The Canadian Horticulturist. 



311 



M Tl?C )Kitcl;er) ^apd^Q. 



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THE COTTAGE GARDEN. 



T is a pleasure, but, unfortunately, a very rare 

 one, to see your vegetables or fruits as fine and 

 large, and of such beautiful glowing colors as many 

 of the spring catalogues depicted. Experience 

 has taught us, or will sooner or later, that many 

 of these novelties are gotten up for the occasion, 

 and to induce the unwary to spend money fool- 

 ishly. Henry Ward Beecher used to say that he 

 took as much pleasure conning the pages of a 

 ^_ spring catalogue, as he would in those of a work 

 ^ "^~ ^-^^^^^^=^ of fiction ; and most enthusiasts in gardening will 

 agree with him, for when these visitors come along during the snows of January 

 or February, the old fever comes on us, and we find ourselves wondering again, if 

 it is possible for anything to be so beautiful, and we invest once more in another 

 novelty, very often to find that the catalogue is "vanity and vexation of spirit." 

 But it is a real solid pleasure, when you look over your garden, to call to mind 

 the many good things you have enjoyed in the shape of peas, beans, toma- 

 toes, etc., not forgetting that best of all small fruits, the strawberry, and other 

 things too numerous to mention. It thus serves a double purpose, reducing the 

 butcher's bill, and also giving fitting nutriment to the body during the hot months 

 of summer. Vou will also call to mind the surplus of good things you have in 

 the cellar, in the way of preserved fruits and vegetables of different kinds, and 

 last, but not least, is the pleasure you e.xperience in knowing that (provided 

 you are a good gardener) your garden is clean ; that there are no weeds gone to 

 seed, to commence their work as soon as the warm days of spring come. 

 And then there is a satisfaction in having made a deposit in the bank, in the 

 shape of a goodly pile of well -rotted manure in the corner of your garden. 



Some of the duties are included in the pleasures, for instance : It is your 

 duty to acquire this same pile of o/d ma.nure, because many weed seeds are killed 

 during the process of fermentation and decomposition, thus saving labor during 

 the following season. In any case enough weeds will spring up to keep you 

 busy, and it is a wise provision of nature, for, if we had no weeds we should not 

 cultivate so much, and cultivation is necessary for growth, and also for the 

 admission of the life-giving sun and air. 



There are two classes of weeds against which I would particularly warn the 

 amateur, and they both spring up late in the summer ; I refer to purslane and 



