and Cottage Econmyiy. 175 



Fowls and Ducks. — 'Everyman who keeps a pig should keep fowls. 

 Three or four hens and a cock will prove no small addition to a poor man's 

 stock ; and a few potatoes and peelings, with the run of the pig's trough, 

 which they will always keep clean, will be all they require in the summer ; 

 but to make them lay eggs, when eggs are valuable, they must be well fed 

 with oats, barley-meal, or Indian corn; have a dry place to roost in, to shel- 

 ter them from the wet weather ; and be kept quite clean. * Young pullets, 

 9 or 10 months old, are the best for laying in winter. Ducks are both use- 

 ful and profitable : they clear away a deal of unsightly offal, will travel a 

 great distance from home in search of food, require but little at home, and 

 lay a great number of eggs ; but they are not good mothers, and seldom rear 

 half then- brood, where there are many hedges and ditches in the neighbour- 

 hood ; they likewise very frequently drop then* eggs in the water, if not 

 carefully watched and shut up when expected to lay. A hen answers bet- 

 ter for a mother to ducklings than their natural one. Not less than a drake 

 and two ducks should be kept. 



Cultivation of the Garden. — I will now proceed to show how 20 rods of 

 ground may be cultivated so as to produce vegetables sufficient for a man, 

 his wife, and two or three small children (for, for every child above 4 years 

 of age to 7, 2 rods of ground ought to be added) ; besides enough, with the 

 stale wash and barley-meal, to keep a pig, fowls, and ducks, all the year round. 



I will divide the garden in the following manner : — 



" 1 Rod of Onions and Leeks ; the product will be - 3 bushels. 

 ^ do. Carrots - 2 



J do. Windsor Beans - - 3 



1 do. Parsneps - - - 2 



3 do. Cabbages, with a row of Scarlet Runners to be \ ,,„,. ,, ff 

 planted round the edges - - -5 ' 



4 do. Early Potatoes, - - - - 480 lbs. 

 being upwards of 4§ lbs. from the middle of 



June to October, for each day. 

 4 do. Prussian Potatoes ) 2410 lbs 



_ 6 do. Devonshire Apple Potatoes ) 

 Which will afford 5 lbs. a day from the beginning of 

 October to the middle of June, for the use of the man 

 and family, being 258 days ; and 13 lbs. a day from 

 the 1st of Oct. to Christmas, for the pig, 86 days: 

 the whole amounting, by this calculation, to 2408 lbs. 

 or 40 bushels ; or 640 bushels of 60 lbs. per acre, f 



The ground must be good, well manured, and well managed, to produce 

 the above crops. Let us now see how this is to be effected, which will 

 be no difficult matter if the following details be attended to : — 



Onions may be cultivated for many years on the same ground, when pro- 

 perly manured, without failing to produce a good crop J ; but, if the manure 



* In the depth of winter, take care to feed geese and other poultry, as 

 they cannot obtain much out of doors ; and, if suffered to get lean at this 

 time, they will not lay well or early in spring. — Shibboleth. 



f We think this calculation too high ; an allowance should always be 

 made for bad seasons, and unforeseen accidents. If 15 rods were allowed 

 for growing these 40 bushels, this would still be at the rate of 420 bushels 

 per acre, which is a very good field crop. It is true, nevertheless, that Mr. 

 Knight (Gard. Mag., vol. v. p. 294.) has grown at the rate of 665 bushels 

 of 82 lbs., which is890 bushels of 60 lbs., per acre. — Cond. 



X In exposed situations, onions should not be sown early, as they are 



