138 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
[Mar. 4, 
Before planting, the soil should be taken out, to the depth 
of 20 inches or 2 feet, and replaced, rather above the level, 
to allow for settling, with good turfy loam—rather stiff 
than otherwise—and about a sixth or seventh part of leaf- 
mould ; or, if that is not at hand, they will do in the loam 
alone. Indeed, most of the genera Amaryllis, Crinum and 
Heemanthus do best in pure loam and a small quantity of 
silver sand; in this the bulbs are not so apt to decay or 
#* shell off,” as it is called, as when planted in any tich 
compost. In such a border as the above, but under the wall 
of agreenhouse and plant stove, we have Amaryllises of one 
kind or other in flower from the end of March till Novem- 
ber. Even now (February 13), A. reginse and formo- 
sissima have flower-buds two inches above the ground, in 
front of the stove; these, with A. Johnsoni, vittata, &e., 
will flower till towards the end of May, and throw up an 
occasional flower throughout the summer. In May, A. lon- 
gifolia will begin to flower and continue till July. About 
the end of July, A. belladonna will begin in front of the 
stove, and by the middle of August, it will flower in front 
of the greenhouse. About the same time Lilium venustum, 
and several Hemanthuses, will have made their appear- 
ance ; and by the beginning of October, Amaryllis Ititea, 
and atilica will be in flower, and will continue till cut off 
by frost ; so that in a strip of ground forty-five feet long 
by fourteen inches wide, we have a suetession of flower for 
‘xalis Bowei, and several others, 
persons suppose. 
garden, Bury St. Edmund’s, several bulbs were, 12 years 
ago, planted about 9 inches deep; since that time they 
have not had the least care bestowed upon them, and, 
with only one exception, they have flowered beautifully 
every year. They are not protected in the least ; but the 
soil is light, and very dry. They will also succeed in a 
heavy, cold soil; for in a neighbouring garden, where 
the soil is far from being either light or dry, I saw them 
blooming well last year. It is fair, however, to state that 
they were planted in a narrow border immediately in front 
of the conservatory ; and from that they no doubt derived 
some small portion of heat, and of course were drier than 
if planted in an exposed border.—H. T. 
Tobolsk Rhubarb.—I do not force Rhubarb ; but I have 
a’collection in an open quarter of the garden, where many 
species and varieties are planted near to each other, all 
having the same attention bestowed upon them, i. e., no 
attention at all. The Tobolsk has been planted four 
years, and it is invariably two or three weeks later in the 
spring than several other varieties ; and therefore, judging 
from that fact, I should say it is not the most desirable 
variety for early forcing.—#. 7. 
Asparagus.—I observe at p. 102, that ‘S. C.” has 
“tried the plan of putting a glass bottle over Asparagus, 
with the same ill-success that I and many other readers 
have had. The same has been the result in every 
case which has been tried in this part of Ireland ; 
the Asparagus so treated, being hard and not eatable. 
I made the experiment with various kinds of glass, 
put none succeeded. few years since a friend of 
mine told me that he had seen, in Germany, Asparagus of 
great size, white, and very tender; and that there the fol- 
Jowing mode of treatment was adopted: so soon as the 
young shoot was perceived issuing from the ground, a 
piece of hollow reed, cane, or elder, about eight inches 
long, and of sufficient bore, was stuck down into the clay 
above the shoot, for the latter to grow into. The longer 
and wider the joints of the tube were, the greater was the 
success. The Asparagus, when it had filled the tube, was 
cut; and my friend says that it was excellent, and of an 
enormous size. The same year, in consequence of my 
hearing of this, I placed a number of common flower 
pots over my Asparagus beds, and the shoots which came 
up under them were of great size, perfectly white, and 
particularly tender. In some instances, where the pot was 
not sufficiently high for the growth of the shoot, it had, 
when it met the bottom of the pot, coiled itself round, 
put still continued close-headed, and did not branch out, 
nor become hard. i have no doubt the tin tubes to which 
your correspondent alludes have been suggested by the 
German plan, above stated, and that the tenderness of the 
plant, in the cases I mention, arose from the exclusion of 
light, by placing over it an opaque hollow tube. I think 
it was stated that the upper part of the tube was stopped ; 
in the case of the flower-pots, I covered the holes in the 
bottom with a piece of slate.—W.—[ We have formerly 
seen this practised, and with the greatest success. Joints 
of Bamboo would perhaps be the best contrivance.] 
