THE MANSE GARDEN. 155 



wards thinned ; a small frame or box, having the top 

 covered with oiled paper, or cotton cloth at nearly as 

 little cost, anointed with wax dissolved in turpentine, 

 is set over each. This last apparatus, of remarkable 

 cheapness, is for many garden purposes nearly as good 

 as glass. The covers remain, night and day, till 

 settled warm weather in June ; and thus a good crop 

 may be raised without much trouble or expense. 

 The young plants require to be checked in their 

 growth, by pinching off the bud of the runner at the 

 first joint ; whence lateral shoots will proceed, and 

 which are more given to fruitbearing. The shoots 

 are commonly pricked to the ground to prevent toss- 

 ing; but the plant, having tendrils, proves its adap- 

 tation to climbing, and by giving it a few stakes, low 

 branching or laid on the ground, it will raise its fruit 

 from the damp earth, presenting it free of spots and 

 better flavoured. The vacant spaces of the sloping 

 trellis, or gravel fruit bank, previously described, 

 could not but afford to this plant such a field as would 

 delight its rambles. 



Dandelion Is used as salad, chiefly by the French. 

 It is said, when well blanched, to lose its extreme 

 bitterness ; and it has got, by the ceaseless greed of 

 new, things, into the garden books and cultivation of 

 this country. Those who desire to feed on it may 

 find plenty by the wayside. It is the most trouble- 

 some of all garden weeds. It is perennial, flowers 

 early, and has winged seeds. The light down skims 

 along the ground till it is interrupted by the box 

 edgings or the stems of fruit trees. In such places, 

 finding shelter, it takes root, and there is no getting 

 it dislodged. The best implement for the manage- 



