THE CULTURE OF VEGETABLES. 



469 



which is mixed a proportion at the rate of one-sixth oi 

 half-decayed stable or hot-bed manure. A very light 

 dressing, such as one pint to a barrowload of any artificial 

 manure or gu mo, will do good. Plants should be raised 

 in a small house well heated. The seeds arc l>csi sown 

 thinly in 6in. puis that have been well drained, then 

 filled with light soil. If dibbled in thinly over the 

 surface with the point of a finger to the number ol a 

 do/en, there is no fear that the seedlings will be unduly 

 crowded. Good seed in a temperature of 75deg. should 

 have germinated within a week, and the young planN 

 may be lilted with great care and shilted singly into 

 quite small pois at once, using warm soil and keeping 

 them in heat. Ten or fourteen days later these plants, 

 if the fruiting house is ready for them, should be fit to 

 plant out into the troughs, as nothing is gained by 

 keeping them in the pots. In planting, bury the stems 

 lin. or zin. in the soil if they be long, as side roots are 

 soon emitted. The plants should lie put out about r 3 i 1 1 . 

 apart in one line in the centre ol each trough, and a 

 little mound of soil drawn up round the stems helps to 

 keep off water and check damping. The water given to 

 the soil, and at fust not too freely, should be ol the 

 same temperature as the air ol the house. Beneath the 

 sloping roof on each side, and fixed by long holdfasts 

 to the bars or ralters, stout wires should be placed at 

 intervals of toin., running lengthwise. These should be 

 fixed fully loin, from the glass. The lowest wire will be 

 hardly more than 12m. from the centre of the ridge oi 

 soil in which the plants are put out, and as growth 

 ensues the shoot from each plant soon reaches it. This 

 shoot should, lor the lime, fie supported by a small stick. 

 When the wire is over-reached the point of the shoot 

 should be pinched, and almost immediately there w ill break- 

 out two or three shoots. These as they grow must lie- 

 carried up the wires several inches apart, and be later 

 pinched again to induce side shoots to break out from 

 them, on which fruits will come. It is later essential 

 that these shoots do not become too thick. Any not 

 showing fruits should be pinched out, and where there 

 are many fruits these should also be thinned as they 

 swell, lest the plants be over-cropped. Artificial fertili- 

 sation of the female flowers, with pollen taken from the 

 male blooms, is not only needless, hut harmful it done 

 for fruits that are required for table use. To obtain seed, 

 however, a female flower must be so fertilised; but. 

 except Cucumbers be grown specially for seed — work 

 best left to experts — one fruit will usually suffice to 

 give many more seeds than any ordinary private grower 

 can need. When the plants become strong, roots fill 

 the soil, and may be seen like white threads on the 

 surface. In such case an occasional very light sprinkling 

 with artificial manure or watering with liquid manure or 

 soot-water once a week will do great good. Plants 

 kept well thinned and not too heavily fruited, also 

 regularly fed with manure, will carry crops over a long 

 season. In such a house one side may be removed and 

 replaced by a fresh lot of plants and with quite fresh 

 soil, and thus cany Cucumbers over the whole year. In 

 tlie case ol a lean-to house only one side-bed for plants is 

 needful, and the treatment generally should be the same. 

 Cucumber culture in frames, on dung beds, differs 



from that in houses, as not only have the roots much 

 greiter soil room, but the growths run over the bed, 

 and are far less readily looked alter. When a dung lied 

 has been properly made up. and a frame placed over 

 it, a body of turfy loam is placed in a mound in the centre 

 of the frame, or of each portion ol the frame, some 5in. 

 in depth in the centre. An inch depth of soil may be 

 strewn over the manure when the strong steamy heat 

 which usually results from a fresh-made dung bed has 

 lessened; the plants may be put out in the centre of the 

 mound, either in pairs or trebles, according to the rise of 

 the frame or of each partition. It is best to cause the plants 

 to lie rather slantingly in planting, rather than to be erect, 

 as in that way the shoots that run out over the soil do not 

 bend the centre stem. One or two pinches suffice to 

 cause several shoots '.o form into branches, but the 



thinning and general attention have to be the same as in a 

 house. As the roots come through the mound of soil 

 fresh soil should be added. Whether in houses or frames 

 Cucumbers like a moist atmosphere, and therefore 

 should be sprinkled or syringed once or twice a day. A 

 very dry air soon breeds red spider, a pest that is very 

 destructive. ( 'rood varieties lor both house and frame are 

 Telegraph, Lockie's Perfection, Rochfords, Express, 

 Model, Peerless, and Marvel. 

