Jnly 1, 1869. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



due south and sheltered exposure should be got ready for them. 

 As earhness i3 the chief object, the soil should not be heavy nor 

 damp. A good dressing of thoroughly-rotted manure should 

 be trenched or dug deeply into it, and every spadeful of the 

 Boil should be well pulverised. Hind-glassea should then be 

 placed on the soil thus prepared, at about 2 feet apart one way, 

 and 25 feet the other. The most stocky and healthy plants 

 that can be selected are planted five in each glass ; one in each 

 corner, and one in the centre. Although four or five plants are 

 the number to be brought to maturity in these glasses, no harm 

 results from putting a few more into each with the view of 

 transplanting them in spring. This, where framing is scarce, 

 is often practised. G ire, however, must be taken that they do 

 not get crowded, or injury to the whole will be the result, and 

 the transplanting of the superfluous stock should be done before 

 rapid growth commences. When planted and watered, the light 

 ehould be put over them, but not closely, and a slight shading 

 afforded for a few hours in the middle of the day if the weather 

 be hot. 



After they take with the ground, it must be kept in mind 

 that the more exposed they are in autumn, while they con- 

 tinue to make growth, the better will be their condition to 

 stand the winter, should it be severe, and come away bold and 

 strong in spring; consec[uently, the tops of the lights should 

 be kept oS, except to throw off heavy rains. When the winters 

 are severe, they should be kept closely shut-up while the frost 

 continue, and should be screened from sudden bursts of sun- 

 shine. If severe frosts take place after the sun gains sufficient 

 power to thaw them quickly, they are more likely to suffer 

 from sudden alternations of temperature than from continued 

 severe frost. Generally this is all the shelter found necessary 

 for moderate-sized plants that have not been crowded, and 

 rendered tender thereby. In mild weather slugs are the prin- 

 cipal devourers that must be looked after and destroyed in the 

 Qsnal way. If the surface of the soil is covered with the sift- 

 ings of burned earth or charcoal, it is good for the plants, and 

 prevents slugs from harbouring so much. If more have been 

 wintered in the hand glasses than can be left to come to ma- 

 turity, they should be removed by the middle of March. If 

 the hand-glasses are of the largest sizes, one plant in each 

 corner and one in the middle may be left, as nice compact early 

 heads are required rather than large ones ; but if the glasses 

 are smaller, one in each corner is enough. The surface of the 

 soil should then be well stirred, all dead leaves removed, and a 

 slight earthing-up of a few inches of light rich soil applied. 

 On fine days a free exposure to air must be followed out. shut- 

 ting them up at night to prevent the soil from losing the heat 

 absorbed by day. They soon make rapid progress, and April 

 adds greatly to their size and strength, and they are generally 

 far a-head of spring-transplanted crops. The glasses should 

 be removed entirely as soon as the plants outgrow them. A 

 top-dressing of well-rotted manure should then be laid over 

 the surface of the ground among and around the plants, and 

 over all a covering of soil. This moulds up the plants and 

 keeps them steady. In performing this operation the corner 

 plants should be pressed away from the centre, to further pre- 

 vent them from becoming crowded. This moulding-up must 

 be efficiently and firmly done, so that the plants do not get 

 blown about and loosened at the neck by high winds, and a 

 basin should be left all round them to hold manure water. 

 When from dry weather it becomes necessary to help them on 

 with water, let it be a thorough soaking once a-week in pre- 

 ference to smaller quantities more frequently. A mulching 

 should be applied after the first watering, and nothing is better 

 lor this than old hotbed manure. 



In very cold damp situations it is advisable to pot up in 

 October as many plants as are required for the desired number 

 of_ glasses, in case, in the event of severe weather, they get 

 crippled. In pots they can be wintered in a cold pit or frame, 

 and turned out into the glasses as established plants, either to 

 make up blanks or replnce the whole stock. These will come 

 away much earlier than transplanted plants, and in cold 

 localities it is always advisable to have a few plants in pots to 

 make up blanks under the glasses, if not for anything more im- 

 portant ; for if the blanks are made up by transplanting, the 

 plants so introduced do not keep pace with the established 

 plants, and eventually get smothered. 



