13 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENKB. 



( Jalr 1, 1809. 



enoeeas in all departmentB of gardening is never to allov a 

 plant or a cuttint; to Hag. We have no {aith in cattinga or 

 Cabbage plants vrbicli have flagged if tliey can be avoided. We 

 Uave fieen Cabbage and Cauliflower plants carried in bundles 

 with the roots expo.'ied, and left Ijiug about before planting, as 

 if the more witbored the foliage, and the more parcbed-np and 

 destroyed every fibre of rootf, the better might the plants be 

 expected to thrive. Just so with rultinrix, they often are so 

 carried and tumbled abont that they ure half-dead before 

 they are made and planted. There is one rule which, though 

 not appertaining to tliis department, is universally applicable 

 in growing cuttings of all kinds, and that is, whenever a catting 

 is taken from its parent plant, put it as soon as possible into 

 its new position, and then prevent the evaporation of its juices 

 too freely by shade or a close moist atmospheie. A second good 

 rule If, when cuttings arc brought from a distance, and they 

 become a little withered in the journey, never to place them in 

 water to revive them. This is often done by beginners and the 

 inexperienced, and though it often eeems to freshen up the cut- 

 tings, it generally eo fills the stem with watery juice that there 

 is a likelihood of rotting or damping-off afterwards. The far 

 better plan is to lay the cuttings down thinly in a shady close 

 place, and sprinkle them all over with water, making thus the 

 floor on which they rest damp. Tlie foliage will thus recover 

 its healthy appearance, whilst little extra moisture will he 

 absorbed by the baio end of the cutting. Cut flowers may 

 often be preserved a long time in fresh water if a small slice 

 be cut off the base of the shoot every day. A. fresh basis for 

 absorbing liquid is thus given. Without such care the base of 

 the shoot soon decomposes, and this is what we wish to avoid 

 in the case of a cutting. 



Exactly the same principle, though in a modified degree, 

 should be acted on in jilanfiiw otd with the dibber Cabbage and 

 Broccoli plants. It the plants are raised at home, it is well to ; 

 puddle the roots as taken up, to prevent the fine fibres becom- j 

 ing parched up in the mere carrying to the ground. When 

 brought from such a distance that the leaves are likely to be 

 flagged on arrival, it is well to puddle the roots before starting 

 them on the journey, and if not so treated, to do so when they | 

 arrive; but in either case, never allow them to stand any time 

 in water, but rather lay the plants down thinly, and damp 

 them all over, which will soon swell the foliage and the stems. 

 We have often been pained at seeing thousands of bundles of 

 young Cabbages and Greens so marketed and exposed in the 

 jonrney home, that every fibre of the roots was parched up, 

 and though the plants ultimately flourished, they did so from 

 the inherent force of vitality enabling them in self defence to 

 put out fresh roDts from the main descending axis of growth. 

 If the roots of such bundles had been wrapped in damp litter, 

 or even protected with a Cabbage or Rhubarb leaf tied firmly 

 round thera, there would liave been a considerable gain of 

 time as to fitness for use. We have seen hundreds of bundles 

 of such plants in markets, where from lying on each other the 

 foliage did something to protect itself, but with the root ends 

 ill exposed as if they could not be dried enough. 



Peas and Bfiuu. — Hoed all the ground about them to keep 

 moisture in, but a few days of such weather will render it 

 necessary to give them water at the roots where bearing heavily. 

 If let alone, thij promises to be a good season for Peas. Oar 

 late-sown ones have not been touched since we put a few 

 poisoned pellets beneath the open wire netting, but we are 

 almost beaten by the sparrows. They made many a breakfast 

 on the buds of the earliest, and now frequently save us all 

 trouble in gathering and shelling the pods. 



CcltTtj. — The great point now, until earthing-np time, is 

 never to let the plants become dry. Every time they are 

 allowed to feel the want of moisture is an inducement to the 

 plants to throw up their flower stems, when, however blanched, 

 they are fit for nothing but soups, and scarcely for that. In 

 the parching summer of last year we saved ours from bolting 

 by a dense thiding for fully a month. If we should have a 

 few more such bright days, we shall stick a few branches by 

 the sides of our beds, to prevent such a free evaporation from 

 the foliage and soil. 



Cucumbers. — Banked up the frames to keep a regular tempe- 

 rature, and ere long will remove plants from a pit, and plant 

 others in fresh soil, as they are shoa-ing the effects of heavy 

 cropping. We met the other day with one of the most success- 

 ful Cucumber-growers, who has a very neat span-roofed house 

 for tho purpose, and for two or three years the disease has 

 nearly mastered him, although he has procured fresh seed 

 from great distances. No place, be it pit or frame, is exempt 



from the pest ; though at a short distance in another plaoe, no 

 sign of the disease has appeared. 



