2 THE CULTURE OF VEGETABLES 







' advance ' is no dream of the enthusiast, but a collective result of 

 the most surprising and gratifying facts. The Potato in its improved 

 forms, which are the effect of systematic selection and hybridisation, 

 has contributed in a wonderful degree to the reformation of the 

 national dietary. Indeed, it may be said that none of the occupants 

 of the Vegetable Garden have refused to be improved by scientific 

 crossing and selecting ; and although in some unimportant depart- 

 ments the advances have been small, the aggregate of the changes is 

 enormous. 



In considering the general order of work in the Kitchen Garden, 

 the first requirement is that its productive powers shall be taxed 

 to the utmost. There need be no fallowing no 'resting' of the 

 ground, and if it should so happen that by hard cropping perplexity 

 arises about the disposal of produce, one of three courses can be 

 chosen to sell, to give, or to dig the stuff in as manure. The last- 

 named course will, in the case of any green crop, pay well, espe- 

 cially in the disposal of the remains of Cabbage, Kale, Turnips, and 

 other such things that have stood through the winter, and occupy 

 ground required for spring seeds. Bury them in trenches, and sow 

 Peas, Beans &c. over them, and in due time full value will be 

 obtained for the buried crops and the labour bestowed upon them. 

 But hard cropping implies abundant manuring and incessant stirring 

 of the soil. To take much off and put little on is like burning the 

 candle at both ends, or expecting the whip to be a sufficient substi- 

 tute for corn when the horse has extra work to do. Dig deep always, 

 even if the soil be shallow, and then it is advisable to turn the top 

 spit in the usual manner, and break up the subsoil thoroughly with a 

 pickaxe for another twelve or fifteen inches. Where the soil is deep 

 and the staple good, trench a piece every year two spits deep, the 

 autumn being the best time for this work, because of the immense 

 benefit which results from the exposure of newly turned-up soil to 

 rain, snow, frost, and the rest of Nature's great army of fertilising 

 agencies. 



Whatever the particular tastes and requirements may be, it is a 

 safe rule always to grow the most popular varieties of every sort of 

 vegetable in quantity, rather than risk the extensive culture of any 

 novelty. At the same time it is well to try novelties in order to 

 ascertain whether better crops can be secured in future seasons. A 

 few famous vegetables that have been grown for generations are as 

 good now as ever they were, and must not be discarded for newer 

 sorts ; but if we make a free comparison of all the classes of cultivated 



