January 13,1881.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 27 
As a further illustration of this fact, the lecturer described with 
the aid of diagrams the strong proterandry of Malva sylvestris, and 
the self-fertilising method of M. rotundifolia, both, as well as Abu- 
tilon, being of one family—the Malvaceae. The double-flowered 
Primulas supplied material fora few remarks on the different methods 
of doubling, such as conversion of carpels and stamens into petals, 
and their multiplication ; or by the development of an extra corolla 
called catacorolla, or by conversion of stamens only into petals, as 
occurred in the double Cherry ; or carpels only, the stamens re¬ 
maining normal, as in Anemone, &c. 
A collection of Camellias, which botanists now regard a3 identical 
with the genus Thea, suggested that the leaves should be roasted and 
a decoction made from them to see if a palatable tea could be yielded 
by them ; for it is said the common Holly is used as tea by the 
peasants in the Black Forest, and there is another species of Ilex of 
which Ilex paraguayensis is a second. This latter furnishes the 
Paraguay tea of South America. 
VEGETABLES NEW AND OLD. 
The year 18S0 will be remembered by many on account of the 
unusual abundance of vegetables. To all but the growers for the 
markets this remembrance will be an agreeable one, as private 
gardeners and others have not for some years obtained such an 
abundant return for their many weeks of intelligent care and 
labour. Unfortunately to market growers over-abundance gene¬ 
rally means a profitless season, as they cannot afford to grow 
vegetables for sheep-feeding, to which use immense quantities of 
some kinds have necessarily been applied during the past season. 
Private gardeners have not much to complain of generally, though 
many doubtless lost the greater part of their Potatoes by disease. 
Others have had their Celery much weakened by the larvrn of the 
Celery fly, and still more have good reason to lament the dis¬ 
figurement of their Carrots by the maggot. On the whole, how¬ 
ever, failures were few, and should there be no severe frosts this 
winter those vegetables in season will be abundant and good. 
Brussels Sprouts have apparently been planted, both in private 
and market gardens, in much greater numbers than heretofore. 
This is as it should be, as there is not a more reliable or more 
profitable crop grown. In 1879 we read many complaints of the 
failure of Brussels Sprouts to " button.” Several reasons were 
given for this ; some suggesting that late sowing and planting, 
and others that faulty stocks of seed, were the primary cause of 
failure. To a certain extent both may have been correct in the 
respective cases, as there is no doubt that if heavy crops are 
required early sowing and early planting must be practised, and 
it is equally certain there are some superior stocks of seed. At 
the same time I am inclined to think the true cause of failure lay 
in the preparation of the soil and planting. Planting thickly and 
in a rather loose rich soil almost invariably encourage excessive 
growth, and the reverse of what should be aimed at. I took a 
lesson from the market growers, and raise the plants as sturdily 
as possible, plant early on firm moderately rich ground, placing 
the rows 3 feet apart and the plants 2 feet asunder in the rows, 
and invariably secure good crops. I was at one time under the 
impression that cultivation alone affected the heavy or light 
cropping habits cf the Sprouts, but find that the Aigburth Sprouts 
are undoubtedly superior to any I have tried. 
Cauliflowers during the past season were particularly good, 
though at times much infested with caterpillars. I grew three 
“ extra earlies,” and as they were apparently identical shall 
merely recommend that an extra early be grown in every garden. 
They may be planted thickly, say 15 inches apart each way. I 
never allow more than 18 inches each way for the largest varieties 
of Cauliflowers, and cannot understand others giving more room 
when many more smaller and appreciable heads can be had from 
a given space. Dean’s Snowball is one of the best Cauliflowers I 
have grown ; it is very compact in growth, the heads of medium 
size and very close, and it can be had good up to July and August. 
The Dwarf Erfurt Mammoth is still worthy of a place in every 
garden. Carter’s Mont Blanc follows this, and still later Suttons’ 
King of the Cauliflowers comes into use. Both are valuable also 
for the autumn supply. I find Dicksons’ Eclipse a good early 
autumn variety ; but the stock is scarcely fixed, as my batch 
of plants included at least two distinct varieties, one resem¬ 
bling a good Walcheren Cauliflower, and the other Yeitch’s 
Autumn Giant, though scarcely so well protected as that variety, 
but is rather earlier and will be grown on that account. The 
Autumn Giant was particularly good. Some that followed Pota¬ 
toes and were planted in the second week in July on a south 
border have continued to yield a number of small heads up till 
now ( January 5th), care being taken to closely cover the heads 
with the oldest leaves. 
Broccoli in the open failed completely in many districts, even 
where allowed abundance of room. Veitch’s Autumn Broccoli, 
although scarcely so good as I read of others having it, produced 
a number of small useful heads ; as also did Snow’s Winter White. 
