04 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 21 . 
pronounced to be as good as those from any nobleman’s or 
gentleman’s garden that was there; and as most of our 
provincial shows have, of late years, given a liberal pro¬ 
portion of their funds in cottager’s prizes, it is certain 
that the benefits accruing to the labouring population, 
have been, in like manner, encouraging to all around 
them; and, having had some little experience in adjudg¬ 
ing and distributing prizes to cottagers for good cultiva¬ 
tion or meritorious production, a few words on the subject 
may not be here out of place. 
in the first place, it requires some discrimination to 
define the precise boundary of the term “cottage garden,” 
and the sense in which it ought to be taken by those 
having the management of country shows; for it not 
unfrequently happens that the best prizes are mono¬ 
polized by individuals having little claim to that cha¬ 
racter, in the sense it was intended to be understood— 
as tradesmen of easy circumstances, with means and 
opportunities far beyond that which the poor day 
labourer can command. Hence, some distinctive line 
seems necessary ; but, supposing that to have been 
satisfactorily effected, and the productions of each 
brought to the table, it is then not difficult to distin¬ 
guish the good from the indifferent; but in many in¬ 
stances, a liberal distribution of “ extras ” is attended 
with great benefits; for the value of a prize to a cot¬ 
tager is not merely regarded as the intrinsic worth of 
the article or premium awarded, but the honourable 
distinction which it confers; and supposing a cottager 
from a rural district receives a prize for some vegetable, 
or fruit, the fact of his doing so spreads abroad in the 
neighbourhood, so as to cause, probably, some of his 
more opulent neighbours to pay him a visit, and, con¬ 
sequently, to maintain his own credit, he takes care to 
have his garden in as good order as possible to receive 
such visitants; besides which, his more humble com¬ 
panions are often induced to emulate him, and a decided 
improvement in the culture and general management of 
each is the result. Now, this comes so often under our 
notice, that we have almost ceased to regard it as re¬ 
markable ; and those who will take the trouble to look 
into the gardens of some of the most industrious and 
intelligent of the class, will see the nice state they have 
brought their respective holdings to ; and the attentive 
observer will notice the care they have bestowed on 
many vegetables, so as to have the best and finest 
variety of each in their possession. 
In the garden of the cottager Celery is seldom'seen in 
that hollow condition which we call “ pipey ; ” Lettuces 
refrain longer from going to seed, by that being grown 
only on the best plants, and then selected with proper 
care for the purpose; and his Cabbage plants, in which 
he takes great pride, seem to come into use sooner than 
anything else in this way in other gardens. Now, as 
this is all done without any extraordinary aid, it follows 
that the treatment for out-door plants is, after all, not 
entirely performed when the plants are put into the 
places they each are expected to occupy, for the saving 
of seed forms an important feature in cottage rural 
economy, and it is rarely indeed that seeds so raised 
lail to give universal satisfaction, by their possessing all 
the qualities required of them. This, therefore, in a 
measure, enables the cottager to compete with the larger 
grower, who caters for the table of the affluent, by the 
warranty which each article sown can carry with it; 
and this is fully borne out by the genuineness of the 
various crops they grow, equalled only by that of the 
“ market gardeners,” whose means being usually directed 
to the growth of a very lew articles each, they necessarily 
become proficient in the respective culture that each 
requires, as well as good judges of their quality. 
No one who has witnessed the productions a “ Cottager’s 
class" usually presents at an Horticultural Show, in a 
| district in any degree favoured, must feel impressed with 
the belief that the gardens which furnished such must 
be well-managed; and no doubt but they are; for the 
close cropping to which every inch of ground is sub¬ 
jected, may well excite surprise how tilings so well- 
grown could be turned out of such a crowded place. 
The explanation lies in a nutshell. Industry accom¬ 
plishes it. all. Half-a-dozen good Cabbages can, by 
judicious management, be grown on the same space 
that four, under ordinary care, would find a difficulty in 
I coming to perfection, though the soil be the same in i 
both cases ; but the one thrives, and derives its nourish¬ 
ment from the careful hand that feeds it almost daily ; 
the other has to struggle for existence amongst such 
elements as nature, or chance, throws in its way. The 
soil is never stirred around the roots of the latterto enable 
them to obtain a share ot the invigorating influences of 
fresh air; no grateful draughts of liquid-manure to cheer 
them on ; even the very food that nature intended them 
to have may be denied them by a crop of weeds robbing 
or cheating them of what ought to be their due. These 
things all tell in the main, and the skilful and indus¬ 
trious cottager, whose children are often seen in the 
lanes picking up the dung dropped by horses in travelling 
along, and carefully depositing it in some snug corner 
in the garden, will assuredly attain a degree of per¬ 
fection in culture which it would be vain to look for in 
the more careless, and let-things-alone man, who prefers 
to smoke his pipe, and discuss local affairs with his 
neighbour at a beer shop. 
The impulse given to meritorious gardening by the 
various provincial societies who have directed their 
attention that way, has certainly been instrumental in 
producing a superior class of vegetables amongst that j 
important community, “ the labouring poor,” to which 
such things are of the most consequence; and, it is not 
too much to say, that the improvement in this class has 
been more marked amongst the others; and of late 
years, articles have been added to the cottager’s produc¬ 
tions, which, at one time, was only thought as belonging 
to the gardens ot the aristocracy. Celery , Asparagus, 
and Cucumbers have not always been occupants of the 
cottager’s allotments; to say nothing of flowers and 
fruits of all kinds, which this climate will perfect without 
artificial heat. 
All these acquisitions tend to improve the moral posi¬ 
tion of the labourer, and when the cultivator discards 
the more common and useful vegetables out of his little 
plot, to make way lor a bed or two of fancy flowers, it is 
assuredly unfeeling to tell him to keep to more useful 
articles; for, as the culture of Flowers tends to elevate 
the mind, it is impossible for that hobby to be ridden too 
bard ; it therefore becomes all those whose means admit 
it, to patronize and assist their poorer neighbours, in the 
way of embellishing their little plots, as well as render¬ 
ing them more productive; and a few spare plants, at 
“bedding-out” time, with now and then a cutting of 
anything that will strike freely, is always duly appreciated 
by the cottager, and it rarely happens that any labour 
it may cost is begrudged by them. 
Another modo of encouraging the poor, is frequently 
to visit and look over their little “ holdings,” and any 
advice, or instruction, that may be given them, is always 
acceptable, and generally acted upon; besides the en¬ 
couragement which is given when their management is 
such as to deserve commendation. There are many other I 
ways of encouraging successful cultivation of their home 
gardens; while, perhaps, the proper care and attention 
to what is termed “ garden allotments,” is scarcely less 
recommendable; only the latter, being often confined to 
the more hardy and robust vegetables, is less interesting 
than those little gardens which surround the cottage 
homes of so considerable a part of our rural population; 
and which, by their diversity of produce, present 
an important feature in such places, while it is 
