\ EGE I'ABU CULTURE ALi \ \MDER DEAN %> J. JL pm fKbntrg S00022197 L Date Due I - re SATE ISSUED TO VEGETABLE CULTURE &sm VEGETABLE CULTURE A PRIMER FOR AMATEURS, COTTAGERS. AND ALLOTMENT-HOLDERS BY ALEXANDER DEAN, F.R.H.S. ICBXBEB «>K THE FRUIT AM> VEGETABLE COMMITTER OF HIE BOVAL ffORTICUIiTCRAL SOCIETV EDITED BY J. WRIGHT WITH T II 111 TV- EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS ILontion MACMILLAX AND CO., Limited NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1905 AU righU r Richard Claf and Sons, Limited, bread street hii.l, ec, and bungay, suffolk First Edition, 1896. Reprinted 1899, u-ith corrections, 1905. PREFACE Flowers are fascinating by their perfume and their beauty ; fruit is alluring by its form, colour, tooth- some qualities, and uses : it is not surprising therefore that both fruits and flowers are being increasingly cultivated. It is most desirable that there should be a further extension in those delightful home pursuits ; but not in the smallest degree less desirable is it that Vegetables should have all the attention that their commanding merits deserve. It is gratifying to know that their value is becoming more and more recognised. For a long time they were assigned a relatively low place in Horticultural exhibitions, whereas now they form a prominent feature at many, while lectures on Vegetables are largely attended by interested audiences. With the rapidly increasing vi PREFACE number of growers of the wholesome food crops mentioned in the following pages it is hoped there will be greater excellence in the produce. That is the purpose of this Primer, and as the details of culture given are founded on the experience of half a century by a writer intimately acquainted with old and new varieties, also as the instructions are given plainly it is hoped the object in view will be attained, as then will the several workers make the best of the land in this most serviceable department of cultiva- tion. J. W. London, November 28th, 1895. CONTENTS TACfE Introduction 1 Soils — THEIR preparation and manuring 4 Tap and bulbous-rooted vegetables 20 TlHEROUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 41 pod-bkaring vegetables 58 fruit-bearing vegetables 74 Green vegetables, salads, and herbs 88 Edible stemmed plants 102 Cottage and allotment gardening 121 Judging gardens, allotments, and exhibitions . . 127 ILLUSTRATIONS FIG. PAGE 1. Draining soil 5 2. Garden implements 7 3. Cropping on ridges 10 4. Trenching ground II 5. A lesson in land working . . . • 18 6. Beet, good and bad examples 21 7. Carrots, types of 24 8. Horse-radish in ridges 28 9. Onions, flat and round 30 10. ,, globe shapes 31 11. ,, Giant Rocca 34 12. ,, sllverskin, pickling 35 13. ,, underground (or potato) and shallots 36- 14. Celeriac 38 15. Potatoes : box for seed tubers 45 16. ,, prepared seed tubers 46 17. ,, dibbler 49 18. Potatoes, earthing 51 19. Box barrow 53 20. Artichoke, Jerusalem 55- 21. ,, Chinese 56 22. Pea-plant, branching 61 23. Broad beans — types 65 24. Runner bean arch 68 25. Dwarf French beans 71 26. Vegetable marrows — types 76 27. Cucumbers — types 79 28. Tomato — outdoor grown 84 29. Cabbage, Ellam's early 92 30. ,, Savoy 94 31. Curled kale 95 32. Lettuce, cos 97 33. ,, cabbage 98 34. Asparagus for planting 105 35. ,, for cooking . . . .' 106 36. Seakale : root cuttings and blanched head . 109 37. Celery, section of earthing 114 38. Mushroom ridge 119 VEGETABLE CULTURE Those who can grow vegetables well, whether in garden, allotment, or field, may be said to have mastered one of the chief elements of gardening, and are entitled to rank amongst the best cultivators. Tliero is no branch of the gardening art that calls into existence such complete forces of knowledge and of labour in combination as is found in the pro- duction of first-class vegetables. In these products we find something more than luxuries ; we find indeed food of the highest order for humanity, from which may be derived at once strength and health. But vegetables cannot be had from any soil in the best form for the mere asking. We have seen soils apparently of the poorest, when brought for a few years under the iniluence of the best cultivation, made to produce the finest quality, allied to the handsomest of products. So also have we seen ground of undoubted natural excellence produce little better than rubbish, because into it has been put neither skill nor labour. Whilst there is no royal road to success in vegetable production, there is yet no thorny path to travel. True, some soils are naturally better than others, but all the same it is hardly possible to say, in relation to poor soils, what « mronT library b ^ mm- r% II 2 VEGETABLE CULTURE may not be produced if only real skill and intelli gence with ample labour be employed in their cultivation. Conscious however as we are of the excellence in many directions of vegetable produce — and even com- paratively untaught men often obtain on allotments and in cottage gardens remarkable results — yet are we equally aware how great is the ignorance which pre- vails, not only in relation to the best methods in the preparation of the soil and in after-treatment, but also in relation to kinds or varieties of vegetables, and the best ways of utilising these when obtained, so as to render their cultivation both pleasant and profitable. It is therefore with a desire to furnish wider information on all matters of a general character in regard to vegetables and their culture that this Primer has been prepared, and we clo not hesitate to say that it embodies the best practice of to-day as well as describes the best varieties. It will be seen that in the treatment of the various matters included in the book, we have first referred to the soil, its preparation or cultivation, conjoined to manuring or furnishing to it the necessary elements of fertility. In these things lies the very founda- tion of all subsequent success. It is essentially beginning well that leads to ending well. Gardening means at once spade (or fork) and manual labour. It embraces at the same time the most primitive and the very best forms of cultivation, but it is because our aids in tools are not primitive but modern that if the method be ancient it at least renders labour comparatively easy. With all the ingenuity and cost conceivable, there is not to-day any method of cultivating that is found to be more profitable, or productive of better results, than comes from direct spade or manual labour as found in gardening. INTRODUCTION 3 In dealing with kinds and varieties of vegetables we have grouped them in different but, so far as practicable, allied sections. Tims the tap and bulbous roots are in one section; pod and fruit- bearing kinds in another; leaf plants in another j and in that way very wide ground is covered. The Limited dimensions of our volume admit only of concise information; but still as a manual for those who may be seekers after sound gardening know- Ledge, what is here written can hardly fail to have interest and value. b 2 SOILS, THEIR PREPARATION AND MANURING It is an interesting fact that whilst we find soils of very different natures even in limited areas, yet all will prove, under proper cultivation, to be pro- ductive, though in varying degrees. For that reason we need not be captious as to whether the staple be chalk, gravel, sand, or even clay, as all can be made to produce good crops. The chief essentials are proper drainage, so that superfluous water, which excludes air and conduces to sourness, is removed ; deep working, so that growing crops may have ample root room, and be enabled to utilise all the fertile elements as well as desirable moisture the soil may contain ; and manuring or feeding, by which crops are furnished with those elements of growth without which nothing profitable results. Draining Ground. — It need hardly be said that a sour, saturated soil should not be selected for gardening purposes where it can be avoided, but if it be a necessity then one or two deep drains cut through the ground at depths varying from 2 feet to 3 feet, falling away to some outlet or ditch, should be made. The pipes must be firm and immovable, with several inches of very coarse rubble or stones over them, and on the top some heath, gorse, or quick hedge trim- mings, so that the soil is not in direct contact with the drainage, which must be kept porous or open. It SOILS— PREPARATION AND MANURING 5 is, however, of the first importance that the drains should have a free .mi let for the water, as, unless that be the case, the labour and cost involved in making these will he wasted. Winn laud is waterlogged it is made so by the rain passing through it, collecting, and forming what is known as the '• water-table" (1-1, Fig. 1.) too near the surface. This is obviated by effective drains (•J) which prevent the water rising above them, a WATCH TABLE t ) ) (\ \ / \ \ , ' 1 > { /i > S j Vy A T C R iglBL WAT C p ^ I J TABLE '/... W A T E R Pro. 1. — Draining. 1-1. Wat.r. -J. Tile drain. :s. Grip through the soil. greater depth of cultivable soil being secured. 'Open grips ('>'>) kept clear for the free passage of water answer the same purpose. Drainage, however, is often simply furnished by the mere breaking up of the subsoil deeply, and thus enabling excessive surface moisture to pass away freely into the strata beneath. It very often happens, where it has been the rule to break up t'«»r cropping only some 10 or 12 inches of the Surface, that just beneath a very hard or impervious face of soil is found, through which water and air cannot easily pass from above or below. The mere forking up of a further 10 or 12 inches of such subsoil enables excessive moisture to percolate away C VEGETABLE CULTURE gradually and effectively. Such moisture serves to saturate the lower strata, and may in that way be stored for absorption by plant roots in hot weather when the surface soil is dry, and thus renders valuable service. Surface Draining. — Where deep draining is diffi- cult to carry out, as is often the case in allotments and cottage gardens, much may be done to mitigate the evil of excessive moisture in the soil, and espe- cially of the formation of small ponds or pools of stagnant water, by opening surface drains, these leading into one somewhat deeper and wider that conducts the water to a ditch or other outlet. Drains of this kind occupy little space, and should always be kept open, as sometimes the flooding of gardens badly drained follows thunderstorms in the summer and does great harm. Trouble from lack of drainage may be, in special cases, much reduced by throwing the soil if it be stiff and heavy into raised beds. In that way every alley becomes when needful a surface drain, whilst the cultivated soil is made fully one- third deeper than otherwise would be the case WORKING SOIL Implements. — These should be of steel and kept bright by rubbing them clean and dry after use. Smearing them with paraffin or oil occasionally pre- vents rusting. The cleanest tools do the best work in the easiest manner to the worker. Those repre- sented are : a, spade ; b, digging fork ; c, shovel ; d, potato fork ; e, manure fork ; f, mattock for breaking the surface soil and smashing lumps. All should be of the best quality, as cheap, inferior tools are dear in the end. Digging. — Usually the first form of working soil SOILS PREPARATION AND MANURING 7 of any kind is digging. The term applies solely to tlic surface, and is seldom performed to a greater depth than 10 or 12 inches. Digging constitutes t«»o much the common form of cult are, because ii i-; a simple process, rapidly performed. It suffices for the time, l>ut commonly fails when the resources of soils pecially in h<>t dry weather, severely taxed by heavy cropping. Even digging, which maybe termed crude cultivation, varies much in merit. It, is some- 2.— Impi i time done as deeply as the tools employed will permit, and sometimes, we W-w very often, it is badly done because the Bpade or fori employed is forced int.. the ground slantingly. When that is so the ground is turned more rapidly, it is true, hut so indifferently thai not more than 9 inches in depth is broken up. Thai is a scamping form of digging thai •hould uever be tolerated for vegetable ground. Spades and toil;- in digging should always be kepi as 8 VEGETABLE CULTURE erect as possible, and in that way, if forced in to their full length, will turn up the soil as deeply and efficiently as well as can be done by digging only. Bad Methods. — Digging may be easy or laborious, just as the worker has knowledge or is ignorant of the proper use of tools and the methods of work- ing. Thus in commencing to dig a piece of ground a common practice is to take out at one end a shallow trench, wheel the soil to the other end, and then dig the ground. The result is that the work is impeded by having so small a trench in front of the spade, and at the close of the work it is found that the end of the ground where the digging started is much higher than the end at which the operation is concluded, there being not enough soil in reserve to fill the trench, which has in the process become deeper. Added to that there has been useless labour expended in wheeling soil from one end of the ground to the other. Good Methods. — In digging a piece of ground the best course shown is to draw a shallow drill with a hoe, or other implement right down the centre, and then throw out a broad spit of soil so as to form a good digging trench across one half of one end, that is to say, from one side of the centre mark, throwing the soil to the corresponding end of the other half. Then in proceeding all that is needful is when the other end has to be turned, to keep digging most at the outer edge of the ground, and let the end of the centre mark be a sort of pivot, round which the trench should, as it were, swing, then as the reverse side is dug back, the soil that was originally thrown out of the beginning trench is there to fill the finishing one. Digging should, besides being deeply done, have all the lumps well broken, leaving a neat, even surface. It is just as easy to do work well as badly. Good SOILS— PREPARATION AND MANURING 9 level work not only looks better, but ena bles planting and sowing to be done with greater regularity and facility, than rough and uneven surfaces will permit. Ridging Soil. — This form of laying up subsoil is needful only when it is very stiff, or clayey. The object of ridging is to expose to the air the greatest possible surface of soil, as in that way it is more fully pulverised than is the case when the ground is Level. A piece of ground to be ridged should either be first marked into thirty-inch widths by means of a lino and hoe to mark the spaces, or else the operator should have a lino and two sticks each thirty inches long. One of these at each side of the ground marks the required spaces to which as the ridging proceeds the line is shifted. Thus in starting at one side of the first space the needful trench is thrown out on to the adjoining ground, and then with spade or fork tho soil in that strip is thrown into a ridge. Then with the next strip the ridging is reversed by working backwards, and in that way the first few spits from the strip fill up the trench left in the preceding one. Thus much labour is saved. After exposure to the frost and wind in the spring, these ridges should be thoroughly broken and pulverised, and the ground being forked over to make it level, it is in line con- dition for cropping. In naturally low and wet posi- tions, where the land cannot be effectively drained, it is an excellent plan to grow the crops on the ridges, as shown in Fig. 3, instead of levelling them in the ordinary way. Trenching. — Whilsi digging comprises the ordin- ary form of garden soil cultivation, trenching signifies improved or special culture. Its merits lie in tin- fact that owing to the greater depth of broken, worked, or cultivated soil, plant roots find more air and sweeter soil under such conditions \ they have 10 VEGETABLE CULTURE double the ground area in which to run or ramify, and can thus find greatly increased stores of food for sustenance, and in the driest weather always find more moisture than can be found when the rooting medium is shallow. In all cases it is found from cropping experience that trenching ground practically doubles its productiveness over digging. There is, too, this great advantage resulting from trenching, that the extra deepening of ground is beneficial to Fig. 3.— Cropping on Ridges. 1-1. Shallow and wet soil. 2-2. Drier and deeper rooting areas obtained by throwing soil out of trenches.