THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
339 
| February 2G. 
Such being tlie case with ourselves, wo have been in the 
habit of sowing alternate rows of parsnips with the carrots. 
If the carrots succeed, and get past the middle of August, 
the parsnips may be heavily thinned, or all drawn up pro¬ 
gressively, and given to the cow or pigs. At this period they 
are exceedingly succulent and rich, and tops, roots, and all, 
will be greedily devoured, whilst the cottier’s wife will be 
able, with some boiling peas, and a bit of fat bacon, to make 
a first-rate soup for the bairns. There is little trouble in 
this ; no sacrifice, and it is a capital plan. Parsnip-seed is, or 
ought to be, the cheapest seed in the country ; four ounces 
is amply sufficient for any allotment man, and that will cost 
i him sixpence. The ground being thoroughly worked, the 
j parsnips may be sown in the middle of March, not sooner, 
| and the carrots in the early part of April, or they may be 
sown together in the last week of March, in drills about a 
foot apart—the parsnips sown very thinly indeed. 
Broad Beans. —Of all the crops, this, perhaps, does the 
least harm, introduced amongst others, requiring but little 
cultural operations, and sustaining themselves erect until 
dead ripe. They seldom do harm if planted thinly. 
Peas should, if possible, be sown at the exterior portions 
of the garden. These cannot succeed when deprived of 
sunlight and a free circulation of air. 
Business on the Season.— Onion sowing should take 
place within the first twelve days of March. Our plan is to 
seize on a plot of ground which had been well manured 
some eight or twelve months previous, and trench it deep. 
They succeed best some shallow-rooting and fibrous crop, 
especially one which has not been troubled with grubs or 
insects. We mark out four-feet beds, with fifteen-inch 
alleys, and throw up two or three inches from the latter 
before sowing, for the more elevated the beds, the quicker 
the ripening-off is performed; we expect a good crop of 
winter coleworts as their successors. All those things being 
prepared, wait until the surface is dusty, and then sow, 
treading the seed in finally. A very little soil may be thrown 
over, just covering the seeds evenly; the rake we do not use. 
In the course of a week or two, when the soil is particularly 
dry, we pass the roller over the beds, which, when finished, 
look like a sound and elevated turnpike-road; sometimes 
alarming folks with delicate nerves. We buy Spanish, Por¬ 
tugal, Globe, Heading, and James’s, and mix them all to¬ 
gether, sorting them out when harvested. 
Parsnips. —The first week; deep trenched soil, the ma¬ 
nure low down. 
Artichokes, ike Jerusalem. —Directly, three feet by 
eighteen inches; any poor soil will do. Well adapted for 
divisions, or for rough boundary plots. 
Cabbages. —Directly dig deep, and manure well. 
Peas. —A full summer crop forthwith. The Prussian or 
green imperial for cottagers. 
Lettuce. —Plant out directly, on rich soil, and sow a 
sprinkling of Ady’s cos. 
Winter Greens. —Some time this month sow green kale, 
Savoys, Brussels sprouts, &c. They should be earlier or 
later, according to the plot they are intended for. 
Leeks. —Sow directly; rich soil. 
Spinach. —Immediately; the round kind, between some 
other crops. 
Bed Cabbages. —Plant for pickling. 
Onions, eor Seed. —Plant directly. 
Shallots. —Lose no time in planting. 
Broad Beans. —Plant a breadth for the latest, shortly. 
Potatoes. —The earlier these are finished the better; late 
planting is a gambling transaction. 
Manures. —Those who have neglected handling their 
muck heap must lose no time. This business should 
always be performed as early in spring as possible, choosing 
a dry period for it. formerly no distinction was made—to 
dig in dung of some kind was enough. The extension of 
root-cropping, however, as the true basis of improvement, 
i and the best economy, has led to a distinction in these 
things. Our advice is, use a drill mixture to all root crops, 
independent of what coarse manure may be dug in. As a 
general plan we say, select, in turning the dung-hill, all 
the crumbling and finer material which generally lies near 
the bottom; this, house somewhere in the dry weeks before 
wanted. Let the chimneys be swept and the soot added to 
the heap, to which a little salt, say one part in twenty, may 
bo added. All charred weeds and rubbish, also, should by 
all means be put to the heap, and any old, spent tan, leaf- 
soil, Ac.; this material, well blended, ancl applied in the 
drill, will set the young plant on its legs in half the usual j 
time. All this looks very fussy, no doubt, to some people; j 
but they may rest assured that “ the don't matter" sort of 
folks are likely soon to be left in a fearful minority. 
