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or as soon as the sun's rays fall upon the sashes; and in very warm days, which frequently happen, toward the latter part of the month, draw them half off, so as to admit of a good current of air through the bed. Shut up seasonably in the afternoon, as soon as the plants have been refreshed with water, and cover the sashes at sunset. Do not neglect to look over the vines every morning, and impregnate every pistillate flower; for although the bees, at this season, sometimes enter the bed, and a current of air passes through it almost every day, yet where the leaves are crowded, neither reach them to have any good effect.

Four barrows of fresh manure were added to-day. Temperature, 68°, 78°, 66°. The cool weather of the last few days has caused a decline in the heat.

5th. Added two barrows of fresh manure. The heat has become brisk, and the fruit swells very fast; five cucumbers were cut on the 2d, and two yesterday, some of them measuring twelve inches in length. Temperature, 72°, 76°, 75°; of the soil, 82°.

12th. Since the last date, twenty-eight fruits have been cut from the plants; the heat of the bed has been most remarkably retained. Air is admitted sufficiently to keep the thermometer at 95° in the middle of the day. Temperature, 75°, 90°, 80°.

18th. Heat declined some the past week, and three barrows of fresh dung were added to the bed. The plants will now extend themselves exceedingly fast, and care must be taken to stop them at every joint, and make them throw out fruit; trim out the runners where they cross one another too thickly, and peg them down in handsome order, as before directed; cut away all broken and yellow leaves, and keep the air as free from impurity as possible. Lay the joints by drawing up the soil each side, after the pegs are put in; be careful not to cover them, as they are liable to damp off, if dull weather ensues. Temperature, 78°, 89°, 80°.

24th. Fourteen cucumbers, of fine size, have been cut the last six days. The heat having declined, two barrows of manure were taken out, and five of fresh put in. That in the pit was well forked up before the new was added. Temperature, 75°, 75°, 75°. 29th. The heat uncommonly brisk; five fruits cut yesterday. Temperature, 80°, 89°, 80°.

June 3d.-Removed two barrows of manure, and added four to the pit. The covering to the sashes may be mostly left off, unless in cold rainy nights. The sashes may, also, in the latter part of the month, be allowed to remain open an inch or two during the night. Give water freely, and occasionally manure water. Temperature, 75°, 89°, 80°.

12th. Heat brisk. Temperature, 82°, 96°, 81°; of the soil, 88°. Twenty-one fruits have been cut since the third of the month, and all of fine size. We have so far enumerated the quantity of fruit cut; but we think there is no necessity for a repetition

of this; from eighteen to twenty-four were gathered every week, until the latter part of August, when the vines were allowed to run at random. A large number, of small size, were cut for pickling afterwards, besides many for the table. The average length of the fruit, throughout the season, was a fraction over ten inches.

19th. Renewed two barrows of manure, and added one of fresh to the pit; the plants continue to spread rapidly, although numerous large runners are cut out every day or two; were it not for such prunings, all would be confusion. The knife should be handled carefully in performing the operation, and the leaves bruised or broken as little as possible. Temperature, 80°, 88°, 82°.

28th. Four barrows of fresh manure were added to-day. The whole was well forked together. Temperature, 79°, 90°, 78°. This was the last manure that was added to the bed. The vines continued to grow vigorously and bear plentifully. Liquid manure may be applied, if they do not appear flourishing, though we seldom had occasion to use but a small quantity; let the sashes remain partly open, or take them wholly off in gentle showers, that the plants may receive the benefit of the rain. During August, they may be left off altogether. Keep the plants tolerably thin of vines, so that the air may circulate freely; and cut away all leaves where crowded together so as to shade the fruit.

With this routine of culture, the vines may be kept in bearing until October; but after the fruit was to be had in plants from the open air, they were generally neglected, and but little attention given to them. In very small gardens, where there is not room to raise plants in the open air, by pursuing the system of pruning, watering, &c., they may be kept in a fruitful state.

After the vines have done bearing, pull them up, and if the bed is not wanted for any particular use, the soil may remain until November, when the old manure should be thrown out. The same operation should be performed, to put the bed into a fit state to commence forcing again, as mentioned in a former paper (Vol. I, p. 406.) If, however, it is intended to commence forcing so as to procure fruit in February, the soil must be removed, and about four or five barrows of well decomposed leaf mould put in its place. The inner wall of the bed should have a good thick coat of whitewash applied, to fill up any crevices, and thus prevent the steam from the manure from entering the bed. If the leaves or hay between the outer wall and the board frame have settled any, from decay, it must be filled up, and the coping nailed on tight. All is then ready for the sowing of the seed. At this season, fruit may be cut in twelve weeks after the seed is planted.

ART. II. On the Cultivation of some of the most select Biennial and Perennial Plants, with some Remarks upon their Beauty. By S. WALKER.

"A breath of unadulterate air,

The glimpse of a green pasture, how they cheer
The citizen, and brace his languid frame!
E'en in the stifling bosom of the town,

A garden, in which nothing thrives, has charms
That soothe the rich possessor; much consoled,
That here and there some sprigs of mournful mint,
Of night-shade or valerian, grace the wall
He cultivates. These serve him with a hint
That nature lives; that sight-refreshing green
Is still the livery she delights to wear,

Though sickly samples of the exuberant whole."

