September 5.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
355 
hold double the number. If, however, you have plenty 
of room, they will undoubtedly be better singlo, though 
not very much so, as they are only put in these pots to 
keep them through the winter more conveniently. In 
taking up the layers he careful not to injure the roots or 
break oil' the part beyond the tongue or slit; we have 
seen frequently a finely rooted layer deprived of its roots 
entirely by lifting it up too high previously to cutting it 
off from the parent plant. The soil to pot the layers in 
need not be very rich. Light friable loam, mixed with 
one-sixth of very decayed leaf-mould or dung, with a due 
portion of sand added, will be suitable for them. 
Pinks.— if your bed is not ready for the pipings no 
time ought to be lost in preparing it; they ought to be 
planted in their blooming situation early in September. 
By planting early they get good hold of the soil before 
the severe frost sets in; while on the other band, if 
planted late, the frost is almost sure to throw them out 
of the ground, and thus frequently destroy them. 
T. Applejby. 
THE KITCHEN-GARIJEN. 
Angelica. —To obtain plants for planting out per¬ 
manently next spring, the present will be found a good 
season for sowing this vegetable. New seed should be 
chosen, the old seed of Angelica being very liable to fail 
in germinating. 
Glore Artichokes.— Those that have been some 
time in bearing, will at once require the old stalks 
and old leaves to be taken from them, which will en¬ 
courage the growth of the suckers; and in order to 
get these strong against winter they should also be 
thinned by taking away the spurious and weak ones, 
and leaving only a few of the strongest to each stool. 
By such management, and the addition of a simple 
methodical winter protection, a good foundation is laid 
for ensuring an abundant crop for the next season. The 
spring planted Artichokes, if previous directions have 
been attended to, are now in full bearing. To assist 
them in swelling out their heads handsome and large, 
good liquid manure should be liberally applied ; care 
should be taken in cutting the first head not to cut the 
stalk lower down than the first joint or leaf, as by due 
encouragement they will continue to produce heads 
from those joints; and although they will not he so large 
as the first or summit head, they may still bo obtained 
of a pretty and useful size. 
Routine Work ; Celery. —The earthing-up should be 
attended to, and another small planting made for late 
spring use; plant also early Cabbage, and encourage 
the growth of Coleworts by frequent surface stirrings. 
Early Horn Carrots may still be sown on dry healthy 
soil in sheltered situations, or in temporary made pits, 
where they are likely to get some kind of winter 
protection. Cardoons should still be encouraged by 
liquid manure, and the forwardest by applications of 
earth when the weather is dry. Sow Corn Salad, 
American and Normandy Cress, and replant a portion 
of the Watercress bed. Attend to the planting and 
pricking-out of Endive and Lettuce. If Onions are not 
already sown for spring planting, this may still with 
safety be done. Those who esteem the very large 
Onion should sow the Tripoli, White Spanish and 
Deptford varieties. 
Potatoes. —All that are ripe should be taken up in 
dry weather and stored in dry situations. Those who 
have at command any dry dust, charred earth, or 
charred saw or wood dust, or charred old tan, will find 
such materials excellent for storing this useful tuber. 
A portion of the best curled Parsley should be potted 
for the every day’s supply when we have snow and frost, 
and the short days of winter. Thin out in due season 
the winter crop of Spinach; keeping it at all times 
clear from dead leaves and weeds. Vermin will not be 
troublesome if previous directions are fully carried out 
with regard to the regular performance of surface-stirring. 
James Rarnes. 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
WHAT IS A GARDEN ? 
By the Authoress of “ My Flowers,” die., Ac. 
(Concluded from page 31!).y 
Then our minds wander to gardens of another kind— 
the Botanical Gardens, which are to be found in the neigh¬ 
bourhood ot London, Paris, and many other large cities. 
No doubt they greatly aid the cause of knowledge in most 
places ; but to our minds there is something very dull and 
uninteresting in seeing long rows and borders of shrubs and 
plants labelled like drugs in a chemist’s shop, with all kinds 
ol unpronounceable names; but we are not botanists. 
Near these, again, in the suburbs of large cities, are found 
such gardens as those of Vauxhall and ltanelagh, where lew 
seeds are found and matured but those of vice, the better 
seed being taken elsewhere. Then we may advert to those 
other appendages of well-peopled cities—the Zoological 
Gardens. As gardens they sometimes verge on the line of 
beauty (as at Paris) without attaining it; hut as places of 
intellectual amusement and instruction, they are highly 
commendable, and useful both to rich and poor,—to the old 
and young. 
The gardens, like the mansions of the middling classes 
in easy circumstances, are perhaps, after all, the most to he 
J admired in this country, where art, science, a reasonable 
command of money and time, lend their aid to nature, and 
j make the teeming earth develop those supplies of beauty, 
lruit, and flowers, which in less favourable circumstances 
are not to bo expected. How truly enviable are the gardens 
and conservatories of the wealthy in the neighbourhood of 
London, and of most large towns ! Gowper says,— 
“ Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too ! ” 
A garden of one acre is usually considered to lie of the fairest 
proportions, for all purposes of practical utility and family 
economy. Descending iri the “ sliding scale ” of horticul¬ 
ture, wo cannot help noticing the endless variety of little 
gardens attached to great houses, or of great gardens attached 
to small houses, where a small show of evergreens and a few 
borders of flowers form the whole product to delight the 
eyes and nose, but without any provision for the mouth. 
It is too much the custom to ridicule those little quad¬ 
rangular spots of cultivated ground in front of the endless 
rows of houses in the approaches to London and most oilier 
cities, where we find three or four square yards of earth 
covered or intersected with bright gravel, white pavement, 
and brown grass, with rows of box, and a few dingy roots 
and shrubs, endeavouring to extricate themselves from the 
tight embrace, forming what is pleasantly cidlcd the “ front 
garden;" but we hail with fulness of respect this tribute to 
the God of nature, as being the only approach to the living 
vegetable world, which stern necessity allows to many sons 
