4/8 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



for covering the 

 tubers is from 

 5in. to 6in. 



Early varieties 

 may be planted 

 in rows 2ft. 

 apart and 1 2in. 

 in the rows. 

 Put tall robust 

 growers in rows 

 join, apart and 

 I 5in. in the 

 rows. 



G e n c r a I 

 Culture. — As 

 soon as the 

 young tops are 

 well through 

 the ground 

 w o r k th e 

 h o e freely 

 amongst them, 

 both destroy- 

 ing weeds and 

 loosening the 

 soil. When 

 it is at all 



set, a second and deeper hoeing will be useful. 

 Earthing or moulding up is a common practice. It 

 helps to sustain the stems, and covers up the newly- 

 forming tubers as they swell, thus keeping from them air 

 and light. Exposure "greens" them, and when in this 

 condition they are unfit for food. Moulding should be 

 done well and before the tops become too tall, otherwise 

 they will be broken. Moulding up is most satisfactory 

 upon a very loose surface soil. As regards other matters, 

 it is needful to keep the breadths free from weeds. 

 Once, however, the tops cover the soil, weeds make little 

 growth. 



The Disease. — Although the Potato disease (Perono- 

 spora infestans), a minute sporadic fungus, is less virulent 

 than was formerly the case, it inflicts at times severe 

 injury upon late crops, especially in destroying the tops 

 and checking tuber development. To hinder the opera- 

 tion of the disease, apart from accomplishing all that has 

 been so far advised — especially allowing plenty of air and 

 light to reach the plants — it is advisable to dress the 

 breadths once about the third week in July, and again 

 three weeks later, with Bordeaux mixture. This is 

 composed of equal parts of sulphate of copper (blue stone) 

 and fresh lime, each separately dissolved in water in the 

 proportion of 5II). of each. The blue stone should be 

 dissolved in boiling water, and in a large wooden tub. 

 Mix the two solutions in the wooden utensil, and add 

 from twenty to thirty gallons of water. When ready, 

 cast the mixture over the tops, in the form of a vapour, 

 through the Knapsack Sprayer, when it will be found most 

 effective in checking the terrible disease, 



Lifting. — Whilst early varieties may be lifted for use 

 as soon as the tubers are edible, late kinds should be 

 allowed to ripen in the ground, then be got up in dry 

 weather and thoroughly dried and cleaned, if needed. 

 Store in a cool shed, and cover them to exclude light, 

 air, and frost. It is good practice to overlook the stores 

 occasionally to remove diseased tubers. 



Varieties. — It is not the intention to weary and puzzle 

 readers with a long list of names. The following 

 varieties are in every way satisfactory, and may be 

 selected vrithout fear of poor results if properly grown : 

 First Early Kinds — White Beauty of Hebron, Early 

 Puritan, Ringleader, the Ashleaf Kidney, Early Regent, 

 and Leicester Short-top. Second Early Kinds — Snow- 

 drop, Satisfaction, Supreme, and Early Bird. Late 

 Kinds — Windsor Castle, Prime Minister, Chancellor, 

 Goldfinder, The Bruce, Up to Date, and Syon House 

 Prolific, all heavy croppers. 

 Radishes. Whilst there are numerous varieties of these 

 acceptable salading roots, in diverse forms and colours, 



l'OTATO, WINDSOR CASILE. 



ordinarily only 

 three or four 

 find general 

 cultivation, the 

 small round 

 and oval-rooted 

 ones being most 

 in favour. Very 

 popular are the 

 early short- 

 topped French 

 Breaklast olive 

 or oval shaped 

 variet i e s, of 

 which there are 

 three or four, 

 but both these 

 and the round 

 one differ little 

 in excellence or 

 earliness. They 

 are red in 

 colour with 

 white tops or 

 bases, and 

 when drawn 

 young, neatly 



washed, and served, are most appetising. The Earliest 

 Dwarf Red, sown in a frame in February or March, will 

 give nice roots to pull in six weeks. The Old Red and 

 White Turnip-rooted varieties are also excellent to sow 

 outdoors in March, April, and May, in small quantities, 

 and in the regular succession of once a fortnight. Radishes 

 need a soil that is light, porous, and well enriched with 

 manure, placed just below the surface, as the roots do not 

 strike deep. Before sowing seed the soil should be 

 gently pressed and levelled, then the seeds sown fairly 

 thickly, well raked, gently beaten down, and watered, 

 then covered up with mats laid over Pea sticks to 

 keep the covering from the ground, or else with straw 

 litter shaken from the stable dung. This should remain on 

 until the seeds have germinated, then removed in the 

 day, and lightly thrown back at night to protect the 

 young plants from frost. Primarily the covering helps 

 to promote equal germination, and keeps the seeds from 

 being eaten by birds. Should slugs harbour beneath the 

 litter, give an occasional dressing of lime or soot. There 

 are long or tapering Radishes, both red and white, that 

 are in good soil, and when quickly grown, very good, but 

 they soon become woolly in hot, dry weather. In hot 

 weather sow in shady places on good soil, and water 

 freely. Sowings may be made at the end of July of 

 the Long White Carmine or Black Spanish Radishes for 

 winter pulling and eating ; but their flesh is rather hard 

 and coarse. 



Rhubarb. — Roots of Rhubarb are easily propagated by 

 lifting old ones, dividing them with a sharp knife, so 

 that each one or two crowns have a portion of root 

 attached, then planting them in soil that has been 

 trenched and well manured, in rows 4ft. apart, the roots 

 being planted 3ft. apart in the rows. When large roots 

 are lifted in the winter to put into a dark place to 

 produce early stems, and have been well pulled from, 

 they may be thus cut up and replanted. February or 

 March is a good time to replant. Some long manure 

 should be laid about eacl. plant. Whilst good Rhubarb 

 stems can be obtained in the open, earlier and longer ones 

 are secured by covering up roots with tubs, drain-pipes, 

 or similar coverings, as the growth is then much earlier 

 and better. These things may be removed after the first 

 pulling, and then new sterns will be made in the 

 summer. Rhubarb is a gross feeder, and will absorb 

 manure, especially in liquid form, freely. The best 

 varieties are Hawke : s Champagne and Victoria. 



Salsify and SeorZOnera. — These roots differ somewhat, 

 the former being white and having long, narrow leafage, 

 and in the latter the roots are dark externally, and 

 the leafage is broad. Without doubt Salsify is the best, 



