April 11.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
27 
water with a little salt, and if field turnips they will take 
nearly an hour to boil; garden turnips take less time, but 
they are not so palatable as those grown in the fields. 
Cabbages are very generally liked; they require boiling 
from half an hour to an horn - , according to tlieir size. Great 
care must be taken that they are well freed from caterpillars ; 
when first picked there are generally some in each head of 
cabbage. A large spoonful of salt must be put into the water 
in which they are boiled. 
Geeen Peas and French Beans will very soon be plen¬ 
tiful, and when that is the case I should strongly recommend 
their making their appearance at your “ festive board.” Peas 
should not be shelled till just before they are put into the 
saucepan; or, should you be obliged to do so, put them into 
a basin, and over it place a wet cloth. They must be put 
into boiling water, in which has been dissolved a very small 
piece of soda and a lump of sugar. A few sprigs of mint 
boiled with them is observed to improve their flavour. 
Twenty minutes is generally sufficient time to allow for 
boiling them, but when done they will sink to the bottom of 
the saucepan. 
Do not throw away the shells of the peas, but put them into 
a saucepan with some bones, onions, and herbs, and the 
soup when strained will have the flavour of green pea soup, 
though of course not so highly flavoured as when the peas 
themselves are used. 
French Beans are cut before boiling into long narrow 
strips. If prepared before you are ready to boil them, treat 
them in the same way as the peas ; for if exposed to the 
heat after they are cut, their colour will be bad. A quarter 
of an hour is generally sufficient for them. 
Broad Beans, when in season, are sold at a very reason¬ 
able rate; and if served with a piece of bacon, they make an 
excellent dinner. Half an horn' is allowed for boiling them ; 
and a bunch of parsley put into the saucepan with them is 
reckoned an improvement. 
Spinach requires attention in dressing, but when nicely 
cooked, it is an excellent vegetable. Each leaf should he 
picked and washed in two waters, then put it into a saucepan 
with a little salt and the least possible quantity of water, just 
enough to prevent the saucepan burning. Ten minutes 
is sufficient time to allow it to boil; drain it on a sieve, press 
it between two plates to extract all moisture, then beat it very 
smoothly with a little cream or butter, some salt, and a little 
pepper. Put it into a dry saucepan, and make it quite hot. 
Poached eggs are often served on it. It lias a very pretty ef¬ 
fect, and where poultry is kept it becomes an economical dish. 
Asparagus is tied in bunches before it is put into the 
saucepan; care must be taken that the stalks are all one 
length. They must be taken out of the water directly they 
are tender, or the colour will not be good. Twenty minutes 
is considered sufficient time to allow them to boil. A piece 
of rather thick toast, nicely browned, should be placed on the 
dish, and the asparagus on that. Melted butter must he 
handed round with the asparagus. The bundles should 
contain 25 heads of asparagus ; three bundles are sufficient 
for a middle-sized dish. 
Stalks oe the White Beet make a very good substitute 
for asparagus, and as it is in season when most other vege¬ 
tables are scarce, it would be well if it were extensively culti¬ 
vated. The stalks must be peeled before boiling, and tied 
in bundles the same size and length as asparagus. The 
leaves, also, of the white beet are a good substitute for spi¬ 
nach, and must be dressed in the same manner, only more 
time allowed for boiling. 
Beet-root must be very carefully scrubbed and washed 
before boiling, not scraped, for if the skin breaks, the juice 
escapes, and the beautiful colour is lost or impaired. A 
small root requires an hour’s boiling. When cold, they are 
sliced and eaten until vinegar, and, if approved of, oil and 
mustard. Beet-root is a capital addition to a bread and butter 
supper. These trifles should be attended to, for trifles consti¬ 
tute the happiness or misery of many a home. But at the 
same time, let us remember when inclined to be worried, 
that circumstances which now appear all momentous will 
ere long appear as “ nothing,” in fact, will excite our sur¬ 
prise and regret that we ever allowed our thoughts to dwell 
on such trifles. Itememher this question—“ What is a man 
profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.” 
C. A. M. 
Articles in Season in April.— Meat: Beef, mutton, veal, 
lamb. Fish: Carp, cod, brill, eels, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, 
oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, shrimps, skate, 
soles, tench, whiting, turbot. Poultry : Chickens, pullets, 
ducklings, rabbits, pigeons. Veyetahlcs: Sea-kale, lettuce, 
parsnips, spinach; in very early gardens asparagus and cu¬ 
cumbers, small salading and radishes. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Error—Climbing Roses (W. X. IF.).—In the list we gave at page 
13, for Anidulie , which all flower cultivators know to be very dwarf, read 
Adelaide ; but a still better is Princess Louise , creamy white, tinged with 
rose. The Gloire de Rosomane, we omitted to say should be planted 
with the other roses to keep the bottoms thick. 
