July 20. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
001 
should he six inches. When the row is filled witli 
plants, then carefully dig the soil up to them, keeping 
the crown of each just level with the soil, tread it gently 
down close to them, and dig as much more of the bed as 
will allow eight inches between the first and the second 
row; then give a gentle pat or two with the spade, to 
make it firm, and chop it down to receive the next row 
of plants, and plant them also. Proceed thus till all 
are planted, then stretch a line the whole length of the 
bed at the side about four inches from the plants, chop 
the side down neatly with the spado, and repeat the 
same operation on the other side, rake the walks, and 
the operation is finished neatly and well. Should the 
weather be dry, a good watering will be indispensable to 
start the plants into fresh growth. 
2nd. Soil and Situation.—The finest Daisies I ever 
saw were in the garden of John Smith, Esq., the present 
Mayor of Macclesfield, situated at Langley House, near 
that town The soil of that garden is alluvial, a brook 
runs through it, and the Daisies were planted on a 
border near the brook. That part of the garden had 
been made only about a year, and, consequently, the 
Daisy plants had only a year’s growth. The fresh soil 
and cool situation, no doubt, suited these plants, and 
produced exceedingly fine flowers without any care, 
excepting the usual one of keeping them clear of weeds. 
This is a lesson worthy of being studied, and naturally 
points out what we should do as to soil and situation; 
and further, that in order to obtain large, well-formed, 
and highly coloured flowers, the plants should be divided 
every year. But as every one cannot have such a 
situation, it behoves them to endeavour to imitate it as 
nearly as possible. The soil I mentioned to plant 
the divisions in for propagation will answer in most 
situations, but where it is poor, sandy, or worn out by 
being long used as a garden, then some fresh, good loam 
will be a great improvement. In such light, sandy, poor 
soil, in a dry season, I have seen, in hot weather, Daisies 
die in hundreds, therefore, such soils should be removed, 
and soil of a stronger, cooler, texture substituted. The 
bed for the finest varieties should also be in such a 
situation that it would be shaded or protected from the 
hot summer sun. 
General Management .—Whoever has attentively read 
my observations thus far on the culture of the Double 
Daisy, will have obtained a tolerable idea of their 
management, and it may be summed up in a very few 
sentences, namely—The Daisy loves a cool soil and 
situation. It should be annually divided in order to 
produce the finest flowers. It may be greatly improved 
by seed, and easily increased by division. 
I shall conclude with a few remarks on the Daisy as 
an edging plant. I have seen it frequently used for 
that purpose, and when well mauaged and kept in good 
order is very ornamental. As an edging, the colours 
should be mixed, alternately white and red, or the 
mottled varieties may be used. If all red the colour 
is too glaring, and if all white, it has, to me, a rather 
sickly appearance; therefore, the mixtures are, in my 
opinion, the most proper and desirable. These edgings 
should be renewed every second year, or they will 
become too broad and irregular. As soon as the bloom 
is over, the old flower-stems and the old leaves should 
he neatly clipped off, and that will enable the plants to 
produce fresh leaves, and be a neat green edging 
through the autumn and winter. T. Appleby. 
SOWING THE CABBAGE. 
Few people who have the well-being of society at 
heart will regret the present desire that has been mani¬ 
fested to become acquainted with “ common things,” by 
that class to which the acquisition will be of most im¬ 
portance. I am not one of that few, and, therefore, I 
purpose here to call attention to the culture of one of 
the very commonest of garden vegetables, yet one alike 
useful to the prince as well as to the peasant, and one 
as generally a favourite—I mean “ the Cabbage.” 
Of the many varieties of this useful vegetable it is 
not necessary here to make mention, as the numbers 
keep on increasing, or rather the names do; for without 
imputing to the enterprising cultivator any improper 
motive for giving a name to what he fancies a new 
variety, it is proper to say, that without some caje in the 
selection of plants to raise seeds from, old varieties 
would degenerate and eventually become as worthless 
as the wild plant from which they originally proceeded. 
Although there is no douht but that all plants have 
their own peculiar soil in which they flourish and 
make most progress, yet there are some which seem to 
accommodate themselves with more ease than others to ■ 
soils and situations diametrically opposed to each other. 
Of the latter class is the Cabbage. Originally' from a 
soil partaking largely of calcareous matter, it has, by a 
long series of cultivation, been brought to a state in 
which it is made to thrive in any soil sufficiently fed 
with enriching substances, as it is, like most of its class, 
“ a gross feeder; ” consequently, a soil that has been well 
supplied with dung is the one for the Cabbage; it is, 
also, necessary to give it a situation where it is not 
likely to suffer from the drought of summer, for its food 
partakes largely of fluid matters as well. However, as 
it is so accommodating as to grow almost any where, we 
do not suppose a choice of situation is left to it; but 
that it must be planted in some plot, which, in the 
“ rotation of crops,” is allotted for it; and as it will 
require hut little attention after planting, it would be 
prudent to give it as much good manure at once as can 
be spared with propriety, but as there are other things 
to do before planting-out, a notice of these may not 
be unacceptable before advancing further. 
In sowing the seed of this useful vegetable, more care 
must be taken of the site than is usually given to the 
planting-out afterwards. An open airy situation must 
be selected; and, as we do not advise the seed to be 
sown very thick, it need not be very rich. I generally 
sow this, and other plants of kindred habits, in beds of 
four feet wide, marking each kind on a stick, sufficiently 
long to be seen over the tops of the plants when they 
have got to the full size for planting-out If the season 
should be exceedingly dry, I generally shade the beds 
for a time until the piants show themselves. Afterwards, 
they are fully exposed. This is more especially neces¬ 
sary in the dry weather of July and August. A batch 
of Cabbage-seed ought to-.be sown before August; in fact, 
by the time this page will reach the reader, about the 
20th July, it will be quite time to sow a small quantity 
of the best early sort to come into use first, which are, 
however, not to be depended on for the main crop, which 
had better not be sown until the 10 th or 12 th of August; 
an intermediate sowing about the 1st being also made, 
will afford a few plants for early work ; but as some 
nicety not unusually depends on the sowing and plant¬ 
ing of Cabbage at the proper time, this seems a fitting 
place explain its various bearings. 
Like most of the plants with cross-shaped flowers 
( Grucifera) to which the Cabbage is related, its natural 
or proper time of flowering is spring and early summer ; 
and if it can bo diverted from doing so at this period it 
is not so likely to do so afterwards. Although now and 
then a plant will be seen erecting its head even as late 
as September, still the usual time of its doing so is about j 
May. Now, as cultivation has brought this plant into | 
such a condition that it is made to perform a certain 
growth before it gives way to the tendency that all 
plants have “ of furnishing seed to propagate their 
species,” it becomes necessary to overcome that ten- 
