296 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. January 19. 
Cheltenham Cup, realised £10 10s. Of the White 
Shanghaes, the highest sum given for a cockerel was 
£4 5s., and the highest for a pullet, £1 15s. 
Mrs. Herbert's fowls were sold on the 10th. Her Buff 
birds were very had indeed, and her Blacks very little 
better; not one of the cockerels being without red 
feathers. Her White Shanghaes , for which she has 
been so justly celebrated, are not so stout as those of 
last year’s sale. Seventy birds of these Whites were 
sold for £110. The highest price was £10 10s., and 
that was for the cockerel which took the first prize at 
Birmingham in 1853. The three pullets which accom¬ 
panied him on that occasion sold for five guineas each. 
Mr. Panel lard's Shanghae fowls, all buff and cinna¬ 
mon, were sold on the 11th. They were not so good 
as those drafted from his yard last year, being smaller 
and deficient in substauce. The cockerels were better 
than the pullets. There were 160 Lots, and they sold 
for £176. The highest price given for a cockerel was 
£7 10s. for Lot 49, he having taken the second prize at 
Norwich, and been highly commended at Birmingham. 
The largest sum given for a pullet was £4 6s. for Lot 63. 
THE WINTER: ITS PROBABLE EFFECTS ON 
VEGETABLES, &c. 
If the weather has been as severe in other parts of 
Britain as it has been in Cheshire, I make no doubt 
that a great outcry will prevail about the losses in our 
kitchen-gardens. I am not aware (speaking of the 
present moment, January 2,) that I ever saw stronger 
signs of extremely severe weather for a few clays, for the 
thermometer now, whilst I write, six o’clock, p.m., is 
down to 6°, which is what we gardeners consider rather 
a strong case. But the accompaniments are remark¬ 
able ; the wind has been vacillating in a singular way, 
although, to observe the extremely quiescent state of 
the air, one might materially imagine that not a dis¬ 
turbing cause existed. It rather reminds one of the 
accounts we have read of the conditions of atmosphere 
in the Polar regions, for although such an extreme 
depression of temperature exists, the air is bearable: 
I have known many a day in the beginning of March 
less so, when we have had a frost only some 10° or 12°, 
but accompanied by a cutting north-easter. Verily these 
winds are the greatest refrigerators, taking away not only 
warmth, but robbing all vegetable bodies of that mois¬ 
ture which not only promotes their succulence, but 
consitutes, as it were, their life-blood and energy. 
I well remember the great frost of 1813—14 (?), when 
the Thames was frozen, aud a fair held on it. That 
very year I had left my school, which was on the banks 
of the Thames, opposite to the old Church at Putney; 
and having a few holidays before I was compelled to 
put my shoulder to the wheel, I was daily on the 
Thames with my school fellows, and many dangers we 
j narrowly escaped in crossing to Fulham on the ice¬ 
bergs which floated abundantly on the Richmond side 
of the bridge, whilst, strange to say, on the London side 
all was smooth ice, and, indeed, there the fair was held, 
with all its paraphernalia of printing-presses, booths, 
round-abouts, swings, &c. 
; But to my tale; I do not think that the present 
i position of affairs greatly resembles it. A south-east 
! wind greatly prevailing, a creamy condition of air, with 
j huge rolls of mist in the evening, like the lace in folds 
| round a lady’s cap, rolling stealthily over the meadows, 
at four o’clock, p.m., at about six feet above the ground 
level. 
I should not depart so wide of the Cabbage and Let¬ 
tuce question, but to furnish notes for comparison with 
those of distant friends, for, doubtless, many a one will 
be dreading the upshot, as we do in this quarter. To 
give a slight detail o'f recent temperatures, I must ob¬ 
serve, that the frost here may be said to have set in at 
precisely the same period as on that former memorable 
occasion, viz., the day after Christmas-day, which, if my 
memory does not prove treacherous, was the exact period. 
On Monday evening, the 26th, a slight frost occurred; 
in the night, on Tuesday, a good deal of snow fell; on 
Wednesday frost continued; and on Thursday morn¬ 
ing, at seven, a.m., thermometer down to 6° or 7°; and 
on that same evening, rain, with a temperature ranging 
from 30° to 40°. On Friday, froze again ; continued on 
Saturday. On Sunday afternoon, and through part of 
the night, a right old English snow, on Monday morn¬ 
ing averaging six inches in depth, when we had to put 
our ice plough into requisition, for besoms were help¬ 
less, you might as well have had a lady’s fan ; and now, 
as before observed, the thermometer about 6°, with such 
a hoary starving look as would almost startle a veteran 
of the Siberian deserts. 
Further I cannot report now; therefore let us see 
about its application. 
One of the first families of vegetables which suffers is 
the Brocoli, aud these are rather difficult to replace. 
Little can be done for these after suffering from the 
effects of severe weather; those that are half-killed must, 
of course, fall off in an immature state, and such being 
generally half-decayed in the stem, produce very lean 
and small heads. With regard to these things, every 
pains should be taken to get the hand-glass Cauliflowers 
forward, as if the destruction amongst spring Brocoli is 
very great there will be an unusual desire for these 
betimes. Plants, well-established in pots in the autumn, 
very sturdy, and preserved hitherto in frames, or pots, 
may be repotted, and placed in the front of some house 
in the course of January; these, with the use of liquid- 
manure, will be strong indeed by the end of February, 
when they may be got out under hand-glasses in rich 
soil, and every attention being paid them, nice Cauli¬ 
flowers may be cut in the beginning of May. Lettuces 
will, doubtless, be heavy sufferers, especially those which 
were very strong plants in October, and to provide 
against such a mischance, sowings should be made 
immediately in boxes, or pans, and these introduced 
immediately to heat. 
As soon as the young plants can be handled, a 
frame possessing a bottom heat of about 60°, shoidd be 
appropriated to thorn, and they should be pricked out 
in rich soil, very close to the glass, and receive cover¬ 
ing in severe weather. Such may be pricked out by 
the end of the month, and will be stiff little plants by 
the third week in February, when they must be hard¬ 
ened off, and planted out in prepared soil, in very 
warm situations, on elevated beds, and by receiving 
every attention, with an occasional liquid-manuring 
during dry weather in March aud April, good Lettuces J 
may be produced by the end of the latter month and all j 
through May. Cabbage plants, too, are apt to suffer J 
much in such winters, and even those of the dwarf, I 
hearting kinds may be sown in heat, and trails- ' 
planted after the manner of the other things. Those j 
planted out in autumn should have examination during I 
the first dry weather at the end of January or first week 1 
in February, they are apt to become loose in the soil. 
Such should be fastened, and have the soil drawn close ; 
to their necks; all blanks, too, should be made good, ; 
and towards the middle of March they will begin to 
benefit by a liberal application of liquid-manure during 
dry periods. 
