350 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. February 6 
thus:—“Is it true, or is it not, that for many years the 
crop of Pears in a great number of gardens has been 
defective ? Is it true, or not, that, in general, the trees 
cultivated in the open ground, whether as Pyramids, 
Queuouilles, or standards, have been much neglected as 
regards pruning, thinning, and clearing from insects?” 
This seems intended to convey a very broad hint, 
certainly, and for aught I can tell, not knowing the 
parties personally, strong feelings may form a part; of 
this I care little, I merely mean to urge, that if the 
extract ought to be answered in the affirmative, it is 
time for English Pear growers to look about them. 
It if; really amusing, sometimes, however, to see how 
the ball is tossed backwards and forwards; the two 
contending parties being, we will say, in round terms, 
the Southerns and Northerns. The former will say: 
“ Oh ! You talk of our fine climate ! Climate, indeed, 
what say you to nearly a score degrees of frost in April? 
And our garden, too, known to be in such a bad locality.” 
“ We, too,” says the Northern, “ have had nearly a score 
degrees in April.” The other says—“ Yes; but your trees 
bloom so much later, and that’s how you do it. Perhaps 
you retard the blossom. Very good; we do the same, 
but who can retard in such a warm climate ? ” Little do 
the Northerns believe that they can make all this exactly 
right. They think they know what cutting easterly 
winds are tolerably well. They, too, have sterile clay 
soils, bad subsoils, wet bottoms, and all the other things 
which go to increase the mischief. 
But recriminations are of little value; the question 
resolves itself into this: does the climate of England 
differ so exceedingly, as to render a change in the first 
principles of fruit-culture necessary in different parts? 
Our readers will excuse, I hope, this way of putting the 
case, for really, both north and soutli have been loud in 
their complaints for years, and nothing seems settled. 
Let me, before leaving the subject, advise two or 
three principles in practice to all parties, from the South 
Foreland to Johny Groats. See that your subsoil is 
rendered dry; give your trees about two feet of a sound, 
mellow, and somewhat generous soil, but avoid manure 
in general. Rather build above the ground-level than 
sink much below it; select kinds adapted to your 
quarter, and give them surface-dressings about every 
three years. See that the spade is not too busy; and, 
lastly, be very assiduous in summer-pinching or prun¬ 
ing, and let it be done betimes. These, if I mistake not, 
will apply to most of our fruits. Other matters there 
are, but I almost venture to call them subordinate to 
these. R. Errington. 
GARDEN BOOK-KEEPING.—BEDDING-OUT. 
The beginning of February may be taken as the 
beginning of a new year in the garden. All the work 
that was done in January — except, perhaps, a little 
early forcing—would answer just as well if it were done 
in February; but now, no work of the season can be 
delayed, even for one week only, without future harm or 
hindrance. 
The first and most needful thing to be considered by 
the flower-gardener, at this season, is the state of his 
bedding-out stock of plants. We will suppose, that 
whoever has the summer management of filling the 
flower-beds and borders, the vases and baskets, the 
block bank and rockery, and on to the farthest recess in 
the wilderness, and round the lake or piece of water, is 
already aware of the exact number of plants of each 
kind he or she will require to fill the different parts— 
not stingily, at first, as some do, but fully and 
thoroughly at once. The best head in the country can 
hardly think of all this without memorandums, and 
lists, and countings mado in former years. The number 
of cuttings which were made last autumn will be some 
index now to the gardener who attended to his plants 
himself through the winter; he will recollect how many 
may have died, one way or another; how plentiful 
some kinds were, and how scarce he happened to be of 
others; from which he can form a tolerably correct idea 
of how be stands for bedding stuff. But for my own 
part, I have no faith in tolerable ideas, on any subject, 
as compared with figures in black and white. I would 
have every bed in the garden numbered, every vase and 
basket the same; and whenever a pot-plant or a pinch 
of seeds was to be furnished, I would name the place 
after the numbers of the beds, and after every number 
and name of place, I would insert the number of plants 
in the memoraudum-book, which will answor two 
purposes—a propagating book, and a planting book— 
which will correspond with a day-book in the shop ; and 
the ledger may be part of the same book, beginning and 
going on in the order of the alphabet. 
In the ledger part of the garden-book, every plant, 
however small or insignificant, ought to bo inserted, as 
in a Dictionary, with a wide space left between every two 
letters, as between the ending of A and beginning of B ; 
this is to take in new plants as they come, without the 
necessity of making out a new list, or a new book, 
every now and then. After every name, I would mark, 
in columns, the number of that plant that would plant 
the places so named; and in the last column I would 
sum up the wholo number. Those who take their 
notions of book-keeping from mercantile routine, would 
here suggest that my ledger is sufficiently clear and 
comprehensive for all the purposes which I contemplate ; 
but it is not so, by any means. My two books, or one 
double book, will have to supply the brains of several 
heads ; and nothing in this world is more difficult than 
to provide for the exact quantity and quality of each 
brain, without posting into a ledger. On a small 
scale, however, and where the master or mistress keeps 
the garden-book, and gives the directions for the 
different parts, the ledger form is the simplest way to 
arrange the book. Then, when the cuttings are begun, 
a simple alphabetical list of the plants ought to ,be 
made out for the propagator, and the number of plants 
from the total column ought to accompany each name. 
This list ought to bo pasted or nailed up in the shed, 
or where the cuttings are made and potted, so that the 
propagator can see, at one glance, how many plants are 
wanted of each kind. When the planting begins, 
another list, on strong card-paper, should be made of the 
numbers of the beds, the names of the borders, vases, 
baskets, walls, pillars, and so forth; and after every such 
number or name, the number of such-and-such plants 
to fill that bed or border, and so on. This list, in par¬ 
ticular, saves a wonderful deal of bother, of time, and of 
one’s patience, even if you propagate and plant all 
yourself. 
Now, at the beginning of February is the right time 
to prove the column of totals in the ledger, which is 
equivalent to “ taking stock.” To do this in the simplest 
and easiest way, take the propagating list in your hand, 
and go to the Geraniums first, and to Tom Thumb the 
first of them ; count the old plants first, and see if there 
are as many old plants as will fill all the vases, or 
centres of beds, or anything else named for old Toms in 
the ledger, and mark down the deficiency, or the excess, 
as the case may stand, and so on with every other plant 
in the list; always noting the number of old plants, then 
the number of young ones of the same kind; the two 
added together ought to be the same as the number of 
“ totals” in the ledger; or if it comes short of that, you 
have so many to propagate; or if above the number of 
totals, you have so many of that kind to spare ; and one 
of the greatest niceties in flower-gardening is to know how 
to mako the best of oxtra numbers of any known plants. 
