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THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
[Nov. 25, 
besides the rent of his house, cow-lodge, and threshing 
floor, for 16s. a week ; and if you publish this letter I am 
in hopes it may induce gardeners from various parts of the 
country to state how much will keep their families by the 
spade only, and encourage proprietors letting land for this 
purpose. At the request of the Earl of Ashburnham, the 
vicar {of Ashburnham came to examine Cruttenden’s 
school, and then sent William Pettit, who had for six 
years kept one cow on three acres of pasture and one 
and a half of arable land—to board a week at the Willing- 
don school, at the end of which time he returned to Ash- 
burnham, ready to teach all the boys who came to him 
reading, writing, and accounts, the collects and catechism, 
from 2 till 9 o’clock, daily, under his kind vicar’s direction, 
at one penny a week each, satisfied that by these boys’ 
help in cultivating his grass land he would be able to 
grow more corn, and keep two instead of one cow.— 
M. A. Gilbert, East Bourne, Sussex. 
Mummy Wheat.—tIt strikes me that in your account 
of my Wheat, 55 must be an error for 33, one easily made 
in writing, which would reduce somewhat the 2093 fold: 
I certainly did not myself know that this Wheat was so 
prolific, and have been accustomed to state it generally at 
1000 fold. ‘This year Mr. Mitchell, at Kemp Town, had 
from half a pint of seed a large sackfull, more than three 
bushels ; and that in spite of the birds, which necessarily 
ravage town gardens. This increase, though an enormous 
one and almost unparalleled, does not, I think, exceed 
700 fold. Iread also in the Times some time ago, that 
Mr. Ford, Lord Haddington’s gardener, had raised from 
four grains 181 ears, averaging 30 grains each, about 
1300 fold: surely an astonishing increase. Mr. Hallett, 
of Brighton, told me that this Wheat yielded as 13 to 1 
of common Wheat: so I suppose it may prove to be of 
some agricultural importance.— Martin Farquhar 
er. 
Vagetable Irritability.—The movement which was ob- 
served among the tubers of the Achimenes pedunculata 
by Mr. Whiting is not caused by “ sensitiveness,’’ but by 
a glutinous substance, which, by adhering to other sub- 
stances, causes the tubers to be a longer time in falling 
fo their final position than they otherwise would ; unless 
they are closely observed, the movement among them may 
easily be supposed to be caused by ‘ sensitiveness.’”’ If 
either the stamens of bloom of the Portulaca splendens be 
touched by anything while the flower is expanded, it will 
Tise up ina slow and pleasing manner. ,This I do not 
remember having seen noticed anywhere before.— 7. 
Mechan, Ryde. 
Swallows.—Your correspondent ‘S.W.”’ will perhaps 
be satisfied with the simple and humane mode (that of a 
net) suggested to prevent his hirds attaching their nests 
under the eaves of his house; but unless in any great 
number (in which case it must be admitted that they be- 
come nuisances,) why is he so inimical to the harmless 
race of House-Martens, as his enemies should be called 
more properly than Swallows? They are generally hailed 
as the sprightly harbingers of the pleasantest time of the 
year ; they serve to diminish the pests of gnats and flies, 
and as Shakespeare has said, with great probability of 
truth,— 
“* This guest of summer, 
The temple-haunting Martlet, does approve 
y his lov’d mansionry that Heaven’s breath 
Smells wooingly here. * * 
* * * Where they _ 
Most breed and haunt, I have observed the air 
Is delicate.” 
You have objected to Virgil’s insinuation that Swallows 
are destructive to bees, and it perhaps remains to be 
proved that they are. It is true the poet recommends 
an apiary to be placed so as not to expose the bees to the 
devastation of lizards and birds, and he especially names 
the Merops and the Swallow as particularly destructive— 
the first, a most rarely-accidental visitant in England, is 
unquestionably a voracious devourer of bees. 1 do not 
know that the crime can be fairly imputed to cur British 
Hirundines, neither can I assert that they are wholly in- 
nocent ; no fly-fisher but must have had his hook occa- 
sionally struck at by some of the Swallow tribe, and some- 
times so as to catch them uponit. It is not unlikely, 
that in the rapidity of their flight they seize, without dis- 
crimination, every small object floating in the air, and 
possibly, like the Merops of thesouth of Europe and the 
Honey Buzzard of our own countries, their throats may 
be proof against the stings of bees and wasps.—lectra. 
