January 24.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
221 
stopped very tight. Then open a hole large enough [ 
to allow the barrel to be put in down to the rim ; then j 
push it down, that the bottom of it may make a mark 1 
in the bottom of the pit; pull it out again, and make 
the hole a foot deeper in the centre, scooping out the 
earth till you come near the mark made by the bot¬ 
tom of the barrel, but that you must leave entire for 
the barrel to rest on; and when you put it into the 
pit again, there will be a hollow under it a foot deep. 
The reason for this is, that the five drainage-holes 
may lie over the void space, both to facilitate the 
drainage and to prevent any of the roots of the trees 
outside from poking in through one of the holes, or 
rather through all of them, as I once found to my 
great vexation. 
. I once put an old herring-barrel down for such a 
purpose, and left the bottom of the pit quite fiat and 
solid under it, not dreaming that roots would enter 
by the drainage-holes, but they did; and I really be¬ 
lieve they could be enticed to go up to the very top 
of the tree itself, by heaping barrels or any tubs over 
each other, and filling them with soil. 
The first thing to put in the barrel is a quantity of 
lime-mortal’, rough cindei’s, or brick-bats, for a good 
drainage, as the young plants must be copiously sup- 
plied with water during the summer, for the first three 
years at least, for nothing tends to push on climbers 
so fast as good and regular watering at first; not j 
that they would require to be watered oftener—once | 
a week or ten days would be often enough. When- 1 
ever a climber looks unhealthy, or is much attacked 
with insects, the cause is generally sure to be at the j 
roots; they are not active enough to keep up that 
supply of sap which is necessary to sustain a rapid 
growing one. Indeed, no hardy plants in the open 
ground require half so much water as climbers, and, 
therefore, the borders, or boxes, or tar-barrels, for 
them, ought to be particularly well drained. Any 
kind of old barrel or cask would do for this work, 
provided it be sound enough to last seven or eight 
years, and that no holes, or open slits between the 
staves, are left for strange roots to get through ; and, 
by the time the barrel is rotten, and the climber full- 
grown, the latter will be able to contend with its fos¬ 
ter-parent for nourishment. 
About six years ago, I had occasion for 22 guards 
of this kind, to grow specimens of scarlet geraniums 
in, in a situation where it would have been impos- 
ble to manage them in any other way; and the car¬ 
penter, who works for the garden, suggested that elm 
wood boxes would last longer than any other kind of 
wood buried in chalky soil. I believe he was right, 
as I cannot perceive that six years’ use has had any 
effect on them. The way he made them is so simple 
that I shall endeavour to describe it, as that sort of 
guard would answer as well as the old tar-barrels, and 
may bo had more convenient in many places. The | 
wood was sawed into strips or staves, four inches 
wide, and half an inch thick ; and then cut into 20- 
incli lengths, that being the depth required for the 
boxes to grow the specimen geraniums in, and they 
were 22 inches in diameter, and made without bot¬ 
toms, only as so many cylinders. D. Beaton. 
[We have to apologise to our readers for this abrupt 
termination. Our able coadjutor had not completed 
his communication, when he sustained the most severe 
of domestic losses. This will silence his pen for 
awhile, but a short time, we hope, will restore his 
equanimity ; and literary employment will be one of 
the best secondary supports to which he can have re¬ 
course under his bereavement.—E d. C. G.l 
Routine Work. —Owing to the continued frosty 
weather, most operations in this department must be 
viewed rather prospectively. Much may be done in¬ 
doors, to forward labour afterwards, by getting sticks, 
tallies, pegs, twigs, crocks, pots, &c., all in a state of 
readiness. It always infers bad management to be 
obliged to have such things attended to in line wea¬ 
ther ; more especially if a man can at any time be 
seen patching the ground, and attempting to work in 
unfavourable weather, when his health, and the true 
interests of his employer, as well as the dictates of 
humanity, require that he should be provided with 
labour under cover. In the smallest garden suitable 
employment may thus always be found, if a little 
forethought be exercised ; and, in attending to these 
matters in a wet or frosty day, the men are more 
happy and cheerful than if they were doing nothing ; 
for idleness is foreign to the nature of our Saxon 
race—a fact, by-the-by, which has some bearing upon 
the mischief and evil-doing existing in society. We 
are so much in the habit of associating the love of 
flowers with all that is gentle and kind, that we feel 
convinced such observations are next to thrown away 
upon the bulk of our readers who possess flower-gar¬ 
dens, because their own benevolence of heart would 
at once prompt to the course we humbly indicate. 
But, as we know that the noblest, and yet kindest 
and gentlest breathing of all philosophy, has not 
suitably influenced the hearts of many of us, to whom 
its claims have been addressed, so we fear there may 
be some—a very few—who love, or affect to love, their 
flowers, who may yet feel more of the selfish than the 
benevolent towards those who assist in their cultiva¬ 
tion ; and to these we would urge the adoption of the 
same course, by that which is clear to most people— 
their own interests—for considerable experience en¬ 
ables us to state, that to obtain the utmost activity 
and energy from a man, in fine w r eather, his comfort 
must be attended to when that weather is wet or 
stormy. 
There are many things, however, which can be ap 
propriately done out-of-doors in frosty weather, if not 
excessively blusterous—such as exposing the soil, 
turning composts, charring thinnings and primings, 
burning weeds, with semirings of fences, and even 
clay, all of which are valuable for any, but especially 
for stiff, soil in flower-gardens; and in making the 
now iron walks a highway, on which all such charred 
and burnt materials, and manure—when deemed 
necessary—may be wheeled to their respective posi¬ 
tions. 
Roses. —There are none of the family but like a 
fair supply of manure, to bring their flowers to per¬ 
fection ; and, if not done before, it may be thrown 
on as a top-dressing in frosty weather. Some of the 
tenderer Tea-scented and China kinds would be all 
the better if such dressing were allowed to remain, 
as a mulching, about their stems, during the winter. 
In some cases, a layer of moss would be required in 
addition; and then some spruce, or laurel boughs, 
should be stuck round them, to shelter the head of 
the plant; though, in such circumstances, it the 
head should be injured, the plants will flower strongly 
from shoots thrown up from the bottom buds. Such 
kinds, against walls, and other fences, in addition 
to mulching, should have their stems and branches 
thus protected with evergreen twigs; and, even it 
neglected previously, it will be advisable to do so, 
before they are suddenly thawed. Such tender 
kinds — and other half-hardy plants, that require 
more protection than mulching with dung, or moss, 
and sticking some boughs among them—should be 
