76 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[May 2. 
Of course, those who daily eat these lands of vegetables 
must he the best judges of their quality; and in the act of 
cutting the grass or young heads in this way, taking only 
the part above ground, the operator can see what he is doing ; 
and, however inexperienced he may he, he can cut a dish of 
asparagus without any loss. On the other hand, a person 
not used to this work, or with the usual long-handled, saw¬ 
toothed knife for cutting, would make sad havoc amongst 
the underground shoots in cutting a dish or hundreds for 
the market; for when thrusting the knife into the ground to 
cut one head, he would probably break off two or three others 
unseen at the same time. This old-fashioned saw-toothed 
knife I have not used since I have cut my asparagus above 
ground—that is, level with the surface of the earth; I use 
just what knife I may have in my pocket at the time, and it 
often happens that my penknife is obliged to he used, from 
having no other about me at the moment. T. Weaver, 
Gardener to the Warden of Winchester College. 
[We strongly recommend our readers to adopt, Mr Weaver's 
mode of cutting. Let the heads grow until they are six 
or seven inches above ground, and then cut them level with 
the surface. There is thus no waste—the whole is eatable.— 
Ed. C. &.] 
EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. 
Arrangement or Flower-beds.— Allow me to thank your 
correspondent, S. N. W., page 41, for the spirit in which he 
criticised the flower-garden in question; not that such con¬ 
sideration was necessary as far as D. Beaton is concerned, 
for if the critics will only keep their hands off him, I believe 
he is as impervious to pen and ink as the hide of a rhino¬ 
ceros ; and, moreover, he is one of the most inconsistent 
writers we have, for you have only to prove a case contrary 
to his most cherished opinion, and immediately he turns 
round and adopts your view as cordially as if no difference 
ever existed between you. It is provoking, however, that 
there is no standard by which to prove, not the difference 
between S. N. W. and 1). B., but the difference between the 
new school of flower gardening and the rules applicable to 
the laying out of flower-gardens as they were planted before 
the present mode had existence. When I see the plan pro¬ 
mised by S. N. W.. I can tell in five minutes if he is a planter 
according to the present style as well as a designer; and if 
he is, T shall be very glad to assist him ; and if he is not, I 
see no good that can come of disputing the point. The pre¬ 
sent position of flower gardening in this country is anoma¬ 
lous. We have a new school, which can hardly be said to 
have had existence in 1825, and its merits were not discussed 
in print before 1861 or 1832. It is true that Lady Grenville, 
of Dropmore, and the late Lady Cumming Gordon, of Altyre, 
in Morayshire, with some others, and unknown to each 
other, originated this school when Buonaparte was secured at 
St. Helena; but it has not taken Ann root until within the 
last twenty years ; and here we are now practising and stu¬ 
dying in this new school without a vocabularly, a grammar, 
or a dictionary (and the old books only make our darkness 
more visible) the best plans according to the old style of 
planting. Dutch or other gardens go for little unless we 
can so modify them as to suit our present mode of practice. 
That this can be done, I have no doubt, but that it is a very 
difficult matter to do so, I equally admit. But to put the 
case so familiar as to come within the comprehension of all 
our readers, let us say that our different schools or styles of 
I architecture are perfect of their kind; and let us suppose 
that a first-rate architect, who never heard or read of our 
! domestic arrangements, were to design a mansion: such a 
house might exhibit the perfection of his art, but that would 
be a poor compensation to the owner if lie found, on taking 
possession, that his wine cellar was at the top of the 
house, and no provision made to reach it, and that his 
bed-rooms “had ground for their floor." Now all this might 
happen and the house still be a perfect specimen of archi¬ 
tecture, and it is exactly so with designs for flower-gardens : 
they may or may not be suitable for a given style of planting, 
and yet be masterpieces of art.—D. Beaton. 
Mice. —I see that the peas of one of your correspondents 
have suffered from mice. I have found the prickly furze, or 
gorse, quite efficient as a protection, sown in the drills with 
the peas.— Rev. II. M. 
