323 



JOCKNAL OF HOETICCLTCBE AKD COTTAGE GAEDEyEB. 



[ April 30, 18E8. 



to be depended on than wliat is sent ont by general seedsmen, 

 thoogh oar own experience and practiee would lead us to the 

 eonclosian that seedsmen spare no p^in^ nor labour in having 

 everrthing good and everything true to name, and no doubt 

 they find that intelligence and integrity combined will pay. 

 Mistakes will, however, at times occur. Just think of the 

 ZGsults of a heedless man shifting a few numbers or tallies in- 

 considerately. Most seedsmen thia season, we believe, have 

 told their customers to sow some seeds thic^y. Last autumn 

 was very unfavourable for harvesting seeds, and no doubt from 

 being imperfectly ripened, or to make up bulk with older seeds, 

 the crops of some things do not come up so freely as usual, 

 and in such cases will save thinning, as in general it is a fault 

 of gardeners to sow rather thickly, though it is always more 

 pleasant to thin out than to plant and make up. Partly from 

 the seed decaying, and partly from the inroads of vermin, we 

 have been forced to dig down one row of Peas and sow another 

 kind, for if we do stick our Peas nothing loots worse than a 

 thin row. In this respect we often minister to a general pre- 

 judice, though we know better. Were we certain that our seed 

 Paa£ would be let alone, instead of scattering the seed along a 

 low we would gather a heavier crop by planting all onr larger 

 Peas in a single row 2 inches apart. 



Veoftiiblt^ Seeiir. — Making every allowance for birds finding 

 their way underneath the netting, the seedlings are threaten- 

 ing to come much thinner than usual, showing that, like larger 

 seeds, as Peas, the late harvesting- time had told upon them. 

 We do not see that any seed has been meddled with that was 

 treated with a dusting of red lead before sowing, but that 

 expedient will not prevent the diSerent kinds of press mice i 

 eatrcg down the young shoots of Peas, ic., after they are fairly 

 above the ground. We shall be glad of any information as to 1 

 the best means of destroying grass mice, as even some parts ' 

 of our lawn arc riddled with their runs and holes, anA trapping 

 does little to thin them, and they <•"" scarcely be coaxed to 

 touch anything in the way of a bait that would hurt them. 

 We caught great numbers at one time with nooses made of fine 

 wire, and even of strong hair ; but we should be afraid to 

 Teniure to use them now for fear of younger and more valuable 

 animals being caught. We have some beds with stake edgings 

 covered with Ivy, and these are a f.ivourite rendezvous ; in 

 their vicinity it would be folly to plant some kinds of Verbena, 

 especially Purple Eing, as the mice are nearly as fond of that 

 as rabbits are, and the latter will find it out if they have the 

 chance among htmdreds of other Verbenas, if as many are 

 grown. 



We saw lately what was a beautiful plantation of young 

 Laurels almost destroyed, for it was cut and peeled from the 

 surface of the ground nearly to the tops of the plants, and the 

 plants are now all withered. If there is a chance at all, the 

 plants must push up afresh, and then run a similar risk. In 

 most cases this mischief had been done by the common house 

 or barnyard mouse, and we have caught these in great numbers ■ 

 by sinking pots vitrified inside, one-fourth filled with water, and ' 

 a float on it, supplied with burnt meal or toasted cheese. 

 When the mouse got his feet wet he could not lay hold of the 

 sides of the pot. Glass would be still better than earthenware. 

 Such a contrivance even when baited with the most tempting 

 green delicacy did little to entice the grass mouse. The best 

 helper we ever had was a little dog. who took to the work 

 with much zest, watching their holes for most of the day. and 

 killin g numbers of them. It any reader wiH acquaint us with 

 a good way of thinning grass mice many will be thankful, for 

 in some places now the mere act of culture is of less import- ■ 

 ance than knowing how to give the plants grown a fair chance 

 of having their natural enemies kept at a distance. 



Asjmragui KaU. — We have just cut over a young piece of 

 this for use and to encourage the side shoots to" push, so as to 

 afford us a supply a good while longer. In small gardens this 

 is not nearly so much grown as it ought to be, as few vegetables 

 are better for a late spring supply, coming in as a change when 

 the Brussels Sprouts are nearly over. Shoots about the thick- 

 ness of the little finger, and from 6 inches in length, boiled 

 just like other Greens, are little inferior to Asparagus in flavour, 

 and win compete with a stubby dish of Sea-kale in -all but the 

 colour. Our eadiest have been topped long ago, but a few 

 rows of late ones were topped for use a week since, and the 

 side shoots are now growing well. AH Kales have something 

 in common, but this well deserves its name. It does not take 

 so much room a^ the Scotch Eale, and is of but little use as 

 winter Greens, but in April and part of May it is very useful : 

 as a change with sprouts of Borecole, yotmg Cabbage, and Broc- 1 



coli, holding its own generally until the Cauliflower compels 

 obeisance from all rivals. Brussels Sprouts and Borecoles are 

 the main dependance in winter, and the coloured or variegated 

 kinds of the latter are just a little more tender than the green, 

 and if carefuUy cooked will present their colours at the table. 



