COTTAGE GARDENS. 



132 



COTTAGE GARDENS. 



Cottage Gardens, Seasonable 

 Crops and Herbs for. 



Here may well be made a few brief 

 remarks on the crops that are most useful 

 in the cottage garden. A corner should be 

 found in every garden, and even in the 

 allotment ground, for herbs, especially 

 chives, an excellent substitute for onions 

 in broth, salads, and savoury omelettes, 

 parsley, thyme, sage, marjoram, knotted 

 marjoram, lemon thyme, &c., whose use, 

 unfortunately, is not so well known as it 

 might be. Dill, fennel, horehound, and 

 Other herbs, may be sown in April or May. 



With reference to vegetables generally, 

 the particulars relative to their culture,are 

 the same, whether applied to the large 

 garden, the allotment, or the small plot of 

 the cottager; but the cottager or allotment 

 holder naturally desires to grow the most 

 useful and profitable crops, and has neither 

 time nor room for experimenting upon ths 

 various subjects placed before him ; con- 

 sequently he may save a great deal by 

 becoming acquainted with what will best 

 repay his time and labour. Perhaps the 

 potato is more largely cultivated than any 

 other crop among cottagers and allotment 

 holders, because it is of more easy cul- 

 ture, and, where it does well, is more 

 remunerative than others ; but the potato 

 disease, for which no certain remedy is 

 known, renders it a precarious crop. Par- 

 snips are not likely to supersede it, because 

 not so generally liked ; but those who are 

 fond of this root will find it a profitable 

 crop. Jerusalem artichokes yield abun- 

 dantly, and will be found remunerative to 

 those who like them. Cabbages are very 

 profitable things to grow ; they head during 

 the summer and autumn, and yield an 

 abundance of sprouts during the winter, 

 at which time they are excellent and 

 nutritious food. Cottagers' kale is an 

 excellent vegetable : after the head or top 

 is cut for use, it yields an abundance of 

 sweet and wholesome sprouts during the 

 winter and spring months. Brussels sprouts 

 may be grown for the same reasons. Broc- 

 coli, of such sorts as the Early Cape and 

 Walcheren, which head the same year as 

 sown, may be grown advantageously ; but 

 late sorts, which occupy the ground nearly 

 a twelvemonth before they are fit for use, 

 are not so profitable. Scarlet-runner beans 

 are always remunerative ; they yield, in 

 abundance, a sweet and nutritious vege- 

 table, and continue bearing a long time ; 

 no cottage garden should be without them. 

 French beans are also profitable for cgt- 



