SUCCESSION, COMPANION AND ROTATION PLANTING 25 



them so that we can make the ground grow some plants all 

 during the season. In order to accomplish this we practise 

 what is known as succession and companion planting. 



By succession planting we mean that one crop follows 

 another on the same ground and in the same season, as, for 

 example, early lettuce or radishes followed by string beans. 

 The secret to successful succession planting then is to select 

 two or three crops so that the combined growing season of 

 all will be equal to the growing season of the year. This 

 usually includes the selection of some early cool weather 

 crop followed by some medium season warm weather 

 crop that will mature before frost. In this way we 

 grow two or more crops from the same ground and have 

 no waste space in the garden to become a weed patch or an 



Fig. 1. — Several crops which illustrate companion planting. 



eyesore. Great care must be exercised in selecting the proper 

 group of plants, so that they all have sufficient time to 

 mature their crop and still have no vacant space during the 

 growing season. 



Companion planting differs from succession planting in 

 that two or more crops occupy the same ground at the 

 same time. This is sometimes called double cropping. The 

 secret to this practice is close planting with plants that will 

 grow easily together, so that one kind is removed as it 

 matures and before it crowds the other plants. Three vege- 

 tables which illustrate this planting are radishes, lettuce 

 and cabbage. The principle on which this operates is the 

 selection of early short-season crops, which are planted 

 between the rows of medium or long season ones. The early 

 plants soon mature and are removed, and in no way interrupt 



