444 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
should have all the air that can conveniently 
be given them, due regard being had for the 
state of the weather. 
Beans. — A few hardy and early ones may 
be sown or planted for those who arc fond of 
them. They may be either put in a small 
patch to be planted out from afterwards, or 
placed in three rows, six inches apart, to 
come up and remain there for bearing. It is 
an even chance whether the winter kill them 
or not ; but those who are curious always 
think it worth running the chance, while 
others, who care little about them for their 
own eating, like the appearance of the crop, 
and therefore always have some, though one 
dressing for each of these seasons is enough. 
Peas. — Now that there are a number of 
early Peas which stand the weather pretty 
well, sow some of the most hardy, to come in 
for early crops. Let them be sown in drills 
drawn pretty deep, with the earth all drawn 
out on the side most exposed to north-east 
winds. If the drills can run easterly and 
westerly, the earth will form a bank on the 
northerly side ; but we have been successful 
even in hard winters by putting the ground in 
complete ridges, and sowing the peas about 
halfway down the ridge on the south side. 
In some sheltered borders they may be sown 
without any regard to this, but such places 
are rare ; warm borders generally are excel- 
lent in the absence of very severe frosts, but 
a less degree of frost will kill Peas grown 
there than would kill them in a more open 
space. Peas, to stand the winter, should be 
sown in poor ground, and, when they have 
got over their hard season, top-dress them 
with good rotten dung, or give them liquid 
manure. We are of course treating of Peas 
in a private establishment, and not of growing 
for market ; but it is worth knowing, or rather 
worth considering, that all tender, or pretty 
tender subjects, will stand more frost in poor 
than in rich ground, and therefore that ground 
not dressed is preferable to any that is rich 
and exciting. This is frequently seen in the 
article Brocoli, which grows large and fine in 
rich ground, and is much handsomer for high 
cultivation ; but last winter, severe as it was, 
injured that on rich ground, while the same 
sort, grown on poor land, escaped unhurt. 
We do not recommend people to grow Brocoli 
on poor land for market, but we should be 
very apt to pick out the poorest we had for 
all tender crops to go through the winter, and 
then to well dress, in any way, as soon as the 
worst weather was got over. 
Management of Growing Crops. — Some 
of the most important points to look to in the 
management of growing crops, are the thin- 
ning them to proper distances where they 
have been sown, by hoeing them out, cleaning 
from weeds, loosening the earth occasionally, 
earthing up the plants ; the necessary water- 
ing, which should not be half so often done as 
it generally is, and much more effectually done 
when attempted ; all these matters are as im- 
portant as the sowing or planting the subjects. 
Winter Spinach should be thinned out, 
so that the plants are eight or ten inches 
apart ; for quickness of growth is one of the 
means by which the mildness of vegetables is 
secured ; and unless these plants have room, 
they cannot grow half so fast nor so clean. As 
the lower leaves come to a tolerably good size, 
they ought to be picked off singly for use, 
leaving those not full grown to advance for 
picking in their turn. Many use the rounded 
leaf Spinach, sown for spring and summer use, 
instead of the proper winter kind, and pick 
off the leaves in the same way, but it is much 
more likely to run to seed, and therefore does 
not answer always so well. 
Potatoes not already up and stored should 
be dug and planted in security against frosts 
as soon as possible. Those who have good 
dry cellarage, and plenty of room, should let 
them lie thin on the ground, or if laid in 
heaps, they must be frequently turned over. 
There are many potatoes which would eat 
strong and watery when first taken up, or 
even when first taken from a pit after being 
covered up, that would be dry, and finely fla- 
voured, if allowed to evaporate some of their 
moisture. This renders it quite necessary 
that ripe potatoes, for the constant supply of a 
family, should be placed very dry, and where 
neither wet nor frosts can reach them. Large 
quantities, however, cannot be thus provided 
for, and must be pitted. In this case, when in- 
tended for use, they should be taken out a fort- 
night, or even a month, before they are used. 
Management of Ground. — Dress and dig, 
or trench, all the unoccupied ground that crops 
have been cleared from, and leave it rough 
dug or in ridges, to get the benefit of the 
winter frosts, and be ready at all times for the 
spring crops. 
Herb Beds which are not to be disturbed, 
should be top-dressed with some rotten dung. 
Carrots, Parsnips, and Beet-root, should 
be dug up and stored ; the best medium 
for this is sand. By packing them close, with 
sand between them, they will keep better 
than by any other means, and this should be 
done where no air can reach them, and where 
they will be secured from frost and wet. 
Savoys, which are very useful as winter 
greens, should be planted for the last crop at 
the beginning of the month, or, if the weather 
continue fine, the last planting may be pro- 
tracted till the middle of the month at latest; 
they will cabbage by Christmas, and keep a 
loner time eatable. 
