THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, October 13, 1857. 
27 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
VEGETABLE MARROW AT THE HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY'S GARDEN. 
“Mr. Beaton forgets wlien lie writes those amusing and 
interesting letters that he is addressing novices as well as 
the initiated. For my part I have not the slightest notion 
about the Horticultural Society beyond its name, or Chiswick 
Garden, or Surbiton, or Sir W. Middleton, or Dr. Beck, all 
mentioned in the article on Vegetable Marrows; but the 
name or description ‘ of the best kind,’ which would be so 
useful to we amateurs, is entirely omitted. Is it the Long 
Green, or the Round Green, or the Bound Yellow ? I have 
grown all three kinds this summer in my small garden, and 
for flavour think the latter unsurpassed, though the colour 
when cooked is that of a Swede Turnip. One that weighed 
10! lbs. we found to be equal, if not superior, to the small 
ones usually eaten. As for cooking “ Matereamilias ” begs 
to tell Mr. Beaton that, however good his plan of dish¬ 
ing up the Marrows may be, it is most likely they would be 
cold before reaching the table, and a better way, I apprehend, 
is to pare and cut them in quarters; take out the seeds; 
•boil them from ten minutes to a quarter of an hour in plenty 
of water; lay them quickly, the hollow side downwards, upon 
a drainer in a vegetable dish, and serve with rich white 
sauce in a separate tureen. They will be found delicious. 
In these days of amateur gardening, when everybody 
whose plot of ground is larger than a cheese plate attempts 
to rear this useful and rapidly-growing vegetable, it is well 
to know the best mode of cooking as w r ell as the best kind 
worth cultivating, and I shall be glad to learn if the sort 
Mr. Beaton mentions is the same as my own, the name of 
which I am quite unacquainted with.”— Matereamilias. 
[The best of all Vegetable Marrows, by many degrees, is 
the kind mentioned by Mr. Beaton. It is of the Turk's Cap 
section, extremely odd-looking, and when full grown and 
ripe will not weigh more than from 3 lbs. to 5 lbs. Very 
seldom will it reach 5 lbs. in England. We shall hear of it 
by and by, and some one will try to make a fortune by sell¬ 
ing anything for it, therefore beware. “Matereamilias” 
is neither just nor generous. Mr. Beaton knows well for 
whom he w T rites. He does not know the name of the Gourd 
he wrote about, however ; but the “ slightest notion ” from 
the Horticultui’al Society, Sir W. Middleton, or Dr. Beck 
might make it known, therefore are they mentioned; and as 
to Surbiton, on the principle of “ no place like home ’’ only 
is it named. Mr. Beaton has “ not the slightest notion ” of 
the kind of Gourd which “ Materfamilias ” has found to 
be the best, although he knows fourteen kinds of “ round 
yellow ” Gourds; but he knows a better Gourd than all of 
them put together—a pear-shaped, yellow kind, and if 
“ Matereamilias ” will send him a stamped envelope he 
will return half a dozen of the seed, when they are ripe, to 
“ Materfamilias,” with his best thanks for the cooking 
hint, and would tell her in return that custardised Vegetable 
Marrow, if iced as he often did, is one of the scarce 
•luxuries; so in one shape at least it can never come to table 
too cold.] 
PEACHES DROPPING AND DECAYING 
BEFORE RIPE. 
“ I shall feel much obliged to any one giving me informa- 
' tion as to what can be the cause of my Peaches dropping off 
| the trees before they are ripe. They show a very large hole 
where they separate from the footstalk, generally diseased, 
j I have cut open some of the fruit, and found the stone to 
open with the least pressure, and within I find a small 
1 mouldy seed. The disease will attack other fruit on the 
side, and spreads very quickly over the fruit affected, and 
finally it gets covered with a white warty-like fungus, 
| which makes the Peach have the appearance of a lyco- 
’ perdon (puff ball) hanging on the wall. The border is a 
black loam, resting upon a cold, gravelly clay, which appears 
to be full of iron. Apricots and Plums are subject to the 
same disease.”—J. S., Surrey. 
