CHAPTER XVII FALL WORK IN THE GARDEN

If the garden has been well tended during the growing season there will not be much rubbish to clear away and the absence of weeds will make the harvesting of the winter vegetables a pleasure. A bright, sunny day is best for digging all root vegetables, especially potatoes which should be allowed to lie on the ground until dry enough for the dirt to shake off, leaving the tubers clean and sightly.

After frost has killed the vegetables so that no further good will be derived¹ from them they should be pulled and piled in a heap to dry and be burned; especially is this desirable if they have been infested² with any disease or insects during summer, but if free from any harmful conditions they should, preferably, be put on the compost heap to add fertility to the coming season's garden.

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Wire trellises, poles and wires used for the training of peas, tomatoes, cucumbers and the like should now be removed and stored away for next year. All boxes, boards or sash that can harbor insects or the chrysalids of cabbage or other worms, should be raised, cleaned and removed.

The winter treatment of the garden will depend upon conditions that have existed during summer. If the garden has been free from insects and disease it will have been a good plan to sow the entire area to rye for a cover crop during winter, to be turned under for green manure³ in the spring. This protects the ground from leaching⁴ during winter, especially if the winter should be open, and adds materially to the fertility of the soil, but if there has been trouble with insects and disease it will be better to fall-plough, leaving the ground in furrows⁵ so that as many as possible of the chrysalids and larv? of the various plant enemies may be destroyed.

If onion seed has been sown in August for258 early spring onions it will be well to give the beds a covering of straw or marsh⁷ hay at the approach of cold weather. The rhubarb rows may be banked with coarse manure from the barnyard and the asparagus bed may have the tops removed and the roots protected with manure; this will hasten the production of shoots in the spring and make stronger roots.

If there is a bit of land available for early peas it may be ploughed and the furrows filled with well-rotted manure, each furrow⁶ turned over the manure in the next and the rows marked with sticks; in early spring, drills may be opened with the hand cultivators and the seed for the very earliest peas sown.

If the lettuce⁸, carrots, beets⁹, salsify, endive, spinach¹⁰, parsnips and radishes have proved satisfactory and any of the annual varieties have been allowed to go to seed it will be wise to save the seed for the coming season as the increasing shortage of seeds makes it more or less problematical whether a supply may be forthcoming another season.259 Lettuce, endive, spinach, Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage, and radishes seed freely the first year, beets, carrots, salsify, parsnips and turnips¹¹ the second year and the mature vegetables must be planted in the spring to produce seed. If there are good roots of carrots and beets, these may be stored in sand in the cellar and planted out in the spring when they will bloom and produce seed. The parsnips and salsify left in the ground may be dug in the spring and reset¹² where they are to bloom and a few plants will give sufficient seed for the home garden. The seed from the best tomatoes should have been saved, a few melons, cucumbers and eggplants allowed to ripen¹³ and the finest of the red peppers saved for seed. The sweetest and driest of the winter squash should have its seed set aside for the coming year. Even should there prove to be an abundance of seed this saving will do no harm; the raising of seed of biennial¹⁴ vegetables is interesting and should there be a real scarcity¹⁵ of seed one will be very thankful of the forethought260 which makes the shortage innocuous as far as one's own garden is concerned and, besides, one may do one's little bit by supplying friends and neighbors.

1 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。

3 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。

4 leaching   

n.滤取，滤去v.（将化学品、矿物质等）过滤( leach的现在分词 )；（液体）过滤，滤去

参考例句：

• The lack of humus and the excessive leaching make this soil almost useless for agricultural purpose. 缺少腐殖质和过度淋滤使这种土壤对农业几乎无用。 来自辞典例句
• The deep oxidation and groundwater leaching solubilizes much of the loosely bound uranium. 深部氧化和地下水淋蚀使大部分固定得比较松散的铀溶解。 来自辞典例句

5 furrows   

n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I could tell from the deep furrows in her forehead that she was very disturbed by the news. 从她额头深深的皱纹上，我可以看出她听了这个消息非常不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dirt bike trails crisscrossed the grassy furrows. 越野摩托车的轮迹纵横交错地布满条条草沟。 来自辞典例句

6 furrow   

n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹

参考例句：

• The tractor has make deep furrow in the loose sand.拖拉机在松软的沙土上留下了深深的车辙。
• Mei did not weep.She only bit her lips,and the furrow in her brow deepened.梅埋下头，她咬了咬嘴唇皮，额上的皱纹显得更深了。

7 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

8 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

9 beets   

甜菜( beet的名词复数 )； 甜菜根； （因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而）脸红

参考例句：

• Beets are Hank's favorite vegetable. 甜菜根是汉克最爱吃的蔬菜。
• In this enlargement, barley, alfalfa, and sugar beets can be differentiated. 在这张放大的照片上，大麦，苜蓿和甜菜都能被区分开。

10 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

11 turnips   

芜青( turnip的名词复数 )； 芜菁块根； 芜菁甘蓝块根； 怀表

参考例句：

• Well, I like turnips, tomatoes, eggplants, cauliflowers, onions and carrots. 噢，我喜欢大萝卜、西红柿、茄子、菜花、洋葱和胡萝卜。 来自魔法英语-口语突破（高中）
• This is turnip soup, made from real turnips. 这是大头菜汤，用真正的大头菜做的。

12 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

13 ripen   

vt.使成熟；vi.成熟

参考例句：

• I'm waiting for the apples to ripen.我正在等待苹果成熟。
• You can ripen the tomatoes on a sunny windowsill.把西红柿放在有阳光的窗台上可以让它们成熟。

14 biennial   

adj.两年一次的

参考例句：

• The workers were strongly against the biennial election.工人们强烈反对两年一次的选举。
• His is a biennial,and one of the most useful pasture plants we have.这是两年生植物，也是我们最有用的牧草之一。

15 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。