INEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



I'UBUSUEl) BY WILLIAM NICHOLS, ROGKHS' inir.l)lNfiS, C()NGi;i:yS STHKKT, (FOURTH DOOli 1 UOM STAT!-. oTUr.ET.) 



^ 



OL. If. 



BOSTON. SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1821. 



No. 24. 



IIORTICULTUKK. I ON HOT no( si:;! and hot iskds. 



foUowin;: articles are from a gentloman, who hss « Hothouses anil hot heds in their proper 



Idcil experimental to theoretical knowledj^e, i" ] ^p,] appropriate use are ffooj things — A\va3' 



from this they are not lo be tolerated. Their 



orticiilture, and haj put in practice wha.t he incul 

 ites. We hope that those who cultivate small tracts 



ground in the vicinity of larj;e markets nill jive 

 particular attention lo the subjects here discussi i!, 

 id derive such advantages from the information 

 hntained in these Essays as we are sure will best 



:et the views of the writer. 



FOR THE NEW r..\GI.A>D FARMER. 



I apprehend that too little is thouccht of, 

 essive crops the same year, perhaps little 

 ivn of the practicahility of raising them, 

 ough almost the whole of a garden two 

 )s may be raised, in considerable parts of 

 n three, without either crop receiving any 

 iderable injury by it, while the most will 

 ssenlially benefitted. ,\nd this may be ef- 

 d with a little if any additional expense of 

 are, especially if the land be dry and sandy, 

 reason why little if any more manure is 

 ired than for one crop is that the ground is 

 eby covered, or shaded so much of the time 

 much less of the richness of the soil, and 

 ile parts of the manure are carried off by 

 oration, or destroyed by chemical changes. 

 I mention a few successions as specimens for 

 who have not much ground to till ; suc- 

 ons which have been virtually followed for 

 ral years with (he most encouraging sue- 

 Between the hills of corn may be sowed 

 ge, lettuce, cabbages, and things of n simi- 

 ature, all of which will be out of the way 

 •e the corn is sufficiently large to rerjuire 

 pace they occupy. Then about mid sum- 

 set out, Or plant, in or between the hills 

 e same corn, French turnips, Ruta Baga, or 

 ■.sh turnips, which after the corn is remov- 

 ■ill have time to arrive to gr.od perfection. 

 twecD the hills of cucumbers, melons, &c. 

 rows or bills of low peas, which will ripen 

 e the vines run much. And as the 

 decay set out cabbages or sow English 

 ps. When peas are sowed, which run up- 

 cks, radishes may be raised ; and as 1 inen- 

 'J in a former communication, parsnips, 

 ii will, in this way make the third crop.* 

 lus other successions might be mentioned 

 will serve as introductory, to those who 

 isposed to make the experiment. It may 

 oper to observe, that all this may be done 

 nd not under the highest state of cultiva- 

 I but which is only in what may be called 

 d state. And by the way, I will observe 

 I f persons wish to have their vegetables lo 

 ss a fine relish, and to be nourishing and 

 y, they must never manure them to ex- 



e jVew England Farmrr, Vol. i. page 151. 

 :3 observation is doubtless well founded. Sir 

 nclair, says, " when a large portion of dung is 

 he vegetable is forced so rapidly, that it is 

 nt in flavor. A moderate quantity of dung pro- 

 bitter quality; but vegetables grown luxuri- 



II a fresh maiden earth, are the sweetest. In 



III the leaves of the brassicaor cabbage tribe are 

 mcs so superior in quality as to be nearly trans- 

 V—EdilorA'.E.Farnur. 



co'itima'te use is lo scctn'c tlin growth and per- 

 fection of those things, which in any particular 

 c!imale could not be otherwise enjoyed. But 

 when they are used to secure parlictilar pro- 

 ducts out of season, they diminish instead of in- 

 creasing the means of good living. A person j 

 for instance, who will take a little pains, may 

 have his cellar filled, and his table ornamenteil 

 with a great variety of fine fruit and tasteful ve- 

 getables, and all in season in the month of Janu- 

 ary at an expense not essentially differing from 

 what it costs to secure a half dozen hot bed cu- 

 cumbers, which nobody really wants at that sea- 

 son, and which nobody of uncorrupted taste 

 would ever eat, were it not for the most ridicu- 

 lous of all reasons, that they are out of scnson. 

