i8o GARDEN STEPS 



Later Planting. — When the weather is warm, 

 a row of radishes may be put in when planting the 

 carrots and beets. A twenty-foot row will provide 

 plenty, unless you wish to leave the plants two or 

 three inches apart. If this space is given, they will, 

 be a bit earlier and more perfect perhaps. Profes- 

 sional market gardeners sow them rather thickly, 

 six or eight seed to the inch, and thin out as they 

 get large enough to pull. This crowds them some, 

 it is true ; but the crowded ones seem willing to wait 

 their turn, and in this way the crop ripens gradually, 

 instead of all at once. 



Preparing the Soil. — The soil for round, spring 

 radishes must be rich and light at the point where 

 they are growing. It need not be very deep, nor 

 much enriched with dressing. Nitrate of soda or 

 commercial fertilizer, a pound or two in the twenty- 

 foot row, mixed into the earth three inches deep, 

 will give good results. If a handful of nitrate of 

 soda is dropped into a gallon waterpot of water, 

 and the growing plants are sprinkled with the solu- 

 tion, it will stimulate rapid growth. 



Summer and Winter Radishes 



When the hot weather comes on, the small spring 

 radishes no longer do well. The large summer 

 types, like the Stuttgart and Strasburg, supply the 

 demand during the season. Later still, the winter 

 radishes, such as the White Chinese^ or Japanese 



