THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Efbrgart 28, 18G0. 
SOME OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS.—No. G. 
THE SNOWDROP. 
Ttte Crocus occupies a prominent place in our gardens, and of 
late several new varieties have been added to our collections; 
while its companion the Snowdrop is not cultivated to that extent 
it deserves, and cannot boast of more varieties than it could fifty 
years ago. No doubt its easy culture and commonness make it 
but little regarded by many; but due reflection would teach us 
better, for whoever considers the Snow drop properly must view 
it in a very desirable light; for it cannot be denied, that, although 
small, it is elegant, compact, and full of bloom at the season of 
the year when scarcely any other flowers are to be met with, 
and to behold how it rears its head among the snow (which is 
falling fast while I am penning this paragraph, January 30th), 
challenging, as it were, to show colours with it in the perfection 
of whiteness. In fact, it i.A truly a very delicate-looking flower, 
and the effect is more wonderful by its bold and unshaken ap¬ 
pearance at so rigorous a season. 
All three varieties are beautiful, and each have their merits. 
The single is the flrst to show' blossom, and often appears in 
January (many thousands are now in full blossom at Osberton) ; 
then follow the semi-double; and lastly, the double, which will 
not be out of flower before March. Thus the varieties often 
enliven us from eight to ten weeks. 
They are w r ell adapted and very suitable to grow in wilderness 
quarters and uncultivated places, and here they appear to the 
greatest perfection bursting through the turf in large bunches, 
where they show themselves as Nature designed them ; also in 
the borders of our gardens and shrubberies, the borders of our 
woods, and in fact in uncultivated borders of all sorts. 
At Osberton we have a border, planted ribbon-fashion, com¬ 
posed of a row of Aconites, Squills, Snowdrops, and Crocuses, 
which looks delightful at this season of the year. 
The Snowdrop is projaagated by parting the roots, which 
should be done as soon as the leaves are decayed ; and, if required, 
they may be kept out of the ground until September by placing 
t hem in dry sand. Unless for any particular purpose, it is advisable 
not to disturb the roots oftener than once in four or live years, 
that they may form themselves into large clusters ; for then they 
appear in their best form. The same treatment applies to the 
Squill, Aconite, and Crocus—ali of which are very extensively 
cultivated here, being special favourites of the Yiscountess 
Milton.— Edward Bennett, Osberton. 
FRUIT-ROOMS. 
It is certainly very agreeable to be able to preserve our best 
varieties of Apples and Pears until a late period of the season ; 
and for this purpose it is most essential that the room in which 
they are to be kept should be specially adapted to the purpose. 
But in how many cases do we find the economy of the lruit-room 
little studied ; and at the same time wc sec flue fruits spoiled for 
want of a little attention. 
Every person, then, who would have flue winter Pears should 
thus treat them :—He should have a large room built with hollow 
walls ; and the roof should have a foot in thickness of sawdust or 
some other similar non-conducting material within it, for the pur¬ 
pose of preserving uniformity of temperature. There should also 
be several small openings for ventilation during the sweating of 
the fruit; and there should be the means of admitting light by 
windows, each of which should be furnished with a good shutter, 
to be kept closed excepting during the examinations of the fruit. 
The exclusion of light from fruit which it is intended to keep is 
very important, as its agency affects the rinds of fruit similarly to 
the surfaces of leaves, causing perspiration which terminates in 
shrivelling. The lower the temperature of the room the better, 
so that it does not freeze: we would name 40° as a fair average 
for a fruit-retarding room. 
Coupled with this room there should be another one with a 
liot-water pipe in it, and where, when it is necessary, a tempe¬ 
rature of 55° to 60° can be had. To this room may be removed 
such fruits as require to be accelerated, and upon which ihe 
additional temperature will soon show its effects by hastening 
their maturation, while the first room we noticed will keep others 
retarded; and between the two, with a little management, the 
season of each Pear will be much extended. 
