524 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 30, 1881. 
haulm last season, unless the rows were very widely disposed, 
completely overran the winter vegetables planted between 
them, and it is not unlikely the same thing will occur this 
season. For this reason I advise those who wisely have 
taken the precaution of planting good breadths of early and 
second early Potatoes to first lift these as soon as matured 
(the haulm need not he ripe nor the skin of the tubers set), 
and, clearing off rubbish and heavily trampling the ground, 
to at once fill up with the winter vegetables. Supposing the 
Potatoes to be lifted during hot dry weather, the drills for the 
crops under notice may be drawn about 3 feet apart, and be 
filled with water a few hours prior to planting. All strong¬ 
growing varieties may be planted 2 feet or 30 inches asunder 
in the rows, and should he planted with a trowel and have the 
soil firmly rammed about the roots. Two or more waterings 
will perhaps be required before the plants are established, 
afterwards the soil should be drawn up to the plants to enclose 
moisture and also to steady them. 
Broccoli will not only grow in solid undug ground, but 
the growth there is of such a description as to best withstand 
our winters. A freshly cleared Strawberry bed is especially 
suitable, and the drills may either be cut eut with a heavy hoe 
and soaked with water, or the holes for the plants may be 
made with a crowbar. Ground recently occupied with Peas 
and Beans may be similarly treated, but if very poor the drills 
should be soaked with liquid manure. In these cases there is 
no necessity to bury the stems as a protection from frost. In 
our case a large breadth of ground outside the walls, which is 
unsuitable for Potatoes, will be tilled with Broccoli, and the 
whole of these lifted with balls of earth attached, placed on 
handbarrows, carried to the highest part of the garden inside 
the walls and laid in. The heads will face to the north and 
will be packed rather closely. The whole of the stems will be 
covered with earth, a liberal quantity of manure being worked 
in with the roots. Early in October will be the time chosen 
for the operation, which will allow the Broccoli good time to 
recover themselves. By this method I have every confidence 
in being able to secure a large number of fair heads, towards 
the size of which the manure will materially contribute. A 
good batch of Snow’s Winter White and Yeitch’s Autumn 
Protecting will he lifted and stored in rough pits, others of 
the same variety on solid ground will be left to take their 
chance in the hope of getting early supplies. Last season a 
batch of late-planted Veitch’s Autumn Cauliflower on a shel¬ 
tered border yielded a number of very acceptable heads till 
late in December. I shall repeat the experiment. 
BRUSSELS SPROUTS.’ 
These to be profitable ought now to be growing freely, but 
in some seasons late-planted breadths prove remunerative. 
These are best grown on rich solid ground, or rather on newly- 
manured fresh soil. Where the plants are much drawn up in 
the seed beds, rather than dibble them in deeply I advise 
laying them, in sloping trenches, shaking some manure about 
the roots, and covering the stems with the soil from the next 
trench, treading it firmly about them. The plants soon be¬ 
come upright and may do well. Kales are very hardy and 
should be grown extensively, and Savoys should be planted in 
good quantities, the small kinds being especially suitable for 
narrow borders. 
COLEWORTS. 
If these are not already sown no further time should be lost, 
as they will be found very serviceable and should be grown in 
quantity. The Itosette Colewort is the most hardy and reliable, 
and large breadths of it cannot fail to prove useful. The 
plants may be dibbled in about 15 inches apart each way, and 
will do well in succession to autumn-sown Onions. They can 
also be planted after widely-planted Potatoes, and between the 
rows of winter vegetables.—W. Iggulden, Marston. 
(To be continued.) 
A Plague op Black beetles. —Paragraphs with the above 
heading have appeared in various newspapers, referring to the 
abundance of the blackbeetle or cockroach (Blatta orientalis) in 
London this summer. A similar circumstance I have noticed in 
a country town, where this insect has been found about houses in 
which it had not been seen for years. It is necessary that gar¬ 
deners should remember (as 1 pointed out in this Journal some 
seven years since), that this species is fond of making excursions 
from human habitations to gardens and greenhouses that may be 
adjacent, and will do mischief at night to plants or sometimes to 
fruit. Phosphorus paste, especially in the form of “ Chase’s beetle 
poison,” which requires no mixing, is efficacious in killing some, 
and (seemingly) in scaring away others, or hundreds may be 
caught in traps by a little beer or syrup. The rinds of the Cucum¬ 
ber have been said to be destructive to them, but I have not 
found such a result from placing these in their haunts.— J. B. S. C. 
