October 23. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
young female every one will think of a Rose, and no Rose 
can come amiss; hut there is one whose name signifies 
Beloved (Aimeo Yibert) of which the glossy evergreen fo- 
liage, pure white flowers, and pink-tipped buds, produced 
without intermission from July to winter, seem peculiarly 
appropriate. 
, -^-8 a j ns t the tomb of the village I'astor w r e would place the 
Christian’s plant, the Passion Flower, emblematic of that 
subject on which he loved best to dwell while we listened so 
often to his honoured voice. The azure rays around the 
graceful central column represents the glory which belongs 
to the sacred objects there suggested, but it is not easy to 
discover the cross. The writer had often sought for it in 
vain, till, while holding the flower on the road to church, a 
sunbeam suddenly revealed it. It is the shadow, which forms 
a very beautiful cross, if so held that one of the three 
stigmas should appear higher than the others, and form the 
upper part. Thus, if we train the plant against a grave-stone, 
the holy sign may fall upon it, and by simple means we may 
imitate the beautiful idea which, in suspending the sacred 
emblem above the resting place of the Reverend William 
Adams, has cast upon his tombstone “The Shadow of the 
Cross.” Another plant, suggestive of high and holy 
thoughts, is the Iris, or Flag-flower. In ancient church 
decorations a frequent ornament is the three leaves bound 
together, which are called the Fleur de lis, and supposed to 
represent the Most Holy Trinity, but it is not the Lily, as 
the name imports, but the Iris, which is so imitated as must 
be obvious if the flower is inspected. The Forget-me-not , the 
Pansey (pensee, or reflection), the Balm of Gilead, and the 
Everlasting , would be appropriate to any grave border. 
Another thought in reference to this memorial is, that 
gardening may be pursued by planting the grave of a 
friend with some flower which may be in beauty at the 
season of the year in which that friend entered into his 
rest. To ourselves, the anniversary of a bereavement is 
apt to bring veiy mournful thoughts. But will not these 
appear earthly and selfish if, on visiting the sacred spot, we 
find it glowing with the brightest hues of nature, as if the 
earth which holds the loved form were striving to equal the 
glories of that paradise which holds the loved spirit ? 
For this purpose, if the season be May, a root of Gen- 
tianella, the rich blue of which is called the colour of con¬ 
stancy, may be chosen for June or July, a Rose-bush, or 
perhaps a root of the double-flowering Sweet-briar, ot of the 
Fairy Rose, which will open still earlier. For the succeeding 
months there are endless pretty annuals which may be sown 
so as to flower at the proper time, and autumnal roses, 
whose bloom may be improved by cutting off the buds in 
June. Then may follow Chrysanthemums, and in the very 
depth of winter there are Russian Violets, Christmas Roses, a 
Holly, or a Pyrus japonica, either tied to the headstone or 
pruned as a bush, in which case it will flower later; and all 
our darlings of the spring complete the year again. 
SHORT NOTES. 
Duck-weed on Ponds. —Questions have been asked how to 
destroy this; now I. have a pond so covered, and sedulously 
preserve it; 1st, because it prevents evaporation, and retains 
the water when other neighbouring ponds are dry; 2nd, 
because the innumerable root-fibres of the weed absorb the 
deleterious particles from the water, and render it clearer 
and sweeter for house-cleaning, and various useful purposes. 
Himalayah Pumpkin. —Two seeds of this were placed with 
two green-striped, and two yellow varieties, of the vegetable 
| maiTow, on the same bed, this spring; they all vegetated 
I about the same time, and the Himalayah plants grew most 
j luxuriantly, but shed their fruit as soon as the flowers 
I dropped off, decaying at the flower end of the fruit; the 
others did not so; may we not then conclude that this defect 
is peculiar to the Himalayah Pumpkin, and arises, perhaps, 
from its not being yet sufficiently naturalised to our climate. 
Salvia patens has failed with me this year, dying off in the 
manner described by your correspondent, R. Fish. I find, 
however, upon inquiry, that manure-water had been given to 
them ; his suggestions, therefore, as to the cause may pro¬ 
bably be correct. 
German and China Asters have done worse than almost 
any other flower. Iu many gardens whole beds of them 
have entirely failed, and those which have surviv ed do no 
come up to the average standard of bloom; some of the 
flowers on each plant do not open at all, others have eyes 
instead of their centres being filled up, and the leaves look 
withered and yellow. The check was received in the spring, 
and little growth was made until the autumn, since which 
they have partially recovered. 
Dahlias have also suffered, but not so much, and their 
flowers this year have neither been so numerous nor so fine. 
•—S. I'., Rushmere. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
To all our Correspondents. — No one should send more than one 
or two questions at a time. If we were to answer the questions in some 
of the letters now before us, as fully as they ought to be answered, halt 
of those who only send one question must be excluded until next week. 
