The Lamar register., 1905-06-21
Garden Troubles.

Things often go wrong in the vege-
| table garden, and sometimes the trou-
Die might have been avoided If one
mad known the cause and remedy
In time On this account little OF
| the experience of others may be
| helpful.
Satisfy or vegetable oyster when
perfectly grown should have long,
smooth roots with few divisions. and
when not in this condition the cause
can be assigned to one of two things.
Either the ground was not properly
prepared, or manure that was not per-
fectly rotted came in contact with the
roots. When making the ground
ready for this crop. it should be spad-
ed to depth OF fifteen inches and
be well pulverized: otherwise in push
ing their way through the soil the
slender roots will be bent out of
shape and separated into many small
roots, which makes the crop almost
worthless.
Fresh manure in contact with the
roots has much the same effect, be-
sides causing rough condition of
the skin of the roots.
Carrots sometimes cause much trou-
BILE by cracking open during the last
| few weeks of their growth. This
makes them not only unsuitable, but
| poorly fitted for keeping during win
ter for home use. and thsy are fit for
nothing but feed for stock. The cause
of the cracking is too rich soil. which
makes them grow so rapidly that
when they have reached almost full
size long cracks appear lengthwise of
the roots. A safe rule to follow is to
plant carrots on land which has re-
ceived no fertilizer for year. but
which was put in the best of condi-
tion for the previous seasons crop.
Muskmelons sometimes prove al
most failure on account of the skin
cracking before the melons are fully
| ripe. Left to themselves, the cracks
open wider and the melon generally
rots before fully ripened and the crop
is lost. Even if they ripened up
properly they would only be fit for
home use, as they could not bear the
handling necessary to get them to
market
The trouble usually appears when .
heavy shower follows prolonged
drouth and the sun comes out hot
Immediately after. Though thS crack
Ing itself cannot be prevented, the
further effects can be to consider
able extent. Close watch must be
Kept OF the melons, and on the very
first appearance of cracking. take
sharp knife and cut about half
through the diameter of the stem
which connects the melon to the
vine. Care must be exercised that
the stem is not bruised or cut too
far. This checks the growth some
what, and hastens the process of rip
ening; as only melons which are al
/ most fully grown are troubled in this
way, 1t is easier to remedy 1t. The
cracks will not grow any larger or
| deeper, and the melons when ripe are
in salable condition, ripening up per-
fectly and with as fine flavor as un-
der more favorable circumstances.
During the heat and drouth of mid
summer one often sees peppers, egg
plant and kindred vegetables which
seem to be making little growth, and
the foliage begins to have pale sick
ly appearance. This is doubtless
caused by the lack of some element
in the soil, and unless this is fur
nished at once the plants cannot pro-
duce a satisfactory crop. Usually the
following application will start the
plants into renewed growth: Take
unleached wood ashes and salt in
equal quantities, and. after mixing
thoroughly, sprinkle handful of it
on the surface of the ground around
each plant. Unless rain falls soon. it
is well to water the ground thorough
ly once, so that the mixture will be
dissolved and soak into the ground
where the roots can have the bene-
fit of it at once. TIE good results
will be apparent in very short time,
and one application will be enough
| for the whole season.
| When early cabbage heads begin to
crack open, unless attended to at
once they are liable to be ruined. In.
| stead of cutting them all at once and
| endeavoring to use them in one way
or another try this plan: Take firm
hold of a head that is just beginning
| to crack, and give it a strong pull,
not enough to pull it out of the
ground. but sufficient to break off
some of the roots; or push the head
| from side to side to accomplish tn.
same purpose.
The head will stop growing at
once, in order to let the strength of
the plant go toward repairing the in.
jured roots. In the meantime the
cracks are not growing larger, so one
can use the heads as needed and
there will be no waste.
The sickly wilted condition of GU
cumber vines is often due to the dry
heat of the ground, which draws the
life of the vine out Of it. II thick
mulch of straw or litter be placed all
over the ground before the vines
make much growth the trouble Will
be avoided by keeping the vines from
contact with the hot ground as well
as the roots cool and moist.-Grace
+ Parher