Weekly journal-miner., 1920-05-26
SEARCHED FOR GARDEN SEEDS
 ID CHEAT PROF|TEER

] small paintings are to be made late
 in the season select the very carly
 maturing varieties, not the long sea-
 son kinds usually used for main
 crop. The ripened spuds may be
 smaller but they will be ready for
 use much sooner
 For small home garden that must be planted late, radishes and lettuc
 of the forcing varieties may be grow
 ill small beds inclosed by a frame
 of old boards and covered with thin
 cloth. This covering protects from
 hot sun and wind and many years
 has given us successive crops of
 tender lettuce and crisp radishcs that would have been impossible in beds open to the full summer heat
 My friend, the scientific farmer,
 gets a succession of sweet corn on a
 small piece of land by planting the
 quickest maturing kinds-often just 1 our native Arizona Indian corn
 every two or three weeks and cutting
 out the older stalks as soon as the corn is ready to eat-so giving room
 to younger plants.
 l Nearly all kinds of the smaller 1 squashes may be planted up to the middle of June, especially the Ford . hook or banana type. These little 1 squashes are delicious, cooked as ] soon as they are as big as an egg and when twice that size are as good as egg plant if prepared in the same
 way They occupy small space and | ripen great number of squashes that
 will keep till late spring if stored in a dry space.
 Good squashes take the place of potatoes and here at Orchard Ranch we are eating squashes kept over the winter and not minding if spuds go to fifty cents each. We have carrots and parsnips still in the cellar, too, and salsify, or Vegetable Oyster, that most delicious root vegetable so very little known. A year ago one of our neighbors grew a fine lot of this plant and could not sell it at all in the
 local market-th women didn't
 know now to cook it and the men folks couldn't believe 1t was equal to their beloved potatoes. It grows like coarse grass with long, thick root like small parsnip and will stand much hardship and even stay in the ground all winter.
 was genuinely amused at the neighbor women who were afraid to even try to cook it. It needs only to be scraped till the brown skin is off sliced thinly-or even left whole and cooked till tender in salted boil ing water. Then it is ready to be used in every way one could pota- toes. mashed fried, creamed, or made into imitation oysters-each way specially delicious.
 We had an interesting experience last year with two little-known var icties of cucumbers, the Lemon and the Italian, seeds of which may be had from most seedmen. The Lem on is a small round cucumber very like all orange in shape and color It bears tremendously and grows vigorously and the young cucumbers arc the most delicious and crisp that I have ever tasted. When ripe it has much tine flavor and smell of mel- on and the flesh is used for sweet pickles and preserves. One plant will bear enough for a family and could be grown in large box
 The Italian cucumber also grows and sets many fruits will de- yelop in slender cucumbers up to a yard long. When half grown or less hey are of a pronounced but deli ;ate cucumber flavor and are fine for licing or salads. The ripened fruit resembles large banana musk mel ,n with a rich fragrance and flavor md may be used for pfckling and preserving.
 We have at one time or another ricd cut nearly all the garden plants designed to take the place of fruit md have found them all good enough O deserve a place in the garden when ruit is scarce. The best known arc he group of small melons called gar len peach, garden lemon, and sweet itron. They all grow like cucum- ,ers ur musk melons, bear many mall fruits with firm flesh and pleas mt, if not very pronounced flavor. md can be used in many ways-in auce pies, preserves, sweet pickles, nd buffers resembling fruit buffers few vines of each are really worth lanting.
 The big citron melons and pie mel II which resemble water melon re particularly desirable and produc-