^62 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



persuaded that they are far from being as universal as they should 

 be on our farms. And especially, is this the case, among our 

 western farmers. Their attention and time being occupied so 

 closely, with their broad, and numerous acres, that they hardly 

 find time to think of the value and importance of the small lot of 

 land. Our good housewives are always advocates of a good Kitch- 

 en Garden, and are keenly alive to its importance. They know 

 the value of it to their tables; that when they are perplexed and 

 can hardly decide what to prepare for the next meal, (to best please 

 their "lord and master") how often the Kitchen Garden will come 

 to their rescue, and contribute largely to a meal that is fit for a 

 king. We are firmly impressed that there is little that our farm- 

 ers can do, that will result more to the material benefit of their 

 families, for the time expended, than to supply them liberally with 

 good garden vegetables ; and being of this mind it seems that such 

 a course should be pursued in preparing this paper as might in- 

 duce the largest number to try the plan. To this end, with your 

 kind indulgence let us attempt to produce in a farmer's garden 

 the vegetables recommended last year, in some way that may best 

 suit our situation. First, let us consider that very little, if any 

 land is rich enough without fertilizing, to grow an assortment of 

 good vegetables ; consequently we must use manure and use it 

 liberally. We will select an acre of our best land, far enough from 

 our house to be out of the range of our poultry yard, for the 

 garden and poultry cannot thrive well together, and we want to 

 save the time and expense of fencing against them, if near the 

 house; and besides we want room; we are not fitted to enjoy 

 being cramped up in a small inclosure. Having made our selec- 

 tion we will fertilize with a good coat of manure, and plow it in 

 the fall, if possible, and again in the spring, pulverize nicely, and 

 level the surface as much as practicable. 



The vegetables recommended to us by our committee last year are 

 asparagus, radishes, lettuce, peas, beets, onions, salsify, cabbage, 

 tomatoes, bush beans, sweet corn, lima beans, cucumbers, melons, 

 rhubarb, horseradish, and I will add potatoes and turnips. Here 

 are eighteen different varieties, and the problem to solve is, to. suc- 

 cessfully cultivate them with ordinary farm tools and get the 

 best crop at the least cost. . We will plant in rows three feet apart, 

 some in hills and some in drills. First to be planted in the spring, 

 are the most hardy sorts which are the asparagus, rhubarb, horse- 

 radish, peas, onions, radishes, lettuce, beets, salsify, cabbage, po- 

 tatoes and tomatoes. After marking the ground in rows three 

 feet apart we will plant according to the following table, which 

 shows the quantity of each kind of seed needed, the length of row 

 and what part of an acre it should plant, and the yield to expect, 

 according to the average of its kind. 



