THE OPENING YEAR 



seven to ten inches long and one to three inches thick. Jan. 

 Such stems can be grown in far less time than large ^"^5 

 roots of Asparagus — in fact, they can be produced in 

 eight months if pieces about half an inch thick, and five 

 inches or more long, are planted in rich soil in spring. 

 It often surprises me that amateurs with small gardens 

 stuff their limited space with coarse, strong-smelling 

 vegetables like Brussels Sprouts, which any greengrocer 

 will supply for a copper or two a pound, when they 

 could grow so delicious a vegetable as Seakale. The 

 roots can be forced in a frame or pit just the same as 

 Asparagus, or a few may be put in a box, in moist soil» 

 and stood in any warm, dark place. 



French or Dzvarf Kidney Beans, — Among the several 

 advantages which owners of heated fruit houses enjoy 

 over their friends who merely own cold structures, is that 

 of being able to push on useful extraneous crops. Thus, 

 a person who forces early Grapes or Peaches by warming 

 a house in January may also get a few early dwarf Kidney 

 Beans, by sowing seeds in fairly large pots (7-inch or 

 8-inch) at the same time. The seeds may be two inches 

 apart, and the same in depth. One thing to be very 

 careful about is watering. The plants must be kept 

 growing by using good soil and keeping it moist. If 

 they grow feebly in poor, dry soil, a tiny pest called red 

 spider may attack them, and should this get on to the 

 Beans it may find its way from them to the Vines or 

 Peaches. If it does, the grower will rue the day. It 

 causes the leaves to become thin and rusty. 



JANUARY— Third and Fourth Weeks 



The weather conditions are not likely to change 

 much in the two sections of the month — or rather, they 

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