Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1867-04-24
agricultural.
The Farmers Garden.

livery farmer should have garden, on
which he may depend for a large proportion
of the food for his family during about one
half the year; not Il little, cooped-up, con-
fused spot, such frequently see, with
an old pear tree on one side. few red cher
ries on the other, some struggling currant
bushes, full of grass and weeds under the
walls, with three or four narrow beds of bcets
and carrots in the middle. but n systematic
well cultivated, liberal, pleasant place, which
all the family delight to visit when at home
and to remember when abroad.
Cobbctt. who wrote nearly fifty years ago,
and who knew far more about gardening than
most Of us now know, says of gardening
1t is a source of much greater profit than
is generally imagined and merely an amuse-
ment recreation, it is one of the most ra-
tional and most conducive to health. liz is a
pursuit not only compatible with, but favor
able to, the study of any art science. 1t
is INDUCED al home it tends to make home
pleasant and to endear to us the spot on
which it is our lot to live"
We propose to treat of farmers gardens,
chiefly as kitchen gardens, to be cultivated
for profit and convenience, for home supply
and not for the market. In such garden
we should regard mainly the culture of veg
etables, though there is no objection to COM
bining with what may be properly called a
kitchen garden, the cultivation of small
fruits, such as currants and raspberries, or
of pears and grapes and of flowers, if our
original plan be judicious.
SITUATION AND SOIL.
Let the garden be near the house, accessi-
bic from the kitchen and also from the front
or side door, that the wife or daughter
may step out in her morning dress for dish
of vegetables or fruit, that parlor guests
may be shown over it without trespassing on
the domain of the kitchen.
Where there is no street TO cross and no
wet grass to pass over, the daughters and
lady visitors Of the family find pleasure in
going to the garden and gathering and pre-
Iaring the vegetables for the family dinner
and the small fruits for tea. Whereas if the
way to the garden is exposed, or if it lead
into unpleasant proximity to barn-yards and
pig-pens, the garden is soon abandoned or
regarded as a dIsagreeable necessity.
As to what soil is best for the garden, it is
idle to speculate, inasmuch the farmer
must use such land as he has and even if
we had our choirc, the variety of plants
raised in it is great that soil is well
suited to all \ light, sandy soil, which is
best for melons and tomatoes, is the worst
for celery and cabbages; and the best that
can be done, perhaps, if our garden spot be
decidedly unfavorable for particular crops, is
to colonize such crops on TO other parts OF
the farm Almost any soil may, however,
by heroic treatment, be brought to yield a
good supply of garden vegetables.
The exposure is very important. An incli-
nation to the south is best, level is toler-
able, a steep descent, even to the south, is
very inconvenient, and a northern slope is
cold and exposed to chilling winds.
DRAINAGE, natural or artificial, is essential.
Much land in New England needs no druin-
age but wherever water will stand in hole
within three feet of the surface, in blowing
time, drainage will be beneficial. Drained
land is not only earlier than undrained land
but it endures drought better, because the
roots on wet land run near the surface, and
when the water fails in dry time, they do
not extend deep enough to find the necessary
moisture, while in drained land they strike
far downward at once and find regular sup
plv in the moisture held by attraction in the
soil
Shelter is another requisite for a good kitch-
en- garden 1t is idle to hope for success on
an open plain. In England it is customary
to enclose gardens with fences ten or fifteen
feet high, and to subdividc them into small
enclosures. In this way peaches and apricots
NAV be grown as ..wall fruits" where they
would otherwise fail. We may often adopt
the shelter afforded by farm buildings. Hedges
of white PINE hemlock or Norway spruce
along the northerly border, where land il
abundant, afford excellent shelter. They
may be planted close and clipped into an al
most solid wall, and kept at any height
Even open paling fence, as proved by
Mr. Tudor at Nahant, will SO change the eli
mate that fruit gardens will flourish where
not even a cedar could withstand the cold
breath of the ocean. A close fence, four tc
six feet high, will in most cases be found tt
give sufficient protection
No large trees can be tolerated in kitch-
en- garden. They are in the way of cultiva
ton they suck up the moisture and manure
and they shade the ground and are in all re-
spects a nuisance--U Waterman and Reflector