1890

4 Specialties And Novelties For 1890.

Three Good Tomatoes.

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New Dwarf Champion Tomato.

Its habit of growth is peculiar, for not only is it dwarf and compact, but the stem being thick, stiff and short jointed, it is actually self-supporting when laden with fruit, a characteristic we have seen in no other variety. The foliage is also distinct and peculiar, being very dark green in color, thick and corrugated. Its close, upright growth also enables it to be planted much nearer together than any of the older sorts, and the yield, therefore, is likely to be much greater, for in productiveness it is unsurpassed. At their best stage we had plants that had on half a bushel of grown fruit, green and ripe. It is also very early. The fruit resembles the Acme, and is of a purplish pink color, and always smooth and symmetrical in form. The skin is tough, and the flesh solid and of fine quality. Altogether, the Dwarf Champion Tomato is a decided acquisition, whether wanted for market or for private use. Can almost be called a Tree Tomato. Per pkt., 10 cts.; oz., 40 cts.; 1/4 lb., $1.25.

New Peach Tomato.

This peculiar variety, introduced by a Philadelphia firm, is a decided curiosity. The Tomatoes in color are a deep rose and golden amber, blended in an indescribable manner, all covered with delicate bloom, like the bloom or furze of a fine peach, making it almost impossible to recognize the detached fruits as Tomatoes. For eating out of the hand as fruit it is without a rival, the very solid, rich, meaty flesh beng unequaled in delicacy of flavor, and melting in the mouth like a grape. It is also remarkable for its extremely thin skin, which can be readily peeled, like the skin of a fine peach. It is very productive, the fruits being borne in clusters of from four to eight. It is most excellent for preserves, and also of very superior quality for canning. Well worthy of a place in every garden. Per pkt., 10 cts.; 3 pkts., 25 cts.; 1/2 oz., 35 cts.; oz., 60 cts.

New Atlantic Prize Tomato--The very earliest of all Tomatoes. It is the result of many years careful selection by one of the most successful Tomato growers of Atlantic county, New Jersey, who has for a few years past shipped, to New York and Philadelphia markets, fine large Tomatoes, fully two weeks ahead of all competitors, being the first Northern fruit that has reached those markets, and selling at from three to four dollars per basket. The vines grow strong, stiff, and very rapidly, setting the crown fruit when quite young, the buds appearing before the plant is four inches high. The fruit is borne in immense clusters of ten to twelve. Each vine produces from sixty to eighty large perfect fruits, very solid and of the finest quality, being unusually free from core and seeds. Another great feature, besides extreme earliness, about this wonderful Tomato, and one which must prove of great advantage to market gardeners, is that when first fruiting it ripens more evenly and abundantly than any other Tomato known. Per pkt. 10 cts.; 3 pkts. 25 cts.; oz., 60 cts.; 1/4 lb., $2.

Iowa Seed Company, Des Moines, Iowa. 5

Iowa Seed Co.'s New Vine Peach [images] From a Photograph.

Vine Peach.

A splendid novelty which we introduced in 1887. The vine on which they are borne is somewhat similar to the musk-melon vine, and requires the same cultivation.

The fruit is about the size of a large peach, oval-shaped, and of a bright orange yellow color, somewhat russeted. When it first ripens it is quite hard and has very little flavor, but soon they become mellow and sweet, and have a rich flavor. When ripe, the fruit falls from the vine, the flesh is very firm with a small cavity in the center, and when peeled and the seeds taken out they much resemble peaches. For sweet pickles, pies, or preserving, They Are Superb. Receipts for preparing them in various manners for the table will be sent with each order. In the west and northwest, where fruit is scarce, we feel certain that they will quickly become popular, as they are easily cultivated, wonderfully prolific, and can be used in every way in which you would use a peach, except that they are not usually liked raw, although some consider them excellent simply sliced with a little sugar on. Market gardeners are already having considerable call for them from their customers. Try them, and we know you will be pleased. Per pkt., 10 cts.; oz., 20 cts.; 1/4 lb., 65 cts.; lb., $2.

Copper King Onion.

Undoubtedly the largest variety in existence, having been grown to the enormous weight of five pounds and six ounces, and notwithstanding their large size they retain their perfect shape and fine quality, and do not become ungainly monstrosities. To obtain some idea of how large this really is, just weigh the largest onion you can obtain and compare weights, or weigh out five pounds and six ounces of common onions and imagine them all in one. They are a beautiful copper color; flesh pure white, fine grained and mild, Per pkt. 10 cts.; oz. 35 cts; 1/4 lb. $1.

January 10, 1889.--The seed I got from you last year was number one. I raised the largest celery I ever saw, and very heavy. I measured some trimmed for use, and it measured 4 feet 2 inches in length.--J. A. Pommert, Blanchester, Ohio.

