Evening star., 1949-04-10

. the standard remedy for the spiltS
Cabbage plants require four weeks
20 reach trsnsplanttng size and
a month or more 10 reach ma
turity.
Garden beets are not easy ones 10
grow in a clay soil. Lime the SOL
and SOW the seed in furrow filed
with compost. Space the seed .
inches apart and cover with =
inch OF compost o. sand. Pull
every other young beet when the
size OF hickory nut and cook with
the tops. Beets need lots Of plant
food Maturity time Is so days,
Detroit Dark Red and Early Won
der are popular varieties. They
should be planted by the middle
of April. A short row Is preferred
10 avoid having roots over-mature.
woody and Of poor quality. Sow a
row every two weeks until the
middle Of May. For a fall crop.
seed late in August For winter
storage. grow Winter Keeper.
Most gardeners plant few onion
sets. The resulting plants may be
eaten as greens. while any not
used may be left TO develop bulbs
The bulbs from sets" are usually
the hard-keeping varieties, while
those from plants are OF the soft
or slicing type Onions do best
in a well enriched soil that has
been lined. Buy small sets. those
over u inch in diameter usually
form seed head rather than a
bulb. The smaller sets may appear
a poor buy but they reproduce
the best bulbs. Plant the sets at
least 2 inches apart in rows IS
inches apart. Keep well cultivated
Tomatoes are a warm weather
crop and 1t seldom pays TO set out
plants before the first OF May
unless the gardener is willing to
protect them on cold nights. How
ever. they are one of the main
crops and every gardener likes
to plant them early so as to begin
harvesting fruit by the 4th OF
July.
1t Is better to buy q few large
plants for the early harvest rather
than to buy plants of Bounty or
Bonny Best which mature few
days earlier than the main-crop
varieties named. Most Of the very
early varieties have light foliage
and their fruit is apt to sunburn.
Most local gardeners prefer to
grow Marglobe. Rutgers or Pan
America. Southland. a newcomer.
has resistance to foliage disease
also. plus some immunity to the
late blight.
Tomato plants should be planted
in we'll prepared holes spaced 2
feet apart for staked tomatoes
and feet apart where the plants
are allowed to spread on the
ground. The rows for staked
tomatoes are usually three feet
apart, six feet for unstaked
tomatoes.
Staked tomatoes give a greater
yield per square foot OF space than
those which spread on the ground
and the quality of the fruit is
usually better. Unstaked toma-
toes seem to be an especial de-
licacy Of the turtles. Spraying is
needed only for the control OF the
late blight. 1t should be started
when the Plant Disease Survey
issues warning that this disease
has reached here. Several pre-
pared sprays and dust for the con-
troll of the late blight are availa-
Bile locally.
Snap beans. Oh as we used to
call them, string beans. are widely
grown and are a productive crop
for the home gardener. The seed.
sown in early May "a few sow In
late .April should be spaced 4
inches apart in rows "a to 80
inches apart. Cover the seed to a
depth of a half inch for early
paintings, an inch for later ones.
Since the modern varieties pro-
duce their crop within a relatively
short period, several paintings.
usually at 2-week intervals, will
be needed to keep the table sup
piled. The better varieties, such
as Tendergreen. Giant Stringless
Greenpod, Pencil-pod black wax,
etc, mature in about so days.
Pole beans take longer t65 days.
to reach maturity but produce
over a longer period.
Beans do best In a well enriched
soil with considerable moisture.
The soil should be kept we'll cul-
tivated and busting the plants
with rotenone is needed to control
the Mexican bean beetle.