PLANNING THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



343 



is in fruit growing, especially in maturing crops for an early 

 market. The necessity for irrigation is becoming more 

 apparent. A constant and cheap water supply is a requi- 

 site for this purpose. Good roads, good shipping facili- 

 ties, and a location where labor may be cheaply and readily 

 obtained are other important factors. 



Planning the Vegetable Garden. A well-thought-out 

 plan is essential to success in vegetable gardening. The 

 arrangement of the crops 

 with reference to each 

 other is of first impor- 

 tance. Usually it is 

 better to place the peren- 

 nial vegetables together 

 and arrange the other 

 crops in such a manner 

 that those grown about 

 the same distance apart 

 will be adjacent to each 

 other. The garden should 

 be arranged in such a 

 manner as to economize 

 labor. On the farm 

 where plenty of land is 

 available and labor 

 scarce, the rows should be far enough apart to permit the 

 use of a horse cultivator, but where the area is limited and 

 close planting is necessary, the crops must be cultivated 

 by hand. Since it is necessary in the market gardens to 

 get as large returns as possible from a given area, com- 

 panion cropping and succession cropping are practiced. In 

 companion cropping, two or more crops are started on the 



Fig. 183. Cultivating peppers growing be- 

 tween rows of mature onions. 



