SITUATION AND EXPOSURE. 9 



money in drainage operations, and even then is generally 

 cold and unfitted for early crops. 



Thus poor soils of any kind, unless with a good subsoil, 

 cannot be made to bear a large variety of crops, no matter 

 what amount of manure is applied. They should be 

 devoted to fibrous-rooted crops, such as lettuce, spinach, 

 onions, peas, etc.; for tap-rooted crops, like beets, parsnips 

 and carrots, will not succeed in them. 



A light or sandy soil will be benefited if worked when 

 moist, as it makes it more compact ; on the contrary a clay 

 soil should be worked when dry, otherwise it becomes 

 pasty, and if hot, dry weather ensues, it hardens or bakes, 

 thus preventing the germination of seeds, and checks the 

 growth of plants by becoming almost impervious to the 

 action of the air, heat and moisture. 



SITUATION AND EXPOSURE. 



The kitchen garden should always be sheltered from 

 northerly or westerly winds. Naturally, if possible, by 

 woods or belts of evergreens, and when these cannot be 

 had, then by close fences on the northern and westerly 

 boundaries, to such an extent, at least, as to furnish 

 shelter for frames and borders for raising a sufficiency of 

 early vegetables, according to the size or demands of the 

 family. When sheltered by woods or belts of trees, deep 

 trenches should be dug between the trees and the garden, 

 to prevent the roots of the former from penetrating into 

 the soil of the latter, for it is astonishing to what a great 

 distance they will send their roots to obtain the benefits of 

 the manure applied to the garden, and so rob the crops of 

 their proper sustenance, 



