38 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 16. 
superior kind to any in cultivation. Even one really 
first-rate, superior to any known variety of its class, will 
be worth from twenty to fifty pounds, which sum would 
be quite a set-up to an amateur or cottage florist. 
Time and mode of sowing choice seed. —Such as we have 
described above will be worthy of every care and atten¬ 
tion. Sow it in March, in shallow earthenware pans, or 
wooden boxes placed under a frame without heat. Set 
the pans upon a stratum of coal-ashes, and carefully 
close every crevice, to prevent slugs from entering. 
Cover this frame up every night, to keep out the frost; 
give abundance of air during warm sunny days, and 
water very gently, whenever the surface appears dry. 
The seeds, if good, will quickly germinate, and will then 
require particular attention, to prevent them from 
damping off. This attention will consist of giving air 
every day, and even on very warm sunny days pull off 
the light entirely. The watering, also, must be very 
judiciously performed, giving it in the mornings only of 
such days as are likely to be sunny. When they have 
attained a sufficient size to be handled, let them be care¬ 
fully pricked out—which means transplanted with a 
small stick—into similar pans or boxes, replaced in the 
frame, and kept there till they have six or eight leaves 
each. They may then be fully exposed to the weather 
for a week or two, and after that be planted out, four 
inches apart, into a bed prepared according to the 
directions at the page referred to above. By the autumn 
they will be strong plants, and will all flower the follow¬ 
ing season. Then will be proved whether there are any 
improvements; whether there is a decided hit, or a com¬ 
plete failure. If the former, rejoice in moderation; if 
the latter, do not despair, but try again with renewed 
vigour, and a firm determination never to give over 
trying till success is achieved. Perhaps some one of our 
cottage readers may say—I have no frame, and, there¬ 
fore, I cannot raise seedling Pinks. Stop a bit, my good 
friend, you need not give that idea up yet. You may 
choose a warm border, sow your choice Pink seed upon 
it in April, transplant your seedlings in June, and get 
them tolerably strong before the autumn. Protect them 
through the winter with hoops and mats, or some other 
cheap covering of your own make, and you will succeed 
in blooming some the first year, and all the second. 
Sow away then, and exert your ingenuity, and we 
promise you much enjoyment, if it be only the hope of 
success, and the pleasure of watching, attending to, and 
seeing the progress of your nursery of seedling Pinks. 
T. Apfleby. 
(To he continued.) 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Trenching Vacant Ground.— There are few operations 
in the kitchen-garden of more importance to the well¬ 
being of its produce than the proper tilling of the soil. 
The heavy and successive cropping to which this depart¬ 
ment is, in most cases, subjected, renders a proportionate 
amount of artificial assistance necessary, to enable 
nature to sustain the many demands made on her 
resources; and not the least of these auxiliary helps, is 
that judicious preparation of the soil to the greatest pos¬ 
sible depth to which the fertilising influence of the 
atmosphere can reach. Every one who has walked 
through a garden in summer, after a lengthened period 
of dry weather, must have noticed the blue, stunted 
appearance of the whole Cabbage tribe; Peas often mil¬ 
dewed before producing a single pod ; French Beans a 
prey to red spider; and the leaves of Strawberries plead¬ 
ing, in language which cannot be mistaken, that they 
j want more food ; these evils, though, to a certain extent, 
j attributable to the season, over which we have no con- 
I trol, are yet partly due to the situation, over which, by 
i>sing judicious means, we suppose we ought to exercise 
a considerable influence, modified, of course, by the cir¬ 
cumstances of the case and the means at command. 
Previously to commencing operations, let us examine 1 
the mischief, as the first preliminary step to the sugges¬ 
tion of a remedy. It is well known the first effects of ! 
dry weather on vegetation in a growing state, is, by 
withdrawing the moisture from the soil nearest the sur¬ 
face, to send the roots to seek for more nutritious food) 
either laterally, or by descending deeper for it; now this 
latter can only be done where the ground has undergone 
a course of tillage to such a depth as to prepare it for 
such an emergency, and we need hardly point to trench¬ 
ing as the only way to secure so desirable an end. But, 
independent of the mere loosening of the soil to a cer¬ 
tain depth, other things call for our attention—the 
nature of the ground to be operated upon, and the mate¬ 
rials best calculated to amend that ground; and we 
think we are not far wrong in asserting, that it would 
be as absurd to prescribe the same course of treatment ! 
for a dry sandy, or gravelly soil, and a cold clayey one, 
as it would be for a physician to apply the same medi¬ 
cine for disorders differing widely in their origin and 
effects. True, it may be said, that dung can never be 
applied wrong, but no more can food, except in excess; 
and much as we admire its renovating influence, yet we 
must not be diverted from our purpose of endeavouring 
to remedy a defect in the capabilities of the soil, by being 
told, “ a good dunging would do it all for us.” Need we 
ask how much dung it would take to avoid, or remedy, 
the evils noted above, as resulting in a hot season on a 
dry, hungry soil ? Abundance of that useful article 
would certainly accomplish that object, but let us see if 
it cannot be attained by less expensive means, by a care¬ 
ful consideration of what ingredients are necessary to 
give the soil, or rather the subsoil, an altered character, 
so as to fit it for the purpose it is destined for, which 
merely moving it and putting it in its place again, can 
hardly be expected to do. As an example, let us 
suppose the garden to consist of a strong and rather stiff 
soil, resting on a cold, heavy, but not altogether imper¬ 
vious, clayey loam, and we shall also presume the 
surface-soil to have been repeatedly dug and manured 
for a series of years without the bottom having been 
meddled with, so that its original condition is no further 
altered than what may be effected by the washing down 
of the juices of the dung which has been placed above 
it; but still its crust-bound surface presents an impene¬ 
trable barrier to the roots of every plant but such as 
Horseradish, Coltsfoot, and some other deep-rooted weeds. 
Such a case demands, and deserves, careful trenching ; 
and the dry state the ground is often in at the end of 
summer favouring the wheeling or carting of materials, 
as well as being advantageous to the ground, makes it 
advisable to commence operations immediately the neces- J 
sary ingredients can be placed on the ground, which in 
so far as trenching is concerned, are those necessary to 
fertilize the lower strata or subsoil, which we, by all 
means, advise to be again retained at bottom; a certain 
quantity in the course of operation will find its way to 
the top, and will do good there, as well as some of the 
top-spit will get at the bottom, but the great bulk of 
both we mean to retain in their former position. We 
need hardly enter into details, which most labourers 
know pretty well; suffice it to say, that we mean the I 
top-spit kept to the top again, and the bottom dug j 
or well-worked over, with the material most likely to 
loosen it and keep it in that condition. Lime, when it 
is to be had in any quantity, is good for that purpose, 
and so is chalk, but not so effectual; ashes may also be 
used with advantage, or it might be peat-earth, but of 
the effects of this article we have not had so much 
experience; but the material we like best, and the one 
we have seen the best results from as a subsoil fertilizer, 
