378 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 19, 1892. 
their beauty a week or two later. We are told that in a wild state 
the flowers are produced long before the leaves ; but under culti¬ 
vation, so far as we know, they appear together. Even when the 
flowers are over we are not quite done with this species, as the 
fruit is a most interesting sight in late summer and autumn ; each 
seed has a long feathery tail about 2 inches long, soft, silky, and 
very attractive. 
The variety ochroleuca is not so bright as the type. Both are 
most readily raised from seeds, which should be sown as soon as 
they are gathered in the autumn. This is perhaps best with all 
the Pulsatillas. They should be sown in pans and stood in shady 
cold frames until they begin to grow. A. Halleri and Hackelli 
with their very deep rich purple flowers are well worth a place on 
the rockery. The Meadow Basque Flower, A. pratensis, from 
the northern parts of Europe, is one of the most variable of all. 
In the ordinary forms the flowers though small are rich purple, 
but in others they are dull grey purple, positively ugly, and in 
obsoleta the sepals are wanting entirely. The beautiful A. vernalis, 
so difficult to flower under cultivation, is a gem well worthy of 
the gardener’s skill. It produces, with us very sparingly, large 
solitary reddish purple flowers, the outside of the sepals being 
covered with long silky brown hairs. It requires an abundance of 
water in early spring from the time the buds show until they open. 
—Daisy. 
NOTES ON CABBAGES. 
Spring- Cabbages are valuable in proportion to their earliness, and 
Mr. H. Dunkin did well to point out on page 333 his method of pro¬ 
ducing a welcome supply. Mr. Owen Thomas also showed how well 
they could be produced early in the season by exhibiting a basketful of 
small yet firm and excellent specimens of Ellam’s Early at the meeting 
of the Royal Horticultural Society on the 3rd inst. These were grown 
at Frogmore, and must have been in good condition for use at least a 
week previously; perhaps cutting commenced some time before then. 
Our reference to the Royal exhibit, together with Mr. Dunkin’s note, 
brought us several letters, a few of which we publish. We have also 
received samples of Cabbages, one gardener remarking that his plebeians 
cannot be expected to equal the royalists. If they had been alone 
in competition most judges would have been constrained to place them 
“ equal first.” We are pleased to note that all the samples we have 
received were of similarly high quality, and all were Ellam’s Early, 
except one, Webb’s Emperor, very similar to Ellam’s, but a little larger 
and not quite so firm, still in excellent condition. Our correspondents 
who had plenty of Cabbages ready in April, or even the first week in 
May, admit their valne, and their letters suggest how others may have 
an early supply next year. The experience of our correspondents is 
worthy of record and remembrance. 
I MUST congratulate Mr. H. Dunkin upon his success in Cabbage 
culture. I doubt if there are many gardeners who are able to make such 
a statement as that which appears on page 322. Never do I remember 
such a scarcity of Cabbage plants or so many being killed by the winter. 
Out of a bed which I had planted from a sowing made about the middle 
of August only half survived. The soil here is heavy and of a retentive 
nature resting on a bed of blue lias clay. In a neighbouring market 
garden there is the best bed of Cabbages I have seen this year, not a 
blank to be seen. They were raised early, but they will not be ready 
for table for some time. Had they been Ellam’s they might have 
been. Mr. Dunkin’s note will not be forgotten when the time comes 
round for sowing Cabbages.—R. M., MonmoutlisMre. 
The sowing of Cabbage seed in July for an early spring crop is not 
so much practised as it deserves to be, as the produce is fit for use at a 
time when green vegetables are not very plentiful. I make a sowing about 
the 10th of July, and sow again from the 20th to the 25th of the month. 
Another sowing is made early in August, which in ordinary seasons 
make a good succession. We put out 200 plants of each of the July 
sowings last September. Many of the first sowing are ready for use. 
Out of the 400 plants, I have lost through the winter three dozen. We 
planted out 300 of the August sowing and two-thirds are missing, the 
remainder may be ready for use at midsummer. I have raised a number 
of plants under glass to make good the loss. I have followed the above 
practice of sowing some years, and seldom have a plant bolt. The 
variety I rely on is Ellam’s Early. Our soil is stiff and clayey. On 
lighter soils near here August-sown plants are dibbled out in nursery 
beds a few inches apart, where they appear to have stood the winter 
very well, and thousands have been sold.—J. DARE, Stancliffe 
Gardens, Matlock, 
The kitchen garden here is an unctuous loam on a subsoil of clay. 
On the 13th July I sowed four varieties of Cabbage, of which 250 plants 
were put out on a south border. Only two bolted and succumbed. 
I commenced cutting firm heads on the 2nd of May. The plants from 
the August sowing are at present not much larger than when they were 
put out. From 300 we have lost about twenty.— J. MASSON, The Gardens, 
Tottingworth Park, Heathjield, Sussex. 
