THE COTTAGE GABDENEB. 
August 5. 
29S 
Bees. —“Your correspondent, “ C. R. R.,” writes as follows : Hie 
old stock swarmed on the 5th of June, and was moved to another part of 
; the garden, and the swarm put into a very large hive for keeping, and 
set upon the stand before occupied by the old stock. As we are all aware, 
! the season, at all events here, was miserable up to the 5th July, so I fed 
this stock, and never dreamt of giving them additional room. Alas! 
! on the 5th July, they threw off a virgin swarm, which bolted into a 
neighbour’s empty hive, and again a second yesterday (17th). From this 
I we managed to get the queen, so of course they went home again.” Your 
' correspondent further asks, whether I would keep this hive after having 
j once swarmed, should it not come out again ? “ It is very heavy, for the* 
: season here,, for the last fortnight, has been extraordinary.” As the 
I above is the first report which has yet come in through The Cottage 
Gardener of the result of a trial of the new system, I have transcribed 
i thus much of your correspondent’s letter. In reply to his question, I 
1 observe, that the very remarkable season we have had has come to his aid 
in one respect (t. e., if his stock does not swarm again, or is not suffered 
to swarm), viz in providing liis “very large” (how large?) keeping 
hive with a young queen; at the same time, he has lost a valuable swarm, 
| which, coming at such a favourable moment, in so favourable a season, 
would have given him a most valuable spoil in a few days time; valuable 
in proportion to the rapidity with which its comb will have been con¬ 
structed, and to the purity, as well as quantity, of its store of honey. By all 
means let him keep the stock which has thrown the virgin swarm. Had 
the hive-room been sufficiently great (as I have recommended), no doubt 
there would have been no swarm, but a very great store of honey 
collected. As it is, the hive is “ very heavy ; ” so far so good. I wait 
for further testimonies in favour of the new system, of which, in spite of 
its past failure, we have a decided one above. I have been chiefly 
desirous of multiplying my stock this year, on which account I have not 
had so large a promised surplus of honey as I otherwise should have had; 
but I have marvelled too at the result of the last fortnight’s collection of 
honey by my bees.”—A Country Curate. 
Greaves. — J. A. writes as follows:—“At page 233, amateurs are re¬ 
commended to go to a person in St. Paul’s Churchyard, London, for this 
article. To save this trouble and expense, apply to your own pork- 
butcher: the article is nothing more nor less than the common cuttings 
from the lard after boiling and the fat pressed out, and sold by them at 
l^d. or 2d. per lb.; I buy 8lb. for one shilling. You can get them fresh 
every week, and, after cutting them sufficiently small, they may be given 
as they are both to chickens and to any of your fowls; and also broken in 
pieces, boiled, and then mixed with sharps or’Jaarley-meal; this makes 
excellent food, and will not at all injure the flavour of the poultry.” 
PnEASANTS. —When two months old, in a state of confinement, they 
will eat earth-worms, meat (cooked or raw), and peas. Indian wheat is 
excellent for them, as are dwarf kidney beans, raw potatoes, lettuces, 
cabbages, barley, barley-meal scalded, and wheat. With the above food, 
and in a small confined place, I have reared them to be as fine as those 
found in the woods. They are small eaters. No other fowl should be 
kept with them.—J. A. 
Garden at Brighton (V. P. T.). —We have heard so much of the 
“ nakedness of the land” about Brighton, that we hesitate to select for 
you until we hear from some of our readers there or thereabouts. There¬ 
fore, will some one there have the kindness to furnish us with a list of 
the shrubs, herbaceous plants, and potters, which experience has proved 
to be fitting for the seashore in that locality ? 
Lily of the Valley (Anne). —Just when the leaves turn yellow, in 
the autumn, is the proper time to transplant Lilies of the Valley; and 
troublesome things to plant they are, but they will grow in any good 
garden ground. If you choose roots from an old bed, take those only 
that have thick ends or buds, and if there arc six inches of the old root, 
or ground runner to each bud, it will be enough. The battle is to get 
them disentangled. When you have as many as you want, and the 
ground is trenched ready for them, place the roots flat on the surface, 
and put three inches of a good, light, rich compost all over them. They 
live near the surface, like couch grass, and this flat planting suits them 
better than the usual way of burying one end deeper. 
Branching Larkspur (A. il/.).—The variety is very fine indeed, but 
not the one required. The seeds from Guildford did not vegetate, or 
else Charley “has been and done it for them.” We have the right sort 
at last, or, at least, have seen it lately, and seeds were promised. 
Cutting Evergreens (A Subscriber).—July is the best month to cut 
evergreens in general, but Hollies and Ilex may be cut away from May to 
September. Your Ilex (Evergreen Oak) grove is by far too thick, and all 
the cutting in the world cannot keep it full at the bottom until you let 
more sun and air to it; or, it may be, that the top branches have been 
allowed to overshadow the bottom ones. If so, instead of thinning out 
the plants, take the saw now, and shorten most of these cuttings to a good 
healthy branch. It is a stern law of Nature that, whatever the size or 
shape of an evergreen tree or shrub may be, the lowest tier of branches 
must be the longest. Then it follows that you must not only head down 
the young wood from the stools of those already cut, but some of the 
side branches of those now getting bare at the bottom. 
Cochin-China Fowls. —W. P. Lethbridge writes thus:—“Are the 
‘ grouse-colour ’ among Cochin-Chinas, rare or not ? From a very large 
imported hen, and one of Mr. Sturgeon’s magnificent cocks, I have this 
year produced some three or four decided grouse-plumaged pullets, so 
definitive is the colour, that strangers one and all, exclaim * how like 
the grouse.’ They are large, strong upon their pins, and blessed with 
the usual quiet demeanour of the Cochin. (We think they are not rare. 
