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GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



somely to a root-point, and is usually from 10 inches to 12 inches long. It is the heaviest 

 cropper of all Carrots grown. The soil for the crop should be deeply trenched, and, if 

 manured, the dressing should be added in the early winter where the trenching is done. 

 In the spring the surface should be lightly forked over, and a dressing added as previously 

 mentioned. Drills, as drawn with a broad hoe beside a garden line, should be 12 inches 

 apart and comparatively shallow, as it is only needful to bury the seed about half an inch 

 in depth. Sow seed thinly, and cover up quite evenly with fine soil, raking over the entire 

 surface of the bed, and leaving it until good growth has followed. The first labour should 

 be directed to thoroughly hoeing the soil between the rows ; then when the young plants 

 are well up, these should be thinned in the rows to some 6 inches apart. A free use of a 

 hoe between the plants during the summer is the chief attention requisite. Very large 

 Carrots, especially if the seed be sown early, are apt to split. Without doubt, the best 

 flavoured roots for cooking are those of medium size and of clean growth. 



Summer Sowing. Although it is sometimes difficult to get Carrot seed to germi- 

 nate when sown in July, yet it should be the aim of all who like these roots young and 

 tender during the winter, to make a good sowing of seed in that month. Just then 

 early Peas, Potatoes, and other crops being removed leaves ground available for a sowing 

 of Carrot seed, not necessarily a large one. The best varieties are the blunt-rooted 

 Model or the New Intermediate, because, whilst of good size under ordinary conditions, 

 the roots from a July sowing are not so and need little thinning, as the chief object 

 is to have plenty of comparatively small roots to pull that are soft, succulent, and of 

 delicious quality all the winter. One excellent result of such a summer sowing, made in 

 drills 10 inches apart, is that the tops keep green all the winter. It is needful when severe 

 weather sets in to cover up a portion of the bed with long straw-litter or ferns so as to 

 exclude frost and enable pullings to take place. Main crop Carrots have to be lifted from 

 the ground and stored, when cleaned of dirt and side roots, in dry sand or ashes in any 

 cool, airy cellar or outhouse, the crowns being in all cases outwards. So cared for the 

 roots keep well for many months. It may be needful now and then to run each of the 

 roots through the hand to remove root or other growths, replacing them in the sand or 

 ashes as before. Where there is a summer sowing the main crop or large roots may be 

 used for soups and stews, whilst the younger ones are best for table. Carrots are very 

 nutritious food, and when well grown as advised are fit for any table. 



Cauliflowers. These are more tender in constitution and texture than Broccoli. They 

 are also properly annuals, as the plants can be readily induced, by early sowing of seed under 

 glass, to produce heads, and from these flowers and seed the same season. Cauliflowers 

 also are so far tender that they will not endure exposure to ordinary winters in this 

 country. There are dwarf and tall, early and late varieties, the earliest being Snowball 

 or, as sometimes called, Matchless, Earliest Forcing, and Earliest Dwarf Erfurt. These, 

 when mature, produce close, compact, very white heads, some 6 inches clear and almost 

 close to the ground. To have these forms giving heads early it is well to sow seed in 

 shallow boxes or pans in gentle warmth either in a frame or greenhouse during February. 

 Growth is then quick, and the plants should be, when 4 inches in height, dibbled 

 out into other boxes 2 inches apart, and be grown on in a cool house or frame, kept 

 near the glass so as to induce them to become stout and sturdy. From the boxes each 

 plant, being lifted with a trowel and balls of soil and roots attached, should be planted 

 out on a warm border about the middle of April in rows 18 inches apart. For this 

 purpose the soil should be well manured and deeply dug. From such a planting generally 

 heads may be cut early in June. It is possible where a frame is at disposal to plant up 

 some into it 12 inches apart and thus secure white heads some two weeks earlier. Some 

 gardeners even put plants singly into 6-inch pots, and stand them in a vinery or peach 

 house where they head in very quickly, though small. Still Cauliflowers are not generally 

 much forced. If a further sowing of this early strain be made in March or April plants 

 give heads outdoors in due succession. Sowings may be made of later and larger varieties, 

 both in frames and in beds, or in drills outdoors in April, as these need a much longer season 

 to mature. The best tall summer variety is the Early London, and others equally good 

 are The Pearl and King of Cauliflowers. These from an April sowing, then planted out at 

 the middle of June, give fine heads during August and September, especially if well 

 watered when planted and the soil has been well manured. Cauliflowers, because they 

 have to make their chief growth during hot weather, need more liberal treatment in soil 

 and watering than 'Broccoli. A later and rather hardier variety also to be sown in April 

 is Veitch's Autumn Giant. This is a superb variety to head in during September and 

 two or three following months. Plants should be put out into rows fully z\ feet apart, 

 and in good, deep holding soil. If one planting be made in June and a second a month 

 later then a long succession of heads is produced. Late heads may be partially protected 

 from early winter frosts by drawing the large leaves together and tying them into a cone. 

 That should be done as soon as white heads show. Even a few large leaves broken down, 

 so that they lay two or three thick over the centres, protect in the same way. Cauliflower 