Both require protection during a severe winter. At the present 
time I have both very good in the open. Osborn’s Winter White 
is my ideal of a good Broccoli, being dwarf and close-growing, 
therefore hardy ; heads medium size, white, and well protected. 
It is fit for use early in February or later according to the season. 
I had no novelties for trial, and have only to state that I find 
Knight’s Protecting, Leamington, Cattell’s Eclipse, and Suttons’ 
May Queen excellent varieties, which come into use in the order 
named. 
Of Cabbages I find Hill’s Dwarf Incomparable (Osborn & Sons) 
to be most profitable ; it is compact in growth—indeed they 
ODly require 15 inches each way—and the conical heads are of 
good size and quality. Carter’s Heartwell is the best of the larger 
varieties. Kosette Coleworts are now very useful and good. 
Savoys came in too early, and were of less value accordingly. I 
consider Little Pixie, Early Ulm, and Drumhead a good selection. 
Celery has been particularly good this season, the only excep¬ 
tion being the earliest sown, nearly the whole of which decayed 
at the hearts in an unaccountable manner. They were raised in 
heat (not fire heat), pricked out on a slight hotbed, and gradually 
grown into sturdy plants. They grew well in the trenches, were 
never to the best of my knowledge dry at the roots, and were 
carefully earthed up. When examined early in September prior 
to lifting for use what should have been good Celery was worth¬ 
less. The variety grown was Williams’ Matchless Bed, which in 
previous seasons has proved exceptionally good. Later sowing of 
this, Carter’s Incomparable Crimson, Major Clarke’s Solid Bed, 
and Leicester Bed have all turned out most satisfactorily. The 
two latter differ but slightly, and I have no preference for either 
of them. We generally sow the principal part of our Celery seed, 
and also Celeriac or Turnip-rooted Celery, thinly over a large 
shallow hotbed, thinning out the seedlings where crowded, and 
transplanting direct into the trenches as the selected ground is 
cleared of Cabbages. We plant the Celeriac on well-manured 
ground which was previously occupied by the second early Cauli¬ 
flowers. They are planted on the level, allowing the plants 
15 inches apart each way, and are watered during very dry 
weather. The roots that follow are rather larger than cricket 
balls, and are much appreciated during the winter. 
Beet had a tendency to coarseness. Fortunately the greater 
part of our seed was sown late (May 5th), and we therefore 
secured enough of the requisite medium-sized roots. Osborn’s 
Select (Dell’s Crimson) was good in every respect. The Turnip- 
rooted Beet was much the earliest, and was unusually good in 
colour. I do not store any of this, but it saves the main crop and 
deserves to be generally grown. Carrots, as before stated, were 
very maggoty, wood ashes apparently failing to act as a preven¬ 
tive. The Nantes Horn, James’ Intermediate, and Altrincham 
form a good selection. 
Turnips have been very plentiful and good. With us the Purple- 
topped Munich was ready for use some days before any other va¬ 
riety, and is for that reason valuable. It was inferior in quality 
to Suttons’ Snowball and Carter’s Jersey Lily, both of which are 
excellent early varieties, and also suitable for autumn sowing. 
Carter’s Golden Bose is, I find, good for autumn sowing ; the flesh 
is orange yellow in colour and of excellent quality. Mitchelson’s 
Market Jew, kindly sent to me by Mr. W. Boberts, is a large 
quick-growing variety, in some respects resembling the Green 
Bound. The flesh is pale yellow in colour and of good quality, 
and the variety is much liked, I am informed, by the Cornish 
market growers. The Jews have a partiality for yellow Turnips, 
and great quantities are sent from this district to the Spitalfields 
market for them. 
Peas were both abundant and good, but they grew to a greater 
height than usual, and we found it necessary in some instances 
to top them, as the pods filled badly. Harbinger was ready 
for use a week before William I., was of good quality, cropped 
heavily, and from near the ground. It attained 4 feet in height, 
while William I. reached 5 feet. The latter was very pro¬ 
fitable, and will be sown again with Harbinger. The second 
sowing of these varieties was closely followed by Culverwell’s 
Telegraph and Carter’s Telephone, both varieties cropping heavily, 
the pods being large and well filled with peas of excellent flavour. 
The succession was maintained by Carter’s Pride of the Market 
and Stratagem, which may be described as good dwarf forms of 
Telegraph and Telephone respectively. A great favourite of mine 
—Huntingdonian—fully sustained its reputation as a good tall 
second early variety, and the same remarks apply to Carter’s 
Little Wonder as a dwarf variety. Neither Dr. McLean nor 
Sharpe’s Invincible did well on our rather cold soil, but some of 
the latter I gave to a friend for a light soil succeeded admirably. 
