« Tfie Farm and Garden. 



lEW YOh-: 



Vol. IV. 



SEPTEMBER, ]884. 



No. I. 



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SEPTEMBER RAMBLES OVER THE FARM 

 AND GARDEN. 



By Joseph, 



Personally I detest greens ; still much tlepends 

 on the way they are cooketl. Of course I like 

 my mothei-'s way best (this is not intended as a 

 reflection on the culinary accomplishincnts of 

 my " Secretary of the Iiiterior," and partner 

 through life). Well, my mother always served 

 spinach with fried eggs; I ate the eggs and left 

 the greens. 



Fiushiou is king. No other power is strong 

 enough to dictate in the matter of taste. No 

 douht greens are a wholesome dish, and many 

 people will eat them merely for sanitary rea.sons. 

 But where greens liave heeome a fashionable 

 dish, there is no safety for milk weed, cowslips, 

 nor liorseradish leaves. For early spring, spin- 

 ach is probably as good as anything. The "round 

 leaved" may be sown now, on higlily manured, 

 light loam. A bed just cleared of onions or 

 peas, or any other early crop, is a very good 

 place. In very cold localities a thin covering of 

 coarse straw during the winter will prove to be 

 beneficial. The young shoots of poke weed 

 <skoke, pidgeon berry, plytolacca decandra), 

 make excellent (sic) greens. 



In the South greens are a favorite dish, and 

 the southern Price turnip is largely grown for 

 the top. Another very good vegetable for this 

 purptjse is the C'uriy' mustard ; I have not seen it 

 mentioned as yet in tlie catiilogues of any seeds- 

 men, and probably it is but little known. The 

 beautifully fringed leaves, with their pungent 

 flavors, are also a desirable addition to our salad 

 materials. . 



"fi 



There are absolutely no f ales by which 



•we could determine whnt i i good or bad. 

 Ta.ste recognizes neither hiw no. ituthority. The 

 illiterate mechanic may be just a.s good a judge 

 of the quality of difle'rent varieties of potatoes 

 as the, learned M. D., who, after mi.sconstruing 

 some remarks of mine, until he made me appear 

 to be an advocate of tlie Eai-ly Rose as " the best 

 potato," exclaims, jvith a shru<; of his shoulder, 

 " everyone to his taste," then adds, "the Rose is 

 good enough for cheap boardiog houses." Let 

 liin. show up his diploma as "Grand Master of 



The Easter Lily of the Bermidas (a.s grown by F. R. Pierson & Co.. Tarrytown, N. Y.). Bee pages 6 and 15. 



Epicureaii Arts," or give up his pretensions and 

 self-conceit. Good taste is an article against the 

 deficiency of which even a regular diploma is no 

 sure protection. At least I know a number of 

 doctors who, having sucked themselves full at 

 the breasts of "alma muler," are longing for still 

 more spiritual food, and will suck down a goblet 

 full of the vilest whisky, smack their lips, and 

 mentally exclaim, "gooil." Everyone to his 

 taste, indeed. Farmers know some things as 

 well as doctors, and the latter should not be 

 guilty of such sentiments as " what does the 

 farmer know about cucumljer salad?" 

 + 

 The "best potato," as to real value, is the one 

 containing the largest ]ierceiitage of solid nutri- 

 ment, that i.s, starch and albumen, and the gusta- 



tory nerves of people generally ratify the verdict 

 of chemical analysis. It is the starch that makes 

 a ])t»tato cook dry and meal\'. In regard to the 

 stronger or milder potato flavor, however, peo- 

 jiles' taste will differ as long as potatoes are 

 grown. Some people like the flavor of young, 

 th.at is, still immature, potatoes; to my mind 

 these are watery, because deficient in starch, and 

 therefore in nutriment, and entirely unfit to eat. 

 But everyone to his taste. 



+ 

 Let me speak another good word for the Early 

 Oiiio, whicli sliould not be confounded with an 

 old variety bearing a similar name. I have 

 grown it for about ten years, ever since its intro- 

 duction^ by Gregory, in Marblehead, discarding 

 the Early Rose altogether, and have found it to 



