116 



Rural Life. 



V0L.V. 



Rural Life. 



The article on farm-gardens in our last 

 number, has called forth a communication 

 from B. G., whose account of his visit to a 

 friend is peculiarly interesting and instructive : 

 we would be glad to be made acquainted with 

 one who has put in practice a plan by which 

 the former might enjoy the luxury of a clean 

 and productive garden, without the great la- 

 bour and expense usually incurred. The se- 

 paration of the pleasure from the kitchen gar- 

 den, placing it in front of the house, and re- 

 signing the management to the female portion 

 of the family, is a happy arrangement — in 

 such keeping it is sure to flourish. 



Sir, — I called upon a friend the other day, 

 and found him in the bosom of his family, in 

 a pleasant, retired spot, just outside the town, 

 surrounded by " all that is truly delightful in 

 life" — a happy man. I know not when I 

 have been more struck with the ease and 

 comfort, with which it appears a man may 

 clothe himself if he will, that is, if he be 

 formed of the right material ; and being of 

 opinion, that on his small possession is to be 

 found the elements of agriculture, horticul- 

 ture, and rural affairs in perfection, I thought 

 I would attempt to pourtray him and his little 

 paradise, for the pages of the Cabinet, a work 

 devoted to these subjects, and where the pic- 

 ture would be in keeping; premising, how- 

 ever, that my friend is married, has a family 

 of children, and a competency — three little 

 necessary ingredients in every good picture. 



In the first place, then, his establishment 

 consists of just a sufficient number of acres 

 of land to constitute the management of it a 

 pleasure — a business would, of course, re- 

 quire a larger number of acres, and a very 

 different establishment — and it might not then 

 always be holiday with the possessor, as it 

 now is. He keeps one man only, to do all 

 that he has to do, and upon him devolves the 

 care of all things, under my friend's superin- 

 tendence. But let me conduct you to the 

 house, which you approach by a wide, open, 

 clean avenue, with white paling on both sides ; 

 and, having given your horse and chaise to 

 the man, and paid your respects to the host 

 and hostess of the mansion, we will accom- 

 pany him around his place. 



We enter, through a piazza, the front gar- 

 den, which is chiefly devoted to flowers, fruit, 

 and a few choice vegetables — and, by a wide 

 and straight walk down the centre, are 

 brought to a door at the lower end, which 

 opens into the cattle or barn-yard, which is 

 laid deeper in the centre, for the preservation 

 of the manure; and here are a pump and 

 trough, for watering the cattle at all times ; 

 a raised and paved road leads to the stables 

 past the barn, and thence to the hog-styes ; 

 and thus, by a gate, we reach the first mea- 



dow of fine old sweet turf, where the white 

 clover predominates, and not the weeds. Ad- 

 joining this, is another of these fine old pas- 

 tures, and below these is a meadow, in which 

 is a spring of water and a neverfailing spring 

 of deep grass. All these fields lie below the 

 barn and cattle-yard, and are protected by 

 substantial post and rail fencing in good re- 

 pair; and at the back of the barn, are two 

 small pieces of old grass-land, very substan- 

 tially fenced, which are devoted to the rear- 

 ing of calves : by passing these, we come 

 into an enclosure containing about an acre of 

 land, the laying out and apportioning of which 

 as a garden, is deserving of the highest com- 

 mendation, let me try to give you a sketch of it. 



Suppose then, we begin at the lower end, 

 where there had been planted three rows, the 

 whole length of the piece, with early pota- 

 toes, which having been removed, the land 

 had been ploughed and fitted for a crop of 

 turnips, which were growing luxuriantly. 

 Adjoining this, are three rows of late pota- 

 toes, strong in the vine and clean hoed, and 

 then several rows of mercers in fine condi- 

 tion ; then a piece of turnips, which had been 

 sown after a strip of oats, devoted to the feed- 

 ing of the cattle while green, and a large bed 

 of parsnips and another of carrots in full 

 vigour, with cabbages, late and early, adjoin- 

 ing ; another bed of turnips after early corn 

 for roasting, and then a breadth of sugar-beet, 

 and another of the red garden-beet, with 

 small crops, after peas and string-beans, let- 

 tuces, &c. ; the upper portion of the piece 

 being turnips, after early corn. 



Now, supposing the whole of this piece of 

 land about an acre only — in it my friend has 

 the opportunity, by just planting the crops in 

 beds the whole length of the land, of putting 

 in the plough on the removal of each, and 

 preparing the soil for another crop, in the 

 speediest and easiest manner, without tres- 

 passing on the other crops adjoining, and is 

 also enabled to carry on manure from the 

 cattle-yard to each plot, without crossing any 

 of the growing crops, in the most convenient 

 way possible, by the headlands of the field, 

 which are the only pathways to the whole. 

 And in this piece and the calf-lots, are a few 

 fine fruit-trees in full bearing. I should say, 

 the surplus of his garden crop goes at once 

 to the cattle-yard and hog-styes. 



We now leave this field-garden, by a nar- 

 row strip leading towards the house ; on one 

 side is a fine crop of turnips, after spinach, 

 just fit for the table ; on the other are string- 

 beans, of different varieties, okra, and other 

 culinary crops ; and so we approach the back 

 of the house, which is surrounded with a 

 piazza ; a shaded yard, with back offices, 

 pump, &c., and a deep and dark cellar or 

 vault, with an arched roof, for a milk-house, 



