■M\ I 
'J'llE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
EF.nnuAr.Y If). 
wlier.^ it lias sometimes a prominoiU swelling. 
The .skin is fcmoolli aU'l sliiirir.g, of a ]inlo Wiixen 
yellow colour, very thickly covered with minute dots, 
and with an orange tinge on the side next the sun. 
Specimens from a heavy soil have the skin pale green, 
wiili a yellowish tinge, thickly covered with russetty 
dots, and some tracings of russet. The eye is very 
small, with short, erect segments, generally placed on a 
level with the surface, but sometimes iji a shallow 
depression. The stalk is about an inch long, stout and 
woody, and inserted without any cavity. The flesh is 
yellowish, very tender and buttery, melting and juicy; 
the juice is richly flavoured, sugary, and vinous, with a 
peculiar and pow’erful aroma similar to that which is 
imparted to wines by Elder flowers. The flavour some¬ 
what resembles that of the Melon. 
This excellent variety is in season from November 
till February, and is of flrst-rate quality. In cold and 
heavy soils the flesh is rather coarse grained, and 
slightly gritty, but still very juicy and sw'ect. 
The tree is perfectly hardy, an excellent bearer, and 
is well adapted for a pyramid, or for training. It w'as 
raised by M. Gregoire, of Jodoigne; and for the 
specimen from which our figure was taken, w'e are 
indebted to the kindness of Mr. Rivers, of Sawbridge- 
worth. 
POTTING CUTTINGS AND SEEDLINGS. 
If a young gardener begins bis cuttings for the flow-er- 
beds as early as this in the season, and has good ordi¬ 
nary cuttings to begin wdth, he wall not thank an old 
gardener for telling the w'orld that he, the “ young sprig,” 
ought to strike fifteen to the dozen of them. A Lin- 
niean class-man could do more than that. Your man 
of Natural Orders and affinities, who can grasp and let 
dow'ii a thousand plants at one swallow, w’ould not take 
off his gloves to strike five-and-twenty to the dozen of 
them, in half the time anticipated, that is, of three- 
fourths of the bedding plants. So that instead of boast¬ 
ing of my pupil, as seemed to be the case the other day, 
most gardeners, of any standing, might well suppose 
that I either “ put my foot in it,” or had intended to 
cast a shade over the merits of my friend. Rut, no, 
'^Yhero was nothing of the kind. If he strikes fifteen to 
the dozen of tlrose Geranium cuttings, it is more tjuui 
I nine chips out of the old block could do; and for this 
reason, ihat out of forty eight cuttings of Laili/ Caroline’, 
! tlicre were only four of them wliich were over two 
, inches long; a few' of them were an inch and from tliat 
to an inch-and-a-half; but thirty of them did not exceed 
three quarters-of-an-inch, and some were not so much. 
The cutings of Lady Middleton Geranium were, gene¬ 
rally, a shade longer, but not mucli; two tliirds of 
the w'hole could not be fixed in tlie cutting-pots unless 
1 the top of the soil w'as covered with sand, and watered 
before the cuttings were put in. Then look at the time, 
the middle of January, the deadest lime of all the year 
for cuttings to move; and the necessary w'atering before 
planting, in order to obtain a firm footing to such little 
bits, was an aggravation of the evil which could not he 
avoided ; therefore, taking all these difficulties into the 
account, fifteen plants, next iMay, for every twelve of 
those cuttings, w'ould not be bad w'ork, as times go. 
Supposing that every one of the cuttings took root, there 
could hardly be more than three or four in every dozen 
from w’hich the tops could be cut for second cuttings to 
' make up so many to tlie dozen. 
I Now, I had a particular reason for putting the ques- 
I tion in that light. \Ye are all gardeners here in Surbiton, 
, but some of us are v'ery young beginners; and of all 
' the puzzles, with such, the greatest is about the lengths 
t of the different kinds of cuttings, their strength, and 
i ago, and the proper time to put them in. As soon as a 
hotbed is ready liom this day forward, no one need ask 
if the cuttings of any bedding plant are ready, for all 
such cuttings must now' he lit to take off if ever they 
will be; and the cutting of any kind of Geranium that 
is tw'o inches long is quite fit already. The most elegant 
of all the variegated Geraniums is still the Golden Chain; 
but it is very scarce yet with amateurs, though nice 
little plants of it are to be had for a shilling each, or 
nine shillings a dozen; and this is just the time cuttings 
of it are most profitably made. Old, hard wood of it 
w'ill strike now', in a brisk heat, nearly as soon as the 
young growth of last summer. The compost for these 
ought to be at least one-half sand, the other half should 
be one-half peat and one-half leal'-moidd; the w'hole 
rubbed briskly three or four times between the palms of 
the hands, so as to make it uniform throughout. It is 
sirrprising the improvement which may easily be made 
in the best compost for cuttings and for seeds by pass¬ 
ing it thus through the hands. This thorough amalga- 
j mation of the parts seems to be the turning point in 
j the secret of success with cuttings of this class. All 
\ the Verbenas prefer it to all other mixture, as one may 
* see by tbe flaky appearance of the young roots; all the 
little blue Lobelias delight in it, as it were; AnagnlUses 
the same; and as to the Variegated Alijssim, x\\e great 
favourite with us all, it is just the very marrow of a 
compost for it; all the Ivydeaved Geranimns, and those 
represented by the Shriibland Pet, The Dandy, the 
Gooseberrydeaf, and the Inidy Plyraouth Geraniums, 
strike better in it than in any other compost 1 ever 
tried, or have seen tried by others; wliile Tom Thumb, 
and all other Scarlets, with the greenhouse-like kinds, as 
! Diadematum and LjCtdy Mary Fox, strike better if loam 
! is put in the ])lace of peat, and only one-third sand 
' is used. This is also the best compost for. striking- 
bedding Calceolarias, and for raising all kinds of flower- 
seeds w'liich are larger than the seeds of Mignonette; 
but such small seeds as those of all kinds of Camjianulas, 
.Lobelias, Calceolarias, and Portulaccas, do better in the 
compost for the Golden Chain cuttings, 
j Thus, we see how very easy it is to make the very best 
I compost for seeds and for cuttings of all kinds of flower- 
garden plants. Only two kinds of compost for one 
thousand kinds of seeds and cuttings; but, better still, 
I every one of the number will do, if needs be, in either 
i of the mixtures; but, doubtless, the rooting turns out 
