D. M. FERRY & CO., DETROIT, MICH. 
19 
4 
SEED WAREHOUSES OF D. M. FERRY & CO. 
The Essentials to the Production of 
Good Vegetables and Beautiful Flowers 
C j q »i A rich, sandy loam is the best, but a fair de- 
oOOd OOll 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. 
I •! | »» • A soil which does not need en- 
Llberal lVlanunng 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 
has 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. 
When good stable manure is not available, commercial fer¬ 
tilizers may be used at the rate of four to twelve 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, the larger amounts preferably in three or 
four applications and at intervals of about ten days. A mass 
or lump of any of the commercial 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 im¬ 
portant if such fertilizers be used that they be thoroughly 
pulverized and mixed with the soil. 
. • Rich soil and liberal man- 
i reparation uring will avail little with- 
preparation. The soil must be made friable 
by thorough and judicious working; if this is well done all 
that follows will be easy; if it is neglected, only partial success 
is possible and that at the cost of a great deal of hard work. 
The 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. 
Thorough 
out thorough 
i q i There is no more prolific source of dis- 
uooa oeeds appointment and failure among amateur 
Prr»r»**rl\r Planf^rl gardeners than hasty, careless or 
rupeny i lanieu j m p r0 p er 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, 
heat 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 rootlet emerges to go downward 
and the stemlet starts upward. The embryo lives for a time on 
the stored food, but gradually 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 vitality 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 favor¬ 
able conditions. These are: 
FIRST— A proper and constant degree of moisture. The 
soil should always be moist, never wet. To secure this cover 
the seed as soon as it is planted with well pulverized, freshly 
prepared earth pressing it firmly over the seed. This firming of 
the soil is very important as it brings the particles of earth into 
close contact with seeds and roots, prevents the drying out of 
the soil and facilitates quick growth. The best results are ob¬ 
tained in small gardens by laying a board on the row and then 
walking upon the board, or the baclc of the hoe may be used, 
but for truck farms and field crops a roller is equally satisfactory. 
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 experience 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 conditions of the soil and can 
be learned only from practical experience. In general, seeds of 
the size of the turnip should not be covered 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 deeo. 
