Daoamber 23, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
559 
I now slightly roast all the soil and leaf mould I use for potting 
purposes ; it kills insects and their eggs, and the seeds of weeds that 
may be in it, and does no injury to the productiveness of the soil or 
otherwise. After the roasting process has been completed, which 
■does not take long, all is thoroughly mixed and incorporated together, 
and about 4 inches of good dung spread over the stone flags at the 
bottom of the bed. The whole of the bed is tilled at once, and the 
soil pressed firmly down to the level of the curbstone. 
In the course of a few days when the soil is thoroughly warmed, 
the plants are turned out of their pots and planted to the depth of 
their cotyledons at the distance of 4 feet apart. They are then tied 
to a stake and trained with a single stem till they meet the trellis, and 
allowed to grow to within a foot of the tap of it before they are 
stopped. They are trained thinly over the trellis, and in a short 
time the roof is covered with strong healthy laterals which pro¬ 
duce fruit fit to cut in eight or nine weeks from the time the seed 
was sown. The lateral shoots as they grow are stopped at the first 
leaf beyond the fruit, and as the demand for Cucumbers in private 
places at this season is not great the plants are cropped lightly until 
they are well established ; after which they will continue fruiting freely 
till the month of May, or longer if required. All fruits not required, 
male flowers and tendrils, are pinched oil as soon as they appear ; and 
all leaves as they show signs of having performed their functions are 
removed. 
The atmospheric temperature in mild weather is kept steadily at 
70°, and the bottom heat at 80°. When the weather is fine the venti¬ 
lators are opened for a short time in the middle of the day to admit 
fresh air, and the plants gently syringed early in the afternoon to 
prevent red spider and to keep them in a healthy growing state. 
Besides this the beds receive copious supplies of liquid manure and 
top dressings of leaf mould and loam when required. Cucumbers 
grown here, under the conditions described, never fail to give satis¬ 
faction to the cultivator and others who have an opportunity of 
seeing them.—A. Pettigrew, Castle Gardens, Cardiff. 
FIRE BARS. 
In a Wright’s boiler one of the fire bars burnt itself away at the end 
nearest the fire door and dr pped through. I took all the bars out and re¬ 
arranged them minus the burnt bar. This allowed li inch more play for 
the bars. I am pleased to note that I am a gainer in heat, this tie ng 
steadier with no increase in consumption of fuel. The ashes will be 
coarser, but as I riddle them there wilt be no extra waste there. I had 
long thought the close bars did not allow sufficieut draught. Certainly I 
might increase it by drawing the damper, but this is waste. There are 
now thirteen fire bars 3 feet 2 inches long, depth in centre of bar 4 inches, 
mnning down to 2J at the ends, thickness of bars at the under side in the 
centre half inch, at the ends three-quarters. 
Accidents frequently lead to better results, and when I put my hand 
on the boiler at night and again in the early morning I am pleased that 
the fire bar is missing. My stokehole is well built and protected from 
cold winds, and I never leave the door open unnecesf arily. I often think 
what waste there must be in out-of-door fire holes. No water is kejt 
under this fire. —Stephen Castle, West Lynn. 
APPEARANCE v. FLAVOUR. 
I AM afraid that in our eagerness to obtain varieties of fruit and 
vegetables which are good in appearance and of easy culture there is 
a danger of losing some other qualities which used to count for some¬ 
thing—notably that of flavour. Of course, the majority of people 
who live in cities and large towns know nothing about flavour in 
vegetables. Peas are Peas, and Cabbages are Cabbages to them, and 
nothing more. It is nearly as bad with the majority of the nobility, 
for they seldom have vegetables fresh and well cooked except on 
those rare occasions when they pay flying and unseasonable visits to 
their country mansions, leaving the professional cooks behind them 
in town, and then they are astonished to find that they enjoy the 
vegetables. 
But how is it, I would ask, that the average country squire and the 
village parson are content to follow the fashion of growing things 
which please the eye and disappoint the palate ? Growing for 
market is a different thing altogether. The eye is the only member 
to be studied in this case. Strawberries 2£ inches across and well 
coloured, but without any flavour, will always fetch a higher price 
than average British Queens. That is taken for granted, and need 
not surprise us when we consider that very few of the purchasers 
know what they are buying ; but I may remind epicures that British 
Queen with all its faults is still the best-flavoured Strawberry in its 
class. I say advisedly in its class, because some people, myself among 
the number, prefer the Hautbois, I have, however, never succeeded 
in growing the Hautbois well. Perhaps some of your readers could 
tell me how to do it. If Strawberiies are required in autumn none 
equal the Alpine varieties, seed of which should be sown in a frame 
in spring and planted out a foot apart in the end of May. 