— 3-3-3. With results. several successive crops, so that the first cost of the work is spread over several seasons. All the same it is desirable that all ground that can be so worked be trenched every three or four years, as in that way the general value of the operation, as displayed in the crops, is greatly enhanced. Half Trenching. — In dealing with most soils it is at once the best as well as customary practice, to shallow trench at the first, as the incorporation of the crude and less fertile subsoil with that which has long been cultivated on the surface, and is fertile, must proceed slowly. The bringing of the crude and per- haps sour subsoil to the surface in bulk at once would SOILS— PREPARATION AND MANURINC 11 be l»;i\yx Streets. — These also form valuable manures when properly stored so as to slightly ferment, then turned once or twice so that tho ammonia liberated permeates as it were tho cut irr heap, and in that condition dug into the soil. Cow and pig excreta are cool, moist, and retentive. These admirably suit light, porous soils, whilst horse stable manure answers well for stiff land. Tho latter, however, when rich in droppings from horses fed on corn, always has the highest proportions of plant food. It is not commonly know r n that manures lying in heaps exposed to rain and sun become Lessened in value and usefulness the longer they lie exposed, whilst manures kept covered retain their properties till used. Chemical Manures. — These include nitrate of soda, a very quick-acting soluble salt brought from South America ; sulphate of ammonia, nearly as quick and more lasting, obtained from coal in the 16 VEGETABLE CULTURE manufacture of gas ; superphosphate of lime made from bones, fossils, or minerals ; phosphates and lime in the form of basic slag ; and potash, found in kainit and sulphate of potash. Then we have soot, which is of great value ; lime, a sweetener of the soil and an indirect manure ; guano, the excrement of birds ; common salt, and others. All these are serviceable, especially in proportion to their purity. Chemical manures, especially the two first named, are not enduring in effect, sufficing chiefly for the crop to which they are applied \ but they are effective, can always be had, and now it is imperative that the dealers or merchants should furnish them pure, or otherwise they are liable to punishment. Application of Chemical Manures. — Super- phosphate — This most valuable manure is best applied to soil prior to the sowing or planting of crops, and in conjunction with more or less, accord- ing to the nature of the crop, of potash salts. These need some few weeks' time to become thoroughly incorporated with the soil, or in a soluble condition to make them plant foods. Thus if applied to ground on which roots of any kind, such as Onions, Carrots, Beet, or Potatoes are to be grown, they should be turned into the soil a few weeks before seeds are sown or the tubers planted. Nitrate of soda is a very volatile manure, and should be applied to crops in the spring after they have made growth. This is a salt that, sown very thinly amongst the crops, soon washes into the soil and is at once utilised. These three chemical manures when thus combined furnish nearly all the food that plants re- quire. The dressing must be varied according to the nature of the crop to be grown and the condition of the soil. Usually it is found wise to apply them SOILS N : K I \\ RATION AND MANURING 17 at the rate of 3 lbs. superphosphate, 2 lbs. kainite, ami 1 II). nitrate of Boda per rod of ground. These manures Bhould always be purchased in their pure or common Mate, and be applied when necessary. They are relatively cheap, and rarely is it the case that, properly utilised, they do not well repay their cost. Green Manures. — Crops such as Tares, Rye, Mustard, and Turnips, sown in the autumn, to re- main over the winter and dug down in the spring, form cheap and admirable manures, especially for light or Bandy land deficient in vegetable matter. Tares are the best of all, and if sown in the autumn and dug in during March after good growth has been made, will render the soil for that summer wonder- fully fertile. There is hardly any form of green vegetable matter that, when partially decomposed, does not make good manure. Rotation of Crops. — By this is meant follow- ing on tin' same ground one crop with another of a v.iv different kind, so that what manures the first crop has left in the soil may be utilised by the crop- which succeeds. Thus it is a good plan for Potatoes to be followed by Cabbages or any kind of winter greens. Celery to be succeeded by Peas or Beans, and these again by autumn-sown Onions or Turnips, so that the ground carries crops as different as possible every succeeding season. Rotation in crop- ping is, however, very much governed by convenience, and, as an autumn crop is rarely of the same nature as a summer one. the rotation comes out all right without special foresight. Rotation must however he of such a nature that the ground shall be cropped in such a way that rows or lines run across the quarter and thus avoid patchiness. Thus in lifting early Potatoes row by row another crop can follow all across the ground at once, and thus preserve uni- C 18 VEGETABLE CULTURE formity and neatness. It is in this way that cropping is made to be most profitable as well as creditable. It should always be the aim of the cultivator to have ground so far as is possible fully cropped, as when empty it is earning nothing. It is, however, difficult to crop directly after the lifting in September and October of the latest or winter crop of Potatoes. Fig. 5.,— A Lesson in Land-working. 1. Poverty. 2. Progress. 3. Prosperity. It is these fallow pieces of ground that should be trenched in the winter, as we have pre- viously advised, and if the total is one-fourth of the entire garden, and crops are so arranged that the late Potatoes come the succeeding year on a different piece of ground, it is evident that with such a systen*- the whole of the land under vegetable culture would be thus deeply cultivated by trenching once every four years. The benefits arising from such a plan are incalculable. SOll.s PREPARATION AND MANURING 19 Poverty, and Progress and Prosperity. — The foregoing remarks on preparing and enriching land for the cultivation of vegetables may well conclude with an object-lesson in which bad, better, and best methods are embodied. Tho illustration Fig. 5, represents with accuracy the difference in results (1) from poor and shallow worked ground; (2) im- provement by deepening the land ; (3) well trenched and adequately enriched soil. As all crops that may be grown are affected in a similar manner, ac- cording to the methods resorted to in their production, it is hoped the worst will bo abandoned and improve- ment commenced forthwith, in order that the best results may be achieved by tillers of the soil. TAP AND BULBOUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES A most valuable section of crops is found under this heading, not only because generally such excel- lent food, but also because so enduring, furnishing supplies nearly all the year round. Especially are these roots serviceable during the winter, as when grown in quantity and properly stored, they furnish not only variety, but excellent diet for several months. All are specially nutritious. Beet is rich in saccharine or sugar ; Carrots in phosphates ; and other kinds have valuable properties. Beet may be partaken of only when fully grown. Carrots in various stages, even when they are small to full development. Parsnips are highly nutritious when fully grown and well cooked. Onions may be eaten raw as salading in a young state and are delicious when fully grown and baked or stewed in the winter. Celeriac is a very early and hardy substitute for Celery, and may be eaten either raw or cooked. Leeks properly blanched and boiled are very delicious as well as nutritious. Salsafy and Scorzonera roots well cooked are excellent vegetables. It is much to be regretted that the great variety and wealth of food we have in this section is by no means so entirely utilised as it should be ; but that there is growing a strong liking for these products, there can be no doubt, and evidence is being afforded on TAP AND BULBOUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 21 every hand th.at with the spread of a wider taste for gardening and greater knowledge on culture, will also arise a marked demand for vegetables, and their merits will become universally appreciated. Beet. This root is found both in tapering and round forms (Fig. 6). The distinctions in flesh are trifling, '., •/--!, ■■ Fia. G.— Beet— Long, Forked, and Globular. but in shape decided. The tapering roots are buried in the soil, those of the bulbous-rooted (really a swollen fleshy stem) being formed on the surface. The turnip-rooted Beet has the special merit of being much earlier to mature than the tapering forms ; hence, if seeds be sown in April, the turnip-rooted kind will give good-sized " roots " in the summer, several weeks before the other roots are ready. 22 VEGETABLE CULTURE The best) variety of globular Beet ia the Red Globe, the flesh of the bulbs being of a fine texture and a deep red colour. The best of the main crop, tap, or long-rooted varieties are Dell's Crimson, known in commerce under other names, the roots of a rich blood-red colour, medium size, and, if well grown, very handsome. The leafage of a true stock is of a deep metallic red of pendulous form, and for that reason constitutes a pleasing foliage plant. Cheltenham Black has roots very clean, of good form, flesh almost black, of fine grain and highly flavoured. Foliage strong in rich soil and of a glaucous green colour. Does not require soil that is highly manured. Pine Apple is a good old market sort well adapted for field culture, flesh red, roots tending to large, but of useful size on ground of moderate quality. Foliage reddish and flattens out. Beet seed should not, as a rule, be soavii before the end of April, as the young leafage is tender, and sometimes suffers from spring frosts, and is often eaten by birds. The tapering rooted sorts are frequently sown in May as they con- tinue to make growth till late in the autumn, and the roots are quite large enough. Store them in sand and safe from frost after twisting off the leaves above the lines shown in the figure, not cutting off the tops below them. The rows may be 15 inches apart and the plants thinned early, 6 to 8 inches asunder. The roots must be washed and boiled slowly until soft, but they should not be tested with a fork. Then, when cold and peeled, the flesh is most delicious, eaten with salad, cold meat, or cheese, some common condiments such as salt, pepper, and vinegar being added. It is hardly possible to write too highly of such addition to our meals as well- cooked Beet presents. TAP AND BULBOUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 23 Carrots. Although all Carrots are tap-rooted, yet there are material differences in shape as shown in Fig.7. Thus the Early French Forcing has roundish roots, only 2 or ."> inches long, whilst the Long Surrey gives roots from 1<» to 20 inches in length, thin and pointed. The 6rst named is the earliest of all Carrots, and is chiefly used to furnish very young roots in a small state in the spring and summer from sowings made in frames on beds of manure or leaves and also on warm borders in February. Two or three small sowings of about 3 square yards, made in the spring furnish useful pullings. The rows may be 6 inches apart, and unless the seed "is sown too thickly the plants do not need thinning, except for use. Next in succession comes the Early Nantes, also known as the Scarlet Champion. This is perhaps \\\t- mosl generally useful early Carrot, length about 5 or 6 inches, thick and stubby. It is a first-class variety for sowing in March to give summer pullings, and when thinned, also well grown is good for summer exhibiting. This variety should be sown on warm soil in drills 10 inches apart, any time during March, if weather permit, and, when the plants are 3 inches high, be thinned out to 4 inches asunder. That will lead, in good soil, to the production in the summer of a handsome crop of roots. A sowing made on spare soil after early peas towards the end of July will give a crop of young roots to pull nearly all through the ensuing winter. For the main crop f'<>r storing no Carrot is better than the St. Valery or Scarlet Intermediate. This superb variety seems to have displaced almost all others for the purpose. Cardeners find it the best winter variety, and exhibitors prefer it at autumn 24 VEGETABLE CULTURE and winter exhibitions, for its rich colour and hand- some tapering form. Roots usually range from 10 to 12 inches long, having broad shoulders and tapering to a fine point. The flesh is, when properly cooked, soft, and nutritious. Seeds may be sown at the end of March or during April according to the weather and the soil. Drills should be J an inch in depth Fig. -Types of Carrots. French Forcing, Early Nantes, Long Horn, Intermediate,. Long Corelcss and Long Surrey in the order named. and 12 inches asunder, the seeds being sown thinly. Thinning the plants to from 5 to 6 inches apart ought to be done early, loosening the soil as little as possible. With the plants well thinned it is only needful to keep the soil well stirred between the rows and free from weeds to ensure a good crop of TAP AND lUU'.orS-ROOTKI) VK(!KTABLE8 25 All that has been previously written with respect to deep working of the soil applies specially to main crop Carrots if handsome roots are wanted. Strong animal manures, however, should not come into immediate contact with these or any other tap roots, as the tendency is to generate forked or side fangs as shown in the spoiled Beet-root, Fig. 6, page 21. Carrot seeds may he the more easily sown if mixed with an equal quantity of sand or fine soil and all ruhhed together. That serves to separate the seeds and permit of their being easily and equally sown in the drills. Besides the varieties already mentioned the French have a long Carrot that is called the Long Red Coreless. Its merit consists in the succulent nature of the flesh throughout, but its peculiar form — long hut not tapering — does not commend itself to gardeners, though it is good both in shape and quality all the same. The largest Carrots are the I.ong Red Surrey, once. so extensively grown for the London Market, but now much superseded by the New Intermediate ; and the Altrincham, also a tapering form, always showing about an inch of the root above the ground, which is of a purplish green colour. This is a favoured form in the Midlands, but is very little grown in the South of England. Parsnips. It is almost a relief to know that of this most valuable winter root we have few varieties. Very slow progress indeed is made with its im- provement. Some years ago Professor Buckman of the Koyal Agricultural College, Cirencester, raised what was thought to be an undoubted improvement in the form of a hybrid product from the wild Parsnip ar»d a garden variety. This was put into 26 VEGETABLE CULTURE commerce under the name of the Student. It is doubtful however if it differed materially from the best garden forms, and to-day it does not appear to present any distinct features. One of the best Parsnips for all ordinary purposes is the Hollow Crown. This is a type that may be distinguished by the raised ridge of white flesh that is found on full-grown roots round the crown from whence the leaf stems spring. Hence its appellation. The food or edible merits of Parsnips vary very much according to soil and cooking, but whilst the Maltese or the Jersey, both broadish, somewhat large roots, have their admirers, we prefer a good stock of the Hollow Crown. Parsnips specially appreciate the deep working of the soil as found in trenching, yet it is unwise to have the ground too rich, as big, coarse roots possess such a large propor- tion of water in their composition, whilst clean, fleshy, medium-sized roots are when well cooked much more mealy and nutritious. The usual plan is to sow seeds, if the weather be favourable, early in the month of March. The seedlings are very hardy, and suffer nothing from spring frosts. Drills marked out at 14 inches apart across a piece of ground, then drawn with a hoe and line one inch in depth, do admirably. Seeds should be shown thinly, as to do otherwise is sheer waste. When the seedlings are about 3 inches in height, they must be thinned to about 6 inches asunder, but if specially large roots are desired thin to 9 inches apart. The after cultiva- tion is simple. Keep a small hoe in frequent use between the rows during the summer without in- juring the leafage of the Parsnips. The roots will be ready to lift for eating in October ; and early in December, if it be desired, especially if the ground TAP AND BULBOUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 27 lie wet or is close, the whole of the stock may be lifted and stored in dry soil or sand in a very cool, airy shed or outhon&e. Where the ground is porous :uid well drained Parsnips may remain where grown all through the winter, as in that case they keep fresh ami plump. It is, however, advisable to cover a portion of the bed with some litter or fern, so that in hard weather access may be had to the roots. Parsnips for exhibition should not be very long and slim, but rather have broad shoulders and fleshy roots some 12 inches in depth, handsome, white, and clean. Cooking Parsnips. — The cooking of the roots is a matter that is almost universally open to improve- ment. Roots cut up and cooked in the old way are usually watery. If cooked as they should be, whole, scraped only and not peeled, just covered with water when in the pot, and boiled slowly for an hour or an hour and a half according to the size of the roots, by which time tho wafer will have almost disappeared, they .ire most delicious — and more nutritious than when served in close watery slices. Salsafy and Scorzonera. These are long, tapering roots, the former white and having narrow leafage, and the latter dark with broad foliage. These are raised from seeds sown thinly in April in shallow drills 10 inches apart on ordinary garden ground. When the seedlings are Well up they should be thinned to .') inches asunder and the hoe must be freely used amongst the plant- in tlu> summer. In tho early winter the roots may be lifted and stored in sand or soil in a cool place, and it' some be set thickly in warmth, in a dark place so as to push lender blanched growths these make L r oi>d blading. The roots also, especially those 28 VEGETABLE CULTURE of Salsafy, when properly boiled and served with butter or gravy, are tender and delicious. They have been termed the Vegetable Oyster. The blanched tops may also be cooked in the same manner as Seakale. Horseradish. This is not a common root vegetable but is almost exclusively used as a relish or condiment. It is so desirable and heathful in this way that it is to be g=- — Fio. 8.— Horseradish in Ridges ; Planting and Thickened Ruots. regretted it is not more largely consumed. A common British root, yet it is strange to learn that our chief supplies for the Christmas markets are obtained from Holland, whilst it is certain we could easily grow as good at home. Horseradish is too commonly a neglected plant, the usual practice being to plant roots or crowns and then let the beds remain for several years, just lifting a root or two as needed. The proper course is to trench clean out the whole of the roots in the early winter after the leaves have died down. Then select and trim for use the finest roots, laying them in the ground so that they may TAP AND BULBOUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 29 be had when needed. All the smaller roots of the size of a little finger, or even rather smaller if of several inches long, may he trimmed neatly, and then planted in a piece of trenched ground, 12 inches apart, those having crowns being just below the surface and those without crowns rather deeper. So planted, thick stems for use are produced at the end of the season. Another method of growing fine roots, especially where the ground is shallow, is to form a ridge of soil 3 feet wide and half that in height. In the sides of this ridge dibble the small roots, not vertically but obliquely. Then when the growth begins if a shallow drill be drawn along the top of the ridge and liquid manure, sewage, or water occasionally poured into it the roots will be well moistened and make very strong growth. • In the north fine roots are produced in this simple way and the crop is very profitable. The sets are a little thicker than an ordinary pencil, each having a crown. They are lightly scraped to remove incipient buds, and they then thicken in the ridges without producing side roots, which spoil 80 many "sticks" of Horseradish. They are inserted about 10 inches asunder, as shown in Fig. 8. Onions. Most certainly the Onion is the chief of all our edible bulbs. It is really a bulb in the botanical sense, as it is composed of a series of scales or layers of flesh whilst Turnips, Radishes, and others are but thickened or fleshy stems. Onions have hitherto been used chiefly for flavouring and the making of an excellent pickle ; but there has of late grown up a strong liking for these bulbs in a cooked state and as such, properly prepared and served, they constitute 30 VEGETABLE CULTURE wholesome and nutritious food. Hence the practice, now so common, of growing large, mild bulbs for this purpose. With the use of young Onions as saladings we have long been familiar; and most healthful and pleasant are they so used if fresh. Even sliced Onions of mild quality are acceptable as saladings mixed with Cucumber. Generally a good Onion crop is very profitable, and it is rare that a market cannot be found for the produce. We have seen instances Fig. 9.