3. Long Orange, or Sandwich (a town in Kent). The carrots grow remarkably fine in that part of the country, and many scores of tons are annually sent from thence to the London markets. This, together with the next, are cultivated as the two leading sorts.

4. Long Red Surrey is considered one of the best carrots, being of a good colour, size, and flavour. Large quantities of this variety are grown in great perfection in the midland parts of Surrey, where the land is a deep sandy loam, and very suitable for their growth.

5. Long Studley is also a good sort, and is extensively grown in many parts of the country.

6. Long White is but little known at present in our markets, and seldom grown, excepting by those who are fond of French dishes, for which it is much used, and especially for soups. It is certainly a very delicate root, but is best adapted for summer and autumn use, as it does not keep so well through the winter as the common red carrot.

Culture. In the culture of this nutritious and useful vegetable a deep, light, rich, sandy soil should, if possible, be employed. The soil should be well manured the preceding year; for, if the manure is applied at the time the seed is sown, the roots are apt to be affected with the canker. If the ground is not of the quality above stated, it should be trenched to the depth of eighteen inches at least, and at the same time well broken; for, if this is not well done, the roots are apt to spread in a lateral direction, and become branched.

If young carrots are required early, the seed of

:

the Early Horn variety should be sown on hot-beds in February, or on a warm south border early in March. The hot-beds should be made the end of January; and after the rank steam has passed off, and the top of the bed has been levelled, lay on about ten inches of light rich mould, and sow the seed then smooth it down with the back of the spade, and sift a little earth over the whole about a quarter of an inch thick; the glasses can then be put on, and air given occasionally, until the plants appear, when plenty of air must be given on every opportunity, otherwise the plants will be drawn up weakly and spoiled; a slight sprinkling of water will occasionally be necessary, and if the plants come too thick they must be thinned out with the hand.

The early sowing on the border will succeed those very quickly, especially if protected from the cold cutting winds and frosts by a covering of dry fern, straw, or any other light material.

To procure young carrots throughout the summer and autumn, seed must be sown of the Early Horn kind about every six weeks, from the end of February till the beginning of August; the last sowing is made for plants to stand the winter, and afford young roots early in spring.

For the general and principal crop, the author has found the second or third week in March to be a good season, though he has known good crops produced from sowing at the end of April and beginning of May; this, however, depends entirely. on the weather.

In sowing carrot seed a calm day should be chosen, as the seeds are very light; they should

also be rubbed between the hands, and mixed with some dry sand or wood ashes, to separate them as much as possible. The common method of sowing them is upon beds three or four feet broad, and afterwards raked in smoothly and evenly: the teeth of the rake ought to be wider than are generally used, as the seed is apt to be drawn up in heaps. The author considers that sowing the seed in shallow drills, nine or twelve inches apart, is a preferable way, as it admits of the hoe being made use of with greater facility in thinning, and cleansing them from weeds; and, in a given space of ground, a greater crop and finer roots can be produced than by sowing broadcast in beds.

As soon as the plants are up, and can be well distinguished, a hoe about three or four inches broad should be used to thin and clear them from weeds. Thin from three to five inches' distance such as are designed for drawing young; but the main crop, intended for large and good sized roots, must be thinned to six inches. The whole should be kept clear from weeds in their advancing young growth. Towards the end of October they will have attained their full growth, and in the beginning of November, as soon as the leaves begin to turn yellow, the roots can be taken up in a dry day, the tops being cut off within an inch or two of the crown, and can be packed among dry earth or sand in the store-house for winter use. They will keep well, pitted the same as potatoes. In either way, if frost be excluded, they will keep perfectly well until March or April of the following year.

The botanic term brassica is in accordance with the Linnæan system, as before observed; but Miller insists that the cauliflower is specifically distinct from the common cabbage, because, in the course of fifty years' experience, he could never find the least appearance of one approaching the other.

This most delicate vegetable was first called coleflorie and colieflorie, and is supposed to have been derived from caulis, a stalk, and floreo, to flourish. The French at present have no distinct name for this plant, but call it chou-fleur, viz. cabbage flower. It was first brought to England, from the island of Cyprus, about the year 1694; and in the course of the last century was so much improved in our kitchen gardens, by the skill and industry of the British gardener, that most parts of Europe are now supplied with English seed.

There are two varieties of the cauliflower, the early and the late, which are alike in their growth and size, only that the early kind, as the name implies, comes in about a week before the other, provided the true sort has been obtained. There is, however, no certainty of knowing this, unless by sowing the seed from the earliest sorts, as is the practice of the London kitchen gardeners. The early variety was grown for a number of years in the grounds called the Meat-house Gardens, at Millbank, near Chelsea, and was of a superior quality, and generally the first at market.

The late variety is supposed to have originated from a stock for many years cultivated on a piece

of ground called the Jamaica Level, near Deptford, and which produced uncommonly fine heads, but later than those at Millbank. Both soils are nearly similar, being a deep rich loam, on a moist subsoil, and continually enriched with dung.

Both the varieties are of a delicate nature, being generally too tender to resist the cold of the winter season without the occasional aid of glasses or other means; and the sight of many acres overspread with such glasses, in, the vicinity of London, gives a stranger a forcible idea of the riches and luxury of the capital.

Culture.

The proper seasons for sowing the seed are, for the early summer crop, between the 18th and 24th of August (the early date for the northerly parts of the kingdom). The plants which rise in the same season are to be pricked out, and preserved through the winter under hand-glasses, frames, or other conveniences; and, being planted out in spring, arrive at perfection the ensuing summer, from May to July and August. For the late summer crop to succeed the above, the seed must be sown in February, or early in March, the plants being set out in May, to come in for use in August and September: and, for the Michaelmas or autumn crop, the sowing should be performed about the middle of May, and the plants, being set out in July, come to perfection gradually in October, but are never so large, white, or perfectly headed, as the summer crops.

For the purpose of raising cauliflowers in the greatest perfection, a bed of the richest light earth, in a free exposure, is to be prepared at the proper