between them 
 quite as well as on more level ground." 
 
 Irrigation by Sprinkling. — Systems of iron pipe laid 
 below reach of plow and spade and furnished with stand 
 pipes and revolving sprinklers, or other showering de- 
 vices, have been successfully used to a limited extent, 
 and some have strongly favored them in spite of the con- 
 siderable cost of the outfit. They are worthy of consid- 
 eration where water under adequate pressure is avail- 
 able. They are labor-saving, but they encourage neglect 
 of cultivation, and to that extent are undesirable, espe- 
 cially on soils which harden on drying. 
 
 Sub-irrigation by Tile or Pipes. — Californians have been 
 experimenting with subterranean distribution with tile 
 or specially constructed pipes and outlets for probably 
 more than forty years, and yet none of the proposed sys- 
 tems has ever come into use except under the eye of the 
 inventor. In early days, iron troughs inverted on red- 
 wood boards ; small flumes or boxes of redwood boards ; 
 bricks set on edge and covered with boards; drain tile 
 with and without perforations — all these were suggested, 
 
70 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 given trial, and abandoned. All experiments proceeded 
 upon the plan of thus making permanent water conduits 
 below the point reached in spading or plowing, and they 
 all became inoperative. The failure was usually charged 
 to the filling of the pipes with plant roots, and in some 
 cases this was seen to be the reason. In other cases the 
 failure of the system was due to the fact that in light 
 soils lacking capillarity, the water rapidly sank away 
 from the pipes out of the reach of the roots, and shallow- 
 rooting platns failed, though there was moisture flowing 
 to waste through a pervious subsoil. About thirty years 
 ago Mr. E. M. Hamilton of East Los Angeles invented 
 a system of continuous cement pipes laid by a machine 
 operating in the trench which prevent access of roots 
 because it had openings only at intervals where the water 
 was discharged into air spaces, each of which could be 
 seen through a vertical pipe rising to the surface aud 
 furnished with a cover. This worked well for many years 
 on Mr. Hamilton's place for the irrigation of trees or 
 other deep-rooting plants at considerable distances apart, 
 for which use it seems best suited. To fill the earth with 
 such pipes with openings near enough together to serve 
 for shallow-rooting vegetables, is appallingly expensive, 
 and the stand pipes encumber the surface so that nothing 
 but hand spading or cultivating could be done without 
 destruction of them. 
 
 At the East within a few years the use of the drain 
 tile laid along the rows of vegetables near the surface 
 has given the best results in an experimental way. By 
 this plan the tile are to be taken up and relaid for each 
 crop, which can be quickly done. Water thus adminis- 
 tered may serve well in soil not disposed to puddle down 
 or possibly may be more successful where the summer 
 air is less dry and soil baking less active than in Cali- 
 fornia, but in many of our garden soils the soil would 
 solidify, and even if moisture were adequate to prevent 
 
WINTER IRRIGATION. 71 
 
 baking, the proper entrance of air would be largely pre- 
 vented. 
 
 The experience of Californians is against any such ar- 
 rangement of soil and water. Except in such soils as 
 have already been described as working well by seepage 
 systems, surface application of water followed by thor- 
 ough surface cultivation produces, as a rule, the best com- 
 bination of moisture, heat, aeration, and rapid root-exten- 
 sion, which pushes the plant to its utmost in rapid and 
 satisfactory growth. 
 
 WINTER IRRIGATION. 
 
 Winter irrigation is increasing in California as a surety 
 that the year's water supply will be above a certain 
 minimum. Deciduous trees and vines, on soil that is 
 fairly retentive, can be carried through a satisfactory 
 year's growth and fruiting, with good cultivation, by ar- 
 tificially soaking the soil in winter. In this way injury 
 to the trees or vines by a year of scant rainfall is avoided. 
 The practice has not the same value in garden practice, 
 because there still will remain the demand for summer 
 irrigation if succession of fresh vegetables is to be se- 
 cured. But for ample crops of staple field vegetables 
 which are usually grown without summer irrigation, the 
 winter-soaking method is of the same importance that it 
 is with fruit trees — it insures ample moisture every year. 
 
 Fall and winter irrigation are very important in gar- 
 dening in regions of uncertain rainfall, because they 
 bring the soil into condition for the early planting which 
 is often the secret of satisfaction and success. In south- 
 ern California, and the interior of the central regions of 
 the State as well, he who waits for rainfall to start his 
 gardening often loses half the season's producing capac- 
 ity. In these parts of the State the rain at its maximum 
 is seldom excessive, consequently one incurs no danger 
 but invites every benefit by wetting the soil well and 
 going to work at least with the hardier vegetables while 
 the autumn sunshine still imparts warmth to the soil. 
 
72 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 The use of winter storm water often results in a con- 
 siderable contribution to the fertility of the soil in the 
 form of silt and other materials rich in plant food. 
 
 HOW MUCH IRRIGATION IS NEEDED? 
 
 It is impossible to answer this question exactly for an}^ 
 crop^ but it can be approximated more nearly for an or- 
 chard or vineyard or a field crop than for a garden, which 
 should be held up to its maximum of free water nearly 
 all the time. Evidently the requirement for gardening 
 is greater than for any other cropping. How much water 
 will be required to hold any piece of land up to its best 
 estate of moisture, depends upon the plant grown, the 
 soil and subsoil, the slope and exposure, the local heat 
 and dryness of the air, the rainfall, etc. The quantity 
 can, then, only be determined for each piece of ground 
 with the data of its conditions and environment, and the 
 observing man will allow the plants to tell him by their 
 vigor and speed of growth how the supply suits them. 
 
 Ardquate Use of Water Essential. — Beyond any theo- 
 retical computation of the amount of water needed, it is 
 one of the plainest teachings of California experience 
 that good, thorough soaking of the ground is the secret 
 of satisfactory results. Surface sprinkling without pene- 
 tration is a delusion even in lawn growing. It gives the 
 impression of moisture when the roots of the plant may 
 be famishing in dry ground. Pouring on water from a 
 watering pot, though it be once every day, will make 
 a brick to inclose the plant stem and roots if the soil be 
 prone to bake. On larger scale work it has been fully 
 demonstrated that for productiveness a small piece of 
 ground thoroughly soaked with water and then as thor- 
 oughly cultivated on the surface to kill weeds and pre- 
 vent the waste of moisture into the air by evaporation, 
 is preferable to twice the surface only half watered. One 
 very thorough wetting, with good cultivation, will pro- 
 duce better results than several superficial waterings. 
 
MUST BE MOISTURE ENOUGH. 73 
 
 And in this way the water can be used the most econom- 
 ically by accomplishing the most good with the least 
 labor. ^ 
 
 Another very important point is to keep the moisture 
 supply always adequate. One who waits till the plants 
 show distress has lost his chance. One of our experienced 
 growers very pertinently says: "If we allow our ground 
 to get the least bit dry the vegetables are stunted in 
 growth, and then it takes several days to catch up again, 
 if it ever does. I hold that a stunted vegetable is as 
 bad as a stunted calf or pig. It is never as good as if it 
 was pushed right along from the beginning." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 GARDEN DRAINAGE IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 It may be remarked, as a generalization based upon a 
 wide view of our two-season year, that the secret of 
 success in California vegetable growing consists in getting 
 plants "out of the wet" at one time and into it at an- 
 other. It would, perhaps, be more exact to say that 
 success lies in securing generous but not excessive moist- 
 ure at all times, and this is essential to the best growth 
 of the plant in any climate. And yet so strikingly antith- 
 etical are our moisture-extremes at the height of the 
 two seasons, and so characteristic, both in times and meth- 
 ods, are the policies and practices by which we modify 
 both to the best advantage, that the world-wide princi- 
 ples to which they conform are out of sight of the casual 
 observer. For it is not only that we have always to 
 guard against extremes of saturation and aridity and 
 keep the plant along the lines of sufficiency — that is the 
 universal proposition. In addition to this, California, 
 speaking generally, has to do special work against one 
 extreme at one time and against the other extreme at 
 another time ; hence the opening remark. 
 
 Regulation of moisture in California either involves 
 more considerations than are usually recognized in humid 
 climates or involves them in higher degree and imputes 
 to them increased significance. Choice of location and 
 soil ; time and method of planting and cultivation ; the 
 choice of the crop with reference to natural moisture 
 supply and the atmospheric conditions ; the employment 
 of irrigation ; and the desirability, or otherwise, of arti- 
 ficial drainage facilities — all these are factors which are 
 perhaps more sharply concerned in results here than in 
 
BENEFITS OP DRAINAGE. 75 
 
 humid climates, because our extremes, in all except low 
 temperatures, are more exacting. Correct practice here 
 gives grand results, but ill-timed or illy adapted practice 
 does not give merely less satisfactory results : it invites 
 failure. Our drainage proposition must always be con- 
 ditioned upon proper conservation of moisture, and, as 
 will be seen as we proceed with the discussion, contem- 
 plated artificial drainage may have the power to make or 
 ruin a crop if its action is not intelligently employed, or 
 intelligently rejected, as the case may require. 
 
 Benefits of Drainage. — -It may be admitted at the outset 
 that in regions of heavy rainfall or in locations subject 
 to much percolation from higher lands, underdrainage 
 may be necessary to satisfactory use of the land in win- 
 ter gardening unless the soil is deep and free enough to 
 readily dispose of the surplus water. As a matter of 
 fact, it is necessary in some eases, and gratifying results 
 follow in lowering the ground water, admitting air, warm- 
 ing the soil, making it hospitable to the plant, rendering 
 fertility available and lengthening the growing season 
 of the plant both by these services and by making the 
 soil sooner amenable to tillage and susceptible of better 
 tilth. All these are general drainage principles applicable 
 here as elsewhere and in some soils and situations the 
 same method of application is best, viz. : thorough under- 
 drainage preferably with tile but also attainable with 
 trenches partly filled with rock, or with regular runways 
 with placed stones or poles or boards or whatever may 
 be most available to the person at the time. In drainage 
 for garden purposes, however, it is not necessary that 
 the water table should be lowered as far as is essential 
 to the satisfactory growth of trees, nor is it desirable 
 generally that it should be. Tile laid two feet from the 
 surface will answer in most cases if the land lies well 
 for the outflow of the drainage. 
 
 Conserving Moisture. — The general purpose in Califor- 
 nia gardening must be to save moisture, not to facilitate 
 
76 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 its escape. It is especially important in an arid country 
 that the lower strata of the soil should be a storage reser- 
 voir for the use of the plant in the dry season. This 
 fact underlies the recommendations for cultivation which 
 will be given in a later chapter, but it also has intimate 
 relations with the subject of drainage. Evidently, re- 
 course to drainage should not endanger the generously 
 adequate moisture supply which the plant needs, and 
 for this reason the almost universal exhortation in gar- 
 dening treatises for humid climates: "first of all, deeply 
 drain your soil," either subject the trusting Calif ornian to 
 a useless expense, or, worse than that, makes his land less 
 suited to his purpose than it was before the expenditure 
 was made. 
 
 For it should be noted : first, that our light deep loams 
 which are chiefly used for garden purposes, can naturally 
 dispose of all the surplus water which the clouds afford 
 them ; second, our heavier soils sometimes make a great 
 surface show of saturation when the lower layers have 
 really far less than their holding capacity, because per- 
 colation is slow, not only by nature of the soil but by the 
 lack of thorough tillage which would help to hold a large 
 precipitation until the soil could absorb it; third, our 
 soils dispose of moisture very rapidly during the dry in- 
 tervals of the rainy season, and this can be increased by 
 winter cultivation which should not aim to fine the sur- 
 face but to open it to the air ; fourth, by their active 
 winter growth, the plants themselves pump from the sur- 
 face layer volumes of water, the escape of which opens 
 the way for capillarity to relieve lower layers of their 
 surplus, and thus the active roots help to prepare the 
 way for their own farther extension. 
 
 Really, then, what California soils need for winter gar- 
 den purposes is natural surface drainage, viz., downward 
 into thirsty lower layers : upward into the air by evap- 
 oration from earth-surfaces or plant-surfaces. "Where 
 this is not adequate to the relief of surface saturation 
 
WHEN TO DRAIN LANDS. 77 
 
 and consequent preparation for seed sowing, very simple 
 artificial surface drainage is usually effective. This can 
 be mainly accomplished with the plow, first by opening 
 drainage furrows at proper intervals, and this is often 
 all that is needed to dispose of surplus water; second, 
 by ridging with the plow which prepares long seed beds 
 a little above the general surface and at the same time 
 leaves channels for the escape of the water; third, by 
 opening deeper surface-drains to act directly or to re- 
 ceive and speed the departure of the outflow from the 
 open furrows. All of these forms of treatment, selected 
 according to the degree of the need of drainage, have 
 proved widely satisfactory and have facilitated magnifi- 
 cent winter growth of vegetables upon heavy adobe soils 
 in some of our regions of heaviest winter rains. The ac- 
 tion is quicker than underdraining because percolation is 
 notably slow in such soil. It removes the surplus from 
 the surface just at the time that its absence is most de- 
 sirable and it leaves the moisture stored below to rise 
 as the demand for it advances. On the other hand, under- 
 drainage, where it is not imperatively demanded by ex- 
 ceptional conditions, has clearly acted too slowly to bring 
 the surface speedily into satisfactory condition and has 
 acted too long in drawing away more water than is desira- 
 ble from below and has then continued as a very effec- 
 tive hot-air system for farther drying of soil-substance 
 which should have retained more moisture to supply the 
 plant and foster capillary action from still lower layers. 
 In the writer's own experience shallow-rooting plants 
 have dwindled over tile lines while those midway be- 
 tween the lines were growing rapidly. 
 
 Conditions Determining Recourse to Underdrainage. — 
 
 It may be well to specify a few of the conditions which 
 should determine whether underdrainage should be pro- 
 vided in land under consideration for vegetable growing. 
 Of course, the claim already alluded to, that any piece 
 of soil selected for gardening must be first underdrained, 
 
78 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 is an exaggeration anywhere in the world probably, be- 
 cause there are areas of naturally well-drained soil every- 
 where. Enough has been said of California garden soils 
 to show that the most of them are of this character and 
 that no probable amount of rainfall would injure them. 
 The exception has also been sufficiently characterized in 
 the chapter on soils. 
 
 To reach assurance for or against underdrainage in par- 
 ticular cases one has to consider the soil, the rainfall, 
 the character of the root growth to be ministered to, the 
 growing season of the crop, and the practice of irrigation. 
 
 The mere amount of rainfall is so intimately related 
 to soil texture, depth, subsoil, slope, and exposure that, 
 considered alone, it affords no guide whatever to the 
 need of artificial drainage. There are many situations re- 
 ceiving an annual rainfall of forty to sixty inches which 
 not only do not need underdrainage but, on the other 
 hand, irrigation must be employed as early as May to 
 supply the requirements of shallow-rooting plants. There 
 are either coarse, leachy soils or else shallow loams lying 
 upon sloping and porous bedrock. Leaving these out of 
 consideration, it is doubtful whether any land, even of 
 quite retentive character, receiving a rainfall of not more 
 than twenty-five inches, distributed as California rainfall 
 usually is, needs underdrainage for garden purposes. Of 
 course, this claim clearly presupposes that the land in 
 question does not receive any considerable amount of 
 water by overflow or underflow by seepage from higher 
 land. Any such rainfall as noted can probably be con- 
 trolled by such surface use or surface release as have 
 already been described, or by such early and deep culti- 
 vation as the garden should receive, there can be stored 
 in the soil the moderate residuum remaining from the 
 amount of rainfall indicated, and under favorable circum- 
 stances a greater rainfall can be thus disposed of. 
 
 Deep-rooting plants like fruit trees will of course be 
 injured by saturation of the subsoil which would not in- 
 
IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE. 79 
 
 jure garden vegetables, therefore underdrainage of the 
 orchard is a different proposition from that of the garden. 
 It should be stated for the distant reader that the term 
 ' ' garden ' ' in California is not understood to include fruit 
 trees, except in villages or suburban places. 
 
 The growing season of the vegetable crop is also re- 
 lated to the matter of underdrainage. While the winter 
 garden on a retentive soil in a region of quite large rain- 
 fall, may be greatly improved by underdrainage, the sum- 
 mer growth of the same plants perhaps, and of field crops 
 of shallow-rooting vegetables, may be benefited by such 
 surface treatment during the winter as shall promote the 
 absorption and retention of the whole rainfall to the soil 
 and subsoil. This practice may insure the perfection of 
 a crop without irrigation which could not be grown on 
 a less retentive soil nor on one currently drained on its 
 surplus water. 
 
 The practice of irrigation may create a need for under- 
 drainage which may not exist on land used for rainfall- 
 gardening. If the soil is naturally well drained this need 
 will not, however, occur, unless the natural escape of sur- 
 plus water has been destroyed by rise of the bottom water 
 which has, in some large districts in California, followed 
 excessive irrigation, and the seepage of water from leaky 
 ditches. Especially unfortunate, too, has it been that this 
 rise of the ground water has brought within reach of cap- 
 illary action and surface evaporation alkaline salts which 
 are destructive to vegetation. But here again the growth 
 of vegetables can be successfully pursued on lands with 
 water too near the surface to favor fruit trees, providing 
 the rise of alkali does not occur. For the growth of vege- 
 tables, then, it is not generally imperative that the land 
 be underdrained, even if Irrigation is practiced, though 
 there are cases of retentive soils in which this is desirable. 
 In irrigation in a humid climate where a heavy downfall 
 of rain may immediately follow a saturation by irrigation. 
 
80 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 underdrainage is a safeguard. California, with a rainless 
 summer, is freed from this danger. 
 
 Too great emphasis, even to indulgence in repetition, 
 can hardly be placed upon the point of view held in this 
 work. We are dealing for the most part with plants which 
 are used before maturity and in which large free growth 
 of foliage stem and seed vessel are the points desired and 
 not mature seed. Most of these plants are also shallow- 
 rooted and are concerned in the lower layers of soil, not 
 as a place of root activity, but rather as a reservoir of 
 moisture and a storehouse of plant food which shall come 
 to them dissolved in the upward movement of abundant 
 water. Consequently, these plants do not require the 
 degree of soil dryness which best ministers to maturing 
 processes, nor do they need such deep penetration of air 
 as is needed to make subsoils hospitable for deep-rooting 
 plants. They are plants, too, which need the maximum 
 percentages of moisture within reach to secure the quick 
 growth and succulence w'hich makes them delicious and 
 profitable. For all these reasons, the view of underdrain- 
 age here presented is somewhat at variance with orthodox 
 drainage tenets held in humid climates and is also widely 
 diverse from views which the writer holds with reference 
 to the drainage requirements of fruit trees. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 CULTIVATION. 
 
 The timely and thorough performance of the several 
 acts which, in accordance with the prevailing local con- 
 ditions, constitute good tillage, are indispensable to suc- 
 cess in California vegetable growing. No matter how 
 favorable the natural conditions or how generous the 
 other provisions made by the grower, to be dilatory or 
 slack in cultivation is to seriously endanger, if not to 
 actually forfeit, the final reward. 
 
 The American pioneers were quick to see that the en- 
 ergetic use of the good tools to which they had been 
 trained in their old homes would bring marvelous produc- 
 tion from lands previously held at grazing value, and, 
 beginning with this assurance, they proceeded by lessons 
 of observation and experience until they learned proper 
 times and ways of working under the novel natural con- 
 ditions which surrounded them. They also accomplished 
 modifications in tools for tillage, which, from a local point 
 of view, are notable improvements, and they devised new 
 forms to meet special conditions or purposes. By this 
 empirical method they ministered to their own success 
 and incidentally demonstrated the truth of some advanced 
 theories of tillage which had won but slight recognition 
 from the conservative spirit of the older countries. It is 
 an interesting fact, also, that prevailing California prac- 
 tice, in some important regards, accords more closely with 
 principles deduced from elaborate experimentation by the 
 most acute and patient students of soil physics, than does 
 the common practice of older countries. 
 
 With tillage, as with other gardening duties to which 
 reference has been made, there are in California wider 
 
82 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 extremes to be mastered, and methods are therefore strik- 
 ingly diverse. Tillage prepares the seed bed, facilitates 
 germination and root-extension, and fosters the benign 
 processes of soil warmth and aeration here as elsewhere. 
 It also holds the same relation to soil moisture here as 
 elsewhere, but its services in this particular are more con- 
 spicuous because the need is greater, as intimated in pre- 
 vious chapters. 
 
 The common California conception of the value of till- 
 age naturally seizes upon this aspect of the case and 
 asserts that the chief offices of soil working are first to 
 get as much moisture as possible into the soil and, second, 
 to keep it there. The efficacy of certain ways and times 
 of tillage to assist in the escape of surplus moisture is of 
 course known to those who have this work to do, but the 
 area in which such acts are called for is comparatively 
 small. It is quite important, however, that the vegetable 
 grower should have it in mind and it will be mentioned 
 later. 
 
 TILLAGE TO RECEIVE MOISTURE. 
 
 This involves both time and method. The importance 
 of early work in the garden has been incidentally men- 
 tioned and will be further urged hereafter. With the 
 rainfall-vegetable grower, early plowing of the land, or 
 early digging of the small garden, is the first of a series 
 of timely acts which are neglected at great peril. 
 
 Summer Fallow as Preparation for Vegetable Planting. 
 — The best way to be early with one season is to begin in 
 the previous one, if possible. A bare but frequently 
 stirred summer fallow is the best preparation for a gar- 
 den. A piece of stubble or new land deeply plowed and 
 subsoiled and left unharrowed in the fall or early winter, 
 cross-plowed in the spring, and then worked with a cul- 
 tivator once a month during the dry season, is brought 
 to the opening of the rainfall-garden season in good con- 
 dition from at least three points of view : first, it has been 
 cleaned of many weeds ; second, it has been improved in 
 
TILLAGE FOR MOISTURE. 83 
 
 tilth and fertility ; and, third, it has a storage of moisture 
 from the previous season 's rainfall. Such a piece of land 
 can be deeply plowed at the opening of the rainy season, 
 and can be at once planted with vegetables for winter use 
 which are hardy in the locality and will carry them along 
 well, even if there be very little rain during the late fall 
 months, with its content of stored moisture. Because of 
 its deeply stirred surface, freedom from hardpan from 
 previous cultivation, and moist subsoil, it is in its best 
 absorptive condition, and by subsequent shallow working 
 as each vegetable is disposed of, rotation or succession 
 can proceed on the same ground and with the advancing 
 winter and its added rainfall planting of less hardy vege- 
 tables can be made until the frost-free period arrives and 
 the garden will go out into the spring and summer growth 
 of the whole list of hardy and tender plants with ample 
 moisture to carry them to perfection during the dry sea- 
 son. 
 
 Early Beginning for Work the Sajne Season. — But it is 
 
 not always possible to give the year of rest and cleaning 
 and moisture saving, desirable as it is. In that case the 
 plowing must be done as soon as the rains sufficiently 
 moisten the soil for deep plowing. Sub-soiling may also 
 be done with advantage if the rainfall of the region is 
 generous; if not, there is too great danger that much of 
 the moisture may go out of reach of the shallow-rooting 
 plant. It is usually not as safe to plant as early on newly 
 plowed land as upon replowed summer fallow, for unless 
 the fall rains are above the average the plants may be 
 less thrifty than those planted later when full moisture 
 is assured. This is, of course, a matter for local deter- 
 mination, as it is conditioned upon local rainfall. 
 
 Even if for any reason it is not thought desirable to 
 plant vegetables in the open air until February, and this 
 is a practice in localities where fall and early winter tem- 
 peratures are rather low, still the earlj^ plowing is neces- 
 
84 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 sary to moisture-saving, and cross-plowing should follow 
 in preparation for planting. 
 
 Land designed for spring planting of tender vegetables 
 should also receive early and thorough fall plowing and 
 a subsequent winter plowing or spring plowing before 
 the weed growth becomes too heavy for turning under or 
 so coarse that plowing under will make a non-retentive 
 soil still more prone to drying out the following summer. 
 
 TILLAGE TO CONSERVE MOISTURE. 
 
 Tillage to receive moisture designs to open the soil and 
 to assist percolation with a view to prevent surface flow 
 and to absorb the rainfall. Tillage to save moisture aims 
 to reduce evaporation to a minimum. In a firm soil moist- 
 ure rises by capillary attraction and is rapidly removed 
 from the surface by evaporation. A light soil has less 
 capillarity than a heavy one. A sandy soil has less than 
 clay, but both lose water by surface evaporation until, 
 in an arid climate, plants will die of thrist unless they 
 be by nature drought-resisting. Garden vegetables are 
 not of that character; in fact, quite the reverse. Conse- 
 quently, some means must be adopted to prevent the 
 moisture which is rising in the soil from reaching contact 
 with the outer air. This can be done by placing a cover- 
 ing upon the compact portion of the soil so that the air 
 shall not have free access to it. Covering with a sufficient 
 amount of almost any coarse material, such as coarse 
 manure or rotten straw or sawdust or anything of that 
 sort, is troublesome and expensive and otherwise objec- 
 tionable, although it has an acknowledged place in garden 
 practice, as will be shown later. 
 
 The Earth Mulch. — California practice has made the 
 widest application of the truth that a finely pulverized 
 surface layer of sufficient depth is an effective mulch. 
 Pulverizing the soil widens the distance between its par- 
 ticles and consequently destroys its capillarity until by 
 the action of moisture, either in the form of liquid or 
 
HOW MOISTURE IS CONSERVED. 85 
 
 vapor, it becomes again compacted to a degree which re- 
 stores its power to transmit moisture. The cultivator has 
 it, then, within his power to spread a mulch and check 
 evaporation simply by fine and frequent pulverization of 
 the surface layer by cultivation. It is this ability which 
 enables the California horticulturist to transform the 
 lower layers of his soil into a reservoir, and to profit by 
 the natural tendency of the moisture to rise in the com- 
 pact soil until it reaches the point where the pulverized 
 layer checks its advance. This jiractice makes possible an 
 achievement which seems almost incredible to workers in 
 humid climates, viz. : the growing of a succulent crop 
 from seeding to harvest without the use of a drop of 
 water either by rain or irrigation, and it is this practice, 
 coupled with the deeper rooting habit of plants which is 
 induced by it, which enables our trees and field crops to 
 grow thriftily and produce heavily during months of 
 drought, while a few weeks of drought bring distress to 
 plants in humid climates. 
 
 But the pulverized surface layer must do more than 
 arrest the capillary rise of moisture before it reaches the 
 surface : it must check it at a point out of reach of the free 
 entrance of air to the loose layer, consequently the de- 
 gree of pulverization and the depth of the loose layer are 
 factors to be carefully observed. It is not enough to grind 
 an inch or two of the surface to powder. The free move- 
 ment of air through this shallow layer at least in our sum- 
 mer air with its exceptional thrist, will proceed with evap- 
 oration from the too thinly covered compact portion and 
 the loss of moisture will be only a little less rapid and com- 
 plete than if the surface had not been disturbed at all. 
 The same thing will happen if the surface layer be only 
 coarsely broken to a still greater depth : the passage of 
 air through the clods will be free enough to draw off the 
 moisture and the soil will dry out to a degree which will 
 bring distress to plants which good cultivation would have 
 maintained in vigorous growth. It is plain then that 
 
CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 IDEAL DEVELOPMENT OF BEET ROOT, SHOWING ADVAN- 
 TAGES OF DEEP CULTIVATION FOR ROOT CROPS. 
 
 the earth mulch must be fine enough and deep enough to 
 serve its intended purpose and for this no arbitrary rule 
 can be laid down except that the coarser the soil by nature 
 or the coarser the particles by cultivation, the deeper the 
 
METHODS OF TILLAGE. 87 
 
 mulch must be. The practical test is easy : if the pulver- 
 ized layer becomes dry and if on brushing it aside with 
 the foot, the firm surface is hard and more or less dry also, 
 the mulch is not effective and its character must be im- 
 proved. 
 
 Steps by Which Conservation is Attained. — The foun- 
 dation for a satisfactory moisture-conserving tilth is laid 
 with the plow during the fall or winter preceding the 
 summer during which it is to be maintained. Though 
 plowing has been considered as a factor in opening the 
 soil to receive and store moisture it is also considered in 
 its conservation. To do this the plow must be used when 
 the soil is in the best condition not only for turning but 
 for disintegrating by the crushing action of the mold 
 board so that the soil particles shall lie closely upon the 
 firm portion and not form large air spaces which minister 
 to drying out. Plowing when the soil is unfit results in 
 clods, which are every way hateful in the garden, and in 
 air spaces, which are objectionable, as shown. Even when 
 the soil is in reasonably good condition, late plowing, if 
 left rough and open to dry winds, will form clods in all 
 except the loosest soils, consequently all late plowing 
 should be at once well harrowed. 
 
 The next step in the assurance of a good earth mulch 
 is the early use of the cultivator. It will not do to allow 
 the harrowed soil to crust by rains and then trust to some 
 later rain to loosen and rescue the young plants from its 
 embrace. Just as soon as the soil arrives in condition 
 after a rain, stir the surface well and the crust will not be 
 formed, and this must be done just as soon as crust-form- 
 ing conditions recur. In this way the soil surface is con- 
 stantly kept in good absorbing condition and is also car- 
 ried on its way to the best conserving condition as well. 
 Weed growth, which is moisture wasting, is also pre- 
 vented. 
 
 Then comes the summer cultivation to retain such an 
 earth-mulch as has been described. If it proceeds upon 
 
88 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 previous good work in clod and crust preventing the vege- 
 table grower is fortunate. If not, he must have recourse 
 to whatever implements for clod-crushing, cutting, chop- 
 ping and grinding, work best in his soil, for, as there can 
 be no best plow for all soils, so also there can be no best 
 cultivator. The grower must learn to recognize the con- 
 dition which he wishes to attain and then experiment with 
 tools until he finds the best for his soil. Summer cultiva- 
 tion means cultivation all summer, or at least as long as 
 growths are still progressing. To reduce to good tilth in 
 the spring and then "lay by" the garden or else to count 
 upon later cultivation only in the case of later rains, is 
 not adequate cultivation for moisture conservation. The 
 earth mulch will have its capillarity restored by its own 
 absorption of moisture from below or from the air, and 
 it will lose its efficiency as a protecting cover even through 
 no rain falls. Therefore frequent stirring to the adequate 
 depth but without soil-turning must be maintained at in- 
 tervals both to restore the mulch and to destroy weeds 
 which may start late and pump moisture away from the 
 plants in almost incredible amount. Remember, though 
 no crust forms and no weeds start, the cultivator must fre- 
 quently restore the surface layer to its condition as an 
 efficient mulch if the greatest possible amount of moisture 
 is to be conserved. 
 
 CULTIVATION IN SMALL GARDENS. 
 
 Work with spading-fork, hoe and rake in the hand- 
 made garden is subject to exactly the same requirements 
 as those described for the horse-power garden or vege- 
 table field. Early and deep digging for moisture recep- 
 tion and storage, as well as to welcome root-penetration, 
 must be followed by coarse raking to maintain a surface 
 fit for absorption and not favorable to crusting while the 
 rainy season advances, and, after the rains have ceased, 
 there must be frequent deep hoeing and fine raking to 
 maintain the earth-mulch which has already been charac- 
 terized. 
 
HOW TO HOE. 89 
 
 The Man with the Hoe.— The use of the hoe at different 
 seasons in the California garden and the contrast between 
 summer hoeing as practised in arid and humid climates 
 is so strikingly illustrative of the sort of tillage which 
 gives in California rank summer growth without rain, 
 that a few comments will be indulged in. 
 
 The first and most obvious reflection which comes to 
 one who does summer hoeing in an arid land is that the 
 handling of the hoe which he practised in his boyhood 
 in eastern garden or cornfield is not the hoeing which 
 avails most now and here. The light, shallow stroke which 
 fell just below the root crown of the weed, stirred the 
 immediate surface a little and left the field clean, used to 
 be the touch for eastern hoeing, and a man could almost 
 do it at walking speed for hours upon hours. Except a 
 little extra deep work, which was called for when the oc- 
 casional short droughts threatened, this shallow weed- 
 cutting was sufficient to give the crop the upper hand in 
 the struggle with weeds, and the frequent showers kept 
 the surface moist enough to prevent baking. 
 
 It is to be inferred from recent reports that there is less 
 shallow hoeing done now than a generation ago at the 
 east, and deeper summer cultivation has been found profit- 
 able there. However this may be, it is clear that shallow 
 hoeing is a delusion and a snare in this country. Practice 
 it through the spring and as long as the weeds start, and 
 your garden surface will be dusty. Think then content- 
 edly about what you have heard of a mulch of dust-retain- 
 ing moisture. Can it be possible, instead of shooting up- 
 ward, the plant just holds its own and then goes backward, 
 wilting, yellowing its leaves, and all but dying in its dis- 
 tress ? Surely there must be a worm at the root. The hoe 
 is seized and brought down upon the soil at an angle and 
 with a force it has not known all summer. How the dust 
 flies from the surface, and how the hoe flies from the 
 hard-pan just beneath the dust as though it had been 
 brought down upon a marble slab. Then there come to 
 
90 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 mind thought on hoeing which never came before. Then 
 it becomes plain that the shallow weed-cutting stroke is 
 not the dash of the hoe which saves the plant. 
 
 One who goes through this experience once will know 
 better how to hoe next time. He will see that by sharp, 
 deep strokes, often using the corners of the blade, he will 
 maintain a loose layer upon the surface which will be 
 thick enough to prevent direct evaporation from a hard- 
 pan layer and thus break the connection between capil- 
 lary action and the atmosphere. Such hoeing is harder 
 than light work with the blade nearly horizontal. It 
 takes muscle to give a strong vertical stroke which pene- 
 trates well, and one cannot waltz along the rows whistling 
 a lively tune, as is quite possible while weed-cutting in 
 moist soil in February. 
 
 There is little grace, we admit, in the attitude of the 
 Italian market gardener, as he straddles the row, arches 
 his back and grunts as he sends his heavy mattock its 
 full depth into the soil around the plants. The American 
 with his fine, new, full-width, bronze-shanked, green-la- 
 beled steel hoe, marching along the rows, touching the 
 soil with disdain as ill worth exertion on his part, is a 
 much handsomer picture. But the Italian's plants laugh 
 at drought. When irrigated the soil takes w^ater like a 
 sponge and it goes plump down to the roots of the plant. 
 Irrigate the shallow-hoed plat ; a pailful will run a rod 
 and the plant root gets but the gurgle of the water as it 
 flows along the surface of the hard pan just beneath the 
 dust. 
 
 Evidently, if one begins early in the season with deep 
 hoeing, the midsummer tussle with hard-pan will be ob- 
 viated. This is really the lesson to be learned. 
 
 CULTIVATION AND IRRIGATION. 
 
 All that has been said about the relations of tillage to 
 reception and conservation of moisture from rainfall is of 
 equal truth as related to moisture derived from irriga- 
 tion. Soils not readily absorptive must be opened by 
 
THE AMERICAN AND THE ITALIAN. 91 
 
 proper tillage to receive the waterflow. Such is the ser- 
 vice rendered by the furrow system in addition to its fur- 
 nishing channels for the flow. Soils naturally open will 
 take water as well, and sometimes better, by other meth- 
 ods, as has already been explained. But by whatever 
 means water is brought to the soil the conservation of 
 the water depends largely upon the prevention of surface 
 evaporation which not only releases moisture but turns 
 the upper soil into a pavement which is fatal to shallow- 
 rooting plants. Therefore let the plow follow^ the irri- 
 gation, if it is fall or winter irrigation for the preparation 
 of a seed bed, and let the cultivator do its work finely 
 and to sufficient depth if it is summer irrigation for ad- 
 vanced plant growth. Do not let the irrigated land lie 
 until it yields clods to the cultivator. Seize it soon, as 
 good tilth waits on stirring; "and when 'tis done then 
 'twere well it were done quickly." 
 
 RIDGES, HILLS, RAISED BEDS AND LEVEL 
 CULTURE. 
 
 Though the considerations suggested by these words are 
 involved in irrigation and drainage, they are commonly 
 regarded as phases of cultivation. It is almost obvious 
 that all methods of lifting the plant bed above the com- 
 mon surface are equivalent to providing it with the fullest 
 facilities for surface drainage. Whenever, then, ridging 
 or hilling or raising whole garden beds is prastised with- 
 out connection with irrigation upon the elevated surface, 
 it affords exceptional means for the escape of surplus 
 water and relief to the plant from saturated soil. By this 
 act the winter growth of vegetables, hardly enough to 
 withstand the local climate, can be carried on in the most 
 retentive soil under a very heavy rainfall. 
 
 Ridging. — It matters not whether this ridging is done 
 very quickly with the plow by back furrowing or whether 
 a raised bed is made in the small garden with a retaining 
 border, the principle is the same and it is a very useful 
 one. It affords a ready answer to the requirement which 
 
92 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 exists in many parts of California for facilitating winter 
 growth by drainage without at the same time endanger- 
 ing too great loss of water for summer cropping. The 
 back furrow gives the plants a greater depth of stirred 
 soil, which is especially valuable in the rainy season. Af- 
 ter the early crop of hardy vegetables is disposed of there 
 will still be time to plow down the ridges and put the 
 soil in receptive shape for the later winter or spring 
 rains, cultivating being done later to retain moisture until 
 the frost-free period arrives, when the same land will take 
 its summer crop of tender vegetables with or without 
 irrigation as the character of the soil, the proposed growth 
 and the local rainfall shall require. 
 
 Raised Beds. — A more elaborate application of the same 
 principles consists in the raised beds, which are very use- 
 ful for winter growth in the small garden and, in combina- 
 tion with irrigation by seepage, as already described in 
 the chapter on that subject, afford a means for applying 
 water or escaping from it as the conditions at any time 
 shall dictate. 
 
 Another form is the permanent, bordered, raised bed 
 of the kitchen garden, which is very serviceable either 
 in farm or village growth of home supplies by hand work, 
 both in cultivation and sprinkling. This is the method 
 by which Mr. Ira W. Adams, one of our most resourceful 
 vegetable growers, applies the principle on a small scale : 
 
 "I make my beds four feet wide and any length desired. 
 As my land is little on the adobe order, put on three or 
 four inches of fine creek sand and a very heavy dressing 
 of thoroughly decomposed mixture of cow, horse, pig, and 
 hen manure. My beds are twenty feet long and I confine 
 the soil in them by laying a round spruce pole on each 
 side, said pole being about six inches in diameter at one 
 end and five at the other ; a little larger or smaller will an- 
 swer. By driving a small stake at each end of these poles 
 and one in the middle, and fastening them to the pole by 
 a single nail in each stake, a great saving of space is 
 
HILLS AND FLAT CULTURE. 93 
 
 made on the edges of the beds, as without some protec- 
 tion the heavy rains wash the edges of the beds very 
 badl}^ 
 
 "A few days before sowing the seed, in September, I 
 water the bed very thoroughly until the soil is thoroughly 
 saturated to the depth of eight or ten inches. Leave it 
 until it is in just the right condition to work. Then in- 
 corporate the sand and manure into the bed in the best 
 posisble manner by vigorous use of a six-tined hoe fork 
 with round steel teeth about one-fourth of an inch in diam- 
 eter and eight inches long. This thorough work, with the 
 addition of the sand and manure, leaves my beds about 
 eight inches above the general level of the land, and be- 
 tween each bed I leave a walk fourteen inches wide. 
 
 "Some may say it is a great deal of trouble to prepare 
 such beds. Granted; but when the beds are once care- 
 fully made they are fit for immediate use at all seasons 
 of the year, and for many years to come, not only for 
 onions, but for early lettuce, radishes, turnips, table beets, 
 dwarf peas, etc., that require a light, rich, and well- 
 drained soil. An application of a little liquid hen ma- 
 nure occasionally is very beneficial, and is all the fertil- 
 izing the beds will need for many years. ' ' 
 
 This shows small-scale, intensive work. With such 
 beds it is possible to have vegetables in edible condition, 
 before it would be wise to sow seeds of the same kinds 
 in open ground in the same locality. 
 
 Hilling. — Hilling of plants to afford soil-room for 
 growth started from shallow planting is another means 
 of attaining drainage and soil warmth during the winter 
 season. It is the ridge principle applied in spots and with 
 vastly greater labor. If one has a fancy for it he can in- 
 dulge in it in a hand-made winter garden, but otherwise 
 there is nothing to be said for it. 
 
 Flat Culture. — All references to systems which lift the 
 plant-bed above the common surface should be accompan- 
 ied by the clear declaration, that except as associated with 
 
94 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 the distribution of irrigation water, they are a dehision 
 and a snare if carried into summer work. The very re- 
 lease of water which fits them for winter use unfits them 
 for the dry summer. Level culture is the broad basis 
 upon which summer conservation of moisture rests. The 
 plant root should neither be lifted into the air nor should 
 the soil be opened so that the air is allowed to freely de- 
 scend to the plant roots. Soil and air assume proper 
 relations when the culture is flat and fine and sufficiently 
 deep. 
 
 Tillage to Release Excessive Moisture. — The occasion 
 for this course, except in stated winter practice already 
 described, rarely occurs in California except on lowlands 
 in regions of ample rainfall, though sometimes a large 
 precipitation in a short time may too long delay planting 
 until the surplus is disposed of. Plowing with rather a 
 long slope of moldboard, which turns furrows without 
 crushing and laps them w^ell, leaves air spaces at the bot- 
 tom of the furrow-slice and aids greatly in drying the 
 soil. Sub-soiling also allows water to percolate and air 
 to enter freely. These are, however, heroic treatments and 
 if employed late in the rainy season are apt to give the 
 lower layers of the soil opportunity to dry beyond desir- 
 able moisture retention. If only a slight surface drying 
 is necessary a narrow-toothed harrow or cutting discs with 
 slight lateral pressure will accomplish it. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 FERTILIZATION. 
 
 In the chapter on soils there has been given a glance at 
 the leading characteristics of California soils, including 
 their endowment of available plant food. This natural 
 fertility is the explanation of the fact that in this State 
 up to this time the question of fertilization has been of 
 minor importance. The securing and husbanding of ade- 
 quate moisture constitute the key by which native fertility 
 is unlocked and so long as this resource permits the gath- 
 ering of large crops of superior vegetable products with- 
 out expenditure for fertilizers it is obvious that we shall 
 have the art of fertilizing under our climatic conditions 
 still to learn. "We are already undertaking large expendi- 
 ture for fertilizers for fruit trees, especially those of the 
 citrus family, and the world-wide problem of economical 
 plant-feeding will reach all our producers, sooner or 
 later, as each has the hungrier plants or the thinner soils. 
 The old conception of the pioneers that California cli- 
 mate and soil had some sort of beneficent inter-action 
 which insured perpetual fertility was merely a phase of 
 the perpetual motion vagary, as applied to agriculture. 
 It was a sort of reaction from the older view that Cali- 
 fornia soil would produce nothing but winter pasture. 
 Of course, all these early notions have passed away. It is 
 only a question of time when soil-building will be a regu- 
 lar California effort, but on some lands, and for some 
 crops, it may be a very long time before the problem will 
 be pressing. 
 
 And yet it would not be truthful to convey the impres- 
 sion that fertilization is not undertaken at the present 
 time. There has been great progress during recent years 
 
96 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 in the utilization of natural manurial supplies which were 
 formerly allowed to go to waste. The demand from or- 
 chardists has induced systematic search and traffic, and 
 old accumulations from the stock farming of our first 
 thirty or forty years are being put to good use, together 
 with a considerable amount of artificial fertilizers. There 
 is also a constant demand for the wastes of our towns and 
 cities for gardening purposes. Our market gardeners 
 have zeal for collecting the cleanings of city stables and 
 our amateur gardeners, both in villages and on farms, 
 make, as a rule, good use of the animal wastes which are 
 available. They understand the advantage of intensive 
 work and of bringing small areas up to maximum produc- 
 tion, and they know that to raise large garden crops one 
 must apply manure without stint, but our field production 
 of staple vegetables is not intensive as yet, except as in- 
 tensity is included in natural fertility. This being the 
 case, the writer does not undertake prophecy. In a few 
 years the progressive work which is now under way, es- 
 pecially in southern California, in trial of artificial man- 
 ures for vegetable growing, will furnish object lessons 
 for general guidance. Present purposes will be best 
 served by offering suggestions as to the ways to turn natu- 
 ral supplies to best account. 
 
 Comparative Value of Animal Manures. — The excre- 
 ments of different animals serve somewhat different pur- 
 poses in garden practice because they act more or less 
 quickly and are more or less stimulating to the plant. 
 There is also w^arrant in carrying with the word stimu- 
 lating the inference that in feeding plants, as in treating 
 animals, that which is most stimulating must be used 
 with the greatest caution. Both caution and economy 
 prescribe that the manure which has the highest content 
 of plant food should be used in less amount and more care- 
 fully distributed through the area of soil which the roots 
 of the plant are expected to traverse. 
 
 The excrements of animals depend in composition upon 
 

 Nitrogen, 
 
 Animals. 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 Cows . . 
 
 . . 0.50 
 
 Horses . 
 
 .. 0.47 
 
 Sheep .. 
 
 .. 1.00 
 
 Swine . 
 
 .. 0.83 
 
 Hens . . 
 
 .. 1.10 
 
 Acid, 
 
 Value per 
 
 er cent. 
 
 Ton. 
 
 0.45 
 
 2.38 
 
 0.39 
 
 2.79 
 
 0.08 
 
 4.19 
 
 0.04 
 
 3.18 
 
 0.47 
 
 4.22 
 
 COMPOSITION OF MANURES. 97 
 
 the abundance and richness of the food furnished them. 
 The following table is compiled from experiments and 
 analyses made at Cornell University, and there is no doubt 
 that the stock was well fed. 
 
 COMPOSITION AND VALUE OF FRESH MANURE 
 FROM DIFFERENT ANIMALS. 
 
 Phosphoric 
 Potash. 
 Per cent. 
 
 0.29 
 
 0.94 
 
 1.21 
 
 0.61 
 
 0.29 
 
 The value is figured at the price agreed upon by east- 
 ern chemists as fair value for the ingredients as used in 
 artificial fertilizers. 
 
 Value per ton is also conditioned upon the percentage 
 of water in the manure. Hen manure has much less water 
 even in a fresh state than that of cattle, and air-dried hen 
 manure, free from earth, etc., is sometimes worth as much 
 as $10 per ton, providing the hens are well fed. In this 
 State air-dried sheep manure in large corral deposits in 
 Fresno has been found by analyses at the University of 
 California to have this composition and value : 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 Nitrogen 2.32 
 
 Potash 2.90 
 
 Phosphoric Acid 2.88 
 
 The material had only twenty-eight per cent of water 
 and its value calculated at the agreed price of its ingre- 
 dients is $10.95 per ton. Even when calculated at the 
 same per cent of water, the California corral deposit has 
 much higher value than the eastern sheep manure. 
 
 Garden Use of Concentrated Manures. — Hen, sheep, and 
 hog manure are very much richer, as shown, than the 
 
98 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 same bulk of cow or horse manure. The safest way to 
 use them is by composting with other materials, as will 
 be described presently, but if it is desirable to use them 
 alone, care should be taken in the distribution, as already 
 stated. This can be assured by thoroughly mixing these 
 manures with at least equal bulks of fine earth, when they 
 will soon be reduced into a fairly dry and powdery state 
 in which they may be readily spread broadcast on the 
 land, or be sown by the drill, and be found a useful gen- 
 eral manure for every kind of garden produce. 
 
 Deterioration of Manures. — There are two ways by 
 which animal manures lose valuable constituents : first, the 
 escape of nitrogen by fermentation which sets free this 
 element chiefly in the form of ammonia : second, the leach- 
 ing out of soluble matters by exposure of the mass to 
 copious rains. Both of these losses are practically pre- 
 vented by drying of the manure. The local demonstra- 
 tion of this general truth is seen in the analysis just given 
 of sheep manure which has passed through many years of 
 exposure to the weather in an arid interior valley of Cali- 
 fornia and still retains so much fertilizing value. Another 
 means by which fermentation is reduced and controlled 
 is by compacting the mass so that free access of air and 
 free passage of water are prevented. This compacting 
 is currently accomplished by the tread of the sheep con- 
 fined by night in large numbers in small inclosure. The 
 prevention of leaching in this case is also due to the fact 
 that the local rainfall never reaches in any short period 
 volume enough to accomplish percolation through a thick 
 layer of manure to the soil. We have then in the case 
 of a dry interior valley of California all the conditions 
 for the preservation of manure which the progressive 
 farmers of humid climates secure by means of covered 
 cattle yards, covered pits, manure sheds and other devices. 
 
 And yet manure will go to destruction in California as 
 fast as elsewhere unless the conditions mentioned are se- 
 cured. Loose piles of manure, except in the most arid 
 
GARDEN COMPOST. 99 
 
 localities, have, or subsequently receive, moisture enough 
 to start active fermentation and will "fire-fang" and be- 
 come nearly worthless in a very short time during our 
 hot summer. Such loose piles thrown to the weather in 
 the rainy season will be largely leached of their soluble 
 matters wherever rainfall is considerable. Probably the 
 easiest way to preserve manure in California is to allow 
 it to lie in the corral during the summer, for there it is 
 free from leaching rain, usually from June to November, 
 and all its coarse straw, etc., dry and brittle, is reduced 
 almost to powder by the tramp of the animals. If then 
 this fine material is scraped up, spread and plowed in at 
 the beginning of the rainy season it will readily ferment 
 in the soil and all its value be retained, if the applica- 
 tion is made to a heavy soil under a good rainfall. The 
 winter-made manure should not be allowed to lie in the 
 corral to be leached by drenching rain. It should be gath- 
 ered frequently and applied fresh to the land so that the 
 leachings may be plowed in while there is still moisture 
 enough in the soil to make the process safe and efficacious. 
 This easiest way to handle animal manures in California 
 may do for ordinary farm crops, if the soil is heavy enough 
 and moist enough to receive unfermented manure without 
 danger to the crop from loss of moisture, but it is not the 
 best way to handle manure, either for field or for gardens. 
 Manure for garden use should be most carefully treated to 
 save all its richness and to render its coarse materials 
 more readily available in soil-forming processes. In short, 
 instead of preventing fermentation, manure for garden 
 purposes should be put through a carefully controlled fer- 
 mentation which is involved in composting. 
 
 Compost for Garden Purposes. — The term compost sig- 
 nifies a mixture of manurial substances and for garden 
 use there should be collection constantly made of the void- 
 ing of the animals, trimmings of vegetables, the refuse of 
 plants as the ground is cleared, the house wastes, and, in 
 fact, everything of an organic nature which will yield to 
 
100 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 decay, and any available mineral wastes, like ashes, which 
 contains plant food. If all these are added to the animal 
 manure and treatment adopted which will promote the 
 proper fermentation in it, the manure will assist in re- 
 ducing the other materials to proper condition for garden 
 use. 
 
 The conditions for such fermentation are adequate mois- 
 ture accompanied with stirring and aeration enough to 
 distribute the action evenly throughout the mass and to 
 bring all the materials under its influence. There are nu- 
 merous ways of accomplishing this, and each operator will 
 probably have his own notions about their relative ease 
 and cheapness. 
 
 Manure Tanks. — These are cemented, water-tight, exca- 
 vations of various sizes. A Napa county farmer built one 
 a few years ago which cost him nearly two hundred dol- 
 lars, with all its appurtenances. It was thirteen by twenty 
 and one-half feet in size, about six feet deep and exceed- 
 ingly well built. The floor has a slant, inclining to a 
 well at one end, where, with the aid of a wooden pump, 
 the juices as they settle are raised to the top and poured 
 over the mass to again percolate through it. It is quite 
 a question whether it is worth while making such invest- 
 ment. Loss of liquid manure by leaching is prevented, but 
 on the other hand it is apt to accumulate in such quanti- 
 ties in the pit that, unless the pit is roofed, the addition 
 of the rainfall will result in the submergence of all the 
 manure and this excludes the air and prevents the proper 
 fermentation. The result is that there is great cost in 
 excavating the water-logged material from the tank, a 
 large amount of heavy and disagreeable shoveling and the 
 manure not in the best condition after all. 
 
 Manure Pits. — Manure pits if excavated with one slop- 
 ing side so carts can be readily backed in for filling, are 
 cheaper than tanks and if they have a clay sub-soil for a 
 floor or can be puddled with clay on the concave bottom 
 they will hold most of the liquid, unless water flushing of 
 
MANURE PITS AND TANKS. 101 
 
 the stable is indulged in. A large grower of beets and 
 other roots for stock-feeding in San Mateo county has 
 for a number of years used this arrangement with satisfac- 
 tion: 
 
 "I have a manure pit large enough to hold all the ma- 
 nure made in a year. A hole about three feet deep is dug 
 out of the side of a hill. A sloping platform, up which all 
 the manure is wheeled, raises it about four feet above 
 the ground on the upper side, which gives a drop for the 
 manure of about seven feet. When filled up to a level 
 with the end of the platform, loose planks are laid as re- 
 quired on top of the manure. Thus by continually wheel- 
 ing each day 's manure over the older manure, its solidity 
 is insured, and all the manure made on the farm has to 
 go up the said platform. After the cow barn is cleaned out, 
 the lightest of the manure from the horse stable, bull 
 stalls, etc., or any other absorbent, is put behind the cows, 
 taking up fluids, and thus insuring a regular quality 
 throughout the heap. Another important item added to 
 the general heap is the hen manure and ashes, the latter 
 being kept in a large tin, which, when full, is emptied 
 into the fowl-house, and all goes in the manure heap to- 
 gether. ' ' 
 
 This use of absorbents prevents accumulation of exces- 
 sive liquid and there is consequently little loss by leach- 
 ing. The compacting of the mass prevents too free access 
 of the air and fit conditions for slowly breaking down the 
 coarse manure are assured. 
 
 Composting in Piles. — The method usually followed by 
 market gardeners seems on the whole the most convenient 
 and best for this climate, where the winter rainfall is, 
 as a rule, not so heavy as to occasion much leaching, if 
 the pile is of several feet in depth. It involves some shov- 
 eling, but it facilitates rapid curing of the manure and 
 brings it into excellent condition for garden use. Stack 
 the fresh manure in a pile several feet high. Then give it 
 a thorough wetting from a hose and allow it to decompose 
 
102 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 for a few weeks. Then chop it down, mix thoroughly and 
 stack it again ; then wet it well once more, and after a 
 few weeks it will be ready to put upon the field. This 
 process of composting destroys all weed and other seeds, 
 prevents the manure from burning, as well as the escape 
 mixed when stacking it. Compost thus made is suitable 
 for the finest garden, at a moderate expense, and the work 
 necessary will pay a larger profit than any other farm 
 labor. Watching the moisture and using the hose, when 
 the rainfall is not adequate, and thorough stirring and 
 aeration of the mass, are the essentials of the process. 
 
 The manner in which Mr. Ira W. Adams handles ma- 
 nures involves correct practice : 
 
 "Clean up all the manure on hand just before the fall 
 rains, putting the same on the land, and either cultivate 
 it in or plow it under. What manure accumulates during 
 the winter, pile in a snug heap some five or six feet in 
 depth, and throw it over some three or four times during 
 the winter to keep it from burning, as well as to thor- 
 oughly mix it and thereby hasten decomposition. Put 
 horse, cow, hog, chicken, and every other kind of manure 
 that can be had, all together. 
 
 "Never burn anything that will rot, but haul to the 
 pile, cornstalks, roots, and all squash, melon, tomato, and 
 potato vines, etc., as well as weeds of every description, 
 in fact, anything and everything that will decay and make 
 vegetable matter. Use fresh horse manure mostly to has- 
 ten the decomposition of said vines, weeds, etc., alternat- 
 ing as the heap is made. By so doing there will not 
 be a weed seed left with vitality enough to germinate. 
 
 "It is well to have manure piles under a roof to avoid 
 leaching during the longest and most excessive rains, but 
 so situated that the rain falling on the barn can be easily 
 conducted to the piles, giving them just the amount of 
 water necessary and no more. After the rains are over, 
 some water will have to be applied from time to time ; and 
 covering with very fine, dry earth will keep the pile from 
 
LIQUID MANURE. 103 
 
 drying out during the long, hot summer, as well as cause it 
 to retain most of the ammonia, etc., that would otherwise 
 have evaporated and escaped. Late in the fall it will be 
 found entirely rotten, cutting like old cheese." 
 
 Liquid Manure. — Liquid extract of animal manures is 
 of great efficacy in vegetable growing if carefully used. 
 It is made by filling a barrel with manure, pouring water 
 on above and drawing it out below as it leaches through 
 the mass. Another way is to have a barrel with water in 
 a handy place and throw" into it enough manure to make 
 an extract of the right strength. No matter how it is 
 done care must be taken not to have the extract too strong. 
 This can generally be told by the color, which should not 
 be darker than tea of medium strength. The quality to 
 apply in the hot-bed or the open ground must be learned 
 by experience. Enough to produce generous and still vig- 
 orous growth is the rule. With plants to bear fruit like 
 tomatoes much less stimulant can be used than with plants 
 for foliage, for the stimulant always acts awaj' from fruit- 
 ing and toward leaf and stem extension. 
 
 Absorbents. — As has already been intimated, the free 
 use of absorbents is very desirable both for valuable li- 
 quids, likely to leach away, and for gases which are prone 
 to fly off. Probably the best absorbent for both purposes 
 is ground gypsum, which is now very cheaply furnished 
 from local sources in several parts of the State. It adds 
 value of its own in addition to its absorbent properties. 
 A very abundant material in an arid country is road dust. 
 It, too, will take up both liquids and gases. In village 
 gardens with paved streets and well-watered soil, sifted 
 coal ashes act well in the hen-house and on the manure 
 pile, and the cinders which are sifted out are a good foun- 
 dation for permanent garden walks. The free use of the 
 fine coal ashes for years kept the writer's fowls without 
 a case of swell-head, rid the hen-house of all odor, and fur- 
 nished many wagon loads of home-made fertilizer which 
 is perfectly safe to use freely as the hen manure is dif- 
 
104 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 fused through quite a bulk of material. The effect of 
 large use of these sifted coal ashes on an adobe garden 
 has well-nigh taken the hatefulness out of it and made it 
 into a loam delightful to put tools into. 
 
 Manure as a Mulch. — Market gardeners operating with 
 heavy soils use immense quantities of barn-yard manure 
 both composted with garden wastes and as fresh manure. 
 The latter is largely used as a mulch or top dressing during 
 the rainy season to prevent heavy rain from compacting 
 the soil around the young plants and to get the richness 
 of the manure by leaching. They use it in summer also 
 to prevent surface evaporation and to prevent compacting 
 the surface when the water is hand-thrown with scoop or 
 pan from the ditches between the raised beds. This is 
 to help small plants with their rooting ; afterwards they 
 take water by percolation from the ditch. The free sur- 
 face use of fresh coarse manure, to be afterwards forked 
 in, is safe on heavy clay, which the gardener is endeavor- 
 ing to lighten up, but if coarse manure is used as a mulch 
 on light sandy soil, it should be raked up and taken to 
 the compost heap, as only thoroughly decomposed manure 
 should be worked into such soil. 
 
 Wood Ashes. — Coal ashes have no estimable manurial 
 value ; their effect is mechanical just as is the effect of 
 adding sand to clay, but wood ashes as well as plant ashes 
 of all kinds, is intrinsically an excellent fertilizer, since 
 it contains the soil ingredients required by all plants, even 
 though in different proportions. The value of ash varies 
 materially in accordance with the degree of heat to which 
 it has been subjected when made. In general, the hotter 
 the fire, the less active will be the ash as a fertilizer. 
 
 The chemical composition of ashes varies considerably, 
 according to the plants, or parts of plants, from which it 
 has been derived; the smaller the wood, or the more of 
 weeds or other herbaceous material there was in it, the 
 more valuable the ash; but taking a broad average, a 
 bushel (say forty-eight pounds) of wood ashes would, ac- 
 
ASHES AND BONES. 105 
 
 cording to the ordinary valuation of the ingredients, be 
 worth about twenty-five cents — counting on an average of 
 five per cent of potash and two per cent of phosphoric acid. 
 In general, ashes should be spread broadcast over the sur- 
 face of the ground and allowed to be washed in by rains 
 or irrigation, and not placed too near the plant. If plowed 
 in shallow with stubble or weeds, the latter decompose 
 very quickly, and the effect of both is thus improved 
 and quickened. 
 
 It may be said in general terms, that the ashes of wood 
 and of land plants of every kind are of value for manure 
 on every kind of soil which has been reduced by crop- 
 ping; but the greatest benefit is shown upon sandy and 
 porous soils. On these "light soils" crops of every kind, 
 but especially root crops and corn, will be benefited by a 
 dressing of wood ashes. Thirty to fifty bushels to the acre 
 of fresh ashes will be a full dressing, and three or four 
 times that amount of leached ashes may be applied with 
 permanent benefit. 
 
 Bone Manures. — Bones as they commonly occur in na- 
 ture contain plant food worth about $30 per ton. The best 
 treatment for bones is to crush them if it can be handily 
 done, and then put them through the fermentation of the 
 compost heap, with fresh manure and wood ashes. It 
 takes from three to six months to reduce them. The bones 
 which do not break down under this treatment can best 
 be buried deeply in the orchard to await slow disintegra- 
 tion bv the tree roots. 
 
CHAPTER Villa. 
 
 GARDEN PROTECTION. 
 
 There are three main lines of protection to which the 
 vegetable grower may find himself compelled to give at- 
 tention, and he may sometimes be so beset by ills that he 
 will cry in despair that all forces of earth, air and sky 
 are arrayed against his enterprise. Fortunately, however, 
 there is nothing in the situation, usually, to appall one 
 who is energetic and prompt and eager for success, and an 
 effort will be made to suggest expedients and methods 
 which will assist in repelling various destroying agencies. 
 The three classes of intruders to which attention will be 
 called are these : unfavorable atmospheric conditions ; in- 
 jurious insects and fungi ; injurious animals. 
 
 PROTECTION AGAINST WINDS AND FROST. 
 
 Protection against harsh winds has already been in- 
 cidentally mentioned from time to time. There are very 
 few places where a good windbreak will not be of decided 
 advantage, and if. the garden ground cannot be selected 
 so as to enjoy the protection of trees and buildings already 
 in place, special planting or construction should be under- 
 taken. A good shelter belt of trees, preferably of ever- 
 green foliage so placed as to break the cold winds from 
 the direction prevailing in the locality, will be found of 
 immense advantage. Where such protection is not prac- 
 ticable, a high fence, even if not closely boarded, will af- 
 ford some protection to a much greater width of ground 
 than one might think at first. 
 
 Protection against frost, effective against a drop of 
 several degrees below the freezing point, is also possible 
 bv the use of a smoke smudge. Most effective fires are 
 
CLASSES OF INSECTS. 107 
 
 those which yield volumes of steam as well as smoke, so 
 that masses of wet straw or rubbish, placed over dry stuff 
 enough to maintain combustion, are the best material. 
 Running or standing water close to the plants will also 
 prevent frost effect, providing the temperature does not 
 sink very far below the freezing point, nor remain there 
 too long. Under such conditions, covers of paper, bur- 
 laps, etc., also serve a good temporary purpose. More ef- 
 fective protection is described in the chapter on propaga- 
 tion. 
 
