May 23, 186S. ]i 



jouknaIj of hoeticulttjrb ajstd cottage gakdenee. 



403 



to pass through life not only pleasantly, but respectably 

 and honourably. The " can't be done " folks will soon be 

 left behind in the race. The old gardeners who thought 

 they worked wondrously hard some forty years ago, would 

 find, if practising now, what with bedding-out and other 

 work, that gardening in their younger days was mere child's 

 play as respects labour with head and hands, compared with 

 what it is at present. 



We make it a rule to discom-age all young people from 

 taking to gardening as a profession, unless after due trial 

 they find they have a peculiar taste and fitness for such a 

 pursuit, have a strong relish for study and mental expansion, 

 and are not afraid in the first place of self-sacrifice, hard 

 living, and hard work. All the romance, pioturesqueness, 

 and poetry of the affaii-, without these natural aptitudes 

 and tastes, will be apt to dwindle down into mere routine, 

 indifference, or discontent ; and we have little faith in that 

 buoyancy which is heavily fettered with a real, or even a 

 supposed grievance. Just as in the case of a poet, there 

 must be natural tastes and aptitudes to form a gardener. 

 We have boys that with slender edircation know every 

 bedding plant by name, and can easily point out the diffe- 

 rence between those very much alike. We know labourers 

 who have worked among such plants for a quarter of a 

 century, and though they know one plant to be a scarlet 

 Geranium, and another a yellow Calceolaria, they do 

 not otherwise know the name of any Geranium, Verbena, 

 &c., and, therefore, cannot be trusted to get plants of either 

 without these being pointed out to them. No forcing or 

 training could ever make such a man anything more than a 

 person who would do what he was bid. The boys, if they did 

 not shii'k the necessary application, or become self-conceited 

 from not knowing enough, would become good gardeners. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Cabbages. — Ours are generally very good. We grow chiefly 

 the Vanack and Matchless. This season they do not cab- 

 bage so well as usual, growing higher and more to leaf than 

 heart. We see, also, that there are some rogues among 

 them. Seedsmen should be very careful of such matters, 

 as otherwise gardeners would be forced at a loss to save 

 their own seed. We say at a loss, because all small private 

 growers would save their ounce or two of Cabbage or Lettuce I 

 seed at a loss, inasmuch as they could not do it for so little j 

 money as the man who saves seed as a commercial under- 

 taking. As the plants do not cabbage so fast as we would 

 like them, we have put strips of mat round a score or two of 

 them, just as we treat a Lettuce, to encourage the hearting 

 more rapidly. A young Cabbage, green outside and yellowish 

 at the heart, well cooked, is a dish fit for an emperor. 

 Sowed Coleworts, Onions, Lettuces, and a little more Cauli- 

 flower, the secret for a good and not wasteful succession 

 being simply frequent sowing. 



Cauliflowers. — Pricked out in a bed, planted a row or two, 

 and gave a good watering with manure water to those 

 coming in that were under glasses, and the first and second 

 planting out of doors. The glasses from the Cauliflowers 

 win be used to protect the first 



Kidney Beans that will be turned out of pots out of doors, 

 to come in before the first sowing in the open au-. These 

 if started in the pots before planting come in early, and 

 enable us sooner to dispense with those in pits and frames. 

 We have a lot bearing heavily now in pits ; they are grown 

 in pots, one advantage of which is, that we can turn them 

 out ere long and give them a little protection. There is 

 hardly any limit to the bearing of these Beans if the pods 

 are kept close picked, and plenty of nourishment is given to 

 the roots. V/ e have grown none in houses this season — in 

 fact, our houses are too much shaded for them to do much 

 good there, after the standard or roof-plants are in leaf. 

 The shade is also apt to bring insects on the plants, which 

 will trouble them little or none at aU, when" they can be 

 duly exposed to light and air, and a fair use of the syringe 

 caji be made. 



