













s 



a .1.1 



AbovTaifthings, religiously avoid the circular, opeu- 

 hJred brass cages, with sliding doors, now so much m 

 L^ue 1 mean those resembling a parrot's cage, on a 

 reduced scale. They are frightful instruments of de- 

 duction ; bringing full many an innocent songster pre- 

 maturely to his place of final rest. The brass, I need 

 hardly observe, when water lodges on it, presents gan- 

 grene • and this, when tasted, produces sometimes a 



' sometimes sudden death. AH manner of 



« clieap " cages, too, must be discarded as inadmissible. 

 They are made of dry deal, and invariably harbour ver- 

 min! Of these latter, I shall, ere long, have to tell a 

 pretty tale. As a rule, buy no cages whatever, except- 

 ing those made of mahogany . 



The proper description of tenement for a canary, is 

 » mahogany cage, 12 inches long, 10 inches highland 

 8 inches deep. The top, back, and one of the sides, 

 should be of wood ; the other side should be of wire- 

 work (also the front), so as to admit the air, and at the 

 same time exclude a thorough draught. Over this wire- 

 work should be a wooden slide, running in a groove. It 

 might then be used, or not, as occasion [might require. 

 The cage, inside, should be painted white. This, if 

 your bird were of a fine bright yellow colour, would 

 show him off to advantage. The external ornaments to 

 your cage may, of course, be applied ad libitum ; and 

 every body can consult his own taste. 



A long, square but narrow perch, should run from end 

 to end, about the centre of the cage ; and a second, of a 

 similar kind, directly behind the two tin pans inserted 

 at the front of the cage (one on either side) to hold the 

 seed. In the middle of the wire work, at the front, 

 should be a hole, sufficiently large to admit the bird's 

 head while drinking. Never use glasses or fountains for 

 holding water ; but receptacles of tin, suspended by 

 Mat wires. Glasses, and glass fountains, are apt to 

 get displaced ; and many a prisoner dies for want of 

 water, thus unthinkingly removed beyond his reach. 

 By having these two perches only, the bird's feet will 

 be kept clean, and he will have plenty of room for 

 exercise, without injuring his plumage. 



A bird, thus lodged, may be placed anywhere, or hung 

 out of any window. He will never know what fear is, 

 and he will be steady to his song. It is quite a mistake 

 (irrespective of its being cruel), to place any bird in an 

 open cage, if you wish him to sing well. By allowing 

 him to gaze about, his attention becomes distraught, and 

 his thoughts are divided. So well do the Germans 

 know this, that they frequently run red-hot needles through 

 the eyes of their choicest birds, with a view to keep 

 them "intent upon their song alone." These fiends, 

 habited in the shape of humanity, rarely have the te- 

 merity to send any of their birds, so mutilated, over here. 

 All honour be to our nation, for " setting their faces m 

 resolutely against any such frightful atrocities. 



When hanging your birds out in the garden, or at an 

 open window, avoid as much as possible exposing them 

 to the intense heat of a scorching sun. Although 

 protected from its baneful influence by the covered 

 roof of their cages, to a certain extent, they yet run 



considerable risk of being killed by a coup de soldi 



the fate of many a noble songster. The bough of a tree, 

 well covered with foliage, is what they delight in. This 

 should be allowed to depend from the top of their cages. 

 So protected, they will not be annoyed either at °the 

 sight of a cat or dog, or any other noxious animal — 

 indeed they will be strangers to fear of any kind. 



The proper food for this tribe is Canary, Flax, and a 

 small quantity of Rape seed. All these should be new, 

 and of the very best quality, 

 te purchase * cheap" seed, 

 it does not kill your birds. 



It is miserable economy 

 It will assuredly injure, if 

 Every morning the seed 

 should be carefully examined, the husk removed, and 

 the tins replenished. 



The bottoms of your cages should be well cleansed, 

 thrice weekly, and be kept well covered with red 

 gravelly sand. It is also desirable to have a small 

 -quantity of old mortar, well bruised, mixed with it In 

 addition to the water supplied in the tin, it is always 

 expedient to have a square earthenware bath, fitted in a 

 mahogany frame, ready for daily use. These are so 

 made as to be easily suspended on the doors of the 

 cages, when the latter are opened. They are over- 

 arched with wire, to prevent the birds escaping, and are 

 obtainable of almost any dealer. Never let a day pass 

 in the summer season without administering the bath. 

 Itis a grand secret of health, and assists wonderfully 

 in keeping your birds in fine feather. In the winter, 

 forbid its use altogether. 



