Part 7

Another way, and the easiest, to have a constant succession of lettuce for the table throughout the season, is to sow the seed thickly in drills and to cut the loose leaves close to the ground when it is three or four inches high; this produces rather narrow leaves, which are very tender and juicy, but which have not the substance of those grown as separate plants or heads, and are not so easily prepared for the table. These sowings can be made every few weeks, and a constant succession of young leaves be had for use throughout the entire season. It should be the object in sowing lettuce to plant small lots frequently, that it may always be had in the best condition.

About the second week in September a sowing of some early hard-heading variety should be made, and a succeeding one about the first of October; from these two sowings the cold frames should be planted, about one-third from the first and two-thirds from the second; the plants should be set about six inches apart each way, which will allow about fifty plants to each sash. When cold weather comes the sash should be put on, and the outsides of the frames banked around with long stable manure. The plants must be treated to plenty of fresh air whenever the weather will permit of it, and on very cold nights the sash should be reinforced with a covering of straw, old mats, or carpet. The lettuce grown in these frames is apt to be infested with the small insect known as the “Green Fly;” to prevent or to get rid of the presence of this pest, tobacco refuse and sweepings from a cigar-maker’s shop should be strewn on the soil under the leaves; this will destroy the fly and act as a fertilizer, but if too much is applied it will spoil the delicate flavor of the lettuce.

If a few very early cabbages are desired, the seed should be sown about the first of October and transplanted with the lettuce into the cold frames; planting them about two inches apart each way; if these are in good condition and the spring favorable, they can be planted out about the 15th of March, and will produce heads one to two weeks earlier than those raised in the hotbeds.

VARIETIES OF LETTUCE.

BURPEE’S HARD-HEAD.--This is the fastest growing and the best heading kind that I have ever grown. With this variety the ordinary gardener is able to grow as fine, large, solid heads as those grown by the professional market gardener. In shape it very much resembles a cabbage, as even the outer leaves tend to curl in over the head, instead of spreading outward, as in most lettuces. In appearance it is quite novel and striking, the edges of the leaves being tinged with a deep brownish-red, while in the centre of its hard heads the leaves are blanched to a beautiful creamy white. In quality it is remarkably tender, rich, juicy, and never bitter.

[Illustration: BURPEE’S HARD-HEAD LETTUCE.]

[Illustration: BURPEE’S TOMHANNOCK LETTUCE.]

BURPEE’S TOMHANNOCK.--This is the finest of all the cutting lettuces, as it is of large size, handsome appearance, and the very choicest quality. It grows very quickly, is soon ready to cut, and stands a long time without running to seed, retaining throughout the season its delicate and delicious flavor. The growth is erect; a fully developed plant is ten to twelve inches in height, and nearly as great in diameter across the top; the outer edges of the leaves curl outward. The outer leaves are shaded with reddish-brown, while the inner leaves are almost white. It is entirely free from any bitter taste throughout the entire summer.

STONEHEAD GOLDEN YELLOW.--This is a new variety, which makes very solid heads, of handsome appearance and the finest quality. Its earliness, large, tight heads and superior quality render it one of the best kinds for forwarding under glass.

[Illustration: GOLDEN STONEHEAD LETTUCE.]

BURPEE’S SILVER BALL.--This, next to the Hard Head, is the best heading variety for general purposes, and where the brown markings in the latter kind are an objection, the gardener will find in this kind all the good qualities that go to make a desirable lettuce. It produces a beautiful head, very firm and solid, with handsomely curled leaves. The head is of a silvery white color, very rich and buttery in flavor, and stands for some time before running to seed. Other excellent varieties of cabbage lettuces are _Philadelphia White Cabbage_, _The Hanson_ and _The Deacon_, while _The Tennis Ball_ is a great favorite with market gardeners for forcing.

[Illustration: BURPEE’S SILVER BALL LETTUCE.]

OKRA.

This plant, like the carrot, is too little grown, as its green pods impart a fine flavor and consistency to soups and mixed stews; besides being very palatable when stewed and served as is a dish of asparagus; the pods can also be dried for winter use. The seeds should be planted in drills, and if the dwarf variety be used, which I think is preferable, as it produces an abundance of pods and does not take up nearly so much room, the plants may be allowed to stand about one and a half feet apart in the row, the rows being three feet apart, though a quarter or half a row in the kitchen garden, as here described, will furnish an ample supply, both for use and drying. For either purpose, they should be cut before the pods attain their full size or they will be hard and woody. For drying, the best way is to string them on a fine wire or thread and suspend them to the rafters of a cool loft or garret until wanted for use. The culture of this vegetable is very simple, as the seeds are planted in drills about two inches deep, and the after treatment is the same as for corn.

