July 31, 1S73. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORXIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEU, 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



Day 



ol 

 Month Week. I 



JTJLT 31— AUGUST 6, 1ST3. 



Average Temoerft- 1 Kain in 

 tare near Lonaon. 13 years. 



Sun 

 Riaes 



Devon and E.veter Horticultural Show. 



LuiMAS Day. 



W. sherard died, 1738. 



8 SrXDAV AFTER TRINITY. 



Geneiul Holiday. 



Royal Horticnlttttal Society, Show and Com- 

 [mittee Meetings. 



Dav. 



, 74.9 



' T.S.S 



I 73.S 



74.9 



75.9 



' 71..'i 



73.3 



NiRht. 

 50.0 

 .W.4 

 50.9 

 50.6 

 50.G 

 50.9 

 50.8 



Mean. 

 6-3.4 

 6S.0 

 63.1 

 63.8 

 62.8 

 63.7 

 62.0 



Daya, 

 iS 

 19 

 SO 

 19 

 17 

 19 

 21 



m. h 

 a-taf4 



26 4 



27 i 

 2» 4 

 30 4 



."sa 4 



S3 4 



8un N 



Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



b. 



4Hal7 



m. h. 



45 11 



46 3 



49 4 



Moon 

 Sets. 



34 10 

 40 10 

 42 11 

 mom. 



a 1 



Moon't 

 Age. 



Days. 



7 

 J) 



9 

 10 

 11 

 12 

 18 



Clock 



before 

 San. 



Day 



of 

 Tear 



nt. s. 



6 6 



6 2 



5 58 



5 54 



5 49 



5 43 



5 36 



212 

 213 

 214 

 215 



Sir. 



317 

 218 



Prom observations taken near London dnring fort.y-three years, the average day tempe-alnre of the week is 74.9'; and its night temperature 

 50.0=. The greatest heat was 92^, on the 2ud, 1856 ; and the loweat cold 31', on tho iai, 1834. The greatest taU o( rain was 1.23 inch. 



BRUSSELS SPEOUTS AND WHITE BROCCOLI 

 CULTURE. 



j=«^HE first of these is, perhaps, one of the most 

 IP* useful of vegetables for affording a supply 

 during the winter months, especially to the 

 owners of small gardens. To such I con- 

 fidently recommend it, and for their in- 

 formation I will offer a few remarks on its 

 cultxu-e. 



In the first place, a good stock ought 

 to be obtained, and after a lengthened ex- 

 perience I can affirm that I know none 

 better than that entered in the seedsmen's catalogues 

 as " Imported Brussels Sprouts." These usually throw- 

 up a stem averaging 4 feet high, thickly studded with 

 compact miniature Cabbages, ranging from half an 

 inch to an inch in diameter. For small gardens one 

 sowing will be enough, and this may take place about 

 the middle of Marcli. Here I may offer a word of warn- 

 ing to our amateur friends ; they generally buy the 

 seeds at a cheap rate, and sow them under a Gooseberry 

 bush, or in some similar position. The best seed should 

 be procured, and it should be sown thinly in an open 

 position on soil that is not too rich. 



As soon as the young plants are sufficiently advanced 

 they may be planted out in the giound which has been 

 previously prepared for them. This ought to be done 

 in winter, and, to obtain the best results, it should be 

 trenched at least 18 inches deep, and be well manured ; 

 ordinary farmyard manure is the best. The plants will 

 be ready for planting-out as soon as they have made 

 three or four leaves besides the seed leaves. In taking 

 the plants out of the beds a small fork should be used to 

 loosen them first ; then pull them out gently, laying 

 them in a box or flat-bottomed basket. When the 

 ground is in good order, and the plants ai'e put out early, 

 they should bo "2 feet apart each way. 