To make your pets familiar, give them every now and 

 then a small quantity of yolk of egg, boiled hard ; and a 

 small quantity of German paste, mixed with a stale 

 sponge cake. Put this, lovingly, into a little " exclusive" 

 tia pan, fitted in a sly corner of the cage, and the 



treat will have a double charm. These innocent little 

 creatures love to flirt with any « nice pickings," thus 





mysteriously conveyed to them, and they will keep on 

 cuattermg to you, in a language of their own, for many 

 mmutes, while viewing the operations in which you are 

 actively engaged for their particular benefit. How many 

 happy hours have I spent, in days gone by, in thus 



K e f M rtlci P atin S in the enjoyment of my little 

 f nends 1 Wtlltam Kid ^N ew^oadj Aammersmith 



mfet^nrnn 11 ^ ^°^ h %h *** bird * ^ hot climates, the cause 

 ™of*AX h FJP*£ de * ree > from the ignorance and 

 years In! n! » b l 1 1Q * M c * re aod culture. Ic is of late 



Now bfilrK ei ^ Ue ? ci ** ha*e *>een duly appreciated. 



MARKET GARDENING ROUND LONDON. 



No. VIII. Brussels Sprouts. — These are not sown 

 until May ; but it should be March. The Scotch sow them 

 in August. Sown in May, it is impossible for the plants 

 to get tall, stout, and cover the stems so well with fine large 

 close Sprouts, as when sown in March. I have had them 

 three feet high, covered from top to bottom, each stem 

 producing one peck of large^ close Sprouts. Brussels 

 Sprouts are always dear, and the poor and middle classes 

 hardly know what they are. Their cultivation is very 

 simple ; sow in beds, and transplant when the plants 

 are 4 or 5 inches high. Select, if possible, a rich stiff 

 loam for them ; plant 1 8 inches plant from plant, and 2 

 feet row from row : keep the ground well loosened with 

 the hoe. Moulding up the stems is never practised, and 

 as soon as the plants reach their height, which is known 

 by the top beginning to cabbage, the latter ought to be 

 pinched out. This throws all the strength into the 

 Sprouts down the stem, making the bottom ones as good 

 as those on the top. I am well aware that the present 

 plan af producing them does not pay the grower, even at 

 the high prices obtained for them, but that is his own 

 fault ; and if some good farming gardeners, who cultivate 

 the land well, would take to growing this vegetable, even 

 if it were but to feed cattle Vith, it would answer their 

 purpose. It is perfectly hardy ; it does not rot, like 

 Drumhead Cabbage and Savoys, and an immense 

 acreage of it might be obtained. 



Beet- root. — This is in great demand during winter. 

 Growers are very particular about the time of sowing it ; 

 for one week too soon sown spoils it. It is generally 

 put in about the first week of May ; but even with the 

 same seed and the same soil it makes a great difference 

 if it is transplanted ; because, in removing the seedlings, 

 all forked ones are thrown away. In this operation 

 great care must be taken that the points of the roots are 

 not broken off. Beet is generally planted out about a 

 foot apart each way. It is wintered in large sheds, 

 stored in moderately damp mould, and banked up with 

 straw. It is a mistake to pack it up in dry sand or earth 

 for the winter, and the same may be said in regard to 

 Carrots, Parsnips, Salsify, Scorzonera, and similar 

 roots. Dark coloured Beets are not esteemed ; but 

 they are much richer and better than the pale kinds. 



Globe Artichokes. — These require very rich deep 

 land ; when planted they are thinned out to three or 

 four plants in each stool every spring. They are well 

 supplied with manure every winter. I have seen an 

 acre which had not been fresh planted these 10 years. 

 A famous plan, where the land is stiff and clayey, is to 

 dig out a trench 18 inches deep, and fill it up with a 

 mixture of dung and mould, and in spring to plant out 

 on this mixture. I have practised this system with 

 Asparagus, taking out a spit and filling in the furrows 

 with dung and mould, and planting out in April. 



Spinach. — The prickly is sown from the 12th of 

 August to the 1st of September. It succeeds whatever 

 crop is removed at the time. It is sown in beds 5 feet 

 wide. It grows best and finest upon light deep land, on 

 which it is less liable to canker. New Zealand Spinach 

 is not grown for market, neither are the silver Beet 

 leaves, both of which are most useful, and are much 

 used by the French, who are also fond of Orache, a 

 capital substitute for Spinach. 



Broccoli. — The only sorts grown for the London 

 markets are the Walcheren, Grange's Early White, 

 Late London White, Purple Cape, and the Purple 

 sprouting Broccolies. These are all sown in May ; they 

 are planted alter a crop of Lettuces, Radish, or any of 

 the early crops which happen to be cleared off the land 

 at the time. The only formidable enemy to Broccoli is 

 clubbing ; they are, therefore, sown in the richest land, 

 and far more are raised than are wanted. If any club, 

 therefore, they are thrown away at transplanting time. 

 They never make good plants afterwards. I have seen 

 an acre planted upon a deep rich soil, and another acre 

 on hungry gravelly soil, the plants being from the same 

 beds ; the latter were almost wholly worthless on 

 account of clubbing, while the former all escaped. 

 James Cuthill, Camberwell. 



the fibres are not sufficiently elastic tor peranum 

 Fig. 7. Fig. 8. 





Fig. 9. 



_ the 



scion to be inserted, 

 we take off from the 

 cleft one or two 



small parings, so as 

 to give it a triangu- 

 lar form (see Fig. 

