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Show BR BR Water once a Week, which will greatly promote their Seeding, vt efpecially .at the time , are in Flower. ean ee Pods begin to change brown, you will do well to cut off the extreme part of every Shoot; which will ftrengthen your Seeds: And it is generally obferv’d, that thofe , Seeds which grow near the top of the Shoots fubject to run to Seed before they are very cabbage; fo that bythis there will be no Lofs, but a great Advantage, efpecially if you have more revard to the Quality than to the Quantity of Seeds ; which indeed is not always the Cafe, whenit is intended for Sale: but thofe whofaveit for their own Ufe, fhould be verycareful to have it good. your Seeds begin to ripen, you muft When be particularly careful that the Birds do not deftroy it; for they are very fond ofthefe Sceds. In order to prevent their Mifchief, fome ufe old Nets, which they throw over their Seeds, to prevent their getting to it: But this will not always do; for unlefs the Netsare veryftrong, they will force their way through them, as I have often feen: but the beft Method I know, is to get a Quantity of Birdlime, and dawb over a parcel of flender Twigs, which fhould be faften’d at each end to ftronger Sticks, and placed near the upper part of the Seed, in different Places, fo that the Birds may alight upon them, by which means they will be faftned thereto ; where you muft let them remain ‘for a confiderable Time, if they cannot get off themfelves: And BR Having procureda parcel of good Seed, of an early Kind, you muft fowit on the Tenth of Augufi, upon an old Cucumber-bed or Melon-bed, fifting a little Earth over the Seeds about a quarter of an Inch thick ; and if the Weather fhould prove extreme hot and dry, youfhould fhade the Beds with Mats, to prevent the Earth from drying too faft, which would endangerthe {poiling of your Seed ; and give it gentle W aterings, as you may fee occafion ; in about a Week's time your Seed will appear above-ground, when you muft take off your Coverings by degrees. But do not expofe your Plants too muchto the open Sun at firft: In about a Month’s time after fowing, your Plants will be fit to prick out; you fhould therefore put fome frefh Earth upon your old Cucumber or Melon-beds,into which you fhould prick your young Plants, at about two Inches fquare, obferving to fhade and water them at firft planting; but do not water them too much after they are growing, nor fuffer them to receive too much Rain, if the Seafon fhould prove wet, which would be apt to make them black-fhank’d (as the Gardeners term it, which is no lefs than a Rottennefs in their Stems) and is the Deftrution of the Plants {0 affected. In this Place they fhould continue ’till about the Sixteenth Day of Odfober, when they mult be removed into the Place where theyare to remain during the Winter-feafon, which, for this firft fowing, is commonly under Bell or Hand-glaffes, to have early Col/iflowers ; and altho” there fhould not above two or three thefe fhould be of an early Kind: But in Birds be caught, yet it will fufficiently terrify order to have a Succeffion during the Seafon, the reft, that they will not come’to that Place we fhould be provided with another morelate again for a confiderable Time, (as I have Kind, which fhould be fown four or five Days after the other, and manae’d as was directed experienc’d.) Whenyour Seeds are fully ripe, you muft for them. In order to have veryearly Colliflowers, we cut it off; and after drying it, threfh it out and preferve it in Bags for Ufe, fhould make choice of a good rich Spot of But in planting of Cabbages for Seed, I Ground, that is well defended from the North, would advife never to plant more than one Eaft, and Weft Winds with Hedges, Pales, ot Sort in a Place, or near oneanother. As for Example: Never plant red and white Cabbages near each other, nor Savoy with either white or red Cabbages : For I am verycertain theywill, by the Commixture of their Efluvia, produce a Mixture of Kinds: And it is wholly owing to this Negleét, that the Gardeners rarely fave any good red Cabbage-feed in England, but are obliged to procure frefh Seeds from abroad, as fuppofing the Soil or Climate of EngJandalters them from Red to White, and of a mix’d Kind between both ; whereas if they Walls: This Ground fhould be well trench’d, burying therein a good Quantity of rotten Dung; then level your Ground; Andif it be naturally a wet Soil, you fhould raife it up i9 Beds about two Feet and a half broad, and four Inches above the Level of the Ground. But if your Ground is moderately dry, you need not raifé it atall: Then plant your Plants about two Feet four Inches Diftance from Glafs to Glafs in the Rows, always putting two good Plants under each Glaf%, which may be at aboutfour Inches from each other ; and if you defign em for a full Crop, they may be three Feet Row from Row: But if you ue they might contin the Kind as good in Eng- intend to make Ridges for Cucumbers of would plant red Cabbages by themfelves for Seed, and not fuffer any otherto be near them, Jand, as in anyother Part of the World. Colliflowers have of late Years been fo far improv’d in England, as to exceed in Melons between the Rows of C4 Plants, (as is generally practis’d by t i deners near Londo) you muft then make Goodnefs and Magnitude what are produced your Rows eight Feet afunder. in moft Parts of Europe, and bythe Skill of Whenyou have planted your Plants if the; the Gardener are continued for feveral Months Groundis very dry, you fhould give them 4 together; but the moft common Seafon for little Water, and then fet your Giaffes over them is in May, une, and Fuly. 1 fhall therefore begin with Direétions for obtain ing themin this Seafon. them, which may remain clofe down Hii them, until they have taken Root, which wh be in