Mai/.] 



THE CULINARY GARDEN. 



171 



the weather is dry, but always to take the advantage of showery 

 weather ; .should, however, this advantage not present itself, 

 it would be advisable to give an immediate watering to the 

 crop after the thinning has been completed, for if the drought 

 penetrate to the fibres and tap-roots, the carrots become stinted 

 in their growth, and their flavor is rank and disagreeable. 



Those crops of carrots which are intended to be drawn gra- 

 dually for the table, whilst they are young, should not be 

 thinned at first to more than four or five inches distant ; but 

 the main crops, that are intended to remain to grow to their 

 full size, should be thinned from about six to seven inches 

 listant. 



Carrots may still be sown with every prospect of success, 

 particularly if the soil be strong and stiff. It is by no means 

 bad practice to sow in April, May, and the beginning of June. 



WORK TO BE DONE IN THE CUUNARY GARDEN. 



If the weather in this month prove dry, the growth of 

 many esculent plants will be considerably retarded, particu- 

 larly the beans and peas which are in flower, the blossoms of 

 which fall off before arriving at maturity, and consequently 

 are not succeeded by fruit. A certain degree of attention is 

 therefore necessary, to give a regular supply of water to the 

 growing crops ; at the same time, it must be observed, that in 

 promoting the growth of the crops, the weeds are also encou- 

 raged, which at this season of the year are very abundant, and 

 which, if not timely checked, prove highly detrimental to the 

 young crops, by weakening them to that degree, that they 

 never afterwards recover their full strength. There is no work 

 in the kitchen-garden which, at this time, requires greater 

 attention than the eradication of weeds ; many will now begin 

 to perfect their seeds, which, being shed on the ground, will 

 occasion a considerable degree of labor for several years to 

 accomplish their extirpation, independently of the injury which 

 is annually done to the crops, by choking them in their growth, 

 and exhausting the soil of that nutriment, on which the strength 

 and flavor of the vegetables depend. 



