September 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
843 
window, where cuttings would sicken, I have tied a 
piece of paper round the brim of the flower-pot, so 
as to stand up like a screen, and shelter the cuttings 
from the rays of the sun, while the pot itself receives 
their genial warmth, and conveys it to the soil. The 
paper, too, gets warm, and appears to cherish, as 
well as screen, the young plants. We cannot always 
command the sort of aspect we require for every¬ 
thing, hut, by contrivances, much may be done; and 
a sunny window is such a treasure, that we may 
make it almost perform the part of a conservatory. 
Seedlings, however, are best for planting in beds, 
because they grow more bushy, and not so high. 
Seed should be sown in pots, and protected during 
the winter. If we cannot take posession of a window 
in which a flower-pot or two can stand during the 
cold weather, it would be better not to attempt to 
raise delicate seedlings, or, at least, we must be pre¬ 
pared for very probable disappointment, although 
the little anxiety of looking after them may amuse 
us when our gardens are frost-bound, or buried in 
wreaths of snow. I confess that I often envy those 
of my friends whose flower-beds and sheltering places 
are close to the house, enabling them, in almost all 
weather, to busy themselves among their favourites, 
and water or shade their potted plants with ease. 
My garden is so far off, there is so much lawn to tra¬ 
verse, no gravel walks, and no shelter but that of 
shrubs, that I am often unable to do more than peep 
at it from the window, and catch glimpses of its con¬ 
dition through the boughs of an intervening cedar. 
A lady of my acquaintance has for some years set¬ 
tled herself in a cottage close to a village, yet suffi¬ 
ciently retired to be neither overlooked nor incom¬ 
moded. It was originally two tenements, but she 
has thrown them into one, and has carried a rough 
verandah of fir poles along the front, which has be¬ 
come one mass of roses, ivy, and Virginia creeper, 
the effect of which is lovely; and it forms a complete 
cloister of perpetual verdure, where air and exercise 
may be taken even in wet weather. Her garden is 
full of flowers, the wall is covered by a bower of 
honeysuckle, and although there are none of the 
more choice and tender plants, yet the general effect 
is excellent; and, enter the garden when I will, I 
am sure to see some flower or another there. All 
her little possessions are conveniently at hand, and 
it must be so pleasant to be able, during the hea¬ 
viest storm, to rush out and snatch up a buffetted 
geranium, or throw a mat over a hen-coop, that I 
cannot help longing to live in such a cottage with 
everything close to my elbow, where I could watch 
over seedlings and cuttings without getting wet 
through, and observe all the interesting effects of 
the shower and the sunshine with dry feet and un¬ 
draggled dress. There is something wonderfully 
agreeable in the idea of a cottage, something pecu¬ 
liarly snug, peaceful, and English, something that 
either interests our feelings, or pleases our fancy, 
and has done so ever since we first ranged through 
lanes and fields in our infancy. Yet I am well aware 
that place has nothing to do with happiness, though 
we too often go about “ seeking peace and finding 
none.” A rose-covered trellis cannot satisfy a crav¬ 
ing mind, a sheltered cottage cannot give peace to a 
troubled spirit, nor can hothouses and conservatories 
content a restless one. We all build “ castles” of 
some shape or size, and sometimes God permits us 
to inhabit them, that they may say to us, “ Happi¬ 
ness is not in me.” No; striving to fulfil our duty 
to God and our neighbour in that place which He 
has appointed is more certain happiness and peace 
than any situation we may covet. There are times, 
indeed, when we may be called to “ depart ” like 
Abraham, but moving in obedience to the evident 
command of God is quite different to following our 
own blind will, or fleeing “ from the face of the 
Lord” like Jonah. Let us all be contented with 
the “ bounds of our habitation,” for God has marked 
them out. The cottager may wish for a finer garden, 
the lady for one smaller and more snug, but we 
know not what is best for us. Only let our hearts 
he fixed on “ those things which are above, where 
Christ sitteth at the right hand of God,” only let us 
lay firm hold of that “ hope which we have as an 
anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast,” and then, 
whether our lot is cast in a palace or a cabin, in 
poverty or plenty, in weal or woe, we shall be able 
to say with the troubled Shunemmite, “ It is well.” 
Let her bright example of contentment read a lesson 
to our often wayward hearts; and when we are 
tempted to seek out fresh paths for our feet, let us 
think of her quiet, beautiful reply, and be still—“ I 
dwell among mine own people.” 
CELERY AND STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 
Having for a number of years raised celery, not 
very successfully, in pits, I last spring consulted your 
pages with the view of changing my mode, in order 
to succeed better. But I must confess I was puzzled 
when I had done so, for there I found Mr. Barnes, a 
high authority, planting across shallow trenches five 
feet wide, six plants in a row, and 18 inches between 
the rows, in ground which had previously been well 
trenched, and manured with a moderate quantity of 
well rotted manure, forked in and incorporated with 
the soil before planting; Mr. Turner, a very high 
authority, inserting his plants 12 or 15 inches apart, in 
pits seven inches deep (not more) and two feet wide, 
filled with stable manure, and covered with soil an 
inch or an inch and a half thick ; while Mr. Nutt, a 
very high authority indeed, places his in a trench 18 
inches deep and 3(5 inches wide, filled with 15 inches 
of pig and horse dung, with horn or hone dust, well 
mixed, and covered with three inches of soil. 
In this dilemma I resolved upon referring the 
question, as to which of these modes was calculated 
to produce the best and heaviest celery, to the arbi¬ 
tration of— experience, by adopting all the three. 
This I did by preparing the pits and planting out 
agreeably to the directions of each of my masters 
respectively, in the same spot of suitable ground; 
and when the arbiter shall, some time before winter 
sets in, have given his final award in the case, I 
shall let you know the result for the government of 
my fellow-subscribers. 
In the meantime I have seen enough to satisfy 
me that any of the new modes will he better than 
my old practice, and that, of the two which will bear 
comparison, Mr. Nutt’s and Mr. Turner’s (which I 
carried out at the same time, while I reserved Mr. 
Barnes’ for my later crop), the latter promises rather 
the better—probably in consequence of the roots in 
the shallower pits being kept nearer the warmer 
surface, while those in Mr. Nutts’ deeper pits seek 
farther down into colder ground. Whether the greater 
body of manure in the latter may encourage a longer 
and more vigorous growth in the plant in future, 
time will shew. In the meantime I am very well 
pleased with my trial, some of my plants already 
showing a vigorous growth and a massy stem of fully 
three feet in height. 
As “ doctors differ,” at least as far in their modes 
