104 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
As soon as the soil is dry enough, it should 
be thoroughly pulverized, and incorporated 
with at least three inches of well-rotted stable- 
manure; in the absence of that, bone-dust may 
be used, and well mixed through the soil in quan¬ 
tities of about two pounds to each 3 x 6-foot sash. 
But great care must be taken to have it thor¬ 
oughly mixed with the soil to a depth of at 
least four inches. An ounce of cabbage seed 
would be about sufficient for each three sashes; 
of celery, one ounce would sow eight sashes. 
The sowing may be done any time during 
March; the sooner, however, the better, pro¬ 
vided that provision is made to exclude 
frost from the beds by covering with mats or 
shutters. The cabbage seed will probably ger¬ 
minate in these cold-frames in about ten days 
after sowing; the celery in fifteen or twenty. 
But as the latter germinates very slowly, 
the weeds of most kinds will germinate be¬ 
fore it, and they must be pulled out as soon 
as they can be got hold 
of. Nearly one half of 
all the celery seed sown is 
lost from want of early at¬ 
tention to weeding the seed¬ 
beds. There is no vege¬ 
table grown that requires so 
much labor in weeding in the 
seed-bed as celery. In the 
cold-frames, the weeds may 
be easier controlled than 
when the seeds are sown in 
the open ground, as they are 
not likely to be so numerous 
in the frames. Besides, the 
work will require to be done 
before outside operations 
begin, and when there is 
usually more time to do it. 
No watering is likely to 
be necessary for the seeds of 
cabbage or celery in cold- 
frames, but the sashes must 
be raised for ventilation in 
warm days. In six or seven 
weeks from the time of sow¬ 
ing, the cabbage plants will 
be fit to set out. At about 
the same time, the sashes 
should be taken off the 
♦ 
celery plants, leaving them 
fully exposed to the weather 
—that is, provided they 
have been duly hardened 
off by ventilating. If they 
have been kept too warm 
and are tender, of course it 
would not do to expose them 
at once to the chilly nights 
that we often have through 
May. We find a good 
plan to be in such cases to 
first strip the sashes clear of 
the plants during moderately 
warm days, covering them at 
first every night, but as the 
season advances, only cover¬ 
ing when the night seems 
likely to be unusually cold. 
This method of raising plants of cabbage or 
celery in cold-frames may be employed in all sec¬ 
tions where operations in the open ground arc 
not begun sooner than the first of May, and in 
the case of the cabbage plants may be adopted 
advantageously anywhere, only of course suit¬ 
ing the time of beginning to the latitude. What 
would suit for New Hampshire in March would 
answer for New York in February. 
Peas for Texas. 
A Texan correspondent writes: “I have been 
experimenting three years to find what to plant 
of the varieties of peas, that one planting 
might give a good succession, both to save trou¬ 
ble, and because the early plantings always do 
best, and planted in succession they would be 
caught by drouth. 
“ By planting about the middle of February, I 
have Carter’s First Crop in 50 days, or early in 
April, 10 days earlier than Early Kent, and 20 
days earlier than Tom Thumb. Closely follow¬ 
ing comes Waite’s Caractacus and Laxton’s 
Prolific Early Long Pod, each fuller and better 
than its predecessor. Then comes McLean’s 
Premier, and for size, flavor, and good qualities 
generally, it ranks first with me. All who see 
them are full of admiration, and I even have 
visitors just to see that pea. Following this, and 
completing the succession, is another valuable 
well-known kind, Champion of England. It is 
as good as the Premier, but not so large, and is 
the most productive of all, most of the pods 
showing seven or eight peas, and the vine cov¬ 
ered with them from top to bottom. The suc¬ 
cession extends to the middle of June, and un¬ 
til we arc ready to give up this delicious vege¬ 
table for the succeeding ones. 
“ In a favorable season successive plantings 
will do, but as a general thing it will not, and 
the above is what may be done at one planting 
by choice of proper varieties.” 
[Our correspondent’s plan of planting early 
and late varieties of peas at the same time is 
worthy of consideration. In the hurry of 
spring work one sometimes forgets to keep up a 
succession, and we have fouud it better to make 
but two plantings—one for the earliest smooth 
peas, which are put in as soon as the ground 
can be prepared, and another for the wrinkled 
varieties, of which the seed decays more easily 
than that of the other, and these need a warmer, 
drier soil to hasten germination, and get them 
up before a long rain sets in.—E d.] 
A New Variegated Cockscomb. 
We are glad to see that the old-fasliioneJ 
Cockscomb is of late attracting the attention it \ 
deserves. A poorly-grown 
Cockscomb is a shabby ) 
affair, while a well-developed 1 
specimen is very satisfactory. t 
We not long ago gave an • 
account of a new Japanese 
variety, and now give an 
engraving of still another 
novelty in the "way of Cocks¬ 
combs—a gold and crimson j 
variety of Celosia cristata. ' 
This new comer is offered 
for the first time by Messrs. 
Briggs Brothers, of Ro¬ 
chester, N. Y., who in thgir ; 
quarterly catalogue for 
January give a fine plate 
showing the plant in its I 
natural colors. The gold j 
and crimson, which in an 
engraving can only be re- i 
presented by light and dark, 
are described as being ex¬ 
ceedingly brilliant and dis¬ 
tinct, even when the golden 
part, as it often is, is dotted 
and streaked with crimson. 
The foliage is said to be of 
a light grass-green, and the 
stem is often marked with 
a bright red stripe running 
up to the flower-head; when 
this occurs, the leaves are 
more or less tinted with a 
bronze red. The plant in 
good cultivation attains the 
bight of three feet, aud in 
order to give it the benefit 
of a long season, it should 
be sown early under glass, 
and grown in pots of rich 
soil until the weather is 
warm enough to allow the 
plants to be turned out. 
The variety is said to come 
very true, but few self- 
colored ones being produced. 
Some of the pyramidal 
forms of Celosia are very 
desirable annuals, and make a great show. 
There are white, yellow, rose, and crimson va¬ 
rieties. We notice that Messrs. Briggs Bros, 
offer Celosia Huttonii, a new species which has 
attracted much attention in Europe. It is one 
of the pyramidal sorts, grows from a foot and 
a half to two feet high, of a compact bushy 
habit, and 1ms dark foliage and bright crimson 
flowers. We have not yet aeen this novelty. 
new TAMEffiTED COCKSCOMB. —( Celosia cristata variegalu.) 