 INJURIOUS INSECTS AND FUNGI. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that the attacks of these 
 evils are in many cases conditioned upon weakness and un- 
 thrift to the plant, and the danger from both insects and 
 blights is reduced by keeping the plants in most active and 
 vigorous growth. Lack of cultivation, lack of plant food 
 in the soil, and lock of moisture, are invitations to these 
 invaders. The natural resistance of the plant is broken 
 down, and it becomes a prey to its enemies. But the best 
 growing conditions do not render plants immune against 
 all pests. Some are so aggressive that the grower has to 
 fight to save his crop, and to fight hard sometimes. 
 
 Fortunately, warfare against insects has been greatly 
 simplified during recent years by the use of remedies of 
 comparatively recent application. There are two chief 
 divisions of insects: first, hifiiir/ insects, which are recog- 
 nized by the gardener by the fact that they make holes 
 in the foliage ; second, sud-ing insects, which make no holes 
 but pierce and extract the sap in such a way that the leaf 
 wilts, loses color and perhaps dies without losing any ap- 
 preciable part of its surface. Each of these classes has 
 its own remedy. 
 
 Remedies for Biting Insects. — Insects which consume the 
 leaf surface are destroyed by poison, and this can be 
 used in such minute quantities as not to destroy the fo- 
 liage nor render it dangerous for food purposes unless 
 the plant is nearly in condition for eating, and then, of 
 
108 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 course, poison on the foliage is very dangerous if the fo- 
 liage is the edible part. If the edible part is the root or 
 tuber, poison on the foliage is not dangerous. The most 
 widely used poison is Paris green, either used as a powder 
 mixed with twenty times its bulk of flour, and dusted on 
 the plant, or applied as a spray or sprinkle, using one 
 ounce of Paris green to ten or twelve gallons of water. 
 For spraying to kill these pests, lead arsenate has recently 
 been largely substituted for Paris green. It is less de- 
 structive to foliage and can therefore be used in greater 
 strength. This will kill all forms of insects, large and 
 small, which make holes in leaves. It onl}^ becomes in- 
 effective when insects occur in such vast multitudes that 
 the plant is all consumed before all the insects are supplied 
 with the poison. Fortunately, this does not often occur 
 in garden practice. 
 
 For larvae which come from the ground and destroy the 
 plant by cutting the stem, the Paris green, either dust or 
 sprinkle, may be placed on tender leaves or sprigs of al- 
 falfa which are placed on the ground beside the plant to 
 be protected. The most injurious insects of this kind are 
 called "cutworms." It is also often satisfactory to use 
 the poison in this way: Take thirty pounds bran, two 
 pints molasses, one pound Paris green ; put the molasses 
 into six quarts of hot water, add the bran and Paris 
 green, mixing thoroughly until the water is tinged with 
 green. Place a spoonful of this near the plants and wher- 
 ever the worms are, not getting it too near the stalk. If 
 a new lot of worms hatch, the dose will have to be re- 
 peated. 
 
 The same preparation is also very effective for grasshop- 
 pers in vineyards, but there is little chance of coping with 
 grasshoppers or army worms in the garden by poisoning. 
 Unless they can be checked by walls of tire or streams of 
 running water around the garden, the gardener has little 
 to do but to replant as soon as they have passed on their 
 way. 
 
INSECTICIDES. 109 
 
 When biting insects attack plants which it is not 
 thought safe to poison, the use of a powder of air-slaked 
 lime or of dry wood ashes is often effective in discouraging 
 their attacks. Another repellant which sometimes works 
 like a charm is kerosene powder, made by stirring a table- 
 spoonful of the oil to a quart of pulverized gypsum, or air- 
 slaked lime, or even fine road dust. Scatter it on and 
 around the plant. 
 
 Plants may also be often rendered unattractive to in- 
 sects by free sprinkling with tar water. Take a barrel 
 with a few gallons of gas tar in it, pour water on the tar, 
 and have it always ready when needed. When the insects 
 appear give them a liberal dose of the tar water from a 
 garden sprinkler or otherwise ; when the rain washes it 
 off the leaves, or the pests return repeat the dose. 
 
 There are other biting and boring insects which destroy 
 plants by their injuries to the roots. Wireworms are a 
 conspicuous group of these destroyers. All underground 
 pests are naturally difficult of treatment and often in field 
 practice they cannot be economically destroyed or discour- 
 aged. In garden practice, however, the use of soot or ni- 
 trate of soda, in very small quantities, or of tobacco dust, 
 the extract of which is carried down by water to the dis- 
 comfiture of the pest, is often effective and profitable. 
 
 Another group of biting pests though not strictly in- 
 sects, are slugs and snails. They can be poisoned by the 
 use of poisoned leaves laid on the ground, or they can be 
 trapped either with leaves or pieces of board or little piles 
 of wheat bran. Early in the morning the slugs will be 
 found in large numbers under the leaves or boards, or 
 collected in the bran, and can easily be gathered up for 
 breakfast in the poultry yard. Mother hens in portable 
 coops with the young chicks or ducks running among the 
 plants, are a very good solution of the slug question on a 
 small scale. Myriads of slugs in the garden are often due 
 to excessive irrigation. If the surface is finely worked up 
 
110 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 and allowed to dry it is very discouraging to slugs and is 
 otherwise promotive of plant growth. 
 
 Remedies for Sucking Insects. — These are pests both 
 large and small which bring distress to plants without 
 visibly consuming their substance, as has already been de- 
 scribed. They are not affected by poison on the surface. 
 They must be killed by applications which destroy by con- 
 tact with the exterior of the insects. The universally 
 approved remedy for this large class of pests is kerosene 
 emulsion. If properly made and diluted, it is harmless 
 to the plant and deadly to the insect. The formula which 
 is most easily prepared and most available for garden 
 work, is that devised by Prof. A. J. Cook of Claremont, 
 Los Angeles county, as follows : 
 
 Common laundry soap. . . % pound 
 
 Kerosene 3 pints 
 
 Water 4I/2 gallons 
 
 Cut up and dissolve the soap in six quarts of boiling 
 water in a five-gallon oil can. Remove from the fire and 
 add the kerosene, stirring vigorously for ten minutes. 
 This should make an emulsion from which the oil will 
 not separate when cool. It can be diluted with water 
 enough to fill the five-gallon can, and is then ready for 
 application with a garden syringe or spray-pump, and 
 it will kill all insects which are covered with a film of 
 it. A fine rose sprinkler can be used, but it is wasteful 
 and the application does not penetrate as well as from 
 a spray nozzle. 
 
 The kerosene emulsion will of course kill the insects 
 for which poison has been prescribed and is available 
 whenever the use of poison is thought to be undesirable. 
 
 "Whenever insects do not yield to the treatments pro- 
 posed, or whenever the use of these remedies does not 
 seem to be practicable, it is well for the grower to apply 
 to the Agricultural Department, University of California, 
 Berkeley, sending a specimen of the insect and of its 
 work, if possible. An answer embodying the latest in- 
 
MILDEWS, MOLDS AND BLIGHTS. Ill 
 
 formation on the subject will be made without cost to 
 the applicant. Useful descriptive publications can also 
 be sent in many cases, and as information is thus avail- 
 able, it is not necessary to attempt detailed discussion 
 in this connection. 
 
 INJURIOUS FUNGI. 
 
 Molds, mildews, and blights seem to be ever on the 
 alert to attack garden plants whenever suitable condi- 
 tions prevail. Fortunately, California is much less sub- 
 ject to these intrusions than countries with humid summer 
 heat, and some very destructive garden fungi either do 
 not occur here or occasion very little trouble. Still it is 
 well for the gardener to know that the arrest of fungous 
 invasion is a very much simpler proposition than it was 
 a few years ago. This fact is due to the recent demon- 
 stration of the efficacy of solutions of copper salts. The 
 most effective preparation is known as the Bordeaux 
 mixture, which is prepared as follows : 
 
 Dissolve one-half pound copper sulphate (bluestone) in 
 two and one-half gallons of water in a wooden pail, slake 
 one-half pound fresh lime in one-half gallon of hot water, 
 stirring and rubbing till completely slaked; when the 
 lime is cool put the bluestone solution into a five-gallon 
 oil can, and add the lime by allowing it to run through 
 a coarse cloth strained to remove lumps or dirt. Stir in 
 water enough to fill the can and it is ready for use. The 
 mixture should not stand in a metal vessel. 
 
 This makes a light-blue whitewash which will be effec- 
 tive as it slowly diffuses its components over the leaf sur- 
 face. In our dry summer it remains operative for a long 
 time. It does, however, make the plant unhandsome, 
 and where a fungicide is desired which does not discolor 
 the leaves, the following may be substituted for the Bor- 
 deaux mixture : 
 
 Dissolve three-fourths ounce of copper sulphate (blue- 
 stone) in one quart of warm water, and one ounce of sal 
 soda (washing soda) in another quart of warm water. 
 
112 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 When both are cool, mix them together and add five 
 ounces of washing ammonia. When the mixture is clear, 
 after standing long enough to accomplish that, add cold 
 water to make five gallons. 
 
 Some fungi are quite readily checked by the use of 
 dry sulphur, but when this is not effective, the copper 
 compounds will be found satisfactory. 
 
 In many cases the attacks of fungi may be avoided by 
 keeping the plants growing thriftily, or by choosing vari- 
 eties which are not affected by the diseases to which other 
 varieties succumb. Wherever this course is open to the 
 gardener, it will be found more satisfactory than the ap- 
 plication of remedies. 
 
 DESTRUCTIVE ANIMALS AND BIRDS. 
 
 Against the larger marauders from the forest, the field, 
 or the barnyard, the farm garden must be protected by 
 an adequate fence close enough to exclude fowls and jack- 
 rabbits. For the latter purpose, closely set strands of 
 barbed wire are the cheapest material. The bottom wire 
 must be set low enough to prevent entrance by scratch- 
 ing under. Even when a neater fence is made of wire 
 netting, strands of barbed wire above and below are 
 often very useful. 
 
 Squirrels. — Ground squirrels should be destroyed in the 
 adjoining fields as well as in the garden, or its protection 
 is almost a hopeless undertaking. When the ground is 
 wet, squirrels are very satisfactoirly destroyed with car- 
 bon bisulphide, and this material, with appliances and 
 instructions for its use, can be had in nearly all the coun- 
 try stores. 
 
 In dry soil the carbon bisulphide is not so effective, 
 and some of the many good squirrel poisons must be 
 used. The following has been shown to be very satisfac- 
 tory : 
 
 Strychnine, one ounce ; cyanide of potassium, one and 
 one-half ounces ; eggs, one dozen ; honey, one pint ; vine- 
 gar, one and one-half pints; wheat or barley, thirty 
 
SQUIRRELS AND GOPHERS. 113 
 
 pounds. Dissolve the strychnine in the vinegar, pulver- 
 izing is in the vinegar, or it will gather in a lump. See 
 that it is all dissolved. Dissolve the cyanide of potassium 
 in a little water. Beat the eggs. Mix all the ingredients 
 together thoroughly before adding to the barley. Let it 
 stand twenty-four hours, mixing often. Spread to dry 
 before using, as it will mold if put away wet. In wheat 
 districts use wheat, and in barley districts use barley, 
 as they eat it better. Look out for the poultry and stock. 
 
 Gophers. — Some gardeners are very successful in gopher 
 trapping. It is an act which has to be learned by expe- 
 rience and patient observation. The following sugges- 
 tions are made by an expert and they may be helpful to 
 beginners : 
 
 Gophers come to the surface in the night and generally 
 close their holes in the morning soon after daybreak. 
 They frequently emerge again about noon, and a third 
 time late in the afternoon. It is best to set the trap in 
 an open hole, as the gopher will be sure to return to fill 
 it. Still the holes may be opened if the dirt is still fresh, 
 with a good prospect of the gopher's return. Therefore, 
 the trapper may make his rounds three times a day, as 
 above indicated. 
 
 In the second place, care should be exercised in pre- 
 paring the hole for the insertion of the trap. The trapper 
 should assure himself that he has found a straight hole 
 for a distance of at least ten inches, with no lateral 
 branches, otherwise the gopher in pushing out the dirt 
 will likely enough thrust the trap to one side, cover it 
 up or spring it without being exposed to its grasp. 
 
 In the third place, the trapper should be supplied with 
 at least two varieties of traps — one for the larger gophers 
 and the other for the smaller ones. The common iron 
 gopher trap, which springs downward, is excellent for 
 the former, and the small wire trap, which springs up- 
 ward, is generally successful with the latter. It is taken 
 for granted that the size of the hole is indicative of the 
 
114 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 size of the gopher. Either trap should be inserted nearly 
 its full length into the hole, pressed down firmly, and a 
 little dirt piled at the outer end to prevent its being easily 
 pushed out. After the trap is set it is well to cover the 
 opening with some grass or weeds. Sometimes the holes 
 require a little enlarging, but care should be taken to 
 make the fit as close as possible, that the body of the 
 gopher may be kept near the center, and thus more ex- 
 posed to the prongs of the trap. 
 
 In the fourth place, the trapper should be supplied 
 with a small spade and a litle gouge-shaped implement 
 for trimming the hole. 
 
 Finally, the trapper should be supplied with traps as 
 numerous as the extent of the pest demands. He should 
 not be discouraged by lack of success at first. Persever- 
 ance is as essential in this work as in any other, and will 
 generally win. We have in mind the successful capture 
 of a big gopher after trapping for him a week, changing 
 the trap two or three times a day ; he had then destroyed 
 about fifty hills of corn. How much damage he and his 
 descendants might have done had not his career of devas- 
 tation been interrupted, can only be estimated by such 
 multiples as attach to the propagation of that particular 
 species. 
 
 Poisoning is an easier method of destroying gophers, 
 and it is very satisfactory if faithfully done. The poison 
 is strychnine in crystal form, which can be pulverized in 
 the small bottle in which it is bought by using the head 
 of a nail. Take out a very small amount on the tip of 
 a knife-blade and insert it into raisins, or pieces of carrot, 
 potato, alfalfa stems, or almost any succulent vegetable 
 substance which is handy at the time. Find where the 
 gopher has been at work last, and remove the loose earth 
 from the surface, to find where it has come from; then 
 dig down to find the main runway, generally from six 
 to twelve inches. The runway being found, clean out 
 any dirt that may have dropped into it, and place the 
 
THE GARDEN MOLE. 115 
 
 poison a little distance from the opening. Then seal up 
 the hole with a lump of earth or sod, being careful that 
 none drops in on the poison, and put the dirt back as 
 it was before. The gopher will soon return to his labor, 
 and will seldom fail to pick up the bait. 
 
 It is often useless to put poison in holes left open by 
 gophers when at work, as they shove the poison out with 
 the dirt, and it becomes lost. If a hole is opened and 
 poison placed therein, it should be closed up again, as 
 the gopher, seeing the light and feeling the air where 
 it was not intended, goes to work to remedy that evil 
 by shoving a load of dirt against the opening, thereby 
 covering up or throwing out the bait. 
 
 Sometimes the same poisoned grain used for squirrels 
 can be successfully used for gophers by placing it in the 
 runways as first described. 
 
 The Mole. — The mole is an insect-eater and as such is 
 beneficial, but he destroys so many plants while mining 
 for grubs and worms, that the gardener can well dispense 
 with his services. The best way to do this is to watch 
 for the rising soil and, striking in just behind the mole 
 with a spade or shovel, throw him out and finish him. 
 When he is working in the lawn or the ground is too 
 hard for this treatment, strike into the moving earth with 
 a hatchet. It generally arrives and we have killed more 
 moles in this way than in any other. 
 
CHAPTER Vin6. 
 WEEDS IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 For fear that a book on gardening without a chapter 
 on weeds might prove too great a shock to horticultural 
 propriety, this concession is made to conventionality. The 
 fact is that the California gardener gives himself less con- 
 cern about weeds than the distant reader can perhaps 
 realize. There are several reasons for this : 
 
 First : It is possible to get quite clean ground for 
 winter gardening by weed-killing cultivation before plant- 
 ing. This is one advantage of our long planting season. 
 
 Second : Winter gardening is free from many weeds 
 which only grow in high temperatures. 
 
 Third: Owing to the long spring season, it is possible 
 to clean with plow and cultivators the land which is to 
 be planted after frosts are over. 
 
 Fourth : Summer growth of weeds is largely prevented 
 by the dry surface layer of the soil, and those who do 
 start are destroyed by the persistent summer cultivation 
 which is essential to the preservation of moisture for the 
 crop. 
 
 Fifth : Many of the worst weeds of humid climates can 
 not survive our dry summer in uncultivated soil and are 
 thus prevented from becoming serious pests here because 
 of their own natural limitations. 
 
 And yet we do have weeds, magnificent weeds, weeds 
 which reflect the growth-giving resources of our soil and 
 climate quite as strikingly as do our useful plants. Mus- 
 tard, turnip, and radish extend laterals for the birds of 
 the air to rest upon. Smartweed grows in some places 
 too high for a man to look over ; in other places morning- 
 glary, licorice, Bermuda and Johnson grasses have a grip 
 
ASPARAGUS PACKING. 
 
 117 
 
 upon the soil which it is almost impossible to loosen. Jim- 
 sou, dogfennel, and others, numerous beyond mention^ are 
 
 found in varying amounts everywhere ; but for the rea- 
 son stated above they do not give the gardener such 
 grievance against fate as their names might suggest. 
 
118 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 On the other hand, Canada thistle and burdock are almost 
 unknown, while plaintain, pusley, and quack grass have 
 in some places assumed quite an air of respectability as 
 forage plants. 
 
 Naturally, weeds are worst in soils which are moist in 
 summer, such as the rich lowlands, and on such lands 
 the California vegetable grower has to fight for his crop. 
 Some winter-grown plants, like onions, are secured at the 
 cost of much weeding in some situations. Still it is true, 
 as remarked above, that weeds do not, taking the State 
 as a whole, call for such an amount of expensive effort 
 as they occasion in humid climates, and if the garden is 
 arranged, as it should be, for the free use of horse-power, 
 the burden of hand pulling and hoeing is reduced to a 
 minimum, and the exertion of a prolonged hand-to-hand 
 contest with weeds is seldom heard of in California. 
 
 For these reasons, perhaps, California has no special 
 contributions to make to the general knowledge of weed 
 killing. So far, however, as her experience goes, it is 
 most strenuously in favor of destroying weeds as rob- 
 bers of moisture which must be saved for useful plants. 
 The California garden must be clean and the surface must 
 be frequently stirred, whether weeds appear or not. It 
 may be fortunate, then, that we are not altogether free 
 from weeds, for their invitation to slaughter accomplishes 
 far more for the garden than their own destruction. 
 
 Recently weed killing by spraying with solutions of 
 sulphate of iron has been widely demonstrated to be suc- 
 cessful. Lawn intruders like dandelions and other broad- 
 leaved weeds can be killed by spraying with water in 
 which iron sulphate has been dissolved at the rate of two 
 pounds to the gallon, without permanent injury to the 
 grass, but most vegetables would also be destroyed by 
 this treatment. Garden walks can be kept clean of all 
 growth by sprinkling with this mixture : Dissolve one 
 pound of caustic soda in one gallon of water and in this 
 solution dissolve one and one-half pounds of white ar- 
 
WEED KILLING. 119 
 
 senic. Add to this twenty gallons of water and it is 
 ready for use. But this has to be used circumspectly. If 
 the poison is carried to the roots of other plants or trees 
 by rain flow or irrigation, it will kill them also. 
 
 Really the best treatment of weeds is to destroy them 
 as soon as they appear by pulling, hoeing, or cultivating, 
 or by digging or plowing them into the soil when they 
 make taller growth, thus adding humus to the soil as a 
 product of their decay, as is discussed in the chapter on 
 garden fertilization. 
 
CHAPTER Vlllr. 
 SEED GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 The commercial production of garden seeds in Cali- 
 fornia was entered upon by the first American vegetable 
 growers as a branch of their business. The difficulty of 
 obtaining supplies from the East and the almost fabulous 
 prices which seeds commanded, acted as a strong incentive 
 to local production. The inventory of i\Ir. John M. 
 Horner's productions at Alvarado in 1851 included eleven 
 hundred pounds of garden seeds — onions, beets and cab- 
 bage. Mr. A. P. Smith, at Sacramento, had twenty acres 
 devoted to seed growing in 1857, and the following record 
 shows that he had been doing a good business for some 
 time before that date : 
 
 "To his vegetable seed department ^Ir. Smith turned 
 his attention at an early day, and has pursued it till now 
 he devotes to it twenty acres of ground and the time of 
 several laborers, and from it reaps a merited reward. His 
 crop of seeds for the last four years has reached from 
 three to four thousand pounds per annum, which up to 
 1858 averaged about three dollars per pound. They now 
 sell for less." — Rep. Cal. Agr. Society, 1858, p. 233. 
 
 Another pioneer seed grower was Mr. D. L. Perkins of 
 Alameda. The record states that he "served a thorough 
 apprenticeship in the business at the East and is (juite at 
 home in all genera^ operations connected with his busi- 
 ness." At the State fair in 1860, premiums for garden 
 seeds were awarded to A. P. Smith of Sacramento and to 
 D. L. Perkins of Alameda. The committee reported both 
 exhibits very meritorius and indulged in the prophecy 
 that "the time is at hand when our gardeners will be saved 
 
SEED GROWING. 121 
 
 the time, trouble and expense of looking abroad for their 
 seeds." 
 
 It would seem that Mr. Perkins must be credited with a 
 broader conception of the opportunities of California in 
 seed growing than was known to the awarding committee. 
 With them the problem was local supply. Mr. Perkins 
 looked beyond that. In his statement submitted with a 
 claim for a gold medal at the State fair of 1867, he uses 
 these significant words : 
 
 "For the past ten years all my time has been given to 
 the raising of seeds * * * striving to get the best seeds 
 from all parts of the world. During the past three years 
 I have sent collections of seeds to be tested at the East, 
 and the results in size and quality over the same varieties 
 grown at the East have been so marked that several par- 
 ties have ordered from me, thus showing that California 
 can compete with the world for garden seeds. There is 
 no State in the Union so well adapted to the raising of 
 seeds as California. During five years past I have sent 
 samples of my product to Japan, China, Sandwich Islands, 
 Mexico, and to Europe. ' ' — Condensed from Rep. Cal. Agr. 
 Society, 1866-7, pp. 228 and 229. 
 
 Probably this statement of Mr. Perkins was the first 
 formal prophecy of the eminence which California would 
 ere long command in the seed markets of the world. It 
 found an echo in the words of Peter Henderson, the vet- 
 eran seedsman and florist, who wrote in 1882 : ' ' California 
 will, I am certain, fifty years from now, grow seeds for 
 the world. It has all the conditions of soil and climate 
 for seed growing." The progress attained during the 
 last few years justifies Mr. Perkins' enthusiastic declara- 
 tion and indicates that Mr. Henderson's time limit was 
 certainly conservative and safe, for in certain lines surely 
 such a position has already been realized and in less than 
 a third of his period. 
 
 A New Start. — Mr. Perkins did not continue to the 
 demonstration of his problem. His attention was diverted 
 
122 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 to other matters, and it remained for others to actually 
 work the mine of which he was only the prospector. 
 Theirs have been the labors and the burdens, and it is 
 gratifying to add that, through carrying them intelli- 
 gently and devotedly, they have attained reward and have, 
 in part at least, realized for the State the prominence 
 which was prophesied by the pioneers. 
 
 In 1875 Mr. R. W. Wilson, previously a seed grower at 
 Rochester, New York, began seed growing near Santa 
 Clara, and is regarded as the pioneer of the present era of 
 California seed growing. He began on about fifty acres 
 of land, growing principally onion, lettuce, carrot, and 
 beet seed. Two years later he was succeeded by Kellogg 
 & Morse, who continued together, increasing the dimen- 
 tions of their business until 1889, when Mr. Kellogg re- 
 tired and C. C. Morse & Co. became the successors to the 
 business. They have extended and developed their enter- 
 prise to dimensions which few Californians realize, and 
 now are not only leaders in seed growing, but in the seed 
 trade also. Aside from this large firm there are other 
 producers who have achieved most creditable results, both 
 in the general product and in the development of spe- 
 cialties which have given them wide reputation and con- 
 tributed to the fame of the State in advanced horticul- 
 ture. 
 
 What is usually meant by seed growing, as popularly 
 understood in California, is the production of lettuce, 
 onion, carrot, celery, etc. ; also sweet peas and other flower 
 seeds. While quite a large acreage is devoted to seed 
 beans and garden peas, the things peculiarly Californian 
 are the small vegetable and flower seeds, and the three 
 pre-eminent specialties are onions, lettuce and sweet peas. 
 We lead the world in the production of these three items, 
 and California annually sets the price for all the American 
 trade in them, and also largely influences the European 
 seed trade. California is also a large producer of other 
 vegetable seeds, and to give one some idea of about what 
 
SEED GROWING. 123 
 
 area is devoted to seed growing, an estimate the total 
 acreage in the State of the usual California grown list of 
 seeds, is about 6500 acres, approximately divided as fol- 
 lows : Carrots, about 250 acres ; celery, about 100 acres ; 
 cucumbers, about 150 acres ; endive, about 50 acres ; 
 parsley, about 50 acres; parsnips, about 25 acres; radish, 
 about 500 acres ; onions, about 8000 acres ; lettuce, about 
 750 acres; salsify, about 50 acres; tomatoes, about 100 
 acres; spinach, about 100 acres. In flower seeds, sweet 
 peas, about 1250 acres ; nasturtiums, about 25 acres, and 
 considerable breadths of asters, balsam, poppy, phlox, 
 sunflowers, mignonette, verbena, etc. The smaller seeds of 
 flowers are not grown extensively, and are still largely 
 imported. 
 
 The coast valleys of California afford conditions favor- 
 ing seed growing in a high degree. The only seed farms 
 of any considerable production are located in Los An- 
 geles, San Luis Obispo, San Benito, and Santa Clara coun- 
 ties, the latter claiming fully 75 per cent " of the total 
 acreage. 
 
 It will be impossible to adequately describe California 
 seed growing in a single chapter. Only a few salient facts 
 can be mentioned. 
 
 Onion Seed, — This seed has held the leading place in 
 California seed growing from the very beginning — at first 
 for local use, afterward for distant sale. In spite of the 
 Eastern plaudits which Mr. Perkins won for his seed, as 
 already stated, it was a difficult undertaking to induce 
 Eastern dealers to use it largely at first. When Mr. Wil- 
 son offered his first crop of onion seed in the East, scarcely 
 any one would touch it, and some who did claimed after- 
 ward that the bulbs grown from it were soft, would not 
 keep and were inferior. The next year Mr. Wilson sent 
 quite a quantity of the seed to a dozen or more of the 
 leading dealers, who planted it beside Eastern seed. In 
 the fall Mr. Wilson went East and personally inspected 
 the crops, compared the bulbs and was able to show that 
 
124 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 in every instance California seed produced as good onions 
 as they had been using before. From that time on Cali- 
 fornia onion seed has constantly grown in favor, and this 
 State has become almost the only source of supplies, 
 though there are some Eastern States in which a consid- 
 erable amount is still grown. This popularity secured a 
 price which was quite profitable, and many grew onion 
 seed — too many, in fact, for there is occasionally disas- 
 trous overproduction. 
 
 Lettuce. — Lettuce seed is a leading crop with California 
 seed growers. Tlije climate of some parts of the coast val- 
 leys is admirably adapted to it. It requires careful, pains- 
 taking work to maintain choice varieties. Unfortunately, 
 the plant seeds most freely in a semi-wild condition, and 
 some of the less critical growers have allowed it to grow 
 in this way, thereby increasing yield and profit. The care- 
 ful grower proceeds with cultivation fitted to retain the 
 characters of the variety, thins out the plants so that each 
 will form a perfect head and be true to the type, and then 
 the heading or cabbage varieties must have the head cut 
 open with a knife to allow the seed stem to come through ; 
 otherwise the plant will rot without running to seed. This 
 method of growing is not conducive to a large seed pro- 
 duct, but it improves the strain, while the work of the 
 careless grower tends to reversion. 
 
 Other Plants. — Carrot, celery, leek, endive, kale, kohl- 
 rabi, parsnip, and parsley are all grown by California 
 seed growers, though their demand is limited, oAviug to 
 keen competition with European growers, who are usu- 
 ally able to contract these crops at less than the cost of 
 production here. Peas, beans (except Limas), corn, and 
 some other seeds are not profitable because of competition 
 with growers in the middle Western States. Egg plant, in 
 spite of the excellence of the vegetable as noted in a later 
 chapter, has disappointed the seed growers, and okra has 
 done likewise. Turnips and Brussels sprouts have not 
 prospered as seed crops, while cabbage does excellently. 
 
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126 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Cauliflower also seeds well some years, but in others it 
 completely fails, which renders its average below the profit 
 line. Lima beans for seed have failed, except in the 
 southern coast district described in the chapter on beans, 
 but in that district growers have enjoyed some very 
 profitable contracts with Eastern dealers. 
 
 Flower Seeds. — Various flowers have been grown for 
 seed, in fact, a great assortment of varieties, and, while 
 nearly all kinds flourish, there is so much hand work and 
 close application necessary, that we have not been able to 
 successfully compete with Europe on most things. Sweet 
 peas, nasturtiums, cosmos, verbenas, petunias, balsams, 
 poppies, sunflowers, phlox, mignonette and asters are quite 
 successfully grown, and the seed trade looks to California 
 for most of the sweet peas and a great many of the nas- 
 turtiums. Southern California has several very prominent 
 growers of fine double petunias and other plants. 
 
 The rapid advance of the California sweet pea seed in 
 popularity is most marvelous. A beginning was made in 
 this line in a moderate way about 1885, when there were 
 not over a dozen varieties listed. At first about a quarter 
 of an acre was grown ; now the total acreage is about 
 1250 acres, as stated. So important a factor have the 
 California sweet pea growers become to the seed trade 
 that some dealers come from the East annually to inspect 
 the growing crops and to hunt for novelties in the sweet 
 pea line. One will know California sweet pea wherever 
 grown by its wonderful vigor. 
 
 Sweet peas are planted in November and December to 
 secure the flow^ers at their very best about the middle of 
 May. They grow slowly throughout the winter, but just 
 as soon as the days lengthen and the weather grows warm, 
 they fairly spring into bloom, while later sown seed will 
 mature blossoms correspondingly late. 
 
 The careful grower devotes a great deal of time to 
 roguing his crops. In spite of the greatest care in selec- 
 
SEED GROWING. 127 
 
 tion there will always be a few off plants, and these must 
 come out to keep the stock pure. 
 
 One Use of Machinery. — Improved cleaning machinery 
 has proved an important factor in the production of a 
 bright, fresh-looking sample of seed, and has improved the 
 vitality test by allowing a thorough separation of every- 
 thing spurious from the good seed. Hand mills are em- 
 ployed to some extent for small lots, but the main cleaning 
 is done with large Clipper Mills, operated by gasoline en- 
 gines, and sometimes the electric motor is used. This 
 gives a steadier power and a much larger capacity. It 
 was not until a few years ago that onion seed could be 
 successfully threshed and separated by one of the same 
 mills. After years of experimenting and great expense, 
 one was built that could successfully do this, and now 
 onion seed is threshed and cleaned by large mills run with 
 steam engines. It is, however, still necessary to sink the 
 seed in water to get it perfectly clean. 
 
 Hand Labor. — Nothing has been invented for threshing 
 lettuce, cabbage, parsnip, parsley, etc., which is any im- 
 provement on the hand flail, and gangs of men are em- 
 ployed in threshing these crops. The diversity of the 
 crops and the innumerable variety would make it natu- 
 rally unprofitable to attempt to employ machinery in the 
 field for these kinds of seed. 
 
 The seed grower must depend upon a great deal of hand 
 work. Everything must be harvested by hand ; every 
 onion head must be cut by hand ; every stalk of lettuce 
 and carrot must be dried, turned, threshed, cleaned and 
 recleaned. Carrot seed must not only be flailed to thresh 
 it, but it must also be run through a rubbing machine to 
 break the beards off and then cleaned in-doors. 
 
 All the planting and cultivating must be done very 
 carefully, and much of it is hand work. Every onion bulb 
 must be set right side up in the row, then carefully cov- 
 ered, or left for a time in the open drill aP'^r setting if 
 there should be danger of soil saturation from heavy rains 
 
128 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 which sometimes fall at the planting time in December. 
 Celery plants are twice transplanted before being finally 
 set out in the field. Carrots and all roots mnst be selected 
 and taken out to be transplanted, all which are defective 
 in shape and color being thrown out. 
 
 The careful seed grower always makes careful selections 
 of everything he has growing, which he plants seperately 
 for his own stock seed. There will always be some roots 
 or plants that are rather better in being nearer the true 
 type and color than the others, and it is from among these 
 that the careful grower makes his selections. 
 
 Climatic Advantages. — In addition to the advantages of 
 the California climate in growing the plants, there are 
 other advantages in handling the crop. The long, dry 
 summers afford a fine opportunity to thoroughly dry the 
 seed and permit a large part of the harvest work to be 
 done in the field. It is not necessary to build great barns 
 and drying sheds as they do in the East, although the 
 large California growers provide themselves with large 
 cleaning houses and storage warehouses into which to take 
 the seed as soon as it is sacked and ready for shipment. 
 
 The Future. — It has taken all these years to learn how 
 to grow seeds and to have trained a number of men who 
 also know how, and what to do, so that in the future even • 
 greater and more interesting developments may be ex- 
 pected in all branches of seed growing. One hardly knows 
 what the possibilities are, but the past has clearly shown 
 that our soil and climate will be great aids to future ac- 
 complishment, and in our wide range of natural conditions 
 it is reasonable to expect that many things not now under- 
 taken, may find a favorable environment, and reward the 
 intelligent and painstaking grower. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 GARDEN LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 Several things should be considered in locating the 
 farm garden, for much depends upon selecting : first, the 
 best soil for the purpose the farm affords ; second, situa- 
 tion with relation to protection, warmth and drainage ; 
 third, nearness to water supply for irrigation ; fourth, 
 nearness to the home and protection from intrusion. It 
 may not be possible to combine all these points in a single 
 situation, and then it may be advisable to make two loca- 
 tions, or, in making one, to sacrifice convenience to the 
 more imperative conditions of exposure, soil and moisture. 
 
 Choice of Soil. — General considerations in connection 
 with soils may be found in other chapters. Of course, for 
 ease of work as well as for other considerations a rich loam 
 should be chosen — the best that the ranch affords. As to 
 grades of loam, the lighter should be chosen for the win- 
 ter garden because of the better natural drainage and 
 warmth and the short time in Avhich such soils will take 
 tools and seeds well after heavy rains. The heavier and 
 more retentive soil will better suit the summer garden. 
 Sometimes these two soils may be found beside each other 
 in the same acre ; sometimes the soil can be readily im- 
 proved in these lines, as may be seen in the chapter on 
 soils, or small pieces at a distance from each other may be 
 chosen if each has distinctive fitness. 
 
 Situation and Exposure. — Situation should be consid- 
 ered, for warmth and protection as well as drainage, as is 
 explained in other chapters. Though garden ground in 
 general is most conveniently worked if it has just enough 
 grade for the slow distribution of water, for winter and 
 early spring growth an elevation out of the frosts of the 
 
130 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 low grounds and into the superior heat of the southerly 
 slopes will be found of advantafje. In addition to the 
 ridcye above, sueh protection from north and northwest 
 winds as a windbreak of trees or farm buildings or a high 
 fence will be valuable. There is great difference in the 
 safety and speed of winter vegetables on benches and hill- 
 sides, as compared with the lower lands at their feet only 
 a few rods away perhaps. Warm protected slopes are best 
 for winter and the worst for summer vegetables. Shallow 
 soil spread on porous rock is non-retentive and warm for 
 winter growth, but it may be impossible, even with irriga- 
 tion, to carry good succulent growth on it during the blis- 
 tering summer heat. Then the deep loams of the creek 
 borders and other level lands delight the gardener with 
 the largest returns for the least water. 
 
 Nearness to Water Supply. — The summer garden should 
 be near the water supply, if it be developed from home 
 sources, or the water should be piped to it, which is almost 
 equivalent to moving the reservoir to the garden site. Car- 
 riage of water in a flume entails losses by leakage and 
 evaporation and earth-ditches are distressingly wasteful 
 by evaporation and percolation. One often sees water 
 started on its way from the homesite tanks toward a dis- 
 tant garden, making mud-holes and losing volume all the 
 way. In many cases another well-outfit for the sole use of 
 the garden would be a good investment. 
 
 Nearness to the Home. — If fairly good conditions exist 
 near the home site, by all means locate the garden there. 
 It will win the interest and profits by the attention of the 
 family, and will yield its supplies directly to their hands 
 in most cases. Besides, with the tools handy, spare hours 
 now and then will be given to its working when the leisure 
 is too short to warrant or incline one to walk to a distant 
 patch. The time thus saved may almost keep the garden 
 going in good shape. Then, a well-kept garden is an or- 
 nament and the ornamentation of our rural homes is often 
 rather scant. 
 
 Protection from Intrusion. — To be any comfort and 
 
ARRANGEMENT FOR HORSE WORK. 131 
 
 gratifieation whatever the farm garden must be protected 
 from intruders. One of the chief objections to locating 
 vegetable patches here and there in the best situations for 
 special purposes lies in the trouble of excluding wild 
 marauders of all sizes from a jack-rabbit to a deer and the 
 whole range of domestic invaders from the pasture or 
 corral. This fact alone compels many to forego vegetable 
 planting except in the well-fenced house-yard. It is not 
 difficult to inclose a few square rods with wire netting or 
 with the woven stock fence of wire and driven posts — the 
 whole to be rolled up and stored or moved to another in- 
 closure as the progress of the season gives it new uses. 
 
 A home-grown fence is quite possible in California, us- 
 ing for pickets the southern cane or the Asiatic bamboos, 
 both of which grow readily on moist land in this State. 
 Posts may be set a rod apart. With an inexpensive machine 
 the canes may be woven into a web, using six No. 14 wires 
 for the chain. If the canes are cut three and one-half feet 
 long, and the fence posts are four feet above the ground, 
 along the top of them a barbed wire may be stretched, so 
 that when completed one has a chicken or rabbit fence as 
 well as a strong stock fence. This fence is very durable, 
 the cane becoming as hard as bone and never rotting ; rab- 
 bits can not gnaw it, and it will not ignite from burning 
 grass near it as common pine fencing or lath will ; stock 
 can see it and hence will not run against it. It can be 
 made of any height desired, the canes growing as high as 
 12 to 15 feet. It may be taken down, rolled up and moved 
 without injury and at slight expense. 
 
 ARRANGEMENT FOR HORSE WORK. 
 
 Although our foreign-born friends who do most of the 
 market garden work in California retain their native pre- 
 dilection for hand labor and plan their gardens accord- 
 ingly, it is advisable that farm vegetable growers should 
 arrange to use as much hoi'se power as possible. Both for 
 this purpose and to facilitate furrow irrigation or seepage 
 ditch irrigating, if the slope suits it, the garden should be 
 
132 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 somewhat brick-shaped, because of the greater work which 
 can be done with the same or fewer turnings of the horse 
 or team than on a square piece. At both ends there should 
 be a roadway left for turning the team. This shape is 
 equally adapted for flat or ridge cultivation. 
 
 In the horse-power farm garden there should, of course, 
 be no permanent walks. If walks are desired, leave spaces 
 lengthwise unplanted and uncultivated and smooth down 
 the surface with a roller. Such arrangements, however, 
 waste land and waste moisture, for the hard ground draws 
 water laterally. It is better economy therefore to evenly 
 cultivate the whole area. Lay out the plantings in straight 
 rows for ease of cultivation, and either plant full rows of 
 each vegetable or continue the row with another kind 
 which requires the same distance between rows. Proper 
 distances for each vegetable will be considered in subse- 
 quent chapters. It is convenient to make the distances 
 multiples of some unit. For instance two feet between the 
 rows is about the minimum distance for horse cultivation. 
 Some growers therefore plant at two, four, six, eight, etc., 
 feet distances ; others start with three feet and proceed 
 with six, nine, twelve, etc.,- — the latter for the largest run- 
 ning vines. This makes rows of the small, upright grow- 
 ers a yard apart, which is rather too great a distance 
 ordinarily. 
 
 It is often a great convenience to have permanent dis- 
 tance stakes set close to the fences on the ends of the plot 
 and placing them the accepted unit apart. It is easy to 
 regulate distances by slipping the planting line over two 
 opposite stakes which give the desired separation. If one 
 has a good horse and a good eye, he will, however, prob- 
 ably prefer to use a "marker" made with thills and plow 
 handles properly fastened to a cross-bar eight or ten feet 
 long and fitted with wooden teeth such distance apart as 
 he adopts as his unit of distance between the rows. Start- 
 ing then with a straight guide-line on the surface on one 
 side, three or four parallel lines can be clearly marked at 
 one driving over. Following these marks with the garden 
 
VEGETABLE GROWING IN YOUNG ORCHARD. 133 
 
 drill, or with the hoe planting, very straight lines of seed- 
 ing can be done in a fraction of the time needed to work 
 with a line. But whether line or marker be used, it is de- 
 sirable to rotate the plants year by year so that the narrow 
 and wide row plantings shall change places on the plot, 
 else one might be so supernaturally accurate that the rows 
 would come everlastingly on the same lines, which would 
 not be desirable even if the soil were somewhat displaced 
 laterally by cultivation. 
 
 It is great convenience in arranging for due succession 
 in the garden (which will be farther considered in the 
 chapter on planting) to give adjacent rows to vegetables 
 which mature at about the same time. By this arrange- 
 ment, say, half or a quarter of the garden lengthwise can 
 be cleaned up at the same time and the whole section be 
 at once replanted or plowed up for later planting or irri- 
 gating as may be desirable. Of course if early plantings 
 for winter use are made in the same plot with plantings 
 which will go into the summer, each should be in its own 
 quarter of the garden. 
 
 In arranging the summer garden in the interior heat, it 
 is sometimes desirable to place low, tender-leaved plants 
 like lettuce between rows of tall vegetables which afford it 
 partial shade. Tall corn or pole beans may thus take the 
 place of artificial screens which might otherwise be nec- 
 essary. 
 
 VEGETABLE GROWING IN YOUNG ORCHARD AND 
 VINEYARD. 
 
 This subject is usually discussed from the point of view 
 of injury to the trees and rightly so because the trees rep- 
 resent the greater investments and the greater expectations, 
 but the lowly vegetables have a point of view also and 
 by their appearance they clearly declare that whether they 
 hurt the trees or not they would like a better place on their 
 own account. It is a fact that inter-culture of vegetables 
 in an orchard is soon abandoned because the vegetables do 
 not pay for the trouble and by the sight of them one is 
 
134 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 not surprised that tliey do not pay. It would probably be 
 much better for trees, vegetables and owner if half an 
 acre, if for home use, and larger area, if for market, should 
 be kept free of trees and handled on a more intensive plan 
 for the production of fine vegetables. When fruit prices 
 were higher and orchard improvements the only avenue 
 to high acre-valuation, it is not surprising that people 
 tried to plant fruit trees everj^where on small tract pur- 
 chases — even to making clothes-line posts of them, but 
 now as other resources are receiving better proportional 
 esteem, a small, first-class garden spot, worked up to the 
 limits of its possibilities, should receive attention not only 
 for constant money-saving and mone^^-making, but as one 
 of the most valuable improvements on the place. 
 
 There is no particular disadvantage or difficulty in grow- 
 ing vegetables in young orchards or vineyards providing 
 conditions are right for it. Fruits and vegetables have 
 been associated in gardens, probably, ever since Adam 
 failed through giving too much attention to fruit. But the 
 association of fruits and vegetables has been successful 
 upon the garden policy of enrichment, irrigation, and the 
 highest known culture. This is quite different from the 
 proposition as it has arisen in California which is to grow 
 vegetables upon the orchard policy of cultivation for con- 
 servation of moisture and trust to the natural fertility of 
 the land. It is not surprising that the soil often rebels at 
 the double burden as beyond its strength and dictates its 
 terms to the grower— by so much as you gain of one by so 
 much you shall lose of the other. 
 
 It may be seen, however, in the chapters on soils and 
 irrigation that California has natural soils and situations 
 which are quite comparable with the best conditions which 
 intensive culture can produce in the gardens of older lands 
 and, this being true, it is possible to draw upon their rich 
 resources in the same way. It is quite possible then to 
 grow good vegetables between young fruit trees and for 
 a certain period it can be done without irreparable injury 
 to the trees, providing the local conditions warrant the 
 
VEGETABLE GROWING IN YOUNG ORCHARD. 135 
 
 practice. These conditions may be thus summarized : 
 
 If the soil be of only average richness, the rainfall mod- 
 erate to meagre in amount, and no facilities for irrigation, 
 it would be unfortunate to place any other burden on the 
 land than the growth of the trees. 
 
 If the soil be not very rich and the rainfall heavy, but 
 the moisture easily lost by percolation or evaporation, 
 owing to non-retentiveness of the soil, and no irrigation 
 facilities, give the trees all the ground and the most per- 
 fect summer cultivation possible. 
 
 If the land be rich, the rainfall abundant and moistui'e 
 held well in the soil, or if irrigation can be made use of, 
 it is fair to think of an inter-crop during the early j^ears 
 of the orchard, providing the crop can be profitably dis- 
 posed of, its nature is such that no heavy draft is made 
 on fertility, and the financial condition of the planter re- 
 quires immediate return from the land, if possible. 
 
 It thus appears that an inter-crop is finally made to 
 hinge upon the grower's necessities, and the inference 
 would be that if the money is not needed immediately, it 
 would be wiser to hold the whole strength of the soil as an 
 investment on which returns are to be finally had in the 
 increased growth and fuller fruiting of the trees in later 
 years. 
 
 This views the matter from a commercial point of view 
 and therefore in its most aggravated form. If it is merely 
 a question of whether the home supply of vegetables shall 
 be taken from the young orchard or vineyard, it is less 
 serious and can be more freely commended. 
 
 In growing vegetables between the rows of trees or 
 vines, much depends of course upon the time and the way 
 it is done. If water can be applied between the rows late 
 in the summer in such a way that it will not prevent the 
 deciduous trees from going forward to their usual dor- 
 mancy, or if the grower waits until the fail rains wet the 
 ground sufficiently and then puts in his vegetables for late 
 fall and winter growth without carrying them too near 
 the trees, he can make his winter garden, enjoy its pro- 
 
136 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 duce, and plow in the debris so early in the spring that 
 no appreciable injury will be done to the trees, unless he 
 is on that line of light rainfall where every possible effort 
 is demanded to receive and conserve all the water that 
 falls. If that be the case he has to cultivate to conserve 
 moisture both winter and summer and should not think 
 even of winter vegetables in the orchard. 
 
 Perhaps the chief objection to winter vegetable grow- 
 ing is due to the fact that the crop is usually planted too 
 late and is allowed to occupy the ground so late in the 
 spring that the soil can not be brought into fine tilth which 
 is necessary to save moisture. Instead of this the impacted 
 ground on which the vegetables stood is turned up in clods 
 which no amount of crushing will reduce to tilth and the 
 orchard loses by defective cultivation more moisture than 
 the vegetables consumed in their growth. 
 
 The summer growth of vegetables in the orchard is a 
 more dangerous operation and whether it should be under- 
 taken or not depends upon local conditions previously 
 outlined. Perhaps a specific instance may enforce the 
 point and show what may be taken as favored soil and 
 moisture conditions. In the lower lands of the Santa 
 Clara valley, near San Jose, there have been constant con- 
 tributions to fertility by overflows from mountain water 
 bringing leaf mold and other materials found in the de- 
 posits of "slum," which renew and keep up the fertility 
 of the soil. Much of this land has been under cultivation 
 50 years and upwards, and yet is known as garden soil. 
 Much of this land is adobe, naturally remarkably produc- 
 tive, aside from its benefits from overflow. Such soils have 
 proved able to produce, without apparent exhaustion, or- 
 chard trees and the crops that are grown among them. 
 There is an abundance of artesian water for use when 
 needed. It has been a common custom in this artesian 
 belt, so noted for strawberries, to grow onions on the 
 ridges between the strawberry rows, and along the sides 
 of other berry bushes. Onions are thus grown during sev- 
 eral successive vears until the ground is too crowded. 
 
VEGETABLE GROWING IN YOUNG ORCHARD. 137 
 
 Beets, carrots, peas, and other vegetables are sometimes 
 grown among the berries. Crops of onion seed have been 
 grown among the trees of yonng orchards withont irriga- 
 tion and the trees have done qnite as well as when they 
 had the ground all to themselves. Free use of the culti- 
 vator has kept the ground loose and moist, after one or 
 two plownngs. By irrigating in the fall, the ground can 
 be plowed so as to start the onions before the rains, though 
 this is not usually done. Onions planted any time between 
 October and February may be considered best, though 
 much depends on the season. It should be understood 
 that, aside from the favoring soil and artesian wells, this 
 locality is in line with the summer breezes that come in 
 from the ocean through the Golden Gate, 40 miles away, 
 adding moisture to temper the otherwise heated atmos- 
 phere of the valley. Of course we have only used the 
 onion as an example of a hardy, winter growing vegetable 
 and what we have said of it applies to all other upright 
 winter growers which do not make much lateral extension 
 in their growth. 
 
 Such land will carry all growths that can find standing 
 room on it. Similar conditions are found on low, moist 
 valley lands in nearly all parts of the State, both in the 
 Coast and the interior valleys. The land has such wealth 
 of plant food and moisture that summer weed-killing, 
 which is not common in California, is quite a problem. 
 Where weeds will grow in spite of ordinary good summer 
 cultivation, the land Avill stand almost covering with use- 
 ful plants and it costs little more to grow them than to 
 keep down the wonderful weeds. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 THE PLANTING SEASON. 
 
 The chapter on California climates as related to vege- 
 table growing will show that there is really no closed 
 season in the State except in the mountain districts. It is 
 always time to plant something, if the moisture is avail- 
 able, for there is no degree of cold realized which en- 
 dangers the hardier vegetables. It is true that in Decem- 
 ber and January in the regions of heavy rainfall, there is 
 apt to be a cold, wet surface soil which does not give a 
 hospitable welcome either to seed or seedlings but even 
 this can be overcome by using lighter soil at a little higher 
 elevation or by the devices for raising plants in the seed- 
 bed unless one wishes to wait for February planting as is 
 commonly done in such places. The antithesis of the De- 
 cember and January cold is the July and August heat and 
 drought in the interior, but this too is conquerable by irri- 
 gation, with added shade for some tender-leafed plants, or 
 by choosing moist, low land, of which California valleys 
 both on the Coast and in the interior have great areas. 
 The conclusion of the whole matter is that California val- 
 leys and foot-hills are naturally fitted for almost endless 
 succession of sowings and gatherings and such temporary 
 unfitness as locally occurs is easily overcome by very 
 simple cultural arts and provisions. Still there are best 
 times for doing things for specific purposes and many of 
 these can only be learned by local experience. An attempt 
 will be made, however, to give hints to newcomers, or to 
 the many who have not essayed vegetable growing and 
 have thus neglected glorious opportunities, which will en- 
 able them to realize, it is hoped, some directions in which 
 promising efforts may be put forth. 
 Seasonable Work in the Garden. — In view of the fact 
 
THE PLANTING SEASON. 1'39 
 
 already emphasized that the planting season extends 
 throughout the year and is regulated by local conditions 
 and not by the calendar, it follows that other garden work 
 constantly recurs, and it would be a hopeless task to at- 
 tempt to specify certain times at which certain work 
 should be done. The vegetable grower must use his own 
 powers of observation and common sense, and not ex- 
 pect to find in print the injunction that on a certain day 
 he must do a certain thing. 
 
 It may be possible to make such prescriptions in more 
 steady-going climates but in our diverse local climates, 
 which are either forcing or retarding, according to locali- 
 ties, and according to times of the year in the same lo- 
 cality, it is impossible to say just when a crop planted at 
 a certain time should be hoed or cultivated, trained up or 
 gathered, and the ground cleared up for other uses. All 
 such acts will be omitted from our California garden cal- 
 endar. Let it be understood rather that the grower must 
 be always on the alert to do certain things without sug- 
 gestion from any one, viz. : 
 
 First: Stir the ground as soon as it will take tools well 
 after the young plants have appeared above the surface, 
 and thin the plants in the row to allow proper space for 
 attaining good size. 
 
 Second : Continue stirring afterwards whenever the 
 soil Avorks well, for weed killing if there be any ; if not, 
 stir the surface just the same. 
 
 Third : Continue stirring so long as the cultivator does 
 not seriously injure the plant by breaking its stems and 
 foliage, and then use the hoe carefully to prevent the 
 ground becoming compacted near the stem in places not 
 reached by the cultivator. 
 
 Fourth : Keep the condition of the plant constantly in 
 sight and thought, to train or trim its growth to attain 
 best results. Such treatment for each plant will naturally 
 be noted in the place devoted to its special consideration 
 later. 
 
 Fifth : Watch for the attainment of such degree of ma- 
 
140 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 turity as makes each plant most desirable for food pur- 
 poses. The slack gardener is apt to allow his veo-etables 
 to become stale or over-ripe in the rows, and in that way 
 miss their best estate. 
 
 Sixth : Gather promptly and dispose of each, either by 
 eating or selling, when it reaches this condition and 
 quickly clear away the remains of the growth for stock 
 feed or for the compost heap. Do not allow the plants to 
 stand for the purpose of gathering seed from the culls 
 which are rejected at picking. Select the earliest and 
 best specimens for seed if any seed is to be saved. It is, 
 however, only in exceptional cases that the farm gardener 
 should save his own seed. It is better to buy up-to-date 
 varieties from those who make a business of selection and 
 improvement of garden varieties. Keep the garden al- 
 ways clean and ready for something else. It is a mistake 
 to let the garden lie neglected until the time for a spring 
 revolution and upheaval, like that which Eastern gard- 
 eners are forced to content themselves with. Of course, 
 the error of stirring the soil when too wet must be care- 
 fully guarded against, but there is much beside digging 
 involved in gardening. 
 
 Seventh : Irrigate, if necessary, and work the soil as 
 soon as it works aright. Do not lose moisture by allowing 
 the surface to become hard. No matter whether the 
 ground is to be used for an immediate succession or 
 whether it is to lie for some time, break up the surface 
 and make it fit to receive water or retain water, as the 
 case may be. 
 
 These timely and important acts will not appear in our 
 calendar for the reasons first stated. They are always in 
 order in California, and if a man has to be told more than 
 once to do them, there are serious doubts of his ever hav- 
 ing been called to be a vegetable grower. 
 
 CALIFORNIA GARDEN CALENDAR. 
 
 As appears in the chapter on climate, the timeliness of 
 certain operations in California is not regarded by geo- 
 
CALIFORNIA GARDEN CALENDAR. 141 
 
 graphy nor latitiule, but by topography and environment, 
 by moisture-conditions, either natural or acquired, and by 
 the beginning and ending of the frost-free period. The 
 broken country of the northwest quarter of the State, and 
 the mountain elevations everywhere which are liable to 
 snowfall, constitute regions which differ from the Coast 
 valley, interior valley and foothill regions both north and 
 south, and are, therefore, to a certain degree out of our 
 calculation, though an effort will be made to include some 
 recognition of their practice. The outline to be made of 
 timely work is intended to cover the State in all parts ex- 
 cept where wintry conditions in greater or less degree in- 
 trude. 
 
 Our seasons, shading into each other without striking 
 division lines, make it necessary to select a somewhat ar- 
 bitrary point of beginning for a garden calendar. The 
 point midway between the closing of one rainy season and 
 the beginning of another is, by virtue of its drought-and- 
 heat-effects on the rainfall garden, and its heat-effects 
 even on ground kept moist by irrigation or underflow, the 
 time when garden growth is about at its lowest point. It 
 is also a time when preparations are to be made for the 
 earliest sowing. The arrangement is somewhat arbitrary, 
 as confessed above, but it accords best with all matters 
 involved to look upon the month of July as the beginning 
 of the California year in vegetable growing. 
 
 JULY. 
 
 On ground moistened anew by underflow from rising- 
 rivers or by percolation from irrigation ditches on higher 
 orchard slopes, or on land cleared of an earlier crop, irri- 
 gated and well worked, it is possible to plant vegetables in 
 July for late fall or winter use. String beans, carrots, 
 corn, parsnips, potatoes, salsify, squashes, turnips, etc., 
 will all come on rapidly in the interior heat, if adequate 
 moisture is furnished and frosts are reasonably late. Mel- 
 ons are also successfully thus sown and with heat enough 
 will mature in September from July planting. Near the 
 
142 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Coast or in the interior, with shade, encnmbers, lettuce, 
 radishes and other salads will thrive. Cabbage and cauli- 
 flower seed sown in proper beds or boxes, soon gives plants 
 for later setting which will mature for Christmas and on 
 through the early winter. 
 
 AUGUST. 
 
 Corn and potatoes planted in August may still have time 
 to reach satisfactory condition of maturity, except where 
 frosts are expected early. Cabbage and cauliflower seed 
 will give plants for proper winter succession ; turnips on 
 irrigated ground will also give winter crop. Onion seed 
 may be sown for sets. August is a sort of divide in gar- 
 den work. It is rather late to sow for fall use and rather 
 soon to sow for winter use, and still August planting is 
 practiced by many where local conditions take kindly to it. 
 
 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 Planting must still proceed upon moisture by irrigation, 
 and planting for early winter use is still in order. Peas 
 started with irrigation and carried until rainfall is ade- 
 quate, will be ready for Christmas in regions where only 
 light frosts occur, for peas are quite hardy. Cabbage and 
 cauliflower should be sown in the seed-bed for succession 
 of plants — in some places they grow slowly and can be 
 taken out for planting until February. Beets and salsify 
 will start for early summer use, and potatoes for the holi- 
 days. Lettuce and onions can be sown in place or plants 
 may be grown in a seed-bed for planting out after the 
 rains come. In strictly frostless places, string beans, egg- 
 plant, and tomatoes are planted for very early crop. 
 
 OCTOBER. 
 
 It is still time to plant cabbage, spinach, onions, lettuce, 
 and turnips for mid-winter and spring use. Peas of early 
 variety will still make the Christmas table in a favorable 
 locality. Beans, egg-plant, and tomatoes are still sown for 
 early crop in frostless places. 
 
CALIFORNIA GARDEN CALENDAR. 143 
 
 NOVEMBER. 
 
 Still plant for succession. Peas, lettuce, cabbage, onions, 
 
 beets, spinach, salsify, turnips. The Coast valleys are now 
 
 usually moist enough to carry all these hardy vegetables 
 
 without irrigation, for late winter and early spring use. 
 
 Asparagus roots are in shape for planting. Potatoes, 
 
 beans, egg-plant and tomatoes are planted in frostless 
 
 places for early crop. 
 
 DECEMBER. 
 
 The higher lands of the interior valley are usually ready 
 for the rainfall garden. Beets, cabbage, cauliflower, car- 
 rots, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes and turnips are hardy, 
 though some roots sown at this time will in some places 
 go to seed in the spring instead of enlarging. Potatoes 
 are planted on slopes, well out of hard frosts. In north- 
 erly coast valleys the soil is often too cold and wet to 
 make seed sowing wise. In such places the growth gets a 
 poor start. This depends greatly, however, upon the 
 character of the rainy season for that particular year. 
 JANUARY. 
 
 On warmer, drier valley lands in regions of light rain- 
 fall or on protected hillsides, plantings of beets, cabbage, 
 carrots, peas, turnips, lettuce and onions are usually wise. 
 In colder regions lettuce and onions and radishes are 
 hardy, and thrive if raised out of the wet, and cabbage, 
 cauliflower, pepper, celery, tomato seed should go into 
 seed-beds to grow plants for later planting out. It is the 
 first great potato planting month for regions of light 
 rainfall or on warm, well-drained slopes in regions of 
 heavier rains. But on low valley lands in wet regions, 
 January is often too stormy and cold for open-air work, 
 as has just been said of December. 
 FEBRUARY. 
 
 February is the great planting month, for everything 
 but the very tender plants, like beans, corn, tomatoes, 
 peppers, the squash family, etc., can now proceed with as- 
 
144 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 surance of adequate heat and moisture. It is the month 
 for the dilatory man who has missed his earliest oppor- 
 tunities to fill the ground with seed, and it is the time 
 Avhen planting's in small frosty and rainy valleys, which 
 have been deferred because the ground was too cold and 
 wet to start seeds and plants well, may be confidently 
 made. Successions and rotations are in order, as the fall- 
 planted vegetables are cleared away. Early small plant- 
 ings of string-beans, melons and cucumbers will often 
 carry through or can be easily replanted if the frost 
 catches them. Potatoes are widely planted and will sel- 
 dom be killed, though they may be cut back, except on 
 low ground, which should be planted later. Chicory is 
 sown, and sowing of sugar beets as a field crop for the 
 factory, begins in February, on the warmer, drier lands. 
 
 MARCH. 
 
 Later plantings of all sorts of hardy vegetables for suc- 
 cession is pursued. The venturesome on higher, warmer 
 lands try corn, melons, squashes, tomatoes, and continue 
 planting beans. Sugar beets are largely sown for factory 
 use. Sweet potatoes should go into the hot-bed for slip- 
 ping. 
 
 APRIL. 
 
 April is another month for succession planting of hardy 
 vegetables, but it is getting late except where moisture is 
 ample and late showers quite certain. Tender plants are 
 out of serious danger except in especially frosty places. 
 Beans can be confidently planted. Peppers, tomatoes, egg- 
 plant, sweet potatoes, and other growths can be brought 
 to the open ground. Corn, melons and squashes can be 
 safely planted as field crops. The season's race is well 
 along in its last quarter, the heat and drought have al- 
 ready made hay and are ripening the grain. 
 
 MAY. 
 
 Everything for which there can be assured ample mois- 
 ture can still be planted in the moderate heat of the Coast 
 
CALIFORNIA GARDEN CALENDAR. 145 
 
 regions, but it is late for shallow-rooting plants to take 
 hold in the interior heat, even with irrigation. Heat-lov- 
 ing plants, like watermelons, corn, sweet potatoes, etc., 
 will grow grandly with moisture enough. On the Coast, 
 Lima beans, sugar beets for late crop, corn and roots for 
 fall use will do well if well cultivated. All planting now 
 which is well taken care of will carry its verdure and its 
 crop to refresh the grower in the midst of the dry season. 
 It is a time to seek and use moist land or to count on soon 
 employing the fullest irrigation facilities the place affords. 
 
 JUNE. 
 
 June completes the garden year. It is the last chance 
 to plant, and it is useless to plant at all except on land 
 moist naturally or by irrigation. It is the last chance to 
 get a second crop on land which has given produce. In 
 the garden clear up all that has matured of the winter 
 plantings, irrigate well, plow and quickly fine the surface 
 and put in beans, beets, cabbage plants, corn, melons, po- 
 tatoes, squash, tomato plants, and a succession of small 
 truck, and be sure that they do not lack moisture, or their 
 courses will be short and unprofitable. 
 
 TABULAR SHOWINGS OF TIMES OF PLANTING. 
 
 To afford the reader a condensed view of the facts noted 
 in the foregoing suggestions for the months, tabular show- 
 ings are prepared. These are not made from theoretical 
 generalizations, but are prepared from records of actual 
 practice which the writer has been collecting for the last 
 30 years. It would be easy to add more data to the tables 
 as inferences from what is laid down, but readers can do 
 that for themselves. It is beyond question, for instance, 
 that a vegetable planted in May and July could also be 
 planted in June, and is no doubt planted in June in actual 
 practice. But to present tables which are actual and not 
 inferential, only affirmative and specific cases are given 
 place. The work of several hundred growers is condensed 
 into these tables. 
 
