the tops are drawn the roots will be of little account. Where the plants
are crowded, thin them, allowing every plant just room enough to spread
out its top without overlapping its neighbour. Sowings made in this way
in December, January, and February will supply an abundance of beautiful
Radishes in early spring, when they are greatly valued. To follow the
outdoor crops frame culture will again be necessary in autumn.

==Outdoor Culture.==--The second crop (which in many gardens will be the
first) may be sown on warm, dry borders in February. Within a few days
after sowing, collect a quantity of dry litter, and lay it up in a shed
ready for use. It happens often that we have warm, bright weather in
February, and the Radishes start quickly and make good progress, and
then may come a severe frost, when the litter must be spread as lightly
as possible, three or four inches thick. These open-ground sowings will
bear cold well, but they should not be allowed to get frozen, and
therefore semi-hot-beds may be employed. If time and materials appear
excessive for such a purpose, it should be remembered that this is a
capital way of preparing for the next crop, whatever it may be, and is a
particularly good method of preparing for Peas that are to be sown in
the month of April, by which time the earliest sown Radishes will be off
the ground. Successive sowings should be made from March to September in
the coolest place that can be found for them, and the usual practice of
four-feet beds will answer very well. In many gardens sufficient
supplies of Radishes are obtained by sowing in the alleys between
seed-beds, but care must be taken that this plan does not interfere with
the proper work of hoeing, weeding, thinning, &c. When seed is sown on
light soils a moderate firming with the back of the spade may be
desirable, but generally speaking it is sufficient to cover the seed
lightly, and so leave it. To thin the crop early is, however, of great
importance, no matter how wasteful the process may seem, for wherever
the plants are crowded they will make large useless tops, and small
worthless roots, and prove altogether unprofitable. For the earliest
sowings we have choice of many sorts, round, oval, and long; but the
long Radishes are not well adapted for late sowing, whereas the round
and oval sorts stand pretty well in hot weather, if on good ground in a
cool situation, with the help of a slight amount of shade. As the year
advanc