D. M. FERRY & CO'S DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



31 



MUSTMRD, 



French. Moutard. German, Senf. 



Mustard is not only used as a condiment, but the green 

 leaves are used as a salad, or cut and boiled like spinage. 



Ctlttre.— Should be the same as that of cress. 



GOLDEN. — A new and very superior sort, having broad 

 leaves of a rich, lemon color, which they retain after cook- 

 ing. In flavor it is superior to the old sorts and is also fully 

 equal to them in hardii • 



MUTHERN GIANT CURLED.— This mustard is very 

 highly esteemed in the South, where the seed is sown in the 

 fall, and-the plants used very early in the spring as a salad. 

 The seed is brown and produces plants which grow about 

 two feet high and form enormous branches, six of which will 

 rill an ordinary barrel. 



WHITE ENGLISH.— The leaves are light green, mild 

 and tender when young; seed light yellow. 



NASTURTIUM. 



French. Capucine. German. Kapuziner Kress. 

 Culture.— Sow after the ground is warm, in drills one inch 

 r- c <- .. -. deep, by the side of 



IS , a fence, trellis work. 



7 or some other sup- 

 port, to climb upon 

 M- tfgf© // V/_ They will th " 



Vgj| #» \ /{££?% Z° od ? TOund 

 *;^VJ^il- >«,'- most any si1 



WE* 





Nasturtium. 

 For other varieties see Flower Seeds. 



They will thrive 



in al- 

 situation. 

 but are more produc- 

 tive in a light soil. 



TALL MIXED. 



—Cultivated both for 

 use and ornament. 

 Its beautiful, orange 

 colored flowers serve 

 as a garnish for 

 dishes, and the young- 

 leaves are excellent 

 for salads. The flow- 

 er buds, scarcely 

 formed. and the 

 green seed pods pre- 

 served in vinegar, 

 make a pickle great- 

 ly esteemed by 

 many. 



OKRM, 



French. Gombo. German. Ocher. 



This is an annual from the West Indies, cultivated for its 

 green seed pods, which are used in soups or stewed and 

 served like asparagus. It is highly esteemed in the South 

 for making gumbo soup. The pods when young and tender 

 should be sliced in sections, strung on a thread and hung up 

 in the shade to cure like dried apples: in this condition they 

 can be used for soup at any time. 



Culture. — Sow the seed thinly in dry. warm soil, in shal- 

 low drills two feet apart. After the plants are up. thin them 

 out to nine inches apart: hoe frequently and draw a little 

 earth to the stems as they continue to grow. Gather the 

 pods when quite green, and about an inch and a-half long. 



WHITE VELVET.— This variety is a great improvement 

 on the old White or the Green, the plant is of medium 

 height, bearing a large crop of white, smooth, tender pods, 

 which retain their tenderness until nearly full sized. 



DWARF WHITE.— The longest podded variety. Two 

 and a-half feet high, very productive; mature pods afoot 

 long, very thick and fleshy. 



ONION. 



French. Ognon. German. Zwiebeln . 



The onion not only contains considerable nutriment and 

 has valuable medicinal properties, but is most useful in 

 counteracting the bad effects of sedentary life. The dis- 

 agreeable odor it imparts to the breath may be avoided in a 

 great measure by thorough cooking, or by eating a few 

 leaves of parsley. 



There is no vegetable where the quality of the seed exerts 

 a greater influence upon the crop than in onions. On our 

 trial grounds we have found a difference of over 400 per cent, 

 in the marketable product of two rows of onions planted the 

 same day side by side, thinned to the same Dumber of plants 

 to the rod. hoed and treated in every way precisely alike, the 

 difference being entirely in the sowings, which were samples 

 of seed offered us by two growers. Here, then, if nowhere 

 else, the greatest care should be taken to secure the best pos- 

 sible seed. Seed grown in the North will be pretty sure to 

 produce better onionswhen sown in the Southern States than 

 southern grown seed. 



We make a specialty of onion seed, and grow and dispose 

 of many tons annually. The demand for ottr seed has 

 increased so rapidlythat we are yearly increasing our facili- 



ties for growing, so that we think we annually prodno 

 our seed farms near Detroit the largest crop grown by any- 

 one firm in America. Our stock is all grown from choice . 

 selected bulbs, under our own supervision, therefore I 

 who order seed of us will be sure of getting new, choict 

 of the best quality. 



HOW TO RAISE ONIONS. 



This is a question we are asked many times every year, and 

 which we will try to answer from our experience in ra 

 many thousands of bushels. 



