398 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 28. 
in at tlie top of the down cut, and is pushed down till the 
bud is half-way to the bottom of the cut; the baric above the 
bud is then cut across in the cross-cut, and the two edges now 
meet and fit as nicely as possible, and the bud is ready for 
tying. In tying, you begin at the bottom of all, and work 
up till you have covered the whole opening and the cross 
cut, leaving nothing in sight but the bud and the leaf-stalk 
you took with it. The blade of tbe leaf is of no good, and 
would do harm if left on. Those who are up to the prac¬ 
tice can cut the bark and bud so thin that nothing more is 
wanted but to trim the bottom to fit into the cut. Others, 
less up to the practice, take a thin slice of wood along with 
the bud, and then pick out the wood, and that does very well, 
only it is not business-like. Just one month after a bud is 
put in at this late season the tie should be loosened, and 
done agaiu not so tight, to allow for the swelling of the 
wood, and then is the proper time to stop the shoot in which 
the bud is put. In the height of summer, three weeks is the 
time to untie and stop, because then the growth is faster. 
Never stop a shoot when you bud it. 
The best time to set Sweelhiar is from the end of October 
to Christmas; but it will do in the spring. Put them in 
from six to ten inches apart in a row, if it is for a hedge, or 
“ here and there,” if only for single bushes.] 
SOWING POTATO SEED. 
“ There have been ‘a greater number of Potato berries 
this season, in Devonshire, than has been remembered for 
many years past, and there appears a general desire, in my 
neighbourhood, amongst the rural population, to attempt to 
improve the cultivation of that most useful root by raising 
new varieties ; but no one here appears to know how these 
berries should be treated, and the seed preserved, to obtain 
the desired object. Will you, therefore, kindly give in 
The Cottage Gardener some information as regards the 
treatment of the berries (they have, in numerous instances, 
already fallen from the haulm), with the best way of preserv¬ 
ing the seed till used; time of sowing the seed; and general 
management? Your compliance with this request may, I 
think, ultimately be of great use to the labouring popula¬ 
tion.—G. P., of B. House, Devon." 
[We cannot give you a better answer than is furnished by 
the following extract from The Cottage Gardeners’ Dic¬ 
tionary :— 
“ A variety of the potato is generally considered to conti¬ 
nue about fourteen years in perfection, after which period it 
gradually loses its good qualities, becoming of inferior fla¬ 
vour and unproductive ; fresh varieties must, therefore, be 
occasionally raised from seed. The berries, or apples, of the 
old stock, having hung in a warm room throughout the 
winter, the seed must be obtained from them by washing 
away the pulp during February. The seed is then tho¬ 
roughly dried and kept until April, when it is sown in drills 
about a quarter-of-an-inch deep and six inches apart, in a 
rich, light soil. The plants are weeded, and earth drawn up 
to their stems, when an inch in height; and as soon as the 
height has increased to three inches they are moved into a 
similar soil, in rows, sixteen inches apart each way. Being 
finally taken up in the course of October, they must be pre¬ 
served until the following spring, to be then replanted and 
treated as for store crops. 
“ The tubers of every seedling should be kept separate, as 
scarcely two will be of a similar habit and quality, whilst 
many will be comparatively worthless, and but few of par¬ 
ticular excellence. If the seed is obtained from a red po¬ 
tato that flowered in the neighbourhood of a white tubered 
variety, the seedlings, in all probability, will in part resem¬ 
ble both their parents; but seldom or never does a seedling 
resemble exactly the oi'iginal stock. At all events, only 
such should be preserved as are recommended by their su¬ 
perior earliness, size, flavour, or fertility. 
“ The early varieties—if planted on little heaps of earth, 
with a stake in the middle, and when the plants are about 
four inches high, being secured to the stakes with shreds 
and nails, and the earth washed away from the bases of the 
stems by means of a strong current of water, so that the 
fibrous roots only enter the soil—will blossom and perfect 
seed."] 
A man’s veracity may be as effectually impeached by a , 
shake of the head, or a shrug of the shoulders, as by a I 
long letter charging him with falsehood; and the shaker, 
the shrugger, or the writer, may believe, in all honesty, 
he is only doing his duty, and that indulgently, while, 
iu fact, he is himself altogether wrong. At this time of 
year, those who have not succeeded in saving early 
chicken are too often sceptical as to the age of those 
exhibited by more fortunate breeders. 
We desire to hold the scales of the poultry world 
evenly, and to prevent misconceptions, by the use of that 
knowledge of the subject which is always within our 
reach. It has struck us this is one of those things 
where that knowledge may be brought beneficially to 
bear. 
The positive advantage of gaining early chicken 
prizes is so great, that no effort will be spared to accom¬ 
plish it. They will, then, be early hatched, and gene¬ 
rously fed. Chicken produced the beginning of January, 
will, in July, be nearly seven months old; the pullets 
will be laying, and the cocks showing spur. But tbe 
survivors of these precocious birds will be few, and will 
form the exception to the class, especially after such a 
season as we have had; and the startling difference 
between them and their competitors is almost enough 
to raise a doubt, where some little disappointment has 
prepared the mind to receive it. 
But let us carry it out. The difficulty of accom¬ 
plishing anything great has been apparent throughout 
this season. We have hardly ever seen an even pen of 
three large chicken—two of January, the survivors of 
hundreds, and one of April, matching in colour only. 
Such was one at Windsor, belonging to a lady of high 
rank ; two surprising birds, one only half the size ; the 
two were all that lived of the January hatch. We 
believe we are correct in stating, that the first-prize 
chicken at Tiverton were in the same predicament. 
Let other facts speak for themselves. Wednesday and 
Saturday are the principal days for fowls at Leadenhall 
market, all the.best being Dorking fowls. From the 
last week in May, on either of these days, without 
previous notice, any one may select fowls of the year, 
killed and picked; cocks weighing from 0 lbs. to 7 lbs., 
and pullets 4Jlbs. to 5 lbs. each. These birds are 
scarce, and realise large prices—often 10s. to 12s. each— 
and the market is the place for bad colours, deficient 
claws, and even slight deformities. When, therefore, 
we see better birds than common exhibited early in tbe 
season, we rejoice at it. In the day when all poultry¬ 
keeping will bo profitable, it will be by selecting the 
best for exhibition, and sending the inferior to market 
(luring the spring and scarce season. The exhibition of 
first-rate chicken will show what may be done, and we 
hope it will cause emulation. The constant reproach of 
this year, that general poultry breeding has only di- j 
minished the supply at market will then be done away ! 
with. 
