Category: Horticulture

Among the most popular and best for planting around the house are Basswood, chestnut, American elm, horse chestnut, sugar maple, locust, honey locust, white pine, Norway spruce, Kentucky coffee tree, various magnolias, yellow wood, catalpa, golden chain, great laurel, red maple, white oak, pepperidge, sweet gum, whitewood, paper birch, yellow willow, mountain ash, maidenhair tree, […]

The home idea can also be accentuated by the use of vines. On brick and stone work, nothing is so satisfactory as Boston ivy. It requires no supports, since it clings to the bricks. Contrary to the popular belief, ivies which cling in this way do not produce dampness in the house ; they draw […]

Garlic is grown for the ” cloves ” or little bulbs which form a head at the top of the stems. These are inclosed in a white or rose-colored skin. These cloves are planted in early spring like onion sets. Good rich soil is essential. After the heads are well formed these are gathered with […]

Radish seed is sown in drills in the earliest spring and for successional plantings at intervals of a week or ten days. By allowing 4 to 6 feet of the drill to each member of the family, and making five or six sowings at intervals, there should be a sufficient supply until early summer. During […]

The ground cherry resembles the tomato in many respects, but bears its small, cherry-like fruit in a husk. The fruits are used for preserves and sauces. When once planted, the plants usually supply abundant seedlings for years after so that seed need not be bought more than once. The plant never becomes a pest, since […]

” About 12 years ago,” writes W. T. Suter of Pennsylvania,” I began to sit up and take notice that rhubarb would make a fair side dish for our general meal of market goods. The following spring’s inventory showed about 150 hills of worn-out and grass-grown rhubarb roots. These were divided and laboriously transplanted by […]

No home garden can be complete without herbs. These supply a variety of flavors which can be secured from no other plants. They are especially useful for seasoning soups, stews, salads, and dressings. They may be used, therefore, fresh or dried. If dried, they must be kept in glass so that their flavors may not […]

William F. Miller of Camden county, New jersey, says : ” Horse-radish is started by setting out roots as early in the spring as the ground will permit. In taking up horse-radish there are always several small roots radiating from the main or tap root, used largely for grating. These small roots are cut off […]

Kale is cultivated in practically the same way as cabbage until the plants are set in the field; then it is managed like turnip. The leaves are used for greens. As a rule, they are coarse flavored and stringy. They do not compare with spinach or Savoy cabbage as greens. Their market season is late […]

Kohlrabi is grown for its thickened stem, which looks like a turnip growing above ground. For early summer use it is preferred to early turnips in many sections. It should be sown like turnips where it has to mature, and should be used while young and tender. When it grows old it becomes tough and […]