FEBRUARY 151 



fore occasion the least imaginable trouble in their management ; but 

 a few of the tallest are still in favour, because of their late bearing 

 and high quality. However, there is time yet for sowing mid-season 

 and late Peas ; but the sooner some of the first earlies are in the 

 better. It is customary to sow many rows in a plot rather close 

 together, but it is better practice to put them so far apart as to admit 

 of two or three rows of early Potatoes between every two rows of Peas. 

 This insures abundance of light and air to the Peas, and the latter are 

 of great value to protect the Potatoes from May frosts that often kill 

 down the rising shaws. A warm, dry, fertile soil is needed for first 

 early Peas. Those already up and in a bad plight should be dug in 

 and the rows sown again. It is worthy of note that if Peas are 

 thoroughly pinched and starved by hard weather, they rarely prove a 

 success : so, if they go wrong, sacrifice them without hesitation and 

 begin again. Where early rows are doing well take care of them, and 

 put sticks to them at once, as the sticks afford considerable pro- 

 tection, and they may be rendered additionally protective by strewing 

 on the windward side small hedge clippings and other such light dry 

 stuff. 



POTATO. A small quantity for early use should be planted when 

 the ground is dry and the weather soft. If planted when frost or 

 cold winds prevail, sets may become somewhat shrivelled before they 

 are covered, and every care should be taken to maintain the initial 

 vigour of the plant. The first early sorts will necessarily have the 

 chief attention now, and warm sheltered spots should be selected for 

 them. Any fairly good soil will produce a passable crop of Potatoes ; 

 but to secure a first-class sample of any early sort, the ground should 

 be made up with the aid of turfy soil and charrings of hedge clippings 

 and other light, warm, nourishing material. Strong manures are not 

 to be desired, but a mellow, kindly, fertile soil is really necessary, and 

 it will always pay well to take extra pains in its preparation, because 

 all the light rubbish that accumulates in yards and outhouses can be 

 turned to account with only a moderate amount of labour, and the 

 result of careful appropriation of such rubbish will be thoroughly 

 satisfactory. Burn all the chips and sticks and other stubborn stuff, 

 and lay the mixture in the trenches when planting, so that the roots 

 may find it at their first start. Potato disease usually breaks out in 

 autumn, and therefore early planting is a safe precaution, for it insures 

 early ripening of the crop, which is consequently harvested before the 

 time when disease generally appears. 



RADISHES, to be mild, tender, and handsome, must be grown 



