6 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
ArniL 1. 
it will not be prudent to wait until I bey are all ripe 
alike, but lilt them as they wither. Those that wither 
slowly had better have the covering to keep off the wet, 
or they would begin to shoot again, which would cause 
them to come weaker. When raised, allow the foliage 
to remain and what earth adheres, and place them in an 
airy, shady, dry place. When dry, remove the foliage 
that adheres, and as much of the soil as parts from the 
fibres. Tn a week or two handle them again, removing 
the earth and most of the fibres, and dividing the roots, 
and in another week they ina.y be put in bags, and kept 
dry until planting time, when the part that shows the 
mark of the fibres must be placed downwards. They 
should be looked over to see that mould is not interfering 
with them. 
Sowing Seed. —When the object is to get new varie¬ 
ties of double florists’ flowers, seed should be saved only 
from those with a double row of petals, or from single 
ones of the good ; and then, a few double ones among 
the seedlings must be considered a good hit. The seed 
must be looked after every day as soon as it ripens, or it 
will blow away. Before sowing, it wants to be well 
mixed and rubbed among sand to separate it sufficiently. 
What has been said of suitable soil and forming a bed, 
applies equally to a seed-bed, or border, but the soil 
should be finer, and no rank munure within eighteen 
inches of the surface. The seed may either be sown 
broadcast or in rows ; but, in either case, thinly, to allow 
the youug plants room ; aud the covering should not ex¬ 
ceed from one-eighth to a quarter-of-an-inch. The most 
natural time for sowing would be as soon as ripe,—say, 
towards the end of May and the beginning of June. If 
shaded a little it will soon appear; and a little fine, 
sandy loam and churcoal dust sprinkled among them 
would encourage growth and keep enemies at a distance. 
The seedlings will keep growing until the cold weather sets 
in, and mauy will bloom in April, which should be tested, 
and removed afterwards, to give room to the smaller 
ones, which will bloom later. I have sown under the 
protection of a glass light in February and March, nnd 
many of them have bloomed in autumn. Those sown 
in the open air, in April and May, bloomed still later. 
As a decoration of the flower border, the single flowers 
thus produced are very ornamental; and 1 hope this 
notice will induce the sowing of many a packet of seed 
this season. When intended to be kept, the seed should 
be placed in a box in a dry place. 
Pox Cultuke and Forcing. —Anemones do very well in 
pots of good depth, and filled with rich, sandy loam, 
but in which the loam approaches the adhesive. If 
kept protected in a cold pit in winter, after being potted 
in September, they would come in as ornaments of the 
window early in spring The Turban varieties are the 
best for this purpose. They will stand very little forc¬ 
ing, but by the above treatment, and not giving them 
more than 45° to 48° of artificial heat, pots and boxes 
may be had in the greenhouse in February. I once had 
j a couple of boxes—such as are used for Mignonette— 
j planted with bright single ono3, and in the front of a 
greenhouse they presented a very gay appearance in 
! January. 
Diseases, &c. —In wet seasons, and on wet ground, 
j the foliage is liable to the mildew. The best remedy is 
| dusting the foliage with soot and sulphur, and top- 
j dressiug the bed with dry material, of which charcoal- 
dust forms an item. The leaves, also, at times become 
swollen, distorted, gouty, and succulent, the result of 
either too deep planting, too moist a situation, too rank 
j manure within roach of the roots, or the roots being al- 
i lowed to remain several seasons in the same place. 
Characteristics or a good Flower. —What is called 
a doable flower, consists of an exterior row of flat, well- 
formed petals, just recurved enough to form the appear¬ 
ance of a shallow saucer, aud half the diameter should 
consist of coloured florets, in a rounded form, each 
pointing to the edge of the flower. Whether the colours 
are the same, or contrasted, they must be clear and dis¬ 
tinct. We shall obtain a true double flower when those 
that frequently appear with two or three petals increase 
these petals, aud imbricate over each other, so as to re¬ 
semble a fine Ranunculus. 
In a single Anemone the flower-stem should be stiff; 
the petals thick, broad, and smooth at the edges, forming 
together a shallow, round vessel of some two-and-a half 
inches in diameter; the colours clear and distinct; and 
if there is a clear circle round the parts of fructification 
at the base of the centre, the beauty of the flower will 
be augmented. R. Fisii. 
SHEFFIELD BOTANICAL GARDENS. 
A few days ago I had the pleasure of visiting these 
beautiful gardens. I saw so many plants in flower, and 
otherwise well grown, that 1 returned the day after, aud 
took notes. 
In 1832, I walked over the ground now occupied by 
these gardens. It was then in fields, some distance 
from auy dwellings, a mere milk farm, with a small 
patch of wood at the north-west corner. A few spirited 
gentlemen met together, passed a resolution that it was 
desirable to form a garden for scientific purposes, and 
for the instruction aud recreation of the inhabitants of 
Sheffield and its vicinity. A committee was appointed, 
subscriptions obtained, the ground (eighteen acres) pur¬ 
chased. Then plans advertised for, and a curator also. 
Mr. Marnock, after a close election, received both the 
award lor the plan and the curatorship. The gardens 
and the noble range of hothouses were laid out and 
built with extraordinary rapidity, and on the 29th of 
June, 1830, this delightful place of recreation was 
opened to the subscribers and the public, it cost the 
origiual proprietors upwards of .£18,000, of which .£3,000 
was paid for the land. The shares were originally ,£20 ; 
but, from some cause or other, the original shareholders 
gave up aud sold the concern, in May, 1844, to a new 
j company of proprietors, who purchased it for <£9,000, 
raised in £5 shares. A yearly subscription of 10s. 0d. 
is paid on each share for the admission of the bearer 
aud his family. The gardens are open to them daily, 
from morning to night, and on Sundays from one, p.m., 
till dusk. The present curator is Mr. John Law. He 
has greatly improved the gardens since he was appointed. 
The Society were £3,000 in debt; this he and the com- ; 
mittee of management have entirely paid off, so that the | 
Sheffield Gardens are in the proud position of not only I 
being out of debt, but in having a considerable super- | 
abundance of income above the amount of cost. This j 
I surplus the committee have wisely placed under the j 
controul of Mr. Law to lay out in improvements, aud 
thus increase the attraction of the gardens. Four or 
five years ago, a large house was erected at the west end 
of the range to grow aquatics, especially that queen of 
the water, the Victoria Lily. To correspond with that, i 
in the autumn of last year, there has been erected, at the | 
east end, a house of the same size to grow Camellias and I 
! Azaleas. Thus increased at each end, the entire length | 
of the range is 400 feet, averaging nearly forty feet in ! 
I width. 
In the centre is a lofty domed house, in which the 
, Palms of the tropics can exhibit their grandeur aud 
beautiful foliage. On the left hand of this is a large 
stove, chiefly filled with Ferns, growing on rockwork, 
stumps, and roots of trees. On the light is a green¬ 
house, then another smaller domed house, used as a 
greenhouse conservatory; beyond that, the new Camellia 
house. Beyond the Fern stove, to the right, there 
is another greenhouse, then a corresponding smaller 
domed greenhouse conservatory, and fiually, the Victoria 
