AmiL 10.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
17 
“ As an instance of the great rapidity with which seeds 
! germinate in this apparatus, I may mention, that of twenty- 
; two vegetable marrow seeds, so planted on the evening of 
Monday, March the 17th, in the present year, thirteen were 
above ground on Sunday morning, March the 23rd, without 
the beneficial influence of even one day’s exposure to the 
rays of the sun, in consequence of the late incessant rains. 
The afternoon of that Sunday proving fine, the bottle was 
for about two hours exposed to the full rays of the sun, the 
condensation of vapour on the interior surface of the glass 
being so great, as to render the seedlings, for the time, 
almost invisible; by the following day every seed had 
germinated. I ascertained the temperature of the air 
inside and outside the bottle, on the morning of the 23rd 
instant; and found the external temperature in the shade to 
be 50°, and the internal temperature in the shade at the 
same time to be 82°. On the afternoon of the same day, 
the thermometer inside the bottle mounted in the sun to 
02°. The plants have continued ever since in the highest 
health and vigour, and on the day I am writing, two thirds 
of the seedlings are at least two inches and a half high. 
“ I trust that your numerous readers may derive the 
same advantage that I have done, from this very simple and 
excellent mode of raising seeds, requiring a very mild and 
genial atmosphere.” 
Solomon once said—“ Oh ! that mine enemy would write 
a booka wish of no little malice if the desire to give 
it a slashing criticism was parent of the wish. But 
that enemy would have invoked a more bitter visitation 
if he had replied—“ Oh that Solomon in the nineteenth 
century of grace might have to read all the books sent 
to him for criticism.” However, here is heap of those 
we have read now before us, and as, unlike a certain 
prelate, we do not give an opinion upon works we have 
not perused, let us address ourselves to these. 
Maund's Botanic Garden. —The re-issue of this work we 
hail with great satisfaction. For one shilling we now have 
four beautifully coloured drawings of hardy flowering plants, 
with full descriptions ; an outline of some choice variety of 
fruit, with a similar narrative; two pages of a dictionary of 
botanical terms; twelve miniature woodcuts of every kind 
of plant—stove, greenhouse, and hardy—arranged alpha¬ 
betically ; —and we never saw more information gathered 
into a small space, yet of the readiest comprehension and 
easiest reference. We consider this the cheapest serial 
now publishing, and one of the most useful to those who 
delight in hardy flowers and fruits. 
Elementary Catechisms. —These fourpenny first steps to 
knowledge are admirable; and an extract will give our 
readers the best opportunity of estimating their contents. 
From Cottage Farming we select this on “ Cow-keeping: ” 
“ Q. When may the cottage farmer who is pursuing the 
foregoing system, upon two acres, begin to keep a cow ?— 
I A. As soon in the spring as the cottage farmer has vetches, j 
clover, or Trifolium incarnation fit for cutting, he should 
proride himself with a milch cow to eat those crops while 
green, and thus supply almost all the manure he will 
require. 
Q. Should the cow be constantly confined to her stall ?— 
A. The cow should be confined to her stall, except when 
led out to drink and move her limbs; unless her owner 
i have a right to graze her on some free land, in which case, 
no doubt, she will derive some benefit from the enjoyment 
of liberty throughout some hours of the day; but the 
! cottage farmer should not turn out his cow on his own field. 
Q. AVliat green food should, in autumn, succeed the 
vetches and clover ?— A. The leaves of cattle beet will 
I supply the cow with food in the months of October and 
November. 
Q. What should be her winter food ?— A. Cattle beet or 
carrots, and some soft sweet hay, with grains and pollard, 
or bean meal, potatoes or Swedish turnips boiled and mixed 
together in a tub, with about half an ounce of salt at each 
meal, should be the cow’s winter food. 
Q. Why should not potatoes or Swedish turnips be given 
raw to a milch cow?— A. * Turnips of any kind are apt to give 
a disagreeable taste to milk and butter, and therefore are 
not to be recommended as food for a cow whose milk and 
butter are intended for the market. 
