August 29. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
421 
floor ever since the middle of August;—some earlier; they 
are now hard as bullets, almost, and of a bronzy-green 
colour; the eyes just to be detected in tbeir sockets. All they 
require, henceforth, until the end of January, is thorough 
dryness and perfect safety from frost. My latter crops 
for seed will be up in three or four days, and undergo 
similar treatment; and I shall have the satisfaction of 
knowing that there is not the slightest taint of disease in 
my whole stock. 
We may now enquire what the chief features of August 
are, as concerns allotment plots ; and first— 
Spare Ground. —Let the whole plot once more undergo a 
close examination, in the very beginning, to see if any spare 
space yet remain, or any bad or imperfect crop cumber the 
ground, which could be more profitably employed. Cabbages, 
or Coleworts, from a June sowing, may now be planted to 
advantage; indeed, it is a capital time to plant the dwarf 
kinds sown in the beginning of July for winter Coleworts. 
It will be remembered, that I long since advised a special 
eye to this sowing, and urged that a good deal of cash 
might be made of them at Christmas, if bunched and sold. 
Let it be remembered, that is the sort, if good, such as 
Barnes’ Dwarf, or the Matchless; they may be planted as 
close together as nine inches in such soil as cottagers 
possess, which is not so rich in manure as our market 
gardens. Strong plants of Green Kale may yet be put 
out; but.for all other greens it is too late. Every decaying, 
or useless crop, therefore, should be pulled up and used. 
I have known cottagers silly enough to keep a lot of ex¬ 
hausted half-gathered Peas on the ground, with the idea of 
saving their own seed : this is nonsense ; they will buy their 
seed, and much more too, with the profit they will obtain if 
they gather the Peas half-ripe, for stewing with fat bacon, 
or by giving them to the feeding hog, and then cropping 
their ground directly. They should remember that Peas 
occupy more ground than most crops. The same may be 
said of Broad Beans, unless as mixed crops. 
Onions, if handled through the summer according to my 
recommendations, will now be fit to draw, or, indeed, much 
sooner. Mine will all be off the ground by the 20th August, 
and the plot will be immediately dug and planted with 
Coleworts to carry us through a long winter. I never had 
such a crop of Onions in my time. I shall estimate their 
produce pier pole when removed, and let our readers know. 
Carrots. —These are fearfully grubbed with me, so much 
so, that I have drawn most of the early crops, and, cutting 
all the largest roots into the quick, I have bedded them in 
damp charcoal-dust to preserve them for autumn use; and 
I sowed a good breadth of tlia Early Horn in the middle of 
July, in order to endeavour to eke out without buying, if 
possible. I shall occasionally water these young Horns with 
a liquid-manure, composed of three parts soot, one part 
guano. 
Parsnips will be now in full growth ; they simply require 
keeping clear from weeds. 
Mangold. —Draw up the “ bolters,” if any, and give them 
to the pig. Keep the crop clean. 
Swedes. —I have a little garden attached to my cottage 
in which there is now growing one of the finest crops of 
Swedes after early Potatoes that ever were seen by any 
man ; and this, too, without any manure except what the 
Potatoes left. The soil was, however, in fine tilth, and the 
plants sown in the end of April, in drills, moderately thin, 
were uncommonly stout, with small bulbs already formed. 
They have, moreover, been twice mowed over—the tops just 
pointed with a light hand—and this makes a very stout 
plant, which will well endure transplanting. Swedes should 
be once more looked over in the first week, and if any 
weeds remain they must be all removed. 
Lettuces may be sown in the first week, thinly, to remain 
where sown; and those sown in the beginning of August 
must be transplanted where they can be protected in severe 
weather. At the end of the month the Cahhaycs sown in 
the second week in August to stand tho winter must be 
pricked out, to strengthen them, on light soil, not too rich. 
And now, as parting advice, I say, let the hoe be plied 
in dry weather wherever the soil is crusty or weedy; and 
remember the advice so often given—of looking well to 
manure-heaps, and of collecting materials for a general 
charring at the end of the month. R. Errington. 
APIARIAN’S CALENDAR.— September. 
By J. H. Payne , Esq., Author of “ The Bee-Keeper's 
Guide,” Ac. 
