and if so, why not take it up at once and lay it in close together in some warm corner, where it may be kept in any quantity, if laid in deeply? Endive, too, may be protected in the same way, with very little trouble, should severe weather set in. A good gardener should be always watching and providing for future wants and events. J. BARNES AND W.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

ALLOTMENT GARDENING, DECEMBER. Although during this dull month nothing immediate may press on the allotment holder, yet much of a prospective character lies ahead, and even the spare hour during winter's repose may be properly employed, provided the ice-king's reign is set aside for awhile. Mere labourers cannot be supposed to have leisure overhours during winter, and it is clear that if such are to carry out improvements during the short days that they must at times absent themselves from their employment. A couple or three days at intervals, in fair weather, would in general suffice in ordinary allotments as to making improvements affecting the staple or condition of the soil, and we think and hope there are few employers who would throw themselves in the way of an industrious cottager's progress; the majority would be happy to see an ardent desire for improvement in such men; for we may rest assured, that in proportion as a cottager becomes more industrious and more earnest to better his condition, so will he prove of more value as a servant.

As foremost, we advise the cottier to look well to his potatoes; those who have pitted them--a plan the cottager should never pursue if he can help it-must endeavour to get them out as soon as possible. In Cheshire, at least one half of those pitted are rotten, whilst others uncovered in sheds and outhouses have suffered little or nothing. The seed potatoes for spring planting should be immediately pricked out with great care, and spread by themselves in a dry and cool place, and made safe from frost. Mr. Errington's practice is to smother them over with fresh lime and dry charcoal dust, which, he thinks, has a tendency to purify the skin from anything connected with the disease.

DRAINAGE. It is scarcely possible to overrate the importance of drainage; it concerns the allotment holder even more than the general farmer; inasmuch as expending, as he should do, a greater amount of labour on his soil, he ought to look for a much increased produce. If stagnant waters are permitted to choak and corrupt the soil, one half his labour and three parts of the manures will be wasted. Manures, it is well known, will not act in water-bound soils. Unless the hidden waters are removed the air cannot enter, and without air entering the soil the manures cannot decompose or rot, and without rotting they give out little nutritious matter to the plants: the very stunted oaks, and other trees, even the apple in the hedgerows, or sides of allotments, bear ample witness of the ill effects of stagnation by their hidebound and moss grown character, and by their stag-headed appearance. If, then, hardwooded trees, which possess vital powers of a more enduring character than our root crops, thus suffer, what can be expected from such succulent and tender plants as the mangold, turnips, and potatoes, with which every day that is lost detracts from their ultimate weight, the time allotted to them from the seeding to

the harvesting being of so very limited a character. Observe well, too, the difference in the working or pulverising of the soil in soils thoroughly drained, and those of a stagnant character; neither rake, nor harrow, nor roller, can effectually crush the "livered" clods on wet and adhesive soils; they are always tough, being as it were only kneaded by the action of implements. Indeed, if it were not for the useful action of our severe frosts, many such soils must go out of culture altogether, as far as concerns the plough or the spade. It is well known also that the produce from such soils when obtained is not nearly so nutritious to either man or beast as that from mellow upland, or well-drained soils. Who would prefer to buy a stock of potatoes from a wet field, if he could buy at the same price from a dry upland one? We may here point to another well-known fact, as bearing on this subject; a too liberal use of rank grasses from water meadows is almost sure to produce lice in cattle. Let us, therefore, persuade allotment cultivators to take a serious view of this matter, and a little extra courage for a day or two will enable them to make solid improvements in this way, which will never be regretted, but prove a source of great consolation in spring and summer, when the cottager notices with what ease and satisfaction he performs cultural matters, and observes, as he must and will, such an improved size and appearance in his crops of every kind. In making his drains it will be necessary, in some cases, for the allotment holder to endeavour to act in concert with those who hold adjoining compartments. This, we own, is slightly difficult: nevertheless, we should hope that the landlord of the plot would, on a proper appeal, and a well concerted plan, enforce the carrying out such a design for the good of all parties; and take care that each bears his proper share in the burden. As such men are not overburdened with capital, a generous landlord should at once purchase the tiles necessary at a per centage charge; many thousands of acres lie undrained merely through dread of the first outlay. In many districts, however, stone and other inexpensive materials exist in abundance, and these will merely require carting to the spot. We would here advise plenty of depth to the drain. Much depends on subsoils, but we would have none less than thirty inches in depth : very few persons complain of having made their drains too narrow or too deep.

