THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 135 



of October. An asparagus bed, clumps of pieplant 

 and horse-radish, and a little bed of parsley furnish 

 what is needed of these things and occupy but little 

 space, 



" The seedlings raised in the hotbed, and also 

 seedlings of flowering plants, find ready sale at fair 

 prices, so a little revenue is derived from them. As 

 it is necessary to have the hotbeds to grow plants 

 for our own use, it is but little more work to raise 

 extra plants for sale. 



" We have 50 grapevines of over 40 varieties, all 

 of fruiting age, ranging in season of ripening from 

 August 25 to October 10; in color, red, white, and 

 black. No idea can be given of the amount of fruit 

 the vines produce, as the grapes were picked for 

 family use and to treat our friends, and no record 

 made of it. 



*' A new strawberry bed is planted each spring, 

 the other one being plowed up immediately after 

 bearing its first crop. This plan pleases us better 

 than running a bed longer, as we think it less work 

 to plant a new bed than to keep an old one free 

 from weeds and well cultivated. 



" Four apple trees of bearing age. Wealthy, 

 Northwestern Greening, Snow, and Whitney No. 

 20, furnish us with all the summer and fall apples we 

 could use, and two trees of Duchess are almost old 

 enough to bear. Although we do not have the 

 figures to show the money value of our garden, 

 we are sure it is a profitable investment in several 

 ways. Besides the value of the produce dur- 

 ing the growing season, we have cabbage, carrots, 

 parsnips, beets, squash, and sweet pumpkins enough 

 to last all winter, besides a large supply of pickles, 

 canned fruit, and jelly, most of which was made 

 from fruit of our own raising." 



