April 8. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
39 
Weeks and Co.’s Boiler (S. C. L .').—We believe it is patented. 
We do not know where it is made. 
A. T. writes thus:—“These appear at the joints where the shoots 
are.”—Joints of what ? 
Forcing Vines (A Young Subscriber ).—We do not quite clearly see 
through your process. We presume you had enough of light during the 
last days of March in your house. The state of your Vines shows that 
you had pretty welt enough of that element, heavy though your roof be. 
Hamburghs and Sweet-waters may be forced at any time after autumn, 
though the roots be placed outside; but in proportion to the earliness, 
is the necessity of warming the border by a covering of litter, and j 
keeping off heavy, cold rains. Vines planted in May, 1853, cut back to 
two buds in autumn, allowed to run the length of the rafters in 1854, 
j should not have been fruited their whole length in 1855. A third, or, at 
most, a halt, of that length would have been sufficient pruning the shoots 
back to that space. We have done so, and the Vine has felt the effects 
for years afterwards. We have had fruit in pots on rods sixteen months 
| from the bud; but if many bunches were taken, it was no use trying 
j that plant the following year. If wc understand you aright, you did not 
j take a great deal of fruit, and that you got from the higher buds. This , 
moderate cropping has, no doubt, so far saved your Vines; as if they 
i threw two shoots lroin a bud, it show s they are not delicient in vigour. 
! You had better not remove any of these shoots until you see how they 
J show, and then you can allow one or two to remain, just as you can find 
room for them. Most gardeners, unless they want wood, leave only one. 
Mr. Fish’s remarks apply to Vines planted outside as well as inside. 
Funguses in Cucumber Soil [H. H .).—Wc presume that you have ( 
got funguses rising from your dung, which frequently appear if the dung 
is extra moist. Work in a little quick-lime in the places where they 
come, and that will, ere long, do for them. If they appear in your soil, 
you had better re-pot the Cucumbers, and get fresh soil, and look care¬ 
fully over it before using, and see that there are no white thready 
substances in it, the spawn of these nasty funguses. Clear lime-water 
will destroy the funguses in the soil, as well as in the dung ; but at this 
season, unless the plants are strong, a strong watering of lime-water 
might injure them. If the funguses only appear among the dung you w ill 
soon get quit of them ; they soon render a confined atmosphere unwhole¬ 
some to other plants. Try and leave a little air, even at night, until you 
get rid of them. We have sometimes been annoyed with lots of the common 
Mushroom coming where they were not wanted. The w'hole fungus brood 
hate quick-lime. We once had a bed of Mushrooms destroyed by a water¬ 
ing for killing slugs. 
Heating a Greenhouse from a Cellar (IF. R .).—There is not ; 
the least difficulty in your case as respects the greenhouse thirty-five , 
feet from the cellar. A very small boiler would send the heated water | 
that distance. For the various purposes, you would require a conical or 
3addle-backed boiler that exposed five or six square feet to the fire. The 
distance to which the heat can be conveyed depends not so much on 
what the boiler contains as the surface it exposes to the heat. You w'ould 
see, at Yol. xv., page 3tl6, that the range of the powerful boiler at Messrs. 
Weeks* is limited. One of the smallest they manufacture would be large 
enough for you. Is there any thing to prevent your having propagating 
! pits over part, of the whole, of the thirty-five feet the pipes traverse before 
reaching the greenhouse ? There you may have top-heat and bottom- 
i heat at. will. But in such a case, it would be advisable, by stop-cocks, 
SiC.y to be able to heat these pits w ithout heating the greenhouse. Wc 
are afraid there will be some difficulty in your mode of heating the 
i entrance hall, if it is essential to keep the cellars in a cool, equal tempe¬ 
rature. Hovvever bound the pipes may be, the boxes will crack and open , 
from the heat, and thus the heat will escape, less or more, into the 
cellars. If there should be any difficulty in this, the pipes could go into 
i the entrance hall at once, and might be rendered ornamental as a plinth 
! round the walls, or set up as ornamental fluted pillars or pilasters. The 
! mode contemplated would, no doubt, be the simplest, all things con¬ 
sidered, provided all escape is prevented. Would, however, the extreme 
I drying of the joists have no tendency to impair their strength in time ? 
Firs to hide Buildings, &c (L. AT.).—The quickest growing kinds 
of Fir to hide out-buildings and unsightly objects are the common 
Spruce, the Silver Fir, and the Scutch Fir. If the unsightly object is 
below the level of the eye, or much above the level of the eye, plant ' 
thickly, and afterwards “make up” the bottom with Laurels, Hollies, j 
and Tree Box ; but if the object is on a level with the eye, or nearly so, 
plant thinly, or wide apart, and put in more row's, and let the trees be as 
tall as you can get; but let the piece of ground be first trenched. Pit 
planting seldom answers well for this kind of planting. 
Portugal Laurel Leaves ( Salopian ).—The appearance indicates 
poverty at the roots. They have reached something unsuitable to the 
trees well-doing. We have had many instances of this kind in our 
garden where soil is poor and very light, although they do not do so well 
in others. 
