1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Gooseberry

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Gooseberry

Gooseberry, Grossularia, by some Uva, and by others Crispa, because villose and hairy. There are many species and seminal variations amongst the species themselves to be met with, but the two sorts principally cultivated are the hairy Gooseberry, and the large white Dutch. They are propagated from the suckers or cuttings, but the latter are preferable, as they produce much better roots than the former, which are apt to be woody. Autumn, before the leaves begin to fall, is the proper time for planting the cuttings out, taking the same from the bearing branches, about eight inches in length, and planting three inches deep, observing to nip off all under branches, so as to raise it to a head on a single stalk; in October you are directed to remove them into beds about three feet asunder, and having been one year in the nursery, they are to be removed to the places where they are to remain, six and eight feet asunder, row from row, observing to prune their roots, and all the lateral branches about Michaelmas; the London gardeners prune their bushes and cut them with shears into hedges, but this method is not approved of by Miller, who advises pruning with a knife, thinning the bearing branches, and shortening them to about ten inches, cutting away all the irregular ones; by this culture, I doubt not the Gooseberries would be as good as any in Europe; there is a small Gooseberry, very leafy, and which bears its leaves and fruit a long time, that is not worth cultivation; wherefore I would advise the banishing them from the garden.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Horse Radish

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Horse Radish

Horse Radish, Cocklearia, from Cochlear lat, a spoon, because the leaves are hollow like a spoon....is a species of the Scurvey grass. It is to be propagated from buds or cuttings from the sides of the old roats, in October or February; the former for dry land, and the latter for moist. The offsets should have buds on their crowns, and the heads planted out should be about two inches in length. The method of planting them is in trenches about ten inches deep, about five distance each way, the bud upwards, covering them up with the mould taken out of the trenches. Then the ground is to be levelled with a rake, and kept free from weeds, and the second year after planting, the roots may be used; the first year the roots are very slender. When you have cut from a root and separated as much as you have occasion for, put it into the ground again with the head just above the earth, and it will restore itself, if not pulled up soon after. It ought to be planted in very rich ground, otherwise it will not flourish. This method of planting I am so well pleased with that I never had any Horse Radish in my garden till I strictly pursued it, and I advise every one to follow it.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Celery

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Celery

Celery, Apium, quod apos eo gaudeant, or from Apex, because the ancients made crowns of it, is one of the species of Parsley. At first I was surprised to find this, but upon examining the two plants, there is, in many particulars, a characteristic likeness.

Celery is the Apium dulce, the seed of which should be sown in a successive manner to have it fine for any time; for after it is blanched it will not remain good longer than three weeks, or a month. but will rot or grow pithy. Let the first sowing then be in March, the second about a fortnight after, i. e. the last of March, the third in the beginning of April, and the fourth about the beginning of May.

In about three weeks or a month, the seed will come up, and if your plants grow stout, as probably they will in good land, you must transplant them into beds, and in June those of the first sowing will be fit to be put out for blanching, and the rest should also be put out as they appear strong enough to sustain a removal.

When they are transplanted for fruit, dig a trench by a line about ten inches wide and eight or nine deep, loosening the earth at the bottom, and levelling it; and the earth taken out of the trenches should be laid on the sides, for the convenience of earthing. These trenches should be about three feet asunder, and the plants should stand six inches distant from one another, in a straight row, cutting off the tops of the plants, when planted out. As the plants grow up, they should be carefully earthed up in a dry season, else they will rot, not above the crown or heart of the plant, and in a light rich soil, they will grow to twenty inches in height, but in poor land they will not exceed, ten.

Your first plantation should be in a moist soil, but not the latter, because the additional wet of the winter will rot your plants. The sun is a great enemy to Celery, when it is very hot, wherefore F would recommend the covering of your plants with brash, at all seasons of their growth, whilst the weather is hot, from nine in the morning until six o'clock in the evening. When you desire to raise seed, draw one or more of your flourishing plants, and plant it out in the spring,, let it be supported against the winds; aiid in August the seed will be ripe, which should be then tut up, dried, beat out, and preserved in bags.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Celeriac

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Celeriac

Celeriac,...Radice rapacea, Turnep rooted, is to be treated much in the same manner as Celery, except that the drills of these should be shallower, as this plant does not exceed ten inches in height, and requires but one earthing. The excellence of this consists in the size of its root, which is often as large as turneps. In summer water your plants, if the season is dry, and in winter cover them with haum, or any open covering to protect them from frosts.
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1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Parsley

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Parsley

Parsley, Apium hortense...if intended for the table, should be sown in drills pretty thick, in light rich land; but if for medicinal use (the roots being prescribed on many occasions,) the seed should be sown thin, and the plants drawn and treated as is directed in the culture of carrots.

