THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
301 
February 28. 
resorted to. In either case, where practicable, we would 
advise to plant them close, in shallow drills, on a warm 
border in February, or on a slight hotbed in March, to be 
transplanted finally in open compartments late in April or 
early in May. A space of small dimensions will suffice to 
raise plants for a large garden. Those raised from single 
eyes, to be transplanted with sets and roots entire. The 
plants from the whole ones to be slipped off, planted, 
and watered, no further nourishment being now neces¬ 
sary from the parent tuber. The top shoot may be left 
on,' and planted with the whole set. Transplant in small 
shallow drills. 
Another (and, perhaps, the chief) advantage of thus 
. raising potatoes in advance is, that during the thy months 
of March and April, opportunity will be better afforded 
in bringing the ground for their reception into the ut ¬ 
most perfect condition. 
These remarks apply equally to raising potatoes early 
from selected seed, and are the most essential points in 
obtaining full crops from this source.— Hardy & Son, 
Florists, &c., Aluldon, Fssex. 
[This is not, we think, a new mode, but, nevertheless, 
worthy of trial. There is no doubt it saves a large por¬ 
tion of the potatoes required for seed when whole ones 
are employed, but we do not see how it saves any if cut 
sets are employed, and we very much fear that the crop 
would be greatly diminished.— Ed. C. G.] 
Cochin-China Fowls. —As T perceive inquiries are 
made respecting the Cochin-China fowls, I beg leave to 
make a few remarks, and also to add a few questions on 
the subject. In all descriptions of the breeds of poultry, 
vour articles would be of great value if they were more 
minute and accmate— a minuteness which not only 
states what the breed ouylit to be in external appearance, 
but also what it ought not to be. Mr. Doyle, Mr, Richard¬ 
son, and Mr. Dixon in his poultry book, all fail in this. 
Mr. Dixon is more explicit than the others. In speaking 
of the Cochin-China cock, he says :—•“ The cock has a 
large, upright, single, deeply-indented comb.” Query, 
have not some cocks double combs ? “ The legs are of a 
pale flesh-colour.” Query, are they not sometimes yellow? 
“ The feathers on the breast and sides are of a bright 
chesnut brown.” Query, are not some a dark red brown, 
varying up to a bright bay ? Is the colour of the plumage 
always a single pure colour, viz., a red brown up to a bright 
bay, with sometimes a more or less speckled appearance, 
arising from some of the feathers being black, or tipped 
with black, and are there ever white spots ? “ The tail fea¬ 
thers are black, and darkly irradiant. Query, are they 
always so ? Your cut in Part XV., gives three feathers as 
if they were white ones. Mr. Dixon says, relative to the 
toes, “ My male bird has two claws on the toe of one foot, 
a peculiarity which is inherited by some of the chickens.” 
1 have some that have five toes. Another characteristic 
which I have not seen named, is a thick tuft of feathers 
on the thigh of each leg. Mr. Dixon’s book would be a 
valuable one, if the descriptions of the breeds were minute 
and accurate; if it were curtailed to half its size, with an 
accurately coloured portrait of each distinct breed, it would 
be of great value to the breeder of poultry. If this could 
be attained in your periodical, it would become a valuable 
book of reference on this subject, as it is on others.— 
A Subscriber. 
