surface of heaths or commons; bog earth, from bogs or | morasses; vegetable earth, from decayed leaves, stalks, cow-dung, &c.; sand, either sea-sand, drift-sand, or powdered stone, so as to be free as possible from iron; lime rubbish ; and lastly, common garden earth. There The principle on which the gardens are cultivated, are no known plants that will not grow or thrive in one is that of forcing vegetation by means of an abundant or other of these earths, alone, or mixed with some supply of dung, constant tillage, and occasional waterother earth, or with rotten dung, or leaves. Nursery-ing. The whole surface is converted into a species of men, whose practice may be considered a safe criterion hotbed; and crop succeeds crop with a rapidity which to judge from, have seldom more than three sorts of is truly astonishing. Those vegetables which arrive earth: loam, approaching to the qualities of brick earth; at a marketable state in the least time are always the peat or bog earth, from heaths or morasses; and the most profitable, and those also for which there is a concommon soil of their nursery. With these, and the stant demand at all times of the year. With an abunaddition of a little sand for striking plants, some sifted dant supply of manure, the market-gardeners have no lime-rubbish for succulents, and some well-rotted cow- fear of exhausting the soil; and dissimilar vegetables dung for bulbs and some sort of trees, they contrive may grow together on the same ground. to grow thousands of different species in as great perfection (taking the difference between plants in pots and plants in the free soil and air) as in their native countries; and many, as the pine, vine, camellia, rose, &c., in a superior manner." The same author afterwards observes: "Peat earth, or heath earth, being generally procured in the state of turfs full of the roots and tops of heath, requires two or three years to rot; but after it has lain one year, it may be sifted, and what passes through a small sieve will be found fit for use. Some nurserymen use both these loams and peats as soon as procured, and find them answer perfectly for most plants; but for delicate flowers, and especially bulbs, and all florists' flowers, and for all composts into the composition of which manures enter, not less than one year ought to be allowed for decomposition, and what is technically called sweetening. The French gardeners allow for their rich orange-tree composts from three to six years." diminution of the produce, both in quantity and quality, and by various diseases which attack the plants, however abundant may be the food supplied to them, or careful the tillage. Near large towns, where there is a constant demand for kitchen vegetables, market gardens are established for producing the required articles in variety and abundance. The finest market gardens in the world are near London, where the soil is deep, and any quantity of manure, in the form of night soil, from the metropolis, is easily obtainable. The plan on which these gardens are conducted might serve as a model for all kitchen gardeners in this country. It is thus briefly described in the article Gardening in the "Penny Cyclopædia:"-" The gardeners' year properly begins in autumn, when the land is dug, or rather trenched, and well manured. Various vegetables, which will be required in winter, are now sown, and especially those which are to produce plants to be set out in spring; spinach, onions, radishes, and winter salads are sown, and, when the weather is severe, are protected by a alight covering of straw or mats. In February, the cauliflowers, which have been raised in frames or under hand-glasses, are planted out. The cabbage plants are pricked out. The radishes, onions, and salads, go to market as soon as they are of sufficient size, and sugar-loaf cabbages succeed them. As the cauliflowers are taken off, they are succeeded by endive and celery, and the same is the case with the cabbages. Thus there is a constant succession of vegetables, without one moment's respite to the ground, which, in consequence of continual stirring and manuring, maintains its productive power. Deep trenching in some degree prevents that peculiar deterioration of the soil which would be the consequence of the frequent repetition of similar plants. This effect is most perceptible when the plants perfect their seed, which is seldom or never allowed to take place in market-gardens; but great attention is paid to the species of plants which succeed each other on the same spot. The principle which experience and theory unite in establishing, is that of avoiding the too frequent recurrence of plants which belong to the same natural families. The greater variety cultivated in gardens, in comparison with the common produce on a farm, enables this principle to be fully acted upon. Those gardeners who overlook this, and repeatedly sow or plant the same kind of vegetables in the same spots, are soon aware of their error by the The value of the produce in one year from an acre of