u 
understood to be your own, to do what you like with 
and in. It makes a great difference in your interest and 
sense of responsibility, as well as in your pleasuie in 
working, when you consider tbe spot your own. I le- 
niember yet my own feelings on tbis point; and ceitaiuly 
my first garden bad little else to recommend it. It was 
a dull back-green, in Edinburgh, with a narrow border 
on eacli side, and shut in by walls excluding almost all 
sunshine. But it was my own; for no one cared to 
attempt gardening in such a hopeless spot; but for years 
I spent many happy hours there, trying to get flowers to 
grow, and hoping always to succeed. Nothing did grow 
but some orange lilies and marigolds ; and sometimes in 
one corner, where the sun shone, a few hardy annuals 
would flower; but it must indeed have been the love of 
the work itself that induced me to persevere, for more 
unsuccessful attempts never were made. I had an old- 
fashioned book on gardening, which I studied incessantly, 
it told me much I had no use for: hothouses and green¬ 
houses, pineries and vineries, were all described therein, 
but no “back-greens.” There was no Cottage Gardener 
in those days. From this experience I would say, in the 
second place, 
Choose a good spot for your little gardens,if you have a 
choice. —At least get sun and air, for few plants will live 
in shade, and none will thrive without air. Go not, as I 
once did, take the first bit of border you find unoccupied, 
and commence gardening there. Think first, it flowers 
will grow in it. When (years after my early back-green 
gardening) I went to reside in tbe country, I of course 
renewed my gardening with fresh zeal, and, at first, was 
satisfied with getting leave to sow seeds, or weed any¬ 
where, but I soon began to find this unsatisfactory, and 
thinking that in the country, flowers would grow in any 
part of the garden, I modestly accepted a little border 
bounding a small washing-green, where no one would 
interfere with me. I soon found, however, I had been too 
precipitate in my acceptance, for two or three trees 
shaded my border; aud after the early spring months, 
when crocuses and primroses flowered well enough, I 
hacl few flowers, and those I bad were pale and wan. 
Some alterations were making in the garden at this time, 
and I obtained possession of an empty border with a 
good exposure to light and air; thither I transplanted my 
chief favourites, and what between plants sent me by 
friends, and bits of things judiciously cribbed from tbe 
general garden, my border was soon filled; and tor some 
years I worked away, gaining experience by my blunders, 
and making experiments—pleased when I succeeded, 
and undismayed when I failed. But I changed my 
garden again ; and lest my young readers should accuse 
me of fickleness, I must briefly tell them the reason, and 
that will bring me to bint the third : 
Expect and accept as little help as possible from the 
gardener. —My garden was backed by a thorn hedge, which 
of course required to be cut; I could not do tbis myself; 
aud greatly annoyed I used to be, on coming out some 
line morning to my garden, to find the gardener trampling 
down my border, and strewing it over with thorns. It 
did no good to me to have him put it in order again ; I 
liked to do all myself; and I did not like that he should 
cut tbe hedge when he chose; so I longed tor a spot 
where there should be “ but one mistress and no master. 
Now, in offering you tbis last hint, 1 am far from ad¬ 
vising you to be above receiving both assistance and 
advice from a gardener, but, in general, young people 
would do well in their little gardens to remember the 
old saying—“ if you wish to be well served, serve your¬ 
self.” ' The gardener is often too busy to attend to you, 
and you must wait his leisure, or, worse still, lie knows 
and cares not where your treasures lie, and smash goes 
tbe spade through many a hidden cluster of snow-drops 
or crocuses, heedless of the little bit of stick you vainly 
thought a tally sufficient to warn him what was there. 
[April 11. ! 
Never mind at first being laughed at for your attempts 
at gardening: you cannot expect your gardens to look 
quite as neat as when kept by an experienced gardener; 
but your pleasure in them will be far greater, aud by 
degrees you will improve in the mechanical processes ol 
hoeing and raking. Digging the borders, I fear, must be 
left to tbe gardener, if you wish it done thoroughly, lor 
this requires strength as well as skill. I know few 
pleasures greater than that of raking one’s own garden 
in spring, when the clods have been softened by the 
winter’s frost; and the bright yellow and purple crocuses 
look so gay when all the rough earth is raked smooth 
and even round them. I have grown quite accustomed 
to be asked in a tone of affected concern, “Why I let the 
poultry scrape all my garden over in that way? ” but I go 
on, heedless of jests; if I waited for tbe gardener’s help 
at this busy season, I might wait long enough ; besides 
I like doing it myself; and I therefore advise all my 
young friends to serve themselves, aud rely on no one s 
help. (To be continued .) Hortense. 
MUSHROOM SPAWN. 
Mushroom spawn may be made in various ways, and is 
easily known by its smell and its small fine thread-like and 
hoary appearance. The smell is just the same as that ol 
the common mushroom. It is to be often met with in 
manure heaps, and in fields, particularly where hay-ricks hn\ o 
been made, and the old thatch and bottoms have been 
thrown up into a heap to decay for manure. In heaps of , 
manure that have been thrown out of an old cow-shed, v here 
both horses and cows, &c., run into for shelter ; and in the 
sweepings from horse-mill walks, thrown up into a heap in 
some dry corner, and allowed to lie for three or four months 
undisturbed, plenty of mushroom spawn is pretty certain to 
be generated. 
If horse droppings, mixed with sandy loam, equal parts, 
and partly dry, placed in boxes or large flower-pots, with a 
small bit of good spawn in it three inches below the surface, 
all jammed in as solid as it can be done, and put in any 
heated structure, the whole bulk will very soon be found to 
be the best of spawn, if kept dry for five or six weeks. 
Spawn may also be made in this way. Take one-third 
horse-droppings, one-third cow and sheep dung, and one- 
third sandy loam; let these ingredients be well mixed toge¬ 
ther, adding as much water as will make the whole some¬ 
thing like stiff mortar. Spread the whole mixture out on a 
level bottom or floor in an open shed, from two and a halt to 
three inches thick, and let it remain in that state a few days 
to dry ; then let it be cut out into pieces about the length of 
common bricks, but a little wider—say an inch wider; let 
these pieces be so placed as not to get broken, and when dry 
enough to be handled about with care, and being a little 
more than half dry, pierce each brick about half through in 
two places thus : that is, make the holes about 
an inch and a half in diameter, and place a 
small piece of real spawn in each hole, over 
which a portion of that taken out should lie 
placed, something like sealing it over. After this, let the 
bricks be so placed as to forward then- drying off as 
quickly as possible; and when perfectly dry have ready a 
quantity of well-prepared dry, husky, fermenting materials, 
and place from about six to nine inches thick on the floor of 
some rather warm shed, and on this place all the pieces in a 
regular manner, \ritlx open spaces ; that is, the pieces on one 
row crossing the openings in the row beneath, just as brick- 
makers arrange their bricks to dry, and keeping the innocu- 
lated side uppermost, to prevent the spawn falling out, bring¬ 
ing the whole up to a point, so that the stack may not tall 
about. Then cover the whole with the before-mentioned 
kind of material, so as to give about from 50 to 55 degrees 
of heat, which will soon cause the spawn to run through the 
pieces. When this is observed to be the case, let the whole 
be stored away in some dry, cold place until required for use. 
These dry, light, hoary lumps will keep good for years in a 
dry place, but in a cold moist situation this spawn would 
soon perish; and if stored in a warm moist situation, the , 
spawn will commence working or vegetating.— I. Weaver, 
Gardener to the Warden of Winchester College. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
