34 GARDENING FOR ALL. 
THINNING CROPS. 
All plants, whether oak trees or cabbages, require a 
certain amount of food and space for development. Seedling 
crops must be thinned timely and properly if good results 
are expected of them. ‘Sow thickly and thin quickly” 
; is an old garden 
maxim, but we 
must avoid sow- 
ing too thickly, 
which is a great 
evil. Onions, 
carrots, turnips, 
parsnips, beet, 
celery, mangolds, 
and all crops that 
are left togrow to 
maturity where 
they are sown, 
should be thinned 
‘Yhinned and unthinned Carrots, showing thinned @5 SOON as they 
and good roots, and unthinned roots. are in rough leaf, 
or large enough 
to easily handle. The best policy is to sow just thickly 
enough to secure a full crop. Overcrowding in a young 
state is ruinous. Too thick sowing and too late thinning 
has spoiled thousands of crops. 
Let the gardener ever bear in mind the three essentials— 
Food, Air, Light—for his plants. 
