ECONOMY IN GARDENING. 



499 



much cheaper by contract than by day's 

 labor. 



In Germany, the whole family, including 

 women and children, work in the gardens 

 and vineyards ; and they always do the 

 same here when they have land in their 

 own possession. Now in every garden, 

 vineyard, or orchard, there is a great deal 

 of light work, that may be as well performed 

 by the younger members of such a family 

 as by any others. Hence, we. learn that 

 the Germans, in the large vineyards now 

 growing on the Ohio, are able to cultivate 

 she grape more profitably than other per- 

 sons ; and hence, German families, accus- 

 tomed to this kind of labor, may be em- 

 ployed by contract in doing certain kinds 

 of horticultural labors, at a great saving to 

 the employer. 



Another mode of economising, in this 

 kind of expenditure, is by the use of all 

 possible labor-saving machines. One of our 

 correspondents, — a practical gardener, — • 

 recommended, in our last number, that the 

 kitchen garden, in this country, in pla- 

 ces of any importance, should always be 

 placed near the stables, to save trouble and 

 time in carting manure ; and should be so 

 arranged as to allow the plough and culti- 

 vator to be used, instead of the spade and 

 hoe. This is excellent and judicious ad- 

 vice, and exactly adapted to this country. 

 In parts of Europe where garden labor can 

 be had for 20 cents a day, the kitchen gar- 

 den may properly be treated with such 

 nicety that not only good vegetables, but 

 something ornamental shall be attained by 

 it. But here., where the pay is as much for 

 one man's labor as that of five men's labor is 

 worth in Germany, it is far better to cheapen 

 the cost of vegetables, and pay for orna- 

 mental work where it is more needed. 



So, too, with regard to every instance, 

 where the more cheap and rapid working ot 



an improved machine, or implement, may 

 be substituted for manual labor. In seve- 

 ral of the largest country seats on the Hud- 

 son, where there is so great an extent of 

 walks and carriage road, that several men 

 would be employed almost constantly in 

 keeping them in order, they are all cleaned 

 of weeds in a day by the aid of the horse 

 hoe for gravel walks, described in the ap- 

 pendix to our Landscape Gardening. In all 

 such cases as these, the proprietor not only 

 gets rid of the trouble and care of employ- 

 ing a large number of workmen, but of the 

 annoyance of paying more than their labor 

 is fairly worth for the purpose in question. 



There are many modes of economising 

 in the expenditures of a country place, which 

 time, and the ingenuity of our countrymen 

 will suggest, with more experience. But 

 there is one which has frequently occurred to 

 us, and which is so obvious that we are sur- 

 prised that no one has adopted it. We 

 mean the substitution, in country places of 

 tolerable size, of fine sheep, for the scythe, 

 in keeping the lawn in order. 



No one now thinks of considering his 

 place in any way ornamental, who does 

 not keep his lawn well mown, — not once 

 or twice a year, for grass, but once or twice 

 a month, for "velvet." This, to be sure, 

 costs something ; but, for general effect, the 

 the beauty of a good lawn and trees is so 

 much greater than that of mere flowers, 

 that no one, who values them rightly, would 

 even think of paying dearly for the latter, 

 and neglecting the former. 



Now, half a dozen or more sheef, of some 

 breed serviceable and ornamental, might 

 be kept on a place properly arranged, so as 

 to do the work of two mowers, always 

 keeping the laivn close and short, and not 

 only without expense, but possibly with 

 some profit. No grass surface, except a 

 shorn lawn, is neater than one cropped by 



