July 28. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
of Swedes and Sunflowers stood. It was put in without 
digging, and is (I think I may venture to say) as fine a piece 
as can be seen in the neighbourhood. 
The plan I pursue in preparing my land for' a Wheat crop 
I shall give an account of at the proper season. I am not 
advocating this system merely for the object of saving the 
labour of digging, but because I have found, from experience, 
that it answers the purpose best, provided the ground where 
the root crops were previously grown had been well cul¬ 
tivated between the rows, and been kept thoroughly clean. 
It is said, the best evidence of good farming is—“ to feed 
the land before it is hungry, to give it rest before it is weary, 
and to weed it before it becomes foul.” I have proved, by 
experience, the truth of the latter remark, respecting the 
impropriety of not attending to the cleaning the land im¬ 
mediately after the Wheat is taken off, the stubble being first 
cleared away. I have found the best treatment for cleaning 
the land after a Wheat crop to he a thorough good digging 
with the fork, taking out the rubbish as you go along, and 
then letting the ground lie as rough as it can be made 
during the winter, to get the benefit of the frost; and in the 
spring, as early as the weather will permit, wheel on the 
manure, and give it another good digging with the fork, and 
prepare it for receiving the spring crops. Mr. Errington, 
in his excellent article on “Allotment Farming for June," 
says: “ I have repeatedly known as much time wasted in 
hoeing and raking, as would have dug over the plot in 
question ; and who can for a moment place the two opera¬ 
tions on a par as to their utility ? ” I confess I have been 
foolish enough to try this experiment of hoeing, instead of 
digging, thinking I should be saving labour, but 1 have 
dearly paid for my folly, for instead of benefiting by the 
operation, I have found it to be a serious disadvantage, more 
particularly with a wheat stubble. I am perfectly convinced, 
from dear bought experience, that there is no operation, 
short of a thorough good digging, that will effectually clean 
the land after Wheat to make it in a fit state to receive 
future crops. 
If a portion of the ground previously occupied with Wheat 
be required for early spring Cabbages, it must be supplied 
with a liberal quantity of manure previous to digging. The 
method I pursue, in planting my spring Cabbages, and 
arranging other crops between them, I shall give parti¬ 
culars of at the proper season for planting them out. If a 
portion of the Wheat ground be desired for a crop of Stone 
Turnips , it must be prepared immediately after the Wheat 
is cut, by giving it a dressing of manure, and a good 
digging. The seed may be sown either broadcast, or in 
drills eighteen inches apart. I prefer the latter plan, as 
the ground can be kept clean much better, and the crop 
produced more regular. 
Much has been said and written respecting the advantages 
of planting Potatoes early in the autumn, but from experi¬ 
ments that I have made, I have not found any advantage 
arising from the practice, particularly this last season; the 
wet being so incessant many of the tubers were entirely 
rotted, and, in consequence, they did not come up so regularly 
as those planted early in the spring; indeed, up to the 
present time, I never saw my Potato crop looking better 
than it is this season; and, to all appearance, they promise 
to be an abundant crop. I have this year a crop of Potatoes 
and Beet growing on the same piece of ground, in alternate 
rows, and, from present appearances, both crops promise to 
be very productive. From the extra air and sunshine 
each crop gets in this way, they appear to grow more 
luxuriantly than they would if each were growing separately. 
If the early Spring Cabbage seed have been omitted to be 
sown the last week in July, they should be sown the first 
week in this month, in the way I have previously stated for 
July. 
The land being now occupied with all the principal crops, 
the chief business to be attended to now is to keep it free 
from weeds. 
Onions should be taken up the latter part of this month. 
The plan I pursue in harvesting them is to spread them on 
a board or canvass, for several days, till the tops are quite 
; withered, and then tie them up in bundles or ropes, and 
i hang them in a dry, cool place. They will keep sound in 
j this way through the winter, and free from shooting till late 
I in the spring. 