Where you breed Rabbits it may be sown in the fields; Hares and Rabbits being remarkably fond of it, will resort to it from great distances. It is a sovereign remedy" to preserve sheep from the rot, by feeding twice a Week on this herb, about two hours each time. If intended for the table, the seed shauld be sown early in the spring; if for medicinal purposes, or for rabbits, the latter end of February in England, but about the middle of March in Virginia.

The gardeners have an advantage as to this plant, that the seed goes nine times to the devil before it comes up, alluding to the length of time it lies in the ground before it germinates, which is generally six weeks. In this it resembles celery, as also in its foliage, and the head where the seed is produced. There are several kinds of parsley, but these I have mentioned seem the most useful and particular.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Cabbage

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Cabbage

Cabbage, &c. Under Brassica is included all the several species of the Cabbage, among which Cauliflowers and Brocoli are classed. The proper time for sowing the seed of Brocoli is in the latter end of May, and transplant them into beds when they have eight leaves, and plant them out about the latter end of July, in a place well sheltered, not under the drip of trees, in a soil rather light than otherwise. About December, it is said, they will have purple heads, which are eaten, though I myself could never make them head before March. The distance these require is about two feet every way, though more would do better, if there is plenty of ground. The Roman Brocoli is the proper sort to cultivate, otherwise called the Italian Brocoli. When you cut the flowers or heads, cut to about five or six inches of the stem, and before they are boiled, strip off" the skin, and after having washed them, boil them in a clean cloth and serve them up with butter, as Cauliflowers are. The stems will eat like Asparagus, and the heads like Cauliflowers.

The common White Cabbage, capitata alba, is the proper sort for winter. It is long sided and flat. The seeds should be sown in April or March, and if they should grow long shanked, they should be pricked out till the middle of May, when they are to be transplanted to stand at about two and a half feet distance from one another, and three and a half row from row. Three things are necessary to Cabbages as well as other vegetables....to be watered in a dry season, hilled up if they grow long shanked, and kept clear of weeds, which draw the nourishment from the plants and make them spindle. In November take up your Cabbages by the roots, and plant them under a ridge of earth, with the tops of their heads to the south, covering the stems entirely; this will protect them the whole winter. If they are hard and compact when thus placed out, they will be sufficiently protected, and though the outside leaves may be affected by the frost, yet the hearts will remain entire.

The Savoy Cabbages, which are esteemed best when pinched by the frost, are to be treated in the same manner as the white, only they may be planted nearer one another, not being a long sort.

The Battersea Cabbage is the earliest of all, and bead in a short time, and burst if not cut soon:

But the Sugar Loaf, which is the finest, will remain a considerable time. These should be sown every month, and transplanted every season.

The Borecole, is treated like the white Cabbage, and need not be above a foot asunder. These are tough till the frost has made them tender.

There is a Cabbage which is called the Russia kind. They are very small, and soon degenerate, if the seed is not changed.

There is a Turnep Cabbage, which being very strong, is fit only for soup.

The seed of the Curled Colea*Ort are to be sown in July, about twelve inches asunder.

There is a Musk Cabbage, remarkable for its tasting like musk, and is to be treated in the common manner. I have met with these in Virginia, but Miller says, they are not propagated much in England, though the most delicious.

