On Cottage Gardening. 



331 



At this time (March) the narrow slip at the upper end of the 

 garden may be furnished with a few herbs for seasoning soup or 

 broth ; namel}^ a plant or two of thj'me, mint, sage, savory, and 

 marjoram, with a drill of parsley sown as an edging. Above all, 

 half a dozen or more roots of rhubarb for the leaf-stalks, which 

 will be found most useful in the family. Seedling plants or old 

 roots may be had of any market-gardener. 



Potatoes. — Preparations must now be made to get in next 

 month (April) the cottager's principal crop. Much of his do- 

 mestic comfort during winter will depend on his having from 10 

 to 15 bushels of good sound potatoes pitted near or well covered 

 up in some safe corner within his house. We have allowed one 

 half of his ground for this crop ; and if the sets be properly 

 planted, and the crop properly cultivated during the summer, we 

 calculate that the yield will be at the very least 15 bushels, 

 besides those used in summer. 



This is a fine store for a labourer to look forward to, saying 

 nothing of his stores of parsnips, carrots, and onions, all most 

 useful additions ; but he may rest assured that unless they are 

 used with economy, twice the quantities would be of little use to 

 him. We have been much among labourers who had gardens ; 

 but with all the authority of a master, and with all the best advice 

 of a friend, we never could prevail with many of them to make 

 the best use of the advantages they possessed. To begin on the 

 potatoes as soon as they were of the size of walnuts, thus devouring 

 bushels at a meal, was a common piece of extravagance ! Selling 

 the whole crop for one-fourth of the value, to save the trouble of 

 taking up and storing, was a frequent occurrence ; and great waste 

 in the cooking was in many cases too visible. But, on the other 

 hand, some, who husbanded their resources, lived comfortably, 

 and showed the manifold advantages they and their families de- 

 rived from possessing a small piece of garden. 



The ground reserved for potatoes will hold 10 rows at 2 feet 

 apart, and will require about 1 ^ bushels cut into sets to plant the 

 same, placing the sets about 8 inches asunder in the drill, covering 

 full 8 inches deep. The sets should be as large as the size of 

 the potatoes will allow, each having at least one eye, rejecting or 

 not counting on that at the bottom, as no shoot springs from it. 

 The best way of cutting the sets is first to split the potato down 

 the middle; each half may be divided into two or three sets, 

 according to the number of good eyes, taking as much of the 

 substance of the potato with each eye as possible. Some curious 

 growers make sets of the crowns, which they keep and plant bv 

 themselves, for the purpose of being first used, as the tubers 

 from these sets always come earlier than those of the other sets; 

 but this is a refinement in the culture with which a cottager need 

 not trouble himself. 



