60 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 23. 
Aijatlieca nmclloidex, alias Cinerarins amelloidea, and alias i 
Aster amelloidcs, is the liai'diest of all bedding plants which ' 
require to he kept from frost. It is a blue Aster, and 
Howers all the summer out-of-doors; makes a nice little bed, 
or an edging to a nicer one, and is the easiest plant in the 
world to propagate by cuttings, and to keep in winter, if the 
frost is not severe. 
I The Mesemhryaiithemunis are succulent plants, and some 
of them are more so than the common Cactus, and from 
' that they run out in a series to dry sticks with small leaves. 
The treatment must be accoi'ding to the kinds, but they all 
: require the greenhouse, or good, dry frame, and little water 1 
I in winter. Some of them never flower in Europe; some i 
only by the sea-side, and one or other of them is in flower, 
I or might be, every month in the year. There are more than 
' -100 kinds of them. 
Plumbago LarpenUe is propagated as easily as a Verbena, 
and more so; for you could divide an old plant to ever so 
many, and there is no end to cuttings of it from January to 
I October. 
i The best time to get Alyssum saxatile isTrom the 20th to 
j the 30th of October. i 
! The best time and way to get Hepalicas is in the spring, 
I in pots, and in full bloom, so as to be sure of tlie sorts; but 
! they will transplant in spring and autumn.] 
I EORCING STRAWBERRIES AND CUCUMBERS. 
“ I Avant to force a few StraAvberries. Next, I rvant to grow 
! a feAV Cucumbers, and to do this I have but small moans. 
I What I have to do it with is a small pit, fifteen feet long, 
seven feet wide, three feet in front wall, four feet in back | 
wall, and a division in the middle. It is heated rvith pipes— 
hot-water—two rows against the front wall for top-heat, and 
troughs on them to hold water for moisture, and two rows on 
the bottom for bottom-heat. The bottom pipes are laid in 
bolder a foot deep, and then some straw on them to keep out 
the soil. The Cucumber has not done Avell this summer. I 
built the pit in the spring, so how it will answer in Avinter I 
do not know’. I never had one before, neither did I ever 
force any Cucumbers, or Strawberries, so please to tell me 
hoAV to proceed and what, sorts to get. The pit is glazed 
AA’ith Hartley’s plate glass, and the pities are fed Avith one- 
inch bore pipes.— Newcastle.” 
[We do not see Avhy you fail of success. To groAV Cucum- i 
bers Avell, you must have a bottom-heat from 70° to H()°, and j 
top-heat from 65° to 70°. For long sorts, more full details j 
have lately been given. If you consult the index of the 
last A’olume, you will find a good, short abstract on StraAV- ' 
berry forcing; and if you act up to it, you Avill be sure to j 
succeed, and the sorts are mentioned. Commence Avith -15”, | 
I and raise gradually to 55°, and to 00” Avhen the bloom shoAvs; j 
i they will stand more Avhen set. The kinds are Black Prince, j 
j Kean’s, and British Queens, using the Prince first. Noav, | 
supposing that you must heat both divisions Avhen you heat i 
j one, that AA'ill make the difficulty, but not an insui’mountable : 
I one. We have had Cucumbers, Melons, Strawberries, and j 
i Geraniums, all in one range, Avith divisions, and the dift'er- 
j ence in air-giving and covering made a climate suitable to 
i each. Now, suppose that you place your Cucumbers next the 
; boiler division, you can keep up the requisite heat then by 
I covering at night, and a minimum of air during the day, 
I Avhilst you keep the other place, say 15° to 20° cooler by 
; giving air, and little or no covei-ing. You Avill not succeed 
I Avith growing Cucumbers and Strawberries in the same iden- 
I tical place ; but Avhen once your Strawberries are fairly set 
j and swelling, you might ripen them in the Cucumber divi- 
I sion by placing them on a shelf; but they Avill not be so 
Avell flavoured as if ripened in a cooler atmosphere and with 
more air. When you look over previous directions that Ave 
think would meet your case, and still you find difficulties, 
Avrite again, and state Avhat they are.] 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
Bedford. November 7th and 8th. Sees., J. T. R. Allen, Esq., and F. ' 
A. Lavender, Esq. Entries close October l6th. 
Birmingham, nth to Hth of December. Sec., J. Morgan, jun., Esq. 
