1834.] THE 
GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 429 
time,—that is, after a quantity has been got into the in- 
closure,—so that, at night, a turf is laid on the hot ashes, 
and will keep burning all night and maintaining the heat 
in the inclosure ; and if the day is fine and sunny, there 
needs no turf putting to the ashes, but if the day be wet 
and cold, then turf may be applied, and the heat will be 
kept to what is required. To supply moisture in the 
frames it only requires the sand to be watered. At one 
end of the inclosure there is a small door for supplying 
the fire. Where turf is not to be had it may be done with 
wood or sawdust; the whole is a very trifling expense, and 
may be made to any size. I have taken away part of the 
inclosure and the frame for the purpose of showing the 
inside of both.—M. Saul, Garstang. 
Wheelbarrows.—In filling earth into a wheelbarrow 
with a spade, itis no uncommon thing for the spade to 
strike the end of one of the wheelbarrow handles, and 
take part of it away ; what remains is generally smoothed 
with a knife to prevent the hand of the person from being 
injured, and by repeated strokes of the spade, and re- 
peated paring with the knife, the ends of the hands of the 
wheelbarrow will have the appearance of pointed sticks, 
and are very unpleasant to work with. By way of experi- 
ment, some years ago, I had the ends of one protected with 
shields of iron, which have answered all that was required 
of them. The iron used was about as thick as a halfpenny, 
and made to fit the ends of the handles, which is com- 
monly of an oval shape. ‘'wo holes were made in each 
shield, and were fastened to the barrow with small screw- 
nails. The spade and the shield have come sometimes in 
contact, but the shiclds have preserved the wood from being 
injured.— Peler Mackenzie. 
Excavation of Trees by Birds.—The Parus, or, as it 
is called by some, the Titmouse or the Blue-mope, does 
much mischief in gardens and orchards by picking off the 
tender buds of trees. Thirty-one species are scattered over 
the globe, of which 8 are common to our own country. 
It is a very fertile tribe, laying from 10 to 20 eggs at one 
hatch. They feed on seeds, fruit, and insects, and a few 
on flesh. Most of them are fond of the brains of other 
birds, which they get at by cleaving the skull of such as 
they find dead. They are restless, bold, and cruel to birds 
less than themselves, and will attack such as are three times 
their own size. My attention has been drawn for some 
time past to a pair of those birds, which have built their 
nest in a tree by the side of a road along which I have to 
pass. A description may be of interest to others. The 
tree isan Elder. It is about 4 feet high, and 103 inches 
in diameter; and an Ivy plant has grown upon it, which 
gives it a most beautiful effect—the top having been cut 
off some years ago. ‘The first time my attention was 
drawn to this tree was by observing a bird peeping from 
one of its cavities. On examining the tree, 1 found the 
entrance no larger than I could put the end of my finger 
in, and I should not have supposed that there was such a 
thing in the tree if the birds had not come out at the time 
I was passing. I was therefore induced, at different times, 
to watch their movements; as it is now quite clear that 
when I first observed them, they were just commencing 
to excavate the interior of the tree for another apartment ; 
and as the one picked off the wood in the new apartment, 
the other brought it out and dropped it at a distance from 
the tree, in the road; I suppose for fear of their place 
being discovered. But on the 12th of May last it was 
found by a lad who was passing by, as a bird was coming 
Out of the tree at the time. The lad then commenced 
breaking into the tree to get at the nest, which he found 
contained 8 eggs. It so happened that I shortly after 
had to pass the place, when I saw what had occurred, and 
examined the wonderful work that those two birds had 
achieved. There is a passage between the two apartments. 
The first apartment, it ist-quite clear, had been made last 
year, as there was an old nest which the birds had not 
discovered. The first had been made last year, the other 
in the present year. The entrance from the old one was 
from the back, and the entrance was a small round hole 
which was just above the side of the nest. The wood of 
the tree was scooped out about 4 inches by 3 inches, being 
an oval-shaped cavity, and about 2 inches deep in the 
centre, and which was lined with a little fine moss. The 
wood was picked, and formed as finely as if it had been 
done by the hands of man, An engraving, representing 
this singular circumstance, has appeared in 
entitled ‘* The Builder,’’ but it is very incorrect. I have 
Since met with another of these nests in the stump of an 
old Sycamore tree, and which I have no doubt has been 
Occupied several years by a pair of those birds. There 
is only one apartment in this tree, which has but just 
been found out, on account, I suppose, of its requiring a 
Carpenter’s axe and much labour to come at it.— MW. Saul, 
Garstang. 
