nt. L

ing.

OFFSETS.

all salading, sow. Sage, plant. Sorrel, Savory, plant. Savoys, plant for Salsafy is in perfection, take up for Scorzonera is in perfection, take for storing. Spinach, thin, &c., seeds er as they ripen, stir between rows of its. Tansey, plant. Tarragon, plant. atos, gather. Thyme, plant. Thinning, nd to. Turnips, plant for seed, hoe g crops. Vacant ground, trench, drain, LOWER GARDEN.-This is a very busy th; for the garden should now be ed and arranged for season. Trans: all sorts of fibrous-rooted perennial biennial plants now where they are ined to remain; put the bulbs into the ad again, and remove the different ed plants into their respective places. e flowering shrubs of all sorts. Plant ransplant all hardy deciduous shrubs their suckers. Dig up and part the of all flowers which require so doing, eplant them. Plant cuttings of honeyes, laurels, &c. Take up the roots of is, and put them carefully away till Trim evergreens. Plant box-edgcut away the long sticky roots, and the tops even. Mow grass walks and , and weed gravel walks. NERAL MONTHLY NOTICES. - October alled by our Saxon forefathers Wyn th, or Wine Month; and sometimes fylleth, from the approach of winter. Is the eighth month of the Alban dar, in which it had thirty-nine days. ame is derived from the Latin octo, and imber, a shower of rain. Romulus ed it to thirty-one days; Numa to y-nine; Julius and Augustus each [one, and this number has not since altered.

tober lets loose the harriers and the ound. The foxhound now begins to ght earnestly busy. The flowers now to arrive in rapidly diminishing numThe long-leafed starwort blossoms : the first week of this month. The Fold leaves us about the fifth, the swaln the eighth or ninth. The golden rod out of bloom near the tenth. Woodbegin to "drop in" from the thirteenth. leaves of the lime tree fall in the first ight; those of the elm speedily follow. oak changes its colour towards the (Johnson and Shaw's Farmer's Al

ic.) FFICES. See FARM BUILDINGS. FFSETS. In gardening, young radical s, when separated or taken off from the nt roots, are so called. One of the chief aods of propagating plants is by offsets. IL-CAKE. The marc which remains

OLEANDER.

after the oil has been expressed from the seeds of flax and rape. See LINSEED CAKE.

OILS (Ger. oel; Lat. oleum). This term comprehends two substances that have very distinct properties, namely, volatile and fixed oils; but, in general language, the term oil is indicative of the latter. Fixed oils are unctuous fluid bodies, which, when dropped upon paper, sink into it, and make it seem semitransparent, or give it what is called a greasy stain. (Thomson's Chem. vol. ii. p. 363.) They are composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Train oil has been sometimes used as a manure, and is a powerful fertiliser. See FISH. Linseed oil is a common food for live stock. See LINSEED OIL.

The following is the result of analysis of 100 parts of

Hydrogen. Oxygen. Carbon. 13.36 + 9:43777.213 = 100 Olive oil 16.1 + 15.03 + 68.87 = 100 Train oil Olive oil is chiefly imported into this country from the Mediterranean. It is the produce of the Olea europæa, a native of Greece, Africa, and the South of Europe. The oil is expressed from the ripe fruit, which resembles a small purple plum in size and appearance. The fruit is first bruised in a mill, and then pressed: the first which flows is termed virgin oil; after obtaining which the mare is broken up, moistened with hot water, and again submitted to the press to procure an inferior oil. The oil is left for a considerable time, to enable it to deposit the feculencies, before it is ready for exportation or for use. Good olive oil is of a pale straw-yellow colour, perfectly inodorous and tasteless. are several kinds in the market: that which comes from Provence is the best, next to it that from Florence; it is imported in flasks. Lucca and Genoa oils are also good; but the greatest part of the olive oil brought into England is the production of Naples and Sicily, and known by the name Gallipoli oil. Olive oil is used both dietetically and medicinally. It is superior to butter for many purposes of cookery for which the latter is employed.

OLD RED SANDSTONE.

OLOGY.

There

See GE

OLEANDER. (Nerium from neros, humid; alluding to the habitat of the plants.) This is a genus of noble evergreen shrubs, of easy culture, and flowering freely the greater part of the year. N. Öleander and its varieties bear forcing remarkably well; and although treated as green-house plants, yet they will not flower well unless they are kept in the stove. They grow well in any rich light soils, and young cuttings root in any soil if kept moist. The leaves of N.

