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earth them well up, and then dig or hoe as deeply as possible between every other row; in a week afterwards dig or hoe the other spaces; and so on every week alternately. These diggings open the ground, and tend to promote those decompositions which produce and propel the nutritive matters. (See Number 103, c.) But if the weather be hot and parching; and if all the intervals be digged at one time, too many fibres will be cut and separated; hence a great check will be given, which may be avoided by effecting the work at two separate periods.

112. Soil and Situation." The soil for seedlings should be light, and excepting for early sowings, not rich. Where market gardeners raise great quantities of seedling cabbages to stand the winter, and to be sold for transplanting in the spring, they choose in general, the poorest and stiffest piece of land they have got, and especially in Scotland, where large autumnal sowings of winter drumhead, and round Scotch, are annually made, and where the stiffness of the soil gives a peculiar firmness of texture and hardness of constitution to the plants, and prevents their being thrown out of the soil during the thaws which succeed a frosty winter. Transplanted cabbages require a rich mould, rather clayey than sandy; and Neill and Nicol observe, it can scarcely be too much manured, as they are an exhausting crop. Autumnal plantations, intended to stand the winter, should have a dry soil, well dug and manured, and of a favourable aspect. The cabbage tribe, whether in the seed-bed or final plantation, ever requires an open situation. Under the drip of trees, or in the shade, seedlings are drawn up weak, and grown crops are meagre, worm-eaten, and ill-flavoured."-(Encyc. Gard., 3491.)

113. Saving the Seed.-It is very difficult to raise seed free from any mixture or crossing; if attempted, select one or two of the best cabbages, and transplant them in autumn, setting them in the ground up to the head; early next summer, abundance of seed will be yielded. "A few of the soundest and healthiest cabbage-stalks, furnished with sprouts, answer the same end. When the seed has been well ripened and dried, it will keep for six or eight years. It is mentioned by Bastien, that the seed growers of Aubervilliers have learned by experience that seed gathered from the middle flowerstem produces plants which will be fit for use a fortnight earlier than those from the seed of the lateral flower-stems: this may deserve the attention of the watchful gardener, and assist him in regulating his successive crops of the same kind of cabbage.' (Idem, 3508.)

If the ground be digged in March or April round about the plants, the maturing process will be assisted. Whether the ripe

seed be kept in the pods or threshed out, it should be preserved in a very dry situation.

Sir Humphry Davy, in his Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, states that in 1000 parts of cabbage, 73 parts are the whole quantity of nutritive soluble matter, of which 41 are mucilage, or starch, 24 saccharine matter, or sugar, and 8 gluten, or albumen; of course 927 parts out of the 1000 consist of watery or innutritive matter.

114. Cabbage coleworts, for a supply of winter and early spring greens, are to be raised by forming seed-beds of some of the hardiest middle-sized, and early sub-varieties, on the plan before described, but not till the end of June; and thence to nearly the last week of July. Transplant finally in August and September, in rows fifteen inches asunder, and the plants nine inches apart in the rows. Keep the seed-beds and plantations quite clean, and draw earth to the stems of the latter; after which, hoe deeply between the rows. any plants should fail, supply their places from the seed-beds. Some of the most forward will be fit to draw as greens throughout the winter months; others will succeed in March and April, and some may form small cabbages in May.

Subject 2. RED CABBAGE:-Bras. Oler. var. ß. rubra.

If

115. The red or purple cabbage has three principal sub-varieties; viz. the large red, or Dutch; the small red, with a firm round head; and the Aberdeen red. They are chiefly used for pickling, are sometimes shredded as beet-root for salad, and are prepared as sour krout by the Germans.

The sowing and culture are in all respects the same as for the white cabbage. Sow in August; transplant in the fall, and allow somewhat more space than for York cabbages: The heads will be produced early the following summer, and will be firm and hard towards the close of it. Sow also in spring for a late crop in the succeeding autumn; but these, it is likely, will not be so large and fine.

Subject 3. SAVOY:-Bras. Oler. var. y. sabauda.
Bullata major, of Decandolle.

116. The Savoy is a winter cabbage: the best and staple supply from November to March: it is distinguished from all the other varieties of firm-headed cabbages, by the roughness of its leaves. There are three principal sub-varieties:-the green, the dwarf, and the yellow. The first is a sweet and excellent sort; the yellow is by some preferred, and may form the main winter crop, but is not so

delicate as the green; the dwarf is hardy. The savoy requires deep digging or trenching, and the soil should be rich and light. To sow a seed-bed of four and a half feet by eight feet, half an ounce of seed is the quantity that may be considered as sufficient, provided the seed be sound and good.

Propagation and culture.-Observe the directions given for white cabbage, No. 110. A few seeds may be sown in February, to produce savoys in the early autumn; another supply may be provided for, by a sowing in March; but the main crop is to be sown in the middle of April. Another small sowing for winter greens, may be made in May. Nursery-beds and final plantations should be prepared for the main crop in May and July; but savoys do not absolutely require to be twice removed. If nursery-beds be formed, the plants should stand at six or eight inches apart therein; and in July, when they are to be finally set out, they should be allowed at least two feet space every way. The small dwarfs will do with eighteen inches, but the large yellow should have two and a-half feet.

For subsequent culture, hoeing, digging, and saving the seed, see Nos. 110, 111, and 113.

Subject 4. BRUSSELS SPROUTS:-Bras. Oler. a sub-variety

of the Savoy. Bullata gemmifera, of Decandolle.

