PARAGONS OF PERFECTION AMONG MODERN 

 FLOWERS AND VEGETABLE SEEDS 



ADOLPH KRUHM 



Editor's Note: The author of this article, as is well known to regular readers of The Garden Magazine during the ■past few 

 years, has made a special study of type in flower and vegetable seeds, and has conducted extensive experiments, so that he writes 

 with the authority of careful study and experience. Though there may be slight differences of opinion on minor points, 

 the conclusions of one who has had opportunity and occasion to conduct comprehensive trials and comparative tests in various 

 states cannot fail to be invaluable to others who are looking for modern standards of perfection. 



I. BETTER VEGETABLES. AND WHY 



dRST of all let me emphasize that better vegetables 

 need not be new ones ! New uses of standard vege- 

 tables count for much, as do better strains which 

 often suggest additional uses. As a matter of fact, 

 new sorts or types are often an untried quantity, and it is a 

 matter of record that less than 10 per cent, of all "novelties" 

 ever become standbys of economic importance. Again, it 

 may take years before hidden qualities are discovered, as 

 happened in the case of Chinese cabbage (Petsai) which 

 has been well known for twenty years, yet only during the 

 past decade have we learned how to grow it and discovered 

 its excellence. 



Twenty years ago, Black Valentine was the principal 

 green podded bush-bean on the market. Every trucker 

 grew it because it was hardy, blight-resistant, prolific, and 

 stood up well on the market bench since it had lots of fibre 

 in the pods. My! but it's a tough one, made up entirely of 

 little wire ropes! Nevertheless, the public bought it because 

 it looked for strings in stringbeans. Then came Keeney's 

 evolution of Stringless Green Podded which revolutionized 

 bean growing. Taking the string out of the Long Yellow 

 Six Weeks gave us Bountiful — a masterpiece. Further am- 

 bitions led to the production of better-looking stringless 

 beans, until in a pedigreed sort like Sure Crop Wax, we have 

 a combination of all the qualities that made Black Valentine 

 passable, plus appearance, flavor, stringless qualities and 



cooking characteristics that make it difficult indeed to 

 suggest a line of progress that would produce still better 

 kinds or types. 



Years of adherence to certain habits or lines of thought 

 make it exceedingly difficult for most of us to look beyond 

 established standards. Thus it will almost sound sacrilegious 

 to many Garden Magazine readers when I say that good 

 Old Homestead or Kentucky Wonder is not up to the standard 

 of Egg Flarbor Pole, relatively a newcomer among green 

 saddlebacked climbing beans. Yet Egg Harbor Pole is 

 far superior to Old Homestead in appearance, and is so 

 much more attractive when served that Old Homestead 

 must be relegated to the "coarse and inferior" group. 



Eighteen years ago it was my good fortune to handle the 

 first few bushels of Golden Bantam sweet corn ever sent out. 

 In just ten years, this sweetest of all varieties conquered the 

 market, and the breeders accordingly got busy in a search 

 after Golden Bantam quality in larger quantities. This led 

 to the introduction of nearly a half-score other yellow corns 

 and all these 1 have tested repeatedly, in different sections 

 and grown on different soils. Only one — Golden Evergreen — 

 really measures up to Golden Bantam in quality while also 

 surpassing it in size. 



Red cobs are taken as an indication of quality in sweet 

 corn and when the red cobs transmit the color to the kernels 

 to such a degree that the dried kernels show it plainly, we 



FROM SEED TO MATURE FRUIT IN NINETY-TWO DAYS 



Is the record of Early Knight whose delicious fruit 

 is longer than a Rocky Ford, though similar 



USE THE COCOZELLE BUSH SQUASH WHEN IT IS SMALL 



Though they attain two feet in length and are always delicate 

 in flavor they are at their best when the size of a cucumber 



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