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Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering

Esmaeal Ghavanloo
Hashem Rafii-Tabar
Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh

Computational
Continuum Mechanics of
Nanoscopic Structures
Nonlocal Elasticity Approaches
Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering

Series Editors
Seung-Bok Choi, Inha University, Incheon, South Korea
Haibin Duan, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing,
P.R. China
Yili Fu, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, P.R. China
Carlos Guardiola, Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
Jian-Qiao Sun, University of California, Merced, USA
Young W. Kwon, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA
Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering (STME) publishes the latest develop-
ments in Mechanical Engineering—quickly, informally and with high quality. The
intent is to cover all the main branches of mechanical engineering, both theoretical
and applied, including:
• Engineering Design
• Machinery and Machine Elements
• Mechanical structures and stress analysis
• Automotive Engineering
• Engine Technology
• Aerospace Technology and Astronautics
• Nanotechnology and Microengineering
• Control, Robotics, Mechatronics
• MEMS
• Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
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• Engineering Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer
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Within the scopes of the series are monographs, professional books or graduate
textbooks, edited volumes as well as outstanding PhD theses and books purposely
devoted to support education in mechanical engineering at graduate and post-
graduate levels.
Indexed by SCOPUS and Springerlink.
To submit a proposal or request further information, please contact: Dr. Leontina Di
Cecco [email protected] or Li Shen [email protected].
Please check our Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering at http://www.springer.
com/series/11236 if you are interested in conference proceedings. To submit a
proposal, please contact [email protected] and [email protected].

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11693

Esmaeal Ghavanloo Hashem Rafii-Tabar
• •

Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh

Computational Continuum
Mechanics of Nanoscopic
Structures
Nonlocal Elasticity Approaches

123
Esmaeal Ghavanloo Hashem Rafii-Tabar
School of Mechanical Engineering Department of Medical Physics
Shiraz University and Biomedical Engineering
Shiraz, Iran Shahid Beheshti University
of Medical Sciences
Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh Tehran, Iran
School of Mechanical Engineering
The Physics Branch
Shiraz University
Iran Academy of Sciences
Shiraz, Iran
Tehran, Iran

ISSN 2195-9862 ISSN 2195-9870 (electronic)

Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering
ISBN 978-3-030-11649-1 ISBN 978-3-030-11650-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11650-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018967439

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
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for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
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This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To my wife, Nazanin, for all her
encouragement, patience and understanding
and my Parents for their unconditional
support
Esmaeal Ghavanloo

To my mentor Richard Feynman who was the

first to raise the possibility of manipulating
single atoms, an idea that eventually led to
the emergence of the fields of nanoscience
and nanotechnology
Hashem Rafii-Tabar

To my father, wife and children for their

unwavering support and to the memory of my
mother for her love and encouragement
Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh
Preface

Following the enlightening talk by Richard Feynman in 1959 suggesting that the
manipulation of single atoms is not contradicted by the laws of physics, a new
perspective was ushered in scientific research in 1970s, namely, the transition from
micro- and macro-scale science and technology to nanoscale science and technol-
ogy, since many exotic phenomena both in non-living and living systems emerge
and manifest themselves at this scale. The mechanical properties of materials at the
nanoscale are very different from the properties of the same materials at the micro-
and macro-scale. A deep understanding of the mechanical characteristics of
nanoscopic structures is of great importance from both pure and applied perspec-
tives. Owing to the complexity of performing accurate experimental measurements
at nanoscopic scales, and also the high computational costs associated with
quantum-mechanical-based and atomistic-based computer modelling and simula-
tions, an alternative and very accurate methodology, namely, computational con-
tinuum mechanics-based modelling of the nanoscopic structures, has attracted a
significant amount of attention worldwide. Over the past decade, computational
modelling based on the use of nonlocal continuum theories has emerged as a very
promising approach whereby, among other things, size dependency of the material
properties is accommodated into the standard local continuum theory. Therefore,
the nonlocal elasticity models play an important role in the study of the properties
of nanoscopic structures that have not been fully explored or even addressed in the
past. In fact, the nonlocal elasticity theory has become a great investigative tool in
both basic and applied research in nanoscience and nanoengineering. The nonlocal
elasticity theory-based models are currently being developed rapidly and are con-
tinuously being updated and modified. Notwithstanding its importance, there are
only a few books dealing with this subject and its applications, particularly to
nanoscience, that are simple enough for a wide range of audiences to follow, who
would like to learn the nonlocal elasticity models for analysis of low-dimensional
structures.

vii
viii Preface

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the nonlocal elasticity theory

as applied to the prediction of the mechanical characteristics of various types of
nanoscopic structures having different morphologies and functional behaviours. In
writing the book, we pursued three main objectives:
(1) To introduce the fundamental notions and advanced concepts of the nonlocal
elasticity approaches.
(2) To present the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical tools to apply the
nonlocal elasticity theory to the study of the mechanical behaviour of nano-
scopic structures.
(3) To provide in-depth discussions of the vast and rapidly expanding research
works pertinent to the nonlocal modelling of the nanoscopic structures.
The topics covered in this book are such that we have assumed that the reader
has a background in continuum mechanics and university-level mathematics.
However, we have attempted to provide an easy-to-follow description of the fun-
damental theories so as to make the pertinent research materials accessible to as a
wide community as possible.
This book is mainly written for practising scientists. The typical audience of this
book could include scientists in the fields of computational condensed matter
physics, computational materials science, computational nanoscience and nan-
otechnology, and nanomechanics. By providing enough details, it can also be useful
for senior undergraduate, postgraduate and Ph.D. students, as well as practicing
engineers. We hope that all the readers will gain a good understanding of the
subject as they explore the pages of this book. We believe that there still exist a
wide variety of new, unexplored areas of research within the nonlocal modelling of
nanoscopic structures.
Finally, it should be noted that the completion of this book would not have been
possible without the patient and support of our families and friends. Their under-
standing and sacrifices are greatly appreciated.

Shiraz, Iran Esmaeal Ghavanloo

Tehran, Iran Hashem Rafii-Tabar
Shiraz, Iran Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh
November 2018
Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Part I
2 Fundamental Tenets of Nanomechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1 Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.1.1 Carbon-Based Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.1.2 Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1.3 Nanowires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.1.4 Biological Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2 Techniques for Modelling Mechanical Characteristics
of Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2.1 Atomistic-Based Modelling Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.2.2 Continuum Modelling Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2.3 Multiscale Simulation Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.3 Mechanical Behaviour of Nanoscopic Structures: Pertinent
Definitions and Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 32
2.3.1 Bending Behaviour of One-Dimensional
Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.3.2 Buckling Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.3.3 Vibrational Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3 Fundamental Notions from Classical Continuum Mechanics . . . . . 41
3.1 Displacement and Strain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.1.1 Strain Tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.1.2 Principal Strains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.1.3 Spherical and Deviatoric Strains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

ix
x Contents

3.1.4 Compatibility Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3.1.5 Plane Strain Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.2 Stress Tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.2.1 Concept of Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.2.2 Stress on an Arbitrary Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.2.3 Principal Axes of Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.2.4 Hydrostatic and Deviatoric Stresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.3 Constitutive Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.3.1 Generalized Hooke’s Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.3.2 Material Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.4 Governing Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.4.1 Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.4.2 Navier Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.5 Elastic Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4 Essential Concepts from Nonlocal Elasticity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.1 Nonlocality and Nonlocal Averaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.2 Spatial Nonlocal Kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.2.1 Properties of Nonlocal Kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.2.2 Different Types of Nonlocal Kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.2.3 Two-Phase Kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
4.3 Gradient-Based Nonlocal Elasticity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.3.1 Green’s Function Kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.3.2 Alternative Derivation of Gradient-Based
Nonlocal Elasticity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.4 Laplacian of the Stress Tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.4.1 Cylindrical Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.4.2 Spherical Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4.5 Nonlocal Anisotropic Elasticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.6 Nonlocal Kernels in a Finite Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5 Nonlocal Modelling of Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.1 Nonlocal Beam Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.1.1 Nonlocal Euler-Bernoulli Beam Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.1.2 Nonlocal Timoshenko Beam Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
5.2 Nonlocal Cylindrical Shell Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.2.1 Governing Equations for Circular Cylindrical
Shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.2.2 Nonlocal Classical Shell Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
5.2.3 Nonlocal First-Order Shear Deformation Theory . . . . . 99
5.3 Nonlocal Plate Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Contents xi

5.3.1 The Kirchhoff Plate Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

5.3.2 The Reissner-Mindlin Plate Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
5.3.3 Circular Nanoplate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
5.4 Nonlocal Membrane Theory for Spherical Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5.5 Nonlocal Models for Nanocrystals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
6 Elastic Properties of Carbon-Based Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . 115
6.1 Young’s Modulus and Effective Wall Thickness
of SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
6.2 Anisotropic Elastic Constants of SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
6.3 Nonlocal Parameter for Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
6.4 Evaluation of the Nonlocal Parameter for SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . 126
6.5 Anisotropic Mechanical Properties of Graphene Sheets . . . . . . . 130
6.6 Effective Young’s Modulus of Fullerene Molecules . . . . . . . . . 135
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Part II
7 Computational Modelling of the Vibrational Characteristics
of Zero-Dimensional Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.1 Historical Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.1.1 Axisymmetric Vibration of Spherical Nanoshells . . . . . 144
7.1.2 Breathing-Mode of Spherical Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . 144
7.2 Axisymmetric Vibrational Modes of Spherical Fullerene
Molecules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
7.3 Vibration of Spherical Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
7.3.1 Radial Vibration of Isolated Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . 151
7.3.2 Vibration Under Radial Body Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
7.3.3 Frequency Analysis of Nanoparticle Subject
to Surface Periodic Excitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
8 Modelling the Mechanical Characteristics of One-Dimensional
Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
8.1 Measurement of Mechanical Characteristics
of One-Dimensional Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
8.1.1 Nanoscale Tensile Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
8.1.2 Beam Bending Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
8.1.3 Mechanical Resonance Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
8.1.4 Nanoindentation Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
8.1.5 Challenges in the Mechanical Characterisation
of ODNSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
xii Contents