[Illustration: OKRA.]

ONIONS.

In raising onions in quantities the practice of late years has been to grow the crop from seed in one season, instead of the method formerly almost universally practiced in this section, of raising and keeping over sets to form the next year’s crop. This latter method is now only practiced to save labor in small gardens and to bring a few onions in for use early in the season.

To raise a satisfactory crop the ground must be free from weed seeds; it must be made as rich as possible and have constant cultivation from the time the seedlings break through the ground until the bulbs begin to ripen. The soil must be plowed, harrowed and raked, until it is in the finest possible condition to receive the seed, and it is important to select a plot for this purpose that has been kept free from weeds the preceding season. Root crops are the best to precede onions, as they not only leave the ground free from litter, but also, if they have been properly cultivated, leave the soil in fine tilth.

In our kitchen garden I would sow the seed in drills, twelve to fourteen inches apart, and cultivate with the wheel hoe; in field culture, or raised more extensively in the garden, plant in rows as closely as they can be worked with the cultivator, which, if it is provided with very narrow-bladed teeth, can be run through any rows where the horse can walk. For the kitchen garden, make the surface fine with a sharp steel rake, and if no drill is at hand, take a rake handle or blunt stick, and, drawing it along the garden line, scratch a drill about an inch deep. Sow the seed thinly, say an inch apart, but if there is reason to doubt the freshness of the seed, sow it thicker, so that a good stand may be assured. When the onions are an inch high, they should have their first working. Follow the wheel hoe or cultivator with a narrow-bladed hoe, not wider than an inch and a half at the cutting part of the blade; it must be sharp and lightly handled, just loosening the ground and cutting off any stray weeds. If there are no weeds the soil can be quickly loosened with a sharp steel rake. They should be worked every eight or ten days from this point until they begin to ripen; if it is neglected for longer periods than these, the gardener will rue it in days of back-breaking labor on hands and knees. When the young onions have made leaves two or three inches in height, they should be thinned out to from four to six inches apart in the rows, according to the size of the bulb made by the particular variety planted. The seed for onions grown in this way should be sown as early in the spring as the soil can be gotten into the proper fine condition, so that they may make as strong a growth as possible before the hot summer weather ripens them off. As they begin to ripen, all those with thick necks should be pulled and used upon the table, as they will not ripen properly, and if put away with the good bulbs will start all to rotting. There is a theory common with old gardeners that, by bending the tops over when they begin to ripen, the bulbs will be increased in size and will ripen more quickly; personally, I have tried it frequently, and have never been able to observe any difference in those bent and the ones left to ripen in the natural way. As soon as the bulbs are well matured, take them up at once, as a few rainy days might start them to growing again if left in the ground; pull off all the tops and roots which adhere to the dry bulbs and spread them thinly on the barn floor or on the floor of a cool loft. When it becomes too cold to let them remain longer in this position without danger of freezing, I put them in peach baskets, the stripped sides of which allow a free circulation of air, and store them in a cool, well-ventilated cellar, where we try to keep the temperature just above freezing by admitting air whenever possible, as it takes but very little warmth to start them to growing, and then they soon become unfit for use. If the gardener saves his own seed, the finest and best-shaped onions should be laid aside for planting out in the spring, for this purpose.

Where the crop is raised from sets it is not necessary, though quite desirable, to have the soil made as fine as for the seed bed. As the small onions are set in, planting at the proper distances apart, almost all the cultivation can be done with the narrow onion hoe, and if it is regularly attended to at proper intervals no hand work is necessary. The onion is a hardy bulb, and the sets can be planted as soon in the spring as the ground can be gotten into proper condition; this makes an important feature in the earliness of the crop, as the sets have several weeks the start over the onions raised from seed. For the very earliest onions, or those used when the bulb and neck are about of equal thickness early in the spring, and which go by the name of scallions, the sets are planted in October and allowed to remain in the ground all winter, so that they are ready for use almost as soon as the spring opens, two weeks’ growth sufficing to bring them to a proper size. Where the main garden crop of these fragrant bulbs is raised from seed, enough sets should be planted to make an early supply for the table; if no sets are at hand in the fall, to plant for the spring crop of scallions, they could be grown by sowing the seed about a month earlier than you would plant the sets for the same purpose.

