1866.] 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
6i 
A New Hybrid Pink—“ Sarah Howard.” 
Last autumn we saw in the grounds of one of 
our florists, a new double white Pink, which 
was such a profuse bloomer as to readily attract 
attention. At our request he has given the fol¬ 
lowing description, which we 
accompany with an engraving 
of a flowering branch which 
will show its general character, 
especially its great profusion of 
buds and flowers: “This valu¬ 
able addition to our new plants 
was originated by A. G. How¬ 
ard, Florist, of Utica, H. Y., an 
accurate and close observer in 
all matters pertaining to flori¬ 
culture. It is somewhat of a 
nondescript—evidently a hy¬ 
brid between a white China 
Pink, and white Monthly Car¬ 
nation.—From seed sown in 
the green house last March, the 
plants began to bloom about 
middle of July, in the open 
border, and continued in won¬ 
derful profusion until October, 
when they were lifted and pot¬ 
ted and placed in the green¬ 
house, and now (middle of De¬ 
cember) are literally covered 
with buds and flowers. The 
flower is of the purest white, 
most symmetrical in form, and 
in the different varieties—for 
there are many—varying from 
2 to 3 inches in diameter; out of 
75 plants raised from seed, on¬ 
ly two were single, a most un¬ 
usual feature in Carnations or 
Pinks of any kind. As a white 
Pink for continuous summer or 
winter blooming, it will fill up 
a blank that has long existed. 
Mr. Howard informs me that it 
is quite hardy even at Utica, 
where the thermometer occa¬ 
sionally marks 20° below zero, 
or that when sown in January 
or struck from cuttings it will 
bloom continuously from July 
throughout the season, which 
was well borne out by my ex¬ 
perience of it last summer. It 
seeds freely even from douUe 
flowers, roots as quickly from 
slips as a Fuchsia or Geranium, 
and is a robust though compact 
grower. There is little doubt 
but that it can be easily hybridized by color¬ 
ed varieties of the monthly Carnation, when 
we may expect a rich treat by the opening 
up of a new class in this most beautiful tribe.” 
ers a few of the conditions necessary for the 
germination of the different varieties of seeds. 
The great want of knowledge in this matter 
is too often the cause of much undeserved 
censure upon the seedsman, for in nine cases 
out of tea the failure is not with the seeds. 
How, 'When and Where to Sow Seeds. 
[The following article is by Mr. Peter Hender¬ 
son, of the firm of Henderson & Fleming, of 
this city, well known seed dealers. It must not, 
however, be regarded as a seedman’s plea, for 
Mr. H. has been and still is a market gardener 
and florist on an extensive scale, and gives here 
the results of long practice. Mr. H. has intima¬ 
ted his intention to give us other articles relat¬ 
ing to-market gardening, a subject upon which 
his experience has well qualified him to treat.] 
As the season of seed sowing is again ap¬ 
proaching, permit ihe to lay before your read* 
NEW HYBRID PINK, “SARAH HOWARD.” 
but results from the time or manner of planting. 
When the owner of a garden sends his list of 
seeds to the seedsman, it is generally a complete 
list of all he wants for the season. They are 
received and the interesting operation of sow¬ 
ing is begun. First in a hot-bed, if he has one, 
often as early as the first week in February, 
(a month too soon by the way,) and in go indis- 
icriminately, at the same date, and under the 
same sash, his seeds of cabbage, cauliflower, let¬ 
tuce, and egg plant, peppers and tomatoes. Yet 
even in the waning heat of this early hot-bed, 
where a thermometer would possibly not in¬ 
dicate more than fifty degrees, he finds in a 
week or so his cabbage, lettuce, and cauliflower 
“coming through,” nicely, but as yet no egg 
plants, pepper, or tomatoes. He impatiently 
waits another week,—makes an examination 
and discovers that instead of his tomatoes and 
egg plants beginning to vegetate, they are be¬ 
ginning to rot. It is now plain to him that he 
has,been cheated; he has been sold old seed, 
and if he does nothing worse, he for ever after 
looks upon the seedsman he has patronized, as 
a venal wretch, destitute of principle and 
honesty. But he must have tomatoes, peppers, 
and egg plants, and he buys 
again, from another seedsman, 
warranted honest. He renews 
his hot-bed, it is now a month 
later, and a bright March sun, 
with milder nights, gives him 
the proper temperature in his 
hot-bed—70 or 80 degrees, and 
his eyes are at last gladdened 
by the sprouting of the trouble¬ 
some seed. April comes with 
warm sunshine inviting him to 
begin to “make garden” out¬ 
side. He has yet the balance 
of his original lot of seeds that 
he bought in Februaiy. But 
as he is still entirely befogged 
about the cause of his failure 
in the first hot-bed, he begins 
his open ground operations 
with little confidence in his 
seeds, but as he has got them 
they may as well be tried. And 
again he sows in the same day 
his peas and Lima beans, ra¬ 
dishes and pumpkin,s, onions 
and sweet corn. Hardy and 
tender get the same treatment. 
The result must of necessity be 
the same as it was in the hot¬ 
bed, the hardy seeds duly vege¬ 
tate, while the tender are rotted 
of course. This time he is not 
surprised for he is already con¬ 
vinced that seedsman No. 1 is a 
rascal and only wonders how 
any of his seeds grew at all, so 
he again orders from seedsman 
No. 2 for the articles that have 
failed. Here circumstances con¬ 
tinue to favor the latter, for by 
this time the season has ad¬ 
vanced in its temperature and 
the seeds duly vegetate. Every 
farmer knows that, in this lati¬ 
tude, he can sow oats or wheat 
in March and April, but that if 
he sows his corn or pumpkins 
at the same time, they will per¬ 
ish ; this he knows, but he may 
not know that what is true of 
the crops of the farm, is equal¬ 
ly true of the garden. Hence 
the importance of a knowledge of the season 
when to sow vegethble seeds or set out plants. 
The temperature best fitted for the germina¬ 
tion of seeds of the leading kinds will be best 
understood by the tabular form given below. 
Vegetable seeds that may 
be sown in this latitude from 
the middle of March to the 
end of April, Thermometer 
in the shade averaging 45°. 
Beet. 
Carrot. 
Cress. 
Celery. 
Cabbage. 
Lettuce. 
Parsley. 
Parsnip. 
Onions. 
Peas. 
Cauliflower. Radish. 
Endive. Turnip. 
Kale. Spinach. 
Vegetable seeds that may 
be sown in the open ground 
in this latitude from the 
middle of May to the middle 
of June. Thermometer in 
the shade averaging 60°. 
Lima Beans. WalerMelon. 
Busli “ Squash. 
Cranberry Pumpkin. 
pole Beans. Tomato. 
Scarlet run- Nasturtium. 
ner Beans. Okra. 
Sweet Corn. Cucumber. 
Musk Melon. 
Flower seeds of all kinds had better not be 
sown before the middle of May. There may be 
a few exceptions but they are hardly of im¬ 
portance enough to be mentioned here. It wid 
