60 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 27 . 
cloudy periods; a notion quite familiar to every good 
gardener, but apt to be overlooked by those who do not 
profess this interesting and highly useful art. 
As to weeds, he must surely be a sloven who is pestered 
with weeds now; let us advise such to slip off their jackets 
immediately, and declare war with all the energy and 
thorough determination of Napier in the Baltic. 
Boot Crops, as usual, are with me the first consideration; 
if Mangold, Swedes, and Carrots are not in, lose not a day, if 
the weather suit. Swedes to transplant, however, after 
Potatoes, or other crops, which will not be otfi the ground 
before the middle of July, need not be sown for a fortnight 
yet, unless the party can sow them very thinly in drills, and 
thus obtain not only flourishing tops, but bulbs as big as 
hen’s eggs ; these 1 greatly prefer, they stand sunshine 
belter, are less liable to mildew, and will make bigger roots. 
The larger kinds of Carrots should now be just breaking 
ground, and much care is necessary with young Carrots to 
protect them against insect enemies, slugs, and weeds. The 
hoe should be plied between the drills before any “ singling 
out” takes place; this enables the operator to proceed with 
more ease and certainty. The first thinning may take place 
when they are about two inches high, and a light hand 
must be used, as they are liable to many casualties ; if no 
two touch, it will be thin enough at present. Of course, 
every weed must be pulled out, and when this is done, our 
practice is to strew fine-cinder ashes amongst them, fairly 
covering the ground; this proves a great impediment to the 
slugs, for they do not love a macadamised road. The Horn 
Carrot may be sown until the beginning of June, after 
which they will not make much size. These latter, at the 
final thinning, need not be more than four inches apart; at 
this distance I have had them with their crowns touching, 
or nearly. The large Altringham and Surrey Carrots require 
to be about six to eight inches apart in the drills at the 
last thinning. Parsnips will now be a strong little plant, 
and must undergo a similar operation to the Carrots ; final 
distance, eight or nine inches. Mangold, also rising, must 
have like treatment; final distance, seven to ten inches. 
Potatoes.— The early crops will now be up and rising; 
let it be remembered that we are not safe from frosts, 
sufficient, at least, to give them a serious check before the 
third week in May, on the average of seasons. Those, 
therefore, who have small lots of Ash-leaved Kidneys, and 
such on warm slopes, should devise some means to protect 
them at nights. A few poles, and any old mats, canvass, old 
carpeting, &c., spread on them, will render them secure. 
There is scarcely a cottager but can do this; too many, 
however, talk about the trouble, and this, in such light 
matters, should not be found in the cottagers dictionary. 
We adopted a simple plan last year which answered right 
well. I planted a slope of the Ash-leaved Kidney near the 
third week of April, the sprouts on them were an inch long, 
and strong as little Oaks. These were coming through 
| about the 10th of May, and I then scattered a little loose 
soil over them, au inch thick, just to kill the weefls, and 
I then covered the whole with oat straw, shaken lightly over 
them. The straw lay on them uight and day, until the end 
of the month, when each had pushed it up, and formed 
itself a sort of night-cap. When the straw was removed, to 
be sure some looked a little hump backed occasionally, but 
in three days or so they were all right. 
Main crops of Potatoes should have attention towards the 
middle of this month; they will require the hoe or some 
cleaning implement between the drills, and soon after hand- 
weeding in the drills. I do not like much hoeing in the drill, 
it is but too apt to injure many surface fibres; it is quite 
sufficient to cultivate well between the drills, and when they 
are about six inches high, a little soil may be drawn to their 
stems, unless they have been planted deeply at first, a plan 
I do not admire. Those who have, in pursuance of former 
advice in these pages, planted on poor soil, and think their 
plant weakly, may apply a good soaking of guano-water at a 
dry period, when the young Potatoes are as big as horse- 
beans, and a second application will do them no injury. 
Two ounces of guano to a gallon of water will suffice, but 
it must not be Deptford Creek Guano. I stand for the 
genuine Gibbs’ Peruvian. 
