December 25. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENED. 
195 
1st. Soil. —Whoever intends to cultivate any plant 
will naturally, in the lirst place, be anxious to learn the 
kind of soil he ought to procure to grow it in. Some 
: plants flourish in a soil wherein others would perish. 
| The Heath, for instance, will not grow in loam, hut 
! requires sandy peat; whilst the Amaryllis must have 
I rich loam without any peat. Others do well in a mix- 
' ture of various matters called, technically, compost. 
With these the Verbena agrees; it loves a light, mode- 
I rately-rich compost, consisting of loam taken from the 
surface of upland pasture in turves two or three inches 
thick. These should be carted home, laid neatly on a 
heap not more than two feet thick. Let it lay quietly 
lor three months to allow the grass on its surface to rot; 
then turn it over three or four times for the next nine 
months, chopping the turves small as they are turned 
over with the spade. At the end of twelve months it 
will be fit for use, but will improve by turning over for 
another year. If it can be had, procure at the same 
time a batch of sandy peat, and subject it to the same 
process; also, a quantity of the fallen leaves of trees— 
the beech and the oak are the best for floral purposes, but 
they require a longer period to rot than the leaves of 
the sycamore or of the horse-chesnut. These leaves, 
when collected, should be laid in a long heap, not too 
thick, or they will heat so much as to destroy a great 
part of their nutritive properties. To prevent this, turn 
them over frequently, and if they appear dry, throw on 
them large quantities of water, which will greatly assist 
their decomposition. By such means we have got 
excellent vegetable mould in twelvemonths. All these 
being ready for use, mix together a sufficient quantity 
in equal parts for present use about a month before it 
is wanted; mix them well at the time, and turn them 
over once a few days before the potting season; then 
bring the compost on to the potting-bench when it is 
moderately dry, and proceed to pot the plants. Here 
we would remark that the peat-soil is not absolutely 
necessary. If it cannot be conveniently had, dispense 
with it, and use about an eighth-part of fine river sand 
to equal parts of the loam and vegetable mould. Again, 
if our amateur florist is so unfortunately situate that he 
cannot obtain the vegetable mould, he may use the 
loam and sand, and about a sixth-part of very rotten 
dung, such as is made of stable-litter and horse-drop- 
pings ; or, in other words, good old hotbed manure. We 
have thus made known how a compost to grow them in 
pots should be formed for the Verbena, the loam being 
the article indispensable. If the soil in the florist’s 
garden-beds be not too old, a mixture of leaf-mould and 
manure must be well incorporated with it during winter, 
digging it over at least twice previously to planting; 
but if the natural loam be poor, or heavy, it should be 
removed away entirely to the depth of nine or twelve 
inches, and the place filled up with the compost. This 
will last, with the addition of a little leaf-mould, or very 
well decomposed manure, for three years. * 
2ndly. Situation. —In the open ground for plants to 
produce cut-flowers, and in pots to be exhibited therein. 
Beds for florists’ flowers in the open air are best in an 
open exposure, sheltered by hedges or walls from the 
north-west, north, and north-east winds. These shelters 
should not be too near the beds, or they, if hedges are 
used, would, by their roots, impoverish the soil, and 
would draw up the flowers weak and spindly. If walls 
are used as the shelter, the bed for the Verbenas should 
not be less than four or five feet from them. The 
borders close to the walls might be made use of for early 
spring flowers, such as the various kinds of early flower¬ 
ing bulbs; and after they are decayed down, might be 
planted with greenhouse shrubs, either planted out, or 
plunged in their pots; or some of the tender annuals 
! might be grown in such a warm situation very success- 
; fully. The beds for Verbenas then would be sufficiently 
sheltered without being injured by too much heat, and the 
space agreeably filled with flowers. The bed, or beds, 
for the Verbenas should be long, and not more than 
four feet wide ; and then would contain two rows, allow¬ 
ing them space to spread out a little every way, and 
thus multiply the chances of having good flowers. The 
situation for plants in pots to be exhibited therein we 
must leave to be described in our next. T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
NOTES MADE DURING A TOUR IN AUGUST 
LAST—( Continued from p. 168). 
Trentham. — Machines. In this extensive place, in 
respect to the pleasure ground, the mowing of the lawn 
is a very heavy and expensive business; at least it was 
so when the common method of cutting the grass with 
the scythe was followed. To lessen this labour and ex¬ 
pense a large mowing machine was procured, to be 
drawn by ahorse whose feet are shod with a broad, flat 
shoe, made of leather, and strapped to the legs of the 
animal. This machine answers admirably; the lawn 
was in excellent order, evenly cut, and as much done in 
a day as formerly occupied four or five men, besides 
women to sweep up the grass. Our readers, no doubt, 
are aware that the mowing machine not only cuts the 
grass, but gathers it up as it is cut, so that the labour of 
sweeping is entirely saved. 
Fleming’s Weed Destroyer. —This has been already 
described frequently. "We need only say that it is a 
machine slightly resembling a common watering-cart, 
such as is used to lay the dust in our streets. It is sup¬ 
plied with hot water strongly impregnated with salt, and 
is drawn along the walks, scattering the saline fluid 
upon them. Mr. Bailey, gardener at Nuneham, has 
written .against it in a contemporary gardening paper, 
but we must think he has never seen the walks at 
Trentham, or he would have been convinced his 
strictures were not exactly right. We can bear testimony 
to the effects produced by it. Not only was every weed 
completely destroyed, but even in shady places, where 
formerly moss abounded, and rendered walking a rather 
slippery effort, the walks were effectually cleared from 
moss, and presented a clean, comfortable, dry walk, such 
as the most delicate, thin-sliod lady might walk upon 
with pleasure. We are happy to find that an old friend, 
a most excellent gardener, Mr. Tinker, who, for nearly 
half a century, has been a successful manager of the 
gardens belonging to Lady Ramsden, at Byram Hall, 
near Ferrybridge, in Yorkshire, bears testimony to the 
good effects of Fleming’s Weed Destroyer. He has 
obtained one, uses it when required, and, in his own em¬ 
phatic words, he declared to us " that it was one of the 
best and most useful machines for the garden that ever 
was invented.” Mr. Tinker’s walks, too, were in excel¬ 
lent order, both such as were exposed, and such as were 
shaded, and, in consequence, liable to be grown over 
with moss. We hope to see the day when at least every 
large garden will be furnished with this very useful and 
effective machine. 
A Leaf Cart. —We observed a cart to be drawn by 
one or two men for the purpose of collecting leaves. 
The wheels were broad and low, whilst the body of the 
cart was large. It looked like an enormous box placed 
upon four broad, low wheels. In the autumn, when 
leaves are to be collected in quantities, both for useful 
purposes and to clean the walks and pleasure grounds, 
this appeared to be a very useful conveyance. 
Flowers. —The kitchen-gardens at Trentham are, as 
might be expected, very extensive, and, by their neat¬ 
ness and excellent arrangement, are rendered not only 
useful, but positively attractive; and, to increase their 
attractiveness, arc bordered all round the quarters with 
