November 20, 1SS6. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
181 
tuft of leaves with a knife, and then apply the “Bellicide” 
direct to the stem. It may he necessary to apply three 
or four dressings ; but, in the end, the v T eed succumbs. 
It is best to apply the “Bellicide” during moist weather ; 
hut if it he in a time of drought, the grass about the 
space where the preparation has been applied should be 
watered after the expiration of five or six days. It 
can he used at any time between March and August, 
it should be kept dry, it does uo harm to birds, there 
is no objectionable smell, and it will keep for any 
length of time. I am so satisfied with what I have 
seen of its effectual operation when applied, that 1 1 
have every confidence in recommending it for general 
use.— II. D. 
-- 
THE LONDON FLOWER-GIRL. 
One of the most familiar figures of our streets and 
thoroughfares is that of the flower-girl, who, with her 
basket of pretty flowers, arranged either in bunches or 
“button-holes,” is known and welcomed everywhere. 
Neatly, if poorly clad, she may be seen in the busy 
streets of the City, in the fashionable'promenades of the 
West, in the dull poverty-clad districts of the East, in 
the pretty and healthy suburbs of the North and South; 
in short, wherever-there is a prospect of doing business, 
the flower-girl is one of the most noticeable figures. 
And yet, thoroughly as she is known, it is a remarkable 
fact that very few persons are aware of the many ins 
and outs of a flower-seller’s life. Day after day—no 
matter how inclement the weather—we see her almost 
in the same spot, with her basket more or less crowded 
with the flowers of the particular season ; hut at the 
same time, however, few 7 of us give a moment’s thought 
as to the hardships she has to hear, in order that 
sufficient money may he got together, by which not 
only to keep herself and those depending upon her, but 
also to enable her to again lay in her stock of flowers 
on the morrow. 
If there is to be any result from the day’s labour, the 
flower-girl must he up and stirring, and should be at 
the market in Co vent Garden as early as four o’clock m 
the summer and between five and six o’clock during the 
winter months. Hours previous to this time, however, 
the well-to-do dealers and others will have been there 
before her, and she must, therefore, make the best 
bargain possible, according as her scanty means will 
allow 7 . If flowers are at all scarce, and, as often 
happens, the demand from the shops has been great, 
the prices will run high, thus making it impossible for 
the poorer class of flower-girls to invest, and con¬ 
sequently many, with heavy aching hearts, return 
home, or wander listlessly about the streets. 
The Flower Market at Covent Garden presents a 
very animated appearance during the early hours of the 
morning. Flower vendors of various ages are there— 
women and girls, often with infants in arms, or little 
ones clinging to the aprons or dress of their mothers— 
some v 7 itli an air of carelessness about them, showuno’ 
that they have grown accustomed to the business ; 
others—new hands, perhaps—anxiously awaiting the 
first opportunity to purchase as soon as the more 
wealthy have taken their choice. 
The spring of the year is by far the best season for 
the flower-girl. Then it is that her basket of bright 
pretty flow r ers is most welcome, when, after a long 
dreary winter, the sun once again bursts forth with 
renewed splendour, cheering the heart of the poor, and 
delighting the eye of the rich ; because, for a few short 
months, the piercing cold and agony of the winter 
will he forgotten in the magnificence of the sun’s w 7 ann 
rays. With the spring comes the dawning of a new 
life. It is then that our fashionable thoroughfares w 7 ill 
be made bright and cheerful by the plenteous supply of 
flowers. Primroses, Daffodils, Crocuses, Snowdrops 
and Violets all tend to enliven the dull monotony of 
our busy life, and lend a charm to the streets of the 
world’s great Metropolis. 
Spring soon passes ; summer waxes and wanes ; the 
lovely autumn too quickly follows suit, and once again 
the cruel cold winter is upon us. Then the most bitter 
of problems to the flower-seller has to be solved—viz , 
how to live through the winter months, until the 
spring once again brings the means of subsistence. If, 
indeed, it is a hard matter to live when flowers are 
plentiful and in great demand, how much more so is it 
when flowers are scarce and prices enormously high ? 
