PICTORIAL CULTIVATOR ALMANAC. 
DESIGN FOR A COUNTRY SCHOOL-HOUSE, 
The accompanying design is copied from that exceed¬ 
ingly interesting magazine, “ The Horticulturist.” 
The editor remarks, very justly, u The district school- 
house, which 
ought to teach 
youth lessons 
of order and 
beauty, as well 
as the ‘ funda¬ 
mental branch¬ 
es ” usually 
taught there, is 
perhaps the on 
ly public build 
ing in the coun 
try which ex 
hibits utter ne 
gleet.* In N 
England, this 
reproach is fast 
passing away, 
and public 
school - houses, 
admirably de¬ 
signed, well ar¬ 
ranged, warm¬ 
ed, ventilated, 
and fitted up in 
an excellent 
manner, are to 
be found in the 
neighborhood of 
many of the ' . 
* We once heard a traveler remark that he found no difficulty in picking- out the school-houses from all the other country houses in a 
large part of New-York State, for they were the very worst, most dilapidated, and most unadorned houses in the neighborhood! 
larger towns.” The design here given is a leduced 
copy from a design in Kendall’s work on Schools and 
School-Houses, published in London. It represents a 
small school- 
house, in a style 
admirably suit¬ 
ed to harmonize 
with rural sce¬ 
nery. Built of 
estimated in 
England at £270 
but might be 
built of wood for 
half that sum. 
E ven if not ex¬ 
actly copied, we 
think this de¬ 
sign would af¬ 
ford some excel¬ 
lent hints. We 
do not see why 
it would not, in 
its exterior, 
have an agree¬ 
able effect if 
adopted for a 
small country 
meeting-house ; 
it would appear 
far better than 
many as now 
built. 
KITCHEN GARDENING. 
Asparagus. —It is a fine thing for this plant to have 
rich beds of soil and manure, two feet deep, for the 
roots to run in. But one great reason that asparagus 
does not grow larger is, the plants are placed too thickly 
together in the bed. Rows a foot apart will not answer— 
they should be two feet at least. 
Any one may satisfy himself on this point by planting 
two beds as follows: One to be two feet deep, with soil, 
and manure well mixed together, and the rows a foot 
apart; and the other a richly manured soil one foot 
deep, with the rows two and a half feet apart. In four 
years, the latter will furnish altogether the largest 
stalks. But if the bed is both deep and the plants far 
apart, the stalks will be larger than either. 
The nearest possible distance admissible is a foot in 
the row. In a trenched bed four feet wide, only two 
rows should be allowed, two feet apart, and the plants 
alternating, (not opposite) thus giving more space be¬ 
tween them, as in the following diagram: 
* * * * * 
* * * * ^ * 
To raise early Cucumbers. —Place pieces of inverted 
turf just beneath the surface of the soil in a hotbed, and 
on these plant the seed. As soon as the time for spring 
frosts has passed, lift out carefully the pieces of turf 
with the growing plants, and place them in highly ma¬ 
nured ground, where they are to complete their growth. 
No check is given to their growth by this removal. If 
there appears afterwards any probability of a night frost, 
cover them with a bell glass. Cucumbers- have been 
thus raised for the table by the first of summer. 
Early Lettuce. —The cheapest and best way to have 
very early lettuce, is to sow the seed early in autumn, 
in very rich ground, and protect the young plants dur¬ 
ing winter with a frame and strong glass. If light is 
not admitted, the lettuce will die. The white "head 
lettuce is best for this purpose. 
If a few of the plants are set in a hotbed in the 
j spring, they will come forward very rapidly—but with¬ 
out the hotbed, the crop will be as earty as in a hotbed 
with the usual management. 
Melons and Cucumbers. —A common error is to 
plant the hills too closely—six feet apart is about the 
right distance. Another error, is too many plants in a 
hill. A dozen will do till they are beyond the reach 
of “ the bugs,” but never more than three after the 
runners start. Cobbett used to say, “ You will have 
more cucumbers from one plant in a hill than from two; 
more from two than from three; and so on till you get 
up to fifty, when you will have none at all!” 
Millinet boxes are the best security against bugs. 
Remember that high and heavy manuring is very im¬ 
portant for these crops—and let all the manure be tho¬ 
roughly mixed up with the soil. One of the heaviest 
crops of melons ever raised, was watered every alter¬ 
nate day with a liquid made of the cleanings of the hen¬ 
roost mixed with water, and soaked until the water fer¬ 
mented. Half a pint was poured on each hill at a time, 
and the offensive odor drove away nearly all the bugs. 
Early Potatoes. —By sprouting seed potatoes about 
two inches long in a warm place, early in spring before 
planting, taking care not to break the sprouts in cover¬ 
ing, the writer has had potatoes four to six inches high, 
by the time that others came up, planted in the usual 
way without the sprouts being started ,* and they have 
maintained this advantage till maturity. 
Elat Turneps. —The difficulty of obtaining fine crops 
of this root, on clayey soils, has often been noticed. A 
neighbor succeeds finely in all cases by the following 
mode: He spreads old straw over the surface, and burns 
it, which destroys the insects, improves the soil, and 
gives it a coating* of ashes; then sows his seed. A good 
crop always results. A good crop of turneps may 
often be had, with almost no cost, by sowing the seed 
among potatoes, at the time the latter receive their last 
hoeing. 
The Cabbage Grub may be entirely excluded from 
j the young plants, by rolling the stem in a piece of paper. 
1 
:! 
