VEGETABLE GROWING 379 



fine soil, then patted down, watered, and covered with long litter or netting to keep off 

 birds. As growth follows, the covering may be removed. It is simply needful to repeat 

 this form of culture all the summer. It is of little use to sow Radish seed in poor ground, 

 as growth is too slow, the roots become hot or hard, and the plants soon bolt off to flower. 

 Water should be given freely in dry weather when sowings are made regularly and 

 often a mere patch of a few yards in area is ample for single sowings. The earliest of all 

 is the Red Globe Short- Top, but there are few better ones than the round and globe- 

 shaped French Breakfast, with their white tips, and these may be followed by the red and 

 white turnip-rooted. Those who like long Radishes may prefer the Long Salmon and 

 Wood's Early Frame, but for these the soil should be deeply worked ; the roots are also a 

 few days longer in coming to maturity. In all cases roots soon become woolly or hollow, 

 hence it is important to sow often. To have winter Radishes of fair size it is well to sow 

 seeds on good ground in June and July, having the plants in drills 12 inches apart, where 

 they can be moderately thinned. The best of these, all excellent when peeled and sliced 

 for winter salads, are the long black, white, and carmine varieties. 



Rhubarb. A very useful and popular edible stem plant. Rhubarb is easily grown, 

 yet it needs to be grown well. Plants can be raised by sowing seed outdoors in May 

 thinly, in a drill, thinning out the seedlings to 20 inches apart, but especially saving 

 those which seem to be the earliest and strongest as well as that show most colour in 

 the stems. After the leafage has died down in the winter, these roots should be lifted and 

 planted out on to deep, well-manured ground, in rows 4 feet apart, and 3 feet apart in the 

 rows. So treated , they soon become strong, and give plenty of stems. 



But seedling Rhubarbs are of several varieties, whilst plants obtained by division 

 are true to name. If, therefore, no roots be at hand, a few can be purchased cheaply 

 from the nursery or seedsman. These will be stout and fleshy, and have one or two 

 crowns. They should be planted as advised for the seedlings, during November or 

 December, and some long litter manure laid about them as a protection from frost, 

 because newly planted. Growth will commence in March, but no stems should be pulled 

 from these plants that year. The following spring they will break up very strong, and 

 many stems may be pulled then up to the middle of May. Then the plants will again 

 make strong growth for the rest of the season, and should be left alone. Winter culture 

 consists in spreading over the ground between the plants a dressing of manure, which 

 may be lightly forked in, and just over the crowns may be put some light litter, as that 

 helps to promote quicker growth in the spring. It is a good plan to put out a few new or 

 small roots each year, as after the third year the roots, then large, may be lifted as 

 wanted, some two or three at a time, beginning in January, and be stood in any warm, 

 dark place, with soil about them and watered, when stems will soon be produced, and 

 thus give very early Rhubarb ; or, if preferred, some roots may be simply covered up out- 

 doors with tubs, boxes, or big pots, and these with long manure or leaves, and thus in- 

 duced to make early growth for pulling. Once a good stock of roots is obtained, a few 

 should be lifted and divided every year for planting as advised. Roots should never 

 remain more than four years, if they do well, without being divided. The best varieties 

 are Hawke's Champagne, early ; Paragon and Victoria, the latter for later use. 



Small Salads. Of these the best and most commonly grown are Mustard and Cress. 

 Market growers use Rape instead of Mustard as it is less hot and far cheaper. In a small 

 way the best method of growing these salads is to have several boxes, each about 

 12 inches by 20 inches, and 3 inches deep. They should be filled with good loam 

 and well-decayed manure, and have on the surface a thin top of fine sandy soil well 

 pressed down, and within the third of an inch of the top of the box. On to that the seeds 

 of Mustard and of Cress, in separate boxes, may be thickly sown, pressed down, and well 

 watered, then covered up with newspapers and stood in a frame or greenhouse. The 

 Cress being of slower growth should be sown 24 hours before the Mustard. It is im- 

 portant that the boxes be covered, the plant-growth lifting up the paper bodily, as that 

 causes rapid development, and the salading is more tender. A couple of fresh boxes 

 should be sown, and similarly treated each week, all through the spring and summer. 

 If sown outdoors it should be under hand-lights, as otherwise growth is slow and hard. 

 Another valuable small salad is Watercress, which is, of course, best grown in small 

 streams, but may be had very good all the same in any small garden if a bed be made 

 near a pump-tap or well, where watering twice a day can be given. The bed should be 

 prepared in March by forking into quite a small space, say 3 feet by 4 feet, a good dressing 

 of short manure. Strew over the surface some sharp sand and a little shingle or well- 

 washed small gravel, then dibble in, 4 inches apart, Cress tops partially rooted, water them, 

 and shade with paper or other thin material for a few days. Rooting soon follows, then 

 growth, and if the bed be watered in dry weather twice a day, considerable gather- 

 ings may be had over a long season. A ridge of soil a few inches in height may be 

 placed round the bed. Watercress can also be raised by sowing seed in a pan under 

 glass, then dibbling the plants out as advised into a bed when strong enough. 