— Onions ; White Spanish and Main Crop. where Onions have been sold at 2s. Qd. per bushel and worth £100 per acre, but that is the result of deep trenching, high manuring, and the best of stocks and of culture. Onions are commonly divided into spring and autumn sections. That is however a purely arbi- trary division. Most, if not all varieties will do equally well if sown in spring or autumn, but there is a material difference in their keeping qualities, the soft Italian or Tripoli varieties soon collapsing, whilst the best popular sorts, will, if well ripened, keep for several months in a complete state of rest. These are invariably the best to grow, as the Onion is so TAP AND BULBOUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 31 valuable as a i*« >« >« 1 product during the long winter months, and it is of the highest importance to maintain a supply of tho winter stocks from October till June. The hul l>s differ very much both in shape and in size, as may be seen by the reduced engravings, in which the relative proportions are maintained. Some arc too flat, as the old White Spanish, and Fio. 10.— Onions; Globe ob Egg-shaped better shouldered forms are preferable as in main crop (sec Kig. ( .)). Then we have the long keeping Globe or Egg-shaped referred to below and repre- sented in Fig. 10. General Culture. — Onions need ground not only well worked and manured but also firm. Thus a moderately stiff soil is better than is one very light and porous. When Buch soils as the latter have, of necessity, to be cropped they should be well trodden, 32 VEGETABLE CULTURE and thus so far made firm before the seeds are sown. Strong soils are best enriched with horse stable manure and light soils with that from cow-sheds. Pig manure should be well fermented if possible and decomposed before being applied to Onion ground, as it tends in its raw state to produce much injurious insect life. When the young plants are 4 inches in height and have been thinned, a very light dressing of nitrate of soda and soot helps greatly to force quick growth and thus enable the plants to tide safely over a somewhat trying period of life. Drills for Onions that are to stand for the produc- tion of ripe bulbs should be drawn 12 inches apart and about half an inch deep. This is easily done by using a garden line to guide and a hoe to form the drills. Seeds should be sown more thinly than is customary. It is the rule to find four times more plants in the row than are needed, and oftentimes they are far thicker. That means great waste of seeds and much additional labour in thinning and in cleaning the beds. Once the plants have been thinned — and that work must be governed by what is desired in size of bulbs — it is only needful to keep the beds free from weeds by using a small hoe between the rows frequently and when the bulbs have attained a good size to gently bend down the plants so that leaf production is checked and the Onions are greatly helped in swelling. Good growers have the work done so neatly that all the tops are made to lie in one direction. This treatment is all the more needful in damp seasons when the plants have a tendency to make strong necks. Special Culture. — In the race for improvement and in competition special Onion exhibitions have of late been held and prizes awarded for the heaviest bulbs. These are now so fine under the culture TAP AND BULBOUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 33 adopted that they are often found to weigh from 2 to 3 lbs. each, sometimes more. Such bulbs could QOt be produced under ordinary culture. The special routine consists in sowing the seeds in shallow boxes in January, standing these in warmth in a frame or greenhouse, having the young plants when 3 inches in height carefully lifted and dibbled out about 2 inches apart into other boxes, using in them good turfy loam with which is mixed one-fourth of wUl- decayed manure and a little sand. When the plants are G inches in height the boxes are transferred to a cool house or frame for the Onions to harden. About the end of April, they are lifted with a good ball of soil and roots attached, and planted in deeply trenched and highly manured ground. The rows are 16 inches apart, the plants being 12 inches asunder in them. During the summer occasional dressings of nitrate of soda, soot, and guano are given, also in dry weather liberal waterings. It is thus that these huge exhibition bulbs are produced. A large proportion do not keep long, seldom indeed much later than the end of the year before they start into growth. They are, however, very mild eating and are highly favoured when baked or stewed whole. Autumn-Sown Onions. — These, sown towards the end of July or early in August, need much the same treatment as the spring-sown beds, except that it i. c ; usual to defer thinning until the spring. Some of these young Onions if transplanted early in April in fresh soil, often produce very line bulbs early in the summer — at least thrice the size of the Giant Rocca, shown in Fig. 11. Transplanting. — With respect to the transplant- ing of glass-raised plants in the spring the practice even for ordinary crops is good where the onion- D 34 VEGETABLE CULTURE maggot prevails. Seeds may be sown in boxes in March or April. They soon germinate under glass, and when the plants are 6 inches in height and have been well hardened they may be dibbled in good ground, 4 or 5 inches apart, in drills 12 inches asunder. Being hard, the maggot rarely does them Fig. 11.— Onion; Giant Rocca. harm. If the labour be at the first considerable there is much saving later in avoiding thinning. In transplanting care must be taken to preserve the roots and to let them well down in dibbling, but the stems must not be buried. Storing Onions. — Obviously the prime consider- ation in the keeping of Onions is that they be well matured and dried. Next they should be rubbed through the hands and roughly cleaned, then roped TAP AND BULBOUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES .°> r » by being tied to stout sticks first covered with straw - tlir-;.' may be of lengths ranging from 2 to 5 feel - and then hung in a cool dry place. The bulbs also keep well lying thinly on shelves in a dry airy shed, or fchey may be kept in wicker baskets through which ample air can circulate and prevent heating. It is usually found thai the globe or egg-shaped soils are the best keepers, and it is therefore well always to grow a fair quantity of these for that special pur- pose. No amount of frost will injure Onions if they are firm and dry. V akiktiks of Onions. — For pickling purposes the small Silver Skin (Fig. 12) is most commonly grown, sown in a patch quite thickly, in poor soil in the spring. For the growing of very early bulbs from spring sowings the White Queen is an admirable variety. This is very precocious and pro- duces bulbs, not largo but very useful, early in the summer. For main crops the selection is infinite, and it is impossible to name a tithe of the varieties that are catalogued. Main Crop, Rousham Park Hero, Ne Plus Ultra, Sutton's Globe, Cranston's Excelsior, .lame-' Keeping, and Crimson Globe, are all first class, the four varieties last named being of the egg-shaped type that keeps so well. For exhibition purposes under special culture Ailsa Craig, Sutton's Al, Anglo-Spanish, Lord Keeper, Excelsior, and In- wood Favourite are amongst the heavier and finer. The Italian or Tripoli varieties are numerous, but the best are Giant Iiocca, Globe Tripoli, and Leviathan. d 2 Pio. 12. 36 VEGETABLE CULTURE Shallots. These are closely allied to Onions, especially the Potato Onion now so seldom grown, yet useful. A cluster one-third natural size is shown in Fig. 13. Small bulblets should be planted early in well pre- pared soil, in rows 12 inches apart, the bulbs being 8 inches asunder in the rows. From these small bulbs break out numerous others until during the summer quite large clusters are formed, and when ripe are pulled, dried, and stored. They need other- Pig. 13.— Potato Onions. wise simple culture such as being frequently hoed to keep the soil clean. The common Shallot is the smaller, but by far the nicer for flavouring, as it is of a pleasant, delicate nature. The large or Jersey Shallot is reddish and of coarse texture. It is not so highly favoured as is the other variety. It used to be the custom of cottagers in some districts to plant Potato Onions on the shortest day, December 21st, weather permitting, and take them up on the longest, June 21st ; but in very early spring planting both of these underground Onions and Shallots answer equally well. TAP AND BULBOUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 37 Leeks. These, though allied to the Onion, are not in the ordinary sense bulbous plants. The mode of culture adopted is specially intended to encourage the pro- duction of stout, long, thickened stems rather than bulbous bases. These stems when blanched white and clean are very delicious if properly cooked. There are few forms of the Leek, the best known being the Lyon, and Prizetaker or Champion. Seeds should be sown in March in a pan or box and stood under glass. When the plants are strong they may be transplanted into other boxes or in a frame or even in well prepared soil out of doors. If put out 6 inches apart they will grow very strong, and may then be moved with good balls of roots into trenches prepared as for Celery, and at once partially earthed. Then, as the stems grow, the lower leaves may bo removed and more earth given until in the winter a high ridge is formed. Plants thus grown furnish stems from 10 to 12 inches long. It is well to place a little loose strawy litter about the ridges in hard weather to prevent injury from frost. Leeks may also be grown by sowing early in a warm position outdoors, subsequently dibbling the plants into rows, letting them 3 or 4 inches into the soil and drawing a few inches more to them for blanching as the stems elongate. In that way smaller but very good white Leeks are produced. Celeriac. A very distinct vegetable is this, and very hardy. It will often endure, when earthed up, hard weather that kills ordinary Celery. The plants instead of producing long leaf stalks for blanching create a 38 VEGETABLE CULTURE swelling of the stem (Fig. 14) just on the surface of the soil, as is the case with Turnips. Sliced it is admirable as a salading, and when stewed forms an excellent and wholesome dish. Seeds maybe sown in a shallow pan in March, stood in a frame, then the seedlings pricked out in a prepared piece of ground L>1 ?* Fia 14.— Celeriac. out-doors or under hand-lights, and from thence trans- planted later a foot apart in rows 18 inches asunder. If the ground has been previously well manured and liberal waterings be given as needed, an abundant crop of fine "bulbs" will be produced and may be used for flavouring early in the season. TAP AND BULBOUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 39 Turnips. The prejudices of taste favour white Turnips almost exclusively. Formerly the Swedish Turnip with its soft, marrow r y, yellow flesh was much liked, hut now it is little consumed although nutritious, whilst its young tops in the spring are outdoors sweet and -tender eating, or when blanched in a dark place as nice as Seakale. A few rows of the Swede Turnip may with advantage be grown in gardens, if only for producing young sprouts in the spring. In the north the yellow-ilesh Orange Jelly or Golden Ball Turnip, a golden-fleshed counterpart of Snowball, is held in high esteem. That, too, is very rich and deliciously flavoured, but the colour does not in the south take the popular fancy. ( >f white-flesh Turnips we have many, but for garden culture about three suffice. Earliest of all wo have the Extra Early Milan, that turns in easily on good soil in about six weeks from the sowing. This variety remains good only a couple of weeks or BO, Mini it is advisable to make sowings of very small areas, just a few drills every fortnight from the middle of March to the end of June where Turnips are in great demand. To follow none is better than the Early Snowball, a pure white variety, sowings of which may be made in July and August for autumn and early winter pullings, whilst a good sowing of the Red Globe, a larger and hardier variety, made the third week in August, gives ample produce for the latter part of the winter and for storing till spring. Culture. — This is simple, and ground is seldom specially prepared for them They form admirable succession or catch crops, and do well on ground that is of fair fertility. If after the previous crop has been removed the ground be forked over and levelled 40 VEGETABLE CULTURE it is good practice to draw shallow drills 15 inches apart, sowing the seeds thinly and evenly. In that way not only is a regular plant ensured but less seeds are needed and the thinning out work after- wards is greatly simplified. The early sorts, es- pecially the Snowball, need but moderate thinning, but the Red Globe should be cut out to 8 inches apart. With the varieties named and making suc- cessional sowings Turnips may be had nearly all the year round. TUBEROUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES. These constitute a very limited section, consisting almost exclusively of Potatoes and so-called Jerusalem and Chinese Artichokes. Potatoes occupy the pre- mier position amongst vegetables, and are easily had all the year round ; indeed, the tubers occupy the unique position of constituting a permanent dish on our dinner-tables. Wo may and do tire of other vegetables, but of good Potatoes never. Whilst vegetables generally, used in the aggregate, are re- garded as valuable foods, the Potato is such of itself, ranking perhaps next to wheat in bulk and value. A native of South America, and of a comparatively hot climate, no methods of culture or efforts in raising hardier varieties by cross fertilisation have changed its exact nature. It is still a tender plant, most liable to injury from low temperatures, and hence its season of growth in tins country is comparatively short. We may not plant tubers in the open with assured safety until the month of April, for very often the tender tops are cut to the ground by one late spring frost, and in such cases irreparable injury is done. Except where situation or some shelter affords favourable condition-, it is not well to plant tubers until there is good reason to assume that the young and tender tops will escape the frosts of May. When they do so, the growth is both rapid and healthy, and 42 VEGETABLE CULTURE under such conditions far better crops result than could otherwise be the case. Even where the well- known Potato disease spares the stems and leafage, it is seldom that good growth can be secured later than the end of September, so that even for the latest and strongest kinds not more than four months practi- cally constitute the growing season. Asa rule, how- ever, this is further restricted, because only where special efforts are made through the agency of anti- fungoid dressings of the leafage to ward off disease can the tops be preserved in health after the end of August. Where such is the case — and it is the com- mon case — we find not merely is the tuber develop- ment arrested, often thus causing from that source alone a loss of one-fourth of the anticipated crop, but also the edible quality of the tubers is materially depreciated, as the process of converting the flesh from sappy texture into solid starchy compounds is checked also. For that reason even our best Potatoes seldom reach their highest flavour and cooking qualities. All these things serve to show at once the difficulties which still surround Potato culture, and the great need there is for sound judgment, not only in planting and cultivation, but also in utilising those disease-preventive compounds which science has devised for our benefit. Potatoes from Seeds. Although all existing varieties, and hundreds of others now out of cultivation, have been from time to time originally raised from seeds, yet is it un- desirable to trust to seeds for Potato propagation. Only a few varieties seed naturally, the greater proportion producing flowers in abundance, but hav- ing little or no pollen in their essential organs, fail TUBE ROUS- ROOTED VEGETABLES 43 to set the blooms. This deficiency of pollen arises chiefly, no doubt, from the exceedingly heavy tuber production of the best sorts, and pollen is thus prevented. When it is proposed to inter-cross one variety with another, for producing seedlings of a dis- tinct character, pollen has to be obtained, sometimes at considerable trouble, from flowers of a desired variety, and applied to a few blooms of the seed parent variety by dipping the pistils of these blooms into the tine llowery pollen which may have been obtained. When flowers have thus been set they soon form seed Walls. These should be encased in a piece of muslin, to catch them when they fall. The stem should also be tied to a stake and have a label showing the nature of the cross attached securely to it. When ripe, these seed-berries may be gathered, placed in a small box, and put on a shelf in a room or greenhouse, \\ here during the winter the pulp will decay and leave the seeds only. These may be rubbed out dry and be kept for sowing in shallow pans or pots early in April, and of course under glass. The seedling plants, when four inches in height, should be pricked out thinly in other pans or boxes, ami later be hardened by exposure in a frame. At the end of May they can be transplanted into rows two feet apart in the garden, where according to constitu- tion they will make strong or weak growth and pro- duce tubers to save for seed in the autumn. Possibly only ten out of a hundred may be worth saving, and after another trial the following year they may be reduced to four or five. If these be really distinct from other varieties, and good, a fair reward for so much trouble will have been obtained. 44 VEGETABLE CULTURE Seed-tubers. This term is applied to tubers of any variety saved expressly for planting. They are not "seed" in the proper sense, but serve the same purpose, and indeed are better than true seeds. We have such an immense number of varieties in cultivation, and these are being added to every year, that it is most difficult to make small selections. Then varie- ties often disappear entirely after some ten years or so ; and for practical purposes it is useless raising potatoes from seeds to secure crops when we have tubers of the finest sorts at our hands. When seed-tubers have to be purchased, it is best to obtain them, if possible, in the early winter, before cold is severe, as there is undoubted advantage in having the sets under control all the winter, that they may be properly stored so as to secure all their best properties. If seed-tubers be taken from home- grown stock, they should always be selected in the autumn and stored apart from those for eating. For seed none are better than those which are of the best form and clean. They should range from three to four ounces in weight, as such tubers planted whole give the heaviest produce. When thus selected they ought to be placed, with the crown or bud end upwards, closely in shallow boxes (Fig. 15), each containing about 14 lb. of tubers. The sides of the boxes may well be an inch lower than the ends, so that when of necessity they are stood one on the other air can circulate among the tubers. The best place for the storing of seed Potatoes is one which can be made absolutely frost-proof, yet where abundance of air can be furnished and a good amount of light provided. They are kept in out-houses, cellars, and rooms, TUBEROUS- ROOTED VEGETABLES 45 though if frost is not excluded they will certainly bo destroyed. Too much cure cannot be taken to avert that calamity. When danger from Frost is over, the boxes may be stood out in light and air ; in that way the shoots which will in the spring extend from the eyes will be stout and firm, affording good help to growth and cropping. Where specially line tubers ( Fig. 16) are desired, and time can be afforded, it is a good plan to remove with the point of a sharp knife Fio. 15.