130 VEGECULTURE 



(2) Summer Radishes ; (3) Autumn or Winter Radishes. The 

 first group include such sorts as Wood's Frame and French 

 Breakfast. The latter variety is greatly to be recommended 

 also for the summer sowings, in which the Turnip varieties, 

 white, scarlet, or mixed, will figure largely ; Golden Dresden is 

 a good novelty with a yellow skin. The long-rooted kinds, 

 which should be given a good, deep, free-working soil, are treated 

 more as a main- than a catch-crop. Those varieties suited to 

 winter culture are : China Rose, Black Spanish, and Cali- 

 fornian or Mammoth White. These are, as a rule, of much 

 larger size than the earlier sorts. 



It should be borne in mind that, although the main portion 

 of a Radish for edible purposes is the root, the young leaves, 

 before they become rough, are excellent in salads and very 

 healthful, and the seed-pods, if gathered whilst very young, 

 make an excellent pickle, salted until tender, and then bottled 

 in hot vinegar. 



RAMPION (Campanula ranunculus) .Its generic name 

 Campanula proclaims the floral value of this plant, apart 

 from its utility in the salad-bowl. It bears, when allowed to 

 run to seed, sheaves of good-sized bell-flowers, of a fine blue 

 shade, and any spare plants may be used as biennials in the 

 flower garden. But it has even more useful points, for the whole 

 plant leaves and root make an excellent addition to salad 

 ingredients. The roots may be described as resembling a white 

 long Radish, and they are used in similar fashion. Thus we 

 have in Rampion a plant of the greatest usefulness. Seeds are 

 sown in the open ground in May, after the manner of biennial 

 flowering plants. The seeds, however, are extremely fine, and 

 care must be taken not to sow thickly ; at any rate, thinning 

 must take place early. Copious supplies of water are essential 

 to prevent the plants running to seed as the summer advances. 

 As a safeguard against this latter contingency, one or two 

 further sowings should be made, the last one in June. The 

 leaves may be used as required ; but it is as well to allow a 

 good percentage of plants to continue their growth unmolested, 

 in order to secure good roots. These will be ready to lift in 

 October, and may be stored in sand if not wanted for immediate 

 use. Good, well-worked, rich soil will give fine results. 



SORREL (Rumex). There are several kinds of Sorrel, but 

 the most useful are those of a broad-leaved nature. There can 



