CHAPTER II. 

 The Vegetable Garden. 



Value of Vege- 

 table Food in 

 Warm 

 Weather. 



How to Prepare 

 the Soil for a 

 Vegetable 

 Garden. 



The vegetable garden should be looked on as one 

 of the important departments of the farm. A 

 succession of fresh vegetables from early spring is 

 necessary for the health of all classes in this country. 

 It is a wise provision of nature that the food we 

 should eat can be grown in the climate in which we 

 live. In tropical climates we find the people living 

 almost entirely on fruits and vegetables. Were 

 they to eat fattening foods they could not live long, 

 as such a diet would encourage disease. In our 

 temperate zone, where we have both heat and cold, 

 we should govern ourselves accordingly, and so 

 arrange that our diet during the summer season 

 will be composed largely of fruits and vegetables. 

 We know that our animals never thrive better than 

 in spring on fresh grass, without any additional food. 

 The lesson we learn from this is that a vegetable 

 food in summer is what we require; for outdoor life 

 in winter we need a more concentrated and heating 

 food. In Arctic regions the food of the natives is 

 principally the fat of whales and other sea animals, 

 called "blubber." This is necessary to supply heat 

 for the body. 



It is advisable to have land for the vegetable 

 garden thoroughly cultivated in the early fall, and 

 an endeavor should be made to destroy all weeds 

 and weed seeds. This will save a large amount of 

 hand labor the following season. Before the crops 

 are planted is the best time to clear the land of weeds. 

 In October, when the land is in good shape, spread 

 twenty or twenty-five loads of farm manure per 



