Your Seed Order and the Tangle of Varieties 



GETTING THE BEST OUT OF THE CATALOGUES— AN EVER PRESENT PROBLEM CONSIDERED IN A PRACTICAL 



AND REASONABLE MANNER 



THE gardener, particularly the begin- 

 ner, will find a practical selection 

 of varieties a serious problem. 

 Besides, there is that other big 

 problem, which confronts the man who is 

 trying to make out a list of vegetable seeds 

 for his garden, and that is the enormous 

 duplication of varieties. Yet, who is to be 

 the judge as to whether or not a variety is 

 new or not? To put out an old variety under 

 a new name often benefits the seedsman who 

 does it. But in the end, it proves poor business 

 for the gardening public as well as the seed 

 trade in general. Some form of standardiza- 

 tion of varieties we should have, and will 

 have eventually, and it will be a tremendous 

 help to the whole garden movement. 



TN THE meantime what is the individual 

 -*- planter going to do about making an 

 intelligent selection of varieties? Out of the 

 scores of names of tomatoes, or lettuce, or 

 sweet corn, which he will find in a half dozen 

 catalogues, how shall he tell what to choose? 

 Here is one way to go about it: Try to think 

 of vegetables as being of certain types, 

 rather than representing a lot of varieties. 

 When that point is reached you will have the 

 key to the correct analysis of the whole 

 situation. Then, when reading descriptions, 

 study the essential facts in connection with 

 any vegetable of new or old type that in- 

 terests you. After reading a few, you will 

 soon be able to separate the chaff from the 

 wheat, to make up your mind which state- 

 ments are made for effect and which are 

 dictated by the real reason why such and 

 such a type deserves your consideration. 



Now, just what is meant by "types of 

 vegetables"? The term "type," as used here, 

 stands for a classification of Vegetables 

 according to their form and pronounced 

 difference in growth or appearance. Thus, all 

 " root crops," like carrots, beets, radishes, etc., 

 should be looked upon as being divided into 

 three distinct types: the round, the half long, 

 and the long. Nearly all vegetables of which 

 we eat the green leaves, like cabbage, lettuce, 

 etc., are of several distinct types, according 

 to their form and habit of growth. Some 

 cabbages have pointed heads ; others round 



heads, still others flat heads. As a rule, all 

 vegetables of the same type are generally 

 endowed with the same quality. Therefore, 

 first picking out the types that will best 

 serve your needs, will greatly simplify the 

 choice of varieties, which term stands for the 

 individual members of one type. 



Short type of carrot, early maturing and adapted to shall- 

 ower soils 



Where economy of space is important the bush bean is the 

 indicated type. It bears its crop compactly 



TN SOME instances, even the selection 

 of the proper type for one's needs is 

 not an easy matter. Take peas, for instance, 

 among which we must recognize six types: 

 the dwarf and the tall growing, the smooth- 

 seeded and the wrinkled-seeded, the early 

 maturing and the late. Which do you want? 

 That is the one question each gardener must 

 answer for himself in connection with every 

 kind of vegetable. To help him answer it 

 correctly, so that the resulting garden will 

 prove a source of greatest satisfaction, is the 

 purpose of the following paragraphs. 



Beans. — There are two broad divisions, 

 namely, the dwarf or bush type and the tall 

 or pole type. There are three sub-types of 

 bush beans — the green-podded, the wax- 

 podded, and the large-seeded used as shell 

 beans only. Among the green-podded and 

 wax-podded we find a variation in the type of 

 pods, some being flat, others round. The 

 round-podded beans are more brittle, fleshier 

 and contain more water, hence wilt easil} : . 

 The flat-podded sorts are generally more 

 prolific, contain more fibre, but look better 

 on the market table. Since all modern beans 

 are stringiess, there is no excuse for growing 

 "stringy beans" in any home garden. Bounti- 

 ful (flat) and Stringiess Greenpod) round), 

 Rust Proof Golden Wax (flat) and Round 

 Podded Kidney Wax, are dependable varieties 

 of their types. 



Among the shell beans, Dwarf Horti- 

 cultural, Red Kidney and White Marrow- 

 fat are the most productive. Then there 

 are the bush limas of which Burpee's Bush 



197 



Lima is the most popular, white Fordhook 

 Bush Lima is of choicest quality. 



There are four broad types of pole 

 beans: the green-podded (McCaslan, Ken- 

 tucky Wonder); the wax-podded (Golden 

 Cluster); the large seeded (Horticultural); 

 and the limas. Of the latter, use Early 

 Leviathan for planting in northern climates, 

 and King of the Garden for biggest yields, 

 where long seasons reign. 



Beets. — Flat turnip-shaped, round, half 

 long, and long types divide beets into early, 

 midseason, and late varieties. The best 

 known flat turnip-shaped beet is Crosby's 

 Egyptian. The choicest round beet is Detroit 

 Dark Red, which is also quite early. Model 

 Red Globe is of the round, midseason type. 

 The usefulness of the half long type is quite 

 limited, while the long type (Long Smooth 

 Blood) is by far the best for winter storage. 

 However, the growing of long beets should 

 not be attempted in heavy clay or on stony 

 ground, since that will cause poor size and 

 shape of the product. 



Cabbage. — For home garden purposes, 

 three types of cabbage deserve consideration, 

 namely, the early pointed headed, the round 

 cabbages, and the Savoy. The early pointed- 

 head type, Early Jersey Wakefield or Charles- 

 town Wakefield, are the standards for all 

 sections. Of the early round-headed sorts, 

 Copenhagen Market is by far the most pro- 

 ductive. For summer use, consider the flat, 

 medium-sized type, slow to break to seed, 

 as represented by All-Season and Succession. 

 For storing for winter, choose between the 

 flat-headed (Flat Dutch, Surehead) and the 

 round-headed (Danish Ball-Head) types. 

 While the latter, where it develops perfectly, 

 makes the harder head of the two, the flat 

 type is adapted to a greater range of soil and 

 climate. Try out both, unless you know from 

 experience which is the better for your par- 

 ticular section. The Savoy type, with dark 

 green, crinkled leaves, is of particularly fine 

 flavor, and every home garden should pro- 



Long type of carrot which takes a longer time to grow and 

 needs a deep soil 



