132 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



and South. Although it can be grown on soils thjat are 

 not enriched by manure, yet, like almost every other 

 vegetable, it is more profitable when grown on highly 

 cultivated land. It is what we term a " tender" plant ; 

 that is, one that will be killed by the action of slight 

 frosts, hence it is not planted until late enough in the 

 spring to secure it from the risk. As in a country pre- 

 senting such differences of temperature as ours, no stated 

 date can be given at which to sow, perhaps no safer rule 

 can be adopted for sowing all " tender " vegetables for 

 all parts of the country than the time at which our great 

 staple, Indian Corn, is planted. This rule will be 

 equally intelligible to the inhabitants of Maine and to 

 those of South Carolina, for all plant Corn, and know 

 that our great enemy to early vegetation, " Jack Frost," 

 will, without scruple, smite this "tender" vegetable if 

 it be forced to grow before his icy reign is past. In this 

 section we plant Beans for first crop when we plant 

 Corn, from 10th to 20th May. But as the crop of 

 Beans comes rapidly to maturity under favorable cir- 

 cumstances, hi five or six weeks, it may be sown any time 

 from these dates until July, August, or September, ac- 

 cording to the temperature of the district. 



The culture in market gardens is simply to draw drills 

 about three inches deep, and from eighteen inches to two 

 feet apart, according to the richness of the soil; the 

 poorer the soil the closer they can be planted. The 

 seed is dropped in the drills two or three inches apart, 

 and the soil covered in on them with the feet ; this we 

 find to be a quicker and better method of covering in 

 seeds of this size than by the hoe or rake. After the 

 plants have grown an inch or two a cultivator is run 

 between the rows, which generally is all that is necessary 

 to be done, until they are large enough to have a little 

 earth thrown to each side of the row by the plow, which 

 completes their cultivation. Beans, like Tomatoes and 



