The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-04-25
The Farmers' Vegetable Garden.

The Farmers Vegetable Garden.
The vegetable garden as found upon
majority of farms has no definite To-
cation, but is a kind Of supplement to
the area appropriated to the regular
farm crops. The green corn is pro-
cured from the same field, and is of the
same variety as that raised for stock or
for market; the green pease sown for
fattening the hogs must also serve the
family; and the supply of beets, car
rOts, and other roots is obtained-if at
all-from similar source. The incon-
venience of such system, to say moth
ing of the inferiority of the vegetables,
will more than outweigh any extra labor
or expense attending the raising a full
supply of the very best sorts in some
convenient spot set aside for the pur-
pose.
The gathering of the daily supplies
of vegetables usually devolves upon the
women of the farmers household. and
their work is often increased very ma
terially through his inconsiderate sys-
tenn of scattering these products over
the farm, instead of placing them all
near the house. For the wife, daugh-
ter, or servant to be compelled to travel
half a mile in one direction to obtain
q mess of green pease, and perhaps an
equal distance in an opposite direction
for few ears of corn or a dish of string
beans, is waste of valuable time,
without a shadow of excuse for it; and
yet such rambles for few vegetables
occur daily upon thousands Of farms
during the summer, and the master of
the house often wonders why 'his
women folks are always SO busy, and
yet accomplish SO little" If the farmer
is so penurious that he will not furnish
his family any better vegetables than
those raised for his stock, he can GER
tainly afford to plant q few rows of
each near the house, and thereby facili-
tate the preparation of his meals on
time.
But there is really no need of any
family using inferior varieties of vege-
tables in these days of railroads and
other facilities for transporting seeds
to almost any town and hamlet
throughout our vast domain. From a
fivc-cent paper of almost any kind of
choice vegetable seed enough can be
raised in one season to supply an en-
tire neighborhOod; consequently the
cost of the article cannot be put for
ward as an excuse for not having the
best of everything of the kind in the
greatest abundance. There can GER
tainly be no excuse for a man who
fails to raise sweet corn for his table,
where other varieties can be raised for
his stock. 1t costs no more to raise one
than the other, but the difference in
flavor is SO marked that no one would
think of eating green field corn if any
of the sweet or shriveled sorts could be
obtained. It may also be noticed that
the more the grain shrivels when ma
ture, the better the flavor when it is
green. For instance, the evergreen
sweet corn has never been surpassed in
flavor by any of the newer sorts, and
the grain is quite large when green or
full of milk, but shrinks to one-fourth
the size when ripe and dry 1t is
late sort, but of excellent flavor. The
very early dwarf sorts of sweet corn
are, it is true, better than the common
varieties of field corn for the table;
still, as rule, they are far inferior to
the medium or later sorts.
Another thing which most farmers
neglect is succession of any kind of
vegetables, which can be readily Sc
cured by making several paintings at
different times. If one has seed of an
early and late sort of the same kind,
the seeds of the two may be put into
%lo ~pro,,~A NJ tho ~, ASvnnn. hut 81 h<,
has only one sort, then a small quanti-
ty should be put in at intervals of
week or two, in order to prolong the
season. This plan is especially recon-
mended for corn and pease, as they re-
main in condition for the table only for
a very short period, at best, ripehing
quite rapidly after reaching an edible
condition; and this brings us to point
where word about green pease may be
opportune at this time. What we have
said above in regard to the varieties of
sweet-corn is quite as applicable to the
different sorts of the garden-pea. We
have as yet no very early sort that is of
much value for the table, although
they are extensively cultivated for mar
ket, and are eaten by persons who pre-
fer a poorly-havored pea to none. Resi-
dents of cities are often compelled to
put up with inferior sorts Of vegeta-
bles, but the farmer can and should
have the very best of everything of this
kind (for he is, if he chooses to be,
master of the situation), and at no
greater expenditure of labor than is re-
quired to raise inferior kinds.
Every farmer should have an album
dance Of asparagus, as it is not only
one of the most healthful and general
ly appreciated early spring vegetables;
but, in addition, is one of those peren-
NAL plants that, when once we'll estab-
lished, will continue productive for
lifetime. Rhubarb or pieplant is an
other excellent vegetable, which really
costs nothing to produce, and often
comes in quite opportunity as q relish
during the spring months. String
beans should not be overlooked in
making up list for the vegetable gar
den. Of course, the Lima-bean must
not he omitted, for it is one of the in
dispensable component parts of good
succotash, at home or abroad. Among
cabbages, caulifl0wers, carrots and Gel
cry there is more in the name than in
the difference of quality of the varie-
ties. Some are earlier than others,
larger or smaller, but all are good and
worthy of place in the garden.
The season being at hand for making
gardens, it is well to look over the list
Of kinHe IF vonofo h1ou vuh;ch oro Of