THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 24, 1857. 
now as to the covering affair. My practice is to let the 
i plants endure a few degrees of frost before covering, say 
half a dozen degrees. This they will endure very well, 
! and after a day or two’s frost the ground will be frozen, 
and as soon as the crust is half an inch in thickness I 
cover the beds. I grow all my Celery in five or six feet 
i beds, in what is called the Scotch mode, and these beds 
are covered all over. Long and loose litter is selected 
1 for the purpose, and this is strewed over lightly about 
four inches in thickness. Thus it remains as long as 
the frost continues, and on a thaw commencing it is not 
j uncovered until the crust of the bed is thawed, or 
nearly so, beneath the straw: this is generally two 
days after the thaw commences. By attending to these 
j maxims Celery is preserved very well until it begins to 
run in the spring, when, of course, it sinks rapidly in 
j estimation as to the salad bowl, and the last remains 
are generally worked up by the cook in soups, &c. 
Broccolis. —There can be no doubt that the old plan 
of falling Broccoli with the heads to the north is sound 
practice ; but the pressure of other business frequently 
puts it out of the ordinary gardener’s power to carry it 
out, although most desirous of doing so, and fully 
recognising the principle. It is all very well people 
saying that a trifling amount of labour will suffice for this, 
that, and the other; but, although such oily prospects 
look very neat and eligible on paper, they are not so 
easily carried out by the spade as by the pen. Besides, 
in the majority of cases the question is, What shall we 
do, and which set aside ? If the labour point is kept 
at a minimum this is sure to be the case; it is of no 
use evading the fact, which is notorious to hundreds of 
practical men. In falling Broccoli the same plan may 
be pursued as with Cauliflowers, and care must be taken 
to soil their stems well over up to the collar, or nearly 
so. But this falling in our northern climates will not 
alone succeed in insuring their safety; we deem it 
necessary to use a little long litter over their heads in 
severe frosts. Just as with the Celery, it is best to let 
them freeze a little before covering them, and thus 
handled I have kept them for weeks without any thorough 
uncovering; indeed, a thin coat of litter suffices in 
i general, and, with a little uncovering of the crown, the 
mass of the litter may fall through gradually, as spring 
advances, to the ground. 
Endive. —This is a ticklish customer, and I am some¬ 
what surprised, as spring returns, to fiud it quoted as in 
the markets so late as April and May ; but it must surely 
be very inferior, for I have seldom seen superior Endive 
far into January unless coaxed in pits or frames. Dry¬ 
ness is the great consideration with Endive. Of course it 
will not endure much frost; but it is difficult to keep it 
dry out of doors. The best plan, perhaps, would be to have 
a tarpaulin over it; this would exclude rain and snow, 
and also tend to blanch it by partial darkness at the 
same time. But this tarpaulin should not touch the 
Endive; there should be room left for a slight circula¬ 
tion of air overhead, and, moreover, the ends should be 
closed in very severe weather, and a covering of litter 
laid over the tarpaulin. In ordinary cases, and where 
good Endive is not cared for after the month of 
j ~ 
! November is out, careful coverings with long loose 
litter will do much, and about the middle of November 
| a lot full grown may be tied when dry, and taken to 
any outhouse or shed, and there heeled in dryish soil, 
burying it up to the very neck. It must here be 
observed that all Endive to undergo the above modes 
of preservation must be full grown at the end of 
October; those who keep it in pits and frames are not 
so right in this respect. 
Coleworts. —These, perhaps the most useful form 
of greens that come to the winter table, are-generally 
suffered to remain where planted through the winter, 
but they freijuently undergo great loss. Tho market 
1 ! '1 
IlO 
gardeners cannot, of course, protect acres ; but persons 
with small gardens can do so, and to those who esteem 
these delicious affairs I strongly recommend protection. 
They may be covered, of course, where they grow, and, 
being planted only a foot or so apart, this can be done 
with tolerable facility. But, where labour permits it, I 
strongly recommend what I used to practise, Viz., to 
take them up in the beginning of November', and heel 
them close together—they are thus more under com¬ 
mand; but whether heeled or not they deserve a cover¬ 
ing of loose litter in severe weather. The same practice 
is pursued as with the other tender vegetables, viz., to 
let them freeze a little before covering up, and to 1 iiSe 
the same precautions as to a thaw. 
Artichokes. —These are not for winter use; it is 
merely a question of how to preserve vitality until the 
ensuing spring. Plenty of straw over their crowns and 
a little extra soil piled around them outside will insure 
this. Such must be done about tho middle of November. 
R. Errington. 
THINGS TO BE THOUGHT ABOUT. 
Heaths and Etacrises. —“ I cannot vet find room for 
these in the greenhouse. Will they be safe a little 
longer in cold pits?”—Yes, especially the latter. Many 
keep great quantities of the former quite safely in cold 
pits all the winter, but the uninitiated could hardly 
expect to do so. The secret consists in getting the wood 
well ripened, and the growing brought to a standstill 
by carefully lessening water before tho autumn is 
finished. Tho plants then have abundance of air back 
and front at every possible period all the winter, and 
are merely kept, not grown, for the whole of that period. 
Let your plants grow until late in the autumn. Leave 
them in cold pits. Shut such up with heavy coverings 
in severe weather, and even plenty of air, when the 
weather is raw and foggy, will not prevent tho plants 
suffering from their worst enemy, mildew. As soon as 
convenient, therefore, remove them to the house, where j 
light will be obtained at all times, and a little fire heat j 
will enable you to change the atmosphere in all weathers. 
Epacrises do not suffer easily from mildew, but as most 
of them bloom early a house should be given to them as 
soon as possible. 
Azaleas and Camellias. —“ My greenhouse is yet 
beautiful with climbers, Fuchsias, Begonias, Balsams, 
&c. Company is expected, and, as you say that Camellias 
and Azaleas are so hardy, I have placed them under pro¬ 
tection from rain, though otherwise exposed, hoping they ; 
will take no harm for a few weeks to come.”—Plants 
become constitutionally tender if they are petted and 
nursed. There are two boys, one a mother’s apron¬ 
string lad, sheltered from every rough breeze, and all 
his even unwhispered wants attended to by others. 
There is another, left with little to depend upon but his 
own energies and wits. Expose both to a fierce snow¬ 
storm, and would you expect both to come out of it 
scatheless alike? dust so with plants; the more we pet 
them the weaker becomes their constitution. Be it also 
ever remembered that plants in pots are very differently 
circumstanced than when planted out in tho free soil. 
Have you ever obtained for yourself the luxury of next 
to a glass of iced water in the dog days, by placing the 
water in a porous earthen vessel, and keeping its out¬ 
side moist by syphons formed of worsted thread, or 
wrapping it round with a wet stocking? The same 
principle is going on continuously. Let the soil in your 
Camellia pot be somewhat moist, and then your porous 
pot will also become moist; and then, even if the days 
and nights are not extra cold, the effects of evaporation 
and radiation combined may be such as to freeze and 
destroy the finer, fresher roots at the sides of the pot, 
