24 DREER'S GARDEN CALENDAR. 



MUSHROOM SPAWN. 



Chatttpignonbrot , Ger. Champignon, Fr. Seta 6 Huevas de Hongos, Spam, 



Mushroom beds are best undercover. Mushrooms can be grown in a dry cellar, under the benches of a green-house, 

 or in sheds, where the temperature can be kept from 50 to 60 degrees through the winter. The beds should be 

 made from November to March, according to the time they are desired, as it takes about two months for them to 

 commence bearing. Collect fresh horse-droppings without straw, turn them over three or four times to get rid of 

 the heat, and then mix one-third of fresh soil from an old pasture, with the prepared manure. Dig out a foot 

 deep of the space to contain the bed, lay some long manure at the bottom, and then the prepared manure and soil, 

 a little at a time, evenly and well beaten down until it is a foot above the ground ; put a layer of good light earth 

 an this, 2 inches thick ; after a few days, when the rank heat has passed off, say to 90 degrees, then place the spawn 

 m the bed in lumps about 2 inches square and 6 inches apart, covering with light earth an inch thick ; beat it gently 

 down all over. Cover the bed thickly with straw, and if out of doors, keep off rain, and protect from the cold with 

 mats or boards. In about six to eight weeks the Mushrooms should make their appearance. Examine the bed 

 often to see that it does not get dry, and when water is given it should be at the temperature of 100 degrees. A bed 

 3 to 4 feet wide is best, and can be made any length desired ; see illustration. 



English Spawn. In the form of bricks Each, 20 cts. ; per doz., $2.00; by mail, prepaid, 40 cts. each. 



MUSTARD. 



Sen/, Ger. Moutarde, Fr. Mostaza, Span. 



A small pungent salad and sometimes used with Cress : the seed is also used for flavoring pickles, pepper sauce, 

 and medicinal purposes. For salad sow thickly, early in the spring, in shallow drills 6 inches apart, and in Septem- 

 ber ; or in frames or boxes, during the winter, where frost can be partially excluded; cut when about two inches 

 high. For a crop of seed sow in April, in drills i foot apart, and thin out when 3 inches high. 



Pkt. Oz. lb. 



White, or Yellow. English, for salads and flavoring purposes $0 5 5 30 



Black, or Brown. More pungent than the white ; for culinary use 5 5 3° 



Chinese. Leaves twice the size of the white, more succulent, deeper green, flavor sweet, and pun- 

 gent, and preferable as a salad 5 10 75 



NASTURTIUM- Indian Cress. 



Indianische Kresse, oder Kapuziner, Ger. Capucine grande, Fr. Capuchina 6 Berro India, Span. 

 Cultivated both for use and ornament. The seed-pods and foot-stalks are gathered while green and tender, for 

 pickling; they resemble capers. The flowers are beautiful orange-colored and used for garnishing, the leaves for 

 mixing with salads. Sow early in the spring in drills about i inch deep, in light rich soil, when all danger of frost 

 is over, and train the Tall on brush, trellises, or fences ; and the Dwarf in beds, or to form borders for the beds, 

 which will make them look gay with their beautiful colors. 



, Pkt. Oz. lb. 



Tall Orange. The most profitable pickling variety $0 5 15 1 50 



D\varf Varieties. Beautiful colored flowers ; mixed lo 30 300 



OKRA— Gombo. 



Essbarer Hibiscus, Ger. Gombo, Fr. Quimbombo, Span. 



This' vegetable is becoming more extensively grown and better known. The long young green capsules or pods 

 of this plant are used in soups, stews, etc., to which they impart a rich flavor and are considered nutritious. Sow 

 the seeds thickly in rich ground, as it is liable to rot in cold wet weather, about the middle of May, or when the 

 ground has become warm, in hills or drills 3 feet apart and i inch deep, thin out to 3 plants to the hill, or 10 inches 

 apart in the drills. Hoe often, and earth up a little to support the stems. The very young pods can be gathered 

 end dried for winter use ; the ripe seeds are used as a substitute for coffee. 



Pkt. Oz. lb. 



Improved Dwarf Green. Long-podded, early, and productive „ %o 5 10 75 



New^ Improved Dwarf. This new early variety has long green slender pods, very productive, 



and only grows 14 inches high 5 10 i 00 



ONION. 



Ziviebel, Ger. Ognon, Fr. Cebolla, Span. 



The Silver-Skin, Yellow Strasburg, and Yellow Danvers seed we offer, are of Philadelphia growth, a.', northern 

 grown and imported seed will not produce sets. For sets, sow the seed as early as possible in the spring, very 

 thickly, in beds, or in drills with a seed drill. As soon as the tops die off in summer, remove them to a dry, airy 

 place ; and early in the following spring replant by placing the sets on the surface of shallow drills 12 inches apart 

 and about 4 inches apart in the drills; the drills should be wide enough apart to admit of hoeing, or for a cultiva- 

 tor; the Onions, by this process, are obtained of a large size early in the season. They may also be grown to fuH 

 size during the first season by sowing thinly in drills i foot apart, and about ^ inch deep, in March, or early in 

 April, in strong land, well manured, and thinning thera out to stand 3 or 4 inches apart in the drills, keeping them 

 veil hoed and free from weeds ; for this purpose the Red Wethersfield and Yellow Danvers are usually preferred. 



They delight in a strong, rich, deep, loamy soil ; the ground should be deeply dug and heavily manured with 

 well-rotted manure, succeeding; well if grown successive years on the same ground. 



Seed can be sown in August and September, and left out all winter without injury, being hardy, in drills wide 

 enough apart to admit of working, and when they have grown of sufficient size in the spring to be fit for table use, 

 thin out to 4 inches apart, to allow the remaining crop to mature to large Onions. 



Potato Onions should be planted in April, placing them 10 inches apart, with the crown of the bulb just below the 

 surface of the ground ; earth up a little at each time of cultivation ; when tops are dead they are ready to be taken up. 



Remit for postage, 16 els. per pound, or 25 cts. per quart or' fraction thereof, when ordered to be sent by mail. 



