EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE.

SHALOT CULTURE.-I would call the attention of every reader of THE COTTAGE GARDENER to the very excellent results I obtained from manuring with charred refuse for shalots, in accordance with your valuable advice. During March last, I marked out a bed 6 yards long, by 4 feet wide; drew four moderately-deep drills: filled two with charred refuse, and two with a compost of salt, lime, and walk-sweepings; and planted the rows thereon, 10 inches apart. Their subsequent treatment, as to hoeing and weeding, was precisely the same. They were taken up in July, each two rows were kept carefully apart, and when fully dried were weighed. The produce of the two rows grown on the charred refuse was 9 lb; and that of the two grown on the compost only 44 lb.LEIGHTON.

ROSE PRUNING.-In the January number of THE COTTAGE GARDENER, Mr. Beaton anticipated one of the topics on which I wished to consult you: I mean the propriety of pruning roses in October. And as I practised in November the directions with which he favoured us in January, I conclude that I acted right. Permit me briefly to relate the reasons on which my practice was founded.

Every thoughtful person must be impressed with the wonderful analogy that exists between certain animals and plants. And taking the dormouse as my type-that sensible little animal, who, on the approach of winter, puts himself comfortably to bed, and never quits his hibernaculum until spring knocks at his door. But before the dormouse retires to his rest, he provides a store of food in case an access of mild weather should disturb his slumbers. An interval of mild weather does occur, and the little creature awaking from sleep, partakes of the food he had stored up; and on the return of frost he relapses into sleep. We perceive, then, that during the abode of the dormouse in his winter quarters the vital functions are still in some degree active; not so vigorously indeed as when he is frisking in the sunshine. But we see him sleeping when it is cold, reviving whenever the weather is mild, and again falling asleep on the return of cold weather. Now is not this the exact condition of a plant during the winter? On the arrival of winter, the plant goes to repose; but it has previously laid up a store of food for its future exigencies; the weather becomes milder, and the plant shows some increase of its living principle by the swelling of its buds; there is a return of cold weather, and the circulation becomes more sluggish. Thus, in the animal and the plant, the vital action, although at times impeded, is never entirely suspended; and with these partial revivals and checks, they both struggle through their wintry existence. However, this is the train of reasoning which convinced me that trees ought to be pruned as soon as they are out of leaf, to attain the purposes so ably stated by you last month. I append a little historiette of my practice. I purchased a few rosetrees in the autumn, but they did not come to my possession before the middle of November; and being confident of my theory, I pruned them at once to the shape in which I hope to find them in the spring. I had indeed some ugly visions of snags, and some apprehension that after I had performed my amputations, Mr. Frost would follow in my wake, and effect his mutilations, and then, thought I, what will be the condition of my poor trees after these two-fold

operations? To prevent the occurrence of snags, I touched the cut part of the branches with liquid India rubber, which formed a hard polished coating, impervious to cold and wet; and I am glad to say that my trees have passed unscathed through the sharp ordeal of the late frosts. (This is a good suggestion.) May I be permitted to inquire, when your trees were pruned in October, whether you used any precautions to insure them from the injurious effects of frost and damp? (None whatever.) Did you ever remark, or did you ever hear it mooted, that the temperature being the same, the buds of trees swell more in windy weather than in calm? I fancy that it is so; and if there be any truth in the remark, perhaps it may be accounted for by the agitation of the branches, which occasions a more brisk circulation of the sap. And in this view, the March winds (among other purposes) may be intended to arouse the vegetable world from its winter's slumber. But I write this hesitatingly.—T. 0.

[This is quite possible, and is in conformity with a theory first suggested by Mr. Knight. He found that of two plants exactly alike, kept in a greenhouse, one quite still and the other frequently shaken, the latter grew fastest and strongest. It is a common observation with farmers, that turnips do not grow fast until the leaves are large enough for "the wind to get hold of them."-ED. C. G.]

A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF CAMELLIAS. (Continued from page 327.)

STRIPED, SPOTTED, AND BLOTTED.

