Part 4

The white soup bean, that is dried for winter use in various ways, including the famous “Boston Baked Beans,” is generally grown by dropping one or two hills between each hill of corn, and instead of picking them, the whole plant is pulled up in the fall, and the beans thrashed out with a flail when dry. For Limas and pole snaps, the poles should be set by the aid of the garden line, and where any pole is bowed or crooked it should be planted so as to bring it in line with the row, lengthwise, as nearly as possible, that they may present an orderly appearance. In setting the poles, make a hole from one to two feet deep by driving the sharp end of a crowbar into the ground, place the butt end of the pole in this hole and ram it firmly in its place; then put one or two shovelfuls of compost around the base of the pole, and with a sharp steel rake make a hill of fine dirt over the compost. Five or six beans should be planted to each hill, but if all grow should be thinned out to two or three. If the young plants do not climb the poles readily at the first start, they should be trained up and tied till they begin to take hold for themselves. Be careful, in planting Lima beans, to push them into the soil with the eye down, for, as the first leaves are quite large and heavy, it assists them materially in breaking through the soil to plant them in this manner.[2]

The Limas may be brought into bearing somewhat earlier in the season by placing pieces of sod, cut four inches square and about three inches thick, grass side down, in the hotbed, and planting four or five beans in each piece; if this is done in the latter part of March they will be of good size by the time it is warm enough to plant them out, which is done by planting the piece of sod at the base of the pole, in hills, as prepared for the seed. If the end of the vine is pinched off when it is about four or five feet up the pole, it will assist the lateral shoots in blooming early, and consequently produce beans earlier, though, like all forcing methods, it will, to some extent, lessen the vigor of the vine, and most likely, to some extent, the amount of the crop.

BUSH BEANS--_Golden Wax_.--This is one of the best bush beans; it matures early; the pods are of very handsome appearance, brittle and entirely stringless; it is a good bearer and makes an excellent shelled bean for winter use.

_Best of All Dwarf Bean._--This is a green-podded bean, and is probably the best for the first planting, as it is not only very early but also very productive; the pods are six inches long, entirely stringless, very fleshy and rich flavored.

_Champion Bush Bean._--This is a strong grower, attaining about fifteen to eighteen inches in height, and an immense cropper. The beans can be used as string beans in the green state, but its chief quality lies in the superiority of the beans when dried, and the large crops which it produces when grown for winter use.

[Illustration: BEST OF ALL DWARF BEAN.]

[Illustration: CHAMPION BUSH BEAN.]

POLE BEANS, SNAP VARIETIES--_Golden Wax Flageolet_.--This bean is of recent introduction, and is worthy of all the praise that has been bestowed upon it; it is a tremendous bearer, and is almost as early as the dwarf wax varieties, the pods are much larger, being seven to eight inches long, round and very fleshy; they are entirely free from strings and of the finest quality. Unlike the other pole beans, it begins to produce beans at the bottom of the pole as soon as it starts to climb; and if these are used as they mature, it will continue in bearing the entire season.[3]

_White Creaseback, or Best of All._--These for early and the _Lazy Wife’s_ for late are the best of the green-podded pole beans. The pods are about six inches in length, thick fleshed, and of very fine quality. The Creaseback is very early and matures its crop in a short time, thus making it a very profitable variety for market. Both varieties are very productive, entirely stringless, and of superior flavor.

[Illustration: CREASE BACK POLE BEAN.

LAZY WIFE’S POLE BEAN.]

LIMAS--_Extra Early Lima_.--This variety matures very nearly as early as the Small Lima, while the beans are more nearly the size of the late Lima; the quality is very fine and the quantity large, as it bears the pods in clusters of four, with four to six beans in a pod.

_Dreer’s Improved Lima._--This variety is early and very productive if measured in the green state; the pods are smaller than in the ordinary Lima, but the beans are very plump, and are so close together in the pods as to crowd against each other. As a green bean it is very early, and shells out more quarts to the basket of pods than the larger varieties; but the quality is not as fine, and in the dry state the beans shrivel up till they are only about the size of dry bush beans, and are not nearly so good as the other varieties.

_King of the Garden._--This is a new variety, in which the green beans are of unusual size and very fine quality. I have seen half an acre planted with this variety which I am sure had at that time more than twice the quantity of beans that could be grown on the same ground of the ordinary kinds; vines were loaded with clusters of pods seven to eight inches in length, and it was no rarity to see them with five very large beans in a pod. From its great productiveness and the fine quality of the beans, it deserves the first place among the Limas.

