329 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, February 23, 1858. 
in the matter, instead of at once taking up your plants, and placing 
them in a hotbed, it would be advisable to take them up carefully, and 
place or pack the roots in large pots, and then by placing these pots in 
your hotbed, yon can increase or lessen the heat at the roots, by raising 
or lowering, or adding fresh manure to the bed at pleasure. We have 
seldom known Sea-kale out of doors, and also placed in the dark in 
hotbeds, so greatly over-heated at first, that the buds were burnt, 
and the roots too, and only some small heads obtained ; or, perhaps, 
the whole mass of roots rotted into a saponaceous matter. Begin with 
a temperature of about 55°, and never let it get much above 60° or 
65’, if you wish for a first-rate, short, stubby dish, and as white as 
driven snow. The longer the head gets, the more watery it is. From 
four, to six, and seven inches, may be looked upon as good lengths. 
We should be sorry to cut the roots of very old Vines, and especially 
if the border is not wider than eight feet. If young and vigorous, it 
might not have mattered so much, though in their case, as well as in 
the present case, we would advise picking neatly about wnat roots you 
come to, and laying them in good soil, after your drain is made. The 
drainage may do great good, if there is stagnant water in the border; 
without that, there may not be any necessity for it. Suppose you dig a 
few holes to that depth, and see if the water stands in them for any 
length of time. Of course, you mean to have an outfall for the drain, 
as one mode of preventing the water standing at the depth of four 
feet. If your Vines are very old, and draining is advisable, would it 
not be well to plant a few Vines every year, and renew the border l 
Cheap Vineries.— “ Investigator ” has thought much of some plans 
and descriptions by Mr. Ferguson. He proposes having some span 
houses, with twelve-feet rafters, sash-bars on each side, facing east 
and west; the houses standing north and south. He has seen some¬ 
thing of the kind at Stowe, but he is in doubt how to place these rafters. 
He contemplates using enough of heat, by means of a hot-water pipe, 
just to keep all safe; and not to force,* at least, not much, though 
he would like early and late Grapes. He has an idea, that both for late 
and early Grapes, steep-roofed houses would be best, and, therefore, he 
would make his twelve-feet rafters meet in the middle ridge-board, so 
as to have twelve feet or so for the base of an equilateral triangle ; 
the side plates being fixed to posts about fifteen inches above the ground. 
But then he is aware, that by such means he will have much less room 
for wintering flowering and bedding plants, less head room, ire., than 
if he had his roof flatter, and the side-wall plates higher ; and council 
is asked. ‘Will some one condescend to teach this inquirer, who seems 
quite as fit to teach as to learn. There can be no question, that the 
twelve-feet base to the two twelve-feet sloping sides, will suit best for 
early and late vineries, as scarcely a ray of light will be lost, when of 
most importance, and Grapes will hang better, than under a flat roof. 
There is also no question, that by raising the side walls to three or 
four feet, you will bring the width of your house to nearly eighteen 
feet, instead of twelve, and will have more head room, and con¬ 
venience far plants; but then you would not have a good crop of 
autumn Grapes. The two things must be considered by the person 
most deeply interested, or suppose that several houses of various 
heights in the side walls be designed, and then devoted to the purposes 
most suitable. MTU some kind friend help us to get our correspondent 
; out of his difficulty 1 
Gold ex Stoxecrop ■ TF. Elliot). —Tours is a wrong idea of a na¬ 
tural phenomenon. The Golden Stonecrop cannot be reproduced by 
‘ ‘ shading the green portion of a plant with mats or other light ma¬ 
terial till it is blanched.’’ Rhubarb, Sea-kale, Celery, and other com¬ 
mon vegetables, are prepared on the same principle, "that is, by keeping 
them from the light. Greens, Cabbages, and Turnip-tops, may also be 
“ blanched ” in the same way, and some of the kinds would turn 
yellow under the process. “ Scdum aureumj' yon say, “ is not a 
variety, commonly so called.” If not, it is, most certainly, not a 
blanched effect, but the very contrary. (“ Yours is in the sun, pro¬ 
bably.’ - , So it is, and without being “in the sun,” the chances are, 
that it would not alter from green to yellow. The true state of the 
question is this —the Golden Stonecrop is only the common Sedum 
i acre, with the yearly growth turned yellow, as soon as the growth is 
ripe in the autumn. The cause of this yellowness is the same as the 
cause of the leaves of the Virginian Creeper turning purple, when they 
are ripe ; but the normal form of this kind of Stonecrop being green, 
the yellow is a departure from the normal state, which we^ call a 
“ sport.” Onr Golden Stonecrop is now turning most beautifully into 
the ripe and yellow condition, under a south ■wail full in the sun. The 
cause of the delav in our plants turning yellow, was this. "W e had 
them from a worthy friend in Yorkshire, late in the su mm er, and they 
took to a vigorous growth soon after, and that growtu had not suffi¬ 
cient time to ripen and turn yellow at the usual time in the autumn, 
but the more it is in the sun, and the higher and more scanty its food, 
up on the high cliffs of our highest rocks, the less it will grow, and 
the sooner, in the autumn, that growth will ripen, and when ripe it 
will assume the yellow tint. The fresh growth in the spring comes 
green, like other plants, and keeps green till the autumn, but being an 
“evergreen,” the “autumnal tint” remains till it is replaced by a 
new growth. 
Grass for Edging {G. BJ. —It is Isolepis grand!*, and can be ob¬ 
tained of any London nurseryman. VTe published a sheet manual ot 
kitchen garden operations; but the copies are all sold, and we have 
not a copy left to reprint from even! 