Oleander contain tannic acid, and the leaves and bark of the root of N. odorum are applied externally as powerful repellants by the Indian practitioners. N. tinctorium yields indigo. (Paxton's Bot. Dict.)

OLEASTER. (Elæagnus from elaia, an olive, and agnos, a chaste tree.) A genus of ornamental large shrubs or trees of easy culture, thriving in any open soil. They are increased by layers or cuttings of the ripened wood, planted in a warm situation early in autumn.

OLIVE. (Olea.) This is a very important genus of plants, on account of the oil, &c., which is obtained chiefly from the O. europea. It is an evergreen small tree, with lanceolate leaves, of a deep green on the upper, and nearly white or hoary on the under surface. The flowers are small and white. The fruit is an elliptical drupe, of a bluish-purple colour when ripe. The tree lives to an extreme old age, and continues to bear good olives. It is also much admired for the fragrance of its flowers, which render it worthy a place in every green-house collection. They grow well in loam and peat; ripened cuttings root readily in sand, under a glass. They may also be increased by grafting on the common privet. The unripe fruit of the olive, preserved in salt and water, is a well-known article for the dessert. (Paxton's Bot. Dict.; Phillips's Fruits, p. 259.) See OILS. OMY. Á provincial term employed to signify mellow, when spoken of land. It is often written oamy.

ONIONS. (Allium cepa. Derivation uncertain; probably from ayλ0s, a head of garlic, and cepa from caput, a head, on account of the form of the bulb.) Of this genus, there are eight indviduals that demand the gardener's care.

They all require a rich friable soil on a dry substratum; a situation enjoying the full influence of the sun, and entirely free from trees, which are very inimical to them, especially to those which have to stand the winter. If the soil be poor, or exhausted, abundance of dung should be applied in the preceding autumn or winter, and the ground thrown into ridges. By these means it becomes well decomposed and incorporated with the soil; for rank unreduced dung is generally injurious, engendering decay, and inducing maggots; if, therefore, the application of manure is neglected until the spring, it should be taken from an old hotbed, or other source whence it is to be had in a thoroughly putrescent state, and turned in only to a moderate depth. Sea sand, particularly if the ground is at all tenacious, is advantageously employed: coal ashes, and especially soot, are applied with particular

benefit. In digging over the ground small spits only should be turned over at a tirae, that the texture may be well broken and pulverised. A considerable degree of m tention is required from the difficulty of giving the requisite degree of firmness to light soils, which if rich are well suited to the growth of these vegetables. Old, soft, er light sandy soils, Mr. A. Gorrie of Rait resimmends to be dug rough in October, and about January to have a top dressing of cow-dung applied and left on, to have its fertising matters washed in until the time of sorg when as much as can be is to be raked of, y and, without digging, the seed sown, tod in, and covered with earth from the alleys By this management soils will produce good crops which before were annually destrired by the maggot. (Mem. Caled. Hert S vol. ii. p. 292.) Onions for pickling, sw as those to stand the winter, should grown on light poorer soils, which cause first to be small in the bulb, and the late not growing so luxuriant, to withstand winter better.

There are fourteen distinct varieties

this vegetable, as appears from the deser tion given by Mr. C. Strachan, gardn to the Horticultural Society of Lond (Trans. Hort. Soc. Lond. vol. iii. p. 372– 376.)

1. Silver-skinned onion. 2. Earlv sive skinned. 3. True Portugal. 4. Sp 5. Strasburg. 6. Deptford. 7. Globe. James's keeping onion. 9. Pale red Yellow. 11. Blood-red. 12. Tripeli Two-bladed. 14. Lisbon.

