February 19. 
THE COTTAGE GABDENEB. 
White. — Blanche de Castile, Jeanne d’Arc, Mont 
Blanc, ^Wonderful, *Boule de Niege. 
Blush. —Beauty, ^Princess Alice, Pauline, *Beine de 
jour. 
Lilac. — Beaute, Dorothea, Madame J. Henderson, 
*Voltigeur. 
Amaranth. —Estare, ^Frederic, Juno. 
Blue (or approaching to blue).—* Andre, Iphegenie, 
-*Mrs. Mills, M. Paquin, Uranus. 
Violet Purple. —Auricula, *Apollon, Comte de Paris, 
*Morphee, Stephanette. 
Dark Purple. —^Alfred. 
Pink. — ^Enchantress, *Grandis, Leontine, Mar¬ 
chioness of Cornwallis, Niobe, Yerrier. 
Cherry. —^Cerise Unique, Jules, ^Cardinal Wiseman. 
Rose. —Beranger, Camille, Eugene Sue, *Model of 
Perfection, ^General Taylor, *King, ^-Magnificent. 
Scarlet. —Conqurand, ^Defiance, *Johu Salter, ^Shy- 
lock. 
' Carmine. —Le Seduisante, *St. Margaret. 
Crimson. —Atrosanguinea, *Chauverii, Figaro, Gloire 
de Paris', ULouis Napoleon Bonaparte, Ne Plus Ultra, 
^Othello. 
Bark Crimson or Maroon. —Emperor of China, ^Na¬ 
poleon Bonaparte, ^Nigricans. 
Those marked with an asterisk (*), are most suitable 
for pot-culture. The average price of the above is from 
18s. to 24s. the dozen. We do not suppose that any 
grower will purchase all the above at once, the best way 
will be to select as many as he chooses, and send the 
list to any respectable nurseryman, who will imme¬ 
diately let him know the price, and whether he can 
furnish them. 
New Varieties to be sent out in Spring. — Alba 
magna, a good white, fine shape, and large flower. Ariel, 
white, pink eye. Delight, rosy crimson. Eliza Cook, 
purple. Koh-i-Noor, dark rose, large flower, truss large. 
National, shaded-red. Orlando, lilac, blue; beats Mrs. 
Mills. Purple Rival, light purple, white eye, large 
truss, fine form. Standard, rosy salmon, very large and 
fine. Miss Jane, white, yellow eye, large and compact. 
Virginias, rich purplish-blue, large, and extra fine. 
Monsieur Jullien, dazzling crimson-scarlet truss, fine 
form. 
Baising New Varieties from Seed. — Whoever at¬ 
tempts this should be well aware what are the properties 
necessary to constitute a first-rate Verbena. From such 
only he ought to gather seed. The qualities described 
below, as necessary to constitute a first-rate Verbena, are 
quoted from that excellent work, “ Glenny’s Properties 
of Flowers." Speaking of the Verbena, he says :— 
1st.—The flower should be round, with scarcely any 
indenture, and no notch or serrature. 
2nd. — The petals should be thick, and flat, and 
bright. 
3rd.—The plant should be compact, the joints short 
and strong, and distinctly of a shrubby habit, or a close 
ground creeper, or a climber; those which partake of 
all are bad. 
4th.—The trusses of bloom should be compact, and 
stand out from the foliage, the flowers touching each 
other, but not crowding. 
5th.—The foliage should be short, broad, and bright, 
and enough of it to hide the stalks. 
The above “Properties” were written five years ago, 
and remain good to the present day, but we think the 
writer scarcely lays stress enough upon the colours. We 
would suggest this as an additional property—that the 
colours should be perfectly clear and distinct in seifs, no 
shade should prevail; and in stripes, the line where the 
colours separate should be well defined. The form of 
the truss also is left rather indistinct. We think it 
should be as nearly flat as possible, so as to show off 
every individual flower to advantage. There is no j 
321 
doubt, if Mr. Glenny should publish a new edition, he 
would add considerably to the points or properties of 
the Verbena, and some other flowers that have been 
much improved since 1847. From flowers possessing 
the above properties, the aspirants for the honour of 
raising superior varieties should gather seed as soon as 
it is ripe ; dry it well, wrap it up in paper, and keep it 
till the sowing time arrives. That time is about the 
middle of March. Sow it in light, rich earth, in shallow 
pans, cover it slightly, and place the pan in a slight hot¬ 
bed, or on the shelf near the glass of a greenhouse. 
Keep the soil moderately moist, and the plants will 
soon make their appearance; care must be taken that 
the soil is not sodden w r ith wet, or the young tender 
plants will fog off. As soon as they can be handled, 
prick them out into other shallow pans, and keep them 
close to the glass. When they have made fresh growth 
and a few more leaves, place them in a cold frame, and 
expose them to the full air every fine day, till all 
danger of late spring frosts has passed away; then plant 
them out in an open part of the garden, and when they 
bloom, select such as possess improved properties, and 
throw the rest away. From such improved varieties 
take cuttings, and increase them so as to be certain of 
securing a stock the ensuing spring. T. Appleby. 
THE CABBAGE-WOBTS. 
This large family, for whose support we often see 
full one-third of the available garden space devoted, is 
too well known and esteemed to require even a passing 
eulogy from us ; but, as the various members of it differ 
considerably from each other, and some of them may be 
but imperfectly known in districts where The Cottage 
Gardener is read, we make them the subject of our 
present paper, and will confine our remarks to the de¬ 
scription of the various subdivisions into which this 
remarkable family is separated, rather than enter upon 
their cultivation, which is, perhaps, with some trifling 
difference, the same in all. 
At what period the cabbage was introduced into our 
garden as a vegetable is not precisely known, neither is 
it worth while to enquire, as a slight knowledge of the 
family gives every reason to believe that the first “ cul¬ 
tivated article ” differed very considerably from any in 
use now; and that improvement which a well-directed 
science has given to this production, is such as leaves 
botanists in doubt as to its origin. The traveller is 
often shown a yellow-flowered, weedy-looking plant, 
partially clothing the chalky cliffs at Dover, as the 
parent of one-half the useful productions of our gardens, 
while others assert that we have imported them from 
the continent, in which opinion we fully concur; but, 
at the same time, we question much if their original state, 
prior to continental improvement, was anything more 
useful than our wild plant, and if this be the parent, we 
have a useful lesson set before us as to its culture, in 
the nature of the locality where it is found. We may 
from that infer that a soil unusually calcareous would 
suit it best; unless in this case we admit the doctrine 
of that eminent horticulturist, the late Dean of Man¬ 
chester, “ that the position plants are found wild in, is 
no proof of its being the most suitable for them.” That 
learned divine asserting that a great deal of weakly 
vegetation may have been driven from the locality most 
suited to it by the stouter claimants for such favoured 
spots, and the consequence is, that many small, puny,. or 
delicate species are to be found in places not agreeing 
with their welfare, having been driven there by the more 
vigorous advances of contending vegetation. 
Now, whether the wild plants we have noticed as 
gracing the chalky cliffs of our southern coasts be 
driven over the precipice by the herbage occupying the 