The common Cole'worts should be sown the beginning of July, and transplanted. There is a perenial Colewort, which will in poor land remain four years, but in rich not above two, before they go to seed. In order to save the seed of Cabbage, they should be taken out of the ground in November, and put under a hedge, or other sheltered place, buried up to the middle of the Cabbage, and in the spring they will begin to sprout and produce their seed. If the season should be dry, they should be assisted with moisture, and the stems should he supported. When the pods begin to be brown, cut off the extreme part of every branch or shoot. When your seeds are ripe, they should be cut off, threshed out when dry, and put into bags. By planting the several sorts of Cabbages together, as white and red, etc. there is a commixture of the effluvia of each, and each are vitiated, which is the reason, Miller imagines, why seed so soon degenerates in gardens, as gardeners are either negligent or unskilful in this particular, too generally.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Cucumber

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Cucumber

Cucumber, Cucuviis, is esteemed in its season the most refreshing and delicate of all vegetables. There are three sorts....First, Cucumis sativus vulgaris. Second, Cucumis fructu subleteo, the white cucumber. Third, Cucumis oblonges. The first is the common sort most in use, amongst which there is a difference in the size, length, &c. The second is cultivated in Holland chiefly, and the last sort is cultivated only in curious gardens, and are remarkable for their length and fewness of seed. As there are three sorts, so there are three seasons for cucumbers; the first is the early, in hot-beds, the second is the middle crop under glasses, and the third is for pickling. Although many are ambitious of having early fruit, yet it is certain that Cucumbers are not wholesome till the hot weather comes on; for being pent up in hot-beds, they inspire a confined watery air, which must necessarily make the plant crude and unhealthful. Towards the latter end of January, if you require Cucumbers in April, you are to get about two loads of long dung, which will be sufficient for a moderate family, and mixing it with some sea-coal ashes, you are to lay it in a heap, about three feet thick. In about four or five days, the dung will begin to heat, and then you must take off part of the top, laying it flat on the sides of your heap, and put on about two inches of good earth, which must be covered with your glasses. In a day or two after, when you find the earth pretty warm, put your seeds in the earth about a quarter of an inch deep, and keep it close covered with the glass all night and in bad weather, and the glass should be also covered with mat. In three or four days, the plants will appear, upon which you are to make a bed for a single light on the adjoining heap of dung, covering the top about three inches thick with mould, into which you are to put your plants, at about two inches distance each way, observing to put them into the earth almost up to their seed leaves. In twenty-four hours your plant will take root, and you are to give it what air you can without injury, turning the glass upside down in the heat of the day, or wiping off the water that is condensed in the upper part, and is very pernicious when it drops on your plants. You are to water your plants, though moderately, and your water should be as near the temperature of the air in which the plant exists as possible, and as the plants advance, support their shanks with a little dry sifted earth, which will much assist them. If your heat is too intense, run a stick into the middle of the dung, through the sides of the heap in two or three places, which will give vent to the steam. If it be too slack, cover the sides of your heap with more litter. When the third or rough leaf appears, you are to prepare another heap, in which you are to. make holes about a foot deep, and eight or nine inches over, which are to be filled with light fresh earth, and in these in four or five days you transplant your plants, observing to water them as before, and to put four plants into each, with their roots sloping toward the centre, lest they should get to the dung, and be injured by it. You should avoid keeping your glasses too close, for the steam may cause such a damp as will very much injure the plants. Your plants tending upwards when they are four or five inches high, should be forked down, and when you weed them, hold the leaves very gently with one hand, and weed them with the other. Pulling off the male blossom is not recommended, neither is pruning the vines, but if your glasses are filled with too much vine you ought to draw out ,one of the plants, provided it is not matted with those you intend to stand. Whenever your bed loses its heat in any degree, it ought to be repaired; and though the plants delight in heat, yet you must cover your glasses when the sun is in the meridian, and hot. In watering these beds, you must throw the water all over the vines, but not in the heat of the day, for the drops will collect the rays of the sun to a focus, blister and ruin the plants. And as at this season you have often cold nights, you should preserve the heat of the beds, and from this management your Cucumbers will last till the beginning of July, when your second crop will come to bear. The management of this second crop is pretty much the same with the former, only you must raise your glasses oftener, as the weather will be wanner, and your seeds are to be put into the ground in March or April. Miller directs that beds of dung should be made for the second crop as well as the first, and the same culture observed; but I believe if your seeds are sown in April in rich light hills, and sheltered from the cold with glasses, it will answer just as well, provided you keep them free from weeds, and water with temperate water. Most people are fond of gathering their seed from the first early fruit, leaving one Cucumber only on a vine, nearest the heart of the plant, and this is a good way. In August your seeds will be ripe enough: then cut open the Cucumber and put pulp and seed into a tub, there to remain eight or ten days, stirring them every day to the bottom with a stick; at the expiration of that time, pour water, into the tub, and by stirring it often and repeating it, the scum will rise to the top and your seed subside, which are to be dried and put into a bag, and are best when three or four years old. Your seed that are intended for picklers, should be sown in May, about nine in a hill, and in five or six days they will appear above ground, and for above a week after, till the plant has made some progress, are very liable to be destroyed by Sparrows, they being very fond of them. Leave only four or five of the most vigorous plants in a hill, and observe to water in a dry season, and keep the ground about them loose, and free from weeds. The earth should be laid round your plants in the form of a bason, to hold the water that is given them, and take care that your plants don't interweave with one another; and if any plants appear lading or declining, pull them up. Fifty holes is the number advised, from whence you may expect to gather about two thousand in the season. Miller mentions the putting your plants into baskets, when they are fit to transplant, filled with earth, which may be removed with the plants in them, into other hot-beds with great security, by which means you have a crop much earlier than in the method before mentioned. If Cucumbers are stuck, as you do peas, they will run to a great height, and will bear till the frosts destroy them.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Fennel