Adonidea. Poony-shaped; sometimes imbricated; petals rose, spotted with straw, veined with lilac, and regularly bordered with white, 2s. 6d.

Americana. Same form as the C. Duchesse d' Orleans; delicate rose, striped or stained with crimson, 2s. 6d.

Archduchesse Augusta.-A splendid variety-all beauty. Form exquisite; colour new; richly imbricated; petals of a fine deep red, veined with blue, with a white stripe down the centre of each. As the flower fades, it changes to all blue, flamed with red, and bordered with white, 10s. 6d. Baltimoreana.-Very grand; delicate white; striped

with rose.

Barni d' Italie.-Deep red, with a narrow stripe of white down the centre of each petal; an imbricated flower, 2s. 6d.

Benneyii.- Imbricated crimson, finely striped with white magnificent.

Bijou de la Garza.-Form of the Duchess d'Orleans; ground colour deep carmine largely spotted with white, often edged with a ribbon of white; a truly splendid variety, 10s. 6d.

Camellia de la Reine.-Finely imbricated; a grand flower; large petals, very round; ground colour pure white, slightly spotted with lilac, 3s. 6d.

Brozzoni.-Form of the Duchess d'Orleans; the three outer ranges of petals cherry colour, all the other white; a most extraordinary flower, 10s. 6d.

Caroline Smith.-Well imbricated; lively rose, with a white stripe down the centre of each petal, 2s. 6d.

Carswelliana.-Excellent shape, form of Alba plena; rose slightly tinged with salmon, one white stripe from the centre to the outer edge of each petal, 2s 6d.

Colletii. Bloody velvet ground, coloured with large blotches of the most pure white.

Daniel Webster.-Carmine lined with white; some petals almost all white, others largely striped; imbrication perfect, and the petals very round, 2s. 6d.

Donkelaarii.-Clear red, with large blotches of pure white; flowers large; a beautiful variety, 2s. 6d.

Duc de Bretagne.-Beautifully imbricated; colour a lively rose, striped and spotted with white.

Duchess d'Orleans.-Worthy of the name it bears; ranunculus-formed petals, very round; well imbricated; colour white ground, with a slight tint of flesh colour, irregularly striped and spotted with carmine; a first-rate variety.

Emilie Gavazzi.-Extremely delicate form and colours; well imbricated; rosy-white blotches, striped with carmine, centre yellow.

Emperor.-Raised by Davies & Co., near Liverpool, by impregnating C. Colvillii with C. reticulata; form and colour greatly improved upon both. It obtained a prize at the London Horticultural Society's Meeting, in Regent Street, 3s. 6d.

Eastii.-Very grandly imbricated; of the finest possible form; white ground, blotched, and striped with rose.

Fulgens plenissima.-Imbricated; lively rose, with a line of white down the centre of each petal, 2s. 6d.

Grand Duchess d'Etruria.- Poony-shaped; ground white, finely striped with rose; a good variety, 2s. 6d.

Guillaume Tell.-Imbricated perfectly; three of the outer ranges of petals of a deep lively rose, the rest to the centre of a pale delicate rose; each petal large, edged with white; a first-rate flower, 5s.

Jubilee.-Well imbricated; white, slightly tinged fleshcolour, veined and striped with rose, centre a clear fine yellow, 5s.

Jupiter.-Imbricated; of a red colour, mixed with a clear salmon, and a ribbon of white regularly down the centre of each petal, 3s. 6d.

Lady Hill.-Globular form; delicate dark red, shaded with white, powdered over and speckled with carmine; very fine, 2s. 6d.

Landrethii.-Size and form of C. imbricatii; rose shading, with white towards the centre; first-rate, 2s. 6d. Leopoldina d'Italie.-Large fine flower; white ground, spotted with rose, and striped with red; always imbricated. Madonna.-Imbricated; very large; pure white, bordered with carmine; superior to that fine variety, the Duchess d'Orleans, 5s.

Marchioness of Exeter.-Delicate rose, sometimes blotched with white; extra grand magnificent flower. Obtained the first prize at the large Quinquennial Exhibition at Ghent, 3s. 6d.

