August 7.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
295 
garden, will be advancing in growth, and will soon 
be showing bloom. We have so lately dwelt somewhat 
largely upon the culture of the noble flower, that there 
is no necessity to enter fully into details. All that is 
necessary now, is in the way of remembrance. See that 
every plant is well mulched with short litter, that the 
stakes are strong and long enough, and sufficiently 
numerous to support not only the main stem, hut also, 
when particularly heavy and strong, the side branches. 
Thin the branches and flower-buds so as to throw the 
strength of the plant into the proper channel to pro¬ 
duce fine flowers. Prepare shelter for each flower, either 
in the most simple form of an inverted garden pot, 
or the more elaborate cap made of wire and oiled 
canvass or cotton, or the most effectual of all, a 
square box with a glass front, and a groove cut in 
the bottom to admit the flower-stalk with the flower 
inside. 
The various insects that prey upon, and consequently 
disfigure the bloom, must be destroyed, or their ravages 
prevented by using precautions, traps, &c., fully described 
in the paper alluded to. 
Fuchsias. —These are now in great beauty. They re¬ 
quire shading from the mid-day sun, and abundance of 
water at the roots. Should any appear to be suffering 
from the attacks of the red spider, which is apt to pre¬ 
vail now, remove them instantly from the greenhouse, to 
prevent the insects spreading their colonies to the neigh¬ 
bouring plants. 
New kinds may yet be propagated by cutting in 
the usual way. Now is the time to attempt to improve 
the kinds by impregnating the best with such as are 
likely to improve the progeny- Seed, as soon as it 
is ripe, should be gathered and cleaned, and put by till 
spring. 
T. Appleby. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Routine Work. —Sow a sufficient quantity of Cabbage 
the beginning of the month, dredge the young plants 
that are now up with charred dust or dry wood-ashes 
and soot, to prevent the ravages of the fly, and prick 
out, as soon as the plants can be fairly handled, a few 
inches apart. Do not forget to plant in succession both 
Cauliflowers and Cape Brocoli, which will come in at 
the right season for winter storing. Plant, also, Cole - 
worts freely ; and pay good attention to Celery in every 
stage of its growth, keeping it clear of side-suckers, 
maintaining an open surface, and applying water and 
stimulants freely. Sow American and Normandy Cress; 
and continue to sow small Sallad in shady situations, as 
well as Radishes. Sow Endive in full crop for winter use. 
Hardy Lettuce for standing the winter should be sown 
from the 8th to the 20th of this month, the 12th being 
generally about the safest time for sowing the main 
crop; but as locality, variation of season, and tlie state 
of the soil have all their influences, it is always safest to 
make two or three small sowings. Still sow freely of 
the sfnall, quick kind of Turnip. Keep the hoe well 
going amongst the growing crops. Sow the main crop 
of Spinach for winter use about the 12th on a well- 
prepared and manured border or warm situation; sow 
in drills from twelve to eighteen inches apart, the dis¬ 
tance to be regulated by the condition of the soil; if the 
soil is in a good state, that is, well and deeply pulverized, 
with a liberal application of manure, the drills will 
require to be eighteen inches apart. The prickly varie¬ 
ties should be sown for winter use; and if the earth is 
kept well and frequently stirred between and about the 
plants throughout autumn and winter on all suitable 
occasions, and kept clear of decayed leaves, a healthy 
luxuriance will be maintained, and an abundance of large 
leaves will be the constant produce. James Barnes. 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
OUR VILLAGERS. 
By the Authoress of “ My Flowers ,” dtc. 
The first dwelling at the entrance of the village is a little 
low cottage, comprising only two rooms, both on the 
ground floor, and a roughly constructed wood-house. It 
stands with its gable to the road, and a small garden in 
front, on the brow of a rising ground, looking down upon a 
stretch of arable land, a great deal of wooded ground, and a 
line of green bills in the distance. It is fully open to the 
south, and the situation is one of exposure to the western 
gales also, which beat against the casements, and cause the 
slight cottage-door to tremble. Immediately opposite to 
this little dwelling, on the other side of the narrow road, 
stands the tottering framework of a cartshed, close to a 
large ash-pollard of a great age, and considerable height for 
that description of tree. 
The widow of a barge-man has lived for many years in 
this little atom of a cottage, with her four children; for in 
some of England’s cottage homes no space for an increasing 
or growing family is allowed for — one sleeping apartment 
and one kitchen is deemed enough. When the husband 
died the children were very young; but the Scripture 
promise stands unchanged. The little family have grown 
up and thriven upon parish allowance, and the mother’s 
scanty earnings as a needlewoman; she is always the 
perfection of neatness and cleanliness, and her children are 
the same. She had excessive trouble with her two boys, 
who were headstrong and wild; but they have both obtained 
good masters and have long been in regular work. 
The garden of this cottage is always full of cabbages; 
there never seems to be emptiness in it; and the widow 
appears to till it with her own hands. There, are always 
some sweet, but simple flowers growing under the windows; 
and if the eye glances through the small panes of glass, the 
neat widow is seen busily employed with her needle, and 
her two little girls, when not at school, working by her side. 
Sometime ago, a thunderstorm slowly, but heavily ap¬ 
proached. In our immediate neighbourhood storms are 
generally slight; they come up from the distance like lions, 
but as they draw near, they most frequently diverge to the 
right and left, following the course of the high ground on 
either hand, and passing mildly and mercifully over us. 
But on this morning the village was the scene of a loud 
warning from on High. The widow was standing at her 
little window, observing the advance of the storm, when 
suddenly the old ash-pollard appeared in terrible array, 
flames, and smoke, and dust, eddied around it, and a crash 
ensued of awful thunder. Splinters flew on every side, 
some fell close to the cottage-door; and when the startling 
vision passed away, part of the old cartshed lay resting on 
the ground, and the tree was rent as with a hatchet from 
top to bottom. So striking an instance of God’s provi¬ 
dential care had been rarely noticed in the village; and it 
was doubly affecting and remarkable, because two men were 
trying to shelter themselves beneath that very shed, which 
sunk as they stood within it. One man was shaken violently 
by the shock, and a total deafness, which had afflicted him 
for years, was entirely removed for the space of lialf-an-hour, 
enabling him, he said, to hear as well as ever he did in his 
life, for that short period only. The other was a man of 
notoriously bad habits, to whom death was peculiarly terrible, 
and whose narrow escape caused him to quake for fear. 
The riven tree still stands a monument of God’s patient 
forbearing mercy to sinful man. At a distance it appears 
