i8 7 9-] NOTES FROM THE PAPERS. 3G7 



the forcing home, are always covered with about 6 inches of light soil in order 

 to blanch the heads partly, which are cut when they have pushed about two 

 inches or more above the surface, and become slightly green on the top. In 

 cutting, the operator cuts close to the crown, or nearly so, and of course the 

 greater portion of the stem is perfectly blanched and white. In this condition 

 it is sent to the cook, who cooks it as he knows how. This is the practice in 

 private gardens, as described by the most competent authorities on the subject. 

 The thickness of the heads, of course, depends upon the strength and age of 

 the roots, but the produce is always the same in appearance and flavour. 

 Plenty of the tine French Asparagus does not differ from the English-grown 

 samples, except that it is blanched throughout, or nearly so, and is thicker. In 

 a raw state the tops of the French Asparagus are also the most tender portion, 

 while the bottoms are comparatively tough. Now, if these can be cooked so 

 as to be eatable, Euglish Asparagus can certainly be cooked in the same way, 

 allowing for the difference in the thickness of the stalks. The correspondent 

 of the 'Garden ' thus describes how French Asparagus is cooked : " The cookery 

 which suffices for common small green Asparagus will not do for these large 

 and fine specimens. They require to be boiled, and are boiled by all cooks 

 who know how to treat Asparagus, standing erect in the water with the tops 

 just out of it, all the stems being cut exactly the same length. The stems are 

 then boiled till tender, and in this process the tops, exposed for about 1 inch 

 of their length, are also cooked tender." 



Mr D. T. Fish, within a brief period, has published three voluminous treatises 

 on horticultural subjects, and now "The Peach and Nectarine" by the same 

 author has lately been issued from the press (" The Bazaar Office, Strand"). The 

 volume consists of close upon three hundred pages of small type. The culture 

 of the Peach is a subject which can be, and which has always been, treated at 

 considerable less length than the Pine or the Vine, for the simple reason that 

 there is not so much to be said about it ; but Mr Fish does not seem to be of 

 this opinion, and he has produced a book on the Peach and Nectarine which 

 contains, we should say, at least twelve times as much matter as Thomson's 

 book on the Pine-Apple — about six times as lengthy as that work and W. 

 Thomson's ' Culture of the Vine ' put together. If to these two books you 

 were to add all that has been said on the Peach in llobinson's ' Parks and 

 Gardens of Paris ' and ' Thomson's Gardener's Assistant,' you would have about 

 an equal quantity of matter to that produced by Mr Fish on the Peach alone. 

 Mr Fish's list of vermin and diseases that afflict the Peach amount to the moder- 

 ate number of thirty-five, and they are disposed of in a matter of fifteen 

 columns. This list includes dogs, fowls, birds, rats, mice, buttei flies, snails, 

 slugs, squirrels, hornets, jaundice, and gout. The two first are certainly an 

 addition to the list, and we have doubts about some of the others. As for 

 " dogs," we are sure it suggests rabies. A vitiated appetite is one of the first 

 and surest signs of hydrophobia ; and when a dog forgets its carnivorous in- 

 stincts, and consumes indiscriminately "Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, Plums, 

 Grapes, Pears, and Gooseberries," it wants to be taken care of, without doubt. 

 Mr Fish has known " at least four pet dogs that ate fruit greedily ; " and his 

 "present house mongrel" appears to have an exceptionally depraved ap- 

 petite in this respect, for it devours all the above fruits, and is a thief as well. 

 For these reasons dogs have been included in the list of enemies of the Peach. 

 From this imperfect notice we hope the reader will be able to form soine idea 

 of Mr Fish's labours — for the rest we must refer him to the book itself. 

 If he can find time to peruse its contents, he will find, of course, much good 



