192 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 5. \ 
| veniencies involved in the practice began to appear, and a 
■ host of enemies were raised up against it. Theologists 
| pronounced it an invention of Satan which destroyed the 
I efficacy of fasting, a point much .disputed in the sixteenth 
i and seventeenth centuries. Councils forbade it to all 
ecclesiastics under their control. Popes Urban VIII. and 
Innocent XL punished the use of it with excommunication ; 
Sultan Arnurat IV. with the most cruel kinds of death; 
Schah Abbas II. with penalties almost as severe; Michael 
Feodorovitch Tourieff ordered a bastonade for the first 
offence, cutting off the nose for the second, and the head 
for the third offence: Prussia and Denmark simply pro¬ 
hibited, and James, of England, wrote against it. Finding, 
however, that no penalties, however severe, could check 
] the indulgence in a luxury so highly appreciated, and 
j sovereigns and their governments soon found it much 
i more advantageous to turn it into a source of revenue, and 
the cultivation and manufacture of tobacco was gradually 
subjected almost everywhere to fiscal regulations, restric¬ 
tions, or monopolies, which still prevail under various 
I forms over the greater part of Europe. In Tuscany its 
I growth was prohibited, except in a few localities where it 
| was allowed under certain restrictions from 1645 till 1789, 
when the enlightened Grand Duke Peter Leopold declared 
free the cultivation of tobacco over the whole territory. But 
| the country did not long enjoy this privilege ; the intrigues 
of private speculators prevailed on Ferdinand III. to restrict 
it to the same localities only which had previously possessed 
it. The number of these was further reduced in 1826, and 
the permission totally withdrawn in 1830, and tobacco is now 
only grown here and there by stealth. 
Tobacco was in such general use in America when first 
discovered, and is there so widely spread, that it is difficult 
to come to any conclusion as to what precise part of that 
vast continent is its native country; probably some portion 
of the Mexican empire. As to the precise dates of its 
introduction into Europe, it has been already stated that it 
followed closely upon the discovery of America. The 
Spaniards under Columbus had scarcely landed in Cuba, in 
1492, when they began to smoke cigars ; but they could only 
fully appreciate its luxuries when, in 1518, Fernando Cortez 
occupied the island of Tobago, where the plant was found 
growing in great abundance. Hernandez, the naturalist, 
was, it is believed, the first who brought it into Spain from 
Mexico, in 1539. It was introduced into Portugal from 
Florida by one Flamingo, and into France by Father Andre 
Thevet, or by some friend of his, although the more 
common opinion is that the first seeds received there were 
those sent about the year 1560, to Queen Catharine of 
Medicis, by Jean Nicot, French ambassador in Portugal. It 
was probably raised also in England a few years later, but 
| received no notice till its well known introduction by Sir 
Francis Drake from Virginia in 1586. In Tuscany, it was 
first cultivated under Cosmo dei Medici, who died in 1574, 
having been originally raised by Bishop Alfonso Tornabuoni. 
from seeds received from his nephew Monsignor Nicolo 
Tornabuoni, then ambassador at Paris, a great amateur of 
plants. After him it long bore the name of Erba 
Tornabuoni. 
(.To be continued.) 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Aquatic Plants (C.). —If you write to Mr. Appleby, and enclose it 
to us, it is likely he will procure you what you want. The Rhipsalis in 
your Wardian case may prow freely, as you say, but it will not flower. 
Like all other succulent plants, it requires a dry atmosphere, and full ex¬ 
posure to the sun to ripen the wood in order to produce flowers. Could 
you not take it out of the case, and place it in a window facing the south, 
giving it a very scanty supply of water ? It would then form flower-buds 
and bloom. Afterwards it might be replaced in the case. 
Lycopodium? and Oncidium papilio (G.). —There is no plant 
named Lycopodium alcicorne viridis. We should be glad of a portion 
of the plant you have under that name. We suspect it is Platycerium 
alcicorne , or Elk-horn Fern. A small piece of it, sent by post, will settle 
the query. Your Oncidium papilio shows buds, but they will not open 
in your temperature of 60 ° to 70°. You ask, “Should you allow it to 
rest; and what does rest mean ? ” All orchids should have a rest, and 
that.means a cessation of growth. To induce this, especially in this 
Oncidium , or Butterfly plant, very little water should be given at this 
season and all through the winter, and the temperature should be low¬ 
ered also. 60 ° Fahrenheit should be the maximum, and 55° the mini¬ 
mum. Observe the state of the leaves. If they become soft and flaccid, 
then give a moderate supply of water, just enough to keep them plump. 
Once a month will do that; but as your house is heated by a flue the air 
will be dry, and that is bad for all air plants. Place a few- shallow vessels 
full of water on the flue, to correct the dry atmosphere, but take care 
that no visible steam arises from the water. At this season actual steam 
is injurious. The flower-buds now on the top of the flower-stem will 
remain dormant through winter, and will, probably, open in March or 
April. 
Rhodolia Ciiampioni (A Country Gardener).— Mr. Appleby will 
write on this plant shortly. 