Standard Pelargoniums. —As you have drawn atten¬ 
tion to them, permit me to warn the unwary amateur not 
to venture trying too many in that way, until he lias con¬ 
vinced himself of the utility of the plan, as I consider it 
a retrograde movement. Pelargoniums so treated, will 
differ but little from the shanlcy, old-fashioned way of 
growing them that our fore-elders adopted, planting their 
long-legged, pot-bound plants in the summer (after they 
bad exhausted the little energy they had in flowering in 
the house), tying them up to a stake, where they remained 
until September, when they were taken up and potted 
again, being then well furnished with shoots, and looking 
wall; unfortunately, that was the only time they did look 
well, as the more extended growths these shoots attained, 
together with the warmth and shelter of a greenhouse, 
soon weakened their shoots, as not to be able to support 
themselves in then- right position ; the consequence was, 
stick or string was resorted to, and the plant speedily 
became unsightly. Now, 1 cannot see in what way those 
standard or pillar geraniums you speak of, differ from 
those old-fashioned ones I allude to; certainly the im¬ 
proved gardening of the present age may do better things 
than our fathers did, yet, I presume, the same funda¬ 
mental laws still exist, one of which I conceive to be, 
that the geranium to do well, must be always in a grow¬ 
ing state, the foliage soon tells if they are not. Now, 
supposing them to be so, and the shoots of the pyramid 
plant you speak of, were four or five inches in October, 
when the plants are housed, how long will these shoots 
be in May or June, and how is a stick or string to be 
introduced into a standard plant like it ? and without 
such support, I imagine the plant will have a very un¬ 
sightly appearance. 1 am no advocate for sticks, and 
therefore recommend dwarf plants, as not requiring them. 
—S. N. V. 
Tobacco Fumigation. —In return for many valuable 
hints gleaned from The Cottage Gardener, 1 have plea¬ 
sure in sending the result of a successful experiment in 
smoking a greenhouse; finding it, after repeated trials, 
preferable to any I have hitherto known, in saving time 
and expense. I will give particulars, and only add before 
doing so, that their correctness may be relied upon. For 
our greenhouse, which is a small one, nine yards long by 
three wide, I used the following :—Four pieces of coarse 
brown paper, each the size of a common newspaper; one 
ounce and a-half of tobacco, and a tablespoonful of nitre ; 
the two last were put together in a wash liandbasin ; this 
size is best, and had exactly a pint of boiling water poured 
over them, then covered and left about and hour, when it 
had become cool enough to allow of the tobacco being 
collected by the fingers and then thrown away. The 
papers had previously been folded in three or four folds, 
and were now dipped separately in the liquid, and squeezed 
out: this quantity was just enough for them. They were 
then unfolded and put to dry upon a clothes-horse before 
the fire, and when dry were again folded as before, rolled 
up, not tightly, and each put into an empty flower-pot, 
just large enough to hold it without crushing. They were 
then ready for the greenhouse, and were placed upon the 
floor in different parts ; a lucifer match finished the pro¬ 
cess, and for nearly an hour the smoke was too dense to 
allow anything inside the house being seen, even close to 
the windows ; the papers all burnt to ashes to the bottom 
of the pots. Till trying this plan, I had been accustomed 
to use tobacco rolled in brown paper prepared with nitre; 
and half a pound of tobacco was as little as would answer, 
the same quantity of paper also was required. On the 
whole, the expense was as nearly as possible as much again 
as by the present method, and I can safely say the success 
was not always as effectual. I will now mention another 
experiment tried the winter before last, with branches of 
ivy, as a protection for fuchsias. The same thing may 
possibly have occurred to others, but not having known 
) it tried" or proposed, I may be excused if giving a hint 
J already in use. The ivy continued green, with no signs 
of decay, from the beginning of November to the first 
' week in February, and the fucliias were preserv ed alive to 
I that time; but not being able afterwards to replace the 
j ivy, or attend to it, the plants were neglected, and died 
down to the ground. I cannot but believe, that had this 
plan been tried properly, it would have answered perfectly. 
The cut ends of the ivy branches were tied to the tops of 
the stakes placed round the fuchsias, and this, I thought, 
prevented the sap running out, and kept the leaves longer 
green. The appearance of the whole was that of an ivy 
tree, and was ornamental. At a future opportunity L 
I hope to add another scrap or two of experience in gar¬ 
dening affairs.—S. 
Poultry.—Cochin-China and Dorking. —Having for 
i some years kept the black Spanish fowl, which I consider 
a very superior variety, and having taken great pains to 
preserve them pure, by selecting the best chickens out of 
i my broods, I fell into the common error of breeding in 
