Instructions in gardening for ladies

by Mrs. Loudon

CHAPTER VI.

THE KITCHEN-GARDEN—THE MANAGEMENT
OF CULINARY VEGETABLES.

In almost all gardens, it is customary to set apart a portion of the ground for the culture of culinary vegetables; and, in villas and country seats, this portion is quite detached from the pleasure-ground, and is called the kitchen-garden. When this is the case, it usually consists of a square or oblong piece of ground, varying from one to five acres in extent, according to the size of the establishment, and enclosed by a wall ten or twelve feet high. If a greater extent of ground than two or three acres be required, it is generally laid out in two or more gardens, communicating with each other, so as to afford an extent of wall proportionate to that of the ground. In front of the wall is a border for the roots of the fruit trees, ten or twelve feet wide, and beyond that a walk usually four feet wide, leaving a plot of ground in the centre for the culture of culinary vegetables and espalier fruit-trees. The central plat is usually divided by a main walk up the centre, five or six feet wide, and two or four side-walks, three or four feet wide; the smaller plots enclosed between these walks being again divided into oblong compartments, or beds.

The general form and arrangement of all large kitchen-gardens being alike, it is obvious that they must have been determined by some general principle; and this principle appears to be utility. The walks are made straight, that the heavy loads wheeled along them may not be in danger of overturning, which they would if the walks took a serpentine direction; while the compartments are divided into oblong beds, for the convenience of digging and cropping; it being found most convenient to sow vegetables in straight lines, to allow of weeding and hoeing between them, earthing up, &c. For these reasons, all pieces of ground in small gardens appropriated to the culture of kitchen vegetables should be made to approximate, as closely as possible, in form and general arrangement, to regular kitchen gardens; and, where there is any portion of the ground that cannot be brought into a rectangular shape, it should be set aside for tart-rhubarb, artichokes, or some other permanent crop; and a square or oblong plot in the centre be reserved for peas and beans, and other annual vegetables.

The best soil for a kitchen garden is a sandy loam, and the surface soil should be from two feet to three feet deep. If it is on a clayey sub-soil, every part of the garden should be well drained; as from the quantity of manure required for cultivating culinary vegetables, if any water should be suffered to remain in a stagnant state in the soil, it would be particularly injurious. The ground, if possible, should slope to the south or south-east; and it should, at any rate, be sheltered from the prevailing winds of the locality.

When there is only one detached kitchen garden, it is usual to surround it entirely, or on three sides, with a piece of ground called a slip, consisting of a fruit-tree border, and a walk with perhaps a narrow bed beyond it, bounded by a low hedge. This is done in order that fruit-trees may be grown on both sides of the wall. The vinery and forcing houses are generally placed facing the main walk of the garden; and what is called the melon-ground, which forms a small walled garden, is often placed behind them. This, however, is not essential; but the melon-ground should always be as near as possible to the stable-offices, for the convenience of carting manure; and both it and the kitchen garden should be near the house, and have a convenient road to it concealed from the pleasure-ground. In small suburban gardens there should always be a convenient, and, if possible, partially concealed, road for servants to bring in vegetables; and there should be a little plot of ground for thyme, mint, sage, parsley, &c., very near the kitchen door.

Walks.—The obvious use of walks in a garden constructed on a general principle of utility, is to enable the gardener and others to reach every part of the garden as speedily as possible, without treading on the beds; and for this reason, though the walks are made to intersect each other at right angles, it is customary in many gardens to round the central beds adjoining them at the corners. Paths two feet wide are also made between the beds into which the compartments are divided; and the beds themselves are never wider than a man can conveniently reach across to the middle to rake or hoe. These paths, however, as they vary according to the nature of the crop, are never made of any permanent materials; and the whole compartment is generally dug over when necessary, without paying any regard to them, and re-divided into fresh beds every season.

The walks, on the contrary, being intended to be permanent, are of a very different nature; and, in addition to their obvious uses, it is essentially requisite that they should be hard and firm. This is necessary, as the manure, &c. wanted in a kitchen garden, is generally distributed through the garden in a wheelbarrow; and the weight in the act of wheeling is principally thrown upon a very narrow wheel, which, on soft walks, literally ploughs its way through the gravel, leaving an uneven furrow, extremely offensive to the eye. To avoid this inconvenience, the walks in kitchen gardens, where expense is not an object, are frequently made of cement or asphalt, or laid with bricks or flag-stones; but as all these materials give the idea of a court-yard, rather than a garden, most persons prefer gravel walks. Where gravel is to be employed, the intended walks are marked out with two garden lines; the space between is then dug out, generally in the form of an inverted arch, from one foot to two feet deep in the centre, according to the nature of the soil, and the expense it may be thought advisable to incur; and the excavation is filled to within six inches of the top with brick-bats, stones, or any other hard rubbish that can be procured. If the excavation be made in the shape of an inverted arch, in filling it up the extreme point of the arch should be left hollow to serve as a drain; and if it be made rectangular, a drain is generally left on each side. In filling in the rubbish the largest pieces are thrown in first, then smaller ones, and lastly pieces broken very small, which are rammed down, or rolled, so as to form a smooth surface immediately under the gravel. This is done both to give solidity to the walk, and to prevent the gravel from being wasted by trickling down between the interstices of the stones. As walks can never be firm unless they are kept quite dry, in all cases there should be at least one drain to each walk. The gravel before laying down should be sifted, and all stones, larger than a moderate-sized gooseberry, should be thrown out or broken; and as soon as it is laid down and evenly spread, it should be well rolled, previously to which, if it should be very dry, it ought to be sprinkled with water. If the gravel be at all loose, it should be mixed with equal parts of brick-dust and Roman cement before laying it down; or the gravel should be mixed with burnt clay powdered, in the proportion of one wheelbarrow full of clay, to a two-horse cartload of gravel; or if the gravel be already laid, and it is wished to render the walk more firm, powdered burnt clay may be strewn over it, and raked in. In all these cases, the walks must be immediately well watered, and afterwards heavily rolled. Sometimes the clay is mixed with water before applying it to the gravel. Tolerably firm walks may be made of sea gravel, or powdered sandstone, where good gravel cannot be procured, or even of sand by this treatment. The clay may be burnt by making it into a heap, intermixed and surrounded with faggot wood; or, as a substitute for burning, it may be dried by spreading it on the top of the furnace or boiler employed to heat the hothouses. Gravel walks are generally slightly raised in the middle, to throw off the water to the sides; and they are very frequently supplied with gratings, to prevent large stones, or any kind of rubbish, from being washed down by the rain into the drains so as to choke them up. When the walks in a kitchen garden are formed of flag stones, artificial stone, or brick, the material used is laid on brick arches or piers; and when grass walks are employed, they require no other preparation than marking them out on the ground, consolidating it by pressure, and then laying them with turf. Grass walks were formerly common in kitchen-gardens, but they are manifestly unsuitable, being more injured than any others by the wheelbarrow, and unfit to walk on in wet weather.