General Index.— We find we cannot give this at present. When we 
have passed through another volume or two, it may be determined 
differently. This is an answer to several enquirers. 
Back-house Boiler (Verax). —These boilers are of cast iron, and 
cost from ten-pence to a shilling for every gallon they hold. They are 
open at the top, and must have a wooden lid. Lead pipes will not do for 
any hot-water apparatus. Two-inch iron pipes are generally used for such 
boilers. 
Pear-trees bearing only at tiie Points (Ibid).— The only 
way to get your Pear-trees to bear all along the branches is to nail in a 
shoot here and there, from the barren spurs, as Mr. Errington recom¬ 
mends. 
Mulberries (Ibid). —Your trees are too much crowded with branches. 
You must thin them as you propose. We cannot say where the Double¬ 
white Feverfew can be bought. The title of Mr. Rivers’s book on 
orchard-houses, is The Orchard House, by Thomas Rivers. Tan is a 
good medium for bottom-heat, but some other contrivance is necessary 
for top-heat, except in the case of a common hotbed. 
Flower Beds (Flora). —Plant some low evergreens in your two beds 
during the winter, and some spring bulbs between them, or patches of 
autumn-sown annuals, to flower in April. 
Roses (Phianthos). —You did not state the height of your “ivied 
wall,” therefore we cannot say what roses to plant against it. 
Gladiolus (Ibid). —It will not hurt them much to be removed to 
another bed now, or for the next few weeks. Your bed behind the stable 
will grow Dahlias well enough, only do not have the soil too rich. Any 
of the early summer annuals will do to flower in the bed before the 
dahlias, and along with them. We cannot with certainty say what way 
to alter the American bed without being on the spot; but surely there is 
not much difficulty about removing the plants that are too high, and 
putting in lower ones. 
Suburban Garden (W —.). — For Scarlet Geraniums, take Tom 
Thumb; for Variegated, take Mangles; for Dahlias, select from our 
former lists; for a “ score of such things as we may recommend,” read 
over Mr. Beaton’s lists. The pots for plunging must be according to the 
size of the plants,—say from six inches upwards. 
Amaryllid (W. D. Payne). —We are very much interested by your 
account of the “Yorkshire Lily,” and we have sent to a botanist in the 
neighbourhood of Filey, to investigate its history, and when we hear from 
him, we shall give the name and biography. 
Campanula Carpatica (Fanny).— The White Carpatica is as hardy 
as a daisy. If you have greenhouse room for Tom Thumb, or any other 
of the Scarlet Geraniums, it will suit them better than any other way; 
prune them rather close, but by no means strip off all the leaves. A 
high shelf, near the glass, is the worst place to select for these geraniums 
kept dry; dryness and darkness, with no leaves on, and secure from frost, 
are the essentials. 
Climbers for the Front op a House (T. S).—Glycine sinensis 
would cover the front of a large house in the course of a few years, and 
Solunum jasminoides would do so in half the time, and flower from May 
to November: it is quite hardy on a south wall. The Seven Sisters’ 
Rose (Rosa Grevillii), and the Rose Jaune des Pres, would soon cover a 
large space; and they require a good wall to get them up to perfection. 
Laura Davoust, a charming climbing rose, does best on a south wall. 
Chimoilanthus fragrans should be against every house in the kingdom, 
but does not grow fast. Jasminnm nudiflorum flowers all the winter on 
a south wall. Clematis montuna is the fastest grower of the genus, and 
would soon cover a large space, and be in flower early in May, about the 
same time as the Glycine. Clematis Sieboldii is a most beautiful climber, 
which flowers all the summer on a wall, and does better mixed with other 
climbers to screen the leaves and stems from the sun, Periwinkle is 
better than the St. John’s-wort to cover under trees quickly; but the 
latter is an excellent undergrowth when once established. It prefers 
deep, light soil. Tree box is the best shrub to plant under large trees. 
Cantua dependens (Novice). —A cool greenhouse is the best place 
for it in winter, and in the summer it will do better if not much exposed 
to the full sun. Those who have coddled their plants of it indoors this 
autumn, instead of planting them out in the open ground as we proposed, 
have got into a pretty pickle with the red spider; and we predict thus 
early that it will be difficult, to keep it free from this pest indoors from 
April to October. 
Cobaea scandens. — (Twig) says, “ I have neither frame, pit, nor 
greenhouse, and from the number of pots I have to preserve in windows, 
I fear I shall not have room for two beautiful Cobcea scandens, now against 
a south wall, and in festoons round a window, in one mass of bloom.” 
We have frames, pits, and greenhouses, and a score of Cobceas, which we 
would pit or stage against Mr. Twig’s festoons, and we preserve them in 
a large shed facing the north, with a flue in it. Cobcea scandens improves 
