Norwich bulletin., 1917-01-27
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FARM GARDEN

I beets, ffty-odd cabbages, hundred heads of lettuce; beside such things l as celery and chard and carrots and 1 salsify and spinach.
 Now, l don't father all these claims. | very much doubt if any 50x60 foot | garden will grow all these things the l same season and grow them well. Beans, for instance, want a very diff ferent soil and widely different fer tilizing from onions. AnG I find that my gardens wouldn't produce a pint 1 of peas to. the acre on soil properly prepared for cabbage; nor a decent crop of cabbage on land quite good enough for peas. No seedsman any where nor any advice-giVing Farmer up here in Podunk can tell just what 1 garden plot miles away will do or can be made to dol wll say that the yields specified by this seedsman's suitable soil properly fertilized and adequately cared for. Nor are the prices which he gives for. the various crops suited. Yet the total product Of this 50x60 plot adds up to over S60, reckoning caDbages at five cents head. early peas at s2 a bushel, beets at three cents a bunch, etc.-prices which you'll admit are not high.
 It is quite improbable, anyway, that
 
 variety. Not every one wants or cares for chard or carrots or parsn:ps or tuTnips or salsify. or celery or let tuce. There are those who can't stom- ach onions: I know of people who can't eat beans: one of my customers actually shiVers if you mention beets to her; some folks don't want cucun- 'berS, and I've heard of some who won't touch new potatoes. years experimenting with such varieties as the Iamlly takes to, on such soil as one has, would give at least an inti- nation as to what could be done
 It goes without saying, too, that the full service of such small garden can only be obtained by making it yield two crops season, wherever possible. That is, beets and turnfps and cabbage and cA sf7 etc can be and are expected to be planted, fol- owing the removal from the ground of such early crops as radishes. let tuce, peas, earl--> sweet corn. etc. N jess than SIS worth of the yield posted to this hypothetical garden plot is from such following crops, put in from the last of June to the first of August, after early crops have ma tured and been removed.
 There is no compelling reason why the farmer with plenty of suitable a responsible backyard shouldn't save for his own pocket much of what he now pays for garden sass" and other green stuff" That he hasn't always q. But that doesn't prove that he can't do it. if he wants to-rea1ly and sin cerely and vigorously wants to.
 But 1 warn everybody who reads this that taking care of . garden, even of a little 50x60 back yard garden, is not all beer and skittles. It is not as easy rolling off a log. It is not as easy as climbing over log. It i'm l wolves work some of which is dirty 1 and most Of which is perspiratiopal. l It calls for some crawling on your l kn ees along weedy rows with par | smudse of. pestering insects in yoSr | face, and your fingers grinly with soil | For one fact can't be emphasized too | strongly: viz: the fact that TO garden | of tools and machines, alone. There | will remain, when the best has been | done by the best wheel hoe, a residue | which calls for the touch of the work mans fingers. This, whether your | garden IS one covering only a few | square feet, or one extending over acres Farm crops can generally be | worked with horsetools. But a gar den, when such tools have been used | 10 their fullest extent. will still de- nand further hand care. And it won't respond generously unless it gets such care.
 Pm not urging anybody to attempt 3 garden of his own. Nobody who is levoid of some real liking for one. nobody who needs urging to start him nto one. is likely to win many tri- ln1phs in one. What I'm aiming at, this morning. is simply to suggest to some who are inclined to kick be- cause the market prices of vegetables are so high that they can save a greater or lesser proportion of this they are willing to take ! some trouble and do some work to 1 save it.
 That's all
 If you prefer to buy things rather than raise them, that's your privi- ege. In which ease it's also your privilege to take what's coming to you in the way of Il. (. L. without whining.
 And it's my personal expectation hat, so far as the market prices of garden vegetables are concerned. that aforesaid H: c. l.. is going to be at east H2. C2. L2. next season.
 I f Tx-Q o6e-