1870.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 95 



as well as those for the amateur growers and nurserymen ? There are thousands of 

 artisans and cottagers who devote a great deal of time to the cultivation of their 

 favourite flowers, and especially to the Rose ; and I do not see why they should 

 be debarred from exhibiting at the Crystal Palace and other great shows. I 

 trust there is to be found some kind gentleman who will take the matter up and 

 secure this privilege for us. An Artisan, Leicester. 



[We imagine our correspondent to mean that he and others desire there should 

 be incorporated with our large shows an exhibition specially for the class of growers 

 he represents. It is worthy a trial, say at the Rose show of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society in June next ; but money for special prizes would have to be obtained, 

 and then it is extremely doubtful if the amount would be large enough to induce 

 artisans to come all the way from Leicester, for instance, to exhibit. Surely there 

 are classes in the schedules of the horticultural exhibitions held at Leicester in 

 which our artisan friends could exhibit ; or, if they are numerous enough, they 

 should organise a Rose exhibition among themselves, similar to the one held at 

 Nottingham at Easter, and so capitally described by S. R. H. Let them try, 

 and inform us how they succeed. — Eds.] 



Sandringham Sprouting Caebage. — We have just had the opportunity of 

 testing, by cooking, the qualities of this new vegetable. It is a true hybrid, 

 and was obtained from a cross between the Brussels Sprout and M'Ewen's dwarf 

 Cabbage. In habit of growth it resembles the Brussels Sprout; but the sprouts 

 are larger, longer, and densely produced. The leaves are like those of the 

 Brussels Sprout in appearance, and in the head they assume a somewhat elon- 

 gated form not unlike the Sugarloaf Cabbage. It is a delicious tender vegetable 

 when cooked, and, if it proves to be hardy, is fit to rank high among our best 

 esteemed winter vegetables. With such a parentage it cannot fail to be hardy. 



Wintering Brompton Stocks. — There is always considerable uncertainty 

 hanging over the fate of these stocks. Sometimes they will pass through a 

 winter unscathed, and at another time will be destroyed wholesale. My experi- 

 ence of them has hitherto been of a very unsatisfactory kind, having on several 

 occasions lost the whole of what otherwise appeared to be a most promising lot of 

 plants. I hope, however, that I have just gained a wrinkle that will, in the future, 

 prove useful. I planted out in the open ground early in the summer two separ- 

 ate beds of the hybrid striped Brompton Stock, which had, by the commencement 

 of the winter, grown into very strong plants. Finding it then necessary to 

 transplant one of the beds, I did so, and placed them close to the others, so that 

 they formed one entire bed of about 200 plants. What is now their relative 

 appearance ? Why, this : that the severe frost we had at the end of the year 

 killed 80 per cent of the original bed, whilst those transplanted are compara- 

 tively unhurt. After this experience I shall always transplant my winter Stocks. 



A. D. 



The Goat Moth Caterpillar. — Just six months since I obtained a cater- 

 pillar form of this fine moth (Cossus liquiperda). It was of great size, being 4 

 inches in length, and as large round as the small finger of a moderate-sized hand. 

 Not knowing what else to do with it, I placed it in a flower-pot, and stood it upon 

 a piece of glass in my greenhouse. Some leaves were put in with it, but these 

 it would not eat ; and from that time to the present it has still remained alive 

 without a particle of food, thus displaying a most remarkable tenacity of exis- 

 tence. This species is well known for its destructive raids on timber. A. D. 



