November 5, 1831. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
881 
The flowers, too, of this early flowering bulb are not only 
beautiful in their snowy purity, but they are useful and highly 
appreciated in these days by the inhabitants of our large towns and 
cities. The price realised for them in the market brings them 
within the reach of the majority, who are thus able to make 
wreaths and crosses at a very small outlay. The flowers are very 
useful for this purpose, but they should not be associated, as I have 
seen them, with the popular Adiantum cuneatum ; their own 
foliage is not unsuitable, but they are charming when used with 
the bronzed leaves of Ivy or the mottled ones of other kinds. Who 
has not noticed the care with which bunches are arranged early in 
the season, and sent to our markets from France ? Before the 
flowers of the single variety are expanded they are arranged so as 
to show only the very tips of the flower with a few Ivy leaves 
round them ; thus they have the appearance of so many single pips 
of Lily of the Valley, but pointed much more considerably. 
Bunches arranged in this fashion are suitable for many forms of 
ornamentation in which flowers now play so large a part. 
The Snowdrop is seldom used for forcing, but is well adapted 
for that purpose. Failure in forcing the Snowdrop is often due 
to potting the bulbs too late in the season. They look best in 
4-inch pots, and the bulbs should be placed as thickly together as 
possible and covered at least with an inch of soil. After potting 
they should be placed in a rather shady corner and covered with an 
inch or two of ashes to prevent the moisture of the soil in which 
they are potted from evaporating. The moisture in the soil will 
soon start the roots into activity. When they are ready for 
removal from the ashes they should enjoy cold frame treatment. 
Under these conditions they move forward rapidly, especially when 
they are placed early in November where they will be free from 
frost. Nothing is gained by trying to force them ; on the contrary, 
once use heat and they are ruined. Natural treatment must guide 
the cultivator if he is to be successful. It may not be generally 
known that if the bulbs after flowering are well cared for, and the 
pots plunged outside, that they will force better and earlier the 
second than they did the first year. 
The Snowdrop is grown in large quantities for sale in the Fens 
of Lincolnshire. Fruit growers, market gardeners, and a very 
considerable number of cottagers are engaged in growing bulbs. 
For some years they confined themselves to the Snowdrop, but are 
now engaged in growing a considerable number of other things. 
The bulbs of Snowdrops are lifted in July, spread out in the 
sun to dry and harden for a short time, then they are sorted into 
two sizes—seed, as the small ones are called, and saleable bulbs. 
The small ones are planted again as early afterwards as possible. 
Seldom August is passed before they are returned to the ground. 
They are planted in rows 4 inches apart, and the bulb3 about 1 inch 
apart. They are allowed to stand two years, when they are lifted 
and sorted again. The plan they adopt is to lift a patch and plant 
a patch annually. They have no difficulty in selling the bulbs, 
one large firm at least is in the habit of sending their representa¬ 
tive annually to buy them. Seldom growers realise less than 10s. 
per thousand for them, and during unfavourable years I have 
known them sold for 13s. Do they pay at this price ? is a natural 
question. Certainly they do ; few plants with which they could 
crop the ground would yield them a better return. 
Growers of Eucharis may be consoled by the fact that they are 
not the sole cultivators who are troubled with the bulb mite. 
Growers of Snowdrops for sale have been known to lose the 
whole of their stock by the ravages of these troublesome pests.— 
Wm. Bardney. 
THE HESSLE PEAR. 
I am sending with this short note a specimen or two of Hessle 
Pears. There seems to be in Yorkshire a very prevalent notion 
that the Hessle and Hazel are separate and distinct varieties, not¬ 
withstanding that in Dr. Hogg’s Manual, Hessle, Hessel, and Hazel 
are all classed together. 
I have noticed on many occasions this Pear, and the conclusion 
I arrive at is that they are all one, the different soils and positions 
being responsible for the slight varieties in the fruits. The foliage, 
bark, and mode of growth in nearly all places are identical, and 
the chief difference in the fruits themselves is that some are not 
nearly no russety as others. 
The late gales are responsible for the demolishing of what 
tradition says is the original Hessle Pear tree in England. It was 
a fine ruin of what must at one time have been a noble tree. I 
was in conversation a few days ago with a native of this village, 
considerably over eighty years of age, and he told me that when he 
was a boy the tree just blown down appeared almost as old then as 
it does at the present time, so that it must be upwards of 200 years 
of age. The tree is reputed to have been planted by the Flemish when 
they took refuge in this country in the sixteenth century. Hessel, as 
it was then spelt, was close to the edge of the waters of the 
Humber, and at that time a thriving port. Such repute, therefore, 
may be correct. 
The Pears numbered 1 I picked from a tree fifty or sixty 
years old, and a sucker from the original tree. They are much 
more covered with brown than those marked with figure 2, which 
I picked in the village about a quarter of a mile away, and which 
are identical with those grown near Grimston Park. There seems 
to me to be no apparent difference in the contour of the fruh, 
neither in the eye, nor in the insertion of the stem, so how the 
erroneous notion about difference has arisen I cannot conclude. 
The Pear is one well worth planting. The fruit is readily sold for 
eating purposes, but is also valuable as a stewing Pear, though it is 
not generally tried in this way. 
Some years ago when fruit crops were proverbially heavier 
than at the present time many tons of this fruit were shipped from 
Hull to Aberdeen for use in the manufacture of perry, for which 
purpose its juicy qualities made it greatly in demand. 
This Pear is generally picked in the first week of October, and 
should be kept for a few days before eating ; and if the skin— 
which has rather an unpleasant taste—be removed, it will be 
found to rival many of our more pretentious kinds of Pears.— 
W. Clayton, Hessle , Yorlcs. 
[Hessle, Hasel, Hazel, and Hessel are merely synonymous terms 
as applied to this Pear. The first mentioned is correct.] 
IMPROVEMENTS in my CULTURE of AURICULAS. 
In the Journal of Horticulture for 10th September I gave a full 
description of my treatment of this beautiful plant during one or 
two years ; but there were objections to that treatment, arising 
from excessive rains in autumn and winter, also from worms in 
the open border, and slugs and snails above ground. I have given 
in the accompanying diagram my improved plan of management, 
which will completely save them from these enemies, besides 
rendering them very portable. 
I have erected a plank of wood (or shelf) on two supports, to 
carry six or more cheese boxes. In the bottom of each I have 
several holes for drainage ; over these I place old bones instead of 
crocks. On thes 9 I put a quantity of moss litter, surffi as is used 
for horses’ litter, then I fill up with loamy mould, leaf mould, cow- 
dung (old), and some sand. 
I then place four or five plants, according to their size, in each 
box. Three quarter-inch iron wires are bent, as shown in the 
separate box of the diagram fig. 75, to support the glass 
handlights. These keep all the rains from the plants, and 
will at the same time admit sufficient air at all times to keep 
the Auriculas in health. By being placed some 2 or 3 feet above 
the ground they will be safe from worms and slugs. 
Another advantage is this, the boxes are portable. At this 
period of the year they are placed in a sunny position, but during 
the summer months they are placed in a more shady part of the 
garden. A few days previous to a flower show they may be potted 
in readiness for exhibition. 
This treatment would be very good for the protection of 
seedling Pansies, Primulas, and many other small or large plants, 
as well as Auriculas. The handlights must be covered during cold 
or winter nights with matting or carpets. The handlights may be 
taken off occasionally for a few hours in the daytime, weather 
permitting.— Wm. Moody Bell, Cheltenham. 
