Crops for Piclding and Preserving. 
725 
beans are pickled, both for mixing and for selling separately. 
French beans are preferred for the purpose, as it is not desired 
to have them too large ; but scarlet runners are employed when 
the supply is short. As only the smaller ones are of use, the 
chief means of disposal must be sought in the vegetable market. 
French beans, as compared with scarlet runners, are not exten- 
sively grown in England, as they are not so hardy and do not 
vield so well. A light, warm soil in good heart is necessary for 
the crop, and a finely-prepared tilth is essential. As they are 
very susceptible to frost, they cannot be sown early ; in forward 
seasons the first seed may be planted about the middle of April, 
and the seeding continued until the middle of May. A fine tilth 
having been prepared, grooves are made with either a hoe or a 
hand plough ; for French beans the grooves are 2 feet 6 inches 
apart ; for scarlet runners, 3 feet apart. The seeds are dropped 
in the rows, those of the French beans being placed about 8 or 
9 inches apart, and of the runners 1 foot apart ; they are then 
covered with soil. It is usual to sow about 3 pecks of runner 
seeds per acre. 
The French beans never require sticking ; and in field-culture 
no support is given to the runners, as an endeavour is made to 
induce them to grow bushy, and they are dwarfed by having the 
top shoots nipped or cut off. Gathering commences in July, 
and continues until frost kills the plants in autumn. In 
favourable years 500 bushels of pods, weighing 32 lb. per bushel, 
are gathered per acre. They are sold at from 6cl. to 3s. per 
bushel in the market ; but there are heavy expenses, which, if 
they do not swallow up the whole of the market-price, are 
frequently so great that not more than a penny or twopence 
per bushel is brought home. Still, taking one time with anothei', 
they may be considered fairly profitable. 
Radishes. — Another vegetable which is occasionally met 
with in the pickle-jar is the radish ; but the seed-pod, and not 
the root, is the portion pickled. The crop is, therefore, a seed 
crop, of which a portion of the pods may be picked for pickling, 
if there is a demand for them. Hence it is immaterial 
whether the turnip-radish or the long radish isgi'own. The soil 
required is of the usual market-garden type, free, well-drained, 
and in high condition. It is not necessary to discuss the growth 
of radish roots, as their cultivation is distinct from that of the 
seed. In order that the pods may form there must be ample 
space for the branches to spread ; and the seed is sown in the 
early part of May, in rows 2 feet apart, the surplus plants being 
struck out with a hoe, as in ordinary root-cultivation. Rarely, 
