Februaky 23. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
409 
fibrous, which extend round its crown for a considerable 
distance. It is readily increased by division in the spring 
months, if such be required, or it may remain in the same 
spots for almost any number of years without becoming 
straggling or tiring of its situation, if its roots are not cut 
and chopped about at the times when the borders are being 
dressed off. At those times, rather place a spadeful of 
nice fresh earth over and round about its crowns, after 
weeds, & - c. are cleared away. This kind, like all the others 
of its family, dies entirely down during the winter months. 
Its leaves are all deeply lobed, and its segments coarsely 
notched and pointed. The stems rise from four to even 
seven feet high, according to the strength of the plant and 
the soil and situation it is growing in. Its stalks put out 
an abundance of side-shoots or branches, which all form 
panicle-like spikes of flowers, which are of a palish yellow 
colour, forming, upon the whole, a very striking plant, 
though not so pretty as the versicolor and others. It 
flowers from the beginning of June to the middle or end of 
August. It is a native of Caucasus, and introduced to this 
in country 1794. T. W. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
*** We request that no one will write to the departmental writers of 
The Cottage Gardener. It gives them unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. All communications should be addressed “ To the Editor of 
The Cottage Gardener , 2, Amen Corner , Paternoster Roiv, London .” 
Feeding Imprisoned Pheasants. — ({ A.B. wishes to know the 
best food for common Pheasants. She has had a house put up for them, 
a wooden shed, with a large outside court composed of wood and wire 
netting, both house and court being well gravelled ; to this they are, of 
course, always confined. In the court, Spruce Fir-trees are planted for 
shelter. The court is on a sloping bank, facing nearly south, and well 
sheltered from north and west winds. The Pheasants are fed every day 
with oatmeal and water (made of the consistency that it crumbles when 
thrown down), crumbs of bread, oats, two or three potatoes, worms, 
cabbages, and turnip-tops, and fresh water every day ; but with all this 
care, three of the Pheasants, a cock and two hens, have died in the last 
month. In the Pheasantry there are still nine hens and two cocks. 
Would one cock be sufficient to keep? The Pheasants that died were 
fat, nicely fed birds, and showed no sign of illness till just before they 
died ; nor was there any mark on them as if injured by vermin, except 
on one of the hens, where the skin on the back was torn on one place, 
but it seemed as if the other birds had done it.” Not trusting to our 
own judgment, we sought information from a first authority, and this is the 
reply :—“I send you what one of our keeper’s says ; but I believe I know 
as much about Tame Pheasants as any body, and my notion is, that 
‘A. B.’ is taking too much care of her Pheasants, and that the complaint 
of which they have died is overfeeding. I recommend her to stop the 
oatmeal entirely , giving them Indian corn, barley, oats, (wheat occa¬ 
sionally, but not at the present prices), mixed up with chaff, or straw, so 
that they may not be able to gobble it all up at once , but have to scratch 
and find it; at the same time, this would serve to amuse them. Pheasants 
are great gluttons when their food is handy, and they have no trouble in 
looking for it. I have a cock Pheasant now in my hall, who I saw eat 
till he died of repletion ; I saw this. Probably your correspondent, had 
she examined their stomachs, would have found them choked with fat, 
I would substitute some turf in part of the court instead of the gravel. 
Let them also have some lime to peck at, and some cabbage leaves every 
day. I do not think a cock ought to serve more than five or six hens, 
and I should be inclined to put one cock and four hens together, and one 
cock and five hens, so as to prevent the chance of the two cocks fighting. 
If this Pheasantry is where other Wild Pheasants are it is well to have 
the top of the enclosure open, so that the wild cocks may come in and 
pay their respects to the hens. I have often watched them at this. The 
inmates have, of course, one wing clipped to prevent their flight.” The 
gamekeeper’s note is as follows:—“ I cannot conceive the death of the 
Pheasants was occasioned at all by the food; on the contrary, I think 
they were taken the best of care of that way. I should have preferred, in 
lieu of the oatmeal and water, whole corn and a diversity of it; but as 
the time is coming for laying, care should be taken they are not too fat. 
