and the removal of the main shoot delays their production. But
after fifteen or twenty fruits are visible the top of the leading stem
may be shortened to the length of the stake. The fruiting branches
should also be kept short beyond the fruit, and large leaves must be
shortened to allow free access of sunshine. Should the single-stem
system be adopted, three feet between the rows and two feet between
plants in the rows will suffice. On a light soil and in dry weather
weak liquid manure may, with advantage, be alternated with pure water,
but this practice must not be carried far enough to make the plants
gross, or ripening will be delayed. Fruit intended for exhibition must
be selected with judgment, and with this end in view four to six
specimens of any large variety will be sufficient for one plant to bring
to perfection.

==Turnip== to be sown for succession. It is well now to keep to the small
white early sorts.

==Vegetable Marrow==.--In cottage gardens luxuriant vines may every year
be seen trailing over the sides of heaps of decayed turf or manure. All
forward vegetables are prized, and Marrows are no exception to the rule.
An early supply from the open ground is most readily insured by raising
strong plants in pots and putting them on rich warm beds as early as the
season and district will permit. Late frosts must be guarded against by
some kind of protection, and slugs must be deterred from eating up the
plants.

==JUNE==

To some extent the crops will now take care of themselves, and we may
consider the chief anxieties and activities of the season over. Our
notes, therefore, will be more brief. We do not counsel the cultivator
to 'rest and be thankful.' It is better for him to work, but he must be
thankful all the same, if he would be happy in his healthy and
entertaining employment. Watering and weeding are the principal labours
of this month, and both must be pursued with diligence. But ordinary
watering, where every drop has to be dipped and carried, is often
injurious rather than beneficial, for the simple reason that it is only
half done. In such cases it is advisable to withhold water as long as
possible, and then to give it in abundance, watering only a small plot
every day in order to saturate the ground, and taking a week or more to
go over a piece which would be done in a day by mere surface dribblings.

==Asparagus== should be in full supply, and may be cut until the middle or
end of