When gravel walks want renovating, the gravel should be loosened with a pick, turned over, raked, and firmly rolled, adding a coating of fresh gravel wherever it may be found necessary. Weeds may be prevented from growing on gravel walks by watering the walks with salt and water. The salt will also kill the weeds already there, and, if these are large, they should, of course, be hoed up and raked off.

Box edgings are better than any others for gravel walks. They are generally planted in March or April. A garden line being first drawn tightly along the earth bordering the walk; a shallow trench is then opened close to the gravel, and the earth from it thrown on the bed. The box is pulled into separate plants, and the branches and roots of each trimmed till all the plants are very nearly of the same size. The plants are then put into the trench, with no earth between them and the gravel; and the trench is filled up by drawing the earth into it, and pressing it close to the roots, so as to make the plants quite firm. Nothing else is requisite but a few waterings, till the box begins to grow; and the only difficulty is to keep the plants in a straight line, with the points of their shoots at an equal distance above the soil. When box edgings are pruned, they should always be cut in with a knife, and never clipped with shears. They should also never be suffered to grow too high without pruning; and they should be occasionally taken up and replanted wider apart, when their stems appear to be becoming naked below.

Cropping.—The crops grown in the open air in a kitchen-garden are of two kinds,—those produced by the fruit trees, and those of the herbaceous vegetables; and the latter are again divided into the permanent crops, and the temporary ones. The permanent crops are those which remain for a number of years in one place, producing a crop, year after year, from the same roots; such as asparagus, artichokes, rhubarb, &c.: while the temporary crops are those that require sowing or fresh planting every year, and these should never be sown for two years in succession on the same ground.

Permanent Crops.—In regular kitchen gardens, it is of very little consequence where the permanent crops are placed, as every part of the ground is generally alike accessible from the walks, and alike suitable for cultivation. But in small gardens the case is different; and there are generally some awkward corners, which are best set apart for the lasting crops. The part to be sown annually should be always divided into compartments, in order to manage properly the rotation of crops.

Asparagus Beds.—Of all the permanent crops grown in a garden, the one which requires most preparation is asparagus. It is not perhaps generally known that this plant is a native of Britain; but the fact is, that it grows wild in several places both in England and Scotland. The cultivated plant is, however, of course, very different from the wild one; for, while the latter is meagre, insipid, and very tough, the former is not only succulent and finely flavoured, but grows to an enormous size. There are three sorts of asparagus grown for the London market: the Battersea, which has a thick whitish stalk, only just tipped with a pinkish head; the Gravesend, which is much more slender, and has both the stalk and head green; and the Giant, which is an enormous variety of the first. Asparagus is always raised from seed; but, as the stalks are not fit to cut till the roots are two or three years old, persons wishing to plant an asparagus bed generally purchase one-year or two-years’ old plants from a nurseryman.

Asparagus plants require a light, rich, sandy loam, and the ground in which they are to be planted is always first trenched from three to four feet deep, or even more, and plenty of stable dung is buried at the bottom of the trench; the beds are then marked out four feet wide, with paths two feet wide left between, and the plants are planted in rows about six inches deep (the crown of the root being left about two inches below the surface), and nine inches apart. The beds are generally covered during winter with rotten manure, which is forked in, and the beds raked in spring; and this treatment should be repeated every year, or every two or three years at farthest, the beds being slightly covered, in the intermediate years, with litter, leaves, &c., which may be raked off in spring. The stalks should not be cut till the third year after planting; but, after that, the roots will continue to produce freely for twelve or fourteen years. Asparagus is cut generally a little below the surface, with a sharp knife, slanting upwards; and the market-gardeners cut all the shoots produced for two months,—say from April till Midsummer,—but suffer all the shoots that push up after that period to expand their leaves, in order that they may elaborate their sap, and thus strengthen the roots. Whole fields of this plant are cultivated by the market-gardeners near London, to the extent, as it is said, of from eighty to a hundred acres, chiefly near Mortlake, Battersea, and Deptford. During the last four or five years, these fields, and many private gardens near London, have been infested with a most beautiful little beetle, striped with red, black, and blue, which eats through the shoots close to the ground almost as soon as they appear. Asparagus is generally forced by covering the beds with manure, and by deepening the alleys between the beds, and filling them with manure also.

Sea-Kale.—About seventy years ago, Dr. Lettsom, a celebrated physician and botanist of that day, happened to be travelling near Southampton, when he observed some plants pushing their way up through the sea-sand. Finding the shoots of these plants quite succulent, he enquired of some person in the neighbourhood if they were ever eaten, and was answered, that the country people had been in the habit of boiling these shoots and eating them as a vegetable from time immemorial. The doctor tasted them, and found them so good, that he took some seed to his friend Mr. Curtis, the originator of the “Botanical Magazine,” who had then a nursery in Lambeth Marsh. Mr. Curtis wrote a book about the plant which brought it into notice, and he sold the seed in small packets at a high price: and thus, this long neglected British plant, which for so many years was only eaten by the poorest fishermen, became our highly prized and much esteemed sea-kale, which is now so great a favourite at the tables of the rich.

Sea-kale is raised either from seeds or cuttings of the roots. In either case, when the plants are a year old, they are put into a bed thoroughly prepared as if for asparagus, and planted in the same manner. The first year the plants will require little care, except cutting down the flower-stems wherever they appear; but the second year they will be ready for forcing. This is performed by covering the plants first with river-sand; then turning what are called sea-kale pots over them, and lastly, covering the pots to the depth of fifteen or twenty inches with fresh stable dung, the heat from which will draw the shoots up, and make them succulent and fit to eat.

Artichokes are another kind of permanent crop, but they are not suitable for growing in a small garden. The artichoke is a native of Italy, said to have been introduced in the reign of Henry VIII. It is propagated by division, and requires a light, rich, and rather moist soil. Manure should be laid between the rows every autumn, and the plants covered with straw in severe weather in winter. Artichoke-plants do not continue to produce good heads longer than six or seven years; but young plants come into bearing the second year after transplanting.

