163 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 15, 1S57. 
blanched, neither run nor decayed. Mind, the knife will pass 
through their middle. 
Onions. — Tripoli and Spanish for autumn. Reading, 
James Keeping , &c., for spring. These must be ripe, equal, 
and be free of thick necks. A “ knowing cove ” showed Tery 
large autumn Onions for spring ones. The necks were neatly 
twisted, and seemed to have no neck in them. The Judge 
untwisted the outside layer left, and showed exposed the neck 
that had been cut, and thus dexterously concealed. The 
cunning chap attempted to bluster, but got laughed down. 
Peas. —Every district has its favourites. Not hin g will 
stand before the best Marrows , as Jeyes' Conqueror , British 
Queen, very tall; and such dwarfer middle-height kinds as 
Milford Marrow and Mammoth Marrow. The Peas must be 
full-grown, and yet not hard. For gentry, they must not be 
half-grown, and be no harder than pellets of butter. 
Potatoes, Kidney.— Ash-leaved, Napoleon, Jacksons Im¬ 
proved, are a3 good early as late; and each district has some 
that do there best. The number must be equal in size, free 
of mark and disease, perfectly ripe and smooth, hardly show¬ 
ing where the eye or buds are. 
Potatoes, Early Fra we .— Ha nd worth Seedling, Round, 
Ash-leaved, Bread Fruit , &c. The conditions required are ripe¬ 
ness, cleanness, fair size, and freedom from eyes deeply sunk, 
because these involve waste in preparing them for the table. 
Radishes. — Red and White Turnip, Long, Short Top , and 
Wood's Fa/rly Frame. Clean, young, and crisp. 
Rhubarb. —Size being the t hi ng most aimed at, nothing 
beats Myatts Victoria. The Flford is best for early work. 
The stalks must be as equal as possible. 
Turnips.— Early Dutch , Farly Stove, and the Strap-leaved 
Turnip—a kind with tall, upright leaves. These, however 
large, must be crisp, young, without flaws, and solid to the 
core. 
Parsley, Curled. —And the more curled and compact the 
better. 
Artichokes, Globe. —Ought to be firm, compact. 
Cabbage, Red. —Colour good, no crack or fissure; head as 
firm as a cannon-ball nearly. 
Carrots.— Fa/rly Morn , Altringham, Long Red Surrey. 
The roots large, symmetrical, clean, straight, and free from 
horns. . 
Par3NIPS. — Mollow-crowned, Guernsey. Qualities as for 
Carrots. 
Celery. — Coles's Red and Seymour 1 s White. Solid, blanched, 
no bolting, no decay at the heart. 
Leeks. — Musselhorough and London. Large, white, well 
blanched.—R. F.] 
HOLLIES., TRANSPLANTING THEM AND 
RAISING THEM FROM CUTTINGS. 
How is it you have erred in replying to tout correspondent, 
Joseph Langley, page 135, in regard to Hollies ? We beg to 
say, Hollies transplant well now if with good balls, although 
the end of April is the best time; and we choose drv, open 
weather, for planting anything in preference to wet,* unless 
“ soddening ” the roots is the desideratum. 
Cuttings of Hollies strike very freely, and make the best 
plants ; and we can shew you whole quarters of them, from 
six inches to five feet; and also about 3,000 cuttings of this 
season, under liandlights. 
We are delighted at catching you in error at times. We 
consider your journal the very best practical work on gardening 
matters, but it proves the old adage about the weasel, kc .— 
Wm. Cutbush and Son, Mighgate Nurseries. 
[Many thanks. We recorded the results of our own ex¬ 
perience, though we knew many years since a nurseryman at 
Oxford, noted for his Hollies from cuttings. We heard of 
the success of our correspondent in striking Holly cuttings, 
and one of our travelling professors took note of it: still we 
adhered to our rule to record only what we know to be true. 
