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Gossip about Fertilizers. 



GOSSIP ABOUT FERTILIZERS, 



P.Y A. lIEifSRR. 



oRTicuLTURE IS a multifoi'm subject and not soon 

 (exhausted. It has many phases, which are 

 worthy of attention, but which are not all 

 equally interesting to a single class of culti- 

 vators. The wealthy will feel a strong- inter- 

 est in certain features of the subject, which 

 the poor man cannot, from the natui-e of the 

 case. He is not able to purchase such grounds, 

 or make such preparations, as will be calcu- 

 lated to bring out to view the strong points of 

 the art. Hence, some of the best magazines 

 of Horticulture, English and French, cannot 

 ■ be fully appreciated in tliis country. They 



are not relevant to our wants. Such parts however, as 

 relate to the nature and habits of plants, and to the choice 

 and mode or application of manures, are always in order 

 in any climate, or on either side of the Ocean. 

 If a man have but a small garden, and but little monej' to spend 

 for labor ; yet if he have some kuoAvledgeof vegetable physiology, 

 ;ind a taste for cultivation, and will consent to be known as an old 

 digger, his genius will be sure to develop itself. His skill may 

 be as plainl}' seen, in his treatment of a row of currant bushes, as in 

 any other way. I have a neighbor in my immediate vicinity, 

 who cultivates his small garden in a rhea}) and economical man- 

 ner. I liave been often amused, by (tbserving the process by 

 which he secures the accomplishment of his ends. He makes much 

 of forest leaves, which answer a double purpose ; to cover his grape 

 borders, and straAvberry ]dants, and then the following summer, 

 to bo put in a proper [)lacc and composted for manure. This is 

 done efiectually by putting alternate layers of leaves and spent 

 ashes. Coal ashes, which are usually regarded as a nuisance, are 

 turned to good account when used in this way. There is, near his 