 Separate showings are made for southern California and 
 
146 
 
 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 for the valley and foothill portions of the u})per part of the 
 State. It will be seen that they sti'ikin<;ly a^-ree. There 
 are practically frostless regions near the coast in sonthern 
 California which are not fonnd elsewhere in the State, 
 although it is only with the tenderest growths that the 
 difference becomes apparent. Other vegeta])l(^s take about 
 the same courses in early regions, both north and south. 
 Still it is well to reduce the fact to a set of records such as 
 these tables embody. 
 
 TIMES FOR PLANTING CERTAIN VEGETABLES IN VALLEY AND FOOTHILL 
 REGIONS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 
 »-2 
 
 < 
 
 
 o 
 
 > 
 
 o 
 
 12; 
 
 Q 
 
 ►-3 
 
 
 3 
 
 < 
 
 
 >-> 
 
 Beans 
 
 * 
 
 
 *- 
 
 *- 
 
 *2 
 
 
 
 *:•. 
 
 *:■■ 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Beets 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Cabbage 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 Carrots 
 
 * 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 Cauliflower .. . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 Celery 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 Corn 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *3 
 
 *;; 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Cucumbers . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *n 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 Eggplant 
 
 
 
 *2 
 
 *2 
 
 *2 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 Lettuce 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Melons 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *:i 
 
 *.-; 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Onions 
 
 
 . . 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 Peas 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 *- 
 
 *-' 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Potatoes, sweet 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Radishes 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Salsify 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Spinach 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Squash 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *:; 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Tomatoes .... 
 
 
 
 *- 
 
 *2 
 
 *-■ 
 
 
 *J 
 
 *2 
 
 *:: 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Turnips 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 :li 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 'On irrigated land. 
 
 "Frostless situations near southern coast. 
 
 ■■■Taking the chances of occasional frost and replanting in some 
 places. 
 
THE FROST FACTOR. 
 
 147 
 
 TIMES FOB PLANTING CEKTAIN VEGETABLES IN VALLEY AND F( 
 REGIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 
 H,<J m O )^ Q ^fo 
 
 Beans * * * * * 
 
 Beets * * * * * * * 
 
 Carrots * * * * * * * 
 
 Cauliflower ... *_ * * * * * * 
 
 Celery * * * 
 
 Corn * * * 
 
 Cucumbers .... * * * * 
 
 Eggplant 
 
 Melons * * * * 
 
 Potatoes * * * * * * * * 
 
 Potatoes, sweet * * * * 
 
 Salsify * * * * 
 
 Spinach * * * 
 
 Squash * * * * 
 
 Tomatoes * * * 
 
 ^On irrigated or naturally moist low land. 
 
 THE FROST FACTOR. 
 
 The intrusion of the frost period is a local limitation of 
 the planting season. Each vegetable grower should keep 
 records of frost occurrence for his own guidance in future 
 operations and for the public benefit, for the government 
 weather service is very anxious to get local observations 
 on this point. 
 
 During the last decade the San Francisco office of the 
 U. S. Weather Bureau has given particular attention to 
 frost phenomena, including conditions of occurrence and 
 prevention, and the publications by the local officer in 
 charge, Prof. Alexander G. McAdie, comprise the best 
 knowledge on the subject. 
 
 The discussion in the chapter on California Climate as 
 Related to Vegetable Growing shows that weather condi- 
 
148 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 tions are everywhere dependent to a dei»ree on local to- 
 pograi)hy and environment, even tlionyli there are regional 
 characters which mnst l)e unch'i'stood. In this phice it is 
 fitting to emphasize especially the dates at which killinti; 
 frosts have occurred in a large number of localities, be- 
 cause such dates are seldom accurately remembered even 
 in the localities concerned. The table which we have com- 
 piled and arranged in our own way, according to districts, 
 from data kindly furnished by Prof. McAdie, should be 
 studied with the following points in view : 
 
 First. The dates represent the first and last dates of 
 killing frosts in each place during a decade. In most 
 cases probably the dates are not in the same year. We 
 wish to show the "worst ever" at each place. 
 
 Second. Obviously, then, frosts at such dates are not 
 to be often expected, and planters may usually take the 
 risk of planting somewhat earlier and having tender plants 
 mature somewhat later, as will be discussed in the next 
 chapter. At the same time large plantings for a main or 
 standard crop should be generally held back for the local 
 frost-free period which the dates in the tables supply for 
 each place. 
 
 Third. Always remember, however, that there may be 
 situations adjacent to the place where the record is made 
 in which frost may be earlier or later, or both, according 
 to the variations in local topography, exposure, etc., as 
 explained in the chapter on Climate. There are also a 
 few widely separated situations which may be considered 
 almost, if not quite, frostless. 
 
 Fourth. The tables give the elevation in feet above sea 
 level in each case. This factor does inflnence frost occur- 
 rence in a large way, but local frost phenomena are often 
 determined by the relative elevation of situations in the 
 same vicinity and by other conditions of topography 
 affecting the movement of cold air and counter currents, 
 perhaps, of warm air. 
 
 Fifth. Thus it should appear that after all the writer 
 can do to help the reader determine what his planting 
 
THE FROST FACTOR. 
 
 149 
 
 practice should be with refenece to frost occurrence, it 
 still remains with the latter to do all that he can to under- 
 stand his immedate spot of land through the teaching of. 
 his own observation and experience. 
 
 DATES OF SPRING AND FALL KILLING FROSTS. 1897 TO 1908. 
 
 Location and county. Elevation. 
 
 Upper Coast Region. 
 
 Crescent City, IDel Norte 50 
 
 Eurelva, Humboldt 64 
 
 Upper Mattole, Humboldt 244 
 
 Ukiah, Mendocino 620 
 
 Fort Bragg, Mendocino 74 
 
 Fort Ross, Sonoma 100 
 
 Cloverdale, Sonoma 340 
 
 Santa Rosa, Sonoma 181 
 
 Peachland, Sonoma 220 
 
 Sonoma, Sonoma 30 
 
 Calistoga, Napa 363 
 
 Napa, Napa 60 
 
 Upper Lake, Lake. . : 1350 
 
 Sacramento Valley and 
 Foothills. 
 
 Redding, Shasta 552 
 
 Red Bluff, Tehama 307 
 
 Rosewood, Tehama 865 
 
 Corning, Tehama 277 
 
 Chico, Butte 193 
 
 Durham, Butte 160 
 
 Biggs, Butte 98 
 
 Oroville, Butte 250 
 
 Palermo, Butte 213 
 
 Fruto. Glenn 624 
 
 Willows, Glenn 136 
 
 Dunnigan, Yolo 65 
 
 Guinda, Yolo 350 
 
 Woodland, Yolo 63 
 
 Davis, Yolo 51 
 
 Vacaville, Solano 175 
 
 Elmira, Solano 75 
 
 Suisun, Solano 20 
 
 Sacramento, Sacramento 35 
 
 Folsom, Sacramento 252 
 
 Wheatland, Yuba 84 
 
 Auburn, Placer 1360 
 
 Colfax, Placer 2421 
 
 Eldorado, Eldorado 1609 
 
 Placerville, Eldorado 1820 
 
 Georgetown, Eldorado 2650 
 
 Nevada City, Nevada 2580 
 
 North Bloomfield, Nevada 3200 
 
 Jackson, Amador 1900 
 
 Latest 
 
 Earliest 
 
 spring. 
 
 autumn. 
 
 June 
 
 19 
 
 Sept. 
 
 30 
 
 May 
 
 1 
 
 Nov. 
 
 7 
 
 Apr. 
 
 26 
 
 Oct. 
 
 20 
 
 May 
 
 2 
 
 Oct. 
 
 16 
 
 Mar. 
 
 18 
 
 Nov. 
 
 5 
 
 Mar. 
 
 21 
 
 Dec. 
 
 18 
 
 Mar. 
 
 25 
 
 Nov. 
 
 2 
 
 May 
 
 10 
 
 Oct." 
 
 29 
 
 Apr. 
 
 11 
 
 Oct. 
 
 18 
 
 Apr. 
 
 12 
 
 Dec. 
 
 2 
 
 May 
 
 1 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1 
 
 Mar. 
 
 30 
 
 Nov. 
 
 7 
 
 Apr. 
 
 23 
 
 Sept. 
 
 29 
 
 May 
 
 1 
 
 Oct. 
 
 17 
 
 Apr. 
 
 19 
 
 Nov. 
 
 7 
 
 Apr. 
 
 12 
 
 Oct. 
 
 4 
 
 Mar. 
 
 26 
 
 Nov. 
 
 2 
 
 Apr. 
 
 10 
 
 Nov. 
 
 6 
 
 Apr. 
 
 4 
 
 Oct. 
 
 22 
 
 May 
 
 10 
 
 Nov. 
 
 23 
 
 Apr. 
 
 30 
 
 Nov. 
 
 23 
 
 Apr. 
 
 7 
 
 Nov. 
 
 14 
 
 Apr. 
 
 4 
 
 Nov. 
 
 23 
 
 Apr. 
 
 26 
 
 Nov. 
 
 28 
 
 Feb. 
 
 25 
 
 Nov. 
 
 24 
 
 May 
 
 1 
 
 Nov. 
 
 16 
 
 Apr. 
 
 26 
 
 Nov. 
 
 26 
 
 Apr. 
 
 4 
 
 Oct. 
 
 22 
 
 Apr. 
 
 4 
 
 Nov. 
 
 24 
 
 Apr. 
 
 4 
 
 Oct. 
 
 26 
 
 Apr. 
 
 4 
 
 Nov. 
 
 13 
 
 Apr. 
 
 26 
 
 Oct. 
 
 17 
 
 Apr. 
 
 11 
 
 Nov. 
 
 24 
 
 Apr. 
 
 9 
 
 Nov. 
 
 7 
 
 May 
 
 2 
 
 Oct. 
 
 15 
 
 May 
 
 1 
 
 Dec. 
 
 5 
 
 Apr. 
 
 26 
 
 Dec. 
 
 20 
 
 Apr. 
 
 28 
 
 Nov. 
 
 28 
 
 May 
 
 1 
 
 Oct. 
 
 15 
 
 May 
 
 30 
 
 Sept. 
 
 29 
 
 May 
 
 22 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1 
 
 Apr. 
 
 28 
 
 Oct. 
 
 14 
 
150 CALIP^ORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Ckntral Coast Region. 
 
 San Francisco, San Francisco 207 
 
 Oakland, Alameda 36 
 
 Berkeley, Alameda 320 
 
 Niles, Alameda 87 
 
 San Leandro, Alameda 50 
 
 Livermore, Alameda 485 
 
 Menlo Park, San Mateo 64 
 
 San Jose, Santa Clara 95 
 
 Santa Clara, Santa Clara 90 
 
 Los Gatos, Santa Clara 600 
 
 Gllroy, Santa Clara 193 
 
 Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz 20 
 
 Laurel, Santa Cruz 910 
 
 Aptos, Santa Cruz 102 
 
 Watsonville, Santa Cruz 23 
 
 Hollister, San Benito 284 
 
 Salinas, Monterey 40 
 
 Soledad, Monterey 183 
 
 San" Ardo, Monterey 236 
 
 San Miguel, San Luis Obispo 616 
 
 Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo 800 
 
 San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo. 201 
 
 San Joaquin Valley and 
 Foothills. 
 
 Antioch, Contra Costa 46 
 
 Lodi, San Joaquin 35 
 
 Tracy, San Joaquin 64 
 
 Milton, Calaveras 660 
 
 Mokelumne, Calaveras 1550 
 
 West Point, Calaveras 2326 
 
 Jackson, Amador 1900 
 
 Merced, Merced 173 
 
 Fresno, Fresno 293 
 
 Selma, Fresno 311 
 
 Kingsburg. Fresno 301 
 
 Hanford, Kings 249 
 
 Visalia, Tulare 334 
 
 Lemon Cove, Tulare 600 
 
 Porterville, Tulare 461 
 
 Tulare, Tulare 274 
 
 Dinuba, Tulare 335 
 
 Southern California. 
 
 Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara.... 130 
 
 Santa Paula, Ventura 350 
 
 Los Angeles, Los Angeles 293 
 
 Anaheim, Orange 134 
 
 Riverside, Riverside 851 
 
 San Jacinto, Riverside. 1550 
 
 Redlands, San Bernardino 1352 
 
 Escondido, San Diego 657 
 
 Poway, San Diego 460 
 
 El Cajon. San Diego 482 
 
 Campo, San Diego 2543 
 
 Mar. 
 
 27 
 
 Dec. 
 
 IS 
 
 Feb. 
 
 15 
 
 Dec. 
 
 15 
 
 Feb. 
 
 19 
 
 Dec. 
 
 14 
 
 Apr. 
 
 29 
 
 Oct. 
 
 17 
 
 Mar. 
 
 28 
 
 Nov. 
 
 24 
 
 Apr. 
 
 12 
 
 Nov. 
 
 9 
 
 Feb. 
 
 13 
 
 Dec. 
 
 18 
 
 Apr. 
 
 9 
 
 Oct. 
 
 22 
 
 Apr. 
 
 9 
 
 Nov. 
 
 24 
 
 Mar. 
 
 8 
 
 Dec. 
 
 9 
 
 May 
 
 11 
 
 Nov. 
 
 6 
 
 Apr. 
 
 1 
 
 Nov. 
 
 23 
 
 Mar. 
 
 12 
 
 Oct. 
 
 24 
 
 Mar. 
 
 31 
 
 Oct. 
 
 31 
 
 Apr. 
 
 8 
 
 Sept. 
 
 22 
 
 Apr. 
 
 22 
 
 Oct. 
 
 17 
 
 Apr. 
 
 1 
 
 Nov. 
 
 21 
 
 Feb. 
 
 13 
 
 Nov. 
 
 30 
 
 Apr. 
 
 10 
 
 Dec. 
 
 9 
 
 Mar. 
 
 8 
 
 Oct. 
 
 22 
 
 Apr. 
 
 26 
 
 Oct. 
 
 30 
 
 May 
 
 18 
 
 Oct. 
 
 18 
 
 Feb. 
 
 1 
 
 Dec. 
 
 5 
 
 Apr. 
 
 9 
 
 Oct. 
 
 18 
 
 Mar. 
 
 14 
 
 Nov. 
 
 24 
 
 Apr. 
 
 7 
 
 Nov. 
 
 29 
 
 Apr. 
 
 28 
 
 Nov. 
 
 17 
 
 June 
 
 15 
 
 Oct. 
 
 7 
 
 Apr. 
 
 28 
 
 Oct. 
 
 14 
 
 Mar. 
 
 28 
 
 Nov. 
 
 28 
 
 Mar. 
 
 31 
 
 Nov. 
 
 11 
 
 Mar. 
 
 31 
 
 Oct. 
 
 20 
 
 Apr. 
 
 28 
 
 Dec. 
 
 23 
 
 Apr. 
 
 29 
 
 Oct. 
 
 25 
 
 Apr. 
 
 11 
 
 Nov. 
 
 16 
 
 Feb. 
 
 16 
 
 Dec. 
 
 9 
 
 Mar. 
 
 10 
 
 Nov. 
 
 26 
 
 Apr. 
 
 11 
 
 Oct. 
 
 20 
 
 May 
 
 2 
 
 Nov. 
 
 27 
 
 Mar. 
 
 18 
 
 Nov. 
 
 30 
 
 Feb. 
 
 16 
 
 Dec. 
 
 12 
 
 Mar. 
 
 9 
 
 Dec. 
 
 13 
 
 Apr. 
 
 17 
 
 Dec. 
 
 12 
 
 Apr. 
 
 2 
 
 Nov. 
 
 12 
 
 Apr. 
 
 S 
 
 Nov. 
 
 25 
 
 Apr. 
 
 9 
 
 Nov. 
 
 24 
 
 Mar. 
 
 IS 
 
 Dec. 
 
 7 
 
 Feb. 
 
 15 
 
 Nov. 
 
 18 
 
 Mar. 
 
 14 
 
 Nov. 
 
 19 
 
 June 
 
 17 
 
 Sept. 
 
 17 
 
July 
 
 6 
 
 Sept. 
 
 13 
 
 June 
 
 24 
 
 Aug. 
 
 3(1 
 
 June 
 
 22 
 
 Sept. 
 
 S 
 
 July 
 
 6 
 
 Sept. 
 
 6 
 
 June 
 
 11 
 
 Aug. 
 
 20 
 
 May 
 
 1 
 
 Oct. 
 
 2 
 
 June 
 
 15 
 
 Sept. 
 
 25 
 
 May 
 
 25 
 
 Oct. 
 
 2 
 
 Apr. 
 
 11 
 
 Nov. 
 
 20 
 
 July 
 
 11 
 
 Sept. 
 
 5 
 
 THE FROST P^ACTOR. 151 
 
 Mountain Regions. 
 
 Sisson, Siskiyou 3555 
 
 Cedarville, Modoc 4675 
 
 Susanville, Lassen 4195 
 
 Laporte, Plumas 5000 
 
 Greenville, Plumas 3600 
 
 Boca, Nevada 5531 
 
 Summerdale, Mariposa 5270 
 
 Lick Observatory, Santa Clara.... 4209 
 
 Tehachapi, Kern 3964 
 
 Cuyamaca, San Diego 4543 
 
 The general reader, after studying the foregoing data, 
 may conclude that in nearly all the valley districts of 
 California there is little difference in the length of the 
 absolute frost-free period ; also that elevation influences 
 temperature similarly in all parts of the State. At eleva- 
 tions below 1500 feet, which is the point at which foothills 
 begin to shade into mountains, there are about two-thirds 
 of the whole year in which even the tenderest vegetation 
 may be considered practically safe from injury from frost, 
 and particular situations in which the frost-free period 
 is even longer. On the other hand, there are mountain 
 valleys, with good soil and sunshine and ample total heat 
 for vegetables, in which tender plants must be always pro- 
 tected, because frost may occur ever^y month in the year. 
 
 The Endurance of Different Vegetables. — The degree of 
 cold which plants will survive depends upon several con- 
 siderations and conditions, involving state of air, moisture 
 and of the plant itself, which makes it impossible to fix the 
 injury point of a plant definitely. There is, however, prac- 
 tical value in the following compilation made from reports 
 by Pacific Coast growers as to the effect of our style of 
 low temperatures, the temperatures being given as nearly 
 as possible those in contact with the plant itself : 
 
 TEMPEKATUBE AT WHICH CERTAIN PLANTS ARE LIABLE TO RECEIVE 
 INJURY FROM FROSTS. 
 
 Degrees Degrees 
 
 Plant. Fahr. Plant. Fahr. 
 
 Asparagus 29 Beans 31 
 
 Cantaloupes 32 Celery 28 
 
 Cucumbers 32 Onions 28 
 
 Potatoes 30 Sweet Potatoes 31 
 
 Spinach 21 Squash 31 
 
 Turnips 26 Watermelons 31 
 
152 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 SUCCESSIONS AND ROTATIONS IN CALIFORNIA 
 GARDENS. 
 
 Naturally, an all-the-year growing season suggests con- 
 stant use of the ground and the possibility of turning the 
 soil over several times in the course of the year. This can 
 be done by quick revolution, like the following: 
 
 Where water is handy, two, three, or even four crops 
 can be grown on the same ground in the year. Start April 
 1 and sow the plot to lettuce, and with proper cultivation 
 it will mature in two months. Resow with turnip-radish, 
 which is a good summer variety. These will be fit to use 
 in three weeks, or by the first week of July, when the 
 ground will be ready for late cucumbers, which will occupy 
 the ground until the first frost, or till nights become too 
 cold for them to fruit. Now plant to carrots, beets, or 
 onion sets, and any of them will be ready for use in Febru- 
 ary or March. Here we have four crops within the twelve 
 months, and no two of them occupying the ground at the 
 same time. There are other combinations that would do 
 as well. 
 
 Though this rapid work is quite feasible, as shown, and 
 many plants can enter into such combinations, the two- 
 crop plan will probably be as fast movement as most farm 
 gardeners Mnll keep up with, and that consists in fall sow- 
 ing of hardy vegetables for winter and spring use. fol- 
 lowed by spring planting of tender vegetables for summer 
 and fall use. Occasionally there will be intervals in this 
 rotation for a third or catch crop of lettuce, radish, etc., 
 which takes a very short time. This will be a- vast im- 
 provement on the present popular conception of garden- 
 ing possibilities, and if the hint of a fall crop of tender 
 vegetables like melons, beans, corn, etc.. planted in July 
 to come on fast in the heat, followed by fall planting of 
 the hardy list for winter use, these two crops will be 
 gained before the outbreak of the usual "garden fever," 
 which rallies all garden forces in Fel)ruary and IMarch. 
 The agencies to demonstrate this broader conception of 
 our gardening ])ossibilities are Will and Work and Water, 
 
SUCCESSIONS AND ROTATIONS. 153 
 
 to which allusion is made in the chapter on Farmer's 
 Gardens in California. 
 
 Family Garden Programmes. — It will surprise anj^one 
 who carries out rapid succession of plantings to see how 
 much desirable food can be secured from a very small 
 area. An enthusiastic farm gardener of Lakeside, San 
 Diego county, says that his garden of 50 feet square sup- 
 plies enough vegetables, excepting potatoes, for a large 
 family, and requires less than half a day's attention dur- 
 ing a week. He grows the following vegetables, planting 
 each month in the year as follows : 
 
 January — After the 20th, turnips, cabbage seed, carrots, 
 lettuce, peas. 
 
 February — Radishes, beets, salsify, spinach, onion seed 
 or sets. 
 
 March — Potatoes (in field), turnips, cabbage, lettuce, 
 peas, cabbage plants. 
 
 April — Cucumbers, watermelons, muskmelons, squashes, 
 tomato plants, radishes, beets, salsify, corn, beans, sweet 
 potatoes, cabbage seed. 
 
 May — Carrots, lettuce, peas, onion seed or sets. 
 
 June — Radishes, beets, beans, corn, salsify, cabhage 
 plants. 
 
 July — Carrots, lettuce, cabbage seed. 
 
 August — Potatoes (in field), corn, beans, radishes. 
 
 September — Cabbage plants, peas, turnips, salsify, and 
 carrots. 
 
 October — Beets, beans, onion sets, lettuce. 
 
 November — Turnips, spinach, salsify. 
 
 December — Winter radishes, peas, lettuce. 
 
 He has the advantage of a very short period of frosts, 
 and light ones at that. He plants in rows 18 inches apart, 
 irrigates his garden every 10 days in trenches and culti- 
 vates twice a week. In favorable seasons he has natural 
 moisture from November to April or May. If the rainfall 
 is light he cultivates twice a week. 
 
 Another arrangement for succession is that practiced by 
 a vineyardist in the Santa Cruz mountains, who grows 
 
154 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 veg^etables in his vineyard. ITe plows one furrow in the 
 center, between the vines, manured in the furrow and cov- 
 ered with a furrow plowed each side. The bed thus formed 
 is planted in November with a row, thickly sown, of Am- 
 erican Wonder peas, covered with the rake, making a 
 smooth place where, about four inches from the peas are 
 planted cabbage, Chinese Rose Winter radishes, onions, 
 lettuce and turnip seed, mixed. Other sowings, adding 
 carrots, beans, etc., are made, according to the weather, 
 until May. In February he gathers radishes and lettuce ; 
 in March, peas. He sells or gives away bushels of lettuce 
 and radishes, and has enough to supply a big family from 
 March 1 to July. As late as November he gathers beets, 
 carrots, turnips and string beans. He has the advantage 
 of a larger winter rainfall, and conserves moisture by cul- 
 tivating between the rows every week in dry weather. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 PROPAGATION. 
 
 From what has been said of the favoring conditions in 
 California for open air work and freedom from low tem- 
 peratures, it may be rightly inferred that the higher arts 
 of propagation involving the use of acres of glass and the 
 most approved heating devices, are not to be found in 
 California. The forcing of vegetables which is now com- 
 manding such wide effort and investment at the East is 
 only undertaken to a limited extent and although it is in- 
 creasing with our advance in population and wealth, it 
 will always be menaced by the open air work, both in av- 
 erage situations and in frostless localities which are, at 
 present, only worked up to a fraction of their capacity. 
 Forcing is, however, accomplished with much less expen- 
 sive structures and heating arrangements than at the East, 
 because only slight drops in temperature are to be over- 
 come. We have also a decided advantage in the large per- 
 centage of winter sunshine. Forcing is, therefore, rela- 
 tively cheaper than in wintry regions and there may be, 
 ere long, an important industry. Of course the same gen- 
 eral conditions which favor forcing with us also makes 
 elaborate and expensive arrangements for growing plants 
 for subsequent planting out, unnecessary. Not only do 
 hot-beds of the scantiest construction and covering answer 
 local purposes, but even their heating materials have to be 
 toned down by more slowly fermenting intermixtures and 
 by freer entrance of air, lest the growths be over-forced. 
 Often, as wnll be described presently, a little bottom heat, 
 without close covering above, is all that conditions require 
 to bring forward and protect tender seedlings until it is 
 safe for them to take their chances under kind skies. 
 
156 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 GROWTH FROM SEED IN OPEN GROUND. 
 
 Adequate heat and moisture are essential to germina- 
 tion and subsequent growth. The preceding chapter has 
 shown at what times these factors are present in California 
 soil, either by nature or artifice of the planter. Heat is 
 always adequate for the germination of the seed of com- 
 mon vegetables, in well-drained surface soil in the Cali- 
 fornia valley regions. Even in our frosty weather, the 
 day temperature of the soil is adequate for germination 
 except, perhaps, during the colder storms and seldom does 
 our rain have too low a temperature. Even in this it is 
 not so much the matter of germination as of conditions 
 inhospitable to the subsequent growth of the germs. It 
 makes little practical difference, perhaps, whether the 
 seed is killed or the germ perishes after starting. But the 
 death of either seed or germ is more often due to moisture 
 lack or excess, than to temperature conditions. For this 
 reason a sowing may go for naught if seeding is done in 
 the fall without thorough moistening of the soil by irriga- 
 tion or rainfall, or the same disappointment may follow 
 sowing even seed of hardy plants in certain localities in 
 December and January in years of heavy rainfall. For 
 these reasons it is all-important that the vegetable grower 
 should carefully observe his local conditions of soil heat 
 and moisture and arrive at proper deductions from his 
 own experience as to what acts he should perform under 
 his ruling local conditions and the peculiar phases of the 
 weather of the particular year in which he is acting. And 
 then a vegetable grower, in garden practice, which in- 
 volves succession of small areas, must be enterprisingly 
 venturesome. He must take some chances of losing a sow- 
 ing or planting and of renewing it, and he should always 
 keep adequate supplies of seeds or seedlings at hand. It 
 is a great deal better to lose a sowing than to set up some 
 arbitrary dead-sure date for sowing; for with such a 
 policy he will never have anything early, and perhaps 
 never anything profitable. Field work for staple vege- 
 
GROWTH FROM SEED IN OPEN GROUND. 157 
 
 tables is another proposition, but field work for shipment 
 of early stuff is always attended by some risk, for the 
 grower has to venture everything on doing the best he can 
 to be safe and early, but to be early at any rate. 
 
 Although this is true, it must always be remembered 
 that nothing is gained in working the soil or sowing the 
 seed when the soil is not in condition to work well. Some 
 results of this bad practice have been mentioned in other 
 connections and they are deplorable, especially in the 
 heavier soils. It is especially an error of judgment in seed 
 sowing to suppose that any time can be gained by sowing 
 early upon an unfit seed bed. Even if a fair stand should 
 be secured there will be handicaps upon the plants all 
 through their course, and a somewhat later planting with 
 the soil in good condition will probably surpass them both 
 in time and quality. 
 
 There is often advantage in soaking seed overnight in 
 tepid water. The lighter the soil and the later the sowing 
 the greater benefit will accrue from this method of hasten- 
 ing germination. When the wet seed is difficult to handle, 
 or when it is to be used with a seed-drill, sift some fine 
 ashes over the seed. This will take up the surface mois- 
 ture and allow them to run through the drill easily. 
 
 Arranging Moisture Conditions for Germination. — In 
 addition to the greater undertakings described in the 
 chapters on irrigation and drainage, there are little acts 
 which are of the utmost importance in securing moisture 
 conditions favorable to germination and growth. 
 
 First: Seed covering. Darkness is favorable to ger- 
 mination of most seeds, but covering is primarily for two 
 other purposes. One is to assist the seedling in its anchor- 
 age and root penetration, but the more important is to 
 insure it moisture. There can be no positive rule for depth 
 of sowing. Five times the diameter of the seed might do 
 at the best of the season in the best of garden soil, but this 
 depth would be too great for some seeds in some soils in 
 the rainy season and far too shallow for the same seed and 
 soil in the dry season. On all soils the rule must be shal- 
 
158 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 low sowing, if large rainfciU is characteristic of the region : 
 deep sowing if scant rainfall is to be expected: shallow 
 sowing early in the rainy season : deep sowing near its 
 close: shallow sowing on the heavier soils: deep sowing 
 on the lighter soils. Late in the season the surface layer 
 which is air dried in spite of stirring, does not count as 
 depth at all. It must be brushed aside and the seed sown 
 in the moist layer beneath whether the sowing is done by 
 hand or with a seed drill. Later cultivation will level the 
 soil back around the plant stem to assist in retaining mois- 
 ture below. Conforming to this condition, the larger sum- 
 mer-sown seeds should be sown in the light soil of the 
 interior valleys at four to six inches deep — twice or three 
 times the depth prescribed for the seed in humid climates 
 or in the humid side of our own climate. Seeds sown in 
 hills can stand deep planting better than when sown 
 singly, as they seem to join their strength in uplifting the 
 weight of soil above them. 
 
 Second: Soil firming. This is another act which aids 
 the seed in other ways, but is primarily for moisture furn- 
 ishing. A seed thrown into a loose surface layer may ger- 
 minate and perish for lack of moisture and soil-contact or 
 it may lie unquickened until a footstep or a shower com- 
 pacts the earth about it. It may thus lie half a year in 
 California. ]\Iany amateurs are much too kind in their 
 intent and too cruel in their method, by making the sur- 
 face as loose as possible and then gently placing the seed 
 in the loose layer. It is better to jump on it with both 
 feet. Whether it be done by direct tramping or by tramp- 
 ing a narrow board placed upon the sown row, or tramped 
 down with a block with a long handle, or by using the 
 garden or field roller, or by flat slaps with the back of the 
 planting hoe, it matters not ; it is only essential that the 
 firming of the inclosing layer should be given unless im- 
 mediate water settling of the ground is anticipated. And 
 this firming is conditioned in degree upon soil and season 
 . just as depth of covering is, viz. : light soil or late in 
 season, heaviest firming; heavier soil or early in season. 
 
GROWTH FROM SEED IN OPEN GROUND. 159 
 
 lighter firming. The reason for firming is the restoration 
 of capillarity to the loose layer, consequently adequate 
 moisture supply to the germinating seed. But when this 
 capillarity has served its purpose and the root has pene- 
 trated the permanently moist layers below, this capillarity 
 must be destroyed by cultivation and the surface layer 
 again loosened so that it will not transmit moisture. There- 
 fore, as prescribed in the chapter on Cultivation, the hoe 
 or cultivator must be started as soon as the young plants 
 can be seen, and in some larger seeds where the firmed 
 layer has been crusted by a shower a light harrowing or 
 raking may be desirable to release the shoots from the too 
 compact covering which has come over them. 
 
 Third: Soil opening. The converse of firming the soil 
 about the seed is drying of the surface soil when unex- 
 pectedly heavy rains have come and the water does not 
 percolate rapidly enough to bring the surface layer into 
 good condition for growth. In such an event seed can 
 often be saved from rotting by the light raking or har- 
 rowing or cutting with a disc, to allow the air to assist 
 drainage in relieving the surface layer of its excess. The 
 wisdom of this course is always conditioned upon the 
 character of the soil. A sticky soil would be more harmed 
 than the seed would be helped by it. 
 
 Fourth : Mulching. The use of a light mulch of chaff 
 or corral-scrapings or rotten straw or other fine, loose 
 material is of value in garden practice of it does not occa- 
 sion too great cost or labor to procure or prepare it. The 
 larger the seed the thicker the layer may safely be, and 
 with the mulch, shallower planting, and probably quicker 
 germination, is possible. The mulch lessens evaporation 
 from the surface and thus gives the seed a surer supply; 
 it also prevents puddling of the soil surface by pelting 
 rain drops and keeps the particles both moist and loose 
 for the thrust of the shoot. A mulch also makes it much 
 safer to sprinkle the bed if rains delay. In garden prac- 
 tice it can hardly be too highly commended. On heavy 
 
160 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 soils sawdust or sand can be used for tliis purpose if they 
 are the most available materials. 
 
 Fifth: Irrigation. Starting seeds by irrigation on soil 
 that has good capillarity and lateral j)ercolation (or 
 "seeps well" as the common phase is) releases one from 
 several of the injunctions just laid down. The covering 
 should be shallow, as the moisture will rise to the surface ; 
 no firming needs to be done, for the water will settle the 
 soil, and when the moisture is ample, stopping the supply 
 will quickly allow the escape of the surplus. It may 
 sometimes be desirable to use a light mulch to protect the 
 surface from baking and give the seedlings a few days' 
 more growth before it is necessary to stir the surface. 
 Seed starting in this way with the raised beds and perma- 
 nent ditches and the ridge irrigation system, all of which 
 are described in the chapter on Irrigation, is very satis- 
 factory. The application of it to various vegetables will 
 be given in the treatment of each. Where the seeds are 
 to be started by the furrow system on land that will draw 
 water well laterally, the seed can be sown in shallow 
 trenches, leaving the seeds barely covered. Then irrigate 
 by turning water into shallow irrigation trenches made 
 some twelve or fifteen feet apart. Let the water soak 
 through and completely moisten the surface until it has 
 spread across all the seed trenches, and until the little 
 clods are broken down and dissolved. The seeds are thus 
 well covered and enabled to sprout and come up before 
 the soil is dried out. Subsequent cultivation levels the 
 ground, giving the seedlings sufficient depth of covering 
 and new furrows are plowed for later irrigations. This 
 is only one of many ways by which seeds can be started by 
 irrigation. 
 
 GROWTH FROM SEED UNDER COVER. 
 
 This broad title is used to include about all that is done 
 in California except under the sky cover. In the chapters 
 on the different vegetable^, which will follow, there will 
 be mentioned special propagating methods employed with 
 
GROWING SEEDS IN BOXES. 161 
 
 each, but in this place a few protecting and promoting 
 arrangements will be described for the benefit of begin- 
 ners in garden work. 
 
 Seed Boxes.— Seed boxes are the simplest arrangement 
 for starting seedlings for subsequent planting out and in 
 most amateur gardening in this climate they will com- 
 prise about all that is necessary in the way of construc- 
 tion, because, as will be seen later, it is very easy to give 
 them a little bottom heat if the grower desires, but they 
 can be largely used without any. The chief advantages of 
 starting seedlings in boxes instead of the open ground are 
 the ease which the seed boxes can be carried under pro- 
 tection from cold, beating rains or frosts, or protected 
 from hot, drying winds or too intense sun heat, and the 
 convenience with which moisture conditions can be regu- 
 lated by covering and light sprinkling. 
 
 There are no particular dimensions to be observed in 
 making seed boxes, except that they should not be too 
 large to be easily lifted and carried with their contents. The 
 cases which inclose two five-gallon cans of coal oil', sawed 
 in two lengthwise so as to make two wide, shallow boxes, 
 serve an excellent purpose. It is more convenient to have 
 all the boxes of the same size than to use odd sizes, in ease 
 it may be desired to group the boxes in a hot-bed or other- 
 wise for heat and covering. Be sure that the bottom has 
 ample openings for drainage — either cracks or bored holes. 
 The soil-layer in the boxes should not exceed three inches 
 in depth. In ordinary amateur practice a good soil for 
 these boxes can be made by taking good rich garden soil 
 as a basis. Add sand and, if possible, the light mold from 
 under an old straw stack, leaf mold, finely powdered 
 rotted manure, or something similar, until you have a rich, 
 friable soil. No definite rule can be given for mixing, 
 except that the prepared soil should hold moisture well, 
 have no tendency to cake, and never crack in the sun. 
 
 Fill the boxes, and, with a small board, press the soil 
 closely and evenly, so that it will retain moisture. The 
 seeds should then be sown quickly and evenly over the 
 
162 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 surface or in lines, and pressed down by a smooth board 
 into the soil, so that the seed, be it large or small, will 
 form a level surface with the soil. This being done, the 
 same prepared soil should be sifted evenly over the top, 
 just enough to cover the seed. Again press this layer of 
 soil which has covered the seeds gently with the smooth 
 board. 
 
 It is a great help to the seed to have the surface again 
 covered with a light material that would hold moisture, 
 such as dry moss, or powdered vegetable matter of any 
 kind which is light and will hold moisture. This should 
 be rubbed through the sieve over the seed boxes, just 
 thick enough to cover the soil (not more than one-six- 
 teenth of an inch). It is very beneficial in the germina- 
 tion of the seed, as with such a top-dressing one w^atering 
 with a fine rose watering-pot will keep the soil moist 
 .enough usually until the seeds come up. It is a great 
 mistake to be continually watering seeds after they have 
 been sown. The rule in all these things is never to water 
 until tlie surface indicates that the soil is dry. 
 
 A Cold Frame. — The arrangement w^hich comes next to 
 the seed box in simplicity is the cold frame. It is simply 
 for the purpose of concentrating sun heat and protection 
 from low temperatures and heavy rain storms. It is a 
 convenient receptacle for the seed boxes already de- 
 scribed, or it may be put over, seeds sown in the ground — 
 the soil being prepared to receive the seed in about the 
 same way already described for filling the boxes. The 
 frame is made of inch boards, the front board about 
 twelve inches wide, the back board or boards eighteen 
 inches wide and the sides sloping from eighteen to twelve 
 inches to meet the widths of the front and back boards. 
 The frame is usually made three feet from front to rear 
 (for convenience in working from the front, but can be 
 )f any length desired). This frame is covered with glazed 
 sash or cloth frames or lath frames or first one then 
 another, according to the amount of protection and heat 
 or of shade desirable. The arrangement is called a "cold 
 
COLD FRAMES AND HOT BEDS. 163 
 
 frame" because no provision is made for bottom-heat. 
 There are many modifications of the cold frame ; lath or 
 slat houses or lath covers for beds with raised edging 
 boards, etc., are all on the cold frame principle, and in this 
 climate, Avhere so little increment of heat is required and 
 where shade is often desirable, the arrangement serves an 
 excellent purpose. 
 
 The Hot-bed.— The hot-bed consists of a box like that 
 described for a cold frame placed above a mass of ferment- 
 ing manure which supplies bottom heat. The old regula- 
 tion style of hot-bed was made by digging out a pit the 
 size of the frame, throwing out the soil to a depth of 
 eighteen inches or two feet. Fill in the excavation with a 
 foot depth of fresh horse manure mixed with straw as 
 it comes from a stable where the animals are well bedded 
 with straw. Tread the manure down firmly ; put on the 
 frame and cover the manure with eight to ten inches of 
 good light and rich sandy loam that will not bake or 
 crust over when sprinkled with water. Bank up the 
 outside of the frame with the same kind of manure used 
 inside, and cover with window sashes of the proper length 
 to reach across the bed and rest on the sides. The sashes 
 should not be too wide as it is desirable to uncover part 
 of the bed at a time. As soon as the manure begins to 
 ferment and heat the bed is ready for use. Sow seeds 
 in rows from front to back of the bed, and germination 
 will be very rapid. On warm days the cover should be 
 lifted a little or partially or wholly removed, according 
 to the heat of the day and the activity of the bottom heat 
 in the bed. Water freely with water from which the chill 
 has been removed. 
 
 This old style of hot-bed is contrived to freely employ 
 the heat of the fermenting manure and to push plants 
 during zero temperatures in the outer air. Of course, 
 where winter temperatures but rarely fall to the freezing 
 point, and where the winter day heat often runs at shirt 
 sleeves and sun-bonnet degrees, such a hot-bed is as ex- 
 cessive in the garden as a feather-bed is in the house. For 
 
164 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 these reasons, the horse manure is made less active by 
 considerable admixture of chaff or dried leaves or 
 other mollients. This mixture is placed on the surface 
 of the ground in a place protected from cold winds, and 
 is properly mixed and packed down into a compact, flat 
 pile, somewhat larger than the frame, which is placed 
 upon the top of it and the same material is drawn up 
 around the outside of the ends and sides of the frame. 
 Inside the frame the soil is placed just as described for 
 the hot-bed with a pit. This raised, instead of depressed, 
 hot-bed is easier to make and it has other advantages for 
 this climate. It is not likely to have its pit flooded and 
 the heat choked off by rain water just at the time when 
 its action is desired. It is also easier to prevent excessive 
 heat because it allows better opportunities for radiation. 
 But even with this the plants have to be very carefully 
 watched and air freely given or they will become leggy 
 and weak from too great forcing-heat. These local condi- 
 tions have also given rise to other modiflcations of hot-bed 
 arrangements which are excellent for this climate. 
 
 A Horticultural Hot-box. — Mr. Ira W. Adams, a Cali- 
 fornia vegetable grower of great ingenuity and insight, 
 has devised a sort of automatic arrangement which 
 changes from a hot-bed to a cold frame about the time the 
 plants are ready to go from forcing to hardening off. He 
 gives this description of it : 
 
 "I take a dry-goods box, three or four feet long, two 
 feet wide, and two feet or more in depth. This is about as 
 small as it should be ; a much larger one can be used, if 
 necessary. Into this I put fresh horse manure, and straw 
 that has been used for bedding, and tramp it down occa- 
 sionally as solid as possible, until it is within four inches 
 from the top. Over this I scatter a little clean straw. I 
 then use small boxes, three inches deep, and fill them 
 nearly full with nicely-prepared soil, and, after sowing my 
 seed, place each box in the warm bed and cover each one 
 with a pane of glass, in order to retain moisture. It is 
 necessary to remove the glass occasionally, for the pur- 
 
OTHER PROPAGATING APPLIANCES. 165 
 
 pose of admitting fresh air. The main bed will soon com- 
 mence to heat, as well as the earth in the box. Great care 
 must now be taken for a few days, otherwise the contests 
 of the boxes might become too warm, which would cause 
 the young plants to grow tall and spindling, thereby ren- 
 dering them almost worthless. This can be easily obvi- 
 ated by lifting the boxes and placing under them an inch 
 board, or a few bricks. On a cold night vary the boards 
 or bricks as occasion may require. In a few days your 
 plants will be up nicely, the heat of the bed will gradually 
 grow less, and the plants will naturally favor themselves 
 to the change. You will soon have what is termed a 'cold 
 frame,' and your plants will grow strong and stocky, pro- 
 viding care is taken to cover them during severe storms, 
 as well as in cold days and nights. When they are yet 
 small, and commence to crowd each other too much, trans- 
 plant them to an /)pen, sheltered, raised bed, where they 
 can be cared for until ready to set out in permanent beds 
 or rows." 
 
 A Warm Heap. — Another of Mr. Adams ' arrangements 
 to give his seed boxes just as little heat as suits the pur- 
 pose, consists in simply throwing up a heap of fresh horse 
 manure, etc., under an old shed, and placing the seed- 
 boxes on top of the heap. Great care must be taken for 
 some days at least, as it becomes necesary to raise the 
 boxes sometimes by placing them on a piece of board or 
 bricks or to press them down a little into the heap, owing 
 altogether to the amount of heat generated. A little too 
 much is worse than not quite enough. After the plants 
 get a few inches high they can be transplanted into open 
 beds somewhat sheltered from the north winds, where 
 they can remain until spring weather -fairly opens, when 
 they can be again removed to the garden. 
 
 Watering. — In growing plants with heat, moisture, 
 conditions must be especially regarded. Too great mois- 
 ture and "damping off" of seedlings is largely prevented 
 in common vegetable seedlings b}^ adequate ventilation 
 which has already been emphasized in connection with 
 
166 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 ])reveiiti()ii of excessive heat. Too little moisture is almost 
 as dangerous as too much. There should be, then, ample 
 watering with a fine spray or sprinkle of water from 
 which the chill has been removed. Most of the time, water 
 standing in the sun for a day will be of satisfactory 
 warmth, but if not, a little boiling water from the kitchen 
 will temper quite a volume of cold water for use in the 
 beds and frames. 
 
 Covering for Beds and Frames. — California growers 
 largely substitute cloth for glass in covering hot-beds or 
 cold frames, because it gives all the protection needed, is 
 also rather more of a safeguard against over-heating, and 
 furnishes shade from too intense sun heat, which is liable 
 to come on any winter day and do harm. This is an es- 
 pecially valuable feature in amateur growing, where one's 
 attention is apt to be distracted by other affairs. Besides, 
 the cloth is of nominal cost. In the drier parts of the 
 State the cloth is used without preparation. Where rains 
 are more frequent, water-proofing is desirable. Take 
 white cloth of a close texture, stretch it, and nail it on 
 frames of any size you wish, putting in cross-bars to sus- 
 tain the cloth if the frame is large. Mix two ounces of 
 lime water, four ounces of linseed oil, one ounce of white 
 of eggs separately, two ounces of yolk of eggs ; mix the 
 lime and oil with a very gentle heat ; beat the eggs sepa- 
 rately, and mix with the former. Spread the mixture with 
 a paint-brush on the cloth, allowing each coat to dry be- 
 fore applying another, until they become waterproof. 
 
 To make waterproof cloth with less labor if consider- 
 able quantity is wanted : Soften four and one-half ounces 
 of glue in eight and three-quarter pints of water, cold at 
 first; then dissolve in, say a wash-boiler full (six gallons) 
 of warm water, with two and one-half ounces or hard 
 soap ; put in the cloth and boil for an hour, wring and 
 dry ; then prepare a bath of a pound of alum and a pound 
 of salt, soak the prepared cloth in it for a couple of hours, 
 rinse with clear water and dry. One gallon of the glue 
 solution will soak about ten vards of cloth. This cloth has 
 
HANDLING SEEDS. 167 
 
 been used in southern California for several years without 
 mildewing, and it will hold water by the pailful. 
 
 Handling of Seedlings. — As has been hinted already, 
 seedlings grown by artificial heat or protection should be 
 brought along by such adjustment of heat hoisture and 
 fresh air that they are of good healthy color and sturdy 
 growth. It is common practice to transplant the seedlings 
 when quite small to other boxes of rather rich soil, in 
 which they are more widely spaced, and to continue the 
 growth with the heat for a time and then move the box to 
 a cold frame, giving them progressively more air and less 
 protection until they acquire a hardiness for the open air. 
 In the farm garden these every-day coddling arts of the 
 plantsman are apt to be neglected, and it will answer very 
 well to thin out the plants enough in the original seed- 
 boxes, and to harden them by gradually increasing the 
 exposure in the declining heat of the hot-bed, and then 
 under slight shelter in the open air, until the time comes 
 for their removal to open ground. If, however, there is 
 likely to be some time before planting out, the trans- 
 planting from the seed-box to a protected bed in the open 
 air will allow the postponement of transplanting to gar- 
 den or field until a considerably later date. It is a mis- 
 take to hold to long in the hot-bed or frame with the idea 
 of gaining time by having large plants to transplant. 
 Good, sturdy plants, well used to fresh air and the lower 
 temperatures, will make the best records in the open. 
 
 The points to observe for planting out seedlings in the 
 open air are almost exactly the same as those already 
 given in this chapter for the arrangement of proper mois- 
 ture conditions for seed germination. Depth of planting 
 depends upon the same conditions; firming of the soil 
 about the rootlets is for the same reasons ; a loose surface 
 above and frequent cultivation afterward are essential 
 because of considerations already described. The ju- 
 dicious use of water at transplanting is a very important 
 point in late work or in planting out when the season is 
 rather dry, but the use of water must always be accompa- 
 
168 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 an old caseknife, carefully put over the whole bed two 
 inches of rich compost, made of fine creek sand and de- 
 cayed sods a year or two old, mixed with fine sweepings 
 from the cow yard gathered in summer and protected 
 from winter rains. Tamp this prepared soil pretty firmly 
 with the back of a hoe, and plant the seeds an inch or so 
 in depth around each stick which serves to indicate the 
 middle of each sod. Plant six to eight seeds in a hill, leav- 
 ing finally three of the strongest plants. A box three by 
 two feet will hold twenty-four sods. 
 
 By this method Mr, Adams quickly gets a full family 
 outfit ready to transplant in hills from one hot-box. He 
 finds two hills of cucumbers, six of muskmelons, six of 
 watermelons, and ten hills of pole beans, or eight hills of 
 beans and two hills of summer squashes will furnish a fam- 
 ily of five all or more than they can possibly consume, and 
 some to sell or give away besides, if the plants are well 
 taken care of. The box for early plants should be placed 
 on the south side of a shed or barn in order to protect it 
 from strong north winds, heavy cold rains, as well as dan- 
 ger of frost, and water as needed with lukewarm water. 
 Transplant the sods when safe by running a wide shingle 
 or spade on the floor under each sod. In planting out, the 
 sods must be well bedded in moist soil which is closely 
 firmed around them, and the surface kept loose. 
 
 Cuttings and Layers. — Many herbaceous stems of gar- 
 den vegetables root readily from cuttings. Higher heat 
 and greater moisture are as a rule requisite for such cut- 
 tings than for hardwood cuttings of fruiting and flower- 
 ing plants, but some, like the potato, sweet potato, globe 
 artichoke, etc., root quickly in open ground taken from 
 sprouts taken from parent stock, and others, like the to- 
 mato, grow from cuttings of aerial stems. In the open 
 ground the soil must be warm and moist and the air moist 
 also. These conditions usually occur in California at the 
 beginning or especially towards the end of the rainy sea- 
 son, or they can be produced in a hot-bed at any time. 
 The cuttings should not wilt, and shade is of advantage 
 
TRANSPLANTING IN HILLS. 169 
 
 nied by stirring of the surface or other means of prevent- 
 ing evaporation, or else the plants will dwindle, and on 
 investigation the dead stem will be found to resemble a 
 match stuck in an unburned brick, if the soil is at all 
 heavy in its nature. 
 
 Planting Seedlings. — Seedlings to be planted in the 
 field for horse cultivation are distanced by the use of a 
 marker, as described in the chapter on laying off. In 
 small beds for hand work, the plants can be accurately 
 distanced both ways by using a "planting board." It is 
 made of width equal to the desired distance between the 
 rows, and of a length equal to the width of the bed, and is 
 carefully cut, by the use of a carpenter's square, so that 
 the ends are exactly at right angles to the sides. By 
 stretching a line along the length of the bed, and making 
 one end of the board true with that line, the sides of the 
 board will mark two parallel lines across the bed, and 
 notches cut at desired distances in the sides of the board 
 will show where the plants are to be set. If the board is 
 carefully used the bed may be quickly set with plants, 
 which will stand in straight lines both ways. Standing 
 on the board while planting prevents impacting the 
 ground surface and disfiguring it with foot-prints. 
 
 Plants Ready Grown in Hills for Transplanting. — All 
 seedlings which it is desirable to grow in groups or hills 
 are very neatly and safely handled by Mr. Adams by the 
 use of inverted sods in connection with his hot-box already 
 described. About the first of April, in Napa valley (it 
 may be done earlier in many parts of the State), he takes 
 sods of native growth six inches square and four inches 
 deep, or he grows in seed-boxes alfalfa sods, which will 
 form sufficiently in six weeks from sowing the seed. He 
 makes a temporary floor of old boards and places it on 
 top of the packed manure of his hot-box. The inverted 
 sods are then packed closely on this floor with the grass 
 gathered in nicely under each sod. Exactly in the middle 
 of each inverted sod thrust a small stick, and after scari- 
 fying each sod thoroughly an inch or two in depth with 
 
170 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 when practicable, for cuttings made from aerial stems, as 
 they are more prone to collapse than sprouts from the 
 tuber or root crown. 
 
 Layering is often a handy way to multiply many vege- 
 tables with branching stems. Cover the stems wnth moist 
 earth and they usually root readily. In some cases a short 
 slit with a knife lengthwise of buried stem aids in rooting. 
 A Consideration of Cans. — It would not do to ignore 
 the can method of vegetable growing and deny this refuse 
 tinware its place in amateur gardening, for really some 
 very creditable things are done in cans. If one prepares 
 the right kind of soil, with such texture that it will form 
 neither a leach nor a brick, and then strives for correct 
 temperature and moisture conditions and makes drainage 
 holes enough, a plant will grow in a tin can as well as 
 in some more distinguished receptacle. Many housewives 
 grow very creditable tender plants for planting out by 
 using old tin cans and a sunny window shelf. Some de- 
 voted city gardeners make surprising successes on the old- 
 can foundation. In San Jose a few years ago there was 
 a back yard 12 by 25 feet, surrounded by high white- 
 washed fences and sheds, which cast a blinding glare in 
 the eye of the visitor. Gardening enthusiasm and tin cans 
 transformed the scene. Tomato vines ran above the eaves 
 of the shed, being trained to the wall like grapevines. Be- 
 tween the tomato plants were squash vines, from which 
 the laterals and leaves were cut as they grew toward the 
 roof, so that they w^ere little more than a have stem below 
 the eaves, but had a most luxuriant growth at the eaves 
 and on the roof of the shed and back porch and along the 
 top of fences. Large squashes ripened on the roof and 
 shelves at the eaves and on fence tops. String beans, pep- 
 pers, and mint grew below the running vines. Tomato 
 plants over six feet in height were severely pruned near 
 Cans of all sizes were used ; old, rusty five-gallon cans, 
 breezes, and a little direct but more reflected sunshine, 
 the ground to a bare stalk, giving free circulation to cats, 
 with the bottoms punched full of holes ; small cans, one 
 
CONSIDERATION OF CANS. 171 
 
 set over another and filled half full of fresh bones, and 
 poured into the cans, leached through the ashes, combin- 
 ing a complete fertilizer and system of sub-irrigation. The 
 cans were often artfully concealed from sight, but they 
 were there as the foundation of an enterprise. By their 
 use and the employment of vertical space for the plant 
 extension, this little mite of a city back yard was made into 
 a pretty greenery without interfering with its function as 
 a clothes-drying yard on Mondays. "When one sees such 
 things he is led to wonder whether there is anything which 
 Will and Work and Water can not accomplish. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 ARTICHOKES. 
 
 The Globe or Bur Artichoke. — Ci/iiam Scolynius. 
 
 French, artichaut ; German, artisehoke : Dutch, arisjok; 
 Danish, artiskok ; Italian, articiocca, carciofo ; Spanish, 
 aleaehofa ; Portuguese, alcachofra. 
 
 Edible part, portions of young flower buds. 
 
 The Jerusalem Artichoke. — IIdi<inilius fvherosus. 
 
 French, topinambour ; German, erdapfel ; Flemish, aard- 
 peer; Danish, jordskokken; Italian, girasole del Canada; 
 Spanish, namara ; Portuguese, topinambor. 
 
 Edible part, the tuber. 
 
 San Francisco has the reputation of being the city of 
 the -United States best supplied with the delicious young 
 over these several inches of fresh wood ashes. Water 
 flower buds of the globe artichoke. Although this is true, 
 it is also a fact that the plant is not used to even a small 
 fraction of its possibility in California. It is perfectly 
 hardy in our valley climates, in fact, it makes its chief 
 growth in the winter and yields its crop from March on- 
 ward, thus completely reversing its Eastern and north 
 European record, where it starts growth in the spring 
 from roots which have been covered out of reach of freez- 
 ing all winter. For this reason it is not necessary to lift 
 plants and carry them under cover nor to pluck bud- 
 stems and advance them to edibility away from the freez- 
 ing as may l)e necessary in wintry climates. In fact, in 
 places of little frost the plant forgets to l)eeome dormant, 
 or takes a very short rest, and the vegetable is to be found 
 in the San Francisco and Los Angeles markets nearly all 
 the year. The plant is, therefore, of especial value in Cali- 
 
PROPAGATION. 173 
 
 foriiia for use in late winter and early spring when garden 
 supplies are scantiest. It is a garden ornament also with 
 its height of four feet or more, its large, pinnatifid leaves, 
 light green above and whitish below, and its flowers in the 
 style of a colossal thistle head. 
 
 Soil. — The globe artichoke will thrive on any well-pre- 
 pared garden soil and does not refuse a pretty heavy 
 adobe if well cultivated to retain moisture. It delights in 
 manure and is benefited by it both in the tenderness of its 
 buds and the multiplication of bearing stems. 
 
 Propagation. — The plant grows readily from seed which 
 may be planted either in boxes or the open ground from 
 September to January, if irrigation is available : if not, 
 sow as soon as the ground is deeply moistened by rain. 
 The seedlings may be transplanted to permanent place 
 whenever the ground is suitable the same season. 
 
 But there is much variation in plants from seed and 
 parts taken from old plants of good type are to be pre- 
 ferred. The plant grows readily from dividing the stool 
 or from suckers detached from the root crown. The latter 
 furnish an excellent means of multiplication and should 
 be secured by first uncovering the stool as soon as there 
 is a good growth of new shoots with well-developed leaves. 
 Remove the shoots carefully with a knife or sharp gouge 
 so as to take a small part of the parent root at the base of 
 the shoot. Many plants can thus be taken from a single 
 root-crown and a fcAV of the best shoots left for growth. 
 Shorten the leaves somewhat to reduce evaporation until 
 new roots are formed. These sprouts can be planted at 
 once in permanent place if the ground is warm and moist 
 and will bear late in the same year. It is possible then by 
 starting new plants at intervals to have a long producing 
 period in each year. The old stools will continue bearing 
 for many years. 
 
 Distance. — So free is the growth in this State, it is bet- 
 ter to give a good distance : three feet apart in rows which 
 are four or five feet apart is not too much room for con- 
 venience. As the plant is high and rather dense the rows 
 
174 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 should be placed in the l)ackgroiind of the small garden 
 and its nse as an ornamental hedge or screen is suggested, 
 providing the ground is kept rich and well cultivated. 
 
 Gathering. — The flower buds should be removed as soon 
 as they are well formed and before the scales open. In 
 this condition they are more tender and a larger portion 
 of the scale is edible. As the bud stands at the apex of 
 the shoot, the shoot should be cut to the ground. If this is 
 done the plant is induced to send up more shoots. As soon 
 as flowers are allowed to open, the growth of shoots from 
 below is checked or stopped. Hence prompt cutting as 
 soon as in condition insures a larger bearing season, but 
 as other vegetables come into condition, the plants should 
 be allowed to make free top growth for the reinforcement 
 of the roots for the next season. 
 
 Viariety. — The variety chiefly grown in California is the 
 Large Green Paris, a vigorous grower yielding buds of 
 large size with scales very fleshy at the base and set in a 
 broad receptacle also fleshy. This variety grown for suc- 
 cession seems to leave little opportunity for the use of 
 other varieties. 
 
 THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 
 
 This plant which will be readily recognized as a tuber- 
 ous-rooted sunflower, is exceedingly prolific in California. 
 It is not largely used for human food, though it is usually 
 to be found in the San Francisco market. It somewhat 
 resembles a potato in flavor, and yet has its own distinc- 
 tive character, and is cooked in several ways. It may be 
 baked, or pared and cooked like salsify, or boiled for use 
 in soups and salads. 
 
 Soil, Culture and Yield. — The Jerusalem artichoke is 
 not very particular about soil. It reaches better form in 
 rather a light soil, as does a potato, and it yields enor- 
 mously on a rich loam, but it will probably yield a greater 
 weight on a poor, dry soil than any other crop known. S. 
 J. Murdock, of Orange county, gives this account of the 
 plant ; 
 
SOIL CULTURE AND YIELD. 175 
 
 "The preparation of the ground and the subsequent cul- 
 tivation is the same as for potatoes ; the rows should not be 
 less than four feet apart, and three feet between plants. 
 Plant small tubers or the larger ones cut to two eyes, and 
 about four inches deep. Keep the ground stirred to pre- 
 vent weeds, till the plants shade the patch, and then they 
 will take care of themselves. They should yield from 
 seven to fifteen tons per acre, or even more, with a good 
 stand, good soil, and care. On a dry year a neighbor of 
 mine planted one acre to artichokes, but got but little over 
 half a stand on account of parts of his land being too dry. 
 Yet with his partial stand he raised ten tons of tubers. " 
 
 But Mr. Murdock and his neighbors operate on a peat 
 soil of great looseness and richness, which favors the 
 maximum size and multiplication of the tubers. His re- 
 sults are, therefore, not attainable everywhere, but still 
 the growth and productiveness of the plant are marvelous 
 in this climate. 
 
 Gathering. — In the garden the artichoke bed can be re- 
 garded as a permanent investment. Digging can begin in 
 the autumn at one end of the bed and proceed regularly 
 through it as the tubers are wanted until growth starts in 
 the spring. Selecting the large tubers for use and leaving 
 the small ones in the soil will harvest and replant the crop 
 at one operation. It is necessary to dig at intervals for 
 the tubers are prone to decay and cannot be stored as 
 potatoes are. 
 
 Before the rains are over, the bed should have a top 
 dressing of manure and then it is ready for another sea- 
 son, with no farther care except pulling weeds which start 
 early. 
 
 The Jerusalem artichoke has been commended for years 
 as a food for hogs — the animals to do their own harvestiug. 
 Some growers are very enthusiastic over it, but why it has 
 not been more widely employed has never been fully ex- 
 plained. Some growers commend them highly as cow- 
 feed, and when boiled, fowls eat them readily — but the 
 cost of digging for such purposes is a serious drawliack. 
 
176 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Varieties. — Two varieties have been widely distributed 
 in California : the White French and the Red Brazilian. 
 The white kind is preferred for table use and the red is 
 chosen for field growth for stock, as it is believed to be 
 rather more vigorous and prolific. The red variety is, 
 however, frequently found in our vegetable markets and is 
 acceptable for table use. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 ASPARAGUS. 
 
 Asparagus. — Asparagus Officinalis. 
 
 French, asperge ; German, spargel ; Flemish and Dntch, 
 aspersie ; Danish, asparges ; Italian, sparagio ; Spanish, 
 esparrago ; Portuguese, espargo. 
 
 Asparagus is a leading winter vegetable in California 
 and is produced as a field crop for local sale, for canning, 
 and tor Eastern shipment. It is not grown, however, as a 
 garden crop for home use as widely as it should be. This 
 is probably to be accounted for in part by the fact that in 
 nearly all towns it can be cheaply bought during the late 
 winter and spring : in part, also, to an exaggerated notion 
 of the difficulty of making and caring for an asparagus 
 bed. On the drier lands of the interior, even with irriga- 
 tion, it is apt to be stringy and tough, but on interior, 
 moist lowlands, it is grand and is largely grown on such 
 lands both for canning and shipment fresh. In almost all 
 parts of the State it is not difficult for the attentive gard- 
 ener to secure crop and quality which will amply repay 
 his effort. Regions open to Coast influences either directly 
 or through gaps in the Coast liange, or regions where at- 
 mospheric humidity is increased somewhat by evaporation 
 from moist soil or wide water surface, as is the case in 
 interior river bottoms, have superior conditions for the 
 growth of the plant which is maritime in its origin and 
 nature. On the peat lands of Orange county asparagus 
 established itself as an escape from cultivation and it is 
 stated that this demonstration of its choice of situation 
 suggested the larger plantings for distant shipment which 
 have been made. 
 
