January 9, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
297 
shutters or other covers, no doubt Potatos would keep 
in them far better, The best thing to do now is to 
take advantage of every available dry day when the 
weather is open, and overhaul the stocks in the pits and 
re-cover them.— A. D. 
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EARLY VEGETABLES. 
The season has now arrived when it is time to be 
thinking of these and making preparations for their 
sowing or planting, the first deserving attention being 
Potatos, which may be brought on readily in any 
later, is almost equal in quality and bears many more 
at a root. 
As the Potatos will not be through the ground for 
some time, advantage may be taken to get a crop of 
Radishes, or to prick out young Cauliflower or Lettuce 
just raised, as, with the warmth under, no better place 
■ can be found for getting them on. The kinds of Radish 
that will turn in quickest are the Red and White 
Turnip, Wood’s Early Frame, and the Olive-shaped, 
all of which are very nice-looking and good. Those 
who cannot spare a frame may get Potatos long before 
they can be produced in the open by digging a wide 
rows is about 15 ins. for such kinds as the Liver- 
Coloured, Fulham, or Long Sword, which are fine 
dwarf prolific kinds ; but if the Canadian Wonder be 
made use of, that being stronger, must have a little 
more room. 
Sea Kale and Rhubarb may be forwarded considerably 
by turning any spare large pots over the crowns, and 
covering the same with warm manure and leaves, or 
even without the aid of this mixture the sun will make 
quite a fortnight or three weeks difference, as when it 
strikes against the sides the heat it affords is conducted 
in and bottled up, as it were, for the night. To make 
9 
Chrysanthemum Boule de Neige. flowers white. 
ordinary frame, as all that is necessary is a little 
bottom heat to give them a start. The material most 
suitable for affording this is dung and leaves, as a 
mixture of these may be built up so as to form a bed, 
but if a pit is made use of tan is preferable, as it fer¬ 
ments gradually and holds its heat longer. To sweeten 
them and render either more fit and lasting, they 
should be sweated by putting the whole body in a 
heap, and after it gets hot turning it over, which will 
let out the rank steam, when the bed may be made, 
and the soil laid on ready for planting. This should 
be light and rich, and in depth about 8 ins. ; the 
proper distance for the rows of Potatos being about a 
foot, and 6 ins. or 8 ins. from tuber to tuber. The 
best sort for frame culture is the good old Ashleaf, and 
next to that Myatt’s Prolific, which, though a little 
deep trench in some sheltered sunny spot and filling it 
with hot dung, or the same mixture as that for the 
bed, and planting in the same way, and, after the 
Potatos are through, protecting them with mats or 
other covering laid on hoops and rails placed over the 
tops. Managed in this way, I have had splendid crops, 
and the spaces between the rows are available for 
making use of in the same way as they are in the 
frames. 
French Beans also do remarkably well after this, in 
pots where they can get bottom heat, as having more 
root room they bear double or treble the quantity they 
do when confined to the limited area of a pot, unless 
the pots they are grown in happen to be of unusual size. 
The preparation necessary for the Beans is the same as 
that for the Potatos, and the distance apart from the 
the most of it, and keep it in, the holes in the bottoms 
of the pots must be tightly blocked, which may be 
done by pieces of clay pressed well down when they 
are damp, as then it will stick and keep the air as 
close as if they were sealed. Even old chimney pots, 
with a piece of slate laid on the top, help materially to 
bring on Rhubarb, and not only that, but by blanching 
it, it is much more delicate eating and of superior 
flavour. 
To get Cauliflower to follow closely on the late 
Broccoli, a little seed should be sown at once in a box 
or pan, and then placed in gentle heat, where it will 
soon germinate, immediately after which the box or 
pan ought to be elevated near to the glass to prevent 
the plants drawing, and when they are large enough 
they may be pricked out between Potatos in the way 
s 
