Sutton and Sons - The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots, 16th Edition

S >> Sutton and Sons >> The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots, 16th Edition

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==Perpetual Spinach, or Spinach Beet== (=Beta Cicla=).--A valuable plant
for producing a regular supply of leaves which make an excellent Spinach
at a period of the year when the ordinary Summer Spinach is past its
prime. Although it is a true Beet, the roots are worthless, and there
should be liberal treatment to insure an abundant growth of leaves. Seed
may be sown from March to the end of July or beginning of August, in
rows one foot apart. Thin the plants to a distance of six or eight
inches in the rows. When the leaves are ready for gathering, they must
be removed, whether wanted or not, to promote continuous growth.

==Orache== is frequently used as a substitute for Spinach where the
ordinary variety fails. Seed should be sown during the spring months,
and as the plant frequently attains a height of five feet allow a
distance of at least three feet in each direction for development. Red
Orache is useful for growing in ornamental borders, but it is not so
suitable for culinary purposes as the white variety. The leaves only are
eaten.

==STACHYS TUBERIFERA==

This vegetable is commonly known as the Chinese Artichoke, and from the
peculiar form it is also called Spirals. A wide difference of opinion
exists as to its value, but in its favour the fact may be stated that
tubers are often exhibited in the finest collections of vegetables
staged for competition.

The time for planting is early spring, in rows eighteen inches apart,
allowing a distance of nine inches in the rows. The proper depth is four
inches. The roots are quite hardy and the crop gives no trouble. After
planting it is only necessary to keep the plot free from weeds.

The tubers do not mature until late in autumn, and as far as possible it
is advisable to lift them when they are wanted. Should it be necessary
for any reason to clear the ground, the Stachys must be covered with
soil. When exposed to light and air they soon become discoloured and are
then unfit for cooking. It is usual to boil them in the same manner as
Potatoes, but the finish must be by steam alone. An agreeable variation
consists in frying the boiled roots with butter until slightly brown,
when the dish is considered by many connoisseurs to be very delicious
and suitable for serving with poultry or joint.

==STRAWBERRY==

==Fragaria==

Probably the first thought will be that the Strawberry is a fruit, and
that the consideration of its treatment is out of place in a series of
articles on the culture of vegetables. The answer is that the plant
forms an essential feature in every good Kitchen Garden, and the general
routine of work has to be arranged with due regard to this crop, so that
we need make no apology for alluding to it here.

==When to Plant.==--The Strawberry is the most certain of all our hardy
fruits, and is much valued both for eating fresh as a summer luxury and
as a preserve for winter use. Although it deserves the best of
cultivation, its demands are few, for under the poorest system of
management it is often extremely prolific, and not unseldom the most
profitable crop in the garden. We have choice of seeds, divisions, and
runners in making a plantation of Strawberries. The universal way is the
best way, and it consists in planting rooted runners of named sorts in
an open sunny spot in well-prepared ground any time during spring or
autumn, when fresh and good runners are obtainable; but late planting is
undesirable, for when the plants have not time to establish themselves
before winter sets in many are lost. If, therefore, the planting cannot
be accomplished at the latest by the beginning of October, it is better
to defer the task until the spring. Plants put in at the latter time
should have the flower-stems removed, and will then yield a heavy crop
in the succeeding season.

==Treatment of Soil.==--The best soil for Strawberries is a rich, moist,
sandy loam, but a heavy soil will answer perfectly if it is well
prepared. The ground should be trenched and liberally enriched with
rotten manure placed between the top and bottom spits, where the plants
will reach it when they are most in need. In a new soil that is rather
stiff it will be advisable, when the trenching has been completed, to
put down the line and cut shallow trenches, which should be filled with
any rather fine kindly stuff that may be at hand, such as old hot-bed
soil, leaf-mould, or a mixture of material turned out of pots, with some
good decayed manure. In this the young plants will root freely and
quickly without becoming gross, for they should attain a certain degree
of vigour; but an excessive leaf growth may result in losses during
winter, and a small crop of fruit in the following year. Well-cultivated
soils need no such special preparation, but in any case a good digging
and a liberal manuring are absolutely necessary. And here it may be well
to state that after the plants have obtained a firm hold on the soil it
matters not how hard the ground becomes. The practice of some growers in
running a plough lightly between the rows either for a mulch, or to give
the plants the full benefit of rain, does not in the least degree upset
this conclusion, for this only creates a loose and friable surface, and
the operation is so managed that the soil near the roots remains
undisturbed. It may be accepted as a secret of successful Strawberry
culture that the bed should be firm and compact, and, in forcing, this
principle is so far recognised that the soil is positively rammed into
the pots.

