Sect I. Kitchen Garden.

The cauliflower plants, which are under frames, should have plenty of air. Indeed, whenever the weather will permit, the glasses ought to be taken off entirely.

About the end of the month, if the weather be mild, some of the strongest plants may be transplanted into the situations where they are to remain. They ought to be planted in good well-manured ground, in a warm situation, at the distance of two feet and a half each way from one another. The same attention must be paid to cauliflowers under bell or hand-glasses. When more than two plants happen to be under one glass, the weakest of them should be planted out about the end of the month, if the weather be mild, and only one or two should be left under each glass; but if the weather is unsettled or severe, transplanting ought to be deferred till next month.

Some cauliflower seed may be fown any time this month to produce plants to succeed those that have been preserved during winter under frames or hand-glasses, or to supply the place of those which may have been cut off by the severity of the weather.

For this purpose make a flight hot-bed of horse dung, to the height of 20 inches or two feet; cover it with a light rich earth to the depth of four or five inches, on the surface of which sow the seeds, and cover them to the depth of a quarter of an inch with earth of the same description. After the seed has been fown, a frame and glasses should be put on, if one can be spared for this purpose; and when the plants begin to appear above ground, they should have plenty of air, whenever the weather will permit, otherwise they will be drawn up and become weak. The glasses, therefore, (unless in very severe weather) should be raised every day, and in mild ones taken off entirely. When there are no glasses to spare, the bed may be covered during the night, and in severe weather, with mats properly fixed over it. The plants should be sprinkled with water from time to time, if moderate showers should not render this unnecessary.

Cabbage plants, if tolerably strong, should be transplanted in the course of this month. See Planting out Cabbages, January.

About the middle, or towards the end of the month, sow some cabbage and savoy seed to raise plants for late crops in summer and autumn. Both the early and late kinds of cabbage may be sown now, but it is better to sow them in August; but if none were sown in autumn, or if the plants raised then have been cut off by the severity of the winter, a quantity of both early and late should be sown the first opportunity this month. That the plants may sooner acquire sufficient strength for planting out, it would be proper to sow them in a flight hot-bed.

Where small salad is required, let some seeds of Small mustard, cress, radish, rape, &c. be sown regularly every lad. eight or ten days during the course of the month. See January.

Earth up celery in open dry weather if the plants have advanced much above ground. Sow some upright celery seed for an early crop about the middle or towards the end of the month in a small bed of rich light earth in a warm situation. There are three ways in which this may be performed. 1st, The earth of the bed should be well broken with the spade; the feed fown on the rough surface and raked in. 2ndly, The surface of the bed may be made smooth; the feed sown and covered to the depth of a quarter of an inch with light rich earth. 3dly, A quantity of earth, to the depth of about half an inch, should be removed with the back of a rake from the surface of the bed into the alleys, which, after the seed has been fown, should be gently replaced with the rake. Those who are very anxious to have early celery, should sow some in a flight hot-bed. The plants raised now will be fit for use in June or July; but it would be advisable to sow few at this season, as they will be very apt to pipe or run up to feed before they acquire sufficient size: there are two kinds of celery, the Italian, and turnip-rooted or celeiac.

About the beginning of this month sow some short-stalked radishes to succeed those sown last month, and some salmon and Italian radishes at any time during the month. See January.

Some round-leaved spinach may be sown any time in Spinach. the course of the month, to succeed that which was sown last month. See January.

Some early peas may be sown this month. This is Peas, likewise a proper season for sowing a full crop of late peas, such as marrowfats, rouncivals, Carolina, and sugar pea, &c. For the distances at which they are to be sown, see January.

This is the proper time to plant beans. For the method and distances, see January.

Such peas and beans as are sufficiently advanced in growth should now be earthed up.

In mild open weather sow some seeds of green and white cos lettuce, likewise some Sicilian, imperial, brown Sow and Dutch, and common cabbage lettuce. See January, transplant.

If young lettuce plants are wanted for transplanting early, they should be sown in a flight hot-bed or in some warm sheltered situation; and when they have advanced to the height of about two inches, they may be planted out in the open ground. Lettuces that have stood the winter in frames, under hand-glasses or in warm borders, should be thinned and left standing at the distance of one foot from each other, and those that are drawn out should be planted in some proper situation.

About the middle or end of this month sow some carrot roots and parsnips. They succeed best in light deep soil, and in an open situation. The ground should be dug, at least one spade deep or two, if the depth of the soil will February. will admit, and the clods ought to be well broken. They may be sown either broadcast, in narrow beds, or in drills. See March.

Sow some seeds of red, white, and green beet, likewise of mangel wurzel or German beet. The fine red root of the first is used as a pickle, &c.; the leaves of the white and green are made use of in soups, &c.; and the large leaves of the mangel wurzel are boiled and used as spinach. The footstalks of its leaves are likewise used as asparagus. Each kind should be sown separately, either broadcast or in drills, an inch deep, and about a foot apart; but the mangel wurzel requires more room than the other kinds, because it is of larger growth. After the plants have come up, they should be thinned out, to the distance of six or eight inches from each other. The seed may likewise be dibbled in rows, about a foot apart, and at the distance of six or eight inches from each other in the rows. Two or more seeds may be put into each hole; and when the plants appear above ground, one of the strongest only should be left.

Some of last year's carrots, parsnips, and beets, should be planted out in rows, two feet apart and one foot distant from each other in the row, to stand and produce feed.

