70 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. —November A, 1856. 
so when the necessary means of protection are at hand, 
is, nevertheless, very often mismanaged, so as to often 
present hut a sorry feature in spring, a severe frost 
either killing them or injuring them to such an extent 
as to prevent their ever attaining a good useful size. 
This is more especially the case where the plants have 
been growing on a piece of rich ground, and have con¬ 
tinued their growth until late in the autumn, and at¬ 
tained that luxuriant, delicate habit which unfits them 
for enduring frost. The ordinary way to deal with these is 
to lay them on their sides, and confine them there; and, 
in extensive plantations, I do not know of any better 
mode. The plan is this:—Supposing the rows run 
north and south, then begin at the west side of the 
J piece, and with the spade take out a small spit of earth 
' from the west side of each plant, and close to the collar, 
| and with the foot bend the plant down that way, taking a 
spit of earth from the collar of the next plant, and laying it 
upon the plant bent down to keep it so, and proceed in that 
way until the whole piece-be finished. Where the rows 
I run the reverse way, lay the plants to face the north, as, by 
' either laying it to the north or west, it escapes the evils 
of lacing a bright sun after a frosty night. In a general 
j way the west will be found better than the north ; and, 
I though there is no doubt but the fractures the plant 
receives at the roots check it considerably, it is, never¬ 
theless, true that it places it in a better condition to 
resist frost than it otherwise would have been in. The 
kinds most advisable to treat this way are all those which 
are expected to come into use after Christmas. Those 
for the autumn might, perhaps, stand unaltered, or the 
more delicate ones might be taken up, and transplanted 
into some cold frame, out-building, or other sheltered 
situation, where they might perfect their growth. Any 
sort of a building will do where the plant can have light 
and protection from very severe weather. It is more 
comfortable to get at Broccoli so secured than when 
hard frozen in the open ground, as they often are for 
weeks together in sharp winters, and in cold, exposed 
situations in the north. 
A very good way of saving heads that have arrived at 
! maturity is to take the whole plant up, strip off all the 
| large leaves, and cut a little off the root; then bury it 
with its head downwards in peat earth, where it will 
i keep sound a long time. Cabbages of the Drumhead or 
Scotch kind are often treated so in ordinary soil; but 
i slugs are less plentiful in peat earth; and, altogether, the 
i heads of Broccoli keep better there than by any other 
! mode I have seen adopted. Hanging them up in a 
cellar or other cool place is also very good ; and in mid¬ 
winter it is often necessary to adopt this plan. It is 
best to have a good proportion of stem to each plant 
when it is hung up or bedded-in, as the head derives 
much support from that source. 
Endive. —This useful winter salad is difficult to pre- 
| serve out of doors in severe weather; therefore it is better 
, to take up a quantity of nicely-blanched heads about 
i the middle of December, or before if it threatens to be 
i hard weather, and, after taking off some of the outer 
j useless leaves, plant them in some nice dry material 
i under cover. Light, iu this case, is not so necessary as 
j for the Broccoli, as tiro plants, or, at least, a part of them, 
i must be covered up, to preserve their blanched appear¬ 
ance. They must each have a nice ball of earth at¬ 
tached to their roots, as they may be called on to survive 
some weeks. It is not unusual to plant them tolerably 
thick in sand, as the roots make no further progress, 
and the sand is as good a non-decaying material as any- 
! thing they can have. Any dry, open shod will do where 
they can be protected from severe frosts. The principal 
i thing is to save them from the wet, that so quickly 
i hastens their decay; biV , on the other hand, the dry, 
j warm air of a shed heated by fire is injurious to them, 
parching them up, and rendering them tough instead of 
crisp ; in fact, the only thing wanted is to secure them 
against sharp frosts and the continuous damps to which 
they are unavoidably subjected when outside at this 
season. 
Another mode is sometimes adopted of hooping over 
the beds they are planted out upon with strong stakes, 
and throwing mats over them in bard weather. This is 
more especially applicable to younger plants, or those 
in a growing state. A stout hazel rod, seven feet long 
or so, will bend over a bed of four feet wide, and the 
ends sticking in the ground are secure; others following 
about a foot apart, and some nice straight ones to lay 
on longitudinally, will form the framework of a roof, 
which may be covered with mats, tarpaulin, or anything 
else. Where it is not convenient to have the full- 
grown ones under cover as above, this plan may be 
adopted for them with advantage. 
Lettuces.— These will not endure the same dark con¬ 
finement as the last-named plants; it is, therefore, ad¬ 
visable to take up a quantity of full-grown ones, and lay 
them in frames having glazed lights ; they will keep good 
some time, and be handy to get at; they must be taken 
up with balls to each, and planted quite upright as 
before. A little frost will do no particular harm; but 
do not, by any means, keep them too close, as a good 
circulation of air is necessary to preserve the plant in 
health; and be careful to remove all decayed leaves and 
stems, and, in fact, everything else tending that way. 
This remark applies, also, to the Endive noticed above; 
and the younger broods of Lettuce in the open ground 
may be hooped over as directed for Endive, that mode 
of protection being applicable many ways, taking care, 
however, only to cover when wanted. 
Parsley. —In some very cold or exposed situations 
this article i3 not able to stand the winter without being 
so much injured as almost to render it useless. Iu such 
cases it is advisable to cover some up with mats, &c., as 
above. A frame, certainly, would be better; but mats 
will do for the early part of winter. But it would be 
well to take up a few plants in autumn, and plant them 
in deep boxes, or they might be potted, and set in j 
some warm, light place. They will speedily put forth ! 
fresh leaves, and continue the supply until those out of [ 
doors come into use in spring. Very little warmth is 
wanted here. The great object is to start in time, and 
not wait until the Parsley be absolutely wanted for 
table, and then to hurry it on with a powerful heat. Any 
odd corner that is sufficiently light will do for it. 
Celery. —Little can be added to that already given 
at page 23 of the present volume, only it must be borne 
in mind that this vegetable will not keep fresh very long 
out of the ground; and it is only to supply the wants of 
the family in severe weather that we advise its being 
taken up and housed, as the plant is sufficiently hardy 
to withstand most of our winters; but the amateur 
having the run of a timber-yard may protect liis rows 
of Celery very much by a couple of boards, with their 
edges nailed together so as to form a sort of ridge, which 
might lie over the plants in wet and severe weather, as 
these changes iu alternate course hasten this vegetable 
to decay. 
Turnips. —These also suffer much from frost; there¬ 
fore, betore hard weather sets iu, or when you think 
it is likely to do so, take up a quantity of nice, useful¬ 
sized Turnips, and reduce the length of top, and also 
ot root, not cutting either entirely away, and place 
them in some open shed or other sheltered situation, 
amongst.sand or dry soil, so that the root and part of 
the bulb may be covered with it. In this medium they 
will keep a long time iu cold weather; but when warm 
weather returns they will start, and grow as well as 
those outside. Some people cut the root and top en¬ 
tirely off, and bury them in sand ; but I think they loso 
