THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



in well in the fall, fresh manure can be used to advantage but it is bettei 

 not to use such when near planting time. It is always well to save and 

 bury as much of the humus or vegetable matter as possible; too often this 

 is thrown on the rubbish heap. 



In considering any general order for work in the vegetable garden, the 

 leading principle should be that its productive powers should be taxed 

 fully. There need be no resting of the ground, and it is very easy if there 

 should, perchance, be a surplus of any crops, to sell them, to give them 

 away, and in the case of the Brassica family, to return them to the soil 

 for manure. Hard cropping of course is not possible unless the land is 

 liberally manured and the surface soil kept constantly tilled. To put 

 little in and take off much means virtual exhaustion; a whip will not 

 work as a substitute for corn for a horse with hard work to do ; nor will 

 a candle burn long if lit at both ends. Always dig deeply, and when 

 occasion will permit trench a couple of spits deep. Change crops from 

 year to year where this can be done; this is not absolutely necessary and 

 it is not always possible to do it, but the majority of vegetables do better 

 with a change of ground. 



Soils which are sour or acid should have a liberal dressing of lime; 

 this is best applied in the fall after the crops have been gathered. Suffi- 

 cient lime is not used in America; once in three years the bulk of soils 

 are benefited by an application ; do not apply the lime, however, at the 

 same time as manure, as the lime will release much of the nitrogen from 

 the latter. Barnyard manure cannot always be procured, but good crops 

 can be produced with chemical fertihzers alone; these, however, must be 

 used with greater precaution than the manure. Too often fertilizer is 

 used in seed drills, and the seedsmen are blamed for selling poor seed, 

 where the seedlings have been practically destroyed by the fertilizer; the 

 safer plan is to broadcast and hoe it in well, also to use it between rows 

 of growing crops to stimulate them. 



A list of vegetable's of proved excellence, and a few words on their cul- 

 ture, are apt to be tedious, but there are so many starting a garden each 

 year that something must be said on this subject. These remarks are 

 intended rather for small growers, and not for those who are operating 

 market gardens. The best growers of vegetables are not necessarily mar- 

 ket growers or practical gardeners at all. In Great Britain much finer 

 leeks, potatoes, celery, and cauliflower are grown by the artisan classes, 

 who take a keen interest in vegetable culture, than by the professionals, 

 and there is no reason why it cannot be accomplished here. 



Peas are one of the important vegetables in New England and New 

 York, and the first sowing should be put into the ground as soon after 

 it is open as possible. We hear it commonly stated that it is too early to 

 sow peas because the ground has not become warmed. The warmer and 

 drier the soil gets the poorer the peas will do. We have sown these as 

 early as March lo, and in late seasons not until the first week of April; 

 but just: as soon as the frost has left the ground it should be spaded or 



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