Some onions and leeks may be sown in mild dry weather, any time after the middle of this month. The ground should be well dug, and the seeds sown when the surface is dry, and then raked in. The best mode is to divide the ground into beds of about four feet wide, for the convenience of thinning, weeding, &c.; but they may also be sown in plots, without being divided into beds, in which case, if the soil be light, the seed may be gently trodden in, before the surface is raked. The leeks will be fit for transplanting in June and July, and the onions for drawing in August. Sometimes a small quantity of leek-seed is sown along with the onion; and when the onions are drawn in August, the leeks are allowed to remain to acquire a proper size; but it is better to sow each separately. The principal kinds of onions are the Strafford, Deptford, Spanish Portugal, long keeping, and red.

The Hamburgh parsley and scorzonera are cultivated for their roots; the salsify for its roots and tops. The roots of all of them, if sown now or any time in spring, will be fit for using in autumn, and continue good all winter. The Hamburgh parsley roots are not only used for culinary purposes, but recommended in medicine. They are said to be useful in the gravel. The seeds may be sown in drills, six inches apart, and covered with earth to the depth of half an inch. The plants should be thinned in May or June, and left standing at the distance of six inches from each other in the rows.

About the middle of the month you may sow seeds of burnet, lovage, angelica, marigold, fennel, dill, fennel, chervil, and clary. Each kind should be sown separately, either in the place where they are to remain, or they may be transplanted in summer. See June.

About the middle or end of the month sow marjoram, thyme, savory, and hyssop. The plants may either remain where sown, or be planted out in the beginning of summer. See June.

Towards the end of the month plant shallot, garlic, and rokambole. Having procured a quantity of their roots, divide and plant them in rows nine inches apart and six inches distant from each other in the row. They may be put in to the depth of two inches with the dibble, or placed in drills, two inches deep, drawn with a hoe.

This is a proper time to raise a full crop of parsley. Parsley, See January.

A few potatoes may be planted about the middle or end of this month for an early crop; but if wanted very early, some early dwarf potatoes should be planted in a flight hot-bed. For the method of planting, see March.

Horse radish is propagated by offsets or cuttings of horse radish roots, about three inches long, which may be planted either with the dibble or spade, at the distance of six or eight inches from each other, in rows two feet apart. When they are planted with the dibble, the holes ought to be made ten or twelve inches deep; when with the spade a trench should be made a full spade deep, in the bottom of which the offsets or cuttings should be placed erect, and covered with earth from the next trench. As they will not appear above ground till the month of May, a crop of spinach, radishes, or small salad, may be got from the ground, and cleared off before the horse radish appears. After the plants have come above ground, they ought to be kept clear of weeds.

About the middle or towards the end of the month, sow turnip, sow some seed of the early Dutch turnip in a border of light earth, in a warm situation. See March.

If no preparations were made last month for raising cucumbers early cucumbers and melons, they may be commenced, and melons any time this month, with better prospect of success. For the method of forming and managing the seed-bed, see January.—If the cucumbers and melons, sown last month and transplanted into small pots, be fit for ridging out, a hot-bed for one or more frames should be got ready for their reception, which should be raised to the height of three feet and a half, and covered with a frame and glases. About a week afterwards, if the hot-bed has settled unevenly, the frame and glases should be removed; and after the surface of the bed has been made perfectly level, replaced. As soon as the violent heat has subsided, the rank steam escaped, and all danger of burning apparently over, cover the bed to the depth of two inches with dry light rich earth, and raise a conical heap of the same earth, to the height of about ten inches, immediately under the centre of each light. By the following day the earth will have acquired a proper warmth, and the bed will be fit for the reception of the young plants. The earth, laid over the surface of the bed, to the depth of two inches, will prevent the rank steam of the dung, on the one hand, from rising up freely, and yet not keep it down altogether; were much of the surface of the dung exposed, and the steam allowed to escape freely, the young plants would be destroyed; and, on the other hand, were it prevented from escaping altogether, by laying on earth to a sufficient depth at once, the bed would become overheated, and the roots of the plants might be burnt.

The pots containing the young cucumber and melon plants, which were transplanted last month (see January), should be well watered the day previous to their being ridged out, to make the ball of earth adhere, and come out of the pot entire. After the tops of the hillocks of earth, which had been raised to the height, height of 10 inches under each light, have been flattened by reducing their height about two inches, make a hole in the centre of each, capable of containing one of the balls of earth, which is to be turned out of the pots. Select some pots containing the strongest plants; place your hand on the surface of the pot, allowing the plants to pass between your fingers; invert it, and strike the edge of it gently against the frame till the ball of earth comes out, which should be put into one of the holes in the hillock just mentioned; close the earth round the ball, and make it rise about an inch over its surface. After they have been thus ridged out, they should receive a gentle watering, and be covered with the glass till the steam begin to rise much, when air should be given by raising the glasses. These hot-beds, into which the cucumbers and melons have been finally transplanted, must be managed in the same manner as the nursery beds, mentioned last month. A covering of straw, or something of that nature, should be laid all round the dung; linings of fresh dung should be applied to the sides of the bed when the heat begins to decline, air admitted under the same circumstances and with the same precautions as there stated. If three cucumbers or two melons have been planted in the pots, as before directed, one of the weakest of either should be removed immediately before, or after they are ridged out. Should any symptoms of burning appear soon after the plants have been ridged out, part of the earth, close to the bottom of the hillocks, must be removed; and as soon as the violent heat has subsided, be replaced with fresh earth. When the heat of the bed begins to decline a little, especially if any of the roots of the plants show themselves through the sides of the hillocks, a quantity of fresh earth should be applied all round them, which should be kept within the frame for one night previously, that it may acquire a proper temperature, for should it be applied cold, it might injure the young roots. Two or three days after this an additional quantity of fresh earth should be applied to the sides of the hills; and in two or three more the whole surface of the bed may be earthened over as high as the tops of the hills.

