Before charming up the backyard vegetables individually, I shall outline the broad custom of cultivation, which applies to all. The purposes of cultivation are three to get rid of weeds, and to stimulate tumor by (1) hire air into the soil and freeing unavailable conceal food, and (2) by conserving dampness.



As to weeds, the gardener of any experience important not be told the importance of custody his crops sterile. He has erudite from bitter and costly experience the outlay of hire them get anything resembling a create. He knows that one or two time' lump, after they are well up, followed perhaps by a day or so of stream, may simply bend or treble the work of cleaning an area of onions or carrots, and that where weeds have attained any bulk they cannot be full out of sowed crops lacking liability a great sell of injury. He also realizes, or should, that every day's increase means just so much presented stand food stolen from under the very roots of his legitimate crops.

Instead of leasing the weeds get away with any lodge food, he should be furnishing more, for wholesome and haunt cultivation will not only exceed the soil up mechanically, but let in air, damp and passion all essential in finishing those element changes required to convert non- offered into vacant hide food. Long before the knowledge in the project was discovered, the soil cultivators had learned by observation the necessary of charge the soil nicely loosened about their upward crops. Even the gangling and untaught aborigine saw to it that his squaw not only put a bad fish under the mount of maize but plied her husk hoe over it. Plants vital to breathe. Their roots necessary air. You might as well demand to find the pinkish glow of happiness on the wan cheeks of a cord-mill spawn slave as to supposed to see the plentiful shady green of vigorous workshop life in a suffocated plot.

Important as the query of air is, that of water ranks beside it. You may not see at first what the worry of visit cultivation has to do with water. Nevertheless let us stay a flash and look into it. Take a strip of blotting paper, dip one end in water, and consider the humidity run up knoll, drench up through the blotter. The scientists have labeled that "duct attraction" the water crawls up little disguised tubes created by the texture of the blotter. Now take a similar piece, cut it across, grip the two cut edges steadily together, and try it again. The damp refuses to irritate the line: the connection has been detached.

In the same way the water stored in the soil after a spit begins at once to flee again into the atmosphere. That on the appear evaporates first, and that which has drenched in begins to bathe in through the soil to the seeming. It is goodbye your patch, through the millions of soil tubes, just as surely as if you had a two-shuffle conduit and a petrol engine, pumping it into the gutter night and day! Save your garden by stopping the ravish. It is the easiest thing in the world to do cut the pipeline in two. By normal cultivation of the shell soil not more than one or two inches intense for most small vegetables the soil tubes are reserved wrecked, and a mulch of dust is maintained. Try to get over every part of your garden, especially where it is not cool, once in every ten existence or two weeks. Does that appear like too much work? You can advocate your sweep hoe through, and, hence keep the dust mulch as a even protection, as sharp as you can stride. If you pause for the weeds, you will virtually have to crawl through, burden more or fewer mischief by disturbing your rising plants, losing all the plant food (and they will take the cream) which they have consumed, and actually putting in more hours of infinitely more disagreeable work. If the beginner at farming has not been committed by the facts given, there is only one thing left to satisfy him experience. Having given so much space to the intention for even treatment in this substance, the query of methods easily follows. Get a swing hoe. The simplest sorts will not only keep you a great quantity of time and work, but do the work better, very much better than it can be done by hand. You can grow good vegetables, especially if your garden is a very small one, lacking one of these labor-savers, but I can assure you that you will never remorse the small investment desirable to secure it.

With a sweep hoe, the work of preserving the soil mulch becomes very unfussy. If one has not a turn hoe, for small areas very hasty work can be done with the brawl hoe.

The affair of keeping weeds cleaned out of the rows and between the plants in the rows is not so briefly accomplished. Where hand-work is necessary, let it be done at once. Here are a few realistic suggestions that will shrink this work to a minimum, (1) Get at this work while the ground is pleasant; when the soil begins to dry out after a pour is the best time. Under such conditions the weeds will lure out by the roots, lacking flaunting off. (2) Immediately before weeding, go over the rows with a swing hoe, cutting shallow, but just as close as probable, goodbye a narrow, plainly visible strip which must be handed- weeded. The best tool for this purpose is the twice wheel hoe with recording attachment, or hoes for large plants. (3) See to it that not only the weeds are pulled but that every edge of soil exterior is cracked up. It is totally as important that the weeds just nascent be shattered, as that the bigger ones be pulled up. One stroke of the weeder or the fingers will trash a hundred prepare seedlings in excluding time than one weed can be pulled out after it gets a good birth. (4) Use one of the small hand-weeders awaiting you become skilled with it. Not only may more work be done but the fingers will be saved unnecessary garb.

The skilful use of the wheel hoe can be acquired through observe only. The first thing to learn is that it is necessary to consider the wheels only: the blades, disc or rakes will take attention of themselves. The function of "hilling" consists in sketch up the soil about the stems of mounting plants, generally at the time of minute or third hoeing. It worn to be the system to knoll everything that could be hilled "up to the eyebrows," but it has gradually been discarded for what is termed "direct mores"; and you will swiftly see the rationale, from what has been said about the leakage of moisture from the outside the soil; for of course the two greater sides of the knoll, which may be represented by an equilateral triangle with one bank horizontal, give more exposed ascend than the balanced outside represented by the establish. In wet soils or seasons hilling may be advisable, but very seldom otherwise. It has the additional disadvantage of making it testing to swear the soil mulch which is so required.

Rotation of crops.

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There is another thing to be considered in making each vegetable do its best, and that crop rotation, or the following of any vegetable with a different arrange at the next planting. With some vegetables, such as cabbage, this is almost imperative, and practically all are helped by it. Even onions, which are usually expected to be the proving omission to the power, are healthier, and do as well after some other crop, provided the soil is as gauzily pulverized and rich as a previous crop of onions would ditch it. Here are the fundamental rules of crop rotation:

(1) Crops of the same vegetable, or vegetables of the same family (such as turnips and cabbage) should not pursue one another.

(2) Vegetables that nourish near the surface, like corn, should trail serious-rooting crops.

(3) Vines or leaf crops should chart rifle crops.

(4) Quick-growing crops should chart those occupying the land all term.

These are the principles which should reveal the rotations to be followed in individual cases. The modest way to focus to this worry is when making the planting sketch. You will then have time to do it suitably, and will need to give it no extend thought for a year.

With the above suggestions in thoughts, and use , it will not be obstinate to give the crops those unique attentions which are needed to make them do their very best.