In planting-out, drills should bo drawn 2 feet apart, 

 and the plants be put in with a dibber in a careful man- 

 ner, making the earth firm round the small fibres. The 

 drills will be found useful ; if it bo necessary to give 

 water to the plants they will allow of its soaking to the 

 roots. I have seen a man planting-out such crops as 

 this ; he ranges a line on tlie level gi-ound, and in plant- 

 ing lie draws the earth up to the stem with his ihbber 

 and forms a small mound over the roots ; of oour-so it is 

 sheer waste of time to attempt to water tlie plaut-^, unless 

 the ground can be flooded, as they do on tho sewage 

 farms. In all planting during the summer mouths a 

 shallow depression ought to be left round the stem of 

 the plant to retain the water. 



In many small gardens it is necessary to make tho 

 most of the ground. When this is the case, instead of 

 planting out the Sprouts at once, let the plants be pricked- 

 out about S inches apart in a bed, and when the earliest 

 crop of Potatoes or Peas is gathered, the plants may 

 be put out on tho vacant space ; or they may be 

 planted between the rows of Potatoes, in which case 

 No. 6«.-VoL. XXV., New Sbbiis. 



tho plants will be established before the Potatoes are 

 forked-out. 



A finn soil seems to suit the growth of this vegetable 

 best, and it is cultivated most successfully on a clayey 

 loam. 



Then as to the time when it maybe used and the manner 

 of gathering the sprouts. They are most useful between 

 the end of October and March, and should be gathered 

 when the little round heads arc firm and compact. Some 

 persons cut off the head as soon as the sprouts are ready 

 for gathering. I do not see the utility of this. No doubt 

 the sprouts near the top will more rapidly become larger 

 if this be practised ; but, on the other hand, as the stems 

 lengthen more sprouts are formed, which come in later 

 in the season. 



White Broccoli is another very nsefulVegetable ; but, 

 even more so than the preceding, it delights in heavy 

 soils. Now is the time for planting-out the latest sorts. 

 The ground for this should be hard, and if it is necessary 

 to let the plants into the ground with an iron bar they 

 will succeed all the better. Those who plant then- Straw- 

 berry beds annually cannot do better than plant their 

 Broccoli on the old beds ; all that is necessary is to 

 clear-off the weeds and Strawbeny plants, and as the 

 ground will be hard, the plants may be let in with a 

 crowbar. The same after-treatment is necessary both 

 for Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli, hoeing the ground 

 over as often as weeds appear. — J. Douglas. 



THE WEST OF ENGLAND ROSE SHOW, 

 HEREFORD. 



As there has appeared no account whatever of the 

 above Show, and as I heard the Hon. Secretary and 

 others regret tho absence of your usual reporter, it 

 occurred to me that a few notes might be acceptable to 

 you, made as they were in my double capacity of judge 

 and exhibitor. Indeed, I should feel very sorry were so 

 gi-and a Show to come and go without any notice in your 

 paper, which in my opinion far excels all other horticul- 

 tural papers in the accounts of all (but particular Rose), 

 exhibitions. The journey to Hereford from all places, 

 but particularly from the west, is a difficult one, for have 

 we not to pass through Bristol ? and is not the present 

 station the worst in existence, and are not the platforms 

 so narrow and crowded, that it is a matter of the greatest 

 difficulty to preserve your blooms from annihilation by 

 reason of the porters' desire to tm-n them upside down '.' 

 So when I relate that we westeni growers were landed 

 at Bristol just in time to see tho last train for Hereford 

 steaming out of the station while y/e were struggling 

 with our boxes, no one who knows the time tho Great 

 Western keeps will think it an unusual event. 



However, we got as far as Gloucester that night, and 

 knowing that there was a train from that place whicli 

 would just land us in time at Hereford to put in an 

 appearance at tho Sliire Hall before the doors were 

 closed, we secured beds at the " Duke of Wellington," 

 and were as comfortable as civility and good accom- 



No. 1208.— Vol. L.,Oi,d SF.niES, 



