WINTER MEETING, 1879. 17 



ing it or leaving it as an eyesore all summer, where weeds will grow in spite of 

 us. And what is all this for? Simply that a few troublesome old hens may 

 enjoy a liberty that not another animal on the whole farm ])ossesses. If we 

 cannot afford to keep chickens and turkeys within proper limits, where they 

 will not destroy more than they are worth, we cannot afford to keep them at 

 all. Farmers are beginning to keep fine-blooded horses, and cattle, and sheep, 

 and hogs, but the chickens must "rough it" and get their own living, whicli 

 they continue to do remarkably well, owing to the hen's peculiar adaptability 

 to general destructiveness. Let the poultry bo ke})t properly confined, and the 

 gardens, so far as unsightly, be hidden by appropriate screens. 



Asrain the farmer has learned to make tlie horse cultivate his corn almost 

 exclusively, to sow his grain, to reap it, and frequently to bind it, — to do almost 

 everytliing, — but has not yet, in most cases, learned to make him work his gar- 

 den. As has been repeatedly said in this society, tlie garden, if disposed in 

 rows and not in beds can be almost entirely cultivated by a horse very clieaply 

 and very easily. Market gardeners understand this, and why should not the 

 farmer? 



COKCLUSIOI^. 



The question is, however, "How good a vegetable garden can the farmer 

 afford to have?" As I have eliminated want of time from among the diffi- 

 culties, the question is practically answered viz. : that as soon as he knows 

 how to keep it he can afford an indefinitely good one, and can keep such an 

 one cheaper and easier than he could a poor one before. I believe that in 

 this and everything else our difficulties are mostly reminders of our want of 

 knowledge. He can afford to raise any and all vegetables that suit his taste. 

 But the question of how extensive a garden he can afford to keep is still un- 

 answered, and it is a point that I hope to hear discussed. It seems to me 

 that its extent should be limited to the supply of his own table ; that he can 

 spend no great amount of his time in the garden; that he can in nowise afford 

 to become the market gardener. Let him not make gardening his avoca- 

 tion, and not allow it to intrude upon his farm proper. He cannot afford to 

 raise an abundance to sell, but he can well afford to raise an abundance to 

 enjoy. 



W. Asa Rowe. — I think one of the most important things to be done in con- 

 nection with the bettering of farmers' gardens is to disseminate definite infor- 

 mation concerning the growing of finer vegetables. I have in mind the 

 example of celery, — one of the vegetables of the garden, and yet almost never 

 found in the farmer's garden. Perhaps most families have not learned to 

 recognize its value, but in case they come to this knowledge, none of them can 

 raise it successfully because they do not know how. It took two years of 

 blundering for me to get so I could raise it for the lack of a little information 

 given by our Secretary just before my successful trial. The methods of suc- 

 cessful culture of the best vegetables with a good deal of attention to the 

 minute details should occupy more time in our agricultural and horticultural 

 gatherings. 



Prof. Beal. — Agriculture is a pretty broad field to work in, and if a man ex- 

 pects to carry on all branches of it in one establishment successfully, he will 

 awaken sooner or later to a great disappointment. Some thing or things must 

 be made specialties. Now it is a question in my mind just how good a vegeta- 

 ble garden a farmer can afford to have. If he aims to make one as good as 



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