January 2. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
263 
boiling water over it before it is put in, and a little boiling 
water poured all over the frame is a useful thing, too, ! 
taking care that none of it touches the pots or plants, i 
if there be any in. I prefer hot-water to any mixture ; j 
; for limo-water, or, it might be, salt-water, leavos a some- j 
thing unpleasant behind it, I always thought; and just j 
as the young plants are germinating is the difficult time, 
for the insects that not unusually abound in or about 
the outside of a quantity of fermenting dung, prove very 
formidable enemies to the delicate young plant. 
Now, instead of waiting to have the dung nicely 
i tempered, as we may call it, before sowing the seed, it 
is not bad practice to sow a few pots at once, when the 
j “tempering process” begins, and to plunge these pots 
I on the top of the heap, covering them up with anything 
I that is handy, the warmth furnished by the dung starts 
the seed into life; aud if sufficient care be taken in 
turning the dung heap to transfer the pots from one 
part of it to the other—without their losiug heat, and get¬ 
ting “a chill,”—the process of seed-bed making may be 
much shortened, or, rather, the plant will bo considerably 
advanced, ere it find a place there, and the dung-heap 
he spared likewise; but it must be observed, that in this 
homely practice, care must bo taken to prevent the pots 
with the germinating seeds from getting cold again, 
otherwise the result will bo unsatisfactory ; for, bo it re¬ 
membered, the whole plant is in that highly artificial 
, stato, that it is susceptiblo of every change it has to 
] undergo, and a very little variation will render it use¬ 
less entirely ; however, where dung is scarce, this first 
process may bo adopted, taking care to have the “ seed¬ 
bed ” ready by the time the cotyledons begin to expand, 
and to have it possessed of that genial warmth which, 
under the significant term of “ nice sweet heat,” is 
the only medium in which a delicate seedling plant, 
like the Cucumber, will live and thrive in tho mouth of 
•J anuary. 
In speaking of the bed in which we now have our 
young plants as the “ seed-bed,” I believe I ought more 
properly to have said “nursery-bod;” for the young 
plants are supposed to be grown here for a little time, 
and then turned out into their fruiting-bed, but the 
potting process intervenes before that, or, rather, it takes 
place while the plants are here; but tho process is not 
attended with any difficulty. A quantity of soil that 
has been much exposed to tho frost, but afterwards 
taken in-doors in a dry stato, is prepared, by mixing a 
little leaf-mould with it; the worms, &c., being care¬ 
fully picked out of it; a quantity of this being put 
into a large pot, and a quantity of small pots of the 
kind called 48’s, with the necessary drainage, is put into 
the frame ; also, some twenty-four hours before they arc 
wanted, to allow them to bo thoroughly well warmed; 
the pots, of course, being perfectly clean; then, when 
the seedlings have fully opened their cotyledons, and 
just showing a rough leaf, which is their third one, and 
probably have run up with a slender stem tho length of 
a man’s finger, it is then time to seo about potting them, 
which is done by the operator taking advantage of a 
lino day, and opening the glass no further than just to 
allow his arms in, he must lift tho plants carefully out 
of the seed pots with a little bit of all attached to each, 
and insert them in tho other pots, rather deeply in the 
pot, but not filling the pot for a day or two. I generally 
place them in pairs opposito each other, and adding no 
more soil than is sufficient to cover the roots, aud giving 
a little water, I leave them for a day or so, when, if 
they have not suffered by the change, which they ought 
not to do, I gently bend them down, and lay a little 
open turfy substance on aud around the stems, leaving 
the head out, of course ; this I do to get rid of the long, 
useless stem; ,at the same time, in doing so, I take care 
that they are not wounded by the process. A little water 
may be given at tho samo time, or rather at the time of 
potting, which must also be heated to 70°, or so ; but I 
must defer the remainder until another time. 
J. Rorson. 
“DON’T KNOW HOW TO SHANK.” . 
The above wus an expression applied to a particular kind 
of Vine, but a very few years since, when it was advertised, 
to draw public attention to it; siuce when, I have seen it 
published with reference to another Viuo. How ridiculous 
such au application is ! Does a plant know any thing ? I 
have been astonished to find men of capacity and intelligence 
willing to apply such terms to inanimate objects, which we 
are well aware possess neither instinct nor reason ; and on 
asking myself tho reason, I feel obliged to conclude it is 
improper to do so ; which leads me to fancy, that if some of 
the genuine friends of Horticulture do not place some 
obstacle in the way, and prevent such a “ ball of pragmacy ” 
from rolling too far—science, as a reality, must eventually 
be a sufferer, and common honesty will have to deplore it. 
Should any person go into a stable where a number of 
horses are generally kept, either for racing, for breeding, or 
for sale, he will there hear a style of language called 
“Flash,” which I defy a “novice" to understand at first 
hearing. Horse-jockies and grooms use this “ flash style of 
language,” comprehensible only to themselves and to those 
who are willing to prostitute themselves to the level of the 
speakers, “pro tom.,’’ for the sake of hearing them ; and so 
fraught with deception and falsehood is that language, which 
is in a great measure “ ironical,” that woe be to the indi¬ 
vidual who is willing to lend them his faith for however 
short a space of time; they mystify the reality with their 
ironical cloaks, in such a manner as often to deceive one 
another, and ho who can do this the most effectually is 
considered tho “ better man.” It is abhorrent to a sane 
mind to think that men should condescend to so low a level; 
but knowing such to be the case, and what the men 
generally are who arc in the daily practice of such conde¬ 
scension, I, for one, insist upon its being scouted amongst 
horticulturists. 
With reference to tho particular plants ( two I find 
advertised by different gentlemen, who have both had much 
experience, and we cannot thank for the introduction of 
such a “trashy expression,”) to which this term has been 
applied. I do not doubt but that they are plants of vigorous 
habit, and that their vigour will have a tendency to prevent 
their berries from shanking off the bunches. And this 
recommendation, put forward with their names in public 
print, would be a much greater inducement to any lady or 
gentleman wishing to purchase, than tho use of the above 
unmeaning expression, tending to specify that the plants 
possess an amonfit of ignorance or knowledge. But, again, 
time must be the test. Should it be hereafter proved that j 
those particular kinds of Vines do sometimes shank in 
unfavourable situations, which is not impossible, then ! 
odium will, as a matter of course, be heaped on the heads ! 
of those who have been so sanguine in specifying they 
would not. “ Hold hard! and make fast when you can," is 
my motto; but it is morally impossible for any man to 
prevent an accident occurring to a crop which he never had, 
nor has at the time being, any connection with. The best i 
of Vines may be planted in a border formed on the surface 
of a wet, clayey bottom, without its being properly drained, 
and what, I would ask, will prevent the berries from shanking 
off, when or before colouring, if tho roots get into this | 
bottom? The plants may thrive and grow, as long as there 
is sufficient moisture in the border on the surface ; but as 
soon as that becomes dry, and the bottom roots are appealed 
to by tho plant, the berries must go. What is to prevent it? 
Nothing! I know this evil may be remedied; but I speak 
of the evil, and of it in a positive, existing state, aud as it 
must occur to all Vines under the particular circumstances to 
which I allude, whatever name they may be called by. 
If the lovers of horticulture as a science and the trade, 
generally, do not oppose themselves to such an exaggerated 
and paltry style of language being used in the recommenda¬ 
tion of particular plants to their notice, they must eventually 
expect to hear of “ Tear and Apple-trees which do not know 
how to canker.” Of “ Plum-trees which perfectly understand 
