74 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
OOTOUEft 30. 
To Toil Beans. —Let llieiu be fresh gathered, and do 
not shell them till tliey are to be used. When shelled, 
throw them into boiling water whicb has been salted, and 
boil for a quartor-of an liour to take off the acridity ; change 
the water, and, when boiled tender, turn them out ijito a 
liot cullender to drain, and serve them hot with itarsley and 
butler, or with plain melted butter. Beans reriuire to be 
long boiled before they arc tender, without which they are 
not 2 n'oporly cooked. They should always have the skins 
wrinkled; but even this is not a sulllcient indication; and 
to be certain that they are thoroughly done, it is better to 
try them, and ascertain whether or ]iot they are ({uite 
tender. The best accompaniment to Beaus is bacon, or 
pickled irork. 
Bean J’unDiNO.—When Beans become old and too hard 
for boiling, an excellent pudding may be made of them, by 
first removing the skins, then boiling the Beaus, and 
reducing them to a jiap, in the same way as is done forpeas- 
luiddiug. To this add a little irexiticr and salt, some cream, 
and tin: yolk of an egg; boil it an hour in a basin that will 
just hold it, and, when done, pour xnirslcy and butter 
over it. 
To Stew Beans. —This mode of using Beans may be 
advantageously adopted when they have become too old to 
be cooked in any other way. Boil them, and then remove 
the skins. Thicken some broth with a little cream, or Hour 
and butter, add the dleans to it, and stew the whole till 
sufficiently done, .and llavour with xieppcr and salt. 
Bean I’uuee. —Select good-sized Beans, and skin them; 
throw them into boiling water, which lias been salted, for a 
quarter-of-an-hoiir, then strain them, and jiut them into 
cold water to preserve them green ; strain them a second 
time; put a jiiece of butter into a saucepan, with salt, 
lieppcr, and a siioonful of Hour; add the Beans, and moisten 
them with broth, or water, to which jmt a bunch of parsley 
and chives. Let them cook, and, when done, pass through 
a sieve to make a iniree, to which add a little butter, and 
serve. 
Beans a la Macedoine. — But into a saucepan some 
parsley, chives, and mushrooms, cbopiied Hue, and a piece of 
butter, and a little Hour, and sot it on the Hre; pour in 
some broth and some white wine, adding a bunch of xiarsley, 
chives, and savory. Let them boil over a slow fire; then 
put in tlii'cc bottoms of artichokes, boiled a ( 2 uartcr-of-an- 
hour in water, and cut into small dice. Add a quart of 
young Beans, boiled a quarter of-an-hour in waiter, and 
skimmed; let them stew, adding seasoning, salt and 
]>epper; take out the herbs, and serve with sauce. 
Beans a ea Boeegeotse. —But the Beans into a sauce- 
jian with butter, a bunch of parsley, chives, and a little 
savory. Set them over the fire, and add a little Hour, a 
little sugar, and pour in some broth. When done, add a 
thickening of the yolks of eggs, with a little milk, and 
serve. 
Beans a la Boulette. —Take three jnnts of small, tender 
Beans, remove the tops, and boil them till they are tender; 
put a little salt into the water, and strain them. But a good 
piece of b.utter into a saucepan, mixed with tw'o dessert 
spoonfuls of Hour, salt, ^lepper, nutmeg, and a little sugar. 
Add the Beans, moistened with a little water; when they 
begin to boil, add a thickening of the yolks of tw'O eggs, 
and serve. 
There was a very excellent receipt for Bean-soup, fur¬ 
nished by a corresi)onilent, a few weeks ago, in this 2 iapor, 
which 1 shall take the lilierty of adding to the above, by 
way of making the list more complete. 
Bean soui’. —Take about four quarts of new U'hidsor 
Bi'ans, four leaves of garden sorrel, and lioil them in 2 >lenty 
of water, with a 2 uece of bacon of about two pounds. When 
done, take them out and 2'iilp them through a coarse sieve; 
2 mt what has been 2 ml 2 >ed into a stew’pan, with sulficiency of 
water in whicb they have been boiled, to make it thick ; add 
two S2ioonfuls of salt, one of 2 iowdcred sugai’, a teas 2 ''oonful 
of 2 iepper, one S 2 'rig of tarragon, and one flower of pot- 
marygold; boil twenty minutes, and serve. Serve the 
bacon sexiarately. This is economical and good.— IIouee 
Ashpole. 
HOME-GROWN GERMAN ASTER SEED. 
