December 29,1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
there ; sow the Peas so that they shall be all inside the protector, 
then cover them with soil, and give a good sprinkling of lime and 
soot on the top. I then place on the protectors, having one at 
each end that has a stop to prevent mice and birds from entering. 
No further attention is needed until the Peas reach the glass, 
with the exception of an occasional search for slugs. But the pro¬ 
tector should be firmly pressed into the'ground an inch or so to keep 
out mice and slugs. When the Peas reach the glass the protectors 
can be easily raised a few inches by placing them on earth drawn 
to the rows ; this can be done from time to time until the cold 
cutting winds of spring are past. When the protectors are removed 
the rows are all that could be desired, and the Peas make rapid 
growth. Those who sow Peas in November will find these the 
best of protectors, for when sharp weather comes litter, leaves, 
&c., may be laid over them, and as easily removed without damage 
to the plants beneath. I find the best size for Peas is 8 inches 
wide and 4 inches deep. I make them from G to 14 inches wide ; 
these larger are used for forwarding such crops as Radishes, 
small salads, Lettuces, and Horn Carrots which never come too 
early. 
“Many gardeners in this neighbourhood have seen the pro¬ 
tectors in use, and all speak highly of them. Gentlemen who 
delight to attend their own gardens and sow seeds in the morning 
before going to business, will find them quite safe on their return 
in the evening if protected in the manner indicated.” 
Mr. Lumsden and other good gardeners use protectors of this 
nature and find them of great value, but we have never seen any 
simpler, cheaper, and more serviceable than those used by Mr. 
Adnitt ; anyoue can now make them of the width and depth that 
may be desired. 
MIGRATORY BIRDS-A STRANGE WINTER VISITOR. 
On Saturday the 10th inst. I was very much surprised to see a 
chiffchaff here anxiously seeking insects among the ice-covered 
Ivy. It was nearly starved, and could only fly a few yards at a 
time. It had, no doubt, been lured over by the previous unusual 
mildness of the season. The earliest I have ever heard or seen 
one was on the 13th March this year, and the last I heard was 
on the 30th September last. 
If it is not too tedious to read, I will give an instance of tbe 
usefulness of this class of birds which came under my own ob¬ 
servation. I was sitting in my garden waiting for my bees to 
swarm, and having a field glass, as usual on such occasions, I 
turned my attention to an old willow wren which was feeding 
three young ones in a row on an Apple tree a few yards distance 
in my orchard. This, as a rule, would be just half the family, 
and probably the other parent bird had the other half to attend to, 
to make matters fair. I took out my watch and noticed them for 
a quarter of an hour, and during that time the single ol 1 one fed 
them exactly eighteen times, on caterpillars chiefly, collected 
from the surrounding fruit trees. I will not carry out tedious 
figures to show the vast amount of good effected to rear a single 
nest of young, and I think I may defy a single charge being 
lodged against them, unless it is occasionally breaking off a Rose 
bud in their work of collecting green fly and grubs. 
As it appears from the correspondence the Journal circulates 
through the length and breadth of the land, I for one reader 
should be glad to see any notes upon the arrivals and departures 
of our migratory birds in different localities. Last autumn we 
had large flocks of redwings and fieldfares, but "scarcely anv 
berries for them, consequently the greater portion appeared to 
perish, as I only saw a straggler or two in the spring, while this 
year we. have abundance of berries and no birds worth naming 
to eat them. So far I have only seen three fieldfares and very 
few redwings. Our resident British birds are almost as scarce. 
A few years ago thousands of starlings might be seen morning 
and evening going to and fro to theirroosting place, now it is a 
rarity to see one. In consequence of this great change in 
nature, caterpillars have committed sad havoc both on fruit and 
timber trees, and during last summer it was no unusual sight to 
see trees looking as bare of foliage as in the dead of winter. I 
shall read with pleasure any remarks from others.—J. Hiam. 
THEORIES IN VINE CULTURE. 
(Continued from page 561.') 
Mr. Taylor (page 514) has a very curious theory as regards 
what determines the character of roots. It is this : If I pinch as 
he says I ought, my roots will be such as might be “ mistaken for 
those of a Box bush,” but if I allow them to get overcrowded they 
will be “gross roots as large as small quills.” Has this been 
ascertained ? If so, it is one of the most singular things I ever 
heard of, and I will thank Mr. Taylor for particulars. 
Another theory is, “ that thin foliage which cannot be acted on 
by the light .... assists to manufacture crude material which it 
cannot assist in elaborating.” Is this also ascertained ? The old 
idea is that under diffused sunlight leaves act more feebly than 
under bright sunshine ; but that they manufacture a different 
kind of material which has a special mission, and that mission 
is the manufacture of fleshy roots, is another new theory—at least 
to me. Mr. Taylor does not like “cheap science,” but only 
science can clear up such points as are here raised, and I await 
enlightenment. 
My idea is that the character of the border has more to do with 
the character of the roots than anything else. Nor do I think 
that the roots of a Vine 20 feet long will differ, except in quality, 
from one of 10 if both are in similar soil and equally ripened. 
Mr. Taylor introduces here the practice of root-pruning, but 
that need not be here further noticed, as it is away from the point 
and is not under discussion. As for the fattening of children, unless 
he beheads them at a certain stage, there is no analogy between 
growing children and Vines except this, that undue pinching 
and restriction is good for neither. 
I will now refer to Mr. Taylor’s letter in your last issue. Your 
correspondent has the better of me in this controversy, for he 
“ knows what he knows,” as Josh Billings would put it, and he 
also knows what I know, or rather what I do not. At page 561 he 
says, “ It is not known to ‘ Single-handed ’ that the roots of a 
healthy Vine continue active long after the leaves have fallen.” 
Not only am I aware of this fact, but his assertion to the contrary, 
along with another equally unfounded, that I believe in and am 
an advocate of the “ resting-and-drying theory,” tempts me to 
anticipate what I meant to embody in another paper, and refer 
to a large number of experiments more fully than I can do now ; 
but few as are the words I will use, I think they will sufficiently 
answer Mr. Taylor. 
Several years ago, where I then was situated, the Gooseberries 
were sadly infested with small mouldy-looking insects. The 
bushes were not in health, were infested badly with green fly in 
summer, and next to useless. In the month of November when 
we were digging the ground I lifted a number of rooted suckers 
from these bushes and potted them. To see whether the ver¬ 
min might not be killed and the bushes manured at the same 
time, one-half of them were watered with cow urine, one- 
fourth with urine much diluted, and one-fourth had nothing. 
These were stood outside for two months, when they were care¬ 
fully examined. Those that had nothing were dead, and so were 
those that had the diluted urine. Strange to say those that were 
soaked with the pure urine were growing, while all the insects 
were dead. Since then I have potted-up all sorts of roots, in¬ 
cluding Vines, for the purpose of finding out whether pure urine 
applied to soil full of roots would do harm. It never did, and I 
have profited by the knowledge thus gained. So far as I am 
aware our work in this direction has been original, and when I 
have made further experiments of the same nature under different 
circumstances I will give the world any benefit that might be 
derived from it; at the present I have felt compelled to write 
somewhat prematurely, and more briefly than I intended, on a 
subject of such importance. 
I manure my Vines and outdoor trees with liquid in winter, and 
had Mr. Taylor seen me soaking the inside border not more than 
