1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



401 



or rather the ordinary sprinklings, so termetl, will 

 prove of no avail, il" the seeds have been sovvn in 

 arid soil, as was latally proved last year. In hot 

 sunshine, the mat onj^ht to he used till the seeds 

 veijetate. The seedling plants will be liable to ihe 

 attack.^ of slugs and other enemies; to guard 

 against whicli, they may he sprinkled with a iillle 

 ol" the powder mentioned above ; or the spaces ol 

 soil between the rows may be covered with dry 

 saw-dust or chaff; but thick sowing is perhaps the 

 most cHectual means to secure a sufficient supply, 

 and it is always prudent to practice h, because 

 many seeds are inert; and it is belter to displace 

 the supernumeraries by timely thinning, than to 

 have a paucity of plants, nine-tenths of which 

 may perish by accidents. When tlie first true 

 leaves appear, and acquire a little strength, much 

 of the danger will be past, and the plants ought to 

 be. thinned out, so as to stand an inch asunder. 

 Again, as the}' advance in growth, they ought to 

 be reduced in number till double that space inter- 

 vene between plant and plant. 



Transplanting. — Some gardeners have attempt- 

 ed to obviate this operation; but the roots first 

 produced are few in number, though strong, and 

 of considerable length: the plants also acquire a 

 tall and shanky growth ; and above all, it is evi- 

 dent that, if cabbage plants he made to perfect 

 their growth on the site where the seeds were sown, 

 the allotted space must be very great, because 

 they must be thinned out so as finally to stand 

 one foot asunder at the least. Transplanting, 

 therefore, should be practised, and that, too, as 

 soon as the young plants have become three or 

 four inches high, and begin to crowd each other. 

 The operation effects two or three good objects. 

 It causes the roots to produce a rmmber of short 

 fibres, or, as it is termed, to become "stocky:" it 

 dvvarls the plants, and, while making them strong 

 and compact, secures them to the soil; and it ena- 

 bles the grower to protect those left in the seed-bed 

 (as some always should be) by covering of mats 

 thrown over arches, Ibrmed of hoops or pliable 

 rods, in the event of very severe weather. 



In transplanting, let the bed or plot be a good 

 firm loam, if possible, pretty well manured, tho- 

 roughly digged, and in a free, open situation. Se- 

 lect strong plants of nearly equal growth, and in- 

 sert them in rows by means of a dibble or 

 trowel, fixing each firmly in the soil, eighteen 

 inches apart every ivay, if" the variety be a free 

 grower; but the small Yorks will do very well if 

 fhe rows be that distance apart, the plants stand- 

 ing only twelve inches asunder in the lines or 

 ranks. It is indispensable that the soil be brought 

 closely to the roots ; and made to press them firm- 

 ly in every part ; and should the weather be dry, 

 much time will be gained by making the holes so 

 deep as to receive the plant to the tidl length of 

 the stem of each, and filling every hole brimful of 

 soft water: then, by pressing the soil laterally and 

 on every side with the tool, the roots will become 

 puddled in, and secured at once. The period lor 

 the work must depend upon the growth in the 

 seed-bed ; and if the season be early, and the 

 weather warm and showery, the transplanted cab- 

 bages may grow so rapidly as to require the check 

 of a second removal, or at least to be raised up 

 and re-set ; but in general, and under ordinary 

 circumstances, it will be sufficient to leave them 

 undisturbed, as then the crop will be ready for cul- 



VoL. IV— 51 



tare at a more early period of the spring. In the 

 south, it is no uncommon circumstance to cut fine- 

 hearted cabbages in April, and very good ones in 

 May. In the north, the growth must be more tar- 

 dy in most situations. 



The seed-bed will require care and attention. \ 

 have said (hat some plants ought to be left in it ; 

 and I urge the practice, because, in severe winters, 

 Ihe entire crop is sometimes cut off. The seedlings 

 remaining, ought however, to be raised up; the 

 longest roo:s cut back nearly one-third, and the 

 plants be re-set in regular order and distances. 

 Thus, supposing that 200 plants remain in if, and 

 be made to stand four inches apart in rows v.hich 

 are six inches asunder, a bed little more thtui 

 twelve leet long and about three feet wide, inclu- 

 ding its edges, will contain this valuable stock, 

 which in severe weather could be covered by three 

 or four garden mats, and thus secure a pretty am- 

 ple supply of plants tor the spring. Another pre- 

 caution may always be resorted to. In transplant- 

 ing, deep drills or grooves can be formed by the 

 hoe or spade, and along these the plants may be 

 set so deep, that the lowest leaves may stand just 

 above the soil. I adopted a still more efficient |)Ian 

 of security last October, though I do not recom- 

 mend it because I think the growth in the early 

 spring months is thereby retarded. Having a 

 piece oi' .ground set up in ridges, nine inches high, 

 and the time pressing, I planted my young cab- 

 bages in the bottom of the trenches between the 

 ridges. On three occasions the thermometer fell 

 twenty-two degrees below the freezing point, and 

 not a plant has been touched, though no covering 

 was applied at any period of the winter. My 

 broccoli, also, has stood in periecl security, in con- 

 sequence of the stems being lower than the level 

 of the edges of trenches made expressly for them. 

 Bowever, as cabbages ought to be hoed freely in 

 the autumn, and the spaces between the rows 

 digged once or twice, as soon as the plants re- 

 sume growth in the early spring, it is evident that 

 the ridges present an obstacle to these important 

 operations. If the winter prove mild, the cab- 

 bages will progress in some degree ; but if by 

 coid they be rendered torpid, they will start into 

 ffrowlh with the early return of solar influence : a 

 few may fly up to seed, but the greater part will 

 (iarm hearts, and can be cut in succession. In cut- 

 ting, it will be prudent never to take off the green 

 and healthy leaves, those that are inert and yel- 

 low, will scale off of themselves, or with the 

 sliiihtest effort: but the green and firm ones have 

 still an important office to perlbm, in perfecting the 

 auxiliary buds which produce young sprouts. 

 These secondary cabbages, or "greens," affect an 

 open growth, and in themselves furnish a delicious 

 vegetable ; but they may — that is a portion of the 

 best formed arnonir them — be devoted to another 

 purpose of considerable utility in garden economy. 

 The shoots when about five or six inches long, are 

 to be gently twisted off from the stem, and the la- 

 cerated heel of each being trimmed perfectly even 

 and smooth with a very sharp knile. but not short- 

 ened ; the young plant thus rendered a cutting is 

 to be very carefully planted in lightish, sandy, 

 fi-esh moved loam, so deeply as nearly, but not 

 quite, to include the entire stem. The setting- 

 stick or dibble is to be thrust diagonally into the 

 ground in three or four places, in the direction of 

 tlie heel, so as to fix it firmly in the soil, and then 



