FRUIT 'GARDEN. 217 



sects are much multiplied by leaving the surface of 

 the earth loose and pervious, and much diminished 

 by rendering it close and compact. 



The only variety of this plant made better, or, 

 rather, not made worse by transplanting, is the ruta 

 baga. A few feet square will give a sufficient num- 

 ber of plants. Draw and set these about a foot from 

 each other, on ridges three feet apart. Keep the 

 plants free from weeds during the whole course of 

 their vegetation, and you will rarely fail to have an 

 abundant crop. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



THE FRUIT GARDEN. 



NEXT to bread corn and culinary esculents, tne 

 products of this description of garden holds the 

 highest place on the scale of table .economy. As 

 articles of food and drink, ripe fruits and their pre- 

 pared juices are equally wholesome and pleasant; 

 and in many complaints are auxiliary to medicine, 

 while in others they serve as substitutes for it. 

 Every portion of ground, therefore, set apart for 

 the purposes of horticulture, should contain a few 

 fruit-bearing trees and shrubs of the more common 

 and useful kinds (as apples, cherries, peaches, 

 &c.), to be placed in the borders of its northern and 

 western sides, where they will least interfere with 

 other products, and even be useful in defending 

 these from high and cold winds. But in all cases 

 where the occupant has room for an exclusive fruit 

 garden, this ought to be preferred, as possessing 

 many advantages over the mixed kind, and particu- 

 larly that of giving to trees and shrubs the soil, ex- 

 position, culture, and arrangement best fitted for 

 their several kinds and species. To the end, how- 



