Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-04-13
Suggestions For
Vegetable Growers


ach. peas, potatoes, asparagus, etc.,
should be completed as o as possible.
The planting of those crops which are
easily injured by frost will need to be
done at the earliest moment when
able danger of frost is past. Early
string beans and sweet corn are planted
during the last part Of April all over
the state. The growers realize that
they are taking a chance; however, 1t
pays to do so. especially where machin-
cry Is available for the planting.
SWEET CORN
This crop is being planted more and
more IN the row system rather than in
the hill because the gro wers realize that
by this method they a get a much
better yield with very little more work.
At planting time about 800 pounds Of
fertilizer per acre is sown along the rows
which are three to four feet apart. The
seeds are DIR pped by machine about
seven inches apart; then, when the corn
is still very small the extra stalks are
chopped out so that there is an average
of one stalk every twelve inches for
early sweet corn which makes a small
stalk. However. for big gro wing vari-
cites, like Stowell's Evergreen, n
stalk every fourteen inches is plenty.
This row system is especially recon-
mended for the nome garden and for
commercial plantings where corn
planters are available.
Where planting is 10 be done by
hand, the rows are practically the same
distance apart, but four or five kernels
of corn seed are put in hills about three
and a half feet apart in the rows. The
planting operation consists in marking
out the rows usually both ways OF the
field so that cultivation will be possible
cross wise. A handful of fertilizer almost
as large as a baseball is spread in the
row in a space a foot square where the
hill is to be. This fertilizer Is covered
with about three inches of soil with a
hoe, the back of which is pressed down
In the middle of the hill to make a
smooth solid place for the seed. The
seed are dropped into this hoe print
and covered with about an inch and a
quarter of soil. When the soil becomes
hot and dry, more covering over of the
seed will be necessary. When the plants
are about six inches high, the hills
should be thinned out so that only three
stalks remain in a hill.
BEAN PLANTING
String beans (green) and wax beans
are planted about corn planting time
in rows from two and q half to three
feet apart. About 400 pounds of fer
tiIizer is used per acre, but care is taken
to apply it so that it does not come in
contact with the seed. Most farmers
plant bean seed too thickly. Six to
eight seeds per running foot are plenty.
Fordhook bush lima bt ans may be
planted ten days earlier than lima beans
because the seed can stand the cold
weather soil a little better than pole
lima bear seed can. However, eve
bush limas should not be planted be-
fore May north of Burlington Coun-
ty. Fertilizer and sometimes compost
ed manure are sown along in rows
which are a few inches deep and three
feet apart; then these are slightly ridged
up. Many of the most successful grow
ers in Gloucester County believe that
it pays to plant the seed into the top
of this broad, low ridge by sticking
each bean into the soil with the eye
down, an inch deep and fourteen inches
apart. However, many growers, es-
pecially in the home garden, prefer to
plant the seeds about six inches apart
in the row.
Pole lima beans are very apt to rot
before they terminate, especially If the
soil is not warmed up or there is a cold
storm, or if fertilizer is too close to the
seed. Therefore, planting should be
delayed until along in May. Rows
four feet apart are marked out several
inches deep and as composted manure
is generally used in the row it is put
into the rows before the poles are hauled
onto the ground; then in the bottom OF
the row, about four feet apart, a hole
about six inches deep is made with a
crowbar. The bean poles are stood in
these and the burrows are closed with
a one-horse pillow and hills are shaped
up around each pole. Thus, the poles
are easily set about a foot deep with
very little work. About eight lima
bean seeds are placed in a circle around
the pole and about three inches from
it. The seed is covered with about one
and a quarter inches of soil.
BEET CULTURE
Gucoaaa in the OrowinO Of hppts do