A YEAR'S WORK 



IN 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



THE following monthly notes are not intended to supersede 

 the detailed instructions on the several kinds of Vegetables 

 which appear in the preceding pages. The present object is to call 

 attention to the work that must be done, and the work that must be 

 prepared for, as the changes of the seasons require and the state of 

 the weather may permit ; yet some amount of detail is included. 

 Merely to offer reminders would be to exclude the great mass of 

 amateurs, and the less experienced of practical gardeners, from paiti- 

 cipation in the advantages of these monthly notes, and to restrict 

 their use to a few practical men who are masters of every detail of the 

 business of gardening. The routine under each month is generally 

 in harmony with that already recommended, but certain variations 

 of practice are suggested which may prove of service in some districts 

 and under particular circumstances. 



A work on gardening demands of the reader the exercise of 

 judgment. If blindly followed, it may prove as often wrong as right ; 

 for it is not in the power of the authors to influence the weather in 

 favour of their directions, or to insure to those who may follow their 

 guidance a single one amongst the many conditions requisite to 

 success. Although the times named for certain operations are the 

 best as an average, peculiarities of climate and of season will require 

 some modifications, which each one must discover for himself; and 

 after the seed of any vegetable has been sown it is not always need- 

 ful to give subsequent reminders of succe3sional sowings. These 

 naturally follow in accordance with the requirements of each parti- 

 cular garden. With such allowances duly made, these notes will, it 



146 



