The principal tools used by gardeners are, a light handy spade, a shovel, rake, with iron teeth, hoe, three-pronged fork, dibber, or setting-stick, line and reel, usually called a skillet, wheelbarrow, baskets, trowel, a pair of shears, scythe, hay-rake, hook, ladder, besom, or broom, beater, garden-roller, turfing-iron, hatchet, and hammer. The gardener usually wears a blue woollen apron, which, when he is pruning, he ties up before him, and then serves to hold his nails, shreds, scissors, hammer, and pruning-knife. He should also be provided with a light measuring rod, flat and narrow, painted and divided on one side into feet and half feet, and on the other into yards and half yards; with this he will be able to measure distances, to lay out his beds for sowing and planting, and to measure and lay down his gravel-walks, grass-plats, &c. A table, that will be very useful to him in laying out beds, or any quantity of ground, large or small, will be found in the Appendix.
THE GARDENER’S CALENDAR.
Containing useful Information for every Month in the Year.
January. If the weather be open and dry, sow, upon warm compartments, small portions of peas, beans, cabbage, spinage, carrots, parsley, radish, lettuce, and onions, and preserve them from the cold by mats. Also, in hot-beds, cucumbers, melons, small salading, best early and red cabbage, kidney beans, and cauliflowers. Plant cabbages, horse-radish, beans, and mint roots. The cucumbers and melons this month require particular attention. They ought to receive air by small degrees, as often as possible.
February. Sow small salading, radishes, onions, parsley, spinage, lettuce, peas, beans, cabbage, cauliflowers, carrots, parsnips, fennel, &c. Plant cabbages, &c. as last month. The cucumber and melon plants raised last month, should be transplanted about the middle of this into new hot-beds. The ground should be prepared for planting asparagus next month.
March. Sow, in this month, principal crops of carrots, early turnips, radishes, onions, cabbage, celery, cauliflowers, spinage, lettuce, asparagus, peas, and beans. Sow asparagus for the new plantations of the next year. Make new asparagus beds, and fork the old ones.
April. Sow and plant, as in the former month, for a later crop. Towards the middle of the month dung should be prepared for ridges of melons and cucumbers. Snails and slugs ought to be killed, and weeds kept down; otherwise they will increase so fast as to render their destruction difficult.
May. The principal crops sowed and planted in the spring will now require weeding, hoeing, and thinning, and some transplanting. The melon beds require an equal degree of heat; and the glasses must be covered every night through the month with mats; but in the middle of the day they must be raised to the breadth of two or three fingers. Cucumbers in frames must receive a moderate supply of water, and be planted out under hand-glasses.
June. Particular attention is now required in weeding, hoeing, thinning, and watering the principal crops, and pricking out and transplanting for autumn and winter. Sow savoys, brocoli, borecole, cabbages, turnips, carrots, spinage, coleworts, kidney beans, lettuce, endive, celery, cucumbers, radishes, peas, beans, and small salading. Plant cabbages, colewort, savoys, brocoli, borecole, leeks, beans, lettuce, endive, celery, cucumbers, radishes, peas, and beans. Melon plants must be shaded in the heat of the day, and receive a large portion of fresh air. Transplant endive for blanching, and prick out young brocoli plants, which were sown in April or May.
July. Prepare ground for the reception of succession crops, and some main crops for autumn and winter, and sow turnips, &c. as at the beginning of the year. The common radishes sown now will be fit to draw the beginning of September; and the cauliflowers sown in May must be planted out in spots where they are to remain. The beds of carrots sown now will be fit to draw early in April. Spinage for winter may now be sown, and onions taken up if the leaves wither.