84 AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 



ucts very superior in quality to those raised even from the 

 same stock, but sown before the proper time. 



Whenever root vegetables, having attained to from one fourth 

 to one half or more of their ordinary growth, experience a check 

 from any cause, it is almost impossible to start them anew so 

 as to obtain either handsome or well-tasted roots ; they will, in 

 general, be either hollow, or stringy and necked, or have an al- 

 kaline taste, or all of these may combine to render them worth- 

 less for the table, and of but little value for any purpose. Even 

 if the check occur while they are quite small they are scarcely 

 ever recoverable. The judicious cultivator will, therefore, so 

 time the sowing of his winter root crops as to carry them clear 

 of the summer heats and into fall weather, with its cool nights 

 and heavy dews, while they are yet in the first or second stages 

 of their growth. If this be done, and their after cultivation be 

 faithfully attended to, he may reasonably expect a crop abun- 

 dant in yield and excellent in quality. 



North of latitude 40 the spring sowing of general crops 

 may ordinarily be performed in April and May. Root crops 

 intended for cattle may generally be sown with safety about 

 /the middle or latter end of June, and those intended for win- 

 ter table-use from early in July to mid-August, according to 

 the kinds ; but in southern latitudes, earlier and later sowing, 

 with a longer summer intermission, becomes necessary. In a 

 well-cultivated garden it will be found safe to allow about 

 twelve weeks for the growth of fall-sown, vegetables, counting 

 from the time that their third leaves attain the size of a 

 " squirrel's foot," though some of them, as turnips, or bush- 

 beans for salting, will be ready for use in shorter time. 



DEPTH OP SOWING. 



It is sometimes imagined that the seeds of tap-rooted plants, 

 as radishes, beets, &c., should be sown at a depth proportioned 

 to the expected length of the product. Men otherwise intel- 

 ligent occasionally entertain this puerile notion, and lay the 

 blame of failure upon seeds which, in fact, they themselves 

 have buried beyond hope of germination. The oaks that clothe 

 our mountains sprang from acorns that were never buried ; all 