Fileas.—In order to keep parlour dogs clear of fleas, 
they should be well washed once a week with soft soap 
and warm water. This will effectually destroy them, 
although: they be ever so numerous, as I have actually 
proved from experience.— Bath. 
Fleas on Dogs.—The most effectual and speedy way to 
get rid of fleas on dogs, is to pour sweet or train oil along 
the back from the top of the rump to the back of the 
head, rubbing the sides, haunches, and flanks well with 
the hand, until the oil be well incorporated with the hair. 
If this be done properly, there will not remain a living flea 
on the animal in ten minutes after the application. They 
will throw themselves out upon the surface of the hair of 
a yellow colour, with legs, &c. extended, and die almost 
instantaneously.—2B. W., Glasgow. 
uculia gratissima—Mr, Beaton, in his Calendar of 
the 18th, makes a very just remark, when he says “ what 
& pity this beautiful plant is so scarce.” As a conservatory 
plant for winter, I know not a finer object, both on account 
of its fine head of pink flowers and delightful fragrance, 
‘We shall all be anxious to know what the stock is that 
Mr. Beaton has discovered for grafting it on; and if it 
answers well, it certainly will be valuable to have such 
easy means ofincreasing it. It is astonishing how much 
may be done with this plant during one summer. I pur- 
chased a small plant last spring in a 60-sized pot, and I 
have grown it all summer in a moderate warmth, with 
plenty of pot-room. I have only shifted it twice ; it is 
now in what is called here a No. 8-sized pot, and has 39 
fine heads of bloom, just beginning to open. I expect in 
about a fortnight it will be very beautiful; its foliage is 
particularly green and healthy, which is not always the 
case.— Bridgenorth. 
Bees and Wasps.—In the Chronicle of Sept. 23, 
‘‘ A, B.” states that ‘‘ Bees eat fruit nearly to the same 
extent as Wasps.’’ I beg to state that Bees certainly do 
attack fruit, but not to the same extent as the “brazen 
mail invaders,’’ the Wasps, whose mandibles are well 
suited to attack either ripe or unripe fruit ; not so with 
Bees, they can only suck by their proboscis fruit that is 
beginning to decay. I have always found that fruit 
attacked by Bees had some speck or other of decay upon 
it. If** A, B.” imagines that I wish to screen the faults 
of Bees at the expense of valuable fruit, he is mistaken, 
for I am far more interested in protecting fruit than Bees. 
They certainly have attacked fruit this season with 
unusual voracity ; but the reason is obvious—they are 
driven to it by the season being unfavourable for collect- 
ing better food; their empty hives sufficiently prove this. 
In last season it was the reverse of this, and Wasps and 
Flies might have enjoyed the fruit for aught the Bees 
cared about it; luckily, the former are scarce this season. 
By the bye, ‘* A. B.’”’ mentions they are not so with him ; 
he says ‘‘ there has been upwards of 130 nests destroyed, 
and it has not weakened them ;’’ and he further observes :— 
“We destroyed a great many Queen Wasps, and the wet 
weather in the beginning of June put an end to nearly all 
the remainder.’’ This seems strange ; for how came there 
to be so many nests if so many Queens were destroyed ? 
However, I shall leave this, and notice what your corres- 
pondent ‘¢ Paddy’’ says respecting a peculiar Wasp’s nest 
he saw in the ‘top of a Red Currant bush.’ It belongs 
to the Vespa Britannica, or Tree Wasp, not uncommon 
in Scotland and the northern parts of England, but 
seldom met with in the south. A nest of this Wasp, 
however, came under my notice last season, suspended on 
a branch of a Silver Fir, whose flat branches served as a 
protection to the interesting ‘‘papered city.’’ Will 
‘Paddy’’ have the goodness to state the colour and 
texture of the nest in question, whether there were not 
two holes below instead of one, andif the inmates were 
larger than the common ground Wasp ; also if jthey left 
their nest by their own accord, and about what time?—J. 
Wighton. 
