By _A. C. Curtis_.
Comparatively few realise the continuity and quantity of good green
vegetables that can be raised from a small plot of garden ground,
therefore it seems well that a few pages should be devoted to a simple
description of successions cropping, which is the basis of success for
the small garden.
First the gardener must remember that if he propose to take crops
continuously out of the earth that earth must be continuously supplied
with soluble plant food. Therefore heavy dressings of fat, well-matured
stable manure, must be dug in as often as possible, and lime must be
applied freely every third year.
Lime is best given, after the ground has been trenched, at the rate
of as much as half a pound to the square yard. It may either be in
the form of ground chalk, or, better, slaked lime. We prefer to buy
quicklime in sacks, and to make heaps of it over the ground, about a
bushel of lime to a heap. Earth is turned over these heaps, and they
are left to slake for a fortnight. At the end of that time the heaps
are scattered evenly over the bed, and it is all forked in. A fortnight
later it will be quite safe to sow.
Lime applied in this way destroys all sorts of insect and fungoid
pests, including club. It acts chemically on the constituents of the
soil, releasing valuable plant food in a soluble form, and itself,
though very slowly soluble, is invaluable for many crops, especially
peas and beans.
Deep digging at every possible opportunity is absolutely essential to
success where heavy cropping is pursued. And in dry weather the steady
use of the Dutch hoe where possible is invaluable both in keeping weeds
down and in preserving a friable moisture-holding top to the soil.
In making his plans for the year’s work the gardener will at first
consider what vegetables are desired by his household, and in what
probable quantities; he will not strive for unduly early, or late
crops, especially if he employ but one man a day or two a week, but
he will try to have a useable amount of vegetables in hand, the year
round, not wasting his ground either by excess or undue thrift of any
one crop.
Taking a small plot of ground of about one-tenth of an acre as our
text, it will be the simplest way to describe one form of successions
cropping which should freely supply a household of at least six people
with vegetables the year through. But not with main crop potatoes,
these are better and cheaper field grown, and it is a waste of ground
and labour to grow them.
[Illustration: PLAN I.--A SMALL KITCHEN GARDEN OF ABOUT 1/10 ACRE
(_From “The Small Garden Useful”_)