' 398 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, September 22, 1857. 
Azalea of North America found to the west of the Rocky 
j Mountains.”— {Ibid., t. 5005.) 
Agave densiflora {Close-Jlowered Agave). 
Supposed to be a native of Mexico. Scape six feet long. 
! Not beautiful enough to deserve culture.— {Ibid., t. 5000.) 
Grevillea alpestris {Mountain Grevillea). 
Native of South Australia ; bloomed in the greenhouse of 
j Messrs. Rollisson’s Nursery at Tooting last May. Flowers 
j not very bright red, passing into yellow in their upper half. 
1 “ In Australia it flowers throughout the year.”— {Ibid., t. 
\ 5007.) 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
KEEPING APPLES AND PEARS. 
“ As a subscriber would you oblige me with the informa¬ 
tion as to which is the best way of keeping Apples and 
Pears for the longest possible period for table use?”— 
G. G. S. 
[We had upon our table on the 26th of last July a dish 
of Stunner Pippins gathered in September, 1856, together 
with another dish filled with Early Harvest Apples of the 
present year. This is a tolerable proof that our system of 
keeping fruit is successful. It is told in a few words. We 
pay no attention to the old ignorant dogmas about putting 
fruit into heaps to sweat, and then wiping the fruit before 
storing. We gather the fruit during a dry day, and put it at 
once into earthen glazed pans deep enough to hold two or 
three layers of fruit, and each pan having a tightly-fitting 
lid. If the fruit sweats the exudation dries on the fruit’s 
surface, and helps to keep in the moisture and flavour. The 
cover helps to do the same, and to exclude the light. We 
keep the pans in a dry, cool room, and never wipe the fruit 
until required for dessert. Pears are kept equally well in 
this way, but they must be sedulously watched, for when a 
pear is ripe it should be eaten forthwith; its flavour after¬ 
wards diminishes daily. It is best to bring a few in a 
covered pan into a warm room to hasten their ripening, so 
that there may be a more protracted succession of them. 
The following remarks, taken from “ Hovey’s Magazine,” 
are well worthy of observance :— 
“ It should be distinctly understood that no summer Pear 
should be allowed to ripen on the tree ; there is no exception 
to this rule. There are a few which are barely eatable, but 
in most instances they are nearly worthless. Some become 
as dry and mealy as a baked potato, and not near so good ; 
while others rot at the core, though seemingly sound on the 
surface. It is because most of the summer Pears are allowed 
to ripen on the trees that many of the best varieties have 
been pronounced unworthy of cultivation. We have our¬ 
selves been astonished at the difference of quality in some 
Pear3, which had been picked only a day or two earlier or 
later than others ; and this difference long since induced us 
| to try experiments with several of the more capricious kinds. 
With one new variety we were quite puzzled to hit upon the 
exact period of gathering. One year we picked them very 
I early, but as they had not attained their growth, though 
juicy and good, they were quite astringent; the next year 
we gathered a few every three days till the last were fully 
: ripe on the tree, and by this means were enabled to ascertain 
; the right period. Those left on the trees until they were 
| nearly yellow were dry, flavourless, and scarcely eatable, while 
those gathered about ten days previously were deliciously 
melting and rich. Experiments with other kinds resulted 
in fixing the period of gathering the August Pears for house 
ripening from ten to fourteen days, though much depends 
on the season, vigour of the tree, &c. The only requisite is 
that the fruit should have attained its growth, and the 
sooner it is picked afterwards the better. This may be 
known to the cultivator by the change which takes place in 
the appearance of the fruit. Some of the defective speci- 
I mens will turn yellow and drop, while the others will assume 
a smoother and paler surface; the colouring on the sunny 
j side will be brighter, and the stem will become swollen, 
! particularly at the junction with the tree. These indicate 
that the period of maturity is approaching, and the fruit 
may be gathered and ripened. 
“ The ripening is a process as little understood as the 
period of picking, and various directions have been given on 
this subject by different writers, some advising fruit to be 
spread out upon shelves in the fruit room, and others to be 
kept in boxes and drawers, excluded from the light and air. 
We have found that very few early Pears will ripen well 
when exposed to the air on open shelves even in a tolerably 
close fruit room. At this season of the year the atmosphere 
is too dry, and the currents of air too great, and the juices 
are too rapidly exhausted. It is far better to place the fruit 
in boxes of moderate size, and let them stand in the fruit 
room, or some other cool and rather dark place, where they 
retain their juices better than if exposed on open shelves. 
We have tried this experiment, and found that those fruits 
kept in small quantities in a drawer shut out from the light 
were more juicy, higher flavoured, and more delicious than 
when preserved in other ways. As a general rule we should 
advise all early Pears to be placed in boxes or drawers, 
covered with one or two thicknesses of paper, and kept 
excluded from light and air, where the temperature is cool 
and as even as possible at that season. A damp, cool cellar 
is not so favourable a place as a cool, dry room, as the 
former checks the ripening process too suddenly. Such a 
situation will do for the autumn and winter Pears, but not 
for the early kinds.”] 
DELPHINIUM FORMOSUM BLOOMING TWICE. 
“ The Delphinium formosum (see p. 351) was sown, Fe¬ 
bruary 28tli, in a seed-pan, and placed in a cold frame. When 
the seedlings were sufficiently advanced they were pricked 
off into pots, and planted out in May. Of course they are 
not so strong as they will be another year. One plant is 
throwing up very strong stems for the second crop of flowers. 
I do not think it is so handsome as D. magnifleum, which, to 
my mind, is the best when well grown.”—A. B. 
[Very good, and therefore it may safely be predicted that 
this and other perennial Larkspurs may be sown in pots and 
pans in September, and kept in pits, frames, or greenhouses 
like scarlet Geraniums, and be in bloom before the end of 
May in the open ground, or, with a very slight increase of 
temperature, come in for mixing with forced and spring 
flowers to decorate and diversify the show-house and con¬ 
servatory.] 
BOSE PILLARS.—WINTERING BEDDING PLANTS. 
“ I am desirous of getting up some Bose pillars, and I wish 
to know how I am to prune the different sorts for the purpose. 
I am told that Ruga and Felicite Perpetuelle (climbers) 
should not be pruned at all, and I think I have also read 
that for pillars the plants should be cut down the first two 
years very close to the ground in the winter. I wish to 
have the following Boses for pillars:— 
“ Ruga. —Plant has made three good shoots five feet long. 
“ Felicite, ditto. 
“ Jules Margottin (perpetual).—Plant two years old; was 
not closely pruned last winter, and is growing only at top, 
and very slowly. 
“ William Griffiths (perpetual). — Plant one year old, 
growing vigorously. 
“ As the advice given me is conflicting your instructions 
as to how to prune the above for my purpose will oblige. 
Also, will it be safe to winter bedding plants in a cold green¬ 
house—that is, without artificial heat?”—A Novice. 
[It is only when climbing Roses as pillar Boses are fully 
established and have nearly filled their places that pruning 
can, or ought to be, dispensed with in a great measure; that 
is, an annual cutting back of all shoots; but all plants in 
cultivation, from a forest of Oaks to a bed of Mignonette, 
require to be thinned more or less occasionally, and so 
must all Boses. One general rule is quite applicable for 
all perennial climbers in Great Britain and Ireland, and to 
most of our colonies, and that rule is that at the end of the 
first growing season every one of them ought to be cut down 
to within one foot of the ground, even if they or any of 