Entries close November 10th. 
Dorchester. 24th and 25th of October. Sec,, G. J. Andrews, Esq. 
Durham and North Yorkshire, at Darlington, Gth and "th of De¬ 
cember. Sec., J. Hodgson, Esq. Entries close November igth. 
Lancashire (East). At Colne, Oct. 31st, and Nov. 1st. Secs. 
Messrs, 'f. and PI. Booth, Marsden, near Burnle}’. Entries clos 
October 17 th. 
Nottinghamshire, at Southwell, 19 th and 20 th of December. See. 
U. Plawksley, jun., Plsq., Southwell. Plntries close November 20th. 
South Durham and North Riding of Yorksiiiue. At Darlington, 
December Gth and 7 th. Sec. .(no. Hodgson. 
'Taunton and Somerset. Nov. 23rd and 24th. Sec, Wm. Buncombe, 
Esq., Taunton. Entries close November 3rd. 
N.B .—Secretaries vnll oblige us by sending early copies of their lists. 
STATE OF OUR VARIOUS BREEDS OF 
POULTRY. 
{Continued from page 13.) 
It is probable that Game Fowls are neither more generally 
kept, nor attain a much higher standard of excellence, since 
the ijeriod from which Poultry Exhibitions date their origin. 
Their hardy constitutions, the facility Avith Avhich they obtain 
for themselves a large portion of their food, their excellence 
for the table, and the little trouble to which, in other matters, 
they put their owners, are alt circumstances of strong general 
recommendation. Independently, howevei', of such induce¬ 
ments, many strains have long been maintained, Avith the 
ntmoet care, for purposes Avhicli, though in defiance of Acts 
of Parliament, have gained such hold in many English dis¬ 
tricts, that no one can be supposed to ignore the existence 
of the practice, Avhatever be his opinion concerning it. 
But notAvithstanding the favourable position that the 
Game Fowl has thus held, and its consequent comparative 
superiority over the specimens of other breeds ordinarily 
to be met with, it cannot be said to have profited nothing 
from the public competition it has more lately entered 
on. If all other points Avere duly regarded in years gone by, 
“ feather” Avas, perhaps, held somew’hattoo cheaply; and the 
necessary attention to this particular on the part of the 
exhibitor has certainly contributed greatly to the beauty of 
the bird’s appearance. The minutiae essential to the success 
of a pen at an exhibition has likeAV’ise drawn attention, though, 
it must be acknoAvledged, more sloAvly than any other class, 
to matching its several inmates in respect of the colour, not 
merely of their plumage, but likewise of their legs and feet. 
There still, liowever, at times occur.s, on such occasions, a 
strange intermixture of specimens of the distinct sub- 
varieties, fatal, of course, to the chances of success, uotAvith- 
standing the merits of the individual specimens. 
A just summary, therefore, Avould represent Game FoavIs 
as having gained in appearance, at least, from the institution 
of poultry shoAvs, even if it could not be shoAvn that they 
had advanced in the other chai’acteristics and properties of 
their race. 
Hoav very seldom does it happen that the Hamhurgh 
classes are Avell rejiresented, even at the most popular ex¬ 
hibitions ! Why this should be so is difficult to understand, 
at any rate in their favourite localities. Their numbers are 
surely sufficient to Avarrant tlie expectation of a fair propor- 
tion of meritorious specimens, and the long catalogue of 
names that usually appear in the entries at the northeiTi 
shows, testify that there is no uiiAvillingness to compete on 
the part of the OAvners. The features of excellence, more¬ 
over, are well defined, perhaps, ev’en Avith greater unanimity 
than exists with other foAvls, yet the judge is certainly more 
commonly subjected to disappointment here than in the 
other departments of his office. 
At first, indeed, birds Avere probably selected Avith less at¬ 
tention than they noAv receive ; and thus a fault, in a single 
instance, justly told against the Avhole pen; but as the general 
result, it can hardly be said, that Hamburghs have effected 