Nearly twenty years ago Mr. J. A. Groom com¬ 
menced his great work of practical Christianity among 
the poor of London, and naturally the deplorable state 
of the flower-sellers during the winter season soon 
attracted his attention, the formation of the Flower 
Girls Mission being the result. This mission, ■which 
has its quarters in Clerkenwell-close, was for many 
years under the presidency of the Earl of Shaftesbury, 
who up to within a few days of his death was inde¬ 
fatigable in his exertions, and now the mission has not 
been less fortunate in securing the co-operation of the 
Earl of Aberdeen ; and the Countess, who took such 
a deep interest in the Irish women's industries, is one 
of its most devoted helpers. The mission works upon 
the principle of helping others to help themselves, and 
so far its efforts h^ve met with every success. The last 
long and dreary winter, however, taxed the resources 
of the mission to the very utmost, but in spite of reduced 
subscriptions, owing to the depression in trade, it was 
able to give relief, in the form of clothing and food, to 
a vast number of poor flower-women and children. A 
missionary visits the early-morning markets and the 
theatres and music-halls at night, where many cases of 
an appalling and distressing nature have been met. 
The proffered help of breakfast is in most cases eagerly 
accepted, while the few words of kindly sympathy and 
encouragement are listened to with great attention, the 
result being that a bond of loving friendship is formed, 
thus destroying that indifference of feeling which is so 
hard to contend against, and which so often leads into 
sin.— Echo. 
-»;£-<-- 
MUSHROOM KETCHUP. 
Having had an abundance of Mushrooms this autumn 
my wife tried her hand at making ketchup, but from 
some cause or other, which we cannot determine, failed 
Unadulterated Ketchup. 
in the attempt ; can you tell us how it is done ?— 
A. Chrichton, Leicester. [Unless our correspondent 
grows Mushrooms under cover, which we do not suppose 
is the case, it is too late in the season to make ketchup 
now ; but as the details required by our correspondent 
may also be useful to others, we give a recipe taken from 
Mrs. Beeton’s “ Cookery Book,” a most admirable work 
ou the subject, and so cheap that even the most humble 
housewife should possess it. “The ingredients required 
for dealing with a peck of Mushrooms, are £ lb. of 
salt; and for each quart of Mushroom liquor, | oz. of 
cayenne, | oz. of allspice, J oz. of ginger, and two 
blades of pounded mace. The Mushrooms should be 
full grown, and fresh gathered in tolerably dry weather. 
Put a layer of them in a deep pan, sprinkle salt over 
them, put in another layer and so on. Let them 
remain for a few hours, then break them up with the 
hand and put them in a cool place for three days, 
occasionally stirring and washing them w 7 ell to extract 
the juice. Ascertain the quantity of liquor without 
straining, and allow to each quart the above proportion 
of spice, &c. Put all into a stone jar, cover it up 
closely, put it into a saucepan of boiling water, set it 
over the fire and boil for three hours. Turn the 
contents of the jar into a clean stewpan, and simmer 
for half-an-hour ; pour into a jug and stand it in a 
cool place until next day, then pour off into another 
jug, and strain it into very dry clean bottles. To each 
pint of ketchup add a few drops of brandy. Do not 
squeeze the Mushrooms. Be careful not to shake the 
contents, but leave all the sediment behind in the jug ; 
cork well and seal or resin the cork. The ketchup 
should be examined occasionally after it has been put 
by, and if it is spoiling it should be re-boiled with a 
few peppercorns.” In the accompanying little sketch, 
our artist, who has ere now nearly poisoned himself by 
tasting dubious “ Mushrooms,” presents his ideas on 
the subject, and like Pat’s Potatos, “ they speak for 
themselves.”—E d.] 
PEARS y. PEACHES FOR A 
SOUTH WALL. 