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Fennel

Fennel, Faeniculum. This may be propagated from seed or the plants, as Featherfew, and nothing more is necessary than to keep it from seedling, because it will overrun the garden; the roots being very strong, continue a long while in the ground.

A little more about fennel that was not in Randolph's short description.

Fennel...

Fennel was well known to the Ancients and was cultivated by the ancient Romans for its aromatic fruits and succulent, edible shoots. Pliny had much faith in its medicinal properties, according no less than 22 remedies to it, observing also that serpents eat it 'when they cast their old skins, and they sharpen their sight with the juice by rubbing against the plant.'

A very old English rhyming Herbal, preserved at Stockholm, gives the following description of the virtue of the plant:
'Whaune the heddere (adder) is hurt in eye
Ye red fenel is hys prey,
And yif he mowe it fynde
Wonderly he doth hys kynde.
He schall it chow wonderly,
And leyn it to hys eye kindlely,
Ye jows shall sang and hely ye eye
Yat beforn was sicke et feye.'
Many of the older herbalists uphold this theory of the peculiarly strengthening effect of this herb on the sight.
Longfellow alludes to this virtue in the plant:
'Above the lower plants it towers,
The Fennel with its yellow flowers;
And in an earlier age than ours
Was gifted with the wondrous powers
Lost vision to restore.'

In mediaeval times, Fennel was employed, together with St. John's Wort and other herbs, as a preventative of witchcraft and other evil influences, being hung over doors on Midsummer's Eve to warn off evil spirits. It was likewise eaten as a condiment to the salt fish so much consumed by our forefathers during Lent.

Though the Romans valued the young shoots as a vegetable, it is not certain whether it was cultivated in northern Europe at that time, but it is frequently mentioned in Anglo-Saxon cookery and medical recipes prior to the Norman Conquest.

Fennel shoots, Fennel water and Fennel seed are all mentioned in an ancient record of Spanish agriculture dating A.D. 961.

The diffusion of the plant in Central Europe was stimulated by Charlemagne, who enjoined its cultivation on the imperial farms.

It is mentioned in Gerard (1597), and Parkinson (Theatricum Botanicum, 1640) tells us that its culinary use was derived from Italy, for he says: 'The leaves, seede and rootes are both for meate and medicine; the Italians especially doe much delight in the use thereof, and therefore transplant and whiten it, to make it more tender to please the taste, which being sweete and somewhat hot helpeth to digest the crude qualitie of fish and other viscous meats. We use it to lay upon fish or to boyle it therewith and with divers other things, as also the seeds in bread and other things.'

William Coles, in Nature's Paradise (1650) affirms that 'both the seeds, leaves and root of ourGarden Fennel are much used in drinks and broths for those that are grown fat, to abate their unwieldiness and cause them to grow more gaunt and lank.'

The ancient Greek name of the herb, Marathron, from maraino, to grow thin, probably refers to this property. It was said to convey longevity, and to give strength and courage.

