RADISH. 



261 



iog sorts may be sown among some broad-cast crops of 

 larger growth, sucb as spinage, lettuce and onion ; it may 

 also be drilled between wide rows of beans, or on ground 

 intended to be sown with a late spring crop. 



Times of sowing. — " To have a consta-^t succession of 

 radishes at table, the seeds should be sowo-i once a fort* 

 night, from April [or the last of March] to August. But 

 in midsummer they sooner grow sticky and strong, than in 

 spring or fall. They must therefore be eaten w4iile they 

 are young. I have had better success with those sown in 

 August than in any other month." — Deane. 



Seed, process in sowing^ and common culture. — Sow each 

 sort separately ; and for a bed four feet six inches by twelve 

 feet, two ounces of seed will be required of the spring 

 sorts, and an ounce and a half for the autumn varieties. 

 All the kinds may be sown either broad-cast or in drills ; 

 but the latter is preferable, as allowing the roots to be drawn 

 regularly, with less waste. If you sow broad-cast, it is a 

 good method to make beds four or five feet wide, wath al- 

 leys between, a foot wide, the earth of which may be used 

 to raise the beds, or not, as the season may make it desira- 

 ble to keep the beds dry or moist. Avoid sowing ez^ces- 

 sively thick, as it tends to make the tops run, and the roots 

 stringy. Rake in the seed well, full half an inch deep, 

 leaving none on the surface to attract birds. If you trace 

 drills, let them be, for the spindle-rooted kinds, half an inch 

 deep, and about two inches and a half asunder ; for the 

 small turnip-rooted, three quarters of an inch deep, and four 

 or five inches asunder; and for the black turnip or Spanish, 

 six or eight inches asunder, because the root grows to the 

 size of a middle-sized turnip. As the plants advance in 

 growth, thin them so as to leave the spindle-rooted about 

 two inches square distance, and the other sorts three, four, 

 or five, leaving the most space to the respective sorts in 

 free, growing weather. In dry, warm weather, water pretty 

 frequently : this swells the roots, and makes them mild and 

 crisp . ' ' — Ah ercromhie. 



" This root being liable to be eaten by worms, the fol- 

 lowing method is recommended for raising them Take 

 equal quantities of buck-w^heat bran, and fresh horse-dung, 

 and mix them well and plentifully in the ground by dig- 

 ging. Suddenly after this a great fermentation will be 

 produced, and numbers of toad-stools will start up in forty- 

 eight hours. Dig the ground over again, and sow the seed, 

 aj)d the radishes will grow with great rapidity, and be free 



