122 POPULAR VEGETABLES 



plants, as seedlings raised from an outdoor sowing in 

 May would not have time to ripen a crop before the 

 frosts. Plants may be raised artificially with simple 

 appliances. Twenty seeds for example may be sown 

 in a five-inch pot filled with good soil, then placed 

 in a seven-inch pot, and stood inside a south window. 

 Cover the pot with a piece of glass to assist germina- 

 tion or two or three or more such pots, according to 

 requirements, may be sown with seed, then stood in a 

 box six inches deep, capable of holding several pots, 

 and placed outdoors in a warm sheltered place, and 

 covered with glass with a sack over it at night, as a 

 precaution against frost. Hundreds of plants could 

 be raised slowly but surely, so as to secure stout, sturdy 

 plants to put out of doors at the end of May. Where 

 there is a frame or greenhouse, raising from seed is 

 less troublesome. Seed should be sown at the end of 

 March or early in April. The seedlings simply need, 

 when three inches in height, shifting singly into three- 

 inch pots, using good light soil, and in these they can 

 remain until strong enough to plant outdoors. 



Plants Outdoors. Ordinarily the best outside posi- 

 tion is against a warm wall or wooden fence, as the 

 plants receive shelter and full sunshine. There they 

 may be planted in quite ordinary garden soil, twelve 

 inches apart, being loosely nailed by the main stem to 

 the wall or fence, all side shoots being kept severely 

 pinched out. Where there is no southerly exposure, 

 a warm or fairly sheltered position in the garden should 

 be selected, the ground deeply dug and moderately 



