34 ALLOTMENT GAKDENS 



February till end of April, rake down the soil and get an 

 even surface, draw the drills 15 inches apart and about 

 1 inch deep. Sow the seed very thinly, making an ounce 

 do a 200-foot row. Thin the plants early, first to 5 inches 

 apart and then to 10 inches apart ; keep the hoe going 

 freely through the summer. A few roots can be lifted 

 as required for use, but the bulk of the crop should 

 remain in the ground as long as possible. When lifted 

 store in sand or dry earth or else * pit ' them. In very 

 heavy soil the land can be * barred ' for the crop, i.e. 

 holes can be made in the ground as for carrots, or some 

 of the roots can be grown in small drain-pipes. 



* Tender and True ' and ' Hollow Crown ' are good 

 varieties to grow ; the former does particularly well on 

 a shallow stony soil and the latter on a well-cultivated 

 loam. 



Pea. For very early crops sow round peas, not 

 wrinkled, on a south border in October and November, 

 as these are hardy and of a dwarf habit of growth. 

 Usually February is soon enough to make the first 

 sowing of peas outdoors. 



Choose a nice warm border and sow a dwarf-growing 

 variety like ' William Hurst ' in drills 2 feet apart. 

 Successional sowings can be made in the open till the 

 end of June, sowing an early variety for the late crop. 

 The ground for peas should be well dug or trenched in 

 the winter, mixing with the soil lime rubble and bone 

 meal, or in place of these a quantity of basic slag 4 oz. 

 to the square yard. 



At sowing time level down the ground and dig a 

 trench one spit deep ; mix with the soil at the bottom 

 of the trench, if sweet and good (if not, throw it out and 

 replace with surface soil), plenty of rotten manure, 



