Febrnary 19, 1874. ) 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



ir,9 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Month 



10 

 20 

 21 

 22 

 23 

 24 

 25 



Day 



ol 



Week. 



Th 



P 



s 



SCH 



M 

 To 

 W 



rEBEUAET 19-25, 187-1. 



Meetings of Royal and Linnean Societies. 



1 St^NDAY IN Lest. 



Moot, of Royal Geographical Society,8.30 p.m. 



Meeting of Society of Arts, 8 P.ii. 



Average Tempera- 1 Kain in I Snn 

 tare near London. :43year3.| Rises. 



Day. 



44.9 

 45.5 

 46.7 

 4B.8 

 47.4 

 47.1 

 47.7 



Days. 

 15 

 20 

 20 

 19 

 14 

 20 

 22 



m. h. 

 8af7 



G 7 



4 7 



2 7 



7 



58 6 



56 6 



Snn 



Seta. 



m. h. 

 20al5 



22 5 



23 & 

 25 5 

 27 S 

 29 5 

 SI 5 



Moon 

 Rises. 



20 10 

 5 11 



Moon 

 Sets. 



m. h. 



14 9 



41 10 



mom. 



9 



S5 1 



55 2 



7 4 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 

 3 

 4 

 5 



Clock Day 

 before ' of 

 Sun. Year. 



m. s. 



14 4 



13 58 



13 51 



13 43 



13 35 



13 26 



13 17 



50 

 51 



52 

 53 

 54 

 55 

 66 



From observations taken near London during forty-throe years, the average day temperature of the week is 46.6^ ; and its night temperature 

 31.8^ The greatest beat was 62'', on the 25th, 1868 ; and the lowest cold 10= on the 21st, 18o3. The greatest fall of rain was 0.92 inch. 



MY SEED OKDEKS— A KETROSPECT.— No. 2. 



Y term of responsibility arrived. I am sure 

 it toned down my criticism on tlio pi'actice 

 of a veteran who, I bad tbougbt, was so far 

 bebind modern times and requirements. I 

 tbougbt of tbe never-failing supply of vege- 

 tables in season, and the satisfaction they 

 must have given, a complaint being never 

 thought about. His advice, which had be- 

 come a proverb, and which, I fear, was 

 once deemed obsolete, or made up of an 

 old man's prejudice, came sounding iu my ears, and like 

 the lingering refrain of a tune that haunts the memory, it 

 would not be shaken off. "A few things and good to 

 depend on, and of these a strong lot," I began to think 

 might be sound doctrine ; it might be the outcome of 

 half a century of practice, and not the mere dictate of 

 octogenarian prejudice. It shook my youthful infalH- 

 bility, and I sought advice ; but where ? In the veiy 

 place where most young men mistakingly fly to — viz., a 

 " clever young fellow." The world is full of them ; we 

 meet them everywhere ; their confidence is alluring, and 

 their assurance and address fascinating. They are fully 

 abreast of the times, if not a march in advance. They 

 must know better than the " old school." If you ask 

 them a question you get an answer. They cannot afford 

 to admit their ignorance, it would be derogatory to their 

 reputation and standing. They wear spectacles of en- 

 thusiasm, and are ever making "discoveries." These are 

 the men to give advice. This is their great forte. Asked 

 or unasked it is all the same ; they are full of notions and 

 opinions — inspirations of genius — and being philosophers 

 too, the world must have the benefit of their knowledge. 

 Ask them. Do they ever contribute to garden Hteratuj-e ? 

 and you soon find they " don't care for papers ;" have 

 been " wanted to, but have declined." When they were 

 at so-and-so they took all the best prizes for this and that, 

 and the gardener got all the credit and reward — they, of 

 course, growing the things ; he, poor old man, knowing 

 very little about it. It was such a one as this who upset 

 my convictions inherited as the legacy of my old friend ; 

 and now I will upset his theoretical fancies, and his 

 mythical skill shall fade away when tried against quiet, 

 unobtrusive, and long-won e;sperience. 



