THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
401 
I September 2G.] 
any north-country friend to whom I can apply for correct 
information. I shall feel deeply indebted to any reader of 
j The Cottage Gardener who is able to give me the name 
and proportions of this excellent bread, who would kindly do 
so through the Editor. The name I have so often heard 
, my father use, I have now but an imperfect recollection of; 
it was like Massegeon, or Massclyeon, bread.* 
Where means are small, and little mouths are many, a 
cheap and good loaf is indeed a blessing; and I shall be 
thankful if any hints I have gathered may prove of use to 
the higher poor , who are so interesting in their trials and 
| struggles. Yet the cheapest loaf, the closest economy, the 
watchful eye, and the skilful hand, will all produce nothing 
but restlessness, anxiety, and fatigue, without the “fixed 
heart,” and the “ mind ” that “ is stayed ” on God. The 
bread “ which endureth ” must he fed upon, to enable that 
“ which perisheth ” to refresh and sustain us. “ Oh, that ” 
we “were wise, that” we “ understood this, that” we “would 
consider our latter end!” 
MY FARM-YARD. 
The season of the year has now arrived when those who 
wish to begin Tig Keeping, or those who are about to in¬ 
crease their stock, should look about them, count over their 
little store, and see what they can spare for replenishing 
their “ piggery.” The age at which I should recommend 
the cottager to purchase his pig is from three to four months 
old. The gardens are now full of refuse vegetables. The 
commons will supply you with fern, which must be dried and 
ricked for fitter during the ensuing winter. The gleaners 
have left the fields, and in many places, by paying a trifle, 
your pig can get a run amongst the wheat stubble, which 
will materially assist the process of fattening, by laying a 
good foundation before commencing the “stall-feeding.” 
Acorns and beech nuts will soon be falling from their lofty 
abodes, and by employing your children to pick them up, 
or by driving your pigs amongst them, you will soon see how 
much they improve in appearance under such judicious 
treatment. Thus, you see, all nature points out that some¬ 
thing should be kept to eat the refuse of the gardens, the 
fields, and the woods. Notlung can be so useful, so profit¬ 
able, as a pig ; it is the “ household god ” of the poor man. 
It saves him and his family from many a heart-ache. It 
pays the rent; you need not, if you own a pig, dread the 
approach of Lady-day and Michaelmas, or Christmas and 
Midsummer, as the case may be. No ! you may come 
forward with a bold heart to meet your landlord, the money 
in your hand, and, may be, even a welcome on your lips. 
It also gives a new winter gown to the wife, and a pair of 
new hoots to the master. It provides several delicacies for 
the supper-table, and it has frequently been known to act as a 
charm, in preventing its owner from frequenting the ale¬ 
house. What more can I say for it ? Surely such an animal 
must be a treasure, and should be found belonging to every 
cottage, however humble. 
Farmers have always a drove of pigs ready to turn into 
their stubble directly their wheat is carried ; of course this 
is as it should be, but I am sorry to say, in some parishes 
they forbid the poor from gleaning, in order to secure a larger 
amount of food for their swine. They cannot surely have 
read the beautiful history of “ Ruth,” or they could not grudge 
their poorer neighbours that privilege, which has been given 
! them from tune immemorial : “ He that hath pity on the 
poor lendeth to the Lord.” 
Farmers, also, who live near large woods, should make a 
point of having a drove of swine by the time the acorns are 
ripe; they can bcfattedsuffieientlyformarketbysendingthem 
into those woods which abound in acorns, and on their return 
to the sty giving them skim milk. Pork thus fatted is very good; 
it makes particularly good bacon, having a peculiar “ nutty ” 
flavour, and is highly prized by epicures. I suspect in a few 
years, farmers who now look upon swine as secondary stock 
will, by finding the profits arising from them so great, place 
I them amongst the first occupants of the farm-yard. The 
manure from the pigsty is of great value, particularly for 
turnips. I saw the other day in an essay, written by one who 
* Maslin, or Maseelin, bread made of wheat and rye flour, is that 
referred to by “ My Flowers.”— Ed. C. G. 
well knew the value of pigs, that an acre of Swedes can be 
brought to the highest state of cultivation by the refuse from 
three pigstys. To those who grow turnips on a small scale, 
in a garden, I should recommend the following method of 
applying it:—Mix the manure thoroughly with ashes; dig 
the ground well, mark out the ridges deeply, and in them 
place the manure; over this sow the seeds, and you may 
anticipate a first-rate crop. 
Geese are also very profitable if bought about this time, 
and fatted on the stubble. In fact, poultry of all sorts should 
be at hand, to pick up the corn that has been spilt during the 
reaping and carting. You will find that if when turned into 
the field they are quite poor and thin, they will shortly be- | 
come fit for the table, merely from picking up what would j 
otherwise have been wasted. These little points may appear 
trifling, yet if they add to the comfort of home they should j 
notbe neglected; besides “ a penny saved is a penny gained;” 
and in these hard times farmers are glad enough to save their 
pennies—“Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take 
care of themselves.” A Friend. 
NATIVE WILD FLOWERS. 
September. 
(Continued from page 387.) 
To return to the favourite wild flowers, which are not so 
prejudicial to the cultivator as those we have enumerated as 
tile-drain intruders, we have first to notice the marine plant 
known under the name of Michaelmas daisy, or blue chamo¬ 
mile, but designated by botanists Aster tripolium, although 
its apparent, resemblance to those showy China asters so 
well known in the gardens is very slight. It is, however, a 
showy plant, and highly beautiful when growing in great pro¬ 
fusion, as we have often seen it on the fiat turfy beaches of 
quiet bays, associated with the sea plantain and the Satiec 
armcria or common thrift. 
The wild teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris ) may still be found in 
flower in the places which it inhabits. The fuller's teasel, 
as it is termed, is a very nearly allied plant, the flower-heads 
of which, furnished with numerous “ hooked scales,” are 
used for the dressing of cloth. Hooker and Amott, in the 
new edition of the “ British Flora,” express an opinion that 
D.fullonium is but a variety of D. sylvestris, mentioning that 
“ the hooks become obsolete by long cultivation on a poor 
soil.” The Devil’s-bit scabious (Scabiosa succisa) is also still 
in flower, and is remarkable for the peculiar appearance 
which its root presents of being cut or bitten oft abruptly. 
This pram or so root gave ground for the belief, in early 
times, that the devil’s teeth were the instruments employed 
in the shortening of the root, the reason assigned being his 
satanic majesty’s “ envie because it had so many excellent 
vertues,” and, “ unhappily,” as a learned botanist remarks, 
“ this malice has been found so successful, that no virtues 
can be now found in the remainder of the root or herb. Ihis 
is the first instance on record of the exercise of the now 
fashionable operation of root-pruning; but now-a-days, 
being applied by hands more skilful than the teeth of its 
inventor, the results are more beneficial and satislactory. 
Let us conclude our scanty autumn wreath with a brief 
quotation from our late lamented laureate :— 
“ Summer ebbs—each day that follows 
Is a reflex from on high, 
Tending to the darksome hollows, 
Where the frosts of winter lie. 
He who governs the creation, 
In his. providence assign’d, 
Such a gradual declination 
To the life of human kind. 
Yet we mark it not;—fruits redden, 
Fresh flowers blow as flowers have blown, 
And the heart is loath to deaden 
Hopes that she so long hath known.” 
G. Lawson, F.B.S., Edinburgh. 
