January 12. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
287 
possible, the legs cannot, by any possibility, bo too long. 
The body, flight, and tail, might be too short. 
The epitome of excellence in an English Pouter is made 
to consist as follows:— 
1. Length of body. 
2. Length of legs. 
3. Neatness of crop. 
4. Slenderness of girth. 
5. Beauty of feather. 
Any combination of three of these properties out of the 
five in a router, shewn against another, must, if rightly and 
.justly awarded, take the prize; for instance, one Pouter 
shewn against another, supposing one to take the first three 
properties, and the other to take the last two, to the former 
the prize ought to be awarded. It is quite immaterial 
which of the three properties a router takes out of the five 
to be awarded the prize ; and this will, or ought to prevail, 
at Metropolitan, Birmingham, and every other Show, if 
rightly awarded. 
If persons prefer Bluo Bocks to Almond Tumblers, 
Skinums to Carriers, or common house Bunts to English 
Pouters, by all means let them do so, but I cannot agree 
with them, or admire their taste. In all shows, whether 
agricultural, horticultural, poultry, or pigeon, certain well- 
defined rules must be clearly laid down, or no judges can 
act in unison, or give satisfaction.— John Matthews Eaton, 
7, Islington Green, London. 
EASY MODE OF EXCLUDING FROST. 
It may interest some of your readers, who, like myself, 
have only a cold pit or frames for preserving half-hardy 
plants during winter, to know that I succeeded last year in 
keeping out frost by burning one or two floating night 
lights* under a plate of iron, about a foot in diameter, 
supported about an inch above the flame, which I found 
radiated sufficient heat for the purpose. I used castor oil | 
(costing, wholesale, about 4d. per pound), which is so free 
from smell, and bums so purely, that I have used it in a 
sick room for three months, and at present burn it all night 
in my bedroom. 
I did not observe any injurious effect from gases gene¬ 
rated by the lamp, such as you seemed to fear in your | 
reply to “ J. S. K.,” page 192; but if this were found to be ! 
the case, the lamp could be burned in a close iron box, and 
the fumes carried off in a small pipe.—A. I). A. 
[The suggestion at the conclusion of this communication 
obviates our objection. The iron box might be made like 
a gas stove, with a tube passing the whole length of the pit, 
so that scarcely any heat would be lost. There need be no 
door to the box, but the bottom be made to take on or off 
in the manner of a pill-box lid.—E d. C. G.] 
SEA WEEDS. 
(Continued from )>age 15.) 
DASYA.— Ag. 
“ Frond filamentous; fructification two fold on distinct 
plants—1, ceramidia, containing a tuft of pear-shaped 
spores; 2,lanceolate pods (sticliidia), containing tetra spores 
ranged in transverse bands."— Harvey. Name signifying 
hairy. 
1. Dasya coccrNEA (Scarlet). — Stems rather thick and 
hairy, branched, the branches twico winged. This is one 
of our most lovely sea plants; the colour varying from pale 
pink, in the early stages of its growth, to bright rosy-scarlet, 
and then to deep crimson-brown. In this last state it does 
not adhere well to paper. It is a summer plant, and annual. 
2. D. ocei.t.ata (Eyed).—This lovely little thing is found 
on rocks covered with mud, near low-water mark. It is 
rare, though Mrs. Griffiths has found it abundantly on the 
pier at Torquay. It is in little tufts only one or two inches 
high. The minute branches at the tips of the fronds are 
so crowded that the plant looks something like a tuft of 
* The best are German manufacture, a wick inserted in a thin slice of 
cork, and cost only 6d. for a large box. 
little brownish-red feathers, with eyes; hence its namo 
( ocellata). 
3. D. arbusoula (Shrubby). — “ The stems much 
branched.” They vary from two to four inches in height, 
are of a red-brown, and the substance rather soft. “ Not 
uncommon on the shores of Ireland and Scotland.”— Ilarvey. 
4. D. venusta (Lovely).—I have never had the pleasure 
of seeing this plant. Harvey speaks of it as cast on shore 
in summer, and found in Jersey by Miss White and Miss 
Turner. “ Annual. Very rare. Stem 3—4 inches high, as 
thick as a hog’s bristle, bare of ramuli, but all the branches 
and their divisions clothed with very slender, hair-like, 
single-tubed ramuli. Colour a fine rose-red; substance 
very flaccid and tender; closely adhering to paper. A beau¬ 
tiful species.”— Harvey. 
ORDER 8.—LAURENCIACEiE. 
“ Rose-red or purple Sea Weeds.”— Harvey. 
1. BONNEMAISONIA.— Ay. 
Named after M. Bonnemaison. 
Bonnejiaisonia asparagoides (Asparagus-like).—A very 
beautiful weed, growing on rocks. The frond is from four 
to twelve inches long, and much branched; the branches 
alternate, with little slender ramuli. The colour, when 
cast on shore, a fine scarlet, or rather rose, becoming 
darker, or crimson, in drying. Harvey remarks that “those 
plants of B. asparagoides found in the west of Ireland aye 
darker, and also become darker in drying; while in those 
which are from the east coast of Ireland and south of 
England the colour fades in drying.” I have observed this 
tendency to fade in Scotch specimens also. The most 
beautiful specimens I have seen, as regards colour, were 
some which I found on the Northumberland coast at Bam. 
borough, opposite the Farn Islands. It was really a very 
pretty sight to see them come floating in with the advancing 
tide, and I watched and waited long that none might escape 
me, as they were not very plentiful, and it was only on that 
one day that I found them. It is a summer plant, and 
annual. The specimen from which our plate is taken is 
from Ireland, and rich in capsules, which contain a tuft of 
spores. 
2. LAURENCIA. 
Name in honour of M. de la Laurencie. 
1. Laurencia pinnathtda (Deeply-lobed).—This plant is : 
also annual, and grows on rocks. It is common and very 