— Box for Seed Tubers. Length is inches; width 12 inches; depth 5 inches. Ends f inch board ; Bides }ineh; bottom J inch. When the boxes are piled air ran circulate under and over the tnbers. They can be carried in the box direct to the planting ground. all but one or two of the stoutest of the shoots before planting. The sets may be taken to the ground in the box.'-; and be planted direct from them. Cut sets should be used only where unavoidable, but in all cases each portion must be from 2 oz. to 3 oz. in weight, and the wounds dried before being placed in the ground. Some growers dust them with lime to expedite the healing process. Potato Manures. Burnt Refuse. — A fertiliser of a very simple nature ami easily produced is through the burning of any description of vegetable matter, with or without the addition of soil. Wood ashes contain valuable potash, 46 VEGETABLE CULTURE and burnt hedge trimmings, mixed with weeds, garden refuse, road or ditch trimmings, partially dried, then formed into a heap and smouldered, serve to make a capital dressing. This material is best applied by strewing it in liberally with the potato Fio. 1G.— Well prepared Seed Tuber. sets in the furrows, or, where dibbling in is practised, over the holes, and well hoeing it in. Soot may be mixed with it with great advantage. It is usually found where dressings of this nature are freely applied that not only is the yield of tubers increased but the potatoes have very clean skins. TUBEROUS-BOOTED VEGETABLES 47 Decayed Refuse. — Ail forms of vegetable leafage, but especially from trees if well decayed, make a good natural dressing for potatoes. If accumulated during the preceding summer and autumn, stored in a heap during the winter, and occasionally turned. BO that by the spring the whole is well decomp sweet and admirable manure is formed. Roadside trimmings may be put in a heap to deoomp frequently turned, and have a moderate quantity of Boot intermixed. The addition of horse droppings from the roads improves the texture of the heap and add- t>> it- fertility. Artificial Mantres. — The-e are readily applied when planting i- proceeding, a- by the time the tubers put forth shoots, and roots are emitted, the less active manures are becoming soluble and available. S phosphate of lime, kainit, and nitrate of soda obtained in the pure state, then mixed in the proportion of equal parts and applied at the rate of from 5 lbs. to ♦1 lbs. per rod, constitutes an excellent potato dn Ordinarily it is best however to apply the super- phosphate and kainit when the ground is being pre- pared for planting, sowing it lightly along the furrow s or drills, following with nitrate of soda between the row- where the plant- are well through the ground, and hoeing it in. If the season be sh. re very beneficial. Even in dry weather ktract and retain moisture in the soil. Lime Dl H S —Whilst of little value in poor soils, yet lime renders useful service when applied to soils that have from long rich manuring become highly charged with humus or vegetable matter. Soil constantly dressed with strong animal manure has a tendency to promote excessive haulm growth in potatoes, not always allied to good tuber pn due- 48 VEGETABLE CULTURE tion. For that reason lime applied by piacing it in heaps — a bushel to two rods of ground — in February covering each heap with soil, then when fully slacked, which is done in a few days, spreading the whole equally over the ground and digging or forking it in at once, constitutes a cheap and valuable dressing. Planting. Except where it is possible to afford some special protection to the young plants, as on warm borders (in which case tubers may be planted in March), it is unwise to place them in the ground very early, lest frost should destroy the plants, as previously in- dicated. The best average time for planting Potatoes, earlier or later according to the locality, is from the middle to the end of April, as then the tops are rarely through the ground until danger from frost is past. Methods of planting differ according to circum- stances. Thus where convenient the work may pro- ceed as the ground is dug, putting the tubers in furrows cut out by the spade, at proper distances apart. Then the ground may have been prepared in the winter, and at planting either have deep fur- rows drawn by a large hoe for the tubers or shallow trenches thrown out a few inches wide and deep with a spade, the soil from the next trench burying the tubers in the preceding one. Again, sets may be planted in prepared soil by dibbling, using for this purpose a large Potato dibbler (Fig. 17), making holes equi-distant in the rows and about six inches deep. The sets are placed carefully into these holes and covered in afterwards by means of a hoe. In the case of very stiff soil it is good practice to have the ground during the winter thrown into sharp ridges some thirty inches wide, then in the spring forking TUBEROUS ROOTED VEGETABLES 49 and breaking up the furrows deeply, drawing along t in-ill deep drills with a hoe, planting the tubers, and forking in the ridges bo till and cover the sets. All such work should be done when the surface of the soil is dry. Potatoes should never be planted in wet, on drained soil. Where it is of a stiff clayey nature, it ought to be dressed in the autumn with fresh long stable manure, then be thrown into ridges as advised, as in that way it becomes aerated and pul- verised. Where needed and practica- ble, it is a good plan to have all Potato ground trenched some two feet in depth, keeping the subsoil where it was, but forking it up deeply and burying into it some fresh or semi- decayed animal manure. This greatly helps to sustain the plants during hot, dry weather. Even where manure is not added, the previous crop having been well dressed, the value of deep Length 2 ft. 9 in. , . , , . . , x Diameter al the working by trenching cannot be over- treddle 4 inches estimated. It is almost of greater ^ in ^ ov p e ^ importance that light porous soils Handlelfoot. should have the deepest working, to secure ample root-depth and moisture during the summer months. Still, much consideration must be given to the subsoil, and, if of gravel, sand, or chalk, keeping it well down, though all the same greatly- loosened. Width of Rows. — As it is customary to plant Potatoes in blocks, the need there is for giving the inner rows ample room and light is too often over- looked. Ordinarily for varieties that are early or make tops of moderate height, 2 feet constitutes a E Fio. 17.— Potato DlBBLER. 50 VEGETABLE CULTURE very good average width between the rows, the sets being about 14 inches apart in them. In the case of strong growers, whose tops range from 2 feet to 2J feet high, the width between the rows should be from 27 to 30 inches, and the sets in the rows 16 inches asunder. In exceptionally good soil, and where growth is very robust, it is better to have the rows even a yard apart, for all the space and air are needed. Comparatively thin planting helps materi- ally to promote healthy growth and heavy crops of tubers, the ample exposure of the leafage to the sun and air enabling the tubers to be far more perfectly matured than is the case when the tops are crowded. Hoeing and Earthing. — As soon as the tops are well through the ground the hoe should be freely and carefully used, not only to destroy, or better, prevent, weeds, but also to render the surface soil thoroughly friable. This work may well be done twice at least on fine days before earthing. "Where rows are crowded, earthing is usually done at the expense of the roots, as it is needful to go deep to find enough soil for the purpose. There, again, an evil arises from too close planting. Greater breadth between the rows enables sufficient soil to form a ridge some 4 or 5 inches deep to be drawn up to the stems. The work ought to be done when the tops are about 6 inches in height, and with so much care that the hoe does not break or injure the leafage. The soil should be brought up close to the stems (a, Fig. 18) on each side so as to support them, to well bury the newly forming tubers — which must on no account be exposed to the air (b) — and also to throw off heavy rains from contact with the tubers and into the furrows between the rows. Rain, when the spores of the disease are active on the leafage, no doubt TUBEROUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES washes them clown into contact with the young tubers, and thus promotes disease in them. Protectives Earthing. — This practice is advised by Mr. Jensen, an eminent Swedish botanist, for the above reason. He advises that Potato rows should be i good width apart, and an extra moulding given u In 11 the growth is strong, a couple of inches or so a b Pro. 18.— Earthing Totatuks. of soil being drawn up flatly on one side, the stems depressed over on to it, and then earthed up on the other side freely with a fork, so thai instead of Standing erect fchey lit' partially on their sides. The ridge of soil formed by the forking thus coining im- mediately over tin- tubers protects them from contact with the disease spores. A similar method was practised by a colony of cottagers in Lincolnshire fortj years ago, and was found to preserve the tubers from disease, but entailed considerable labour, ami never became common in that great Potato-growing county. Anti-Disease Dressings.— With the discovery of E 2 52 VEGETABLE CULTURE the now famous Bordeaux Mixture has come into use the first real means of successfully combating the Potato disease. This mixture usually consists of equal quantities of sulphate of copper (blue stone) and of fresh unslaked lime. These should be placed over night in separate vessels with sufficient water to thoroughly dissolve them, so that next clay, being poured into a large wooden vessel and mixed, they can have added a certain quantity of water. Thus, if 5 lb. of each ingredient be dissolved, the proportion of added water should be about 20 gallons. When thus mixed the solution should be of a pale blue tint. Some treacle, about a pound, may be added to make the solution adhesive, but it is not an in- dispensable ingredient. The proper time to give the Potato tops a first dressing is usually about the middle of July, but if the disease-spot appears it should be applied earlier. The be^ method of ap- plication is by the aid of a knapsack sprayer carried by the operator on his back, and from which a tube at the bottom conveys the liquid through a spreader in a mist-like form, resting like dew on the Potato tops. The work is best done towards evening, and when the weather is dry and quiet. A second dressing may be given about ten days or a fortnight later. If properly done, and with sufficient frequency, the result should be saving of the leafage and stems from the disease-spots for some three or four weeks longer than is the case in ordinary seasons with undressed breadths ; consequently more starch is manufactured by the leaves, heavier crops of more or less sound tubers resulting. In the case of late or main crop breadths the gain through properly applied dressings has been from 20 to 30 per cent, of produce. Some persons apply the antidote in powder form, and find it useful. TUBEROUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 53 Lifting the Tubers. — Except where needed for immediate use, it is best to leave the tubers to become a.s ripe as possible before lifting, choosing fine days so tbat they may be stored dry. Care should be taken in lifting, not to injure the tubers, but to place the fork well under and throw them all out on to the soil. It is well to allow them to lie on the ground for a few hours to thoroughly dry, and if soil adheres to them it should be removed as much as possible in picking. The larger or edible tubers may be col- lected first ; then the second size and handsomest, for Pig. r.>.— Box-barbow. Length "t box ! feel ; width 1 foot 3 inches; depth l foot 4 inches. This size will carry 2 cwt. of soil, and the wheels rasa through a gate 20 inches wide. Back movable for easy discharge of contents. 3eed : the refuse being taken last, and utilised for pigs, poultry, or in other ways. The tubers ought to be gently handled— pitching them roughly into baskets, or shooting them as roughly into bags, being a vicious practice leading to subsequent deterioration and loss. A box-barrow (Fig. 19), which a cottager can easily make or obtain, is useful for conveying produce to and from allotments. Storing. — This must of necessity be done accord- ing to circumstances ; but it is a good plan to make heaps of the b«s1 tubers in a shed or outhouse, covering them thickly with straw to exclude air, 54 VEGETABLE CULTURE allowing them to remain so for a month j then again going over them, removing all diseased or damaged samples, and consigning the best to closer quarters in pits or clamps outdoors where they can be kept dry; or in large boxes or tubs, or heaps in cellars, where frost as well as light and air can be fully excluded. During the winter all stored Potatoes should be overhauled every few weeks. Remember that for eating the tubers should be kept in the dark, those for planting being better in a light position. Exhibiting Potatoes. — The practice of growing Potatoes to give specially handsome tubers for exhibi- tion is common, and on the whole it is wisest to plant selected sorts separately for that purpose. The sorts should be early or late according to the time of year when needed, and the planting tubers whole, of some 3 to 4 ounces in weight, disbudded to one stout shoot, and planted in highly prepared soil, having ample room. In lifting use the greatest care to pre- vent harm being done to the tender skins, as these should be free from all bruises or blemish. Select as lifted the handsomest though not necessarily the largest tubers, place them in a basket carefully, carry into a shed and put each one into a covering of soft paper, and keep from light and air until needed for showing, when they should be gently washed in tepid water, dried with a cloth, repapered, and so carried to the exhibition. Care of this description is amply repaid, if the tubers be good, by the success attendant on it in the securing of the coveted prizes. Varieties. — These are very numerous, and con- stantly increasing. High prices indicate scarcity, not, necessarily, superiority. For Table use it is prudent to retain varieties of TUBEROUS ROOTED VEGETABLES proved value in any particular locality, at least, until others arc found, after fair trials under the same con- ditions, to supersede them. First Earlies. — Ashleaf, Ringleader, Duke of York, Sharpe's Victor, and Sutton's Earbinger are typical. Second Earlies and Mid-Season onwards. — Sir John Llewellyn, Puritan, Ninety-fold, Royal Kidney, Windsor Castle, and British Queen. Later (Winter and Spring) Varieties. — The Factor, Up-to-Date, Duchess of Cornwall, Evergood, and Sutton's Discovery. For Exhibiting, selections of the foregoing, accord- ing to the shape required, are suitable, as also, among others, are the following : — White Rounds. — Snowball, Syon House Prolific, Cigarette, and Northern Star. ( 'uloured Rounds. — Reading Russet, King of tho Russets, The Dean, and Conference. Coloured Kidney*. — Beauty of Hebron, Prizetaker, Reading Ruby, and King Edward VII. Artichokes. The tuberous -rooted (Helianthus tuberosus), fanci- fully called the Jerusalem Artichoke (Fig. 20), has very tall stems, often reaching to a height of from 7 to 8 feet. This vegetable is propagated solely by tubers. These should be of medium size, and planted in deeply dug and fairly manured soil in March, in rows 24 feet apart, and the sets 15 inches wide in them. They may be planted 4 inches deep with an ordinary Potato dibbler. The free use of the hoe amongst the stems during the summer is the chief labour required. In the autumn, when the 56 VEGETABLE CULTURE stems die down, they may be removed, and the tubers lifted, sorted, and stored in ashes ; or they may be dug as needed, care being taken to have a portion of the bed protected by litter in hard weather. The flesh of the tubers is of a soft, waxy nature, and the flavour is much appreciated in soups. The tubers are also esteemed by many persons served as a dish. Fig. 20.— Jerusalem Artichokes. Artichokes contain no starch, and therefore cannot be boiled floury like Potatoes, but embody a considerable amount of sugar, and are wholesome. The white- skinned variety now much grown is better than the red. Stacrys tubertfera. — This is the Chinese Arti- choke, and is also hardy, but of very dwarf bushy growth, and small long pointed, corkscrew-shaped tubers, pure white iu colour. This form likes good TUBEROUS-ROOTED VEGETABLES 57 deep soil, the tubers being planted in March, 12 inches asunder, in rows about 20 inches apart. The dense top growth soon covers the ground. Tubers in the autumn and winter may be lifted as needed, and thrown at once into water, to remain until finally washed ; then gently boiled, dried off, then fried for a short time; so served they make a delicious dish. Fig. 21.