84 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



and October, as ground becomes vacant 

 for this purpose in particular. 



Chappel's colewort, not much known 

 beyond the London market, should be 

 sown during July, August, and Septem- 

 ber, transplanted very close together, and 

 upon all spare pieces of ground, under 

 fruit-trees, &c. They come into use early 

 in winter or spring, and are much 

 esteemed. 



Late or drumhead cabbage is sown for 

 general crops either in August, and kept 

 over winter, being planted out in October 

 or November, or early in spring, say 

 February or beginning of March, and 

 planted out in May or June. The for- 

 mer is the Scotch practice, the latter the 

 English. 



A great deal depends as to the period 

 of sowing, particularly for main spring 

 crops, upon situation and circumstances. 

 The rule laid down by the London growers 

 in this respect may be taken as the latest 

 period, as every circumstance is in their 

 favour. Not so in cold climates and cold 

 soils ; and to meet the requirements of 

 these, the seed should be sown earUer, 

 from a week to a month, according to the 

 unfavourableness of the place and circum- 

 stances. To sow too early would make 

 the plants too strong, and certainly en- 

 danger their running to seed : to sow 

 too late would be to have plants too 

 weak to stand the winter ; and should they 

 even do so, they will be late in coming 

 to perfection. At the July sowing, it 

 oftentimes appears that the ground is 

 dry, in which case it will be of great ad- 

 vantage in securing a strong and rapid 

 germination, to soak the ground with 

 water some hours before putting in the 

 seed; but, to prevent the soil from caking, 

 it will be well to fork it over before sow- 

 ing. The seed may with advantage, under 

 such circumstances, be also soaked a few 

 hours in tepid water. After sowing, if 

 the weather continue hot and dry, shade 

 the beds with branches or otherwise till 

 the plants appear above ground, when 

 the shading should be gradually removed. 

 As soon as the plants are above ground, 

 dust them over morning and evening with 

 finely-pounded caustic lime, as a precau- 

 tion against insects. 



All the varieties of the Brassicse, with 

 the exception of the cauliflower and the 

 CouveTronchuda, or Portugal cabbage, are 



exceedingly hardy, and therefore, in all 

 ordinary cases, the most open and exposed 

 situation should be fixed upon for the 

 seed-beds. The exception to this is in 

 cold places, where the early spring sowing 

 will require the shelter of a warm south 

 border, and in many cases the assistance 

 of a slight dung-bed heat. Wherever the 

 seed is sown, it should be freely exposed 

 to the sun and air, and of all things 

 shaded spots should be avoided. The 

 seed should be sown thin. A bed 4 feet 

 wide and 20 feet in length will require 2 

 ounces for the smallest-growing varieties 

 of early cabbage, such as Aitken's match- 

 less, &c. For those of larger size, such 

 as the vanack, the same quantity of seed 

 will sow a bed 4 feet broad and 36 feet 

 long. One ounce of seed will give from 

 2000 to 2500 plants. Cover to the depth 

 of I inch from the alleys, if the soil be 

 light and well pulverised ; if not, make the 

 surface smooth with the back of a spade, 

 and when the seed is sown, cover with a 

 light compost to the above depth. 



All the Brassicaceous tribe are very 

 much improved by transplanting assoonas 

 the young seedling plants are fit to handle, 

 which will be when the young leaves have 

 attained the size of about 2 inches in 

 length. At this time they shotdd be care- 

 fully removed from the seed-bed, and, if 

 the weather be dry, the bed should re- 

 ceive a good watering, which will facili- 

 tate the operation of lifting without injury 

 to the tender roots of the plants : the 

 nursery-bed should be prepared by pre- 

 vious manuring and digging, and its sur- 

 face, if dry, well watered previous to 

 planting; and when the young plants 

 are set therein, it should receive a gentle 

 watering, to settle the soil about the roots. 

 If the sun is powerful, a slight shading 

 will be beneficial during the day until the 

 roots have taken hold of the ground. 

 This is more especially necessary for sum- 

 mer transplanted crops. In such nursery- 

 beds, they should remain until well rooted, 

 and, at planting, be set from 3 to 4 inches 

 apart, according to the size of the variety. 

 A second transplanting is often found 

 beneficial to give greater strength to the 

 plants, to encourage the multiplication 

 of roots, &c., but in this second removal 

 they should have a third more space ac- 

 corded them. By such means plants 

 will attain a good size, and be fit for final 



