376 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 1G. 
placed in tlie house so distinguishing them, in the same 
proportion arc the stocks likely to be genuine, for we 
cannot suppose any respectable house 
associating its name with an article 
which would tend, in the least, to injure 
its respectability, or shake that con¬ 
fidence which it is ever endeavouring 
to secure. It may be laid down, there¬ 
fore, as a general rule, that A.’s Double- 
blossomed Frame, and B.’s Double-blos¬ 
somed Frame, are such as the vendors 
know to have been produced from care¬ 
fully - selected stocks ; but as regards 
any difference between the two, in all 
probability there is none. 
The Double - blossomed Frame pro¬ 
duces a simple stem from three to four 
feet high, of a slender habit of growth, 
but considerably more vigorous than 
that of Number One, or Emperor. Rods 
single and in pairs, in about equal 
proportion, three inches long, and 
about five - eighths wide, perfectly 
straight, and terminating abruptly at 
the point; when full grown they 
become very thick, and almost quad¬ 
rangular, and contain, on an average, 
about seven peas in each. The ripe 
seed is round, and of a pearly-white colour. 
It was sown on the 5th of April, bloomed on the 11th 
of June, and was ready to bo gathered on the 8th of 
July. 
I have seen samples of the Double-blossomed Frame 
so carefully selected as to produce, with very few ex¬ 
ceptions, the pods always in pairs, but the expense in¬ 
curred in securing this character would not be com- 
| pensated by any advantage that could be derived from 
j the preservation of it. R. H. 
(To be continued.) 
_ 
-- 
j 
VEGETABLE CROPPING.—PRESERVATION. 
1 At length a new year calls into being the most active 
thoughts amongst the gardening fraternity, and every 
i man’s wits and energies will, doubtless, be sharpened 
by the extreme and perilous season which has just 
| turned its hack upon us. Indeed, as is well known, 
these vicissitudes, and sudden surprises to which the 
more northern nations of Europe have ever been liable, 
have, in truth, formed, in great part, their national cha¬ 
racter, and placed them in positions of superior strength 
to most of the kingdoms of warmer climes. With the 
gardener, a fine climate begets a sort of security which 
is ill adapted to meet unlooked-for contingencies, and 
hence we hear so much about the greater amount of 
success in the culture of hardy fruits, &c., in situations 
where the inference beforehand would have been fairly 
against such results. Your northern gardener is a 
jealous creature ; he has little faith in weather, and is 
not in the habit of poetising over zephyrs, gentle 
showers, the beautiful hoar frost on the window-panes, 
&c.,—he is a stern sort of fellow, and can scarcely afford 
j to crack a joke. 
It may here be urged, what has this to do with the 
heading of this paper? The answer is—Much; for it 
will be found that gardeners, whose lot is cast in inaus¬ 
picious climes, or who have soil of a peculiarly sterile 
or obstinate character to deal with, are compelled to 
expend extra care amongst the vegetables, even as with 
the fruits. 
I may here point to the great importance of attending 
to those principles as to the early winter frosts, on 
winch the safety of tender vegetables depend; and in so 
doing, I will just quote my own practice, as that is close 
to my elbow, and has been what I should call eminently 
successful. With a thermometer little wide of zero, and 
an unusual demand for the products of the kitchen-gar¬ 
den, it may be surely fancied by even those who have 
never been subjected to such an ordeal, that the gar¬ 
dener’s mind must be liable to much anxiety. 
Well, as I before said, we northerns never trust wea¬ 
ther ; for my part, during the last half-score years of my 
time, I have always so laid my plans in the beginning 
of December as though I expected a Lapland winter; 
that is to say, as far as labour would carry it. This 
may seem pushing things to extremes by many, and, 
indeed, it is; but 1 find it a most wholesome jealousy, 
and one that is satisfactory in its results. 
Sometimes, to be sure, a wiseacre may stare at you 
and say, “ You made too much fuss by half, for I did 
not take half your trouble.” But these trusting men 
are in a mess when the day of battle arrives, and then, 
forsooth, most of them will turn round and prate about 
the propriety of a “stitch-in-time.” 
But, to state details, let us take the Broeoli Family. 
Every plant we have, and I have a great breadth, have 
had their crowns tucked full of straw ever since the 
middle of December, and they now look almost as fresh 
as though we had passed a mild winter; the straw still 
remaining on them (January 24). Batli Coss and Ham¬ 
mersmith Lettuces were all covered up when firmly frozen 
in the Christmas week; they remained in this state 
until almost the 19th of January; that is to say, they 
remained covered three days after the thaw arrived; and 
they are in fine order, with scarcely any perceptible injury. 
The weather was dull when they were uncovered ; and 
had the sun broken out, I could have restored half the 
covering as shade; indeed, it is always the best practice 
not to thoroughly uncover after long covering; we 
always do it in what might be thought a slovenly way, 
and leave a flickering screen on still, perhaps, for two or 
three weeks. Coleworts, of which, in one point or other, 
we have had, I should say, a quarter of an acre, were all 
covered thinly just as the lettuces, and, indeed, treated 
the same. We have had small loss, considering the 
style of weather we have endured. Our Coleworts 
now lie, as the Lettuces, three-parts uncovered; a 
llickeriug of loose, strawy litter lies over them like net¬ 
work. 
Savoys, too, are a somewhat tender green; at least, 
they are not safe in such frosts as we lately experienced, 
especially if they are ripe in head in the autumn. My 
practice is to cut all the more forward with solid heads, 
and to stick them, with their stalks pointed close toge¬ 
ther, on the north side of a wall, or any colder spot still, 
if possible. Here they lie close together, and when 
firmly frozen, I cover them well up with litter, finishing 
the top in a thatching sort of style, to throw off the wet; 
and, if snow fall, it is not suffered to thaw on them. In 
fact, wo treat the mass as though it were a miniature ice 
house, and here they keep fresh as a daisy for many 
weeks. Savoy Coleworts are moro dainty. We grow a 
good many of the new, little, neat, green-curled for this 
purpose, and we have now a beautiful stock of them, as 
smart, as neat, and green as little bushes of green- 
curled dwarf Endive in September. These being in a 
green state, and devoid of hearts of any bulk, require a 
