80 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 20. 
! The following sowings may now be made:—Pens, Broad 
Beans, Borecole, Brussels Sprouts, and Celery, for late 
! crops; Cabbages, Cauliflowers, in small quantity, Lettuce 
I and Spinach, for successions. Dwarf Kidney Beans and 
1 Scarlet Runners, sown in pots, protected from frost in a 
1 frame, or under a hand-light, and transplanted in fine, 
warm weather, will bear two or three weeks sooner than the 
same sorts sown in the open ground. If the soil is moist 
they will not require water until the plants appear. For a 
succession they may now also be sown in the open ground. 
| Plant out Cabbages for a succession. Love Apples against 
walls, or fences, and Cucumbers on ridges, as directed last 
month. Some attention should now be given by the cottager 
! to his fruit-trees on walls, or fences, by removing the ill- 
I placed and superabundant shoots with the finger and thumb, 
| retaining a regular supply of well-placed side-shoots for 
l training to the walls, or fences, when of sufficient length. 
A few words on watering may be useful at this time, 
i During the continuance of dry, easterly winds, with clear 
j weather, it is necessary to give a supply of water to recently 
transplanted trees, shrubs, and vegetables, and also to 
seedling crops that are just making their appearance above 
| ground ; but if the seeds are in a dormant state, it is best 
! to allow them to remain so until rain falls, as continued 
i waterings bind the surface of the soil into a hard crust im- 
j peuetrable by air, and prejudicial to the germination of seeds. 
| This, however, where the trouble is not considered too 
i much, may be obviated by shading from the sun, or by 
j covering the soil with long litter, Ac., so as to prevent 
evaporation as much as possible. Frequent waterings are 
not then necessary, and the soil is kept in an open, porous 
state, which is of some importance. When the nights are 
warm, seeds, Ac., should be watered in the evening, so that 
the soil may gradually imbibe the water; but if cold nights 
prevail, the early part of the morning is the best time for 
\ its application. Trees, shrubs, &c., recently transplanted, 
should be watered, and mulched with short litter; and if 
drying winds continue they should be occasionally sprinkled 
over head with water in the morning. Advantage should 
be taken of showery weather, to prick cut, transplant, and 
to earth-up all crops that require it. In pricking out, or 
transplanting, particular care should be taken to press the 
soil close to the roots of the plants, and, for such purpose, a 
trowel should be used in preference to a dibber, as with the 
latter the roots are either left hollow, or are crushed up to¬ 
gether, where they never can establish themselves and 
grow with the same vigour as when planted with a trowel. 
Vegetable Marrow. —This very useful vegetable should 
now be planted out on a rich piece of ground, where there 
I is plenty of room for it to grow. 
As the beauty of flowers is becoming more generally ap¬ 
preciated by the cottager, thanks to the local horticultural 
shows, and the diffusion of useful information through gar¬ 
dening periodicals ; and as the season has now arrived for 
planting out in the open ground the stock of plants pre¬ 
served during the winter, we would advise to begin with the 
Penslemons, Calceolarias, Lobelias, Verbenas ; and, if frosts 
should occur, a few boughs may be laid over them, or stuck 
about the beds, which will now afford sufficient protection. 
To be succeeded by Scarlet Geraniums, Heliotropes, Agera- 
tums, Fuchsias, Petunias, Ac., towards the end of the month, 
when all danger of frost is over. For large flower-gardens, 
where the eye wanders over an extensive surface, the 
system of planting a distinct colour in each bed is preferable 
i to any other for producing a bold and distinct expression, 
1 and a gorgeous and striking effect; but for small gardens, 
tho mixed fashion may be introduced with advantage. The 
; bright scarlet of Robinson's Defiance Verbena resting on the 
i variegated foliage of tho Flower of the Day, or on Mangle's 
Geranium, produces a beautiful effect. Tho white flowers of 
the Queen, or any other white Verbena, mixed with the 
scarlet of Tom Thumb Geranium; and the blue flowers of 
the Lobelia ramosa, resting on the Ivy-leaved Geranium, 
j produce pleasing effects. The old Rose-scented Geranium 
! ( Pelargonium graveolcns) mixed with Robinson’s Defiance 
Verbena; and the variegated Mint ( Mentha rotunclifolia 
i variegata) mixed with St. Maryarctt's Verbena, make very 
pretty beds. The system could be extended to produce a 
pleasing variety with various other plants. 
