304 The Profitable Culture of Vegetables. 



those will serve admirably if the lights are covered with mats; 

 or wooden lids would do instead of lights and mats. Inside 

 the frame Sin. of the prepared soil is put on the manure, in 

 which the crowns are planted in rows, as described above. 

 Where frames are not available, 9in. boards on edge, supported 

 by pegs driven in the ground, are run round the beds, and 

 laths are nailed across the top, from side to side, at intervals 

 of about 18in. The surface of the beds is strewn with short 

 litter and then mats are laid on the laths, a further covering of 

 long litter being put over the whole. Sometimes, in place of 

 the boards and laths, the mats are laid over hoops. About four 

 weeks after making up a bed the crowns should be examined, 

 when probably some will be fit to cut. The litter on the bed 

 must be lifted away to get at them, but must be re-placed as 

 soon as possible, as all are not ready to cut at the same time. 



A simple and economical method of forcing Seakale is in 

 roughly-constructed temporary pits. Trenches are thrown 

 out 18in. deep, 4ft. wide, and any convenient length, with 4ft. 

 space between each trench, on which the soil is thrown. Rough 

 boards or old sheets of iron are used to hold up the sides ; these 

 are supported by stakes and the whole stands about 1ft. above 

 ground level, the earth which was thrown out being used to 

 bank up the sides. At the bottom of each pit 9in. of hot manure 

 is put and well trodden down, and then covered with Sin. of 

 soil, in which the crowns are planted. The pits are covered 

 with boards on which is laid about Gin. of litter. A crop is 

 cleared in about six weeks from planting, and three crops can 

 easily be taken from a pit during the winter season. After 

 each crop, the exhausted manure must be removed and the bed 

 re-made with fresh. These pits are equally suitable for forcing 

 rhubarb, asparagus, and chicory ; they are easily constructed, 

 at practically no expense beyond labour, and the quality of the 

 produce taken from them is all that can be desired, being quite 

 equal to any grown under the most elaborate system. The 

 illustrations on the opposite page, which were taken from pits 

 in actual operation for commercial purposes, show the method 

 of construction very clearly; the lower one also gives some 

 idea of the quality of the Seakale, part of which had been cut 

 before the photograph was taken. 



