THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 25, 1858. 
115 
council in the kitchen, where I, at some considerable length, 
j stated my difficulties, enlarging on the consequence of the 
! loss of the crop of fruit. Should I deluge the wall and trees 
with the above wash, and fill every blossom full of it ? or 
should I let them remain till the fruit had set ? Providing any 
should set, would the trees be able to perfect the fruit, or 
would they be permanently injured ? I also read numerous 
and lengthy passages from several volumes of The Cottage 
Gardener ; and, although nothing that I could meet with 
had any direct bearing on the point, yet I thought it might 
bring out some bright idea, or common-sense suggestion, from 
! some member of the council, or assist myself in coming to 
some determinate point to act upon, independent of their 
j suggestions, which I endeavoured to collect by calling on 
; Mary, the housemaid, first, for two reasons : the first, because 
, her loquacity was so great she could not be constrained for a 
moment; the other reason was,—but no matter;—and, to do 
j her justice, I must say there were no lack of suggestions, for 
! she advised me to try every remedy I had touched upon, with 
some addition, or some peculiar way of )ier own, in applica¬ 
tion, which involved the necessity of her attendance. 
1 next desired Thomas, the footman, to oblige me with his 
suggestions. Now, I was in the habit of receiving much 
assistance from Inm, physically, daily; but mentally, so far 
| as gardening matters are concerned, he was a total blank. 
His opinion was—“ Let them alone; if they live, they live; if 
t hey die, they die.” Had it been upon any other subject, I doubt 
not but he would have given me much better advice; but the 
“ nicknacks” of gardening were to him worse than solitary 
confinement. This seems strange for one in his capacity, 
yet he would rather cut down a whole orchard than be 
obliged to prune a single tree. 
Now, there being only one other member of the council 
' to that member I looked with anxiety; for her opinion was 
generally law, particularly in the apartment then occupied. 
I recollect, some time ago, Mr. Appleby, amongst much other 
good and sound advice to young gardeners, told them they 
| should keep on good terms with the cooks generally. Now, 
1 had he been the father of all the young gardeners that read 
1 The Cottage Gardener, he could not have given them 
sounder advice; for, independent of the persuasive arguments 
| they can produce in their domestic capacity, they have 
generally passed through the frivolities of youth, and arrived 
at the years of discretion. Such is our cook individually ; 
a woman of good, everyday common-sense, which is of far 
| more value to mankind in general, and to me in particular, 
than all the advantages derived from the introduction of 
crinoline, or the scarlet petticoat: in fact, it is the cash cur- 
; rency in the business of life. Therefore, when 1 say I looked 
with anxiety for her advice, I at the same time had con¬ 
fidence that, if she could not relieve me from my difficulties, 
she would not increase them, which proved to be the fact; 
for, on asking for her advice, she said I had better draw 
upon nay past experience in theory and practice, and do what 
I thought was best. “Think,” she said, “and then act; 
i never act, then think.” Some people, and perhaps young 
I people too, may think lightly of asking advice, or exposing 
one’s weakness, if not ignorance, in the above manner: but, 
if mankind generally were as free and as sincere in asking 
j advice as they are in giving it, we should be better able to 
j contend against the difficulties that beset our path in the 
| walk through life than we generally are; and I saw at once 
j that I had taken the very best method I could have done, 
| under the present circumstances, to enable me to resist the 
further progress of the enemy. 
On the following morning, I got the bucket and the house¬ 
maid’s brush, and with the above wash, and with the -sun 
shining warmly against the wall, I began dressing their 
jackets. I have always made a point of dressing them 
during sunshine, as it dries on the leaves so quickly ; though, 
if in the morning, I shade afterwards with Haythorn’s netting. 
The manner of dressing is this :—at a time when there is 
little else but blossoms on the trees, dip the brush into the 
bucket of wash, and then give it a jerk after the manner of 
sprinkling, which throws it off in very small particles, and 
forces it into the buds, and fills the opened blossoms also. 
