210 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GAEDENING. 



sowings are large enougli to grow alone, thin tlie 

 rows of seedlings out to twelve inches apart, hoe 

 freely amongst them, protect from insect attacks, and 

 as growth progresses give one or two good waterings. 

 By these means they will make a rapid growth, 

 heart-in freely, and give every excellence in the form 

 of superior produce. The Cabbage Lettuces need 

 not be thinned out to more than eight or nine inches 

 apart. 



To secure the autumn crop, make a sowing of 

 Black-seeded Brown Cos during the second or thii'd 

 week in July, choosing cloudy or rainy weather if 

 possible. Should the weather prove continuously 

 dry, the sowing must be made during the latter week, 

 and the seed-bed kept constantly moist by watering 

 and shading until germination takes place. Other 

 small sowings for succession make once every three 

 weeks until early in the month of September, when 

 an additional sowing of Hammersmith Hardy Cab- 

 bage Lettuce should be specially made. 



The seedling plants resulting fi'om these sowings 

 — the two earlier ones especially — must, so soon as 

 large enough, be transplanted and grown on precisely 

 in the same way as recommended for those above ; 

 the difference being that, as any successively become 

 large enough for use, they must be tied up by twist- 

 ing matting around to cause the hearts to blanch. 

 Unlike the White Cos, they are not so readily self- 

 hearting. Ultimately, as winter approaches, some 

 of the seedling plants formed of the last sowing, 

 though scarcely large enough for transplanting, must 

 however be drawn and dibbled out in rows thickly 

 upon a warm sunny border, with a south aspect, to 

 stand through the winter for rapid growth in the 

 early spring following ; and these, it will be found, 

 will be conveniently associated with the late sowings 

 of Endive before referred to. Some of the smaller 

 seedlings remaining in the seed-beds after process 

 of transplanting, allow to stand therein during the 

 winter. These, along with every other or alternate 

 plant of such as have been transplanted thickly to 

 stand the winter, may be taken up carefully next 

 spring following, and transplanted to come in succes- 

 sion after the earliest ones from which they are 

 taken, to give the latter more space to grow. 



All seedling plants intended thus to stand the 

 winter in the open ground must be occasionally 

 hoed, even during the winter months, should a dry 

 fine period permit of it. 



For the mid -winter supply, all the largest and finest 

 plants existing in the open ground must be taken 

 carefully up, and planted thickly into pits or frames, 

 where they can, pending use, be protected from 

 severe frosts. A few of the most forward next in 

 succession, still remaining in the open ground for 

 want of room, place a little litter over, and so soon 



as room is made, by the use of such as are in the 

 frame, for a further addition, take these up and refill 

 the pit or frame wdth them. The Cabbage Lettuce 

 recommended above will give an excellent first crop 

 of white hearts out of doors, after winter and the 

 colder months of spring are passed. 



The best varieties for winter use are Black-seeded 

 Brown Cos, Bath Sugar-loaf, Nonpareil, Hicks' 

 Hardy White, Fulham White, and Hardy Hammer- 

 smith Cabbage. For summer use, Cooling's Levia- 

 than Cos, Paris "V^Tiite Cos, and Yauxhall Defiance, 

 All the Year Pound being a good form of the Cab- 

 bage type. 



THE EOSE AND ITS CULTUEE. 



By D. T. Fish. 



PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 



THERE are several seasons and methods by 

 which this may be accomplished, and the time 

 of rooting Poses by cuttings has of late years been 

 extended from March to November. The first and 

 oldest method is by 



Dormant Shoots.— As soon as the leaf falls, 

 or just before, cuttings of all sorts of Poses may- 

 be put in with almost as little trouble 

 or skill as those of Gooseberries or 

 Currants ; and though they will not 

 root with equal uniformity, yet a 

 great many of them will strike, as 

 the rooting of cuttings is technically 

 called. The cuttings should be about 

 a foot long; the wood of medium 

 strength, and well ripened. Each 

 should, when practicable, be taken 

 off with a heel, that is, a small por- 

 tion of older wood than itself at its 

 base (Fig. 16, a). The best cuttings 

 are those made of the wood of the 

 current year. They mostly root best 

 when simply dug into a quarter or 

 border in the kitchen garden ; this 

 consists in digging the ground as the 

 work proceeds. A good plan is to 

 insert a double row of cuttings at 

 intervals of two feet between them. 

 Some, however, put them in single 

 rows, at distances of a foot or eighteen 

 inches asunder. Ha\^ng dug over a few spits of 

 ground, stretch the line across the dug portion, and 

 cut out a trench four inches deep ; place the cuttings 

 along the edge of the trench ; apply about half the 

 soil ; tread the cuttings ' in firmly with the foot, 

 pressing them also against the edge of the trench 



Fig. 16.— Dor= 

 maut Eose- 

 shoot, with 

 Heel, cut 

 back. 



