48 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 25. 
daily, with thorough safety; tho rest of the diet, of 
course, made out with hay, oat straw, &c.; using a 
little linseed, if to spare, for this is a capital thing 
for a milking cow. One pound of linseed is considered 
by good judges, as equivalent to nine or ten pounds 
of green food; and one pound of good oat straw 
equal to about three or four pounds. Tho following 
mode of giving linseed has been recommended by 
the knowing ones, viz:—lOlbs. of straw chaff soaked 
with two gallons of water, in which lib. of linseed 
and a little salt has been boiled; adding, if to spare, 
lib. of beau meal to the mixture. Now these things 
are all very good, but it must not be forgotten, that 
a liberal allowance of good hay, is of itself sufficient 
to qualify or correct any acidity arising from tho 
liberal use of green food. 
We may now advert to early spring food, which is 
a matter of considerable importance. Of such, we 
may name rye, Italian rye grass, winter vetches, and 
the Thousand-headed cabbage—not forgetting even 
the green or curled kale. Rye sown in September, 
will be fit for cutting in the middle of April, on free 
soil. Italian rye grass, sown soon after harvest, will 
immediately succeed tho rye; and winter vetches, 
sown in the course of October, will also come to hand 
very early in May. The Thousand-headed cabbage, 
about which wo offered repeated advice through our 
allotment papers, is among the best things for the 
cottager with which we are acquainted. This is so 
hardy that it continues growing through the whole 
winter, at least at mild intervals. 
We must now turn to the pig, for this may in 
general be termed one of the main stays of the cot¬ 
tager. Here, again, cleanliness is as desirable as in 
the case of the cow, although some persons have 
fancied that because the pig’s habits are naturally 
dirty cleanliness is averse to health. Those who 
judge thus should consider tho vast difference that 
exists between this animal in a wild state and beneath 
the hand of man. In tho former case it has liberty 
to make its bed or lair in a fresh place daily ; in the 
latter it is frequently compelled to lie on the same 
bed with its accumulated filth for many days toge¬ 
ther, and that, too, in the confined space of a few 
feet. Tn the wild state, moreover, much of their 
ordure is cast when away from their lair altogether. 
We would advise cottagers, therefore, to make a point 
of cleaning out their pig-stye twice a week at least; 
and once in a fortnight we would, after cleaning, wash 
the whole down with water. The latter process would 
carry away a vast amount of impurities, and if a 
puddled hole was formed to receive it the contents 
would form a diluted liquid manure, which might at 
once be applied to the cabbages, fruit-trees, &e. At 
this period of the year most cottagers will have a pig 
in course of feeding, for the principal portion of this 
process should be contrived to fall in September and 
October. Swine, of course, are fed both better and 
cheaper at that period, for then it is that the greatest 
bulk of refuse meat comes to hand from the garden 
or allotment; this, therefore, is an important period 
with the pig feeder. We have during the last twenty- 
two years tried all sorts of diet, both of grain and 
vegetables, and we find it hard to give the preference 
in choosing between such excellent roots as tho man¬ 
gold, tho Swede, the carrot, the parsnip, and the 
potato. Much dispute has existed as to the various 
meals—some preferring barley and others oat. For 
our own part we prefer a mixture of any two or three 
to a single one, believing that such has a continual 
tendency to correct any extreme in the bowels, on 
the proper state of which, like all other animals, so 
much depends. Amongst the roots wo should select 
the potato as the most generally eligible, next we 
placo the parsnip, then the mangold, and lastly the 
Swedo. Be it understood, however, that we would 
not attempt to force the culture of any one of these 
roots to the exclusion of the others on account of 
such preference; they are all good, and we would 
rather follow up the culture of those for which we 
found our soil best adapted, and those considered 
necessary as a rotation. 
Among the meals we place barley as first, next 
tho oats, and then the Indian corn meal, that is to 
say as to quality. There is, however, another side 
to this argument. Economy of purchase is the prime 
consideration, and here we think the Indian corn 
meal the most economical. We purchased last win¬ 
ter at 20s per load of 240 lbs., but since that the 
great depression of the markets as to other grain 
ought to have reduced it very considerably, for oats 
can now be bought for less than three shillings per 
bushel, and under such circumstances we should not 
be content to give more than fifteen shillings for tins 
load of Indian corn Hour. A neighbour of ours used 
damaged rice last winter, at fourteen shillings per 
load, and speaks very highly indeed of it. Another 
consideration is the binding character of these meals, 
for when the pig is nearly fattened the diet is gene¬ 
rally made thicker with the meals, and we have 
known many a valuable pig of some twenty stones 
weight lost through the heating, and of course bind¬ 
ing, character of the food. There is loss danger, we 
think, from barley-meal than any of the others in 
this respect. Of course the allotment holder who 
does not keep a cow will take care to gather his 
mangold leaves, the Swede, &c., for his pig. If he 
has a store pig we would advise him to give these 
materials chiefly to it, for the fattening hog should 
have some good roots. 
We now conclude for this month, and in our next 
paper we will say something about curing bacon, and 
other matters connected with cottage or allotment 
economy. - 
BRITISH ORCHIDS. 
I wish you would lend us your valuable aid in en¬ 
deavouring to bring these beautiful plants into more 
general cultivation. 1 have been driving at it myself 
for years, and have induced about half a dozen friends 
to make collections. Any person who is fond of 
flowers will grow a tropical orchid, let it be ever so 
ugly or insignificant, whilst our own native gems are 
nearly wholly neglected. The beauty of some of our 
native species is a great recommendation, and the de¬ 
lightful fragrance of others more than compensate 
for the little trouble there is in cultivating them. I 
fancy there is an idea abroad that they are very diffi¬ 
cult to manage. I found this tho case when l first 
began to collect them many years ago, but 1 now 
manage them without any trouble. 1 plant most of 
thorn in a bed of strong loamy soil, and 1 always take 
care, if possible, when they are first moved, to have 
them dug up with a clod of tho soil from their own 
habitat (birthplace). After once planting 1 never 
meddle with them, neither allowing the bed to be 
forked up or stirred in any way to loosen the soil; as 
I have ever found that, if meddled with after once 
being planted, they generally die or do no more good. 
The roots have the utmost dislike to being touched. 
Some few I grow in pots, and others on a rockery, but 
these are very few. 
1 collected in tho neighbourhood of Matlock, in 
Derbyshire, a short time since, fine specimens of the 
following:— 