BEETS.

Seed of these should be sown when the first planting is done in the spring. They may be had still earlier by planting the seed in a hotbed while the ground is still frozen, and transplanting them to the garden a week or so after the cabbage and lettuce have been planted out. Care must be taken in transplanting the young beets, that the tap-root does not get broken, or it will make a number of fibrous roots instead of the large, smooth globe desired for the table. When the seed is well up, the plants should be thinned out until they stand six or ten inches apart, as the size of the variety demands. A second sowing should be made about June 1st, and the main sowing about the 15th of July or 1st of August, to raise roots for winter use. These frequent sowings are necessary to have the beets of fine quality; as the roots get older and larger they become “woody,” or hard and fibrous, and exceedingly tasteless. Where the season is short, or there are prospects of a dry fall, the second sowing should be large enough to produce the winter crop, as the later one may fail to mature in time. The beets may be stored and the flavor retained by the method described for pitting turnips, and will keep in good order until spring.

The Bassano and other light beets are of quick growth and are tender and palatable while young, but are of coarse texture and not nearly so fine in appearance when cooked as the blood beets. The blood beets retain their deep, rich color, while all the light-leaved or light-stemmed varieties are colorless, or nearly so, when cooked. It certainly adds to the attractiveness of a dish for the vegetable to have a handsome appearance when cooked.

The seed should be sown in drills, from twelve to eighteen inches apart, if to be worked with the wheel hoe; if for horse culture, two and a half to three feet will have to be allowed between the rows. The ground should be raked clear of clods and made as fine as possible. A drill is made by drawing the rake or hoe handle along the line. The drill should be about an inch in depth and the seed should be dropped about two inches apart, thinning out to six or eight inches apart when well started, and if it is desired, the thinnings can be transplanted to another row. If no small roller is at hand, the drill can be covered and packed by the same operation, by removing the line and shuffling along the row with the feet placed in a V, the forepart of the foot drawing in the fine soil while the heels at the point cover and press the dirt down upon the row; the foot, of course, is only moved a few inches at a time, but with a little practice the rows can be covered in this manner quite rapidly.

VARIETIES OF BEETS.

ECLIPSE.--This is a very early beet, of quick growth and very fine quality. As the leaves of this variety are small and the stems short, they can be grown quite closely together. The roots are perfectly smooth, regular, globe shape, blood-red skin and flesh, fine grained and very sweet when cooked.

EDMAND’S EARLY TURNIP.--This variety is turnip-shaped, that is, tapering more gradually below the shoulder than the Eclipse; the foliage is short and stocky, enabling a heavy crop to be grown, as they can be grown as closely as six inches apart; the flesh, of a deep blood red, is of the finest quality.

[Illustration: EDMAND’S EARLY TURNIP BEET.]

[Illustration: BURPEE’S IMPROVED BLOOD TURNIP BEET.]

BURPEE’S IMPROVED BLOOD TURNIP.--This beet attains quite a large size and is very smooth and regular in appearance; the flesh is deep blood red and of fine quality, whether eaten in summer or stored for winter use; it is one of the best varieties for the latter purpose, and should be sown as described for the winter crop.

CABBAGES.

Of this vegetable two distinct crops are raised in every garden, while many gardeners, by successive sowings and the use of several varieties, have them fit for use constantly from early spring until fall, and throughout the entire winter by storage. In the ordinary garden the same result may be obtained by planting larger quantities of the early and summer varieties, and cutting them as wanted for use, as most of them will stand the whole summer without bursting or going to seed, and by early fall some of the winter cabbage will be large enough for use.

EARLY OR SUMMER CABBAGES.--The seed for these should be sown in a hotbed from the 1st to the 15th of February. As soon as the plants are large enough to set out they should be given plenty of air, and should be gradually hardened off until they are able to stand the cool nights without protection; but they should not be allowed to freeze. Treated in this way they will be ready for planting out as soon as the ground can be worked. In making this sowing I would have it of two kinds--some of a small, hard-heading, early variety, and about twice as many of a larger-heading summer kind. These latter are described as second early in the seed catalogues.

