The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-11-19

| NJ CoIuIUtaDI0 1eel IN any member
NO shade-no shine-no butterfies-no bece-
No birds-no fruits-no aovers-ro leaves
| November
INTERESTING TO AGRICULTURISTS
Letter from Mrs. Swlsshelm,
l. Ien Acres Tor l1ess) EnouRh,,
ABOUT PoTAToEs AND OTHER
-. ,"GARDsN SASS"
From TIE Chicago Pos.. !;
SIR: Your Senior is the tallcst man
On my list Of friends, and ought to be
at: the heed Of the tallest editorial staff
in tie country; and, as it is the bound
en- duty OF tall folks to help little people
over the rough .plaocs::in life's journey,
| come to you for aid. Last spring I
found myself the proud possessor of a
garden, and remembering the prico of
vegetables in the Washington and
Pittsburgh market, for Eve years psst,
and the jolly, ro|icking way in which
two-pouhd potatoes used to come tum.
bling. out efthe earth. 10 Mime sofa, I Dc.
termined to raise my own potatoes. A
benevolent young Irishman came and
dug the ground, and when, asked the
cost, threw his spade on his shoulder
took his jacket on his arm, and. grin
n'ng n'a'iciously, replied, "Shurc, mum
an it isn't worth talkin'. about" then
deliberately walked off, leaving me to
infer that 20x30< feet was not much of
garden. The savage! From that in
slant l resolved to issue a new edition
o. our family history, from which
should be carefully cxpun: ed the fact
that smy~father and mother were both
lrishmen but l comforted myself with
the thought that, if my lot were no: so
large as fifty acre field, it was 10 very
much better order than any Enclosure
OF II. that size in this or any adjoining
State: I knew this, for had / not gath
cred up the carloads of old shoes, ETC.,
left by my: generous predecessor, and
made an auto ia G! BY the way, if
the heretics OF spain were a, hard to
burn as those same old hoes, poor Phil
up must have served the true church at
great cos: of labor. But 1 had sue
seeded in reducing them to ashes.
which had been scattered over my go.
ing TO- bc-potatoe patch, together with
the deposits from the hen house, ash
heap and old'mortar bed. So my gar.
den being we'll ,hapnrcd, I resolved to
have crop according to the strength
OF the soil, and thas demonstrate the
surprising number Of inhabitants which
this old earth is able to feed, under
proper system of cultivation. I
thought of Miss Martincau's five acres,
resolved to take premium at tue State
Fair, or perhaps several of them, for
the quantity Of produce raised on given
surface. I proposed TO write series Of
articles for the Agriculturist when I had
fairly demonstrated what could be done
in the way OF agriculture. l got the
best seed, I cut them most csrefully, I
made trenches with hoe, I laid each
set into its appointed place, "right
side up with care" 1 pulverized the
clods and covered thsm gently for fear
of breaking the shoots, l got up early,
worked au hour every morning, rested
refreshed and thought of my potatoes
through the heat Of the day and every
evening divided my attention between
the sunset clouds and my hoe or spade;
for when after my potatoes were up I
remcmbcrd that in Ireland they are
worked with spade to give deep cul-
ture, so, dug between the rows and
was SO industrious that [ had the good
fortune to attract the attention of be-
nevolent reporter who rewarded me bv
"6rst rate notice" when I saw N.Y.
self in print, described as small, blue
eyed Bohemian, who might he seen
working IN the garden every day, 1
thought seriously Of getting a couple of
full-length mirrors, setting them up
against the fence en- either side, and
adding the cultivation Of the graccs to
that Of all my other crops. for, I forgot
to say, that my potatoes were so long
coming up, that 1 began to despair Of
them, and put in seed for crop of corn.
1t would be so nice. to have roasting
ears, and as the potatoes were to grow
downward and the corn upward, Of
course they could not get in each
,othyer|s way. Besides, I hid read, in
an agricultural paper, that potatoes rc-
quire 2 little shade, and do bette, for
having some corn among them. How.
ever, last spring was backward for corn,
and ! mine qhs did not: come up soon ; 90 ]
hothouoh% ,no th.t -.;t.,. - 49,