Part 6 (1/2)

Farmers should give far more attention to growing squashes, as they are much superior to pumpkins in food quality, both for the table and for stock.

There are numbers of excellent squashes now catalogued by the seedsmen which many farmers have never tried, but which are worthy of cultivation for market purposes. When a farmer by experiment has found a high-quality squash adapted to his soil, he has put himself in possession of a product of permanent market value.

PUMPKIN.--We especially recommend Mammoth Golden Cashaw and Winter Luxury. For descriptions, see ”Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual.”

SQUASH.--Early varieties--Mammoth White Bush Scalloped, Giant Summer Crookneck. Winter-keeping varieties--Sweet Nut, Faxon, Chicago Warted, Hubbard, Early Prolific Orange Marrow. For descriptions, see ”Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual.”

TOMATOES.

Tomatoes may justly be rated among the leading crops available to farm gardeners. There is always a brisk market for selected, carefully-washed tomatoes, packed in new baskets. Such produce is seldom offered in excessive quant.i.ties.

Any good corn land will produce good tomatoes. Excessive manuring is likely to stimulate the vines at the expense of the fruit. A little complete fertilizer or compost in the hills is desirable.

Tomato seed of early varieties should be started under gla.s.s. The seed is sown on heat and the plants once or twice transplanted, and put in the open ground as soon as danger of frost is over. Little is gained by setting out too early, when the ground is cool. The tomato is of tropical origin, and makes rapid growth only at a temperature of 65 or upward. Indeed, it is suspected that one of the worst diseases to which the tomato is liable, the blight, is encouraged, if not wholly caused by too early planting in the open ground.

=Varieties and Planting.=--At 4 feet apart each way, it will require about 2,700 tomato plants for an acre of land. In open field culture the tomato is always allowed to lie upon the ground. In garden culture, it is often tied to stakes or supported on trellises. Three ounces of seed will raise sufficient plants for an acre.

There are many varieties of tomatoes, including the early and late market sorts, the yellow kinds, and the little pear-shaped and plum-shaped tomatoes, both red and yellow, used in pickling. The ideal market tomato is one of medium size and smooth shape. It must have firmness and depth, and the quality of ripening evenly all over. There should be neither greenness nor wrinkles around the calyx, nor should the fruit be of irregular shape. As to color, it is a matter of taste and neighborhood preference. Some markets demand red and some purple fruit.

TOMATO.--We recommend, for earliest, Atlantic Prize and Money Maker; for second early and main crop, Brinton's Best, New Fortune; for late, Brandywine, c.u.mberland Red, Stone. For descriptions, see ”Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual.”

=Successional Planting.=--If the first tomato plants be set in the open ground (at Philadelphia) May 15th to 20th, there should be at least one and preferably two later crops, because young, vigorous plants yield the most and best fruit. It is good practice to sow tomato seed in the open ground, say about middle of May, and again somewhat later. These out-of-door plants will come forward very rapidly, and will be ready to produce late summer and autumn crops.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Atlantic Prize Tomatoes, as they Appear for Sale on Fruit Stands, etc., during the Spring Months.]

=Cultivation.=--The tomato is of the easiest cultivation, and will grow even under neglect, but it so abundantly repays attention, that no farmer can afford to be careless about the matter. The nights of May are cool in the North, and the newly-set plant at first makes little growth. Cultivator and hand-hoe should both be kept in motion during this period, and in June also. In the latter month the tomato will make a sudden leap toward maturity, and will yield ripe fruit in July. The out-of-doors cropping season lasts for three full months.

The tomato is now grown under gla.s.s almost everywhere, and is to be had in the market during all the months of the year.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Great B. B. (Brinton's Best) Tomato, Best for Main Crop.]

The out-of-doors season is profitably prolonged by picking all the mature or nearly mature fruit when the first frost comes, in October, and placing these unripe tomatoes on straw in a cold frame. Covered with straw and with the sash to keep out frost, the fruit ripens in a satisfactory manner for several weeks. Such a frame must be well ventilated or the tomatoes will rot rather than ripen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: New Fortune, one of the Best Second Early Tomatoes.]

=Diseases and Enemies.=--Tomato diseases, fortunately, are not numerous. Blight sometimes sweeps off a whole field of early-set tomato plants, on farms where later plantings are quite healthy. This favors the theory that blight results from weakness caused by early planting in cold ground. It is a fungous disease, and may sometimes be prevented by the use of Bordeaux mixture. The same remedy is the best known preventive of black rot.

Potato bugs may be either hand-picked or poisoned with Paris green.

The tobacco worm sometimes causes much damage to the tomato. All diseased or blighted tomato vines should be promptly burned, and the crop carried to new soil the following year.

=Marketing, Profits, etc.=--As already stated, choice tomatoes in clean baskets are always in demand, and a new basket will usually pay for itself on a single sale. The sum of $150 per acre may be quoted as the average gross receipts from tomatoes at present prices. This estimate is based on the low yield of a half-peck of fruit to each vine at 25 cents per basket. If sold retail, the tomatoes would command more money, while if sold in bulk to a canning factory the gross receipts might be larger or smaller, depending on the size of the general crop and other circ.u.mstances.

TURNIPS AND RUTA BAGAS.

Turnips and ruta bagas are closely related. The latter are turnips in fact, and are frequently called Swedes. The common method on many farms is to sow turnips broadcast, but it is a far better practice to sow both these and the ruta bagas in drills, so that they can be kept clear of weeds and worked by horse-power. Not only are these advantages secured, but the row system makes it possible to take out the superfluous plants, and secure roots of uniform size and shape.

Turnips and ruta bagas have high economic value as foods, both for humanity and for live stock.

=Turnips.=--Turnips are grown for market purposes both in spring and in fall. In the spring the seed should be sown early, in mellow soil.