Aagast 29, 1865. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



181 



Privet fob a Hedue csDEn Trees (A Subscriber).— ifcilhor the leaves 

 uoi- Jruit nr« iujurinus to ciitllc Wc hiivo a liuilKu of it between a 

 plantation and a park Ici wliicli shofp, cows, and liorsL's have access, and 

 wc never knew tbcni eat cither tbo I.-ii\c.h or fruit, or it tlioy did they 

 wore not iujiirort by tbcni. Birds oat tlic hcn-ies, partiouhirly tlio buU- 

 finch, nud the leaves have an astringent hitter taste, and are sometimes 

 used aloni? with tbo flowers in the form of decoction tor soro throat and 

 seorluitic ulceration of the mouth. Privet does much bettor than Quicks 

 under the sharle of tnvs, hut is somewhat ditBcnIt to establish alter the 

 trees are 1,'rewu up. \V.' jilanted it and Hollies to thicken a Thorn hedK'e 

 under trei^s, iiod the Hollies, if nns-thing, bad the best of it, but are much 

 slower-k'vowin^' tbiin I'rivct. 



WiNTEItlNll CoI.EUS VEK.SCHAFKELTI, SoLANUM MAROINATHSI, AND 

 Wioa;'I>ia caracasana (M,oh).— By withlioldiliK water now from Coleufl 

 Versi-li.iftciti the shoots would become harder or less uross, and not so 

 liable, therefore, to sutler from damp in winter. It should not bo sutTered 

 to become sodi-y as to cause the leaves to fall and the sboi>ts to fla^ and 

 shrivel. To keep it safely it requires a warm KToenbouse. Solannm uiarKi- 

 natum is a halt-shrubby perennial. Wij!iindhi earacasana is also a perennial. 

 Thev should be taken up towards tlu' end of September, or before frost, 

 potted, and kept in a KTeeubouse with no more water tbun is suBicient to 

 keep them alive. After Februarv they should be cneouraKed so as to 

 .secure free giowth, and have it well haideucd otT before planting out early 

 in June. 



Fernery SiiAniMc. (W. H. ^(<;eri.— Glass that can be seen thromrh will 

 not obstruct the sun's rays, and' will, in fact, bo no shade. Coloured glass 

 will be sutHcient shade; but as this is what you cBpocially wish to avoid, 

 a. thin blind to draw up and let down would sorv'e your purpose. It is 

 only when the sun shines powerfully that the blind will ho re.iuired, and 

 that will equallv he tbo time when the window could not bo seen through, 

 so that we do liot see any objection to such a blind. But we may have 

 misunderstood your case ; if so, write us again. 



Vine Leaves shrivelled— Boedkr-makinh (S. r.).— The leaves exhi- 

 bit tbo^e appciOMoees found on Vines in a cold wet border with the roots 

 deeii, nod an- besides scorched bv the sun acting powerfully on the loaves 

 whilst w.l. piulialily from the deposition of moisture on them dunng the 

 night, and not giving air sufficiently early to dry them before the sun 

 strikes powerfully on the bouse. The paragraph alluded to, and quoted 



from " Sanders on the Vine," refers to the particular houses of his plan- 

 ning and not to viueries generally. It is neciissary and important, for the 

 houses alluded to, that the border he CTaetly on a level with the Interior 

 flooring, as will be foun<l <m referring to the pliins in the work. It is of 

 no import, however, when the roots are wholly outside, and it would be 

 better if the borders of all vineries wore made not only level with the floor 

 of the house but at least half its depth above the surrounding ground 

 level, especially where the subsoil is wot and heavy. By all means raise 

 tbo borders, and have nothing upon them that roots deeply, much less 

 Khubarb, &c. 



Californian Pump. — TKcj*' Cyjijdon wishes to know if any one has tried 

 this pump, and if so, would ho give some information about it ? We never 

 heard of a pump so named. 



Names of Insects. — Dr.Stfnrt is quite correct in supposing the insects 

 which have destroyed the foliage of bis .largouelh; Pear to bo the larvaa 

 of the Tontbrcdo Cerasi of Linuteus. or the Selandria ^Ethiops of 

 Fabricius and recent authors. Tbo larvio, called commonly " Slimy 

 Gruh," cat frlie surface of the leaves as well as tbo parenchyma. They 

 are produced from cgg.^ deposited by the black-winged Sawtlics in 

 June and .Inly. Busting with limo kills them. (Fiilham, S.W.). — The 

 eai-wigs are produced from eggs, which are deposited in the spring by the 

 females. The young ones exactly resemble their parents, except in 

 wanting the wings and short wing-covers. The long thin worms which 

 yon have found within them, are parasites of the genus Gordius, of not 

 "uncommon oeeun*enee in the bodies of these insects. — W. 



