58 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 29. 
the nature of refined sugars will, however, easily recognise 
in them certain first-rate qualities; they are neat to the tip, 
and were not low in the mould. If the samples of refined 
beet-root sugar forwarded by Russia are to be considered as 
i a fair representative of the advancement to which the opera¬ 
tion has attained, we must pronounce that country far in the 
rear of all competing nations.” 
The next work demanding our commendation, is The 
Farmers and Cottagers' Guide, by Alexander Campbell. 
It should have been added, “ in the cultivation of their 
crops” for its contents are confined to this subject. The 
preface assures the reader that the work is “ perfectly 
simple and practical,” and we add our testimony, that 
it is not only deserving of that character, but that the 
practices recommended, are, for the most part, good and 
trustworthy. There are some of its doctrines, however, 
against which we would warn our readers most empha¬ 
tically, and the first is, that “ potatoes sown in March 
will, in all probability, escape the fatal consequences of 
the disease.” Now we, on the contrary, say that he 
who postpones planting potatoes until March, runs only 
just less risk of having them diseased than he who 
postpones planting them until April, and if he does not 
plant them until April, we know that he runs every 
chance of having them fatally affected. We invariably 
plant potatoes in November, and the disease is now 
eradicated from among them. When they cannot he 
planted in that month, let the potatoes be kept in alter¬ 
nate layers with dry earth or coal-ashes, in a cold shed, 
and he planted early in February. 
Another practice we would condemn, is treading in 
the seeds of carrots and parsnips, instead of drawing 
the earth over them in the drills by means of the broad 
hoe. The lighter the soil lies over the seed the better, 
and if the broad hoe is used, there is no need of the 
double trouble and waste of time of going over the beds 
a second time “ to rake the surface fine ”—a process 
totally useless, except to obliterate the footmarks of the 
slovenly treading-in system. 
Lastly, we will notice A Treatise on the Cultivation of 
the Chrysanthemum for the Production of Specimen 
j Blooms, by G. Taylor. This is a shilling pamphlet 
| that every cultivator of the Chrysanthemum, as a show 
j flower, should read. Mr. Taylor is a successful culti- 
! vator of it for that purpose, and one of the causes 
! of his success we are quite sure is, that he obtains 
j strong plants for next year, by commencing propagating 
j as soon after the blooming season as he can get cuttings. 
“ By striking early,” says Mr. Taylor, “ the plant is en¬ 
abled to store up sufficient organical matter in its in¬ 
fancy to meet the demands on its strength as the 
growing season advances. I prefer the strongest suckers 
i with a portion of root attached to them.” 
The following is Mr. Taylor’s list of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums “ to grow for superb cut-blooms.” 
Name. Colour. 
Annie Salter (reflexed-flower) Canary yellow, although at 
times it is incurved, but 
then it is spoiled 
Cyclops .. .. .. Straw and brown back 
Christine.. .. .. Lilac 
Defiance .. .. .. White 
j Duchess de Abrantes .. Deep bright rose 
Dupont de 1* Eure 
.. Purple and orange 
Formosum 
.. Creamy-white 
Gem 
.. White tipped with pink 
Goliali 
.. White 
Lysias 
.. Bright cinnamon-red 
Nonpareil 
.. Dark rosy-pink 
Phidias .. 
.. Rose and white 
Rabelais .. 
Reddish-carmine 
Rebecca 
.. Light rose, very sweet scent 
Sydenham 
.. Light red crimson 
Queen of England .. 
.. Blush 
Two-coloured incurved 
.. Red and yellow 
The Warden 
.. Orange 
Having fully tested the quality and habits of a large 
number of the new 
varieties of 1851, I select the 
following:— 
Name. 
Colour. 
Anaxa 
.. Dark orange 
Arc-en-ceil 
.. Straw edge, dark purple 
Guillaume Tell 
.. Dark orange 
Madame Corbay .. .. Glossy slate 
Marshal Ney, small but beau¬ 
tiful .. .. .. Rosy lilac, tipped with gold 
Madame Aubry .. .. Light purple 
Miss Kate, a promising flower, Delicate lilac 
Monge (reflex) .. .. Light violet, tipped with gold 
Plutus (fine form) .. .. Bright light yellow 
Racine .. .. .. Straw with brown back 
Rosa Mystica, fine broad petals 
similar in form to Vesta, Very light rose 
FORSYTH MSS. 
In the May of 1785, Mr. Anderson was informed that a 
botanic garden was resolved to be established at St. 
Vincent, and that Government had appointed him cura¬ 
tor, with a salary of US 00 a year. He immediately 
repaired to that island, and found himself opposed by 
the Governor, General Lincoln, who had possession of 
the house, and part of the garden, and wished to retain 
them for his own use. To this Mr. Anderson would not 
submit, and it was not until he appealed to the Home 
Government, hacked by the influence of Mr. Forsyth 
and Sir Joseph Banks, that he was put fully into pos¬ 
session of the entire grounds Mr. Bryan Edwards, writ¬ 
ing at the time, in his “ History of the West India Islands” 
thus speaks of Mr. Anderson’s successful exertions:— j 
“ The public establishment that reflects the greatest ! 
honour on St. Vincent's is its celebrated botanic garden, 
under the provident and well-directed care of Mr. An¬ 
derson. It consists of 30 acres, of which no less than 
10 are in high cultivation, abounding not only witli 
almost every species of the vegetable world which nature . 
has bestowed on these islands for use and beauty, for , 
food and luxury, but also with many valuable exotics 
from the East indies and South America.” 
By the close of the year 1785, Mr. Anderson became 
comfortably established in bis new position, and on the 
4th of November writes as follows to an old fellow 
medical student, Mr. John Smith, who had received an [ 
appointment in the East Indies :— 
MR. A. ANDERSON TO MR. J. SMITH. 
With pleasure, indeed, was I informed of your welfare and 
present situation, by your letter of the — Feb., 1784, to Mr. 
Home, who was so indulgent as to let me peruse it. I am 
happy the climate and mode of living in the Indies are so 
congenial to your disposition, and may the continuation of 
