120 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
i in a peculiar reap, although it lacks a tube, it is, methinks, not the less 
advisable to apply one to a straw-covered hive interred in the manner 
recommended by me before. 3. The tube should, I think, be inserted at 
the entrance , and proceed straight up the sides of the hive, the straw 
being wound round it part of the way up (i. e., the tube is to run between 
1 the straw binding and the hive), its shape being something of this 
! shape, S* The hive alluded to above, was buried in the following 
manner :—A hole having been dug, 3 feet deep and 4 feet square, in a 
gravelly soil, was paved with a shovelful or two of large stories, upon 
which a piece of old board was placed. The hive (weighing 11£ lbs. of 
contents ), with its entrance open to its full width, was now (not bound 
with straw or anything else) lowered into the pit upon its usual board, it 
being made to rest upon the piece of wood already adjusted on the stones. 
A quantity of full-sized slates were next arranged all round the hive, 
sloping outward from its roof (against which they lean), one overlapping 
the other in such a manner that all moisture which falls from above 
must glide away from the hive. The earth having then been thrown in 
half-way up the hive upon the slates, a milk-pan (their usual roof in 
, summer) was placed bottom upwards over the hive; this done, the pit 
was finally filled up, and a mound raised over it. By this plan of inter¬ 
ment a vacant space all round the hive is secured, which it is hoped will 
answer all the necessary purpose of hive ventilation as effectually as need 
a tube communicating with the open air above.—A Country Curate. 
Error at Page 85.—“ In the hurry of writing, or printing, the name 
of the author, Dr. Steudel, is not spelled right, neither is the title of his 
work rightly given. It should run thus: Steudel's Nomenclator Bo - 
tanicus. The work is in two volumes, and twice arranged alphabetically. 
The first giving the genera and species, with all their synonymes; and 
the second the synonymes themselves in the order of the alphabet, re¬ 
ferring them to the true names. The work was only published a few 
years back. I looked over it for some new names, in the library of the 
Horticultural Society, in Regent-street; and I thought it the very best 
catalogue I had ever seen or heard of before. I do not know the price 
or the publisher; but any of the foreign booksellers in London could 
find it out.—D. Beaton.” 
Brunsvigia (J . D.). —Yes, you are right; but we were asked what to 
do now with a Brunsvigia that was growing out of doors all the summer, 
and knowing the confusion of that part of the family, we took it to be 
Arnmocharis, and advised accordingly. Of course all Brunsvigias grow 
in winter and rest in summer, as you would have seen in former pages. 
Fig just Transplanted (W. H. G .).—Pray cover your fig prepara¬ 
tory to hard weather, and do not prune until next April. As soon as its 
shoots begin to bud, notice which are most likely to produoe side shoots 
to furnish the space allotted, and prune accordingly. You will remember 
we advise the tying-down system, as practised for pears, &c.; and that 
in such an event the leaders must be at least twelve inches apart. If 
your strong shoots are much nearer, you will have to cut down several 
for successive shoots ; it may be alternate ones, if the distance be suit¬ 
able. We should not fear to throw the main leaders fifteen inches apart, 
if tying down and stopping were resorted to. Above all, take care to 
avoid grossness. 
Orchard {J. L ., Banbury ).—Do you not fear that the horse will bark 
your orchard trees ? Would it not be well to employ the land between 
the apple-trees in growing root crops ? You might lay down your extra 
land in grass for the horse. The cow, however, may be trusted in the 
orchard, perhaps, if under grass ; but much depends on the size of the 
apple-trees, and their position. We should, indeed, hope to accomplish 
your objects in the main, but you will have to buy much of marl. Your 
soil appears pretty good, and deep enough, but may, perhaps, require a 
little draining. We have heard it affirmed that a good coat of cinder 
! ashes will destroy moss, but we never proved it. Ashes are notorious for 
encouraging white clover, and we should always use them to mix with 
I other top-dressings for grass land. We conceive that white clover, 
j highly encouraged, will, of itself, extirpate the moss by suffocation. Your 
mode of setting forth the strata of your soil is a good idea. We will 
shortly offer a specimen adaj>ted to querists, in an improved form, as 
regards fruit-tree and vegetable culture. 
Lillium Japonicum ( Brentingly Cottage ).—Are you sure your plant 
is Lilium japonicum? if so, it is quite hardy if you plant the bulbs six 
inches deep in a peat border, in which it will do better than in loam; but 
many are miscalled L . japonicum. At any rate, as soon as the leaves 
fade, cut down the stems, and put the pot in some dry place till March, 
and by that time you will see it sprouting. 
Neglected Ivy (S.).— You must cut in the breast-wood — the “ over- 
hanging tendrils -of your ivy, and that very severely too, otherwise 
some stormy night it will all come down, and, perhaps, some of your 
house with it. About the end of April is the best time to cut it; and in 
six weeks or two months the bare old wood will be clothed again as green 
as you please. But losing all one’s overhanging tendrils at one sweep is 
more than you can bear; therefore cut out every other branch at first, 
and next season finish them. You might leave a few of the bottom ones 
for years to come, by way of consolation. 
Celery Cankering {Ibid.). — We should certainly try the black sandy 
I soil you name for the trenches. It is difficult to say what is the cause of 
your celery cankering, as we do not know the soil or situation. Celery 
! is most liable to canker in an ill-drained soil. 
