48 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



2d, To have them fresh, without being wilted in the market 

 place, or bruised in transportation, and therefore more wholesome 

 and more delicious. 



3d, To have them at such times and in such quantities as 

 desired. 



4th, To afford pleasure to those who delight in observing the 

 operations of nature, and desire healthful employment for leisiire 

 hours. 



5th, Economy. 



Upon the first and last of these we desire to make a further 

 suggestion, as some may scorn the thought of classing garden 

 vegetables among the luxuries, yet the same persons will buy a 

 box of strawberries for fifty cents that may be raised in one's own 

 garden for ten ; or half a dollar per pound for grapes that may be 

 obtained for a little care and attention, that would be repaid in the 

 pleasure of seeing them grow. Who then will deny that they are 

 luxuries or fail to see the economy ? No one who has not tried it 

 can properly cultivate a vegetable garden without being astonished 

 at the amount that may be produced on a very small piece of 

 ground. One fourth of an acre, well taken care of, will half 

 support a family of six persons from the middle of June to the 

 middle of October, and furnish something for the winter store 

 besides. 



On this surface may be cultivated potatoes, carrots, turnips, 

 beets, cabbages, onions, peas, strawberries, raspberries, currants, 

 lettuce, cucumbers, melons, squashes, and other varieties of 

 vegetables, with a little labor and care every day that would hard- 

 ly be felt, or regarded as labor by an industrious man. 



One secret of gardening as well as of farming in general, is in 

 enriching the soil, and this is the first thing to be considered. 

 While the farmer can always find some choice manure particularly 

 adapted to the fertilization of the garden, the mechanic might 

 complain of a want of all means to enrich his, and assign this as 

 a reason for neglecting to cultivate it. Yet this diflSculty may be 

 overcome by a little perseverance. By the use of loam with the 

 night soil, and the drainage from the sink, as recommended by al- 

 most every treatise on fertilizers, there need be no lack of manure 

 for a quarter acre garden, though destitute of all other means. 



When the garden is once manured let no gardener be afraid of 

 mixing it too thoroughly with the soil, or be satisfied with the 

 ordinary amount of manure used in the field. It matters not how 



