May 12, 1894. 
581 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
SUCCESSIONAL CROPS. 
There is a great inclination amongst gardeners to 
pay too much attention to procuring early vegetables 
of different kinds instead of seeing that a continuous 
supply is kept up. It is very commendable to try to 
get things earlier than one's neighbour, at the same 
time particular attention should be paid to reserving 
ground so that the various kinds of seed can be sown 
as occasion requires to avert blanks. Where the 
demand on a limited piece of ground is very great it 
is necessary to have a sharp look out if all crops are 
to be got in at the proper time. It is usually those 
that either go to seed quickly or soon become spoiled 
that the gardener has to take the greatest pains with, 
such as Turnips for example. During hot and dry 
weather these soon become strong, and are therefore 
useless for the kitchen, so that it is necessary to 
make frequent small sow¬ 
ings from early in the 
season till the end of 
July, by which time in 
the northern part of the 
kingdom a breadth large 
enough to give a supply 
through the winter may 
be sown. But on good 
ground in the south it 
would be better to defer 
such sowing till the 
middle or latter part of 
August. 
This season being a for¬ 
ward one has rendered it 
necessary to plant out 
some things that in other 
years would not have been 
ready for transplanting 
so soon, the consequence 
being that some of the 
ground that was intended 
for a catch crop will have 
to be occupied with a per¬ 
manent one. Celery, for 
instance,that was sown oh 
a slight hot bed early in 
March, will by tbis if it 
has had attention be large 
enough for transferring to 
the trenches, and as there 
is nothing gained by allow¬ 
ing the plants to get over¬ 
grown before they are put 
out this ought to be done 
at once. As these, how¬ 
ever, are so?orward it will 
be necessary to procure 
plants for a later supply, 
for those transplanted so 
early do not usually stand 
the winter so well as the 
later ones, therefore see 
that plants are provided 
for succession. Peas are 
required as late in the 
season as it is possible to 
have them, therefore 
ground must be reserved 
for these later sowings. 
By this I do not mean that 
the plots intended for 
them should lay idle till 
June, but when marking out the ground for the 
various crops all these things must be taken into 
account, fcr by so doing less difidculty will be ex¬ 
perienced when it is time to sow the seed. 
As crops are used the ground should be cleared at 
once and prepared for sowing or planting again. The 
Broccoli crop is over rather earlier this season, and 
now that the ground is moist it should be turned up, 
then made firm again before it is occupied. Runner 
Beans and Beet may be sown now, and both these 
may be sown on ground that was occupied with 
Broccoli. Cauliflower is one of those vegetables 
not always easy to get good during a hot summer, 
particularly on light, sandy soil, especially if it had 
been recently moved previous to planting. If 
possible, a piece should be reserved for those that 
are planted out in May or June that had not been 
turned over since winter. Winter Spinach has been 
very good this season, and now that the spring sown 
is ready for use the former can be dug under; but 
much, too, in planting from successive sowings, but 
care in all cases should be taken to get the plants 
put out as early as possible. To make the most of 
ground each crop must be so planted that the 
garden may be always occupied with some kind to 
follow on .—Kitchen Gardener. 
-- 
ROOT ACTION IN WINTER. 
Your correspondent Mr. H. C. Princep (p. 562) gives 
a definition of his terms .which I can perfectly under¬ 
stand ; but I should use a different set of terms. 
For instance, instead of sap, I should say protoplasm, 
and let the word sap stand for the water or moisture 
taKen up by the roots of trees, with what raw mineral 
elements it may contain, and which ascends towards 
the foliage, for that is really its primary destination. 
Water is taken up by the roots greatly in excess of 
requirements of the build¬ 
ing up of the body of the 
tree with its foliage. This 
excessive supply is neces¬ 
sary to bring in the requi¬ 
site amount of plant food, 
which is diffused through 
the water in excessively 
small quantities. The 
superfluous amount is 
given off by the leaves 
chiefly during the day,but 
also in small quantities 
during the night, under 
certain conditions. W ater 
is also necessary to con- 
. vey reserve materials from 
one part of the plant to 
another, where growth is 
actively proceeding, or to 
be stored up in another 
part of the tree according 
to circumtances. This 
then is the material which 
passes downwards or "re¬ 
turns in the vessels of the 
liber or inner bark, ’’ as 
mentioned by) our corres¬ 
pondent. Then it is pro¬ 
toplasm, and the special 
reserve material, gene¬ 
rally starch, in a soluble 
condition that passes 
downward in this way; 
but I should hesitate to 
call it sap pure and sim¬ 
ple, because sap is gene¬ 
rally understood to mean 
the watery fluid generally 
in the body of the tree. 
The coloured juice referred 
to is a special material 
secreted in special cells and 
vessels in certain kinds of 
plants, but by no means 
all. The semi-fluid pro. 
toplasmis colourless and 
invisible. For instance we 
have a yellow or orange 
colouredjuice inthePoppy 
family, or more properly 
speaking it assumes one or 
other of those colours on 
exposure to the atmos¬ 
phere. In the Bellflower family we have what is 
termed a milky juice, and a few of the composites, 
such as the Dandelion, Chicory, Scorzonera,Lettuce, 
etc., have a similar juice; but by far the greater 
number of this latter family do not possess it. 
Concerning the forcing of juice or sap out of the 
leaves by frost, I should simply state that, if proto¬ 
plasm is meant by the writer, that frost cannot force 
it out, because it will not pass through the membrane 
or the walls of the cells under pressure. Cells may 
and doubtless do part with a portion of the water 
they contain under the influence of frost. The 
water leaving the cells allows the latter to become 
flabby, and as with the individual cells, so with the 
whole leaf which is made up of them. The mere fact 
of the water passing into the spaces between the cells 
would allow the leaves to become flabby. It is quite 
reasonable to suppose that leaves which fall in 
autumn possess very little water. The fact is they 
have for some time been drafting their protoplasm 
before doing so it should be well chopped to pieces 
or it will keep the ground too porous. Those who 
have to crop heavily know full well the value of even 
the smallest space to require being told. There are, 
however, some who during their early career spent 
most of their time in the houses, and such are often 
glad of a little advice in the vegetable line from 
those of greater experience. 
Some doubtless would laugh at the idea of sowing 
Peas between the Asparagus beds, yet we have seen 
some of the finest crops ever grown in such positions. 
And as they have been gathered before the growth of 
the Asparagus had grox^n sufficiently to interfere 
with them, both crops succeeded well, in fact, the 
the Pea boughs seemed to have assisted the other 
in growth. If such crops are grown together the 
Peas must be sown early and be of a dwarf kind, 
otherwise they will not be ready for use before it is 
Bougainvillea glabra Sander's var. 
time to leave off cutting the Asparagus. Lettuce is 
a crop that is needed as much as anything in suc¬ 
cession, therefore provision must be made to keep up 
a supply. One of the most difficult crops to get 
good in dry hot weather is Spinach, and in large 
establishments is very often called for. 
To keep up a continuous supply tests the skill of 
the gardener far more than growing some of the rare 
exotic plants, and where it is regularly in demand a 
piece of ground must be reserved in the coolest part 
of the garden for the midsummer sowings. Such 
ground must be well manured and dug in the 
winter. It should be broken down in spring before 
dry weather sets in, and allowed to remain till 
wanted. Only in the height of summer is it 
necessary to go to this extra trouble, as at other 
times there will be no difficulty in keeping up the 
supply. Unless the leaves are full of juice they are 
of but little service to the chef, as it is for colouring 
they are used during the hot weather. There is 