ABUTILONS. 
Few plants can be more strongly recommended for blooming in 
our greenhouses and conservatories throughout the spring, sum¬ 
mer, autumn, and winter than these. They are almost the only 
plants from which flowers may be cut every day in the year ; yet 
Abutilons have scant attention by writers in the gardening press. 
But silence in this respect must not be regarded as disparaging 
to the plants, as the improved varieties of Abutilons are not gene¬ 
rally known. The best known sorts are A. Boule de Neige and 
A. rosea, white and pale rose ; and although the white variety is 
good, the other is inferior in size of flower. When we come to 
colours there are abundance of fine flowers to choose from in 
purples, pinks, yellows, lilacs, and intermediate shades. I have 
no list of names to submit, as all our best varieties have been had 
from seed, and I cannot do better than advise those beginning 
the culture of Abutilons to obtain a packet of mixed seed. From 
this many plants may be obtained, and in all probability excellent 
varieties. 
An amateur cultivator in my neighbourhood has a great fancy 
for Abutilons, and nearly every corner of his small glass structures 
are occupied with plants. All the best of his flowers have been 
raised from seed obtained from a firm that frequently advertises 
in this Journal, and the best of ours have been had from the same 
source. Many of these seedlings surpass any named varieties I 
have seen in habit of growth, profuseness of blooming, and rich¬ 
ness of colours. 
Those who have no Abutilons would find it an advantage to 
procure a few plants now, and at the same time sow a packet of 
seed. The small plants would supply a luxuriant crop of flowers 
in the autumn, and the seedlings would bloom by the new year 
and onwards. Then there would be no break in the supply, 
because as growth proceeds flowers are emitted from every joint, 
and often in clusters or handfuls. 
The culture of the plants is simple. Cuttings root freely with a 
very slight bottom heat in winter and early spring, and in summer 
they do not need this, as a close frame is all that is wanted for 
propagation. They may be rooted singly in small pots, or numbers 
together in 5 or 6-inch pots ; and seed sown at the same time and 
in the same frame will furnish plants which, when a few inches 
high, will come under the same treatment as newly rooted cuttings. 
As soon as a few roots have been formed the plants must be potted 
in a mixture of loam, leaf soil, and sand ; but at subsequent 
pottings more loam must be used and decayed manure substituted 
for leaf soil. The plants may be flowered in 6-inch pots if re¬ 
quired ; but if fine specimens are wanted and a large supply of 
flowers, 8-inch or 10-iuch pots may be employed. Good drainage 
at all times is essential to success. 
Immediately after each potting it will be necessary to keep the 
plants in a close atmosphere for a few days, but when growing a 
cold frame or cool house is their proper place in summer and 
autumn, and a slightly warmer place suits them well in winter. 
Unlike some of our best and most showy flowering plants they 
are not liable to become infested with insects, and in this re¬ 
spect alone they save amateurs much expense and trouble. The 
flowers, too, are very hardy, and not in any danger of damp¬ 
ing off in cold moist weather. Our plants do well in frames and 
cold houses from March until October, when they have the assist¬ 
ance of a little warmth to keep them growing. Some of them 
are planted out and trained in odd corners or up pillars. These 
are most useful for affording flowers for cutting, as they grow and 
flower more freely than those in pots ; but the latter are the most 
useful for various purposes of decoration, and we therefore find 
it profitable to grow them in both ways. 
In training, the wall and pillar plants are allowed to grow 
unchecked, but in pots they are restricted and grown into busby 
specimens. As it is on the points of the shoots that the flowers 
are produced, these maybe allowed sometimes to grow out of pro¬ 
portion to the symmetry of the plant, as no one likes to take the 
points out of plants when they are full of flower buds ; but the 
plants at certain seasons may be cut closely down to the soil, and 
