D. M. FERRY & CO., DETROIT, MICH 



11 



The Essentials to the Production of 



Good Vegetables and Beautiful Flowers 



*■>, » q »| .'A rich, sandy loam is the best, but a fair de- 

 LiOOQ oOll gree of success may be secured from any 

 soil which can be made rich and friable. Vegetables of the 

 best quality cannot be grown on barren sand, a cold, hard, 

 lumpy clay, nor in the shade of orchard or other trees. 

 I •!_ 1 1V/I * A soil which does not need en- 



J-lDeral manuring riching in order to produce the 

 best results is rarely found and very often success is in pro- 

 portion to the liberality with which fertilizers have been 

 used. Well decomposed stable manure where straw bedding 

 has been used is the best; manure where sawdust has been 

 used for bedding is not so good. Often wood ashes at the 

 rate of one peck up to one bushel to the square rod will be 

 of great benefit. Commercial fertilizers are excellent and 

 may be used at the rate of 4 to 12 pounds to the square rod 

 and the more concentrated forms, such as Nitrate of Soda, 

 Guano, Dried Blood and Potash Salts, at the rate of one to 

 six pounds to the rod. A mass or lump of any of the com- 

 mercial fertilizers, even if it is but a quarter of an inch in 

 diameter, is liable to kill any seed or young plant which 

 comes in contact with it, so it is very important if such 

 fertilizers be used that they be thoroughly pulverized and 

 mixed with the soil. 

 Tk/vHA..«k P«. An e»-o *;,**« Rich soil and liberal ™an- 



1 norougn r reparation uring win avail nttie 



without thorough preparation. The soil must be made 

 friable by thorough and judicious working; if this is well 

 done all that follows will be easy; if it is neglected, only par- 

 tial success is possible and that at the cost of a great deal of 

 hard work. The garden should be well plowed or dug to a 

 good depth, taking care, if it is a clay soil, that the work is 

 not done when it is too wet. If a handful from the furrow 

 moulds with slight pressure into a ball which cannot be 

 easily crumbled into fine earth again, the soil is too wet 

 and if stirred then will be hard to work all summer. The 

 surface should be made as fine and smooth as possible with 

 the harrow or rake. It is generally desirable to plow the 

 whole garden at once and to do this in time for the earliest 

 crops, but the part which is not planted for some weeks 

 should be kept mellow by frequent cultivation. 

 C r\r\A Q A Tnere is no more prolific source of dis- 

 viOOu OeeuS appointment and failure among amateur 

 Prr»r»*»rlv Pls»nt*»rl gardeners than hasty, careless 

 -rroperiy named C r improper sowing of . the seed. 

 A seed consists of a minute plant enclosed in a hard and more 



or less impervious shell with a sufficient amount of food 

 stowed in or around the germ to sustain it until it can ex- 

 pand its leaves, form roots and provide for itself. Moisture, 

 heat and a certain amount of air are necessary to secure 

 germination. The germinating seed first absorbs water and 

 swells. The starchy matters gradually become soluble. 

 The seed-coats are ruptured, the stemlet and bud emerge. 

 The embryo lives for a time on the stored food, but grad- 

 ually the plantlet secures a foothold in the soil and gathers 

 food for itself. Germination is complete when the plantlet 

 is able to shift for itself. A dry seed may retain its vital- 

 ity and remain unchanged for years, but after germination 

 has commenced a check of a day or two in the process may 

 be fatal. There is no time in the life of a plant when it is so 

 susceptible of injury from the over-abundance or want of 

 sufficient heat and moisture as at the period between the 

 commencement of germination and the formation of the 

 first true leaves. It is just then that the gardener should 

 aid in securing favorable conditions. These are: 



FIRST— A proper and constant degree of moisture. The 

 soil should always be moist, never wet. This is secured by 

 making the surface of freshly dug soil so fine and by press- 

 ing it over the seed so firmly with a roller or the back of 

 the hoe that the degree of moisture remains as nearly 

 uniform as possible. 



SECOND— A proper degree of heat, secured by sowing the 

 seed when the temperature of the soil is that most favorable 

 to the germination of the seed of that particular plant. 

 Too high a temperature is often as detrimental as one too 

 low. The proper temperature for each sort may be learned 

 from a careful study of the following pages and the ex- 

 perience of the most successful gardeners in your vicinity. 



THIRD— Covering the seed to such a depth that while a 

 uniform degree of heat and moisture is preserved the 

 necessary air can readily reach the germinating seed and 

 the tiny stem push the forming leaves into the light and 

 air. This depth will vary with different seeds and condi- 

 tions of the soil and can be learned only from practical ex- 

 perience. In general, seeds of the size of the turnip should 

 not be covered with more than half an inch of earth pressed 

 down, while corn may be an inch, beans an inch to two 

 inches and peas one to three inches deep. 



