304 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 21. 
the shoots are very thick and sucoulent-like, but short. 
It forms an upright, tall, and handsome tree, when 
grown in an alluvial soil, or in a deep sandy loam, with 
a cool subsoil; but if the soil is stiff, cold, and humid, it 
very soon cankers. It is a good bearer, and when grown 
in a soil favourable to it, we have seen it produce an 
abundance of very large, handsome, and excellent fruit. 
It has the property in many seasons of producing some¬ 
times a profusion of bloom at Midsummer, and a second 
crop of fruit, which, however, is never of any value, 
from which circumstance it has been called Poire Figue, 
Figue Musquee, and Deux fois Van. 
The only account of this antient variety we have ever 
seen is by an English writer, who says “ it was raised 
from seed of the Cuisse Madame, by a person of the 
name of Williamson, a relation of Williamson, whom 
Grimwood succeeded in the Kensington Nursery.” 
Grimwood succeeded to the Kensington Nursery some¬ 
where about the middle or latter half of the last century, 
but the Windsor Pear is mentioned by Parkinson, in 
his Paradisus, in 1629, a century before the Kensington 
Nursery was in existence, and was even then “ well 
knowne to most persons ” ; he says it “ is an excellent 
good peare, will beare fruit sometimes twice in a yeare, 
and (as it is said) three times in some places.” 
There can be no doubt that the Windsor Pear is of 
foreign origin, and that it is the Bellissime and Supreme 
of the early French Pomologists, but it must not be 
confounded with the Bellissime d'ete of these later 
writers, and of Duhamel, who has made a sad mess of 
many synonymes, and on whose authority, in these 
particulars, there is no reliance to be placed. It seems 
at a very early period to have been distributed over 
Europe, as we find it mentioned by J. Baptista Porta, 
in 1592, as being cultivated about Naples under the 
name of Pero due volte Tanno ; and even in our own 
country we find it flourishing even earlier than this; for 
Sir Hugh Plat, in giving the authority of “ Master Hill,” 
who lived about 1563,“ Why trees transplanted doe alter,” 
says, “Trees that bear early, or often in the year, as 
Pear-trees upon Windsor-Hill, which bear three times in 
a year; these though they be removed to as rich, or 
richer soil, yet they do seldom bear so early, or so often, 
except the soil be of the same hot nature, and have the 
like advantages of situation, and other circumstances 
with those of Windsor. And, therefore, commonly, the 
second fruit of that Pear-tree being removed, doth 
seldome ripen in other places.” This is the first notice 
we have of the Windsor Pear in England; and it is, 
doubtless, from the circumstance of these growing on 
Windsor Hill that the variety received its name. Early 
in the season, and before the earliest varieties of our 
gardens are nearly ripe, there are considerable quantities 
of the Windsor exposed for sale in the Covent Garden 
Market, which are imported from Portugal, and which 
are said to be shipped at Oporto. We never could 
ascertain the name under which they were imported, 
but have not the slightest doubt about the identity of the 
varietv. 
y 
The following letter leads us to some notes we have 
often wished to republish, on the employment of Soot 
as a manure :— 
“ I shall be very much obliged if you can give or 
obtain for me information as to the best use to be made 
of Soot; what crop it is most suitable for; the description ! 
of land most benefited by its use (my land is a strong 1 
clay marl, adhesive when wet); and what quantity should 
be used per acre; which is the most advantageous way 
of using, whether to be worked in the land by barrows 
at the time of sowing the seed, or is it better to top- 
dress in the spring? I can obtain largo quantities at 
fivepence per imperial bushel, delivered to my farm. 
Is it good for wheat, to be used at the time of sowing or 
drilling the seed ? or do you know of any artificial 
manure which has been proved for that purpose ? Can 
any mixture be added to soot beneficially? — A Sub¬ 
scriber from the Beginning.” 
In reply, we can say, from actual observation, that 
there is no crop grown by either the farmer or kitchen, 
gardener that is not benefited by being manured with 
Soot. It would be inexplicable if it were not so gene, j 
rally beneficial to plants, for its ingredients are all, J 
more or less, their food; nor could it be otherwise, for 
the coals from which the soot is generated are remains 
of antediluvian vegetables. 
Soot is that part of common coal which is driven off 
by the heat of the fire without being decomposed; and as 
the air whieh bears it along is cooled, it is deposited on 
the sides of the chimney. Soot is composed, therefore, of 
the most volatile parts of the coal; and of some of its 
most solid parts, in a state of very fine division. It 
has been analysed, and 1000 pounds found to be com¬ 
posed as follows :— 
Charcoal (very fine). 371 lbs. 
Salts of Ammonia (chiefly Sulphate) 426 „ 
,, Potash and Soda . 24 „ 
Oxide (or rust) of Iron . 50 ,, 
Silica (flinty sand very fine) . 65 ,, 
Alumina (pure clay very fine) . 31 „ 
Sulphate of Lime (Gypsum or Plaister 
of Paris) . 31 ,, 
Magnesia (Carbonate of) . 2 ,, 
1000 
Now every one of the above constituents of soot are 
constituents also of our cultivated plants. The charcoal 
buried in the soil is gradually converted into carbonic 
acid gas, and in that form is sucked in both by the 
roots and leaves of plants; and all the other consti¬ 
tuents are more or less soluble in rain-water, and, con¬ 
sequently, are also taken in by the roots as food for their 
parent plants. 
Having thus shewn that soot might be recommended 
confidently as a valuable manure, even from a mere 
knowledge of the substances it contains, let us now see 
what practical men say, who have tried it in their 
gardens and elsewhere. 
Strawberries. —Mr. Cuthill, of Denmark Hill, Cam¬ 
berwell, who grows this fruit extensively in pots, puts a 