Sowings in May. — Remember, Beans may yet be put in, 
soaking the Beans in tepid water one hour previous. The 
dwarf Kidney Beans, such as the Negro, may be put in in a 
warm border for a main crop also. Autumn Brocolis, as 
the Cape Sprouting, Wal-chcrcn, Ac., may be sown in the be¬ 
ginning ; but these are a mere hobby. A barrow or two of 
warm dung, and three or four of weeds or rank herbage 
mixed, and piled half above the ground-level, in some warm 
nook, will bring a few Cucumbers, and the old bed will make 
capital dressing in the ensuing spring for Horn Carrots or 
other early crops. A few yards may, perhaps, be spared for 
a score of Celery plants; those and the Cucumber plants 
any decent gardener will willingly give to little holders. 
Rhubarb plants going to seed should have the bloom-buds 
•cut. away. In plucking Rhubarb, the cottager must re- t 
member, that if he is too greedy this year, he will come the 
worse off in the next. 
Peas. —These are staked, of course; if a few very early 
Peas are grown, let the tops aR be pinched off as soon as a 
fair crop is set, this will swell the pods better, and get the 
Peas off the ground a fortnight sooner, at least; a most 
important matter as concerns autumn cropping. Indeed, I 
top all Peas, and find the practice good. Beans, the broad 
class, such as Windsor, Longpod, Ac., may be topped the 
moment a good bloom is secured; this prevents the Dolphin 
fly getting a foothold, and helps to swell the Beans; also, 
in mixed crops, prevents the Beans from lopping sideways, 
and injuring their neighbours. 
Cabbageworts. — The forward Savoys, Green Kale, 
Brussels Sprouts, &c., will require “ pricking - out ” to 
strengthen towards the middle or end of the month; they 
become much more profitable by this practice, and are 
content to wait longer for any given crop being removed. 
Cabbages may be sown as formerly advised, monthly, until 
September. 
Those, who keep a cow will do well to look over my 
papers on that head, which now appear weekly, for awhile, 
and refer more particularly to those who are lucky enough 
to farm some half dozen acres. 
After these things are carried out, let me advise a con¬ 
stant and unwearying attention to the muck-heap, now in a 
small compass, but speedily to be enlarged. There is no 
better plan than to have loose soil of any kind dose at 
band, to rough-spread the manure in the hole weekly, and 
spread an inch or two of soil over it: this keeps in the 
strength of the manure, and prevents sweating ; few people 
are aware how much quality they lose during a dry and hot 
period when the manure lies in a neglected state. Indeed, 
heavy rains are equally to be guarded against, therefore let 
the heap be always rounded a little to cany off rains. I 
will undertake to grow some of the finest Drumhead Cab¬ 
bages in Britain, if I may be allowed to occupy a pole or two 
of ground just below a bad muck manager. 
Finally, let every nerve be strained now ; no lounging, no 
indecision; “none but the brave deserve the fair,” and none 
but the truly industrious deserve a good garden. One of 
the first considerations on behalf of our first parents was a 
garden, thus showing, notwithstanding the glare of our 
great towns, that something more than mere shops, with 
showy counters, was needed to meet both the economic, 
social, and moral condition of man. R. Errington. 
NEWCASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND, AND 
DURHAM POULTRY SOCIETY. 
“ In your paper of the 9th ult. you express ‘ much surprise 
on learning the determination of the above Society to hold 
their next exhibition on the' 19th and 20th of April.’ In 
justice to the Committee, I hope you will allow me a place 
in your paper to explain how it is that the exhibition is to 
be held at that time; your arguments against which are 
very correct; but I think you cannot suppose they were not 
fully discussed by tbe Committee when they fixed the time. 
Committees of such societies have to take local influences 
into consideration. Easter week being a sort of holiday in 
Newcastle, the Committee of the Society in question were 
unanimous in their convictions, that at no other time would 
the exhibition be attended with such success; and, as you 
express having had experience in poultry exhibitions, you 
must be aware how desirable it is to have them “self- \ 
