870.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 525 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Capsicums (H. P.) — Certainly Capsicums can be included in a collection of 

 ten varieties of vegetables, and on no account should a collection be disqualified 

 in consequence. The Capsicum is only useful as a vegetable, and of no practical 

 use as a fruit. 



Name of Pear (A Reader). — Fondante d'Automne, a medium-sized, delicious, 

 melting Pear, having a rich buttery flavour. It should certainly form one of a 

 select collection. 



Peaches (Under-Gardener). — They were both raised from seed by Mr Thomas 

 Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, and are thus described by him : — "Lord Palmerston — 

 Very large, the largest of Peaches ; skin creamy white, with a pink cheek ; flesh 

 firm, yet melting, very juicy and rich. It was raised from the Princess of Wales 

 Peach, and resembles in its size and beauty its grandparent the monstrous Pavie 

 of Pompone ; flowers very large and beautiful ; glands nearly round : season, 

 from middle to end of September. It clings slightly to the stone unless fully 

 ripe. Princess of Wales — Very large, one of the largest Peaches known, and 

 one of the most beautiful, its colour cream, with a rosy cheek ; melting, rich, 

 and excellent; ripens just before Desse Tardive, and is very valuable ; flowers 

 very large and beautiful; glands round." When at Lord Eversley's charming 

 place at Heckfield, near Reading, some weeks ago, we saw both these fine Peaches. 

 The former was growing in an early Peach-house, and we were informed by Mr 

 Wildsmith, the gardener at Heckfield, that he had gathered a large crop of mag- 

 nificent fruits, some of them of great size, yet combined with the finest quality. 

 Princess of Wales was growing on a south wall in the kitchen-garden, and 

 bearing a large crop : this was of a fine appearance, and truly " melting, rich, and 

 excellent." 



Wintering Verbenas (Verbena). — Your query has been submitted to Mr 

 Henry Eckford, of Coleshill Gardens, the raiser of some of the finest Verbenas 

 now in cultivation, and the following is his reply : — " In reply to your corre- 

 spondent, Verbena, I have to say Verbenas may be kept in a cold frame ; in fact 

 some amateur cultivators in this neighbourhood keep them under common hand- 

 lights— of course for want of better accommodation — and sometimes are tolerably 

 fortunate. Although they dislike much dry heat, yet to keep them successfully 

 they require a house or pit where a little heat can be applied in case of long- con- 

 tinued dull cold weather." 



Dahlia Experiences. — I must express my thanks to Mr Perry for his great 

 kindness, and the valuable information contained in his letter, which I shall 

 have much pleasure in availing myself of. I trust you will excuse my open- 

 ing up the subject again, but a3 there appears to be a doubt about some of 

 the sorts mentioned by Mr Perry, I think it advisable to ventilate it. I pre- 

 sume that Head Master, Flag of Truce, and Thomas Hobbs are new Dahlias 

 of the present year, as I cannot find them in last year's catalogues. [Head 

 Master (Turner) and Thomas Hobbs (Keynes) are new of the present year, Flag 

 of Truce (Wheeler) was sent out in 1S68.] Is Thomas Hobbs a misprint for 

 "The Nobbs," which is highly spoken of? [No. The latter is evidently a 

 misprint for the former.] Gipsy Queen and Oxonian must also be new, or is 

 the former identical with Gipsy King ? [Gipsy Queen is an error. It is Gipsy 

 King, and was raised by Mr Hopkins, of Brentford, and sent out by Mr Keynes 

 last spring. Oxonian (Turner) was sent out by the raiser at the same time.] 



