VOL LVINo. 3,090. 
SATURDAY, JANUARY IS, 1913. 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE 
NOTE OF THE WEEK. 
Vegretable Crops. 
As a consequence of the moist conditions 
that obtained during the greater part of 
the summer of the past year, and the com¬ 
paratively high temperature experienced 
during the autumn and the early part of 
the winter through which we are now pass¬ 
ing, vegetables of most kinds are abundant 
and cheap. We should, indeed, have to go 
back several years to find 
the kitchen garden so well 
stocked, and the markets so 
liberally supplied as they are 
at the present time. It is 
not at all probable that this 
abundance will divert the at¬ 
tention of either the gar¬ 
dener or the market grower, 
with some years’ experience, 
from the necessity of mak¬ 
ing active preparations for 
successional crops, or of 
overlooking the possibility 
of weather of sufficient se¬ 
verity to do considerable 
damage to the green crops 
that now present so luxuri¬ 
ant an appearance in the 
majority of gardens. But 
the young gardener and the 
amateur who has only re¬ 
cently undertaken the re¬ 
sponsibilities involved in the 
maintenance of a regular 
supply of the products of 
the kitchen garden may not 
fully appreciate the impor¬ 
tance this season of being 
especially alert in all that 
relates to this department 
and its management. Hence 
the necessity for a refer¬ 
ence to some of the points 
that should be constantly 
kept in mind at this season. The robust 
appearance of the green crops on which the 
table will have to. depend more or less for 
its supplies for some time will give rise to 
considerable apprehension in the mind of 
experienced cultivators. They will know 
that this exceptional development is due to 
the large amount of moisture in the soil, 
and the high temperature which was ex¬ 
perienced until quite the end of last year. 
Instead of the plants passing into a resting 
state with the close of the autumn they 
continued in an active state of growth 
until within a very recent period, with the 
result that the stems, leaf-stalks, and leaves 
are so succulent that weather of even 
moderate severity would in many gardens, 
w here the soil is cold and retentive of 
moisture, seriously injure them. Broccolis, 
which possess so much value for the supply 
of the table at the present time, are the 
first to suffer from severe frosts, following 
closely upon periods of wet and abnor¬ 
mally warm weather, and fortunate are 
those w^ho have acted upon the advice given 
in these pages, and heeled over the plants 
with their heads to the north. This prac¬ 
tice is very old, but the results of its 
adoption fully justify its inclusion in the 
routine of kitchen gardens that are man¬ 
aged in accordance w ith the more advanced 
modern methods. When the plants are so 
manipulated that they are laid down more 
or less horizontally with the roots still 
in the ground, the central leaves remain 
close together, and thereby protect the 
heart instead of opening out, as when the 
plants are standing erect, and fully expos¬ 
ing it to the frost. In addition, the large 
leaves of one plant assist in protecting its 
neighbour on the north side, and, if de¬ 
sired, protecting materials can be more 
readily applied. Whatever may be the 
position of broccolis, and especially the 
earlier kinds, they should, as far as prac¬ 
ticable, have some protection as soon as 
severe weather is anticipated, and in some 
parts of the country the weather has been 
sufficiently severe to justify the immediate 
resort to protective materials. Not only 
should broccolis receive protection, but, as 
far as practicable, all crons that are likely 
under existing conditions to be injured by 
severe frosts. It may be that the frosts 
will not be of sufficient severity to do much 
damage, but it is not probable, anf? the wise 
cultivator will do all that is within his 
power to avert a ‘‘ break ” in the supplies 
towards the end of the winter, by utilising 
the pits or frames that may be available 
in the acceleration of vegetable crops. 
Some may, of course, be used in the pro¬ 
duction of such cro^xs as wdll come along so 
rapidly as to be available for the table in a 
comparatively short time, 
and others be devoted to the 
raising of plants for trans¬ 
ferring to warm borders 
immediately it can be done 
with safety. The value of 
pits and frames cannot w^ell 
l>e over-estimated, more 
especially the portable kinds 
wdth span roofs, and this 
value is brought into strong 
relief in a season such as 
this. The methods by which 
these frames can be uti¬ 
lised in the production of 
early crops of vegetables are 
admirably described in the 
series of articles on this sub¬ 
ject from the pen of Mr. F. 
Drew , which w ere commenced 
in our issue for the 4th inst., 
and to these we w^ould direct 
the si)ecial attention of those 
wdio are in need of informa¬ 
tion on this important part 
of the gardening art. In 
many gardens w here the soil 
is naturally unfavourable to 
the germination of seeds, it 
may this year be advanta¬ 
geous to raise some of the 
kinds intended for the 
earliest crops under glass, 
instead of sowing them in 
the open, in accordance with 
the usual practice, and plant them out 
later on. This procedure will involve addi¬ 
tional labour, but it wdll be well repaid, for 
not only will the crops be somewhat accele¬ 
rated, but the grow th will be more satis¬ 
factory from the first, and in all probability 
the quality wdll be higher. To ensure a full 
measure of success in the case of such 
crops, the germination of the seeds or the 
growth of the young plants must not be 
assisted with artificial heat. There would 
be no harm in keeping the frames close<I 
until the seedlings begin to make their ap¬ 
pearance above the surface of the soil; but 
anything beyond this would be distinctly 
harmful, except a mat laid over the glass 
on a frovsty night. The object of sowing 
under glass is not to obtain a growth stimu¬ 
lated by artificial conditions, but to pro¬ 
vide the plants wdth a favourable root run 
