264 Review of the 



There are some gardeners, and many farmers, who believe 

 that seeds, unless planted at just such a time, will not flourish or 

 arrive at maturity in season. Those who have this mistaken 

 idea should read the following attentively. 



" Some gardeners, as well as some writers, recommend certain fixed 

 days for sowing and planting particular kinds of seeds; I think it neces- 

 sary to guard my readers from being misled. The failure of crops may 

 be often attributed to the observance of certain days for sowing. If 

 some kinds of seeds be sown when the ground is wet and cold, they 

 will become chilled in the ground, and seldom vegetate. If they be 

 sown in very dry weather, the germinative parts of the seed may be- 

 come injured by the burning rays of the sun, or the young plants may 

 get devoured by insects as fast as they come up." 



Rotation of crops, the author thinks, and rightly, is a most 

 important point, and should be particularly attended to. " Vir- 

 gil," he says, "who was a true philosopher, as well as a poet, 

 very justly observes, that ' the true repose of the earth is a 

 change of its productions.'" 



" It is a curious fact, that a plant may be killed by the poison which 

 it has itself secreted, as a viper may be stung to death by its own ven- 

 om. Hence it has been very genei'ally noticed, that the soil in which 

 some particular vegetables have grown, and into which they have dis- 

 charged the excretions of their roots, is rendered noxious to the pros- 

 perity of plants of the same or allied species, though it be quite adapted 

 to the growth and support of other distinct species of vegetables. 



" It is proved by experience, that fall spinach is an excellent prepara- 

 tive for beets, carrots, radishes, salsify, and all other tap, as well as tu- 

 berous-rooted, vegetables. 



" Celery, or potatoes, constitute a suitable preparative for cabbage, 

 cauliflower, and all other plants of the Brassica tribe; also artichokes, 

 asparagus, lettuce, and onions, provided that such ground be well situ- 

 ated, which is a circumstance always to be duly considered in laying 

 out a garden. 



" Lands that have long lain in pasture, are, for the first three or four 

 years after being tilled, superior for cabbages, turnips, potatoes, &c., 

 and afterwards for culinary vegetables in general. 



" The following rules are subjoined for further government: 



" Fibrous-rooted plants may be alternated with tap, or tuberous- 

 rooted, and vice versa. 



" Plants which produce luxuriant tops, so as to shade the land, to be 

 succeeded by such as yield small tops or narrow leaves. 



" Plants which during their growth require the operation of stirring 

 the earth, to precede such as do not admit of such culture. 



" Ground which has been occupied by artichokes, asparagus, rhu- 

 barb, sea kale, or such other crops as remain long on a given spot, 

 should be subjected to a regular rotation of crops, for at least as long a 

 period as it remained under such permanent crops. Hence, in all gar- 

 dens judiciously managed, the strawberry bed is changed every three 

 or four years, till it has gone the circuit of all the compartments; and 

 asparagus beds, &c. should be renewed on the same principle, as often 

 as they fail to produce luxuriantly. Indeed, no two crops should be al- 

 lowed to ripen their seeds in succession in the same soil, if it can be 

 avoided, because, if it be not exhausted by such crops, weeds will ac- 

 cumulate more than on beds frequently cultivated." 



