260 
TIIE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 24, 1860. 
Cesspools, whatever may be said to the contrary, are indispens¬ 
able in some shape or form in the country. Therefore, as 
necessary evils, let them be as far away as possible; and the 
industrious cottager will often be cleaning them out; and the 
operation being in summer mostly performed at night, the smell 
is generally gone in the morning. Besides which there is a wide 
difference between a cesspool in a garden surrounded by trees and 
vegetation, and one surrounded by brick walls. The greedy 
foliage of the former sucks in most of the gasses which form the 
most obnoxious feature in a cesspool; while in the latter case there 
is no absorbant, but, perhaps, human lungs, and the penalty is 
human death. I verily believe the utility of vegetation in the 
neighbourhood of these places has not received duo attention, as 
I am convinced that herbage deprives such refuse of half its 
virulence. Nevertheless, to the cottager I would say, let the cess¬ 
pool be as far from the door as possible, and let it be emptied 
pretty often; and when its contents are spread abroad, let them 
be worked into the ground at the same time. 
The Fence. —This is not always the cottager’s affair; but in 
some instances it is, and in all its appearance is, in some 
degree, due to the care he may bestow upon it. When the fence 
consists of one of those nondescript hedges, partly dead and 
partly alive, and composed of all manner of materials, it would 
be well to inquire if it cannot be removed, and a new Quickset 
hedge planted to replace it. Old hedges mounted on a high 
bank are endless sources in disseminating weeds, and their ap¬ 
pearance is very unsightly. The only recommendation they have 
is the shelter they afford, and this must be taken into account 
before they are destroyed; but, in a general way, things thrive 
better in an open space than when overtopped by trees or 
hedges. If there are timber trees in the hedge, the landlord 
must be consulted on the propriety of taking them down, and a 
spirited, industrious cottager is often encouraged in most things 
tending to his welfare. It is, therefore, likely that the trees’ con¬ 
demnation will be sealed ; but assuming that to be done, and the 
hedge cleared away, there must be some timber or other dead 
fence put up to protect the new live one for some years. Besides 
which it will not be prudent to plant Quicksets until the ground 
has had at least one year's fallow or rest from the crop it had 
had upon it for so many years before. This year’s rest, how¬ 
ever, will not be lost, as some crop of a useful kind—for instance, 
Potatoes—may be put upon it, and the young Quickset plants 
will make the more progress, in consequence of having fresh 
ground to grow in. I do not know anything more suitable for a 
hedge than Quicksets. Privet grows faster, but it is not such a 
protection against cattle ; and Holly is too slow for the general 
mass of planters. If the garden is bounded by a lane, a suitable 
wooden railing must be put up to protect the young plants for 
four or five years, and on the field side some hurdles may do. 
But the locality and other circumstances will determine this. 
At all events, the neatness of a cottage-garden fence generally 
proclaims that all is in good order within. In planting Quicksets, 
choose short stiff plants with good roots, and do not cut them 
down the first year; afterwards, however, they may be headed 
down to near the ground. A ditch on the lane side is some¬ 
times necessary; but do not plant the Quicksets on a high bank. 
Nevertheless, let the earth be good to grow them in. Generally 
speaking, Quickset hedges grow best on dry stony ground ; and if 
stones abound to a greater extent in the garden than is wanted 
there, a few mixed with the earth the Quickset is planted in will 
benefit it much. Plant the hedge in a straight line, if the 
nature of other fences will allow it; if not, make an agreeable 
curve. Keep the young plants clean, and do not cut any of them 
until the autumn when the shoots are ripened, when they may i 
be cut pretty close down after the first summer’s growth, and at 
the end of the second season a partial stopping will have to be 
done; but not until the plant has arrived at a size nearly be- j 
coming a fence, is it proper to cut anything away in summer. 
Deciduous trees of all kinds are impatient of being cut in the 
growing season. If the ground is at all inclined to be wet, let 
there either be an open ditch or a covered-in drain by the side of 
the hedgerow, and be careful to maintain the protecting-fence in 
good order until it can be dispensed with. In some cases a 
Damson tree or two might be planted in the hedgerow on the 
field side ; but it is not prudent to plant anything so tempting 
by the side of a lane or public road. Judicious training, after 
the hedge is once up, will keep it in good order for many years, 
and a nice closely-trimmed hedge is a great ornament to a garden. 