8.2 Vibration of Nanorods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

8.2.1 Extensional Vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
8.2.2 Breathing Vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
8.3 Static Deformation of Nanorods Under Axial Loadings . . . . . . . 177
8.3.1 Nonlocal Differential Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
8.3.2 Two-Phase Nonlocal Integral Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
8.3.3 Nanorod in Tension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
9 Modelling the Mechanical Characteristics of Carbon Nanotubes:
A Nonlocal Differential Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
9.1 Classification of Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
9.2 Large Aspect Ratio SWCNTs: Nanobeams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
9.2.1 Bending Deformations of SWCNTs Subject
to Transverse Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
9.2.2 Buckling of SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
9.2.3 Postbuckling Behaviour of Highly Deformable
Nanobeams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
9.2.4 Linear Flexural Vibrations of Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . 201
9.3 Low Aspect Ratio SWCNTs: Cylindrical Nanoshells . . . . . . . . 203
9.3.1 Shell-Like Buckling of SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
9.3.2 Vibrational Properties of SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
9.3.3 Radial Breathing Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
10 Application of Nonlocal Elasticity Theory to Modelling
of Two-Dimensional Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
10.1 Bending Deformation of Graphene Sheets Under
a Transverse Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
10.2 Buckling of Single-Layered Graphene Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
10.2.1 Rectangular Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
10.2.2 Circular Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
10.3 Deformation of Geometrically Imperfect Circular
Graphene Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
10.4 Transverse Vibration of Graphene Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
10.4.1 Transverse Free Vibration of Rectangular
Graphene Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
10.4.2 Viscoelastic Graphene Sheets Embedded
in a Viscoelastic Medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
10.5 Application of the Nonlocal Anisotropic Elasticity
to Modelling Graphene Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Contents xiii

11 Nonlocal Elasticity Models for Mechanics of Complex

Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
11.1 Application of the Nonlocal Models to Nanoscale Devices . . . . 241
11.1.1 Resonant Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
11.1.2 Nanoturbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
11.2 Mechanical Characteristics of Biological Nanoscopic
Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
11.2.1 Mechanical Behaviour of Protein Microtubules . . . . . . 247
11.2.2 Analysis of Lipid Tubules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
11.2.3 Low Frequency Vibrational Modes of Spherical
Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
11.2.4 Persistence Length of Collagen Molecules . . . . . . . . . . 251
11.3 Other Types of Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
11.3.1 Nanotube-Based Heterojunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
11.3.2 Nanopeapods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
11.3.3 Y-Junction Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
11.3.4 Piezoelectric Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
11.3.5 Carbon Honeycombs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
12 Recent Developments and Future Challenges in the Application
of Nonlocal Elasticity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
12.1 Nonlocal Paradox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
12.2 Self-adjointness of Eringen’s Nonlocal Elasticity . . . . . . . . . . . 263
12.3 Nonlocal Constitutive Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
12.4 Nonlocal Fully Intrinsic Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
12.5 Microstructure-Based Nonlocal Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
12.6 Stress-Driven Nonlocal Integral Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
12.7 Concluding Remarks and Future Prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
About the Authors

Esmaeal Ghavanloo is currently Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at

Shiraz University, Iran. He received B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Shiraz
University in 2007, 2009 and 2013, respectively, all in Mechanical Engineering. He
is author of more than 60 peer-reviewed articles in the areas of mechanics of
nanostructures, nanocomposite material, cellular biomechanics and nonlocal elas-
ticity theory. He is also an active reviewer of several scientific and international
journals. He has made important contributions to the application of the nonlocal
elasticity theory to the nanoscopic structures. He has received “Dr. Kazem Ashtiani
Award” in the year 2013 from Iran’s National Elites Foundation.

Hashem Rafii-Tabar is currently the Distinguished Professor of Theoretical and

Computational Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Department of Medical
Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical
Sciences in Iran. He was educated in England, including a Research Fellowship at
the University of Oxford. He was a Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of
Materials Research at the University of Tohoku (Japan). He was the founder of the
nanotechnology field in Iran and was the Head of the Nanotechnology Committee
of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology in Iran. He is a member of the
Iran’s Academy of Sciences and was elected as an Eminent Science Personality
(Chehreh Mandegar) in 2006. His tens of publications cover several distinct areas
of theoretical physics, and nanoscience, including nano-neuroscience. He shared the
Elegant Work Prize of the Institute of Materials (London) in 1994 for his investi-
gations in the field of computational nanoscience. His book “Computational
Physics of Carbon Nanotubes” published by the Cambridge University Press in
2008 was the first to cover this field and has been republished several times.

Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering at

Shiraz University in Iran. He was a Visiting Research Professor at the Zienkiewicz
Centre for Computational Engineering, Swansea University, UK. He obtained the
B.Sc. degree (Honors) in Mechanical Engineering in 1991 from the Shiraz
University. He received the M.Sc. degree in Applied Mechanics and Ph.D. degree

xv
xvi About the Authors

in Aerospace Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 1994 and 2002,

respectively. His research and teaching span over 25 years and his expertise and
leadership in the fields of structural dynamics and stability, aeroelasticity,
nanocomposite, nanoscopics and smart structures. To his credit thus far he has six
book chapters, one book, over 110 technical papers in prestigious journals, 125
papers in the international conference proceedings and one national Patent. He
serves on the Editorial Boards of Applied Mathematical Modelling, Journal of
Mechanics of Advanced Composite Structures and Sharif Journal of Mechanical
Engineering. He is an active researcher and dedicated teacher and has received
numerous awards and recognitions for excellence in teaching and research. He is a
member of the Iranian Society of Mechanical Engineering and was elected as
distinguished professor in 2018.
Abbreviations

AIREBO Adaptive intermolecular reactive empirical bond order potential

CCMV Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus
CGMD Coarse-grained molecular dynamics
DFT Density functional theory
DWCNT Double-walled carbon nanotube
FCC Face-centered cubic
FRF Frequency response function
HRTEM High-resolution transmission electron microscopy
IPR Isolated pentagon rule
LAMMPS Large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator
LD Lattice Dynamics
MC Monte Carlo
MD Molecular Dynamics
MEMS Microelectromechanical systems
MWCNT Multi-walled carbon nanotube
NEMS Nanoelectromechanical systems
ODNS One-dimensional nanoscopic structure
RBM Radial breathing mode
SEM Scanning electron microscope
SLGS Single-layer graphene sheet
STM Scanning tunnelling microscope
SWCNT Single-walled carbon nanotube
YJCNT Y-junction carbon nanotube

xvii
Chapter 1
Introduction

Small structures formed from a countable number of particles (atoms or molecules)

and whose physical and chemical properties are functions of their sizes, are called
nanoscopic structures. These structures are located between individual atoms
(the size of an atom being about 0.1 nm) and large clusters consisting of up to
108 atoms or molecules. It is a standard practice in the nanoscience community that
a structure is termed as a nanoscopic structure if at least one of its dimensions lies in
the range 1–100 nm. Novel properties and functions are associated with nanoscopic
structures due to reduction in their dimensionalities. These small structures have
promoted a revolution in science and technology, and they are utilized in making
new devices as well as leading to new technologies. Furthermore, Nature has already
employed nanoscopic structures to perform vital biological functions. Hence, these
exotic structures have occupied the centre stage in pure and applied research due to
their widespread applications in various fields of nanoscience, nanoengineering, nan-
otechnology, materials science and technology, medical physics, biomedical engi-
neering, biotechnology, molecular biology and genetics, information technology,
and neural science and neural engineering. The invention of the scanning tunnelling
microscope (STM) has opened a new perspective for the characterization, measure-
ment and manipulation of nanoscopic structures. Following this invention, various
types of biological and non-biological nanoscopic structures with various morpholo-
gies and functionalities have been discovered, synthesized and reported during the
past four decades.
Phenomenological study of nanoscopic structures, either as single isolated struc-
tures or as components in nanoscale machines and systems, forms an active research
area in applied science and engineering. The investigation into their mechanical char-
acteristics, in particular, forms one of the most intense fields of research. Understand-
ing the mechanical properties and behaviour of a material system at nanoscale level is
a necessary requirement for an efficient and accurate design, fabrication and assembly
of nanoscale systems, nanomaterials, nanodevices and nanodrugs. Accordingly, the
development of well-understood theoretical, computational and experimental frame-
works for characterizing the mechanical structure and behaviour of the nanoscopic
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1
E. Ghavanloo et al., Computational Continuum Mechanics
of Nanoscopic Structures, Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11650-7_1
2 1 Introduction

structures is very desirable, and it poses a huge number of challenges for researchers
in this field. Since the measurement of the mechanical behaviour of nanoscopic
structures is a time consuming and rather expensive endeavour, significant efforts
have been invested to explore their properties and behaviour through theoretical and
mathematical approaches. These approaches can generally be classified into four cat-
egories; atomistic-based simulation methods, multi-scale (coarse-grained) modelling
methods, continuum-based methods, and modified continuum approaches.
Molecular Dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation approaches are the
most well-known types of the atomistic-based simulation approaches. In the MD
simulation, the dynamic behaviour of constituent particles is predicted by numeri-
cally solving the differential equations of their motion, and so this method may be
appropriate for modelling both their equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties. In
contrast to the MD simulation, the MC simulation methods do not involve the use
of equations of motion and consequently they are appropriate for studying the phe-
nomena in thermodynamic equilibrium [1]. Although the atomistic-based simulation
methods have meet with outstanding success in computational physics, their appli-
cations are limited to simple systems with a relatively small number of molecules
or atoms because the use of these methods requires access to very high-performance
computational facilities. Furthermore, there are other limitations related to time steps,
constraints, boundary conditions and temperature effects [2].
To overcome these limitations, it is necessary to decrease the number of degrees of
freedom by grouping atoms into larger particles or beads, and replacing the atomic
interactions by bead-bead interactions. This process is known as coarse-graining
[3]. The concept of coarse-graining has been widely used in creating a macroscopic
theory of materials from their microscopic degrees of freedom [4]. Generally, there
is no systematic approach for coarse-graining that is applicable to all materials, but
several procedures have been proposed for coarse-graining of particular systems
[5]. One of the most familiar classes of coarse-grained methods is coarse-grained
molecular dynamics (CGMD) that has been developed by Rudd and Broughtony
[6]. The CGMD is a natural bridging technique which provides a coupling between
the various scales, allowing the results of calculations at lower length and time
scales to be used as input parameters in the calculations at higher scales. Important
atomistic effects can be captured by using the CGMD without the computational cost
of standard atomistic-based simulation methods. Although the coarse-grained multi-
scale methods have proven to be reliable techniques for the simulation of material
behaviour, the implementation of the model varies from system to system.
Furthermore, it is confirmed that continuum-based models provide efficient alter-
native methods to investigate the mechanical behaviour of nanoscopic structures. The
main assumption underlying the continuum-based models is that the material proper-
ties are distributed continuously throughout the spaces occupied by them and that the
empty spaces between the atoms or molecules are ignored. From the computational
point of view, these methods are very effective and highly efficient because they
can work with reduced degrees of freedom. The main advantage of the continuum-
based methods over the molecular simulation methods is their capability for per-
forming computations without limitation in time and size scales. In these models,
1 Introduction 3

the deformation of a continuous medium is related to the applied external forces.

