364 Retrospective Criticism. 



Or lay a dry layer of pebbles in the hollow of a glazed jar ; fill the jar 

 with apples rubbed dry ; fit apiece of wood into the mouth of the jar, cover 

 it with mortar, and place it on a shelf in a dry room, — A Subscriber to the 

 Gardener's Magazine. i c ^ -c 



The five apples, received March 26., were as plump and fresh as it newly 

 gathered ; they were of handsome shapes, with a good deal of colour, and 

 very well flavoured. We are not quite certain of their names. — Cond. 



To dress the Boots of Celeriac or Celerie Rave. — The following is consi- 

 dered a cheap and an elegant mode. Pare the roots, and cut them into 

 slices somewhat less than a quarter of an inch in thickness ; then boil them 

 gently till they are tender in some broth, or in water well seasoned, and a 

 slice of butter added. When dished pour over them some melted butter, 

 or bechamel sauce, which is made by thickening some broth and adding a 

 little cream. Celeriac is cultivated at greater ease and at less expense than 

 the common celery, and it may be used in the kitchen for seven or eight 

 months in succession. — J. Elles. Longleat Gardetis, April 23. 1829. 



French Method of mahing sujierior gooseberry and currant Wines. — For 

 currant wine : Eight pounds of honey are dissolved in fifteen gallons of 

 boiling-water, to which, when clarified, is added the juice of eight pounds 

 of red or white currants. It is then fermented for twenty-four hours, and 

 two pounds of sugar to every two gallons of water are added. The prepa- 

 ation is afterwards clarified with the whites of eggs and cream of Tartar. 



For gooseberry, Wine. — The fruit is gathered dry when about half ripe, and 

 then pounded in a mortar. The juice, when properly strained through a 

 canvass bag, is mixed with sugar, in the proportion of three pounds to every 

 two gallons of juice. It is then left in a quiet state for fifteen days, at the 

 expiration of which, it is carefully poured off, and left to ferment for three 

 months when the quantity is under fifteen gallons, and for five months 

 when double that quantity. It is then bottled, and soon becomes fit for 

 drinking. — (Bibli. PIiysico-Econom.) 



Art. XI. Retrospective Criticism. 



Erroneous Statements respecting Mr. Knight's Communications to the 

 Ho7'ticidtural Society. — Sir, I address the following letter to you, in conse- 

 quence of having read, in your Gardener's Magazine, some very erroneous 

 statements respecting the contents of several of my communications to the 

 Horticultural Society of London ; and, as I never wrote and as that So- 

 ciety never published the contradictious nonsense attributed to me, I point 

 out some of those erroneous statements to you ; a correction of which, I 

 think, you owe to me and to that Society, and, in some degree, to the 

 public. 



You have stated in your Magazine for February (Vol.11, p. 88.), relative 

 to the culture of the pine-apple, that your offence against the Horticultural 

 Society of London, and the consequent rejection of your Gardener's Ma- 

 gazine, when offered as a present, proceeded from your having " felt rather 

 too much delighted to have the evidence of Mr. Knight's present practice 

 to prove that he was formerly wrong, and that we were and are right." 

 Now, I must beg leave to tell you that you have not, and that you never 

 had, any such evidence, and that your statement that I have changed my 

 method of cultivating the pine-apple [We made no such statement ; see 

 note a.] is wholly unfounded, whoever may have been your informant. 

 My pine-apple plants are cultivated just as they formerly were, and as 1 

 have stated them to have been cultivated in the Transactions of the Horti- 

 cultural Society of London; and my success has not only answered, but it 



