The Book of Sports Part 8

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After all these necessary motions and movements have been acquired in the water, there is one thing of which the swimmer must beware, and against which art and precaution can do but little--this is the CRAMP.

When this seizes the swimmer, he must endeavour, as much as possible, to avoid being alarmed, as he will reflect, that as the body is lighter than water, a very little exertion in it will keep his body afloat. Of course his first thoughts will be towards the sh.o.r.e, but he must not forget, that the cramp being only a muscular contraction, may be thrown off by proper muscular exertion. He must strike out the limb violently, and bringing the toes towards the shin-bone, thrust his feet out, which will probably restore the muscles to their proper exercise; but if the cramp still continue, he can easily keep himself afloat with his hands, and paddle towards the sh.o.r.e, till some a.s.sistance comes to him. If one leg is only attacked, he may drive himself forward with the other, and for this purpose, in an emergency, the swimmer should frequently try to swim with one hand, or one leg and one hand, or by two hands alone, which will be easily acquired.

Should a companion be in danger of drowning, it is our duty to use every exertion to save his life; and, indeed, not to use the utmost exertion is a high degree of moral guilt, but in doing this, we must not rashly hazard our own life, nor put ourselves into a position in which the swimmer can cling to us or grasp any part of our body, or the loss of both will be inevitable. It will be better in all cases where bathing is practised, that there should be ropes and planks at hand, and young swimmers should never venture far into the water without such means of rescue are available. In conclusion, we would caution all who go into the water, against remaining in it too long, as nothing can be more dangerous; and we would further advise that the practice of bathing and swimming be not only common to boyhood, but be continued in after life, as few things tend more to the preservation of HEALTH.

PART VII.

GARDENING.

We read in the sacred records, that when man was created, he was placed in a "Garden,"--the Garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it; and we may infer therefrom, first, that, the occupation of gardening was one pre-eminently fitted for the happiness of man, and secondly, that industry, and even labour, was also a part of man's duty, even in a state of innocence.

There is not a more innocent amus.e.m.e.nt than gardening. Nothing can be more lovely than to be among buds and fruits and flowers; nothing is more conducive to health and peace of mind, and few things are better calculated to inspire religious feelings than gardening.

Every little boy or girl should have a garden, and should be shown how to manage it. There is a great deal in _management_ and in _method_ at all times, but especially in gardening. Much _attention_ is also necessary,--great _care_ and much _forethought_; all of which qualities of the mind it is in the highest degree proper to train and exercise.

Whoever, therefore, begins gardening, must not look upon it as an idle sport, to be taken up and thrown aside with the whim of the moment, but as an occupation for leisure hours, that the mind must be brought to bear upon, and which must engage him from day to day, from month to month, from spring to summer, from autumn to winter, and so through all the changes of the varied year.

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LAYING OUT THE GROUND.

30 yds.

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To begin gardening, a little boy must have some _ground_, which is quite indispensable; and a boy of from ten to fourteen years old ought to have, at least, a piece large enough for him to divide and subdivide, and arrange with neatness and order. A piece of about forty yards long by thirty wide will be large enough to commence with, and this should be set out in the subjoined manner. This will allow of a path three feet wide in the centre, and of one two feet six inches round the sides, leaving the beds twenty-two and a half feet wide. The paths should be gravelled with a good red binding gravel, and to look nice, the borders should be edged with box or edging tiles. At each corner of the two parallelograms, might be planted a tree, say, one apple, one pear, one plum, and one cherry, that is, eight in all; and at distances of about a yard, might be planted, all round, a foot from the paths, alternately, gooseberry-bushes, currant-trees, and raspberry-trees, and between them, various kinds of flowers, to come into blossom at different seasons. At one end, the south end if possible, should be erected a small arbour, with a couple of seats in it, and at the two opposite corners should be two small manure pits,--one for the reception of well-rotted manure, to be quickly used, and the other for the reception of all weeds, leaves, and rubbish, which will make manure, and which should be mixed up from time to time with the spade. These pits should be used alternately. As soon as one has its contents well rotted, it should be emptied from time to time on the land, while the other pit should be used to hold the fresh matter newly collected. By the time this is full, the other will be empty, and then that may be used as a _collector_ and the other as a _decomposer_, and so on, alternately.

MANURE.

It is of no use whatever to think of getting things to grow without manure. This is the life and soul of all garden operations. Almost everything can be converted into manure. The gra.s.s from lawns, fallen leaves, weeds, and all vegetable matter, afford good light manure.

