34 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



ning of March, on beds five feet wide, and 

 in the broadcast manner, covering the seed 

 with soil from the alleys. They rake the 

 ground, and draw a wooden roller over it. 



The mode of planting depends on 

 circumstances — namely, whether young 

 plants of the current year, those of last 

 autumn's sowing, or the smallest bulbs 

 selected from the preceding crop, are 

 to be operated on. In the case of the 

 former, the seed should be sown about the 

 beginning of February, in light, rich, 

 sandy soil, placed over a hotbed of mode- 

 rate temperature — say of 45°; or they 

 may be sown in what is called a cold pit 

 or frame — that is, a structure having no 

 artificial bottom-heat, but depending en- 

 tirely on solar heat transmitted through 

 a glass covering. Towards the end of 

 April, if the weather has set in favourable, 

 the young plants should be carefully 

 taken up, without injury being done to 

 either their tender tops or equally tender 

 fibres, and transferred to the open quar- 

 ter of the garden — the ground being pre- 

 viously prepared by trenching or deep 

 digging, and in a high state of enrich- 

 ment from the manure applied to the 

 preceding crop — say celery. The pro- 

 cess of planting in most cases — in this one 

 in particular — is most advantageously 

 carried out by proceeding in the follow- 

 ing manner ; and as it is in the main 

 applicable to the planting of all other 

 crops, it deserves, for the benefit of ama- 

 teurs, a clear explanation : — The ground 

 being, it is presumed, already trenched 

 and manured, commence at one side of 

 the quarter or piece of ground to be 

 planted ; break down the surface with 

 a wooden rake to a moderate evenness of 

 surface, and freedom from clods and stones. 

 Stretch the garden line from end to end 

 perpendicular to the cross walks, or paral- 

 lel with the adjoining crops or walk, so 

 that the rows, while growing, shall appear 

 as if laid down corresponding with other 

 straight lines, as if they had been drawn 

 by a parallel ruler ; for nothing looks 

 worse, when viewing the crops in a gar- 

 den from the principal walks, than to see 

 the lines of crops in the quarter or divi- 

 sion nearest to the point of observation 

 running five points to the east or south, 

 while those in the piece adjoining are 

 running as many points in an opposite 

 direction. This being done, beat the sur- 



face of the ground, for about the breadth 

 of nine inches, gently down with the back 

 of a spade, so that the whole shall be 

 smooth and level. Commence at the end 

 of the line, or at different points, accord- 

 ing to the number of men employed. The 

 young plants are laid in shallow boxes, 

 covered over with moss, or any other light 

 covering sufficient to exclude the air 

 while they are yet unplanted ; each man 

 having a box, and no more plants 

 brought out than can be planted within 

 an hour or so. They are then to be set 

 in holes made by a small blunt dibber, 

 about as thick as the little finger, and 

 not above an eighth of an inch deeper 

 than where they have been growing, 

 and at the distance of 5 inches apart in 

 the row. If, however, there is an ap- 

 prehension of the maggot, or of other 

 injuries befalling them, they may be 

 set at double thickness, as it will be 

 better to thin out in May every alternate 

 plant, than to have to make up deficien- 

 cies. When the first row is planted, the 

 line should be removed ; and in doing 

 this some caution is necessary, lest, in its 

 removal, any of the plants be withdrawn 

 from their places. If the line is gently 

 drawn from the plants, rather than drawn 

 upwards, little danger of this need be 

 apprehended. A better way, however, is, 

 when the process of beating the ground is 

 finished, the mark of the line being still 

 quite visible, to lift it at once, and set the 

 plants along the marked line. There is 

 an unfortunate pertinacity amongst a cer- 

 tain class of even young men to do no- 

 thing without a line. The man who 

 cannot or will not plant a row of young 

 onions as straight as an arrow by the 

 mark of the line thus made, should be 

 furnished with a pair of eye-protectors, 

 and recommended to the nearest road-sur- 

 veyor, to try his hand at macadamising. 

 When the first row is finished, proceed in 

 like manner with the next, and so on, 

 watering, if the weather is dry, every three 

 rows, as the work goes on. By this means 

 the soil will remain untrodden, as it will 

 be pointed over — that is, dug shallow as 

 the operation proceeds. The only care to 

 be taken during the operation is, that the 

 plants be not set too deep (vide supra). 

 The process of transplanting autumn- sown 

 onions is precisely the same as above, 

 except in so far as they, at the period of 



