52 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 24. 
these days,even in the largest places, there is little glass 
to be spared, in general, for such a purpose. Amateurs, 
for whom we chiefly pen these observations, have still 
less of that valuable commodity to spare; and yet they 
are as anxious about their few beds as the gardener of 
a nobleman about his many parterres. The great dra w- 
buck to opaque coverings of any sort for plants in such 
circumstances are two-fold. First, if kept on, the plants 
get weakened from a deficiency of light; and if in a 
fine, sunny day they are removed, very likely the sun 
is too much for them, or the air, though the sun be 
shining, is so dry and cold as to injure the plants quite 
as much as keeping them nearly in the dark would do. 
This evil is felt even by gardeners, who, by their presence 
in the place, can humour the plants according to the 
necessities of the case; but how great the risk, when, 
as in the case of many of our best friends, the plants 
must be left to shift for themselves as best they may 
during the most important hours of the day, or depend 
upon the care of a boy or girl employed lor many other 
purposes about the house. I may take this opportunity 
of saying, that in such cases, I have met with acts of 
attention to watering and air giving, and air taking 
away, that would have served as a model to many a 
young gardener; the concerns of a household, though 
faithfully attended to, being quite compatible with atten¬ 
tion to Radishes, Cucumbers, and flowering plants. The 
young person who can do all this, be he lad, or be she 
lass, shows the possession of mental concentration and 
expansiveness, strikingly in contrast with those quiet, 
plodding young men, who never can hold more than one 
idea, or attention to one duty, in their head at one time. 
Though such men and women assistants ought to receive 
every encouragement from their employers, and be duly 
valued and esteemed for their worth, any mode that 
would lessen the labour of gardeners generally ought to 
be duly chronicled, however simple the mode employed ; 
and, after due consideration, I think 1 cannot do better 
than introduce to our readers the simple manner of 
PROTECTING BEDDING PLANTS AT COURTEEN 
HALL. 
The readers of this work are aware that I have already 
introduced some of the Peaches of my friend, Mr. Gardiner, 
to their attention. There are lew places where a flower- 
garden is so well filled, and with such little assistance 
from glass, and with such economy in labour. I consider 
his simple, economical system to be such a good one, 
that 1 will run the risk of getting a scolding—by letting 
all the world know about it. 
The young plants are placed thickly in boxes or pots 
in the autumn, and kept cool all the winter. Many are 
also propagated iu spring, and gradually hardened off. 
It would be impossible to keep these rooted cuttings 
long in a healthy state so thickly packed together after 
the sun had gained strength. Mr. Gardiner has no glass 
to spare to put them under, and if he were obliged to 
water such numbers in small pots, he would find an 
over-reaching of his labour power. By the month of 
March he begins to thin his plants, by removing the 
hardiest of them into his cold pits, and so going on, 
removing the tenderest last. The chief peculiarity of 
these pits is, that they are covered with calico during 
the day, and with extra covering at night. Any sort of 
pit would do, formed of earth, turf, brick, &c. Mr. 
Gardiner forms the walls of his of straw set on end — 
much in the same way as those I made mention of 
at Wilderness Park last season. These may range 
from nine to twelve inches in height, in front and 
from twenty-four to thirty-six inches at hack. The 
greater the difference between the back and the front, 
the more perfectly will the calico throw off rains. In 
forming such pits, posts are cjriven into the ground, 
hack and front, and on these a rail is firmly nailed. 
The straw, of a good thickness, is then set upright, and 
firmly secured by strong cord, or hazel or other rods, 
passing longitudinally, inside and outside, and firmly 
secured by cross loops of cord, fastening the inside and 
outside rod or cord together, holding the straw firmly 
between them. I have seen such straw walls last four 
or five years, with the prospect of remaining much 
longer. Had I the chance, however, I would, for myself, 
prefer turf walls. These straw walls, however, are what 
Mr. Gardiner uses. His calico is bleached, because it 
lets in more light, and, as near as he can get it, two 
yards wide ; at that width it costs about 8d. per lineal, 
yard. Strong, unbleached calico may be procured at 
nearly one-third less, but Mr. Gardiner thinks it would 
be too dark. It will be evident that the sloping line of 
the pit must not be quite so much as the width of the 
calico. Mr. Gardiner has no cross pieces to sustain the 
calico ; it is cut into pieces of five yards in length, one 
side is firmly tacked to a rod, some one-and a-half or 
two inches in diameter, the calico is then stretched as 
much as possible, and the opposite side tacked to a 
similar rod. Every five yards, therefore, in length 
is moveable; one rod being fixed to the rail or posts 
behind, by means of two or three strings, passing round 
as many pins or nails, and easily tied and untied; the 
front rod is fastened in a similar manner, and the 
calico roof of the pit is complete; the tightness with 
which the calico is kept enabling it to throw off heavy 
rains, especially if there is a good descent from back 
to front. Frost is guarded against by straw covers, 
made much in the same way, but thicker than was 
lately described, laid over the calico, and resting on the 
back and front rails of the pit. Your pit, therefore, may 
be of any length in proportion to the pieces of calico. 
Mr. Gardiner has used these calico covers, I think, for 
three years, and they seem none the worse for wear. 
Now, for what may be called the peculiarities of the 
system. 
1. The pits are made to catch as much of the sun’s 
rays as possible. 
2. The bottom of the pit is hard, and is covered with 
a sufficient thickness of a light compost, consisting of 
sandy loam, charred refuse, burnt earth, and leaf-mould. 
3. In this compost, commencing with the hardiest 
things in March, the young plants from store pots are 
plauted out, giving each two or more inches square, 
according to their vigour and mode of growth; and 
Geraniums, and everything else, are lifted in May, in 
fine condition for the flower-beds. 
4. The calico covering, until it approaches planting 
time, and thorough hardening off is requisite, is kept 
on night and day. I have already mentioned how extra 
covering is given at night. The calico admits sufficient 
light in hot days, and keeps out the extra heat that would 
scald or injure. In cold days, or when there is a 
cutting east wind, the plants are presented with enough 
of light to keep them healthy, and the cold is kept out. 
5. Little watering, or other attention, is required, 
from the day the young plants are inserted until they 
are removed. It may safely be said, that the attention 
necessary will not be a quarter of what it would be if 
each plant had a small pot under glass. 
C. Even Scarlet Geraniums, so treated, feel the re¬ 
moval to the beds less than others that have become 
pot-bound, and required, therefore, a disentangling of 
the roots previous to planting. 
7. This mode requires even much less attention than 
if the plants were secured with glass sashes over 
them ; and independent of the economy, I believe Mr. 
Gardiner prefers bis calico covers to glass for such a 
purpose. 
If desirable, such covers could be made available for 
general purposes of shading in summer and protecting 
