490 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 23. 
“ The meeting was prudently, perhaps necessarily, 
confined to the exhibition of flowers and the awarding 
of certificates; but we hope that succeeding meetings, 
though adorned by these pleasant illustrations, will take a 
larger scope. What florists and botanists want here is not 
only the result, but the process by which that result is ar¬ 
rived at. 
“ Written documents, carefully got up by cultivators, would, 
perhaps, be more useful than oral diseriptions--at all events, 
they would provoke more exact enquiry and more minute 
discussion. 
“ The monthly meetings will be the true tests of the per¬ 
fection to which the cultivation of flowers in tlieir respective 
seasons has arrived, and we hope, in future shows a some¬ 
what more discriminating spirit will be evinced in the 
awarding of testimonials. Where all is good it is difficult 
and unpalatable, no doubt, to draw distinctions; but where- 
' ever excellence prevails, let it have its due. 
“ The main feature of the meeting of yesterday was the 
exhibition of Roses—and certainly our flower shows hitherto 
have afforded but faint indication of our capabilities in this 
j line. A grander collection of the different varieties of this 
! beautful flower could hardly be presented in any part of the 
world than that which met us yesterday. The extreme wet¬ 
ness of the season prevented some of the more showy speci¬ 
mens being brought out in first rate order; but careful cultiva¬ 
tion was evident in each collection. 
“ The largest collection was from the garden of Thomas 
Woolley, Esq. (Creswick, gardener!, and consisted of fifty- 
two varieties, viz., Letitia, Victorie des Hybrids, Cloth of Gold, 
Virgil, Multiflora elegans, Queen, Dark marbled, Viol® 
odora, Zendre, Amie Vibert, Allenianna, Lucida duplex, 
Gloire de Rosame, Louise Philippe, Indica alba, Provence, 
Emile Courtier, Boule de Nanteuil (particularly beautiful), 
Delphine, Glory of the West, Annie Bluze, Dupetit 
Thouars, Sully, La Tortarelle, Psyche, Henri Plantier, For¬ 
tune’s yellow, Particolored China rose, Fulgens, Angelique 
(moss), Columella, Shepherd’s incomparable, Yellow 
Banksia, Victoria modesta, Wax, Roi de Cramoise, Kate, 
Alice, Atoninas, Alexina, Superba, Green’s musk, York and 
Lancaster, Madame Deprez, Shepherd’s Ne plus ultra,Indica 
Lutea, Taglioni, Due de Guiche, Carnation, Duchesse de 
Berri, Ferox, Nonpareil Multiflora. 
“ There were five other collections exhibited. 
“ The specimens apart from the Roses were few. There 
was a beautiful Gladiolus splendens, and Gladiolus Mortii, 
from Mr. Mort’s garden; the latter very beautiful; also a 
beautiful flower not often exhibited, Epidendrum macrochi- 
lum. 
“ Mr. Guilfoyle had twenty-four splendid specimens of 
Gladiolus, which did credit to his skill as a cultivator—they 
were all Hybrids. There was also a beautiful specimen of 
Amaranthus Johnsonius. Some very beautiful Gloxinias, from 
the Government Gardens, together with a specimen, in 
flower, of the Gardenia Stanlyana, (the first time of its flower¬ 
ing here); and a very elegant Echitis. 
“ Medals were awarded to each of the collections of Roses, 
and certificates to Mr. Mort, for his Gladiolus Mortii, and 
his Epidendrum macrochilum, and to Mr. Guilfoyle for his 
! collection of Gladioli.”— (Sydney Herald.) 
NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY. 
Extract from a Letter, dated Feb. 16. 
“The price of provisions here is much greater than usual. 
