174 A YEAR'S WORK IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



be thinned in good time. The best Onions for keeping are those of 

 moderate size, perfectly ripened : therefore the thinning should not 

 be too severe. 



PEAS may still be sown. The second early sorts will pay well if 

 the season is favourable, but the first earlies will be more sure, as one 

 or two showers will carry them through to maturity. 



TURNIPS may be sown in variety and in quantity after Midsummer 

 Day. Sow on well-prepared ground, and put a sprinkle of artificial 

 manure in the drills with the seed. By hastening the early growth of 

 the plant the fly is kept in check. 



JULY 



JULY is like January in one respect for gardeners, for everything 

 depends upon the weather. It may be hot, with frequent heavy rains, 

 and vegetation in the most luxuriant growth ; or the earth may be iron 

 and the heavens brass, with scarcely a green blade to be seen. The 

 light flying showers that usually occur in July do not render watering 

 unnecessary ; in fact, a heavy soaking of a crop after a moderate 

 rainfall is a valuable aid to its growth, for it requires a long-continued 

 heavy down-pour to penetrate to the roots. 



GARDEN RUBBISH is apt to accumulate in odd corners and become 

 dangerously offensive. The stumps of Cabbages and Cauliflowers 

 soon give off the most obnoxious odours, and a whole parish may be 

 annoyed by the want of thought in one particular garden. The short 

 and easy way with all soft decaying rubbish is to put it at the bottom 

 of the trench in preparing land for planting. There it ceases to be 

 a nuisance and becomes a valuable manure. 



BEAN, KIDNEY. A few Dwarfs and Runners may be useful, but 

 it is not advisable to sow largely, as they may be cut off by frost just 

 as they are beginning to bear. 



BROCCOLI to be planted out as before ; many of the plants left over 

 from former plantings will now be stout and strong, and make useful 

 successions. 



CABBAGES should be sown in a full breadth some time this month, 

 as the July sowing is of great importance, and, indeed, may be made 

 to suffice for the whole year. In common with the sowing of 

 Broccoli, the particular date must be determined by the climate and 

 by the latitude of the place. In the North, the first week of July is 

 none too early ; in the Midlands, the loth to the 2oth of the month 



