D. M. FERRY & CCXS DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



41 



THE MUSHROOM is an edible fungus of a white color, changing to brown when old. The gills are loose, of pinkish-red, 

 changing to liver color. It produces no seed, but instead, a white, fibrous substance in broken threads, called spawn, 

 which is preserved in horse manure, being pressed in the form of bricks. Thus prepared it will retain its vitahty for years. 

 Mushrooms can be grown in cellars, in sheds, in hot-beds or sometimes in open air. Fermenting horse manure at a tem- 

 perature of about 70 degrees, mixed with an equal weight of fresh sod loam, is made into beds the size required, eight inches 

 deep. See to it that the bed is packed very solidly and evenly. In this bed plant the broken pieces of spawn six inches apart, 

 covering the whole with two inches of Ught soil, and protect from cold and rain. One brick will plant eight to ten square 

 feet of bed The mushrooms will appear in about six weeks. Water sparingly and with lukewarm water. 



Enslish Mushroom Spawu, in bricks, 30c lb., prepaid. French Mushroom Spawn, 3 lb. boxes. $1.75 each, prepaid 



Mustard . , . 



/ Mustard is not only used 



as a condiment, but the green 

 leaves are used as a salad or cut 

 and boiled like spinage. 



The culture shotild bethe'same 

 as that of cress. 



UIMtc Etidlisb. 



The leaves are light green, mild 

 and tender when vovmg : seed light 

 yellow. Pkt. bc\ Oz. 10c: 2 Oz. 

 10c; %Lb. loc: Lb.40c. 



Soutbcm 6lant gurlcd. 



This mustard is very highly es- 

 teemed in the South, where the 

 seed is sown in the fall, and the 

 plants used very early in the 

 spring as a salad. Our stock is 

 the true curled leaf. Pkt. oc : Oz. 

 10c; 2 0z. 15c: J^Lb. •20c:Lb.50c. 



Southern Giant Curled Mjstard. 



Nasturtium 



/ Sow after the ground is 



warm, in drills one inch deep, by 

 the side of a fence. treUis work, 

 or some other support, to climb 

 upon. They will thrive in good 

 ground in almost any situation, 

 but are more productive in a 

 light soil. 



Call ttlixea Qarden. 



Cultivated both for use and 

 ornament. Its beautiful orange 

 colored flowers serve as a gar- 

 nish for dishes, and the yotmg 

 leaves are excellent for salads. 

 The green seed pods preserved in 

 vinegar, make a pickle greatly 

 esteemed by man v. Pkt. 5c; 

 Oz. 10c: 2'Oz. 15c: h Lb. 25c; 

 Lb. 75c. For other varieties see 

 Flower Seeds, page >>0. 



Okra 



This is an annual from the West Indies, 

 cultivated for its young seed pods, which 

 are used in soups, or stewed and served 

 like asparagus. It is highly esteemed in 

 the South for making g;imbo soup. The pods when young 

 and tender may be sliced in sections and strung on a thread 

 and hung up in the shade to cure like dried apples: in this 

 condition they can be used for soup at any time, 



CULTURE.— Plant in hills about four feet apart, putting 6 

 to 8 seeds in a hill, and after the plants are well started, cut 

 out all but two. The dwarf sorts can be planted much closer, 

 in hills 2 to 3 feet apart or in drills 2 feet apaPt. thinning the 



plants to about one foot apart in the row. Gather the pods 

 when quite gi-een. and about an inch and a half long. 



WHITE VELVET. This variety is a great improvement 

 on the old White or the Green. The plant is of medium 

 height, bearing a large crop of white, smooth, tender pods, 

 which retain their tenderness until nearly full size. Pkt. 5c; 

 Oz. 10c; 2 Oz. 15c; % Lb. 20c; Lb. 60c. 



DWARF WHITE. The longest podded variety: two feet 

 high, and very productive. Mature pods a foot long, very 

 thick and fleshy. Pkt. 5c; Oz. 10c; 2 Oz. 15c; 3^ Lb. 20c; 

 Lb. 50c. 



HOVJ TO RAISE ONIONS. 



THF ^01 F ^ ^^°P ^^ onions can be grown on any soil 

 1 iiLr o\yiUr which will produce a full crop of corn, but 

 on a stiff clay, very light sand or gravel, or certain varieties 

 of muck or swamp lands, neither a large nor a very profitable 

 crop can be grown. We prefer a rich, sandv loam, with 

 a Ught mixture of clay. This is much better if it has been 

 ctiltivated vrith hoed crops, kept clean of weeds and well 

 manured for two years previous, because if a sufficient 

 quantity of manure to raise an ordinary soil to a proper 

 degree of fertility is applied at once, it is 'likely to make the 

 onions soft. The same result will follow if we sow on rank, 

 mucky groimd or that which is too wet. 



