out of flower, and plant saffron crocus and autumn bulbs. Gather
seeds. Clip evergreen borders and edges, strike myrtle slips under
glasses. Net fruit trees. Finish budding by the end of the month. Head
down espaliers. Sow early dwarf cabbages to plant out in October for
spring; also endive, onions, kidney beans for late crop, and turnips.
Plant celery, endive, lettuces, cabbages, leeks, strawberries, and
cauliflowers. Tie up lettuces. Earth celery. Take up onions, &c., for
drying.
264. August.--Flowers of the Month.
Geranium, Verbena, Calceolaria, Hollyhock.
265. Gardening Operations.
Sow annuals to bloom indoors in winter, and pot all young stocks
raised in the greenhouse. Sow early red cabbages, cauliflowers for
spring and summer use, cos and cabbage lettuce for winter crop. Plant
out winter crops. Dry herbs and mushroom spawn. Plant out strawberry
roots, and net currant trees, to preserve the fruit through the
winter.
266. September.--Flowers of the Month.
Clematis, or Traveller's Joy, Jasmine, Passion Flower, Arbutus.
267. Gardening Operations.
Plant crocuses, scaly bulbs, and evergreen shrubs. Propagate by
layers and cuttings of all herbaceous plants, currant, gooseberry, and
other fruit trees. Plant out seedling pinks. Sow onions for spring
plantation, carrots, spinach, and Spanish radishes in warm spots.
Earth up celery. House potatoes and edible bulbs. Gather pickling
cucumbers. Make tulip and mushroom beds.
268. October.--Flowers of the Month.
Asters, Indian Pink, Chrysanthemum, Stock.
269. Gardening Operations.
Sow fruit stones for stocks for future grafting, also larkspurs and
the hardier annuals to stand the winter, and hyacinths and smooth
bulbs in pots and glasses. Plant young trees, cuttings of jasmine,
honeysuckle, and evergreens. Sow mignonette for pots in winter. Plant
cabbages, &c., for spring. Cut down asparagus, separate roots of
daisies, irises, &c. Trench, drain, and manure.
270. November.--Flowers of the Month.
Laurestinus, Michaelmas Daisy, Chrysanthemum.
271. Gardening Operations.
Sow sweet peas and garden peas for early flowers and crops. Take up
dahlia roots. Complete beds for asparagus and artichokes. Plant dried
roots of border flowers, daisies, &c. Take potted mignonette indoors.
Make new plantations of strawberries, though it is better to do this
in October. Sow peas, leeks, beans, and radishes. Plant rhubarb in
rows. Prune hardy trees, and plant stocks of fruit trees. Store
carrots, &c. Shelter from frost where it may be required. Plant shrubs
for forcing. Continue to trench and manure vacant ground.
272. December.--Flowers of the Month.
Cyclamen and Winter Aconite Holly berries are now available for floral
decoration.
273. Gardening Operations.
Continue in open weather to prepare vacant ground for spring, and to
protect plants from frost. Cover bulbous roots with matting. Dress
flower borders. Prepare forcing ground for cucumbers, and force
asparagus and seakale. Plant gooseberry, currant, apple, and pear
trees. Roll grass-plats if the season be mild and not too wet. Prepare
poles, stakes, pea-sticks, &c., for spring.
274. Kitchen Garden.
This is one of the most important parts of general domestic economy,
whenever the situation of a house and the size of the garden will
permit the members of a family to avail themselves of the advantages
it offers. It is, indeed, much to be regretted that small plots of
ground, in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis more especially,
are too often converted into flower gardens and shrubberies, or used
as mere play-grounds for children, when they might more usefully be
employed in raising vegetables for the family. With a little care and
attention, a kitchen garden, though small, might be rendered not only
useful, but, in fact, as ornamental as a modern grass lawn; and the
same expense incurred to make the ground a laboratory of sweets, might
suffice to render it agreeable to the palate as well as to the
olfactory nerves, and that even without offending the most delicate
optics. It is only in accordance with our plan to give the hint and to
put before the reader such novel points as may facilitate the proposed
arrangement. It is one objection to the formation of a kitchen garden
in front of the dwelling, or in sight of the drawing-room and parlour,
that its very nature makes it rather an eyesore than otherwise at all
seasons. This, however, may be readily got over by a little attention
to neatness and good order, for the vegetables themselves, if properly
attended to, may be made really ornamental; but then, in cutting the
plants for use, the business must be done neatly--all useless leaves
cleared from the ground, the roots no longer wanted taken up, and the
ravages of insects guarded against by sedulous extirpation. It will
also be found a great improvement, where space will admit of it, to
surround the larger plots of ground, in which the vegetables are
grown, with flower borders stocked with herbaceous plants and others,
such as annuals and bulbs in due order of succession, or with neat
espaliers, with fruit trees, or even gooseberry and currant bushes,
trained along them, instead of being suffered to grow in a state of
ragged wildness, as is too often the case.
