small hoeing is the most expeditious mode of thinning, as
well as most beneficial to the crop by loosening the ground; in either
method thinning the plants to about two or three inches distance,
clearing out the weakest, and leaving the strongest to form the crop. In
order to save the seed, about the beginning of May some ground should be
prepared by digging and levelling; then drawing some of the straightest
and best coloured radishes, plant them in rows three feet distant, and
two feet asunder in the rows; observing, if the season be dry, to water
them until they have taken root: after which they will only require to
have the weeds hoed down between them, until they are advanced so high
as to overspread the ground. When the seed begins to ripen, it should be
carefully guarded against the birds. When it is ripe, the pods will turn
brown: then it must be cut, and spread in the sun to dry; after which it
must be thrashed, and laid up for use where no mice can come at it. In
order to have the roots early, as in January or the following month, the
method of raising them in hot-beds is sometimes practised. They should
have eighteen inches depth of dung to bring them up, and six or seven
inches depth of light rich mould. The seed should be sown moderately
thick, covering it in half an inch thick, and putting on the lights: the
plants usually come up in a week or less; and when they appear, the
lights should be lifted or taken off occasionally, according to the
weather; and in a fortnight thin the plants to the distance of an inch
and half or two inches, when in six weeks they will be fit to draw.
Where there are no frames to spare, the beds may be covered with mats
over hoops, and the sides secured by boards and straw-bands. And when in
want of dung, if the beds be covered with frames, and the lights put on
at night and in bad weather, the plants may be raised for use a
fortnight sooner than in the open borders.--To raise them in constant
succession, steep the seed in rain water for twenty-four hours, tie it
up in a linen bag, and hang it in the sun all day. The seed beginning to
shoot, is then to be sown in fresh earth well exposed to the sun, and
covered with a tub. In three days the radishes will be produced fit for
salad, and much more delicate than those grown in the common way. In the
winter the seeds should be steeped in warm water, and the bag put in a
place sufficiently hot to make them sprout. Then fill a tub with ric