November 8. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
81 
SELECT LIST OF ENGLISH CROCUSES. 
SPRING CROCUSES. 
Yellows. —Crocus reticularis, Dutch Cloth of Gold; do. speciosus 
English Cloth of Gold; do. sulpliureus al'uidus, straw colour. 
Purples. —Vcrnus, purple; puniceus, very dark purple with white 
stripes; Sabini, very fine; grandis, rosy purple, larger: purpures- 
cens, very fine, dark purple, cupped ; maeulosus, large light blue, 
with rosy purple stripes; plumosus, white, with purple feather, fine; 
stylosus, very showy purple ; intlatus, fine feathered, light purple ; 
tulipaceus, beautiful light large purple. 
Lilacs. —Lilacinus prsecox, pale lilac, good; maeulosus, pale blue, 
handsome. 
Variegated and Spotted. —Vernus pictus, fine feathered lilac, 
very handsome ; falcatus, very handsome ; unguis major, lilac, striped 
with white, fine ; leucorhvnchus, light, striped with purple. 
Grey Striped. —Vernus gloriaua, grey striped, finely feathered ; 
glorianella, beautiful feathered lilac, with purple bottom ; variegatus, 
beautiful feathered lilac ; lincellus, white, with rosy purple bottom, 
striped very distinct. 
White Striped. —Vernus spectabilis,splendid white, with purple 
stripe at bottom; undulatus, white, with lilac stripe; obsoletus, small 
white, with purple bottom. 
Pure Whites. —Albus major, pure white ; ditto minor, ditto. 
Late-flowering Purple. —Vernus delectus, beautiful feathered 
purple; tardiflorus, purple striped, finely feathered. 
Dark Striped. —Versicolor elegans, fine dark striped grey; vit- 
tatus, small white, outer petals feathered with rosy purple. 
Lilac Ground. —Versicolor lineatus, lilac striped. 
White Ground. —Versicolor pulchellus, small feathered lilac, 
pretty; do. propinquus, white feathered; do. aflinis, white, grey 
stripes; do. pallidus, white, outer petals shaded with rosy purple. 
AUTUMN CROCUSES. 
Crocus serotinus, blue, flowers at latter end of October and begin¬ 
ning of November ; Latinus, saffron blue; nudicaule, blue, blooms 
(at present) without foliage. 
Of the Dutch spring varieties, David Itizzio is a splendid purple, 
and Queen Victoria an equally beautiful white. 
Then they have from 50 to 100 varieties of seed¬ 
lings, which are better than those enumerated above, 
more attention having been bestowed on the colour 
and shape of the flowers, which are botanical species, 
and were grown by the late Mr. Sabine, of the Horti¬ 
cultural Society, who gave a vast deal of attention to 
this class of plants, and had carpets or beds of them 
formed in the gardens. When I say carpets, I mean 
that the beds were laid out in patterns. The same 
varieties were likewise grown by the late Mr. Haworth, 
of Queen Elms, together with others. Mr. Sabine’s 
collection contained about 124 specimens; Mr. Ha¬ 
worth’s not so many. Besides the above there are 
several English varieties that are not enumerated, 
which have almost gone out of cultivation on account 
of the fineness and size of roots, combined with the 
cheapness that the Dutch people grow them. There 
are likewise several autumn plants that used to be 
called crocus. For instance: the yellow autumn crocus, 
now called Amaryllis lutea, in full bloom at present. 
The different varieties of colchicums were formerly all 
termed autumn crocuses. The Dutch varieties of the 
crocus, and the species from Mr. Haworth’s and Mr. 
Sabine’s collections, are now selling by me at 7s. 6d. 
per 100.—D. Hairs, Seedsman, St. Martins lane. 
In addition to the preceding Mr. Hairs has also 
furnished us with the following Dutch varieties, 
which we have now growing in our garden. 
BLUE. 
Newton. 
Grand Vainqueur. 
Aimanthe. 
Norma. 
Grootvorst. 
Belle aimable. 
Ovidius. 
Helarius. 
Bleu Celeste. 
Penelope. 
Henriette. 
Bleu Merveille. 
Perignon. 
Honerable. 
Buonaparte. 
Perponchier. 
Juliana. 
Brama. 
Pourpre Fameuse. 
Krom Prins der Ne 
Captain Cook. 
Rochus. 
derlander. 
Dagaraad. 
Roi de Holland. 
La Belle Romaine. 
Dorquichot. 
