No. 10. 



Tlie Vesetabh Garden. 



333 



The Vegetable Garden. 



It is necessary for the soil of a o^arden to 

 be deep and friable; neither too liijht or too 

 heavy; underdraining absolutely indispensa- 

 ble, if the subsoil be retentive. Depth of soil 

 prevents drought, by its capability of retain- 

 ing moisture and giving it out by evaporation 

 from the subsoil, as also by being capable of 

 holding more water without being flooded. 

 The manure should be properly fermented 

 and mixed with mould, vegetable matter, 

 &c., and be thoroughly turned and well pul- 

 verized during the proper seasons, that a sup- 

 ply may be always at hand when needed. 

 Until the soil be deepened by regular work- 

 ing, the defect may be partially remedied by 

 throwing into beds, on which the crops may 

 be planted ; but it is much better to trench it 

 at once, and make it by artificial means what 

 it ought to be. Most garden seeds are drilled, 

 for the purpose of affording a greater facility 

 for cleaning the crop, and these drills may be 

 conveniently formed by laying a board across 

 the bed and drawing the drill along the edge ; 

 and after dropping the seed and covering it, 

 the board might be moved forward by placing 

 it on the planted drill; and by standing on 

 this board during the planting, it is made to 

 serve the purpose of a roller, pressing the soil 

 firmly about the seeds and assisting their 

 vegetation. Other and longer drills might 

 be made by drawing a rake with two or three 

 large teeth, one of which is to follow the track 

 of the last made drill, and the others to throw 

 out one or more at the distance appointed. 

 A roller of suitable size is as advantageous 

 in a garden as in the field; nothing protects 

 turnips and other plants so well from the ra- 

 vages of the fly as rolling; it presses the soil 

 smooth and destroys their hiding-places, and 

 encourages the growth of the plant so as to 

 be sooner out of the reach of its depredations. 

 All seeds sown in dry weather, will germi- 

 nate quicker and be sooner out of the way of 

 the Vv'eeds, if soaked in warm water 24 hours 

 before sowing. 



Cabbages. The early kinds may be sown 

 in a hot-bed, from whence the plants may be 

 removed to the open ground ; or if sown later, 

 they may be raised in a warm border under 

 a fence with a southern aspect. Red cab- 

 bage may be sown in May, and savoys and 

 drumheads almost any time during that 

 month. When planted where they are to 

 remain, the early kinds may stand two feet 

 apart, the larger kinds about three feet. 



Broccoli. The purple cape is the best va- 

 riety for common culture ; other kinds require 

 much care and attention. If these are sown 

 the middleof May, and transplanted into rich 

 soil when of a suitable size, they will produce 

 heads early in autumn. 



Caulijlmcer. This crop requires care ; it 

 succeeds best when sown in August, and 

 transplanted into beds protected by sash dur- 

 ing the winter. It will however do well, if 

 sown in a hot-bed early in the spring, and 

 transplanted into a rich soil in May. And if 

 the seed be sown in May, the plants may be 

 treated as the purple cape broccoli, and with 

 the same success. 



Kale and Brusseh Sprouts may be sown 

 the middle of May, and be transplanted early 

 in July in rich ground ; they are used as 

 greens, and are best after the frost has 

 touched them. 



Asparagus. Sow the seeds early in the 

 spring, in drills one foot asunder. Trans- 

 plant into beds at a year old, and they may 

 be cut from in three years. If the beds are 

 properly prepared, and well attended to by 

 manuring every year, they will continue to 

 yield crops for twenty years. To form new 

 beds, dig the ground 18 inches or 2 feet deep, 

 filling the trench with alternate layers of 

 fresh mould and fermented manure; upon 

 this lay a covering of a few inches of the 

 richest mould, and in this plant the roots, one 

 foot apart, and the crowns about three inches 

 below the surface. To dress old beds, clean 

 early in the spring, and fork into them two 

 or three inches thick of good rotten manure, 

 taking care not to injure the roots. 



Artichokes may be raised from seed or 

 young suckers taken off in the spring ; the 

 seed to be sown in drills one inch deep and 

 one foot apart : and when the plants are a 

 foot in height, they might be transplanted 

 into ground trenched 18 inches deep, well 

 mi.xed with rotten manure, and standing 

 about three feet apart, or three by five. 



Peas. The early varieties should be sown 

 as early as possible in the spring; double 

 rows are most convenient, a foot apart, by 

 four or six feet between, according to the 

 height: the half dwarfs, supported by short 

 sticks, are by far the most prolific and least 

 troublesome. 



English Beans should be planted very 

 early, that they may bloom before the great 

 heats of summer. A strong clay loam is best. 

 Plant with a dibble the seed three inches 

 apart in the rows, and two feet and a half 

 distance. The sorts are the Mazagan, Lis- 

 bon, early; the Genoa, late. Kidney beans, 

 common bush and pole, require a light soil, 

 and may be planted in hills, three or four 

 seeds in a hill ; or in drills, two or three feet 

 apart, and two or three inches in the drill. 

 The planting of these should be delayed until 

 the weather is warm and settled, after which 

 a regular succession should be sown every 

 ten days or fortnight. 



Cucumbers, Melons, and Squashes, In 

 May, in highly manured ground, about four 



