350 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[March 28. 
that is to say, if the plants are to succeed early crops. 
Peas.—A good sowing of the Green Imperial may 
now he the last with the allotment-holder; at least, 
those with limited space. These will he off by the 
end of July, and the ground ready for winter greens. 
Of course the cottager will hoe through his former 
sowing, and stake them in due time. 
Broad Beans. —We said, at page 293, that we 
would not have allotment-men sow later than the 
middle of March. If, however, they will try late 
crops, let them not defer it beyond the present period; 
choosing a cool and half-shaded situation for them. 
Mangold-wurtzel. —We would have all allotment- 
men, or cottagers who keep a cow, grow some mangold. 
It is such a long-keeping root, as to come in cleverly 
after swedes are all gone; indeed, it might be had 
good until June or July, if necessary. As bearing 
on the “ soiling system,” alluded to at the beginning 
of this paper, it is of much benefit; for, towards the 
end of March and thenceforward to the beginning of 
May, there is little pasturage ; the hay-stack is gene¬ 
rally a poor shrunken thing, the oat-straw is gone in 
wintering, the swedes are becoming exhausted, and 
the rye, or other early cutting, is not yet ready. For 
this period, then, principally, we would reserve the 
mangold. Besides, who can say that the dreadful 
potato-scourge may not visit us again with increased 
terrors? To be sure, wheat is cheap, but still roots 
are always in demand as a convenience ; and some 
mangold and swedes, at least, save a draw on tbe 
carrots and parsnips,—which latter should feed the 
cottier and his children; the other, principally as 
food for the cow and pig. 
We are now drawing near to the limits of our 
paper, but we must beg to offer a few other scraps of 
advice. 
About onions, lettuces, parsnips, spinach, rhubarb, 
&c., we spoke in the paper for March, page 292; we 
need not now, therefore, enlarge on those matters. 
We pass on, therefore, to 
High Culture. —Towards the end of this month 
vegetation will be in a most active state, and to 
attend to young crops betimes is at once the duty 
and interest of the cottager. Let him remember that 
not a weed he sets his eyes on, but robs him day and 
night. And as “little strokes fell great oaks,” so 
with the weeds. Any one taken individually is 
surely insignificant enough, but view it in the light 
of the progenitor of thousands—aye, tens of thou¬ 
sands—and what then ? Crops shaded and hindered 
of development, ground exhausted without repay¬ 
ment, labour increased; surely these are neither 
small matters, nor matters of imagination only! 
Look well, therefore, to your young crops betimes, 
study the weather, and by timely weeding, hoe cul¬ 
ture, and carefully thinning out, success will assur¬ 
edly follow. At any rate, to our allotment friends 
wo say, try it one season at least. 
In speaking of allotment, it will be seen that we 
have ail along turned our attention, in some degree, 
to the cottage gardener of the olden time. Such is 
frequently in a different position from the allotment 
holder, inasmuch as the cottier, in many cases, takes 
to a plot of ground well stocked with fruit-trees. In 
such cases, it is not an uncommon thing to find him 
counting on nearly paying his rent with his apples, 
his gooseberries, his black currants, or his damsons, 
as the case may be. Where such is the case, the 
inode of cropping between must be adapted to the 
situation of the fruit-trees ; for, if these be good, and 
the soil suits them, they will pay generally quite as 
well, or better, than vegetable culture, providing 
that they are kept at proper distances, and that no 
unprofitable trees are allowed to cumber the ground. 
We advise the cottager, however, not to dig nearer 
than within six feet or so of the stem of established 
trees, and three feet from young trees recently planted. 
We know of many cottage gardens, in this part of 
the country, where the owners pay the rent with 
their damsons, their black currants, and their apples, 
at least, two parts out of three; producing, also, 
plenty of vegetables for the family, and roots for the 
pigs. 
Cabbages and other Greens. —In concluding for 
this month, we may first observe, that we find we 
had omitted to point to the sowing of the various 
greens for the autumn and winter’s produce. April 
and May are the most eligible months, but the pe¬ 
riod of sowing must, of course, be ruled by the period 
at which they will be wanted to succeed or to intro¬ 
duce between the rows of any given crop. For kinds 
and farther advice in detail, we refer our readers to 
back allotment papers; and in our next, wo will 
handle cultural matters, &c. 
THE POULTRY-KEEPER’S CALENDAR. 
April. 
By Martin Doyle, Author of “ Hints to Small 
Farmers ,” dc. 
Rearing of Poultry. —A cottager’s family ought 
to know how to rear poultry; neither much art nor 
extraordinary care is required for this purpose, and 
considerable profit may be realized by the sale of 
poultry and eggs. With the advantage of a garden 
or field, and little enclosure, two or three sorts may 
be reared. 
And how pleasant is it to see the children of cot¬ 
tagers—who have not many sources of amusement— 
watching, with eager curiosity and delight, the pro¬ 
gress of life in the chick, from the day when its first 
faint chirp gives warning of its desire and efforts to 
issue forth from its protecting shell to the period 
when it becomes a proud and courageous husband, 
or a nursing mother “ gathering her chickens under 
her wings,” and evincing the self-denial, anxiety, and 
fortitude, which teach the moral lesson to Christian 
mothers that tenderness, devotedness, and resolution 
are duties to be fulfilled by them towards their chil¬ 
dren ; while the same teaching instructs these—their 
offspring—that they should obey their mother’s warn¬ 
ing voice, flee to her for protection, and confide in 
her love. 
Hatching. —The number of eggs for the largest 
hen ought not to exceed 15 ; 12 may be considered 
the average for well-sized hens. The nest should be 
of soft straw, laid on or near the ground, and in a 
warm aspect. 
Some hens will scarcely leave the nest for food or 
water, therefore both should be within their reach; 
but it is better to encourage her to leave the nest for 
a few minutes once a day, in order to feed and stretch 
her legs. Taking daily food is necessary not only to 
preserve her strength, but to keep up the warmth of 
her body, which is essential in the process of hatch¬ 
ing. The greater the circumference and weight of 
her body, the greater the number of eggs which the 
hen can cover, and the greater the heat she imparts; 
j for this reason, among others, and the convenient 
length of her legs, the Dorking breed is superior for 
I sitting. A long-legged bird, like tbe Malay, would 
feel it more difficult to bend her legs in a proper 
manner under her body, and continue in that con¬ 
strained position, than a bird with shorter stilts; as 
a tailor with very short logs and thighs can, we pre- 