When the plants have got two rough leaves, and when the second is about an inch broad, the bud, which is situated at the axilla (or base) of the second rough leaf, must be removed either with the finger, a pair of scissors, or a penknife, or, when the bud is very small, with a needle or pin, being careful not to injure the joint. After the plants are thus topped or topped, they soon acquire strength; and in about 10 or 12 days, each of them will throw out two or three runners, which will show flowers sometimes at the second or third joint. Were the plants not to be topped, the principal shoots would probably advance to the length of about two feet, without sending off any runners to fill up the frame, and without showing a single flower. If none of the runners, which are pushed out after the first topping, show flowers at the third or fourth joint, they should be topped likewise, which will cause each of them to push out two or three runners, all of which may perhaps prove fruitful. As these runners advance in growth they ought to be trained regularly along the surface of the beds, and all very weak or redundant shoots removed. The cucumbers, if well managed, will be fit for the table about the end of this or beginning of next month; but the melons will not be ripe before May or June.

Cucumbers and melons have male and female flowers on the same plant, which are easily distinguished from one another. The male flowers, in the centre of which impregnate the antherae are situated that contain the farina (or secretion of the fecundating powder), have stalks of an equal thickness, without any swell immediately under the flowers; whereas a swelling is perceptible immediately under the female flowers which contain the female organ of generation, as soon as they are pushed out from the stalks of the plant, which is the germin or future fruit. If none of the farina of the male be conveyed into the female flower, the germin decays, becomes yellowish, and drops off. It becomes therefore necessary, particularly at this early period, to impregnate the female flowers by suspending male flowers over them, and shaking some of the farina into the pistillum (or female organ); for after the plants have continued some time in flower, the air of the hot-bed in which they grow becomes loaded with the farina, by which means it is wafted into the female flowers. Insects likewise, particularly bees, at a more advanced period of the year, serve to convey it from flower to flower. As soon as the female flowers have opened, pinch off a newly blown male flower, together with a portion of its foot stalk, remove the greatest part of its corolla or flower leaf, introduce it into the female flower, and either touch the pistillum of the female gently with the antherae of the male so as to make some of the farina adhere, or shake the male flower over the pistillum of the female in order to make some of the farina fall on it. In a day or two after impregnation the germin or future fruit begins to swell, and in about a fortnight, if the weather be favourable and the heat of the bed good, the young cucumbers may be brought to table. This operation may be employed to produce new varieties, not only of cucumbers and melons, but of many other vegetables. Were the female of one variety of melon to be impregnated with the farina of another, a kind would be produced partaking somewhat of the properties of both; thus a large melon, not possessed of much flavour, might be improved by intermixing with one superior in flavour but inferior in size. In hermaphrodite flowers this operation of impregnating, or crossing, as it is called by cattle breeders, is performed by removing the antherae from a flower of one species, and impregnating it with the farina of another of the same natural family. The plants proceeding from such a commixture partake more of the properties of the male than the female parent. We have seen a hybrid produced from the *papaver somniferum* impregnated with the farina of the *papaver orientale*, so like the male parent as with difficulty to be distinguished from it.

The *papaver orientale* produces only one flower on a stalk; some of this hybrid however carried more than one, and in this particular alone it resembled the *papaver somniferum*, which branches very much. Mr Knight has made some curious and interesting experiments on this subject, which he has detailed in the following letter to Sir Joseph Banks, published in the Transactions of the Royal Society. "The result of Mr Knight's some experiments which I have amused myself with observations making on plants, appearing to me to be interesting to the naturalist, by proving the existence of superfection." in the vegetable world, and being likely to conduce to some improvements in agriculture, I have taken the liberty to communicate them to you. The breeders of animals have very long entertained an opinion that considerable advantages are obtained by breeding from males and females not related to each other. Though this opinion has lately been controverted, the number of its opposers has gradually diminished, and I can speak from my own observation and experience, that animals degenerate in size, at least on the same pasture, and in other respects under the same management, when this process of crossing the breed is neglected. The close analogy between the animal and vegetable world, and the sexual system equally pervading both, induced me to suppose that similar means might be productive of similar effects in each; and the event has, I think, fully justified this opinion. The principal object I had in view, was to obtain new and improved varieties of the apple, to supply the place of those which have become diseased and unproductive by having been cultivated beyond the period which nature appears to have assigned to their existence. But as I saw that several years must elapse before the success or failure of this process could possibly be ascertained, I wished in the interval to see what would be its effects in annual plants. Amongst these none appeared so well calculated to answer my purpose as the common pea, not only because I could obtain many varieties of this plant, of different forms, sizes, and colours, but also because the structure of its blossom, by preventing the ingress of insects and adventitious farina, has rendered its varieties remarkably permanent. I had a kind growing in my garden, which, having been long cultivated in the same soil, had ceased to be productive, and did not appear to recover the whole of its former vigour when removed to a soil of a somewhat different quality: on this my first experiment in 1787 was made. Having opened a dozen of its immature blossoms, I destroyed the male parts, taking great care not to injure the female ones; and a few days afterwards when the blossoms appeared mature, I introduced the farina of a very large and luxuriant gray pea into one half of the blossoms, leaving the other half as they were. The pods of each grew equally well, but I soon perceived that in those into whose blossoms the farina had not been introduced, the seeds remained nearly as they were before the blossoms expanded, and in that state they withered. Those in the other pods attained maturity, but were not in any sensible degree different from those afforded by other plants of the same variety; owing, I imagine, to the external covering of the seed (as I have found in other plants) being furnished entirely by the female. In the succeeding spring the difference however became extremely obvious, for the plants from them rose with excessive luxuriance, and the colour of their leaves and stems clearly indicated that they had all exchanged their whiteness for the colour of the male parent. The seeds produced in autumn were dark gray.

