622 RADICA CEOUS ESCULENTS. 



stick or bar, the section of which is shown in fig. 374 ; hang to this 

 bar bags of sand, as many as may be wanted. Train the plants up 

 the strings, and when they are well grown the whole will be covered, 

 and when in flower the appearance will be very ornamental. By this 

 method, the cords being fixed at the lower bars will not pull the plants 

 out of the earth; the tension and contraction of the cords being 

 counteracted by the bar suspended in the loops, which is raised or 

 lowered by every change of atmospheric moisture ; so much so, indeed, 

 that it serves as an hygrometer. (' Gard. Mag.,' 1841, p. 211.) In some 

 market gardens in the neighbourhood of London, very abundant crops 

 of the scarlet runner are obtained without staking, by merely stop- 

 ping the plants after they begin to form pods. By this treatment they 

 also continue longer in bearing, when the pods are to be gathered 

 green ; but when seed is to be ripened, it is found best to stake the 

 plants. 



Gathering. Care should be taken not to let any of the pods ripen, 

 otherwise these will attract all the strength of the plant, and prevent 

 in a great measure its future growth, for the production of young pods. 

 The kidney-bean is sometimes attacked by the aphides, but its greatest 

 enemies in the open garden are the snails and slugs. A few plants 

 should be set aside for ripening seed early in the season, in order that 

 they may be perfectly matured, while the weather is fine. The seed 

 cannot be depended on above a year. 



The Lima bean (Dolichos, L.), of which there are several species and 

 numerous varieties, is cultivated in France and the South of Europe, 

 but it is rather too tender for the open air in Britain. 



The Common Lentil (Ervum Lens, L.) ; the winter lentil (E. Ervilia, 

 L.) ; the Spanish lentil (Lathyrus sativus, L. ; and the chick pea (Cicer 

 arietinum, L.) ; and some other lentils, are annuals cultivated on the 

 Continent, as peas are in England, for their ripe seeds, which are put 

 in soups, or dressed as a dish in the same manner as haricots. French 

 cooks occasionally require lentils in English gardens. They are easily 

 cultivated. Sow in drills 18 inches or two feet apart, from the end of 

 March to the middle of May, keep clear of weeds, and gather when 

 fully grown, but before the seeds get hard. 



The White Lupin (Lupinus albus, L.) is cultivated in some parts of 

 Spain and Italy for its ripe seeds, which are put in soups or dressed 

 like haricots. 



Substitutes for leguminaceous esculents are few, and chiefly the 

 field pea, which is a variety of the garden pea, and the sea pea (Pisum 

 maritimum, L.), a perennial, a native of Britain, on the sea-shore. 



Radicaceous Esculents. 



The principal esculent roots cultivated in British gardens are the 

 potato, Jerusalem artichoke, turnip, carrot, parsnip, red beet, skirret, 

 scorzonera, salsify, and radish. All of these plants thrive best in deep 

 sandy loam on a dry bottom, deeply trenched and well manured, and 

 with an atmosphere moist and moderately warm. The potato, turnip, 



