THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.- August 12, 1*5<L 
3i( 
affluence. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that four-fifths 
of the community who commence the world with good 
prospects die in insolvent circumstances, leaving nothing 
for their families but a never-ending legacy of distress 
and sorrow. Every day’s sad experience shows how un¬ 
reasonable it is for us to depend entirely upon ourselves 
and upon a continuance of life. It therefore becomes 
the imperative duty, the religious duty, of every parent 
to avail himself of the advantages held out by Life 
Assurance, and thus to secure a provision for the future 
maintenance of his family, should any unforeseen ac¬ 
cident deprive them of their natural protector. Life 
Assurance has claims upon us all. The benefits that 
have resulted from its adoption are now acknowledged ! 
by every educated and prudent person, and its means of; 
assurance against the accidents and contingencies of life I 
should be constantly borne in mind. If the annals of I 
Life Assurance Companies were searched there would 
bo found records of happiness conferred, and misery 
alleviated, exceeding even those of the charitable and 
benevolent institutions which are our country’s boast, j 
and far more interesting, because resulting entirely from 
the self-denial and forethought of our fellow-labourers.” ! 
This is rather a long quotation, but it is so much to J 
the point that 1 could not find in my heart to curtail it. , 
Some parts of it do not apply to gardeners generally, 
but the main part does, namely, the duty of providing, 
by a little self denial, for their families, should sickness 
and death overtake the head. Give me leave, my 
brothers of the knife and the spado, to remind you that 
Life Assurance is Indispensable— 
1. To husbands and fathers, to make provision against 
death for wives and children. 
2. To parents, to provide for endowments for children, j 
to apprentice or start them in life. 
3. To partners in firms, who, by assuring their joint 
lives, can secure a sum payable at the death of the first, j 
to enable the survivor to pay off the capital of the de- j 
ceased partner to his family. 1 
1. To borrowers, to provide for the repayment of a J 
loan in case of death. 
5. To possessors of life incomes, to make provision 
for the younger members of their families. 
6. To members of Building Societies, to secure the 
payment on mortgages, also to continue the share con¬ 
tributions in case of the parent’s death. 
7. 'To professional men, merchants, railway officials, 
commercial travellers, to nurserymen and gardeners, 
and to all who may desire to maintain the social position 
of their families. 
In order to make this system of assurance more plain, 
I will give a few instances how a gardener may insure. 
For the yearly sum of £1 Lis. lOd. a man aged twenty- 
five may insure £100 at death. 
For the yearly sum of £3 Is. 4d. a man and his wife, 
each aged twenty-five, may insure ,£100, to be paid to 1 
the wife if the husband should die first, or to the 
husband if the wife should die first. 
For the yearly sum of £2 Lis. 5d. a man aged twenty- i 
five may insure £‘100, to be paid on his arriving at sixty 
years of age, or immediately if death should take place 
before attaining that age 
For the yearly sum of £2 Us. iOd. a man aged thirty 1 
may insure £ 10 a year, to be paid to his wife (of the ! 
same age) for life after his death. 
For the yearly sum of £3 8s. 2d. a parent may insure 
£100 to his child one year old, to be paid on the child 
attaining the age of twenty one ; tho whole of the 
monies paid being returned if tho child should die in j 
the meantime. 
For the yearly sum of £1 17s. id. a man of twenty- I 
five may secure a pension of £10 a year for life, to com- j 
mence at tho age of fifty-live. I 
These are a lew of the advantages that a person, by 
self-denial, may secure by insuring in a respectable 
office. I do not preach a doctrine or give advice that l 
do not practise myself. 1 have insured my life, and find 
so much comfort in the idea that by so doing I have 
provided something for my family, that 1 earnestly 
advise all my brother gardeners that have not ulrcady 
insured their lives to lose no time in doing so. 
Any further information on the subject I shall be 
most happy to give; and I invite correspondents to 
write to mo at 33, Church Street, Sheffield, who may 
wish to know how to go about this important und im¬ 
perative duty. 
1 would just give a few remarks, in addition, on the 
meaning of the two terms Insurance and Assurance. 
A man who gives a proposal to a company, and is 
accepted, is an Insurer. The company who accept his 
proposal, and grant a policy thereon, are Assurers. 
T. Al’i'LEi! v 
SOWING CABBAGE AND OTFlElt SEEDS. 
“ Common as a Cabbage ” is a bye word which might 
bo interpreted as casting a slur on this useful vegetable, 
which is, nevertheless, perhaps the most useful one we 
have, especially of late years, when Potatoes have been 
scarce and precarious; but it is only of late that people 
have learned the utility of obtaining a ‘‘knovvledgeof com¬ 
mon things,” and amongst tho rest Cabbages have not 
been neglected ; in fact, a good, useful variety of Cabbage 
has been too important to bo lost sight of by the many 
consumers of this popular article ; and the skill of culti¬ 
vators has done much to improve it in certain points, 
which makes it more useful than before; and though 
now and then an adverse season will spoil or destroy 
the best arrangements, still we are certainly improving 
in the Cabbage way; and as the season has arrived for 
sowing the principal crop, a few remarks on that may 
not be out of place. 
In the first instance, supposing the position to be 
the south of England, aud the situation an ordinary one, 
tho best time for sowing for the general spring crop is 
from the lith to the 12th of August A few days later 
will make no particular difference where local causes 
render it necessary to be so; but a few for early use may 
be sown sooner, and though the latter may partly run 
to seed in tlwi spring, it is not always they do so, and 
very often turn out a useful crop. But be careful to sow 
only the best kind that resists the tendency they have 
to run to seed in March; for though there are many 
which are supposed to contain that good qualification, it 
is few that possess it to the full extent required, so that 
some nicety is wanted to just sow it in time to foi m good, 
useful hearts in spring, instead of running to seed then. 
In a general way, the varieties best adapted for that are 
small varieties with wrinkled leaves, not very transparent. 
The old Emperor might be regarded ns the parent, but 
there is an innumerable offspring, all more or less good; 
and if it carry any information with it, I may add that 
I sow the Eastham and Downhonse varieties for early 
use, and one called the Matchless, in addition to these, 
for after-crop. The Dowuhouse, I think, has but a local 
celebrity, but the Eastham has been long in the trade. 
In dry, hot weather I cover the beds after sowing with 
Pea-stakes, and sometimes a thin scatter of Pea-haulm 
is thrown over them, which shades the fierce rays of 
sunshine, and the seeds quickly germinate, and require 
little further care unlil planting time, which ought to 
take place early, if the plants are standing thick on the 
bed and the season spending. In a general way, Cabbage 
seed is good, aud may be sown moderately thin on good, 
sound ground that has been dug a week or two. In 
hot weather the beds may be watered, but it is rarely 