By introducing the farina of another white variety, (or in some instances by simple culture), I found this colour was easily discharged, and a numerous variety of new kinds produced, many of which were in point of size and in every other respect much superior to the original white kind, and grew with excessive luxuriance, some of them attaining the height of more than twelve feet. I had frequent occasion to observe in this plant a stronger tendency to produce purple blossoms and coloured seeds than white ones; for when I introduced the farina of a purple blossom into a white one, the whole seeds in the succeeding year became coloured; but when I endeavoured to discharge this colour by reverting the process, a part only of them afforded plants with white blossoms; this part sometimes occupying one end of the pod, and being at other times irregularly intermixed with those which, when grown, retained their colour. It might perhaps be supposed that something might depend on the quantity of farina employed; but I never could discover, in this or any other experiment in which superfection did not take place, that the largest or smallest quantity of farina afforded any difference in the effect produced.

The dissimilarity I observed in the offspring afforded by different kinds of farina in these experiments, pointed out to me an easy method of ascertaining whether superfection, (the existence of which has been admitted amongst animals), could also take place in the vegetable world. For as the offspring of a white pea is always white, unless the farina of a coloured kind be introduced into the blossom; and as the colour of the gray one is always transferred to its offspring though the female be white, it readily occurred to me, that if the farina of both were mingled or applied at the same moment, the offspring of each could be easily distinguished.

My first experiment was not altogether successful, for the offspring of five pods (the whole which escaped the birds) received their colour from the coloured male. There was, however, a strong resemblance to the other male in the growth and character of more than one of the plants, and the seeds of several in the autumn very closely resembled it in everything but colour. In this experiment, I used the farina of a white pea, which possessed the remarkable property of shrivelling excessively when ripe, and in the second year I obtained white seeds from the gray ones above-mentioned, perfectly similar to it. I am strongly disposed to believe, that the seeds were here of common parentage; but I do not conceive myself to be in possession of facts sufficient to enable me to speak with decision on this question.

If, however, the female afford the first organized atom, and the farina act only as a stimulus, it appears to me by no means impossible, that the explosion of two vehicles of farina at the same moment (taken from different plants) may afford seeds (as I have supposed) of common parentage, and as I am unable to discover any source of inaccuracy in this experiment, I must believe this to have happened.

Another species of superfection, if I have justly applied the term to a process in which one seed appears to have been the offspring of two males), has occurred to me so often as to remove all possibility of doubt as to its existence. In 1797, that year after I had seen the result of the last mentioned experiment, having prepared a great many white blossoms, I introduced the farina of a white pea, and, that of a gray pea nearly at the same moment into each, and as in the last year, the character of the coloured male had prevailed, I used its farina more sparingly than that of the white one, and now almost every pod afforded plants of different... ferent colours. The majority however were white, but the characters of the two kinds were not sufficiently distinct to allow me to judge with precision whether any of the seeds produced were of common parentage or not. In the last year I was more fortunate, having prepared blossoms of the little early frame pea, I introduced its own farina, and immediately afterwards, that of a very large and late gray kind; and I sowed the seeds thus obtained in the end of the last summer. Many of them retained the colour and character of the small early pea not in the slightest degree altered, and blossomed before they were 18 inches high, whilst others (taken from the same pods) whose colour was changed, grew to the height of more than four feet, and were killed by the frost before any blossoms appeared.

"It is evident that in those instances, superfection took place, and it is equally evident that the seeds were not all of common parentage. Should subsequent experience evince that a single plant may be the offspring of two males, the analogy between animal and vegetable nature may induce curious conjectures relative to the process of generation in the animal world.

"In the course of the preceding experiments, I could never observe that the character either of the male or female in this plant at all preponderated in the offspring, but as this point appeared interesting, I made a few trials to ascertain it. And as the foregoing observations had occurred in experiments made principally to obtain new and improved varieties of the pea for garden culture; I chose for a similar purpose the more hardy varieties usually found in the fields. By introducing the farina of the largest and most luxuriant kinds into the blossoms of the most diminutive, and by reverting this process, I found that the powers of the male and female in their effects on the offspring are exactly equal. The vigour of the growth, the size of the seeds produced, and the season of maturity, were the same, though the one was a very early, and the other a late variety. I had in this experiment a striking instance of the stimulative effects of crossing the breeds; for the smallest variety whose height rarely exceeded two feet, was increased to five feet, whilst the height of the large and luxuriant kind was very little diminished. By this process, it is evident that any number of new varieties may be obtained; and it is highly probable, that many of these will be found better calculated to correct the defects of different soils and situations, than any we have at present; for I imagine that all we now possess have in a great measure been the produce of accident, and it will rarely happen in this or any other case, that accident has done all that art will be found able to accomplish.

"The success of my endeavours to produce improved varieties of the pea, induced me to try some experiments on wheat, but those did not succeed to my expectations. I readily obtained as many varieties as I wished, by merely sowing the different kinds together, for the structure of the blossoms of this plant, (unlike that of pea), freely admits the ingress of adventitious farina, and is thence very liable to sport in varieties. Some of these I obtained were excellent, others very bad; and none of them permanent. By separating the best varieties, a most abundant crop was produced, but its quality was not quite equal to the quantity, and all the discarded varieties again made their appearance. It appeared to me an extraordinary circumstance, that in the years 1795 and 1796, when almost the whole crop of corn in this island was blighted, the varieties thus obtained, and these only, escaped in this neighbourhood, though sown in several different soils and situations.

