THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 



"V^ EGETABLES, and their cultivation, are now attracting mucli 

 / - attention ; information is eagerly sought, as we have abundant 

 'Evidence in the number of inquiries we are almost daily receiv- 

 mg. The hints we now propose to offer are intended for ama- 

 teurs, and have reference particularly to open gi-ound culture. 

 Whoever wishes to make his kitchen garden a profitable and 

 pleasant investment of care and labor, must remember — 

 First, That it be free from stagnant moisture, either in surface or sub-soil, — a cold, 

 sour bottom is a deadly foe to a rapid, luxuriant growth, which is indispensable. A 

 drain or two of stone or pipe tile, that a good laborer will make in a coujile of days, 

 may remedy defects of this kind in many a garden now suffering. A garden with a 

 perfectly dry bottom, is two or three weeks earlier than one from which water cannot 

 find easy drainage ; it is much more healthy, more agreeable to work in, and more 

 productive. 



Second, That the ground be deeply spaded or trenched, or if of large extent, sub- 

 soil ploioed. In any case it ought to be thoroughly loosened and pulverized to the 

 depth of eighteen inches at least, that the roots of plants may have ample sources of 

 food and nourishment at all times, and especially in dry times. This should have 

 been done in the autumn ; but if overlooked then, it should be done now, for it is in- 

 dispensable. In spading and trenching, the subsoil should not be thrown on the top, 

 for that would make a bad bed for the seeds, but it should be well loosened. In con- 

 nection with this operation, abundance of well decomposed manure should be added, 

 and it should be placed in the bottom of the trench as the work proceeds. Some of 

 the coarser crops, such as potatoes, will do as well on partially decomposed manures, 

 and these for early spring crops are deshable on account of the bottom heat to be 

 derived from their fermentation. 



Third, The garden must be laid out in plots, and each one should be designated by 

 letters or numbers and have a certain crop or succession of crops assigned it, as the 

 farmer arranges beforehand the mode of cropping the various divisions of his farm 

 Be the garden ever so small, a well defined system will add greatly to the facility and 

 success of its management. Good gardeners and men whose gardening habits have 

 become orderly and systematic from long practice and experience, may consider these 

 hints superfluous, but we know they are needed, and if followed might work great 

 reformation in many of what are called good gardens. We all know how common it 

 is for garden work to be deferred until an advancing season, or an active neighbor 

 suggests the necessity of immediate action. Then the plot that is most available is 

 put hastily in order and sown or planted with the most pressing article. A week or 

 two more and another plot is taken up in the same way, and so it goes on at random 

 as the season advances. 



Fourth, A timely provision of an ample and well selected stock of seeds should be 



April 1, 1853. 



No. IIL 



