THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[Aphil 25. 
-14 
a hand-glass is given to the plants during the early part 
of their growth, they will be very little later in hearing 
fruit than those sown in April. 
Thf. following act of liberality deserves this prominent 
position:— 
Exhibition of Works of Industry of all Nations in 
1851. 
On entering the hall of a friend, recently, I was struck with 
the pretty appearance of a little rustic basket, suspended 
from the’ wall, from which growing plants were gracefully 
depending. On expressing my admiration, I was informed 
it had been brought from Antwerp, where great quantities 
were exposed in the public market-place for sale. The idea 
immediately occurred to me of the delightful occupation it 
might give to many of our ingenious countrymen in rural 
districts, whose odd time is often employed in the construc- 
1 lion of those very clever but useless puzzles to be found in 
the dwelling of the herdsman or shepherd, in every imagin- 
! able and unimaginable form. Now, how much good might 
! result to many a clever rustic by the direction of this inge- 
I unity in a more rational and profitable channel. What 
stimulus it would give to the skill which produces these 
clever absurdities, had its possessors a knowledge of the 
demand which might be created, were their genius expended 
I in the production of such wares as the pretty hanging basket 
1 I have alluded to, formed of the knarletl and knotty branches 
; of the oak, the yew, or any other durable wood, with or with¬ 
out the bark on; steeped in a preservative solution they 
would long withstand decay, and prove such interesting 
objects in a conservatory that nobody who possesses a plant 
1 house would be without them. I am the more convinced of 
this from having long grown plants myself in hanging bas- 
5 kets; and they present such pretty objects as to elicit uni- 
| vevsal admiration. Those I employ are of an open wicker¬ 
like construction, manufactured in dark brown Gentian clay, 
but they are much too expensive for general adoption, their 
cost varying from its to 10s each ; but, pretty as they are, I 
think those of wood, of rustic construction, far preferable, as 
they look more natural, that is, they give the idea of a bunch 
of sticks suspended—as is often the case in the wild haunts 
of nature—on a branch of a tree, on which seed may have 
fallen and vegetated. 
I am sure that these rustic baskets for orchidaceie, and 
hanging plants in general, would meet with such universal 
: approbation, that I am induced—if you will kindly take the 
thing in hand — to oiler A Premium of One Pound, through 
the pages of The Cottage Gardener, for the best Six 
i Rustic Baskets for orehidacea; or trailing plants, strongly 
formed of rough brunches of oak, yew, or any durable wood, 
with or without the bark on ; three to he formed to hunt/ 
against a wall, and three for suspension; the sizes varying 
I from 6 to 12 inches across. The mode of judging I leave 
j entirely in your own hands, but would suggest that those 
i obtaining the premium be forwarded to the Exhibition of 
l the Works of Industry of all Nations, to take place iu 
London in 1851.— Wiluam Savage, Friary Cottage, Win¬ 
chester, 
That nothing may he wanting on our part to promote 
! the good purpose of Mr. Savage, any parties wishing to 
compete for his premium may send them, carriage paid, 
to our Office, No. 2, Amen-Corner, Paternoster-Row, 
London, on or before the last day of the present year. 
We will have the competing specimens submitted to 
competent judges, who shall be named; and we will have 
the successful ones engraved and published in our 
columns, together with the name of the maker. 
At p. 330 of our last volume we concluded our observa- 
I tions upon the benefits derived by plants from oxygen 
being presented to their roots by the soil in which they 
. tare grown, and we drill now resume our commentaries 
by observing, that the decomposing remains of animals 
and vegetables contained in a soil are highly absorbent 
of moisture from the air, consequently the more freely 
the air is exposed to those remains the more effectually 
are they enabled to deprive it of its moisture. By being 
freely exposed to the influence of the air, such remains, 
also, are more rapidly decomposed, which leads to a 
consideration of the practice of exposing soils as much 
as possible to the action of the atmosphere hv ridging, 
&c. When a soil is either heavy or abounding in stub¬ 
born vegetable matters, as in heath lands, it cannot be 
too completely exposed to the action of the air; but to 
light soils, which are in general deficient in organic de¬ 
composing matters, chemistry would say that ridging is 
accompanied by evils more injurious than can he com¬ 
pensated by the benefits obtained: for such light soils 
are easily pulverized whenever occasion requires, are so 
porous as at all times freely to admit the atmosphere; 
and, therefore, by this extra exposure the vegetable and 
animal remains are hastened in decomposing, and much 
of their fertile constituents evolved in the state of gas, 
or carried away by the rains, &c., without there being 
any crop upon them to benefit by them. Thus theory 
argues, and practice certainly seems to support, in this 
instance, her doctrines. Switzer, one of our horticul¬ 
tural classics, says. “ Rich, heavy ground cannot well 
he ploughed too often to make it light, and the better 
manure by killing the weeds; as poor, light ground 
cannot he ploughed too seldom, for fear of impoverish¬ 
ing it .”—(Iclinograplda Rustica vol. iii., p. 237.) 
The benefit derivable from the access of the atmo¬ 
spheric gases to the roots of plants, and the knowledge 
that fertile pulverized soil absorbs and retains from 
them moisture, explain why these plants are benefited 
by having their lateral roots kept near the surface, and 
by having that surface frequently loosened by the fork 
.and hoe. This is no mere imagination of theory, for as 
long since as the days of Cato, half a century before the 
Christian era, the importance of pulverizing the soil was 
duly appreciated. “ What is good husbandry?” inquires 
that writer. “ To plough.” “What is the second point?” 
“To plough.” The third is, “to manure." In later days, 
Mr. Bames, one of the best practical gardeners of the 
present age, iu a letter to us, says,—“ To secure good 
crops of carrots, parsnips, and onions, I make it a 
standing rule to trench the ground well in winter, 
throwing it into rough ridges, forking and turning it 
over during frosty mornings, which not only sweetens 
and pulverizes the earth, hut eradicates insects, for I 
prefers good preparation to early sowing; and practice 
has proved to me that a good season for sowing is any 
time between the 15th March and the 10th April. My 
practice is, sow everything in drills; hoe as soon as the 
plants can he seen breaking the surface, continuing the 
hoeing throughout the season at every opportunity when 
the weather will permit, hut not during Tain, or whSn 
the ground is full of water,—not for the sake so much 
of destroying weeds and insects, which are rarely, to he 
seen if hoping be followed up with spirit, but with a desire 
Ui keep time uni Awni pulverization aud moistarefferoutgii- 
