THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
known will cover a square foot each plant, and therefore we 
may properly allow for the weakest a space of two feet between 
the rows, and of one foot between the plants. It is quite a 
common practice to leave the strong-growing sorts four to sis 
inches apart, so we have a fair case for grumbling, even at the 
first start. The distances are to be determined by a consider- 
ation of the habit of the variety and the strength of the soil. 
On our fat loam, in a moist valley, we find that the Long- 
podded Negro dwarf bean may be in rows three feet apart, and 
the plants two feet asunder in the row, and then we can 
scarcely get amongst them to gather, so completely do they 
cover the ground. As for runners, we always leave them half a 
foot apart at least, and might leave them double that distance 
with the certainty of a good plant, and have the stakes heavily 
garlanded soon after Midsummer-day. It is well to sow in 
deep drills, even if they are a day or two longer in coming up 
than they would be if sown shallow. Cover the seed three 
inches at least, and be patient. Your neighbour, who covers 
with a mere dusting of soil, will have plants before you do, 
but in a run of years the deep-sowing system will win, for we 
do not merely need to see the plant sprout, we also desire to 
see it grow on without a check, and flower and fruit freely. 
The best day in all the year for sowing kidney beans is May- 
day. Where an early supply is wanted, it is customary to sow 
in pots and boxes in March and April, and keep them in pits 
and frames until the plants can be put out. It is by no means 
wise so to act, and, as a rule, the man wdio sows in the open on 
the 1st of May will have the advantage of one who takes a 
lot of trouble to gain a week or so in the first gathering of 
fruit. The earliest sorts of dwarf beans may be sown in open 
borders about the middle of April with a fair prospect of 
success, especially if the rows can be protected by means of 
such a contrivance as our A frame, or by common bell-glasses 
or flower-pots in the event of cold weather occurring after the 
plants have begun to push through the ground. The crop may 
certainly be hastened by the adoption of simple measures of pro- 
tecting or coaxing, and, indeed, early supplies of dwarf beans 
may be obtained most easily by sowing at the end of March, 
in frames, and giving air cautiously on fine days, more and 
more freely, until in the end the lights are removed altogether. 
But our anxiety has always been, not to obtain early, but 
late crops of kidney beans; and for this simple reason, that 