Strawberries.—Though strawberries should be properly included in the list of fruits, they are generally classed by gardeners among the permanent herbaceous crops in a kitchen-garden. There are a great variety of named sorts grown in gardens; but they are mostly varieties or sub-varieties of three species, viz.: the Pine (Fragaria grandiflora), which is supposed to be originally from Surinam; the Chili (F. Chilensis), and the Scarlet (F. Virginiana). Of these the pine-strawberries are large, pale in colour, but with scarlet flesh, and of a very fine and delicate flavour. The best strawberries are Keen’s seedling, and the old pine; the Chili strawberries (one of which is Wilmot’s Superb) have very large fruit, with white flesh, but possess very little flavour; and the scarlet-strawberries have small, bright-red, slightly acid fruit, which is principally used for ice-creams and preserving. To these may be added the Hautbois (F. elatior), which, though so often mentioned by the street vendors, is in reality very seldom grown, from the fruit, which is small and blackish, being rarely produced in any quantity; the Green strawberries (F. collina and F. virides); the Alpine strawberries (F. semperflorens); and the common wild Wood strawberry (F. vesca).

Strawberries should be grown on rich loamy soil, and they are generally planted in beds three feet wide, three rows in a bed. Every year, the strongest of the runners should be taken off, and planted to form a succession crop, as the beds seldom remain good more than three or four years. When the old beds are suffered to remain, they should be covered with manure in winter to be forked in in spring. When strawberries are wanted for forcing, pots are placed near the beds, and the runners are placed over them, and kept down with a stone, or hooked down with pegs to root.

Tart Rhubarb.—The part of the rhubarb used for making pies and puddings is the footstalk of the leaf; and the kinds usually grown in gardens for this purpose are Rheum Rhaponticum, a native of Asia introduced in 1573, and Rheum Undulatum, a native of China introduced in 1734. Rheum Palmatum, the leaves of which are very deeply cut with pointed segments, is generally supposed to be the kind, the root of which is used in medicine, under the name of Turkey Rhubarb. Buck’s Elford, or Scarlet Rhubarb, has slender stalks, but is valuable for its beautiful colour; and the Tobolsk, the Giant, and the Victoria Rhubarb, are remarkable for the enormous size of their stalks. Rheum Australe, which is by some said to be the medicinal kind, and which is only lately introduced, has also enormous leaves, and very long thick stalks, the skin of which is rough, while the pulp tastes like that of apples.

Rhubarb is either raised from seed, or propagated by offsets, or dividing the crown of the root. The seed is sown in April, in light rich soil, and the plants are pricked out in autumn into a bed of rich sandy loam which has been dug over, or trenched to the depth of eighteen inches or two feet. The plants require no other care than an occasional autumn or spring coating of manure to be slightly forked in, this dressing to be only applied, when, from the leaves and stalks produced being smaller than usual, the roots appear to want nourishment; and if they seem crowded, they may be occasionally taken up and replanted further apart. Rhubarb may be forced by covering it with pots and manure, like sea-kale; or the roots may be planted in a box, and kept in the house on a stove, or near the fire in the kitchen, covering the box with a bast mat to keep the plant in darkness and free from the dust, and watering it frequently.

Horse radish grows best in rich alluvial soil; and it is propagated by cuttings of the crowns of the roots, each about two inches long. The ground is then prepared by trenching at least two feet deep, and the cuttings or sets are planted in a kind of furrow about fifteen inches deep, with their crowns upwards. The second year the roots may be taken up, and the crowns cut off and replanted. As the sets are planted in March, and the leaves seldom begin to appear till the following June or July, it is customary to sow a light crop, of lettuce for example, or spinage, on the surface of the ground over the horse radish sets; which crop is cleared off in time to make way for the leaves of the true crop. When the sticks of horse-radish are taken up, they may be kept in sand in a cellar or out-house till wanted for use.

Temporary Crops, and their Rotation.—It has been already observed, that temporary crops should never be grown two years in succession on the same ground; and the reason for this has been already alluded to under the head of transplanting. It is, that the roots of plants every year throw out a quantity of excrementitious matter that they either will not reimbibe, or that is injurious to them; and that thus, the ground in which they have been grown one year, becomes unfit for them to grow in the next. This danger is obviated in the case of perennial plants, and trees and shrubs, by the constant elongation of the roots, which spread farther and farther every year, beyond the influence of the unwholesome soil. This, however, is not the case with annuals, as the roots of the plants of one year are no longer than those were of the plants of the preceding year; and consequently as every year’s plants occupy exactly the same ground, when annuals are sown for several years in the same soil they must degenerate; or, in other words, become weak and small, from not having enough of wholesome food, or from being forced to take food unwholesome for them. Now it has been found, that excrementitious matter, though poisonous to the plant that exudes it, is extremely nourishing to other plants, completely differing from the first in nature; and what is meant by the rotation of crops, is the art of making plants of opposite natures succeed each other, till the ground shall be so completely cleared of the excrementitious matter exuded by the first crop, as to be ready to receive it again. It is true that the same ground may occasionally be made to bear the same crops for several successive years, by copious manuring, or by trenching; but in both cases the evil is overcome by supplying the plant with abundance of nourishment, and thus preventing it from being driven to the necessity of taking unwholesome food. In fixing the rotation of crops, plants differing as much as possible in their habits should be chosen to succeed each other; as, for example, onions may be succeeded by lettuces; carrots by peas; potatoes by cabbage; turnips by spinach, &c.

The Cabbage Tribe.—Few persons unacquainted with botany will be able to believe that brocoli, cauliflowers, cabbages, Scotch or German Greens, Brussels sprouts and savoys, not only all belong to one genus, but are actually varieties of one species of a genus, viz. Brassica oleracea; and that the turnip, the Swedish turnip, and the rape (the seed of which is used for oil), belong to other species of the same genus. The cabbage, in its wild state, is a biennial which grows naturally on the sea-coast in different parts of England, and is a tall straggling plant with loose leaves, and a rather pretty yellow cruciferous flower. The borecole or kale is the first improvement effected by cultivation; and the cauliflower the last. Indeed it is impossible to imagine a greater difference between any species and variety, than exists between the cauliflower and the original wild cabbage plant. All the varieties of the cabbage tribe require a soil which has been enriched with abundance of animal manure; and when decaying, they have all a peculiarly offensive smell like that of putrid meat, from the large quantity of azote that they contain.