about a Week or ten Days ciate unlels B unlefs there fhould bea kindly Shower of Rain, may havefree Air to ftrengthen them; and in which cafe you may fet off the Glaffes, that the Plants may receive the Benefit of it; and in about ten Days after planting, you fhould be provided with a parcel of forked Sticks, or Bricks, with which you fhould raife your Glaffes about three or four Inches to the Southward, that your Plants may have free Air: In this manner your Glaffes fhould remain over the Plants, Night and Day, unlefs in frofty Weather, when you fhouldfet them down as clofe as poffible; or if the Weather fhould prove very warm, which many times happens in November and fometimes in December ; in this Cafe, you fhould keep your Glaffes off in the Day-time, and put them on only in the Night, left by keeping the Glaffes over them too much, youfhould draw them into Flower at that Seafon ; whichis many times the Cafe in mild Winters, efpecially if unskilfally manag’d. Towards the latter-end of February, if the Weather be mild, you fhould prepare another good Spot of Ground, to remove fome of the Plants into, from under the Glaffes, which fhould be well dung’d and trench’d (as before ;) then fet off your Glaffes; and after making choice of one of the moft promifing Plants under each Gla{s which fhould remain for good, take awaytheother Plant, by raifing it up witha Trowel, &. fo as to preferve as much Earth to the Roots as poflible; but have a great Regard to the Plant that is to in mild foft Weather fet off your Glaffes, as alfo in gentle Showers of Rain: And now you muft begin to harden them by deorees to endure the open Air; however, it is advifeable to let your Glaffes remain over them as long as poflible, if the Nights fhould befiofty, which will greatly forward your E : but be fure do not let your Glaffes remain upon them in very hot Sun-fhine, efpecially if their Leaves prefs againft the Sides of the Glaffes: For I have often obferv’d, in fach Cafes, that the Moifture which hath rifen from the Ground, together with the Perfpiration of the Plants, which, by the Glaffes remaining over them, hath been detain’d upon the Leaves of the Plant, and when the Sun hath fhone hot upon the Sides of the Glaffes, hath acquir'd fuch a powerful Heat from the Beams thereof, as to feald all their larger Leaves, to the no {mall Prejudice of the Plants: Nay, fometimes I have feen large Quantities of Plants fo affected herewith, as never to be worth any thing after. If your Plants have fucc wards the End of April fome 1 begin to Fruit; you mu r them carefully every other Day, and when you fee the Flower plainly appear, you muft break down fome of the inner Leaves overit to guard it from the Sun, which would make the Flower yellow and unfightly ; and when you find your Flower at its full Bignefs, remain, not to difturb orprejudice its Roots: (which you may know byits Outfide, partThenplant out your Plants which you have ing, as if it would run, you muft then draw taken out, at the Diftance before directed, it out of the Ground, and not cut them off, viz. if for a full Crop, three Feet, Rowfrom leaving the Stalk in the Ground; as is by fomé Row; but if for Ridges of Cucumbers be- practis'd: And if they are defign’d for prefent tween them, eight Feet, and two Feet four Ufe, you may cut them out of their Leaves ; Inches Diftance in the Rows. Then witha but if defign’d to keep, you fhould preferve {mall Hoe draw the Earth up to the Stems of their Leaves about them, ard put them into the Plants which were left underthe Glaffes, a cool Place. The beft Time for pulling of taking great Care not to let the Earth fall them, is in a Morning, before the Sun hath into their Hearts: ‘Thenfet your Glaffes over exhal’d the Moifture; for Colliflowers pulfd them again, raifing your Props an Inch or in the Heat of the Day, lofe that Firmnef$ two higher, to give them more Air, obferving which they naturally have, and become to take them off whenever there may be fome tough. gentle Showers, whichwill greatly reftefh the But to return to our Second Crop (the Plants. Plants being rais’d and manag’das was directed Andin little time after, if you find your Plants grow fofaft asto fill the Glaffes, you fhould thenflightly dig about the Plants, and raife the Ground about them in a Bed broad enough for the Glaffes to ftand, and about four Inches high, whichwill give your Plants a great deal of Room, whenthe Glaffes are fet over them ; and bythis Means they may be kept cover’d until 4pri/, which otherwife they could not, without Prejudice to the Leaves of the Plants: And this is a great Ad- fome Dung laid in the Bottom, vantage to them; for many times we have prevent the Worms from finding their Way Returns of fevere Frofts at the Latter-end of March, which prove very hurtful to thefe Plants, if expos'd thereto, efpecially after having been nurs’d up under Glaffes. After you have have finifh’d your Beds, you may fet your Glaffes over your Plants again, obferving to raife your Props pretty high, efpecially if the Weather be mild, that they for the Early Crop, until the Middle or Lat- ter-end of Osfober) you muft then prepare fome Beds, either to be cover’d with Glafe Frames, or arch’d over with Hoops, to be cover'd with Mats, &%c. thefe Beds fhould have about fix Inches or a Foot thick, according to the Size of your Plants; for if they are {mall, the Bed fhould be thic of Dung, to bring them forward, andfo vice ver{z; this Dung fhould be beat down clofe with a Fork, in order to through it: Then lay fome good frefh Earth about four or five Inches’ thick thereon, in which you fhould plant your Plants about two Inches and a half {quare, obferving to fhade and water them until they have taken frefh Root: But be fure do not keep your Coverings clofe; for the Warmth of the Dung will occafion a large Damp in the Dd |