secretary's budgett. 345 



of the editors of the Farm, Field and Stockman^ received an improved 

 variety from Italy in conneclion with seeds of the Spanish melon, and 

 was the first person in that citj'^ who used the tomato as a food. The 

 onildren soon learned to eat the fruit in its natural state ; a fruit now 

 more universally used and appreciated than any other. As a boy the 

 writer remembers being carefully warned by a good old aunt "not to 

 touch the 'love apples' — they are poison." The child had already 

 eaten the forbidden fruit at home. — Farm^ Field and Stockman. 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. I 



Where plenty of garden vegetables are required, frequent sowings 

 or plantings should be made. The ^ spring fever" ot vegetable gar- 

 dening is generally of short duration, and is at its height when the at- 

 tack first comes on. The owner of a small garden is apt to have it so 

 seriously that undue haste is made in all the operations; plowing or 

 spading is not halt done, the surface is barely stirred up enough to 

 show that some one Las been over the whole ground ; fertilizers are 

 improperly supplied, and plantings are made with hands uuguided by 

 ■experience or judgment. All the seeds are put in on the same day, 

 and the work finished up as rapidly as possible. The result is, in some 

 <;ases, a surplus of vegetables for a short period, and none thereafter; 

 in other cases, at no time does the garden afford vegetables worthy of 

 the name. 



For the best success a series of plantings should be made, com- 

 mencing with radishes and lettuce ; plant 20, early in the season as 

 the weather will permit, always b taring in mind that it is folly to put 

 seeds in the ground when it is cold and wet. A planting of radishes 

 should be made every ten days until the first of June, after which time 

 ■do not plant again until September, as in this climate radishes in mid- 

 summer are worthless. Peas should also be sown in succession until 

 the first of June. Plant a few at a time, in order that the whole crop 

 may be consumed when in the best possible condition ; it is far better 

 to eat canned peas than half ripened ones from the vines. A planting 

 of peas can be made to advantage after early potatoes, if the proper 

 kinds are selected, and for this purpose " Henderson's First of All," or 

 others of that class are the best. It is folly to plant so late the large, 

 wrinkled varieties, as a crop of mildew would be secured in September 

 instead of a delicious vegetable. Two plantings of beets in spring and 

 one in August will keep up a succession of this vegetable, tender and 

 sweet. Sweet-corn should be planted every week, say twenty hills at 

 a time, from the first of May until the middle of Juiy ; this will afford 

 an ample supply for nearly three months. Beans should be planted 



