A Quarter- Acre of French Garden. 105 



No. 3 Section. Open-air bed, planted at the end of January with hardy 

 Cabbage Lettuce (from cloches) 14in. apart in each direction. Early in 

 March Cos are planted .in each direction between the Cabbage Lettuce. 

 The latter should be ready to cut towards the end of April and the Cos 

 by the latter part of May ; they should each yield 47 doz. saleable heads 

 at I/- and 1/3 per doz. respectively. When the section is cleared of 

 Lettuce, manure from the hot-beds on section 5 is spread, the soil is forked 

 over and levelled, and Endive is planted in rows 15in. apart, 1ft. between 

 the plants in the row. A fortnight afterwards, late Celery is set between 

 the rows of Endive, 9in. from plant to plant. The saleable yield should 

 be 55 doz. Endive at I/- and 86 doz. Celery at I/- per doz. 



No. 4 Section. On this section four pits are made in November, for 

 forcing Rhubarb, Seakale, and Chicory. The method is described and 

 illustrated in the article on the cultivation of Seakale. Each pit is 34ft. 

 long and 4ft. wide. Two and a-half pits are used for Rhubarb, one for 

 Seakale, and a half one for Chicory, which proportion roughly represents 

 the comparative demand. Planting is begun at the end of November, one 

 quarter of the space allotted to each being planted every week so as to 

 secure a regular succession. Six weeks may be reckoned as the time neces- 

 sary to complete each crop, and if the warmth of the bed is maintained 

 by renewal of the fermenting material at each fresh planting, three crops 

 can be taken before the end of April. The number of roots required for the 

 season are 1,500 Rhubarb (set as closely as they will stand), 3,600 Seakale 

 (4in. apart), and 750 Chicory (6in. apart). The produce to be expected is 

 600 doz. bundles Rhubarb at an average price of 2/- a doz., 900lbs. Seakale 

 at 6d., and 750lbs. Chicory at 4d. This is a fair average yield and price 

 when good roots are well grown. Each quarter of the pits should be 

 boarded up so as to prevent light getting to the other parts when one is 

 being manipulated. At the end of April the pits are dismantled, the 

 ground levelled, and manure spread and dug in. About the end of May 

 early Celery plants are set out as described for section 1. Immediately the 

 Celery is cleared away fork the soil over and plant Batavian or other winter 

 Endive 15in. apart each way. These should produce 40 doz. saleable at I/-. 



No. 5 Section. This section is used for hot and warm-beds on which all 

 the tender spring-sown plants are raised in frames. As the plants grow 

 and need more room this can be provided by removing some of the frames 

 from the cold-beds on section 8, early in April. The frames are removed 

 from early Celery plants early in May, but protection is given at night by 

 a covering of mats, laid over a framework of laths. When Tomatoes are 

 planted out, the manure of the beds on which they stood is taken to No. 1 

 section. All vacant frames are taken to sections 9 or 10, to be used for 

 Cucumbers or Melons. As soon as all plants are gone spread remainder of 

 manure, dig in, and plant Celeriac, 1ft. apart each way. These will give 

 say, 76 doz. roots at I/-. 



No. 6 Section. This section is covered at the beginning of February with 

 a hot-bed for cloches, made and planted in accordance with the detailed 



