MAY 301 



are over, which do so well for finger-bowl bouquets in 

 spring, I find a plant or two of Nicotiana affinis sown in 

 the autumn and grown in the greenhouse very useful. 

 One flower cut off with a branch of Prince of Orange 

 Geranium or a piece of Sweet Verbena of which there 

 ought to be plenty now, if they have been properly grown 

 on make charming little bouquets for this purpose. 



The gardener of a friend of mine sowed some self- 

 saved seed of Nemesia strumosa in September in a pan, 

 pricking them off twice the second time a single plant 

 in a small pot. The result was some charming well- 

 grown plants, which flowered beautifully in April, and 

 the flowers were larger and finer than the summer ones 

 out of doors. 



The French ' Mange-tout ' Peas (Sutton catalogues them 

 as * French Sugar Peas ') are not yet sown generally enough 

 in England. English cooks do not understand (and how 

 should they without explanation?) that they are not 

 shelled, but the pod and the pea are boiled together, and 

 a little butter added before serving. 



In the ' Westminster Gazette ' of last spring there 

 was an interesting article on the history of Tulips, called 

 forth by the Tulip show at the Eoyal Botanic Gardens 

 and the general revival of interest in the flower, which 

 has as romantic a history as any plant all the world over. 

 The article being too long to quote here entirely, I give a 

 few extracts : ' In the seraglio of the Shadow of God, 

 when the world was a few centuries younger, there was 

 one festival in early spring which for dazzling splendour 

 outshone the rest of the Eastern fairylike night scenes. 

 Unnumbered artificial suns, moons, and stars lit up the 

 Sultan's beautiful gardens, and in the mystic light which 

 turned night into day tens of thousands of Tulips stood 

 proudly up on their tall slim stalks, the goblet of each 

 blossom perfect in form and in colour. Among this 



