122 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, May 26, 1857. 
Bartonioides if it should ever appear; and, if Anomatheca 
cruenta should appear, will it bloom this year ? 
“ My position not allowing me the advantage of pits or 
frames, I beg of your kindness and experience some advice 
as to the treatment of all; for, lowly as I am, I have as 
vivid an appreciation of beautiful flowers as the Queen her¬ 
self can have.”— A Cottager’s Wife. 
[We thoroughly and sympathisingly believe you, and wish 
you joy in possessing such an appreciation of the beautiful; 
hut even that wishing, though showing our sympathy, will 
he next to inoperative so far as you are concerned, because, 
whatever your cares and troubles, we feel convinced that 
such tastes and aspirations have imparted to you many 
sources of happiness and comfort. A glorious thing will it 
he for our country when cottagers’ wives generally have 
such tastes. The husband would feel a pleasure in his 
garden, and spend his spare hours in his own house, because 
his neat-handed, pure-minded wife had made it of all others 
the most beautiful and attractive to him. We also feel 
pleased that in sowing your seeds you have acted so much 
in accordance with the articles on window gardening, be¬ 
cause, even supposing that you have not profited by them, 
but knew all about how to manage such things before, they 
show us that such simple instructions are likely to be useful. 
We regret that you have not been so successful as we think 
you ought to have been, but some of the seeds require more 
heat than you have been able to give them, and if the plants 
had come you could hardly do them justice. We will 
glance at them all in turns, merely premising that, as you 
have succeeded so well with Acrocliniumroseum , many of the 
other seeds ought to have made their appearance if all right, 
and neither covered too deep nor left too much exposed. 
AcrocUnium roseum. —We do not yet know a great deal of 
this plant, and as in your case we presume the pot is small, 
instead of potting off your seedlings we would advise shifting 
the whole into a larger pot, pressing them a little to the sides 
of the new pot to give them top room. If still rather thick, 
take a few thinnings from the centre, and try them by 
planting three or so in a five-inch pot. 
Microsperma Bartonioides. —See what Mr. Beaton says of 
it, p. 219 last volume. As soon as it appears move little 
patches with your bodkin into similar pots, and sail them 
with water; as the soil gets dry set the pot in a pail until 
the soil gets wet enough without wetting the plants, or sail 
the pot all round by pouring the water on a piece of crock 
close to the side of the pot; watering overhead will be sure 
to injure it. As they grow, then move, but keep the pots 
in-doors in the window until the plants are a good size, when 
they will bloom in the autumn either inside or outside. 
The Browallia elata would have been better with more 
heat; you might move it to the fireplace at night until it 
was up. Pricked off and grown on, you might expect little 
blooming plants in September. It is too tender for a window 
annual unless great care is taken of it. 
Anomatheca cruenta. —If these had been placed near the 
chimney corner at night many of the seedlings would have 
bloomed late. In your case, now, we should not expect 
many to do so. When fairly up it would be well to encourage 
growth by free watering, until the leaves began to be yel¬ 
lowish ; then refrain, and let the soil become gradually dry, 
and in that soil'keep the little bulbs all the winter, or take 
them out and keep them in saucers covered with dry sand. 
Plant in spring as they begin to move, and next summer 
you will have neat little window plants in bloom. 
Schizopetalon Walkeri .—A very singular white little an¬ 
nual, which will merely require to be thinned out if thick, 
and will bloom well inside the window, or outside after June. 
It ought to come up well in the window. 
Clintonia pulchella and elegans. —The seed;} of these should 
merely have a dusting of a covering, and the surface should 
be kept moist by shading the glass that covers it. As 
soon as handleable prick the seedlings off in patches, and 
they will thrive well inside the window, or outside after 
June. 
I 1 Iiunhergia. You could only succeed with this in a win¬ 
dow by keeping the pot moist, and placing it in a saucer over 
the oven or boiler at the side of the fireplace at night. 