==Method of Planting.==--If Strawberry plants come to hand somewhat dry,
unpack them quickly, and spread them in small lots in a cool shady
place, and sprinkle lightly with water to refresh them. A deluge of
water is not needed, and in fact will do harm, but enough to moisten
them will put them in a condition to begin growing as soon as they are
properly located. In planting, a little extra care in the disposition of
the roots in the soil will be well repaid, for plants merely thrust into
the ground cannot develop that robust root growth on which the future of
the crop largely depends. When preparing the positions it is an
excellent plan to build in the centre of each excavation a mound of
earth over which to spread the fibrous roots. Then return the soil and
firmly tread down. As a finish give each plant a copious watering. On no
account should the plant be deeply buried, but the crown should be left
just clear of the surface level. The distances in planting will have to
be determined by the relative vigour of the varieties and the nature of
the ground. As a rule the rows should be two feet apart, and the plants
eighteen inches in the rows, but some varieties require fully two and a
half feet between the rows. It is good practice to leave a three-feet
space between every two rows for necessary traffic. A modification of
the plan consists in planting a foot apart each way; and immediately the
first crop of fruit is off every alternate row is removed, and then
every alternate plant in each row is also taken out. This places the
remainder at two feet every way. The ground is then lightly forked and a
heavy coat of manure put on.

==The general management== comprises keeping down weeds, supplying water
abundantly in dry weather, especially when the berries are swelling, and
removing runners as fast as they appear, for to allow them to get ahead
is most injurious, and any serious neglect of this rule is likely to
ruin the plantation. The Strawberry plant makes no proper return on a
dry lumpy soil. Large plantations that cannot be watered must be aided
in the height of the season by covering the ground with any light
material which will prevent evaporation. As to obtaining runners, that
is easy enough, but there is a good way and a bad way. To allow them to
spread and root promiscuously is the bad way; it injures the plants,
makes the bed disorderly, and does not produce good runners. At the time
when runners begin to push, dig and manure the surrounding spaces, and
allow a certain number of runners to come out from each side of the
rows. As they approach maturity and are disposed to make roots, lay
tiles or stones upon the runners near to the young plants to favour the
process, but a neater way will be to peg them down. Or they may be fixed
by short pegs in small pots, filled with light rich earth and plunged in
the soil.

To keep the crop clean many plans are adopted, and the plant probably
takes its name from the old custom of covering the ground with straw for
the purpose. The cultivator must be left to his own devices, because of
the difficulty in many places of obtaining suitable material. But we
must warn the beginner in Strawberry culture against grass mowings as
more or less objectionable. They sometimes answer perfectly, and at
other times they encourage slugs and snails to spoil the crop, and if
partially rotted by wet weather communicate to the fruit a bad flavour.
There is a very simple means of feeding the crop and making a clean bed
for the fruit. It consists in putting on a good coat of long, strong
manure in February, and in doing this it is no great harm if the plants
are in some degree covered. They will soon push up and show themselves,
and by the time the fruit appears the straw will be washed clean, and
the crop being thus aided will be a great one, weather permitting. As
regards cutting off the leaves, we advise the removal of old large
leaves as soon as the crop is gathered. But this should be done with a
knife; to use a scythe amongst Strawberries is to ruin the plantation.
The object of removing old leaves is to admit light and air to the young
leaves, for on the free growth of these the formation of good crowns for
the next year's use depends. By encouraging the young leaves to grow,
root action is promoted, and the embryo buds are formed that will, in
the next summer, develop into Strawberries.