White Gem Watermelon

This will be found indeed a gem, both in its unique, handsome appearance and delicious quality. The vines are of very luxurious growth, covering the entire surface of the ground. It is enormously productive, and sets probably more fruit to the acre than any other Watermelon in cultivation. The Melons are perfectly round in shape, as shown in the illustration, of good average size for family use, weighing fifteen to twenty pounds each, of a beautiful cream-white color when ripe. The skin is so tough that a melon fully ripe will support a man without even cracking the flesh--this, notwithstanding that the rind is only a scant half inch in thickness. The flesh is a rich, bright pink, crisp, melting, very juicy and deliciously sweet in flavor. In packets only, each 15 cts.; 2 for 25 cts.

6 Specialties and Novelties for 1890.

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Iowa Seed Co.'s

New Market Gardener's Beet.

This is undoubtedly one of the best novelties ever introduced, and it receives much praise from our customers each year. Its shape is well illustrated by the accompanying engraving. As will be noticed, it is very symmetrical, with small tap root and but few fibrous roots. Unusually small tops. At the age of the Egyptian it is larger, while it continues to grow until late in the fall, attaining a large size and making a good selling and eating beet for winter. By the first of October they measure eight inches in diameter and average six pounds each in weight. One sowing only is necessary to produce early beets for market and main crop for winter use, which is not the case with any other variety. Color outside is deep blood-red; inside layers of blood-red and light red alternately. When cooked they are a beautiful dark red throughout, fine grained and unsurpassed in quality. As this variety grows almost entirely under ground, it should be grown in light, loose soil. It will not do well in hard or clayey soil. Summing it all up, we find in it the Best Beet for Early Market, the Best Beet for Winter Use, and owing to the small tops permitting them to be grown close together, and the peculiar shape of the bulb, it is the Most Profitable Beet for the Market Gardener and for the family garden of any we know of. We want each one of our thousands of customers throughout this country to give this Beet a trial, and we know they will find we have not given it too high praise. Per pkt. 10 cts.; oz. 20 cts.; 1/4 lb. 65 cts.; lb. $2.00.

Iowa's Challenge Peas.

An extra early variety of superior merit, which is a great favorite with Des Moines market gardeners. We can in all confidence say that after a trial of nearly all extra early varieties offered to the trade, we have not found one possessing more merit, hence its name. For the market gardener it has no superior. It is not only extremely early and prolific, but it is of most luscious flavor. All the good qualities of the extra early are most nearly brought to perfection in the Challenge. Vines eighteen inches. Per pkt. 10 cts.; pt. 30 cts.; qt. 50 cts.; postpaid.

January 25, 1889.--I would rather have your seeds than any others. I have always found them first class and more of them for the same price than other seedsmen give.--Wm. A. Bean, Blue Mound, Ill.

Dwarf Velvet Okra.

Why not try Okra this year? You will like it, and especially if you try this splendid new variety. It is extra nice for soups, stews, etc., and also much liked when pickled. This variety is very distinct in appearance, and unlike other varieties, the pods are not ridged, but are perfectly round, smooth, and of an attractive white velvet appearance, and of superior flavor and tenderness. The plants are comparatively dwarf and of compact branching growth; the pods are of extra large size, and produced in great abundance. Per pkt. 10 cts.; oz. 20 cts.; 1/4 lb. 50 cts.; lb. $1.75.

November 19--Your seeds were all splendid and true to name. The Vine Peach was a decided success, and my onions were first on the market.--T. A. Jones, Beacon, Iowa.

April 1, 1889--I tried your Vine Peach last year and found them excellent for pickles and pies.--E. J. Belfrage, Sergeants Bluffs, Ia.

Iowa Seed Company, Des Moines, Iowa. 7

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The Emerald Gem Melon.

The melons are about the size of the Netted Gem, but, unlike that variety, the skin, while ribbed, is perfectly smooth and of a deep emerald green color. The flesh, which is thicker than in any other melon of the same size, is of a suffused salmon color, and ripens thoroughly to the extremely thin green rind. It is peculiarly crystalline in appearance, and so very juicy and rich that it almost drops to pieces (like a rich cake) when dipped out with a spoon. The flavor is sweet and luscious beyond description. On our trial grounds, in Adair county, this melon surpassed all others in quality, we are sure that all who grow the Emerald Gem this year will praise it as the finest flavored melon they have ever tasted. Mr. Edward L. Coy, of Washington county, New York, says that "the Emerald Gem ripened first of twenty-two varieties I had growing this season, and was Very Much Superior In Quality To Any Other I Ever Saw. But they are so thick meated they yield but little seed. I Verily Believe It To Be The Very Best Melon In The World." Per pkt. 5 cts.; oz. 15 cts.; 1/4 lb. 45 cts.; lb., $1.25.

lowa Seed Co.'s Improved Ground Cherry.

