Febraarr 3, 1872. ] 



JOURXAIi OF HOETICXJLTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



CABBAGES. 



OW many distinct and typical forms of 

 garden Cabbages bave we in cultivation, or 

 wbat are we to eon.sider as sucb '? Atten- 

 tion is being dii'ected to this subject through 

 the following annoimcement in the new 

 schedule of prizes offered by the Eoyal 

 Horticultiu'al Society : — • 



SpEci.tL Phizes offered by Messes. Babr 



AXD SUGDEX, OF Co^^ENT G-UIDEN, FOR THE YEAR 



1872. — Assortment of the raost distinct and 



typical forms of Cabbages, named (not includ- 



Two examples of each, not less than 10 distinct 



The Prize to be competed for successively at any of the Meet- 

 ings in the Autumn of 1872, as the various sorts may appear in 

 condition. 



Note. — The object of the prize is to ascertain ■what really dis- 

 tinct forms of Cabbages are in cultivation. The plants must be 

 exhibited in their integrity as far as possible — i.e., mth the 

 roots, leaves, etc., so as to show their true character. 



N.B. — A similar prize will be offered by the Society for 

 competition at any of the Meetings during May, June, and 

 July, 1873. 



Tliis is prize-offering of a praiseworthy character, for 

 which Messrs. Barr & Sugden deserve onr special thanks ; 

 the object being, as stated, "to ascertain," and as we 

 understand it, to fix and record in some tangible manner 

 for general benefit and reference, the various permanent 

 and distmctive typical characteristics of this important 

 class of vegetables. 



It would be of the vei'y greatest importance indeed to 

 the whole vegetable-growing community, coidd every dis- 

 tinct and tyj)ical form of vegetable be so figiu'ed or de- 

 scribed that at any future time it could be easdy recognised. 

 We want a sort of descriptive vegetable album as an 

 authority or standard to which we could at all times 

 refer. Vegetables are aU greatly incUned to variation — to 

 deterioration, in fact. It is only by immense care and 

 trouble on the part of our seed-growers, wliich the ordi- 

 nary cultivator knows nothing of, that om' vegetable stocks 

 are kept so pure and true as they are. This tendency 

 towards variation leads ine\'itably to the multiphcation of 

 names, and so in time to the actual loss of the identity of 

 the original. 



But to return. Messrs. Barr & Sugden -wish to ascer- 

 tain what really distinct forms of Cal>bages are in culti- 

 vation. We venture to say. Very few — far fewer than the 

 long hsts of names in our seedsmen's catalogues would 

 lead us to suppose. What, however, is or will be con- 

 sidered a foi-m or type ? and where is the authority ? 

 Intending exliibitors will be anxious to know all about 

 this. On looking over some half-dozen of the trade seed- 

 hsts of this season we find no fewer than eighty-fom' sorts 

 of Cabbages bearing distinct names, and winch are all 

 (presumably) sold as distinct. We can scarcely suppose 

 that, although these are sold as distinct sorts, they will 

 be accepted by the Fniit and Vegetable Committee as 

 suifieiently (hstinct forms. No, a particular name, al- 

 though a generally recognised one, does not confer dis- 

 tinctness. These points, however, must be left to the 



No. 667.— Vol. XXn., New SERiig. 



decision of the Judges, who, consequently, will have no 

 light or easy task to perfoi-m. 



Anyone at all conversant with Cabbages is well aware 

 of how they sport and vai'y. Go into the market gardens, 

 see in a ten-acre field if you cannot pick out nearly as 

 many distmct Cabbages as you wUl find in a collection of 

 thirty or more named sorts, not including the rubbish, 

 fi'om one of the London seed houses. The market gar- 

 dener has only one stock of seed saved with the utmost 

 care from his very best examples, and yet the plants exhibit 

 all this wonderful variety — some early, some late, some 

 small, some large. This Uability to variation is gi'eatly 

 influenced by seasons ; sow from the same bag of seed 

 the following year, and not half the variation wiH be 

 seen. This is" how new Cabbages, at least new names 

 for Cabbages, are manufactm-ed. Seed is saved fi'oni these 

 accidental variations, and named Jones's Early, Smith's 

 Champion, or Robinson's Supei-fine, as the case may be, 

 and for a season or so some of their peculiarities may be 

 retained. 



The reputed varieties of Cabbages are far too numerous, 

 and the distinctions far too trifling ; so that we hope this 

 prize offered bv Messrs. Barr & Sugden -will be the means 

 of putting us 'a httle right in the matter. How very 

 annojring it is, in endeavouring to keep up om- supply of 

 Cabbages throughout the season, to find, after haying 

 ordered ten or twelve sorts of " lates " and " earUes," 

 that from one packet of the true London Market the 

 same results coidd have been obtained. 



In 186-2 a trial of sixty-one named sorts of Cabbages 

 was made in the Eoyal Horticultm'al Society's garden, 

 Cliis-ndck, and as the Eeport states, the Committee only 

 found five distinct, no less than twenty-eight of them 

 being synonymes or more or less impure stocks of the 

 London Market, FuUiam, or Battersea. In tliis, the 

 year 1872, the Eeport has pretty much the same apphca- 

 tion ; many of the same names, indeed, are still adver- 

 tised. Embodying the synonymes given in this Eeport, 

 therefore, so far as apphcable to the present tuxie, added 

 to our o-svn observation and experience, we subjoin a USt 

 of what we consider the most distmct and typical forms 

 of garden Cabbages. 



1. Early York. — Vei-y distinct. Head small, oval; 

 leaves dark green, sho-wing very httle rib. A very early 

 sort, the best to sow early in " spring for early summer 

 use. If sown in autumn to stand the winter it is apt to 

 run to seed. 



2. Little Pixie. — Dwarf. Heads small, more pointed 

 than those of Early York, and of a paler gi'een, -with 

 more ribs. 



3. Atkins's Matchless.— Dwarf. Heads pointed, larger 

 than Little Pixie. 



4. SnoARLo-iF. — Vei-y distinct, dwarf. Heads small, 

 the leaves heading over Uke a Lettuce, and of a peculiar 

 pale gi'een colour. This seldom hearts fii'mly, although 

 appearing to do so. 



.5. Nonpareil.— Allied to, but perfectly distmct from, 

 the London Market ; the heads smaUer, more rounded. 

 McEwen's resembles this. 



No. 1219.— Vol. XLVII., Old Series. 



