514 



PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING. 



the ground ; well decomposed night soil, a 

 good two inch thickness all over the soil, 

 forked into and well mixed with the top 

 six inches of mould, will be found an ex- 

 cellent dressing ; but it must be well de- 

 composed, or it will be too strong. The 

 surface should be well levelled, the lumps 

 well bruised, and the seeds sown thinly 

 and equally over the bed ; this should be 

 rolled in or trodden in solid, and raked 

 smooth and even. The beds, like those of 

 all crops sown broad-cast, ought to be four 

 feet wide, with alleys of one foot. The 

 month for sowing for a main crop is March, 

 quite the beginning ; when they are up 

 they should be hoed out, so as to leave 

 them six inches apart, and in a week or 

 two a second hoeing will be found neces- 

 sary ; as the onions grow there rasLj be 

 found some close to each other — two in a 

 place instead of one. These should be 

 drawn by hand, so as to leave only one, 

 and they must be kept clear of weeds all 

 through their growth. When the period 

 for taking up approaches, and the bulbs 

 have swelled nearly as much as they will, 

 the market gardeners make a practice of 

 breaking down the foliage, under an im- 

 pression that to keep on growing would 

 exhaust the onion, and that stopping the 

 growth of the leaves by breaking the necks 

 throws all the strength into the bulb ; we 

 venture to affirm that this is a mistake, the 

 breaking down of the leaves can be of no 

 service ; they, like all other plants, receive 

 one kind of nourishment from their foliage, 

 another from the root, and unless all goes 

 on harmoniously, things cannot be at their 

 best. However, when the foliage begins 

 to turn yellow the bulbs are ripe, and may 

 be lifted and left on the surface of the 

 ground to dry out some of their moisture ; 

 they should be preserved in a cool dry airy 

 place. The sowing of earlier crops and 

 later ones for present use may always be 

 done where something else is growing, such 

 as between lettuces that are planted out, 

 or any warm border or corner, or in frames ; 

 they do not come under our definition of pro- 

 ductive garden, but rather among the luxu- 

 ries than otherwise. The sorts best adapted 

 are the Deptford, white Spanish, Tripoli, and 

 Portugal; all these keep well and grow to a 

 useful size. 



JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. 



The value of this root was, perhaps, 

 hardly known by a large portion of the 

 public until the scarcity of the potato ren- 

 dered all vegetables available ; as a sub- 

 stitute it is very poor, but as a vegetable 

 capable of being dressed many ways, and 

 requiring very different treatment in cook- 

 ing from the potato, it is worth a place, be- 

 cause it is preserved as easily as any vege- 

 table in store all the Avinter, and can be 

 made available. It is chiefly used in 

 stews, alone or with other vegetables. The 

 culture is very easy ; the haulm grows six 

 feet high, therefore requires room and sup- 

 port. The best place is along the back of 

 a border, or next to north or east palings' 

 and hedges. One row is found prolific, 

 but as the uncouthness of this crop is 

 against it, most people who cultivate it 

 only have a large patch in the worst part 

 of the garden, so that neither sun nor air 

 can get to the roots. They are mostly left 

 for years, the tubers becoming numerous 

 and small. If there is to be a second row, 

 there ought not to be less than a yard be- 

 tween the rows; plant them like potatoes, 

 and dig up the crop annually ; and keep it 

 clean ; take out every tuber, and, at the pro- 

 per time, plant them again. 



TURNIPS. 



This is one of those useful vegetables 

 that can be enjoyed with almost everything. 

 In field culture it is precarious, but in gar- 

 den quantities it is very manageable. They 

 may be sown every month from February 

 to September, and for families using quan- 

 tities it is better to sow every month. They 

 should be sown broad-cast in four feet wide 

 beds, and as they get four rough leaves 

 they should be hoed out six inches apart, 

 and be cleared of weeds. They may re- 

 quire several hoeings, and a succession of 

 crops for those who consume many will be 

 desirable, but regard should be had to the 

 probable supply of other vegetables when 

 these are likely to come in for eating, and 

 this, with the quantity likely to be wanted, 

 must always guide these comparatively per- 

 ishable crops ; for turnips are not so well 

 stored as carrots, parsnips, or beet-root j 

 but no vegetable can be more wholesome 

 than the turnip, and so that they be not 

 oversown they are really good. The new 



