290 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 16, 1859. 
so as to occasion many of them to run to seed in early spring 
that ought not to have done so until the year following. The 
causes of this are somewhat different from those operating on the 
Turnips.. In the latter the check has thrown them into flower : 
whereas in the case of the Cabbage the plant has, to a certain 
degree, matured its growth earlier than usual; and the flowering 
season for such plants having arrived, it avails itself of that. This 
case, unlike that of the Turnips, admits of no remedy: the only 
one being the same as that recommended for the Turnips— i.e., 
not to depend on one crop alone, but to sow and plant in suc¬ 
cession. With all the knowledge we possess, and even aided by 
the mystical skill of a Moore, a Murphy, or a Zadkiel, we are not 
yet able to discern the signs of the times'; and whether the coming 
summer and succeeding winter be cold, wet, or dry ones, we 
are wisely kept in the dark. It therefore behoves us to make 
such provision as is best calculated to suit all emergencies; and 
if in so doing we err, it will even then be on the right side.— 
J. Robson. 
BOUQUET HOLDER. 
I WENT to a China store and selected about six or eight China 
or Liverpool-ware cups, of such sizes as would just fit into or 
nest in each other,—commencing at the largest sized coffee-cup, 
or small bowl, and ending with the smallest of a child’s tea-set. 
I then placed under the bottom of each of them a circular piece 
of wood (such as come with ribbons, but anything else will 
answer the purpose), to separate the cups, so as to leave a space 
for putting the flowers into. A drawing will assist you in com¬ 
prehending the idea. 
It is not necessary that the cups should be one uniform shape, 
as none but the lowest cup will be seen when the flowers are 
arranged hi it. The lower cup should be mounted on a wooden 
base, with a circular rim around the upper edge of it to hold the 
cup firmly ; or it may be placed inside of an ornamental vase. 
GARDENING IN VICTORIA. 
Tiie taste for the higher branches of gardening in Victoria, is, 
as yet, but very slightly developed. The production of fruit 
and vegetables seems to be the aim of most of those whose means 
wouhl enable them to do much in gardening as a high art. 
Matters, however, are improving. The establishment of Hor¬ 
ticultural Societies and the example of the curators of the 
Botanical Gardens in Melbourne and Geelong have had an in¬ 
fluence in improving our gardens, and, no doubt, we shall one 
day reach a high position in that respect. Our facilities are 
great, and money plentiful. Tlio taste only wants cultivating. 
As to fruit and vegetables, it would gladden the hearts of you 
“ Cottage Gardeners,” to see the crops raised here with so little 
trouble. English gardeners would not believe me if I were to 
state what I have seen in the way of Peaches, Pears, Grapes, 
Apples, &c. The-old Ribston Pippin Apple would astonish 
them. The tree grows in a luxuriant and remarkably healthy 
manner, and the fruit is magnificent. At a late Show (at which I 
acted as one of the Judges), in one of the exhibitions were 
twelve Ribstons, and none of them measured less than twelve 
inches in circumference. As clean, well-coloured, and high- 
flavoured as any Apple I ever saw. 
Grapes are now being planted to a large extent for wine 
making, particularly in the neighbourhood of Geelong, which 
seems most favourable for their culture. I am just- about to 
plant twenty acres, and some day I may send the Editors of The 
! Cottage Gabdenee a sample of what we can do in Australia in 
the shape of wine making.—J. M., Geelong, Victoria. 
HOLCITS SACCHARATUS. 
I send you my experience of this year. On the 2nd of May 
I planted four square yards under a west wall in my garden ; 
each seed six inches apart. This did not come up. On the 24th 
of May I planted the same ground again the same distance, 
leaving one row drilled as thick as Peas. This was soon up. On 
the 21st of July I cut. The stems came sixteen inches high. On 
the 28t-h I cut again nine inches. August the 4th the growth is 
but two inches. As yet, the first cutting produced a marvellous 
growth, more than an inch a-day. The second cutting is a failure. 
I shall cut it nine inches, and mark the number of days. The 
row drilled and unthinned is but four inches high, now weak 
and dwindling.—R. N. P,, Woolestone. 
PRIMULAS. 
In reference to your article on “ the Genus Primula,” in 
No. 565, my own experience differs from the conclusion that 
Cowslip seed sown in a shady place will produce Primrose, &c. 
About a dozen years ago, in laying in grass a bit of ground 
“ where once a garden smiled,” and which is much shaded, no 
plants appeared for five or six years, and then they came in 
abundance, but all Coivsiips, of many varieties of colour. 
There may have been one or two Polyanthuses, but certainly 
not one Primrose. 
I consider it rather remarkable that the seed should have lain 
so long dormant, and grown well there after.—Z. Q. 
TRAINING PEGS OF PERN STALKS. 
I enclose you stalks of the leaf or frond of the Brake Fern 
(Pteris aquilina), which a friend of mine is using to stick 
Verbenas, &c. 
It strikes me that you would find them very suitable to re¬ 
commend them to florists. Besides, the cutting and preparing 
of them would give employment to the children of the rural 
population. The children here (Edgbaston) get them for 4 d. or 
Qd. per hundred.—Jos. Lloyd Phelps. 
[This is not new, but it is a reminder of very efficient pegs for 
training Verbenas, &c. on open beds. The stem of the frond 
reversed, causes the side branches to form efficient hooks when 
cut short.— Eds.] 
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY’S MEETING. 
I The August meeting of the Entomological Society was held on 
the 1st inst.; the chair, in the absence of the President, being 
taken by J. O. Westwood, Esq., M.A. Amongst the donations 
recorded since the last meeting were the publications of the Royal, 
Linnsean, and Zoological Societies of London, the Zoological and 
Botanical Society of Vienna, the Royal Bavarian Academy, the 
Entomological Society of Stettin, &c. Likewise the second part 
of the republication of Mr. Curtis’s excellent memoirs on insects 
obnoxious to agriculturists. 
Mr. McLachlan exhibited various interesting species of British 