Cankered Apple-trees (Mol Fo.v ).—“ Two apple-trees, growing in 
very different situations, have the bark die off close to the ground, 
excepting a piece about three inches wide. One tree (a French 
codling) grows in a damp, rich soil, eight feet from the brink of a fresh 
water river. The other tree (an early desert apple) grows on a dry, light 
soil, seven feet above the river. Both trees are of 25 years standing.’* 
Your trees are cankered from excessive moisture in the subsoil, into which 
the roots have penetrated. Your only remedies are to cut away all the 
deep striking roots, and to encourage the growth of surface roots, by 
mulching the surface, and not allowing the spade to come within six or 
seven feet of the stems of the fruit trees all round. The cankered places 
may be cut out with a sharp knife, and when quite dry, painted over with 
liquid Indian rubber, to exclude the wet and air. But you would act 
still better if you planted fresh trees on stations as directed by Mr. 
Errington. 
Lawns (E. L. II .).— By all means lay it down with turf. If this be 
well laid now, and care bestowed on rolling it, and watering it when 
needed, through the summer, it will not crack, unless the soil be very 
clayey. Do you require trailing or climbing plants for your arches ? and 
what are these arches ? 
IIeracleum Giganteum ( G. G. B.). —This is perfectly hardy. If 
sown last autumn, it will bloom in .Tunc, or July. Hardy annuals can be 
sown in an open border, and transplanted. 
Golden-chain Geranium (A Young Lady). —We cannot tell where 
you can obtain cuttings of this. Can any of our readers ? 
Lemon Pickle (A Subscriber). —Scrape the insides out of two lemons, 
fill them with salt, sew them up, and dry them slowly in an oven, When 
they are dried, boil for five minutes a quart of vinegar in which have been 
put a dozen blades of long pepper; half a gill of mustard seeds ; six cloves 
of garlic ; and six shreds of ginger. When the vinegar is cold, pour it 
upon the lemons ; let the whole remain in a warm, but not hot, place for 
three months. Then strain and bottle it, corking it close. 
Liquid Indian Rubber (B. French). —You may make this, for 
painting over the wounds caused in trees by pruning, &c., by dissolving 
pieces of Indian rubber in naptha. The Indian rubber is easily cut into 
pieces, if you dip the sharp knife you use into cold water from time to 
time. Both naptha and diacliolon plaister (ready spread) may be ob¬ 
tained of any chemist. 
Potato Planting (E. S. P .).— Planting so late, you must expect to 
lose half your crop by the potato murrain. However, as you have only 
“just taken possession,” there is a reason for doing it now. But re¬ 
member in future to plant in November, or to save your sets between 
layers of earth until February, and then plant. You need no other 
manure than lime, soot, and salt, spread over the ground, and dug in at 
the time of planting. Do not put guano nor any other rich stimulating 
manure. 
Recipe (Mrs. E. K .).— Thanks. We shall be obliged by the recipe. 
Green Alpine Strawberry Seed (A Constant Subscriber). —Can 
any one only inform our correspondent where some of this seed can be 
obtained ? 
Dyeing Woollens Black (A Lady). —Soak the articles in a solution 
of acetate of iron (obtainable at a chemists) for twenty-four hours, and 
then for a similar time in a liquor made by boiling a pound of logwood 
chips and madder in a gallon of water. Cotton gloves may be dyed fawn 
or buff colour by dipping them into some of the last-named liquor only. 
Aylesbury Ducks (E. J. II .).— Can any of our readers inform our 
correspondent where the genuine Aylesbury ducks can be purchased, and 
at what price ? 
Taylor’s Amateurs’ Box Hive [Ibid). —You will find a drawing of 
it at page 306 of our first volume. Our correspondent says, “ I would 
venture to recommend a box called the ‘ Albert,’ invented by Mr. Milton, 
of Great Marylebone-strcet. It is, in my opinion, formed on the most 
correct principle, and I have every reason to be satisfied with it.” 
Bees (Rev. W. B. A .).—“ I have one common hive, two or three years 
old, without a hole at top; it swarmed twice last year, and will do so 
again, I conclude, this; could I with advantage cut out a two-inch hole, 
and put on a small hive or box, at the end of April? or had I better let 
them swarm, and hive them into one of ‘ Payne’s Improved? ’ I should 
like your opinion of using Nutt’s hives. I tried for several years, but I 
never succeeded. Could I not use the centre box (properly boarded at the 
sides), and have a small box at the top^ Or is there really an objection 
to a square shape, on account of the condensed air falling from the flat 
top? We have ‘heather ’ on the hills, but is it not a long way for the 
bees to fly,—it being some 600or 700 feet higher than the village, and per- 
