THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 31.] 
prove the signal to banish the apathy and dullness 
which a tedious winter is sure to produce. All grades 
of society, in our highly favoured isle, bid fair to 
make an unusual stir during the year 1850, and 
shall it be said that the cottager alone remains in¬ 
active and stationary—looking only to a poor-law 
system for relief in adversity? We hope, and we are 
assured, it will not be so; at least our monthly mite 
will, we trust, assist in the general progress. Eng¬ 
land is still great among the nations, although she 
is somewhat stricken in years. Commercial matters 
carry a bold front; and, spite the hard struggle which 
severe competition (whether of skill or labour) is 
sure to engender, there is a living to be got for all 
who will try in earnest. We hear of over-popula¬ 
tion, and at the same moment of an enormous glut 
of capital awaiting investment, whilst the soil we 
tread is thirsting for this prime moving power; and 
who can yet assign limits to the productiveness of 
the soil ? Compare a highly cultivated garden, one 
become notorious for its produce—such we now and 
then meet with;—compare such with the road-side 
garden of the sluggard, choked with weeds, half dug, 
half .manured, a prey to devouring insects, stray 
animals, and neglect, and then say if England has 
done her whole duty in social matters ? As great a 
difference may be seen in our farms; and these 
things duly admitted, what becomes of the idea of 
over-population? To the cottager, then, we say, 
persevere ! the acquisition of one extra comfort will 
lead to the desire for another; a judicious economy 
will then be considered necessary, and thus both 
comforts and capital will equally increase. This 
done, you will feel you have a real stake in the na¬ 
tion ; you will desire nothing but to continue to 
improve, and Poor-law unions will be as much de¬ 
spised by you as aimed at by the idle or the dissipated. 
Rotation of Crops. —The first tiling to be deter¬ 
mined, if not already done, is what course of cropping 
to pursue. On referring to our diagram, at page 184, 
of last year, we see no reason to depart from the plan 
there laid, unless the allotment holder has no cow ; 
in which case he may, if he chooses, plant the root- 
division—intended chiefly forthe cow—with potatoes, 
or any crop for sale. This, however, depends on his 
wants in-doors. We think, therefore, that the dia¬ 
gram may be safely followed out in general respects. 
Store Roots. —These must be carefully looked 
over. Those who neglected separating them and 
potatoes in the autumn, should do so immediately; 
this will afford a chance of picking out all the 
rotten ones. The seed potatoes should not be laid 
more than two deep; indeed our best kidneys, or 
early potatoes, we place singly, talcing care not to rub 
off' the sprouts. Onions should, also, be looked over; 
and, indeed, all store roots are best turned over at this 
period, for it arrests the sprouting of the mangold 
and swedes, and causes them to keep the longer. Of 
course, all sprouts must be carefully rubbed off. Par- 
snips, if left in the ground, according to our advice, 
must now be carefully trenched out, and the ground 
will be left in capital order for any crop. If no 
manure has been placed over their crowns, it should 
be done before trenching them out. 
Saving Seeds. —It is scarcely worth the cottager’s 
while to save his own seeds, unless it be of the onion, 
or a favourite cabbage ; most of the others occupy 
too much room; and such tilings as mangold, swedes, 
parsnip, and carrot, may be bought much cheaperthan 
they can be grown. Onions for seed may be planted 
in the end of February, and old cabbage stumps will 
run, of their own accord, to blossom soon after. 
Buying Seeds. —An estimate of the quantity of 
seeds per acre, or per drill, will be found at page 185 
of last year’s Cottage Gardener. The cottager 
should, as soon as his rotation is fixed, settle how 
much of each he will want, and let them be pur¬ 
chased at some first-rate seed-warehouse, for many 
of the small peddling country seedsmen sell an in- 
ferior article; their price, moreover, is frequently 
higher. We should hope, before long, that gentle¬ 
men, or others possessing many small tenants, or 
clergymen, will purchase cottager’s seeds wholesale, 
and retail them out at prime cost to the cottager. 
This would save every allotment holder a few shil¬ 
lings. With regard to onion seed , our practice is to 
buy an equal portion of Deptford, White Spanish, and 
Globe, or other kinds, and to mix all the seed to¬ 
gether. This always ensures a crop. In cabbages we 
advise the Matchless, the Queen, the Nonpareil, and 
the Battersea, as good kinds. In carrots, the Al- 
tringham, the Early Horn, and the White Belgian, 
for cattle. In parsnips, the large Guernsey. In tur¬ 
nips, the Dutch, the Stone, and the Swede. In peas, 
the Blue Imperial, and the Prussian. In beans, the 
Green Long-pod, and the Windsor. In onions, the 
Deptford, White Spanish, Globe, and Tripoli; and 
in borecoles, the old Curled Green-kale, savoys, and 
thousand-headed cabbage. In lettuce, the Bath Cos, 
and the Hammersmith Hardy-green. Such as these 
will be found the best adapted to carry out the course 
of cropping we have to recommend. 
In peas, it is an essential point to grow those which 
require moderate sticks, and which produce their 
crop in a glut, in order that the ground may be 
soon clear for the sake of other crops. 
In cabbage, the dwarf, early-hearting, and com¬ 
pact kinds, are alone desirable. These crop thickly 
together; and may, if requisite, be taken speedily 
off the ground. 
In carrots, (the Altringliam produces a large win¬ 
ter’s root, in the drill compartment; whilst the Early 
Horn is a capital summer and autumn root, and 
classes with the bed culture. 
In lettuce, solid hearting kinds are best; the little, 
insignificant-looking, Hammersmith will produce 
more than any other, for they may be sown broad¬ 
cast, and thinned to only four inches apart. 
Improvements. —Any arrears of such improving 
processes, as drainage, trenching, amelioration of the 
staple of the soil, &c., may still be carried out before 
cropping commences. 
Hedging, or other fencing, must be completed 
forthwith. Any gaps, too, must be well made up by 
plashing, or otherwise. Where allotments are near 
populous places, and the unlucky lads get a hole 
through into the plot, a berberry-bush, if procurable, 
will prove superior to anything else. 
Manures. —Such as have lain accumulating for 
many months, should have a little examination before 
wheeling or carting them out; for the later mucking 
out of pigs, or the cow, are not fit for immediate use, 
unless to dig in for cabbages, &c. It is, we think, 
the best economy to trim all long and raw stuff' 
aside, before removing the mass. The mellow mate¬ 
rial below will be capital for drills, or for the bed 
culture; and the longer, and more raw portion, may 
be covered with common soil, in a mound, to exclude 
rain; this will lie wanted in the course of the sum¬ 
mer. If, in removing the manure, any of a very old 
mellow character should come to hand at the bottom 
of the heap, let it be removed to an outhouse floor, 
and spread a few days to dry. In the meantime, let 
all the chimneys be clean swept; and if a few 
