52 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 20. 
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considered as dainties l>y the great epicures of his day. 
They are brought in large quantities to the market of 
Quangae, in bamboo cages, probably for the same purpose. 
I was told by a Mandarin, that the maggots of the Noctua 
hrassica , were quite as efficacious as the Cicada’s eggs. 
Can your experienced correspondent, “ T. R., of the 
Dover Road,” explain the process by which the Eonzes, or 
Priests of Fo, are said to change, instantaneously, the 
colours of the fish preserved in their sacred tanks ? It 
would seem that this operation is performed annually, in 
the Great Temple, at Quegling, and esteemed a miracle; so 
that, probably, it is a state secret, like the liquefaction of St. 
Januarius’s blood at Naples. 
As I am collecting notes, for publication, on this very in¬ 
teresting branch of Ichthyology, I feel anxious to put myself 
into direct communication with “ T. R.,” if he would kindly 
favour me with his name, and permit a private interview at 
his convenience.—T. Worthem. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
The Poor Widow (Comfort). —The draft is received with grateful 
thanks. The subject will be carefully considered, and a further com¬ 
munication made. 
William Adams (C .),—The five shillings came duly, and we have to 
apologize for not noticing the fact. It would save a post to write direct 
to “ G. W. Johnson, Esq., Canon Street, Winchester.” 
Rape-culture. —An article will shortly appear, in which the culture 
of Rape will be treated at full length. The sort of Wheat best suited for 
your land would be the Hoptoun White , or Morton's Rcd-strnwed White. ; 
and the best way to prevent your wheat becoming root-false is to drill 
dccji, and make the land firm, either by sheep-treading, pressing, or 
rolling.—J. B. 
Spring-sown Wheat (W. Lort). — No variety of Wheat usually 
adapted for autumn sowing will be injured for that purpose by having 
been once sown in the spring. The best manure for wheat upon heavy 
land, to be applied in the spring, is from two to three cwt. per acre of 
Peruvian guano harrowed in during dry weather, not later than February 
or March.—J. B. 
Ixias (Z oe). —There is no reason why your Ixias and Sparaxis should 
not do just as well in that locality, which we happen to know, as they 
did in Jersey, exactly in the way you propose. As to distance from bulb 
to bulb, two inches apart will not be too thick, and six inches apart will 
not be too wide. Be ruled in this by your space, &c. Three inches of light 
soil, and one inch of sand over them, will be the right depth for you; 
and if the winter comes very hard, a mat, or couple of mats, or some 
equivalent, must be thrown over the beds ; also, late in the spring, if the 
wind is very cutting. You must fold the beds as they fold sheep on 
turnips, and tie a mat all round the hurdles, leaving the top open. Some 
contrivance of that sort may be necessary. The easiest and best way to 
plant a bed of Ixias, is first to dig the bed and mix a quantity of leaf- 
mould and sand with it, making it just level with the grass or gravel; 
then mark the places for the bulbs, put half-a-handful of sand to each 
mark, push the bulbs into the sand and gather it over them, then have 
fine sandy soil, and nearly dry, and cover it all over the bed full three 
inches, and dust the surface with fresh soot to put mice on the wrong 
scent. 
Conservatory Plants and Climbers (G. B. C.) — Now we under¬ 
stand you perfectly; but we fear you will not be advised by us. Nothing 
will give you satisfaction, after the first two years, on the back wall, 
eleven feet high, except Camellias as stated by us, at Bank Grove. 
Elegans , pink ; Albert us, variegated ; Carolina , coral-scarlet; Imbricata, 
crimson ; and Fimbriuta, pure white ; are among the best for a back 
wall. Fuchsia serratifolia , is one of the best back greenhouse climbers, 
and in two years would get up to the top, and run along the arches, 
flowering from September to May. Fuchsia coralina would also soon 
rise from the back wall to the rafters, or arches. Tacsonins the same, 
but they would soon overrun the whole house. For the end wall, seven¬ 
teen feet high, the best plants in the world are Mundemllea suaveolcns, 
Plumbago Capensis, or Acacia pubescens. For the pillars along the 
front, there are none better than what Mr. Fish recommended, over and 
over again, which may be seen on reference to the index. 
Early productiveness of Siiangiiaes.— Mr. G. F. Mosely , of 
the Fortune of War, King’s Road, Camden Town, says,—“ I have taken 
the liberty of forwarding to you an extraordinary instance of the great 
fecundity of the Cochin-China fowls. I had a brood of chickens hatched 
March 1 6th last, one of which layed on the 10 th of August, being just twenty- 
one weeks’ old. I had no idea of sitting any more eggs this season, but 
having altered my mind, I sat a hen on seventeen eggs, (two of which 
were layed by the pullet just mentioned) on September 7th., that being 
four weeks after she commenced laying; hatched the two pullets eggs, 
with thirteen others, on the 27th of September, all of which are alive and 
healthy. The whole of these events have not taken up more time than 
six months and eleven days.” 
Diseased Dorking (J. P.). —The symptoms of rattling in the throat, 
and panting, indicate an affection of the lungs and windpipe, most 
probably inflammatory. The treatment should consist in a dry, warm 
shelter, particularly at night; and if this alone is not effectual, a tea¬ 
spoonful of antimonial wine may be given, mixed up with meal. 
Spanish Hen not Laying (.4 Constant Reader).—' The cause of the 
hen not laying for so many months, without any evident illness, is either 
inaction or disease of the ovary. At this period of the year, especially as 
she is moulting, I should not advise stimulating the organ by any means, 
although a little extra animal food and warm shelter might be tried in 
the spring. If there is disease of the ovary the case is hopeless, as it is 
nearly always a structural change. The writer speaks of “ Mr. Tcget- 
meicr’s specific, Calomel and Antimony.” I must beg again to state 
that I never recommended this as a specific for all diseases of the egg 
organs; it is useful in one disease of them only, that is, inflammation of 
the egg passage, indicated by the laying of imperfectly formed eggs. In 
the above case it would be of no service.—W. B. Tegetmrier. 
