5th March, A. D. 1891. 



ESSAY 



BY 



FRANK J. KINNEY, of Worcester. 



Theme : — Garden Vegetables . 



*' Garden Vegetables" is the subject given us for discussion 

 this afternoon, and it is a very appropriate subject at this season 

 of the year. The garden and the home are synonymous. The 

 first mention we have in history of man and woman was in a 

 garden, and who knows but that was a vegetable garden. Sure- 

 ly, we are told that " out of the ground grew every tree that 

 was pleasant to the sight and good for food." 



One thing is certain, a home without garden vegetables is a 

 poor home, and the more space there is allotted to a garden and 

 the better it is cared for, the better it will be for the fiimily ; 

 in fact, in passing through the country one can judge somewhat 

 of its wealth and intelligence by the gardens of the inhabitants. 

 Whether they are floating gardens as we find in China, or gar- 

 dens on the roofs of buildings as are common in some of the 

 thickly settled countries of the Old World, or boxes on the 

 window-sill, or the large fields tilled as gardens by professional 

 market gardeners, or the cramped and weed-grown gardens of 

 the country farms ; all have their tale to tell the close observer. 



No person can tell the amount of desirable vegetables that 

 can be grown in a small orarden unless he has had one to cul- 

 tivate. To get the best results one should have a sunny window 

 or a small hot-bed. In this climate, our seasons are very short 

 and there are many desirable vegetables that don't have long 

 enough time to grow if the seed is planted in the open ground. 



