392 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. February 20. 
of Kent, which I consider the best-looking Apple we 
have. Mr. Bloore, another new name, gardener to the 
Rev. J. J. Hornby, somewhere in Lancashire, sent 
beautiful samples of Gloat Morceau, Winter Crassane, 
and Beurre Ranee, which were highly commended, as 
they deserved. 
Apples. —They were not so plentiful, there being but 
two collections ; but my own favourite Apple, the Court 
Pendu Plat, was in each of them. 1 have said already, 
that when I lived in Herefordshire we considered this 
the best Apple in the county, either for cooking or the 
dessert. It was a rival to their Golden Pippin, and that 
Golden Pippin was very different from what they call 
the Golden Pippin about Loudon. Mr. McEwen, of 
Arundel, had the first prize for Apples, and Mr. Snow 
the second. The former sent Court Pendu Plat, Blen¬ 
heim Pippin, alias Woodstock Pippin, and Blenheim 
Orange, a very stroug-growing tree, which bears well 
after it has done growing, but a shy Apple on a young 
tree ; Ribstone Pippin, Golden Noble, a middle-sized, 
clear yellow Apple, from Norfolk, not often seen, but a 
handsome fruit at table, and better still in the hands of 
the cook, and Young’s Golden Pippin, which I never 
tasted, or even saw or heard of, as far as I can recollect. 
Mr. Snow had Court Pendu Plat, Golden Noble, Blen¬ 
heim Pippin, Golden Harvey, which is the Brandy Appjle, 
that makes the cider so strong in Herefordshire; it 
is also a fit companion to the Court Pendu Plat at 
table; Cockle Pippin, anothor excellent table Apple, if 
the smallest aud the largest of it are first laid aside; 
very lavge Apples look vulgar at table ; and very small 
ones as if you had nothing better to offer. This Cockle 
Pippin holds on to May in a good fruit-room, and 
King of the Pippins, that is, the Apple which now goes 
by that title, and a most excellent Apple it is, but is 
not the true old one of that name. Mr. Kirk, the fruit- 
nurseryman, imposed on the Horticultural Society by 
this name, which they gave it in the Pomoloyical 
Magazine, and sent out grafts of it by that name ; but 
Forsyth, Lindley, and Rogers, in England, and Downing, 
in America, have all called it, one after the other, 
Golden Winter Pearmain, and it is exactly of the true 
Pearmain shape, but all such things f must hand over 
to the Bornological Society. I am no authority for 
apple-dumplings, although I knew a good deal about 
Apples before I went into Herefordshire, where I was 
so completely fixed by hundreds of kinds, which are 
hardly known on this side of the Malvern Hills, that I 
fairly thought I should never open my mouth again 
about Apples, unless they were well cooked ; nor should 
I now, to any extent, were it not for the credit of The 
Cottage Gardener, and to spur on the Pomological to 
beat me if they have a mind. 
Forced Vegetables. —Two years back, the Society 
offered to give prizes for collections of Vegetables and 
Salads, which were competed for very keenly by a few 
growers only, but now they confine the prizes to col¬ 
lections of six superior kinds; and in the winter, chiefly 
to collections of six kinds of forced vegetables. Her 
Majesty has been long noted for the good thiugs from 
the garden, and Mr. Ingram took off the best prize at 
the first start. His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, through 
Mr. McEwen, pulled up tight to the Sovereign, and the 
Duchess of Sutherland, by the hands of Mr. Fleming, 
showed us “a bit of her mind;” that is to say, if fivo 
more dishes had been sent, with that of the Sea-kale from 
Trentham. We must all go back to the kitchen-garden 
again, and let alone flowers till we have learned afresh 
how to do the thing according to the times, but as luck 
would have it, we are spared the time and trouble. Mr. 
