IJl.CEMBKE 0. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
185 
Constance (Tliomson); yellow and purple ; very con¬ 
stant. 
Duke of Norfolk ; yellow, and deep maroon; apt to 
run in summer, but a noble blower when in perl'eelion. 
Elegant (Thomson); yellow, and deep bronzy-juirple; 
tine. 
OUf' (Dickson and Co.) ; yellow, top petals and belt 
fine bronze; largo size (lias been three inches across); 
good substance ; new and extra fine. 
Jubilee (Dickson and (lo.); yellow, fine bronzc-jnico 
belt and top petals ; tbrni and texture very fine; new. 
Ladg Emilg (Hlieare’s) ; yellow and bright claret; 
large and constant; new. 
j1/r. i>ec7i.-('rurner); yellow and maroon; good old 
variety. 
Post Captain (Maisluneut); yellow and bronzy-puiplc. 
Sunbeam (Dickson and Co.); rich,dceii, orange-chrome 
margin, and top petals bright bronze-crimson; blotch 
large and dense ; constant and beautil’ul. 
SELES. 
Adela (I’urner’s); golden-yellow ; large and fine. 
Blanche ('J'urner's); large, white, fine, bold eye. 
Duke of Perth (Handyside); vei-y dark; fine and large. 
D'Israeli (Hunt); very deep purple, with a shade of 
blue. 
Flower of the Day (Downie and Laird); rich dark 
plum; bright golden eye, with a fine, white crown; 
round and good; new. 
Lucy Nerd (Scotoher’s); dark purple; fine. 
Maynijkent (Neilson); shaded puce. 
Satirist ('I’homson); bronze ; quite a distinct flower. 
St. Andreto (Downie and Laird); rich, dark mulberry; 
of perfect form ; new ; and a first-rate show flower. 
Sovereign (Dickson and Co.); a golden-yellow self; 
blotch large and dense; new; large and fine form; one 
of the very best yellows. 
Uranus (Dickson and Co.); yellow; lai-ge and fine. 
Jly correspondent says, “ 1 consider tlio above the 
very best Pansies grown in this neighbourhood; the 
greater part 1 have myself, and therefore can speak from 
experience; the remainder I have had opportunity of 
seeing in flower, so they may bo dejieuded upon as being 
first class. 1 do not hesitate to say, that a well-grown 
bloom of any of them would bo an acquisition to any 
stand.” 
Such lists as the above, from distant parts of the 
kingdom, are exceedingly interesting. Many of the 
varieties, I think, would be desirable to the florists of 
the south ; and the florists of the north will ho pleased 
with a list of the best flowers grown in the south. This 
list it shall be my business to furnish in my next paper; 
the space allotted to me now being full.—T. Ai>i'le3Y. 
(To be continued.) 
COAI. ASHES AS A PRESERVA'ITVK TO 
CELERY, &c. 
The dark days before Christmas being proverbial for 
their decaying influences, means must be taken to coun¬ 
teract their destructive tendency. It usually happens 
that the protracted dull and damp weather has the effect 
of injuring all herbaceous growth, in which the vital 
powers arc not in full and vigorous action: for instance, 
celery that is full grown begins sooner to decay than 
the younger or later-planted section—the former having 
attained a degree of ripeness, which, like maturity in all 
other cases, is sooner or later followed by decay. To 
maintain the one and arrest the other is an important 
duty of the horticulturist. The enthusiastic florist acts 
in accordance with this principle when he shades his 
beds of tulips, or other pets—he thereby retards nature’s 
operations in the various functions necessary to the 
production of seeds, as well as the ripening of the bulb, ' 
or other jiortion of the plant. Th(?shutting out of sun- ‘ 
shine is the means of his retaining in perfection that 
part of a plant’s formation to which he has attached the } 
name “ beautiful.” Now, though the principle is the ^ 
same, wherein a plant is preserved entire against decay ; 
arising from another source, yet the means to be adopted 
arc so different, tliat it is only in a literal sense that : 
they agree. The tendency of summer sunshine being 
to hasten plants on, to accomplish that juirpose destined 
them by nature (namely, to ripen and 2 )erfect their • 
seeds, in order to jierpetuate their species), is another 
thing from the hardshiji of winter actitig on a plant of 
mature growth londcred delicate by artificial cultivation, 
by which term Celery and Endive may justly be known ' 
wlien they have undergone the process of blanching, ! 
which process, by-thc-by, is accomjilishcd at the expense | 
of the plants' constitutional hardihood ; and though I 
they may occasionally live and prosper after undergoing 
this debilitating operation, yet, in many cases, they die I 
before the return of that stimulating season which 
recalls their dormant energies to activity again. That 
a great number should perish under the ordeal they 
have been subjected to, need not be suiqirising, when we 
consider that the process is all but total destruction at 
once to the plant. 'This may appear strange, but it is 
true ; it is only those jiarts of the plant left to enjoy 
the action of the atmosphere that kcejr the others alive ; 
to totally cover all would bo a more s^ieedy death than 
the protracted one, wherein wo make the jilant part with 
some of its juices, which we reject as unpalatable ; and 
having done so, we need not be surprised at the loss of 
health which the plant has sustained in the trial. Pro¬ 
ductions less robust would have perished under it, but 
Celery resists decay more than most things, though its 
endurance has limits; and the earliest “ full blanched” of 
the season will be the first to decay, while the later grown 
will keep better, and do to succeed it. Rut then the 
question is, how is the scasorr of the first-named to be 
jirolonged ? how is its decay to bo arrested ? The ques¬ 
tion is an important one, but its solution lies in a nut¬ 
shell. Celery, as well as everything else, is preserved a 
longer or shorter time in exact accordance with the 
medium by which it is surrounded; should the medium 
consist of putrid matter, wet and sour, its contagious 
qualities may easily be guessed at; if, on the other 
hand, a good, dry, anti-decaying material bo tised, a 
contrary residt will bo the consequence. Now, 1 do not 
use tho word dry in the sense it is acceiited as a fireside 
term, because it is folly to think of anytliing keeping 
dry that is in contact with the ground, shoidd there 
oven bo a waterproof covering over it, loaded as the 
ground is, as well as tho atmosphere, with moisture at 
this season. It is, therefore, useless to suppose that tho 
term “dry” has any further meaning than as a sub¬ 
stance absorbing loss water than most other things by 
which it is surrounded. Ground of a certain deserqition 
is called “ dry,” although exposed to every shower that i 
falls The fact is that by conventional usage we have 
accustomed ourselves to call it so, because this same | 
rain is, by the component parts of such ground being so 
ojicn, so speedily carried ofl', that it is, comjiarativcly 
speaking, drier than soil of a contrary kind; conse¬ 
quently, we will take it for granted that this (lorous 
sandy soil is better adapted to blanch and jircscrvo 
Celery than the deep loamy kind, strongly impregnated, 
as it often is, with humous, and other putrid or absorbing 
matter; but then, many gardens consist entirely of this 
latter description, which though not tho best for blanch¬ 
ing this vegetable, is certainly the most suitable for 
growing it. 
Now, it is no dillicult matter to grow Celery in one 
substance and blanch it in another, and many have been 
the means used to comply with this latter suggestion. 