garden-ground in the most favourable situation, as stated by Mr Middleton, from the account which he received from a market-gardener, is almost incredible. It is as follows:-Radishes, £10; cauliflower, £60; cabbages, £30; celery (first crop), £.50; (second crop), £40; endive, £30: making a total of £220 for the gross produce of an acre in twelve months. The expenses of cultivation are very great. In inferior situations, the produce is much less, but the expenses are also somewhat less. When it is considered that there are nearly 2000 acres thus cultivated, the gross amount of produce must be very great.” The domestic gardener will now perceive, that, independently of a good soil, he must give his ground plenty of rich manure, and by so doing he need scarcely ever have any part of his surface unoccupied. To attain and keep up fertility is the grand principle of his operations; the delving may be awkward, the lines of beds uneven, the raking may not be neat, but all is of no importance in comparison with keeping the ground in good heart. He will likewise maintain a regular connective rotation, leaving no cropping to caprice at the time, or to a system of unintelligent routine. GARDEN OPERATIONS-CULTIVATION. Digging or delving with the spade is the principal means of garden culture. The spade usually employed is 10 inches deep in the blade or spit; but as delving is not direct downwards, but sloped, the depth to which the spade goes in digging seldom more than nine inches, and often not more than eight inches. In commencing to dig a piece of ground, take out a spadeful all along one side, and carry it to the opposite side where you are to leave off. Now begin at one end of the trench just opened; thrust the spade with the foot into the ground, taking about five inches in breadth, lift it up, and turn it over into the open trench, the top undermost, and the fresh earth above. Do the same with the second spadeful, and so on with all the others to the end of the line. Take care to dig always a uniform depth and uniform breadth, so as to keep the line even, and the trench or open furrow one width. If there be any weeds or loose offal on the surface, put them in the trench and cover them in. Break or pulverise the mould as you proceed, and keep the fresh surface level. When you have delved row after row to the last, the earth laid aside will fill in the concluding trench. Ordinary digging is performed best in dry weather; but digging to throw up lumps for winter melioration should, if possible, be performed when the soil is moist. In this kind of digging, do not touch the lumps with the spade after throwing them up. Raking is usually performed after delving. Hold the handle of the rake at an angle of 45 degrees, and draw it lightly over the surface of the newly dug ground. The object is not to draw earth along, but to even or comb down the irregular surface, and bring away any loose refuse or stones. Like digging, it should be performed in dry weather. Marking with the Line.-When there is any difficulty in delving in a straight line by the eye, mark off the ground with a cord, drawn from a reel stuck in the earth at one end to a dibble or pin at the other. This reel cord will be indispensable in marking off the edges of parterres, plots, &c. In such cases, having fixed the line, go along it with the spade, taking out a very small quantity of earth immediately beneath the cord. Then do the same with the opposite side and ends of the plot, and so its dimensions will be fairly marked. The gardener measures and marks off all his figures in the ground with his line and spade. With the line he can draw a circle round a central pin, or make an oval from a union of two circles, or form semicircles, spirals, triangular spaces, or polygons. When he wishes to make a small path between rectangular plots, he sets his line accordingly, and walking along it, with a foot on each side, he tramples down the earth from one end to the other, and then he can even it and beat it down with his spade. Hoeing. With a common hoe, the earth is cut and drawn towards the operator. The object of hoeing is to draw the earth up the stalks of plants growing in a row, or to destroy weeds. In hoeing weeds, cut off the weed beneath the surface, and do not cover the stalk. If convenient, rake away all the loose stalks, and place them on the dung-heap. Weeds, such as dandelion and groundsill, which become winged when ripe, should be hoed and removed before sceding. As many such weeds which infest gardens are blown into them from adjacent roadsides, it would not be misspent time to clear the neighbourhood of them periodically. Animal annoyances. All gardens are less or more exposed to the destructive inroads of wild animals. Hares and rabbits gnaw the bark off the stems or lower branches of trees, and also the buds in season. To prevent the encroachments of these quadrupeds, the garden ought to be properly fenced; but if they get in notwithstanding, the trees may be saved by smearing the lower parts with a mixture of cow-dung, soot, and