Of Gardens. 451 



expense of labour. Where manure cannot be had without 

 difficulty, to carry on a succession of vegetable crops, oats, 

 barley, or green tares, are occasionally taken after the clover, 

 thus refreshing the land, with crops of a varied description. 



5. Farmers 1 Gardens. A garden, under a proper system, 

 is a most valuable acquisition to a farmer, with a view both 

 to comfort and economy. Many culinary articles may be ob- 

 tained, from a well-cultivated and sheltered garden, which 

 cannot be raised in the field, or will not grow in exposed si- 

 tuations, with equal luxuriance and perfection. Attention 

 likewise should be paid, to the sowing of different articles at 

 various seasons, by which an earlier and a more equal, as well 

 as more regular supply for the table may be obtained. It is 

 also of use, to employ a piece of ground in a garden, for rais- 

 ing cabbages, Swedish turnips, and other plants, to be after- 

 wards transplanted into the fields. The refuse of the garden, 

 may be given with advantage to pigs, and milch cows. At 

 the same time, working in the garden, should always be con- 

 sidered as of inferior consideration to the business of the 

 farm ( 4 * 7 ) ; and on no account ought the farmer's attention, 

 to be materially drawn off, from his crops of grain and grass 



(4,8). 



The size of the garden ought to depend, not on the extent 

 of the farm, but the number of the family, and on the mode 

 of cultivation, whether by the spade or the plough. In ge- 

 neral, from one half, to about three-fourths of an acre, is suf- 

 ficient, when cultivated by the spade, including a portion kept 

 in grass, in rotation, for the drying of clothes, whether spread 

 on the grass, or hung on lines. 



.If the ground is cultivated by the plough, according to the 

 system adopted by the farming gardeners near London, the 

 garden may contain an acre with advantage. By substituting 

 the plough for the spade, the work will require less attention ; 

 the necessity of having a professed gardener, accustomed to 

 digging, will be prevented, and a considerable expense sa- 

 ved ( 4 * 9 ). 



The propriety of inclosing a garden substantially, cannot 

 be too strongly inculcated. A wall of stone or brick, from 

 seven to ten feet high, is the preferable fence, as it answers 

 the purpose, not only of shelter, but of preventing every spe- 

 cies of intrusion, even that of poultry, so destructive to gar- 

 dens, and frequently the source of much irritation, where the 

 garden becomes an object of particular attention. Walls of 

 brick, however, are much to be preferred to those of stone. 

 The brick, when once heated, retains its warmth for some 



