128 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



others sow the seed where they want the fence. I 

 have tried both ways, and like the last best if the 

 ground is well prepared and not disposed to be weedy; 

 otherwise it is better to sow the seed in a bed, and 

 transplant wlien the plants are one year old. 



SsTTiN'G OUT THE Plants. — Make the ground rich 

 and mellow, and plow a furrow where the hedge is to 

 be set. Then, when you are ready to transplant, 

 take a scvthe and mow off the tops of the plants in 

 the seed-bed about two inches above the ground ; 

 then run a sharp plow under the rows, cutting the 

 plants off about eight inches under ground, place 

 them in soiiething convenient to carry them in, aud 

 set them six inches apart in the furrow you plowed 

 where the hedge is to be, and draw the dirt around 

 each plant with a hoe, making it firm with the 

 foot. 



Training the Hedge. — The fall following, mow 

 off the sprouts to within two or three inches of the 

 place where they were first cut, and cover the ground 

 with coarse manure or straw before cold weather sets 

 in. In the spring this must be cleared off. Keep 

 the weeds out, and, about the tenth of July, cut the 

 plants down to within four or five inches of the last 

 cutting. Cut again in the fall, and so on from time 

 to time. If you have taken pains to fill in with fresh 

 plants where any have died, in four years time the 

 orange will make an impregnable fence. L. 



Lynn, Pa. 



— —^^ tfc . 



"MY HEW GAKDEN." 



The " mid-wintor thaw," which came in February, 

 gave me another look at my new garden, and almost 

 made me impatient for spring so that I could work 

 in it s?gain. I took so much pleasure there last sea- 

 son, that I have a mind to tell your readers about 

 it— perhaps it may incite others to seek happiness in 

 the same innocent manner. [ must say, however, 

 that it is not nnich of a garden yet — as only last 

 spring it was a part of an old meadow — an unoccu- 

 pied corner of the orchard lot — very conveniently 

 situated for my purpose. The soil is a sandy loam, 

 dry, and full of small stone, which will make plenty 

 of work for the hoe and rake for several years to 

 come. I don't like a stony garden — but I like such 

 a soil as we always find with stone, better than any 

 other; and tvork will clear them away in time, as they 

 we turned up in plowing, spading, and raking the 

 ground. 



As to fencing, my garden fronts on the road, and 

 Mes east of the front door-yard, ho I had fence to make 

 only on two sides of it. This, temporarily, I con- 

 structed of " picked up" rails about eleven feet long 

 with every other leng h of five and a half feet rails. 

 The later were culled from several loads of broken 

 rails, drawn up for wood, and ?awed into regular 

 lengths before using. Buch a fence occupies only 

 about four feet in width, and with a rider staked 

 across thfi centre of each long length, would stand 

 quite a heavy wind or push from an animal. Mine 

 has stood without this '• finishing touch" so far, ex- 

 cept when thrown down last fall by some unruly 

 horses. 



The plat was plowed early in May, was well har- 

 rowed immediately, and pretty fine tilth established, 

 considering the depth of the plowing (seven inches) 

 and the toughness of the sod. No manure was ap- 

 plied, as I wished to get an idea of the present capa- 



city of the soil, and intended hill-manuring and top- 

 dressing most of my crops with stimulating fertilizera 



The first object being to get the ground clear of 

 sods and in fine tilth, I planted the greater part to 

 potatoes, May 6th and 10th, putting in seven varietiea 

 On the last named day, I also planted a few hiils of 

 com, and on the 21st some fifty hills of Lima beana, 

 with a small handful of as:hes and bones, (which had 

 lain together some weeks,) mixed wiih the dirt over 

 each. I found I missed it in not taking pains to place 

 each bean with the eye down, as those thus placed 

 come up more readily and surel3\ Such laige beans 

 cannot turn easily in a compact soil, and the shoot 

 often breaks and rots before getting to the surface^ 

 I also planted French dwarf beans, some fifty hills, 

 but without any special application. On the 24th, I 

 planted a few hills of sweet potato, and Boston 

 murrow squashes, in opposite corners of my garden. 



The cultivation consisted simply in keeping the 

 soil mellow and the weeds down with cultivator and 

 hand hoe. The corn and Lima beans were hoed most 

 frequently. The corn was top-dressed with ashes, 

 also the potatoes, — the later also received an appli- 

 cation of gypsum. The squashes were watered with 

 soap-suds occasionally. As to ueeds — pigeon gra«!, 

 pig-weed, parsley, and the wild bean, were the most 

 troublesome— the parsley is the most difiicult to 

 eradicate. 



In regard to the crops, they were very satisfactory^ 

 It is a pleasant thing to eat the fruit of one's labor. 

 First, we had string and shell-beans from the dwarfs, 

 and then the delicate Limas, so delicious I can almost 

 taste them as I write. These lasted a long time, at 

 least two months, and until hard frosts come. We 

 had also new potatoes, green corn, not forgetting a 

 few radishes, which grew where some bills' of the 

 Limas were missing. And in the fill we had fine 

 potatoes, also fair squashes — tliough these did not do 

 very well on account of the drouth. 



The present year will give quite an addition to 111^ 

 garden products. I made a nice strawherry bed last 

 August, digging up the ground some eighteen or 

 twenty inches deep, and plant inn;- four of our best 

 varieties. They rooted finely, and I hope will come 

 out in the spring, ready to give many a dish of straw- 

 berries next June, and some seasons thereafter. I 

 have also made a pit-yhmt bed, digging it up two 

 feet deep, and putting in plenty of manure, setting 

 out my roots in October. I shall prepare for aspar- 

 agus next season, and devote considerable attention 

 to other usual garden vegetables, "^rhe manure ia 

 already on the ground for my onions and other beds 

 and my vine patch, and I thall have more drawn out 

 before plowing. But I must not make a long story* 

 of my plans and projects, but will give you some slq^ 

 count of them perhaps after putting them into eieJl 

 cution. A Country Invalid. '' 



The Cabbage was highly esteemed by the aij*' 

 cients. Phh.lips tells us that the ancient llomani^,^ 

 having banished physicians out of their terriioriea,^ 

 preserved their health for six hundred years, and 

 soothed their infirmities by the use of this vegetable 

 alone. 



A LIGHT, rich soil, abounding in vegetable mould, 

 produces the earliest peas; but a strong loam, in- 

 clining to clay, yields the largest crop. t 



