49:2 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Maecu 27. 
the year, wins not only fame, but health of body and | 
peace of mind; results if not so vain-glorious are far j 
more gratifying to a Christian man. I know no rank i 
of life where the operatives are (in general) so comfort- j 
ably off and so happy as serving-gardeners. Their 1 
occupation inclines them to be moral, sober, respectable, 
and happy men, and I am proud to belong to such a 
body. A man who is constantly among the stars of the 
earth—flowers—must be very depraved indeed if his 
mind does not receive a tone from those lovely objects 
he associates with every day of his life. 
I have on this occasion (continuing my subject) to 
write upon Visiting Gardens and Exhibitions, and 
Exhibiting also. I shall take these in rotation. 
Every gardener should, occasionally, take a little tour 
and visit gardens. He should keep two objects in view 
in so doing; one is to note every improvement in his 
neighbour’s garden, and the other, a mental note of his 
own deficiencies. Good feeling towards his fellow- 
gardener, and probably friend, should always be shown 
as a matter of right. We are all social, or ought to be 
social beings, ready to do good to others, not merely for 
the expectation of receiving a like return, but out of 
pure good will. Many men visit gardens for the purpose 
of begging cuttings, or, perchance, plants, and where 
the owner is willing to allow his gardener the blessed 
privilege of giving, it is very right to do so; the giver 
can then, on returning the visit, ask, with a good 
grace, for anything he sees desirable in his friend’s 
garden. Each garden would then be doubled in its 
resources; but let me earnestly advise my young friends 
both against giving and beggiug cuttings, or plants, 
without the full consent of their employers. 
If a lady or gentleman will not buy plants, they 
cannot reasonably expect their gardeners to go out and 
beg them: or if they do, the party receiving them ought, 
at least, to have the privilege of giving by way of 
return to whoever has been so kind to him. This 
exchanging of cuttings and plants is very pleasant and 
neighbourly, but the parties ought sometimes to give 
the nurseryman a turn, in order that he may have a 
chance to live. 
Others visit gardens for instruction and improvement. 
This is a legitimate object. No reasonable gardener 
can object to it. In order to impress these matters 
on the mind, the visitor ought to carry with him a 
note book. He may see, perhaps, a hotbed for cut¬ 
tings made — note down, “I must do the same when 
I get home.” He may see a plant that he has at home, 
but does not know its name; if possible, learn it by 
enquiry and book it In all such matters, it is by far 
the safest plan to note them down. It is soon done, 
and the record is safe. 
He may observe some extra fine Grapes, Peaches, or 
any other plant, perhaps superior to those he has left 
at home; let him try, by enquiry about the subsoil, 
the soil, the method of pruning, or any other point, the 
reason why these articles of garden produce are so fine. 
Never be above learning, nor yet seeking for information. 
He is a dry subject indeed from whom no addition to our 
knowledge can be drawn. 
Also, let me warn my young friend against detraction. 
Your neighbour may not succeed in his gardening ; his 
Grapes may be rod instead of black; his plants may be 
sickly and full of insects; his wall-trees may'be badly 
trained and barren, and his garden overrun with 
weeds. He receives you at least civilly, and shows you 
round bis garden. Are you, the moment you go out, or 
any time after, to indulge in sarcasm and sneers ? 
Certainly not. There may be a reason why the garden is 
not kept up ; means may be wanting; hands scarce, &c ; 
and iu such cases, the gardener, instead of being crowed 
over by his neighbour when he called to see him, ought 
to be pitied, and as much as possible assisted. 
Again, when men of any business, but more especially 
gardening, meet and have a friendly chat, discussions 
on principles of gardening are almost sure to take place, 
and ideas knocked together, shaken, and new combina¬ 
tions are almost sure to be the result. I know no man . 
so thoroughly practical in that respect as my friend Mr. 
Errington. I have visited him many times, and the 
moment after friendly salutations were over, his usual 
words were, “ Well, what shall we talk about”—“I want 
to know bow you grow such and such Orchids; tell me, i 
and I will try to return equally useful information to 
you ?” At it we would go, as he said, “ tooth and nail;” 
and on my part, I can truly say, I never spent half-an- 
hour in his company without rising up a wiser, if not a 
better man. Visiting such gardeners will be, then, of 
real benefit to a young man just entering upon his first 
place. 
He should, also (always, of course, with his master’s 
leave), sometimes visit the London Nurseries, or such 
in the country as the Bagshot Nurseries, to see American 
plants well-grown, and also Coniferm. Also Messrs. 
Veitch’s, of Exeter. Pince and Co., of the same place. 
The Bristol Nurseries, and those iu the neighbourhood 
of Edinburgh. Also, on great occasions, a fortnights 
tour on the Continent would be of great service to a 
diligent observer and a zealous seeker after knowledge 
in his profession. Now that steam has, by its wonder¬ 
working power, almost annihiliated space, places many 
be visited in an almost incredible short space of time. 
The man who always stays at home may be a sober, 
dilligcnt man, but he will be sadly behind the age, and 
will, most likely, become opinionated, intractable, un¬ 
social, and certainly not a go-a-head man, which it is j 
necessary to be now a day, if a man desires at all to 
succeed in any business. T. Appleby. 
{To be continued.) 
GARDENING FOR THE MANY. 
FLOWER-GARDEN. 
It has often been remarked that there is more diffi¬ 
culty in managing a small garden than a large one; 
and, to a certain extent, this may be true; for to manage 
a small one, so as to have its produce at hand every day 
in the year, is certainly not so easily accomplished on a 
small scale as on a larger one; nevertheless, much may 
be done by method, and that all-important qualification 
of doing everything in its proper time. This is equally 
necessary in flowers as in vegetables, and, perhaps, more 
so; but as we will give directions, from time to time, 
regarding both, the present chapter will be devoted to 
such general terms as the Flower-garden department 
seems to require; together with its adjunct, the Rockery, 
which, according to our sketch, forms a sort of boundary 
between the Home and Kitchen-garden. 
» Beginning first with the Flower-garden department, 
which is all comprehended in the small plot between 
the front of the house aud the main road, we do not, by ! 
auy means, assume that the design here given is the best ] 
in all cases; our purpose is more to give directions to the 
culture and management of plots of ground similar 
to the one which the intelligent correspondent has 
favoured us with ; but, taking his sketch as a sort of 
guide, and the extent of his ground into consideration 
also, there does not seem much reason to find fault with 
bis design, although it will be seen that his figures all 
point to his house, and none to the other direction, as is 
more frequently the case; but leaving this, and sup- j 
posing that each amateur has certain motives of his 1 
own for the particular mode in which he lays his ground 