Milton, in Paradise Lost alludes to the aroma of the plant:
'A savoury odour blown,
Grateful to appetite, more pleased my sense
Than smell of sweetest Fennel.'

The odor of Fennel seed is fragrant, its taste, warm, sweet and agreeably aromatic. It yields its virtues to hot water, but more freely to alcohol. The essential oil may be separated by distillation with water.

It was formerly the practice to boil Fennel with all fish, and it was mainly cultivated in kitchen gardens for this purpose.

It is one of the plants which is said to be disliked by fleas, and powdered Fennel has the effect of driving away fleas from kennels and stables.

Culpepper says: 'One good old custom is not yet left off, viz., to boil fennel with fish, for it consumes the phlegmatic humour which fish most plentifully afford and annoy the body with, though few that use it know wherefore they do it. It benefits this way, because it is a herb of Mercury, and under Virgo, and therefore bears antipathy to Pisces. Fennel expels wind, provokes urine, and eases the pains of the stone, and helps to break it. The leaves or seed boiled in barley water and drunk, are good for nurses, to increase their milk and make it more wholesome for the child. The leaves, or rather the seeds, boiled in water, stayeth the hiccup and taketh away nausea or inclination to sickness. The seed and the roots much more help to open obstructions of the liver, spleen, and gall, and thereby relieve the painful and windy swellings of the spleen, and the yellow jaundice, as also the gout and cramp. The seed is of good use in medicines for shortness of breath and wheezing, by stoppings of the lungs. The roots are of most use in physic, drinks and broths, that are taken to cleanse the blood, to open obstructions of the liver, to provoke urine, and amend the ill colour of the face after sickness, and to cause a good habit through the body; both leaves, seeds, and roots thereof, are much used in drink, or broth, to make people more lean that are too fat. A decoction of the leaves and root is good for serpent bites, and to neutralize vegetable poison, as mushrooms, etc.'

In Italy and France, the tender leaves are often used for garnishes and to add flavour to salads, and are also added, finely chopped, to sauces served with puddings.

Roman bakers are said to put the herb under their loaves in the oven to make the bread taste agreeably.

John Evelyn, in his Acetaria (1680), held that the peeled stalks, soft and white, of the cultivated garden Fennel, when dressed like celery exercised a pleasant action conducive to sleep.

Formerly poor people used to eat Fennel to satisfy the cravings of hunger on fast days and make unsavoury food palatable; it was also used in large quantities in the households of the rich, as may be seen by the record in the accounts of Edward I.'s household, 8 1/2 lb. of Fennel were bought for one month's supply.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Carrots

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Carrots

Carrots, Daucus...are of two sorts, the orange and white, the former being generally used, though the latter is much the sweetest kind. To have them fine in the spring, sow them in drills about two feet distance, for the convenience of weeding them, about the latter end of August, and when they appear, draw them so as to keep them about four inches asunder, and in February sow again for the summer, and in April for the fall. They choose alight warm soil, and should neverbe dunged with long dung; nay, it is thought best to dung the ground the year before; for when they touch dung or meet with obstruction, they fork immediately. The seed should be rubbed before sown, to get rid of the husk to which they adhere. It should be sown in a calm day, as the seed is very light and easily blown away. They should be trodden down when sown, and raked smoothly over. When your carrots appear heady above ground, they should be trodden, that they may grow more below than above. In November take up your roots and put them in dry sand, and you may use them as occasion requires. About the middle of February, plant out one of the most flourishing for seed, which, when ripe, dry in the sun and rub out.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Asparagus

