THE KITCHEN OR FARMER's GARDEN. 245 



bles, yields a far gr(iater amount of actual profit, 

 even if not the worth of a single dollar should go to 

 the market from it, than any other acre of the farm. 

 The quantity of food used either by man or beast, 

 and contributing essentially to the comfort as well 

 as the positive subsistence of a family, is very great ; 

 but, as it is consumed daily, its value is httle real- 

 ized, except by those who are compelled to purchase 

 in the market what the farmer, or most individuals 

 in the country, may produce in their garden. It is 

 to aid in the cultivation of the common garden, such 

 as every farmer, mechanic, or professional man out 

 of our cities and villages may have, that the follow- 

 ing directions are principally intended. The pro- 

 fessed gardener has his works devoted expressly to 

 this pursuit ; most of them too bulky and expensive 

 for common use, and containing a mass of directions 

 not applicable to ordinary garden-culture at all, or 

 not without an expenditure which few are willing or 

 able to encounter, and embracing a multitude of 

 plants or vegetables cultivated more as articles of 

 luxury or curiosity than as being of any actual value. 

 In arranging these directions and descriptions, ref- 

 erence has been had to the works of Loudon, Smith, 

 Bridgeman, the articles on Gardening in the Encyclo- 

 paedias, and many valuable hints have been derived 

 from the numerous agricultural and gardening jour- 

 nals of our country. 



The most essential requisite to a good garden is a 

 good soil ; one adapted to the vegetables intended 

 for cultivation, and by its original composition or 

 artificial management brought into a state the best 

 calculated to ensure productiveness and increase fer- 

 tility. The best soils for gardens are those in which 

 the several original earths of sand, clay, and lime 

 are so proportioned and balanced that they may be 

 worked easily, and will not be liable to suffer either 

 from drought or the accumulation of water. Such a 

 soil usually approaches the nature of deep, strong 



