Show THE FARMERS GARDEN The garden should fit the owner as a ta1Jalr of shoes should fit the weaver f ibt all tastes ara alike Some dislike cabbage others parsnips and carrots Not every one likes peas or asparagus i ji7r celery What I ask Is that every rmer shall endeavor to raise every ind of fruit and vegetable suited to his soil and climate that any member of his family likes and to raise such an abundance that it shall count in the cost of living I want to believe that next spring on every farm a warm spot will ue selected somewhere for putting In a few peas some beets onions lettuce parsnips and radishes just as early as the ground can be made suitable < Then later I would have a liberal j vea planted with sweet corn beans t 2 cucumbers squashes and anything else desirable I yyould have sweet corn planted every week from early spring to late summer The toocommon toe lief that green corn Is unwholesome I should be proved to the contrary by using it daily from July to October If properly masticated it is as digestible I as any ordinary food and a little land will produce a large amount I do not j udvise raising nil the garden products j I In one plat nor on the same soil year i I i after year Land is plenty enough on I most farms to permit a judicious rota I t I tion of crops The farmer has the advantage ad-vantage over the small owner In this regard Another advantage Is Ills i cheap team labor much being done i toy horses or oxen that the owner of a < man garden must do by slower hand labor Plant nearly everything in long rows and keep the surface level If you would get the most good from the soil moisture which Is so necessary to success suc-cess On cheap land there Is little or tin loss by having all vows far enough I apart for horse cultivation Crops I planted too closely are always at a dis feTjoVrantage In seasons of drought The J longer the TOW too the less the cost rlf of cultivation for in a small garden the team may use up as ranch time in I turning at the ends as In drawing tho I I plough or cultivator One great reason i for the reluctance of many farmers fox 1 touching garden work is because their i garden furrows and rows are so short that a days team work makes so little j show 1 The oldstyle small SQuare garden surrounded by a heavy stone wall I lined tty rows of currant bushes and I fruit trees ought to go entirely out of I fashion It costs too nuch to do the I iI I work A few young chickens may have z the run of a garden while they are g young but it is no place for fowl t while the crops are at an age to be injured by their feet or bills Poultry fl should not be fenced out of the garden Ji but fenced in an enclosure set apart 1 for their special use A small orchard J of fruit trees is an excellent place for i poultry K beets parsnips cabbages 4 I onions turnips and squashes are raised j tor winter use it may be as well tot to-t grow them as part of some field crop lIt at any convenient distance from tIle ii buildings They would possibly suffer 1t1 less from insect depredation than if I grown year after year in the same I Insecttested locality The garden wallIs wall-Is a favored retreat for the large black I squash bug In winter and doubtless for I otter insects t ffiTrHave a few roots of rhubar3 a plantation plan-tation of asparagus and a good assortment fl assort-ment of small fruits in some nearby t where the pvoducts ian be gath 1IJ i r i led by any member of the family at short notice and with little trouble These should be used fresh and one onght not to have to go far to gather them < III the jiearbjr permanent garden there should aiso be planted currant bushes gooseberry bushes blackberry and raspberry plants and rapevnes if i the climate will permit maturity of crop All these do well upon a deep loamy soil but the grape will need the warmest spot to Ipsure regular crops I doubt It one farmer in ten raises a liberal crop of strawberries for his own taTilG They are about as easily grown as potatoes and will produce nearly as many bushels to the acre The past summer was too dry for the crop in my locality yet my beds yielded fully a bushel to th4 square rod A bushel of potatoes will sell for 50 cents One can seiflon buy srtaw berrIes for lees than 4 If they are large sweet and freshly picked My method of growing Is to set a new bed every spring in long rows that may be cultivated by horse and cultivator culti-vator and aoout fourteen montha later plough in and plant to some Bother crop Currants and gooseberries do quite as well in the partial l shade of medium sized orchard frees as If fully e f posed to the sun Blackberries and raspberries may also be grown between be-tween the trees In an orchard but if BO one must not forget to make double applications of plant food otherwise the trees or the small fruits will be starved Successful double cropping must be accompanied by double feeding feed-ing My own practice is to keep the poultry in the apple and plum tree grounds and of course growing no other crops except occasionally a year when the fowls are removed ta new quarters for the sake of rotation of crops The small fruits are grown anjy g pear trees that are smaller andless spreading than the apple and make less shade Goseberries are usually lees subject to mildew in partial shade than in continuous sunlight I find the reddish varieties Iloutons seedling and Industry well suited to my soil and market What I want is to see every farmer producing all the fruits both large and small that his family can consume con-sume using them as freely all the year round as It has been customary to use meats potatoes and bread Fruit should not be looked upon as a mere relish but as food I have slept soundly many a winter night on a supper sup-per of nice ripe apPlesA W Chee ver before the Vermont Dairymens association |