50 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 
By tli© accelerating and transplanting method, 
there is a great saving of seed, especially if the 
winter and spring months are very wet and frosty; 
it is also more secure against the attacks of mice, 
pea-fowl, pigeons, and pheasants, the latter of which 
are among the worst depredators that ever entered 
the precincts of a garden. Since I adopted the above 
plan of germinating and transplanting my peas, my 
loss in seed has been comparatively trifling, as I 
make successive sowings of peas, beans, and French 
beans till the end of May in the houses for trans¬ 
planting, when, for six weeks after, I get the princi¬ 
pal late crops sown in the open garden without 
much molestation, as the pigeons and pheasants 
commit their greatest ravages in the spring months, 
before they begin hatching their young. 
To farmers, small holders of land, and cottagers, a 
modification of this plan may also be of great use. 
A slight hotbed may be made in any warm spot ex¬ 
posed to the sun’s rays: the cow-dung and leaf-mould 
may be laid on the surface of the bed, and the peas 
sown, covered with the mould, and protected with 
boards, a mat, an old carpet, or spruce fir branches, 
wattled hurdles, &c., and transplanted as described, 
thus saving seed, and bringing an early supply of 
peas to the table. 
Germinating peas for transplating, by the above 
method, is attended with far less labour than one 
would suppose who has never practised it. A border 
of 200 square feet will contain a sowing of two pecks, 
and this is about the size of the inside border of an 
ordinary peach-house or vinery. The following are 
the sorts of peas generally sown here, with the height 
of the straw; a sowing of which is made every fort¬ 
night, from the 1st of February to the middle of 
July, sowing in the order in which they stand in the 
list, or nearly so:— Height 
ft. in. 
Prince Albert ... . ... 2 0 
Early race-horse ... ... ... ... 3 0 
Early Warwick ... . 3 0 
Early frame ... ... ... ... 3 6 
Charlton ... ... ... ... ... 4 0 
Groom’s dwarf ... ... ... ... 1 6 
Beadman’s dwarf ... ... ... ... 2 0 
Bishop’s long pod ... ... ... 1 6 
Auvergene ... ... ... ... 4 0 
White podded ... ... ... ... 5 0 
Knight’s dwarf marrow ... ... ... 4 0 
Woodford’s green marrow ... ... 3 0 
Purple podded ... ... ... ... 5 0 
Knight’s tall marrow ... ... ... 6 0 
matchless marrow ... ... 0 0 
Victoria marrow ... ... ... ... 7 0 
Blue Prussian ... ... ... ... 4 0 
British Queen ... ... ... ... 4 0 
Blue cimeter ... ... ... ... 4 0 
Large crooked sugar . ... 5 0 
Fair herd’s champion ... ... ... 4 0 
The last two sowings are Early Frame and Early 
Warwick. 
How to have Roses in November. —Mr. Rivers, 
of Sawbridgeworth Nurseries, gives the following di¬ 
rections. Tn February take up some two or three-years- 
old plants of any of the following Hybrid Perpetuals:— 
Baronne Prevost, Mrs. Elliott, Robin Hood, Geant 
des Batailles, La Reine, Comte de Montalivet, Dr. 
Marx, Duchess of Sutherland, Marquise Boccella, 
Madame Laffay, Comtesse Duchatel, Rivers, ancl 
Sidonie. Shorten their long roots to half their 
length, but leaving their fibrous roots and heads un 
pruned. Plant them thickly under a north wall or 
fence. At the end of April take them up, prune 
their heads closely; plant them in soil manured six 
inches deep with half-decayed dung, and dug two 
feet deep. Dip the roots in thick puddle of loam 
and water ; pour water into each hole before filling 
in, and give a gentle pressure with the foot. “ Rose- 
trees treated in this manner will last for several 
years, and this annual treatment may be exactly as 
above .”—The Florist. 
Home-grown Chicory. —At a late meeting of the 
Sheffield Literary and Philosophical Society, Mr. G. 
