t 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. —November 4,1856. 75 
likes a little broken bricks and sandstone mixed with 
the peat and loam used as compost. 
Cassia coryjibosa. —“I have had plants of these very 
fine planted out in summer. I have lifted and repotted 
them. Should I prune them back now, or wait till 
spring?” — Wait until spring. The check given will 
cause the leaves most likely to fall gradually, more espe¬ 
cially ifyou place the plants in agreenhouse; but, though 
the leaves fall, the flower-buds will continue to open for 
most of the winter, and the plants will look well among 
other plants that have plenty of foliage. By March or 
so you will see where the buds break, and then you will 
see best bow to prune. After giving a partial hardening 
under a little protection tho plants will be in good order 
for turning out in the end of May. It grows far more 
i healthy in the open air, in summer, than in a plant 
stove, and, as the roots do not wander far, it is easily 
lifted. Some inquiries have been made as to its fitness 
for a bed, and, though I have not tried it, I have no 
doubt that plants two or three years old, and lifted 
every year, would do very well for largish beds, espe¬ 
cially if a few of the larger leaves were pulled off now 
and then. Neither hot, dry weather, nor dull, wet wea- 
j ther, seems to prevent a constant succession of bloom. 
Aloysia citriodoha. —“I am anxious to get quantities 
of the leaves of this plant for mixing with Rose-leaves, 
&c., for perfume ; but whether in pots in beds, or against 
walls, 1 cannot get it to grow freely. I am considerably 
north of London.”—Two fine plants against a house- 
wall, one on each side of the doorway of Mr. Bogue’s 
cottage, at Gorhambury, near St. Alban’s, have stood 
and flourished for a number of years. Whole sheaves of 
shoots might be cut from these two plants. They are 
cut down regularly every winter at tho approach of frost; 
dry ashes, or tan, fee., placed over the roots, and the 
stumps of the stems left; moss, or other non-conducting 
material, placed over all, and extended beyond the roots, 
and all covered by a mat or cloth in a conical form. By 
these means frost and wet are alike excluded, the young 
shoots come away strong in April and May, the cover¬ 
ing is removed, a little protection given them at first, 
and by the autumn the shoots are like walking-sticks, 
and from one to two yards in length. If not too far 
north the same system of keeping frost and wet from the 
roots would answer in beds, though requiring more care 
than when against a wall. Where this care would be 
deemed too troublesome the plants should be taken up 
in tho end of October, pruned-in pretty closely, and 
packed beneath the stage of a greenhouse, or in any 
shod or outhouse from whence severe frost can be 
excluded. I have kept them in an open shed, roots 
and stems covered with earth, and a covering of hay 
! over all. 1 never met with a person who did not like a 
j sprig of this sweet-leaved plant, and many a reader may 
! thus easily have the scent near tho window of the sittiug- 
! room. 
Tall Scarlet and Purple Lobeltas. — “ My plants, 
| in pots and beds, have done little good. I kept the 
j stools below the stage of a greenhouse in winter, and 
1 many of the sucker-plants rotted and got sickly, and to 
1 this I partly attribute my failure.”—The roots, when 
i taken up, could not have been in a better place; but, 
j when the suckers begin to come thickly, they choke and 
I damp off each other. A partial remedy for this is keep¬ 
ing them dryish. Another, and a very effectual one, was 
noticed by Mr. Appleby lately, namely, dividing the 
root into a number of pieces. Several of these young 
| shoots in a piece may be kept together before planting- 
out time in beds; but, if fine flower-stems are wanted, 
they should ho divided, and grown separately before 
I being planted. This must be especially done when fine 
grenadier-looking flower-stems are wanted in pots. About 
I tho middle of March each of these sucker-like shoots 
: should bo placed in a small pot, and be plunged in a 
gentle, sweet hotbed, and shifted into larger and larger 
pots as soon as the roots get to the outside of tho ball. 
Light, rich compost is best at first, and the last shifting 
into 8-inch or 12-inch pots should have strong loam and 
old cow-dung. Until the flower stems begin to show, tho 
plants will rejoice in a little bottom-heat. Everything 
should be done to encourage fine, large, healthy foliage, 
and then the flower-stem will become strong. This I like 
to give its own way in a pot, leaving the smaller side- 
shoots to come as they please. Win n 1 have wanted a 
dense, compact bed of bloom, I have picked out the 
point of this shoot when six inches or so in height, and 
then a number of weaker ones started from the buds, and 
produced a better mass. For late flowering in beds the 
pieces may be planted out at once in May; but they 
will not flower so well nor so early as those treated in 
the way just mentioned. 
Dwarf Blue Lobelia. —“ I see that Speciosa is recom¬ 
mended as the best dwarf for a bed—belter than Ramo- 
soides. Is it very different, and superior to the old Spe¬ 
ciosa?" —Very different indeed. I think it a pity that 
the new variety should be called Speciosa, as there is an 
old one under that name that conics quite freely from 
seed, and, from its loose, rambling, and free growth, is yet 
invaluable for hanging over baskets and vases. I have 
had some nearly three feet in length hanging all round 
a vase, and of a light, pretty blue. Well-treated, it 
would suit tho smaller baskets in the Crystal Palace. 
The new Speciosa is the best of all the dwarfs. It seeds, 
though not freely — is compact in growth — has flowers 
about double the size of Ramosoidcs, or Erinus maxima, 
j and propagates much easier than either. Try and get 
an old plant now, and you may have hundreds and 
thousands of it before the middle of May. 
Erytilrina cristagalli. —“I have tried this as recom¬ 
mended some time ago for beds, and against a wall; but 
have had little success.”—Perhaps your plants were 
not old enough, or your place is too far north, or too 
much exposed. All that was said of its success in 
previous volumes was strictly correct at the places 
named. Do not despair; your plants will be getting 
older, and the larger and fleshier the roots, the better 
will your plants succeed, because they will throw much 
stronger shoots. Those against a wall should be treated 
as has been detailed for Aloysia. Those in beds may 
i also be so treated in favourable positions; but, in 
general, it is best to raise and pot them, and keep 
them from frost, ns beneath llio stage of a greenhouse, 
until they begin to shoot freely, when they must have 
more light, and be hardened off by degrees before plant¬ 
ing out. If tho shoots are very numerous they will 
require thinning when young. R. Fish. 
(To be continued.') 
PRESERVING VEGETABLES IN WINTER. 
Next to the credit of growing and maturing a good 
article is that of preserving it in the best condition for 
use at a future time. This last duty is more especially 
necessary at this season, since the growth of many 
things will have been perfected, and others will have 
ceased to grow so freely as before, and, when severe 
weather sets in, its future progress will have ceased alto¬ 
gether; besides which it is likely that the extreme cold 
or wet will have hastened the plant on to the last stage 
of its existence—the state of decay. Under these cir¬ 
cumstances I make no apology for devoting the present 
chapter to the preservation of vegetables wanted for 
winter. 
Broccoli. —This useful article, coming into use all 
through the winter when well managed, and the season 
not unusually severe, and even then may be made to do 
