November 14. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
121 
After remaining somewhat stationary for a shorter or 
longer time after pruning, a little increase in tem¬ 
perature and moisture will cause the buds to swell 
and break. A rise of from 10° to 15° may oasily be 
given as the days'lengthen in February aud March, 
or night temperature of 65°, and day temperature from 
70° to 80°. If now, and for some mouths subse¬ 
quently, the plants can be plunged in bottom-heat from 
fermenting material of from 80° to 85°, so much the 
better. If shifting is required, it should be done when 
the young shoots are several inches in length, using 
aired and heated soil for the purpose. But in the case 
of large plants, they may remain several years in the 
same pots, if a little of the surface is picked out aud 
fresh compost added as a surfacing. Of this surfacing, 
for giving strength to the shoots, a coating of old cow- 
dung or weak manure-waterings will be useful. The 
general compost for old plants of Cathartica should be 
chiefly fibry loam; but for Schottii, and another beautiful 
yellow Paraensis, a portion of heath-soil and silver-sand 
should be incorporated. When growing freely, if too 
many shoots have pushed they should be thinned. In 
summer, as the bloom-buds begin to appear, the pot 
should be gradually raised out of the bottom-heat if 
plunged, and more air and a drier atmosphere given. 
Some plants succeed very well without any bottom-heat, 
but most people will give it at the growing time if they 
can. I mention all this the more confidently, because I 
know several very successful growers who will kindly 
correct auything they deem to be erroneous, or who will 
as kindly supply auy deficiencies. 
A few other plants, not so pressing for immediate 
notice,must wait. R. Fish. 
YOUNG GARDENERS. 
(Continued from page 43.) 
In my last address to my young friends I directed 
their attention to Reading, and recommended various 
books as proper to be read and studied. Now, though 
by reading various books the mind is relieved, to a great 
degree, yet it is not wisdom to overburthen the memory; 
and, therefore, I advise a change on the following even¬ 
ing. Let Tuesday night be devoted then to the art of 
Drawing. This being a more mechanical study, it is a 
very plcasant'change. Like every other acquisition, it 
is, however, at first, a difficult one; and I may illustrate 
the difficulty by instancing the art of writing. We all 
recollect how hard it was, when the pen was first placed 
in our fingers, to make straight down strokes and fine 
up strokes, pot-hooks and hangers; but when the first 
difficulties were got over, how quickly and easy the pen 
ran through the lines of the copy book. So it is with 
drawing. I well remember a lady telling me, when I 
was young, that any young man that could write a fair 
running hand could easily learn to draw. So let not my 
young friends despair if their first attempts at drawing 
should be rough and rudo, and unlike anything on earth or 
under the earth, so much so that you arc almost tempted 
to give up the study, and say, “ It is impossible for me to 
learn so difficult an art.” The youth who does that will 
never make a first-rate gardener, that is certain. The rule 
with every one aspiring to be eminent in the profession, 
should be—Try again and again, and persevere; success 
is theu certain. Remember the rule which the good old 
schoolmaster had painted over his school door, What 
man has done, man may do. 
There are two branches of Drawing that are more 
especially necessary to a gardener; and they are, to be 
able to give a plan of a garden, combining the kitchen- 
garden with the flower-garden. The first is, compara¬ 
tively, easy, and therefore the learner may attempt it 
first. Wliy is it easier? Because it is generally either 
a square or a parallelogram. Now, to be able to give a 
plan of a kitchen-garden of either of the above forms, 
the artist should know how to draw a straight line aud 
a right anglo ; simple things enough to a proficient, but 
requiring from a novice many trials before he succeeds 
in drawing the straight walls, straight walks, lines of 
forest trees, &c. 
The plan of a flower-garden is much more difficult. 
In it there are flowing lines, circles, ovals, and all their 
combinations; yet the difficulties may be overcome by 
constant practice. 
The other branch of drawing may bo termed Garden 
Architecture, consisting of elevations of glass-houses, 
ground plans of the same, aud rough sketches of 
Gothic arbours, seats, &c. The gardener who has, by 
diligent perseverance, acquired the power to give his 
ideas of the form of gardens, the elevation and ground 
plans of garden buildings, will be valued accordingly, 
and will always be sure of constant employ. 
Drawings of plants and flowers may also be acquired, 
and would be useful; but I do not consider such know¬ 
ledge indispensable. I rather regard it as an agreeable 
accomplishment, and a very pleasing recreation. Very 
few even eminent gardeners have attained any great 
proficiency in this branch of drawing. It is, in fact, 
a business of itself; and many men, and women, too, 
obtain a good livelihood by drawing figures of plants 
aud flowers for the various botanical and horticultural 
publications of the day. I would not advise a young 
gardener to attempt this branch of drawing until he 
has acquired fully the power to give good designs of 
gardens and garden-buildings. 
The articles necessary for a young student of garden¬ 
drawing, are a few sheets of cartridge paper, a good 
hard and soft pencil, a few crayons, a good ruler, and a 
case of drawing instruments. The last is the most 
expensive; but a very decent case may be bought, 
second-hand, for from ten to fourteen shillings, and the 
whole for about twenty shillings. By putting by a 
shilling a week, a young lad will soon be in possession 
of these, to him, very valuable articles; and until he, 
by rigid persevering economy, has saved such a sum, he 
may be practicing the elements of drawing on any waste 
paper, with a pair of compasses, a ruler, and a pencil, 
or a good crayon. With these simple instruments he 
may copy a plan of a kitchen-garden, or ground-plan of 
a hothouse, or even a pit, that may fall in his way in 
any gardening publication. Attempt nothing, at first, 
but such as are easy to execute. In large garden 
establishments there are generally some young man or 
other who would bo good-natured enough to direct the 
young aspirant how to begin to learn this pleasing and 
most usful art. The learner should never be above ask¬ 
ing such to give him a lesson or two. Then let him at¬ 
tempt the drawing of a simple tool—a spade, for instance, 
or a fork, and, perhaps, a hand-glass, which last would 
show him the necessity of studying the art of per¬ 
spective, or showing distances; that is, the side of the 
hand-light next to him should appear so on the drawing. 
When he has acquired some knowledge of how to 
show on paper such simple things, so that he is quite | 
sure his drawing of a spade will never be mistaken for a [ 
drawing of a hoe, he may attempt more difficult things, 
such as a drawing of a cucumber-frame, or a few simple 
shapes of flower-beds ; but novel- to begin a new subject 
till he has accomplished the one in hand in a satisfactory 
manner, and in different positions; for instance, a 
cucumber-frame might be drawn without the glass; then j 
with the glass upon it; and then, again, with the glass j 
propped up, or drawn half off. All these different views j 
will be excellent lessons, and will be found eminently ! 
useful as the youth advances in proficiency in the art. 
All that is needful is a steady hand, and a persevering 
mind bent upon improvement. 
