July 7. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
271 
3 T ears it cost me, before I cut a fruit, upwards of £30 for all 
things wanted. At that time, 5s. for a Cucumber was con¬ 
sidered little ; now, at the same season, Nj. to Is. fid. is all 
that can he got. Market-gardeners all grow Cucumbers 
and Melons; many of the very large ones, 500 lights, which 
are all grown on beds of dung, and generally planted-out 
in March : the dung is built up in splendid style by those 
accustomed to it, four feet at back, three in front, leaving 
about four feet between the beds, those intervals to be filled 
up with dung, as the heat of the beds decline, and then to 
remain all the summer. This immense mass of fermenting 
matter gives a good heat all the summer, as well as forms a 
pathway. The sort grown some years back was from six 
to eight inches long; hut now they are growing the Black 
Spine, which, in frames, they grow to about ten to eleven 
inches. This Black Spine of mine I have sent to market- 
gardeners in Essex, and for ridge-growing it has answered 
well. Since I have been a grower for my own profit, I never 
could see the use of a long Cucumber; they are, in my 
opinion, less profitable either for market or private purposes. 
“ In conclusion, since 1 have kept a brace of bantams in 
the Melon ground and sheds, I have not been so much 
annoyed by the wood-lice, as those birds are very eager 
after wood-lice, ns well as other insects. I think that even 
in a private garden those birds might be kept within their 
proper bounds, as wire-netting is so cheap. Wood-lice are 
the gardener’s greatest enemy; nothing seems to disagree 
with them—Melons, Strawberries, Cucumbers, Mushrooms 
—they are always eating and always breeding. Their im¬ 
mediate destruction can only be effected by boiling water, 
which cannot be put in practice amongst crops. Toads are 
most useful animals ; but as they so often die in hot pits, 
and, if not, creep away, they become expensive. T have 
offered the Norwood and Sydenham carters four shillings 
a-dozen this year, but they have not found one even up to 
April. A toad is of immense value to a gardener or farmer, 
and ought never to be destroyed.” 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
*** We request that no one will write to the departmental writers of 
The Cottage Gardener. It gives them unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. All communications should be addressed “ To the Editor of 
The Cottage Gardener, 2, Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, London .” 
Grape Vine Pruning. — A. B. asks, “ Is it a good practice, after cut¬ 
ting a bunch of Grapes, to cut back the shoot to about two or three 
eyes ? ” It. is a very good practice when the Vines are on the spurring 
plan, and the gardener knows the exact ripeness of the wood. We have 
occasionally followed the practice for twenty years, and almost every one 
follows it with the very late Grapes—that, is, those in use from November 
to March. The reason is, that as long as the sap is in motion it will 
accumulate and strengthen the lower buds for next season’s crop. 
Roses (J. B. IF.).—All the Roses you name, Geant des Bataillcs, 
Great Western, Persian Yellow, Prince Albert, Noisette Jaune d’Epris, 
Pourpre de Tyre, Due d’Orleans, Black Damask, Cabbage, White Bath 
Moss, and Coloured Moss Rose, will do very well budded on Felirite 
Perpetual, Rampant, or Princess Maria, except the Persian Yellow, 
Standard of Marengo is the best dark crimson you can add to your stock, 
after that La Reine, Duchess of Sutherland, Mrs. Elliot, Barron Prevost, 
Paul’s Queen Victoria, Pio Nono, Chenedole, Blairii No. 2. Boquet de 
' Flora, Pierre de St. Cyr, William Jesse, Madame Laffav, and Souvenir 
de la Malmaison. This last, and Queen Victoria, are all but white ; the 
rest are different shades of rose. Now and for the next five weeks is a 
good time to bud all these. Do not bud them on the strongest leaders, 
only on side-shoots, which you can cut back to the new buds. It is of 
j litde use budding on these strong growers unless the parts budded on 
I are thus cut in. 
Curious GALLoemK.— A Fancier, who sends us his address, says, 
| “ Some little time back a curious circumstance occurred, which resulted 
in the death of a fine young Spanish cock, belonging to Mr. Beesley, of 
this city (Oxford), which I think will illustrate Mr. Wingfield’s remark 
as to the “ mill-like power” of the stomachs of fowl. A piece of silk 
“twist” (such as tailor’s use), doubled, and about seven or eight inches 
I in lenglh, with one end tied in a large complicated knot, about the size 
of a horse bean, was swallowed by the bird. The knot passed into the 
; stomach, but the other end slipped its looped end over the barb of the 
tongue, and held it firmly. Mr. Beesley noticed the bird moping about 
in the evening, and gave it a small piece of sopped bread, put it in its 
mouth, which it ate, and he then put it to roost with the others, but 
found it dead on visiting his poultry in the morning. We had a post 
mortem examination, and then found that the tongue of the bird had 
been pulled completely down its throat, and regularly torn out by the 
root by the force of its digestive organs.” 
Amaryllis (IF. G.). —The bulb from Madeira is one of the numerous 
varieties of Hippeastrum Johnsonii an English seedling, but now in all 
temperate parts of the world. Being in flower now (28th June) shows 
that it was at rest last winter, that it began to grow very late this spring, 
or else the situation was very cool for it. Keep on watering it till the | 
end of September, unless the leaves turn yellow before then. Keep it 
dry and warm in the pot all the winter, and to the end of March, unless 
you have means to force it, in which case you may begin with it as early 
as January. When it begins to grow after a long rest is the right time 
to take off the side bulbs, but leavo three or four of these to make a large 
specimen. 