Some gardeners recommend the removal of the Strawberry plantation every
three years. It is a better plan to make a small plantation annually,
and at the same time destroy an old plantation that has served its turn.
But we are bound to say that Strawberry plantations, well made and well
kept, will often last and prove profitable for six or even more years.
But this will never be the case where there is a stint of manure or
water, or where the runners are allowed to run in their own way to make
a Strawberry mat and a jam of the wrong sort. The Strawberry fancier
does not wish to keep a plantation any great length of time, and he must
plant annually to taste the new sorts. This to many people is one of the
chief delights of the garden, and it certainly has its attractions.

==Forced Strawberries.==--The high price realised on the market for the
earliest supply of forced Strawberries is a sufficient proof that
society is prepared to pay handsomely for this refreshing luxury. As the
season advances and competition becomes keen the figure rapidly
declines, but 'Strawberries at a guinea an ounce' has more than once
appeared as a sensational head-line in the daily press.

The fruiting of Strawberries in pots is part of the annual routine of
nearly all large establishments, but even with the most perfect
appliances it must be admitted that to produce berries which win
appreciation for their size, colour, and flavour demands both skill and
patience, especially patience.

Strong well-rooted plants are essential to success, and no trouble
should be spared to secure them from robust free-fruiting stocks. The
earliest runners must either be layered on square pieces of mellow turf
or over thumb pots filled with a good rich compost. When the runners are
fairly rooted in the layers of turf or the thumb pots they should be
transferred to pots of the fruiting size. No. 32 is generally used for
the purpose. After the pots have been crocked some growers add a layer
of half-inch bones, which aid the plants and insure free drainage. The
most satisfactory soil is a rich fibrous loam, with the addition of
one-fourth of well-rotted manure and a small proportion of sand, and the
compost must be well firmed into the pots with the ramming stick.

The best place to keep the plants is an open airy situation, easily
accessible, where the pots can stand on a bed of ashes. On the approach
of frost they can be transferred to a cold frame, keeping them close to
the glass, or they may be plunged in ashes in some sheltered position.

When the time arrives for forcing, it is usual to commence by plunging
the pots in a bed of warm leaves or in a mild half-spent hot-bed.
Immediately the plants show sign of blooming they must be shifted to
warmer quarters. A shelf at the back of an early vinery or Peach-house,
quite near the glass, is a suitable position. The temperature at
starting should be 55 deg. Fahr., rising gradually to 60 deg. by the time the
leafage is thoroughly developed.

The appearance of the flower trusses is a critical period. Liquid manure
should then be given freely, and at the same time the plants must have
abundance of light and a warm dry atmosphere. The blossoms need to be
artificially fertilised with a camel's-hair pencil, choosing midday as
the best time for this operation.

When the crop has set it must be thinned to about nine berries on each
plant, and in due time the fruits should have the support of forked
sticks. Care will be necessary to prevent injury to the stalks, or the
flow of sap to the berries may be arrested. Syringe twice a day in dry
weather; and on the first show of colour discontinue the manure-water
and use pure soft water only. At this stage a night temperature of 65 deg.
must be maintained, giving all the air and light possible.

More failures in the pot culture of Strawberries are attributable to
neglect in watering than to any other cause. The soil must never be
allowed to become dry. Should the leaves once droop they seldom recover.
At least twice a day the plants will need attention, and it is important
that the water should be of the same temperature as the atmosphere.
Always leave the cans full in readiness for the next visit.

==Alpine Strawberries== are very largely grown in France, probably more so
than the large-fruited varieties which are popular in this country. The
best method is to sow the seeds in January, in pans filled with a light
rich compost and placed in a gentle heat. Prick out the plants on to a
bed of light soil in a frame, or on a nearly exhausted hot-bed, whence
they should be taken to the open ground. From these sowings fine fruits
may usually be gathered in the following September. Seeds may also be
sown outdoors in spring or in September in shallow drills, six inches
apart, on a bed of light soil. Transplant in due course for fruiting in
the succeeding Strawberry season. When a full crop has been gathered the
plants should be destroyed, a succession being kept up by sowing
annually. By slowly growing the plants from spring-sown seeds and
potting in autumn, it is not a difficult matter to have Alpines in fruit
under glass at Christmas.

==SUNFLOWER==

==Helianthus annuus==

Although the Sunflower is not utilised as food for man, the plant is
frequently grown in the Kitchen Garden, partly as an ornament, and also
for the production of seeds which are given to poultry.

