February 12. 
COUNTllY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
35o 
always so good and orderly as it ought to bo. rerlia])S 
there may be some excuse in certain cases; but a slovenly 
fence tends very much to mar the beauty and general 
appearance of a cottage garden ; and, as the greatest 
number of such gardens join a public road, it is desirable 
to make them as orderly as possible. In most, if not in 
all, eases, a (juickset-bedge Ibrms the neatest and best 
fence, unless a brick or stone wall can be bad; these 
being preferable, on the score that fruit-trees may bo 
planted against them with advantage, while the roots of 
a hedge, more or loss, rob the ground they grow on ; 
yet a nice quickset-hedge, kept in good order, looks 
better than a wall, in a picturesque point of view. 
We often sec a high mound, or ridge of earth, sur¬ 
round the garden, with a nou-dcscript fence of live and 
dead wood on the top of it, and its sides covered with 
coarse grass and weeds of various kinds, which weeds 
are allowed to luxuriate there, and scatter their seeds 
over the garden ; that nothing can be really worse than 
this, few will deny; but, bad as it is when such plants in¬ 
side the garden are allowed to ripen their seeds, it is 
almost equally so when the outside weeds do so likewise; 
for it often liappcns that coarser and more troublesome 
varieties are to bo found there. Now, though the extir¬ 
pation of weeds outside the garden would not bo prac¬ 
ticable, yet they might, certainly, be prevented ripening 
and disseminating their seeds with very little trouble. 
A scythe, hrushing-crook, or other tool of that kind, would 
speedily cut off the tops of all that arc likely to seed, 
and they do not so readily make head again. This is a 
much more important matter than is generally sup¬ 
posed ; for, assuredly, nothing can look worse than to 
see a forest of thistles waving their downy ])lumcs in 
earnest intent of scattering their offspring in all di¬ 
rections; audit is wonderful how far their beautifully- 
winged seeds are wafted through the air, even in a still 
day in September. I have followed these unwelcome 
travellers a full half mile from where they started from, 
when there was exceedingly little wind ; and, although 
it is ([ucstionablc whether every seed is perfect that flics 
to so great a distance assisted only by the gentle current 
of air, still, there is likely to bo some that will grow; and 
the numbers are so great, that if only one in twenty 
vegetates, there arc sufficient to contaminate a neigh¬ 
bourhood very often disseminated from some piece of 
copse that has been cut the preceding season. At all 
events, it is incumbent on the cottager to prevent, as far I 
as possible, these pests from finding their way into his • 
garden, although they arc not the most troublesome : 
weeds found there. Dandelion, Couch-grass, Crowfoot, j 
Docks, and some others, are much more abundant, to 
say nothing of the hosts of annual weeds that find their ; 
way there at all times. Now, one of the best ways to ' 
hold such intruders at bay, is, to keep them as far away i 
as possible from the frontiers; and, should circumstances I 
compel, the adoption of a turf bank, with its accom- j 
panying mixture of dead and live wood, the cottager 
should prevent, as far as possible, seedling weeds running 
up through them; and mow or cut the herbage on the bank 
frequently. Frequent cutting will destroy all but the i 
useful grasses and clover, so that the bank will be much > 
more easily kept clean when once it has been made so. 
It is not unusual to find Fndt-Lrees planted in | 
cottage-garden fences, and the plan is woi'th more 
general adoption; notin fences adjoining public roads, 
by any means, as that is a temptation not easily 
resisted in every case; but the other fences might have 
a Damson, or hardy Plum, now and then planted 
in them. Ap[des might sometimes bo introduced, but 
they sutler so much from winds that they cannot well 
be {)laced in such positions; but a Cherry, or Green 
Chissel Pear, looks well when in bloom, and their pro¬ 
duce is often of value as well. I might here remark, that 
it is imprudent to plant such trees on the south sides of 
, gardens, but on the north and west they may be of 
' great service, and also on the east they are useful when 
I there is no other shelter on that side. 
' It is often to be regretted that the cottager’s anxiety 
j for fruit leads him to 2 >hiut more fruit-trees in his garden 
than is compatible with tho production of vegetables; 
and I have heard many of them regret having planted 
; so many, when they got iq) into bearing condition, for 
■ then it seemed too considerably a sacrifice to destroy 
' trees that were just in their prime; trees which tho 
i cottager grafted himself, the grafts probably given him 
j by some IViend, which adds considerably to tho value of 
[ tho tree. Perhajis, the better w'ay would be not to ^dant 
so many at first, and increase the space for small fruits, 
whoso existence is much shorter. 
Another point of importance to the cottager is his 
manure-lieap, to increase which all legitimate means 
should be adopted. All the refuse of his garden, which ! 
his pig will not consume, must bo carried there, and all j 
weeds, except the worst description of perennials, as 
nettles, docks, and couch-grass. Besides these, all road 
scrapings, parings of ditches, or other substance that 
j vegetation has been seen to thrive upon; added to this, 
I may be tho dung of the pig-yard, and any more that 
j may bo accessible; and, now and then, the mass will lie 
all the better by being moistened with the houso-sewago. 
This is more especially useful in summer; and tlio 
whole may be occasionally turned and mixed, so that it 
be thoroughly blended by tho lime it is used. It, cer¬ 
tainly, need not remain until every particle be decayed, 
because, before that process w'as finished there w'ouKl 
be much w^astc. Gbserve, I have not advised tho use of 
lime in such mixture, because I think that lime and 
dung ought never to bo mixed together in one heap — 
tho one destroying tho other so much. But when 
animal-manure forms no part of tho heap, and where 
large quantities of rough herbage are to bo decomposed, 
there is nothing so good as lime for quickly cil'ceting 
that object Chalk, [icat, marl, and other substances, 
used extensively in some jdaccs as fertilisers, may also 
be applied by tho cottager, if done in a judicious way, 
and w’herc they are w'ithin his reach; but everywhere 
their utility must depend on their being found near 
the spot. J. PiOBsoN. 
POINTS TO BE THOUGHT ABOUT IN 
FEBPiUAIlY. 
{Conlhiucd from page 3-!0.) 
GltEENlIUUSE. 
I’oR many purposes, a Sweet hotbed is of great conse¬ 
quence for three months to come, i'or sowing seeds, 
grafting, and propagating by cuttings. The most 
come at-ahlo materials for this purpose arc, generally, 
stable-dung and leaves. Tho leaves will heat when 
thrown together; and for a mild heat nothing equals 
them, as it is always so sw'cet, that if used at 
once the effluvia will injure nothing. Dung requires 
more preparation, and it is best to throw it together, 
and water it if at all dry; and when it heats well, 
turn it over, putting the outsides in the middle, 
and the middle to tho outsides, and covering the 
heap with a little long litter, to cause it to heat 
equally, and keep the winds from it. When pretty well 
sweetened, but not greatly decomposed, mix it w'ith an 
equal, or a double, portion of leaves, and though the heat 
will not be strong at first, it will be more regular, and last 
much longer. Tho improvements in heating will cause 
tho rising generation to be next to ignorant as to how 
to make a hotbed properly, so as to retain its heat for a 
long time. If tho material is too much decomposed, or 
too firmly beat together, the heat will soon go; because 
there is cither no decomposing material to furnish it, as 
