CROCUS. 



134 



CROPS. 



Cress, Mustard, &c. 



These accompaniments to lettuce, &c., 

 in forming a salad, or " saladings," as they 

 are sometimes called, may be obtained by 

 sowing in the open ground in March and 

 April on a sunny spot, and from April to 

 October in a somewhat moist and sheltered 

 situation. The seed should be sown thickly 

 in shallow drills, and a sowing be made 

 every fortnight for succession. The seed 

 leaves only are eaten, because the leaves 

 that show themselves next in order are 

 rough and strong in flavour. For winter 

 use, from October to March, seeds may be 

 sown in boxes filled with light, rich mould, 

 and placed in a greenhouse or window. 



Crocus. 



The chief self sorts of the crocus are 

 white, yellow, blue, and purple ; the striped 

 sorts exhibit these colours in every variety 

 of distribution. Size, consistence, shape, 

 and distinctness of colour in the bloom, 

 constitute the chief points in a good crocus. 

 Nothing can be more easy than their cul- 



W.OWERS OF CROCUS. 



ture. They are increased by offsets and 

 seed, the former being the usual mode, as 

 they increase rapidly. Offsets are treated 

 the same as old bulbs, and will bloom the 

 second year. Seed should be sown thinly, 

 in well-drained pans of light sandy loam, 

 s soon as ripe, and placed in a sheltered 

 situation out of doors until late in the 



autumn. During heavy autumn rains and 

 the cold of winter, they should receive the 

 protection of a cold frame. If sown thin 

 enough, they may remain in the same pans 

 during the first summer. When their 

 foliage dies down in the autumn, they 

 should be shaken out of the soil, and 

 carefully planted in beds of mellow loam 

 in the reserve garden, placing the bulbs 

 about 2 [inches apart and 3 deep. Here 

 they will form strong bulbs during the 

 third summer, and a few of them may 

 flower, the most of them, however, defer- 

 ring to do so until the fourth spring. Cro- 

 cuses are very accommodating in reference 

 to the depth at which they are planted j 

 from 4 to 6 inches is perhaps the best 

 average. When they are planted in beds 

 devoted to bedding-plants, they will reach 

 the surface and flower, if inserted four 

 times that depth. As the young bulbs are 

 formed on the top of of the old ones, they 

 thus possess a self-elevating power. Cro- 

 cuses will flower freely for many years 

 without being disturbed. The best growers, 

 however, recommend dividing and replant- 

 ing every third or fifth year. To secure 

 perfect blooms, the foliage must be left to 

 die down of its own accord. 



Crops, Rotation Of. See Cottage 

 Gardens, Rotation of Crops in, and 

 Sequence of Crops. 



Crops, Disposition of. 



To know how a garden, or a piece of 

 ground devoted to gardening purposes, 

 may be apportioned and suitably cropped 

 is of the utmost importance. The quantity 

 of ground under consideration here is an 

 acre, but smaller plots of ground may be 

 treated in like manner, due regard being 

 had to the proportions of the different parts 

 into which they are divided. 



Suppose the accompanying diagram to 

 represent an acre of ground, the length to 

 run east and west, which gives the advan- 



