92 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 8. 
to do;—whore it does ferment, it requires some little 
time to prepare, as well as dung, or other substances, 
and the admixture of a little old tan will often correct 
it much. If the tan be very old, sift some of the fine 
out from it, and after repeated turnings it will be fit for 
use, the rankness will have gone off, and when once got 
into a nice, mellow warmth, it remains longer so than 
anything else. And, perhaps, a something might be 
said in praise of its appearance, when used in places 
much frequented; and for brick - built pits, not other¬ 
wise heated by fire or water, or both, a tan-bed is 
often preferable to hot dung, as the latter cannot well be 
renovated by linings through the sides of the brick- 
work, even when the brickwork is pigeon-holed, and where 
not pigeon holed, of course the longest enduring heating 
material is the most preferable for inside, which is tan, when 
it acts well;—I should like the inexporienced to have some 
proof of that before he uses it at all; for I have known more 
than one tan bed refuse to heat, even when there did not 
seem any reason to prevent it doing so ; but it is possible 
the tan of other districts may be somewhat different. 
Our correspondent’s varieties of Cucumbers seem all 
very good— Cuthill's Black Spine, Sion House, Windsor 
Prize, and Kenyons Hothouse. Those arc all good, 
useful sorts, but if he wants one for extraordinary 
length, and other exhibition qualities, let him try Mill's 
Jewess, Victory of Bath, Man of Kent, or Sir Colin 
Campbell; only let it be observed, that extraordinary 
length and other show points are often obtained at the 
expense of a useful cropper. The best bearing kinds, 
as Roman Emperor, Sion House, and others, will often 
produce three times the number of fruit that a prize 
one will do, and these, too, not of a despicable size. 
J. Robson. 
NOTES FROM PARIS.—No 11. 
FLOWERS, BOUQUETS, &c. 
The flower markets and bouquet shops are beginning to 
assume all their usual splendour. For the last two or three 
weeks there has been a good display of early - flowering 
plants in the principal markets, and in the shops of the 
Boulevarts. The sorts at present to be seen are Rhodo¬ 
dendrons, Azaleas, Acacias, Camellias, Roses, Heaths, and 
Epacrises. Dielytra spcctabilis and Deutzia gracilis are also 
in much request. So are young Orange-trees in bloom. At 
the present time Orange-flowers are in great demand for 
young communicants, who may be seen every day walking 
to and from church, robed in white, and with sprigs of 
Orange-flowers in their hand. Hyacinths, Cyclamens, and 
Daisies, in pots, are likewise plentiful. But the most 
recherche of all, perhaps, are the Neapolitan Violets, with 
which small hand bouquets are made, and sold at a sous each, 
in almost every thoroughfare. These little bouquets deserve 
a passing notice, for besides their fragrance, they present 
something unusually neat and simple in their form and con¬ 
struction. Twenty or thirty Violets are tied together round 
a stalk of the “ Spanish Rushes,” then two or three leaves 
of common Ivy are arranged and tied immediately under the 
blossoms, as it were, to keep them together, and preserve 
them from injury. These Ivy leaves are arranged close to 
the blossoms, and their margins form, as near as possible, 
a kind of circle, about an inch beyond the Violets. In 
general form or outline this miniature bouquet has some 
resemblance to a composite flower, the Violets forming, as it 
were, the disk, and Ivy leaves the ray, while the deep green 
and blue of the one and the other associate very well to¬ 
gether, in point of colour. Sometimes a light-coloured 
floret of Lilac, or of a Hyacinth, is stuck in the centre of 
the Violets; but whatever it may be, this central addition 
has its petals opeix and regular. 
these small bouquets are constructed in precisely the 
same manner as that which I have described in former 
communications for the large ones. 
Another style of miniature bouquet, also very common at 
present, is composed simply of a Rose surrounded with 
neat sprigs of Arbor vitax, Hemlock, Spruce, or Cypress. 