water, reduced to the consistency of thin paint; a smearing of tar or grease will also answer the purpose. Moles, rats, and mice, may be caught in their appropriate traps; moles, also, may be got rid of by placing slices of leek, garlic, or onion, in a green state, within their holes, as they have a great antipathy to the odour of these vegetables. Birds are sometimes an annoyance, particularly when new-sown peas or seeds may be easily scratched up. But though in some instances injurious, it is believed that, on the whole, their visits are beneficial; for they pick up large quantities of slugs, insects, larvæ, or caterpillars of different kinds. Wall-fruit may be preserved by nets, or by the more simple method of fixing horizontal lines of black worsted in front of the trees; the repeated ineffectual attempts to alight on the lines is said to scare the animals and cause them to desist. Lines of worsted threads, in which feathers are fastened, are employed in many cases to protect beds of seeds from birds; this preventive can be easily tried. | sons in the ground. Some seeds, such as peas, are sown in drills, the hand deliberately dropping them in a straight shallow trench. Other seeds, such as seeds of onions, leeks, cress, &c., are sown broadcast, which is a thin and equable scattering over a bed prepared for the purpose. Most seeds, peas included, require to be pressed down by treading or gentle rolling, and then covered up by the hoe or rake. All seeds should be sown and covered up in dry weather. Planting. Many vegetables require to be removed while young from the bed in which they were grown from seeds, and planted out in rows. A straight row is made with the line, which is gently treaded on each side. Commence now at one end of the trodden line, and in the central or untrod part pierce the earth with the dibble. Into the hole so made insert the root of the plant, and pierce the earth at its side, so as to press the mould round the root, leaving no vacant space below. Watering. In dry seasons, artificial irrigation is of great use for giving due liquid aliment to plants, and is indispensable to plants newly transplanted, in order to consolidate the roots. Watering, for whatever purpose, is most advantageously performed in the morning or evening. If done during the time the sun is shining, take care not to water the leaves of any plant, for the heat will raise the temperature of the liquid, and the leaves will be scalded. If the day be cloudy and cool, watering the tops of plants can do no harm. The watering, in any case, should resemble as nearly as possible a soft shower, and be performed with a rose watering-pot. The greater number of flowers are injured by watering, if the water touches them. GARDEN VEGETABLES. The vegetables usually grown in kitchen gardens are of various tribes or classes, which, for convenience, we shall arrange in certain intelligible groups, as follows:-1. The brassica, or cabbage kind of vegetables; 2. The pea and bean kind; 3. The root kinds, or those grown only for the sake of their roots; 4. The onion and leek kinds; 5. The salad kind; 6. The various kinds of sweet herbs; and, 7. miscellaneous kinds, including several of a delicate nature. This arrangement of groups, it will be understood, has no reference to botanical order, and has only been adopted in preference to the confusion of kinds in alphabetic lists. The Brassica, or Cabbage Tribe. This includes some of the most hardy, easiest culti vated, and useful of kitchen vegetables. The following are those which we would recommend to be cultivated: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, common cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, savoy cabbage, and Scotch kale. BROCCOLI. This is one of the best kinds of greens, and is valuable from coming at a season when not liable to be affected by caterpillars. There are various kinds of broccoli, but all may be arranged under two heads-those for spring use, and those for use from September to Christmas; the latter are termed “ Cape” or autumn broccolies. The best varieties for spring use are Bowles's new sulphur, Moody's dwarf, Granger's cauliflower, and Portsmouth cream-colour. Insects are the grand pest of gardeners; their appearance is so mysterious, and their devastations so varied, that all schemes to extirpate them are often ineffectual. They are most destructive in their first condition of larvae or caterpillars. In this state they should be removed by the hand from kitchen vegetables. To destroy the smaller kinds of larvae, fumi- One ounce of seed of broccoli is calculated to so gation of tobacco smoke, by means of a fumigating a bed four feet wide by ten long, broadcast on a prebellows, is employed with advantage; and the plants pared bed, but if sown in drills, rather less seed wil are cleansed with a syringe and water. For the cleans-be sufficient. Each kind should have a place allotted ing of fruit-trees from insects, we refer to our article on Fruit Gardening. Slugs are another chief annoyance, especially in