THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



wearisome. Where they are grown on the ground, 

 it will be well to curtail the growth sufficiently by 

 frequent pinchings back or directing the running 

 vines, to allow room to pass between the hills with- 

 out treading on the vines, which seriously injures 

 them and stops their bearing. 



Cultivation should begin about the hills as soon 



as the plants are above ground, and earlier if the 



% 



soil becomes hard or caked. Some twelve or fifteen 

 seeds should have been planted in each hill. This 

 allows for those which decay or for any reason fail 

 to start and furnish food for the bugs, which are 

 quite sure to appear unless the plants are protected 

 by frames. When the plants have gotten their 

 rough leaves and the bugs have left them, all but 

 three plants should be removed and these encour- 

 aged to grow by the application of a little nitrate 

 of soda worked into the hills about the plants in 

 the proportion of a tablespoonful to a hill. Hen 

 manure is also an excellent dressing for this pur- 

 pose. 



If the trowel or light hoe is used about the plants 

 in the hills and for a little distance out, no weeds 

 will gain a foothold there, and the hand-cultivator 



will take care of the ground between the hills. Cul- 



[180] 