In sowing seeds for sets the same directions apply as given for the crop of bulbs, excepting that the seed is sown much more thickly, so that the bulbs will touch each other and stand two or three wide in the row. If they do not seem to be making the proper growth as the season advances, they should be thinned to the proper extent to enable them to grow to the right size, one-half inch in diameter, though my own trouble is that they usually grow too large; to remedy this when they are nearly the proper size I allow them to become choked with grass and weeds, which checks their growth, but when this is done they must be watched that this mass of stuff does not rot them off when ripe. I think a better way would be to go along the row with a straight-edged hoe or spade and cut off some of the roots. The main object in having the sets of this small size is that they shall not run to seed when planted out in the spring. Any sets which exceed three-quarters of an inch in diameter should be used for pickling or cooking. When the sets begin to ripen it will sometimes facilitate the process to bend all the green tops over close to the bulbs, as it helps to dry and shrivel the tops more quickly. When thoroughly ripe they should be gathered at once, the tops and roots pulled off, and should be spread out and stored for winter in the same manner described for the large onions. Any of the sets that persist in growing and not drying properly, should be thrown out, or they will spoil the whole crop. If a suitable cellar or loft is not available for storing the bulbs where they will be sure not to start into growth, they may be wintered on the barn or loft floor, covering with hay as the cold weather advances. The hay should be only two inches thick at first, but should be increased to one foot in thickness as the season advances, and in the spring should be removed by the same graded process.

VARIETIES OF ONIONS.

YELLOW GLOBE DANVERS.--This is a splendid variety, and is the most popular and profitable kind to grow for market. It is similar to the Yellow Danvers as ordinarily grown, excepting in shape, which is much finer, in my opinion. No one can fail to be pleased with this fine variety when well grown. It is quite early, and is one of the very best keeping kinds.

[Illustration: YELLOW GLOBE DANVERS ONION.]

LARGE RED WETHERSFIELD.--A strong grower and produces immense crops of large, fine bulbs. It is rather flat in form, deep purplish red on the outside and a much lighter shade inside. It has a strong flavor, and is very solid, making an excellent keeping and shipping sort.

[Illustration: RED WETHERSFIELD

COPYRIGHTED 1887.

W. ATLEE. BURPEE & CO. PHILA

LARGE RED WETHERSFIELD ONION.]

WHITE GLOBE.--One of the handsomest onions grown, beautiful in shape and color, having a clear, white skin; the flesh is fine grained, of mild flavor, and the bulbs are of good keeping quality.

WHITE SILVERSKIN, OR WHITE PORTUGAL.--This is an old and favorite variety, being very desirable for planting in the family garden; the flavor is the mildest of the American varieties; the small onions are very fine for pickling. I think this variety should be marketed as early as possible, as with me it is not a good keeper.[6]

[Illustration: WHITE SILVERSKIN

SILVERSKIN, OR WHITE PORTUGAL ONION.]

ITALIAN VARIETIES OF ONIONS.

GIANT RED ROCCA.--These onions are of large size, handsome appearance and mild, delicate flavor. In this variety we have an onion which attains a weight of from one to two pounds under ordinarily good culture, and of most handsome shape and appearance, the outer skin being always bright red, while the flesh is white, mild and pleasant.

EARLIEST WHITE QUEEN.--This variety does not grow to the large size of the other Italian kinds, more resembling our American Silverskin in size and appearance, but has the great advantage over the latter variety (which takes two seasons to attain the same size), of remarkably quick growth, while the flavor is equally, if not more, delicate. The bulbs are flat, pure white and about two inches in diameter. It is the finest variety for pickling grown. Sown in February, they will produce onions early in the summer, while if sown in July, they will be ready to harvest in the fall, and will then keep in splendid condition throughout the winter.

[Illustration: NEW GIANT RED ROCCA ONION

GIANT RED ROCCA ONION.]

[Illustration: WHITE QUEEN ONION.]

GIANT YELLOW ROCCA.--This variety is similar to the Giant Red Rocca described above, except in color, which is a clear golden yellow. It is this variety which is the real “_Spanish Onion_,” so generally sold at the fruit stands in the cities.

