DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE, 



Illustrated and DescriptiYe Catalogue 



WITH 



GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR CULTIVATION. 



^°Tbe Terms and Prices of Vegetable Seeds will be found in the Retail Price List, in 



the last part of this Catalogne. 



ARTICHOKE. 



French, Artichaut . — German, Artischoke. 



Culture. — Sow in seed beds early in spring, in drills 

 twelve inches apart. Prepare permanent beds by trench- 

 ing or ver>- deep spading and thorough enriching with 

 well decomposed manure, a hea\-y dressing of leaehed 

 ashes and two quarts of salt to each three square rods. 

 When the plants are six inches high transplant into 

 beds, setting them about two by three feet apart. Keep 

 well cultivated, and remove the heads for lise and cut 

 the aalk to the ground before the scales begin to open, 

 because if the flowers expand it weakens the plant. In the 

 fall cover with manure, which should be spaded in the 

 next spring, taking care not to injure the crowns of the 

 plants. The crop is the largest and best the second 

 year, after which the bed should be renewed by seed or 

 suckers. 



Large Globe. — The garden Artichoke is esteemed a 

 great luxury by epicures. The edible portion is the un- 

 developed flo\rer head, which is only fit far use before it 

 begins to open its bloom ; it is about the size and some- 

 what the shape of a small pine apple. 



JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 



In no way resembling the above, except that its tubers 

 when cooked have the same taste and flavor. The plant 

 yields an immense crop of tubers, which are the richest in 

 fat producing elements of any of our cultivated roots. 

 Cultivate the same as potatoes, and take care to remove all 

 the small roots, for if left in the ground they wUJ corae 

 up the next spring and may become a troublesome weed. 



"asparagus. 



Fr. Asperge.-G&r. Spargel. 

 A most valuable vegeta- 

 ble, not only because of its 

 healthfulness but from its 

 being one of the first to 

 come to our tables in the 

 spring. Every garden 

 should contain a bed, but 

 many people are deterred 

 from making one because 

 of the idea that it is very 

 difficult and requires great 

 skill and much labor to pre- 

 pare aod maintain it ; yet 

 we think there is scarcely a 

 vegetable on our list that 

 can l>e produced for a term 

 of years so cheaply and eas- 



ily as this, and any one following the directions given 

 below will be almost certain of success. 



CtTLTURE. — If you wish to raise your own plants, pre- 

 pare a light, rich spot as early as possible in the spring. 

 Soak the seed twenty four hours in warm water and sow in 

 drills one foot apart. When the plants are well up, thin 

 to three or four inches in the row and give frequent and 

 thorough cultivation during the summer. The second 

 season prepare a permanent bed by deep spading or 

 trenching, working in a good quantity of well roUed 

 manure. Dig trenches four feet apart and twelve to 

 sixteen inches deep, and spade in at least four inches of 

 well rotted manure in the bottom. Set the plants in the 

 trench eighteen inches apart, covermg them with about 

 two inches of fine soil. After the plants are up gradu- 

 ally fill up the trenches, and give frequent and thorough 

 cultivation. The second season, early ia the 



spring, spade in a heavy dressing of naanure and aWut 

 two quarts of salt to the square rod. Cultivate well, 

 and in the fall cut and buHi the tops. The next season 

 it may be cut for the table two or three times, taking 

 care to cut all as fast as it appears. After the final wit- 

 ting spade in a liberal dressing of fine manure and sow 

 one quart of salt to the square rod. The next season 

 and ever after that the bed should give a full crop, but 

 should be annually manured after the last cutting and 

 well cultivated through the remainder of the summer. 



Conover's Colossal.— A mammoth variety of vigor- 

 ous growth, sending up from fifteen to forty sprouts 

 from one to two inches in diameter. Color, deep green, 

 and crown ver>' close. 



Giant. — The old, favorite variety, producing abund- 

 antly. Tops green or purple, according to the soil in 

 which they are raised. 



BEANS-Dwa4 Bush or Snap. 



Fr. Haricot — Ger. Bohne. . 



Under this name are classed all the low-lowing sorts, 

 called in different catalogues Bush^ Bunchy Snap^ 

 String ox Dwarf Beans. 



Clltlt«e. — They are so extremely sensitive of frost 

 and cold, that it is useless to plant them before the mid- 

 dle of spring, when the ground has become warm and 

 light; Hoe often to stir the ground, but only when dr\-, 

 because earth scattered on the leaves when they are wet 

 with dew or rain will cause them to rust, and greativ 

 injure the crop. Plant three to five seeds m hills two 

 and a half to three feet apart, or six seeds to the foot in 

 drills the same distance. 



D. M. Ferry & Co's Golden Wax.— A variety in- 

 troduced and named by ourseh-es five or six years ago. 



