268 MORE POT-POURRI 



about a week in bloom, the flowering period is extended 

 for a considerable time. It is well fed, while growing, 

 with liquid manure. Its healthy, strong appearance and 

 delicate scent give me a great deal of pleasure year by 

 year. 



Mustard and Cress, much grown in boxes in early 

 spring, and which is so delicious at five o'clock tea or 

 with bread and butter and cheese, many people will not 

 eat because it is so often gritty. This certainly makes it 

 horrid ; and if the Cress is washed it makes it very wet, 

 often without getting rid of the grit. The best way to 

 grow it is to make the earth very damp before sowing, 

 press it down flat, and then sow the seed very lightly on 

 the top, making a division between the Mustard and the 

 Cress. Cover it with a tile, or something else to make 

 it dark, till it has sprouted, and then cut it carefully, 

 straight into the plate or small fancy basket in which it 

 is to be served, without washing it at all. If grown in 

 this way and carefully cut, there will be no grit what- 

 ever. I flnd small, low, round Japanese baskets of vari- 

 ous sizes (from Liberty's) are most useful in a house 

 with a garden. They are beautifully made and very 

 pretty, and fruit can be picked into them at once, and 

 served either at breakfast or luncheon without any fin- 

 gering in the pantry or kitchen. 



March 28th. — Towards the end of this month, or 

 quite the beginning of next, it is most important to erect 

 shelters under walls or trees, where the sides can be 

 protected from wind and the top covered up on cold 

 nights, as now is the time it is so important to clear out 

 greenhouses, both for the sake of the hardier plants that 

 are going out, and the more special ones that remain 

 inside. When they are moving, feeling the spring in all 

 their fibres, that is the time they begin to get weak and 

 drawn up if not given room and air. This is especially 