You could not do much with it in a window even then, as it 
requires a good moist heat when young, and without this it 
becomes a prey to red spider and other insects. We have 
often tried it out of doors in summer in Hertfordshire, but 
with little success. We have had it good against walls in 
London. Mr. Cockburn, at Kenwood, used to have fine 
wreaths of it running along chains in the flower garden, 
which looked beautiful. The seeds are so hard that they 
vegetate more freely when immersed in water previously for 
a few hours at a temperature of 90°. 
Scypantlius. —These are-rather hardy annuals from Chili, 
and should have been up if kept damp enough. They will 
merely require thinning and dividing to bloom out of doors 
in summer and autumn. The genus frequently goes under 
the name of Grammatocarpus. A little care should he used 
in handling them, as, like the Bartonia, they have acrid 
properties. 
Sabbatia. —These are mostly American biennials, and will 
not bloom until late this year, if at all, but will flower the 
next season. All are marsh or boggy plants, and therefore 
the seed pot should stand in a saucer supplied with water. 
The same precaution should he used when growing them 
in pots. 
Mimulus. —Another correspondent wishes to have seed¬ 
lings of these to ornament her house in early summer. It 
is now too late to sow. Unless these marsh-loving plants are 
kept very moist and in a saucer they do not thrive well in 
summer. For house work they are very ornamental until 
June or the beginning of July when sown in September, or 
the plants divided into separate little pieces at that time. 
Seeds sown now, and when up pricked out into a moist, 
shady place, would bloom well at the end of summer and 
autumn. At Mr. Wood’s, Bedford Nursery, Hampstead 
Road, we lately saw thousands of Mimuluses in little pots in 
full bloom, of almost every conceivable shade and variety of 
colour, from sedd sown in autumn, and we understand there 
was a great demand for them. We also perceived that at the 
same establishment they continue to be as successful as ever 
with that beautiful plant the Daphne odora rubra. 
Schizanthus. —In answer to several inquiries we would say, 
to have it bloom out of doors in autumn all the varieties 
may be sown there at the end of May. To bloom earlier 
sow in spring under glass, and prick or plant out in 
May. To have fine flowering plants in pots in the green¬ 
house in spring and early summer sow early in September, 
prick off into small pots as soon as handleable, and after 
being somewhat established keep them in an airy, sunny 
place near the glass all the winter, and as soon as the day 
begins to shorten give them more pot room, so as to en¬ 
courage good large bottom leaves before the flower-stems 
rise, and the sight will be worth looking at.] 
PLANTING AN ORCHARD. 
“ I am about to inclose an acre of waste land neai\Uok- 
field, Sussex, and purpose planting it as an orchard solely, 
with a selection of fruit trees taken from your lists in the 
first volume. The soil is a stiff clay, and I think rather a 
sandy subsoil, very retentive of moisture; and I shall, in 
the first place, have it thoroughly drained in the autumn, 
and thrown up into ridges until the following spring, and 
then plant the trees. On some parts there is very little of 
what they call mould, and I would ask your advice as to 
whether you think such a site eligible for the purpose, and 
should feel obliged with any hints that may suggest them¬ 
selves to you as to the modus operandi . The ground slopes 
to the east, or a little south-east, and the sorts I have 
selected I will briefly enumerate. 
“ Kitchen Apples. —John Apple, or Northern Greening. 
This is much cultivated in the wild part of the country 
I am speaking of. King of Pippins, Norfolk Beaufin, 
Bedfordshire Foundling, Minshall Crab, Dumelow’s Seed¬ 
ling, Blenheim Pippin, Keswick Codling, Manks Codling. 
Table Apples. —Early Harvest, Early Reel Margaret, Kerry 
Pippin, Hicks’ Fancy, Pearson’s Plate, Ribston Pippin, Old 
Nonpareil, Lamb Abbey, Sturmer Pippin, Mannington Pear- 
main, Barton’s Free Bearer. 
“ Plums. —Preeoce de Tours, Morocco, Drap d’Or, Green¬ 
gage, Royal Hative, Reine Claude Violette, Coe’s Golden 
Drop, Washington, Jefferson’s, Magnum Bonum. 
“ Pears .— Citron des Cannes, Jargonelle, Dunmore, Wil¬ 
liams’s Bon Chretien, Beurre d’Amanlis, Aston Town, Marie 