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Asparagus

Asparagus....Grow a young shoot; are to be propagated either from the seed or roots. The seed are contained in those things which look like red berries. These are to be gathered from the most flourishing stalks, and laid in a tub for about three weeks to ferment. This will rot the husks, which will swim upon being rubbed between the hands, and having water poured upon them, but the seed will go to the bottom. Pour the water off gently, and the husks will be carried along with it. This being done two or three times, the seed will become perfectly clean. They are then to be laid on a mat or dish, and exposed to the sun to dry. When that is done, they may be put into a hag and pricked out in February or March, in beds about a foot asunder every way, anil never to be transplanted. But if they are to he transplanted, they may he sown as thick as you do Cabbage. If you propagate from the roots, those of a year old are most eligible, though if two, they will succeed very well. In planting them out, they should he placed about four inches under the surface of the ground, with the bud erect, against the side of the earth perpendicularly cut, so that the extremity of the roots may touch each other. This will put them about a foot asunder; the best time for transplanting them is when they begin to shoot, but before they appear above ground. The principal thing to be regarded with these plants, is the bed in which they are to be placed. A great apparatus was formerly made use of, but now seems *On all hands to be disregarded. Nothing more is necessary than to make your beds perfectly rich and light, that the head may not be obstructed in its growth upwards. Two feet of mould and dung is depth sufficient for any plant. They are to be kept clean from weeds, and nothing sown upon the beds. The fourth year from the seed they may be cut moderately, but it is better to wait till the fifth. About October the haum should be cut down, and the beds covered with rotten dung about six inches, part of which may he taken off in February or March, and the remainder forked up in the«beds, which will not only assist the roots, but raise the beds in some small degree yearly, which is an advantage. A spade is a very prejudicial instrument to them. Cut with a blunt pointed knife (some use a saw) and separate the earth from the plant, and cut it so as not to endanger the head of another that may be shooting up. There are joints in the roots of the Sparrow grass like the Wire grass, from every one of which a head is produced. Butchers' dung is what it delights in. I would recommend your beds to be about four feet wide, that the grass may be cut without treading on the beds, which often hardens the earth so much that the grass cannot come up, and must of course perish. In these beds I would have three rows; for the roots ought to have a sufficient quantity of earth on all sides. Beds thus managed, Miller says, will last ten or twelve years; Bradly says twenty, and I am inclined to join with the latter.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Onion

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Onion

Onion, Cepa. There are three sorts for winter use; the Strasburg...the red Spanish Onion...the white Spanish Onion... There are other sorts which suit the spring and summer season best. There are Cepa ascalonica,from Ascalon, a city in India, or the Scallion or Escallion. The Cives, or Copula, the young Onion. The Welch Onion, and lastly the Ciboule. The three first sorts should be sown in February, the first open weather, or beginning of March at farthest, and in about six weeks your Onions will be up, and ought to be weeded. The rows should be about twelve or eighteen inches asunder, if sowed in drills, which is the best method, arid the plants should be drawn to be about five or six inches apart. This may be no loss, because they will serve with young salad in the spring; about the middle or latter end of July your plants will be ripe, which may be discovered by the dropping down or shrinking of the blades; then they should be drawn up, and the extreme part of the blades should be cropped off, and the plants laid on the ground to dry. They should be turned at least every other day, otherwise they will strike fresh root, especially in moist weather. In about a fortnight they will be sufficiently dried; you are then to rub off all the earth and take care to remove all that are any ways decayed, and the sound ones laid as thin as possible in some room or garret, as close from the air as possible, and at least once a month look over them, to see if any of them are decayed, for if any are so, they will affect the. rest; or if too near one another, or in heaps, they will heat, and probably ruin the whole crop. The white Onion is the sweetest, though all the three sorts will degenerate into one another in the course of time. In March'you should dig a trench, and put some of your most flourishing plants about six inches deep, and as far asunder,v into it, which should be covered over with a rake, and in about a month's time the leaves will appear above ground, and when your plants begin to head, they should be supported by stakes and packthread or yarn, otherwise they will be very liable to be injured by the winds. These will produce you seed about August, which may be known by the seeds changing brown, and the bells where the seed is contained opening. The heads should be critically cut, otherwise the seed will be dropped, and when cut, the heads should be exposed to the sun, and sheltered in the night and wet weather, and when suificiently dry, they should be rubbed out, and after being exposed one day more to the sun, may be put into bags and preserved for the following year. The Scallion is a small Onion, and is sown early in the spring, and never forms any bulb, and is used green in the spring with young salads. The Ciboule and Welch Onion, are thought to be the same by Miller.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Clary

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Clary

Clary, Sclarea...These are propagated either from the seed, in a light soil, or parting the roots and planting them out at Michaelmas, about eighteen inches asunder; these will last many years.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Chamomile

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Chamomile

Chamomile, Chamomelum, (from Melon, gr. an Apple, because it has the scent of one, J or Anthemis, as it is called by Dr. Linnans. There are different species, but the chamomelum odoratishmum repens, fore simplici, is the sort chiefly propagated. It is used medicinally, and in making green walks or edgings; the method of planting is, to separate the roots, as they grow very close, and prick each root into poor land, about ten inches asunder, in the month of March; they will quickly stretch themselves into contact with each other, and as the flowers ripen they should be gathered and dried. When thick, it is apt to rot in the winter, so that it ought now and then to be thinned.

