Putting manure on the ground in the fall, or during winter, is a practice I would not recommend, because some of its most valuable portions are sure to be washed into the drains by the melting snow and spring rains, leaving the plants rather a meagre supply of nourishment to draw from when they come to need it most. The proper way to do is to give the ground a liberal spreading of thoroughly decomposed barnyard manure in spring, as soon as the land is in a workable condition.[18] This should immediately be plowed in, and be followed with a sharp, weighted harrow, to thoroughly pulverize and mix the soil. This is important, as the surface of the soil is not so liable to harden or bake afterwards, if the ground is well worked in the spring. The soil is also permeated to a greater depth by the sun and air, causing healthier and quicker growth, consequently better and earlier vegetables. The form of our one-acre patch should, by all means, be a rectangle, made longer than wide, with the rows running lengthwise, and all perfectly straight, and everything else so arranged that as much of the cultivation can be done by horse power as possible. But let me say right here, that no one should undertake the cultivation of a kitchen garden without being willing to do a reasonable portion of the work by hand. This part of the work can, however, be greatly lessened by using the various labor-saving garden implements, to be purchased at reasonable rates, of most seed firms. If “variety is the spice of life,” it can certainly nowhere be more desirable than in the kitchen garden, which is to supply our table with its yearly demand for choice vegetables; I say _choice_, since every one having the care of a garden should strive to grow everything of the very best, and that, too, in great abundance and variety. The most convenient mode of arranging the different kinds of vegetables is to; 1st, Place the perennial plants in one bed, running the entire length of the ground; 2d, Plant the vegetables side by side which are to remain out all winter, so as not to interfere with next spring’s plowing; 3d, Arrange side by side those varieties which require the whole season to mature; and, 4th, Put beside each other the quickly maturing kinds, which may be succeeded by other varieties, in order that the ground to be occupied by a second crop may be all in one piece. The preliminaries being arranged, we are now ready to go into details, and to this end we shall first take under consideration the permanent bed, so called from the fact that it is to contain such perennials as asparagus, rhubarb, horse radish, artichoke, and chives; also parsley, and a collection of herbs, without which no garden is complete. The herbs are placed here because they require a soil especially prepared for them, by the addition of either fine sand or sifted coal ashes, to make it mellow and dry. [Illustration: DIAGRAM OF THE GARDEN.] ASPARAGUS.