508 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 30. 
i 
earth silica (flint). It abounds, for instance, in the Grasses, 
in the straw of Wheat; it exhibits itself in such large pro¬ 
portions in the Dutch Rush that the turners use it to polish 
the hard woods, ivory, and even brass. 
The earth's alumina and magnesia (or clay) are also 
found in plants, but in less proportions then either lime or 
silica. 
One great use of these earths in the composition of 
vegetable substances appears to be to impart the necessary 
degree of hardness and strength to enable them to support i 
themselves. 
The chemical examination of the earth, is, indeed, full of 
wonders. The mixture of different soils, for instance, so ; 
essential to the production of vegetation, and so universal j 
on the surface of the earth, betrays the wisdom of the 1 
Creator. Three earths—lime, alumina (clay), silica (flint), j 
constitute, we have already seen, the great mass of the ! 
earth we inhabit, are present in all soils ; two of them exist I 
as necessary ingredients in all vegetables. These earths, had j 
chance formed them, or accident thrown them together, ; 
would have been found on the earth’s surface in great and j 
distinct masses. Mountains of pure alumina would, at ! 
least, occasionally have been found by the side of or piled 
upon masses of pure silex. Strata of pure earths would 
have been occasionally distinct; the divisions separate and 
defined; but this is never the case on our globe. The 
earths are invariably found mixed together, or if a specimen 
of a pure earth is discovered, its rarity speedily entitles it to 
a place in the museum of the mineralogist. 
Yet, amid all these endless mechanical mixtures of the 
earths in all soils, the chemist’s investigations clearly 
inform us, that without this mixture no plants could have 
existed. No vegetable, for instance, will grow in either pure 
lime, pure alumina, or pure flint; nay, if either earth con- 
stitute only nineteen parts out of twenty of any soil, such j 
land is worthless for all the purposes of cultivation. The 
mixture, therefore, must have been made from the creation, ; 
otherwise no vegetable substance could have flourished ; no : 
plant would have ripened its seeds. 
The advantages of water to all animals and vegetables no ' 
one will doubt; the use is universal; the advantages un¬ 
disputed. It being, then, acknowledged that the presence 
of a fluid is necessary for our health, and for our very 
existence, the value of that abounding fluid next engages 
our attention. The insipidity of water, its utter tastelessness, 
has often been remarked upon ; had it been formed bitter, or 
sweet, or acid, how nauseating by its incessant recurrence 
would it have become. 
It differs, too, from all other fluids, in being operated j 
upon by the withdrawal of its heat in a manner totally 
different from all other fluids; other liquids, other solids, 
are contracted by the withdrawal of their heat; they become 
solid, they still contract, if their heat is still further with¬ 
drawn, but this is not so with water. This all-pervading 
fluid contracts by the loss of its heat only to a certain 
point, till it becomes of a temperature equal to about 40° 
Farenheit; it then ceases to contract, and as its temperature 
is still farther lowered, it begins gradually to expand. Ice is 
of much less specific gravity than the water of which it is 
composed. Ice, therefore, which is always of the tempe¬ 
rature at or below 32° of Farenheit, is hence made to float 
on the surface of the water, instead of sinking and re¬ 
maining undissolved at the bottom of the water, which it 
would have certainly done, had not the Creator, in this j 
case, as in many others, made provision for the foreseen 
contingency, by making a deviation from the laws by which 
all other fluids are governed. 
(To be continued.) 
CHEAP GAITIES FOR A GREENHOUSE. 
Being forced to be economical in my gardening pursuits, 
I have been trying to keep a cool greenhouse gay with 
common plants, by making them flower at unusual seasons, 
and as many of your readers may be in the same position, 
I may give them the result of two experiments I made 
last year. 
I took a Lobelia erinnx just about to bloom, in July last, 
and cut it over to within an inch of the soil. It started 
freely, and in November was a mass of blue, in which it 
remained till the middle of February,—a most valuable 
acquisition in these dull months. 
I had a small plant (a spring cutting) of Salvia fulgens, 
which I kept back with the hope of malting it bloom in 
winter, but, owing to the want of sun, probably, the flowers 
were abortive, so I gave it little water just to keep it sta¬ 
tionary'till the end of January, when I gave a shift into a 
12-inch pot, and now it is two-and-a-half feet high, and 
covered with buds, a few of which are in bloom to-day. It 
will be gorgeous before this is in type. 
1 do not think the Salvia splendens is cultivated as it 
should be. It is very valuable, blooming, as it does, in 
winter. Perhaps you or others might recommend other 
plants suitable for similar treatment. My greenhouse is a 
“lean-to;” the thermometer during winter 35° to 40° in 
frost.—G. 
[We shall be glad of such suggestions from any of our 
readers.—E d. C. G.] 
WASPS’ NESTS. 
Queen Wasps are about appearing, and then will be found 
the nests they establish ; and I think it will be of service to 
inform the readers of The Cottage Gardener how they 
may take them (no matter how strong in number, or big in 
size they may be) without ever being severely stung. 
The hot-water system is by no means a safe one ; and far 
less a sure one. It may do occasionally, where a nest is so 
situated that an abundant supply of boiling water is at hand ; 
but let several nests be situated half a mile off, then it be¬ 
comes a little more than a joke to get boiling water that 
distance, and often when applied it harmlessly runs down 
large cracks in the ground as fast as it can be poured in. 
Another plan, equally objectionable, is to take a bundle of 
straw, a pitch-fork, a mattock, candle and lantern, with six 
or eight in party, and so proceed to the place of conflict, 
when a portion of straw is lighted and placed over the nest, 
and more is continually added to keep up the flame; others 
are labouring at the same time, endeavouring to exhume 
the nest, which they succeed in doing sometimes, and some¬ 
times not, but it generally terminates with a severe stinging, 
of which, in bygone years, I have had an ample share ; but 
this mode of proceeding is not at all applicable where nests 
are situated near a wooden or a thatched building; but 
many a wounded hedge-row, for years after, could tell the 
stroller, as he passes, that here the law of warfare had been 
carried into effect—that is, to kill, burn, and destroy. 
The plan I have to propose is simply this : melt any 
quantity of brimstone in a flower-saucer ; have any kind of 
rags, such as bits of worsted stocking, flannel, or carpet, 
four or five inches in length, and two inches wide, and dip 
them well in the melted brimstone. Make enough of these 
matches, for they will keep any length of time. 
The next thing is to find the nest, or nests, which may 
be unfailingly done as follows : Suppose the fruit they are 
attacking should be situated in a confined place between 
buildings, then take a portion of the fruit and place it in a 
convenient open space where you can command a clear 
view ; they will soon find it out; take your stand close by, 
and wait till several cargoes have been taken, carefully 
marking their line of flight, and if they do not all go in one 
direction, know for certainty there is more than one nest; 
then, to find them, go in a straight line according to their 
line of flight, and, so far as my experience goes, I believe it 
is an unerring rule to find them. I can now, on some occa 
sions, pretty well determine the distance of a nest in this 
way: first, suppose the ground inclines downward in their 
line of flight, and from their starting point they partake of 
this inclination, you may conclude the nest is between you 
and the next rising ground. Secondly; if their inclination 
is the reverse of this, rest assured the nest is beyond the 
valley lying betw< en you and the rising ground beyond. 
Having found the nest, take one of the prepared brimstone 
matches, a lighted lucifer, and spade, and, above all, the 
house bellows. Then, within a short distance of the nest, 
light the match at one end, wait a little till it is well lighted, 
then place the lighted end at the hole, and directly apply 