low-lying situations. A little salt destroys them, but, as in the case of caterpillars, the best plan is to clear them out at their first appearance by the hand or a pair of pincers. Worms in the ground are not considered injurious; in a properly trenched garden, however, they exist only in small numbers. Salt kills them. Soring. The greater number of garden vegetables are reared from seeds, which are sown at certain sca to itself. The soil should be a fresh sandy loam, ni manured, and the season for sowing will be comprised between April and July. The Cape plants are finally set out in beds made rather rich with manure, at any time when they have leaves six or eight inches long; two feet distances, plant from plant, will be saf· cient. Each plant is to be firmly secured in the so! ; and if the weather be dry, every hole should be filled with water. This species will come in season in August, and continue to produce a supply throughout the autumn; in mild seasons, some heads may be cut evea at the turn of the year. The spring hardy varieties are treated by most persons in the same way as the Cape; that is, the plants, when they are six or eight inches high, are transplanted as they become ready, between the first week of July and that of September, into beds of richly manured loam, and set two feet apart, the largest sorts, as the Portsmouth, at thirty inches, and they are kept perfectly free from weeds. If the seasons be favourable, a successional supply of broccoli is thus obtained from the first week of March to the end of May. It is also customary to lay plants down in September, with the heads turned from the sun, applying earth on the south side over the stems, to protect them from snow and frost. We prefer to plant in six-inch deep trenches, properly manured, removing the plants to them when not less than a foot high, filling each hole with water, and repeating the watering for two or more successive evenings. This treatment, even in the driest seasons, will secure the plants; and as the winter approaches, by drawing the earth from the ridges on each side, and thus filling up the trenches, the stems will be protected, and the ground levelled and rendered light. We have practised this method during seven or eight winters, and have lost no opportunity to recommend it to others. Broccoli plants do better in trenches than any other members of this extensive family. To save seed, it is only necessary to watch the progress of some very fine plant left late in the spring, to cut out all the weakly and crowding parts of the heads when expanded, and to secure the seed before it be quite ripe, or rather before the seed-vessels shed the seed. But as all these plants pass by crossing into other varieties, it is generally not desirable to attempt seed-growing. BRUSSELS SPROUTS produce tall stems, three or four feet high, which support a head somewhat resembling an open savoy, of little value. This being cut off, the lateral buds down the stem protrude a succession of little green heads, like small savoys, delicate in flavour, very much admired, and yet but seldom seen, inasmuch as the true vegetable is not easily obtained. Our best authority is still that of Professor Van Mons of Brussels. We copy the following from the last edition of the Domestic Gardener's Manual, wherein the Brussels practice is noticed, and a few experimental remarks appended. The plants are raised from seed sown in March or April, of which an ounce may be requisite for a seedbed of four feet by ten. Van Mons says (Hort. Trans. vol. iii.), The seed is sown in spring under a frame, to bring the plants forward; they are then transplanted into an open border with a good aspect. By thus beginning early, and sowing successively till late in the season, we contrive to supply ourselves in Belgium with this delicious vegetable fully ten months in the year; that is, from the end of July to the end of May. The plants need not be placed at more than eighteen maches each way, as the head does not spread wide, and the side leaves drop off.' With us (in England) the Brussels sprout is so hardy, that it will stand twenty degrees of frost; and its head about Christmas is a Lender and delicate species of greens. Being then cut, the plant will remain nearly torpid till the advancing sun causes it to start into new vegetation; then the spaces between the rows should have a little leaf-soil or good manure lightly forked in; and the young heads, all of which were quiescent, but visible in the winter, will speedily advance from the axils of the leaves, and yield a supply for many weeks, if they be properly pulled or cut in succession." We cannot add much to the above, but may observe that, if any one can procure true seed, it will be advis. able to try to ripen some, and to abandon seed-growing of every other kind of the brassica during that season, for fear of crossing it; also to try Van Mons' repeated Rowings, for in truth a more delicate family vegetable cannot be cultivated. CABBAGE. The cultivated varieties of the common or white