DREER'S RELIABLE SEEDS 



10 feet 5 inches by 6 feet — allowing 1 inch separation on 

 the bearers. The glass should be imbedded in the putty 

 and secured with points, and well painted every year to 

 keep in repair. After the season for use is past, store them 

 away from the weather or keep in a pile with a board 

 covering. Care in these respects will save considerable 



annual expense. The hot-bed should have a southern or 

 southeastern exposure, and should be made with fresh 

 horse manure, which must be laid in a heap preparatory 

 to being used ; when in a proper state of fermentation, 

 place the frame on the heap. Six inches of rich loamy 

 soil must be spread over the manure, then cover the frame 

 with the sashes, and after standing a few days to allow the 

 rank heat and steam to pass off, the seed "can be sown. 

 The heap should be made two feet longer and wider than 



the frame. Where the ground is well drained, a better 

 plan is to dig out a space the size of the frame from i to 2 

 feet deep, according to the season and the heat required, 

 in which the manure is placed, care being taken to pack 

 it firmly and evenly. 



In addition to the hot-bed frame, mats or shutters will 

 be required to cover the sash during cold davs and nights. 



COLD FRAMES.— The cold frame for wintering Cab- 

 bage, Cauliflower, Lettuce Plants, etc., should be con- 

 structed of 1-inch boards 1 foot high at the back and 9 

 inches high in front; short posts, set four feet apart, will 

 keep the frame in position. For ordinary gardens a frame 

 12 to 16 feet long and 6 feet wide will answer all require- 

 ments. The shutters should be 6 feet 4 inches long by 3 

 feet wide, made of common rough boards. The soil should 

 be enriched by old and well-decayed manure; the object 

 being to preserve and not to grow the plants during the 

 winter. Give plenty of air every mild day, but do not 

 expose the plants to the sun when the ground or plants 

 are frozen, as it will destroy them. 



Very many who read this article on hot-beds and cold- 

 frames do not require the expense for a few vegetable and 

 flower plants. To such there is an excellent substitute on 

 hand in most dwellings, in the kitchen or basement win- 

 dows, facing south or east, inside of which is a temperature 

 usually not far from that required for the vegetation of 

 seeds, and where seeds of early vegetables, or tender plants 

 for the flower border, may be raised nearly as well, and 

 with far less attention, than in a hot-bed. 



Remarks o\ the J^ailure of Seeds. 



From a conviction that the Seedsman's fair reputation 

 is often unjustly defamed, through the failure of seeds, we 

 would briefly state some of the causes: 



Some cultivators, through ignorance or forgetfulness 

 of the fact that the products of a garden, being natives of 

 various soils and climates, require peculiar management, 

 sow the seeds in the ground at improper seasons. To aid 

 such we have prepared brief directions, founded on practi- 

 cal experience in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where gar- 

 dening operations are generally commenced early in March. 

 These directions may, however, be applied to all other 

 parts of the United States, by an observance of the 

 difference in temperature. Thus, to the North, the direc- 

 tions for March will apply to April ; and at the South to 

 January, February or whatever season gardening opera- 

 tions may commence in the respective States. The early 

 and most hardy species and varieties should not be planted 

 until the ground can be brought into good condition, as 

 some species of plants, that in an advanced stage of growth 

 will stand a hard winter, are often cut off by a very slight 

 frost while young, especially if exposed to the sun after a 

 frosty night. 



Some species of seed, such as Beans, Beet, Cabbage, Let- 

 tuce, Radish, Salsify, Turnip, etc., being from their nature 

 apt to vegetate quickly, are often destroyed while ger- 

 minating through variableness of the weather, and some are 

 liable to be devoured by insects in forty-eight hours after 

 they are sown, and before a plant is seen above the ground, 

 unless a suitable remedy is applied in time to destroy the 

 insects. 



Other species, such as Carrots, Celery, Leek, Onion, 

 Parsley, Parsnip, Spinach, etc., being naturally of tardy 

 growth, take (in unfavorable seasons) from two to three or 

 four weeks to vegetate, are apt to perish through incrusta- 

 tion of the soil, or other untoward and unaccountable cir- 

 cumstances, which cannot always be controlled. 



Failures often occur through seeds being deposited too 

 deeply in the ground, or left too near the surface. Some- 

 times, for the want of a proper quantity of seed in a given 

 spot, solitary plants will perish, they not having sufficient 

 strength to open the pores of the earth, and very frequently 

 injudicious management in over manuring and improperly 

 preparing the soil causes defeat. 



In some sowings of seed made during dry weather, with 

 a drought following, a total failure often occurs from 

 neglecting to firmly press or roll in the seeds, so that when 

 they germinate the action of the heat and drought may not 

 affect the germ. We are satisfied that thousands of pounds 

 of Turnip, late Cabbage and other summer-sown seeds are 

 annually lost from this neglect. Never tread or roll in the 

 seeds when the ground is wet. 



Do not raise Egg Plants, etc., in the same hot-bed with 

 Cabbage, and other half-hardy plants that require air every 

 mild day; by such management one or the other must 

 suffer — heat being the principal requisite of tender plants, 

 and air that of the more hardy varieties. 



For instructions on these and all other points of Gar- 

 dening, the reader is referred to the reliable works on these 

 subjects, w T hich we mail postpaid on receipt of price. See 

 list in Catalogue. 



For the protection of the planter and the benefit of the 

 seller, are made thoroughly before the selling season at our 

 extensive greenhouse establishment, where each variety is 

 subjected to the most critical test, which places us in a 

 position to determine the germinating power. 



The trial grounds at our Riverton Farm are devoted to 

 the growing of all new and old varieties, and furnish 

 opportunity for comparison of their relative merits, and we 

 are thus enabled to quickly ascertain, to our customer's inter- 

 est, which sorts to recommend or discard. 



The annual offerings of supposed new sorts are large, but 

 the real increase of standard varieties is comparatively 

 small. Everything that is of any apparent value is bought 

 and subjected to rigid comparison ; if valuable, our cus- 

 tomers will find it in our next season's catalogue. 



SEED TESTS, 



The quality and permanency of the novelties we have 

 listed prove the truth of our assertions regarding novelties. 

 The standard varieties are also subjected to careful exam- 

 ination in order that their purity and value may be main- 

 tained. The sources of supply are noted, and we are thus 

 enabled to prove which section produces the best of any 

 given article. 



We shall be pleased to test at any time for our customers 



\ any novelty they may possess, and will endeavor to give 

 them a true statement of its character. During our long 



I connection with the seed trade many varieties have been 

 put upon the market simply on account of the ignorance 

 of the grower, who supposed he was sending out some 

 new thing because a variety did remarkably well on his 

 soil. 



Market Gardeners, requiring large quantities of Seed, will be furnished with special prices on application. 



