112 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GARDENING. 



iind fro over them. So soon as tlie young seedling 

 plants are well above ground, prepare a space lor 

 them in an exposed part of the garden, by digging 

 it up deeply, after having first placed a layer of 

 manure over the surface. It is weU to dig the 

 ground thus early, to give it time to settle down 

 somewhat before planting. In the case of very light 

 soils, it is preferable to dig them up in the autumn, 

 and to subsequently only hoe over the surface at the 

 time of planting. 



So soon as the plants are large enough, having 

 formed five or six leaves, carefully draw them from 

 the seed-bed, after having first loosened up the soil 

 with a fork ; choosing the larger plants only. By 

 leaving the smaller plants in the seed-bed, giving 

 them a watering should the weather prove at all 

 dry, and making subsequent plantings of them as 

 they become large enough, a successional crop will 

 be secured. When a very large and very constant 

 supply is required, it is customary to make suc- 

 cessional sowings during the month of May. For 

 nil ordinary purposes, however, the sowings and 

 transplantings recommended above give an excellent 

 supply. A much coarser variety of Broccoli, used 

 chiefly as a "green" during the winter months, or 

 before flowering has commenced, is the Purple 

 Sprouting. It has precedence over most " greens " 

 in the metropolitan markets, . and is considered to 

 be worth growing; the treatment above given is 

 suitable to it. 



Plant all three feet asunder between rows, and at 

 least two feet between plant and plant in the rows. 

 Broccoli is often planted more thickly than this, but it 

 is at the expense of a good crop and the maturing of 

 the plants so that they are capable of withstanding 

 severe wind-frosts. The sumjner culture following 

 planting, consists in simply moulding the plants up 

 when active growth commences, and in so hoeing 

 amongst them subsequently as to prohibit all weeds 

 from growing. The autumn and winter varieties 

 ^vill require, during all sharp weather, to have a 

 little loose litter placed between the plants and 

 slightly over the crowns, if they are at the bloom- 

 ing stage and the weather increases in rigour. It 

 will be necessary also occasionally to examine the 

 plantations, picking out such as are well-hearted, 

 drawing the whole plant up for use, or to hang in a 

 cool place until required for use, beyond reach of 

 frost. The later spring kinds are often advan- 

 tageously laid on their sides at the approach of 

 winter. This is known as "heeling in." A spit of 

 soil is removed from the more northward side, and 

 the blade of the spade is then inserted on the other 

 siie and forced over, so as to cause the head to fall 

 over to northward, the object being to lay it on its 

 side towards that aspect without greatly injuring the 



roots, soil being placed over them to give them and 

 the stem additional protection. 



The following, some of which are referred to 

 above, are desirable varieties : — 



For autumn use: — Backhouse's Protecting, 

 Grange's Cauliflower, Snow's White and Waleheren. 



For spring use: — Adams' Early White, Chappell's 

 Early White, Cooling's Matchless, Dilcock's Bride, 

 Leamington and Penzance Early White. 



For late spring use : — Cattell's Eclipse, Monarch, 

 Goshen, Miller's Dwarf White, Model, and Wilcov& 

 Improved. 



GAEDEN-POTS AND POTTING. 



POTTING PLANTS. 



SO vitally important is judicious potting to cul- 

 tural success, that it can hardly be too carefully 

 or fully treated. Unfortunately, like a good many 

 more operations in gardening, it can hardly be fully 

 taught in books. The art may be minutely de- 

 scribed, but the practice not fully taught by words 

 or illustrations. Nothing seems more simple than 

 the shifting of a plant out of a small pot into a 

 larger one, but in reality no operation within the 

 whole range of horticulture is more complex, or 

 complicated by a greater variety of side and main 

 issues. To attempt to grapple with all these would 

 oiily bewilder the uninitiated, and provoke the oppo- 

 sition of not a few good cultivators. But a few of 

 them must needs receive a passing notice. 



The pots themselves are the first disturbing ele- 

 ment, inasmuch as they are very far from being of 

 one uniform quality or thickness. Some of these 

 will absorb, others evaporate, double the amount of 

 moisture through their sides that others will. 



And then the roots of plants are as infinitely 

 varied in their structure, character, and wants, as 

 the tops are in their modes of growth, forms of 

 foliage, colours and shapes of their flowers, and 

 qualities and sizes of their seeds or fruits. Yet, not 

 a, few go on potting plants as if the roots were 

 wholly or almost all alike. 



Then, a^ain, the soils of no two gardens, nor the 

 peats, loam, nor sands from any two places are ever 

 exactly alike. The disturbing power of sand alone 

 in composts is incalculable. This is pure silica, as 

 nearly as may be ; it acts mechanically, as a good 

 sand should ; that, which looks so pure and white, is 

 largely impregnated with salt, lime, or white clay. 



Then take the different degrees of solidity in 

 potting itself, which are about as variable as the 

 number of potters, since no two men ram the earth 

 round the sides of the pot or the roots of the plant 

 with the same force. 



