Laurel outlook., 1950-04-12
Yard and Garden

By Leonard wager
Assistant Horticulturist

A Few Early Garden Reminders
Some of the vegetables benefit
ing from early sowing are peas.
radishes, lettuce, and onions. 1t is
better to delay sowing or planting
other vegetables until conditions
are more suitable. Such crops as
beans, sweet corn, vine crops, to-
matoes and related crops should
be sown or planted after danger
of frost is past. With some of
these crops it is possible to take a
chance on early sowing and occa-
sionally get by without frost dam
age, but extensive paintings are
not suggested.
1t is sometimes wise to add a
little radish seed to carrot seed
when sowing. Carrot seed germin-
ates very slowly, so the radishes
help to mark the row to facilitate
wedding and cultivation.
Cabbage will withstand some
frost. Paintings of early varieties
are suggested, and they may be
put out in early May for an early
summe crop. The Golden Acre
variety is excellent for this pur-
pose.
One must be on the watch for
cutworms. If they are noticed, a
poison bait composed of molasses,
bran, water and an ~arsenical poi
son is recommended. 1t is claimed
that busting a small garden with
8 per cent DOT will also control
these pests. If a bait is used,
spread it on a warm evening when
the cutworms come out to feed.
Treating of vegetable seeds with
seed protectants helps to improve
termination of certain vegetable
crops like peas. Red copper oxide,
and some trade products work very
well for this purpose. Much loss
from soil borne diseases can be
reduced in this way.
The small home gardener who
grows a few potatoes for home
use can get these off to an earlier
start by sprouting them a couple
of weeks before planting. Select
the small tubers for this purpose,
place them in a flat and cover
them with peat moss. Then keep
them moist and in a fairly warm
place for two or more weeks. 1t is
important that you S good certi-
fled seed to ensure freedom from
virus diseases and other important
diseases that lower potato yields.
Some practice soaking their gar
den seeds before planting. This
may be beneficial if the seed bed
is moist. This practice can be quite
harmful if the seed is placed in
dry soil.
Don't be too quick to take off
mulches from your perennial flow
er and strawberry beds. One of the
advantages of a mulch is that it
delays growth and protects plants
from late spring frosts. If the pro-
lection is removed too soon, that
advantage is lost. Remove the
from strawberries only after
the green leaves of the plants be- 4
gin to poke through the straw. 1t
desirable to keep the mulch be-
tween the rows as it helps to keep
the berries off the ground and thus
keeps them clean. Mulches also
help in summer to keep the soil 4
cooler, inhibit weed growth and
,etain moisture better.
Keep the edges of the gardens
lean. If old weeds and debris are J
to remain they may be
.larboring troublesome insects such
IS stalk borers. Stalk borers attack
many garden plants such as dahl
as, hollyhocks and sweet corn. /
1ood sanitation is the only prac-
.ical control for this pest.
A new variety of rhubarb that }
S becoming very popular is valen-
inc. 1t bears thick, juicy red stalks I
# a bright red color which is
,orne throughout the stalk, and 1T
s claimed to be less tart than old
r varieties. Try a few this spring. ,