 Soil. — The low peat lands of Orange county just men- 
 
178 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 tioncd are composed of vegetable del)ris intfriiiixed with 
 sand, and are very loose and penetral)le in their mixture. 
 They are also underlaid hy impervious sti-ata at consid- 
 erable depth, which holds water Avithin reach oi' the plant 
 roots. Similar soil and moisture conditions are found in 
 the reclaimed lands of the Sacramento and San Joaquin 
 deltas where the greatest production and the largest as- 
 paragus canneries are to be found. In both these regions, 
 though 500 miles distant from each other, the conditions 
 of soil, moisture, and heat are comj)arable and so are the 
 growers' results. But it is not essential that just these 
 conditions prevail. In the Santa Clara valley, in the Sac- 
 ramento valley, and elsewhere deep, alluvial soils without 
 any great amount of vegetable debris have for many years 
 furnished large quantities to the markets. Any deep, 
 rich sandy loam, moist enough to give a winter and spring 
 crop and a summer growth of foliage to reinforce the 
 roots, will grow good crops of asparagus for years wnth 
 proper cultivation, generous manuring, and occasional 
 salting. Soils which are too w^et or too dry or too heavy 
 to allow free growth, yield inferior shoots, tough, stringy, 
 or bitter as the case may be. Of course a heavy soil may 
 be improved for a garden bed of asparagus by free use of 
 sand and manure well worked through it, but conunercial 
 plantings should only be made on naturally fit soils. 
 
 Growing the Plants. — Asparagus grows readily from 
 seed and in this State "well-grown yearling roots are used 
 for planting out in preference to older ones. The house 
 gardener can, therefore, save a year's time by buying roots 
 from the seedsmen, but for the large plantation the 
 grower will usually grow his own plants. This can be 
 done in the open air ; adequate moisture and a light, fine 
 soil will insure success the first year if the seed is grow'u 
 early enough to get the benefit of a full season's growth. 
 
 A light, coarse soil which may be excellent for the after 
 growth of the roots, is not so good for starting the seed- 
 lings because of danger of surface drying. A mixture of 
 fine sediment will improve a coarse soil for this pni'pose. 
 
GROWING ASPARAGUS PLANTS. 179 
 
 A very good way to get quick germinatiou and large root 
 growth is to start the seed bed in February or March, as 
 the soil becomes warm : get good, fresh seed ; take boxes, 
 say apple boxes, or any boxes of about that size ; get good, 
 clean sand, and mix sand and seed together, about 15 parts 
 of sand to one part of seed ; fill the boxes with sand and 
 seed mixed as described ; set away in a warm place and 
 pour on water, quite warm, two or three times during the 
 first two days. 
 
 In the meantime, prepare and richly pulverize a piece of 
 ground for a seed bed. Make rows about four feet apart 
 by raking all lumps and clods away, forming a kind of 
 ditch or depression about two or three inches below the 
 level of the land. Make these ditches about one foot wide, 
 and watch the seed closely, for if the seed is good in about 
 seven days nearl}^ all the seeds will begin to sprout. Then 
 take the boxes of sand and seed to the prepared ground 
 and sprinkle it about a foot in width in the rows or ditches 
 quite freely, using judgment all the time not to get too 
 much or too little. Cover up with finely pulverized earth 
 about one and one-half inches deep, and if the ground is 
 moist, your plants will be up and growing in a few days, at 
 least before the weeds will make their appearance. Let 
 the plants stand there ; but take good care of them. They 
 are very quickly injured by drying out. The bed should be 
 kept clean and moist. 
 
 This method gives seedlings scattered through a space 
 one foot wide and though the cultivator may be used be- 
 tween these foot-strips, there must be hand-pulling of 
 weeds within the strips. For this reason some growers 
 prefer to start the plants in thin rows by sowing the seed 
 in a drill and afterwards spacing the plants in the row to 
 prevent crowding on the roots. In this practice the rows 
 are placed one to two feet apart according as hand or 
 horse cultivator is to be practiced. Whichever method is 
 followed it is important to start the seeds in a slight de- 
 pression so that subsequent cultivation may level the 
 ground and bring a deeper covering over the young root 
 
180 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 crowns to guard them from exei's.sive heat. Tlie seed can, 
 however, in a light soil, be placed at a depth of two inches 
 and the moisture can be retained near the surface by care- 
 ful raking to prevent crusting over. A rake with thin 
 teeth can be used even after the seedlings have appeared, 
 to keep the soil loose about them. 
 
 Planting Out the Garden Bed. — Garden beds or rows can 
 be made by the old system of trenching, if it is desired, 
 although recent practice rather discards it. Trench about 
 18 or 20 inches deep, then fill up with well-rotted manure, 
 dig the next trench and throw the dirt over on the top of 
 the trench filled with manure, and so on until all is 
 trenched. Then begin and stir the last trench up with the 
 dirt, measure off the distance the asparagus plants are to 
 stand, say two feet if for hand hoeing, and then stick a 
 stake, set the plants, and then take the dirt off the next 
 trench to cover the plants, and so on until over the ground, 
 when all the plants will be set. 
 
 If the garden is small, the soil rich, and moisture ample, 
 some other use can be made of the bed the first year. The 
 stakes will show the location of the asparagus roots. Be- 
 tween these stakes set a cabbage plant and then in the 
 middle of the row set out lettuce plants, and sow radishes, 
 carrots, and early turnips. The carrots and radishes will 
 be disposed of before the cabbages are ready, and some 
 other quick growing vegetable can be put in, after irri- 
 gation. The second year give the whole ground to the 
 asparagus, and in the fall clean off the bed, cover with a 
 eoat of coarse manure to keep the ground from packing 
 with the heavy rains, and fork it all in early in the fol- 
 lowing spring, being careful not to injure the root crowns. 
 A small cutting can be made the second season, but it 
 will help future crops to cut very little. 
 
 Field Planting of Asparagus. — Roots can be moved from 
 the seed-bed to the field at any time from November to 
 April, according to condition of soil and activity of roots. 
 As with other plantings, however, early practice is better 
 when all is favorable. As to methods of planting in the 
 
FIELD PLANTING OF ASPARAGUS. 181 
 
 field, the experience of two prominent large-scale growers 
 is given. First, the method of Mr. William Boots, one of 
 the old line asparagus growers on the alluvial lands of the 
 Santa Clara valley : 
 
 "Next March (for I think March the best month to plant 
 in, all else being equal) choose a good piece of land, the 
 very best is none too good, and plow just as deep as you 
 can. I plow with four good horses on a single plow, and 
 plow one foot deep, getting the land in as good condition 
 as possible. Take a good team and draw furrows where 
 the rows are wanted, going twice in the same place, just 
 as deep as we can get the plow to run, throwing the furrow 
 each way, making the distance six feet between rows. 
 Then carefully take up the plants, carefully separate them, 
 for if they have been very closely grown they will cling 
 •together ; spread out the roots as you plant them, clearing 
 away all clods or anything that may hinder the growth. 
 Plant not closer than three feet between plants in the 
 rows. For field planting for the market, by all means do 
 not plant closer than seven feet between the rows, and 
 three feet apart in the rows ; for if there is a plant that 
 delights in plenty of room and air it certainly is asparagus. 
 Cover the plants about two inches deep, and during the 
 summer cultivation the pulverized earth will drop into the 
 ditches, and by the time the season's cultivation is over 
 the ditches or furrows will be nearly full, which finishes 
 the first year in the field." 
 
 Another method is that approved by S. J. Murdock, on 
 the peat lands of Orange county : 
 
 "The rows should be four feet apart and the plants 
 eighteen inches from each other in the rows, and even 
 more room would be better if the land is not too valuable. 
 After the ground is well plowed and finely harrowed, mark 
 out the rows the desired distance apart with a plow by 
 going twice in each row, throwing a furrow each way from 
 the center of the row, and from eight to twelve inches 
 deep ; then go one or more rounds in this with a cultivator, 
 closed up, so as to loosen up the soil well in the bottom of 
 
182 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 the row. If you have any fine fertilizer put it in the row 
 where you want to set your plants ; mix well with the soil 
 and set your plants over it. Place the plants in the bottom 
 of the prepared furrow, spread out the roots and cover 
 crown and all about two or three inches — the lighter the 
 soil the deeper the plants should be placed — so as to secure 
 the proper moisture till they begin to strike root. After 
 the planting has been done, take a light steel garden rake, 
 or, if the rows are even enough, we would prefer the wheel 
 hoe with the rakes on, and stir the soil the whole length 
 of the rows. Then, when the shoots begin to grow and 
 show themselves three or four inches high, the soil should 
 be gradually hoed or cultivated to the plants till the sur- 
 face is level. The ground should be kept moist, and in 
 most localities irrigation will be found necessary to secure 
 the best results. Do not neglect thorough cultivation, but- 
 after the roots begin to fill the ground do not work too 
 deep, as there is danger of injuring them." 
 
 Giving the plant plenty of room favors its productive 
 longevity, while closer planting may secure larger acre- 
 yield at first. In the large commercial plantations on re- 
 claimed lands of the Sacramento and San Joaquin river 
 bottoms the plants are usually given much greater dis- 
 tances — say nine or ten feet between the rows and the 
 plants two feet apart in the row. Much greater depth of 
 covering is secured by ridging the light, peaty soil, so that 
 the shoots have to pierce about a foot of covering on their 
 way to the light. This secures the great length of large 
 white shoots which are characteristic of California canned 
 asparagus. The ridges are made by the use of plows, disks 
 and crowders which cut deeply between the rows and 
 shift the soil over the root crowns, and the cutting is done 
 by plunging a long gouge into the side of the ridge as the 
 protrusion of a tip indicates the location of a good shoot. 
 These ridges are split with a plow or disk when the cut- 
 ting season is over, and the land leveled for the summer 
 growth. This is simply an enlargement of old practices, 
 as described below, as the light soil, largely made of partly 
 
SUMMER TREATMENT OF ASPARAGUS. 183 
 
 decomposed vegetation, favors cheap shifting of great 
 bulks of it to serve different needs of the plants. 
 
 Later Treatment of the Asparagus Field. — There are 
 several points to gain in subsequent cultivation of the 
 asparagus field. One is early starting of the plants, and 
 for that purpose some growers plow first away from the 
 rows to open the ground better to the winter sunshine ; 
 another is to induce the growth of long, tender, white 
 shoots, and to retain moisture for prolonging the cutting 
 season, and to aid summer growth of foliage, and for these 
 ends the early spring plowing is to cover the rows with a 
 deep layer of loose soil. Mr. Boots' method is as follows : 
 
 "Now do not attempt to cut any asparagus until your 
 plants have grown two years, but cultivate thoroughly. 
 The second season's growth you will find quite strong, 
 and along in the fall, after the frost has killed the tops, 
 take a mowing machine or scythe and cut the tops close to 
 the ground, pile up and burn on the ground, as your plants 
 are too deep in the ground to be affected by the fire. Some 
 time in November or December, and not later than the 
 first of January, take two horses and plow, and go along 
 the rows close to the stubs that you cut off, throwing the 
 furrows from the rows, then follow along with sharp hoes 
 and cut the stubs way low down ; also break down the 
 little ridge that will be left between the furrows. 
 
 ' ' The sun and air will warm and start the roots to grow- 
 ing, sometimes as early as the first of January, and the first 
 plowing ought to be done before the sprouts begin to make 
 their appearance. 
 
 "Along in the early spring after the heavy rains are 
 over, and the plants have begun to push up nice healthy 
 sprouts, take two horses and plow, and reverse the opera- 
 tion by throwing the earth back onto the rows, leaving 
 the dead furrow in the center between the rows, covering 
 the plants up deeply, leaving the plants under the ridge. 
 Then take a fine, sharp-toothed harrow, and drag along 
 the rows the same way the plow went, which will cut up 
 and drag out all clods and lumps, and leave the earth in 
 
184 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 fine condition for the sprouts to come up through, for 
 should the ground not be in good order, your 'grass' will 
 be crippled and crooked. It will also be tough, fibrous, 
 and bitter. 
 
 "Continue thorough cultivation with plenty of manure, 
 no matter what kind or how rough. At the same time 
 finely rotted manure is profitable. There is one thing to 
 be borne in mind in the producing of asparagus ; you can 't 
 fertilize too much. The better cultivated and the more 
 fertilizers the greater will be the quantity and the better 
 will be the quality produced. We plow thoroughly about 
 three times a year, and harrow as often, and in the cut- 
 ting season keep the weeds out with hoes." 
 
 The method of alternately opening and covering the 
 rows is somewhat conditioned upon the local soil and rain- 
 fall. The looser the soil and the lighter the winter rain, 
 the less the need of such operation, because in such situa- 
 tions the heat readily penetrates and the roots answer 
 quickly without uncovering, which may too greatly facili- 
 tate evaporation and thus be dangerous in dry localities, 
 even in the rainy season. Where these conditions prevail, 
 thorough cleaning, plowing, and manuring will fit the field 
 for the winter. Mr. Murdock gives this advice : 
 
 "In the fall or early winter, when the tops have turned 
 brown, the ground should be cleaned and all rubbish 
 burned, for if delayed the seed will drop and get scattered, 
 which will come up and may prove eventually to be the 
 worst weed the grower will have to contend with, for if 
 allowed to grow after once started it will soon fill the 
 whole ground with a mass of roots, and very soon spoil 
 the patch. As soon as the ground is cleaned the whole 
 field should be well cultivated, and coarse manure spread 
 over the entire surface, so that the rains can dissolve and 
 carry down the soluble plant food to the roots. As the 
 period of rest here in our mild and warm winters is very 
 short, with this strong and persisting plant no delay 
 should be indulged in in furnishing the necessary plant 
 food." 
 
HARVESTING ASPARAGUS. 185 
 
 Quite free use of common salt is desirable for asparagus, 
 providing the land is not naturally saline, as is the case in 
 some regions where it is largely grown. Cheap, refuse 
 salt answers w^ell, and in garden practice the use of any 
 old brine from the pickle or pork barrel. 
 
 The surface application of all manures at the begin- 
 ning of the rainy season seems best to suit California con- 
 ditions. 
 
 Harvesting. — Growers agree in advising very little, if 
 any, cutting the second year in the field. The third season 
 should be very productive if the plants have been gener- 
 ously treated, and thence onward independently, if the 
 strength of the soil can be kept up. Mr. Murdock's sug- 
 gestion on policies in cutting are as follows : 
 
 "Cut all the shoots clean at each cutting during the 
 season, whether they are large enough to use or not, for 
 if parts of stalks are allowed to grow they will prevent 
 other buds from throwing up stalks, and make the season's 
 cutting short. Keep the ground well cleaned during the 
 harvesting period, and if you have been liberal with your 
 fertilizers and have kept your ground moist, your crop 
 will last as long as a profitable demand is likely to exist. 
 Yet, beware of prolonging the harveting period too late, 
 so as to weaken the next year's crop, as the nature of the 
 crop requires that, to reproduce annually its crop of 
 shoots, something must be left to grow so as to foster the 
 formation of new shoots and a new set of buds. If your 
 season commences early you should lay by the knife later 
 on to correspond; then let all the tops grow and do not 
 cull out the large shoots afterward. The time that should 
 elapse between cuttings varies in different soils, some 
 being warmer and consequently quicker than others ; then 
 again, much depends on the weather ; some years we will 
 have warm days in February, which will necessitate cut- 
 ting twice each week, and it may be followed by cold days 
 in March, when the cuttings will be meager once a week ; 
 and again in the warm days of May it may require three 
 
186 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 cuttings per week to i)reveiit the heads from bursting, 
 which spoils it for nicarket. ' ' 
 
 There is variation in the demand for color in the pro- 
 duct. The local demand calls for a certain amount of 
 green ; the canning demand is for white. To produce 
 good, tender, white asparagus it is necessary to cover 
 deeply and blanch the shoots by continued growth through 
 a thicker layer of loose earth, as has been described. 
 
 Comparatively little asparagus is bunched in California, 
 the bulk of it being marketed in large boxes as loose stalks 
 which are both wholesaled and retailed by the pound. 
 For distance shipments the boxes are marked so that the 
 stems stand on their ends just as they grow, for they are 
 apt to bend out of shape if lying on the sides. For near 
 marketing in the height of the season the asparagus is 
 usually delivered in open boxes holding forty pounds or 
 more. Where bunching is desirable, it can be neatly done 
 by putting the stalks point downward in a teacup, tying 
 the bunch, and then squaring off the butts with a sharp 
 knife. 
 
 The asparagus season in California extends from Janu- 
 ary until June ; although later cutting is sometimes prac- 
 ticed, it is not, as stated, for the good of the plants. 
 
 The Asparagus Rust. — The disease made a vigorous at- 
 tack upon California asparagus fields about five years ago. 
 A careful study of the disease and experimentation con- 
 ducted by Prof. R. E. Smith demonstrated that the trouble 
 can be controlled by proper use of sulphur for the pro- 
 tection of the top growth after the cutting season. Full 
 information can be had from the University Experiment 
 Station at Berkeley. 
 
 VARIETIES CHIEFLY GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Conover's Colossal: an old standard variety; large ten- 
 der stalks of good flavor. Largely grown for the can- 
 neries, which use it almost to the exclusion of other sorts. 
 
 Palmetto: widely grown in California; claimed to be 
 earlier than Conover's, also more productive and uniform 
 
VARIETIES OP ASPARAGUS. 187 
 
 ill size ; quality fine ; especially favored for fresh sliipmeuts 
 from southern California. 
 
 Barr's Mammoth: a famous Philadelphia variety; very 
 larg-e shoots of uniform thickness; lig'ht color and few 
 scales; crisp, early and fine. Very highly approved in 
 Orange county. 
 
 Columbian Mammoth ; largely used by market growers, 
 large, white, handsome, holding color well ; very produc- 
 tive. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 BEANS. 
 
 The Broad Bean. — Vicia faha. 
 
 French, f eve ; German, garten-bohnen ; Flemish, platte- 
 boon ; Dutch, tuin boonen ; Danish, valske bonner ; Italian, 
 fava ; Spanish, haba ; Portnguese, fava. 
 
 The Kidney Bean. — Phaseolus vulgaris. 
 
 French, haricot ; German, bohne ; Flemish and Dutch, 
 boon; Danish, havebonnen ; Italian, faginolo ; Spanish, 
 frijole; Portuguese, feijao. 
 
 The Scarlet Runner Bean. — Phaseolus multlflorus. 
 
 French, haricots d'Espagne; German, Arabisehe bohne; 
 Dutch, Tursehe boon; Italian, fagiuolo di Spagna. 
 
 The Lima Bean. — Phaseolus lunatus. 
 
 French, haricots de Lima ; German, breitshottige Lima 
 bohne ; Italian, fagiuolo di Lima ; Spanish, judia de Lima. 
 
 The Black-eyed Bean. — Vigna sinensis. 
 
 A cow pea. 
 
 The Soy Bean. — Glycine hispida. 
 
 Of the vast numbers of bean varieties known to horti- 
 culture, California grows but very few. Market gardeners 
 of different nationalities, ministering to their compatriots 
 among our citizens, have brought to California many va- 
 rieties which they esteemed in their old homes and grow 
 them here in limited quantities, but the general markets 
 and the gardens and fields of Americans can show but few 
 sorts. This is due in part to the indisposition of the people 
 to try culinary experiments and in part to the fact that 
 some varieties have shown peculiar climatic adaptations 
 and are therefore better from a grower's point of view. 
 But though few varieties are grown, some of them are 
 grown on a very large scale — to such an extent, in fact, 
 
FIELD CULTURE OF BEANS. 189 
 
 that five counties on our southern coast win for California 
 the distinction of being the greatest Lima bean producing 
 country of the world. The California bean product in 
 1909 was about two and one-half million sacks, of which 
 about one-half were Limas. 
 
 The capacity of California for production of beans is 
 apparently limited only by the extent to which the pro- 
 duce can be profitably sold. Whenever there is a falling 
 off in local production of the common varieties east of the 
 Rocky Mountains, California shipments are freely made, 
 and when, many years ago, there was a train-load sold for 
 Boston, California embraced not only the profit thereof, 
 but the proud satisfaction that she was really doing some- 
 thing worth while for the maintenance of the intellectual 
 standard of the country. 
 
 FIELD CULTURE OF BEANS IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Though California has great bean producing capacity, 
 the area well suited to the product is comparatively lim- 
 ited and only a fraction of that has conditions which favor 
 the Lima bean as a field crop. Making deductions from 
 years of local experience it may be stated that the summer 
 heat and drought of the interior plains are offensive to 
 most kinds of beans ; that occasional frosts preclude the 
 winter growth of the crop over wide areas where ordinary 
 winter temperature and moisture would favor it ; that 
 summer heat and drought modified by exposure to ocean 
 influences, or by influences existing on interior river-bot- 
 tom lands, are acceptable to the plant and in such situa- 
 tions is the chief production. From a commercial point of 
 view it is also quite important that towards the end of the 
 season there should be a reduction of the amount of mois- 
 ture in the soil, so that the plant may cease its growth and 
 mature its seed before the fall rains make the harvesting 
 difficult and stain the beans. Favoring conditions are thus 
 seen to be quite exacting. During the growing period of 
 the plant there must be : first, no frost ; second, the least 
 possible duration of hot, dry winds, and a moderated at- 
 
190 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 mospheric aridity generally; thii-d, achMjuate moisture both 
 in air and soil to maintain healthful vegetative verdure 
 followed by a dry-soil-ripening period just as soon as the 
 vines have filled pods enough for a paying crop. 
 
 Local Adaptations to Bean Growing. — ^These conditions 
 are prescribed for a bean crop of the dry seed. They are 
 all found in eminent degree on the coast sides of three 
 counties : San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura, 
 and these counties ten years ago produced perhaps nine- 
 tenths of the commercial bean crop of the State. Of course 
 extensions of the region in other counties both north and 
 south along the coast have similar conditions, and have 
 recently developed a large product. Favorable conditions, 
 however, disappear with greater rapidity toward the in- 
 terior. Each of the three counties mentioned is disposed 
 on both sides of ridges of the Coast Range mountains. The 
 ocean-side lands produce the beans : the interior valleys 
 of the same counties, perhaps not over 15 miles away, are 
 beanless. The mountain ridges exclude the ocean breeze 
 and the occasional fogs and mists, and bean plants would 
 perish from dry heat before a crop could be made. On 
 the other hand, on the ocean side of the mountains, beans 
 are planted in May, after the rains are practically over, 
 and the ocean tempers heat and furnishes moisture to the 
 air, so that, by conservation of soil-water by good culti- 
 vation, the crop is often made without a drop of rain from 
 seed to harvest. 
 
 On the moist or irrigated lands of the interior where 
 heat and atmospheric aridity are tempered by evaporation 
 from large supplies of fresh water or moist soil, there are 
 also conditions which suit some varieties of beans very 
 well, and constantly increasing crops are made. On in- 
 terior lowlands, however, there is sometimes a summer 
 rising of moisture from rivers, bank-full from melting 
 mountain snows or other sources, which interferes with 
 proper ripening of the beans by pushing the vegetative 
 growth of the plants when they should be maturing a crop 
 already formed. If, then, early rains come, the bean 
 
PLANTING BEANS. 191 
 
 grower is apt to be caught with his work unfinished and 
 his beans stained or sprouting. However, these troubles 
 are not serious enough to cause the forsaking of the crop, 
 and in an occasional year of drought, when the southern 
 coast counties do not get rainfall enough to make their full 
 crop, the grower on the interior lowlands records a good 
 profit. 
 
 The extension of the bean area of California during the 
 last decade and the relative production of the different 
 regions of the several leading commercial beans are seen 
 in the following, condensed from the bean report for 1909 
 of Mr. J. B. Meloche of San Francisco : 
 
 Sacramento San Joa- Central Southern 
 
 valley, quin valley, coast. coast. Totals. 
 
 Large White . . . 230,000 234,000 45,000 24,000 533,000 
 
 Small Whites... 15,000 125,000 11,000 151,000 
 
 Pink 145,000 182,000 28,000 15,000 370,000 
 
 Bayo 60,000 26,000 86,000 
 
 Blackeye, etc... 40,000 78,000 22,000 50,000 190,000 
 
 Lima 1,200,000 1,200,000 
 
 Totals 490,000 520,000 220,000 1,300,000 2,530,200 
 
 The foregoing is the product in standard sacks of each 
 kind, the w^eight of the sacks in each ease being as fol- 
 lows : Large White, 92 lbs. ; Small White, 90 lbs. ; Pink, 87 
 lbs. ; Bayo, 85 lbs. ; Blackeye, 80 lbs ; Lima, 75 lbs. The 
 total acreage in 1909 was estimated at 130,000 acres, which 
 would give an average acre-yield of about twenty sacks. 
 
 Soil for Beans. — -A rich sandy soil, if it can be kept 
 moist enough, is best suited to the growth of beans, and 
 dry, hot, sandy soil is the worst, but even on sand near 
 the beach, fair crops are sometimes made by the help of 
 aerial moisture and coolness. The plant does not require 
 a very great amount of moisture, if heat and atmospheric 
 aridity are not too great, but insists upon a certain 
 amount. Crops have been lost by choosing land that was 
 too wet. But though a light soil seems to best suit the 
 plant, it can be successfully grown on any good garden 
 soil, providing good cultivation is given and the land 
 kept from baking and drying out. .With adequate care in 
 
192 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 this regard, very good garden crops are grown even in 
 adobe soil, but the commercial bean crops are grown on 
 light soils because there are obvious cultural advantages 
 in dealing with such soils. 
 
 Preparation of Land for Beans. — As our chief crops of 
 beans are grown without irrigation on light soils, in 
 regions of moderate rainfall, the preparation of the soil 
 should begin at the opening of the rainy season, so as to 
 prepare the land for receiving and retaining the maxi- 
 mum amount of the rain that falls. GroAvth of weeds after 
 harvesting the beans should be prevented by cultivation, 
 because weeds draw upon moisture and would produce 
 seed for more weeds. This cultivation also opens the sur- 
 face to absorb the early rains. When the soil is well 
 moistened by rain, usually not later than Januar^^, a good 
 plowing is given, and after that the chisel-toothed culti- 
 vator and the harrow or other tool fitted to break up all 
 compacting of the soil at or below the surface, are used at 
 short intervals through the winter to prevent evaporation, 
 and retain moisture near the surface. There is some varia- 
 tion in winter practice, as some plow deeply, some turn a 
 shallow furrow, and some rely wholly upon the chisel 
 cultivator, which works as deep as shallow plowing. In 
 all cases the end in view is the same, to bring the land to 
 planting time with moisture retained and mellow to re- 
 ceive the seed. 
 
 Time of Planting.^ — Hints of this consideration have al- 
 ready been given to illustrate other points. As a general 
 conclusion it may be added that California experience 
 clearly points to undesirability of early planting simply 
 to keep abreast of the calendar. The bush beans are 
 hardier than the climbers and can be safely planted earlier, 
 but there is nothing to be gained in planting either in ad- 
 vance of a good condition of warmth and moisture in the 
 soil. Rather than trust the seed to the soil which is too 
 cold or too wet, it is better to wait a little, kill the weeds 
 by a shallow working, place the seed deep enough to in- 
 sure its contact with moisture and then trust to the more 
 
A LARGE BEAN FIELD. 
 
 193 
 
 rapid growth of the plant to make up for the delay. This 
 it will usually do, and will shoot ahead so that it will be 
 of good size for cultivation by the time the weeds need 
 another cutting. Just the time w^hen the proper soil con- 
 ditions may be expected to arrive will differ in the differ- 
 ent localities, according to local rainfall and spring tem- 
 peratures, the beginning of the frost-free period, the na- 
 ture of the soil, etc. As a generalization, however, it may 
 
 TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY- ACRE BEAN FIELD, 
 SALINAS VALLEY. 
 
 be put at May 1 to May 15 on the coast, with a range of 
 May 1 to June 1 for interior lowlands in the central and 
 northern parts of the State — chiefly to allow most lands 
 to come into planting condition. 
 
 As to condition of soil and weather at planting Lima 
 beans, it may be said that ample heat in connection with 
 soil moisture is necessary to start this variety, and plant- 
 ing is rushed during a warm spell to insure these condi- 
 
194 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 tions. A rain after planting is counted a detriment, for 
 if the temperature of the soil falls too low the seed is apt 
 to rot. Besides a shower means more weeds, and some 
 large growers count it cheaper to plow up the field and 
 replant than to clean out the weeds in the rows. Small 
 growers, however, usually undertake the hoeing rather 
 than sacrifice the plant if the stand is a good one. 
 
 Manner of Planting. — All commercial crops of beans, 
 whether of bush or running varieties, are grown in rows. 
 The planting is done with machines of different makes 
 and sizes, though usually planting from two to four rows 
 at a time. Depth is determined by the character of the 
 soil and the season. The bean must be placed in moist 
 soil, and if the surface is light and prone to dry out 
 quickly, the greater depth is given, but the bean does not 
 endure as deep covering as some other large seed. In a 
 moist surface an inch will do, but in very light surfaces 
 two inches is better. In some cases even a little more is 
 desirable. It must be remembered that a few days' 
 moisture must be assured to the seed to allow it to take 
 hold of the soil. 
 
 In light soils liable to strong winds, the planter should 
 run at right angles to the course of the wind, for it has 
 been observed that the sand is more easily shifted when 
 the wind has the lengthwise course of the drills. 
 
 Distance is dependent upon the variety. Lima beans are 
 usually placed in rows about forty inches apart, with the 
 planter rigged to drop seed at an average of about ten 
 inches apart, in the row. Small beans of various kinds are 
 given two to two and one-half feet between the rows, and 
 about four inches distance in the row. 
 
 Cultivation. — Frequent cultivation with knife-shaped 
 teeth is practiced in the best bean soils, to kill the weeds 
 and loosen the surface, until the running varieties cover 
 the space so that they are injured by cultivation. The 
 vines then cover the ground and check evaporition and the 
 crop is left to its own course. With bush varieties longer 
 and deeper cultivation is desirable, at least if the ground 
 
THRESHING BEANS. 195 
 
 is apt to become compact, so that the earth-mulch de- 
 scribed in the chapter on cultivation is maintained. 
 
 Gathering. — Gathering the crop cannot usually wait un- 
 til all the beans have ripened, for fear of shelling out the 
 earlier maturing pods of some varieties, and for fear also 
 of the fall rains already mentioned. Cutting should begin 
 when the grower 's judgment tells him he is about midway 
 between the two dangers. The date will of course vary 
 in different localities. The Lima bean has a longer grow- 
 ing season, and on the south coast is liable to encounter 
 serious hot spells in August or September after other 
 beans are matured beyond injury. The heat shrivels the 
 immature pods and lessens the crop. 
 
 Hand pulling or cutting of the vines, or plowing out, is 
 no longer practiced in large fields. A cutter operated by 
 horse power is now used. Two planks are hitched side to 
 side, about two feet apart. From each, on the outside, 
 projects a steel blade, some two feet, fastened to the bot- 
 tom of the so-called sled. Two or three horses are hitched 
 to the sled, which passes comfortably between two rows 
 of beans ; the blades of steel running from one to two 
 inches under the surface, sloping backward, cut off the 
 vines beneath the surface or loosen them so that they are 
 readily gathered with pitchforks and are thrown into 
 heaps. 
 
 There are some local variations in the form of the har- 
 vester, and in some cases an iron-frame cutter constructed 
 on the model of a V-shaped cultivator with guiding wheel 
 is used. 
 
 The beans are allowed to be in the field in small piles for 
 two to four weeks, according to the curing quality of the 
 local climate, until the vines are well dried. This not only 
 facilitates the opening of the pods, but saves the beans 
 from staining by green leaves and the damp dust they 
 gather. 
 
 Threshing- Floors. — The early method of threshing was 
 by use of the threshing floor, and it is still practiced or 
 held in view to prevent excessive charges by machine 
 
196 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 owners. It is tedious work, requires many animals and 
 exposes the beans to greater injury by early rains. A 
 threshing floor is made by wetting down a circular piece 
 of ground about sixty or eighty feet across, tramp it with 
 horses and wagon until smooth and hard; then cover the 
 floor with straw for a few days until it is dry, when it is 
 ready for the beans. The first flooring of beans is put on 
 deep, so the horses' hoofs do not cut the floor. Care should 
 be taken all the time during the threshing not to cut the 
 floor. Two or three big wagon loads of beans are placed 
 in a ring on this floor during very dry, clear weather. 
 Formerly horses attached to light wagons were driven 
 over the beans (usually two or three teams at a time), till 
 they were all shelled from the pods. The vines are then 
 thrown off and more beans from the field brought on. 
 This process is continued until there are many tons of 
 beans on the floor under those that are being threshed out. 
 After this the whole mass of chaff and beans is run 
 through winnowing and screening machines and the beans 
 placed in sacks of seventy-five to eighty pounds each and 
 are ready for market. Of late years the teams on the floor 
 are attached to disc machines instead of wagons, which 
 greatly facilitates the work. 
 
 In suitable weather tramping is a less expensive method 
 than by machinery, but there is far greater danger from 
 sudden storms of rain, as beans on the tramping floor are 
 in the worst possible shape in wet weather. Beans in the 
 field can stand an inch or two of rain without much in- 
 jury, if allowed to thoroughly dry before threshing. But 
 beans wet on a tramping floor while mixed with pulverized 
 leaves are irreparably damaged, being stained and heated 
 before it is possible to clean them. Every farmer who 
 tramps out his beans should be provided with sheets of 
 canvas sufficient to cover all unwinnowed or sacked beans 
 liable to be left out during a shower. Tramping is a 
 tedious process, but it has some advantages. It is the 
 resource ever at hand to meet the exacting charges of 
 machine owners. And besides, during extremely dry 
 
BEAN CLEANING. 197 
 
 weather beans can be tramped well, the pods being dry 
 and brittle, while the vines are still green and tough, a 
 condition in which a machine cannot work in them at all. 
 The energetic farmer can thus often secure a large por- 
 tion of his crop before a machine could thresh them even 
 if he could get it. So it will probably be many years be- 
 fore tramping is entirely abandoned. 
 
 Machine Threshing. — For many years attempts have 
 been made to use modified grain threshers for separating 
 beans. At first there was too great a percentage of 
 cracked beans, but recently machine work has become 
 more satisfactory. In the case of one grower farming 
 2300 acres to beans in Ventura county, the threshing ma- 
 chine used is a large "Minnesota Chief," which is 
 equipped with a good engine and thirty men. The beans 
 are gathered into header wagons, with beds ten feet wide 
 and sixteen feet long. One side of the bed is considerably 
 higher than the other, and a large and strong net is spread 
 over the entire bed, fastened on one side, and into which 
 the beans are forked. This is driven to the threshing ma- 
 chine, where a derrick lifts up the lower side of the net 
 and tumbles the contents onto a large platform, after 
 which the straw and beans are fed into the machine with 
 pitchforks. It requires eight header wagons to keep the 
 machine busy. Fifteen hundred sacks, averaging seventy 
 pounds each, or one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, 
 are considered a good day's work. 
 
 The machine-threshed beans have also to be recleaned 
 before they are marketed, and are broken so much that 
 they are never fit for the seed trade. Yet there is one 
 great advantage with the steam thresher. The rainy season 
 is approaching, and a shower is lable to fall in October 
 while the threshing process is in full blast, so that any 
 beans that are caught on the floors are ruined if they do 
 not manage to cover them in some way, while bj^ the ma- 
 chine process all beans are sacked as they are threshed. 
 
 Bean Cleaning. — It is imperative now that beans should 
 be put into good marketable condition. When prices 
 
198 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 were high the quality and condition of the beans did not 
 materially interfere with the sales, but in times of plenty, 
 the best is hardly good enough, and the most scrupulous 
 attention is given as to the quality. To insure the most 
 ready sale at best prices, every grower should have the 
 reputation of putting his beans in the sack for sale in 
 thoroughly sound and clean condition, even by hand- 
 picking if necessary. A dirty lot of beans from any 
 locality injures not the grower alone, but casts suspicion 
 on all the product of that place. In preventing this, 
 associated effort of growers has accomplished much. 
 
 Rotation of Crops. — It has been the experience of bean 
 growers hitherto that many crops of beans can be grown 
 successfully on the same soil without great difference in 
 the yield — that is, the land does not clearly show wear. On 
 the other hand, however, a bean crop improves barley, 
 potatoes or other succeeding crop. This might be expected 
 from what is now known of the power of the legumes to 
 fix atmospheric nitrogen by means of their roots. Our 
 best bean soils are so rich naturally that they are able to 
 endure a long cropping period and growers are apt to 
 look upon the soil as a constant factor and wish that the 
 weather could be placed in the same category. 
 
 VARIETY FOR FIELD CULTURE. 
 
 The Lima Bean. — The Lima is the great bean of Cali- 
 fornia so far as the outside world is concerned, because 
 though other beans are grown everywhere, five southern 
 coast counties seem especially adapted by favoring local 
 climate to the growth of this rather exacting variety, and 
 the product of Limas in this region is nearly one-half of 
 the total bean production of California. The variety 
 grown is the old "Large Lima," well known to the trade 
 and well adapted to the region, and however popular the 
 dwarf Limas may become as garden varieties they do not 
 promise to supplant the old sort in its stronghold. Though 
 the Lima is a running bean, no support is given it in field 
 culture. It is safe and comfortable reclining on the dry. 
 
BEANS IN CALIFORNIA. 199 
 
 warm soil, with its verdure always freshened by the 
 breezes of the Pacific, which lies in plain sight of many 
 fields. Thousands of acres are thus disposed green and 
 level as a meadow to the distant viewer — the scene un- 
 marred by fence or other obstruction, for the fields are 
 usually subject to no unwelcome intrusion except hot 
 blasts of air which rarely beat back the ocean breeze and 
 harm the plant. In most years without a drop of summer 
 rain and held in heart by the insensible ocean vapor and 
 occasionally by fog and mist, the Lima beau yields the 
 grower an average of a ton to the acre of clear product, 
 and sometimes does more than fifty per cent better than 
 that. 
 
 During- recent years the price of Lima beans has 
 been less than formerly, but there still remains a margin, 
 because production can be accomplished at less cost 
 through improved methods and machinery. There is also 
 an association of Lima bean growers which is assisting 
 producers to secure all that the market will warrant and 
 has exerted a wholesome influence. Lima bean straw is a 
 very important by-product, as it sells readily for stock 
 feeding- at from $2 to $5 per ton, according- to the demand 
 for it in different years. 
 
 The Small White Bean. — This is the accepted local name 
 for the variety which is called the Navy bean at the East. 
 The seed was brought from the State of New York as far 
 back as 1852. The Small White has a polished or var- 
 nished surface which prevents rapid absorption of mois- 
 ture. This not only especially fits it for shipping by sea 
 and gives it great keeping quality, but it enables the bean 
 to hold its form through cooking processes. Large quan- 
 tities are shipped to Boston, where they are used in pre- 
 paring "Boston canned beans," which are sold all over 
 the United States. The Small White bean is chiefly grown 
 in Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. 
 
 The Pea Bean. — This is another small white bean which 
 was introduced into California early in the fifties. The 
 variety has a very thin transparent skin which ndmits 
 
200 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 moisture readily and is apt to disintegrate in cooking. The 
 Pea bean is grown along the Sacramento river and in 
 Ventura county, but not in large amount. 
 
 The Large White Bean. — This variety is also known as 
 the Lady Wasliington. At the East it is rated in the trade 
 as a medium bean ; it is a little larger than the Small 
 White. The seed was introduced from the East in early 
 times. The variety is chiefly grown in the Sacramento and 
 San Joaquin river counties and in less amounts in the 
 central coast counties. 
 
 The Bayo Bean. — There are two varieties — the Bayo 
 Grande and the Bayo Chico. The former is large, the lat- 
 ter small ; both are brown. The seed came from Chile in 
 1849. The Bayo is largely grown in the Sacramento and 
 San Joaquin river regions. There is also a dark red bean 
 which was brought from Chile, and usually named from 
 its color. 
 
 The Pink Bean. — This variety is sufficiently described 
 by its name. It has been in California so long that its 
 origin is unknown, and our best bean merchants have 
 never seen it from any other source than this State. It is 
 a first-class bean, and the citizens of Spanish descent pre- 
 fer it to all other varieties, and it is largely grown for their 
 use in San Luis Obispo county. It is chiefly grown in Sac- 
 ramento river lands and is, perhaps, the most successful 
 variety in the San Joaquin valley under conditions of heat 
 and drought which do not suit other varieties. 
 
 The Butter Bean.- — This is the local name for what is 
 known as the "Flageolet" in France, whence the seed was 
 brought to this State. It is large, white and flattish. It is 
 going out of production here, as the seed is apparently 
 running out, the size being only half that of 35 or 40 years 
 ago. 
 
 The Black-eye Bean. — It is thought that this variety 
 came from Virginia. Its production is largely restricted 
 to the Sacramento and San Joaquin river sections and 
 Ventura county. This and others of the "cow pea" group 
 
GARDEN BEANS. 201 
 
 are used to a certain extent to make a green growth for 
 plowing under in citnis orchards. 
 
 The Soy Bean. — This Asiatic species, which has many 
 varieties, is grown to a limited amount by Chinese and 
 Japanese on river bottom and reclaimed lands, both for 
 forage and food. 
 
 The Horse Bean. — A broad bean, chiefly grown by Por- 
 tuguese in the San Francisco Bay region : hardy and pro- 
 lific, making free winter growth where frosts are light; 
 sometimes in demand for the debasement of coffee. 
 
 GARDEN CULTURE OF BEANS. 
 
 Much that has been said about the field growth of beans 
 applies to the garden culture. Condition of soil and, time 
 for planting are practically the same, and so are the char- 
 acters of the growing season, except that the gardener 
 cares little for the maturing of his crop, but prefers a 
 green succession. A condition of late summer moisture, 
 then, that would be a serious trouble in the field, is an ad- 
 vantage in the garden. For a product of beans as a green 
 vegetable, the drying out which promotes maturity is to 
 be prevented, and if this is successfully done, either upon 
 naturally moist or irrigated land, the bean plants will con- 
 tinue their yield of green pods until frost cuts them down. 
 As California has, as a rule, a very long frostless season, 
 the bearing season of green pluckings may cover several 
 months. 
 
 In frostless places, or in places of light frosts, where the 
 grower affords slight protective covering, the bean con- 
 tinues its growth and bearing into, the winter and vines of 
 some varieties assert their perennial character. Even 
 Avhere the frosts cut down the top, some of the phaseolus 
 varieties maintain their life and start again freely from 
 the old roots when the spring warmth invites activity. 
 
 The continued growth of the bean late in the fall, in the 
 absence of frost, cometimes affords a better late than early 
 crop, because certain insects which destroy the early 
 blossoms cease from their labors, or because too high heat 
 
202 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 lU) lonjier blij.;hts the l)l()()in. It, is often the reward of the 
 amateur gardener, Avho promotes late growth of his bean 
 plants by continued irrigation, to gather ample supplies 
 of tender pods when less diligent growers have none. Mid- 
 summer bean planting on moist interior lands is also a 
 good practice, as it gives the plant a growing season in the 
 fall when the hot and dry summer conditions are relaxed. 
 
 The planting of beans in frostless situations in the fall 
 for a winter crop is, of course, a limited enterprise, and 
 attended by considerable risk, because never having a 
 frost, means hardly ever, and yet good returns are often 
 made in a few places already designated in the chapters 
 on climates and the planting season. 
 
 The winter preparation for field planting on the light 
 soils that are mainly used for that purpose will do for the 
 same soils and situations for garden growth, but where 
 beans have to go upon rather heavier soil in regions of 
 heavier rains, it is necessary to give more thorough 
 spring cultivation to overcome the compacting of the soil 
 by the rain, and make it suitably mellow for the crop. For 
 this purpose, spring plowing twice, the second shallower 
 than the first, and good harrowing following the second 
 plowing, are desirable. All this work should be done when 
 the soil works freely, and only then. 
 
 In rainfall garden practice, where moisture is short, the 
 land should lie in shape for taking in water all during the 
 earlier part of the rainy season, and not be cropped nor 
 left hard for the spring working, but where moisture is 
 ample, the land may carry first a fall-planted crop of 
 hardy vegetables for winter use, provided this crop is 
 cleared away by February and the land put into condi- 
 tion to store up the spring rains for the use of the beans. 
 This practice depends upon the likelihood of the late rains 
 being generous, and the soil being retentive enough. 
 
 Bush Beans. — Varieties of this class are hardier than 
 most climbing beans and are safely planted earlier — per- 
 haps from one to two weeks usually, but they should not 
 be planted until the soil becomes warm and loses its ex- 
 
GARDEN BEAN VARIETIES. 203 
 
 cess of water. For hand-hoeing the rows can be 15 to 18 
 inches apart, and for horse cultivation two feet. About 
 four inches apart in the drill, and covered from one to two 
 inches, according to soil and season, is ordinary practice. 
 The plants can also be grown in hills. If the ground is in 
 good condition the seed can be planted before the lighter 
 frosts of spring are all over, and by slight covering they 
 can be carried through. The bush varieties will endure 
 more cold and more heat than the climbing sorts, but any 
 considerable planting should wait until the frost danger 
 for the locality is over. Later plantings should be made 
 at short intervals, for succession and irrigation must usu- 
 ally be resorted to quite early in the summer, except on 
 moist land or on the immediate coast. 
 
 Bush beans are usually divided into two grouj)s : those 
 with green pods and those with waxen, or light yellow 
 pods. The following are favorites in this State : 
 
 Early Mohawk, hardy and early for early chop, large 
 flattish pods. 
 
 Dwarf Horticultural, vigorous grower, large leaves ; 
 pods medium, curved ; beans, pale pink marked with red. 
 
 Burpee's Stringless, green pod, early, straight, roundish 
 pod, brittle and stringless. 
 
 Extra Early Valentine, said to be fit to gather in 35 to 
 40 days from planting, green pod, medium sized, fleshy, 
 keeps green longer than most kinds — a favorite in the 
 Sacramento valley and popular for canning. 
 
 Extra Early Refugee, popular with early vegetable ship- 
 pers, round pods, bright green, very productive, largely 
 grown in Vacaville and other early regions. 
 
 Long Yellow Six Weeks, pods long, early, very produc- 
 tive, excellent quality ; popular in southern California. 
 
 Golden Wax, early, strong grower, long pods, very brit- 
 tle and stringless, popular in the Sacramento valley, coast 
 valleys and southern California. 
 
 Davis White Wax, broad pods, clear light yellow, pro- 
 ductive, tender and delicate flavor. 
 
 Warden's Kidney Wax, long, flat and showy tender 
 
204 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 pods, strong grower, prolific : beans shapely, pure white, 
 with purple eye ; early. 
 
 Prolific Black Wax, long and large pods, golden color, 
 very productive, bearing early and through a long season. 
 
 Burpee's Bush Lima, reported by California growers as 
 the best of the dwarf Limas. 
 
 Broad Beans. — These beans are related to the so-called 
 horse bean, but by breeding have lost much of the strong 
 flavor of the horse bean, and have so increased in size of 
 the seed that they are several times larger than the horse 
 bean. In Europe they are esteemed as a highly nutritious 
 and palatable vegetable. The seeds only are eaten and are 
 prepared for table in much the same manner as Lima 
 beans. As Lima beans are more delicate in flavor and 
 nearly always available in California markets there is less 
 chance for broad beans than elsewhere, and yet the fact 
 that they are more easily grown gives them claim to at- 
 tention. The plants are productive and will flourish in 
 almost any locality. The seed should be planted about 
 three inches deep in double rows, eight inches between the 
 rows forming the double line, four inches between the 
 plants in the rows, and three feet between the double 
 rows. The early formation of seed can be hastened by re- 
 moving the terminal bud of the plants when they have 
 reached the height of between four and five feet, and have 
 (jroduced enough flowers to insure a good crop of pods. 
 The Green Windsor is the best known broad bean. 
 
 Climbing Beans. — Pole beans are usually more sus- 
 ceptible to heat and drought than the better bush varie- 
 ties, and they are disappointing in other ways. Near the 
 coast, however, they may be grown and trained in any 
 way the grower pleases, from a six-foot staff to a w^hole 
 wigwam of poles and strings. Catalogues of California 
 seedsmen give the amateur good collections to select from. 
 
 Transplanted Beans. — Beans may be easily grown early 
 in moist sand in a protected place and set out when sev- 
 eral inches high when the soil and air are fit to receive 
 them. The best way to get a good start in a family garden 
 
GARDEN BEAN VARIETIES. 205 
 
 is the method of Mr. Adams, described in the chapter on 
 propagation by which a whole hill is moved from under 
 cover to open ground at one operation. 
 
 Growing- Beans in the Irrigated Garden. — Beans may be 
 irrigated in any of the ways described for garden practice, 
 according to the character of the soil. They will stand 
 flooding of the ground, if it is done at sundown. They will 
 also grow well on the ridge systems, either with water 
 above or below, according to the soil. Shallow planting- 
 should be done when the ground is to be kept moist by 
 irrigation. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE BEET. 
 
 The Beet.^Befa vulgaris. 
 
 French, betterave ; German, riinkelnibe; Dutch and 
 Flemish, betwortel ; Danish, rodbede ; Italian, barbabie- 
 tola ; Spanish, remolacha ; Portuguese, betarava. 
 
 The beet as a garden vegetable is taken from the ground 
 every day in the year in California. It can be sown at 
 almost any time, and at all stages of its growth is un- 
 injured by any temperature which is experienced in Cali- 
 fornia valleys. Moisture conditions do, however, affect its 
 growth. It is unwise to sow the seed in cold, wet ground, 
 but if the seedling has taken hold it can endure extremes 
 of saturation or drought for a long period, and it is not 
 injured for any purpose by standing where it has grown 
 for a considerable time after it has reached its first ma- 
 turity. The beet is counted, however, rather a coarse 
 vegetable, and would be consigned to rather a lowly place 
 did not its present achievements and its greater promise 
 as a source of sugar give it commanding importance. 
 Though our people are somewhat chary about putting the 
 boiled beet-root in their table china, they do not hesitate 
 to instal in cut glass or silver bowls the solid extract of 
 beet-root in the form of sugar cubes or granules. The in- 
 dustrial importance of the beet includes also its value ajul 
 availability as an auxiliary cattle food, and it is all the 
 more esteemed for that purpose because in our climate it 
 needs no root-cellar or even earth-covering, but is pulled 
 all days of the year, fresh and succulent, from the site in 
 which the seed was cast months before. 
 
 THE GARDEN BEET. 
 
 Though, as stated, the beet is hardy under all our con- 
 
GARDEN BEETS. 207 
 
 ditions, it needs for the proper germination of its seed 
 moist, warm ground, and it makes rapid and tender 
 growth with the same soil conditions. In cold, wet soil or 
 in hot, dry land, it will grow slowly and will be tough and 
 of inferior flavor. Though it is true that beets will endure 
 much drought, growing slowly and rooting deeply on land 
 where grain and hay would fall and subsequently, with 
 the coming of the fall rains, assume more active growth 
 and reach large size for the winter feeding of stock, it is 
 not in that way that tender and sound-tlavored table beets 
 can be produced. They should make rapid growth from 
 start to finish, and then they may remain in their places 
 for some time without notable loss of quality, unless the 
 ground is heavy, becomes saturated and retains water. In 
 fact, some growers on well-cultivated upland loams claim 
 that the beets improve in the soil and are sweetest and 
 tenderest just before sending up their seed stalks. In lo- 
 calities with excessive rains, it is often desirable to gather 
 beets and pack them away in dry sand, but in most places 
 open air winter conditions do not make this necessary. 
 On the other hand, as the seed may be almost continuously 
 planted if moisture conditions are arranged, small plant- 
 ing for several successions should be the rule in the family 
 or sale garden, if long use from one planting shows de- 
 terioration. 
 
 Garden Culture. — Beets may be grown in the hand-hoed 
 garden in rows 12 inches apart, or even nearer than that 
 if space is precious, but rows for horse work should be 18 
 inches or two feet, according as may be necessary to agree 
 with the unit of distance chosen to bring the rows of up- 
 right growers uniform distances apart for ease of culti- 
 vation. The small varieties popular in this State do not 
 need that distance, perhaps, but all sorts of spacing is 
 grievous in the use of horse tools. 
 
 The soil for beets should be well worked to allow natural 
 penetration, for the beet has a taproot of great importance 
 in its development. The seed may be soaked before plant- 
 ing if the groiuid is inclined to be dry, and should be cov- 
 
208 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 ered from three-quarters of r.n inch to two inehes, accord- 
 ing as the soil is heavy and moist or lipht and dry. In hite 
 planting the seed must go down to moisture, and there is 
 then little danger of rain compacting the covering. As 
 for time of planting, it may l)e done any time when the 
 soil is moist and warm, but never when it is cold or wet. 
 Seed may be spaced an inch in the drill approximately, but 
 while still small the plants should be thinned to six or 
 eight inches. The sooner this is done after the plants have 
 reached a height of three or fonr inches the better. It is 
 quite a common practice to allow the rows to grow thickly 
 nntil the thinnings are large enough for greens. The prac- 
 tice injures the surviving beets, for they never reach quite 
 the development they would if they had never been 
 crowded, but with some the gain of the greens is a com- 
 pensation. 
 
 Varieties. — The garden beets popular in California for 
 table use are all of the round or flat shapes, and all of red 
 color. 
 
 The Eclipse, an old favorite, is still of wude popularity. 
 It is early and of good quality, and symmetrical, round 
 form. 
 
 The Extra Early Egyptian is of flat, turnip shape, very 
 deep color, early, tender and fine. 
 
 Morse's Improved Blood Turnip, especially selected for 
 style and quality, deep red, green tops. 
 
 Crosby's Egyptian, of flatter form than Early Egyptian, 
 good for early use, but maintains tenderness well as it gets 
 larger size, very bright clear red flesh. 
 
 Edmunds' Blood Turnip is another favorite market va- 
 riety, round and smooth, deep color and good quality. 
 
 Early Blood Turnip is also largely grown. It is round, 
 good form and quality. 
 
 Long Smooth Blood is an old standard variety for those 
 who like beets for slicing. It roots deeply and stands 
 drought well. 
 
GROWING SUGAR BEETS. 209 
 
 THE SUGAR BEET IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 All that has been said in preceding chapters on Cali- 
 fornia climates and soils has direct reference to the ex- 
 ceptional adaptation of the State to the growth of the 
 sugar beet and the manufacture of beet sugar. The vast 
 area of rich, deep, loamy and easily-worked soils, which 
 afford the plant deep rooting, free expansion and large 
 yield of rich beets ; the equable climate, which insures 
 ample sun-action, freedom from low temperature, and an 
 almost continuous growing season through the year for a 
 hardy plant like the beet, and thus provides for sugar 
 factories a maximum working season without protection 
 of the rich, raw material from freezing — these are local 
 advantages for beet growing and sugar making, the im- 
 portance of which it is difficult to overestimate. There 
 are also many incidental advantages and benefits in 
 ground which does not freeze and in factories where the 
 absence of freezing temperature makes it unnecessary to 
 build for protection of men, materials and machinery, ex- 
 cept from heat and rain. 
 
 Nine California beet sugar factories produced, in 1908, 
 99,613 tons of sugar, a total value, at 3i/2C. per pound, of 
 $7,460,975. Two others were constructed in 1909, and the 
 aggregate producing capacity of the 11 will exceed 150,- 
 000 tons. Large as this quantity is, it is small compared 
 with the possible production in California, as it is esti- 
 mated that there are 750,000 acres well adapted to the 
 raising of sugar beets. Allowing for proper rotation of 
 crops, about 200,000 acres would be available each year — 
 capable of producing 2,500,000 tons of beets and 350,000 
 tons of sugar. The annual consumption of sugar in the 
 United States is about 3,500,000 tons. Comparative sta- 
 tistics show that the proportion of saccharine is greater in 
 the beets grown in California than in any other locality, 
 whether in Europe or America. The plant itself becomes 
 a more active worker and extracts more sugar from Cali- 
 fornia soil and sunshine than it does elsewhere. 
 
210 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 California is second to Colorado in the production of 
 beet sugar, but the largest factory in the United States, 
 and one of the largest in the world, is the one at Spreckels, 
 Cal., which is able to slice 3000 tons of beets in a day, or 
 lOO carloads of 30 tons each. The oldest successful factory 
 in the United States is at Alvarado, Cal., which was estab- 
 lished in 1879, and has made sugar every year but one 
 since its beginning. 
 
 Situations and Soils. — The large area noted as adapted 
 to sugar beet production is obtained by computation of 
 our valley acreage. For the most economical production 
 of uniformly good beets, fairly level fields are of great ad- 
 vantage. To get the largest profits there must be the use 
 of the most capacious planting, cultivating and harvesting 
 appliances, and all these are best suited to level or gently 
 sloping lands. As most of these lands, except in coast 
 valleys, lie in regions of moderate rainfall there is seldom 
 the need of underdrainage, but the problem is rather one 
 of moisture conservation, and that is in most cases easily 
 accomplished by cultivation, to the extent required by the 
 beet which roots deeply and draws its moisture from a 
 large soil volume. "Where it may be necessary to concen- 
 trate the rainfall of two seasons for one crop, the method 
 of a constantly stirred summer fallow, which insures a 
 crop of grain in spite of low rainfall, will do the same for 
 a crop of beets, providing the relatively deeper cultiva- 
 tion required by the beet is given. 
 
 Though nearly all fertile soils will grow good sugar 
 beets if well tilled for moisture retention and for root 
 penetration and expansion, a rich, sandy loam, deeply 
 worked and with medium moisture conditions, is the ideal 
 for the purpose. Sandy soils, which dry out in spite of 
 cultivation, are available for beet growing by careful irri- 
 gation. Heavy, wet soils may be put into condition by 
 underdrainage and cultivation, but as there are such vast 
 areas of soils which will suit the beet without either irri- 
 gation or drainage, it is probable that improvements in 
 these lines will be left for the future. 
 
212 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Tillage for Beets.^ — Land for beets should be taken in 
 hand early. If it has not been summer fallowed the pre- 
 vious summer, it may receive a shallow plowing early in 
 the fall, being left rough to receive the rainfall. As soon 
 as the heaviest and coldest rains of the season are over in 
 the locality a deep plowing should be given, so as to secure 
 a seed bed of ten or twelve inches depth of stirred soil. 
 This practice is best for coast valleys, where spring rains 
 after the plowing are likely to be sufficient to restore to 
 the soil a proper degree of compactness. In light, open 
 soils, with scant spring rains, the first jilowing should be 
 deep and the second shallow for fear of leaving the lower 
 strata too open. It is often good practice to rely upon one 
 good plowing early in the winter, followed by the use of 
 the chisel cultivator, harrow and clod-crusher, to bring 
 the surface into fine mellow condition to receive the seed. 
 Modification of methods must be made according to local 
 soil and rainfall, but the condition to be aimed at is deep 
 stirring, lower strata, moist but not wet, surface fine and 
 moisture near it, but not disposed to bake or crust with 
 rains, which may follow sowing. 
 
 Planting. — Sugar beets are grown in drills about 18 to 
 20 inches apart. Seeding is done with machines. Cover- 
 ing should be as shallow as will bring the seed into soil, 
 which will remain moist; depth depends upon earliness of 
 sowing, character of soil, as already explained in other 
 connections. Sometimes it is desirable to cover as deeply 
 as two inches; sometimes, and usually, perhaps, one inch 
 or a little less. In late sowings, when the surface has be- 
 come quite dry, an attachment to the drill which pushes 
 aside part of the dry surface and brings the seed into moist 
 soil without running too deep, has been found valuable. 
 The greatest care should be taken to have the rows 
 straight. Possibly most beets are grown in crooked rows, 
 as it has long been said of corn, but the whole after course 
 of the field is improved by running the drill straight. It 
 is desirable to have a rain just after planting, unless the 
 
GROWING SUGAR BEETS. 
 
 213 
 
 land is very light and dry. If crust forms it must be 
 broken by light harrowing or rolling. 
 
 Cultivation. — Weeds should never be allowed to get the 
 start of the young beets ; nor should the soil be allowed to 
 lock them in a hard surface. For this reason cultivation 
 should begin as soon as the rows can be seen. Very 
 
 SUGAR BEETS IRRIGATED FOUR TIMES IN FURROWS. 
 
 effective cultivators, or horse-hoes, have been designed by 
 California mechanics, which make is possible to work two 
 or four rows at once if the beets are in straight equi-dis- 
 tant rows. This cultivation beginning thus early, must be 
 continued at frequent intervals, for the reasons already 
 fully given in the chapter on cultivation. Cultivation is 
 absolutely essential to a good beet ; not only must moisture 
 be conserved, but the lower strata must be kept reason- 
 
214 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 ably loose so that the soil may be displaced by the ex- 
 pandinj^ beet-root. This is done not by deep summer cul- 
 tivation, but by keeping a good surface mulch to prevent 
 evaporation, and the lower soil vv^ill keep itself in good 
 condition. All flattened, or knotty, or gnarly beets show 
 that there has been slackness, either in proper depth, in 
 preparation of the ground, or in lack of cultivation after- 
 ward, permitting deep drying out. Beets which show 
 signs of distress will be discarded or discounted at the 
 factory. The beet must be symmetrical, smooth and fine — 
 all of which are signs of thrift in a beet as they are in a 
 well-bred animal. 
 
 Thinning. — Excellence in beets is also dependent upon 
 each having adequate soil-room and plant food. It is im- 
 possible to get proper spacing by any scheme of seed drop- 
 ping. It is necessary to sow too thickly in order to get a 
 uniform stand; the spacing of the beets must be done 
 afterward. By using a narrow hoe crosswise to the rows, 
 the plants can be quickly thinned to clumps or groups, 
 from which all but the strongest plant are pulled by hand. 
 Thinning should be begun when the seedlings are small — 
 say from two to four leaves. It is easier to do it well at 
 this stage, and it is vastly better for the beets which are 
 to stand, for it does not displace the soil nor disturb their 
 rooting, as when it is done too late. Beets should stand 
 eight to ten inches apart in the row, according to the 
 soil. Where the soil is very rich and the beets likely to 
 overgrow the two-pound average, which is most accept- 
 able to the factory, they should be allowed to stand nearer 
 in the row. After thinning, the surface cultivation must 
 proceed for weed cutting and surface loosening until the 
 beet leaves cover the ground. The field is then laid by 
 until harvesting. 
 
 Harvesting. — As the outer leaves of the beet turn yel- 
 low and drop to the ground, maturity arrives. It is usual 
 for the factory to notify the grower when his crop is ready. 
 The beet can stand long in the soil without losing sugar 
 percentage, but the factory cannot use all the beets at the 
 
THE BEET SEASON. 
 
 215 
 
 moment of their readiness, and therefore some growers 
 have to wait for delivery until the opening of the rainy 
 season, and that is not pleasant or profitable. It is de- 
 sirable, therefore, that seeding should be done at different 
 times, as each kind of land in the locality comes into con- 
 dition, and thus prolong both the harvesting season and 
 the factory season. 
 