Margaret Gouillon.-Imbricated and pœony-formed; delicate rose, spotted and striped with lively red; superior to Sweetii, 2s. 6d.

Maria Luigia di Parma.-Very large petals, spread out; dark blood-red, with large pure white spots, often self-coloured, 2s. 6d.

Neoboracensis. Very large and fine; dark scarlet, striped in the centre with white, 2s. 6d.

Palagi.-Peony-form; rosy white, spotted and lined with white and purple, 5s.

Perigrina.-White, striped with carmine like a carnation; a very distinguished variety, 2s. 6d.

Perfecta (Chalmers's).-First prize at the Grand Exhibition at Philadelphia. Imbrication and size perfect; rose sometimes dark and sometimes delicate; petals round and thin, each covering gracefully; generally spotted with white. During the later period of blooming its flowers become white; the centre petals bloom sometimes quite white, whilst those of the circumference keep the lively colour of cherries, 3s. 6d.

Perfection (Cunningham's)-Imbricated; magnificent dark red; a white ribbon divides each petal in equal parts. This variety, when nearly done blooming, becomes all blue; first-rate, 2s. 6d.

well imbricated; round petals; rosy white, powdered over with carmine; centre yellow, 3s. 6d.

Princess Baciocchi.-Superbly imbricated; the first four ranges of petals of a fine dark velvet-like carmine, the others deep scarlet, edged with white, 2s. 6d.

Pulcherrima striata.-Brilliant deep scarlet, marbled with large and small spots; charming, 2s. 6d.

Queen Victoria.-Priestley's magnificent variety, with very thick petals; fine red, with a white line down the centre of each.

Ridolfiana.-White ground, with broad ribbons of blood-colour; some petals of a delicate rose-colour hang elegantly off the bottom; all the others are regularly disposed; magnificent, 2s. 6d.

Saccoi nova.-Imbricated variable petals; rosy, sometimes transparent, sometimes semi-coloured; at other times well variegated; a beautiful variety, 3s. 6d.

Spectabilis.-Magnificent globular flowers; very full; white, spotted with rose, 2s, 6d.

Teutonia.-Beats the old double white by the admirable disposition of its large petals. What renders it especially desirable is, its double inclination to produce flowers, either quite white or quite red, sometimes divided between the two colours, 3s. 6d.

Tourresiana.—Anemone-flowered, lively cherry-colour, with purple veins, 2s. 6d.

Verchaffeltiana.-Well imbricated; lively rose; the petals marked with a narrow whitish stripe on the edge; very fine, 3s. 6d.

Villageoise.-Elegant form; rosy white, well spotted with purple; very pretty, 2s. 6d.

Violace superba. Fine foliage; large size; fine carmine, with violet shaving, 2s. 6d.

Visconta nova.-Imbricated; very full; dark carmine, spotted or streaked with white, 3s. 6d.

Woodsia alba.-Extremely large flower; petals of the circumference milk white, with large bands of carminecoloured spots, and lines more mixed than in "Camellia King," 3s. 6d.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We request that no one will write to the departmental writers of THE COTTAGE GARDENER. It gives them unjustifiable trouble and expense; and we also request our coadjutors under no circumstances to reply to such private communications.

INDEXES (A. Z.).-You can have these, together with prefaces and title-pages, by applying at our office, 2, Amen-corner. Send your direction there, inclosing four penny stamps, and they will be sent to you.

GLADIOLI (Ibid).-We will publish a descriptive list of these shortly.

CORREA (Mary Marshall).-Whoever your friend is who told you that this is a hybrid between a fuchsia and a heath, knows nothing of botany. He might as well say that the Pyrus japonica is a hybrid between a crab and a poppy. The Correa is a distinct genus of plants.

FIELD BOTANY (Rev. E. H. V.).- Withering's "Arrangement of British Plants," or Smith's "English Flora," would supply your wishes. We cannot, in a weekly paper, be sufficiently accurate to justify our attempting to accent proper names.