Red Bug on Canaries (J. S., Kingston). — A very good authority 
writes to us thus :—“ In answer to your inquiry relative to the red bug in 
[November 21. I 
breeding cages, &c., I beg to state that canaries and other birds are very 
subject to these pests, especially during breeding time, which irritate them, 
so much that they rarely are able to sit sufficiently close to hatch the eggs. I 
The only way to rid them, is to plunge the cages into scalding water, and 
thus destroy brood and eggs ; the birds will pick them out from their own 
feathers. If the cages are well cleansed afterwards with soap and water, 
the birds will do very well. Breeders are very particular in seeing to this ( 
before the birds are put together, and care must be taken that the moss 
and hair is perfectly clean and free before given to the birds, which is 
best done by scalding that and drying it after.” 
Campanula Carpatica ( Elise ).—We have said erroneously, at 
page 92 , that this is sown one year and flowers the next. If sown in the ( 
spring it flowers the same year. 
Pine Apple (A Subscriber from the Beginning ).—You will find what j 
you require, we think, in Mr. Errington’s papers. If you require a | 
monthly epitome of Pine culture, buy The Gardener's Almanack for | 
1851, which is published this day by the Stationers’ Company. 
Work on English Botany {W. Yates). —Without being able to 
say that it is “ the best and cheapest,” yet we can recommend to you 
Macgillivray's edition of Withering's Arrangement of British Plants. 
It is a pocket volume. Mr. Sowerby’s work is very high priced. 
Rabbit Trespassing (W. Lambton ).—If your neighbour’s rabbit 
comes into your garden through a fence, which he is bound to keep in 
repair, and after you have given him notice, you might recover in the County 
Court for the damage done. But we think that more neighbourly modes 
of preventing the trespass and injury might be adopted. 
Cape Bulbs (A Constant Subscriber ).—All the Cape bulbs above the 
size of a pigeon’s egg are of the lily tribe, and will require to be planted 
in good loam, with one-third sand, in pots, and. the bulbs buried, except 
just the neck, and to get no water till they make leaves two inches long; 
i but first of all try the bottoms of them and the dry coating about the 
neck, to look for white bugs, which often accompany them, and which 
will breed fast if not at once destroyed. Those in the dry hard brown 
envelopes belong to the Bids , such as Gladiolus , Ixia, See.; clear away 
all the coatings, and pot the bulbs in loam and one-half peat, with a little 
sand. Any smaller than crocus roots must have nothing but peat and 
sand, and no water till they show leaves. They are greenhouse plants, 
all of them. 
To Preserve Unripe Figs. —I beg to forward you the following 
receipt, which I can strongly recommend :—Take the figs and cut off the 
end of the stem, then run a silver skewer through them ; put them 
immediately into salt and water, in which let them remain two hours : 
then throw them into a jar or skillet, which place over a stove to simmer 
until tender; strain them quite dry (this process being to extract the 
milky juice which exists in them). The figs being drained of the salt 
and water put them into as much rich syrup as will cover them, allowing 
for shrinking ; then throw them into the jar or skillet with some ginger, 
and let them simmer until they become as soft as a preserve should be. 
They harden after boiling and become like citron.—A Modern House¬ 
wife. 
Trellising (M. B. R .).—What is called galvanized iron trellising, 
painted of the colour of the house front, is best, though not the cheapest 
at first. Iron trellis will not attract lightning to your house ; but if your 
house was struck by the lightning, it would help to carry it away down 
to the earth, like a lightning conductor. 
Abutilon Striatum (W. 1). Paine ).—This bears upon the shoots of 
young wood, and should not be much pruned in autumn or winter. Your 
questions relative to the “ five pound greenhouse ” will be answered 
next week, with more particulars and illustrations. 
Tulip Tree (E. B.). —This is the Liriodendron tulipifera f and is of 
the Linnsean class and order Polyandria Polygynia, Its flowers are dull 
yellow and red. Winter spinach should be thinned to six inches apart in 
the row. 
Old Tan (T. Evans). —This if well-decayed and soaked with ammo- ! 
niacal liquor from the gas-works, will make an excellent manure for your i 
kitchen garden. 
Pigs (J. B. H .)»—A pig usually attains its full growth at eighteen ' 
months old, which is a good age at which to convert it into bacon. For i 
particulars as to food for fatting, we refer you to page 358 of our last j 
volume. In large animals, for every 20 lbs. they weigh when alive you j 
will get about 14 lbs. of pork ; but in smaller pigs only about 12 lbs. 
Lime for Potatoes ( Clericus ).—We have planted all our potatoes, j 
Slake your lime with water before you spread it over the ground, and j 
apply it just previously to digging the ground for planting. 
Beer always Thick (J . Wharfe). —You tap it too soon ; let it j 
remain undisturbed until it has worked itself fine. 
Potatoes in Rich Ground (G. F.). —Plant your potatoes at once, J 
without any addition. Use whole sets ; plant six inches deep, as you ! 
dig ; and do not trample on the ground until hoeing time arrives. Ash- j 
leaved Kidneys may be now planted. 
Elder-flower Wine. —“A Subscriber” would be obliged by a j 
recipe for this which has been called “ English Frontiniac.” Any of our 
readers sending one which they know to be good will oblige. 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, | 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by William 
Somerville Orr, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of i 
Christ Church, City of London.—November 21st, 1850. 
