96 Gardening 



of the season when they are ready for the table. By 

 increasing the number of kinds of vegetables grown, 

 greater variety is obtained. Fortunately the number 

 of different vegetables that can readily be grown is 

 large and affords a wide variety of vegetable foods. 



Avoiding overplanting. Probably the mistake most 

 often made by the inexperienced gardener is the planting 

 of too much of one variety at one time. If this is done 

 the entire product is likely to "be ready for table use at 

 about the same time, and there may be more than can 

 be used, especially if the product is perishable. This 

 results in waste of food, waste of space in the garden, 

 and waste of labor. 



To avoid overplanting, either (i) plant less of any one 

 variety at a time, and make successive plantings of it on 

 different dates ; or (2) plant seed of several varieties 

 which mature at different times. Seed of a single early 

 variety of corn, for example, may be planted at intervals 

 of two weeks ; or the seeds of early, medium, and late 

 varieties may all be planted at about the same time in 

 spring. 



The later plantings of a vegetable sometimes fail 

 because the summer weather may be unfavorable for 

 the proper growth of the young plants. In a hot, dry 

 summer, late plantings of corn are likely to become 

 dwarfed and yield poorly developed ears. As a rule, 

 successive plantings are most successful on a rich soil 

 that is well supplied with water. 



The planting of different varieties of the same vege- 

 table is one of the best ways of obtaining successive 

 crops. It is a good plan to grow a few plants of the 