TRENCHING AND RIDGING.-We have before adverted to the immense importance of deep trenching in the winter season, and of ridging spare ground, whether trenched or dug; indeed, thorough drainage and deep digging or ploughing are the principal foundation on which any real improvements can be based. Deep digging not only allows the plants to make both more roots and to extend them furtherthus keeping up a permanent growth during dry and hot weather, whilst crops in shallow soils are flagging and stationary-but it is an economiser of manure. We would, by the aid of trenching, undertake, during a whole summer, to produce as great a weight of some crops, on certain soils, without manure as with it, accompanied by shallow digging or ploughing. Ridging, too, in the face of a long winter! who has not been struck with the difference in the amount of labour requisite to prepare for spring crops on soils "breaking down" from ridges, and those just turned up after laying stagnant since October? Even the most stubborn clays submit to the action of continued frost, provided a great extent of surface is exposed.

HAY-GRASS. Those who possess a cow and some land for hay, as well as root crops, should forthwith put forth their energies to obtain a full crop of this valuable article. We need scarcely observe, that if hay-grass is eaten down constantly until March, that а full crop must not be looked for. The cottier with one cow, however, and perhaps a rearing calf, should be above such a silly and pennywise proceeding. Surely, with his root crops, the consumption of their tops, and other gardening offal, with a little bran, Indian corn meal, inferior and cheap oats, &c., together with a little hay, he can manage to shut up his hay-grass by the end of November. Better even buy a little straw than injure the next year's crop of hay. The plot of hay grass should have a trifling amount of manure at proper intervals; and here we say, use at this time of the year the coarser portions of the manure heap for the hay ground, reserving the more rotten for the root crops, &c., in March. When littery manure is thoroughly well shaken over haygrass in the early part of November, it is astonishing what a bulk of herbage is produced betimes, and it nourishes a strong "heat" beneath it; indeed, independently of the fertilising properties, the severity of the weather is warded off, cold winds pass over the surface without carrying away the heat, and the whole field, by such treatment, is nursed like a bed of radishes in a garden.

ECONOMY OF CATTLE OR PIG FOOD.-At this period those who took our allotment advice, about planting the thousand-headed cabbage, green kale, &c., will be rewarded by the prospect of a countinuous supply of green food through the winter: such matters, as be fore observed, have a bearing on the hay-stack economy of this year, and the prospective one also. We have a plot of green kale at this time, in drills two feet apart by fifteen inches between the plants, which is a complete picture. The whole average a yard in height, and it is as dense as a thick forest. It is impossible to conceive anything more productive, and having cut off and used up the mere points a month ago, they are covered with innumerable sprouts about four inches long. The sprouts will continue growing all the winter, at intervals, and will themselves produce sprouts when cut. Therefore the true policy with this plant is to sow early, plant early on rich soil, and to top early in order to force out every sprout before winter. We merely remove the terminal point with three or four leaves adhering to it; and thus cut, and under high culture, it furnishes a dish superior, as we think, to either sea-kale or asparagus. Well, then, here we have these greens in abundance, perhaps a few drumhead cabbage, savoys, or Brussel's sprouts; and plenty of carrots, parsnips, mangold, and a few good potatoes, in store. such, and a good fat hog in the sty, and ordinary labour, a cottager may be one of the happiest of men, provided he can acquire contentment in his station; may we not add even thankfulness for so many blessings, as compared with the tens of thousands in an uncivilised state. All this, however, requires forecast -a species of forecast which, as Solomon says, may be learned from the ant or the bee. Those, therefore, who have not yet learned to manage matters thus, should lay their plans for a succeeding summer, whilst the season is young.

With

PIGS. A cottager may now feed a hog at little more than half the expense which we have known to be the case. The various grains and meals are astonishingly cheap, and with such an allotment holding as we were just describing, with such a stock of green meat and roots, he may even keep a breeding,

Sow,

if necessary, and make some cash by the sale of young pigs; or he may, immediately on killing his fat hog, place a couple of good store pigs in their place to run through the summer, one to be killed in November, the other at the back of Christmas. As the cottager may sell his hog, it is not amiss for him to know the relation which live meat bears to dead. We think it will be found that about a score of live weight will amount to about a stone of dead weight, fourteen pounds to the stone. Smaller pigs are known to be liable to a greater loss by weight. By these means, persons inexperienced among swine may sell with certainty; for we have known cottagers sadly cheated in this respect by crafty butchers or pig buyers. We had intended to have given here an outline of the two or three distinct modes of curing bacon; we are warned, however, that we have reached our allotted limits.

