THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Mat 1, 1860. 
69 
And now I would ask those who love a garden, why they 
should grudge the labour required for watering. When an 
amateur, and not an amateur only, makes a new garden, he is in¬ 
structed to drain well, and to make every provision for a good 
garden. Expensive walls are built, ground is trenched, borders 
made, and much more, and then, forsooth, some think that here¬ 
after the garden will require very little attention or expense. But 
somehow these things are expensive if well carried out, and what 
is not ? But surely any one who will undergo such expenses, in¬ 
cluding drainage matters, &c., should not think it too expensive 
to apply water when requisite. Surely waterpots and a provision 
of water in gardens were never meant to be confined to vegetables 
alone. For my own part, I will be amongst the first to recognise 
the importance of taking off lodged waters, and also to appre¬ 
ciate the benefits of water during droughts. 
R. Ereington. 
THE WILD SAXIFRAGES. 
Amongst the flowering plants which cheer us in spring is the 
lowly Saxifraga opposit folia, “ a bonny tufty kind o’ plant wi’ a 
wee purple kind o’ flower.” It is an old favourite of mine, but I 
find it difficult to keep in the same spot without a change of soil 
for more than two years ; yet in some places I have seen it do 
well for several years without removal. A friend of mine who 
grows it extensively has this year lost the whole of his stock, with 
the exception of a plant in a pot growing in a cold frame, where 
it will well repay for any extra care bestowed upon it. 
It is one of our Yorkshire wild plants, growing on the top of 
Ingleborough and Beunigent, near Settle. S. aizoides, stellaris, 
granulata, tridactylites, and hypnoides may be found in the 
same neighbourhood, and are common in the gardens of the 
so-called “ hedge botanists ” who reside in the upper part of 
Calderdale. 
S. granulata plena (Double-white Saxifrage) is not half so 
common as it ought to be. It is much grown by the Sheffield 
artisans, by whom it is highly prized. One reason why it is not 
so much grown is, it casts up its grain roots in winter, and is 
destroyed by the birds and spring frosts; but grown in a close 
tuft the leaves will protect it the same as S. granulata (White 
Meadow Saxifrage). But a pot of it ought always to be grown 
in a cold frame by those who possess such a convenience. 
Your correspondent, Mi-. E. Bennett, in writing short articles 
on the cultivation of “ Old-fashioned Flowers ” may do good 
service by describing the culture, &c., of our old favourites, many 
of which have almost gone out of cultivation, and are only to be 
found in the gardens of the curious. Many of the most beauti¬ 
ful are rarely seen, and few nurserymen can supply them; but a 
few short articles may again bring them into notice, and call up 
old associations. 
“ There’s flowers that live in memory, 
That must for ever last, 
Which speak unspoken things to me, 
And conjure up the past.” 
—Rustic Robin. 
VEGETABLES FOR HOT WEATHER AND 
DRY SITUATIONS. 
Dby gravelly soils and hot seasons, with very little rain, and 
artificial watering either impossible or uncertain, render many 
kinds of vegetables almost useless, or their quality is so indifferent 
that they are often rejected. Now, though much may be done to 
counteract the evils of a dry situation acted on by a dry season, 
yet the two combined to a certain extent defeat the most skilful 
and assiduous cultivation, unless the latter be assisted by copious 
waterings of liquid manures. But, as stated above, this can 
seldom be commanded ; and in former communications the mode 
of dealing with such dry soils has been fully treated on by 
deep trenching and endeavouring, as far as possible, to obtain a 
deep healthy medium for the roots to work in. Possibly, even 
witli all this auxiliary help, Cauliflowers will come deformed, 
Cabbages look blue, Peas becomo mildewed, and Lettuce run to 
seed ; Celery will also remain stationary, if it does not follow the 
same course as the Lettuce. Now all these evils are in their way 
attributable to the want of moisture sufficient to supply the juices 
necessary for these plants maintaining that freshness which forms 
their especial merit at table. And as it is impossible entirely to 
prevent some or all of these and other evils in every case, it would 
be well to consider what vegetables we have that are capable of 
resisting dry weather and dry places. Nay, more: There are 
some things which seem to benefit by such positions ; and these 
being useful and of easy management, it will be well here to 
describe some of the most popular of them. 
