THE CULINARY GARDEN. 



9 



SIZE AND EXTENT OF THE CULINARY GARDEN. 



The size or extent of garden-ground, like that of its dis- 

 tance from the mansion, must in some measure depend on the 

 taste of the owner, his style of living, number of his family, 

 &c. It is, however, always better to have too much, rather 

 than too little space, for there is nothing preposterous in a 

 small house having a large garden. Marshall, in his Intro- 

 duction to Gardening, observes, " some families use few, others 

 many vegetables, and it makes a great difference whether the 

 owner be curious to have a long season of the same product- 

 ion, or is content to have a supply only at the more common 

 times. But to give some rules for the quantity of ground to 

 be laid out, a family of four persons (exclusive of servants) 

 should have a rood of good-working open ground, and so in 

 proportion." This, however, is only applicable to families of 

 retired trades-people, and gentlemen of small fortune, who are 

 not supposed to indulge in all the luxuries of the table, like 

 families of rank and fashion. Few country-seats have less than 

 one acre, and some exceed twelve, in constant and regular 

 cultivation; as kitchen-garden from one acre and a half to 

 five or six acres may be considered as the common quantity 

 enclosed by walls, and the latter size, if properly managed, 

 will be found to afford sufficient vegetables for a family of the 

 first class ; as many vegetables, such as potatos, turnips, car- 

 rots, and some others, are found to be much better in quality 

 when cultivated in the open fields ; if the owner be attached to 

 agriculture, or farms a piece of ground, it will b^ found very 

 beneficial to grow a supply of those vegetables in the fields. 

 The vegetables thus produced, will be found to be of a higher 

 flavor than those v/liich are reared in the garden by force of 

 manure, and will present an opportunity of renewing the 

 quarters of the garden by fallowing, or giving them rest, in 

 succession. Many gardens are to be met with of greater ex- 

 tent, but it is to be questioned whether, under better manage- 

 ment, much less ground would not answer every demand of 

 the kitchen. Nothing can have a more unsightly appearance 

 than a large garden not half cropped, and which is not kept in 

 a neat and respectable order ; nor does any thing give a garden 



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