30 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENER. 
OCTOBEll M. 
a mushroora-becl made in such a situation, is often more 
productive than those in “ the house” set apart expressly 
for them; so that tlie amateur, or lie of small means, 
who has no better place than a corner of half-a-dozen 
square yards, may, nevertheless, try his hand with a 
fair chance to succeed in the culture of this capricious 
production. This vacant space we suppose to he bounded 
on one or two sides by tbe wall of the building; on the 
other sides some temporary erection must also be put 
up, to keep the dung, &c., from breaking down when 
looking at the bed, gathering the crop, &c. Where 
dung is plentiful, and a bed of this sort is to make, I 
do not like the plan of throwing aside so Very much of 
the litter as is done in preparing dung for beds in a 
regular mushroom-house, where they are obliged to be 
made so thin; on the contrary, leave a considerable 
part with the dung, and in making the bed, let it be 
double the thickness of the othei’s, about two feet is not 
too thick, but bo sure the dung has been well prepared 
by frequent turnings, and until all the rank heat is 
driven oil'. Now this work may bo all very well done 
on wet days; in fact, if the materials be all inside, it 
is, perhaps, better done at that time than in dry weather. 
The spawning of beds that have been made a few days, 
and have been left to prove their heating powers, may 
also be performed, and earthing them over may also be 
done at once; this, in addition to preparing dung, &c., 
for future beds, may form a very prolitable employment 
for a wet day. 
It has been customary, from time out of mind, io rope 
Onions and hang them up; and though some of our 
younger brethren may dispute the doctrine of their 
keeping better in that position than when lying on a 
slielf or dry floor, yet we are not quite sure our grand¬ 
fathers wore at fault here. A string tied tight about 
the nock of the onion is likely to prevent the escape of 
its juices through that channel, while the position the 
rope is usually placed in is certainly more conducive to 
its preservation than when it is, in an indirect manner, 
in contact witli mother earth. We like an ordinary hay 
or straw band best for a centre; and care should be 
taken not to bruise the onions in the handling. And 
we have no doubt but those who compare notes will bo 
led to say in March, that tied-up onions have kept 
better than others. This job may advantageously be 
performed on wet days. 
Root crops may also be looked to. Carrots keep quite 
ns well in an ordinary cellar when not packed into that 
close mass so common to some; in fact, I object to pack 
them at all until December, or when the moisture, which 
more or less accompanies a heap of most productions, 
passes of; they may, however, be looked to trow, and 
any symptoms of decay, or decaying matter of other 
kinds, removed, so as to give no chance to ]mtrefaction 
spreading through neglect. Beet and Parsnq^s wo sup¬ 
pose to be in the ground still; but that most uncertain of 
all productions, the Potato, must be looked to, and that 
frequently, as report would seem to imply that tbe wliole 
crop of 1853 is, in many places, fast approaching a state 
of dissolution; and, if we regard the opinion of the worst 
of those evil propliets who pretend to foretel future 
events, both the stock of the ensuing winter, and the 
seed of another year, will be a dead letter. Without 
going the lengtii of fearing such a result, I must own 
that I have never seen the disease so bad as it is this 
season in this district; still 1 hope that a remnant will 
be left for us to try again, to see if this scourge cannot 
in some way bo counteracted. All that can now be 
done with those potatoes which show symptoms of de- 
caying, will be to pick out all the bad ones as they show 
themselves, and, alter drying the others as well as can 
be done, to dust them with quick lime. This powerful 
agent is an antidote to most of the fungus tribe, to which 
liiis disease is said to belong. 
O 
Another job for wet days is the making and sorting 
of Label Sticks for various purposes; some very small 
ones may be prepared, and tied up in bundles, to name | 
varieties of bedding-out ]flants, and others that may be 
potted olf when spring comes round; larger ones, but of 
the same material, may be made for labelling seed jians 
and other uses, when something more than the mere 
name may be added. Then, again, large strong ones of 
the best enduring wood may be made for marking out j 
the jiosition of bulbs, and other unseen plants, tliat ' 
may be scattered over mixed borders; these, when not j 
marked in some way, are apt to have the sjmde driven 
right into the centre of them when the border is dug; | 
but a mere mark is not sufficient, better smooth one i 
end of the stake, rub on a little white paint, and at once ' 
write the name with a pencil. If this he well-done, it 
generally lasts as long as the wmod endures. These j 
should be rather stubby than tall, as they are not ! 
wanted to show themselves conspicuously; but another ! 
kind may be made longer, to mark the varieties of kitchen ! 
vegetables sown and planted. These ought to bo of such ; 
a height as to stand to be seen when the plants have I 
grown considerably; for this latter pinqiose, rounded ; 
stakes, flattened and smoothed at one eird, are as good ; 
as any. j 
All these, and many more duties, may be performed ; 
on wet days, to say nothing of that “ ridding-u]) ” of the ! 
sheds and other places, which, in spite of regular good 
keeping, require now and then “ a thorough cleaning 
out.” J. Hobson. 
VINES AT BISHOP StORTFORD. 
Fine flowers, fine fruits, and fine vegetables, form subjects 
for poets and painters, are eagerly sought after by the rich, 
and looked at with longing eyes by the poor. 
A recent visit to Hampton Court, and to Bishop Stortford, 
has proved to me that there is no royal road to gardening. 
At Hampton Coiu't, all the appliances of the public purse 
do not enable our Queen to have at her desert such grapes 
as are to be seen in a private garden at Itishop Stortford. 
The Hampton Court vine has been celebrated for nearly 
300 years, as a rarn arbor, and so it was, till others and 
better were to be found. I have no desire to detract from 
the splendid growth and excellent training of the Hampton 
Court vine, but when I find a private gentleman, of 
moderate means, and with a moderate man for a gardener, 
can beat the royal vine, I think I am justified in saying, 
there is no royal road to horticulture or to knowledge. , 
I will endeavour to describe to such readers of 'I’liE Cot¬ 
tage Gaedenee ns cannot visit the royal and the plobian 
vines, what I saw, for tlieir benefit. The vinciies at Stortford 
consist of two w'ell-glazed, lean-to houses, each sixty feet 
long, eighteen wide, and sixteen liigh at the back. 
In one house there are fourteen vines of the Black ' 
Hambro’ kind, entering the house (by a very simple con- j 
trivance described below), not up the rafters, but half-way 
between the rafters, and so up the roof, consequently en- | 
joying all the light which can be had under a glazed roof. 
Each vine has on it about fifty bunches of grapes, of an i 
average weight of l^lb., and in size about a small pigeon’s | 
egg. Tile colour is perfect, and but for a little ru.st this I 
year, finer grapes never was produced. | 
In the other house there are the same number of lights, 
and about the same number of vines of the Muscat kind. 
These vines enter the house precisely as the others do; 
there are, as nearly as possible, fifty bunches of grapes on 
each vine, and each bunch will, when ripe, perhaps average | 
from 3ilbs. to 3 lbs. The grapes arc very large, very even . 
in size, and very clean in growth. I'he vines in both houses 
are in peifect liealtli, always feeding upon a rich dish, which ' 
does justice to them, and which they do justice to. T'he 
leaves are neither gross nor small, but clean, transpiireni, 
and full of health, each leaf seems the counteiqiart of its 
neighbour, and which set off the fruit quite as much as the ' 
fruit sets off them. 
The stem of these vines, only ten years growth, is bright 
