In light soils, and on warm sites, the sowing of various kinds of vegetables may proceed, notably Peas, Broad Beans, Turnips, Spinach, early Carrots, Onions, Parsley, Brussels Sprouts, Lettuces, and Radishes. Potatoes may be planted. On heavy soils and cold sites it may be wise to hold all these crops over. The state of the soil is the principal factor.

Fig. 34. - Disbudding Peaches.

Fig. 1 shows at a the young buds to retain, and at b those to remove; c, flower buds.

Fig. 2, the branch duly disbudded.

Fig. 3, a fully developed flower.

Fig. 4, a shoot bud growing freely.

Early Cabbages

Cabbages from sowings made last summer ought to be growing freely now, and they can be expedited by running a hoe between the rows at frequent intervals, and by sprinkling the lightest possible dressing of nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia between the plants. These salts burn, and must be kept off the leaves. Soot is a safe and good fertiliser for Cabbages, and may be used instead of the salts, but its action will not be so quick. If summer Cabbages are wanted, a sowing of seed may be made out of doors now. Improved Nonpareil is a suitable variety, and all seedsmen sell it.

Solving Peas

A wide drill about three inches deep should be made when Peas are being sown, and sowing should not be done at a greater rate than one pint of seed to twenty yards of drill. The seed should be scattered well over the drill, so that the plants may not come up crowded; if they do they should be thinned until they stand quite clear of each other. In view of probable trouble from vermin, it is prudent to moisten the seed in paraffin oil before sowing it. Gradus, William the First, Ideal, and Chelsea Gem are all good early Peas. The first three grow from three to four feet high, the last grows about fifteen inches. Where more rows than one are sown, it is the rule to have them as far apart as the plants grow high, and to sow Spinach and Turnips in narrow drills between if the rows of Peas are more than three feet apart.

Early Turnips

The Early Milan in those districts where it succeeds, and the Snowball where the Milan does not thrive, may be sown for the first crop of Turnips. Both the varieties named have agreeable flavour. The seed should be sprinkled in very thinly, and covered about an inch. After the drill has been filled in, the soil may be trodden quite firmly, as though the crop was one of Onions, unless it is so damp as to bind closely.

Sowing Onions

One or two rows of a useful, keeping kitchen Onion, such as Ar, James' Keeping, or White Spanish, may be sown out of doors if the soil is in a favourable state. It will have been prepared previously by digging and manuring. The drills should be an inch deep and a foot apart. After the seed has been sown (thinly of course), the ground may be trodden hard, and then be scratched over very lightly with a rake; deep raking would neutralise the effects of the treading. Seedling Onions in boxes, raised as advised in a previous chapter, must have attention. Dryness of the soil, and crowding, should both be carefully guarded against; the latter is better avoided by thin sowing than by thinning the plants, but some must be thrown out if there are too many. The plants should be shifted from the seed boxes to cutting boxes about four inches deep when they are three inches high, and set out three inches apart. If raised in heat they ought to be hardened in a frame before being planted out in April.