Now that Mr. Cutbush himself declares the fact accom¬ 
plished, it is no longer our duty to hold to our former con¬ 
viction. In reference to planting large Hollies, they may be 
planted, having good balls, any day in the year. In respect 
of the weather, dry weather is the best for planters in general; 
and moist, mild (not rainy) weather, the best for all ever¬ 
greens in particular.] 
CATALPA FODS. 
Me. Robson's account of these pods reminds me that it 
was nearly passed off, in Willis's Rooms, as a new kind of 
Kidney Bean by a notorious gardener the other day ; and 
were it not that Mr. Thomson's eye “caught it.” and detected 
the imposition in time, we should have had paragraphs and 
questions about a new Kidney Bean which has a very long 
sharp-pointed pod, and is more round than the pods of older 
kinds; nine or ten inches long ; and of the size of one's little 
finger. 
I saw it also this season, for the first time. Mr. Mammy, 
gardener to Lady Lambert, brought me some very handsome 
pods of it.—D.- Beaton. 
PERPETUAL SPINACH. 
In Mr. Fish’s account of the gardens of Sir Wm. Middleton, 
in The Cottage Gardener of November 17th, he wishes 
me to give some account of a Spinach we were talking about 
when 1 met him there, which I will gladly do. 
The Perpetual Spinach. — I have grown this four years, 
and have found it a very useful one, more especially in the winter 
of 1854 and 1855 ; when my winter Spinach being completely 
killed, and several other gardeners in this neighbourhood 
being equally unfortunate in losing their winter crops, I was 
pleased to be able to help them out of then difficulties, by 
supplying them occasionally with some of my Perpetual 
Spinach. In appearance it very much resembles the White 
Beet, but is not so large in the leaves, neither is it so much 
ribbed. It should be sown in the last week in March, or in 
the beginning of April, in drills about two feet apart; the 
plants to be thinned to about a foot apart in the row. It 
grows very rapidly, and will be fit to pick from very soon; 
and will continue to furnish a good supply all the summer 
and winter. The following season it runs to seed. It would 
be found very profitable to persons with small gardens, as it 
is very productive, and a few rows would give a supply for so 
long a time, which entirely does away with the successional 
sowings the other sorts require, and the uncertainty of losing 
your winter crop. This sort has never tailed since I had 
it. The name I had with it, was “ Perpetual Spinach;” and 
so, as a matter of course, that name I give with it. Edwd. 
R. Carpenter, Barr Mall Gardens, Birmingham. 
NOTES FROM A SMALL GARDENER. 
no. n. 
Sometimes autumn cuttings of ^ erbenas do not gc. on 
well in spring. Last March I was very successful by the 
following "plan :—When I separated a potful of cuttings, I 
planted them singly in three-inch pots, so that the first leaves 
above the roots "should touch the soil. Young roots were 
emitted which converted the autumn cutting into a strong 
spring-rooted plant. Do not put silver sand on the surface 
of the soil where there are seedling Calceolarias, unless you 
wish them to damp off. 
Of all the numberless Verbenas the best for a small garden 
are Lord Raglan, Furple King, Mrs. Mo ford. Defiance, 
Brilliant de False, Due d Aim id a, and Rougierii. These 
seven are of different colours, and will never disappoint. 
The scarlet Geraniums may also be reduced by a small 
gardener to six, namely, Tom Thumb, Reidii, Punch, Fxcel- 
lent, Trentham Rose, an improvement on Judy, and Baron 
Miigel. 
If we could but reduce the Rose lists ! Here are twelve 
good ones which will suit most:— General J.: ague mi mot. Prince 
~Leon, Lord Raglan, Geant, Baron Prevosf, Bourbon, Queen, 
Paul Joseph, Gloire de Dijon , Dupetit Thouars, August! 
Mie, Souvenir de Malmaison, and Wiliam GrifiRs. These 
are free fiowerers, hardy, and first - rate, and of different 
I colours. 
The Cineraria and Chrysanthenmm list shall be next looked 
I to.—W. F. G. 
