CLOSE CROPPING. 85 



two kinds of spinach, two of onions, two of squash, 

 carrots, parsnips, two kinds of beets, two of bush 

 beans, four of lettuce, four of cabbage, two of cauli- 

 flower, one variety each of tomato and turnips, and 

 three kinds of celery. Quite a bill of fare for a small 

 place. There was, beside this, a small strawberry 

 bed, a cutting bed of currants, and one of grapes, 

 both of which received a part of the labor and fer- 

 tilizer. In addition to all this there was a good flower 

 garden, that demanded more or less attention, and 

 produced a very large crop of flowers from the first 

 of June till frost in October. The object of having 

 this great variety of vegetables was twofold. In the 

 first place, it is important to find out something con- 

 cerning the character of the soil in a garden, and the 

 only way to do it is to try many kinds. For instance, 

 I learned that turnips and radishes were unsuccess- 

 ful, lettuce and celery very successful, showing that 

 the soil was best for the last, and that in the future 

 it would be better to have more of one and less of the 

 other. In the second place, to get the best return 

 from a garden, attention must be paid to the daily 

 bill of fare in the house. The selection of seeds and 

 the planting must be so arranged that there is always 

 a succession of things for the table, and not too much 

 at any one time. Even with this great variety, we 

 had in July eighteen heads of cauliflower ripe at one 

 time, far more than could be used, and a dozen heads 

 were given away to the neighbors. It was the same 

 with summer cabbage, nearly two dozen ready at one 

 time, a bigger crop than the home market could ab- 

 sorb. Other things came to perfection in about the 

 right quantities, and the table was usually supplied 

 with three kinds of vegetables every day through the 

 summer. After the first of June no vegetables, ex- 

 cept potatoes, were bought, and after the thirtieth of 



