G5 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 3 , 1359. 
per pound for Barbadoes Aloes, and 8 d. for Cape Aloes ; but the 
Barbadoes is the best. It is stronger, and does not cause so much 
froth in working the liquor.—C. C. Hopkins. 
[W e can only reply that the letters never reached the hands of 
the Editors. Two closely-following letters failing seems to in¬ 
dicate some misappropriation at the post office.— Eds.] 
FRUITS and FRUIT TREES or GREAT BRITAIN. 
{Continued from page 20.) 
No. XIX. —Leon le Cleec de Laval Peae. 
Synonyhes. — Blanc Berne ; Bezg de Caen. 
The chief merit of this variety is its great keeping properties ; 
otherwise its flavour and quality have nothing in them to recom¬ 
mend it. Generally it is merely as a culinary pear it can be used, 
and for this purpose it is well adapted ; but sometimes, as in the 
last and present seasons, it is to be met with half buttery, and 
with a respectable flavour for the late season at which it ripens. 
Fruit inodorous, large, and pyriform, the bulge towards the 
crown, and tapering gradually towards the stalk ; three inches 
and a half long, and three inches wide; uneven and bossed in its 
outline. 
Skin thick and tough, green at first, but becoming of a lemon- 
yellow colour as it attains maturity, entirely covered with minute 
brown dots and patches of brown russet, particularly near the 
stalk and the apex. 
Stalk an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half long, dark 
brown and woody, inserted on the end of the fruit without 
depression, and sometimes accompanied with a fleshy swelling at 
its insertion. 
Bye open, with long patent segments, which arc black and 
downy, and set in a rather shallow basin. 
Flesh white, firm, crisp, juicy, sweet, and slightly perfumed. 
Sometimes, when highly ripened, it is half buttery; but this is 
not frequently the case, and hence the fruit is generally used for 
culinary purposes. 
In use from January till May. This is a seedling raised by 
Dr. Yan Mons in 1825, and named by him in honour of his friend 
and pomologieal confrere, M. Leon le Clerc of Laval. This is a 
very different pear from Leon le Clerc van Mons ; and both are 
distinct from Van Mons Leon le Clerc.—H. 
HEATING BY GAS. 
Me. Edmund Tones’ heating apparatus may do well where 
he has the pipe carried into the kitchen chimney, the up-draught 
in which will carry off the humid air from the greenhouse. But 
do not let any one attempt his plan without this necessary ad¬ 
junct ; for, however calm the night, the down-draught from the 
greenhouse chimney, if opened into the air, will be in exact pro¬ 
portion to the difference of temperature within and without the 
greenhouse. 
I have two houses heated by gas : in one the boiler is outside 
entirely; in the other I was forced to have the heating apparatus 
inside ; and I own I was taken aback at the rush of air down the 
chimney to take the place of the air rarifled by the heat of the 
drawing-room from which it opens. 
I was obliged to put a screw door on the furnace (to use a 
large word for a small thing) ; and it is with the utmost difficulty 
on a frosty night I can get a lighted taper passed through the 
stream of air at the door in order to light the gas. 
I am obliged to feed the gas with fresh air introduced through 
the floor under the boiler. 
I write this simply to warn your readers, that, unless they have 
the kitchen chimney, or some other equally good sucker, they 
will only be disappointed if they follow Mr. Tonks’ plan, as that 
is the secret of his success.—A., Glasgoiv. 
FRUITS ADAPTED TO THE VARIOUS 
LOCALITIES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
{Continued from page 52.) 
GRAPES. 
Maechioness oe Hastings. — Bundies large, loose, 
and broadly shouldered. Berries upwards of an inch 
long and about an inch wide; oval. Skin thin, greenish 
white, covered with thin grey bloom. Flesh squashy 
and watery, without much flavour. This is an early 
grape, and ripens in an ordinary vinery. Its only re¬ 
commendation is the size of the bunches, which may be 
grown to weigh four pounds. 
Maroquin d’Espagne. See Black Hamburgh. 
Melier Blanc Hative. See Early White Malvasia. 
Merrick’s Victoria. See Black Hamburgh. 
Meunier. See Miller’s Burgundy. 
Mill Hill Hahbuegh. —This is later than the Black 
Hamburgh, and is a very excellent grape. The berries 
are very much larger than those of the Black Hamburgh, 
and of a dark purple colour, but they are not so highly 
flavoured. It requires to be grown in a warm vinery, 
and is a fine late grape. 
Miller Grape. See Miller’s Burgundy. 
Millee’s Buegundy {Miller Grape; Meunier; Blanc 
Miillerrebe). —Bunches short, cylindrical, and compact, 
with a long stalk. Berries small, round, inclining to 
oval, uniform in size, with short-warted stalks. Skin 
thin, black, and covered with blue bloom. Flesh red, 
sweet, juicy, and highly flavoured, and contains two 
seeds. 
An excellent grape for out-door cultivation, as it ripens 
well against a wall. It is easily distinguished from all 
other grapes by its very downy leaves, which, when they 
are first expanded, are almost white, and this they in 
