444 
THE COTTAGE GABDENER. 
March 18. 
I 
1 
Panama Hats. —A great many persons wear these hats I 
without knowing anything about their history; but it 
is very interesting and usetul. Hie following particulars 
are extracted from Seeman’s Botany of the Voyage of the 
Herald :—“The fabric is made from the leaves of Car- | 
ludovica gndmata, a pandauaceous plant. The Jipaj'ipa 
or Panama hats are principally manufactured in Yeraguas 
and Western Panama, not all, however, known in com 
merce by that name are plaited in the Isthmus; by far 
the greater portion is made in Manta, Monte Christi, 
and other parts of Ecuador. The hats are worn almost 
in the whole American Continent, and the West Indies, 
and would probably be equally used in Europe, did not 
their high price, amounting often to 150 dollars for a 
single one, prevent their importation. They are dis- | 
tinguished from all others by consisting of only a single 
piece, and by their lightness and flexibility; they may 
be rolled up and put into the pocket without injury, j 
In the rainy season they are apt to get black ; but, by | 
washing them with soap and water, besmearing them j 
with lime-juice, or any other acid, and exposing them j 
to the sun, their whiteness is easily restored. So little | 
is known about these hats, that it may not be deemed j 
out of place to insert here a notice of their manufacture. ! 
The sti’aw [Paja) previous to plaiting has to go through 
several processes. The leaves ai’e gathered before they ! 
unfold; all their ribs and coarser veins are removed ; , 
and the rest, without being separated from the base of j 
the leaf, is reduced to shreds. After having been put I 
in the sun for a day, and tied into a knot, the straw is 
immersed in boiling water until it becomes white. It is 
then hung up in a shady place, and subsequently 
bleached for two or three days. The straw is now 
ready for use, and in this state is sent to different places, 
especially to Peru, where the Indians manufacture from 
it, besides hats, those beautiful cigar-cases, which fetch 
sometimes more than Th a-piece. The plaiting of the 
hats is done on a block, which is placed upon the knees; 
it commences at the crown, and finishes at the brim. 
According to the quality of the hats, more or less lime 
is occupied in their completion. The coarser ones may | 
be finished in two or three days, the finest takes as many : 
months. The best time for plaiting ar-e the morning 
hours, and the rainy season when the air is moist; in 
the middle of the day, and in dry, clear weather, the j 
straw is apt to break, which, when the hats are finished, 
is betrayed by knots, and much diminishes their value.” 
THE CUCUMBER DISEASE. 
As many complaints have been made of late re- ! 
specting the disease in Cucumbers, and, in some cases, i 
the disorder has assumed a virulent aspect, I will here j 
repeat what I have before done to the readers of Thk | 
Cottage Gardener respecting this singular disease, 
although, at the same time, I am not in possession of i 
any known remedy for it. Nevertheless, as the issue of i 
certain experiments may be useful to those suffering 
from it, I make no apology for here giving the results 
of my experience in the matter. 1 
In the early part of the spring of 1850, some hot- ; 
house Cucumbers became diseased in the way so often i 
described. Globules of a transparent fluid exuded from ' 
various places on the fruit, rendering it very disgusting 
to look upon; and, as the season advanced, the very 
small fruits only just forming became affected by it tbe 
same as larger ones, so that the j)lants became com¬ 
pletely useless, and were done away with, while exhibit¬ 
ing tokens of good health, as far as the foliage and vine 
were concerned. This was early in the spring, so I de¬ 
termined to try what means could be adopted with 
others afterwards, thinking that the disease originated 
in the plants being in too rich a soil, or in one not 
suited to their wants; and having suffered to a partial 
extent the preceding year, I was determined to try 
various experiments with them. 
Accordingly, when the proper time arrived for planting 
out the ridge Cucumber plants, I bad composts of 
several kinds prepared for them, from a dry sand 
to unctuous clay, as well as peat, and every conceivable 
mixture of ingredients in which plants are grown, as 
soot, lime, mortar rubbish, burnt earth, and other 
things, and sundry mixtures of the above, supply¬ 
ing them with water of different kinds afterwards. 
But all this labour was in vain, for after the plants got 
fairly into bearing they all became diseased as above; 
the disease, perhaps, being less severe in those of spare 
habits than in the gross ones, but in character it was 
equally the same, and possibly only differed in degree, 
as the subject was more or less able to support such a 
wasteful expenditure. This was alike the case with the 
frame plants and those out-doors; and ^Yhen the plants 
no longer produced fruit in sufficient abundance, to serve 
as outlets to this misapplication of their resources, the 
vine and leaves became affected to a certain extent; the 
tumours appearing at the joints of the vines, and an un¬ 
healthy growth and speedy death was the result. But 
few fruit fit for the table were cut that year. 
The only conclusion I could come to was, that the 
disease was of a contagious or infectious character, and 
not the result of anything which the plant imbibed 
from the soil or atmosphere, as the soil was changed in 
so many different ways as to leave no reason for 
assuming it to arise from that source. But, as 1 say, 
the whole of the plants either became victims to it, 
or were destroyed when they were no longer useful, 
so that soon after Midsummer they were all eradi¬ 
cated and gone, and the next season I took the pre¬ 
caution to have all the frames they were grown in well 
washed out, and fresh maiden loam of one or two kinds 
was used to grow them in. The plauts grew away as 
vigorously as they usually do when in health, and I 
have not seen any symptoms of disease since. This 
cure, it is needless to say, was not due to any thing 
that I did ; but it simply proved the fact, that the origin 
of the disease lay in something else than the soil the 
plants grew in, or the treatment they were subjected to, 
as they were, in some respects, the same in both seasons ; 
but it left strong reasons for supposing the disease to 
have its origin in some “ atmospheric cause,” and were 
of such a nature as to become contaminating:—hence 
the inefficiency of the means tried to counteract it. 
I need only add to those who have suffered from it, 
try the effects of a thorough good whitewashing of your 
frames, after washing them well with water. Painting 
may, perhaps, be better still; and procure some fresh 
earth to grow the plants in, taking care not to introduce 
any thing into the frame that has been in contact with 
diseased plants, and, with the ordinary cure which 
usually ensures success, there is little doubt but the 
plants will produce healthy fruit again, as of yore :— 
the disease, which has had only a local existence, will 
be extirpated, and this favourite fruit become again an 
article of easy culture, and reward the cultivator with 
its produce. J. Robson. 
DEAD TIMBER FENCES. 
Under this head may be classed all descriptions of 
fence formed of timber in any shape or manner, and 
very often of that nondescript kind which only looks 
well in a drawing or print. It is only right that the 
cottager, and others not well versed in such affairs, 
ought to know tlie qualities of the different kinds of 
timber of which such fences are usually made, and the 
merits or demerits of each, for the purposes required. 
