Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-07-22
Tn e Army Gardens near Chattanooga

tn e Army Gardens near Chattanooga
The following extract, from letter by
Mr.. Thomas Wills, of Cuyahoga Falls, to
Q. W. Bonstedt, of Akron, describes the
great Army Garden near Chattanooga
Mr.. Wills is Superintendent of the Hos
pital Gardens;
If it viii not be encroaching upon your
precious time / will trouble you with
short account of our proceedings here at
the Sanitary Commission, or Hospital Gar
den. Our land is beautifully situated along
the Tennessee river, nearly q mile in
length, and consisting of about l6O acres .
in addition to this we have some 40 acres
of vineyards, planted some three to five
years, with grape vines. These are about
to Z miles from our vegetable garden,
and previously owned by rich slave
owner by the name of Boice, who moved
from here in double quick time when the
Union army came in. 1t was rather hur-
ried from the fact that he left some of his
grape wine in the cellar
Our land Is generally good. Vegetables
have done finely for the chance they have
had, the army having cut it up and
trampled it much last fall making it very
unfit for crops this season. The labor on
Land has been very great, as we have had
to haul off logs, bury dead horses and
mules, fill up rife pits, make roads, build
bridges, fences, and barracks, tool houses,
sheds and other fxings necessary for our
convenience and use; many Of our imple-
ments to make, others to look up around
the country, others brought at great dist
ances from here. All these Inconvenience
tend to retard our progress in the garden.
Our help too, is mostly by convalescent
men and horses, which is always slow,
very often giving out. Considering all
these things 1 think we have done well for
the time as the following will show: I
left Cuyahoga Falls on the 22d day of Feb
ruary, arriving at Chattanooga March ID
1864. Since that we have plowed planted
and gathered many of the followiA Z varie-
ties of vegetables:
Planted, Potatoes, 40 to 80 acres; Sweet
| Corn, now in silk, 35 acres; Cabbage. nearly
ready to eat, G acres; Beets, fine roots, s
acres; Oats for our horses, 8 acres; Toma-
toes, now ripening, 10 acres Onions, six
acres; Cucumbers, Melon, and Squash, 5
acres; Beans, Lima aud bush, acres
Radishes, l. acres; Lettuce, % acres; Mus
tard, Celery, &c, II acres.
| Much of the land is planted with second
crops, where radish, lettuce, mustard spin
aeh, peas and such early crops have been
l-4,I5b5, cF XVa bo,,o 10 10 q HI q, -, ~, .
most Of our land yet to late turnips. Thus
you see VIC are trying to make the best OF
what we have. Our daily issue of vege-
tables have been from 80 to 5S1 bushels
per day, making in all, TO the 9th of June,
about $500 bush. of vegetables as per list.
1t is not unusual for US to have acquisitions
calling for vegetables for 1900 men at one
hospital. Many thousands are sick here
at the present time; these, you must know
would consume a large quantity of veget-
ables. We have received in one day as
many as "a acquisitions, some requiring as
above stated, supply for 1900 men,
Besides all these we have two wagons
running daily with vegetables to hospitals
and other places. By this you will see that
our little garden patch is doing something
for this great arIny.s Our grape vines al
the vineyards are making a splendid
growth of wood this season; one of then
has in it some 10000 vines, and weuld
have ripened $4,000 punches of grapes
(msny vines had sixty punches to the vine
are planted 6 feet each way and stsked,
but some II or IA days rain in june
brought on the rot and am sorry, to say
the most Of them have fallen off this vii
be great l6ss to our sick soldiers. eifcl