The Vegetable and Flower Garden. 553 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 



By Tho6: W. Pockett. 



The chief work in this department for March and April will be 

 thinning out growing crops, keej)ing the land free from weeds, and 

 where necessary trenching, draining, or otherwise preparing land that 

 may be required for planting new beds of asparagus, rhubarb, seakale, 

 or other vegetables that require rich, deep soil. Continue to plant 

 out cabbagj of the winter kinds, also cauliflower, using land that 

 has been well enriched with manure and not likely to be sour in 

 winter. 



Make occasional sowings of turnip and prickly spinach. Kohl 

 rabi may be sown and planted out like cabbages. Seed should also 

 be sown of lettuce and endive, which may be thinned out or trans- 

 planted. Parsley seed should now be sown for winter use. When 

 onions are required for transplanting in June the seed should be sown 

 early in April ; if sown before, the plants are liable to run to seed. 



Draining- 



The degree of success attained is largely due to the drainage, 

 either natural or artificial. Most soils are benefited by artificial 

 drains. The nature of the soil determines the kind of drains and the 

 distance they should be apart. A retentive soil requires a drain, say, 

 15 feet apart ; a sandy loam, resting on a clay subsoil, say, 80 feet 

 apart ; while a deep sand may not require draining, unless where it 

 is necessary to cut off the soakage, which is generally determined by 

 the depth of the sand above the hard layer or subsoil. On sandy 

 soil this is very irregular, and although fewer drains are required there 

 are more difficulties to encounter. Drains should also have a greater 

 fall on sandy soil on account of the minute particles of sand that 

 gradually find their way into the drains. 



Material for Drains. — Perhaps the best and easiest way to make 

 drains is by using agricultural pipes, since there is less excavating, 

 and the only tools generally used are the draining tool and scoop. 



Depth of Drains. — The depth should be 9 inches or 1 foot below 

 the depth that the ground is likely to be trenched or worked. 



Covering. — In stiff soil the covering over the pipes may be straw, 

 brushwood, or similar material, then turfy soil, or something that will 

 remain porous and allow the surplus water to percolate into the pij)es. 

 In sandy soil great care must be taken in laying the straw or fine 

 brushwood over the pipes, and if the subsoil is of a sandy nature 

 something must be then placed carefully over in the shape of turf 

 parings, and if a few inches of crumbly clay can be then put over the 

 turf the drainage will be complete. 



