Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-06-19
AMATEUR GARDENING
<TTEmpr or A CITY NAN TO GROW
his OWN seeETAetea

DssAs Thss Trsss sf Farming ga
GAsdsHingS Hsv Ne LeArssa-
Unresaryefiy want To give my expsri-
eDce with . kltchea gzriea- had never
tried any hing Of the Kind before add a
more absolutely ignorant person "A 20
hortieuIrars AID gardening generally
never PLACED spade in the earth or
turned up grub worm i had 40 ono
10 lean upon Tor instxucsioa and there
fore attempted To make a vegetable
garden OF about half an acre, with no
other assistance than that furnished in
the books On the subject.
These books utterly fail To take into
account the fact that city bred people
know nothing whatever about .iIling the
earth. sowing seed and stimulating tho
growth OF plants. was that kind Of .
person and rashly attempted to make
my Own garden.
en- very glad. however, that made
this attempt, for | learned, after the
many griovoos failures in the firxt sea-
son, that these books really did have a
meaning and that meet Of them were full
Of sound advice. bat they were not whit
ten for absolute besinasrs. bat for those
who understood their technical jargon
and who had also had more or les ex-
persenos.
For instance, when read in my book
that l should plant this seed in drills
and that in hills was as ignorant Is be-
fore. snd did not know what 70 do. But
i dld what scanned 10 me TO 10 intelli-
gent, and IN most eases | Was wrong.
Tho greatest mistake | made was in
planting everything too deeply and also
Ia using too many seeds. And night
hero l had as well give q rule about
planting which learnd from Mr.. Bur
net Landresh. Of Philadelphia. There
may b. exceptions TO this rule, but for
the moment do not recall any, except
that OF green peas, and that exception
h only quaiified one.
In planting seeds cover them with
earth 10 depth equivalent to four times
the diameter Of the particular seed plant
ed In regard to peas, old fashioned
gardeneB viii insist that they must be
buried very deeply. else the yield will Do
poor. This Is quite true in regard TO
peAs planted for very late crops, for the
roots Of such nust be deep enough to with
stand the whitening Sun Of midsummer,
bat for the early varieties il is decided
disadvantage To put the seed down SO far
that the heat III the spring sun cannot
readily reach them.
THE GENTLE ART or HCsBANpRY.
But am way ahead Of my story. Ny
purpose In writing his is to encourage
gentlemen living IN the suburbs to cult
vase this gentle art OF husbandry and
mako their own gardens. Tho first sea-
son nearly everything failed, though /
did get sozne lettuce. tomatoes, potatoes
aud cuc,imbera Indeed, got all that
we needed Of these. During the succeed
ing fall and winter l literally went to
school To every gardener and farmer /
came In contact with. From the gar
deners got as o rule very intelligent ad-
vice. and this put into my book in the
shape Of marginal notes.
From tho farmers got little informa-
ton worth the having. They seemed to
think that for tho likes Of me to expect
that garden truck wound grow was little
less than presumptuous. Well, with this
information, added to my experience
and that SIT down in the books. made
. regular plan for my second garden,
and . very attractive map it seemed
when IL wns finished.
did not attempt to economic space,
because I had more than / needed, and /
therefore laid OF beds with paths be-
tween each and broad paths at either
end. These beds wero thirty feet long
and four feet wide. the paths between
being foot and . half wide, and those
1T the ends three feet wide.
BErrrR RESULTS.
Iso spportioncd Iay beds thst should
have all the vegetables ! wished in sea
son. txied peas, tomatoes, lettuce,
spinach, radisbes, squashes, sweet corn.
peppers, bush heans. luna beans, cucum-
bers, parsley. okra, eggplant, cauiidower.
cabbage, carrots, celery, onions. garlic,
satisfy. potatoes. musk and water mel
ons. succeeded admirably with all Of
these ventures except with the melons.
Either the ground il not favorable for
bad. or what Is quite likely. have not
learned the knack Of cultivating them.
The cost was nothing at all. don't
count the labor put on the garden as
m outlay at al. II was an income
rather. II took the place OF saddle
horse, . bicycle or . gymnasium, for
during all the tis>e that was working
in ne garden pat in "a many hours at
nv desk as ID va wholesome for one 10
do. snd this outdoor work was exercise
which was really needed
paid money for manure and other
fertilizers. il Is true, and also for seed.
but In balancing my books 1 found that
tas I'm bushnas Of onions and the twenty
bushels Of potatoes sold more than
paid Cor my outlay in money. The fact
IL that wss some SIX or seven dollars
ahead. besides the summer supplies and
winter storcs.
Nov, what / have done any man can
do who can put ia an hour and half
every day with spade and hoe and rake.
The DILIGENTLY with besins0s 1t garden
ing Is that they are too easily discosr-
sxed, and give mp bscsnse they do noe
achieve at The frst Attempt results Ike
thoss accomplished by the skiiiful pro
fezisual gsrdcner--New York Teie-
gram ---
Apvp>s 90 - Psaasere.