THE COTTAGE GAEDENEE AND COUNTEY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, August 18, 1857. 317 
of caustic, and unwittingly making myself a merry Andrew 
for a considerable time afterwards, only, as fate would have 
it, I had just about that time fought and conquered the big¬ 
gest boy in the school, which made matters more tolerable 
for me. 
Well, on the following day I paid my visit to Stonesfield 
Eectory, and surely there was an etfect to be seen on Mr. 
Eobinson’s hand in form most palpable. It appeared and 
felt like a badly-blistered burn or scald, but no sign as yet 
had come over my own. I felt incredulous, so when passing 
the stump of the stalk—the origin of the discovery—I 
inflicted a fresh incision on it with my knife, and operated 
on my left hand again. This was on the Friday. On Satur¬ 
day morning, whilst washing, I noticed that the backs of my 
hands looked slightly red from the knuckles to the wrists, 
and a queer suspicion arose in my mind. Sunday the parts 
were hot and burning—very disagreeable; Monday the left 
hand badly blistered; Tuesday not quite so bad ; Wednesday 
I could bear the parts to be touched with tolerable freedom ; 
Thursday, midnight, as I am penning this achievement, the 
state of my hands may be compared to a hand afflicted with 
the Scotch fiddle; therefore, having stated these cases, I 
trust they may induce caution in persons, particularly chil¬ 
dren, not to handle carelessly the fresh-cut stems or stalks 
of the Ileracleum giganteum. 
As a tag to this communication I beg to add a few lines 
descriptive of our productions, past and future, in these 
parts. Early Peas, Beans , and Potatoes have been of first- 
rate quality. Some patches of late Potatoes,'few and far 
between, are slightly affected with the disease at present; 
but the main crops of Potatoes generally look remarkably 
well. All the Second Earlies are ready to take up, and, as I 
grow no other sorts to depend upon, my own crop is safe, 
and, as usual, abundant. Late Marrowfat Peas are affected 
with mildew, though in my own case, thanks to the soapsuds, 
it has not harmed them severely. Would not the boite d 
liouppe prove an extinguisher for the mildew on late Peas? 
Onions are good; Carrots, partially so ; Kidney Beans , both 
Dwarf and Eunners, are affected by the drought; Celery 
depends on the treatment it receives ; and the main crops of 
Broccoli and other winter Cabbageworts are strong in their 
established quarters everywhere excepting the sloven’s. 
Apricots are a failure generally, more so than last year; but 
the trees are looking very healthy, which last year they did 
not. Apples and Pears are abundant, though partial, for in 
some places I notice them to be very thin. My own trees 
are doing their duty well; and no insects, with the exception 
of some red spiders I lately perceived on some branches of 
a Pear tree against a wall, have dared to show their faces on 
them since I made the application of scalding diluted am- 
moniacal gas liquor last year. Plums and Cherries are a 
meagre crop ; but as for my Grapes the tendrils turn to 
bunches, so draw your own conclusion for the present: I 
hope to send you word of them again. Boses have been 
subject to much blight this season. 
It is an excellent honey season in these parts, though all I 
shall state about my bees now is, that I have a Payne’s hive 
and a Fenn’s Woodstock alliance hive working side by side. 
I have taken 20 lbs. of honey in supers from Payne’s hive, 
and 40 lbs. of honey in supers from Fenn’s hive—beautiful, 
first-rate honey. 
A correspondent this week inquires something about “bee 
traps.” I think I guess what he means. When I remove a 
super from the top of a hive I turn it upside down on a 
table removed a few yards away from the parent stock, and I 
then place over the orifice in the adapting board a dessert 
finger-glass. The bees make their exit in quantities up 
into the glass, which I lift off every few minutes, shako them 
into the air, and replace the glass quickly. Thus all the 
bees are got rid of in a short time to return to their home, 
and not one robber has the slightest chance to make his 
way, in the meantime, into the super, to steal the honey. 
I am glad to read your veto on the Poland cock’s comb 
question this week. We think a Polish cock minus a comb 
to be the acme of perfection, and we have a fellow now in 
our walk not to be despised for his appearance, though not 
one particle of comb has he got to his crown.— Upwards 
and Onwards. 