 Beet harvesting is now done cheaply by means of imple- 
 ments and machines of California design and construction, 
 
 FURROW IRRIGATION OF SUGAR BKFTS IN THF 
 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. 
 
 which either loosen or completely dislodge the beet. Top- 
 ping, or removing the leaves and all the green part of the 
 root grown, is done with knives, though inventors have 
 made some promising progress in machines for this work. 
 The Beet Season. — As already said, the beet is an all 
 the year plant in California. Planting may be done when- 
 ever the local soil and moisture conditions warrant. Some 
 planting is done as early as February in regions of light 
 rains, and the sugar factory season opens in southern Cali- 
 
216 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 fornia in July. In regions of heavier rains planting is 
 done in April and May. In all regions there is consider- 
 able length to the sowing season, so that succession in 
 ripening is possible, where there are lands of different 
 elevations and degree of moisture. It seems possible to 
 keep the factories in operation near the whole year with- 
 out great storage of beets, but this has not been done 
 so far. 
 
 Yield and Profit. — Taking into his calculation the figures 
 for a number of years, Dr. G. W. Shaw of the University 
 of California has shown that "on a total of 326,000 acres 
 there has been an average production of 9.8 tons of beets 
 per acre annually, giving an average return of over $44 
 per acre, or a net profit of about $14 per acre (after charg- 
 ing the value of the labor), which certainly compares 
 favorably with other field crops grown in the State. A 
 like number of acres devoted to wheat and most other 
 agricultural crops for the same period would have pro- 
 duced a decidedly less return per acre, if average price 
 and yield per acre be taken as the basis. 
 
 The figures cannot be taken as the entire value, for there 
 should be included the better condition in which the land 
 is left for the growth of other crops, provided the beet 
 crop is properly handled by returning the tops to the field 
 either by plowing under or feeding them and returning 
 the manure to the field. This, of course, is difficult to ex- 
 press in money value. 
 
 "To maintain California's high producing power atten- 
 tion must be given to the matter of irrigation ; it is the 
 only way in which the fickleness of climate can be over- 
 come. Given climate, and the farmer is largely inde- 
 pendent of the soil question when rational methods of cul- 
 ture are observed. When the season's returns per acre to 
 the farmer are considered, Utah, with $51.55, is the only 
 State Avhich exceeds California with $49.94, but it has 
 probably cost Utah growers that much more to irrigate 
 their land ; this extra cost, however, being well spent in 
 order to make sure of a crop, a condition which is de- 
 
CALIFORNIA STOCK BEETS. 217 
 
 voutly to be wished for in California. Given a favorable 
 season, and there is probably not a State that can surpass 
 California (even if any can equal her) in the number of 
 tons of high-grade beets that can be produced per acre." 
 
 Beet Pulp for Stock Feed. — The use of beet pulp for 
 stock feeding has increased rapidly during the last few 
 years, and promises soon to be as popular here as in Eu- 
 rope. It is fed fresh and put down in silos. It is very 
 cheaply siloed, because it packs down readily and it seals 
 itself from contact with the air by the formation of a sur- 
 face crust. Special information on the use in California 
 of beet wastes for stock is found in recent publications.* 
 
 Varieties. — Thus far California has relied upon Euro- 
 pean beet seed. We have not yet brought into practice 
 here the exact methods of testing and selecting the 
 "mother beets" for seed production which are practiced 
 in Germany and France. By this means the sugar-contents 
 have been increased and shape, thrift and other characters 
 of the beet have been advanced. It is possible that Cali- 
 fornia will in due time develop local seed supplies of the 
 highest quality, but no notable progress has yet been made 
 in that line. Of the varieties chiefly used at the present 
 time by the California sugar factories the best information 
 can be had from the managers, who furnish to growers 
 the seed which in their experience yields the best results, 
 and their contracts are conditioned upon the use of the 
 seed they furnish. 
 
 BEETS AS FOOD FOR STOCK. 
 
 All that has been said about the fitness of California 
 soils and climates to the growth of the sugar beet is also 
 applicable to the growth of beets for stock food. Early 
 plantings of beets furnish succulent food when the pastures 
 yield but ' ' dry feed, ' ' which is the local name for grasses 
 and clovers which make rich hay as they stand in the field. 
 
 *Pacific Rural Press, Aug. 21, and Sept. 11, 1909: Report No. 
 90, "Progress of the Beet Sugar Industry in the United States," 
 by C. F. Saylor, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Washington, D. C, 1909. 
 
218 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Tlioiiiili this food is very iiutfitious, it is better fitted for 
 fattening purposes than for maintaining the milk-flow, and 
 for this reason it should be supplemented by succulent 
 food. By later planting of beets good supplies can be pro- 
 vided for the deficiency of pasture growth early in the 
 winter, which occurs when the winter happens to be colder 
 or drier than usual. Thus, by planting from February 
 until June, or even later on moist bottom or irrigated land, 
 the stock feeder can have beets for his animals the year 
 round. 
 
 Preparation of the land is the same for stock beets as for 
 sugar beets. The plants must have wider spacing, both 
 for the rows and for individual plants, according to the 
 size of the variety grown. The long red rnangel-wurzel, 
 which frequently reaches a weight of seventy pounds, and 
 should average half that or more, needs room. Three feet 
 between the rows and two feet between the plants in the 
 row is as little space as should be given. 
 
 Growers of stock beets often sprout the seed before 
 planting, and sow by hand, from five to eight pounds per 
 acre, in a shallow furrow, following a line set by a 
 "marker," and cover with a cultivator or harrow, finally 
 smoothing with a plank clod-crusher or "rubber." , 
 
 Summer cultivation determines the character of the crop 
 as it does with sugar beets, and the best cultivators secure 
 almost incredible weights of beets from rich, moist soils. 
 The crop often reaches twice that of sugar beets, and 
 though the stock beets are inferior in nutritive contents, 
 the greater crop and the greater ease with which large 
 beets, growing a good part of their bulk above ground, 
 are gathered and handled are held to compensate for their 
 less nutritive substance. 
 
 Varieties. — Of the many cattle beets of Europe three 
 have gained wide popularity in California : the Long Red 
 Mangel, the Yellow Globe Mangel, and the Golden 
 Tankard. 
 
 Long Red Mangel. — This variety is the largest and pro- 
 duces the heaviest crops, and is the best generally pre- 
 
220 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 ferred by dairymen and for hog feed, but it requires deep, 
 strong soil to do well. A rich, sandy loam, a heavy black 
 adobe or a yellow clay, will produce great crops of Long 
 Red Mangels. 
 
 Yellow Globe Mangel. — This is medium in size, rutabaga 
 shaped, more solid and less watery, and is the best beet 
 for a light, shallow soil. All root crops, as stated already, 
 require a deep, moist soil, and the richer the better. But 
 Yellow Globe Mangels are recommended on a light or 
 gravelly soil, but in such case a liberal use should be made 
 of old and well-rotted barnyard manure, well worked into 
 the soil. 
 
 Yellow Tankard Mangel. — Tliis is also called "Golden 
 Tankard." It is one of the most famous English varieties. 
 It is very neat and symmetrical in form — cylindrical, nar- 
 rowing abrnptly at both ends. It has yellowish flesh 
 throughout. It reaches large size, but can be grown more 
 thickly than the Long Red. 
 
 These yellow Mangels have gained rapidly in popularity 
 during the last few years; first in southern California, and 
 now in the north as well. They are better suited to cal- 
 careous soils, which are very prevalent in California, and 
 they endure drouth better tlian the Long Red. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 THE CABBAGE FAMILY. 
 
 Common Cabbage. — Brassica oleracea capitata. 
 
 French, ehoii cabus, cliou pomme ; German, kopf kohl, 
 kraut; Dutch, slutkool ; Danish, hoved kaal ; Italian, cavdlo 
 cappuccio ; Spanish, col repollo ; Portuguese, couve re- 
 polho. 
 
 Savoy Cabbage. — Brassica oleracea hullata. 
 
 French, chou cle Milan ; German, Savoyerkohl ; Dutch, 
 savooikool ; Italian, cavolo de Milano ; Spanish, col de 
 Milan ; Portuguese, saboia. 
 
 Brussels Sprouts. — Idem. 
 
 French, chou de Bruxelles ; German, Briisseler sprossen- 
 wirsing; Dutch, spruitkool; Danish, rosenkaal; Italian, 
 cavolo a germoglio. 
 
 Cauliflower. — Brassica oleracea hotrytis. 
 
 French, chou-fleur ; German, blumenkohl ; Dutch, bloem- 
 kool ; Italian, cavol-flore ; Spanish, coliflor ; Portuguese, 
 couve-flor. 
 
 Broccoli. — Idem. 
 
 French, choux brocolis, chou-fleur d'hiver; German, 
 spargelkohl ; Danish, asparges kaal; Italian, cavol broc- 
 colo ; Spanish, broculi. 
 
 Borecole or Kale. — Brassica oleracea acephala. 
 
 French, chox verts ; German, winterkohl ; Dutch, boeren- 
 kool ; Italian, cavolo verde ; Spanish, coles sin cogollo. 
 
 Collards. — Idem. 
 
 Jersey Kale, Thousand Headed Cabbage or Oregon Kale. 
 
 Other species of brassica, grown for fleshy stems or roots, 
 rather than for esculent foliage, will be classed as "tur- 
 nips" in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 California has vast capacity as a supply region for 
 
222 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 esculents of the cabbage family. The climate favors pro- 
 duction and shipment at a time when the Eastern markets 
 have only stored cabbage, and California cauliflower is 
 harvested in splendid size and quality all through the win- 
 ter months, so that the crop is disposed of before the East- 
 ern grower can trust his small plants to the open air. 
 Some years when there have been low freight rates or a 
 partial failure in Eastern production, there have been very 
 large shipments in direct competition with the Eastern 
 grown cabbage in the early autumn, and money has been 
 made in selling California cabbage, not as an early vege- 
 table, but at prices which sauerkraut factories were willing 
 to pay. The Eastern production has, however, been more 
 intelligently carried on during recent years, and California 
 producers have less opportunity in the farther East. In 
 the great central region of the country, however, Cali- 
 fornia vegetable shippers find a large market, and growing 
 is done on a considerable scale, but the aggregate is only 
 a small fraction of what the State could easily produce. 
 
 The largest cabbage producing regions are the sandy 
 loam uplands bordering San Francisco on the south, the 
 lowlands of Santa Clara county, the reclaimed islands of 
 the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and the valleys 
 of southern California, both on the coast and in the in- 
 terior. The last named are the largest producing districts 
 for overland shipment, although the central parts of the 
 State often export largely. About a thousand carloads 
 went out of the State during the winter of 1908. 
 
 Cabbage is produced both in large areas wholly given to 
 the plant and by planting between young fruit trees, both 
 in rainfall and irrigated districts. As the cabbage is very 
 largely a winter crop in California, the water which it re- 
 quires comes free from the clouds or at low rates from the 
 irrigating ditches. The chief objection to the crop is the 
 great fluctuation in value from year to year. It is hardly 
 worth while at $15 per ton, and very profitable at $30 to 
 $40 per ton, and the planting is large or small, according 
 to the preceding year's experience in selling, and this, of 
 
CALIFORNIA CABBAGE GROWING. 223 
 
 course, largely influences the price of the new crop. An 
 average crop of cabbage would be, perhaps, four tons to 
 the acre and the average value $20 per ton or $80 gross 
 value per acre. The cost at current rates for labor would 
 be about $30 per acre. 
 
 The cabbage crop is grown for winter and spring gather- 
 ing. Interior southern situations produce heads ready for 
 shipping as early as February, and the shipment continues, 
 including the later coast regions in southern and central 
 California, until April or later. Thus California is able 
 to reach the markets at the East when the storage houses 
 of Eastern regions are emptied of cabbage and the sauer- 
 kraut barrels run low and to receive whatever high prices 
 may be available at that time of the year. 
 
 Although the State is so well suited to produce all the 
 plants of the cabbage family, the common cabbage is the 
 onl.y one which is widely grown by small growers for home 
 supplies. It is the hardiest of the group under neglect or 
 drouth, it is true, but there is not so much difference as 
 some imagine. The cauliflower has, for instance, the repu- 
 tation of being hard to grow, but there is really no diffi- 
 culty about it if proper effort is made, as will be described 
 later. 
 
 THE CABBAGE. 
 
 The cabbage can be grown everywhere in Caifornia by 
 selecting that season of the year which furnishes the ade- 
 quate moisture and moderate temperature which best suits 
 its nature. These requirements adapt it well to winter 
 growth generally in California, except in the frostier 
 places, and give the plant a longer season and a greater at- 
 tainment in weight in regions of rich soils open to coast 
 influences. It does not resent fogs and cold winds, and 
 thrives directly upon the coast as well as in coast valleys. 
 In the interior it reaches its best (estate on bottom lands, 
 but will succeed on plains and uplands with enough mois- 
 ture by irrigation to supplement the rainfall, but without 
 irrigation it may be often disappointing even though it be 
 started early enough. 
 
224 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Soil. — The cabbage does well on heavy soil, and it does 
 not object to alkali — if it is not too strong. It delights in 
 copious treatment with stable manures. For quick fall 
 growth, for early winter maturity, such soil, if moist 
 enough by rainfall or irrigation, will bring it along rapidly 
 while the autumn heat is ample. For later fall planting to 
 reach early spring maturity, a warmer, lighter, well-drain- 
 ed soil or a raised bed will push full growth in a month or 
 six weeks less time than heavy soil in a rainy region, which 
 is likely to be cold and water-soaked. But the cabbage 
 sometimes repays great kindness by growth to bursting or 
 cracking of the head. Care should be had against over- 
 growth for this reason. Cracking can be prevented by giv- 
 ing heads which threaten it a pull, or a cut through the 
 roots with a spade, so as to lessen its riotous living by 
 partial arrest of its supplies. 
 
 The Time to Plant. — These points on soil condition also 
 suggest different times of planting in different localities, 
 according to what may be reasonably anticipated in the 
 way of heat and moisture. Even in the same locality there 
 will also be different dates of suitability, according to the 
 character of the current season. The best practice is to 
 have plants available in different seed beds and to plant 
 out in succession the thriftiest plants at hand at such times 
 as the season may show fitness. Planting by the calendar 
 is not usually intelligent practice in California, as has been 
 already stated. 
 
 Growing Plants. — It is wise in most parts of California 
 to start plants in a seed bed in August or September, irri- 
 gating the ground well to guard against drying out on 
 land not naturally moist. In the Avarmer coast regions 
 good plants can be grown at this time of the year in the 
 open ground in drills eight or ten inches apart for hand- 
 hoeing. In the interior, where temperature extremes are 
 liable to be greater, a cold-frame, or covered seed bed, 
 may be used to protect the young plants against hot, dry 
 winds. In small garden practice the use of the seed box 
 is often handier. Plants should be given space enough to 
 
GROWING CABBAGE PLANTS. 225 
 
 grow thriftily and should be transplanted to the field when 
 conditions are right for planting out in the locality. 
 
 Plants started in September may be planted in the field 
 as soon as they are strong enough, when an early winter 
 crop is expected. Where this is not favored by the local 
 climate, it is still advisable to have early grown plants, and 
 in garden practice they can be several times transplanted 
 and thus' kept small and stocky for planting out when soil 
 and weather are right for it. Where the early winter is 
 apt to have quite severe frosts, plants started in the fall 
 in the open air can be transplanted to cold frames until 
 this danger is past. 
 
 For late winter and spring planting, plants may be 
 started later, say in January, but then in some places the 
 hot-bed, or other form of gentle bottom heat described in 
 the chapter on propagation, is desirable. Care must, how- 
 ever, always be taken not to use too high heat with cab- 
 bage plants, and for usual California conditions a seed- 
 bed, with the soil made light enough for good drainage, 
 and with protection from cold winds as afforded by a 
 fence or buildings, is usually coddling enough for cab- 
 bages. If, however, the plants are grown with heat they 
 should be first transplanted to a cold frame, or a protected 
 bed, for hardening before they are taken to open ground. 
 
 Preparation of Cabbage Ground. — Aside from generous 
 manuring, for it is hard to make ground too rich for the 
 cabbage, a good, deep working of the soil will show itself 
 in the crop. For fall planting it is not desirable to give 
 the surface as fine a polish as is necessary for seed sowing, 
 because it will be all the more liable to puddle and crust 
 with the rains. If the plant is well firmed in fine soil, it 
 will take hold well and the interspaces will be more recep- 
 tive if left a little open. Subsequent cultivation will fine 
 it sufficiently. 
 
 Planting Out.— Cabbages are usually grown in the field 
 in rows two and a half to three feet apart, laid out with a 
 marker, the plants being distanced about 15 inches in the 
 rows. Planting is done with a dibble, and a man can plant 
 
226 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 out four to eight thousand a day, according to his expert- 
 ness, if he has a boy to drop plants for him. The earth 
 should be pressed firmly about the roots with the dibble. 
 Planting with a trowel can be very rapidly done in this 
 way. Get a new mason's trowel about six inches wide and 
 12 inches long coming to a point. Cut off one or two in- 
 ches of the point making it round on the grindstone. Put 
 the trowel down in the soil the whole length, pull it over 
 toward you, put in the plant, take out the trowel, then 
 ■step on the soil near the plant to make it firm. 
 
 If the seed-bed is sandy enough and is allowed to become 
 a little dry, the plants can be lifted readily without losing 
 roots. Large bunches of plants when taken to the field 
 should be protected from sun and wind by a wet sack, and 
 dropping should not go far ahead of the planting. If the 
 weather is rather dry the plant is helped to get a start in 
 a new place by removing the lower, larger, leaves when 
 transplanting to the field. 
 
 Early planting in anticipation of rains may be surer to 
 hold on if a little water is used in planting if the ground 
 is inclined to be dry. On irrigated ground, which is given 
 a good soaking before plowing for fall planting, this may 
 not be necessary, but subsequent irrigation must be given 
 in time if rains are delayed, for the plants must not be 
 allowed to stop growing. 
 
 Cultivation. — Cabbages must be kept well cultivated to 
 reach their best estate. Early cabbages will head in two 
 and a half to four months, according to weather and soil 
 conditions, and size will depend much upon cultivation in 
 connection with soil richness and adequate moisture. 
 Hardly any plant delights more in soil stirring. Rapid 
 growth during the winter also gives the plant the advant- 
 age over the lice or aphis, which sap the life of unthrifty 
 plants, and is worse on late-planted cabbages because of 
 the dry, hot weather they are likely to encounter. 
 
 Harvesting. — The cabbage field is usually cut over for a 
 winter shipment three times in about six weeks, and if 
 used for a winter crop the ground can be cleared up and 
 
VARIETIES OP CABBAGE. 227 
 
 put in shape for a summer crop of corn, tomatoes, 
 melons or other frost-fearing vegetables, or of beets or 
 other roots which do not rebel at rather a late start. 
 
 Cabbage for Stock Feed. — In field growth of cabbage all 
 imperfect heads are nsed for cow feed and if fed right 
 after milking and not in too large quantities, are said not 
 to taint the milk. They should be fed in connection with 
 some dry feed. Very often cabbage can be grown to ad- 
 vantage especially for cow feed. Planted out in February 
 or March they would be fit for use by the latter part of 
 June, just about the time that the grass gets dry and cows 
 want something juicy to keep up the flow of milk. In their 
 use, however, care must be taken to strip them of any de- 
 caying leaves, as nothing will impart a bad taste to milk 
 and butter quicker than the use of decaying vegetable 
 matter of any kind. On moist land late cabbages are con- 
 siderably grown for poultry and can be pulled for them 
 all through the dry season. 
 
 Varieties of the Cabbage. — Of the many varieties of cab- 
 bage only a few are largely grown in California. 
 
 Early Jersey Wakefield is the earliest cabbage and is 
 widely popular. It makes up in earliness for any lack in 
 size. Heads pyramidal in shape having a blunted or 
 rounded peak. 
 
 Early Spring : this is the local name of a variety grown 
 by market gardeners around San Francisco instead of Early 
 Jersey Wakefield, as it makes a little larger head which is 
 flat. 
 
 Early Winningstadt : follows Jersey Wakefield in ma- 
 turity ; upright, pointed shape ; short, thick leaf ; head 
 compact, firm, and heavy. Very popular in southern Cali- 
 fornia for Eastern shipment heading uniformly in the hot- 
 test weather. 
 
 All-Head Early : the earliest of the large, flat varieties 
 and the largest, uniform growth and good for a long 
 season. 
 
 Mammoth Drumhead : head thick and broad, quite flat 
 on top ; a standard late variety reaching the largest size. 
 
228 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Flat Dutch : very widely grown as a late cabbage ; head 
 large, round, and solid, flat on top ; very sure header and 
 good keeper. 
 
 Holland or Danish Ball-Head : very late, not large but 
 very firm and round head, stands in the field a long time ; 
 popular for Eastern shipment and for winter keeping. 
 
 Surehead : large, round, flattened heads of good texture ; 
 good for shipping; a long keeper, good for a standard 
 crop. 
 
 THE SAVOY CABBAGE. 
 
 The distinguished characteristic of the Savoy varieties 
 is their crimped leaves. They are held to be somewhat 
 milder in flavor than the common cabbage. Their culture 
 is precisely the same as of the common cabbage. They are 
 very little grown in California, but are desirable in giving 
 variety to the home garden supply. The Drumhead Savoy 
 is a good variety. 
 
 BRUSSELS SPROUTS. 
 
 Brussels sprouts require considerably longer to reach 
 maturity than the cabbage, as the little rosettes have to 
 develop at the bases of the leaves after the latter are 
 grown. The sprouts appear first at the lower part of the 
 stem and appear later above, thus giving many cuttings 
 from the same stems. The crown of leaves at the top 
 should not be removed until the stem has done its work. 
 In California the sprouts are taken from the stems in the 
 places where they grow, as our winter does not require 
 taking up the plants and storing them under protection 
 for the winter ' ' sprouting. ' ' This, of course, is a great ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 The plants are quite hardy, and in most parts of Cali- 
 fornia bring their crop in the winter from plants set out 
 in succession during the previous spring and summer. 
 They do best in the cool, summer climate of the coast. 
 Wherever grown they must have abundant moisture all 
 summer. The culture is the same as for cabbage, except 
 
CAULIFLOWER IN CALIFORNIA. 229 
 
 as to their longer season of growth, which has been noted. 
 The "Improved Half Dwarf" is the variety mostly grown. 
 
 CAULIFLOWER. 
 
 The cauliflower is one of the grandest vegetables in Cali- 
 fornia. It attains large size and superb quality, but it is 
 not universally grown, as is the cabbage, because it is 
 rather more tender and exacting and more rebellious under 
 neglect or deprivation. While it is perfectly simple and 
 easy for a person with any joy and zeal in gardening to 
 grow a grand cauliflower, the lack of these qualities will 
 yield distressing failures. He may busy himself with a fair 
 sort of cabbages, but his cauliflowers will point with gaunt 
 fingers at him instead of nestling down in tight masses of 
 snowy curds, as if to shame him for his ill-treatment of 
 them. For this reason cabbages are seen everywhere and 
 cauliflow^ers seldom, except in the market gardens or in 
 the fields where grown for distant shipment, which is about 
 half as large of cauliflowers as of cabbages. 
 
 The growth of the cauliflower is in the main the same 
 as the cabbage, except that a little higher heat and greater 
 protection are needed for the young plants and a little 
 more diligent cultivation and faithful attention to mosture 
 supply for the later growth. The writer's observation is 
 that most cases of failure with cauliflower are attributable 
 to delay in starting the plants and planting out too late, 
 and to insufficient or intermitten moisture supply. Sum- 
 mer heading of cauliflower is difficult unless the plants are 
 started in the seed beds in the winter and planted out 
 early in the spring — for a spring start from the seed is 
 apt to amount to little. Winter heading is surer if the 
 plants are in the seed beds by June and in the ground, 
 properly irrigated and worked, in August. Besides the 
 error of starting at wrong times many plantings go wrong 
 toward the end of their course, through lack of work and 
 water on the home stretch. In the milder regions it is 
 possible to start so early that less attention, perhaps, has 
 to be given to watering, but where the local climate re- 
 
230 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 quires spring planting tiie reason for failure is generally 
 to be seen in the hard, dry ground on which the plants 
 strive in vain to answer the grower's expectations. 
 
 Soil.- — Like the cabbage, the cauliflower likes good, rich 
 soil and plenty of water; coarse, long manure answers the 
 purpose of a fertilizer very well if the soil is heavy; if 
 applied on the surface, either on light or heavy soil, it 
 keeps the ground loose and the water soaks through, and 
 thus the soil is always moist. 
 
 Situation. — The cauliflower is less hardy than the cab- 
 bage, and where there is a choice of situations in the gar- 
 den, it should be given, for winter growing, the one which 
 is warmer and more protected. It also resents heat which 
 a cabbage will endure, and for summer growing will be 
 benefited by partial shade. 
 
 Growing Plants. — There is a wide difi^erence in practice 
 in different regions. On irrigated ground in the foothills 
 seed is sown in the open ground in June or July, by making 
 the soil as fine as possible ; sow the seeds and cover with 
 a slight coat of well-rotted manure ; keep well wet down. 
 This prevents drying out and hardening of the ground and 
 the plants come along finely. Similar practice is followed 
 in regions of little frost in other parts of the State at dif- 
 ferent times from July to September, for winter cutting. 
 As Eastern shipments of cauliflower continue from De- 
 cember through the winter, early growth of plants is 
 necessary, and the fall weather is so warm that the seed- 
 bed only needs a little sunshading and ample moisture. 
 
 In colder parts of the State, as for example in small val- 
 leys liable to sharp frosts, some seasons favor fall-grown 
 plants, others do not, and though it is always advisable 
 to have them for small plantings by those who delight in 
 taking the chances on early things, January or February 
 planting in a hot-bed for spring and summer growth must 
 be the main practice. Hot-bed plants should be grown at 
 rather a low temperature and transplanted to a cold-frame 
 or other place under some cover to harden before plant- 
 ing out. Young plants must not be so wet as to "damp 
 
GARDEN GROWNTH OF CAULIFLOWER. 231 
 
 off," and they should not be huddled together as closely 
 as cabbages may be. 
 
 After-treatment. — Field growth of cauliflower is like 
 that of cabbage, though for winter growth one must be 
 sure of a little milder exposure. Planting out during the 
 winter must be done with due regard to the fact that the 
 cauliflower is a more tender plant, and extra care must be 
 had to plant w^hen the soil is in proper condition of warmth 
 and moisture. Fall planting requires due moisture and the 
 assurance of it to push the plant along rapidly. 
 
 Garden Practice. — Amateurs who have become discour- 
 aged over growing cauliflower are advised to try the 
 method of Mr. Ira W. Adams, of Potter valley, being sure 
 they are faithful in all points before they conclude that 
 this vegetable must be bought, not grown. Mr. Adams' 
 experience was in a small valley where frosts are rather 
 sharp and where fall planting is seldom satisfactory. 
 
 About the middle of February throw into a snug heap 
 a lot of fresh horse manure mixed with short straw and 
 leaves. After standing a few days to heat, throw it over 
 and let it remain a day or two ; then make it into a com- 
 pact heap (on the south side of the barn), some three or 
 four feet in depth and about twice the surface required 
 for the seed bed. Tread it dow well. On this, place three 
 or four inches of good soil made light and rich with fine, 
 well-rotted manure ; some leaf mold, sand, and a very little 
 ashes is a very valuable addition. Do not sift the dirt nor 
 have it too fine. This seed bed must be protected from 
 frost and cold rain, as well as cold days and nights, by a 
 cover of glass or muslin ; muslin answers every purpose, 
 is cheaper, easier handled, and does not draw the plants 
 up weak and spindling, as glass often does. 
 
 From time to time, if the weather continues cold, throw 
 around the seed bed fresh horse manure sometimes to the 
 depth of four feet or more, leaving only the front side ex- 
 posed to the sun. The heat generated and escaping from 
 this manure serves to keep the temperature around the bed 
 several degrees higher than it would have otherwise been. 
 
232 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 When the plants are two or three inches high, transplant 
 to another rich bed without any bottom heat, set the 
 plants three inches apart and keep covered as little as 
 possible in order to harden them. Be sure to keep both 
 seed beds always well moistened (not wet), with luke- 
 warm water. A little weak manure water occasionally is 
 very beneficial. 
 
 When the plants are six or seven inches high, transplant 
 to open ground, on a cloudy day if possible, or just at 
 night, giving each plant a cup of water. The ground 
 should be prepared in the best possible manner and made 
 very rich with manure thoroughly decomposed. Horse, 
 cow, hog, and chicken manure mixed is good as any. Put 
 the plants three feet (or nearly so) apart, to give plenty 
 of room for cultivation, which should be done once a week 
 at least, twice is better, and hoe them often^the more the 
 better, especially early in the morning when the ground 
 is wet with dew. Caulitiower must never stop growing or 
 the ground get dry ; they must have an abundance of 
 moisture. Run the water down the rows every night if 
 the weather is pretty hot ; however, cauliflower succeeds 
 best if fully matured before hot weather sets in, which 
 generally comes early in June. 
 
 When they commence to head, gather the leaves to- 
 gether and tie loosely over the heads ; this greatly facili- 
 tates blanching, and protects them from getting brown 
 and bitter from the effects of the hot sun. They should be 
 examined often, and cut while the head is close and com- 
 pact, as, after the head opens, it separates into branches, 
 gets coarse, tough, fibrous, strong flavored, and conse- 
 quently almost if not wholly worthless. 
 
 A cauliflower would be an ungrateful thing if it did not 
 grow with Mr. Adams ' treatment. But it will grow and 
 grow immensely. Fortunately, it is not necessary in all 
 places to do quite so much work, or field growth for ex- 
 port would languish. If the reader will discern the con- 
 ditions which Mr. Adams secures he will be profited, for 
 they underlie the success of the plant in all situations. 
 
VARIETIES OF CAULIFLOWER. 233 
 
 Inter-Culture with Cauliflower. — Either with cabbage or 
 cauliflower some inter-cropping could be done in the irri- 
 gated garden if the fullest use of the space must Be made. 
 In early spring planting, lettuce plants grown in a seed 
 bed can be set between cauliflowers at the same time of 
 setting out the plants. As soon as the lettuce is ready 
 to cut, plant some variety of early beans close to the let- 
 tuce, and by the time the lettuce is cut the beans are up ; 
 and by this time the cauliflower is ready to cut. Pull the 
 stumps as the cauliflower is cut and this gives the ground 
 to the coming crop of beans. Thus three crops can be 
 raised on the same ground the same season. This crop- 
 ping can only be done on a summer crop of cauliflower. 
 For winter cauliflower, set Hanson's lettuce between each 
 plant, and in this way have early lettuce when lettuce is 
 scarce. Other combinations and successions will readily 
 suggest themselves. 
 
 Varieties of Cauliflower. — Several varieties are popular 
 in this State : 
 
 Early Snowball : early and a sure header ; large, white, 
 and fine ; robust, counted the best all-round early variety. 
 
 California Wonder : this variety originated with C. C. 
 Morse & Co., of San Francisco ; it comes into market soon 
 after the Early Snowball, producing much larger heads, 
 and of the finest quality. It has been extensively grown 
 for the Eastern market. 
 
 California Pearl of Aggeler & Musser Seed Co. of Los 
 Angeles : held to be specially suited to semi-tropical cli- 
 mates and for shipment because of full leaf cover of head. 
 
 Germain's Dry Weather of Germain Seed & Plant Co. 
 of Los Angeles, enduring heat and drouth better than 
 other varieties: heads large as Snowball and almost as 
 early ; held to be specially suited to arid regions. 
 
 California Mammoth : of local origin, exceedingly large ; 
 commended for local use only. 
 
 Extra Early Paris : head medium size ; compact, stem 
 short ; a hardy kind and rather easy to grow. 
 
234 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Extra Early Erfurt: very early, small leaves; solid, fine 
 quality. 
 
 "Autumn Giant: late; large, white, firm and solid; keeps 
 , condition well. 
 
 Large Algiers : fine for a late variety ; especially popular 
 in southern California. 
 
 Lenormand's Short Stemmed: large, fine and compact; 
 stocky growth : heads late and protects itself well Avith 
 foliage. 
 
 Nonpareil or Half-Early Paris : a mid-season variety of 
 good standing. 
 
 BROCCOLI. 
 
 This is another variet}^ of the same botanical species as 
 the cauliflower. It is hardier and of slower growth, but is 
 smaller in the head than cauliflower and counted less de- 
 sirable otherwise. It is grown to a very slight extent, and 
 cuts very little figure in California. It is grown in the 
 same ways as the cauliflower but it takes longer to reach 
 maturity. People who fail with cauliflower might make 
 a trial of its poor relation which is less exacting. Two va- 
 rieties are commonly grown, the white and the purple. 
 
 Mr. Albert F. Etter of Briceland, Humboldt county, 
 exalts broccoli as not only equal to cauliflower, but better 
 adapted to conditions in many places in California. It is 
 slower in heading, but some early varieties of broccoli 
 come in near to the late cauliflowers. Broccoli should not 
 be sown too early nor should it be forced along until the 
 moist air of autumn comes with the rains. Then it will 
 advance splendidly, and good full heads can be had from 
 Christmas until February. A temperature as low as 17° 
 will not hurt them much, and not at all if the leaves are 
 tied up over the developing head. Broccoli will make a 
 good fall and winter growth on land which is rather poor, 
 if a moderate amount of manure is spread around the 
 plants at the beginning of the rainy season. 
 
 BORECOLE OR KALE. 
 
 This term covers the non-heading cabbages, with a won- 
 
KALES AND COLLARDS. 235 
 
 derfiil variety of form and foliage, and a record divided 
 between use and ornament. There is a host of varieties, 
 some of which are grown for the tender shoots : others for 
 the foliage. The edible sorts are very little grown in 
 California : those used for garnishment are frequently 
 seen. The two varieties most known are the Tall Green 
 Curled or Scotch and the Dwarf Curled or German Greens. 
 The plants are very hardy and are winter-grown. 
 
 TALL GROWING COLLARDS. 
 
 The Jersey Kale or Tree Cabbage is quite widely dis- 
 tributed and has won high favor as food for cows and 
 poultry. It is perennial in the coast regions of the central 
 and southern parts of the State, and endures defoliating 
 very well. It is less thrifty in the interior heat and 
 drought. 
 
 The Oregon Kale is an old European collard, sometimes 
 called Thousand Headed Cabbage. It belongs to the same 
 class as Jersey Kale, but has thinner stems and is, there- 
 fore, more easily handled with mowing or corn-cutting 
 machinery. It was introduced in the Willamette Valley, 
 Oregon, more than a third of a century ago, but only re- 
 cently has its value been recognized as a winter feed for 
 stock and largely groAvn. It endures local freezing and is 
 hauled from the fields as needed for feeding. The plants 
 are grown in field drills and transplanted in May to the 
 land to be covered with it, the plants being set in every 
 third furrow as the field is plowed and covered in with 
 the next furrow, the ground being afterwards rolled to 
 compact the dirt around the roots. Planting with a ma- 
 chine on land previously plowed and harrowed is also 
 practiced. Kale may also be grown in the way already 
 described for field growth of cabbage except that the 
 plants should be given rather more room. In California 
 the plant is likely to be of value for stock feeding by fall 
 planting and winter growth as well as by summer growth 
 to stand for winter use as in Oregon. In fact, winter 
 growth for summer feeding may also be practicable in 
 
236 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 California, especially near the coast. As with other mem- 
 bers of the cabbage family, dairy cows should be fed kale 
 just after milking to avoid risk of tainting the milk. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 THE CARROT, PARSNIP AND SALSIFY. 
 
 Carrot. — Daucus carota. 
 
 French, carotte ; German, mohre, gelbriibe ; Dutch, wor- 
 tel; Italian, carota; Spanish, zanahoria; Portuguese, 
 cenoura. 
 
 Parsnip. — Pastinaca sativa. 
 
 French, panais ; German, pastinake ; Dutch, pastinaak ; 
 Danish, pastinak ; Italian, pastinaca ; Spanish, chirivia ; 
 Portuguese, pastinaga. 
 
 Salsify. — Tragopogong porrifolius. 
 
 French, salsifis ; German, haferworzel ; Flemish, haver- 
 wortel ; Danish, havrerod ; Italian, barba di becco ; Span- 
 ish, salsifi bianco ; Portuguese, cercifi. 
 
 The carrot is a very popular root in California, and is 
 grown in all parts of the State, both for the table and for 
 stock feeding. It is perfectly hardy in all temperatures 
 which come to California valleys and foothills. It is 
 patient during drought and proceeds quickly with its 
 growth with renewed moisture, which is a very valuable 
 characteristic in growing the carrot for stock feeding, but 
 table carrots should not be subjected to this ordeal, but 
 should be pushed with adequate moisture quickly from 
 the seed to size to secure the desired tenderness and mild 
 flavor. To attain the coveted weight for stock feeding, 
 however, it is quite an advantage to have the rain beyond 
 the dry season, as well as before it, because early sowing 
 in cold, wet ground does not suit the plant and late sow- 
 ing does not give the plant time enough except on irri- 
 gated land, to do its best in size before the dry season 
 checks its growth. By proper practice, then, it is pos- 
 sible to produce great crops of carrots in the drier parts 
 of the State, as well as in the moister lands and regions. 
 
238 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Soil and Tillage. — The requirements of the carrot so 
 closely resemble that of the beet that the reader is re- 
 ferred to the suggestions for culture already given for the 
 beet. The carrot has the same liking for a light, warm 
 soil, and the same reasons exist for a deep and thorough 
 preparation of the soil ; for, though the carrot, if the seed 
 is sown after the chill and surplus water have gone out of 
 a heavy soil, will do very well if well cultivated, it pro- 
 duces the largest and most shapely roots when it can 
 deeply penetrate and easily displace the soil in its ex- 
 pansion. Carrot ground should, then, receive early work- 
 ing to receive the rains, and be plowed again and well 
 loosened up and fined before the seed is sown. 
 
 Sowing Carrot Seed. — It is very necessary that the soil 
 should be in good condition. Sowing in the fall on irri- 
 gated ground is practicable, and so is sowing immediately 
 after the early fall rains have moistened the soil suffici- 
 ently to prevent drying out, but if the place is quite frosty 
 and the soil apt to be water-soaked, later planting is bet- 
 ter. For this reason, as already stated, some prefer to 
 bridge the dry season, sowing in March or even in April, 
 so that the young plant may have the best conditions at 
 the start. As it gets age it becomes hardier and can be 
 taken from the ground in good condition and maximum 
 size all during the follow^ing winter. Late sowing is also 
 advocated because of the opportunity to kill weeds by 
 plowing in the winter growth before seeding. This prac- 
 tice is generally approved in the coast regions of the 
 northern part of the State. On the other hand, in south- 
 ern Califoria, and in most parts of the San Joaquin and 
 Sacramento valleys, on the lighter soils especially, a start 
 from the seed in December or January, when weather and 
 soil favor it, gives the plant a chance to root well before 
 the dry season and then it is in much better condition to 
 stand heat and drought than if younger. Both practices 
 are rational and each is adapted to its own set of condi- 
 tions. 
 
 Carrot seed must be fresh. It is small, rather difficult 
 
GROWING CARROTS. 239 
 
 to handle evenly, and requires a shallow covering of earth. 
 It is more difficult to get a good stand of carrots than of 
 beets, but care will insure it with good seed. Distribution 
 is facilitated by mixing the seed thoroughly with a cer- 
 tain amount of moist sand, and if the mixture is kept warm 
 and moist the seed may be allowed to sprout slightly be- 
 fore sowing, but not too far. The seed must be placed in 
 moist ground, and half an inch is covering enough except 
 in light soils likely to dry down. The seed should be 
 pressed down well or the soil firmly about it, and then 
 lightly covered and the covering pressed slightly. 
 
 Cultivation. — Carrots in field culture are usually grown 
 in rows two to three feet apart according to the notion of 
 the grower. Thinning in the row is seldom done though 
 the advantage of it would be shown in better roots just as 
 with beets. Growers shrink, however, from the expense 
 and prefer to trust to frequent cultivation between the 
 rows. 
 
 Ridge Culture of Carrots. — Where it is desired to get 
 an early start in a locality with a heavy rainfall the ridge 
 system gives good results. Choose rich soil, plow after 
 the first rain, and then in January or February when the 
 ground gets warm (according to the season and locality) 
 cross-plow and harrow until the ground is thoroughly 
 pulverized. Then ridge some two or three and a half feet 
 apart, rake otf the combs of the furrows, making them 
 level on top and free from lumps. Put in the seed by hand 
 or with a seed drill covering lightly, cultivate and thin 
 out for cow-feed during the summer and the crop will be 
 of good uniform size for horse-feed during the following 
 winter and spring. Though this practice is still followed 
 by some it has been widely superseded in field work by 
 later sowing and flat culture. For an early start in the 
 farm garden it has, however, some advantages. 
 
 Harvesting. — This is done by pulling, after loosening 
 with the plow. The time, as already stated, is usually dur- 
 ing the winter, but feeding often commences in the fall 
 and continues for several months — just as with mangels. 
 
240 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Field Varieties.^ — Several large, yellow and white va- 
 rieties are used for stock puri)oses. The richer color and 
 more convenient size of the yellow varieties, like the Long 
 Orange, hold them in favor as a marketable stock carrot, 
 but the large size and greater crop of the Large White 
 Belgian makes it a favorite where the crop is to be fed 
 at home. This variety is grown in all California dairy 
 regions. It sometimes reaches a weight of 16 pounds or 
 more and a yield of over 40 tons to the acre on rich, deep 
 land, though half these figures would better suit average 
 conditions. Half-long Giant White has the advantage of 
 bulk without great depth. 
 
 Garden Carrots. — As already stated garden carrots 
 should be grown quickly with acceptable heat and mois- 
 ture. Simple forcing conditions, like a bed of five or six 
 inches of good loam over a foot or more of tamped man- 
 ure and a slight protective covering will give very sweet 
 and tender roots to the short varieties in our coldest 
 weather. But so much can be done with the ridge system 
 or with raised beds described in a previous chapter and 
 with other simple modifications of open air conditions that 
 very little forcing is done. 
 
 Country gardeners, as a rule, do not know much about 
 the best table carrots. They supply their tables and their 
 stock too often from the same sowing when much sweeter 
 and tenderer roots should be grown in the garden by small 
 sowings of the improved table varieties. Those which are 
 most grown in California are the following : 
 
 Early French forcing carrot : very early, small, globu- 
 lar form, and fine flavor. 
 
 Ox-heart or Guerande : very short, almost cup-shaped, 
 very rapid grower, early and excellent. Considerably im- 
 proved recently by selection. 
 
 Half Long Danvers : a popular market variety, strong 
 grower and succeeding on a wide range of soils ; rich color 
 and good flavor. 
 
 Improved Long Orange : smoother and more uniform 
 than the old sort; also better flavor and color. 
 
THE PARSNIP. 241 
 
 Chantenay : short and sturdy, bright orange-scarlet, 
 early. 
 
 Improved Short White : best of the whites, short and 
 cylindrical. 
 
 Red St. Valery : one of the best of the medium long va- 
 rieties. 
 
 Early Scarlet or Short Horn : largely grown and of 
 good quality. 
 
 Champion Scarlet Horn : an English variety, rather 
 large but rich in flavor and tender throughout, deep red 
 color, commended for quality. 
 
 THE PARSNIP. 
 
 Parsnips are not largely grown in California. Two con- 
 siderations may be involved in an explanation of this fact : 
 one is that our winter supply of fresher vegetables re- 
 lieves us from dependence upon root-boiling, which is the 
 staple resource of so many dwellers in cold climates ; an- 
 other is, that the parsnip, if sown early, is not always con- 
 tent to remain dormant and crisp for months as it does 
 beneath the snow. It quickly responds to our winter 
 warmth and moisture and starts second growth, which 
 renders the root woody and flavorless. It is quite possible 
 for parsnip lovers in warm, moist regions to overcome this 
 by mid-summer sowing or it can be prevented in other 
 places by digging the roots and storing them in boxes or 
 barrels of sand in a dry, cool place, and it really should be 
 urged that this be done more widely, because those who 
 are not fitted by location or inclination to start fall growth 
 of vegetables for winter eating, should have a good sup- 
 ply of parsnips, which are, to most tastes, delicious. It is 
 not to be expected in this climate that the parsnip will be 
 called upon to render the important service that it does 
 in the East whenever the snow uncovers the ground in 
 the winter or spring, because at that very time we have 
 abundance of fresh vegetables hardy in our climate. 
 
 Soil and Culture. — The excellence of the parsnip is 
 vested in a well-developed root, and to secure this, rich. 
 
242 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 deep, and permeable soil and adequate moisture are re- 
 quired. Deep cultivation and manuring will secure these 
 qualities even in rather a heavy soil, but the use of ma- 
 nure the previous year for another crop to be followed by 
 parsnips is the proper course, for roots on freshly man- 
 ured land are apt to be misshapen. Parsnip seed is light 
 and should receive a shallow covering but it is necessary 
 that it should be well firmed in moist soil to secure ger- 
 mination. As soon as the plants are two or three inches 
 high the rows should be cle aned of weeds, the plants 
 spaced, and frequent use of the cultivator begun, to con- 
 tinue all summer. The suggestions made for the prepara- 
 tion of soil and cultivation of the beet and the carrot have 
 direct application to the growth of the parsnip, and the 
 reader is referred to them. In garden culture good roots 
 can be grown in rows about 15 inches apart, and the plants 
 thinned to half that distance in the rows to leave room for 
 development. 
 
 la the rainy parts of the State it is customary to sow 
 parsnips as soon as the ground is in good condition in 
 February, as the plant is quite hardy. From this date on- 
 ward the seed can be successfully sown as long as tiie soil 
 has moisture enough, and in moist interior lands seed can 
 be sown in July, or even later, and the plants will make a 
 good fall growth and be ready for winter use from the 
 ground, as late sowing in a warm region with moisture 
 assured, carries the plant along without danger of a check 
 and a second growth. 
 
 Varieties. — Varieties of parsnips which prevail in this 
 State are as follows : 
 
 Hollow Crown or Student : long, large, smooth roots in 
 deep soils ; tender, sweet, and fine flavored when well 
 grown. This is the chiefly grown variety. 
 
 Improved Guernsey: half -long, shorter and thicker than 
 the foregoing. 
 
 Devonshire : another short variety popular with market 
 gardeners in southern California. 
 
SALSIFY. 243 
 
 Round or Turnip Rooted : better suited for shallow 
 soils, owing to shape ; develops faster than the long type. 
 
 SALSIFY OR VEGETABLE OYSTER. 
 
 This delicious root stands subject to the same conditions 
 which have limited the growth of parsnips in this State, 
 but its popularity has increased greatly during the last 
 few years. The requirements of the plant in soil, culture, 
 and season correspond very closely to the parsnip. The 
 seed is a little more difiScult to start, and pretty generous 
 seeding in soil sure to retain fair moisture, and a slightly 
 deeper covering than with parsnip seed are desirable. 
 Thinning is essential but the root is slimmer and does not 
 require so much room. One variety comprises the chief 
 local interest, the Mammoth Sandwich Island. It is large 
 and otherwise better than the older kinds although the 
 Long White is still grown. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 CELERY. 
 
 Celery. — Apium graveolens. 
 
 French, eeleri; German, sellerie ; Danish, selleri ; Italian, 
 sedano apio ; Spanish, apio. 
 
 Celeriac. — Idem. 
 
 French, eeleri-rave ; German, knoll-sellerie ; Dutch, 
 knoll-selderij ; Danish, knold-selleri ; Italian, sedano-rapa ; 
 Spanish, apio-nabo. 
 
 California celery taken from the field during the winter 
 months and delivered in the Eastern markets by frost- 
 proof cars has, during the last few years, made decided 
 progress in competition with the Eastern product taken 
 from frost-proof storage in pits, or specially-constructed 
 celery houses. On certain well-suited soils in regions sub- 
 ject to coast influences, and, therefore, with moderated 
 summer temperature, the celery plant makes a grand sum- 
 mer growth, with or without irrigation, according to the 
 natural moisture of the soil, and encounters no fall or 
 winter temperature which injures it in the open field. In 
 fact, in these special localities and soils, which will be de- 
 scribed presently, the plant finds naturally provided those 
 conditions for splendid development which, in less favored 
 regions, can only be secured by considerable artifice and 
 investment. For these reasons commercial celery grow- 
 ing for distant markets is a rapidly advancing industry, 
 and has given great value to lands suited to its uses. It 
 is estimated that not less than 6000 acres have been plant- 
 ed in a single year in Orange county, and that the aver- 
 age value of the product on board cars at the nearest sta- 
 tion is from $250 to $400 per acre, according to price and 
 product — except, of course, when disease causes losses as 
 will be mentioned later. There is also a considerable pro- 
 
LOCATIONS FOR CELERY. 245 
 
 duct for shipment grown on moist lowlands near Stock- 
 ton and Sacramento, and large plantings have been made 
 in some years, near Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo 
 county. 
 
 . In many parts of the State, especially on low, moist 
 lands which are frequently of saline character, wild celery 
 grows thriftily, and its growth has served as an incentive 
 to commercial planting. This wild celery is, however, not 
 a native plant. It is merely the garden celery which has 
 escaped from cultivation and the escape must have been 
 at an earlj^ date, for the occurrence was noted by botanists 
 at least 40 j^ears ago. It is now widely distributed. 
 
 Locations for Celery. — Celery thrives best in an equable, 
 cool temperature, but it accepts conditions in the "cool- 
 night" region of the interior valley. It does not well en- 
 dure high heat ; it is hardy against California valley frosts, 
 and it demands adequate moisture. It may, therefore, be 
 successfully grown in the fall and winter in regions where 
 summer heat is too high for it and in the equable coast 
 climate it can be enjoyed all the year, providing ample 
 soil moisture can be assured. Commercially, it is summer 
 grown for winter shipment because it is then best Te- 
 ceived in the Eastern markets. 
 
 Soils. — Aside from abundant moisture the chief require- 
 ment of the plant is large amounts of decomposed vege- 
 table matter in the soil. This is provided in ordinary 
 garden soils by the free use of well-rotted manure, mixing 
 it thoroughly with the soil by deep digging in or trench- 
 ing, and for home supplies this should be undertaken, but 
 those who can, may avail themselves of the conclusions of 
 a grower at Castroville, near the coast in Monterey county, 
 who, after trying for a number of years, almost in vain, 
 to raise good celery on an ordinary dry garden soil, finally 
 borrowed the use of a little patch of reclaimed swamp 
 land — deep, black muck, well drained but moist — and 
 grew on it very fine celery with but little labor. In un- 
 dertaking production on a commercial scale this advan- 
 tage of specially suited soil is imperative. An instance of 
 
246 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 such soil-fitness is found in the peat lands where celery 
 growing has reached the importance above noted. The 
 soil consists very largely of decomposed vegetable matter 
 and becoming on cultivation, fine and homogeneous. It is 
 different from the partially-decomposed and coarse ma- 
 terial of the tule swamps. It occurs in deposits of vary- 
 ing thickness and sandwiched with layers of sediment or 
 clay, the peat layers being, however, connected through 
 the dense layers by openings through which the water 
 rises in springs and sub-irrigates the surface layer. This 
 surface is sometimes treacherous. Much of it will only 
 support horses when shod with plank and some can not 
 be traversed with animals and is worked by drawing tools 
 back and forth with cables from firm headlands on each 
 side. Still it is so productive of celery that even such 
 bottomless land has been rented as high as $20 per acre 
 per year. 
 
 The improvement of peat lands for celery has involved 
 problems of reclamation. First open ditches were resorted 
 to, but as the area of celery culture extended, under-drain- 
 age by tiles was undertaken. By this system the water 
 is absolutely under the control of the growers. When the 
 drains are opened the lands drain until the water is three 
 or four feet below the surface. When drains are closed 
 the water soon rises to the surface, giving a most effective 
 mode of irrigation for which water is pumped into the 
 tile ditches from shallow wells. 
 
 Although these peat lands are very rich at the begin- 
 ning, they soon invite fertilization. A special fertilizer 
 for celery on peat soils is suggested as follows : nitrogen, 
 2% ; potash, 10% ; available phosphoric acid, 5%. About 
 a ton of this mixture can be used to the acre. 
 
 Garden Culture. — Celery plants are grown in a seed- 
 bed for transplanting to permanent place. The seed is 
 very small and very slow of germination, and success de- 
 pends upon maintaining even moisture at the surface. For 
 starting plants in winter a hot-bed may be used, but high 
 heat is neither necessary nor desirable. A cold frame 
 
A CALIFORNIA CELERY FIELD. 
 
 247 
 
 with cloth cover would be better. But it is quite feasible 
 in coast valley situations to grow the plants in the open 
 air early enough in the spring to get the crop for the table 
 from November onward. Simple and correct suggestions 
 
 for garden culture are given by Mr. S. J. Murdock, of Or- 
 ange county, as follows : 
 
 It requires from three to four months from time of sow- 
 the seed till the plants are large enough to plant out. The 
 
248 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 warmer the weather the quicker the plants will grow, and 
 the warmer and drier the atmosphere is, the more water 
 the seed-bed will need. Select rich, friable soil and sow 
 the seed evenly and only moderately thick. Cover the seed 
 l)ut lightly, as they are very small, and firm the soil well. 
 Keep the soil or bed moist, not soaking wet, but never 
 dry, and have patience as they are slow to germinate. 
 Keep free from weeds and thin if too thick ; one plant to 
 the square inch is about right. When the plants get about 
 three inches high, clip the tops off, not too close, but 
 about half way, and continue to keep the bed moist, and 
 when about four inches high clip again, and they will be 
 ready to plant. 
 
 In about a week or ten days lift the plants with a shovel 
 or garden trowel so as not to disturb the fine roots more 
 than is necessary. Trim the main or taproot to two or 
 three inches and keep the roots moist until planted. Se- 
 lect a good, rich plat where water is handy, as the ground 
 should be as moist as possible to work, and draw shallow 
 furrows, say about four inches below the level, and put 
 the plants six inches apart in the row. I would prefer a 
 single row of sufficient length to two or more shorter ones. 
 
 Take a hard-wood peg, about one and a quarter inches 
 in diameter and six inches long; sharpen one end to make 
 the holes for the plants. Put the roots straight, and be 
 sure and firm the soil well around each plant. 
 
 Stir the ground around the plants and keep the soil 
 away instead of up to them till the plants get 12 or 14 in- 
 ches high, then work the soil to the plants (but only when 
 they are dry), and keep the roots moist. If in the interior 
 valleys, it is better to blanch it with boards than by bank- 
 ing with earth. Blanch by setting 12-in. boards on edge 
 on each side of the row and secure them with stakes stuck 
 in the ground and tied at the top, or some dirt thrown 
 against the bottom of the boards and the tops held to- 
 gether with notched strips. It requires from two to three 
 weeks to blanch the White Plume and longer for the green 
 sorts. One set of boards will blanch two or three lengths, 
 
FIELD CULTURE FOR CELERY. 249 
 
 as they can be moved along the row as the celery is used. 
 Never bank or board it when wet, and be sure to have both 
 bank and boards close enough at the top so that the leaves 
 will shed the rain to the outside. 
 
 Bleaching may be done in garden culture by the use of 
 drain tiles or by wrapping the plants in pieces of sack- 
 ing, or by boards on each side of the row of plants. Any 
 arrangement which excludes light and water from the 
 stems will accomplish the desired results. 
 
 Celery and Potatoes. — Sometimes an alternation of po- 
 tato and celery rows is favored. The potatoes are planted 
 in the winter months and they shade the young celery 
 plants when they are first planted, and when the celery 
 rows are split the operation banks the potatoes. This is 
 for moist land where banking of potatoes is desirable. 
 
 FIELD CULTURE. 
 
 Field culture of celery on the very friable peat lands 
 of Orange county has developed appliances and processes 
 which are very effective and satisfactory, and cheapen 
 production to an extent not attainable except on very 
 friable soils. Still the practices inculcate the ends to be 
 attained in all cases, though the means may differ. Mr. S. 
 J. Murdock has given a very explicit description of the 
 methods he has found most satisfactory in his experience, 
 from which the following is largely compiled. 
 
 The Seed-bed. — A seed-bed which is naturally moist or 
 which can be sub-irrigated is preferable, although the 
 raised bed with irrigation by seepage, or other arrange- 
 ment for maintaining moisture may be used. The soil 
 must be light and free from baking. The seed-bed should 
 be plowed by the middle of December and left rough for 
 the action of frosts and rain, and about two weeks before 
 sowing, harrow down and thoroughly hand rake. Let it 
 lie till seed-time, which is from March to June, as to sea- 
 son or as early or late planting is desired. The early-sown 
 seed requires longer time to make plants large enough for 
 planting, but if planted moderately thick and well cared 
 
250 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 for, makes strong, sturdy plants. At planting rake the 
 surface thoroughly again with a sharp, close-toothed rake 
 and either drill or sow seed broadcast. The drill is pre- 
 ferable but if broadcast lightly rake the seed in and either 
 roll or firm the soil thoroughly, as there is much seed lost 
 by neglecting this part. The seed-beds are generally made 
 from four to six feet wide, leaving room between each 
 bed to weed and clip them, which constitutes the after 
 care except to keep them moist. Keep as free from weeds 
 as possible, and when the plants get about three inches 
 high, clip the tops about half way down, and when they 
 get three or four inches high, if not ready to plant, clip 
 again, as the keeping of tops back makes the roots strong. 
 
 Planting in the Field. — The land should be thoroughly 
 cleaned of trash and given early and thorough prepara- 
 tion as will be described in the chapter on corn. In 
 Orange county planting in the early part of June brings 
 the crop for Thanksgiving and in July for the holidays 
 and later in the winter. Laying off for planting is done 
 by taking off all but the three inside discs of a disc har- 
 row, attaching a shovel plow in the middle and close be- 
 hind the harrow, and following this with a 5 or 6-foot 
 roller with a raised belt around the center, which runs in 
 the plow furrow and forms a compact trench about 6 
 inches deep. Four feet is the usual distance between the 
 trenches, and the plants are set 6 inches apart in the bot- 
 tom of the trench. 
 
 A full crew of planters is ten men ; one to lay out the 
 furrows, one spacer or marker, who has an implement 
 which makes from four to twelve holes at a time, depend- 
 ing on size of tool used. There are also four planters and 
 four plant pullers. It is the duty of the first man to draw 
 the furrows as straight and as near equi-distant as possi- 
 ble, give general supervision of the planting and see that 
 the pullers use judgment in preparing the plants. Unless 
 the plants have been recently clipped in the bed, both tops 
 and roots need clipping when pulled, so as to leave the 
 main or taproot about two and one-half or three inches 
 
HARVESTING CELERY. 
 
 251 
 
 long, and the tops clipped of the surplus leaves. They 
 are usually put in large-sized milk pans, the roots kept 
 wet and delivered to the planters in the pans. The spacer 
 
 
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 makes the holes for the plants just ahead of the planter. 
 Both the furrows and holes for plants should be freshly 
 made so as to have no dry dirt to hinder the planters, who 
 
252 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 should be careful and painstaking, as the plants need to 
 be put in the proper depth, the roots straight and the 
 soil well firmed around each plant and no unfilled space 
 beneath the plant to dry out. A crew should plant from 
 an acre to an acre and a half per day, according to the 
 condition of the land and the proper oversight of the 
 force. This mode of planting leaves the plants from four 
 to six inches below the general level. There are about 
 20,000 plants to the acre, of which perhaps one-tenth do 
 not reach maturity even under favorable conditions. 
 
 Crowding. — The next operation is called crowding, 
 which is done by a tool made as follows : Take a common 
 iron or steel cultivator, take the standards and shovels 
 off, then take two pieces of steel one-fourth of an inch 
 thick, six inches wide and four feet long. Sharpen one 
 edge of each piece and bolt to the outside frames of the 
 cultivator so that the tops of the steel bars are about even 
 with the top of the frame and on top of the rear half of 
 each, add eight or ten inches of heavy sheet iron. The 
 Front of these blades should be from five to six inches 
 apart and the rear about 30 inches. In a week or ten days 
 after planting, hitch two steady horses to this tool and 
 crowd the dirt away from each side of the rows. This 
 kills the new weeds just starting and covers up all in the 
 middle of the rows and leaves a ridge of loose soil. Fol- 
 low this by going over each row and filling in all the 
 missing plants with strong, vigorous ones and uncover an}^ 
 plants covered by clods or loose dirt ; then take a light, 
 narrow hoe and draw between each plant. When plants 
 get larger, work the soil back to them to prevent spread- 
 ing. Keep well tilled, and soil moist by irrigation if 
 necessary. 
 
 Bleaching. — There is some bleaching with boards set on 
 edge on each side of the rows secured by stakes made of 
 lath, stuck in the ground and tied together at the top, but 
 it is done mostly by banking the light, loose peat soil up 
 to the plants. This is done by a machine made the re- 
 verse of the crowded described for first use, and much 
 
MARKETING CELERY. 253 
 
 larger and heavier. It is used with wide end forward, 
 which draws and crowds the earth up to the plants. From 
 16 to 20 days will generally bleach the variety grown, the 
 White Plume, which is grown almost exclusively, not that 
 it is the best, but trade demands it and it is the easiest to 
 raise, as it requires less labor and is more easily bleached 
 than other sorts. 
 
 Harvesting. — The harvesting is done with a U-shaped 
 cutter attached to a suitable frame, drawn on each side 
 and under the rows of banked celery, cutting off the roots 
 and raising them in the loose soil. This is followed by 
 the trimmers, who lift the plants, trim off the outer stalk 
 and square the roots. It is now ready to tie in bunches 
 or crate. 
 
 Marketing. — Celery is shipped in crates, 22x24 in. base, 
 which holds six to eight dozen of celery, according to size. 
 An average crate will weigh about 145 pounds, and 160 
 crates make an average carload. Some eastern dealers 
 prefer the celery shipped in bulk or on decks built in the 
 car. This is a much cheaper way to ship, and is claimed 
 by some to be just as safe. In shipping in this way, three 
 decks are built in the car, and the celery is tied in bunches 
 of one dozen each and stood upright with roots resting on 
 the decks. By this method three or four hundred dozen 
 more celery can be packed in a ear. Celery is shipped to 
 all the principal cities of the United States and Canada, 
 and carries successfully. The marketing of the crop is 
 largely done by associations of growers. 
 
 Celery Blight. — Occasionally atmospheric condi'tions fa- 
 vor the growth of a leaf fungus known as celery blight, 
 and great losses have resulted in some years. Recent ex- 
 perience shows that the blight is subject to control by 
 spraying the plants with the Bordeaux mixture as soon 
 as signs of the incroachment of the disease appear, or 
 when weather conditions indicate the danger to be immi- 
 nent. Special publications on this subject can be had 
 from the University Experiment Station at Berkeley. 
 Varieties. — As already stated, the White Plume is the 
 
254 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 chief variety grown for shipment, and enterprising sales- 
 men have secnred improved sub-varieties by selection. 
 Self-blanehing is grown, and it is highly esteemed by 
 local gardeners. It will be well for home growers to try 
 also some of the higher quality varieties offered by the 
 seedsmen when they are ready to take particular pains 
 to grow them well. 
 
 CELERAIC. 
 
 The turnip-rooted celery is very desirable for cooking 
 and salad purposes. It is grown in nearly the same way 
 as ordinary celery, except that it is allowed to make free 
 top growth without blanching, as the root is the edible 
 part. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 CHICORY. 
 
 Large Rooted Chicory. — Ciclwrium Intyhus. 
 
 French, ehicoree sanvage ; German, cichorie ; Danish, 
 sichorie; Italian, cieoria ; Spanish, achicoria ; Portnguese, 
 chicoria. 
 
 The Endive. — Chicoria endivia. 
 
