576 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XLVI. 



seedlings have risen two inches high, they will require earth to be put 

 round the stems ; and when they have expanded the first rough leaf, the 

 little bud at its base must be pinched off. Tins will cause the plants to 

 throw out runners, which, as they extend themselves, must be kept firmly 

 fixed to the ground by little hooks. AVater may be occasionally given, if 

 the weather be warm and dry ; and if the surface over the roots be covered 

 with short litter, it will assist the growth. When the branches are cramped 

 by the glasses, they should be let out, and trained along the ground on each 

 side as far as they tend to grow. Such are always very produclive. 

 Melons may be grown in the same manner, if desired. 



Hardy fruits, of all kinds, are useful about a farm-house : those in the 

 orchard take care of themselves, but such as are in the garden require both 

 pruning and training. Wall-trees require the skill of a professional gar- 

 dener ; but the commoner sorts, on espalier rails or in the borders, may be 

 pruned by the odd man or shepherd, if he has time. Gooseberries, currants, 

 and filberts, are all pruned alike, — that is, kept open in the middle, 

 and constantly spurred-in. Raspberries are regulated by having all the 

 foruier vear's bearing-wood cut out ; and selecting five or six of the last 

 year's young shoots to be the hearing wood of this year. These are tied 

 together near the top, and cut down to about three or four feet in height. 

 Black currants should be thinned and kept low, but their shoots must not be 

 shortened. Beds of strawberries should be planted in August, and kept 

 in single tufts, free from runners and weeds, occasionally mulched with 

 rotten dung, but never digged among with the spade. The beds should be 

 renewed every third or fourth year. 



As to the saving of seeds, the only kind that it is worth the cottager's 

 while to save are those of onion, scarlet-runner, radish, and coss lettuce ; for 

 cabbage, savoy, carrot, parsnip, &c., cost so little that they can be no object 

 to the buyer. Whenever attempted, however, the finest and truest specimens 

 of the crop should be chosen to produce seed. A few plants of radish and 

 lettuce may stand where they were sown ; a score of the first pods may be 

 left on the runners ; and half-a-dozen of the best onions, planted in a row 

 on an open border in the month of February, will yield seed enough for the 

 following season : indeed, saving onion-seed sliould be a particular object 

 with cottagers; as, having a few ounces to sell, will enable them not only 

 to buy all other seeds, but a load or two of dung besides. 

 The quantities of seeds required in a small garden, are, — 



1 pint of early peas is enough for a row of '20 yards iu length. 



1 ditto beans ditto 27 ditto. 



1 ditto runner ditto 36 ditto. 



1 ditto dwarf kidney ditto 26 ditto, 



1 ditto marrowfat peas ditto 32 ditto. 



1 oz. onion sows 15 square yards ; 1 oz. of carrot and parsnip sows 15 

 square yards ; ^ oz. of cabbage, savoy, borecole, brocoli, or cauliflower, is 

 enough "for a seed-bed of 4 square yards; ^ oz. turnip, 11 square yards; 

 of radish, 2 or 3 ounces for spring sowings. A bed of asparagus, 5 feet 

 by 30, requires 160 plants; an acre of potatoes requires from 15 to 20 

 bushels of sets. 



These particulars will serve as a scale for apportioning other kinds of 

 seeds, according to the size of the seeds respectively, and extent of the 

 ground to be sowed or planted. 



W^e have thus enumerated the particular objects which demand attention 

 of both farmers and cottagers in their respective gardens ; assuming that 

 both their gardens have been properly prepared by draining, if necessary, 

 and by deep trenching, which is indispensable. Deep and frequent trench- 

 ing, or double diggingj is always beneficial to the crops ; and, although both 



