THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 11. 
367 
1 f to this be added some large bushes of Fuchsia Ricar- 
i tonii, which had stood some three or four years, and 
attained a large growth and thickness of stem, the num¬ 
ber ot plants not decidedly hardy, which escaped, was 
tew ; and in regard to these Fuchsias, it is only right to 
, observe, that the tips of all the shoots were killed, and 
the shoots which have been produced the present sum¬ 
mer did not flower any earlier than those from plants 
i which had been cut down; but, as I have remarked the 
same on other seasons, I do not blame the present sea¬ 
son as the cause of it, but only mention it in order to 
remove any erroneous impression that may be abroad of 
! Fuchsias flowering earlier by their stems being pre- 
j served through the winter. It is almost needless here 
to state that they stood quite unprotected. 
I may observe that the loss of hardy plants through the 
extreme wet has been less here than in many places; for 
even some plants oi Salvia patens have survived when they 
had a sufficient covering of snow, or other matter, to save 
them from the frost; but this now belongs to the class 
of hardy herbaceous plants, that I can hardly enume¬ 
rate it as an exception; but it is not in every place that 
the Guphea strigulosa lived through, and in one or two 
beds we did not lose a plant, but these were very dry, 
and slightly sheltered. Plumbago Larpentcc was also 
unscathed, as well as the Dielytra spectabilis, the latter 
flowering beautifully afterwards; the former, of course, 
not begun to do so yet. With these observations, I 
therefore conclude my list of casualties in the flower- 
garden way up to the last spring, and shall now turn 
to the duty of recording the various notes of the present 
season, and its effects on flower-garden plants in general, 
as compared with the last and previous year. 
I have said that the spring of 1853 was much later 
than usual, owing to the dull, wet weather, rather than 
to any serious amount of frost late in the season. This 
state of things had so retarded all tillage operations, 
and so neutralised it when it had been accomplished, 
that when tho period arrived usually called “ bedding- 
out time,” the beds were in anything but a suitable 
condition to receive the plants; for, independent of the 
coldness of the ground from perishing rains, its surface 
had scarcely even been exposed to the action of frost or 
drying winds, so that the process of mellowing had been 
but little effected; while, on the other hand, the contrary 
effect had been going on, in spite of what efforts were 
made to arrest it; and many beds, which on other 
occasions were thought to be dry as dust and workable, 
were sour, unkind, and all but unmanageable ; other- 
work coming on at the same time necessarily restricted 
what might have been advisable here, to what could not 
absolutely be done without. The “ planting-out,” was, 
perhaps, a less careful matter than at other times; 
nevertheless, some little attention was paid; and when 
the ground refused to pulverise to that nice mellow 
state so necessary to the well-doing of plants in genera], 
a small quantity of imported soil was allotted to each 
plant of a kind supposed to be favourable to its growth, 
and to “ set it a-going.” The appearance of dry weather 
at the time, and the possibility of its being likely to 
continue so for some time, rendered it advisable to 
hasten the work, lest the dry weather should set in 
before the plants had taken any hold of the ground, 
and which, on former years, we have suffered so much 
from. That this was not the case, has been proved by 
the succeeding deluges we have had; but it is only right 
to observe, that the period which was at all dry for any¬ 
thing like a whole week at a time was just the middle 
of May, when the planting-out was in course of opera¬ 
tion, so that, so far as its utility was concerned at that 
important time, the weather was unpropitious rather 
than otherwise; and that it has poured, &c., since, will 
be seen by the list of failures, and partial failures with 
some few cases of more than ordinary success, all of 
which I am, however, for want of space, compelled to 
defer until another week, when I will report the whole, 
with such comments as each individual section seems to 
call for; and hope others, more distantly situated, will 
record tho same from their respective localities, in order 
to be able to compare notes, and benefit accordingly. 
J. Robson. 
CULTIVATION OF STUBBLE TURNIPS. 
The mode of management required for the cultivation 
of Stubble Turnips differs materially from that of the 
early sowings of Turnips after a fallow preparation, or, 
indeed, after those sown late as a second crop after 
Tares, Trifolium, &c.; for although, in many instances, 
the time for preparation of the land after green crops 
is very limited, yet it is still more limited when Turnips 
are intended to be sown as a stubble crop after Wheat, 
Oats, &c. finder ordinary circumstances, there being 
no time for cleaning, or otherwise preparing the land 
for this crop, it is desirable to select land clean, and 
free from weeds and couch grass; and it is also im¬ 
portant that the driest and kindest land be chosen for 
it, in order that the Turnips may have the advantage 
of a kind, quick growth whilst the plants are young, 
and also that they might be enabled to continue their 
growth until the latest period in the winter, which they 
are most likely to do upon dry, warm, and sheltered 
land. 
I he stubbles first ready will be those of winter Oats 
and autumn-sown Talavera Wheat; indeed, it is the 
practice of some parties to sow this variety of Wheat 
in the autumn, for the purpose of appropriating the 
land to a crop of Turnips; but 1 cannot approve of the 
plan, being of opinion that Talavera Wheat is best cal¬ 
culated for spring sowing, and that when put in in the 
ordinary Wheat season it is less productive than most 
of the ordinary autumn Wheats. 
Corn of any sort, intended to be followed by Turnips, 
should be mown or reaped very close to the ground, in 
order that as little stubble as possible may be left to 
impede the work of ploughing, harrowing, &c. It is 
likewise necessary that the crop should be tied into 
sheaves, and set up to dry upon a portion of the land, 
the remainder being then free and open for the plough 
to commence work. 
Ibis operation is best effected in the following 
O 
manner:—When the corn is sufficiently ripe to be cut 
without loss, proceed at ouce, with as many hands as 
can be obtained, to cut and tie it; and when this work 
is done at so much per acre, a party of women or boys 
are set to remove the sheaves, as fast as they are tied, 
and place them upon every third land, or third portion 
of a given space—it being the work, and part of the 
contract of the company who cut and tie the corn, to 
set up the sheaves into stook upon that portion of the 
land set out for the purpose. 
In this manner two-thirds of the laud may be sown 
with Turnips before the corn is fit to remove from the 
field ; and after the first day’s reaping, or mowing, two- 
thirds of the land, from which the crop has been cut, 
