210 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Has the Cochin-China fowl what is commonly 
termed five toes— i.e., a rudimentary extra toe? From 
the figures introduced in the article above referred 
to, it by no means appears clear—the lien seeming to 
have five, the cock four. What is the colour of the 
legs, as this is usually considered a distinguishing cha¬ 
racteristic in the breed of fowls? What may be con¬ 
sidered as the average height of the cock, and to what 
point measured? 1 trouble you with these queries 
for the following reasons :—My son obtained for me, 
from a dealer in London of the name of Baker, a 
dozen eggs, at one shilling each, making with the 
carriage, &c., fifteen shillings per dozen; they were 
set under two different hens—five under one, seven 
under another; the five were not hatched, which was, of 
course, attributed to the circumstance of the hen not 
sitting close, as the seven were all prolific ; but only 
two (fortunately, a cock and a hen) appeared to be at 
all of the character warranted ; but the cock had five 
toes, and yellow legs—the hen four, and blue legs, 
the latter having also somewhat the character of the 
Malay fowl; she proved, however, an excellent layer, 
the eggs of the colour Mr. Doyle describes, and seve¬ 
ral times laid two eggs in the twenty-four hours. The 
others were of various characters, two evidently a 
cross of the Black Spanish, the others of a very ordi¬ 
nary description. T should not have named the dealer, 
but that, by an unusual^act of discourtesy, he did not 
condescend to reply to a letter of inquiry for an ex¬ 
planation, and I, therefore, am inclined to doubt the 
truth of the breed of the two, which in many respects 
answer the description given by Mr. Doyle.— Edward 
Mugridgf,, Ringstead, near Lynn. 
[We shall be obliged by any of our readers sending 
answers to us for these queries, because they will be 
interesting to many others, who are seeking from us 
further information relative to Cochin-China fowls.'— 
Ed. C. G.] 
Cockroaches. — Light-coloured Fuchsias. —You 
will find red wafers laid in the places that are 
infested with cockroaches to be the best poison for 
them. Napoleon and White Eximia are better light- 
coloured fuchsias than either One-in-the-Ring or Dr. 
Jephson. — H. J. Green iiagh. 
Semi-transparent Covering. —In some parts of 
your excellent Cottage Gardener are receipts for 
making a transparent cloth for covering pits and 
other purposes. Most of these contain resin, which 
makes the cloth crack. The following receipt used 
to canvass will be found good. The cloth may be 
rolled up or pressed, and it will never crack. Stretch 
the cloth tight, wet it with a watering-pot, and paint 
it, while wet, with linseed oil, 1 qt.; litharge, T oz.; 
made quite fine. Colour may be mixed with the oil, 
if desired. Two coats are sufficient. This is com¬ 
pletely waterproof, and answers for tarpaulin, rick- 
cloths, &c. The canvass, or cloth, should be tolera¬ 
bly wet, only so that the water does not stand in 
pools on it when painted. This is the way that 
common oiled-silk is prepared.— Verax. 
Poultry Losing their Feathers. — Observing 
that S. W. (p. 192) complains of liis fowls partially 
losing their feathers, I also have to state that my 
fowls were nearly naked this season, and I could not 
account for it, unless it was from the Indian corn, 
which might be too heating for their constant use. 
I now give them boiled barley, and I never saw them 
in finer feather.—J. M. 
Stupieying Bees with Chloroform. —I have no¬ 
ticed several inquiries in your papers from corres¬ 
pondents, respecting the application of chloroform 
for stupyfying bees, and having waited in vain for 
[January 31. 
some communication from an able hand, I will now 
give you mine. I wished to remove a young swarm 
to another hive, and determined to try the effect of 
chloroform, which I placed on a sponge, and inserted 
into one of the long, perforated flue-ventilating tubes— 
into the bottom of the hive—and its effect was soon 
apparent by the dropping of the bees on to the floor 
of the hive ; but, upon shaking the hive, tho majority 
were too lively to be meddled with. I expended 
about two large wine-glasses of chloroform on them, 
but failed to produce the desired effect upon the 
whole swarm, and therefore had to use other means. 
—W. W. K. 
Dutch Method of Growing Asparagus. — We 
English eat onlytlie green part, the Dutch eat also the 
white. Throughout Holland, so far as I could judge 
from a passing tour, no green asparagus is grown; 
all the heads served up at the hotels are white; they 
are of excellent flavour, and equal to those produced 
in England. It was sometime before I could com¬ 
prehend how this white kind of asparagus was grown; 
but happening to visit the little village of Broek (a 
village, by the way, into which no horse, cart, or dog, 
is allowed to enter, and where the front doors of the 
houses are never opened except on a wedding or fune¬ 
ral), and here, in one of the principal gardens, I asked 
the gardener for an explanation ; he took me to the 
asparagus beds, but I saw nothing, save that they 
were narrow, slightly rounded, and smooth as a 
slate. Where is the plant, I enquired? He im¬ 
mediately squatted down, removed a little of the 
soil with his finger, and produced to me a fine 
white stem, like a small wax candle. The beds 
were in full crop. The Dutch grow the asparagus as 
an underground esculent, never allowing it to ap¬ 
pear above the surface; a slight protuberance in the 
soil shews where the plant is rising, and, by this in¬ 
dex, a practised eye knows what is fit to cut. I 
jocosely queried with the man if our English mode 
of growing asparagus was not the best? He thought 
not, and maintained that in proportion as the stem 
appeared above the soil, it hardened beneath it; and 
thus, whilst we get only half the plant, they secured 
the whole. Which, then, is the best method of grow¬ 
ing asparagus, the Dutch or English? Or, is the 
Dutch a different variety.—S. P., Rushmere. 
[The varieties are the same, nor do we think this 
Dutch mode of growing asparagus desirable. It 
causes much more trouble in the cutting, and dimin¬ 
ishes the flavour. We shall have a much better 
mode to communicate before the asparagus season 
again arrives.—E d. C. G.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
*** We request that no one will write to the departmental writers 
of The Cottage Gardenee. It gives them unjustifiable trouble 
and expense ; and we also request our coadjutors under no circum- 
stances to reply to such private communications. 
Geraniums (Verax). —Can any of our correspondents say where 
plants may be had, or cuttings obtained, in the spring, of the fol¬ 
lowing varietiesJudi, The Salmon, White Scarlet, or Horse-shoe 
White; Queen of Portugal, Unique, Lady Mary Fox, Royalist, 
Punch, and Gem of Scarlets ? 
Cochin-China Fowls (Tooting). —Our correspondent savs, that 
these may be procured from Mr. . 1 . J. Nolan, poultry-fancier,‘Baehc- 
lor’s-walk, Dublin, at 30 s each. This is a reply to many inquiries. 
Allotment Gardening (N. /. S.). —We know of no cheap pub¬ 
lication such as you require. It is much needed. You will see what 
to do, in March, with your Tigridia Panama bulbs, if you will refer 
to p. 137 °f our present volume. For Gooseberry pruning, consult 
Mr. Turner’s very full essay on the subject, at p. 303 of vol. i.; and 
Currant pruning is given at p. 12 of the same volume. Your other 
question next week. 