Names of Fruit (.4 CorHant liratUr, Sydi-nUtim). — Plums : — 1, .Jefferson ; 

 2, Kirke's ; 3, Early Orleans ; 4, Royal Dauphine ; H, Downtou Imperatricc. 

 (C. B.).— Apples :— 1, Scarlet Nonpariel ; 2, Minchall Crab ; 3, Lord Suffield ; 

 4, Foam's Pippin ; 6, Golden Harvey. 



Names of Plants {C. P.). — 1, Pteris cretica albo-lineata; 2, too imper- 

 fect, probably young and very weak Pteris cretica ; .S, Doodia caudata. 

 All three will do in a Fei-n case. If infested with brown scale they should 

 be cleaned before introducing them among other plants. (A. .S. P.). — 

 l.Todeahymenophylloides, often called Leptopteris and Todea pellucida; 

 2, Dicksonia squaiTosa; 3, Polystichum venustuni ; 4, Asplenium Coleusoi. 

 1.4. B.). — 1, Paulowuia imperialis; 2, Euonymus japonicus; 3, Quercas 

 ilex. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Subui-bs of Loudon for the Week ending August iMi. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



OUR DAILY FOOD. 



The food question is daily becoming more important, and 

 spite of tlie reluctance there has always been to entertain 

 poultry as being part of it, we cannot help thinking that eggs 

 and birds must at last assume the importance that belongs to 

 them. We can easily dismiss the former question by repeating 

 the thrice-told tale — we import a million every day in the 

 year, and yet have not enough of them to be within the reach 

 of a cottager for a sick wife or child. 



Every country but England has statistics of these things. 

 It is known in France how many eggs and fowls are produced in 

 each department, how many are consumed at home, how many 

 are sent to the capital or other departments, how many are ex- 

 ported. The result is that France receives from us annually 

 millions of pounds sterling. They encourage and increase the 

 amount ; we care not for these things. We dabble at times with 

 cookery, and tell of the good things that may be made with even 

 an old hen, and we believe in many a house in the country and 

 suburbs of London, at a time when some look askew at beef 

 on accoimt of the murrain, and " Paterfamilias " speaks 

 ominously about the price of mutton, and seems to think that 

 we consume too much animal food, the refuse of the poultry 

 stock may be turned to good account. We have poultry com- 

 panies and h.^tching machines (limited) ; they enjoy but small 

 public favour. People pooh-pooh poultry, but tilings in con- 

 nection with it are heaving themsslves up, and will at last 

 asstmie pnijiortious that will intrude themselves on public 

 notice, and, like the tax-gatherer, insist on being seen. Absti- 

 nence sharpens the wit as well as the apjKtite, and the present 

 price of meat may make some look pleasantly at the rather 



coarse fowl that was rejected not long ago ; and in the absence 

 of the lump of meat, the system that by plain roasting and 

 boiling reduces that on a fowl to the smallest possible amount, 

 may be exploded for judicious and delicate cookery, which 

 makes that which would be a hard or dry fowl the foimdation 

 of a delicious and satisfying family dish. 



EXHIBITING POULTRY UNSHELTERED. 



Will you allow me to draw the attention of the managing 

 committees of many of our poultry shows to a most serious 

 drawback to success, both as regards the permanency of such 

 meetings, and also the amount of present entries likely to be 

 secured, from the reprehensible practice of placing the com- 

 peting birds fully exposed to all the vicissitudes of the weather ? 

 This really objectionable plan has, to my own personal know- 

 ledge, been a chief cause of the failure of many an exhibition 

 that otherwise might at the present hour have been a well- 

 established institution. Of course it is quite impossible for 

 any one with certainty to predict the kind of weather that may 

 arise during the continuance of a show, and it is well known, 

 that the greater portion of our exhibition birds are so carefully 

 tended when at home as to render them even more susceptible 

 to the influence of sudden atmospherical changes than birds 

 would be if taken direct from the more hardy treatment of a 

 farmyard. 



The practice now alluded to occurs chiefly, I am glad to say, 

 in the case of poultry and Pigeons exhibited in oi.iiuection 

 with agricultural societies ; but as these combined nie-lings of 

 cattle and poultry are annually increasing in numbers, a few 

 brief hints to forewarn may not be out of season, mire par- 

 ticularly as a goodly number of such meetings are n^ <\y near at 

 hand. Among many objections that might be named, a few 

 of the principal ones are these. 



