34 PETER HENDERSON & CO.— VEGETABLE SEED CATALOGUE. 



Seed So will 



The following article by our Mr. Peter Henderson originally appeared in the American Agriculturist, some 

 three years ago, and the great value of its practical suggestions has since been freely acknowledged by hun- 

 dreds of experienced cultivators. This was particularly the case at the meeting of the Nurserymen's, Flor- 

 ists' and Seedsmen's National Association, held at Cleveland, O., in June of last year, when Mr. Henderson 

 again discussed the subject in more extended detail - 



" For some years past I have, in writing on gardening matters, 

 insisted upon the great importance of ' firming ' the soil over 

 the seeds after sowing, especially at seasons when the soil is 

 dry, or likely to become so. I know of no operation of more 

 importance in either the farm or the garden, and I trust that 

 what I am about to say will be read and remembered by every 

 one not yet aware of the vast importance of the practice. I say 

 ' vast importance,' for the loss to the agricultural and horticul- 

 tural community from the practice of loosely sowing seeds in 

 hot and dry soils is of a magnitude which few will believe 

 until they have witnessed it; and it is a loss all the more to be 

 regretted, when we know that by ' firming ' the soil around 

 the seed there is in most cases a certain preventive. Some two 

 years ago I related how our crop of nearly two acres of celery 

 piaats was partially lost by neglecting to tread in the seeds, 

 the dry, heated air of May shriveling them and destroying their 

 vitality. Profiting by that lesson I last season sowed two acres 

 of celery seed (in quantity about 20 lbs.), the rows being about 

 nine inches apart — ' the marker ' deepening the line some two 

 or three inches. After the man who sowed the seed there fol- 

 lowed another, who, with the ball of the right foot, pressed 

 down with his full weight every inch of the soil over the seed. 

 The ground was then lightly touched with a rake to level it, a 

 light roller was then passed over it, and the operation was com- 

 pleted. Our crop of plants, notwithstanding the intense heat 

 and drouth of the past summer, was as fine as it well could be, 

 every seed seeming to have germinated. Besides, this ' firming ' 

 of the soil had also prevented the dry, hot air from penetrating 

 to the roots, so that, though we nearly averaged 90° during the 

 month of July, hardly a plant was burned off. Now, from the 

 same bag of celery seed that produced these plants, we sold 

 seed to some hundreds of our customers, and we have already 

 had scores of letters asking why their celery seed did not come 

 up; not a few of them insinuating that the seed they had ob- 

 tained was not good. To all such we, by letter, stated emphati- 

 cally the cause of failure, and I trust that all whose seeds of 

 celery or anything else fail to germinate, will first fairly inves- 

 tigate whether or not the fault has not been with themselves, 

 rather than with the seed. Some years ago, as an experiment, 

 I sowed seeds of beets, turnips, corn and spinach, in July, 

 treading in every alternate row. The beets and corn matured 

 their crops in every instance where the seed had been trodden 

 in, and failed to do so where this had not been done. In the 

 case of the spinach and turnip seeds, the rows trod in germin- 



ated freely and at once, while the rows of those that had been 

 left loose nearly failed entirely. The experiment was made 

 with a view to show that beets of all kinds sown as late as the 

 first of July, when the seeds germinate at once, have yet time 

 to produce a crop, and sweet corn has time enough to produce 

 its ears sufficiently mature for use in the green state, and, fur- 

 thermore, to prove what I had long believed, that thousands 

 upon thousands of acres of turnips fail from the want of ' firm- 

 ing ' the soil when the seed is sown. Of course, if large areas 

 are sown in turnips, the treading in with the foot might not be 

 practicable, the next best thing is the roller, but that must be 

 heavy enough to effect the purpose. As I have before hinted in 

 the case of celery plants, the looseness of the soil not only pre- 

 vents rapid germination, but even if germination does take 

 place, and a long period of hot and dry weather follow, the young 

 plant itself may be burned out, if the soil is loose, so that the 

 dry, heated air can penetrate to the weak and tender root. This 

 burning out after the seed has germinated is sweeping in its 

 effects on all seeds that are sown after midsummer, such as 

 spinach, beets, turnips, etc., if the weather is dry and the soil 

 loose. I beg to caution my inexperienced readers, however, by 

 no means to tread or roll in seed if the ground is not dry. The 

 soil may often be in a suitable condition to sow, and yet be too 

 damp to be trodden upon or rolled. In such cases these opera- 

 tions may not be necessary at all, for if rainy weather ensue, the 

 seeds will germinate of course, but if there is any likelihood of 

 continued drouth, the treading or rolling may be done a week 

 or more after the seed has been sown, if there is any reason to 

 believe that it may suffer from the dry, hot air. Another very 

 important advantage gained by treading in the seeds is, that 

 when we have crops of beets, celery, turnips, spinach or any- 

 thing else that is sown in rows, the seeds to form the crop 

 come up at once; while the seeds of the weeds, that are just as 

 liable to perish by the heat as are those of the crop, are 

 retarded. Such of the weed seeds as lie in the space between 

 the rows when the soil is loose, will not germinate as quickly 

 as those of the crop sown; and hence we can cultivate between 

 the rows before the weeds germinate at all. Such was our ex- 

 perience the past season in the two acres of celery plants 

 alluded to, as the rows of the celery were clearly defined before 

 the weeds had germinated at all, so that the hoe was applied at 

 once, rendering the cost of culture less than half what it would 

 have been had the seeds of the celery and those of the weeds 

 started simultaneously." 



WHEN TO SOW VECETABLE SEEDS. 



Vegetable seeds that may be sown in this latitude, from the 

 middle of March to the end of April, thermometer in the shade 

 averaging 45 degrees. 



Beets. Lettuce, 

 Carrot, Parsley, 



Cress, Parsnip, 



Celery, Onions, 



Cabbage. Peas. 

 Cauliflower, Radish, 



Endive, Turnip, 



Kale, Spinach. 



Vegetable seeds that may be sown in the open ground in this 

 latitude, from the middle of May to the middle of June, ther- 

 mometer in the shade averaging 60 degrees. 



Lima Beans, Water Melon, 



Bush Beans, Okra, 



Pole Beans, Pumpkin, 



Sweet Corn, Tomato, 



Cucumber, Squash, 



Musk Melon, Nasturtium. 



