183^] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



61 



and covered in the winter. There are likewise 

 the rouncivals, the Spanish maratto, and the 

 marrowllit or Dutch admiral, but these are oC a 

 later sort, and are intended to come in succession, 

 when the forward kind are gone. You should 

 sow your peas every forlnight, and as the hot 

 weather comes on, the latter sort should he in a 

 shehered situation, otherwise they will burn up. 

 1 would recommend sowing in drills about 2 or 3 

 inches deep, levelling the ground very smoothly 

 with light mould, in rows about four feet asunder, 

 for the convenience of going between to gather 

 the crop, and raising cabbages or other things at 

 the same time. In the spring let your rows be 

 east and west, in the suir.mer north and south, for 

 a reason whicfi must be obvious, viz: the giving 

 them as much sun as possible in the first inslance, 

 and as little as possible in the last. When your 

 peas are well up, they should be hilled once or 

 twice before tliey are stuck. This not only 

 strengthens them, but at the same time affords 

 them li-esh nourishment. The maimer ofslicking 

 them is known to every bod}^; I shall only, there- 

 fore, mention a caution, to put your slicks firm in 

 the ground, otherwise they are apt to fall when 

 the vines grow rampant, and not to stick them in 

 too near the roots, lest you do the plant irrepara- 

 h\e injury. In the spring it has been fiiund that 

 scattering some dry cow dtmg in the trenches be- 

 fore you sow your peas, has been ver}' beneficial. 

 The charlton and marrowfats may be sown at 

 the same time. Some peoj)le soak tlieir peas be- 

 fore sowing, but this often turns out unsuccessiul- 

 ly, fijr in a wet season they are very apt to rot. 

 There is a pea which came from Holland, with 

 an esculent husk, 'i'he ormonds are the hotspur. 

 In order to have peas in the fall, sow the hotspur 

 and a latter sort the 121 h day of i\ iigust, these 

 will yield you a crop from October till the infeupe 

 weather comes on, in November or Decemb(>r. 

 Your slicks should be pretty long, eight lijet is not 

 too high, because the rampant sorts, particularly 

 the crown pea and marrowfiifs, run to a great 

 height, and keep bearing as they grow. Peas 

 niiy be preserved as kidney beans are, by laying 

 them in different layers of salt, in their pods, and 

 keeping them quite close. 



PoTATOKs, Licopersicon, from Lupus, gr. a 

 wolf, and porsica, a peach. Potatoes seems only 

 a corruption of the Indian batatas, it coming ori- 

 ginally from America, in 1623. Dr. Linnai-us 

 classes it under the genus solanum. There are 

 more raised near London than in any other part 

 of Europe. As the seed is not only uncertain, 

 but very difficult to be raised in England, they 

 are generally propagated fi-om the roots; some 

 take the small potatoes, or offsets entire, others cm 

 the large ones into pieces, observing to plant what 

 they call the eyes. But JMiller thinks the best 

 method is to plant the fiiirest roots, allowing them 

 a greater distance both in the rows, and from one 

 another. The proper soil lor this plant is a light, 

 sandy loam, not too dry or moist. The groimd 

 should be well worked, and your potatoes planted 

 as soon as the frosts are over, that is, about the 

 be;^inning of March, in furrows about seven or 

 eignt inches, and the rows three feet asunder, and 

 the plants a ft)ot and a half! The ground should 

 be kept clear of weeds, and stirred before the roots 

 begin to stretch themselves out. The haulm of 



these plants are generally killed the first frost, 

 at which time they should be taken up, and kept 

 m sand quite dry, fi^r use, not too thick, and very 

 dry, least they should heat and spoil. You mny 

 dig them up sooner, if large enough, and no inju- 

 ry will be done. This is the case an)ongst the farm- 

 ers, for they generally take a crop of wheat from 

 the land, and therefore, must have the ground 

 cleared as soon as possible. The Irish method of 

 raising these plants, is to lay them on the sward, 

 and cover them six inches with mould, and so hill 

 ihem up as they grow. Hilling is necessary, let 

 them be planted in any manner you think proper. 



Pepper, Capsicum, from Capsula, or Kapto gr. 

 to burn, should be sown in April, and should be 

 gathered before the pods grow hard, for pickles. 



Radish, Raphanus, from Radios gr. easy, and 

 saino gr. appareo, because they soon make their ap- 

 pearance when sown. There are radishes known 

 in this country by the name of scarlet or salmon, 

 London short-topped, &c., but they are. Miller 

 says, no more than little varieties of the common 

 sort, arising fi-om culture. The gardeners about 

 London sow their seeds in October, in a warm 

 border, so as to have them, if they do not miscar- 

 ry, in March; but I believe our winters aie too se- 

 vere to admit of this here. The second sowing is 

 about Christmas, which will produce a crop in 

 April; but the best method is to sow every fort- 

 night, fiom January till the beginning of April, al- 

 ways observing to sow your latter crops in moist 

 land, otherwise they are apt to run up; and indeed, 

 with propershellers, these sowings may be repeat- 

 ed all the summer and lidl. Where the ground is 

 scarce, the gardeners sow carrots and spinach with 

 their radishes, because the last are drawn soon, and 

 give the others room to flourish. The best method 

 ol'sowing radishes is in drills about a loot asunder, 

 the seed to be put three inches deep in liglit rich 

 land, though no dung; and if they grow too thick, 

 that is, nearer than three mclics asunder, tliey 

 should be pulled, so as to remain within that dis- 

 tance. In May, you should, in order to have proper 

 seed, draw some ofyour best plants, such as do not 

 branch, but are straight, and prick them in rows 

 three feet asunder, and two from one another, and 

 when the seed grow brown, they should be taken 

 off, dried, and the pods beaten out, and secured so 

 that the mice cannot get at the seed. There is a 

 turnip-radish, beingvery likeonecalled in England, 

 the round-rooied radish. These should be sown in 

 i\] arch, and allowed a greater distance than the 

 CDinmon radish. The black ratlish will continue, 

 if sown in August, till killed by. the frosts; and 

 radishes may be preserved in sand, as carrots are, 

 till the spring. Some people, to have long hand- 

 some radishes, make holes in the ground at six 

 inches deep, and put two seed into each, about 

 three inches asunder, by which means your rad- 

 ishes are the better. 



Raspberry, Rtibus, beir)g red. There are two 

 sorts only that are propagated tbr the sake of iheir 

 fiuit, the white and red, and those either by layers 

 or suckers, though the former are preferable. 

 They should be placed in some abject part of the 

 garden, where they may have room to spread with- 

 out incommoding anv other plant. They should 

 not De less than two li^et asunder, and in their rows 

 five, though six each way would do better, in a 



