132 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
plenty of air, and leave the bell-glasses off every night, 
replacing them during the day for a short period. Leave 
! the glasses off entirely as soon as the plants will hear 
the light, and then remove them out of the frame, and 
: place them out-of-doors upon a bed of coal-ashes or 
gravel for a week or two. By this time the plan ting-on t- 
j season will hare arrived. The beds to receive them 
should then be in a state of readiness, and they may be 
carefully taken out of the cutting pots, and planted 
! where they are to bloom the following season. This 
propagation process must be performed every season. 
| It is a fact well known among florists, that one-year-old 
! plants only produce blooms fit for the exhibition-table. 
; Two-year-okl plants will answer admirably as bedding- 
; out plants, or to plant in the mixed borders of the 
J flower-garden. 
If it is thought advisable, or is more convenient, to 
plant the pipings in a bed prepared in a frame heated 
underneath with any lasting fermenting material, the 
mode of preparing the piping is exactly the same; the 
soil on the surface is also the same, only let it be of 
sufficient depth to prevent the heat being too great. 
Level the surface, and plant the pipings in rows, 
placing, as a matter of course, a tally to each variety. 
When they are put in shade, water duly, and give air as 
soon as roots are formed. Then take them up carefully 
with a trowel, and plant them in the blooming-bed. 
i Pipings of pinks will root under hand-glasses also, 
! planted in bed of the same soil, with a coating of sand, 
j in a shady part of the garden. The only objection to 
! this mode is that the cuttings are much longer in 
! forming roots, and, therefore, liable to damp off by 
being so long confined under the glass. 
The next and last mode of propagating pinks is 
by layers. Some varieties grow very strong, and then, 
like the carnation pipings, they are so full of sap, that 
they damp off immediately. Such varieties should be 
layered exactly in the same way as a carnation, and 
when the layers are rooted, take them up and plant 
out at once in the blooming bed. T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Beet, its Culture and Qualities. —As much dif¬ 
ference of opinion exists on the necessary qualities of 
this vegetable, and having no great authority in such 
matters, no “Glenny” to tell us the “ properties ” of a 
good article, and those who would be legislators in the 
case are anything but agreed, we are induced to offer a 
few remarks on its general culture, and what we consider 
to be its qualifications; not that it requires especial 
notice at this particular time, but that in doing so now 
we shall be better able to devote more time to pressing 
affairs at a more busy period. Commencing with its 
cultivation, we may say that we never sow this on very 
: rich ground; generally we select a piece that has been 
! well dug, perhaps trenched, but no manure used. The 
| principle of encouraging a vigorous growth, as a means 
j of enhancing quality, is not applicable in this case, as 
| with the Brassica tribe, celery, lettuce, &c.; on the con- 
I trary, we think quality is often sacrificed when Beet is 
J grown too luxuriantly, and we have seen some exhibited 
i at Horticultural shows that was more fit to compete with 
j the Mangold Wurzell at Agricultural meetings, and no 
doubt the disappointed growers might feel astonished at 
| the judgment which set their extraordinary growth 
aside. The mode of growing it has, we believe, more 
to do with its quality than is generally admitted, as we 
never remember seeing a very large root that was at all 
good, therefore, as a preventive, we sow on rather poor 
soil, that is however, loose and open; about the first 
week in May is soon enough, unless the appearance of 
November 27. | 
settled dry weather a week or so earlier, renders it advis¬ 
able to sow it then, lest it miss “ the season.” We men- j 
tion this, because in some gardens there is a necessity to 
guard against sowing important crops immediately 
after the setting in of the dry period; some soils 
obstinately refusing that genial moisture necessary to ■ 
vegetate seeds at that time, and watering is but a lame 
alternative; the tender plant is difficult to rear by so 
artificial a nurse, and too often languishes and dies, : 
even if it comes up, which is not always the case. But i 
supposing the plants to have come up irregularly, our 
duty is to take advantage of the first showery day, and . 
carefully plant up all deficiencies. We are not ac- j 
; quainted with any root crop that succeeds so well trans¬ 
planted as Beet,(autumn-sown onion, perhaps, excepted). 
Be not too late in thinning those left, and attending to j 
the usual routine of summer hoeing, weeding, &c We 
will suppose the autumn to have arrived, and will now 
glance at the quality of the crop. As we have before 
said we do not like it large, neither do we like it long ; 
not that the latter property diminishes its merits, but 
when it is too long there is a great inducement on the 
part of the girl who has to boil it, to curtail its length, 
“ it won’t go nicely into the pan she wants to put it in,” 
and we all know with how little damage its colour is 
impaired; in fact, the best coloured Beet is no better 
than Mangold Wurzell, if much damaged before, or in 
the boiling, we therefore trust our gardening friends will, 
for their own credit, enforce attention to these matters. 
If in point of shape it resembles the Horn Carrot, though 
larger, it is like what we want it—short, yet with not too 
much swell on the part above ground, and not forked, 
but in taking up not a fibre must be broken. Now for 
colour, and this is where the various opinions lie:—some 
contending that to remove it as far as can be from that 
article given to cattle.it ought to be as dark as possible; 
and, pandering to that taste, seedsmen of late have called 
it “Black Beet;” others,with as much claim to attention, 
have insisted on its being a bright blood colour, assert¬ 
ing that if its other qualities be good, that is the tint, 
its appearance at table contrasts best with other things; 
while others take a medium course, and prefer a good 
crimson. Without giving a decided preference to any of 
these ideas, we may say that its quality ought to be 
tested by other means as well. When a root is cut 
through, it ought not to show those concentric rings so 
common in coarse kinds, neither ought it*to be streaked 
with fibres of a lighter colour, and after boiling it ought 
to he firm, yet not stringy, and all to appear alike. We 
have seen slices of it in which the softer parts receded 
from the firmer, which stood up in bold or rather rugged 
relief, like breakers on a deceitful coast, pretty to look at, 
but the dread of those who come in contact with them. 
This property we hold of quite as much importance as 
that of colour, and we earnestly advise the amateur in 
selecting his roots, to ascertain if they possess good eating 
qualities, as well as a pleasing appearance, for though 
perhaps not much required for that purpose, still we would 
like everything sent to table to be as agreeable to the 
palate as to the eye, and if public taste insist on having 
Beet of a dull liver colour in preference to a brighter red, 
it may as well possess the other qualities also. This is 
now a good time to take it up and stow it away, as we 
have seen it suffer much from hard weather, but on 
ordinary occasions it keeps very well in the ground. Be 
especially careful in taking it up that no rootlets get 
broken, and strip off the leaves in a conical manner, 
leaving about an inch of the footstalk adhering to the 
crown of the plant; stow away in sand, and few roots j 
keep so well as Beet. 
Sundries. —If the weather threatens to become severe, 
prepare for it by taking up a quantity of Turnips, which 
store away. Cut also all Broccoli that is ready, and if any 
Lettuce that is fit for use could be taken up by the roots 
