Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-12-02

pulp adhering. and they appear above
ground with mushroom-like prompt
ness.
His muskmelon seed, he ties up in
a bag of coarse burlap. and covers
this loosely with rich soil. allo wing
the seeds to sprout before planting
them.
He also preserves his cucumber
seeds in the cucumber, which he
coats carefully with parafine as Don
as pulled from the vine.
When he irrigates his potatoes land
he raises two crops on the same land
each year, he waters long and deep
.ly; and his potatoes never grow near
enough to the surface to get sun.
burned, as do those of the inexperi.
enced gardeners who lightly sprinkle
the surface OF their potato patch
as scantily and as often as they sprin.
kle their lettuce beds.
There Is no question as to the S
periority in size and quality Of the
deep-grOwn potato over those grown
close to the surface.
AAA0 O00CSOCU II oOdhCu III WdlCI
for at least forty-eight hours before
planting. He sets them to soak in
warm water and during the daytime
keeps the vessel containing them as
much in the sunshine as possible.
l have never yet seen him throw
away a young plant Of any description.
He merely t~ransplants them. and I co
not believe it an ~exaggeration to say
that ~nine-tenths of the plants sur
vive and flourish, for he is surely a
past master in the art-for 1t Is an
art-of transplanting.
For example, when his lettuce
plants grow to about the height of
two inches, he thins out the bed and
clipping OF about an inch OF the root
tip Of each plant he pulls up, he re-
plants in long rows, and the trans
| planted lettuce makes a more rapid
and larger growth than the plants
which he has left undisturbed.
The replanted, or rather trans
planted lettuce with It's clipped roots,
grows to such heads that
at a short distance they remind n
Of thrifty cabbage rows.
He never uproots the head lettuce
he markets. Instead he leaves the
stalks in the ground and a]ssiduously
waters and %cultivates them where.
upon they produce another head in
about half the time required for the
FIRST head to reach a marketable size.
His beet plants are transplanted
with clipped roots in precisely the
same az the lettuce.
His onions, which are invariably
started from the seed Che refuses to
use sets), are transplanted after hav-
ing their roots clipped and grow to be
larger in circumference than the or.
binary saucer.
He also beheads his cabbage, leav.
ing the stalk to grow. He cuts slight
hicks or gashes in the growing stalk.
which watered and tended produces
a second growth that are in appear
ance fair limitations of brussels
sprouts and quite az good to eat.
His faith In the forcing powers of
YARN water is sublime. I nave known
him to heat water for his radishes
In the chill days of spring. testing
its temperature as carefully as II pre-
pairing a baby's bath.
He is equally expert in roofing rose
cuttings. This he does during the en-
tire year. but he considers August
the most suspicious month, though I
doubt if he could give a reason for
thinking so.
He plants his cuttings by thrusting
his spade once deep in the soil. He
then slips the cutting in the opening.
draws out the spade, presses the
earth down firmly and the cutting IL
planted.