 French, ehicoree endive ; German, endivien ; Dntch, an- 
 dijvie ; Danish, endivien ; Italian, indivia ; Spanish, en- 
 divia. 
 
 The chicory plant cuts a very small figure at present in 
 the general gardening of Californians. The use of the 
 blanched leaves, forced in the dark from mature roots 
 bedded in sand, is confined to a few foreigners who know 
 the harhe-de-capucin of the French or the witloof of the 
 Germans. It is a delicious vegetable, either raw, boiled, 
 or as a salad. Nor are the leaves in their natural state 
 much used here for salad. Both of these uses of the plant 
 should be more widely known in California, for the culti- 
 vated growth of the roots in this State is very fine, and 
 for running wild, as an escape from flower garden culture, 
 it might be denounced as a vile weed were not its large 
 blue flowers so beautiful upon the yellow of our dry sum- 
 mer fields and roadsides. 
 
 Viewing the plant as yielding a root rather than a foli- 
 age crop, it is of much importance in this State. The root, 
 sliced, dried, roasted and coarsely ground, is the "chic- 
 ory" of commerce — the adulterant of coffee which nearly 
 every one denounces in theory and enjoys in practice ; for 
 the occurrence of absolutely pure coffee is so restricted 
 that it often, at first, offends the palate of the unaccustom- 
 
256 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 ed drinker. California chicory growers have for years 
 contested the American markets with German chicory, 
 and a very capacious factory has been in operation near 
 Stockton for the last 35 years, and formerly there was 
 another near Sacramento. The vicissitudes of tariff legis- 
 lation during this period have made the business uncer- 
 tain, sometimes very profitable, sometimes not, according 
 as the German product entered free or paid duty. If the 
 tariff would maintain a favorable attitude, California 
 could furnish cheap coffee for the whole country and beet- 
 sugar for its sweetening besides. During the last few 
 years, however, the business has been reduced in Califor- 
 nia by the overflow of the lands used but may be expected 
 to reassert itself. For the home-grower of coffee counter- 
 feits, the chicory plant offers a better material than the 
 "coffee bean" and other substitutes which are offered. 
 The growth of the plant and its preparation for the break- 
 fast table are quite simple. 
 
 Chicory grows to perfection on light sedimentary soils 
 which afford the root opportunity for expansion, and re- 
 tain moisture enough for its thrift during the long, dry 
 summer. The plant is hardy and the seed is usually sown 
 in February. The preparation of the soil, sowing, thin- 
 ning, weeding and cultivation, are identical with the same 
 operations for the sugar beet already described. The ex- 
 pense with chicory is, at present at least, considerably 
 greater than with the beet, because the moist land which 
 is used gives more persistent weed growth and occasions 
 an amount of hard work which is appalling to an observer. 
 The crop partly compensates for this outlay, because the 
 value per ton is twice as great a.s the sugar beet, and the 
 crop is not enough less in weight to equalize things. The 
 average crop on Roberts island, near Stockton, in favor- 
 able years is about ten tons to the acre, though some years 
 the average will go to 12 and the best crops to 15 tons per 
 acre. The factory price for the fresh root has usually been 
 $10 per ton. The cost of growing, including rent, ranges 
 from $50 to $80 per acre. The soil on Roberts island is a 
 
THE ENDIVE. 257 
 
 mixture of sediment and peat — deep, rich, light and moist ; 
 most admirably adapted to the root. 
 
 Harvesting and Curing. — From seed sown in February, 
 harvesting continues from the middle of August to the 
 middle of October. Early gathering is necessary, as sun- 
 dried chicory is better than that cured by artificial heat. 
 When ready for gathering a plow is run along each side 
 of the plants with subsoil cutter and lifter attached, which 
 loosens the roots so that they can be easily lifted from the 
 soil by the hand clean and ready for the cutting machine. 
 This operation is like the gathering of sugar beets, and 
 the topping or removal of the leaves is the same. 
 
 "When they reach the factory the roots are placed in the 
 machine, which cuts them into cubic blocks three-fourths 
 of an inch in size. The drying platform comes in use next, 
 and when the chicory has been dried as far as sun power 
 will dry it, it is placed in the roasters, each holding two 
 barrels, where it is roasted as coffee is before being ground. 
 From the roasters it goes to the mill, where it is ground 
 put in barrels, and thus becomes the chicory of commerce. 
 
 The preparation of chicory for home use is a very simple 
 operation and can be done with ordinary kitchen appli- 
 ances. 
 
 The variety grown is the "large-rooted Magdeburg," 
 with leaves entire and upright. 
 
 THE ENDIVE. 
 
 Though botanically a chicory, the endive in its uses is 
 closely allied with lettuce and is chiefly useful during the 
 frosty period of the year, for then its flavor is likely to 
 be better than that of lettuce, because it is able to grow 
 more rapidly with low temperatures. As, however, there 
 is so much of California which does favor rapid winter 
 growth of lettuce the endive is correspondingly restricted. 
 Still in localities with heavy rainfall and long stretches of 
 chilly winter weather, the endive will give good supplies 
 of salad material and should be better known. It is also 
 valuable as a boiled vegetable possessing a distinctive 
 
258 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 flavor which is generally acceptable and used in this lat- 
 ter form it is quite a valuable addition to such plants as 
 Swiss Chard and Spinach. 
 
 As a salad plant the value of endive depends largely 
 upon its being properly grown and thoroughly well 
 blanched. Blanching induces delicacy and tenderness of 
 eating and can probably be best effected by bunching up 
 the leaves and tying with string or raffia, or by spreading 
 hay or straw thickly over the plants. Some care must be 
 given to the proper blanching of the plants, for unless this 
 is successfully accomplished endive is not likely to be 
 appreciated. 
 
 The plant is easy of culture, the methods being essenti- 
 ally those described for lettuce, but chiefly sown in sum- 
 mer and early fall for use in the rainy season. The follow- 
 ing varieties most largely used in California : 
 
 Green curled : very curly, midrib whitish, leaves finely 
 divided. 
 
 White curled: yellowish green, very curly and attrac- 
 tive looking. 
 
 Escarole or Batavian : leaves wider and thicker, dull 
 green, a good variety for boiling. 
 
 Staghorn : strong-growing, leaves curly but less finely 
 divided and thicker, also good for cooking. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 CORN. 
 
 Sweet Corn. — Zea mays. 
 
 French, mais sucre ; German, mais ; Dutch, Turksche 
 tarwe; Italian, grano turco; Spanish, maiz; Portuguese, 
 milho. 
 
 California cannot claim to be a large producer of corn, 
 though it does grow large corn and has a long green corn 
 season. Of the summer grains corn is produced in least 
 amount, because the others can make winter growth and 
 corn cannot, and they mature at about the time when corn 
 can be safely planted. They pass the dry season in the 
 sack while corn has to endure it in the field and does not 
 take kindly to it. Dry heat puts it in distress which irri- 
 gation does not wholly relieve. In the place of corn on the 
 interior plains improved varieties of sorghum are now 
 largely grown both for the grain and the forage. 
 
 But while this is true there are regions in which mag- 
 nificent corn is grown. These are usually moist lowlands 
 from the valleys north of the bay of San Francisco south- 
 ward to San Diego ; near enough to the coast to catch 
 something of atmospheric humidity from the ocean, and 
 still with summer heat enough to suit this warmth-loving 
 plant. There are also great corn lands in the river bot- 
 toms of the interior valley, where the drought is less than 
 on the plains, and in the low moist lands of the foot-hill 
 and mountain valleys as well. In all these places and 
 where similar conditions are produced by irrigation, corn 
 reaches great dimensions. 
 
 Of course, corn as a vegetable is somewhat different 
 from corn as a grain. So also is corn as a green forage 
 plant. For "roasting ears" and for green forage, ripen- 
 
Ii60 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 ing conditions are not essential, and for these purposes the 
 plant can be carried nearer to the coast than for a grain 
 crop, and in the warmer regions it can be planted late for 
 a longer succession than for grain if moisture enough is 
 provided. It is not uncommon, therefore, in the interior 
 to have good roasting ears at Thanksgiving or even in De- 
 cember at elevations or in other places where early frosts 
 are seldom known. Thus corn as a vegetable in California 
 is a greater affair than corn as a grain. It would have 
 even a greater value as a garden plant were it not for the 
 ravages of the ear-worm, which so far defies insecticides 
 and which takes its full share of the crop at the times 
 when its appetite is good. It is usually the early corn 
 which suffers most from this pest. 
 
 Soil. — The requirements of Indian corn are so Avidely 
 known that it will hardly be necessary to enter minutely 
 into them. The soil should be preferably a rich, sandy 
 loam, sufficiently retentive of moisture and yet easy to 
 keep in fine tilth. Satisfactory results can, however, be 
 secured on quite a variety of soils if warmth and moisture 
 can be assured. In the heavier soils there is much advant- 
 age in plowing under the disintegrated roots of previous 
 growths of weeds or crop-plants and the best corn often 
 comes here as elsewhere on newly-broken land. 
 
 Preparation for Corn. — As the corn plants resent drouth 
 so strenuously it is very important that preparation of 
 the land should include efforts for thorough moistening 
 of the land by rainfall or irrigation, followed by surface 
 treatment to prevent evaporation. All that has been 
 urged in these directions in the chapter on cultivation has 
 especial pertinence in preparation for the corn crop. It 
 is vain to expect to succeed by shallow cultivation except 
 where the land is natirually sub-irrigated, and even on 
 such land there must be deep working enough to place the 
 seed below the dry surface layer. Slack preparation on 
 lands which naturally dry out in the summer assures 
 failure and disapptointment. 
 
 Planting. — Corn is a very tender plant and must be 
 
METHODS OF GROWING CORN. 
 
 261 
 
 planted not only after frosts are over, but after the soil has 
 become well warmed and warmth may be expected to con- 
 tinue. The date of planting must be determined by the 
 
 fT''^i: 
 
 local attainment of these conditions. From this time on- 
 ward through the summer, planting may be done if 
 moisture enough can be retained in the soil. For this 
 
262 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 reason, on moist or irrigated land, corn is planted after 
 winter-growing crops are cleared away, and large yields 
 are secured. Near the coast where the corn plant is con- 
 stantly refreshed by ocean moisture in the air, it will 
 make good green growth with what remains from winter 
 rainfall on land from which a crop of beets or carrots, 
 sown the previous season, has been cleared away. In such 
 rotation the land should be plowed as early as possible 
 after the roots have been taken off, to keep down the 
 growth of grass and weeds and retain moisture till the 
 proper time for planting corn, which will depend a good 
 deal on the wetness or dryness of the season. The earli- 
 ness of the first planting will depend mainly on the fitness 
 of the land and the situation, but for early use, some early 
 variety of sweet corn should be planted as soon as circum- 
 stances are favorable for doing so, to be followed by sev- 
 eral successive planting, say, through May and June, and 
 even into July. 
 
 Growers differ as to the advantages of growing in hills 
 or in rows. Hills give opportunity to cultivate in two 
 directions with the horse. Rows have a tendency to check 
 the draft of dry winds when the rows run at right angles 
 to their anticipated direction. The general course of dry, 
 hot summer winds is from north to south (except where 
 given a different trend by local topography), consequently 
 east and west rows oppose them and in some measure 
 shade the soil and the plant better from sun heat. But 
 when prevailing practice shows that the ground in the row 
 usually goes untouched by tools and consequently becomes 
 hard and dry, it is quite a question whether the separa- 
 tion of the plants into hills for free cultivation both ways 
 is not on the whole much the better method. But choice 
 may be governed by local conditions. 
 
 Distance in corn planting depends upon the habit of 
 growth of the variety. Small early kinds may be planted 
 in hills three feet apart each way or in rows three feet 
 apart, but larger kinds may need wider spacing, even up 
 to five feet. Seed should always be planted in excess; 
 
GARDEN CORN. 263 
 
 five or six kernels in the hill, to be thinned to the three 
 or four strongest plants, four inches apart in the row, to 
 be thinned to eight or ten inches, according to size and 
 variety. 
 
 For laying off hills in straight lines after plowing and 
 harrowing, a marker should be used both ways and the 
 corn planted at the intersections of the lines either with 
 the hoe or the hand corn planter. For planting in rows 
 the drill attachment or hand dropping in the furrow is 
 used, followed by the harrow. 
 
 Depth of planting depends upon the soil and the situa- 
 tion for the reasons given in the chapter on propagation. 
 On very light soils in a dry region very deep covering is 
 admissible because the few inches at the surface count for 
 nothing, but on heavier soils in good moisture, and espe- 
 cially early in the season, shallow covering is preferable. 
 
 For succession there should be planting done in the 
 garden every two weeks during the local season. 
 
 Cultivation. — If deep working of the soil is the founda- 
 tion of a corn crop, as stated, frequent summer cultivation 
 is the building itself. If the ground is well laid off, the 
 cultivator can be used to advantage even before the corn 
 shows up to destroy weeds and loosen the surface. After- 
 ward the cultivator should be run at very short intervals, 
 for the hot dry season is always right at the heels of the 
 corn planter and should never be allowed to catch up 
 with it. Some of the finest corn we ever saw was grown 
 in Orange county in this way : The land was plowed four 
 times, irrigated twice, hoed twice, and cultivated and 
 worked in a most thorough manner. In the Avhole process 
 of raising the corn the grower went over the land no less 
 than sixteen times. It is hardly to be expected that such 
 diligence will be general, but it has to be recognized as 
 the price of the best results. 
 
 Garden Com. — Every one wants early corn, and the 
 early varieties are about the only kinds that can be grown 
 on some uplands without irrigation. They are small in 
 growth, rapid in ear and best wherever the season is 
 
264 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 shortened either by lack of moisture or heat. Some later 
 varieties are sweeter, however, and larger in the ear, and 
 should be grown wherever possible. 
 
 Adam's Early: hardy and very early, but not a "sweet 
 corn." 
 
 Early Cory : very early, good-sized ear, small cob well 
 filled. 
 
 Crosby's Early Sugar: very early, short ear, sweet and 
 productive. 
 
 Early Minnesota : very early, good ear, white cob, ex- 
 cellent quality. 
 
 Early Mammoth : medium early, largest ears of the 
 early verieties, cob white, large and well filled, productive 
 and of good flavor. The kind chiefly grown in California. 
 
 Perry's Hybrid: another early variety, ears large and 
 full, grain white, cob red, plant rather tall. 
 
 Black Mexican : ears rather short, cook white, very 
 sweet, ripe kernel black. 
 
 Country Gentleman : large ears, very sweet, tall, very 
 productive. 
 
 Stowell 's Evergreen : a standard late variety, com- 
 mended by all, large ears, deep grain, tender and sweet, a 
 strong grower and productive. 
 
 Sweet corn is constantly increasing in popularity over 
 common field corn both for green and cured forage for 
 cows. Late Mammonth and Stowell's Everygreen are 
 largely used for this purpose. In farm garden practice 
 more attention should usually be paid to the forage value 
 of the stalk. If cut and cured as each stalk is robbed of 
 its ears, it is more nutritious than if allowed to bleach iv 
 the sun until the whole field is cleaned up. 
 
 Field and Ensilage Corn. — During the last decade siloef 
 have multiplied in various parts of the State and a much 
 greater acreage of field corn has been grown than for- 
 merly. It is chiefly grown in rows and somewhat less 
 carefully than corn for grain, because the plant is not re- 
 quired to meet the strenuous requirements of grain ripen- 
 ing. Still the better the growing the better the crop. A 
 
FIELD AND ENSILAGE CORN. 265 
 
 hardy, vigorous, tall growth is important for silo hlliug. 
 Varieties chiefly grown are the Learning, which well meets 
 these points and is the most popular of the yellow varie- 
 ties in California, and Sanford White Flint, which holds 
 about the same place among white sorts. The Red Cob 
 Ensilage is a strong growing, short jointed and leafy 
 variety especially selected for silo purposes. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 THE CUCUMBER. 
 
 Cucumber. — (Jucu mis sativus. 
 
 French, concombre ; German, gurke ; Dutch, komkom- 
 mer; Danish, agurken ; Italian, cetriolo; Spanish, cohom- 
 bro ; Portuguese, pepino. 
 
 The cucumber is rather an exacting phuit and seldom 
 yields anything but disappointment to the grower who 
 does not give it the most watchful care and generous sup- 
 plies of food and drink. It is very sensitive to frosts, nor 
 does it thrive in low temperatures even if free from frost. 
 It rejoices in heat, but it abhors drouth. It is not eon- 
 tent, like some members of its botanical famil^y, to thrive 
 in dry heat if it can find moisture below ; the heat re- 
 flected from a dry surface and interior sunshine beaming 
 through dry air brings distress to its foliage. For these 
 reasons it usually resents location on interior plains un- 
 less it can have abundant moisture and some protection 
 from heat — such at least as locally may come from modi- 
 fying the air immediatelj'- around it, by evaporation from 
 water standing near. Modified interior conditions such as 
 are found on river-side land or moist lowlands often yield 
 fine growth and productiveness, but even there it is often 
 necessary to keep the moisture close to the plant by irri- 
 gation. In coast valleys where heat and moisture are well 
 balanced and on soil rich and moist by cultivation the 
 plant may be productive enough without irrigation, 
 but as a rule even in parts of coast valleys where the heat 
 runs high, as ocean influences are reduced, not only is 
 occasional irrigation needed but constant supplies are the 
 price of thrift in the plant. For these reasons the placing 
 of cucumbers along the main ditches where water fre- 
 
CUCUMBER CONDITIONS. 267 
 
 quently or always flows, or the use of a raised bed with 
 water flowing on the ridge, is the surest way to make the 
 plants satisfactory and prolific where the heat runs high. 
 And yet, as stated, there are considerable areas in difi'er- 
 ent parts of the State where conditions are so favorable 
 that field growth of cucumbers for the market and for 
 the pickle factories, is feasible without irrigation. There 
 are moist lowlands, rich and warm, where the foliage does 
 not show burnt edges and where the free growth of vine 
 is marvelous to one who has tried to push the plant in 
 places too trying for it. It is also possible in frostless 
 regions where heat comes early in the spring, to find con- 
 ditions for an early crop which is disposed of before try- 
 ing summer conditions come on. Early spring conditions 
 in California are widely favorable to the plant did not 
 the frost factor intrude. Autumn growing is also practi- 
 cable where moisture is adequate, for then heat and 
 drouth are modified. Cucumbers from the open ground at 
 Thanksgiving or later are common in some regions. 
 
 Soil. — Cucumbers require a rich soil, and it must be re- 
 tentive of moisture, for the reasons stated, unless water 
 is to be constantly supplied. A rather light soil which 
 warms up early is preferable, but heavy soil can be 
 readily adapted to cucumbers on a small scale by free use 
 of well-rotted manure thoroughly mixed. A free loam, 
 not disposed to bake, is the best soil. 
 
 Preparation of Soil. — Land from which a well cultivated 
 root crop has been removed for winter use can be easily 
 put into condition for cucumbers by good deep spring 
 plowing and harrowing, to retain moisture. New land 
 should receive such fall and winter treatment as has been 
 prescribed for bean planting, so as to secure in spring as 
 good tilth and moisture retention as possible. 
 
 Planting and Cultivation. — Cucumbers are usually 
 grown in hills, from four to six feet apart each way. 
 Planting should not be done until the soil becomes Avarm 
 and frost injury is over ; then planting five or six seeds in 
 a hill, covering as lightly as can be trusted to retain 
 
268 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 moisture until the plants take hold. As soon as the plants 
 appear, cultivation must begin, using the horse between 
 the rows and the hoe around the plants. The surface 
 must be kept mellow and free from weeds. If the plants 
 all grow, select the best two or three and pull out the 
 others. Continue cultivation as long as it is possible to 
 stir the soil without injuring the vines. 
 
 Gathering. — Frequent gathering of the cucumbers as 
 they reach satisfactory size is essential to the long bear- 
 ing of the vines. None should be allowed to ripen except 
 on vines planted for that purpose, and all imperfect speci- 
 mens should be taken off as soon as seen. 
 
 Cucumbers Under Cover. — Very little is done in Cali- 
 fornia in house-growing of cucumbers, although this in- 
 terest is increasing. A little forcing is done by market 
 gardeners, but the business is risky because of the slight 
 demand and the fact that open-air cucumbers from early 
 regions come so soon after the late crop from frostless 
 places is disposed of. It is quite common to start plants 
 under cover, and plant out early even at risk of replant- 
 ing. Growers usually keep a stock of plants ready for this 
 purpose. 
 
 Garden Culture of Cucumbers. — In the garden very 
 elaborate arrangements may be made to secure early 
 cucumbers. Growing the plants on inverted sod and 
 planting out as a whole hill, as described in the chapter 
 on propagation, is satisfactory. Planting on the sides of 
 ditches has already been mentioned. Growing hills or 
 single plants in tin cans or other receptacles and pro- 
 tecting them until safe to plant out is also an easy way to 
 get an earlier crop than otherwise. Some use is made 
 of deep holes partly filled with tramped horse manure 
 and then with earth, and growing plants on top of the hill 
 thus formed, protected with glass or cloth. With such 
 arrangements double care must be had to supply enough 
 water. The south side of a fence or building is a good 
 place for fast spring growth. In short, moderate heat, 
 copious watering and rich soil are the secrets of good 
 
VARIETIES OF CUCUMBERS. 269 
 
 cucumbers, and there is much chance for ingenuity in 
 securing these conditions. 
 
 For Pickling. — Cucumbers for pickling are largely 
 grown in the early autumn for midsummer planting. As 
 stated before, where irrigation can be had, autumn tem- 
 peratures are often very favorable for the plant. 
 
 Varieties. — Although our fairs and local produce ex- 
 hibits may be counted upon to bring to view almost every 
 shape and length of cucumber which amateurs delight in, 
 very few kinds constitute the crop grown for use and sale. 
 
 Arlington White Spine : good size, straight and sym- 
 metrical, holds green color well, very productive and 
 early ; used both for market and pickling. 
 
 Long White Spine : a standard mid-season variety, large, 
 dark green, tender, white crisp flesh. 
 
 Klondike : similar to Long White Spine, specially fa- 
 vored by southern California market growers. 
 
 Long Green : an old standard late variety ; dark green ; 
 firm and crisp ; good form ; a favorite for pickling. 
 
 Green Prolific or Boston Pickling : early and productive ; 
 small size ; crisp and tender ; popular for pickling. 
 
 Pera : long, smooth skin, good green color, and flesh 
 white and crisp ; flavor excellent ; seed cavity small ; rather 
 late. 
 
 Cumberland : hardy, vigorous and prolific ; very de- 
 sirable for pickling because very good in all sizes. 
 
 Chicago Pickling : medium long, dark green, rounded 
 ends ; a popular pickling variety. 
 
 Cool and Crisp ; especially favored as a garden variety ; 
 green but ripening white. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 EGG PLANT. 
 
 Egg Plant. — Solanum melongena. 
 
 French, aubergine ; German, eierpflanze ; Flemish, eier- 
 plant; Italian, petonciano ; Spanish, berengena; Portu- 
 guese, bringela. 
 
 Egg plant is one of the great vegetables in California; 
 it is great in the size and quality, which are easily at- 
 tained, and great in its popularity. It is doubtful whether 
 any part of the world makes such free use of the plant, 
 and enjoys it through so long a season. Although the 
 plant is properly classed as tender, and is somewhat ex- 
 acting in the starting of the seed and in transplanting, it 
 grows riotously when well established in a favorable loca- 
 tion and soil, fruits freely and continuously, and it is not 
 unusual to find at California fairs specimens of six pounds 
 weight, while fruit of two and three pounds constitute 
 common stock with the vegetable peddlers. 
 
 Location and Soil. — Egg plant can be successfully grown 
 almost everywhere in California, but there will naturally 
 be much variation in its season, according to the local 
 occurrence of the frost-free period. In the frostless belts, 
 described in previous chapters, it is feasible to start the 
 plants in the autumn and secure a very early crop ; in 
 most places, however, the plants can best be grown with 
 bottom heat in the winter, and fruiting secured all 
 through the summer and fall, if the nights are rather 
 warm and the heat not too fitful. 
 
 As the plant will endure very high heat if well supplied 
 with moisture, and as it resists drought, when well estab- 
 lished, it is well adapted to interior conditions. It suc- 
 ceeds admirably in the interior bottom lands if water is 
 
GROWING EGG PLANTS. 27L 
 
 not excessive, and is perfectly at home as well in the coast 
 regions, both valley and uplands, if adequately watered. 
 It is not very exacting in soil character, and can be safely 
 undertaken on any good garden land if well cultivated 
 and manured, for the plant is a strong feeder and should 
 grow fast and regularly. 
 
 Growing the Plants. — Egg plants can be easily grown 
 from seed by the use of seed boxes, with bottom heat or 
 in an ordinary hot-bed, all of which are described in the 
 chapter on propagation. The seed should be covered 
 about half an inch. Extra regard must be had for main- 
 taining a uniform and rather high temperature for the 
 starting and early growth of the seedlings, as the seed 
 germinates slowly and needs encouraging conditions. 
 Transplanting the seedlings twice before planting out 
 renders them more stocky. Planting out should only be 
 done when the soil is warm and in good condition, for it is 
 necessary that the seedlings should quickly take hold and 
 proceed vigorously afterwards. Plants may be grown 
 from two and a half to three feet apart each way. 
 
 After Treatment.— The best of cultivation must be given 
 to prevent any check or setback in the growth of the 
 plants. Irrigation must be used as necessary to advance 
 this result. It is desirable that the plant should be pre- 
 vented from setting too many fruits and pinching off the 
 terminals to prevent too great running out is often ad- 
 visable. 
 
 Varieties. — The New York Improved Purple is the fa- 
 vorite variety and is chiefly grown. Black Beauty, a deep 
 purple, a little earlier but usually not quite so large is also 
 popular. Other sorts, though much less popular, are the 
 Early Long Purple and the Black Pekin. The White Pearl 
 is the best of the whites which are, however, in less de- 
 mand. The Tree Egg Plant is hardy, upright and escapes 
 some ills of lower growing varieties in bad weather. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 LETTUCE. 
 
 Cabbage Lettuce. — Lacluca capitata. 
 
 French, laitues pommees; German, kopfsalat; Dutch, 
 kropsalad ; Italian, lattuga a cappucio ; Spanish, lechiiga 
 acogollada ; Portuguese, alface repolhada. 
 
 Cos Lettuce. — Ide7n. 
 
 French, laitues romaines ; German, bind-salat ; Dutch, 
 roomsche latouw ; Italian, lattuga romana ; Spanish, lech- 
 uga romana ; Portuguese, alface romana. 
 
 Lettuce is emphatically a satisfactory garden plant in 
 California. It is unaffected by the ordinary winter tem- 
 peratures of our valleys and foothills, and it endures the 
 heat, if moisture is adequate, with only slight protection 
 from the burning sun. It withers and dies or it becomes 
 tough and worthless, in the face of drought, it is true, but 
 any gardener who does not arrange better for its growth 
 does not deserve to enjoy its refreshing crispness. Who- 
 ever will provide the simplest arrangement to relieve its 
 roots from cold, standing water in winter, or who will keep 
 its roots moist and afford slight shade for its tender leaves 
 from the interior heat in summer, need never miss a day 
 of lettuce-gathering. And even these slight aids from the 
 grower are not needed everywhere. In regions naturally 
 moderate, both in moisture and heat, and with a few weeks 
 of watering in midsummer, succession of lettuce is un- 
 broken throughout the year on any good garden soil which 
 is well cultivated. There is little lettuce forcing in Cali- 
 fornia, and, of course, with such natural conditions, there 
 is small need of any, and yet during recent years, owing 
 to the constant demand for lettuce all the year, because of 
 the increased importance of salads in the menu, there has 
 
LETTUCE ALL THE YEAR. 273 
 
 arisen new opportunity for forcing and shipment of let- 
 tuce considerable distances by rail has advanced notably 
 during the last decade. In central California cities dur- 
 ing the season of heaviest rains it is hard to get bright, 
 clean lettuces from local market gardens and much is 
 brought from the Los Angeles district where there is less 
 rain and more winter sunshine. It is to be expected that 
 as population increases there will be a better opportunity 
 for local forcing enterprises which can be conducted with 
 slight structures and a minimum of artificial heat. 
 
 Culture. — Lettuce can be sown on moist ground the year 
 round. It is exceedingly rapid in development, and can be 
 grown as a catch crop among slower growing vegetables 
 at all times of the year. It starts readily from the seed, 
 and the most common practice is to sow a thin drill of it 
 here or there, as interspace is to be for a short time un- 
 occupied, thinning the plants at the first weeding and al- 
 lowing them to head in the thinned row. This is the 
 simplest practice, and will be most generally followed in 
 the farm garden. And yet it is so easy to imitate the mar- 
 ket gardeners and put in transplanted lettuces here and 
 there, wherever an unoccupied corner appears, that this 
 practice must be urged even for the simplest gardening — 
 provided that the plants are not tucked in in such a way 
 that hand-work is required where the horse should do it. 
 
 Wherever a winter or early spring vegetable is cleared 
 away a due share of lettuce should go in. Wherever a 
 summer vegetable yields the ground, the soil should be 
 well soaked and cultivated and the lettuce should not be 
 overlooked. As soon as the fall rains sufficiently wet the 
 ground, lettuce should be among the first sowings. And 
 before the winter comes on, with its heavy rains, a warm 
 ridge or raised bed should have its lettuce covering under- 
 way so that midwinter shall not lack its supply of salad. 
 And in February, as the ground is again suited for flat 
 culture, new sowings of lettuce should be among the first 
 things done. Thus it is seen that lettuce is to be sown all 
 the year and plucked all the year in California. 
 
274 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 It is not necessary, perhaps, to sow lettuce so often if 
 seed beds are prepared so that they will readily drain 
 away winter water and have slight protection from cold 
 winds in the winter and burning sun in summer. From 
 these beds plants can be taken at different times as land 
 is available for planting out, just as cabbages are trans- 
 planted, and even though the plants have attained con- 
 siderable size in the seed-bed, the long roots can be short- 
 ened a little and they can still be transplanted to good 
 moist soil, and will go on with the heading all the better 
 for the freer space. It may be quicker to get lettuce with 
 the loose-leaved plants, but the heads are more delicious, 
 and all should learn to keep the plants in good thrift un- 
 til they become full and solid Mnth their crisp and delici- 
 ous contents. Seed-beds should not have much heating 
 material in this climate. It is better for the plants to grow 
 slowly at first, and after the rains a raised bed with enough 
 fibrous material and well-spent manure will furnish a long 
 succession for transplanting. But whether the ordinary 
 grower will undertake this work or not, let him have let- 
 tuce anyway — -even if he will only scatter seed at frequent 
 intervals on moist ground and then give the plants good 
 hoeing. To get crisp, tender lettuce the plants must be 
 pushed along with rich soil and good cultivation whatever 
 method of growing is pursued. 
 
 In the hot parts of the State, where the summer tries 
 the plants, lettuce should be planted on the shady side of 
 tall growing vegetables, and then, with moisture enough, 
 they will do well. Lath screens or other devices are, of 
 course, serviceable if one prefers them. But do not be 
 content with a little lettuce in the spring and go without 
 the rest of the year. It only requires a little ingenuity 
 and energy and water to have crisp, cooling salad all sum- 
 mer, when it is most delicious and wholesome. 
 
 Varieties. — There is almost illimital)le variety in lettuce, 
 and inextricable confusion in the nomenclature resulting 
 from re-naming by seedsmen and others. As with other 
 plants, however, a few varieties constitute the bulk of the 
 
VARIETIES OP LETTUCE. 275 
 
 California lettuce product. It is customary to arrange 
 lettuce varieties in two groups; one has roundish heads 
 and includes the "cabbage" varieties; the other has tall, 
 elongated heads and includes the "cos" varieties. There 
 is, of course, much difference in the density of the heads, 
 and some are quite loose and open, properly called "bunch- 
 ing," but the close-heading varieties are better and the 
 more suitable for market handling. In California the cab- 
 bage varieties vary largely preponderate over the cos 
 varieties, and the non-heading or "cutting lettuces," or 
 curled varieties, are not widely grown, though they may 
 be found useful in getting the quickest foliage from the 
 seed sowing. It should be noted that compared with the 
 cabbage type, the cos lettuce is hardier and less suscep- 
 tible to frost ; it also shows more ability to withstand 
 drought and is also less liable to sunburn, the last two 
 features making it better adapted to hot and dry locali- 
 ties, while the first is one which especially recommends its 
 use as a late kind. 
 
 Large Passion : medium sized, round head, fine, large, 
 solid, and white, crisp, tender, and of fine flavor; not as 
 fine in appearance as some others, but it stands handling 
 better, and is very good for shipping. 
 
 Royal Summer : known in the East as California Cream 
 butter, large, solid, round heads, light green outside, 
 creamy yellow within ; stands heat well, particularly 
 popular for autumn and winter use. 
 
 Maximum or Immensity : very much larger than the fore- 
 going which it resembles ; good for fall and winter growth 
 and a heavy, durable shipping variety. 
 
 Big Boston : a light green cabbage variety with light 
 brown tinge to the leaves ; largely grown in the south for 
 northern shipments ; forms a fine head, endures tempera- 
 ture changes well. 
 
 May King : a very early, quick heading variety, colored 
 like Big Boston ; good for spring and summer use. 
 
 White Paris Cos : upright grower, with long head ; needs 
 
276 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES, 
 
 tying up for blanching; tender and crisp, a favorite with 
 foreign residents. 
 
 Improved Hanson : heads round, very solid and large, 
 green outside and white within ; flavor fine ; stands heat 
 well ; very popular for house gardens. » 
 
 Prize Head : an early variety with large, loose bunch, re- 
 mains tender and crisp through long season ; flavor ex- 
 cellent; very easily grown. 
 
 Denver Market : early, tight, conical head ; light green, 
 leaves curled and crimped; crisp and tender; very slow 
 to go to seed. 
 
 New York Head : immense round head ; outer leaves 
 dark ; head white, crisp, and good flavor ; popular in south- 
 ern California. 
 
 Black-seeded Simpson : a non-heading variety, leaves al- 
 most white and very large ; stands heat well. 
 
 Of these varieties the first two named have been the 
 main dependence of San Francisco market gardeners for 
 years. The Hanson and Prize Head are more used by 
 home gardeners. New York Head has become widely 
 popular as "Los Angeles Lettuce," and is a favorite in 
 the trade. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 MELONS. 
 
 The Cantaloup or Muskmelon. — Cucumis molo,. 
 
 French, melon ; German, melone ; Dutch, meloen ; Italian, 
 popone ; Spanish, melon ; Portuguese, melao. 
 
 The Watermelon. — Citrullus vulgaris. 
 
 French, melon d'eau; German, wasser-melone ; Italian, 
 cocomero ; Spanish, sandia ; Portuguese, melamia. 
 
 From the manner in which they are eaten melons should 
 be classed with fruits ; from the manner in which they are 
 grown they are more closely related to vegetables. Their 
 nearest botanical relatives, also, are of the vegetable class. 
 They evidently cannot be excluded from this work be- 
 cause of their aspiration to rank with the fruits. 
 
 California is characteristically great for melons ; not 
 only- for their great size and excellence, but for the long 
 season during which they are available for table use. 
 Their delight in interior heat, their tolerance of drought, 
 their immense size, when both heat and moisture combine 
 for their advancement, constitute exceptional adaptations 
 for semi-tropical climates, in which they have been famous 
 from the earliest times. California answers their needs to 
 the fullest degree, and they have .naturally attained great 
 local esteem and poi:>ularity. Recently the California can- 
 taloup has figured largely in the overland trade. 
 
 THE MUSKMELON. 
 
 In the United States the terms "muskmelon" and "can- 
 taloup" are interchangeable, and in California cantaloup 
 is given the preference. Of the many types of cantaloups 
 which have been defined by students of melon classifica- 
 tion a single one, known as the Rocky Ford, from the 
 place of its large commercial development in Colorado, 
 
278 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 dominates all others, commanding nearly all the acreage 
 and constituting almost exclusively the commercial pro- 
 duction except that which is especially grown for local 
 markets. 
 
 The muskmelon has a very wide range in California. It 
 has greater taste for dry heat than its relative, the cucum- 
 ber, but in this respect it is no rival of the watermelon, for 
 it will perish utterly under drought which the watermelon 
 will survive. Where the muskmelon has both heat and 
 moisture, it grown riotously, for a weight of 72 pounds 
 has been reported from Fresno. But the muskmelon will 
 not brook frost, nor will it thrive with low temperatures 
 even if they are considerably above freezing. California 
 has, however, such a long frost-free period and as degrees 
 of favoring heat arrive in different months in different 
 parts of the State, there is wide divergence in dates of 
 planting and of ripening of the crop. The earliest canta- 
 loup district is the Coachella and Imperial valleys in the 
 extreme southeast corner of the State. Planting is done 
 in February and the crop shipment begins in IMay and 
 reaches the Eastern markets in advance of the product of 
 Colorado and other interior States. In the San Joaquin 
 valley planting may be in April and the product follows 
 the Kocky Ford shipments for the later summer trade of 
 the Atlantic cities. Just what can be profitably done at 
 different dates in the East is not fully determined, but the 
 advantage of the very early cantaloup from California 
 seems unquestioned. It is clear, however, that by choos- 
 ing different parts of the State and different varieties of 
 cantaloups, including the 'Svinter melon" class, Cali- 
 fornia can furnish the fruit from May to December in any 
 (piantities the available prices make profitable. 
 
 Garden Culture. — The soil requirements of the musk- 
 melon are quite like those already described for the cu- 
 cumber. Most of the commercial crop is produced on 
 deep, rich, warm loams, but heavier soils with good cul- 
 ture may be used. Some varieties seem to enjoy a heavy 
 soil better than others. Preparation of the soil is the same 
 
w: 
 
 ■ tv, ■■■, '• ■;■ ' ^^. - '» 
 
 ^: ■ ;•■ V •■ '• ;- A* 
 
 M: Ji 
 
 
 ■- r^;-//^'^./ ■■'f.5^'- 
 
 i^^-^'"" 
 
280 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 as for cucumbers, and the same methods for starting 
 plants for planting out as well as for furnishing warmth 
 and richness in the hill may be used in garden practice. In 
 the interior, on the naturally rich loams, not only is the 
 culture devoid of all forcing devices, but on moist river 
 bank or bottom soils the early crop is sometimes grown 
 without irrigation. For summer planting and the con- 
 tinuation of the muskmelon supply late ni the fall, ample 
 moisture is necessary, and a modification of interior heat 
 by intrusion of coast breezes is desirable. The late sum- 
 mer product is most easily grown in the coast valleys, 
 somewhat protected from ocean winds. 
 
 Field Culture. — There are so many ways of handling the 
 soil to secure fine tillage and aeration and adequate mois- 
 ture without the evil of surface flooding that it can be 
 hardly claimed that any one routine is best. As involv- 
 ing tillage, irrigation by percolation and fertilization, 
 which the plant enjoys under proper conditions, the fol- 
 lowing outline, condensed from the writings of Dr. R. H. 
 Forbes, of the Arizona Station, is very suggestive for Cali- 
 fornia interior valley conditions. The writer has made 
 some additions from his own observations: Cantaloups 
 are grown to excellent advantage on light warm loams 
 properly fertilized by the addition of the organic matter 
 and nitrogen in which our desert soils are usually defici- 
 ent. Heavy soils may also be used for cantaloup culture, 
 but are less easily prepared and tilled during the progress 
 of the crop. Old alfalfa ground is most excellent for can- 
 taloup culture, and well rotted barnyard manure is effec- 
 tive. Bermuda sod plowed up and exposed to the sun 
 without irrigation the preceding summer makes excellent 
 cantaloup ground, the intensive cultivation necessary serv- 
 ing both to benefit the crop and to restrain this formidable 
 weed. Trash from sod-turning can be reduced by the use 
 of a disk. 
 
 Alkaline lands should be avoided, since soluble salts in 
 excess, even though insufficient to kill the plants, are com- 
 
IRRIGATING CANTALOUPS. 281 
 
 monly believed to be detrimental to the quality of the 
 melons. 
 
 The land should be so laid out that the rows may be irri- 
 gated without submerging the vines and the fruit. One 
 good way to accomplish this, and also to fertilize the soil, 
 is as follows : The field is first irrigated, plowed and har- 
 rowed to a condition of fine tilth. With a 12-inch plow, at 
 intervals of six feet, double furrows are then broken out, 
 going and returning along the same lines. In the deep, 
 wide furrows thus formed well rotted barnyard manure is 
 distributed to a depth of three or four inches, then plowed 
 in and the field again harrowed level. By then plowing 
 toward the middle of the spaces between the fertilized 
 furrows, the soil is finally left in oval ridges separated by 
 back furrows for irrigation. The rough furrows and 
 ridges are then finished with a harrow and the newly pre- 
 pared ground irrigated to establish the water line for 
 guidance in planting. 
 
 Seed should be most carefully selected with reference to 
 flavor and appearance of the fruit ; to good shipping char- 
 acters, including small cavities and heavy netting ; and to 
 a tendency to produce melons of standard size. About 
 one pound of seed is required for an acre. Cantaloup seed 
 improves to some extent with time, and is stated by ex- 
 perienced growers to give more satisfaction at two years 
 of age than at one. 
 
 With irrigating furrows six feet apart, rows may be 
 planted one on each side of each furrow. The hills should 
 be ten feet apart in the rows, "breaking spaces" between 
 rows. On this plan the ground will be quite uniformly 
 occupied, with a distance of about six feet between ad- 
 jacent hills. Where winds are strong and prevalently in 
 one direction it is sometimes desirable to lay off the lands 
 at right angles to the course of the wind and plant all the 
 hills on the windward side of each strip so that the vines 
 are trained by the wind away from the ditch and not half 
 of them blown into it. 
 
 With a hoe each hill is planted by making a small fur- 
 
282 
 
 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 row a foot long just above the water line, made by the pre- 
 ceding irrigation which places the hill where it will not 
 be flooded by later irrigation. About ten seeds are dropped 
 
 in this furrow, covered an inch deep, and the soil pressed 
 down lightly with the blade of the hoe. After early plant- 
 ings, when frosts are feared, a second set of hills may be 
 planted alongside the first, ten days or two weeks later. 
 
VARIETIES OF CANTALOUPS. 283 
 
 When danger from frost is past, while the plants are still 
 small they are thinned to one or two of the strongest to 
 each hill. Care must be taken not to overcrowd the ground 
 with vines, as a high percentage of small melons will fol- 
 low. Under Arizona conditions the six-foot spacing of 
 hills recommended above, with not more than two plants 
 in the hill, gives best results. 
 
 A dependable supply of irrigating water is essential to 
 successful cantaloup culture in regions of little rain. Early 
 in the season when the plants are small and the irrigating 
 supply is cold, water should be applied sparingly. But be- 
 tween the setting of the crop and the ripening of the first 
 fruits, when both vines and melons are developing rapidly 
 and when the weather is usually hot and dry, frequent 
 and copious irrigation is necessary, for if water is stinted 
 at this time a large percentage of small or pony melons is 
 likely to follow. During the picking season water should 
 again be sparingly applied — just enough to prevent the 
 vines from wilting. This also gives quality and solidity to 
 the melons. 
 
 As long as the vines will permit, the middles should 
 be kept free of weeds by means of a one-horse cultivator, 
 and the furrows run through with a small plow after each 
 irrigation. The young plants should also be hoed by hand 
 two or three times. When the ground is once well covered 
 with vines weeds will make but little headway, even Ber- 
 muda grass being effectually checked by the dense cover. 
 
 Varieties. — The wonderful advancement of the canta- 
 loup as a commercial product during the last decade has 
 quickened effort for new varieties and given new incen- 
 tive to sharp selection to secure characters likely to facili- 
 tate long shipment or to increase the demand. Relatively 
 small size, symmetrical form, thickness of flesh and reduc- 
 tion of the seed-cavity, durability, flavor and color of 
 flesh are among the improvements which have been dili- 
 gently sought. Each year brings forward something new 
 and worthy of trial to determine local behavior and suit- 
 ability. Obviously a book which aims to be useful for a 
 
284 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 number of years after its publication cannot satisfactorily 
 serve fis a guide to choice of varieties which are constantly 
 changing. Annual catalogues of California seedsmen 
 should be carefully consulted and every grower should 
 try all promising novelties on a small scale. 
 
 Rocky Ford : The variety upon which the Colorado can- 
 taloup industry is established and it sustains the same re- 
 lation to the commercial-product of California; developed 
 by selection from the old "Netted Gem"; slightly oval, 
 finely netted, average weight 1% pounds ; flesh green, 
 thick and very sweet. Continued selection is being prac- 
 ticed upon this variety and "Netted Rock" has been fa- 
 vored in this State on the claim of heavy bearing and 
 greater average production of standard melons. 
 
 Burrell 's Gem : Larger than Rocky Ford ; flesh reddish 
 and of different flavor ; an improved Paul Rose, which it 
 has largely displaced. 
 
 Hoodoo : slightly flatter than Rocky Ford but otherwise 
 similar ; flesh reddish. 
 
 Large Yellow : an old variety, large oblong, slightly 
 ribbed and coarsely netted ; flesh light, yellowish green ; 
 quality excellent; still popular though very different from 
 modern commercial types. 
 
 California Large Nutmeg: an old variety still popular 
 in local markets and good for shipping ; large, rough, net- 
 ted skin ; flesh thick, solid, dark green ; flavor delicate. 
 
 Montreal Improved Green Nutmeg : large, slightly flat- 
 tened at the poles, densely netted skin, flesh thick and of 
 good flavor. 
 
 Early Hackensack : large size, productive, excellent 
 flavor. 
 
 Large Hackensack : large size, roundish, very prolific, 
 thick, juicy flesh, rich in flavor. 
 
 Cassaba, or Pineapple : fine, large, late variety, rich, 
 cream-colored flesh ; keeps well into the winter. 
 
 The small, early varieties, like Jenny Lind, are not 
 largely grown, as the trade prefers the large nutmeg va- 
 
THE WATERMELON. 285 
 
 rieties. The small varieties are, however, very desirable 
 for home use. 
 
 The Winter Melons. — One of the most interesting and 
 promising phases of melon growing in California is the ad- 
 vancement of the "winter melon," comprising several 
 types, of which the first to reach California was the Cas- 
 saba or pineapple melon which was introduced in two va- 
 rieties : one by the late General Bidwell, of Chico, in 1869. 
 and another by the late Dr. J. D. B. Stillman in 1878. Of 
 these the latter has secured the greater popularity. Later 
 introductions and selections and probably hybridizations 
 also, have brought half a dozen quite distinct varieties into 
 notice and a considerable product has been secured both 
 for local sale and distant shipment during the late autumn 
 and early winter. Which varieties will survive cannot be 
 told and in this line California seedsmen's catalogues must 
 be consulted each year. On irrigated lands these melons 
 can be sown in mid-summer and find ample autumn heat 
 and freedom from frost to reach perfection. The ripe 
 fruit remains in good condition for months without cold 
 storage. 
 
 THE WATERMELON. 
 
 The watermelon is more strictly a warm region plant 
 than the muskmelon. It reaches great size and sweetness 
 in interior regions of highest heat, coming nearer to the 
 coast in southern California thm in the upper part of the 
 State. The heat is, however, high enough in some of the 
 coast valleys and foothills, which are in some part sepa- 
 rated from the coast by high ranges, to produce a very 
 good watermelon. 
 
 The gratefulness of the interior climate of California to 
 the watermelon is seen in the way the plants volunteer 
 wherever on cultivated land a melon may have gone to 
 decay. In cultivated orchard they may almost be called 
 weeds, though sometimes the volunteer crop is turned to 
 account. A case is cited where watermelons were planted 
 between the trees in a young orchard. After the melons 
 
286 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 were harvested, and before the volunteer crop appeared 
 the following year, the ground was plowed twice, har- 
 rowed twice, and cultivated four times in the regular 
 course of orchard work. Notwithstanding all this dis- 
 turbance of the soil, the seeds, which remained in the 
 ground during the warm rains of winter and spring, did 
 not sprout until June — considerably later than seed sown 
 that year, and produced as good a crop as the latter. Be- 
 ing, probably, deeply covered they awaited the penetra- 
 tion of the warmth, which came first to the seed sown near 
 the surface. The soil was a light loam, naturally well 
 drained, and the seed abided its time in good condition. 
 
 Soils. — Soils which best suit the watermelon are warm 
 alluvial soils, and the plant thrives on a lighter, drier soil 
 than suits the muskmelon. It does well on a light soil 
 with a retentive sub-soil, which acts as a reservoir of mois- 
 ture. In such a case the surface soil may be coarse or 
 even gravelly. Good specimens have been shown which 
 have been grown without irrigation on recent deposits of 
 mining detritus ; on the other hand, good melons are 
 grown on rather stiff clay loam. On heavy land much is 
 gained by plowing under a winter-grown sod or green 
 crop, or a covering of manure, which renders the soil more 
 permeable as well as enriches it. The plant seems to tol- 
 erate many conditions, but neither cold nor wet agrees 
 with it. 
 
 Culture. — The preparation of land for watermelons is 
 like that for sugar beets, already described. In regions of 
 heavy rainfall the fall plowing should be done with enough 
 dead furrows to remove surplus water so that the spring 
 plowing may not be delayed by wetness. Two spring 
 plowings and pulverizations are desirable on the heavier 
 soils. 
 
 The land is laid off with a marker in six or eight feet 
 squares, and planted, after danger from frost is over and 
 the ground is warm, with 10 or 12 seeds in a place to cover 
 accidents and insects. These are reduced at the first hoe- 
 ing to one or two plants in a place. The cultivator should 
 
VARIETIES OF WATERMELON. 287 
 
 be used as soon as possible to prevent crusting of the soil, 
 and cultivation should be kept up until it interferes too 
 much with the growth of the vines. During the first two 
 months of their growth the cultivator is almost constantly 
 running in the melon fields. 
 
 Time of planting is, of course, dependent upon the frost 
 record of the locality. To get the earliest melons, grow- 
 ers often take the chance of replanting by planting in 
 March if it is an early spring and the soil is in good con- 
 dition. In light interior soils the most of the planting is 
 done in April, and in frosty situations early in May. For 
 succession, planting can proceed on moist or irrigated land 
 until July, and in frostless locations July planting will 
 give ripe melons as late as New Year's. 
 
 Harvesting". — When early sowings succeed, melons can 
 be had in June in the interior, but the weight of the crop 
 comes in July or August. An average yield in field cul- 
 ture is one carload, or one hundred dozen melons to the 
 acre. Sizes run from a common merchantable size of 20 
 pounds up to a monster of 131% pounds, grown in Los 
 Angeles county many years ago. Melons of 90 to 100 
 pounds have been reported from all regions which make 
 any pretentions to greatness in this line. 
 
 Varieties. — Everything offered by seedsmen in the form 
 of an improved watermelon is quickly put into California 
 soil. The result is that in the State as a whole very many 
 varieties are grown, probably as many as of any single 
 garden plant. Still a few varieties are easily leading in 
 popularity. The most famous variety in the central part 
 for the last quarter of a century has been the "Lodi, " a 
 variety believed to be of local origin, taking its name from 
 the locality where largely grown, in San Joaquin county, 
 but the Lodi is now yielding even in its own region to 
 other varieties, and its decadence is probably in part due 
 to lack of proper selection in seed sowing on the part of 
 the growers, and the superiority of newer sorts. 
 ' Florida Favorite : large, oblong, deep green, mottled ; 
 good flavor and a good early variety and a good shipper. 
 
288 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Fordhook Early: very early, medium size, globular, 
 tough deep mottled green rind, red flesh ; good for early 
 shipping. 
 
 Dixie : large and handsome, dark green, beautifully 
 striped, hardy and productive, sweet, juicy, and tender, 
 scarlet flesh. A good shipping variety. 
 
 Cuban Queen : large, symmetrical, solid, rind thin and 
 strong, striped with dark and light green, flesh red, tender, 
 and very sweet, vine very strong in growth and produc- 
 tive. Melons keep well and ship well. 
 
 Mammoth Ironclad: resembles Cuban Queen in mark- 
 ings; melons uniformly large, with hard, tough rind, flesh 
 very red and solid, productive, and a good shipper. 
 
 Kolb Gem : round, dark green, with light green stripes, 
 which are narrow and of dull color, fair size, flesh bright 
 red and good flavor, tough rind and a good shipper. 
 
 Iceberg: like Kolb Gem, but darker green and flesh 
 deep red ; a good shipper. 
 
 Southern Eattlesnake : oblong, light green, beautifully 
 striped, thin rind, flesh scarlet, solid, and very sweet. 
 
 Lodi : large, solid, light green, flesh deep red, rich and 
 delicious, and extending to within half an inch of the rind. 
 For many years this variety almost controlled California 
 markets and is still largely grown. 
 
 Mountain Sweet : large, long, flesh red, firm and sweet ; 
 good for home garden. 
 
 Peerless : nearly round, pale green, thin rind, red flesh, 
 very sweet. 
 
 Chilian : oblong, deep green, mottled and striped, flesh 
 bright red, sweet and high quality ; good for home use 
 because of thin, brittle rind. 
 
 Kleckley Sweet: medium sized, oval, dark green, flesh 
 bright red, high quality, largely grown in central Cali- 
 fornia for home use and shipping. 
 
 Ice Cream : very large, long, solid deep green, flesh 
 deejD pink. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 THE ONION FAMILY. 
 
 Onion. — Allkim cepa. 
 
 French, ognon ; German, zwiebel; Dutch, uijen ; Danish, 
 voglog; Italian, cipolla; Spanish, cebolla; Portuguese, 
 cebola. 
 
 Leek. — Allium porrum. 
 
 French, poireau ; German, lauch ; Dutch, i^rei ; Danish, 
 porre ; Italian, porro ; Spanish, puerro ; Portuguese, alho 
 porro. 
 
 Garlic. — Allium sativum. 
 
 French, ail; German, knoblauch; Dutch, knoflook; 
 Danish, hvidlog ; Italian, aglio ; Spanish, ajo ; Portuguese, 
 alho. 
 
 Chives. — Allium schoenoprasum. 
 
 French, ciboulette, civette ; German, schnittlauch ; 
 Dutch, bieslook ; Italian, cipollina ; Spanish, cebollino. 
 
 Ciboule. — Allium fstulosum. 
 
 French, ciboule ; German, schnitt-zwiebel ; Dutch, bies- 
 look ; Danish, purlog ; Italian, cipolleta ; Spanish, cebol- 
 leta; Portuguese, cebolinah. 
 
 Shallot. — A Ilium ascalonicum. 
 
 French, echalote ; German, schalotte ; Dutch, sjalot; 
 Danish,- skalottelog ; Italian, scalogno ; Spanish, chalote ; 
 Portuguese, echalota. 
 
 The onion is another of the great vegetables in Califor- 
 nia — great in the size of the tubers and in the crop, great 
 also in the ease with which a constant supply of fresh 
 onions can be secured throughout the year in the oj^en air ; 
 greater still, perhaps, in the fact that the superb local 
 conditions for onion-seed growing have given California 
 the power to set prices for the onion-seed trade of the 
 
290 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 United States, and we have sometimes prodnced more seed 
 than could be sold with profit to the growers. Though 
 the local consumption of onions, in proportion to the popu- 
 lation, is large, and though there is an export trade in all 
 directions, there is now and then an over-production and a 
 reaction even to scarcity, so that the market price is sub- 
 ject to wide fluctuations. A more trustworthy demand 
 would develop a producing capacity w^hich has thus far 
 hardly been entered upon although during recent years 
 distant shipment of onions has notably increased. The 
 California onion product sometimes exceeds 300,000 s<iek;s 
 per year. 
 
 Though local conditions are favorable, and almost in- 
 credible returns are sometimes secured, onion growing is 
 exacting in its requirements in California, as everywhere, 
 and the crop is one which no one should undertake with- 
 out adequate resources of energy, patience, promptness 
 and elasticity — either in his back or in his pocketbook. 
 No matter how well suited his soil, or how good his stand 
 of young plants upon it, a few days' neglect may put 
 them out of sight in a forest of weeds, from which they 
 cannot be profitably rescued. Still, to the diligent grower 
 who can command suitable soil and the labor needed at a 
 certain time, and is prompt and persistent in the use of it, 
 there is always the promise of as fair a crop as man needs 
 to see, for the climate not only favors growth, maturing 
 and harvesting, but it gives the plant freedom from many 
 pests and diseases, which are grievous in other countries. 
 
 Situations and Soils. — The onion is profited by a long 
 growing season. It grows most luxuriantly and its bulb 
 expands most freely in a moderate temperature and with 
 a good moisture supply. It endures heat well, if moisture 
 is ample ; it is easily forced into maturity by drought, and 
 though it is fortunate, in some respects, that the bulb has 
 the power to renew its growth and reach full size with the 
 renewal of moisture, this is little consolation to the grower 
 who aimed at a crop of marketable onions, not of onion 
 sets. It is important, then, that the growth of the plant 
 
SOILS FOR THE ONION. 291 
 
 be not arrested in this way, and. to assure this, moisture 
 must be adequate until satisfactory size is attained. Land 
 naturally moist, or in which a good supply may be re- 
 tained by cultivation, or for which irrigation is available 
 to counteract natural tendency to dryness, is necessary 
 for the full success of the onion as a mature crop. In the 
 winter, if rains are up to the average, very good growth 
 of green onions can be had on land which is too dry in 
 summer to carry the liulV) to full-sized maturity. For 
 satisfactory summer finishing of the crop, soils which are 
 prone to dry out must be avoided, unless irrigation is 
 available. How this matter is affected by methods of 
 propagation will appear presently. 
 
 If the needed moisture can be afforded, onions can be 
 well grown on a variety of soils. Quite heavy adobe can 
 be made to do, but it will be at the cost of most thorough 
 cultivation, producing tilth which is difficult and expen- 
 sive to attain on such soil. Every addition of sand or silt 
 to the adobe improves it in this respect, and the ideal soil 
 for the onion is one which is retentive enough under culti- 
 vation to keep the plant roots from a touch of drought, 
 and friable enough to be easy in cultivation and easy also 
 for the expanding bulb to displace as it grows. The bulb 
 should expand on the ground surface, not under it, and it 
 is very difficult to secure this on a clay without baking 
 of the surface, which dries the roots and results in pre- 
 maturity and small size in the bulb. On the other hand, 
 sandy soil is usable only at a cost of frequent irrigation, 
 for it also loses surface moisture in spite of stirring. Be- 
 sides suitable mechanical condition of the soil, it is essen- 
 tial that it shall be rich in plant food. Onions resent a 
 poor soil. Fortunately^ California has large areas of loam, 
 of mixed peat and sediment, and of alluvial soils, which 
 are so rich that many onion crops can be grown without 
 fertilizing, but in garden work the free use of manure is 
 the secret of quick, tender and large size, both in the 
 green and mature onion. But the use of fresh manure 
 just before planting is not desirable and even well rotted 
 
292 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES, 
 
 manure should be applied several months in advance of 
 planting that it may become thoroughly incorporated 
 with the soil. 
 
 The great onion regions of the State are the lower 
 stretches of the rich coast valleys and the moist river 
 lands in the interior. Fine onions for local use are grown 
 on upland loams, with or without irrigation, according to 
 local climatic conditions. All these classes of lands are 
 distributed throughout the State. 
 
 Propagation of the Onion. — The onion is grown here, as 
 elsewhere, by three main lines of propagation : from seed 
 sown in the field; from transplanted seedlings and from 
 sets. The last is by far the least important in California, 
 and the choice between the other two depends upon the 
 special end in view, as will appear in the discussiim of 
 them. 
 
 The Crop from Seed. — In this ease the growth is to be 
 pushed continuously on the same ground from seed to 
 sack. The main crop is grown in this way, and for this 
 method California has manifest advantage in its long 
 growing season. Field-sowing can be done as early as 
 February, and on retentive soils moisture can be held by 
 summer cultivation, or on coarser soils by irrigation and 
 cultivation, until the bulbs reach as large a size as is de- 
 sirable for marketing. 
 
 For seed-sowing the land should be as deeply and 
 thoroughly prepared as has already been prescribed for 
 sugar beets. The work should begin with fall plowing to 
 open the surface for absorption of rainfall, to be followed 
 later by a deep cross-plowing to fully turn in the crop of 
 weeds and grass which will come with moisture. After 
 that a shallow plowing or cultivation may be given to 
 kill later growth of weeds and to contribute to surface 
 pulverization. The seed should be sown when the advance 
 of the season warms the soil. The precise date depends 
 upon two considerations: first, the local rainfall, and, 
 second, the local weed growth. Where spring rains are 
 usually light, earlier sowing is best; where spring rains 
 
GROWING ONIONS FROM SEED. 293 
 
 are usually generous and where weed growth is great, it 
 is often wise to defer sowing and use the cultivator for 
 weed-killing, so that the ground may be as clean as pos- 
 sible before the seed is sown. Weeding onions is one of 
 the most expensive and tiresome of all field practices, and 
 it is good policy, where moisture is ample, to sow much 
 later in the spring for the advantage of securing cleaner 
 land, as well as to prevent the growth of "thick-necks" 
 or scallions which though edible are not good keepers nor 
 good marketable tubers. Each locality has its own policy 
 in this respect, which can be learned by conference with 
 experienced growers. 
 
 When the sowing time comes be sure the land is fined 
 well. Use nothing but the freshest seed from responsible 
 dealers ; mark out a straight line for beginning and sow 
 the seed with a seeder with a guide so that the straight- 
 ness of the first row may be followed in the others. If the 
 rows begin to vary from this, strike another straight line 
 and proceed again from this. Distance between the rows 
 depends upon the method of cultivation to be adopted; 
 some are grown with two feet distance and horse cultiva- 
 tion is used, but most growers choose a distance of 12 to 
 16 inches and use hand cultivation. The hand hoes, or 
 cultivators with wheels, work very easily and rapidly in 
 light soils. Care must be taken to work them deeply 
 enough to produce a good soil mulch. 
 
 Depth of covering the seed depends upon season, mois- 
 ture and character of soil, as explained on page 157. 
 With onions the depth would vary from one-half an inch 
 on heavy soil to one inch on light, or slightly more on 
 light soil in a dry locality, is about the range. The seeder 
 should be set to drop the seeds about three-quarters of an 
 inch apart in the drill, which will use from four to five 
 pounds to the acre. After sowing, the ground can be 
 .firmed in any of the ways mentioned on page 158. A light 
 roller is most expeditious and satisfactory if the soil is in 
 the right condition of moisture. 
 
 Onion seed is sometimes rather slow in starting and the 
 
294 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 cultivation should not wait until the plants appear. Mr. 
 S. J. Murdock, of Orange county, shows how skillfully 
 the hand wheel hoe can be used in the onion field. 
 
 "After seeding, thorough, shallow cultivation is essen- 
 tial. Do not wait until the plants are uj) before begin- 
 ning; from four to eight days will be proper, or when the 
 seed begins to show signs of germinating, which can be 
 ascertained by carefully brushing the soil from the drill 
 row. I put the curved hoes on my wheel hoe, with the 
 straight ends of the hoes pointing inwards and lapping 
 about two inches and hoe right over the rows but not 
 deep enough to disturb the seed. It saves a great amount 
 of hand-weeding by killing the weeds just starting to 
 grow in the rows. As soon as the onions are up suffici- 
 ently to follow the rows, I reverse my hoes, with the 
 curved ends next to the rows, just far enough apart so 
 as to hoe as close as possible without cutting the young 
 plants by running the hoes astride the rows. This op- 
 eration hoes both sides of the row at one trip of the ma- 
 chine. Follow this by hand-weeding; this operation is 
 best performed by the crawling process, that is, by get- 
 ting down on hands and knees astride of a row and pull- 
 ing every weed in sight, and loosening the soil around 
 and between the plants. Repeat this as often as any 
 weeds are to be found, and under no circumstances allow 
 the weeds to grow above the onions ; at the same time 
 keep the wheel hoe at work between the rows and as 
 close as possible." 
 