THE POULTRY-KEEPER'S CALENDAR.
DECEMPER.

By Martin Doyle, Author of " Hints to Small
Farmers," dc.

FOWLS-Hens of late have, in frequent instances, withheld the desired supplies of eggs. Some Dorkings in our yard have not laid an egg for the last three months, though they have long since recovered from the effects of moulting. Our old woman says they are too fat and lazy; another person hints that they want excitement, and ought to be soundly whipped round the yard every day; another suggests that they may have laid eggs in some out-ofthe-way place, as if ever hens lay without proclaiming the event loudly. The contributor of this brief calendar has at least to complain of some disappointment which those young Dorkings have occasioned to him, at whose recommendation the editor employed an artist to take the picture of one of them along with that of her husband, and thus display her beauties to an admiring world. Whether the cock, who is certainly handsome, shall continue a member of our little establishment will depend on his own conduct. He has become tyrannical and petulant towards his wives, and so very cold to one of them in particular, that he at least deserves to be whipped. The prison discipline of fetters has been tried on him once or twice, but without lasting effect, for on their removal he has crowed at the poultry woman in a tone of defiance, which sounded very like to "do your best; no one shall hen-peck me. Though for general purposes the Dorkings are the best breed, and so plentiful as to be within the reach even of the cottager, yet the Dutch every-day layers, where a large number of eggs is a principal object, are to be much recommended. Mr. Richardson, who is an excellent authority on poultry, describes them as of two varieties, distinguished chiefly by the colour. "When the colour of the body is a golden yellow, streaked or spangled with blackish or deep brown markings (an appearance caused by the dark colour of the ends of the feathers), the bird is styled the golden spangled;' and when the ground colour is white (the other circumstances of shading remaining the same), the bird is styled the silver spangled." They are a hardy and a pretty breed, and, having no strong desire to hatch, will lay eggs continually, if properly housed and fed. The Spanish and Poland breeds are also good layers, and of very large and well-flavoured eggs too, though the former rarely lays except on the alternate days. Both the Spanish and the best known variety of the Poland are black,

or nearly so, in their plumage. The former, how ever, which is supposed by some writers to be a variety of the latter, has a shade of dark green through it, and a white check, which distinguishes it in particular. The legs are lead coloured. The comb and wattles of the cock are very large.

SPANISH COCK.

SPANISH HEN.

Both the cock and hen of the Poland kind have a shining black plumage, and white tufts on the head. To those who can afford to pay the high price usually asked for these fine birds, they are to be specially recommended for the size and quality of the eggs, their regular disposition to lay, and their grand ap pearance. But we repeat our preference of the Dorkings for the general purposes of producing many eggs in the year, sitting steadily, and supplying a profitable and well-flavoured bird for the spit. The great size and high quality of the eggs of the former large breeds render them so profitable that, whether they be sold for the table or for hatching, they fetch such a price as soon repays their original cost; and we think that even the cottager cannot better invest any spare capital he may possess than in the purchase of a stock of those breeds as long as they are scarce, and, therefore, worth a high price. Large fowls, it is true, will consume more food than small ones, but the difference is not very important. Garden refuse, boiled turnips, and small potatoes, beet

leaves, lettuces, chopped leeks and cabbage leaves, assist in the keep of all poultry, and corn has never been cheaper than now. Damaged rice may sometimes be bought on very cheap terms, and this, when boiled, increases, like barley, so considerably in bulk, that a much smaller quantity suffices when boiled than if it were given raw. Barley swells to so great a bulk by boiling, that half the quantity, it is said, may be saved thereby.

To have a reasonable supply of eggs between October and February, warmth and feeding are not alone sufficient. There should be some pullets of the early spring preceding among the hens, for these pullets, if they had been well kept, will lay while the hens are casting their feathers, and suffering from derangement of the secretions. The hens, too, should be of different ages, in which case the younger ones will begin to lay early in the winter. By good management in this way a continued supply of eggs, excepting in very severe weather, may be constantly obtained. The laying hens should be always well fed with stimulating, nutritive, and, during winter, warm food. In the ordinary feeding of fowls with corn, it is desirable to scatter the grains amongst loose gravel or grass, to afford them occupation and exercise in scraping and searching for the grains.

