February 27.J 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
337 
tato Onion, Shcilots, and Garlic, if not already planted, 
should be attended to at once. For Sea-hale seed and 
Asparagus, we always find it the safest time to sow the 
beginning of April, as, if sown earlier, the morning frosts 
often kill or cripple the young plant so, that they never 
I afterwards thrive well. Round, or Flanders Spinach, 
I should be sown little and often in single drills. Every 
| piece of ground, as it becomes vacant, should at once be 
| trenched and ridged; and our oft-repeated directions for 
! surface-stirring kept in mind to prevent weeds, disease, 
or destructive vermin, making their appearance. 
Charring.— Wood dust, commonly called saw-dust, 
! is an article that may be turned to valuable account by 
charring, but it requires some care to char it well; that 
is to say, to roast it black, instead of burning it to ashes, 
and there are more ways than one of accomplishing the 
desired object. One plan that we have successfully 
tried, is by forming a chimney with three stakes set up, 
or driven into the ground, in the shape of a triangle, as 
previously recommended, and tying round the outside ! 
of these a little straight straw, furze, or brushwood, just 
enough to prevent the dust from running between the 
stakes, and choking up the intended chimney. It is 
first necessary, in beginning to pack, to place next the 
base of the chimney, a few shavings, refuse chips, furze, 
brushwood, hedge-trimmings, or open rubbish, and then 
to commence packing the dust very firmly against it, 
beating, ramming, or treading it well, and working in, 
at intervals-, as the packing proceeds, a little of any of 
the above-mentioned refuse, to prevent it from getting 
air-bound, which we have found that it sometimes will 
do, if wood-dust only is packed for charring by itself. 
The heap, or kiln, may be packed to any desired height 
or dimensions, always remembering that the larger it is, 
the longer time it will take to char properly. All that 
is required to be done when the heap is formed to the 
intended size, is to give it a thin covering of fine earth, 
to withdraw the centre or chimney stick, introduce the 
fire at the base, by dropping down a small quantity of 
live embers, and, as soon as properly ignited, to place a 
sod over the summit; introduce draught holes all round, 
within a short distance of the summit, as previously 
advised, and thus continuo to block and open fresh 
holes as the charring proceeds; if, at the first igniting, 
or even afterwards, it should get air-bound, or too slow 
in burning, we have found it an easy remedy to thrust, 
from the outside base to the chimney base, a good sized 
stake, to admit air at three or four places, which may 
be again blocked when all is going on well. 
Another plan, which we have found very good, is to lay 
a small train of straight straw, brushwood, or furze, &c., 
from the base of the chimney to four opposite points, pre¬ 
vious to commencing the packing. But where there is a 
large quantity to be charred at the same place, it is the 
best plan to form out a little three or four-inch trench 
from the base of the chimney to four points, and to 
cover them either with refuse, outside slabs of board, or 
brick. Air is thus at full command when required, by 
merely opening the mouth of either trench, or the whole 
of them, as required, and punching a hole tlnough the 
summit sod with the kiln-stick, or, as it may perhaps, be 
termed, the ventilating stick; the stopping up the whole 
or a part again, must be regulated by the progress the 
fire is making ; sometimes the effect is so quick, that it is 
quite necessary to block up again almost immediately; 
but these are matters over which the effects of weather, 
and the condition the material is in, have great influence, 
and a little experience and watchfulness in its progress 
will soon render any one efficient in such matters. 
There is also another method of charring wood-dust, 
where a large quantity is made, which is, to put it into 
a pit or hole, where it can be well moistened and trodden 
by horses, and, when half decomposed and well inter¬ 
mixed, to mould it out the size of bricks, and place these 
to dry, when they may be easily packed for charring. 
Fresh wood or saw-dust is also very useful in assisting 
clay and earth charring, by mixing a portion amongst 
it when being packed for charring. James Barnes. 
MISCELLANEOUS INEORMATION. 
ALLOTMENT FARMING FOR MARCH. 
Seeding Period. —From time immemorial, doubtless, 
March would constitute a period when our venerable ances¬ 
tors would begin to think of their seed bags—although not 
stuffed, in those days, with such new-fangled things as 
mangold, the swede, &c. And, indeed, useful as they are— 
nay, almost invaluable—still the old-fashioned turnips can¬ 
not be dispensed with, neither the carrot, the origin of 
which, in its present highly improved state, must, we 
suppose, be sought for in the dusty records of bygone days. 
Having promised, in the February paper, to pursue a 
little farther the subject of mixed or associative crops, we 
now resume the subject. 
Onion Sowing.— These valuable bulbs, which form one of 
the most important condiments of the cottier, to say nothing 
of their immense consumption by every cook,—these, we 
say, are a well-known late harvester in most parts, and good 
cultivators are generally anxious to get the seed in as early 
a3 they think it safe. However, extremes must here be 
avoided, for we have frequently known a good crop com¬ 
pletely paralyzed by a too early sowing The young plant 
will endure a moderate white frost or two in April; but a 
May frost—a thing not altogether unusual—is indeed, in 
Shakspearian terms, “ a killing frost,” or, perhaps, a nipping 
frost; for the blade will become so injured at times, that 
the crop never fairly rallies, anil this mishap is aggravated 
in proportion to the luxuriance of the crop. Let me not, 
however, deter folks from a somewhat early sowing—say in 
the second week of March. We must also advise against a 
too liberal application of manures. The market gardeners 
about London make a practice of taking a crop of cole- 
worts or cabbage from the ground intended for onions, 
the manure being applied to the cabbages. They, in 
general, sow broadcast, but for limited gardens we prefer 
beds; for in the broadcast way the culture is earned on by 
means of small hand hoes, in the use of which their men 
are peculiarly expert; and we have always found it difficult 
to get this work done to our satisfaction in the country. 
Beds, moreover, of forty-two inches in width, are easily 
reached by a cottager’s children, and all the weeding should 
be done by them—making, in all cases, bed crops capable 
of being reached easily, without the foot being placed on 
the beds. Our market men generally throw a sprinkling of 
; lettuce seed with their onions; but these are withdrawn if 
! the onions thrive well. A sprinkling of radish might be 
added also. Let those who would desire a good crop take 
care that all spade operations are performed when- the 
ground is very dry. We generally sow when the soil is 
dusty, and we always tread it in as hard as feet can make it. 
Let no one, however, tread if wet. We then cover thinly 
with soil—say the thickness of a dollar—giving it a slight 
raking after; and then, in a fortnight or so, when very dry, 
wo roll the surface. One ounce will sow a bed of this width 
about twelve or fifteen yards. Onions are generally a profit¬ 
able crop to the cottager, for they generally realise good 
prices ; and, as another recommendation, it may be observed, 
that if they fail, they generally fail in tune to enable the 
cultivator to establish some profitable autumn crop on then- 
ruins. 
Parsnips. —These require sowing early, for they are 
always somewhat late in perfecting their roots, which are 
assuredly amongst the most nutritious of this class of vege¬ 
tables. They can scarcely bo applied amiss, whether to 