Dry, stony, or gravelly soils grow hedges best. On a piece of 
elevated ground near here (Linton)—not many years ago an 
open waste—there are some fields enclosed with Quickset hedges, 
which have been the subject of a wager that a hare could not get 
through, so close and compactly are they grown. The custom here 
being to keep the hedge narrow, often not more than a foot for a 
fullgrown hedge, and being planted on the level ground, the weeds 
are also cleared away from the collar, and the ground slightly 
forked for a foot or more on each side every year. Better-managed 
hedges cannot well be found anywhere than on the district I 
speak of (Coxheatli), the soil being very dry and stony. 
The cottager ought to be encouraged in the rearing of a good 
hedge, as the general appearance of the place is much improved 
by a neat, trim fence. On stiff lands a few plants of Holly might 
be mixed witli the Quicksets ; and when a hedge is wanted 
very quickly, Privet might be planted mixed with the Quick¬ 
sets. The latter, however, is not so certain a fence against 
cattle, and ought not to be on the side of the public road. 
Neither do I admire Beech, Hornbeam, or Willow, excepting 
the last-named may be planted in wet, swampy places, if there 
are any such; but it is to be hoped the cottage will be on 
dry sound ground. In trimming a hedge let the top, if 
possible, range with the natural level or inclination of the 
ground, and also with that of other fences adjoining it; and 
avoid those unevennesses so hurtful to the eye of the passer-by, 
when all other things, perhaps, tend to raise his admiration. 
Avoid Elder trees, Hazel or Ash in the hedge-row, as these are 
sad robbers of the soil, and destroy that food so much wanted for 
the Quickset. Let the hedge unite itself nicely with the gate, 
building, or other object; and keep all such weeds as the White 
Convolvulus, Couch Grass, and other enemies cleared away, and 
the result will be a nice-looking tidy fence.—J. Robson. 
(To be continued.) 
PRUNING STUNTED CAMELLIAS. 
I have two Camellias—one, the Old Double White, a fine 
bushy plant; the other, Bealii, is rather leggy and thin of shoots. 
I purposed as soon as the flowers are past to cut it greatly in, so 
as to induce it to grow bushy; but I am told that if I cut farther 
back than last summer’s shoots it will not break for two years. 
Your advice at an early day will much oblige— An Amateub. 
[Camellias in good health may just be as freely pruned ns 
Laurels. When they get in a stunted state, and the roots are 
not strong and vigorous, it requires some time to make nice bushy 
plants when placed under ordinary greenhouse treatment. There 
is no difficulty as to their breaking when cut back to the base of 
the wood of last year’s growth. The delay takes place when 
pruning extends to wood of several years’ standing. There are 
two modes, either of which you may follow with your leggy plant 
according to circumstances. 1st. Prune freely back as soon as 
the plant has finished flowering, if you have the convenience to 
place the plant in a moist atmosphere, and in a temperature 
ranging from 65° to 70°. During this period, as there will be 
little evaporation going on from young shoots and leaves, as these 
will be mostly removed, the roots will require but little water ; 
but they should not be allowed to get dry. The stems should be 
frequently sponged, or moistened with the syringe ; and if pretty 
well steamed with warmish vapour, the sooner will the latent 
buds break from all parts of the stem. 2nd. This will be greatly 
facilitated if the head, or docked-in branches, of the stem could be 
laid—not on, but just a little above, a bed of sweet fermenting 
dung or leaves. The roots should not be plunged, as they might 
be injured; but provided they have enough moisture, the plant 
will he quite as much at home when the head is in this reclining 
position as when set upright. The stem may also be frequently 
turned round and moistened; and the genial heat and steam 
from the fermenting material will cause the shoots to break so 
much more freely and quickly, that a season’s blooming need not 
be lost. If such a plant is cut in in a common greenhouse, and 
no methods can be taken to insure a close moist atmosphere and 
a higher temperature, it is a great chance if the plant will make 
much growth the first season. Of course, no pruning should take 
place until the plant has finished flowering ; and under general 
circumstances, unless for equalising strength, no stopping of 
young shoots should take place, as it is chiefly near the points of 
the shoots made next summer and ripened in autumn that we 
expect to get bloom in winter and spring. We once saw a number 
of Camellias getting their young shoots pinched in the middle of 
June to make them bushy; but we should not expect such 
plants to have many blooms the following winter and spring.] 