Bees.—‘'\ Lady” has requested me to state how swarms 
are to be taken off artificially, and to give the dimensions 
of the hives I recommend ; if I induce a few apiarians to 
keep large hives, and adopt the artificial system of swarm- 
tng, I shall do some good; and I am fully aware that 
r. Nutt and his disciples, with Mr. Wighton and his, are 
Pursuing phantoms. Mr. Wighton says, in his answer to 
my last letter, ‘The propensity of Bees to swarm acts 
against keeping them. How galling it is to have the 
Number of Bees reduced instead of having a bellglass of 
Oney !” What ! does the swarming of Bees reduce their 
number? No, it increases the number two or threefold. 
Three or four Queens are breeding instead of one. All 
Systems that prevent Bees from swarming 2re not profit- 
able. If Bees in a good locality are managed properly, 
two swarms will be taken from every stock every year ; 
and if the year be propitious, one or two bellglasees of 
lone 
an 
y may be got from the first swarm. But I must tell 
© cottager, whose paramount object is profit, that Bees, 
when kept in one apartment, gather a third more than 
when kept in two. Therefore, he will find it more lucra- 
tive to raise the hive by ekeing, than putting a box on the 
top, unless he can sell the comb in the box at about double 
the price of run honey. The hives of which “ A Lady” 
wishes me to give the dimensions are from 20 to 24 inches 
diameter, and from 12 to 15 inches deep, for first swarms ; 
and a little less, and deeper in proportion to size, for 
second swarms. Shallow hives are not good for winter 
stocks, though Bees can put more honey into them than 
into deep ones. We take off swarms thus :—Blow a little 
smoke from cotton rags (rolled up in the shape of a candle 
into the hive, which stupifies the Bees; lift the hive off 
the board, and place it a few yards from the stool with its 
crown on the ground; place an empty hive of the same 
size on it, and tie a cloth round the joining of the hives 
to keep in the Bees; place the hive that the young colony 
is about to be put into, on the board, then rap or drum 
gently on the old hive for about the space of ten minutes 
to make the Bees run into the empty one (the warmer the 
night the faster they run) ; take off the topmost hive, and 
place it on the ground with its mouth up—spreading the 
cloth over the old one; and then look for the Queen in 
the swarm, She is easily known; as soon as she is seen 
shake the swarm into the hive that is on the board, and 
all is finished in less than 20 minutes. Two-thirds are 
about the usual number that go with the first swarm, but 
this must not be the rule; for there must be as many left 
in the old hive as will cover and bring out the brood. If 
there are not enough taken from the old hive, the cloth 
must be removed for a few minutes; if too many, place it 
on the board for a few minutes. The old stock place a 
yard to the right, the colony a yard to the left of the old 
stool. I have been very verbose on this subject, for we 
have found artificial swarming to be very profitable indeed. 
How galling it is to stand for days beside a hive, and see 
the Bees loitering away their time! What an absence of 
knowledge and poverty of genius is exhibited in doing so! 
What an incalculable loss !— A. Pettigrew, Wrotham Park. 
Chloride of Lime for Worms, §c.—As I have fre- 
quently seen in the Chronicle Limewater recommended 
for destroying worms, and hy one correspondent Cor- 
rosive Sublimate, both of which I admit are very good— 
but the latter, I should think, from its very poisonous 
nature, will never be generally used, while the former is 
not easily procured by some—and as I was very much 
annoyed by the worms getting into the pots, of which I 
have five or six hundred, and not a place where I can set 
them in the summer season, excepting round the edge of 
the grass-plot, I have used for this last three years Chloride 
of Lime, and I have found it quite to my wishes. The 
quantity that I use is about an ounce to eight gallons of 
water, and I have never found it to hurt or discolour a leaf, 
as I have frequently watered the beds, plants, and grass- 
plot all over. It kills the moss on the latter; but what I 
find it the most useful for is about every month to water 
round the pots, that it may run underneath, which it 
quickly does, the garden being on the descent; and by 
making the water a little stronger, and applying the brush 
gently to cause it to go over every part at the same time, 
it effectually destroys all the green on the flagstones. 