These early cabbages need very little care except to have frequent and thorough cultivation, as they are comparatively free from insect pests as long as they make a healthy growth. If attacked by the black fly or green worm, they should be dusted with land plaster or slug shot early in the morning, while the dew is still on them. The soil around these and all other crops that depend on quick growth for their superior qualities, must not only be cultivated, to kill the weeds, but must be kept loose and well stirred, to admit the air to the roots of the plants; it must not be allowed to lie heavy and packed after dashing rains, but should be stirred up as soon as dry enough. The rows may be as close as can be worked with the cultivator, say about three feet, and the plants about one and a half feet apart in the row, or even closer, if the variety grown makes but small heads.

LATE OR WINTER CABBAGE.--As soon as the ground becomes warm in the spring, or early in May, a seed bed should be made and sown with the late varieties of cabbage and celery, or the seed may be sown in drills in the garden; the seed being sown in very thinly, so as to produce plants standing about half an inch apart in the row. Where it can be done, it is best to sow the seed in a special bed or cold frame, where they can be watered and nursed to a good size by the time they are wanted for planting. The Flat Dutch and Drumhead types are the best for this planting, though many prefer the Savoys, claiming a superior delicacy of flavor, on account of their having more leaf surface to the number of ribs or veins; they are not, however, nearly such sure headers, nor are they as good keepers when buried.

It is important to get the seed sown early, that the plants may be had of good size by the middle of June, though they will make a partial crop if planted as late as the middle of August. As these varieties make larger heads than the summer cabbages, they cannot be planted so closely; the rows should be 3 to 3½ feet apart, and the plants 2 to 2½ feet apart in the rows. These can be planted and grown between the rows of early peas, corn or potatoes; but I would prefer to wait until the first crop of corn be cleared off the ground, as it can then be brought into much better condition. It adds greatly to the labor of harvesting the first crop when the ground is so closely planted, and the soil is apt to become hard and packed before it can be cultivated again.

When possible, the young cabbage plants should be set out directly before or after a good rain, but if there is no prospect of rain, they should be planted in the evening and a tincupful of water should be poured in each hole before the plant is set in; then draw the dry earth up around the stem and pack firmly around the plant; this will enable them to withstand at least a week of dry weather. If the drought should continue longer, or they do not come up fresh in the morning after a flagging day, they must be watered in the cool of the evening, when the plant will have the benefit of the water all night. It is waste of time to water them while the hot sun is shining, unless they can be shaded with papers, old pans, etc.

As soon as they become well established, the soil around them must be carefully loosened and cultivation begun. To obtain the best results they must be cultivated frequently and deeply. It is a common sight in some gardens to see the cabbage with stems two feet high and a small bunch of wormy leaves at the top; a closer examination will show that the soil is hard and trampled, and that the plants have been left to grow as best they may, while in the well-cultivated garden the stems are short and the heads are large and solid.

The young plants of late cabbages are generally infested, while in the seed bed, with a small black fly, which greatly checks their growth, and sometimes entirely destroys them. These can be gotten rid of, or better, entirely avoided, by the application of dry road dust, soot, slug shot, or land plaster, dusted on the young leaves early in the morning, while the dew is still on them; this should be repeated every two or three mornings until the fly is exterminated and the plants have grown to good size. When the plants have been set out and are nearly ready to head, the green cabbage worm makes its appearance, and if fine marketable heads are desired this pest must be destroyed. Many remedies for this are given, most of which are ineffectual. It is best to sprinkle well with tar water or alum water, taking care to get it well down into the centre of the loose leaves, using an ordinary watering pot for the purpose; if a garden syringe is at hand, it can be thrown into the plant much better than by sprinkling. To make the tar water, the tar is put in a barrel of water and well stirred; then, when it has been allowed to settle, the water from the top is dipped off and used. It should be strong enough to have quite a decided taste. The alum maybe dissolved in the watering pot, about one tablespoonful to the gallon, and stirred till dissolved. See that the solution gets well into the centre of the loose leaves just below the head, as this is the favorite place of attack by the worms.

The cabbage is quite hardy and will stand considerable frost in the fall without damage, being rather improved in quality by it. By the third week in November they should be put in pits or the vegetable cellar; or, where these conveniences are not at hand, they should be pulled up, root and all, the outside leaves wrapped closely around the head and stood side by side, on their heads, on a well-drained piece of ground; they should be placed in a long row two or three heads wide, and where a good many are to be buried or gotten out at once, two additional rows may be placed on top of these, as shown in the illustration.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.

FIG. 2.

Illustrations showing the manner of storing cabbage for winter use. Figure 1 showing three rows of heads and Figure 2, five rows. C. Heads of cabbage. S. Soil banked over the heads. D. Drainage ditches to carry off the water.]

