EDITOE'S TABLE. 



H^iUlin (5ni&ttt. 



TuE Fa^meiis' ideolect of the Kitcuen Gardex. — The reluctance shown by this class of people 

 to give a little time and labor to the production of Vegetables foi- tlie use of their families, is most 

 surprising. Tliey appear to think the employment altogether beneath their attention. It may 

 be all very well for the women to engage in it, but to suppose that the farmer himself would do 

 so is deemed almost absurd. Ask a farmer why he does not set off a piece of his land as a 

 Kitchen Garden wherein to raise a plentiful supply of agreeable and wholesome vegetables, and 

 in nine cases out of ten he will reply, "Oh, I have not the time, and cannot afford the labor.' 

 Now this is altogether a inisappreb.ension. For what purpose has he lime at all, but to suppoit 

 comfortably himself and those dependent upon him ? (higher aims always supposed.) If, therefore, 

 the products of the kitchen garden will (and who doubts?) most materially add to the eomfirt 

 and health of a family, and at a far lower cost than the yield of a field, to grudge a little time 

 and trouble is surely inconsiderate if not imreasonable. 



Very long is the list of choice edibles ; a small lot of ground so devoted will afford Aspai-agus, 

 Sea Kale, Cress, Lettuce, Peas, Beans, Squash, Onions, Cabbages, Cauliflowers, Carrots, Sabify, 

 Parsnips, Beets, and Tomatoes, besides many useful herbs. A few days' labor in the year would 

 suflice to give an abundance of these things. Probably there is no one who could raise them to 

 greater advantage than the farmer. In most cases he can choose a suitable soil, and he never 

 need lack manure. Indeed, he ought to have these ricii gifts of nature in their highest condiliin. 

 No one can doubt but that vegetables would contribute to the health and enjoyment of the 

 farmer and his household. Through the greater port of the year he eats salt pork, which is apt 

 to engender scrofula and kindred diseases. It i? owing to this extreme use of salt provisions, 

 without the counter tendency of vegetables, that such diseases are so prevalent. If he must feed 

 so much upon salt meat, he ought to provide that which would prevent its injurious effects. I 

 find that such people have no reluctance to eat of them when presented, but do so apparently 

 with as great relish as others, while they neglect tlieir cultivation. The expense of growing 

 vegetables is small. Let us take Asparagus as an example. The bed once made will last a life- 

 time, and two or three dollars will obtain a sufficient stock of plants from any nurseryman. 



If these things contribute to the health of a family, so they do to its enjoyment. How much 

 they cheapen the cost of living, they know best who are careful and industrious enough to grow 

 them. — Clericus. 



Tlie above, from a friend in Canada West, is entitled to careful consideration; for no one 

 can be truly said to live who has not a Garden. None but those who have enjoyed it 

 can appreciate the satisfaction — the luxury — of sitting down to a table spread Avith the 

 fruit of one's own planting and culture. A bunch of Radishes— a few heads of Lettuce — 

 taken from the garden of a summer's morning for breakfast — or a mess of green Peas or 

 Sweet Corn — is a very different affair from the same articles brought in large quantities 

 from market in a withering condition, to be put away in tlie cellar for use. And a plate of 

 Strawberries or Raspberries lose none of their peculiar flavor by passing directly from the 

 iorder to the cream, without being jolted about in baskets until they have lost all form and 

 comeliness. And yet, how many farmers, with land enough lying waste to furnish tliem 

 with all these luxuries — and how many more in the smaller cities and villages, possessing 

 every facility for a good garden — either through ignorance or indolence are deprived of tliis 

 source of comfort. These tilings ought not so to be. Those who have never tried it will 

 be surprised to find how rich is the return for labor bestowed. But we Avould not advise 

 the attempt to do too nnich. A corrsspondent writes that he " tried his hand at a vege- 

 table garden last year, for the first time, and planted everything he had seen recommended, 