In the classical continuum theory, the basic assumption is that the stress at a material
point is only dependent on the strain, strain rate and strain history at that particular
point. In other word, the strain outside an arbitrary neighbourhood of the material
point is disregarded. Since information from neighbouring material points is not used,
these models are referred to as local models [7]. Although the classical continuum
theories can be used as very useful tools for modelling the mechanical properties
of nanoscopic structures, however, several questions are naturally raised about the
applicability and limitations of these theories at very small-scales. One of the most
important limitations concerns the fact that the discrete nature of the nanoscopic
structures cannot be accurately homogenized into a continuum background medium.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the material properties at the very small-scales
are size-and geometry-dependent and the small-length scale effect becomes signif-
icant in the mechanical characteristics of the nanoscopic structures. In addition, the
continuum-based computational methods are scale independent and cannot reflect
the nanoscale physical laws of the nanoscopic structures. Consequently, computa-
tional models based on the classical continuum theories fail when the size of the
structure becomes comparable with the internal characteristic length of the material
under consideration.
To overcome these limitations of the classical continuum theories, a series of
modified continuum approaches have been proposed for accommodating the
nanoscale size-effects. There are different ways to modify the classical contin-
uum theories to extend their applicability and reduce their limitations. Modified
continuum-based methods possess both the advantages of atomistic-based simulation
methods and continuum-based methods. Generally, the modified continuum-based
models accommodate nanoscale size-effects and are referred to as the nonlocal mod-
els [8]. To incorporate the small-scale effects into the theoretical modelling of the
nanoscopic structures, different modified continuum theories, namely the Cosserat
continuum theory [9], the micromorphic continuum theory [10], the rotation gradient
or couple-stress theories [11], the higher-order strain-gradient theories [12–14], the
nonlocal continuum field theories [15] and the atomistic-continuum theories [16]
have been proposed. In modified models, the atomistic information and size-effects
are integrated into the classical continuum models. The most widely used theory for
analysing the nanoscopic structures is the nonlocal elasticity theory. In the context
of the nonlocal elasticity, it is assumed that the stress field at a given reference point
requires the knowledge of the strain field at every other point in the body. Based on
this conceptual idea, the long-range interatomic interactions between material points
can be taken into account. In the original nonlocal model developed by Eringen
[15], the stress is obtained from the integral of the nonlocal averaging strain over the
whole body. Therefore, the stress-strain constitutive relations are only the difference
between the nonlocal and classical theories, whereas the equilibrium and compati-
bility equations remain unaltered. The nonlocal effect is introduced via a nonlocal
parameter which depends on several parameters including the molecular structure,
the internal characteristic length and the material type.
4 1 Introduction

