The complete Indian housekeeper & cook

If the seed sown is good, thei’e should be no need of tying up, as the plants should heart of themselves. In England, at the approach of winter, lettuce and endive crops are taken bodily uji by the roots, and packed away with earth and sand in dark sheds, where they keep for months. It would be interesting to try this during the summer in India. Lettuces should be planted along the spaces between other vegetables and by water- courses. They do better singly, and it saves si^ace. 14. Melons (Kurhooza). — English melons grow perfectly if sown in heat in January. The rncili understands melons very well as a rule. 15. Onions fPeeaj'). — Leave to the mdli ; if he can grow anything, it is an onion. IC. Peas {Mutter'). — The rows should be single, at least twenty feet apart, leaving room for a strip of other vegetables between each, and the direction should be invariably from north to south. I he row should be dug about eighteen inches deep and at least eighteen inches wide. Good leaf manure should be forked into it, and the whole watered. About two days after it will be fit for sowing. Good pea-growers plant each seed singly, like beans ; but even if sown in drills, one pint of peas should sow a row thirty yards long. 'I'he iHu/j will 140 The Complete Indian use twice that quantity, and insist on a double row. Do not listen to him. For early peas it is best to sow in seed-beds, and transplant when four inches high. This is done in all the nurseries at home, and it is said vastly to improve the yield of the pea. It is of great advantage in India to have all the first crops and seeds near the well, so that they may be carefully watched and tended together. The seed should be sown at least three inches deep for large peas. With decent management peas should be on the table from Novem- ber till the first week in May, as sowings may be made every week, and some of the rows kept back from flowering by judicious stopping. Peas require earthing up, and a top dressing of fowl manure is of great benefit. 17. Radishes (Molt). — The mdli loves those that run eight to the pound, and his soul delights in half an acre of them. Therefore, give him fifty seeds to plant every three days throughout the season, and in this way, and this way alone, you will checkmate him, and enjoy first-class radishes from September till May without a break. Never prepare a special bed for radishes, but put the seeds in between rows of carrots or lettuces, or anywhere there is room. This saves both s2Jace and watering. The best radishes are undoubtedlv the common French breakfast radish. 18. Rpinach (Sag) requires to be sown in a light soil not too freshly manured. The seed is best steeped in water for twenty-four hours before being sown, and one ounce should sow one hundred and fifty feet of drill. The ground cannot be too highly manured, and a jdentiful supply of liquid manure, made of soot and {jigeon’s dung, may be given with advantage. The white beet spinach is most useful in India, giving a con- tinuous supply from November to May. It is best sown in seed-beds, and transplanted into drills eighteen inches ajiart. It cannot be too highly manured.