596 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



lific, and run less to straw by that management, than when they are sown where they 

 are to remain. Indeed, it would be very well worth while to transplant the earliest crops 

 in the open ground." (ITal. p. 29.) 



3398. Beans may be forced in a similar manner, though this is seldom attempted. 



Sect. XIII. Forcing Salads, Pot-herbs, ^c. 



3399. Salads, pot-herbs, and various other cidinary playlts, are, or may be forced; but 

 the practice in Britain seldom extends beyond pot-herbs and salads ; though some have 

 forwarded cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, carrots, &c., in tliis way, as is occasionally 

 done in Russia and the north of Germany. 



3400. Cauliflower, lettuce, radish, carrot, and onion, M'Phail obsei-ves, may be planted 

 or sown in February, "on gentle hot-beds of dung or leaves, to bring them in before 

 those in the open ground. They should have glass frames set over them in cold, frosty, 

 or rainy nights ; which may be taken off in fine days, or a great deal of air given to 

 them." Nicol says, " The early horn can ot may be sown in January on a slight hot-bed, 

 or on a border, close by the parapet in front of a pinery, early grape-house, or peach- 

 house. The seeds should be sown in fine light earth, in either case, and should not be 

 covered more than to the depth of a quarter of an inch. If sown on a hot-bed, the seeds 

 may be defended by a frame and lights, or by hoops and mats, from bad weather, and 

 should be covered always at night. If sown on a border in front of a forcing-house 

 of any kind, they may be covered with hand-glasses. When the plants come up in 

 either situation, they should have plenty of free air, as they do no good if they be drawn ; 

 they also should have moderate supplies of water. A thin sprinkling of radish or lettuce 

 may be thrown in along with the carrot." 



3401. Pot-herbs, such as mint, marjoram, chervil, &c., are planted or sown in pots or 

 boxes, and placed in any house, pit, or frame, in a state of forcing, near the glass, and 

 where they will receive abundance of air in fine weather. They require little or no far- 

 ther attention, but occasional watering. They may also be planted in rows in hot-beds 

 or pits. 



3402. Small salading, such as cresses, mustard, rape, chiccory, &c., to be cropped 

 when young, may be treated as pot-herbs ; the three first will thrive at a greater distance 

 from the light, and may be sown as practised by the market-gardeners on the floors or 

 borders of cherry and peach houses. 



3403. Radish. Abercrombie says, " To obtain the earliest spring radishes, sow on a 

 hot-bed of dung or leaves some early dwarf short-tops in December, January, or the be- 

 ginning of February. Having made a hot-bed two feet, or two and a half high, in dung, 

 place on the frame. Earth the bed at top six inches deep ; sow on the surface, covering 

 the seed with fine mould, about half an inch thick ; and put on the glasses. WTien the 

 plants have come up, admit air every day, in mild or tolerably good weather, by tilting 

 the upper end of the lights, or sometimes the front, one, two, or three inches, that the 

 radishes may not draw up weak and long-shanked. If they have risen very thick, thin 

 them in young growth, moderately at first, to about one or two inches apart. Be care- 

 ful to cover the glasses at night with garden-mats or straw-litter. Give gentle waterings 

 about noon on sunny days. If the heat of the bed declines much, apply a moderate 

 lining of warm dung, or stable-litter, to the sides ; which, by gently renewdng the heat, 

 wiU forward the radishes for drawing in February and March. Remember, as they 

 advance in growth, to give more copious admissions of air daily ; either by tilting the 

 lights in front several inches, or, in fine mild days, by drawing the glasses mostly off ; 

 but be careful to draw them on again in proper time. Small turnip-radishes, of the 

 white and red kinds, may be forced in the same manner. For raising early radishes on 

 ground not accommodated with frames, a hot-bed, made in February, may be arched 

 over with hoop-bends, or pliant rods, which should be covered with mats constantly at 

 night ; and during the day in very cold weather. In moderate days, turn up the mats 

 at the warmest side ; and on a fine mild day, take them wholly off." Any sort of radish- 

 seed may be sown occasionally for salad-herbs, to be taken while in the seed-leaves, to 

 mix with cresses and mustard. Sow about once a-week in spring, summer, or any 

 season when radish-salad is required, managing it as other small salad-herbs." 



Sect. XIV. Culture of the Mushroom. 



3404. The edible mushroom {Agaricus campestiis, L.) has long been held in esteem in this 

 country. Its peculiar habits, and the method of propagating it, are so unlike those of any 

 other culinary vegetable, that gardeners, till lately, seem not to have generalised on its 

 culture. For a long period back, it seems never to have been produced in any other way 

 than on ridges of warm dung ; no one appearing to advert to the circumstance of its being 

 indigenous, and that it may be grown in the open ground in the warmer months. 



3405. The cultivation of mushrooms, Nicol observes, is a process in* gardening, per- 

 haps the most singular and curious of any. In the culture of any other vegetable, we 



