November 29. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
113 
and if so, why not take it up at once and lay it in 
close together in some warm corner, where it may he 
kept in any quantity, if laid in deeply ? Endive , too, 
may he protected in the same way, with very little 
trouble, should severe weather set in. A good 
gardener should be always watching and providing 
for future wants and events. 
J. Barnes and W. 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
ALLOTMENT GARDENING.— December. 
Although during this dull month nothing immedi¬ 
ate may press on the allotment holder, yet much, of 
a prospective character lies ahead, and even the spare 
hour during winter’s repose may be properly em¬ 
ployed, provided the ice-king’s reign is set aside for 
awhile. Mere labourers cannot be supposed to have 
leisure overhours during winter, and it is clear that if 
such are to carry out improvements during the short 
days that they must at times absent themselves from 
their employment. A couple or three days at inter¬ 
vals, in fair weather, would in general suffice in ordi¬ 
nary allotments as to making improvements affecting 
the staple or condition of the soil, and we think and 
hope there are few employers who would throw them¬ 
selves in the way of an industrious cottager’s pro- 
gress ; the majority would be happy to see an ardent 
desire for improvement in such men; for we may 
rest assured, that in proportion as a cottager becomes 
more industrious and more earnest to better his con¬ 
dition, so will he prove of more value as a servant. 
As foremost, we advise the cottier to look well to 
his potatoes; those who have pitted them—a plan the 
cottager should never pursue if he can help it—must 
endeavour to get them out as soon as possible. In 
Cheshire, at least one half of those pitted are rotten, 
whilst others uncovered in sheds and outhouses have 
suffered little or nothing. The seed potatoes for 
spring planting should be immediately pricked out 
with great care, and spread by themselves in a dry 
and cool place, and made safe from frost. Mr. Erring- 
ton’s practice is to smother them over with fresh lime 
and dry charcoal dust, which, he thinks, has a ten¬ 
dency to purify the skin from anything connected 
with the disease. 
Drainage. —It is scarcely possible to overrate the 
importance of drainage; it concerns the allotment 
holder even more than the general farmer; inasmuch 
as expending, as he should do, a greater amount of la¬ 
bour on his soil, he ought to look for a much increased 
produce. If stagnant waters are permitted to choak 
and corrupt the soil, one half his labour and three 
parts of the manures will be wasted. Manures, it is 
well known, will not act in water-bound soils. Un¬ 
less the hidden waters are removed the air cannot 
enter, and without air entering the soil the manures 
cannot decompose or rot, and without rotting they 
give out little nutritious matter to the plants: the 
very stunted oaks, and other trees, even the apple in 
the hedgerows, or sides of allotments, hear ample 
witness of the ill effects of stagnation by their 
hidebound and moss grown character, and by their 
stag-headed appearance. If, then, liardwooded trees, 
which possess vital powei's of a more enduring 
character than our root crops, thus suffer, what can 
ho expected from such succulent and tender plants 
as the mangold, turnips, and potatoes, with which 
every day that is lost detracts from their ultimate 
weight, the time allotted to them from the seeding to 
the harvesting being of so very limited a character. 
Observe well, too, the difference in the working or 
pulverising of the soil in soils thoroughly drained, 
and those of a stagnant ch aracter; neither rake, nor 
harrow, nor roller, can effectually crush the “ livered” 
clods on wet and adhesive soils; they are always 
tough, being as it were only kneaded by the action 
of implements. Indeed, if it were not for the useful 
action of our severe frosts, many such soils must go 
out of culture altogether, as far as concerns the 
plough or the spade. It is well known also that the 
produce from such soils when obtained is not nearly 
so nutritious to either man or beast as that from 
mellow upland, or well-drained soils. Who would 
prefer to buy a stock of potatoes from a wet field, if 
he could buy at the same price from a dry upland 
one ? Wc may here point to another well-known 
fact, as bearing on this subject; a too liberal use of 
rank grasses from water meadows is almost sure to 
produce lice in cattle. Let us, therefore, persuade 
allotment cultivators to take a serious view of this 
matter, and a little extra courage for a day or two 
will enable them to make solid improvements in this 
way, which will never be regretted, but prove a 
source of great consolation in spring and summer, 
when the cottager notices with what ease and satis¬ 
faction he performs cultural matters, and observes, 
as he must and will, such ail improved size and ap¬ 
pearance in his crops of every kind. In making bis 
drains it will be neeessary, in some cases, for the 
allotment holder to endeavour to act in concert with 
those who hold adjoining compartments. This, we 
own, is slightly difficult: nevertheless, we should 
hope that the landlord of the plot would, on a pro¬ 
per appeal, and a well concerted plan, enforce the 
carrying out such a design for the good of all par¬ 
ties ; and take care that each bears his proper share 
in the burden. As such men are not overburdened 
with capital, a.generous landlord should at once pur¬ 
chase the tiles necessary at a per centage charge; 
many thousands of acres lie undrained merely 
through dread of the first outlay. In many districts, 
however, stone and other inexpensive materials exist 
in abundance, and these will merely require carting 
to the spot. We would here advise plenty of depth 
to the drain. Much depends on subsoils, but we 
would have none less than thirty inches in depth : 
very few persons complain of having made their 
drains too narrow or too deep. 
Trenciung and Ridging. —We have before ad¬ 
verted to the immense importance of deep trenching 
in the winter season, and of ridging spare ground, 
whether trenched or dug ; indeed, thorough drainage 
and deep digging or ploughing are the principal 
foundation on which, any real improvements can be 
based. Deep digging not only allows the plants to 
make both more roots and to extend them further— 
thus keeping up a permanent growth during dry 
and hot weather, whilst crops in shallow soils are 
flagging and stationary—but it is an economiser of 
manure. We would, by the aid of trenching, under¬ 
take, during a whole summer, to produce as great a 
weight of some crops, on certain soils, without ma¬ 
nure as with it, accompanied by shallow digging or 
ploughing. Ridging, too, in the face of a long win¬ 
ter ! who has not been struck with the difference in 
the amount of labour requisite to prepare for spring 
crops on soils “ breaking down ” from ridges, and 
those just turned up after laying stagnant since Oc¬ 
tober? Even the most stubborn clays submit to the 
action of continued frost, provided a great extent of 
surface is exposed. 
