D. M. FERRY Sl GO'S DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE, 



There is no more prolific 

 source of disappointment 

 and failure among amateur 

 gardeners than hasty, care- 

 less or improper sowing of 

 the seed. A seed consists 

 of a minute plant minus 

 the roots, with a sufificient amount of food stowed in or 

 around it to sustain it until it can expand its leaves, form 

 roots and provide for itself, the whole enclosed in a hard and 

 more or less impervious shell. To secure germination, moist- 

 ure, heat and a certain amount of air are necessary. The 

 first steps are the softening of the hard, outer shell, the 

 developing of the leaves of the plant from the absorption of 

 water, and the changing of the plant food from the form of 

 starch to that of sugar. In the first condition the food was 

 easily preserved unchanged, but the plant with its unde- 

 veloped leaves and no root was incapable of using it, while in 

 its sugary condition it is easily appropriated, but if not used 

 it speedily decays itself and induces decay in the plant. A 

 seed then may retain its vitality and remain unchanged for 

 years, while after germination has commenced, a check of a 

 day or two in the process may be fatal. There is no time 

 from that when the seed falls from the parent plant until it 

 in turn produces seed, when the plant is so susceptible of 

 fatal injury from the overabundance or from the want of 

 sufficient heat and moisture, as between germination and the 

 formation of the first true leaves, and it is just then that it 

 needs the aid of a gardener to secure favorable conditions. 

 These are: 



First. — A proper and constant degree of moisture without 

 being soaked with w^ater. This is secured by making the sur- 

 face of freshly dug soil so fine and the pressing of the soil over 

 the seeds so firmlj^ with the feet 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 germination. 'J'oo high a tempei'ature is as detrimental to 

 some kinds as one too low is to others. The proper tempera- 

 ture 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 

 uniform degree of heat and moisture is preserved the neces- 

 sary 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 onlj^ from practical experience. In gen- 

 eral, seeds of the size of the turnip should be covered with 

 half an inch of earth pressed down, while corn may be an 

 inch, beans an inch to two inches and peas two to six inches 

 deep. 



Fourth. — Such condition of soil that the ascending stem 

 can easily penetrate it. and the young roots speedily find 

 suitable food. We can usually secure this by thorough pre- 

 paration of the ground, and taking care never to soiv fine 

 seeds ivhen the ground is ivet. Occasionally a heavy or long 

 continued rain followed by a bright sun will so bake and crust 

 the surface that it is impossible for the young plant to find 

 its way through it, or a few days of strong wind will so dry 

 the surface that no seed can germinate. In such cases the 

 only remedy is to plant again. 



Not only aauld every 

 weed be removed as soon as 

 it appears, but the crust 

 which forms after a rain 

 should be broken up and the ground stirred as soon as 

 it is dry enough to permit it. The more frequently and 

 deeply the soil is stirred while the plants are young the bet- 

 ter, but as they develop and the roots occupy the ground, 

 cultivation should be shallower until it becomes a mere stirr- 

 ing of the surface. We have seen hundreds of acres of 

 vegetables where the yield and quality has been materially 

 lowered by injudiciously deep and close cultivation after the 

 roots of the plants had fully occupied the ground. 



HOT=BEDS. 



For early vegetables, some provision for starting certain 

 plants earlier than can be done in the open air is necessary ; 

 for this purpose nothing is better than a good hot-bed, and 

 its construction is so simple and the expense so light that 

 every garden should have one. A hot-bed proper not onlj^ 

 protects the plants from the cold, but supplies bottom heat. 

 By this term the gardener means that the soil is eonstantlj' 

 kept several degrees warmer than the air above, that being 

 the condition so far as heat is concerned, which is most 

 favorable for rapid and vigorous growtli. It is evident that 

 to produce this we must in some way apply our heat below 

 the surface, and it is usually done by making a compact pile 

 of some fermenting material and covering it with the earth 

 in which the plants are to grow. 



The best heating mater- 

 ial that is easily available 

 is/res/i horse manure, con- 

 taining a liberal quantity of 

 bedding of straw or leaves. 

 Such manure, if thrown 

 into a loose pile, will heat violently- and unevenly and 



CULTIVATION 



HEATING 

 MATERIAL 



MAKING . 

