The radish is the earliest root crop, and the quickest growing. It is ready for market in three to six weeks after planting the seed; so it is a great financial help to one who is just starting a garden. It is a hardy crop requiring rather cool weather or shade. The radish responds well to hot-bed culture and the earliest spring varieties are usually grown that way. But even for planting in the open garden you need not wait long. Soaking the seeds will save several days. As soon as you can work the ground, even before all the frosts are over, radishes may be sown, provided there has been good preparation-tillage. To secure crisp, edible radishes, the growth must be continuous. Any interruption in development, or an overgrowth, makes the root stringy, bitter and often hollow. See that those in each of your bunches are even-sized and bright and clean, so that they will look like the delicacy that they are. A prime bunch of radishes is as pretty as a bouquet. The radish is a partial season crop, and is, therefore, suited for all sorts of double-cropping. It is often sown shallow in the same drills with the other vegetables of later growth, because it matures so early that it breaks the earth crust for the slower seeds. Radishes may also be sown between rows of cabbages, beans, peas, etc., or broadcast in beds by themselves. One ounce of seed will sow about 100 feet of drill or eight to ten pounds to the acre. Sow the seeds one-half inch deep (better sow too shallow than too deep) in rows 6 to 12 inches apart, if you have only a little plot; or in long rows a little farther apart if you use a wheel-hoe. Drop two or three seeds to the inch; this can be done only with a seeder attached to the wheel-hoe frame: later, thin out the seedlings to about two inches apart. Only large seeds should be used, the small ones being too slow maturing. They may be sown at regular intervals of seven to ten days all through the spring. It is usually difficult to grow good radishes in summer, unless you can select a cool spot and keep the soil cool, but some sorts of radishes do well in the hot weather. Although in America the radish is best known as an early spring crop, it may also be grown for winter use if planted in July or August, and stored like turnips or other root crops. The tops make good greens for boiling. The radish is the easiest of crops to grow, and has only one serious enemy, the root maggot. This insect is one of the cabbage enemies also, and can be destroyed by injecting bisulphide of carbon in the soil, but that treatment is too expensive for the returns from radishes. The most effective way is to sow the radishes where the maggot has not been breeding, and thus starve the pest out.