The Cabbage.—The word “cabbage,” in its original signification, means a firm head or ball of leaves folded closely over each other; and thus, there is a cabbage lettuce, and a cabbage rose. The cabbages grown in gardens are usually sown at three different times; for the spring, summer, and autumn crop. The spring cabbages are sown in summer generally about the first week in August, in an open airy situation, and in light soil. When they come up, they are thinned; and in October or November they are ready for planting out in rows, twelve or eighteen inches apart, into the beds where they are to cabbage. In small gardens, cabbages are seldom raised from seed; but the plants are purchased when ready for planting out. The summer crop is sown in February, and planted out in rows eighteen inches or two feet apart; and the autumn crop is sown in May, and planted out in July, generally eighteen inches apart every way. All cabbages require a rich soil, and frequent hoeing up; and in dry weather they should be watered to make them succulent. The stalks of the spring cabbages are generally pulled up and carried to the refuse heap as soon as the cabbages are cut; but the stalks of the summer and autumn kinds are left standing, that they may throw out what are called sprouts. The culture of the red cabbage is exactly the same; except that there is no spring crop, and the stalks are never left standing for sprouts. Some gardeners sow only one crop of green cabbages, and leave the stalks standing to produce sprouts all the rest of the year. When the cabbage stalk is left for sprouts, it is customary, after cutting the cabbage, to give the stalk two cuts across, so as to divide the top into four; as when this is done, it is thought to produce sprouts with more certainty.

Coleworts are young cabbages gathered before they form a head; and they are generally sown in June or July for an autumn, winter, or early spring crop. As they are always eaten young, they need not be planted more than ten or twelve inches apart every way; and when they are gathered the stalks are always pulled up and thrown away.

Savoys and Brussels sprouts.—Savoys are large cabbages with wrinkled leaves, the seed of which is sown about the end of March, in order that the crop may be ready for the table in November. The culture is the same as that of cabbages, except that as the savoys are large, they should be planted out in the bed where they are to cabbage, two feet apart every way. Brussels sprouts are a variety of the savoy cabbage; the plants first produce a small savoy on an elongated stalk, and when this is cut off, the long stalk throws out a number of little cabbages from its sides, which are the Brussels sprouts. The culture is the same as for the Savoys, except that the plants, as they do not spread, need not be more than a foot or eighteen inches apart every way; and that the seed is generally procured from Brussels, as that ripened in England is said to produce inferior plants. Both savoys and Brussels sprouts are much better if not cut till there has been some frost upon them; and they are consequently of great value as winter vegetables.

Brocoli and Cauliflower.—The cauliflower (the name of which is supposed to be derived from caulis, a stalk, and florens, flowering,) is a native of Cyprus, introduced in 1694; and no one unacquainted with the details of its culture, and who has seen the immense quantities brought to the London market, could credit the extraordinary care bestowed on each plant to bring it to perfection. Cauliflowers take nearly a year from their first sowing to bring them into a state fit for the table; and as the plants are too tender to bear an English winter without protection, they require to be grown in frames, or sheltered by hand glasses during frosty weather. The seed is sown in August, in a bed of rich light earth, and the ground is occasionally watered till the plants appear. They are then shaded with mats during the heat of the day, and thinned out, so as to leave the plants a little distance apart. In September they are pricked out into beds of rich earth, and watered and shaded; and about the end of October, or beginning of November, they are transplanted into frames, or into beds, richly manured with rotten dung, spread over the ground three or four inches thick, and trenched in, a spade deep; after which, they are watered and covered with hand-glasses. During the whole winter they require constant attention, slightly watering them, and raising the glasses to give them air in fine weather; and covering up the glasses closely with mats or straw in severe frosts, and during the continuance of sharp winds. They must also be frequently looked at, to pick off decayed leaves, &c., which might rot the stem; and the ground in which they grow must be strewed with a mixture of lime and soot, to protect them from the attacks of caterpillars and slugs. Care must also be taken by giving air, &c., to prevent them from being drawn up, or running to flower too soon. At length spring arrives, and the plants which have safely survived the winter must be looked over, and thinned out so that only one or two may be left to each glass; the earth is then loosened, the plants regularly watered, and the glasses taken off in the middle of the day, but carefully replaced at night. At last, towards the end of April, the glasses are removed altogether, and in May some of the plants will begin to make heads; but even then the care bestowed on them must not cease. The plants must be examined daily, and some of the leaves turned down over the flowers, to preserve them from the rays of the sun, which would turn them brown, and from the rain which would rot them. At length, about the end of May, or in June and July, the cauliflowers are ready for the market; and little do the purchasers of them think of the labour and unremitting attention which, for so many months, have been required to rear them. A second crop, sown in February and planted out in April, will be ready in August; and a third crop, sown in May and planted out in July, will be in perfection about Michaelmas or October, and may be preserved in mild weather till near Christmas.

Brocoli is generally supposed to be a variety of the cauliflower; but it differs essentially, both in being much hardier, and in being very apt to vary. Thus, while only two kinds of cauliflower are known, the early and the late, and even these can hardly be distinguished from each other,—there are ten or twelve distinct sorts of brocoli, and more are being raised every day. All these kinds, however, appear to have sprung from two, the purple and the green, which are said to have been brought from Italy. Brocoli is grown for the table in autumn, winter, and early spring; but there is no summer crop. The principal seasons for sowing are February and April for the autumn and winter crops, and June for the spring crop; and the plants succeed best in fresh loamy soil, or, if this cannot be procured, in ground that has been deeply trenched and well manured. The culture is like that of cabbages, except that, in very severe winters, the plants require a little protection.

The Borecole is generally known in England by the name of Scotch kale, and in Scotland by that of German greens. There are many different sub-varieties, fourteen of which are enumerated in the Ency. of Gard.; but all the kinds agree in being generally sown in April, and transplanted in June. They require no other culture, except hoeing and earthing up; and, as they are exceedingly hardy, they are very valuable vegetables for winter use.

The Leguminous tribe.—Vegetables belonging to this tribe generally occupy the ground but a few months in the summer, and are thus very suitable, in the rotation of crops, to precede or follow those of the cabbage tribe, which occupy the ground the greater part of a year.

Peas.—The list of peas is almost interminable, and it is continually changing; so that what may be considered the fashionable peas of one season are generally superseded the next by some others, to which every possible merit is attributed. There are, however, some very distinct kinds, the principal of which are—the dwarf early kinds, which are dry and mealy when full-grown, and become whitish when they are old; the Prussian and marrow-fat peas, which are soft and juicy, with a rich marrowy flavour, and which remain green even when quite ripe; and the sugar peas, which are boiled, like kidney beans, in their pods. The soil for peas should be a light, dry, sandy loam, tolerably rich, but not freshly-manured; and, for this reason, they are particularly well adapted to succeed any of the cabbage-tribe, for which a great deal of manure is required. They should generally have an open sunny situation; and the early crops should be sheltered from the prevailing winds of the district. If peas are sown in freshly-manured, very moist, or clayey soil, they will run to haulm, that is, they will produce more leaves and stalks than peas: and, if grown in calcareous soil, they will boil hard and tough, even when young, and when old will never become floury.

