102 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 
watchful eye must he kept on the depredations of 
insects of all kinds, especially the common slug. The 
damage done by these nightly depredators is enor¬ 
mous. It would not he too much, we think, to 
affirm that one-eighth of the produce of allotment 
or cottage gardens is annually wasted hy the common 
slug; and he should, therefore, he regarded as a 
national enemy, and no pains considered too great 
to prevent his ravages. Indeed, we should aim at 
nothing short of extermination; and were a regular 
system of liming carried on (with judgment in its 
application) for a couple of years, we are persuaded 
that the trouble would he amply repaid. The com¬ 
mon slug is a great pest to the young carrot above 
all the garden crops; and, as this useful vegetable 
has acquired double the amount of importance it 
formerly possessed, through the precarious position 
of the potato, every pains should be taken to secure 
a good stock for the winter. As before observed, 
lime fresh slaked is a powerful agent, both to hold 
the slugs in check, and to destroy them if fairly 
brought in contact with it: still much depends on 
watching the movements of the slug. Everybody 
knows that they commit the greatest havoc after a 
dry period, if mild rains occur. Occasions like these 
should, therefore, be seized, and the lime, being in 
readiness, should be applied in the evening just 
before the arrival of night. Such applications should 
be repeated at times on likely occasions—the cotta¬ 
ger’s lads or lasses could soon be taught to manage 
these small matters. Ordinary cinder-ashes, with 
the mere dust riddled out, mayjj be occasionally 
sprinkled over the beds; this prevents slugs travel¬ 
ling, and we have used new sawdust as a temporary 
expedient. Much, indeed, may be accomplished by 
hand picking,—on a dewy evening hundreds may be 
gathered by the cottier’s children. Whilst making 
remarks on this marauder of the allotment garden, 
we must not forget the turnip fig or flea. This little 
rogue is but too well known by his ravages. In 
turnip sowing we know of no better maxim than to 
divide the amount of seed to be sown into two por¬ 
tions, and to soak one half in warm water for six or 
eight hours previously to sowing. After soaking 
thus long, the water must be strained off, and the 
seed spread on a dish to dry slightly before sowing, 
for it necessarily becomes overcharged with moisture. 
It may lay thus for a day or two in some cold room, 
taking care to sow it just before the sprout appears. 
By this course at least two chances are established. 
The soaked seed will appear full a week before the 
other; and, if it stand in defiance of the fly, the 
other half (which we ought to have said must be 
mixed with it at the time of sowing, and which 
comes up later) may be cut away with the hoe : the 
mere loss of a little seed is as nothing in comparison 
of the value of certainty in the crop. We lay, how¬ 
ever, the utmost stress on the use of a small amount 
of highly stimulating manure ; and, above all, as we 
observed in our last allotment paper, on good Peru¬ 
vian guano. 
Turnips. —The main points in Turnip culture, as 
to the securing of a crop, are, we conceive, to watch 
carefully the period of sowing, and so to prepare the 
soil that the young plant may spring forth with the 
utmost rapidity. As to the former point, we would 
rather keep the seed in the bag, and sow a fortnight 
later, than commit it to soil containing just moisture 
enough to sprout the seed, but not sufficient to main¬ 
tain the young and tender plant through a period of 
drought. We are also strong advocates of firm 
rolling, where soils are of a porous character. Whilst 
speaking of turnips, we would direct the attention of 
cottagers to such sorts as Dales Hybrid, and the 
Yellow Bulloch-. It is well known that to obtain the 
Swede in perfection a much earlier sowing than with 
the ordinary white kinds is necessary. It happens, 
nevertheless, with the cottager, that he has not at all 
times ground to spare during the month of May for 
some S\odes. Under some rotations, however, spare 
plots come to hand during the month of June; and, 
as tliis is too late to sow Swedes with any prospect 
of a bulky crop, it becomes a consideration what 
kind to choose. Now, the Dale’s hybrid is apparently 
a cross between some white turnip and the Swede, 
and combines the keeping properties of the latter 
with the rapid growth of the former, consequently 
is peculiarly adapted for the cottager to sow in June; 
for he must strain every nerve to obtain keeping 
store roots, more especially if he keep a cow or pigs. 
The Yellow Bullock is also a good sound turnip, and 
adapted for June sowing: when it is desirable to 
sow turnips in July, or the early part of August, then 
we recommend the Earlg Stone or the Dutch. To 
wind up this consideration of the turnip, if your soil 
is good, and rather loamy, and you can obtain nice 
Swede plants, and the weather is favourable, you 
may plant Swedes; but in other cases, and especially 
during the end of June and through July, it will 
perhaps be better policy to sow the before-named 
kinds. 
Peas. —We need scarcely offer remarks about stick¬ 
ing, &c., such will be accomplished as a matter of 
course. Towards the end of the month some of the 
peas will begin to overhang the sticks, and when a 
sufficient crop is set, the tops of such should be 
pinched off, in order to swell off the pods, and to 
ensure an early removal from the ground, for we 
must have a crop of green-kale, or other of the green 
tribe, oft'this pea ground when they are removed. 
Beans. —About the beginning of June, the earliest 
beans will be in full blossom. As soon as a good 
crop is set the tops may be pinched off. This, as in 
the case of jteas, will hasten the swelling of the 
pods, and get the ground clear betimes for some cole 
worts in August. Topping, also, frequently pre¬ 
serves the crop from the fly, for after the top is 
pinched off these destructive pests are not quite so 
much at home, and the pods swell much more freely. 
Let the succession crops of beans be well soiled 
according to former advice, taking care to press it 
close to their stems; let them also be topped in due 
succession, or, at least, as soon as a crop is well set. 
Scarlet Banners.— Watch this useful vegetable 
carefully; the slugs are apt to make sad havoc witli 
them. Hand picking must be had recourse to in 
such a case. Let them be staked betimes, or strings 
put to them. It ought to he more generally known 
that excellent crops may be obtained with very low 
sticks, or, indeed, without any, by stopping or pinch¬ 
ing them betimes, and by continuing such stopping 
at intervals. The true secret of success with the 
runner is to provide rich soil, to stop frequently, 
and to water in dry weather, taking care, also, to 
pick all overgrown pods clear away at every gather¬ 
ing, unless it be a few for seed. The jogs will 
consume those which are getting too ripe. 
Carrots. —The horn-carrots, if sown according to 
our advice in the beginning of February, will soon 
be fit for use, for they may be drawn when about the 
size of the vent peg of a beer tub, and in that state 
are excellent to assist in thickening the cottagers’ 
soups; for, in boiling them with a piece of bacon, 
they will partially go to pieces in the soup: they 
