THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 171 



3. Culture of the Garden Crops 



Most of the vegetables named in the preceding section 

 can be raised without technical training in their cultiva- 

 tion. A few, however, must have special treatment if they 

 are to succeed, and if there is not time to give them this 

 extra attention they would better be left out. 



Garden crops requiring rich soil and much tillage. 

 Although the whole garden should be much richer than for 

 the field crops, the following vegetables require an espe- 

 cially rich soil ; cabbages, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, egg- 

 plant, celery, onions and melons. Melons may have the 

 hills well manured and the remainder of the area no richer 

 than the rest of the garden. A sand loam, rich in humus, 

 is considered best for most vegetables. 



In general it may be said that the plants which demand 

 a very rich soil also need a greater amount of tillage than 

 the remainder of the garden. 



Vegetables that require transplanting. The season 

 required for certain vegetables to mature for the table is 

 so long that in the North they must be started under glass 

 in the latter part of the winter and transplanted when the 

 weather is warm enough. The common plants belonging 

 to this group are cabbage, celery, cauliflower, Brussels 

 sprouts, tomatoes, eggplant, pepper, sweet potato. Lettuce 

 and muskmelons may also be transplanted to good advan- 

 tage. 



The hotbed. For small gardens the plants that are 

 to be transplanted are often started in shallow boxes. The 

 more common method is, however, to use a hotbed. 



A hotbed is made as follows: Select a sunny place shel- 

 tered by a building or fence from the north winds, and 

 make a bed of coarse manure from the horse stalls eighteen 

 inches deep, eight feet wide, and any multiple of three feet 



