May 25. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
141 
future prospects, as concerns garden work. Nature now 
wears her richest finery; every hill, dale, glade, ditch, and 
hedgeside teems with exuberant foliage, and is dotted with 
ilowers, and the mind of man fairly forgets the horrors of 
the past winter. The industrious allotment man or cottage 
gardener comes in for a full share of the exultation, and 
casts many an anxious eye over his luxuriant Cabbages, 
Lettuces, early Potatoes, and rising crops. Let then, we 
say, such pleasurable feelings lead us to an increased measure 
of gratitude to Almighty God, and move us to increased 
perseverance. 
The extirpation of weeds is one of the most pressing 
matters of the period, and the attention to this must be 
unremitting ; every spare moment must be thus employed. 
When it is showery, the hand-weeding may be performed, 
reserving all hoeing processes, if possible, until the soil is 
dusty on the surface. When the weather is of neither 
extreme, it will be found good policy to “ dig in ” weeds, 
remembering not to dig too close to growing crops, 
the weeds from which may pulled or hoed away previously to 
digging. The young root-crops will now require much 
attention in hand-weeding, singling out, hand-hoeing, &c. 
The weeds should be hoed between the rows betimes, then 
the rows hand-weeded, then the plants singled out, that is to 
say thinned, so that no two touch ; this done, the hand-hoe 
should be worked between the plants in dry weather. A 
pause may now take place for two or three weeks, when the 
plants will require “ setting out" at their final distance, or 
else at half distance; the latter I prefer. I have been 
speaking more of Mangold, Swedes, Parsnips, Carrots, Ac. 
Potatoes. —The early crops may still require a little 
weeding; of course all other operations have ceased. The 
later crops will require good hoeing and hand-weeding, and 
a little earth drawn to them where shallow. 
Cabbageworts. —Continue to sow Cabbages monthly to 
supply gaps, &c. Run the hoe through those getting forward, 
and continue to collect waste leaves, Ac., for cows or pigs. 
Brocolis will soon require priclcing-out, and the early part of 
this month is a good time to sow Cauliflowers for the 
autumn. Green Kale, Savoys, &c., too, are all the better 
for pricking-out; at any rate, let them be clean weeded, and 
if too thick they may be slightly thinned. Towards the end 
of the month, some chances may occur of getting some of 
the Cabbageworts planted out finally. 
Onions. —This is an important crop, and one that requires 
much attention in June. Of course, all weeds will be extir¬ 
pated, and the common practice is to hoe well through 
them, though we do not practice this; they must also be 
thinned where too thick, say, from three to five inches apart. 
This, however, had better not be done at once, for fear of 
the grub, but merely singling them out at first. 
Peas.—A ll staked, of course; let the drills be edged up 
with soil on light and hot lands to retain rain. When the 
Peas are above the stakes their tops should be pinched or 
dubbed; this continues them longer in bearing if late 
kinds. 
Beans. —The Broad Beans will now require topping; this 
is necessary. 
Turnips. —The common may be sown for a full autumn 
crop towards the end of the month ; the Dutch and Stone 
are the best for small plots. 
Swedes. —Those who have seed-beds of this useful root 
should run a scythe over them as soon as they are four or 
five inches high, just topping them a little. This makes 
the plants stiff to handle at planting time, and they will 
endure sunshine the better. They must, of course, be kept 
totally free from weeds. Whether as mixed crops, or singly, 
i they should be transplanted, if possible, by the beginning of 
July. They succeed best if they have roots as large as a 
I pullet’s egg. 
Lettuces. —A few may be sown at the very end of the 
j month for good autumn crops; such as the Bath Adys, or 
j Crystal Cos, or the Drumhead , or Cabbaye Dcilvce. 
