The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-04-17
FARMERS, DEPARTME Mt.
The Garden.

l. Z i +
ssThe farmers crop their living from their crops,
And each mansharea the blessing Of their shares"
| Sis The Garden. & Etfs a sgzE
1 Although il is not easy to calculate upon the
weather very much in advance, especially in the
spring of the year, it is probable that in some
parts Of our best lands the time Of active work
will commence during the presant month. We
have therefore thrown together some unconnect.
ed apothegms relating to garden work, some Of
which may be Of use to somebody.
The Garden should be neat. A slovenly gar
den is like slovenly house--unendurable. A
beet or carrot may grow as well ifplanted in
an awkward zigzag manner as in any other; out
the eating is not ALL and often not the principal
business. The pleasure of cultivatng garden
is the chief thing to the family, especially to Its
Younger and female members. ~aE.<
Get the best seeds. There are best peas, best
beans, best cabbages, best squashes best toma-
toes, and best everything. Some peas produce
three times as many as others, and some are ten
times as delicious as others.-Seeds with hard
shells should be soaked in tepid water for twen-
ty-four or forty-eight hours previous to planting
Peas for the later planting pay for soaking; the
earlier ones get sufficiently soaked by planting
To prove seeds, plant in box of warm earth.
Onion seeds may be tied in cloth, put into
cold water, and the water heated to boiling. In
half an hour they will sprout, fgood. .l B..
For early vegetables, the different sides Of the
garden afford different facilities. The south
side of tight fence will be about six degrees
warmer than the middle of the garden. This
six degrees is of great Importance on cold morn
ing or in high wind. # z ....-.a.
All vegetables cannot be transplanted. Those
with milky juices are most difficult. Some are
benefited by transplanting, being thereby inclin-
ed to push forward their fruit, instead Of running
to leaves or branches. ..>'
Small seeds should be sown shallow, in fine
earth, and patted down with spade or board, so
that the earth may come in contact with the
seeds, and the little rootlets find sustenance as
soon as born. GE. .-s.t.'
Sow early peas in trough, made as directed
in the Prairie Farmer last year.
Anybody who wants early radishes or lettuce,
can get them by aIhot bed, with but little trou-
BILE. Instead of sash, use oiled Gotten cloth.
Kill weeds when small. 1t is much easier
Keep hens out of the garden, if you wish to
keep your patience. They will sometimes catch
a worm, but will scratch down rod of border
to get him. They may eat bug, but will want
some currants or young cucumbers for sauce to
him.
lfyour ground is clayey, let it alone when
wet, for working will then do it more damage
than benefit.
To get cabbage plants secure from the black
fly, SOW them in boxes raised few feet from
the earth.
THE FLOWER GARDEH-In cultivating Flow
ers, a few good sorts, well treated, with plenty
Of room, are far better than multitude huddlee
together, and half cultivated. To have flower:
all the season requires only few right sorts.
Begin with Violets, sown on a mound six fee
over. They will take time by the foretop, ant
bloom as soon as the the snow and frost will le
them.-Then come two or three of the wilt
Prairie Phloxes. p1ettier than anything sold al
the shops. There are three of these which arc
extra fine, viz: low white; taller blue, say
one foot high and a scarlet of the same height
These succeed each other regularly Then
have a bed ofthe Gladious, the one called com.
nunis, which is a scarlet, with bulb perfectly
hardy; this will grow from year to year with a
single planting. Nothing is so beautiful as
bed of these in bloom-In the meantime the
Phcasant-eyed Pink will be in its glory
the time these over, the Candy Tufts will
be on hand, if sown early enough, and will
bloom finely month or more.--The Phlox
Drummondii, the Petunia, and the Portulaccas
will now be in bloom, and will not 90 out till the
frost .quenches them.
Ifmore are wanted, the following are good
ones: German Aster, Cockscomb, Balsam, Pop
py, French and African Marigold, Stock Gill;
flower, Scabious or Morning Bride, Sweet Will
liam, Canterbury Bell, Globe Amaranth, Snap
Dragon, Larkspur, drawf and braching,--all
branching plants, and all beautiful.
Then for trailing plants, besides the Portu-
laccas, Phlox Drummondi and Petunia, already
mentioned, there are the Escholtzia and Blue
Gillia. III
For high plants, there are the Dahlia, Holly
Hook, and Sweet Pea. This last should be in
all gardens, whatever else is in or out
For climbers, the Scarlet Morning Glory
and the Cypress vines are the surest, and all
beautiful enough. So are all the morning glorys
Trailing plants should be sown in beds by
themselves. ..,..G ,........ -. - :
| From the Prairie Farmer.
I The way to Improve Sheep.
! MEssRs. EDITORS: 1t has been, and is at the
present time, a difficult matSer for farmers o
small capital, that are starting insthe sheep bust
ness, to procure just such flock as they
would like. For that reason started with sucl
as could get: old coarse-wooled, bare-bellied
long legged things. succeeded in procuring
one hundred and fifteen ofthese animals.-e
nough fthe kind, certainly, for any poor maj
to start with. To improve is to obtain that kline
of sheep that will yield the most profit from
their keeping, in my way of thinking. Were i
e.