It is still too early to sow out of doors, except in such specially favourable circumstances as were referred to in Chapter I (Jan. The Opening Year)., - that is, a dry, crumbly state of the soil following on winter sunshine. Given these, Peas, Broad Beans, Turnips, and Spinach may be sown in the garden.

Asparagus, Rhubarb, and Seakale may be forced (for methods, see previous chapter). Onions, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Celery may be sown in heated houses for early use.

The work of preparing vacant land in the kitchen garden by digging (or bastard trenching) and manuring should be continued.

Mushrooms

Early February is a very good time for those to begin who want to grow Mushrooms on beds in the open air, as the crop can be got before hot weather comes on. Perhaps the reader is a lover of Mushrooms, and appreciates them when gathered from a pasture in September. If so, let him try his hand with a bed, because he will probably enjoy home-grown produce more than ever he did outdoor gatherings, especially if he can be persuaded to pick the Mushrooms in a half-developed state. The worst of the field Mushrooms is that they are often very large and flabby. Thick, firm, half-sized ones are farsuperior in flavour. Expert Mushroom growers generally get produce in two or three months from the time of starting, and an amateur who does not see Mushrooms coming within three months should want to know the reason why. I think that he will see them, however, if he is careful in the preparation of his manure, for much turns on that. He should get it direct from the stables, and have the whole supply delivered as nearly simultaneously as possible, because when it is carted in at intervals of several days the early batches lose their heat before the others arrive. The orthodox ridge-shaped bed, two and a half feet wide at the base, and the same high, will take about one single cartload for every yard. The manure ought to be thoroughly turned three times at intervals of two days, and then trodden down into a firm mass of the shape advised. Seedsmen supply bricks of spawn, which may be broken up into pieces as large as a Walnut, and pushed into the warm manure. A coat of soil an inch thick should be put on when threads can be seen running from the spawn, and a covering of straw nine inches thick placed over all.

Fig. 29. - Section of Ridge-shaped Mushroom Bed. a. Manure. b. Lumps of spawn.

c. Layer of soil. d. Straw.

Globe Artichokes

Has the reader had a vegetable resembling a small scaly ball placed before him at a banquet, and eaten it in mute speculation as to what it may be? It is the Globe Artichoke. Both in appearance and flavour it is entirely different from the Jerusalem Artichoke. I am not prepared to say that the Globe kind is worth adding to the list of vegetables for a quite small garden, because it only gives a small quantity of food in proportion to the amount of ground that it occupies; it is more or less of a delicacy. Growing large and bushy, it needs planting some four feet apart. It can be raised from seed, but those who have plants may increase them early in the year by taking off and planting the young rooted side growths. Afterwards, they may fork some manure into the ground round the old plants, by way of stimulating them.

Starting Potatoes In Boxes

The present is a good time to start Potatoes in boxes. If the reader asks why they should be handled now, inasmuch as it involves time and trouble, I reply: As early Potatoes are sure to make growth of some kind during mild weather towards the end of mid-winter, we may as well have that growth strong. If the tubers are left in a heap in the dark, the sprouts which they push will be weak and valueless; if the Potatoes are laid thinly in boxes, and put in a light place safe from frost, the sprouts will be short, thick, and strong. Potatoes that are started in boxes in this way give better and earlier crops, when they are ultimately planted, than those which are not so treated. I advise the reader to select sets of about two ounces in weight for seed purposes. Sharpe's Express is a splendid early variety, a heavy cropper, and a good cooker.