The Portland daily press., 1883-03-22
THE PRESS.
THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH %.
Bllving Garden saada.


Some seedsmen make speciality of new
varieties, for which they charge exorbitant
prices. The old, standard varieties are
barely named in their catalogues, while the
novelties are Landed 10 the skies. Although
they have occasionally introduced really
valuable new sort, they have sold thousands
of dollars worth of seeds of varieties which
were far inferior to the old kinds.
Other seedsmen endeayor to attract eusto.
mers by offering seeds OF multiplicity OF
varieties of each vegetable. For Instance,
one man advertises that he sells thirty-slS
varieties of cabbage, twenty-seven of corn,
thirty-three of peas, thirty of beans forty of
toma.o. etc, etc. His catalogue contains
a beautiful engraving and stunning descrip-
ton of each of the newest and dearest yarie-
ties.
After reading it over, an inexperienced
person naturally concludes that his garden
would be very incomplete affair unless it
contained at least few of each variety, and
he invests accordingly. Mark the result;
The tomato that was to ripen at least ten
days ahead of all others is dcstauced about
that length of time by an old Early Red vol
unteer that sprung up where the patch was
the previous season. The new pea, which
the catalogue eloquently described as being a
week earlier than the earliest, of surprising
flavor and yielding peck 10 the vine, is a
little "oif' somehow, as it only yields u me-
dunn crop of ordinary peas about the same
season as the Early Kent. And so ii goes
through the entire list. After all his expen-
diture of money, time and care, the poor
erpectdnt finds that he only has an ordinary
garden after all-no earlier nor better than
that of his neighbor who plants the common,
old kinds.
have expended so much money in this
way and with so unsatisfactory results that
feel it duty to warn others. To aid the
young seed-buyer in making a selection, ]
will give list of vegetables such as will give
the best satisfaction in nearly all sections of
the country:
Snap BednS-Early Valentine, Golden Wax.
Pole BedRs-Large Lima. Beets-Early
Blood Turnips, Long Smooth Red. Cab
bdge-Early Jersey Wakefield. Early York
Premium Flat Dutch. Cdrrot-Early Scar
let Shorthorn. daiJioseer-Early Erfurt.
Celery-Dwarf White, Golden Heart Dwarf
C0l7l-Early Minnesota, Evergreen Sweet
Cress-Curled Cucumber, Early White Spine
Egg-P ldnt-Large Purple. Lettuce-Cnrled
Silesia, Cabbage or Butterhead, White Cos
Musknelon-W White Japan, Bay View. Ia
iermeloR-Phinney's Early, Mountain Sweet
Mastdrd-White. OkrG-Dwarf. 0RioR-
Earl Red, Danvers Yellow. PorSaip-Hol
low Grown. Peds-Early Kent, Carriers
Premium, Gem Champion of Engl and.
Radish-Early Turnip, Early Long Scarlet.
Squdsh-Summer Crook Neck, Hubbard.
Tomoto-Hathaway's Excelsior, Acme. Tur
aip-Red Top Strap-Leayed.
These are all well-tested, early and late
varieties, and the seeds are sold by all seeds
men at reasonable prices. If one wishes tc
experiment little, ne might try a few small
packages of the new, high priced sorts. Sow
them in small garden by themselves, give
them the same culture as the others, and ii
will soon be seen whether they are real. i'm
proyements or simply "catch-pennysn
Patronize your nearest scotsman. Get q
few neighbors to join with you, and have
your seeds sent by express, and save the eX.
ira thirty cents a quart charged for postage
on peas, beans, etc. Never send long dis
tance for seeds by express, if you can avoid
it. | once sent to Connecticut for S6.5C
worth of seeds, and the express charges on
them were 81. They cost me about one.
third more than what my nearest seedsmau
would have delivered them for. What made
it the more aggrayating was, that part Of
them-as afterward learned-were grown
on seed farm not forty miles distant
Christian Mirror.