GARDEN MANUAL FOR 
67 
THE SOUTHERN STATES. 
THE VEGETABLE PEAR. 
Sycios or Sechium Edulis. 
The Vegetable Pear, 
or “Mirliton,’ as the 
Creoles here call it, 
belongs to the Gourd 
family, and is known 
to botanists under the 
name of One-Seeded 
Cucumber. Like most 
of the gourds 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 
right, forms a de- 
lightful dish, much 
finer in flavor than 
either eggplants, 
Bquashes..or pump- 
kins, “and may be 
eooked in half a 
dozen different ways, 
stewed, baked, or as batter cakes. AS 
the fruit contains but one seed, the whole 
TOBACCO SEEDS. 
For Price List See Red Pages in Back of 
Book. 
One ounce to 5,000 plarits; 2 ounces to the 
acre. 
IMPORTED HAVANA. 
one of the principal growers the finest and 
We import from 
purest strain of Vuelta Abajo, which is 
| _ considered the _ best of the Havana 
varieties. 
GENUINE GRAND POINT PERIQUE.— 
This variety of Tabasco is one of the best 
the far famed “Vuelta Abajo.” The only 
zenuine Perique is grown at Grand Point, 
and as the supply does not meet the in- 
creased demand many imitations are put 
on the market. 
CONNECTICUT SEED LEAF. A_ well 
known American variety. 
VIBRGINIA.—“‘One Sucker;” large leaf; 
wide, lance-shaped; rather coarse than 
fine. 
SUMATRA.—The cream of cigar 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. 
fruit has to be planted. 15c. each. Post- 
i 
| in the world, excelling in flavor and quality 
| 
paid, 25c. each. Selected fruits. 
GRASS AND FIELD SEEDS. 
For Price List See Red Pages in Back of Book. 
One of the most remarkable metamorphoses in the history of agriculture of any land 
has cover over the entire South since the arrival of the boll weevil, the agitation 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 
measure 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 
if but the practices of those years are 
proved it: Financial prosperity is at hand 
followed. 
Any Information Regarding Seeds or Plants will be Cheerfully Given. 
