DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 
17 
Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue 
WITH 
GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR CULTIVATION. 
^?rThe Terms and Prices of Vegetable Seeds will be found in the Retail Price List, in 
tbe last part of this Catalogue. 
ARTICHOKE. 
French, Ariichaut. —German, Artischokc. 
Culture. — Sow in seed beds early in spring, in drills 
twelve inches apart. Prepare permanent beds by trench¬ 
ing or very deep spading and thorough enriching with 
well decomposed manure, a heavy 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 use and cut 
the stalk 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 flower head, which is only fit for use before it 
begins to open its bloom ; it is about the siae 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 will come 
up the next spring and may become a troublesome weed. 
ASPARAGUS. 
Fr. Asperg r.-Ger. 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 and maintain it ; yet 
we think there is scarcely a 
vegetable on our list that 
can be produced for a term 
of years so cheaply and eas¬ 
ily as this, and any one following the directions given 
below will be almost certaia of success. 
Culture. —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 rotted 
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, covering 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 in the 
spring, spade in a heavy dressing of manure and about 
two quarts of salt to the square rod. Cultivate well, 
and in the fall cut and busn 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 cut¬ 
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 very close. 
Giant. — The old, favorite variety, producing abund¬ 
antly. Tops green or purple, according to the soil in 
which they are raised. 
BEANS—Dwarf, Bush or Snap. 
Fr. Haricot —Ger. Bohne. 
Under this name are classed all the low-growing sorto, 
called in different catalogues Busk , Bunch, Snap, 
String- or Dwarf Beans. 
Culture. —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 dry, 
because earth scattered on the leaves when they are wet 
with dew or rain will cause them to rust, and greatly 
injure the crop. Plant three to five seeds in 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 ourselves five or six years ago. 
Asparagus. 
2 
