246 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Januaey 18, 1859. 
Society, on December 3rd, 1857, and then highly com¬ 
mended. It was not, however, on this occasion found to 
be so fine in flavour, though very juicy and melting. 
Passe Colmae, by Mr. M'Laeen, from dwarf standard, 
on quince stock. Unripe.—By Mr. Smith, Cheshire, 
from south wall. Large, handsome, but dry and deficient 
in flavour.—By Mr. Wighton, from south wall. Sugary 
and juicy, but not melting.—By Mr. Melville, also from 
south wall. Juicy, and half melting, but deficient in 
flavour. Good for the locality.— And by Mr. Spivey 
(gardener to J. A. Houblon, Esq., Hallingbury Place, 
Essex), from pyramid, on quince stock; soil rich garden 
mould, over strong but well-drained subsoil. Large, 
handsome, aud ripe; melting and juicy; sweet, but not 
high flavoured, although the best dish exhibited in this 
variety. 
Fobelle, by Mr. Mob it is (gardener to Thos. White, 
Esq., Manor House, Wethersfield), from espalier pear 
stock ; soil sandy, over very dry, sandy subsoil. Fruit 
very handsome, juicy, and half melting, but deficient in 
flavour. 
Belle de Noel, by Mr. Moeeis, from a pyramid, on 
quince stock. Fruit very juicy, but only half melting; 
not high flavoured. 
Oepheline d’Engheim, by Mr. Moeeis, from an 
espalier, on quince stock. Fruit very good in size and 
appearance, but indifferent in texture and flavour. 
Beueee Diel, by Mr. Stoddaet (No. 3), from an east 
wall.— Beueee It an ce, by Mr. Wigiiton, from south 
wall.—And Eastee Beueee, by Mr. Geieve (gardener 
to the Itev. E. It. Benyon, Culford, Bury St. Edmunds); 
and by Mr. Wighton, from west wall;—were unripe. 
Eyewood, by Mr. Shoesmith. Fruit in good con¬ 
dition, very juicy and melting; flavour pleasant, but 
acid. 
Vicab of WiNKFiELD,by G.Wolsey, Esq., St. Andrews, 
Guernsey. Good in appearance, juicy, and half melting, 
but deficient in flavour. 
Susette de Bavay, by Mr. Wighton, from a south 
wall, regrafted on Crassane. Good in appearance, but 
rather dry, soft in texture, and, though sweet, not high 
flavoured. Reported to be a free-bearing and useful kind 
in the district, and that last year it was excellent in 
March. 
(To be continued.) 
HOW SHOULD VINE BORDERS BE COVERED P 
Mi letter, on the utility of covering Vine borders, has certainly 
been misunderstood by “Young Blood,” for he says that I 
advocate cold borders, which certainly is not the case. If I had 
it in my power, I would have my Vine borders heated by hot- 
water pipes running underneath the borders, not over them; 
but, as I am unable to do that, some time before I commenced 
forcing I covered my borders with long stable dung, about one 
foot thick ; and over that I laid a quantity of old oak paling, in 
large panels, which keeps the borders quite dry, and, I think, 
prevents the escape of any heat they may contain. “Young 
Blood ” says, that he covers his borders in the autumn, whilst 
they are warm, with a quantity of fermenting material. Would 
not a moderate covering of non-conducting material answer the 
same purpose ? 
I am but young myself, and, unfortunately, my father is a 
Scotchman, which I suppose is the cause of my inquiring into 
the why and wherefore of everything that I see practised ; and 
when I saw a man heaping hot dung on his Vine borders, while 
the roots were two feet from the surface, I wondered whether 
the heat would over reach them. I also thought, that if the 
roots were close to the surface, and the heat should happen to 
descend, the quantity that he put on would probably burn them ; 
and having seen first-rate crops of Grapes produced very early, 
by merely covering the roots with partially decayed leaves, I 
thought that covering the borders with hot dung was unnecessary 
trouble ; and, not knowing whether I was right or wrong, wrote 
to The Cottage Gaedenee, hoping that some older and wiser 
gardener would kindly enlighten me upon the subject. But be it 
I 
understood by ,l Young Blood,” that the question I ask, is not 
whether heating borders is beneficial or necessary, but whether 
laying on quantities of fermenting material really does heat 
them, and to what depth?—A. A, 
THE SCIENCE OF GARDENING. 
(Continued from page 231.) 
SOWING. 
The seeds of plants present an endless variety of forms and 
colours, and sizes ; but in their structure they arc chiefly divided 
into two great divisions—seeds with one cotyledon, or seed-lobe, 
and seeds with two cotyledons, or seed-lobes. Plants with seeds 
having two lobes, come chiefly under the care of the gardener; 
therefore, from one of these, the Kidney Beau, we shall derive our 
drawings illustrative of the germination, or sprouting, of seeds. 
Fig. 1. represents the seed before it is committed to the soil; 
a is the hilum, or point of union, by which it was united to t he 
seed-pod; b is the small opening ( microgyle ) through which tho 
rootlet (radicle) is protruded. When the seed is placed in cir¬ 
cumstances favourable to germination, it absorbs moisture, and is 
swollen ; its radicle is elongated through the opening, Fig. 2, and 
penetrates into the soil; the skin is ruptured; the young stem 
(caulicle), Fig. 3, A, extends upwards, bearing the two seed- 
leaves (cotyledons), c, c, which furnish nutriment to the young 
plant, and which, when the young stem and first leaves, d, d, are 
developed, wither and fall off, 
That the seed should have a perfectly developed embryo, and 
have arrived to nearly perfect ripeness, is essential to its being 
able to germinate. The reason for this is obvious : the young 
plant requires for its earliest nourishment a peculiar compound, 
usually saccharine, or sugary, matter; and this compound, in ac¬ 
cordance with that universal fitness of things which demonstrates 
the wisdom of God, is always generated by the combined agency 
of heat, moisture, and oxygen gas, # from the substances most 
abundant in the fully-ripened seed. Let Barley be the example. 
Saccharine matter is essential for the first nourishment of the 
radicle or first root, and plumule, or first stem and leaves of the 
seedling; and into such saccharine matter is starch converted, 
by the combined agency we have named. It is starch, therefore, 
that is the chief constituent of the seed. But if Barley is 
gathered imperfect, and is dried, the chief ingredient is mucilage 
or gum; aud this, if exposed to the essentials for germination, 
heat, moisture, and oxyen gas, instead of passing into saccharine 
matter, is converted into acetic acid, or vinegar, and the seed 
decays instead of sprouting. 
As it is necessary that every seed should have nearly attained 
to ripeness before it acquires the power of germinating, so it is 
equally certain, that the length of time it retains the power to 
* Oxygen gas is a chief constituent of the air, without which gas neither 
a seed could sprout nor an animal breathe. 
