ROTATION OF CROPS. 



63 



flowers, or turnips ; old asparagus beds for carrots, pota- 

 toes, etc. ; strawberries and raspberries for the cabbage 

 tribe ; cabbage for the tap-rooted plants ; potatoes for the 

 cabbage tribe. 



In thes* rotations it is not necessary to apply manure 

 to every crop. For the bulbous roots, as the onion, and for 

 plants cultivated for their leaves, as spinach and asparagus, 

 the ground can scarcely be too rich ; and the bulk of the 

 manures may be applied to them and the cabbage and tur- 

 nip crops, while for plants raised for seed it is best that 

 the foliage should not be stimulated into too great luxu- 

 riance by fresh manuring. 



In practice these rules should as far as possible be fol- 

 lowed, but it is often necessary to vary from them or let 

 a part of the soil lie, for a time, idle. Rotations in gar- 

 dening become less necessary if the ground is trenched 

 deeply and manured highly. Vacant ground thus treated 

 may be filled at once with any crop ready for planting. 



To get the highest possible results from a garden, there 

 must be not only a general rotation of crops year by year, 

 but a number of sub-successions each year, as fast as the 

 crops are removed. One-fourth of an acre thoroughly 

 manured and kept perfectly free from weeds, upon 

 which a constant succession of crops is kept up, will 

 yield more than an acre managed in the common way. 

 It is not, however, always necessary to wait until the crop 

 occupying the soil is removed before another is put in. 

 Simultaneous cropping, that is, making two crops occupy 

 the ground at the same time, as in field culture the cow- 

 pea in corn-fields, can often be resorted to in the kitchen 

 garden. In the fruit garden, De Candolle says the vine 

 and the peach can with advantage be grown together, the 

 light shade of the peach not injuring the vines. 



Directions to meet all circumstances cannot be given, 

 still the following hints may be suggestive of the best 



