VEGETABLE GROWING 381 



and manured, as is so constantly advised. The cuttings should be dibbled into it in 

 rows 20 inches apart, and 12 inches apart in the rows, to give ample room. The tops 

 of the cuttings should be buried half an inch in the ground. When, in a few weeks, 

 leaves appear, each root should be gone over, and all but one crown removed. The 

 ground must be well hoed, and one dressing of salt or nitrate, at the rate of 5 Ibs. 

 per rod, well hoed in, will do great good. The roots will have to be lifted and treated 

 each winter just as advised for the seedlings, and trimmed, root cuttings being preserved 

 and again planted in fresh soil. In that way it is easy to have hundreds of roots to 

 blanch during the winter, and no vegetable is more profitable. To have some late 

 blanched growths, some of the rows, if only one or two, may be left in the ground, and 

 early in March have some light, loose soil placed over them in a ridge, and 9 inches deep. 

 When the ground shows signs of cracking, rows should be cut from at one end until all 

 are consumed. These roots may remain to produce crowns if desired for the following 

 winter. 



Shallots are small, fairly hardy bulbs, members of the Onion tribe, that are grown 

 yearly by the aid of small bulbs or offsets, planted in beds or in rows, 12 inches apart, in 

 February. The ground for these bulbs should be deeply dug, and moderately manured. 

 Planting may be done in the autumn, but early in February is the safest time to do so. 

 If planted in a bed, let the rows be 12 inches apart, putting in the bulbs at 6 inches apart. 

 These should not be of the largest or smallest, but those of medium size and good 

 form. It is but needful to press each bulb down firmly into the soil, so that its top is just 

 covered. Growth soon begins. Several stems usually grow, and each one forms a bulb 

 at the base, so that when the tops die down and the bulbs are ripe, ready to lift in July, 

 they are in the form of clusters of some seven to nine in number. If, after planting, sharp 

 frosts come, it may be wise after they have disappeared to make the soil about the roots 

 somewhat firm. Not large, but nice, clean, even-sized bulbs are best. They are appre- 

 ciated for pickling, and for soups and stews. The best variety is the Old Shallot, which 

 has a brown, silky skin ; and the largest is the Red Jersey or Russian, which is double the 

 size and very productive, but is of stronger flavour. 



Spinach. This is a very useful, hardy, green-leaved vegetable that is easily raised from 

 seed, and can be had over a long season. Its nature when gathered and cooked is some- 

 what bitter or astringent, but when properly prepared and sent to table with condiments 

 that bitterness is toned down and becomes rather pleasant. Spinach is a very healthy 

 product, and should be more largely consumed than is usually the case. Seed is 

 both smooth and prickly, but all varieties have those characteristics. It is customary to 

 recommend sowing round or smooth seed in the summer and prickly seed in the autumn 

 for a winter stock, but that is a mere seed fancy. Without doubt the best varieties are for 

 summer the Long Stander, which has large, thick, green leaves, and if well thinned out to 

 9 inches apart in the rows, stands much longer before running off to flower than any 

 other. That and the Victoria or Viroflay, very large leaved, are the best for winter 

 cropping. The drills should be fully 12 inches apart, drawn shallow, and the seed be 

 sown thinly. Spinach needs good liberally manured and deeply dug soil. The earliest 

 sowing may be made on a warm border about the middle of March, and others for 

 succession every three or four weeks, not large ones, but to give a good succession. The 

 final sowing should be made about the third week in August, as that will begin giving 

 leaves in November and form the supply all the winter till quite the end of March. In 

 all cases leaves only should be gathered, but not until the plants have become strong. 

 Besides thinning the plants, the hoe should be freely used between the rows in all seasons, 

 not only to destroy weeds, but also to keep the soil open and loose. 



Tomatoes. These plants are, like Potatoes, very tender, and so closely allied to them 

 that it has been found possible to graft Tomatoes on to Potato stems, and thus exhibit the 

 strange phenomenon of Potato tubers in the ground on the roots and Tomatoes above the 

 ground on the stems. But the Tomato is a Lycopersicum and not a Solanum. They are, 

 however, tender, and can be grown outdoors only during the summer months, but may be 

 grown at any time in glasshouses when a sufficient warmth is produced. Still it is never 

 wise to attempt to fruit the plants in glasshouses during midwinter, for, because of the lack 

 of sunshine, the fruits are few and quite flavourless. All the plants are easily raised 

 from seed, as each fruit produces seeds in abundance. These, where any are saved 

 specially for one's own growing, may easily be taken from the fruits by cutting them clean 

 through crosswise, removing the seeds from the cells with a knife, washing and drying 

 them, then saving in a paper bag until wanted to sow. In saving fruits for seed always 

 select one of the finest and handsomest from a plant that fruits well, as in that way a 

 good stock is obtained. Where it is desired to^keep any stock true, only that one variety 

 should be grown in one house. 



Sowing Seed. Generally it is best to make sowings in pots of from 5 to 6 inches 

 across the tops, putting an inch depth of broken crocks or rubble into the bottoms, on to 

 that some of the coarser soil used, then filling up with a compost of loam, leaf-soil, and 



