April 14. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
of its being killed by frost in July; and, certainly, we 
have seen it much injured by a sudden fall of tbe ther¬ 
mometer in the early part of August, in tbe south of 
England; but, as we have observed, with the advan¬ 
tages of a warm border, and other things favourable, 
French Beans, and also Scarlet Runners, may be grown 
in tolerable abundance in most places. 
True to their tropical character, they do not like being 
planted in a cold, ungenial soil; it is better, therefore, 
not to plant them too early, unless means of shelter be 
provided. In a usual way, the middle of April produces a 
crop as soon as if sown earlier. To our young friends j 
we, therefore, advise a sowing to be made immediately 
on some sunny, warm border ; or if it be even a 
single line immediately under a wall, so much the 
better. The dwarf varieties ( French Beans) may be 
sown in rows about thirty inches apart, and the seed, if 
good, about three inches apart in the drill, which need 
not be deep, as it is better to raise the earth slightly 
over them, than bury them deep in a cold soil. After 
sowing, when the sun has warmed the earth very con¬ 
siderably, a deeper covering may be necessary. 
Like every thing else in gardening, there is no lack 
of varieties; yet there are, perhaps, fewer higher sound¬ 
ing names amongst these than in Peas. We do not 
know of any Goliahs, Champions, and similar bom¬ 
bastic titles; but the simple term of Dun colourecl, 
Speckled, Liver-coloured, &c., are certainly more expres¬ 
sive of the plant’s peculiarities than the Rival, Invinci¬ 
ble, Incomparable, Surprise, &c., and of other aspirants 
to vegetable distinction, so that we do not find any fault 
with the meagreness of names in that way ; on the con¬ 
trary, I wish that such names as Canterbury White, 
and Black Speckled French Beans, were more common 
amongst other vegetables, and the puffing amount of 
new varieties ushered into the world with less parade. 
I fully concur in the opinion of those who think that 
much harm is done to the cause of “ Flora ” by the 
fantastic (if not valgar) terms that are made use of to 
describe varieties; however, as this is a subject apart 
from the one I set out upon, I will observe, that the 
varieties named are all tolerably good, and any one of 
them may be now sown as described. 
A row or tw r o of Scarlet Runners may also be put in ; 
these, however, ought to be six feet or more apart, and if 
they be planted now, then, in about a week, put in a 
quantity of seeds into a pan, or box, which place in heat, 
and after they are up harden them off, in order to fill up 
any gaps that the first crop of these are subject to; in 
fact, it not unfrequently happens that the first sowing 
perishes altogether, so that it is advisable to sow a second 
crop about a week or ten days after tbe first one, and 
those reared under glass may be planted out at tbe same 
time, when all danger from frost is over—say the first 
week in May. It is almost needless to say that a piece 
of very rich ground suits them best; but for the first 
crop it had better be dry than moist; for after-crops, or 
such as have to struggle against a Midsummer sun, in 
vegetating, a moister soil will be beneficial. If there be 
a danger of cold nights injuring the fruit crop, which it 
is sure to do if it happens, they will require some cover¬ 
ing in some shape ; it is astonishing what benefit a very 
homely covering makes, so that the amateur must not 
be backward in applying any substance that comes in 
his way. A few evergreen boughs are not bad protec¬ 
tors ; while, to those who do not scruple at expense, a 
sort of a portable ridge, formed of very light timbers, 
and covered with oiled calico, is, perhaps, the neatest of 
all protectors, and may be used for Potatoes and other 
crops in rows, as well as for this; but when so many 
other things crave the attention of the cultivator, a 
homely substitute is often made to serve the same pur¬ 
pose ; at all events, we advise them to bo carefully 
looked to until the middle of May, in the south of Eng¬ 
land, and to the end of it in the north. After which, 
there is reason to hope that the cold nights are over lor 
the season; although, now and then,we are visited with 
an occasional “remembrancer” later than the above 
periods; these are exceptions to the general rule; yet 
it behoves the cultivator to be at all times prepared 
for them. J- Robson. 
THE BEARDS OF POLANDS. 
As the subject of the Rev. Mr. Browne’s contribution to 
your journal is really, why Polands are called Polands, I 
am quite puzzled to conceive for what courteous purpose he 
drags forward my name. I have never written one word on 
the subject he has espoused, and care not a fiddlestick’s- 
end why Polands are called Polands, or why Chittiprats, 
Chittiprats, &c.; they are so called, and I adopt the com¬ 
mon accepted term; but, if others choose to erect temples 
of ignorance, I really must protest against my being thus 
hauled in as a votary. 
I can, happily, well afford to exercise forbearance on any¬ 
thing that he can say, and shall so forbear, although I am 
denounced as having “ ten times less experience, and laity 
times less knowledge,” than even his friend, the Rev. Mr. 
Dixon, whose errors I have refuted, and to rescue whom the 
Rev. Mr. Browne has rushed into print I can not, how¬ 
ever, restrain a charitable smile, though, like Gulliver, 
pricked with Lilliputian arrows. 
The Rev. Mr. Browne is wise in his generation ; hence he 
cautiously avoids the real subject matter of my letter, and 
has not even attempted to reply (answer he could not) to 
the host of arguments and proof, examples and experiments, 
which I have set forth, in establishing the fact, that the 
bearded are the true and genuine, and that the beardless 
are spurious, or hybrid fowls. Not only is this proved 
satisfactorily to my own mind, but, what is much more 
gratifying, to the minds of your readers also, as I learn 
from the number of letters recently received from so many 
of them. 
Truth, and not contention, is my aim, and I shall ever be 
ready to read with attention the remarks of others, if ex¬ 
pressed with a due regard to courtesy. Let my arguments, 
and the facts upon which they are founded, be taken sever¬ 
ally, as they arise, and let what is written be written on the 
subject in question. I confess, I could wish the writer to be 
a gentleman who knows something of liis own on the sub¬ 
ject, that bespatterings from books may, in future, be 
avoided—one who has not only kept Polands in all their 
varieties, but who is a fancier of them, and who has been 
careful to observe, and to compare, and to reflect upon wdiat 
he has observed. With such men, conclusions, and amicable 
ones too, are easily arrived at. But with those who persist 
in parading their own taste and dislike against arguments 
and facts, and especially when such taste is so outrageous 
as to recommend that even the top-knots of Polands “ should 
be clipped round,” I confess I have no sympathy; and I 
should be considered puerile by the readers of this Journal, 
were I now seriously to notice the opinions of such. I he 
Rev. Mr. Brown’s sweeping condemnation, also, of the whole 
j race of Polands, I beg to intercede may be received by the 
lovers of these beautiful fowls with forbearance. 
I refrain from observation or reply both to the matter and 
spirit of what your correspondent has advanced on his own 
subject of names. J- R* Horner. 
i p.S.—I beg for the insertion of some remarks contained 
in a letter lately received from the Rev. Mr. Lverard; not 
only will the weight of his authority be duly appreciated, but 
the idea embodied in the last sentence will be interesting. 
He writes—“ As a brother fancier and breeder of spangled 
Polands for tbe last twenty-five years, I beg to write you, by 
way of remark, on a sensible paper of yours in The Cottage 
Gardener, respecting the propriety of beards in that beautiful 
breed of fowls. There can be no question as to the indis¬ 
pensable character of that appendage to the throat of the 
Spangled Poland; I consider it, in fact, as one of the 
essential characteristics of that variety; and should hardly 
consider a well-turbaned, full-robed Turk, but beardless 
withal, a more damaged object (if such an object ever 
