CHAPTER XVIII 



VEGETABLE GARDENING 



"To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to pknt seeds and 

 watch their renewal of life this is the commonest delight of the race, the 

 most satisfactory thing one can do." WARNER. 



THE word horticulture originally meant garden culture and 

 the term was used to include all crops grown within the garden 

 inclosure. As these crops were moved outward into fields their 

 growth has continued under the name of horticulture. More 

 recently the term has been subdivided and specialized terms have 

 come into use. Olericulture is the growing of vegetables; pomology 

 is the growing of fruits; and floriculture is the growing of flowers. 



It is important that the farmer as well as the village resident 

 should have his own home garden (Figs. 177 and 178). It will 

 give much return in the form of fresh products for the table and 

 greatly reduce the* actual outlay of money for table supplies. The 

 farmer's home garden and his "truck patch" should not be dis- 

 tinct. The table garden should be so closely associated with the 

 truck patch that practically no extra work is required in caring 

 for the former. One of the greatest objections to the home garden 

 on a farm, where every one is so busy in the spring, is the fact that 

 labor required in the small garden is very irksome. Most of it is 

 hand work and back work. Men and boys alike commonly shun 

 the task of caring for such gardens. 



If the small garden is so connected with the large truck patch, 

 where corn, potatoes, tomatoes and other extensive crops are 

 grown, the hand labor may be almost entirely avoided, and the 

 few moments required to plow or to cultivate the area for the small 

 crops will be reduced to a minimum. Such crops as lettuce, rad- 

 ishes, spinach, peas, string beans, and others, that are grown on a 

 small scale for table uss, may each occupy a part of the long rows, 

 and a few such rows at the side of the field where more extensive 

 crops are grown will make it possible to use horse labor in pre- 

 paring the soil for planting, in controlling the weeds and moisture, 

 and very little hand work will be necessary. The use of hand 

 wheel hoes under such circumstances is also possible. 



Let the home garden be a place where the young members of 

 the family can grow extra products for the early markets. Interest 

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