[A WAITING APPETITE KINDLES MANY A SPITE.]
275. Artificial Mushroom Beds.
Mushrooms may be grown in pots, boxes, or hampers. Each box may be
about three feet long, one and a half broad, and seven inches in
depth. Let each box be half filled with manure in the form of fresh
horse-dung from the stables, the fresher the better, but if wet, it
should be allowed to dry for three or four days before it is put into
the boxes. When the manure has been placed in the box it should be
well beaten down. After the second or third day, if the manure has
begun to generate heat, break each brick of mushroom spawn (which may
be obtained from any seedsman) into pieces about three inches square,
then lay the pieces about four inches apart upon the surface of the
manure in the box; here they are to lie for six days, when it will
probably be found that the side of the spawn next to the manure has
begun to run in the manure below; then add one and a half inch more of
fresh manure on the top of the spawn in the box, and beat it down as
formerly. In the course of a fortnight, when you find that the spawn
has run through the manure, the box will be ready to receive the mould
on the top; this mould must be two and a half inches deep, well beaten
down, and the surface made quite even. In the space of five or six
weeks the mushrooms will begin to come up; if the mould then seems
dry, give it a gentle watering with lukewarm water. The box will
continue to produce from six weeks to two months, if duly attended to
by giving a little water when dry, for the mushrooms need neither
_light_ nor _free air_. If cut as button mushrooms each box will yield
from twenty-four to forty-eight pints, according to the season and
other circumstances. They may be kept in dry dark cellars, or any
other places where the frost will not reach them. By preparing in
succession of boxes, mushrooms may be had all the year through.--They
may be grown without the manure, and be of a finer flavour. Take a
little straw, and lay it carefully in the bottom of the mushroom box,
about an inch thick, or rather more. Then take some of the spawn
bricks and break them down--each brick into about ten pieces, and lay
the fragments on the straw, as close to each other as they will lie.
Cover them up with mould three and a half inches deep, and well
pressed down. When the surface appears dry give a little tepid water,
as directed for the mode of raising them described above, but this
method needs about double the quantity of water that the former does,
owing to having no moisture in the bottom, while the other has the
manure. The mushrooms will begin to start in a month or five weeks,
sometimes sooner, sometimes later, according to the heat of the place
where the boxes are situated.
[SOME HOURS WE SHOULD FIND FOR THE PLEASURES OF THE MIND.]
276. Dwarf Plants.
The following method of producing miniature trees is taken from an
article on this subject in 'Gardening Illustrated'.
"Take an orange, and having cut a hole in the peel about the size of
a shilling, take out the juice and pulp. Fill the skin thus emptied
with some cocoa-nut fibre, fine moss, and charcoal, just stiffened
with a little loam, and then put an acorn or a date stone, or the
seed or kernel of any tree that it is proposed to obtain in a
dwarfed form in this mixture, just about the centre of the hollow
orange peel. Place the orange peel in a tumbler or vase in a window,
and occasionally moisten the contents with a little water through
the hole in the peel, and sprinkle the surface apparent through the
hole with some fine woodashes. In due time the tree will push up its
stem through the compost and the roots will push through the orange
peel. The roots must then be cut off flush with the peel, and this
process must be repeated at frequent intervals for about two years
and a half. The stem of the tree will attain the height of four or
five inches and then assume a stunted gnarled appearance, giving it
the appearance of an old tree. When the ends of the roots are cut
for the last time, the orange peel, which, curiously enough, does
not rot, must be painted black and varnished."
