Vegetable Growing for Market 



157 



costs Id. per dozen bunches for the Long ones, which are tied in fan- 

 shaped " hands ",: and 2d. per dozen bunches for the Turnip-shaped, which 

 are bound in round bunches with osier rods. The " hands " and bunches 

 are washed with soft brushes, rinsed in clean water, and packed for 

 market. The price is 5d. to lOcZ. per dozen bunches for the Long and 

 from 5d. to Is. 3d. per dozen bunches for the Turnip. A good crop is 

 from 1000 to 1500 dozen bunches to the acre. 



Although the margin of profit over expenses per dozen is very small, 

 Radishes can be made to pay if the grower is willing to give the necessary 

 constant attention to securing a continuous supply. He may make up 

 his mind to having to plough a sowing or two in during the season; but 

 then if he keeps on he may, as a compensation, come in with a sowing 

 or two when Radishes 

 are scarce and the price 

 runs up to a figure that 

 gives the salesman 

 genuine pleasure. 



Some growers boast 

 that they have taken 

 five crops of Radishes 

 off the same ground 

 during one season. To 

 use a colloquial expres- 

 sion, it need not be said 

 that " this wants doing ". 

 It is fairly certain that 

 the man who just now 

 and then puts in a crop 

 of Radishes, and either 

 lacks the organizing 



power or begrudges the persistent attention necessary to keep up a regular 

 supply, will not get much profit out of them. [w. G. L.] 



Radishes in Worcestershire are sown on warm and sheltered borders 

 for the earliest crops and in open breadths for the main crop. Care is 

 always taken to sow them on rich soil, without which there cannot be 

 quick growth and juicy, tender radishes. The earliest crops are sown 

 in December on borders sloping to the south, the varieties being almost 

 exclusively the mixed white and red turnip-rooted and Wood's Farly Frame 

 Radish. The borders are as far as practicable sheltered from the north 

 by any means available. Often the screen consists of 7-in. or 9-in.-by-l-in. 

 boards placed on edge and nailed or screwed to posts fixed in the ground 

 and about 3 ft. high; in other cases the shelter consists of a double row 

 of stakes at about 1 ft. apart, with the old growth of Asparagus which 

 was cut down at the end of November laid horizontally between them, 

 thus forming a wall or screen which will, with care, last several seasons. 



After the seed is sown and carefully raked-in in December or January, 



Fig. 489. Radish" French Breakfast' 