The appearance of the nonlocal elasticity theory dates from the 1970s in studies
concerned with the modelling of the elastic wave dispersion in crystals. A formal
thermomechanical- and variational-based derivation of the constitutive equations of
this theory is given by Eringen and co-workers [17–19]. Rogula [20] has collected
his works on the mathematical structure of the nonlocal elasticity theory and the
different types of nonlocal stress-strain relations in a book, studying various prob-
lems in continuum mechanics. Many sub-fields of the nonlocal field theories have
been established by Eringen [15], including nonlocal pure elastic continua, nonlo-
cal fluid mechanics, nonlocal electromagnetism, nonlocal thermoelasticity, nonlocal
memory-dependent elasticity, nonlocal piezoelectricity etc. However, the nonlocal
elasticity theory has received relatively less attention and has only been employed by
a limited number of research groups. An exact, or approximate, solution to the nonlo-
cal integral function can be determined under some very special circumstances using
the Green function approach, and hence its use is rather limited. Although an equiva-
lent formulation of the nonlocal elasticity in a differential form has also been derived,
this differential nonlocal stress relation seems not to have attracted the attention of
the research community for some time. Over the past decade, nonlocal elasticity
theory has emerged as a promising size-dependant continuum theory. Significant
progress has been made in fundamental and applied computational research in this
area. Application of nonlocal continuum-based modelling to nanoscopic structures
has attracted significant attention in the nanomechanics community. The mechanical
properties of different nanoscopic structures such as carbon allotropes, nanowires,
nanoparticles, etc., have been successfully investigated. The results obtained from
the nonlocal elasticity models for various nanostructures are in excellent agreement
with those obtained from experimental measurements and atomistic simulations.
Although there exist few books and review papers covering the subject of the
nonlocal continuum mechanics, however, to our knowledge, no book that systemat-
ically addresses all aspects of the nonlocal continuum mechanics appropriate for
nanoscopic structures, and provides the underlying computational methods, and
mathematical theories, and considers the applications of these methods and theo-
ries to the investigation of their mechanical characteristics has been published. The
book by Eringen [15] is a significant book in this field. That book explains the fun-
damental formulation of the nonlocal field theory. However, it is not easy to follow
for a wide range of researchers in different fields of computational science who
are interested in the analysis of the mechanical characteristics of low-dimensional
structures. The book by Gopalakrishnan and Narendar [21] describes the fundamen-
tal and advanced concepts of wave propagation in the nanoscopic structures. That
book is based on the nonlocal elasticity theory and it predominantly addresses the
wave behaviour in carbon nanotubes and graphene sheets. The book is useful but is
more specialized because it focuses only on the wave propagation. A recent book
by Karlicic and co-workers [22] provides an introduction to the nonlocal elasticity
theory for static, dynamic and stability analyses of structural elements such as rods,
beams and plates. In writing that book, it was assumed that the readers were familiar
with the basic engineering mechanics and having a graduate-level mechanics back-
ground. The authors collected and classified their previous published papers, while
the valuable results by other researchers were not considered.
Another random document with
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reasons, all pieces of ground in small gardens appropriated to the
culture of kitchen vegetables should be made to approximate, as
closely as possible, in form and general arrangement, to regular
kitchen gardens; and, where there is any portion of the ground that
cannot be brought into a rectangular shape, it should be set aside
for tart-rhubarb, artichokes, or some other permanent crop; and a
square or oblong plot in the centre be reserved for peas and beans,
and other annual vegetables.
The best soil for a kitchen garden is a sandy loam, and the surface
soil should be from two feet to three feet deep. If it is on a clayey
sub-soil, every part of the garden should be well drained; as from
the quantity of manure required for cultivating culinary vegetables, if
any water should be suffered to remain in a stagnant state in the
soil, it would be particularly injurious. The ground, if possible, should
slope to the south or south-east; and it should, at any rate, be
sheltered from the prevailing winds of the locality.
When there is only one detached kitchen garden, it is usual to
surround it entirely, or on three sides, with a piece of ground called
a slip, consisting of a fruit-tree border, and a walk with perhaps a
narrow bed beyond it, bounded by a low hedge. This is done in
order that fruit-trees may be grown on both sides of the wall. The
vinery and forcing houses are generally placed facing the main walk
of the garden; and what is called the melon-ground, which forms a
small walled garden, is often placed behind them. This, however, is
not essential; but the melon-ground should always be as near as
possible to the stable-offices, for the convenience of carting manure;
and both it and the kitchen garden should be near the house, and
have a convenient road to it concealed from the pleasure-ground. In
small suburban gardens there should always be a convenient, and, if
possible, partially concealed, road for servants to bring in
vegetables; and there should be a little plot of ground for thyme,
mint, sage, parsley, &c., very near the kitchen door.
Walks.—The obvious use of walks in a garden constructed on a
general principle of utility, is to enable the gardener and others to
reach every part of the garden as speedily as possible, without
treading on the beds; and for this reason, though the walks are
made to intersect each other at right angles, it is customary in many
gardens to round the central beds adjoining them at the corners.
Paths two feet wide are also made between the beds into which the
compartments are divided; and the beds themselves are never wider
than a man can conveniently reach across to the middle to rake or
hoe. These paths, however, as they vary according to the nature of
the crop, are never made of any permanent materials; and the
whole compartment is generally dug over when necessary, without
paying any regard to them, and re-divided into fresh beds every
season.
The walks, on the contrary, being intended to be permanent, are of
a very different nature; and, in addition to their obvious uses, it is
essentially requisite that they should be hard and firm. This is
necessary, as the manure, &c. wanted in a kitchen garden, is
generally distributed through the garden in a wheelbarrow; and the
weight in the act of wheeling is principally thrown upon a very
narrow wheel, which, on soft walks, literally ploughs its way through
the gravel, leaving an uneven furrow, extremely offensive to the eye.
To avoid this inconvenience, the walks in kitchen gardens, where
expense is not an object, are frequently made of cement or asphalt,
or laid with bricks or flag-stones; but as all these materials give the
idea of a court-yard, rather than a garden, most persons prefer
gravel walks. Where gravel is to be employed, the intended walks
are marked out with two garden lines; the space between is then
dug out, generally in the form of an inverted arch, from one foot to
two feet deep in the centre, according to the nature of the soil, and
the expense it may be thought advisable to incur; and the
excavation is filled to within six inches of the top with brick-bats,
stones, or any other hard rubbish that can be procured. If the
excavation be made in the shape of an inverted arch, in filling it up
the extreme point of the arch should be left hollow to serve as a
drain; and if it be made rectangular, a drain is generally left on each
side. In filling in the rubbish the largest pieces are thrown in first,
then smaller ones, and lastly pieces broken very small, which are
rammed down, or rolled, so as to form a smooth surface
immediately under the gravel. This is done both to give solidity to
the walk, and to prevent the gravel from being wasted by trickling
down between the interstices of the stones. As walks can never be
firm unless they are kept quite dry, in all cases there should be at
least one drain to each walk. The gravel before laying down should
be sifted, and all stones, larger than a moderate-sized gooseberry,
should be thrown out or broken; and as soon as it is laid down and
evenly spread, it should be well rolled, previously to which, if it
should be very dry, it ought to be sprinkled with water. If the gravel
be at all loose, it should be mixed with equal parts of brick-dust and
Roman cement before laying it down; or the gravel should be mixed
with burnt clay powdered, in the proportion of one wheelbarrow full
of clay, to a two-horse cartload of gravel; or if the gravel be already
laid, and it is wished to render the walk more firm, powdered burnt
clay may be strewn over it, and raked in. In all these cases, the
walks must be immediately well watered, and afterwards heavily
rolled. Sometimes the clay is mixed with water before applying it to
the gravel. Tolerably firm walks may be made of sea gravel, or
powdered sandstone, where good gravel cannot be procured, or
even of sand by this treatment. The clay may be burnt by making it
into a heap, intermixed and surrounded with faggot wood; or, as a
substitute for burning, it may be dried by spreading it on the top of
the furnace or boiler employed to heat the hothouses. Gravel walks
are generally slightly raised in the middle, to throw off the water to
the sides; and they are very frequently supplied with gratings, to
prevent large stones, or any kind of rubbish, from being washed
down by the rain into the drains so as to choke them up. When the
walks in a kitchen garden are formed of flag stones, artificial stone,
or brick, the material used is laid on brick arches or piers; and when
grass walks are employed, they require no other preparation than
marking them out on the ground, consolidating it by pressure, and
then laying them with turf. Grass walks were formerly common in
kitchen-gardens, but they are manifestly unsuitable, being more
injured than any others by the wheelbarrow, and unfit to walk on in
wet weather.
When gravel walks want renovating, the gravel should be loosened
with a pick, turned over, raked, and firmly rolled, adding a coating of
fresh gravel wherever it may be found necessary. Weeds may be
prevented from growing on gravel walks by watering the walks with
salt and water. The salt will also kill the weeds already there, and, if
these are large, they should, of course, be hoed up and raked off.
Box edgings are better than any others for gravel walks. They are
generally planted in March or April. A garden line being first drawn
tightly along the earth bordering the walk; a shallow trench is then
opened close to the gravel, and the earth from it thrown on the bed.
The box is pulled into separate plants, and the branches and roots of
each trimmed till all the plants are very nearly of the same size. The
plants are then put into the trench, with no earth between them and
the gravel; and the trench is filled up by drawing the earth into it,
and pressing it close to the roots, so as to make the plants quite
firm. Nothing else is requisite but a few waterings, till the box begins
to grow; and the only difficulty is to keep the plants in a straight
line, with the points of their shoots at an equal distance above the
soil. When box edgings are pruned, they should always be cut in
with a knife, and never clipped with shears. They should also never
be suffered to grow too high without pruning; and they should be
occasionally taken up and replanted wider apart, when their stems
appear to be becoming naked below.
Cropping.—The crops grown in the open air in a kitchen-garden are
of two kinds,—those produced by the fruit trees, and those of the
herbaceous vegetables; and the latter are again divided into the
permanent crops, and the temporary ones. The permanent crops are
those which remain for a number of years in one place, producing a
crop, year after year, from the same roots; such as asparagus,
artichokes, rhubarb, &c.: while the temporary crops are those that
require sowing or fresh planting every year, and these should never
be sown for two years in succession on the same ground.
Permanent Crops.—In regular kitchen gardens, it is of very little
consequence where the permanent crops are placed, as every part
of the ground is generally alike accessible from the walks, and alike
suitable for cultivation. But in small gardens the case is different;
and there are generally some awkward corners, which are best set
apart for the lasting crops. The part to be sown annually should be
always divided into compartments, in order to manage properly the
rotation of crops.
Asparagus Beds.—Of all the permanent crops grown in a garden, the
one which requires most preparation is asparagus. It is not perhaps
generally known that this plant is a native of Britain; but the fact is,
that it grows wild in several places both in England and Scotland.
The cultivated plant is, however, of course, very different from the
wild one; for, while the latter is meagre, insipid, and very tough, the
former is not only succulent and finely flavoured, but grows to an
enormous size. There are three sorts of asparagus grown for the
London market: the Battersea, which has a thick whitish stalk, only
just tipped with a pinkish head; the Gravesend, which is much more
slender, and has both the stalk and head green; and the Giant,
which is an enormous variety of the first. Asparagus is always raised
from seed; but, as the stalks are not fit to cut till the roots are two
or three years old, persons wishing to plant an asparagus bed
generally purchase one-year or two-years’ old plants from a
nurseryman.
Asparagus plants require a light, rich, sandy loam, and the ground in
which they are to be planted is always first trenched from three to
four feet deep, or even more, and plenty of stable dung is buried at
the bottom of the trench; the beds are then marked out four feet
wide, with paths two feet wide left between, and the plants are
planted in rows about six inches deep (the crown of the root being
left about two inches below the surface), and nine inches apart. The
beds are generally covered during winter with rotten manure, which
is forked in, and the beds raked in spring; and this treatment should
be repeated every year, or every two or three years at farthest, the
beds being slightly covered, in the intermediate years, with litter,
leaves, &c., which may be raked off in spring. The stalks should not
be cut till the third year after planting; but, after that, the roots will
continue to produce freely for twelve or fourteen years. Asparagus is
cut generally a little below the surface, with a sharp knife, slanting
upwards; and the market-gardeners cut all the shoots produced for
two months,—say from April till Midsummer,—but suffer all the
shoots that push up after that period to expand their leaves, in order
that they may elaborate their sap, and thus strengthen the roots.
Whole fields of this plant are cultivated by the market-gardeners
near London, to the extent, as it is said, of from eighty to a hundred
acres, chiefly near Mortlake, Battersea, and Deptford. During the last
four or five years, these fields, and many private gardens near
London, have been infested with a most beautiful little beetle,
striped with red, black, and blue, which eats through the shoots
close to the ground almost as soon as they appear. Asparagus is
generally forced by covering the beds with manure, and by
deepening the alleys between the beds, and filling them with
manure also.
Sea-Kale.—About seventy years ago, Dr. Lettsom, a celebrated
physician and botanist of that day, happened to be travelling near
Southampton, when he observed some plants pushing their way up
through the sea-sand. Finding the shoots of these plants quite
succulent, he enquired of some person in the neighbourhood if they
were ever eaten, and was answered, that the country people had
been in the habit of boiling these shoots and eating them as a
vegetable from time immemorial. The doctor tasted them, and found
them so good, that he took some seed to his friend Mr. Curtis, the
originator of the “Botanical Magazine,” who had then a nursery in
Lambeth Marsh. Mr. Curtis wrote a book about the plant which
brought it into notice, and he sold the seed in small packets at a
high price: and thus, this long neglected British plant, which for so
many years was only eaten by the poorest fishermen, became our
highly prized and much esteemed sea-kale, which is now so great a
favourite at the tables of the rich.
Sea-kale is raised either from seeds or cuttings of the roots. In either
case, when the plants are a year old, they are put into a bed
thoroughly prepared as if for asparagus, and planted in the same
manner. The first year the plants will require little care, except
cutting down the flower-stems wherever they appear; but the
second year they will be ready for forcing. This is performed by
covering the plants first with river-sand; then turning what are called
sea-kale pots over them, and lastly, covering the pots to the depth
of fifteen or twenty inches with fresh stable dung, the heat from
which will draw the shoots up, and make them succulent and fit to
eat.
Artichokes are another kind of permanent crop, but they are not
suitable for growing in a small garden. The artichoke is a native of
Italy, said to have been introduced in the reign of Henry VIII. It is
propagated by division, and requires a light, rich, and rather moist
soil. Manure should be laid between the rows every autumn, and the
plants covered with straw in severe weather in winter. Artichoke-
plants do not continue to produce good heads longer than six or
seven years; but young plants come into bearing the second year
after transplanting.
Strawberries.—Though strawberries should be properly included in
the list of fruits, they are generally classed by gardeners among the
permanent herbaceous crops in a kitchen-garden. There are a great
variety of named sorts grown in gardens; but they are mostly
varieties or sub-varieties of three species, viz.: the Pine (Fragaria
grandiflora), which is supposed to be originally from Surinam; the
Chili (F. Chilensis), and the Scarlet (F. Virginiana). Of these the pine-
strawberries are large, pale in colour, but with scarlet flesh, and of a
very fine and delicate flavour. The best strawberries are Keen’s
seedling, and the old pine; the Chili strawberries (one of which is
Wilmot’s Superb) have very large fruit, with white flesh, but possess
very little flavour; and the scarlet-strawberries have small, bright-
red, slightly acid fruit, which is principally used for ice-creams and
preserving. To these may be added the Hautbois (F. elatior), which,
though so often mentioned by the street vendors, is in reality very
seldom grown, from the fruit, which is small and blackish, being
rarely produced in any quantity; the Green strawberries (F. collina
and F. virides); the Alpine strawberries (F. semperflorens); and the
common wild Wood strawberry (F. vesca).
Strawberries should be grown on rich loamy soil, and they are
generally planted in beds three feet wide, three rows in a bed. Every
year, the strongest of the runners should be taken off, and planted
to form a succession crop, as the beds seldom remain good more
than three or four years. When the old beds are suffered to remain,
they should be covered with manure in winter to be forked in in
spring. When strawberries are wanted for forcing, pots are placed
near the beds, and the runners are placed over them, and kept
down with a stone, or hooked down with pegs to root.
Tart Rhubarb.—The part of the rhubarb used for making pies and
puddings is the footstalk of the leaf; and the kinds usually grown in
gardens for this purpose are Rheum Rhaponticum, a native of Asia
introduced in 1573, and Rheum Undulatum, a native of China
introduced in 1734. Rheum Palmatum, the leaves of which are very
deeply cut with pointed segments, is generally supposed to be the
kind, the root of which is used in medicine, under the name of
Turkey Rhubarb. Buck’s Elford, or Scarlet Rhubarb, has slender
stalks, but is valuable for its beautiful colour; and the Tobolsk, the
Giant, and the Victoria Rhubarb, are remarkable for the enormous
size of their stalks. Rheum Australe, which is by some said to be the
medicinal kind, and which is only lately introduced, has also
enormous leaves, and very long thick stalks, the skin of which is
rough, while the pulp tastes like that of apples.
Rhubarb is either raised from seed, or propagated by offsets, or
dividing the crown of the root. The seed is sown in April, in light rich
soil, and the plants are pricked out in autumn into a bed of rich
sandy loam which has been dug over, or trenched to the depth of
eighteen inches or two feet. The plants require no other care than
an occasional autumn or spring coating of manure to be slightly
forked in, this dressing to be only applied, when, from the leaves
and stalks produced being smaller than usual, the roots appear to
want nourishment; and if they seem crowded, they may be
occasionally taken up and replanted further apart. Rhubarb may be
forced by covering it with pots and manure, like sea-kale; or the
roots may be planted in a box, and kept in the house on a stove, or
near the fire in the kitchen, covering the box with a bast mat to keep
the plant in darkness and free from the dust, and watering it
frequently.
Horse radish grows best in rich alluvial soil; and it is propagated by
cuttings of the crowns of the roots, each about two inches long. The
ground is then prepared by trenching at least two feet deep, and the
cuttings or sets are planted in a kind of furrow about fifteen inches
deep, with their crowns upwards. The second year the roots may be
taken up, and the crowns cut off and replanted. As the sets are
planted in March, and the leaves seldom begin to appear till the
following June or July, it is customary to sow a light crop, of lettuce
for example, or spinage, on the surface of the ground over the horse
radish sets; which crop is cleared off in time to make way for the
leaves of the true crop. When the sticks of horse-radish are taken
up, they may be kept in sand in a cellar or out-house till wanted for
use.

