One of the institutions of the place was the vegetable garden.  This was established not only for the convenience and comfort of the family, but to furnish employment for the slaves.  Under the care of Uncle Gooden, the gardener, it flourished greatly; and there was so much more produced than the family could use, Boss concluded to sell the surplus.  The gardener, therefore, went to the city, every morning, with a load of vegetables, which brought from eight to ten dollars daily, and this the madam took for “pin money.”  In the spring I had always to help the gardener in setting out plants and preparing beds; and, as this was in connection with my other work, I became so tired sometimes that I could hardly stand.  All the vegetables raised were fine, and at that time brought a good price.  The first cabbage that we sold in the markets brought twenty-five cents a head.  The first sweet potatoes marketed always brought a dollar a peck, or four dollars a bushel.  The Memphis market regulations required that all vegetables be washed before being exposed for sale.  Corn was husked, and everything was clean and inviting.  Any one found guilty of selling, or exhibiting for sale, vegetables of a previous day was fined, at once, by the market master.  This rule was carried out to the letter.  Nothing stale could be sold, or even come into market.  The rules required that all poultry be dressed before being brought to market.  The entrails were cleaned and strung and sold separately—­usually for about ten cents a string.

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Profusion of flowers.

Flowers grew in profusion everywhere through the south, and it has, properly, been called the land of flowers.  But flowers had no such sale there as have our flowers here in the north.  The pansy and many of our highly prized plants and flowers grew wild in the south.  The people there did not seem to care for flowers as we do.  I have sold many bouquets for a dime, and very beautiful ones for fifteen and twenty cents, that would sell in the north for fifty to seventy-five cents.

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The fruit orchard.

The new place had an orchard of about four acres, consisting of a variety of apple, peach, pear and plum trees.  Boss hired an expert gardener to teach me the art of grafting, and, after some practice, I became quite skilled in this work.  Some of the pear trees that had been grafted had three different kinds of fruit on them, and others had three kinds of apples on them besides the pears.  This grafting I did myself, and the trees were considered very fine by Boss.  Another part of my work was the trimming of the hedge and the care of all the shrubbery.

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I practice medicine among the slaves.