A portion of bran with the meal (oat or any other), warm best would be 
substituted. As to the number of cocks, I should say, decidedly, three 
hens to one cock ; and now they should be penned off, as the cocks will 
fight and cause the hens to fly and dash about. Should ‘A. B.’ detect 
any more dead, the best plan would be to have them most carefully 
plucked of their feathers, and see if there is no injury on them, as it is 
astonishing what a small blow will kill a Pheasant, and more particularly 
if on the head, which they are subject to in a mews, and is difficult to 
detect unless denuded of the feathers. Another hint, too, is worth 
naming, and that is, what sort of netting is over the top of the place of 
confinement ? ” 
Browned Araucaria (A. 31.).— It is as natural for Cryptomerias, 
Arbor ViLes, Cypresses, and many other Conifers, to be browned by 
cold winds, and on calcareous soils, as it is for them to grow upwards ; 
and it is not at all curious that such an unnatural, unpractical, and un¬ 
scientific way as turning out an Araucaria from a pot, with the ball 
entire, at the beginning of winter, should cause it to brown. It was a 
most ungardening way of planting Araucarias. We have often heard of 
them and of others being planted in their balls, and we have seen them 
screwed right out of the ground in consequence, but we do not recollect 
of ever hearing of any one turning out valuable pot plants at the “be¬ 
ginning of December! ” Yet, if the leaves are only browned, and we \ 
think that is all the extent of the damage, they will all come right again ; 
but if they are killed, there is no remedy. Try them, here and there, 
with the point of a knife, and you can easily see if there is life in them. 
These Araucarias require no covering from the severest frost we ex¬ 
perience in this country. They are perfectly hardy, and coddling only 
hurts them. 
Cover for Game (F. W. 31. B .).—It is bad practice to head down 
any tree, and much more so a Spruce-tree, in a game cover. Spruce- 
trees, sixty feet high and twenty feet apart, the branches just meeting, 
make the finest game cover we know of anywhere. “ Low grounds,” if j 
they are at all damp or boggy, must first be planted with trees | 
sure to grow on such soils, as Alders, Poplars, Willows, and Ash, in the ! 
way pointed out the other day by Mr. Appleby. Then fill up between the ! 
trees with one-half young Privet, the rest with Black Thorn or Sloe-bush, j 
&c., common Hazel, or wild Nut-trees. All these will grow in the 
wettest soils, and will make an impenetrable cover ; but low ground is 
not at all the right place for game, except snipes and woodcocks. 
Query ( Fitzgerald ).—Your description would be referable to a Silver- 
pencilled Hamburgh cock; but we must add, that to name either fowls or 
plants without seeing the specimens is always an unsatisfactory task.—W. 
Lime-ash for Poultry-iiouse Floor (J. T.).—The lime-ash 
floor is composed of one-third part refuse lime from the bottom of the 
kiln, containing a considerable portion of ashes, the remaining two- 
thirds being what is termed in Cornwall, “ skimping s,” a kind of slaty 
spar, broken very fine. These are mixed together with the necessary 
portion of water to wet the lime, and then laid down, being constantly 
beaten till dry. A far better floor, however, is now made, by mixing 
together one-third of lime (the best grey and the common, in equal 
quantities), and two-thirds of the very small pebbles from the shore; 
this latter is an excellent material for poultry-house floors.—W. 
Spanish Cock (Ibid). —Red is always objectionable on the face of a 
Spanish fowl, the object of the breeder being a perfect white face. In 
reference to your question about the price of eggs, you had better apply 
to Captain Hornby, Knowsley Cottage, near Prescot.—W. 
Game Fowls (Ibid ).—It will not pay to keep Game fowls in con¬ 
finement, their habits requiring a wide range.—W. 
