200 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. July 
conveys nothing to the mincl of the gardcnesque or 
the artistic, place the requisite number of tubers— 
three, five, seven, &c., according to the size of the 
pot—with their growing ends inclining to the centre, 
and the root ends to the circumference of the pot, 
similar to the spokes in a carriage-wheel; and then 
your specimen, although not so in reality, will convey 
the idea of a single plant, and not look like a number 
of plants jumbled together. 
Soil. —This should be light and rich: three parts 
loam, three parts peat, one of leaf-mould, one of old 
dry cowdung, mixed together, riddled with a fine sieve 
—not to use, but to discard the finer particles-—and 
then adding one part of silver sand and one of broken 
charcoal, will grow them admirably; placing the 
roughest part of the soil at the bottom, and covering 
the surface with the finer compost. 
General Treatment. — Proportion the Avater to 
the state of growth. Where the roots have not 
reached, the soil must not be soaked. We shall have 
a gossiping upon watering by-and-by. The Avliole 
family like heat, partial shade, and a moist atmo¬ 
sphere, Avhen groAving. As the flowering state ap¬ 
proaches, inure them to more light and a drier atmo¬ 
sphere ; neglect to do this, and you may have fine 
plants, Avith clusters of tubers instead of blossoms. 
Nature, curbed in her efforts for reproduction one 
way, Avill attempt it by another. If you try them in 
dung frames, extra care will be requisite, as the foli¬ 
age will be injured if the steam and sun meet. Shade 
and air are the only remedies, or rather preventives. 
When done floAvering, and the foliage decayed, re¬ 
move the tubers and preserve them in dry earth, or 
merely turn the pots on their sides. They must 
never knoAV anything of frost. Those started early 
this spring must be so employed next season ; the 
different successions should therefore be marked. I 
have found them extremely useful for decorating 
greenhouses, &c., during summer. In warm shel¬ 
tered places some of them Avould even succeed for a 
time out of doors—such as the coccinea and rosea 
HOTHOUSE. 
Here the usual processes of thinning, stopping, 
training, shading, watering, and stirring the soil, must 
be studiously persevered in, if you would steer clear 
of disease and shoals of insects. We shall shortly 
overtake everything in this department when once we 
fairly obtain elbow room. If in any corner you have 
a yard of glass to spare, either here or in the stove, 
try and obtain a late melon or tAvo, either by soAving 
the seeds directly or, what is better, using plants al¬ 
ready up. If the plant shoidd have so many roots 
as to be pot-bound, do not turn it out, but make a 
larger hole in the bottom of the pot, and then set it 
halt' plunged on the surface of a larger pot, filled 
with rough melloAv loam. Train to one or two shoots; 
stop these when a yard in length. Allow only a few 
laterals, from whence to procure fruit, and the pro¬ 
duce will be far superior in weight and flaA T our to 
Avhat could he obtained when the plants are turned 
out into pits and frames. R. Fish. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Routine Work. —Very little can be added to the 
directions already given for the present month, but 
care must be taken in getting out full crops of the 
best winter greens, brocoli, savoys, coleworts, &c., 
that the ground is always well mulched and watered. 
The first sowings of early cabbage may be made 
about the third Aveek in this month, aud the last soav- 
ings of beans, peas, and French beans, as well as a 
few more scarlet runners, if there is any ground to 
spare. The dwarf growing, small, compact kinds of 
cabbage are the most desirable, both for the amateur 
and cottager, as they are quick in coming in, and take 
but little room. We confine ourselves to the Match¬ 
less, Nonpareil, Shillings Queen, and East Ham; 
planting the two former at the distance of one foot 
apart each way, and the two latter at one foot three 
inches distance. We plant all these upon sloping 
banks, cast up as the trenching is performed, from six 
to twelve feet wide at the bottom, and from tAvo to four 
feet high in the middle, the height being regulated 
by the staple of the soil. This width avo find very 
convenient for the operations of hoeing, scarifying, 
and watering, as well as for collecting the dead leaves, 
&c. 
Endive should noAv be sowu in full crop for au¬ 
tumn salads, as Avell as lettuce, which may be sown in 
drills between the celery, and hoed out when up, or 
transplanted at thinning time if the weather is fa¬ 
vourable. The last sowing of parsley may be made 
at any time within the next fortnight, as a late sow¬ 
ing of this vegetable will be found particularly useful 
in the spring and summer months, after the early 
sowing has run to seed. The early sowings of pars¬ 
ley should be well thinned and hoed, and liquid-ma¬ 
nure pretty liberally applied. Chimney soot, as has 
been before observed, is a most stimulating manure 
for parsley, if applied in a liquid state, or soavii over 
the crop in rainy weather. Fill up all vacancies that 
may occur by carefully transplanting. Parsley is a 
famous plant to remove and transplant. 
Mushroom-Beds. —Materials should now be col¬ 
lected for making a musliroom-bed ready for autumn 
bearing. Nothing is better calculated for this pur¬ 
pose than the excrement of animals, such as the 
horse, coav, sheep, or deer, with a good jmrtion of 
fresh loam intermixed, so that a good healthy mois¬ 
ture may be kept up, and the mixture may not be 
suffered to lose any of its most essential properties 
by evaporation, a point winch requires very strict 
attention. In mushroom culture, the first beds need 
not be made very thick in substance. 
James Barnes. 
MISCELLANEOUS INEORMATION. 
MY FLOWERS. 
> (No. 35.) 
In gardens like mine there is uoav little to do. 
This is a season more of enjoyment than actual 
labour; for the flowers are blooming, or hastening 
into bloom, and the time for transplanting, &c., is 
over. The balm of Gilead, which is a A r ery fragrant 
plant, may, indeed, still be- increased by cuttings; or 
the seed may be sown, if that mode of increase is 
preferred. It is worthy of culture, as its aromatic 
sweetness, when the leaf is rubbed by the hand, is 
very agreeable. A bed of the common scarlet ge¬ 
ranium is one of the most lovely and delightful 
ornaments of the simple garden. How fragrant 
they are, and how bright; and what an elegant 
nosegay is that which is formed only of their glotv- 
ing blossoms and downy leaves—almost as highly 
scented as the flowers ! If a sprig or ttvo of the 
sweet-scented verbena is placed among them, Ave 
need not desire the richest bouquet a hothouse can 
afford. This plant originally came to us from the 