We took the catalogues, and stopped first at Beet. The 

 one sort that had given such satisfaction for years past 

 was almost, but not quite, left out, and four other varie- 

 ties distributed over the allotted Beet ground. One of 

 the new ones was fortunately the same as the old one, 

 or a Beet famine was inevitable, the others by shape, 

 taste, or colour not being liked. What advantage then, 

 suggests common sense, in growing half a dozen sorts 

 when that which pleases the best is known ? Why not 

 occupy tho ground with it alone, and have an abun- 

 dance '? From that day to this it has been done, and 

 year by year not a complaint is whispered. The old 

 man was right, the young one wrong. Beets and palates 

 vary, and better than quoting an individual sort by name 

 No. 673.— Vol, XXVI., New Sebies. 



it is more sensible advice to say, Prove the kind most 

 liked in your individual case, and whatever others are 

 grown keep to the best in the main, and have sufficient 

 of it alone for all demands ; then you are safe, and may 

 still enjoy variety, if ground is plentiful, by limited triais 

 of other kinds. 



We next come to Cabbage — one of the most important 

 crops if early. Earliness is a supreme condition, alfect- 

 ing its value, as all know who have had to wait for Cab- 

 bages "tuming-in" after the Winter Greens would no 

 longer fill the vegetable basket. In my order eight sorts 

 were marked and grown ; but never again shall my trust 

 be put in catalogue descriptions of this standard vege- 

 table. There are far too many in tbe market to be- 

 wilder and disappoint. But for a sowing, amongst the 

 rest, of a little seed of my old chief's saving the place 

 would have been cabbageless in Cabbage time, and I do 

 not like to think what would have been the result. I 

 have tried, I may say, scores of varieties, or rather scores 

 of names, in my time, and have come to the conclusion 

 that strains are now more numerous, but less distinct and 

 pure, than they were thu'ty years ago. And the worst of 

 it is, if you order a given kind at three difl'erent places 

 it is more than possible you will get at least two varieties, 

 perhaps three, but it is almost impossible to obtain the 

 same one sort ordered from all. The Cabbage seed trade 

 is out of gear. The array of names and aliases is too great 

 to keep in order. The individual is lost in the multitude. 

 There are, no doubt, good early sorts, but the difiiculty 

 is to know where to send and what to send for with 

 security. I will say no more than that with thi-ee sorts 

 I am never scarce ; I used to do it with two, but I have 

 added Cocoa-nut to the true Atkins' Matchless and Early 

 York. The old man's practice and hie one sort again 

 put to confusion the young man's eloquence on the eight 

 " splendid new varieties." 



Cauliflowers are hke Spanish grandees — a good many 

 names attaching to one individual. In youthful ardour 

 I tried all, and no harm came by it, but in the course of 

 years have come down to my old friend's number. I 

 can nearly do everything required with one — Walcheren, 

 and quite when I add to it a first-rate type of Early 

 Erfurt. With these two and Broccoli I can cut heads 

 of first-table quality every day iu the year, the first 

 Broccoli, Snow's, promptly following the last Cauhflower, 

 Walcheren, in January; and the first Cauliflower, Erfurt 

 or Dwarf Mammoth, following as promptly the last Broc- 

 coh, Oattell's Eclipse, in .June. That does all that is 

 needed. But before leaving Cauliflowers I must say that 

 for giving away or exhibiting, and small ones for home 

 use, Veitch's fine introduction. Autumn Giant, has won 

 a permanent place. But what is to be said on the other 

 mighty host of Broccoli? Of numbers under different 

 names I will venture to say that they are so much aUke 

 that you cannot tell " t'other from which." Mcst, 

 however, are good ; Adams' Early, Dileock's Bride, and 

 Wilcove, with the two above named, give me an un- 

 failing succession, and are of more real use than I found 

 double the number of sorts in my enrher days. 



No. 1325.— Vol. LI., Old Sebies. 



