July 31, 1373. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICOIiTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



87 



M5L0S3 Diseased f J. S.). — The leaves yoa hare sant n? are dmi^el by 

 some ia^ect, not woollice njr wireworms. though the latter miy have dona 

 mischief to the roots, which aloaa would be 8uffi;ieQt to aiuMUut for the 

 plants growing so badly. The only remaiy would ba to replace the plants 

 andsjil with fra^h. Eu^'o^a injaaj i^ a ^'rait dipth for s )il ; we never 

 have more than a foot. We re:^ret not beiu? able to help you to a reoiady 

 that would preserve the plants. If at all Uka the leaves sant, the plants are 

 beyond cure. 



Gkc8 In'festisj A.sp\R\aD3 (G. P.). — Wa think your Aspara?u^ is at- 

 tacked by the larrio of the Asparagus beetle (Crio33ris aspara .jit, which ta&li 

 up >n the leaves, perforates the buds, ani destroys the rinl of the stem. Pick- 

 ing off the larvfe is the only maaas we know of freeing the plants of this iusect. 

 The baetle may be shaken off into a sheet. 



Por\To Pit Lights (A Cjit^tant Subscribt-r). — We recommend 2l-oz. sheet 

 Rlass, thirds quality. Your frame or pit baiuij wide ought to have sashes 

 3^ ia;hes deep, ani IJ inch thick, styles 2^ by 3 inches, and top and bottom 

 rail to correspond. Do not have the IiLihts wiie; we find wile lii^hts very 

 eombersome, and liable to got ont of order. 3 feet to S feet S inches will be 

 aaffloieatly wide for the pit. Have the sash birs stayed by flat bir-iron stays 

 li inch by three-eighths, two to each light ; th^y aid to the stren^^th and dur- 

 ability of the lights. 



OacavRD-HocsE Fruit Tubes Casthto Lswes and Pruit {Wn. A.). — 

 The mjst likely cause, and, in fact, we think the sole cause, of the trees cast- 

 ini; their leaves and fruit is the removal of 2 inches of the surface soil, takln:^ 

 away with it breaking, or disturbing a great miny of the root^, and those 

 the most importaut, then filling np with rich compost. No more thia the 

 loo^e surface soil &hould have baen removed, aui that without interfering 

 vith the roots. 



CccfsiBER-S Shrivelhsg AT THE PorsTS (Id:m). — It is caused by a check 

 to the growth that may ba occasioned by too heavy waterings, employing cold 

 water, and keeping the atmosphere too close, moist, and cold. Probably a 

 little more air, and not keeping the plants S) moist, would set tham all right. 



Son. FOR Geraniums (A. C*. — Your soil requires two-thirds more loam, 

 and about a fourth of tha whole of well-rotted manure. 



Watering SIelon's when Ripening (P. C, Hi'rts). — It is not desirable 

 to water Melons when ripeninir, but enough water should be given, as there 

 are others swelling, to kiep the foliage fresh, as on that depends the perfect- 

 ing of the fruit. It ou^ht to be given without wetting the surface much, 

 p(>uringit between the Vines. A three-galloa wateriu^^-pottul to each lii^ht 

 Till ba sutQi:ient if applied twice a-week ta bright weather, and once a-week in 

 doll periods. It on^'ht to be a rule never to let water come on the stem or 

 collar of the plaats, and not only that, but it ou^ht not to ba crowded or 

 shaded by leaves. The foliage drying-itp, it is likely, thous;h the Melons will 

 ripen, that they will be smiU, and in case of the foUai^e dying off water 

 (dioold be withheld. 



UriLisiNO Back W.ill of Vinery (A Learner).~The back wall will not 

 answer for Psaches after the se:ond year, and we shjuld not advise you to 

 employ it for any kini of fruit tree^, as the Vines will so shale the wait as to 

 render it quite uosuicable for their sucoassful cultiva'^ion. The only plants 

 wo have found suitable are Cimeltias and Oranges. Either will suit. The 

 former are the mire valuable. As you do not propose to have any fire heat 

 an the coming winter, you may plant the Vines in autumn. 



