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1844.] 



would have a balance-sheet of the state of the society's clolTl^TWTre^eTTfamTliaT^ 

 fundf posted at every meeting at one corner of the show- ■«* ■ *- *«-- • - - J ia """ar, m 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



room with an invitation appended to it, for those sub- 

 scribers who felt inclined, to examine the secretary's 

 books as to the details, after the business of the day had 

 passed by. There is no small difficulty at country Shows 

 in obtaining good judges, gardeners who are exhibiting 

 in several classes being by no means eligible ; and few 

 gardeners are so well off as to travel a distance of twelve 

 or fifteen miles at their own expense, and give their ser- 

 vices gratuitously into the bargain. The consequence is, 

 that very frequently incompetent judges are selected, and 

 if a first-rate gardener happens to be joined to them, he 

 has it all his own way, and the others are reduced to mere 

 automatons. Much difficulty exists in getting the sub- 

 scriptions— this is shameful, but it is too true. A good 

 plan, in my opinion, would be to collect the subscriptions 

 f ery early in the spring, and to state in the circulars that 

 no other would be considered available to the purposes 

 of the current year, than what were received by an ap- 

 pointed day, soon after which the arrangements would 

 be completed, and the subscriptions published in the 

 county newspaper. It is customary to charge a small 

 gum at the doors for visitors inspecting the rooms who 

 are not subscribers : this is, in many places, not adhered 

 to so strictly as it ought to be. The door-keeper should 

 be a stranger to the neighbourhood if possible, and have 

 strict orders to exact the sum appointed from all who did 

 not possess tickets. The chief cause of failure, however 

 is want of sufficient funds — theconductor of these meetings 

 has, in most cases, one of his hands tied. There is a good 

 deal of expense incurred in the mere machinery of such 

 meetings, and after such is deducted from these cramped 

 subscriptions, the rest is obliged to be cut out into such 

 meagre prizes, that few but those who are independent, 

 care to compete for them : ninepenny and eighteenpenny 

 prizes are by no means uncommon at the country Shows 

 and many a poor wight goes home with a half-crown in 

 prizes, who can ill afford to pay his travelling expenses. 

 There can, therefore, be no permanency or strength in 

 these societies, until the amount of subscriptions is con- 

 siderably improved. The above facts, though not appli- 

 cable to the great metropolitan societies, are, I am well 

 assured, to many of the provincial ones.— Argus. 



Pelargoniums.— I have had some of my plants change 



on the edges of the leaves like the inclosed, giving the 



plant the appearance of a variegated sort. The leaves 



appear quite healthy, with a regular pale border, which 



is principally confined to the old leaves. The only thing 



I can suppose it to arise from is, that some time since I 



Had the Pelargoniums watered with sulphate of ammonia, 



which had been exposed to the air for some considerable 



time, and had become quite fluid ; and it is possible that 



( „?nir ■ \ a ^, been Partially decomposed, and a free acid 



sulphuric) left, which we know has the power of bleach- 



*g vegetable colours.-.?/. Groom. [This is a curious 



case. I he. leaves have a pale border, about k inch deep, 



vtrieSn!] * aS * * W6re rea11 * a P erm *nent 



to KT/in ° W ," ^ Hed S*Sparrou>.-\t is my misfortune 



none fZ Yl? t0 ? n ' S ° that ' when at home ' l see 

 wotv Lt ^ t i ered . raCeexce P t that b ° ld > impudent, 

 2' Wlt . hal comical f eHow the house-sparrow. M> 



do a 1 in I' 11 1S S ° me half mile off in the suburbs > and I 

 thoulh ™ y P0VVer t0 induce the birds to frequent it, 



by eSrt" mi mCGSSant Warfare is ke P fc U P a * ai " st them 

 far from n„ *W™«**" who can lift a gun, they are 



of ESS ?„T-° Ui ' a- 1 f ° rmed this S arden in the winter 

 with m/,n i lmmedl , atel y a robin took up his quarters 

 and return; t gr ? e , nhouse ' going out during the day, 



thereb T S n ' ght t0 his r00st in some of the shrubs 

 in. till T w Wa j a 5 first P UZ2led ^ find out how he got 



lei Z\ Qn ' Cd f tat a tria °gular piece of glass had fal- 

 threell° s n t° f ^ Sma11 P anes « the roof, which are 

 the ed " P of tK ° ' a , Dd Saw him enter bv alighting on 

 the hole *„ i PMe , below ' st0 °P his b ead, hop through 



f °re on enterint *k ** * ^ ° PeQ ' mSi ^ ^^ 



^ option of g n if- ? S . 6 CVery mornin S l g a ™ him 

 generally did a t In S b,s exit f or the day, which he 

 stormy, or a k* °? Ce ' If ' nowever » the weather was 



nsed to return • 0r snow was on the g round » "e 



standing n eJ* a ! e " minut es with all his feathers 

 b fgfor admittan' 8 "^ 6 ^ "telligiblj, though mutely, 



605 



"fgior admittanre f« 7x7 J V 5 *' tu " u & u ""*«.«y, 

 ^ cnt J to eat anS^ • • , ° ld <l uarters > * here > bavi »g 

 m J movement l nk ' he s P ent his time iQ watching 

 Iq *ery cold •«![ huntin S al >out amongst the plants. 

