32 



Results of Garden Culture. 



Vol. VII. 



to, or below the surface, in reference to the 

 presence of their appropriate food, and in 

 proportion to the depth of the tilth, admonish 

 us that the earth, or pasture in which the 

 plant is to graze, should be made soft and 

 penetrable, in proportion to the quantity of 

 sustenance to be found, and that the food 

 beinir thus made accessible at planting- time, 

 or before, to the messengers which are to be 

 sent after it, these messengers, or roots, 

 should be left quietly to do their office, with- 

 out being disturbed or in any manner crossed 

 or interrupted, after planting time : stirring 

 only the surface lightly after that, to let in 

 air and moisture and such aliment as they 

 may of themselves afford ; and by their 

 agency, render more soluble the food which 

 the pasture contains, thus converting it more 

 easily and completely to the sustenance of 

 the plant ? Let every one, Mr. Editor, draw 

 his own conclusions, but let him not selfishly 

 hide his light under a bushel! that's neither 

 liberal nor fair. S. S. I. 



Washington, D. C, July 15, 1842. 



Results of Garden Culture. 



Profitable Farming. — George Pierce, 

 of West Cambridge, Mass., about six miles 

 from Boston, has a home lot of little more 

 than 7 acres, which he cultivates in the 

 same favoured district of which I have been 

 speaking. 



Besides this, he sometimes extends his 

 cultivation by hiring occasionally small lots 

 in the neighbourhood. 



The extent of his out-lots is not given ; 

 but it may be inferred from the fact, that for 

 one of them he pays an annual rent of $35 ; 

 for the other piece $40. 



The amount of sales from the whole three 

 within the year thus far, is $3,428.64. 



The amount of sales from this home lot of 

 7 acres, is $2,779.54. The amount paid for 

 labour on the whole up to this date (27th 

 Nov. 1841.) is $499.99, without including 

 the expense of the board of the men. 



This, I presume, does not embrace any 

 charge for his own labour and supervision 

 and marketing. The bills paid since the 

 last spring for manure amounted to nearly 

 twice that sum. 



His particular aim is to raise fruit and 

 vegetables for the market, such as apples, 

 peaches, strawberries, raspberries, and let- 

 tuce, radishes, spinach and other greens, 

 early cabbage, cucumbers, squashes, melons 

 of various kinds, cauliflower, brocoli, beets, 

 carrots, turnips, peas, beans, onions, &c., all 

 of which are profitable crops, when he is 

 successful in growing them. 



He plants little corn and potatoes, as he 



thinks he can use the ground to much better 

 advantage. Some of his most productive 

 crops the present season have been fall-sowed 

 onions, from a piece of land three rods in 

 width, and eight rods in length, which gave 

 him $ 167. Another profitable crop was 

 saba, or, as they are sometimes called, seve 

 beans ; there were 1348 hills, which on the 

 first picking yielded $ 38. 



The yield, according to the account kept, 

 amounted to $70, when having lost his 

 minutes, he was unable to ascertain the en- 

 tire amount. Of string beans he had last 

 season two acres. From this lot it was not 

 unusual to carry ten barrels in a day to mar- 

 ket. In two weeks he carried from this lot 

 to market 172 bushels, the average price of 

 which was 67 cents per bushel, $115.24. 

 At the same time the ground was occupied 

 with other crops, such as melons, tomatoes, 

 cauliflowers, cabbages, &c. 



As soon as the beans had ceased to bear, 

 the vines were immediately removed, and 

 the ground being well cultivated, there was 

 ample room and time for the other crop to 

 grow. Many of his early vegetables are 

 forwarded in hot-beds under glass. On most 

 of the ground which he cultivates, he gets 

 from two to four crops. A crop of radishes, 

 lettuce, beans and cucumbers, may be had 

 on the same ground the same season, and to 

 these a fifth crop of fall spinach is sometimes 

 added. In the present season he says, he 

 has had crops, which by the old modes of 

 husbandry would have occupied ten acres, 

 growing upon four acres. 



His practice is for the first crop, to give 

 such a dressing of manure as will carry that 

 and the succeeding crops well through with- 

 out renewal. He never manures sparingly. 



His onions are sowed in July or the first 

 of August. They are lightly covered with 

 litter in the fall, and early in the spring are 

 uncovered and become soon fit for the mar- 

 ket ; and the crop is off the ground in season 

 for its successor. 



Mr. Pierce values very highly stable ma- 

 nure, and wishes to apply it to his crops in 

 its hottest state. It then forces vegetation 

 most rapidly and powerfully. For ashes he 

 has a high estimation, and when the soap 

 boiler calls to buy his ashes for the custom- 

 ary price often cents a bushel, he replies by 

 offering the soap boiler 20 cents a bushel for 

 all he has, and buys them if he can. I give 

 his opinions as those of a strictly practical 

 man, of much experience, and perhaps infe- 

 rior to none in the admirable skill and suc- 

 cess of his cultivation. It is pretty evident 

 that he does not wait in the morning for the 

 sun to call him. — Coleman's Agricultural 

 Report. 