This practice I followed every alternate day, till the leaves 
were two inches long ; and now (May 10th) I have thinned 
full two-thirds of the fruit, still not sufficiently. With regard 
to the state of the trees now, I enclose a few leaves for your 
inspection; also a few leaves, to show the depredation the 
enemy was making, and the effects on the same leaf after 
dressing, i. e., the portion of leaf afterwards developed. 
Some people, under more favourable circumstances, may 
think, had I taken Thomas’s advice, and saved myself all my 
trouble, I should have been in about the same position as X 
am at present: but it is not the fact; because X left a small 
branch, that reached somewhat beyond the rest, a strong 
branch too, and well furnished with blossom, that I did not 
dress, just to see the result, which is this,—I could add fruit 
to that branch instead of taking from it; and, at the present 
time, there is not a leaf an inch long ; they all shrivelled up, 
83 though they had been scorched, then fell off.— The’ 
Doctor’s Boy. 
FUMIGATING PLANTS. 
Observing a receipt from “ Simplex,” in The Cottage 
Gardener for April, for easy fumigation, I beg to hand you 
another, which I know from experience never fails, and is a' 
still easier method ; the plan was taught me by a foreman 
gardener, so I claim no originality of idea; but, perhaps, the 
hint may be acceptable to amateurs as it was to me. 
Get a wire riddle, or sieve, an article whicli ought to be in 
the possession of every one Avho pots flowers, and place it, 
bottom upwards, on three inverted flower pots, either on the 
floor, or lowest shelf of the greenhouse; then, on the riddle, 
put a few red-hot cinders, and on these some of the com¬ 
monest rag tobacco, which may be obtained at the shop of 
every village, but where there would be considerable diffi¬ 
culty in procuring “ good leaf tobacco.” If economy is 
desired, mix double the quantity of damp moss with the 
tobacco, waive the riddle gently up and down to cause the 
draught to thoroughly ignite the moss, &c., replace it on the 
inverted pots, retire immediately, close doors and windows, 
and do not go in until the next morning, when the plants 
should be well syringed with rain water. I do this twice a 
year, at a cost of Id. each time, and I keep my little green¬ 
house clear from blight, and all my plants clean and healthy. 
—G. D. 
A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OP POTATOES. 
( Continued from page 74.) 
The Fluke. —This very popular variety is now generally 
well known; therefore, any comments upon it would be use¬ 
less. 1 have previously given its origin, and my own opinion 
respecting its merits. I may here state it is a variety that may 
be easily distinguished, by the haulm being distinct in colour 
(dark green, like that of the Nightshade) from any other. 
Jersey Blue. —This Potato was at one time very much 
cultivated, and was considered a good variety. It is a Kidney , 
rather deep in the eye, and uneven. It is also very liable to 
the disease. Full size, strong haulm, and tolerable cropper. 
Jersey White. —Like the above, is fast going out of cul¬ 
tivation. It is a long, narrow Kidney , good eye, rather pro¬ 
ductive, and moderate haulm. When grown on stiff land 
it boils waxy. This variety is also grown under the name of 
Field's Kidney. * 
Walker’s Large White, commonly termed a second 
early. It is a very large Potato, similar to the Wellington 
and Farmer's Glory. Rather deep eye, a good cropper, ex¬ 
cellent for baking, strong haulm. 
Champion Ash-leaf is one of the many varieties termed 
Ash-leaf Kidney. It is, however, a better cropper than most 
of the varieties. Very early, excellent flavour, and short 
haulm. This variety was sent out in 1855. 
Brighton Kidney. —This variety I have not yet grown; 
but, judging by the tubers I have by me, it is another variety 
of Ash-leaf. 
Early Manley. —This is a kind of kidney-shaped Potato. 
Moderate eye, not large tubers, but very productive. This 
variety is not a general favourite, being rather waxy and 
yellow when boiled. Rather a strong grower. 
Early Gloucester. —This variety is similar, if not the 
same as the Radical. It is an excellent round Potato, boils 
very white and mealy, moderate-sized tubers, good eye, tole¬ 
rable cropper, not a very strong grower. 
Hodgson’s Seedling. —This is a kind of Regent. It is a 