 The worst evil, however, is. that having them 

 out of season, litlle pleasure is derived from 

 them when in season, and when, prejudice to the 

 contrary notwithstanding, they are a most plea- 

 sant and healthy refreshment. Every thing is 

 beautiful and good in its season. Expense and 

 labor should be directed to increase the num- 

 ber and enlarge the variety of such things as 

 are good for food, and pleasant to the eye, 

 but not in procuring out of season what God in 

 his great goodness enables us by the warm in- 

 fluence of his own sun to have in great perfec- 

 tion. The sun and kindly influences of the hea- 

 vens should be permitted to do what they are 

 able to do. And with respect to what can be 

 raised, our exertions should be directed to in- 

 creasing the number and multiplying the varie- 

 ty, and bettering the qtialily, of vegetable pro- 

 ducts, not in forcing them upon ourselves, when 

 they are not really wanted, and when from their 

 meagre appearance, had they sense, they would 

 be ashamed to exhibit themselves on our tables. 



WEEDS. 



3. Were you not Mr. Editor, acquainted with 

 my little lot, 1 should not incline to write, what 

 I am about to send you. But, you know my gar- 

 den is not like the field of the sluggard, all 

 grown over with weeds, though you know I 

 view them in a light somewhat different from the 

 generality of those, who delight in rural employ- 

 ment. That instead of considering them as evils 

 only to be dreaded. I regard them as a kind pro- 

 vision of a wise and good Providence, designed 

 not only as a wholesome food for many of his 

 creatures, but also as a covering for the earth 

 to secure it from the great heat of the Father ol 

 Day, when without any interruption he is per- 

 mitted to pour his rays on its naked and mellow 

 surface. Not to counteract the wisdom of the 

 Best, my way is, after preparing the ground and 

 putting in the seed to let the weeds spring up 

 and grow, taking care only to keep them otit o^ 

 the rows and hills, and removing them as they 

 interfere with the growth of vegetables. By 

 this means the earth is early eliaded, and a quan- 

 tity of food raised for swine or cattle surpassing 

 what any person would at first imagine. And 

 what, perhaps, will not till trial is made be rea- 



dily assented to is notvvith^t.TUiling true. If the 

 experience of four years i? suiricient to satisfy 

 me in judging, a garden is kept in sucli a ?ta(p 

 as lo have the vegetables grow well with less 

 labor than it can by destroying the weeds as 

 soon as they spring out of the ground. But 

 while I would encourage the growth of weeds 

 to protect the ground, and thus l.el;i the rrops, 

 nothing can be further from my intention than 

 lo counleimnce the idlene,ss and neglect of those 

 who sutler the weeda to choke or shade tlip 

 plants. All I maintain, is, that weeds ar.' good 

 servants, but like fire they are bad masters^ 

 they must be kept under, but not extermiaatcd. 

 They must be made to hold their projicr place 

 and rio their proper work, and subserve thoir 

 proper end. If they are entirely destroyed they 

 can do neiflier. And who will believe that so 

 large a portion of the works of God were made in 

 vain. If a person has a regard to the profit of 

 his horticultural labors, and his circumstances 

 will allow of his doing things at the most pro- 

 per time, he will permit the earth to clothe it- 

 self with these light garments, which nature has 

 provided in anticipation of those which she in- 

 tends for her more staple and substantial dress. 



Another advantage f^rom this practice is the 

 weeds aflotd a food for the innumerable insects 

 and worms with which the air and earth are at 

 that season filled. And if they do not entirely 

 protect the rising plant from the ravages of these 

 insects, and worms, they in a considerable de- 

 gree relieve them from the injury they are lia- 

 ble to receive from these destroyers of vegeta- 

 tion. 



One considerable objection lo this mode of 

 cultivation will present itself to the mind in the 

 appearance a field or garden will exhibit. This, 

 however, in part arises from the influence of 

 imagination. A garden overrun with weeds is, 

 to be sure a disagreeable sight. But this is the 

 case, not because the weeds themselves are des- 

 titute of beauty, for many that go under this 

 name are among the handsomest of the vegeta- 

 ble world ; but because, from association they 

 carry the mind to the bed of the slothful, who 

 prefers a little more folding of the hands to 

 sleep, to the labor to which the appointment of 

 Providence calls him. When it is perceived 

 that these are drawn into the service ;tnd sub- 

 jected to the control of man, and are made to 

 subserve his interest, to hold their proper place 

 and do their proper work, they immediately 

 appear to become what they really are, a part 

 of that creation, which God pronounced, and all 

 wise men have found to be good. They be- 

 come indeed the more pleasant, because they 

 are as it were, redeemed from what has gene- 

 rally been considered the wild and unprofita- 

 ble part of creation, and offer one more proof 

 that where God works, nothing is made in vain. 



Remarks e\ the editor. It will be allowed that 

 the id'.as suggested \a the above are not only novel but 

 contradictory to the general current of agricultural 

 authority. Writers on husbandry direct the farmer and 

 gardiner to wage ceaseless war with weeds and destroy 

 them if possible while yet in the seed, before they have 

 begun to vegetate. And we believe for common prac- 