Bees.—At p.'695 are mentioned ‘‘ Instances of the 
sagacity of Bees,’”’ taken from the ‘ Pharmaceutical 
Journal.” The writer says, ‘‘ A few pounds of honey had 
been taken from a hive, and placed in a closet under lock 
and key. The window of the room having been left open, 
the Bees obtained admission, and entering the closet under 
the door, removed the whole of the honey.” There was 
nothing remarkable in that. What use was lock and key 
when the Bees could get under the pantry-door? To 
accomplish it, there was no need of ‘spies observing 
where the honey was placed.’’ Bees smell food at a great 
distance, and when once the pilfering is begun, others join 
in the affray, and will soon carry off a few pounds of 
honey. In the case alluded to it happened to be in the 
dark ; but such is only a common occurrence, and indeed 
showed no more ‘‘ sagacity’’ than that of pilfering a 
neighbour’s hive, which, of course, is dark within. This 
has been a bad season for Bees, and now is the proper 
time to feed them. If this important duty is neglected, 
many hives must perish. By-the-bye, this may not be 
applicable to ‘‘ Facile’s’’ Bees. He speaks of one hive 
being very prolific, and the offspring from it in a pros- 
perous condition. May I be allowed to say, “ bide a 
wee?’’ Examine them again; perhaps the case will be 
reversed.—J. Wighton. 
Paving below the Roots of Fruit-Trees.—The beneficial 
effects of this in a case of bad subsoil is exemplified by 
the following statement, with which we have been favoured 
by Major C. Some Apple-trees, espaliers, and dwarf 
Standards were planted from six to ten years ago, on a 
gravelly soil, originally the bed of a gravel-pit. Tiles 
were placed underneath their roots when planted, from 
12 to 15 inches below the surface. On the roots over- 
shooting these and penetrating into the gravel, the 
fruit became stunted and shrivelled. They were root- 
pruned early in 1842, and fair, plump, well-coloured 
specimens [received along with this communication] were 
the result of thus reducing the roots to the tiles. In 
order to accommodate the young roots, the Major will 
probably extend the paving, otherwise: they will follow 
the course of their predecessors, with similar results. 
Practical Success of Spade Culture.—An intelligent 
and industrious tenant of a very small holding states, that 
by using the spade to the depth of 12 inches instead of 
the plough to that of only 5 or 6, which increased his out- 
lay about 20s. per acre, he has obtained a produce at the 
rate of 40 bushels per acre, which is nearly double the 
average produce of the district. His little field had been 
twice cropped since its last coat of yard-dung. He sowed 
only 8 pecks to the acre, went over the field once with a 
coarse rake, and bestowed less than a day’s work on the 
weeding. ‘The ears were remarkably even and long, the 
grain excellent, and the straw wonderfully fine, both in 
quantity and quality.—South Devon. 
Rosa Hardti.—Why not work Rosa Hardii upon Cli- 
nophylla? The mother is the fit person to carry her own 
offspring. Or if that Rose is not easy to procure, then why 
not upon its most closely allied variety? The most frac- 
tious baby will let its own aunt carry it. Generally 
Speaking, reason says, graft a hybrid shrub on the parent 
stocks ; or, if one parent be tender, then upon the hardy 
one. I suspect that in difficult cases of grafting or ino- 
culating, the standard system is mischievous. The longer 
the canal of nutrition through ill-adapted and heteroge- 
nous vessels, the less wholesome to the scion it may pro- 
bably be found.— 4. H. 
Rosa Hardii.—The account of the origin of this plant 
which was given in ‘‘ Paxton’s Magazine of Botany,’’ was 
supplied by a friend from Rivérs’s ‘‘ Rose Amateurs’ 
Guide,”’ for 1840, p. 161. Itis there said ‘“‘ Rosa Hardii, 
or Rosa berberifolia Hardii, is a most interesting Rose, 
lately raised from seed by Monsieur Hardy, of the Luxem- 
bourg Gardens, from Rosa involucrata, a variety of R. 
bracteata, fertilized with that unique Rose, R. berberifolia, 
or the single Yellow Persian Rose.” I presume the work 
in question may be regarded as an authority.—Z. K. 
Gardeners’ Associations.—It is stated at p. 807 in the 
last week’s Chronic/e that the gardeners around the eastern 
part of the Metropolis are to have regular meetings for 
“ mutual instruction.” This, in my opinion, is what gar- 
deners require ; and it is the duty of under-gardeners to 
have not only instruction societies, but to have their 
nightly spelling lessons—for it is a lamentable fact that 
many gardeners are bad spellers. After having learned to 
spell correctly, they may meet, and some of the more 
experienced should be chosen as teachers, and the study of 
Horticulture may be set a-going on scientific principles. 
