6 



in greater perfection than anywhere else. Among 

 these are salads, spinach, cauVflmver, and some others. 

 Peas, also, in the hot, dry, summer m.onths, are here 

 produced in great perfection, long after they have 

 ceased to bear in warmer situations. Trees upon the 

 south side of the Garden are injurious as they cast 

 their shadows over it, w^heh vegetables require the 

 genial rays of the sun, and also, by their long taper- 

 ing roots, exhaust much of the goodness of the soil, 

 which should assist in the production of healthy and 

 l)ixuriant plants. Continued, dense vapors, have an 

 i^ajurious effect upon most garden vegetables ; there- 

 ^re^ low grounds are unsuitable situations, and should 

 be.avoided. Taking these facts into consideration, no 

 one need hesitate as to the proper situation of a Garden. 

 Soil.— The principal soils to be avoided, are those 

 in which c/ay, or ^r«y<?/, is the chief constituent. A 

 clay subsoil, though six feet from the surface, from its 

 coldness, will retard the early crops a week or ten 

 d^ys; while on the other hand, a gravelly soil or sub- 

 soil, though it hastens early crops, is so subject to 

 drought during hot weather as to make it very un- 

 profitable. The proper soil, therefore, is a rich, deep, 

 friable loam with a sand subsoil. But where this can - 

 not be had, it is very desirable to improve that which 

 >ve do have, that it may be able to supply the w^ants 

 of plants. Clayey soils are cold and sour. To cor- 

 rect tjhem apply white sand, chalk, lime, or wood ash- 

 es. Turn the soil frequently, as frost and air have a 

 tendency to overcome this acidity. Waste lime about 

 old buildings in the shape of plaster and morter, and 

 fJsQ charcoal, have the same effect. To improve a 

 ^andy soil, mix in clay, peat, or vegetable mould. The 

 mould best suited for renewing or improving land, is 

 the surface, to the depth of a foot, of some field or 

 road-side, which has lain fallow for a number of years 

 a^d has become perfectly matted with grass roots. — 

 This thrown into piles the year before use, ferments, 

 and makes one of the best (^^ garden soils. 



