The Vegetable Garden

So indispensable and withal so economical are vegetables for table use that thelr careful cultivation should be a matter oí interest to every one who owns a garden plot. Yet on many farms we flnd the garden is woefully neglected after the seeds are planted, and f rom spring-time to autumn almost, the weakly, "straggling" plants have to struggle for life among noxious weeds, and, instead of a rich and bountiful supply for the table, only a meager pittance is obtainable. AU thid is not mere guess-work, but what the writer has many times seen on faun;! otherwise well Ulied and productive. The flrst thing necessary is to have i wiü to remedy theevil;the second is to know what to lo and when to do it. The lalter point 1 wish to make a íew suggestions upon. Soil and Sowing.- The í'our cardinal viitues ( good garden-soil are that it should be loóse, tnellow, rich and well-drained. Gofld seed sown in such soil.s and pioperly culliva e.d will (drouthsand insects excepted) produce abuiidantly. While the quality of tlie soil is not of so great importance in the raising öt the coaraef vegetables- as pea, bea:is, potatoes and íhe like - it is important in the raising of the finer kinds ns celery, parsnips, cabbage, ate. Vegetable seeds should be sown in long clrills, if posslble, al such a distance apart as to permit the use of a horse-hoe bet ween theni. I f a new garden is to be laid out, let it be long and narrow, so as to make as littls turning about of the horse at tlie end of the roWB as possible. The common practice of sewing in bedsor plots 1 do not favor, as it requires much more hand-Iabor and adnjits of leas or, in fact, no use of the horse. As to the deptli as wuich to sow theseed.tlie oíd rule of three times as deep as the size of tlie see,d may be obaerved for general use. Vitality of Seeds. - Tue variouí) kinds oí vegetable seeds difEer largely as to the length of time they retain vitality. While it is always well to sow new seeds, if they can be procured, it is not always absolutely necessary. Thoae of the potato, pumpkin, squash, cucumber, mellón and beet retain their vitality longest, probably from five to ten years; turnips, celery, cabbage, and cauliíiower are good for f our years ; spinach, radish, asparagus, lettuce, and parsley for three yeara ; white the beans, peas, carrots, pepper, salsify, and rliubarb should not be planted wheü over two years oíd. A knowledge of how long the various vegetable seeds will produce their kind is greatly benelicial to the gardener, as on the selection of ■ poor seed failures often depend. When to Sow ok Plant. - For the latitude of Detroit the seeds of the following-named vegetables may be sown in the open ground from the first to the last of April ; beet, carrot, celery, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, onion, parsnip, pea, radish, and turnip; from the middle of May to middle of June, beans, sweet corn. mellón, pumpkin, cucumber, squash and tomato. Varieties. - l do net recommend the use of many varieties. For the ordinnry farmer, who cultiyates only for table use, one good variety is as a dozen. For general iultivatiou the following named varieties are, probably, the best, though it would be diiflcult to give a Hst good for all parts of the country. Beans. - Black Wax, Golden Wax, Early valentine, Early Mohawk, Large White Lima. The first two mentioned are comparatively new varieties, but have found their way iuto popular fa vor to quite an extent. Beets.- Early Bassano, Early Egyptian, Blood Turnip, White Sugar, Large Red or Yellow Globe, Mangel Wurzel. Cabbage. - Drumhead Savoy, Jersey Wakelield, Early York, Early Flat Dutch, Green Globe Savoy, Winniugstadt, Marble Head, Mammoth Drumhead. Oarrots.- Eariy Iloru, White Belgian, Long Orange. Corn.- Early Narragansett, Stowell's Evergreen, Dwarf Early Sugar. Vuoumbers. - Early Kussian, Early Chester, White Spine. Lettuce. - Early Curled Simpson, Drumhead, Curled ludia. Onions. - Silver-Skinned or White Portugal, Yellow Dan vers, Wethersfleld Large Red, and the "potato" oniohs, or Multipliers. Peas. - Little Gem, Daniel O'llourke, Toni Thumb, and McClean's Advancer for early; Champion of England and Britiah Queen for late varieües. Radislies- Scarlet Turnip, Scarlet .ülive-shaped, Yellow Turnip-rooted. Squash. - For summer, Yellow and White Bush Scalloped, Summer Crookneck ; for winter, Hubbard and Winter Crook-neck. Tomatoes. - Trophy Early Smooth Red, Gen. Grant. Turnips. - Purple Top Soart-leaf and White ytrap-leaf. - Ex.