Grapes for Vinery (C. T. J.).— For your Vinery, 15 feet by 12 feet, 
one West’s St. Peter, one Royal Muscadine, and two Black Hambro’s, 
we should plant in your case, and in the order we have placed them,— 
the St. Peter’s at the hottest end. We should be very jealous of a four- 
feet deep border, unless above the ground level. Plants two years old 
will be proper, planted in the end of March, the balls of earth unloosed. 
As to Climbers , that is a matter of taste, or fancy, rather; they are nume¬ 
rous, and any respectable nurseryman will safely advise you also as to 
what plants to cultivate. Our worthy coadjutor, Mr. Fish, in his back 
papers, has advised about all these things. Your hen Pheasant will, no 
doubt, “fraternise” with your fowls if you can keep her from “bolting.” 
As to food, see among answers “to correspondents” to-day. 
Grapes for Vinery (A. B. C .).—Your Vinery is 36 feet by 18 feet. 
Perhaps you have about nine rafters, but you have not stated. If so, 
plant as follows One Muscadine, or Sweetwater, one Bluscat, one Bar- 
barossa, two St. Peter’s, four Black Hambro’s. Plant in the order they 
stand here, beginning at the hottest end with the Muscadine. About 
your Orchard-house , all depends on whether you understand how to 
manage the trees. The construction of the house appears good. 
The Peacock Iris (A. R .),—You are quite right. Mr. Appleby lias 
correctly described Viesseuxia glaucopsis , but inadvertently called it 
Iris pavonia. Mr. Beaton says,—“ The Peacock Iris of the seed-shops 
is the true Viesseuxia glaucopsis. A very light blue flower, with a whitish 
eye or spot at the bottom. Viesseuxia pavonia, or Iris pavonia , of Lin- 
neteus, is quite a different plant; a largish white flower, with the most 
intensely shaded blue spot at the bottom of each petal, like the spot in the 
tail feather of the Peacock. I had it twice from the late Mr. Young, of 
Taunton, and you could buy it for Is 6d, in the London seed shops, twenty 
years since, but I believe it is now lost to the country. Mr. Carter, of 
Holborn, is the most likely person to have it. I said, in The Cottage 
Gardener, that both kinds were to be had in the seed-shops—Vol. X, 
page 441. Mackay (Lows), of Clapton; Colville, Young, of Taunton; 
and Wheeler, of Warminster ; with Young, of Epsom, had it, I believe , 
when I was a bulb-grower in Herefordshire, from 1829 to 1837 ; since 
that time I lost sight of many of them.” 
Dressing for Trees in Orchard-houses (R. Edwards).—1 lb. 
flowers of sulphur, £ lb. soft soap, $ lb. ground black pepper, boiled for 
twenty minutes in four gallons of water. If necessary, add enough clay 
to render it as thick as paint. Apply it, when cool, by the aid of 
a painter’s brush. It must be put on before the buds have opened. Give 
plenty of air during the day, and moist air at night, to keep away the 
Red Spider. 
Super-phosphate of Lime (W. W .).—We cannot tell what is the : 
composition of the powder from the Bone Charcoal Works. It will do to j 
make the super-phosphate if it contains the phosphate of lime portion 
of bones. A handful of super-phosphate, once a-year, in the spring, 
will be quite enough for one Rose-tree. 
Soft Eggs (J. B. IV.).—If you refer to the Indexes of last year you 
will find abundant information on the subject. It arises, probably, from 
inflammation of the egg passages. Give each hen one grain of calomel 
and one-twelfth of a grain of tartar emetic. Feed with soft food only 
for a few days. 
Economical Bread.— R. P. H. says,—“ In reply to S. E. J., in your 
number of Jan. 26 , I enclose the accompanying receipt, which is now 
being used by a friend, whence I have to-day returned, and I can state 
that the semi-rice bread we had at breakfast was excellent, as was also 
another baking I partook of at the same house last week. lbs of whole 
rice, set in a jar, with plenty of water, to simmer all night; any w ater 
remaining in the morning to be strained off, and the rice well beaten into 
a paste. This paste is to be added to the bread after it has risen , and 
well kneaded in. U lbs, of rice will do, and 14 lbs. of flour,” 
