The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1900-03-07
AGRICULTURAL.
That Garden,

Many readers of the WATCHMAN
have wondered as they have ridden by
the great market gardens of some large
town, and seen the acres and acres OF
garden crops. Its great sight where
ten, twenty and more acres are used as
a single garden, every rod kept in good
order so far as cultivation can do 1t,
and everything denoting thrift and
prosperity. But these great gardens,
with all their snowy attractiveness, are
not the gardens. To find the most i'm
portant part of garden culture you
must 90 to the homes of the people
who have land, the farm homes with
their kitchen gardens, the suburban
homes with their smaller quarters. In
these you will find by far the most i'm
portant part of the garden work of this
great country. And here also you will
find the most pleasure from garden
work. In the great market gardens
you will find gangs Of laborers working
30 many hours for wages, but in these
home gardens most of the work is done
with pleasant thoughts and anticipa-
tions of the good things to eat that are
coming out of that black dirt VI
course there are important exceptions,
as where the small boy of the family
has to weed so many rows before he
can go to play, and works in the hot
sun with aching back. But he might
have done his work in the cool OF the
day, and he knows it is his own fault
that he has it all TO do on the very day
that he is aching TO go a-fshing. This
same small boy, however, is always
ready to do his share in eating the good
things that grow in the garden
The real work Of preparing for next
summers garden crops must, or should
be commenced now by making plans
and selecting seeds for use in the
spring. There is one feature Of the
seed catalogues which we do not like.
That is q statement TO the effect thai
.'While we exercise the greatest care
to have all seeds pure and reliable, we
give no warranty, express or implied,
and will not be in any way responsible
for the crop"
But for instance, here is "Burpee's
UNIQUE List for 1900," and in it we
find;the following: "We cannot, Of
course, guarantee a good crop in every
case, as success is dependent upon nat
ural causes, which are beyond human
control. We do guarantee, however,
that all seeds sold by us are, tirst-class,
true and pure, and of strong germin-
ating power. In so far that any prove
otherwise, we will refill the order free,
or refund the price paid" Last year
we sowed seeds of Burpee's "Ford-
hook Fancy Tomato" by the side of
tomato seeds from other welolknown
houses. ThoseS "Fordhook" plants
were a wonder. From one-halt to
niue-tenths of the other plants died,
but hardly single one Of the "Ford-
hooks" failed, all receiving the same
care. There is a wonderful vigor
about the "Fordhook" which enables it
to withstand drouth and other untow-
ard conditions. All of Burpee's vege-
table seeds grew well, although the
season was very unfavorable, and we
do not wonder he is willing to warrant
his seeds.
His unique list" Is simply "a few of
the best seeds that grow" You do not
have to look over scores of names of
different varieties, but here are the
very best, with brief descriptions, and
as to prices you can select any seven
packages for % cents, any fifteen for
80 cents, any thirty-two packages for
$1.00. Address w. Alice Burpee &
Co., Philadelphia, Pa.