"My success in the apple (as far as long experience and attention have enabled me to judge from the cultivated appearance of trees, which have not yet borne fruit) has been fully equal to my hopes. But as the improvement of this fruit was the first object of my attention, no probable means of improvement either from soil or aspect were neglected. The plants, however, which I obtained from my efforts to unite the good qualities of two kinds of apple seem to possess the greatest health and luxuriance of growth, as well as the most promising appearance in other respects. In some of these, the character of the male appears to prevail; in others, that of the female; and in others both appear blended, or neither is distinguishable. These variations which were often observable in the seeds taken from the single apple, evidently arise from the want of permanence in the characters of this fruit when raised from seed.

"The results of similar experiments on another fruit, the grape, were nearly the same as of those on the apple, except that by mingling the farina of a black and a white grape, just as the blossoms of the latter were expanding, I sometimes obtained plants from the same berry so dissimilar that I had good reason to believe them the produce of superfection. By taking off the cups and destroying the immature male parts (as in the pea), I perfectly succeeded in combining the characters of different varieties of this fruit, as far as the changes of form and autumnal tints in the leaves of the offspring will allow me to judge.

"Many experiments of the same kind were tried on other plants; but it is sufficient to say that all tended to evince, that improved varieties of every fruit and eculent plant may be obtained by this process, and that nature intended that a sexual intercourse should take place between neighbouring plants of the same species. The probability of this will, I think, be apparent, when we take a view of the variety of methods which nature has taken to disperse the farina, even of these plants in which it has placed the male and female parts within the same emplacement. It is often scattered by an elastic exertion of the filaments which support it in the first opening of the blossom, and its excessive lightness renders it capable of being carried to a great distance by the wind. Its position within the blossom is generally well adapted to place it on the bodies of insects, and the villous coat of the numerous family of bees is not less well calculated to carry it. I have frequently observed with great pleasure the dispersion of the farina of some of the grapes, when the sun had just risen in a dewy morning. It seemed to be impelled from the plant with considerable force, and being blue was easily visible, and very strongly resembled in appearance the explosion of a grain of gunpowder. An examination of the structure of the blossoms of many plants, will immediately point out that nature has something more in view than that its own proper males should fecundate each blossom, for the means it employs are always best calculated to answer the intended purpose. But the farina is often so placed that it can never reach the summit of the pointal, unless by adventitious means; and many trials have convinced me that it has no action on any other part of it. In promoting this sexual intercourse between neighbouring plants of the same species, nature appears to me to have an important purpose in view; for independent of its stimulative power, this intercourse certainly tends to confine within more narrow limits those variations which accidental richness or poverty of soil usually produces. It may be objected by those who admit the existence of vegetable mules, that under this extensive intercourse there must have been more numerous; but my total want of success in many endeavours to produce a single mule plant, makes me much disposed to believe that hybrid plants have been mistaken for mules, and to doubt (with all the deference I feel for the opinions of Linnaeus and his illustrious followers) whether nature ever did or ever will permit the production of such a monster. The existence of numerous mules in the animal world between kindred species is allowed, but nature has here guarded against their production, by impelling every animal to seek its proper mate; and amongst the feathered tribe, when from perversion of appetite, sexual intercourse takes place between those of distinct genera (A), it has in some instances at least rendered the death of the female the inevitable consequence. But in the vegetable world there is not anything to direct the male to its proper female, its farina is carried by winds and insects to plants of every different genus and species, and it therefore appears to me (as vegetable mules certainly are not common) that nature has not permitted them to exist at all.

"I cannot dismiss this subject, without expressing my regret, that those who have made the science of botany their study should have considered the improvement of those vegetables, which in their cultivated state afford the largest portion of subsistence to mankind and other animals, as little connected with the object of their pursuit. Hence it has happened, that whilst much attention has been paid to the improvement of every species of useful animal, the most valuable eculent plants have been almost wholly neglected. But when the extent of the benefit which would arise to the agriculture of the country, from the possession of varieties of plants, which with the same extent of soil and labour would afford even a small increase of produce, is considered, this subject appears of no inconsiderable importance. The improvement of animals is attended with much expense, and the improved kinds necessarily extend themselves slowly; but a single bushel of improved wheat or peas may in ten years be made to afford feed enough to supply the whole island, and a single apple or other fruit tree may within the same time be extended to every garden in it. These considerations have been the cause of my addressing the foregoing observations to you at this time; for it was much my wish to have ascertained before I wrote to you, whether in any instance a single plant can be the offspring of two male parents. The decision of that question must necessarily have occupied two years, and must therefore be left to the test of future experiment."

The opinion Mr Knight endeavours to establish towards the end of his letter, is certainly incorrect, if he means to assert that hybrids can only be produced by a commixture of different varieties of the same species, and that none can be produced by the union of plants of different species. The fact already stated relative to the hybrid produced between the papaw oriental and somnif. (two species as different, in every respect, from each other as the horse and ass).

Sect. II. Fruit Garden.

Where peaches, nectarines, and apricots, have not been pruned before this, that work ought to be done fruit-trees, without delay, because the flower buds after they have begun to swell (which they do at this season) are easily rubbed off. Plums, cherries, apples, pears, gooseberries, currants, and raspberries, &c. may likewise be pruned during this month if neglected till now.

