A Year's Work in the Vegetable Garden 



exposure, and therefore they need not be sheltered or shaded until 

 frost threatens them, and then the glasses can be put on but they 

 must have air at every opportunity. 



Celery to be carefully earthed up as required. It takes five weeks 

 or more to blanch Celery well, and as the earthing up checks growth, 

 the operation should not be commenced a day too soon. Take care 

 that the earth does not get into the hearts. 



Corn Salad should be sown during this month and September 

 to produce plants fit for use in early spring. In the summer months 

 the whole plant is edible, but in winter or spring the outer leaves 

 only should be used. 



Cucumber. For a supply of Cucumbers during the winter 

 months the general principles of management are identical with 

 those given under January and March, with one important excep- 

 tion. At the commencement of the year a continued increase of 

 light and warmth may be relied on. Now there will be a constant 

 diminution of these vital forces. Hence the progress of the plants 

 will gradually abate as the year wanes, and due allowance must be 

 made for the fact. So much depends on the character of the autumn 

 and winter that it will be unwise to risk all on a single sowing. Seed 

 put in on two or three occasions between the end of August and the 

 end of October will provide plants in various stages of growth to 

 meet the exigencies of the season. The production of Cucumbers 

 will then depend on care and management. In very dull cold weather 

 it may be dangerous to syringe the foliage, but the necessary moisture 

 can be secured by sprinkling the floor and walls. 



Endive. Make a final sowing, and plant out all that are large 

 enough, selecting, if possible, a dry, sloping bank for the purpose. 



Lettuce to be sown to stand the winter ; the hardiest sorts, such 

 as Black-seeded Bath Cos and Winter White Cos, being the best. 

 In cold districts the middle of the month is a good time to sow ; in 

 favoured places the end of the month is preferable. 



Onion. For many years the Tripoli section enjoyed pre-eminence 

 for sowing at this season, the opinion prevailing that other kinds 

 were unsuitable. But it is found that several varieties which may 

 with propriety be described as English Onions are as hardy as the 

 Tripolis, and therefore as well adapted for sowing at this season. 

 Thus, instead of corts that must be used quickly, we may command 

 for summer sowing the best of the keepers, and the result will be 

 heavier crops and earlier ripening, with plentiful supplies of ' thin- 

 nings ' for salads all through the autumn and winter. Two sowings 



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