Q. Does raw field beet give a bad flavour to milk and 
butter ?— A. Raw field beet does not give any disagreeable ' 
taste to milk and butter, and it certainly adds richness to the 
milk. Some people scrape off the rind of the field beet, 
lest any of its flavour should be communicated to the milk 
and butter. Salt should always be given with it. 
Q. Ought not, then, the cow-keeper to cultivate field beet, 
or cattle beet, as we also call it, in preference to turnips ?— 
A. With suitable soil, and plenty of manure for it, the cow- 
keeper should decidedly prefer field beet to turnips ; on in¬ 
different soil, turnips, however, yield much greater weight. 
Q. What weight of produce ought a well-cultivated rood 
of field beet to yield, in a good loamy soil ?— A. A rood of 
field beet, not transplanted but sown, and well-managed in 
every respect, ought to produce four or five tons’ weight, 
besides sixty or seventy bushel baskets of beet leaves, cal¬ 
culating the rows to be two feet apart, and the plants 
eighteen inches from each other in the rows. 
Q. What quantity of beet per day should be given to a 
cow?— A. Three stones (of Id lbs.) of cattle beet will give 
three sufficient feeds per day to a cow, giving milk; when 
dry, she should not get any roots, lest she should become fat; 
hay alone will then sustain her body in good condition, for 
the secretion of milk; grains, bran, and mashes of all kinds, 
are only fit for a cow while giving milk. 
Q. If a rood produces, as we have calculated, four or five 
tons’ weight of cattle beet, and the cow consumes, on an aver¬ 
age, 421bs. per day,—during how many days will the beet serve 
for her food,—with hay of course ?— A. A rood of beet, under 
the circumstances supposed, would maintain a cow daring 
from 213 to 270 days: a rood would be sufficient for two 
cows during half the year, with other roots occasionally given 
for a change of diet, which is a very necessary thing to be 
attended to. Cows, like human creatures, relish a change of 
diet, and milch cows require it. 
Q. Are not the leaves of field beet also very good for 
cows ?— A. The leaves of field beet are very good for cows, 
if given to them quite green and fresh. 
Q. May the leaves be stripped off while the plants are 
growing ?— A. No : until the plants have entirely ceased 
growing no leaves should be stripped off, except as they 
begin to droop. Their drooping is a sure sign that they 
are no longer servicable to the plant, and may be removed 
from it. 
Q. Is the culture of field beet simple and easy ?— A. The 
culture of field beet is as simple as that of Swedish turnips, : 
and may be considered in the cottager’s case as exactly the 
same. After the land has been thoroughly worked, open | 
drills 26 inches apart; fill them with short dung, and cover 
it; roll, or with the spade level the ridges ; make holes not 
more than an inch deep, 12 inches apart; drop three or 
four seeds into them, and cover them with the finger. 
Q. What after culture is necessary ?— A. When the plants 
are the size of a man’s little finger, the supernumerary 
ones should be drawn out so carefully as not to injure the 
roots of the remaining plants. Weeding and hoeing should 
be attended to for the remainder of the season. 
Q. How much seed is enough for a rood?— A. Half a , 
pound is enough for a rood : in dry weather the soaking of ! 
tlie seed for twenty hours in tepid water will quicken its 
germination. The soundness of the seed, too, will be tested , 
by this process. 
Q. Should food be given to cows in large or small quan- \ 
titles at a time ?— A. Food should be given to a cow in j 
moderate quantities at a time, so that she may have leisure 
to chew the cud, digest her food, and eat again with ! 
appetite. 
Q. Will not a cow sometimes go dry three or four months 
before calving?— A. Yes; but a cow which goes dry three 
or four months before calving ought to be sold off as un¬ 
profitable. 
* A little nitre put into tlie pail into which the milk is to be drawn, or | 
into the churn with the cream, will, in a great measure, dissipate the 
unpleasant flavour given to milk and butter by raw’ turnips, cabbages, 
and potatoes. 