Those persons who have grown Ellam’s Cabbage in the past do not 
need to be told anything about it, but those who have not, and I fear 
there are many, have lost considerably. I consider this variety has only 
one fault, if it can be called so—that of all the plants coming to maturity 
together. From a market point of view perhaps this would be considered 
a point in its favour, but it is not so for home consumption. Instead of 
sowing all the seed at one time it is better to sow at intervals for insur¬ 
ing a continuous supply. Our soil is heavy, cold, and retentive, yet by 
the middle of April we had crisp little heads. We sow the first pinch 
of seed the last week in June, and the second a month later. The plants 
from the last sowing are now “ turning in.” We find ample space is 
afforded by planting 10 inches apart in rows 15 inches asunder. They 
passed through the winter uninjured. An important point in Cabbage 
culture is to get the plants out early, so as to have them well established 
early in the autumn. We plant in drills drawn across the quarter on 
which Onions previously grew, the soot and wood ashes employed for 
that crop seeming to suit the Cabbage. Keeping the ground well stirred 
is advantageous, and prevents ravages by slugs when the plants are put 
out. It is wonderful what a good effect one thorough soaking of liquid 
manure has early in April if the weather be dry. At that time the 
plants seem to need something to make them “ turn in ” quickly, and 
at the same time to be crisp.—E. MOLYNEUX, Hampshire. 
On page 332 Mr. Dunkin calls for notes on Cabbages grown on 
heavy land. As our soil is extra heavy I will endeavour to give my 
experience on the subject. Three years ago I took charge of these 
gardens. I made my first sowing of Cabbages the last week in July, 
but found the plants were not strong enough to stand the severity of 
the weather, so I resolved to sow earlier in future, and have since made 
my first sowing about July 2nd, putting out the plants as soon as ready. 
I commenced cutting on the 5th inst. About five plants out of 100 
bolted. I may add that I have been laughed at for sowing and planting 
so early, but some of my hilarious friends are now following my 
example.— Samuel Scott, Itathmore, near Belfast, 
For the past three seasons I have sown the first seed between the 
15th and 20th of July, and have never yet had to record a single instance 
of bolting in the variety Ellam’s Dwarf. As soon as the plants could 
be safely handled they were planted 1 foot apart, and when large 
enough every alternate one was used, which left room for the others to 
develop. The second sowing is made the first week in August. If we 
have a favourable winter and spring, the plants for this sowing are 
good ; but if the contrary, and especially in the latter part of January 
and February, it is astonishing the number that suceumb. I have at 
the present time a splendid breadth of Ellam’s Dwarf, and have been 
cutting for some time. About six weeks ago a good dressing of decayed 
manure was lightly forked in between the rows, the benefit soon being 
apparent in the improved growth. Growing by the side of this is the 
Manchester market variety ; but as many are showing signs of bolting 
I shall not try it again for early work. The patch of ground upon 
which they are planted is some 15 inches from the solid clay. In con¬ 
clusion, let me bear out what Mr. Dunkin has said—viz., to make two 
sowings instead of one.—R. P. R, Lancashire. 
I FULLY agree with Mr. Dunkin’s remarks (page 332) on successional 
sowings. We make our first sowing on or about the 15th of July, our 
favourite being Ellam’s Early ; then again about a month later with 
the same variety, at the same time making a sowing of Enfield Market 
for late use. It is not every season in this changeable climate of ours 
that the first sowing proves a success, but is well worth the trial. At 
the present time we have some scores of solid white-hearted Cabbages 
that have caused more than one of our neighbours to break the tenth 
commandment, and I pride myself they would hold their own for quality 
even in company with the famous Warwickshire bed. I venture to 
believe there are other points of vast importance in connection with good 
Cabbages thus early beyond the timely sowing, such as their early 
removal from the seed bed, their winter position, and the preparation 
of the ground. Ours being rather light and friable soil, we always 
endeavour to follow Onions or Peas with Cabbages, merely clearing the 
surface after such crops, and planting the Cabbage in the firm ground 
that has been thoroughly well dressed for the preceding crop, the results 
from such a course being a close sturdy growth during the autumn, well 
adapted to withstand our ordinary winters, much better than larger and 
more succulent growth. Immediately growth commences in the spring 
we give good soakings of liquid manure or dressings of nitrate of soda. 
Moulding the plants up as weather permits, followed in few weeks’ time 
by another good feeding, causes rapid growth and tender hearts, such as 
I enclose for your opinion. Enfield Market will be quite a month later, 
yet most useful in its turn for the servants’ hall between late Broccoli 
and early Cauliflower.—J. Friend, Sxerrey. 
I see on page 332 in your Journal of Horticulture that Mr. H. 
Dunkin of Warwickshire has a note on Cabbages. The one mentioned is 
Ellam’s Early. The sowing was made in July last year, and the plants 
set out to stand the winter in the usual way, and he is rewarded by 
cutting Cabbages in the first week in May. I shall now inform you 
what I have done. I sowed Webb’s Emperor in July, and I have been 
cutting good Cabbages since the second week in April. Market gardeners 
here are doing the same, though the winter has been very severe. 
Enclosed you will find a couple of Cabbages, not the best, but the 
medium.—A. Murray, Morpeth, 