DICTIONARY (R. S. P.).—A Dictionary, such as you suggest, is in contemplation; but it must be cheap.

RABBIT'S DUNG (W. D. Paine).-This is one of the richest of manures. It may be used instead of that of the sheep for making liquid-manure. It must, for such purpose, be kept dry, and unmixed with litter. As a manure for digging into the soil, it should be mixed with the litter and urine of the rabbit. Ammonia is abundant in the manure formed by rabbits; and, in addition, it contains much chalk (carbonate of lime), carbonate of potash, muriate of potash, and sulphates of potash and lime-all friendly to garden-plants.

PRICES OF FOWLS (A Constant Reader).-If any of the parties who deal in them will send us an advertisement, we shall willingly insert it. We know it would answer their purpose, for our circulation exceeds that of any other gardening periodical.

EVERGREEN CLIMBERS (Hazelhurst).—The best evergreen climber for the posts of a verandah are climbing roses of that character, such

as Felicite Perpetuelle, Princesse Louise, Princesse Marie, and Odorata; and these are the best to bud other roses on. Gloire de Rosamene should be planted along with them to keep the bottoms full, and for perpetual flowering, but it will not bud well on any stock. The white jasmine, and the yellow one (Jasminum revolutum) are also very suitable for your purpose.

AMARYLLIS (Delta).-This planted in November and kept in the house, now looks sickly. You have done as thousands have done before, and as other thousands will continue to do, until THE COTTAGE GARDENER and similar works will diffuse a better knowledge among the many. The amaryllis and the rose were started in winter under too much stimulus; they answered the call by a sudden flush of growth, but nature was soon exhausted, and they both came to a stand still. The bulb must now have its own way; keep it moist for six weeks longer, and if it does not grow let the pot get quite dry and remain so till next August, or till the bulb begins to grow again. There are so many bulbs pass under the name Amaryllis, that no one can even guess the right treatment for a given plant without seeing it. Remove the sprig of the monthly rose into a very small pot, with sandy soil, and treat it as a cutting, and it will soon root at this

season.

TREE VIOLETS (Cowes).-These have "lost their character, having run all over the pots." All that you need do is to cut off all the side shoots close to the stems.

BEGONIA FUCHSIOIDES (Ibid).-This has lost the ends of its branches, &c., from being kept in a cold damp greenhouse. Such a place is too cold and wet for this plant; but in a dry house it will do all winter, in a temperature of 40°, and from that to 45°. Cut down the side shoots to within one joint of the old stem, and those damaged cut to the bottom, but do not repot until the plant is in growth again-about a month hence. Sandy loam and good drainage, or a little peat or leaf mould, will suit it. Water it very sparingly for the first month after cutting it down.

CRYPTOMERIA JAPONICA (A Subscriber).—This is quite hardy, and one of the finest evergreens you can plant. A rich, deep, sandy loam on a dry bottom is the best soil for it.

BEDDING-OUT (Hammersmith).-You cannot safely plant out your verbenas, or any of the half-hardy flower-garden plants, at Hammersmith, before the 10th of May, and not even so early if the easterly winds, so prevalent at that season, should be very cold. Nothing but hyacinths, early tulips, with other spring bulbs and wallflowers will do for your new beds to look gay, as you wish, by the end of March. Any of the nurserymen in your neighbourhood could furnish a nice lot of flowering things till bedding-out time; and that is the cheapest way for a new garden.

LUCULIA GRATISSIMA (T. W.).- This is a hardy conservatory plant, and keeping it in the stove as you did during the winter, is the ruin of it. The same treatment as is given to forced camellias suits it better than any other mode, when grown as a pot plant: that is, after flowering in winter, to allow it to remain at rest until the natural warmth of the spring season sets it growing, say early in March; then to force it into strong growth in a damp hothouse to the end of June, and to harden it off in July, so as to stand out of doors in August, or as long as the weather is fine. After the flower-buds are formed in October, it will stand a second forcing, which is the only point in which it differs from the camellia. We need hardly say this is the finest shrub in cultivation. Any good rich soil with a little sand and peat will suit it. Crushed limestone will not answer for potting, like silver sand.