As the planting season is now at hand, and as far as 
I am aware, no one has answered your correspondent 
“ W. C.”, see p. 341, vol. ii, I venture to give my 
experience upon the above subject. We have sixteen 
trees of Peaches and Nectarines planted by the side of 
a south wall, and the youngest of them would be from 
twelve to fifteen years of age, from the maiden state ; 
the others are much older. I have had charge of them 
for nine seasons, therefore, I can speak with some 
certainty. We have about twenty-four trees planted 
against walls with an east aspect; these are not nearly 
so satisfactory as those grown on a south wall, but 
they yield sufficient returns to justify us in continuing 
their culture outside. This year we have had some 
good fruit of the following kinds, from the east walls : 
—Royal George, Barrington, Violette Hative, Noblesse, 
Gros Mignonne and Lord Palmerston ; some fruits of 
the latter measured 10 ins. in circumference. Hum¬ 
boldt Nectarine was also very fine in quality. 
The autumn of 1885 was favourable for the ripening 
of Peach wood, consequently, this season, I have 
gathered over a thousand Peaches and Nectarines, the 
greater number from the south wall, of the following 
kinds :■—Dr. Hogg (very fine), Early Silver, Alexandra, 
Exquisite, Princess of Wales, Late Admirable, Walbur- 
ton Admirable, Barrington and Gros Mignonne ; and 
Lord Napier and Elruge Nectarines. To show how 
favourable a south w 7 all is to the growth of Peaches, I 
will give an instance : Walburton Admirable, which 
was formerly trained on an east wall and rather shaded 
by other trees, did not ripen a single fruit for seven 
years, and it lost nearly all the lower branches. Some 
would have said, “Cut it down, why w 7 aste time and 
space upon it ? ” I thought otherwise, as I wanted to 
prove its capabilities. It was removed to a southern 
aspect, fully exposed, and the next season we were 
rewarded with one handsome fruit; at that time I could 
see that, by the quality of the new growths, which, 
instead of being green and soft, were hard and of a 
mahogany colour, we were on the road to success. 
This year the same tree produced twenty fine Peaches. 
“ W. C.’s” trees must be in a deplorable condition 
when he is constrained to say, that ‘ ‘ four trees in an 
ordinary lean-to house will give more good fruit than 
fourteen outside.” There is an amount of uncertainty 
about all our choice wall-fruit trees out of doors, and, 
no doubt, Cherries, Plums, and some of the more tender 
kinds of Pears would be much better with some glass 
protection to carry them safely over the blooming and 
setting period. 
As regards Peach culture, sometimes a deficiency of 
sun in the autumn leaves us with nothing but green 
and unripened wood to face a severe winter with ; under 
such circumstances, need one wonder at branches dying 
off wholesale ? And in the spring and early summer, 
frosts and treacherous winds finish the work of 
destruction by destroying the scanty crop. It will be 
seen and, I think, admitted, that unripened wood is 
the chief cause of failure ; and, in order to remedy this 
as far as we can, some old notions need to be expelled, 
one of which is, after a border is well made and 
planted, that it must remain undisturbed (as if it 
were sacred) year after year ; in other -words, the trees 
are expected to go on thriving for an indefinite period 
without having their roots examined and attended to 
from time to time. If a Peach tree is making rank and 
pithy growths, which will not ripen, we prune the 
roots and bring them nearer the surface ; on the other 
hand, if the growths are weak, we lift the tree and 
replant in a somewhat richer soil. The aim and object 
is to produce medium-sized growths that can be 
matured before winter sets in. In very cold districts, 
or in the neighbourhood of smoky manufacturing 
towns, it is useless to plant Peaches out-of-doors, but 
where they have once thriven and succeeded, I should 
feel that there was something wrong in the treatment 
if they did not do so again. 
We have Pears in abundance, and some of them 
disgrace the name by which they are called, being 
coarse and gritty, and only fit for stewing. Just now 
we are getting a fresh stock, and may hope for better 
things. We are also replacing some of the worn-out 
Peach trees, and I mean to give the west wall a trial, 
and expect success therefrom. 
Where variety in the dessert is required, Peaches and 
Nectarines are worth some trouble for producing a 