Temporary Crops, and their Rotation.—It has been already

observed, that temporary crops should never be grown two years in
succession on the same ground; and the reason for this has been
already alluded to under the head of transplanting. It is, that the
roots of plants every year throw out a quantity of excrementitious
matter that they either will not reimbibe, or that is injurious to them;
and that thus, the ground in which they have been grown one year,
becomes unfit for them to grow in the next. This danger is obviated
in the case of perennial plants, and trees and shrubs, by the
constant elongation of the roots, which spread farther and farther
every year, beyond the influence of the unwholesome soil. This,
however, is not the case with annuals, as the roots of the plants of
one year are no longer than those were of the plants of the
preceding year; and consequently as every year’s plants occupy
exactly the same ground, when annuals are sown for several years
in the same soil they must degenerate; or, in other words, become
weak and small, from not having enough of wholesome food, or
from being forced to take food unwholesome for them. Now it has
been found, that excrementitious matter, though poisonous to the
plant that exudes it, is extremely nourishing to other plants,
completely differing from the first in nature; and what is meant by
the rotation of crops, is the art of making plants of opposite natures
succeed each other, till the ground shall be so completely cleared of
the excrementitious matter exuded by the first crop, as to be ready
to receive it again. It is true that the same ground may occasionally
be made to bear the same crops for several successive years, by
copious manuring, or by trenching; but in both cases the evil is
overcome by supplying the plant with abundance of nourishment,
and thus preventing it from being driven to the necessity of taking
unwholesome food. In fixing the rotation of crops, plants differing as
much as possible in their habits should be chosen to succeed each
other; as, for example, onions may be succeeded by lettuces;
carrots by peas; potatoes by cabbage; turnips by spinach, &c.
The Cabbage Tribe.—Few persons unacquainted with botany will be
able to believe that brocoli, cauliflowers, cabbages, Scotch or
German Greens, Brussels sprouts and savoys, not only all belong to
one genus, but are actually varieties of one species of a genus, viz.
Brassica oleracea; and that the turnip, the Swedish turnip, and the
rape (the seed of which is used for oil), belong to other species of
the same genus. The cabbage, in its wild state, is a biennial which
grows naturally on the sea-coast in different parts of England, and is
a tall straggling plant with loose leaves, and a rather pretty yellow
cruciferous flower. The borecole or kale is the first improvement
effected by cultivation; and the cauliflower the last. Indeed it is
impossible to imagine a greater difference between any species and
variety, than exists between the cauliflower and the original wild
cabbage plant. All the varieties of the cabbage tribe require a soil
which has been enriched with abundance of animal manure; and
when decaying, they have all a peculiarly offensive smell like that of
putrid meat, from the large quantity of azote that they contain.
The Cabbage.—The word “cabbage,” in its original signification,
means a firm head or ball of leaves folded closely over each other;
and thus, there is a cabbage lettuce, and a cabbage rose. The
cabbages grown in gardens are usually sown at three different
times; for the spring, summer, and autumn crop. The spring
cabbages are sown in summer generally about the first week in
August, in an open airy situation, and in light soil. When they come
up, they are thinned; and in October or November they are ready for
planting out in rows, twelve or eighteen inches apart, into the beds
where they are to cabbage. In small gardens, cabbages are seldom
raised from seed; but the plants are purchased when ready for
planting out. The summer crop is sown in February, and planted out
in rows eighteen inches or two feet apart; and the autumn crop is
sown in May, and planted out in July, generally eighteen inches apart
every way. All cabbages require a rich soil, and frequent hoeing up;
and in dry weather they should be watered to make them succulent.
The stalks of the spring cabbages are generally pulled up and carried
to the refuse heap as soon as the cabbages are cut; but the stalks of
the summer and autumn kinds are left standing, that they may
throw out what are called sprouts. The culture of the red cabbage is
exactly the same; except that there is no spring crop, and the stalks
are never left standing for sprouts. Some gardeners sow only one
crop of green cabbages, and leave the stalks standing to produce
sprouts all the rest of the year. When the cabbage stalk is left for
sprouts, it is customary, after cutting the cabbage, to give the stalk
two cuts across, so as to divide the top into four; as when this is
done, it is thought to produce sprouts with more certainty.
Coleworts are young cabbages gathered before they form a head;
and they are generally sown in June or July for an autumn, winter,
or early spring crop. As they are always eaten young, they need not
be planted more than ten or twelve inches apart every way; and
when they are gathered the stalks are always pulled up and thrown
away.
Savoys and Brussels sprouts.—Savoys are large cabbages with
wrinkled leaves, the seed of which is sown about the end of March,
in order that the crop may be ready for the table in November. The
culture is the same as that of cabbages, except that as the savoys
are large, they should be planted out in the bed where they are to
cabbage, two feet apart every way. Brussels sprouts are a variety of
the savoy cabbage; the plants first produce a small savoy on an
elongated stalk, and when this is cut off, the long stalk throws out a
number of little cabbages from its sides, which are the Brussels
sprouts. The culture is the same as for the Savoys, except that the
plants, as they do not spread, need not be more than a foot or
eighteen inches apart every way; and that the seed is generally
procured from Brussels, as that ripened in England is said to produce
inferior plants. Both savoys and Brussels sprouts are much better if
not cut till there has been some frost upon them; and they are
consequently of great value as winter vegetables.
Brocoli and Cauliflower.—The cauliflower (the name of which is
supposed to be derived from caulis, a stalk, and florens, flowering,)
is a native of Cyprus, introduced in 1694; and no one unacquainted
with the details of its culture, and who has seen the immense
quantities brought to the London market, could credit the
extraordinary care bestowed on each plant to bring it to perfection.
Cauliflowers take nearly a year from their first sowing to bring them
into a state fit for the table; and as the plants are too tender to bear
an English winter without protection, they require to be grown in
frames, or sheltered by hand glasses during frosty weather. The
seed is sown in August, in a bed of rich light earth, and the ground
is occasionally watered till the plants appear. They are then shaded
with mats during the heat of the day, and thinned out, so as to leave
the plants a little distance apart. In September they are pricked out
into beds of rich earth, and watered and shaded; and about the end
of October, or beginning of November, they are transplanted into
frames, or into beds, richly manured with rotten dung, spread over
the ground three or four inches thick, and trenched in, a spade
deep; after which, they are watered and covered with hand-glasses.
During the whole winter they require constant attention, slightly
watering them, and raising the glasses to give them air in fine
weather; and covering up the glasses closely with mats or straw in
severe frosts, and during the continuance of sharp winds. They must
also be frequently looked at, to pick off decayed leaves, &c., which
might rot the stem; and the ground in which they grow must be
strewed with a mixture of lime and soot, to protect them from the
attacks of caterpillars and slugs. Care must also be taken by giving
air, &c., to prevent them from being drawn up, or running to flower
too soon. At length spring arrives, and the plants which have safely
survived the winter must be looked over, and thinned out so that
only one or two may be left to each glass; the earth is then
loosened, the plants regularly watered, and the glasses taken off in
the middle of the day, but carefully replaced at night. At last,
towards the end of April, the glasses are removed altogether, and in
May some of the plants will begin to make heads; but even then the
care bestowed on them must not cease. The plants must be
examined daily, and some of the leaves turned down over the
flowers, to preserve them from the rays of the sun, which would
turn them brown, and from the rain which would rot them. At
length, about the end of May, or in June and July, the cauliflowers
are ready for the market; and little do the purchasers of them think
of the labour and unremitting attention which, for so many months,
have been required to rear them. A second crop, sown in February
and planted out in April, will be ready in August; and a third crop,
sown in May and planted out in July, will be in perfection about
Michaelmas or October, and may be preserved in mild weather till
near Christmas.
Brocoli is generally supposed to be a variety of the cauliflower; but it
differs essentially, both in being much hardier, and in being very apt
to vary. Thus, while only two kinds of cauliflower are known, the
early and the late, and even these can hardly be distinguished from
each other,—there are ten or twelve distinct sorts of brocoli, and
more are being raised every day. All these kinds, however, appear to
have sprung from two, the purple and the green, which are said to
have been brought from Italy. Brocoli is grown for the table in
autumn, winter, and early spring; but there is no summer crop. The
principal seasons for sowing are February and April for the autumn
and winter crops, and June for the spring crop; and the plants
succeed best in fresh loamy soil, or, if this cannot be procured, in
ground that has been deeply trenched and well manured. The
culture is like that of cabbages, except that, in very severe winters,
the plants require a little protection.
The Borecole is generally known in England by the name of Scotch
kale, and in Scotland by that of German greens. There are many
different sub-varieties, fourteen of which are enumerated in the
Ency. of Gard.; but all the kinds agree in being generally sown in
April, and transplanted in June. They require no other culture,
except hoeing and earthing up; and, as they are exceedingly hardy,
they are very valuable vegetables for winter use.
The Leguminous tribe.—Vegetables belonging to this tribe generally
occupy the ground but a few months in the summer, and are thus
very suitable, in the rotation of crops, to precede or follow those of
the cabbage tribe, which occupy the ground the greater part of a
year.
Peas.—The list of peas is almost interminable, and it is continually
changing; so that what may be considered the fashionable peas of
one season are generally superseded the next by some others, to
which every possible merit is attributed. There are, however, some
very distinct kinds, the principal of which are—the dwarf early kinds,
which are dry and mealy when full-grown, and become whitish when
they are old; the Prussian and marrow-fat peas, which are soft and
juicy, with a rich marrowy flavour, and which remain green even
when quite ripe; and the sugar peas, which are boiled, like kidney
beans, in their pods. The soil for peas should be a light, dry, sandy
loam, tolerably rich, but not freshly-manured; and, for this reason,
they are particularly well adapted to succeed any of the cabbage-
tribe, for which a great deal of manure is required. They should
generally have an open sunny situation; and the early crops should
be sheltered from the prevailing winds of the district. If peas are
sown in freshly-manured, very moist, or clayey soil, they will run to
haulm, that is, they will produce more leaves and stalks than peas:
and, if grown in calcareous soil, they will boil hard and tough, even
when young, and when old will never become floury.
The early peas are small, and few in each pod, and with so little
flavour, that we never have them sown in our little garden, but have
the green Prussians sown early for a first crop, and again, a little
later, for a second. The early dwarf peas are, indeed, of little use,
except for forcing. They are, however, frequently sown in November
and December, to stand the winter in the open border, in order that
they may produce a crop the following May or June. When forced,
they are sown in pots plunged in a hotbed, and transplanted into the
open border in March; turning them out of the pots into holes made
to receive them, without breaking the balls of earth round the roots.
In some cases, they are fruited in pots placed in a greenhouse, or
even stove; by which means, when it is thought worth while to incur
the expense, fresh green peas may be had at Christmas. The main
crop of early peas is, however, sown in February. A pint of small
early peas will sow twenty yards of drills; each drill being one inch
and a half deep, and the drills two or three feet asunder. The drills
are marked out by stretching a garden-line lengthways along the
bed, and then making a drill or furrow along it with a dibber; the
earth is pressed firm at the bottom of the drill by the very act of
making it, and the peas are then distributed along it, two or three to
every inch, or wider apart, according to their size, and covered with
soil, which is generally trodden down or rolled. When attacks are
apprehended from mice, dried furze is generally strewed over the
peas as soon as they are put into the ground, and before they are
covered with earth; and this is efficacious, not only in protecting the
peas from their enemies, but in keeping enough air about them to
allow them to vegetate. They should then be well watered, and will
require no further care till they come up. When they are two or
three inches high, they should be hoed; that is, the weeds which
may have sprung up between the rows should be hoed up, and the
earth drawn up to the roots of the peas. When about six inches
high, they should be staked, with two rows of sticks to each row of
peas; the sticks being about a foot higher than the average height of
the peas, and care being taken never to let them cross at top.
Late peas only differ in their culture from the early crops in having
their drills farther apart, and in being placed farther apart in the
drills. A pint of these peas is calculated to sow thirty-three yards of
rows, and the peas of the larger kinds should be from one inch to
two inches, or even more apart in the drills. Dwarf Marrowfats and
