THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 24. 
.‘300 
skillet, or enamelled saucepan, and boil for lialf-an-liour, 
stirring all tlie time, and removing the scum as it rises. 
When it is completed, put it into jars and pots, which 
should be tied down tightly with bladder, or paper which has 
been brushed over with the white of an egg, to exclude the air. 
Preserved Strawberries. —This, by some, is also called 
Strawberry Jam, and is distinguished from the preceding 
by the fruit being whole, and the syrup transparent. Take 
an equal weight of fruit and loaf-sugar which has been finely 
pounded. Lay the Strawberries on a dish, and sprinkle 
half the sugar over them; let them remain so all night, and 
next day make a thin syrup with the remainder of the 
sugar, and one pint of Currant juice to every three pounds 
of Strawberries, and let the whole simmer gently for one 
hour, removing the scum as it rises, and carefully stirring 
with a wooden spatula so as not to bruise the fruit. Put 
into jars, and tie down as for jam. 
Strawberry Jelly. —Put the Strawberries into a cloth, 
and press them so as to extract all the juice, to which add 
an equal weight of bruised loaf sugar. When the sugar is 
dissolved, put the whole into a skillet over a clear fire, and 
boil it for twenty minutes, stirring and removing the scum 
all the time. 
Strawberry Jelly in Shapes. — Bruise a quantity of 
fresh-gathered Strawberries in an earthenware pan, with a 
wooden spoon or spatula, to which add a little water, and 
sufficient pounded loaf-sugar to sweeten to the taste. In 
the course of one or two hours, strain through a jelly-bag, 
and to each quart of the juice add one ounce of isinglass 
which has been dissolved in half-a-pint of water, well- 
skimmed, strained, and cool. Mix the whole well together, 
and add sufficient lemon-juice to flavour it. Pour into 
shapes, and keep in a cool place or in ice till w'anted. 
Strawberry Creaji. —To a pint of cream add six ounces 
of Strawberry Jam, and work them through a sieve, to which 
put the juice of one lemon, and whisk it rapidly at the edge 
of a dish. Lay the froth on a sieve, and add to the contents 
of the dish a little more lemon-juice, and when no more 
cream will rise, put the cream into another dish, or glasses, 
and place the froth upon it, well-drained ; it is then ready 
for use. 
Strawberry Cakes. —Take a quart of fine flour, and rub 
into it half-a-pound of the best fresh butter till the whole is 
crumbled. Beat three eggs very light, and mix with them 
three tablespoonfuls of powdered loaf-sugar, and with this 
wet the flour and butter so as to form a dough, which, if too 
stiff, add to it a little cold water. Knead the dough till it 
leaves the hands freely, roll it out into a rather thick sheet, 
and then cut it into round cakes. Butter some large, square 
baking-pans, on which lay the cakes, and put them in a brisk 
oven till they are baked a light brown colour. Have ready 
a sufficient quantity of ripe Strawberries, mashed and made 
sweet with powdered sugar; but reserve some of the Straw¬ 
berries whole. When the cakes are cool, split them in two, 
and on the under half spread thickly the mashed Straw¬ 
berries, upon which press the upper half of the cake. Cover 
the top and sides of the cakes with some icing, so as com¬ 
pletely to enclose the upper and lower halves. Before the 
icing is quite dry, ornament the top of each cake with the 
wdiole Strawberries which were reserved, placing a large 
one in the centre and smaller ones round it. These are 
delicious, and highly ornamental; and the Strawberries being 
uncooked retain all their natural flavour. 
Strawberry Water-Ioe. —Put ripe Strawberries into a 
linen bag, and squeeze out the juice, and to every pint of the 
juice put half-a-pound of pounded loaf-sugar. Mix well 
together, and put it into a freezer and freeze it. In this 
way ices may be made, without cream, of Currant or Rasp¬ 
berry juice. 
Strawberry Marchpane. —Take two pounds of sweet 
almonds, two-pounds-and-a-half of sugar, and a pound of 
Strawberries. Beat the almonds to a fine paste, and mix 
them with the sugar, which has previously been boiled to 
the consistency of thin soup. Bruise and strain the juice 
from the fruit, which add to the almond paste and syrup. 
