April 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
5 
with a gentleman from Worthing, the other clay, 
about figs, when he assured us that about that neigh¬ 
bourhood they seldom thought of planting the fig 
against a wall. He named chalky loams as being 
well adapted for their culture; and seemed quite 
astonished at the complaints of bad ripening in the 
northern counties, even against a wall; such is, 
nevertheless, the case in indifferent seasons. 
Pruning .—The fig should be pruned forthwith, if 
not already done. It is merely necessary to remove 
those points which are extending above the wall, 
and to thin out the shoots nailed down in the pre¬ 
ceding summer; prefering all young shoots of a 
short-jointed character, and removing all succulent 
ones. At this period the fruit-bearing shoots can be 
readily distinguished. The main shoots should be 
laid in at nearly a foot apart; and it is good practice 
to tie down short-jointed fruitful-looking spurs on the 
main leaders. R. Errtngton. 
THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
Laying out Cottager's Flower-gardens. —If the 
plot of ground apportioned to a cottage be small, we 
would advise our friends not to attempt to cultivate 
fruit or vegetables on such a small scale. What 
such a bit of ground will produce is really not worth 
a consideration. It is a pity to sacrifice it for the 
sake of, perhaps, a few inferior cabbages, or a small 
bed of onions or carrots. A shilling or two would 
purchase twice as much in vegetables of excellent 
quality. How much more interesting and pleasant 
would such a little garden look if entirely devoted to 
the culture of flowers; and, if the cottager could ma¬ 
nage to have a hive or two of bees, the flowers would 
then be profitable, also, as well as charming. Even if 
he could not raise the means to procure a hive of bees, 
he might dispose of part of his flowers to repay him 
for his trouble, and help to buy better roots and 
seeds from time to time, till bis garden was furnished 
with really good flowers. This would open another 
source of profit, as lie might then divide the good 
kinds of perennial flower-roots, and dispose of the 
duplicates, or extra plants, to his less fortunate neigh¬ 
bours. Seeds of annuals and biennials may also be 
saved, and disposed of in the same way. We state 
all this, to incline you to cultivate flowers, inde¬ 
pendently of the moral benefit and love of them, of 
which we trust you are not insensible. The following 
is the way in which you ought to lay out your plot 
of ground, supposing that it is so small as not to be 
worth while attempting to grow vegetables or fruits. 
If the plot is of an oblong shape, form an oval bed 
in the centre, and a circular bed at each end; edge 
them with box, or thrift, or daisies, or, if your soil is 
sandy, the common heath makes a pretty edging, 
and will bear clipping. We have seen, also, the 
dwarf blue gentian used for this purpose, with beau¬ 
tiful effect. When you have finished edging the 
beds, then measure off a space from the beds for 
walks. These should bo at such a distance from 
each other, that the space where they come near 
'each ought to be the proper width of the walk 
Eighteen inches for the walks among the beds will 
be sufficient for your purpose, as it will not be wise 
to waste more ground than is absolutely necessary 
The remainder of the ground should be edged also, 
and will form a neat irregular border, in which you 
may plant the larger kinds of flowers, such as dahlias, 
and any evergreen or flowering shrub you may 
obtain, more especially roses. The oval bed will 
grow roses also. If you can obtain a sufficient 
number of this queen of flowers, fill this bed entirely 
with them—you cannot have too many of them. If 
you are not able to purchase them in quantity, 
you may soon obtain a considerable collection by 
raising them from cuttings, from layers, or by bud¬ 
ding on the common brier. These briers you may 
easily procure from some rough hedge-row or coppice 
in your neighbourhood. No right-feeling farmer or 
landlord would prevent you getting them in such 
situations. Instructions for the several operations 
of propagating the rose, we have given in various 
parts of this periodical, and to them we direct your 
attention. The circular beds might be planted with 
such florists’ flowers as you may possess, such as 
pansies, pinks, verbenas, tulips, &c. If you have no 
such tilings, plant them with the best kinds of peren¬ 
nials. Of course this method of laying out your gar¬ 
den may not exactly suit every case. Some plots 
may be so small as to allow only of one bed in the 
centre. In that case, fill the borders with such 
plants as we mentioned, and the bed with your choice 
ones, intermixed with roses. Should your garden be 
so large as to allow you to cultivate vegetables, by 
all means make the most of it for that purpose, but 
do not forget to set apart a portion of it for our 
favourites; and do not be niggardly of the space 
for them. 
All that we have said in praise of the art of culti¬ 
vating flowers, applies equally to you who have 
space for the more immediately useful fruits and 
vegetables. Devote, then, a pretty large space to 
grow flowers, and lay it out as follows:—In the 
first place, let the situation of the flower-garden be 
near to your cottage. The walk leading to the door 
should be up the centre : it ought to be at least four 
feet wide. Let the beds for your flowers be on each 
side of this walk. One side may be a mixed flower- 
border, containing a row of shrubs, of as great a 
variety as you can procure. In front of those shrubs 
you should plant, here and there, standard roses, 
mixed with hollyhocks; and in front of them, tall- 
growing perennials, with medium-sized roses; and 
finally, plant near the edging with low-growing flow¬ 
ers. Let this border be edged with some one or 
other of the plants mentioned above as proper for 
that purpose. Having finished that side of your 
flower-garden, in the next place turn your attention 
to the other side. You may lay it out in the manner 
described above for a small plot of flower-beds, 
namely, with an oval in the centre, and two circles 
at each end, with borders all round them; using the 
beds for choice flowers as there mentioned. Or you 
might lay it out in beds, four feet wide, w r ith straight 
narrow walks between each ; all the beds to be edged 
with something. Beds laid out in this form will be 
very convenient to stock with one kind of flower in 
each — pinks, stocks, double wall-flowers, double 
sweet-williams, carnations, pansies, or even tulips, 
ranunculuses, and anemones. This may seem a 
large list for a cottage garden, and we do not suppose 
you will be able to procure them all at once; but 
your beds may be furnished in a very agreeable and 
pleasing ’manner with annuals, until you can fill 
them with better things. Seeds for them will only 
cost a few pence: a bed of dwarf rocket, larkspur, 
another of Eschsdioltzia californica—the first (a hard 
name to pronounce) is sounded cskoltsia, but of 
the second you will have heard pretty frequently 
lately. This annual was found in California, by 
Mr. Douglas; and has been not unaptly called “ the 
Golden Cup flower; ” so you may have golden gob¬ 
lets from that country without risking your life in 