IRON versus WOODEN GREENHOUSES (S. P., Rushmere).— You are not probably aware, that if we answered your question either way, it would be like disturbing a hornet's nest. The question has caused heart-burning enough already. They each have their advantages and their disadvantages.

PERENNIALS (Ibid).—We agree with you about them, and shall add some more to the lists already in our pages. But we never yet met three persons who would agree about a border of them, or even a good selection. There is no double Erysimum perofskianum that we are aware of.

CROCUSES (E. P.). These ought to be taken up every third or fourth year, say in August, and replanted immediately, for they are no: improved by being kept out of the ground like hyacinths. Yet, as they do not succeed well with you, you might buy some next summer and plant them in October.

PROPAGATING AUBRIETIA (A.).—The aubrietia is best increased by dividing the plants into five or six pieces, when they have done flowering, taking off some roots with each piece, cutting away half of the old stems, and planting them in light soil in some shady place, till September, or later, when they are ready for the beds again.

ANNUALS (Ibid).-These sown under hand-glasses need not be upon a hothed; and as soon as they are up, raise one side of the glass to let in air to them.

NATURAL PHENOMENA (Amicus).-You surprise us by asking, why we insert such “trifling" information as that on such a day "the frog croaks?" information, you say, "trifling, even if true." Now, if not true, you will oblige us much by stating how far each event we so notice is from being correct, because on the multitude of such observations depends their value. We state what is the average time for each phenomenon occuring in the east of England; and when such phenomenon occurs either earlier or later, it is a natural indication to the gardener, if read aright, to sow and perform other operations earlier or later. Linnæus and other naturalists have commended these guides.

COCHIN CHINA Fowls (Rev. W. D. F.).—Norwood is in Surrey. We have forwarded your note.

ANNUALS (P. O. P.).— You will see some such as you require in our two last numbers, if you will consult the indexes. Very full lists, with heights, colours, &c., are given at pages 137 and 274 of our first volume.

PEA-FOWL (Mary Anne).—Your pea-fowl losing the use of their limbs and dying, are affected probably with rheumatism and cramp. They are natives of a warm climate, and the late severe winter may have affected them Cold and damp cause those diseases to them. Keep them shut up in a warm dry place; and when any one of them is attacked, put its legs and the lower part of its body in a bath of water as hot as you can bear your hand in it; put it before the fire until quite dry, and give it a pellet or two of barley meal containing a bruised clove of garlic. The wet clay soil is the cause of your roses losing the ends of their branches. Can you not alter the staple of the soil about them by excavating it, and mixing it with half its bulk of coal-ashes, sand, and lime rubbish?

GARDENERS' DICTIONARY (Ibid).-A new edition is contemplated. SEEDSMAN (C. Mc L.).-Any one who advertises in our columns will send you what you want, and then you can send payment afterwards to him,

BEES (E. R.).—You had no hives in your own possession until this winter; and feel at a loss about transferring these swarms (which are in old hives) into the Improved Cottage hives. Your safest and best plan will be to let the bees swarm, and put the swarms into any kind of hives that you may like best; and when your bees have swarmed and cast (a second swarm), which they are sure to do, you must not expect any honey from them: it is all the parent stocks will do to lay up a winter's store. The small hive and glass have each a hole at the top; because, when placed between the one already nearly full and the parent hive, free communication may be given to the bees to go up and complete it, A turned piece of wood, with one hole two inches in diameter, will do equally well. Adapting boards are not absolutely necessary between the small hives, but they are very convenient at the time of removal; the large bowl forms sufficient cover for the whole. Keep your old hives for swarming. Should you feel particularly anxious to obtain a little fine honey from your old stocks, cut a hole in the top of the strong hives, and place on a small one that will hold five or six pounds, or a glass of the same size. It will retard their swarming only a few days, and perhaps not at all; put them on the last week in April.

FUCHSIA CORYMBIFLORA (Ibid).—Plant it in the border, and train it against your east wall, as you propose.

