CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



to February ; Early Long-pod, an excellent fertile 

 bean for general use, not highly flavoured ; John- 

 son's Wonderful Long-pod, Green Long-pod, 

 White or Broad Windsor, the best of all beans for 

 flavour ; Green Windsor, Beck's Green Gem, and 

 the Dwarf Fan or Cluster, which produces an 

 abundant crop in little space. 



Beans prefer a sound firm loam, retentive of 

 moisture, and suffer in a very dry season and 

 soil, particularly if attacked by the black ' green- 

 fly.' They should be sown at four to six inches 

 apart, in two and a half to three feet wide 

 drills. Beans transplant well, and therefore may 

 be sown thickly in autumn, the plants being 

 covered with hoops and mats, or with a garden- 

 frame and lights. When the plants rise in the 

 rows, or begin to grow after being transplanted, 

 loosen the earth by pushing the Dutch hoe along 

 the surface, and draw three inches of it to each 

 side of the stems ; or rather, shovel up two or 

 three inches of the earth, and lay it flat a foot 

 wide on each side of the row of beans, shelving 

 rather towards the stems than from them, for then 

 the rains would find their way directly to the 

 roots. The seasons of sowing are autumn for the 

 Mazagan, January and February for long-pods, 

 and from March to June for the Windsor. Sow 

 succession crops one after the other, according to 

 the demand, as soon as the plants of the preceding 

 sowing shall be quite above ground. 



Lentil. Within the last few years, this crop has 

 attracted some attention ; it is, indeed, the oldest 

 leguminous plant of which we have any record. 

 For bread and pottage of lentils, Esau sold 

 his birthright, and it is still in common use in 

 eastern lands, being parched in frying-pans, 

 and commonly sold in the shops in Egypt and 

 Syria. The following varieties have been intro- 

 duced : I. Large ; 2. Common or yellow ; 3. Red 

 or small brown ; 4. Common small. This crop 

 requires a dry warm soil, and might be advan- 

 tageously grown in sandy situations unsuitable 

 for common garden crops. The seeds should be 

 sown pretty thickly in rows at 18 inches or 2 feet 

 apart. One plant produces from. 100 to 150 pods, 

 each pod containing two or three seeds or 

 'lentils/ which may be cooked in the manner of 

 peas. 



Root Vegetables. 



The vegetables grown for the sake of their roots 

 are of two kinds i. Those in which the roots are 

 more or less round or lumpy, including the 

 Jerusalem artichoke, the potato, and the turnip ; 

 and 2. Those which are tap or taper rooted, 

 including the carrot, the beet-root, the radish, and 

 the horse-radish. Strictly speaking, the tubers of 

 potatoes, &c. are not roots, but merely under- 

 ground concentrated stems of the vegetable, the 

 real roots being small fibres which shoot out from 

 the tubers, and bring nourishment to the whole. 

 All require depth of soil to penetrate, and also 

 looseness and breadth of mould to allow of 

 expansion. 



The Jerusalem Artichoke has no relation to the 

 true artichoke ; but is so named from its similarity 

 in flavour to that esculent ; while its first name is 

 merely a corruption of the Italian name of the 

 sunflower (Girasole), of which it is a species. 

 The tubers, which alone are eaten, are produced 

 abundantly under the surface, close to the base of 



552 



the main stem. The plant is set like the potato, 

 by either whole roots or cuts with one or more 

 eyes to each. The pieces or cuts should be pre- 

 pared at the time of planting, and set in shallow 

 trenches two and a half to three feet apart, 

 and fifteen inches asunder in the row. The 

 season for planting is in the first dry weather of 

 March ; and half a peck of tubers will plant a 

 row 1 20 feet long. A good mellow loam is the 

 proper soil, and the spot for planting should be a 

 sheltered, warm sunny exposure. The roots are 

 perfected in October or November, and should be 

 dug only when wanted, if that be convenient ; but 

 if not, lift the crop, and store away for winter 

 use in moist sand or any kind of light soil through 

 which the frost cannot penetrate. There is a 

 French variety, with smaller, yellowish-coloured 

 roots, which are reputed to be more delicately 

 flavoured than the common kind. 



T}ie Potato, like the Jerusalem artichoke and 

 some other plants, is a naturalised exotic in Eng- 

 lish gardens from the wilds of South America, and 

 has been greatly improved by culture within the 

 last hundred years. There are many varieties, 

 individually distinguished by colour and flavour ; 

 and as some are better than others, it is very 

 important that proper sorts should alone be 

 cultivated. There are two distinct races early 

 and late. Early potatoes soon come to perfection, 

 and few of them retain their good-eating properties 

 when stored for future use ; hence their culture is 

 usually restricted to what is needful for summer 

 and autumn. The leading kinds are Ash-leaved 

 Kidney, and its sub-varieties, Bresee's King of 

 the Earlies, Early Coldstream, Early Daintree, 

 Early Oxford, Early Rose, Handsworth Prolific, 

 and Mona's Pride. 



Late potatoes, including intermediate kinds or 

 'second earlies,' are used in autumn, and onwards 

 throughout winter and spring till about the middle 

 of summer. The first four in the following list are 

 specially suitable for using in autumn ; the next 

 four in winter and early spring ; while the last five 

 are best for using from the middle of March till 

 full supplies of the earlies of next crop are 

 obtainable : Early Shaw, Dalmahoy, Ash-top 

 Fluke, and Wheeler's Milky White ; Lapstone, 

 Sutton's Berkshire Kidney, Rintoul's Regents, and 

 York Regents ; Late Rose, Skerry Blues, Fluke, 

 Paterson's Victoria, and Sutton's Red-skinned 

 Flour-ball. 



The potato may be cultivated either by seeds 

 procured from the apple, or from the tuber itself. 

 If from the seed, the first crops of tubers are 

 only a little larger than peas, and several sea- 

 sons are required to bring them to an edible 

 size. The common method of cultivation is by 

 pieces or cuts of the tuber, each having at least 

 one well-defined eye ; cuts with two eyes are 

 generally preferred. These are set in trenches, 

 the ground being in good heart with previous 

 manuring, or good old manure placed in the 

 bottom of the furrow along with the sets. The 

 season for planting is from February till late in 

 April. Dig and plant sets, fresh cut as the work 

 proceeds, placing the sets from nine to twelve 

 inches apart, and the rows about twenty to thirty 

 inches asunder, according as the kinds are of 

 dwarf or tall growth. When the shoots have risen 

 sufficiently above ground, stir the soil deeply, 

 and earth up the drills with a hoe. Constant 



