April 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
9 
recent conversation with a bigot of the common i 
school, of some twenty years’ practice. On asking him ! 
how he pruned his ivy, he replied, “ I always clip 
itand although a well-trained screen was at hand, 
upon which I exemplified, he walked doggedly away, 
with too obvious an intention of pursuing his own 
plan, than which nothing can he worse. For, if 
clipped sufficiently close, it must, from the time of 
its being done, denude the wall or fence of all its 
beautiful green leaves, until fresh ones grow ; and if 
so clipped in the autumn, leave the whole in an un¬ 
sightly bare state throughout the winter; whereas, by 
my plan, no such result is the consequence, and all 
protruding snaggs are prevented. In November, 
I proceed thus:—with my left hand I take firm 
hold of every summer shoot, however small, or 
however long and dangling, and boldly drawing it 
• out to its utmost stretch, until it comes to the 
shoot from which it stalled; I then, with my pruning- 
knife in my right hand, and with a cut from me, 
take it off close to the stem from which it started; 
and by carefully going over the whole with this 
process, I have the satisfaction of seeing my ivy 
looking beautifully green throughout the winter, from 
the summer leaves being undisturbed. A friend’s 
parsonage (one of your patrons) is covered with Irish 
Ivy, and all the year round looks green and snug, 
from being treated this way, without any straggling 
branches or obtrusive masses protruding from the 
walls.—Q. 
Zinc Labels. — I have long found these best in 
every respect, whether for pots or the border. I get 
a thin sheet of that metal; paint it over with dead 
white paint; with a strong pair of old scissors cut 
them out the requisite shape and size, and write the 
name of the plant boldly, with a black-lead pencil. 
A single coat o£ paint, when necessary, makes them 
as good as new.—Q. 
SCRAPS. 
The Irish Spade.— C. Beamish, Esq., of De'lacour 
Yilla, Cork, writes as follows upon the culture of the 
soil by spade-labour, and tliere is much of sound 
sense in his warnings, as well as in his suggestions. 
“ About seven years ago I commenced the practical 
operations of a working farmer, filled with exalted 
notions of the perfection to which the arts and 
sciences had improved the implements of agriculture, 
and with easy chair, comfortable fire-side ideas of 
contempt for the common spade of my country. At¬ 
tending the National Cattle Shows annually, I pur¬ 
chased without hesitation every thing which appeared 
to promise any increased facilities for the economy 
of labour, or the better preparation of the food for 
the stock. The result of seven years’ apprenticeship 
to the employment of such implements have in¬ 
duced me to change several of my preconceptions in 
their efficiency. Two of “Richmond’s” turnip-cut¬ 
ters, which cost me together £7 4s, are only used 
this winter for the stall-fed sheep ; the turnips for 
the cattle being merely divided by a small hatchet 
when very large, as they are thrown to the animals, 
and only two cases of choking have occurred amongst 
12!) head of cattle of all ages, so fed, and including 
some of the fattest beef that could be found in the 
county. An excellent turn-wrist subsoil plough, 
which cost £5, is altogether unemployed; the work 
being done much better by the old Irish spade and 
crow-bar, to a depth of from .18 to 20 inches, as fol¬ 
lows, viz.:—“ 1st—When the subsoil is not too solid 
for a spade, a band of four spadesmen, one man with 
a shovel, and one boy. 
“ Let four men mark on their spade handles a length 
of four feet; let them dig along the western fence of 
a field a strip four feet wide, and let them throw the 
surface soil in a long heap westwards, or put it into 
a cart to be drawn at once to the eastern side of the 
field. Let two of the men then commence digging 
the subsoil of this strip, with the boy watching them 
to pick up the stones and throw' them far out to the 
eastwards, to be carted away, for drainage or other 
purposes. The other two spadesmen then measure 
off four other feet from the first digging, and throw 
the surface soil over the strip of subsoil as fast as it 
is dug, the man with the shovel following them to 
finish off their work, and turn the grassy side of the 
lumps of earth downwards. 
“ 2nd—When the subsoil is too hard for the spade, 
a band of two spadesmen, three men with crow-bars, 
and one boy. 
“ Let the blacksmith make three crow-bars, with 
good If-inch round iron, six feet long, double-pointed 
and steeled, and with a light ring welded at 18 inches 
from each of the points. Let the surface soil be re¬ 
moved, as before mentioned, Jive feet wide along the 
western fence, then let the three men with the crow¬ 
bars strike them together into the subsoil to the depth 
indicated by the ring, and with one united effort 
root up and loosen the subsoil; the two spadesmen 
throwing over it the surface soil of the next strip of 
Jive' feet wide, and the boy throwing out the stones, 
as before mentioned. 
“ Two men putting down their long-handled, nar- 
row-bladed Irish spades, one beside the other, have 
far more power of penetrating through the stones into 
the soil than by any other method of using the broad- 
bladed, sliort-bandled English implement, which 
requires the labourer to stoop too much, and is far 
more difficult to be driven through the increased 
impediments which its extraordinary breath must 
encounter in its passage through the earth. In like 
manner, the great length of the crow-bar admits of 
the workman standing perfectly erect, and of driving 
down the point with the utmost force, and with the 
least possible fatigue; wliile the long arm of the 
lever gives great power in forcing the sunk end up¬ 
wards, through the tenacity of the hitherto im¬ 
penetrated mass. When men have to continue 
the entire day at severe labour, the more erect they 
can keep their bodies, the more easily will they sus¬ 
tain a continuance of their toil, and on this account 
the English have adopted a method of bending their 
scythe handles, which prevents their stooping; and 
though such a form is a little awkward at first to 
those who have learned to mow with the old straight 
handle, after a few days it has been always acknow¬ 
ledged by my workmen to be a means of greatly 
relieving the labour of the scythe. Lest it may be 
inferred from these observations that I condemn the 
use of the English spade altogether in agricultural 
operations, I beg to add that it is far superior to the 
Iri sh implement for marking out drains, and for cut¬ 
ting the surface sods in making the water channels 
for purposes of irrigation; and therefore no farming 
establishment should be without one of them (rounded 
at the corners of the blade,) amongst the draining 
implements .—Cork Constitution. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Wa+eR for Gold Fish [A Subscriber from the commencement)! 
—After the recent experiments of Mr. Osborne, upon water kept in 
lead vessels at Southampton, we have a greater certainty than ever 
that it very readily becomes impregnated with the oxide of this metal, 
and is rendered poisonous by being so stored even for a short time. We 
should not use such water, nor, indeed, rain water at all, for our fish. 
Spring or river water is the best for such purpose, because containing 
more air and matters on which the fish feed. 