The writer of the article saw this process carried out by a Chinaman
that he had in his service, and the trees thrived and presented a
healthy appearance for eight years, when the Chinaman left his employ
and took the trees with him. He tried the plan which has been
described but failed, but he was successful with an acorn and a
datestone which were planted each in a thumb-pot in a mixture of peat
and loam. The dwarfing was effected by turning the plants out of the
pots at intervals of six weeks and pinching off the ends of the roots
that showed themselves behind the compost. This shows that the
production of dwarf plants is chiefly due to a constant and systematic
checking of the root growth.
277. To Clear Rose Trees from Blight.
Mix equal quantities of Sulphur and tobacco dust, and strew the
mixture over the trees of a morning when the dew is on them. The
insects will disappear in a few days. The trees should then be
syringed with a decoction of elder leaves.
278. To prevent Mildew on all sorts of Trees.
The best preventive against mildew is to keep the plant subject to it
occasionally syringed with a decoction of elder leaves, which will
prevent the fungus growing on them.
279. Your Friend the Toad.
Toads are among the best friends the gardener has; for they live
almost exclusively on the most destructive kinds of vermin. Unsightly,
therefore, though they may be, they should on all accounts be
encouraged; they should never be touched nor molested in any way; on
the contrary, places of shelter should be made for them, to which they
may retire from the burning heat of the sun. If you have none in your
garden, it will be quite worth your while to search for them in your
walks, and bring them home, taking care to handle them tenderly, for
although they have neither the will nor the power to injure you, a
very little rough treatment will injure them; no cucumber or melon
frame should be without one or two.
280. Slugs and Snails
are great enemies to every kind of garden plant, whether flower or
vegetable; they wander in the night to feed, and return at daylight to
their haunts. In order to catch them lay cabbage leaves about the
ground, especially on the beds which they frequent. Every morning
examine these leaves, and you will find a great many taking refuge
beneath, and these may be killed by sprinkling them with a little lime
or salt. These minerals are very annoying to snails and slugs; a pinch
of salt kills them, and they will not touch fresh lime. It is a common
practice to sprinkle lime over young crops, and along the edges of
beds, about rows of peas and beans, lettuces and other vegetables; but
when it has been on the ground some days, or has been moistened by
rain, it loses its strength.
[LET THE TICKING CLOCK GUIDE THE BOILING CROCK.]
281. Traps for Snails.
Snails are particularly fond of bran; if a little is spread on the
ground, and covered over with a few cabbage-leaves or tiles, they will
congregate under them in great numbers, and by examining them every
morning, and destroying them, their numbers will be materially
decreased.
282. Grubs.
Grubs on orchard trees, and gooseberry and currant bushes, will
sometimes be sufficiently numerous to spoil a crop; but if a bonfire
be made with dry sticks and weeds on the windward side of the orchard,
so that the smoke may blow among the trees, you will destroy
thousands; for the grubs have such an objection to smoke, that very
little of it makes them roll themselves up and fall off: they must be
swept up afterwards and destroyed.
283. Caterpillars and Aphides.
A garden syringe or engine, with a cap on the pipe full of very minute
holes, will wash away these disagreeable visitors very quickly. You
must bring the pipe close to the plant, and pump hard, so as to have
considerable force on, and the plant, however badly infested, will
soon be cleared, without receiving any injury. Afterwards rake the
earth under the trees, and kill the insects that have been dislodged,
or many will recover and climb up the stems of the plants. Aphides may
also be cleared by means of tobacco smoke, but after this has been
applied the plant should be well syringed.
284. Butterflies and Moths,
however pretty, are the worst enemies one can have in a garden; a
single insect of this kind may deposit eggs enough to overrun a tree
with caterpillars, therefore they should be destroyed at any cost of
trouble.
285. Birds.
To prevent destruction of fruit buds by birds.--Just before the buds
are ready to burst, and again when they have begun to expand, give
them a plentiful dusting with chimney soot. The soot is unpalatable to
the birds, and they will attack no bush that is thus sprinkled. It in
no way injures the nascent blossom or leaf, and is washed off in due
course of time by the rain.
286. Wasps.
Wasps destroy a good deal of fruit, but every pair of wasps killed in
spring saves the trouble and annoyance of a swarm in autumn.