The common Hair Moss ( Polytrichum commune') is also 
sometimes used for this purpose, but in general, and 
especially for the Violets, the Ivy leaves take precedence of 
all the others. 
In the larger bouquets, Mignonette is much used for 
the purpose of filling up, and also for forming a distinct 
circle. The best examples at present to be seen of these 
are composed nearly as follows :— 
No. I.—Centre—White Camellia. 
1st Circle—Mignonette, with half-expanded Roses at 
certain distances, and slightly raised. 
2nd Circle—Cinerarias of various colours, and one or 
two sprigs of Geranium. 
3rd Circle—Tulips and Narcissuses, interspersed with 
one or two sprigs of Acacia raised a little. 
4th Circle—Mixed Crocuses, chiefly blue, with sprigs 
of Pelargoniums. 
5th Circle—Mignonette, and one or two Roses, slightly 
raised. 
6tli Circle—Narcissuses, and white Crocuses or Cou- 
vallaria. 
7th or outer Circle—Arbor-vita, Hemlock-Spruce, or 
similar evei’green. 
No. 1L—Centre—Camellia variegata. 
1st Circle—Narcissuses, with raised sprigs of Mig¬ 
nonette, or Pelargonium. 
2nd Circle—Neapolitan Violets, interspersed with Rose¬ 
buds, l-aised between the sprigs of Mignonette of the 
preceding circle. 
3rd Circle—Mixed Tulips and Crocuses. 
4th Circle—Cinerarias (purple), with sprigs of Mig¬ 
nonette here and there. 
5th Circle—Narcissuses, Convallarias, or Primroses, 
interspersed with a few Roses. 
6tli Circle—Mignonette, with sprigs of Acacia ('flowers 
and leaves). 
7th or outer Circle—Arbor-vita:, &c. 
In these examples, the Tulips, Narcissuses, Violets, and 
Mignonette abound ; while the Roses, the Acacias, Cine- 
rai’ias, Ac., form as it were the alto-relievos, which give 
elegance and expression to the whole arrangement. They 
are, however, sparingly used; otherwise, the very end to be 
kept in view would be defeated. Of the raised flowers Migno¬ 
nette is the most freely employed. Pelargoniums are used 
either as raised flowers, or otherwise, according to circum¬ 
stances. The Acacias and Roses can only be introduced 
moderately, that is to say, they should be made to keep a 
respectful distance from one another. Instead of Camellias 
at the centre, a Crown Imperial, surrounded with a deep 
circle of Mignonette and Roses may be chosen, and one or 
two sprigs of Orange blossom may alternate here and there 
with the Mignonette. The centre may also be composed of 
a fine flower of Rhododendron arboreum ; but that is only 
to be adopted when other flowers of equally warm Colours 
are plentiful at hand. Then Roses, Azaleas, Cyclamens, 
Tulips, Cinerarias &c., must predominate over Narcissuses, 
Crocuses, Convallarias, and other sorts of the like tints. In 
this case even Mignonette cannot be so freely used as in 
the examples noted. For, as I have before observed, the 
centre of the key of the whole arrangement, and all the 
other circles must be composed in accoi'dance with it, just 
as a melody is regulated by the chords in which it has been 
struck. To be sure, every one is at liberty to consult his 
own taste in such matters; but we all know that there are 
true and false principles of taste. The great charm of a 
French bouquet, apart from the fragrance of the flowers, is 
its lightness and neatness, its various colours, as well as 
its various forms, balancing one another. There is no great 
excess of one colour, and a great scarcity of its comple¬ 
mentary, or corresponding colour. 
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES. 
The principal fruit merchants have been supplied for 
a month past with forced Strawberries, which, of course, 
at such an early season, can only be regarded as 
curiosities, and they must be paid for accordingly. The 
earlier productions in this way looked strange enough 
while the ground was covered with frozen snow; and, indeed, 