About the end of the month you may prune fig trees, as by that time all danger of the young shoots being killed by the frosts will be over. As the young shoots of last season alone produce figs the ensuing, a sufficient supply of them must be left to nail on to the wall; and superfluous, ill-placed, very strong long-jointed shoots, and small weak ones, ought to be cut away close to the branch of the former year's growth. The branches which are retained ought to be laid in and nailed to the wall at full length, at the distance of about half a foot from each other. They ought not to be shortened, because the figs are generally produced from that part of the branch near to the extremity; on this account likewise care must be taken, in choosing those which are to be retained, not only to prefer the shoots of moderately vigorous growth, but likewise those which have had least of their extremities killed by the frosts, for it frequently happens that the frosts kill the succulent extremities of branches, and sometimes even the whole shoot.

Shortening the branches has another bad effect besides removing the part from which the fruit is to proceed, it makes them throw out a crowd of lateral shoots, which create confusion and shade the fruit. All worn-out old branches which are not furnished with a sufficient number of young lateral shoots, ought to be cut away, either close to the main branch from which they proceed, or close to some shoot placed near their lower end. Young fig trees may be planted also any time this month. See October.

Strawberry beds should now receive a dressing. Last year's runners should be cut away, weeds and decayed strawberry leaves removed, the ground between the rows dug or loosened with the hoe, and some earth drawn up about the roots of the plants. Strawberries may be planted towards the end of the month; for the method see June and September.

Any time this month you may begin to force the Force trees on hot walls, in vine, peach, and cherry houses, early fruit.

(A) This is said to be the case with the drake and the hen. February &c. They ought to be covered with the glasses, some pleasure or time previous to the application of fire-heat, and if the flower houses have been constructed with pits for containing hot-beds of tanners bark or horse dung, a quantity of either should be got ready. If tanner's bark is to be used, it ought to be spread out and exposed to the air, that it may dry, for if it be put in too wet it will either not heat at all, or heat violently and soon rot, but if properly dried, the heat will be moderate and last for a long time. When horse dung is to be used, it ought to be forked up into a heap and allowed to remain for a few days, during which time it should be turned two or three times with a fork that it may be thoroughly mixed. Slight fires should be applied for two or three days at first, which may be gradually increased. They ought to be kindled about sunset, and supplied with fuel from time to time till about ten o'clock, which will keep the house in a proper heat until morning, when the fires should again be set a going, if the heat has declined, but it will seldom be necessary at this season to keep the fires burning all day. The fuel employed may be either coal, wood, peat, or turf; of these coal is best, because it makes the strongest, the most durable, and most easily managed fire. The heat of each house should be regulated by a thermometer. The degree of warmth kept up at this season, should not much exceed the 65° of Fahrenheit. When the sun shines bright the heat must be regulated by opening the glasses more or less, and admitting the external air. Besides the trees that may be trained to the wall or front of the house, pots or boxes containing cherry or peach trees may be introduced; likewise pots of kidney beans, strawberries, &c., roses, and a variety of other flowers. The trees and plants within the house must be duly watered, and have plenty of air admitted to them whenever the weather will permit. When the fruit approach to maturity a greater heat should be maintained within the house, which may be effected during the day by the rays of the sun, and sparing admission of the external air, and during the night (if the weather be cold) by fire.

Sect. III. The Pleasure or Flower Garden.

Towards the end of the month, you may sow some tender annuals, such as balsams, cockscombs, globe amaranthus, ice plants, egg plants, &c. They must be sown in a hot-bed, which is to be formed and earthed over in the same way as seed beds for cucumbers and melons. See January. The seeds may either be sown in the earth of the bed, or in pots plunged into the earth. Or a few may be sown in pots, and introduced into a cucumber or melon bed. When the plants have acquired sufficient strength to admit of being transplanted, they should be put into separate pots and transferred to other hot-beds. See April.

About the end of the month, you may sow some feed of mignonette; ten weeks stock, larkspur, flax, Adonis, convolvulus, lupines, scarlet, sweet-scented, and Tangier pea, candytuft, dwarf lychnis, Venus's looking glass, Lobel's catchfly, Venus's navel-wort, dwarf poppy, annual sunflower, oriental mallow, lavatera, hawkweed, and many others. They must be sown in places where they are to remain, for none of these plants succeed so well when they are transplanted.

Dig small patches with a trowel in the flower borders, break the earth well, remove part of it from the surface with the edge of the trowel, and sow the seeds, which should be covered with the earth which had been moved aside from the surface of the patches. The smaller seeds such as mignonette, ten weeks stock, larkspur, &c., should be covered to the depth of about a quarter of an inch; the larger ones, such as lupines, painted and sweet peas, annual sunflower, &c., may be covered to the depth of an inch. After the plants have advanced a little in growth, they should be thinned out in proportion to their size, viz. one sunflower should be left in a place, two plants of lavatera and oriental mallow, four or five of the larger, and six or eight of the smaller lupines, and so on in proportion.

Most kinds of hardy perennials and biennials may be planted out this month, viz. polyanthus, primroses, roses, London pride, violets, double daisies, double chamomile, faxiflorum, rose campion, rockets, campanula, catchfly, scarlet lychnis, double feverfew, bachelor's button, carnations, pinks, sweetwilliam, columbines, monkshood, tree primrose, foxglove, goldenrod, perennial asters, perennial sunflower, hollyhocks, French honeyuckles, wallflowers, and many others.

Where auricula plants are much valued, and where there are many of the finer varieties, they are commonly kept in pots. During mild weather any time this month, it would be proper to give them some fresh earth. Clear away all dead leaves from the plants, remove some of the old earth from the sides of the pot all around, so far as you can do it without injuring the roots, and fill the pots with fresh earth prepared for the purpose. See September.

