THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
251 
-can be watered and receive other needful attention without 
any difficulty, and they will, at the same time, enjoy full ex- 
posure to the light and air on all sides. The worms can be 
readily kept out of the pots by placing them upon a plank laid 
down, or upon bricks, or saucers turned bottom upwards. 
Some time towards the end of September both batches must 
be removed to the house or pit in which they are to be grown, 
and receive the assistance of a temperature of about 70 deg. 
by day and 65 deg. by night. If the weather sets in cold 
early in September, the first batch should be taken indoors 
and the second sowing be made in the house. The house 
must be ventilated freely at first, so that the change shall be 
felt as little as possible. But after they have been indoors for 
a fortnight, the admittance of air must be considerably 
lessened, and the ventilation, in a large measure, be regulated 
by the weather. The last week in December will, as a rule, 
be quite soon enough to make the third sowing to succeed the 
September batch. Beans sown in November or early in 
December are not, as a rule, of much value, for owing to the 
deficiency of light the growth is weak, and a very indifferent 
crop is the result. After the December sowing successive 
batches should be started every fortnight or three weeks, accord- 
ing to the space at disposal, and the requirements of the 
household. The number of pots forming each batch must also 
be regulated in a similar manner, but a batch consisting of 
less than thirty pots will not be of much service, because of 
the length of time that will necessarily elapse before it will be 
practicable to obtain a good dish. It is not, of course, 
suggested that the table should be supplied with beans every 
day, but there ought to be enough plants to afford a dish 
twice a week during the time each batch is in bearing. 
The autumn sowings are recommended to be made in the 
pots in which the plants are to remain ; and this may be done 
in the case of the batches started in the winter. But there 
are one or two reasons why the practice is not desirable, and 
chief among them is economy of space. It is preferable to 
sow in five-inch pots seven seeds in each, and as soon as the 
first rough leaves are developed, to shift into pots eight inches 
in diameter. Five plants only are to be allowed to remain in 
each pot, and two plants must consequently be removed if all 
the beans come up. This is best done immediately after it 
can be seen whether any of them have been injured in the re- 
