QUESTIONS 263 



ping pure and simple, where both crops are planted at the same 

 time, and preferably in the same row, is the most easily managed 

 kind of double cropping under ordinary conditions of soil and 

 moisture. Care is taken to use crops that do well under the same 

 conditions and with the same kind and amount of cultivation. 

 The planting is done in the normal season, when the soil is properly 

 supplied with moisture, and both crops get a good start. The 

 only danger is in planting too thickly or allowing the secondary 

 or incidental crop to remain too long and thus encroach upon the 

 forage space and sunshine area needed by the main crop. The 

 gardener must know to a nicety the length of season and extent 

 of foliage and root development normal to the particular varieties 

 he proposes to plant. Early Scarlet Turnip radish could be used 

 in places where Strasburg would not be permissible. 



Succession cropping is very satisfactory where only two crops 

 are attempted and where there is plenty of rainfall immediately 

 preceding and following the planting of the second crop. In central, 

 unirrigated localities, the season is likely to be too short to allow 

 the full development of three crops and time enough between the 

 successive crops to wait for rain and prepare the soil for planting. 



The chief objections to the combination of companion and suc- 

 cession cropping, in which the second crop is planted shortly 

 before the harvesting of the first, are that the seed-bed for planting 

 the second crop cannot be very thoroughly prepared, and the 

 young plants are likely to be encroached upon by the first crop 

 and subjected to tramping during its harvest. The tramping is 

 especially likely to take place if the second crop is planted between 

 the rows of the first, and the over-shadowing by the first crop is 

 likely to be most severe if the second crop is in the same row with 

 the first. 



In general it may be said that if double cropping is to be applied 

 to any considerable number of crops and carried on with any pro- 

 nounced degree of success, the soil must be exceedingly rich and 

 abundantly supplied with moisture; and the gardener must be 

 master of his art. 



QUESTIONS 



1. Under what circumstances is it advisable to grow more than one crop on 



the same land in one season? 



2. What are the two kinds of double cropping? 



3. Define " companion cropping," and give examples of suitable combinations. 



4. What factors must be considered in selecting crops for a system of com- 



panion cropping? 



