FOR YOUNG GARDENERS. 23 



Beets. Crosby's Egyptian, or any table variety. 

 Beets can be planted in rows one foot apart. If the ground 

 is not rich, hoe a half-pint of market-garden fertilizer or a 

 mixture of nitrate of soda, and super-phosphate into the 

 soil in which they are to be planted, to every ten feet of 

 row. Make a furrow one inch deep and drop the seed, one 

 to two inches apart, cover with fine soil, and press down. 

 They will be up in about six days and when they are four 

 inches high they should be thinned to about three inches 

 apart, using those that are pulled out to transplant or for 

 greens. When they are transplanted, be sure to make holes 

 deep enough, so that the end of the roots do not turn up, and 

 twist off all the leaves except the center ones. Always 

 keep the soil in a perfect state of tillage. Beets are cul- 

 tivated for their roots, which are best when one to two 

 inches in diameter. They can be planted from about 

 April 30th, to July ioth. They are ready to eat in from 

 •eight to twelve weeks after planting. 



Brussels Sprouts. These should be planted in 

 rows two feet apart. They do best on new land. Make a 

 furrow one inch deep and drop three or four seeds every 

 18 inches. Cover with fine soil and press down. They 

 will come up in about six days. Brussels Sprouts are cul- 

 tivated for the buds which are in the axils of the leaves. 

 They are milder than the cabbage and are boiled and 

 served with a cream sauce. They are ready to eat in about 

 twenty-one weeks after planting and are best after they 

 have been touched by the frost. They, like all the cab- 

 bage family, do not do well in hot weather. They make 

 their final growth in the cool months in autumn. Before 

 the ground freezes they can be pulled up and packed up- 

 right with their roots in moist sand, and in this condition 

 can be kept in a cool cellar or pit nearly all winter. 



Broccoli. Should be planted about May 20th. The 

 seed is covered one inch and the rows are not closer than 

 two feet apart, and the plants, eighteen inches in the row. 

 They are treated almost exactly as Brussels Sprouts in 

 every way. The heads resemble Cauliflower and are 



