118 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



The Wlngkd Pea. — The applications for seeds of 

 the "Winged Pen were so numerous— numbering 

 nearly Ave hundred — that it would have been im- 

 possible to have supplied all the applicants, 

 unless the number of seeds sent to each had been 

 reduced. For the first few days after the April 

 number was published, six seeds were enclosed 

 in every envelope sent, but the arrival of heaps 

 of letters by every post, compelled me to reduce 

 the number to four, and I think some of the 

 later applications were answered with threes 

 only. As it is a mo-t prolific plant, those who 

 like it when they see it in bloom, may save plenty 

 of see.l by leaving the pods to ripen, so that in 

 a second season, tney may have plenty. The re- 

 mark of a correspondent that winged Peas ought 

 to go further than any other kind, is sniewhat 

 borne out in this: ease, for letters have come from 

 very distant puts for them, and the applicants 

 include people of all ranks ;— titled dignitaries, 

 nurserymen, gardener.-, and humble cottagers. 

 It is a pleasure, therefore, to know that the 

 Floral World is winged and takes its monthly 

 flight 1 1 many a remote comer of the world, as 

 well as to the thousands of green nooks nearer 

 home. Having to travel much during the past 

 month, and my engagements being unusually nu- 

 merous and pressing, I could not attend to the 

 distribution myself, but those friends who sent 

 me seeds ia exchange, and others who asked for 

 information, or expressed kindly regards — and 

 the number oi the latter was agreeably many — 

 are desired to accept this general acknowledg- 

 ment of their welcome favours. Such letters as 

 seemed to require my attention, were handed 

 over to me, and I believe every one has bad ac- 

 knowledgment. Hut among so many, something 

 may have escaped me, and should it so happen, 

 I bog those friends who may think me neglectful, 

 to believe that I have no greater pleasure than 

 in receiving their letters, and answering them to 

 the best of my ability, but leisure is au enjoy- 

 ment I know nothing of, and occ.tsional absence 

 from home compels me often to deter replying 

 to the many letters I receive until they have 

 accumulated to a tremendous pile. " Better late 

 than never," is then the motto, and " first come, 

 first served," the ru.e of practice. The Winged 

 Pea is quite hardy, grows from four to six 

 inches high, and branches very much, so as to 

 require at least four ii dies from plant to plant. 

 It likes a deep moist loam, and may be planted 

 any time from the lirst of February to the first 

 of June. As a matter of course, it does not re- 

 quire sticks. It is quite au old thing, :md its bo- 

 tanical name is Tivtragonolobus purpureus, for- 

 merly classed with Lotus, as Lotus tretragunolo- 

 bu.s.-S. H. 

 Faiiiv Rings.— A Kentish Amateur asks for in- 

 formation as to those rings of grass which grow 

 above the ordinary height in meadows and iu 

 woods, popularly called "Fairy Circles," and 

 supposed to be the haunts of the Curies, Our 

 correspondent is in error, in supposing that the 

 question has never been satisfactorily answered. 

 for this is one of the many pretty fragments of 

 folk-lore which science has robbed of its poetry, 

 by a very clear exposition of the facts of the 

 ease. In a work on country scenes and occupa- 

 tions, called "Brambles and flay Leaves," lately 

 published by Messrs. Longman there is a full 

 account of tne superstition itself, and an analysis 

 of the natural phenomena attending it. The 

 author states that the origin of every fairy ring 

 is a fungus, and the agarics are those which 

 most commonly give rise to them. In the 

 decay of a fungus, a large amount of phosphates 



is returned to the earth, and the grass which 

 was originally displaced by it, takes possession 

 of the spot, and the phosphates deposited there, 

 furnish it with a rich manure, in which it grows 

 more luxuriantly trail elsewhere. In the mean- 

 time, the fungus has distributed its spores in a 

 circle, and when this circular growth of fungi 

 passes away, the grass take's possession of the 

 first ring so formed, and its \igorous growth 

 gives it the rich dark colour by which it is dis- 

 tinguished from the surrounding herbage. The 

 fungi which formed the first ring decay in their 

 turn, and scatter a fresh ling of spawn ou'si le 

 the first ; their growth being always towards the 

 soil on which there have been no lungi, while 

 the grass regularly follows, and thus the riug 

 grows larger year after year. It would occupy 

 many of our pages to follow the explanati in 

 into all its details, and we must therefore beg 

 our correspondent to remain content with this 

 brief reply, unless he should refer to the work 

 from which we gather these particulars, in order 

 to study the subject in all its bearings. We 

 may, however, add, that edible fungi are very 

 commonly found on fairy rings, and are asso- 

 ciated with them in the minds and experiences 

 of those who hold to the ancient notion of the 

 faiiies dancing at night on these, their magic 

 tirc!e3. The best champignons wo ever gathered 

 were from a fairy ring on llampstead Heath, 

 some fifteen years since. 

 Culture of Hydraxgeas.— Li. — "We grow a great 

 number of Hydrangeas in the same way as 

 fuchsias, coccinea, and such things out of 

 doors. We plant in deep loam on a shady bor- 

 der, and give abundance of water all the summer. 

 In autumn they are cut over close and mulched 

 with leaves to protect from frost. In spring 

 they throw up strong shoots, and flower as freely 

 as a Monkshood or a Dielytra. The shoots re- 

 quire a little thinning, to give shape to tho 

 plant, and strength to the bloom. For pot cul- 

 ture, hydrangeas may be struck at any time, and 

 nothing roots with more certainty, if young 

 side shoots are taken and put in sand, with a 

 little bottom heat. Old ripe shoots will strike 

 in the open air, but take longer. The best soil 

 is one third peat, one third leaf mould, and one 

 third strong loam ; the pots to be well drained, 

 and the plants to have plenty of water. Weak 

 manure water promotes the formation of fine 

 heads of bloom; cuttings struck iu summer and 

 grown in a greenhouse, and stopped iu the 

 autumn, will flower early the next season ; and 

 there is no plant more certain to bloom freely, if 

 the wood is well ripened in the autumn. The 

 production of blue hydrangeas depends entirely 

 on the nature of the soil; there is no specific to 

 be relied on, though a solution of alum is often 

 used for the purpose. When the blue colour is 

 ooiaiued, it is not permanent, and it occurs only 

 with young plants at their first blooming. For 

 bedding plants, the shoots containing bloom-buds 

 may be taken off, and struck with a moist bot- 

 tom heat, and then bedded out to bioom ; they 

 manage them this way at the Crystal Palace, 

 but we cannot say that we admire such beds, or 

 think the hydrangea at all a tit subject for masses, 

 though trufy bemtiful in pots, and iu good spe- 

 cimens in borders and shrubberies. 

 Plants for Conservatory. — R. E. — Without 

 knowing the sort of structure you wish to stock, 

 it is impossible to advise. For instance, Camel- 

 lias are fine conservatory plants, but it would 

 be absurd to plant them in a Wardian case. 

 From your note, we cannot tell whether yours is 

 a Fern case of the dimensions of a few square 