 As previously said, the bulb of the onion should be at 
 the ground surface, and the dirt should not be thrown to 
 any extent on the onions by cultivation. The roots should 
 be well covered, but not the bulb. 
 
 Transplanted Onions. — Next to growth from the seed, 
 the transplanting of small seedlings from the seed-bed to 
 the field, is most practiced in California. This method has 
 recently been proclaimed in the Eastern and Southern 
 States as a "new onion culture," but it is really an old 
 practice in the south of Europe, and has been followed in 
 
TRANSPLANTING ONIONS. 295 
 
 California for a third of a century or more in preference 
 to starting from onion sets. It is a fact that transplant- 
 ing produces more uniformly large onions than growth 
 from the seed in place, and the crop also reaches maturity 
 sooner, as the transplanting does not sacrifice the time 
 gained by the earlier start in the seed-bed. Employing 
 th-ese two points of advantage in a region suitable to quick 
 winter growth, a very early crop of mature onions is se- 
 cured, which sometimes strikes a bare market and is very 
 profitable, while the regular crop, coming in later, may be 
 worth much less. 
 
 Seedlings for transplanting are grown in California in 
 the open air, according to the conditions for germination 
 described on pages 156 to 160. Where there is likelihood 
 of heavy rains the raised bed described in the chapter on 
 cultivation is a safeguard, but where the soil naturally 
 drains well, or where rain is light, such arrangement is 
 not necessary. Nor is it necessary that the culture should 
 be very deep. The seed is started in the fall, when the 
 rate of evaporation is reduced. Shallow culture promotes 
 early growth and, if the soil has been previously deeply 
 moistened, there is no need. of such deep work as would 
 be desirable if the plant was to pursue its full course in 
 that place. 
 
 Some growers use a little bottom heat by covering in 
 fresh horse manure with the plow and shallow working 
 the surface into fine tilth. This practice is not essential. 
 It is best suited to heavy soil and ample moisture ; it has 
 an element of danger on light soil with scant moisture. 
 The seed is sown at difi^erent times in different localities 
 from September to November — the early date in northern 
 California, for the rains come earlier, the w^eather is cooler 
 and the plants of slower growth. In the south a later 
 start agrees better with the rainfall, and more rapid 
 growth brings the seedling to planting-size in less time. 
 
 The seed is usually thickly sown broadcast, lightly cov- 
 ered and rolled or pressed down. The surface is protected 
 fom drying and from packing by heavy rain, with a light 
 
296 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 mulch of fine manure, covered with boards until the 
 shoots appear, or covered with a single thickness of old 
 sacking until the shoots begin to pierce it. Any device 
 which keeps the surface moist and loose is applicable. 
 The plants usually reach a height of six or eight inches at 
 time of transplanting. 
 
 Transplanting.' — Transplanted onions are usually grown 
 on lighter soils than those from seed because the crop is to 
 mature earlier and is not so dependent upon moisture re- 
 tention. Again the lighter, warmer soils give the most 
 rapid winter growth, as already stated. Preparation of 
 the land is the same as for seed sowing and the transplant- 
 ing is done at about the same time of the year — from 
 February onward, according to local climate and soil con- 
 ditions. The plants are pulled, if the seed-bed is sandy, 
 and they lift easily, or lifted with a shovel and separated. 
 The top and roots are shortened about half the length of 
 each, and the plants, dropped along the rows by boys, are 
 set, with the finger or dibble, three inches apart in rows 
 12 inches distant, pressing the soil firmly around the plant. 
 Planting can be done by line or with a roller encircled by 
 rope at proper distance or by marking out shallow fur- 
 rows with the hand wheel hoe, etc. The lines must be 
 straight for ease and efficiency of subsequent cultivation, 
 which must be clean and thorough. 
 
 The cost of growing seedlings and transplanting is more 
 than field seed-sowing, but the weeding and cultivation 
 of the former is less. If there is no particular rush about 
 earliness, transplanting can be done after the most of the 
 season's weed-starting is over. Some growers count this 
 quite a gain. 
 
 Growing from Sets. — There are at least three kinds of 
 onion sets: "top sets" or buttons which form on the seed 
 stem in the place of the seed, according to variety; "bot- 
 tom sets," which are either small bulbs from thickly sown 
 seed, prematurely ripened, or small bulbs which form be- 
 side the old bulbs in some varieties. In California the 
 varieties which habitually produce top or bottom sets in 
 
GROWING FROM SETS. 297 
 
 connection with stem or bulb (the so-called "tree onion" 
 and "potato onion"), are not grown to any extent. They 
 are inferior to other varieties which are satisfactory in 
 this climate. All onion sets have the habit of p;:'oceeding 
 with their enlargement when placed in moist ground, but 
 some growers find the bottom sets from seed are more 
 likely to run to seed than top sets from the seed stem. Mr. 
 Adams, of Calistoga, is in the habit of growing his own 
 top sets in this way : 
 
 "Plant the onions of the variety which produces top sets 
 in the place of seed, eight or ten inches apart, with rows 
 two feet apart; cultivate well and gather the sets when 
 the seed-stalks are ripe or perfectly yellow. Let the sets 
 get well dried, then store in a cool, dry place six or eight 
 inches deep on a board floor and cover with clean, dry 
 straw. Never put them in sacks, boxes or barrels, as they 
 will most surely mold. 
 
 "In growing onions from these top sets, I plant them as 
 early in February as the ground is suitable, on the rich- 
 est of my land; make the rows perfectly straight by using 
 a strong garden line ; make rows one foot apart ; press the 
 sets firmly into the mellow soil nearly or quite out of 
 sight, placing them an inch or so apart. When they are 
 aicely up, a good top dressing of fine, dry, decomposed 
 .len manure sown broadcast and well hoed in, is most ex- 
 cellent, especially just before a warm rain. A few weeks 
 later a light dressing of ground bone, or unleached ashes, 
 will forward them wonderfully, and in a short time you 
 will have onions fit for an epicure. Thin out as wanted 
 for use, or for the purpose of raising top sets for another 
 year. ' ' 
 
 The foregoing is obviously for garden, not for field 
 practice. In fact, for field work, sets of any kind are not 
 used to any extent in California. 
 
 Bottom sets from seed are grown by sowing the seed 
 thickly, allowing the plants to grow without thinning, and 
 to mature by the drying of the ground, when about the 
 size of marbles. These are then pulled, dried thoroughly 
 
298 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 on the surface of the ground and are then stored in a cool, 
 dry place until planted. Recently considerable quantities 
 of sets are fall grown in southern California for shipment 
 to Texas to be there grown to maturity by early spring 
 planting. 
 
 Irrigation of Onions. — Though our onion crops are 
 largely grown without irrigation, it is often desirable to 
 use water to carry the summer growth to satisfactory size 
 on coarse soils prone to dry out. Water can be applied 
 by any of the methods described in the chapter on irriga- 
 tion. Enough water should be used to secure thrifty, but 
 not excessive, growth, and stirring of the ground after 
 irrigation should only be delayed long enough to bring 
 the soil into proper working condition. 
 
 Sometimes transplanting is done in connection with ir- 
 rigation. The plants are properly trimmed and placed in 
 the trenches alongside the irrigating furrows, on a slant 
 to keep the tops from the wet ground (made so by apply- 
 ing the water). They will readily take root, when they 
 may be straightened up by the hoe. Sometimes the water 
 may be passed through the trenches, when the plants may 
 be put in place by hand. 
 
 Harvesting Onions. — In the maturing of the crop and 
 the harvesting California has great advantage in a warm, 
 dry summer and early fall. Mr. Murdock, of Orange 
 county, gives these suggestions on harvesting : 
 
 "When the tops have turned yellow and dried or shriv- 
 eled up near the bulbs, and the majority have fallen over, 
 the crop is ripe and ready to harvest. If on moist land 
 they should be harvested at once, for if left long in the 
 ground the moisture from below and heavy fogs of the 
 coast region will soon cause them to start new roots, also 
 a new growth of top, which would soon spoil the whole 
 crop. On dry land, however, the summer crops can re- 
 main quite a while without injury. 
 
 "Harvesting is done by pulling two or more rows; lay 
 the onions next to the standing rows, and when across 
 the plot, turn round and pull a like number of rows and 
 
GARDEN ONIONS. 299 
 
 lay with the ones previously pulled. This leaves them 
 in a continuous pile across the field for topping, which is 
 generally done with a sharp knife after the onions have 
 laid a few days to more fully mature. While topping, 
 the bulbs are usually thrown in heaps ready for market 
 or to store away, as the grower may determine. It is best 
 to sack or haul from the fields while the sun shines, as 
 the onions should be perfectly dry in either case." 
 
 Yield. — Ten tons per acre is a fair yield on good soil, 
 well handled, but this amount is frequently exceeded and 
 even 30 tons has been secured, according to credible testi- 
 mony. 
 
 Garden Culture of Onions. — Garden culture proceeds 
 upon about the same lines as field work, and by methods 
 already described. Due regard should be had for suc- 
 cession, and by proper use of water in summer and of 
 ridge or raised bed in early winter, it is practicable to 
 have crisp, young onions all the year, and mature ones 
 with but a very short season of storage. Onions have been 
 matured from seed sown every month of the year, but the 
 ripening was not reached every month because progress 
 is slower at one time than at another. 
 
 In the garden onions should have most generous treat- 
 ment, for delicate flavor and crispness depend upon quick 
 growth. The use of fertilizers in preparation of the soil, 
 and of liquid manure during growth, are strong helps to- 
 ward this. The onion accepts gratefully the richest man- 
 ures if well decomposed and well mixed with the soil. 
 
 The first top-onions in the fall can be grown by using 
 bottom sets planted closely in the row just as soon as the 
 ground is well moistened by early rains. The succession 
 can be had by sowing seed at intervals, beginning at the 
 same time the sets are put in and continued when the 
 ground is in good condition until spring. 
 
 The following method of growing sets for garden use 
 is approved by the experience of Mr. F. Austin, of San 
 Diego county, who grows fine vegetables for the love of 
 it : Sow the seed in the spring, say March, not later than 
 
300 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 April, then as the plants develop in the drills which have 
 been sown not too thick, and bepin to assume size and 
 form of bulb, at both sides of the i-ow begin to remove the 
 earth with the hoe, the object being to retard the growth 
 of top and foi-m a "set" below. This is repeated, going 
 along each side of the growing onions, removing the dirt 
 and even cutting some of the roots a second time. The 
 tops begin to wither but the bulb increases in size until 
 finally you I'un the hoe entirely under the roots severing 
 them and leaving the now new formed "sets" to dry for a 
 few days, when you take them by the handful from the 
 row and shake off the dirt and put them away under cover 
 from sun in a cool place until, say, October. Then plant 
 these "sets" and they will grow to onions fast and in 
 advance of anything you can get from seed and give you 
 large .juicy onions. 
 
 Rotation. — The advantage of clean land for onions has 
 been mentioned. This is often best secured by allowing 
 onions to follow carrots or potatoes or corn. The cultiva- 
 tion of these vegetables sprouts and kills many weeds, 
 which are more easily handled in connection with those 
 crops than with the onions. The cultivation also renders 
 the soil more friable, Avhich is a prime requisite to the 
 growth of onions. 
 
 Intercropping. — Large quantities of onions are grown 
 in strawberry regions, being irrigated incidentally in con- 
 nection with the berries. The strawberry plants are on 
 ridges in rows 18 or 20 inches apart ; the onion row be- 
 tween the strawberry rows parallel thereto in the center 
 of the ridge, the ridges being also 18 to 20 inches apart, so 
 that the water runs down between the ridges. Onions 
 are also grown between the trees in young orchard on rich, 
 deep, moist, or irrigated land. This cannot be long con- 
 tinued to advantage, as onions do not tak-e Ivindly to shade, 
 but dcdiglit in full sunshine. 
 
 Varieties. — Out of the nudtitude of varieties -a few have 
 proved most serviceable and satisfactory for California 
 
VARIETIES OF ONIONS. 301 
 
 conditions, and California seedsmen are constantly secur- 
 ing improved types by selection : 
 
 Barletta : very early, small, pure white, smooth and 
 handsome; largely grown for pickling also for early top 
 onions in garden culture. 
 
 California Early Red : very early, large size, flattish, 
 mild flavor ; not a good keeper. Chiefly grown by Italian 
 market gardeners and the variety probably was introduced 
 from Italy. 
 
 New Queen or Pearl : small, early white, fine flavor. 
 Chiefly grown for pickling and for top onions ; especially 
 popular in southern California. 
 
 Silver Skin or White Portugal ; silvery white, medium 
 size, excellent flavor and esteemed for. table use. Small 
 bulbs largely used for pickling. 
 
 White Italian Tripoli : very large, flat, white, rapid 
 grower and productive, ships well, approved in southern 
 California as an early variety. 
 
 Prize-Taker or Spanish King : very large and beautiful, 
 rich straw color, flesh white, sweet and tender; productive 
 and keeps well. 
 
 Australian Brown : flat, light brown, a long keeper and 
 good shipper; very productive on rich, sandy soil with 
 ample moisture. 
 
 Australian Brown Globe : popular in southern Califor- 
 nia ; globular, light brown, heavy and ships well ; quick to 
 maturity but a long keeper. 
 
 White Bermuda: yellowish white, flat, very early, 
 chiefly grown in southern California for early shipment. 
 
 Red Bermuda : resembles White Bermuda, except in 
 color. 
 
 Flat Danvers : very early, yellow, considerably grown. 
 
 Yellow Globe Danvers : large, round, yields well and 
 keeps well^; solid and of good flavor. One of the main 
 varieties in all parts of California. 
 
 Red Wethersfield : large, round, slightly flattened, deep 
 red with white flesh, strongly flavored, well adapted for 
 
302 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 low, moist soils, hardy. This and Danvers Globe consti- 
 tute a main part of the California product. 
 
 Tree-onion : a variety which produces top-sets instead 
 of seed at the head of the seed stem. Used in garden cul- 
 ture as already described. It serves a good purpose under 
 certain conditions, but is very little used in this State. 
 
 THE LEEK. 
 
 California produces large quantities of leek seed for dis- 
 tant sale, but the leek itself is but little grown in Cali- 
 fornia, except by market gardeners, and its use is chiefly 
 by citizens of foreign birth. The edible part is the 
 blanched lower leaves of the plant. The culture is at first 
 practically the same as that described for transplanted 
 onions, except that the young leek plant is deeply set in 
 a depression in friable soil, and as it grows the earth is 
 drawn about the leaves, which are tightly sheathed to- 
 gether so as to blanch them into the appearance of a thick 
 white stem. Thus the later cultivation of the plant re- 
 sembles that of celery. It is handiest in the garden to sow 
 the seed in drills one foot apart, at intervals from fall to 
 spring, so as to have a succession, and plant the seedlings 
 when about the diameter of a goose quill, in the bottom 
 of a drill or furrow several inches deep. The plants need 
 wide spacing, say six to ten inches, for they reach con- 
 siderable thickness and make large display of leaves. Cul- 
 tivation gradually levels the ground. Leeks need ample 
 moisture and good cultivation to attain fine size and ten- 
 derness. If the blanching is not particularly cared for, 
 the plants may be grown at the surface just as onions are, 
 except for the greater distance the plant requires to de- 
 velop. The leeks chiefly grown in California are the Large 
 American Flag, of good, uniform size, and strong growth ; 
 the Musselburgh, short, thick stem and large, broad leaves ; 
 the Large Rouen, a large, strong variety, and the Mon- 
 strous Caratan, with dark-colored foliage. 
 
 GARLIC. 
 What is said of the restricted local use of the leek ap- 
 
SEVERAL NEAR ONIONS. 303 
 
 plies also to the garlic. It is grown with about the same 
 cultivation as the onion, and the planting season is of the 
 same duration. The method is by planting the bulblets, 
 or ' ' cloves, ' ' taken out of the silvery skin which covers the 
 bunch, and planted like onion sets about six inches apart 
 in rows one foot distant from each other. It may also be 
 grown by planting whole cases of sets one foot apart in 
 the rows. The planting should be rather shallow and the 
 soil should be light and well cultivated to allow the free 
 expansion of the bulb. 
 
 CHIVES. 
 
 These are small plants, whose leaves have the onion 
 flavor desired in cookery. They are grown from the small 
 bulbs, and from thick clumps or an edging for permanent 
 garden beds. The leaves are shorn off whenever desired, 
 and are most excellent for giving a mild onion flavbr to 
 salads and soups. 
 
 CIBOULE. 
 
 Another plant used like chives, but of taller growth, is 
 the Welch onion, or ciboule. It makes no bulb, but seeds 
 freely, and the plant develops rapidly to cutting condi- 
 tion. The cultivation is the same as of onions grown from 
 
 seed. 
 
 SHALLOT. 
 
 Both the bulbs and leaves of this plant are used to give 
 the onion flavor in cookery. Propagation is the same as 
 that of chives, by means of the small bulbs, and the cul- 
 ture is the same as of onions grown from sets. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 PEAS. 
 
 The Garden Pea. — Pisum sativum. 
 
 Frencli, pois a ecosser; German, schal-erbsen ; Dutch, 
 doperwten ; Danish, skaloerte ; Italian, piselli da sgranare ; 
 Spanish, guisantes para desgranar; Portuguese, ervilhas 
 de grao. 
 
 The Lentil, — Lens esculenta. 
 
 French, lentille ; German, linse ; Dutch, linze ; Danish, 
 lindse ; Italian, lente ; Spanish, lenteja ; Portuguese, len- 
 tilha. 
 
 The Garbanzo or Chick Pea. — Cicer arietinum. 
 
 French, pois cliiche ; German, kicher-erbse ; Italian, cece ; 
 Spanish, garbanzos ; Portuguese, chiearo. 
 
 Dry heat is offensive to the pea, and its occurrence im- 
 poses the chief limitation to the success of this vegetable 
 in California. The escape from this limitation consists in 
 winter growth, as far as practicable, and in recourse to 
 the coast region where atmospheric humidity is greatest 
 and summer heat least. The pea is very hardy against 
 frost, and this advantage goes far to compensate for its 
 susceptibility to drought, because it enables it to thrive in 
 the winter in the very places where it perishes in summer. 
 The obvious deduction is that in regions dependent upon 
 rainfall the garden planting of the pea must be as early in 
 the fall as adequate moisture has reached the soil, and in 
 regions where irrigation is available, it is desirable that 
 the start should be made in advance of rainfall for the 
 earliest product, and that other plantings follow for a suc- 
 cession, until it is ascertained what is the latest date of 
 sowing which will reach satisfactory maturity. If prac- 
 tice proceed upon this basis, the pea will be seen to have 
 
CONDITIONS FOR PEA GROWING. 305 
 
 a much longer season than in wintry climates, although, 
 in some places, midsummer growth is impracticable. Most 
 failures to realize this satisfaction with the pea are due 
 to late planting and failure to recognize that, in many 
 parts of the State, the pea is a winter and not a summer 
 plant. 
 
 In the growth of peas in the field most disappointments 
 have followed the same misapprehension, and the interior 
 has conceded a monopoly of pea conditions to the coast 
 when the former can grow large amounts of forage, at 
 least, by taking a different time of the year for it. For- 
 tunately, this fact is coming to be better understood, and 
 large fields of peas are now grown as winter feed for 
 dairy cows and in the orchard to be plowed under early 
 in the spring for green manuring, where only recently the 
 pea was supposed to be unsuited to the climate. These 
 remarks apply to the true pea, not to the so-called "cow- 
 pea," which really belongs to the bean family and is very 
 susceptible to frost injury. 
 
 Soils and Situations for the Pea. — The pea succeeds on 
 a wide variety of soils — a good, rich loam of sufficient re- 
 tentiveness being the ideal. Where it is winter-grown, 
 with moderate heat and ample moisture, lighter soils can 
 be successfully used, because they are warmer and dispose 
 of the surplus water more readily. Though the pea with- 
 stands much frost, it needs warmth for rapid advance- 
 ment, and for this reason the earliest peas, as, for ex- 
 ample, peas for Christmas from September sowing, are 
 grown where there is little frost, and hillsides are often 
 used to escape the heavier frosts of the valley below. In 
 moist bottom lands in the interior, and on uplands near the 
 coast, peas naturally thrive much later in the season than 
 on the interior plains and hillsides, and the latest green 
 peas are grown in the moist lands of the coast valleys, 
 moisture being retained by cultivation or supplied by ir- 
 rigation, according to local conditions. By using these 
 different situations green peas are available for city trade 
 nearly the entire year. 
 
306 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Culture. — From what has been said it may be inferred 
 that the pea at different times of the year is to be handled 
 with all the arts for releasing or retaining moisture, which 
 are described in the chapters on the planting season, drain- 
 age and cultivation. The reader should study these, and 
 choose the methods adapted to the soil and time of the 
 year with which he expects to operate. Depth of plant- 
 ing is also governed by these factors, as described in the 
 chapter on propagation. The pea will thrive with deep 
 covering, according to the soil and moisture — even to 
 covering the seed in a plow furrow in a light soil — but 
 in a heavier soil, with assurance of moisture, a single inch 
 of depth may best favor its growth. Deep working of the 
 soil is also, as a rule, acceptable to the pea and where the 
 crop is to come late and to endure a measure of heat and 
 drought, deep working in preparation and fine surface 
 cultivation, as late as feasible without injury to the vines, 
 is necessary. But, on the other hand, for fall and winter 
 growth in some situations and soils, such thorough work 
 may not be called for. For winter, too, it is not desirable 
 that the surface should be worked to a fine mulch ; surplus 
 water is relieved by evaporation and the surface is pre- 
 vented from crusting, if a coarser condition is retained. 
 The pea plant gives every possible advantage to the 
 grower ; it is strong growing and hardy, and it has a large 
 seed which makes a vigorous shoot. If the grower can 
 give it escape from dry heat it will serve him well both in 
 garden and field. 
 
 It should be remembered, however, that the pea needs 
 a certain amount of heat, though it be small, and there is 
 nothing gained by sowing in cold, wet ground. In small, 
 frosty valleys with heavy rainfall, sowing should often 
 be delayed until the ground is warmed in February, 
 though on slopes above such valleys much earlier work 
 can often be done satisfactorily. The fitness of certain 
 varieties for seasonal conditions will be considered pres- 
 ently. 
 
 For the Earliest Peas. — The earliest peas, counting the 
 
EARLY AND LATE PEAS. 307 
 
 first of July as the beginning of the California season, are 
 in picking condition in December, from seed sown in Aug- 
 ust and September. Irrigate the land thoroughly, plow 
 w^ell, harrow, and sow the seed with a drill as nearly as 
 practicable an inch apart in rows two and a half feet dis- 
 tant. Another way is to open a shallow furrow with a 
 single plow, scatter the seed in the furrow, and cover with 
 a cultivator, covering the seed and stirring the space be- 
 tween the rows. In growing peas on hillsides for very 
 early market, the foreigners, who are the chief growers, 
 depend much upon hand work and bring the rows nearer 
 together. Irrigation must be used from time to time to 
 keep the soil from drying until the rains come and subse- 
 quently if the rains are light. The plants must be pushed 
 to bring well-filled pods and continual moisture is essen- 
 tial. Cultivation, to keep the soil clean and mellow, is 
 necessary. A light harrow can be safely used with peas 
 even after the plants appear. After this the free use of 
 the cultivator will be found profitable. 
 
 Later Sowing. — Whether it will be profitable to arrange 
 for a succession of peas in the early winter depends upon 
 the local soil and climate. On light soils and in regions- 
 of moderate rainfall and frost it is quite feasible, but in 
 most regions December and January bring the lowest 
 temperatures and the longest rainstorms of the year, and 
 the ground is out of condition. The advent of February 
 changes things enough to meet the requirements of the 
 pea, and then the sowing for the spring and summer suc- 
 cession may begin. At the first ridge or raised bed 
 method will give safety against excessive water, but later 
 sowings should be made for flat culture on soil most thor- 
 oughly prepared and well cultivated afterward. 
 
 Field Growth. — Where peas are sown for forage or for 
 a crop of dry peas, sowing can be done broadcast on land 
 which has been previously plowed and harrowed, and 
 then the seed is covered with a shallow cross-plowing of 
 the whole field. If the soil is friable and a good condi- 
 tion of moisture, this leaves the surface well loosened and 
 
308 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 able to receive considerable rain without baking. This 
 method answers well on light soils in the interior early 
 winter, and the moist condition of the upper coast valleys 
 is also satisfactory. In the upper coast valleys peas can 
 be safely sown as late as May for summer crop and forage. 
 Wherever heat or drouth and hard ground are likely to 
 be encountered before the vines cover the ground, drill 
 culture and cultivation are better. 
 
 Peas in the Orchard. — It has already been mentioned 
 that the winter growth of peas in the orchard for plowing 
 under for green manure, is gaining popularity in this 
 State. The pea has the power of appropriating atmos- 
 pheric nitrogen and its growth in the winter in the 
 warmer parts of the State may be effected with little loss 
 of moisture to the trees. Growing the pea crop in the 
 orchard to be gathered green for eanners' use has also 
 been successfully done in this State, where the trees are 
 small. The pea is probably one of the least injurious of 
 the inter-cultures, and under certain conditions may be 
 of actual benefit to the trees. For this purpose the crop 
 should be gathered and the green vine plowed in as early 
 .as possible. 
 
 No Support for Peas. — Peas are chiefly groM^n as a pros- 
 trate crop in California, both in garden and field. The 
 preference is for the dwarf or medium high kinds and 
 they are allowed to stand or mat down as they see fit. It 
 better suits a climate where reclining on the ground very 
 rarely induces mildew and where the covering of the 
 ground assists in maintaining the coolness and moisture 
 of soil which delights the pea. 
 
 Varieties. — Of the two main divisions of pea varieties, 
 the smooth and the wrinkled skins, the smooth are the 
 more hardy and can be safely grown early. The smooth 
 pea may resist decay and grow where the wrinkled seed 
 will perish. And yet the wrinkled pea is so popular that 
 wrinkled varieties have almost excluded the smooth kinds. 
 
 Alaska : tall growing, small smooth pea ; pod short, well 
 filled ; very early. 
 
VARIETIES OF PEAS. 309 
 
 American Wonder : dwarf, wrinkled, very compact 
 grow^th, productive and early, fine quality, very sweet ; the 
 leading early pea in California. 
 
 McLean's Little Gem: dwarf, wrinkled, very early, pro- 
 ductive, rich and sweet. 
 
 Nott's Excelsior: resembles American Wonder; larger 
 growing and more productive ; fine quality, long bearing 
 period, excellent home garden pea. 
 
 Premium Gem : an improved Little Gem with larger 
 pods. 
 
 Yorkshire Hero (also called Alameda Sweet) : later than 
 dwarf varieties ; most popular in all parts of the State for 
 main crop ; strong grower, with branching habit ; large 
 pods well filled with large, wrinkled peas ; keeps in con- 
 dition on vine longer than other varieties. 
 
 Pride of Cahuenga (renamed in southern California, 
 where it has been grown for 20 years) : branches freely 
 and very productive and pods large ; peas large and finely 
 flavored. 
 
 Stratagem: strong grower, semi dwarf, with large, 
 showy pods ; peas large and of good flavor ; very popular 
 with growers and the trade ; a late variety. 
 
 Champion of England : well-known late variety, largely 
 used b}^ canners; rich, high quality. 
 
 Telephone : late, very productive, large pods ; peas 
 sugary ; largely grown both for market and home use. 
 
 Edible Pod or Sugar Peas. — ^Although California inter- 
 est is almost wholly centered in the shelling varieties of 
 peas, there has recently been some attention paid in home 
 gardens to the edible pod varieties which are used in the 
 kitchen as are string or snap beans. They are available 
 because of their hardiness at times of the year when string 
 beans can only be had from frostless regions if at all. 
 Their culture is the same as for other kinds of peas. 
 
 LENTILS AND CHICK PEAS. 
 
 Though of another botanical genus, lentils are best 
 classed with peas. They are quite hardy and make a good 
 
310 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 winter growth. They may be used green as peas are, but 
 are hardly as desirable. The dry seeds are used in soups, 
 stews, etc. Lentils are rarely seen in California, probably 
 because peas are preferred, not only because of flavor, but 
 because of more easy handling. The lentil bears but two 
 seeds in a pod. Owing to their early winter growth they 
 may come into use here for cattle food as in Europe. 
 
 Another two-seeded pod bearer is the garbanzo or chick 
 pea, which is a hairy plant of the vetch family. Its uses 
 are like those of lentils, but it has also served widely as a 
 coffee substitute. Its culture is easy, like the pea in 
 method, but the product is always used dry or mature. 
 The plant is more hardy against drouth than the peas. Its 
 production in California is small, but seems to be in- 
 creasing. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 PEPPERS. 
 
 Chile Pepper. — Capsicum aniitium. 
 
 French, piment; German, pfeffer; Dutch, Spaansche, 
 peper ; Italian, peperone ; Spanish, pimiento ; Portuguese, 
 pimento. 
 
 The settlement of California by people of Spanish birth 
 or descent naturally brought the pepper into early promi- 
 nence in this State, and the considerable fraction of our 
 population Avhich now traces to south of Europe nations 
 serves to hold the plant in popularity. American citizens 
 have also wide liking for the pepper in some of its uses, 
 and the result is large local demand for the capsules both 
 in green and mature states. There is this main division 
 in the demand — the northern races prefer the large, green, 
 mild varieties ; the southern races chiefly use that which is 
 ripe, red, and fiery in flavor. But of course this distinction 
 is not to be pushed too far. Each kind has its uses which 
 are observed by all consumers. In the California markets 
 the two kinds or conditions stand side by side in such 
 quantities as to make them conspicuous. 
 
 Though the pepper is usually an annual, it carries its 
 profitable productive life into the second year in the 
 thermal regions of the State. The stem has a tendency 
 to become woody and after a period of partial dormancy, 
 it sends out new shoots and bears its second crop. This 
 cannot, however, be expected in a frosty location. 
 
 Garden Culture. — Peppers are usually grown from 
 plants started early by artificial heat in the same manner 
 indicated for egg-plant. Planting out should be done 
 after danger of frost is over and the soil is well warmed 
 by the sun. Later plants may be grown by planting the 
 
312 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 seed in drills in the open ground, thinning the plants 
 afterward to suitable distance. Moisture should be 
 evenly maintained by cultivation or irrigation as needed, 
 but excessive water is undesirable at all times from the 
 seed sowing onward. The plants will endure heat and 
 drouth, but the fruiting is deficient in size and quantity, 
 and for the best success, especially with the large varie- 
 ties, rich, light soil, well cultivated and adequately moist, 
 is a requisite. The distance between the plants depends 
 upon method of cultivation, nl the hand-worked garden, 
 the plants may be set a foot apart in rows, eighteen inches 
 distant from each other, but usually greater distance is 
 better, and for horse w^ork the rows should be two or three 
 feet apart. 
 
 Field Culture. — Field culture for canning and for the 
 trade in dried peppers is pursued on a large scale in 
 southern California, especially in Orange county, on the 
 deep loams of the gentle slope oceanward. An outline of 
 methods is prepared from data furnished by Mr. Allan 
 Knapp of Anaheim, who is widely acquainted with local 
 experience in the pepper district. 
 
 Seed. — It is exceedingly important to have a good type 
 of plant, and this can be secured by selecting pods in the 
 field, to furnish seed for the following year, from low 
 bushy vines full of pods of medium length. A tall bush 
 will not produce as many pods and is more liable to be 
 broken by strong winds when loaded with fruit. Besides 
 the end of the pods from a low plant will rest on the 
 ground, and in that position they Avill prop up the 
 branches, providing you keep crowding a little earth to 
 the row at each cultivation, as will be described later. 
 
 When these seed pods are gathered put them on a string 
 and hang up to dry against the south end of a building. 
 Do not put them into the evaporator when hotter than 
 110 to 115°. They may stand more heat, but i)erhaps only 
 50%. of the seed may germinate quickly, and the other half 
 may delay a week longer than those dried in the sun ; 
 neither will it make so strong a plant. 
 
PLANTING OF PEPPERS. 313 
 
 Growing Seedlings. — Select a location for the seed bed 
 where good drainage may be had. Sandy soil is best, but 
 not so poor that it contains no plant food to nourish the 
 young plant. Plow and level the plot, harrowing or raking 
 with a hand rake, as only a small piece of land is used ; 
 sow seed about March 15 in rows three inches apart, cover- 
 ing one-quarter of an inch. On this spread one-quarter 
 inch with sand. Start your seed beside a large tree, if 
 you have one, and you will have fair success. The tree 
 will drain your land. If the young plants begin to die by 
 "damping off," take a troAvel and dig out the affected 
 spots and throw them away. The plants should have five 
 or six leaves on before transplanting connnences. Wet 
 the soil of the seed bed thoroughly before lifting the 
 plants, as the roots are damaged less. 
 
 Field Planting. — Plow the field deeply early in the win- 
 ter and keep down weeds by shallow cultivation until 
 plapting time, when danger of frost is passed. The chile 
 plant is very sensitive to cold. May 1 is a good time for 
 planting. Mark fields off in rows 4i/> feet apart and set 
 21/2 feet apart in rows. Should the weather be dry and 
 irrigation necessary plow a furrow beside each mark and 
 run water in these furrows before and after planting, and 
 if the Aveather be very hot two or three irrigations may 
 be necessary to start plants. Always allow 24 hours after 
 irrigating before plants are set, unless soil is very sandy. 
 Then work may commence sooner. 
 
 When through with the irrigation furrows, plow back 
 and cultivate the land until level as before. Keep soil in 
 good growing condition always. When plants are 12 to 
 15 inches high use a ridger (such as is used in raising 
 levees for irrigation checks) with plenty of space open 
 behind and straddle each row, thus drawing the earth to 
 each side of plant and giving it support. Water may be 
 run down these rows at this time. As plants grow make 
 the ridge wider with a crowder run in between each row. 
 This ridge will keep plants from breaking down so readily 
 when laden with fruit, and when fruit strikes the ground 
 
314 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 it will not decay so readily because the ridge will be dry. 
 Do not make your first ridging too high, and do not do 
 the work too late; if so, the first setting will be greatly 
 injured by pushing the earth against the fruit, thus leav- 
 ing no room for it to grow, and many pods will be curly 
 and eaten by bugs. 
 
 Gathering and Curing. — During September the fruit will 
 begin to ripen, the time of ripening depending upon the 
 soil and the care of the crop. In sandy soil the fruit will 
 ripen quicker than in deep sediment. If the plants lack 
 moisture they will ripen much faster, which looks well, 
 but they should be kept green as long as possible. It 
 pays better in the end. 
 
 The crop should be picked as each setting ripens ; go 
 over the field three or four times. A pod should be left 
 on the vine until of a dark red and it has lost its hardness, 
 being somewhat pliable. Have the crop gathered in large 
 baskets, but they should be hauled in boxes rather tJian 
 sacks, as they are less liable to be bruised, and a bruised 
 pod is liable to decay unless dried at once. If peppers 
 are to be dried on strings, have them dumped on a table 
 or on the ground, as you prefer. Allow 24 to 48 hours for 
 stems to wilt after gathering before they are put on the 
 string. This work is done by running a twine through 
 the stem of each chile, the twine to be 10i/> to 11 feet, and 
 same may be hung on a scaffold to dry or put into espe- 
 cially made evaporators. Some growers report favorably 
 on drying their crop on trays instead of on twine. During 
 recent years most of the drying has been done in evapor- 
 ators, which is accomplished by artificial heat in six or 
 eight days. 
 
 Soils for the Commercial Crop. — Although peppers can 
 be successfully grown in any good garden soil, it is im- 
 portant for the field crop to choose deep, rich, sandy loam, 
 or sediment soil, which will not bake very rapidly. The 
 young plants must be set in damp soil and if land should 
 easily bake it will become hard and will dry out more 
 readily about the young plant and the growth will be very 
 
VARIETIES OF PEPPERS. 315 
 
 slow. It is not wise to grow more than two crops of pep- 
 pers on even the best of soils without fertilizing very 
 liberally. Cover crops plowed under are found very 
 profitable. 
 
 Varieties. — The varieties chieliy grown for home use and 
 marketing green are Large Bell or Bull-nose, an early 
 variety of mild flavor, fruit large, slightly tapering and 
 generally terminating in four obtuse, cone-like points. It 
 is a favorite sort, both for pickling and for table use. 
 Sweet mountain is another popular variety similar to the 
 foregoing, but larger and milder in flavor, and Chinese 
 Giant is an immense pepper, often twice as large as Large 
 Bell. 
 
 The standard for hot pepper and for the dried crop is 
 the Mexican chile, long, narrow pods on a low-growing, 
 narrow-leaved plant. One type is a very dark, thick- 
 meated, cone-shaped chile, growing from 4 to 6 inches 
 long, which is gaining ground ; while the Long Red, or 
 Anaheim Chile, having pods from 6 to 10 inches long, is 
 the best known. The plant is strong and holds its fruit 
 up well and is very productive. There is also a longer 
 variety with pods up to fourteen inches in length which, 
 however, is claimed to be less productive and light when 
 dried, though the flesh is quite thick when green. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 POTATOES. 
 
 The Potato. — Solanum tuberosum. 
 
 French, pomme de terre ; German, kartoffel ; Dutch, 
 aardappel; Danish, jordepeeren; Italian, patata ; Spanish 
 and Portuguese, patatas. 
 
 The Sweet Potato. — Convolvulus balafas. 
 
 French, patate douce; Italian, patata; Spanish and 
 Portuguese, batata. 
 
 Potatoes may be grown everywhere in California with- 
 out irrigation, except on strictly arid plains and deserts, 
 and it needs but slight watering to enable the light but 
 rich soils of the arid regions to surpass the naturally moist 
 lands both in the size and quality of their produce. Some 
 of the grandest potatoes every grown in the State have 
 been taken from light, w^arm soils whose natural growth 
 was sagebrush and other desert flora. The superiority of 
 the higher, lighter lands, either with adequate rainfall or 
 irrigation, to the moist lowlands of the interior river bot- 
 toms or the coast valleys, has been clearly recognized 
 during recent years. In the -earlier days, the coast and 
 the interior river bottoms w^ere supposed to be par ex- 
 cellence the potato regions, and their products were trans- 
 ported great distances to interior uplands which were 
 thought to be unfit for the plant. Now the choicest po- 
 tatoes are grown in these places and the production in 
 the older regions has decreased, though the potato still 
 constitutes an important crop. The present situation is 
 that the potato may be seen everywhere from the skirts 
 of the cliffs which look down upon the ocean, along the 
 bottoms and sides of the coast valleys, on the reclaimed 
 lands and benches of the great interior rivers, up the 
 
REQUIREMENTS OF POTATOES. 317 
 
 slopes of the foothills and in the monntain valleys of the 
 Sierra Nevada and out beyond, upon the stretches of sage- 
 brush, wherever water can be had to turn the desert into 
 a garden. California has capacity for a potato produc- 
 tion beyond the ability of any available market to handle, 
 and though a few years ago it seemed likely that our cli- 
 matic advantages in early production would give us com- 
 mand of distant consumption at certain times of the year, 
 it has since been shown that much less can be profitably 
 done in this direction than was anticipated. There have 
 been in some years very large shipments at reduced freight 
 rates when the Eastern production was deficient, but the 
 potato is ordinarily too cheap an article to endure the cost 
 of long transportation. The California potato product 
 sometimes exceeds 3,000,000 sacks per year. 
 
 Situations. — ^Though, as has been stated, the potato 
 grows wherever adequate moisture is assured, there is 
 much difference in the times of the year at which maturity 
 is attained. Though the potato is a tender plant it will 
 endure light frosts, nor does it always yield its life when 
 the frost blights the foliage. Dormant buds lower on the 
 stem develop into a new top growth. It is, therefore, pos- 
 sible to secure fall and even winter growth in places where 
 a strictly tender plant like the bean would perish. Where 
 only light frosts occur and where irrigation is provided to 
 supplement rainfall, it is possible to have new potatoes all 
 the year and to bring to edible condition three crops suc- 
 cessively on the same ground withing a twelve month, 
 though it is, of course, better to let the potato take its 
 place in a rotation. 
 
 New Potatoes. — The first new potatoes from a California 
 point of view, would be the crop that comes in the autumn 
 with the first green peas — counting July 1 as the begin- 
 ning of the garden year. In fact the first potatoes and 
 peas come from the same localities. They make their 
 growth in the fall from planting on ground well soaked by 
 irrigation in July and August. The regions for this work 
 are those in which fall frosts are light or do not occur at 
 
318 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 all — the tlu'r'inal l)c']ts at (liffcrciil elevations on the hill- 
 sides both on the Coast Ranye and the Sierra Nevada, also 
 on the warm interior plains, hut not usually on the river 
 bottoms nor on the low places in small valleys. Owing, 
 however, to the partial resistance to frost of the potato, 
 there are very wide areas both on the coast and in the in- 
 terior of central and southern California, where the fall 
 growth of potatoes is safe and worth wider attention than 
 is given to it by home gardeners. Where irrigation may 
 be had to start the seed well the fall rains usually carry on 
 the growth. 
 
 Planting for what may be called the second run of new 
 potatoes requires stricter attention to thermal conditions. 
 This crop must be growing in December and January, 
 which are our months of heaviest frosts and rainfall usu- 
 ally. Strictly thermal belts, to be found at different ele- 
 vations on hillsides, generally within the reach of ocean 
 influences in the south half of the California coast line, 
 but also here and there on the hillsides of the interior, 
 favor the growth of the potato all through the winter, if 
 the soil be light and kept warm by free escape of surplus 
 water and abundant winter sunshine. 
 
 The third run of new potatoes is secured by the plant- 
 ing of the early varieties as soon as possible after the 
 heaviest frosts of the locality are over, and the soil be- 
 comes warm enough to push growth. This is the main po- 
 tato planting season of California, and covers a wide range 
 of dates, beginning with January on light, well-drained 
 soils at the south to get the earliest new potatoes for East- 
 ern shipment in May ; proceeding in February, not only in 
 the south, but on warm uplands all through the central 
 portion of the State, and continuing with planting all 
 through March, April, and May, as favoring soil condi- 
 tions come successively to the upper coast valleys and the 
 mountain regions, or as the river lowlands and reclaimed 
 islands are drained of their surplus water. In fact on in- 
 terior river lands planting may be done as late as June and 
 July and the crop comes on rapidly with ample heat and 
 
ALWAYS PLANTING POTATOES. 319 
 
 moisture producing the first new potatoes of the California 
 garden year, as previoiisl.y stated. Thus it appears that 
 potato planting covers the entire year, and that while 
 some parts of the State are digging their main crop, other 
 parts are making their first planting. To bring the matter 
 nearer to a point it may be said that a man in the central 
 coast region may be eating new potatoes from his hillside 
 while he is planting his main crop on his lowlands. And 
 yet one is frequently asked to answer categorically the 
 question: "When do you plant potatoes in California?" 
 Obviously it is a local question, to be learned by experi- 
 ence, observation, and inquiry, in accordance with the 
 general conditions outlined in the chapter on the planting 
 season in California. 
 
 In connection, however, with this wide liberty in plant- 
 ing, taking the State as a whole, it must be borne in mind 
 that local requirements are sometimes very sharp and that 
 planting on the interior plains or in other parts of the 
 State where there is high heat and drought, or the soil be- 
 comes dry even with moderate heat, planting must be un- 
 dertaken early enough to allow a large part of the de- 
 velopment of the plant before such stress comes. Local 
 failures with potatoes may, therefore, be often attributed 
 to neglect of planting as soon as moisture and temperature 
 conditions favor growth in each locality. 
 
 Soils.- — ^Light, rich loams are best for potatoes as they 
 favor root extension and expansion of tubers and they are 
 retentive enough to hold the moderate amount of moisture 
 which ministers to the highest quality. Very near the 
 coast well-cultivated, light uplands receive atmospheric 
 moisture enough to sustain the deep verdure of the potato 
 fields, while the pastures are sere and yellow. Summer 
 growth on interior plains and foothill slopes and mountain 
 plateaus is sustained by less irrigation than many other 
 crops require, and winter growth, whenever feasible, is 
 best on light, free soils. The sediment and peat of the 
 river lands are also, in their season, light and warm. But 
 the potato insists upon adequate moisture, though its claim 
 
320 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 is moderate. It cannot give satisfaction unless its mois- 
 ture requirements are met. 
 
 Heavy soils in garden culture can be greatly improved 
 as described in the chaj)ter on Vegetable Soils of Califor- 
 nia. Early and deep working of the soil and Uk; plowing 
 in of rotten straw and compost and thorough mixture of 
 these materials through the soil will have marked effect, 
 but heavy land potatoes seldom have the beauty and flavor 
 of th(^ product of the light, rich loams. 
 
 Culture. — Deep working of the soil is essential in pre- 
 paration for potatoes as has already been urged for beets 
 and other root crops. The soil must be made mellow to a 
 good depth by at least two plowings and kept mellow by 
 subsequent cultivation. 
 
 Unless the seed potatoes are old and show active eyes, 
 they should be exposed to sunlight for several weeks to 
 advance germination. This is especially the case when the 
 tubers of an early crop are used for later planting the 
 same season. 
 
 All proposed methods of seed-cutting have been tried in 
 California, and each has its advocates. When the soil and 
 season favor, excellent crops are grown from small po- 
 tatoes used as seed, but generally the selected fair-sized, 
 2nerchantable potatoes, cut into quarters lengthwise, pro- 
 duce best results. Cutting should not be done too long 
 before planting, to guard against too great drying of the 
 seed. Recently machines for seed potato cutting have 
 been used with satisfactory results by large planters. Dis- 
 tance between pieces in the farrow depends upon the ten- 
 dency of the potatoes to grow too large. This is often 
 corrected by dropping more thickly. The range is from 
 12 to 20 inches usually. 
 
 In the field much planting is done with the plow by 
 dropping the "seed" in every third or fourth furrow, so as 
 to bring the roots about three feet apart, and covering 
 with the following furrow. Depth of planting depends 
 upon season and soil as described on page 158, the same 
 principles governing as in the planting of seed. After the 
 
POTATO GROWING. 321 
 
 seed is plowed in to a depth of four to eight inches, ac- 
 cording to season and soil, a thorough cross-harrowing 
 should leave the field in good shape. On light soils dis- 
 posed to be dry, a light rolling may be beneficial. As soon 
 as the plants appear harrowing with the rows mellows the 
 surface, kills small weeds, and does not hurt the potatoes. 
 Cultivation between the rows should follow when the 
 plants are up about three inches, and the surface should 
 be kept loose until the plants are quite high. Good, clean 
 culture is the rule with potatoes. In some soils, not dis- 
 posed to dry out too rapidly nor to crust, crops are often 
 made with little cultivation after weeds stop growing, 
 especially where the plant has the benefit of coast influ- 
 ences, but cultivation for moisture retention, where needed, 
 must be more thorough. 
 
 On lands subject to excess of moisture, winter growth of 
 potatoes can be facilitated by the ridge planting described 
 in the chapter on Cultivation, but where this is not likely 
 to occur, flat culture is best, both in winter and summer. 
 Where potatoes are to be irrigated a slight moving of the 
 soil toward the row, so as to make the interspace a little 
 hollow to carry water, is admissable, but "hilling up" is 
 unnecessary and dangerous. It usually uncovers the firm 
 soil and exposes the roots to too great heat and drought. 
 It is also likely to bring the tubers within reach of the 
 moth from whose eggs come the potato worms. During 
 the latter part of the growth the tuber should be well cov- 
 ered with soil. 
 
 Irrigation.— The potato should be kept growing thriftily 
 from start to finish. If growth is arrested by drought, a 
 new growth of small potatoes is apt to start upon renewal 
 of moisture, to the detriment of the crop. The aim should 
 be, then, to keep the soil adequately moist by constant cul- 
 tivation or by irrigation until maturity approaches. Irri- 
 gation is best done by running small streams between the 
 rows, the planting having been arranged for this distribu- 
 tion. As already stated, excessive irrigation is decidedly 
 detrimental to the quality of the crop, and extra effort 
 
322 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 must be made for even distribution of the water. To allow 
 low places to fill up with water is injurious and to allow 
 the water to come in contact with the plant stems is also 
 dangerous. A good, thorough, and uniform wetting of the 
 soil is often enough to finish the crop and it is seldom de- 
 sirable to irrigate after the bloom appears. Thorough sur- 
 face cultivation should quickly follow the irrigation, for 
 the reasons stated in the chapter on that subject. 
 
 Mulching. — For the last 35 years the practice of groov- 
 ing potatoes on the interior plains by the help of a straw 
 mulch has been followed to some extent. It has recently 
 been proposed at the east as a new method, but it is really 
 quite old. The seed is plowed in with a shallow furrow 
 so as to cover about three or four inches, then cover the 
 whole surface with partly decayed straw from an old 
 stack or with coarse manure. The mulch will retain 
 moisture enough to mature a crop. There need be no plow- 
 ing, hoeing, nor weeding, and it is held by those who ad- 
 vocate the method, that the labor of putting on straw is 
 compensated for the saving of hoeing and weeding. It is 
 also a safe way to grow early potatoes in frosty places be- 
 cause the mulch protects the dormant buds at the base of 
 the stems and new foliage quickly grows if the old is 
 nipped by frost. 
 
 Harvesting. — Potato diggers or plows are used to some 
 extent in California, but the common method of gathering 
 is by means of a long-handled shovel which is dexterously 
 pushed beneath the plant so that all the tubers are thrown 
 out at one operation. The yield of potatoes varies from 
 five to nine tons per acre on good soil, properly cultivated. 
 
 Storing. — As the summer and fall climate of California 
 is almost rainless and the frosts seldom severe enough to 
 freeze a potato in a sack, the tubers are generally sacked 
 and piled in the field for weeks and months. This advan- 
 tage is turned by careless growers into a disadvantage, be- 
 cause the potatoes are often seriously injured by heat and 
 light and shriveled by dry, hot winds, or the moth places 
 her eggs upon them and wormy and worthless potatoes is 
 
POTATO VARIETIES. 323 
 
 the result of her work. Potatoes shoukl be stored in a 
 dark, dry place and protected from heat. If left in the 
 field for a time the piles should be covered with boards, 
 straw or canvass. 
 
 Varieties. — As with other vegetables, California has 
 tried many kinds of potatoes and grows very few on a 
 commercial scale. The first notable varieties were brought 
 from Chili and Peru in very early days, and are still 
 grown in a small way though the main crop is now made 
 of newer kinds because in some localities the old varieties 
 ran out and showed great susceptibility to blight. The 
 blight, which in some years is a serious menace to potato 
 growing, has been partially escaped by the introduction of 
 new varieties which were thrift.y, while the old varieties 
 on adjacent ground perished. For this reason new varie- 
 ties should be tested in all localities. 
 
 The potato which constitutes most of the market crop is 
 the Burbank and some variations of it are locally popular. 
 For mid-season and late potatoes nothing compares with 
 the Burbank. For early potatoes the old Early Rose still 
 prevails widely though others are encroaching upon it. 
 Triumph is a little earlier and is gaining ground. Early 
 White Rose, Early Clark and Early Ohio are chiefly popu- 
 lar in southern California. American "Wonder, and Snow- 
 flake and Pearl are advancing as shipping varieties and 
 Peerless still retains favor in some localities. 
 
 Although there are local adaptations of different va- 
 rieties, the character of the potato depends more upon 
 local conditions of soil and climate than upon the variety 
 and the same variety from different localities commands 
 widely different prices in the market. 
 
 SWEET POTATOES. 
 
 The sweet potato is grown in nearly all parts of Cali- 
 fornia where rich, sandy loam, suitably moist, can be 
 found. Adequate heat is essential to quality and the upper 
 coast region has localities which are deficient in this re- 
 spect, but protection from coast influences renders the pro- 
 duct satisfactory, even though distance from the ocean be 
 
324 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 not great. As a rule, however, the crop in the upper half 
 of the State is grown in the interior valleys, while at the 
 south, both the coast slopes and the interior valleys yield 
 a fine product. Where the soil is rich, warm, and free and 
 the moisture sufficient, the sweet potato attains immense 
 size and rightly ranks among the great things of Cali- 
 fornia. 
 
 The sweet potato is a strictly tender plant and a heat- 
 lover as well, consequently there is no winter planting, 
 though in drier parts of the State, free from frost, there 
 may be fall plantings which carry their crop well into the 
 winter and for more than half the year fresh potatoes may 
 be taken from the ground, and by proper storing the vege- 
 table may be enjoyed throughout the year. 
 
 Preparation of the Ground. — Planting is done at the be- 
 ginning of the frost-free period and the date depends upon 
 the locality. Usually it comes about the first of May, but 
 preparation of the ground should begin earlier to secure 
 good culture and moisture retention as described for other 
 root crops. In regions of good rainfall moisture enough 
 can thus be retained to make the crop, or at least start it 
 well. On dry plains it may be necessary to thoroughly 
 irrigate in the spring before the deep plowing with which 
 the planting is to be made. On loose, lowland soils or in 
 irrigated regions there is often abundant moisture within 
 reach of the plant to serve its purposes and then sweet 
 potatoes may follow a hay or grain crop just as in the 
 practice with common potatoes. Lands which receive 
 moisture from below, and yet are not wet and cold, pro- 
 duce the crop with least labor and expense, though it is 
 quite feasible to proceed with direct irrigation both for 
 planting and after growth. The sweet potato sends its 
 roots to great distances to find moisture. 
 
 Growing- the Plants. — The sweet potato grows readily 
 by cuttings from the growing vine planted out directly in 
 the field if the ground is moist and warm. This method is 
 followed to rapidly multiply a rare variety. The usual 
 method is to plant the crop by using sprouts from potatoes 
 
SWEET POTATOES. 325 
 
 on which growth is quickly started with bottom heat. Any 
 of the hot-bed appliances described in the chapter on 
 propagation may be used for this purpose on a small scale, 
 but in the warmer parts of the State it can be done on a 
 large scale for field planting without expense of glass or 
 cloth covering. There is, however, often advantage in an 
 early start with sweet potatoes, and for this the plants 
 must be started when air and soil are too cold. Hot water 
 circulation is being used for bottom heat. If artificial heat 
 is used, care must be taken against overheating. 
 
 To grow plants in the open air, dig a trench four or five 
 feet wide and about two feet deep ; the length according to 
 the number of plants desired. The trench should be dug 
 in light, well-drained soil, in a place protected from cold 
 winds, such as the south side of a building. Put in fresh 
 horse manure and tramp down until about a foot and a 
 half of thickness is secured. Wet it well, but not enough 
 to drain, and immediately cover with three or four inches 
 of moist soil. Upon this place the sweet potatoes just as 
 close as they can be put down without touching each other. 
 When done, sift in fine sand between the potatoes and 
 finally cover with three inches of very sandy loam, or even 
 with sand. Keep this bed moist but not wet. Moisture 
 and heat may be retained by covering the bed with two 
 inches of loose straw to be removed as the shoots appear. 
 The plants are ready for use in about eight weeks from 
 the bedding of the tubers, when they show a few green 
 leaves; they can be detached by pulling and will bring 
 their outfit of small roots with them as they are pulled 
 out of the sand. The tubers will then send up other shoots 
 which can be used for later plantings. 
 
 Some prefer to uncover the potatoes, beginning at one 
 end of the bed, removing the shoots and replacing the cov- 
 ering. This lessens the danger of breaking the shoots. 
 Others split the potatoes lengthwise and plant with the 
 cut side down so that all the shoots come from the upper 
 surface, and are thus less liable to break in pulling. 
 
 Planting. — Most sweet potatoes a.re grown on ridges to 
 
326 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 secure greater heat in the soil and to facilitate irrigation, 
 but flat culture is also practiced, and in some regions is 
 decidedly better. After the land is well prepared and 
 harrowed down smooth, mark off the rows three feet apart 
 and set the plants eighteen inches apart in the row. AVhen 
 the ground is thoroughly warmed by the advance of the 
 season, say in April or May, take the shoots as described 
 above. They must, of course, be kept from drying out, 
 the young roots being very tender. In taking them to 
 the field they must, therefore, be kept in a bucket with 
 water, or in a wet sack, the former being the best. Plant 
 out the shoots eighteen inches apart in the rows, one in a 
 place, settling them down in the soil deep enough to find 
 permanent moisture. 
 
 Sometimes when the object is to get unusually large 
 potatoes, instead of pulling off and setting out the slips, 
 the potato is lifted out, and with every slip a small piece 
 of the potato is cut out and planted with the slip. This 
 method will bring the earliest potatoes, but the number 
 of sets are many less than though the potato be allowed to 
 remain in bed for their continued production. 
 
 Recently planting out with a machine has come into use, 
 such as the transplanting machine, which digs a trench on 
 the top of the ridge and drops water at whatever intervals 
 are desired. Two boys place the plants, holding them 
 until the machine draws the dirt securely around them. 
 
 Ctdtivation. — Cultivation for the purpose of weed kill- 
 ing and surface stirring is continued until the vines inter- 
 fere, and after that the vines cover the ground with a 
 thick mat and discourage weed growth. 
 
 Harvesting and Storage. — Use of the sweet potatoes may 
 begin when they attain suitable size, but for keeping they 
 must attain a good degree of maturity. 
 
 Some find the keeping of sweet potatoes somewhat diffi- 
 cult. Many pack the potatoes in dry sand and keep them 
 in the house. This is expensive and is not a sure way. 
 Many will rot, and sometimes only one-third of them will 
 keep till spring. Storage in the open air with due pro- 
 
KEEPING SWEET POTATOES. 327 
 
 tection against too great temperature changes and 
 moisture is better. This method has been approved in 
 Fresno county: 
 
 Take stout stakes, say five to six feet long, and drive 
 them into the ground in a row and five feet apart, in some 
 dry place that is not sheltered by trees. Dig the potatoes 
 and throw them up around the stakes to the height of four 
 feet. For a large field a great many such rows may be 
 necessary ; for a small patch perhaps one single stake will 
 suffice. When all dug, put four inches of straw as cover- 
 ing. 
 
 After a week or ten days, according to the weather, 
 the potatoes will have undergone a sweating process. 
 They first cover themselves with moisture, as if they had 
 been dipped in water. This moisture gradually begins to 
 disappear, and as soon as it does so it is time to throw off 
 the straw. This should be done when the wind is blowing ; 
 the potato hills should be left open for three or four hours, 
 or until the potatoes appear entirely dry. If the straw 
 covering is taken off in the morning, the potatoes will be 
 dry at noon. Then cover them again with three or four 
 inches of fresh, dry straw, and on the top of the straw put 
 three or four inches of soil to keep out the cold. On the 
 top of this must be placed a roof, which is easily made of 
 shakes nailed to strips of two by three and made in the 
 shape of panels, to allow of easy handling and of repeated 
 use year after year. Potatoes kept in this way will pre- 
 serve perfectly until next spring. Very few, if any, will 
 be found decayed. 
 
 Varieties. — Probably all the improved varieties have 
 been introduced in California. The California demand is 
 for a variety which is rather dry and mealy when cooked, 
 although the softer, sweeter sorts have some advocates. 
 The most common variety is called the Californian, but it 
 is a Chinese sort introduced in early daj^s. The Southern 
 Queen and the Nansemonds are also popular and the 
 Jersey Red is grown to some extent in southern California. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 RADISHES. 
 
 The Radish. — Baphanus sativus. 
 
 French, radis; German, radies; Dutch, radijs; Danish, 
 haverdoedike ; Italian, ravanello ; Spanish, rabanito ; Por- 
 tuguese, rabao. 
 
 Horse-radish. — Cochlearia A rmoracia. 
 
 French, raifort sauvage ; German, meerettig ; Dutch, 
 peperwortel ; Danish, peberrod ; Italian, raf ano ; Spanish, 
 taramago ; Portuguese, rabao de cavalho. 
 
 The radish is a relish which can be had continuously 
 throughout the year in most parts of California, if proper 
 soil and moisture conditions can be arranged. It is almost 
 a hopeless task to undertake to secure a crisp, delicately 
 flavored radish unless heat and moisture are favorable to 
 quick growth of the plant. It takes some gardening skill, 
 therefore, to produce good radishes in winter localities 
 with sharp frosts and heavy rainfall, while in regions of 
 light frost and light rainfall, winter heat is usually ade- 
 quate to satisfactory growth. 
 
 The best soil for radishes is a rich, sandy loam, though 
 any good garden soil will grow them if a small piece is 
 improved for the purpose as described in the chapter on 
 Vegetables Soils of California. 
 
 Preparation of the soil is essentially the same as that 
 already described for other root-crops, and sowing, as 
 already intimated, can be done whenever the soil is in 
 good condition, if irrigation is available for use in the dry 
 season, and there is free drainage in the winter. Tempera- 
 ture is, however, of more moment to the radish than to 
 some other hardy garden plants, and during the colder 
 months, the raised bed, as previously described, located 
 
GROWING RADISHES. 329 
 
 on the sunny side of a wind-break, will afford heat enough 
 usually. In other places where cold and rain are greater 
 the "warm heap" described elsewhere may be used. By 
 thus adapting the method to local conditions winter 
 growth can be had anywhere in the valley and foothill re- 
 gions of the State. Summer growth is mainly a question 
 of soil-moisture Avhich can be regulated by irrigation and 
 cultivation. 
 
 As the radish is naturally of quick growth and as crisp- 
 ness and mild flavor are largely conditioned on pushing it 
 to the utmost of its speed, it can be grown to advantage 
 as a catch crop here and there in the garden on ground 
 that is temporarily out of use for a few weeks, or between 
 the rows of more slowly growing vegetables. The gardener 
 should alwaj^s be ready to scatter good radish seed when 
 he has a little stretch of light, rich, moist soil at command. 
 A little attention and ingenuity will in this way secure a 
 constant supply. 
 
 Varieties. — Popular favor runs in the direction of the 
 turnip-shaped varieties, of which there are very many 
 The long radishes are, however, often chosen for home use. 
 The Early Scarlet Turnip is most largely grown and there 
 are several strains of it varying in earliness and color. 
 The E^'rench Breakfast, oval, tipped with white, stands 
 next to the Scarlet Turnip sorts, and the White and Scar- 
 let globes are Avidely grown. The Italian market garden- 
 ers grow what is knoAvn as the "Half-Long," a variety 
 of Rose Olive-Shaped and the Black Spanish, very desir- 
 able for winter growth. The White Turnip, similar to 
 Scarlet Turnip except in color, is popular with German 
 gardeners, and the Chartier has some popularity as a large 
 scarlet variet.y, shading to pink and thence to white at 
 the root-tip. The Crimson Giant turnip is very large and 
 yet generally solid and crisp. The Mammoth Chinese dis- 
 tances all others for size. It is pure white, mild-flavored 
 and crisp, even though it may grow 18 inches in length 
 and three inches in diameter in six weeks, with interior 
 heat on light soil, abundantly moist. 
 
330 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 HORSE-RADISH. 
 