Turkeys at the Cambridge Show {Taunton). —The weights pub¬ 
lished at page 144 are of the pen of three. The largest single Turkey we 
ever heard of was a full-grown cock of 32 lbs. 
VuLTURE-nocicED Siianghaes (Argus).—' They are of no particular 
strain, but occur more or less frequently in all yards of this kind of 
fowl. We do not think the Vulture-hock gives a bird any title to supe¬ 
riority over one not having his hocks so feathered. We do not know 
any thing about the bird you mention, but we know where one as good 
is to be had for thirty shillings. 
Couve Tronchuda (P .)—The leaves and stalks are the parts used. 
The stalks arc peeled and cooked like Sea-kale. It may be sown in 
August, be preserved in frames through the winter like the Cauliflower, 
and, like it, be planted out late in the spring; or the seed may be sown 
early in the spring on a gentle hotbed, and be planted out as soon as the 
seedlings are large enough. They require a rich soil, but no other 
cultivation than is given to the Cabbage-tribe generally. 
Law of Greenhouses (A Constant Subscriber, Oxford). —In a 
sheltered situation, a span-roofed Greenhouse, framed together to stand 
on the ground without being attached to it, “like a magnified hand- 
light,” might be safe from high winds, but even if the posts of such a 
greenhouse fitted into sockets let into the ground, we do not think that 
such socket fastenings would attach it to the Freehold, either at a 
Rectory, or elsewhere, so that the tenant must not remove it without 
permission. A brick flue, sunk in the ground, to heat such a greenhouse, 
unless the greenhouse were attached to it, or to the chimney, would not 
alter, we think, the tenant’s right to remove it. These, however, are no 
more than opinions, and we must not be expected to advise upon law 
points. There is no objection to a wooden floor for a greenhouse; if 
care be taken that it does not come too near to the flue. 
Gas Heating a Greenhouse ( J . H. S .). — If the pipe containing 
the hot air, after passing through your greenhouse, descends again into 
the cellar, and communicates with the gas-stove by entering it under 
the burner, we think a rapid circulation would be kept up. 
Economical Manure (S. IV .).—We know nothing of this nostrum. 
Be assured that it is no better than you could make yourself from your 
own water-closets, mixed with water and applied in a weak liquid form. 
This home manufacture is not appreciated as it will be ere long, and as 
it is appreciated by the Chinese. 
Various ( B . H. S.). —If you wish the heap of Leaves to decay, turn 
it over frequently—putting the dry outside each time into the middle. 
Your Cabbages need no protection. Trim in your Ivy close next April, 
and then shorten the breast shoots as often as they project further than 
you wish. 
Breaking up Turf—Removing Trees by a Tenant (Chesham). 
—“ A tenant, with a four year’s unexpired lease from last Michaelmas, 
applies to his landlord for permission, this autumn, to breakup the sward 
of an orchard, to plant Gooseberry and Currant-trees, at his own expense; 
and asserts, should his landlord and himself not be able at the end of the 
lease to come to terms, for his continuing the farm by lease, or other¬ 
wise, that he, the tenant, has the power to cut up, as weeds, the plan¬ 
tation of Currant and Gooseberry trees, should his landlord refuse to 
take them at a valuation. Has the tenant this power?” The tenant 
has no such power. He cannot break up the sward to plant the trees 
without your leave ; and having planted them, unless he be a nursery¬ 
man, he would be liable as a trespasser if he removed them even, and 
much more if he destroyed them. 
Mangold Wurzel Seed (A Subscriber from the Beginning ).— 
Select the finest bulbs ; without cutting either their roots or tops, plant 
them to the same depth as they were growing, in rows, and three feet 
apart each way. The soil should be rich, but not recently manured. 
Plant them early in February. 
Name of Plant (M. R. \V.).— Yours is Clematis azurea grandiflora. 
It is quite hardy, and the best of the whole genus. It will succeed either 
on a trellis or wall. 
Names of Fruit ( A . B., Chislehurst). —No. 1. Beurre Diel. 2. 
Easter Beurre. 3. Not known ; worthless; evidently a wilding. 4. Not 
known. You had better have both 3 and 4 regrafted with something 
better worth growing, such as Wyken Pippin, Court of Wick, Cockle 
Pippin, or Claygate Pearmain. No. 5 is Alfriston. 
London : Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by William 
Somerville. Orr, of Church Hill, Walthamstow, in the County of 
Essex, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of Christ¬ 
church, City of London.—December 5, 1854. 
Sttfbcrtisniunts. 
On the 21 st of December will be Published , Price Qd., 
ThePOULTHY-KEEPER’S POCKET AIMAKACK 
AND 
SHarji of prefer rtttng£ tn tfje ^0ultr£i'i>artr. 
By the EDITORS of “THE POULTRY BOOK.” 
Besides tlie usual contents of an ALMANACK, 
it will comprise a RULED DIARY, with the requisite directions for 
recording the transactions of the Poultry-Yard. Also directions for the 
Management of Poultry ; Drawings of Spangled, Pencilled, and Laced 
Feathers ; with much other useful information. 
Published by W. S. ORR & CO., Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, 
London; and to be had of all Booksellers. 
