February 23. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
305 
basketsful, and a decoction or infusion made from it comes 
into general use.” 
Writing at Melville Bay, in tlie middle of August, 
Dr. Sutherland observes:— 
“ Vegetation was very far advanced. In some parts, 
especially the southern slopes, it was rather luxuriant. The 
Andromeda tetragona was beginning to fade ; a specimen or 
two in bloom was obtained in a shaded spot. There was a 
whole array of Arctic plants. The well-known yellow Arctic 
poppy ( Papaver nudicaule), one or two varieties of creeping 
willows, several grasses ten or twelve inches in length, the 
Alopecurus Alpinus, and hosts of Cryptogamic forms could 
be recognised.” 
Gardening was not altogether neglected on hoard the 
ships even during their winter sojourn. 
“Water-cresses and mustard were reared with great care, 
and they were very highly prized. Several stems were ex¬ 
amined, and found to be four to five inches in length. The 
proportion of water which the young plants contained was 
so great, that one could hardly expect to derive great benefit 
from a few ounces of them every week. A portion was 
exposed to a temperature of 90° to 100°, until it ceased 
to lose weight by further exposure; the remainder, con¬ 
taining all the antiscorbutic and nutritious properties of the 
plant, amounted to 6’5 per cent., which was not nearly one- 
half the weight of the seed that had been used: the 93 - 5 
which escaped, unfortunately happened to be water. I tried 
the same experiment several times with both mustard and 
cress, so that I might, if possible, receive favourable im¬ 
pressions with respect to the gardening; but the results 
were invariably the same, for the water which escaped by 
evaporation often exceeded 93 per cent. I could hardly 
credit that a plant grown in the dark, and destitute of every 
trace of green, containing such a large proportion of water, 
and almost insipid with the exception of the acrid principles 
of the seed and its essential oil, could possess virtues 
worthy of the slightest confidence. The young plants were 
less acrid than the seed, and the essential oil had almost all 
disappeared; their weight, too, was about half the weight of 
the seeds which produced them. Notwithstanding, its cul¬ 
tivation was encouraged and continued zealously, and the 
amusement and recreation it afforded proved of great value 
to those who devoted their attention to that department of 
horticulture.” 
“ The Expedition was most munificently supplied with 
preserved vegetables, which still remained as fresh as when 
they were put into the tins. The allowance of them that 
was served out proved most ample at all times, and no one 
seemed to have any ‘ longing ’ for succulent vegetable food. 
The time, however, for this ‘ longing ’ was only approach¬ 
ing ; for, up to this time, we had the use of fresh potatoes, 
which, be it observed, grew in 1849, passed through a 
summer and a winter in the Artie Regions, in addition to 
one winter in the climate that produced them, and still re¬ 
tained their nutritious properties unchanged. They always 
deserved and got the preference, and now, that we had just 
used the last of them at dinner, we should have felt glad to 
have transferred the high esteem that had attached to them 
in the fresh state, to the patent preserved potato of Edwards ; 
this, however, we could not do, in the presence of succulent 
carrots and turnips. The fresh potatoes sometimes became 
frozen, and, if they were permitted to thaw without being 
j used immediately, fermentation commenced and in a very 
short time they became quite sweet: if, however, they were 
put into the vessel to be boiled, without first being thawed 
! in cold water, they invariably became quite tough, so that 
j they might be boiled into shreads, without removing the 
j fibrous structure which they seemed to have assumed. A 
j remark was made to the cabin steward, on one occasion, 
i that the potatoes were not sufficiently boiled; his reply was, 
that they had been kept in boiling water for three hours. 
This reminded us of what Mr. Darwin observed in the lofty 
Andes, when his guides were blaming the new pot for not 
boiling the potatoes; the true cause being the lowering of 
the boiling point of water, from the immense height which 
they had attained, but of this they had no conception,” 
— 
In our last, we gave it as our opinion that, in all pro¬ 
bability, the Frame Peas will, in time, be discontinued 
as garden varieties; and that they will ultimately occupy 
much the same position that the Charlton does now 
Every year confirms us more and more in that opinion, 
as we find new varieties introduced, rivalling them in 
earliness, and far surpassing them in excellence. Those 
which we are now about to describe sufficiently illus¬ 
trate this fact; for, while they come into use almost, if 
not quite, as soon as the Frames, they are possessed of 
that peculiarly tender and rich flavour which is charac¬ 
teristic of the Marrows. Seeing, therefore, that we can 
have a sufficient supply furnished by those earliest vari¬ 
eties, such as Sangsters Number One, and Warner’s Em¬ 
peror, till the rich marrowy crops of Nonpareil, Ringwood, 
and Paradise are ready, of what use are the dry and 
mealy Frames, which come in at the same time ? 
Fairbeard’s Nonpareil. 
I am not very well prepared with a report of the com¬ 
parative earliness of this variety, as I did not receive it 
till some time after the others were 
sown, and I did not meet with it in 
the sample grounds of those mem¬ 
bers of the trade who so kindly 
afforded me that advantage; I con¬ 
sequently had no opportunity of 
comparing it with others. But it is 
said to be earlier than Champion of 
England, and as early as the Frames, 
and, from what I have seen of it, I 
have no reason to doubt this state¬ 
ment. Of this I am quite certain; 
it is a most valuable pea, and belongs 
to the class of sweet, wrinkled vari¬ 
eties, known as Knight’s Marrows — 
in fact, a Knight’s Marrow as early 
as the Frames! 
The plant produces a branching 
stem, from three-and-a-half to four 
feet high, with a habit of growth and 
vigour similar to the Double Blos¬ 
somed Frame. The pods are from 
two - inches ■ and - three - quarters to 
three-inches-and-a-quarter long, half" 
an-inch broad, somewhat curved, and terminated 
abruptly at the end. They are very full and plump, hut 
do not become thick-backed and fleshy as they ripen, as 
the Frames do; and they contain from six to eight peas, 
which are close together, and very much compressed, 
being nine-twentieths-of-an-inch long, seven-twentieths 
broad, and six-twentieths thick; and of that very sweet 
flavour which is peculiar to the Knight’s Marrows. The 
ripe seed is small and wrinkled, and of the same colour 
as the other white wrinkled peas. 
This variety was raised by Mr. William Fairbeard, of 
Green Street, near Sittingbourne, who also raised the 
Champion of England', and it may now be obtained 
through any respectable seedsman. 