The onion is raised from seed, which be sown for the first main crop towards t close of February, if dry open weathe. otherwise only a small portion in a var dry situation. The principal crop, howe must be sown during March, it being in mind that the close of February is to preferred, for the earlier the seed is inser the finer will be the bulbs: main crops even be inserted as late as the beginning April, and, at its close, a small sowing draw young in summer, and for small bal to pickle; again in July and early in de gust for salads in autumn; and, finaly the last week of August, or early in tember, to stand the winter for spring beginning of summer. The seed is thinly, broadcast, and regularly raked in An ounce of seed is abundantly sufiom for a rood of ground, especially for the s crops, as they should never be allowed grow to a size fit for salads without thr ning. No other seed ought to be sown it; for the practice of stealing a crop, unde every spot of ground is an object, is mental to both crops, without the sligh

vantage to compensate. The beds should divided by narrow alleys into portions out four feet wide, for the convenience of Itivation. In about six weeks after sow, the plants will be of sufficient size to ow the first thinning and small hoeing, by ich they are to be set out about two hes apart: if this is performed in dry ather, it will keep the beds free of weeds six weeks longer, when they must be d a second time, and thinned to four hes apart; and now, where they have failed, vacancies may be filled up by transnting some of those thinned out into the Ices; the best time for doing this is in the ning, and water must be given for several cessive nights. In transplanting, the root y is to be inserted, and no part of the n buried; for there is very good reason believe that naturally the bulb grows irely upon the surface, and that growing hin the mould is a great cause of their keeping well. After the lapse of aner month they must be thoroughly gone r for the last time, the weeds eradicated, the plants thinned to six inches asunder: r this they in general only require to be ded occasionally by hand; they must, ever, be kept completely free from ds, and the stirring of the surface which hoe effects is very beneficial. In order revent their running too much to blade, a good practice early in July, before the change to a yellow hue, to bend the as down flat upon the bed, which not prevents the rapid growth of the le, but causes the bulbs to become much er than they otherwise would be. The d should be made about two inches up neck.

About the close of August the onions will e arrived at their full growth, which may known by the withering of the foliage, the shrinking of the necks, and by the e with which they may be pulled up. As n as these changes appear, they must be en up, the bed being frequently looked r; for, if the whole crop is waited for, • forwardest, especially in moist seasons, : apt again to strike root. They should spread on mats, &c., in the sun, freently turned, and removed under shelter night. In two or three weeks, when the >ts and blades are perfectly withered and id of moisture, and the bulbs become m, they are fit for storing, being housed dry weather, and carefully preserved om bruising: previous to doing this, all ould and refuse must be removed from em, for these are apt to induce decay, and read contagion to all near them; to prent this as much as possible, all faulty ones ould be rejected: in the store-house they

must be laid as thin as may be, and looked over at least once a month. Notwithstanding every precaution, many will decay, and more sprout, especially in mild winters; therefore, to preserve some for late use, it is useful to sear the roots and the summits with a hot iron, care being taken not to scorch the bulb.

For the winter standing crop the only additional directions necessary are, to tread in the seed regularly before raking, if the soil, as it ought to be, is dry and light. They must be kept constantly clear of weeds, as well as of the fallen leaves of trees, which cause them to spindle and become weak, but they need not be thinned, as they serve as protections for each other. Early in spring they are to be weeded, and, as may be necessary, transplanted for bulbing. There are several modes of cultivation lately introduced or revived, which produce onions of superior size and goodness. The great obstacle to the production of fine onions in this country is the want of a sufficient continuance of warm weather; or, at least, the inclemency of the early part of the year prevents the insertion of the seed until so late, that the most genial season to vegetation passes away whilst the plants are in their infancy; it is the obviating this unfavourable circumstance that causes the superiority of the several plans hereafter detailed.

It is a practice that originated in America, and which has met with the decided approval of Mr. Knight and others (Trans. Hort. Soc. Lond. vol. i. p. 157., vol. iii. p. 404.), to sow in May, to cultivate the plants as in the other crops; and, in October, the bulbs, being of the size of nuts, are to be taken up, dried, and housed, as directed for the full-grown bulbs. About the middle of the following March, they must be planted out in rows six inches apart each way, and afterwards cultivated in the same manner as the other crops. If sown earlier than May, they run to seed when transplanted. Another mode nearly as efficacious, and which, I understand, has been practised for a great length of time in the south of Essex, is to sow in the latter part of August, to stand the winter, and in March, early or late, according to the forward growth of the seedlings, to be planted out in rows at the before directed distance, and cultivated as usual.

In Portugal they sow in a moderate hotbed during November or December, in a warm situation, with a few inches of mould upon it; and the plants are protected from frost by hoops and mats; in April or May, when of the size of a swan's quill, they are transplanted into a light rich loam, well