THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 28 .] 
time for the cottager’s main crop of peas—main crop 
we say, for if he can snatch one full crop from a 
small holding, it is all that can be expected. Very 
early and very late peas are somewhat too uncertain 
for the small allotment; they, moreover, stand rather 
too long on the ground, and cause too much trouble 
in staking. We know of none so fitting for cottagers 
as the Green Imperial. This pea has the merit of 
producing a glut for about three weeks or a month ; 
it then suddenly ceases bearing, and may be drawn 
up and the ground dug, and recropped with some of 
the winter greens. We might name the Bishops 
New Lonp Pod, and another or two new and good; 
such, however, are half-a-crown a quart, and that is 
too much for allotment men; added to which, the 
superior character imputed to some of them, needs 
further proof. The old Prussian Blue is another 
good pea. Whatever kind the allotment holder grows, 
he need not give more than eightpence a quart for. 
The pea ground should be deeply dug, and if poor, 
some manure must be added. Very thick sowing 
should be avoided—a fault common with cottagers 
in some parts of the kingdom, who think thereby 
to make the most of a little compass. One quart of 
Imperials ought to sow twenty-five yards. 
Broad Beans. —We would not have the cottager 
plant beans later than the middle of March ; indeed, 
the last fortnight in February is, perhaps, the best 
time of all for a full crop. The old Windsor is the 
best, as we think; the Green Long Pod is a good 
one, and Marshall's Early Prolific a useful early 
kind. 
Spinach. —A bed of rich soil may be usefully em¬ 
ployed in this vegetable, provided the cottager chooses 
to indulge in a change occasionally. Where rows of 
peas are sown side by side, spinach will grow very 
well in a drill in the centre; indeed, a “ stolen crop” 
may be had from other plots. We find this, when 
running to seed, a very good “change diet” to cows 
or pigs, when their bowels are too costive. A sub¬ 
stitution of this, for a few meals, will soon alter their 
bowels, and is far preferable to medicine. 
Lettuces. —Everybody knows what capital pig- 
feed these are; those who keep breeding sows should 
always have a bed or row of lettuces; if running to 
seed, so much the better. However, we see no reason 
why the cottager's wife, as well as himSelf, should 
not have a cooling salad in hot weather; and this 
they can do, for one ounce of Bath Cos lettuce seed 
wili last him the whole summer. Perhaps, however, 
the Paris Cove Cos is the best for summer use, as it 
hearts well without tying. Lettuce beds cannot be 
too rich. A sprinkling may be sown directly, and 
again once a month, until the middle of July. 
Various Greens. —If any of the kale or Brussels 
sprouts remain standing in the way of spring crop¬ 
ping, they may be removed to any out-of-the-way 
plot; if shady, so much the better. A bed should 
be got ready directly for sowing a fresh supply; 
the main crop of green kale savoys, and Brussels 
sprouts, may be sown towards the twentieth ; the 
period of sowing, however, depends on whether it 
is to be a principal, or only an intermediate, or 
secondary crop; in the latter cases it must be sown 
with reference to the time the spaces will be ready 
for it. These plants do not produce so freely if sown 
much too soon, and allowed to become stunted in the 
seed-bed. 
Cauliflowers. —The cottager should beg a couple 
of scores of plants from some good-natured gardener, 
if he has them to spare ; and plant them in rich 
soil, in the beginning of the month. 
2!)d 
Rhubarb.— If any new plantation is requisite it 
should now be made. Dig very deep, and introduce 
plenty of manure, and old rotten weeds, &c. The 
Victoria is, perhaps, still the most profitable kind in 
the country. 
We have now touched on most of the crops of the 
allotment-holder and the cottager; at least, such as 
should be thought of in the month of March. 
We now conclude our labours again until April, 
when we hope to enter more widely into the subject 
of allotment farming or gardening : a subject which 
will, as we think, be much more engrossing than at 
present; the permanent welfare of the kingdom de¬ 
pends much more on an industrious, contented, and 
well-ordered peasantry, than some persons imagine. 
In the mean time we implore the allotment-holder 
and cottager to persevere, and to keep his eyes open. 
Much is to be learned from sound practice; some¬ 
thing from a habit of reading: the latter tending to 
dissipate those prejudices which are too apt to lurk 
in the minds of unlearned men who do not travel far 
from home. 
THE POULTRY-KEEPER’S CALENDAR. 
March. 
Bij Martin Dople, Author of “ Hints to Small 
Farmersdec. 
Fowls.— We have been reproached for our disap¬ 
proval of the game breed by persons who prefer them 
to any other, and maintain that they are much less 
quarrelsome than they are generally reported to be ; 
in fact, that their combats are the mere effects of 
exuberant spirits exciting them to play with each 
other in a manner which, though apparently serious, 
is as harmless as the tilting matches of other sportive 
animals. Our opinion, however, still is that game 
fowls are troublesome in any poultry-yard where a 
constant police establishment is not kept; for, though 
their inferiority of size might lead us to suppose they 
would not dare to bully fowls of larger size, their 
indomitable spirit leads them to quarrel with birds 
of much larger size, and their activity and muscular 
strength render them dangerous, if not invincible 
adversaries. Besides, even if they had no rival races 
to contend with, they would fight among themselves ; 
and not always for fun. Even the dispiriting ope¬ 
ration of caponizing (perhaps, however imperfectly 
performed) has proved ineffectual to curb the pug¬ 
nacity of a game cock; one so treated proved to be 
the most troublesome bird in a poultry-yard. 
There are two or three varieties of the game fowl 
in England, distinguished by some difference of size, 
and greater or lesser activity of form. 
“ The game cock,” says Mr. Dixon, “ approaches 
nearer to the Malay and Pheasant Malay than to any 
other variety of fowl. There are the white-legged, 
the yellow-legged, and the leaden, or black-legged, 
game fowl. These equally vary in the colour of their 
plumage. The hens also differ ; and, as some breeders 
think the darkest to be of the purest blood, a deep 
brown hen, with dark legs and small leaden comb, is 
thought to be the model bird: but in all game hens 
1 think the tail will be found to be large, vertical, 
fan-like, and well carried over the back,—a distinc¬ 
tion which continues to be very apparent in the first 
cross with any other breed. The flesh, even of the 
yellow-legged, yellow-skinned breed, is justly in high 
repute. Their eggs, also, are highly prized for the 
table: they are comparatively small, contain a sorne- 
what larger proportion of yolk, are taper, unequally 
elliptic, and mostly, though not always, tinged with 
buff.” 
