THE GARDEN WEEK BY WEEK 



March for making the trenches. Standard Bearer is a good 

 16-31 red variety. The Turnip-rooted (Celeriac) is good for 

 cooking. 



Chicory. — Gardeners grow this vegetable mainly as 

 a winter salad, but the Brussels or "Witloef" makes 

 a delicious spring vegetable when forced and cooked 

 like Seakale. Seed of Chicory may be sown now to 

 yield roots in autumn, which, lifted then and put into 

 boxes or large pots, will push foliage suitable for salads. 



Cucumbers. — I have already spoken of sowing 

 Cucumbers for early crops. The plants thus raised 

 are generally grown in houses, later supplies only 

 being taken from frames. They (the house plants) 

 ought not to be stopped, but the growth tied to a 

 stake inserted in the pot. When the plants are about 

 a foot high they may be planted in mounds of soil 

 made up two feet apart on slates on the stages. Three 

 points should be observed in connection with these 

 mounds : (i) they should be only just large enough to 

 cover the roots, more soil being added as the plants 

 grow ; (2) the soil should not be in line particles, but in 

 lumps ; (3) it should be warmed by being placed in 

 position in the house a few days prior to planting. 

 Seeds may now be sown for yielding plants to grow in 

 frames. They should be raised in warmth, such as on 

 a hot bed, in a propagator, or in a warm house, and 

 have the tip pinched off when they have made two pairs 

 of rough leaves, to encourage them to form side shoots. 

 When the plant is put out, which should be on a mound 

 of earth in the centre of a manure bed in the frame, the 

 side shoots can be trained over the bed in different 

 directions, and overcrowding thus avoided. Improved 

 Telegraph is a suitable variety. 



Egg Plants^ Capsicum, and Chilies. — Although these 

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