In the last month's calendar it was mentioned that the fecundity of the poor man's hen is chiefly attributable to the warmth she enjoys on a rafter of his cottage; but nearly the same advantage may be attained by the cottager for his fowls, without the uncleanliness of having them inmates of his habitation, by erecting a roosting shed against the chimney gable, if no other house adjoins it. The fowls roosting with their backs to the warm wall will be as comfortable in their sensations as if they were in the interior of the cottage.

Every one who has laying fowls will be now collecting eggs for the Christmas plum-puddings. The eggs to be kept should be greased, in order to close their pores, with butter, lard, suet, or any oily substance, on the days on which they are laid, and then placed, on the large end, in bran or saw-dust. The reason for putting the egg on the larger end is, that the yolk keeps itself in this position of the egg from touching either of the sides, by which contact it would become sooner tainted.

The operation of making capons, and the process of fattening them, and all fowls for the table, should now proceed steadily. The large breeds are the best for the purpose. Large capons appear on the table as full-sized as turkey poults The autumnal broods of chickens will now be forward for the table. By three weeks' feeding in the coop, or confined in a room, with boiled rice, barley, or Indian meal and milk, or curds, and a small portion of potatoes, they will become fat enough without cramming with pellets of meal paste. The troughs should be kept very clean and free from a sour smell.

TURKEYS.-The black Norfolk breed is considered the best; it is more hardy than the white, and larger and preferable also to the copper-coloured; it fattens more readily than either of these kinds. If the run of a poultry-yard and field, with corn two or three times a day, be not considered sufficient feeding for them, they may be crammed with pellets of meal. Mr. Richardson says that 201bs. is a fair weight for any fat yearling turkey, and 30lbs. for one of any age, and that few, except the Norfolk, ever exceed 40lbs. The latter sort has been known to attain the enormous weight of 56lbs.; it was, no doubt, an old cock bird. The observations respecting them in the

last month's calendar are applicable to the present

one.

DUCKS AND GEESE.-For the present treatment of these, see last month's observations also.

THE BEE-KEEPER'S CALENDAR.-DEC. By J. H. Payne, Esq., Author of "The Bee-Keeper's Guide," &c.

The good old reformer (Luther) when asked which wss the first and greatest of all the Christian graces, replied, "Humility!" and upon being again asked which was the next, replied, "Humility!" the question having again been put to him as to which in his opinion would be the third, replied again, "Humility!" Now, somewhat in a similar manner to which this good man replied to these most important questions would I reply to a request of a very different nature so often put to me, as to what is the chief thing to be observed in constructing a bee-hive either of straw or wood, and in the establishment of an apiary generally; and say, Simplicity-simplicity-simplicity! I have very recently been favoured with descriptions and drawings of some newly-invented hives; they are very clever, ingenious things, and in the hand of their inventors I doubt not may be made to answer exceedingly well; but I would venture to say that in the hands of other persons they would prove a failure in nine cases out of ten. There is too much complication and machinery about them, which, in bee management, is always attended with much trouble and inconvenience.

I am happy to inform my apiarian friends that Mr. Taylor has made a further improvement in his "amateur's bee-hive;" that is, he has simplified it. It will be called “ The Improved Amateur's Bee-hive." It is more simple, more useful, and easier to work; uniting, at the same time, economy and better appearance than his "amateur's bee-hive" figured at page 306 of vol. i. of THE COTTAGE GARDENER. There are also glasses adapted to it, for those who prefer their use. Perhaps at some future time I may give a drawing and description of it.

I have just learned from an apiarian friend, who is living in a rural district, that that little destroyer, the blue titmouse (Parus major, of Linnæus), which I mentioned in my last calendar, is beginning to resort to the hives, and to commence its work of slaughter. Every possible means should now be used to thin their numbers, both by shooting and trapping, or in any other way that may be found most effectual, for the life of a bee is doubly valuable at this season of the year.

Let the floor boards of each hive be again cleaned in the same manner as directed for last month, and let the hives be well examined, that they are free from mouldiness and dampness; that the coverings be all sound, and that no rain be admitted through them. Select for this examination a fine clear day, but without frost. On no account let the hives be removed during a frost.

