190 SCIENCE OF HOME AND COMMUNITY 



The distance to which they should be thinned is given in the 

 table. When the plants are crowded together, there is not 

 room for all to develop, and the result is a large number of 

 poor, small specimens instead of several good, large specimens. 

 If desired, the plants pulled up may be transplanted. 



Succession of crops. If- the garden is large enough, 

 arrangements should be made for a succession of crops ; 

 that is, the same kinds of seeds should be sown at intervals 

 of a week or two, so that when the plants from the first seeds 

 have stopped bearing, then those from the second will be 

 maturing. This succession may be arranged with those 

 vegetables which mature quickly, such as radish, lettuce, 

 peas, beets, corn, and beans. Another way to secure a suc- 

 cession is to buy varieties which require different lengths of 

 time to mature and plant them all at the same time. Some 

 vegetables require the whole season to mature so that gener- 

 ally only one crop is raised ; such are parsnips, salsify, melons, 

 and pumpkins. Seeds of beets and turnips, that are to be 

 stored for the winter, should be planted about the middle 

 or latter part of the summer. 



How to get early vegetables. Early vegetables may be 

 obtained through the use of hotbeds, cold frames, and seed 

 boxes. A hotbed is a shallow box covered with glass. It may 

 be placed on the surface of the ground, but it is better to have 

 it sunk into the ground for a part of its width. The dirt in- 

 side is taken out and a thick layer of fresh horse manure is 

 placed in the bottom. This is then covered with soil. The 

 decaying manure furnishes heat, which keeps the hotbed up 

 to a high temperature. In this such plants as cabbage, 

 lettuce, celery, and tomato may be started from one to two 

 months earlier than they could be planted outdoors. The 

 bed must be carefully watched. The cover must be shut 

 down at night to prevent the young plants from freezing, 

 and opened during the day to allow ventilation. The bed 

 must also be watered. These plants are later transplanted 



