348 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[March 28 . 
Scarlet Bizarres. Colours—scarlet, black, and white. 
per pair. 
Brutus (Calcott’s), each petal well marked with 
the three colours; a firm, rose-edged flower ..., 2 6 
Prince Albert (Puxley’s), ditto, but a large flower.. 5 0 
Brilliant (Hepworth’s), colours very bright, flue 
form.2 0 
Crimson Bizarres. Colours—crimson, black, and white. 
Caliban (May’s), very fine, full flower. 3 (5 
Lord Milton (Ely’s), a really good old variety .... 2 0 
Rainbow (Cartwright’s), an old favourite first-rate 
ditto. 3 fi 
Fink and Purple Bizarres. This class has only 
two colours, but they are irregularly mixed so 
as to form a true bizarre flower. 
Edmund (May’s), has a high character. 2 6 
Princess Royal (Sealey's), a large well formed 
flower, colours good . 3 6 
Prince Albert (Puxley’s), pure white, well mixed 
with purple. 3 6 
Epaminondas (Plogg’s), an old favourite good flower 2 0 
Our space being full we must defer the list of 
picotees till next week. T. Appleby. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
The present season has been one of the finest 
ever remembered for trenching, forcing, and surface¬ 
stirring the soil; and wherever these matters have 
been duly attended to, the soil must be in a fine, 
healthy, and well-pulverized condition. If due at¬ 
tention has been paid to our directions during so 
favourable a seed-sowing season, strong healthy plants 
will be sure to appear; and with careful after atten¬ 
tion, crops of all kinds of vegetables will certainly 
be luxuriant and productive. Hoeing and scarrifying 
are the principal attentions required; and if such 
operations are performed in due season, much time 
and after labour is saved, and a weed never has the 
chance of appearing. As to the slug, or other de¬ 
structive vermin, there is but little fear of them, 
as they and their larvae get so constantly routed 
about by the continual stirring of the earth, that 
their appearance becomes very scarce. Those who 
have not thought it worth while to adopt this system, 
and who are, consequently, pretty well stocked with 
such pests as we have been describing, may feel 
themselves a little annoyed, as soon as showery wea¬ 
ther sets in, to find how much attention will be 
required early in the morning and late in the even¬ 
ing, to prevent the destruction of their crops. New 
brewers’ grains and new bran are two of the best 
articles we could ever discover for enticing the slugs 
together. We lay a good tablespoonfui of either 
one or the other in small lumps, here and there, 
about the places which they frequent in the dusk of 
the evening, and in two or three hours afterwards, 
they will be found congregated together, and may be 
destroyed in quantities. We formerly used some¬ 
times to collect them, by taking them up with a 
trowel, and putting them into a pail; and, at other 
times, we have gone round with a bucket of hot slaked 
lime, dusting it over them, and collecting them and 
their bait together early the next morning. 
Asparagus Planting.— The season for planting 
this vegetable will soon arrive. Our system is, after 
the soil has become in good condition (the directions 
lor which have been previously given), to set out the 
rows at two feet apart, stretching the line from end 
to end, and with a hoe drawing a drill on each side 
ol it, placing the roots astride, in a regular manner, 
over the little ridge thus formed between the two 
drills; drawing the earth up over them immediately 
with hoe or rake, and pressing it down with a gentle 
tread of the foot, and then giving it the finishing 
touch with either of the same tools again. 
Routine Work. — Basil and sweet marjoram sow 
in full crop, as well as carrots; also full sowings of 
celery. This latter vegetable should be sown on a 
little heat, or on a well-prepared soil in a warm situa¬ 
tion. Prick off and re-pot chillie and capsicum plants, 
as well as tomatoes. Sow the late kinds of peas and 
beans in succession, and attend to the surface hoeing 
of those now making their appearance. A drill of 
the round variety of spinach should also occasionally 
be sown. Full crops of parsley may be sown too, 
and the early-sown now coming up would be the 
better for a gentle raking, to break the surface crust. 
Parsley sown in pans for transplanting should now be 
planted out on well-prepared rich soil, in rows one 
foot apart each way. 
Mushroom Beds for the summer should be made in 
shaded, cold situations, or dark sheds. Underground 
cellars, or caves of any kind, are famous situations 
for mushroom culture in summer. Two parts of well- 
made stable dung to one part of good tenacious loam, 
well incorporated together, and made as firm as pos¬ 
sible by treading or ramming, will be found excellent 
for producing an abundance of fine mushrooms of 
the best quality. Mushroom beds at this season 
should be made one-third slighter or less substantial 
than in the autumn ; they should, if possible, at all 
times be cased about two inches in thickness with 
good heathy loam, well beaten down. 
Melons now require attention. Keep up a kindly 
uniform heat to those about showing fruit; take par¬ 
ticular care in stopping all the leading shoots, as soon 
as they show fruit, one joint above the fruit; leave 
those only that show the strongest for fruit, and if 
only one or two of these are in bloom in a light at one 
time, pick them off. Watch the opportunity when four, 
five, or more open their blossoms on the same day, 
and pay due attention to the impregnation; shut up 
early, and make use of less humidity for a few days 
afterwards. Increase the heat to 75° night interior 
temperature, and a crop of even-sized melons may 
be expected as the result. These’should be duly 
thinned to the requisite number of four or five of the 
handsomest-shaped fruit to each light. This must 
be regulated, of course, according to the strength of 
the plants. liberal applications of tepid, clear, 
liquid manure should be given once or twice a week 
until the fruit has swelled to its full size, when water 
of any kind should be withheld, gently sprinkling the 
back or interior sides of the frame or structure every 
fine evening at shutting-up time with tepid water, 
which will maintain a healthy humidity throughout 
the night. We never, at any part of the season, 
apply the water over the foliage of either melon, cu¬ 
cumber or vine : we always place the blossom end of 
our melons to the north, and the stalks to the south 
aspect, which prevents their cracking. 
James Barnes. 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
ALLOTMENT FARMING FOR APRIL. 
Soiling. —A proper economy in the management 
and application of manures is well known to be, 
after thorough draining, the true foundation of either 
good gardening or farming. For in very truth, 
although their operations would seem to differ so 