hearting cabbage are very numerous; and as all | can intermingle, so no one who aims at raising seed can be confident of what he shall produce. The best varieties in ordinary use are-1. Small and large York; 2. London, variety of York; 3. Sugar-loaf; 4. Knight's Downton; 5. Battersea; 6. Vanack. The cabbage is a biennial plant; it runs a two years' course, bears seed, and dies. Therefore, to obtain hearted cabbages throughout the year, two or more sowings must be made; one in the spring, the other in summer. Springsowing can be effected at once, or it may be divided into two or three operations; because, from the third week of March to the first week of May, the seed can be successfully sown for the supply of summer and winter. Yet, by attentive management, one sowing may be made to produce all that a large family can require; we restrict our directions to that simple operation. Prepare a bed of good sound loam in an open exposure, and let it be very slightly manured, for cabbage seedlings benefit much by strong contrasts, and ought not to be made to run up while tender. Dig the ground for four rows, nine inches asunder, and from fifteen to twenty feet long. Break the earth finely, and leave it to settle for three or four days; then place boards to tread on, while a first drill, one inch deep, is struck by the line; make the bottom of this and every other drill even and a little solid, either by pressing a long pole into it, or by patting it with the back of a woodenheaded rake. Sow the seeds rather thickly, because it is better to thin out an abundance of plants than to lose the major part of a few by insects. When sown, cover the drill with fine earth, proceed to make and sow other drills, till the bed be finished, and then either tread the surface over with the feet placed nearly close together, or pat the surface with the spade, and then finish it off smooth with the back of a rake. Always avoid to tread ground into holes, and therefore recede from the work backward; prefer to use the feet in light sandy soil, but rarely with stiff and binding ground. In a very dry season, seeds will not easily vegetate; therefore, in such cases, strike the drills, and water effectually along them for three successive evenings, covering the plot with mats throughout the day. In the third evening, make the drills even, sow, cover with earth, sprinkle again, and lay on the mats by day, till the plants be visible, then dust them once with the finest road sand while the dew is on, and in the evening with air-slaked lime. These directions need not be repeated. We never saw a set of cabbage, turnip, or celery plants, so dusted with road sand, that was much infested with the turnip beetle; and as to slugs, lime, or lime with coal-soot, will prevent their ravages or destroy the vermin. When the plants begin to produce their true leaves, thin them out, first to an inch asunder, and again to two inches; they will thus gain strength rapidly; and when they have three or four good leaves four inches long, they will be fit to go out, some into nursery beds, and others to the plots where they are to remain. Those set in the former, six inches asunder, will acquire stocky roots, and be prepared for successional beds. The size of the plants will indicate the season during any of the summer months. Those planted permanently will require the ground to be made rich with manure, and the transition from poor to rich earth will make them grow rapidly. The smaller Yorks, &c., should stand twelve or fifteen inches apart, the large varieties twenty to thirty inches. Set each plant as deep as the base of the lower leaves, and observe the directions given under Broccoli, p. 356. These seed and nursery beds will supply the table from May to November, and in fine seasons even later. CABBAGE COLEWORTS-a favourite vegetable in London, known by the name of spring greens-are raised by sowing the seed of the hardier middle-sized cabbages from the end of June to the middle of July, to be transplanted in August and September in rows twelve or fifteen inches asunder, the plants nine inches from one another; they form pretty little heads-not properly cabbages at a period when the old stock is exhausted, and the spring cabbage is not come in. They fail in very severe winters. covered with mats and boards during severe frosty nights. In February, March, and April, the plants are removed in succession to beds richly prepared; and the cauliflowers will come into perfection during July and August. It is customary to form the earth immediately around the stems into the shape of basins, to contain water or the liquid manure it is a useful practice, and this, with hoeings between the rows, will comprise the general treatment. The main summer crops are raised from seeds sown between the 25th of July and the 10th of August; the last week in the former month comprises the most favourable period. The directions previously given will apply in every respect to the treatment of the plants; we need only remark, that it is advisable to plant the