298 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 21. 
The wet weather during the beginning of the month 
has been very unfavourable to the Potatoes in the 
southern districts. The murrain symptom has made its 
appearance upon the leaves in many districts of Hamp¬ 
shire, and the following is an extract irom a letter 
received from the neighbourhood of Penzance, in Gorn- 
wall;—“The disease is spreading rapidly among the 
Potatoes. At Helston (mentioned by us as yet safe 
a fortnight since), they are still healthy; but here 
(Gulvall, we are a month or six weeks in advance of 
them, which accounts for the difference. From Gulval 
the earliest Potatoes and earliest Brocoli reach Covent 
Garden Market.” 
A correspondent writing from Ashburton, duly 10th, 
sa y S Potatoes here are looking remarkably well, 
and not the least sign of the murrain at present; but 
we have had very strong winds on the 28th, 29th, and 
30th of June, so that in very exposed places the stalks 
were broken off just as if they were cut off. The allot¬ 
ment Potatoes here are looking splendidly. They have 
taken some of them up, and they are very fine, and 
selling at lbd. per pound. We have an abundance of 
Gooseberries, three quarts for 5d. ; and Currants are 
very plentiful. Some of the early Apples are rather 
scarce, but the orchard Apples are very abundant. 
Pears are very fine; the Cholwell Pear, especially, is 
numerous. It is the sort that the late Dr. Soper sent 
to the London Horticultural Society. I think that it is 
a sort very little known, but if any one would like a bud 
or graft I will send it to them from the same tree as 
that of the Horticultural Society. Of most other fruits 
there are a very fair crop. 
“ Our allotments contain forty land yards each—six¬ 
teen of them are at a rent of £1 5s. Gd. each, free from 
rates or taxes. 
“ Of Bees we have had very few swarms. The earliest 
about here was on or about the 15th of May. That 
swarm has swarmed again, and they are expecting that 
swarm to swarm again. We had a swarm on the 7th of 
July; and I think that, in general, they have not 
swarmed yet, the weather has been so very unfavourable 
for them.” 
The Cholwell Pear mentioned by our correspondent is 
thus described in 1845, by Mr. R. Thompson, one of 
i our best authorities, in the Horticultural Society's 
Journal. 
“ The fruit is about three inches in length, and one and 
nine-tenths in diameter, at the widest part of the section, 
which is about two-thirds of its length from the stalk. The 
form is curved pyramidal. Eye small, hut open. Stalk 
I from half to three-quarters of an inch in length, slender and 
obliquely attached. Skin smooth, thin, yellowish green on 
the shaded side ; faintly tinged and obscurely streaked with 
dull red next the sun, where it is also sprinkled with pale 
dots. The flesh is yellowish-white, melting, buttery, very 
sugary, and rich, with a musky flavour resembling that of 
the Seckel, or Henri Quatre ; on the whole it most resem¬ 
bles the latter, but the skin is thinner and smoother, and 
the eye is not so much plaited. The end of September or 
beginning of October appears to be the period of its matu¬ 
rity. It will succeed as a standard, and is a good early 
pear worthy of cultivation, especially as it will fill up a blank 
which occurs in the supply at the time it becomes fit.” 
Mr. Errington, writing from Cheshire, on the 13th 
instant, says— 
“ In all my experience I have never known such a 
deluge of rain as we have had for the last ten days or 
so : we are enveloped in a sheet of mud. 
“ The Potato disease has began to a certainty. 
“ Cucumber disease is here also very virulent. 
“We shall shortly hear accounts of Grapes shanking, 
and no marvel.” 
At the Swaffham Poultry Exhibition, H. Gilbert. Esq., 
of Kensington, had both the prizes awarded to him in 
the Shanghae Chicken Class, being for the best pen in 
that Class, and for the best pen of Chickens at the 
Show. 
We have the following from Sydney, in New South 
Wales. Mr. Creswick’s father is a nurseryman at Kint- 
bury, in Berkshire. 
“There is at present in full flower, in the hothouse of 
T. Woolley, Esq., at the Glebe, a very beautiful speci¬ 
men of the newly-discovered and rare Water Lily, the 
Nympluea gigantea. It is believed to be the only culti- j 
vated specimen in existence. A dried specimen was j 
sent to England a short time ago, and created a great 
sensation in the botanical world of London. The 
flower, which is a rich rose colour, is about eight inches 
across when fully expanded, springs from a stalk about 
three feet long. The leaves are peltated, and about ten 
inches in diameter, having the stalk in the centre, as is 
common in the Nymplueea. This beautiful plant is be¬ 
lieved to be a native of this continent, and perhaps 
ranks next in beauty to that wonderful specimen of 
God’s handiwork the Victoria Regia. There are some 
more buds upon the plant, and Mr. Woolley has kindly 
thrown it open to the inspection of the curious, on 
application to his gardener, Mr. Creswick. In the 
beautiful grounds attached to his residence there is also 
a small, and, we believe, a unique specimen in Sydney, 
of the Bunga Bunga, a native of Wide Bay. It is a 
healthy young plant, and somewhat resembles the 
Araucaria imbricata, but wo believe its timber is not 
valuable, although it forms an ornamental tree.” 
SEA-KALE.—No. 3. 
I feel that the remarks on Sea-kale, made at page 
257, are incomplete without a little addition, and that 
chiefly about the cultural process out-doors; for, as 
before observed, no forcing process can cause bad 
crowns to produce good Kale. Deep digging or trench¬ 
ing should, in all cases, be practised; and if the ground 
is naturally shallow, a special course of culture should 
be had recourse to, which I will presently describe. 
I consider thirty inches in depth indispensable to the 
production of first-rate crowns, though I do not say 
that good cannot be obtained without this depth. My 
recent practice is to manure the ground heavily with 
old hotbed material, of which one-half, at least—gene¬ 
rally three-parts—are tree leaves. I spoke, in a former 
paper, of old celery-beds, in the Scotch fashion, being 
