IRISH GARDENING. 



135 



In selecting, make sure of a typical healthyplant 

 of robust character. In the case of a Brussel 

 Sprout, firm hard sprouts from the very base 

 to the uppermost leaf should be the chosen one. 

 Striji these off and stake the plant so as to 

 afford the plant, which will flower at the toii, 

 protection from, the hard winds in spring. 

 Broccolis and Cauliflowers should be chosen for 

 their purity and closeness of curd, anything 

 loose and straggly will produce after its own 

 kind a weakly weedy stock. 



Cabbages should be selected for compact 

 shapelj'" heads, and do not save seed from a 



rooted section may be chosen from clean, highly 

 coloured roots cf medmm size with one straignt 

 taproot with no sign of ccaiseness or side roots. 

 The Globe section should not be coarse, mangold- 

 like, but smcoth, clean, single taproots of 

 cricket ball size and highly coloured. 



Carrots — Select at lifting time clean medium- 

 sized roots typical of their sections, all split 

 and forked roots being discarded. Keep thef^e 

 till spring and plant 18 inches apart, similarly 

 to Beet. These will flower and ripen seed 

 freely during the summer. 



Parsnips are selected on the same principle, 



Alpine Knotweed PoTA'ooNirM ali'tntm (sek page 140). 



plant which has bolted — that is, flowered before 

 it has formed its head — such a selection would 

 perpetuate a race of Cabbages of the Kale type. 



Borecole or Curly Kale ought to be chosen 

 from a hardy frost-proof type of the dwarf 

 character in preference to the leggy sort, and 

 avoid the coarse-leaved kinds. The fi^e curled 

 leaf is decidedly superior. All of the Brassicas, 

 including the foregdng, require similar treat- 

 ment in saving, always keeping one's eye open 

 for the ripening period, when the seed stem may 

 be cut and hung up over a canvas or tray prior 

 to shelling or threshing. Sprouts and Broccolis 

 of last winter are now ripening, the slimmer 

 stocks in flower will ripen rapidly now. 



Beetroots ripen all right in a hot summer. 

 The roots should be selected at lifting time and 

 set aside for planting out in spring ; the long- 



but the longer and cleaner the root the better, 

 imJess one desires the stump-rooted type. 

 Avoid cankery roots with sloughing crowns, as 

 if these pass through the winter sound they are 

 likely to beget, through the seed saved, roots of 

 their own kind. A very common complaint with 

 Parsnips is a sudden failing and dying off just 

 when the fl:wer is passing and seed formation 

 taking place. It would be a wise precaution to 

 eliminate any of these roots and burn the seed 

 rather than perpetuate a weakly race. 



Turnips. — Both the yellow and white sorts 

 are chosen from small clean single taproots, 

 and all signs of coarseness must be avoided, and 

 do not save from premature flowers, which 

 very often appear in early spring sowinsg. 

 Swedes are chosen in a similar way and are 

 drilled in sjiring. All of the above-mentioned 



