358 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 4 , 1893. 
THE VEGETABLE 
Sowing Onions. 
Early in March, if the soil is in good working order, 
is a good time to sow Onions. The ground should 
have been manured and trenched in the autumn, 
and the site should have been selected as free from 
wireworm as possible. If insects are generally trou¬ 
blesome, a good dressing of quick lime at the time of 
trenching will do good. Do not attempt to sow until 
the soil is quite dry enough to allow a person to walk 
across it without any soil sticking to the boots. Sup¬ 
posing the ground to be fit it should be trodden 
twice, and then if raked level it will be ready for the 
drills to be drawn. These may be 12 in. or 15 in. 
apart, and 2 in. deep. Do not sow thickly, as it is 
not only a waste of seed, but the excessive thinning 
is hurtful to those allowed to remain. After sowing, 
the drills may be filled in and the soil trodden with 
the feet, and after again raking, if the soil be of a 
light nature, it may be rolled with an iron roller. 
If the Onions are required for exhibition, they must 
be sown at once in boxes in heat, and when large 
enough should be pricked out in other boxes and 
grown on until ready to plant out in April on ground 
prepared as described above.— G. H. S. 
Planting Seakale. 
As the roots are lifted for forcing, care must be taken 
to save all the side roots for planting. The best cut¬ 
tings for planting are about half an inch in diameter, 
and should be from five to six inches in length. As 
they are prepared for planting they should be tied in 
bundles and laid in the ground about two inches 
under the surface until planting time comes. Now 
as to planting time, it is a common practice to plant 
Seakale as soon as the ground is in anything like 
working order, so as to get the work out of hand, and 
in consequence of this early planting the ground be¬ 
comes covered with weeds before the rows of Kale 
can be seen. This entails very careful hoeing, and a 
lot of hand-weeding, which takes up much time when 
time is scarce, and work plentiful. Now if the cut¬ 
tings are allowed to remain where laid in until the 
growth on the top of the cuttings is an inch or so 
long, and then planted on clean ground, the rows will 
be clearly seen a few days after planting, and what 
hoeing is necessary can be done quickly without in¬ 
jury to the plants.— G. H. S. 
Celery destroyed by Frost. 
The recent severe frosts have totally destroyed my 
crop of Celery, notwithstanding that I covered up the 
rows with 3 in. to 4 in. deep of stable litter, a plan that 
I have hitherto found more or less successful. The 
frost in this district penetrated the ground from 2 ft. 
to 3 ft. A short time ago I read in a contemporary 
that if Celery was taken up before frost set in and 
divested of the roots and green tops, then put into a 
shed for a day or two to partly dry and subsequently 
packed in sand in a cool shed or cellar, it will keep in 
good condition. Have you or any of your readers 
tried this Dlan, and can say whether it has any effect 
in deteriorating the crisp, nutty flavour so essential 
in this vegetable ?— H. IT., Sandhurst. [We should 
expect the crispness to be quickly lost under such 
treatment, and should only resort to it as a 
temporary measure ; but perhaps some of our 
readers may be able to give our correspondent more 
consolation. We fear he is not the only one, by 
many, who have lost their crop this season. —Ed.] 
SEASONABLE NOTES ON 
VEGETABLES. 
Midwinter is not the most promising time for see¬ 
ing vegetables in their best possible condition, but, as 
far as gardeners are concerned, it is an interesting 
and important time to make an inspection of the 
vegetable grounds to determine what supplies they 
can count upon till a further supply has been grown 
by the advent of spring and summer. The continued 
though intermittently severe frost in January played 
havoc with vegetables of many kinds out of doors, so 
that really only the hardiest have come through the 
ordeal. The intermittent nature of the frost was 
even more mischievous than if it had been more con¬ 
tinuous ; and when we add to this the unfavourable 
influences of a smoke-laden atmosphere in the suburbs 
of large towns we cease to wonder at the difficulty in 
growing and preserving winter vegetables. The trial 
grounds of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, at Chiswick, 
come within the latter category, and the ground 
itself is so heavy, rich and moist that many things 
are more liable to injury than they would be in 
poorer and drier ground. 