Lime ina powdered state is a most excellent thing (but 
this is going from gardening) for destroying the small 
bugs that fowls are infested with. All fowls are not 
troubled with them, but where they are, they are a great 
pest ; so much so that scarcely a hen will sit its time, and 
if she should, she is in general so weak as not to be able 
to bring the chickens up. By throwing a few handsful 
on the roost now and then it keeps the place quite free 
from them. They are very small, and like the red spider, 
only whitey-brown. I only know that they are very busy 
little gentlemen, and should they chance to getin your head, 
they will make full employment for both hands.—W. P. 
The Lily of the Field.—Some time since (vol. ii. p. 744) 
we ventured to express our confident belief that the Lily 
to which our Saviour referred in His Sermon on the 
Mount, was not, as is commonly supposed, the White 
ily. And wegrounded our opinion upon the absence of 
all evidence of that plant being found in the Holy Land. 
‘A kind correspondent has just put into our hands a letter 
from a gentleman resident at Aleppo, who completely 
confirms our conjecture. He says: ‘‘ Although I have 
resided long in Syria, I am imperfectly acquainted with 
the botany of Aleppo and Antioch only. All I can say 
js, that I never saw the White Lily in a wild state, nor 
have I heard ofits being so in Syria. It is cultivated here 
on the roofs of the houses in pots as an exotic bulb, like 
the Daffodil.” 
‘Mulberry Trees.—About 11 years ago I put a very 
small Mulberry tree into my garden. It has grown very 
nicely, and looks healthy. For three yeara—say from 
1839 to 1841—it produced a good deal of fruit. In 1842, 
however, I had scarcely any fruit: the tree was full of 
blossom, but it was all false blossom, and fell off. This 
ear it is loaded with bloom, but it is all false, and I fear 
I shall have no fruit. Tbe soil is a black common soil; 
r the tree I have Strawberries—they are producing 
aie this year. May I beg to inquire how I had better 
eee the tree in order that it may produce fruit?—J. M. 
[See a leading article a week or two ago.] 
Autumn Sowing of Annuals.—I beg to call the atten- 
tion of some of your numerous readers, more particularly 
the amateur, toa subject which undoubtedly deserves to 
be in more general practice—I mean that of sowing hardy 
Annuals (o stand over winter for early summer flowering. 
Although there is perhaps little original in the practice 
followed here, I will describe my method for the benefit 
of the amateur, who generally is anxious to make his 
little parterre as attractive as possible. About the first 
week of October 1 sow my seed, ona fine day, in beds, 
t 
in a situation that is sheltered from cutting winds, but 
freely exposed to the influence of the sun and air, tread- 
ing the beds moderately firm with the feet, as the young 
plants are not so liable to be thrown out by frost on a 
firm as on a soft bed, and finishing off with the rake. 
Nothing more is necessary, except keeping free of weeds, 
until the following April, when I prepare beds or borders 
where I intend the plants to flower. I then transplant 
them in beds, in rows 9 inches apart, and at the same 
time sow seed of the same sort with them on the same 
bed. By this method I have two crops on the bed 
the same summer, and a brilliant show of Annuals from 
the Ist of May throughout the summer and autumn 
months; I also follow the same practice in planting 
patches in the mixed border by dropping in seeds of the 
same sorts. The sorts I treat as above are Plectoitis 
congesta, Collinsia bicolor and grandiflora, Clarkia 
pulchella, Gilia tricolor, Eutoca viscida and E. Manglesii. 
The Nemophila insignis and atomaria are both very 
hardy to stand the winter, but I prefer sowing them 
where they are to flower. The above will all withstand 
the severest frost if the beds are firm, moderately sheltered, 
and on a dry bottom. And I believe as many more 
might be added equally hardy, but these present a suffi- 
cient variety to be interesting.—G. W. G.L. 