Cabbage.—Amongst the lists of Cabbages given from 
time to time, there is one variety omitted, which | think 
deserves to be more generally known. It is sold by the 
Bristol seedsmen, under the name of “Nonpareil.” It is 
something like the Vanack, but smaller and more com- 
Raspberry canes were brought from Yarmouth into this 
nei_hbourboou, and planted in a private garden, 30 miles 
from the nearest point of the sea-coast, “The fruit of the 
canes from this garden has frequently gained prizes at the 
Horticultural shows in the neighbourhood. Canes from 
this garden have been distributed to other gardens from 3 to 
10 or 12 miles distant; where, in every instance, the fruit 
has maintained the same character for size and superiority 
of flavor. The original canes, I should have stated, came 
from Caistor, near Yarmouth. Whether it is the original 
Fastolff I know not; but I presume this will answer “J. 
L.’s” inquiry, as to the plant succeeding well at a distance 
from the sea. Ihave Youell’s Fastolff Raspberry which 
J have planted with canes from the stock brought from 
Caistor ; but as the former have not yet come into bearing 
I cannot draw any comparison between ¢ ieom.-P. HS. Lee. 
Gold Fish—Observing in your late Numbers several 
communications upon this subject, Jam prompted to send 
you the following remarks, in the hope that some corre- 
spondent will favour me with his opinion respecting 
them. In September, 1840, I prepared in my garden 
a pond of considerable size, about three feet deep 
around the margin, and five feet in the centre. The 
bottom I cemented, and covered three inches thick with 
common field-mould. This pond I filled in the same month 
with spring-water, and stocked with 20 large fish of the 
Dutch breed. Until December all the fish were apparently 
in good health, but after a sharp frost of a week’s continu- 
ance, not noticing them as formerly, I let off the greater 
portion of the water, and found that several of the fish 
were dead, and more than half buried in the mud, while 
the remainder seemed to be dying fast. These latter I 
removed from the pond, and tended carefully in the globes, 
but not one could I save, although many rallied consider- 
ably. In January, 1841, 1 again filled the pond with 
water, and put in 14 fish of fair average size, and of the 
frost, and when the thaw set in, six of my poor fish came 
to the surface, and remained there deadly sick, their 
scales ruffled up, their eyes nearly closed with a thick 
film, and their bodies (particularly the fins, tails, and gills), 
covered with a white slime, having a very fostid smell. 
After a few days, for T would not remove them, they died, 
I then again ran the water off, and taking up the other 
eight fish, put them into large earthen vessels, renewing 
the water every two days—for I had them in the house, 
Of these eight fish, five died in a few weeks, presenting 
the same appearances, of slime, film, &c. About April, 
1841, I removed all the mud from the pond, cleansed it 
thoroughly, covered the bottom with well-washed white 
sand, and turned in the three surviving fish, with eight 
others of the sharp-nosed breed. A month had scarcely 
elapsed before one fish of the old stock which had been of 
a brilliant red, turned of a deep purple, and kept always 
on the surface. Upon looking at it, I observed on its 
back a large raw spot, which in a short time became 
covered with a green moss-like substance, and the fish 
died, From that period I have not lost one; they have 
thriven well and bred abundantly. Since the late frost in 
this year, the young brood have, however been, affected in 
a similar manner to my February stock; and I fear, 
although not one is yet dead, that I shall lose them all. 
