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62 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



THE GARDENER. 



We have devoted considerable space ia 

 the first pages of this number of the Farm- 

 er, to the Vegetable Garden. It is now 

 time to be provided with the proper seeds, 

 and persons should be careful to obtain fresh 

 seed. Vegetables make a considerable por- 

 tion of the food for the summer season, 

 especially, and furnish a diet that may save 

 many doctor's bills. Farmers will find it 

 mueh to their advantage to renew the seed, 

 from year to year, of many kinds of vegeta- 

 bles. 



—»- 



From the American Agriculturist. 



Small Gardens. 



What you say in relation to the profits of 

 a small garden is very true. I have in this 

 city, (Roxbury, Mass.,) about one-third of 

 an acre adjoining my house, well set with 

 fruit trees of all varieties. I have more than 

 fifty pear trees, all of which are doing fine- 

 ly. One Bartlett this year yielded five and 

 a half busTiels of pears, worth |4 a bushel. 

 A Bonne de Jersey, only six years of age, 

 gave a bushel of beautiful pears, worth at 

 least $6. For the past three years, I have 

 had one hundred boxes of strawberries each 

 year, and in addition, this year I have raised 

 fifty boxes of raspberries, and twenty-five of 

 blackberries. I also raise my currants and 

 cherries, and all the vegetables for my fam- 

 ily, with the exception of corn and potatoes. 

 I had this year about two bushels of grapes, 

 and my grape vines are doing well, and in a 

 few years will supply a great many mouths 

 with a delicious fruit. I expend annually 

 about twenty-five dollars for manure, and do 

 my own garden work before eight o'clock in 

 in the morning, It would cost at least two 

 hundred dollars per annum to purchase in 

 the market what I gather from my little 

 garden, but the advantage to health of body 

 and mind, and energy of action, is worth far 

 more than any other species of profit, 



JAMBS RITCHIE. ■ 



-•••- 



Upland Cranberries. 



To the Editor of the Am. Agriculturist: 



In the great variety of new fruits brought 

 before the public, many of them will prove 

 of great value to the cultivator. Among 

 them is a new cranberry which was brought 

 to my notice by Prof. F. Shepherd, of New 

 Haven, and by whom I was favored with a 



sample of the berries. This season, an en- 

 terprising merchant of Newfoundland 

 brought several thousand gallons into Bos- 

 ton, and disposed of them at a remunera- 

 tive price — less than the common cranberry. 



In many respects they are found to be 

 superior to our berries; they are not as tart, 

 and need less sugar. By boiling them three- 

 quarters of an hour they make a fine clear 

 jelly, of a beautiful purple color, which can 

 be kept for a long time. It will make 

 superior tarts, and is also very valuable for 

 dyeing purposes. I was not able to pro- 

 cure the plants until late last fall, and have 

 not had an opportunity to learn how they 

 will adapt themselves to our soil and climate. 

 I shall plant them out the coming spring, 

 and shall be glad to have others do the 

 same. The few plants I have obtained 

 were taken from the rocks and barren places, 

 by pulling the most and plants and decayed 

 leaves, in which they grew, all up together, 

 leaving no soil under them, which shows that 

 they grew on poor shallow soil, on the high- 

 lands of Newfoundland, and the gentleman 

 from whom I procured the plants, says: from 

 the manner in which they are found, he has 

 no doubt they will grow on any soil in the 

 United States. 



The plants are similar to our low cran- 

 berries, the leaf round and deep green, 

 throwing up shoots from the roots like a 

 mat, and covering the ground with bright 

 scarlet red berries, which look beautiful. 

 They are gathered by hand, and was inform- 

 ed that in one case a female gathered fifteen 

 bushels in a day, which show their great 

 productiveness. 



I have the promise of a commnnication 

 from a gentleman whose statement can be 

 relied upon, and who is acquainted with its 

 growth, habits, &c., and when received I 

 shall lay it before the public. 



F. TROWBRIDGE. 



New-Haven, Conn. 



-*»- 



High Mixed. — A widower at Camden who 

 was not very young, became smitten with a 

 young and beautiful girl, and married her. A 

 short time after, the son of this man by a for- 

 mer wife, became also in love with the mother 

 of his father's new wife, a widow lady still in 

 the bloom of life. Soon the young man and 

 the widow were united, so that in consequence 

 of these two connections, a father became the 

 son-in-law of his son, and the wife not only the 

 daughter in-law of her own son-in-law, but still 

 more, the mother-in-law of her own daughter ; 

 while the husband of the latter is the father-in- 

 law of his own mother-in-law, and father-in- 

 lawto his own father. Singular confusion may 

 arise if children should spring from these pecu 

 liar marriages. : , 



