Our Vegetable Department embraces 
almost every article of value known. We have 
excluded everything our experience has proved 
unworthy of culture, as also some untried and not 
very promising kinds. As fast as new Vegetables 
establish their good character we add them to our 
list, but exercise our usual caution in introducing 
new candidates for public favor, submitting all 
to thorough trials on our grounds. Much of our 
Vegetable seed, and the most important, are grown 
upon our seed farms; other kinds we obtain of 
the most reliable and responsible growers of 
England, France, Germany, and other countries, 
and we have no hesitation in saying that alto¬ 
gether our Vegetable seeds are not excelled, if 
equaled, by any collection in the world. Everything is tested before being packed, so that we 
know all will crow if treated well. We have endeavored to describe the different kinds so that 
o 
their character and value may be understood, with such simple directions for culture, as with a 
little care will ensure success. 
ARTICHOKE. 
The Jerusalem Artichoke is a wonderfully hardy and 
productive plant, yielding roots in immense quantities. 
They are like potatoes in appearance, and if we had no 
potatoes would not 
make a bad substi¬ 
tute. It is good for all 
stock and is not bad 
for the table. Plant 
the tubers like pota¬ 
toes, and enough is 
usually left to seed the 
ground for the next 
crop. 
There is another 
Artichoke, very little 
grown in America, 
the Globe Artichoke. 
The portion used is the flower-head in an undeveloped 
state. See last engraving. 
Artichoke, Jerusalem, per bushel, $3.00; per 
peck, $1.00, by freight or express, charges not 
prepaid ; per quart, by mail or express, prepaid, 50 
Globe, true, seed ; per lb., £3.00; per o z. } 30 els. ; 
per packet, . . . 10 
ASPARAGUS. 
To grow Asparagus plants from seed, sow in drills, 
about one inch deep, and the rows wide enough apart 
to admit of hoeing — about a foot. An ounce of seed is 
sufficient for a drill thirty feet in length. Keep the 
soil mellow and free from weeds during the summer, and 
in the fall or succeeding spring the plants may be set 
out in beds, about a foot apart each way. The beds 
should be narrow, so as to permit of cutting to the center. 
Set plants about a foot apart, and the crowns four inches 
below the surface, and spread the roots. Before 
winter, cover the transplanted beds with about four 
inches of manure. Salt is an excellent manure for As¬ 
paragus. Sow a little on the surface in the spring, and 
it will keep down the weeds. By purchasing plants a 
year at least of time is saved. The young tops may be 
cut for the table the second summer, but not very freely 
until the third. 
Asparagus, Conover's Colossal, large, and of 
rapid growth : per lb. 75 cents ; per oz. 10 cents 5 
Roots—1 year, by mail, per 100, prepaid, . . . $1.50 
2 years, by mail, per 100, prepaid, . . 3.50 
2 years, by express, per 100, not paid, .1.50 