Vrens.— “Peter Mackenzie’s”” paragraph, in your 
Number of June 10, reminds me that in Gloucestershire it 
is a common traditionary persuasion that the male Wren is 
the sole tenant of a nest which he occupies in single blessed~ 
ness. I well remember, as a bird-nesting boy, to have 
met with these nests, and to have been told contempt- 
uously, “ Oh! it’s only a bachelor Wren’s nest.” There 
is mostly some foundation for these articles of the popular 
faith.—G. W. 8. 
Melons.—\f ‘1. H. &."’ will grow his Melons about 
eight or ten inches from the glass, he will find them 
answer very well. J have grown them so for four years 
in two light frames, and have invariably ripened eight in 
each light, the produce of three plants. Ihave them 
now eighteen inches in circumference.—Cummins. [We 
hope to hear again from this correspondent. ] 
Asparagus.—Perhaps at this time of day you will 
scarcely believe that the great proportion of practical 
gardeners disbelieve the method which you recommend 
for raising Asparagus, chiefly because it does not accord 
with the practice they have been used to, and therefore 
they cling to the old lazy fashion of trusting to covering 
them up with manure before winter, and cutting only a 
shoot here and there in spring, allewing of course the 
pith and essence of the plants to be wasted as heretofore 
in weak shoots, which they permit to spindle up from the 
first, and especially the weakly ones. In your last 
Number, June 10, there are very good hints given on 
this subject, but they are not specific enough, as I venture 
to think, to cause uninitiated beginners to adopt your 
suggestions, and far less to induce the old gardener to 
abandon his prejudices, especially that class which is 
im service, and has the ear of the master or mistress, who 
are in general themselves ignorant of kitchen gardening, 
and permit themselves to be overruled by men who are 
too often most distinguished by their obstinate resistance 
to everything new which they themselves do not suggest. 
There are few things that old-fashioned gardeners swagger 
more about than the produce and management of the very 
three things which you have treated of so well and so 
rationally in your last Number. I mean Sea-kale, Aspa- 
ragus, and Rhubarb. I myself welieve that the cultiva- 
tion of the Potato itself is not more simple and common- 
place than is that of these three most excellent vegetables. 
But will this be admitted and acted on by those who, 
having served a routine apprenticeship in order to befit 
themselves for managing gentlemen’s gardens, devote 
their attention much more to the treatment of the forcing- 
house, the conservatory, or the Melon and Cucumber- 
frames, than to the more useful products of the kitchen- 
garden? I fear not. In this conviction it is that I apply to 
you to instruct us how to cultivate successfully the classes 
of vegetables which require several years to bring them 
to perfection. Asparagus being agreat favourite—I should 
say the greatest of these—and the present being the proper 
season for carrying into execution the excellent views which 
are expressed in general terms in your last Number, I would 
suggest to you the advantages which would accrue from 
a set of general rules being immediately promulgated ag 
to its cultivation during summer, now that the season for 
cutting is over. It is but justice to you to say here, that 
on reading the first paragraph in the Chronicle which I 
noticed this spring on the cultivation of Asparagus, I 
caused my Asparagus beds to be cut clean over as with a 
scythe, then J had a considerable portion of them dressed 
with guano, at the rate of four cwt. to an acre of land ; 
and from that day to this I have not allowed’a single 
shoot to run up, not caring whether they were fit for 
table use or not, but cutting everything off the beds 
whether small or large—and have had far better 
Asparagus as well as much more of it than ever before. 
Has my practice in this squared with the advice which I 
understood you laid down? Next let me ask, should 
every shoot, whether small or large, be allowed to run to 
seed now that cutting for table-use is at an end? if not, 
say how these should be selected, restricted, and regulated, 
for this point is one of great importance with the 
uninitiated, when contending for a better system with 
those who can boast of having served an apprenticeship to 
the craft. Your recommendation of summer dressing 
and manuring Asparagus, being new in these parts, will 
probably be stoutly disputed, unless you shall fortify your 
recommendation from authority.—Robert Wallace, Kelly. 
[We are sorry to hear so unfavourable an account of 
the gardeners in our correspondent’s neighbourhood. That 
