178 THE FORCING GARDEN. 
tan is very liable to produce a most destructive fungus, 
which I have mentioned before. If, therefore, some 
old tan is first put upon the new bed, and then the 
earth, no fungus will get through to the surface of it. 
It is as well to let the heat rise before sowing the 
seed, as it is best for Carrot seed to be stimulated to 
cause quick germination. The surface soil should be 
fine and half dry, and should it get quite dry, a light 
sprinkling may be done in the morning with a fine rose 
waterpot. As soon as the seed is well up, which will be 
in the course of a fortnight, admit a little air by day. 
If cold nights come on, lay mats on the sashes, and if 
sharp frosts ensue, first cover the sashes with dry hay 
and then a mat. The Short-horn and James’s Inter- 
mediate Carrot will be the best sorts for this purpose. 
When the Carrots are drawn, some soot and salt 
may be sown over the bed, in the proportion of one 
pound of salt to three or four pounds of soot well 
mixed for each perch of ground, and well worked into 
the soil for five or six inches deep, and the Carrot seed 
sown a second time. This will probably be about 
March when young Carrots will be obtained a second 
time from the same bed, long before any can be had 
from the open ground. Soot and salt are no doubt the 
best manure that can be had for Carrots, and for the 
open ground two pounds of salt to the same quantity of 
soot may be used. 
DWARF FRENCH BEANS 
To get this desirable vegetable early whenever it 
can be accomplished is no doubt the great wish of 
most persons. The term ‘ fercing’ may be classed into 