Winter Greens. — Pricked out on a north border for want of 

 a better plarr, a lot of Scotch Kale, Brussels Sprouts, 

 Broccoli, Savi-n's, &c. Will soon have the earth-pits, now 

 filled with bedding plants, at liberty for this purpose. These 

 plants will be nice and stubby, and lift with balls, as soon as 

 other crops are cleared away. This in some cases answers 

 better than 



Double and Treble Cropping the ground at onoe, as ably 

 alluded to at page 377, though we have followed a similar 

 system for many years, and would do so more had we a 

 plentiful supply of manure. We had most of our Broccoli 

 last season planted between Peas and Potatoes. The Pota- 

 toes were first removed, then the Peas, and the ground 

 forked over among the Broccoli — good stiff little plants which 

 have produced compact nice heads. In spring Potatoes 

 were planted between the Broccoli, and Peas at some 10 or 

 12 feet apart, digging out a trench and dunging it before 

 sowing. Now, a good part of the Broccoli being cut, it 

 will be taken away, the ground forked up, the Peas staked 

 when high enough, and when cleared of Potatoes, the ground 

 will be used for Turnips or salads, and most likely will be 

 trenched in winter for Carrots, or thrown out in beds for 

 Celery with Peas on the banks. We think the shade of the 

 Peas is of great benefit to the Celery and helps to give it 

 what it naturally wants. We generally grow the Celery in 

 beds from 3 to 5 feet in width, and these beds, if made in 

 time, come in useful for early Potatoes or the earliest Cauli- 

 fiower before the Celery is ready. To all who have little 

 ground, and do not begrudge a little extra labour and ma- 

 nure to make the most of it, we commend attention to our 

 correspondent's article. 



Oraons.— Planted out a lot of the autumn-sown — should 

 have been done some weeks ago — merely fastened the roots 

 in the ground, leaving the neck and bulb out. These were 

 planted between the rows of fresh-planted Asparagus, hardly 

 fair to the latter however, but the roots will not reach to 

 where the Onions ax-e until these are taken off. In thinning- 

 for this planting moved the earth from the neck of the. 

 Onions left, and placed those not wanted in by the heels in 

 a shady place to be used for salads ; the spring-sown being 

 as yet scarcely large enough, though just the size that some 

 people like, who dislike them when larger than a small 

 stocking-needle. Picked over the Onions in strings, taking 

 out all those still hard and firm, and placing them thinly in 

 an airy place, and turning the others growing into a trench, 

 to furnish ScaUions. These are generally softer than young 

 Onions, and for those who can tolerate the scent furnish 

 a nice relish to the labourer with his bread and little bit of 

 pork or bacon, if they are not wanted for other purposes. 

 Long after this fine Spanish Onions are to be obtained in the 

 shops in London as fresh and sound as a good Turnip. How 

 is growth prevented in the heat of the summer ? 



Turnips and Radishes. — Sowed more in succession. A new 

 fly seems to be committing ravages among them and young 

 plants of all kinds this season. At least, we have not yet 

 seen the old Turnip fly, and judge it must be another one, 

 though we have never seen it, but we see the effects, the 

 leaves being nibbled and holed. Wood ashes dusted over 

 are as good as anything for keeping them away. Spruce 

 branches stuck among the plants are also good. Watchful- 

 ness here, too, must be exercised, if the gardener would 

 conquer his natural enemies, and he may rest assured that 

 whatever commiseration may be felt for the farmer, when 

 his richly-manured fields resemble a barren waste, there 

 will be Httle sympathy felt for the gardener if by some 

 means he does not produce crisp, sweet Turnips. What 

 sort of Tui'nips are those which are marked in the Covent 

 Garden report at from 3d. to 6d. per bunch ? Young Turnips 

 at one time at this season would have been worth shillings 

 instead of pence. 



Cucuraber-beds. — You will recollect how these were made 

 for frames. The heat has kept very regular, but began to 

 decline a little, and, therefore, a little short grass was put 

 round the frame, and covered with long litter, so as to 

 afford secure footing. After such addition, care must be 

 taken to' tilt the sashes for air — that is, lift them up and not 

 slide them either backwards or forwards. The steam from 

 such material would be anything but relished, and hence 

 the importance of lifting the sash and keeping it up with a 

 notched stick or other means, and not sliding the sash up 

 or down over such linings. The topping of these linings 

 will be all the beds will require until late in autumn. After 

 all that can be said, the great secret for lasting hotbeds, is 

 to build them so that there shall be a slow decomposition of 

 their materials, and, consequently, a slow and graduals 

 giving off of heat from that decomposition, which is. just" 

 another form of combustion. 



