92 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



as Carnations are; when perfectly rooted, let the 

 layers be potted into 3 or 4-inch pots, in which 

 they may be housed for the winter. The best kinds 

 should, of course, only be propagated, as room 

 must be reserved for the seedlings. 



The seed should be sown in the beginning of 

 October, and when just sutfieiently above the soil, 

 the young seedlings should be pricked olF into 6- 

 inch pots, as they are exceedingly apt to damp 

 otT if permitted to remain in the seed pans. These 

 will be quite advanced enough to be potted into 4- 

 inch pots, in which they will establish themselves 

 before winter ; I have on some occasions sown the 

 seed as late as January, and obtained a good bloom 

 the following summer. The seeds, which are 

 sown in autumn in pans, instead of being baked 

 in a hothouse or greenhouse, should be placed under 

 a north wall; and, if the weather is wet, a hand- 

 glass should be suspended over the pans, and pro- 

 visions made to prevent slugs or other insects from 

 attackinji them. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Destruction of Ants. — I have suffered 

 much trouble and inconvenience by being visited 

 with these pests in my underground apartments, 

 and I have tried many remedies, such as tobac- 

 co water, poisoned sweets, as honey, &c., but 

 all without success. I then directed my attacks 

 to the outside of the house. I dug a trench the 

 whole length of the wall; I then poured a good 

 supply of hot water into the trench, which com- 

 pletely saturated the earth, and might have de- 

 stroyed some of my little enemies; still I do not 

 think that leaving them at this stage would 

 have completed the business. I procured an 

 iron rod, and the earth being softened by the 

 water, I forced the rod 3 or 4 feet through the 

 bottom of the trench, and thus pierced holes 

 all along the house, and by these means probed 

 to the foundation. I then obtained from the 

 gas- works a quantity of water which had been 

 used in their purifying process. I poured this 

 into the holes I had made, and in filling up the 

 trench, I well wixed the gas-tar water with the 

 mould. I soon found the numerous army was 

 retreating. Still, for a few days, I thought I 

 had not succeeded, as the number appeared to 

 have increased; the colon}', however, bore the 

 appearance of confusion; the numbers after- 

 wards daily decreased, and now I am quite rid 

 ol my foes. They consisted of the black or 

 very dark kind of ant. lb. 



Preserving Fruit. — Perhaps some of your 

 readers may be desirous of trying the following 

 method (which I believe to be the best yet in- 

 vented) of preserving small fruits: to every 

 quart of fruit add 6 ozs. of moist sugar, bottle 

 in wide-moiithed bottles in the usual way ; place 

 the bottles in a cauldron of cold water over the 

 fire ; when it boils keep it boiling for 20 minutes ; 

 remove the cauldron from the fire, and cork the 



bottles very closely, immediately tying thera 

 over with bladder; but as this operation is not 

 easy to perform without removing the bottles 

 from the water, it is essential that it be done 

 as rapidly as possible, and the bottles return- 

 ed to the cauldron there to remain till the water 

 becomes cold. Care must be taken not to ex- 

 pose the hot bottles to currents of cold air, nor 

 to place them on cold surfaces, during the opera- 

 tion of corking, &c.; perhaps a doubled flan- 

 nel, dipped in hot water, would be as good as 

 anything else to place the bottles on. The lady 

 from whom I received this receipt, ties her bot- 

 tles down with double bladders, without corks, 

 before placing them in the water; but I think 

 the method I have described is preferable, as 

 from the expansion of the contained air, by the 

 heat in boiling, occasionally the bladders, and 

 also the bottles, burst; and moreover the air 

 cannot be so perfectly expelled, on which very 

 much depends. By the usual methods of bot- 

 tling much of the peculiar flavour of the green 

 Gooseberry is lost, which by this way is pre- 

 served. I partook, two or three weeks ago, of 

 some Gooseberries preserved in this way, in 

 1848, and they were perfectly good, and re- 

 tained the young flavour admirably. Rhubarb 

 cut ready for tarts, and preserved in this way, 

 will be excellent. My informant preserves 

 Plums, and the smaller fruits, Currants, Rasp- 

 berries, Strawberries and Berberries, by pla- 

 cing them in a deep dish, stratified with the 

 same proportion of sugar, and placing them in 

 a moderate oven ; when sufficiently done, she 

 transfers them into hot jars, as quickly as pos- 

 sible, and secures them immediately with dou- 

 ble bladder, lb. 



London Guano. — I visited the guano hill last 

 week, and on my way met the Bermondsey waggon 

 walking slowly towards town. It was the first 

 time I had seen it walking; it appears that it does 

 not trot until it comes near a village. As it passed 

 me it smelt strongly of real guano, and it occurred 

 to me that the bags must be dusted inside and out 

 with the genuine article, in order to give the loam 

 the " riirht flavour," reminding me of the practice 

 of putting British brandy into French brandy casks. 

 As soon as I had arrived at the steepest part of 

 this '• loam-guano hill" a post- master not far off 

 passed a high compliment on the knowledge of an 

 old Scotch bailitt". " Mr. J.," said he, " where can 

 I purchase the best guano?" "Why, don't you 

 know ? — on the hill, to be sure." " There is no 

 guano there." " Why," says Mr. J., " I see it 

 passinsr every diiy ;" and at that moment "the 

 waffffon" came by on its way to Mark-lane. A 

 few houses and a small public-house occupy the 

 left side of the hill; a newly made road, nearly 

 opposite, winds round the north end, and is lo*1 

 to view about 70 yards from the road, and in a few 

 yards more the lane turns sharp round to the left 

 into the bosom of the hill. It was of no use ma- 