The population of the hives will now be found to be very much reduced, but alarm for their safety, on that account, need not to be entertained. It has been frequently said to me, "What becomes of the bees managed on the depriving system, if they are never suffered to swarm nor are destroyed?" To which my reply has been, that it is well known to those who are conversant with the care of bees, that their numbers decrease greatly in autumn, not only by the destruction of the drones, but also by the unavoidable deaths of many of the workers, owing to

the thousand accidents they meet with in the fields, and owing to age. A much less space, therefore, is required for them in the winter than was necessary in the summer months. Mr. Purchas, who was a very careful observer, says, in his treatise on bees, published in 1657, "It is manifest that the honeybees are but yearly creatures; they live but a year and a quarter at most; for those bees that are seen in May, lusty, full, brown, smooth, and well-winged, will, by the end of July following, begin to wither, become less, look gray, and have their wings tattered and torn, and be all dead before the end of August."

MY FARM-YARD.

GLOOMY, dreary November is passing away, and December is approaching nearer and nearer, and with it all the numerous preparations for Christmas-that time of bustling and rejoicing, as well as of thankfulness and liberality. And, as I know most of my readers will be busy too, I think I cannot employ my pen better than in telling the "gude wife" how to proceed when her husband has brought in the pig, "killed and scalded," that they have fatted with so much care. Well, in the first place, you must remember that every part of the pig is good for man." Directly it is killed, take the inside to the pump; clean it thoroughly; then cut it into bits, and fry it with onions, parsley, and any other herbs you may have. This, with potatoes, will make a capital dish for a large family. The blood of the pig should be put, whilst warm, to the roots of some favourite fruit-tree. Some people make "black puddings" of it, but I prefer using it as manure. For the second day's dinner, you can have the lights; they make an excellent dish baked, with a common crust over them, and well seasoned with herbs. Then there is the liver, which, unless you are a large party, will last two days: this you will fry plainly. With this arrangement, you have a good wholesome dinner for three or four days, according to the size of your party. When your pig is cut up sprinkle it well with salt, and let it hang a day; then place it in your salting-tub, and rub it well with salt, which you must do every day for at least three weeks; the harder you rub it the better it will be. Do not let the pork soak in the brine, but pour whatever liquid there may be in the tub away every third day; at the end of three weeks, or, if the meat is thick, a month, wipe the salt off, and, if you burn wood, hang it up your chimney to dry. If you cannot manage that, you must be content with laying it along the ceiling of your cottage. If you follow these directions, I can promise you as nice a piece of salt pork for your Christmas dinner as you would wish to have; and, when your neighbours wish you a "merry Christmas," you need not turn away with a heavy heart as you think of the empty cupboard and bare table; for, although you may not sit down to a dinner of" roast beef and plum-pudding," yet, let me tell you, those who "fare sumptuously every day" would not despise a dinner of home-cured bacon, home-made bread, and homegrown potatoes. How much more, then, will the man who has worked hard all day be pleased, when, on reaching home, he sees the clean cloth laid, and on it steaming the produce of his own industry! Add to this, a smiling wife, and children, to welcome him home, and the picture will be complete. I wish such a sight were more common; and it would be, if more gardens were cultivated, more pigs kept; for then the wife and children would have constant occupa

tion, and there would be no time to sit brooding over misfortunes, which, even if real, are only magnified by idleness.

The necessity of great cleanliness in the stye cannot be too often impressed on you; and now cold winds have set in, give your pigs as warm a bed as you can. If there are trees near you, collect all the leaves, and throw them into your stye: I am now collecting quantities, and scattering them over the farm-yard; trodden on by the cattle, they will make excellent manure, and, where straw is dear, will be found of great service. If you have a wood near you, cut as much fern as possible, and keep it till it is dry; it makes a very good substitute for straw. In fact, collect every thing you can for the pig-sty; for, the more manure you have, the better crops you will grow next year; and, consequently, you will be able to increase the number of your pigs. Above all, save the "liquid manure" from the sty. Some of the cottagers near me sink an earthenware brown pan (price Is 6d) just outside the sty; and by taking out a brick the "liquid manure runs into it. You

can either do this or make a small tank. The former plan is the cheapest, the latter the neatest and most lasting.

