24: 



THE CAITADTA.N HORTIOULTtJRTST. 



SPAKROW-GRASS. 

 Dear Brother, 

 You've asked me in terms to relate 

 How to grow Sparrow-grass to have it first-rate ; 

 You ask what I do, and how it is done. 

 To insure in the quality letter A. one. 

 I'll disclose to you all you desire to know, 

 To be happy at dinner and win at the show. 



Be firm in the thought and prompt in the deed, 

 Persist in destroying each insolent weed : 

 Let no such intruder e'er rob of its food 

 A plant that is worthy of everything good. 

 Yes, root out the weeds whenever you pass. 

 If you wish for a crop of the very best grass. 



When autumn arrives, and the growth is done brown, 



Take a terrible knife and cut it all down ; 



Then fork the beds lightly ; don't injure the roots. 



Or you ought to do penance with peas in your boots ; 



Make tidy and clean, remove all the litter, 



Then take a short rest and a mugful of bitter. 



Now, refreshed by the essence of hops and of malt, 

 Bring forth your supplies of soot and of salt ; 

 Spread the black stuff to cover the bed like a pall. 

 Then sprinkle the salt to make white over all ; 

 Some stercus (politely so called) from the stable. 

 Lay two inches thick, or three, if you're able. 



Leave all alone now to the mellowing light. 



The rain and the frost, and the dew of the night ; 



But at times you must drench the bed freely with 



sewage. 

 And for this you need only the household brewage. 

 Put it on as you get it direct from the house. 

 And, if needful, be secret and sly as a mouse. 



When winter sets in leave the whole thing alone. 



If you sewage in frost you will soon be undone ; 



In times when the rain kills the flowers and midges. 



Put sewage on laud that is laid up in ridges. 



When the grass has done growing it needs a long rest. 



So withholding the stimulants now is the best. 



Once more the bright spring, with her elegant tresses. 

 Her laughter and tears, her green and gold dresses. 

 Will skim o'er the land to make us all merry. 

 And put on our faces the bloom of the cherry ; 

 Then, then, my Sparrow-grass grower, look out : 

 There is work to be done, if your sinews are stout. 



Your loins must be girded, your head in its place. 

 Your feet firmly shod, and your knife in its case ; 

 Spread straw or rough litter all over the bed, 

 To screen off the wind, or your grass will rise dead : 

 By "dead" I mean dull, dry, shriveled, and shrunk. 

 Like a man who much tipples, yet never gets drunk. 



Once again pull the weeds, let the salt-box be found ; 



Give a dusting like snow to cover the ground ; 



Do all this before a green top shall appear. 



And you'll have your grass right for the rest of the 



year. 

 But beware of great haste in removing the sticks ; 

 Let them grow to four inches or even to six. 



Then pull— do not cut— and the crop will be fine ; 

 You will say to your cook, " I desire to dine " ; 

 Rich and tender, full-flavoured 'twill be, if cooked 



right — 

 Pill the stomach with food and the soul with delight ! 

 Oh, the world must be good tliat in plenty produces 

 A grass so abounding in delicate juices ! 



Once in for this pastime, bravely go on. 



Fill the basket each morn in advance of the sun ; 



But on June seventeen the tables must turn— 



You must cease to take grass, though your fingers 



may burn. 

 One more merry pull, 'tis the last you may have, 

 Unless for your grass you'd be digging a grave. 



Be content, let it grow, make an end of your feast ; 

 Be wise like a man, do not waste like a beast ; 

 Thus, season by season, as weeks and days pass, 

 You must manage the work as yon wish for good 



grass. 

 If you think the name vulgar you may, without 



malice. 

 Just call it Asparagus ofilciualis. 

 — The Gardener's Magazine. 



BOOKS AND PERIODICALS. 

 Hand-Book of Practical Landscape Gar- 

 dening. By T. R. Elliott. Second edi- 

 tion, enlarged and improved. Published 

 by D. M. Dewey, Arcade Hall, Rochegter, 

 K Y., U. S. A. 



This is just what it claims to be, an 

 eminently practical book, containing 

 pUns drawn to a scale, and the places 

 where trees and shrubs are to be planted 

 so numbered that any one can carry out 

 the plan. We commend it to every 

 one wishing to lay out his grounds, 

 however small, and plant them in a 

 manner that will be a source of pleasure 

 to him ever after. School Trustees 

 will also find useful hints for planting 

 the grounds around the school-house — 

 a matter sadly neglected, and that de- 

 serves attention. The book only costs 

 a dollar and fifty cents. 



Ves^nor's Almanac for 1882. Published 



by J. M. Stoddart & Co., Philadelphia, 



Penn, U. S. A. 



Contains Mr. Yennor's prognostica- 

 tions of weather for the year, besides 

 other matter interesting to weather 



students. 



Vick's Floral Guide, 1882. 



Of the many Guides and Seed and 

 Plant Catalogues sent out by our Seeds- 

 men and Nurserymen, and that are 

 doing so much to inform the people 

 and beautify and enrich our country, 

 none are so beautiful, none so instructive 

 as Vick's Floral Guide. Its paper is 

 the choicest, its illustrations handsome, 

 and given by the thousand, while its 

 colored plates are gems. This work, 

 although costing but ten cents, is hand- 

 some enough for a gift book, or a place 

 on the parlor table. Published by 

 James Vick, Rochester, N. Y. 



PRINTiCO AT THE STJSAJi P»«a8 B8TABLISHMKNT OF COPP, C1,ARH fc CO,, OOtiBORNfi STREET, TORONTO. 



