DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 
9 
FORM. Ihe form will often depend *pon ^the situation of the garden or the inclination of the ground; 
however, it is of no great importance, and may be arranged to suit the peculiar taste of the proprietor. When it is 
a matter of choice, a square or parallelogram is most convenient for laying out the walks and beas. A parallelogram 
extending from east to west gives a long south wall for shading plants in summer, and a long, sheltered border for 
forwarding early crops. In plantation gardening, an oblong square shape has the advantage of giving longer rows 
for the plow. 
UNDERDRAINING.— There are but few gardens that would not be materially benefitted by being 
thoroughly underdrained. The ground could be worked earlier in the spring, the plants would resist drought bet¬ 
ter, would not be injured so much by a wet season, and, as a rule, be vastly more productive. We have over fifty 
miles of tile laid on our seed farms near Detroit, and think thorough underdraining one of the best investments a 
gardener or farmer can make. We use brick tile two or three inches in diameter, laid three feet deep, from one to 
two rods apart, and so inclined as to carry off the surface water from the subsoil. 
MANURES.— Regarding as a manure every substance which, when added to the soil, promotes directly or indi¬ 
rectly the growth of plants, a list of manures would be a long one and of little use to the amateur gardener unless 
accompanied by minute directions for the successful application of each substance. We have been more successful 
in the use of a compost of stable manure, earth, ashes, soot, charcoal dust, lime, salt, plaster, etc. than with any¬ 
thing else. A thick coating of hog-pen or barn-yard manure thus composted spread on the garden and turned in 
every spring will enrich, warm and lighten the ground better than any other application. If barn-yard manures 
must be employed in a fresh state they should be well mixed with the soil and given to coarse feeding crops, such 
as corn and peas, but nearly all plants do better if the manure is composted and fully fermented before use. 
Where animal manure cannot be had in quantity, the most desirable substitute is a concentrated fertilizer 
manufactured of pure ground bone. Such a fertilizer, rich in phosphate of lime, can be used in connection with 
stable manure to good advantage. 
In general, all attempts to grow vegetables will be in vain without fertilizers of some description to enrich the 
soil. They should be applied broadcast in preference to “ manuring in the hills^* and the {quantity used should 
depend directly upon the quantity of produce annually taken from the land. 
ROTATION OF CROPS ought to be considered in planting a garden, as well as in farming. If the same 
kind of plants is continued upon the same soil only a portion of the properties ot the manure applied is used, while 
by a judicious rotation, everything in the soil or manure suitable for vegetable food is taken up and appropriated 
by the crop. Some crops' are so favorable to the weeds that if continued long upon the same ground the labor of 
cultivating them is much increased, while if raised but once in a place and followed by a cleaning crop, the weeds 
are easily kept under. Again, many crops planted continually in the same soil are more liable to be attacked by 
the insects which arc the peculiar enemies of those plants ; and different plants derive their principal nourishment 
from different depths of soil, hence, deep-rooted plants such as beets, carrots, parsnips, salsify, turnips, etc. should 
be followed by those whose roots extend but little below the surface, such as onions, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, 
spinage, etc. However plentiful manure may l>e, a succession of exhausting crops should not be grown upon the 
same ground. In these rotations it is not necessary to apply manure to every crop ; but for bulbous roots, as the 
onion, and plants cultivated for their leaves, as spinage and asparagus, the ground can scarcely be too rich, and the 
bulk of the manure may be applied to them. 
SOWING. — Warmth and moisture are essential and seclusion from the light favorable to germination. The 
first care in sowing seeds should be suitable preparation of the soil so that the young roots may easily penetrate it. 
The soil should always be mellow and more or less fine for different kinds of seeds. Peas, com, beans and coarse 
seeds do not require the soil to be as finely pul rized as small seeds. The seeds must be firmly fixed in the soil 
and pressed by the earth in every part in order to retain moisture sufficient to encourage vegetation ; but they 
should not be so deeply buried as to be deprived of air or to have their ascending shoots impeded by too much soil 
above. In all cases, seeds should be sown in freshly dug soil, that they may have the benefit of the moisture within ; 
but they should never be put in when the soil is really wet, as the ground will bake and the seeds perish. Moist 
weather in spring or summer is excellent for putting in seeds, provided the ground is mellow. Just before a light 
rain is the best possible time for sowing most seeds When the seeds are planted the earth should usually be 
pressed upon them with a roller or by treading with the feet in the case of large seeds, or by smoothing the surface 
with the back of the spade or by walking over them on a board for the smaller kinds. 
The freshest seeds of some varieties often fail from improper management in sowing. When sown too early, 
while the ground is wet, they are apt to rot ; when sown too shallow, in a dry time, there may not be sufficient 
moisture to sprout them, or they may be destroyed by dry and hot weather after they have germinated. Insects 
may destroy the plants before or as soon as they appear out of the ground. Powerful manures, such as hen dung, 
guano and chemical manures, if under powerful fermentation will frfcqucntly destroy the vitality of seeds, and 
sometimes kill the tendei plants. Complaints frequently made that seeds arc not good may quite as often be 
attributed to other causes as to the quality of the seeds. 
The first effect of air, heat and moisture upon the seed is to change its starchy matter into a sugary pulp, the 
proper food of the embryo. If at this time the seed be withered by exposure to heat without sufficient covering, 
it will perish. It often happens that seeds are planted in freshly dug soil, and the above change in the properties 
of the seed takes place, but the earth not bang pressed upon it. the seed dries up and the embryo perishes. Others 
again are buried too deeply, and though the seed swells, yet sufficient warmth and air are not obtained to give it 
life. 
CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL. — The surface of the soil cannot be too frequently stirred. ” If I had 
to preach a sermon on horticulture,” says Downing, ‘ I should take this for my text: 1 Stir the Soil.’ ” As soon 
as the plants arc above ground they should be thinned out so as not to interfere with each other’s growth. At the 
same time the soil may be loosened a little about them,without injury to the young plants, so as to break any crusts 
that may have formed ; and the weeds may be removed. A little later stir the soil with a narrow hoe, taking 
care not to cover the young plants. Every weed should be cut down or pulled up, no matter how 9inall. It is not 
enough to keep the weeds down ; digging deeply among the plants admits the atmosphere, and actually manures 
the young plants. In dry weather, it is very essential that the soil be stirred often. The air waters the freshly 