Pears arc very variable as to their time of ripening’ on some 
soils. I have for years always had the Easter JBeurre, so gene¬ 
rally a late Pear, ripen its fruit in the month of November ; but 
j M that time I only had a small room in a southern exposure to 
I keep them in. The fruit grew upon a light gravelly loam, which 
1 gave it precocity; and the warm room completed the process by 
j ripening it in November. Now, the same Pears keep very well 
till March in a room with a nortli front and ventilated, and ap- 
| proaching the temperature which I have stated as desirable 
\\ e often see a fruit-room made of any temporary shed, in any 
situation ; and it is quite true that a large majority of our best- 
kept Applies are furnished after having been preserved in old 
farm-buildings, such as barns and stables and other outhouses. 
These buildings have frequently thick stone walls, and are covered 
as frequently by thick roofs of thatch, thus preserving an un¬ 
varying low temperature, and not being liable to sudden variations 
i of it. From such places I have seen late fruit brought out in a 
very extraordinary state of preservation, and without a wrinkle 
| —a fact only 1o be accounted for by the very equable state of 
temperature, the darkness when covered with straw, and the 
want of perspiration. 
Should I be asked where I could point to an illustration of the 
i principles Irecommend, I would at once refer to the garden of Lord 
j Eversley near Reading, who is more familiarly known, perhaps, as 
the late Speaker of the House of Commons. He has built a 
detached and most complete fruit-room, with hollow walls and 
the other nppdiances which I have in this paper recommended. 
Mr. Spencer, also, has made a fine fruit-room at Bowood; but 
his is placed behind the hothouses—a situation which is advan- 
- tageous in it3 position, but by which the temperature must he 
i influenced, and of course it must be second to Lord Eversley’s. 
. By the way, I am surprised that ihe hollow brick walls are not 
1 more in fashion than they are for dwelling-liouses, seeing that 
they preserve a more equable temperature, and are not hot in 
summer nor cold in winter in any degree so excessively as are 
thin solid walls. The late Mr. Cubitt showed me some admirable 
hollow-walled cottages built from his designs on the estate of His 
Royal Highness Prince Albert at Osborne in the Isle of Wight. 
! In building fruit-rooms their employment should be universal; 
I for with less materials you get equal strength and equable tem- 
! perature. 
My object in writing these remarks is not so much to induce 
amateurs to build magnificent, fruit-rooms as to induce them to 
i reflect upon the conditions essential to the fruit’s keeping; and 
1 bearing them in mind, to endeavour to apply those principles as 
far as lies in their power to such rude places as they may have. 
To the man of wealth I would say at once, Build a good isolated 
fruit-room : indeed, do all you do “ well and thoroughly.” 
Much diffei’ence in the way of prolonging the season of fruits 
may be made by gathering and storing the various portions of 
ci’ops in succession. 
Drawers are very good places for keeping fruit in. They 
should fit closely, and the darkness which they insure is a prin¬ 
cipal condition of their successful use. Pears placed in them to 
keep may he previously wrapped in paper with advantage. 
1 Wc have often heard of fruits being preserved in stone jars or 
i in sand. This may do very well, being entirely dependent for its 
1 success to the principle of the exclusion of air and light after the 
I sweating of the fruit, and to the preservation of a low, equable tem¬ 
perature at all times. Upon attention to these points the whole 
law of fruit-keeping depends. The writer has proved this for 
himself; and he would invite the amateur to give it liis decided 
care and attention, in the firm hope that lie may be rewarded 
j with “ good and perfect fruit.”— Henry Bailey, Xuneham. 
RECENT FROSTS AT BROMLEY. 
Seeing some account in The Cottage Gardener of the 
! effects of tlic late frost in different places, I feel tempted to in¬ 
form your readers how we have fared in this neighbourhood, as I 
think such memoranda very useful. The frost set iu here on the 
night of the 13th December, the thermometer sinking to 20°. 
The two following nights it fell to 16°, and on the night of the 
16th it fell as low as 8°, which was the severest frost we have 
had this season. On the night of the 18th it was down to 12°, 
and after that it was not below 18°, the frost breaking on the 
22nd. 
The vegetable crops have suffered most severely, especially 
Broccolis, which in many places are entirely destroyed. It is so 
with us. Cabbages are also very much injured ; the Chou de 
Milan and Couve Tronchuda are the least injured. 
The shrubs are very little injured. Cri/ptomeria Japonic a lias 
