OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

There are other things of minor importance but worth considering, such
as the shape of your garden plot, for instance. The more nearly
rectangular, the more convenient it will be to work and the more easily
kept clean and neat. Have it large enough, or at least open on two
ends, so that a horse can be used in plowing and harrowing. And if by
any means you can have it within reach of an adequate supply of water,
that will be a tremendous help in seasons of protracted drought. Then
again, if you have ground enough, lay off two plots so that you can
take advantage of the practice of rotation, alternating grass, potatoes
or corn with the vegetable garden. Of course it is possible to practice
crop rotation to some extent within the limits of even the small
vegetable garden, but it will be much better, if possible, to rotate
the entire garden-patch.
All these things, then, one has to keep in mind in picking the spot
best suited for the home vegetable garden. It should be, if possible,
of convenient access; it should have a warm exposure and be well
enriched, well worked-up soil, not too light nor too heavy, and by all
means well drained. If it has been thoroughly cultivated for a year or
two previous, so much the better. If it is near a supply of water, so
situated that it can be at least plowed and harrowed with a horse, and
large enough to allow the garden proper to be shifted every other year
or two, still more the better.
Fill all of these requirements that you can, and then by taking full
advantage of the advantages you have, you can discount the
disadvantages. After all it is careful, persistent work, more than
natural advantages, that will tell the story; and a good garden does
_not_ grow--it is made.