VARIETAL DESCRIPTIONS OF VEGETABLES 
KEYSTONE SEEDS 
+ 
GARDENING SUGGESTIONS - Continued 
In all sections but the extreme north, it usually is possible to grow fall crops of 
certain vegetables, notably carrots, beans, radishes, Irish potatoes, and turnips. In the 
southern part of the country an even larger number of vegetables may be grown in the 
fal]. The seeds for these late crops are planted from July to September, depending on 
whether the garden is in the Northern or Southern States. 
In planning rotations of crops, whether the rotations be during the same or in suc¬ 
ceeding seasons, certain general principles should be kept in mind. In type and charac¬ 
ter of growth, the succeeding plant should differ as widely as possible from the plant 
which it follows. This is both for the purpose of avoiding attacks by insects and diseases, 
and to insure that the second crop shall be properly nourished. A good plan is not to 
have root plants, such as beets and carrots, nor plants of the same family, such as cab¬ 
bage and Brussels sprouts, or tomatoes and peppers, follow each other. It is well to 
divide the plants into root crops, fruiting crops, and foliage crops, and have members 
of the different groups alternate. 
For the convenience of gardeners who wish to plan to use their soil to best advan¬ 
tage by means of successive plantings and rotations, the following groupings of vege¬ 
tables are made: 
1. Crops Occupying the Ground All Season 
Asparagus 
Salsify 
Eggplant 
Rhubarb 
Corn, late 
Peppers 
Beans, pole snap 
Cucumbers 
Onions (from seeds) 
Beans, pole Lima 
Melons 
Leeks 
Beets, late 
Squash 
Okra 
Carrots, late 
Pumpkins 
Potatoes, main crop 
Parsnips 
Tomatoes 
Rutabagas 
2. Successive Crops 
Radish 
Peas 
Turnips 
Spinach 
Beans, dwarf 
Kohl-rabi 
Lettuce 
Parsley 
3. Early Crops Which May Be Followed by Others 
Onion sets 
Turnips, early 
Corn, early 
Beets, early 
Carrots, early 
Cabbage, early 
4. Late Crops Which May Follow Others 
Beets, late 
Cabbage, late 
Kale 
Spinach 
Brussels sprouts 
Endive 
Peas, late 
Cauliflower 
Flat turnips 
Celery 
2 
DIRECTIONS FOR HOTBEDS AND COLD 
FRAMES 
A hotbed or cold frame will lengthen your season. Many of the tender vegetables 
tomatoes, peppers, and similar ones, and others for early use, can be planted in this way, 
gaining from four to eight weeks in earliness. The cost of a hotbed is very little and it is 
surprising that they are not in more common use. 
A HOTBED consists of a frame of wood or concrete from 10 to 24 inches deep,covered 
with a glass sash. Extra heat is supplied by a layer of fermenting horse manure from 
one foot to three feet deep inside the frame. The simplest hotbed is made of boards or 
planks 10 or 12 inches wide put together to form a frame the size of the sash to be used. 
This frame is put over a layer of horse manure about two feet deep that has been piled 
on the surface of the ground. This is much easier than digging a pit for the manure, 
especially if the work is to be done when the ground is frozen. A concrete frame may be 
used if the hotbed can have a permanent location. 
2 . The Minnesota Horticulturist, July, 1922, Vol. 50, No. 7, pp. 201-203. 