 Horse-radish is a popular relish in California and is 
 bottled on <|nite a large scale. The plant is easily grown 
 and shonld be found in every farm garden. A start is 
 most conveniently made by planting root sets. ]\Ir. Ira 
 W. Adams advises planting the roots or sets in rows two 
 feet apart with the sets one foot apart in the rows, and 
 three or four inches under the surface. On rich, moist 
 soil, with the best of cultivation, one can raise roots that 
 will weigh from one-half to three-quarters of a pound. 
 When the roots are dug in winter for use, break off all the 
 small rootlets from one-quarter to one-half inch in diam- 
 eter, cut into pieces from three to five inches long, leaving 
 the top end square, and the bottom end slanting, so there 
 will be no mistake in planting them upside dowm. Tie in 
 small bunches and put into moist sand that has perfect 
 drainage and is exposed to the weather. In very cold, 
 long, heavy rains it is w^ell to cover with shakes, or short 
 pieces of boards. A cool cellar is a good place to store 
 them, but be careful that the sand is never allowed to get 
 dry, as the sets will not root nicely without continual 
 moisture. Early in the spring there will be nicely rooted 
 sets ready for transplanting, as before described. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 RHUBARB. 
 
 Rhubarb or Pie Plant. — Rheum sp. 
 
 French, rhubarbe ; German and Danish, rhabarber ; 
 Dutch, rabarber ; Italian, rabarbaro ; Spanish and Por- 
 tuguese, ruibarbo. 
 
 Rhubarb attains grand size and quality in California if 
 due attention is paid to the requirements of the plant, and 
 it should have a place in every house garden. It enjoys 
 very rich soil and will thrive on a great variety of soils, 
 even from heavy clay to light peat, providing ample mois- 
 ture is afforded it. On heavy, retentive soils it must have 
 good cultivation or thick mulching to prevent loss of 
 moisture and surface baking : on light, coarse soils either 
 ample irrigation or natural sub-irrigation will keep the 
 plant thrifty and vigorous. It does not enjoy high heat 
 and drought, and the old varieties reach best estate and 
 are chiefly commercially produced in the coast valleys or 
 on the river bottom lands of the interior, but can be very 
 satisfactorily grown for home use on interior plains and 
 mesas providing constant moisture is supplied ; partial 
 shade is also grateful to the foilage in the interior, but is 
 not necessary on the coast. Since the wide introduction 
 of winter growing rhubarb, which defies the frost and en- 
 joys the ample moisture of the rainy season, the range of 
 the plant has vastly increased in California and its com- 
 mercial importance has greatly advanced. 
 
 Culture. — Rhubarb is grown from seed or propagated 
 by division of the roots: the latter insures reproduction 
 of the identical characters of the parent, while from seed 
 there is always a chance of variation. 
 
 Rhubarb plants may be grown from seed by preparing 
 
332 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 the ground in the same way already described for aspara- 
 gus, and the same care of the seedling as there indicated 
 will bring good, strong rhuliarb roots for planting out as 
 yearlings. Mr. Ira W. Adams gives the following special 
 advice for rhubarb seedlings : 
 
 Prepare the bed the same as for asparagus. Sow the 
 seed in rows one foot apart, and one inch apart in the row 
 in a little furrow one inch deep ; tamp down lightly with 
 the back of a steel rake and cover with the finest of soil, 
 as the seeds are small and light. When the plants are an 
 inch or two high, they can be transplanted into rows 12 
 inches apart, and four inches between the plants. By fall 
 they will be fine, strong plants, and can be planted out the 
 next spring in permanent rows. 
 
 Root sets are made by dividing the roots of the older 
 plants so that each piece shall have a bud or eye. The most 
 vigorous plants, producing the largest leaves and thickest 
 leaf-stems, should be selected for this purpose. 
 
 Planting. — Before planting either in field or garden the 
 soil should be heavily manured and deeply turned in the 
 fall so as to get the full benefit of the winter rains. Trans- 
 planting of the old varieties should be done when the 
 plant is dormant, the soil in good working condition and 
 warmth enough for growth anticipated. The date will, 
 of course, vary in different localities, but February will 
 usually be satisfactory for the summer growing varieties. 
 The soil must not be too wet at transplanting or the roots 
 may rot : good warmth and moisture are favorable. The 
 introduction of winter growing varieties has modified 
 transplanting practice. They are practically evergreen 
 and active except for a short dormancy in the late sum- 
 mer, and, though capable of transplanting by cutting back 
 the leaves all through the rainy season, are usually moved 
 the best advantage from April to June, the latter period 
 being available on irrigated land. 
 
 There are different ways of planting out, each with its 
 own advocates. Roots set four feet apart each way give 
 good opportunity for cultivation both ways: but some 
 
GROWING RHUBARB. 333 
 
 give more room by laying off in six feet rows with the 
 plants three or four feet apart in the row. Others plant 
 in the garden, placing the plants two feet apart, if only 
 one row is planted, and in four feet rows with the plants 
 three feet apart if there are to be several rows. On good, 
 strong, deep soils, it is well to give plenty of room, for 
 large growth of leaves is desired to impart vigor to the 
 roots. Distance depends somewhat upon the variety, but 
 nearly all growers aim at very large leaf stems, and these 
 require ample space. 
 
 Treatment. — Plants of summer growing varieties should 
 be allowed to retain all their leaves the first year after 
 planting out, and there must be abundant moisture for 
 summer growth if there is to be a heavy crop the second 
 year. Frequent summer cultivation is desirable unless 
 mulching is employed, and if it is, the grower must be 
 sure that his mulching is heavy enough to retain moisture. 
 It is probably better to trust to cultivation and irrigation 
 in most situations. With the fall rains the surface should 
 be liberally dressed with manure and covered in as deeply 
 as possible without injury to the roots. Shallow cultiva- 
 tion should follow before the weeds advance too far, to be 
 repeated as necessary to keep the field clean. 
 
 Winter growing varieties, planted out in the spring and 
 summer, irrigated, establish themselves so strongly the 
 first summer that some pulling can be done upon them the 
 following winter. Even without irrigation, spring set 
 plants will receive a new impulse with the first rain, grow 
 riotously with the autumn heat and give large leaf stems 
 by the holidays in the warmer parts of the State. 
 
 Manuring and cultivation should be followed year after 
 year to keep the soil rich and in good tilth. Some soils 
 are, however, so rich naturally that such liberal manuring 
 may not be necessary. The plant should not be too fully 
 stripped of its leaves nor should the pulling be continued 
 too late in the summer. The following crop depends upon 
 adequate leaf action — consequently the plant must have 
 foliage and summer moisture to maintain it. 
 
334 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Varieties. — The Moiiai-ch is larj^ely grown. It has a very 
 wide, fiat stem. The Victoria has red, long stems, rather 
 sharp acid, but a very productive sort and popular. Lin- 
 naeus is early, large, thick stems, of excellent flavor and 
 less acid. 
 
 The Crimson Winter, introduced from Australia by Lu- 
 ther Burbank about 1895, and sold by him to the trade in 
 1900, has revolutionized rhubarb growing in California by 
 completely reversing the market season. This variety and 
 its improvements by Mr. Burbank and by others who have 
 practiced selection since he sold it out, has multiplied the 
 rhubarb acreage of the State and vastly increased the ser- 
 viceability and commercial suitability of the plant. It has 
 precluded forcing in California and promises to render 
 forcing unprofitable even in the wintry parts of the coun- 
 try because of the large supplies of open air rhubarb which 
 are available for shipment from this State at all times of 
 the year when the summer varieties grown in wintry cli- 
 mates are unproductive. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 SPINACH. 
 
 Common Spinach. — Spinacia ohracea and spinosa. 
 
 French, epinard ; German, spinat ; Dutch, spinazie ; 
 Danish, spinat; Italian, spinaccio ; Spanish, espinaca ; Por- 
 tuguese, espinafre. 
 
 New Zealand Spinach. — Tetrayoiiia expansa. 
 
 Spinach is an all-the-year- plant in California, and the 
 house-gardener need never fail to have tender foliage for 
 boiling if he arranges for successive sowings and knows 
 the varieties and species which befit the changing seasons, 
 for he can choose for fall sowing that which is perfectly 
 hardy and thrifty in the California winter, and for spring 
 sowing that which will furnish succulent pluckings even 
 through the heat and drought of the interior summer. But 
 though this is so, it is chiefly as affording winter greens 
 that spinach is grown for the market. The summer fur- 
 nishes so large a variety of table vegetables that it is 
 chiefly in winter that the housewife turns her attention to 
 pot-herbs. 
 
 Culture. — The varieties of common spinach (spinacia) 
 dislike heat and drought and enjoy moist, rich soil and 
 moderate temperature. These conditions are afforded by 
 all California gardens in the winter, providing the grower 
 will heed the suggestions for ridge-culture, etc., given in 
 previous chapters, for escaping surplus water and secur- 
 ing suitable growing-temperature in the winter garden. 
 With these provisions it is easy to secure winter spinach 
 by following the suggestions given for the winter growth 
 of lettuce, peas or other hardy vegetables. What has been 
 said of fall sowing of these, applies also to spinach. The 
 plant makes best growth from seed sown in place, and if 
 
336 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 the seed is good it m;iy be thinly sown, for the plants 
 should not be allowed to crowd each other. They should 
 have from six to nine inches space in the row and should 
 be kept free from encroachment of weeds. To keep the 
 soil from packing by rains, and to push the plants as well, 
 a top dressing of fine manure may be placed to be leached 
 out by the rains. In a garden with permanent walks, 
 spinach may be sown as a border plant, which brings it 
 within easy reach for the frequent plucking of leaves. The 
 plants will endure this, and by means of new growth on 
 old plants and successive sowings, it is feasible, as above 
 stated, to have spinach always ready. The variety chiefly 
 used is the "Large Prickly," although the "Long Stand- 
 ing" is also esteemed because of its long leaf growth be- 
 fore sending up seed stems. The Round or Summer is also 
 considerably used. 
 
 For greens in the hot and dry summer and dry autumn, 
 the New Zealand spinach is making a fine record in Cali- 
 fornia. It has been widely distributed by the State Uni- 
 versity. Even in interior situations it grows on dry ground 
 all summer, and maintains rich green color until frost kills 
 the top growth. The stems and foliage are very sensitive 
 to frost, but the root is more hardy and gives new growth 
 and is useful in the spring. The plant sends out shoots of 
 considerable length which may be cut off for cooking. Its 
 tenderness and flavor are vouched for by many growers. 
 Early summer cutting may be had by starting plants with 
 bottom heat and planting out like egg plants, but in our 
 long summer, sowing in the spring after frost danger is 
 over, gives abundant foliage in late summer and autumn. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 SQUASHES. 
 
 Mammoth Squashes or Pumpkins. — Cucurhita maxima. 
 
 French, potirons ; German, melonen-kurbiss ; Danish, 
 eentner-groeskar ; Italian, zucca ; Spanish, calabaza to- 
 tanera. 
 
 Marrows and Scollops. — Cucurlita pepo. 
 
 The species moschata also contributes same horticultural 
 varieties. 
 
 The California-grown squashes are all noted for pro- 
 digious size and the acre-product is also immense. Squashes 
 have been used from the early days as exponents of size 
 in California vegetables, at all distant and local exhibi- 
 tions, and the statistics thereof would fill a volume. 
 Weights of single specimens have been attained in excess 
 of 300 pounds, and field crops above 30 tons to the acre. 
 To avoid exaggeration and at the same time present the 
 truth about the California squash in a picturesque man- 
 ner, a single record is presented from the writer's collec- 
 tion of cucurbitous literature. Philander Kellogg, of Go- 
 leta, Santa Barbara county, who is personally known to 
 the writer as a man of truth and probity, furnishes this 
 statement : 
 
 I planted my squashes in May, and harvested them in 
 October. Finding that they were unusually large, I 
 weighed 10 of the largest and found that their aggregate 
 weight was one ton and 50 odd pounds, the largest one 
 weighing 225 pounds. This squash was exhibited at the 
 county fair and received the first prize. On the 15th of 
 November, which was my boy's sixteenth birthday, I cut 
 open one of the other squashes, that weighed 210 pounds, 
 and took out the seeds ; my boy then got into it and I put 
 
338 CALIP^ORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 the picc(' together riiul eonipletely closed him in, the parts 
 coming tight together. I then persuaded my eighteen- 
 year-old daughter to get into it and I closed her in, in the 
 same manner. My daughter's weight was 110 pounds. I 
 then put two seven-year-old boys in at once. I then put 
 my three little girls in at once ; they were aged respec- 
 tively six, four and two years, their united weight being 
 116 pounds. I placed the largest child in the bottom and 
 the little one on the top and then put on the lid; the 
 squash was cut so that the top could be easily put on or 
 removed. The squash was three feet four or five inches 
 in length. 
 
 The growth and productiveness of the plant in specially 
 favorable places are proportional to the size of the fruit : 
 vine growth of 50 feet and from 30 to 42 good sized fruits 
 to the single vine are recorded — a good wagon load to the 
 vine. 
 
 Localities and Soils. — The greatest specimens and the 
 heaviest crops are produced on rich, retentive loams. 
 These are rather heavy soils and are usually the lowlands 
 of either coast or interior valleys. But great squashes are 
 not confined to such soils. Lighter soils, if abundantly 
 rich and adequately moist, are also very satisfactory, and 
 in fact any good soil deeply plowed and properly culti- 
 vated, until the vines cover the ground, may be expected 
 to give good return. For this reason the dairy farmer who 
 has suitable land, grows squash in large quantity for fall 
 and early winter feeding ; the mixed farmer enters squash 
 as a stated item in his list of crops, and the fruit farmer 
 is quite apt to grow squash between the trees in his young 
 orchard, to contribute to his family milk supply. 
 
 The squash is somewhat exacting in its moisture supply, 
 and does not respond well on light, dry soils unless irri- 
 gated. With enough moisture the plant endures the high- 
 est interior heat and records large production. Excessive 
 irrigation is, however, to be avoided, for it is apt to di- 
 minish the fruiting. 
 
X 
 m 
 
 < 
 
 a 
 m 
 
 Q 
 
340 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Culture. — The squash plant is very tender: it is de- 
 stroyed by frost, and the seed is apt to fail in cold ground. 
 The proper practice is to have the soil previously well cul- 
 tivated, but to delay planting seed or transplanting seed- 
 lings from the covered bed until the time is frost-free and 
 the soil warm. The culture of the squash is therefore like 
 that already prescribed for the cucumber and for melons, 
 in the chapters devoted to those subjects, to which the 
 reader is referred. The bush varieties of squashes follow 
 the cucumber in distances, and the running varieties fol- 
 low watermelon distances. There is, however, some dif- 
 ference in the practice of growers of the running varieties : 
 some advocate rather close planting, as six by six or eight 
 by eight feet in squares, and others plant at wider dis- 
 tances, even to setting two plants in a place at intervals 
 of 14 feet apart. It is impossible to state any specific dis- 
 tance at best : it is to be determined locally according to 
 the growth which the local soil and climate produce. One 
 is apt to err on the side of crowding than otherwise. 
 
 Care must be had not to cover the seed too deeply. It 
 must be firmly placed in moist soil and covered enough to 
 avoid quick drying. The suggestions in the chapter on 
 propagation are as definite as they can be made, accord- 
 ing to the character of the soils employed. 
 
 Cultivation must be begun as soon as possible after 
 planting, to save moisture from loss either by weeds or 
 evaporation, and must be frequent for the same reason. 
 Nothing looks more distressful than squash vines perish- 
 ing on baked clay or dry sandy soil which, if properly 
 cultivated from the start, would have sustained a splendid 
 growth. 
 
 Garden Culture. — In addition to injunctions for 
 thorough working of the soil and adequate irrigation, 
 there is the opportunity in garden culture to produce 
 grand results by special fertilization. Careful use of the 
 compost or liquid manure, described in the chapter on fer- 
 tilization, produces marvelous results. 
 
SQUASH GROWING. 341 
 
 Varieties. — -We have in California probably all kinds of 
 squash known to horticulture. Some amateurs take special 
 interest in such collections, and scores of varieties repre- 
 senting the whole gourd family have been shown in State 
 fair exhibits. And yet the bulk of the product is made of 
 very few varieties. 
 
 Of the bush forms which are relied upon for summer 
 squash, the scollops comprise most of the crop, both the 
 early white and yellow being grown — the former pre- 
 ferred. The yellow crook-neck is also grown to some ex- 
 tent. The Italian and Boston marrows have a few warm 
 advocates. 
 
 Of the winter squash for table use, the Hubbard and the 
 Red or Golden Hubbard, which is a little earlier, are chiefly 
 grown. The field squash crop is made of several varieties. 
 The California Marrowfat, a splendid, orange-colored 
 squash, takes the lead, while associated with it in the same 
 field may be found the Mammoth Chile, which is usually 
 the sort, more or less pure, which yields the largest speci- 
 mens. There is also a very large winter crookneck, very 
 prolific and rather more hardy in trying situations, but not 
 so good in keeping quality as the preceding. Here and 
 there may be found a field of the old-fashioned New Eng- 
 land pumpkin, and fair exhibits usually bring to light both 
 the Etampes and Tours pumpkins, but the large orange 
 and light olive fruits are named squashes in the California 
 vernacular, and are preferred. There is much confusion 
 both in the terms "squash" and "pumpkin," and there 
 are many chance hybrids which await analysis by some 
 cucurbitous specialist. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 THE TOMATO. 
 
 Tomato or Love Apple. — Lycopersicum escuhntum. 
 
 French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese, tomate; 
 Dutch, tomaat; Italian, pomo d'oro. 
 
 The tomato is one of the most popular, prolific, and 
 profitable of California vegetables. It is grown every- 
 where during the local occurrences of the frost-free period, 
 and in our thermal situations the fruit can be gathered all 
 the year. The earliest fruit in our local markets and the 
 earliest shipments to the East are gathered from vines 
 which have continued growth from the previous summer 
 and autumn, and, encountering no killing frost, are able 
 to fruit through the winter months. Favorable places 
 near the coast in southern California are best known for 
 this winter crop. The winter-grown fruit is, of course, in- 
 ferior to the summer and fall crop, though it is excellent 
 enough to command high prices for table use until the 
 earliest yield from spring plantings is to be had. When 
 this new crop comes in, the fruit from the hold-over plants 
 becomes cheaper, but is still marketed until the new crop 
 becomes abundant. In this way one year's plants in 
 southern thermal situations lap over upon the yield of the 
 following year in the earliest interior sections at the north, 
 and the tomato supply from open air plants is continuous 
 through out the year, though the supply regions are hun- 
 dreds of miles distant from each other. The fact that the 
 north produces earlier spring tomatoes from new plants 
 than in the south is difficult for distant students to realize. 
 It is conditioned upon ocean influences and local topog- 
 raphy, which at the south prevent frosts which winter-kill 
 the old plants at the north, and at the same time postpone 
 
CONDITIONS FOR TOMATOES. 343 
 
 spring heat at the south, which is attained earlier in shel- 
 tered places in the interior at the north from which ocean 
 influences are excluded. There are places in the interior 
 at the south, east of the high mountain range, which are 
 furnishing tomatoes earlier than either the southern coast 
 or the northern- interior. Still, in the all-the-year demand 
 for the tomato, it is necessary to bring some fruit from 
 Mexico and from the forcing houses of the Southern States, 
 and it is probable that more forcing of tomatoes will be 
 undertaken in this State in the fuutre. No vegetable has 
 advanced so rapidly in public esteem during the last 
 decade as the tomato. 
 
 Requirements of the Tomato. — For early tomatoes which 
 can attain their chief growth before the close of the rainy 
 season, somewhat elevated situations, above the lowland 
 frosts, and with light, warm soils and free drainage, should 
 be selected. Sometimes frosts will occasion replanting, for 
 which a stock of thrifty plants should always be in readi- 
 ness. It is idle to attempt the growth of early tomatoes 
 on a commercial scale except on situations naturally fitted 
 for them. In the family garden, however, slight covering 
 from frost can be successfully undertaken. 
 
 For the main crop of tomatoes, rich, lower lands, either 
 naturally retentive of moisture or supplied therewith by 
 irrigation, are usually employed. Even heavy valley soils 
 are profitably used by thorough preparation before plant- 
 ing and cultivation afterward. Late planting can be prac- 
 ticed and immense yields are secured for harvesting in 
 September and October, when the fruit is of superior 
 solidity and the canneries are clear of their summer fruit 
 work and can turn their full capacity to this most popular 
 canned vegetable. In some parts of the State, November 
 and December tomatoes are very profitable when autumn 
 frosts and rains are light. 
 
 The moisture requirements of the tomato are moderate, 
 but they must be adequately met. Stunted vines and 
 small, inferior fruit are the results of drouth. High heat 
 can be endured and favors growth, provided ample 
 
344 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 moisture is available. The more moderate heat of the coast 
 regions and the interior river bottoms is, however, ade- 
 quate for full development of the plant, and it is attained 
 with much less moisture than on the higher lands of the 
 interior. For this reason splendid crops are secured with- 
 out irrigation on retentive soils in valleys of sufficient 
 rainfall, even if the plants are not set until the opening 
 of the dry season — provided suitable winter and spring 
 working is given to prevent evaporation and to hold 
 moisture near the surface. On lands moistened by under- 
 flow splendid tomatoes can be grown without irrigation 
 all through the local frost-free period. 
 
 Plants for the Garden. — Tomatoes are readily grown 
 from seed and the best plants are those produced with 
 moderate heat. They need simple protection from cold 
 rather than forcing heat, as our day -temperatures from 
 February onward are almost always adequate. For 
 earlier starting of plants some bottom heat is desirable 
 and can be profitably used if care is taken for free ad- 
 mission of air and subsequent hardening of the plants by 
 later growth under protection but at lower temperatures. 
 The considerations urged in the chapter on propagation 
 for the handling of seeds and seedlings have special ap- 
 plicability to the growth of tomato plants. For the home 
 garden in the central and northern valley regions there is 
 perhaps no better way of growing plants than that of 
 Ira W. Adams, as follows : 
 
 "Plant the seed about the middle of February in a small 
 box two inches in depth, and keep in the house by a south 
 window in a moderately warm room. On warm, sunny 
 days, put them outdoors, and let them remain out day and 
 night whenever the weather is warm enough ; in this way 
 they will make stocky plants and be much hardier than if 
 raised altogether in the house. The soil should be rich 
 and mellow, and always kept a little moist. When the 
 plants appear, thin out to an inch apart. As soon as the 
 plants begin to crowd each other, transplant to another 
 box about four inches in depth and give them a space of 
 
TOMATO SEED BEDS. 
 
 345 
 
 four inches. By the time they crowd each other again 
 they can be transplanted outdoors on the south side of the 
 house or barn into a good-sized bed of rich soil. Here 
 they can remain until they get to be large, strong, hardy 
 plants, with very large, fibrous roots. When all danger 
 of frost is over, take a sharp spade and cut out a square 
 of dirt with each plant, put into rows six feet apart, with 
 
 BEDS FOR GROWING TOMATO PLANTS IN IMPERIAL 
 VALLEY. 
 
 the plants the same distance in the row. Plants can be 
 transplanted in this way when over a foot high and in 
 blossom. By transplanting them just at night, or on a 
 cloudy day, they will hardly ever show a wilted leaf." 
 
 Another way to secure large plants for garden planting 
 is to start them in a seed box, in the house, or with bottom 
 heat as described in the chapter on propagation, and then 
 transplant, when small, into growing cases made of dis- 
 carded fruit cans. Select those of similar size, throw 
 them on a burning brush pile for a few minutes, when the 
 
346 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 tops and bottoms will drop out, and the seams on the sides 
 will open, leaving a smooth tin shell. Tie a string around 
 each to keep it from spreading. Set them in a box or 
 frame made of four boards. Fill the cans and the spaces 
 between them with good friable soil, set a small plant in 
 the center of each shell, sprinkle well and keep moist. 
 When the plants are well grown they may be transplanted 
 in the garden. Take the cans carefully out of the frames, 
 grasping the cans firmly to prevent the plants and soil 
 slipping out ; set them in a box or wheelbarrow and move 
 them where wanted. Prepare the soil by working in a 
 shovelful of well-rotted manure where a plant is to stand, 
 but this is not required if the soil is rich. Dig a hole deep 
 enough to set the upper rim of the can level with the 
 ground, cut the string and fill up and press the soil firmly 
 around the can, then by spreading the top of the can a 
 trifle, it can be drawn out over the plants without disturb- 
 ing the roots. If the weather is dry and warm, water may 
 be used at transplanting — drawing loose soil around the 
 plants after the water soaks away. 
 
 Plants for the Field. — The above methods will produce 
 plants of great size and vigor to delight the amateur. For 
 a field crop it is hardly practicable to grow and handle 
 plants in such an expensive way, and satisfactory results 
 can be attained with much less labor. For late planting 
 they may be grown in quantity in a cold frame with cloth 
 cover or in a raised bed with slight protection from frost 
 and sheltered from cold winds, or even on the open ground 
 in frostless places. It is best to sow the seeds in drills, 
 using the spaces between for cultivation and irrigation if 
 needed, but many plants are often grown from the seed by 
 simply thinning the seedlings as they stand, though the 
 transplanted seedlings are always more thrifty and stocky. 
 They have a much better root-system, and grow more 
 thriftily after transplanting. Take the seedlings when 
 they have come in the rough leaf, and with a small hard- 
 wood stick, made pointed at one end, take up the young 
 
PLANTING TOMATOES. 347 
 
 plants and dibble them in clear down to the seed leaf. 
 Place them about three inches apart each way, water them 
 well, and in a few days they will begin to grow, and in 
 this way fine, stocky plants can be grown almost ready to 
 blossom when they are set out in the open ground where 
 they are to remain. There is nothing gained by setting 
 out tomatoes in the open ground when they are too small ; 
 if anything, time is lost by doing so, while a large, stocky 
 plant has plenty of fine fibrous roots, and is rapidly estab- 
 lished in its new place. ' 
 
 Tomato plants may also be grown from stem cuttings, 
 as described in the chapter on propagation. 
 
 Planting Out Tomatoes. — In addition to suggestions al- 
 ready made for planting out, it should be remarked that 
 for late planting especially, and in light soils, it is de- 
 sirable to set the plants quite deeply in the soil. If the 
 plants are slim and "leggy" they should be shortened, 
 pruning off the laterals and most of the leaves to escape 
 wilting, from which it is hard for the plant to recover. 
 The rule with some growers is to set the plant half the 
 length of the stem deeper than it stood in the seed bed, 
 and in light, dry interior soils the stem has been entirely 
 buried with good results. Depth of planting depends upon 
 the character of the soil and its content of moisture. 
 Where moisture is to be abundant it is better to have the 
 roots nearer the surface. 
 
 Preparation of land for tomatoes should begin early in 
 the rainy season, as for beans, corn or melons, to render 
 the soil absorptive of moisture and to secure good deep 
 tilth. Re-working in the spring, and cultivation until it is 
 safe to plant out the tomatoes, keeps the soil in fine con- 
 dition, saves moisture and insures a crop at minimum cost. 
 Crops are often grown on spring plowing alone, but it is 
 an uphill task, and attended by great risk of failure, if 
 spring rains are scant, as they often are. 
 
 Field planting is generally done by hand, sometimes at 
 the intersection of cross-markings, but often with less 
 
348 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 care, by placing the plants firmly on the side of a fur- 
 row and covering- with another furrow. Some large grow- 
 ers use the transplanting machine mentioned for sweet 
 potatoes, and it works well when the soil is in good con- 
 dition. 
 
 Distance depends upon variety. The usual distance is 
 six feet apart each way, for the standard growers, but 
 some plant more widely, even to seven and eight feet each 
 way, and dwarf varieties are set at intervals of four feet. 
 
 Summer Treatment. — Very seldom is any effort made 
 even in garden culture to support the plant above the 
 earth surface. As the crop is almost wholly grown Avith- 
 out irrigation or with sub-irrigation by seepage from 
 ditches, the earth surface is always warm and dry, and 
 rot is almost unknown. The soil should be cultivated as 
 long as it can be done without injury to the prostrate 
 plants. Well-grown plants on rich soils almost cover the 
 surface even when given the widest distances. 
 
 It is commonly believed that excessive growth of foliage 
 retards ripening and reduces fruitage. Whenever this oc- 
 curs, as on very rich and moist interior soils, free cutting 
 back of the plants with a scythe, is practiced with good 
 results. Summer pruning of over-rank garden plants is 
 also desirable, and may cause the fruit to set rather than 
 drop in the blossom. 
 
 Irrigation. — As already stated, the tomato abhors dry 
 soil, and in some situations irrigation is essential. Care 
 must be had against over-irrigation, especially in the coast 
 region, where proper planting and cultivation will give 
 satisfactory results with the natural moisture. Not only 
 does excessive watering promote foilage at the expense of 
 fruit which drops in the bloom, but it is apt to give a 
 tomato which slices up into cart-wheels instead of firm 
 and solid discs of flesh. Most growers cultivate too slackly, 
 especially when irrigation water is used. 
 
 Irrigation by flooding is sometimes successfully prac- 
 
TOMATO VARIETIES. 349 
 
 ticed, but application of water which does not wet the sur- 
 face under the plants is preferred. 
 
 Picking Tomatoes. — Tomatoes for shipping should al- 
 ways be picked right. For such purpose the fruit should 
 be picked when slightly blushed, not by squeezing or 
 pulling. Encircle it with all the fingers and twist care- 
 fully, leaving the stem on the vine, or rub it afterward, 
 if it parts from the vine. Do not leave the stem end on 
 the fruit. Pick in shallow boxes, not in deep pails or bas- 
 kets, and use two receivers ; one for perfect fruit, the other 
 for culls. Do not handle the fruit roughly, even if it 
 seems very firm. 
 
 Yield. — With all conditions favorable, tomatoes make a 
 very large return. Twelve and a half to fifteen tons of 
 marketable tomatoes have been gathered as an average 
 per acre from large tracts in Alameda county. The largest 
 specimen of which the writer has record was grown in Cal- 
 averas county, with the following dimensions : circumfer- 
 ence, twenty-two and one-half inches ; diameter at widest 
 place, eight inches ; weight, four and one-half pounds. 
 Mr. Ira W. Adams reports that he grew one year one hun- 
 dred and thirty-six pounds of ripe tomatoes from one vine, 
 and when the frost came picked thirty-four pounds of 
 green ones. This vine covered a space of nearly eight feet 
 square ; it grew on the edge of a ditch used for running 
 water to blackberry vines. It was an instance of ample 
 irrigation by seepage. 
 
 Varieties. — California grows all the many improved to- 
 matoes with which American seedsmen have enriched our 
 vegetable list, and new varieties should always be looked 
 for in California seedsmen's catalogues. They always 
 offer choice yellow varieties for preserving. Varieties, 
 which include those commercially most prominent, are as 
 follows : 
 
 Sparks Earliana : very earlj^ tall growing; fruit large, 
 smooth, scarlet ; flesh deep red, solid. 
 
 Chalk 's Early Jewel : nearly as early ; fruit large, 
 
350 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 smooth, regular in form and ripening evenly; bright scar- 
 let ; continuous bearing. 
 
 Dwarf Champion : low growing, upright ; fruit medium, 
 pink to purplish red, according to locality ; popular in the 
 interior heat, especially at the south and in the foothills 
 of central California. 
 
 Stone : tall and fruitful ; fruit large, smooth, uniform, 
 bright red, solid ; widely popular in southern California 
 for market and shipping. A Dwarf Stone, resembling 
 Dwarf Champion in growth is also a good shipping variety 
 at the south. 
 
 Boulder : resembling Stone, but much larger fruit : 
 popular in the coast district of southern California. 
 
 Ponderosa : a strong growing vine ; fruit very large, 
 somewhat irregular and variable in color, usually light 
 red ; flesh thick but not always firm ; chiefly grown in So- 
 noma county for canning and market. 
 
 Trophy : vigorous and productive ; fruit deep red, some- 
 what irregular, solid and firm in the true type, with ring- 
 mark at apex; chiefly grown for canning in Alameda 
 county, displacing Stone. 
 
 There is an opinion current among California growers 
 that even the best of the Eastern improved tomatoes are 
 still farther improved by California growing conditions if 
 constant selection is practiced to preserve the best types. 
 For instance the "Trophy" is very largely grown as a 
 late tomato for canners' use, and planters insist upon se- 
 curing California grown seed, but careless seed saving has 
 given us Trophies wddely different from the true type and 
 very inferior. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 TURNIPS. 
 
 Turnip. — Brassica napus. 
 
 French, navet ; German, herbst-riibe ; Dutch, raap ; 
 Danish, roe ; Italian, navone ; Spanish and Portuguese, 
 nabo. 
 
 Kohl-Rabi. — Brassica cauJo-rapa. 
 
 French, choux-raves ; German, knollkohl ; Flemish, raap- 
 kool ; Italian, cavolo-rapa. 
 
 Rutabaga. — Idem. 
 
 French, choux-navets ; German, kohlriibe ; Dutch, kool- 
 raapen onder den grond ; Italian, cavolo navone. 
 
 These members of the cabbage family are somewhat 
 arbitrarily classed as turnips for convenience and in ac- 
 cordance with local popular usage. Kohl-rabi has swollen 
 stem, clearly above ground ; rutabaga has a swollen root 
 partly above ground, partly below; the turnip proper is 
 another species of hrassica, which has a swollen root and a 
 manner of growth like rutabaga. In California all these 
 vegetables take a much lower rank in popularity and use- 
 fulness than the cabbage group of the same genus dis- 
 cussed in a previous chapter ; judged as root crops they are 
 inferior in use and esteem to the other esculent roots al- 
 ready considered. They have no local standing whatever 
 for stock purposes, for two reasons at least : they do not 
 endure well our summer heat and drought, but become a 
 prey to fungus and unthrift ; they will not rest and start 
 again for larger root-expansion, as do the beet and the 
 carrot. Such being their weakness and perversity, the 
 stock feeder abandons them, which he can readily afford 
 to do in view of the fact that he has many other more ser- 
 viceable crops. He can have any quantity of immense 
 
352 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 l)(3C'ts and carrots which are making their re-enlargement 
 from the previous spring sowing, to feed in the winter; he 
 can have for late summer use, corn and squashes, which 
 grow riotously in summer heat which distresses the turnip. 
 He does well enough without the turnij), in view of its be- 
 havior and his own supplies from other sources. 
 
 The vegetables, then, which we group in this chapter, 
 must be estimated alone upon their table value, and here, 
 too, they are afflicted by an ill-disposition. They are not 
 good keepers in this climate, and, though they can be 
 packed away in sand for use during our warm, rainy win- 
 ter, the people have other supplies of fresher character in 
 the winter, and do not find either turnips or parsnips as 
 desirable as they are in wintry countries. 
 
 Turnips and rutabagas are then reduced to claim popu- 
 larity upon their excellence as quickly grown for immedi- 
 ate use when mature, and under this restriction they cer- 
 tainly enjoy a fair measure of popularity. Kohl-rabi is 
 very little used and its narrow fame is chiefly confined to 
 citizens of French and German descent. 
 
 Culture. — The growth of all these plants is simple and 
 can be undertaken anywhere in California, providing their 
 dislike of summer heat and dry air is borne in mind. The 
 culture methods prescribed for the beet and carrot befit 
 the turnip in the direction of preparation of soil, sowing 
 the seed and cultivation. The plants are hardy against 
 frost and can be successfully produced all through our val- 
 ley winters. Sowing for winter use may begin early in the 
 fall on irrigated ground or as soon as the rains fall. Sow- 
 ing for spring and early summer can be done at any time 
 during the winter when the soil is sufficiently dry and 
 warm for germination and growth of the seedling. In 
 valleys of heavy rainfall and frosts, February sowing may 
 be best for spring use, but in warmer, drier parts earlier 
 sowing is desirable. The plant needs adequate moisture 
 and a moderate temperature, and its growth is a matter of 
 conditions not of the calendar. It is plain, then, that tur- 
 
VARIETIES OF TURNIPS. 353 
 
 nips are well adapted to winter gardening in California, 
 and, if pushed to maturity rapidly, they will be found very 
 tender and delicious. Sowing for succession will give tur- 
 nips fresh from the soil in all their excellence through 
 many months in our warmer valleys. 
 
 Both the flat turnips and the rutabagas or Swedish tur- 
 nips are grown in the same way, and both reach edible size 
 very quickly under favorable conditions. Culture is like 
 that advised for the radish except that they need wider 
 spacing. Rutabagas are better keei^ers and more service- 
 able for winter storage than flat turnips, though both are 
 mainly used fresh from the ground in this State. 
 
 Rutabagas are sometimes transplanted from a seed bed, 
 as space becomes available here and there in the garden 
 for them. They are handled just as cabbage plants are. 
 
 Kohl-rabi is grown in the same way as common cabbage, 
 both in starting plants and planting out. 
 
 Varieties. — The flat turnips chiefly grown are Early 
 White Dutch and Purple Top Milan — the latter being pre- 
 ferred by market gardeners. The Purple Top Flat Dutch 
 or Strap Leaf and Purple Top White Globe are also in 
 good favor. 
 
 Rutabagas are so little grown that there is doubt which 
 has the preference of several good kinds listed by our 
 seedsmen ; the Purple Top Yellow or Long Island seem, 
 however, to be most popular. 
 
 Of kohl-rabi the White Vienna is usually grown. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 VEGETABLE SUNDRIES. 
 
 It is not intended to make this volume a complete treat- 
 ise upon the esculent plants which may be grown in Cali- 
 fornia, nor to claim that it contains a complete enumera- 
 tion of those which are actually grown at the present time. 
 Such a task would be appalling in view of the wide adapt- 
 ability of the climate and the fact that our population in- 
 cludes natives of every country under the sun who have 
 brought hither the plants which have delighted them in 
 their old homes. Conspicuous among such contributions to 
 our cultivated flora are the acquisitions from China and 
 Japan, which alone would require much time to identify 
 and characterize. Our acquisitions of minor vegetables 
 from Europe are hardly less interesting. It must be left 
 for some future student to properly arrange all these for 
 public information. In the present work it has been rather 
 the intention of the writer to treat the more conspicuous 
 and widely useful vegetables, because in that line the 
 present demand for information lies. An attempt will, 
 however, be made in this chapter to briefly mention a few 
 plants concerning which inquiry may arise in the minds of 
 readers, and to offer suggestions on their culture. 
 
 Capers. — Capparis spinosa. 
 
 The production of "capers" on a commercial scale has 
 frequently been mooted in California, and so far as the 
 local adoption of the plant goes, anticipations of success 
 seem to be well placed. The plant thrives with moderate 
 moisture — enough could be conserved by cultivation on 
 any fairly retentive soil. It has been growing thriftily for 
 years on adobe soil in the University garden in Berkeley, 
 
CARDOON AND CHERVAL. 355 
 
 and has produced prolifically the flower-buds which are 
 used in pickling. The labor of frequently hand-picking 
 the buds must, however, be considered in connection with 
 any projected enterprise. A few plants for the home gar- 
 den can be strongly commended. They can be grown in 
 corners or in borders and are decidedly handsome in leaf 
 and blossom. Plants may be easily grown from seed in a 
 seed-box or can be multiplied by stem cuttings in a sand 
 box over mild bottom heat. 
 
 Cardoon. — Cynara cardunculus. 
 
 The cardoon is closely related to the globe artichoke, 
 and resembles it in growth except that it attains larger 
 size. Its edible part is, however, the stem and midrib of 
 the leaf, and not the flower bud as in the artichoke. It is 
 propagated from seed and not from sprouts, and to pro- 
 duce satisfactory quality, the seedling must be pushed to 
 quick growth by ample manure and moisture. The car- 
 doon is hardy in the coast region, and can be grown for 
 autumn or spring use, or for succession at nearly all times. 
 The plant is ready for use in about six months from sow- 
 ing. During the last three weeks the leaves are gathered 
 up, covered and blanched, and both leaves and root make 
 a delicate table vegetable when carefully boiled. 
 
 Chervil. — Scandix carefolium and ChaerophyUum hulhosum. 
 
 There are two edible plants known as chervil, the first 
 furnishes fragrant leaves which are used as seasoning and 
 in salad, the second an edible root for boiling. The first is 
 a hardy annual, and can be grown from seed, as lettuce is 
 — sowing whenever moisture is adequate. It does not 
 thrive in high heat but can be helped by shading where 
 necessary. The turnip-rooted chervil resembles a carrot in 
 form, and may be grown as carrots are. The seed soon 
 loses its germinating power and must be fresh. 
 
 Corn Salads. — Valerianella olitoria and eriocarpa. 
 
 Corn salads are popular winter growing salad plants, 
 and are of easy culture. The seed is sown w^henever mois- 
 ture is present in the fall, and a succession of foliage can 
 
356 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 be had all through the raiuy season. The culture is the 
 same as for lettuce. The plant also resembles lettuce ; we 
 have some varieties of open growth and some Avhich are 
 disposed to form somewhat compact heads of foliage. In 
 this State both the French and Italian improved kinds are 
 hardy in California valley winters. 
 
 Cress. — Lepidium sativum, and Water Cress. — Nastur- 
 tium officinale. 
 
 Garden cress is easily grown all the year in the coast 
 region if the ground is kept moist. The seed should be 
 sown at short intervals, as the leaves come on very quickly. 
 In the interior it is chiefly a winter plant, as summer heat 
 checks leaf growth and carries the plant to seed. Water 
 cress has grown freely in California ponds and pools, and 
 was found in such places by our earlier botanists. In Cali- 
 fornia it makes very rank growth, producing stems five 
 and six feet high and proportionate luxuriance of leaf 
 growth. It usually volunteers freely wherever water 
 stands, filling road-side ditches and similar places. All that 
 is needed is to prepare a place suitable for its growth. 
 
 Dandelion. — -Leoiitodon taraxacum. 
 
 This plant has been widely introduced on the moister 
 lands throughout the State, and is used for salad and for 
 boiling, as it appears in abundance after the fall rains. 
 The plant is also grown to a limited extent by foreign-born 
 market gardeners, and some of the improved garden va- 
 rieties have been introduced for their use. It can be grown 
 as lettuce is, whenever the soil carries moisture enough. 
 
 Gherkin. — Cucumis anguria. 
 
 This plant is different from the small pickling cucum- 
 bers which are often called gherkins. It is a creeping, 
 branching plant, making a dense mat of stems well laden 
 with small, oval fruit covered with spine-like protuber- 
 ances. It endures heat and drought well, and is very pro- 
 lific even in interior situations in California. 
 
MUSHROOMS AND MUSTARD. 357 
 
 Kitchen Herbs. 
 
 It is hardly desirable to enumerate a list of culinary 
 herbs. Each housewife has her own information and jire- 
 ference and beyond that her cook-book is an encyclopedia. 
 Suffice it to say that nearly the whole collection of plants 
 grown in northern climates for fragrant leaves or seeds is 
 hardy in the California winter, and most of them do best 
 with earl}' sowing- — as soon as the soil is well moistened by 
 the fall rains. Most failures with them are traceable to 
 sowing too late, which comes from following Eastern prac- 
 tice. Where the winter is quite frosty, fall sowing is less 
 desirable, but with February warmth the seed should be 
 in the ground. Early sowing enables the plants to secure 
 good rooting, and with that, growth can be carried later 
 in the dry season. Late sowing causes many a plant to 
 dwindle in the summer heat even if irrigation is afforded. 
 It must also be remembered that many plants must be dili- 
 gently cultivated during our dry season which thrive with- 
 out it in the humid summer of other countries. 
 
 Mushrooms. 
 
 Field growth of mushrooms is abundant during the 
 rainy season in California — especially do the fall rains 
 bring to view such great quantities of them that they can 
 be easily gathered by bushels. The list of edible mush- 
 rooms in California includes many species which afford a 
 fine field of mycological epicures. Recently there has 
 arisen quite a producing interest in the line of cellar cul- 
 ture of mushrooms chiefiy by foreigners, and their methods 
 are essentially the same that are practised elsewhere, de- 
 scriptions of which are readily available. Publications on 
 the subject may be had free on application to the Secre- 
 tary of Agriculture at Washington which will give the 
 inquirer a good outline of arrangement and methods. 
 
 Mustard. — Sinapis sp. 
 
 ^Mustard is a grievous weed in California, especially on 
 rich soils with moisture. It is also sometimes very profit- 
 
358 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 able as grown for a seed crop. The young plant is sought 
 in the fields as a salad and improved varieties are culti- 
 vated to some extent. Both the white and the large cab- 
 bage-leaved Chinese kind are grown. The culture is most 
 easy and simple, the treatment being the same as that of 
 lettuce. 
 
 Nasturtium. — Tropaeolum. 
 
 Nasturtiums are largely grown as ornamental plants, but 
 the desirability of the flowers for the garnishing of salads 
 and the use of the flower buds and green seed for pickling 
 and as a substitute for capers gives the plants place in the 
 vegetable garden. They thrive almost without care or 
 watering in a corner of the garden, though better growth 
 will show their appreciation of better treatment. They 
 volunteer freely in California from self-sown seed and con- 
 tinue growth all through the frost-free season. They can 
 be trained on fence or trellis or allowed free range as pros- 
 trate plants if space permits ; or dwarf varieties may be 
 chosen, as they bloom and fruit freely with less extension. 
 They require little more from the grower than the cover- 
 ing of the seed*in soil moist enough for germination. 
 
 Okra or Gumbo. — Hibiscus esculentus. 
 
 This popular vegetable of the south is not largely grown 
 in California but can usually be had from market garden- 
 ers. It requires generous moisture supply to thrive and 
 does not take at all kindly to dry heat. Plants may be 
 started in the winter in the ways described for the tomato, 
 and the planting out and treatment is like that of egg 
 plants ; or seed may be sown for later crop in the open 
 ground in drills, the plants being subsequently thinned to 
 about a foot apart. The plants should be well cultivated 
 and kept well supplied with water. The Long Green and 
 the White Velvet are the varieties chiefly grown. 
 
 Parsley. — Apium petroselinvm. 
 
 Parsley can be readily grown in California by the use of 
 a raised bed for fall sowing for winter use and by sowing 
 
ROSBLLE. 359 
 
 in the early spring for flat culture for summer use. The 
 culture is like that for lettuce except that the plants need 
 wider spacing and extra care has to be taken to protect 
 the seed from drying out, as it is long in germinating and 
 can not be deeply covered. Good firming of the ground 
 after previous deep culture is desirable, and a light mulch 
 will help to retain moisture and facilitate watering with- 
 out crusting the ground. 
 
 Roselle. — Hibiscus subdariffa. 
 
 This interesting plant, resembling in its growth okra or 
 gumbo, is a native of tropical Asia and Africa, and has 
 been widely distributed through semi-tropical countries, 
 where it has been found to possess considerable resistance 
 to drought and to yield very acceptable food products. It 
 has recently been introduced in California — the seed hav- 
 ing been distributed by the State University. The plant is 
 very ornamental, the dark red stems and pods showing 
 through the rather scant dark green foliage. The flowers 
 are of a yellowish white with a dark red center, two in- 
 ches across and lasting only an hour or so during fair 
 weather. The juice extracted from the fleshy calyces or 
 husks is used with water to make an acidulous cooling 
 drink, but is of most value in jelly-making. The muci- 
 laginous properties of the juice render the "setting" of the 
 jelly certain, with a reasonable amount of cooking. The 
 dark sherry color of the jelly and the sprightly acid make 
 it nearly if not equal to currant jelly. Irrigated plants 
 produce a more highly colored fruit, but come into bearnig 
 later. Unirrigated plants put their strength into fruit, but 
 the irrigated plants start lateral branches, which ulti- 
 mately produce several pods, while the unirrigated plants 
 have but one pod. As the plant will endure quite heated 
 and arid situations, it promises to be of much value for 
 jelly-making where currants do not thrive. The plant 
 should be given ordinary garden culture, sowing the seed 
 when danger of frost is over. Enough of the pods should 
 be allowed to ripen to yield seed for the following year. 
 
360 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 
 
 Sea Kale. — Cvamhe luaritinui. 
 
 This plant is but little grown in California, and then only 
 by professional gardeners. It requires long use of the 
 ground and considerable attention in provision for blanch- 
 ing. Plants may be grown from seed, if it is fresh, as to- 
 mato plants are grown, and planted out at about three feet 
 apart each way. Plants can also be grown from root cut- 
 tings as described for horse-radish, placing them about 
 three feet apart each way. Plants from root cuttings 
 should be allowed free growth for at least one year, and 
 seedlings twice as long. Preparation for use consists in 
 covering the plant with an inverted pot or box as the 
 shoots appear and allowing it to make its growth in the 
 dark, thus producing blanched and tender midribs. In 
 cutting, the knife should go below the root crown, as new 
 shoots come readily from below. Old roots are productive 
 for many years if allowed to grow freely but not to form 
 seed after the early growth is cut for use. 
 
 Soy Bean. — Soja hispida. 
 
 This plant has been tried and discarded by a number of 
 growers as unthrifty in our dry summer, but good crops 
 are grown on low, moist lands especially by the Oriental 
 element of our population. 
 
 Square-pod Pea. — Lotus tetragonolohus. 
 
 This plant has recently acquired some little popularity 
 in California as a table vegetable. It will make a good win- 
 ter growth in some regions of the State, though a little 
 spring heat is more pk.asing to it. Its culture is like that 
 of garden peas, and, if sown during the rainy season, will 
 bear an abundance of edible pods for early spring use. The 
 pods should be gathered when young and tender and are 
 cooked like string beans. 
 
 Chinese Yam. — Dioscoria batatas. 
 
 This climbing plant grows thriftily in California and 
 sends its fleshy roots, which are the edible part, so deep 
 that it seems to contemplate return to its native country. 
 
A FOLIAGE BEET. 361 
 
 To get the roots one has to dig a well several feet deep, be- 
 cause they are so brittle that they will stand no pulling 
 whatever. With present prices of labor in this country it 
 is not profitable to go into deep mining to get starchy food, 
 and the plant is grown only as a curiosity. 
 
 Chard. — Beta vulgaris. 
 
 This plant is a beet grown for its foliage and not for its 
 root which is small and branching. Its cultivation is, how- 
 ever, exactly like that of the beet root, except that its root- 
 ing habit allows of shallower tillage but it enjoys good 
 conditions in the soil and manifests its delight by grander 
 foliage which is very desirable and is used as spinach is. 
 It is not largely grown in California, because conditions 
 are so favorable for continual supplies of spinach, which is 
 preferred. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Adobe, improvement of 44 
 
 April, work for 144 
 
 Artichokes 172 
 
 gathering 174 
 
 globe 172 
 
 growing seedlings 173 
 
 Jerusalem 174, 176 
 
 planting out 173 
 
 soils for 173 
 
 varieties 174, 176 
 
 Ashes, value of 104 
 
 Asparagus 177 
 
 canning 186 
 
 field culture 180 
 
 garden planting 178, 180 
 
 growing plants 178 
 
 harvesting 183, 185 
 
 localities for 178 
 
 rust 186 
 
 season 185 
 
 soils for 176 
 
 varieties 186 
 
 August, work for 142 
 
 Beans 188 
 
 bush 202 
 
 canning 17 
 
 climbing 204 
 
 drying, storing 195 
 
 field culture 189, 194 
 
 garden culture 201 
 
 harvesting 195 
 
 irrigating 205 
 
 localities for 190 
 
 planting 192, 194 
 
 product 191 
 
 soils for 191, 210 
 
 threshing 194 
 
 transplanting 204 
 
 varieties for field 198 
 
 Beds, raised 92 
 
 Beets 206 
 
 garden culture 206 
 
 stock 217 
 
 sugar 39, 209 
 
 cultivation 212 
 
 harvesting 214 
 
 planting 212 
 
 pulp 217 
 
 season 215 
 
 soils and situations 210 
 
 thinning 214 
 
 tillage for 212 
 
 varieties 208, 217, 218 
 
 yield 216 
 
 Birds, killing 112 
 
 Bordeaux mixture Ill 
 
 Borecole 234 
 
 Broccoli 234 
 
 Brussels sprouts 220, 228 
 
 Cabbage 221 
 
 field culture 222, 226 
 
 growing plants 224 
 
 harvesting 226 
 
 planting 224, 225 
 
 soil 224 
 
 stock 227 
 
 varieties 227 
 
 California climate 28 
 
 garden calendar 140 
 
 garden, satisfaction in 26 
 
 soils, excellent 38 
 
 Cans for plant growing 170 
 
 Cantaloups 277 
 
 Capers 354 
 
 Cardoon 355 
 
 Carrot 237 
 
 field culture 238 
 
 ridge culture 239 
 
 soils 238 
 
 varieties 240 
 
 Cauliflower 221, 229 
 
 garden culture 231 
 
 growing plants 230 
 
 planting 231 
 
 varieties 233 
 
 Celeriac 254 
 
 Celery 244 
 
 bleaching 252 
 
 field culture 249 
 
 garden culture 246 
 
 growing plants 249 
 
 growing plants 249 
 
 harvesting 253 
 
 locations 245 
 
 soils 245 
 
 varieties 253 
 
 Chard 361 
 
 Chervil 355 
 
 Chick pea 309 
 
364 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Chicory 255 
 
 culture 256 
 
 drying and roasting 257 
 
 harvesting and curing 256 
 
 soil 256 
 
 yield and value 256 
 
 Chives 303 
 
 Ciboule 303 
 
 Climate of California 28, 128 
 
 coast valleys 29 
 
 early regions 32 
 
 frostless places 36 
 
 interior lowlands 30 
 
 mountain valleys 33 
 
 plains and foothills 32 
 
 thermal belts 30, 32 
 
 Cloth for covering beds, etc. .166 
 
 Cloudiness and sunshine 34 
 
 Cold frame, the 162 
 
 Collards 221, 235 
 
 Corn 259 
 
 culture 263 
 
 ensilage 264 
 
 locations 259 
 
 planting 260 
 
 soil 260 
 
 varieties 264 
 
 Corn salad 355 
 
 Cress 356 
 
 Cucumbers 266 
 
 culture 267 
 
 locations for 266 
 
 varieties 269 
 
 Cultivation (see tillage) 82 
 
 flat 93 
 
 garden 88 
 
 summer 87, 136, 138 
 
 Cuttings and layers 168 
 
 Dandelion 356 
 
 December, work for 143 
 
 Ditches, irrigation 68 
 
 Drainage in California 74 
 
 benefits of 75 
 
 conditions demanding 77 
 
 not always necessary 76 
 
 surface 76 
 
 under drainage 77 
 
 with irrigation 79 
 
 Drying vegetables 17 
 
 Earliest regions 36 
 
 Egg plant 270 
 
 culture 271 
 
 locations for 270 
 
 varieties 271 
 
 Endive 257 
 
 Engines, gasoline 52 
 
 steam 52 
 
 Farm gardens 20 
 
 benefits of 23 
 
 economics of 23 
 
 profitable 24 
 
 programmes 153 
 
 social advantages of 25 
 
 February, work for 143 
 
 Fences 131 
 
 Fertilizers in California 96 
 
 Forcing in California 155 
 
 Frostless places 36 
 
 Frost, effects on vegetables... 
 
 36, 151 
 
 occurrences of 147 
 
 protection 107 
 
 Fungi, remedies for Ill 
 
 Furrow irrigation 07 
 
 Garden, arrangement 129 
 
 calendar 140 
 
 drainage 74 
 
 essentials to success in.... 20 
 
 horse work in 131 
 
 insects 107 
 
 location of 129 
 
 place in mixed farming. ... 26 
 
 practice, diversity in 17 
 
 protection 104 
 
 succession and rotation .... 
 
 133, 140, 152 
 
 unirrigated 47 
 
 weeds 116 
 
 winds and frosts 106 
 
 work seasonable 138 
 
 Garlic 302 
 
 Germination, conditions for.. 157 
 
 Gherkin 356 
 
 Gophers 113 
 
 Gumbo 358 
 
 Hilling 93 
 
 Hillside irrigation 68 
 
 Hills, transplanting 169 
 
 Hoe in California 89 
 
 Horse radisn — 
 
 Horse work, arrangement for. 131 
 
 Hot-bed, the 163 
 
 Hot box, the 164 
 
 Hydraulic rams 54 
 
 Insects, remedies for 107 
 
 Irrigation, garden 47 
 
 advantages of 47 
 
INDEX. 
 
 365 
 
 and drainage 
 
 check system 
 
 current wheels 
 
 furrow system 
 
 hillside 
 
 how much 
 
 hydraulic rams 
 
 money value of 
 
 must be adequate 
 
 permanent ditch system. 
 
 picturesque 
 
 pumps 
 
 raised beds 
 
 reservoirs 
 
 ridge system 
 
 seepage 
 
 siphons 
 
 sprinkling 
 
 sources of 
 
 sub-irrigation 
 
 winter 
 
 .48, 
 
 79 May. work for 144 
 
 61 Melons 277 
 
 53 cantaloups 277 
 
 67 culture 278, 280 
 
 67 muskmelon 277 
 
 72 varieties 283 
 
 54 watermelon 277, 285 
 
 50 culture 286 
 
 72 locations for 285 
 
 62 harvesting 287 
 
 66 varieties 287 
 
 52 Mole 115 
 
 92 Mulch, earth 84 
 
 55 Mulching 159 
 
 65'Mushrooms 357 
 
 65 Muskmelons 277 
 
 54:Mustard 357 
 
 69i 
 
 51 
 
 January, work for 143 
 
 .Jersey kale 221 
 
 July, work for 141 
 
 June, work for 145 
 
 Kale or borecole 221 
 
 Jersey 221 
 
 Oregon 235 
 
 sea 360 
 
 Kerosene emulsion 110 
 
 Kitchen herbs 357 
 
 Kohl-rabi 353 
 
 Leek 302 
 
 Lentil 309 
 
 Lettuce 272 
 
 culture 273 
 
 seed growing 126 
 
 varieties 275 
 
 Lime, uses of 44 
 
 Manures, absorbents of 103 
 
 animal 96 
 
 as mulch 104 
 
 bone 105 
 
 composting 100, 101 
 
 deterioration of 98 
 
 liquid 103 
 
 tanks for 100 
 
 March, work for 144 
 
 Moisture, absorption of 84 
 
 conditions of 84 
 
 conservation of 85, 87 
 
 must be adequate 72 
 
 INasturtium 358 
 
 November, work for 143 
 
 October, work for 142 
 
 Okra 358 
 
 Onions 289 
 
 culture 290, 299 
 
 irrigation 298 
 
 harvesting 298 
 
 localities 290 
 
 seed growing 123 
 
 seed planting 292 
 
 sets 296 
 
 soils 290 
 
 transplanting 294 
 
 varieties 300 
 
 Orchard, vegetables in 133 
 
 Parsley 358 
 
 Parsnip 237, 241 
 
 soils and culture 241 
 
 varieties 242 
 
 Peas 304 
 
 culture 306 
 
 early 306 
 
 field culture 307 
 
 soils and situations 305 
 
 sugar peas 309 
 
 varieties 308 
 
 squarepod 360 
 
 Peat soils for vegetables 42 
 
 Peppers 311 
 
 culture 312 
 
 varieties 315 
 
 Planting season 138 
 
 Planting time, tables 145 
 
 Plow, use of. 83 
 
366 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Potatoes 316 
 
 culture 320 
 
 harvesting 322 
 
 irrigation 321 
 
 mulcliing 322 
 
 season 318 
 
 situations 31 
 
 soils 319 
 
 storing 322 
 
 sweet 323 
 
 varieties 323 
 
 Propagation 155 
 
 cold frame 162 
 
 covering beds 166 
 
 cuttings and layers 168 
 
 from seed 166 
 
 hills for transplanting 169 
 
 hot-bed 163 
 
 hot box 164 
 
 seed-boxes 141 
 
 seedlings, handling 167 
 
 warm heap 165 
 
 watering in 165 
 
 Pumpkins 337 
 
 Pumps, Chinese 52 
 
 service of 52 
 
 Radishes 328 
 
 culture 328 
 
 varieties 329 
 
 Rainfall, occurrence of 35 
 
 Raised beds 92 
 
 Reservoir construction ... .49, 55 
 
 subterranean 51, 56 
 
 Rhubarb 331 
 
 culture 331 
 
 planting 332 
 
 seedlings 332 
 
 treatment 332 
 
 varieties 334 
 
 Ridge culture 65, 91 
 
 Roselle 359 
 
 Rutabaga 351 
 
 Salsify 237, 243 
 
 culture 243 
 
 varieties 243 
 
 Sandy soil, improvement of . . 46 
 
 Sea kale 360 
 
 Seed-boxes 161 
 
 covering 157 
 
 firming soil for 158 
 
 mulching 159 
 
 planting conditions of 158 
 
 Seed growing in California. .120 
 
 lettuce 124 
 
 onion 123 
 
 other seed 123, 126 
 
 preparation for market. .. .127 
 
 Seedlings, planting 168 
 
 September, work for 142 
 
 Shallot 303 
 
 Soils, adobe 44 
 
 alluvial 42 
 
 deep not essential 46 
 
 vegetable of California. ... 37 
 desirable characters of.. 38, 40 
 
 improvement of 44, 45, 46 
 
 light soils preferred 38 
 
 peat 42 
 
 sediment 42 
 
 Soy bean 360 
 
 Spinach 335 
 
 culture 335 
 
 New Zealand 336 
 
 varieties 336 
 
 Square pod pea 360 
 
 Squashes 337 
 
 culture 340 
 
 large 337 
 
 varieties 341 
 
 Squirrels 112 
 
 Sub-irrigation 69 
 
 Summer fallow 82 
 
 Sweet potatoes 323 
 
 culture 324 
 
 harvesting 326 
 
 growing plants 324 
 
 planting 325 
 
 storing 326 
 
 varieties 327 
 
 Trench irrigation 70 
 
 Tillage, early 87 
 
 flat 93 
 
 for absorption 82 
 
 for retention 84 
 
 to release moisture 94 
 
 with irrigation 90 
 
 Tomato 343 
 
 canning 17 
 
 culture 344, 347 
 
 growing plants 344 
 
 irrigation 348 
 
 localities 343 
 
 planting out 347 
 
 requirements 343 
 
 varieties 349 
 
 yield 349 
 
INDEX. 
 
 367 
 
 Turnip 351 
 
 culture 352 
 
 varieties 353 
 
 Under drainage 77 
 
 Vegetables, canning and dry- 
 ing 17 
 
 at missions 13 
 
 by foreigners 15 
 
 chance for Americans 15 
 
 cheaper bought 19, 22 
 
 climatic requirements 34 
 
 forcing 155 
 
 furnish capital for fruit... 11 
 
 growing in California 9 
 
 in your orchard 133, 308 
 
 pioneer 9 
 
 shipping 16 
 
 soils for 37 
 
 weights and sizes 10 
 
 Vegetable sundries 354 
 
 Water, importance of 20 
 
 application of 61 
 
 lifting devices 51 
 
 requirements of soils 72 
 
 supply, sources of 48, 51 
 
 Watermelon 277 
 
 Waterproof cloth 166 
 
 Weeds in California 116 
 
 Wells, artesian 51 
 
 Will, water, work 20 
 
 Windbreaks 106 
 
 Windmills, service of 52, 65 
 
 Winter gardening 35 
 
 irrigation 71 
 
 Wheels, current 53 
 
 Work, importance of 20 
 
 for the months 140 
 
 seasonable 138 
 
 Yam 360 
 
 Year, division of garden 141 
 
12 f91Q 
 
One copy del. to Cat. Div.