Watering. —Let watering, when necessary, be done in 
| the evening; and wherever applied let the crop be soaked 
thoroughly. Light waterings may do for spring and autumn, 
j but not for summer; they simply hurry without sustaining, 
j Planting. —There is little got by planting in dry weather; 
1 better wait until the ground is moist, if possible. There are 
I few crops but will gain by the choice, even if thrown a fort¬ 
night behind their period. It certainly is important to ob¬ 
serve certain periods with certain crops, but it is even more 
important to see that the soil is in high condition both as 
regards cultural principles and aptitude for permanently 
establishing the young plant. 
Shading. —When very trying periods of drought occur, it 
is worth while occasionally to shade delicate things. We 
practise this a good deal, for although, at first sight, it may 
appear a good deal of trouble, yet it is frequently less in the 
end, inasmuch as it saves the water-pot. A few ordinary 
boughs from the hedge-row will suffice, pointed and stuck in 
thinly. 
There are many little affairs bearing on the subject, 
pertaining to this period; but they cannot all be handled in 
detail, neither is it necessary; for, in fact, almost every 
holder of a small plot of land is pretty well informed on the 1 
subject of Kidney Beans, Rhubarb, and other nick-nacks ; : 
our main business, I conceive, is to point to the main I 
features, and to show forth such a policy as will be not only I 
agreeable but profitable. 
In these war-times it will scarcely do to indulge in 
whims or hobbies, profit is the thing. It is not simply 
what can be done, or what has been done, but what 
ouyht to be done under existing circumstances. We are 
now placed in a somewhat false position through the 
pending war, and as ever has been the case, in such things, 
every member of society will be made to feel it, and to take 
his share of the burden. Grumbling is of little avail, 
neither is it befiting our position as a nation. We know, 
or ought to know, that whatever faults still exist, however 
awkward things appear, we, by the goodness of God, live 
under a constitution which is the envy of many nations. 
It is, indeed, almost literally true, that every man in this 
long-favoured island may “ sit under his own vine, and his 
own fig-tree,” and that our course is bound to be one of 
progression; that kind of progression which must have a 
constant tendency to raise the character, and to better the 
condition of society at large. It. Errington. 
PRIDE AND SELF WILL. 
By the Authoress of “ My Flowers." 
Among the many classes into which our population is 
divided, there is one which very particularly calls for our 
interest and sympathy. It is that of domestic servants. 
Closely as they belong to our comforts ; necessary as they 
are to our convenience; near as they are to our person ; and 
important as they are in every branch of household arrange¬ 
ment, few classes receive less benefit from the public at 
large, or the families they serve. Less is done for the 
moral and religious culture of both male and female 
servants than for any other branch of the community. Pro 
bably it is because, as members of households, they are 
supposed to share in all the benefits and blessings of family 
privileges ; or because they cannot easily be got at; or because 
they are forgotten among the masses for whom our interest 
is sought and claimed. Any way, they are a neglected po¬ 
pulation ; and the sin mainly lies at the door of those who 
employ them. If all was done for children and servants 
that might be accomplished, instead of time and money 
being squandered upon that which profiteth not, what an 
amount of moral, spiritual, and social good would be 
quietly and impreceptibly spreading itself through the land ! 
Parents, too ! how they turn raw and unfledged boys and 
girls into service, among men and woman of all ages and 
characters, over whom no eyes can watch, except at stated 
times, and where they are exposed to severe temptation, evil 
influences, unbridled tempers, cruelty, and oppression. Too 
often they are encouraged at home in follies and vanities, 
which lead to their eventual ruin. Oh ! how the young should J 
be clothed with the armour of God before they enter unpro- | 
tected an ensnaring world ! 
The following narrative from a pen now well known to the | 
readers of The Cottage Gardener will, we trust, be a 
warning to young women, and to parents who foster the love 
of sin in their poor children. 
“ Jane Markham was the eldest of the five daughters of a 
small inanufacturer in a provincial town. She received the 
ordinary education of girls in her position; she could read 
fluently, write tolerably, and, I believe, was a very fan - semps- 
