SEPTEMBER. 
197 
than they would do in poorer soil; hut the contrary is the case with those 
which have to stand the winter. Let it also he remembered that the plants 
under consideration are intended to succeed those which have stood the 
winter, and formed the spring supply for the table. 
We will next turn our attention to their successors, because the best of 
them all, however well treated, have only a certain duration; they will run 
to seed. Therefore, about the middle of March, weather permitting, make 
a tolerably copious sowing on a warm south border of the best varieties of 
the Cos tribe, and over the beds throw some dry bracken with a few Pea 
houghs to keep it in place, taking care, however, to remove it before the plants 
get drawn. The next sowing will he about the middle of April, and must 
include both Cos and Cabbage varieties. It is a great advantage to sow 
• them in rows at 15 inches apart, and in taking up for transplanting to leave 
strong plants at the proper distances along the rows, for these will stand 
longer without running to seed than those which are transplanted. This 
tendency to run to seed will be so great, even in the very best varieties at 
this season, that an extra amount of care must he used to keep up the 
sowings; for where plants stand thickly in a bed or in rows, a very few 
days of hot weather will suffice to render them useless for transplanting pur¬ 
poses, and an extra sowing or two will always come in useful where a supply 
must be kept up. The same remarks will apply to May and June, during 
which at least three moderate sowings may be made. I would remark, how¬ 
ever, that the Cos varieties sown in June are not liable to run to seed in good 
ground, and will furnish an abundant supply in the early part of autumn. 
This brings us to another very important sowing, which should he made 
from the 10th to the 15tli of July. I say important, because the plants 
from this sowing are intended not only to carry the supply from the open 
quarters well on into the winter, but also to furnish a good and sufficient 
number for lifting and storing away in sheds and cold pits, where they can 
he well ventilated in fine weather and protected from frosts. 
Finally, A good breadth should be sown about the 12th of August to 
furnish plants to stand through the winter, and supply the table in early 
spring. For this sowing I use Bath Brown Cos, Hardy Green Cos, and 
Victoria Cabbage Lettuce. The latter is best sown broadcast on a warm 
sheltered border where it is intended to stand. To guard against con¬ 
tingencies, I generally make a sowing early in September, which can be 
covered with a frame and protected in very severe winters ; this proves 
useful in some seasons, but I generally find those sown on heat to super¬ 
sede them. 
PiedJeaf. John Cox. 
NEW GARDEN PLANTS. 
A good fccession to the ranks of hardy plants has this advantage over 
the finest of tenderlings, that every one who cares to do so, can indulge in 
its cultivation. This recommendation attaches to Drabci violacea (Bot. 
Mag., t. 5650), a dwarf suffruticose perennial, whose numerous branches 
bear a profusion of small obovate-oblong hoary leaves, and are terminated 
by subcorymbose heads of deep violet-coloured flowers, produced in spring, 
and which are of unusual beauty for the often obscure and weedy family— 
that of Crucifers, to which the plant belongs. It comes from the lofty Ancles, 
and is found on loose rocks at elevations of from 18,000 to 15,000 feet, so 
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