296 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY 
be at in procuring it. I am also much in want of some ! 
bulbs of the true Leucojum autumnale. The bulbs of this , 
plant are not larger than peas, and the leaves are not j 
broader than those of a fine Grass. 
“ In reading your most interesting little treatise upon j 
Ferns 1 find that Ceterach officinarum is spoken of as a 
plant of difficult cultivation. I have had it and propagated 
it by divisions for perhaps twenty-five years, and have 
never found any difficulty in keeping or propagating it. 
I plant it in small pots with sandy peat. I found it grow¬ 
ing upon the church of 'Wickham Ereux, a village a little 
way out of the road from Canterbury to Sandwich, about 
five miles from the former place, and eight miles from the 
latter. If I remember rightly the Fern grew abundantly 
upon the church; but, as churches are happily at the 
present day kept in better Order than they were a quarter 
of a century ago, it is not improbable that the Fern has dis¬ 
appeared from the church.”— Rev. Edward Sibions, Oving- 
ton , Walton , Norfolk. 
[The berries of the pretty little Alpine plant, Cornus Sue- 
cica, were among the first “ fruit” that we ever tasted, and 
we played our “ pranks ” amidst acres of it, with Trientalis 
Europiea, Porn assiu palustris , Piuguiculas , Droseras , and other 
mountain and marshy tinyworts ; but, without going down 
and hiring some shooting grounds in the Highlands, we 
know not how to get at these little gems in quantity. Cornus 
Suecica is one of the most difficult of our British plants to 
keep. It should be grown in soft, spongy peat, and com¬ 
pletely in the shade under some low bushes. It is always 
best fruited where the Heather is long enough to cover a 
body’s hurdies. Leucojum autumnale is also a difficult little 
bulb to keep. Dry, sandy loam, and a very dry, sunny place 
to grow in, and not to be disturbed, suit it best. The leaves 
are so grassy that their own weight bends them about into \ 
wavy shapes. We last saw it in the Fine Apple Place 
Nursery.] 
BEDDING PLANTS. 
“ Pray tell us as soon as possible what is the real name 
of the blue bedding plant spoken so highly of by your 
correspondent, Mr. Thompson, for a really good blue bed¬ 
ding plant is just what we are all sighing for. 
“A good white bed is, I think, less difficult to obtain, 
as we shall now have the White Zelinda Dahlia, and as you 
say there are several white Geraniums even better than 
Hendcrsonii; and there are also in existence new double 
white Petunias as well as double purple, which, judging 
from their habits, are almost certain to make excellent bed- ! 
ding plants, and for a dwarf white bed nothing can surpass j 
Verbena Mrs. Halford: she will assuredly drive all other ; 
white Verbenas from the parterre. 
“ Perilla Nankinensis is certainly not more hardy than 
the Heliotrope, but it is still one of the most effective and 
useful annuals that has ever been introduced. 
“ I can hardly conceive Petunia Imperialis making a good 
bed, as, if it does flower in the open air at all, the flower 
is certainly not white.”—W. O. 
[Will “ W. 0.” first “tell us” how any one is to know 
what another one means unless that other tells his meaning 
himself? Perhaps Mr. Thompson will kindly help us to 
the name of his blue-flowered bedder. 
We must not be too sanguine about the White Zelinda 
or the double Petunias, but Mrs. Halford is just as you say, 
and always was ; but other mistresses grow old and make 
way for young ones, and why not Mrs. Ho/ford ? We have 
seen Perilla Nankinensis very effective in a row behind a 
row of dwarf scarlet Geraniums, and behind a row of dwarf 
yellow Calceolarias. Is this the effectiveness you mean ?] 
GENTLEMAN’^ COMPANION, August 11, 1857. 
name of Mona Cottage. The one plant has filled my frame, 
measuring ten feet long and five feet wide, and looks un¬ 
commonly healthy. I have topped it rather severely, and 
the dung has become cold; and I give it a bountiful sup¬ 
ply of liquid manure, or rather, sheep-dung and water, but 
I give it quite clear. I do not exactly understand the art of 
fertilising Cucumbers, though I have frequently seen it, and 
heard that they will grow as fine without fertilising as with. 
