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are in full flower: this operation makes the crop rather earlier, and increases the produce; and the eggs of the insect, called the black blight, being deposited in the uppermost part of the plant, are, in a great measure, destroyed by it. Sow some greens in the beginning of the month: a better selection cannot be made than that recommended by W. E. H. page 129. The yellow is considered as the best of the savoys. Sow kidney beans in the first week, for a full crop in July; in the last, for August and September. Scarlet runners, sown along the bottom of a wall, and permitted to ascend on strings, bear well, and occupy little ground. Sow cauliflower seed, from the 12th to the 24th, for the Michaelmas crop. Shade the bed, and keep it moist till the seed comes up. Sow the gourd called the vegetable marrow, in the first week, under a hand glass; or, in the last week, in the open ground. It requires a warm sheltered situation, either on a South border, or on a manure heap. In the last week, should the weather prove warm, sow cucumber seed in the open ground. Dig deep, and, at the distance of three feet from each other, in rows five feet apart; make little hollows in the earth about a foot wide, and an inch and a half in depth. In each cup sow about a dozen seeds, cocovering them with light mould. When they have come up select four or five of the most vigorous plants, and pull up all the others; supply them abundantly with water, and draw the earth up to their stems. The early short prickly may be recommended for this purpose. Transplant radish, lettuce, celery, &c. for seed. Draw the earth well up to the stems of peas, beans, potatoes, &c. this much increases the vigour and productiveness of plants. Hoe up weeds, and pluck, from fruit trees, the leaves which contain insects; for, if the weeds are permitted to seed, or the insects to lay their eggs at this season, it will be in vain to endeavour

to exterminate them afterwards, Supply strawberry beds with water, particularly after the fruit is set; care should be taken not to dash the water into the flowers. Sow flower-seeds. Plant cuttings of wall-flower, lychnis, &e. and slips of sage, hyssop, rosemary, and lavender. Take up bulbs, as the leaves wither. Rub off all foreright and illplaced shoots from fruit-trees, and lay, in the young branches, tucking them under neighbouring branches, or securing them with a nail, whichever is most convenient, till autumn. Thin fruit, when it is set, and remember, that what is lost in number is gained in the size and flavour of the remainder, and in the increased' health of the tree. Towards the latter end of the month, break off the clay from grafted trees, and loosen the bandage. Propagate evergreens by laying the shoots of this year. (P. 126).

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Observations.

Vegetable Marrow. This plant was introduced from Persia in the year 1802. Fried in very hot fat, and eaten with pepper and salt, it is considered as very good by most persons. A lady from the West Indies informs me, that in Jamaica they are much used stewed with water, a little fat meat, and seasoned with pepper and salt this, with the addition of an onion, forms a very palatable and extremely cheap dish. As this gourd bears the rigours of our climate, and is very productive, it bids fair for general cultivation in all the warmer

counties.

Cucumbers. In some counties, especially Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, whole fields are cultivated with cucumbers: the parish of Sandy alone has been known to supply the London market with 10,000 bushels in one week.

Watering plants. The evening is the best time for this, and the water should then be sprinkled over their leaves; but, if it be necessary to supply

them with water in the day, it should be applied immediately to the root. Liquid manures (that is the dung of birds, blood, drainings from manure heaps, &c. mixed with water) may occasionally be substituted for simple water with great advantage; but care must be taken in using them, not to moisten the leaves or stems of the plants to which they are applied.

Erratum, p. 180, 1. 20. for Athungham read Altringham.

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HAVING been a reader and admirer of your excellent little Work, which abounds both with entertainment and instruction, I have long felt a wish to be also amongst its contributors; and, that I may be, I send the following; (if it be thought worthy of insertion).

There is nothing which contributes more to the comfort and benefit of the farmer and cottager, than having good fences upon their farms and round their gardens; for they not only save their crops from being injured and spoiled by hungry and stray animals, which will be always prowling about, but keep up good neighbourhood, by taking away one of the surest causes of quarrelling. And, for this purpose, no plant is so good as the holly, which will doubtless be allowed on all hands; and the only reason why it is not generally adopted, is, that it is so long growing up into a hedge," and that we are most of us found to be in this, as in

other matters, not so provident as we ought to be. I was looking the other day into a book, which is full of good, useful, and practical information, I mean Evelyn's Sylva, or History of Forest-trees, and was so much pleased with his account of the holly, and thought it so interesting, that I would fain take it for a foundation of my first offering to the Cottager's Visitor. His praise of the plant is so appropriate, and withal so quaint, that I would not attempt any alteration.

"Of all the natural greens which enrich our homeborn store, there is none certainly to be compared to our holly; insomuch, that I have often wondered at our curiosity after foreign plants, and expensive difficulties, to the neglect of the culture of this vulgar but incomparable tree; whether we propagate it for use and defence, or for sight and ornament.

A hedge of holly thieves that would invade
Repulses, like a growing palisade,

Whose numerous leaves such orient greens invest
As in deep winter do the spring attest.

Is there a more glorious and refreshing object of the kind, than an impregnable hedge of near 300 feet in length, 9 feet high, and 5 in diameter; which I can shew in my poor garden in any time of the year, glittering with its armed and burnished leaves; the taller standards at orderly distances, blushing with their natural coral? It mocks at the rudest assaults of the weather, beasts, or hedgebreakers."

Now with regard to the plants, they are to be raised from the berries when ready to drop from the tree; these are to be freed from their tenacious and glutinous covering, by being washed, and a little. bruised; then to be dried in a cloth. And this. plan, with little variation, has been approved by a very skilful modern planter, in preference to others, which, though mentioned by Evelyn, it seems un

necessary here to enlarge upon. They are then to be sown; drilled in rows is perhaps best, about two inches deep, Some plants may make their appearance the first year, but the planter must not despair if he do not see many before the following spring. After three or four years, they may be removed. Plant them in a wet season, either in spring or early autumn; they must be kept clean from weeds, and well-worked, which will double their growth; but "on no account dunged, which the plant abhors," says Evelyn. It is a good plan to mix hawthorn quick with them, at first; which Evelyn did in his wonderful hedge; and "as they begin to spread they will extirpate the hawthorn, till they quite domineer." When the holly thus begins to spread, branches may be laid, which will also throw out suckers, and so fill up all vacant places. Holly will grow in almost every soil; Evelyn's "rare hedge was planted upon a burning gravel, exposed to a meridian sun. We stay

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seven years for a tolerable quick-hedge, it is surely worth while staying thrice for this, which has no competitor."

I do not mention the procuring plants from woods, because this article is chiefly meant for cottagers, and they must not trespass upon other's property to procure them. But as no one would deny them a few holly-berries; and these, sown in a corner of their gardens, and afterwards well taken care of, will, in 12 or 15 years, make them a sure fence both against man and beast. Should this notice tend to induce any of your readers to adopt the cultivation of a fence which has "no competitor," I shall be amply repaid for the little trouble I have had in transmitting it.

April 7, 1824.

E. W.

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