Jftnuni-y 4, 1872. ) 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



11 



or screw, so that tlie sash could slide freely. We find these 

 constructions very useful in a number of cases of which the 

 following may he taken as an instance : — Four lights of a pit 

 have been filled with cuttings, some are half-struck, others 

 want a fortnight of attaining that condition. Place the struck 

 ones in two lights, and the uustruck in the other two ; insert 

 the wooden partition between them, and then you ^ill be able 

 to give warmth and closeness to the one division, and air, so 

 as to harden-off, to the other. — E. P. 



OUR EDIBLE FUNGI. 



That any of our indigeuoits Fungi, other than the familiar 

 and fragrant " pink gill " of the pastures (Agaricus campes- 

 tris) , are wholesome or fit to be eaten is a tiling wliich finds 

 small credence even among those who might be supposed to 

 know better. Now, nothing can be more contrary to fact than 

 this mistaken idea, and it is desirable that it should be gene- 

 rally exploded. There are many other species, almost, if not 

 equally, valuable, which, through ignorance, prejudice, or both, 

 are allowed year after year to spring up and grow and waste, 

 when a little knowledge would cause them to be sought after, 

 and converted into useful aud delicious articles of food. 



Let us take a case in point which the present year affords, 

 as showing that no small advantage would be derived from 

 even a very slight acquaintance with the more fnmiliar forms 

 of iiur edible Fungi. AMiile the ordinary field ilushroom was 

 this year almost a blank, and the supply for the manufacture 

 of catsup all but nil, the Champignon, Marasmius oreades, a 

 species equally palatable, and capable of producing a far supe- 

 rior catsup, was allowed to wither and to waste unheeded, 

 though it might have been largely aud profitably availed of for 

 the production of this last-named article of ciiisiiif. 



Another case, for which, however, we must go back to last 

 year — by the way, a real Mushroom year. In journej^-iug up 

 aud down the Great Southern line we, as well as nianj' others, 

 in passuig through some of the rich feeding grounds of Kil- 

 dai'e, were struck with the marvellous patches of Mushrooms 

 of all sizes, from that of a cheese-plate to a platter. Our 

 astonishment was rather increased on the return journey to 

 see these beautiful-lookuig " flaps " remaining ungathered. 

 We at once concluded that the abundant supply was in excess 

 of tlie demand, and that they were not considered worth the 

 gathering. However, on since thinking over the matter, we 

 incline to beheve that they belonged to the nearly allied and 

 equally useful and palatable Agaricus arvensis, or Horse Mush- 

 room, and that prejudice, not the consideration of profit, was 

 the cause of their being left to bleach and wither. 



Some years ago we took occasion in this Journal to allude 

 v;ith regret to the want in our public institutions of well exe- 

 cuted models of at least the commoner forms of esculent Fungi, 

 as also of their deleterious compeers. At Glasneviu Botanic 

 Garden, where it could be seen by such numbers of the public, 

 and specially accessible to gardeners, young and old, such a 

 coUectiou would be of the highest value, in improving their 

 acquaintance with, and enabling them readily to identify at 

 least the most useful kinds. 



However, no models, no matter how beautifully aud accu- 

 rately executed, can be so instructive as recently collected 

 specimens ; and our reason for alluding to the subject to-day 

 is, that we may inform our readers that in the course of the 

 coming year there is a probability of such collections being for 

 the first time placed before the Dublin public. The learned 

 Professor of Botany in Trinity College, Dr. E. Perceval Wright, 

 being anxious to familiarise gardeners and the public with 

 their forms, and remove some of the prejudice which exists 

 against theu' use, hberally proposes to offer prizes for the best 

 collection of edible Fungi, correctly named and tastefully set 

 up, to be competed for at the Special Fruit Show of the Boyal 

 Horticultural Society of Ireland, to be held in the second week 

 in October next. In order further to provoke spirited compe- 

 tition aud an interesting tUsphiy, the -Society will supplement 

 Dr. Wright's prizes with its silver gilt medal for the first prize, 

 its silver medal for the second, and bronze medal for the third. 

