The Vegetable Garden

From the forthcoming Report of the State Boaid of Agricultura. FREQUENT CULTIVATION. We have found very great advantage from thorough and frequent cultivation. We generally go over the eutire garden onoe in tour to Beven days, no matter whether they are any weeds in sight or not, or whether any showors have intervened. Our ground dries ofif very soon at : a heavy rain. We have not found this mode of culture to oost as much as t would if ouly performed once in two or three weeks, or after the weeds have become well established. Since preparing the above, sereral uionths ago, I fiud " a practiced hint on weeds " iu the Country Gentleman, evideutly from J. J. Thomas, who is ever making apt contrasta between the best and the poorest way of doing things. By his watch, a bed of flowers containing 80 square feet is raked once a week in tour minutes for each raking, and for May June and July 48 minutes. In another bed of equal size it required over an hour to clear all out by hoe and hand. This must be repeated every three weeks, for three or four months, requiiing half a day's work to keep the weeds under for three nionths, and even then doing it imperfectly. It is a little difficult, at first, to make the students work the ground all over thoroughly if they can see no weeds. However, they do prefer to work a clean garden to one filled with weeds two to sixinches high. A single season of tuis practice geuerally convinces theni all that it is the cheapest way and that it brings the most proiit. We cultivate uiostly with a horse one way, making the rows long and straight. The students' work in the garden is mostly done with t steel-toothed rake and hand cultivators. We take great pain9 to remove any pigweeds, purslanes, etc, which may have escaped previous notioe. They contain seeds in imoiense nuinbers before niany people are aware of it. One of the students last season estimated that a large, wellgrown plant of purslane contained 1,250,000 seeds. The grouud is oarefully treed from weeds till winter. None are allowed to seed the ground. They appear now to be running out. MONEY PROFIT SMALL. The experiment made, and the great numbers of varieties tested, and the suiall size of the garden, of oourse, render the profits iu dollars and cents very small, Still last year there was a profit of $200 in the garden, which included young plants of currants, asparagus, and grapevines too youug to bear. Besides, the garden was niuch iinproved in couditiou at the end of the season MANURINQ. Instead of a rotation of mauures we use a varié ty on the same ground each year. Our compost heap is made ot norse manure, niuck, soda, night soil, a few ashes, and other materials. Asnos are used liberally every year. Commercial fertilizers have not been much U6ed. Bones are used af ter they have become soitened and pulverized, by alternating in layers of moistened uuleached ashes for a few inonths. IRKIGATION. I have for three or four years been urging the importauce of irrigation on a suiall scale by means of a wind-mill, bat the " powers that be " have cut it out of the programme. Our ciimate is ao subject to severe droughts that a little help just in time by way of a water supply would often save the erop, or more than doublé the yield. Should not the college be aided to try such an experiment Y Two to tive hundied doli _..ljj_'i T L ..1 1-1 í'..l iars woula ao ït. 11 we snouiu iaii to tind it proiitable the farmers need not repeat the experiment. AKBOKICULTURE. We have begun the planting of trees for timber on a stnall scale, intending to cultivatö and otherwise care for theiu. HEDOES. We have begun with a large variety of kinds which have any prouiise of making a felice for turning stock or for ornamental purposes. Our seeds of native hawthorn and prickly ash did not come up, - an objection to using these plants for hedges. Some way may yet be found to obvíate this diíñculty. EVERGREENS IN GRASS. The groves of young trees set in nuinerous places on the lawn are generally thoroughly cultivated. In a few places the culture has been omitted. The contrast is often surprisiug. Where the soil is deep and iich, as at the foot of a hill, trees have done well, even in grass. A little space about trees doesn't seem to amount to much. Grass roots run down under the trees, robbing thein. Several ineinbers of the Junior elass have lately been tracing up, or down, rather, the roots of clover and other plauts. They do not consider theinselves at all successful uuless they get out roots aa long as the student is tall, and some of them are over six feet. These length are even where there is considerable clay. Next to cultivated places they run far to one side under the cultivated ground. ORNAMENTING HOME. The greenhouse, flower-beds, lawnB, drives, ornamental trees, and shrubs reoeive considerable attention, but not aa much as they deserve. Remove all attempt ut such things from any place and its value is decreased at once in a very large proportion. It is niouey well spent. There is no lesson of more iuiportance than to teach the art oí making home pleasant. This is one of the ways to keep the boys and girls on the farm, and to make them satisfied with their situation. For the want of soinething uice many a boy has left the country home, made a poor lawyer, or clerk, who would have made a good successful farmer.