Perhaps the most glaring instance of appearance and ease of 
culture superseding quality is to be found amongst Grapes. There is 
as yet no Grape to surpass a well-grown Black Hamburgh, but there 
are not half so many Vines of this variety planted now as formerly, 
and such an inferior variety as Alicante is offered abundantly for 
sale early in July. Worse varieties follow as soon as they can be 
coloured in the shape of Alnwick Seedling, Gros Maroc, and Gros 
Colman. 
Within the last three years I have known fairly good Hamburghs 
hawked about the streets at Is. lb., while Alicante was exhibited in 
the shop windows at 3s. or 4s. tt>. Were I a gentleman able to keep 
a gardener I would tolerate no worse Grapes than Black Hamburgh 
on my table before February. I must think that the sale of Grapes 
which are good-looking but are acid and coarse does a great deal of 
harm in a city of invalids as Bath is. Grapes are recommended by 
the physician, and the most beautiful-looking bunch in the city is 
eagerly bought by a loving friend of the invalid at a high price. 
But it disappoints the patient, it produces indigestion and acidity in 
the stomach, and Grapes are pronounced unsuitable. Possibly in the 
end the vendor suffers most. 
It is a source of gratification that the Muscat is not yet left out 
in the cold, perhaps it has been shown during the past autumn in as 
good a condition as it was ever seen. But the reason it is cultivated 
extensively is not because of its flavour, but because it is still the 
most handsome white Grape in existence. I almost hope no one will 
succeed in raising a variety which equals it in appearance, and is at 
the same time inferior in quality. Had Alicante never appeared we 
should have m ide more progress in the cultivation of the Hamburgh, 
but at the present time I am of opinion that we are going back not 
only in quantity with the last-named variety, but also that such as are 
grown are not grown so well as they were a few years back. I think 
I do not make a mistake when I say I have not seen a good bunch of 
Black Hamburgh this year. 
Amongst vegetables I could name several instances where quality 
is giving way to appearance, but one shall suffice. The old Scarlet 
Runner Bean is fast going out of cultivation. But if anyone supposes 
he gets the same flivour in any of the so-called improved varieties he 
makes a mistake.—W m. Taylor. 
THE FLORISTS’ TULIP. 
Those who know and cultivate the Tulip cannot but regret 
that it is so much lost sight of now, and therefore all the more 
deserves a word of kindly remembrance and advocacy. 
All interests and friendships spring up anew, as if in bloom, at 
Christmastide ; and the Festive Number of the Journal will be a 
gladsome opportunity for contributors to express a Christmas wel¬ 
come to a favourite flower, or one that, being for the present 
popular, is expected to receive every possible attention and recog¬ 
nition. But outside the circle of specially attached admirers, the 
Tulip, a peculiarly interesting and noble flower, blooming on the 
frontier line of spring and summer, has fallen on neglectful days. 
Its very name is chiefly associated now with those ready-made 
abundant bulbs from Holland that come for one bright bloom of 
conservatory life, or are employed in bedding as one of the changes 
in colour work, until their petals fall and they suffer a sudden, 
perhaps a rude, upheaval in favour of such plants as will next keep 
up appearances. I cannot help thinking that no plant is truly 
understood and cared for, that is only thought of and valued when 
seen in bloom. The greater and the not least interesting parts of 
its life and habits are never known to those who look at only 
flowers. Hence, from the Auriculas to the Orchids, I have never 
had a plant whose daily life I could not watch and tend. This is 
but the common story of any florist with his favourites. They are 
near and dear to him—flowers of the bosom and not of the button¬ 
hole ; and when the care they need is more than he can any longer 
give he feels the time has come to part from them. 
Foremost in the attractions of our florist Tulip I would place 
that wondrous property in the physiology of the plant which has 
no parallel in any other that I know, but which may be illustrated, 
though the analogy is not perfect, from the insect world. Just as 
a butterfly began life as a caterpillar with great expectations, so 
the flower of the seedling Tulip is but as the “larva ’ (mask) of 
what shall be its completed form. Beautifully marked as it even¬ 
tually becomes with some bright colour on its pure ground of 
white or gold, it has at first, and perhaps for many after years, 
flowered in a plain self-coloured form, in some shade light or dark, 
brilliant or dull, of violet brown or red. 
Tulips in this stage are technically known as “ breeders, ’ pro¬ 
bably because of the greater vigour and fecundity they possess at 
this' period of their life. When they pass through their great 
chancre they are said to “ break ” or “ rectify.” With many a slip 
between, of greater or less gravity, the breeder Tulip finally settles 