-Chine.se Artichokes. The tubers are best left in the ground until needed. Kept from the air they remain white, and if properly cooked make an agreeable vegetable, distinct from all others, and usually much appreciated. POD-BEARING VEGETABLES. Strikingly diverse in every respect from roots are all those vegetables which produce edible matter in the form of fruits, as found in the seeds of Peas and Beans, or in pulpy matter, as evidenced in Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Vegetable Marrows. Whilst those roots referred to in the preceding chapters give their produce chiefly in the winter, the pod or fruit-bear- ing vegetables are essentially of summer growth, most of them finding a somewhat short season in which to perfect their fruit, some being very tender others more or less hardy. Young plants of Peas, for instance, will endure an average British winter without harm. Still, late spring frosts often do great mischief to the flowers, and in that fact we realise that, after all, even Peas may be classed as somewhat tender plants. Broad Beans constitute the most hardy section of these pod-bearers, but they are only relatively so, as hard weather often seriously injures the young plants. Generally speaking, seeds may be sown with comparative safety in January, but February is a common month for sowing, and it is unwise in the southern districts of the kingdom to sow later than the end of March, as the plants are so sus- ceptible in heat to attacks of black aphis, whilst the flowers also become blind. Peas may, where soils POD-BEARIN<; VEGETABLES 59 are retentive, bo sown as late as the end of June, but there is much risk attached to later sowings. Kidney Beans are essentially tender. They thrive only in warmth, and, if well sustained by moisture and a deeply worked soil, suffer very little from heat in summer. These Beans, whether climbing or bushy, rank amongst the most valuable hot-weather vege- tables that can be grown. They are, however, cut down by an early autumn frost, when perhaps in the height of cropping. Where it is practicable, it often pays, after the middle of September, and the tem- {Hi.it me falls, to furnish some protection to rows of tender Beans, as they are then saved for some three or four weeks' later bearing. Dwarf Kidney, or so-called French Beans, if tender, or perhaps because they are so, prove singu- larly valuable in that, beyond all other pod-bearers, they force easily under glass during the winter, and can be made, in case of necessity, to furnish a supply of succulent pods all the year round. Peas and their Culture. Because, as previously pointed out, these are sum- mer-cropping plants, io is essential that they have ample root room in generous soil. In the case of early dwarf Peas there is not the same strain on the roots, and they will produce very good crops in soil that is deeply dug. Still even these, should the weather, jnst l>ef ore the crop is maturing, prove dry, will greatly benefit if the ground has been worked some 20 to 24 inches in depth. In the case of taller Peas that range from 3i feet to 6 feet in height, it is indispensable for the pro- duction of really good crops that the ground be trenched, and have a liberal dressing of manure, 60 VEGETABLE CULTURE buried some 10 or 12 inches deep, to furnish the roots with food and moisture during critical periods of growth. Where it may not be possible to have a large area of ground prepared by deep trenching, it is good practice to sow rows of tall-growing Peas at distances of from 10 to 12 feet apart, using the intervening ground for other low-growing crops. For such rows trenches should be made across the garden or plot at least 18 inches wide, the top spit being thrown out ; then the bottom spit, or subsoil, broken up 12 inches deep with the aid of a stout fork, and on that laid a thick coating of fresh moist manure, a few inches of the top soil thrown in upon that, then the manure well intermixed by forking with the soil, finally throwing nearly the whole of the top soil into the trench, which may then be trodden, a drill drawn, and the Peas sown. What soil is left may be partly used to cover the seed, and to form a ridge on each side that will enable good waterings to be given later to the plants. When a number of rows are grown side by side on a piece of ground, the very dwarf kinds must not be less than 20 inches apart, and the width between the rows of the taller Peas should be at least equal to their height. Crowding of the rows is a far too common evil in Pea culture. Seed Sowing. — Few vegetables suffer more from excessively thick sowing than do Peas. Ordin- arily twice as much seed is sown as is needful, and not unfrequently the plants are three times too thick. What seems to be, when the plants are a few inches in height, a fine promising row is, when cropping time comes, a comparative failure ; because the plants are so crowded they are literally starved, and hence the blooms come blind or the pods are few and poor, The finest pods of Peas are always found on rows that POD-BEARING VEGETABLES 61 have ample room and the plants thinly sown, having also good root-depth in rich soil. Small hard round early Peas may be sown more closely, but all the best large-seeded varieties should be not less than two inches apart in the rows. It is a good plan to either diau a wide drill, or else two separate drills, one on Fio. 22.- Pea Flant branching and bearing. each side of a line, and in that way strong plants are produced, because they have ample room. In the case of very strong-growing varieties 3 inches apart is not too wide for (1m- seeds in a double row or a Hat drill. Fig. 22 shows how a pea plant will branch when room is afforded. Supporting Peas. — Pea supports are indispensable 62 VEGETABLE CULTURE to the growth of full crops. Pea plants naturally throw out tendrils in search of supports, and the plants are always stronger and more prolific when such aids are provided. Suitable sticks are found in the small Hazel Nut branches, Wych Elms, Larch, or other free- branching trees. Such branches should be cut with a sharp hook the length desired, trimmed into shape, have the bottom sharply pointed so as to be fixed easily in the ground, and be placed a few inches from the Pea plants on each side of the rows, but close enough to prevent the growths falling between them. A few small brashy twigs inserted between the taller are very useful, also economical, as a less number of the latter suffice. Pea sticks are cheap in woodland districts, but dear in the suburbs of most towns. In these latter places it is well to purchase strong flat frames of stout wirework with large diamond-shaped meshes or openings. These range in height from 3 to 6 feet. They have to be secured to stout stakes, but once fixed are excellent for the object in view. They may be stored in a dry place in the winter, and if duly cared for will last for many years. Supports of whatever kind should be affixed when the Pea plants are 2 inches high. It is wise to gather Peas the moment these are ready for the table, so that the plants are relieved of the strain of producing pods. Too commonly Peas are allowed to hang too long, thus impairing the productiveness of the plants ; nor should the hauhns be bruised in gathering, as this ruptures the sap- vessels' and arrests further growth. When it is desired to save pods of any variety for seed, a portion of a row should be specially saved for that purpose. If the best pods be gathered for eating, and only the later ones left to ripen, then the stock will become weakened and unprofitable POD-BEARING VEGETABLES 63 Varieties. — Although Peas are divided into whites and blues, rounds and wrinkled — these terms applying to the dry seeds — varieties are usually selected for height, for productiveness, for flavour, for earliness or lateness, or perhaps for capacity to produce large handsome pods for exhibition or some similar reason. So wonderfully varied in these respects are Peas that every wish can be satisfied. Peas, however, are subject to considerable change in popularity as new varieties arc introduced. Hence the selection given below must be regarded as made for the present time but not for all time. I )\\ auf Peas have been much improved of late and L r i\(» produce of great excellence over a long season. William Hurst, Chelsea Gem, English Wonder, Carter's I>aisy, Robert Fenn, and Omega range from 18 to li 1 inches in height. They are great croppers in generous soil and delicious in quality. They are appropriate for small gardens or allotments, and need but trilling supports. They also admit of inter- cropping with winter greens. Medium Height Peas. — Among the best are Sut- ton's Early Giant, Webb's Senator, Edwin Beckett, The Gladstone, and Autocrat, which ripen in the order named. Prestige, Sharpe's Queen, and Latest of All are also good. These excellent varieties range in height from I) to 4 feet, and afford a long succession of superior produce. Senator is very productive. The others afford fine pods for ex- hibiting. Tall Peas always pay to grow on good and somewhat retentive soil, and where stakes can be obtained cheaply. These must range from 5 to 7 feet in height. Tall Peas should be sown thinly, as they need ample light and air. Of these it is enough to mention Telephone, Duke of Albany, and Alderman 64 VEGETABLE CULTURE for the production of large pods for showing, and Ne Plus Ultra, Reading Giant, and Champion of England for flavour. Varieties that have long hand- some pods, the peas in them thickly set, and open well are the best. Yery broad puffed pods are rarely so useful for table or so desirable at exhibi- tions. Sowings may be made from January till June. Reputably Peas, like all the pod-bearers, need little nitrogenous manure, having the faculty to generate nitrogen for their use. Still, experience proves that they thrive best when the ground has been well dressed with moist animal manure, especially during dry seasons. Where, however, chemical manures have to be used as dressings, equal portions of superphos- phate and kainite at the rate of 5 cwt. to the acre, or about 2 ozs. to the square yard, may be dug in when the ground is being prepared, and a dressing of half the quantity of nitrate of soda may be scattered on the soil and hoed in after the plants are a few inches in height. Apart from its manurial properties, nitrate of soda helps materially to retain moisture in the soil in dry weather, and that is often of great importance. Broad Beans. This term includes the sections commonly known as Broad Windsor and Long Pod. The distinction, however, is not one of species but of form of pod. Windsor Beans have short, broad pods, and seldom have in them more than two, or at the most three beans. Efforts made to produce greater length with corresponding breadth have not been very successful, but it is possible that great improvement may be obtained in that direction. Varieties of the true broad type that carry four or five beans in a pod are ro])-];i-:.\!;ix<; vkcktahlks ii.-) usually found in illustrations only. For market nsea the Broad Windsor still seems to be the uiost generally grown, but wore the good, long-podded varieties better known, no doubt they would be much FlO. 23. — BBOAS IJians. nf drooping Long-pod and Broad Windsor with the uprighl Beck's Gem. more in demand. These are so much handsomer and more prolific that it is no matter for surprise that they are so generally grown in the best-managed private gardens. Since the introduction of the very lon^-podded Seville race, known also as Mammoth, Aquadulce, 66 VEGETABLE CULTURE Exhibition, and Leviathan, few others seem to be grown for exhibition, although it cannot be truth- fully said that they are the best average croppers. If the pods be very long they are not always thickly placed on the stems, and very often the beans in the pods are wide apart. When, however, these Seville pods are straight, fresh, green, handsome, and well filled, they invariably attract the attention of judges first. The Seville section is an early one also, and may well be grown for that reason. Broad Beans are usually so hardy they may be sown in late autumn to stand the winter. Ordin- arily, however, there is little gain attached to such sowings, and experience proves that sowings made in January will give quite as early and often much better results. These Beans are such cool-weather plants and so impatient of heat, that such sowings as are made should be got in during the first three months of the year. Then the crops may be gathered before the weather becomes hot and dry. If sown in quantity the drills should be at least 24 inches apart for single rows and 27 inches asunder for double rows, the seeds being placed about 4 inches apart in the lines. When the stems have on them a good covering of flowers the tops of the plants should be picked out. That checks undue growth and throws strength into pod-production. Broad Beans like strong holding soil, and where the soil is naturally light it should be deeply trenched, have a liberal dressing of moist, half-decayed manure, buried down in it several inches, and the ground well solidified by treading. Sow seeds in the drills at the distance above named apart, as thinly grown plants always give the best results. Beans like plenty of moisture, and a mulching of long manure is very helpful in hot weather in preventing evapora- POD-BEARIN<; VWJKTABLES 67 (ion. Mulching means covering the soil 2 or 3 inches thick with manure. VARIETIES. — These, as we have said, vary in character, but they are not at all numerous. The best of the dwarf or Fan Cluster section, specially suitable for very small gardens, as it only grows 18 Inches m height, is Beck's Green Gem, a very prolific sort of the best quality, but the pods are small. Then come the Early Long Pod, so good and hardy, and Johnson's Wonderful, a sturdy maincrop variety tli.it carries pods of good medium length and in great profusion. Next there are the true broads as Found in the Old Windsor, the Green Windsor, and the Barlington Wonder. These are closely allied, being simply selections from the original Windsor, intro- duced by a Dutchman to the Royal Borough many generations ago, and hence its well-known appellation. Broad Beans are cooked when rather young ; but when older they are very good if the skins are removed after cooking, and the peeled Beads sent to table. The practice of topping the plants not only bends to render the pods finer, but it also, when the Black Aphis is abundant, removes those portions of the plant on which the insects prefer to feed and ruin the crops. Runner Beans. Whilst under this heading it is usua* to associate the Bcarlet or rough Runner, it must not be forgotten that there are also smooth-podded Runners of great merit that are well worthy of good cultivation. All the Runner Beans grow tall if supported by stakes or other material of adequate height. Where the soil has been deeply worked by trenching, and is well fed by good dressings of manure, the rows placed 6 to f 2 VEGETABLE CULTURE 8 feet apart, and the seeds sown not less than 6 inches asunder in the drills, it frequently happens that the growth will run to a height of 12 feet Fig. 24.— Arch of Runner Beans. and produce flowers and pods most abundantly, all the way from bottom to top ; and if the pods are gathered as soon as they are large enough for use, preventing seed formation, the plants will continue POD-BEARING VEGETABLES 69 product ive from early in July until tho end of October. En gardens it is always preferable to sow rows of Runner Beans at very wide intervals so that other crops can come between them. In that way ample light and air reach the plants and the flowers set profusely. Wry much, however, may be decided by local conditions. Wonderfully productive arc these climb- ing Beans when trained up string or to tall sticks close to walls or fences. Even in towns they often do well in that way, and they are also seen form- ing useful and ornamental arches in suburban gardens as represented in Fig. 24. In held culture or in allotments, where it may not be practicable to furnish stakes for supports, the usual practice is to sow thinly in drills 3 feet apart, pinching the twining Bhoots frequently and thus keeping the plants dwarf. In that way they will hear profusely and for a long 'ii if tho pods are regularly gathered. This plan usually admits of Brussels Sprouts or other strong-growing winter greens being put out between t he Bean rows. Varieties. — This section, so well known and so popular, includes what are called white Runners, both the flowers and seeds being white, but the pods exactly resemble those of the typical scarlet-flowered variety. A- these two forms constantly sport and iv sport, it seems that in all other respects they are identical, though some persons consider the pods of the white Runner more delicate in flavour than those of its scarlet congener. The old Painted Lady has flowers both scarlet and white, the pods rather short but freely produced. This variety is not, as a rule, so robust as are the other forms. The common white Runner is now practically displaced by such tine selections as Giant White, White Czar, and 70 VEGETABLE CULTURE Giant Titan, all producing very long broad pods in great numbers but these should be eaten while quite young. Of the scarlet section we have many very fine forms indeed. The old Scarlet is quite put aside by gardeners in favour of Ne Plus Ultra, Hill's Prize, Sutton's Prizewinner and others, all of the same type, pods long, narrow, straight, fleshy, and very handsome. They are often from 10 to 11 inches in length, yet when quite young are tender and hand- some. Girtford Giant produces huge pods. Next come the smooth-podded Runners, the best of which are Sutton's Tender and True, or Veitch's Climbing French Beans. They may be described as climbing selections from the Canadian Wonder Dwarf French Bean, and this, it may not be generally known, is the ancient Flageolet under a modern name. Those who prefer smooth-podded climbing Beans will find the two varieties named excellent. Height about 6 feet. The old Case Knife, or Dutch section, is now little grown. These have long, narrow, smooth pods that have a slight curve towards the point. The flavour is somewhat different from other Beans. The seeds are smallish and flat, generally greyish- white. One of the best of the section is Fillbasket. These grow to a height of about 6 feet. Sowings may be made in May and June. Butter Beans. — These are highly favoured on the Continent, the pods being boiled whole, then served in sauce or melted butter. So cooked they are most delicious. When ready for use the pods are long, smooth, quite round, and of a beautiful golden colour. They are simply trimmed at both ends, then cooked entire. The best sorts are Mont d'Or and The Hungarian. They reach to a height of about 5 feet, should be sown thinly towards the end of May, POD-BE A IUN< J VK( i ETA BL ES 71 and need the same culture and attention as other Runner Beans, but are more tender. Dwarf French Beans. — One of the great uses to which this section of Beans can be put, and which renders them of especial value to gardeners, is that they may be grown in heated houses or frames in the winter, and thus help by successiona] sowings to maintain a supply all through that dull season. No Bueh course is open to cottage or allotment gardeners, and they have to make the best of the section in the Bummer months only, and in the open air. Under WSWM I I ' i! h;i ■■ ii I'.i \\ ( \\ \|.| \\ WONDKB. dwarf Beans are usually grown in pots, some 6 or 9 plants in those 7 and 8 inches in diameter. They .no stood on shelves or as near to the glass as possible, so as to render fertilisation of the flowers e;i<\, and also to keep the plants dwarf. Sowings are usually made every month where a supply is needed all the winter. A temperature of from 50° to 70° is required to induce the plants to pod freely. 72 VEGETABLE CULTURE The best varieties for this purpose are Syon House, Osborn's Forcing, and later Ne Plus Ultra. Outdoor Culture. — Dwarf French Beans are very tender, and therefore should not be sown in the open ground until it is probable that ere the seed leaves are through the ground all danger from spring frost is over. This stage of growth usually takes from 10 to 14 days. Again, it is of no use to sow later than the middle of August for late pickings unless the plants can have some special protection towards the end of September, as a light frost then will de- stroy them. If the first sowings be made about the second week in May, they may be continued every two weeks until the middle of August. The common rule is to sow in drills at 2 feet apart, the seeds in the drills being from 3 to 4 inches asunder. As a rule seeds of these Beans are sown too thickly. It is not well to sow too many at once. More frequent sow- ings of small quantities give better results. It may be repeated that when picking commences it should be persevered in rigidly, as if Beans be allowed to become hard and useless for eating the plants soon become exhausted. French Beans thrive very well on ordinary garden soil deeply dug and moderately enriched. Late sowings follow well after early Potatoes or other crops previously manured for. Drills should be about 3 inches in depth, and if the weather be very dry it is a good plan not only to flood them with water over night, but also to soak the seeds for a few hours before sowing. That plan indeed applies equally to Peas and Runner Beans, as the water absorbed as well as the moist condition of the drills greatly assists germination when otherwise the hot, dry condition of the soil would check it. Varieties. — Although there is a considerable number of dwarf Beans, some are fitted for forcing POT) r.l'..