Auricula and polyanthus seed may be sown any time this month, either in the open ground or in pots. When sown in pots or boxes they are more easily moved to proper situations during different seasons. Sow them in light rich earth, and cover them to the depth of about a quarter of an inch. The pots or boxes should be placed in a situation sheltered from the north, and exposed to the morning and midday sun, from which they ought to be removed in April to a more shady place. They will be fit for transplanting in the month of June. See June.

About the end of the month plant out the carnations which were raised last year by cuttings or layers, into pots or borders where they are to remain to produce flowers the ensuing summer.

Any time this month you may transplant evergreen trees, and shrubs; such as pines, firs, evergreen oaks, holmies, yews, cypresses, cedars, phillyreas, arbutuses, laurels, laurustinus, &c.

The finer sorts of tulips, hyacinths, anemones, ranunculus, &c., should be protected during severe weather, &c., as they begin to appear above ground. For the method of sheltering them see January.

Grass walks and lawns ought to be kept clean, poled and rolled at least once a week if the weather permits. After being rolled with a wooden roller to take off the worm-calls, a heavy stone or iron one should be passed over them to render them firm. Their edges ought likewise to be cut with an edging iron about the end. Gravel and grass walks may be made during this month; for the latter see January, and the former March.

Edgings of boxwood, thrift, daisies, thyme, hyssop, &c., may be planted this month. Boxwood forms the neatest, most durable, and most easily kept edging, and if planted now it will succeed very well. For the method see October. Where any of the old boxwood edgings have become irregular, they ought to be taken up and replanted.

Thrift is frequently employed as an edging, and well kept makes a very neat one. The plants may be either put in with the dibble so close as to touch, or at the distance of two or three inches from each other, or planted as boxwood, see October. Daisies are sometimes used, and form a very pretty edging; they may be planted in the same manner as the thrift.

A great variety of flowers, such as hyacinths, jonquils, and roses, &c., may be placed in the hot-house, vinery, or peach-house; and when they have come into flower they may be placed in a greenhouse, or in apartments of a dwelling house.

Sect. IV. Nursery.

Many things mentioned under the article work to be done in the nursery for January may likewise be done this month; such as pruning young trees and shrubs, digging between the rows, propagating by cuttings, suckers, and layers, &c. See January.

Such layers of last year, as appear well rooted, should be removed from the parent plant (or stool), and planted in rows of from one to two feet asunder, according to the size of the plant, and at the distance of a foot or foot and a half from each other in the row.

If seeds or stones of apples, pears, cherries, and plums, shrubs, &c., were not sown last autumn to raise stocks for budding and engraving, they should be sown about the beginning of this month. They should be sown in light soil, and covered to about the depth of an inch. The plants raised from this sowing will be fit for transplanting in the beginning of next winter or spring. The seeds of berries and nuts of shrubs and forest trees may likewise be sown any time this month in narrow beds, and covered in proportion to their size, viz. the small seeds to the depth of about half an inch, the larger to the depth of an inch or an inch and a half, and some of the nuts even to a greater depth.

Trees and shrubs may be removed from the seed-bed or from where they stand too thick, and planted out in rows at proper distances, or transplanted into the places where they are to remain.

Young trees that were budded successfully last summer should be cut down to within about four inches of the bud. See June and July.

Pears, plums, and cherries may be grafted towards the end of the month, if the weather is mild; apples likewise may be grafted at the same time, or in the course of the following month.

Grafting or engraving, in gardening, is the taking a shoot from one tree, and inserting it into another, in such a manner, that both may unite closely and become one tree.

By the ancient writers on husbandry and gardening, this operation is called incision, to distinguish it from inoculation or budding, which they call insertion.

Grafting has been practised from the most remote antiquity, but its origin and invention are differently related engraving by naturalists. Theophrastus tells us, that a bird having swallowed a fruit whole, cast it forth into a cleft or cavity of a rotten tree, where, mixing with some of the putrefied parts of the tree, and being washed with the rains, it germinated, and produced within this tree a tree of a different kind. This led the husbandman to certain reflections, from which afterwards arose the art of engraving.

Pliny gives a different account of the origin of grafting: he says, a husbandman wishing to make a palli-fade in his ground, that it might endure the longer, and with a view to fill up and strengthen the bottom of the palli-fade, wattled it with the twigs of ivy. The effect of this was, that the stakes of the palli-fades taking root, became grafted into the twigs, and produced large trees, which suggested to the husbandman the art of engraving.

The use of grafting is to propagate any desirable sorts of fruit so as to be certain of the variety: for as all good varieties of fruit have been accidentally obtained from seeds, so the seeds of these, when sown, will many of them degenerate, and produce such fruit as is not worth cultivating; but when grafts are taken from such trees as produce good fruit, these will never alter from their kind, whatever be the stock or tree on which they are grafted. Many have supposed that fruit undergoes a change, by being grafted; but this is not the case, M. Du Hamel tried it on different trees, and for fear of error repeated every experiment several times. He grafted the peach on the almond, the plum on the apricot, the pear upon the apple, the quince on the white thorn, one species of plum on another, and the almond and apricot on the peach. All these succeeded alike; the fruit was never altered; the leaves, the wood, the flowers, were perfectly the same with those of the tree from which the grafts were taken.

Some authors have made mention of engraving trees of distinct genera on one another; such as the apple on the oak, the elm, the mapple, and the plum. M. Du Hamel tried a number of these experiments, none of which proved successful. Engraving seems never to succeed but when trees of the same natural family are grafted on one another. Some trees are supposed to live longer, and grow more vigorously when grafted than when growing in a natural state. It is said, that this is the case with the peach, when grafted on the plum. But it is commonly alleged, that grafted trees do not live so long as they would have done in their natural state. The reason why grafted trees are short lived, perhaps proceeds from another cause than merely from the circumstance of being grafted; viz. the age of the tree from which the scions were originally taken.

