January 20. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
rapidly.” As to the mode of rearing; Ducklings, we must refer you to 
the same work, of which it occupies four pages. 
Bread.— S. E. I. says—“I shall be much obliged by any receipt 
available for the poor, during the present high price of food, for making 
Bread with a mixture of Indian Meal, Rice, Barley Meal, or any other 
article of food cheaper than Wheat.” We shall be glad of any commu¬ 
nication on so important a subject. Our own experience enables us to 
recommend the addition of two pounds of boiled potatoes, rubbed through 
a colander, to half-a-peck of flour. 
Damp and Watery Situation (H, If.).— 1 The only poultry fitted 
for such a situation arc Ducks. 
Siiangiiaes ( Amicus Gulli). —The ear-lobes, and all about them, ought 
to be red; but we should not consider a white stain upon it a defect 
preventing the bird taking a prize if otherwise sufficiently meritorious. 
Is it a permanent stain, or is it merely “ white comb,” and removeable 
by being rubbed with an ointment of turmeric and cocoa-nut oil? Hemp- 
seed bruised, and in very small quantities, is useful for young chickens ; 
but we deprecate such stimulating, rich food for the breeding stock. We 
prefer the second sitting oipullets' eggs to the first sitting. 
Growing Food for Pigs and Fowls ( Isle of Wight)* —Divide your 
ground into two equal parts, and grow alternately on one-half Barley, 
and on the other half Carrots, Parsnips, and Mangold Wurtzel. When 
these crops are off, steal a crop of Coleworts from the vacant ground. 
This incessant cropping will require very liberal manuring. Of Pigeons , 
we should keep Runts for table purposes. 
Manure for Celery ( M.P .).—The dungs of hens and sheep are 
excellent for Celery. You may mix them with the soil before planting, 
and you may make liquid-manure from them for watering the plants 
while growing. 
Radishes in Frames (/. B.). —These cannot be grown too near the 
glass ; two or three inches from it is not too near. You may sow them 
now, and have them off before you require the frames for Cucumbers 
in April. 
Carrot Growing (W.F.B .).—A light, deep soil, trenched, and a 
little manure turned in with the bottom spit is the best. Sowing about 
the third week in April is a good time for avoiding injury to their roots 
by the grub. 
Transplanting Cabbages ( G. Tas7cer).— If you move them with a 
trowel they scarcely receive any check. We should prefer this mode; 
for the loosening the soil receives by digging and manuring is very 
promotivc of growth. 
MoTn in Wardrobes (G. A. G.).— We are informed that spirit of 
turpentine sprinkled on sheets of paper and placed among the infested 
articles effectually destroys the Moth. 
Diseased Eggs (F. IF. S .).—You were answered at page 192. 
Laying-out Garden (L. M .)—Nothing would induce Mr. Beaton, 
nor any other gardener of discretion, to lay out a gaulen he has never 
seen. He merely criticises the arrangements intended. 
Soot (A Subscriber from the Beginning).—Soot is a very useful 
manure for Wheat or Clover, the former, when thin of plant in the spring 
months, would be greatly lienefited by the application of about fifty 
bushels per acre, sown broadcast on the land in the month of March, 
during dry weather. It should be harrowed in, on a still, quiet day, but 
in order to prevent its flying before the wind, and thereby insure a 
regular distribution, it is advisable to mix common salt or damp ashes 
with the soot. The benefit to be derived from an application of soot to 
Wheat will be more in the produce of straw, and its peculiar property 
is to induce the Wheat plant to tiller and branch out. It acts somewhat 
in the same manner upon the Clover plants, inducing a very luxuriant 
foliage. The properties of soot, as manure, may be compared to Guano, 
except as regards the phosphates. Your other query we are enquiring 
about.—J. B. 
BRAnMA Pootras. — B. P. writes to us as follows—“ Many amateurs 
wish to know why the judges at the Metropolitan Show this month gave 
the prizes in the Brahma Pootra class to birds with small combs , similar 
to the Malay. That a Malay head should be put upon a Brahma Pootra 
fowl, which is evidently of the Shanghae race, requires a little explana¬ 
tion, and the poultry world ought to know the authority upon which the 
judges acted.” 
Parsnips (A Poultry Woman). —They will not produce roots of 
useful size under a plantation of laurels. Your other question will be 
answered next week. 
Peat Charcoal (L. R. Lucas). —Apply to Mr. Purser, Secretary of 
the London Manure Company, Bridge Street, Blackfriars. 
CALENDAR EORJEEBRUARY. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
Anemones, sow ; finish planting, b. and e. Annuals (Tender), sow 
in hotbed ; admit air to daily; water slightly ; cover with mats the glasses 
at nights ; sow seeds of blue and white Campanula carpatica in heat, for 
autumn-flowering, e.; pot old plants of each, and put in heat for cuttings, 
b.; sow Nemojthila, and other Californian annuals , to flower after 
a.3 1 
autumn-sown ones ; (Hardy) sow in borders, e.; for early blowing, sow 
in pots in a hothouse. Auriculas, dress, and attend carefully those 
under glass, as the buds appear. Biennials (Hardy), sow, e. Bulbs, 
finish planting. Carnations, plant, and shelter from cold winds. 
Dahlias, sow, and place tubers in hotbed, to break buds for slipping. 