 1 Ie ave the riW i /• P refers a stove heat, and should 

 1 ain sure soon t « ¥ int ° U fr0m tbe g r eenhouse ajar, 



^Pears to en °in ^- find hlm after me - ^ Vhen tbere " he 

 Plumage tiehr /k hlm ^ lf mucb » be gathers his puffed out 



mer -time. Hi i ' and looks as be does in sum- 



(° nl y equalled \ !?*' beauti ^U intelligent black eye 

 wat ch of mv " 7 that of tbe nightingale) is in constant 



Pended orchM m his usual P erch upon the sus- 



fro * which Sip 06 *' ° r . the rods intersecting the roof 

 passed everv 2! *™ ung * In thi s manner he has 



r"aac a eve - -- -».. 8 . xu mis manner ne j 



about NoTemh? 8I j Ce 1836 ' retur °ing to his quart 

 Marc o- Hah.. an ? Ieavin g them in February or 

 ? y ha ud, and ! ii D ° W become so tame that he feeds from 

 bunself bv n^iJ: P ercb ed thereon sometimes amuses 



ers 

 or 



n^^stoirf-th ^^^ sisrjSA 



which I r^n • thC 8t T m0Use ' s hole in an old hedge 

 which I retain m my garden, and allow any of the familv 



nin/oTtb Cl ° S f t0 , them With0Ut b *ing alarmed Jop- 



whStlP tn S Wr c dS m Feply t0 tbe challenge of P a 

 whistle to them. So tame are my young robins that 



during summer and autumn it positivel/requ es ha 



ZliTln^ »"«»«'•* ^ injuring Ihem when 

 hoeing and raking, so closely do they come about one : 



and it is no uncommon thing for my sisters, when work 

 mg amongst their flowers, to have three or four of These 

 youngsters in constant attendance during a whole morn- 

 ing. I he hedge-sparrow is another of my especial 



biX^h f ° r . I u consider l it the most affe/tiona^e of 

 birds, neither yielding to the dove or the love bird in 



tl S res P e , ct « fU T bey always go in pairs, and having once 

 taken each other « for better for worse/' never separate, 

 and seem unhappy when out of each other's sight even 

 for a moment. They are most inoffensive, subsisting 

 chiefly on insects and their lame, and ought to be kindlv 

 treated by every gardener. Two pair of them seem to 

 consider my garden their home, as they remain with me 

 summer and winter, building in the shrubs, and in cold 

 weather keeping about the open sheds, &c, and coming 

 regularly to be fed. I often stand and watch their 

 movements upon the lawn, which they hunt over in 

 search of insects, in that half-hop, half-flight, so charac- 

 teristic of this bird, always within a yard or two of each 

 other, and keeping up their low twittering note. Should 

 one of them happen to get out of the other's sight, the 

 moment it is missed you hear the call of its partner, and 

 can see how distressed it is at its absence, whilst the 

 well-known reply, and the delight on their meeting, 

 almost invariably elicits the song of the male. " liless 

 their kind hearts !" say I, with Mr. Waterton, the quo- 

 tation from whose delightful work in your last has in- 

 duced me to send you this.— Pons JEM. 



Wasps and JJees.—l have tried Professor Henslow's 

 method of destroying wasps, and found it to answer 

 admirably. I put a small quantity of spirits of turpen- 

 tine into a bottlt, and at night, when the wasps were all 

 at home, the bottle was inserted in the mouth of the 

 nest ; a spadeful or two of puddled earth was put over 

 this, about a foot in thickness, in order to make the work 

 secure. My man, who had never employed anything 

 but gunpowder and brimstone for this purpose, was 

 doubtful about success. In twenty .four hours, however, 

 all the straggling wasps having disappeared, the nest was 

 opened, and all were quite dead. My man said they 

 would come to life again if he did not smash them with 

 the spade ; but before doing so he took out about a 

 dozen of the white waxy-looking sealed-up bags, con- 

 taining the young embryo wasps ; these were wrapt in 

 paper and taken home ; in a day or two the paper was 

 opened, when some of the bags had been converted into 

 mature wasps, others appeared as large moveable 

 maggots, and some were the same as when first taken 

 out of the cells. I have a hive of bees not far from the 

 spot where the wasps' nest was found, and I had noticed 

 wasps about the hive. I have watched them go into it ; 

 the bees did not appear to resist their entrance, nor did 

 I see any symptoms of fighting. I diminished the en- 

 trance of the hives to two small holes, which are only 

 capable of allowing one bee to go through at once, and 

 since that alteration a larger number of bees are 

 generally about these holes. ~ This morning I did not 

 see one wasp enter the hive ; they came and flew about, 

 went once or twice near the entrance, and flew away. 

