VEGETABLE GROWING 365 



Red, and Blood-Red ; others having foliage of somewhat greener colour are Cheltenham 

 Black and Sutton's Black. These, when moderately well grown, give roots of the highest 

 excellence in flavour and deep-coloured flesh. 



Wintering. Being somewhat tender, it is needful to lift Beets from the ground and 

 store them in dry sand or ashes in any cool shed or outhouse from which frosts are 

 excluded. The cooler the roots can be kept the better. The lifting should be done not 

 later than the middle of November, the soil being carefully rubbed from each root, and 

 the leaves not cut but twisted off, before placing the roots in the sand. Store them so 

 that the crowns project. An occasional looking over them is needful during the winter. 

 Carefully preserved roots should be good till the end of May at least, but much depends 

 on place of storage and attention given during the winter. When properly cooked and 

 served to table, a really good, rich-coloured Beet is delicious. It would be well were 

 Beets far more largely consumed. 



Broccoli. These are fairly hardy, and biennial, that is to say, they are raised 

 from seed one year and produce their frothy heads for eating, and later their flowers 

 proper in the following year. Their time of heading-in ranges from January to June. 

 Seed of the earliest varieties, those to head in early in the year, should be sown in March 

 or April, to enable strong plants to be dibbled out into rows, 2 feet apart, in June, or 

 early in July. Later varieties may be sown in May, and be planted out in August and 

 early in September. It is undesirable to have the plants too gross or leafy, as these 

 are more liable to injury by frost ; again, large heads are undesirable, as those that are 

 from 6 to 8 inches across, when cut, are quite large enough for cooking. When the 

 ground is rich enough with manure dressings, it is well to tread it quite hard about the 

 plants, as that induces them to become less leafy and much harder in the stems. It is a 

 good plan to put out Broccoli plants on to ground that has just been cleared of Peas 

 or other crops, and has not been dug again. The purple-sprouting Broccoli is a most 

 useful as well as a hardy variety, the sprouts being gathered as needed, and thus the 

 plants continue to produce them for several weeks. Seeds of that variety should be sown 

 in April or May, the sprouts being ready for use in the following February and March. 

 Seed in all cases should be sown thinly, in drills, 12 inches apart. The best white Broccoli 

 are Early : Christmas White, Winter White, and Early White ; and for later cutting : 

 Cooling's Matchless, Knight's Protecting, Mammoth, Late Queen, and Model. 



Brussels Sprouts. These distinct forms of Cabbage do not produce hearts, but each 

 stem gives a comparatively small head, and a very large number of sprouts which, if of 

 proper form, are about the size of walnuts, quite hard, round, and green. The plants 

 when put out into the open ground from the seed-bed as early as June become strong and 

 tall, and commence to produce sprouts of this nature at the bottom of the stems in 

 November; and as these are cut off and used, others higher up swell, and in a week 

 or so are large enough for use. Thus stems that are from 20 to 24 inches in height will, 

 in this way, give a supply of good hard sprouts for fully five months. The sprouts come 

 out from the upper side of every leaf-stem, and as they mature, the leaves ripen and 

 fall, or may be pulled off, but in no case should they be removed until the sprouts are to be 

 cut. Cutting takes more time than pulling, but as, in the spring, other long, tender shoots 

 break out from the stems that furnish delicious greens, it is best to cut the sprouts, as then 

 their more dormant buds are left to break into shoots. The tips or heads should not be 

 cut until late in the winter, or as long as these remain. Stem growth goes on, and 

 sprouts are produced, even though they are only small ones. Seed should be sown 

 about the middle of March in shallow drills, and protected by nets or litter from birds. It 

 is well to put out plants when 6 inches in height, as then they make strong growth and 

 begin to sprout early in the winter. The usual rule, if planted in a bed, is to have the rows 

 2 feet apart, but in rich ground they should be wider than that. The soil, after planting, 

 may with advantage be made very firm, as that tends to make the stems hardier. Good 

 varieties are Exhibition, Dwarf Gem, and Imported Brussels. 



Cabbage. Although all the various members of Brassica are of the Cabbage tribe, 

 having all emanated from the wild Cabbage, yet there is great differences in them, as 

 may be found in Cabbages proper, White, Red, Savoy, and Colewort, Curled Kales, 

 Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflowers, and Broccoli. Under the term Cabbage, therefore, we 

 treat of those properly so named. What are called White Cabbages are all hearting, and 

 whilst leaves exposed to the light are green, the hearts, being firm and blanched, are white. 

 These constitute one of the most valuable of vegetables, being very hardy, and available 

 for use nearly all the year round. Sowings of seed may be made frequently, the earliest 

 in the year being in a frame in February; or failing a frame, then outdoors on a warm 

 border early in March, the object being to secure a quick succession to the Cabbages 

 obtained from an autumn planting. The seed-bed, which may be a small one, should 

 be either covered up thinly with dry, clean straw litter or ferns to keep off birds, 

 or be netted over for the same reason. A second sowing may be made in May to 

 give plants to furnish heads in the autumn, after Peas are over and the hot weather 



