THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN' GARDEN. 
51 
and of the following dimensions — 2d inches in vertical depth, 
2 inches wide at the top, 3j inches wide at the bottom, and 
3 feet long, inside measurements. The bottom is simply a 
loose -|inch board, about 4d inches wide, temporarily attached 
to the. box .by two pieces of string. The box is filled with 
light rich soil, and the peas sown from the narrow side. 
The transferring of the ready-made row of peas to the open 
ground is a simple process : a drill, rather deeper than is 
necessary for sowing peas in the open ground, is worked out 
with the hoe, and the boxes, each containing a yard of peas, 
are placed end to end in it. The strings which attach the 
body of the. box. to the loose bottom are released, and by 
slightly raising it on one side the bottom board is easily 
slipped from under. The frame, from being bevelled, readily 
delivers itself from its contents, and the row of peas is left 
en masse in the drill without the soil being broken or disturbed, 
or any check being given to the peas. 
These narrow seed-boxes really occupy but very little space. 
They can be stacked two deep (the edges of the bottoms of the 
upper layer resting on the top edges of the sides of the lower 
layer), and a cold frame of 6 feet square would contain 40 
lineal yards. 
For the earliest crop little more than half the seed that 
would be sown in the open ground is required, as the boxes are 
under protection till past injury from birds and slugs. 
The plan that has obtained favour on our trial-ground is the 
very old fashioned one of raising the plants in pots. The best 
size pots for the purpose are 16’s or 9^- inch. They are filled 
to within. two inches of the top with light rich compost, and 
the seed is sown thickly and covered with an inch and a half 
of soil. A cool frame or pit is the proper place for them. If 
sown in November, and. carefully managed so as to keep them 
stout and hardy, they will be in fine condition for planting out- 
in March. A piece of well prepared ground in a warm 
sheltered spot must be ready for them, and the planting should 
be done, by turning out each ball complete into a hole made to 
receive it, and closing in neatly so that the plants shall not 
know they have been disturbed. The rows should be at least 
four feet apart, and the clumps two feet apart in the rows. 
They can be conveniently and effectually protected by turning 
over them the pots they were raised in, which can be left on 
the ground for the purpose. A quart of seed will suffice for 
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