Vegetable Gardenings 



CHAPTER I. 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 



Location and Soil. — The land for vegetable gardening should 

 be free from stones and stumps, and easily cultivated. Wet land 

 should be avoided unless it can be drained at a reasonable out- 

 lay; if it cannot be drained it is of little worth as scarcely any- 

 thing of value can be raised on it. All land for vegetable garden- 

 ing should be well drained either naturally or artificially, since 

 crops on well drained land suffer less from drought as well as 

 from excess of water. Drained land also gives best and most 

 uniform returns from the manure applied to it. When drainage 

 is lacking in the land, the raising of plants on it is so very 

 much a matter of chance that in the long run it will generally 

 prove unprofitable. Most of the land in cultivation is suflSciently 

 drained naturally, while some land that needs no drainage when 

 used for grass or grain would be greatly improved by being 

 under-drained when it is to be used for some garden crops. 

 Land which has a gently rolling or undulating surface with a 

 southern exposure is the most desirable for general gardening 

 operations, since it receives the full sunlight and allows the most 

 perfect control of the water that falls upon it. When irrigation 

 is to be practiced, such sloping surface aids very much in the 

 distribution of the water. For a few crops, such as celery, cab- 

 bage, etc., the slope makes very little difference, as fiat and 

 even very moist (not wet) land is best, There is a very great 

 difference in the value of northern and southern slopes for vari- 

 ous crops. This difference will frequently amount to one crop 

 a year where the soil is closely tilled The soil on a southern 

 slope can be worked much earlier in the spring than that having 

 a northern exposure, and often by proper management two crops 

 may be grown in one year in such places, while on a northern 



V 



