138 
GARDENING AND FARMING 
out as many as will leave the plants at from 
six to eight inches apart ; keep them very 
clear from all other kinds of plants. It will 
be necessary to go over them with a hoe the 
second time, to cut up any that may have been 
left within the distances ; these may be drawn 
for eating as soon as they are large enough, 
but to keep as a stock for feeding cattle or 
domestic purposes, they must be full grown 
before they will store well. 
Beet. — Finest red, 4d. per ounce ; sow these 
in a drill two or three in a place, and the 
patches nine inches apart. The drills may be 
eighteen inches from each other ; when well 
up, take away all but the strongest in each 
patch. The ground should be well dug eighteen 
inches deep for this crop. 
Parsnip, to be had at 3d. per ounce, and to 
be sown and afterwards treated precisely the 
same as the beet. 
Turnip. — Early Dutch, Stone, Snowball, 
3d. per ounce ; the Border Yellow in cold 
climates ; the Swedish for cattle. These have 
all to be sown thinly, and hoed out to six inches 
apart, the Swedes to nine inches ; they 
may want going over a second time in a fort- 
night, to cut out any that may have been left 
too near together, and to clear them from 
weeds, but beyond this no crop gives less 
trouble. 
Rhubarb. — Let these seeds be sown and 
managed the same way as beet root, and the 
second year be planted out a yard apart every 
way ; the third season the leaf-stalks will be 
large enough to cut. 
Celery. — Take out a quantity of this seed, 
for it is capable of being used in soups in the 
seed state, and an excellent and palatable addi- 
tion it makes when we have not the plant for 
use. The solid white and red are Ad. per 
ounce, but considerably cheaper if purchased 
by the pound ; the Giant red and white are 
6d. per ounce. Some pains must be taken to 
grow this well ; dig a trench a foot deep, and 
dig the bottom a fuot lower, to loosen the soil; 
drop three or four seeds in holes at the bottom, 
every six inches, make other trenches four 
feet apart, and repeat the sowing of seeds. 
When they come up and begin to make growth 
you will observe which plant takes the lead, 
and remove the others. If the ground is rich 
it will require no help, but if poor, water with 
liquid manure. As the plants grow, draw 
down some of the earth to the stems, and 
take care that there be no lumps, but that 
all is broken fine, so that it may lie close ; 
by degrees you will fill the trench up level, 
and you have then to dig alleys between, and 
begin to bank up the rows. It is only by this 
means that we can whiten the stems as far up 
as the earth covers them, and it is only the 
whitened part that is tender. The earthing 
up is frequently required, because you must not 
raise the soil too much at one time, otherwise 
it would get into the heart of the plant. This 
crop is useful as soon as there is six inches of 
whitened stem, therefore you may always 
begin using it a few weeks after planting, al- 
though it will not be half the size that it ulti- 
mately attains. Besides using a quantity as a 
salad, and for soups, always put out or leave 
out a few plants for seed, for the reason we 
have already given — its usefulness even when 
we cannot get the plant — besides which there 
is the necessity of keeping up a stock for 
sowing. 
Onion. — A most valuable and wholesome 
vegetable in all climates, and one that cannot 
be neglected. The Spanish, Portugal, Tri- 
poli and Deptford are good sorts, and may be 
had always at Qd. per ounce. These may be 
sown in the richest ground you have, well 
dug and levelled ; sow thinly ; when well up, 
thin them out to six, eight, or ten inches apart, 
according to the warmth of the climate and 
the richness of the ground ; keep them clear 
from weeds, and although you may keep draw- 
ing and eating as soon as they are large enough, 
you must not pull them up for storing till the 
leaves have done growing and begun to turn 
yellow, when they must be well dried, and laid 
by in the coolest dry place you can find. 
Leek. — London-flag 6d. per ounce. An ex- 
cellent crop for the garden, often succeeding 
well when onions fail, and of all things desir- 
able in soups. This may be sown thinly, and 
hoed out to six inches apart ; or, taking advan- 
tage of wet, they may be pulled up to six 
inches apart, and the plants pulled up may be 
planted six inches apart, to increase the space 
occupied ; the ground should be rich. 
Brocoli. — Early Cape (purple and white), 
Cream, and Walcheren, Is. per ounce. These 
will be the better for sowing in a patch or bed 
thinly, and planting out at two feet apart ; 
but if there be not a wet season, you must 
well water the seed bed before you take them 
up, and have somebody following with the 
watering pot, to saturate the ground as fast as 
you put them in ; also let the planting be done 
after the sun is down, and before it is up. 
Cauliflower. — Walcheren, early and late 
English, Is. per ounce. These require the same 
treatment as brocoli, for the check which they 
receive in planting out does something towards 
bringing on the heading of the flower. The 
instant the flower shows, break down the 
leaves so as to form as close a covering to the 
flower as possible ; it preserves the colour and 
the tenderness of the head, which would soon 
be coarse and rank if this were not attended to. 
Borecole or Kale, brown, green, curled, 
and variegated, A.d. to 6d. per ounce. These 
may be sowed in a patch thinly, and when up 
