258 
cottagers, and those of the allotment class, that we fre¬ 
quently see this crop placed under circumstances of had 
culture—as to a timely thinning—through a dread of this 
so frequent visitation. In the end of July, or at latest the 
first week of August, we say, let a final thinning he made. 
The thinnings hy this time will be large enough for cooking, 
and the tops are excellent for either cow or pig. The larger 
carrots may he thinned, if in beds, to four or five inches 
apart, hut the Horn carrot not to half the distance. 
Weeding.— All crops should have one more thorough 
cleaning in the beginning of August; this will keep them 
clean for the remainder of the growing season. The hoe 
should he deeply plied between drills of all kinds, and if any 
crops have become very foul with weeds, and the weather is 
anyways showery, it is hy far the best policy to dig between 
the drills. 
Hay Grass. —Those who have land enough for a cow, will 
of course have their hay cleared off the ground; and now is a 
good time to apply either liquid-manure or guano, the latter 
should hy all means he applied hi a showery time, for to 
apply it in dry weather is to lose one-half its qualities. If 
there is only one plot of pasturage, the cow may he kept tied 
up most of the time ; hut many cottagers have a chance of 
turning out in grassy lanes, or on commons. Of course the 
waste thinnings of the allotment or garden will go far to¬ 
wards keeping the cow at this period; hut if she is in full 
milk we would advise giving a little linseed, morning and 
night, until some good after-math is to he had. Those who 
have any corn crops, such as barley or oats, should break up 
their stubble betimes in the autumn, and endeavour to get 
in some rye and vetches for early cutting. This is of immense 
service in April, and the early part of May, after which such 
ground will he well adapted for either mangold or Swedes. 
Let us again advise the cow-keeper to make a point of 
running over all his ground once a week, in order to collect 
all refuse for the cow or pig. Let crops he ever so well “ set 
out ” early in the season, there will always he something 
which a diligent cottager can collect. 
Mangold will occasionally run to seed, and so will cabbage, 
and as the root crops advance it will he found that some 
plants take the lead, and are crowded by inferior ones, which 
may he drawn away when about half-grown. The outer 
leaves too of all the green and cabbage crops will be fre¬ 
quently coming to hand. 
Manure Heap. —Now is the principle period for the cot¬ 
tager to keep a sharp look out for all coarse weeds and gross 
herbage that he can justly lay hands on. We have seen 
cottier’s children, stout boys, attending the cow when turned 
out in lanes (where a danger of trespass existed), who were 
sauntering about the whole day in idleness, when they 
might have been trimming with a short sickle all the rank 
herbage with which such lanes commonly abound. • A boy 
thus situated would, by a little industry, collect three or four 
large barrowsful in the course of the day; and this, thrown 
into the outlet of the pig-stye, day by day, would form a most 
important item in the augmentation of the manure heap. 
Let us advise cottagers who have not already done so, to 
cover their previous made manure with soil rather thickly. 
The loss by fermentation and drying during the hot months 
of summer is more considerable than people imagine. We 
have little doubt that nearly 20 per cent, is frequently lost 
by evaporation, rains, &c., during July and August. The 
heap should be first thrown in a sharp ridge, and the soil 
beat firm, to throw off the rain. 
THE LOULTRY-KEEFEE’S CALENDAR.— August. 
By Martin Boyle, Author of “ Hints to Small Farmers, Ac." 
PEA-FOWL. 
One of the correspondents of this periodical who has not 
been as successful as ho hoped to have been in rearing pea¬ 
fowl, bas requested to have some information respecting the 
management of them ; this will account for the introduction 
of a branch of poultry-keeping on the present occasion that 
does not apply to the circumstances of the mere cottager, 
who would be a nuisance to his neighbours if he presumed 
to keep these aristocratic birds to the injury of their limited 
and ill enclosed gardens. No person without a sufficient 
[July 25. 
| range of lawn, and a garden distant from the poultry-yard 
and secured from their depredations, should think of keeping 
pea fowl. A high wall is no defence against birds one of 
whose habits it is to fly up to the highest trees for roosting 
in, and over walls and houses in search of favourite food, or 
in mere indulgence of a wild and roving disposition, which 
no length of forced and unnatural domestication has sub¬ 
dued. 