As advice before parting for a few weeks we say, “ re- | 
member that the insect and animal world are as alive to 
returning spring as the cultivator, and plans, offensive and 
defensive, must be laid without delay. We still stick to 
cinder-ashes and new sawdust as a slug and bird repellant; 
a little quick-lime should also be at hand. 
And now, with our famed Nelson, let us add, “England 
expects every man to do his duty.” Let us all be up and 
doing, and with true old English pluck make up our minds 
to advance every year. The cottager has truly advanced 
socially, let him take care that the same progress takes 
place industrially. Robert Errington. 
APIARIAN’S CALENDAR.— March. 
By J. TI. Payne, Esq., Author of “ The Bee-keeper's Guide." 
Hives. —Having already described the hives I most ap¬ 
proved of in the Crystal Palace, I will now give a descrip¬ 
tion of a newly-invented one of my own. Convinced as I have 
for some time been of the many advantages arising from 
having every hive fitted with bars, I have at length con¬ 
structed a square straw hive of that kind, which, from its in¬ 
expensiveness, I trusted would have come within the reach 
of almost every cottager; but since putting together the 
little items of cost for its several parts, I fear that I am 
mistaken, for it can cost but little, if any, less than eight 
shillings. The hive, as I have already said, is of straw , and 
perfectly square, Id I inches by ld£, fitted with eight bars, 
of one inch and an eighth wide, witli a cover of wood—the 
bars are kept in their places by zinc fittings. The openings 
in the crown-board are so placed as to allow of one large 
glass or two, or three small ones, being worked. It is pro¬ 
tected from the weather by a milk-pan only, in the winter, 
and in the summer, whilst glasses are on (which may be 
covered with an old straw hive), by a milk-pan and zinc 
shade. From the facility given by the bars to renew the 
combs, this hive may be expected to stand for many years, 
therefore, two or three coats of paint should be given it before 
the bees are put into it, and an additional one every year or 
two afterwards; and, as a further means of preserving it from 
decay, the floor-board should he the exact size of the hive ; 
so that the drip from the milk-pan clears it, a slight pro- 
jecture in front for alighting must of course be allowed; 
but by a careful adjustment of the milk-pan the drip may 
be made to escape this also. 
Mild Winter. —The very great number of fine days we 
have had this winter have made my bees so active, as to lead 
me to expect they will some of them require feeding ere 
long, although I was very liberal to them in the autumn. 
At present all appear to be thriving, and in some of the 
strongest of them, 1 imagine that breeding has been going I 
on for the last week or two, from the number of grubs and | 
imperfectly-formed bees that are brought out every fine day. 
Feeding. —From the unusual mildness of the season, : 
greater attention must be given to feeding than is usually 
necessary, or many stocks will be lost. A gentleman, writing 
to me from Nottingham, on the (ith, says:—“I know not j 
how your bees have fared, but it has been a most disastrous ! 
winter with me—I have lost six stocks by famine and 
robbers.” 
Early Gathering. — I observed my bees, on the first of I 
February, busily employed in collecting pollen from the | 
Winter Aconite, and now (the middle of February) they are 
as busily engaged every suuny hour amongst their favourite [ 
crocuses, and also upon the blossoms of the Arabis albida, 
which well deserves to be classed amongst early bee-flowers, 
and cultivated as such. 
Hay bands. — I have put in practice, with my own bees, | 
what I recommended last month, namely—covering some 
of my hives with hay-bands; the good, should any be found | 
to arise from it, in promoting early breeding, shall be com- 1 
municated in due course. 