TWELVETREES' WASHING LIQUID (A Subscriber).-- Not knowing its composition, we cannot say whether it will be beneficial as a manure after being used for washing linen. It is probably alkaline, and you can try it to cabbages in your kitchen-garden. Mr. Beaton dces not recommend the disuse of the hoe, but of the rake. Every gardener who knows how to handle a hoe and spade can put a surface neat without raking it.

BONES (Beta). If these do not dissolve readily, we conclude the sulphuric acid was not sufficiently strong. It ought to be the strongest sulphuric acid; try some more of this.

POTATO PLANTING (G. R.).—All potatoes may be planted earlythe earlier the better. The terms "early" and "late," applied to potatoes, refer to their time of being fit to take up. It is impossible to know what kind is meant by "a white kind from near Rouen."

HEATING GREENHOUSE (Hope).-Your iron stove for this purpose will be best outside, with merely a cover from the weather; why not connect it with a brick flue? Iron always causes disagreeable smells, and the production of deleterious gases.

CANVAS (Dr. L., of Bath).-You can get it from Mr. Hulme, Paradise Green, Knutsford. If the canvas touches the ground, it will soon decay.

BEES (Un Aboue).-The floor-board may be cleaned or changed just before sunrise, or immediately itsets; the greatest possible danger would arise from setting pans with food about on a sunny day; it will set all the bees on your own as well as in your neighbour's apiaries to fighting, and the total loss of several stocks would in all probability be the result. The contents of a hive four years old, to be safe, should now weigh 8 lbs. Feed at the top of your hives, if possible; if not, see pages 305, 306, vol. i. of THE COTTAGE GARDENER.

LAYING DOWN A MEADOW (A Subscriber, Dublin).-After your turnips are off, dig the ground, and sow oats this month; and, as soon as these are drilled in, sow the grass seeds, and then run a light roller Describe your soil, and write to Messrs. G.bbs & Co., Picca

over.

dilly, London.

NAMES OF PLANTS (John Marchington).-Your plant is Arabis alpina. (J. W. Sulby)-Your hardy shrub is Garrya elliptica. (J. G. P., Everton).—The small-leaved fern is the Maidenhair, Adiantum capillus-veneris; and the other, we think, is Pteris pedata.

LONDON: Printed by HARRY Wooldridge, Winchester High Street, in the Parish of St. Mary Kalendar; and Published by WILLIAM SOMERVILLE ORR, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of Christ Church, City of London.-March 21st, 1850.

MAUNDY THURSDAY is always the day next before Good Friday. The derivation of the name is obscure; but, besides that we mentioned last year, this one is not improbable. As this day is commemorating that on which our Saviour commanded his disciples to remember him as often as they supped together, and issued that "new commandment," "Love one another," this may well be designated Mandate Thursday - dies mandatum. The custom of relieving indigent persons on this day commenced in England during the reign of Edward III., A.D. 1363; and now the lord almoner or his deputy deliver to as many poor men and women as the sovereign has attained to years of age, woollen and linen cloth, shoes, stockings, five threepenny loaves, beef, dried salmon, cod, herrings, wooden cups of ale and wine, a sovereign, and as many silver pennies as the sovereign is years old.

GOOD FRIDAY.-On the present occasion we shall do no more than make a few observations upon those "cross buns" of which Poor Robin says

"Good Friday comes this month-the old woman runs
With one or two a-penny hot cross buns,
Whose virtue is, if you believe what's said,
They'll not grow mouldy like the common bread."

at the entrance of the temple, especially every species of consecrated bread, which was denominated accordingly. One species of sacred bread was of great antiquity, and called boun." Diogenes Laertius describes the ingredients of these cakes as being flour mingled with honey. There is little doubt that the cross put upon our anniversary buns was the symbol adopted to denote the commemoration to which they were dedicated. The best recipe for making buns, that we know of, is the following:-Rub half-a-pound of butter thoroughly into three-pounds-and-a-half of flour; add half-a-pound of powdered loaf sugar, three eggs previously well beaten, a pint-and-three-quarters of new milk gently warmed, and four tablespoonsful of yeast. Mix the whole, let it rise well, by placing it before the fire, and then add either currants, or powdered carraway seeds, or grated lemon peel, according to the flavour desired. Bake in cheesecake tins, and the buns will be exceedingly light.