MANIIRINff There is no crop where a liberal use of 

 i i.n.1 ^\Jly.li.^\J. manure is more essential than in this. If 

 it is too rank, it is quite sure to make soft onions, with many 

 scallions. It should be of the best quality, well fermented 

 and shoveled over, at least twice during the previous summer 

 to kill weed seeds. Of the commercial manures, we prefer 

 fine ground bone to any other, but large crops are raised by 

 the use of superphosphates. In some cases, particularly with 

 mucky soils, nothing will do so much good as a hberal dressing 

 of imbleached wood ashes or some form of commercial fer- 

 tilizer rich in potash. 



PRFP A R ATFON Remove all refuse of previous crops 

 r lyi^r /\i\/\ ll\Ji^ j^ ^^^^ ^^ complete the work before 

 the ground freezes up. and spread the composted manure 

 evenly at the rate of abt)ut fifty cart-loads to the acre. This 

 should first be cultivated in, and then the ground ploughed a 

 moderate depth, taking a narrow furrow, in order to thor- 

 oughly mix the manure with the soil. Carefully avoid tramp- 

 mg on the ground during the winter. Cultivate'or thoroughly 

 drag the soil with a heavy harrow as early in the spring as ft 

 can be worked, and then, in the opposite direction, with a 

 light one, after which the entire surface should be raked with 

 steel hand rakes. It is impo.^ible to cultivate the crop eco- 

 nomically unless the rows are perfectly straight: to secure 

 this, stretch a line along one side, fourteen feet from the edge, 

 and make a distmct mark along it: then, having made a 

 wooden marker, something like a giant rake with five teeth 

 about a foot long and standing fourteen inches apart, make 

 tour more marks by carefully drawing it with the outside 

 tooth in. and the head at right angles to the perfectly straight 

 mark made by the line. Continue to work around this line 

 until on the third passage of the marker you reach the side of 



the field where you began : measure fifteen feet two inches 

 from the last row, stretch the line again, and mark arotmd in 

 the same way. This is better than to stretch a line along one 

 side, as it is impossible to prevent the rows gradually becom- 

 ing crooked, and by this plan we straighten them after every 

 third passage of the marker. 



^nWIlNin THP <sFPn TMs should be done as soon 

 0\J TT mvj 1 IIL, OL^LrLf as the ground can be gotten 

 ready, and can be done best by a hand seed drill. This should 

 be carefully adjusted to sow the desired quantity of seed and 

 about one-half inch deep. The quantity needed will vary with 

 the soil, the seed used, and the kind of onions desired. ' Thin 

 seeding gives much larger onions than thick. Four or five 

 potmds, per acre, is the usual quantity needed to grow large 

 onions. We use a drill with a roller attached, but if the drill 

 has none, the ground should be well rolled with a hand roller 

 immediately after the seed is planted. 



cm TIVATION ^^'^^ ^^^ onions the first hoeing, just 

 ^*-'*-' 1 * " .rl 1 Iv/ii skimming the ground between the 

 rows, as soon as they can be seen the length of the row. Hoe 

 again in a few days, this time close up to the plants, after 

 ■«liich weeding must be continued. This operation requires 

 to be carefullj- and thoroughly done. The weeder must work 

 on his knees astride of the row, stirring the earth around the 

 plants, in order to destroy any weeds that have just started. 

 At this weeding or the next. according to the size of the plants, 

 the rows should be thinned leaving from eight to twelve 

 plants to the foot. In ten days or two weeks they will require 

 another hoeing and weeding similar to the last, and two 

 weeks later, give them still another hoeing and if necessary 

 another weeding. If the work has been thoroughly done at 

 the proper time, the crop will not require further care until 

 ready to gather. 



fi A THFPINfi -^^ ^°° ^^ *^^ *^P^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^'- *^^ 



^^ * lll-»I\liivJ bulbs should be gathered into windrows. 

 If the weather is fine they will need no attention while curing, 

 but if it is not, they will heed to be stirred by simplj- moving 

 them slightly along the row. Cut off the tops when perfectly 

 drj-, about half an inch from the bulb. and then after a few daj^ 

 of bright weather the onions will be fit to store for the winter. 

 Onions may be kept in fine condition through winter by 

 spreading straw to the depth of about 18 inches on the floor 

 of a bam or shed and on this spread the onions to the depth of 

 about a foot and cover them with about two feet of straw. 