Cabbages and some kinds of Broccoli have suffered 
considerably, while sprouting Broccoli and Kales 
have stood the test admirably. A good plantation 
of Ellam’s Early Spring Cabbage, made from a sow¬ 
ing on the 16th of July last, made wonderful progress 
up to Christmas. In fact many of the plants were 
forming heads that in a week' or two would have 
been fit for cutting. As it was many of them could 
have been used in default of more matured kinds. 
As might have been expected the young and tender 
growth suffered severely, and many of them will not 
now recover, but a large proportion will yet come 
through. The Rosette and Hardy Green Coleworts 
have been partly injured, but the last named is 
decidedly the hardiest, and retains a much richer 
and dark green colour as we have noted elsewhere, 
as well as here. In some cases where the heads had 
been turned over so as to face the west, the heart as 
well as the leaves did not seem to be the least injured. 
The north-east winds have the most damaging effect 
upon the occupants of the trial grounds here owing 
to exposure, and it might be worth while laying over 
such things as Cabbages, Coleworts, Broccoli and 
others of that kind so as to face the west, and test the 
efficacy of the same for preserving the crops from 
injury. 
Purple Sprouting Broccoli is grown to some 
extent, and the sprouts are now beginning to appear. 
A few of the plants show the effects of frost, but the 
bulk of them will yet come to perfection, or at least 
recover from what injury they have received. Some 
of the rows were dug up in October last and laid on 
the surface of the ground for a week in order to check 
their exuberant growth, and learn what effect it would 
have upon their relative hardiness. It would be pre¬ 
mature to state what will be the ultimate result, but 
at present they appear quite sound. 
The various kinds of Kale or Borecole furnish us 
with the means of having greens in most winters ; 
but none outside the radius of large and smoky towns 
know the difficulty of contending against the com¬ 
bined influence of smoke, fog and frost, even upon 
such hardy subjects as these, which as a rule retain 
their freshness remarkably well even in the severest 
of weather in country districts. Although not 
destroyed the freshness of the leaves of the Dwarf 
Green Curled kinds has been considerably impaired. 
The Moss Green Curled was the first to suffer. 
Read’s Hearting is still wonderfully healthy, the 
central leaves forming a sort of head which consti¬ 
tutes very delicate eating. The Tall Green Curled 
Kales have partly lost their outer leaves, but this is 
largely compensated for by the great number of 
sprouts on the stems, and which may be used now or 
later on in spring, when fresh growth will make them 
more bulky and tender. The heads, however, had 
been mostly cut before the advent of severe weather. 
Hardier than any of the above apparently for sub¬ 
urban gardens is Cottager’s Kale, with stems varying 
from 18 in. to 30 in. in height, and numerous sprouts 
in different stages upon them, and all perfectly sound. 
There are several plantations of this variety, and one 
of them was made in rows alternating with Potatos 
planted 2J ft. apart. They have formed good heads 
even under this treatment, with a more or less solid 
crown, and the sprouts although later than those on 
the plantations not so planted, they will be useful in 
spring when vegetables are scarcer even than they 
are now. A selection of this named Cottager’s 
Selected differs only in the plants being all of a uniform 
light green colour. If the brown or bronzy variety 
had been selected in the same way it would have 
proved even more useful, as it is more hardy. This 
is the case with the Brown or Purple form of the 
Curled Kales, and growers as well as (hose who use 
them would do well to remember this fact. The 
variegated Kales were comparatively effective before 
the advent of frost, but their beauty has now been 
somewhat marred. Buda Kale is a sprouting variety 
of quite a different kind, and more like Thousand¬ 
headed Kale than any of the above mentioned ; but 
it is dwarfer, more refined, with flat, glaucose leaves, 
and very numerous sprouts that develop into useful 
size in spring. It is very hardy and does not seem 
to be injured in the slightest. The inference is that 
smooth-leaved Kales owe their apparent hardiness to 
the fact that they do not collect the dirt from a 
filthy smoky atmosphere in the same way as the 
curled kinds. 
