114 



The HorticuUunsl and Journal 



Vegetable G-ardening. 



Essiiy by D. X. Hall, before the Kansas State 

 Horticultural Society. 



OF the first importance in the cultivation of 

 vegetables, either for market or home 

 consumption, is a suitable 



Soil anil r^ocatioti. 



Without a suitable location — that is, one 

 with warm exposures, and naturally or artifi- 

 cially well drained — no soil, however good, 

 will produce early vegetables ; and unless the 

 soil is suitable — that is, deep, friable, and at 

 least moderately rich — we cannot produce 

 good ones. To receive the best results, then, 

 it is indispensable that the spot selected for 

 the vegetable garden shall be early land ; that 

 is, with a southern or southeastern exposure, 

 level or gently rolling, and well drained natu- 

 rally or artificially ; and that the top soil shall 

 be neither "clayey," nor "sandy," but rich 

 and deep, with a sub-soil of sufiicient porosity 

 to admit of waters passing ofi" freely and rap- 

 idly, without washing. 



Next in order to the location of the garden 

 and of nearly if not quite equal importance, 

 is a thorough 



Preparation of the Soil. 



Sowing seeds of vegetables, or transplant- 

 ing plants of them in shallow-plowed, unma- 

 nured, or weedy land, is time, money and 

 labor thrown away. The best and most expe- 

 rienced gardeners, both amateur and commer- 

 cial, agree that ordinary land cannot be put 

 in condition to raise the best crops of vegeta- 

 bles, with less than three years' careful prep- 

 aration ; and my own experience has fully 

 demonstrated the truth of this assertion. But 

 by careful and systematic working, fair crops 

 may be realized the first year. 



Proper preparation of the soil for growing 

 vegetables consists in heavy manuring and 

 deep and thorough pulverization. Manure 

 liberally applied is an important, nay, an in- 

 dispensable, element of success. Vegetables 

 to be good must be grown quickly, and to be 



remunerative the land must be closely planted, 

 and liberal manuring will produce not only 

 heavy crops, but a rapid growth, and early 

 maturity. But manure must be not only 

 liberally but judiciously applied ; it must be 

 incorporated with the soil, and in such a con- 

 dition as to be of immediate use as plant food. 

 To prepare a spot of ground for garden ope- 

 rations, therefore, decomposed manure, or 

 compost, should be liberally applied, and the 

 ground plowed from eight to fourteen inches 

 deep, early in the fall, and if practicable, 

 cross-plowed later in the season. In the 

 spring another dressing of fine manure should 

 be applied, dragged in, and the ground again 

 thoroughly plowed and harrowed. 



For this last dressing of manure may be 

 substituted — at the time of sowing the seed 

 or setting out the plants — an application of the 

 concentrated or commercial manures, such as 

 guano, raw bone, superphosphates, bone dust, 

 etc., applied to the hill or row. This is 

 equally good for the current crop, and where 

 the ground is not in the best condition, better, 

 as the fertilizing qualities are in shape for im- 

 mediate use as plant food. It is not, how- 

 ever, of as much permanent value to the land. 

 Having selected the location and put the 

 ground in proper condition, the next thing in 

 order is the best method of 



T,aying out the Garilen. 



In either a large or small vegetable garden, 

 the most economical way to plant is in rows. 

 In small, or family gardens, these should run 

 lengthwise across the patch, one path through 

 the center being generally sufiicient. Large 

 or market gardens, should be laid off in divis- 

 ions or sections, as long as the nature of the 

 ground will allow, with roadways broad 

 enough for wagons, at regular intervals ; and 

 if more than three or four acres in extent, one 

 crossway through the center. This will be 

 found the most economical shape, both for cul- 

 tivating and gathering the crops. Vegetables 

 should be planted in straight lines, and gene- 

 rally, in market gardens, at sufficient distance 

 apart to admit of horse cultivation. Those 

 vegetables which when once planted will re- 

 main some years, such as rhubarb, aspara- 



