66 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



for sowing is from the middle of February, on a hot- 

 bed for an early crop, till the end of March or 20th of 

 April, for a full crop. 



For a bed three feet broad, and six feet long, a quarter 

 of an ounce of seed will be found sufficient. 



For the autumn crop the white is superior in flavour ; 

 but the red is better calculated for standing through the 

 winter ; the solid, or turnip-rooted, is not so sweet and 

 agreeable as the others. 



The seed is best when new, but will keep tolerably 

 well for ten years. It ought to be sown in some warm 

 rich corner of the garden, (a border with a southern 

 aspect is the best,) and should, by all means, be sheltered 

 at night, which may be done by bending some branches 

 of willow, or other pliable wood, over the bed, and coveriug 

 them at night with garden mats, or pieces of old canvas 

 or carpet. These remarks, however, apply to the crop 

 sown in March ; as, for the April sowing, protection is 

 not indispensable, though occasionally useful. The seed 

 bed should be raked fine, and the seed covered very 

 lightly ; it will not come up for several weeks. 



When the young plants have formed three or four 

 leaves, prick them out four inches apart in a bed of rich 

 soil, which must be first dug, raked, and rolled or beaten, 

 with the spade. After being thus pricked out, the plants 

 will require shading in the heat of the day, as not having 

 many roots, they will be exceedingly liable to droop ; 

 they may be shaded according to the directions before 

 given for protecting them from cold. 



The early crops should be pricked out under a hand- 

 glass. This pricking out is for the purpose of checking 

 the growth of the plants, to prevent them from running to 

 seed, and to increase the root-fibres, thus furnishing the 

 plants with more ample means for obtaining food, and 

 therefore ultimately tending to strengthen them. They 

 ought to be well watered in dry weather. 



In July for the early, and in August for the late crop, 

 trenches must be made, five feet apart, a foot broad, and 

 a foot deep. In the bottom lay four inches of well-rotted 

 dung, digging it in, or placing over it a covering of three 

 inches of rich earth, raked even, in which the plants, now 



