310 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[February 13. 
should be well topped-np, and protected witli mulch of 
dry hay or other litter, and the sides barricaded with 
thatched hurdles or protectors made with evergreen 
primings, furze, or some kind of easily procurable 
materials. As the seed sowing season is advancing, 
| it is well to have manure of some kind in store for 
drilling in with the seed. The beneficial effects of 
! charred materials in forwarding the early germination 
j and healthy rapid growth of every plant are well known; 
j and supposing that all available refuse primings, old 
tan, saw or wood dust, ditch scourings, and hedge 
trimmings, &c., &c., have been carefully put by, a place 
for the convenience of charring it should be chosen, and 
the hoard, whatever it may be, should be placed so that 
it may be charred in readiness for all the crops of the 
coming season; no matter what crop it may be applied 
to, it is sure to produce a beneficial effect. As we have 
had some years experience in charring almost every 
available article, from a stone to the stem of a large tree, 
and in turning it all to account in the cultivation of the 
soil, and plants of all kinds, both in doors and out, 
and having been possibly one of the first in the present 
generation to point out its beneficial effects, it may not 
be amiss, for the amusement and, we trust, also for the 
benefit of some of our cottage readers, to point out the 
method we have long practised, in turning to account 
much that we have seen others reject as useless rubbish; 
and we will commence with a few practical remarks on 
charring, for pointing out, in the first place, in what 
way the cottager may easily turn to useful accouut all his 
garden refuse, and every thing that is supposed to be 
by some people nothing but rubbish. Gooseberry 
primings, rose primings, hedge primings, old hard stalks 
of cabbage, brocoli, borecole, sweepings, takings, &c., 
for all these, rather than dig a pit, we like the charring 
spot a little elevated, for more than one reason, for sup¬ 
posing the foundation of the kiln or char platform to be 
damp, the material damp, and the weather also damp, 
the charring will be a slow and rather an uncertain 
process, particularly to those unaccustomed to the ope¬ 
ration, to get readily rid of the superfluity of moisture in 
a pit; but if a little elevation is given to the platform, 
which should on all occasions be made firm and level, 
the excessive moisture, caused solely by evaporation, 
may be condensed and made to ooze out from the base; 
if the materials are to be placed circular and conically- 
shaped, place three rough stakes or pieces of wood in 
the centre, by driving them into the ground at a little j 
distance from each other, in order to leave a cavity inside 
of them of -1 or 5 inches in diameter, into which a straight 
stake or piece of wood should be placed about the same 
diameter, if allowed to run to the surface of the platform 
all the better, it will prevent any of the materials to be 
charred from running in and choking what is ultimately 
to be the centre chimney or draught flue; a withy, hay, 
or straw band, or piece of rope-yarn or string, should | 
be then placed round the whole to prevent collapsing. 
The stakes to form the chimney may he 4, 5, or more feet 
high, which must be regulated by the quantity of ma¬ 
terials to be. charred ; if they are placed a little too high 
for the quantity of materials, no matter, they may readily 
be sawn off. At the base of this commence by placing 
some of the dryest and easiest ignitible materials, 
packing as close as possible together in courses whatever 
refuse materials there may be to char, taking care if 
any portion be earthy, close, or damp, to intermix with 
it, in forming, some of the ignitible materials, so that the 
process may proceed uniformly; tho outside should be 
cased with the finest part of the materials, and when the 
whole is packed the centre piece of wood or stake should 
be withdrawn, and a few burning embers or fire of some 
kind dropped down to the base of the chimney to ignite 
it; three or four draught holes should then he opened 
through the casing at the base, and as soon as properly 
ignited a turf or sod should be placed over the summit 
of the chimney, and with a stick about the size of a 
broom-stick, a row of holes should be pierced through 
the casing within a foot or fifteen inches, at Jirst, of 
the summit, in order to let out tho smoke. As soon as 
red lire appears, stop those holes, and make another row 
lower down; and thus continue till finished properly at 
the base, when all may be securely blocked, and a hole 
pierced through on the summit, and a little water poured 
down; the hole should be immediately stopped, the 
sudden vapour blocked in will readily smother out (he 
fire, and after remaining 10 or 13 hours closely blocked 
in will be found in readiness to take away, sift, sort, and 
store for use. James Barnes. 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
THE SWEDISH TURNIP. 
By the Authoress of “ My Flowers," Ac. 
Tn these days of difficulty, when the cheapness of provi¬ 
sions is counterbalanced by the want of money to procure 
them, and when the failure of the invaluable potato, has 
deprived us of one of the most useful articles of consump¬ 
tion, I would particularly draw the attention of my really 
economical readers to a vegetable which I daresay they have 
never thought of as food, I mean the swede. What has 
been so long and so exclusively regarded as provender for 
our domestic animals, may be imagined unfit for the use 
of human beings, or at least quite improper for the (able of 
any but the very poorest classes. But this is quite a 
mistake: wo have never indeed, until of very late years, re¬ 
quired a substitute for the delicious potato,—a root for which, 
perhaps, nothing will ever make up; and possessing that 
favourite vegetable, we needed few others, except the delicate 
products of the summer; but now we look round anxiously 
to see what we can employ in its stead; and the swede 
appears more nearly to approach the potato than any other 
root. In fact it is a more nourishing article of food; for the 
potato, with all its good qualities, was said to possess less 
actual nourishment than some other of our garden produc¬ 
tions ; whereas the swede fattens not only cattle, but our¬ 
selves, and that in its natural state too. I remember j 
hearing an observation made to a medical man, that the 
children of some poor person could get nothing better Ilian 
a raw swede for food, and how sad it was to think that they j 
should be in such a state of destitution. To my surprise the j 
reply was, that they could not eat a more nourishing thing; \ 
and though it seemed to us a great hardship, it would feed | 
and strengthen them much better than many other things I 
would do, which wore more esteemed among us. 
Since this observation was made, my sister was speaking | 
to a poor woman who had a large family to support, and very 
little to give them; and was observing to her how good the 
swede was in place of the potato, the failure of which is so 
heavily felt by the poor. The woman replied that she had 
never known that the swede was so wholesome as my sister 
described it, but that she had no doubt it was so; for one of 
her little boys who worked for a farmer was so fond of raw 
swedes, that he used to pick up and eat the pieces cut for the 
cattle, and that she had scolded him, because she feared they 
would make him ill. “But,” sho added, “that boy is the 
stoutest and healthiest of all my children, and he eats more 
swedes than he does bread.” 
