1104 



PBACTIGAL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



that are worthy of consideration in all vegetable gardens whether great or 

 small. Only those vegetables that are required and that will grow freely 

 should find a place in the garden, and it is as great a mistake to have more 

 varieties of vegetables than can be properly attended to, as all crops are then 

 more or less neglected. 



Perhaps the best advice to give in connection with the cultivation of vege- 

 tables, as indeed all other plants, is to keep the soil clean and always in a 

 state of good cultivation. This is effected by means of the hoe, which should 

 always be freely used among vegetables, and by digging, trenching, ridging up 

 and other operations referred to in the earlier portion of this work, pp. 63-69. 

 Not only are better crops produced thereby, but the attacks of insect pests 

 and fungoid diseases are considerably checked, if not altogether prevented. 



After removing a crop of vegetables it is not good practice to allow the 

 ground to remain idle and become covered with weeds. It is far better to 

 wheel some manure over it, if the soil is poor enough to require it, and to have 

 the whole well dug and prepared for another crop. Should it be necessary to 

 keep the soil idle for some time, even then it will be improved by turning it up 

 very roughly in ridges so that the action of the weather will improve its texture 

 and make it more fertile (see article on Soil, p. 61). 



Rotation of Vegetable Crops. — Experi- 

 ence has proved that if a similar crop, 

 say Cabbage, is grown year after year on 

 the same piece of ground, without heavy 

 manuring, in a couple of years there is 

 a great falhng off in the produce, and if 

 the practice is persisted in, the crop 

 ultimately fails to grow at all. Where 

 the ground is heavily manured and a crop 

 of a different nature, say Beans, is taken 

 off in between, little or no harm is done, 

 because the soil has had a short rest from 

 its usual crop. 



A reference to the chapter on Plant 

 Foods and Manures (p. 69) shows that 

 various ingredients more or less essential 

 to the welfare of all plants are contained 

 in the soil, from which they are absorbed 

 by the roots. In the same way that man 

 prefers one kind of food, and animals 

 another, so it is with plants. Some kinds 

 are particularly fond of certain foods in 

 the soil, and some of others, and as long 

 as that food or foods last the plant 

 flourishes. But when it is exhausted the 

 plant no longer obtains the food it enjoys, 

 and the consequence is ill- health, sickness 

 or disease, and starvation, just as it would 

 be with a human being or an animal. 



It is this well-known fact that necessi- 

 tates the use of various manures, both 

 natural and artificial. By their means 

 the food required by any pai-ticular plant 

 can be placed in the soil at the disposal 



of the roots ; and the more vigorously a 

 plant grows the more food it absorbs, and 

 consequently the greater need of manur- 

 ing the soil. 



Yet, even with liberal supplies of 

 manure, experience proves that the same 

 soil and the same plant get ' sick ' or tired 

 of the same treatment, and the poor 

 texture of the one and the debility of the 

 other demand a change. This change is 

 brought about by what is called the 

 ' Kotation of Crops.' The priuciple con- 

 sists in not growing a similar crop on the 

 same piece of ground without an interval 

 of at least one or two years. For exam- 

 ple, it is not wise to always grow Cabbages, 

 Brussels Sprouts, and other Cruciferous 

 plants year after year on the same piece 

 of land, even when well manured. After 

 the first year, their place may be taken 

 by Potatoes or Beans, and the year after 

 by some other crop, and so on according 

 to whatever crops are grown. By thus 

 changing the crops year after year from 

 one part of the garden to another, the soil 

 undergoes great changes for the better. 

 The roots of each crop act upon it in a 

 different way and release foods which, 

 although they may be of little use to one 

 particular crop, may be of the greatest 

 advantage to another. Not only has the 

 ' rotation of crops ' this good effect, but as 

 it fertilises the soil, the need of heavy 

 dressings of manure is materially lessened. 



