THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 



169 



until the present compact and solid-headed varieties 

 have been secured. 



It will succeed in almost any kind of soil prepared 

 and manured by the usual process of digging, &c., 

 having a preference for light stony soils. Where 

 these are available, however, it is weU to have the 

 needful space dug over a few months before planting. 

 All heavy tenacious soils may be planted as soon as 

 prepared. The main and most appreciated crop is 

 that of spring and early summer, and is grown as 

 follows : — Sow seeds of an approved variety from 

 late in the month of July until August 11. The 

 earlier date is a proper one for the southern parts of 

 the island, later ones being more suited for the 

 north, owing to the fact that if the seeds are sown 

 too early the plants 

 become so large 

 (" forward ") as to 

 be incapable of 

 withstanding winter 

 severities. The seeds 

 are sown broadcast 

 upon a finely-pre- 

 pared border, and 

 the plants are drawn 

 so soon as the ear- 

 liest possess three or 

 four leaves, and 

 transplanted into 

 beds very thickly, 

 so as to forward 

 their growth and 

 give room for suc- 

 ceeding seedlings to 

 attain more robust- 

 ness in the seed-bed. 



Having prepared the permanent winter beds, it is 

 well to plant out a certain number during each of 

 the two months of October and November. Plant 

 them in rows, thirteen to fifteen inches between rows, 

 and niue to eleven inches from plant to plant in 

 the rows. Towards the south and around London, 

 place the roots of the plants as shallow as possible, 

 with certainty of their being well covered with soil ; 

 and the more north the deeper let them be, to protect 

 the stem from severe winters. 



As soon as such plants take hold of the ground 

 and commence to grow, mould them up deeply, 

 drawing half the soil between the rows up to 

 each row, and on both sides. When the most 

 severe weather of winter is past, look carefully 

 through the plantation, making good any plants 

 lost ; draw a little fresh soil up to them, and well hoe 

 the space between each plant. This crop wiU come 

 in during the months of April, May, and June. 

 Each head must be cut immediately it is ready for 



Curled Victoria Savoy. 



use, removing at the same time some of the old 

 leaves remaining attached to the stalk. A goodly 

 crop of sprouts will ultimately form upon such, 

 which will assure a good supply through a greater 

 portion of the next winter. The only attention 

 needed is to hoe well between the plants, to keep 

 the weeds down. 



Excellent varieties are Early Dwarf York, Enfield 

 Market, Early Eainham, Defiance, Little Pixie, 

 Hill's Dwarf, and Wheeler's Cocoanut. Couve 

 Tronchuda, the "Sea-kale Cabbage,". and Chou de 

 Burghley (Cabbage Broccoli) are interesting addi- 

 tions to large coUeotions. 



Cabbage-Coleworts, known in market gardens 

 as " Hardy Greens," 

 are grown to meet 

 the demand at such 

 times as Cabbages 

 proper do not exist ; 

 and as an aid, a few 

 Cabbages — Early 

 York — are some- 

 times cultivated in 

 gardens. Seeds of 

 the common Cole- 

 worts, or that named 

 Rosette, are sown 

 for these crops dur- 

 ing the months of 

 March, May, and 

 July. The seedlings 

 are forwarded in the 

 same way as those 

 of the larger Cab- 

 bage, and are trans- 

 planted into rows one and a half to two feet apart, 

 and about four inches apart in the rows; so thick, in 

 fact, as to admit of every other one being drawn for 

 immediate use when the crop in the rows becomes at 

 all thick, which leaves room for the remainder to 

 grow and heart properlj'. So planted, a hoeing and 

 one slight earthing up is all the crop requires. It 

 so quickly covers the whole ground as to stop the 

 growth of seedling weeds. By transplanting the 

 young plants produced from the three seed-sowings 

 above, an ample supply of Greens in the young state 

 and minute white-hearted Cabbages is secured, ob- 

 viating the necessity of retaining the old Cabbage- 

 stalks referred to above; and it is a far neater 

 mode of procedure. 



Cabbage, Bed, or " Pickling," from which the 

 " Sour Krout " of the Germans is made, is a variety 

 of the white-hearting Cabbage, and requires similar 

 treatment. For the future year, sow seeds in the 



