THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 173 



established long before it would be safe to put them out without 

 protection. The covers are certainly one of the most valuable aids 

 the amateur can possibly have. 



Previous to planting, fork in a moderate dressing of leaf-mould 

 or vegetable manure if the soil is at all heavy, and ordinary hotbed 

 manure if it is inclined to be light. The soil must not be 

 manured too heavily, or the plants will grow too luxuriantly to 

 bear well. 



Commence training immediately the plants begin to grow freely, 

 whether trained to walls or stakes. Spread the branches out rather 

 widely apart, and remove all the small shoots that are not really 

 required to prevent overcrowding. Stop the main branches when 

 about three feet in height, and stop all the laterals one joint above 

 each cluster of fruit as soon as it is set. All young wood that is 

 produced after sufficient fruit is set must be removed immediately it 

 is a few inches in length, to prevent the energies of the plants being 

 devoted to the production of useless wood, instead of the maturation 

 of the crop. It is also a very good plan to remove any of the 

 large leaves that overhang the clusters of fruit as soon as it is 

 nearly full grown, to enable the sun to act directly upon it. 



Very excellent crops may be grown in pots ; and that system of 

 culture can be strongly recommended to those who have only a little 

 garden, as the plants can be placed in any out-of-the-way corner, 

 provided they can have full exposure to the sun. The stopping and 

 training must be much the same as advised above for the plants in 

 the open border, and they can be easily supported with neat stakes. 

 Pot in a compost, consisting of good turfy loam and a small portion 

 of manure, and when the fruit is swelling off, water with weak 

 liquid manure, if the plants show signs of exhaustion. 



The fruit should be gathered as soon as it is thoroughly ripened, 

 and towards the end of the autumn any that is still immature may 

 be gathered and ripened cff in a warm room, provided it is nearly or 

 quite full grown. The best and most productive kinds are the 

 Orangefield, General Grant, and Hepper's Goliath. The Common 

 Bed is exceedingly good, and for small gardens will, in conjunction 

 with the first-named, be sufficient for all purposes. The so-called 

 upright grower, Tomato de Laye, is very late in ripening, and compa- 

 ratively worthless in this country because of the shortness of the 

 summer. 



Early Peas. — Mr. G. Green, gardener to tie Ven. Archdeacon Fitzgerald, of 

 Charlton Mackerell, Taunton, picked his first dish of peas on the 10th of May, although, 

 he might have done so on the 8th. The sort was "Sutton's Ringleader." They 

 •were sown in the open air on Nov. 19, and have had but little protection.— Western 

 Gazette, May 13. 



Scarlet Runners. — Plant them in trenches two feet -wide and three feet in 

 depth ; the bottom spit being thrown out on one side, and about the same quantity 

 of vegetable refuse, ov goo 1 manure, incorporated with the soil. When the trenching 

 is done, the soil from the bottom is placed in a ridge on each side of the trench, to 

 prevent the water applied o the rows running all over the quarter, instead of soaking 

 down to the roots. The produce will be enormous. 



