August 23, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
809 
USEFUL CABBAGES. 
For garden purposes, which is synonymous with use at 
the table, small and medium-sized Cabbages are far 
more serviceable and useful than large coarse-growing 
kinds, which should always be relegated to the fields. 
A large number of serviceable kinds may be seen in 
the Chiswick trial grounds of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
Chelsea. All were sown in April and planted out in 
June. A large number are early kinds, and some of 
them have been in use for some time past. The 
practice at this nursery is to have everything planted 
in proper season, that is, when the seedlings are large 
enough. The consequence is, in the case of Cabbages 
and allied subjects, there are no leggy plants. As soon 
as the ground becomes vacant by the cutting or 
gathering of mature crops, it is again manured, dug up, 
and prepared for a crop of something else. In the case 
of early crops a second one is often secured off the same 
piece of ground in the course of twelve months. 
A useful old and reliable Cabbage is Early York or 
Dwarf Early York, as it is sometimes called, in contra¬ 
distinction to the Large 
York variety. Being so well 
known it requires no fuither 
comment than that the 
heads were mostly all cut 
when we called at the 
nursery about the first week 
of this month. The same 
applies to Veitch’s Earliest 
of All, a new variety with 
small and firm conical 
heads. It has deep glaucous 
foliage with paler veins, and 
is grown in some quantity. 
The growth is dwarf and 
sturdy and the leaves 
surrounding the head are 
few and of no great size, 
so that ground could be 
economised by planting 
them rather closely, with 
the view of producing a large 
number of usable heads 
for the table. It is best 
adapted for sowing in spring 
as a summer Cabbage, and 
is very tender when cooked. 
On the contrary, Ellam’s 
Early is most suitable for 
early use, and should be sown 
in autumn to stand the 
winter in the open ground. 
The leaves of this are very 
dark green, suffused with a 
glaucous bloom, few in 
number, and surrounding a 
small, conical, compact and 
firm heart. It is a very 
hardy sort, and comes into 
use early in the season. A 
plantation of it presents a 
dwaTf and regular appear¬ 
ance. The flavour is 
delicate and excellent when 
cooked. It was honoured 
with a First Class Certificate 
by the Royal Horticultural 
Society. Like Little Pixie, 
another well-known miniature kind, it is now in use. 
The flavour of the latter is also excellent; and the 
small size it attains even in rich soil permits of its 
being used in small gardens, where economy of space is 
imperative. Wheeler's Early is another dwarf kind, 
somewhat after the style of the last but a stronger 
grower, producing a firm conical heart. Hill’s Incom¬ 
parable has darker green leaves, but otherwise similar 
to Wheeler’s Early. It is, however, an early kind, and 
of fine flavour. 
Early Offenham and Myatt’s Offenham are stronger¬ 
growing kinds, with larger somewhat wrinkled leaves. 
The heart is also larger and conical, with the strong 
ribs of the leaves very prominent on the outside of the 
heart. St. John’s Day belongs to the Drumhead type 
of Cabbage, but is smaller, and altogether more adapted 
for table use than most of the varieties of this type. It 
is extremely dwarf, and the dark glaucous green leaves 
with pale veins, form a basin, as it were, round the 
heart, hugging the ground. The heart is globose, 
flattened on the top, and very small, even when fit for 
use. Nonpareil is a small Cabbage of the finest quality, 
and suitable alike for autumn or spring planting. The 
leaves are dark green, the heart small, and presents a 
very even appearance in the row. The sowing made 
in April is now fit for table. London or the Rosette 
Colewort is well known, and much used in the vicinity 
of London by the market growers. It is a small 
Cabbage, with a globose head surrounded by a rosette 
of dark glaucous green leaves. Seeds should be sown 
in June and planted out in August for autumn and 
early winter use. The quality is then excellent, and 
the hearts prove as tender eating as many good kinds 
do in spring and summer. It is very hardy. 
The Drumhead Cabbages are more adapted for winter 
use than the above kinds generally. The old Drum¬ 
head has dark green leaves, the outer of which often 
attain an enormous size, occupying a great deal of 
space. It is therefore most at home in the field, where 
plenty of space can be given it. The same may be said 
of Brunswick, a variety notable for the dark glaucous 
blue colour of its leaves. The heart is globose, much 
flattened, and remarkably firm. The Dutch Red and 
Early Blood Red are amongst the dwarfest kinds of 
this section. The latter is the earliest, and it is 
already hearting up well, while the Dutch Red has as 
yet only very small crowns surrounded by the outer 
loose leaves. These two kinds are well adapted for 
pickling. Dark Red Altrecht is a larger and later kind, 
notable for the peculiar bluish red colour of its leaves. 