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1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Artichokes

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Artichokes

ARTICHOKES, known to botanical writers by the name of Cynara, are to be propagated either from the seed, which are to be gathered from the choke or flower at the head of the Artichoke, or from slips, which are to be separated from the main stalk by the edge of the hand, and transplanted. If these offsets are good, they will be of a whitish colour about the heel, and will have some little root to them. If you have plenty of ground, put three slips in a hill, and let the hills be four feet asunder, and the rows the same; but if you are scanty with regard to your land, you must cut your coat according to your cloth. About March, or the beginning of April, you are annually to slip off all the lateral branches with your hand, and leave only the three principal stalks in your hill. Every spring they ought to be dunged: sheep dung and ashes are not only the best for that purpose, but also for preparing the ground for them. If you have depth of mould enough, i. e. two feet, and you don't crop your ground with any thing else, your Artichokes will remain good a number of years; but if they are any ways neglected, or the ground is tended, they will not only be injured in their growth, but will very much degenerate in five years. When planted out, they should be well watered, if not in a wet season, and be kept clean from weeds. There are various methods of preserving them from the severity of winter. Some cut them down within a foot of the earth, and cover them with a hill or ridge, leaving a small hole at the top, which is covered with dung. I have found from many years' experience, that long dung is an enemy to them, and that the best way to preserve them is, by laying straw on the surface of the ground, over their roots. This preserves the leaves from rotting which fall down from the frost, and, united, afford such a protection to the plant, that not one in fifty will perish. They never flourish in a dripping situation, but like a low place, not too wet, but very rich. When you cut them, cut the stalks quite down to the ground, which strengthens the plants, and makes them forwarder in the spring. There will be many on a stalk, but all must be pulled off except that which is on the centre of the main stalk, if you propose having them fine. If you prick out the slips in the spring, you may have a succession till the fall. The leaves of Artichokes, I have been informed, clean pewter the best of any thing. There are different sorts, but two only that are much propagated. First, Foliis aculeatis, i. e. with prickly leaves. Second, Foliis non aculeatis capite subrubente, i. e. without prickly leaves, and with a smooth and reddish head. The latter is most preferred. There is the Cynara spinosa, which is to be cultivated and eaten like celery, and which produces a head with the seed not unlike the Artichoke, fro in whence it took its name. The common name is chardooh, or cardoon. The Jerusalem Artichoke...is only a species of the Sun-flower, with a tuberous root, not unlike a Potatoe. Some admire them, but they are of a flatulent nature, and are apt to cause commotions in the belly.

1764 John Randolph's (1727-1784) Kitchen Garden Calendar

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One of the earliest treatises on gardening in America was written by John Randolph around 1765 in Williamsburg, Virginia.

A General Calendar for Work in the Kitchen Garden

JANUARY.
Prepare hot-beds for Cucumbers; as little can be done this month in a garden, I would advise the preparing of your dung, and carrying it to your beds, that it may be ready to spread on in February.

FEBRUARY.
Sow Asparagus, make your beds and fork up the old ones, sow Loaf Cabbages; latter end transplant Cauliflowers, sow Carrots, and transplant for seed; prick out endive for seed, sow Lettuce, Melons in hot-beds, sow Parsneps take up the old roots and prick out for seed, sow Peas and prick them into your hot-beds, sow Radishes twice, plant Strawberries, plant out Turneps for seed, spade deep and make it fine, plant Beans.

MARCH.
Slip your Artichokes, if fit, plant Kidney Beans, Cabbages, Celery, Parsley, Cucumbers, Currants, Chamomile, Celandine; Nasturtium, Featherfew, Fennel, Ivy, Horse Radish, Hyssop, Lavender, Lettuce, Radishes twice, Marjoram, Marsh Mallow, Mint, Melons, Millet, Mugwort, Onions, and for seed, Peas twice, Potatoes, Raspberry, Rosemary, Rue, Spinach, Tansy, Thyme, Turneps. You may begin to mow your grass walks, and continue so to do every morning, and roll them; turf this month; plant Box.