THESE elegant lines from Cowper, are so full of beauty, and soul-stirring spirit, to every lover of Flora, that I have thought them peculiarly adapted to my present purpose as an introduction to a few remarks, upon some of our hardy and beautiful plants, which it is my present intention to make, and which I may, in some future communication, carry out to a more extended length.— My observations will be confined to such plants as, in my estimation, are most deserving of the care, and are most likely to reward the novice in the culture of flowers. I shall not address myself to the initiated cultivator; he will seek better authority, and more detailed information; it is to those who have taken only their first steps in the garden that I would presume to offer myself as a guide, it is the young and the fair that I wish to see engaged in floral pursuits, and, if they are still more ambitious, in the science of botany. It requires but little effort to begin. The task will not be one of labor, but of pleasure, and perseverance will ensure a reward. Flora may be said rather to give fruition than hope; her rewards are ever in anticipation, and are ever at hand. Let us but for a moment look at her progress; after the healthy recreation of preparing the soil to receive the seed, and it is deposited, the spot becomes sacred, and an object of our anxious care; the germination of the seed is watched until the plant in its first state is realized; over this we hang in fond anticipation of all that shall hereafter delight our senses in richness of color, delicacy of texture, or sweetness of perfume, and in some cases with all these qualities combined; with the strength of the plant our cares and expectations keep pace, our sympathies are all called into action, the rude wind or the scorching rays of the mid-day sun are to be provided against; in some cases, the foliage of the plants, of the same kind, are day by day examined, to ascertain if they in any manner differ from each other in form or color; the least shade in color, the least alteration in form, raises the hopes of the florist; he is full of expecta

tion that his labors will be rewarded with a new variety, that may add lustre to that particular class of flowers, and that his friends, and the floral world, may delight in beholding one of the handmaids of his goddess in a new dress. Such, my readers, are the delights of the lover of nature, and with all this nearly parental care, he may mingle better feelings, he may, in the midst of his ecstasy of admiration, remember the divine Being who fashioned and painted the object of his pleasure. The botanist with the world before him, the king and the nobleman with his parks, the opulent merchant with his villa, the cottager with his garden, and the mechanic with his pots and tubs placed at his window, while he toils for his daily bread, are each rewarded to the full, out of the never-failing source of pleasure which the garden can dispense. To such of my readers as have made a beginning in the garden, I would say, persevere; to those who think of doing so, I would say, delay not; to such as suppose they have no means, I will give a picture drawn from our favorite and amiable poet.

"The most unfurnished with the means of life,
And they, that never pass their brick wall bounds
To range the fields and treat their lungs with air,
Yet feel the burning instinct: over-head
Suspend their crazy boxes, planted thick,
And watered duly. There the pitcher stands,
A fragment, and the spoutless tea-pot there,-
Sad witnesses how close-pent man regrets
The country; with what ardor he contrives
A peep at nature, when he can no more."

None need be discouraged; a violet will smell as sweet, bloomed in a broken tea-pot as in a China vase; the rose will bloom as fair, and shed its perfume as far, though bloomed in the poor man's tub or crazy box, as in the rich parterre.

The remarks and description that accompany the list of plants annexed, and those which I may hereafter furnish for publication, will, in some cases, be taken from such sources as I may think best calculated to answer my purpose; when I copy from others, I shall give credit by making the usual quotation marks, but I shall not give the author's name. If the plan now proposed shall meet the approbation of the conductors of the "American Gardener's Magazine," and may in any way be acceptable to its readers, I may, as before remarked, continue this subject at some future time; but, in saying this much, I do not pledge myself so to do. Yours, &c. S. WALKER.

Roxbury, March 22d, 1836.

(To be continued.)

ART. III. Some Hints on the importance of improving Cottage · Gardens. By AN OLD FLORIST.

In looking over the last number of your Magazine, I was much pleased with an article from your correspondent, Mr. R. Murray, respecting the neglected state of cottage gardens, or perhaps, more properly, the gardens of people in moderate circumstances in life, in the immediate vicinity of Boston. This is an important subject for discussion, and one which requires to be handled by persons who are competent to suggest methods for improving them. I have observed, in travelling through the villages in this neighborhood, many places that lay entirely waste, or but very little improved, that might, by bestowing upon them a small portion of time and care, be made a great source of amusement, if not of profit, to the proprietor or occupant. This state of things is apt to strike the eye of persons unaccustomed to such, very unfavorably; and they oftentimes judge precipitately. It is very rare in Britain to see the gardens, even of the poorer cottagers, lie so neglected. A small, neat flower garden in front of the house, in which a few choice flowers are grown, and with the honeysuckle, jessamine, &c., climbing over the walls, and running up the sides and over the door, adds very much to the appearance of the premises, especially if the house is an indifferent one. I have frequently thought, when the subject has occurred to me, that this must in some measure be owing to the very long cold winters which are experienced in this climate, and which prevents gardening from being carried on here but a limited part of the year. Yet, however, I have found, that many plants which I should have expected that the cold winters would have killed, live through them with but little or no protection, and flourish as well as in England.

The horticultural and floral societies which abound throughout Britain has tended greatly to encourage gardening among the people: numerous prizes are awarded to individuals who are not members, but who produce any thing worthy of exhibition. I have never attended a meeting, but what a part of the room has been set off for the productions of the cottagers; and at certain times, the secretary and two or three members visit all the gardens within several miles of the place where their meetings are holden; a report is drawn up of the state in which they find them, and a prize is awarded to the person who keeps his under the highest cultivation. By this means emulation is produced, and the neighbor of the person who has gained a prize, begins to devote his leisure hours to the garden, rather than idle them away in places of dissipation; his family also receive more of his company, and the money that would perhaps have been uselessly spent, is applied to some good purpose. I do not know of any thing that ever gave VOL. II. NO. IV.

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