THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



but on account of its thin skin it does not 

 travel well, and therefore is not so suit- 

 able for market purposes. For the same 

 reason it requires rather more shelter 

 from heavy and continuous rains than 

 the thicker skinned arieties. 



Sow French beans, globe artichoke, 

 asparagus, beet, cabljage, carrot, mustard 

 and cress, endive, leek, lettuce, spring 

 onions, radish, pumpkin, rhubarb, squash 

 and spinach. Where tree tomato(-s and 

 Indian sorrell are required, these should 

 be sown at once. The earliest crop of 

 French beans should be sown in the 

 warmest and most sheltered part of the 

 garden ; later crops may be sown in 

 more exposed situations. Sow the seed 

 in drills two feet apart and two inches 

 in depth, or less in heavy soils, and 

 four inches between the seeds. In dry 

 weather the ground may be mulched 

 and frequent waterings given. The best 

 varieties are Canadian Wonder, Burpees 

 Stringless, both green podded, and the 

 Golden Butter, a yellow podded variety. 



Globe artichokes may be sown in rows 

 ■where they arelo remain ; thin to a foot 

 or 18 inches apart, and transplant the 

 following seaeon to four feet apart each 

 way. 



Asparagus should be sown in light 

 rich soil in rows eighteen inches apart, 

 and when large enough thin out to nine 

 inches in the rows. The best width for 



an asparagus bed is five feet, which will 

 take three rows, one down the centre and 

 one on each side about a foot from the 

 edge. When planting is finished the 

 ground should be mulched with a thick 

 coating of good stable dung and copious 

 waterings given in dry weather. The 

 after-cultivation consists simply in keep- 

 the ground clean and dressing with salt 

 in the spring. 



Cabbage is usually sown broadcast in 

 beds, taking care not to sow the seed too 

 thickly. When the young plants are 

 large enough to be handled, a good plan 

 is to transplant from the seed bed to 

 another bed a few inches apart each way, 

 where they will become strong, sturdy 

 plants fit for final planting out. By this 

 method each may be taken up with a 

 ball of soil and be planted out without 

 the loss of a plant. 



All the root crops, such as beet, carrot, 

 radish, and turnip should be sown in 

 drills. The ground should be dug deep, 

 and if manure is necessary it may be 

 turned in with the bottom spit so as to 

 bury it well below the surface. This will 

 cause the top root to descend and pre- 

 vent forking. Sow the seeds thinly in 

 the drills, which should be about eighteen 

 inches apart. When the plants are fit to 

 handle, thin out to six inches apart for 

 beet and carrot and • a little more for 

 turnips. 



Correspondence^ 



To the Editor Agricultural Journal. 



CHEMICAL FERTILISERS. 



SIR _In reply to Mr. Thorrold's letter 

 in your last issue, I think the dis- 

 crepancies he complains of are easy of 

 explanation, and are caused by his not 

 clearly comprehending the meaning of 

 some of the terms used. The word 

 " potash " is a])plied to the oxide of 

 potassium, a substance from which all 

 the potash salts, such as the nitrate of 

 potash, sulphate of potash, and muriate 

 (otherwise called chloride) of potash, 

 may be derived. It is accordingly the 

 usual and most convenient plan, in all 

 fertiliser analyses, whatever salts of 

 potash may be present, to return thtm 

 as equivalent to so much potash ; by 



this means their relative values as potash 

 fertilisers can be seen at once. For 

 instance : — 



Sulphate of potash (pure) contains 56-3 



per cent, of potash. 

 Muriate of potash (pure) contains 63-1 



per cent, of potash. 

 Now in kainit the potash exists in the 

 form of sulphate of potash ; and a simple 

 calculation, with the figures given above, 

 will show that the 13 per cent, of potash 

 stated in my original article is equivalent 

 to just over 23 per cent, of sulphate of 

 potash, and that the figures quoted by 

 Mr. Thorrold must refer to the quantities 

 of this latter salt contained in kainit. As 

 to the statement re muriate, quoted from 



