of air, and prevents the plants from being drawn up. The white cauliflower, and purple sprouting brocoli are generally the first sown, in order to obtain an earlier autumn production, in the beginning of September and October.

The cape is sown about the latter end of May, and will produce heads early in the autumn; a succession may be continued in nearly all the sorts by a second and third planting from such as remain in the seed beds.

If the large late purple is sown about the end of March, fine heads may be expected about that time twelvemonth. The proper time for sowing the Portsmouth brocoli is the second week in April; and should the plants come up too thick, they may be hoed with a two-inch hoe, or thinned out with the hand.

The Tartarian variety should be sown between the 1st and 10th of April; they will then produce their milk white heads about the end of May and beginning of June.

The seed of the different varieties of brocoli should be sown in an open exposure, where the plants grow much stronger than on narrow borders under walls. Each sort must be sown separately, moderately thick on the surface, and raked in slightly; if the weather at the time of sowing is very dry, water the bed occasionally with a rose watering pot, until the seeds appear, which will be in about ten days or a fortnight. The time of finally transplanting them is June, July, and August, and the beginning of September, according to the time they were sown, or are desired for use. The plants delight in

a rich loamy soil in an open situation. After the ground has been well dug, and well manured for a previous crop, they may be put in; if the weather is moist at the time, so much the better. They are to be planted in rows two feet and a half apart, and two feet distant in the rows; but for some of the small dwarf varieties, such as the Tartarian and white Malta, eighteen inches each way will be found sufficient. As soon as they are planted they should be watered, and if the weather is dry this process should be continued every other day, until they have taken root. Their further culture is to keep them clear from weeds, by hoeing the ground occasionally, and when they have advanced a little in growth, to draw some earth about their stems, which, if repeated now and then, will be of advantage in promoting their growth.

In gathering brocoli for use the heads should be cut while they remain close, and before they begin to divide and assume a seedy-like appearance, and with about six inches of the main stalk to each head:

Various methods have been advised for the protection of this vegetable in winter, which, if it proves severe, destroys a number of plants, especially if the early part has been mild and open.

The most secure way is, if there is the conveniency of a shed or cellar, to take up such plants as are the most forward in flower, and set them nearly upright in moist sand or light mould, where they will continue to vegetate, and come to perfection sufficiently to answer the purpose intended.

Another method is practised by some of the

market-gardeners round London, which is to raise the plants with a fork, and lay them slopingly, with their heads towards the north, and only a few inches from the ground. By this means the plants are soon covered and protected by the snow, which generally falls previous to long and severe frosts. It also renders the plants hardier, by the check received in their partial removal.

9. BURNET. - POTERIUM.

Burnet is a hardy, indigenous, perennial, plant; and is found growing wild on the chalky lands and and heathy commons of England. Its Latin name, Poterium, signifies a cup.

The parts made use of in culinary purposes are the young leaves, which are put into salads, and occasionally into soups, to which it gives a pleasant and somewhat warm taste. When slightly bruised, the leaves smell not unlike cucumber. It was formerly in much greater repute than at present, and was a favourite herb for cool tankards, a name which is now almost obliterated from our memory. The French are very partial to this herb, and consume great quantities of it in their soups. The plants continue green through the winter, when many other salad plants are cut off, or in a state unfit for use.

Culture.

As the young leaves of the herb are always most preferable, a small quantity of seed should be sown annually, in the spring or early in the autumn, in shallow drills, in a shady situation, and may afterwards be transplanted into rows, or a

bed, at six inches, plant from plant. They are also readily propagated by parting the roots early in the spring.

10. CABBAGE.- BRASSICA.

We are now come to the head of a most widelycultivated genus, from which the varieties of brassica, before and hereafter named, are supposed to have proceeded.

The cabbage is one of our most ancient and salubrious vegetables; and as an esculent, it stands in the highest estimation.

Brassica is supposed by some to be derived from a Greek word, signifying to devour, because it is eagerly eaten by cattle. Linnæus derives it from the same word, and, rightly rendering it to boil, supposes the plant was so called from its being a common pot-herb.

The word cabbage, by which all the varieties of this plant are now improperly called, means the firm head or ball that is formed by the leaves turning close over each other; from that circumstance we say the cole has cabbaged, the lettuce has cabbaged, or the tailor has cabbaged, which last means the rolling up pieces of cloth, instead of the list and shreds, which tailors claim as their due.

Like all other cultivated plants, the cabbage has gradually undergone so many changes, and assumed so many permanent varieties, that it is not easy to form a description which will apply to the whole. Great improvements have been made in this excellent vegetable since the beginning of the last

century, principally by the skill and industry of the Battersea and other market-gardeners round London.

Cabbages were a favourite vegetable with the Romans, and must have been known, in some of their varieties, to our Saxon ancestors, since the month of February was called by them sproutcale.

The principal varieties in general cultivation are the following, all of which the author has cultivated more or less for a number of years:

1. Early York. This has been a most valuable early cabbage since its introduction, which took place above 100 years ago. It was first brought to this country from Flanders by a private soldier, named Telford, who was there many years in the reign of Queen Anne. On his arrival in England, he settled as a seedsman in Yorkshire, whence the name and celebrity of this cabbage. Its earliness and delicate taste and flavour still retain it in estimation; and on account of its small dwarf growth, a great many can be planted in a small compass.

2. Battersea is a roundish, oval-headed, and middling-sized cabbage, that heads quick, and comes in early, and is excellent for use while moderately young, and before it becomes very hard. It is a valuable sort for the cottage-gardener,

3. Early Nonpareil. This sort is quite new, and the very best in cultivation. It comes in and heads quicker than any other; and is also of a good size, and of very delicate flavour. Though at present it is not generally known, the author makes no doubt, from what he has seen of it, that it will become a leading variety.