The Season. —The season has by no means been a good 
one. There will be very little or no surplus honey. The 
early swarms have generally collected only a sufficient 
quantity to carry them safely through the winter, and late j 
ones will, consequently, require autumnal feeding. Each 
family intended for stock should be made to weigh at least j 
twenty pounds, independently of the hive, and it had better j 
be done at the end of the month. 
Honey is, unquestionably, the best food that can be ; 
given, and Dext to it a compound of honey, loaf-sugar, and ' 
water. Barley-sugar is more suited to spring feeding when ! 
but little is required. The proportions arc one pound of 
sugar, one-quarter-of-a-pint of water, and one-quarter-of-a- 
pound of honey, mixed and simmered over a slow fire till 
the sugar is melted. 
May, and the early part of June, promised well for a good 
season, but the dull, wet weather that followed destroyed all 
hope of there being any quantity of honey stored. The 
bright days of July came too late. June is the only month 
in which much is ever done, when that proves wet and cold 
no honey can be expected for that year. “ None in June, 
none afterwards," is a true apiarian axiom. 
Autumnal Unions. —Late and second swarms containing 
but five or six pounds of honey will not repay the trouble 
and expense of feeding, and had better be put two or three 
together, and fed liberally with the above compound. The 
union may be formed either by driving or fumigating. 
Wasps. —Where wasps abound, it will be advisable to 
narrow the entrances of tho hives with a few pieces of cork. 
DURHAM AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY’S 
POULTRY EXHIBITION. 
This took place at Darlington on the 4tli instant. The 
show was small in numbers, for the prizes were low, but the 
quality of the birds was good generally, the chief exception 
being the Shanyhnes. Mr. It. Benson, it is true, exhibited 
some fine birds in this latter class, but nearly all tbe rest 
were gaunt and hideous-looking creatures. Mr. W. Lightfoot, 
of Newcastle, as might have been expected, earned off the 
prizes for the Spanish, with birds displaying the manifold 
beauties of that noble breed. The Dorkings were of excellent 
quality—Mr. Spearman’s chicken were greatly admired, as 
were also the cock and two hens exhibited by Miss Wood. 
The Game fowls were not numerous, but the beauty of the 
plumage of the specimens exhibited found for them nu¬ 
merous admirers. In the Silver and Golden Hamburgh 
class some difficulty was experienced by tbe judges, owing 
to the Spangled and Pencilled varieties being classed to- j 
gether, and thus brought into unfair competition. The re- , 
commendation of the judges to separate the classes will no 
doubt be attended to next year. The birds in these classes 
were very good—tho Silver in particular. The remainder 
of tho poultry was of an average quality—a gander was ex¬ 
hibited which weighed 21 lbs., and a goose 16J lbs. 
The judges were Mr. Trotter, of Bywell, and Mr. Newby, 
of Hallgarth. 
Spanish Cock and two Hens.— First prize, Mr. W. Ughtfoot. 
(Black.) Hatched 1853. Second prize, Mr. VV. Lightfoot. Six entries. 
Spanish Chicken. —First prize, Mr. W. Lightfoot, Shieldficld, 
Newcastle. (Black,) Hatched 1851. Five entries. 
Dorking Cock and two Hens. —First prize, Mr. Thomas Stock- 
dale, Hilton, near Yarm. Second prize, Miss Wood, Stanwick Park, 
Aldborough. (Coloured.) Six entries. 
Dorking Chicken. —First prize, H. J. Spearman, Esq., Newton 
Hall. (Speckled.) Hatched in April. Second prize. Miss Wethercll, 
Kirlibridgc. Eight entries. 
Cociiin-Ciiina Cock and two Hens.— First prize, Mr. William 
Marshall, Darlington. There were no birds deserving a second prize. 
Four entries. 
CocniN-CniNA Chicken. —First Iprize, Mr. Richard Benson, Dar¬ 
lington. Eight entries. 
Game Cock and two Hens. —First prize, Mr. J. Dixon, West 
Brook Place, Bradford. Second prize, Mr. John Charlton, 1, Siinpson- 
street, Newcastle. Age, nineteen months. Six entries. 
