March 27.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
403 
if not more so, than any other stock in the apiary, and to 
my astonishment it has never had food of any kind admi¬ 
nistered either in the autnmn or the spring; blit I have 
strongly recommended its proprietor to lose no time in 
1 supplying it, for if carefully fed it will become a first-rate 
; stock, and without that attention I should say it must die. 
I hope that I have already said, enough upon the ad¬ 
vantage of having a supply of hives, glasses, boxes, <kc., equal 
to the demand of the coming season, to induce every apiarian 
to supply himself without further delay. 
Queen Wasps.— The time has'again arrived for the des¬ 
truction of these insects; for by destroying one only, a nest, 
perhaps of thirty thousand wasps, will be prevented coming 
into existence, robbing our bees and destroying our fruit. 
A considerable reward is offered for them in some places; 
I have heard of as much as sixpence each during the months 
of March and April; and, perhaps, where fruit is largely 
grown and bees are kept, it may not be ill-spent money. I 
am afraid that after this unusually mild season (winter it 
cannot be called), they will be very numerous ; still, their 
increase depends more upon a mild genial spring, than upon 
the severity or mildness of the winter, for when snugly 
hybernated the cold has no effect upon them. 
Guide-cojibs. —I would recommend guide-combs being 
fixed in glasses of every kind that are to be placed either on 
hives or boxes. The bees are induced thereby to commence 
working in them sooner than they otherwise would do, and 
it must always be remembered that simply putting on a 
glass, a box, or a small hive, will not prevent swarming, 
except the bees commence working in it, which a small piece 
of comb fixed at the top induces them to do more readily. 
I 
ORNAMENTING A CIRCULAR POND. 
In the 12oth number vol. v. of The Cot¬ 
tage Gardener, among the notices to cor¬ 
respondents, I read, — “A large, Circular 
Pond in a flower garden, which is to have 
a fountain in the centre, has a margin of grass 
four feet wide all round, then a gravel walk 
of six feet; now this pond looks cheerless in 
winter. What can be introduced round, to 
give it warmth in winter ? The border is too 
narrow for Rhododendrons, and rockwork is 
objected to.” Then our worthy Editor says, 
“ Can any of our readers give a good sugges¬ 
tion ?” And I think he is no bad judge, for 
the question is rather paradoxical. The fact — 
is, it is chiving one into a corner, when I learn 
that the turf is too narrow for small shrubs, 
and rockwork is objected to, and yet wish to _ 
give it a warm, cheerful appearance in winter. 
For grass and rockwork are two such adjuncts 
to water, that no art can separate them with 
any beneficial effect. 
Yet, I will submit a plan of a pond, with a 
gravel w'alk and mixed flower borders, inter¬ 
spersed with small shrubs round it; and if 
our friend can gather such a sufficiency of 
ideas, as will be applicable to the case in 
point, I shall feel most happy to think I 
have assisted in helping him out of his diffi¬ 
culty. 
In the plan before us, the size of the pond 
is determined by the length of the beds and 
width of the open spaces which surround 
it. Now to commence operations, I will say 
that I want to make four small beds, to have three small 
shrubs in each. Two feet apart, and one foot at each end 
from the edge of the bed, w'ould be none too much for 
shrubs of very moderate growth; and that will make the 
beds six feet long, and then there must be a grass verge 
one foot wide, which will make eight feet; well, then, in my 
calculation, I shall put it down seven feet for the beds, and 
seven for the open spaces; eight times seven are fifty-six— 
divide by three; the circumference of fifty-six feet is 
eighteen feet, eight inches in diameter, then deduct four 
feet from that, to allow for a border of grass two feet wide 
all round, and that will make the pond fourteen feet, eight 
inches in diameter (I know there are fractions, but this is 
near enough to answer my purpose), and this I call a very 
small one. But for it to be in proportion, and in good 
keeping with the other parts of the garden, the grounds 
ought to be of some extent to admit of a pond, even of this 
size, with its appurtenances thereto. Now, without knowing 
exactly what the size of our friend’s pond is, I apprehend 
that the size of my intended one is about the same as his; 
and I will tell you why, the margin of grass four feet, and 
the gravel walk six, makes a broad band, encircling the 
pond, ten feet wide. The alterations I propose, according 
to my annexed plan, is all done in the same space; thus 
the margin of grass two feet, semi-circular beds three feet 
wide, grass verge one foot, and the gravel walk four feet, 
ten feet in all, thereby proving the practicability of the 
same, should our friend approve of my suggestions. The 
straight walks are six feet wide, the four beds marked A, B 
C, D, are intended as mixed flower borders, interspersed 
with evergreen shrubs; the figures in the four small beds 
round the pond, allude to the twelve smaR shrubs, which I 
recommend for variety, and having a cheerful appearance 
in winter. 
7 Sweet Bay 
8 Silver Edged Holly 
9 Common Box 
10 Golden Edged Holly 
11 Arbor Vitie 
12 Laurestinus 
1 Silver Edged Box 
’2 Common Holly 
3 Accuba Japonica 
4 Arbutus 
5 Savin 
6 Golden Edged Box 
Many of these, in a good situation, will attain a large 
growth. But by selecting, in the first instance, small plants 
of compact growth, and then, in after-management, by a 
little judicious pruning, they may be kept within the required 
compass for a very long time. It would be useless to 
attempt Rhododendrons, Kalmias, and many other American 
shrubs, without making up the beds with peat. I should 
like to know, through the medium of The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener, what decision our friend comes to in this matter. 
Geo. Hasker, Ball's Pond, Islington. 
TREES SUITABLE FOR PARK SCENERY. 
It being now well known that The Cottage Gardener 
is read by many classes of readers, as well as the amateur 
and humble cottager, a few remarks on the judicious se¬ 
lection of trees proper to plant, singly or in groups, in the 
I 
