74 THE FLORIST AND 
inconvenience and distance ; on the contrary, the vegetable garden needs 
observation, skill, and calculation. Observation, in noticing the certain ef- 
fects of dijQFerent fertilizers on the soil we cultivate ; the length of time, com- 
paratively, that each crop takes to prepare for use, and its good or bad pro- 
gress during growth ; the aspect of the garden, and its fitness in particular 
spots for the various crops, both as regards the soil, and shelter ; the kinds 
of insects, and the way in which they attack the plants, so as to be able to 
get rid of them most readily ; and the climatic changes of the locality, which 
tend to frustrate or destroy our designs. Skill in rendering certain every 
contingent, carrying out judiciously and to the greatest profit all our ac- 
tions, the management and saving of unnecessary labor, and the best 
methods of planting and sowing, so that each succession may not be inter- 
fered with by the previous occupant. And calculation, in the quantity of 
produce on a given spot ; the peculiar wants of the family, regard to the 
amount likely to be consumed, of each kind, and the so adjusting of the pre- 
liminaries, that there may be neither waste, or loss of ground. These mat- 
ters taken collectively, form an aggregate, by which, success, profit, and 
nutritious edibles may be obtained, and a proper observance of them will do 
more for the practitioner, than committing to memory a whole volume of 
dogmatical rules. Calendars of operations are most useful as reference, and 
they often contain the best instructions, but to depend upon them without 
acquiring some practical knowledge on the subject, is very likely to result in 
the writer of them being blamed, instead of our own deficiency, and not 
knowing how to carry out his directions ; and having said thus much, it may 
be of service to give a few general remarks of a more practical nature. 
When there is scope enough in the pleasure garden, the full flow of poetic 
imagination may be carried out, but where utility and profit are in view, 
the mind is led to appreciate the beautiful in methodical arrangement, and 
as this is the object in the vegetable garden, and as straight lines and right 
angles also assist the required operations, a parallelogram or square is 
always the most convenient and suitable. Besides this, the main requisites 
to secure good vegetables, and plenty of them, are, efiectual drainage, 
thorough and deep working of the soil, a good supply of barn-yard manure, 
cleanliness and the continual destruction of weeds, and a judicious rotation 
and succession of crops. The first four items incur expenses, and it depends 
upon the carrying out of the last that all remuneration depends, consequently 
it becomes important how we act, so as to place the result on the credit side 
of the ledger. 
It has now become an axiom, that a skillful rotation is a benefit, both to 
