190 
Pea, coming a week or ten days later still. It pro¬ 
duces most abundantly, but not so long as some, and 
is thus useful, besides its first-class merit, for enabling 
the gardener to clear the ground quickly. After these, 
few families care for any but the Marrowfats. The 
finest O' Po?irkes and Conquerors , of the early kinds, 
are very insipid after the Marrows. The influence of 
custom is always great, however. I have known 
gentlemen condemning first-class young Peas in the 
country, and others, by their example, deterred from 
touching them, because the individual Peas were three 
or six times larger than the insipid, watery riddlings 
they obtained as the ne plus ultra of perfection from 
the shelling women at Covent Garden. There was 
nothing but ignorant prejudice here. With all its 
undoubted merits, it is a difficult thing to get a good 
Pea from Covent Garden. The bringing them in 
quantities to market heats them, and takes away their 
flavour; and that again cannot be greatly improved 
by the shelling and riddling process before they are 
taken home to be cooked. A thorough epicure in 
Peas would like them to be gathered just before cook¬ 
ing. A gentleman, some time ago, expressed his sur¬ 
prise that such large old Peas should be sent to table, 
lie had been used to the riddlings. It was only on 
the pods being opened to him, and finding that the 
large Peas were as soft as pellets of butter, that he 
would own that he had made a mistake. The kind 
was a very tall, free bearing, large, luscious Pea, called 
Jeyes Conqueror, sent out by Mr. Jeyes, of Northamp¬ 
ton. For moderate height, free bearing, large size, 
and fine flavour, Veitclis Perfection is first-rate. 
Many others, such as some sent out by Mr. Harrison, 
are also very good. But almost every family has a fa¬ 
vourite “marrow ” Pea; and, whilst not neglecting the 
trial of several, the gardener will act wisely w ho grows 
most of that which the family likes best. It. Fish. 
SALT FOR PEACH TREES AND OTHER 
PURPOSES. 
I am much pleased with the remarks made by a corre¬ 
spondent, “ W. X. W.” (page 71), on the use of salt for 
Peach trees. Such communications are invaluable, as they 
point out to us one of the most necessary ingredients in the 
mixture, so often mysteriously made, to promote the health 
and fruitfulness of a plant. 
The utility of salt has been many times before the garden¬ 
ing public, but, with few exceptions, its uses have been said 
to be confined to the culture of plants inhabiting the sea¬ 
shore. In some other cases, it has been urged as an excellent 
destroyer of vegetable life, and walks and pavements have 
been salted accordingly. But I was not aware of its ever hav¬ 
ing been thought a beneficial portion of the compost in which 
Peach trees thrive, until, as detailed in a late number of 
The Cottage Gardener, I told how well the Peach 
trees seemed to thrive in the western parts of Lancashire, 
where they were subjected to strong sea breezes, and, in all 
probability, the soil was more charged with saline matter than 
is often found inland. “W. X. W.” has confirmed this by 
referring to the luxuriant and fruitful condition of the trees 
he saw at Buenos Ayres, where he says the ground was 
almost crusted over with salt. 
Now, this valuable information ought not to be lost sight 
of, as salt is one of the easiest as well as cheapest possible ma¬ 
terials 1o apply. Occasional sprinklings will, undoubtedly, 
be beneficial; for, without going into the details of chemical 
analysis of soils, there are some prevailing ingredients in 
every one, which may be in a measure known witli but very 
little trouble. Supposing, for instance, that lime, iron, and 
salt were taken as bases ; the first of them prevails in chalky 
or limestone districts, while iron may be detected in some 
soils by certain rusty veins which intersect them, when they have 
lain some time in an undisturbed state, as in a pasture field. 
