162 How to Make the Garden Pay. 



Selection of soil for the crop is also of utmost importance. 

 Nothing can be better than a rich calcareous or sandy loam, 

 naturally drained, and manured with at least 40 tons of good com- 

 post to the acre, or in the place of it a proportionate quantity 

 of wood ashes (a most excellent fertilizer for cabbages, by the 

 way), complete concentrated (commercial) fertilizers, etc. Fall 

 plowing, throwing up the soil in ridges to better expose it to 

 freezing and thawing, always tends to improve the mechanical 

 condition of the soil, and to get it in planting condition much 

 earlier in spring than could be expected otherwise. Mark off 

 rows from 2 to 2^4 feet apart, and set the plants 16 or 18 inches 



apart in the rows, and down 

 into the ground to the heart. 

 Cultivate and hoe frequently 

 to keep the ground mellow, 

 moist, and free from weeds. 

 Occasional dressings of 

 nitrate of soda, at 

 the rate of 250 to 

 300 pounds in the 

 aggregate, will sel- 

 dom fail to pay 

 exceedingly well. It 

 is not necessary, 

 either, as is often 

 recommended, that 

 these applications 

 should be made dur- 

 ing or just before 

 a rain. When the 

 ground is reasonably 

 moist, the effect is 

 sure, and all the 

 more lasting; even 

 if it should not rain 

 for a week or longer after applying it. Look out for the maggot, 

 and if necessary resort to the remedies found in the chapter on 

 "insects.'' 



This is the market gardener's method. The home gardener 

 is less anxious to get cabbages for the table in May or June. 

 If he is content to wait until nearly July for a really superior 

 article, he may adopt my method of sowing early in the spring 

 (March or April) in open ground, in drills 2 or 2^2 feet apart, 

 and thinning to 15 or 18 inches in the drills, leaving the best 

 plants. For a second early crop the market gardener can also 

 sow seed in April, and transplant in May to the permanent patch, 

 or thin to the proper distance apart. 



Wintering Cat 



