102 HORTICULTURE LECT. vn 



tager's and curled kales are serviceable winter greens 

 for home use; and close cauliflower-like heads of 

 broccoli are always acceptable in spring, but the 

 plants are sometimes killed in the winter. 



Radishes raised early in rich ground are very pro- 

 fitable. The seed is sown thinly in February, or as 

 soon as the ground is in a suitable condition, and the 

 beds littered with short straw. When the plants 

 appear this is quickly drawn off with wooden rakes 

 into ridges on the windward side, and lightly cast over 

 again at night. An acre gives 1,400 or 1,500 dozen 

 bunches, and at sixpence a dozen brings 30, the land 

 being then at liberty for celery or other crops. 

 Sowing radish seed too thickly is not only wasteful 

 at the outset, but crowded plants cannot produce the 

 crisp, tender, coveted roots. See page 109. 



One excellent cultivator follows his radish crops 

 with celery, which gives him a profit of <30 

 an acre. The plants are raised in beds of fer- 

 menting manure covered with soil, in March, and 

 protected with sashes. They are subsequently 

 pricked out two or three inches apart, in an inch or 

 two of soil spread on three inches of decayed manure, 

 watered and sheltered. In that way they take up 

 with bushy roots and are trimmed for planting in 

 well enriched ground in shallow (not deep) trenches 

 early in June. Celery requires much water. Three 

 earthings suffice ; the first when the plants are fifteen 

 inches high, flooding the trenches previously ; the 

 next about three weeks after ; and the last on the 

 approach of frost. The stems must be dry when the 

 earth is placed against them. 



Good rows of the best sorts of peas are welcome in 

 every garden, and any surplus can generally be sold to 

 advantage. Scarlet runner beans are similarly useful, 

 and easily grown with or without sticks. In some 