Blue Prussians are, however, frequently sown about three in two
inches. The time of sowing usually varies from April to July; but
where no early peas are grown, even the late kinds may be sown as
early as February or March. The tall-growing kinds should, however,
never be suffered to stand the winter; and they should not be sown
before March, unless the weather appear likely to be open, on
account of the greater difficulties attending tall-growing plants. It
may indeed be here observed, though the fact is obvious, that all
dwarf-growing plants are much better adapted for forcing, than the
tall-growing kinds; from their being much more easily sheltered and
protected. Peas should always be eaten when freshly gathered, as
they are perhaps more injured by keeping than any other vegetable.
The pea is a native of the south of Europe, and it is supposed to
have been introduced in the reign of Henry VIII.
Beans, though belonging to the same natural order as peas, and
generally classed with them by persons speaking of garden products,
yet differ in several very important particulars: for instance, they will
grow in much stronger soil; they do not require sticks; and they are
generally topped, that is, the leading shoot of each plant is cut off,
an operation that would be fatal to peas. There are many different
kinds of beans, though not so many as of peas; and the different
varieties may be divided into the early and the late. The early beans
may be sown in drills in November or December, to stand the winter;
but the main crop is generally sown in January or February. The late
beans are sown in March and April, and some even so late as June;
and instead of drills, a hole is made for each bean separately with a
dibber. Both sorts are covered with earth, which is pressed down and
then watered; and they require no further care till the beans are
three or four inches high, when they should be hoed and earthed
up. As soon as the plants come into blossom, the tops are cut off;
and this is said not only to increase the crop, but to prevent the
plants from being attacked with the insect called the black blight.
The crop should be gathered when the beans are about half ripe.
The bean is said to be a native of Egypt; and it is supposed to have
been brought to England by the Romans.
Kidney-Beans differ from the other leguminous vegetables, in their
pods being eaten. There are two distinct kinds, the Dwarf Kidney-
Beans, and the Scarlet-Runners; and these are again divided into
numerous subdivisions. The soil for the dwarf kinds should be similar
to that for peas: viz., rich, light, and dry, but not newly manured;
and it should have been well pulverized to the depth of a foot or
eighteen inches. The drills are generally made about two inches
deep; and two feet or two feet and a half apart. The seeds are sown
the first or second week in May. As the plants grow, they may be
earthed up; and if the plants are very vigorous, and appear disposed
to run to haulm, a few of the leading shoots may have their tops
pinched off; but this should be done carefully, and the operation
confined to a few of the strongest growing plants. The scarlet-
runners require nearly the same culture, except that the seeds
should be sown two or three inches asunder, and only lightly
covered; and that the rows should be at least three feet apart. The
seeds are covered lightly, as abundance of both air and moisture are
required to make seeds enveloped in so thick a skin germinate; and
the rows must be wide apart on account of their height, as
otherwise the crop would not get enough sun and air. The scarlet-
runner is properly a perennial, and if the plants are cut down to the
ground after producing their crop, and their roots are covered with
dry litter, they will produce an early and abundant crop the following
summer. Kidney-beans are very frequently forced nearly in the same
manner as peas; viz., by sowing them in pots plunged in a hot-bed,
and then removing them to a hot-house or green-house (according
to the season) to fruit. Sometimes they are sown in the earth of the
hot-bed, and fruited there like cucumbers. The dwarf kidney-bean is
a native of India, and was introduced before the time of Gerard; but
the scarlet-runner is a native of South America, and was not
introduced till 1633, when it was at first only cultivated in the flower-
garden as an ornamental plant, and it is treated as such by all the
early writers on flowers.
The Potatoe is a native of South America, but it was first brought to
England by Sir Walter Raleigh, from Virginia. It was hence called the
Potatoe of Virginia; and it was at its first introduction thought very
inferior to the Convolvulus Batatus, which was called the Spanish
Potatoe, and to the Jerusalem Artichoke, which was called the
Potatoe of Canada, from its having been first taken from South
America to Canada, before it was brought to England. About twenty
or thirty sorts of the common potatoe are now cultivated for the
table; but so large a quantity is wanted in almost every family, that
few persons attempt to grow their main crop in a garden. A few
early potatoes are, however, grown frequently; and the best of these
is decidedly the ash-leaved kidney. The soil for potatoes should be a
light, fresh, unmanured loam, and when manure is applied, it should
be mellow dung, or well-rotted leaves. Potatoes are generally
planted by dividing the root into what are called sets, with an eye in
each; but sometimes the tubers are planted whole. Seeds are never
used, except where it is wished to raise new sorts. Potatoes are
seldom good forced; but an early crop may be raised by planting the
sets in October. The principal early crop is, however, planted early in
March; and the principal late crop in May or June. When the
potatoes are to be planted, the ground should be first well
pulverized, and then, the garden-line being stretched across the
beds, holes should be made along it with the dibber from two to four
or five inches deep, and about a foot apart. The sets should then be
put one in each hole, with the eye upwards, and the earth pressed
firmly down on each. When the potatoes come up, they should be
hoed, and again in about a fortnight or three weeks; and when the
plants are eight or ten inches high, they should be carefully earthed
up. As soon as the plants go into blossom, some cultivators cut off
the tops, to prevent the roots from being exhausted by the
formation of the potatoe apples, or fruit. When the tubers are ripe,
the stalks begin to wither, and may be taken up; but most persons
have not patience to wait so long, and they begin to take up their
early potatoes before the tubers are half-grown.
The Jerusalem Artichoke is a tuberous-rooted sun-flower, a native of
Brazil; the epithet Jerusalem being a corruption of the Italian word
‘girasole,’ signifying to turn to the sun, from the supposed habit of
the flower. The Jerusalem artichoke is planted in February or March,
by sets, like the potatoe; and the tubers will be ready for use in
September or October. It was introduced in 1716.
The Turnip succeeds best in a dry, sandy, or gravelly soil, which has
been well manured, and dug to a considerable depth. The beds
should be four or five feet wide, and the seeds having been strewed
very thinly over them, the surface should be raked smooth, and then
slightly beaten with the back of the spade. The first sowing is
generally made in March, or the first week in April; and as soon as
the young plants shew their rough leaves, they should be hoed up
separately. They will then seldom want any other culture till the end
of May, when, if the weather has been favourable, they will be ready
for use. A second sowing is generally made about the middle of May;
and a third, for the main crop, towards the end of June. Besides the
turnips usually sold in seed shops, the Teltow, or small yellow
German turnip, the French long white, and the Scotch yellow, are
well deserving of cultivation for their excellence. The common turnip,
the carrot, and the parsnip, are natives of England.
Carrots are of two kinds—the long carrots, the root of which tapers
gradually from the crown to the point, and the horn carrots, the root
of which continues of nearly the same thickness for three-fourths of
its length, and then abruptly diminishes to a very slender tap root.
There are numerous sub-varieties of both kinds. The goodness of
the carrot depending entirely on the ease with which the root can
penetrate the soil, it is obvious that the soil, in which these roots are
grown, must not be of a very adhesive nature; and thus the best
carrots are grown in pure sand, or peat. When soils of this nature
cannot be procured, the ground should be trenched two spades
deep, and a very little thoroughly rotten dung, or vegetable mould,
should be well mixed with the earth in digging the lower spadeful. If
manure, in a fresh state, be laid on a carrot-bed, or if the soil be not
thoroughly pulverized, the roots will become forked, fibrous, and
worm-eaten. The seeds of the carrot being each furnished with a
pappus, or feathery wing, are apt to become entangled with each
other, and can only be separated by rubbing them between the
hands, and mixing them with sand. They are then to be sown very
thinly, the ground slightly raked over to cover them, and then beaten
flat with the back of the spade. When the young plants are up, the
ground should be occasionally loosened, from time to time, with a
small hoe, round each. When the leaves begin to change colour, the
roots should be taken up, dry weather being chosen for that
purpose; and the tops being cut off, the carrots should be carried
into a cellar, or outhouse, and there buried in sand. Early carrots are
generally sown in February, and the principal crop about the middle
of March.
The Parsnip requires the same culture as the carrot, except that
there is no early crop. The seed is sown in February or March, and
the roots are ready for use about the latter end of September, or
beginning of October.
The Red Beet is a native of the sea-coast on the south of Europe,
and was introduced in 1656. The seed should not be sown till the
last week in March, or the beginning of April. The ground should
previously be dug to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches, and
mixed with a little sea or river sand, and vegetable mould, or rotten
dung. The roots will be ready for the table in September or October.
In taking them up, and boiling them, great care must be taken not
to wound the outer skin; as, if they are scraped or broken, all the
colouring liquid will escape, and the root will become of a dull, dingy,
whitish pink, instead of its usual brilliant red.
The Skirret, the Scorzonera, and the Salsify, are all tap-rooted
plants, which require the same culture as the carrot.
The Radish is a native of China, and was introduced into England
before 1584. There are numerous varieties; but they may be all
divided into three or four kinds:—the spring radishes, which are sub-
divided into the spindle-rooted, and the turnip-rooted; the autumn
kinds, which are frequently oval, or turnip-rooted; and the winter
kinds, which are oblong and dark-coloured. The seed may be sown
at any season when the ground is open; but the very early spring
kinds are generally sown in October or November to stand the
winter, and be ready to draw in February and March.
Spinach.—The round-leaved variety is generally sown for a summer
crop, on rich moist soil, in January or February, if the ground be
open; and the triangular-leaved kinds, of which the Flanders is the
best, are sown for the winter crops in August. The summer crop,
when gathered, may be pulled up by the root; but the winter crop
should only have the outer leaves gathered, and it will thus continue
producing fresh leaves for many months.
Sorrel is generally propagated by offsets in spring or autumn; or, if
by seed, it is sown in March. It is, however, seldom grown in English
gardens.
The Onion tribe.—Very few onions, except for salads, are generally
grown in small gardens. Where they are grown the soil should be a
rich loam, well manured with very rotten dung; and though the beds
need not be dug more than a spade deep, the soil to that depth
should be well pulverized. The seed is sown broad-cast in March, on
beds about four feet wide, and after it is raked in, the surface of the
bed is rolled or beaten flat with the spade. In about three weeks the
beds should be hoed, and thinned, as the young onions will be then
ready for salads; and the beds should be again hoed and thinned
out, from time to time, as the onions may be wanted. When the
onions are from three to six inches apart, they are generally left to
swell for the main crop, and they will be ready to draw in August or
September. Many persons, about a month or six weeks before the
onions are ready to take up, bend the stalks down flat on the bed, to
throw all the strength of the plant into the bulb, and to prevent its
thickening at the neck. Onions for pickling are generally sown in
April; and onions for salads may be sown at intervals all the year.
When onions are wanted of a very large size, they are sown in drills,
and regularly earthed up; and the Portugal onions are generally
transplanted. In Portugal it is said that the alleys between the beds
are filled with manure, which is kept constantly watered, and the
water directed over the beds. Onions of enormous size have been
grown in England by raising them on a slight hotbed in November or
December, and transplanting them in April or May. When they are
transplanted it is into very rich soil, three-fourths of which is rotten
manure, and only the fibrous roots are buried in the soil, the bulb
being left above ground. The plants are placed from nine inches to a
foot apart every way, and regularly watered. Onions thus grown are
not only of enormous size, but of very delicate flavour. Neither the
native country of the common onion, nor the date of its introduction
into England, is known.
Leeks may be treated like onions, and may be grown to an
enormous size by transplanting into a hole about twice their own
diameter, at the bottom of which their fibrous roots are spread out
and covered with soil, while the bulb is left untouched by the soil,
standing in a kind of hollow cup. The plant is then well supplied with
water, and will soon swell to fill the cavity. The leek is a native of
Switzerland, and it was introduced before the time of Elizabeth.
The Chive is a perennial plant, a native of Britain, and it is
propagated by dividing the roots in spring or autumn.
Garlic is propagated by dividing the bulb into what are called cloves,
and planting them in February or March. They are generally planted
in drills, and earthed up as they begin to grow. When the leaves turn
yellow, which they will do about August, the bulbs should be taken
up, and what may not be wanted for use, should be reserved for
planting the following spring. Garlic is a native of the south of
Europe, and was introduced before the time of Henry VIII. The