 Will any bee-keeper inform me whether or not the de- 

 struction of bees is the consequence of wasps entering 

 the hive, or whether robbery would satisfy the intruders 1 

 whether or not the bees would fight them after they had 

 entered the hive? and whether or not the diminished 

 entrance will do any injury to the bees ?— Jasper Stokes, 

 Birmingham. 



Gray Parrot — I have one of this species which once 

 suffered in the same way as a " Constant Reader's," but 

 is now in perfect health ; the cause, I doubt not, was the 

 want of water. My pet is thus managed : — As soon as 

 convenient after breakfast, the door of the cage is opened, 

 and Miss Polly then mounts to the top of her cage, and 

 there expands her wings, gives them a good shaking, and 

 gets rid of a great deal of white dust, which, I doubt not, 

 is dried skin. While she is thus employed her cage is 

 thoroughly cleaned out, the bottom strewed with sifted 

 gravel and about a tablespoonful of Hemp-seed put 

 into one side of her tin, and her cup filled with fresh 

 water ; bread or toast is soaked for a minute or 

 two, but not made pappy, and then given to her ; 

 at dinner, or luncheon, she has a bit of meat or a 

 bone not closely picked, but all fat or butter must be 

 carefully removed from it ; if we have a milk pudding she 

 has her share ; at tea the toast is again prepared, but in 

 no case is more given than the bird can consume. A cup 

 of clean spring water always stands in the bottom of the 

 cage; but if a "Constant Reader's" polly is as mis- 

 chievous as mine, it had better be fastened to the wires ; 

 my bird hangs in a large porch furnished with flowers, 

 and more than once I have received the contents of the 

 cup on my head or back. When moulting, a Clove or 



pool is so obliging as to say that, if a -Constant 



nlnnv er , ^ I™* h6 [ MS address/she will be most 



L P -W Ch ? 8UCh informa tion as will effectually 



cure his bird, and restore its plumage. J 



Bees'.Eggs.-At p. 572, « A Lover of Truth" says- 

 As the queen knows when she is to lay a drone or 

 male egg t m what way is that knowledge acquired >» 

 Again, he asks-- Does one ovary contain male eggs 

 only ; or are they to be found in every ovarv ? " Ac 

 cording to Hunter, the eggs are not contained in ovaries" 

 but in twelve small ducts ; but it is hard to say how the 

 male and female eggs are situated. I shall, however, 

 hazard an opinion respecting their being deposited in the 

 cells. The queen bees differ from other insects that lay 

 their eggs only at certain times, and that have the 

 male and female eggs mixed together ; if the season 

 permitted, she would lay eggs to produce working bees 

 during the whole year, and those to bring forth drones 

 only at certain periods. Now the latter may be situated 

 in the duct or ducts, so that they can only exist at cer- 

 tain periods, and the insects know of course by instinct, 

 the proper cells for their production. It may be worthy 

 of remark that after the queen bee has layed drones' eggi 

 and a few to produce queens, she lays only workers' 

 eggs ; while in autumn, others of her race, such as 

 humble bees, wasps, and hornets, rear none except drones 

 and queens especially the yellow pests, who often shave 

 off the workers' cells from the upper combs as materials 

 for forming queens' cells below. Drones are reared in 

 cells of the same size ; all this is quite in accordance 

 with the manner in which they increase their species. In 

 reply to the query respecting difference between the 

 size of male and common eggs, I may state that I have 

 fancied that the former were a shade larger ; but the 

 exact age of the eggs ought to be known, for they of 

 course swell before the !arv« burst them. " A Lover of 

 Truth" mentions the number of -drones' eggs hia queen 

 bee lays, and also that of workers' eggs, which he 

 says was 1000 daily for three successive months. This 

 not only exceeds Huber's number— 200 daily— but also 

 Schirach's highest number, which is 100,000 in a sea- 

 son.—,/. Wight on. 



