CHAPTER XXII 

 11. OLERICULTURE OR VEGETABLE GROWING 



PLANNING AND PREPARING THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



Before beginning this discussion of our subject it will be 

 necessary to make clear what is meant by vegetables. In the 

 scientific sense all plants are vegetables, because all plant 

 life belongs to the vegetable kingdom. We say, also, when 

 speaking scientifically, that whatever results from a blos- 

 som is a fruit, whether it be an apple, a pepper, a tomato, 

 a walnut, or a cone from a pine tree. But in common usage, 

 practically everything which is raised in the garden or truck 

 patch, except the small fruits, is called a vegetable. Hence, 

 we call tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, . cabbages, peas, sweet 

 corn, pumpkins, and all such, vegetables. 



Every farm has its garden and truck patch. Usually the 

 two are separate. In the garden are usually grown a few of the 

 smaller and earlier vegetables like radishes, onions, beans and 

 peas, along with some small fruits. In the truck patch are 

 grown potatoes, tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers and the 

 like. The labor in the garden is done by hand; in the truck 

 patch largely with a horse. 



Now it will be a saving of time and labor if the garden and 

 truck patch are combined into one and so arranged that the 

 labor can be done by a horse and horse-tools. Such a garden 

 should be laid out with long rows, so that there will not need 



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