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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



and asparagus, it is a valuable manure, 

 and used in a moderate amount, there 

 is scarcely any garden crop but will 

 thrive in it. 



In using guano, mistakes are fre- 

 quently made. In the first place, the 

 quality differs so much in various 

 samples, that one may arrive at very 

 different to another's conclusions as to 

 its fertilizing power, owing to the two 

 having used guano of very different 

 quality. But the best Peruvian 

 should never be used in quantities of 

 more than three hundred weight per 

 acre. It is the most stimulating of 

 all known manures. In experiments 

 made by Mr. Maund, guano dissolved 

 in water, four ounces to the gallon, 

 and administered once a week to 

 strawberries, rendered them very 

 vigorous and productive, but sprinkled 

 on some young seedlings of the same 

 fruit, killed them. Two ounces per 

 yard, which is equal to five hundred 

 weight per acre, were sprinkled over 

 onions, and they doubled in size those 

 that had not been so treated. With 

 potatoes, cabbage, and many other 

 crops, the results have been equally 

 surprising, and it is the settled opinion 

 of the most practical men, that where 

 injury has resulted from the use of 

 guano, it has always been owing to 

 the use of excessive quantities. When 

 used dry, it should be mixed with 

 sand or earth during fine weather. 

 Make a layer of sand two inches thick, 

 then sprinkle guano evenly over it, 

 say a quarter of an inch thick ; then 

 other layers alternately, and a layer 

 of soil on the top. When it has lain 

 together a Avhile, chop it down the 

 side thinly, so as to crumble it all and 

 mix it well, running it through a 

 coarse sieve. Sow thin on the ground 

 to be dressed, taking care of the pro- 

 portions required. When it has been 

 sown, it must be watered in, unless it 

 soon rains. In both these cases its 

 application is effective. The seed 

 should be sown directly. In growing 

 onions, very fine crops may be insured 

 by preparing the seed-bed in this 

 way. 



There is one kind of manure much 

 neglected by the cottagers, and that is 

 green refuse, such as clearings of cab- 

 bage-plots, potatoe and pea haulm, 

 &c., &c. ; all such stuff should be dug 



in green as soon as a heap of it can oe 

 collected. It loses much of its value 

 if allowed to rot in a heap, but if 

 trenched in while quite fresh, it soon 

 decays and mixes with the soil, and 

 may be planted over at once. In dry 

 barren soils, a heavy dressing of 

 vegetable refuse is not only enriching, 

 but preservative of moisture to roots 

 of plants. 



Most gardeners have a prejudice 

 I against salt, but it may be used in 

 moderation on almost any soil, and 

 with almost any crops, and with none 

 but good results. From having used 

 salt largely, I can say with confidence 

 that the objection that it "ruins the 

 ground," is quite absurd. It is one of 

 the best of manures for broad beans, 

 asparagus, seakale, lettuces, onions, 

 carrots, parsnips, and potatoes, and I 

 should advise every grower of edibles 

 to sow the whole garden every March 

 with salt at the rate of five bushels to 

 the rood. Salt and soot mixed in equal 

 quantities, and applied at the rate of 

 six bushels to the rood, will produce 

 very heavy crops. Wood-ashes and 

 coal-ashes ai - e also useful in their way ; 

 the first, especially, makes a first-rate 

 top-dressing, if stored away all the 

 winter in a dry shed, and used as a 

 top-dressing in spring. I generally 

 have an old hogshead filled during the 

 winter, and use it. to dress the rows of 

 peas, and lettuce, and the seed-beds of 

 cabbage, and other things, for it not 

 only nourishes the crop as the rains 

 wash it down into the soil, but it 

 checks the ravages of vermin, for most 

 insects detest it. In dressing peas, 

 the wood-ashes should be sprinkled 

 over the herbage as well as on the 

 soil soon after they are out of the 

 ground ; then, when they come to be 

 earthed up, the ashes are buried, and 

 every shower carries down some of 

 their solvent properties to the roots. 

 Coal-ashes should be used cautiously. 

 If many rough cinders are mixed with 

 them, they do more harm than good. 



There is another way of using the 

 rubbish advantageously, and it is this. 

 Provide a hole, well lined with puddled 

 clay ; into this put daily all your soft 

 vegetable refuse, waste kitchen stuff, 

 and house slops. Whenever you burn 

 weeds, or sticks, or clay, add the ashes 

 to the heap. Carry to it all the leaves 



