TIMELY HINTS FOR THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 



A northei'n garden excels in crops that require 

 a cool damp soil, like celery or cauliflower. The 

 best location is a gentle slope to the south, with 

 the orchard and fruit trees, if any, on the 

 north border. On one side should be grapes and 

 small fruits, on the other quinces, currants and 

 gooseberries, if desired ; then have permanent beds 

 of asparagus, or artichoke, or rhubarb, all running 

 down the slope in beds or rows, with room for work- 

 ing. The grouping of bushes on the sides leave unin- 

 cumbered space for vegetables in the central por- 

 tion of the plot. Potatoes, being rather unsightly, 

 should be planted near the outer sides. 



There should be a broad path at each end of the gar- 

 den plot for convenience in getting to the rows, and to 

 allow a horse to turn. Such a path should be kept well 

 hoed and carefully weeded. A gentle slope gives drain- 

 age enough for all purposes in any land suitable for a 

 garden. The direction of the rows being down the 

 slope, all surplus water is taken off, and irrigation is 

 rendered possible, if needed. A broad walk running 

 through the center, bordered by beds of flowers, would 

 be an added charm to the vegetable garden. 



Hot-beds and cold frames are at best unsightly in a 

 well-kept garden ; for this reason they should be located 

 near some building or other screen. They should also 

 be near to a supply of water, all conveniently located so 

 as to receive the constant and watchful care they are 

 sure to need. In advising manures for a'garden, I sub- 

 mit my experience, and advocate the use of horse ma- 

 nure liberally applied in fall or spring and plowed in. 

 This can be supplemented by a choice of commercial 

 fertilizer applied as judgment or experience may dictate. 

 Of course plant-food abounds in the manure from other 

 animals, also the products of the compost heap ; but 

 for the best results in the vegetable garden, I prefer the 

 manure of the grain-fed horse that has lain on straw. 

 For ease of application it may sometimes be necessary 

 to make it fine by heating and handling enough to rot 

 the straw. Other substitutes for straw, in bedding, such 

 as sand, muck, leaves, sawdust, bark and shavings, are 

 not equal in value to the straw of grain. 



The selection of seeds is of the greatest importance, 

 as is also the choice of kinds. It is well to send for 

 many catalogues, as they come to hand early in the 

 year. Do not feel obliged to buy of any one simply be- 

 cause he keeps seeds at the next door. Order what is 

 wanted wherever it seems best to buy. My mail seeds 

 give as good and often better results than those secured 

 near at hand. A reliable seedsman's novelties, and 

 whole stock in fact, are to be depended upon from year 



to year, and can be ordered with assurance of success. 



It may seem ill-advised to plant all crops three or 

 four feet apart, but when land can be spared for it, the 

 use of a horse between is a great saving of time, and 

 labor with hand hoes and weeders. I like the Planet 

 horse and wheel hoes. They are great time savers. 

 The best and easiest running seed drill is the old style 

 of Rogers' onion drill. It is light, but rather difficult to 

 manage at first. One row with such tools is easier tend" 

 ed when loo or 50 feet in length, than if divided up 

 into rows ten feet long. Do not use narrow beds. When 

 crops are planted in single or double rows with spaces 

 sufficiently wide to use the horse cultivator, the work is 

 not only much easier accomplished, but when an early 

 crop is harvested, space is left for the use of the plow 

 or cultivator in fitting the land for a succeeding crop. 

 All crops, as soon as they are past usefulness, should 

 give place to something which will mature and add 

 profit to the garden. Even the spaces left by such crops 

 as tomatoes, squash and corn can be sown to winter rye, 

 which can be plowed under in the spring, or used in 

 other ways. Method, order and neatness in work, with 

 the use of hand-hoes and weeders where necessary, with 

 abundance of fertilizer of suitable quality and in the 

 right place will give good results in most soils. 



Hot-beds and cold-frames • for the supply of early 

 plants are important factors in any garden. A supply 

 of water near at hand is a prime necessity in case of 

 drought. Shelter is important in the garden, espe- 

 cially for hot beds and early crops, and a fence is the 

 easiest means of securing of it, if it does not exist 

 naturally. 1,000 feet of boards, 12 feet long, when 

 placed end to end, will make a fence six feet high, and 

 about 140 feet long. Set the posts every six feet, two 

 feet of them in the ground, and lean them from the beds 

 a little as a better^support to the shutters and mats that 

 must be used on beds in winter, and often need drying 

 ofi. The boards can be nailed permanently to the 

 posts ; or they may be cleated or screwed to them, for 

 use in winter only, removing the boards in the spring, 

 and replacing them in the fall, leaving the posts to 

 stand all the time. Plank for hot-beds, where much of 

 it is used, are better taken up in summer, and staked up 

 again in fall, banked against on the outside with dirt, 

 and filled on the inside with leaves, so that the pit can 

 be opened as wanted. 



Rotation should be followed, novelties tested for fu- 

 ture use, and the most must be made of every crop. In 

 many cases it is wise to save seeds, but where plants are 

 grown in variety and small quantities, seeds can be 

 bought more cheaply than they can be grown. A 

 full garden is a treasure. 



Massachusetts. W. H. Bull. 



