138 THE KITCHEN GARDEN. [FEB. 



age and lettuce seed ; the spinage will come in after the radish, and 

 the lettuce after the spinage. 



The radishes sown last month must be carefully protected by 

 covering the glasses at night and in very severe weather with mats, 

 &c., and they must have plenty of air occasionally, otherwise they 

 will not root well. 



In order to have radishes tolerably early or to succeed those sown 

 in January, let some of the early kinds above mentioned be now 

 sowed on a slight hot-bed, as directed in page 30, and treated as 

 there advised, or you may sow them on such beds under cover of 

 oiled paper frames or of mats ; but radishes are not apt to root well 

 under covering of mats, especially when necessity requires them to 

 be kept on for any considerable length of time, unless you are ex- 

 tremely careful to give them as much air and light at every opportu- 

 nity as possible consistent with their safety. 



SPINAGE. 



Sow some prickly-seeded spinage, it being the hardiest kind, about 

 the latter end of the month. Let some dry warm ground be pre- 

 pared for this purpose, and sow the seed thereon thin and regular, 

 either broadcast and raked in or in drills a foot asunder, or on four 

 feet wide beds being careful that in either case the seed be not 

 covered more than from an inch to half an inch deep, according to 

 the lightness or stiffness of the ground. 



The smooth-seeded round-leaved kind is the best to sow during the 

 remainder of the spring and early summer months, but for this early 

 sowing, the prickly-seeded being more hardy, is preferable. 



Jlii"' I am well aware that in far the greater part of the eastern 

 States the ground is generally, during the whole of this month and 

 a considerable part of March, so bound up with frost as not to be dug 

 or cultivated; but this not being the case in the middle States, 

 except in very severe seasons, and not in all the southern States, I 

 am induced to give these directions for the sowing of early crops, 

 and where the state of the weather permits they may be practised 

 to advantage, and where not the business must be deferred a little 

 longer. 



SOWING LETTUCE SEED. 



If the weather be mild and the ground in good condition, you may, 

 about the latter end of this month, sow some lettuce seed on a south 

 border, which ought to be well defended by a wall, hedge, or board 

 fence, &c. The kinds most suitable to be sown at this time are the 

 early curled and common cabbage lettuces, if intended to be cut up 

 for small salading, in which case they are to be sown very thick on 

 the surface, after the ground has been raked tolerably well, and then 

 raked in ; or they may be sown in beds or drills, according to fancy, 

 observing that these seeds require but a very slight covering. 



You may also sow any other kinds of lettuce, such as the white 

 or green cos, Egyptian and spotted cos, which are excellent kinds ; 