Dry soil is then thrown on these heads to the thickness of five or six inches and the roots left sticking out of the top; this covering should be firmly packed, to prevent the entrance of water, and a small gutter should be dug round the heap to carry it off. If, after the cold weather has set in and the ground is slightly frozen, the heap is covered with three to four inches of corn fodder or litter, it will prevent the covering from freezing so hard, and will greatly lessen the work of getting out the heads when wanted for use. When heads are wanted, one end of the bank is opened and as many taken out as are desired; the open end is then carefully covered over with soil. Too many should not be taken out at once, as they retain their flavor better when buried in this manner than when kept where they are exposed to the open air. If it is desired to save some of the best heads for seed, the roots of the plant must be buried as well as the top; they can then be replanted early in the spring and a cross cut made in the top of the head to assist the flower stalks in bursting through, as the heads are sometimes so tight that they will rot before bursting.

[Illustration: EXTRA EARLY EXPRESS CABBAGE.]

[Illustration: EARLY JERSEY WAKEFIELD CABBAGE.]

EARLY VARIETIES--_Extra Early Etampes._--This cabbage is the earliest heading variety that I have ever grown. The heads are small but round and very solid, and it is ready for use nearly two weeks ahead of the other early varieties.[4]

_Early Jersey Wakefield._--This has long been the chief favorite for the general crop of early cabbage, and is deservedly popular, as it is sure to head when the seed is good; the heads are of good size and shape, and the quality is fine.

_Early Summer._--This succeeds the Wakefield, and has heads about twice the size of the latter; they are round, very solid and slightly flattened on top; it has few outside leaves and can be planted closely; this variety matures about two weeks later than the Wakefield, and a month after the Etampes.[5]

VARIETIES OF LATE CABBAGES.

At the head of these I would place BURPEE’S SUREHEAD, which has done so well for me since I began planting it, never failing a single season, that I now plant my whole crop of it, instead of planting two or three kinds as formerly, to guard against poor seed or a bad season. It is an improved type of the Premium Flat Dutch, to which it is superior in the evenness and regularity of its heads and the “sureness” of every plant to form a fine head. With me the heads average larger than the Flat Dutch, are rather more rounding in shape and are of the finest quality.

[Illustration: EARLY SUMMER CABBAGE.]

[Illustration: BURPEE’S SUREHEAD CABBAGE.]

[Illustration: BURPEE’S SHORT-STEM DRUMHEAD CABBAGE.]

SHORT-STEM DRUMHEAD.--This variety produces on extra short stems, only a few inches in height, very large solid heads, often twenty-five pounds in weight. It is from this kind that the very large heads seen at the county fairs in the fall are grown, and where the ground is heavily manured and well cultivated enormous crops of this variety can be grown; it is of fine quality, very solid and an excellent keeper.

[Illustration: The Vandergaw Cabbage

The Best Second Early and Summer Cabbage.

Equally as Good For Winter.

COPYRIGHTED 1887.

BY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO PHILADA]

DANISH BALL HEAD.--This variety has only been recently introduced, but bids fair to take a leading place as a winter variety; the heads are quite round and very solid; they are of medium size and very handsome appearance, which make it a good market variety, while the quality fully equals its good looks.

CAULIFLOWER.

The culture of this vegetable is the same as that for cabbage, in most respects, but it is not a certain crop in our changeable climate and hot, dry summers. It likes plenty of moisture, and if placed in a rather wet location or in a bed where it can be frequently watered, it will be much more certain to produce fine heads. Its superior quality and the high price that good heads command make it a most desirable crop to grow wherever it will do well. I have always found the short-stemmed, extra early varieties the best ones to grow, and as in the ordinary season but about half of them produce heads under ordinary garden culture, the rest of them maturing throughout the summer and fall, it is almost a continuous crop. The seed should be sown as early as possible, in the hotbed, and great care should be taken that the plants do not become either stunted or drawn, as none but the strong, healthy plants will produce good heads. It will greatly improve the appearance of the heads if some of the broad outside leaves are broken half through the stems and the tops bent over the heads while forming. This will blanch and keep them of that pure whiteness so attractive in this vegetable as grown by the market gardeners. The heads should be cut for use or sale as soon as they have reached their full size and before the buds begin to uncurl, as this spoils both the appearance and quality of this, the finest and most delicately flavored of the cabbage family.

VARIETIES OF CAULIFLOWER.