September 25 .] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
403 
as possible ; no potatoes will long retain their fitness for the 
table if exposed too freely to the air and the light. Under 
present circumstances, there can be little doubt that much 
hand-picking will be necessary, especially during the first 
live or six weeks after getting them up; and to open pits 
and turn them in such a situation is very tedious work. 
Besides, the confinement of the fermentative, process, in 
spite of chimnies and other provisions for escape, is by no 
means desirable. The potatoes should be taken up when 
| dry? ky all means, and instantly removed and covered up 
Irom the air. All potatoes for seed should be selected at 
taking-up time and kept from the common stock. Any 
| outhouse floor will do for them, light need not he excluded, 
and they will lay, if needs be, six inches deep for many 
weeks. A shed, or room, on the north side of the building 
i is best for them. 
i Waste Vegetables.— From this time until the middle of 
1 November, there will, probably, be more refuse matter from 
the allotment or cottage-garden, than at any other period. 
All the cabbage and green tribes, the mangold, carrots, etc., 
produce loliage which is of service to either cow or pig, to 
I tRe latter of great use, especially when swine are fatting on 
meal or other dry meat, as the vegetable refuse tends to 
keep the bowels of the animals from a state of constipation. 
Pigs are awkward animals to “ doctor,” and above all things 
constipation is to be avoided. Let the cottager, therefore, 
assiduously collect all the refuse he can; greens, mangolds, 
Ac., are constantly yielding something after this period at 
; the lower part of their stems; tier after tier turn yellow, 
| and as soon as the least discoloration appears it is time to 
i use them up. This business will be of a continuous 
character until the middle of November. 
The “Various Greens. —“Soiling-up” is one of the main 
points of autumn-management; indeed, almost the only thing 
j that can be done. Cabbage, and all the later planted greens, 
will, perhaps, require hoeing through ; this should be done 
when dry, it possible, and the soil should be well chopped. A 
plot of Cabbage should be got out in the first week from the 
August sowing, if a spare piece can be found. If no eligible 
plot offers, the business must be done in the early part of 
February ; only a sufficient quantity must be “pricked out” 
now to accomplish it. 
Let all such “ pricking out,” as gardeners term it, (which 
simply means planting thick as a nursery whence to draw 
tor transplanting), be done betimes on soil of moderate 
character. This is far better than performing the same 
later, on rich soil; the former plants are hardy, the latter 
are liable to suffer exceedingly in the event of a severe 
winter. This maxim applies to Lettuces, and, indeed, all 
other autumn-transplanted stuff. 
Housing Roots. —This is early to talk of such proceed- 
ings, but the fact is, advice is better by far a month too 
soon than one day too late. Onions, we suppose, may be 
placed on this list, and these require to be very dry when 
housed, or otherwise artificially dried. The old roping plan 
I is very good, inasmuch as they may be suspended from the 
| sides of rooms or ceilings, where the floor is necessarily 
occupied with something else. The air, moreover, circulates 
with great freedom, and from contact being avoided, there is 
less inducement to sprout in the spring. If they are trim¬ 
med and laid on floors, more care should be taken in housing 
them dry, and in selecting a dry room for them. 
! Carrots. —These, so liable to the grub, are apt to require 
housing before most other roots. We have had crops 
I the admiration of everybody up to the end of August. By 
that period, however, the grub had given such unequivocal 
! symptoms in the foliage by its beginning to yellow, and 
even droop, that it was deemed expedient to draw and secure 
them. After cutting the tops “ into the quick,” they were 
thrown abroad for several hours, to kill the fibres; and the 
points of the roots, where the grub had commenced its 
ravages, were cut off. After this they were placed in a heap 
on a dry bank, layers of sand and Carrots alternately. As 
for Mangold, Swedes, Parsnips, <fcc., more will be said in 
our next. 
Cleaning and Burning. —This is one of the most important 
steps with regard to future progress that can be named. 
