206 Encyclopaedia of Gardening 



KITCHEN GARDEN continued. 



such as rabbits, to give the plants to. Where Lettuces are in great 

 demand it is well to sow little and often, so as to maintain a regular 

 supply of young plants, some of which will always be hearting in. 

 To make one or two large sowings with the object of maintaining a 

 regular supply is a bad principle, as the plants come in together in 

 large quantities and will not keep. A final sowing may be made 

 outdoors about mid- August. The plants thus raised will be set out a 

 foot apart in autumn to stand the winter, which they will do most 

 years if a hardy variety is chosen. Varieties : Paris White and 

 'Giant White are two reliable Cos varieties, with Hicks' Hardy 

 White and Black-seeded Bath to sow in August. Favourite and 

 Continuity are splendid Cabbage varieties. Those who force 

 Lettuces (see also French Gardening) should note the following sorts : 

 Romaine Cos, Acquisition Cabbage, and Improved Chavigny 

 Cabbage. Noire Parisienne is also good. 



Maize (Zea Ma}^). Maize or Indian Corn is not grown to any 

 extent in Great Britain, because the climate does not permit of 

 ripening it. The crop is an important one in the United States. 

 An early sugar corn should be grown, the seed being sown in a warm 

 fiouse or frame in spring, the plants hardened and put out 2 ft. 

 .apart in June. 



Mercury (Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus) . A hardy vegetable 

 which is grown a good deal in Lincolnshire, but is not of any special 

 value. It may be sown out of doors in spring. 



Mushroom (Agaricus campestris). Although the Mushroom is 

 not a vegetable, but a fungus, it is generally included in kitchen- 

 garden crops, and often occupies, for part of the year, frames that 

 are utilised for other things at earlier or later periods. In large 

 establishments a " Mushroom house " is not an uncommon adjunct 

 to other horticultural buildings, and this consists of a thick-walled, 

 dark place, with pipes running through it. But Mushrooms are 

 'often grown in sheds, and still more largely in the open air. Heat 

 and darkness are the two principal requirements, and with abun- 

 dance of fresh stable manure at command there is no difficulty in 

 -getting sufficient warmth outdoors. The manure must be well 

 turned and shaken out on 3 or 4 successive days in order to 

 sweeten it. When fresh from the stable it heats violently, and the 

 gases emitted are foul, but after repeated turnings the heat becomes 

 subdued and the material pleasant to the nostrils. At this stage it 

 should be built into a firm bed 30 ins. wide at the bottom, sloping 

 up to 6 ins. at the top. The manure must be briskly trodden in 

 order to get it quite firm. When the bed is finished a thick stick 

 should be thrust in here and there and left for a few hours, then 

 drawn out and tested for heat with the hand. If very hot wait a 

 day. At the second testing the stick may be still hotter, in which 

 'case wait another day. Not until the heat of the stick can be 

 borne should the bed be spawned. Seedsmen supply spawn in 

 flat cakes or " bricks," which should be broken up into pieces about 

 the size of eggs and thrust far enough into the bed to be hidden. 

 The bed should then be plastered completely over an inch deep 

 with moist, loamy soil, and finally covered with about a foot thick- 



