The amateur gardener's calendar. Revised by W. Robinson

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Page 153 - And, at the time of year when the grasshopper is chirping his welcome tune, I dearly love to watch my new Lemnian vines, and notice whether they are as forward as they should be: for I am told they are an early sort. And I like to see the wild fig swelling daily; and, the moment it is ripe, I put it to my mouth, and eat it, and say, ' Bless the dear Seasons !
Page 127 - It was as if a man of ordinary stature should be able at once to vault through the air to the distance of a quarter of a mile ! — Techonolog.
Page 82 - Boxedging once properly made, and clipped every year, so as to form a miniature hedge, about three inches wide at bottom, three inches high, and two inches wide at top, will last ten or twelve years before it requires to be taken up and replanted ; but, if the edging be allowed to attain a larger size — say, six inches wide at bottom, six inches high, and three inches wide at top, — it will last fifteen or twenty years, or probably a much longer period.
Page 74 - ... dry weather without cracking. The beating is performed with a beetle or rammer, on a smooth hard floor under cover, turning over the mass, and adding water, and then beating afresh, till it becomes sufficiently softened and ductile. The process of beating must be repeated two or three times a day for several days ; and it should be completed from three weeks to a month before the clay is wanted ; care being taken to preserve it in a moist state, by covering it with mats or straw. The grafting...
Page 171 - ... how far we have diverged from nature's ways of displaying the beauty of vegetation. Sub-tropical gardening has taught us that one of the greatest mistakes ever made in the flower garden was the adoption of a few varieties of plants for culture on a vast scale, to the exclusion of interest and variety, and too often of beauty and taste.
Page 259 - One sheet, however, of such paper as this would form but a fragile ceiling, quite insufficient to prevent the earth from falling down into the nest. The wasp, accordingly, is not satisfied with her work till she has spread fifteen or sixteen layers, one above the other, rendering the wall altogether nearly two inches thick. The several layers are not placed in contact, like the layers of a piece of pasteboard, but with small intervals, or open spaces, between, appearing somewhat like a grotto built...
Page 153 - ... weather for dressing the vines, or grubbing in the mud, while the soil is all soaking wet. And let some one fetch me out the thrush and the two finches : and there ought to be a black-pudding in the larder, and four pieces of jugged hare : (unless indeed the cat has made off with them, for I...

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