Dress borders generally. Edgings of Box, &c., may be planted and 
repaired. (Sec January). Cut round the roots of evergreens, to remove 
about next July. Evergreens removed last autumn may have liquid 
manure in fine weather. Evergreens, plant in mild weather, c. Grass, 
roll and sweep weekly. Gravel, roll, and weed in dry weather, weekly, 
and try the concrete system. Hedges (Deciduous), plant, b.; (Ever¬ 
green) plant, e. Hyacinths, shelter, for they begin to appear. Mig¬ 
nonette, sow in pots, and place in hotbed, or hothouse, and green¬ 
house, for succession. Neatness, attend to everywhere. Perennials 
(Hardy), sow, e.; plant suckers, slips, and partings of roots ; (Half- 
hardy) uncover, if frosts gone. Planting of flowering shrubs, com¬ 
plete. Polyanthuses, sow: earth-up with rich compost. Potted 
Shrubs, prune, shift, and dress the soil; pot off bedding geraniums, 
&c., from stove pots. Ranunculuses, finish planting,!), and e. Roses, 
prune strong ones, and leave some to prune in April for late flowering ; 
manure with cow-dung. Sowing of tree and shrub seeds, complete 
generally. Support, with stakes, &c., newly-planted shrubs. Tulips, 
shelter as they are now appearing. Turf may be laid, and see that 
plants are in heat for cuttings , such as Lobelias, Verbenas , &c. 
Climbers , such as honeysuckles and jasmines, should be pruned and 
trained in the early days of the month. Reduce to moderate sized patches 
such plants as phloxes, asters, veronicas, &c., otherwise they will occupy 
too much space, injure their neighbours, and harbour vermin. Herba¬ 
ceous plants should be planted out from nursery-beds into the borders 
without delay. Half-hardy shrubs, &c., may have their shelters partially 
removed, closing them up again at night, according to the mildness or 
inclemency of the season, D. Beaton. 
GREENHOUSE. 
Air, admit freely among hard-wooded plants, such as Ericas, Epacris, 
Diosma, &c., when the atmosphere is clear, and the outside temperature 
from 35° to 40°. In damp, foggy, or frosty weather, it is better to use 
little firing, and keep the house more close, unless you have the means 
of heating, and so far drying the air before it is admitted—the drying, of 
course, to take place only when the air is loaded with moisture. When 
the fog gets into the house, light a little fire and give air, and it will soon 
be dispersed. All these plants will now want more water, but do not give 
it in dribblets; after doing it thoroughly, wait patiently until the soil is 
getting dry. Those in full bloom may have similar treatment, especially 
if the sun will raise the house to 55°. Those swelling and opening their 
heads must not be lower than 45°, with 10° or 15° more in the middle of 
the day. Azaleas and Camellias, place those swelling and bursting 
their buds in the warmest end of the house, and you may remove them 
to the coldest end when in bloom. Supply such rather liberally with 
water. Those to be retarded, keep as cool as possible, and not so moist. 
Bulbs, Cinerarias, and Primulas, in flower, assist with manure- 
water ; the double Chinese Primula give a warm corner, as it is (especially 
the white) a splendid object when well grown. The night temperature ot 
these should not be below 45°, if desired to keep them in full bloom, 
with 10° more in the middle of the day. Cinerarias, for blooming, do 
best at this season in small pots ; those desired to make fine specimens in 
May and June, should not now be allowed to be pot-bound, or be stunted 
any way, but kept slowly growing. Forsythia viridissima , Deutzia 
scabra , and Weigelia rosea will yield their blossoms during this and the 
following month if slightly forced. Forced hardy shrubs kee p at the 
warmest end of the house at first. Begonia obliqua makes a fine con¬ 
servatory plant in winter, if the night temperature is seldom below 45°. 
Calceolarias and Geraniums, keep at the best place for light and 
heat. All these soft-wooded plants require more heat than the hard- 
wooded ones; the former shift as necessary. The forwardest of the 
latter, stopped and shifted before Christmas, tie out and train. Place in 
flowering-pots those stopped some time ago, and now breaking; and 
stop more young plants for succession, to be shifted when the buds have 
broken again. Franciscea latifolia and uni flora, do well in a conserva¬ 
tory at this season, if they had previously received a little extra heat, 
after being allowed to become deciduous in the beginning of winter, the 
wood being well-perfected previously. Fuchsias, start some favourite 
kinds, if you can, in a nice, sweet, slight hotbed, as at this season they 
stand a little bottom-heat well, though, when fairly started, a medium 
temperature makes better plants than a high one. Cut them well 
down, and thin the shoots afterwards, to as many stems as you may 
require. The young shoots taken off, treated as cuttings in the hot* 
bed, under a handlight, or shaded, will make choice summer and 
autumn plants. Repot those for the greenhouse by the end of the month, 
and prune back freely; those intended for cottage windows had better 
remain in their winter quarters for another month, keeping them rather 
dry, and as cool as possible, so that more room at present may be afforded 
to other plants. The same Hotbed would do for seeds, cuttings, the. ; 
and also for starting some Achimenes, Gesneras, and Gloxinias —the two 
former either in the pots by which they grew, or by removing the tubers, 
and placing them in pans with light earth, until they grow a little ; the 
latter either in their late pots before they spring, or, what will do as well, 
in fresh pots and soil, so that, whenever they start, they take hold of the 
fresh material. For Fires, Protection, Dressing, and Cleaning, 
see last month. Insects will now begin to be busy, and the best antidotes 
and sulphur vapour and tobacco fumigation, but, above all, cleanliness 
and good cultivation. Scarlet Geraniums : old plants, stored in pits, 
seeds, garrets, See., examine. Remove all parts that are mouldy and 
damped. Dust with lime and charcoal, and expose more to the light, 
that the young shoots may break vigorous and strong. R. Fish. 
