18 VEGECULTURE 



As an illustration of this, l$t me say a few words anent a 

 system of cropping a piece of land in any garden. We will 

 presume the first crop to be carried is a tap-root one say, 

 Parsnips. The land is, of course, dug very deeply, and manured 

 deep down in the subsoil only, the presence of fresh manure 

 being undesirable in the top spit for this crop. When the 

 Parsnips have been removed from the plot, the soil of the latter 

 may be considered an excellent medium for the production of 

 Greenstuffs of some kind ; but there is one defect an exhausted 

 top-soil. (There can be no question about this, considering 

 that no manure has been applied to it for nearly two years, 

 and all the original nutriment must have been used up by the 

 Parsnips.) The plot, then, must be dug over, and well manured 

 during the operation, before planting the Cabbages, etc. If 

 there is time before the winter months approach, a very light 

 catch-crop may be secured, if desired, when the Greenstuffs 

 have matured ; but the winter should be devoted to deep- 

 digging, or trenching, with manuring, as deeply as possible, 

 distributing the manure throughout from top to bottom. The 

 plot, in the spring, will be an ideal site for an Onion bed, capable 

 of high-class results, especially if a fair supply of soot, ashes, 

 lime, etc., is given during soil manipulation ; and the same may 

 be prophesied for such crops as Peas, Beans, or other strong- 

 feeding vegetables. Following upon this strenuous cropping, 

 if the plot be allowed a rest all the succeeding winter and early 

 spring, there surely could be no more ideal soil than this for 

 producing an excellent crop of Potatoes or Beet and without 

 further manuring. A process of this or similar kind could be 

 repeated indefinitely, with variations and modifications, as 

 desire or necessity dictated, with the certainty of the ground 

 maintaining an equable state of fertility and tilth. 



Manures directly assist vegetable growth by recharging the 

 soil with those nutritive chemical properties which have been 

 extracted by previous crops, thus preventing exhaus- 

 Manures tion and sterility : and also provide heating materials 

 which considerably raise the temperature of the soil 

 wherein they are placed. Organic manures are the natural 

 products of vegetable decay and animal refuse ; artificial 

 manures are manufactured chemical products. The first class 

 contain the decaying materials in bulk, and are useful in adding 

 to and enriching the soil as well as affording food direct to 

 plants ; the second class are composed of concentrated chemicals 

 in a more or less powdered or crystallized state, to be used in 



