268 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Nov. I 



Cables' Slfpartiiunt. 



A GOOD GARDEN ESSENTIAL TO GOOD LIVING. 



Ii\ the Genesee Farmer of last year, I noticed an 

 article in relation to the advantages of a good gar- 

 den, that particularly attracted my attention. The 

 first paragraph was as follows : 



No one cuii be truly said to live who has not a Garden. 

 None but those who have enjoyed it can appreciate tlie .sat- 

 isfaction — tlte luxury — of sitting down to a table spread with 

 lite fruit of one's own planting and culture. A buncli of 

 radishes — a few heads of lettuce — tai^en from the garden of 

 a summer's tnorning for breakfast ; or a mess of green peas 

 or sweet corn, is quite a dififerent aflair from the same arti- 

 cles brougiit in large quantites from market in a dying von- 

 ditiouj to be put away in the cellar for use. And a plate of 

 strawberries or raspberries lose none of their peculiar flavor 

 by passing directly from the border to the cream without 

 being jolted about in baskets until they have lost all form 

 and comeliness. And yet, how many in the smaller cities 

 and villages of our country, possessing every facility for a 

 good garden, either through indolence or ignorance are de- 

 prived of this source of comfort? And how many farmers, 

 with enough land lying waste to furnish them with most of 

 the luxuries of life, ore content to plod on in the even tenor 

 of their way. never raising their tastes above the " pork and 

 beans^^ of their fathers. 



I had long suffered the inconvenience of living 

 without a garden, and I had often observed, when on 

 a visit to a friend, how different — how much nicer 

 every thing tasted, than when the same articles were 

 served up on my own table. My husband endeavored 

 to persuade me that the difference was only imagin- 

 ary — that e.xercise gave me a good appetite, and 

 that made all the difference. I could hardly believe 

 this ; and when I saw the article mentioned above, I 

 e-xclaimed, " There it is." My husband, who thought 

 I had discovered something wonderful, said, " What 

 is it V I replied that I had now found out the secret 

 why my friend Jane W. can furnish her table so 

 much nicer than myself, with less expense, and with- 

 out possessing any more skill ; and I was bound to 

 have a garden. Previous to this, our garden, which 

 was rather small, (yet large enough, we found, when 

 taken care of,) had a few fruit tree.s, a neglected 

 strawberry bed, a few raspberry bushes, fcc. But 

 my husband always argued that such things could 

 be bought cheaper than they could be raised, and this 

 was the excuse for neglecting the garden. The ar- 

 ticle referred to, appeared in the January number for 

 1849. As soon as the frost was out of tlie ground, 

 I went to work. When my husband saw I was in 

 earnest, and ready to do the work " single handed 

 and alone," if necessary, he was ready to help me. 

 So we had the ground manured, took the ashes from 

 my leaches, and spread them. Then it was well 

 spaded up. I then had the strawberry bed thinned 

 out by digging about two-thirds under, leaving them 

 in rows, and placing manure and ashes between the 

 rows. Next, I made a new bed of strawberries, and 

 trimmed and staked the raspberry bushes, pruned and 

 dug around the currants, trees, rhubarb, fcc. After 

 this, I sowed peas, beans, flowers, and so on. 



Now for the result — the reward for all this labor. 

 Last summer (1849) we had a good garden ; but I 

 kept improving, and it is of the present (or rather, 

 past,) summer that I wish to speak, as it was not till 

 this year that things came to perfection. In the first 

 place, I had rhubarb large and fine, while before my 

 rhubarb stalks, from the very same roots, were so 

 small and worthless, that I usually preferred buying 

 to using my own. Then lettuce, and radishes, and 



early peas. A little later, the Tall Sugar Peas, and 

 other peas, as much finer than the marrowfat as the 

 marrowfat is finer than the common field pea. Fol- 

 lowing in quick succession, came cucumbers and 

 summer squashes and beets, and sweet corn and 

 Lima bQans. The excellence of these Lima beans I 

 had no idea of before. I have now quite a store of 

 vegetables to put in the cellar, for winter use, sucli 

 as winter squashes, fcc. All this, and a good deal 

 more I have not mentioned, in the vegetable line. 



Now, a word for the fruits. The first fruit was 

 the early strawberries. I had enongk of this fruit 

 during the whole season. Next followed White and 

 Red Antwerp raspberries, and then currants. The 

 White Dutch were large and sweet — very different 

 from the small sour things I have usually bought. 

 I like the English Black very much for cooking. 

 Gooseberries I used for cooking, from the time they 

 were about half grown until they ripened. The 

 larger fruits have done well, with the exception of 

 plums. I have had plenty of fine grapes from an 

 old Isabella vine pruned as recommended in the 

 March number of the Farmer. 



And now, having told my experience in gardening, 

 I can say I am well paid for all my trouble. I now 

 possess more knowledge of the proper way of culti- 

 vating fruits, fcc, than I ever expected to possess ; 

 and though I did not learn it all from the Genesee 

 Farmer, yet, as it was your paper that first sot me at 

 work in my garden — that first induced me to observe 

 the nature of plants, and tlie practice of tho.se who 

 cultivate them the best — that first gave me a taste 

 for reading on the subject, that opened to my view a 

 new creation, and showed me the wonders and mys- 

 terys and beauties of the vegetable world, — I can say 

 that I would not be dep ived of the benefit I have 

 gained from it, for the prii.e of a hundred years' sub- 

 scription.- Emilt.— Bwjfa 0, M". Y., Oct., 1850. 



The article quoted by o ir correspondent Emily, 

 was written by the writer of thhs, and since that time 

 has appeared in nine-tenths of the papers in the 

 country — sometimes credited to an '^En^hsh Piqier," 

 sometimes to a paper that stole it bodily from the 

 Farmer, and sometimes without any credit. But if 

 one of every ten thousand who have read it, has de- 

 rived as much benefit from its perusal as Emily, we 

 care but little for the credit. We hope our fair cor- 

 respondent will continue to give us her experience in 

 gardening, that others may bo induced to participate 

 in the pleasures which a well kept garden afford. 



Nothing shows want of care as quickly and as un- 

 mistakably as the garden, or so promptly rewards 

 intelligent labor. In other things we may perhaps 

 conceal, or in some way atone for want of care ; but, 

 in the garden, every plant — every shrub and tree — ■ 

 every fruit, leaf, and blossom — proclaim to all who 

 behold, in unmistakable language, the ignorance or 

 negligence of the owner — or else unite to sound his 

 praise in songs of gratitude. We love the prai.se, 

 as we deprecate the censure of such faithful friends. 



SWEET HOME. 



How dear are the blossoms that cluster round 

 The home that our childhood knew; 



How sweet is the incense that springoth up 

 From the plat where the wild-flowers grew. 



Each silver crowned hell, each roseate cup, 

 Uriiigs back to the heart some tone. 



That memory hushed in the inmost cell 

 To wake by their call alone! 



