HOME GARDENS FOK SMOKY TOWNS. 289 



being much larger than ordinary spinach. I tried in vain to eradi- 

 cate it, then gave some leaves to my fowls. They ate them greedily. 

 After this I had some boiled, and found that the supposed weed is 

 an excellent spinach, which may be sown broadcast in thick patches, 

 without any interspaces, and cut down again and again all the year 

 round, fresh leaves springing up from the roots until the autumn, 

 when it throws up tall flowering stems, and yields an abundant crop 

 of seeds. I have some now, self-sown, that have survived the whole 

 of the late severe winter, while turnip-tops, cabbages, and everything 

 else have perished. I have sown the ordinary spinach seed in the 

 usual manner in rows, and comparing it with the self-sown dense 

 patches of this intruder, find the latter produces, square yard against 

 square yard, six or eight times as much of available eatable crop. 



None of my friends who are amateur gardeners know this variety ; 

 but, a few days since, I called on Messrs. James Carter & Co., the 

 wholesale seedsmen of Holborn, and described it. They gave me a 

 packet of what they call " Perpetual spinach beet," which, as may be 

 seen by comparison with the seeds of those I have here of my own 

 growing, is probably the same. Messrs. Carter & Co. tell me that the 

 plant is very little known, and the seed scarce from want of cultiva- 

 tion and demand. I therefore step so far aside to describe and 

 recommend it as specially suited for obtaining large crops on small 

 areas.* 



I also recommend a mode of growing cabbages that I have found 

 very profitable, viz., to sow the seed broadcast in richly manured 

 beds or patches and leave the plants crowding together ; cut them 

 down while very young, without destroying the centre bud ; let them 

 sprout again and again. They thus yield a succession of crops, every 

 leaf of which is eatable. This, instead of transplanting and growing 

 large plants, which, however desirable for sale in the market, are far 

 less profitable for home use. Celery may be grown in like manner, 

 and cut down young and green for boiling. 



Some collateral advantages may be fairly anticipated in cases where 

 the back-yard is fully inclosed by the canvas. 



In the first place, the air coming into the house from the back will 

 be more or less filtered from the grimy irritant particles with which 

 our London atmosphere is loaded, besides obtaining the oxygen given 

 off by the growing plants, and the ozone which recent investigations 

 have shown to be produced where aromatic plants such as kitchen 

 herbs are growing. Lavender, which is very hardy, and spreads 

 spontaneously, might be grown for this purpose. 



Back-doors might be left open for ventilation, without danger of 

 intrusion or of slamming by gusts of wind. The air thus admitted 

 would be tempered both in summer and winter. By wetting the 

 canvas, which may easily be done by means of a small garden engine, 

 or hand syringe, the exceptionally hot summer days that are so 

 severely felt in London might be moderated to a considerable extent. 

 The air under the canvas being cooler than that in front would enter 

 from below, while the warmer air would be pushed upward and out- 

 ward to the front. 



Although such conservatories may be erected, as already stated, by 



* I tried the feeds given to me by Messrs. Carter, and find them to produce the 

 same plant as my o\vn, which I still cultivate very successfully. I now sow it in 

 the spring as a kitchen garden border. 



