HOW TO MAKE A KITCHEN GARDEN 389 



Make convenient plots of ground, and convenient means of 

 access to them. This should be the aim in view in the for- 

 mation of a kitchen garden. It is most important that one 

 should be able to get on the land easily with wheelbarrows, 

 and carts also, if the garden is of sufficient extent to warrant 

 this. Fruit trees should be planted by the side of the walks, 

 say at a distance of about five or six feet away, so that the 

 branches may not in time unduly hang over the roads. Fruit 

 trees so planted add considerably to the appearance of the 

 kitchen garden, and leave the plots altogether free for the 

 planting of vegetables. The ground between and around the 

 trees must not be wasted, for Strawberries and Parsley, to 

 mention but two useful plants, will cover it profitably. The 

 excellent little Apple trees called Dwarf Horizontal Espaliers 

 are just the thing for planting by the sides of some of the 

 smaller garden paths, where there would not conveniently be 

 space for the larger Bushes or Pyramids. 



Cropping the Land. The kitchen garden must be cropped 

 systematically. The various plots should, during the winter, 

 have allotted to them on paper the vegetables it is intended 

 to plant in the coming season. The maintenance of a proper 

 rotation of crops is one of the most important details in the 

 successful management of the kitchen garden. By rotation 

 of crops one understands, strictly speaking, a succession of 

 different crops over a period of several years. Although this 

 theory is excellent, it is not always possible to put it into 

 practice exactly. Neither is it absolutely necessary providing 

 the land is well manured, although it is advisable not to grow 

 the same crops, particularly Potatoes and Brassicas, upon the 

 same land year after year. The accompanying tables will, 

 it is hoped, be of help as showing what really should be done ; 

 it probably, however, will not be convenient to follow strictly 

 the rules there laid down. They may be accepted more in 

 the nature of a guide. Potatoes continually grown upon the 

 same land will make the latter what has been termed " Potato 

 sick"; in other words, it will be considerably impoverished. 

 It is inadvisable also to cultivate plants of the Cabbage family 

 (Brassicae, which includes Cauliflower, Cabbage, Broccoli, 

 Savoy, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, &c.) on the same ground for 

 several years in succession. Endeavour to change the crops 

 as frequently as possible, for the old adage that a change is 

 as good as a rest is particularly applicable to the kitchen 

 garden land. In a description of the rotation of crops, such 

 as that accompanying the present notes, it is, of course, im- 

 possible to include many of the minor vegetables, technically 



