KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



175 



alternately, they will he much benefited ; hut 

 never water them over the leaves. Polyanthuses 

 in pots may be treated in a similar manner. 



Biennials — as Wallflowers, Brompton and 

 Giant Stocks, Hollyhocks, Campanulas, Sweet 

 Williams, &c, should be planted out early in 

 the month, if not done in autumn ; and towards 

 the end, the same kinds may be sown to pro- 

 cure them strong for another season. 



Cuttings of Fuschias, Heliotropes, Salvias, 

 Verbenas, Petunias, &c, may be planted in pots 

 half filled with soil, and plunged in a warm 

 situation — placing over the pot a flat piece of 

 glass to exclude air; or the pot may be placed 

 in the window of a dwelling-room. Many plants 

 rather difficult to root may be struck this way, 

 the sides of the pots acting as a sufficient shade : 

 the piece of glass should be wiped or occasion- 

 ally turned during damp weather ; the earliest 

 shoots of China Roses taken off close to the old 

 wood when about four inches long and treated 

 thus, will make blooming plants by autumn. 



Dahlias. — The old roots should be started to 

 grow, before dividing or planting them. They 

 may be placed in a box of light soil or decayed 

 leaves, and kept moist; setting them out in the 

 sun during the day, and taking them in, or effec- 

 tually securing them from frost at night, by some 

 Willows and a covering of Ferns. As soon as the 

 shoots are three or four inches long, they may all 

 except one be taken off close to the old timber, 

 and struck either as recommended for other cut- 

 tings, or in phials of water, or in damp moss ; it 

 is important to preserve the lowermost eyes in 

 plants intended to store away for another season, 

 although cuttings taken off higher up the stem 

 will make equally good flowering plants for the 

 present year. It is unnecessary to strike cuttings 

 if the roots can be divided into as many pieces, 

 each containing an eye, as there are plants re- 

 quired. The buds should be allowed to shoot an 

 inch or two before they are divided. By large 

 cultivators, artificial heat is usually employed to 

 start the Dahlia earlier in the year ; but plants 

 started towards the end of this month, under a 

 south wall or in a box, as above, will make 

 stronger and shorter-jointed growths, and usually 

 flower the best. 



Carnations. — Planting out or potting in large 

 pots must not be delayed. 



Mignonette should be sown in the open border, 

 and in pots or boxes for flowering in the window, 

 in July ; let the soil be mixed with one-half well- 

 rotted dung, in which the plants will grow strong 

 and become less liable to suffer from the effects of 

 heat and dry weather. 



Tigridia Pavonia bulbs should now be planted 

 two inches deep. 



Watch the advancing buds of Roses; and if the 

 leaves appear curled, search for a grub whose pre- 

 sence this indicates, or the bloom will be destroyed 

 by it. Window plants should be repotted, and 

 the branches trained or thinned out if necessary. 

 Put sticks to any advancing flower-stems. Choice 

 Tulips should be protected from heavy rains, or 

 frost, if possible. Where this cannot be done, 

 shade them from the sun, and water the leaves 

 when frozen early in the day. Clip Box edgings ; 

 turn gravel walks, and rake down the beds or 

 borders smooth and neat. 



POULTRY AND MEAT. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



The flesh of fowls is a delicacy of the 

 most substantial kind ; and that it is within 

 the reach of the middle classes, and occa- 

 sionally even of the poor, is a matter that we 

 may well congratulate ourselves upon ; for, 

 from the turkey " brazed "* and roast goose, 

 down to the smaller fry of ducks and chickens, 

 the whole race seems warmly and richly as- 

 sociated with hokday keeping, and with 

 " mirth and jollitie," — ably supporting the 

 roast beef of Old England, and paving the 

 way for the plum-pudding — those pillars of 

 our national hospitality of which we are justly 

 jealous. 



Notwithstanding our love of beef, it is a 

 notorious fact that few at a dinner-party are 

 found to partake of the large joint of beef — 

 the piece cle resistance, whilst they can get 

 fowl. In an economical point of view, fowl 

 is decidedly preferable to beef; for the weight 

 of bone in the bird, in proportion to his 

 weight of flesh, is very small indeed ; whereas 

 the weight of bone in the beast is a large per- 

 centage upon the weight of his flesh. Nature 

 having adapted the fowl to rapid transit, has 

 built its bones very thin ; and instead of filling 

 them with marrow, as in the beast, she has 

 filled them with air ; whilst a beast of burden, 

 like the ox, had to be heavily boned and 

 gristled, to resist the strain upon his system. 

 (It must be borne in mind that " he who buys 

 beef, buys bones.") It is, therefore, evident 

 that, in the country at least, and in most 

 country towns, fowl is cheaper than flesh; in 

 so far as really digestible food is concerned, 

 there being so much waste with the inferior 

 joints of meat, and few can afford to have the 

 prime of ox-beef. 



Animals are all more or less affected in 

 their general health and character by the food 

 they subsist upon ; although we cannot 

 always trace from cause to effect, so clearly 

 as we can in butter tasting, the turnips 

 that the cow has eaten. Dairy-fed pork is 

 the opposite to porkers' flesh that has been 

 fed on butchers' offal. Sheep fed on certain 

 pastures are noted for the superiority of the 

 mutton. The flesh of many sea-birds tastes 

 so jisky as to be scarcely eatable. Carnivorous 

 animals and birds of prey are not eaten at all ; 

 and unless the editors of public journals, and 

 such like influential parties, cry down the 

 practice of feeding chickens upon flesh meat, 

 we shall very soon find the farm -fed fowl a 



* " Turkey boiled 

 Is turkey spoiled, 

 And turkey roast 

 Is turkej'- lost ; 

 But for turkey brazed 

 The Lord be praised." — Old Cookery Booh. 



