27G 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
of manure, and the beans planted in raised drills in pairs, 
the centre of each pair being about three feet apart, and a 
row of beans about five inches respectively apart from the 
centre of the drill, planting the beans about a foot apart in 
then- own line. Such drills being well raised, ami tho¬ 
roughly worked, the soil would he in a fnellow state late in 
spring, and we would plant the potatoes one row down the 
centre (between the double row of beans) about the middle 
of March, at which period the beans should be four or five 
inches in height. Neither the beans nor the potatoes would 
require any particular culture until the middle of May, when 
the hoe may be put in use, and the crop altogether put in a 
thoroughly clean condition. The beans will be in use from 
about midsummer until the beginning of August, when, 
whether completely exhausted or not, they must be cut off 
level with the ground, and thrown to the hog. We have 
now exhausted the principal suggestions we had to make 
as to that kind of mixed cropping, of which the potato forms 
of the principal features. We feel that our space will not 
permit us to go further into the subject of mixed cropping 
at pre.sent, neither is it necessary that we should do so; it 
will, probably, be resumed in the allotment paper for March, 
and the observations will be directed much' to seeding 
matters, for other crops form occasionally interesting and 
profitable combinations. We conclude with a few miscel¬ 
laneous remarks. 
Peas. —The beginning of February is an excellent time 
to sow a full crop of peas. These will come in during July 
and August. We think no sort better for an allotment 
holder than the Green Imperial, for these are large and 
fine peas, heavy bearers, and have the property, useful in 
this case, of ceasing to ramble as soon as they are well- 
cropped. They may thus be cleared off the ground in the 
end of August, and a thorough crop of the Matchless cab¬ 
bage, from a June sowing, obtained off the same plot. 
Beans. —Plant the Broad Windsor liberally in the first 
week. 
Cabbage. —Look over the plots planted in the autumn, 
and mind any blanks which may have occurred. Those 
who have, nice plants pricked out in the autumn, must get 
them finally planted out by the end of the month. Let a 
sowing be made also in the second week, choosing a dwarf 
sort. Of course, the hoe will be used amongst existing 
crops, and a little soil drawn to their stems. 
Swede Turnips.—A few strong roots put close together 
in a drill in some warm corner will produce delightful 
sprouts for greens through March. Let them be put in 
I during the first week. 
Horn Carrot. —Sow some in well-wrought and rich beds 
in the second week. This is one of the most profitable crops 
a cottager can grow, especially if the soil be warm. Every 
small holder should count on sending a few hundred 
bunches to market during the month of May, when they 
realise good prices. 
Parsnips. — These may he sown during the last week 
i of February; trench deeply, and put the manure in the 
I bottom of the trench. 
Lettuce. —In the last week, also, a pinch of the Bath Cos 
lettuce may be sown on a warm border. 
Spinach may be sown in the middle of the month, as a 
temporary crop between some others. 
Preparatory Work. —Let all stubborn soils which had 
been ridged before winter, and which are intended for 
seeds of onions, carrots, &c., he turned over, if possible, 
when in a diy state. Manures should, of course, be got out 
as occasion serves, and if they must lay awhile without 
digging them in, by all means throw a coating of soil over 
the hillocks, in order to prevent a waste of then - qualities. 
E. Erbington. 
THE BEE-KEErER’S CALENDAR.— January. 
By J. H. Payne, Esq., Author of “ The Bee-Keeper's Guide.” 
Look well to the coverings of hives at this season, and see 
that no wet gets through them; and to boxes, also, that no 
moisture is generated within them by condensed vapour 
(see Calendar for January); and upon a mild day let the 
floor boards of both be cleaned with a dry hard brush. Feed¬ 
ing must also be carefully attended to, for the mild tempera¬ 
j January 30. 
ture of December and the early part of January, has caused 
a greater consumption of food than is usual at this season. 
Feeding Pans. —Having been frequently applied to for 
the plan of a feeding pan best adapted for my Improved 
Cottage Hive, I am induced to answer the very many appli¬ 
cants through the pages of The Cottage Gardener, by 
giving a description of the one I have been using for the 
last two or three years. It is made of stout zinc, circular, 
eight inches in diameter, two and a half inches deep, having 
a circular hole of two and a half inches in the middle of the j 
bottom, with a rim round it stauding up two inches; a float ] 
of wood very thin and perforated with holes is made to tit 
inside, but sufficiently easy to rise and fall with the liquid in 
the pan ; the holes in this float must first be made with a 
gimlet, and then burnt with an non, or they will fill up 
after having been in use a little time; the whole is covered 
by a lid with an inside rim, the lid having a piece of glass 
in the centre, of two and a half or three inches in diameter. 
When first using this feeding pan, I found much inconvenience 
in being obliged to remove the lid every time that a fresh 
supply of food was required; to obviate this difficulty, I had 
a half circle, three inches in diameter, attached to its side, 
with a lid or cover, and communicating with the interior of 
the feeding pan by a hole cut in the side, and covered with 
a piece of perforated zinc, so that by looking through the 
glass in the lid I can see when a fresh supply of food is 
required, and I have then only to raise the lid of this addi¬ 
tional side-piece and pour in the food, which passes readily 
through the perforated zinc, and raises the wooden float 
upon its surface. Four very small tacks should be driven 
into the under side of the float, at equal distances from each 
other, to prevent its going quite to the bottom of the pan ; ] 
and it is also necessary for the rim in the centre of the pan 
to be roughed with a file, or to be lined with perforated zinc, 
to enable the bees to ascend more easily than they would 
otherwise do if it was left quite smooth. 
Circular hole through which the bees ascend; b , The feeding pan 
containing the food, which is put in at the side-spout, c, and upon 
which the float rises and falls. 
The float should be less than an eighth of an inch in I 
thickness, and is better to be rnude of mahogany. Should 
wood he preferred to zinc, a very good one has already been 
given on nearly the same principle in page 136, vol. i., of The 
Cottage Gardener ; but I very much prefer zinc for several 
reasons. 
The Grand Exhibition. —As an apiarian I am anticipating 
a very great treat at the forthcoming Grand Exhibition in 
seeing a vast quantity of hives of different kinds, as well as 
some very superior specimens of honey. There are, I under¬ 
stand, a very great many exhibitors both of hives and honey; 
indeed, more, it is feared, than will be able to obtain the 
room they are wishing for. I took a trip myself for a few I 
miles the other day to superintend the packing of two splen¬ 
did specimens of honey in glass for exhibition, and the 
apparatus by which they were both obtained from the same 
stock, and that in a straw hive. By this little invention the 
very finest, honey is certainly obt ained, and swarming also is 
said to be effectually prevented. I am happy to say, that as the 
Exhibition opens in May, it will be quite in time for us all 
to copy this little affair, and to have it in operation this 
season ; for it is a very simple thing, and may be made in 
two or three hours. 