shallot is a native of Palestine, and it has been in cultivation in
British gardens at least as long as the garlic. It is very difficult to
grow, as it is apt to be attacked by a kind of maggot; but it has been
found to succeed planted in cup-shaped hollows like the leek.
All the onion tribe require a light, rich, well-drained soil; and they
always succeed best where there is a gravelly subsoil.
Salad plants.—These are very numerous, and include lettuces,
endive, small salads, celery, &c. It is somewhat remarkable that
nearly all these were known to our ancestors, and were in common
use at British tables dressed much as we dress them now, while the
potatoe was yet unknown, or only eaten as a sweetmeat stewed
with sack and sugar.
The lettuce is said to have been introduced in 1562, but from what
country is unknown. There are numerous varieties, but they may be
all referred to two kinds; the cabbage lettuces which grow flat and
spreading, and the cos lettuces which grow compact and upright.
Lettuces are generally sown broad-cast, like turnips or spinach, on
beds of rich mellow soil, at any season from January to October; and
the cabbage kinds require no after care, but weeding and thinning
out. The cos lettuces are, however, generally blanched by bending
down the tips of the leaves over the heart, and tying them together
with bast mat. Lettuces are also sown by the French to cut for salads
when quite young, as we grow mustard and cress.
Endive is a native of China and Japan, introduced before 1548. It is
generally sown in large gardens at three seasons, viz., April, June,
and August; but in small gardens one sowing is generally thought
sufficient, and that is made in May. The seeds are sown very thinly
in beds of rich mellow earth; and when they are from four to six
inches high, they are transplanted into beds of rich light earth,
where they are planted in drills about a foot apart in the line; and as
they grow, are occasionally earthed up. When the plants are about
three parts grown, the outer leaves are tied over the hearts to
blanch them, with strands of bast mat, or osier twigs; a dry day
being chosen for the operation. Only a few plants should be tied up
at a time; and they should be seldom allowed to stand more than a
fortnight or three weeks after the operation; as, if they remain
longer, particularly if the weather be wet, they begin to rot. In wet
or cold seasons endive is best blanched by turning a sea-kale pot
over each root, instead of tying down the outer leaves. There are
two distinct kinds: the broad leaved or Batavia endive, and the
curled leaved, which is the most common, and to which the French
give the name of chicorée.
The true Chiccory or Succory is sometimes called wild endive; but
the French name for it is barbe de capucin. It is common in
calcareous and sandy soils in different parts of England, where it is
conspicuous from its bright blue flowers. Its culture is the same as
that of endive; but it may also be treated as a winter salad, by being
taken up in October or November, and stacked in cellars in alternate
layers of sand, so that the crowns of the plants may just appear
along the ridge. Here, if the frost be excluded, the roots will soon
send out a profusion of tender succulent leaves; which, if kept from
the light, will also be quite blanched.
Mustard and Cress.—Mustard is the native white mustard eaten in its
seed leaves; and cress is an annual cruciferous plant, introduced
before 1548, but from what country is unknown. They are both of
the easiest culture, and will not only grow in any soil or situation,
but may even be raised for the table by spreading the seed in a
saucer on wet flannel. The flour of mustard is made from the ground
seeds of the black mustard, which is cultivated extensively in some
parts of England for that purpose.
Corn Salad or Lamb Lettuce, Winter Cress, Burnet, Tansey, and
many other plants are occasionally used in salads, particularly on the
Continent, but they are seldom grown for that purpose in England.
Celery is frequently used in salads; and it is interesting, as being so
greatly improved by cultivation as scarcely to be recognized; for in
its wild state it is a British plant called smallage, which grows in
ditches, and is scarcely eatable. In gardens, celery requires more
manure than any other vegetable, except the cabbage tribe. The
seed for the principal crop of celery is generally sown in March or
April, and the seed-bed should be formed of equal parts of fresh
dark loamy soil, and old rotten dung. When the plants are about two
or three inches high, they are pricked out into another bed made of
very rich soil, six or seven inches deep, on a hard bottom; and when
they are about a foot high, they are transplanted into trenches for
blanching. The trenches are made four feet apart, eighteen inches
wide, and twelve deep; and they are filled nine inches high with a
rich compost of strong fresh soil and rotten dung. The plants are
taken up with as much earth as will adhere to the roots, and the
side-shoots or offsets are removed from the central stems; they are
then set by the hand, nine or ten inches apart, in the centre of each
trench, and well watered. As the plants in the trenches grow, the
earth is gradually drawn up to them, a little at a time, taking care
never to let the earth rise above the heart of the plant; and this
earthing up is repeated five or six times, at intervals of about ten
days or a fortnight, till the plants are ready for use. Thus treated, a
single plant of celery of the solid kind has been known to weigh nine
pounds, and to measure four feet in length.
Water cress is generally gathered wild, but it may be cultivated in
gardens where there is a clear running stream, on a sandy or
gravelly bottom. The plants are disposed in rows parallel with the
stream, about eighteen inches apart, in shallow water; but four or
five feet apart if the water be very deep, as if nearer together they
will check the stream. Thus treated, the plants may be cut at least
once a week during the whole summer. The beds must, however, be
cleared out and replanted twice a-year; and when this is done, all
the plants are taken up, divided and planted again in the gravelly
bed of the stream, a stone being laid on each to keep it in its place.
Pot Herbs.—Of these parsley is a hardy biennial, a native of Sardinia,
introduced before 1548. It is generally sown in a drill in February or
March, and this will supply leaves all the summer. The plants do not
seed till they are two years old. The curled variety is preferred for
garnishing. Tarragon is a strong-smelling perennial from Siberia,
introduced before 1548. It is principally used for making Tarragon
vinegar. Fennel is a perennial, which, when once introduced, spreads
every where, and can scarcely be eradicated. Chervil is an annual
used for garnishing, and sometimes in salads, and the common
Marigold is an annual, a native of the South of Europe, introduced
before 1573, but now seldom grown except in cottage gardens.
Sweet Herbs.—These plants, though called in gardening-books sweet
herbs, are mostly aromatic shrubs; such as thyme, sage, &c.
Thyme.—There are two kinds of this delicate little shrub cultivated in
gardens; the common and the lemon: both are natives of the south
of Europe, and were introduced before 1548. Young plants are
generally raised by division of the root, or from offsets slipped off
the branching roots in spring or autumn; they grow best in poor dry
soil, or lime rubbish.
Sage is a much taller-growing shrub than thyme. It is a native of the
south of Europe, and was introduced before 1597. It is propagated
by slips, or by cuttings of the young shoots taken off in May or June;
but as the plant is very long-lived it seldom wants renewing. It
requires the same kind of soil as thyme.
Mint.—There are three kinds grown in gardens: the common, or
spear mint, which is the kind boiled with peas, and used for mint-
sauce, &c.; the peppermint, comparatively little cultivated, and only
used for distilling; and the penny-royal. They are all British
perennials, and are propagated by dividing the root, making
cuttings, or taking off offsets. All require rather a moist and strong
soil.
Marjoram.—There are four kinds in cultivation: the pot marjoram,
which is a low shrub, a native of Sicily, introduced in 1759, and
propagated by slips; the sweet, or knotted marjoram, a hardy
biennial, a native of Portugal, introduced in 1573, and sown every
year from seed generally ripened in France; the winter marjoram, a
hardy perennial, a native of Greece, introduced before 1640, and
propagated by cuttings or slips; and the common marjoram, a
perennial, and a native of Britain. The first three kinds require a light
dry soil, and the last a calcareous soil, and sheltered situation.
Savoury and Basil.—Winter savoury is a hardy under-shrub, and
summer savoury an annual—both natives of the south of Europe,
and cultivated in England since about 1650. Basil is an annual, a
native of the East Indies, introduced about 1548. All these aromatic
herbs may be purchased, admirably dried, in small cases, at Mrs.
Johnson’s, in Covent Garden market.
Cucumbers require a hotbed to grow them to perfection; but the
smaller kinds for pickling are sometimes planted in the open ground.
The seed should be from two to four years old, and it should be
sown in pots plunged in a hotbed, not below 58° at night, nor above
65° in the day. When the plants come up, they should be pricked out
into pots, three in each pot, and watered, the earth in the pots and
the water being both previously kept under the glass for some time,
that they may be both of the same heat as the plants. When the
plants are about five weeks old, they are generally removed to a
larger hotbed, with a two or three-light frame. In this bed, a little
ridge of earth is made under each light; and, in each of these, the
contents of a pot is planted, without breaking the ball of earth round
the roots of the plants. The heat of this bed is generally a little
higher than that of the seed-bed. Water should be given every day,
warmed to the heat of the bed. If the plants are wanted to fruit
early, the ends of the shoots may be pinched off as soon as the
plants have made two rough leaves, and this is called stopping the
runners at the first joint; this stopping is repeated wherever the
runners show a disposition to extend themselves without producing
fruit. As plants raised under glass have not the benefit either of
currents of air or insects, to convey the pollen of the barren plants to
the stigma of the fertile ones, the latter must either be dusted with
pollen by the gardener, or the plants should be exposed as much to
the air as possible, in the middle of the day, when it is warm
enough, during the time that they are in flower. Seeds for the first
crop of cucumbers are generally sown in December or January; but,
as extra heat and care are required at this early season, the crop for
a small garden may be sown about March. The great art is to grow
the cucumbers long and straight, and to keep them green, with a
beautiful bloom. For the first purpose, many cultivators place a brick
under the young fruit; and for the latter they leave on the plant
abundance of leaves, and keep the ground moist, as the plant
appears to thrive best when it has abundance of heat and moisture,
and is kept in the shade. A dry heat, and especially exposure to the
burning rays of the sun, will make cucumbers flaccid and yellow.
Pickling Cucumbers are generally sown in patches of ten or twelve
seeds in each, in the open air; and when they come up, they are
thinned out to four or five in each patch. They are sown in rich
ground, and well watered; and as they grow, they are occasionally
earthed up.
Melons.—The culture of the melon is the same as that of the
cucumber, except that the lowest heat of the seed-bed should not be
less than 65°, and that of the fruiting bed 75°. To grow the finer
kinds of melons well, however, requires the attention of a regular
gardener; and as this is the case also with pine-apples (the plants of
which are too expensive to be trifled with), no directions are here
given respecting them.
Gourds.—The two kinds of vegetable-marrow—the American butter-
squash, and the mammoth-gourd, are excellent for the table, either
in soup, or boiled, or fried. The plants of all these kinds should be
raised in a hotbed, the seeds being sown in March or April, three in
a pot, and covered nearly an inch deep. In May, the young plants
should be removed to the open ground, where they should be
planted in rich soil, and sheltered for a night or two, till they have
become inured to the change. They should be frequently watered in
dry weather, as the fruit will not swell without abundance of
moisture.
Tomatoes.—The tomato or love-apple is a tender annual, a native of
South America, introduced before 1596. The seeds should be sown
in a hot-bed in March, and as soon as they come up pricked out into
pots; they should be transplanted into a warm border in front of a
south wall in May; where they should be trained against the wall, or
pegged down over a warm bank of earth sloping to the sun. They
require abundance of water while the fruit is swelling; and as much
heat as possible while it is ripening.
Mushrooms.—The spawn is generally procured from a nurseryman;
and the beds are made of fresh horse-dung thrown together in a
heap under cover, and turned over many times in the course of a
fortnight or three weeks, till every part has thoroughly fermented.
When the dung is thought to be in a proper state, a trench is
marked out twelve or fourteen feet long and five broad, and about
six inches deep; the mould taken out in forming it being laid on one
side till wanted. In the bottom of the trench there should be a layer
of long fresh stable manure about four inches thick; and on this,
successive layers of the prepared dung, each beaten flat with the
fork, till the bed is about five feet high, and narrow at the top like
the ridge of a house. In this state it may remain about a fortnight;
and then if the bed be found, on trying it by plunging a stick in, to
be not too hot, the bricks of spawn should be broken into pieces
about an inch and a half or two inches square, and strewed regularly
over the bed, each piece of spawn being buried by raising up a little
of the dung and inserting it. After this the surface of the bed is
beaten flat with a spade, and the whole is covered with mould, that
of a loamy nature being preferred. The whole is then beaten quite
smooth, and covered about a foot thick with oat straw, on which are
laid mats. In about a month or six weeks the mushrooms will be
ready for the table; and when gathered they should be gently
twisted up by the roots, and not cut off, as the root, if left in the
ground, will decay, and be injurious to the young plants.
 CHAPTER VII.
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN CONTINUED—THE
MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES.

