RADISH. 



413 



RADISH. 



has been manured for the crop that has 

 preceded them so much the better. Sow 

 broadcast, thinly, or in drills from 3 to 4 

 inches apart for long radishes and the 

 smaller sorts of turnip radishes, and from 

 4 to 6 inches apart for the larger sorts. 

 Radishes are often sown much too thickly, 



WHITE TURNIP 

 RADISH. 



WOOD'S EARLY FRAME 

 LARGE RED RADISH. 



and this causes the roots to be small, hard, 

 stringy, and disagreeably hot in flavour. 

 Early sowings will require to be protected 

 from frost by a covering of litter, but 

 this must be removed every mild day, as 

 soon as the plants appear above ground. 

 When the weather is hot and the ground 

 dry, well water before sowing ; and some 

 days before drawing, water the beds well, 

 and keep the soil moist until the crop is 

 finished. The Spanish varieties should be 

 sown in drills, about a foot apart, and 

 thinned out when sufficiently strong to 

 draw, so as to stand from 4 to 6 inches 

 apart in the rows. For a winter supply of 

 these, sow from the middle of July to the 

 middle of September, regulating this by the 

 locality, and the size at which the roots 

 may be most esteemed. Fair-sized roots, 

 however, will be obtained in most localities 

 from sowings made about the middle of 

 August. These may be taken up before 

 severe weather sets in, and pitted or stored 



in damp sand, in a cool cellar or shed, for 

 winter use. 



Culttire in Hotbed. late-sown radishes 

 that is to say, radishes sown in autumn 

 will need protection at night when frosty 

 weather comes on. To make certain of the 

 crop, it is better to grow them in frames, 

 making up for the purpose a bed of manure 

 about 2 feet in depth. Over the hotbed 

 spread light, loamy soil, to the depth of 10 

 inches, or thereabouts, and then place a 

 two or three-light frame over the bed, as 

 may be convenient. Sow the radishes 

 broadcast, and press in the seed with the 

 back of a rake. This may be done from 

 October to even March, but for sowings in 

 midwinter it will be found necessary to 

 afford auxiliary heat by linings as the heat 

 of the bed declines. Give air on every 

 favourable occasion, so as to secure stocky 

 growth, and cover up at night when frosty. 

 When hotbeds are made in early spring for 

 cucumbers, radishes may be obtained more 



BLACK SPANISH WINTER RADISH. 



quickly than in ordinary soil by sprinkling 

 seed on the earth that is without the 

 frame, that is to say, on the soil with which 

 the manure that projects beyond the 

 frame is covered. 