METEOROLOGY OF THE WEEK.-During the last twenty-three years, the average highest and lowest temperatures of the above seven days, at Chiswick, have been 54.5° and 35.5°, respectively. The greatest heat during the same days occurred on the 3rd of April, 1818, when the thermometer reached 78°; and the greatest cold on the 1st in 1838, when it fell to 16°. There were, during the same period, 104 dry days, and 54 on which rain fell.

NATURAL PHENOMENA INDICATIVE OF WEATHER.-When the moon looks red or fiery, wind may be anticipated to be near at hand; if it looks pale, with ill-defined edges, rain is usually approaching; and when its face is clear, bright, and sharp-edged, continued fine weather is promised. The fourth day of the moon was that which the ancients especially regarded; and accordingly as she then wore one of the above appearances, they felt assured the rest of the month would be windy, rainy, or fine. Virgil says,

1819.

29.399 29.250

1846.

1847.

1848.

29.577 29.604 29.505 29.483 0.07 0.32

29 813

29.731

0.21

30.097

29.760

29.899

29.860

29.932

30.441

30.035

R.

0.10

29.385 29.343 0.14

"But if, unerring sign, the orb of night

Clear wheel through heav'n her fourth increasing light Rain nor rude blast shall vex that hallow'd day,

And thus the month shall glide serene away,"

An opinion, Dr. Forster says, has prevailed for ages in Sussex, that a Saturday's moon-that is, a new moon occurring on Saturdaybrings blowing and wet weather; and he observes, as a curious fact, that for twenty years he observed this to be the case.

INSECTS.-In cutting, or rather splitting, some decayed logs of wood, a few days since, several of the larvae or grubs of the Rose beetle were dislodged. This insect is the Cetonia aurata of some naturalists, and the Scarabæus auratus of others. The grub is of a dirty-white colour, and the tail end thicker and more highly glazed than the remainder of its body. It is usually found in decayed wood; but being occasionally discovered in the nest of the ant under ground, where it seems to feed upon the bits of wood of which the nest is composed, it thence has the popular name of "King of the Ants." After remaining about three years in the larva state, it makes a sort of cocoon of chips of wood glued together by an excretion of its own. In this it passes the winter, and in June following emerges in the perfect form. The Rose bectle flies well, with a considerable humming noise, during the hottest part of the day, passing from flower to flower-preferring, but not exclusively, our roses. It robs them of their honey; but, not content with this, devours occasionally their nectaries, and the lowermost juicy portion of the petals. Our drawing represents the larva, pupa, and beetle of their natural size. The beetle is of a shining-green colour above, and the wing-sheaths dotted with white. Beneath the body and head are coppery red. (Carpenter's Zoology, &c.)

No. LXXVIII., VOL. II.

Ir is but right in this closing number of our third volume, that we should apprize our readers that the increased and increasing support we have received enables us to incur still greater expense for their benefit. By a judicious lengthening and widening of our columns, without altering the size of our pages, and by giving up occasionally two of the pages at present devoted to advertisements, we shall find space for several new departments intimately connected with our objects. Among these will be directions for the management of the Aviary, certain portions of Rural and Domestic Economy, and the Treatment of Domestic Animals. We shall be able to include these without diminishing a line from our gardening columns, and without adding to the price of our paper. So far shall we be from diminishing our amount of gardening information, that we shall add to it several new features, the most important of which, perhaps, is a series of drawings and essays, illustrative of the points of excellence which should characterise FLORISTS' FLOWERS, and the attainment of which points should be aimed at by their culti vators.

