KITCHEN-GARDEN VEGETABLES. 
good for the early-sown crop, and for this a 
compost of light hot-bed dung and leaf-mould, 
the whole in a state that will readily permit 
the passage of water, may be put into the drills, 
made deeper than usual for the purpose of re- 
ceiving it. This will afford nourishment to the 
plants, and will act as drainage. A mixture of 
leaf-mould, or decomposed dung and dry fibrous 
turf, will have a similar beneficial effect. For 
the main crop well-rotted manure is preferable, 
unless the soil is rather strong and damp, and 
in this case horse-dung partially decomposed 
may be used. : 
Sowing.—The principal sowing for the main 
crop should be made in the first week in May. 
The earliest may be made in the beginning of 
April, and the latest in July. These, and a 
few intermediate sowings, will sutfice to pro- 
duce a constant supply during the time that 
Kidney-Beans can be expected from the open 
ground. 
Where there is no opportunity of forcing 
Kidney-Beans, it is desirable to use every avail- 
able means to procure them from the open 
ground as early as possible. It is therefore 
advisable to sow early in April in small pots, 
in moderate heat, and to keep the plants well 
sheltered at night till they can be transplanted 
out-of-doors; or they may be sown in a frame, 
in rows 6 inches apart, and 2 inches asunder in 
the rows, and if likely to become too tall before 
the weather admits of their being planted out, 
they may be topped once or twice; or they can 
be placed in pots close to the bottom of a wall, 
and afterwards planted out in rows across the 
border. For the earliest out-of-door crops it is 
easy to protect the plants from frost, and the 
soil from: being chilled, by means of neatly- 
made well-thatched hurdles, placed sloping on 
bearers supported by posts. 
The seeds, especially if more than one year 
old, ought to be steeped six hours before sow- 
ing. When the ground is prepared, drills 
should be drawn so as to admit of the seeds 
being covered 14 or 2 inches deep. The direc- 
tion of the drills for the early crop on a border 
in front of a south-aspect wall may be oblique 
from north-west to south-east. By this arrange- 
ment the sun’s rays, when hottest, will fall 
almost perpendicularly, and consequently with 
the greatest effect, on the sides of the ridges 
formed by earthing up the plants, the rooting 
of which will be encouraged by the soil being 
thus heated. The distance between the rows 
should be about 2 feet. Where the soil is not 
very rich, some of the dwarfest sorts may be in 
451 
rows only 18 inches apart, and the plants from 
4 to 6 inches from each other in the row. For 
the tall sorts from 3 to 5 feet may be allowed, 
and the plants may be from 6 to 8 inches apart 
in the rows. Some plant in patches. For the 
earliest and latest crops this may be done with 
some advantage as regards shelter; for example, 
hand-glasses could be placed over the patches 
when sown, and whilst the plants are being 
reared in spring; and in autumn circular basket- 
work, covered with some warm material, em- 
ployed for protecting the plants from frost. 
The subsequent cultivation consists in water- 
ing when needful, stirring the soil, and earthing 
up. The latter operation is not absolutely ne- 
cessary, yet in wet seasons, and in cold soils, it 
is of considerable utility, for it has been ob- 
served that when the lower fibres of the root 
have mostly perished from much wet, fresh 
fibres have pushed from the stem in the upper 
part of the ridge. The running kinds, includ- 
ing the new climbing, should be staked like 
Peas, if sticks can be cheaply and easily ob- 
tained; but if not, the running tops should be 
pinched off when the plants are from 13 to 2 
feet high. 
Gathering the Crop.—In some cases the pods 
are required when small and young, in others 
they are allowed to grow larger; but in any 
case they ought to be gathered whilst they are 
so crisp as to readily snap when bent. When 
the seeds are to be used in the dry state, the 
crops should be only gathered when the pods 
are quite dried up. In gathering for use in 
the state of green pods, none should be left 
that are getting too old. If they are removed, 
new ones will continue to be formed in great 
abundance; whereas, if allowed to remain till 
the seeds approach maturity, the formation of 
young ones is, in a great measure, prevented. 
To save Seeds.—The best seeds are produced 
from plants sown at the earliest season that their 
growth can proceed without a check, and this is 
generally the case with the May sowing. The 
first-formed pods should be reserved, except 
some of the smallest, which may be thinned 
out. After a considerable number of pods have 
been thus reserved on each plant, it will be ad- 
visable to gather, in a young state, all that may 
be subsequently produced. By these means 
plump and well-matured seeds will be obtained. 
If dried and kept in the pod, the seeds will be 
preserved good for four years; if taken out of 
the pod, their vitality cannot be ensured for more 
than two years. 
Forcing.—Kidney-Beans may be grown in 
