200 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 6. 
pears. About eighteen years since, being strongly im¬ 
pressed with the idea that I’ears had generally tailed 
on the Quince stock, through ignorance of their peculiar 
character as to soil, we made a station for this tree, 
imitating, as near as possible, the soils in which we had 
known the Quince to Nourish—in fact, a rich alluvium. 
The experiment answered the ex])ectation so fully, 
that out of some three score trees liere, most of whicli 
succeed admirably, this is the most profitable; therefore 
the Bexirri d'Aremherg and Glout Morcean we may 
cordially recommend to our readers. Easter Beurrd 
does not a])pear to have many patrons; we, however, 
find it a useful pear, and certainly a great bearer: we 
never knew it fail. Those who like the spicy flavour 
of the old Swan's Egg or Muirfowl Egg will relish tliis; ' 
it has, doubtless, been produced from these old pears 
on the one side. Why it should be named Easter Beurre \ 
it really is difficult to say, for we never could eat one after 
January ; perhaps it is so called, in a negative sense, as 
not being good at Easter! To sum up in the Pear w'ay, 
there is Allhorpe Crassane, one of the most capricious 
things in existence : sometimes the most luscious Pear i 
in the world; sometimes a mere turnip which has lain 
drying in some scullery for a few weeks. We have 
proved Beurre Langelier (Rivers), and Doyenne d’Hirer 
Morcean (Rivers), new pears; but we dare not recom¬ 
mend them at present. Ne plus Meuris is a tidy pear, 
a good bearer—not good enough for a first-class pear 
here, yet too good to throw away. 
We” must now call a ttention to Appi.es ; and first, 
everybody knows the King of the Pippins, or, as our 
“ great unknown,” who furnishes the Covent Garden 
reports, affirms to be in reality the “ Golden Winter 
Peannain.” Now this is a useful Apple, but the Wil- 
Hams' Pipp'in of the Horticultural Society of Loudon, 
one of the same class, is far superior, at least so we 
find it. This Williams' P'lppin we advise every one of 
our friends to get; good bearer, good to eat, and a right ! 
healthy tree; as a great modern authority has said of a : 
Grape, “ one that does not know how to shank ;” so say j 
we of this apple: one that does not know how to fail. ' 
Well, there is Hugh's Golden Pippin, a good new i 
apple; Adams’ Pearmain ; Margille, although liable 1 
to canker, is a rich apple; Court of Wick ; Blenheim j 
Pippin ; and Ingestrie, liighly recommended, one of j 
Mr. Knight’s Golden Pippin seedlings, but never liked 
here. 
There is one thing strikes us as extraordinary in the 
returns adverted to, and that is the leanness in regard 
of novelties. It would appear that superior fruit, like 
superior men, do not spring up every day. In these 
returns we see the following, which, a very few years 
back, were said to be valuable accessories to the 
modern dessert:— Adams' Pearmain, good, certainly; 
but only one advocate, Mr. Tillery ; Court Pendu jAat, 
too, one patron, Mr. McEwen; again, Macleans 
Favour’Ue, backed by IMr. Henderson alone. Cornish 
Gillijlower has Mr. Dawson for a friend. Wyken 
Pip)pin, a name which has figured in every list for the last 
seven years, has the name of Henderson alone appended 
to it. There are, indeed, several others which are of 
recent origin, and which have not yet made their way, 
although backed by high authorities. 
Pi.. Errjngton. 
BULBS. 
{Continued from page 2f2). 
Brunsvioia (Buphane) cii.iaris. —This, with distycha 
and tox'uiaria, forms a distinct section of Brunsvigia, and 
they are much more difficult to flower and to keep in 
I good health than B. Josephince, B. grandijlora, and B. 
I multijiora, the true Candelabra plants of the Cape. 
This species was found growing in strong clay, along 
w'ith species of Mesembryanthemum, and a strong yellow 
rough loam with a little sand suits it best in a pot. 
Good dr-ainage and small deep pots, in proportion to 
the bulbs, with the soil pressed close together and to the 
bulbs, are all necessary jioints for this plant in particu¬ 
lar. The pots called upright ttPs, or upright 10’s, must 
be used for most of the imported bulbs of this and of 
B. distycha. If this bulb is received from the Cape in 
the summer, or at any time after the end of Pebruary, 
without any signs of growth in it, the grand secret is 
not to pot it until the end of the following August. In 
the mean time it should lie in the sun, with free air, 
and be kept as dry as possible, and be turned round and 
and round, and every time tbe white bugs looked for and 
destroyed, which come over in myriads with all large 
bulbs from the Cape. If the bulbs stand balf-an-ineh 
from the pot at the widest part it is enough ; and after 
once any of these large bulbs make healthy roots and j 
leaves, they should never be disturbed again until they j 
break the pot with extended growth. After potting, give | 
one good watering from below by means of a saucer, ' 
and the moment you see the surface of the soil turning 
damp remove the saucer, and that watering should last 
all through September. Early in October the bulb 
ought to be in leaf; but if it should not come into leaf 
till Christmas, no heat should be applied, nor any kind 
of forcing, ami from the moment the leaf can be seen, 
the bulb should have as much air as if it was out-of- 
doors ; and if actual frost is kept from it no cold will 
afi'ect it during the winter, and very little water will do 
for it till the middle of February. Then increase the 
watering by degrees, and if a sunny month, the bulbs 
may have water every other day until near the end of 
April, and by the end of May it should be at rest, and 
receive a dry and hot rest till the end of August or 
middle of September, when the flower scape ought to 
give the first indications of life and motion. The 
flowers are pinkish, and come in large heads like those > 
of Agapanthus; and a strong bulb in Africa will have 
as many as 2d0 flowers in one head. 
Brunsvigia (Amochahis) coranica. This large bulb 
must be kept quite dry from October to the end of 
March ; then to be potted in the same kind of soil and 
in the same way as the last. The natural heat of tha.t 
season is quite enough, for it is in a greenhouse or cold 
pit until about Midsummer. An old-established bulb 
I might stand constantly in a saucer of water from the 
i middle of May, but to liave no more water than would 
I just cover the bottom of the pot. When the loaves are 
I full grown in June the pot should be plunged to the 
j rim in a brisk bottom-heat of 8.j®, and a strong cuiTent 
of air allowed day and night. Without this it does not 
throw up the flower scape; when this appears, and is 
four or five inches high, bottom-heat should cease, and 
the constant moisture at the bottom be renewed until | 
the flowers begin to open in the greenhouse. After that 
give no more water than will keep the leaves fresh until 
they begin to change colour. If the bulb should not 
flower, kee]) it in the bottom-heat until the leaves die j 
down. i 
Brunsvigia (Buphane) distycha. —This is one of the 
largest of all the Cape bulbs, and is readily known 
by its dark skin. It is a darker looking bulb than 
any from the Cape; but it seldom comes in.those boxes 
the traders make up for speculation, probably because it 
grows beyond the range of their gathering. It requires 
exactly the same treatment as Ciliaris. 
Brunsvigia (Amocharis) falcata. —It does not matter 
whether we take this or Gorardea as the species, the 
other is only a little variation from it. If a very old 
bulb of one of them were to flower at the same time 
with a very young bulb of the other, one might find a 
slight difl’ereuce in the shades of the flower, but that is 
I all. The misfortune of these bulbs is, that their culti- 
