| [3] | See Appendix, [Table III], for distance these plants should stand apart. |
X
STAKING AND TYING
Some of our vegetable crops need supports of some kind to obtain best results from them. Peas, and beans of some varieties, and tomatoes are of this nature.
The dwarf peas, which need no supports, are the best for the small garden, but if the taller kinds, which are more productive, are grown it is necessary to supply them with something on which to climb. Twiggy brush-wood is the best for the purpose, as the pea tendrils attach themselves readily to this. The bases of the branches should be sharpened with a knife and then stuck firmly into the ground on either side of the row when the peas are a few inches high. Chicken netting stretched along the row and supported on strong stakes is also suitable.
Pole beans climb by means of twining, and poles from six to eight feet high and about two inches in diameter are usually supplied for them. These poles are inserted in the ground by first making a hole with a crowbar. Another method of supporting beans is by means of V-shaped frames about six feet high and three feet wide at the bottom. They can be made of light lumber, such as three by one or two by two inch rough pine. These are spaced from eight to ten feet apart and connected by thin strips of lumber along the top and along the bases. Strings are fastened on one of the base strips, carried over the top and fastened to the base strip on the other side. These strings should be from six to nine inches apart. The beans are planted so that there is one bean-plant to each string.
Tomatoes may be left to grow naturally, in which case they sprawl over the ground and much fruit is spoiled by coming in contact with the earth, or they may be staked. If grown to a single stem each plant will need a stout stake to which it may be attached by tying with pieces of cloth or tape about an inch wide. If twine were used it would probably cut into and injure the soft stems. Another way of supporting tomatoes is to allow all the shoots to grow at will, but to prevent them from falling on the ground by placing around each plant three or four stakes connected with barrel hoops or with twine.
XI
INSECT ENEMIES
To be successful in controlling insect pests, preventive or remedial measures must be applied early. If spraying is deferred until insects infest the plants in large numbers, great difficulty is experienced in getting rid of them. It is emphatically much easier to kill a few insects than a whole host. If they are once allowed to obtain the upper hand, the crop will be so much injured that it frequently will not pay to attempt to save it.
The important point that must be grasped in connection with the control of insect pests is that they may, from the point of view of the gardener, be divided into two groups—“biting” insects and “sucking” insects.
The biting insects eat the leaves, roots, or stems of the plants attacked, and their presence is usually obvious even to a casual observer.