e 
COB EA. 
162 
ER Pe 
COCCINELLA. 
hedges, and especially all garden 
hedges, should be cut by this kind 
of shears. 
CLoTHiInc THE STEMS OF TREES | 
is a practice resorted to with hali- 
hardy species, such as some kinds | 
of Magnolia, for the purpose of pre- 
serving vitality in the lower part of 
the stem, and the collar or neck of 
the tree, by excluding the cold, and 
throwing off the rain; because +t is 
found that the seat of hfe in all | 
plants is chiefly in the collar, and 
consequently, that a tree may have 
all its branches killed, and all its 
roots, excepting a part of the trunk 
next the collar, and a part of the 
main roots below it, and yet live. 
The best kind of clothing is wheat 
straw, or long slips of bark; and 
these ought to be spread out at the 
base of the trunk, so as to. throw 
off the rain to a foot or two of dis- 
tance from the collar. 
Coznz\s.— Cobdacee, or Polemo- 
“nacee.—C. scandens is a climbing 
plant of very rapid growth, and 
producing abundance of large bell- 
shaped. flowers, which are first 
green, but afterwards become purple. 
Zhe plant, if allowed plenty of room 
for its roots, and grown ii a rich 
sandy loam, will extend along a 
wall or trellis, thirty or forty feet, in 
the course of a single summer. | 
When it is wanted to cover any 
broad space, the points of the shoots 
should be repeatedly pinched cfi, to 
make it throw out lateral shoots; 
and these should be trained to cover 
the bare places. 
is rough, the plant will adhere to 
it by means of its own tendrils ; but 
it is generally better either to nail 
it, or to tie it to any projecting | 
parts with strands of bast-mat. The 
roots may be either in the open 
ground, in the free soil of the con- 
servatory, or in a pot; but in the | 
latter case they should be allowed 
abundance of room, and the pot 
should be well drained. ‘The vlant 
When the wall! 
may also be treated either as an 
‘annual, a biennial, or a perennial, 
/according to convenience. When 
treated as an annual, the seeds 
should be sown on a_ hotbed in 
February; and the plants should 
be transplanted into pots, and after- 
wards into the open ground, where 
they are to flower, in April or May. 
When the plant is grown as a bien- 
nial, the seeds should be sown as 
soon as they are ripe, in pots, and 
the young plants should be kept 
house during winter, transplanting 
them two or three times till spring, 
when they should be removed to 
the open ground, or to a larger pot, 
for flowermg. It may also be treat- 
ed as a perennial, when cuttings 
should be struck in autumn under 
a bell-glass, and the pots plunged 
into a hotbed or tanpit; or, if the 
| plants be growing in the open air, 
'layers may be made by pegging 
down the lower shoots of the grow- 
ing plants on the ground, and leav- 
ing them in the open garden; only 
taking care to protect them, after 
‘they are separated from the parent 
plant, by a hand-glass during winter. 
Till lately, C. scdndens was the 
only species of the genus known ; 
but in the autumn of 1839, and the 
spring of 1849, some other species 
have been raised from Mexican seeds 
sent home by Mr. Hartweg, one of 
the botanical collectors employed 
to collect new plants by the Lon- 
den Horticultural Seciety. The 
commen Cobea is also a native of 
Mexico, where it is called-by a 
Spanish name, signifying the vio- 
let-bearing ivy. 
Coccine'LLA.—Under this name 
naturalists distinguish the little 
beetles generally called lady-birds, 
or lady-cows. They creep slowly 
when in their perfect state, and they 
are generally found on the ground ; 
and though they fly fast and well, 
they are rarely seen on the wing 
under shelter im a room or green- ~ 