SINCE we wrote (see page 219) upon the subject of the Orobanche infesting the parsnip in the Isle of Jersey, we have received several communications upon the subject; and although they do not afford much relative information, yet they all add in some way or other to our stores of interesting knowledge, Dr. Macreight, writing from Jersey, says :

"I have just heard from Mr. Bichard, that the manure used for the parsnips and carrots was farm-yard manure, and the preceding crop was turnips. The carrots and parsnips were sowed in alternate rows, and the farmer attributes their both suffering to the high winds, which mixed the seeds; of course, carrying the seeds of Orobanche with it, if it did not exist in the ground previously.

"We grow the Veronica, an evergreen shrub with broad leaves, I think speciosa, out of doors in Jersey, and it appears to withstand frost as well as a laurel."*

Of course, the farmer's idea that the seeds of the Orobanche were carried to his crop by the high wind needs no refutation. We have no hesitation in concluding, that the seeds were in the soil ever since clover was last grown upon the same soil; for it is quite certain that these seeds will remain in the earth without vegetating, until some plant adapted for their parasitical growth is presented to them. A fact somewhat bearing upon this phenomenon occurs in the following extract from a letter we lately received from Mr. Beaton:

“I can tell you one curious thing I observed of the Orobanche minor two years since. A new addition to the park here was made lately; the ground was put under a course of crop culture, to get it into a condition for permanent pasture; and, in due time, a crop of mixed grasses was sown from a London house, and along with the grass appeared thousands and thousands of the

O. minor. All over a field of some twenty acres immense quantities of the seeds ripened; but none, either of them or of the old plants, appeared last season or the one before; at least, I could see none, although I walk to church every dry Sunday through this field."

Another correspondent (L. S B.) writes thus :

"While residing in Jersey, in 1844, 1 met with the Orobanche cærulea plentifully parasitical on a vetch. This was in the parish of St. Clement's, in a field joining the Witches Rock. Also the Cuscata epithymum (another parasite) in great plenty in the same field. I should, therefore, be of your opinion, that that upon the parsnip, &c., is not likely to be of English importation. Should your Jersey correspondent be interested in Jersey botany, he will find in the fields (next the sea), half-way between the field above named and Havre de Pas, that beautiful wild flower the Centaurea isuardi, or Star Thistle."

HIMALAYAH PUMPKIN SEED.-We have now a good supply of the seed of this most serviceable vegetable. Any one sending us an envelope, ready directed, and containing two postage stamps, any time before the 15th of April, shall have three seeds sent free of postage.

THE FRUIT-GARDEN.

CULTURE OF THE PASSIFLORAS FOR THE DESSERT.— There are two, at the least, of this most interesting family, the fruit of which is not only eatable, but, when properly ripened, possesses a very rich, though slightly acid pulp, particularly agreeable to some palates. We have cultivated one kind extensively, and we have always found that the fruit was highly esteemed by first-rate judges as a valuable adjonet to the dessert; its splendid rich plum-colour and neat form of themselves rendering it a desideratum on the first table. We here allude to the Passiflora edulis, or incarnata; the other kind to which we would draw some attention also is the Passiflora quadrangularis, although the former is to our mind superior in richness and pungency of flavour. They are both natives of the West Indies, whence the quadrangularis was introduced to this country about the year 1768; but the date of the introduction of edulis is not quite certain. They may, therefore, be considered stove plants in their true character; and they certainly delight in a high temperature, espe cially the P. quadrangularis; nevertheless, they can be grown in a comfortable vinery, and the P. edulis in a lower temperature than the other.

To those who wish to try their hand at either, we would say, commence with the P. edulis. The first thing to be considered is the situation. They are both plants of rambling habit, the edulis amazingly so; and its habit of growth may be compared to one of the wandering Ipomeas, or, indeed, to the common passion flower (P. cærulea) when thriving under fortunate circumstances, in a warm summer. Our practice was, when we cultivated it, to train it at the back of vineries which contained a tan-pit for pines. The houses had been newly built, and until the lines were thoroughly established, and occupied most of the roof, the passifloras of course had it all their own way; and the roof being metallic, the light was intense, and this it appeared in the sequel was the great secret of success; for as soon as the vines were permitted to cover the roof, we had to bid adieu to passiflora culture in that situation. Now, it being some seven feet from the back kerb of the tan-pit to