February 27 
i3o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
D. Landreth & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa.—A cata¬ 
logue of “ American-grown seeds.” The seed farms 
of this old firm comprise about 1,500 
acres, most of the land being owned in 
fee simple by the firm. We have never 
looked through a catalogue of more 
sterling worth. All of the important 
illustrations are from photographs and 
in no way overdrawn. This firm does 
not touch anything in the way of fruits 
or shrubs or trees. It is a sound, square 
catalogue addressed to market gardeners 
and farmers. The lists are as full as they 
can be, and the greatest care has, evi¬ 
dently, been exercised to select only 
those varieties that have been well tried. 
About 10 years ago, we made a compara¬ 
tive test of the earliest peas. We found 
none better than Landreth’s Extra Early, 
a photo-illustration of which appears at 
Fig. 61. 
Alfred Bridgeman, 37 E. 19th Street, 
New York.—Descriptive catalogue of 
vegetable and flower seeds. It is the 
same plain, concise, unpretentious cata¬ 
logue that this firm has issued during 
the past 22 years that we have known 
it. The house was established in 1824. 
Special lists are given to seeds adapted 
to greenhouse culture; to ornamental 
foliage plants suitable to borders and 
sub-tropical garden effects ; annuals for 
vases and banging baskets and for bou¬ 
quets. 
W. Ati.ee Burpee & Co., Philadelphia, 
Pa.—This catalogue of 150 pages is called 
Burpee’s Farm Annual. There are 10 
pages of novelties. One colored cover 
shows the new onion called Australian 
Brown ; a self-blanching celery, Rcse- 
ltibbed Paris, and a new cucumber, Ford- 
hook Pickling. The first cover page 
shows an artistic grouping of the new 
violet, Princess of Wales. This is de¬ 
scribed as being far ahead of California, 
to which we have already alluded from 
time to time ; of hardy, vigorous growth. 
The plants, we are told, are wonderfully 
free flowering, with stems from 10 to 12 
inches long. We have barely space to 
notice the more important novelties which are in¬ 
troduced exclusively by this firm. From the descrip¬ 
tions and illustrations, we would select as the best 
of these among vegetables, Ihe Australian Brown 
jSPbJl Globe onion ’ 
jHHjSfcl F o r d h o o k 
}> erg , - ^ .</'//' ■■ Pickling 
}>\ " \ V v 1 Jv# S-/J $//k ■' cucumber, 
Sweets water- 
melon, Aspar- 
\\%\ f\- - ugus pea . 
’ V, S \\% l *-ur- Osaka radish 
1 ^ ll' t( a large white 
[ -xV \ 1 ] winter radish) 
aluWv ' < , and the new 
Leafless rad¬ 
ish, Fig. 62. 
The first 
leaves of this 
last develop 
a b n o r mally, 
the second 
leaves not de¬ 
veloping until 
the roots are 
almost large enough to pull. The Asparagus pea is a 
leguminous plant (botanically Lotus Tetragonolo- 
bus), pictured as far back as the Botanical Maga¬ 
zine (London) (of ol787. •, Mr. Burpee's illustration 
is shown atuFig. 60. lt:is said to be beautiful as a 
flower and excellent as a vegetable. The Australian 
Salt bush (a Caenopodor Goosefoot, Atriplex) will in¬ 
terest many of our readers. It is said to be a valu¬ 
able forage plant for all regions subject to drought 
and for alkali soils. It is a perennial herb relished 
by all farm animals. The plants have a prostrate 
habit, covering the ground six inches thick. It grows 
readily from seed merely dropped on the soil, and 
requires no cultivation. Among flowers, the most im¬ 
portant novelties are Begonia Vulcan, Mikado strain 
of Japan Morning-glorys, Giant of California Cycla¬ 
men, together with the following new sweet peas : 
Aurora, Brilliant, Burpee’s New Countess, Golden 
Gate, Maid of Honor and new American seedlings. 
Henry A. Dreer. 7L4 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, 
Pa.—A seed and plant catalogue of the first class, 
with beautifully illuminated covers and 170 pages of 
print. There are also 16 pages of novelties—vege¬ 
tables, flowers and flower seeds. Among new cannas, 
the two beautiful ‘ orchid-flowered” varieties, Austria 
andltalia are offered ; the illustrationsshow the 9ow- 
by.WA.B.&Co 
ASPARAGUS PEA.C Fig. 60. 
ers to be about six inches in diameter. Itnlia is of a 
bright orange-scarlet, with a broad, golden border 
produced, it is said, on massive stems about six inches 
long, set well above the luxuriant foliage, similar to 
that of the banana plant (see Fig. 69). It seems that 
Austria is just like Italia in every way except in the 
color of its flowers, which are of a bright yePow color. 
White Lady is a new gladiolus which is said to be 
absolutely pure white. This firm makes specialties 
of ferns, palms, roses, hardy perennials and all sorts 
of bedding plants. Dawn is the name of a new 
Cosmos which the catalogue presents in colors ; pure 
white with a pinkish tint near the center. The plant 
is dwarf, beginning to bloom in July, continuing a 
mass of flowers until frost. Attention is also called 
to a new fringed hollyhock, Allegheny ; also, to many 
new antirrhinums, tuberous-rooted begonias, primu¬ 
las, cinerarias, carnations, dahlias, etc. 
