426 
Market- Gardening. 
Christmas till 1st Marcli. In either case, the field is not touched 
until immediately before sowing the parsnips, and Mr. Glcnny 
would prefer to plough, scarify, and sow on the same day, so that 
the seeds of the crop might start fairly with those of the small 
nettle, chickweed, grass, and the shepherd's-purse, which are 
favourite weeds in market-gardens, frequently escaping the con- 
tinual hoeing, and almost serving to establish in some quarters 
the theory of spontaneous generation. Supposing the clearings 
of the savoys to have been bunched by 1st March, as in 18G7 (14th 
March in 1868, 20th February in 1869), the land is ploughed 
with two horses and subsoiled with three horses, and is thus 
moved and stirred to a depth of about 9 inches. It is then 
drilled with a hand-drill as early in March as the state of the 
weather permits. Mr. Glenny objects to preparing the land in 
autumn, because it solidifies too much by the time the crop is 
sown. In garden-farming a stale furrow and a frosted surface are 
not entirely appreciated, since the made soil of a garden-farm is 
effectually pulverised by manure and surface tillage. Parsnips 
are sown 15 inches apart in the rows, and the plant is singled at 
10 or 12 inches. The crop is hoed, singled, and kept clean for 
45s. an acre. The hoeing this year had cost, up to 21st June — 
First hoeing, 5s. ; singling, 16s. 8c?. ; second hoeing, 6s. Frost 
does not injure parsnips. The roots are raised and sent to market 
from the field, and are in season from November till the end of 
Lent, occupying the ground longer than any other crop. 
French beans often follow early cabbages, without dung. The 
last of the three successive sowings is made about 21st June. This 
delicate plant is impatient of fresh manure, and requires the prepa- 
ration of a perfect garden-tilth. Mr. Glenny always ploughs twice, 
and for this and similar crops the land should be lightly rolled, 
to level it and to retain moisture. Drills are formed at 2^ feet 
apart by means of a small hand-plough, or marker, drawn by a 
man and a boy ; women follow, and drop a seed at every 9 inches, 
and the drill is then covered by a man with a hoe. The plants 
are carefully hoed. French beans grow rapidl}^, and soon become 
what salesmen call " old beans." In hot weather they should be 
gathered every other day, and they are cleared in about four pick- 
ings. The latest-sown beans are cut down by the slightest frost. 
Scarlet-runners are generally sown in the last week of April, 
after greens. The land is ploughed twice, with an interval of 
two or three weeks. The rows should be 3 feet apart, and a seed 
is planted in every foot of the drill. Runners continue to bear 
until they are cut down by severe frost. When manured, they 
are liable to become too luxuriant in damp summers ; they should, 
therefore, be planted on good land, without manure. It does not 
pay to support them on sticks, except when they are grown as a 
