63 GEEEKHOUSE MANAGBMEKT. 



is to run three wires lengthwise of the bed, about a foot 

 apart, the lowest one being one foot above the soil, and 

 tie the stems to them. A third way is to run a No. 18 

 wire along the surface of the bed and another three or 

 foul' feet above it, and between these stretch jute or 

 binder twine, to which the plants can be tied (Fig. 15). 



The plants for the late crop can be planted at any 

 time from the Srst to the middle of July, or even as late 

 as the first of August, and will require the same care and 

 will be grown in the same way, except that they do not 

 need more than five or six inches each way, and the tip 

 bud is not removed, but is allowed to grow and form a 

 long, single sbem, from which all side buds are removed 

 as they start. The stems are supported as recommended 

 above and the same attention in watering and syringing 

 will be required. The surface of the soil should be 

 stirred occasionally, taking pains not to dig deep enough 

 to injure the roots ; and the suckers that start about the 

 base of the plants should be twisted off with the fingers, 

 or carefully cut off below the surface of the soil with a 

 knife. 



The growth of the plants should be carefully 

 watched and if, at any time, it seems to slacken, or if 

 the plants take on a yellowish color and the wood 

 hardens, it generally indicates that the plant food in the 

 original soil is about exhausted and that a new supply is 

 needed. Some growers apply it in a mulch of sheep or 

 cow manure, which both supplies food and prevents the 

 evaporation of moisture from the surface. Provided it 

 is not due to the use of an excess of water, the yellow 

 color is often an evidence that the plants are suffering 

 from a lack of potash. At any rate, the use of a peck 

 of unleached wood ashes to each hundred square feet of 

 the bench will be a good thing. Others apply soot, 

 either broadcast upon the surface, or in water. The 

 use of ground bone upon the surface of the bed in 



