Evening star., 1917-05-24
LOCAL GARDEN CROPS
SHOW SLIGHT HARVEST
Radishes Large Enough to Eat and
Lettuce Soon Will Be-Advice
by Mr.. Conolly.

Nearly all crops in Washington's
vegetable gardens are growing fast, and
many will begin this week to produce
something which can be eaten in the
home." according to H. NJ. Conolly. ex-
pert adviser on gardens from the De-
partment of Agriculture.
"Radishes are large enough to eat aad
lettuce soon will be ready to thin out
for eating. especially the leaf lettuce
type. in a good many gardens. These
vegetables are only catch crops. for it
Is the intention to produce a main crop
like tomatoes or beans in the space they
now occupy"
Mr.. Conolly also gave advice today to
amateur gardeners regarding the cur
rent weeks work on their tracts. as
follows:
Beet plants are getting large now, and
IL too thick. they should be thinned
out, and the plants pulled up can be
transplanted to other rows. Many per-
sons leave the beet plants quite thick
in the row, and about the time the
roots begin to enlarge the plants are
thinned out for green's. The latter plan
does not allow space enough for making
large beets early. but is a good method
Beet plants should stand about three
inches apart for good sized beets.
Carrots should also be thinned so that
the plants are about two inches apart.
In many gardens string beans have been
planted quite thick in order to insure
la good stand. When these beans are
about two inches high they should be
thinned SO the plants stand about three
to five inches apart. Bush lima beans
should be six to eight irohes apart in
the row.
1t is getting very warm now, and the
soil in many gardens is becoming very
dry. If the soil is stirred frequently a
surface mulch will be maintained and
the evaporation of the moisture will be
lessened. A deep mellow soil will hold
moisture over a long period of dry
weather. A shallow seed bed. with the
soil lumpy and lacking vegetable mat
ter, drys out readily. 1t is good plan
where supply of water is available
and hose can be had to water the
garden. Water the rows where seed has
recently been sown. This watering will
hasten termination. When watering the
garden be sure the earth is moistened
to a depth of several inches. One wa
tering week where the earth Is mois-
tened down several inches is more
valuable to plant growth than where
the garden is watered every evening
and only light sprinkling given. 1t is
usually best to water the garden in the
evening, and the next day go over the
ground with rake to break the crust
formed by the baking of the soil.
heie seie d Soou many potdtoeS III
the gardens of the District. Many of
these plants are several inches high,
and it would be wise move to spray
them with arsenate of lead. Spraying
now would lessen the damage which
the potato bugs will do when they put
in an appearance now in a week or so.
Arsenate of lead is poison which
comes either as powder or a paste.
If the paste is used a quarter table
spoonful to a quart of water will make
IA proper solution. If powder is used
one-eighth of a tablespoonful should
be used. The powder may be mixed with
|air-slaked lime or road dust and busted
on the plants. Spraying is the better
method where spray pump can be Sc
cured.