287. Cure for Sting of Wasp or Bee.
A little ammonia applied to the puncture will speedily relieve the
pain, and so will the juice of an onion obtained by cutting an onion
in half and rubbing the cut part over the part affected. It is
necessary, however, to be very careful in any attempt upon a wasp, for
its sting, like that of the bee, causes much pain and frequently
induces considerable swelling. In case of being stung, get the
blue-bag from the laundry, and rub it well into the wound as soon as
possible. Later in the season, it is customary to hang vessels of
beer, or water and sugar, in the fruit-trees, to entice them to drown
themselves. A wasp in a window may be killed almost instantaneously by
the application of a little sweet oil on the tip of a feather.
288. To protect Dahlias from Earwigs.
Dip a piece of wool or cotton in oil, and slightly tie it round the
stalk, about a foot from the earth. The stakes which you will put into
the ground to support your plants must also be surrounded by the oiled
cotton or wool, or the insects will climb up them to the blossoms and
tender tops of the stems. Insects may be prevented from climbing up
stakes, trees, &c., by encircling them with a broad ring of tar, which
may be renewed as often as may be necessary. Small pots inverted and
placed on the top of stakes form a useful trap for slugs, snails,
earwigs, &c., which crawl into them for shelter in the early morning,
and may thus be caught and destroyed. When it is sought to take
earwigs by this means, the bottom of each pot should be filled with a
wisp of hay or dried grass, or a little cotton wool.
289. To free Plants from Leaf-Lice.
The following is recommended as a cheap and easy mode of getting
rid of this pest:--Mix one ounce of flowers of sulphur with one bushel
of sawdust; scatter this over the plants infected with these insects:
they will soon be freed, though a second application may possibly be
necessary.
290. A Moral.
I had a little spot of ground,
Where blade nor blossom grew,
Though the bright sunshine all around
Life-giving radiance threw.
I mourned to see a spot so bare
Of leaves of healthful green,
And thought of bowers, and blossoms fair,
I frequently had seen.
Some seeds of various kinds lay by--
I knew not what they were--
But, rudely turning o'er the soil,
I strewed them thickly there;
And day by day I watched them spring
From out the fertile earth,
And hoped for many a lovely thing
Of beauty and of worth.
But as I marked their leaves unfold
As weeds before my view,
And saw how stubbornly and bold
The thorns and nettles grew--
I sighed to think that I had done,
Unwittingly, a thing
That, where a beauteous bower should thrive,
But worthless weeds did spring.
And thus I mused; the things we do,
With little heed or ken,
May prove of worthless growth, and strew
With thorns the paths of men;
For little deeds, like little seeds,
May flowers prove, or noxious weeds!
291. Taking a House.
Before taking a house, be careful to calculate that the rent is not
too high in proportion to your means; for remember that the rent is a
claim that must be paid with but little delay, and that the landlord
has greater power over your property than any other creditor. It is
difficult to assign any fixed proportion between income and rental to
suit all cases, but a reasonable basis for the settlement of this
point may be found in the assertion that while not less than one-tenth
of a man's entire income need be set apart for rent, not more than a
sixth, or at the very utmost a fifth should be devoted to this
purpose, and this amount ought to include parochial rates and taxes.
292. Having determined the Amount of Rent
which you can afford to pay, be careful to select the best and most
convenient house which can be obtained for that sum. And in making
that selection let the following matters be carefully considered:
293. First--Carefully regard the Healthfulness of the Situation.
Find out the nature of the sub-soil on which the house stands--for
example, a gravel or chalk subsoil is better than a subsoil of clay,
because the former admits of a speedy escape of the surplus water in
time of heavy and continuous rain, while the latter does not. Avoid
the neighbourhood of graveyards, and of factories giving forth
unhealthy vapours. Avoid low and damp districts, the course of canals,
and localities of reservoirs of water, gas works, &c. Make inquiries
as to the drainage of the neighbourhood, and inspect the drainage and
water supply of the premises. A house standing on an incline is likely
to be better drained than one standing upon the summit of a hill, or
on a level below a hill. Endeavour to obtain a position where the
direct sunlight falls upon the house, for this is absolutely essential
to health; and give preference to a house the openings of which are
sheltered from the north and east winds.
294. Second--Consider the Distance of the House
from your place of occupation: and also its relation to provision
markets, and shops in the neighbourhood.
