D. M. FERRY & GO'S DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE 



The Essentials to the Proouctioiv of 



GOOD VEGETABLES 



and Beautiful Flowers 



CiAaH ^nil ^ "ch, sandy loam is the best, but a fair de- 

 VIUUU JUII 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 iKoral l\ianiirin<i A soil which does not need enrich- 

 LIUCI dl iTiailUl lllg ing in order to produce the best re- 

 sults is rarely found and very often success is in proportion 

 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 commercial fer- 

 tilizers, 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. 



Thorough Preparation Si^rtari^ifa^^ii'S'wS: 



out 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 partial 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 crum- 

 bled 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. 



Cifinfl SppH^ There is no more prolific source of disap- 

 viuuu iJJC/lSUd pointment and failure among amateur 

 Pmn<>rlv PI;infoH gardeners than hasty, careless or 

 riupiSliy riaillCU 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 secui-e 

 germination. The first steps are the softening of the hard, 

 outer shell and the leaves of the plant from the absorption 

 of water, resulting in the changing of the plant food from 

 the form of starch to that of sugar. In the form of starch 

 the food is easily preserved unchanged, but the plant can- 

 not use it. While in its sugary condition it is easily appro- 

 priated but perishable and if not used it speedily decays and 

 the plant is destroyed. A dry seed may retain its vitality 

 and remain unchanged for ye3,rs, but after germination has 

 commenced, a check of a day or two in the process may W 

 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 the pres- 

 sing 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 experience of 

 the most successful gardeners in your vicinity. 



Third— Covering the seed to such a depth that while a uni- 

 form 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 conditions of the soil; and 

 can be learned only from practical experience. 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. 



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