AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 77 
A NEW VARIETY OF BROCCOLI. 
{Engraved for the American Agriculturist.) 
I860.] 
breast just settled in the water, its tail a little 
raised, giving a liglit and airy appearance, mov¬ 
ing on the water with apparently little or no ex¬ 
ertion, and we may say, exhibiting 
“ In all her actions dignity and grace.” 
The notes are loud and shrill, and are uttered 
often when a stranger or enemy appears. It is 
still more watchful than the Hong Kong, or Afri¬ 
can goose. Nothing can stir about the premises 
in the night but it sounds the alarm. No watch¬ 
dog could guard the premises with more vigi¬ 
lance than the Chinese goose. 
Although a native of a warm climate, this bird 
appears very well naturalized in this country. It 
seems to stand the severe cold of our winters as 
well as the common goose. The only or greatest 
objection to them is their early laying, which 
often occurs in the dead of Winter. The writer 
once possessed an imported Chinese goose which 
commenced laying in the month of November, and 
did not cease until she produced over forty eggs. 
We have never known them to show any dis¬ 
position to sit after the Autumnal laying. If lib¬ 
erally fed with oats, boiled potatoes, etc., the 
Chinese goose will, in the Spring, lay from twenty 
to thirty eggs before she begins to sit, and again 
in the Autumn, after her moult, from ten to fif¬ 
teen more. 
They are smaller in size than our common 
geese, and what they lack in size they make up 
in prolificness. They are valued for their beau¬ 
ty, their early breeding, and aptitude to fatten. 
They couple and breed with the common goose. 
Hybrids between them and the common goose 
are prolific with the common goose ; the second, and 
third cross are much prized by some, as producing 
finer birds and of much better flavor; and in 
many flocks the blood of the Chinese goose may 
often be traced by the more erect gait ofthe birds, 
accompanied by a faint stripe down the back of 
the neck. C. N. Bement. 
- -*“•*- 
Hungarian Millet for Horses and Cows. 
Frequent statements have appeared in the pa¬ 
pers, to the effect that Hungarian millet (or grass, 
as it is called,) when fed to horses, produces stiff¬ 
ness of limbs, and all the symptoms of “founder.” 
We recently, (p. 9, Jan. No.) expressed a doubt as 
to any such injurious result from proper feed¬ 
ing. In a recent communication to the Agricul¬ 
turist, a Vermont correspondent, Mr. H. Griffin, 
sustains this view of the subject. He writes in 
substance as follows : 
“ I think more horses are injured by a want of 
Hungarian millet, than by the use of it. I have 
kept horses and cows upon the hay left after 
threshing it. They eat it better than herds-grass, 
and the cows keep in better condition, than on 
other hay. If horses are allowed to eat it with 
the seed on, they will be likely to leave the hay, 
and the effects will be the same as feeding them 
exclusively upon other grain, as oats or corn. 
The seed weighs some fifty pounds to the bushel, 
and is very hearty. I think a tun of the hay, cut 
before the seed is ripe, is better than a tun of 
coarse clover or herds-grass. We can raise 
twice as much Hungarian grass, as we can of the 
common grasses, and it succeeds on sandy land, 
where other kinds fail. I sowed a piece in May 
last, on pasture land, and the yield was 3£ tuns 
per acre before threshing. It gave thirty bushels 
of seed per acre. I think it would be a good plan 
in improving upland meadows, to plow and sow 
with Hungarian millet, and seed with Timothy, 
mowing the Hungarian the first season, and the 
Timothy the next.” 
The Cabbage Family ,—( Brassica.) 
A person who did not know cabbage, would 
be a curiosity, yet very few are acquainted 
with its first cousins—the Cauliflower, Broccoli, 
Brussels Sprouts, etc. It will be new to many, 
that it even has such near of kin—we hardly 
call them “ blood relations,” for that affinity be¬ 
longs peculiarly to beets. But there are in¬ 
timately connected with the cabbage quite a 
number of individuals, more refined, and more 
acceptable visitors at the dinner table where 
they are in attendance, than the familiar cab¬ 
bage itself. All of these are descended from a 
common source, the progenitor of this important 
family being none other than that very humble, 
and in itself useless plant, the wild cabbage, 
found growing among the cliffs of Devonshire 
and Cornwall, in England. This unpretending 
wild cabbage, in deference perhaps to its dis¬ 
tinguished progeny, is dignified with the high 
sounding, aristocratic, botanical title of “ Brassica 
oleracea." Viewing a large Drumhead Cabbage, 
one would hardly suspect it to be of such pa¬ 
rentage, for its ancestor has no head, being 
only supplied with small buds and flowers. 
The products obtained from this original plant, 
are among the striking illustrations of what may 
be obtained by long cultivation—with vegetables 
as well as with men—that which was a worth¬ 
less bud only, is developed into a comely form, 
of great size and great value. Thus, after long 
schooling in the garden, the straggling wild cab¬ 
bage is taught, so to speak, to close its buds 
as in Brussels sprouts, to expend its force on 
the terminal (end) bud to form Cabbage, or to 
combine its flowers into compact clusters and 
become the succulent Broccoli, or Cauliflower. 
Without dwelling upon the mode of producing 
these varieties, we will only speak now of 
Broccoli. —This is cultivated like a cabbage, 
and has a stem much like it; but instead ol the 
head, it sends up a stalk, upon which are long 
narrow leaves, somewhat straggling. Above 
these, upon the top of the stalk, grows a warty 
bud, about the size of the fist, or larger, which 
consists of the flowers and their stems com¬ 
pactly united. These little heads resemble cab¬ 
bage in taste, and are cooked similarly, but they 
are more tender, and of more pleasant flavor. 
There are two varieties of broccoli, called the 
purple and the white, from their color. 
A New Variety of Broccoli. —A few years since, 
a single plant ofthe white broccoli was noticed 
in England, which differed quite curiously from 
the ordinary mode of growth. In addition to 
the single stalk, terminating in a small head, as 
above described, this plant threw out numerous 
lateral or side stems, each of which produced a 
head of its own. The accidental variation was 
what is called by gardeners, a sport. Seed was 
saved, and sown during four successive genera¬ 
tions, and all the plants produced, have shown the 
same variation from the original form ; whence 
it is concluded, that the sport was in earnest, 
and a new and permanent variety was secured. 
The Gardener’s Chronicle, of London, gives an 
engraving of one of the plants, which we re¬ 
engrave, as shown above. It is claimed that 
this is more valuable than the common sort, be¬ 
cause yielding more heads. If it fulfils the ex¬ 
pectation of English gardeners, it will prove a 
valuable acquisition. We shall keep an eye upon 
it, and if it succeed, make an effort to obtain 
seed for introduction here, as soon as our friends 
in England produce enough to spare us a little. 
Wonderful Yield of Cabbage.— S. M. Osborne, 
Shiawasse Co., Mich., writes to the Agriculturist 
of raising cabbage last season at the rale of 87 
tuns per acre! It should perhaps be stated that 
the plot was small, containing one plant—the re- 