The early peas are small, and few in each pod, and with so little flavour, that we never have them sown in our little garden, but have the green Prussians sown early for a first crop, and again, a little later, for a second. The early dwarf peas are, indeed, of little use, except for forcing. They are, however, frequently sown in November and December, to stand the winter in the open border, in order that they may produce a crop the following May or June. When forced, they are sown in pots plunged in a hotbed, and transplanted into the open border in March; turning them out of the pots into holes made to receive them, without breaking the balls of earth round the roots. In some cases, they are fruited in pots placed in a greenhouse, or even stove; by which means, when it is thought worth while to incur the expense, fresh green peas may be had at Christmas. The main crop of early peas is, however, sown in February. A pint of small early peas will sow twenty yards of drills; each drill being one inch and a half deep, and the drills two or three feet asunder. The drills are marked out by stretching a garden-line lengthways along the bed, and then making a drill or furrow along it with a dibber; the earth is pressed firm at the bottom of the drill by the very act of making it, and the peas are then distributed along it, two or three to every inch, or wider apart, according to their size, and covered with soil, which is generally trodden down or rolled. When attacks are apprehended from mice, dried furze is generally strewed over the peas as soon as they are put into the ground, and before they are covered with earth; and this is efficacious, not only in protecting the peas from their enemies, but in keeping enough air about them to allow them to vegetate. They should then be well watered, and will require no further care till they come up. When they are two or three inches high, they should be hoed; that is, the weeds which may have sprung up between the rows should be hoed up, and the earth drawn up to the roots of the peas. When about six inches high, they should be staked, with two rows of sticks to each row of peas; the sticks being about a foot higher than the average height of the peas, and care being taken never to let them cross at top.

Late peas only differ in their culture from the early crops in having their drills farther apart, and in being placed farther apart in the drills. A pint of these peas is calculated to sow thirty-three yards of rows, and the peas of the larger kinds should be from one inch to two inches, or even more apart in the drills. Dwarf Marrowfats and Blue Prussians are, however, frequently sown about three in two inches. The time of sowing usually varies from April to July; but where no early peas are grown, even the late kinds may be sown as early as February or March. The tall-growing kinds should, however, never be suffered to stand the winter; and they should not be sown before March, unless the weather appear likely to be open, on account of the greater difficulties attending tall-growing plants. It may indeed be here observed, though the fact is obvious, that all dwarf-growing plants are much better adapted for forcing, than the tall-growing kinds; from their being much more easily sheltered and protected. Peas should always be eaten when freshly gathered, as they are perhaps more injured by keeping than any other vegetable. The pea is a native of the south of Europe, and it is supposed to have been introduced in the reign of Henry VIII.

Beans, though belonging to the same natural order as peas, and generally classed with them by persons speaking of garden products, yet differ in several very important particulars: for instance, they will grow in much stronger soil; they do not require sticks; and they are generally topped, that is, the leading shoot of each plant is cut off, an operation that would be fatal to peas. There are many different kinds of beans, though not so many as of peas; and the different varieties may be divided into the early and the late. The early beans may be sown in drills in November or December, to stand the winter; but the main crop is generally sown in January or February. The late beans are sown in March and April, and some even so late as June; and instead of drills, a hole is made for each bean separately with a dibber. Both sorts are covered with earth, which is pressed down and then watered; and they require no further care till the beans are three or four inches high, when they should be hoed and earthed up. As soon as the plants come into blossom, the tops are cut off; and this is said not only to increase the crop, but to prevent the plants from being attacked with the insect called the black blight. The crop should be gathered when the beans are about half ripe. The bean is said to be a native of Egypt; and it is supposed to have been brought to England by the Romans.

Kidney-Beans differ from the other leguminous vegetables, in their pods being eaten. There are two distinct kinds, the Dwarf Kidney-Beans, and the Scarlet-Runners; and these are again divided into numerous subdivisions. The soil for the dwarf kinds should be similar to that for peas: viz., rich, light, and dry, but not newly manured; and it should have been well pulverized to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches. The drills are generally made about two inches deep; and two feet or two feet and a half apart. The seeds are sown the first or second week in May. As the plants grow, they may be earthed up; and if the plants are very vigorous, and appear disposed to run to haulm, a few of the leading shoots may have their tops pinched off; but this should be done carefully, and the operation confined to a few of the strongest growing plants. The scarlet-runners require nearly the same culture, except that the seeds should be sown two or three inches asunder, and only lightly covered; and that the rows should be at least three feet apart. The seeds are covered lightly, as abundance of both air and moisture are required to make seeds enveloped in so thick a skin germinate; and the rows must be wide apart on account of their height, as otherwise the crop would not get enough sun and air. The scarlet-runner is properly a perennial, and if the plants are cut down to the ground after producing their crop, and their roots are covered with dry litter, they will produce an early and abundant crop the following summer. Kidney-beans are very frequently forced nearly in the same manner as peas; viz., by sowing them in pots plunged in a hot-bed, and then removing them to a hot-house or green-house (according to the season) to fruit. Sometimes they are sown in the earth of the hot-bed, and fruited there like cucumbers. The dwarf kidney-bean is a native of India, and was introduced before the time of Gerard; but the scarlet-runner is a native of South America, and was not introduced till 1633, when it was at first only cultivated in the flower-garden as an ornamental plant, and it is treated as such by all the early writers on flowers.

