The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1956-03-30
A SURPRISING AMOUNT
OF GARDEN SEEDS SOLD
Many People In Dare County Planting
Gardens This Year; High Living
Cost May Cause It
SHE FLOATS

While all the little fields, just
about, have disappeared from Ro-
anoke Island, one would think
there would be no sale for seeds
and fertilizer. But such is not the
case. A surprising amount of gar
den seeds and fertilizer is being
sold, right here in Manteo by G.
G. Bonner of General Supply
Company. And all through Dare
County people are planting gar
dens. Anent this subject, the fol-
lowing news release is interesting
Westinghouse harbinger OF
spring, the ground hog, robin and
first crocus each has it's advocates.
But to many people there's no
more enticing promise of spring
than simple garden seed.
Since dreary January, garden
ers have been thumbing through
their seed catalogues where, as
one helplessly addicted reader adj
mits, "all melons are monsters, all
asters are giant, all petunias
double-fringed." The magic of the
dreambooks dissolves all memory
of past failures. And hope for this
years gardens rises like sap in
the trees.
For their 1856 gardens, an esti-
mated 100000 Americans will
buy flower seeds and about halt
as many, vegetable seeds, says the
National Geographic Society. Seed
sales have never been better. One
large mail order company alone
puts out as many as 1900 varie-
ties.
Another company, which sells
through racks in stores, offers
LOO. One of its most loyal GUS
toners, an elderly lady who trades
at a Philadelphia department. store,
arrives with her chauffeur each
spring and buys one packet of
every single variety.
Vegetables, Beware!
Not all buyers are so easily per-
suaded. Most are especially wary
of new vegetables. One catalogue
once devoted whole page in
praise of a newly developed vege-
table called tampala. A Chinese
import, it resembled spinach but
withstood heat better and didn't
collect sand. Now, decade later
tampala is relegated to a back
page mention and good old sandy
spinach holds down it's traditional
place in the book.
Even yellow sweet corn had to
be given away at first. People
wouldn't buy anything that looked
like "horse corn" Broccoli also hac
a hard time catching on. Since
1910, however, it's sales have
tripled. Such success augurs well
for purple cauliflower, an ole
vegetable now being revived. II
turns green when cooked ano
tastes like broccoli.
Nationwide, the best seller con.
tinues to be the radish,' followed
in order by lettuce, beets and GU
cumbers. Gardeners tastes vary
enough according to tradition anC
geography, however, that one
company sends it's seeds to stores
in special assortments. Northern
states get such quick-growers as
carrots, beets, lettuce and radishes
The S (South) assortment features
white radishes, collards, okra, tur-
nips and mustard greens.
Calls for the S assortment have
recently been increasing in the
north. In fact, the only assortment
for which demand remains stolidly
practicable > is the E-New Eng.
land. Except in Boston, where the
l. v. (Italian) special cuts across
geographic lines, New Englanders
can still be counted on to want
their pole beans, early corn anC
winter squash.
Zinnias are No. l
In flowers, tastes are more uni.
versal. Zinnias are the favorites;
petunias, nasturtiums and sweet
peas, the runners-up.
Petunias produce seeds so mi
mute that some of the more ex-
pensive hybrid varieties are worth
many times over their weight in
gold. One ounce, containing more
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