D. M. Ferry, Detroit. Mich.—A Seed Annual of one 
of the largest establishments in America. There is 
a colored plate of two sweet peas, Katherine Tracy 
and Blanche Ferry. These were tried at the Rural 
Grounds last season, beside 50 other kinds. Not 
one other gave us more satisfaction. The Blanche 
Ferry was the earliest in the collection. Other colored 
illustrations are Evan’s Triumph celery, Mammoth 
White Cory sweet corn, and McCotter’s Pride musk- 
melon. It is claimed that this celery will keep longer 
than any other kind. The stalks are very large and 
solid, crisp and tender, and of a really nut-like flavor. 
The Mammoth Cory is said to be among the earliest, 
and that no other variety of extra early will compare 
with it in size. This firm, through many years, has 
given careful attention to the cultivation and im¬ 
provement of table peas, and is now the largest 
grower in America. By careful comparison, the firm 
is convinced that Ferry’s First and Best is the earliest 
and most even stock of extra early peas in existence, 
maturing so that a single picking will secure the 
entire crop. 
William Henry Maule, Philadelphia Pa.—This 
highly embellished work of 100 pages treats its read¬ 
ers to 10 colored plates. One of them shows La 
France : “ The most exquisite long-stemmed dahlia.” 
Another colored plate shows Maule’s Up-to-Date Ever- 
blooming roses. Another novelty is in the way of 
Verbenas, Nasturtiums, etc. Mr. Maule says that 
the Mortgage Lifter oats are well named. A good deal 
of space is devoted to the latest potatoes, the place 
of honor being given to Maule’s Early Thoroughbred. 
“ Perfection is at last attained” in this potato is Mr. 
Maule’s claim. Another colored plate shows the 
Grand Rapids lettuce, Evergreen cucum¬ 
ber, and Cardinal beet. Maule’s Improved 
Ruby-King pepper is described as “ the 
largest of all, most productive of all, and 
the best of all.” 
George W. P. Jerrard Company, Cari¬ 
bou, Me.—The specialty of this cata¬ 
logue is seed potatoes as hitherto, though 
it presents a careful selection of oats, 
field and sweet corn, beans, beets, cab¬ 
bages, cucumbers, melons, onions and 
the like. Mr. Jerrard says that he plants 
only smooth potatoes of desirable shape, 
discarding all prongy tubers, or such as 
show evidence of disease. By this care, 
it is claimed, strong, hardy strains of all 
the kinds offered have been established. 
Stored in cool cellars during the winter, 
they remain quite dormant so that, even 
late into May, there is no appearance of 
sprouting. Such seed, Mr. Jerrard claims, 
yields nearly double the number of mer¬ 
chantable potatoes that seed not so 
selected and retarded would yield. True 
portraits, with one exception, of all the 
leading potatoes catalogued are given, 
the one exception being the Beauty of 
Hebron, which is, evidently, that of some 
other variety. Mr. Jerrard considers the 
Early Harvest the earliest potato in ex¬ 
istence. All of the potatoes offered in 
this catalogue have been tried at the 
Rural Grounds. 
R. H. Shumway, Rockford, Ill.—The 
Illustrated Garden Guide. It is as to 
width and length of page, the largest 
catalogue which we receive. It is notable 
in another way. Ten times more space 
is given to illustrations as compared 
with reading matter than in any other 
catalogue. The subjects of the immense 
colored covers are the popular flowers 
and vegetables of the day. 
Wiley & Co., Cayuga, N. Y.—A plain, 
unassuming catalogue, 80 pages, of ap¬ 
ples, pears, cherries, plums, peaches, 
apricots, nectarines, grapes and all other 
small fruits, evergreen and deciduous 
trees and shrubs, vines, roses, border plants, etc. A 
list of the best Russian apples is presented. We are 
told which insects are most harmful to the plants and 
how best to combat them. 
John A. Salzer, La Crosse, Wis.—This catalogue 
has 141 pages devoted to seeds and plants for the 
garden and farm. Eight pages are filled with illus¬ 
trations and accounts of potatoes, many of which 
originated with the firm. Most of these have been 
triedat - 
the Rural 
Grounds, 
and a refer- 
e n c e to 
those re¬ 
ports may 
aid our read¬ 
ers in mak¬ 
ing their 
selections. 
The cata¬ 
logue claims 
that “ Sal- 
zer’s Earli¬ 
est Ripe ” 
fodder corn 
is the earliest and most perfect variety known. A 
good deal of space is given to fodder plants of all 
kinds. Illustrations give a good idea of the luxuri¬ 
ance of Teosinte, The Rural’s trials of which are well 
known to most of our readers. Salzer’s Fifty-Day to¬ 
mato was purchased from a gardener for §100 a seed. 
THE NEW LEAFLESS RADISH. Fig. 62. 