In a collection of late sown Turnips, it is interest¬ 
ing to note the hardiness of Golden Ball compared 
with the white kinds. The skin is of a deep golden 
yellow, and the interior as solid almost as a Swede 
would be under the same conditions. A breadth of 
Spinach was also sown early in autumn,and had made 
considerable progress before the advent of severe 
frost. Since then many of the plants have suffered 
owing to the richness and moist nature of the soil, 
but there is still a good percentage of crowns of 
Prickly Spinach in a sound condition. The Victoria 
Spinach, a round seeded kind,is apparently in abetter 
state of preservation, but the ultimate results cannot 
yet be foreseen. As usually happens, the leaves of all 
the kinds of Celery have been destroyed, but the 
blanched portion beneath the soil is still in usable 
condition. One of the kinds being dug for use now 
is Standard Bearer.a moderately strong growing kind 
with pink stalks of good quality. Veitch’s Superb 
White is considered a very choice variety, because it 
is dwarf, and the stalks solid, crisp and white. It is 
the best of the white varieties, and was in splendid 
condition up to Christmas while it was being used. 
TROPICAL PLANTS. 
Mr. J. P. Abraham, tropical and ornamental 
plant mercliant, Colombo, Ceylon, has sent 
us his catalogue of tropical plants, including 
a general collection of all sorts of fine foliaged 
and flowering plants, such as may be grown 
in the open air in that warm part of the world. An 
inspection of the catalogue reveals a large number 
of old acquaintances with which we are more or less 
familiar in our hot-houses, such as Aroids, Ferns, 
Selaginellas, Palms, Cycads, Dracaenas, Ixoras, 
Panax, Crotons, and a great variety of others. Some 
of them are of course rare, and others not at all in 
this country. The Orchids are interesting, seeing 
that the bulk of them are native to Ceylon. Quota¬ 
tions of prices are generally given for large quantities, 
say 100 to 200, while the quotations for tuberous 
and bulbous plants, such as Cannas, Crinums, 
Gloriosa superba, Amorphophallus, and others of 
that class, range from 1,000 to 5,000, and all are 
comparatively cheap. The Orchids are probably 
only partly under cultivation, the rest, we imagine, 
being collected from their native habitats. For 
instance, 100 plants of Dendrobium Macarthiae only 
cost £10. This species is peculiar to Ceylon, and, 
notwithstanding the rumours as to its being rare, 
an abundance of plants seemingly can yet be pro¬ 
cured. The lists of tropical fruit trees and medicinal 
plants are interesting, but although a large propor¬ 
tion of them may be met with in this country, they 
are seldom seen out of botanical gardens. The 
Wood Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) and a few other 
British plants, curiously enough, may be noted in 
the catalogue. Commercial plants and trees for 
estates and gardens are comparatively novel when 
placed alongside of similar lists current in this 
country. Amongst the vegetable seeds suitable for 
Ceylon, we note various kinds of Runners (Phaseo- 
los) and Kidney Beans, as well as the common Pea. 
English vegetable seeds are also offered in quantity. 
Palm seeds are offered in apparently unlimited 
quantity. Ferns assorted in cases, and also dried 
herbarium specimens in lots from 100 to 500, 
are offered, the latter being an unusual feature of 
plant catalogues. There is yet considerable room 
for improvement in the “get up” of the catalogue, 
particularly in the illustrations, which are rather 
primitive. The spelling of the names wants a con¬ 
siderable amount of revision throughout the lists. 
—-I- 
CRASSULA LACTEA. 
This is one of the best winter blooming subjects we 
have, whether grown in baskets or pots. Introduced 
from the Cape of Good Hope in 1774 it is an old 
favourite, but not so widely known as it should be. 
There is a variegated form of it. The flowers are a 
valuable and pure white, and any ordinary green¬ 
house temperature will secure them in full beauty. 
Four or five cuttings placed into a 3 in. or 4in. pot, 
will root very readily at the present time. Leaf soil, 
loam, and sand, in equal proportions, is a good com¬ 
post for them, and they may be shifted into 6 in. 
pots later on. If large plants are wanted they may 
be shifted again, and have a little well-decayed 
manure incorporated in the mixture. Let the pots 
be well drained; and during the summer months 
grow them in a cool pit.— A . P. 