It is not surprising that a pea-hen does not rear a large 
progeny ; first, she lias to contend against the desire which 
her mate has to destroy her eggs, she is therefore led by her 
instinct to lay in out of the way places where they may be 
lost altogether, or to batch in some insecure though secret 
place, and generally on the ground among rank grass or 
hedge weeds. Having no very strong desire to sit, she is 
easily tempted to forsake her nest if disturbed. Her habit 
is to lay (but not before the third summer) from four or five 
to seven eggs, and if she is prevented from sitting on them 
to lay a second time after some interval. Her proper period 
of incubation is from 27 to 2!) days, which is also the period 
of a turkey's incubation. Now, the turkey being a more 
staid and tender nurse, the best way is to give the pea-fowl’s 
eggs to her both for hatching and rearing. Rut if the pea¬ 
hen already have them born, it will be better to coop her for 
a fortnight or more, especially if she be a young and inex¬ 
perienced mother; for young pea-liens are apt, with their 
first brood, to be over-excited, and to crush in the nest, or 
trample to death afterwords, or drag about heedlessly, their 
firstborn brood; and the more they are interfered with 
under such circumstances, the more awkward and injurious 
does their over-zeal and anxiety become. As medical men 
might possibly express such restlessness of disposition, they 
are apt to labour under a sort of puerperal fever, which it is 
difficult to cool down, and during the course of which the 
unfortunate chicks are in hourly danger of untimely death 
in various forms. The egg of the pea-fowl is somewhat 
bigger than that of the turkey, but of a convenient size for 
the incubation of the latter bird. 
The Rearing of Pea-Fowl. —The best way of rearing 
pea-chicks is to follow the instructions which Mr. Dixon has 
given for rearing little turkeys. Give them nothing at first; 
let them be in the nest under the shelter of their mother’s 
wings at least eight or ten hours; if hatched in the after¬ 
noon, until the next morning. Then place her on the grass 
in the sun under a roomy coop. The food should be crumbs 
of bread, with curd, chopped egg, boiled rice, or barley-meal, 
and soon afterwards chopped onions, leeks, lettuces, &c.; in 
short, exactly, as for turkey chicks. There should also be 
the same care to guard them from too much sunshine, and 
showers, and dangers of all kinds ; and in due time a free 
range over a lawn or field should be permitted ; the search 
for grubs, insects, seeds, &c., is an agreeable occupation 
both to the foster mother and the little ones, and conducive 
to their healthy growth. And if the stomach of the turkey 
chick, which is to grow so considerably in a few months, 
require abundant and frequent filling, that of the pea-fowl 
requires at least equal supplies of nourishing food. The 
poult is fit for table at nine, months old, and may be fattened 
like turkeys, and with any turkeys with which they have been 
familiar. They should not be confined alone for fatting, 
else they will pine away. We may add Mr. Dixon's receipt 
for cooking pea-fowls, which if not too old are of a delicate 
pheasant flavour :—“ They should be larded over the breast, 
covered with paper, roasted at a gentle fire, and served with 
bread sauce and brown gravy, exactly like partridges or 
pheasants.” 
Turkeys : Hatching. —The maternal sensibilities of the 
turkey are not acute. She never grieves for the loss of her 
brood, even if robbed of it at a very early stage, as a common 
hen or almost any other bird would, but begins to lay again 
after the shortest possible grief and a short interval of rest. 
She is undoubtedly a stupid bird in many respects, and 
seems to make no distinctions of regard for the chicks of 
any miscellaneous brood that she may have hatched—com¬ 
mon chickens mingled with turkey chicks and ducklings— 
though of different sorts and sizes, find equal favour in her 
sight. Two turkey hens have this season produced, in our 
neighbour’s poultry establishment, not medley broods, but 
two broods of turkey chicks. One of the mothers had fifteen 
little ones and the other six born at the same time. They 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
