158 A YEAR'S WORK IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



Nutt, and other summer sorts. In hot, dry soils, where Lettuces 

 usually run to seed early, try some of the red-leaved kinds, for though 

 less delicate than the green and white, they will be useful in the 

 event of a scorching summer. Lettuces require a deep free soil with 

 plenty of manure. 



MELON. Raise a few seeds singly in pots, in readiness for put- 

 ting under frames on hot-beds next month. Re-pot the plants, and 

 repeat the process if the beds are not ready, for Melons must not be 

 starved, especially in the early stage of growth. Some growers make 

 up the beds in March, and sow upon them when the heat becomes 

 steady, but the practice is somewhat precarious. In a cold, late 

 spring the heat may not last a sufficient time to carry the plants 

 safely into warm weather. Hence it is more reliable to raise them 

 now in a warm house, and make the bed at the beginning of April. 



ONION. Sow the main crop in drills nine inches apart, and 

 tread or beat the ground firm. This crop requires a rich soil in a 

 thoroughly clean and mellow condition, and it makes a capital finish 

 to the seed-bed to give it a good coat of charred rubbish or 

 smother ash before sowing the seed. 



PARSNIP. Sow main crop in shallow drills eighteen inches apart 

 in good soil deeply dug. The seed should be lightly covered, and 

 fresh seed is indispensable. The Student is the very best Parsnip 

 known. 



PEA. Sow now the finest sorts obtainable of tall-growing 

 Marrows, and the large-podded dwarf kinds of the second early 

 class. Take care to put them on the best seed-bed that can be 

 made, and allow sufficient room between the taller sorts for a few 

 rows of Cabbage, Broccoli, or Potatoes. A crowded quarter of Peas 

 is never properly productive ; for they smother each other, and the 

 shaded parts of the haulm produce next to nothing. 



POTATOES for main crops should now be got in, and the planting 

 be finished by the end of the month or beginning of April. 



SCORZONERA to be treated much the same as Salsify. See note 

 on the latter under April. 



SEA KALE to be sown in well-prepared beds ; or plantations may 

 be made by cuttings of the smaller roots of the thickness of a lead 

 pencil, and about four inches in length. Plant them top end upper- 

 most, and deep enough to be just covered. 



SORREL is greatly valued in many households, and the finest 

 quality can easily be grown from seed. Sow in shallow drills drawn 

 on light soil, six or eight inches apart, and when quite small thin to 



