THE VEGETABLE BEDS

      NOTE.—For every vegetable there are dozens of named varieties, all of them very nearly equally excellent provided they are properly handled and given the conditions they need. Moreover, every gardener with the smallest experience has his own favourites, knowing very well which varieties he considers give the best results. Particular varieties, therefore, are not, in general, given here, and any gardener desiring information on this point should take the advice of his seed merchant.

      SOME vegetables are best sown where they will come to maturity; others should be sown in a seed-bed. The former include the root crops, peas, beans, lettuce, spinach and the like. The cabbage family—a term which comprises cabbages, cauliflowers, savoys, brussels sprouts, broccoli and kale—should always be sown in a special seed-bed and transplanted later when weather permits and space can be found for them in the plot allotted to them.

      All members of the cabbage family, with the one exception of kale, are very greedy feeders. They require a large quantity of food and this you have to supply. The plot should be deeply dug and liberally manured. If you can get stable manure, work three barrowloads into every thirty square yards; that is, twelve barrowloads into plot I, but omitting the strip to be planted with kale. You will have to feed the plants somehow or other, so if stable manure is short use well-decayed garden refuse from the compost heap. The plants will require extra nourishment, but the chemicals to use are given under the various crop headings.

      In every case the right amount of seed to sow is ¹/₂ oz. for each 42-ft. row, so how much you have to buy depends upon the number of rows to be planted. To save you figuring this out, the necessary quantity is given for each green crop. You can make do with slightly less, so if your rows are only 25 ft. long, ¹/₈ oz. of seed will see you through.

      FROM SEED-BED TO PLOT

      When the seedlings are large enough to handle safely, or when the site is vacant, they must be transferred to their permanent quarters. This planting-out is a simple enough job, but do see that you do it correctly,¹ because such a lot depends upon your adopting the correct procedure.

      But there is a special task to be performed when transplanting members of the cabbage family. All of them are subject to two diseases—the cabbage maggot and club-root. You must examine every individual root before it is transplanted. If the root is knobbly, one of the knobs should be cut open. If the trouble is due to the presence of a maggot this will be seen—it is whitish-grey in colour. Burn all plants with such knobs and dip the roots of the remainder into a paint-like mixture of clay, water, and a little carbolic acid.

      If there is no maggot it is a case of club-root. Again, burn all the plants with knobbly roots and dip the others into a mixture of soot, lime, and clay, mixed with water.

      Give the plot a good dusting with lime and fork this lightly into the top 2 in. of surface soil—an excellent preventive.

      CAULIFLOWERS AND CABBAGES

      BROCCOLI.—This crop may be regarded as a winter edition of the cauliflower because it is in season from October onwards. As some of the summer cauliflowers may not mature so rapidly as the bulk of them, one row of broccoli with its 28 plants (2 ft. apart) is all that should be required. The same quantity of seed—¹/₄ oz.—is needed, this being sown in the seed-bed during the first half of April.

      The soil, as for cauliflowers, should be deeply dug and well manured in the autumn or winter, and before planting out the young plants the soil should be firmed and the top 2 in, loosened. If the soil is poor apply superphosphates, 1¹/₂ oz. and sulphate of potash, ¹/₂ oz., to the square yard. As a generarule, it is not necessary to feed broccoli during the growing period, as they should be encouraged to grow on steadily without forcing so that large curds are formed by October.

      In a normal winter we seldom get any severe frosts before the turn of the year, so the curds are not likely to suffer; but should it happen that there is a very cold spell one or two leaves should be broken over. After Christmas, if there are still some good plants left and the weather is frosty, they should be lifted, roots and all, and hung upside down in the shed, where they will keep until required.

      BRUSSELS SPROUTS FROM SEPTEMBER TO MARCH

      BRUSSELS SPROUTS.—Brussels sprouts are so popular and their cropping season is such a long one—from September onwards, often right on into March—that it is suggested there should be three rows. As there should be 2 ft. between the plants, ¹/₂ oz. of seed sown in the seed-bed during the first or second week of April will provide plenty of picked plants for transplanting later on.

      The site should be deeply dug and well manured previously, but before planting the soil should be firmed and then the top 2 in. loosened with the fork. If the soil is on the poor side, dress as for early savoys with superphosphates and sulphate of potash, and feed in monthly instalments afterwards with sulphate of ammonia, ¹/₂ oz. per square yard.

      These plants grow to a considerable size and they must be visited frequently to pick the buttons, so there should be 2¹/₄ ft. between the rows.

      SUMMER CABBAGES.—If you live in a favoured district and the seed-bed is particularly well protected from north and east winds, you can sow cabbage seed towards the end of March, but it is usually necessary to wait for the first opportunity when soil and weather conditions permit during the first half of April. For the two rows ¹/₂ oz. of seed will prove ample.

      Cabbages, in fact all members of the same family, thrive well on any garden soil, but if yours should happen to be very heavy and rather damp you can improve it greatly by working in some leaf-mould, road grit, sand or other lightening material.

      If you have an idea that the soil is not particularly good—if, for instance, the site was not manured or given a dressing of decayed vegetable refuse in the autumn or winter—or if the allotment is a new one, dress the plot with a mixture of basic slag, 3 parts by weight and kainit, 1¹