176 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Including herbs, there are about seventy different species of 

 vegetable seeds planted in the farms and gardens of the United 

 States, and some of those species are very closely allied, as the 

 cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels-sprouts, broccoli, collards, kale, 

 kohl-rabi, and turnip, of the same family — almost of the same 

 genus. Of these seventy species, there are about four hundred 

 varieties found in the catalogues of the seedsmen of this country, 

 if we except the potato, of which, at the present time, inside and 

 outside of catalogues, the varieties are almost infinite. 



In addition to these varieties, sub-varieties, or what are known 

 among seedsmen as "strains," are found more or less catalogued, 

 while the uncatalogued "strains" are countless, every village in 

 the land having something of its own ; something a little earlier or 

 a little later ; a little larger ; a little sweeter ; a little more prolific ; 

 a little better flavored ; a little more dwarf in its habit, or differing 

 in some way from the variety found in the catalogues of seedsmen. 

 When these differences are found to be so strongly marked as to 

 make them real acquisitions, it becomes the legitimate business of 

 the intelligent and enterprising seedsman to lift them out of their 

 local obscurity and honor them with a place in his catalogue as 

 new varieties. 



Of the severity species of vegetables catalogued, less than 

 twenty enter into the general consumption of the people, the 

 remainder being mostly confined to the inhabitants of the large 

 cities, and but rarely wandering outside of tlie grounds of the 

 market gardener. 



Where the seed sold by American seedsmen is grown is for the 

 most part a question of cost apd of climatic condition. Of the 

 seventy species of vegetable seed, more or less of over half the 

 varieties are imported ; of mangel-wurzel, about all ; ruta-baga 

 about nine-tenths ; spinach, about nine-tenths ; cauliflower, nearly 

 all; lettuce, about half; carrot, about half; egg-plant, about half; 

 pai'snip, about one-third ; radish, about all, with the exception of 

 Messrs. Landreth & Son, who practise raising their own. It is 

 the general belief of American seedsmen that foreign-grown 

 radish seed is larger and better than home-grown. Parsley seed is 

 largely imported ; Brussels-sprouts, broccoli, chiccory, endive, 

 kohlrabi, and Swiss chard are almost wholly imported, as is 

 salsify to a large extent. 



