158 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION.— May 27, 185G. 
Perhaps I shall be deemed Utopian if I suggest, as an 
amusement for youth, the perusal of works on gardening; 
yet it is not so impracticable an idea as may be imagined. 
Suppose, for example, that your son has purchased some 
new plants, of which he knows nothing, except that they bear 
handsome flowers. He naturally desires not to lose the 
benefit of his outlay, and would it not interest him to read 
aloud to you a passage in The Cottage Gardener refer¬ 
ring to the matter ? 
The columns of this journal contain a great many useful 
directions quite within the comprehension of a boy ten years 
old, as well as within his ability to carry out. The same 
remark is applicable to most treatises in general use; the 
only difficulty they present being the rather frequent men¬ 
tion of compost to be composed of peat, turf two years old, 
cow-dung ditto, with other things beyond the means of a 
child to procure. 
Let it only be explained that tolerable success may be, in 
very many cases, attained without such materials (just as 
people grow good cabbages and potatoes in ordinary soil, 
notwithstanding some ingenious experimentalist might dis¬ 
cover and recommend a compost specially adapted to the 
purpose), and these works will then no longer be dry read¬ 
ing ; nay, on the contrary, will be often referred to, provided 
a parent, or senior friend, will but take the trouble to induce 
and encourage the practice. 
I am, nevertheless, fain to admit that, so far as I know, a 
good work on horticulture, suitable to youth between the 
ages of ten and sixteen, is stiU a desideratum. Those I 
have met with are, in my opinion, too puerile in style, and 
very incomplete in matter; the authors appear to have 
thought it indispensable to write down to the capacity of the 
youngest reader, forgetful that in consequence of so doing, 
the book will be cast aside along with the nursery play¬ 
things. What school-boy would read a book beginning— 
“ My dear little boy,” or embellished with pictures of rakes, 
hoes, and other common implements ? He feels that he is 
treated as a baby, and turns from the perusal with contempt. 
The sources of supply above-mentioned will go a good 
way, though they may not quite suffice; it is, perhaps, better 
that they should not, as room will thereby bo left for the 
exercise of the owner's Laste and judgment in selection. This 
space must be filled at his own expense, either by direct 
purchase, or exchange with friends or relatives. Plants thus 
acquired are pretty sure to be valued, and the only ques¬ 
tion is as to the mode in which the outlay may be made to 
the best advantage. In settling this (to him) important 
business, a boy is at once in a difficulty. On consulting the 
seed catalogue, he finds the packets he wants marked 6d. or 
at least 3d. each ; but his sixpences are few, and he knows, 
besides, that a packet contains thrice as much as he requires; 
he, therefore, lays aside his intention, and probably spends 
his money in some manner less satisfactory to himself and 
parents. Now this difficulty may be easily obviated, if 
Papa, when making out his own seed-list, will kindly call a 
family council, and having ascertained the wishes of each 
member, he will be able so to arrange that the expense shall 
be divided, while the choice of every one is met. It is rather 
late to try the plan with annuals, but just the time for bien¬ 
nials. Let two of my young fiiends spend threepence each, 
one in a packet of Wallflower, the other in Sweet William 
seed. Sow at once, and next October transplant the Sweet 
'Williams in clumps of threes, at two feet apart, all round 
their gardens, putting a single Wallflower mid-way. Depend 
upon it they will think their money well laid out when their 
flowers bloom ; for the Wallflowers will come early enough 
to be pulled up in time to avoid crowding, and the others 
will soon after dazzle their eyes by the brilliancy of their 
tints.—E. 
IMPROVEMENT OF THE RASPBERRY. 
Mr. T. W. Shetherd, an Australian gardener, writes as 
follows.—As far as I am aware, there is not a single fruit 
or grass indigenous to Australia cultivated for the use of man, 
while there are many to be found which present as eligible 
a starting point as did the original of the most useful corn, 
or herb, or the most delicious fruit. Let us then set about 
experimenting, and who knows that results may not ensue 
which would render the term “ barren wilderness," and 
“ desert," often applied to our country, no longer even 
apparently true. 
As an example, I will mention one of our indigenous 
fruits, which appears to me to offer reasonable grounds for 
hoping that, by judicious cultivation and hybridization, a 
delicious fruit might be produced, and the experiment would 
not require a great deal of time to prove. The plant I 
allude to is known as the “ native raspberry” (Rubiis Eylan¬ 
te via of botanists), and plentifully found along the shores of 
New South Wales, from Shoalhaven to Wide Bay. The 
fruit of this raspberry (for it is a true raspberry, although of 
a different species from any cultivated one) is larger and finer- 
looking than the well-known English fruit, but not nearly 
equal to it in flavour, although commonly eaten by the colo¬ 
nists, and not so bad either, as your humble servant can 
testify from experience, having had many a feast of them, 
while resting, sheltered from the rays of the mid-day sun, 
during fatiguing rambles in search of new specimens of plants. 
I would propose to endeavour to procure a cross between this 
raspberry and the English one, which being accomplished, 
there would be good reason to hope that the variety so pro¬ 
duced, partaking, as it would be almost sure to do, of the 
character of both parents, would be equal, if not superior, to 
the best raspberry in cultivation, having this advantage over 
all others, that it would be adapted to our climate. 
ADVANTAGES AND COST OF HEATING A 
SMALL BOILER BY GAS. 
There have been, in your interesting paper, some articles 
on the subject of heating greenhouses with gas, which seem 
to me to have a tendency to deter amateurs, like myself, from 
employing that, to us, most useful agent. 
Without further prelude, I will enter upon my experience 
in the matter. It must, however, be clearly understood, that 
I do not intend to compare the difference in the cost 
between the consumption of gas necessary to heat any 
glass structure, and that of coke or coal; all I hope to do 
is to state my knowledge of the use of the former, for 
the benefit of amateurs. 
Having made up my mind to erect a small propagating 
house in my garden, I began to consider how I was to 
manage to keep the heat up ; being engaged in London all 
the day, and not fancying having to turn out late on a wet 
or winter’s night, to bank up the fire, if I used the usual 
furnace and boiler. There was, however, an objection to 
that mode, as my landlord would not have liked the sight 
of the chimney. 
In my dilemma, I was induced to try gas, and was for¬ 
tunate enough to be recommended to place myself in the 
hands of Messrs. Smith and Phillips, of 55, Skinner-street, 
Snow Hill, London, who furnished me with a patent gas 
boiler, which suited my purpose well. I will now state the 
dimensions of the house and consumption of gas. 
The house is, inside measurement, ten feet four inches 
long, eight feet six inches wide, and seven feet four inches 
high, in the highest part. I have round it inch-and-a-half 
pipes. The boiler consumed, in the coldest part of the 
winter, three feet of gas per hour; it now only burns about 
two feet in the same period. The greatest quantity that 
can be burnt by the jet is from five to six feet per hour. 
The boiler cost three pounds, it is made of galvanised iron 
outside, and stands about three feet high. 
I have always been able to keep my house up to 40° in 
the coldest night, with the consumption above-mentioned. 
The house, I should have stated, is ridged-roofed ; in fact, 
it is composed of four walls four feet high, with six lights, 
and a spanned end and a doorway. 
Of course, the expense of the pipe will be according'to 
the locality in which different persons reside, and that of ! 
laying on the gas will be regulated by the distance of the 
greenhouse from the ordinary gas-pipes. — Free ling J. 
Lawrence, Lee. 
MIXING QUICKLIME WITH THE DUNG OF 
HOTBEDS. 
Mr. Peter Metcalfe gardener to John Fenton, Esq., of 
Crimble, near Rochdale, uses a little quicklime in the form 