\i:iX(J VEGETABLES 73 only, and some older ones have been displaced by others of greater excellence. Still, new varieties are rarely prod need, the best existing kinds being so excellent. Three of the best in cultivation are Ne Plus Ultra, seeds of a brown colour, very early and prolific ; Long-podded Negro, seeds flattish, long, and black in colour, and Canadian Wonder, probably the most widely grown of all the section ; pods very long, straight, clean, and handsome ; seeds long and of a reddish colour. This variety is more grown for exhi- bition than is any other, and it is also a first-class variety for all ordinary uses. II \iucot Beans. — There are both tall and dwarf forma of these, the seeds being white, roundish, and consumed in a ripe state, after being properly cooked. They are wholesome and nutritious. These Beans are very little grown in Britain, but largely imported and sold cheaply ; yet, when desired, home supplies may be had in all districts in which Scarlet Runners and Dwarf Kidney Beans will ripen their seeds, and the culture of all is identical FRUIT-BEARING VEGETABLES. This section differs very materially from the pod- bearers dealt with in the last chapter. Even with those there are distinctions, for while of Peas and Broad Beans the seeds only are edible, with Runner and French Beans both shell and soft small miniature seeds are eaten. Fruit-bearing plants, that are classed as vegetables, have on the other hand thick pulpy flesh enclosing the seeds, and that is consumed while the seeds are either rejected or not classed as food. Thus of Vegetable Marrows we reject the seeds, of Cucumbers we eat the fruits that have not seeded, and of Tomato fruits the seeds are of no importance whatever. It is in the pulp entirely that we find food, and in each case it differs mate- rially in texture, flavour, and method of use. Vegetable Marrows. These first command attention, for they are most easily and widely grown. We see them excellent in cottage and other gardens, allotments, and in open fields. The plants are of the Cucumber or Gourd family, are easily raised from seeds sown under glass, and may be exposed to the weather with safety only after spring frosts are gone ; they also soon succumb to early, autumn frosts ; hence their season as out- FRUIT-BE ARIN< J VEGETABLES 75 door plants is short, and it is rarely they are grown otherwise. Vegetable Marrows are very accommo- dating all the same ; they can be made to grow almost anywhere, if there be suitable soil and moisture, and in hot, dry seasons the plants thrive all the better for a liberal supply of water to the roots. The ordinary culture may be briefly described as follows : seeds may be sown in a frame or green- house early in the month of April in pots or shallow boxes filled with good soil. The seeds should be pressed in thinly so as to bury them properly, and the soil kept moist but not over wet. If the plants be wanted extra early, to have them ready to put out under hand-lights or in frames where they will be protected for a time from frosts, then seeds may 1»»- Bown a 1 tout the middle of March in gentle heat. When the seedlings are showing rough leaves lift the plants carefully from the pots or boxes and either place them singly in 3 inch pots or two plants in a 5 inch pot, then place them again in the greenhouse or frame and so assist them to grow strongly. A week or ten days before it is desired to plant them out they should be well exposed to the air during the day. so that they may become somewhat hardened and fitted for outdoor exposure. Even when planted out a littlo protection of some kind is desirable in cold weather. It is also easy to raise plants by sowing three or four seeds on specially prepared mounds made by taking out a few spits of soil at intervals of 4 to 6 feet apart, placing in the holes some good manure, and if warm or partially heated all the better, mixing some of the soil with this and forming a slightly raised hillock of the whole. Then make a small ring in the centre 2 inches in depth, and bury the seeds in it. 76 VEGETABLE CULTURE When the plants are well up they may be thinned to about three of the strongest. Such sowings should be made about the first week in May. It is well to protect the young plants at night until they have become strong. Marrows in well-prepared stations succeed on the flat. They do riot answer less well planted on heaps of half decayed refuse, and they will run ov r er fences, pig-sties, or out-houses ; and there can Fig. 26. — Vegetable Marrows. Long White and Custard Shaped. be no doubt that the plants are made fruitful when the bines are so elevated, as they are warmer and enjoy their drier positions. Vegetable Marrows, like all the Gourd family, carry both male or pollen-bearing and female or seed-producing flowers, and fertilisa- tion of the latter with the pollen of the former is indispensable. That however is in the open air usually accomplished by insects or the wind. When the bines grow very gross it is good practice to pinch out the points and thus induce greater fruitfulness, but the growths must not be densely crowded, or the small fruits will perish with the fading of the flowers. Varieties. — While the Gourd family is of an KKUT r,KARIN<; VKcKTAKLKK 77 exceedingly varied nature ami comprises huge Pump- kins and small Pear-shaped and other forms, few of those are of any value. Of eatable Marrows the selection is much less varied. The most commonly grown, and for market and exhibition purposes by far the most popular, is the Long White, sometimes smooth and sometimes ribbed (Fig. 24). It is very handsome and productive. There are long cream or green striped varieties also some of medium length both white and green. Very prolific but bearing rounder and much smaller fruit are Pen-y-byd, Moore's Cream, and Hibberd's Prolific, all white ; the old bush or compact-growing Custard Marrow is very good also. Of the Squashes, as some of the Pumpkin forms are termed, one of the best is the Egg-shaped Ohio Squash, that has flesh of a yellow colour, and when cooked has a pleasant flavour with a Marrow-like texture. It is not a very prolific variety. Marrows are getting too old for cooking when the rind resists pressure by the thumb-nail. PRESERVING M ARROWS. — Apart from using Marrows in a cooked state whilst green and tender, the employment of those that have become large, but not hard-skinned, for the making of a preserve is worthy of notice. The fruits should be cut into long strips, have all the rind and seed removed, then be cut into cubes about 1\ inches by \ an inch, and laid in a pan alternately with layers of white sugar and some over the top, then covered and left for the night. The whole should next day be slowly boiled in the stewpan, and when nearly done have a little ground ginger, also a few drops of essence of lemon added and stirred in to impart flavour. The cubes become solidified, and later resemble preserved ginger, presenting in this way a cheap, wholesome, and delicious preserve. 78 VEGETABLE CULTURE Cucumbers. With the exception of the ordinary ridge Cu- cumber it is not possible to grow these in Great Britain except under glass such as frames or houses. Ridge Cucumbers are in warm seasons very well and easily grown but in cold summers they do not thrive. They are usually grown on a somewhat raised or elevated ridge of soil in a warm or sheltered position. Holes made in the ridge at intervals of 3 feet, filled with warm manure on which are placed several inches of soil, and in this some five or six seeds sown in the form of a ring, is the ordinary method of raising plants as it is usually the best to sow seeds where the plants are to grow. If the plants be too thick they may easily be thinned whilst still young. At the first it is well to place large pots, baskets, or hand-lights over the young plants at night, but not after all danger from late frost is passed. A com- mon practice where Cucumbers are grown in fields for market, is to sow a row of Rye between every two or three ridges or rows, as in that way the sweep of cold winds is checked and the plants are protected. The end of May is a good time for sowing the seeds, and one of the best varieties is King of the Ridge. Frame Cucumbers. — Originally it was the practice to grow these varieties in frames placed on manure beds, or else in brick pits heated by flues and hot manure. That plan is now much fallen into disuse, because it is found to be so much easier to grow the plants in low houses heated by hot-water pipes, as in that way a suitable and equable temperature is easily maintained. Still cottagers and allotment holders who wish to grow long Cucumbers have to em- FRUIT-BEARING VEGETABLES 7!) ploy frames, and often without artificial heat of any sort. If they can obtain good plants about the end of May and plant them in a frame stood on the ground, the soil within being raised into a mound in the centre, and place the plants in this mound, give warm water, then shut up the frame closely, and Flr three varieties, but the green form is the best. This horb may be grown easily in ordinary garden soil, and plants may be raised by putting in, early in the autumn or spring, portions of the branches as cuttings. These soon make roots and grow. Sage can also be raised from seeds. Other herbs, such as Sweet Marjoram, Sweet Basil, Fennel, common and Lemon Thyme, also Savory, may be easily raised from seeds, and the latter trio also by division of the plants in the spring. EDIBLE-STEMMED PLANTS. Under this heading is found a class of plants very different from any previously mentioned. We have in them also great diversity of food material. Chiefly these stem products are edible only when in a blanched or partially blanched state, a condition to which they can very easily be brought by certain simple treatment such as is described in this chapter. Special value attaches to the products now re- ferred to, seeing that tbey can be largely utilised during the winter and early spring periods of the year, when most hardy vegetables are scarce. With our better knowledge of the treatment of Sea Kale, for instance, we can have this valuable stem vegetable in constant supply all through the winter with com- parative ease, and we can have Asparagus, Celery, Mushrooms, and Rhubarb also throughout the winter. It will thus be seen that the stem section of vege- tables is far from being the least important. It is also a section in which there is little change in varieties, for most of these are identical with what have been in cultivation for many years. Asparagus. This is a well-known British plant, and is frequently met with on our sea shores. That it is of a semi- EDIBLE-STEM Mill) PLANTS 103 aquatic nature there can be ao doubt \ hence- the common practice of giving to cultivated breadths occasional dressings of salt. Still, it is well to know that during hot, '»t> (Fig. :'> 1 ) being spread out H.— Aspau ag us-Crow*) i >b Pi inting. flatwise to give them a good hold. The drills are then filled in, leaving the tips of the growths level with the surface. The after-treatment consists in keeping the hoe freely used to repress weeds, giving light dressing of chemical manure, but otherwise leaving the breadths alone until the winter, when a fresh top dressing of an inch or two more of soil may be added and lightly forked in. The treatment for all following years must be the same. Not till the third year from planting, however, should any heads be cut, as by that time the plants will have 106 VEGETABLE CULTURE 'Y t \ ■' Fig. 35. Asparagus Head — Half Na- tural Size. become very strong. Where roots are needed for forcing it is the rule to plant a good breadth of Asparagus in this way every year, and thus maintain a constant supply. Raising Plants. — Seeds being easily obtained, any one may raise his own plants. The proper time for sowing is about the middle of April ; ground should have been well prepared for the purpose, and the seeds sown thinly in drills 15 inches apart. When the plants are easily seen in the rows the hoe should be freely used to destroy weeds and loosen the soil, also the plants should be thinned out to about a foot apart. They must be encouraged to make all possible growth during the season, and will be ready for lifting and re planting where needed in the following spring. April is the best month for sowing seeds and trans- planting seedlings. Some gardeners sow their breadths direct rather than have to transplant, when the rows are generally about 2 feet apart. Cutting the Stems. — This may begin in the third year. It is best to take large and small, so long as cutting goes on. The heads may have their points about 2 inches above the soil, and coloured before being cut, but the scales on the heads should not have opened. The stems (Fig. 35 ), when properly cut as low down in the soil as they can be, should be from 7 to 8 EDIBLE-STEMMED PLANTS H»7 inches in length, but the lower [tortious of bho sterna are usually hard and uneatable. The cutting may continue until from the middle to the end of June. A proper Asparagus knife is the best instrument for the work, as little harm is then done to the growing stems. Asparagus roots are easily forced by lifting old ones in the winter as needed, placing them thickly together in soil in some dark warm place, such as in a mushroom house, and giving a good watering. Stems soon spring up, and may be cut for use for some time. Ska Kale. Used simply as a cooked vegetable, this is perhaps one of the most easily grown and most serviceable of the entire section. The plant is thoroughly hardy, docs well on all soils if they be adequately prepared, is easily propagated either by seeds or root cuttings, occupies the ground but a few months, and, once a good stock of roots is obtained, furnishes an abundant supply of blanched heads all through the winter. The old method of culture consisted in planting roots in trebles in good soil, usually in some remote quarter of a garden, covering these clumps with Sea Kale pots or other utensils, or heaping coal ashes over the crowns in the autumn or winter, then covering por- tions at a time with long manure and leaves, so as to give some warmth and exclude light and air. When the heads were long enough they were cut close to the ground. After the covering was cleared away new crowns formed, and these were again covered the following winter, blanched, and cut as be- fore. The method is a very untidy one, and often con- duces to the production of Sea Kale tainted with the odour of the manure. Then the roots, after a few 108 VEGETABLE CULTURE years, die away, the plantation becomes tnin, and it is needful to make an entirely fresh one for that reason. Raising from Seeds. — Assuming the ground has previously been dug, or, better, half trenched, and a heavy dressing of manure buried in it, the surface should be well hoed and levelled, and drills drawn 18 inches apart as for Peas. The proper time for sowing is the end of April. Seeds should be placed in the drills thinly, otherwise there may be great waste in thinning later. Being covered in 2 inches deep with soil, germination soon ensues, and the young leafage is seen in about 3 weeks. The hoe should then be used, not only to stir the soil be- tween the rows, but also to thin the plants down to some 10 inches apart, as the leaves become very gross and need ample space. Beyond keeping the hoe well employed, little more can be done during the summer except giving a thin dressing of salt or nitrate of soda, if possible just before a shower ; in dry weather give the dressing in the evening, well hoeing it into the ground the next morning. By the end of November the leafage will have fallen and decayed. It will be then found that all the roots have projecting but dormant crowns. The next course is to have the roots well dug out, so as to secure the lifting of the smaller as well as the large roots. The main or stout portion, with crowns attached, being required for blanching or planting out to form new plantations, should have all the side roots trimmed off, then be laid in thickly in soil out in the open, protecting them with litter against severe frost. It is well to assort the roots into large and small, if the latter be needed for planting. Where such is not the case, all may be blanched as needed without sorting KDIRLK-STKMMED PLANTS mi) Root Cuttings. — Onco a stock of roots has been raised from seeds, propagation by root cuttings may be relied on in future years. Ln the present case all the side roots removed from the main por- tions as advised will do to make root cuttings. They will vary in size from that of a pipe stem to that of a man's little finger. Cut all straight pieces Fig. 36— Sfa Kai.e. A, A.UTUMN RoOT-CUTTlNa. B, The same in Spring, ready fob Planting. C, Product for Use. to a length of about 4 inches, having the upper end, that cut from the main stem, quite level, and the other or bottom end cut slantingly (A, Fig. 3G). This should be done in the autumn. Lay these root cuttings in thickly in soil, chopping down a furrow about 5 inches deep with a spade, planting the sets or cuttings quite thickly right or level ends upwards, 110 VEGETABLE CULTURE then put soil against them and slightly cover the tops. Proceed to lay in rows of cuttings *in the same way a few inches from each other until the entire stock is complete. By the spring most of these will not only have callused over both ends, but will have begun to form crowns and roots (B). They are ready for planting towards the end of April. They should be dibbled in rows some 20 inches apart and about 10 inches asunder in them. All care should be taken to plant the crown end upper- most, and to have them about half an inch beneath the surface. In dibbling, not only make holes of an even depth, but be careful to thoroughly hx the soil about the cuttings. The treatment during the season is the same as for plants raised from seeds. The roots are in the same way lifted in the winter, trimmed and stored as above advised. Blanching. — Sea Kale is of no value as an edible product unless the stems are well blanched. That is, however, easily done. In some cases it is the rule to take out all the roots from a bed in the autumn, except perhaps 2 or 3 rows. These remain to be blanched with soil earthed over the crowns. That is obtained from a furrow on each side, the soil being broken as fine as possible, then covered over the crowns to a depth of 7 inches. This work may be done in sections, so that all may not be ready to cut at once, and it is desirable to lengthen the season of blanching as much as possible. Strong Sea Kale roots are inserted thickly in soil in warm, dark enclosures, in mushroom houses, and there make growths ready for cutting in 3 or 4 weeks. To keep up a supply, a few dozen roots should be put in every week. By forcing in this way, if there be an ample supply of crowns, produce may be had before Christmas. About one gentle EDIBLE-STEMMED PLANTS 111 watering suffices. Where such suitable places do not exist