76 THE CULINARY GARDEN. 



will be fit to transplant in June, which see. Water 

 frequently ; and when they have come up, give 

 them fresh air every day ; shutting carefully down 

 at night, for fear of frost 5 as very little frost would 

 prove fatal to them. 



Of sowing Cardoons. 



Cardoons may be sown about the middle or latter 

 end of the month. They should be sown where 

 they are to remain. Cardoons like a deep light 

 earth, not over rich. The leaves are large, some- 

 thing like those of artichokes ; and they require a 

 deal of room. They are blanched in the manner 

 of celery, and are used in soups, and for stewing. ' 



Prepare trenches as for celery, either longwise, or 

 across the ground ; four feet from centre to centre, 

 and just as deep and wide as a single spit will make 

 them ; laying the earth on each side. Then point 

 a little compost-manure into the bottom of the 

 trench thus formed, and sow or drop the seeds 

 thinly, in a drill an inch deep, drawn right in the 

 middle. 



When the plants have risen a few inches, they 

 may be thinned out to four inches apart ; but they 

 are finally to be thinned out to eight or nine. See 

 July. 



Of thinning 



The early sown crop may be thinned out, if broad- 

 cast, to three inches square ; and if in lines, to one 

 or two in line. As they come to be of use, draw 

 them o'ut regularly, and do not thin all at one place, 



