GARDEN MANUAL FOR THE SOUTHERN STATES. 



71 



THE VEGETABLE PEAR. 



Sycios or Sechium Edulis. 



The Vegetable Pear, 

 or "Mirliton," as the 

 Creoles here call it. 

 belong-s to the Gourd 

 family, and is known 

 to botanists under the 

 name of One-Seeded 

 Cucumber. Like most 

 of the grourds the 

 plant is a vine and 

 may be trained upon 

 a trellis, on a fence or 

 arbor; it is very or- 

 namental and an 

 abundant bearer. The 

 fruit, if prepared 

 rig-ht, forms a de- 

 lig-htful dish, much 

 finer in flavor than 

 either eg-g-plants, 

 squashes or pump- 

 kins, and may be 

 cooked in half 

 dozen different ways, 

 stewed, baked, or as batter cakes, 

 the fruit contains but one seed, the whole 

 fruit has to be planted. 15c. each. Post- 

 paid, 25c. each. Selected fruits. 



a Veg-etable Pear. 



As 



TOBACCO SEEDS. 



For Price List See Bed Pages in Back of 

 Book. 



One ounce to 5,000 plants; 2 ounces to the 

 acre. 



IMPORTED HAVANA. — We import from 

 one of the principal growers the finest and 

 purest strain of Vuelta Abajo, which is 

 considered the best of the Havana 

 varieties. 



GENUZITB GBAND POINT? PBBIQUE, — 

 This variety of Tobacco is one of the best 

 in the world, excelling- in flavor and quality 

 the far famed "Vuelta Abajo." The only 

 g^enuine Perique is grown at Grand Point, 

 and as the supply does not meet the in- 

 creased demand ma,ny imitations are put 

 on the market. 



CONNECTICXTT SEED LEAP.— A well 

 known American variety. 



VIBGINIA. — "One Sucker," larg-e leaf; 

 wide, lance-shaped; rather coarse than 

 fine. 



SUMATRA. — The cream of cig-ar wrapper 

 tobaccos; grows tall, fine texture, small 

 fibre. 



IMPROVED WHITE BUBLEY.— This is 

 especially valuable to manufacturers either 

 of cut or plug: tobacco. It is often used for 

 wrappers. 



GRASS AND FIELD SEEDS. 



For Price List See Red Fagfes in Back of Book. 



One of the most remarkable metamorphoses in the history of agriculture of any land 

 has come over the entire South since the arrival of the boll weevil, the ag-itation caused 

 by the removal of the tariff on sugar, and the consequent diversification of the cotton 

 fields and sugar lands. It has been proven by actual experiment along practical lines 

 that there is as much profit in diversified farming as there ever was in the palmiest days 

 of the production of sugar and cotton, and that corn and oats and live stock, together 

 with the production of truck and other things give by far larger returns than did the soil 

 before it was drained of its fertility by the one-crop system. 



In former days a large part of the income from the plantation went elsewhere to 

 pay for the corn, the oats, the hay, the meat, the mules and other things that have been 

 the main stand-by of the farmers of the North and the West. But now matters have 

 changed and some of the products that were once imported are now being exported. 

 To-day the States of Louisiana and Mississippi are more nearly independent than they 

 were ever before in their agricultural history, and the time is not far distant when these 

 States will experience such an impetus in the direction of diversification that they will 

 become financially the richest of the Union. 



That one crop system, however, has brought about a condition of affairs that was not 

 experienced during the days when agriculture was young in these States. It has reduced 

 the once natural fertility of the soil to such an extent that the Southern farmer of to-day 

 must take immediate steps to prevent further loss of the elements and to enable him to 

 take advantage of the free gifts of nature in the shape of an almost unlimited growing: 

 climate and an abundance of water. In other words, he must replenish the worn out soil 

 With those elements that have been so freely taken, before he can hope to reach the full 

 tneasure of his profits. 



In no other way can this be done so well or so quickly as to cultivate those legumes 

 that grow so well in the South and at the same time supply the soil with the nitrogen 

 that has been stolen. Simultaneously the farmer must use these crops for the live 

 stock that also thrives and is raised so cheaply that his profits are added to more largely 

 than in any other section of the country. By the practice of these two things the farmer 

 not only adds the elements that have been stolen but also increases his bank account and 

 finds himself on the highway to prosperity never dreamed of when the land was con- 

 tinually tied up in the one staple crop. 



Alfalfa, Cow Peas, the Velvet Bean, the Soy Bean, the Clovers and the like are, 

 among other plants of a similar nature, admirably adapted to this double purpose and the 

 farmer of to-day is growing them and making his pork at the rate of only 3 cents per 

 pound where it costs the Northern farmer from 9 to 11 cents." The corn crop of this 

 State now is worth more than $20,000,000 more than the cotton crop, and the hay crop 

 from these other products will be worth more in dollars every year to the farmer than 

 was the crop from the cotton fields when it averaged a million bales per annum. 



The farmers have learned the great lesson. The history of the past two years has 

 proved it. Financial prosperity is at hand if but the practices of those years are 

 followed. 



Plant Steckler's Grass Seed Mixture, See Page 81. 