 Dandelion. Although this belongs to a diverse section 

 ol toot -producing plants to that of Chicory, yet is its 

 general treatment much the same. Seed can be pur- 

 chased, il needed, although it can too often be easily 

 saved in the country. Sow in April in rows I2in. apart, 

 and thin the plants later out to bin. apart in the rows. 

 If the soil be deep and well manured, roots will become 

 strong and leaf grow th also. But care should betaken 

 to keep all flowers picked out, lest seed be produced that 

 may create trouble. In all other respects treat just as 

 advised lor Chicory. The bitter taste found in the leafage 

 when green is almost entirely absent in the while or 

 blanched leafage, and thus it constitutes delicious 

 salad ing. 



Egg Plants. — These are members of the large family of 

 the Solarium, and are best known under the French 

 name of Aubergine. They are easily raised from seed if 

 it be sown in pots in April and stood in a gentle heat to 

 help promote quick germination and growth. The little 

 plants need to be lifted carefully from the seed pots- 

 and pricked out into quite small pots singly. The soil 

 used should be one-half well-decayed leaf mould, the 

 rest ol loam and sand. As growth ensues, repotting is 

 needful until the plants are finally got into those from 

 7in. to Sin. in width. When well developed 111 warmth, 

 being kept near the glass, the plants will fruit freely 

 during the summer in an ordinary frame or greenhouse. 

 They should have for the final potting fully two-thirds 

 loam, the rest being old hot-bed manure and sand. 

 Plants that have flowered will often ripen their fruits if 

 plunged into a warm border or bed of ashes outdoors. 

 Water is needed freely in hot weather. The best 

 varieties are the White F^gg and the Long Purple. 



Endive. There are but two really of these leaf salads, 

 the broad-leaved Batavian and the Moss-curled. Both 

 are hardy winter salads, and whilst hard, bitter, ami 

 unpleasant to eat in a green state, are tender, crisp, and 

 even delicious as food when properly blanched. Seeds 

 of both may be sown outdoors about the middle of Julv, 

 and again the first week in August, to furnish a succes- 

 sion. Sow in shallow drills lain, apart, and thinly. 

 When the young plants are strong they should be put out 

 on to a sloping border or raised bed in rows 14m. apart. 

 Il is desirable that the permanent beds be arranged in a 

 sloping way, as otherwise the winter rains might do much 

 harm. In the late autumn the broad-leaved plants may 

 be tied up as Lettuces are, to blanche the hearts, and the 

 dwarf curled ones be blanched by having boards, slates, 

 saucers, or other articles laid over them to exclude light 

 and air, or from time to time as needed. Some of the 

 plants may lie lifted with good balls of soil attached, and 

 be transferred to a dark frame for blanching, or into a 

 cellar or dark shed. So long as light and air are abso- 

 lutely excluded, blanching soon follows, and in that way 

 salading of the most acceptable kind is produced. 



Herbs. — Garden Herbs are usually divided into those wdiich 

 are used to furnish flavouring in ordinary cooking, and 

 those which are distinctly of a medicinal order. Formerly 

 this latter section was very extensively grown, especially 

 Rue, Horehound, Tansy, Pennyroyal, Peppermint, and 

 Wormwood. These do not materially enter into the term 

 Herb as understood to-day, for the true garden Herb 

 is employed almost exclusively for flavouring purposes. 

 The best of the garden Herbs now are Parsley, Thyme, 

 Mint, Sage, Marjoram, Savory, Tarragon, and Fennel. 

 Parsley is easily raised from seed if it be sown in shallow 

 drills singly beside walks. The seed should be sown 

 thinly, and the young plants thinned out later to 6in. apart. 

 It is well to make one sowing early in April, and a 