The rooted cuttings, and the divided roots of Dahlias 
should be potted off the early part of the month, and 
burdened off by degrees, to be fit for planting out in the 
open ground towards the end of tho month, in good, loamy 
soil, enriched with rotten dung, to be mulched with dung, 
and to be liberally supplied with water during their active 
growth. Four main shoots will be sufficient for each plant 
to be tied to stout stakes ; the flower-buds to be carefully 
thinned, the best to be allowed to remain, to be protected 
from sun and rain by a cap of thin canvass, or oil cloth, 
fixed on a stick immediately over the flower. 
Auriculas, to prolong their flowering, should be kept in a 
shady place, free from weeds and the Green Fly. Ranun¬ 
culus beds will be improved by top-dressing them with very 
rotten cow-dung. Pinks may also be treated with similar 
compost; the number of tho shoots reduced according to 
the strength of the plant, and those that are retained to be 
tied to small, neat sticks. Carnations to be tied up as fast 
as they require it; and Tulips may now be increased and 
improved by cross breeding, taking care to choose flowers 
with well-formed cups and clear bottoms on both sides; 
just as the flower opens the anthers must be taken out, and 
when the flower expands, apply farina with a camel hair 
brush to the stigma. 
Swede Turnips should be sown about the middle of the 
month. The depth of drilling the seed requires more 
attention than is generally paid to it. In a dry season, if 
put in too shallow, there is always a deficiency of moisture to 
force the plant into rough leaf, and if drilled too deep, there 
is a risk of the seed not growing, or not coming up evenly. 
The most advisable depth is about an inch, not less. The 
drill is preferable to the broad cast system of sowing, as 
upon this plan the Turnips, being in rows, are more easily 
thinned and worked with the hand-hoe. The hoeing of the 
Swede Turnips requires great care, always giving them 
plenty of room, and leaving the strongest and healthiest 
plants. When they are drilled on ridges, as recom¬ 
mended last mouth for Mangold Wurtzel, at about twenty- 
seven or twenty-eight inches apart, instead of leaving the 
plants even in distance for mere form, the strongest, or a 
master plant, should always be left if nearer; but for 
the last thinning the general average should not be less 
than from ten to fourteen inches. Also, in singling the 
plants of Mangold Wurtzel they may stand seven or eight 
inches apart until the leaves touch, when each alternate 
plant should be removed, and will be found very acceptable 
feeding for cattle and pigs, and the plants will finally stand 
at fourteen to sixteen inches apart in the rows. The first 
hand-hoeing, or thinning of the Swedes to be made as soon 
as they get into rough-leaf. Tin} treading of persons, when 
thinning and weeding, hardens the ground, especially if these 
operations are performed in damp weather; therefore, the 
fork will be the most useful instrument to loosen it, and 
thus to enable the fibres to traverse freely in quest of food. 
The loosening of the soil should be effected some time 
before the leaves meet across the drills. 
Slugs very frequently appear in thousands at this 
season, and either destroy or injure almost every thing 
vegetable within their reach ; the most simple and effectual 
remedy is quick lime, which should be strewn over every 
part of the allotment, or garden, several nights and morn¬ 
ings in succession. It should be done in the morning by 
three or four o’clock, and at night not before nine.— 
William Keane. 
HOW TO GET ON, AS A GARDENER. 
I have been going on progressing, perhaps as satisfac¬ 
torily as I could expect, all things considered, though it is 
not to be believed that 1 am free from blunders or failures; 
but if I fail with seed, or a plant, the first time, 1 am more 
likely to get at the right treatment the second time, because, 
if I fail wholly, or in part, I search for the cause. But, 
however, the more I read and the more I practise, the 
easier it seems to manage. It is almost surprising what a 
difference a twelvemonth's experience will make in a person 
that will give his mind to the work he is called upon to per¬ 
form. 
I recollect reading in one of Mr. Beaton’s papers, when 