It has not yet commenced to heart up. Couve Tron- 
chuda is also known as Portugal, Braganza or Sea Kale 
Cabbage, from the fact that the fleshy midribs of the 
largest leaves are used much in the same way as Sea 
Kale. The heart also makes an excellent dish in 
autumn, and has not yet commenced to fill up. 
-->X<-'- 
INJURIOUS FOREST INSECTS. 
Dr. W. Somerville, B.Sc., lecturer on forestry in 
the Edinburgh University, read a paper on this subject 
at a recent conference of arboriculturists, held at Ding¬ 
wall, under the auspices of the Royal Scottish Arbori- 
cultural Society. Dealing at first with the question as 
to whether our woods were really damaged to any great 
extent by inj urious insects, the learned doctor said that 
if they went into a middle-aged or old Scots Pine wood 
during winter, and proceeded to examine the thick 
bark at the base of the trees—more especially of those 
that were semi-isolated or situated near the edge of the 
wood—they would find that it was perforated in exactly 
such a way as would result from the discharge of a 
gun loaded with No. 5 shot at a distance of 20 yards or 
so. On following these perforations into the bark, it 
would be found that they extended for 1 in. or so, but 
did not penetrate so far as the wood, and that each or 
most of them contained a small daik-brown beetle in a 
semi-comatose condition, which there would be no 
difficulty in recognising a3 the well-known pine beetle 
(Hylurgus piuiperda). The doctor then alluded to the 
wonderfully prolific nature of some of those insects, 
and pointed out that the produce of a single pair of 
those beetles might in a single year number 12,000,000 
head. It would be difficult to esiimate the amount of 
damage done in Scotland by the pine beetle alone, but, 
at all events, it must be enormous. He knew no part of 
the country where it was not present in large numbers. 
Unfortunately, however, this was not the only foe 
which the forester had to fear in the insect world. 
There were some eighty European species of Scolytidae 
(the family to which Hy¬ 
lurgus piniperda belonged), 
almost all of which preyed 
upon trees or shrubs, besides 
numerous other species of 
destructive forest insects. 
Going on to summarise the 
general and indicate a few 
of the special measures 
which could be adopted to 
eradicate or keep these 
forest insects in check, he 
pointed out that the best 
friends of both farmers and 
foresters were undoubtedly 
to be found amongst the 
birds, many of which sub¬ 
sisted entirely upon insects 
or their larvie. In this 
connection, he said, it must 
be borne in mind that it 
was not sufficient merely to 
preserve useful birds from 
destruction, but means must 
also be taken to secure their 
increase. During severe 
weather in winter food 
should be supplied ; and in 
order to place it beyond 
the reach of crows, cats, &c., 
it should be placed in the 
shell of a coco-nut or some 
such receptacle, and sus¬ 
pended by a string from the 
bough of a tree. The 
numbers of useful birds 
might also be largely in¬ 
creased by providing them 
with suitable nesting and 
sleeping places — artificial 
nesting-boxes prepared from 
light boards coated with tar, 
which could be so constructed 
and fixed in such a position 
as to ensure for their tenants 
perfect safety. 
Dealing next with reme¬ 
dial measures, he emphasised 
the necessity in planting of selecting strong, well- 
developed plants, as being best able to withstand 
insect attack. Great care should be exercised in 
inserting the plants in the ground, so that their 
growth might be interfered with as little as possible, 
for it almost always happened that the weakest plants 
were the first victims. Thinning should be begun 
before there was any chance of the density of the 
crowding interfering so much with growth as to 
weaken the vitality of the trees ; but, at the same 
time, over-thinning must be carefully avoided, other¬ 
wise fertility suffered, and the evil they wished to keep 
clear of was encountered. 
During the operations of thinning, all unhealthy 
trees, or trees which had been damaged by wind or 
snow, must be removed, and a watchful eye should 
constantly be kept on the woods, so that trees which 
appeared likely to die might be at once cleared away, 
it being in such trees, or in trees which had just died, 
that destructive insects found their most congenial 
breeding places. Nothing conduced so much to the 
increase of many destructive insects as bad manage¬ 
ment in connection with felling and utilising forest 
produce ; and, conversely, woods which were managed 
in this respect were preserved from the attack of many 
insects. The chief point to be observed was to get 
the felled timber removed from the woods and 
marketed or converted as quickly as possible. 