Another year only adds to the popularity of this already very popular little fruit, which we introduced, and it is now listed in the catalogues of the leading seedsmen of the country to whom we supply seed. It is a great improvement on the wild Ground Cherry. They grow well on almost any dry soil; are easier raised than the tomato, and are prolific bearers, and oh! such luscious fruit. For sauce they are excellent, and for pies nothing can equal them in flavor and taste. They are delicious as preserves, and when dried in sugar are much better than raisins for cake or puddings, and they will keep if put in a cool place in the shuck, nearly all winter. Cooking directions accompany each packet. No one after raising them once will ever make a garden again without devoting a small portion at least to the Ground Cherry. A leading market gardener writes us on August 28th: "Your Improved Ground Cherry is certainly an improvement on the old Garden Ground Cherry. I have one fourth acre of them, but have not enough to supply the demand." Gardeners market them in quart fruit boxes, and they are sold by leading fruit dealers here. Per pkt. 10 cts.; 1/4 oz. 25 cts.; oz. 40 cts.

The Osage Muskmelon.

This new variety, offered last season for the first time, has created quite a stir in Chicago and other western markets, where it sells at double the prices of any other variety. It has been quite extensively grown and the stock held in the control of a few growers in the vicinity of Benton Harbor, Mich., from whence it was shipped to Chicago. The Osage grows to medium size and is egg-shaped. The skin is very thin, of dark green color, and slightly netted. The flesh is of a salmon color, remarkably sweet and spicy in fiavor, extremely thick, and delicious to the rind. The seed cavity is very small. All lovers of fine melons should try The Osage. Pkt., 10 cts.; oz., 20 cts.; 1/4 lb., 60 cts.; lb., $1.75.

Iowa Seed Co.'s Improved Table Guernsey Parsnip

This is a greatly improved and wonderfully fine strain of the Guernsey Hollow Crown Parsnip. It is strictly a table variety, and has no resemblance to what is called the Guernsey Stock Parsnip, which is not good for table use. The roots do not grow as long as the Hollow Crown, but are of a greater diameter and more easily gathered. It is a very heavy cropper; the roots are smooth, with a very deep, hollow crown and small top. The flesh is fine grained and sweet all the way through, and of excellent quality. Cooks evenly all the way through to the center, which is fine and soft and even in quality as outside portions. A field of these which were being grown for us for seed attracted the universal attention of market gardeners by reason of their extraordinary small tops, as compared with other kinds, and their fine shape. It is sure to please all who try it. Per pkt. 5 cts.; oz. 15 cts.; 1/4 lb. 30 cts.; lb. 75 cts.

8 Specialties And Novelties For 1890.

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New Sibley Squash.

Claimed to be a great improvement on the Hubbard. It originated in Iowa, and was named in honor of the late Mr. Hiram Sibley; is also called Pike's Peak by some dealers. The form, correctly shown by the cut, is obviously entirely new, having the stem at the swelled end. The shell is pale green in color, very hard and flinty, but at the same time so very thin and smooth as to occasion the least possible waste in baking. The flesh is solid and thick, and a vivid brilliant orange in color, dry, and has a rich, delicate flavor, peculiarly its own. In productiveness the New Sibley Squash has decidedly the advantage of either the Hubbard or Marblehead. In its keeping qualities it excels all, remaining, in a good dry cellar, perfectly sound until the last of March, constantly improving in flavor and quality until the very last. Per pkt., 10 cts.; oz., 20 cts.; 1/4 lb., 50 cts.; lb., $1.25.

King of the Mammoths Pumpkin.

This magnificent new pumpkin, recently introduced here, came from France, and is an acquisition to our list of Mammoth Pumpkins. The flesh nd skin are of a bright golden yellow, fine grained and of good quality. They are very often grown to weigh from one hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds, and the one from which our cut is made, raised in 1885, reached the enormous weight of two hundred and forty-flve pounds. Henry West, of Rhodes, Iowa, writes us that he grew one weighing one hundred and fifty-eight pounds, and on the same vine had five other pumkins weighing from ninety pounds to one hundred and four pounds each. Over six hundred and forty pounds grown from one seed. Farmers and gardeners, just think of that kind of a crop in spite of dry weather. Will it not pay you to grow the King of Mammoths and exhibit them at your county fair? Per pkt. 10 cts.; oz. 20 cts.; 1/4 lb. 65 cts.

New Golden Andalusia Wax Beans.

We gave this variety a thorough test in our trial grounds last season, and were very agreeably surprised with it. It is undoubtedly the finest Pole Bean in existence, and its handsome, large golden pods are borne in great profusion, one half bushel having been picked from a single vine. Pods are entirely stringless, broad, fleshy, and exceedingly rich and delicious. It is quite early, and clings to poles better than any other variety we had on the place. Don't fail to try it. Per pkt., 10 cts.; pint, 40 cts.; qt., 75 cts.; postpaid.

Wonderful Yard Long Beans.

A rare curiosity, and withal a bean of very good quality. The pods grow to the extraordinary length of three feet, are highly ornamental, are used when half ripe, when the thickness of an ordinary lead pencil, being round and altogether stringless; in sweetness, tenderness and superior flavor, equal to that of asparagus, excels all other beans. As a climber for arbors, porticos, etc., it is much admired, attractive and beautiful. Per pkt., 10 cts.; 3 for 25 cts.