Acacia 9eeds (J. ff.i. — Sow them in the ordinary way and keep the soil 

 moist. Boiling water would destroy the vegetative power. 



Peaches for OcicHiRD House (T. W. C. .If., jitH.K— The Peaches will all 

 eacceei in an orchard house, and they will ripen in succession, Noblesse being 

 the earliest ; bat neither of them is an early variety. The Nectarines will also 

 ripen in an unheated orchard house. If you would like one of each earlier 

 than those you name, you may have Early Beatrice Peach and Violette Hiitive 

 Nectarine. 



DaiED Flowers (Fred Lafc?).— If you allow the flowers to get too ripe they 

 will ahed their seeds; but if you harvest them in good time and hang them in 

 -a dry shady place they will not do so. 



MvDEiRA Vine (Ln-hj C.).— We do not know, and can find no trace of such 

 a plant. Kindly send a specimen. You will find the culture of Deutzia 

 gracilis detailed in No. 632, pa^es 872 and 370. Antirrhinum cuttings may 

 •easily be struck in autumn and spring it treated like Verbenas ; and excellent 

 plants, which will flower the same year, may be raised from seed sown in 

 March. 



Wheat BuaHtED (E. A. H. C).— The Wheat is attacked by a fnngus, 

 Paccinia graminis, which is a form of the Berberry blight, .E,;idium berberidis- 

 I'hey are the same parasitic fungus in different stages of development. 

 Although it was long suppwed to be a popular error that the Berberry and 

 the Wheat blight had any connection, a Danish professor, CErsted, established 

 -the fact. 



Names of Plants (J. IT.).— Tour Begonia is a florist's variety, and we 

 cannot name it. {Julia). — -ipinea Filipendula flore-pleno. (A. iV.). — Lastrea 

 Pilix-mas cristata. (B^/ii. — 1, Ptoris arguta; 2, Alonsoa incisifolia, a nati-e 

 of Pern. iSelpam). — Salisburia adiantifolia. It can be obtained from any 

 Ifood nursery. {5-'/ai.— Veratmm nigrum. ( PT. D. H.).— It is a Cvnoglossum, 

 but the specimen is not enou-jh to determine what species. (H. iV., Biirif. — 

 Xephrolepiaexaltata. (C. £/., Dafica<lT),— Mimalus cardinalis. The Musk 

 plant 19 another species of the same genus. (.7. D.). — 1, Polystichum angu- 

 lar© Kitsonire; 2, Athyrinra Fiiix-fo-rnina; 3, Lastrea Filix-mas cristata; 

 4, Scolopendrium vulgare criapum; 5, Scolopendrium variabile ; 6, Polystichum 

 Annulare intermedium. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIQEON OHRONIOLE. 



REARING CHICKENS ARTIFICIALLY. 

 Ff.w people have had much success in superaedin;^ Nature's 

 plan for rearing chickens ; bub it will be remembered that som'^ 

 time since Mrs. Fr*nk Cheshire stated in this Journal that all 

 her Lifjht Brahmas of this year were bo reared. In the en-iuin;? 

 part for August of Mr. Wright's "Illustrated Book of Poultry," 

 there is an interesting account of Mrs. Cheshire's apparatus and 

 method of treatment, which we copy. It will be seen that Mr. 



Wright attributes the success obtained in a great degree to the 

 system being entirely carried out without exception. 



" The greatest practical difficulty iu keeping any non-sitting 

 breed of poultry, like Leghorns, is that of obtaining a sufficient 

 number of hens from other sources to hatch and rear the broods, 

 which iu a large stock is sometimes a serious obstacle. From 

 the introduction of two such valuable races of non-sitting poultry 

 as Houdans and Leghorns during late years, the need of a really 

 practical incubator is more felt than ever; but even in the 

 absence of this, much can be done to remedy the inconvenience 

 by bringing-up the chickens artificially, or without the hen, 

 leaving her to hatch a second brood, and then dismissing her. 

 We have already given Mr. Halsted'a views in favour of this 

 practice, coupled with somewhat of a doubt as to this mode 

 of rearing being, however, quite equal to the care of a hen, 

 much less superior to it. We had, however, never applied the 

 system ourselves to the whole chickens of a season, which we 

 have since learnt is essential to a really fair trial, since under a 

 partial attempt the chickens with the artificial mother are 

 tempted away to the hens with other broods, and thus get fretted. 

