IQS KiTCHi:X-G ARDEN PLANTS. [CUAP. 



upon aLiybody to sow radishes in little drills as directed for cab- 

 bages ; but that is the best way ; and, as soon as they are up, 

 they should be thinned to an inch apart ; for, if thicker, you gam 

 nothing in point of quantity, and you loose in point of quickness in 

 coming. They should be sowed in shallow drills six inches apart, 

 thinned to an inch apart in the drill as soon as they come up, and 

 the ground should be kept clear of weeds by a little hoe. We 

 have seen how radishes may be had early by sowing them upon a 

 potato-bed ; if you wish to have them still earlier, you must make 

 a bed on purpose, and cover it with a frame and glass. The 

 manner of making a hot-bed has been described in Chapter III. 

 A bed for radishes, made as early as December, if you like, need 

 not be so strong as a bed for early cucumbers. Proceed, in the 

 making of the bed, in just the same manner as directed for cucum- 

 bers ; but you need not make the bed to be above three feet high. 

 You must let the heat be gone off more in this case than in the 

 case of cucumbers, before you put on the mould ; and, before you 

 put on the mould for radishes, take all the lights olF the bed for a 

 whole day, unless in case of severe frosts, snow or rain. Put the 

 mould on eight inches deep ; or, if it be nine inches, it is better 

 still. The mould should be made very fine, and it should be rich 

 without dung. There is no room to spare in a hot-bed, and, 

 therefore, you should make the drills v.ith 3'Our finger about 

 two inches apart, and put the seed along in the drills in a very 

 even manner. When the plants come up, thin them to an inch 

 apart. That will give you seventy-two radishes ; that is to say, 

 six dozen upon every square foot ; and, if your frame be t\A elve 

 feet long and four feet wide, this hot-bed will give you two hun- 

 dred and eighty-eight bunches, a dozen in a bunch. Now mind, 

 your success will depend upon two things. Keeping out frost, and 

 giving all the air that you can possibly give, without letting in the 

 frost. If it be fine open weather, whether wet or dry, the lights 

 should be taken entirely off during the day ; and even in sharpish 

 weather there should be plenty of air given in the day time. In 

 open weather, there should be air given by night as well as by day ; 

 and the lights should be entirely off in the day-time, except in frosty 

 weather, or during very heavy rains. For, if your radishes be dra^vn 

 up, they will come to nothiag; and they will be drawn up unless they 

 have plenty of air. The heat of the bed v. ill, in time, diminish so 

 much as to let in the frost in a severe w inter. In such weather, thei e- 



