D. M. FERRY & GO'S DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



Cte\e\A Q/\JI A '"'ch sandy loam is the best, but a fair de- 

 UOOQ jOiI gree of success may be secured from any soil 

 which can be made rich and friable. Vegetables of the best 

 quality cannot be grown on barren sand, a cold, hard, lumpy 

 clay, nor in the shade of orchard or other trees. 

 I :U,/.»ol Markifrin^ Asoil which does not need enrieh- 

 Llberal IVianUnng ing in order to produce the best re- 

 sults is rarely found and very often success is in proportion 

 to the liberality with which fertilizers have been used. Well 

 decomposed stable manure wliere straw bedding has been 

 used is the best; that where sawdust is used is not so good. 

 Often wood ashes at the rate of one peck up to one bushel to 

 the square rod will be of great benefit. Commercial fertili- 

 zers are excellent and may be used at the rate of 4 to 12 pounds 

 to the square rod and the more concentrated forms, such 

 as Nitrate of Soda, Guano, Dried Blood and Potash Salts, 

 at the rate of one to six pounds to the rod. A mass or lump 

 of any of the commercial fertilizers, even if it is but a quarter 

 of an inch in diameter, is liable to kill any seed or young plant 

 which comes in contact with it, so it is very important if 

 such fertilizers be used that they be thoroughly pulverized 

 and mixed with the soil. 



Thorough Preparation ^:^^^J^^. 



out thorough preparation. The soil must be made friable by 

 thoi'ough and judicious working; if this is well done all that 

 follows will be easy; if it is neglected, only partial success is 

 possible, and that at the cost of a great deal of hard work. 

 The garden should be loell plowed or dug to a good depth, 

 taking care, if it is a clay soil, that the work is not done when 

 it is too wet. If a handful from the furrow moulds with slight 

 pressure into a ball which cannot be easily crumbled into fine 

 earth again, the soil is too wet and if stirred then will be 

 hard to work all summer. The surface should be made as 

 fine and smooth as possible with the harrow or rake. It is 

 generally necessary to plow the whole garden at once, and to 

 do this in time for the earliest crops, but the part which is 

 not planted for some weeks should be kept mellow by fre- 

 quent cultivation. 



rinrkrl ^0^ ric There is no more prolific source of 



VJUUU .3CCUd disappointment and failure among 



Prftni>rlv PlanioH amateur gardeners than hasty, care- 

 r I upcl \y riaillcu jegg ^y improper sowing of the seed. 

 A seed consists of a minute plant minus the root,with a suffi- 



cient amount of food stowed in or around it to sustain it until 

 it can expand its leaves, form roots and provide for itself, the 

 whole enclosed in a hard and more or less impervious shell. 

 To secure germination, moisture, heat, and a certain amount 

 of air are necessary. The first steps are the softening of the 

 hard, outer shell, and the leaves of the plant from the 

 absorption of water, and the changing of the plant food 

 from the form of starch to that of sugar. In the first con- 

 dition the food is easily preserved unchanged, but the plant 

 cannot use it. While in its sugary condition it is easily 

 appropriated but perishable and if not used it speedily de- 

 cays itself and induces decay in the plant. A dry seed may 

 retain its vitality and remain unchanged for years, but after 

 germination has commenced, a check of a day or two in the 

 process may be fatal. There is no time in the life of a plant 

 when it is so susceptible of fatal injury, from the over-abund- 

 ance or want of sufficient heat and moisture, as at that be- 

 tween the commencement of germination and the formation 

 of the first true leaves, and it is just then that it needs the aid 

 of a gardener to secure favorable conditions. These are: 



First— A proper and constant degree of moisture. The soil 

 should always be moist, never wet. This is secured by mak- 

 ing the surface of freshly dug soil so fine and the pi-essmg it 

 over the seeds so firmly with the feet or the back of the hoe, 

 that the degree of moisture remains as nearly uniform as pos- 

 sible. 



Second— A proper degree of heat, secured by sowing the 

 seed when the temperature of the soil is that most favorable 

 to the germination of the seed of that particular plant. Too 

 high a temperature is often as detrimental as one too low. 

 The proper temperature for each sort may be learned from 

 a careful study of the following pages and the experience of 

 tlie most successful gardeners in your vicinity. 



Third— Covering the seed to such a depth that while a uni- 

 form degree of heat and moisture is preserved, the necessary 

 air can readilv reach the germinating seed and the tiny stem 

 push the foniiintr leaves into the light and air. This depth 

 will vary with different seeds and conditions of the soil: and 

 can be learned only from practical experience. In general, 

 seeds of the size of the turnip should not be covered with 

 more than half an inch of earth pressed down, while corn 

 may be an inch, beans an inch to two inches and peas one to 

 three inches deep. 



