How and What to Grow in a Kitchen Garden of One Acre

Part 1

HOW AND WHAT TO GROW IN A KITCHEN GARDEN

OF ONE ACRE.

DARLINGTON AND MOLL.

THE

Poultry Yard.

HOW TO FURNISH AND MANAGE IT.

BY W. ATLEE BURPEE.

Full descriptions and large illustrations given of the leading varieties of Land and Water Fowls. It also contains chapters on POULTRY HOUSES, SELECTION AND MATING OF STOCK, WHAT AND HOW TO FEED, GENERAL MANAGEMENT, DRESSING AND SHIPPING POULTRY, EGGS AND CHICKENS, DIRECTIONS FOR CAPONIZING, DISEASES, HOW TO RAISE GOOD TURKEYS, ETC., ETC. Fully Illustrated.

THE NEW EDITION for 1888 contains, besides the above, an illustrated chapter on the training and care of SCOTCH COLLY or SHEPHERD DOGS, also new improved plans of Poultry Houses, with illustration.

Price, 50 CTS. in paper; 75 CTS. bound in cloth. Sent, postpaid, by mail, upon receipt of price by the Publishers,

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA., and at 133 Cannon St., London, E. C., England.

☛ BURPEE’S ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE of THOROUGHBRED LIVE STOCK and FANCY POULTRY sent free, on application, to all interested.

HOW AND WHAT TO GROW

IN A

KITCHEN GARDEN

OF ONE ACRE.

BY E. D. DARLINGTON AND L. M. MOLL.

EDITED BY W. ATLEE BURPEE.

1888. PUBLISHED BY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., NOS. 475 AND 477 NORTH FIFTH STREET, NOS. 476 AND 478 YORK AVENUE, PHILADELPHIA.

COPYRIGHTED, 1888, BY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA.

EDITOR’S PREFACE.

In Burpee’s Farm Annual for 1887 we offered cash prizes for the two best essays, to be sent us by October, 1887, upon the subject, “HOW AND WHAT TO GROW IN A KITCHEN GARDEN OF ONE ACRE.” In its original form E. D. DARLINGTON’S essay covered more fully than any other the operations and best methods to pursue in the management of the garden, and was awarded the first prize. Being desirous, however, of making this work not only practical but thoroughly complete in all departments, and from personal acquaintance with Mr. Darlington and his gardening operations, together with the fact that for some years he had tested numerous varieties of vegetables for us, we arranged with him to entirely revise and enlarge his essay. In compliance with our request he has entered more into detail in the directions for culture, and has added impartial descriptions of the varieties that he has found best adapted both to the Kitchen Garden and the table. To make the treatise more complete, he prepared a diagram of his own kitchen garden, which is one acre in size, as laid out for a year’s work. Some varieties grown are not marked in the diagram, as they are worked in as parts of other rows, but this is all fully explained in the body of his treatise.

To add to the value of the book as a plain and practical guide for the novice in gardening, we have had illustrations engraved showing the two plans of hotbeds, the methods of storing roots for winter use, etc. We have also inserted engravings, mostly drawn from nature, of the leading varieties of vegetables described in the text, that the gardener may have an accurate idea of the form of the different varieties and may be able to tell whether his products are of the right type.

We take pleasure, also, in publishing the essay of Miss L. M. MOLL, of Illinois, which was awarded the second prize. We are glad to note that she has been explicit in describing the culture of some of the less generally grown varieties of salads and herbs which are valuable adjuncts to the table, and upon which Mr. Darlington has failed to treat. Some of the methods described in this essay are, however, unnecessarily laborious. For instance, the wide bed of perennials, as described, would require considerable hand labor to keep the soil loose and free from weeds; while, if planted in long rows, horse cultivation would lessen this tedious work and would also loosen the ground to a greater depth. The varieties recommended by Miss Moll, while generally good, have in some cases been surpassed by improved varieties of more recent introduction.