Roi de Navarre. 
La Neige. 
Eau de Wiskey. 
Serilium, 
La Purite. 
Grand Blu. 
Sir Robert Peel. 
L’estimable. 
Grand Vidette. 
Sorodina. 
Leandelle. 
Homer. 
Virasius. 
Lucanius. 
Imperiaies. 
WHITE. 
Madame Beauty. 
Keizer Titus. 
Belle Helena. 
Mascarius. 
Laurens Koster. 
Belle Romaine. 
Mardus. 
L’lllustre. 
Carolina. 
Miranda. 
Lord Alaide. 
Criterion. 
Mungo Park. 
Lord Nelson. 
Glanana. 
Murat. 
Longilus. 
Grand Blue Royale. 
Nanette, 
Orion. 
Phidias. 
Phocas. 
Plutarehus. 
Pure Blanche. 
Regina. 
Rcine du Monde. 
Rosatta. 
Stakes Juffer. 
Sophia. 
Tantalus. 
Victory. 
Vulcain. 
Waterloo. 
Witte Standard. 
striped. 
Amasus. 
Argentis. 
Blomfield, 
Bonaventura. 
Capitatusa. 
Carolianus. 
Crispina. 
Euplirosina. 
Hermina. 
Imperiaies. 
La Valliere. 
Lilaceus. 
Lord Wellington. 
Louvain. 
Ma plus aimahlc. 
Monica. 
Orleans. 
Othello. 
Paarlhoot. 
Paronia. 
Philidare. 
Heine des Roses. 
Romula. 
Sara. 
Staatsraad. 
Ed. C. G 
EXTRACTS EROM CORRESPONDENCE. 
Refrigerating Storehouses. —Should you deem 
the annexed extract from a letter received a fortnight 
ago, from a friend in America, sufficiently interesting 
for a place in your very useful periodical, it is at your 
service, and, I would add, that your own remarks, a 
few weeks since, on the preservation of fruits, lead 
me to suppose that any improvement on the present 
method of storing them would be acceptable; and, 
although this plan can never, on account of the mild¬ 
ness of our winters, and consequent difficulty of pro¬ 
curing a sufficient supply of ice, be made fully avail¬ 
able in this country, yet, by showing what lias been 
done elsewhere, it is not unreasonable to hope that, 
in favourable situations, some approach may be made 
to the American refrigerating storehouse, and I shall 
be happy, in a future letter, to give some practical 
suggestions on the subject, if deemed worth insertion: 
—“ Detroit, Michigan, Aug. 4tli, 1849.—The refrige¬ 
rating storehouse of Messrs. Story and Shaw, on Le- 
coutelua-street, is well worth visiting. It is a stone 
building, forty feet by twenty, with a deposit of ice 
twelve feet thick over-head, resting on an iron floor, 
which is supported by heavy under-columns running 
through the building. The sides of the house are 
protected from the ingress of heat by a non-conduct¬ 
ing substance, which also protects the ice from above. 
Twelve feet is deemed sufficient to last a whole season 
without replenishing. The ice being put hi the upper 
part of the house, the lower part, when the fruit is de¬ 
posited, is (on the principle that cold air sinks,) kept 
in an almost freezing state—38°. Six above the freez¬ 
ing point is about the average temperature through 
the season. There is never a variation of more than 
3°. Fruit deposited there, partially rotted, is arrested 
in its decaying process for weeks, and even months, 
and we have now before us lemons which were stored 
there in the early part of May, the stems of which are 
as fresh, apparently, as the day in which they were 
gathered. And Mr. Shaw, one of the proprietors, 
showed us some figs which were brought in the same 
vessel as plump and as sound as when they were first 
put in the drawers. They will remain so long after 
figs kept in the usual way have disappeared from the 
market. The most delicate kinds of fruit, such as 
pine-apples, peaches, pears, &c., are found there at 
the most unfriendly season for them, in a state of 
perfect soundness. The wonder is that there is not 
more of these storehouses in this city, ****. They 
can be built in connexion with an icehouse, and at a 
trifling additional expense. Farmers would find them 
exceedingly convenient for the preservation of fresh 
meat, fruits, butter, and, indeed, many articles be¬ 
longing to the farm.”—J. B. S., Oakham. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Endive Blanching (T. P. P.)—If your endive is full grown, 
fold the leaves together, and tie them as you would those of a cos let¬ 
tuce ; take up the plants and place them, roots and all, in their natu- 