Ingram’s Asparagus was the best ever seen in London; 
Love Apples, or Tomatoes, as full, fresh, and shining as 
they were last October; Mushrooms, all bonnets and 
buttons, and no seeing into the gills below; Kidney 
Beans, or, as countrified people say, French Beans, as 
long, and sleek, and thin in the sides as in July or 
August; Sea-kale good enough for a queen, but not 
near so good as from Trentham. Mr. McEwen sent 
Early Potatoes, Ash-leaf; Asparagus, which would be 
considered first-rate, were it not for the Windsor ones; 
Kidney Beans, in two bundles, good, but would look 
better if they were laid out their full length in a flat 
basket — a good deal depends on how you show off a 
thing —Mushrooms and Rhubarb; he also sent two 
Cucumbers of the Sion House kind, which is the very 
same as what was called Kenyon's Free Bearing, in 
Liverpool, when I was there in 1832. Mr. Forest took 
it from Eaton Hall to Sion House, aud that is why it 
was so named. We had, also, Lettuces, Endive, and 
Mustard aud Cress, from Arundel. 
Odds and Ends. —The first in this class was a root, 
as much like a long, middle-sized Parsnip as two sisters; 
but, curious enough, the thick end is at the bottom. 
This is the new Yam Potato, Dioscorea Batatas, which, 
from this peculiarity of forming a thick-ended root, must 
be planted in newly-trenched ground, or on ground 
thrown up in deep ridges, according to French reports. 
But how clo those roots lengthen so much in the wilder¬ 
ness? it may be asked; and all that I can answer is 
this: if this wild root will improve by good and suitable 
cultivation, like other wild roots, such as the Wild 
Carrot, Parsnip, and Beet, it will be of immense value, 
and cook easier and taste better than either of them. 
Long, dry shoots of the Chinese Sugar-cane, IIolcus 
saceharatus, from Mr. John Henderson, Kingskerswell, 
Devonshire; and a top of it in seed, like Millet seeds, 
from her Majesty’s garden; also fibre from the stems, 
from Mr. Henderson, the value of which, for making 
paper, has been ascertained by the Society to be about 
T10 per ton. It is from the north of China, and will 
be quite hardy in this country, and the best of the race 
for such colonies aud settlements as those of the Cape, 
Natal, and Australia, for making their own sugar. 
A model of a moveable stage for plants, from Mr. 
Smith, of Hummanby Hall, near Scarborough; a handy 
contrivance, which would require drawings to explain it. 
A new kind of cast-iron boiler for hothouses, which 
appeared to me to bo one of the best I had seen. It was 
invented by Mr. Munro, gardener to Mrs. Addie. The 
bottom is of the “ saddle” form, to catch the flame, and 
the body is a square box-shape, and this box is traversed 
from back to front by 4-inch pipes—I think, six lengths. 
When the boiler is full of water there will be a few 
inches above these pipes, and as much below them; 
then a square top, or lid of iron, is screwed on, the flame 
passes from the back end of the saddle below into these 
4-inch pipes, and from them into the flue. The power 
thus is immense, and the thing seems easy to work, to 
clean out, and to answer in all respects, and should not 
be very dear; but without actual trial for a few months, 
one cannot say how far this boiler may be better than 
others. 
Also some seedling Apples and Potatoes, and other 
things. There was one dish of forced Strawberries, from 
Mr. Brown, gardener at Waltham Abbey, Essex; very 
nice and well-coloured fruit of Cuthill's Black Prince, 
the easiest of all Strawberries to force; few other straw¬ 
berries could be had thus early. There were four speci¬ 
mens or plants of Brussels Sprouts, all but the roots, 
from Mr. McEwen, to show how long and prolific he 
grows them at Arundel; every sprout, from top to 
bottom, was ready for the pot. 
There were four or five large drawings hung up in the 
room; a full portrait of the great Wellingtonia gigantea, a 
cross section of the trunk, and a vertical section showing 
the size at different heights; also full portraits of an 
English Oak and Scotch Fir, to show the relative sizes of 
the three; the Oak looked just like a great Gooseberry 