The old fish do not appear to be injured. The pond con- 
tains Rushes, Waterlilies, &c., and is fed by the rains, 
and a spring occasionally ; the purity of the spring is 
beyond doubt, as I and my family use it daily. The ice 
has been carefully broken, and no means have been left 
untried to insure success. The fish I bought in Covent- 
garden ; but, excepting the last lot, which were fresh 
from a pond in Essex, they had probably been some time 
in globes before I purchased them.— Agricola. 
Killing Insects for the Cabinet.—When ‘ D. H. W.” 
took upon himself ‘‘ to say a word to ‘ S.’”’ on what he 
is pleased] to designate ‘* a most cruel mode of killing 
insects for cabinets,”’ and “ a system of torture,’? it would 
at all events have been more satisfactory if he had pointed 
out some speedier and less barbarous method of depriving 
them of life ere he applied such terms to mine, A more 
careful perusal of my letter will, I am sure, convince him 
that nothing I have recommended can be called ‘ cruelty” 
or ‘torture;” and I can conscientiously plead ‘“ not 
guilty ”’ to the charge; for J am one who feels— 
“The heart is hard in nature, and unfit 
For human fellowship, as being void 
Of sympathy, and therefore dead alike 
To love and friendship both, that is not pleased 
With sight of animals enjoying life, 
Nor feels their happiness augment his own,” 
and can say, that I never wantonly deprived a single 
insect of life. Nay, I may go further, and affirm, that I 
have saved the lives of more insects than I ever killed for 
my cabinet, as I invariably rescue them from any danger qT 
may observe them in, an 
—“ forewarned, 
Will tread aside, and let the reptile live ;”” 
since I hardly allow that the poet was justified in saying— 
‘Tf man’s convenience, heaith, 
Or safety, interfere, his right and claims 
Are paramount, and must extinguish theirs.” 
But to return to my letter. The only media of destroy- 
ing insect life I have recommended are, ‘‘ boiling-hot 
water,”’ ‘¢ a hot fire,” and “ oxalic acid;’? and I repeat, 
T am not aware that any quicker mode can be suggested ; 
for a ‘few moments”? and “ instantaneous” are the 
terms I used to mark the duration of their pain. I hope, 
however, that “ D. H. W.” has discovered one, which I 
beg of him to make known at once, and save the “tender 
sensibilities,’’ as Matthews used to say, of those he warns 
against my barbarities. Cruelty and torture in such cases, 
according to my views, mean the infliction of a greater 
amount of pain, or its protraction beyond what is neces- 
sary; and I am sure that every one conversant with the 
subject will agree that these terms are inapplicable to my 
method. Perhaps, however, “D. H. W.” ranks with those 
who believe that— 
«The poor beetle that we tread upon 
In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great 
As when a giant dies ;”” 
and if so, it is useless arguing the point further with one 
so ignorant of the first principles of physiology. For the 
sake, however, of the ‘young readers ” to whom 
“wD. H. W.’” alludes, and to save them unnecessary 
« pity’’ and “ grief,” I would merely observe that the 
all-wise and beneficent Creator has most mercifully endued 
the cold-blooded animals with an obtuseness of feeling to 
which those with warm blood are strangers, and that 
although it is very probable they experience some degree 
of the sensation we call pain, yet it is far removed from 
what is generally meant by that term. Every practical 
entomologist knows that it is chiefly to free itsel 
from restraint that the transfixed insect struggles on the 
pin, and the Tipulidee escape from the spider’s-web by the 
voluntary sacrifice of one or more of their legs. Were 
these creatures, therefore, constituted as those having 
warm blood, speedy death must in either case be the 
natural consequence ; whilst, on the contrary, we see 
them fly away as if no such injury had been sustained. 
