1834.] MANAGEMENT OF COTTAGE GARDENS. 257 raised to the middle, so as to allow the surface-water (water on the upper part) to run off into the open furrows. As winter fallowing is a matter of the first importance to the mellowing, proper preparing, and pulverizing of the mould, as soon as the summer crops are gathered, every foot of the plot should be turned up by the spade, in order to open the soil to the action of the air and the frost, both which have most valuable effects on the land. 2ndly. To provide, and lay on the plot, sufficient manure. This is of the utmost importance. It is, in fact, the very essence of turning the land to good account. And let this be remembered, that the refuse of whatever is raised on the soil in the shape of crops, nay, even weeds themselves, when in a rotten state, should again be returned to it in the shape of manure. Nothing is to be allowed to wither on the surface, which can be transferred to the hog-stye or the dung-pit. As soon as the tops, or haulm of potatoes begin to put on a yellowish hue, and their apples become of a brown colour, they are to be cut off and taken home, and what is not wanted for litter to the pigs, is to be put into a pit, into which wash from the house, or pig-stye, or both, runs, and a quantity of earth is to be thrown over them. They form, when rotten, rich and valuable manure. So also do nettles, docks, and weeds in general; but care must be taken, that they have not run to seed; if they have, then they are to be burned, as should also the cabbage stumps, as they will hardly rot sufficiently quick. Collect as much manure as possible, too much you cannot provide; and he who allows wash to run waste from his house, dungpit, or hog-stye, wilfully loses what might be turned to good account. 3dly. To change the crops regularly. As the whole of the allotment is to be tilled by the spade, no part of it should be unnecessarily allowed to lie waste or vacant, but as one kind of crop is taken off, another kind should be put in. This is called succession cropping; thus for instance, when the earliest potatoes are dug up, say perhaps, in the first week in July, cabbage or brocoli, or colewort plants, should be put in; or vetches for a late autumn crop may be sown; or sweet turnips, or Battersea cabbages can be raised, as the cultivator pleases. And he should always have, either in his garden, or plots of land, a bed for the purpose of raising a constant succession of different sorts of plants, to be drawn and transplanted as they are wanted, to fill up the vacant ground. Thus will he have a regular supply of excellent vegetables for his use at little or no cost. In the rotation (or regular change of crops), care should be taken that the one should either prepare the ground for the other, or should require to be followed by the other. Thus the ground, or that part of the field which is well manured, for potatoes or vegetables, and well cleaned by the application of the hoe, is prepared for bearing wheat or barley next year; and the wheat and barley being exhausting crops, and likely to encourage the growth of weeds, they require again to be followed by potatoes, or such green crops as can be well hoed, and from the quantity of manure put in with them, prepare the soil for a grain crop. It may be mentioned, also, that the hoe can never be too often, or too much applied to such crops as can admit it. Even white grain crops may be nearly doubled in amount and value, by the frequent use of this implement. -Selected from "Hints for the Labourer," published by the Labourers' Friend Society, No. 23. Sent by D. I. E. VETCHES AS MANURE.-Even so late as the second week in October, vetches may be sown on land from which any other crop has been gathered, and which is to be planted with potatoes the next season, and if, when grown up, they be dug in whilst green with the potatoes, they will aid very much in acting as manure. The only cost will be a little seed.-The Same. PRIZES FOR THE BEST FLOWERS. MR. EDITOR, I HAVE lately been on a visit in the neighbourhood of Maidstone. In former years, when I was in that neighbourhood at this season, I heard of little else besides the hops, and all the misfortunes to which they were liable, -the flies, the blights, and the honey-dew, and all kinds of deadly enemies. This year I heard very little about hops; the conversation had quite a different turn, 1834.] ANSWERS TO HISTORICAL QUESTIONS. 