ACETARIACEOUS PLANTS. — THE RADISH. 



173 



ber, January, and February ; and from 

 the end of that month sow every ten 

 days, throughout the remainder of the 

 season. These sowings have reference to 

 the turnip-rooted and spindle-rooted va- 

 rieties in ordinary use. For the black, 

 white, purple, and brown Spanish sorts, 

 which are hardy, and continue long fit 

 for use after attaining their full size, 

 these should be sown in August, and 

 another crop in September, which will 

 carry the supply through the winter, 

 whether they be kept in the ground or 

 taken up and pitted like potatoes. The 

 seeds will in general germinate in less 

 than a week, and in six weeks the plants 

 will be fit for drawing. 



The ordinary turnip and spindle-rooted 

 sorts should be sown broadcast, whether 

 in beds, in the open air, or in pits and 

 frames. Avoid too thick sowing. Two 

 ounces of seed will sow three lights of a 

 pit or frame of the ordinary breadth, or 

 the same quantity will sow a bed of 50 

 square feet in the open ground. They 

 are often sown thinly between rows of 

 potatoes in pits or frames, as they will be 

 gathered off before the potatoes have 

 attained a size to injure them. The 

 hardy winter sorts should be sown in 

 rows, as they occupy the ground much 

 longer, and will require the surface to be 

 frequently stirred up by the hoe. Cover 

 the seed fully half an inch, and, in sowing 

 in the open borders, avoid spilling any of 

 the seed on the surface, as such will 

 attract birds, which are very fond of 

 them. Net the ground over to protect 

 them; or, better, cover with wire-netting, 

 which, although rather more expensive in 

 the first instance, will be found the cheap- 

 est in the end. Both the tap-rooted and 

 turnip-rooted kinds should be sown at 

 the same time, as well as those differing 

 in colour, to afford a greater variety in 

 the salad. For late autumn, winter, and 

 early spring crops, choose the warmest 

 and driest border the garden affords ; 

 while for those for use during the heat of 

 summer, a cool moist place should be 

 selected. 



The radish is one of the few exceptions 

 to drill-sowing, which has for its chief 

 principle the means afforded the cultiva- 

 tor for thinning his crops, so that each 

 plant may have room to develop itself to 

 the extent at which it should arrive, when 



VOL. II. 



in its fullest state of perfection. The 

 radish does not require this care, as the 

 strongest seeds vegetate first, and the 

 plants produced from them are daily 

 withdrawn for use, thus leaving room for 

 those which follow in succession. It is 

 good practice to sow at the same time 

 with the radishes such seeds as lettuce, 

 leeks, parsley, &c, because these vegetate 

 much more slowly than the radish, and 

 as it is removed they come in in succes- 

 sion, and fill the space until such time as 

 they are of such a size, and sufficiently har- 

 dened off, as to be fit for planting in the 

 open border of the garden. Indeed, so 

 great a difference exists in the germinat- 

 ing process of these seeds, that radishes, 

 leeks, and parsley may be sown on the 

 same day. When the first is withdrawn, 

 the second takes its place; and when the 

 plants are of a size to be transplanted to 

 a nursery-bed, to fit them for final trans- 

 planting, the parsley comes in, which 

 takes so long a time in germinating as to 

 have given rise to the common but vulgar 

 saying, " that parsley-seed goes nine times 

 to the devil before it begins to grow." 

 By following this rather unusual mode, 

 time and space are economised; and as 

 lettuce, leeks, and parsley plants are im- 

 proved by transplanting, the advantages 

 to them individually must be evident. 



" The London market-garden practice 

 for obtaining early radishes in the open 

 air is to sow from the first to the last 

 week in December, choosing as warm a 

 situation for the purpose as possible. 

 The ground being prepared, the seed is 

 sown broadcast. The alleys are marked 

 out, and the mould from them is thrown 

 over the seed. A wooden rake is used to 

 make all level ; no iron rakes are used in 

 market -gardens. After sowing, straw, 

 which has been previously shaken out of 

 the London stable-manure, is put over 

 the beds 2 or 3 inches in thickness. When 

 the plants come up, which depends upon 

 the winter, the straw is removed every 

 day, and put on every night, until all 

 danger from frost is past. It takes 5° of 

 frost to hurt a radish after it is half- 

 grown." — Cuthill. 



It is only in the most favourable situa- 

 tions that radishes, with the exception of 

 the winter kinds, can be advantageously 

 grown in the open air during winter. 

 Did they even, by covering or otherwise, 



z 



