March 27. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
199 
trimming their flower-borders. Respectable bourgeois, or 
rentiers, in their dog-carts and gigs, may be soon every day 
returning to there snugeries, a few miles out of town, or in 
the suburbs, with the long-desired addition to their 
horticultural riches, with which they are likely to astonish 
their neighbours and gratify their friends. Now. it is a 
bundle of Gooseberries, which have always a wicked nack of 
j always getting too close to the old gentleman ns he jogs 
along over the uneven roads. Now, it is a dozen of riders, 
I which it difficult enough to manage among a crowd of 
tradesmen’s vans, carts, railway waggons, and omnibuses, 
for their owner, quiet, easy man, having been so much 
occupied with other matters, and, perhaps, a little confused 
with the bustle and noise of Paris, has quite forgotten to 
have the branches tied in, or to place them at the back 
instead of in front. He must look well before him, or it is 
very likely some of them will be broken before he reaches 
home. There is a gentleman who has a neat villa with a 
small garden, about two miles beyond the barricre on the 
Vincennes road. He has brought his lady to havo a look at 
some of the new patterns, and he now resolves on taking 
home a decided bargain in Cherry-trees and miscellaneous 
plauts. His servant man behind, in charge of the precious 
consignment, is wedged in between Berberry bushes and 
Laurestines. Some Gooseberries are hung out behind; 
the box underneath is stuffed with young Cabbages, 
Polyanthuses, Primroses, and Daffodils. Right over head 
rises a dense mass of branches, about seven feet high, and 
which, were the atmosphere not very calm, would form a 
sore drag for the little horse in harness, if, indeed, it did not 
lift him altogether off its feet. Here is a poor woman who 
lives at the eighth stage. She makes trowsers, and can 
earn twenty sous a day, besides paying for the ironing-fire. 
Her husband is out all day, and she has but little society 
except her flowers, which she watches over with tenderness 
and unwearied assiduity. She is come out to buy a stock of 
fresh earth for her window-garden, and she is trying to 
elicit some information from the woman with whom she 
deals. She tells her how that charming Fuchsia which she 
bought of her last year is still alive, and that it is now 
beginning to break into leaf again; how magnijique petit 
Orangier has been rather sickly for some time, owing to too 
much confinement and want of light; but, now, with a little 
nursing and fine weather, she hopes soon to have it again 
convalescent. Her Hyacinths are flowering pas mat, and 
thinks she has discovered in her Rose-bush, yne superbe 
quatres saisons, some slight disposition to bud, a circumstance 
which makes her very happy. There is a little point on 
which she has been troubled with some misgivings, and she 
mentioned it in the tone of humble inquiry ;—that is, as to 
whether it may not be too soon to sow Scarlet Runners. 
Here, now, are two young ladies, in grand tener, just 
alighted from a carriage, and after whom all the flower girls 
within sight are straining their eyes, as eager to scrutinise 
their toilette as to obtain their custom. They aro evidently 
in search of bouquets. But it is chiefly in the shops of the 
Passages de l'Opera, or the Passages des Panoramas, or along 
the Boulvarts, that bouquets which belong to the distingue 
category are to be had. Those in the open markets are 
pretty enough, but they aro not at present made up of rich 
and varied materials such as are seen in the shops, where 
we find choice Camellias, Azaleas, Ericas, Roses, Hyacinths, 
Lilac, Cyclamens, Cinerarias, and Acacias, besides Van Thol 
Tulips, Crocuses, and Narcissuses. The common bouquets 
at present seen in the open market are chiefly made up of 
Crocuses, Neapolitan Violets, and Lilac intermediate with 
broad circles of moss, and Roses half-expanded, and remark¬ 
able for their rich vermilion colours. 
“Only thirty sous for that jolie bouquet Madamoiselle.” 
