214 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. June 23. 
fault at dinner; so whether it might happen to he Madeira, 
or pale sherry, or brown, or—” 
“ Why, just now you told me you had but two sorts of wine 
in your cellar; ” 
# “ Very true, sir; port and sherry. But this was my plan, 
sir. If any one ordered Madeira:—From one bottle of sherry 
take two glasses of wine, which replace by two glasses of 
brandy, and add thereto a slight squeze of lemon; and this 
I found to give general satisfaction, especially to the young 
gentlemen from Cambridge, sir. But, upon the word of an 
honestman, I could scarcely get a living profit by my Madeira, 
sir, for I always used the best brandy. As to the pale and 
brown sherry, sir—a couple of glasses of nice pui'e water, in 
place of the same quantity of wine, made what I used to call 
my delicate pale, (by the by, a squeeze of lemon added to that 
made ai very fair Bucellas, sir—a wine not much called for 
now, sir): and for my old brown sherry, a leetle burnt sugar 
was the thing. It looked very much like sherry that had 
been twice to the East Indies, sir; and, indeed, to my custo¬ 
mers who were very particular about their wines, I used to 
serve it as such.” 
“ But, Mr. Burley, wasn’t such a proceeding of a character 
rather—” 
“ I guess what you would say, sir; but I knew it to be a 
wholesome wine at bottom, sir. But my port was the wine 
which gave me the most trouble. Gentlemen seldom agree 
about port, sir. One gentleman would say, ‘ Burley, I don’t 
like this wine—it is too heavy !’ ‘Is it, sir ? I think I can 
find you a lighter.’ Out went a glass of wine, and in went a 
glass of water. ‘ Well, sir,’ I’d say, ‘ how do you approve of 
that!' ‘Why—um—no; I can’t say—’ ‘ I understand, sir, 
you like an older wine— softer. I think I can please, you, sir.’ 
Bump again, sir. ‘Now, sir,’ says I (wiping the decanter 
with a napkin, and triumphantly holding it up to the light), 
‘ try this, if you please.’ ‘ That’s it, Burley—that’s the very 
wine! bring another bottle of the same.’ But one can’t 
please everybody the same way, sir. Some gentlemen would 
complain of my port as being poor—without body. In went 
one glass of brandy. If that didn’t answer, ‘Ay, gentlemen,’ 
says I, ‘ I know what will please you—you like a fuller bodied, 
rougher wine. Out went two glasses of wine, and in went 
two or three glasses of brandy. This used to be a very 
favourite wine—but only with the young gentlemen from 
Cambridge, sir.” 
“ And your claret ? ” 
“My good wholesome port again, sir. Three wines out, 
three waters in, one pinch of tartaric acid, two ditto orris- 
powder. For a fuller claret, a little brandy; for a lighter 
claret, more water.” 
“ But how did you contrive about Burgundy ? ” 
“ That was my claret, sir, with from three to six drops of 
bergamot, according as gentlemen liked a full flavour or a 
delicate flavour. As for champagne, sir, that of course I made 
myself.” 
“ How do you mean ‘ of course,’ Burley ? ” 
“ Oh, sir,” said he, with an innocent, yet waggish look, 
“ surely everybody makes his own champagne — else what can 
j become of all the gooseberries 1" 
Ihe Potato Murrain was noticed less generally among 
forced crops this year than usual, but we hear that it 
has made its appearance extensively among the open 
ground growths in some districts of Cornwall. We 
shall he glad to receive information from any or from 
all our readers how the Potato crop is looking in their 
j neighbourhoods, for it is a crop even of more import¬ 
ance than the fruit-crop. In Hampshire, at present 
(June 10tli), Potatoes are looking well. 
We may as well remark, in connection with this 
subject, that a continental philosopher recommends, as 
a pievention ol the disease, that roasted Potatoes should 
i be planted. Without any joke, M. Bollman, a pro- 
I f cssor at the Russian College, at Gorigoretsky, states 
that he has dried, at a high temperature, 140°, or there¬ 
abouts, the sets intended for planting, and that the 
plants from such sets were undiseased, while those 
from undried sets were severely affected. This may, or 
may not, prove correct upon further trial; the high 
temperature and long drying may ripen the tubers; 
may produce chemical changes in the sets, that may 
enable the plants to produce tubers not prone to what 
may be compared to cancer in the human body—decom¬ 
position during life. All this may be, hut it is mere 
hypothesis; hut the asserted fact deserves to he exten¬ 
sively tested. We think this present season too far 
passed to allow of the experiments being conclusive, for 
even if the high drying failed in the alleged preservative 
effect, it might he justly observed that the tubers have j 
so generally sprouted now, as to weaken them, and 
render them unusually liable to the murrain. How¬ 
ever, those who have the opportunity might try the 
experiment. Many years ago, when the murrain had 
not been heard of, we knew a very good crop of Po- 
tatoes taken up in October from sets planted on the 
25 th of July. 
Fob the following list of plants that have endured the 
winter uninjured in Oxfordshire, we are indebted to 
“ Queen Mab,” but we pledge ourselves that the state¬ 
ments are facts in all human acceptation, and that they 
are not “ fictions of the fay-land ”:— 
“ Indigofera decora, border near a wall; Gazania rigens, in 
open border; Oxalis Jtoribunda, in open border; Zephy- 
ranthes Atamasco, in open border; Pittosporum Tobiri, against 
a wall; Physianthus albicans, against a wall; Edwardsia 
grandijiora, against a wall; Passijlora cecrulea, Escallonia 
macrantha, Benthamia fragifera, BuddJea Lindleyana, all on 
a wall, protected with fir boughs; Then Bohca, on a wall; 
Stranvesia glaucescens, in open ground; Ceanothus divari- 
catus, in open ground ; Calceolaria, common yellow, bedding 
kind (I think Anyustifolia), in a wide basket, on a stone 
pillar, on an open lawn; Lauras regalis, protected by a fir 
bough ; Grevillea rosmarinifolia, on a wall unprotected ; 
Azara integrifolia, in a border, protected by a fir bough ; 
Escallonia rubra, in open border; Eriobotrya japonica, pro¬ 
tected with fir boughs on a wall ; Veronica Lindleyana, in 
open border; Billardiera longijloru, on a wall. None were 
protected except those specified. Sollya lielerophylla was : 
killed, though on a wall protected.” 
At Messrs. J. Weeks and Co., King’s Road, Chelsea, the 
open-lieated Pond is now very gay with Stove Aquatics. 
Lymnocharis Humboldtii is very strong, with a profu¬ 
sion of lovely sulphur flowers. The Rock, also, sur¬ 
rounding the Pond, presents a very brilliant appearance 
with Alpine Plants in full flower. 
The Orchids from Mr. Warszewicz, sold at Mr. Stevens’s 
Auction Rooms, on the 14th instant, realised very good 
prices—the 83 lots fetching about A235. Lot 1 , Cypri- 
pedium caudatum roseitm, which flowered on the voyage 
to England, the flowers being of a rich purplish-crimson, 
sold for £7 10s.; the other specimens changed hands 
at prices varying from £2 to £(> 15s. The plants of 
Trichopilia suavis sold for from £2 2s. to AH; and Tri- ' 
