THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 27. 
17 i 
learn that the apiary of the celebrated Bonner was 
situated in a garret in the centre of Glasgow, where 
it flourished for several years, and furnished him 
with the means of making many interesting and 
valuable observations which he gave to the world 
about thirty years ago.” My own experience also 
proves the truth of the above statement. Residing 
myself for four years in the centre of a large town, in 
a house without a garden, I kept two stocks of bees 
in my study, in glass hives, and four or five others 
in the improved cottage hive upon the roof of my 
house, and I am not aware that they have ever done 
better, or afforded me a larger quantity of honey in 
any other situation. 
MY FARM-YARD. 
What a change one little month makes in the 
aspect of affairs in the country. Our good neigh¬ 
bours in the town cannot perceive the difference 
between November and December! yet there are no 
two mouths less alike. Wet, dreary, foggy Novem¬ 
ber, every thing about you smelling damp and 
musty, is succeeded by bright, cold December. The 
fields are nicely dried; the leaves swept up, or blown 
away ; and we can once more stand about and scru¬ 
tinise our farm-yard. I am very sure all animals 
agree with me in preferring dry, cold weather to wet 
and gloomy ; and, however liberal you may be with 
your straw, you cannot make a farm-yard look com¬ 
monly comfortable on a rainy day. Figs dislike wet 
weather amazingly; and many people imagine they 
have the gift of knowing when rain is coming, and 
that on the approach of stormy weather they show 
signs of uneasiness, and try to get under shelter 
some 1 1 ours before rain actually falls. Be this as it 
may, they certainly are very sensible animals. There 
is a story told, in “ Youatt’s History of the Pig,” of 
a sow being trained to find game. Her sense of 
smelling was most acute, and she soon learnt to 
“ point and back” in a manner equal to the best 
1 pointer the gentleman had who trained her. I sus¬ 
pect, though, there is not an animal but would, if 
kindly and patiently taught, well repay the trouble 
expended on its education. Now is the time, if you 
keep a sow, that you must think of breeding from 
her. The earlier in the spring you can get a litter 
the better it will be, for the pigs will then become a 
good size before you want to put them up to fatten. It 
is almost useless to recommend any particular breed, 
as the cottager will select that one which is most 
common in his neighbourhood. I, however, prefer 
the Berkshire, and, where it is possible for you 
to have a choice, should always recommend that 
breed; they are very hardy, very handsome, and 
fatten very quickly. There is a very good breed in 
some parts of Sussex. I do not mean the Sussex 
pig, but it is a cross between the Berkshire and 
Sussex. People talk a great deal of the Chinese 
breed, but 1 think them much too thin-skinned to 
be a serviceable race for our cold climate, besides 
they arc very “ particular in their diet,” which, I 
think every one will agree with me, is not to be 
desired in a pig. If your sow has had a litter lately, 
I strongly advise you to kill several of the young 
fry, and either sell or eat them as suckers. They 
are esteemed great delicacies, and fetch high prices 
in many markets. A popular writer has left on re¬ 
cord, “ that of all the delicacies of the whole eatable 
world, I will mention this as the most delicate; I 
speak not of your grown porkers, things between 
pig and pork, but of a tender suckling under a moon 
old.” If your opinion coincides with the one quoted 
(I must own mine does), I strongly advise you to 
kill several, for even if you succeed in rearing them, 
the cold winter months prevent their growth, and 
they never become fine pigs. Pigs are liable to very 
few diseases, and, generally speaking, a warm bran 
mash, with a little nitre in it, will cure most of their 
complaints. If you observe their hair rubbing off in 
patches, you must give them a little sulphur mixed 
with the food, and also mix some with lard, and rub 
it over the spot. Hogslard is a very useful thing, 
and should be carefully melted down, and put into a 
bladder whenever a pig is killed. If melted whilst 
quite fresh, and tied tightly up, it will keep a long 
time without salt, which, for many purposes, would 
prevent its being used. It is a capital remedy for 
broken chilblains, mixed with sufficient spermaceti 
and camphor to make a stiff paste. I omitted in 
my last paper to give a receipt for curing hams, and 
was only reminded of it by tasting an excellent one 
cured by the same receipt; and although the cot¬ 
tager will not waste his money by trying it, it may 
be useful to another class of readers, who, like my¬ 
self, are fond of trying new receipts. After the ham 
has been salted three days, rub the foliowiug mix¬ 
ture well over it:—lb. bay salt; 2 ozs. saltpetre; 
Jib. black pepper; Jib. coarse sugar; Jib. of all¬ 
spice ; 2 ozs. juniper berries, well bruised; 1 oz. cori¬ 
ander seed, pounded: boil all together for lialf-an- 
hour, with a pint of ale, and when cold pour it over 
the ham. The great art in curing either bacon or 
hams consists in rubbing them well and frequently. 
I read Martin Doyle’s essays with much interest, 
and it appears to me quite presumptuous to mention 
a word on the subject of poultry in the same paper; 
but there is a little piece of economy, which, if at¬ 
tended to in large establishments, would much assist 
the poor, and, therefore, I will mention it. It is to 
have the feathers, feet, and necks of all the poultry, 
saved. The two latter make excellent broth; and 
the feathers, if put into paper bags, and then dried 
in a cool oven, make a most acceptable present for a 
poor person, who has only to cut off the quill close 
to the feather, which job any child can manage, and 
then there is the material for a nice soft pillow, far 
preferable to the one of chopped hay I saw, to day, 
supporting a poor, sick person’s head. If every 
one who is “ blessed with this world’s goods” would 
only look around, and contrive some little comfort 
for their poorer “ brother,” much poverty would be 
relieved, and many a cottage wear a more cheerful 
aspect, at this season of the year especially. “ To 
do good, and to distribute, forget not!” C. M. A. 
MY PHYSIC GARDEN. 
By a Physician. 
No. ;3. — Ranunculace.e. 
The majority of plants in this order are chiefly in¬ 
teresting to those who cultivate flowers more for 
their beauty than their usefulness It contains some 
of the most elegant of our border flowers—anemone, 
ranunculus, hepatica, globe-flower, winter aconite, 
hellebore, columbine, larkspur, monkshood, audpoeouy 
—while among the wild flowers we have traveller’s- 
joy, buttercups, and marsh marigold. I fear I must 
plead guilty to having admitted them to my “ physic 
garden,” more for pleasure than for profit; but, since 
they are there, let me describe them. Strange to say 
they are as remarkable for their venemous qualities as 
for their grace and elegance. Would that they alone 
were so. The properties of the ranunculace® depend 
upon a principle of so volatile a nature that it is 
utterly destroyed hy infusion or exposure to heat; and 
