Domeatic Economy. 4' 3 7 



The kitchen-garden here only deserves notice for the sake of expressing 

 our regret that a very excellent practical gardener, Mr. Smith, has not a 

 more favourable scene for his operations. We saw, however, some good 

 crops, and some excellent points of culture j among the latter, that ot sow- 

 ing all the small seeds in drills, the soil being well stirred between the rows 

 in the early part of the summer. To insure a crop of onions, they are 

 sown thick in autumn, generally in September, and transplanted in rows, 

 6 in. apart, and sin. distant in the I'ow, in March or April. In trans- 

 planting, the bulb must be left above ground, and only the fibres made fast 

 in the soil ; otherwise the bulb will never swell. When it is attempted to 

 transplant any of the fusiform-rooted esculents, as turnips, carrots, parsneps, 

 beets, &c., the same pi'inciple should be attended to, and only the tip ot 

 the root made fast with the dibber, and all the upper part left perfectly 

 loose. Asparagus is planted in single rows, 4 ft. apart, or, in other words, 

 one row in a bed, and grows to an enormous size. Here, and at various 

 other places of Middlesex and Surrey which we called at in this excursion, 

 we found Bishop's Early Dwarf Pea in vigorous growth, and very much 

 approved of. Old reed mats are laid down over beds of endive, and found 

 to blanch them in a very perfect manner. The hand-glass fly-trap (Vol. 11. 

 p. 151.) is used both here and in the flower-gardens with perfect success; 

 and in both gardens it has been found that mice are much more readily 

 caught by the 4th figure trap, well known to gardeners, when it is baited 

 with an acorn, than when it is baited with a pea or a bean, as is usually done. 



Art. VIL Domestic Economy. 



British Wines. — Sir, Your correspondent on the subject of British 

 wines (Vol. II. p. 485.) is most tormentingly tantalising. He scouts poor 

 Mr. R.'s wines ; has a sly slap at the Caledonian Horticultural Society ; 

 assures us he is something of a chemist ; raises our hopes, by stating he has 

 had nearly twenty years' experience, and that his family are nov/ drinking 

 wines tv/elve years old; and, finally, leaves us in the lurch, for he neither com- 

 municates his name [he does, see p. 486.], nor gives us the least information 

 how to make wine. My experience is very limited ; but, like him, I have 

 studied M'Culloch ; and, as he very justly observes, have obtained from that 

 gentleman's book the only rational ideas I have been able to collect. I find, 

 the best wine I can make is from immature grapes ; in that state they fer- 

 ment rapidly, and communicate no bad taste. Indeed, the wine, if made 

 with good lump sugar, is nearly tasteless ; but flavour can be communicated 

 to suit various tastes. I have racked some on the lees of fine claret, and 

 others on the lees of Madeira, adding some bitter almond or peach kernels. 

 The most successful British wine, but, at the same time, the most extrava- 

 gant, is the imitation of brisk champagne ; its extreme briskness, indeed, 

 sometimes breaks the bottle. 1 cannot yet succeed in giving this the true 

 taste; but, lam disposed to believe it maybe done, by putting into the cask 

 some few young cones of the spruce fir. These are extremely aromatic, and, 

 at the same time, have a little taste of turpentine, which, I think, I can de- 

 tect, in a small degree, in true champagne. If the wine I am making this 

 season prove as good as usual, I shall add the cones next summer. I once 

 tried the leaves and tendrils, but could never get the wine fine ; it however 

 made most capital vinegar, but the body of the wine was so sound, that it 

 required nearly two years' exposure in a cask, against a south wall, before it 

 was fairly converted into vinegar, and then it proved clear. I believe that 

 grapes from old vines will be better than from young vines, at least I fancy 

 1 find a difference. I do not pretend to say that I have made wines equal to 



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