327 
Earth or road scrapings should he collected this month 
for compost heaps. 
In my notes for July in The Cottage Gardener, I in¬ 
timated that I would give an account of my hand cultivator. 
It being an implement that I have found of great service, I 
recommend it to all occupants of small holdings. The fol¬ 
lowing is a brief description of it:—The head of it is formed 
with two iron plates, two feet long, two inches wide, and 
half-an-inch thick. These two plates are screwed together , 
at each end, sufficiently apart from each other to admit of 
the prongs being fixed in. The teeth, or prongs, are made 
with a screw and nut, so that they can be shifted to any 
space required. In the centre of the head, or two plates, is 
fixed a strong iron, twelve inches long, with a socket at the 
end to receive the handle, which is made of wood, four feet 
long, with a cross-bar eighteen inches long, fixed in the end 
to draw by. The iron in the centre, which the handle is 
fixed to, is so formed that one of the prongs is fixed in it 
about six inches from the head. The number of prongs 
that I have to fix to it are five, and the length of them are 
fifteen inches. They are made with chisel ends, and the 
lower part of them are half-circular, and the front of them 
brought to an edge, so that they can cut through the soil 
much easier. At each end of the head-plates is fixed an 
iron plate, the same width as the head ones, and fixed to 
the centre iron, where the socket is made to receive the 
handle. Thus the whole consists of iron, except the handle, 
and in form resembles the horse cultivator. The cost of it 
complete was 15s. I have also another set of prongs to fix 
to this implement to use as hoes, with the ends made into a 
flat triangular form, five inches wide, with sharp edges, 
similar to those used with the horse-hoe. I am fearful, 
from the imperfect description I have given of this imple¬ 
ment, it will not be sufficient to be understood, but it is the 
best account I am capable of giving. In using it, it is drawn 
backwards with a leather strap fixed round the waist, and 
by making a sudden pull at each step, a man may draw with 
considerable force. I am indebted to a gentleman, who 
honoured me with a visit last summer, for a description of 
this implement, who had one in use. 
It appears a similar instrument to the above is used in 
America. The following is an extract from the “ Working 
Farmer” for June, (published in New York, and kindly 
sent me by a friend) :—“The little instrument called the 
hand-cultivator may be used after thorough -weeding to 
great advantage, and with superior economy, as compared 
with the hand-hoe. In well tilled garden soils, one man, 
with this little instrument, can do the work of twenty with 
hand-lioes ; it is only useful, ho-wever, to pass between rows, 
as it cannot remove the weeds which are resident in the 
rows.” John Sillett. 
BRAHMA BOUTRA FOWLS. 
Having a pair of Brahma Poutra fowls (one of the pairs 
sent over by Dr. Bennett, U. S., to the Metropolitan Show, at 
the same time that he sent those for the Queen, Dr. Gwynne, 
and Mrs. Hosier Williams), I have been anxious to ascertain 
if they are distinct breeds. I have been in communication 
with Dr. Bennett, and, as he has gone to settle at Iowa, he 
referred me to the gentleman who has succeeded him, and 
this day I received a letter from him in which he states : 
“ Dr. Bennett having gone to settle at Iowa, and that being 
so far back in the western country, he will not be able to 
send you any Brahma Poutra fowls; but he has left all to 
me. I am an old breeder of poultry. I keep the very best 
breeds, and the best bloods, to be found in this country. I 
keep a great variety of fowls, and I also have free access 
to all of the most careful breeders’ stocks in this part of the 
country; and I can get anything I want that is nice. I 
know all about the Brahma Poutra fowls that Dr. Bennett 
sent to Dr. Gwynne, and Mrs. Hosier Williams, for I went to 
Boston and shipped them for the Doctor. They are certainly 
a distinct breed of fowls, and were imported from India, and 
not China, as many suppose; they breed from a light colour 
to a dark grey; feathered, and clean legs, but always yellow; 
pea and single comb, but the pea comb is the most preferred 