Name of Plant (Clericus).—' The plant enclosed is the Scilla prcecox, 
one of the prettiest of our hardy border plants. We know of no plant by 
the name of Callacanthus: but there is Calycanthus. For instance, the 
Calycanthus fioridus, which is commonly called the Allspice, an orna¬ 
mental hardy shrub ; also, Calycanthus prcecox, now called Chimonanthus , 
fragrans, a most desirable hardy shrub for training upon a south or west 
wall, where its delicious-scented flowers arc produced in abundance in 
December and January. 
Error. —In the ground-plan of the Sheffield Camellia House, at page 8, 
there is a mistake in the references. Letter “ E ” is said to be “ Asphal- 
tate; ” it ought to be “Glass uprights.” Letter “C” is described, 
, “ Glass uprights ;” it ought to be “ Asphaltate walks.” 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
Agricultural Society (Royal). At Chelmsford, July 14th to 19th. 
Sec. J. Hudson, Esq., 12, Hanover Square, London. Entries close 
June 1st. 
Anerley. July 29th, 30th, 31st, and Aug. 1st. 
Bath and West of England. June 4th, 5th, and 6th. Sec. Mr. J. 
Kingsbury, 10, Hammet Street, Taunton. Entries close April 30th. | 
Bristol. June 25th and 26 th. Sec. Robert Hillhouse Bush, Litfield 
House, Clifton, Bristol. Entries close 26 th of May. 
Essex. At Colchester, 8th, 9th, and 10th of January, 1857 Secs. | 
G. E. Attwood, and W. A. Warwick. 
Exeter. At Exeter, May 29th and 30tli. Sec. Mr. T. William Gray. I 
Hull and East Riding. At Hull, June 25th. See., B. L. Wells, j 
Esq., 23, Bishop Lane, Hull. Entries close June 18th. 
Norwich. June 20th. (Norfolk Agricultural, for Subscribers only.) 
See. Mr. E. C. Bailey, Little Oxford Street, Norwich. Entries close 1 
May 31st. 
Nottinghamshire. At Southwell, December 17th and 18th, 1856. 
Sec. Richard Hawksley, jun. Entries close November 19th. 
Paris. May 23rd to June 7th. Sec. M. M. E. Rouber, Division de 
l’Agriculture, rue de Varennes, No. 78 bis, Paris. 
Wharfuale. April 18th, at Otley. Sec. Mr. T. Metcalfe, Otley. 
Windsor Poultry Exhibition. At Windsor, 4th, 5th, and 6th of 
June. Secs . Thos. Chamberlain, and Henry Thompson. Entries 
will close May 10th. 
N.B.— Secretaries will oblige us by sending early copies of their lists. 
THE BENEFICIAL RESULTS OF POULTRY 
EXHIBITIONS. 
Many who, a few years since, became converts to what 
was then termed the poultry mania, and who imagined it 
was merely the fashion, or wliim, of the moment, have 
formed by their connection with it valuable and valued 
friendships. It has done much to dissipate our national 
ennui, and November, the month of ennui’s reign, lias now 
become one of exertion. Entries, shows, and corres¬ 
pondence till up the dreary time. Above all, the latter item 
is important, and government could well afford to give a 
Queen’s riate at every poultry show to encourage exhibitions, 
on account of the increased postage they cause, just as they 
did to improve the breed of horses. This may appear 
random writing, at first sight, but the postmen of poultry 
districts, and the secretaries of shows, could furnish statistics 
that would astonish unbelievers. Few, even among amateurs, 
are aware of the extent and continual growth of the poultry 
movement. 
We are often asked to visit our readers and brethren in 
the pursuit. Believing as we do, that most of them are 
naturally among the best of our race, and that all are 
improved by it, we gladly avail ourselves of the invitations 
whenever our scant leisure will allow. An egg of unusual 
dimensions generally adorns some part of the ordinary 
sitting-room, Silver Cups decorate tile side-board, and 
Medals lie on the drawing-room table. 1‘ast exploits and 
disappointments, and future hopes and prize-lists, provide a 
never-ending topic of conversation. This for the evening 
of our arrival, and then the appointment is made for the 
inspection, in the morning, of the pets that are destined to 
figure in “ the triumphs yet to come." 
it is one of the paradoxes of the pursuit, that while the 
owners of thousands of acres often lament their inability to 
keep more than two breeds, because they have, not space to ! 
keep them separate ; yet the occupier of a large garden and 
small meadow will keep lialf-a-dozen in perfect health and 
condition. 
There is, generally, one part of a good-sized garden 
which is of little use or profit. This we have constantly 
found devoted to poultry, and those who have not yet done 
so, may see how easily it is accomplished. Houses built of 
hoards, covered with thatch ; each nine feet long by six 
wide, six feet high, perches two feet from the ground, and 
openings for ventilation immediately below the thatch. 
Laying boxes inside. A space laid down with grass in front 
of each, fifteen feet long by six wide, the whole enclosed 
with netting either of string boiled in oil, or galvanized 
wire, and fronting the garden. \Ve would not have it less 
than six feet high, because it is sometimes necessary to go 
into the pen to pursue a critical examination of the inmates, 
