January 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
jor 
1 
now have before us, because, though many of our most I 
common British plants present features of great interest 
to the inquiring botanist, those wliich infest our walks, : 
squares, and borders, are so abundant as to require no ! 
particular notice at our bands in the shape of “ pro- ! 
tective enactments;” for tlie dandelion, which blooms 
by the road-side wastes, is identical to the one whicli 
now and tlien we see insinuating itself into the less 
frequented walks of the garden of medium keeping, and 
though it is seldom allowed to bloom in the latter place, 
yet its efforts to accomplish that object there, as well , 
as on the close-shoi'ii lawn, shew, in a beautiful way, i 
■what struggles nature now and then is capable of under¬ 
taking in order to accomplish that important duty of 1 
multiplying her species. But, in the present instauce, \ 
our duty is to prevent that increase rather than en- i 
courage it; and, in a mild open winter, the class of ! 
plants called weeds (which, according to the late IMr. ' 
Loudon’s definition of the term, includes every plant 
not cultivated) are generally allowed to grow away with | 
a sort of impunity which it is dillicult to check, the 
mass of other work, and the adverse elements concur- ! 
ring to their well-being rather than their extirpation. ! 
This state of things must not, however, be allowed to ! 
go on too long, otherwise something worse than more 
present appearance will follow. Squares of vacant j 
ground that the continued wet has prevented a spade ! 
being put in may be dug, and all the annual weeds ; 
buried; perennial ones, being deeper rooted, ought to ! 
be carefully dug out and carried right away at once. 
Amongst close-growing crops the system of hand- ^ 
weeding must be put in requisition ; while many that 
will allow the spade in between them will be benefited 
by slight digging, when the ground will allow it, and 
thereby bury all small annual weeds, which, instead of 
being impoverishers of the ground, will become reno¬ 
vators of it, and that freshness which newly-turned-up 
soil always imparts to growing crops will be gratefully 
acknowledged by them in the shape of increased growth. 
This “digging in” is, therefore, attended with the best 
possible results, so that, whenever crops of cabbages, or 
similar things, present a quantity of small seedling 
weeds, which it is advisable to eradicate, this digging 
in will accomplish the Job with the additional advantage 
of conferring a benefit on the existing crop. How far 
this may bo carried on in other ways will depend on 
certain local circumstances. On some soils weeds will 
struggle successfully in again getting their heads above 
ground, while in others the attempt seems abortive. 
However, in a general way, we are no advocates for 
carrying any quantity of annual weeds or other vege¬ 
table refuse off the ground, unless it be of a kind of 
extremly slow decomposition, as the stalks of the 
cabbage tribe, and haulm of asp)aragus; the latter, form- ; 
ing a tolerable good covering for tilings requiring pro- | 
tection, is often used that way. And when the stalks i 
of the Cabbage-worts are stript of their leaves, the j 
remaining portion is too small to run the risk of con- | 
tauiiiiating the ground, if it is dug in with wire-worm, i 
and other pests. That this would be the case is evident 
from the numbers tliat congregate around a half-decayed i 
stem of this plant where it is left in the ground; while ' 
the succulent herbage of ordinary weeds present nothing * 
but a quiet-decaying substance to the action of the soil, ^ 
to which it is speedily assimilated when vitality is gone, j 
From the above, it will be seen that digging in weeds i 
and other herbage is strongly advised, as returning to i 
the earth those elementary parts it is so much in need | 
of; but then another question arises—what is to become | 
of the weeds which a wet, mild winter sends fortii on | 
our walks, court-yards, carriage-roads, and other places 
where neatness is (or ought to be) “ cultivated ” instead 
of “plants?” Here a system of anti-cultivation must 
be pursued; but how is this opposing course to be i 
accomplished has been the theme of much controversy. 
In a usual way, the remedy is labour, and hand- 
weeding or hoeing is had recoTirse to—tlie latter, of 
course, the most expeditious when practicable; but this 
not being so in many cases, and hand-weeding tedious 
and expensive, various expedients have been adopted to 
destroy tlie weeds by other means than removing them. 
Poisonous ingredients have been applied in the shape 
of gas water, and infusions of various mineral poisons, 
with more or less success; but as all these are either 
dangerous in their use, or expensive appliances, it would 
appear that much yet has to bo done in the way of 
annihilating weeds fi’om such places. Salt has been 
strongly recommended, and by some has no doubt been 
found beneficial, by others less so ; and our experience 
has been somewhat contlicting that way, that we cannot, 
without some qualification, recommend its use. 
If it is employed at all it must be systematically fol¬ 
lowed up, and then its benefits will doubtless show them¬ 
selves. A slight sprinkling of salt, followed by wet wea¬ 
ther, cannot be expected to efi'ect any permanent good; 
but repeated and Judicious applications may, and no 
doubt do, so saturate the ground with its saline particles 
as to be no longer in a condition fit to support vegetable 
life. That the cases of successful management, when 
this course is adopted, arise from this cause, is evident 
enough, wdiile a solitary dose may have given increased 
fertility to the q)laces where it has not been rei)eated. 
Plot water, too, has been strongly recommended, and 
Mr. Fleming’s machine for blending the two together 
would seem to have supplied the desideratum we have so 
long been aiming at. Unfortunately, its first expense, 
coupled with the difficulty there is sometimes of supply¬ 
ing it with water, &c., in sufficient quantities to make its 
working economical, prevents its general use, so that 
we hope yet to see some cheaper and readier way of 
dealing out destruction to the myriads of weeds and 
mosses which disfigure all walks not much used; the 
latter class of vegetation has been more conspicuous 
duriug the past autumn than any hitherto for some 
years, the mild, moist weather being so congenial to 
its growth. 
Where, on sound, well-prepared walks it is not ad¬ 
visable to disturb any portion of their surface, some other 
destroyer must be put in requisition. A very good one 
may be adopted at times, when the weather admits it, 
which is not, however, always; but where moss is growing 
on the surface of a path consisting of gravel or stones that 
have become smoothed tolerably fine by rolling or use, the 
moss will be found occupying all the interstices between 
such stones. Now, to remove it from thence by ordinary 
hand-labour would be both troublesome and exi)ensive, 
it is, therefoi-e, better if we can avail ourselves of the 
elements to effect our purpose thence, which in this case 
can be done in many instances. Charged as this vege¬ 
tation is with water, together with the ground that 
supports it, a sharp frost exercises a destructive power 
upon it; but, more than that, the expansive powers of 
frost raises from the ground the whole mass of vegetable 
life, with its roots, &c., so as to appear in bold relief to 
the stones not subject to such a change. While in this 
conditioii the exercise of a good scrubby broom has a 
sweeping effect; but it must be borne in mind that it 
must be done at the precise moment the frost gives way, 
because a heavy rain sinks it again to its former posi¬ 
tion. It is only those who have witnessed the pheno¬ 
menon we speak of that are aware of the singular 
appearance it has, and only those who avail themselves 
of the proper time to remove it that can tell of the 
benefits to be derived from it, as its loosened condition 
enables it to be removed with more precision than many 
are aware of, while the stones are not disturbed in the 
least. Now, though we do not object to the use of salt, 
or salt and water, either hot or cold, nor to the various 
