The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1905-09-15
FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE WINTER GARDEN.
Preparations Should BE Pushed For
Securing the Winter supply
OF Fresh Vegetables.

One of the most important winter
crops is spinach. We usually SOW II
in the early part of September, and
then make another sowing about the
first OF October, as this sowing will
usually just get enough of winter, and
will be better for spring use than that
sown earlier.
We try to have large plot Of spin
ach, for all that we can not use at
home finds ready sale. TO make a
ton of spinach fertilizer we mix 900
pounds Of acid phosphate, 800 pounds
of cottor-seed meal and 200 pounds
Of muriate of potash. We use this at
the rate Of ~ ,as enc rounds per ctle
on strong garden land. Our standard
of acid phosphate, 100 pounds of cot
ton-seed meal and 400 pounds Of muri-
ate OF potash, but leafy plants like
cabbages, spinach, etc, need ferti-
lizer high in ammonia, and hence for
these we change the proportions. The
which we apply the last-named mixture
is lettuce, bat Of late we have varied
this, and make it 500 pounds of acid
phosphate, 800 pounds of dried blood
ard 400 pounds of muriate of potash.
This is the result of many years OF
experimenting in the growing of lettuce
in frames in winter We found that
cotton-seed meal encouraged the
growth Of the Gamping-off fungus in
the frames and we got a higher per
centage Of ammonia with the driec
blood.
The winter iattuca op is nov the
most important one grown by market
sardeneds in the South Atlantic states.
Most of our growers use cotton cloth
or their frames. and some have es-
taolished expensive steam plants and
run steam pipes through the frames.
While cloth is cheaper at the start
than glass, he glass Is, iii the lcns fun
cheaper, ard no steam heat is needed
if one has straw or burlaD mats to
cover the glass on extreme cold nights.
use mats made six feet square, made
of burlap with waste wool quilted be-
tween. Thase are Only used III the
most severe weather, and mats that
have been in use four winters look
st:ll as coed as new. BY their aid
keep frost out entirely, and 60 not
need the great expense Of steam. With
cloth the grower is at times obliged to
keep the cover on sevral days, and the
plants suffer IRON la,k of sunshine,
While the glass admits the sunshine,
ard they grow sturdy and strong.
have found tina. the best winter
lettuce demands a liberal amount CT
welI-rotted horse-stable manure to be
used in addition to the fertilizer, for
We have found that the best lettuce can
not be grown with manure alone nor
with fertilizer alone 1t is chiefly the
misunderstanding nature Of the rotted
manure that aids in the solution of the
fertilizers used.
We make our first sowing of lettuce
tha last of August, and then another
late in September, and a third sowing
is made in one of the frames after the
first crop of lettuce has been cut in
January. The August sowing can usu-
ally be headed in November without
the help of the frames. The second
sowing is set in the frames the last
of October, and is cut during the Win
ter. when plants from the same SOW
i1g that have been left in the open
ground are used for replaating. and
mart of one frame as we have said, is
used for sowing sesd. The plants
from this SOWING are for setting in thu
oren ground the first of March for the
last spring crop We formerly used
the Big Boston lettuce almost exclu-
sively. But while this is good for the
winter crop, il has the bad fault OF
boiling to seed al the first breath OF
warm weather in the spring; then, too,
we have found that for the winter crop
the California Cream Butter lettuce is
as good as the Big Boston, is less sub
ject to rot and having smaller out
side spread OF leaves can be planted
closed in the frames.
Last Spring we tried the Giant Crys-
Ia, Head. and the New Unriyaled, ard
will use these two fer the winter crop
this winter. For the spring crop or for
wintering outside for replanting the
frames there is no LETTUCE that can
surpass the Wonderful. 1t makes a
very large and solid head, and is pc
culiarly crisp, and being enc of the
hardest Of lettuces, it Is easy to winter
over outside even for the outside spring.
planting. Those who are growing let
tuce for winter should always have an
abundant water supply. for it is often
essential to :rrisaJe the beds in our
dry fall weather to get the seed to
terminate, and when glass is used it
is equally important TO have a supply
for watering the frames SO as not to
be dependent on the rainfall.
Another winter crcp in which we
take g. lively interest is the winter
radish crop. For this crop we use the
Rose Colored and tbs White Chinese.
This is heavily fortified with the
aforementioned mixture CT 81. and
four parts of acid Phosphate, cotton
seed meal and potash at rate OF 1000
pounds per acre, and the seed is sown
in rows one foot apart, in September,
on very mellow and warm soil. AS
soon as large enough to handle, they
are thinned to two inches in the rows,
and as the weather gets cold the rows
are we'll mulched with fresh strawy
manure We thus are able to pull good,
solid radishes all winter through til
the early raflishas soWn in the frames