106 



Farm Gardens. 



VOL.V. 



the ground ; he recommends extending: the 

 rod under tlie ground to moist earth : and I 

 suppose that one rod of this description would 

 answer for a building of ordinary length — 

 say from forty to sixty feet in extent. 



We have just finished sowing ten bushels 

 of Mediterranean wheat, which we procured 

 of our neighbour Jabez Jenkins. I would 

 like to know the reason why this kind of 

 wheat, growing in the same climate and soil 

 and circumstances as other wheats, is not 

 acted upon by the fly as they; for this and 

 other reasons, I am not as yet prepared to ad- 

 mit the doctrine in relation to the fly, as ex- 

 pressed in the number of the Cabinet for Au- 

 gust. I remain thy friend, 



N. J. Sharpless. 



Dowiiingtown, 9th mo. 15, 1840. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Farm Gardens. 



Sir, — I accept your invitation to give a de- 

 scription of my farm-garden, for publication 

 in the pages of the Cabinet, and add a few 

 remarks, which might prove of some value to 

 t)iose who, like myself, have but little time 

 to devote to the elegancies of life. I have 

 experienced the total incompatibility of a 

 large and well-appointed garden with the 

 every-day labours of a farm, and have wit- 

 nessed in myself, as well as my neighbours, 

 how often it happens, that at particular sea- 

 sons of the year, the interests, either cf the 

 one or the other, are sure to suffer for want 

 of timely attention to due management. 



You may remember, when I came to the 

 farm of Ellis's, that the garden was in front 

 of the house; and, seeing it in the very 

 weedy state in which it then was, and had, 

 indeed, ever been, I came to the conclusion, 

 that unless it could be kept clean, the better 

 situation of the common garden would be in 

 the rear of the premises : I therefore reduced 

 it to about one-fourth of the size, surrounded 

 it with neat paling, and made a border of rich 

 mould four feet wide under the fence, and a 

 walk of gravel of the same width, laying 

 down the inner square to grass, to be kept 

 closely mown, as a drying-ground ; and hav- 

 ing planted the border with flowers of many 

 varieties, not forgetting the sweet-scented 

 herbs, I put a lock on the gate, and gave the 

 key to the women-folks, and not a weed has, 

 since that time, dared to show its head with 

 impunity ; while I, in return for this care and 

 attention, feel pleasure in mowing the plot 

 about every two weeks, and rolling it with a 

 heavy stone roller — a labour of about half an 

 hour only — and now the place is always fit to 

 be seen ; the little arbour at the upper end of 

 the garden is covered with roses and honey- 

 euckles, aflbrding a delightful view of the 



river, and a lovely retreat of an afternoon or 

 evening, for self and friend, or book. 



You inay also remember, that the whole 

 space behind the house was occupied as a 

 large harum-scarum wood-yard, with patches 

 of grass and weeds, so high as often to ren- 

 der a search necessary, to ascertain if any 

 more wood remained in the pile I I enclosed 

 an acre of this wilderness with a strong fence, 

 to serve as a common garden, the piece mea- 

 suring 70 yards long and 70 yards wide, and 

 placed in the fence, exactly opposite the back 

 entrance of the house, a stout gate, which 

 will fall and fasten of itself; and on that too 

 is a lock, with a piece of chain attached to it 

 and fastened to the post, so that it never can 

 be mislaid or lost. This was accomplished 

 in the autumn, and as soon as finished, I 

 spread the whole of the land with long dung, 

 put the plough into it as deep as it would go, 

 limed the turned surface and well harrowed 

 it, and so left it lie the whole winter. In the 

 spring, therefore, I had only to carry well- 

 rotted dung upon it, turn it in with a rather 

 shallow furrow, so as not to disturb the turf 

 and weeds at the bottom, and sow my seeds 

 and plant my crops in drills, devoting to each 

 a proper number of rows, extending the whole 

 length of the piece, being careful that the 

 dwarf kinds are not placed between rows of 

 tall-growing plants, by which they would be 

 overshadowed. There are no pathways al- 

 lowed on the piece, as communication to each 

 crop is afforded by the ends, or headlands, 

 upon which the plough turns during cultiva- 

 tion ; by this arrangement, much space is 

 saved. 



The garden adjoins the cattle-yard, and 

 when any of the crops become too old for the 

 use of the household, they are pulled and 

 thrown to the cattle and hogs, and other crops 

 are planted in succession, without loss of time, 

 a sprinkling of dung being allowed for each 

 if possible. Here I plant my first and early 

 crops of potatoes, which come off" in time for 

 turnips of the early species, while my early 

 peas are always succeeded by a full crop of 

 potatoes, of the early kinds also. 



I have found this arrangement convenient 

 and beneficial : in very pressing times upon 

 the farm, the garden is made to wait for more 

 leisure, but as the weeds will not do this, it is 

 not always — it must be confessed — that the 

 crops are as clean as they ought to be, but 

 the weeds are more out of sight at the back 

 of the house, and do not stare you in the face, 

 as they would do in front of the dwelling. 

 The rows, extending from one end of the 

 piece to the other, give great facility for 

 cleaning them, in the easiest manner ima- 

 ginable, by the plough, liorse-hoe and culti- 

 vator, and thus the garden is soon put to 

 rights : and I am convinced it is not one quar- 



