Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1880-05-13
3arn, anb 6onstbolO
Ia Farmers Garden.

AIS ~ Lei ! SA&SGs-
The time for the singing Of birds and
planting Of gardens has come. and ve de
are 10 call the attention Of farmers to the
value Of the acre which all large landowners
should devote to the oulilS alton OF Kitchen
vegetables. ". are satisfied tina; thu. can be
made no; only the most profitable acre on
the farm, but one that viii oondaoe most to
IN. comfort Of the family. The average
farmer !. apt to neglcc; this part Of hrs es-
tate. partly because he docs not prize veg
et.hle diet al its true value, and partly be
cause h. regards work in the garden AZ
..puttering business" fit only for women and
children. We arc not vegetarians ourselves,
and are far from advocating an exclusively
vegetable diet for Others. and leas, Of all for
farmers. The, are hard workers in the
open air. need heart, food. and can digest
it better than those leading sedentary
lie. Still. the old fashioned routine AZ the
farmhouse. Of fried pork for breakfast, boil
ed corned beef and pork for dinner, and the
same cold for supper. with only potatoes
and cabbage in the vegetable line. wss
severe tax on the stomach Of even the most
robust, and often led TO dyspepsia and fe-
rers This, the Creator intended the die; Of
man 10 Ne mixed j. NANTES, from his nat
ural love Of such diet, the adaptation Of
his teeth. stomach and other organs for IT.
and the careful ob>cr, alton Of the skilful
phvsiologi,t. The Wild Indian saw. "Buf-
falo meat j. enough and good enough FOR
me-" but the average Wild Indian j. far from
being a sample Of healthy man. As a
race the Indians are >ubJcc; to disease. and
die Young The few old sialwarts only eN-
empllfy narwin's idea OF the survival Of
the fttest" Besides. when the red man i
brought within the pale Of civilization.
where be can gc, hold of fruits and ,cge;a-
bles be Qcvours them with gusio which
contralicts his talk about buffalo meat
The truth j. that. while the vcEriarian>
are a cadaverous looking sct Of men DIR.
Graham himself being no exccp;ion-and
lhe blood Of the meat gormandizers j. IN an
inaanmaiory state. tending TO violent pas
sions as we'll a. violent feyerS. II j. only the
man who tsmpers the stimulating influence
Of meat with liberal supply Of fruits and
vegetables who is blessed with healih and
the prospects Of green old age. The lar
mer who should feed his COWS with corn
- Isl ..-...,f3 J., ,.;l,,.a ,,,,-5s. e
not insane: but he IS no les foolish then he
who confines himself and family principal,
TO poduck diet.a> many arr inclined to do.
The Other excuse which farmers offer for
the neglect Of their gardens the puttcr.ng
nature Of the business" had some foundA-
,ion when the garden little siypenny
affair. enclosed with picket fence. in which
there was Ind. room for horse power, and
more demand for the spade than the plough.
The citizen and the villager must content
themselves with such contracted gardens,
but the farmer has land enough 10 make
his garden as large As he pleases. and locate
il where II can be cultivated with the same
facility with which be cultivates his patch Of
potatoes. The notion tina, the kitchen gar
den must be under the kitchen window. and
surrounded with a picket fence TO keep the
hens out. was long since exploded BY pro-
gressive farmers. IL j. very convenient 10
have the garden near the kitchen. and so il
would be to have the pig pen; but there j.
no more necessity for the one than the 9th
er. Located in the fe il can be cult
waited by horse power, and Is site be chang
ed from time 10 time as the rotation Of crops
may requirs. The old fashioned mode O,
culuvsting flowers and vegetables together,
the former on borders Of walks and the lat
ter IL little par.lleloyraun-shaped beds,
made the labor Of garden four-fold what
it is under the Horsepower plan Of long
rows and no alleys We spsn; no little time
in our youth IN one Of these old-f shioned
gardens. and remember il half the
time was spent in hoeing out the walks and
trimming up the borders. ]; was much
work and little pay. and we do not wonder
that farmers called j, puitering work, and
were disgusted with il. Still. this old style
Of gardening is no, altogether absolute. In
closely settled villages there may be some
excuse for a spade and hoe garden, bu, the
farmer with land and horse power in album
dance should garden on more satisfactory
plan. II he will only try this field garden
ing and see how easily and cheaply aspara-
gus. beets and cAbbsges and the whole al
phsbet Of vegetables are cultivated We
are confident that he viii raise a score Of
bushels where he now raises one, and this
with little, If any increase Of expense. ANY
surplus Of garden sauce will generally find
ready market, and thus materially add TO
the income Of the farm. An acre cultivated
in vegetables after the manner above indi-
Gated should yield net income to the in
terest of thousand dollars; and we have
known one TO make better returns than the
interest At six per cent Of two thousand
dollars.
One Of the essentials to success in garden
ing is good seed. 1t is very vexatious TO
prepare land with care. and TO End the
plants to come up stunted and feeble for the
want Of constitutional vigor. The laws Of
heredity hold dominion over the vegetable
kingdom With the same force as over the
animal. and thoroughbred seed is as essen
ti.l for q good crop as pure-blooded bulls
are for . good breed 1t is not so easy to
distinguish pure seed IS pure stock, but
thar. 4. the same virtue in the one as in the
other, and the practiced eye can generally
discer. the pure from the mongrel.
Those With less skill must be careful to
purchase Of reliable seed growers. Fortu-
nstely al seed dealers are not cheats any
moee than all nilkmen. We have never
failed Of good eseps Of eabbagss, onions and