BURPEE’S MAMMOTH SILVER KING.--This I believe to be the handsomest variety of onion grown, as I think the white-skinned varieties the most attractive. The bulbs are slightly flattened, but are very thick through, averaging five to six inches in diameter, and have been grown to the enormous weight of over four pounds to the single bulb, while two-pound bulbs are frequently produced under fair culture. The skin is a beautiful silvery white; the flesh is even whiter, while the flavor is very mild and pleasant, the Italians eating them as we do apples.

PARSLEY.

This should be grown by every gardener on account of its usefulness, both for seasoning and garnishing. As it seeds in the second season, fresh plantings should be made every spring. The seed, being very slow to germinate, should be soaked in tepid water for twenty-four hours before planting. The best way is to sow in the hotbed or cold frame and transplant to the garden, but it can be sown in drills where wanted and thinned out to the proper distance apart. I always try to have a bed of it near the kitchen door, as it saves much running; if such a bed cannot be conveniently placed, some should be cut and brought in with the other vegetables, as it will keep fresh some days if kept in cold water. In the fall some of the best roots should be taken up and planted in the cold frame, or put in pots and boxes in the sunny windows of the house, for a winter supply. The leaves and tops from trimming the celery are also very fine for flavoring.

[Illustration: EXTRA CURLED DWARF PARSLEY.]

The EXTRA CURLED DWARF is so much finer and handsomer than the other kinds that it should be the only one grown.

PARSNIPS.

This is a winter vegetable, needing hard freezing to refine and bring out its best quality; the roots should be left to stand where grown until they can be dug in the spring or through the winter as wanted, though some may be dug and stored in heaps for use when the ground is frozen too solidly to admit of digging them. If there is more than are wanted for table use, there should be no delay in getting them dug and marketed as early in the spring as possible, for when they begin to sprout and grow, they very soon become woody and unfit to eat. A row should be sown in the garden at the same time as the onions, beets, etc., are planted. It is best to sow the seed quite thickly; by thickly I mean one seed every inch or so; when the young plants are about three inches high they should be thinned out to six inches apart in the row, care being taken to leave only one plant in a place, as, if two are left, they will spoil the symmetrical shape of the roots by growing against each other. In planting the seed I always try to run it in between two rows of beets, onions, lettuce, or other early crop, thus working it with the wheel hoe while small, and when the other crops have been taken off there is room to work it with the cultivator, which is run as close to the rows and as deeply as possible, so that the roots may attain the largest size. In digging the roots when the ground is frozen hard and is impenetrable to the spade, I use a long iron post digger with a steel blade.

[Illustration: IMPROVED GUERNSEY PARSNIP.]

VARIETIES OF PARSNIPS.

For the last three seasons I have grown the IMPROVED GUERNSEY, and have found it so much superior in size and quality to the Long Smooth, as to be above comparison. The roots are smooth, fine shaped, and free from small roots, while the quality is very superior.

PEAS.

The first planting should be made in the spring, as soon as the ground can be prepared. It is my practice to sow three varieties at the first planting, and two varieties at each subsequent one, kinds being sown which will mature in succession, one being ready to pick about the time the preceding one is past. The same result may be obtained by making plantings of the same sort a week apart. I think my way the easier, and besides, relish the variety. A drill of fifty feet would probably be sufficient for an ordinary family to have in bearing, but as my own family is large and very fond of this vegetable, and insist upon having them upon the table every day in the season when it is possible to grow them, I find a full row across the garden none too many to have in bearing at one time.

For several years past I have given up raising the tall growing peas requiring brush or sticks for their support, as it is not easy to procure sufficient brush for a garden of this size, unless you have a convenient woods upon which to draw, and even then it takes a great deal of labor to get the brush and stick the peas; while it takes more than twice as long to clear the ground for the succeeding crop, and the rows must be planted at a greater distance apart, to admit of cultivation.

The quality of the dwarf kinds is fully as good as of the tall growing ones, and in many kinds the crop borne is fully as prolific; the only strong point that I know of in favor of the brushed peas, is that the pickers do not growl half so much at picking them as they do over the lower growing ones, and that some of the varieties can be had later in the summer, as their height serves to shade the ground between the rows and thus keeps it cool. As for the growls of the picker, the short vines admit of no loafing place, and no true gardener or lover of his craft ever seems to be aware that he has such a thing as a spine (except on his cucumbers) till he tries to straighten up at the end of the day’s work.