March 15, IW. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
213 
should be so arranged to follow winter greens, such as Turnips and 
Coleworts, so as to allow no loss of time, as would often occur if 
Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli were the predecessors. But if it 
can be managed, late vigorous varieties, such as Magnum Bonum, 
White Elephant, and Champion are for several reasons best grown 
•on farm land. Although the quarter occupied by Cabbages last 
season will come in well for early or late varieties of strong growth, 
it is always desirable to have as few late Potatoes in the garden as 
possible. 
Celery will require a good proportion of space allotted to it. 
Bate Broccoli makes a good crop to arrange for this to follow, though 
not the best; but the disadvantage of following late Peas or Dwarf 
Beans lies in the ground remaining vacant for a longer period than 
we should wish, although in following these crops the soil is less 
(likely to be infested so badly with slugs as when succeeding Cabbages 
of last year’s crop, or Brussels Sprouts that have had a season’s 
■opportunity of harbouring these undesirable pests. The space 
that is now becoming vacant by finishing up this season’s Celery 
may be portioned out for Carrots and succession Marrow Peas, 
Turnips, Onions, or laid out for new Strawberry beds, old planta¬ 
tions of which may be destroyed after the fruit is gathered, and 
Broccoli planted on the undug surface with the aid of a crowbar. 
This is a practice I would recommend where the crops of Broccoli 
suffer from frost, the firm woody stems resulting from the hard 
root--run being better able to withstand the frost ; also the Straw¬ 
berries are ready for clearance in convenient time for the Broccoli 
(plants. 
Seakale and Parsnips are well adapted to change plots, but care 
should be taken not to allot the quarters occupied by Seakale 
indiscriminately, and unless it can be changed, to allow a strong 
.Rowing crop to follow, as Parsnips or late vigorous Potatoes ; it 
is best to accept the lesser of the two evils, and keep it to one 
^permanent quarter where, with generous manuring, it will continue 
•to thrive for a number of years. Like Horseradish, this root is 
■most difficult to eradicate when once established in good quarters. 
Such is an outline of a few methods by which the produce may 
‘be augmented from limited sources, and although much can be 
^ne by careful planning, care should be taken to determine whether 
"intended arrangements have the true ring of economy, for unless 
such be done the probable results are not always of a satisfactory 
mature.—M. Coojiue. 
GARDEN PESTS. 
If a fresh planting be made, be it of flowers, vegetables, or 
trees, that is where pests will be found, and of equally general 
-application is the fact, that once allow a bird or other creature to 
make its ravages unmolested, and it will not be long before all its 
■friends and relatives will be feasting and making merry. I have 
■seen acres of young plantations surrounded with 3-feet wire 
fencing destroyed in a few weeks, for the simple reason that the 
earlier colonists were allowed to work unmolested, and their 
numbers were steadily increased by others who had doubtless 
'heard of the wonderful land. When once a footing has been 
■gained the mere stopping of holes is not always sufficient to prevent 
their incursions, for educated hares will jump fences, and their less 
agile friends, the rabbits, can find a way over by climbing them. It 
is one of the commonest experiences, where pheasants are allowed 
't’le run of gardens, or where peacocks ramble among flower beds, 
for both these birds to take to certain plants one season, and 
another year their taste, judging by the plants attacked, be entirely 
•changed. But I think the explanation is to be found in both cases 
in the birds beginning at the commencement of the season on some 
particular plant, and continuing to eat that in preference to others, 
the following year a different plant being most ready for consump- 
•tion when operations are resumed. 
The only efficacious antidote is annihilation, but the gardens 
and grounds are numerous where no such drastic measures dare be 
■entered on. The following means of lessening damage, it is hoped, 
may be useful. Rabbits can only be kept at bay by means of 
efficient fencing ; but much fencing, though it looks efficient, is 
really not so. In the first place the mesh is often too large ; 
17 guage l|-inch mesh is the largest size that should be used, but 
■sometimes a young rabbit will find its way through this size. 
Twice in eight years I hive known a rabbit pass through this mesh. 
If the plantation or ground to be protected is of any extent the 
•wire must be 3 feet wide. The method of supporting this wire 
may either be by means of wooden stakes and rails or of iron and 
wire, but either way it must be so fixed in the ground as to 
puzzle rabbits to burrow under it. Merely sinking the wire a few 
inches in the ground will not be sufficient ; but by bending it 
■outwards 3 inches and sinking the whole sufficiently deep to 
leave 2 feet G inches above ground the rabbit will be a wonderfully 
cute one that will find his way through. For single trees the 
wire need not be sunk, and 2-feet wire is quite deep enough. 
