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THE COTTAGE GAEDENEE AND COUNTEY GENTLEMAN, February 16, 1858. 
very different are some of the Potatoes grown in Lancashire, to j 
what they are in this neighbourhood. In the former, they 
boil like a ball of flour ; in the latter they are like a ball of 
wax; but, I think it must be admitted, that more Potatoes are 
condemned through bad cooking, than from any other cause. 
The more waxy the Potato, the more salt will be required 
for the water to boil them in. 
In raising new varieties, the following points are indis¬ 
pensable ; and, none but those that have such merits described 
below, should be submitted for sale to the public : for it is far 
more important to the public at large, to have a first-class 
Potato, than a first-class Grape offered to them. Potatoes are ! 
food for millions, while the Grape is only a luxury for the j 
rich. 
A good Potato should be in size, moderate ; shape, regular, 
that is, free from deep eyes, warts, and crooks ; skin, roughisli; 
when boiled, entireness, dryness, and firmness ; agreeable 
taste ; earliness; productiveness ; short haulm ; freedom from 
disease and long keeping. 
A large Potato is frequently hollow, and cannot be con¬ 
veniently cooked, and is also liable to be badly boiled. A 
warty or deep-eyed one suffers waste in peeling ; a smooth¬ 
skinned one is generally more waxy than a rough one; a 
bursting one, in boiling water, suffers loss; a firm and dry 
one, is mealy; an early-ripening one is less liable to be 
attacked by disease; and productiveness is requisite to make 
the crops profitable; short-liaulmed varieties can be planted 
closer together than long-haulmed ; freedom from disease is 
the great point we wish to acquire, and can certainly only be 
attained by peculiar methods of cultivation ; lastly, a good¬ 
keeping variety that retains its flavour, is indispensable, for the 
sake of affording its supplies up to the period of Midsummer. 
The history of those varieties, which are generally favourites 
now in cultivation, would, I am sure, be highly appreciated by 
your readers ; and I trust, that your correspondents that are 
in possession of the history of any well-known variety, will 
kindly communicate it through these valuable columns. Let 
us reason together, and see if we cannot come to some good 
understanding in this one neglected point. I promise to lend 
all the aid in my power, having grown over one hundred so- 
called varieties within the last four years.— Edward Bennett, 
Gardener to Sir O. P. Wakemen, Bart,, Berdiswell Hall, 
Worcester. 
Orange Wine. —The best time for making this is from 
the end of February to the middle of March. To every 
gallon of water, use one dozen of oranges (the best Seville), 
and three pounds of good loaf sugar. Pare half the oranges 
very thin. Put the sugar in the cask, squeeze the oranges, 
and put the juice into the cask ; wash the pulp, and strain as 
long as any juice remains, and add it to the rest. Pour fresh 
hot water on the rinds every day, and add the liquor to the 
juice in the cask till it is full. Stir it daily until the sugar 
is dissolved. Add to a 44-gallon cask a quart of brandy, 
and a little isinglass, and bung it up for a year. Betts’ 
patent brandy answers perfectly well. Bottle at the end of 
the year.—Z. 
NEW AND RAEE PLANTS. 
Dasylirium acrotrichuh (. Bearded-leaved Dasylirium). 
This belongs to the Natural Order of Asparaginesc. It has 
been also included in the genera Yucca , and Iloulinia. The 
name Dasylirium , means a succulent Lily. It was sent to 
Kew by Mr. Eepton, of Eeal del Monte, and is believed to be 
a native of Mexico.—( Botanical Magazine, t. 5030.) 
JEsCHYNANTHUS tricolor ( Three-coloured JEschynanthus ). 
A truly beautiful plant. Introduced from Borneo, by Mr. 
Low, of the Clapton Nursery. “Well suited to ornament 
basket work suspended from the roof of a moist stove. The 
branches droop considerably, and the flower-stalks, though 
the umbels are pendent, have an upward curvature, which 
adds considerably to the gracefulness of the species.” The 
flowers are ringent, and coloured scarlet, yellow, and black.— 
{Ilid. t. 5031.) 
Cattleya luteola ( Citron-coloured Cattleya). 
It has also been called C. modesta, Meyeri, and Jiavida. It 
flowered with Messrs. Eollison, of the Tooting Nurseries, in 
November, 1857. It is a native of Brazil.— {Ibid. t. 5032.) 
Colletia carer at a ( Cross-seined Colletia). 
It has also been called C. Bictoniensis , owing to some 
mistake in considering that it was a seedling malformation of 
C. spinosa. It is a native of South America. Dr. Gillies 
found it near Maldonado, on the shores of Banda Oriental.— 
{Ibid. t. 5033.) 
Gaultheria DISCOLOR {Two-coloured Gaultheria). 
A native of the temperate part of the Bliotan Himalaya. 
Discovered by Mr. Booth ; reared by Mr. Nuttall, of Nut- 
grove, near Bainhill, Lancashire. Flowers white and crimson, 
and under-side of leaves silvery. “A very elegant little 
species.”— Ibid. t. 5034.) 
Pilumna pragrans (Fragrant Pilumna). 
Called also Trichopilia albida. “ For this charming and 
deliciously-scented Orchid, the Eoyal Gardens are indebted 
to Lady Dorothy Nevill; whose good taste, and love of hor¬ 
ticulture, combined with those of Mr. Nevill, have made 
Dangstein already the site of one of the best private gardens \ 
in England.” The plant is said to be. a native of Popayan, 
and found by Mr. Hartweg. It flowered in December, 1857. 
{Ibid, t. 5035.) 
» ___ 
I 
Flowers Blooming in January. — Near Bradford, in 
Wiltshire, there were blooming — Jasminum nndiflorum ; 
Snowdrops, very fine; Pyrus Japonica, scarlet; Hepatica, 
double pink ; Crocus, yellow; and Anemones. 