Wilkinson read a paper on “ The cultivation of 
chicory,” from which we find that it was not grown 
in England 20 years since; but now is raised exten¬ 
sively in the Isle of Thanet. At York, 2000 acres 
are devoted to the cultivation of chicory, producing 
4100,000 annually. In appearance the chicory plant 
resembles the carrot, having a large succulent foliage. 
It is sown in May, and gathered after the frosts have 
destroyed the top. On being gathered, the root is sliced, 
dried, and roasted. [Chicory, succory, or wild endive 
(Cichorium intybus), for by all of these names is it 
known, was formerly cultivated very rarely and 
sparingly, to be blanched and used in salads. It is 
now grown to the extent mentioned above for the 
sake of its roots, which are used as a substitute for, 
or to mix with, coffee. It is very wholesome, and the 
flavour, after roasting, agreeable.— Ed. G. G. j 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Tropceolum tricolorum (E.).—The top of this, you say, has 
been broken off by the carriers in coming to you from London. This 
is very unfortunate, as it is ten to one if it will start again before the 
autumn. Keep it moderately moist for a week or two, and place it 
near the glass in a greenhouse. If after that time you observe no 
signs of a new shoot, withhold water, and place it in a dry cool place 
for four or five months. Keep an eye upon it, as it may start some 
day when you least expect it. As soon as you observe a shoot, whe¬ 
ther now or afterwards, then give more water to encourage its growth. 
Wet and frost will destroy the bulb if allowed to reach it while dor¬ 
mant. 
Weigela rosf.a) (Ibid ).—This does not flower when very young. 
It should be well grown during summer, and have its wood well ripened 
in the autumn; then be cool and quiet through winter, and will, at 
this time of the year, be showing its flower buds. Plants 18 inches 
high, in a proper state, will be strong enough to flower. 
Tropceolum lobbianum (Ibid ).—This is not very difficult to 
flower, though it will not bloom if kept in a very cool greenhouse. 
Sow the seeds, or strike cuttings, early in spring; grow the plants on 
during the summer; keep them free from the red spider, and in mode¬ 
rately sized pots in light soil. Place them, if you have such a thing, 
in an intermediate house about January, and they will flower freely 
enough. If you have not such a house, place them at the warmest 
end of the greenhouse, and they will flower then, but no so well. It 
is essentially a winter flowering plant. 
Gooseberries (Ibid ).—There is no objection to a south slope for 
these, which you have purchased of Mr. Turner. Cover their roots 
with some short half-rotted dung, and follow the directions he gave 
at p. 304 of our first volume. 
Carnations (W. H. G .).—Your carnations in rows, one foot 
apart, and four to eight inches in the rows, are planted too thick; but 
they must remain now. Leave one lateral, and one to layer besides. 
Thin the buds on the flower stems when they appear. Keep them 
tied up, but not too tightly, or they will break their own stems. 
Campanula pyramidalis (E. K. D .).—Your campanula, looking 
“like a notched stick with about 20 small leaves at the top,” will 
never flower in its present state. You must cut off the top. Let it 
lay two hours to drain off the sap, then plant the top in a small pot, 
in a shady place, as a cutting. As soon as it is rooted, put it in a larger 
pot, and repeat this three times this summer, and the cutting will 
flower next year. Cut the old stem down to within two inches of the 
pot; give it no water for a fortnight; if then you observe any buds 
starting, give a little water about once a week. If the buds continue 
to advance, reduce them to two or three, and repot. If the plant does 
well, it will flower too next year. The best way, however, would be 
to throw your useless plant away and procure a fresh one. 
Pears for Wkstmore land (E. G .).—In addition to what we stated 
at p. 290 , vol. i., you ask for further information as to planting the trees. 
Would you not do better by deferring your planting until the early part 
of October ? we should not like to plant now. Your first query should 
have arrived some weeks sooner than this (April 9th). We again say 
plant six yards apart on the wall the riders before named ; plant also 
dwarf-trained trees midway between these, the latter to be the per¬ 
manent trees ultimately; all these to be nailed to the wall. Now 
with the border you may do what you please. By all means, we say, 
plant (in your cold county) useful dwarf standards along the front of 
the border farthest from the wall ; of course you will want an alley 
or timjjorary path between lor ejeratiens. Let us advise you to 