Corn is now selling at 90 cents a bushel of 56 pounds. Po¬ 
tatoes at 1 dollar 25 cents ; flour at 5£ cents a pound; 
butter 25 cents a pound. All these articles have sold within 
a year or two for half the amount quoted above. Beef, 
mutton, and pork at 13 cents to 18 cents a pound. The 
wages of labour have increased nearly 25 per cent. A good 
horse cannot be had for less than 200 dollars ; and a good 
cow for 500 dollars. We have had rather a mild winter thus 
far; some quite eold days; thermometer 2 degrees below 
zero, and many slight falls of snow. Our river and canal 
have been twice frozen over to the thickness of 8 or 10 
inches, which has enabled the people to fill all their ioe- 
I houses, and all are well supplied. We have had some very 
good sleighing, but the roads at present are almost impass¬ 
able. This month has been very mild and wet, and we con¬ 
sider our winter nearly at an end. I visited the great exhi¬ 
bition of poultry in New York, yesterday, with Mr.-and 
some friends. The papers state, there were 4,000 head, but 
I cannot believe it, though I never saw such a number of i 
all sorts, from a Bantam as small as a meadow Lark to a 
Shanghae as big as aTurkey. Every species offowl was there, 
and all in fine condition." 
POLMAISE HEATING. 
Being a constant reader of your valuable Journal, I ob¬ 
served in the two last monthly numbers a revival of the 
much-abused system of the Polmaise method of heating 
pits, greenhouses, <fcc. &c. 
Not being a practical gardener, but merely a devoted 
student, and fond of every improvement in floriculture, I 
have bestowed a good deal of attention on the different 
modes of heating structures for horticultural purposes; in 
fact, I have the three different methods commonly used at 
work on my own premises. The old brick flue system was 
good till superseded by the hot-water system; and that was 
reckoned the ne plus ultra till the application of heated air 
was introduced; then came the war of words, Air versus 
Water. The late Mr. Meek, though not the inventor of the 
system, was the first who applied science and brought it to 
perfection. I had the honor and pleasure of his acquaintance, 
and he was the only man I have met who thoroughly under¬ 
stood the whole system. When Mr. Meek first introduced 
his system, I made a point of visiting every establishment 
round London that erected a Polmaise stove, and I never 
found one that thoroughly carried out the laws of science ; 
one erected one thing, and another had another plan, and 
called it Polmaise, and every one was a total failure; hence 
the whole system got completely condemned; but, having 
erected my own upon purely scientific principles, I have now 
had six years trial of mine, and I find it answer better than 
either the flue or hot-water; and my gardener, who has had 
considerable experience, prefers it to either. Your corre¬ 
spondent, Mr. Craddock, gives a very exceUent account of 
the working of the system, when done in conformity to the 
laws of science. Mr. C. is in error when he attributes the 
discovery to the late Mr. Meek; he brought it from the wet 
blanket of the discoverer to what it now is—the most perfect 
and natural sytem that can be invented. 
My only object in addressing you is to create or renew a 
temperate discussion of the merits of the hot-air stove to 
the other methods of heating. During the heat of the last 
discussion the liot-water gentlemen were anything but cool 
upon the subject. F. H. S. 
BEE-KEEPING FOR COTTAGERS. 
(Continued from page 447.) 
Mat. —Breeding for the next three months will proceed 
rapidly ; continue, therefore, to supply water, if the weather 
be dry. The bees will by this time be fully at work. 
b. Hives four years old and upwards should be allowed 
to swarm ; keep the centre holes in these hives covered up. 
In hives less than four years old it is desirable to prevent 
swarming; keep such hives shaded from the sun, and give 
the bees in them more room by putting on small hives and 
boxes: a piece of perforated zinc laid over the hole in the 
centre of the hive (or of the super if there be one upon it), 
by allowing a current of air to pass through the hive, assists 
in keeping it cool: the zinc must be removed and cleaned 
as the bees stop up the holes in it. 
m. Drones begin to appear, and, where swarming is 
about to take place, young queens are rapidly coming 
forward. 
m. It is not always possible to prevent swarming, neither 
is it possible to ascertain with certainty when first swarms 
will rise: the hives must, therefore, be watched from ten 
o’clock till four from the middle of this month to the end of 
June. Swarms should be hived as soon as they settle, and 
should be set up on the pedestal next to its parent hive as 
I 
