NOTES ON WINTER GARDENING. 105 



In his studies of the radish Mr. Galloway found that, "large 

 seed germinated more quickly and certainly and produced 

 marketable plants sooner and more uniformly than small seeds." 



He further concluded: 



"(1) By the use of large seed eighty-five to ninety per cent. 

 of the crop may be brought in at the same time. 



"(2) Practically all the plants thus grown being market- 

 able no ground is wasted. 



"(3) Enough time is saved by using large seed to grow one 

 additional crop during the season. In other words, if four crops 

 are grown, using mixed seed and waiting for plants to attain 

 marketable size, five crops can be grown if large seed is planted. 



"(4) The only additional expense is the extra amount of 

 seed used, all the smaller ones being sifted out and thrown 

 away." 



This extra expense will average perhaps twenty-five cents 

 per pound of seed. But as one pound will plant about 1,500 

 square feet of ground, the item is not of great importance. 



Beans. 



Beans are easily forced and in many places form one of the 

 best secondary catch crops. They are ready for picking in 

 six to eight weeks from the time of sowing and may well be 

 grown on the beds devoted to melons and cucumbers, before 

 the latter need the whole space. The same soil and general 

 conditions described for cucumbers are well suited for the crop. 



Beans may be started on the benches where they are to grow, 

 or in pots — two or three beans in a three inch pot — and trans- 

 planted in about two weeks. Successive crops are usually 

 started in pots. 



Lack of heat in the early stages of growth may delay the 

 crop for a month, so it is not the part of economy to delay heat- 

 ing the house in the fall. A night temperature of about sixty 

 degrees is found best. 



Special care is necessary in watering; the leaf surface, and 

 consequently the transpiration of moisture, is enormous and 

 there is danger that the soil may become dry from beneath. 



8 