Leviatkax Pear {W.H.H., L.D .).—We have no reason to doubt 
Messrs. Clarke and Co.’s statement: and there is no reason, if the 
weight was attained, why you should not, in a sheltered situation in 
Gloucestershire, attain similar fruit upon an espalier tree. Buy “ Fruit 
Gardening for the Many.” published at our office, price 4 d. You will 
find there" select lists. .Any of the Apples, .Pears, and Plums there 
named will suit you. Your Hamburgh Cockerel has a slight oozing of 
blood upon the brain, causing partial paralysis. The time which has 
elapsed will be a bar to any claim against the vendor. Keep the bird - 
quiet — attempt to catch hi'm might cause immediate death. Give him 
soft food, and abundance of green food. We knew a hen recover from 
a similar attack, and live for two years after. 
Error.— At page 296, Tritonia should have been Tritoma media. 
Chemistry of the World (Jf. S., Kilmarnock ).—It is the fault of 
either your bookseller, or of his London agent, for it i3 published every 
Thursday. No. 21 appeared on the 18th, and No. 22 will appear on 
the 25th." About eight more numbers will complete the work. 
Flower Seed Sowing (A Subscriber). — The Petunia, Geranium, 
and other seeds which yon enumerate, should be sown in March. 
Camellia ( James Carren). —All the petals were shed. 
Garden Vase (-}.—A large, Etruscan-shaped Yase, stone-coloured, 
is capable of being made very handsome on a lawn. We prefer it sur¬ 
rounded by, and filled, with" flowers. Examples may be seen in the 
Crystal Palace Gardens. 
Name of Ferx—Species op Dahlia (IT. B. Frognal ).— Your Fern 
is the Scale Fern, Ceferach officinaru e. Can any of our readers say 
where our correspondent can obtain either of the following old Dahlias 
— Jj. crocata , L>. t utea, D. coccinea, and the Anemone-flower Dahlia! 
Names of Plants (-7. P ., Borougbbridge ).— Your plant is the early- 
flowering Dogwood, commonly known as the Cornel Cherry, Cornus 
mascuta . It is the more striking, because it is seldom seen now-a- 
davs. It is one of the earliest ot onr shrubs, and very pretty, gene¬ 
rally flowering about the beginning of February. It bears handsome 
berries, which, were formerly used for tarts. Its wood is particularly 
hard. “Made into wedges,” says Evelyn, “it will last like iron.” 
C. G. R. .—Your Fern is Lasircea dilatata. Small fronds of it. (Jf. 
Jf.. .—Your plant is the Sparmannia Africana. A plant not very com¬ 
mon! v to be seen, except in botanical collections, beautiful as it is. 
IT. jf.).— Lintim trigynum , or Three-styled Flax. At page 198, of 
our thirteenth volume, it is noticed, but spelt iigrinum, by mistake. 
Navies of M<*sses {Moss Rose ). — 1 . Ilypnum dentieulatum. 2. 
Mnium undulatum. 3. Ilypnum proli/erum. 4. Ilypnum squarro- 
sum (chiefly). 5. Ilypnum dentieulatum, mixed with others. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
February 22nd and 23rd. South-East Hants. -See., Mr. James 
James, Fareham. Entries close February 10th. 
February 25th, 2bth, and 27th. Hereford, dec., Mr. Thomas Birch, 
Hereford. _ _ Ar _ 
Je~xe ~ 1 ti ri j 3rd, and 4tn* Bath and Vest of England. Set ., Air. 
John Kingsbury, Hammet Street, Taunton. 
N.B .—Secretaries trill oblige us by sending early copies of their lists. 
POULTRY PRIZES AND PRICES. 
Redeeming promises, made long since, we turn our atten¬ 
tion to Poultry Shows, now that the season is over; and it 
is the proper time, because m a n y Co mmi ttees are thinking of 
the lists for 1858. 
It is so many years since such id hows were instituted, that 
they can no longer be treated as ephemeral things : they are 
not only established, but their proportions increase every 
year, and now it is desired to make them permanent. To ; 
accomplish this, they must be made not only self-supporting, 
but should always leaye sufficient balance to neutralise the 
effect of had weather, or any one of the many causes that 
may influence the public attendance. It is most desirable that 
lists may be so made and arranged, that a falling off in 
visitors shall not of necessity cause a loss to the projectors : 
the greatest portion of the burden of the expenses should be 
borne by the exhibitors, beeause the profit goes to them : it 
must be recollected, that the prize takers are not the only 
persons benefited; many, who seldom take a prize, always 
sell a pen, and return real winners from every biiow. While 
the value of the prizes, offered for competition, has been 
multiplied by four, and in some cases by five, the entry money 
has on the other hand remained the same, or been but little 
increased. Taking also from the early days of Shows, we 
shall find that the value of the fowl shown m every class has 
increased enormously ; although it ebbs and flows, and sub¬ 
ject to the same laws as more important things, would appear 
to be in greatest danger of a tall when it has attained its 
greatest height: still, either the average of a number of years, 
or the present actual value of any breed, will show a great 
increase, caused entirely bv Exhibitions. Take Cochins—they 
have made £50, but any good and successful pen will readily 
make £10. Dorkings—how many are sold at .Birmingham at 
from £2 10s. to £6 each ; some have made £25 each. 
Spanish—there was a time when 12s. formed the price ot a 
capital Spanish fowl, some have since made from £50 to £80 
each; but the fortunate claimant of a good pen at ten guineas, 
or a really good single cock at £5, is envied now by every 
one. Polands—how often do the prize pens change owners, 
at ten guineas. Game—ten guineas is a moderate price, and 
