J.vNUAnY 20 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
311 
I 
I 
But as to tlie practice 1 proposed to relate, and its 
results; this I will proceed to state. Last year, it 
occurred to me that this reducing the sap of over¬ 
succulent things, if worthy the name and recognition of 
a principle, ought to be pushed much further; that it 
possibly was a thing of considerable breadth as to its 
application. To begin, then. In the last week of October, 
1 took up some scores oi Endive plants, which had been 
planted out in rich soil, from a sowing at the very end 
of July, planted specially for wintering in frames or 
pits. These strong plants, fit for the salad bowl, all 
but blanching, were taken up with balls of earth, and 
removed to a spot where the sun and wind could operate 
freely upon them, and where they could receive a little 
covering in the event of frost. They were simply placed 
on the surface of the ground, not planted; and here they 
remained about a fortnight, by which time the bulk of 
earth was nearly dry, and the foliage, of course, flag¬ 
ging considerably. They were then removed to frames, 
and planted close together, in order to economise room ; 
and now I have to state, that this lot of Endive kept 
weeks longer than the other portion, which was removed 
in all its freshness. 
Lettuces, too, from a sowing in the second week in 
August, were beeoming very gross, the soil having been 
too rich ; these were pulled up by bundreds, thrown on 
the top of the bed, and lay there for two or three days, 
hy which time they, too, were flagging much; these 
were planted thickly together, as is usual in winter, and 
I found them incomparably hardier than plants un¬ 
disturbed, and they were second to none in point of 
excellence in the ensuing May and June. And thus I 
iiave done this season, more extensively still, serving 
Cauliflowers, Cabbage plants, &c., precisely the same. 
As for Cabl3age plants, they will endure much of this 
sort of usage; and I think it probable, that where it is 
important to cut very early Cabbages, they might he 
sown a fortnight earlier than usual, or even much more, 
say in the middle of July, and pulled and thrown on 
the surface to flag when strong plants : such planted out, 
finally, about the middle of September, would, probably, 
make heads weeks before gross, young plants treated as 
is usual, and would certainly, at least, winter better. 
Many gardeners, as well as myself, must have been 
frequently surprised, at observing the remains of seed¬ 
beds of Celery, Plndive, Savoys, Brocolis, Cauliflowers, 
kc., endure the winter better than those under the 
highest culture, and protected during severe weather by 
litter. And whence this contradictory result, but from 
poverty at the root?—the plants being not so full of 
fluids. 
it is strange how long such succulent plants as 
Lettuces will endure laying on the surface of the 
ground in October. I, this season, left a bunch of the 
Jiath Cos, stout little plants, from a sowing in the first 
week of August, on the soil, fully exposed to the 
atmosphere. They were thrown down in the second week 
of October, and lay there unmolested until the middle 
of November, and they looked nearly as fresh then as 
when first drawn from the seed-bed. It was done to 
test them, as I had plenty to spare. Does not this seem 
to show tliat they must absorb powerfully by the foliage? 
But of all the plants that will endure such rough 
liandling, I have met with none to excel the common 
Nasturtium and the Tomato. I once threw some 
trimmings of Nasturtiums on an old rubbish-heap, 
almost reduced to soil, in July ; they were in full bloom, 
and there they were blooming away all the summer, 
and, at last, had struck root into the rubbish in all 
directions. The only suffering they underwent was to 
lose three-parts of their foliage, and this was an immense 
advantage ; for they w^ere much more showy than their 
congeners petted in good garden soil. What a hint this 
for root-pruners! 
i 
As to Tomatos, I always plant them out in hillocks, 
raised nine inches above the ground level, in order that 
when they become troubled with vegetable obesity they 
may be humbled accordingly, without being utterly 
destroyed. If any person will try his hand fairly at 
this matter, he will, I am assured, soon perceive the 
rationality of the proceeding. Let him, in dealing with 
the Tomato in our midland or northern counties, do 
this:—let him make a coaxing compost to put about 
them when turning them out of their pots at the end of 
May, in order to get them to cover the wall as speedily 
as may be. As soon as they are in high vigour, say 
the end of June, let him chop away a portion of the 
hillock, roots and all; this will soon induce a flowering 
habit, and, henceforth, until they have a crop on them, 
beginning to colour, in the early part of September, let 
them be well pinched, or stopped, and many of the huge 
leaves cut half away, in order to let the sun warm the 
wall. This done, let him cut half the roots away, at 
least; again, at the precise moment when the earliest 
bunch is nearly ripe, and the others, in succession, want 
to colour, and 1 will engage he will repeat the same 
practice the ensuing year. 
But if these be facts, cannot our acclimatisers of 
choice trees, shrubs, or plants, take a lesson from them ? 
And, again, wby not, as before observed, push the idea 
further as to general gardening ? 
I do hope that we shall hear more of this matter, 
which should not be lightly esteemed by any, because 
they had hitherto attached to it a trifling amount of 
importance. Old gardeners, in all quarters, could say 
good things about it, both and con; by all means 
let us invite their co-operation, and, in the language of 
Mr. Beaton, ‘'fresh bloodf also; an idea worthy of a 
great bybridiser. 
I have no doubt that many a ’prentice in gardening 
could write and suggest most excellent things, if we 
could but induce them to try their hand. 
Before I conclude this somewhat desultory paper, let 
me advert, taking advantage of the latitude my text 
affords, to the effects of frost on vegetables. The 
country at large is, no doubt, by this time, (January 
loth), aware of the severe character of the frost; and 
strange it is, that 20° of frost has been accounted an 
ordinary affair for three winters successively. 
Doubtless, most gardeners have done as I have 
done; scraped all tlie litter together they could, and 
covered tender vegetables. Let, me then, beg of those 
who are not well experienced to take care how they 
uncover when a thaw arrives. We never uncover until 
we can thrust our fingers easily into the soil beneath the 
litter, and this always on an afternoon, being afraid of 
the evil effects of sudden sunlight. Moreover, we do 
not then totally uncover, but have a very thin screen 
of loose straw for two or three days afterwards. 
I may here observe, that the mode of covering up 
vegetables, as well as other things, requires and deserves 
some consideration; and, I believe, that not only 
vegetables, but tender shrubs come fairly within this 
practice. I hold it essential that the soil and all about 
the subject to be covered, should be frozen slightly before 
the plant or plants are covered, If a bed of Endive, 
or Lettuce, be covered at the moment the frost begins, 
to prevent its being frozen, it is almost certain that they 
will suffer more from a kind of gargrenous rot than 
from low temperatures. 
My practice is to let the crops intended to be pro¬ 
tected freeze slightly for a few hours; then, the litter 
being ready, and close to the crops, to cover them with 
a thin screen; thus they remain until the soil about 
them is frozen two inches in depth, and then, and not 
till then, the whole of the litter is thrown over them. 
R. Erringtox. 
