136 THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. [chap.vi. 
tween them* earthing up* &c. For these 
reasons* all pieces of ground in small gardens 
appropriated to the culture of kitchen vege¬ 
tables should be made to approximate* as 
closely as possible* in form and general 
arrangement* to regular kitchen gardens; 
and* where there is any portion of the 
ground that cannot be brought into a rect¬ 
angular shape* it should be set aside for 
tart-rhubarb* artichokes* or some other per¬ 
manent crop; and a square or oblong plot 
in the centre be reserved for peas and beans* 
and other annual vegetables. 
The best soil for a kitchen garden is a sandy 
loam* and the surface soil should be from two 
feet to three feet deep. If it is on a clayey 
sub-soil* every part of the garden should be 
well drained; as from the quantity of manure 
required for cultivating culinary vegetables* 
if any water should be suffered to remain in 
a stagnant state in the soil* it would be par¬ 
ticularly injurious. The ground* if possible* 
should slope to the south or south-east; and 
it should* at any rate* be sheltered from the 
prevailing winds of the locality. 
When there is onlv one detached kitchen 
* 