Smoke-stained Walls. —Let .1. H. mix in a bucket of 
lime-wash a quantity of fresh cow-dung (collected where the 
cattle ore fed upon grass), and therewith give to the smoked 
parts a couple of coats ; the walls will afterwards take a per¬ 
fect white. It will be advantageous if the whitewashing at 
present on the walls were removed, as well as can be, before 
applying the above wash.—P. IL., Dublin. 
Ox Head or Shin or Beef Stewed to Turn Out in 
Moulds. —Take half a bullock’s head, or a shin of beef, and 
one cow heel, well cleaned and chopped in pieces, put them 
into a stewpan, with as much water as will cover it well; and 
when stewed till the meat leaves the bones, take the bones 
out and beat the meat small. Put the liquid it has been 
boiled in to it, with as much pepper, salt, cayenne, nutmeg, 
and mace as you like for seasoning. Put it into your pan 
again, until it thickens and will set, then put it into moulds 
or pots, and turn it out as you require it. It mil keep for 
two or tlrree weeks in cold weather. This is a most useful, 
economical, and pretty dish, and also very nourishing. For 
breakfast, lunch, Ac., it is always ready; and for pic nics , or 
talcing on the moors, it is also well adapted. If you want an 
extra dish at dinner unexpectedly, you can warm a shape 
fora hash ; and added to any broth, it makes a very tolerable 
soup. When turned out cold, it is a beautiful jelly. 
Note. —The remains of a shape make an acceptable gift to 
a poor invalid, and can be easily carried. 
Scalded Pudding. —Put a teaspoonful of flour into a large 
basin, then boil sufficient milk to make it the consistency of 
hasty-pudding. Pom 1 the milk, when boiling, on the flour; 
let it stand to cool; then mix two eggs and a little sugar and 
cinnamon with it. Pour it into a mould, and boil for one 
hour. This is recommended by a physician as a very whole¬ 
some pudding for children and invalids. Add a pinch of salt. 
There is a good rule given for this by an admirable cook— 
“ Sugar in all soups, and salt in all puddings except a custard.” 
Porridge is eaten in Scotland by the child of the peer as 
well as the peasant, and considered most wholesome and 
nutritious. But the Scotch oatmeal is far superior, and 
quite different from any you can get here. The only way to 
ensure its being genuine, is to have a barrel or bag sent from 
Scotland. Boil it in water with a little salt for 10 or 15 mi¬ 
nutes till quite thick, stirring it, and eat it with new milk. 
The same oatmeal makes admirable oatcake, baked on a 
girdle, or flat piece of iron, which is placed on the fire. Rice 
should be got by the hundredweight from Liverpool, or through 
a wholesale grocer, it is much cheaper. 
Gentianella. —The following may lie interesting. About 
this time (April) last year I bought in the Liverpool market two 
plants of the blue gentianella (Genii ami acanlis, I think) just 
bursting into bloom ; I put them in a sunny border in the 
garden, where they bloomed, after which—as an experi¬ 
ment, as I hardly expected them to bloom again, being shy 
flowerers, and transplanted at that season—I gave them a 
top-dressing of old manure and leaf-mould; but within a 
week after I noticed in The Cottage Gardener that they 
wanted rather poor soil, I therefore scraped away the dres¬ 
sing, and replaced it with light sandy peat soil; what was my 
astonishment in the middle of December last to find both 
plants bursting again into bloom, and I had them in bloom 
in the Christmas week. I feared that this would interfere 
with the usual spring flowering, but I am glad to say that 
both plants promise a brilliant show for next week. The 
soil of' the garden is a strong heavy clay, thoroughly broken 
up, with peat soil and sand.—E. A., Uxtun, near Birkenhead. 
Goats. —I perceive in your article on “ Goat Keeping,” 
that you state they will eat anything that is refused by any 