Hardy Rhododendrons ( C. J. M.). —The best varieties for your 
purpose were mentioned last week, but if your nurseryman cannot pro¬ 
vide them, tell him to send you the best dark purple, and the scarlet 
seedlings from R. Catawbiense. Be sure, however, to ask the prices 
before you purchase, as some of these sell rather high. We know 
nothing at present among hardy evergreens “ out of the common,” except 
Standish’s Skimia japonica and Veitch’s Philesia buxifalia, unless the 
Sikkim Rhododendrons should all turn out to be hardy. 
Pelargoniums.— M. I). P. asks—“ Is it Beck’s or Drury’s * Pearl * 
that The Cottage Gardener commends 1 ” We cannot say whether 
Pearl was raised by Drury, Beck, or whom. The Pearl we “ commend ” 
is the same as that we have mentioned all along for three or four years, 
and we know of no other. “ Is it No. 1 or No. 2 ‘ Mont Blanc ’ that is 
the winning flower ? ” We repeat the last answer to this question also, 
“ Is the ‘ Zaria’ described vol. viii., page 1Q3, and the ‘ Zaria’ of page 26 , 
vol. 10, the same, or is it so sportive '! ” Yes, certainly, and the descrip¬ 
tions are by a first-rate florist; but whether the “ ground colour ” is “ a 
pleasing huff white,” as first described, or ‘‘a warm pink ground colour,” 
as in the shorter description, we cannot say ; for, to tell the truth, Zaria 
is not yet printed in our memory, but we shall have it there very shortly, 
and you shall hear of it as a lady would describe it, and like to have it 
described. 
Hardier Orchids (Rer. J.N. IF.).—Some of the more hardy orchids 
may be grown in a glass case, in a warm greenhouse. You mention 
hops, or peat, as fermenting substances to give heat to the glass case. 
We fear neither would answer ; why not use spent tanners’ bark ? The 
confined atmosphere of such a glass case, so situated, would be too 
damp for Gloxinias, unless you have means of giving plenty of air. The 
following orchids would answer your purpose : —1, Bletia hyacinthiflora ; 
2, Cattleya Mossier ; 3, C. crispa ; 4, C. intermedia; 5, Epidendrum 
macroehylum; 6, Dendrobium nobile; 7, D. densiflorum; 8, Oncidium 
flexuosum, Peristeria elata, we fear, would be too large for your case. 
The flower-stem is three feet high, and the leaves are very large. Your 
queries about the Saffron plant of South America, and the Flowering 
Cane from the same country, we will answer as soon as we can ascertain 
what kinds of plants produce them. Could you furnish some information 
about them, and send a leaf of each ? 
Balsam Culture (A Constant Reader ).—By no means pinch off the 
tops of your Balsams, Grow them stout with numerous side-shoots, and 
they will form symmetrical plants. They will flower no sooner by 
pinching off the tops. Give them weak manure-water every alternate 
time of watering. 
List of Roses (T. IF. E .).—As the list is of no use to any one but 
yourself, we cannot spare room to answer it in full ; but if you will num¬ 
ber it, we shall put our classes to the numbers. We make only two 
classes of all the dwarf Summer Roses—Moss and no Moss ; of Autumn 
Roses, we make Chinas, Teas, Noisettes, Bourbons, and Hybrid Perpe- 
tuals. Galliea, Alba, Provence, Hybrid Provence, Hybrid China, Hybrid 
Bourbon, Damask, and the rest of such distinctions are an abomination 
that we cannot lend our aid in explaining more than is being attempted 
by Mr. Appleby. Indeed, there are only three classes among all Roses ; 
the first is Summer Roses, the second Climbers, and the third Autumnal 
Roses ; and the sections of those classes are by far too numerous, and 
only serve to puzzle the public. 
Cape Bulbs (H. IF.).—This is a bad time of the year to receive Cape 
bulbs. If the Tritonas, Ixias, Babianas, and Morea, are not in growth, 
keep them dry as they are till early in September, and then pot them 
five bulbs in a forty-eight sized pot, except Morea, and three of them 
will be enough in such a pot; the soil to be all peat, except one-sixth of 
sand; and the front of the coldest vinery in Guernsey is your best situa¬ 
tion for them. If, on the other hand, any of these have leaves or new 
roots, pot them, as above, at once, and keep them in a cold frame all the 
summer, with no more water than will just keep them going; all of them 
rest during our summers. The Gladiolus is not worth growing ; but you 
may like to keep it, and you may pot it at once ; also the Ornithogalum, 
not worth much, and the Watsonias, the three kinds, in one-half peat 
and the other half light sandy loam, but they will do in peat or loam. 
The Satyrium roseum is worth all the rest, but is a most difficult, plant 
to manage well; peat with a little sand is best for it, but do not pot it 
until you see signs of life. 
Names of Cross-bred Flowers. —Mr. A. Henderson, of the Wel¬ 
lington Road Nursery, has written to Mr. Beaton as follows:—“ I see, 
at page 218 in The Cottage Gardener, you must have mistaken the 
name of Geranium glaucum grandiflorum, as exhibited on the last 
Chiswick day. The intermedium being inclosed in brackets ( ), was 
intended to signify a synonymous name, caused by having been exhibited 
as a seedling under that name, and again, by mistake, re-named and 
exhibited under the name now ottered for such.” Mr. Beaton says, in 
reply:—“ I apologise for this mistake; and I am sorry that I should ever 
make a mistake or mistatement about such names. The plan of inserting 
synonyms within brackets, on a tally, was never practised before at an 
exhibition, as far as I can recollect, and I protest against it at once, as a 
very bad plan indeed. Whatever the intention may be, the practice is 
only calculated to mislead the public. Every plant that was shown that 
day had as much right to have its secondary names given as this seed- | 
ling; and if that were so, it would just take all our time to read them 
off, without looking at the plants at all. Nurserymen and florists, I am 
