170 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 27 , 
beds be from nine inches to a foot in thickness, at 
least, and also let the frame be tilled up to within 
two inches of its top before the seed is sown, and if 
the upper six inches of it be run through a coarse 
sieve, all the better for the radishes to run down into. 
Sow the seeds rather too thick than too thin ; press 
the whole surface down—seeds and all—with the 
back of the spade; then sift over the whole with a 
fine sieve, so as to cover all the seeds neatly; put on 
the light, and the work is done. Let the light re¬ 
main on until the plants are all up and ready to be 
thinned out, which should be done with the hand. 
After thinning out, sift a little dry earth over and 
amongst the whole, after which give plenty of air in 
all favourable weather, by taking the lights quite off 
on dry and fine days. 
A few pots of rhubarb may he brought into the 
forcing pit or vinery, in order to keep up a succession 
of this excellent vegetable ; the out-door beds should 
be cleared of weeds, forked up carefully, and top- 
dressed, as before directed, if not already done. 
Give plenty of air to cauliflower plants in frames, 
by taking the lights quite oft" on all fine days, and 
also the hand-glass crop, removing all decayed leaves, 
and keeping a watchful eye upon the slugs. 
James Barnes & W, 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
ALLOTMENT FARMING FOR JANUARY 
The advent of another season of sowing, planting, 
and cultural operations, will bring with it fresh hopes 
to those who are fortunate enough to hold a plot of 
land; and hence the great advantage of a system of 
the kind, not only in an individual but a national 
point of view; for whilst the cottager who occupies 
a mere hovel without a garden in all torpidity and 
indifference, the allotment holder, who takes a pride 
in his plot, is all animation. He, indeed, feels that 
he has a stake in the country, whilst the monotony 
of the day dreams of the former is scarcely disturbed 
by anything but thoughts of the poor-law unions or 
of the almshouse. It has been well said, “ give a 
man something to hope for, and he immediately be¬ 
comes a better member of society.” Now this is not 
a mere poor-law question, but a question connected 
with England’s future weal or woe. In mere daily 
labour, at a minimum amount of wages, the position 
of the labourer is fixed—appears, of course, unalter¬ 
able ; and whilst the dieting, clothing, &c., of the 
family are all at the very lowest ebb, what induce¬ 
ment can there be for him to persevere ? The man 
becomes a mere machine, and a machine, too, of the 
most sluggish motive powers. How different the case 
with the allotment holder, or one who holds a nice 
garden, of from a quarter to half an acre, attached 
to his homestead? More especially if the holder be 
the son of a labourer who holds, or did in his day, a 
similar plot. His children will have been taught 
and made to work many an hour when the children, 
of the former class have been lounging about the 
lanes, pillaging sticks out of every hedge, robbing 
orchards, or, if nigh a village, dawdling about the 
village green, or congregating in nooks and corners, 
to the moral corruption of each other. 
We would now address a few words to the allot¬ 
ment holder or cottager who possesses a garden, and 
which we trust may not be without their use; the 
prospect at hand of another course of useful labours 
must bo our apology. In the first place, then, com¬ 
forts long enjoyed are but too apt with some charac¬ 
ters to be lightly esteemed ; and when such is the 
case with allotment holders, even they may become 
supine or slothful in spite of the many inducements 
to industry. When such is the case it is a most 
lamentable affair, for we have certainly known cot¬ 
tage gardens and allotment pieces held by sluggards, 
who proved themselves quite unworthy of so great a 
boon. Great as has been the distress among the 
labouring classes at times, it has ever been, as far as 
our experience reaches, in the power of an indus¬ 
trious and civil labourer, who held a plot of ground, 
to keep his family above parochial relief—God giving 
him health; exceptions there may be, but they are 
few indeed. 
The cottager, therefore, who holds a good situation 
should thankfully embrace the opportunity placed 
before him of rearing his family in industrious habits, 
and should at all times emulously consider the pos¬ 
sibility that exists of raising some of the members of 
his family in the social scale; or, at least, of en¬ 
suring them the respect always accorded to honest 
perseverance. 
Amongst other duties of the allotment holder, there 
is one which should receive some attention at this 
dormant season, and for which time can scarcely be 
found whilst cultural operations are pressing. The 
duty we here allude to is to endeavour to improve 
his plans yearly. Now, his own practical observa¬ 
tions, made annually, will be of no small amount we 
are aware. But why not avail himself of the benefit 
of the experience of those, perhaps, a hundred miles 
away? It will be seen that we mean reading; that 
is to say, to those who can read ; and we little doubt 
that those who cannot might easily get their neigh¬ 
bours, or, perhaps, their own children, to read to 
them. This will be a source of much more comfort, 
and more profitable in its results, than lurking for 
hours in the village alehouse. We would here point 
especially to the reading, occasionally, of works con¬ 
nected with agriculture or cottage gardening. There 
are now cheap little handbooks on such subjects 
within reach of all; and although all they contain 
may not be correct, nor the most economical view of 
affairs, yet much may be gleaned out of them by a 
mind anxious for knowledge, and desirous of intro¬ 
ducing every real improvement within its reach. We 
are sorry to observe, however, that a good many of 
this class lay such stress on a few facts they may have 
already gleaned, that they become prejudiced against 
anything foreign to their notions; hence they must 
of necessity remain stationary or nearly so. Let all 
such, however, imderstand that there is no stand¬ 
still point in any art or science. The history of the 
past, did they reflect on it—even no further back 
than within the memory of old men now living— 
would prove to them that there has always been a 
constant advance in knowledge of every kind. Why, 
then, should we suppose that we have just reached 
absolute perfection in the year 1850 ? The main 
business is, like lads playing with snow, to keep the 
ball rolling, and it will be sure to increase. We will 
now proceed to look over our allotment affairs pre¬ 
paratory to the advance of spring. 
Fallows. —We use this term to denote laud laying 
at rest after receiving spade culture. This is done, 
according to the old way of expressing it, “ to 
sweeten.” Our allotment friends should not rest satis¬ 
fied with the term “ sweeten;” but in this, as in all 
such cases, dive into the hidden meaning of such 
oft-hand terms. Trenching and ridging was adverted 
to in the last month allotment paper. We may here 
add that the extra amount of evaporation, encouraged 
