BRASSICACEOUS PLANTS.— THE CABBAGE. 



83 



planted like any other cutting — produ- 

 cing, in due time, plants fit for use, and 

 cuttings for further propagating supplies. 

 Amateurs might in this way keep up a 

 succession of stock without the trouble of 

 sowing seed. The great advantage, how- 

 ever, is in keeping the stock uncontami- 

 nated. 



Sowing and planting. — The time of sow- 

 ing for a principal crop, to come into use 

 the May following, is by long experience 

 fixed by the London market-gardeners to 

 be from the 25th of August to the 1st of 

 September. A fortnight earlier is expe- 

 dient north of Newcastle, unless in very 

 favourable situations, when the 25th of 

 August may be taken. Much of the dan- 

 ger attending too early sowing is in the 

 plants running to seed in spring without 

 hearting. No doubt there is something 

 in this; but seed of a good variety, and at 

 least a year old, is not hable, under proper 

 management, to do this. It is, however, 

 well to make two sowings in all suspi- 

 cious cases — the one during the first 

 week, and the second during the last 

 week in the month. Plants from this 

 sowing should be planted out for good 

 by the middle or latter end of October, 

 the plants having been previously re- 

 moved from the seed-bed as soon as they 

 are fit to handle, and being transplanted 

 into a nursery-bed in what is called the 

 pricking-out manner. The largest of 

 these should be planted first, and the 

 smaller afterwards, which may extend the 

 season of their final planting to the first 

 or second week in November. This is to 

 be considered as affording a general spring 

 or early summer full crop. Towards the 

 end of February or beginning of March, 

 sow, to secure plants fit for planting out 

 in May, June, and July, generally as the 

 ground is cleared of early crops of pease ; 

 this will give a supply fit for use during 

 the latter part of summer and autumn. 

 These are the two general sowings. For 

 particular purposes, and in peculiar situa- 

 tions, a sowing will sometimes be required 

 to be made by the beginning of February, 

 to secure an early summer supply, should 

 accidents have come over the crops of the 

 August sowing, and also if it be appre- 

 hended that that crop should be insuffi- 

 cient for the supply. 



In sowing seed of all the Brassicse, and 

 at whatever season, there are certain 



helpmates sent us in the feathered part of 

 the creation, who thin our sowings. In so 

 far they do good, but sometimes they over- 

 do this act of kindness by thinning too 

 much. Now as these are, according to 

 our notions, friends we cannot dispense 

 with, seeing the good services they render 

 us, in a way and by means we could not 

 do for ourselves, we must not, like bar- 

 barians, talk of their destruction. We 

 must protect ourselves from their over- 

 officiousness in this matter, by covering 

 our seed-beds with netting closely secured 

 at the edges, but elevated from 9 inches 

 to a foot over the general surface, which 

 is easily done by setting in a few slight 

 branches to support the netting. It is a 

 poor crop that will not repay the trifling 

 trouble and expense of this ; and he who 

 thinks the matter of so little consequence 

 to himself as to disregard this precaution, 

 is rightly served to find his seed entirely 

 abstracted. Many other means have been 

 proposed ; we know of none so simple 

 and so efBcacious. Strewing the surface 

 with lime, wood-ashes, soot, &c., are all 

 very well in their way ; suspending half a 

 score of egg-shells from lines run in all 

 directions, stuffed cats, owls, hawks, &c., 

 are the vestiges of the dark ages of horti- 

 culture; and even our first published T^oisXo- 

 danglers, fig. 23, stuck full of feathers, are 

 but sorry preventives. 



Fig. 23. 



SCARECROW. 



Seed for what is called cabbage cole- 

 worts — that is, young cabbage-plants, to 

 be used while quite young, and, before 

 they indicate hearting, a sort of produce 

 much in use about London, and now be- 

 coming generalinprivate gardens — should 

 be sown between the middle of June and 

 the end of July, so as to be fit for final 

 transplanting during August, September, 



