273 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 3, 1858. 
visablo to sow a considerable portion later than that— 
say from the 10th to the 15th. The long growing 
autumn in these districts advances the plant so far, as 
to render it liable to run in the following spring if 
sown earlier ; but, for less favoured situations, sowing 
must be made proportionately earlier. In the northern 
part of Yorkshire, I have known Cabbage seed sown 
by the 10th July, and then not run to seed; even 
earlier than that has been sometimes accomplished, but 
it is not advisable to trust to it so early, except for a 
small portion; successional crops may be sown at in¬ 
tervals of a few days apart; the final crop of all 
may be sown as above, about the middle of August in 
the central part of England, and later than that on the 
south and north sides of it. 
It is necessary only to sow such a variety at first, 
as resists the influence of running to seed in early 
spring. Some of the kinds in cultivation are more 
likely to do so than others. In a general way, extensive 
growers of Cabbage for the London and other markets, 
grow their own seed, and select only such plants for 
seeding as are possessed of the properties most wanted. 
The largest kind is not necessarily the earliest, 
neither is it the one best adapted to stand the winter; 
consequently, it is advisable to grow two or more kinds. 
The names are, also, very often little more than a mere 
local term, intelligible only in the immediate neigh¬ 
bourhood where they are grown, as such or such a 
one’s Cabbage ; and very often the party whose name 
it bears is in humble circumstances, and known only to 
his fellow workmen, and a limited circle. Seedsmen, 
certainly, have adopted their names, because there 
seemed no other to give to the variety in question ; 
and, as new names supersede old ones, there is little 
ttse in giving the name of a variety, that, in all like¬ 
lihood, may be eclipsed by a superior one next year: 
it must be borne in mind, also, that many of the best 
j kinds are not dignified with a name at all, the grower 
being contented to call it “ his kind.” 
Independently of sowing Cabbage seed at a particular 
time, care must be taken to ensure its germinating at 
that time as well, otherwise the object of sowing it 
then is defeated. In very dry weather it will not 
germinate well without some artificial aid, the worst 
of any being, perhaps, heavy waterings and exposure 
to the full sun, as a sort of hardening of the surface 
then takes place, through which the young plants can¬ 
not make their way. A better plan, is to scatter the 
beds thinly over with fine leaf mould, that has been 
sifted; over that, lay some old pea-stakes, or other 
boughs of that kind, and either cover the beds with 
mats, to be taken off at night, or with some other partial 
shading material. I have used the old Pea haulm with 
advantage, just spread out very thinly over the stakes, 
and have found the plants to vegetate very well with 
only one watering. As the only object of shading 
is to enable the young plant to save itself while in the 
act of vegetating, it may be proper here to observe, 
that attacks by the Turnip fly, and other enemies, must 
be met by dustings with lime, or counteracted in some 
other way,—wood ashes is still better than lime, as 
likewise is soot. As the young plants are very sus¬ 
ceptible to such misfortunes at a certain time, it will 
be well to take care not to let them be molested to any 
j hurtful extent, until they have advanced a little, when 
j they will do very well for themselves, and the shading 
I and other artificial helps may be dispensed with. 
In some places, young plants of the Cabbage tribe 
are much infested with a grub, which, boring the stem 
a little underground, forms an ugly and injurious 
enlargement, often fatal to the plant, or, if not so, very 
hurtful to it. This evil is, in a great measure, pre¬ 
vented by digging charcoal ashes into the ground they 
i are sown in. Lime, or a little of the waste from the 
gas-house, is equally useful, but the latter mtist be used 
with caution. Wood ashes are, however, quite safe,- j 
and an excellent manure as well. 
I cannot conclude this article without calling the at¬ 
tention of all young gardeners to the large breadth of 
Cabbage grown in the neighbourhood of London, fbT 
the use of the great metropolis, and the skilful way in ! 
which it is done,—not a bastard to be seen in a plot 
of, perhaps, an acre or more, while it is often difficult 
to discover even a shade of difference in the kind 
grown. This result is only attained by the means 
mentioned above,—that is to say, by carefully selecting 
seed of the purest kind only, and to have this perfect. 
Many extensive growers grow seed for themselves, 
and, it is needless to say, with the best results ; and to 
the amateur who wishes to excel in any department 
of kitchen gardening, we may say, follow their ex¬ 
ample ; but at the same time take care that, when 
any plant in the Cabbage, or Broccoli, line is in 
bloom, do not let anything else of a like nature be in 
flower near it. Consequently, one of these articles is as 
much as can be saved in any one year ; but the seed 
will keep three or four seasons with little injury, only 
under adverse circumstances old seed does not ger¬ 
minate so well as new. This, however, has been treated j 
of before. J. Robson. 
PEARS IN LANCASHIRE. 
I was lately informed that the writer of the follow¬ 
ing account—of Pears suitable for the climate of Lan¬ 
cashire—was a gentleman that took a delight, and great | 
care, in the culture of this fruit; I, in consequence, 
wrote to him, requesting the favour of a reply, and an j 
account of his experience in Pear culture, which is so 
excellent, that I am very much obliged to him; and the j 
readers of Tiie Cottage G-ardener, who take an in¬ 
terest in fruit culture, will also be thankful for the 
information. If growers in the different counties, or j 
districts, in England, would send me such a report of 
their experience, and names of the varieties that sue- I 
ceeded best in their different localities, we should i 
have such a mass of information as would be highly 
interesting, and eminently useful. T. Appleby. 
Some five-and-twenty years ago a nurseryman called upon . 
me for the payment of a bill, and having just read an account 
of the new Flemish Pear3, which had then been recently | 
introduced into this country, I asked him if they were really 
as good as they were represented to be. lie replied, that he J 
believed many of them were; but that bis business being to ; 
raise trees for sale, rather than to keep them to fruit, lie coidd 
not speak of the quality of many of them from his own know¬ 
ledge ; but there was a gentleman (whose address he gave me, 
and which I wish I was at liberty to mention) who obtained 
every new sort as it came out, and he had no doubt he would 
give me all the information I wanted. I accordingly wrote 
to that gentleman, requesting information as to the fertility and 
quality of various Pears, and also asked him to give me this 
information on any others he might possess which deserved 
cultivation. I heard nothing for three weeks, and had con¬ 
cluded he was a man who did not choose to correspond with 
a stranger; but at the end of that three weeks I received a 
larger hamper, containing about thirty sorts of Pears, and an 
exceedingly courteous and obliging letter, the purport oi 
which was, that he had duly received my letter; but that 
tastes varied so much, that what he thought very good, 1 
might think indifferent, and he had, therefore, waited until 
his Pears were ripe, and then sent the fruit themselves, with 
a label attached to each kind, with his opinion on the fertility, 
quality, and hardiness of each, and concluded by offeriug me 
grafts of all such as I liked the following spring. I availed j 
myself of his liberal offer; and from that time have been a ( 
grower of Pears. 
I ought, however, to state, that I have not much experience j 
in growing them upon standard trees; for, having plenty j 
of wall room in the shape of a large factory, I planted every j 
