KITCHEN-GARDENING. 15 



to keep men under pay, perpetually burning peat for the sake 

 of the ashes, it is natural to suppose that the poor of our com- 

 munity may be placed in easier circumstances, as respects the 

 article of fuel. Thousands of acres of land are to be found in 

 the States of New York and New Jersey, and within a few 

 miles of this city, which abound with peat earth ; and the 

 owners of such have already begun to explore their treasures 

 of this description. Good peat burns well in all sorts of stoves 

 and grates, whether made for wood or coal, and also on the 

 hearth ; and if the ashes are not used to any better purpose 

 than other ashes have hitherto been, it is the cheapest fuel 

 known. I am persuaded that this subject is worthy of serious 

 consideration ; and if the editors of the different papers would 

 arouse the public attention, so as to direct some of our most 

 active citizens to a consideration of this subject, incalculable 

 good would result to the community at large. 



PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 



A light, sandy soil will be benefited if worked when moist, 

 as such treatment will have a tendency to make it more com- 

 pact ; on the contrary, if a clayey soil be worked when too wet, 

 it kneads like dough, and never fails to bind when drought 

 follows ; and this not only prevents the seed from rising, but 

 injures the plants materially in their subsequent growth, by its 

 becoming impervious to moderate rains, dews, air, and the 

 influence of the sun, all of which are necessary to the promotion 

 of vegetation. 



The nearer the ground approaches to a sandy soil, the less 

 retentive will it be of moisture ; the more to a clayey, the 

 longer will it retain moisture ; and the finer the particles of 

 which the clay is composed, the more retentive will it be of 

 water, and, consequently, the longer in drying, and the harder 

 when dry. Bat earth of a consistence that will hold water 

 the longest, without becoming hard when dry, is, of all others, 

 the best adapted for raising the generality of plants in the 

 greatest perfection. This last described soil is called loam, 