Pea Gathering. — Even this simple matter requires system. 

 Many a row only yields half the produce it would have done, 

 because the gatherer in plucking the pod nearly pulls up the 

 Pea plant. The very precise may nip off the pod by applying 

 small scissors to the stalk of the Pea, but the simplest plan in 

 to use a small sharp-pointed knife in severing the stalks, and 

 no strain is thus given to the Pea plant. 



Dviirf Kidney Ileans. — A good supply of these is usefnl now, 

 before they can be obtained in the open ground. In heated 

 houses it is rather dangerous to have them, except in a pit ap- 

 propriated entirely to them, as in hot sunny weather they are 

 so subject to red spider and thrips. They suffer little from 

 such pests when merely covered with glass — such as old sashes. 

 We have had a plentiful supply, grown in pots in a little heat, 

 and then turned out pots and all. A second supply in an 

 earth pit just showing bloom was grown, four or five in a 

 fl-inch pot, and then turned out into the ground. The dwarf 

 kinds are best for this purpose, and even they on the whole do 

 best when stopped at the first or second j jint above the seed 

 leaves. We lately met with one not so generally known as it 

 ought to be, grown in-doors and out of doors, almost to the 

 exclusion of every other kind, by Mr. Beales, at Wharton 

 Wood Hall, and named Sir Joseph Paxton's Kidney Bean. The 

 Bean itself is small, about the size of the Newington Wonder, 

 but it produces a fair-sized pod in great abundance, though 

 even in a hothouse the plant continues very dwarf and needs 

 no stopping. The latter fact is of importance for forcing and 

 early work, as the stopping delays the blooming. The slightest 

 glance showed us these distinctive features, which we hope to 

 turn to future advantage. We do not know how this variety 

 came to be named after the great gardener, but some of our 

 readers may be pleased to learn, that the same substantial 

 wooden bedstead tn which Sir Joseph slept when attending the 

 furnaces at Wood Hall, is still doing good service; and let us 

 hope, as there is much even in little circumstances, may do 

 something to foster the genius of other youths who will be as 

 I great in gardening, and as worthy in true manliness of charac- 

 ter as Sir Joseph Paxton. 



We need not repeat the importance of planting winter vege- 

 tables in every available space. We only wish we had more 

 space at liberty. When that cannot be done, the next best 

 ! plan for securing a good return in winter, is to plant out in rich 

 rough soil, ot from 4 to inches apart, and raise and plant 

 j with balls. On the whole we find this plan answers better than 

 I planting at once between rows of Potatoes, Peas, &c., where 

 j the plants are likely to be drawn up by shade. 



If this hot weather continue, CauU/lowers will need abund- 

 ! ance of water. This season, amongst our earliest, which had 

 the help of banl-lights in winter, we had six or seven of what 

 might be calleil flowery heads, more open and green than usual, 

 not fit to send to table, though, as far as we conld judge, the 

 plants seemed the same, the rest yielding noble close white 

 heads. What can be the reason for this departure from the 

 normal state? We have chiefly depended on the London 

 Market Cauliflower, for though a little long in the leaves, it 

 yields fine returns; but there is a much more compact kind, 

 as respects foliage, grown on the east side of Hertfordshire, by 

 Mr. Hill, of The Poles, Mr. Beales, of Wood Hall, and Mr. Cox, 

 of Kimpton Hoo, all, we believe, with different names as Hill's 

 Cauliflower, Hertfordshire Cauliflower, Cox's Cauliflower, .Jrc., 

 and all to a stranger seeming very much alike, but marked 

 chiefly by the broad-spreading leaves, the comparative dwarf- 

 ness of the plants, and the good size, compactness, and white- 

 ness of the head. We have found that even the London Market 

 Cauliflower assumes the best of these properties when thinly 

 planted, and that the superior kind or kinds become long- 

 leaved when thickly planted. Amateurs, and gardeners too, in 

 choosing the best varieties, should give these tine Cauliflowers 

 a fair trial. When from home for a few hours lately, we noticed 

 a fine white Broccoli of Mr. Cox's, just heading when most 

 others were gone ; and we find that Mr. Francis, of Hertford, 

 has a cream or sulphur-coloured one, that rarely comes in until 

 June — a matter of importance where early Cauliflower cannot 

 be easily had. For the table, of course, the white looks best ; 

 but we have found cream and purple-coloured often richer and 

 sweeter in flavour. 



FRUIT rErARTMEST. 



So late is the season, that with us Strawberries out of doors, 

 with the exception of a few of the Black Prince, are only begin- 

 ning to colour. Forttmately, we shall have a supply for some 



