THE CULTURE OF VEGETABLES. 475 



manured soil. The work should be done Cull) a h 



before sowing, to enable the soil to seltle down, as 

 Onions like a firm soil. When the rows are i2in. apart, 

 and the plants whilst quite young are thinned down to 

 4in. apart, fine hard long-keeping bulbs are produced in 

 the autumn, and a very heavy crop. When the sample 

 is good, even, clean, and well ripened, few ground 

 crops are more profitable than are spring sow n Onions. 

 In the winter the bulbs may be stored on shelves in an 

 open shed, or be tied thickly round sticks coated with 

 straw, and, in the form of ropes or long clusters, be hum' 

 in any cool, airy place. 



Parsnip, The. A valuable winter root is the I'arsnip, 

 and it is not encumbered, as so many vegetables are, with 

 numerous varieties. Practically there are but two or 

 three, such as the Hollow Crown, the best known lor 

 garden culture ; the large Jersey, grown lor cattle feeding ; 

 and the Student, which seems to be reproduced in Tender 

 and True, a variety of great excellence, w hite in colour, 

 refined in flesh, and whilst not giving large roots vet fur- 

 nishing such as are most fitted for ordinary consumption. 

 Seed ot Parsnips may be sown early in the spring, as the 

 plant is hardy. When the soil is workable and has been 

 previously well prepared by deep digging or trenching, 

 seed may be sown in drills, lin. in depth and 12111. 

 apart, at the end of February or during March. The 

 young plants, when well through the ground, should be 

 thinned out to about 6in. apart in the rows, or to odn. 

 it large roots be desired. Ordinarily, however, fewer- 

 roots more thickly placed are best, as these are when 

 cooked so much mere acceptable as food. Little culture 

 is needed beyond keeping the ground between the 

 plants quite clean and frequently hoed. As the roots are 

 so hardy they may be left in the ground all the winter, 

 especially if a little soil be drawn over the crowns to 

 protect them from frost. Roots lifted and stored should be 

 kept in sand in a very cool place, but these soon become 

 dry if the place be at all warm and dry. Seed is very 

 cheap and hardy. Sowings may be made thinly. One 

 sowing usually suffices for a season"s crop. Roots that 

 have good fleshy matter about ioin. in length, and are 

 smooth, white, tapering, and free from side roots, are 

 much better than those of greater size or with 

 numerous side roots. Those having very long, narrow 

 top or vertical roots are not desirable either, as 

 the\- usually exhibit, when cooked, a somewhat 

 woody core. Generally Parsnips are not popular root 

 vegetables, because when cooked under ordinary con- 

 ditions they are watery and devoid of flavour. To have 

 them presented at table in proper condition the roots 

 should be well washed, scraped, and trimmed, but not 

 peeled, and cooked whole in just sufficient water in the 

 pot to cover them. This should gradually boil away, so 

 that the roots are finished off in the steam of the pot, 

 and finally softened by baking. Then when taken out 

 and served they are of delicious flavour, with melting. 

 Marrowy - like flesh, and constitute altogether most 

 acceptable food, far superior to that served when 

 the ordinary method of cooking is adopted. 



Pea, The. — Peas are the favourite summer vege- 

 tables, and happily, with reasonable care, are easy to 

 produce. It is true that everyone who has a garden can 

 have I'eas, but it is not equally true that everyone grows 

 them well or secures the best varieties. It must always 

 be remembered that I'eas are in seasoir through the 

 hottest months of the year, and to counteract the evil 

 effects of dry weather certain details must be considered. 

 In the first place, no matter whether soils be naturally 

 holding or retentive or very dry, they must for these 

 pod-bearing plants be deeply trenched from time to time, 

 not necessarily every year, but certainly every third or 

 fourth year. This may seem to demand from the culti- 

 vator a considerable expenditure of labour, but all 

 gardening calls for exertion, and the more the ground 

 is tilled so much richer will be the produce. 



Trenching soil consists in digging up a certain area of 

 ground I2in. deep and 2ft. wide, breaking up the bottom 

 sod, no matter whether this be clay, gravel, chalk, or 



PEA, TELEGRAPH 



sand, with a long fork, and then mixing into it at once a 

 good dressing ol animal manure. This lays the founda- 

 tion ol the Pea plot. Then the top of the next trench, 

 of a similar area, should be thrown over to fill the first, 

 and the bottom of that broken up and treated on the 

 same plan. When the whole is complete, a further 

 dressing of manure should be forked into the top soil all 

 over. The whole of the work should be completed by 

 the end of the year il possible. It need scarcely be said 

 that ground so treated will carry not only a fine Pea crop, 

 but several other crops in succession, so that the outlay- 

 in manure and labour is soon more than repaid. The 

 ground being thus prepared, we must consider the 

 important operation of sowing the seed, and the ordinary 

 plan is to sow seed in rows or drills at about the same 

 width apart as the height to which the plants attain : but 

 this system should not be too rigidly adhered to. II 

 Peas grow only 2ft. in height, they will be all the better 

 if sown some 2jft. apart, and so on throughout the 

 various classes. The most important point of all is not to 

 sow too thickly in the rows, but amateurs in particular 

 pay small regard to the importance of seed sow ing. Not 

 only is seed wasted, but the seedlings get starved because 

 so thickly crowded upon the ground. The taller the 

 plants of any variety, so much thinner should the seed be 

 sown. A verv good medium is, in the case of first 

 early dwarf Peas to sow at the rate of one pint to every 

 30ft., of varieties 3ft. or 4ft. high a pint to 100ft., and 

 of Peas 5ft. to 6ft. in height the same quantity to 120ft. 

 The best growers of tall I'eas in private gardens usually, 

 however, dibble in the seed in broad drills, angle fashion, 

 at fully 4in. apart. Those who sow Peas should bear 

 this fact well in mind, because the plants thrive best where 

 they have ample space, light, and air, and continue to give 

 produce over a longer period, as well as producing finer 

 pods. Whether the Peas be supported by stakes, string, 

 or wire frames, or whether left lying on the ground as in 

 the fields, thinner sowing may well be practised than is 

 usually the case. 



The position for the Pea crop must be necessarily 

 regulated according to circumstances, but the earliest 

 sowings should alwavs be made on warm borders or 

 where somewhat sheltered, otherwise late frosts will 

 destroy the bloom, and, of course, all prospectsof a prolific 

 crop. As the sowing season advances let the position be 

 m< ire open and cool, avoiding, how ever, much-shaded spots, 

 which simply promote weakly grow th. The more holding 

 or retentive of moisture the soil is. so much more likely is 

 the crop to withstand summer drought. 



Times for sowing, too, must depend upon circumstances. 

 If a warm sheltered position is at command, then such a 

 variety as Chelsea Gem or William Hirst may lie sown as 

 early as |anuarv, or in more open positions about the 

 middle of February. It is a verv common rule, and one 

 easily understood, to make other sowings for succession as 

 soon as the plants of the previous sowing are well through 

 the ground. When that rule is followed lor six or eight 

 weeks, and the Peas grow well, a supply is obtained over 



