THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 25. 
196 
flowers. This, vve think, is a practice highly worthy of 
imitation; for why should not a nobleman have a border 
of flowers in his kitchen-garden as well as the cottager? 
There was a peculiarity in planting these borders that 
we should have been glad if our friend, Mr. Deaton, had 
seen ; and we trust, now he is enjoying his honourable 
repose ( otiuvi cum diynitatc, which has been translated 
“ ease and digging tatocs”), ho will give himself a treat, 
and visit these celebrated gardens next year in the 
month of August, as we did this year. This peculiarity 
of planting the flowers, consisted in having for the back 
a row of Scarlet, Penstcmons, then a row of Yellow Cal¬ 
ceolarias, next a row of dwarf Bronze-coloured Calceola¬ 
rias, in front of these a row of the dwarf Blue Lobelias, 
and then, next the walk, an edging of Common Ivy, kept 
close by the shears. The whole had a singular and 
pleasing cifect. These beautiful flower-borders were, to 
make a rough guess, some three or four hundred feet 
long, and looked like a long rich and variously-coloured 
ribbon, stretched out along each side of the walks. 
Gryptomeria japonica. —In the pleasure-grounds wo 
noticed several of this beautiful evergreen, the Japan 
Cedar. Though not the largest we have seen, they cer¬ 
tainly were the handsomest. In general, this fine plant 
is rather thinly branched, and often of a bad colour; but 
here the stems were densely covered with branches, and 
the leaves were of the darkest and richest green. We 
were informed this effect was produced by first draining 
the ground effectually, and then enriching it with well- 
decomposed manure, and in summer giving the trees 
occasionally a good soaking of liquid manure. These 
stimulants appeared to give a health and vigour to this 
beautiful member of the Pine tribe, that was really 
admirable. Surely this is a lesson worth studying and 
imitating. These are but very imperfect jottings of the 
gardening at Trentham. All we can add is, go and sec, 
and bo gratified and instructed as we were. 
T. Appleby. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Rampion. —If we are to be entirely guided by the 
patronage shown to the various objects grown for our 
tables, and allow our judgment to be guided solely by 
that general approbation which stamps certain vege¬ 
tables as “ absolute necessaries,” we fear this little un¬ 
pretending adjunct to our list of winter salads will be 
coldly received, more especially as we cannot advance 
that now-a-days necessary qualification, that our protege 
is “ new.” On the contrary, we perfectly remember the 
cold lingers wo often had in our boyhood, when washing 
and dressing this little esculent for the table of our em¬ 
ployer ; yet, notwithstanding its antiquity, we are con¬ 
vinced it is very little known, and we take this opportu¬ 
nity of calling the attention of our gardening friends to 
its merits, not the least of which is its extreme hardi¬ 
hood, and when it is known that it can bo had in all 
weathers, from October to April, without calling forth 
any of those anxious cares, which we are compelled to 
exert in behalf of things “ forced or protected,” we think 
its demand on our notico is both just and reasonable. 
The object of our present article belongs to the exten¬ 
sive family of “ bell-worts,” and botanists have named it 
Campanula rapunculus: — it is- said to be found wild 
in several of the Southern and Midland counties, and 
Hooker describes it as a perennial, whilst, with us, its 
disposition to die off immediately after flowering or 
ripening seed, would incline us to believe it only 
biennial, but, as that point is foreign to our present pur¬ 
pose, we at once proceed to the culture. The seeds of 
this plant, like that of most of the family, are exceedingly 
small, consequently the ground must be made very fine 
for its reception, and but very little covering must 
be given:—from its liability to run to seed in the 
autumn, some cultivators recommend it not to be sown 
before May; which advice we by no means impugn, pro¬ 
vided there appears a likelihood of getting it to vegetate 
well at that period, if dry weather sets in, but we have so 
often been disappointed in delaying the sowing of this 
and some other things until May, when the pressure of 
other business has sometimes prevented that attention 
in watering, &c., which is so necessary to obtain “a 
crop,” that we liavo of late years preferred sowing 
earlier, on ground neither too rich nor too dry. Usually 
wo sow on a west border, some time about the middle of 
April; the seed docs not vegetate so quickly as the cab¬ 
bage tribe, and as we have said, being very minute, is 
unablo to bear the scorching effects of settled dry 
weather, if left to a later period. We generally sow 
broad-cast, and thin out afterwards, but we let them 
stand tolerably thick, and we have known an excellent 
gardener who never thinned them at all, alleging as a 
reason that, instead of their forming a straight, useful 
root, they were more likely to spread into a lot of useless 
fibres laterally, when not standing pretty thick. Now 
though we cannot altogether coincide with this view, yet 
we must not wholly disregard it, and we believe botanists 
are agreed that all the portions of this plant, growing 
underground, are “ roots,” which they tell us is not the 
case with ■‘carrots, beet, &c. We may, therefore, class 
the eatable part of this vegetable as a “ tap root,” which 
certain vegetables, as well as trees, are in the habit of 
sending downward, while, at the same time, they derive 
the most of their food from a lateral supply. We have 
often seen the rampion do best on a poor light soil, but 
never on one likely to lack moisture in August, be¬ 
cause the plant, if checked in its progress towards per¬ 
fection, makes a sort of convulsive effort to reach the 
object “ nature had ordained for it,” i. e., “ ripen and 
shed its seed for a future progeny,” prematurely runs to 
seed, and its use as a vegetable is then at an end ; 
whilst on the other hand, a too rich soil induces a gross¬ 
ness which only enlarges the top. 
We will, however, suppose the crop to be all that can 
be desired, and the autumn or winter arrived; let 
us then address ourselves to its use, and although it 
can be grown with very little trouble, endures all 
weathers, and is ever ready for use, for at least six 
months of the year, yet it requires a somewhat tedious 
manipulation to prepare it for the table. Its fibrous 
roots must be all removed, and if forked, only two of 
its limbs retained; the top, too, must be so far re¬ 
duced as to leave only a small tuft to handle it by; 
and lastly, the whole root must be peeled, not scraped, 
all excrescences cut away, and the neck dressed some¬ 
what uniform. It will then appear as white and delicate 
as the first turnip of the season, and may be sent to 
table with every prospect of its becoming a favourite 
there. We believe its principal neglect to arise from 
tlfo trouble it gives to those having the winter salad to 
prepare. The poor garden boy will be glad to escape a 
duty that involves so many cold fingers, and the liveried 
denizens of the “ pantry, to whose tender mercies such 
things are sometimes consigned,” are still more likely to 
neglect an article requiring some little time and care in 
the preparation. So that we would advise our gardening 
friends who may be anxious to extend its use, to see to 
it themselves for a few times, and it will soon be known 
what opinion their employers have of this much 
neglected vegetable. In concluding this article, we may 
add that its leaves have been recommended as small 
salading, but we have always held it bo inferior to the 
American and golden cress, to which its leaves bear 
some resemblance, that wo have never used it for that 
purpose, but as a winter esculent, and one which can be 
had at all times, we think it indispensible. 
Sundries. —It often happens that in a mild autumn 