Strong manures are prepared from horse, cow, sheep, and goat dung. The dung of fowls and rabbits is also most excellent; and where fowls or rabbits are kept, their dung should be preserved with great care, and put by itself into a rotting-pit, or into a tank, and kept wet. The juicy part can then be used as a liquid manure, and will be found of a highly fertilizing property, and the more solid may be spread over the land. The best time for putting manure on the land is in dry or frosty weather, and it should be dug in as soon as spread. It is a very unwise plan to spread manure on the land and let it lie, as in such cases, much of the strength of the manure is lost. Young gardeners should be very careful in preparing and collecting manure, and also when they are moving it from the pits to the ground, they should take care and not soil their paths.

GARDENING TOOLS.

It is quite necessary that a young gardener should have proper tools. He should have a small but strong _spade_, a small but strong _rake_, a digging _fork_, a _hoe_, a _trowel_, a good _pruning-knife_, a _box_ for seeds, a little _wheelbarrow_, a _line_, and above all, a little gardener's _ap.r.o.n_, and a _straw hat_ with a _broad brim_. Thus equipped, he may commence his gardening operations with great comfort to himself and some chance of success.

DIGGING.

The young gardener should practise digging, with a view to digging well.

In beginning to dig a piece of ground, he should first clear it of all sticks, stalks, or stones, that might impede his labor. He should then commence at one end of the ground, with his back to the sun, if possible, and, beginning from the left-hand corner, dig one line all the way to the right-hand corner, either one or two spades deep, as may be required. The ground should be turned over, evenly laid up at the top, nice and level, and the weeds completely buried. The operator should dig carefully when near the roots of gooseberry, currant, raspberry, or fruit trees, and more carefully still, among flowers. If digging early in the season, he must mind he does not dig into his _bulbs_; such as lilies, tulips, snow-drops, crocuses, or daffodils, and cut them to pieces.

In the latter part of the year, in November and December, it is a good plan to dig up any unoccupied ground into ridges, and leave it in that state during the winter, that the frost may act upon it. The effect of frost upon the ground so prepared is very beneficial, as it breaks the clods and pulverizes the more cloggy portions, which fall down in a thaw as a fine soft mould. When manure is dug into the ground, it should not be dug in too deeply, about four or five inches being quite sufficient in most cases.

WEEDING.

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-gra.s.s, 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 a.s.siduous 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.

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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 cuc.u.mber 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 gla.s.s 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.

RAKING.

When seeds are sown, the beds should be nicely raked. Some seeds, such as carrot and parsnip seeds, should be beaten down with the flat part of the spade, and laid very evenly and nicely. The edges of the little cross-paths should be sharp and straight, and the whole put into a ship-shape order. The stones should be raked off into the cross-paths, and may remain there until the land is dug up in the autumn or winter, when they may be removed. There is a good deal to be done with the rake in many ways, besides the raking of beds. It is a very useful tool to job over a bed when some kinds of seeds are sown: it also makes a very good drill, and is especially useful in getting leaves from the paths and borders; but it should be used with a light hand, and care taken not to scratch the ground into holes with it, as many young gardeners do.

HOEING.

The hoe is of very great use, both to hoe up weeds and to form drills.

We have spoken about its former use, and shall now say a word or two about the latter. In forming a drill for peas, beans, or other seed, one thing is above all things requisite, namely, that it should be _straight_. A drill resembling a dog's hinder leg, never looks well in a garden, and therefore the little gardener must have recourse to his _line_. This ought to be long enough to stretch quite across his ground, and when he wants to strike a drill, he should stretch it across from path to path, and, taking his hoe in his hand, cut or sc.r.a.pe a little furrow, about three or four inches deep, by the side of his line. In sowing peas and beans, the drills are generally a yard apart, and between them other crops are sometimes sown. Very often a crop of spring-spinach or of radishes is sown between lines of peas, and so on of other intermediate crops.

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The line is very useful in all kinds of planting. In planting broad-beans, they are put into the ground by a _dibber_, which is a piece of wood with a pointed end and a handle. The holes are to be dibbed along the side of the line. The same tool is used in a similar way in planting potatoes, strawberries, cabbage-plants, and a variety of other roots, which require to be planted in straight and equidistant lines.

TRANSPLANTING.

There are a great many vegetables which require to be transplanted,--some from the hot-bed, and some from the open ground, where they have sprung from seeds, to their destination in the garden.

All transplanting should be done with care. Some plants, such as cabbage plants, do not require so much care as others, but every plant to do well should be well planted. Young gardeners are liable to many mistakes in transplanting; one is, that they often put the root of the plant into the ground bundled together; another is, that they make the hole too large with the dibber, and are not careful in pressing the mould to the root at the bottom of the hole, so that the root of the plant has nothing to feed upon. All this the thoughtful little gardener will avoid; and when he puts a plant into the ground, he will reflect that if it be not well _planted_ it will _not grow_. The young plants of the more delicate flowers should be moved with the greatest care into spots congenial with their natures. Some plants require a warm, some a cool situation, some a moist, some a dry one, and these will be ascertained by studying the nature of the plant.