Returning to the stock of young plants in the seed beds, the 

 next consideration is to take steps to winter a stock of plants 

 for planting out in good condition in spring, to succeed those 

 under hand-glasses. The means to this end are to a great 

 extent regulated by the climate of different parts of the country. I 



Some localities are so favoured with climate that the Canliflowws 

 can be planted out in quarters like Cabbages, and generally 

 stand the winter so managed. In others ess mild it is neces- 

 sary to prick them off under the shelter of a wall. In the 

 majority of cases it is wise not to trust them without some 

 more substantial means of protection, and it becomes neces- 

 sary to put a quantity into temporary pits, with some means 

 of covering them up in severe frosts, and still better are they 

 under glass in cold frames and pits. For this purpose the 

 latest sowing recommended generally supplies the most snit- 

 able plants, the earliest being generally too large, and not in 

 such a good condition to stand the winter, and more likely 

 to button in spring than less plants. The middle of October 

 is a good time to transplant them into frames, which should 

 stand dry and well exposed. Any moderately rich soil, such 

 as common light garden soil, answers very well. The most 

 healthy, stubby, and short-necked plants must be chosen, and 

 planted in rows 4 inches apart each way. They may stand 

 wider if space be plentiful ; certainly not closer if fine plants 

 are to be produced. 



AU the autumn and winter they must be freely exposed to 

 light and air in mild weather, by pulling off the lights every 

 morning and tilting them well up at night. Rain must be 

 kept from them on all occasions, as a superabundance of mois- 

 ture makes them grow too much, and more liable to suffer from 

 frost. All decaying leaves must be removed when they appear, 

 the surface of the soil kept stirred, and if some charred soil is 

 strewn amongst them, it keeps the surface of the soil from be- 

 coming slimy and caked. In dull damp weather, when it 

 becomes necessary to cover them up from severe frosts, it mnst 

 be borne in mind that they are more likely to be killed by a 

 sudden thaw than by a smart bite of frost. Therefore they 

 should be kept covered up from light after the surface of the soil 

 and the plants have become frozen, and not uncovered till they 

 are completely thawed agiin ; and then the covering should be 

 removed, and light and air admitted by degrees. Mice and 

 slugs are the enemies that are to be guarded against, for if 

 allowed their own way they soon spoil a lot of plants — the 

 former by eating the hearts ont of them, and the latter by eat- 

 ing the stems below the leaves. 



Looking at these Cauliflower plants that have been wintered 

 in frames in cold localilitjs, the next consideration is how to 

 manage them so that they shall succeed those in hand-glasses 

 in a south border. If transplanted into the open borders or 

 quarters in March they receive a considerable check, even when 

 lifted with balls and carefully planted, and are likely to get 

 checked severely by frosts and cutting winds before they take 

 hold of the ground, so that the earliest of them has little chance 

 of being ready by the time the latest under the glasses are cut. 

 To cain the object in view I know of no better plan than that 

 of potting them up out of the frames the first week in February, 

 and establishing them in pots in kindly quarters under glass, 

 for a time at least. In this way they receive a comparatively 

 slight check, and fine strong plants can be turned out with good 

 halls by the end of March. They are also better able to contend 

 with sun and wind, and are much earlier than those transpdanted 

 from the frames without being potted. 



Four-inch pots are large enough for the strongest plants, 

 while the smallest may have a size less. The soil should be 

 rich, such as old Melon-bed loam and weU-rotted leaf mould in 

 equal propurtions, with a flight sprinkling of fine bone dust and 

 sand. A single crock in each pot is enough. They should be 

 potted firmly, and room left in the pot to hold plenty of water 

 when they require it. In lifting the plants from the frame, the 

 object should be more to get the roots as entire as possible than 

 to preserve a ball of earth to them. None of them should be 

 discarded on account of their being small, if healthy ; for the 

 greater the variety in size, the longer and more regular the 

 succession a given number of plants will afford. After being 

 potted and well watered, they should be returned to the pit or 

 frame and kept close for a time till they begin to take with the 

 pots. Then they must be inured to full exposure, but always 

 protected from frost, although in all other respects grown in a 

 hard manner. The end of March, or, should the weather be 

 cold, the beginning of April, is soon enough to plant them ont, 

 unless in more favoured localities. The ground intended for 

 them should be trenched and well manured with thoroughly 

 rotted dung. Some of the most forward plants should be 

 planted in a border with a south exposure, on a rather light 

 rich soil. Here they will succeed those in the glasses. The 

 rest may be planted in the open quarters, where the earliest of 

 them will follow up those in the early border. In peiformiog 



