THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



179 



CALENDAR OF GARDENING. 



February is proverbially a wet month, and far bet- 

 ter it slioiild be so than keenly frosty. If the ground 

 be a swamp it will be worse than useless to move it, 

 and no time is lost by wailing for a favourable eon- 

 ditiou. There is oue axiom in gardening which 

 ought always to be kept in sight — it is this : Every plot 

 of ground intended to receive a crop should once in 

 the year be eitlier trenched, half-trenched, or 

 digged. The two former operations may be done late 

 in the Autumn, after which the land may be laid up 

 in ridges exposed to the winter frost. But simple 

 digging ought in general to be deferred till the time 

 of cropping, the manure being spread upon the sur- 

 face prior to operations of the spade : it should 

 always be performed as the work proceeds, sowing 

 or planting piece by piece, that the ground may be 

 finished off neatly. 



Kitchen Garden. 



Small Salads, i. e. mustard and cress, are now in 

 request, and may be raised very successfully by 

 placing a small single light box over a portion of 

 open rich ground just moved and lying full to the 

 sun. We have seen boxes two or three feet long 

 and about two feet wide with sloping glasses, or, in 

 lieu of them, with frames, over which is stretched a 

 piece of close strong calico, made weather-proof and 

 semi-transparent, by first a coat of fiour paste, and 

 then by being twice brushed over with linseed -oil. 

 A few inch-boards, cut so as to slope nine or ten in- 

 ches at back to five at the front, will suffice ; and in 

 such frames close rows of fine cress, and then mus- 

 tard seed, may be sown : these will yield a profusion 

 of excellent salad in a very few days. 



Peas and Beans, to succeed the first crops, are 

 sown about the second week. We are too apt to crowd 

 these vegetables; rows ten or fifteen feet apart yield 

 better, and the spaces may be occupied by other 

 crops ; there is more air and less liability to " over- 

 pea" the land by this system. The early Warwick, 

 Cormack's May, and the Charlton pea, are the best: 

 the Mazagan and long-pod bean are also proper for 

 this early season. 



Broccoli for November, and sprinkling of cabbage 

 for August, may be sown at the end of the month. 



Carrots: the early-horn twice — first at the begin- 

 ning, then in the last week of the month. 



Celery, for the earliest crop, must be raised over 

 a gentle hot- bed for the late or Spring crops. A 

 sprinkling of seed can be made on an asparagus bed. 



Onions: either the Strasburgh or Reading are 

 sown in drills or broadcast : the ground ought to be 

 deep and rich. A very early supjily of nice Summer 

 onions may be obtained by digging a plot of ground, 

 raking it smooth, and, as the work proceeds, press- 

 ing small last year's bulbs to about one-third of 

 their depth in the soil, nine to twelve inches asun- 

 der. These onions ought not to exceed H inches 

 in their width. Each will attempt to put forth a 

 flower stem ; and this, as soon as it is clearly visible, 



is to be broken or cut ofi" above the bulb. Another, 

 and perhaps a third, effort will be made, which being 

 checked, new bulbs will be developed, the old ones 

 disappearing; and these in July are frequently three- 

 fold, and as broad as a hen's egg. 



Parsleij, Thyme, and other pot-herbs, are sown 

 about the close of the month. 



Potatoes: the early Manby, frame, and Lanca- 

 shire lemon kidney, may be planted in a warm border 

 by the middle of the montli, five inches deep, aud 

 covered with a layer of old half- decayed leaves. 



Radishes and Lettuces are sown twice in the 

 month. 



Rhubarb : fine seedling plants of the Scarlet Go- 

 liath are planted in deep and rich beds five feet apart, 

 but only so deep that the crowns may be three 

 inches below the surface. 



Shallots and Garlic are planted much in the way 

 directed for summer bulbing onions, four or five 

 inches apart, in a ground of soft sandy loam. 



Flower Garden. 



The best annuals are sown in pots or pans, ^em- 

 ploying gentle heat in glazed frames ; thus seed and 

 time are economized, while great protection is afl'ord- 

 ed from cold and insects. The sorts of plants are 

 generally known— as Venus's-looking-glass, calceo- 

 larias, love-lies-bleeding, pinks— crimson and pur- 

 ple, and China asters. 



Auriculas grow in protected pots in glass cases, 

 and have air in plenty, but kept from drenching 

 rains. 



Polyanthus, in the choice and double varieties, 

 are to' be dressed with good maiden loam and a 

 slight mixture of horse dung. 



Anemone and ranunculus roots may be planted at 

 the end of February in beds richly prepared during 

 vVutumn; open a drill or set by dibble; in both 

 cases, let plenty of pit sand lie about the roots. 



Do not dig the parterres and borders yet, but 

 rather scatter leafy manures, or old cow-dung and 

 fresh loam over the surface, avoiding the crowns of 

 herbaceous plants. 



Fruit Department. 



Currant and gooseberry bushes must be finished 

 before the buds open ; the former, by close spurring 

 of the laterals and shortening of the upright leaders; 

 the latter, by cutting clean out all very old, and 

 other superfluous, roots. After pruning and taking 

 away the cuttings, hoe and turn the surface an inch 

 or two deep. Raspberry bushes are to be cut back 

 to the bend of the rod— six rods are enough to each 

 root. Never dig the ground except to remove ill- 

 situated suckers, but mulch the surface with half- 

 decayed leafy manure. 



If peaches and nectarines enlarge the buds, they 

 may be pruned, and then regularly trained. 



