106 



winter from injury by the frost. About March in the 

 next year, every other plant must be taken up and 

 transplanted into a bed, eighteen inches apart, if it is 

 intended that they should attain either another, or two 

 years' further growth, before being finally planted out, 

 or they may be planted immediately into the beds for 

 production. It may be here remarked that the plants 

 may remain one or two years in the seed bed ; they 

 will even succeed after remaining three, but if they 

 continue four they generally fail. It is, however, cer- 

 tain that they are best removed when one year old. 



The foregoing directions are very judicious, but as 

 practices vary, and sometimes properly so, we will just 

 detail our practice, as far as getting ready for the final 

 planting is concerned. We prefer planting two year 

 old plants, not that sowing in the bed is improper, but 

 that this practice suits our rotation of crops best. 

 We sow one small bed annually in the second week of 

 March on highly manured ground : the manure in a 

 very highly decomposed state. The beds are of 

 course kept free from weeds, and watered occasionally. 

 In the autumn, when the haulm is decayed, we cover 

 the bed with six inches of half decayed leaf soil as a 

 protection against the frost. In the month of April 

 we prepare ground for transplanting then by digging 

 deep and adding a great abundunce of decayed vege- 

 table matter, wood ashes, or burnt materials, with 

 plenty of rotten manure. The plants are taken up 