If you will make me acquainted with that art I shall feel 
it very much a favour bestowed upon me. I have to say 
that I never saw fewer male blossoms on a plant before, and 
though every joint throws out a fruit, still it does not thrive 
or come to perfection. I give plenty of fresh air by day and 
close up at night. Would a little bottom heat do supplied 
by a hot-water tank? I should very much like to be made 
acquainted with the best mode of fertilising. My mode has 
been merely to take the male blossom off and push it into 
the blossom on the fruit.”— F. S., a Friend. 
[If your male flower is dry, well supplied with pollen 
dust, and the female blossom is also dry, there is nothing 
more required than what you seem to have done to secure 
fecundation, unless it would be as well that the sun were 
shining at the time. This process is necessary to secure 
seeds, but not at all to secure good fine-shaped Cucumbers. 
We are old-fashioned enough to prefer young crisp Cucum¬ 
bers from eight inches to twelve inches in length, though 
we have grown them above two feet and like gun-barrels 
when we wanted. You seem to have an excess of luxuriance. 
See what Mr. Fish said lately on curtailing root action. 
This luxuriance is one reason why the fruit does not swell; 
another is that you leave too many on the vine. Try thin¬ 
ning them out so as to leave half a dozen or so in a light at 
one time. Your soaking might be right or wrong according 
to circumstances; but if the heat was gone we should only 
have watered so when the bed was very dry, and we should 
have heated the water to 80°. A little bottom heat by tank 
or dung lining would no doubt assist you, and so, after that, 
would a little air left on at night. We do not know the 
kind, and that, too, may be against you, for some very large 
kinds are poor bearers.] 
STOPPING VINES IN POTS. 
“ This year I have been growing a few Vines from 
buds in pots, and this morning, on ‘ stopping ’ the laterals 
on the said Vines, I found a few like the inclosed. Is it 
uncommon ? Can I perceive the fruit bunch on it or not ? 
The fruit-buds for next year are as ‘plump’ as you like, 
not one making a ‘ start,’ or likely to. The plants are 
seven feet high, and most of them have been stopped a 
month. I did not want them higher, so I stopped them for 
‘concentration.’ Was I right in so doing? 1 want them 
to fruit next year from three feet upwards. Would my 
taking out the under buds tend to strengthen those above ? ” 
—Hopeful. 
[We think your Vines must be in a good state from the 
laterals being so fruitful as to show several incipient bunches 
of fruit. You had better let a number of the laterals grow a 
little longer to avoid starting your primary buds. You are 
taking a rather singular mode in fruiting your rods about 
three feet from the base. As you want no fruiting shoots 
below that height we cannot see how you would do any 
harm in picking out the buds now, and thus you may con¬ 
centrate more organisable matter in the stem above as well 
as below; yet we do not see clearly how that could bo 
effected in a manner quite analogous to the caso mentioned 
in Mr. Fish’s essay to which you refer.] 
FERTILISING CUCUMBERS. 
“ What is the cause of my Cucumbers not coming to 
maturity ? They are very fruitful, but the fruit does not run 
out above as long as your linger, and then it makes a stand. 
I have not had more, 1 think, than four line fruits this 
season, varying from sixteen inches to twenty-three inches, 
the shortest being sixteen inches and the longest twenty- 
three inches, and very thick in proportion. It bears the 
CAMELLIAS DONE FLOWERING. 
“I have some very line Camellias, and they are placed 
completely in the shade, where they have done well until 
the last fortnight, when yellow leaves became very apparent. 
Might they not be placed in a sunny aspect? There are 
many directions in your valuable work, but this distinction 
of sun and shade does not appear to me to be dwelt upon.” 
—An Admirer of your Work. 