This comparative immunity from pain constitutes one of 
the principal safeguards to insects, since without it the 
accidents to which they are so liable, both from their mode 
of life and the delicacy of their frame, would in most cases 
terminate in their death, instead of proving mere incon- 
yeniences. Let not, therefore, the young be deterred from 
the pursuit of one of the most interesting branches of 
natural history, through the fear that great sufferings to 
these beautiful creatures must necessarily be entailed on 
the specimens captured for the cabinet ; for such, in truth, 
is not the case. At the same time, let not a single life be 
wantonly sacrificed, or any needless cruelty inflicted ; for 
the specimens once safely preserved, will last 80 or 100 
years without renewal. Entomology is particularly adapted 
to youth, requiring a quick eye and a light step ; whilst 
the wonders your “ young readers” will discover in the 
study of these most exquisite works of the creation will 
force them to exclaim with the old Roman naturalist, “In 
his tam parvis tamque feré nullis que ratio! quanta vis ! 
quam inextricabilis perfectio !”’ and tend more to humanize 
and refine their feelings than any mere appeals, however 
touching, to their unreflecting pity. To end this scrawl, 
J would tell “ D. H. W.” that I have ever practised the 
lesson contained in the adage he quotes, “ The merciful 
man is merciful to his beast ;’’ and perhaps at some future 
time I may send you a few anecdotes connected with that 
practice for your naturalists’ corner. If he means to 
insinuate the contrary, I can assure him he has not 
« placed the saddle on the right horse.’””—S'.—[ Most cer- 
tainly he has not, as we beg to assure him.] 
Bees.— T. G. Clitheroe,” p. 101, may be assured that 
there is no practical way of preventing his Bees from seal- 
ing the holes in the ventilation tubes in their hives ; and 
it often unfortunately happens that Bees will swarm in 
spite of an improved habitation. I noticed this in reply 
to Mr. Nutt, in the “Gardener’s Magazine’’ for 1838, 
. 540. Ag “C.’s” complaint is becoming prevalent, and 
coincides with what I then stated, I cannot do better than 
give an extract from it. ‘* The collateral boxes were new, 
and would have deserved praise, if they could have pre- 
vented swarming, and if the queens did not deposit their 
eggs in them. The tin tubes are a mere fancy. They 
might be of use in hives crowded with Bees and combs, 
but they are speedily rendered useless by the Bees sealing 
them up.” I was wrong, however, in saying that the 
collateral boxes were new; they are a very old invention. 
After all that has been said about Nutt’s plans of Bee- 
keeping, his attempt at ventilation is the only thing 
new about them, and enough has been said by others as 
well as myself to show the fallacy of it, especially by his 
metal tubes.—I perceive that Mr. Grant has, at p. 101, no- 
ticed my remarks on his previous communication respect- 
ing Bees, and that he differs from me in opinion, viz., 
that it is better to keep Bees cool during winter by 
ventilation than by shading the hives. When it is 
nown, however, that Bees have a dislike to air, or rather 
to a draft admitted into their dwelling, especially in 
winter, the latter plan must be most agreeable to them, 
as well as the surest way to keep the Bees at rest ; for the 
warmth of the sun at the entrances of the hives will 
entice the inmates abroad in spite of air-holes. Mr. G.’s 
explanation about the three dead Bees from his hive may 
becorrect ; but the best way to test such a thing is to 
When let out, they will 
most probably turn out their dead, and, if the weather be 
now he says—‘‘ My views relative to forming artificial 
swarms, so as to increase the siumber of stocks, and to 
prevent swarming when preferred, are as yet only theories 
in my mind.” After such a candid statement, I may be 
intrusive by alleging that Mr. G.’s artificial swarming 
plans will be founded upon Schirach’s theory of the crea- 
tion of Queen Bees 3 and, if so, I may ask what use can 
such swarms be? colonies would not be increased by 
them with any success in our climate. If Mr. G.’s state- 
ment be correct, viz., that water, passing through lead 
pipes, paralyses dogs, it must also be injurious to our- 
selves; a subject I never heard broached before.—J. 
Wighton. [It is very true nevertheless ; and the purer 
the water the greater the mischief produced by lead-pipes.] 
Bees.—It appears to me that Bee-keepers do not make 
