58 



J. STECKLER SEED CO., LTD., ALMANAC AND 



some sort of support to keep them up from 

 the ground or they will not make the most 

 vig-orous growth nor will they fruit well. 

 The principal value of the beans is for 

 "Winter grazing- and for that purpose it is 

 one of the best crops which can be grown 

 on the light soils and in the long season 

 of the immediate Gulf Coast and Florida. 

 The crop should be allowed to grow until 

 December or until killed by frost, after 

 which it can be grazed through the 

 Winter, as the vines, leaves and pods de- 

 cay very slowly and remain palatable a 

 long* time. The yield of seed from a fair 

 growth of vines well matured is very 

 heavy, from 25 to 40 bushels per acre, and 

 100 pounds of the pods will shell about 40 

 pounds of beans. The beans need not be 

 shelled for feeding cattle and make an 

 excellent grain feed for Winter use. 



IMPROVED VELVET BEAN. — The Im- 

 proved Velvet Bean, or, more properly, 

 "Pea," (as it belongs to the Cow Pea 

 family), is a climbing plant growing to 

 forty and fifty feet, and branches literally 

 covered with foliage. It is a nitrogenous 

 plant, enriching- the ground so much that 

 orange growers in Florida plant the Velvet 

 Bean in their groves for fertilizer as well 

 as forage. Plant in rows four feet apart 

 and one foot in the rows, two or three 

 beans in a place, as soon as danger of frost 

 is past; cultivate once or twice to give the 

 vines a start of weeds and grass. They 

 grow very rapidly, and in two months the 

 under leaves begin to drop, and by Fall the 

 mulch of leaves is often six to eight inches 

 deep. One peck will plant an acre, four 

 feet apart in four-foot rows. 



SOJA BEAN, OB GERMAN COFFEE 

 BERRY. — One of the most valuable forage 

 plants for pasturing or feeding: g-reen. The 



Soja Bean, or German Coffee Berry. 



vines are bushy and of vigorous, erect 

 habit. Fed in the green state, they afford 

 most nutritious forage. Sow broadcast at 

 the rate of one-half bushel to the acre, or 

 plant in drills 3% feet apart, and IV^ feet 

 between the plants, dropping two or three 

 beans in a hill. One gallon will sow one 

 acre, if drilled. 



PEPPER. 



For Price Iiist See Red Pag'es in Back of Book. 



Piment (Fr.), Spanischer PfefCer (Ger.), Pimento (Sp.), Peperone (Ital.) 



CUIiTURE. — Peppers are tender and require to be raised in the hot bed. Seed 

 should be sown from December to February, and when large enough transplanted into 

 the ground in rows from one and a half to two feet apart, and a foot and a half in rows. 

 Sow in open ground during- July and August for Fall crop. There are more Peppers 

 raised here than in any other section of the country; the hot varieties are used for 

 seasoning and making pepper sauce, the mild varieties are highly esteemed for salad. 

 Care should be taken not to g-row two different kinds close together, as they mix very 

 readily. Four ounces will produce 1,500 plants; 4 ounces to the acre. 



Frotscher's TaTjasco. 



FROTSCHER'S TABASCO.— This variety 

 is g-rown for the market as well as for 

 making- sauce. It is pungent and strong-, 



also very prolific. It is easily gathered, as 

 the fruit does not adhere to the stem and 

 grows almost erect on the branches, as 

 may be seen in the cut. This variety is 

 used in manufacturing the well-known 

 Tabasco Sauce. It is splendid for family 

 use. 



RUBY GIANT (The Largfest Mild Red 

 Pepper). — As a result of crossing Chinese 

 Giant and Ruby King, we have a handsome 

 new variety which combines the enormous 

 size of the Chinese Giant and the graceful, 

 elongated form of Ruby King, being longer 

 than the former variety, larger round than 

 the latter and much larger than either. In 

 color it is a bright clear red, and in flavor 

 mild, delicious and sweet. The plant is 

 vigorous in growth, stocky, well branched 

 and prolific. 



BIRD RYE. — Small as the name indi- 

 cates. It is very hot and used principally 

 for pepper vinegar. 



Steckler's Seeds Are Best — Best Seeds Always Grow. 



