June 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
upwards, we cannot readily yield assent to such an ex¬ 
treme doctrine. Let us rather assign this part of the 
business to the care of the philosophers, who, no doubt, 
will settle it right enough some day or other. If we 
could but succeed in originating a double yellow 
perpetual moss rose, we ought to possess philosophy 
enough to rest satisfied with our own part of the 
business, and not interfere with that which is the 
lawful province of our betters. 
The next division of the subject belongs more to 
morphology than to hybridization, but let us see 
whether or not we may derive some useful hints 
from this part also. As for myself, I am tempted 
almost to believe that if we could fathom the cause 
of the monstrosity of green centres in the rose, it 
might throw some light on the reason why the 
trench growers have hitherto excelled the English 
in tire production of superior new seedlings, and if 
so, it would prove a good hit. There must be some 
cause tor every thing, although it may often, as in 
this instance, be difficult to discover it. We have 
already traced the progress of development from the 
single brier to the full blown rose, with the parts 
perfectly organised, only that the stamens have been 
converted into petals, all this being the effect of 
care and cultivation; but no sooner have we arrived 
at this perfection than the rose makes a retrogade 
movement, according to our ideas of a perfect flower, 
but no doubt in accordance with some natural law. 
The next move is in the pistils. Out of these, and 
these only, are the green leaves, which disfigure the 
centre ot so many roses, formed; thus clearly show¬ 
ing than the nature of the pistils is very different 
from that of the stamens, at least in the first stages 
of monstrosity. As soon as the pistils begin to turn 
into green leaves, their legitimate office of conveying 
the pollen to the yomig seed is at an end, and they 
are, therefore, past use for cross-breeding, but they 
may yield to the influence of the pollen up to the 
moment of the first derangement; and as we know 
the stigma, or very point of the pistil, is the last part 
ol the flower to come to perfection, whatever the 
disturbing cause which occasions the monstrosity, 
it must be in operation in the juices of the parent 
plant long before it reaches the pistils. We know, 
also, that certain peculiarities in plants, as well as 
in animals, are transmitted to their offspring; there¬ 
fore, it is obvious enough that if the influence which 
causes monstrosity is already in operation in the 
juices of the plant, but not yet so far advanced as to 
hinder the operation of the pollen, this influence 
may be transmitted to the seedlings from such a 
cross; lienee the difficulty of procuring fine double 
roses from seeds. It is not necessary that the young 
seedlings should manifest the green eye, to prove 
that they inherit some inherent quality from their 
parents which deranges the symmetry and beauty of 
their flowers—it is enough if the influence appears in 
any other form. Now, this brings us to the question, 
What causes the green centres in roses? If we 
knew the real cause we could apply a remedy, and 
this, for the production of new seedlings, would be 
ot immense advantage. To make a short story of a 
long one, which has already exceeded too far, I may 
say that over-feeding in the absence of strong sun¬ 
light is generally believed to be the cause of green 
centres, and that most of the maladies or other pecu¬ 
liar appearances in plants have originated from the 
culture in the previous season or seasons. If this 
be so, the heavy and constant rains of last summer, 
and consequently the absence of sun heat and light, 
will account lor the prevalence of green centres in 
145 
the rose this season. From all this, and from obser¬ 
vations I have made on other plants, I am led to 
infer that the success of the French rose growers in 
raising so many fine seedlings is owing chiefly to 
the fact, that they almost always keep their breeding 
plants in pots, so as to have them under better con¬ 
trol in respect to feeding. Indeed, I have no doubt 
at all in my own mind on the subject. Their clear 
atmosphere may also assist them ; but the Germans 
have the same advantage ; and the Italians, with a 
still clearer atmosphere, have not been able to com¬ 
pete with the French in this branch of gardening. 
D. Beaton. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
American Cress. —This is considered a good au¬ 
tumn and winter salad, and where the water-cress, 
for which it is an excellent substitute, cannot be 
conveniently procured, the American cress may be 
cultivated in any comer of the garden. The seed 
should be sown thinly in drills one foot apart, and 
the plants pricked out at the final thinning to eight 
or ten inches apart, or it may be sown in a drill to 
form an edging similar to a parsley edging. It is fit 
for use as soon as the leaf is three inches long, and 
should be pulled or picked in the same manner as 
parsley. About midsummer is the best time for 
sowing it, so that it.may become luxuriant and well 
established by the autumn. If the crop is found to be 
pretty strong by the middle of August, a portion of 
it should then be cut back to ensure a good supply 
of new and tender leaves for autumn and winter use. 
We make it a rule to cut a portion of it back at three 
different times, by which means an excellent succes¬ 
sion is secured. For the cottager or amateur who 
has but a small space of ground to spare, this variety 
of cress is a most valuable article; indeed no gar¬ 
den should be without it. 
Sea-kale. —Without a good share of attention at 
this season of the year, a. fine and abundant amount 
of produce when the cutting season arrives must 
not be expected; but if all small and spurious shoots 
are carefully taken oft', the surface of the soil kept 
well scarified, and liberal soakings of liquid-manure, 
with salt dissolved in it, applied, good, strong, clear 
crowns, for producing the next season’s crop, will no . 
doubt be the result. The blossom shoots should be 
taken off early, with the exception of one or two 
which may be required for seed. 
Rhubarb, as soon as the cutting season comes 
to a close, should he liberally supplied with strong 
liquid-manure, so that an abundant and luxuriant 
produce may be seemed for the next season. It is a 
very erroneous system to allow either sea-kale or 
rhubarb to stand its chance, for, as soon as the cut¬ 
ting or gathering season has passed, that is the time 
when such crops are the most in need of some assist¬ 
ance. ' 
Tomatoes. — The success of this crop depends 
much on the management of the next few weeks. 
Keep the plants to a leading shoot or two; if space 
will admit ol it the side shoots should be kept thin, 
and stopped a joint above the show of every bunch 
ot blossom. When the fruit is sufficiently set, each 
bunch should be thinned of all abortive small fruit, 
leaving only a lew of the strongest and best shaped 
ones at the base of each bunch. If any quantity of 
small green fruit is required for pickling, the bunches 
may be allowed to remain a short time longer before 
they are thinned, and then considerable assistance 