Soil A good crop of onions can be raised on any soil 



which will produce a full crop of corn, unless it be a stiff 

 clay, very light sand or gravel, or certain varieties of muck 

 or swamp lands. We prefer a rich, sand}- loam, with a light 

 mixture of clay. This is much better if it has been cultivated 

 with hoed crops, kept clean of weeds and well manured for 

 two years previous, because if a sufficient quantity of manure 

 to raise an ordinary soil to a proper degree of fertility is 

 applied at once, it is likely to make the onions soft. Large 

 and fine crops of onions are often raised on black muck 

 lands, but they must be "sweet "and well drained. Ordi- 

 nary swamp land will not do. and even on the best of muck 

 the first crop is apt to be soft and " necky." 



Manure.— There is no crop where a liberal use of manure 

 is more essential than in this. Even on the deep, black muck 

 onion lands of the Western Reserve, manure is essential to a 

 good crop, and not only is the quantity but the quality of the 

 manure used of the greatest importance. If it is too rank it 

 is quite sure to make soft onions, with many -eallions. It 

 should be well fermented and shoveled over at least twice 

 during the previous summer to kill weed seeds. Of the com- 

 mercial manures, we prefer fine ground bone to any other, 

 but large crops are raised by the use of superphosphates. If 

 these manures are used, one-half should be applied when the 

 crop is sown, and the rest just before they begin to form 

 bottoms. 



Preparation.— In time to complete the work before the 

 ground freezes up. remove all refuse of previous crops, and 

 spread the composted manure evenly, at the rate of about fifty 

 cart loads to the acre. This should first be cultivated in. and 

 then the ground ploughed a moderate depth, taking a narrow 

 furrow, in order more thoroughly to mix the manure with the 

 soil. Carefully avoid tramping on the ground during the 

 winter, and as early in the spring as it can be worked, culti- 

 vate or thoroughly drag it with a heavy harrow, and then in 

 the opposite direction with a light one. after which the entire 

 surface should be raked with steel hand rakes. It is impossi- 

 ble to cultivate the crop economically unless the rows are 

 perfectly straight: to secure this, stretch a line along one 

 side, fourteen feet from the edge, and make a distinct mark 

 | along it: then, having made a wooden marker something like 

 ! a giant rake with five teeth about a foot long and standing 

 fourteen inches apart, make four more marks by carefully 

 drawing it with the outside tooth in. and the head at right 

 angles to the perfectly straight mark made by the line. Con- 

 tinue to work around'this line until on the third passage of 

 the marker you reach the side of the field where you began : 

 measure fifteen feet two inches from the last row. stretch the 

 line again, and mark around in the same way. This is much 

 better than to stretch a line along one side, as it is impossible 

 to prevent the rows gradually becoming crooked, and by this 

 plan we straighten them after every third passage of the 

 marker. 



Sowing the Seed.— This should be done as soon as the 

 ground can be got ready, and can best be dene by a hand 

 seed drill. This should be carefully ad justed (testing it by 

 running it over a barn floor), to sow the desired quantity of 

 seed and about one-half inch deep. The quantity needed 

 will vary with the soil, the seed used, and the kind of onions 

 I desired.* Thin seeding gives much larger onions than thick. 

 Four or five pounds is the usual quantity needed to groTt 

 large onions. We use a drill with a roller attached, but if 

 the drill has none, the ground should be well rolled with a 

 hand roller immediately after the seed is planted. 



Cultivation.— As soon as the onions are up so they can be 

 seen the length of the row. give them the first hoeing, just 

 skimming the ground between the rows. We use a hoe 

 made expressly for this purpose. The blade is eight inches 

 long and one and a-half broad, with a long, crooked shank 

 set in a handle five feet long. The shape of the hoe allows 

 the earth to pass over the blade without moving it out of its 

 place. A few days after give them the second hoeing, this 

 time close up to the plants, after which weeding must l>e 

 continued. This operation requires to be carefully and 

 thoroughly done. The weeder must get down to his work on 

 his knees astride of the row. stirring the earth around the 

 plants, in order to destroy any weeds that have just started 

 and cannot be seen. In ten days or two weeks they will 

 require another hoeing and weeding similar to the last: and 

 two weeks later give them still another hoeing, and if neces- 

 sary another weeding. If the work has been t) ■ 

 done, and at the proper time, the crop will not need any- 

 thing more until ready to gather. 



Gathering*— As soon as the tops die and fall the crop 

 should be gathered by pulling four rows and laying them in 

 a single one. the tops all one way. and then returning on the 

 next four, forming a similar row. but with the tops in the 

 opposite direction: laying the tops in this way greatly faeih- 



