132 THE PHILADELPHIA FLORIST. [Sept'r 



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Lr\ a choice peach. The heavy crops which they obtain off a very small r® 

 A 3 piece of ground is surprising ; with deep digging, heavy manuring and 

 always two crops on the ground, the produce of fifty feet by one hun- 

 dred, grows potatoes and other vegetables for a small family — no re- 

 fuse, all is returned to the garden, where they grow as fine onions in 

 five months as we do in sixteen. 



The garden of the homestead or the farm-house contains generally 

 from i to 2 acre, and is kept in order by the man-of-all-work, assisted 

 by the matron of the house ; her orders are at once and immediately 

 obeyed ; they are like the laws of the Medes and Persians. A neat 

 hedge forms the enclosure, frequently with a low wall on the North. 

 The dwelling is covered with apple, pear, plum or apricot trees ; and 

 I was frequently surprised to see the fine keeping displayed. Roses 

 and hollyhocks were favorite flowers, though frequently there was a 

 neat collection of Phlox, or other hardy herbaceous plants, especially 

 where the younger members of the family had grown up to take their 

 part in ornamental affairs. It was a matter of warm attraction to me, 

 to see the mother, daughter and sons, all congregated together in the 

 garden sanctum, discussing, arranging, cleaning and planting their fa- 

 vorites ; a pleasure, indeed, to see the miss in her teens handling the 

 budding knife to multiply some favorite fruit or rose, and to watch its 

 development with enchantment at the success of her handiwork. We 

 at once cast our inner mind to our own fair States, and asked the ques- 

 tion — how many of our free born maidens devoted a leisure hour to 

 such rational and beneficial enjoyments'? It is true, my personal ac- 

 quaintances are limited, but 1 could only toss in my mind five young 

 ladies who really took a hand in such matters of perpetual pleasure. 

 There is no time so intellectually rich as that devoted to the observa- 

 tion of nature's products from every clime, j, The gardens of the Eu- 

 ropeans are also well stocked with small fruits, such as strawberries, 

 gooseberries, currants, black, red and white; all of which we can lux- 

 uriate in, except Gooseberries. We do not, however, give those small 

 fruits so much nourishment as they actually deserve; they require very 

 rich, deep soil, having a copious supply every year, giving black cur- 

 rants a shady situation on the north side of the fence. We often hear 

 many sigh for the fine fancy hedges of Great Britain, but we over- 

 look a hedge of far more grandeur than any that that country can 

 boast of, a hedge of ^Hibiscus syriacus, or Althea, easy of culture, 

 easily kept, and a floral diadem from July to November, of any color, 

 from white to purple — a fence such as England's wealth cannot pro- 

 duce, may enclose every farmer's garden from Florida to the lakes — all 

 that it requires to keep it in perfection is a close pruning or shearing 

 every winter, when no other labor can be performed. Their few fa- 

 vorite pears are Gansels Bergamot, Louisa of Jersey, \ (as they name 



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