May 30.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
127 
! glowing imagery of the Book of God, nothing brings us 
) so closely and immediately into contact with the pro- 
I mises of Christ. 
I have often watched sheep feeding quietly and care- 
I lessly, scattered over a large field, apparently quite un- 
j protected and alone. A sudden alarm has aroused them, 
| and they have rushed together in terrified confusion, 
i bewildered and helpless. In an instant, from the shel- 
) ter of a hedge or tree, starts the shepherd! He was 
near, although hidden from their eyes ; “asleep," it may 
be, in the heat of the day, but his ear quickly alive to 
the movements of his timid charge. What a picture of 
! Him who watches with Almighty care “ the sheep of His 
hand.” We may not perceive His presence; he may 
be, as it wore, “ withdrawn,” but He “ neither slumbereth 
nor sleepetb ; ” and He has Himself declared that He 
“ giveth His life for the sheep.” The wolf may come— 
dangers ghostly and bodily aro ever hovering around 
the “little flock”—but the Good Shepherd has said to 
them, “ foar not; ” “ no man is able to pluck them out 
of my hand.” 
Let us take courage and comfort in these assurances, 
for we all need them—we are all wandering in devious 
paths—and no poor, helpless, silly sheep can be so help¬ 
less, or so silly, or so ignorant as man. When we ramble 
through the beautiful scenes of nature, and mark the 
different objects that meet us at every turn, we find con¬ 
stant food for thought, instructive as well as delightful; 
and if we apply to or.r hearts what passes before our 
eyes, it is astonishing how many lessons we may learn 
and what deep teaching we may receive. 
Whatever our Great Teacher has selected to convey 
His heavenly meaning to our darkened minds, is speci¬ 
ally fraught with instruction; and He has chosen so 
many beautiful but simple incidents and objects for 
this gracious purpose, and so many belong to all nations, 
as well as to the one sanctified by His bodily presence, 
that we can scarcely look out upon the face of nature 
without being reminded of His Word. Let it ever be 
impressed upon our hearts. 
ALLOTMENT FARMING FOR JUNE. 
The time lias at length arrived when vegetables will, or 
ought to be, in tlieir most active state, and when not a day 
may he lost without a corresponding amount of pecuniary 
loss in the ensuing winter. There are those in the world 
who are constantly in the habit of saying, “ it don’t matter; ” 
now this “ don’t matter,” we beg to say, in the majority of 
instances, is the sure precursor of failure. A swarm of young 
weeds has invested the young carrot crops; a chance occurs 
of getting them out betimes in favourable weather; they are 
neglected, and a rainy period commences; in a few days 
the plants are nearly smothered, and, moreover, become 
“ drawn ” with whitened stems. Fine weather again prevail¬ 
ing, they are rushed upon eagerly as being in arrears ; and 
now their lialf-bleached and delicate stems are suddenly 
exposed to intense sunshine, the consequence of which is 
that they become stunted through a contraction of the 
delicate sap vessels, and a check is hereby sustained which 
the plant never entirely recovers ; need we add that the crop 
proves unsatisfactory, and the cultivator, forsooth, imagines 
that the ground was to blame—was too poor—and, of course, 
votes an extra amount of manure in the ensuing year. 
It is, indeed, pitiful to see how lightly three-fourths of 
cultivators regard weeds. Many fancy that when they are 
once drawn out that all is right again, and that no harm has 
ensued; at the same time many such persons are ready 
enough to thin out portions of the crop as robbing their 
neighbours, whilst the rivalry of the weeds is slighted, the 
character of exhausting the soil scarcely being imputed to 
them —they are supposed to live entirely on the air. Let us, 
therefore, advise our allotment friends to be very much in 
earnest this summer, and then let them say at the approach 
of the ensuing winter whether or no they have found a 
benefit in a cleanly course of culture. 
General Maxima —In all cases of drill crops under allot¬ 
ment practice, by which practice is meant that on plots of 
ground in much finer tilth than farming lands in general are, 
it is well to precede the hand-weeding and singling out in the 
drill by some culture between the drills, provided the weather 
is suitable. We generally use the Dutch hoefor this purpose, 
but there is nothing like the fork or spade for those who can 
find time, and who do not begrudge a little labour, especially 
if the weather prove showery. When the weeds between the 
drills are decayed, the necessary operations in the drill will 
be readily seen. The first proceeding in the drills should 
be to draw all the earliest weeds, and the next is to rough 
thin the plants if necessary; not, however, a final thinning, 
whicli is termed singling, that is, so reducing their numbers 
as that no two plants touch. 
These things done, most crops will be benefited by a 
hand-hoeing with the small hoe, and for this process the 
land should be in a condition between wet and dry, rather 
inclining to the latter, for a twofold purpose has to be 
served—pulverisation and the destruction of weeds. It will 
be seen that we have been speaking of general principles of 
culture, applicable to most of our drill crops ; we must now 
descend to some necessary details of a specific character. 
Swede Turnips. —By this time the Swedes will be above 
ground hi most parts, and a seed bed will have been pro¬ 
vided, as a guard against failure. We must refer to the 
general principles of culture, as previously adduced, and if 
the fly should become seriously destructive it will become a 
consideration whether to break the whole plot up and recrop, 
or otherwise to repair blanks by transplanting. The latter 
is generally preferred, and, indeed, is generally the soundest 
policy, for there is no crop which can at this period supply 
the place of Swedes as a store root; common turnips, such 
as the Tankard, the White Round, or Dale’s Hybrid, will 
succeed as far as time is concerned, but the great misfortune 
is they will not keep like a Swede. 
Potatoes. —We regret to say that at the time we write 
the old disease has again shewn itself, in a neighbouring 
garden, amongst some early kidneys which have been pro¬ 
tected. We do not name tliis in order to cause our readers 
to suppose that we feel the same amount of alarm as when 
the disease was rampant; much better things surely may be 
anticipated. The hoe, or other cultural implement, must be 
well plied between the drills, and a little soil drawn to the 
stems, where there is danger of the produce becoming 
greened through light and ah’. Where they form port of a 
system of mixed cropping, combined in alternate rows with 
such things as mangold, or Swedes, or other root crops, their 
stems should be gently drawn aside occasionally by means 
of a fork or pointed stake, or the young plant may be over¬ 
powered. We need scarcely say that cultural operations are 
well repaid with the potatoe; no root pays better for timely 
attention. If the late crops should happen to fail in places, 
the hest plan is to fill up the blanks in good time with Swede 
plants. 
Carrots. —We can add little to the remarks at page 51. 
This crop requires some dainty handling ; above all things 
let not weeds overpower them. A sowing of the Early Horn 
land may yet be made; such, however, must not be con¬ 
sidered as adding to the store roots for winter and spring, 
but as a luxury for the allotment holder's table during Oc¬ 
tober and November; they have the merit, however, of keep¬ 
ing him from his store carrots of the larger kinds, which 
should not be used until after Christmas if possible. 
Parsnips. —In addition to our advice at page 51, we may 
add that the final thinning must be completed, if not already 
done; they should not be closer than five niches from plant 
to plant. Hand-culture between the plants with the small 
hoe, when they get a few inches high, will, by breaking the 
side forks, cause the tap root to descend. Deep culture 
between the rows is also eminently advantageous, as with 
most other root crops. 
Common Turnips. —Good full crops of these may be ob¬ 
tained by sowing in the early part of June; it often happens, 
however, that a few of the Dutch kind may be stolen from 
narrow borders where nothing else will grow. A drill or two 
in such situations maybe sown without digging; thus treated 
they produce neat and good eating turnips, with a small 
amount of leaf. For a winter and spring supply to the 