young cabbages first in nursery beds of simple THE SAVOY, OF SAVOY CABBAGE, is very hardy, and the loam, wherein they will be more secure during the most useful of winter cabbages. Its culture is very frosts than they would be in rich beds; but being trans-easy, and admits of four sowings. There are two ferred to the latter at the end of February or early in approved varieties, the hardy small green, and the March, they will make rapid progress, and according large yellow; the former is generally preferred. Begin to the season, produce hearted cabbages in April, May, to sow in February, sow a second time in March; and June. All the departments must be kept clean, a third, and this is for the main crop, in April, about and free from litter or weeds. Seed can easily be the middle of each month. Let the situation be open, raised, but the result is always doubtful. the soil a good natural loam, if possible, and laid out in a bed three or four feet wide, digged and made fine. Scatter the seeds evenly, and rake them. Repeat, for the fourth time, in August. The plants of this last sowing will attain a large size by the following August and September, if planted out in April. As the plants of all the sowings, after thinning, become four or five inches high, they are transplanted between crops standing widely apart, as in the single-row system of aspara gus, or as succession on potato-land. Moist weather should be chosen, and the savoys should stand two feet apart. Keep the ground clean, stir it occasionally, and draw a little toward the stems on each side, always, however, leaving a sort of furrow three or four inches wide, to receive the rain, and convey it to the roots. Seed can be sown in the second year, but may be rendered spurious. RED CABBAGE is only used for pickling; it is raised by a two years' course-that is, by sowing in August, and transplanting as directed above; but this variety requires a little more space. The heads form in the ensuing summer, and are in fine condition in October. If sown in spring, little-hearted cabbages can be obtained, which may supply a loss, or serve as a substitute for the others. CAULIFLOWER-This plant, which is grown only for its rich white head, requires in the open air a warm and moist climate, or it must be grown under glass. In Holland, it grows to great perfection, and, like many of our garden vegetables, is most likely imported from that country. One of the chief difficulties attending its open-air culture is its destruction by caterpillars, and therefore great care is in many respects necessary to bring crops forward. Under glass, the plants are rendered very expensive. SCOTCH KALE and GERMAN KALE are the hardiest among our winter greens. They are raised by sowing the seeds either in beds or single drills late in Fetruary or early in March; to be first thinned out to three inches apart, and finally transplanted to beds or rows, wherein the plants are to stand thirty inches asunder. The plants may go out in succession, from June to the middle of July. The heads are cut first, and subsequently side-shoots arise, which produce excellent winter greens, till early cabbages come in. The plant runs up to flower and seed during the suc Instead of growing kale, cabbage, or any other of these plants from seed, it will save much trouble to purchase young plants by the hundred from a nursery of such vegetables. Spring sowing, for a first crop, may be made in March, over a temperate hot bed. The seedlings are to be pricked out when the leaves are an inch broad; and from this nursery bed they are moved to the garden bed in May, to stand more than two feet asunder, the ground being made extremely rich. The plants, after they begin to grow, are occasionally watered with the liquid manure collected from the drainage of dunghills. A second spring-sowing is made in the open border in May, to obtain plants from Sep-ceeding summer. tember to November, by a similar mode of treatment. The last sowing occurs in the middle of August. The plants, when about four or five weeks old, are to be thinned out to two or three inches apart, the best to go into nursery beds of rich earth, three or four inches asunder. Here they must grow till November, when the strongest are to be set out in rows, to be preserved under bell or hand-glasses. Dig a bed of rich ground in an open situation, and make it still richer with manure; set three or four plants together, five inches apart, in patches, each patch a yard asunder; give water, and cover close with a hand-glass till the plants begin to grow; then tilt the glasses on the sunny side with a brick; and thus continue to give air on mild days during the winter, and on some occasions take the glasses quite off, but replace them and cover close every night. In the spring thin the plants to two under each glass, making good any deficiencies with some of the best plants thus taken up, and plant the surplus in a warm spot of ground two feet apart. Keep the glasses on the other plants, raising them more and more, occasionally exposing them to mild rains till about the beginning of May (unless in the event of intense frost, such as we have experienced within a few years), when the glasses may be finally removed. Cauliflowers will thus be produced in succession from the end of May throughout June. Other plants should, in November, be placed in frames four inches apart, in a bed of rich dry loam, over a very slight hot-bed: give water, close the lights, and be guided as respects the admission of air by the directions for the hand-glass division. The lights should be The Pea and Bean (or Leguminous) Kinds. THE PEA.