10 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



4 oz. Indian do. ; 2 oz. curled parsley ; 

 2 oz. common do. ; i lb. white mustard ; 

 ^ oz. curled endive ; 4 dr. Italian celery ; 

 4 dr. long green cucumber; 4 dr. short 

 prickly do. ; 2 dr. best melons ; 1 lb. 

 round spinach ; | lb. prickly do. ; 1 oz. 

 French or Mountain do. ; 1 oz. white 

 beet ; 1 oz. green do. ; 2 oz. red beet, or 

 beet- rave ; J oz - cauliflower ; i oz. white 

 broccoli ; ^ oz. purple do. ; 1 oz. early 

 Yorkshire cabbage ; 1 oz. sugar-loaf early 

 do. ; \ oz. red Dutch do. ; 4 oz. late Aln- 

 wick do. ; ^ lb. green savoy ; 2 oz. yellow 

 do. ; 2 oz. Kilmaurs kale ; 4 oz. scarlet 

 beans." 



Our own estimate, in a similar case, is 

 this ; but as the varieties of cultivated 

 vegetables are now so numerous, we shall 

 omit specifying them, referring the reader 

 to our select lists, which will be found 

 appended to each subject, as well as leav- 

 ing unnoticed some few kinds not gene- 

 rally expected to be found in a garden of 

 the limited extent of one acre : Pease, 36 

 qts. ; garden beans, 10 qts. ; French or 

 kidney beans, 4 qts. — provided none are 

 forced. Scarlet runners, 2 qts. ; cabbage 

 of early sorts, 8 oz. ; savoys, 4 oz. ; Brus- 

 sels sprouts, 3 oz. ; cauliflower, 4 oz. ; 

 broccoli of sorts, 8 oz. ; borecoles, 4 oz. ; 

 red cabbage, 2 oz. ; late or drumhead 

 do.-, 2 oz. ; kohl-rabi, 2 oz. ; onions, 12 oz. ; 

 carrots, 8 oz. — if none are forced. Turnip, 

 white sorts, 16 oz. ; yellow do., 6 oz. ; 

 celery, 2 oz. ; spinach, 8 qts. ; red beet, 

 4 oz. ; yellow do., 2 oz. ; leeks, 4 oz. ; 

 parsnips, 4 oz. ; salsify, 2 oz. ; skirret, 

 2 oz. ; scorzonera, 2 oz. ; endive, 4 oz. ; 

 lettuce, 4 oz. ; radish, 3 pts. — if none are 

 forced. Mustard, 1^ qts., and cress the 

 same — if neither are forced. Parsley, 4 

 oz. — 2 oz. curled, and 2 oz. plain. Of roots, 

 early potatoes, 1| bush. ; of late do., 3 

 bush. ; Jerusalem artichokes, 1 pck. ; 

 garlic, \ lb. ; shallots, 2 lb. 



It does not, however, exactly follow that a 

 garden of 20 acres extent requires twenty 

 times the quantities shown above ; this, 

 however paradoxical it may appear to the 

 uninitiated, is well known to the practical 

 cultivator. An example may be given in 

 the case of a seed-bed of cabbage, cauli- 

 flower, leeks, &c. A first planting is taken 

 from the most forward plants, which, in 

 general, are those arising from seed of the 

 preceding year, or of those of that year 

 most fully matured, compared with less 



perfectly ripened seeds, even of the same 

 year's growth. They also arise from seed 

 of the previous year's production being 

 stronger than seeds of one or two year's 

 standing, thus producing a very necessary 

 succession in the hands of those who know 

 how to manage matters rightly ; and, con- 

 sequently, the experienced gardener, avail- 

 ing himself of the knowledge of which he 

 has long been possessed, will and does 

 take such plants in succession, as he 

 well knows, under favourable circum- 

 stances, the stronger plants will come 

 first to maturity, or else they will run to 

 seed, and be useless. This misfortune is, 

 however, made up for in the second plant- 

 ing, and this is succeeded by the third. 

 In the meanwhile, let us endeavour to 

 set aside the too prevalent opinion that 

 seed of the previous year's growth alone 

 should be sown, with some few exceptions. 

 Than this a more erroneous notion could 

 not, we think, have been driven into the 

 craniums of those of our wiseacres, " the 

 advocates for new seed." The honest 

 seedsman does an act of great kindness, 

 and confers an important benefit on his 

 customers, when he mixes seeds of 1851, 

 1852, and 1853 together; for, provided 

 they have been well kept, the advantage in 

 the case of many seeds (take the whole of 

 the Brassicse as an example) is very nmch 

 in favour of the purchaser. For our- 

 selves, we would not thank any man for 

 seeds of cauliflower, broccoli, turnip, &c, 

 of last year's production; and to avoid 

 the chance of disappointment from this, 

 we invariably keep by us in stock seeds 

 of this natural order, of from two to five 

 or six years. Our older gardeners, while 

 they have handed down to us volumes of 

 rules, have been very sparing in paying us 

 the same compliment in regard to reasons. 

 We have hardly had one assigned for the 

 invariable rule of their carrying their 

 cucumber and melon seeds in their 

 pockets for months before they com- 

 mitted them to the soil. An ancient 

 sage says, " there is reason in the boiling 

 of an egg ; " so is there in carrying the 

 seeds referred to in the warm dry atmos- 

 phere of a pocket. It is in consequence 

 of the genial heat bringing about a 

 state of maturity in the seed, which 

 our cold climate, compared with Persia, 

 the country of the melon, is incapable 

 of doing; and hence the practice of 