The fruit trees in a kitchen garden are of three kinds: the wall trees,
the espaliers, and the standards. To these may be added the fruit
shrubs, and the vines; which last are generally grown under glass.
The Wall-Fruit Tree.—There are two things on which the welfare of
wall-fruit trees materially depends, viz. the construction of the wall,
and that of the border. The walls of kitchen gardens are very
generally made too high: a serious fault in many respects, but
particularly in impeding the free passage of the sun and air to the
fruit. It has indeed been found, by experience, that walls about eight
feet high, will produce better fruit than walls of ten feet or twelve
feet, which is the general height; and besides they have the
advantage of not throwing so deep a shadow over the garden. Of
whatever height the walls may be, they should always be in straight
lines; as the various expedients which have been from time to time
adopted, of curved or zigzag lines, have been found not to answer in
practice, but to produce eddies and currents of wind exceedingly
injurious to the fruit. The garden wall should have a slight stone
coping; and where the trees are likely to want protection, strong
hooks, or holdfasts, projecting from the wall, should be built in at
regular distances for the convenience of suspending the mats or
bunting that may be employed; or supporting a deep wooden
coping. Hot or flued walls are not desirable, as they are very
expensive and troublesome, and of very little use.
The walls should be built on good, sound, and deep foundations, but
on no account on arches; as it is of importance to the gardener to
confine the roots to the border in front of the wall, which is under