LEADING VEGETABLE CROPS US 



for market. Many crooked and small stalks will 

 always be found upon such soils, which mean 

 serious losses. 



The preparation of the soil for this crop is of 

 especial importance. While it was formerly cus- 

 tomary to trench to a depth of two or three feet, 

 filling in with well-rotted compost, this method has 

 now become almost obsolete. The shallow nature 

 of the rooting system seems to make this expensive 

 process unnecessary. The entire area, however, 

 should be thoroughly fined and broken to a depth 

 of from 12 to i8 inches by the use of the plow and 

 if necessary the subsoiler. Liberal quantities of 

 stable manure should be thoroughly incorporated 

 with the soil throughout its entire depth. It is 

 usually a good plan to take one or two years in 

 thorough preparation, growing other crops in the 

 meantime in order to incorporate the largest pos- 

 sible quantities of organic matter into the soil. South- 

 ern slopes are preferable to northern slopes because 

 they warm more readily in the spring and earlier 

 crops are secured. Such slopes, however, are more 

 likely to suffer from drouth. 



One-year-old plants are usually preferred for 

 transplanting. The plants should be set deep 

 enough so that the crown will be from six to eight 

 inches under the leveled surface. The fine branch- 

 ing roots should be well distributed by hand over 

 the bottom of the furrow, before covering. The 

 plants are usually covered only two or three inches 

 deep at first and the furrows filled in slowly by 

 subsequent cultivation as the stalks become larger 

 and stronger. The rows should be from five to 

 eight feet apart and the plants from i8 to 24 inches 

 in the rows. The distance will depend somewhat 



