FAEMERS' GAEDENS. 343 



invite a free circulation of air beneath the surface. Hot air the moment it 

 passes beneath the surface becomes very moist, owing to the condensation of 

 the water it contains, and which it deposits, thus not only airing the soil but 

 adding to its moisture. Cold air holds but little moisture, while hot air dis- 

 solves an immense quantity which it deposits when it cools, or on cool sur- 

 faces. Who has not noticed on a winter day a locomotive leaving behind it 

 a snowy cloud of vapor like a comet's tail, often floating for a minute after the 

 train has passed 1 Think of this, and watch the steam car on days when the 

 hot breath, just as full of water as in winter, is puffed out into the eye of the 

 sun, and not steam enough shows to make a shadow, it is so quickly absorbed 

 by the air." 



These general remarks will suggest to any observing and reflecting person 

 how he may secure at small cost a garden plot that will give him scope 

 enough to raise all the fruits and vegetables needed by a family for its own 

 use. It will require some labor and thought and care ; but so does the plough- 

 ing of his fields, the building of his house, or the selling of his merchandise. 

 The soil once brought into condition and followed by generous dressings and 

 clean culture, may be heavily cropped for generations without having its fer- 

 tility impaired. 



SHELTER FOR GARDENS. 



Where it is desirable to raise early vegetables and the finer fruits shelter is 

 an important matter in most of the northern States, and one that is less at- 

 tended to than it should be. Under the head of " Location," 1 referred to the 

 shelter afforded by the form of the ground. 



Where a garden lies upon a gentle inclination to the south, if the ground 

 above is occupied by an orchard, or by forest trees, and especially by ever- 

 greens, little other shelter is needed. But such situations cannot always be 

 obtained. Where the garden is on level ground, fences of boards or ston€ 

 walls are the shelters most commonly resorted to ; but there are objections to 

 cutting up the grounds around the home into small enclosures. It detracts 

 much from their beauty, and the constant opening and shutting of gates and 

 bars is attended with much inconvenience. 



Belts of white pine, hemlock, arbor vitse, or Norway spruce, planted in 

 double or triple rows on the northerly and easterly sides of gardens, furnish a 

 better protection than walls or fences, and at the same time add much to the 

 beauty of the ground. Where early vegetables and the finer fruits are to be 

 raised such shelter is absolutely necessary. Vines and the more delicate pears 

 are often greatly injured, and even ruined, by rain-storms accompanied by 

 northeast winds. A fence five or six feet high, or an evergi-een hedge will 

 generally save them. Under such a shelter beds for early vegetables may be 

 arranged, and next to them the more tender varieties of pears may be planted. 

 In such situations the ground will not freeze as deeply in winter, and will be 

 in condition to be worked several days earlier than open ground. The climate 

 is greatly modified in places thus protected, and is actually found to be several 

 degrees warmer pn cold and windy days than in unsheltered situations. 



One of the most remarkable instances of amelioration of climate by artificial 

 shelter is found in the garden of Mr. Tudor, of Nahant. This is a rocky 

 promontory projecting from the coast of Lynn into Massachusetts bay. It 

 consists chiefly of rocky ledges, and is not more than half a mile wide. It is 

 exposed to the full sweep of the easterly winds, which bring the salt spray 

 over the whole surface. The soil is thin, and with such fierce visitations of 

 wind and salt water, the vegetation is meagre and only of the hardiest kind. 

 Yet in such a situation science and labor have triumphed over natural obstacles, 

 and made the almost barren rocks to blossom as the rose. Corn and waving 

 grain, trees of various climes, fruits, flowers, shrubbery, and rich lawns now 

 meet the eye where only desolation held sway but a few years ago. 



