Uaroh 2, 1876. 1 



JOURNAL OP HORTIOULTtJEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



i6§ 



BIX weeks before digging the gronuJ, and fihould tben choose 

 fine weather for turning it in, planting the crops ns soon as 

 convenient after the ground was dug. I should then expect 

 the roots to reach and appropriate the food, much of which, 

 if it had been buried three mouths previously, would, I should 

 fear, be beyond their reach. 



I have arrived at this conclusion solely by the teachings of 

 the crops. I know very little about " science." I would 

 rather have good crops with bad science than good science 

 with bad crops. — A Plain Gakdeneb. 



EUPETALUM. 



A riGCRE of this plant has been submitted for identifi- 

 cation. It is claimed on the one hand to be an Eupetalum, 

 and on the other a Be- 

 gonia. It is no doubt 

 a Begonia, and the 

 same that is figured 

 and described in vol. 

 xxi. of the " Botanical 

 Begister." It is equally 

 an Eupetalum, for Dr. 

 Lindley considered it 

 to be sufficiently dis- 

 tinct to be separated 

 from the Begonias and 

 to rank as a genue — 

 hence he classed it as 

 an Eupetalum. Eupe- 

 talum panctatum — the 

 only species — and Be- 

 gonia petaloides are sy- 

 nonymous, and either 

 name may be applied 

 to the plant. 



It is a pretty stove 

 plant, which was in- 

 troduced from Mexico 

 nearly forty years ago. 

 It has rosy pink flowers 

 which are freely pro- 

 duced, and the plant is 

 worthy of cultivation. 

 Very recently the cul- 

 ture of tuberous-rooted 

 Begonias has been fully 

 treated on in these co- 

 lumns, and the mode 

 of culture thf^re de- 

 tailed is suitable for 

 the plant which is now 

 figured. 



CAULIFLOWERS 

 AND BROCCOLL 



No. 2. 



Vegetables of the 

 very first importance 

 are these, and a simple 

 mode of producing an 

 " all-the- year -round" 

 supply of them was de- 

 scribed on page 12.3. 

 It was there stated as of the first importance to effect a junction 

 of Cauliflowers with the Broccolis in January, and another 

 union of the same nature in June. The cycle is then com- 

 plete, provided that there is no interruption of the succes- 

 sional crops coming into use in regular order and at the right 

 time. 



I mentioned that the supply of these vegetables had been 

 secured by relying on a comparatively few varieties, but I do 

 not mean to euggeet by that that only those varieties ehould 

 be grown. By other sorts than those named the same end can 

 be attained if the selection i^ carefully made and one is assured 

 that the varieties are true to name. In raising a supply of 

 Cauliflowers it is well not to change the sorts — or the seeds- 

 men supplying them — which prove their usefulness and are 

 ready when wanted. A gentleman will not often trouble him- 

 self or his gardener as to the mere name of a Cauliflower pro- 



Fig. 43. — Ettpetalum — begonia petaloides. 



vided it is white, sweet, and good, and not too large ; but to 

 have twenty sorts in the garden and none on the table is an 

 unpleasant matter to explain away. I like to grow a few 

 other varieties than those which I depend upon, growing 

 them as a supplementary or experimental crop, taking care 

 to have snfflciint of tho plain useful sorts which I have 

 proved reliable for a full supply. It should be noted, too, that 

 if these sorts were ordered from another seedsman there is 

 no certainty that they would come as expected. Cauliflowers 

 and Broccolis are very sportive, and they have, furthermore, 

 no fixed and standard nomenclature, but every grower has 

 good stocks. The new varietie-i are grown and seeded with 

 special care, and may generally be had true for a year or two, 

 but it is surprising how soon their distinctness is lost by being 

 jostled in the crowd; they lose a little here and a little there 



until they find their 

 level and habitation 

 in the bags of Wil- 

 oove or Knight's Pro- 

 tecting. 



Amongst the new 

 sorts that I have grown 

 I have found Veitch'a 

 ProtectingBrocooli one 

 of the best of the early 

 section. Heads of this 

 variety will form in the 

 centre of the plant and 

 there apparently re- 

 main stationary for 

 weeks. I once went 

 into a garden where 

 tie gardener was be- 

 wailing his lack of 

 heads ; he was, as he 

 said, " in a mess," 

 having no Broccoli. 

 Yet when I assisted 

 him to tear a few plants 

 asunder we found a 

 "hidden treasure." As 

 a late sort Lander's 

 Goshen is an excellent 

 variety, so also is Car- 

 ter's Summer Broccoli. 

 For mddeeason, or ra- 

 therlate sorts, Satton's 

 Perfection and Cool- 

 ing's Matchless are un- 

 deniably good varie- 

 ties ; but I find that 

 more depends on the 

 good name of the ven- 

 dor than on the names 

 of the seeds. 



Broccolis should be 

 grown thinly on hard 

 and rather poor soU, 

 and in a very exposed 

 place. It depends in 

 culture rather than by 

 any inherent virtue of 

 a given kind whether 

 it is " hardy " or not. 

 The plants may be 

 grown hardy or grown 

 tender according to the treatment they receive. I take but 

 very little notice as to what a seedsman says about this or 

 that sort being " hardy," knowing that the hardihood of the 

 plant does not depend on him, but on my mode of culture. 

 Men fail and blame the seedsmen, but in nine cases out of ten 

 the grower is really at fault by having ordered either a wrong 

 sort or grown it in the wrong way. I sow Snow's Winter 

 White and sorts of that cla«s in March, the general crop in 

 April, and the latest sorts as late as June, and by the best 

 selection of sites I can choose I have heads of Broccoli as Ion*' 

 as it is possible to have them. 



It is more diflicult to provide a regular summer and autumn 

 supply of Cauliflowers than a winter and spring supply of 

 Broccolis. A blank must always occur early in July unless a 

 little seed is sown under glass at the present time, and the 

 plants are prepared in warm sheltered positions. It is only 



