86 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
CUCUMBERS CHECKED IN GROWTH. 
“ My Cucumbers liave looked well up to the present time, 
but have stopped growing; the linings have been constantly 
renewed, shaded from the hot suns, &c. I am led to think 
it is in the watering. Could you give me any idea of the 
quantity of water a two-light frame should have in fine 
weather, and the time and how to apply it?—0. P. Q.” 
[If Cucumbers are allowed to bear very freely at an early 
period they will exhaust themselves prematurely. The 
only remedy, as respects them, is to cut off every blossom 
that appears, stir the soil frequently, shade from bright sun¬ 
shine, encourage in every way the growing principle, and 
then, when that is secured, allow the plants to set and 
mature fruit. Frequently, when forced, to obtain a present 
advantage in this respect, at the risk of a future loss, we have 
had succession plants ready, and pulled out at once the 
exhausted ones when they had served their object. It is 
impossible to tell the exact quantity of water a two-liglit 
box would require. In fine weather, in April, we have given 
such a box six gallons of water at a time, and as often as 
twice a week. In dull weather, over a dung-bed, a gallon 
per week has frequently been sufficient, and more. The 
time of applying it is generally the forenoon, when the sash 
can be opened with least danger, and it should always be 
soft water, and from 70° to 80° in temperature. As to the 
mode, in a fine day we have watered all over with a rose 
watering-pot; when duller and colder, we generally water 
with the spout; in sunshine, rather bright, but not bright 
enough to warrant shading, a slight sprinkle with the 
syringe will lessen the evaporation by the leaves, and yet 
keep them healthy and robust. Shading is only a necessary 
evil, and the more it is resorted to, the less the robustness 
of the plant. IVlion there is a good lining the sides of the 
box may bo frequently sprinkled with water, to create a 
moist heat. Have you got no green fly or other insect ? 
An amateur, the other year, came in great trouble, because 
such an one had said his Cucumbers had the tbrip. They 
had no tbrip, but fat fly in abundance. What surprised 
us exceedingly was the fact, that though he had grown 
Cucumbers so well as to exhibit successfully, he had never 
seen a green fly there before; a thing which few growers 
could say.] 
LILY OF THE VALLEY, AND OLD FILBERTS. 
“ Will you oblige me with the best way to cultivate 
Lilies of the Valley on cold clay, poor soil; and how to 
manage Filberts of many years standing ?—A Farmer." 
[ 7.Hies of the Valley require exactly the same kind of 
soil, the same kind of preparation to that soil, the same 
amount of fertilizers, and the same degree of skill and 
perseverance as are required to produce a fair crop of 
Swede Turnips. Cold clay will not yield Swedes nor Lilies 
of the Valley, neither will poor soil; clay soils need not, 
necessarily, be cold; good drainage makes a wonderful 
difference to the temperature of clay land. Now, let us 
suppose that some company removed the first eighteen 
inches of soil, or clay, from an acre of such land; that 
the landlord drained this acre, so reduced, that he broke 
it up or ploughed it next summer, when it was very dry; 
and that another company made up the original depth I 
of this acre with fresh soil from the top spit of a moor j 
or common. Then, suppose the farmer to have carted so i 
much rotten muck on this new soil—so much salt and so ' 
much soot—ploughed the whole a good depth, reduced the j 
surface to a fine tilth; would it not give thirty tons of 
Swedes the first season ? If it would, a bed four feet wide 
and twenty feet long might be made, without a company, 
on any soil, to grow the Lily of the Valley fit for the 
queen. The beginning of October is the time to plant it; ; 
the strongest buds are then seen among the roots, which ' 
look very much like couch grass ; six or seven inches of the 
coucli-like roots are taken with each bud, the whole are 
placed down on the surface of the bed regularly and 
thickly; then the bed is covered with four inches of leaf- 
mould, sandy soil, and rotten dung ; it is then mulched with 
short littery dung a full inch deep, and next April, May, 
and June, it is well watered once a week or ten days; water 
from the laundry on washing days is excellent for it; after 
that the bed is not touched or disturbed for full twelve 
May 4. 
years, and all that time, after the first season, no one can 
count the quantities of flowers which come, and they are far 
more sweet and strong than scanty flowers from a poor, 
hungry, cold, cloddy bed. 
Filberts requiring aid after many years standing can 
only be relieved by thinning out about one-half of the 
shoots and stems from the bottom, and then to shorten and 
keep thin the side-wood of those branches that are left; it 
will be a yearly and a troublesome job. You had better j 
prepare for a new plantation of them.] 
REMOVING SPRING-FLOWERING BULBS. 
“Which is the best way to clear flower-beds of bulbous 
roots, which have been gay this spring, as Snowdrops, 
Crocuses, Daffodils, ifcc. ? The beds now look untidy, and 
if cleared away with as much soil as can be managed, I 
have found them very much weakened for another season. 
—A. W-, Derbyshire.” 
[None but the very best gardeners can safely remove 
spring-bulbs from the beds and borders as soon as they are 
out of bloom, and it is not unusual for the best of them to [ 
fail now and then, according to the season. It is true, amateurs 
can often do things better than a first-rate gardener, but 
they do it with their own hands. Why gardeners do 
not seem to fail in many things, is, that they anticipate 
losses, failures, and bad seasons, and provide extra plants, 
<fcc., to meet such losses. Suppose a gardener to lose 1000 
Crocuses, 100 Narcissus, and a proportionate number of 1 
other bulbs by removing them at the wrong time, he goes to ■ 
his reserve-ground to make up the loss, and no one hears j 
more of it. Bulbs for the best beds ought to be in pots for 
removal.] 
CELERIAC AND NEW ZEALAND SPINACH. 
In answer to the queries of “ A Subscriber,” we give the 
following directions. 
Celeriac should be sown in March or April, in a slight 
hotbed ; when about three inches high prick out the seed¬ 
lings in rows three inches apart; water liberally and 
frequently. When six inches high plant out finally in rows 
two feet apart, and the plants nine inches apart. They 
require a rich light soil, and abundance of moisture. When i 
the bulb begins to form they require to be earthed-up two or 
three inches deep. 
New Zealand Spinach is sown in the seed-vessel, as 
gathered the preceding autumn; sow it in small pots, 
three seeds in each, late in March, and plunge them in a 
Melon-frame. When the seedlings are an inch or two high, 
move the pots into a frame without bottom-heat, keep them 
there until the end of May, and then turn them out of the 
pots, without disturbing them, into a light and very rich 
soil, in rows four feet apart each way. Twenty plants will 
give a daily supply for a large family. In about six weeks 
after planting-out the ends of the young shoots will be fit 
for use. 
POULTRY. 
PILE GAME FOWLS. 
“ Can you tell me which colour is most thought of for 
Pile Game fowls ? as I suppose fowls are all called Piles, if 
mixed in colour.—J. II. R.” 
[The word “ File," in reference to fowls, is employed to 
denote a bird of whose plumage white is a component part, , 
and is used more particularly, if not exclusively, of the 
Game breed; although we have heard it applied to Malays 
of similar plumage. The Piles best known, and most 
esteemed, are the “ Worcestershire,” the “ Staffordshire,” 
and the “ Cheshire.” 
The Cheshire Pile is of a deep chesnut on the back and 
wings; while the “Staffordshire” has a lighter tinge of 
yellow; the “Worcestershire” are subdivided into the 
cream-coloured and blue. See Poultry Book , p. 144.] 
ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY’S POULTRY 
EXHIBITION. 
This was held in the Great Exhibition Building, on the 
18th of April. We took some pains to obtain a prize-list, 
