THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION.— May 27, 1850. 
Dahlia Zelinda, which I have grown for the last ten 
years. Though 1 like this Feverfew for its showy cha¬ 
racter while in flower, and with me it serves the purpose 
of furnishing the bed until the Dahlia begins, I should 
like it still better if, like a Calceolaria, it would grow on 
and flower throughout the whole summer and autumn. 
Perhaps some one has a better one that way. 
I have tried the double white Senecio, but it does not 
answer at all; large plants of it being so likely to die 
off that 1 have ceased to grow it. A better and more 
useful bedder would be the Double Chamomile, if we were 
allowed to introduce it, and I see no reason why not, 
since some have given Forget-me-not, Speedwell, and 
other wild plants a trial, with what success 1 leave it tor 
others to say ; but for myself, I confess being fastidious, 
or, perhaps, whimsical in bedding-plants so-called, and 
limit the number employed more than most people, 
while in mixed borders I am anxious enough for variety; 
at the same time, I take care to have a good proportion 
of my favourite colour. White Rockets, White Phloxes, 
White Stocks, and other plants, cannot well be exceeded 
for general utility ; and I have found a sort of common 
double White Pink of great service in making nosegays, 
where white ones alone are admissable; aud I know of 
no flower better adapted for making nosegays than 
Pinks, not that I like the plain white ones best, but 
, that they are useful in this way. 
As I shall at another time enter more fully into my 
I views of Bedding in Mass versus Mixed Beds, I will say 
no more here, than again repeating my advice to the 
amateur to cultivate all the white flowers he can, and if 
i he wants a proof of their utility, just let him walk into 
some garden about dusk, where good patches of double 
white 'Rockets are in bloom. There is also a large 
white Campanula, very pretty, blooming at the same 
time. Contrast these with any thing else there, and I 
am not afraid of the decision; while in the shrubbery, 
the white Broom, double and single blossomed Cheng, 
the Mode Orange, Gueldre Rose, white Lilac, and others, 
give a variety and richness to the landscape, which it 
would be vain to look for in any other colours; while, 
perhaps, the most showy object of all is the snowy 
appearance of an old Hawthorn-tree when in bloom, 
contrasted with which our pink or scarlet Thorns, as they 
are called, present but a dull aspect. 
As Nature presents us with such an abundance of 
white and yellow flowers, I think we ought to copy her 
in our flower-garden decorations; aud, as well-directed 
skill has im])roved the size and appearance of many of 
the flowers there cultivated, we ought not to forget to 
improve the colouring likewise. Deep, high-tinted ones 
seem too much the rage; bright scarlet, maroon, deep 
blue, or rich purple, seem greater favourites than plain 
white ; but I would advise gardeners to pay a little more 
respect to this despised colour, and by making our dull 
whites a little more pure, and getting rid of every stain 
or defect arising from discolouration in the different 
objects operated upon, they would confer a favour on 
i the gardening world which could not well be had 
; elsewhere. 
Much that I have said on white flowers is also ap- 
; plicable to yellow ones; but as our hybridisers have 
done much to improve our varieties of plants bearing 
that colour, little need here be said—only let it be 
j borne in mind, that yellow, like white, looks best when 
not tinted with other colouring. Calceolarias being 
tolerably exempt that way, as also are Acacia, Alyssum, 
Cytisus, Broom, Furze, and many other plants; while 
one of the most useful plants for early summer flowering 
is a bright yellow variety of Cheiranthus, of which I 
have several hundred plants now in bloom. I should 
like this better if it bloomed a month sooner; but, as it 
is, it is very useful, and not likely to be dispensed with ; 
and, as it is very hardy and accommodating, it is likely 
to be generally used as an early summer flowering | 
plant, to furnish beds with temporarily, for it will bear 
transplanting better than most things, and strikes as j 
freely from cuttings as a Willow. J. Robson. 
ALLOTMENT FARMING.— June. 
Onions will require to be carefully thinned, and the soil 
loosened between the rows, and if the weather is dry, a ; 
good soaking of water to be given; the thinnings may be 
transplanted and supplied with water until they establish 
themselves. The last sowing of any good, dwarf marrow 
Peas, such as Knight’s, &c., should now be made, and the 
other advancing crops to be earthed up and sticked. 
Sowings of Radishes, Endive, Spinach, Broad and Kidney 
Beans, Scarlet Runners, and Turnips to be made to produce 
successions to the former sowings; the Peas and Beans to 
be steeped for twenty-four hours in water, and if dry weather, 
the drills to be watered previously to sowing them. Savoys, 
Cabbages, Endive, Celery, and late-sown Cauliflowers to be 
planted out. We would strongly advise, whenever it is prac¬ 
ticable, to loosen the soil between the growing crops, and, if 
dry, to give it a good watering, as slight sprinklings do more 
harm than good, and to mulch with short grass,or any short 
litter, between the rows. By such means evaporation and 
the injurious effects of the summer droughts are prevented. 
Having discontinued to cut from the Asparagus , beds, an 
application, occasionally, during the summer, of liquid- 
manure in a clear state, composed of horse-droppings, will 
do good service. 
Strawberries. To cultivate them, with an expectation of 
obtaining a finely-flavoured and abundant crop of this deli¬ 
cious fruit, it is necessary to select a situation open to the 
full sun, well drained, and entirely away from the shade of 
every description of trees or fences. Deep, and rather stiff, 
or adhesive soil, suits them too well, but no soil is more ef¬ 
fective in producing abundance than what is termed virgin 
mould, with the turf recently turned up from the pastures. 
Trenches, two feet deep and eighteen wide, running east 
and west, to be made with a space of two-feet and-a-half 
between the rows; preparing trenches in this manner will 
save the trouble of digging over the whole extent of your 
ground, the trenches to be filled up with a well-incorporated 
mixture of the soil and completely rotten stable dung. 
About the end of the month, or sooner if they are suffici¬ 
ently rooted, the strongest plants from runners of the pre¬ 
sent year should be selected, taken up carefully with a 
trowel, and planted in straight rows along the middle of the 
to^i of each trench about twelve inches apart, or in double 
rows, eight or nine inches distant in the row, so that the 
plants of each row may be opposite the blanks of the other, 
and lightly but well watered after planting, to be repeated 
until they are firmly rooted ; and during the summer, if the 
weather is dry, to be kept clean by hand-weeding, and the 
runners continually cut in close. As we have so frequently 
recommendod the application of water in dry weather during 
the month, it is necessary to state that it is by the liberal 
supply of water, either naturally or artificially, that fruit- 
trees, vegetables, &c.,grow to the greatest perfection. What¬ 
ever in any degree impedes the regular course of growth 
will affect the health and constitution of the plant. If the 
soil is neither pulverized nor porous, by which the free ad¬ 
mission of water, and of air, <fec., is impeded, and that the 
rays of a powerful midsummer or midday sun exhales the 
moisture from the leaves, until they become exhausted and 
droop for the want of supply of moisture at the roots, na¬ 
ture makes an effort to consummate her work, and the 
plant, or vegetable, runs prematurely to seed. Strawberries 
swelling off their fruit should receive a good soaking of 
water in dry weather, and a mulching of grass or long litter 
to prevent evaporation and the fruit being splashed with 
dirt by rain. Also, wall-fruit-trees on sloping borders require 
to be watered at the roots. 
Vines, Tomatoes, Honeysuckles, Jasmines, and other such 
plants, require attention, to nail the young shoots to the 
walls or fences, to produce good fruit and abundant bloom. 
The summer growth of fruit-trees should now be regulated 
by thinning out the young shoots. 