 7) ; in this case we 

 modify also the cut 

 of the scion, in order 

 that it may fill ex- 

 actly the opening 

 prepared for it. 



By this method of 

 grafting, and its mo- 

 difications, we may 

 propagate a great 

 many hard-wooded 

 evergreens; and like- 

 wise many with her- 

 baceous stems or 

 branches ; such as 

 the young shoots of 

 Pelargoniums ; Me- 

 lons on Gourds and 

 Cucumbers, Toma- 

 toes on the stems of 

 Potatoes, Sunflowers 

 on the Jerusalem 



Artichoke, &c. For 

 the latter, more especially, the minute care of shading, 

 which we have mentioned, is indispensable. 



Cleft-grafting with two Scions : fig. 9. (Greffe en 



f eiite d, deux ra?neaux.) (Greffe 

 Palladius, of Thouin ) 



Operation. — The stock, as may 

 be seen, is cut horizontally, then 

 split across the middle iu two 

 equal parts, or nearly so, with- 

 out regarding the medullary 

 sheath (a maxim strongly recom- 

 mended by andent authors.) The 

 operations are similar to those re- 

 quired for the Bertemboise mode, 

 fig. 6, excepting that the stock is 

 cut across horizontally, and two 

 scions are inserted in the cleft. 

 This mode is only used for stocks 

 that are too large for one scion, 

 and too small for being cleft for 

 four. In many cases we cut back 

 one of the grafts when both take, if 

 their growths are likely to prove 

 injurious to each other. This, 

 however, is not the case when 

 these grafts are intended to form 

 either fan-trained, or vase-shaped 

 trees. We also use this mode for 

 grafting the strong stem of a bad 

 sort of Vine with a better variety ; 

 but the wood of the Vine being; 

 flexible, it is necessary to bind, 

 securely, the parts operated upon ; 

 then, when the graft 

 is above ' ground, and generally exposed 

 to the sun, we cover the wound with the 

 resinous composition, binding the whole 

 with a piece of cloth, in order to prevent 

 the composition from being loosened, or 

 even thrown off by the flow of sap, formed 

 in the small vesicules, which being eva- 

 cuated, weakens the stock, and consequently 

 the graft, which in this case runs the 

 risk of perishing. Vines ought to be 

 grafted when their sap flows abundantly 

 from one or more small trial cuts made 

 on their stems. [To prevent bleeding they 

 should be in leaf.] 



Cleft Grafting (Paragraphed) ; with 

 Stock and Scion of equal Size: fig. 10. 

 (Greffe Ferrari of Thouin.) — This is ap- 

 plicable to herbaceous and to woody 



Fig. 10. 



• 



bfi 



GRAFTING. 



No. VIII. Cleft-Grafting with a single Scion, formed 

 as the preceding ; the stock cut horizontally: fig. 7. (Greffe 

 Atticus of Thouin.) — Some additions have been made 

 to this mode of grafting, in order to avoid repetition, 

 seeing that they often employ modifications of it for 

 large tubercular roots, herbaceous stems, &c, on which 

 they graft, with good success, young herbaceous twigs, 

 and others ; but it is a bad proceeding for woody 

 plants in all cases where the stocks are as thick, or 

 thicker, than the little finger, because their transverse 

 horizontal section is difficult to heal. But for small 

 stocks, only two or three times the thickness 

 of slender scions, such as we meet with in the state 

 of small shoots, bearing leaves, sometimes flowers 

 and fruits, it is well adapted ; in this case 

 these young shoots are split on one side,* see 

 8. ; and in this cleft the scion is intro- 

 duced. If it should happen that the latter be too 

 large for the stock, cleft as already detailed, and of which 



The 



of whatever 



parts. 



Operation. — lne scion, 

 nature it may be, should be cut wedge- 

 shaped at the base ; the stock should be 

 split down the middle, and the two parts 

 thinned as they are represented, in order 

 that the wedge-shaped part of the 

 may fill all the space, and coincide in every 

 point. This particularly nice mode may 

 be applied to many woody plants, and to a 

 great number of large herbaceous ones. Translated from 

 the French of D'Albret. 



TRADE MEMORANDA. 



fig- 



Who is Mr. John Wild, of Fetter-lane, Manchester? 

 and who is his companion, who lives in Park-place of 

 the same town 1 



• When we adopt this mode of graftirg on herbaceous 

 stems or branches, they ought to be cut above a leaf, or joung 

 branch ; then the cleft should be made opposite to them, 

 and these small productions from the stock immediately below 



its section, ought to be preserved almost entire until such time 

 as the graft shall have completely taken. 



Home Correspondence. 



Mixed Flower Beds v. Masses. — I rejoice to see your 

 correspondent " PharoV remonstrance against the uni- 

 versal adoption of the bedding system, and his remarks 

 in favour of the much-neglected hardy perennials. 

 Allow me to suggest the re-introduction to notice of 

 many very beautiful North American plants, which hare 

 been so neglected as to be nearly if not wholly lost 

 Among them are some of the Trilliums, the Sanguinaria 



