KAN 



[ 767 ] 



BAP 





the spade pat the soil on the side of 

 the bed gently, to make it firm ; then 

 chop down the edge of the bed nearly 

 perpendicularly. 



After-culture. It is essential to 

 the success of this flower that the soil 

 about them should be close and firm, 

 almost approaching to hardness. If 

 the bed has been rightly prepared, and 

 the flower planted according to the in- 

 structions given, all will be well. When 

 the tops begin to push through the soil, 

 it will be of the greatest importance to 

 tread the soil down very firm between 

 the rows, and if any symptoms of crack- 

 ing in the soil appear, the surface 

 should be stirred to prevent it. Pro- 

 tection from sharp late frosts should 

 be given, by covering whenever such 

 weather is likely to take place, and it is 

 equally beneficial to protect from heavy 

 rains. Both are best excluded by hoops 

 extended across the bed to support a 

 covering of tarpaulin or oil-cloth. 

 During April and May, should dry 

 weather prevail, water may be cau- 

 tiously administered at intervals in an 

 evening, but only just so much as will 

 prevent the soil of the bed from crack- 

 ing ; or a little moss, or old spent 

 tanner's bark, etc., may be neatly placed 

 between the rows, which will retain the 

 moisture in the soil. The over abun- 

 dant application of water is a very com- 

 mon error, and one of the greatest 

 evils. 



The dying of leaves, in some in- 

 stances, evidently depends on a want of 

 vigour, or partial rot in the root ; and, 

 in some few cases, it would appear to 

 be caused by large earthworms, forming 

 their wide tracks amid the roots of the 

 plants, nearly undermining them; but 

 in the great majority of cases, it is 

 produced by injudicious watering. 



During the expansion of the flower- 

 buds, and when they are fully blown, an 

 awning should be erected over the bed, 

 as in the case of tulips, that rain and 

 hot sun may be excluded ; and gentle 

 watering every second or third evening 

 may be given, which will keep the bed 

 cool and moist, and promote the size 

 of the flower. As much air should be 

 admitted as possible, that the flower- 

 stems be not drawn and weakened. 



Raising tfmZ/wu/s. -Save seed only 

 from varieties distinguished for excel- 

 lence of form and colour. Sow in Fe- 

 bruary, and place the. boxes in a cool 

 greenhouse or frame. Sow in boxes 

 eighteen inches by eleven inches, and 

 four inches deep, full of loamy earth, 

 and the surface level. Sow the seeds 

 about an eighth-of-an-inch apart ; cover 

 them as thinly as possible, and water 

 with a fine rose ; but place the boxes 

 under glass, without heat. The plants 

 usually make their appearance in about 

 a month. Give air day and night, ex- 

 cept in severe frost; then cover up 

 with straw mats. With such protection, 

 the young plants will endure the se- 

 verest seasons. Put the boxes in the 

 open ground up to the second week in 

 May, and water daily until the leaves 

 begin to wither ; then suffer the boxes 

 to become quite dry ; and in the middle 

 of July take them up, and preserve the 

 roots in bags until February, and then 

 plant them as the general stock. In 

 the following June they flower. 



Takiny-up. The roots, in wet sea- 

 sons, should be taken up as soon as 

 the leaves turn yellow, as they are apt 

 to sprout; but in dry seasons they 

 may remain until the leaves are brown. 

 Take them up as dry as the season will 

 permit ; complete the drying in a warm 

 room, rather than in the sun, and store 

 them in a dry cool place. 



Forcing. Select tubers which have 

 been kept three or four months, or 

 even a year, over the season of plant- 

 ing, these being more easily excited 

 than those which have been only the 

 usual time out of the soil ; plant them 

 in pots about the beginning of August ; 

 and, by bringing these into the green- 

 house at different periods, a bloom is 

 kept up from October to February. 



KAPE, on COLESEED. Bra'ssica na'pus. 

 Like mustard and other small salading, 

 it may be sown at any period of the 

 year, when in request, being allowed a 

 separate bed. It is cultivated as Mus- 

 tard, which see. 



To obtain Seed. Some plants of a 

 sowing made about the middle of July 

 must be thinned to eighteen inches 

 apart : they will survive the winter, and 

 flower in the May and June of the next 



