60 



THE GAEDEN GUIDE FOE MAECLI. 



KiTCiiEM Garden. — Get manure on to 

 the plots that are to be sown or planted 

 this month and next, and dig the ground 

 over deeplj-, and leave rough. Level down 

 tiie ridges of ground prepared last month, 

 so as to be ready to sow and plant as soon 

 as weather permits. Plant the main crop 

 of potatoes where the ground is well drained 

 at once, but on damp soils wait till next 

 month. _ It is not safe to manure for pota- 

 toes, but charred rubbish, old mortar, and 

 other dry materials may be used to lighten 

 the soil and nourish the crop. For main 

 crops choose a plot that was well manured 

 last year ; for early sorts, that are to come 

 up before the autumn-rains set in, manure 

 may be dug into the trenches. Potatoes 

 are best planted in trenches, and covered 

 loosely with soil ; dibbling is apt to cause 

 rotting by the holes getting tilled with 

 water. Horseradish may be planted in 

 any spare comer, but the ground should 

 be dug deeply, and the roots will come 

 iiner if the subsoil is well manured. The 

 crowns should be planted fifteen inches 

 deep and six inches apart every way, and 

 the holes filled with tine coal- ashes, or 

 the sets put in as the trenching proceeds. 

 Any part of the root will do as wall as the 

 crowns, if cut into inch pieces. Mark out 

 onion-beds, and let the soil be liberally 

 manured. Get ready for all successional 

 summer crops, so as to have the ground 

 firm and well sweetened in time to receive 

 them. 



Soiv turnip, long-radish, main crop of 

 parsnips, horn-carrot, cauliflower, cabbage, 

 savoys, brocoli, main crop of onions, peas 

 for succession, lettuce of all kinds, round 

 spinach, parsley, and small salads. 



Selections for the Kitchen Gar- 

 den. — The following are the very best in 

 their several classes ; there are many others 

 as good as some of those named, and in no 

 case is it recommended to discard favourite 

 local varieties. These lists are offered as 

 guides both for improving the selections of 

 experienced cultivators, and to assist the 

 inexperienced to select from the multitu- 

 dinous enumerations of thetrade catalogues. 

 Early peas : Dillistone's Early, Carter's 

 Champion, Daniel O'Houke. Second early 

 Peas : Advancer, Champion of Paris, 

 Dickson's Favourite. 3I/iiii crops : Prize- 

 taker, Veitch's Perfection, Hair's Dwarf 

 Mammoth, Auvergne Marrow. Ln/e : 

 Knight's Dwarf, British Queen, Ne Plus 

 Ultra. Early potatoes : Sutton's Racehorse, 

 Daintree's Earliest (new and fine). Walnut- 

 leaf, Handsworth Early. Main crop: Hud- 



son's Early May,Soden's Early Oxford 

 Improved Early Siiaw, Dalmahoy, riour-» 

 ball. Fifty-fold. Eirly beans: Dwarf Fan, 

 Miizagon. Main crop: Lone; Pod, John- 

 son's Wonderful. Finest for size and flower 

 Taylor's Windsor, Green Windsor. Earh/ 

 C'Mnye: Carter's Early, Early Champion, 

 Shilling's Queen, Rosette Colewort. Main 

 crop: Wheeler's Imperial, Enfield Market, 

 Large Imperial, King of tlie Cabbages. 

 Parsnip: Hollow Crowned and Sutton's 

 Student, the last named is a new variety 

 raised by Professor Buckman, it produces 

 clean symmetrical roots admirably suited 

 for exhibition, and is the best flavoured 

 of all Carrot : Early Horn and short 

 French Horn for shallow soils, and to sow 

 early; James's Scarlet and Long Surrey for 

 main crop and handsome i-oots ; selected 

 Altringham for allotment lands, excellent 

 for the table, makes enormous roots, but is 

 not handsome. Cress: Australian Golden, 

 exquisite flavour, and a good substitute for 

 watercress, tripled curled; and Perennial 

 American. Cucumbers : Rilleman, Carter's 

 Champion, Lynch's Star of the West, Mar- 

 tin's Long Gun, Mill's Jewess. LeeJc : 

 London Flag, Musselburgh. Cos lettuce: 

 London, Brighton, Carter's Giant White, 

 Hardy Green, Florence. Cabbage lettuce : 

 Hammersmith, Malta, Neapolitan, Wheeler's 

 Tom Thumb. Melon: Carter's Excelsior, 

 Bousie's Incomparable, Turner's Gem. 

 Onion : Deptford, White Glove, James's 

 Keeping, Strasburg, Tripoli, Silver Skin. 



Cucumbers and Melons. — Keep np the 

 heat by linings if necessary ; give air on 

 fine mornings, but beware of chilling the 

 plants. If the weather is frosty, with 

 bright sunshine, shade the pit with netting 

 to prevent scorching ; thin the fruits if they 

 set too freely. Sow cucumbers and melons 

 for succession, and sow also cucitmbers for 

 ridging out. 



Melons and Cucumbers in the forcing 

 pit to be kept carefully trained about twelve 

 inches from the glass, to be regularly 

 stopped, and at a temperature of 70" by 

 day and 60' by night. Sow now for plants 

 to bed out in frames and pits, and for suc- 

 cession in the early forcing-house. 



Flower Gauden. — Lightly fork the 

 j borders, so as not to injure the roots of 

 1 herbaceous plants, and make the surface 

 i moderately tine, to give a neat appearance. 

 i Sow hardy annuals in the borders, and put 

 j a tally to each patch ; as soon as large 

 I enough to handle, thin the patches, and 

 ' plant out the thinnings wherever required ; 

 ! or pot them for blooming in the windows. 