Where hares are plentiful it is necessary to employ a wider wire 
for Hollies, hares being very partial to these, standing over the 
edge of the wire to reach the leaves and shoots. Standard or bare¬ 
stemmed trees may be protected by a collar of netting, but gene¬ 
rally a mixture of clay with cowdung and water, painted as high 
up as the animals can reach, will afford an efficient protection and 
keep its properties good for at least twelve months. 
Squirrels are particularly destructive, and there is no cure save 
shooting. Where squirrels abound no Conifer is safe, and in spring 
much damage is done to deciduous trees ; but it is when they visit 
the garden that they become unbearable. I have watched indivi¬ 
duals operating on Peaches, Plums, and other fruits, and the 
certainty with which they selected the best specimens in succession, 
and the astonishing rapidity with which these were in turn dis¬ 
cussed and others taken up to disappear in a like manner, would 
have been interesting had one’s feelings been less personal. The 
only safety for fruit is to kill the first intruder, as if left for a 
few days every squirrel within visiting distance will be on his 
holidays, and have Mrs. S. and those of the family who are of a 
visiting age along with him. 
The rat not undeservedly bears the name of being the most 
longheaded and the least sentimental of all vermin, and cjn- 
sequently he is the most capable of looking after his personal 
safety while on his ravaging expeditions. If no attention is paid 
to him, or if the duty of extermination is performed in a per¬ 
functory manner, he will stay on in the same place, bring up a 
family worthy of patriarchal times, and have a good time of it 
generally. But if the chase is hot he and all his belongings will 
quickly shift their quarters, though indue time an incursion will be 
made to see how things are going on. When times are hard the 
rat will eat anything. Of course he prefers a well ripened bunch 
of Grapes or a luscious Pear, and in the way of vegetables if he 
can set up a home in a pit of Potatoes he is fairly comfortable. 
Newly planted bulbs are choice morsels, ani when very hard 
pressed he is not averse to the stems of Sprouts and Broccoli, with 
a bit of Pelargonium for a change. Trapping will destroy a few, 
but the great drawback to traps is the assumption the untrapped 
portion of the community form that if a trap is bad for one rat 
it must be bad for all, and consequently they either get out of the 
way of traps or withdraw to another feeding ground for a time. 
There is one thing which a rat is too weak to pass, and if he 
partake of it the one time his chances are over, and that is phosphor 
paste. Mix the paste on bits of bread, and wrap it in paper 
rolled up in the shape which grocers employ for small purchases, 
leaving just a little bit open to allow the curious to see there is 
something worth investigating ; and very soon a pretty quarrel will 
ensue as to who is to have the most, the morning revealing the 
partakers of the feast close by in comfortable attitudes, but all 
dead. 
Mice, like rats, are very destructive, but apart from a uood 
hunnng cat, trapping is the best method of destru :tion. When 
they are numerous or hard on Peas I have found this to keep them 
at bay. Fill a bittle with petroleum, close the mouth with a cork 
in which a quill is inserted, and through which the oil can be 
sparingly dribbled over the surface of the lines under which the 
Peas are. 
Of feathered pests the wood pigeon is very destructive, and 
difficult to get rid of when once a garden becomes frequented. I 
know no better method of keeping them away than by going over 
all the nests in the near neighbourhood of the garden, taking and 
destroying them and the eggs. When this is done effectually no 
pigeon will trouble the garden. But once allow a pair to feed, and 
when and where the nuisance will stop it is impossible to say. 
They break through nets, and are averse to no kind of young 
vegetables or fruit, Cauliflowers, Broccoli, Cabbages, Peas, Cur¬ 
rants, Gooseberries, and Strawberries being the crops most com¬ 
monly destroyed. Though pheasants do not perhaps come rightly 
under the name of vermin, yet as they are often the means 
of great loss, a few words here may not be out of place. One 
thing ought not to be done with these, however great the tempta¬ 
tion may be, that is to kill them. No proprietor fond of game 
would allow such a thing ; and if on pointing out the damage 
that is being done no remedy is provided, then all that the gardener 
has any right to do is to protect his crops, and if possible starve 
them out. Pheasants are particularly fond of Pinks, Carnations, 
Potatoes, Artichokes, and young Peas. In certain seasons they will 
evince a liking for young Lettuces and Brassicas, and a few other 
plants, but the above are chiefly those damaged. The two first named 
we have to protect with herring nets during the winter season. Peas 
have always to be protected. I have seen a few hundred yards 
destroyed during the dinner hour through being left uncovered for 
