48 SEED RAISING. 



Cabbages are best preserved by pulling them up by the 

 roots, and placing them head down on a level piece of dry 

 ground, and then throwing six or seven inches of earth 

 over them. 



A portion of the stalks will be exposed, but this is of no 

 importance; the spaces between them can be rilled up with 

 leaves or litter, which will facilitate getting them out when 

 wanted. 



Cauliflowers and broccoli that have not perfected their 

 heads in the autumn, should be taken up and planted close 

 together right up to the leave?, in a cold frame, and pro- 

 tected by sashes and coverings. They will then perfect 

 their flower-heads. Onions are best preserved by laying 

 them on the floor of a hay-loft and covering them with 

 about a foot or eighteen inches of hay or straw. They re- 

 quire to be kept dry and cool. 



SEED RAISING. 



As a rule it is not best for an amateur gardener to raise 

 seeds for his own use, as the business requires much skill 

 and knowledge, and is best conducted by those who make 

 a regular business of it. Even seedsmen rarely grow seeds 

 for their own sales, but purchase them from growers, many 

 of whom make specialties of different kinds, some only 

 growing one particular sort of cabbage, spinach, lettuce, 

 etc., and others only growing other varieties o the same 

 vegetable. 



The reason for this is that the various varieties of any 

 one vegetable are liable to mix if grown in proximity to 

 each otte ; for instance, if any two varieties of cabbage, or 

 of beets, or of lettuce, or of melons, ar3 grown within a 

 quarter of a mile of each other, their pollen will be liable 



