10 THE COTTAGE 
But the cottagers possess little or no garden-ground, 
and from not being used to culture of this sort, we 
were told that they have no desire for any. One man, 
we were informed, who had a quarter of an acre of 
good soil placed in his hands for garden purposes, 
immediately sowed the whole with oats, to save far¬ 
ther trouble ! Those who do cultivate a little, seem 
to pay little regard to fruit culture. But the wages 
are high there, and this seems to lessen the desire 
for a piece of ground of their own. About thirteen 
shillings a week is given to strong labourers; whilst 
in such counties as Dorset, Buckinghamshire, and 
other localities far removed from commercial or 
manufacturing affairs, wages are not more than eight 
or nine shillings. We, therefore, fear that high 
wages are not conducive to the extension of fruit 
culture. 
Those who have recently gathered much fruit must 
now be on the alert, to see that no undue fermenta¬ 
tion takes place, and that the condensed moisture 
does not adhere to the sides of the room. This must 
be dissipated by a judicious ventilation, which also 
will tend to prevent or arrest the growth of those 
dark fungi, which, after establishing themselves on 
the skin of the apple, cause such injuries as must 
shorten the keeping period of the fruit. 
Where the apples are thrown down in large heaps 
in granaries or other store rooms, they should be ex¬ 
amined occasionally; and if any suspicious appear¬ 
ances exist, the fruit should be picked over, and 
layers of well dried new straw occasionally intro¬ 
duced. This will serve to prevent the accumulation 
of any injurious amount of heat, and the extension 
of rot, which is sure to occur amongst the soundest 
of fruit more or less. 
If any one desires to pit apples after the manner 
of potatoes, a dry, sound, and somewhat elevated site 
should be selected, and one where water can never 
rest. They should have a good bed of straw beneath 
them, and be well surrounded by the same; and it 
would be well to introduce kiln-dried straw in alter¬ 
nate layers all through the mass. The whole should 
be so topped up that water could by no possibility 
enter. 
The superior pears will, of course, be placed in 
single layers on shelves, and here they will require 
little attention, except to watch their ripening; for 
although certain periods are assigned to each as a 
sort of guide, their ripening will vary much with the 
seasons. We have tasted very good Beurrc d’Arem- 
bergs in the first week of March, but we have never 
been able to produce them fit for the table after the 
middle of February. On the contrary, they are gene¬ 
rally in the highest perfection about the middle of 
December. I lie Easter beurre, we believe, has been 
had in perfection in some situations in March; in 
general they will become mealy and almost insipid 
before Christmas. The Pass Colmar we have had 
good through February ; it is more generally in its 
prime, however, in the course of December. 
All this points to the watchfulness necessary in the 
fruit room, without which the amateur may be taken 
by surprise, and disappointment will ensue. 
Pears do not require so much ventilation as apples; 
they do not perspire quite so much; nevertheless, we 
are not aware that it does any harm beyond hurrying 
them out of season slightly; and it is hardly worth 
the while of those on a limited scale to attempt to 
keep them separate. We would advise that they be 
successively introduced to a warm room if possible 
about one week before wanted for use. They must, 
however, be kept in the dark, or rather covered from | 
GARDENER. October 11. 
the too severe action of a fire-dried atmosphere; such 
is apt to shrivel them and to rob them too much of 
their juices. The temperature of the room should 
range from 55° to (35°; a greater heat would be pre¬ 
judicial ; a state of air, in fact, similar to line weather 
in the end of September. 
Those who possess fruit of the Service tree should 
place them on shelves in a dry room, where they will 
keep a good while and gradually become mellow. 
They should be gathered towards the end of October, 
whether quite ripe or not, for they will not endure 
much frost. R. Erbington. 
THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
Young Stock.— “ How shall I keep my cuttings of 
verbenas, petunias, calceolarias, &c., having neither 
greenhouse nor pit?” is a question that has been 
asked of us lately by many. Some have supposed 
that such cuttings could be kept dry in an upper 
room; others that they might be cut down like pelar¬ 
goniums, and the bottoms would keep over the 
winter in a dry state ; while a third party inquired 
if they could be kept in a dark room. One short 
answer will settle the whole. Cuttings, or newly- 
rooted young plants, cannot be kept by any of these 
means. They must have light, air, and warmth, all 
the winter through, and be regularly watered, or, at 
least, the soil must not be allowed to get quite dry. 
A much better plan, therefore, would be to keep as 
many old plants as possible, and make cuttings in 
the spring, and give up autumn cuttings altogether. 
Calceolarias may be potted easily enough from the 
borders, and it may be done even now; and so with 
verbenas also, but they are very difficult to establish 
at first, and should not be put under cover for a fort¬ 
night or three weeks after potting from the borders 
so late in the season. Old petunias are good for no¬ 
thing, or next to it, and there is no certainty in their 
seeds coming true ; but one nice plant kept in a 
pot from last summer would easily live in a window, 
and, with the help of a cucumber-bed, would produce 
as many cuttings early in the spring as would make 
a good bed. Gardeners keep these cuttings in what 
they call store pots all the winter; that is, pots filled 
with numbers of newly rooted cuttings, and if they 
are late, or get mildewed, as verbenas often do in 
winter, they put them in heat in January or Feb¬ 
ruary to force, and make fresh cuttings from the 
young tops, and then throw away the diseased parent 
plant; but sulphur will keep down the mildew. I 
have always found that cuttings keep better if a 
slight covering of sand is on the top of the pot in 
winter, but this might deceive strangers, as the sand 
is soon dry after watering, so that one might think 
the pots wanted water almost every day, but the 
truth is they do not want water nearly so often as 
they would without the sand covering, for as soon as 
the sand is dry it prevents evaporation from the soil, 
and so the pots need not be watered so often. 
I know a farmer’s wife who is very clever in keep¬ 
ing plants of all ages through the winter, and she 
puts a layer of sand over all her pots late in the 
autumn. I know that she has lots of cuttings now 
that are hardly rooted, and she says she has no fears 
at all about them; but she has a good room and 
windows for them, and generally there is a good roar¬ 
ing wood fire in the room, and no insect dares come 
near them, as pipes and cigars are often in requisition. 
Bedding Plants. —I make more beds than her 
Majesty’s housemaids, palace-maids, and all, and I 
