I 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
181 
! December 19.] 
together in some sheltered corner, shallow trench, or 
other place where they may he slightly protected when 
i severe frost arrives. The winter varieties of hroco- 
' lies now coming in, and all those in a forward state, 
! should meet with the same treatment. An excellent 
I supply of good vegetables may always be continued 
throughout the whole winter and early spring months 
| by a little foresight in cropping, fostering, and protect¬ 
ing, &c. 
The banking and otherwise protecting of the early or 
forward blanched endive, lettuce, &c., should he kept in 
view if not already secured, and order and neatness 
should every where be kept in practice at all times and 
seasons. At the present time, the next year’s cropping 
operations should be pretty well settled in the mind’s 
eye, with regard to the place each future crop is to 
occupy, and also by what each crop is to be succeeded; if 
• these points were kept in view, there would be no waiting 
at any time either for seed or plants, but each would be 
i prepared in readiness for its due season. 
On wet days and during rough weather the root crops 
of all kinds which have been stored should be looked 
over; straw mats and useful protectors of various kinds 
should be made, and the old ones repaired; thatched 
hurdles are always useful, and temporary frames may be 
made from thin scantlings and then thatched, covering 
some with asphalte, others with canvass painted. Where 
hedge trimmings, evergreen prunings, &c., abound, 
famous protectors for hot-beds, linings, &c„ may be 
formed by placing them in flat bundles, and tying them 
snugly together with two or three withes. When the 
prunings are short, we work-in artichoke stalks or some 
other stored refuse; indeed, every kind of refuse we find 
worthy of being carefully stored, and much loss of time 
and labour too is saved by always having such things in 1 
readiness when required. 
A warm border may now be sown with radishes and 
Early Horn Carrots, drilled and slightly covered with 
straw haulm or fern. Slight hotbeds may also be made 
for the purpose of forwarding radishes, carrots, pota¬ 
toes, Ac. 
Cucumbers, where still produced by frames, pits, or 
hotbeds, should now have a beginning made with well- 
wrought fermenting materials. Our own practice is, to 
lay a good foundation of refuse prunings, bush faggots, 
and refuse rough wood, placing on this the hotbed of 
well-worked leaves about 18 or 20 inches thick; on this 
again, we place the frames, and then the linings the 
whole way round, to the top of the frames, protect¬ 
ing the linings with refuse evergreen prunings, furze, 
faggots, &c., tied the proper length with two or three 
withes. A kindly bed is thus soon ready for the plants. 
Potatoes, of the early kinds, should be placed in heat 
to make shoots two or three inches in length, rubbing off 
all the shoots, with the exception of one, previously to 
planting out, James Barnes, 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
OUR VILLAGERS. 
By the Authoress of “ My Flowers," &e. 
I now proceed to give the recipe for sugar beer, which I ' 
mentioned in my last paper. It has been kindly given by a 
gentleman in whose family it is constantly used, and who 
makes it himself, with the assistance of a servant; and those 
members of my own family who have drank it, state that it 
it is quite equal to any beer they have ever tasted. 
“ For a ten gallon cask of tolerably strong ale, take 1 fib 
of hops Boil these for five minutes, and no longer, in eleven 
gallons of water—the extra gallon is required to fill up the 
cask, as the wort shrinks by evaporation, cooling, and fer¬ 
mentation ; strain off the mixed liquor, and dissolve in it 
14 tbs of Foot JJ r est Indian sugar (the light-coloured, weak 
sugar must not be used); pour the wort into the cask. 
There will be about half a gallon over, this will be needed to 
supply the shrinking of the wort. Set the cask with its end 
upwards, and have the bung or cork hole at the top, leaving 
this open. When the wort is nearly cold, add a pint of 
yeast of the best quality. Place the bung lightly over the 
hole, and remove the yeast once a day, as it works through 
the hole, adding the spare wort, so as to keep the cask rather 
more than full. The wort soon begins to ferment, and will 
! continue working for about three weeks. Then draw out of 
the cask about a quart of the beer, and dissolve in it, by 
boiling, half an ounce of isinglass; let this get quite cool 
I (otherwise it will set the beer fermenting again) and return 
it into the cask. This fines it; and then in a week or so, it 
I will be fit to drink. The tap should be placed about two 
i inches from the bottom of the cask, to avoid drawing off the 
j sediment. For a weaker beer, and in larger casks, 1J lb, or 
! even 1 lb of sugar per gallon may be used, with the same 
proportion of hops, viz., lj lb for every ten gallons.” 
It is, or ought to be, a consideration even to the affluent, 
to obtain a luxury at the cheapest possible rate; and beer is 
decidedly a luxury, except in cases of weakness, or constitu¬ 
tional delicacy of health. Where this is the case, and means 
are small, it is a consideration of some importance to obtain 
it with ease, at a cheap rate, and at the same time good. 
Any one can make this beer whose house possesses a boiler, 
| at least in small quantities; the process is neither dirty, dis- 
I agreeable, nor troublesome; and where ladies are concerned 
who may not possess a man-servant, it is an advantage to be 
able to brew without expense and inconvenience. 
The dark-coloured, strong sugar, which is best for this 
purpose, costs about -Id. per pound. Hops are now about 
Is. 3d. per pound, therefore good table-beer may be brewed 
for less than 5s. Cd. the 10-gallon cask; and ale for a trifle 
more. But, I repeat, that only in cases of absolute necessity 
should those possessing narrow means indulge in this luxury; 
and where means are not narrow, health will, in nine cases 
out of ten, be best secured and enjoyed by abstaining 
from it. 
I have had the advantage of conversing with some of the 
best practical economists,—those who have themselves gone 
through the different stages of affluence and poverty, and 
each has borne testimony to the fact, that doing without all 
that is not absolutely essential to the support of life and 
health, is the only real economy. This I have impressed so 
often upon the attention of my readers, that I have no doubt 
they are weary of reading it; still, unless we go to the root 
of the matter—unless we resolutely ascertain the truth, and 
repeat it without regarding the distaste which it may excite, 
we shall not be doing our duty fully; and it may be, that 
by continual repetition some good will be done. I do not 
write for those whose means are such as to allow of their 
economising, as it were, for amusement; or even for those ; 
who feel it.right, and a sacred duty to be careful of every i 
thing which a merciful God places in their hands; but I 1 
write for those (in whom I trust, also, the same holy prin¬ 
ciple dwells) whose means forbid indulgence of any kind; 
and require the strictest and most self-denying practice in | 
matters of the most trifling nature. 
It is a great advantage to us, when our little income is an 
ascertained one—not subject, I mean, to fluctuations from 
various causes, and where it is also received at regular times, 
however far apart those times may be. When money comes 
slowly in, or in trifling sums, I know how much inconvenience 
arises, and how little it seems to do, in comparison of what 
it ought. This may seem to many an ignorant remark; 