A general and final clearing should be made at this period, 
both for decency’s sake, for the sake of providing charred 
materials, and with a view to the crops of the coming year. 
We have often advised that all refuse materials, not fit 
for animal food, be collected for months previous to an 
autumn burning, or rather charring, to one convenient spot, 
where weeds, the parings of dirty walks, or roads, or road¬ 
sides, are placed ready to cover the whole with when kindled. 
Did people know, as well as we do, the value of such things, 
the whole kingdom would soon be put under a cleaner 
system. When cleanliness and profit lie the same way, it 
is surely sufficient inducement to carry out a plan. We 
must here again repeat, and beg to draw particular attention 
to it as a practical fact thoroughly attested, that had it not 
been for resorting to this practice systematically, we had 
long since ceased to produce good Broccolis, Cauliflowers, 
Savoys, and, indeed, Cabbages. Some two years since we 
could not produce a crop of these things free from “ club.” 
Since then we have systematically charred, and applied all 
our waste materials, and now the club is almost unknown, 
and these vegetables fine as ever. This we consider so 
important a matter, that it ought to be kept constantly before 
the public, and we shall not cease to do so. Every cottager 
and allotment-man, with whom we are acquainted, ought to 
make twice or thrice the bulk of manure and charred mate¬ 
rials that he at present does ; so that there is plenty of room 
for improvement. Modes of charring will be found described 
in previous papers. 
Ridging. —Every allotment-holder should make a point of 
ridging every yard of yround the moment this year’s cropping 
is finished. His last cropping may be said to be about the 
middle of August; after this he will merely want some 
Cabbage-ground, Lettuce, &c. The benefits from an early 
ridging are so considerable, that we must beg to advise land¬ 
lords to make it a sine qua non of allotment holding. The 
same may be said, indeed, of burning or charring; and 
although we would avoid, as much as possible, meddling in 
restrictive rules, yet until the cottager’s mind is moulded to 
a correct appreciation of such important matters, we should 
think proprietors not only justified, but that it was a duty 
incumbent on them. 
In autumn-ridging, an eye should be kept on the ensuing 
year; indeed, we would have the allotter fix in his mind the 
scheme of cropping for the ensuing year as early as the 
middle of September in the present one. By so doing, he 
may be enabled to use up some kinds of manures to advan¬ 
tage ; and where the land is sufficiently friable, to save a 
second digging in the ensuing spring—not that we have any 
objection to a second digging, far \from it. The cottager, 
however, like other portions of society, not unfrequently 
finds himself overmatched; and, in such cases, it is well to 
have anticipated a pressure, and made things secure. In 
addition to autumn-ridging, let us advise a turning or two in 
winter, for every movement tends to increase the qualities of 
the soil. 
As to the general introduction of manures in the autumn 
for ensuing crops, we dare not advise it; yet, if the ground 
must he prepared for given crops, by autumn-trenching, with 
an intention of simply levelling down the ridges in the ensu¬ 
ing spring, we have no objection to the introduction of half- 
decomposed manurial matters, but would, by no means, 
introduce any of a rotten character ; such being in a high 
state of solubility, a high per centage of their qualities would 
be carried away by the rains. 
Draining. —The end of October is a capital time to com¬ 
mence draining. By this time the autumnal rains will have 
made the damp portions of the soil quite manifest, and it 
is scarcely necessary, we hope, again to point to the import¬ 
ance of the process by which great crops are rendered 
earlier, and doubly productive. An early start is of great 
consequence; and the benefits arising from draining are in¬ 
sured the very first season. 
The Bigs. —From now until the end of November is the 
time to get the barn hog forward, at little expense. As soon 
as the crops are housed from the garden, all becomes real 
expense, purchased or marketable materials, which is the 
same thing in this case. All half-decaying leaves of the j 
Greens, Mangold, Cabbage, Parsnips, &c., are very nourish- j 
ing at this period; and if the hog can get a run occasionally 
under neighbouring Oak-trees, without trespass, the acorns i 
•will bring him on famously. R. Ekrington. 
