28 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 
these are borne on’slender twigs, you may cutoff 
such twigs to within two or three inches of the prin¬ 
cipal branches, also any dead leaves or shoots. When 
this annual pruning takes place early in the summer, 
the strong side branches and all tops are cut in more 
or less, and the whole plant re-arranged with stakes, 
and neat tying, so as to form a regular head; the 
branches being opened out a little, to allow a free 
ventilation among the foliage, also that the light may 
reach all parts of the plant, and prevent the decay of 
leaves and twigs in the centre. But, in all this han¬ 
dling, recollect the name means brittle, and the 
branches will not endui’e pulling about much. Au¬ 
tumn-flowering heaths are dressed in spring, and 
only the dead flowers and leaves are to be cut out 
after the end of July, for much stopping, or nipping, 
after that time would only encourage the growth of 
more young wood than could be ripened. With the 
usual routine of watering, weeding the pots, turning 
the plants round from time to time, tying up strag¬ 
gling shoots, and guarding against heavy winds, we 
shall suppose it now the middle of September. It is 
always dangerous to leave them out after tliis time, 
but they should not be put into a greenhouse so 
early if a pit is at hand. We often have fine weather 
after the first Rost which cuts up the dahlias, and 
the glass may then be drawn off the heaths all day 
long, and abundance of air left on at night, thus, in 
effect, lengthening out to them the summer season. 
November and December are the trying months 
for heaths. Those in a greenhouse must have a little 
fire heat occasionally, to expel damp; but there must 
be air admitted to the house whilst the fire is going; 
and in frosty weather, all the heat that they require 
is just to keep the frost out. Some gardeners do not 
mind if a few degrees of frost get at their heaths, but 
any heath that has its flower-buds formed for next 
season will run a hard risk of having them killed, al¬ 
though the plant itself may not sustain much injury. 
Indeed, I have seen Cape heaths, as tall as a man 
and bushy as a juniper, stand in open ground in the 
Edinburgh Botanical Garden, with six inches of 
snow and a smart frost upon them, without being in 
the least injured; yet I never can bring myself to 
permit frost in a heathery. 
For young heaths, a good dry turf pit is a far better 
place than a greenhouse in winter, and with a power¬ 
ful covering you may keep out any frost likely to 
happen in England. From October to February 
very little water will do for heaths: I have had them 
a month without a single drop. It is a good plan, 
when they do want water, to fix on a line day, and 
take them all out of the pit, and water each pot ac¬ 
cording to its need. Scrape off the surface of the 
coal-ashes on which they stood, and add some dry 
ashes; clean the glass, rafters, and sides of the pit, 
and when all is dry again, and the pots well drained, 
return them to the pit. This would be of immense 
use to them three or four times during the winter; 
but we shall have time enough to talk of that, and of 
their spring management, and of that which is the 
greatest experiment of all—your first attempt at pot¬ 
ting them. " D. Beaton. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Scccessional Crops. —Hoe and earth up cauli¬ 
flowers, applying manure water liberally to the 
earliest and strongest, and plant out successional 
small crops of them. Prick out also from the seed 
bed, and sow occasionally, a pinch of cabbage, lettuce, 
and spinach seed, as well as of the small early varie¬ 
ties of turnip, for successional crops. 
Lettuce —This vegetable succeeds best, from this 
time until August, if it is not transplanted. Our 
practice is to sow thinly in drills, and to thin out the 
plants to the desired distance, by which means we 
succeed in obtaining fine lettuce all through the 
heat of summer, and they are not so inclined to start 
for seed as those that are transplanted from the seed 
bed. A few successional crops of brocoli and cauli¬ 
flowers may also be grown in the same way very 
advantageously throughout the summer months. Sow 
them thinly in drills on well prepared ground, and 
thin out at the proper time to the distance desired. 
Spring-sown Crops. — Carrots, onions, parsnips, 
parsley, and other spring-sown crops, now up in drills, 
should first have the surface of the earth loosened on 
some fine day, by drawing the rake carefully the 
cross way of the drills, and this should be followed 
up soon afterwards by shallow surface hoeing, which, 
as the plants advance and gain strength, must be 
increased to a greater depth. 
Scarlet Runners. —It will be found a very ad¬ 
vantageous plan to place such as have been sown for 
transplanting in shallow trenches, which not only 
protect them from cold cutting winds, but is conve¬ 
nient for any temporary covering that may be re¬ 
quired at night, as well as for watering dining the 
dry season. Dwarf kidney beans, which are also 
tender plants and easily injured by cutting winds, 
may be treated advantageously in the same way. 
Routine Work. —Trench up, without delay, all 
spare plots of ground where borecole, early colewort, 
and brocoli were grown, trenching in all refuse that 
is not fit for the cow, pig, or poultry. The cucumber 
ridge should be formed, and into this any old hard 
stumps, or other similar refuse, may be advan¬ 
tageously placed to decay, if not needed for charring 
purposes. Sow in succession, for salads, mustard and 
cress, turnip and short-topped salmon radishes, as well 
as lettuce; and if the last crop of red beet is not already 
sown, the present is a good season for sowing it. 
Moderate fermenting beds may also now be made for 
successional melons and cucumbers, and the linings 
aroimd those where the fruit is beginning to swell 
off should be attended to by adding fresh dimg. 
Admit air freely. Take care to place the fruit in¬ 
tended to be saved on a piece of slate, glass, or any¬ 
thing of that kind, to keep them clean and help them 
to swell off evenly. Melons are never so liable to 
crack if the blossom end of the fruit is pointed 
towards the north. James Barnes. 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
MY FLOWERS. 
(No. 25.) 
During this soft and genial month, the tenderer 
sort of annuals may be sown in the open borders. 
They will not do well in cold situations, so that it is 
better to avoid disappointment by not attempting to 
raise them, for I know, by frequent experience, how 
disheartening it is to see our little charges dwindling 
and drooping round us. The most beautiful annual 
is certainly the China-aster. Its richness and variety 
of colour, the showiness of its form, and its autumnal 
bloom, make it very desirable in every garden ; and 
even in mine, when self-sown, it has succeeded tole¬ 
rably well; but spring-sowing has never produced 
fine flowers, and I should recommend ladies, whose 
gardens are chilly and late, to try whether autumn- 