-There are various sorts of this nutritions little vegetable, but it is only those of a fine kind, which are cultivated in gardens, and called garden-peas, that we require to notice. When fresh, they are a bright green, and when dry for seed, most are a buff yellow. Peas are a summer delicacy, and the chief art is to produce them in the open air, by the middle of May, and to keep up a succession of crops till other vegetables supersede them. Skilful gardeners do not consider it a difficult process to effect an early crop, as the plant is very hardy, and sustains violent transitions without much danger. Peas, therefore, may be accelerated in frames and vineries during February, and being transplanted into rows fronting a south and east wall, wil continue to advance progressively though the weather be cold. They can also be sown (provided there be no frost) in the open ground at any time. The chief varieties for the earliest and latest crop are the early Warwick, bishop's dwarf, Charlton, frame, and some others peculiar to localities. The varieties for the main summer crops are the blue Prussian, the imperial, Knight's, dwarf and tall, marrowfats, and the cimetar The soil most affected by this vegetable is a free. light, but rich loam, abounding with vegetable matter, but not manured with recent dung. The situation for crops from June to August should be exposed and open. The times of sowing are very various. Some obtain | been in use from time immemorial, as appears by the an excellent yield from seed sown early in November allusion made to it by ancient classical authors. Though in long drills; and if the winter be open, success is a native of the east, it is in all its cultivated varieties nearly certain. At whatever season persons commence, very hardy; these varieties are numerous: some of a better general rule cannot be adopted than to sow for the more approved are, the early mazagan for the first a successional crop as soon as the peas of the preced- crops, which may be sown from October to February; ing sowing are fairly above the surface. The plants, early long-pod, an excellent fertile bean for general use, when three inches high, should have earth drawn not highly flavoured; broad Windsor, the best of all against their stems on both sides, after which the soil beans for flavour, but not a prolific bearer, a hybrid may be superficially opened by passing the hoe lightly between the two last, combining the fertility of the one through it, and thin branchy sticks, of a height suit- with much of the high flavour of the other. able to the habit of the variety, ought to be thrust into the ground, converging a little, so as to meet at top, and interlace each other. Shallow soils over chalk are soon over-cropped by peas, and refuse to bring a healthy plant; and in all kinds of ground, the frequent repetition of pea-sowing is to be deprecated. The land also must be purified by a rotation of cabbage and potatoes. Sticks for peas are indispensable in keeping them from trailing on the ground; and therefore every person who wishes to grow this vegetable in his garden, should take care to preserve the sticks from one season to another, as long as they are serviceable. Any kind of branchy twigs will answer the purpose. When all the pods are taken, remove the haum or pea-stalks to the compost dung-heap. DWARF-BEANS are planted in rows, and the seeds are generally sown at different periods between the 1st of May and the middle of July. The situation should be open, not crowded by other vegetable crops, or under trees- the soil a free-working loam, moderately manured. The drills should not be nearer to each other than thirty inches, and not more than two inches deep. In these the beans are to be dropped at regular distances, not exceeding three or four inches. Make the ground firm at bottom, but let the covering earth be light, and only slightly raked, not trodden or made bard. The one leading principle of successful growth is to bring the plants up as soon as possible, and this is effected by selecting warm weather, and opening the drill early in the day, that its base and the loose soil about it may be rendered hot by exposure to the hottest sun for two or three hours. A cold, wet, cloddy condition of the land causes decay. THE KIDNEY BEAN comprises two species of plants, which, though of one family, are of very different habits. Both, however, are natives of the east, and are very impatient of cold; hence the