4:78 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY G 
TAKING HONEY. 
This season seems to be a good one for honey, but is 
drawing to a close. Except in heath districts bees cannot 
be expected to gather much more store; the nights begin to 
be long and cold, so that they will eat as much as they 
collect. All the spare honey should be taken away, in order 
that the bees may have time to make good any little damage; 
no spare room should be left, though it may contain empty 
combs ; the entrances must be reduced, and the hives put a 
little in winter order. These remarks apply, also, to common 
hives; but, ns the old plan is well known to cottagers and in 
no favour with amateurs, I shall pass it over slightly, only 
noticing that the old rule is to doom the heaviest and lightest 
hives, which are, in general, first swarms and after-flights, 
leaving the seconds for stocks. It is safer, however, to 
keep the first ones that luive not swarmed which contain 
old queens. Not that we put much faith in the strong belief 
of old bee-keepers, that aged queens are more fertile than 
young ones, but that first swarms are always stronger, and 
have had more time to establish themselves. There are 
various opinions respecting the weight of a hive calculated 
to stand the winter. Some profess to keep bees on almost 
nothing, but much depends on how they are affected with 
the weather. We have tried all ways, but found none to 
equal that of allowing the bees to have their own way in a 
hive containing about 15 tbs. to 17 lbs. of honey, exclusive 
of the hive and board, allowing a little for pollen, more or 
less, according to the age and strength of the colony. All 
below that weight should be made up by feeding, which will 
be explained more fully in our next article. 
In taking honey-combs great care should be observed not 
to mix them with pollen-cells, for that substance is sure to 
give honey a bad flavour. Cottagers are not very careful in 
this respect, by which much good honey is spoiled. They 
follow the old plan of squeezing the combs, good and bad, 
quickly through a sieve, instead of having them in a warm 
place, and allowing the honey time to drop through a muslin 
bag. By this method we have obtained pure limpid honey 
from very black combs, having previously cut or opened the 
mouths of the cells with a long knife, to let the honey drip 
without squeezing the combs.—J. Wighton. 
VEGETABLE CULTURE AND COOKERY. 
CARDOON. 
It is for the stalks of the inner leaves that the Cardoon 
is cultivated in this country; but in Portugal the florets are 
employed for coagulating milk. It is by many much 
esteemed as a salad, and it is also used ns an ingredieut in 
soups and stews in the same way ns Celery. 
In the third week of April make a trench a foot wide as 
for Celery, with a good dressing of rotten dung in the 
bottom of the trench. Along the centre of the trench draw 
a narrow drill, in which drop the seeds at a distance of two 
inches from each other. When the plants are three inches 
high thin them out to six inelies apart, and when they have 
made a stronger growth they may again be thinned to 
eighteen inches distance from each other. In September, 
when they are three feet high, or have almost attained their 
final growth, and when the stalks and leaves are perfectly 
dry, choose a fine day on which to prepare for blanching. 
This is to be done, first, by removing all damaged leaves, 
and then gathering together those that remain, and binding 
them closely round with twisted hay-bands, beginning at the 
roots, and proceeding two-tlurds of their length towards the 
top, so as no earth comes in contact with the stalks; then 
earth them up in the same way as Celery, but not higher 
than the hay-bands. In about three weeks they will be 
sufficiently blanched and ready for use, when they may be 
taken up as required. 
Besides using Cardoons simply as a salad, the following 
modes of cooking may be acceptable to many:— 
To Dress Cardoons. —Take the lower ends of the stalks, 
such ns are firm and solid, cut them in pieces six inches 
long, tie them in bundles, and boil till tender. Have ready 
a piece of butter in a pan, in which flour and fry them ; 
they may then be served plain or like Asparagus, on a toast, 
with white sauce over them. 
ENTLKMAX’S COMPANION. —September 30, 1S5C. 
To Stew Cardoons.— Take solid and well-blanched stalks, 
and cut them into lengths of three inches, boil them for 
half an hour, then put them in lukewarm water to cleanse j 
them from their slime. Afterwards dress them in some ; 
stock, with a spoonful of flour, some salt, onions, a bunch \ 
of sweet herbs, a little verjuice or vinegar, and a little butter, j 
W hen done put them into a cullis with some stock, cook t 
them for an hour in this sauce, and then serve. 
Cardoons with Cheese. —String the stalks, and cut them ! 
in pieces an inch long, put them into a saucepan with red 
wine, seasoned with pepper and salt, and stew them till they ; 
are tender ; put in a piece of butter rolled in flour, and J 
when of a proper thickness put them into a dish, squeeze j 
the juice of an orange into the sauce, and scrape over them 
some Parmesan or Cheshire cheese, and then brown them 
with a cheese-iron, but not of too high a colour.— Roger 
Ashtole. 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
GARDENING. 
MEASURING LAND. 
“ Are farms sold or let (supposing there to be acclivities) 
by the surface measurement or by the base measurement per 
acre ? 
“ The above may be, to you, a simple questiou, but the 
answer will settle a controversy.—I gnoramus." 
[The measurement is by the base. In extreme cases, as 
in that of a lofty hill, a surveyor makes some addition for 
the increased surface. It is equitable for him to do so ; for, 
although no more corn or other perpendicularly growing 
plants can be grown on a mountain than could be on the 
area of its base, yet much more herbage, such as Grass, 
Turnips, Ac., could be grown upon the sides.] 
SOWING SEA-KALE.—WINTERING VERBENAS, Ac. 
“ A Young Lady has some Sea-kale seed, and desires to 
know whether it should be sown at once, and what will be 
the best form of beds to grow it in. 
2. She has a number of cuttings of Fuchsias, Verbenas, 
Geraniums, Heliotropes, and Petunias struck in the open 
ground, which she intends (as advised by Mr. Beaton in a 
recent number of The Cottage Gardener) to put into 
pots at the end of this month (September) or the beginning 
of next; but as she has neither greenhouse nor pit to put 
them in, but only a cold frame, she would be glad to Iidow 
what it will be necessary to do to the said frame to keep her 
treasures from the frost.’’ 
[Your inquiry about neglected espaliers is answered by 
Mr. Robson on another page. When half-hardy plants are 
to be kept through the winter in a cold frame without the 
use of tire-heat, the first point to be attended to is to place 
the frame where it will have all the sunshine it can. A dry 
situation is also indispensable, and the frame and glass 
being made as tight as can be, we would advise the inside of 
it to have a coat of lime-wash as one great antagonist to 
moss and mildew; the bottom or floor of the frame had 
better also be hollow, i. e., the plants had better stand on 
lattice-work of some kind, which can easily be taken out to 
clean out any leaves or other matter calculated to encourage 
decay. This being done, or rather, before this is done, let 
the plants be prepared (by potting them early in autumn) 
to have their pots full of roots; and to have so matured their ! 
growth as to present that stiff-set-like appearance which j 
indicates hardihood, and do not be in too great haste in j 
placing them in their winter quarters, and when they are 
there be sure and give them plenty of air, and even full 
exposure on all suitable occasions, being, however, careful 
to shut them up against rain; tilting the lights at back, 
perhaps front too, to give them sufficient air, and when 
they want water, it is better to take them all out some dry 
day and water them outside, and replace them again, 
scattering some hot coal-ashes or lime underneath them to 
arrest decay; but allow the plants time to drain off the 
overplus water given them before they are put back, and, at 