117. The Brussels sprouts produce tall stems three or four feet high, with a head somewhat like a savoy, but of little value: from the axils or base of the leaves, arise small green heads, like little cabbages, about one or two inches in diameter; they are highly spoken of by Van Mons, and recommended by Nicol and Morgan.

Culture. (Encyc., No. 3524.)—“The plants are raised from seed, sown in March or April, of which, an ounce may be requisite for a seed-bed of four feet by ten." Van Mons says, (Hort. Tr. vol. iii.) "The seed is sown in spring, under a frame, to bring the plants forward; they are then transplanted into an open border with a good aspect." By thus beginning early, and sowing successively, till late in the season, he says, "We contrive to supply ourselves in Belgium with this delicious vegetable, full ten months in the year; that is, from the end of July to the end of May." The plants need not be placed at more than eighteen inches each way, as the head does not spread wide, and the side leaves drop off.”

With us, the Brussels sprout is so hardy, that it will stand 20° of frost, and its head, about Christmas, is a tender and delicate species of greens. Being then cut, the plant will remain nearly

torpid till the advancing sun causes it to start into new vegetation; then, the spaces between the rows should have a little leaf-soil, or good manure lightly forked in; and the young heads, all of which were quiescent, but visible in the winter, will speedily advance from the axils of the leaves, and yield a supply for many weeks, if they be properly pulled or cut in succession.

Mr. Cobbett (Eng. Gard. 127) says, "The plant that has generally had this name given to it in England, is a thing quite different from the real Brussels sprouts. If you mean to save seed, you must cut off this crown, and let the seed-stems and flowers come out nowhere but from the little cabbages themselves. It is most likely owing to negligence, in this respect, that we hardly ever see such a thing as real Brussels sprouts in England; and it is said that it is pretty nearly the same in France, the proper care being taken nowhere, apparently, but in the neighbourhood of Brussels."

Subject 5. BORECOLE:-Bras. Oler. var. 8. sabellica. Acephala Sabellica, of Decandolle.

118. The borecole contains many sub-varieties, fourteen of which are named by the Encyc. of Gardening. These plants are, in general, peculiarly hardy: they resist frost, and retain their green appearance throughout the winter: hence their value as winter greens. For cultivation in general, three of these sub-varieties are selected, and

these are,

The German Kale,

The Chou de Milan,

The Woburn Kale; a very distinct vegetable, and a perennial.

Propagation and culture.-The two first sorts, and indeed all the common sorts, are raised from seed sown in March and April; one ounce, according to Abercrombie, will sow a bed four feet by ten in

extent.

The German Kale is peculiarly valuable, because it produces a copious supply of shoots and sprouts from the axils of the leaves after the head is cut off. The heads form the first cuttings, after which, the stems furnish a succession till spring-greens come in; the leaves should be trimmed off as soon as the head is removed. The Chou de Milan is highly valued by some persons, and it also furnishes a succession; the other sub-varieties must be pulled up and removed as soon as the heads are cut. Sow the seeds, transplant into nursery and final beds, as directed for spring cabbage; only observing that two and a half feet must be allowed when the plants are finally set out. From June to August, succession beds may be formed, and these will furnish a constant supply during January, February, March, and April, of the succeeding year.

119. Woburn Kale is propagated by cuttings, six or seven inches long: these readily take root, and the season for the work is March and April. "About the beginning of April, or as soon as wintergreens are out of season, the stems (of this kale) are to be cut down to the ground within two buds of the roots: the soil is then slightly forked over, and afterwards kept clean of weeds by the hoe."— (LOUDON, from Hort. Trans. 3535.)

Dig between the rows of each of the three sorts, after all the heads have been cut.

Subject 6. CAULIFLOWER:-Bras. Oler. var. e, botrytis.

Cauliflora of Decandolle.

120. The Cauliflower, "Choufleur" of the French, is esteemed the most delicate of the cabbage tribe: it is an annual, and produces its flower in the autumn, if sown in the spring. "Till the time of the French revolution, quantities of English cauliflowers were regularly sent to Holland, and the low countries; and even France depended on us for cauliflower-seed; even now, English seed is preferred to any other."-(Encyc. of Gard., 3539.)

Propagation and culture. The white sub-variety is the most delicate: the red-stalked is esteemed more hardy. Half an ounce of seed is allowed for a bed four and a-half feet wide, by ten feet in length. The main crop is that which is destined to stand the winter, and to furnish the early summer supply; great expense and trouble have been bestowed to secure this tender plant; hence, it is desirable to find some mode of giving it a degree of hardihood capable of resisting the frost of our ordinary winters. "Ball finds that if cauliflower seed is not sown till the last week in August, and that if the seedlings are not transplanted till the middle, or near the end of November, before the hard weather sets in, no sort of covering is necessary, nor any other protection than that afforded by a wall having a south aspect. In such a border, and without any covering, young cauliflower plants have uniformly stood well for many successive winters, and have always proved better and sounder plants for spring planting than such as have had additional shelter. Cauliflower plants, it is probable, are often killed with too much attention. Seedlings raised in autumn seem to be very tenacious of life." It certainly seems highly desirable to avoid the trouble, and heavy cost, of bell-glasses; a mode of culture scarcely feasible by the domestic gardener, who may well shrink from that, which with loss of time, and breakage, must be supposed to enhance the price of each head to at least a shilling; for in the month of November, four, five,

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