Some head gardeners, I am sorry to say, are averse to such 
meetings, from the belief that they have a tendency to 
make young men careless, by diverting their minds from 
their work. If it takes men who have charge of fires from 
their work, I would suggest that a room for this purpose 
should be on the premises of every good place, and that 
head gardeners should occasionally countenance, by their 
persons and their purses, such institutions, in order that 
books might be purchased to enable them to spell, write, 
and pronounce correctly the various botanical terms. I 
would add, in conclusion, that if gentlemen delight more to 
look at a correct labe) than at one ill-spelled and badly 
written, they would use their endeavours to promote 
Gardeners’ Instruction Societies.—F’. J. 
One-shift System of Potting.—Gardeners who have 
been in the habit of putting in greenhouse cuttings under 
bell-glasses, and growing early Cucumbers in frames, can- 
not but have noticed how ready they are to force their 
roots above the soil, particularly if the plants are in a close 
and damp atmosphere. ow, the law by which these 
roots are regulated in their upward course, is the same as 
that which induced those of my Ericas and Boronias to 
take a downward direction. During the early part of the 
summer the wind was cold and the air dry, and when 
admitted into our greenhouses its capacity for moisture 
was increased, and this capacity not being sufficiently sup- 
plied from other sources, abstracted moisture from the 
ball of earth through the porous pot leaving the soil dry, 
compared with the air in the inverted pot. This fact, 
together with the limited portion of sand used in potting, 
goes far, in my opinion, to account for the failures which 
have attended this system of potting during this season, 
and where the roots have run vertically, as mine have done, 
it will be well for gardeners to guard against heated air 
rising from flues, as this will be likely to injure them.—C. 
Vegetables.—Lately I partook of a nice dish of Green 
Vegetable, which was to me a novelty, although perhaps 
it may be known to Gardeners. This I think would be 
found very useful to the Cottage-Gardener whose space 
is much limited. I desired my cook, late in the spring, 
to save the crown of the stem of all the Cabbages supplied 
by the green-grocer for the use of the family (I mean that 
part usually thrown away as waste) ; when a small quan- 
tity had been collected I planted them, putting them just 
under the surface of the earth; they required no further 
culture, but vegetated immediately, sending out their little 
Cabbage-like heads. They are very delicate in flavour, 
and infinitely superior to the common garden-greens.— 
An Experimentalist. 
Dahlias.—In reply to ‘‘ T. C. W.,”’ I beg to state that 
the Dahlias which flowered so well with me last season 
and failed this summer, were Sussex Rival, Fanny Keynes, 
Ruby, Egyptian King, Scarlet Defiance, Essex Rival, 
Hylas, Metella, Conductor, and Bishop of Salisbury. 
The roots were exposed to a gentle heat on the 25th of 
March, and made strong shoots. They were planted out 
on the 12th of June, and grown ina mass, with about 30 
other sorts (none of which disappointed me), close to 4 
south and an east wall, and quite open to the sunshine till 
an hour or two past noon. My garden is within 14 mile 
of the sea, and at no great elevation above it ; it lies in 
57 degrees north latitude.—A Subscriber. ; 
‘inter Gardening.—Now that Mr. Beaton has di- 
vulged his method of Winter Gardening, I venture to 
trouble you with an idea which, if carried out with taste 
and neatness of execution, will furnish amusement in the 
art of design to the junior members of establishments; 
either as employers.or employed. Mr. Ayres has wit 
great propriety recommended the use of small plants of 
evergreen and variegated shrubs for ornamenting the bare 
parterres in the winter months. I beg to suggest the use 
of still smaller plants, and their arrangement into tasteful 
scrolls, figures, irregular or symmetrical, according as the 
situation will admit; for this purpose there are many 
plants which can be got in Nurseries at a cheap rate, when 
taken in dozens or hundreds, as Andromeda polifolia, 
hardy Heaths, Rhododendron ferrugineum, R. hirsutum, 
neat small-sized plants of which may be procured at from 
25s. to 40s. per 100; or the design may be {carried out 
cheaper still by employing dwarf Box, small Spruce, or aDY 
small plants of evergreens, that may be procured at from 
Is. to 2s. 6d. per 100. There are also many of our ever” 
green border-plants that may be employed in this way, 9 
Saxifragas, Gentianella, and others—Zwist. 
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