JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
30 
[ January 13, 1881. 
but if the plants are raised in pots all dangers of the kind cease. 
In fact all our new Peas are raised in this way whether they are 
wanted in spring, summer, or autumn, as many of them can only 
be had in small quantities.— A Kitchen Gardener. 
THE QUEEN APPLE. 
This very fine new culinary Apple is referred to in our report 
of the Fruit Committee on page 26. The fruit is medium-sized ; 
oblate, even, and regular in its outline, and ribbed round the 
eye. Skin clear lemon colour, almost entirely covered with bright 
crimson, which is again marked with broken streaks and patches 
of dark crimson, and with a lining of russet in the stalk cavity. 
Eye half open, with long erect slightly divergent segments, set 
in a deep and ribbed basin ; tube short conical; stamens median. 
Stalk nearly three-quarters of an inch long, deeply inserted in 
Fig. 7.—Apple The Queen. 
a wide and deep cavity lined with russet. Flesh white, tender, 
very juicy, with a mild acidity. Cells of the core open. 
A fine culinary Apple, in use from October to January. Very 
handsome. 
This received a first-class certificate from the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society, November 16th, 1880. The seedling was raised 
twenty-two years ago, with three others growing beside it, from 
the pips of one Apple, but the parentage is unknown, as the Apple 
was purchased in the market. It first bore fruit about the time 
of the famous Tichborne trial, and was originally called The 
Claimant. It is larger, handsomer, a better keeper, and more 
productive than Cox’s Pomona. 
SELECTION OF VEGETABLES. 
In reply to Mr. Brotherston on page 5, I can hardly say what 
proportion of the Peas named should be sown, unless I knew what 
demand there was for Peas at any particular time ; but as the 
seasons of all are stated, everyone can sow one or all to suit their 
circumstances. Supposing Peas were wanted throughout the 
season, I would sow one quart of William I. for au early crop ; one 
quart of Stratagem, two quarts of Telephone, and two quarts of 
Telegraph for main crop ; and one quart of Omega and one quart 
of Ne Plus Ultra for late supply. According to our thin and 
improved way of sowing, this quantity would make close upon 
400 yards of Pea rows at the lowest calculation, and this length 
would yield an enormous quantity of Peas. In speaking of 
economy Mr. Brotherston must have been thinking of the price of 
the seed of some of these Peas, but that is nothing compared with 
their produce, which should be taken into consideration. 1 know 
that quarts could be had of some varieties at a less cost than pints 
could be bought of others ; but, on the other hand, pecks of pods 
would not be had from the former to bushels from the latter. I 
have tried them all, and am as fond of economy as anyone, but I 
do not think there is much of this in buying an inferior packet of 
seed for 6d. if superior could be had for Is.— J. Muir. 
Having for a length of time read your valuable Journal, 
not without benefit, 1 venture to ask a few questions relative 
to the “ trustworthy selection ” of vegetables given by your cor¬ 
respondent Mr. Muir on page 592 of your last volume. Those 
that I would be glad to have further information about before de¬ 
pending upon them for a main crop are the following :—Is Giant 
White Runner Bean of a good green colour when cooked ? Ought 
I to depend upon Shorthorn Carrot alone ? May I sow Cab¬ 
bage Lettuce—Wheeler’s Tom Thumb—as the only source of salad 
for the season ? having never grown it, I wish to ask if it is as 
good in flavour as a Cos variety ? Is William I. a good main 
crop Pea ? I have not grown the Green Gage Tomato ; is it 
reliable when only one is grown ? The vegetables named and the 
Custard Marrow are accorded the place of honour—that is, “first 
named,” being those recommended where only one variety of a 
kind is wanted. A good selection of vegetables at the present 
time is of great assistance to a beginner, and I shall be grateful 
to Mr. Muir or to any other of your able correspondents who will 
advise me on the varieties indicated above as to their 
fitness for main crop purposes.-— Alfred Peacock. 
COTTAGE GARDENING. 
“Cottage Gardener” has always held an honour- 
\ able position among the titles of the Journal, and there 
\ has hardly been a number without some hints of value 
\ for the owners of cottage gardens. Such hints are, how- 
\ ever, not always apparent, as a prominent position is 
\ not often assigned them, and many of my village friends 
1 are not wont to bestow more than a passing glance upon 
I the articles in which they are to be found, probably think- 
I ing very naturally that elaborate instructions upon the 
I culture of any particular plant or crop can only be in- 
f tended for the benefit of gardeners having special facili- 
jj ties for doing it. Glad should I be to find that I am 
§ mistaken in so thinking, and to know that the valuable 
I cultural hints with which the pages of the Journal abound 
1 are intelligently read and applied to practice by all 
f readers. However this may be, there can be no doubt 
' that notes written for a special purpose are more calcu¬ 
lated to receive particular attention from those to whom 
they are addressed than others of a general character, 
and therefore I have no hesitation in contributing hints 
for those having small gardens and desire to make the 
most of them. In our village we have a club—not the old- 
fashioned benefit society, which holds its monthly meetings at 
the village inn, but a decidedly modern institution, which aims to 
care for its members in health as well as in sickness by promoting 
social intercourse, and placing within their reach facilities for 
pleasant rational amusement and self-culture. Our reading-room 
and library is a pleasant comfortable apartment, very attractive 
on a winter’s evening with its bright lamps, warm fire, and large 
central table bountifully laden with daily, monthly, and weekly 
periodicals and newspapers, among which I am glad to say the 
Journal of Horticulture is to be seen. 
It was a pleasant surprise to me to find the Journal upon the 
table without any hint as to its purchase from myself, and the 
sight of it gave rise to the thought that, by its aid in such a place, 
much might be done to brighten the village gardens and to render 
them more productive of good fruit and vegetables. Such gardens 
are generally from a quarter to half an acre in extent, and afford 
sufficient space for much more than a Cabbage bed and Potato 
plot. A tolerably good succession of vegetables might be had as 
well as many a little luxury of fruit in its season if every foot of 
space were turned to best account. Hard work bestowed upon a 
man’s own holding undoubtedly brings a very sweet reward, for 
nothing in life is half so good as what is gained by our own exer¬ 
tion in our own home and its surroundings. Old Will Hobbs once 
said to me, “ There’s naw’n got by hard work o’ny aching bones.” 
But I felt certain he did not mean it, for he has a very snug 
cottage and a neat garden all his own, and all the result of down¬ 
right hard work ; and the garden, too, is not without its special 
attractions. I do not mean the pigstye that stands well away 
from the cottage, and which is never long without an occupant; 
but that Rose bush that has its hundreds of blooms every summer, 
and is so beautiful that I have more than once gone in to see it 
and discuss its charms with dame Hobbs ; and the Lilac, which I 
was able to tell ber surpassed every one of ours at The Hall last 
season. Then, too, there is a bush of Rosemary, another of 
Southernwood, and, greatest treasure of all, a large tuft of double 
blue Violets. 
To this very limited list of sweet things I propose to make some 
additions in subsequent notes ; but no new plants will ever be 
regarded as these are, for they were there when the sons and 
daughters, now out in the world, played around them, and they 