Black Barbarossa Grape (Dan). —The Black Barbarossa is, in¬ 
deed, worth growing; no late Vinery is complete without it. It is under¬ 
stood to be a free bearer, and is of capital flavour. We are not assured 
that it requires any particularly high temperature; if you are going to 
plant it in the same house with late Hambro’, you may put it at the 
warmest end. If we were going to plant a late house with a mixture, we 
should put Muscat at the hottest, and St. Peter’s next, Barbarossa next, 
and Hambro’ at the coolest end. 
Vine Pruning (A. R. F.). —By all means cease watering your resting 
Vines. It is absurd to do so. Rhyncospermum jasminoides will do well 
in any ordinary greenhouse. The pruning described at page 336, will fit 
your case for years. The whole stem, when complete, must continue to 
be pruned by the advice in the second column of page 366. 
Bees leaving Hive. — Sarah , writing from Essex, says—“ Yesterday 
(Sept. 30th), the bees of one of the cottagers in our village threw olf a 
fine swarm, which were safely hived, and removed to their winter quar¬ 
ters. Do you think there is any probability of their prolonging their 
existence through the winter without the assistance of artificial food?” 
If the hive from which the bees issued be examined, it will most pro¬ 
bably be found to contain neither bees nor honey ; if so, want was the 
cause of their leaving it, so that it was a desertion, and not a swarm ; 
without feeding, the bees cannot live a week.—J. H. P. 
RonBER Bees—Queen producing only Drones.— A writes thus, 
—“ While great secrets in nature have been revealed, as it were, by a mere 
accident (as Schirack’s discovery, for instance) it is not less true that 
‘ Anomalies may be the finger-posts that point the way to unsuspected 
truths ;’ and this our learned author will allow to apply to the instinct of 
Bees, as well as to varieties among fowls. Can any of the Bee-keeping 
readers of Tiie Cottage Gardener kindly assist my researches, by 
informing me if they have observed so great a deviation from the ordinary 
instinct of the Bees, which teaches them to preserve their community, 
as the destruction of the workers of a hive by each other would imply, 
and under what peculiar circumstances such evil w'arfarchas been waged? 
I would also inquire if a Queen, which has been fertile in producing the 
eggs of workers, has been found afterwards to deposit those of drones 
only; and whether such deterioration of her powers may be traced to some 
shock received by the system from extreme fear, or some similar cause ?” 
There appears a mistake in talking of Bees in one community destroying 
each other ; the warfare will be found to be between two distinct families, 
and not between Bees of the same hive; poverty in the larder is the 
primary instigation of the wrong; no better reason can be given for such 
warfare. As to a Queen, fertile in laying worker eggs, afterwards produc¬ 
ing drones only, seems to be a case requiring proof by experiment, and 
that of a difficult nature. The fact is very doubtful; and, after all, who 
knows how often a Queen is changed ? Where such an occurrence takes 
place, it must be attributed to two different Queens, one succeeding the 
other.— J. H. P. 
Pencilled Featiirr (J. B. Chune).— The specimen sent is very 
beautiful, but not so superior to that we have published to justify the 
expense of another wood-cut. 
Autumn-planting Potatoes (A. B.). —On light, well-drained soil, 
autumn-planting is certainly to be preferred. Plant only very early 
ripening kinds, such as that know’n in Hampshire as the July. The 
Fortyfold is also an early ripener. 
Mildewed Grapes (A Subscriber). —Hold a plateful of flowers of 
sulphur under each bunch, and rub each berry between the fingers and 
thumb dipped into the sulphur, so that each berry may be well covered 
with it. We have proved this to be effectual. Burning sulphur in the 
house would be fatal to every leaf of the vine, and destroy your crop. 
Labels (5 th October). —The glass tubes you have sent are worthless 
from the brittleness of the hooks. The Pipe Clay Labels are those 
recommended some time since. Zinc Labels are the only indelible ones, 
if polished with coarse sandpaper, and then written upon immediately 
with the ink, for which the recipe is given at p. 272 of our 3rd volume. 
Leaves injured by Watering (A. Brown). —Our answer at page 
411 was necessarily hypothetical, because we are not certain that what is 
called “ scalding ” always arises from the same cause. It is a much more 
intricate subject than can be disposed of in these necessarily brief 
answers, and we will take an early opportunity to write more fully upon 
the subject. 
Sambucus racemosa. — H. M. may probably obtain some information 
if he sends his direction to the Rev. W. D. Fox, Delamere Rectory, near 
Chester. 
Carrot-storing (A. B.). —We have often tried the mode recom¬ 
mended by Mr. Errington at p. 503 of vol. 10, and can bear testimony, 
that if the carrots, after having the slice taken off their tops, are buried 
in sand or coal ashes, they are preserved, and with all their flavour, until 
long after those not beheaded have ceased to be useful. 
Lovell Siiangiiaes (Agriculturist). —Write to Mrs. Somers Smith, 
Little Bentley Rector)', near Colchester. We cannot give you a reference 
further northward. 
Preserving Melons and Berberries.— M. M. F. will be obliged 
by a recipe for preserving Melons and Berberries in bunches for dessert. 
Your Rose tree producing flower buds which never open, is either in too 
cold a situation, or it requires the soil to be much enriched. Give it a 
powerful manuring now, and mulch over the roots early next spring. 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by William 
Somerville Orr, of Church Hill, Walthamstow, in the County of 
Essex, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of Christ 
Church, City of London.—October 20th, Jb63# 
