will last ten years at the very least, if taken care of.  It has been clearly demonstrated that this much-esteemed vegetable may be grown to perfection in any garden with little more expense than attends other crops, provided only that a reasonable amount of skill is brought to bear upon the undertaking.  A deep, rich, sandy loam suits it.  Dig in a good body of manure, and provide a mellow seed-bed.  This being done, care must be taken to sow thinly, and, in due time, to thin severely; for a crowded plant will never supply fat sticks.  Beds may be made by planting roots instead of sowing seeds, but the roots must be fresh, or they will not prosper.  The advantage of using plants is that ‘grass’ may be cut earlier than when produced from seed.

==Bean, Broad==.—–­ Sowings may be made until the middle of this month, after which time they are not likely to pay, especially on hot soils.  It is customary to top Beans when in flower, and the practice has its advantages.  In case the black fly takes possession, topping is a necessity, for the insect can only subsist on the youngest leaves at the top of the plant, and the process pretty well clears them away.

==Beans, Dwarf French,== may be sown outdoors at the end of the month, but not in quantity, because of the risk of destruction by frost.  Much may be done, however, to expedite the supply of this popular vegetable, and sowings in boxes placed in gentle heat or under the protection of a frame will furnish plants which may be gradually hardened off for transfer to the open in May.  In proportion to the means at command, early sowings outdoors will live or die, as determined by the weather, although a very little protection is sufficient to carry the young plants through a bad time in the event of late frosts and storms.  But sowings made at the end of the month will probably prosper.

==Bean, Climbing French.==—­Sowings of the Climbing French Bean may be made this month as directed for the Dwarf French class:  the earliest in gentle heat for transplanting, and later on in open quarters for succession crops.

==Beet.==—­At quite the end of the month sow in drills, a foot or fifteen inches apart, on deep, well-dug ground, without manure.  Large Beets are not desired for the kitchen; but rather small, deeply coloured, handsome roots are always valued, and these can only be grown in soil that has been stirred to a good depth, and is quite free of recent manuring.

==Broccoli.==—­Make another sowing of several sorts, giving preference as yet to the early varieties.  In particularly late districts, and, perhaps, pretty generally in the North, the late Broccoli should be sown now, but in the Midlands and the South there is time to spare for sowing.  Be particular to have a good seed-bed, that the plants may grow well from the first; if the early growth be starved, the plants become the victims of club and other ruinous maladies.

==Brussels Sprouts.==—­In many households late supplies of Brussels Sprouts are much valued, and as the crop is capable of enduring severe weather, a supplemental sowing should always be made during this month.  Rich soil and plenty of room are essential.