and June as I ever saw the same kinds at any earlier period. I have myself, as well as several of my friends, adopted this method for several years, and found it an excellent one. The windows of the fruit room should be furnished with inside shutters, and kept closed, as it is found fruit keeps longer and better thus than when exposed to the light.

Plant out Strawberries where they are finally to remain. See STRAWBERRIES, Cultivation of

November.

Plant out all sorts of fruit trees and bushes in the orchard, against walls, and in the quarters and borders of the garden; see directions under the separate heads.

Prune and train Vines, and all other fruit trees against walls and espaliers, except Figs, which must be left till April. Prune also all standard and dwarf fruit trees and bushes in orchards, and in the quarters and borders of the garden.

Where late Grapes are now hanging upon the vines, in an immature state, the bunches may be cut off, with a joint or two of the branch above and below the fruit, and hung up in a dry, warm room, or in a warm, airy kitchen, which is much better, where they may be preserved two months, and will acquire a higher degree of maturity. Fig trees, which are likely to be injured by frost, should now be covered with mats, having previously tucked in a little soft hay among the branches, as directed under the Cultivation of FIGS.

Newly planted trees should be mulched, to prevent the frost from injuring their roots.

Examine the fruit-room; and should any of the fruit become mouldy, it must be wiped off: such of the sorts of Apples as have become very moist should be wiped also, giving the house air and light during the time

this operation is going on; and if some clean dry fern can be had, the fruit should be laid upon it, reserving as much as will cover it over as soon as frost sets in. Fine dry fern is by far the best thing on which to lay Apples, and to cover them also, of any material whatever, as it is perfectly sweet, and not liable to contract any unpleasant smell, and it keeps sound much longer

than straw.

December.

Continue to prune and train wall trees and espaliers, and to prune all standard and dwarf trees and bushes in the orchard and garden. In looking over the espaliers, where any of the stakes are decayed they must be replaced with new ones, and the whole put into a thorough state of repair, previously to the commencement of training.

Where the trees and bushes have been pruned in the quarters or on the borders, these places should be dug over, leaving the ground rough to be acted upon by the winter frosts; and where manure was wanted, it ought to have been dug in, which will benefit the trees much more than it would if left till the spring.

In the various operations directed to be done in the different months in pruning and training of particular fruits, it will be advisable, in all cases, to turn to those fruits in the body of the work, previously to the commencement of those operations.

Little has been said in regard to the propagation of the different fruits: this will be found at length under its proper head.

KITCHEN GARDEN.

1. ANGELICA.

Angelica Archangelica is a biennial plant, a native of Hungary and Germany, and ranked among medicinal plants.

The gardeners near London, who have ditches of water running through their gardens, propagate great quantities of this plant, for which they have a considerable demand from the confectioners, who make a sweetmeat with the tender stalks, cut in May, and candied with sugar.

The seeds should be sown in autumn as soon as they are ripe; and in the spring, when the plants are six inches high, they should be transplanted upon the sides of ditches and pools, or, for want of these, on cold moist ground, at two or three feet asunder. The second year after sowing, they will shoot up to flower: therefore, if you wish to continue their roots, you should cut down the stems in May, which will occasion their putting out heads from the sides of their roots; by which means they may be continued for two or three years; whereas if they had been suffered to seed, their roots would have perished soon afterwards.

Angelica may also be cultivated by planting the young plants in shallow trenches, earthing up their stems in the manner of cardoons or celery; but when these are cut for use, the earth should be levelled down again to the crown of the roots, from whence another crop may be obtained the following year.

2. ARTICHOKES.

The flower heads of Artichoke, Cynara Scolymus, in an immature state, contain the part that is used, which is the fleshy receptacle, commonly called the bottom, freed from the bristles and seed down, vulgarly called the choke, and the lower part of the leaves of the calyx.

There are two varieties of the Artichoke, viz. :— 1. The conical, ovate, or oval French Artichoke the heads are of a green colour; the scales pointed, and turning outwards.

2. The globular, or large round-headed Artichoke ; with dusky purplish heads; the scales turned in at the top. This last, commonly called the Globe Artichoke, is the only sort deserving cultivation in this country.

Artichokes are propagated by the off-set suckers, which are produced abundantly from the roots of old plants these should be planted in rows four feet apart, placing them in clumps of three or four in each, two feet asunder in the rows. Artichokes require a deep soil; and, before they are planted, the ground should be well manured, and trenched two feet deep: this operation should be performed in April, as soon as the young leaves begin to show themselves above the surface of the ground. After this, the plants will require only to be kept clear from weeds during the summer, and in the autumn to be protected by litter from the stable, to secure them against the frosts in winter.

3. ASPARAGUS.

Asparagus officinalis is a perfectly hardy plant; it invariably produces ripe seeds in the autumn, and from these alone it is raised.

The gardeners pretend to distinguish two sorts; the Battersea and the Gravesend.

There are various methods pursued in forming new plantations of Asparagus: the most common one is to trench the ground from two to three feet deep, mixing with the soil a good quantity of rotten dung. If the soil be good to the depth of three feet, it will not be necessary, under the ordinary culture, to prepare the ground deeper; but in doing this a large portion of manure is necessary, and it will be requisite that it should be regularly mixed with the soil from the bottom of the trench to the top. If one of the quarters of the garden should be required for Asparagus alone, the whole ought to be trenched and manured as if it were for only one single bed, as the roots spread themselves in all directions, and by penetrating the alleys between the beds the outer rows of heads will always be finer than those in the middle. The ground being prepared, the beds should be set out of the width of five feet, with three feet alleys, fixing a strong stake at the corners of each bed, driven down to the depth of three feet. About the beginning or middle of March proceed thus to plant the beds: strain a line round the four corners of the first bed, cut it down perpendicularly on the inside of the line to the depth of three inches, and take out the soil, which must be laid on the alleys on each side, levelling the surface perfectly even; but take care not to stand upon the bed; on the contrary, keep the soil as light as possible: mark out four lines, at a foot from each side of the bed, and a foot from each other measure a foot from the end of the bed, and mark each line at a foot apart, thus forming squares of twelve inches each way. Being now provided with some good one year old plants (not more), open the roots flat, place one plant on each of those places marked on the lines, and fasten it down with a handful of mould to