166 Reviews and Extracts. — Horticulture, ^‘C. 
On the Destruction of Snails, In a LetteV to the Secretary, from Mr. James 
C oBDETT, of Newhouso, Leintwardain. Read September 15tli, 1829. 
Mr. Corbett, discovered, that, by sprinkling quick-lime lightly over the 
beds, and adjoining alleys and walks, about ten o’clock at night, after a wet 
and very dewy evening, he usually found a large number of snails, some of 
them exceedingly small, dead on the following morning; but some always es¬ 
caped, and these he supposed to be of another species, which did not leave 
their hiding places so early in the evening as the others. He therefore tried 
the effect of sprinkling the lime over the same beds and walks about three 
o’clock in the morning; and by these means, in a short time, Mr. Corbett 
found that snails of every kind ceased to trouble him, where before they were 
very abundant and destructive. The lime used should be fresh burned; and 
after repeated trials of this method, it has never been known to fail. 
5.—Transactions of the Caledonian Horticultural Society 
Postscript to Dr. JVilliam Howison*s Paper on the Culinary Vegetables of the 
Russian Empire. Communicated by Mr. Howison, and read June 7th, 
1827. 
Russian Cucumber. —The following receipt for salting cucumbers, I received 
from John Booker, Esq., British Vice-Consul, at Cronstadt, and its accuracy 
may be depended on. Wash the cucumbers clean, put them into a keg, pour 
a pickle of salt and water upon them, till the keg is full. The general quan¬ 
tity of salt is about four ounces and a half to each gallon of water. The 
universal seasoning is dill-tops, before the seeds are ripe, with black currant 
and oak leaves. People of more refined taste, add some garlic, horse-radish, 
and even sweet herbs; but the last very seldom. The keg must be hermeti¬ 
cally secured, to exclude the air, and must not be too large, as the sooner used, 
after being opened, the finer are the cucumbers. 
Russian Method of Preserving Culinary Vegetables through the Winter .— 
Cabbages are preserved in the gardens, (set close together to save room,) by 
building a roof over them, of old boards, covering them with old dung off the 
hot-beds, or the cleaning of the gardens ; and then shovelling over the whole, 
the earth from the adjacent beds. If the ground is dry, and it is possible to 
dig downwards, the house, if so I may call it, will be warmer ; but the best 
situation is the brow of a hillock. Two tubes or chimnies, are adapted, to let 
out the confined air, when it thaws, or towards spring. Leeks, celery—in 
short, all similar vegetables may be preserved in the same way. The chimney 
must be stuffed up when it freezes. An arrangement of this kind would do 
well in some of the northern parts of Scotland, where there is plenty of whin, 
broom, or heatlrer, to make a covering, and where the frosts are never remark¬ 
ably severe. 
The following is the modeof preserving French-beans, parsley, celery-leaves, 
and spinage, through the winter. Gather the leaves or beans without wash¬ 
ing them, and put into a barrel without a head, alternate layers of vegetables 
and salt. Then put a board upon the vegetables, and a weight upon the board, 
which will now be covered with the juice of the vegetables. When wanted 
for use, takeout the quantity required, and wash it carefully, retaining the 
board and weight. The best weight is a clean water-worn stone, tolerably 
heavy. The watery juice towards the board excludes the action of the air, 
and prevents putrefaction. Parsley, celery, and spinage leaves, carefully 
dried, and kept from moisture, are excellent for soups, &c. 