295. Examine the House in Detail.
Having considered these material and leading features, examine the
house in detail, carefully looking into its state of repair; notice
the windows that are broken; whether the chimneys smoke; whether they
have been recently swept; whether the paper on the walls is damaged,
especially in the lower parts, and the corners, by the skirtings;
whether the locks, bolts, handles of doors, and window fastenings are
in proper condition; make a list of the fixtures; ascertain whether
all rates and taxes have been paid by the previous tenant, and whether
the person from whom you take the house is the original landlord, or
his agent or tenant. And do not commit yourself by the signing of any
agreement until you are satisfied upon all these points, _and see that
all has been done which the landlord may have undertaken to do, before
you take possession of the house_.
[A BLUNT KNIFE SHOWS A DULL WIFE.]
296. If you are about to Furnish a House,
buy merely enough to get along with at first, and add other things by
degrees. It is only by experience that you can tell what will be the
wants of your family. If you spend all your money, you will find you
have purchased many things you do not actually want, and have no means
left to get many things which you do want. If you have enough, and
more than enough, to get everything suitable to your situation, do not
think you must spend all, you may be able to lay out in furniture,
merely because you happen to have it. Begin humbly. As riches
increase, it is easy and pleasant to increase in comforts; but it is
always painful and inconvenient to decrease. Neatness, tastefulness,
and good sense may be shown in the management of a small household,
and the arrangement of a little furniture, as well as upon a larger
scale. The consideration which many purchase by living beyond their
income, and, of course, living upon others, is not worth the trouble
it costs. It does not, in fact, procure a man valuable friends, or
extensive influence.
297. Carpets.
In buying carpets, as in everything else, those of the best quality
are cheapest in the end. As it is extremely desirable that they should
look as clean as possible, avoid buying carpeting that has any white
in it. Even a very small portion of white interspersed through the
pattern will in a short time give a dirty appearance to the whole.
298. A Carpet in which all the Colours are Light
never has a clean, bright effect, from the want of dark tints to
contrast and set off the light ones.
299. For a Similar Reason,
carpets whose colours are all of what artists call middle tint
(neither dark nor light), cannot fail to look dull and dingy, even
when quite new.
300. For a Carpet to be really Beautiful
and in good taste, there should be, as in a picture, a judicious
disposal of light and shadow, with a gradation of very bright and of
very dark tints; some almost white, and others almost or quite black.
301. The Best Carpets
The most truly chaste, rich, and elegant carpets are those which are
of one colour only, the pattern, if pattern it may be called, being
formed by a judicious arrangement of every variety of shade of this
colour. For instance, a Brussels carpet entirely red; the pattern
formed by shades or tints varying from the deepest crimson (almost a
black), to the palest pink (almost a white). Also one of green only,
shaded from the darkest bottle-green, in some parts of the pattern, to
the lightest pea-green in others. Or one in which there is no colour
but brown, in all its various gradations, some of the shades being
nearly black, others of a light buff.
302. The Curtains, Sofas, &c.,
must be of corresponding colours, that the effect of the whole may be
satisfactory to the eye.
303. Colours of Carpets.
Carpets of many gaudy colours are much less in demand than formerly.
Two or three colours only, with the dark and light shades of each,
make a very handsome carpet.
304. Hearth-Rug.
If you cannot obtain a Hearth-rug that exactly corresponds with the
carpet, get one entirely different; for a decided contrast looks
better than a bad match. The hearth-rug, however, should reflect the
colour or colours of the carpet if possible.
305. Sheepskin Rugs.
Large rugs of sheepskin, in white, crimson, or black, form comfortable
and effective hearth-rugs for a drawing-room or dining-room. In the
winter these may be removed and an ordinary woollen rug laid down as
long as fires are kept up.
[A BAD BROOM LEAVES A DIRTY ROOM.]
306. Wallpaper.
In choosing paper for a room, avoid that which has a variety of
colours, or a large showy figure, as no furniture can appear to
advantage with such. Large figured papering makes a small room look
smaller, but, on the contrary, a paper covered with a small pattern
makes a room look larger, and a striped paper, the stripes running
from ceiling to floor, makes a low room look higher.
307. Kitchen Floors.
The best covering for a Kitchen Floor is a thick unfigured oil-cloth,
of one colour. Linoleum or kamptulicon is warmer to the feet than the
ordinary painted oilcloth.