Flower Gardens.— I beg to confirm " E. C.'s " state- 

 ment (p. 525) respecting the appearance of these. On 

 visiting Marston Rectory I was delighted with the brilliant 



m 



i 



br 



r-jacu j>y picking t- UC1CUU sometimes amuses cup on my neaa or back. When moulting, a Clove or 



}° d ged underneath m r" 7 Crumbs > &c '» that ma y have two should be put in the water, and by way of a bonne 



|? od - When in the T/ V nails when P re P arin 5 his bouche, she has from time to time a bit of captain's bis- 



J? e greenhouse he tr' m °ment he sees me enter cuit. Parsley must be carefully withheld— it is most in- 



r* ea » fluttering aaains^fk i thc d °° r which se P arates jurious to parrots. With the above treatment no bird 



™ e » and as soon a « I M ln his attemDtsto reach can be in better health, more lively, or in better plumage. 



T 1 ,™' seems grievoL ^P en the door > alighting on my The "ConstanfReader's " parrot should have as much 



* a woIe j n it, althono-l u Sappomted if there w nothing air as possible on fine days, and as much liberty on the 



Peach - In J^^\ he m p h ^ ^nt 7 o( food within " " " 



er he aad bis mate build their nest 



display in the flower garden ; the beds, both with regard to 

 flowers and foliage, were all that could be desired, and I 

 was informed that they have been equally beautiful for 

 four months past. This, taking into consideration the 

 bleak situation of the garden, and very bad soil of which 

 it is composed, reflects the greatest credit on Mr. Melville, 

 who is gardener there. The other gardens alluded to by 

 M E. C." are, and have been, the very acme of perfec- 

 tion. The beds are planted with the same kinds of 

 plants that are generally to be met with in good gardens. 

 — A. A. 



Strawberries and Asparagus. — I beg to offer a few 

 remarks upon the statement of Mr. Cree, of S tow- 

 market, respecting the culture of these plants. Of 

 Strawberries he says, that " he had such a capital crop 

 because he did not cut off the leaves." The discussion 

 which took place last year about cutting off Strawberry 

 leaves, induced me to adopt the following system by war 

 of experiment :— Of one Strawberry bed I cut the leaves 

 all off one half, and the other half I did nothing to ; I 

 cannot, however, speak in praise of the latter half: hav- 

 ing other two beds both in the same aspect, I was 

 anxious to learn from which of the two I could obtain 

 the most fruit. From one bed I cut all the leaves and 

 manured it immediately. From the other I cut all the 

 runners, and left the stools entire, and then manured it, 

 which I could easily do, as I plant my Strawberry rows 

 2 feet apart. The bed that I thus treated was but one 



year old ; the other bed was three years old that 



from which I cut all the leaves. I can vouch that 

 I had quite as many Strawberries from the old 

 bed, as 1 had from the new one : this I did not ex- 

 pect ; both the beds were of the same sort, viz. Elton 

 Pine. Have any of your readers made a similar experi- 

 ment ? With regard to Asparagus, Mr. Bree goes on 

 to say, that " J. Squinell killed all his Asparagus by 

 cutting off the tops in June. ,, This I have no doubt waa- 

 the result ; but, as was stated at p. 317, of this year, I 

 imagine that salt should only be applied when the plants 

 are in full growth. I consider that Mr. Bree practised 

 nearly as dangerous a system as his friend M Y. S," in 

 applying salt at the time when the roots were in a state 

 of rest. I should say that salt would be applied with, 

 more advantage in spring — say in the month of 

 March ; put it on immediately after the beds are dressed. 

 If the weather is dry, water the beds well, previous to 

 putting on the salt, and then 2± lbs. of salt to the square 

 yard might be used, which I have no doubt would give 

 great satisfaction — Villagius. 



Vines.— I have two vineries ; No. 1 has the canes 

 trained to the rafters, one only to each. This house is 

 heated with hot water in iron pipes, and has besides about 

 eight cart-loads of tan in it. In No. 2, the Vines are 

 trained horizontally, the whole length of the house (about 

 20 feet) ; this house is also heated with the same sized 

 pipes, but no tan is used in it. Now it so happens that 

 this house has matured its produce better, in every respect, 

 than the house with the tan. From what cause has this 

 arisen ? Was it the horizontal mode of training which 

 caused it, or was there too much moisture in the tan to 

 allow the Grapes to colour, from excessive evaporation. 

 Heat and air were allowed to both houses in nearly the 



_ m & _ n 



The " Constant^Reader's " parrot should have as much Heat and air were allowed to both houses in nearly the 

 air as possible on fine days, and as much liberty on the same degree. Perhaps I ought to mention that the tan- 

 top of her cage as convenient, when in the house. — X. less house is situated considerably higher than No. 1, to 

 Miss Kenworthy, of No. 3, Russell-street, Liver- reach which the Vines are carried a greater distance. 



