88 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 
Gladioli.— These will now be pushing up strong 
ribbed leaves; and they require abundance of water, 
and as much air as can be let in. When it is a dry 
summer, their leaves are subject to the ravages of 
the red spider; but these are easily kept down with 
soap-water, as Mr. Appleby says (page 67); and the 
leaves of gladioli are the easiest to clean, as you have 
nothing to do but dip a soft rag or sponge in plain 
or soap-water, and, beginning at tlie bottom, rub 
them closely between the palm of your left hand and 
the wet sponge. This will invigorate any leaf, and 
particularly these sword-shaped leaves, and keep 
them free from various kinds of insects if persevered 
in regularly, or systematically, as we say. Without 
a system, gardening is little better than a lottery. 
Cinerarias. —If seeds of these are sown this week, 
or, at the farthest, before the middle of next week, 
and the young plants well nursed, and got into 
three-inch pots before the end of July, they will 
come into flower late in the autumn, and so go on 
through the winter. One thing is absolutely neces¬ 
sary, in order to bloom them so early from this 
sowing, and that is that they be not shifted into 
fresh pots till the central stem is seen rising out of 
the three-inch pot; and then you may put them in 
five-inch pots, in a rich compost, supplying them 
with liquid manure occasionally. 
Chrysanthemums. —Cuttings, or divided slips, of 
these, as soon as they are well rooted, may now be 
planted out of doors in a rich piece of ground; and as 
soon as they begin to grow freely, the tops to be 
pinched off, in order to get the plants well furnished 
with blooming shoots from the bottom. This is an 
easier way to get fine bushy plants of them than grow¬ 
ing them all the summer in pots; but they should be 
taken up early in the autumn and potted before they 
get too strong, and their removal would be safer if done 
in dull or rainy weather. It is not at all too late now 
to put in cuttings of them, and they will strike or make 
roots without the aid of glasses, if they are merely 
put into some light compost in a shady place, and 
not planted too thick, nor made longer than four 
inches. Let them have four inches between them 
each way. When they are rooted, and begin to grow 
freely, the very tops ought to be pinched out, and 
then the bottom eyes, to the number of four or five, 
will soon make as many shoots, so that by this plan 
you can have a nice plant at once from the cutting 
bed. When these new shoots are just one inch long 
is the proper time to remove them. A garden trowel 
is the best thing to transplant them with, as you can 
take up some of the soil along with the roots, so that 
they will hardly know that they were removed, parti¬ 
cularly if you give them a good watering as soon as 
they are fresh planted; and by the time they are 
six inches high you may stop all the centre shoots, or 
those that appear the strongest. Such shoots as are 
weak may be left as they are, and the force of growth 
at that season will soon make them of equal strength 
with those that were stopped. Thus a handsome 
bushy plant may be formed easily, and more so if the 
outer branches are trained or tied out to sticks, so 
that the sun and air may reach the middle ones, and 
all secondary or small side branches be rubbed off as 
fast as they appear. Another way I have seen in 
practice, but not in print, is well worth trying, and 
this is about the right time to begin it. Plant two or 
three strong cuttings in a very small pot, say a three- 
inch pot, and place them either under a hand-glass 
or in some close shaded place. When they are rooted, 
choose one of the best, or strongest, and discard the 
rest; retain it in the small pot till it is live or six inches 
high, then pinch out the point and give it abundance 
of weak liquid manure. This will cause it to make 
three or four side shoots, and if it makes more rub 
them off. As soon as these side shoots are fairly in 
growth, pot the plant into the next largest sized pot, 
using very rich compost, and nothing but liquid 
manure to water with throughout the season, and the 
plant or plants to receive only one more potting; 
that is, three pots in all. Dwarf plants are thus 
formed, the flowers of which are very superior to 
those reared by any other mode of growing the plants. 
When these plants are intended for exhibition, all 
the backward flower-buds are cut out with a scissors, 
and only a moderate portion left, and such as may 
be expected by their size to open at the same time. 
As we of The Cottage Gardener are a kind of 
happy family among ourselves, who can talk over 
these little matters just as private families do when 
the curtains arc drawn, and they sit round the cheerful 
fire, with their feet on the fender, let me hear how 
many of our younger branches will carry off the best 
prizes next autumn with their pot chrysanthemums 
thus reared. But any of us who may enter the lists 
in competition with others not of our circle, should 
maintain that kindly disposition for which we are 
already much noticed; for, assuredly, competition 
even in flowers is a sad tempter against the best 
feelings of out nature; for I have seen as much of it, 
and of its effects, as most gardeners of my day; and 
the best of us are but poor humanity, after all. 
D. Beaton. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
We have now fully entered upon one of the most 
interesting periods of the year, and vegetation is 
making rapid progress in all directions, although tlie 
present month has certainly been remarkable for its 
sudden atmospheric changes from heat to cold. A few 
days of excessive heat, with thunder and hail, were suc¬ 
ceeded by others with cold winds and cutting frosts at 
night; thick fogs, also, and heavy dews have prevailed; 
and, although the effects of such changes are clearly 
visible, yet we still find there is a general prospect 
that the earth will yield an abundant return to 
reward the skill and persevering industry of man. 
Hoeing and thorough surface stirring must be well 
and regularly attended to amongst all growing crops; 
and all blanks, or failures of seedlings, or planted-out 
plants, filled up, as every foot of soil that is suffered 
to remain vacant is, of course, a loss to the cultivator: 
reducing his profits, and thus increasing the rent of 
the ground, every portion of which should be fully 
occupied with growing crops. 
Peas and Beans should now be topped; the latter, 
if affected with the black aphis or dolphin (Aphis 
fabce,) should have a washing with soapsuds. One 
or two good applications will effectually destroy these 
obnoxious pests, and the soil will also be greatly 
benefitted by the operation. 
Carrots. —The last week in May or the first week 
in June is a good time for sowing a crop of this vege 
table, for the supply of the table with nice young 
carrots during the autumn months. 
Turnips should be sown in succession, and, by all 
means, drilled. As soon as they are up, the Dutch 
hoe can be passed between the drills, and a short¬ 
toothed rake across them. A few dry wood ashes or 
charcoal dust will be found very beneficial to strew 
over such crops as may be affected by the fly. This 
application will also encourage the growth of the 
