Page:The family kitchen gardener - containing plain and accurate descriptions of all the different species and varieties of culinary vegetables (IA familykitchengar56buis).pdf/11



proceeding with the subject of vegetable culture, the attention of the reader is requested to some remarks on the formation of a Kitchen Garden. This subject is forced upon us by a knowledge of how much labor and money are expended in producing one misplaced, badly designed, and unproductive—a most unpleasant attendant upon a country life; when, by the same labor and expense, one could have been obtained that would have yielded liberally every pleasure, every comfort, and even every luxury for a bountiful table.

The situation most suitable is a very gentle inclination toward the east or south-east, that it may have all the advantages of the morning sun. The next preferable exposure is south or south-west; if sheltered from the north or north-west, so much the better. However, avoid the neighborhood of large and spreading trees, as their roots will exhaust the soil, and their shade injure the crops.

In selecting the ground, it is of vast importance to have the soil of a healthy quality, being mellow, dry, and capable of being worked with the spade. The best soils are of a friable and loamy texture; the worst, those of a very light sandy or of a stiff clayey description.

If the bottom or subsoil be retentive, trench the ground at