As regards cultivation, sow in pans in April, and put on a gentle
hot-bed, or shut up close in a sunny frame. The plants will soon appear.
Give them light and air, and plant out when they are two or three inches
high. But Sunflowers can be grown without any kind of artificial aid. A
simple and effectual method is to make the spot intended for them very
rich, and dibble the seed an inch deep on the first day of May.

==TOMATO==

==Lycopersicum esculentum==

The taste for Tomatoes often begins with a little antipathy, but it is
soon acquired, and not infrequently develops into decided fondness for
the fruit both cooked and in its natural condition. As a necessary
article of food the call for it in this country is no longer limited to
a select circle of epicures, for the value of its refreshing,
appetising, and corrective properties is now widely recognised, and its
advance in public favour has been accelerated by the improved quality,
enhanced beauty, and increased variety effected by expert raisers.

The Tomato is a tender, but not a tropical plant, and it requires a
moderately high temperature, free access of air, and above all a full
flood of solar light to bring it to perfection. The necessary heat is
easily managed in any garden equipped with ordinary forcing appliances;
so also is a current of air in properly constructed buildings; but the
deficiency of light during the darker months renders the task of
producing fruit in midwinter less easy than at other seasons. By the
introduction of varieties possessing increased powers of crop-setting,
however, the difficulty of winter fruiting has been largely overcome, so
that, with efficient management, it is now possible to send Tomatoes to
table throughout the year.

Almost every imaginable glass structure can be employed for growing
Tomatoes, from the small suburban greenhouse to the vast span-roof,
hundreds of feet in length, devoted to their culture in the Channel
Islands. And it is not essential that the crop should be grown alone.
Potatoes, French Beans, Strawberries, and Vines may be forced in the
same building, provided there be no obstruction to light and air, nor
any interference with the conditions which experience has proved to be
imperative for sustaining the plants in vigorous health. For winter and
spring gathering there must be a service of hot-water pipes, but as the
season advances it is easy to ripen fruit in cool houses, and later on
plants outdoors will in favourable seasons yield an abundant return
without artificial protection of any kind.

==INDOOR CULTURE--Sowing and Transplanting.==--Seed may be sown at almost
any time of the year, but the most important months are January to
March, August and September. In gardens favourably situated in the South
of England and furnished with the most perfect appliances, seed is sown
in all these months, and in others also; but in smaller gardens sowings
are generally restricted to February and March. Whenever a start is made
sow thinly and about half an inch deep, in pans or boxes, and do not
allow the seedlings to remain in them for an unnecessary day.
Immediately two or at most four leaves are formed either prick off into
other pans or boxes, or transfer singly to thumb pots, and as a rule the
pots will be found preferable. The soil for these pans or pots should be
stored in the greenhouse a few days in advance of the transfer, so that
the compost may acquire the proper temperature and save the plants from
an untimely check. In small houses place the plants near the glass that
they may remain short in the joint, but on cold nights they must be
taken down to avoid injury from fluctuations of temperature. In large
houses, where the light is well diffused, there is no need to incur this
trouble, for the seedlings will do equally well on the ground level. In
due time shift into six-inch pots, from which they can go straight to
borders, or into a larger size if they are to be fruited in pots. About
fourteen weeks will be required to prepare the plants for borders in the
winter season, but a shorter period will suffice in spring and summer.
Plants from an August or September sowing will not mature fruit in much
less than six months, while a March sowing will yield a return in four
months or less. A great deal depends on the character of the season, and
more on skill and attention. Those who sow in January or February should
sow again a fortnight later, and onwards until the end of April,
according to requirements. For winter supplies a first sowing may be
made in June, in a cold frame, and prepared for transfer to fruiting
pots in September.

==Treatment of Soil.==--In the first instance there need be no anxiety
about soil. Any fairly good sandy loam will answer for the seed-pans,
and if too stiff it may be freely mixed with sharp sand or the sifted
sweepings from roads and gravel walks. A fibrous loam, cut from a rich
pasture, and laid up in a heap for twelve months, will, with an addition
of wood ashes and grit, make an ideal soil for pots or borders. As the
plants advance, leaf-mould or thoroughly decayed manure in moderate
quantity should be supplied; but, instead of incorporating it with the
loam in the usual way, it will be found advantageous to place the manure
immediately above the crocks, and the roots will find it at the right
time. But the quantity of manure must not be overdone, especially in the
earlier stages of growth, because excessive luxuriance neither promotes
fruitfulness nor conduces to early ripening. After the fruit has set, a
mulch of decayed manure will aid the plants in finishing a heavy crop.
Manure which is only partially fermented will not do at all. The ammonia
it liberates exerts so deadly a power that the plants are quickly
scorched.

