88 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 3. 
home, lift the lid, suspended by the gimhlet, and slip it 
into its groove, with the notches, previously cut, exactly 
opposite to each other ; in so doing, observe if its edge is 
jagged or damaged; if so, insinuate, opposite those places, 
some pieces of the thick pithy rush, it will close up the 
vacancies, and prevent the admission of air or leakage, 
Now drive the hoops home to their places, and scrub the 
outside of the cask; then cork it up and pour in at the 
bung hole a few gallons of hot water; bung it tight; fasten 
the vent-peg; roll the barrel backwards and forwards briskly, 
at arm’s length ; and, should there remain any faulty parts, 
sufficient to cause leakage, steam will violently issue from 
thence, cautioning, either to drive the hoops tighter, or 
otherwise to add more rush at the junction of the head and 
side. 
This scrubbing process holds good for every wooden 
utensil. Under the supposition that they are all scrupulously 
clean, and, ere we begin to arrange them properly for brewing, 
we will take a glance at the copper, which ought, if answer¬ 
ing to its name, to be scoured bright with some wood-ash, 
or sand, and a wet whisp of straw; verdegris (poison) is apt 
to become engendered on copper, and thus follows a ne¬ 
cessity for great care in this matter. 
Malt and Hops. —The surest way to procure these of 
good quality, is to order them from a respectable maltster, 
I prefer a pale-dried malt. For Ale, my practice has been 
to employ four bushels of malt to make fifty gallons; the 
proportion of hops for each bushel, one pound, if the 
beer is required for keeping over a-year; otherwise,three- 
quarters-of-a-pound per bushel. For Table-beer, three bushels 
of malt to the fifty gallons, and three pounds of hops. I 
brew purposely for small-beer about every three months; j 
this beverage is so much more wholesome when drank quite j 
fresh ; and, in another sense, by using them often, it acts as 1 
a conservator for the utensils, with other reasons which I ! 
will explain in their turn, A chief consideration, also, is \ 
the barm, or yeast: to procure it fresh and good, find out 
if the squire, or some neighbouring farmer, have lately been 
brewing, it is so much the more likely to come genuine from 
these places than from a public-house. The proportion I ; 
use is one quart of ale, or three pints of small-beer, barm, 
for working fifty gallons. As a standing rule—never light a 
fire under the copper till the barm is secured. 
Upwards and Onwards. 
(To he continued.) 
REACH-CULTURE BY AMATEURS. 
AVe have often thought it strange that the culture of the 
reach has not become more popular in the gardens of 
the amateur, being, as it is, one of the most delicious of 
our stone-fruits, and one of the easiest culture; for such we 
must term them, though some, perhaps, may differ from us ! 
in this respect. However, we have never found any more 1 
difficulty in obtaining a good crop of Peaches and Nec- j 
tarines than a crop of any other wall-fruit, and particularly 
Plums; for these we consider much more uncertain than 
Peaches, even in the best of seasons, and under the best of 
management; yet, notwithstanding their uncertainty and 
inferiority to the Peach (excepting the Greengage and i 
Golden-drop), they are often seen occupying the side or j 
end of a house, or some other situation which the Peach 
would delight in. Old Pear and Cherry-trees, that do not | 
produce sixpennyworth of fruit in as many years, may often j 
be seen in such favoured places. Why not grub them 
up, and make thorough good preparations, and plant as 
many Peach and Nectarine-trees as the space will admit? 
They would make double the amount of the generality 
of the Plums, if taken to market, even if the crops were 
equally good. We have seen tolerable good Peaches grown 
against a common inch-thick deal fence, without any assist¬ 
ance whatever to the border; though we will not recommend 
this careless manner of planting; but we will venture to say, 
that, as regards the deal fence, excellent Peaches may be 
grown against such, providing the border be well prepared 
for the trees. As it is, here lies the main point. It is not 
the wall that will produce fine Peaches, nor even our elegant 
glass-houses; for in such are often seen trees in as defective 
a state as in the open air, which is, perhaps, more owing to 
the state of the root than any other cause. 
Now, to such as are anxious to grow this fruit, and have 
not the advantage of a south wall, or means to erect one for 
the purpose, we will advise them to set up a wooden wall or 
fence of the above description, in a situation, if possible, 
that is well backed up with trees or shrubs, on the north 
and east sides, but at a considerable distance from the fence. 
The height of the fence may be from eight to ten feet, but 
the bottom of the fence should be set eighteen inches above 
the level of the ground, in order to admit of the border 
being raised to that height, or near about. We would then 
mark out the border twelve feet, and throw out the soil one 
foot deep, and give the bottom a good descent from the 
fence, that the water may readily pass away. We would 
next cut a drain, one foot deep, in the bottom of the border, 
twelve feet from the frame, and parallel to it. This done, 
we would set up a row of coarse flags against the south side 
of the frame, to prevent the roots running to the north side, 
and also to prevent the soil coming in contact with the 
fence. We would next place a layer, six inches thick, 
of broken bricks, or stones, all over the surface of the 
excavation or border, and cover them with old flags or 
slates of any kind, to prevent the soil from falling in among 
them ; and in placing these flags, begin at the lower side of 
the border, aud lay them in a similar form to the tiles upon 
the roof of a house, as the roots are by this means pre¬ 
vented from getting down among the drainage. The soil 
should be next got in, wdiich should be the top spit from an 
old pasture or road-side, where the soil is of a good, strong, 
loamy nature, neither very heavy nor very light; but parti¬ 
cularly avoid a binding soil. It should be used in a fresh 
state, with a green herbage upon it, and each turf cut once 
or twice through with the spade; and if the excavated soil 
from the border is good, it may be thrown back, and mixed 
with the fresh turf; but if not, it should be taken away. 
The border should be raised to the height of the upright 
stone flags, or a few inches above them; for, as the turf 
decays, the border will sink a few inches. 
The surface of the border should be well sloped from the 
fence to the front, in order to carry off any superfluous 
water, and to get the direct influence of the sun. In this 
state the trees may be at once planted, though some prefer 
November for the purpose; but we have planted in October, 
November, January, and February, with the same success. 
The sorts we would recommend, if four trees be planted, 
are, Grossc Mignonne, Noblesse, and two of Bellcgurde ; and 
if a Nectarine be introduced, choose the Elruge. 
In planting, spread out the roots, and scatter a little fine 
soil among them before finally covering them in; and do 
not tread the soil at all, nor plant them deeper than ten 
inches. Keep the collar of the trees well up, and water, 
after planting, to settle the soil among the roots; and in 
this way let them remain till the buds begin to swell; 
when, if they be young trees from the nursery, they will 
require heading back to such buds as are best situated for 
issuing shoots to form handsome trees, and which shoots 
must be properly trained as they proceed in growth; 
rubbing off all l'oreright shoots and other ill-placed ones, 
at intervals, as the trees progress onwards; and regard 
must be paid to supply them with water in dry weather, or, 
what will in a great measure obviate this, is a covering of 
shortish dung over the roots. 
This is all the attention the trees will require the first 
season, excepting a good washing, now and then, with the 
syringe, in dry weather, to freshen them, and keep them free 
from insects.—J. T. 
DORSETSHIRE POULTRY EXHIBITION. 
One of the most rising of Poultry Exhibitions ought to 
be that of the Dorsetshire Association for the Improvement 
of Domestic Poultry. Its second annual show took place 
on the 10th and ffOth of October. There were 457 pens of 
poultry gathered together; the specimens, for the most part, 
were good; and the attendance was numerous. Every 
praise is due to the Association’s indefatigable Secre¬ 
tary, G. J. Andrews, Esq., and we are glad again to be 