The Potatoe is a native of South America, but it was first brought to England by Sir Walter Raleigh, from Virginia. It was hence called the Potatoe of Virginia; and it was at its first introduction thought very inferior to the Convolvulus Batatus, which was called the Spanish Potatoe, and to the Jerusalem Artichoke, which was called the Potatoe of Canada, from its having been first taken from South America to Canada, before it was brought to England. About twenty or thirty sorts of the common potatoe are now cultivated for the table; but so large a quantity is wanted in almost every family, that few persons attempt to grow their main crop in a garden. A few early potatoes are, however, grown frequently; and the best of these is decidedly the ash-leaved kidney. The soil for potatoes should be a light, fresh, unmanured loam, and when manure is applied, it should be mellow dung, or well-rotted leaves. Potatoes are generally planted by dividing the root into what are called sets, with an eye in each; but sometimes the tubers are planted whole. Seeds are never used, except where it is wished to raise new sorts. Potatoes are seldom good forced; but an early crop may be raised by planting the sets in October. The principal early crop is, however, planted early in March; and the principal late crop in May or June. When the potatoes are to be planted, the ground should be first well pulverized, and then, the garden-line being stretched across the beds, holes should be made along it with the dibber from two to four or five inches deep, and about a foot apart. The sets should then be put one in each hole, with the eye upwards, and the earth pressed firmly down on each. When the potatoes come up, they should be hoed, and again in about a fortnight or three weeks; and when the plants are eight or ten inches high, they should be carefully earthed up. As soon as the plants go into blossom, some cultivators cut off the tops, to prevent the roots from being exhausted by the formation of the potatoe apples, or fruit. When the tubers are ripe, the stalks begin to wither, and may be taken up; but most persons have not patience to wait so long, and they begin to take up their early potatoes before the tubers are half-grown.

The Jerusalem Artichoke is a tuberous-rooted sun-flower, a native of Brazil; the epithet Jerusalem being a corruption of the Italian word ‘girasole,’ signifying to turn to the sun, from the supposed habit of the flower. The Jerusalem artichoke is planted in February or March, by sets, like the potatoe; and the tubers will be ready for use in September or October. It was introduced in 1716.

The Turnip succeeds best in a dry, sandy, or gravelly soil, which has been well manured, and dug to a considerable depth. The beds should be four or five feet wide, and the seeds having been strewed very thinly over them, the surface should be raked smooth, and then slightly beaten with the back of the spade. The first sowing is generally made in March, or the first week in April; and as soon as the young plants shew their rough leaves, they should be hoed up separately. They will then seldom want any other culture till the end of May, when, if the weather has been favourable, they will be ready for use. A second sowing is generally made about the middle of May; and a third, for the main crop, towards the end of June. Besides the turnips usually sold in seed shops, the Teltow, or small yellow German turnip, the French long white, and the Scotch yellow, are well deserving of cultivation for their excellence. The common turnip, the carrot, and the parsnip, are natives of England.

Carrots are of two kinds—the long carrots, the root of which tapers gradually from the crown to the point, and the horn carrots, the root of which continues of nearly the same thickness for three-fourths of its length, and then abruptly diminishes to a very slender tap root. There are numerous sub-varieties of both kinds. The goodness of the carrot depending entirely on the ease with which the root can penetrate the soil, it is obvious that the soil, in which these roots are grown, must not be of a very adhesive nature; and thus the best carrots are grown in pure sand, or peat. When soils of this nature cannot be procured, the ground should be trenched two spades deep, and a very little thoroughly rotten dung, or vegetable mould, should be well mixed with the earth in digging the lower spadeful. If manure, in a fresh state, be laid on a carrot-bed, or if the soil be not thoroughly pulverized, the roots will become forked, fibrous, and worm-eaten. The seeds of the carrot being each furnished with a pappus, or feathery wing, are apt to become entangled with each other, and can only be separated by rubbing them between the hands, and mixing them with sand. They are then to be sown very thinly, the ground slightly raked over to cover them, and then beaten flat with the back of the spade. When the young plants are up, the ground should be occasionally loosened, from time to time, with a small hoe, round each. When the leaves begin to change colour, the roots should be taken up, dry weather being chosen for that purpose; and the tops being cut off, the carrots should be carried into a cellar, or outhouse, and there buried in sand. Early carrots are generally sown in February, and the principal crop about the middle of March.

The Parsnip requires the same culture as the carrot, except that there is no early crop. The seed is sown in February or March, and the roots are ready for use about the latter end of September, or beginning of October.

The Red Beet is a native of the sea-coast on the south of Europe, and was introduced in 1656. The seed should not be sown till the last week in March, or the beginning of April. The ground should previously be dug to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches, and mixed with a little sea or river sand, and vegetable mould, or rotten dung. The roots will be ready for the table in September or October. In taking them up, and boiling them, great care must be taken not to wound the outer skin; as, if they are scraped or broken, all the colouring liquid will escape, and the root will become of a dull, dingy, whitish pink, instead of its usual brilliant red.

The Skirret, the Scorzonera, and the Salsify, are all tap-rooted plants, which require the same culture as the carrot.

The Radish is a native of China, and was introduced into England before 1584. There are numerous varieties; but they may be all divided into three or four kinds:—the spring radishes, which are sub-divided into the spindle-rooted, and the turnip-rooted; the autumn kinds, which are frequently oval, or turnip-rooted; and the winter kinds, which are oblong and dark-coloured. The seed may be sown at any season when the ground is open; but the very early spring kinds are generally sown in October or November to stand the winter, and be ready to draw in February and March.

Spinach.—The round-leaved variety is generally sown for a summer crop, on rich moist soil, in January or February, if the ground be open; and the triangular-leaved kinds, of which the Flanders is the best, are sown for the winter crops in August. The summer crop, when gathered, may be pulled up by the root; but the winter crop should only have the outer leaves gathered, and it will thus continue producing fresh leaves for many months.

Sorrel is generally propagated by offsets in spring or autumn; or, if by seed, it is sown in March. It is, however, seldom grown in English gardens.

The Onion tribe.—Very few onions, except for salads, are generally grown in small gardens. Where they are grown the soil should be a rich loam, well manured with very rotten dung; and though the beds need not be dug more than a spade deep, the soil to that depth should be well pulverized. The seed is sown broad-cast in March, on beds about four feet wide, and after it is raked in, the surface of the bed is rolled or beaten flat with the spade. In about three weeks the beds should be hoed, and thinned, as the young onions will be then ready for salads; and the beds should be again hoed and thinned out, from time to time, as the onions may be wanted. When the onions are from three to six inches apart, they are generally left to swell for the main crop, and they will be ready to draw in August or September. Many persons, about a month or six weeks before the onions are ready to take up, bend the stalks down flat on the bed, to throw all the strength of the plant into the bulb, and to prevent its thickening at the neck. Onions for pickling are generally sown in April; and onions for salads may be sown at intervals all the year. When onions are wanted of a very large size, they are sown in drills, and regularly earthed up; and the Portugal onions are generally transplanted. In Portugal it is said that the alleys between the beds are filled with manure, which is kept constantly watered, and the water directed over the beds. Onions of enormous size have been grown in England by raising them on a slight hotbed in November or December, and transplanting them in April or May. When they are transplanted it is into very rich soil, three-fourths of which is rotten manure, and only the fibrous roots are buried in the soil, the bulb being left above ground. The plants are placed from nine inches to a foot apart every way, and regularly watered. Onions thus grown are not only of enormous size, but of very delicate flavour. Neither the native country of the common onion, nor the date of its introduction into England, is known.

