308 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



able crop to grow for feeding to stock, in the spring, as five hun- 

 dred bushels can be grown on an acre, and on rich garden soil 

 this has often been exceeded by one-third. 



Planting should be done early, but not until the ground is in 

 good condition. If the soil is heavy it will pay to use sand to 

 cover the seed, as the plants are not strong and can not lift a 

 heavy, packed soil. For the same reason the seed should be 

 sown thickly, so that they will help each other through the soil. 

 Before they become spindled, thin to about four inches, or, if your 

 land is not very rich, six inches. Be particular that the plants 

 stand singly, as you can not grow good shaped roots if crowded. 

 After the first hoeing, most of the work of cultivation can be 

 done with the horse, if the rows are twenty inches apart. The 

 best implement to use is a single shovel plow, w r ith a long, nar- 

 row shovel, or bull-tongue, as it is called. If planted as close 

 as recommended, the plants will shade the land and keep the 

 weeds from growing, after the middle of June. It is important 

 that clean land be selected for the crop, and that it be made 

 deep and mellow. Fall plowing of the land into beds sixteen 

 feet wide will give good satisfaction, for although you will lose 

 a row or two where the dead furrows come, the deepening of the 

 soil and the good surface drainage will more than compensate 

 for it. Deep fall plowing will give cleaner land, if weeds have 

 been allowed to go to seed, as most of the seed will be turned 

 down so deep as to prevent its germination, or at least to retard 

 it until the crop has a good start. 



Although the crop will keep perfectly in the ground, it is 

 wise to dig and pit a part of it, so that it will be accessible in 

 frozen weather, as there will often be a good demand and high 

 prices at such times, and the gardener who can market his crop 

 will realize a large profit. Peter Henderson once realized nearly 

 eight hundred dollars from a half acre, by being able to market 

 his crop when the ground was hard frozen. Any vegetable 

 that is to be marketed from pits in the winter should be cov- 

 ered with corn-fodder, straw, or coarse manure, so that the 

 ground over them can not freeze. A small load of corn-fodder 

 can be stacked over a pit containing a hundred bushels of roots, 



