184 Cottage Gardens, live Stock of the Cottager, 



upwards of 40 cabbages a day for the remaining four months, forming a 

 regular and an abundant supply the year round. In cropping ground, it 

 certainly is a good rule not to crop two seasons following with the same 

 vegetable ; but this must, I think, be occasionally excepted, when we take 

 into consideration the paramount necessity of a constant succession of crops 

 to produce the greatest possible quantity of food from a limited space of 

 ground. This necessity, then, I think, will justify the adoption of the fol- 

 lowing, perhaps more useful, rule, viz. never to suffer a square yard of 

 ground to lie a day idle during the growing season. * The remaining 40 rods 

 of garden ground maybe managed as directed- for 20 rods, growing, of 

 course, more potatoes and cabbages in proportion than any thing else, -j- 



Rabbits never thrive well unless they are kept dry, and have plenty of 

 food, such as clover, ribgrass, lettuces, dandelions \, sowthistle, &c. &c, 

 indeed, almost any thing ; but a few oats should be frequently given them in 

 a little dry trough. These little creatures devour a prodigious quantity of 

 food, considering then. - size, and certainly would never pay for keeping ; but, 

 in a family, nothing can be better amusement for a parcel of boys than to 

 cater for their rabbits. They are excellent eating, and very prolific, if 

 well attended to, but every thing depends on that. 



Pigeons I would rather keep for their companionship's sake than for pro- 

 fit : every little extra tie or enjoyment makes a man's home dearer to him. 



Having now gone over all the subjects I proposed to consider, I have 

 nothing further to add, save that the time that I would allow to mow the 

 grass, rick the hay, and cultivate the ground, should not, on any consider- 

 ation, exceed a week, viz. ; — 1 day (two halves) to mow and rick ; 3| days 

 to dig the ground, and sow the mangold wurzel seed ; half a day to clear, 

 dig, and plant 2 rods of ground with early potatoes ; half a day to clear and 

 pit the remainder of the mangold wurzel. 



All the other cleaning, digging, cropping, &c, most assuredly ought to 

 be done, but always, be it understood, with the assistance of his children, 

 by himself at nights and mornings. His wife will have enough to do to 

 manage her household affairs, her dairy, her pigs and fowls, and milking the 

 cow, and with the help of the boys foddering her too. 



* This is most important advice ; and on it, on pronging well, whether 

 there are weeds to destroy or not, and on diligently collecting and pre- 

 serving both solid and liquid manure, will depend much of the cottager's 

 success. — Cond. 



-f- Symphytum asperrimum, a native of Siberia, and one of the most rapid- 

 growing of herbaceous plants, has been recommended for culture as food for 

 cows. (Gard. Mag., vol. v. p. 442.) This vegetable is full of mucilage ; and 

 we certainly think it deserves to be tried by every cottager who can procure 

 plants. It seeds freely, and propagates most readily by division of the root. 

 We would strongly recommend gardeners to gather, propagate, and distri- 

 bute it. — Cond. 



J Succory, or wild endive, forms excellent food for rabbits ; the tops, 

 blanched, either by covering with pots, or by planting in sand in a cellar, 

 make an excellent spring salad, much used in Germany (Gard. Mag., vol. iL 

 p. 4G0.) ; while its roots, and also those of the dandelion, form one of the 

 best substitutes for coffee. Dr. Howison of Edinburgh prefers dandelion 

 coffee to that of Mecca ; and many persons, all over the Continent, prefer 

 a mixture of succory and coffee to coffee alone. Dig up the roots of dan- 

 delion, wash them well, but do not scrape them; dry them, cut them in bits 

 the size of peas, and then roast them in an earthen pot or coffee-roaster of 

 any kind, and grind them in the coffee-mill, or bruise them in any way. The 

 great secret of good coffee is to have it fresh-burnt and fresh-ground. — 

 Cond. 