 THE BED 



will soon become cold. What is wanted in the hot-bed is a 

 steady and moderate but lasting heat. To secure this, the 

 manure should be forked over, and if dry, watered and allowed 

 to stand a few days and then be forked over again, piled and 

 allowed to heat a second time, when, after a few days more, 

 it will be ready for use. The object of this repeated forking 

 over and piling is to get the whole mass into a uniform degree 

 of fermentation. 



Gardeners commonly use 

 sash made especially for 

 hot-beds and glazed with 

 small lights cut from odds 

 and ends and so furnished at very low rates. Such sash 

 can usually be procured in any of our large cities, and cost 

 much less than if made to order. For garden use. however, 

 we much prefer a small size that can be easily handled, and 

 the use of larger and better glass. We would recommend 

 that the sash be three by five feet, and that the glass be not 

 less than l0xl4, laid with not more than one-quar-ter inch lap. 

 In giving the order to one unaccustomed to the work, it 

 would be well to state w hat they are to be used for, and that 

 they need to be made like skylight sash. 



This may be made of 

 sound one-inch lumber, the 

 back twelve to fourteen 

 inches high, the front ten 

 to twelve. It should be well fitted to the sash so as to leave 

 as little opening as possible and yet allow the sash to be 

 easily slid up and down, even when the frame is quite wet. 



This should be liuht, rich, 

 friable. Any considerable 

 amount of clay in it is very 

 objectionable. If possible, 



it should be quite dry and unfrozen when put into the bed; 



for this reason it is much better to prepare it the fall before 



and cover the pile with enough coarse manure or straw to 



keep out frost. 



1*his requires careful at- 

 tention, as future success 

 depends largely upon the 

 manner in which this work 

 is done. Having cleared 

 away all snow and ice. build 

 a rectangular bed one foot larger each way than the frame to 

 be used, carefully shaking out and spreading each forkful, 

 and repeatedly treading down the manure so as to make the 

 bed as uniform as possible in solidity, composition and mois- 

 ture. It is of the xitmost importance that this shaking apart 

 and evenly pressing down of the manure should be carefully 

 and thoroughly done: unless this is done one portion will heat 

 quicker than the others, and the soil will settle unevenly, 

 making it impossible to raise good plants. The proper depth 

 of the bed will vary with the climate, season, and the kind of 

 plants to be raised. A shallow bed will give a quick, sharp 

 heat and soon subside; a deeper one, if well made, will heat 

 more moderately but continue much longer. For general 

 purposes, a bed one and a-half to two feet deep will be best. 



The bed completed, the frame and sash may be put on. and 

 fresh manure carefully packed around the' outside to the 

 very top (if the weather is at all severe, this outside banking 

 should be replenished as it settles). The bed should then be 

 allowed to stand with the sash partially open for a day or 

 two to allow the steam and rank heat to pass off. The earth 

 should then be put on and carefully leveled. Care should 

 be taken that the soil is dry and friable. If wet or frozen 

 soil must be used, it should be placed in small piles until Avell 

 dried out before spreading. The heat at first will be quite 

 violent, frequently rising to 120 degrees, but it soon subsides, 

 and ichen it recedes to 90 degrees the seed may be planted. 

 The importance of using dry soil and allowing the first rant 

 heat to pass off is very great. Every season thousands of hot- 

 beds fail of good i-esults from these causes, and seedsmen are 

 blamed for failure resulting from over heat or wet. soggy soil. 



The essentials for success 

 are a steady, uniform de- 

 gree of heat and moisture: 

 keeping the soil at all times 

 a few degrees warmer than 

 the air, and the careful 

 "hardening off" (bj' exposure to the air and diminishing 

 the supply of water) of the plants before transplanting into 

 the open air. Simple as these may seem to be there are many 

 difficulties in the way of securing them, prominent among 

 which are overheating the air under a bright sun. Without 

 experience one would scarcely believe how quickly the tem- 

 perature inside of a well built hot-bed will rise to IXi or 100 

 degrees upon a still, suimy day. even when the temperature 

 outside is far below freezing, or how quickly the temperature 

 will fall to that outside, if upon a windy, cloudy day the sash 

 is left open ever so little: besides, such a rush of cold air 

 driven over the plants is far more injurious than the same 

 temperature when the air is still. Again, a bed will go 

 several days without watering when kept closed duiing cloudy 

 weather, but will dry up in an hour when open on a sunny 

 day. The details of management, however, must be learned 

 by expei'ience. but may easily be acquired by one who gives 

 the matter careful attention, keeping constantly in mind the 

 essentials given above. 



MANAGEMENT 

 OF THE BED 



