April 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
29 
sowing would not answer well. Entire beds of these 
glowing annuals look splendid; in fact, they lose 
much of their beauty when sown in small patches; 
yet they may be put in wherever vacant spaces occur, 
for we can scarcely have too many. They grow richly 
sometimes in Cottage gardens, and give great bril¬ 
liancy to their sunny borders, where, indeed, most 
plants do well. I have often remarked how very 
luxuriantly both flowers and vegetables grow in the 
labourer’s ground; a cottage nosegay, a cottage rasp¬ 
berry bush, a cottage cabbage, always seem sweeter 
and finer than those in larger gardens, and I have 
invariably made and heard the remark, that gera¬ 
niums and other pot plants flourish better, and 
endure the winter more fearlessly, within the cottage 
lattice, than in the warm room and sheltered window 
of the lady amateur. Does it not seem as if the 
labours of the poor, as if their very pleasures, received 
a special blessing from Him who sanctified their 
humble state by choosing it as His own? And 
should not this thought make the cottage gardener not 
only contented with his lot, but deepfly, unspeakably 
thankful that he has “ where to lay his head,” and 
diligent to improve those means that God has given 
him to support his wife and family? How many 
hours are wasted at the “idle corner!” how many 
are guiltily spent at the beer-house! how many are 
as wickedly passed in wood stealing! which might 
be so usefully and happily employed in gardening, 
in cultivating the willing soil, and raising those 
wholesome roots and fruits that might feed him so 
abundantly in winter. If the cottager would consider 
these daily occupations as pi arts of his duty to God 
and man, his days would be longer, his sleep) sweeter, 
his character fairer, and his profits an hundredfold. 
China-asters when sown thickly must be thinned 
out when tlu’ee or four inches high, so that they may 
not crowd one another. The young plants should 
then be carefully placed elsewhere, and watered freely 
to prevent their drooping. It is a good plan to place 
a flower-pot over all youngplants, when first removed, 
till they are well rooted; they then seem scarcely to 
feel the change. 
The stock is an annual of great beauty and rich¬ 
ness, and may be sown now for autumn flowering. 
When carefully cultivated, they produce large and 
handsome flowers; and the double varieties then ap¬ 
pear like tall spikes of roses. The scent is very pier- 
fumy also. They may be increased by cuttings in 
May. Let each cutting retain a small portion of the 
bark of the stem; plant them in a shady border, water 
freely, and cover them with a hand-glass or flower-pot 
till they have struck firmly. The shoots chosen 
should be strong ones of the same year’s growth, and 
the leaves should be stripped off about half way up. 
The crimson, purple, white, and vanegated varieties, 
when in bloom, have a splendid effect, both in the 
gardens of the amateur and cottager, and cannot be 
too freely encouraged. There is a little tender plant 
called the night-stock, which is perfectly scentless 
during the day; but when the dew falls its fragrance 
is delicious. I do not know whether it belongs to the 
species, but, as the names correspond, 1 speak of it 
here. I believe it is difficult, if not impossible, to 
preserve this charming little flower through the 
winter without a greenhouse; yet if only one is pro¬ 
cured, and the pot sunk in the border nearest the 
sitting-room, as soon as the frosts are over, the odour 
in the evening hours is so extremely powerful that it 
will quite suffice for a garden of moderate size ; and 
it is surprising that such a volume of rich, aromatic 
scent should flow from the little dingy flower that we 
scarcely notice among the gay blossoms of the border- 
It is not always brilliant gifts or ready speech that 
mark true wisdom in the Christian “ garden.” The 
Spirit of grace is often unobserved or slighted till 
called forth into active exercise by Him who gave it, 
and the very seasons that cause other gifts to droop 
or disappear, draw forth its hidden fragrance. The 
chilly air of evening closes many flowers, and dark¬ 
ness hides them all; but the night-stock rejoices in 
the cool repose of nature, and adds her silent meed 
of praise to that of the glittering stars, 
“ For ever singing, as they shine, 
The Hand that made us is divine.” 