In its demand for potash the Tomato closely resembles the Potato, and of
the two the former is the more exacting. So quickly does this crop
exhaust the soil, that in small houses it is usual to take out the earth
to a depth of fifteen or eighteen inches every second or third year, and
replace it with virgin loam. Others grow the Tomatoes alternately in the
bed and in pots, but this is only a partial remedy. Constant dressings
of farmyard or stable manure result in the formation of humus, which, as
it becomes sour, has to be sweetened by the solvent influence of lime.
The chief objection to the use of stable manure, however, even when well
rotted, is that it induces a free growth of foliage instead of promoting
an early development of fruit. The most enduring method is that which is
based on chemical knowledge of the constituents of the soil, and the
relation which the plant bears to it. One of the most successful growers
for the London market almost entirely avoids the use of stable manure,
and he is able, by applications of nitrate of potash, dissolved bones,
and the occasional use of lime, to grow splendid crops in the same
houses year after year.

All the conditions which answer for border work are applicable to pots,
and a limited number of plants brought forward in succession will supply
the requirements of a small household from early spring until near
Christmas. The pot system is conducive to free setting and to early
ripening, and for these reasons it is worth attention. The plants should
be kept short in the joint by frequent shifts until the twelve-inch pot
is reached, and this size will accommodate two cordons or one plant
having two branches, each of which will require a separate stake for its
support. Plunging the pots can be adopted to save labour in watering.

==Temperatures.==--No advantage is to be gained by attempting to force
Tomatoes in a higher temperature than is consistent with healthy
progress, although in winter there is great temptation in the direction
of overheating. Full time for development in moderate heat will bring
stout joints, and impart a vigorous constitution that materially aids
the plants in resisting the insidious attacks of disease. The waning
autumn and dull winter days are the most troublesome periods of
management, and it is remarkable that of two days equal in duration and
apparently in other conditions, the autumnal appears to be less
favourable than the spring day. But if, on the one hand, a high
temperature is injurious, a low temperature must be avoided; although
for a time it may not appear to be harmful. A temperature of 60 deg. or 65 deg.
suits the seed-pans, and after transfer to pots and the roots have
become established, the thermometer should not register less than 55 deg.
during the night. It may rise 10 deg. by means of fire heat in the daytime,
and during bursts of sunshine another 10 deg. or 15 deg. will be quite safe,
always assuming that the roots are not dry, and that the plants have
free ventilation.

==Watering.==--The judicious administration of water forms an important
feature in the culture of the Tomato. The plant is too succulent to
endure drought with impunity, and it is mere folly to toy with the
water-can. Saturate down to the roots, and then leave the plants alone
until more water is wanted. No hard and fast rule can be stated as to
frequency. It depends on the condition of the soil, the period of the
year, and the age of the plants. Borders and soil for pots should be
made sufficiently moist in advance, so that watering will not be
necessary immediately after the plants are transferred. The prevalent
opinion that excessive watering generates disease is not confirmed by
our experience. Of course the watering should not be excessive for many
reasons, but the diseases which are often attributed to over-watering
are the result of atmospheric mismanagement.

==General Treatment.==--Authorities are not agreed as to whether branched
plants or simple cordons yield the better results. In our judgment the
single stem deserves preference, and it is now more extensively grown
than any other form, although plants having two branches are almost
equally popular. Certainly the cordon can be managed with extreme ease;
it is admittedly the earliest producer, and there is a general consensus
of opinion that the fruit it produces is unsurpassed in size and
quality. The doubtful point is quantity, but even here the difference,
if any, is too trifling to be worth the consideration of private
growers. Cordons are formed by removing the laterals as fast as they
appear, and when the fruit has set, or the requisite height is attained,
the top is also pinched out.