8 
JAMES J. H. GEE GOBY & SOWS RETAIL CATALOGUE. 
White Sweet Pea. 
Emily Henderson. ( See cut.) 
The introducer describes this new Sweet Pea as follows: — 
Flowers extra large, very fragrant, absolutely pure white, as clear 
as alabaster and glistening as satin. Rarely less than three flowers are 
borne on a stem and nearly as often four, and frequently stems are 
found hearing five, six, and even seven flowers. The stems are stiff and 
long, giving this variety an added value for cutting. 
In earliness and long-continued bloom it outrivals all competitors 
(flowering nearly two weeks earlier than other varieties), and continues a 
veritable “cut and come again” to the end of autumn. Plants robust, 
compact and branching. Price, per oz., 50 cts., per pkg., 15 cts. In the 
original sealed packets of the introducer. 
For choice Flower 
Seeds in Collections 
at reduced rates 
see page 61 . 
Eckford’s Prize. 
A superb cross-fertilized mixture of superior ex¬ 
cellence. The colors are brilliant and novel, dark violet, 
gold, blue and white in eccentric variation of shades v; 
and marking, some striped, blotched, or flushed with 
red and bronze. Also recommended for size and beauty 
of form. Price, per pkg., 15 cts. 
RICINUS ZANZIBARIENSIS. (A.) (See cut.) 
An entirely new and distinct class of Castor Oil Beans. The plants attain great 
dimensions, presenting a splendid aspect, with their gigantic leaves far surpassing in 
size and beauty all the species and varieties hitherto known. 
We offer, in mixture, four varieties, as follows: — 
Light-green leaves with whitish ribs. 
Coppery bronze changing to dark green, with reddish ribs. 
Brownish purple changing into dark green with lighter ribs. 
Bronze passing into dark green with reddish ribs. 
Price, per pkg., 20 cts. 
SNAPDRAGON (. Anterrhinum ). (A.) 
QUEEN OF THE NORTH. 
A snow-white, large flowering variety of unrivalled beauty. The plant grows from one foot 
to eighteen inches in height, bearing an abundance of flowers, and will be found to be a real gem 
as a bedding plant. Price per package, 10 cts. 
RlCINUS ZANZIBARIENSIS. 
Cold Frame and Hot-Bed. 
Early tomato plants in a small way may be raised in flower pots or 
boxes in a warm kitchen window; so also may egg plants and peppers. 
When raising them in the house, the pot or box containing the seed should 
be placed quite near the stove for a few days, and the soil be kept well 
moistened until the plants begin to break ground, when they may be re¬ 
moved to a warm window. It is best, if practicable, to have but one plant 
in each pot, that they may grow short and stocky. If the seed are not 
planted earlier than the 1st of April for out-of-door cultivation, a cold 
frame will answer. Select the locality for the cold frame in the fall, choos¬ 
ing a warm location on a southern slope, protected by a fence or building 
on the north and northwest. Set posts in the ground, nail two boards to 
these parallel to each other, one about a foot in height and the other 
towards the south about four inches narrower; this will give the sashes 
resting on them the right slope to shedthe rain and receive as much heat 
as possible from the sun. Have these boards at a distance apart equal to 
the length of the sash, which may be any common window sash for a small 
bed, or the length of a usual gardener’s sash. If common window sash is 
used, cut channels in the cross bars to let the water run off. Dig the ground 
thoroughly (it is best to cover it in the fall with litter to keep the frost 
out), and rake out all stones or clods; then slide in the sash and let it re¬ 
main closed three or four days, that the soil may be warmed by the sun’s 
rays. The two end boards should rise as high as the sash to prevent the 
heat escaping, and the bottom board of a small frame should have a strip 
nailed inside to rest the sash on. Next rake thoroughly in guano or phos¬ 
phate or finely pulverized hen manure, and plant in rows three to six 
inches apart, depending on whether the plants are to be allowed to remain 
or are to be transplanted; if the latter, then three inches will be sufficient 
distance. Thin out the tomato plants when quite small, but allow peppers 
to remain rather thick at first by reason of danger from depredations of 
the cutworm. As the season advances, raise the sashes an inch or two in 
the middle of the day and water freely at evening with water that is nearly 
of the temperature of the earth in the frame. As the heat of the season in¬ 
creases whitewash the glass, and keep them more and more open until, at 
about the close of May, just before the more tender varieties are set in 
open ground, allow the glass to remain entirelv off both dav and night, un¬ 
less there should be a cold rain. This will harden them so that they will 
not be apt to be injured by the cabbage beetle, as w^ell as chilled and put 
back by the change. If the tomato plants have been well hardened, the 
stalks will be of a red color. Should the plants be getting too large before 
the season for transplanting, they should be checked by drawing a sharp 
knife within a couple of inches of the stalk. If it is desirable to dwarf the 
tomatoes and thus force them into a compact growth, transplant into an 
other cold frame, allowing each plant double the distance it before oc¬ 
cupied. 
The structure and management of a hot-bed is much the same as that 
of a cold frame, with the exception that being started earlier the requisite 
temperature has to be kept up by artificial means, fermenting manure be¬ 
ing relied upon for the purpose, and the loss of this heat has to be checked 
more carefully by straw matting, and in the far North by shutters also. 
The front and back are also made higher than in a cold frame. 
Horse manure with plenty of litter and about quarter its bulk in leaves, 
if attainable, all having been well mixed together, is thrown into a pile, and 
left for a few days until steam escapes, when the mass is ao-ain thrown 
over and left for two or three days more, after which it is thrown in the 
pit (or it may be placed directly on the surface) from eighteen inches'to 
two feet m depth, when it is beaten down with a fork and trodden well to 
gether. The sashes are now put on and kept there until heat is developed. 
The first intense heat must be allowed to pass off, which will be in about 
t }. r .9 e after the high temperature is reached. Now throw on six inches 
of fine soil, m which mix a very liberal supply of well-rotted manure free 
stra T’ ? r rake m thoroughly superphosphate or guano, at the rate 
of 2,000 pounds to the acre and plant the seed as in cold frame. Keep day 
temperature /0 to 80 degrees, and don’t allow it to fall below 55 degrees at 
n^ht. If the temperature exceed 75 degrees, the plants are liable to grow 
spindling and weak. Do not move the sashes to give air immediately after 
removing the mats in the morning, lest the young plants damp off. * 