When our fragrant night-stock tempts us to the 
window or the garden in the calm and silent evening 
horn, let us not suffer inanimate nature to rejoice 
alone, but let our hearts send up to God their incense 
too, for blessings unfelt by all but man, and of which 
even he can never taste the fulness till the host of 
heaven shall “ fall down as the leaf falleth off from 
the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree.” 
Wherever we turn our eyes, when among our fruits 
and flowers, they repeat some sacred lesson for our 
hearts; for God has vouchsafed to use them con¬ 
tinually iu addressing the creatures of His Haud; 
and scriptural imagery is all drawn from the daily 
scenes around us. The cottager may be an unlearned 
and ignorant man in things belonging to this world; 
but he may, among his rising crops aud blossoming 
trees, gain knowledge, compared with which “ the 
wisdom of the world is foolishness.” 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Fousythia Vieidissima (Flora).— This is a new hardy plant 
from China ; it has yellow flowers, and most easily cultivated. Being 
new, give it a place against a wall or fence for a few years. 
Mismanaged Oleander (An Amateur). —This, which you sav 
was once a splendid plant, but now is without a blossom bud, and 
has been dosed with super-phosphate of lime until all its leaves fell 
off, is truly in a pitiable condition. Shake all the soil from the roots, 
and shorten the bare old ones, leaving only the small fibrous roots. 
Cut all its shoots likewise to the old wood, else it will never blossom 
after standing so long barren. Repot it in good loam mixed with 
one-third sand, and keep it in the warmest part of the house, but do 
not stand it in water this season. 
Tolies (Ibid).— These, like all other bulbs, make roots. Open 
the soil now round one, and you will see them in abundance. 
Soap-Suds (A Subscriber, Birkenhead). —You ask whether these 
are good for watering window-plants, and the same, as well as trees, 
in gardens; and we may reply as generally that they are good for 
all the plants you mention, but seeds are never watered with such 
stimulants. Give it to plants in the open garden once in ten days, 
and for fruit-trees and evergreens you need hardly reduce the strength 
of the suds, but, to be on the safe side, add one-half rain-water to 
them, and give this mixture more often. There are no seedling plants 
that will flower well in your window in summer by sowing them now, 
except hardy or half-hardy annuals, and they will do much better in 
the open border; but we shall consider and let you know. 
Pears (A Rector, Somersetshire). —You have sent us a list of pears 
from which you wish to increase your stock of trees, and we have 
consulted Mr. Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth Nurseries, on the subject, 
and he has selected the following, u'hich he says he knows to be 
excellent in good soils in the climate of the southern counties. “This,” 
observes Mr. Rivers, “ is of great importance, and, as an instance, 
Fortunec Parmentier will not ripen north of Trent, unless in a very 
warm soil and situation.” In the following list, the months name! 
are those in which the fruit is ripe. July, Doyenne d’ete. August, 
Benoist. Sept., Williams’Bon Chretien, Beurre d’Amanlis, Jalousie 
de Fontenay Vender. Oct., Duchess d’Orleans, Marie Louise, Fon- 
dante d’Automne. Nov., Beurre Bose, Thompson’s, Doyenne gris, 
Urbaniste. Dec., Ilacon’s Incomparable, Triomphe de Jodoigne. 
Jan., Beurre Langelier, Knight’s Monarch. Feb., Inconnue Van 
Mons, Susette de Bavay, Duchesse dc Mars. March, Beurre Bre- 
tonneau. April, Fortunee Parmentier, Bergamotte d’Esperen. 
Vine (H — XJ., Bristol). —The branch may be removed without any 
fear of the stump bleeding if you wait until the vine is in full leaf. 
When a tendril is once formed no fruit is afterwards produced on that 
tendril. Tendrils are abortive bunches. 
Dissolved Bones (H. F.). —No wonder you have destroyed your 
peas, cauliflowers, and sea-kale, since you say you gave the liquor to 
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