Sfa-kal^. — We shall gather a week or two longer from that 

 under the common garden pots. We detailed how we stufied 

 the inside of the pot with rough hay, leaving only a hollow in 

 the centre, and dispensed with covering outside the pot. The 

 utility of this was found in the late frosty mornings, for where 

 the pot was set over the plant, and there was no hay in it. the 

 Sea-kale instead of being white was frosted black. We want to 

 have none of this trouble with pots in spring, and, therefore, 

 we have planted some beds -t feet wide, with two thick rows of 

 plants in each, and made trenches between the beds, 2i feet 

 wide at top and IS inches at bottom. These when we have time 

 we will fill with riddled ashes, and in winter we shall lay the 

 ashes on the bed S inches deep over the plants, and that will 

 eatise them to be sufficiently blanched, and if merely once cut 

 in the season, the same plants will last many years. Most 

 likely we will put some litter over the bed and in the trenches 

 in winter, and that will be rotten enough to do for mantiring 

 the beds in May, when the ashes will be all turned into the 

 trenches again. 



In planting these beds, we cut all the ends of the roots into 

 pieces 6 or S inches long, and planted them in rows a foot apart 

 and S inches from each other in the row. These will do for 

 thinning next year. We will fork over the ground as soon as 

 we cease cutting among the established plants, and where an 

 extra shoot has strayed, cut it near home, add a little dung 

 whilst forking over, and strew a little salt between the rows 

 when finished. 



Asparoyus. — ^We should have salted the ground in which this 

 is grown, but could not obtain the salt in time, and now we 

 wiU wait until we see the rows, as the heads are beginning to 

 appear, and the salt would injure them if it fell on the points 

 of the young shoots. This sprinkling in spring does much to 

 keep down weeds ; but the time when as much salt as will just 

 slightly whiten the ground does most good, is a fortnight or 

 so after ceasing to cut. Sprinkling wth salt aSords this plant 

 and Sea-kale a substance which they obtain in abundance in 

 their wild state. We regret omitting the sprinkling ten days 

 or so before the shoots of the Asparagus appeared, as nothing 

 so eSectually banishes slugs and snails, which when plentiful 

 soon mar the best shoots. 



Dwarf Peas. — Little Gem in the orchard house, in pots, is 

 filling its pods well, but though nice and stubby in growth, and 

 showing signs of throwing out side flowering shoots at the 

 joints, it does not seem to bloom and bear so freely at first as 

 our old friend Tom Thumb. Little Gem is superior to the 

 Tom Thtmib in flavour ; but then at an early period quantity 

 is an object, even if the quality be not so much to boast about. 

 We think we have erred, too, in planting rather thickly ; and 

 another season, if using 10-inch pots, we would have a circle 

 IJ inch from the outside, and have the Peas about 3 inches 

 apart. 



Pea-ilak-inri. — In the dry days that followed the rain, we had 

 the most of this work done that could be done, moving our 

 wire netting to accomplish it. The ground was nicely stirred 

 up, but not deeply, by the sides of the rows before staking. 

 We have had much trouble with Peas, with the exception of 

 those we planted out, which have done well, especially after 

 the watering referred to last week. In staking, we saw lately 

 that one of otir friends recommended crossing the sticks to 

 each other at top, so as to resemble an acute-angled triangle, 

 of which the grotmd between the stakes at bottom should be 

 the base. Our staking is often done the same way ; and almost 

 every sticker will resort to that mode, because it is the most 

 easily done, looks very well when done, and answers well in every 

 way "until the Peas get to the top of or above the stakes, and 

 coming through near the top are as helpless in the wind as if 

 they had never been staked at all. The Peas will be better 

 sustained and more safe at gathering time, if the stakes, where 

 they diverge from the perpendicular, lean outwards from each 

 other at top instead of leaning towards or touching at top. We 

 prefer the tops of the sticks to resemble the sides of a cup 

 rather than the point of a wedge, though we allow that the 

 latter to many would look neater. We know that the cup form 

 wiU be best for the haulm of the Peas in a brisk gale. 



]>ung Beds. — At the risk of being wearisome we will venture 

 a few sentences with reference to cases submitted to us by 

 three correspondents. The first, even with well-prepared dting. 



