124 CULTURE OF VEGETABLES [CH. 



be carefully lifted, and, when dry, stored in sand or dry 

 soil, or put into an opened trench and covered over 

 with litter and earth outside. In preparing beet for 

 baking, it must not be trimmed or cut, or even pricked 

 with a fork, or it will bleed only washed clean. White's 

 Black or Dell's Crimson are the best beet for shape and 

 colour. 



Borecole and Sprouts. Curled Greens or Borecole, 

 as well as Brussels Sprouts, may be sown as early in April 

 as the weather permits. 



Kidney Beans. Scarlet Runner Beans and Kidney 

 Beans gain nothing by early sowing ; the last days of 

 April or the first in May are quite time enough. 



The ground for these beans should never be manured 

 at the time of sowing. Sow in successions, say, of a 

 fortnight, in drills 18 inches or 2 feet apart, and 2 inches 

 deep, the seed 2 or 3 inches separate. The small-seeded 

 White Haricots, as ripe seed, are excellent food in winter, 

 and much more nourishing than potatoes. 



Scarlet Runners are most valuable for screening ugly 

 corners by judiciously training them on poles, or letting 

 them cover a trellis or porch. 



Asparagus. It has been always a question with me 

 whether an ordinary gardener should venture on the 

 culture of this favourite vegetable. The results are so 

 very uncertain and so frequently disappointing. I have 

 known it to sow itself on a gravel walk, and to flourish 

 there, while it often fails in carefully prepared beds. 