Sea Kale may be planted in a dark corner of a warm cellar, or in some darkened place in a green- house, beneath a stage, or placed in deep boxes half filled with soil, then stood in a warm outhouse or cellar and well covered to exclude light and air. The great thing is to have an ample stock of roots ; then blanching may go on in almost any dark place that can be found, all through the winter. When the heads ((') are fit they should be cut just under the crown, and neatly tied into small bundles ; in that way good clean and white samples invariably secure a good price in the market. Sea Kale is also a most wholesome and profitable vegetable for home con- sumption. Rhubarb. Not useful as an ordinary vegetable, but of great value as a fruit compound, Rhubarb is universally grown and appreciated. It is easily raised from seeds which can be grown or purchased cheaply, but the produce is always uncertain and irregular. Seeds may be sown in drills 15 inches apart in the spring. The seedlings, thinned to 12 inches asunder in the rows, will give strong roots for planting out thinly in the winter. We have, however, such good established varieties, that it is wiser to use the best of these, securing single crowns with portions of fleshy roots attached, and planting them in the spring on deeply worked, retentive soil that lias been well manured. Rows of plants, where grown in quantity, should be fully 4 feet apart, and the roots 3 feet asunder in them. It is an excellent plan in Rhubarb culture to make a fresh planting of single crowns every year, so that by the fourth year the old roots may be lifted in the winter and blocked into some dark place such 112 VEGETABLE CULTURE as a cellar, close shed, or under the stages of green- house to make early blanched growth. In that way the season for pulling stems is greatly lengthened. Roots of three years old may be helped to push early growth by inverting over them tubs, barrels, large pots, or other suitable utensils, also laying over the crowns very lightly some long manure or litter. Two years old plants will give pullings in natural course through the late spring and summer. The culture of Rhubarb is very simple, but it pays best to grow it well and in rotation as advised. Coarse growing varieties that have very woody or stringy stalks should be avoided. The best-known sorts are Hawke's Champagne (stems very rich in colour and very early), Kershaw's Paragon and Victoria. For all ordinary purposes the first will best satisfy need- ful requirements. The month of April is an excellent time for plantings. Celery. This very popular vegetable has three excellent qualities. It is our finest winter salad eaten raw after efficient blanching ; it makes a capital dish when properly stewed, and it has undoubted medicinal properties as a remedy for rheumatism. Celery is very easily raised from seed sown under glass or out- doors on good fine soil. To secure strong plants early, the indoor sowing is the best. This may be made thinly in pans or boxes of fine soil, the seeds being just covered during March and April as wanted early or late. Seeds are cheap and very soon germinate ; hence thick sowing is always wasteful and often harmful. When the seedling plants are about 2 inches high they should be carefully lifted and dibbled 2 inches apart in other pans or shallow boxes, or else EDIBLE-STEMMED PI. AXIS 113 in a soil bed in a frame or under hand-lights on a warm border outdoors. In any such case the earliest of fchese plants, if first well seasoned by exposure to the air, will do to transplant into trenches if they are ready by the end of May. Where, however, the summer crops will not admit of trenches being thus early formed, then it is a good plan to prepare a special piece of ground as a nursery bed, first burying just beneath the surface a good dressing of short manure, making the surface fine and smooth, also firm, then with the aid of a stout board laid across on bricks just off the soil plant the Celery plants from where first dibbled out, at least 4 inches apart. Water them freely at the first, and in hot sunshine shade a little for the first few days. The plants soon make roots, and in a month will be so strong that they can be lifted with good balls of soil and transferred to the trenches without causing any check to growth, especially if watered as often as may be needed. Culture and Blanching. — The preparation of trenches for the reception of the plants is a matter of some importance. Whero soil is naturally shallow it is best to have no trenches, but, having buried into the places for the rows heavy dressings of manure, to plant on the level. In that case, to enable ample soil for blanching to be found, the rows should be 5 feet apart. Trenches admit of closer planting and easier blanching, but when made should be well done. It is a good plan to throw out the top soil clean from a trench 16 inches wide, then break up the bottom or subsoil deeply with a stout fork. On this place good half-decayed manure and throw in on it 3 inches of the top soil, fork and mix the whole well, add another inch or so of the top soil, and the plants may be then put out. Whero the I 114 VEGETABLE CULTURE subsoil is very poor, such as gravel, sand, or chalk, it is well to throw out several inches of that and partly fill in the trench with top soil before adding the manure, then add more of the best soil and plant. Ordinarily Celery is grown in single rows, but in wider trenches the plants may be in double rows 8 Fig 37.— Celery— Section of Earthing. inches apart. In the rows the plants should be from 10 to 12 inches asunder. Blanching should not begin until the plants have become strong, as when earth is added round them feeding with liquid manure has to cease. It is, therefore, advisable to allow the plants to be from 15 to 16 inches in height before earth is added. That work should always be done on a dry day. The first thing to do is to gather up all the stout leaf stalks, after removing suckers that may be EDIBLE-STEMMED PLANTS llf, round the base of the plants, then with a small fork draw some fine dry soil some 4 to 6 inches thick about the stems. That being pressed round them will serve to keep them erect. Then earth may be added at intervals of from 10 to 14 days, until by the time the plants are fully grown, the soil now forming a sharp ridge, should reach to within G inches of the leaves (Fig. 37). It is in that neat way earthing up should be finished, the sides of the ridges being patted over with the back of a spade. In adding earth every precaution should be taken to prevent soil falling into the hearts of the plants and thus checking proper growth. It is well when hard weather is imminent to lay fern or litter along the ridges to protect from frost, or failing these materials, it i< wise to lift a quantity of Celery from the rows and pack the plants close together in some sheltered place where they will be less exposed to injury. Varieties. — These are numerous, and divided into white and coloured. Good dwarf white sorts are [ncomparable and White Gem ; good dwarf reds are Dwarf lied and Standard Bearer, whilst of taller reds Bulham Prize and Leicester Red are among the best, G 1 taller whites are Solid White and Giant White. For endurance, and especially for small gardens or allotments, the dwarf varieties are the mo8l appropriate. Cardoons. Not commonly grown plants are these, though when well blanched the stems are liked by some per- sons. Seeds sown thinly in shallow drills inade 3 feet apart and on soil that has been deeply worked and well manured will give plants in abundance. The best i 2 116 VEGETABLE CULTURE time for sowing is about the end of April. Plants when fairly strong should be thinned to 12 inches apart in the rows. Being strong growers assistance in the form of liquid manure and ordinary waterings may be given during the summer, and as the autumn draws on, earth should be placed close to the plants on each side gradually, the short leafage about the base of the plants being first removed. By the winter, if soil be added on dry days from time to time, the ridges should be 18 to 20 inches in height and neatly banked. That will result in the produc- tion of fine, clean, white stems, stout and tender. These are very good when properly cooked, being cut into small lengths and boiled or stewed gently until ready for the table. In some cases no earth is added, the plants being blanched by winding round them bands of stout brown paper or hay bands. Globe Artichokes. These are closely allied to Cardoons, and may be raised from seeds sown under glass early in the spring, the young plants, when strong and well hardened, being transplanted about the middle of May. The soil for them should be as in other cases, deeply worked and well manured. Put out the young plants singly at 3 feet apart in rows 4 feet asunder, as ultimately the leafage needs ample space. Such plants should carry flower stems and heads in the autumn. In this case it is the flower-heads, which consist of a series of green fleshy scales set closely together, that form the part eaten. These should be cut when yet well closed and rounded before the flower is seen. When properly cooked they form a delicious dish. The old or summer leafage dies down in the autumn and new suckers EDIBLE-STEMMED PLANTS 117 break up from the roots. These, because somewhat tender, should be protected during the winter by having some litter placed closely round them, and, if the weather be severe, also hooped over with sticks and more litter placed over those. In the spring, when opened and growth follows, some of the suckers may be thinned out with a piece of root at- tached and planted out for succession as advised for seedling plants. Mushrooms. The mushroom is not a plant in the ordinary sense in which the word is used, but a fungus, and grows from spores and minute thread-like roots or spawn termed mycelium. Mushrooms grow naturally in pastures, but only towards the end of the summer. They can often be induced to grow similarly but earlier if Mushroom spawn cakes be broken into pieces two inches square, and these placed a few inches deep in pasture where cattle are feeding, the piece of turf cut out to enable holes to be made being replaced. With warmth and gentle rains a crop, is almost certain to follow. Generally Mushrooms are grown on beds made with manure. This should always be from stables, as only horse manure gives the needful sweetness and heat. The horses should also be in good health and fed on corn. When given medicine the manure is sour and useless. The manure should be collected as frequently as possible, and is best kept under cover. It should consist of one half droppings and the rest of short straw. This material requires to be turned every 3 or 4 days, not only to get it well mixed, but also to have it all equally warmed and moistened. For this latter purpose, liberal sprinklings of water 118 VEGETABLE CULTURE may be given if the manure becomes at all dry, and during the various turnings. After a few such turnings the entire body of manure will be gently heated and smelling sweet. It is then in good con- dition to make up into a bed indoors or outdoors as may be desired. If in a cellar or shed, on a floor or on a shelf of sufficient width, a flattish bed, say 3 feet wide and 6 feet long and 1 foot deep, will do very well if it be trodden firmly and thus made solid. The temperature of the bed may be tested by forcing into it a stick, and when it is found that the full heat has been reached and the tempera- ture declines yet does not exceed 90 degrees, a bed may be spawned. This is done by breaking spawn cakes into about 8 pieces and forcing them firmly into the manure, all over the bed, at from 7 to 8 inches apart, and just within the surface. Then over all should be laid a coating, 2 inches thick, of moist, but not wet, soil, free from stones and weeds, either from the garden, or best, from beneath a pas- ture, and rather adhesive. This must be beaten down firmly and the entire bed covered with some 6 inches or so of clean litter or straw. Under ordinary conditions of warmth and good spawn, Mushrooms should show plentifully in about 2 months, and with an occasional good watering the bed ought to bear for more than that period. Where Mushrooms are needed in the winter a warm place should be provided. Beds are, however, made up outdoors with great success to produce all through the winter and spring. These should be of manure prepared as previously advised, and made up in ridge form on a dry bottom. They should be about 3 feet broad at the base, and 3 feet high. They are visually made quite in the open, but some shelter from the north and east is desirable. Made firmly EDIBLE-STEMMED PLANTS 119 ;in. mi id sometimes there are seen about cottages cultivation and cropping that could hardly l>i" anywhere excelled. But with the enormous in- crease in population that has been evidenced during the latter half of the present century, it lias been found needful to erect cottages in immense numbers that have no gardens, indeed vast numbers of our working population have thus, as it were, been abso- lutely severed from the land ; they have become on it mere dwellers and nothing more. To place these to some extent in the position of the old cottager has been the aim of that great movement in favour of the creation of allotment gardens, which has be- come one of the chief social features of the age ; and 122 VEGETABLE CULTURE comparatively limited as has been the needful supply, still a great deal has been done, and invariably with the most marked success. The land hunger of the mass of the people seems to be fairly satisfied where garden plots of from 20 to 40 rods in area are fur- nished, and rarely is it the case that these plots are not admirably cultivated and cropped. It seems to matter little what may be a worker's vocation, gardening appears to come to him almost instinctively ; and whilst here, as in all other things, there are varying degrees of excellence, still even from the most unexpected sources very often comes gardening that would do credit to the best of professionals. Very considerable impetus to the development of gardening by the million has been furnished during the past few years by the action of the Technical Education Departments of county councils, and none of these municipal bodies has done more to promote good gardening knowledge than has the County Council of Surrey. In that county not only are lectures on practical gardening, or really " gardening made easy," furnished by qualified instructors given in different parts of the county during the winter months, but cottage garden societies are assisted by the sending out to them of capable men as judges, both of cottage and allotment gardens and shows, certificates of merit and books on garden subjects are given as prizes, and in many other ways, especially in the establishment of school or continuation gardens, every help is given towards garden cultiva- tion. The allotment movement may to some extent have been a political and even a party one ; but even if so, the gain to the workers has been great, because this rivalry of parties has immensely aided in furnish- ing the desired supply of allotments, as well as in arousing towards them far greater interest than before. COTTAdU AND ALLOTMENT GARDENING 123 Now that public bodies, especially county councils, are realising the great responsibility attaching to tlitiii in relation to allotments, wo may hope to see the region of party contention disappear and garden allotments become one of the recognised and most patriotic institutions of this great kingdom. Gabbed Divisions. — Whilst some restriction as to variation in the products on allotments may naturally be looked for, because of surroundings, yet tho cottage garden admits of great variety. Thus tho cottage itself may be utilised for the growing of trained fruit trees, such as Apricots, Pears, Plums, and Morello^ Cherries, these fruits doing well on south, east, west, and north aspects, as printed. A cottage porch maybe a small arbour of Roses, Clema- or other climbing flowers; a front window may contain plants inside, a window box on tho sill, and plants again in pots on a stage beneath the sill. Then there should always bo a front or side flower garden, made to look very gay with both hardy and tender flowers, with biennials and annuals. Fruit can also be well represented, not so much by tall overhanging trees that are detrimental to all crops beneath, but by dwarf bush or pyramid Apple, Pear and Plum trees, planted in rows at intervals, and between which should come Gooseberry and Currant bushes and Raspberries, and around the walks should bo lines of Strawberry plants. Of course provision of such things must of necessity bo limited according to area, but from one-third to one-fourth of a fair iixed garden may well bo utilised in fruit production. For instruction on those subjects see the Primers on " Horticulture," and on M Garden Flowers and Plants." Is. each (Macmiilan's). Vegetables. — These naturally constitute the back- bone of garden cropping, and require all the space 124 VEGETABLE CULTURE disposable. Even where space is limited it cannot be too clearly understood that crops depend for production as much on cultivation as found in deep working of the soil, and in well manuring it, as on mere surface area. For that reason the more restricted the garden area, the greater the need for deep cultivation and soil enrichment. In apportioning the areas of vege- table crops, the fullest consideration should be given to usefulness and prolongation. Thus Potatoes con- stitute the premier vegetable, not only because we always like them, but can have them all the year round. It is not too much to ask that fully one- third of the garden space shall be devoted to them. Next in importance come winter greens, especially as in this category are included Autumn Giant Cauliflowers, white Broccoli, sprouting Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Savoy Cabbages, Coleworts, and Kales, which not only furnish a good variety, but give, if in sufficient quantity, a supply of food for the table from September to May. jSTo wonder, then, this class of products takes a very high place in garden economy. Next relatively in importance come the bulbous and tapering roots, because these again furnish vegetable food of a highly nutritious nature over a very long season. These are represented by autumn and spring sown Onions, Turnips, Carrots, Parsnips, and Beet, all of which require ample room. It is hardly possible to grow these roots too well, though sometimes they may be too large or coarse, but mere size does not indicate high culture. Then there are such valuable summer crops as Peas, Broad, Runner, and Dwarf Kidney Beans, Vegetable Marrows, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Lettuces, and similar products, all either highly nutritious, or valuable cooling foods in hot weather, and all singularly appetising and COTTAGE AND ALLOTMENT GARDENING 125 healthful. Where it is practicable, some room may be spared for Asparagus and Sea Kale, t lie latter especially, and a corner should always be allowed for Rhubarb. Summer Cabbages and Cauliflowers also require space. These are not all the vegetables that may be grown in a good cottage garden, but at least they suffice to show that whilst there is no lack of good material for cropping, the gardener should care