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.