U a er, also, very often denotes iron, by a red scum or sediment, 
in some cases so much impregnated with it as to stain its bed 
a bright red colour. Salt, however, is not so easily detected ; 
but it doubtless exists in greater abundance in those districts 
where it is dry, in a mineral form, or where the sea breezes 
carry it inland. Its use, however, as a manure, has not 
yet been so fully tested as it ought to be. A more extended 
series of experiments will, probably, prove it to be useful to 
many things it was never thought to do any good to. For 
instance, amongst flowers, it is probable Verbenas may like it; 
as we are told the old V. melindres , and other parents of our 
flower garden varieties, are found wild in South America,— 
possibly at Buenos Ayres, where, as “ W. X. W.” says, the 
Peach tree flourishes in its well-salted bed. 
Much useful information would be disseminated, if all 
travellers, like <c W. X. W.” would but notice and duly re¬ 
port w r hat they see in their travels. Our previous idea of the 
Peach was, that it inhabited the sunny climes of Asia Minor, 
Armenia, and Persia; the latter country being particularly 
adapted to its growth, though not fertile in corn, and still 
less suited to grazing. Apricots are, no doubt, subject to 
much the same influences as Peaches, and, like them, only 
thrive well at certain places. Would it not be worth while, 
in some of the places where they do not succeed well, to apply 
a little salt to the ground by way of a trial,—say to one or 
two trees, and to leave the others as they are ? Many other 
things might be tried in a similar way : for it is possible we 
may find this much neglected manure as useful in the cultural 
as it is in the culinary line. A liking for salt may be more 
widely spread in the vegetable world than is generally ex¬ 
pected : we all know how easily it is applied. Its uses in a 
Peach border ought, certainly, to have a fair trial; and if it 
be found to benefit the trees, then the gardening world owes 
a debt of gratitude to “ W. X. W.,” which I am sure it will 
not be slow to acknowledge.—J. Robson. 
HARDY FERNS. 
(Continued from page 114.) 
Sowing. —Since writing the paper on raising hardy Ferns by 
seed, at the above-mentioned page, I have had the pleasure of 
looking over a large collection of both hardy and exotic Ferns, 
belonging to Mr. Glover, of Smedley House, near Manchester, 
an enthusiastic admirer of plants in general, but more particu¬ 
larly of my favourites, the Ferns. I found that he was not only 
an admirer, but a successful cultivator also, both in raising 
them from seed and growing them well afterwards. His 
mode of growing some species of exotic Ferns is peculiar, and I 
when I arrive at that part of my subject I shall detail that 
mode. On this occasion I shall notice his mode of raising 
seedlings. In the house where the seed pots are placed there | 
is such a moist air kept up, that even the outsides of the pots j 
are thickly covered with young Ferns. He does not sow the I 
seed in pans, but in pots, about five inches wide, and mixes 
the compost with old bricks, broken very small, instead of 
sandstone, as 1 recommend. The seed pots are placed in 
saucers, and they are kept full of water, the moisture from 
which, ascending through the drainage and compost, and ! 
confined by bellglasses set within the pots, causes a regular 1 
moisture, just the thing to encourage the seeds to grow, 
rhe success of this mode is very great. Some species, 
owever, even baffled him, especially the Asplenium marinum : 
but, determined not to be beaten, he shed some of its seed on j 
the earth border, under the front platform, and on the front 
wail inside ; and, curious enough, there they germinated freely. 
Mr. Glover told me, that a friend of his had discovered a new 
mode of propagating Ferns, besides the ordinary ones of seed 
and division, and that is by cuttings. Let not the Fern 
grower start at this, curl his lip, and pooh, pooh it! the thing 
has been done, for I saw several plants so raised. As I under¬ 
stood, the method was this :•—The lower part of the frond 
was preserved, and cut off* smooth at the bottom, and the 
upper part considerably shortened in : the cutting thus made 
was then put in sand, and covered with a bellglass ; a callosity 
was formed at the lowest part, and from that the germ of the 
future plant sprung up, soon put forth roots, and eventually 
made a plant. Let every Fern grower try this. We know 
many plants are propagated by leaves, and why not the Ferns ? 
Another mode of raising Ferns from seed has been com- 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, June 29, 1858. 