Leeks may be treated like onions, and may be grown to an enormous size by transplanting into a hole about twice their own diameter, at the bottom of which their fibrous roots are spread out and covered with soil, while the bulb is left untouched by the soil, standing in a kind of hollow cup. The plant is then well supplied with water, and will soon swell to fill the cavity. The leek is a native of Switzerland, and it was introduced before the time of Elizabeth.

The Chive is a perennial plant, a native of Britain, and it is propagated by dividing the roots in spring or autumn.

Garlic is propagated by dividing the bulb into what are called cloves, and planting them in February or March. They are generally planted in drills, and earthed up as they begin to grow. When the leaves turn yellow, which they will do about August, the bulbs should be taken up, and what may not be wanted for use, should be reserved for planting the following spring. Garlic is a native of the south of Europe, and was introduced before the time of Henry VIII. The shallot is a native of Palestine, and it has been in cultivation in British gardens at least as long as the garlic. It is very difficult to grow, as it is apt to be attacked by a kind of maggot; but it has been found to succeed planted in cup-shaped hollows like the leek.

All the onion tribe require a light, rich, well-drained soil; and they always succeed best where there is a gravelly subsoil.

Salad plants.—These are very numerous, and include lettuces, endive, small salads, celery, &c. It is somewhat remarkable that nearly all these were known to our ancestors, and were in common use at British tables dressed much as we dress them now, while the potatoe was yet unknown, or only eaten as a sweetmeat stewed with sack and sugar.

The lettuce is said to have been introduced in 1562, but from what country is unknown. There are numerous varieties, but they may be all referred to two kinds; the cabbage lettuces which grow flat and spreading, and the cos lettuces which grow compact and upright. Lettuces are generally sown broad-cast, like turnips or spinach, on beds of rich mellow soil, at any season from January to October; and the cabbage kinds require no after care, but weeding and thinning out. The cos lettuces are, however, generally blanched by bending down the tips of the leaves over the heart, and tying them together with bast mat. Lettuces are also sown by the French to cut for salads when quite young, as we grow mustard and cress.

Endive is a native of China and Japan, introduced before 1548. It is generally sown in large gardens at three seasons, viz., April, June, and August; but in small gardens one sowing is generally thought sufficient, and that is made in May. The seeds are sown very thinly in beds of rich mellow earth; and when they are from four to six inches high, they are transplanted into beds of rich light earth, where they are planted in drills about a foot apart in the line; and as they grow, are occasionally earthed up. When the plants are about three parts grown, the outer leaves are tied over the hearts to blanch them, with strands of bast mat, or osier twigs; a dry day being chosen for the operation. Only a few plants should be tied up at a time; and they should be seldom allowed to stand more than a fortnight or three weeks after the operation; as, if they remain longer, particularly if the weather be wet, they begin to rot. In wet or cold seasons endive is best blanched by turning a sea-kale pot over each root, instead of tying down the outer leaves. There are two distinct kinds: the broad leaved or Batavia endive, and the curled leaved, which is the most common, and to which the French give the name of chicorée.

The true Chiccory or Succory is sometimes called wild endive; but the French name for it is barbe de capucin. It is common in calcareous and sandy soils in different parts of England, where it is conspicuous from its bright blue flowers. Its culture is the same as that of endive; but it may also be treated as a winter salad, by being taken up in October or November, and stacked in cellars in alternate layers of sand, so that the crowns of the plants may just appear along the ridge. Here, if the frost be excluded, the roots will soon send out a profusion of tender succulent leaves; which, if kept from the light, will also be quite blanched.

Mustard and Cress.—Mustard is the native white mustard eaten in its seed leaves; and cress is an annual cruciferous plant, introduced before 1548, but from what country is unknown. They are both of the easiest culture, and will not only grow in any soil or situation, but may even be raised for the table by spreading the seed in a saucer on wet flannel. The flour of mustard is made from the ground seeds of the black mustard, which is cultivated extensively in some parts of England for that purpose.

Corn Salad or Lamb Lettuce, Winter Cress, Burnet, Tansey, and many other plants are occasionally used in salads, particularly on the Continent, but they are seldom grown for that purpose in England.

Celery is frequently used in salads; and it is interesting, as being so greatly improved by cultivation as scarcely to be recognized; for in its wild state it is a British plant called smallage, which grows in ditches, and is scarcely eatable. In gardens, celery requires more manure than any other vegetable, except the cabbage tribe. The seed for the principal crop of celery is generally sown in March or April, and the seed-bed should be formed of equal parts of fresh dark loamy soil, and old rotten dung. When the plants are about two or three inches high, they are pricked out into another bed made of very rich soil, six or seven inches deep, on a hard bottom; and when they are about a foot high, they are transplanted into trenches for blanching. The trenches are made four feet apart, eighteen inches wide, and twelve deep; and they are filled nine inches high with a rich compost of strong fresh soil and rotten dung. The plants are taken up with as much earth as will adhere to the roots, and the side-shoots or offsets are removed from the central stems; they are then set by the hand, nine or ten inches apart, in the centre of each trench, and well watered. As the plants in the trenches grow, the earth is gradually drawn up to them, a little at a time, taking care never to let the earth rise above the heart of the plant; and this earthing up is repeated five or six times, at intervals of about ten days or a fortnight, till the plants are ready for use. Thus treated, a single plant of celery of the solid kind has been known to weigh nine pounds, and to measure four feet in length.

Water cress is generally gathered wild, but it may be cultivated in gardens where there is a clear running stream, on a sandy or gravelly bottom. The plants are disposed in rows parallel with the stream, about eighteen inches apart, in shallow water; but four or five feet apart if the water be very deep, as if nearer together they will check the stream. Thus treated, the plants may be cut at least once a week during the whole summer. The beds must, however, be cleared out and replanted twice a-year; and when this is done, all the plants are taken up, divided and planted again in the gravelly bed of the stream, a stone being laid on each to keep it in its place.

Pot Herbs.—Of these parsley is a hardy biennial, a native of Sardinia, introduced before 1548. It is generally sown in a drill in February or March, and this will supply leaves all the summer. The plants do not seed till they are two years old. The curled variety is preferred for garnishing. Tarragon is a strong-smelling perennial from Siberia, introduced before 1548. It is principally used for making Tarragon vinegar. Fennel is a perennial, which, when once introduced, spreads every where, and can scarcely be eradicated. Chervil is an annual used for garnishing, and sometimes in salads, and the common Marigold is an annual, a native of the South of Europe, introduced before 1573, but now seldom grown except in cottage gardens.

