»^ _ POPULAR VEGETABLE SEEDS ^^, 



15 



View of our Floracioft Trial Grounds, showing in the foreground two Planet Jr. Wheel Hoes. These implements make 

 home gardening- a pleasant recreation for the busy man from the city office, and are great labor-saveis for the gardener who 

 pursues it as a business. See the third cover page of tliis catalogue for Planet Jr. price list. 



Directions for the Cultivation of Vegetables 



The exposure for a vegetable garden should be south or southeast, or nearly so. The soil should be 

 naturally rich and friable, a sandy loam being among the best. If wet, or inclined to hold an excess of 

 moisture, it should be underdrained, preferably by tile. 



To produce the best results, the vegetable garden should have at least one foot of good, rich soil. 

 The roots of large trees should not be allowed to encroach on any part of the garden, though large trees, 

 sutficiently far off, afford a valuable protection on the north and west. 



Mark the garden otf into squares or beds of convenient size, to facilitate the practice of a rotation of 

 crops, which is an important matter. As a rule, never let the same crop occupy the same bed two years 

 in succession. Potatoes, onions, and a few other tilings may form an exception to this rule, but it is 

 better to keep up rotation. Every year these beds must be warmed up by a liberal coat of manure, 

 which should be thoroughly mixed with the soil. Grow everything in drills or straight lines. Larger 

 crops from a given surface are grown in this way, and cultivation becomes simple and comparatively 

 easy. The ground should be frequently hoed, to kill the weeds and keep the soil mellow ; proper time 

 to hoe is just when the weeds appear above ground. Whether weeds appear or not, the ground should 

 be frequently stirred. 



U^rri D'pFkC' For early vegetables and flowers, provision for starting certain plants earlier than 

 Mvf Jl DlliUi^ can be done in the open air is desirable ; for this purpose nothing is better than 

 a good hot bed or even a cold frame, and its construction is so simple and the expense so slight that every 

 garden should have one. A hot bed proper protects the plants from cold, and supplies bottom heat. 



THE FRAME should be made of one-inch lumber, the 

 back twelve to fifteen inches high and the front ten to 

 twelve, giving it the proper slope to catch the rays of the sun 

 as much as possible. The sash should be fitted so as to leave 

 as little opening as possible and yet allow the sash to be 

 easily moved up and down. 



MAKING THE BED requires careful attention. Fresh 

 horse manure, containing a liberal quantity of straw bedding, 

 should be thrown in a loose pile and allowed to heat. It 

 should then be forked over and allowed to heat a second time, 

 then trodden firmly into the bed. Six to ten inches depth 

 of manure should be covered with a light, rich, friable 

 garden soil to a depth of six to ten inches. The heat, which 

 will be quite violent, frequently rising to 120 degrees, will 

 soon subside, and when it recedes to 90 degrees, the seeds 

 may be planted or the plants set in. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE BED. Great care should 

 be exercised on bright, sunshiny days that the bed does not 

 get too hot, but is judiciously ventilated. On very cold nights, the glass should be coveied with 

 mats. These we can supply either of straw or of burlap, filled with cotton. 



WATERING. Water should never be sprinkled over the leaves when they are exposed to bright 

 sunshine. In cloudy weather a bed will go several days without water, or would dry up in an hour 

 when exposed to strong sun. So that the details of management must lie learned by experience, but 

 are easily acquired by parties who give the matter careful attention, and will yield them much pleasure 

 and satisfaction. 



HOT BED SASHES. 



We can supply the best quality. 



Size Each Per iloz. 



Unglazed . . . . 3 x 6 ft. »1.25 SH.dO 



Glazed 3 x 6 ft. 3.00 32.00 



