Catalogue of seeds : 1922 /

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Life Sciences)

To secure a good crop of vegetables, three things at least are necessary; viz., a suitable soil, pure seed and clean culture; to which may be added as equally necessary, an abundant supply of good barnyard manure, supplemented, when this runs short, by artificial fertilizers.The exposure for a vegetable garden should be preferably south or southeast, or nearly so.The soil should be naturally rich and friable, a sandy loam being among the best.If the soil be stiff, it should be gradually mellowed by the free use of barnyard manure, or, if convenient, by the addition of sand.If wet, or inclined to hold an excess of moisture, it should be underdrained, preferably by tile; but if pos- sible, a location should be selected naturally dry and free from surface water.A dark-colored soil, or one supplied with a goodly portion of decayed vegetable matter, will produce the earliest crops.If the soil be shallow, it should be deepened gradually by plowing or spading an inch or two deeper each year, and not all at once by trenching or subsoiling, unless manure and money be both abundant.A sandy soil may be greatly improved by adding more or less vegetable mold from the woods.To produce the best and most uniform results, the vegetable garden should have at least one foot of good, rich soil.The roots of large trees should not be allowed to encroach on any part of the garden, though large trees, especially evergreens, sufficiently far off, afford a valuable protection on the north and west. DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING A HOTBEDIn the vicinity of Boston, from the first to the middle of March is quite early enough to make a hotbed, and even a little later will do well enough.The time must vary according to the latitude.Provide a quantity of fresh horse manure from the stables, and add to this, if they can be had, one-third to one-half of its bulk of leaves.Mix them thoroughly, tramping down the mass in successive layers, and form into a large pile, so that fermentation will proceed even in severely cold weather.In two or three days fermentation will be apparent by the escape of steam from the heap.Now turn again, and allow the heap to remain two or three days longer, or until the second fermentation commences.Make an excavation, or pit, two and a half feet deep, and of a size suited to the number of plants required.The pit will be better if built up of brick.It should be made in some dry, sheltered spot, facing the south or east if pos- sible.Hotbed sashes are usually 6x3 feet, and one sash will generally give early plants enough for a large family.The frame for sashes should be eighteen inches high at the back and twelve inches in front, which will give the proper slope to catch the sunlight.Cross-pieces should be placed for the sashes to slide on, to facilitate opening and shutting the frames.When everything is ready, the manure is placed in the pit and trodden down firmly in layers to the required depth, two to two and a half feet.Then put on the sashes and keep the pit closed until the heat rises.At first it will probably be 100 degrees or more, which is too hot to sow the seed in; but in two or three days it will subside to 90 degrees or a little less, when the soil may be put on to the depth of six to eight inches.The heat may be readily ascertained by plunging a thermometer in the manure.The soil should be of well-rotted sod (or common garden soil will do), mixed with about a third of fine, old manure, and in this the seeds may be sown thinly in drills two or three inches apart, and afterwards (as soon as out of the seed-leaf) either thinned out or else transplanted to another frame.Air must be given every mild day by raising the sashes at the back.Water with tepid water whenever necessary, and during cold nights and snowstorms keep covered with straw mats or board shutters.Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplants should be sown in a separate frame from Cabbage, Cauliflower and Lettuce, as they require more heat than the latter.The same direc- tions may apply to hotbeds made on the surface of the ground, except that the manure should be at least a foot wider on all sides than the frame.ARTICHOKE Green Globe.The standard and best variety.ASPARAGUS CONOVER'S COLOSSAL.The most approved and standard sort ....