ladies’ department 
127 . 
Cables’ department. 
THE GARDEN.—No. 2. 
Now up and away, country lassies, fair and 
brown; wrap your shawls about you, and we will 
soon find out what is to be got ready for our summer 
campaign. First, we will loosen the wrappers 
about the fender shrubs; stir the top-dressing of the 
borders; rake the grass plots, and the leaves that 
have gathered under the bushes, and then all will 
look neat and ready for the next warm rain. The 
seed-box must be inspected, and supplied with such 
as failed of the last year’s crop; the labels must be 
taken out, and rewritten; the props and small lad¬ 
ders for everlasting pea and other shoot vines must 
be neatly re-painted—of course they were mended 
last autumn, and put carefully away—it is rather 
too late to have new ones made now, when one is 
almost ready to use them. Among the first spring 
work in the garden, the last trimming should now 
be done, as shrubs are liable to be much injured, or 
even killed, by being trimmed when the sap is in 
lull flow, and the leaf buds expanded. 
As I shall have very little to say about gardening 
for some months, I must ncft omit here to warn the 
ladies of one plague which will mar the beauty of 
their choicest plants, unless timely care be taken to 
prevent it. I mean the snails, or slugs, as they are 
more properly called, which are so destructive to 
vegetation, that I have known in a wet season, 
when more numerous than usual, every plant in 
the garden defaced by them, and scarcely a leaf 
escaped their ravages. But however disagreeable 
it maybe to have one’s flowers devoured so uncere¬ 
moniously, it is a mere tfifle compared to the horror 
of the risk one runs of eating the depredators boiled 
in the spinage, or turning up a fine fat one on the 
lettuce, while dressing it at dinner. Bah ! the very 
thought is enough to make one eschew vegetable 
food for the rest of the season. Yet I have seen 
both happen at a well-ordered table ! The war 
should begin in the autumn, and every snail be de¬ 
stroyed as soon as found; they then congregate in 
numbers just below the surface of the ground, 
around posts, trees, and shrubs, as well as under 
flower pots; in short, wherever they can find a se¬ 
cure, damp lodging for the winter. If they are 
cleared well from these hiding-places, and killed, 
they will hardly become so numerous as to be very 
troublesome the next season. 
Every one must have noticed, when at work in 
the spring, little clusters of bluish-white globules, 
almost transparent, under the little clods of earth on 
the beds and borders; these are the eggs, which are 
deposited in April and May, and are easily destroyed, 
if thrown out where the sun will shine upon them. 
An excellent way to capture those that have 
escaped the vigilant eye of the gardener in the early 
part of tlie season is, tp spread cabbage, or any 
other thick leaves, about the plant you wish to pro¬ 
tect, and examine them while the dew is on in the 
piorning—-for even snail-hunting requires early 
rising. They will be covered with them. Dip the 
leaves in water, and the snails will fall instantly to 
the bottom; but as they do not easily drown, care 
must be taken not to throw the water on the 
ground, nor let it stand unnoticed too long, or they 
will crawl away, and go to work again as merrily 
as ever! Another method, equally effective, and 
much more convenient, as it will entrap them dur¬ 
ing the day—but stop—I must not go quite so fast 
—my fair friends will pardon me for keeping this a 
profound secret, lest I should be suspected of doing 
anything to encourage lazy habits, after all the 
homilies I have written upon the advantages of 
early rising. 
A lady’s dress should always be adapted to her 
employment, and is of more importance in the gar¬ 
den than she perhaps is aware of. The material 
must be strong, or it will be rent to tatters in the 
shrubbery; plain in color, or it will too soon show 
dirt ; without trimming, and short, or it will always 
be in the way, and look untidy. Summer winds are 
hard upon the complexion, therefore, her neck and 
throat will be covered by the deep cape of her gar¬ 
den bonnet; and 
if she will try 
the advantages 
of thick, wash 
leather gloves, 
with a broad 
Garden Glove.—Fig. 38. stiff cuff to pro. 
tect the hands and wrists from the sun and briars, 
she will wonder how she ever did without them. 
Her shoes—-shall I give a drawing of one of them 
also ? Dear Mr. Editor—it must come out—but I 
tremble for the effect of my next paragraph—how 
can! recommend gum elastic shoes to young ladies, 
who perhaps pride themselves upon being like 
her whose 
-- u feet beneath her petticoats, 
Like little mice stole in and out, 
As if they feared the light.” 
“ Little mice,” indeed ! Why, a lady’s feet, 
cased in high gum shoes, are as ugly as black pud¬ 
dings, or young walruses; and, as to fearing the 
light, they seem to have such an undue sense of 
their own importance, that it is almost impossible 
to hide them. I believe the least said upon this 
ugly subject is best; but if the girls have not dis¬ 
cretion enough to wear them, they had better give 
up working before breakfast; which is the only 
time I can, with a safe conscience, advise them to 
devote to it. 
She must also have her own tools, and attend to 
them herself; always rub, clean, and put them in 
their own place, as soon as she has done with them. 
A lady’s spade should be about half the usual 
width, with a handle as light as is consistent with 
strength ; two trowels, of different sizes, with the 
sides sharp and turned inwards, so as to take up 
small plants without disturbing the earth about the 
roots ; a small iron rake ; a hoe ; a pruning knife ; 
a pair of scissors, so contrived, as to hold the flower 
after it has been severed from the stem ; and a 
basket to receive the weeds as fast as they are pull¬ 
ed up. In addition to these, which are absolutely 
indispensable, she ought to have a small light 
wheelbarrow, with long handles, curving upwards, 
which, by throwing the weight principally upon 
the wheel, is moved with much more facility than 
those with long, straight handles; does not strain 
the shoulders so much, and is better suited to a wo¬ 
man’s dress, as she is not obliged to bend the body 
