THE CULTURE OF VEGETABLES. 



465 



Felmiary ; others should come in in succession down 

 to the end of May, and more northerly even later; 

 Melhuen's June, a fine Scotch variety, often furnishing 

 good heads in that month. The Purple Sprouting 

 Broccoli, something like a Borecole, is very hardy, and 

 is most useful during the late winter. Seeds ol this sown 

 in April and May furnish good mid and late winter 

 plantings. This purple variety is universally grown. 

 Brussels Sprouts. — Few members of the Brassica 

 family are more useful or desirable than the Brussels 

 Sprouts. This is essentially a winter vegetable also, 

 and may easily be made to furnish sprouts liberally bum 

 the beginning of October until the end of March, and 

 even giving numerous delicious shoots later. There 



BRUSSELS SPROUTS, EXHIBITION. 



are several varieties, the best being true Brussels 

 Imported, Exhibition, Dwarf Gem, and Paragon. The 

 former seems to have originated in Brussels, hence its 

 name. Unlike Cabbages, which give all their present 

 edible produce in heads, and these are cut at once, the 

 Brussels Sprouts produces its small, hard, Cabbage-like 

 heads in clusters up the tall stems, and continues to do 

 so for a long season. To have very early ones seed 

 should be sown in a shallow box in March, the plants 

 being thus raised in a greenhouse or frame. But from an 

 outdoor sowing, made in a sunny position early in April, 

 fine sturdy plants are furnished to get out in fune, and 

 these should begin to supply Sprouts early in October. 

 A sowing a month later will help to keep up a late supply 



of the Sprouts. Plants may be in rows 2ft. apart. The 

 soil should be deeply worked, not over rich, and after 

 the planting is done be made fairly firm, as that conduces 

 to the production of hard stems and solid green Sprouts. 

 These should be round, hard, green, and set as thickly 

 as well can be up the stems. The lops or heads 

 should be preserved whilst sound steins continue 

 to grow and produce Sprouts. Generally for ordinary 

 garden soil the Exhibition is best, whilst for 

 deep, rich soil the Dwarf Gem and Paragon arc- 

 excel lent. 



Cabbages. The varieties ol Brassicas, as seen in the 

 Cabbages of to-day, differ most widely from the original 

 parent species, but yet have the somewhat harmonious 

 character of smooth leafage, which is in the process 

 of evolution not only greatly enlarged but is made- 

 convertible into solid heart, ol which the larger portion 

 is blanched, bec ause so « losely compressed and hidden 

 from light, hence it is tender, soft, sweet, and of very 

 pleasant texture as food. Cabbages, too, are very 

 hardy, a matter of first importance, as they produce 

 splendid heads or hearts in abundance, even in the 

 winter, tit for use and in greater plenty in the spring. 

 So much, however, may well be looked for from a 

 descendant of a native species. It is one ol the 

 products of Cabbage evolution also that we should have 

 in. my varieties, although differences may not be material. 

 Some are round headed, some conical, some even more 

 so, some are small and precocious, some of medium size, 

 and some very large, yet the same likeness runs through 

 all. lint having so many varieties enables gardeners 

 not only lo accommodate area requirements, but also 

 those of seasons and successions. Essentially a leaf- 

 producing plant, presenting a large surface area to the 

 sun and wind, it is essential that Cabbages should have 

 ample moisture for the roots, and not less abundant 

 feeding. To that end soils should, for their growth, be 

 invariably deeply dug or better trenched, and have 

 incorporated into them a good quantity of half-decayed 

 animal manure, both to furnish plant food and moisture. 

 Manure partially decayed furnishes excellent food to 

 the plant for a considerable time, a matter of importance 

 to a crop that must of necessity be some time, if a 

 main crop, on the ground. In raising Cabbages the 

 first need is to sow seed, the variety being determined by 

 the time of year required for cutting. Ordinarily the 

 first sowing ol the season may be made in the open 

 ground early in April, and for such sowing excellent are 

 Les Etampes, All Heart, Offenham. and Nonpariel. 

 The sowing should be made in shallow drills I2in. 

 apart and thinly, as so raised the seedlings get far more 

 of light and air than when seed is sown in broadcast 

 form in heat, and not only can be allowed to become 

 strong before removing, but can be lifted with more 

 freedom. All these varieties should be planted out into 

 rows 2ft. apart, and under ordinary conditions should 

 heart in during July, August, and September. But it is 

 during these hot months that Cabbages are less in 

 request, and therefore a sowing of Hllam's Early, Atkins's 

 Matchless, Flower of Spring, or Little Pixie, made early in 

 June and a second one early in fulv, furnishes plants that, 

 put out into rows i8in. apart, should give abundant 

 heads, that, il small, are delicious eating during the 

 last three months of the year, and even into January. If 

 a further sowing has been made of either of these in 

 early August the supply of heads from such plants may 

 be continued until the end of April. Then for the 

 furnishing of good spring Cabbages of larger form than 

 any of the first varieties named, or il r-'ther larger be 

 desired, Defiance, Imperial, Enfield Market, and 

 Manchester Market, from sowings made at the end of 

 August, will give good results. But whilst in the case 

 of the smallest Cabbages it is wise to clear the ground of 

 the stems as fast as they are cut, ready lor some other crop, 

 in the case of the larger spring supply the stems may 

 profitably be left on the ground, as, if the heads be not 

 cut too low down, sprouts break out from the stems, and 

 these give a wonderful produce lor several months. 