“ Combien, thirty sous?” The .young lady opened her purse, 
and is about to put down the money, just when her 
companion has taken it into her head to smell the Roses, 
and “Tiens! Clementine, they are not real, but only 
artificial;” and such is the fact, though the counterfeit 
would hardly be suspected.— P. F. Keir. 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
CARDENIhIC. 
SOIL FOR BRUNSVIGIA JOSEPHINE AND 
PELARGONIUMS. 
“ Will you oblige a constant subscriber by informing him 
what soil is best suitable for growing the Josephine Lily ? 1 
have four plants, which I have grown in pots this last five 
years, and got them to bloom only once, which was last 
year. Also, I wish to know the best soil for growing 
Pelargoniums, as I have a desire to exhibit them this 
summer.—W. S.” 
[The best soil for growing the Josephine Lily is strong, 
yellow, friable loam, without any mixture whatever; the 
drainage to bo perfect, the pots comparatively small, the 
loam to be put very firm in the pot, and round the bulbs, 
and not to repot or disturb the bulbs oftener than once in 
seven or ten years. The great art is in the management of 
the leaves from the middle or end of January till the 
middle or end of May. 
The very same kind of loam is best for prize Pelargoniums, 
say two-thirds of it, and one-tliird very rotten, old, dry dung, 
without worms, and to every peck of such mixture, add a 
little over a quart of best white sand; but the exact quan¬ 
tity of sand is a mere guess, as the sandy or no sandy 
character of the loam guides the quantity of sand for the 
mixture. If you are in earnest about “ exhibiting ” them 
this summer, recollect to make it a private exhibition, if you 
did not know the compost for them before now, and for this 
reason, that every Pelargonium intended to be exhibited for 
a prize this season has been in the proper soil long ago. 
You ought to have had all your wits about you as far back 
as last August for the mere potting, and twelvemonths longer 
to get turfy loam mellowed down.] 
EVERGREEN HEDGE—SOWING MISTLRTOE.— 
MUSHROOM-BED IN A SHED. 
“ I wish to plant against a paling, six feet high, some 
hedge that will ho evergreen, and that the cows will not in 
the winter nibble. I cannot have any protection by way of 
iron-fencing, or wood rails, to keep them off, therefore, what 
am I to do ? Ivy will not do, and Holly is too expensive, 
and too slow-growing. 
“ I have some Mistletoe seeds; may I put them in the bark 
of Pear and Apple trees ? 
“ I wish to make a Mushroom-bed in a spare shed. Will 
you direct me ? — Cynthia.” 
[There is not a plant, evergreen, or otherwise, which 
cows will not, either nibble at,, or toss about with their horns, 
or trample under foot, if unprotected, until it is too strong 
for them to destroy. Young Hollies would be no more 
safe than young Laurels ; but Holly is the only fit plant 
for your case—say plants not under three feet. The 
only other alternative, and a very poor one, is to smear the 
fence with some sort of cheap green paint. 
Now is a good time to insert Mistletoe-seeds in the bark of 
Apple, Pear, Thorn, and Poplar trees; on all of which it 
will take with equal facility. It “ takes ’’ best on three-year- 
old branches. Open a slit as for budding, but not quite as 
far into the wood; that is, let there, be a thin film of bark 
between the seeds and the wood. The natural way is for 
the birds to drop the seeds in cracks in the bark. 
After the dung is prepared, the Mushroom-bed may be 
made four feet wide against the wall of the shed, just in the 
shape of a Cucumber-bed, or sloping to the frame, but not 
quite so much as a hotbed; but in truth, the shape has 
nothing to do with it, nor the size, nor the thickness, nor 
the mould that is put over it. Tho whole art in getting 
good Mushrooms lies in the preparation of the dung, in 
ramming it into beds, and in the atmosphere in which the 
Mushrooms rise. Nine-tenths of cultivated Mushrooms are 
spoiled by the place, or tho air, being too dry for them.] 
MANGLE’S VARIEGATED AND OTHER 
PELARGONIUMS. 
“ Will you be so kind as to inform me what was the origin 