 We were, however, exceedingly interested to see, in May, 1873, 

 the working of the artificial system as thoroughly and entirely 

 carried out by Mrs. Frank Cheshire, of Acton, Middlesex, so 

 well known for her fine stock of Light Brahmas. We saw there 

 upwards of seventy chickens, all brought up uuder an 'artificial 

 mother,' as one brood. They ranged in age from three months 

 to three days, but there was no fighting, or tyranny of the 

 strong over the weak ; not one had died {more than we could 

 say of our own), and there was not one sickly or discontented 

 chick in the whole lot ; while we were most of all interested to ob- 

 serve that the birds were larger for their age than our own ; and 

 that the trouble was nil compared to that of a dozen hens with 

 their broods, to which we went back with a most discontented 

 mind. 



" The ' mother' was about 4 feet 6 inches long by 16 inches 

 wide ; the top, or heating portion, consisting of a flat tank about 

 1 inch deep, with the top soldered on, and having only oue inlet 

 for pouring-in water, or immersing the bulb of a thermometer 

 to ascertain the temperature. This tank extends all over the 

 mother, and is kept in positionbya wooden frame, which supports 

 it atabout inches high at the front, and some 3i inches behiud. 

 Under the lower or back edge, occupying some 2 inches of the 

 under side, a flue extends the whole length of the tank, which 

 is provided with two chimneys, one at the end or corner near 

 the lamp, the other at the further extremity of the flue. This 

 is necessary for such a long horizontal flue : for without the 

 first chimney the carbonic acid would flow back and put out the 

 lamp when first lighted, though it will freely travel to the further 

 chimney when the flue is warm ; moreover, if the night be warm 

 the first chimney alone may be left in operation, but if cold, the 

 heated air is compelled to pass along the whole length of the 

 flue. The tank has a partition soldered in it, round which the 

 water circulates, and by this means the temperature hardly 

 varies iu any part. The lamp is merely introduced under the 

 end of the flue. Any good lamp will do, but Mrs. Cheshire's 

 was the most simple and yet most perfect in its action which 

 could possibly be. A piece of small brass pipe was put through 

 a loosely-fitted cork (loosely fitted to give air) in a common glass 

 bottle partly filled with benzine. This bottle is laid on its side 

 on the ground, and a wick being passed through the pipe, the 

 nearly horizontal position of this simple wick-holder enables 

 capillary attraction to draw sufficient fluid through such a length 

 of pipe (18 inches if required), that the most explosive liquids 

 can be used without the slightest danger; moreover, such a 

 wick trims itself, as if drawn too far out the surplus is at once 

 burnt off, and a small and nearly smokeless flame produced with- 

 out any trouble whatever. This lamp is better trimmed twice 

 in twenty four hours, but will burn tolerably for even the whole 

 of that time without attention. 



" Under the tank fits a frame which slides in and out, on the 

 top of which canvas is stretched, to which are sewn the ends of 

 strips of flannel or felt carpet — about 2i inches long by half an 

 inch wide — which give warmth to the chickens. Mrs. Cheshire 

 informs us that she finds this better than sheepskin, never 

 entangling and strangling the chicks. Uuder the whole slides a 

 wooden floor, covered pretty thickly with dry mould, which is 

 renewed every day. In the morning the mother would have 

 a little unwholesome smell from the bodies of so many chickens ; 

 but our ingenious informant had found an effectual way to re- 

 move this, which was easily done by turning the canvas part of 

 the mother upside down, throwing a few shovelfuls of dry earth 

 among the flannel strips, shaking the earth well in, and after 

 letting it remain a few minutes shaking all out again, the little 

 earth that remained adherent coming off on the chickens, and 

 thus benefiting them in another way. This, and the lamp in 

 cold weather, was all the care required, beyond tliat of the 

 newly-hatched chicks, whicli was rather a pleasure than other- 

 wise. A rail fence in front of the mother prevented the chickens 

 using it after reaching a certain size, but they were still allowed 

 access to one unwarmed. 



