We must not put all our time into one crop unless we are rich enough to do our own insurance; for drought, or damp; or accident, ill-adapted seed, or general unfavorable conditions may make failures of one or more crops.  But in variety and succession of crops is safety and profit.  In order to succeed, crop must be made to follow crop, so that the ground is used to its full capacity.  To leave it fallow for even a week is to invite weeds and to lose much of the advantage of tillage, as well as so much time.

In the North, seeds of many kinds should be sown from the first of March to the first of August; in the South they should be sown m every month.

By following the simple time tables for planting you will find work ready and crops maturing and ready for sale in every month in the year.

There is an admirable table of the time to plant, given in “How to Make a Vegetable Garden,” though it does embrace some weird vegetables, explaining, for instance, that pats-choi is used like chards, and that “Scolymus is sowed like Scorzonera.”

One can live while waiting for the crops to come up, for many crops mature rapidly.

Specialties give employment only during a few months of each year and bring returns only at periods of the year, but the returns can be made almost immediate and the work almost continuous.

Long Island and Jersey farmers in marketing their crops sell

Spinach and Radishes in April
Peas, Early Onions, and Lettuce in May
Asparagus and Strawberries in June
Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Cabbage Seeds in July
Early Potatoes, Peaches, and Beans in August
Onions and Potatoes in September
Celery in October
Cauliflower in November
Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts in December
Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts in January
Brussels Sprouts in February
Brussels Sprouts in March

This order of crops can be varied to suit conditions.

“The old practice of growing vegetables in beds usually entails more labor and expense than the crop is worth; and it has had the effect of driving more than one boy from the farm.  These beds always need weeding on Saturdays, holidays, circus days, and the Fourth of July.  Even if the available area is only twenty feet wide, the rows should run lengthwise and be far enough apart (from one to two feet for small stuff) to allow of the use of the hand wheelhoes, many of which are very efficient.  If land is available for horse tillage, none of the rows should be less than thirty inches apart, and for late growing things, as large cabbage, four feet is better.  If the rows are long, it may be necessary to grow two or three kinds of vegetables in the same row; in this case it is important that vegetables requiring the same general treatment and similar length of season be grown together.  For example, a row containing parsnips and salsify, or parsnips, salsify, and late carrots would afford an ideal combination;