THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 17,1858. 
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cupation. Neither will it answer the purpose of the 
large cultivator to do so, except under peculiar circum¬ 
stances, where ground is very scarce. 
I cannot conclude this article without complimenting 
those cottagers who so industriously make the most 
of their little plots. I am glad to hear, in many 
quarters, that much encouragement is given to cottage 
gardening by spirited landed proprietors and others ; 
and, although I have expressed some doubts of the 
profitableness of attempting cultivation on a large 
scale underneath trees, I have no doubt whatever of the 
benefits likely to result from prizes given to a meri¬ 
torious cottager, or in any other way rewarding the 
industrious cultivator of the soil. The notice taken of, 
and remuneration given to, a deserving cottager may, 
in many cases, be regarded as so much seed committed 
to the earth, which, in due time, is returned to the 
sower manifold. J. Hobson. 
THE MINIATURE GREENHOUSE, 
{Continued from page 255.) 
I trust my young friends will have carefully read 
and digested my two former papers on these interest¬ 
ing tiny plants, and will have got ready the soil and 
pots in which to grow them. I now proceed, as I pro¬ 
mised, to give a list of such plants as are fitted for 
this peculiar purpose. Unfortunately, I cannot give 
information where they may be obtained, but I know 
where they may be seen in considerable numbers,— 
namely, at the gardens at Kew, the Botanic Gardens 
at Oxford, and a few at most of the Botanic Gardens 
in the kingdom. Some kinds may be obtained at the 
nurseries round London. The Messrs. Lee, at the 
Hammersmith Nursery, had formerly a very fine col¬ 
lection of these dry stove plants, but I do not know 
whether they keep the stock up now, or not; I suspect 
they do not pay, or, in other words, the sale for them 
is very limited, because, now-a-days, plants that flower 
freely, and are more easily cultivated, are more in 
demand. Let the owners, then, of miniature green¬ 
houses make inquiry, and search for the plants suitable 
for this purpose at the places I have indicated ; and, 
by propagating them, they will soon have a sufficient 
number to fill their pots and shelves. 
Cacti. —The real Cacti are all too large, but the sub¬ 
genera Mammillaria furnishes the following :— 
C. crysacantha (yellow-spuned). 
— densa (close-growing). 
— glomerata (tufted). 
— prolifer a (white-spined proliferous). 
— pulchra (pretty). 
— pusilld (small). 
— stellata (starry). 
Epiphyllum class :— 
C. truncatum (truncated). 
— „ j Russellianum (Duke of Bedford’s). 
„ violaceum (violct-colour-flowered). 
These last require more heat and larger pots as they 
grow than the former. 
Cotyledon coeuscans (glittering). 
C. interject a (cast-down). 
— Lievenii (Lieven’s). 
•— sempervivum (houselcek-like). 
Ceassula albiploea (white-flowered). 
C. ciliata (hair-fringed). 
— coccinclla (small-scarlet). 
■ — concinna (neat). 
— laetea (milky). 
— orbicularis (round-leaved). 
•— rosularis (small-rosy). 
Hawoethia.—T his genus has been separated from 
I the Aloe, and is named in honour of A. H. Haworth, 
Esq., a distinguished English botanist. 
H. altilinea (ridge-lined). 
— angustifolia (narrow-leaved). 
— arachnoides (cobweb-like). 
— brevis (short). 
— concinna (ueat). 
— erecta (erect-pearl). 
I —fasciata (banded-pearl). 
— multifaria (many-sided). 
— obtusa (small-blunt). 
-—• Iieinivarti (Reinwart’s). 
— tesselata (dark-checkered). 
— venosa (veiny). T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
BLACK EAGLE GRAPE. 
j 
On visiting a neighbouring gardener the other day, this ; 
Grape was pointed out to me, and, from what I saw of it, I 
arrived at the conclusion that it would prove a capital sort for 
amateurs; two Yines, in 16-sized pots, had on each of them 
five or six rather good-sized bunches, as black as they possibly 
could be, without the least sign of shanking. The canes 
could not be milch thicker than an ordinary straw. My friend j 
informed me it is one of the surest-bearing Grapes in cultiva¬ 
tion,—seldom, under the most adverse circumstances, missing 
a crop. Its character resembles a Frontignan more than 
any other kind 1 am acquainted with. Whether it is a new 
kind, or only an old one with a new name, I am not in a , 
position to say. Be this as it may, it only requires to be 
more known to become extensively grown by people with 
limited means at command. Regarding the flavour, I cannot 
offer any opinion, not tasting the fruit.— John Eddington, 
Winch House , Seacombe. 
[We do not know this Grape by the name assigned. Send 
a bunch to the Pomologioal Society’s next meeting.— Ed.] 
YUCCA GLORIOSA. 
This fine, tropical-looking plant is not half so much j 
patronised as it deserves to be; for, independent of the i 
rigid uniform appearance its foliage always presents, no ; 
flowering plant, that I am acquainted with, can equal it 
for length of spike and number of florets expanded at one I 
time. It is true, they do not flower well in every situation ; 
but, where they do succeed, no plant of late introduction 
gives so distinct a feature as this Yucca. At this place 
(Linton Park) they thrive and flower as well as in most 
places. One spike, that flowered in the early part of July, 
I took the trouble to examine, and found it consisted of 746 
separate florets on thirty-nine spikelets; the total height from 
the ground being a little over ten feet, and from the base of 
the lowest spikclet to the tip was nearly seven feet, and at the 
time when it was at its best there were at least six feet of this 
stem densely covered with expanded blooms all at once. No 
Hollyhock, that I have ever seen, can equal this. I believe 
we had one still larger than this in flower, three or four years 
ago ; but I did not take any particular notice of it at the time, i 
and am only induced to record this at the instance of a friend, 
who reports this spike to be an unusually fine one. 
I hope others, having fine plants of any kind, flowering or I 
fruiting out of the ordinary way, will likewise record them.— 
J- Robson. 
Swimming Power of the Adder. —As Mr. Partington, 
hairdresser, of Nantwich, Cheshire, and his friend were 
fishing in the canal, about a mile from the above place, they 
were suddenly surprised by seeing a viper, or adder, swim¬ 
ming across it, with its head and tail just out of the water, 
making its way as rapidly as though it were running on 
land. Mr. Partington immediately detached the thick por¬ 
tion of his rod, and, on its coming to the canal’s bank, struck 
the viper, and killed it. It was a large specimen, being up¬ 
wards of two feet in length. This will tend further to con- | 
firm the fact, that vipers will take water, and also that they j 
are good swimmers. 
