D. M. FERRY & CO., DETROIT, MICH. 
11 
The Essentials to the Production of 
Good Vegetables and Beautiful Flowers 
- , j c *1 A rich, sandy loam is the best, but a fair de- 
CjOOa DOll gree of success may be secured from any 
soil which can be made rich and friable. Vegetables of the 
best quality cannot be grown on barren sand, a cold, hard, 
lumpy clay, nor in the shade of orchard or other trees. 
_ . m- • A soil which does not need en- 
Llberal IVlanuring riching in order to produce the 
best results is rarely found and very often success is in pro¬ 
portion to the liberality with which fertilizers have been 
used. Well decomposed stable manure where straw bedding 
lias been used is the best; manure where sawdust has been 
used for bedding is not so good. Often wood ashes at the 
rate of one peck up to one bushel to the square rod will be 
of great benefit. Commercial fertilizers are excellent and 
may be used at the rate of 4 to 12 pounds to the square rod 
and the more concentrated forms, such as Nitrate of Soda, 
Guano, Dried Blood and Potash Salts, at the rate of one to 
six pounds to the rod. A mass or lump of any of the com¬ 
mercial fertilizers, even if it is but a quarter of an inch in 
diameter, is liable to kill any seed or young plant which 
comes in contact with it, so it is very important if such 
fertilizers be used that they be thoroughly pulverized and 
mixed with the soil. 
i r» . • Rich soil and liberal man- 
1 horough Preparation uring will avail little 
without thorough preparation. The soil must be made 
friable by thorough and judicious working; if this is welt 
done all that follows will be easy: if it is neglected, only par¬ 
tial success is possible and that at the cost of a great deal.of 
hard work. Tlie garden should be well plowed or dug to a 
good depth, taking care, if it is a clay soil, that the work is 
not done when it is too wet. If a handful from the furrow 
moulds with slight pressure into a ball which cannot be 
easily crumbled into fine earth again, the soil is too wet 
and if stirred then will be hard to work all summer. The 
surface should be made as fine and smooth as possible with 
the harrow or rake. It is generally desirable to plow the 
whole garden at once and to do this in time for the earliest 
crops, but the part which is not planted for some weeks 
should be kept mellow by frequent cultivation. 
C* J C J There is no more prolific source of dis- 
VjOOfl Deeds appointment and failure among amateur 
gardeners than hasty, careless 
1 i idiucu or improper sowing of the seed. 
A seed consists of a minute plant enclosed in a hard and more 
or less impervious shell with a sufficient amount of food 
stowed in or around the germ to sustain it until it can ex¬ 
pand its leaves, form roots and provide for itself. Moisture, 
neat and a certain amount of air are necessary to secure 
germination. The germinating seed first absorbs water and 
swells. The starchy matters gradually become soluble. 
The seed-coats are ruptured, the stemlet and bud emerge. 
The embryo lives for a time on the stored food, but grad¬ 
ually the plantlet secures a foothold in the soil and gathers 
food for itself. Germination is complete when the plantlet , 
is able to shift for itself. A dry seed may retain its vital¬ 
ity and remain unchanged for years, but after germination 
has commenced a check of a day or two in the process may 
be fatal. There is no time in the life of a plant when it is so 
susceptible of injury from the over abundance or want of 
sufficient heat and moisture as at the period between the 
commencement of germination and the formation of the 
first true leaves. It is just then that the gardener should 
aid in securing favorable conditions. These are: 
FIRST— A proper and constant degree of moisture. The 
soil should always be moist, never wet. This is secured by 
making the surface of freshly dug soil so fine and by press¬ 
ing it over the seed so firmly with a roller 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 the germination of the seed of that particular plant. 
Too high a temperature is often as detrimental as one too 
low. The proper temperature for each sort may be learned 
from a careful study of the following pages and the ex¬ 
perience 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 
necessary 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 condi¬ 
tions of the soil and can be learned only from practical ex¬ 
perience. In general, seeds of the size of the turnip should 
not be coverea with more than half an inch of earth pressed 
down, while corn may be an inch, beans an inch to two 
inches and peas one to three inches deep. 