We have this kind of plumage among our own Cochin-Chinas.— Ed. 
C. G.) Other amateur fanciers have, I trust, had as productive a season 
as I have; few casualties, no sickness, and great and rapid growth. 
Chicken to be large, must be abundantly and nourishingly fed, upon the 
same principle that a race-horse, from the day it is foaled, has two milch 
cows, besides its dam, kept for it; so must you, during the growth, provide 
extra rations for your Cochin progeny. What a show wc shall have 
at Birmingham ! I only hope that dark-coloured birds will not be 
entirely tabooed as they were last year. My cockerells, hatched the 1st of 
March, weigh just 8lbs.” 
Cuthill on the Potato (R. W .).—Write to Mr. J. Cuthill, 
market gardener, Camberwell, Surrey. 
Polish Fowls. — R. M. may send a stamped envelope, with his or her 
address, to Mr. John Noble, Boston, near Tadcaster. 
Winter-roosting Place (J. N .).—Under your greenhouse stage 
will make an excellent winter-roosting place for your Cochin-China fowls. 
Kept clean, and prevented from getting into the house, they would in no 
way injure your plants. 
Black Cochin-China Chickens (D. H .).—If these are of a pure 
breed, they are a rarity. Your feeding of them is judicious ; but in 
addition give them, until they are a month or two old, a piece of bread 
sopped in beer, once daily. 
New Zealand Plants (J. Walker .).—Wc shall, ere long, publish 
an extract from your note. Harakah we do not know by that name. 
Try Edwardsia microphylla against a wall facing the south west, and on 
a dry soil; it bears a yellow flower. Pussiflora tetranda (Four-stamened 
Passion Flower) has a small green flower; is tender, and not worth cul¬ 
tivating. We cannot tell which of the Swainsonias yours may be ; they 
are evergreen greenhouse shrubs, and handsome. See what Mr. Fish 
says about Acacia artnuta at page 214 of our present volume. We can¬ 
not tell what Veronica it is, not being gifted with clairevoyance; there 
are many species in New Zealand, New South Wales, Sic. 
Bees.— B. B. writes to us as follows—(We shall be obliged by an 
answer to his query)—“ My artificial swarm formed in the pan goes on 
well; the workers have begun to kill the drones ; and they are as fierce 
as any bees in my apiary, scarcely allowing any one to go near them. 
Can you, or any of your correspondents, inform me where the vessel 
described by Dr. Bevan, for the manipulation of honey and wax, can be 
procured? It is not to be had either at Neighbour’s or Marriott’s. I 
fear this year will not be good for honey. From the 1st to the 12th of 
July, all the hives I could weigh, eight out of twelve, were gaining, on the 
average, three quarters of a pound per day ; since that time these eight, 
consisting of stocks and swarms, have been decreasing, on the average, 
at the rate of half-a-poundper week—none increasing. How is this to be 
accounted for ? One stock I have taken up, as it did not swarm last 
year, or this, though containing about four pounds of bees, ran only six 
pounds, three ounces of honey. I hope your bee correspondents will 
forward, as was suggested last year, the quantity of honey taken from 
stocks and swarms, and the system adopted by them.” 
Black Poland Fowls. — In conjunction with other readers of The 
Cottage Gardener, I was very much pleased with “A Subscriber’s” 
“jottings,” about his black Poland fowls; such comparing of notes 
among amateurs is mutually valuable and amusing. With respect to 
his obliging answer to Anster Bonn’s question, however, I must say that 
that question related only to the golden and silver-spangled Poland fowls, 
and the difficulty of breeding them perfectly regular in the spangling. 
We have kept the black Poland, and can confirm the “Subscriber’s” 
good character of them as very good layers, but for hardihood, I cannot 
yield the palm to them from the Cochin-Chinas, for I find the Cochin- 
China fowls the strongest, hardiest birds of all that I have tried, while I 
have found the Spanish decidedly more tender than either, and I have 
reason to think the Hamburgh are the same.”— Anster Bonn. 
Budding Facilitator.— H. H -, W. S -, &c., arc informed 
that we have no information as to where this can be obtained, but we are 
enquiring. Mr. J. Turner, Parkwood Springs, Neepsend, Sheffield, has 
a facilitator and budding knife in one handle. 
Work on Planting (E. W -, P.).*— Mr. Cruikshank’s work will 
suit you. It is called The Practical Planter , and published by Messrs. 
Blackwood and Co. 
Artichoke (W. H. Turner ).—There are two varieties—the Conical 
or French, which is a milky-green colour, with the scales spreading; 
and the Globe, which has its scales tinged with purple, curved inwards, 
and compact. The latter is the finest and best. 
Peruvian Guano (T. F. J .).—This is most beneficially employed for 
corn, or any other crop, as a very weak liquid manure, frequently 
applied. There are carts made purposely. The usual mode of applying 
guano to corn crops is by sowing it over the land at seed time, and har¬ 
rowing it in. Two hundred weight per acre in this mode arc sufficient. 
The following analyses of guano are by Professor Way. 
Moisture. 
Animal matter and salts of ammonia 
Sand, Szz . 
Earthy phosphates . 
Alkaline salts. 
Ammonia furnished by 100 parts .. 
Peruvian. 
Saldanha 
Bay, 
Western 
Australia. 
13,09 
22,14 
30,14 
52,61 
14,90 
14,/5 
1,51 
1,62 
3,94 
24,12 
56,30 
42,14 
8,61 
5,04 
9,03 
100,00 
100,00 
100,00 
, 17,41 
l,6o 
0,75 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by \v illiam 
Somerville Orr, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of 
Christ Church, City of London.—August 5th, 1852. 