 We trust that not only will the call be responded to by our 

 scientific and gardening friends at home, but that some of the 

 many accompUshed gastronomic fungologists of England may 

 be induced to come over with instructive collections. — (Irish 

 Fanners' Gazette.) 



Tkaining on Walls. — As cottagers often find a difficulty in 

 training trees upon a stone or other rough wall, a very good 



plan is to nail osiers or hazel 7 or more inches apart on the 

 wall, and train t)ie trees upon them by tying-in the branches. 

 This will save naUs, as a rod 8 feet will require but a shred Jit 

 each end and one in the centre. — C'anooet Park. 



BURGHLEY HOUSE, 



The Eesidence of the Marquis of Exetee. 



In "Domesday Book" it is spelt Bui'ghelei and Burglea, 



and detailed as part of the endo-mnents of Burgh Abbey. In 



later archives it is described as " the manor of Burle, in the 



township of Burle, near PiUesgate." 



Racy and mteresting are the memoir's of many of its earlier 

 tenants, but we must pass them over to note that it came into 

 the possession of the Cecils on the suppression of Burgh Abbey, 

 iu the reign of Henry VIII. 



The chief portion of the mansion was erected by the cele- 

 brated Lord Treasurer Burghley during the reign of Elizabeth, 

 and the dates on various of its parts range from 1577 to 1587. 

 A residence had been erected on the same site by some of his 

 ancestors, for he says in one of his letters, " I have set my 

 walls on the old foimdation. Indeed, I have made the rough 

 stone walls to be squai'e, and yet one side remauieth as my 

 father left it me." 



The Lord Treasiu-er was the first to form a park around the 

 ma)isiou, but it was much enlai'ged by the Earl of Exeter in 

 1665, and though we cannot precisely state its acreage, we 

 believe its circumference is about eleven miles. In a portion 

 of tliis park, as tliere probably is underlying the whole of it, 

 uou ore has been found near the surface, aud this is now 

 being worked. 



Burghley is no exception to the rule. No ancestral hall is 

 without its romance. Burghley, in truth, hath its many 

 romances, but we wUl only particularise, aud that very briefly, 

 one versified by Tennyson. 



Henry, first Marquis of Exeter, retaining only his family 

 name, retired to Bolas iu Shropshiic. Ho there wooed and 

 won Swali Hoggins. 



" He is but a lontLscape painter. 

 And a village maiden she." 

 He represented that he was poor — 



" I can nmko no maniago pi-esout, 

 Little can I give my wife ; 

 Love will make our cottaj,'0 plcasont, 

 Ami I love thee more than life." 

 Towards tliat " cottage" they journeyed ; seeing 

 " wlmtovor'H fair ami aplondiU 

 Lay hetwi-xt his homo ami hers." 

 At length they reached 



She wondered to see the deference with which he was re- 

 ceived, £uid the freedom with which he passed " on from hall 

 to hall," but the solution was at hand ; — 



*' For, while now she wonders blindly. 

 Nor the meaning can divine, 

 Proudly turns he round and kiiidly, 

 ' .Mi "of this is mine aud thine.' " 

 Slie was " The Lady of Burleigh," and gladdened should wo 

 be if we could add that she sustained long and firmly her 

 elevation, but tlie transition was too sudden; her spirit was 

 not self-reliant— she feared that she could not worthily he 

 the Marchioness — 



" So she di-oop'd and droop'd before him, 



FadinR slowly from his side ; 



Three fair childi-en first she boro him. 



Then before her time she died." 



Burghley House is about a nule to the east of the Stamford 



station of' the Stamford and Essendine EaUway — a railway 



made by the Marquis of Exeter; hence it has been said that 



travellers by it are the Marquis of Exeter's passengers. It 



need hardly' be remarked that when our great trmik lines were 



projected great opposition was made to them by the gentlemen 



through whose estates it was proposed they should pass, and 



originally it was intended to take the maui line of the Great 



Northern through Stamford on the old Great North Road, but 



the Marquis of Exeter of those days opposed its passage, and 



successfully. Stamford, great ui coaching days, suffered much 



from the iliversion of the traffic by road without receiving 



compensation in the shape of raUway communication with the 



great towns of the kingdom ; but now all that is changed. By 



the little line just referred to it is brought into connection with 