necessity of deferring the sowings till the weather be nearly settled in the spring, and the ground warmed to the depth of several inches. The two species are, first, the dwarf with its Lumerous varieties, all bearing the title of French Beans; and second, the climber, commonly termed Scarlet Beans, or runners, although there are varieties with white and variegated blossoms: one of the latter, the painted lady, is very prolific. There are few of the many varieties of the dwarf which can surpass the buff or dun-coloured bean-it is free of growth, and fertile, ether when forced in pots, or planted in the open ground. The black speckled dwarf is also an excelfent bearer; the white-seeded is the true haricot of the French; in Kent it is called caravansera. RUNNER-BEANS are planted with similar precautions, er, if sown early in pots and boxes, will transplant very well. When the plants attain the height of three or four inches, they should have a little earth drawn about the stem, and be sticked; that is, somewhat tall branchy sticks should be placed on each side, converging towards each other at the top; these props ought to be eight feet high, and when the plants reach their summits, they should be nipped off and kept stopped, to cause them to produce fruit-bearing laterals. "Gather beans and have beans," that is, never leave any pods to ripen; if redundant, let them be given away, or go to the pig-stye, for a maturing pod arrests the fertility of the plant by tasking all its powers. Keep all the crops clean, and the surface of the ground about them rather open. THE GARDEN BEAN is known to every one, and it has Beans prefer a sound and rather firm loam, retentive of moisture. They suffer much in a very dry season and soil, particularly if attacked by the black blight (aphis), which covers the tops, preys upon the fluids of the plant, and as we have seen in the summer of 1840, almost entirely destroys whole fields in a very short time. Topping, when the insects are first seen, appears to be the only remedy. The seeds should always be sown in rows, and one pint is considered enough for eighty feet. The beans ought to be sown in one long row, three inches deep and four inches apart, returning the soil and treading along the course of the row; after which the rake should be employed to level the surface. Beans transplant extremely well, and therefore may be sown thickly in autumn, covering the plants with hoops and mats, or with a garden frame and lights. When the plants rise in the rows, or begin to grow after being transplanted, loosen the earth by pushing the Dutch hoe along the surface, and draw three inches of it to each side of the stems; or rather shovel up two or three inches of the earth, and lay it flat a foot wide on each side of the row of beans, shelving rather towards the stems than from them, for then the rains would find their way directly to the roots. The seasons of sowing are autumn for the mazagan, January and February for long-pods, and from March to June for the Windsor. Sow succession crops one after the other, according to the demand, as soon as the plants of the preceding sowing shall be quite above ground. To cross the variety, sow Windsor and long-pods alternately in the row, and save the beans, introducing in future sowings an occasional Windsor bean, till the desired rich flavour be attained. As the beans ripen and turn black, draw them up, and place them to dry in an airy situation, guarding the pods from mice, which sometimes take every bean, and thus, as we have found, deprive the gardener of a choice variety, which he had been at considerable pains to procure. Esculent or Root Vegetables. The vegetables grown for the sake of their roots are of two kinds-1. Those in which the roots are round or lumpy, including the Jerusalem artichoke, the potato, and the turnip; and 2. Those which are tap or taper rooted, including the carrot, the beet-root, the radish, and the horse-radish. Strictly speaking, the tubers of potatoes, &c., are not roots, but merely parts of the vegetable below the ground, the real roots being small fibres which shoot out from the tubers, and bring nourishment to the plant. All require depth of soil to penetrate, and also looseness and breadth of soil to allow of expansion. JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE.-This is a root which may be said to combine, in point of flavour, the turnip with the potato. Its name is an absurdity, for the plant has no resemblance to an artichoke ; and the word Jerusalem is a corruption of the Italian name Girassol. The plant is a native of Brazil, and botanically belongs to the same family as the sunflower, but it rarely produces flowers in the British islands. The tubers, which alone are eaten, are produced abundantly under the surface, close to the base of the main stem. The plant is set like the potato, by either whole roots or cuts with one or more eyes to each. The pieces or cuts should be prepared at the time of planting, and set by depositing in shallow trenches two feet apart, and one |