fully consider relative value and importance in every case, as well as tastes, in favour of this or that kind, in setting out areas for each kind in a garden. In presenting gardens for competition it is well to understand that every feature comes under notice in relation to crops of every description, and therefore, the better quality shown in each case, the greater number of points awarded. Farther on is inserted, by permission, the scale on which marks are awarded to crops in allotments and cottage gardens by the Surrey County Council judges ; and they are such as well merit general adoption. It will be seen that great stress is laid on cleanliness, which should bo evidenced in every direction, not only in sight, but also out of sight. Then the same importance attaches to order or system in cropping. By that is meant such an arrangement of the crops so that there should be throughout fair proportion one to another, none being in great excess ; also that the crops be ar- ranged so that in successive planting other crops of a different nature shall follow. The rows should bo straight, even, and neat, and well cared for. As already indicated, certain crops are placed in the higher grade, that is, reaching to a maximum of 10 points, whilst several others are placed in a grade of 8 points, and still others in lesser grades. But it is to be specially noted that in few eases probably will the full number of points be given to any one 126 VEGETABLE CULTURE vegetable. To attain to that high position the crop in question must have the greatest excellence. But the schedule shows forcibly the value in garden com- petitions of having not only great variety of products or crops, but in having them good. It is indeed surprising how rapidly points add up when every effort has been made to crop well and in good variety. Flower gardens are sometimes associated with the other crops, and are sometimes in a separate class. In allotments it is hardly practicable to individualise them ; indeed, in judging allotments good stress is always laid on a fair representation of flowers. Judging Allotments. — Not much difference exists between the nature of the vegetable crops grown on these and in cottage gardens. Practically allotments should be gardens, though deprived of those sur- roundings which are always associated with a cottage. With allotments, however, there is the same demand for neatness and cleanliness, and there is just the same scope for a display of these features. As to system in arrangement, there is not infrequently less of it than in gardens, because so much of the crop- ping is done in a hurry. Beds or rows do not run right across the ground, but are patchy, a block perhaps here and there, and when so placed materially hindering proper successional cropping. If an allot- ment is of the ordinary rod width, all sowings or plantings should run right across ; whilst if of double or treble width, then a path should divide the ground into equal portions, as in that way cropping and culture are facilitated. Whilst the judging of allot- ments should always be on the same basis as cottage gardens are judged, yet there is an advantage attached to them seldom found in connection with gardens, and that is their immediate contiguity, which enables one plot to be compared with another easily, COTTAGE AND ALLOTMENT GARDENING 127 whilst gardens are often widely separated. But great assistance to judges is found in the judging sheets or forms employed in Surrey, where each subject or item has its particular line, the points given in each case being placed under the allotment number ; and in that way there is always present a record of the points previously given, and the most exact comparison with others can at once be in- stituted. Almost all other methods of comparison, especially where the memory alone is trusted without any numerical aid to recall exactitude, is unreliable, and, of course, untrustworthy. SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL. Technical Education. — Horticulture. Judging Cottage Gardens and Allotments. Besides Local Prizes, County Council Certificates will be awarded for meritorious cultivation. 1. — For placing small plots on an equality with large, the merits only, net the BULK, of the tiops are considered. 2. — Tlie value of each crop is set down in points. 3. — The standard of merit is repiesented as follows : — Maximum Points. For general cleanliness ; system in cropping ; Peas : Potatoes; Winter Greens (including Savoys, Brussels Sprouts, Kale and Broccoli) ; also culti- vated Hardy Fruits (not worthless old trees) each 10 For Broad Beans ; Runner and Dwarf Kidney Beans; Beet; Cabbages (cooking) ; Cauliflowers; Onions ; Turnips ; Carrots ; Parsnips ; Vegetable Marrows : each ... ... ... ... 8 For Asparagus ; Cabbages (Red) : Celery ; Cucum- bers; Leeks; Rhubarb; Seakale ; Tomatoes; each ... ... ... ... ... C For Artichokes (globe and tuberous) ; Shallots ; Lettuce and Spinach ... ... ... 4 128 VEGETABLE CULTURE Maximum Points. For Herbs (including Parsley, Mint, Sage, &c.) ; Horse-radish ; Radishes and small Salads ; any- thing not enumerated ; each... ... ... 3 Note. — The greater the variety of vegetables grown well, the greater the number of points recorded, but the minor sorts, as counting the least, should only be grown in small quantities, the more useful in larger bulk, not only be- cause they count more, but because they are more service- able. FLOWER GARDENS. Maximum Points. In judging these, points are given for order and neatness ... ... ... ... ... 10 For good arrangement and general effect ... 10 For noteworthy hardy flowers ... ... 8 For meritorious tender flowers ... ... 8 For special features, such as vases, hanging plants, ferns, &c. ... ... ... each 6 WINDOW AND WINDOW-SILL DECORATION. For cultivation and quality of plants ... ... 10 For tasteful arrangement ... ... ... 10 N.B. — When flowers are judged with vegetables (as in cot- tage gardens) the former are appraised from the 8 point standard. Note to Local Secretaries. — A guide (with all entries in his possession) must accompany the judges in their inspections. H. MACAN, M.A., F.C.S., Organising Secretary, County Hall, Kingston-on-Thames. J. WRIGHT, F.R.H.S., County Instructor on Horticulture, 8, Rose Hill Road, Wandsworth, S. W. Vegetable Exhibitions. — Although at what are termed cottage garden exhibitions it is a common rule on the part of judges to take into consideration rather greater size in products beyond what is usually admitted in the produce of gentlemen's gardens, yet COTTAGE AND ALLOTMENT GARDENING 129 it is very unwise to trust to that element of size too freely, as it so often happens that size and quality are far from being synonymous. Generally the ta te is in favour of beauty, cleanliness, bright appearance, and good even but not excessive size. These qualities that invariably call forth favourable notu 3. Exhibitors cannot well take too much care in selecting and preparing their products. It is wise in the case of green vegetables, such as Cabbages, Cauli- flowers, Lettuces, or Peas, Beans, Herbs, and others, to cut or gather early in the morning of the show ; where, however, not practicable, then after sundow r n the preceding night. Freshness is of the highest value, and that feature is absent when vegetables are gathered under hot sunshine. Then whilst Cabbages, Lettuces, and Cauliflowers, as soon as cut should each one be wrapped in paper for the purpose of convey- ance to the show, thus excluding air and keeping the leaves from injury, pods of any kind should be laid neatly into shallow boxes, or baskets, on Parsley, great care being taken not to rub off the coating of bloom usually found on good samples. Thus packed for conveyance to the show, they will be found very fresh and bright when exposed on plates or other- wise to the judges' criticism. Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Vegetable Marrows should have just the same amount of care bestowed on them, and if each dish can have a small box or basket to itself, though all be later packed into one large box or basket for con- veyance, the result amply repays. All roots — Pota- toes, Onions, Turnips, Carrots, Parsnips, and Beet, — should be presented very clean, and of good even size. The test of good and bad points furnished below conveys so much of useful and pertinent information, that it is needless here to recapitulate it. This list of faults and merits of exhibition vegetables is K 130 VEGETABLE CULTURE issued by the Surrey County Council, and forms the basis of awards made by the county judges. Not all vegetables are included, but most are, especially those usually seen at shows. FAULTS AND MERITS IN PRODUCE AT SHOWS. 1.— If anything is so overgrown as to he coarse, that is a fault. 2. — If anything is too small to be useful, that is a fault. Potatoes. — Very large and unshapely, specked, or deep-eyed tubers, or those very small, defective. Well-shaped, even sized, clean, speckless tubers, with shallow eyes, meritorious. Tap Roots {Beet, Carrots, Turnips and Parsnips). — Crooked, fangy, cankered roots, whether large or small, defective. Smooth, straight, clean, well coloured, even-sized roots, meritorious. Oxions. — Large bulbs, if thick-necked, soft and maggoty, defective. Bulbs all of good even size, firm, sound and clean, with thin stems or necks, meritorious. Leeks. — Stems thin, tapering, soft, not well blanched, dis- coloured, defective. Stems thick, uniform, firm, well blanched, spotless and pure, meritorious. Peas and Broad Beans. — Very large pods if hollow (not filled), or pods brown with age, containing hard seeds. defective. Pods of good size, green, fresh, and well filled with tender seeds, meritorious. Kidney Beans {Dwarf or Runner). — Pods brown or pale in colour, thin, tough or stringy, even if large, defective. Pods of good size, fresh, green, fleshy, and brittle, meritorious. Cabbages. — Hearts, no matter how large, if soft on the one hand, or split on the other, or caterpillar eaten, defective. Hearts of good or medium size, firm, yet fresh and tender looking, and surrounding leaves perfect, meri- torious. Cauliflowers. — Heads, however large, if brown or yellow- ish, and beginning to open, defective. Heads of good or medium size, close, speckless, white and clean, meri- torious. Lettuces. — Heads loose and soft on the one hand, or pushing flower stems on the other, and leaves tough, defective. COTTAGE AND ALLOTMENT GARDENING 131 Heads firm, fresh, with no visible flower stems, leaves crisp and tender, meritorious. < i.i.i.uv. Stalks, thin, soft, specked, not well blanched, and flower stems pushing in the plants, defective. Stalks, thick, firm, crisp, speckless, clean, well blanched, and no flower stems visible when cut, rru ritorious. CUCUMBERS. — Fruits old, unshapely, irregular in size, soft, yellowish, with long neck and nose, defective. Fruits young, straight, firm, fresh, tender, green, even in size, stunt neck, and nose with flower adhering, meritorious. Tomatoes. — Fruits deformed, irregular in size, rusted, over- ripe and dingy, or unripe and green, defi dive. Fruits of good and even size, speckless, bright and glossy, meri- torious. Radish ks. — Roots, old, spongy, tough, and flower stem showing, defective. Roots, young, firm, crisp, clean, leaves close to the root, no flower stem showing, rru ri- torious. Vegetable Marrows. — Fruits unshapely, or if so old, whether large or small, that the rind resists the pressure of the thumb nail, defective. Fruits good or medium size, well matched, well shaped, tender enough to admit the thumb nail, meritorious. RHUBARB. Stalks crooked, irregular, hard, dry and rusty in appearance, defective. Stalks straight, uniform, well coloured and fresh, meritorious. HERBS. — Bunches brown, dry, withered, mildewed, or rusty, defi dive. Bunches green, fresh, with good clean leaves, rru ritorions. N.B.— So far as is possible, every exhibit should be properly named. Points to be Remembered by Exhibitors. 1. — Judges at shows always search for faults. 2. — Mixing large and small specimens together in a dish weakens the exhibit. 3. — Specimens with the fewest faults win the highest prizes. This applies to Flowers and Fruits as well as to Vegetables. 4. — Celery and roots for the show table are often injured by scrubbing with a hard brush, instead of washing with a soft one or a cloth. 5. — Exhibitors who fail to win prizes should search, calmly and patientlv, for the cause of the failure. The losers of to- K 2 132 VEGETABLE CULTURE day, who profit by experience and persevere, are the winners of the future. 6. — If it is thought a mistake has been made or something overlooked by the judges, a timely and courteous appeal, preferably in writing, to the Secretary, will be attended to. 7. — Experienced and unprejudiced judges have only one desire, namely, to do justice ; and any well grounded com- plaint merits investigation. 8. — There is more honour in exhibiting well in a strongly contested class and losing, than in winning a prize with weak products in a class in which there is little or no com- petition. J. WRIGHT. Arranging Vegetables at Exhibitions. — There is always room for the exercise of taste, especially in setting up collections. Ordinarily it is well to have for small collections of four or six dishes shallow wooden trays, painted green. For six dishes these trays may be 30 inches by 20 inches, which is about the space occupied by six large plates. The sides should be about 3 inches deep. On trays of this character the vegetables may be arranged at home, then be well covered with a cloth or newspapers, and so carried to the show. The tray should be dressed with Parsley, and the vegetables displayed as tastily as possible, the largest — such as Cabbages, Cauliflowers, and Turnips, — going at the back and the smaller dishes in front, all being made to show their best sides one way. In the case of smaller collections similar trays of lesser dimensions do admirably. When collections reach to eight or nine dishes, then plates neatly dressed with Parsley are preferable, as such collections too often lose much of their effect by being crowded into large baskets or boxes. In these collections the largest vegetables should be at the back, Marrows, Carrots, and Beet coming next, and in the front, Peas, Beans, and Tomatoes. It is good practice after staging to keep the collection COTTAGE AND ALLOTMENT GARDENING 133 covered with paper until the tent is cleared. Where single dishes are shown, except, perhaps, in the case of Cabbages, Rhubarb, or anything very large, it is best always to stage in large plates, as the effect is better, and the shifting of the exhibits, if found needful, very easy. ►Special care should be taken to name all products neatly and correctly. For this purpose small white cards are best, the names being clearly written. The visitors or general public take far more interest in exhibited products when properly named. The greatest care should be taken to put the various exhibits in the proper places or classes, as where improperly placed they may be overlooked altogether. Then all exhibits should be at the show in good time to get them staged and have their entry cards, furnished by the secretary, placed on them. The ex- hibitor may then return home fully assured that having in every way done his best, his produce will receive the highest awards that the judges can con- scientiously make to them. INDEX Artichokes, 55 Jerusalem, 57 Chinese, 58 Globe, 116 Culture, 116 Asparagus, 102 Culture, 103 Preparation of the soil, 103 Formation of beds, 104 Cultivation on the flat, 105 Raising plants, 106 Cutting the stems, 106 Basil, sweet, 101 Beans, 64 Broad, 64 Culture, &6 Soil for, 66 Varieties, 67 Cooking, 67 Runner, 67 Culture, 67 An arch of, 68 Staking, 69 Varieties, 69 Butter, 70 Dwarf French, or kidney, 71 Forcing, 71 Outdoor culture, 72 Varieties, 72 Haricot, 73 Beet, types of, 21 Varieties, 22 Culture, 22 Storing, 22 Cooking, 22 Borecoles or Kales, 95 Varieties, 95 Culture, 96 Broccoli, 89 Culture, 89 Varieties, 90 Purple Sprouting, 90 Brussels Sprouts, 91 Culture, 91 Varieties, 91 Cabbages, 92 White or Cooking, 92 Culture, 93 Varieties, 93 Red or Pickling, 93 Culture, 93 Savoy, 94 Culture, 94 Varieties, 94 Cardoon, 115 Culture, 115 Carrots, 23 Varieties, 23 Types of. 24 Culture, 24 Cauliflowers, S8 Culture, 88 Varieties, S9 Celeriac, 37 Culture, 38 Celery, 112 Seed sowing, 112 Culture, 113 Blanching, 114 Protecting, 115 Varieties, 115 Cottage and Allotment Gardening, 121 Garden divisions, 123 Vegetables, 123 Gardens for competition, 125 Judging, 126 INDEX 1 36 Cottage and Allotment Gardening — Judging (continued) — Points given in, 127 Vegetable exhibitions, 12S Faults and merits in produce at, 130 Arranging exhibits at, 132 j, rotation <>f, 17 Cucumbers, 7s Outdoor culture, 78 Varieties, 7s Frame culture, 7s Varieties, SO House culture, 80 Varieties, 81 Digging, 6 Bad methods, 8 Good methods, s Draining grounds, 4 Endive, 99 Varieties, 99 Culture, 99 Fennel, ioi Herbs, 100 Parsley, 100 Mint, 100 Sage, ioi Other kinds, 101 I! oi seradish, 28 in ridges, 28 Cult'.: Judging Vegetable-, 126 Points given in, 127 Leeks, 37 Varieties, 37 Culture, 37 Lettuces, 97 Types of, '.'7 Culture. '.'7 Varieties, 99 .Manures, and their uses, 14 Natural, 14 Chemical, 15 Green, 17 Marjoram, sweet, 101 Mint, 100 Culture, 100 Uses of, 100 Mushrooms, 117 Preparing manure, 117 Making beds, lis Mushrooms (continued)— For winter, 118 In boxes, 119 Outdoors, 119 Gathering, 120 Onions, 29 Uses of, 29 General culture, 31 Special, 82 Autumn sown, S3 Transplanting, 33 Storing, 34 Varieties, 35 Parsley, 100 Culture, 100 Parsnips, 25 Varieties, 20 Culture, 26 Storing, 26 Cooking, 27 Peas, 59 General culture, 59 Seed sowing, 60 Supporting, 61 Gathering, 62 Varietii », 63 Dwarf, 03 Medium, 63 Tall. 63 Manuring, 64 Potatoes. 42 From seeds, 42 Seed tubers, 1 3 Box for, it Manures, 45 Burnt refuse, 4". Decayed refuse, 47 Artificial, 47 Lime dressings, 47 Planting, 4S Width of rows, 49 Dibbler for, 41' Hoeing and earthing, 50 Protective earthing, 51 Anti-disease dressings, 51 Lifting, 53 Box barrow for, 53 Storing, 53 Exhibiting, 54 Varieties, 54 Potato onions, 36 Poverty, Progress, and Prosperity, 1£ Rhubarb, 111 Culture, 111 136 INDEX Rhubarb (continued)— Forcing, 112 Varieties, 112 Ridging soil, 9 Rotation of crops, 17 Sage, 101 Salads, leaf, 97 Salsafy, 27 Culture, 27 Savory, 101 Savoys, 94 Culture, 94 Varieties, 94 Scorzonera, 27 Culture, 27 Seakale, 107 Culture, 107 Raising from seeds 10 Root cuttings, 108 Blanching, 110 Shallots, 36 Culture, 36 Soils, 4 Preparation, 4 Draining, 4 Working, 6 Digging, 6 Bad methods, 8 Good methods, 8 Ridging, 9 Trenching, 9 Half trenching, 10 Manuring, 14 Natural manures, 14 Chemical manures, 15 Manuring (continued) — Green manures, 17 Spinach, 9Q For summer, 96 For winter, 96 Thyme, 101 Common and Lemon, 101 Tomatoes, 82 Outdoors, 82 Field culture, 83 House culture, 84 Varieties, S7 Trenching, 9 Half-trenching, 10 Turnips, 39 Varieties, 39 Culture, 39 Vegetable Marrows, 74 Culture, 75 Varieties, 76 Preserving, 77 Vegetables, 1 Introduction, 1 Tap and bulbous-rooted, 20 Tuberous-rooted, 41 Pod-bearing, 58 Fruit-bearing, 74 Green, 88 Salad, 88 Herbs, 88 Edible stemmed, 102 Exhibitions of, 128 Faults and merits in, 130 Arranging at shows, 132 THE END LIBRARY If. C State ColUgt CLAY AND SONS, LTD., BREAD ST. HILL, E.C. AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.