520 



PRODUCTIVE FAMILY GARDENING. 



PEAS. 



Here we have a keeping as well as a 

 perishable stock. It is not the most desira- 

 ble crop for persons of limited means, but 

 it is to be taken into consideration that 

 what are not eaten green are good dry ; 

 there is no reason why a man should not 

 grow his peas for soup as well as his celery, 

 and no dry peas can be better than those 

 he saves and ripens himself. It is a gene- 

 ral notion that peas are not split for soup 

 and puddings, till they are too old to grow, 

 and it may be readily supposed that what a 

 man grows himself he can depend on. 

 There is no difficulty in bruising peas, and 

 new ones shall swell better, and taste bet- 

 ter, than old ones. Peas, therefore, may 

 be looked upon in the light of a double 

 crop, if wanted, or a safe crop if saved all 

 for harvest. Of the hundreds of varieties 

 in cultivation, many have very equal claims ; 

 novelty may do something for a pea, and, 

 of course, there are some which have both 

 novelty and excellence to recommend them : 

 we have found all the following to be 

 good: — Cormack's Prince Albert, Shilling's 

 early grotto. Flask's victory, Ward's incom- 

 parable or British Queen, Knight's im- 

 proved dwarf green marrow. Groom's dwarf, 

 Waite's Queen of the dwarfs, Girling's 

 Danecroft early, and imperial. The Early 

 frame, Charlton, and many others, are, 

 however, still favorites. Peas may be sown 

 from November to July every three weeks, 

 but it is for a man to consider whether he 

 ought to devote much or little ground to a 

 crop which, if eaten green, is a luxury of 

 some cost, and if saved dry may cost more 

 than they could be purchased for. How- 

 ever, there is a great fault among pea- 

 growers ; they sow the seeds much thicker 

 than they ought to be sown, and therefore 

 waste a great deal. Peas ought to be sown 

 in drills, and if there were half the quan- 

 tity usually sown the crop would be heavier ; 

 when up above ground, earth ought to be 

 drawn up to their stems ; the soil bruised 

 and closed about their roots, and brought 

 up to a kind of bank on the cold side of 

 them ; sticks should be placed to them at 

 the same time, and after this they only re- 

 quire to be kept clear of weeds, and in 

 parching weather to have water. 



RHUBARB. 



This has become so general a favorite 

 from its wholesomeness and flavor, in sea- 

 sons when fruit cannot . be had, and m 

 moreover so strongly recommended to fami- 

 lies, that a portion of the garden ought to 

 be devoted to a few good roots — a dozen 

 will be found enough for a moderate family,, 

 and they ought to be two feet from each 

 other every way. The ground should be 

 well dressed, the plants young, the season 

 autumn. They should be planted without 

 bruising their roots, and they will do all 

 the rest themselves. If wanted earlier in 

 the spring than they will come naturallyy 

 put a box, or rather a wooden trough, two 

 feet high and one foot diameter, over a 

 plant, cover the open end that is uppermost 

 v/ith a flat tile or a proper cover, and sur- 

 round the whole with dung or leaves , it 

 will hasten the growth : or pot up a strong 

 root or two and put them in a warm cellar, 

 or a kitchen-cupboard, or a green-house, or 

 any other place where the temperature is 

 raised ; but it is never so good as from the 

 natural ground, grown in the natural way, 



SPINACH. 



The winter spinach is the most useful 

 and economical, and is as good in summer 

 time as in winter. The difference between 

 this and the round-leaved is, that the win- 

 ter kind takes longer to perfect the plant 

 and seed it than the round-leaved does, 

 and, therefore, it is longer eatable. It is 

 not pulled up as one-half the spring spi- 

 nach is, but the leaves are picked oft' from 

 time to time as they grow, and a good bed 

 of spinach yields for a long time. The 

 round-leaf spinach will be better for the 

 same treatment, and looks much larger for 

 it, but it is not so long in perfection. Spi- 

 nach of either kind may be sowed in drills 

 eighteen inches apart any season, but it is 

 usual to sow the round-leaf from January 

 to July, and the prickly, or Avinter, from 

 August to October. If it comes up too 

 thick, pick out some when they are large 

 enough to eat, and thus thin it, when you 

 can use the surplus. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON GENERAL 

 SUBJECTS. 



Many other subjects might be mentioned 

 under separate heads, but we have gone 