After what has been slated by your correspondent, in No. 
■3l)0 of your valuable Journal, confirming Mr. Beaton’s state¬ 
ment, that /mj»c-grown German Aster seed may be grown 
equal, if not superior, to foreign, it may a 2 ipoar superfluous to 
oiler any further remarks; but the im 2 iortancc of securing 
genuine seeds to the Floral tmblic, I hope is sufllcient apo¬ 
logy for the following brief observations. As 1 consider the 
German Aster one of Nature’s choicest gems, I have devoted 
no little time and labour to the cultivation of this favourite. 
Brevious to 1802,1 2 )rocured seeds from various sources, with 
indifferent results; but, in the above year, 1 procured a collec¬ 
tion of hnine-grown seed from Mr. Chatcr, of Saffron Walden, 
which has fully answered my expectation ; indeed, so con¬ 
vinced am I of their superior quality, that 1 have, ever since 
that peiiod, gi’own and selected my own seed from the original 
stock. As aproof of their merits, I have taken them to six Floral 
Exhibitions held in the neighbourhood during four years, and 
have received five first prizes and one second. It is true, I 
cannot boast of many flowers over fourteen inches (although 
I had one plant that xiroduced flowers over that, but not of 
that 2 ierfect form I like to see), yet, those shown by me this 
year were pronounced by all who saw them to be first-rate 
in all those 2 iro 2 icrties which characterize 2 iorioction. As 
further corroborating IMr. Beaton’s statement, it may be 
necessary to add, that Mr. Chater took first 2 'R^os for 
twelve German and rivelve French Asters at the Brighton 
Exhibition held in Se 2 itembcr, open to all England, with 
lionie-gYown seed, saved ,mider his own inspection. I ho 2 ie 
the above will furnish sufficient 2 'roof, that wo need not 
I’csort to the continent for that which we can 2 'rocure ( 2 uite 
as good in our own land.—S. Amev, Stdln/j Grove. 
B.S.—When writing the above, 1 forgot to mention that I 
procured a collection of French Asters, this year, from the 
same soui'ce, which have been as 2 ierfect in their class as the 
German, and have been the admiration of all who saw them, 
many of the flowers being over eighteen inches in circum¬ 
ference, and of perfect form. 1 have just collected raj' seed, 
but they do not appear so productive in this respect as their 
relatives. 
'J’HE APHIS, OR PLANT-LOUSE. 
Having noticed, in various 2 iarers, an account of the 
“ plague of flies ” having made its ap 2 )earance pretty generally 
throughout the country, 1 beg penuission, through tlie me¬ 
dium of your joiu'iial, to make a few observations ujton if. 
'I'lns fly is the 2 'erfect, or winged insect of the larva of .a 
species of a 2 >his fa genus know'ii by the name of “ smother 
fly,” “green fly,” or “plant louse,”) which infests various 
kinds of vegetation, and usually visits us in greater or 
smaller numbers at this season of the year. On reii'rring 
to a work I published, some years ago, on Insects, 1 find it is 
there stated, that in September, 181!), these pests visited us 
in clouds, covering almost every thing with w’hich they came 
in contact. Accoiding to Reaumur’s account of this insect, 
“one single n 2 diis may,in live generations,lie the jirogenitor 
of .3,000,1)00,000 descendants, and it is sup 2 )Osed that in one 
year there are twenty generations.” He also observes that, 
at the time of their emigration, “ these great enemies of the 
world are sometimes so numerous as to darken the air.” 
Berbaps it may be instructive to some to know tliat it is not 
as the perfect or winged insect that it is injurious to vegeta 
lion, but only when it is in the larva state; and that, after it 
becomes transformed into the winged stale, it only flies about 
for a very short time in search of a 2 ilace to establish its 
2 irogeny, which it brings forth alive, and deposits them on 
various plants, and then dies.*' Some species, at tbislarva 
state, deposit their ova upon spui's and branches of trees 
and shrubs, and issue forth in the spring, and feed upon the 
bursting buds ; others, after feeding awhile, retire into 
various 2 >laces of concealment, and lie dormant until reani¬ 
mated by the reviving influence of S2>ring, when they resume 
their ravages. Gardeners and others would now do well to 
look to their various plants, and use means for their cradica- 
* It is not quite correct to call the wingless Aphis the larva, It is a 
perfect female, and produces live young ones. Alter the female acquires 
wings she lays eggs, instead of producing alive progeny.—Ed. 0. G. 
