Gardens will always produce a great deal more than is wished for, in the shape of various herbs, shrubs, and plants, called weeds; such as dandelions, couch-grass, cow-parsley, chick-weed, and many other plants, which go by the general name of weeds. These, if left to their own natural growth, would soon cover the ground, and take away from the garden plants the nutriment in the soil designed for them, besides entangling their roots, stems, and leaves; therefore, weeding is as indispensable as digging. The young gardener should make up his mind before he sets foot in his garden to have no weeds in it; for however assiduous he may have been in other respects, however he may have planted, watered, dug, or attended to his garden, if it show a crop of weeds, he is a bad gardener, and will be sure to get laughed at. Weeds may either be pulled up by the hand or cut up by the hoe. In both cases, the roots must be eradicated. They must not be plucked from the stem, or cut from the level ground by the edge of the hoe, but hoed or plucked up, root and all; and after they are got up, they are not be left about in the ridges to take root and grow again, but must be cleared away and safely put into the pit, never again to rise, but in the chemistry of good manure.
PLANTING AND SOWING.
Everything in a garden must be planted in some way or other, and there are many ways of planting and sowing. Sowing relates more particularly to seeds, and planting to the setting of plants that have been raised from seed in the first instance. The sowing of seeds is a very important work, and before seeds can be sown with a prospect of their springing up properly, the preparation of the soil, the time of the year, and even the time of day, must be taken into consideration. Some seeds perish in particular kinds of soil, while others thrive luxuriantly in them. Onions like a rich soil, as do cauliflowers and asparagus. Carrots and parsnips like a loose or sandy soil, as do sea-kale and many other plants. Some plants will only grow in bog earth; and some thrive, such as strawberries, best in a clayey loam. Attention to such matters must be given by the young gardener, if he wish to have his garden what it ought to be.
HOT-BEDS AND FRAMES.
Before we can sow many kinds of seeds in this country in the open ground, it is necessary to raise them first in a hot-bed, and for this reason,—many flowers common in our gardens are not natives of our cold and variable climate, but of one much warmer; and if we delay to sow the seed of such plants and flowers till the warm days of summer are fully set in, the plant has scarcely time to grow into perfection before the chills of autumn come on, and they perish before their blossoms, fruit, or seeds come to perfection. But this may be obviated by means of a frame and hot-bed, which every young gardener ought to have, however small it may be. One of the simplest is the common garden or cucumber frame, which may be bought for a few shillings. This, if about a yard square, should be set upon a low framework of bricks, within which a pit is dug, and filled with good manure over which some fine mould is placed, to the depth of about six inches. Upon this mould the more delicate kinds of flower-seeds may be sown at an early period of the year,—varieties of all those found in the gardening books under the head of tender annuals,—balsams, French marigolds, tobacco, stocks, marigolds, gourds, and sun-flowers. The seed must be sown carefully,—not too thick, and occasionally looked at. In mild, open weather, the glass should be raised a little, but in cold weather kept down. The giving of water should be managed with care, and the plants as they appear should not be suffered to grow too rapidly, but be kept under, or they will not bear to be transplanted when the time comes for doing so.
In transplanting, care should always be taken not to transplant too early, or in improper weather; for if the weather happens to be cold or wet, the tender plants will suffer very much, and probably fail. This would be the case, not only with flowers, but with all the tender kinds of plants, such as cauliflowers, and, therefore, the young gardener must keep his "weather eye" open, as the sailors say, and not be too much in a hurry, as young gardeners generally are.
OPEN CROPS.
In the sowing of open crops, care should also be taken to sow at the proper time. Very early sowing is generally hazardous, but yet, if you would have your crops come in soon, a little risk must be run. When seed is sown in the open ground, it requires watching, and this particularly applies to such crops as early potatoes or beans. Sometimes potatoes are sown in February, with the view to an early crop; and in April the young tender sprouts appear above the ground. One night's frost, however, settles them,—down they go, black and jelly-like to the earth; but if the weather be doubtful, the thoughtful young gardener takes care to cover up the tender shoots with dry leaves or straw, to break the icy tooth of the frost, and save his crop. The same care should be also bestowed upon any other vegetable of a tender kind, and without this care, gardening would come to nothing.
After seeds are sown, they have many natural enemies. The slug, the snail, the wire-worm, the impudent sparrow, and the most impudent and insolent chaffinch, who all seem to have an idea that the seed is put into the ground entirely for their benefit. As soon as the pea-shoot comes above the earth, the slug has a mouthful in its tenderest moments; after the shoot has in part recovered from the gentle nibble, Master Sparrow swoops down and picks off, as quick as he can, all the delicate little sprouts by mouthfuls: to make a fit ending to what is so well begun, the chaffinch descends in the most impudent manner, close to your face, and pulls up stalk and pea both together, and flies away as unconcerned as can be. Now it is of no use to stand with a gun or a pair of clappers in your hand all the day after these intruders, and the only protection is by a net, or rows of twine strung with feathers, stretched over the bed in rows, and a few other pieces of white twine crosswise in their immediate vicinity. Birds do not like the look of any threads drawn across the ground, and they will rarely fly where there appears danger of entanglement; and this method is the best that can be adopted for seed-beds. A Guy is also good; and there are few boys who do not know how to construct one. A Guy is also particularly appropriate for the early Warwick peas. As to slugs and caterpillars, they must be hunted for and picked off; and if they abound in a garden, the line of shooting peas, beans, or other seed, must be dredged with a little slacked lime, which is an infalliable mode of protection. But mind the lime does not blow into your eyes; for, if it does, you will be worse off than the caterpillars.