Vegetable Marrow. —This accommodating plant is much more 
profitable than is often supposed, as it is not very nice as to 
situation, rambling over a heap of rubbish, or amongst stones, or 
under trees if not too much shadowed; or, in fact, almost any¬ 
where, excepting in a swamp where it is not at home. A few seeds 
should be sown in April or beginning of May in a flower-pot, and 
the plants turned out by the middle or end of May. A few spadefuls 
of good earth may be accorded to each plant if the natural soil of 
their site be indifferent; and being sheltered a short time, they 
speedily grow and occupy a very large plot of ground. It is very 
difficult to say how much ; but I never knew any plants yet kept 
within their estimated bounds, which are generally some odd 
; corner or piece of unoccupied ground, they being seldom seen in 
' the central squares in company with such things as Lettuce, 
j Onions, and the like. Their treatment, also, is the easiest of the 
easy ; being, in fact, nothing more than the cutting off the fruit 
as it attains the proper size, reserving no more for seed than is 
absolutely necessary, one fruit generally sufficing for that pur¬ 
pose ; and the great numbers of fruit somo of the best kinds bear 
render them, perhaps, as prolific as any class of vegetable we 
have. Of the lands grown there are great varieties, and each has 
its especial admirers. The Custa/i'd Marrow has been much 
approved of in the last two or three years ; while one, in the shape 
of a bottle or decanter, is also spoken of as being good ; while in 
the west of England they grow the Mammoth , and that to a size 
warranting its gigantic name. Mr. Lynch, the worthy gardener 
at Port Elliot, near Devonport, told me he had grown one to the 
extraordinary weight of 160 lbs.; but it is not usual to allow 
them to get large when they are grown for cooking purposes. 
Then there is the old straw-coloured Vegetable Marrow, which 
is perhaps second to none yet for general utility in abundant 
bearing, and the other qualifications which constitute a plain 
useful article. Besides the above there are innumerable inter¬ 
mediate varieties of more or less merit; and now and then some 
j traveller from the East brings home seeds of varieties he has 
partaken of in their native climate with great relish, and he 
I urgently presses their merits on his acquaintances as being 
superior to anything he ever tasted in England. Whether this 
proves in the sequel to be so or not is more than can be affirmed 
here. Suffice it to say that there is no lack of varieties, and the 
fruit is generally good and esteemed when cooked in the proper 
manner. Suffice it to say that the Vegetable Marrow is one 
of the few vegetables we have capable of resisting the withering 
effects of a dry hot summer or a dry soil, and deserves especial 
j notice on that account. 
Scarlet Runner Beans. —Like most annuals or plants from a 
tropical climate, this useful legume likes a warm sunny summer; 
and though it luxuriates and thrives well in a deep rich soil, and 
unquestionably is more product ive in such a one, it is also able to 
withstand a long period of dry weather in a very dry shallow 
soil. And very often, when Peas and Cauliflowers have ceased 
j to furnish their quota to the dinner-table, Scarlet Runners come 
I in with advantage ; a good row of Scarlet Runners being, perhaps, 
the most profitable garden crop we have, continuing in season 
from the beginning of July to very late in autumn if the weather 
be mild. In 1857 we had some in December from the open 
ground, but that was unusually late. Generally, however, they 
keep in succession till the frost kills the plants. The cultivation 
has been so often explained, that it is useless describing it here 
further than saying that the seeds may be sown in the first week 
of May ; and suitable stakes or poles being applied in time, little 
more is required than to pick the pods as they arrive at the 
proper size, and they will continue the longer in bearing by 
having no seed-pods to ripen. There are said to be some varieties 
of the Scarlet; but I know of none better than the old one. 
The White Runner, and the intermediate one, the Fainted Lady, 
and the other kinds, as the Case Knife, are all inferior for general 
purposes to the Scarlet Runner; but the admirer of novelties 
may indulge his hobby by growing other kinds if he choose. 
The features and constitutions of the whole are alike, and each 
has its admirers at table; the oldest kinds having, as beforo said, 
most friends. 
Dwarf Kidney Beans. —The same remarks applicable to Scarlet 
Runners apply to these; only the earliest crop may be sown 
sooner in the spring, and they come earlier into use and require 