259 and I am sure the cause will give you pleasure. You must not, however, understand that the people were indifferent about "the state of the poles" (the hop-poles I mean), or to the well-doing of a crop, on the success of which so much of their prosperity depends;-but, as talking will not change a bad season into a good one, I confess I was glad to be spared the complaints. But all the talk, Sir, seemed to be about roses, and pinks, and carnations, and dahlias, and all the beautiful ornaments of the garden. From the highest to the lowest the neighbours all seem trying which shall get the finest flowers. The rich man's garden and the poor man's garden are filled with the choicest sorts; they have hundreds of different kinds of roses; and prizes are given to those who can produce the best. This friendly competition makes good fellowship among the different classes. A few years ago, the neighbourhood of Tunbridge set an example in the cultivation of good flowers, and it has now spread to a considerable distance. A poor cottager got a prize for the best rose last year. A neighbour of his, who did not win, says that he has still got his prize, for that he used to spend sixpence a night at the ale-house; and that since he took to his garden he has saved this, which he reckons at 97. 2s. 6d. a year. X. Y. Z. NEW BREAD. IT has been considered that any substance which by mastication is converted into an adhesive paste, as we may find is the case when we eat new bread, is difficult of digestion; we should therefore on this ground, as well as on that of economy, (for it is known that new bread does not go so far as stale,) strongly urge the importance of suffering bread to obtain the age of a day or two at least before it is eaten.-Sent by Ď. I. E. ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH HISTORY. (In the last number, p. 235.) Answer 1. King Edward the Fourth came to the throne in the year 1460. A. 2. He was a remarkably fine-looking man. A. 3. He was loose in his morals, and cruel in his disposition. A. 4. The King was hunting in the park of Sir Thomas Burdett, who was a friend of the Duke of Clarence. The King killed a favourite white stag belonging to Sir Thomas. This gentleman, in a passion, said, "he wished the horns of the stag were in the belly of the man who advised the king to do this." For this saying, Burdett was hanged. The Duke of Clarence said that this was a shameful and barbarous act: and, for thus expressing himself, the Duke was ordered to be put to death, and he is said to have been thrust with his head downwards int o a cask of malmsey,-a strange sort of death, which he chose for himself,-being particularly fond of that wine. A. 5. The Duke of Clarence was the king's own brother. A. 6. The king was preparing to make war against the French. A. 7. He was seized with an illness of which he soon afterwards died. A. 8. He was then about forty-one years of age. QUESTIONS FOR THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. (To be answered in our next number.) V. Question. 1. How many children did Edward the Fourth leave? and what were their names? Q. 2. How old was the eldest when his father died? Q. 3. Who was appointed Protector? Q. 4. What was the Protector's character? Q. 5. What nobleman did the Protector, put to death? and under what pretence? Q. 6. What was the real reason why the Protector put Lord Hastings to death? Q. 7. Who was Jane Shore? Q. 8. How was she punished? Q. 9. How did the Protector treat the young king and his brother? Q. 10. Who became king after the death of these children? Q. 11. Who raised an army against king Richard the Third? Q. 12. Was any battle fought? 1834.] SALTNESS OF THE OCEAN. 261 Q. 13. Where was it? Q. 14. Who conquered in this battle? Q. 16. In what year was this? SALTNESS OF THE OCEAN. V. THE more deeply men of learning and reflection give their minds to the consideration of the works of the Creator, and explain them to others, the more reason we have to admire the great power that made all those things, and the great goodness, too, which made these wonderful works so suited to the comfort and happiness of the inhabitants of the world. The waters of the mighty ocean, for instance, we know to be salt. We may, perhaps, be satisfied with accounting for this by the supposition that this is caused by the vast mines of salt which lie in those parts of the earth which are covered by the sea. This might to some persons appear quite natural, and of very little consequence. But let us give a few minutes' consideration to the vast benefit arising from the saltness of the sea, and we shall then be disposed to see that this was intended for the most benevolent of purposes, that it was God's goodness that caused it. Mr. Prout, in his "Bridgewater Treatise," says, "that the saline contents of the ocean are of immense importance in the economy of nature." Salt water does not freeze so soon as fresh water: it does not give off vapour so soon it is more buoyant, (that is, more capable of bearing floating bodies,) so that ships can float upon it more easily than on fresh water, and thus carry greater weights, and is thus better fitted for the purposes of navigation. It is moreover probable, that, if the ocean were fresh water, it would undergo so many changes as to make it unfit for animal life. There is reason also to believe, that the saline matters contribute, in no small degree, to the stability of the earth. V. THE GREAT CONCERN, OR PREPARATION FOR DEATH. SIR, IF you think the following extracts suited for insertion in your useful work, they are much at your service. They are taken from a little book, published many years ago, |