Sweet Herbs.—These plants, though called in gardening-books sweet herbs, are mostly aromatic shrubs; such as thyme, sage, &c.

Thyme.—There are two kinds of this delicate little shrub cultivated in gardens; the common and the lemon: both are natives of the south of Europe, and were introduced before 1548. Young plants are generally raised by division of the root, or from offsets slipped off the branching roots in spring or autumn; they grow best in poor dry soil, or lime rubbish.

Sage is a much taller-growing shrub than thyme. It is a native of the south of Europe, and was introduced before 1597. It is propagated by slips, or by cuttings of the young shoots taken off in May or June; but as the plant is very long-lived it seldom wants renewing. It requires the same kind of soil as thyme.

Mint.—There are three kinds grown in gardens: the common, or spear mint, which is the kind boiled with peas, and used for mint-sauce, &c.; the peppermint, comparatively little cultivated, and only used for distilling; and the penny-royal. They are all British perennials, and are propagated by dividing the root, making cuttings, or taking off offsets. All require rather a moist and strong soil.

Marjoram.—There are four kinds in cultivation: the pot marjoram, which is a low shrub, a native of Sicily, introduced in 1759, and propagated by slips; the sweet, or knotted marjoram, a hardy biennial, a native of Portugal, introduced in 1573, and sown every year from seed generally ripened in France; the winter marjoram, a hardy perennial, a native of Greece, introduced before 1640, and propagated by cuttings or slips; and the common marjoram, a perennial, and a native of Britain. The first three kinds require a light dry soil, and the last a calcareous soil, and sheltered situation.

Savoury and Basil.—Winter savoury is a hardy under-shrub, and summer savoury an annual—both natives of the south of Europe, and cultivated in England since about 1650. Basil is an annual, a native of the East Indies, introduced about 1548. All these aromatic herbs may be purchased, admirably dried, in small cases, at Mrs. Johnson’s, in Covent Garden market.

Cucumbers require a hotbed to grow them to perfection; but the smaller kinds for pickling are sometimes planted in the open ground. The seed should be from two to four years old, and it should be sown in pots plunged in a hotbed, not below 58° at night, nor above 65° in the day. When the plants come up, they should be pricked out into pots, three in each pot, and watered, the earth in the pots and the water being both previously kept under the glass for some time, that they may be both of the same heat as the plants. When the plants are about five weeks old, they are generally removed to a larger hotbed, with a two or three-light frame. In this bed, a little ridge of earth is made under each light; and, in each of these, the contents of a pot is planted, without breaking the ball of earth round the roots of the plants. The heat of this bed is generally a little higher than that of the seed-bed. Water should be given every day, warmed to the heat of the bed. If the plants are wanted to fruit early, the ends of the shoots may be pinched off as soon as the plants have made two rough leaves, and this is called stopping the runners at the first joint; this stopping is repeated wherever the runners show a disposition to extend themselves without producing fruit. As plants raised under glass have not the benefit either of currents of air or insects, to convey the pollen of the barren plants to the stigma of the fertile ones, the latter must either be dusted with pollen by the gardener, or the plants should be exposed as much to the air as possible, in the middle of the day, when it is warm enough, during the time that they are in flower. Seeds for the first crop of cucumbers are generally sown in December or January; but, as extra heat and care are required at this early season, the crop for a small garden may be sown about March. The great art is to grow the cucumbers long and straight, and to keep them green, with a beautiful bloom. For the first purpose, many cultivators place a brick under the young fruit; and for the latter they leave on the plant abundance of leaves, and keep the ground moist, as the plant appears to thrive best when it has abundance of heat and moisture, and is kept in the shade. A dry heat, and especially exposure to the burning rays of the sun, will make cucumbers flaccid and yellow.

Pickling Cucumbers are generally sown in patches of ten or twelve seeds in each, in the open air; and when they come up, they are thinned out to four or five in each patch. They are sown in rich ground, and well watered; and as they grow, they are occasionally earthed up.

Melons.—The culture of the melon is the same as that of the cucumber, except that the lowest heat of the seed-bed should not be less than 65°, and that of the fruiting bed 75°. To grow the finer kinds of melons well, however, requires the attention of a regular gardener; and as this is the case also with pine-apples (the plants of which are too expensive to be trifled with), no directions are here given respecting them.

Gourds.—The two kinds of vegetable-marrow—the American butter-squash, and the mammoth-gourd, are excellent for the table, either in soup, or boiled, or fried. The plants of all these kinds should be raised in a hotbed, the seeds being sown in March or April, three in a pot, and covered nearly an inch deep. In May, the young plants should be removed to the open ground, where they should be planted in rich soil, and sheltered for a night or two, till they have become inured to the change. They should be frequently watered in dry weather, as the fruit will not swell without abundance of moisture.

Tomatoes.—The tomato or love-apple is a tender annual, a native of South America, introduced before 1596. The seeds should be sown in a hot-bed in March, and as soon as they come up pricked out into pots; they should be transplanted into a warm border in front of a south wall in May; where they should be trained against the wall, or pegged down over a warm bank of earth sloping to the sun. They require abundance of water while the fruit is swelling; and as much heat as possible while it is ripening.

Mushrooms.—The spawn is generally procured from a nurseryman; and the beds are made of fresh horse-dung thrown together in a heap under cover, and turned over many times in the course of a fortnight or three weeks, till every part has thoroughly fermented. When the dung is thought to be in a proper state, a trench is marked out twelve or fourteen feet long and five broad, and about six inches deep; the mould taken out in forming it being laid on one side till wanted. In the bottom of the trench there should be a layer of long fresh stable manure about four inches thick; and on this, successive layers of the prepared dung, each beaten flat with the fork, till the bed is about five feet high, and narrow at the top like the ridge of a house. In this state it may remain about a fortnight; and then if the bed be found, on trying it by plunging a stick in, to be not too hot, the bricks of spawn should be broken into pieces about an inch and a half or two inches square, and strewed regularly over the bed, each piece of spawn being buried by raising up a little of the dung and inserting it. After this the surface of the bed is beaten flat with a spade, and the whole is covered with mould, that of a loamy nature being preferred. The whole is then beaten quite smooth, and covered about a foot thick with oat straw, on which are laid mats. In about a month or six weeks the mushrooms will be ready for the table; and when gathered they should be gently twisted up by the roots, and not cut off, as the root, if left in the ground, will decay, and be injurious to the young plants.