The proper tools and other materials used in grafting, are, 1. A strong knife for cutting off the heads performing of the stocks previous to the insertion of the graft; also, a small hand saw for occasional use in cutting off the heads of large stocks. 2. A common grafting knife or sharp pen knife for cutting and shaping the grafts ready for insertion; also to slope and form the stocks for The reception of the grafts. 3. A flat grafting chisel and small mallet for cleaving large stocks, in cleft grafting, for the reception of the graft. 4. A quantity of new bals strings for bandages for tying the grafted parts close together, to secure the grafts, and promote their speedy union with the stock. And 5. A quantity of grafting clay for claying closely round the grafts after their insertion and binding, to defend the parts from being dried by the sun and winds, for these parts ought to be closely surrounded with a coat of clay in such a manner as effectually to guard them from all weathers, which would prove injurious to the young grafts, and prevent their junction with the stock.

For this purpose some argillaceous loam or pure clay must be procured, to which should be added one fourth part of fresh horse dung and a small portion of cut hay. The whole must be well moistened with water, and thoroughly beat with a stick after the manner of mortar.

The scions or grafts (which should be shoots of last year) ought to be selected and cut off some time about the beginning or middle of the month. Each kind ought to be put up separately in little bundles, which should be inserted into the earth of a dry border, and should be protected during severe weather by a covering of straw or something of that nature. The reason for taking them off at the time mentioned, is that their growth may be checked, and that they may be preserved in a condition for grafting; for were they to remain on the trees, their buds would begin to swell, and would soon advance so far as to be unfit for using with any prospect of success. The stocks intended to be grafted, must, previous to the insertion of the graft, be cut down; those intended for dwarf trees, to be trained on walls or espaliers, must be cut over five or six inches above the ground; those intended for standards should be cut over at the height of five or six feet.

The stocks must vary according to the kinds of fruit to be grafted on them, and to the size of the tree to be produced. Apples are grafted on apple stocks raised from seed, cuttings, or layers; for dwarfs, paradise pippin or Siberian crab stocks are used; for half dwarfs, codlin stocks raised from suckers, cuttings or layers; and for full standards, stocks raised by sowing the seed of crabs or any common apple. Pears are grafted upon pear stocks obtained from seed or suckers, on quinces, and on white thorn. When they are grafted on quince stocks, they become dwarf, and are fit for espaliers, &c.

Cherries are grafted upon cherry stocks obtained by sowing the stones of red or black cherries, and plums are grafted upon plum stocks raised from seed or suckers (b).

There are different methods of grafting, termed whip-grafting, cleft-grafting, crown-grafting, cheek-grafting, side-grafting, root-grafting, and grafting by approach or marching; but whip-grafting and cleft-grafting are the most commonly used, and whip-grafting most of all.

Whip-grafting being the most expeditious and successful method of grafting, is the most commonly practiced in all the nurseries; it is always performed upon small stocks, from about the size of a goose-quill to half an inch or a little more or less in diameter, but the near-grafting, or the stock and graft approach in size, the better; and is called whip-grafting, because the grafts and stock being nearly of a size, are sloped on one side so as to fit each other, and tied together in the manner of whips or joints of angling rods, &c.; and the method is as follows. Having the scions or grafts, knife, bandages, and clay ready, begin the work by cutting off the head of the stock at some smooth part; this done, cut one side sloping upwards, about an inch and a half or near two inches in length, and making a notch or small slit near the upper part of the slope downwards, about half an inch long, to receive the tongue of the scion; then prepare the scion, cutting it to five or six inches in length, forming the lower end also in a sloping manner, so as exactly to fit the sloped part of the stock, as if cut from the same place, that the bark of both may join evenly in every part, and make a slit so as to form a tongue to fit the slit made in the slope of the stock; then place the graft, inserting the tongue of it into the slit of the stock, applying the parts as evenly and close as possible, and immediately tie the parts close together with a string of bals, passing closely several times round the stock and graft; then clay the whole over near an inch thick all round, from about half an inch or more below the bottom of the graft, to an inch above the top of the stock, finishing the whole coat of clay in a kind of oval form, closing it effectually about the scion, so that neither air nor water may penetrate. The clay must be examined from time to time, for should it crack much, or fall off, a quantity of fresh clay ought to be applied immediately. This sort of grafting may also be performed upon the young shoots of any bearing tree, if you wish to alter the kind of fruit or to have more kinds than one on the same tree. By the middle or latter end of May the graft will be well united with the stock, as will be evident from the shooting of the buds of the graft, when the clay should be removed; but the bals bandage should remain until the united parts seem to swell, and be too much confined, then the bandage should be taken off entirely.

Cleft-grafting is so called because the stock being too large for whip-grafting, is cleft or slit down the middle, for the reception of the graft, and is performed in stocks from one to two inches diameter or upwards. First, with a strong knife take off the head of the stock with a sloping cut about an inch and a half long, then cleave the stock with a strong knife or chisel and mallet across the slope to the depth of about two inches, or long enough to admit the graft, leaving the instrument in to keep the cleft open. Prepare the scion by cutting it to such length as to leave four or five eyes, sloping the lower part of it on each side, wedge fashion, to the length of an inch and a half or two inches, making one edge very thin, and leaving the other much thicker with the bark on; then place it in the cleft at the back part.

(b) Stocks which are raised from seed, generally grow more freely and vigorously than those raised from cuttings or layers, and on that account are called free stocks. Part III.