[The origin of the evil we consider is the clayey, cold, 
j irony subsoil. Such a subsoil checks the action ol the roots, 
chills them, and prevents their supplying sap sufficient to 
keep pace with the rapid growth of the fruit. Whenever 
this happens gangrene appears, such as shauking and the 
spot in Grapes, and after this gangrene appears the fungi 
quickly appear to feed on the corruption, which is their 
favourite pasturage. Draining the soil, cutting away the 
deep-striking roots, and manuring the surface to keep the 
roots in its vicinity are the best remedies. This premature 
decay of stone fruit is also occurring in America, for we 
have the following from the Ohio Farmer :— 
“ The crop of Plums the present season is unusually 
large. Trees that for several years had dropped their whole 
crop of fruit from the effects of the curculio are now bend¬ 
ing down with a rich load. The curculio had stung part, 
but only enough to benefit those left by a moderate thinning. 
It was not until the fruit approached maturity that the rot 
became apparent, and, as far as was observed, it prevailed 
principally among the green varieties, the red and purple 
being generally exempt. The first symptom is a small 
discoloration on one spot, no particular part of the fruit 
being more or less liable than another. This spot is always 
of a purple hue, with a bluish white bloom. In the course 
of a day this discoloration will extend over the whole fruit, 
although a longer period is sometimes necessary. When 
the fruit is cut open the whole flesh is found to be disorgan¬ 
ised, the taste nauseous, with a slightly disagreeable smell, 
the latter increasing with the more thorough decay. The 
disease seems to attack fruit from the surface ; this can be 
easily seen by cutting a plum that has exhibited the first 
decayed spot. It will be found to extend over a larger 
amount of surface than it has xienetrated in depth, the first 
spot merely involving the layers of cells next the skin. After 
hanging on the tree for some time after rotting the fruit 
shrivels, and if it does not drop off will dry completely, but the 
diseased fruit generally drops off. When the rot is fairly 
established the skin becomes more or less covered with a 
small whitish fungus, which, bursting, emits a large number 
of comparatively large oval spores. The cells of the decayed 
flesh are broken up, and the mass is filled with very small 
thread-like filaments. We have examined Peaches and Crab 
Apples affected in the same manner, but the fungus on the 
surface of the Peach appears to be somewhat different. 
“ Whether this fungus is the cause of the rot, or grows 
upon the fruit in consequence of its decay, we do not knowr, 
but a nearly-related parasite is sometimes found on the Potato. 
We can see that the ramification of the fungus through¬ 
out the fruit may produce decay; but the growth of the 
parasite may not take place until decay is established. It 
is probable that atmospheric changes, like the cold nights 
and hot days of the latter part of August, may be the cause; 
and this is quite likely, for the chemical changes which the 
juice of the fruit undergoes just before ripening may be 
stopped, and by this means cause decay of its cellular tissue, 
i In this state fungoid forms will speedily make their appear¬ 
ance ; but, whatever is the cause, it will be well for fruit cul- 
turists to attend to this disease, and, if possible, discover a 
remedy.”] 
ANGELICA.—ERYSIMUM PEROFSKIANUM.— 
RANUNCULUSES. 
“1. Is it Angelica sylvestris that is used for making the 
preserve of that name ? If it is, wlien should it be gathered, 
and what is the receipt for making it ? ” 
[Angelica archangelica is the true medicinal kind, and the 
right kind for preserving, and the leaf-stalks are the parts 
used. There are full directions for its culture and preserving 
in our No. 363, p. 420, Yol. XIV.] 
“2. What book will best explain the arrangement of the 
Natural System as used by Hooker and Arnott in their 
‘ British Flora ? ’ ” 
[Hogg’s “ History of the Vegetable Kingdom,” after De- 
candolle, will explain the arrangement. Moreover, it is a 
work which deserves extensive circulation.] 
“3. Would Erysimum Perofskianum , if pegged down, and 
the flower-stalks cut off as soon as they go to seed, make a 
good bedding plant, and continue in flower till October ?” 
