In July the ground should be prepared for the summer crop, at which time the winter crop will be fit for digging; in which process every care should be taken to prevent their being bruised; and if possible they should be dug in cloudy weather, to avoid exposure to the sun, which would rot them; whereas if carefully preserved they will keep sound for a length of time; which will be the more desirable, as at this season vegetables are mostly scarce and dear.

In August the planting should be made, or even in September, if necessary; and at the end of the latter, or in October, they will require to be hilled and earthed, and well cleansed from weeds, which must also now and then be done as weeds make their appearance.  In the choice of seed for this crop, a middle sized potatoe should be preferred, without any objection to their being cut, as is the customary mode of planting.

Manure.—­Fresh stable dung, and litter, or decayed thatch, answers better for manure than that which is very rotten; but if the ground be fresh and light, they will want no manure, and the potatoes be of a better quality, though probably less plentiful.

In October you may also plant potatoes for a latter crop; and this, though perhaps less abundant than that sown in August or the beginning of September, will nevertheless be sufficiently productive to pay well the expence and labour of planting.

The potatoe is so essential and desirable an article of food, that too much care cannot be bestowed in their culture and preservation; for should other crops fall short, this will afford the grower a certain means of supporting his family.

Carrots and Parsnips

For a general crop, may be best sown in December and January.  The ground should be dug deep, and broke up very fine.  If the soil be light, the seed should be sown on a calm day, and trod in.

Carrots and Parsnips may also be planted in July, and also in November.  They thrive best in an open situation, or a light sandy soil; and after they come up, should be thinned and set out with a small two inch garden hoe.

Cabbages

For a constant supply may be sown in January, April, May, July, August, October, and early in November, at a time when the ground is in a moist state.  The plants sown in April will not run to seed.  Care should be taken to set out the plants in a richer and stronger ground than the bed they are taken from; otherwise the crop will be poor.  Their first bed should now and then be weeded with the hand, in dry weather, and the freshest and strongest plants removed first.  In setting them out, a passage should be allowed between the rows of at least two feet, and in the rows the plants kept eighteen or twenty inches distant from each other, which will allow them a free circulation of air.  As they grow up, they should occasionally be earthed up a little, and carefully weeded, as nothing has a more negligent and slovenly appearance than a foul bed of cabbage.  In very dry hot weather, their first bed should be watered now and then; after rain they should be set out, but not during its continuance, as it would wash the mould from the roots, and numbers decay without taking root at all in the new bed.  Cabbages run to seed in August and September.