falling barometer. It may not always be convenient to wait for rain, and
happily it is a peculiarity of Brassicas, and of Cabbage in particular,
that the plants will endure, after removal, heat and drought for some
time with but little harm, and again grow freely after rain has fallen.
But good cultivation has in view the prevention of any such check. At
the best it is a serious loss of time in the brief growing season.
Therefore in droughty weather it will be advisable to draw shallow
furrows and water these a day in advance of the planting, and if labour
and stuff can be found it will be well to lay in the furrows a
sprinkling of short mulchy manure to follow instantly upon the watering;
then plant with the dibber, and the work is done. If the mulch cannot be
afforded, water must be given, and to water the furrows in advance is
better than watering after the planting, as a few observations will
effectually prove. If drought continues, water should be given again and
again. The trouble must be counted as nothing compared with the certain
loss of time while the plant stands still, to become, perhaps, infested
with blue aphis, and utterly ruined. As a matter of fact, a little water
may be made to go a long way, and every drop judiciously administered
will more than repay its cost. The use of the hoe will greatly help the
growth, and a little earth may be drawn towards the stems, not to the
extent of 'moulding-up,' for that is injurious, but to 'firm' the plants
in some degree against the gales that are to be expected as the days
decline.

==Autumn-sown Cabbage for Spring and Summer use.==--The fourth, or autumn,
sowing is by far the most important of the year, and the exact time when
seed should be put in deserves careful consideration. A strong plant is
wanted before winter, but the growth must not be so far advanced as to
stand in peril from severe and prolonged frost. There is also the risk
that plants which are too forward may bolt when spring arrives. In some