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_.