Your poultry will not now be in such a thriving condition as the rest of your farm-yard: they are looking dull, and laying but few eggs, as this is the usual moulting season. Directly I observe mine looking very dull I give them four or five peppercorns, and have found it a capital remedy for drooping wings. Should you happen to have a brood of young chickens at this season of the year, you will find great difficulty in rearing them; they must be kept in a very warm place, and only let out when the sun is shining brightly. Rice well boiled and well dried, I find the best food for very young chickens. I find dry food answers better than that which is moistened, but they must always have a pan of clear water near them. But even if you manage them according to the most approved system, you will meet with much disappointment if you attempt to rear a brood so late in the year as November. I have one now, which I am anxious to save, and therefore keep them in a green-house with plenty of fresh air admitted, but still they grow very slowly, and I have lost several. But " nothing venture, nothing have;" and, perhaps, you may be more successful. C. M. A.

WATERCRESS IN GARDENS. NOTHING is easier than to have a good succession of this wholesome plant throughout the year, which I have had all this, to the admiration of most of my gardening friends, and this is the plan I pursued. About the early part of March I procured a handful or two of healthy plants, torn out of a neighbouring brook, and having prepared two small beds of good loamy soil under an easterly wall, I cut the plants immediately into lengths of about three or four inches, prefering those pieces which had the appearance of a little white root attached, and planted them at once with a small dibble, nearly up to the tops in rows, about eight inches apart, and six inches between the plants, watering them well, and shaded them with inats supported on sticks just above the plants for a few days. Every plant struck root and soon began to grow. I kept the beds generally damp by applying the watering-pot nearly every day; by the next month they were so much grown that I could nip off the tops, and supply a good plate for every day in the

weck; after the tops were first gathered the plants threw out side shoots in abundance and soon covered all the bed, and during the spring and summer produced a substantial crop that there was some difficulty in keeping them down by constant gathering. The only time when they were not so good in flavour or condition was when inclined to seed. I let them all show for seed and cut them off close to the ground, well weeding them, and surface stirred the ground where I could; they soon made fresh vigorous shoots, and have ever since supplied an abundance of as fine heads as any that comes into a market, and that without any farther attention than giving them a pot of water every day during the dry weather. I have this autumn cut one bed close down again, whilst the other is gathered from, and when the severe weather approaches I intend protecting them from frosts. I recommend our friends who have not grown them to try the experiment. I am quite certain they will be repaid for their trouble.

J. W. GIDNEY. East Dereham, Norfolk.

MARTYNIA FRAGRANS.

Seeing in the notices to correspondents, at page 56 of your excellent work THE COTTAGE GARDENER, you speak of this Martynia as a weedy-looking plant, with very handsome, large, purplish flowers, well worth growing in a warm border, but that the seeds should be sown in February, in strong bottom heat, I beg to add a few more words concerning this plant, as every one may not know that this plant might be called a half hardy annual; at least, this is my conclusion, if the following is sufficient evidence, and many things are found out by such accidents I am about to relate. In the garden belonging to the Rev. the Warden of Winchester College, a self-sown plant of Martynia fragrans came up in a bed of Pelargoniums, which had been planted about the middle of May; and, about the middle of June, when I was weeding and surface-stirring the beds over, I saw a seedling of the above-named plant, which, of course, I left, giving it all the encouragement I could to do well with the Pelargoniums. The plant grew very luxuriantly, and commenced flowering early in July, and continued growing, branching out, and flowering up to very late in October. The soil it grew in was very light and rich. The bed in which the plant grew was near the principal walk through the flowergarden, therefore its odd-looking seed vessels, and its flowers too, for an out-door flower, looked so very remarkable that the plant caught the eye of nearly all visitors through the garden; and it astonished many of those who had been in the habit of growing the plant, and even had it at the same time in either a vinery, green-house, pit, or plant-stove. It so happens this Martynia is pretty much of a favourite in this neighbourhood, but this self-sown plant beat them all. It grew very large, flowered freely, and ripened abundance of seeds, which I intend to sow the first of May next in the open garden. Now I have the pen in my hand, I will name a few other plants that self-sow themselves about this garden, and flower the same season. Canna Indica sows itself and ripens its seeds in the summer months. Nicotiana tabacum, Ageratum mexicanum, Impatiens balsamina, and Maurandya Barclayana come up, flower, and ripen their seeds in the summer months, and sow themselves about the open garden.

THOS. WEAVER, Gardener to the Warden of Winton College.