NOTES FEOM THE CONTINENT.—No. 8. 
BEELIN. 
Berlin possesses no market devoted exclusively to the 
products of the garden ; but fruit and vegetables are sold in 
all the principal market-places. The most important of 
these is the one in the Gendarmes Platz, which every alter¬ 
nate day presents a most animated scene. The place is a 
very large square, the centre occupied by the Eoyal Theatre, 
on each side of which is a church. All three are fine 
buildings, and the houses stand back far enough to show 
them to advantage. Around and between these are stalls 
for the sale of meat and fish; china and glassware; clothes, 
boots, and shoes ; singing birds and poultry; butter, cheese, 
and bread; hay, straw, and corn; basket ware; and, lastly, 
fruit, vegetables, and flowers. Fruit pies and puddings being 
almost unknown in Germany, there is not so great a demand 
for the smaller fruits, such as Currants and Gooseberries, 
as one would at first expect to find in a city of 418,000 in¬ 
habitants. Cherries were in great abundance, and there 
were a few small Apples and Pears. One dealer had also 
some green Mulberries, and there were large quantities of 
Bilberries (the fruit of Vaccinium myrtillus ), collected by 
children in the forest. None of the finer or indoor fruits 
were to be seen, no Pine Apples or Grapes, nor even Peaches 
or Plums. It would appear that there is rather more than 
an ordinary crop of most kinds of fruit this year in Ger¬ 
many, particularly of Apples. As with the fruit so with the 
vegetables, there was little of interest in either. New 
Potatoes were abundant and fine; there were also large 
quantities of Kohl-rubi, Cabbage Lettuces, young Carrots, 
Cucumbers, and a few Dwarf Beans. Plants in pots con¬ 
sisted of Fuchsias, Balsams, Myrtles, Hydrangeas, Ivy, a 
few sorts of summer annuals, and two species of small¬ 
leaved, dense-growing Peperomias. Ten-week Stocks formed 
the greater proportion of the cut flowers, but there were 
also some prettily-made-up bouquets. I was particularly 
struck with some bouquets made of Eoses ; between each 
Eose, and standing rather more prominently than they, 
were sprigs of the small white-flowered Gypsophila elegans. 
This old plant, which is a native of the Crimea, the Germans 
call “the Lady’s Veil,” and it is extensively grown for 
bouquet making by all the florists here. There were a few 
Cochin-China fowls for sale in the market, and it is worthy 
of remark that the taste for poultry-keeping, following as it 
frequently does that of gardening, is on the increase in this 
neighbourhood. At the Zoological Garden there is a collec¬ 
tion of all the best sorts. A new work upon their manage¬ 
ment has just been published, and many persons have 
commenced keeping them. 
When speaking in a former letter of the Thier Garten 
want of space prevented my alluding to another public 
pleasure ground on the opposite (eastern) side of Berlin. 
Its merits are far greater than those of the other place ; the 
ground is somewhat undulating, and it is laid out with 
winding walks and beds of shrubs in very good taste. Tho 
worst feature in it is that the grass is so coarse, rough, and 
burnt. It is called Friedrichs Hein, after Frederick the 
Great, whose bust stands on a granite pedestal in the 
highest part of the ground. It has been laid out only eight 
or nine years. The victims of the revolution of 1848—that 
is, those who fell upon the democratic side—were here in¬ 
terred, and for several years afterwards the graves were 
regularly visited by the friends of the deceased upon the 
9th of March ; but, as it was thought impolitic to allow 
this display of feeling, the spot has been so thickly planted 
with dwarf Acacias that it is impossible to penetrate the 
thicket.— Karl. * 
PHOTOGKAPHY FOE GAEDENEES. 
“ Science is a ladder set, 
None have reached its top as yet; 
Many steps have been attained. 
Others shortly will be gained.” 
My friend and your correspondent, E. Copland, Chelms¬ 
ford, has furnished some practical and economical instruc¬ 
tions under the head of “ Photography for Gardeners,” 
showing how the portraits of plants may be easily taken; 