Stir the mixture well, set on hot ashes, and continue stirring 
till the paste is sufficiently done, which may be ascertained 
by laying a piece on the back of your hand, and if it may he 
removed without sticking it is enough. When cold, spread 
oyer a slab, and cut into shapes. 
SUCCESSFUL BEE-KEEPING. 
If in these Cock and Hen days a little Bee information is 
admissible iuto the pages of The Cottage Gardener, I 
should wish Apiarians to be informed that all my hives 
moved on the “Country Curate’s” principle have swarmed 
twice this year. This is worth knowing, as in the last three 
years I have moved four or five hives each year , and, to my 
knowledge, hut one of those hives swarmed twice.— Frank 
Grant. 
DESTRUCTIVE BIRDS. 
We rejoice to learn, from several quarters, that our re¬ 
monstrances for the destruction of predatory birds and 
vermin have met the views of many of our distant friends, and 
that several in om’ own neighbourhood are joining heart and 
hand in the cause, using every effort in their power for 
annihilating them before the coming harvest. Although no 
clubs are yet established for this purpose in our own im¬ 
mediate vicinity, yet, that small birds of a destructive 
character are already diminished, to a certain extent, is 
apparent from the fact of our seeds (their favourite dainties) 
not being attacked as in former seasons. Now is the time 
to persevere, as every pair of old birds killed now tells for 
ten in the autumn; and although the sad affair in the 
Crimea will scarcely admit of a joke, let us hope that suf¬ 
ficient powder and shot will be left at home to battle with 
the birds, and that it will be fraught with quicker results than 
the contingencies of the war. By shooting, and worrying 
them by other projects, those not killed will soon disperse 
off’ our premises, and migrate from us to different parts, or 
other homesteads, where they are not molested, and where 
they may be said to belong as much to them as ourselves ; 
and where, if the proprietors choose to foster them they 
may, and decoy them if they please, and enjoy the fun of 
seeing them eat up their corn at their own expense. Our 
neighbours should bear in mind that flocks of their own 
pigeons are frequently seen feasting on other people’s corn, 
where they are not at all welcomed. If we may be allowed 
to digress a little, and turn politicians, we would just say, “ let 
us go on stimulating each other, by precept and example, 
like true patriots ; and by the end of harvest a great saving 
will be accomplished favourable to our own interests and 
the nation’s weal.” We will just observe, by way of illustra¬ 
tion, what probable saving may be effected to the country at 
large by such a course being energetically and fully carried 
out. Speaking within bounds, we will suppose only one 
peck of grain or seeds to be demolished on every acre in 
England and Wales alone, in one year, by destructive birds, 
rooks, and vermin. Parliamentary statistical reports for 
1854 have been published, and it appears that the following 
numbers of acres under tillage for corn, in England and 
Wales (to say nothing of Ireland and Scotland) was, Wheat 
13,807,840 acres; Barley 2,007,770 ; Oats 1,302,782; Rye 
73,731, making a grand total of 7,852,135, say 8,000,000 
acres, by including all kinds of seeds. It thus follows, that 
at this moderate computation one peck per acre only (and 
how often is there much more, nay, even one half consumed, 
or spoiled on small plots, and in cottager’s gardens?) 2,000,000 
bushels are actually destroyed by birds, &c., every year! No 
mean consideration this, surely, coupled with other sad 
wastes of corn, which Ave have alluded to in a former 
paragraph, in this a time of scarcity, and when war is in¬ 
evitable !— Hardy and Son, Seed-growers, &c., Maldon , Essex. 
NEW PLxANTS. 
Blandfordia flammea ( Flame-Jloivcred Bland/ordia). 
This greenhouse bulb is a native of Hunter’s River 
district, in new South Wales, whence it was brought, in 
1850, by Lord Walter Butler. It is about three feet high, 
and its campanulate flowers are scarlet tipped with yellow. 
(Botanical Magazine, t. 4819.) 
Trichodesma zeylanicum (Ceylon Trichodesma). 
Although found in tropical India, as indicated by its 
specific name, yet it is found also in the warmest districts of 