APRIL.
If Artichokes were not slipped last month, do it this, plantTiushel and garden Beans, sow Cabbages the twelfth, sow Cauliflowers, Celery, Cresses, Nasturtium, Lettuce, Peas, Radishes twice; Sage will grow in this or any other month; Turneps, sow Salsify early, Pepper; turf this month.

MAY.
Latter end sow Brocoli, Celery, Cucumbers for pickles, Endive, Featherfew, Hyssop, Cuttings of Marsh Mallow, Melons, Peas, sow Radishes twice, Kidney Beans; turf this month.

JUNE.
Cabbages should be sown, sow Radishes twice, transplant Cabbages, prick out Cauliflowers, prick out Brocoli, draw up by the roots all your weeds.

JULY.
Transplant Brocoli, sow Cabbages, Coleworts, transplant Cauliflowers to stand, Endive, gather Millet seed, take up Onions, sow Radishes twice, sow Turneps, plant Kidney Beans to preserve.

AUGUST.
Sow Cabbages, latter end Carrots, get your Cucumber seed, sow Cresses, prick out Endive, early sow Lettuce, Mullein, gather Onion seed, plant Garlick, get Parsnep seed; twelfth, sow Peas for the fall, sow Radishes; middle, sow Spinach, though some say not until after the twentieth, sow Turneps.

SEPTEMBER.
Sow Cabbages tenth, sow Cauliflowers, plant cuttings of Currants, Clary, Comfrey, plant cuttings of Gooseberries, sow Radishes, plant layers of suckers of Raspberries, Rosemary, plant out Strawberries, string your Strawberries, and dress your beds, plant Tansy.

OCTOBER.
Latter end cut down your Asparagus, and cover your beds with dung, plant Beans for spring, sow Cabbages twentieth; transplant Cauliflowers, plant Horse Radish, prick Lettuce into boxes, sow Peas for the hot-bed, Radishes; turf this month.

NOVEMBER.
Take up your Cabbages, sow Cabbages, take up your Cauliflowers, such as are flowered, and house them, take up your Carrots, trench all your vacant land, prune your trees and vines, plant out every thing of the tree or shrub kind, that has a root to it: if any thing is done to your Artichokes, this is a good month; plant Box; turf early.

DECEMBER.
Cover your Endive with brush, cover Celery, and every thing else that needs shelter; if the weather will admit, turn over the ground that is trenched, in order to mellow and pulverize it. Whatever will prevent delay, and enable you to begin spading in February, should be done this month.

John Randolph was born about 1728, probably at the Peyton Randolph House on Market Square in Williamsburg. After he attended the College of William & Mary for his basic education, he traveled to London in 1745, to study law at the Middle Temple at the Inns of Court in London, returning to Williamsburg to practice law in 1749. During his years in Williamsburg, he became a member of the city's common council, & a burgess for the College of William & Mary. When his older brother Peyton Randolph was elected speaker of the House of Burgesses, John succeeded him as the royal colony's attorney general.

As the sentiment for separating from mother England grew, Randolph’s brother Peyton Randolph became chair of the Continental Congress, & loyalist John Randolph made plans to sail for England. He wrote a farewell letter to his cousin Thomas Jefferson. "We both of us seem to be steering opposite courses," he said, "the success of either lies in the womb of Time." John Randolph arranged passage across the Atlantic for himself, his wife, Ariana, and their 2 daughters, Susannah and Ariana. His son Edumund, who did not share his father's loyalist sentiments, joined the American army serving as aide-de-camp to General George Washington.

John Randolph died at Brampton, England, in 1784. His death brought his return to America.  He is interred beside his father and brother in the family vault in the chapel at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Chives

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Chives

Chives never grow into bulbs, but in bunches, and Miller takes it to be Shallot. They do not grow above six inches high in the blade. They are to be propagated by parting the roots or planting the cloves. They do not affect the breath so much as the other sorts. The Welch Onion at some seasons of the year, viz: in the fall, dies away, but revives in January, and becomes very early in the spring fit for the table.