February 0 . THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 359 
run into it to carry off all refuse from the house; all animal 
and vegetable matter to be there deposited. By strewing a 
little gypsum, that is, the Sulphate of Lime, and ashes on 
it, the ammonia, the best part of the manure, that is now 
given off to vitiate the air, would be fixed. If what is allowed 
to spread disease and contagion around us was fixed, there 
would be no complaint from cottagers that they had not 
manure to enrich their allotments; as it is a fact that the 
urine and other matters voided by each individual daily, 
would produce one pound of corn, or a pound of any other 
vegetable for the sustenance of man. There is such a 
beautiful provision and harmony in all the works of Nature, 
that there is no waste, and not one atom more or less in 
existence than there was at the creation of the world. 
As dung-heaps are frequently made on the allotments, 
exposed to the atmosphere, washed by the rains, and bleached 
by the sun, it is advisable to mix a little lime with the dung 
to destroy the eggs of insects and grubs, and covered wiLli 
any light soil at hand, by that means the volatile and 
nutritious gases are’ retained in the heap until its services 
are required ; when they are dug into the ground the rains 
make soluble the manures, and they all contribute materially 
to supply corn and green crops with the constituents neces¬ 
sary for their perfect development. 
The allotment system that is now so generally being 
adopted opens up a wide field for investigation. We have 
yet much to learn of the nature of soils, of manures, of the 
particular improvements that particular soils require, of the 
proper application of manures, of the best system of culture 
and rotation of crops, and of the structure and habits of 
plants ; all these things are only known by scientific inquiry 
and examination. 
The first best step to he taken in the successful cultiva¬ 
tion of fruits and vegetables is to have the ground well 
drained. When the subsoil is retentive of water, drains 
should be made to carry the superabundance off, as every 
soil retentive of water is less productive on account of its 
coldness and exclusion of the atmosphere, than the soil 
through which the rain can filter and carry down its fertiliz¬ 
ing properties. When water is in excess in the soil, the 
atmosphere is excluded, and as no decomposition can take 
place without air, therefore the organic and inorganic sub- 
tsances contained in the soil are useless. Admit air by 
drainage, and the water, with a certain degree of heat, in 
its descent through the soil, will render soluble the sub¬ 
stances to be imbibed by the roots of plants. On clay, or 
other stiff land not drained, the bad effects are visible, both 
in dry and wet weather—at one time saturated like puddle, 
at another, baked like a brick. By proper drainage such 
defects in the soil are obviated; then the rain in its descent 
carries down ammonia, carbonic acid gas, and the other 
enriching elements of the atmosphere, and assists to make 
soluble the organic and inorganic substances of the soil, 
which can be received only in that state by the roots of 
plants. When the soil is well drained, it is then that its 
temperature is increased by the heated atmosphere, and a 
want of rain is less felt on account of the facility with which 
the roots, in well-drained soils, can receive moisture by 
capillary attraction from below. 
If stiff ground had been ridged up in the autumn, the 
beneficial effects after the frosts will be very visible when 
the time arrives for digging it down and cropping it; the 
frost promotes the dividing and decomposition of the 
mineral constituents. In consequence of the great expan¬ 
sion that takes place in freezing, the particles of the soil are 
much more completely separated than could be done by the 
most efficient system of ordinary tillage. And when the 
ice melts, the soil is left in an open, porous condition, freely 
admitting air and moisture, and, consequently, deriving from 
them somewhat of the advantages at all times derived from 
open soils. , 
Lucerne is a most useful crop for the cottager’s cow; it 
requires a good and deep soil, the ground to be well dug 
two spits deep, and the manure deposited at one spit deep ; 
the seed to be sown about the middle of this month, in drills, 
nine inches apart. The quantity of seed is one ouuce-and-a- 
half to the perch. The plants to be kept free from weeds. 
In favourable seasons, it admits of four cuttings in the 
summer, and will continue productive for ten or twelve years. 
Rbd Clover, for shallow or boggy laud, will afford a large 
quantity of green food as well as hay; the ground to be 
well and deeply dug, and the seed sown any favourable time 
from this month to April. It is generally sown at the same 
time with Oats, and covered about one inch deep ; an ounce- 
and-a-half of seed is sufficient for a perch of ground; the 
soil to be covered with a coat of manure in spring and 
autumn. Two or three cuttings will be had from it during 
the season; but it should never be given to the cow until it 
has been cut for some hours. 
Beans and Cabbages together.- —The Broad Beans are 
dibbled in during this month in double lines, four inches 
apart, and with an interval of three feet to the next row. 
The Cabbages are the Thousand-headed sort, raised the 
previous autumn, pricked out in March (in any spare corner 
of the garden), and finally planted in their places between 
the rows in the field, in May or June, in showery weather. 
When the Beans are over in August, the space between the 
rows of Cabbages is dug, and the soil drawn up to their 
stems, when they grow rapidly', and yield a great bulk of 
green food towards Christmas, and if the leaves are then 
pulled and given to the cow, or pigs, a second sprouting 
takes place at the end of March or beginning of April. 
The Auvergne I’ea, sown now, produces, in favourable 
weather, an abundant succession of gatherings; height, 
five feet. 
Thompson’s Pea is a prolific sort; height only eighteen 
inches, and bears the whole crop at once. 
Allotment farming is now becoming of paramount im¬ 
portance in the United Kingdom. The many publications 
attest the increasing interest that is felt by all parties, and 
the necessity there is of disseminating practical knowledge 
on the subject. How that, in my humble opinion, would be 
best done, is for every gentleman, on whose estate a village 
school is established, to grant the schoolmaster the privilege 
of renting from four,or five acres of land attached to the 
school, at the usual rent charged for land in the neighbour- 
I hood. The boys being employed two or three hours each 
day iu the cultivation of the land, would give them health- 
j ful exercise, and a good practical knowledge of farming and 
I gardening. The management to be in the hands of a 
schoolmaster competent to direct his pupils in the most- 
modern and improved methods, and to be able to explain on 
correct principles the theory of each operation, and confirm 
it on the minds of the pupils by practical proofs. He 
should allot the plot into regular portions, that the proper 
rotation of cropping might be adopted.—W. Keane. 
THE APIARIAN’S CALENDAR.— February. 
By J. II. Payne , Esq., Author of “ The Bee-Keeper's 
Guide," Ac. 
Feeding. —Much care and attention must be given to 
stocks that are at all weak, in supplying them with barley- 
sugar. The very unusual mildness of the weather has kept 
them constantlyin an active state, and, consequently, caused 
a greater consumption of food than is usual at this time of 
year. So completely has the last few days (the first week 
of January) aroused them, that the queens of strong stocks 
have, I expect, commenced laying eggs, for I observed some 
of my bees in warm, sunny corners, and on the roof of my 
greenhouse, taking water to carry to their hives, which is a 
pretty sure sign that breeding has commenced. 
Barley-sugar. —Next to honey in the combs, barley- 
sugar will be found the best food at this time of year, as 
well as the least trouble. It should be given, if possible, at 
the top of the hives. 
Birds. —The Titmice have been more determined for the 
last few weeks than I ever remember; they visit my hives in 
Hocks of a dozen or two at a time, and, in spite of all that 
I can do, destroy a great many bees. What they take at 
the mouth of the hives is comparatively trifling to those 
they capture on the wing. The destruction of these birds 
as much as possible, a good supply of barley-sugar to weak 
Lives, and a clean, dry floor-board to all, will, I trust, carry 
them safely through the winter. 
