1891.] ESSAYS. 127 



by the thousands of dozens, in a short space of time. But 

 patient study will very soon enable those versed in vegeta- 

 ble h3^giene to counteract, or destroy, this new vegeta))le 

 enemy. 



There was a vile looking slug appeared on some of my celery 

 ground two years ago, and he has defied all safe preventives as 

 yet ; but as we seem to have the entire stock in the country, 

 his da3^s of marauding will be short. 



The pioneer who had the courage to say, that the quality of 

 a vegetable could be changed by feeding it, was considered a 

 crank if not a fool ; but those who are successful in raising 

 vegeta])]es that approach perfection, are the ones who understand 

 the art of feeding them. There are no two that require pre- 

 cisely the same fertilizing. Some need a great amount of 

 potash, as the potato, others almost live on Nitrogen, like 

 spinach, others on Phosphoric Acid, like' corn, and so on 

 through the whole list. 



It may be necessary to follow a rotation in the cultivation of 

 garden vegetables, putting beans next year where we have 

 potatoes this, peas where we had parsneps, and strawlierries 

 where we had almost anything but potatoes. It is believed by 

 some that because strawberries are a potash plant one will not 

 follow the other to advantage. That has not been my experi- 

 ence. A good piece of land for any class of plants, can be 

 kept in condition to grow them, as long as the cultivator proves 

 himself smarter than the insects that infest them. 



It is said that cabbages cannot be grown on the same land 

 two years in succession, but we have plenty of evidence where 

 many crops have been grown in succession without a failure. 

 Peter Henderson had a piece where he grew cabbage six years 

 in succession and had fine crops every year. I have seen fields 

 in New Jersey where cabbage and cauliflower had been grown 

 for 12 successive years without a failure. They used wood 

 ashes and marl for fertilizers, and trimmed the roots of the 

 plants when set out to avoid clul) foot. 



I have given a short space to a few phases of this very 

 important question, and am in hopes that the discussion to 



