Queries and Ansicers. 



187 



water or in a cistern (or in wells, according to Pliny, lib. xv., in which it is 

 said, ' Columella auctor est in puteos cisternasve in fictilibus vasis pice diligenti 

 cura illitis mergi'), and put weights upon them, so that no part of them might 

 emerge from the water. By this means the grapes were preserved in good 

 condition ; but, when they were taken from the water, they turned sour if 

 they were not consumed the same day." — Giuseppe Manetti. Monza, Feb. 5. 

 1843. 



The Bokhara Clover and Physospermiim cornubiense. — I thank you much 

 for the seeds of the Bokhara clover ; I have given some to one of my brothers, 

 who will also commence a series of experiments with them, the results of 

 which shall be communicated to you. I will now beg of you to send me a 

 packet of seed of Physospermum cornubiense of DeCandolIe, as I see it 

 noticed in several papers [see our Vol. for 1842, p. 528.] as a plant which 

 cattle eat with avidity. — Id. 



Double Floiver-Pots. (p. 136.) — It is remarkable that both I and Mr. Ste- 

 phens should have proposed to have water at the outside of our pots ; and 

 that Mr. S. has no pecuniary object in view any 

 more than myself. He states that there are but 

 few creeping insects that will venture to cross 

 from one rim to the other when the space be- 

 tween is full of water ; but there is one creature 

 which, 1 think, will pass, and that is the slug. 

 In the first volume of the Gardener's Chro- 

 nicle a controversy arose respecting the gal- 

 vanic protector. I was induced to try se- 

 veral plans to prevent the slug from destroying 

 the flowers, and I found that riveting a piece 

 of zinc to the rim of the pot, as in fig. 53., 

 answered the purpose. The slug was able to -pig. ri5. Half of a Fiower-Pot, s/iowing 

 shoot out its body and feelers, and pass over a Band of Zinc riveied to the Rim, 



. ^ , •' , , . , ' . . to deter Snails and Slugs. 



water ; now, it the space betwixt the rims m 



the pots fig. 17. and 18. in p. 136. is not above li in., the slug will pass 



from one rim to the other, although there is water. Figs. 54. and 55. show 



the slugs passing from one rim to the 



other. The hinder part of the slug 



being fixed on the outer rim, it is able 



to shoot out its body to a certain 



length, so that if it be able to get hold 



with its feelers and mouth on the 



inner rim, it finds no difficulty in 



drawing its body up after it ; there- 

 fore, to make those pots sure, the 



space betwen the rims should be more 



than H in. wide. I have never proved 



whether the slugs will or will not pass 



through the water ; and I only wait 



^'A-^-. ^'^'^^;"'L o/the return of the slug season to put 

 Mr. Stephens s Pot. . , . ^i ^ . mP i t i 



them to the test. The result I hope 



to communicate to you, if I am spared to live, and try the experiment. — 



M. Saul. Garstang, March 6. 1848. 



Section of 

 Saul's Pot. 



Art. III. Queries and Answers. 



The Reason why Bees sometimes die luhile they have Plenty of Food, in ansicer 

 to a Jjudy Bee-hccp>er. — This does happen, though rarely ; and it has given rise 

 to various conjectures. The most plausible reasons are, that some accident 

 having befallen the queen, the bees have got unsettled, and many of them have 

 pei'ished abroad ; the few remaining in the hive being too weak to keep up the 



