104 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
that could thus be obtained from an acre of land similarly situated would 
abundantly supply, with nearly all the vegetables named, nineteen families, 
comprising, in all, 114 individuals. And then the land was not forced to its 
full producing capacity, since the excess of some of the small and early 
varieties became so great that to grow more would only have increased 
the waste from throwing the produce away. In 1899 no account was kept 
of the produce grown, but it would be correct to say that it was in excess 
of that grown during the years mentioned, since during the season last named 
it supplied two families, one of five matured persons and the other of two 
matured persons, in addition to the produce which was given to neighbors 
and thrown away. 
In growing the vegetables the ground was kept at work during all the 
season. The various crops were so planted that a second crop was started 
before the first had been removed. In this way, three successive crops were 
grown on much of the land every season, and in a few instances four crops. 
The following are some of the successions adopted: (1) Radishes, onions 
from seed, onions from sets, fall turnips. (2) Spinach, peas, corn, cab- 
bage. (3) Peppergrass, potatoes, cabbage. (4) Radishes, peas, early cab- 
bage, tomatoes. i 
The radishes and onions from seed would be planted at the same time, 
the latter in rows 15 inches apart, and the radish seed in rows between. As 
soon as the radishes were consumed, onions from sets were planted and 
used green. Then fall turnip seed was sown. The rows for corn were 
staked off 30 inches distant. Two rows of dwarf peas would then be planted, 
and from one to three rows of spinach or some other salad. In due time 
the corn would be planted, with early cabbage plants between the hills in the 
line of the rows. The early salads would be out of the way of the dwarf 
peas, the dwarf peas out of the way of the corn. The early cabbage would 
take care of themselves between the corn rows, and as soon as the peas 
were removed late cabbage were planted in the space between the corn 
rows, and these had the land to themselves as soon as the corn was re- 
moved. Thus it was that the land was kept producing in all the various 
successions. In selecting varieties, preference was given to those that were 
small and of a dwarfish habit. Those also are finer in the grain, and, con- 
sequently, more tender and delicious than the large and coarse varieties, 
a truth that is all too little recognized in practical gardeninz. For instance, 
preference was given to the early scarlet short-top radish among the rad- 
ishes, and to the early Cory among the varieties of corn, and to the American 
Wonder among the varieties of peas. The shade arising from these plants 
is much less than from other larger varieties, and they also grow more rap- 
idly and mature more quickly. Too much importance cannot well be at- 
tached to the selection of varieties in growing these crops in a close suc- 
cession. 
The ground was dug in the autumn with a spade. The second and 
third times it was dug, the pick was used in the bottom of each trench to 
loosen up the subsoil, and the spade was sunk a little deeper every year, 
thus bringing up a portion of the raw and unpromising sub-soil, and ex- 
posing it all winter to the weathering influences of air, sun and frost, and 
rain. The spade can now be sunk without any difficulty to its full depth 
in any part of the garden. As soon as dry enough in the spring, the entire 
surface is stirred with the rake or hoe, whether anything is planted on it or 
