Queries, ^4nswers, Reviarksy ^c. 379 
tity of partly decayed vegetables ; on these 1 hey feed, and thereby hasten their 
decay, which however, would take place in their absence. Amongst the thou- 
sands of pots containing^ plants, subject to the care of a gardener, he always 
considers it a misfortune to find any of his pots infested with worms. I am no ad- 
vocate for cruelty, but on the contrary, I only find the necessity of reducing- the 
numbers of any creatures, when their increase proves injurious to the interests of 
uian. 
fFiUersley, Dec. 5, 1831. George Stafford. 
Destroying Ants. — Gentlemen, having' been a subscriber to your Horticultural 
Register, since its commencement, 1 beg- to say that I highly approve of it, as a 
useful work to gardeners and others. Observing in the Natural History depart- 
ment of your last number two queries respecting Ants, and having suffered in a 
similar manner to your correspondents, and like them tried many things in vain • 
I have at last hit upon an ex])edient of driving them away, and that is merely by 
anointing their runs with gas tar, which article we procure from Mr. Thomas 
Spinney's Gas works, Chelteuliani, at the low price of £1. 10s. ^ Hhd. We use 
large quantities of it here for painting doors and fences. I have also found it use- 
ful in preserving the bark of fruit trees from hares and rabbits. It should be 
put on very lightly with a paint brush. I am, gentlemen, yours, respectfully, 
Norihwick Pari; Dec, 183) George Fulton 
Buds Destroyed by Birds. — In your January number, p. 335, you quote 
from the " Companion to the Almanac," a remark of mine, that birds are 
erroneously accused of destroying buds, when they in reality are only search- 
ing for the insects which lod^e in tiie buds. 1 beg leave, however, to qualify 
the generality of that remark, for though it applies most justly to such birds 
as the Tomtit, Panes cwruleus, and the Golden-ciested Waen, Regulus cristu- 
(us, B.AY, yet there are many others which feed on buds alone, and would 
not touch an insect ; — such as most Finches, {Fringillidce.) 1 observe, for in- 
stance, that the buds of my currant bushes have been extensively destroyed 
this winter, by the House Sparrow, Passer domesticus ; and tame Green- 
finches and Canaries, will feed, I find, upon buds, or almost any vegetable 
substance which they can manducate, but refuss all insects.. 
Lee, Kent, Jummiy 8, 1832. J. Rennie. 
C.iNAL OF W.vrEu IN HOTHOUSES. — Gentlemen, your Horticultural Register 
for the month of September, contains a dialogue between Mr. Loudon and 
Mr. Paxton, during their walks through the gardens at Chatsworth, the seat 
of His Grace the Duke of Devonshire ; lam much pleased with that part of 
their conversation respecting the hothouse flues, wherein Mr. Paxton says he 
has an open "canal of water at the front of his flues, to give out moisture 
according to the heat required ;" May I, therefore, beg the favour of you, to 
insert ia your n3xt number, how long Mr. Paxton has made use of the above 
canal of water, whether it is of his own invention, or from whence he copied 
it? This will oblige. Gentlemen, your humble Servant, 
A Subscriber. 
Answer. — We cannot divine for what reasons our correspondent asks these ques- 
tions; but if an answer will in any way gratify him, we can assure him that the 
practise is by no means new. Some, have the flue-covers hollowed out for the 
purpose; others use feeders when necessary ; but the peculiar kind of canal we 
have, is very dissimilar to anything of the kind, we have ever hiliierio seen In 
