34 OUtorial Notices. 



more hardy than the old white Cos, but also than the brown 

 Cos. The royal, or union, continues to be the best cabbage lettuce 

 in cultivation. The taste of the mass of the public in London 

 for winter salads is at a low ebb, otherwise we should long since 

 have had blanched chicory grown in cellars in the manner re- 

 commended in the early volumes of this Magazine, and by Dr. 

 Lippold in the,present Volume. The Italian and the Manchester 

 celery continue to be reckoned the best. 



Pot and Sweet Herbs. — The most valuable of these, next to 

 parsley, is, doubtless, tarragon ; which, a young gardener, who 

 has recently gone to fill a situation in Scotland, informs us, is 

 as rare in the kitchen-gardens there as if it were a tender exotic. 

 Under this head, we would remind gardeners of the excellent 

 mode of preserving dried herbs adopted by Mr. Lindsay, and 

 recommended in our Tenth Volume; viz. that of pressing them 

 in a mould, and afterwards wrapping them up in paper, and 

 laying them by in a dry place, not exposed either to a high tem- 

 perature, or to currents of air. 



Stalks atid Fruits foy^ Tarts, PicMing, Sfc. — • The tart rhubarbs 

 have lately gained a valuable addition in the i^heum australe, 

 which is much later than any of the other species in vegetating 

 in spring, but which continues to grow vigorously in autumn, till 

 it is destroyed by frost. It is true, the common sorts, by depriving 

 them of their leaves in moderation during summer, and supplying 

 them abundantly with water in July and August, will continue 

 growing till winter; but the stalks of the leaves so produced 

 have far less flavour than those of B. australe. The flavour of 

 the stalks of this species is said to resemble that of apples. 

 According to some, the stalks are rather more purgative than 

 those of any of the other sorts, even the R. palmatum ; and, as 

 the roots are ascertained to form a portion, at least, of the rhu- 

 barb of commerce, this may be, to a certain extent, the case. 

 From the experience of those who have used it for two or three 

 years, however, we conclude that it is not injuriously so. Perhaps, 

 for some constitutions, it might be advisable, in tarts made of 

 the stalks of the common sorts, to introduce a small proportion of 

 the stalks of iJheum australe. This sort, we are informed in 

 a communication which will appear in a succeeding Number, 

 may, by protection with a frame and litter, be kept growing, or, 

 at least, in a healthy green state, till the middle of January; about 

 which time the earliest variety of common tart rhubarb, if set to 

 rest by withholding water early in summer, and treated in a par- 

 ticular manner in autumn, will be fit to succeed it, without the 

 application of artificial heat. In this way, tart rhubarb may be 

 obtained all the year round, without forcing; at least, according 

 to the common application of that word. 