As presented in the following pages, the two essays will, we believe, make this book, for general use, the most complete and practical treatise on gardening published. Such has been our earnest endeavor, and we are confident that it will be recognized as a thoroughly trustworthy guide. With careful study of its teachings, the novice should be able to plant and successfully manage a Kitchen Garden, be it one acre, more or less, while we trust that experienced gardeners will find much to commend and will be able to gain some new ideas.

W. ATLEE BURPEE.

PHILADELPHIA, December 16th, 1887.

HOW AND WHAT TO GROW

Part 2

IN A KITCHEN GARDEN

OF ONE ACRE.

BY E. D. DARLINGTON.

In order to treat this subject in detail, I shall first write on what the kitchen garden should be, where it should be, and how to keep it in the best order to produce the desired results, then take up “What to grow” and “How to grow it.”

SITUATION OF THE GARDEN.

The garden should be situated conveniently near the farm buildings, as it should be visited frequently; a variety of tools are needed in its care, and each should be put away as soon as done with, that it may be preserved in the best order for use. It is often necessary to carry water to help along young transplanted stock that has been overtaken by a dry spell. Where the distance has to be traversed so frequently, it naturally follows that the shorter it is the greater will be the saving in time and the less likely is the garden to be neglected.

The garden should be as nearly level as possible, or, if sloping, not so much so as to be in danger of being washed by heavy rains. If sloping, the slope should lie to the south, or as nearly south as possible. A plantation or hedge of evergreens on the north side of the garden will be found a wonderful aid to the earliness of the garden truck and to the hardiness of the small fruit plants and roots which remain in the ground all winter; if a woods or high hill be directly on the north and northwest of your garden, it will answer nearly as well as the hedge of evergreens. The garden should be so situated as to have good surface drainage; without this or expensive underdraining, it will hardly be possible to raise early or fine vegetables at any profit. These I consider the most essential points in selecting the plot for the garden; of course, a good, rich soil is to be desired, but the gardener can, by the liberal use of manure and thorough cultivation, remedy a deficiency of this kind in a couple of years, while he cannot make a favorable location for early vegetables on a north slope if he should try a lifetime. By a careful study of the varieties in cultivation, and by trials of their merits in your garden and on your table, experience will be gained which will enable you to grow as fine vegetables and fruits on heavy soil as on light, sandy loam, and vice versa.

THE SOIL OF THE GARDEN.

Ground that has been worked in some cultivated farm crop, such as corn or potatoes, is more desirable for starting a garden than fresh sod land, as it is more easily brought into fine condition in the early spring; while grass is one of the hardest weeds to exterminate, especially among small hoed crops, such as strawberries, onions, beets, etc. Sod land is also often full of grubs, which work havoc among the strawberry plants and young melon and squash vines. In either new ground or in the old established garden, it will be of great advantage to put the long, coarse manure on the ground in the fall, and plow it well under as soon as the ground can be cleared of the summer crops. The soil should be left just as it is plowed, without harrowing, leaving the lumps and ridges to the action of the frost. This will be found of especial benefit to heavy soils that are late in drying in the spring; it also adds a great deal to the appearance and cleanliness of the garden, as the weeds, old stalks, etc., are all cut off and burnt before plowing, instead of being left to scatter their seeds with every winter wind.

The gases arising from the decaying of the coarse manure in the soil tend to lighten it, instead of being wasted in the air, as is the case when the manure is in heaps or in the barnyard. By plowing-time in the spring the manure will have assimilated with the soil and will be thoroughly worked through the cultivated surface, thus affording food for the crops in all stages. If such manure is applied in the spring, it will make dry or thin soil still drier, and unless plowed well under, where it would take the roots a long time to reach it, will burn the young plants up if the season should happen to be a dry one. The great value of compost in starting young plants is that it affords rich food in proper form for the tender young rootlets, enabling the young plants to make a quick, tender growth, which is very essential if vegetables of fine quality are desired. By fall manuring and plowing the whole garden is composted, while the action of the frost on the lumps and ridges pulverizes them, leaving the soil in a fine, friable condition.

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